The Lord's Work of Salvation

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is known in the church that the Lord is the Savior and the Redeemer of the human race, but it is known to few how this is to be understood.

They who are in the externals of the church believe that the Lord redeemed the world, that is, the human race, by His own blood, by which they mean the passion of the cross, but they who are in the internals of the church know that no one is saved by the Lord's blood, but by a life according to the precepts of faith and charity from the Lord's Word.

They who are in the inmosts of the church understand by the Lord's blood the Divine truth proceeding from Him, and by the passion of the cross they understand the last of the Lord's temptation, by which He completely subjugated the hells and at the same time glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, and that thereby He redeemed and saved all who suffer themselves to be regenerated by a life according to the precepts of faith and of charity from His Word. Moreover, by "the Lord's blood" in the internal sense, according to which the angels in the heavens perceive the Word, is meant the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord.

But no one can know how man was saved and redeemed by the Divine through the subjugation of the hells and the glorification of His Human, unless he knows that there are with every man angels from heaven and spirits from hell, and that unless these are constantly present with man, he cannot think anything, or will anything, and thus that in respect to his interiors man is either under the dominion of spirits who are from hell, or else is under the dominion of angels who are from heaven. When this is first known, it can then be known that unless the Lord had wholly subjugated the hells, and reduced all things both there and in the heavens into order, no one could have been saved nor likewise unless the Lord had made His Human Divine, and had thereby acquired for Himself to eternity Divine power over the hells and over the heavens. For neither the hells nor the heavens can be kept in order without Divine power, because the power by which anything comes forth must be perpetual for it to subsist, for subsistence is a perpetual coming forth.

The Divine Itself which is called "the Father," without the Divine Human which is called "the Son," could not effect this, because the Divine Itself without the Divine Human cannot reach man, nor even an angel, when the human race has altogether removed itself from the Divine. This came to pass in the end of the times, when there was no longer any faith or any charity, and therefore the Lord then came into the world and restored all things, and this by virtue of His Human; and thus saved and redeemed man through faith and love to the Lord from the Lord — for such the Lord can withhold from the hells and from eternal damnation, but not those who reject faith and love from Him to Him, for these reject salvation and redemption.

That the Divine Itself does this by means of the Divine Human is evident from many passages in the Word, as from those in which the Divine Human, which is the Son of God, is called the right hand and arm of Jehovah; and in which it is said that the Lord has all power in the heavens and on earth. By virtue of the Divine Human, the Lord subjugated the hells, and reduced all things therein and in the heavens into order, and at the same time glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, and that the Divine Itself, which is called "the Father," effected this by means of the Divine Human is evident in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; all things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made; and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:1-3, 14)

it is evident that the Lord as to the Divine Human is He who is here called "the Word," for it is said, "the Word was made flesh."

And again:

No one hath seen God at any time, the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath set Him forth (John 1:18).

Ye have neither heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen His shape (John 5:37).

I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh unto the Father, but by Me. Henceforth ye have known the Father, and have seen Him. He that seeth Me seeth the Father (John 14:6-7, 9).

No one knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son shall will to reveal Him (Matt. 11:27).

From all this it can now be seen what the work of salvation and of redemption is, and that it is effected by virtue of the Lord's Divine Human.

(from Arcana Coelestia 10152)

Free State of Deliberation

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Initiation and Conjunction of Good and Truth

This is necessary in betrothal and marriage, is well known but that it is required in the initiation and conjunction of good and truth, is not so well known, because it is not apparent to the natural man, and because such initiation and conjunction are among the things that are accomplished without man's reflecting upon them; nevertheless during every moment when man is being reformed and regenerated, it comes to pass that he is in a state of freedom when truth is being conjoined with good.

Everyone may know, if he only considers, that nothing is ever man's, as his, unless it is of his will; what is only of the understanding does not become man's until it becomes of the will also; for what is of the will constitutes the being [esse] of a man's life; but what is of the understanding constitutes the coming forth [existere] of his life thence derived. Consent from the understanding alone is not consent, but all consent is from the will.

Wherefore unless the truth of faith which is of the understanding is received by the good of love which is of the will, it is not at all truth which is acknowledged, and thus it is not faith.

But in order that truth may be received by the good which is of the will, it is necessary that there be a free state. All that is of the will appears free — the very state of willing is liberty — for that which I will, that I choose, that I long for, because I love it and acknowledge it as good.

All this shows that truth, which is of faith, never becomes man's as his until it has been received by the will, that is, until it has been initiated and conjoined with the good there, and that this cannot be effected except in a free state.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3158)

Love and Wisdom in the Cause and Effect

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Good of love is good only so far as it has become joined with truth of wisdom; and truth of wisdom is truth only so far as it has become joined with good of love.  Good and truth derive this from their origin. Good has its origin in the Lord, and likewise truth — for the Lord is good itself and truth itself, and in Him these two are one. For this reason in angels of heaven and in men on earth good is good in itself only so far as it has become joined with truth, and truth is truth in itself only so far as it has become joined with good. It is acknowledged that every good and every truth is from the Lord. Since, therefore, good makes one with truth, and truth with good, it follows that for good to be good in itself, and for truth to be truth in itself, they must make one in the recipient, that is, in an angel of heaven or a man on the earth.

It is acknowledged that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth — for by good is meant that which universally embraces and involves all things of love, and by truth that which universally embraces and involves all things of wisdom. But it is not yet acknowledged that good is not any thing until it has become joined with truth, and that truth is not any thing until it has become joined with good. There is an appearance, indeed, that good is something apart from truth, and that truth is something apart from good, and yet they are not, since love (all things of which are called goods) is the being (esse) of a thing, and wisdom (all things of which are called truths) is the coming forth (existere) of a thing from that esse; and just as esse is nothing apart from existere, and existere is nothing apart from esse, so good is nothing apart from truth, and truth is nothing apart from good. So again, what is good unless related to something? Can it be called good, since no affection or perception can be predicated of it?

The thing in connection with good that affects and causes itself to be perceived and felt has relation to truth, since it has relation to what is in the understanding. Say to any one, not that this or that is good, but simply "the good," is "the good" any thing? Good is something because of this or that which is perceived as one with good. This is united with good nowhere but in the understanding; and every thing of the understanding has relation to truth. It is the same with willing. To will, apart from knowing, perceiving, and thinking what one wills, is not any thing, but together with these it becomes something. All willing is of love, and has relation to good; and all knowing, perceiving, or thinking is of the understanding, and has relation to truth. From this it is clear that to will is nothing, but to will this or that is something.

It is the same with every use, because a use is a good. Unless a use is determined to something with which it may be a one, it is not a use, and thus it is not any thing. It is from the understanding that use derives its something to which it may be determined; and that from the understanding which is conjoined or adjoined to the use has relation to truth. It is from that that the use derives its quality.

From these few things it is clear that good apart from truth is not any thing; and that truth apart from good is not any thing. When it is said that good with truth and truth with good are something, it follows from this that evil with falsity and falsity with evil are not any thing; for the latter are opposite to the former, and opposition destroys, and in this case destroys that something. But more about this in what follows.

There may be a marriage, however, of good and truth in the cause, and there may be a marriage of good and truth from the cause in the effect. A marriage of good and truth in the cause is a marriage of will and understanding, that is, of love and wisdom. There is such a marriage in every thing that a man wills and thinks, and in all his conclusions and intentions therefrom. This marriage enters into and produces the effect. But in producing the effect the good and the truth appear distinct, because the simultaneous then produces what is successive. For instance, when a man is willing and thinking about his food and clothing and dwelling place, about his business or employment, or his relations with others, at first he wills and thinks, or forms his conclusions and purposes, about these at the same time, but when these have been determined into effects, one follows the other. Nevertheless, in will and thought they continue to make one. In these effects uses pertain to love or to good, while means to the uses pertain to the understanding or to truth. Any one can confirm these general truths by particulars, provided he clearly perceives -

what has relation to good of love and what has relation to truth of wisdom, and also how these are related in the cause and how in the effect.

It has often been said that love makes the life of man, but this does not mean love separate from wisdom or good separate from truth in the cause, since love separate, or good separate is not any thing. Therefore, the love that makes man's inmost life, the life that is from the Lord, is love and wisdom together, and the love that makes the life of man as being a recipient is also love, not separate in the cause, but only in the effect. For love can be understood only from its quality, and its quality is wisdom, and its quality or wisdom can exist only from its being (esse) which is love, and it is from this that they are one. It is the same with good and truth. Since, then, truth is from good, as wisdom is from love, the two taken together are called love or good — for love in its form is wisdom, and good in its form is truth, and form is the source and the only source of quality. From all this it is now evident that good is not in the least good except so far as it has become joined with its truth, and that truth is not in the least truth except so far as it has become one with its good.

(from Divine Providence 10-13)

Spiritual World Conjoined with the Natural World

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Before any statement can be made about influx and the operation of the soul into the body, it must be well understood that the internal man is formed according to the image of heaven, and the external man according to the image of the world — insomuch that the internal man is a heaven in the least form, and the external man is a world in the least form, thus is a microcosm.

That the external man is an image of the world, may be seen from the external or bodily senses; for the ear is formed according to the whole nature of the modification of the air; the lungs according to the whole nature of its pressure, as also is the general surface of the body, which is held in its form by the circumpressure of the air; the eye is formed according to the whole nature of ether and of light; the tongue to the sense of the solvent and fluent parts in liquids; and, together with the lungs, the trachea, the larynx, the glottis, the fauces, and the lips, according to the power of suitably modifying the air, whence come articulate sounds, or words, and harmonious sounds; the nostrils are formed according to the sense of particles fluent in the atmosphere; the sense of touch, which encompasses the whole body, is according to the sense of the changes of state in the air, namely, to the sense of its cold and heat, and also to the sense of liquids and to that of weights. The interior viscera to which the aerial atmosphere cannot enter are held in connection and form by a more subtle air, which is called ether; not to mention that all the secrets of interior nature are inscribed upon and applied to the external man, such as all the secret things of mechanics, of physics, of chemistry, and of optics. From all this it is evident that universal nature has contributed to the conformation of the external of man; and hence it is that the ancients called man a microcosm.

And just as the external man has been formed according to the image of all things of the world, so has the internal man been formed according to the image of all things of heaven, that is, according to the image of the celestial and spiritual things which proceed from the Lord and from which and in which is heaven. The celestial things there are all those which are of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; and the spiritual things there are all those of faith, which in themselves are so many and of such a nature that the tongue cannot possibly utter one millionth part of them. That the internal man has been formed according to the image of all these things, is strikingly shown in the angels, who when they appear before the internal sight (as they have appeared before mine), affect the inmosts by their mere presence; for love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor pour out of them and penetrate, and the derivative things of faith shine forth from them and affect. By this and other proofs it has been made plain to me that as the internal man has been created to be an angel, he is a heaven in the least form.

From all this it is now evident that in man the spiritual world is conjoined with the natural world, consequently that with him the spiritual world flows into the natural world in so vivid a manner that he can notice it, provided he pays attention. All this shows the nature of the interaction of the soul with the body, namely, that properly it is the communication of spiritual things which are of heaven, with natural things which are of the world, and that the communication is effected by means of influx, and is according to the conjunction. This communication which is effected by means of influx according to the conjunction is at this day unknown, for the reason that each and all things are attributed to nature, and nothing is known about what is spiritual, which at this day is so far set aside that when it is thought of it appears as nothing.

(Arcana Coelestia 6057)

The Connecting Nexus

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

He who is skilled in anatomy and also in physics may know by investigation that as regards their bodily and material forms, the organs both of sense and of motion, together with all the viscera, correspond to various things that exist in the nature of the world; and thus that the whole body is an organ composed of the most secret things in the nature of the world, and in accordance with their secret forces of acting and their wonderful modes of flowing. For this reason man was called by the ancients a little world or microcosm.

He who knows this may also know that whatever exists in the world and its nature does not come forth from itself, but from what is prior to itself; and that this prior cannot come forth from itself, but from something prior to itself; and so on even to the First, from whom the things that follow come forth in order. And as they come forth from this, they also subsist from it; for subsistence is a perpetual coming forth. Hence it follows that all things in nature both in general and in particular, down to its last things, have not only come forth from the First, but also subsist from the First; for unless they were perpetually coming forth, and unless there were a continuous nexus, from the First, and thus with the First, they would fall to pieces and perish in an instant.

Now as all and each of the things in the world and its nature come forth, and come forth perpetually, that is, subsist, from things prior to themselves, it follows that they come forth and subsist from a world above nature, which is called the spiritual world; and as in order that they may subsist or perpetually come forth there must be a continuous nexus with that world, it follows that the purer and more interior things which are in nature, and consequently which are in man, are from that world; and also that the purer and more interior things are such forms as can receive the influx. And as there is only one possible fountain of life, as in nature there is only one fountain of light and heat, it is evident that everything of life is from the Lord, who is the First of life. And because this is so, it follows that all and each of the things which are in the spiritual world correspond to Him, and consequently all and each of the things which are in man; for man is a little spiritual world in the least form. Hence also the spiritual man is an image of the Lord.

From all this it is evident that with man especially there is a correspondence of all things with the spiritual world, and that without this correspondence he cannot subsist even for a moment; for without correspondence there would be nothing continuous from the very being of life, that is, from the Lord; thus there would be what is unconnected; and what is unconnected is dissipated as a nothing. The reason why correspondence with man is more immediate and hence closer, is that he has been created to apply to himself the life from the Lord, and thence into the capacity of a possible elevation by the Lord above the natural world in regard to his thoughts and affections, and thereby to think of God and to be affected with the Divine, and thus to be conjoined with Him, quite differently from the lower animals. And when the bodily things of this world are put away, those die not who are thus capable of being conjoined with the Divine, because their interiors remain conjoined with Him.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4523-4525)

Without a Proper Idea of God

Selection from Divine Love and Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

GOD IS VERY MAN

In all the heavens there is no other idea of God than that He is a Man. This is because heaven as a whole and in part is in form like a man, and because it is the Divine which is with the angels that constitutes heaven and inasmuch as thought proceeds according to the form of heaven, it is impossible for the angels to think of God in any other way. From this it is that all those in the world who are conjoined with heaven think of God in the same way when they think interiorly in themselves, that is, in their spirit. From this fact that God is a Man, all angels and all spirits, in their complete form, are men. This results from the form of heaven, which is like itself in its greatest and in its least parts.

It is known from Genesis 1:26, 27, that men were created after the image and likeness of God. God also appeared as a man to Abraham and to others. The ancients, from the wise even to the simple, thought of God no otherwise than as being a Man; and when at length they began to worship a plurality of gods, as at Athens and Rome, they worshiped them all as men. What is here said may be illustrated by the following extract from a small treatise already published: —

The Gentiles, especially the Africans, who acknowledge and worship one God, the Creator of the universe, have concerning God the idea that He is a Man, and declare that no one can have any other idea of God. When they learn that there are many who cherish an idea of God as something cloud-like in the midst of things, they ask where such persons are; and on being told that they are among Christians, they declare it to be impossible. They are informed, however, that this idea arises from the fact that God in the Word is called "a Spirit," and of a spirit they have no other idea than of a bit of cloud, not knowing that every spirit and every angel is a man. An examination, nevertheless, was made, whether the spiritual idea of such persons was like their natural idea, and it was found not to be so with those who acknowledge the Lord interiorly as God of heaven and earth. I heard a certain elder from the Christians say that no one can have an idea of a Human Divine; and I saw him taken about to various Gentile nations, and successively to such as were more and more interior, and from them to their heavens, and finally to the Christian heaven; and everywhere their interior perception concerning God was communicated to him, and he observed that they had no other idea of God than that He is a man, which is the same as the idea of a Human Divine (Continuation Last Judgment 73-78).

The common people in Christendom have an idea that God is a Man, because God in the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity is called a "Person." But those who are more learned than the common people pronounce God to be invisible, and this for the reason that they cannot comprehend how God, as a Man, could have created heaven and earth, and then fill the universe with His presence, and many things besides, which cannot enter the understanding so long as the truth that the Divine is not in space is ignored.

Those, however, who go to the Lord alone think of a Human Divine, thus of God as a Man.

How important it is to have a correct idea of God can be known from the truth that the idea of God constitutes the inmost of thought with all who have religion, for all things of religion and all things of worship look to God. And since God, universally and in particular, is in all things of religion and of worship, without a proper idea of God no communication with the heavens is possible. From this it is that in the spiritual world every nation has its place allotted in accordance with its idea of God as a Man; for in this idea, and in no other, is the idea of the Lord. That man's state of life after death is according to the idea of God in which he has become confirmed, is manifest from the opposite of this, namely, that the denial of God, and, in the Christian world, the denial of the Divinity of the Lord, constitutes hell.

(Divine Love and Wisdom 11-13)

Thinking Naturally or Spiritually

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

People who think only from nature cannot comprehend that there is light in the heavens. Yet, such is the light in the heavens that it exceeds by many degrees the noonday light of the world. I have often seen that light even during the evening and night. At first, I marvelled when I heard angels saying that the light of the world is little more than a shadow in comparison with the light of heaven, but, having seen it, I can testify that it is so. The brightness and splendour are such as cannot be described. The things that I have seen in the heavens have been seen in that light, thus more clearly and distinctly than things in this world.

The light of heaven is not a natural light like that of the world, but a spiritual light because it is from the Lord as a Sun, and that Sun is the Divine Love, as shown in the previous section. That which goes forth from the Lord as a Sun is called in the heavens Divine Truth although in essence it is Divine Good united to Divine Truth. From this the angels have light and heat, light from Divine Truth, and heat from Divine Good. So, it can be confirmed from this that the light of heaven from such a source is spiritual and not natural, likewise the heat.

The Divine Truth is light to the angels because angels are spiritual and not natural. Spiritual beings see from their Sun and natural beings from theirs. It is from Divine Truth that angels have understanding, and their understanding is their internal sight which flows into and produces their external sight. Therefore, in heaven whatever is seen from the Lord as the Sun appears in light. This being the source of light in heaven, the light there is varied in accordance with the reception of Divine Truth from the Lord, or what is the same, in accordance with the intelligence and wisdom in which the angels are, thus differently in the celestial kingdom and in the spiritual kingdom and differently in each particular society.

In the celestial kingdom, the light appears flaming because the angels there receive light from the Lord as a Sun; but in the spiritual kingdom, the light is white because the angels there receive light from the Lord as a Moon. So, too, the light is not the same in one society as in another. It differs in each society, those in the middle being in greater light and those around them in less light.

In a word, the angels have light in the same degree in which they are receptions of Divine Truth, that is, in intelligence and wisdom from the Lord. This is why the angels of heaven are called angels of light.

As the Lord in the heavens is Divine Truth, and the Divine Truth there is Light, so in the Word the Lord is called the Light, likewise every truth from Him, as in the following passages:

Jesus said, I am the Light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8: 12.

As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world. John 9.

Jesus said, Yet a little while is the Light with you. Walk while ye have the Light, lest darkness overtake you. . . . While ye have the Light, believe in the Light that ye may he sons of Light. . . . I have come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. John 12:35, 36, 46.

Light hath come into the world, but men have loved darkness rather than light. John 3:19.

John says of the Lord,

This is the true Light which lighteneth every man. John 1:9.

The people that sit in darkness have seen a great light, and to them that were sitting in the shadow of death, light is sprung up. Matt. 4:16.

I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the gentiles. Isa. 42:6.

I have established thee for a light of the gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth. Isa. 49: 6.

The nations of them that are saved shall walk in His light. Rev. 21: 24.

Send out Thy Light and Thy Truth; let them lead me. Ps. 43: 3.

In these and other passages, the Lord is called the Light from the Divine Truth which is from Him, and the truth itself is called light.

As light in the heavens is from the Lord as a Sun, so when He was transfigured before Peter, James and John,

His face appeared as the Sun, and His garments as the light shining and white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can whiten. Mark 20: 3; Matt. 17: 2.

The Lord's garments had this appearance because they represented the Divine Truth which is from Him in the heavens. "Garments", in the Word, signify truths, consequently it is said in David,

Jehovah, Thou coverest Thyself with light as with a garment. Ps. 104: 2.

That the light in the heavens is spiritual and moreover that this light is Divine Truth may be inferred from the fact that man also has spiritual light and has enlightenment from that light so far as he is in intelligence and wisdom from Divine Truth. Man's spiritual light is the light of his understanding, and the objects of that light are truths, which he arranges analytically into groups, forms into reasons, and from them draws conclusions in a series.

The natural man does not know that the light from which the understanding sees such things is the real light, for he neither sees it with his eyes nor perceives it in thought. Yet, there are many who recognize this light and distinguish it from the natural light in which those are who think naturally and not spiritually.

Those who take account of the world only, think naturally and attribute all things to nature; while those think spiritually who take account of heaven and attribute all things to the Divine.

It has many times been granted to me to perceive and also to see that there is a true light (lux) that enlightens the mind, wholly distinct from the light called the natural light (lumen). I have been raised up interiorly into that light by degrees, and as I was raised up, my understanding became so enlightened as to enable me to perceive what I did not perceive before, and finally such things as I could not even comprehend by thought from natural light. Sometimes I felt indignant that these things could not be comprehended when yet they were so clearly and plainly perceived in heavenly light. Since the understanding has its light, therefore it is said of it, as of the eye, that it sees and is in light when it perceives, and is in obscurity and shade when it does not perceive, and many similar expressions.

(Heaven and Hell 126-130)