The Cause of Faith Becoming a Dead Affair

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A church is said to be corrupted when it acknowledges the Word and has a certain worship like that of a true church, but yet separates faith from charity, thus from its essential and from its life, whereby faith becomes a kind of dead affair; the result of which necessarily is that the church is corrupted.

What the men of the church then become, is evident from the consideration that they can have no conscience; for conscience that is really conscience cannot possibly exist except from charity.

Charity is what makes conscience, that is, the Lord through charity.

What else is conscience than not to do evil to anyone in anyway; that is, to do well to all in every way? Thus conscience belongs to charity, and never to faith separated from charity. If such persons have any conscience, it is a false conscience; and because they are without conscience, they rush into all wickedness, so far as outward bonds are relaxed. They do not even know what charity is, except that it is a word significant of something. And as they are without charity, they do not know what faith is. When questioned, they can only answer that it is a kind of thinking; some, that it is confidence; others, that it is the knowledges of faith; a few, that it is life according to these knowledges, and scarcely any that it is a life of charity or of mutual love.

And if this is said to them, and opportunity is given them for reflection, they answer only that all love begins from self, and that he is worse than a heathen who does not take care of himself and his own family. They therefore study nothing but themselves and the world.

(Arcana Coelestia 1076)

Faith (pt. 24)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 24)

V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH,
AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY,
AND NEITHER HAS LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.

When it is thus known that the spiritual is inwardly in the natural in those who are in faith in the Lord, and at the same time in charity toward the neighbor, and consequently the natural in them is transparent, it follows that to the same extent man is wise in spiritual things, and therefrom in natural things; for when he thinks about or hears or reads anything, he sees interiorly within himself whether it is the truth or not. This he perceives from the Lord, from whom spiritual light and heat flow into the higher sphere of his understanding.

So far as faith and charity in man become spiritual, he is withdrawn from his own, and ceases to look to himself or to reward or remuneration, and looks solely to the delight in perceiving the truths of faith and doing the good works of love; and so far as this spirituality increases, that delight becomes blessedness. From this is man's salvation, which is called eternal life. This state of man may be compared with the most beautiful and charming things in the world, and in the Word is compared with them, as for instance, with fruitful trees and the gardens in which they are, with flowery fields, with precious stones, with delicacies, with nuptials and their festivities and rejoicings.

But when the reverse is the case, that is to say, when the natural is inwardly in the spiritual, and consequently the man in his internals is a devil, but in his externals is like an angel, he may be compared to a dead man in a coffin of costly and gilded wood; he may also be compared to a skeleton adorned with clothing like a man, and drawn about in a magnificent carriage; or to a corpse in a sepulchre built like the temple of Diana; and his internal may be pictured even as a nest of serpents in a cavern, and his external as butterflies whose wings are tinted with all kinds of colors, but which nevertheless stick foul eggs to the leaves of useful trees, and so destroy the fruit. Or the internal of such may be compared to a hawk, and their external to a dove, and their faith and charity to a hawk pursuing a fleeing dove, which at length he wearies and then darts upon and devours.

(True Christian Religion 361)

To be continued...

Faith (pt. 23)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 23)

V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH,
AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY,
AND NEITHER HAS LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.

It has been said above that-

faith in its beginning in man is natural, and that as man draws near to the Lord it becomes spiritual; so also with charity.

But no one has known, as yet, the distinction that exists between natural and spiritual faith and charity. This great arcanum must therefore be disclosed.

There are two worlds - a natural and a spiritual.  In each world there is a sun, and from each sun heat and light go forth; but the heat and light from the sun of the spiritual world have life within them; this life is from the Lord who is the midst of that sun; while the heat and light from the sun of the natural world have nothing of life in them; they simply serve the former heat and light as receptacles for the conveying of these to man, as instrumental causes always subserve their principal causes. It must be understood, therefore, that all things spiritual are from the heat and light of the sun of the spiritual world. These are spiritual because they contain in them spirit and life; while all things natural are from the heat and light of the sun of the natural world, which viewed in themselves are without spirit and life.

Since then faith is a matter of light, and charity of heat, it is plain that so far as a man is in the heat and light that go forth from the sun of the spiritual world, he is in spiritual faith and charity; while so far as he is in the light and heat that go forth from the sun of the natural world, he is in natural faith and charity.

Evidently, therefore, as spiritual light is inwardly in natural light as in its receptacle or casket, and spiritual heat in like manner within natural heat, so also is spiritual faith inwardly in natural faith, and spiritual charity inwardly in natural charity; and this is effected in the degree that man advances from the natural to the spiritual world; and this he does so far as he believes in the Lord who is light itself, the way, the truth, and the life, as He Himself teaches.

This being so, it is clear that when man is in spiritual faith, he is also in natural faith. For as just said-

spiritual faith is inwardly in natural faith

and as faith is a matter of light, it follows that by that implanting of spiritual faith man's natural becomes, as it were, transparent, and according to the nature of its conjunction with charity, beautifully colored. This is because charity is ruddy and faith shining white; charity is ruddy from the flame of spiritual fire, and faith shining white from the splendor of the light therefrom. The contrary happens when the spiritual is not inwardly in the natural, but the natural inwardly in the spiritual; which is the case with men who reject faith and charity. With such the internal of their mind, in which they are when left to their own thoughts, is infernal, and they think from hell, although they do not know it; while the external of the mind of such, from which they converse with their companions in the world, is in a manner spiritual, but it is filled full of such unclean things as are in hell; consequently they are in hell, for compared with the former class they are in an inverted state.

(True Christian Religion 360)

To be continued...

Faith (pt. 22)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 22)

V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH,
AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY,
AND NEITHER HAS LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.

(4) Yet nothing of faith or of charity, or of the life of either, is from man, but from the Lord alone.
For we read,

That a man can receive nothing except it have been given him from heaven (John 3:27).

And Jesus said:

He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for apart from Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

But this is to be understood thus, that man of himself is unable to acquire for himself any but natural faith, which is a persuasion that a thing is so because some man of authority has said so; or any but natural charity, which is an endeavor to gain favor with a view to some recompense. In such faith and charity there is what is man's own, and as yet no life from the Lord.

Nevertheless, by means of such faith and charity man prepares himself to be a receptacle of the Lord; and so far as he prepares himself, the Lord enters, and causes his natural faith to become spiritual, likewise his charity, and thus makes both to be alive; and this is done when man goes to the Lord as the God of heaven and earth. Because man was created an image of God, he was created an abode of God; therefore the Lord says:

He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me and I will love him, and I will come unto him and make an abode with him (John 14:21, 23).

Again:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hear My voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Apoc. 3:20).

From all this comes the conclusion, that as man prepares himself naturally to receive the Lord, so the Lord enters and makes all that is within man inwardly spiritual, and thus alive. But on the other hand, so far as man does not prepare himself he removes the Lord from him and does everything from his own self; and what man himself does from himself has no real life in it.

(True Christian Religion 359)

To be continued...

Faith (pt. 21)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 21)

V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH,
AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY,
AND NEITHER HAS LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.

(3) Man may also acquire for himself the life of faith and charity.
Here again it is the same. For man acquires for himself this life when he goes to the Lord who is Life itself; and access to Him is closed to no man, for the Lord continually invites every man to come to Him; for He says:

He that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out (John 6:35, 37).

Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink (John 7:37).

And again:

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, a king, who made a marriage for his son, and sent his servants to call them that were bidden; and finally, he said, Go ye therefore into the partings of the ways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage (Matt. 22:1-9).

Who does not know that the invitation or call is universal, and also the grace of reception? Man obtains life by going to the Lord because the Lord is Life itself, not only the life of faith but also the life of charity. That the Lord is that life, and that man has it from the Lord, is evident from the following passages:

In the beginning was the Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1, 4).

As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will (John 5:21).

As the Father hath life in Himself, even so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself  (John 5:26).

The bread of God is that He cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world (John 6:33).

The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

Jesus said, He that followeth Me shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly (John 10:10).

He that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25).

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

Because I live, ye shall live also (John 14:19).

These are written, that ye may have life in His name (John 20:31).

He is eternal life (1 John 5:20).

By the life in faith and charity is meant spiritual life, which is given by the Lord to man in his natural life.

(True Christian Religion 358)

To be continued...

Faith (pt. 20)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 20)

V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH,
AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY,
AND NEITHER HAS LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.

(2) Man can acquire for himself charity.
It is the same here as with faith. For what does the Word teach but faith and charity, since these two are the essentials of salvation? For we read:

Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thy neighbor as thyself (Matt. 22:34-39).

Jesus said, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. From this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, that you love one another (John 13:34, 35 15:9; 16:27).

It teaches also that man ought to bear fruit like a good tree; that he who does good shall be rewarded in the resurrection; besides other like things.

What would be the use of all this if man were unable of himself to exercise charity, or acquire it for himself in any way? Cannot man give alms, can he not aid the needy, can he not do good in his own house and in his employment? Can he not live according to the commandments of the Decalogue? Has he not a soul from which he can do these things, and a rational mind whereby he can lead himself to act for this or that end? Can he not think that he ought to do these things because they are commanded in the Word, thus by God?

No man lacks this power, and for the reason that the Lord gives it to everyone; and He gives it as something that is the man's own; for who, in exercising charity, knows otherwise than that he does it from himself?

(True Christian Religion 357)

To be continued...

Faith (pt. 19)

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
(Continued pt. 19)

V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH,
AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY,
AND NEITHER HAS LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.

(1) Man can acquire for himself faith.
... faith in its essence is truth, ... anyone is able to acquire truths from the Word, ... so far as anyone does acquire them for himself, and loves them, he implants in himself the beginnings of faith. To which shall be added, that-

unless man were able to acquire faith for himself, all that is commanded in the Word respecting faith would be useless.

... it is the will of the Father that men should believe in the Son, and that whosoever believes in Him has eternal life, and he who does not believe shall not see life. We read also that Jesus was to send the Paraclete, who would convince the world respecting sin because it believed not on Him; furthermore, that all the apostles preached faith, a faith in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ.

What meaning would there be in all this, if a man were to stand with hanging hands like a sculptured statue with movable joints, and await influx, and meanwhile the joints (being able only to adapt themselves to receive faith) were inwardly moved toward something that has no relation to faith?

For modern orthodoxy, in that part of the Christian world that is separate from Roman Catholicism, teaches as follows: Man is so utterly corrupt and dead to good that until he is regenerated there does not abide in man's nature, or continue in it since the fall, even a spark of spiritual strength by which he is capable from or by himself of being prepared for God's grace, or of apprehending it when offered, or of retaining it; nor is he able for himself, in things spiritual, to understand, believe, embrace, think, will, commence, carry out, act, operate, co-operate, or apply or adapt himself to grace, or do anything toward his own conversion, wholly, or by halves, or in the smallest measure; also that in spiritual things, which regard the salvation of the soul, he is like the statue of salt of Lot's wife, or like a stock or a stone destitute of life, having no use of eyes, or mouth, or any other sense. Nevertheless he has the power to move from place to place, to direct his external members, to go to public meetings, and to hear the Word and the Gospel.

This doctrine is set forth in the book of the Evangelical churches called the Formula Concordiæ, the Leipsic edition of 1766 (pp. 656, 658; 661-663; 671-673); to which book, consequently to which faith, the priests take oath at their inauguration.

The Reformed churches profess a like faith. But who that has reason and religion would not hiss at these things as absurd and ridiculous? Would he not say to himself, If this were so, what would the Word amount to, or religion, or the priesthood, or preaching, but mere emptiness, or sound about nothing? Tell some pagan who has any judgment and whom you wish to convert, that he is such in respect to conversion and faith, and would he not look upon Christianity as one would look upon an empty vessel? For take from man all power of believing as of himself, and what else is he? But this will be placed in clearer light in the chapter on *Freedom of Choice (ch 8).

(True Christian Religion 356)
* True Christian Religion, Author Emanuel Swedenborg is available online or in bookstores.

To be continued...