December 8, 2018

THE LOVES OF SELF AND OF THE WORLD (pt.1)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
THE LOVES OF SELF AND OF THE WORLD
(pt. 1)

The love of self consists in willing well to ourselves alone, and not to others except for the sake of ourselves, not even to the church, to our country, to any human society, or to a fellow-citizen; and also in doing good to them only for the sake of our own fame, honor, and glory; for unless it sees these in the goods which it does to others, it says in its heart, What matters it? why should I do this? and what advantage will it be to me? and so omits them. Whence it is plain that he who is in the love of self does not love the church, nor his country, nor society, nor his fellow-citizens, nor anything good, but himself alone.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 65)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

December 7, 2018

LOVE IN GENERAL (pt. 5)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
LOVE IN GENERAL
(pt. 5)

There are two loves, from which, as from their very fountains, all goods and truths exist; and there are two loves, from which all evils and falsities exist.

The two loves, from which are all goods and truths, are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor.

The two loves from which are all evils and falsities, are the love of self and the love of the world.

The two latter loves are in direct opposition to the two former loves.

The two loves from which are all goods and truths, and which, as has just been stated, are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, constitute heaven with man, and therefore they reign in heaven; and since they constitute heaven with man, they also constitute the church with him.

The two loves, whence are all evils and falsities, and which, as has just been said, are the love of self and the love of the world, constitute hell with man; wherefore also they reign in hell.

The two loves whence are all goods and truths, and which, as already observed, are the loves of heaven, open and form the internal spiritual man, because they reside there. But the two loves whence are all evils and falsities, when they rule, shut and destroy the internal spiritual man, and render man natural and sensual, in proportion to the extent and quality of their dominion.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 59-61)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

December 6, 2018

LOVE IN GENERAL (pt. 4)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
LOVE IN GENERAL
(pt. 4)

Man is altogether of such a quality as the ruling principle of his life is; by this he is distinguished from others; according to this is his heaven if he be good, and his hell if he be evil. It is his will itself, his proprium, and his nature, for it is the very esse of his life: this cannot be changed after death, because it is the man himself.

All the delight, pleasure, and happiness which anyone has, are derived from his ruling love, and are according to it; for that which man loves, he calls delightful, because he feels it to be so: he may, indeed, also call that delightful which he thinks but does not love; but this is not the delight of his life. The delight of love is what he esteems good; and that which is undelightful is to him evil.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 57-58)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

December 5, 2018

LOVE IN GENERAL (pt. 3)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
LOVE IN GENERAL
(pt. 3)

Man has for an end that which he loves above all things; he regards it in each and all things. It is in his will like the latent current of a river, which draws and bears him away, even when he is doing something else; for it is this which animates him. It is such that one man explores and also sees it in another, and either leads him according to it, or acts with him.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 56)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

December 4, 2018

LOVE IN GENERAL (pt. 2)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
LOVE IN GENERAL
(pt. 2)

The very life of man is his love, and such as the love is, such is the life, yea, such is the whole man.

But it is the governing or ruling love which constitutes the man. That love has many loves subordinate to it, which are derivations. These appear under another form, but still they are all in the ruling love, and constitute, with it, one kingdom.

The ruling love is as their king and head; it directs them, and, through them, as mediate ends, it regards and intends its own end, which is the primary and ultimate end of them all; and this it does both directly and indirectly.

That which is of the ruling love is what is loved above all things.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 55)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

December 3, 2018

LOVE IN GENERAL (pt. 1)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
LOVE IN GENERAL
(pt. 1)

That which man loves above all things is continually present in his thought, and also in his will, and constitutes his most essential life.

As for example, he who loves riches above all things, whether money or possessions, continually revolves in his mind how he may obtain them. He inmostly rejoices when he acquires them, he grieves inmostly when he loses them; his heart is in them.

He who loves himself above all things regards himself in each thing: he thinks of himself, he speaks of himself, he acts for the sake of himself, for his life is the life of self.
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 54)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.

December 2, 2018

THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN (pt. 11)

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine
Emanuel Swedenborg
Doctrinal Series
THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN
(pt. 11)



The internal and the external, which have been treated of, [in the foregoing articles] are the internal and the external of the spirit of man; his body is only a superadded external, within which they exist; for the body does nothing from itself, but from its spirit which is in it. It is to be known that the spirit of man, after its separation from the body, thinks and wills, speaks and acts, the same as before; to think and to will is its internal, and to speak and to act is its external...
(The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine 46)
In the manuscript, the author, Emanuel Swedenborg, annexed to each section of the doctrine extracts from the Arcana Coelestia, because in the Arcana Coelestia the same things are more fully explained. Arcana Coelestia is available in print or online.