THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 14)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

for the

NEW JERUSALEM

FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Emanuel Swedenborg

— Doctrinal Series —

(pt. 14)

NO ONE CAN FROM HIMSELF DO WHAT IS GOOD THAT IS REALLY GOOD.

From what has been said in the Doctrine of the Holy Scripture (n. 27-28*, 38**), it may be seen that what is highest, what is intermediate, and what is last, make a one, like end, cause, and effect; and that because they make a one, the end itself is called the first end, the cause the intermediate end, and the effect the last end. From this it must be evident that in the case of a man who possesses spiritual good, what is moral in him is intermediate spiritual, and what is civic is ultimate spiritual. And for this reason it has been said that a man who possesses spiritual good is also a moral man and a civic man; and that a man who does not possess spiritual good is neither a moral man nor a civic man, although he may appear to be so both to himself and to others.

(LIFE 14)

—

* THE SENSE OF THE LETTER OF THE WORD IS THE BASIS, THE CONTAINANT, AND THE SUPPORT OF ITS SPIRITUAL AND CELESTIAL SENSES

In every Divine work there is a first, a middle, and a last (or ultimate); and the first passes through the middle to the last (or ultimate), and so comes into manifest being and subsists. Hence the last or ultimate is the basis. But the first is in the middle, and through the middle in the ultimate; so that the ultimate is the container. And as the ultimate is the container and the basis, it is also the support.

The learned reader will comprehend that these three may be called end, cause, and effect; also esse, fieri, and existere; and that the end is the esse, the cause the fieri, and the effect the existere; consequently, that in every complete thing there is a trine, which is called first, middle, and ultimate; also end, cause, and effect; and also esse, fieri, and existere. When these things are comprehended, it is also comprehended that every Divine work is complete and perfect in its ultimate; and likewise that the whole is in the ultimate, which is a trine, because the prior things are together, or simultaneously, in it.

** There are in heaven and in this world a successive order and a simultaneous order. In successive order one thing succeeds and follows another from highest to lowest; but in simultaneous order one thing is next to another from inmost to outmost. Successive order is like a column with successive parts from the top to the bottom; but simultaneous order is like a connected structure with successive circumferences from center to surface.

It shall now be told how successive order becomes simultaneous order in the ultimate. It is in this way:  The highest things of successive order become the inmost ones of simultaneous order, and the lowest things of successive order become the outermost ones of simultaneous order. Comparatively speaking it is as if the column of successive parts were to sink down and become a connected body in a plane.

Thus is the simultaneous formed from the successive, and this in all things both in general and in particular of the natural world, and also of the spiritual world; for everywhere there is a first, a middle, and an ultimate, and the first aims at and goes through the middle to its ultimate.

Apply this to the Word. The celestial, the spiritual, and the natural proceed from the Lord in successive order, and in the ultimate are in simultaneous order; and it is in this way that the celestial and spiritual senses of the Word are simultaneous in its natural sense. When this is comprehended, it may be seen how the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, is the basis, containant, and support of its spiritual and celestial senses; and how in the sense of the letter of the Word Divine good and Divine truth are in their fullness, in their holiness, and in their power.

(Doctrine of the Holy Scripture (n. 27-28, 38)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 13)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

for the

NEW JERUSALEM

FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Emanuel Swedenborg

— Doctrinal Series —

(pt. 13)

NO ONE CAN FROM HIMSELF DO WHAT IS GOOD THAT IS REALLY GOOD.

A man who possesses spiritual good is also a moral man and a civic man; but a man who does not possess spiritual good may appear to be a moral man and a civic man, yet is not so.

The reason why a man who possesses spiritual good is also a moral man and a civic man, is that spiritual good has the essence of good within it, and moral and civic good have this essence from spiritual good.

 — The essence of good can be from no other source than Him who is good itself. —

Think the matter over from every point of view, and try to find out from what it is that good is good, and you will see that it is so from its inmost being [esse], and that that is good which has within it the esse of good; consequently that that is good which is from good itself, thus from God; and therefore that good which is not from God, but from man, is not good

(LIFE 13)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 11-12)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

for the

NEW JERUSALEM

FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Emanuel Swedenborg

— Doctrinal Series —

(pt. 11-12)

NO ONE CAN FROM HIMSELF DO WHAT IS GOOD THAT IS REALLY GOOD.

From science a man knows whether gold is good in substance, is alloyed and falsified, or is merely overlaid; but he does not know from science whether the good he does is good in itself. This only does he know: that good from God is good, and that good from man is not good. Therefore, as it concerns his salvation for him to know whether the good he does is from God, or is not from God, this must be revealed. But before this is done something shall be said about goods.

There are civic good, moral good, and spiritual good.
• Civic good is that which a man does from the civic law: by means of and according to this good is the man a citizen in the natural world.
• Moral good is that which a man does from the law of reason: by means of and according to this good is he a man.
• Spiritual good is that which a man does from spiritual law: by means of and according to this good is he a citizen in the spiritual world.
These goods succeed one another in the following order: spiritual good is the highest, moral good is intermediate, and civic good is last. . . .

(LIFE 11-12)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 10)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

for the

NEW JERUSALEM

FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Emanuel Swedenborg

— Doctrinal Series —

(pt. 10)

NO ONE CAN FROM HIMSELF DO WHAT IS GOOD THAT IS REALLY GOOD.

. . . Goods from God, and goods from self, may be compared to gold. Gold that is gold from the inmost, called pure gold, is good gold. Gold alloyed with silver is also gold, but is good according to the amount of the alloy. Less good still is gold that is alloyed with copper.

But a gold made by art, and resembling gold only from its color, is not good at all, for there is no substance of gold in it. There is also what is gilded, such as gilded silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, and also gilded wood and gilded stone, which on the surface may appear like gold; but not being such, they are valued either according to the workmanship, the value of the gilded material, or that of the gold which can be scraped off.

In goodness these differ from real gold as a garment differs from a man. Moreover rotten wood, dross, or even ordure, may be overlaid with gold; and such is the gold to which pharisaic good may be likened.

(LIFE 10)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 9)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

for the

NEW JERUSALEM

FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Emanuel Swedenborg

— Doctrinal Series —

(pt. 9)

NO ONE CAN FROM HIMSELF DO WHAT IS GOOD THAT IS REALLY GOOD.

. . . That hitherto scarcely anyone knows whether the good done by him is from self or from God, is because the church has sundered faith from charity, and good is of charity. A man gives to the poor; relieves the needy; endows places of worship and hospitals; has regard for the church, his country, and his fellow citizen; is diligent in his attendance at a place of worship, where he listens and prays devoutly; reads the Word and books of piety; and thinks about salvation; and yet is not aware whether he is doing these things from himself, or from God. He may be doing the very same things from God, or he may be doing them from self. If he does them from God they are good, if from self they are not good. In fact there are goods of this kind done from self which are eminently evil, such as hypocritical goods, the purpose of which is deception and fraud.

(LIFE 9)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 8)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

for the

NEW JERUSALEM

FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Emanuel Swedenborg

— Doctrinal Series —

(pt. 8)

ALL RELIGION IS OF THE LIFE, AND THE LIFE OF RELIGION IS TO DO THAT WHICH IS GOOD.

The reason why all religion is of the life, is that after death everyone is his own life, for the life stays the same as it had been in this world, and undergoes no change. For an evil life cannot be converted into a good one, nor a good life into an evil one, because they are opposites, and conversion into what is opposite is extinction. And, being opposites, a good life is called Life, and an evil one Death. This is why religion is of life, and why its life is to do what is good.

LIFE 8)

(That after death a man is such as had been his life in this world may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 470-484).

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE (pt. 5-7)

THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE

for the

NEW JERUSALEM

FROM THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Emanuel Swedenborg

— Doctrinal Series —

(pt. 5-7)

ALL RELIGION IS OF THE LIFE, AND THE LIFE OF RELIGION IS TO DO THAT WHICH IS GOOD.

. . . The Exhortation read in England before the people who approach the Sacrament of the Supper, is as follows:

The way and means to be received as worthy partakers of that Holy Table is, first, to examine your lives and conversations by the rule of God's commandments; and whereinsoever ye shall perceive yourselves to have offended, either by will, word, or deed, there to bewail your own sinfulness, and to confess yourselves to Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment of life; and if ye shall perceive your offenses to be such as are not only against God, but also against your neighbors, then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them, being ready to make restitution and satisfaction, according to the uttermost of your powers, for all injuries and wrongs done by you to any other, and being likewise ready to forgive others that have offended you, as ye would have forgiveness of your offenses at God's hand; for otherwise the receiving of the Holy Communion doth nothing else but increase your damnation. Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, a hinderer or slanderer of His Word, an adulterer, or be in malice or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent you of your sins, or else come not to that Holy Table; lest after the taking of that Holy Sacrament the devil enter into you as he entered into Judas, and fill you full of all iniquities, and bring you to destruction both of body and soul.

I have been permitted to ask some of the English clerk who had professed and preached faith alone (this was done in the spiritual world), whether while they were reading in church this Exhortation — which faith is not even mentioned — they believed it to be true; for example, that if people do evil things, and do not repent, the devil will enter into them as he did into Judas, and destroy them both body and soul. They said that in the state in which they were when reading the Exhortation they had no other knowledge or thought than that this was religion itself; but that while composing and elaborating their discourses or sermons they had a different thought about it, because they were then thinking of faith as being the sole means of salvation, and of the good of life as being a moral accessory for the public good.

Nevertheless it was incontestably proved to them that with them too there was that common perception that he who leads a good life is saved, and that he who leads an evil one is damned; and that they possess this perception when they are not in what is their Own.

LIFE (5-7)