Thinking Rightly About God

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— A Memorable Relation —

IN THE NATURAL WORLD MAN'S SPEECH IS TWOFOLD, BECAUSE HIS THOUGHT IS TWOFOLD, EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL; FOR HE CAN SPEAK SIMULTANEOUSLY FROM INTERNAL THOUGHT AND FROM EXTERNAL THOUGHT; AND HE CAN SPEAK FROM EXTERNAL THOUGHT AND NOT FROM INTERNAL THOUGHT, AND EVEN CONTRARY TO INTERNAL THOUGHT; AND THIS IS THE SOURCE OF PRETENSES, FLATTERY, AND HYPOCRISY. BUT THIS TWOFOLD SPEECH MAN DOES NOT HAVE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD; HIS SPEECH THERE IS SINGLE; HE SPEAKS AS HE THINKS; OR IF NOT, THE TONE OF HIS VOICE IS GRATING AND HURTS THE EAR. NEVERTHELESS, HE CAN BE SILENT AND NOT DIVULGE THE THOUGHTS OF HIS MIND. SO WHEN A HYPOCRITE GETS AMONG WISE MEN HE EITHER LEAVES OR BETAKES HIMSELF TO A CORNER OF THE ROOM AND AVOIDS NOTICE AND KEEPS SILENT.

At one time a large number had assembled in the world of spirits, and were talking together about this matter, saying that to be able to speak only as one thinks is a hardship to such as have not thought rightly about God and the Lord whenever they come into association with the good. In the midst of the assembly were the Reformed and some of their clergy, and next to them the Papists with their monks. The clergy and the monks spoke first, saying, "This is not a hardship; what need is there for anyone to speak otherwise than as he thinks? If perchance he does not think rightly, can he not close his lips and keep silent?" And a clergyman said, "Who does not think rightly about God and about the Lord?"

But some of the assembly said, "Let us try them." And they asked those who had confirmed themselves in a trinity of persons in the Godhead to say from their thought ONE God; and they could not. They twisted and folded their lips in various ways, but were unable to articulate a sound into any words except such as were harmonious with the ideas of their thought, which were of three persons, and consequently of three Gods.

Again, those who had confirmed themselves in faith apart from charity were asked to utter the name Jesus; but they could not; although they could all say Christ, and also God the Father.

They wondered at this, and inquired the cause; and they found it to be that they had prayed to God the Father for the sake of the Son, but had not prayed to the Savior Himself; and Jesus signifies Savior.

Again, from their thought of the Lord's Human they were asked to say Divine Human; but not one of the clergy there present could do so, though some of the laity could; and therefore this fact was made a subject of serious discussion.

• First, the following passages from the Gospels were read to them:

The Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son (John 3:35);

The Father hath given to the Son power over all flesh (John 17:2);

All things are delivered unto Me by the Father (Matt. 11:27);

All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:18);

and they were asked to keep in their thought from these passages that Christ, both as to His Divine and as to His Human, is the God of heaven and earth, and then to pronounce the words Divine Human; but still they could not. They said that although from these passages they retained from the understanding some thought about the matter, they still had no acknowledgment of it, and therefore they could not bring it into speech.

• Afterwards there was read to them from Luke (1:32, 34, 35) that the Lord as to His Human was the Son of Jehovah God, and is there called "the God of the Most High," and in many other places, "the Son of God" and also "the Only begotten;" and they were asked to retain this in their thought, as also that the only-begotten Son of God born in the world could not but be God, as the Father is God, and then to utter the words Divine Human. But they said, "We cannot, because our spiritual thought, that is, our more internal thought, does not admit into the thought which lies nearest to speech any other ideas except those that are in harmony with the internal thought; and from this we perceive that we are not now permitted, as we were in the natural world, to divide our thoughts.

• Therefore, the Lord's words to Philip were read to them:

Philip said, Lord, show us the Father. And the Lord said, He that seeth Me seeth the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? (John 14:8-11)

and also other passages, as:

That the Father and He are one (John 10:30)

and they were asked to retain this in thought and then to say, Divine Human; but because that thought was not rooted in the acknowledgment that the Lord is God even in respect to the Human, they twisted their lips into folds till they grew angry, desiring to force their mouths to speak the words but they did not succeed; and for the reason that with those who are in the spiritual world the ideas of thought which flow from acknowledgment make one with the words of speech; and where these ideas do not exist words cannot be had; for in speaking, ideas become words.

• Still again, there was read to them the following from the doctrine accepted throughout the Christian world:

The Divine and Human in the Lord are not two, but one, even one person, united like soul and body in man.

This is from the Athanasian Creed, and has been recognized by the councils; and it was said to them, "From this certainly you can gain an idea grounded in acknowledgment that the Human of the Lord is Divine, since His soul is Divine; for this statement is from the doctrine of your church which you accepted while in the world; moreover, the soul is the very essence of the man, and the body is the form of this essence; and essence and form make one like esse and existere, or like the effecting cause of the effect and the effect itself." This idea they retained, and from it wished to utter the words Divine Human; but they could not; for their more internal idea of the Human of the Lord banished and erased this new adscititious idea, as they called it.

• Once again, this passage from John was read to them:

The Word was with God, and God was the Word, and the Word became flesh (1:1, 14).

Also this:

Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).

Also from Paul:

In Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9)

and they were requested to think accordingly, namely, that God who was the Word became Man, that He was the true God, and that in Him dwelt all the fullness of Divinity bodily. This they did, but only in external thought; and therefore, because of the resistance of internal thought, they were unable to pronounce the words Divine Human; and they said frankly, "We can form no idea of a Divine Human, because God is God, and man is man, and God is a Spirit, and we have always thought of spirit as being wind or ether."

• Finally, it was said to them, You know that the Lord said:

Abide in Me, and I in you. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:4, 5).

And as there were some of the English clergy present, the following from one of their exhortations at the Holy Communion was read to them:

"For when we spiritually eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ, then we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us."

And it was said, "If your thought now is that this is not possible unless the Lord's Human is Divine, pronounce the words Divine Human from acknowledgment in thought." But still they could not, so deeply impressed upon them was the idea that the Divine could not be Human, nor the Human be Divine, and that the Lord's Divine was from the Divine of a Son born from eternity, and His Human like that of any other man. They were asked, "How can you think thus? Can a rational mind ever conceive of a Son born of God from eternity?"

• Then the inquirers turned to the Evangelicals, saying that the Augsburg Confession and Luther taught that the Son of God and the Son of man in Christ is one Person; and that He, even as to His Human nature, is omnipotent and omnipresent, and as to that nature sits at the right hand of God the Father, governs all things in heaven and on earth, fills all things, is present with us, and dwells and operates in us; also that there is no difference of adoration, because the Divinity that is not discerned is worshiped through the nature that is discerned; and that in Christ God is Man, and Man is God. Hearing this they said, "Can this be so?" And they looked around and said presently, "We did not know this before; therefore we are unable to say Divine Human." And first one and then another said, "We have read this, and we have written it; and yet when we thought about it in our minds it was mere words, of which we had no interior idea."

• Finally they turned to the Papists and said, "Perhaps you can say Divine Human, since you believe that Christ is wholly present in the bread and wine of your Eucharist, and in every part of them; and you also worship Him as God most holy when you exhibit and carry about the host; also because you call Mary 'Deipara,' that is, 'Mother of God;' consequently you acknowledge that she gave birth to God, that is, to the Divine Human." Then they wished to pronounce it, but they could not, because a material idea of Christ's body and blood then suggested itself, and also a belief that His Human is separable from the Divine, and with the pope is actually so separated, since to him the human power only, and not the Divine, was transferred. Then one of the monks arose and said that he could conceive of a Divine Human with reference to the most holy virgin Mary, and also with reference to the saint of his monastery. And another monk came forward and said, "From an idea of my thought which I now entertain I am able to say Divine Human, but with reference to his holiness the pope rather than in reference to Christ." But some of the Papists pulled him back, saying, "For shame."

After this heaven was seen open, and tongues like little flames were seen descending and alighting upon some; and they then celebrated the Divine Human of the Lord, saying,

HAVE DONE WITH THE IDEA OF THREE GODS, AND BELIEVE THAT IN THE LORD DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF DIVINITY BODILY, THAT THE FATHER AND HE ARE ONE, AS SOUL AND BODY ARE ONE, AND THAT GOD IS NOT WIND OR ETHER, BUT A MAN, THEN YOU WILL BE CONJOINED WITH HEAVEN, AND FROM THE LORD YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SPEAK THE NAME JESUS, AND TO SAY DIVINE HUMAN.

(True Christian Religion 111)

Enlightenment from the Lord

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

As few know anything about the enlightenment that the understanding of a man who is taught by the Lord is in, something shall be said about it.

There is an interior and an exterior enlightenment from the Lord; and there is an interior and an exterior enlightenment from man.

By interior enlightenment from the Lord, a man perceives at the first hearing whether what is said is true or is not true. Exterior enlightenment is from this in the thought.

Interior enlightenment from man is from mere confirmation; and exterior enlightenment from man is from mere knowledge. About each one of these something shall be said.

A man who is rational from interior enlightenment from the Lord immediately perceives, when he hears them, whether many things are true or not true; for example, that love is the life of faith, that is, that faith lives from love. Also by interior enlightenment man perceives that whatever one loves he wills, and what he wills he does, consequently that to love is to do; and again, that whatever man believes from love, this too he wills and does, consequently to have faith is to do; also that a wicked man cannot have love of God, thus neither faith in God.

By interior enlightenment a rational man perceives as soon as he hears it that God is One; that He is omnipresent; that all good is from Him; also that all things have relation to good and truth; and that all good is from Good itself, and all truth from Truth itself. Man perceives these things and other like things interiorly in himself when he hears them; and he has this perception because he has rationality that is in the light of heaven, which gives enlightenment.

Exterior enlightenment is an enlightenment of the thought that is from the interior enlightenment; and the thought is in such enlightenment so far as it continues in the perception that it has from interior enlightenment, and also so far as it has knowledges of truth and good; for from these it draws the reasons by means of which it confirms. Thought from this exterior enlightenment sees a thing from both sides; on the one it sees the reasons that confirm, on the other the appearances that invalidate; the latter it disperses, the former it collects.

Interior enlightenment from man is wholly different. By it man sees a subject on one side and not on the other; and when he has confirmed it he sees it in a light apparently like the light spoken of above, but it is a winter light. For example, a judge who judges unjustly because of gifts or for the sake of gain, when he has confirmed his decision by the laws and by reasons, sees nothing but justice in it. To some the injustice may be evident, but as they do not wish to see it they mystify and blind themselves, and thus do not see. The same is true of a judge who is influenced in his decisions by friendship, or by a desire to gain favor, or by the ties of relationship.

Such men regard in the same way every thing that they hear from the lips of a man in authority, or a man of celebrity, or that they have hatched out from their own intelligence. They are rationally blind; for they have their vision from falsities, which they confirm; and falsity closes the sight, while truth opens it. Such see no truth from the light of truth, and no justice from a love of justice, but only from the light of confirmation, which is a delusive light. In the spiritual world they appear like faces without heads, or like faces that resemble human faces behind which there are wooden heads; and they are called rational animals, because they have rationality potentially. Those have exterior enlightenment from man, who think and talk from mere knowledge impressed on the memory. Such are scarcely able to confirm any thing from themselves.

(Divine Providence 168)

One Depends on the Other

Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
LIKE A CHAIN ON LINKS

Good and truth are the universals of creation and hence are in all created things, but are in the created subjects according to the form of each of these.

Good and truth are the universals of creation inasmuch as they are in the Lord God the Creator, indeed are God, for He is Divine Good itself and Divine Truth itself. This may fall more clearly into the perception of the understanding and into the idea of thought, if instead of good we say love, and instead of truth, wisdom. To put it so, there are in the Lord God the Creator, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and these are God, that is, He is Love itself and Wisdom itself. These two are the same as good and truth, good being of love, and truth of wisdom, for love consists of goods and wisdom of truths. Since the two sets of terms mean the same thing, in what follows we shall use now one and now the other, intending no difference of meaning. We premise this note, lest the understanding conceive a difference when the terms are used in what follows.

Since, then, the Lord God the Creator is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and the universe was created by Him and is like a work proceeding from Him, something of good and truth from Him cannot but be in each and all created things; for what is made and proceeds from any one, derives from him something similar. Reason can see this from the order impressed upon each and all things of the created universe: one thing is for another, and hence one depends on the other, as a chain on links. For all things are for the sake of the human race, that there may arise from it an angelic heaven, in which creation returns to its Creator, from whom it is; so there is conjunction of the universe with its Creator, and by conjunction everlasting maintenance. Hence it is that good and truth are called the universals of creation. That they are universals, is plain to any reasoning observer. In everything created he sees something referable to good, and something referable to truth.

Good and truth are in created subjects according to the several forms of these for the reason that everything receives influx according to its form. The maintenance of the whole is nothing but the perpetual influx of Divine Good and Divine Truth into forms created by them, for subsistence or maintenance is perpetual existence or creation. The fact that an object receives influx according to its form, may be illustrated by various things,

as by the influx of heat and light from the sun into growths of every kind; each growth receives of these what accords with its form, thus every tree, shrub, herb and grain, each according to its form.

Influx is the same into all, but reception according to the form causes each species to continue what it is. We might illustrate the fact further

from the influx into animals of every sort according to the form of each.

The simplest person can see that influx is according to form, if he considers various instruments of sound: reed-pipes, flutes, trumpets, horns and organs; all give forth sounds according to their forms under the same afflatus or influx of air.

(Conjugial Love 84-86)

Why the Lord Permits

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
WHY MAN CAN BE IN GOOD AND AT THE SAME TIME IN TRUTH
AND IN EVIL AND AT THE SAME TIME IN FALSITY
OR IN MIXTURES OF THEM.

THE LAWS OF PERMISSION ARE ALSO LAWS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE

There are no laws of permission by themselves or separate from the laws of the Divine Providence: they are indeed the same. When, therefore, it is said that God permits, this does not mean that He wills, but that He cannot avert on account of the end, which is salvation. Whatever is done for the sake of the end, namely, salvation, is according to the laws of the Divine Providence. For, as was said before, the Divine Providence, keeping this end continually in view, is constantly moving in ways different from and contrary to man's will. Therefore, at every moment of its operation or at every step of its progress, when it perceives man to deviate from this end, it directs, bends and disposes him in accordance with its laws by withdrawing him from evil and leading him to good.  This cannot be done without permitting evil. Moreover, nothing can be permitted without a cause, and such a cause is only to be found in some law of the Divine Providence which explains why it is permitted.

***
THE LORD DOES NOT SUFFER THAT ANYTHING SHOULD BE DIVIDED;
THEREFORE IT MUST BE EITHER IN GOOD AND AT THE SAME TIME IN TRUTH
OR IN EVIL AND AT THE SAME TIME IN FALSITY.

The Divine Providence of the Lord has especially for its end that a man should be in good and at the same time in truth, and for this it works; for thus a man is his own good and his own love, and also his own truth and his own wisdom; for thereby a man is man, since then he is an image of the Lord. However, because a man, while he lives in the world, can be in good and at the same time in falsity, and also in evil and at the same time in truth, and even in evil and at the same time in good, and thus as it were a double man; and because this division destroys that image, and so destroys the man; therefore the Divine Providence of the Lord, in all its operations both in general and in particular, has in view that this division shall not be. Moreover, since it is better for a man to be in evil and at the same time in falsity than to be in good and at the same time in evil, the Lord permits this, not as if He willed it, but as if He were unable to prevent it, on account of the end in view, which is man's salvation.

The reason why a man can be in evil and at the same time in truth, and why the Lord cannot prevent this on account of the end, which is salvation, is that man's understanding can be raised up into the light of wisdom and see truths or acknowledge them when he hears them, while his love remains below. Thus he can be in heaven with his understanding but with his love in hell; and this cannot be denied to him, because the two faculties - rationality and liberty - cannot be taken from him; for by virtue of these he is a man, and is distinguished from the beasts; and only by means of these faculties can he be regenerated and consequently saved. By means of these a man is able to act according to wisdom, and is also able to act according to a love that is not of wisdom. He can from wisdom above view the love that is below, and in this way can view his thoughts, intentions, affections, and therefore the evils and falsities as well as the goods and truths of his life and doctrine; and without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these in himself he cannot be reformed. What has been said explains why man can be in good and at the same time in truth, and in evil and at the same time in falsity, and also in alternations of these.

(from Divine Providence 234; 16)

The State of the Interiors of the Mind

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Of the Will and Thought

Whoever gives any thought to man's life and speech and action can know that everyone has exteriors and interiors, that is, exterior and interior thoughts and intentions. This he can know from these things. —

In civil life one thinks about others in accordance with what he has heard and learned of them by report or conversation; but he does not talk with them in accordance with his thought; and if they are evil he nevertheless treats them with civility. That this is so is known especially in the case of pretenders and flatterers, who speak and act in one way and think and will in a wholly different way; also in the case of hypocrites, who talk about God and heaven and the salvation of souls and the truths of the Church and their country's good and their neighbour as if from faith and love, although in heart they believe otherwise and love themselves alone.

From these things it can be established that there are two kinds of thought, one exterior and the other interior; and that there are those who speak from exterior thought, while from their interior thought they have other sentiments, and that these two kinds of thought are kept separate, since the interior is carefully prevented from flowing into the exterior and becoming manifest in any way.

By creation man is so formed as to have his interior and exterior thought make one by correspondence; and these make one in those who are in good, for such both think and speak what is good only. But in those who are in evil, interior and exterior thought do not make one, for such think what is evil and say what is good. With such there is an inversion of order, for good with them is on the outside and evil within; and in consequence, evil has dominion over good, and subjects it to itself as a servant, that it may serve it as a means for gaining its ends, which are of the same nature as their love. Because there is such an end in the good that they seek and do, it is evident that good with them is not good, but is infected with evil, however good it may appear in external form to those not acquainted with their interiors.

It is otherwise with those who are in good. With such, order is not inverted; but good from interior thought flows into exterior thought, and thus into speech and act. This is the order into which man was created; for in heaven, and in the light of heaven, such are the interiors of those there. And as the light of heaven is the Divine Truth that goes forth from the Lord, and consequently is the Lord in heaven, therefore such are led by the Lord.

All these things have been said to make known that every man has interior thought and exterior thought, and that these are distinct from each other. When thought is mentioned, will also is understood, for thought is from the will, and no one can think apart from the will. All this makes clear what is meant by the state of man's exteriors and the state of his interiors.

When will and thought are mentioned, then by will is also meant affection and love, and all the delight and pleasure that spring from affection and love, since all these relate to the will as to their subject; for what a man wills he loves and feels to be delightful or pleasurable; and on the other hand, what a man loves and feels to be delightful or pleasurable, that he wills. But by thought is then meant everything by which he confirms his affection or love, for thought is simply the will's form, or that whereby what is willed may appear in light. This form is made apparent through various rational analyses, which have their origin in the spiritual world and belong properly to the spirit of man

It is to be known that man is wholly such as his interiors are, and not such as his exteriors are, separate from his interiors. This is because his interiors belong to his spirit, and the life of his spirit is the life of man, for from it his body lives; and because of this, such as a man is as to his interiors, such he continues to be to eternity. But as the exteriors pertain to the body, they are separated after death, and those of them that adhere to the spirit are laid asleep, and serve purely as a plane for the interiors, as has been shown above in treating of the memory of man which continues after death. This makes clear what is man's own and what is not his own, namely, that with the evil nothing belonging to the exterior thought from which they speak, or to the exterior will from which they act, is their own, but only that belonging to their interior thought and will.

(Heaven and Hell 499 - 501)

Faith and What is it?

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:14-22)

THESE THINGS SAITH HE THAT IS HOLY, HE THAT IS TRUE, signifies from whom is that faith. This is evident from the signification of "He that is Holy, He that is True," as being, in reference to the Lord, He from whom are charity and faith.

He is called "holy" because charity is from Him, and "true" because faith is from Him. That the Lord is called "holy" because charity is from Him, and consequently that "holy" in the Word is predicated of charity and of faith therefrom will be seen presently. But the Lord is called "true" because faith is from Him, and consequently "true" in the Word is predicated of faith, for the reason that all truth is of faith; for that is called "true" which is believed; other things are not of faith because they are not believed.

FAITH AND WHAT IT IS

There is spiritual faith, and there is faith merely natural.

Spiritual faith is wholly from charity, and in its essence is charity. Charity, or love towards the neighbor, is to love truth, sincerity, and what is just, and to do them from willing them.

For the neighbor in the spiritual sense is not every man, but it is that which is with man; if this be truth, sincerity, and what is just, and the man is loved on account of these, then the neighbor is loved.

That this is what charity means, in the spiritual sense, anyone may know if he will but reflect.

Everyone loves another, not for the sake of his person, but for the sake of what is with him; this is the ground of all friendship, all favor, and all honor.

From this it follows, that to love men for the sake of what is true, sincere, and just in them is spiritual love; for what is true, sincere, and just are spiritual things, because they are out of heaven from the Lord. For no man thinks, wills, and does any good thing that is good in itself, but it is all from the Lord; and what is true, sincere, and just are good things that are good in themselves when they are from the Lord. These things, then, are the neighbor in the spiritual sense; from which it is clear what is meant in that sense by loving the neighbor, or by charity. From that is spiritual faith; for whatever is loved is called truth when it is thought. Everyone can see that this is so if he will reflect upon it, for everyone confirms that which he loves by many things in the thought, and all things by which he confirms himself he calls truths; no one has truth from any other source. From this it follows, that the truths a man has are such as is the love with him; consequently, if the love with him is spiritual, the truths will also be spiritual, since the truths act as one with his love. All truths, because they are believed, are called in one complex, faith. From this it is clear that spiritual faith in its essence is charity. So far concerning spiritual faith.

But faith merely natural is not a faith of the church, although it is called faith, but is merely knowing [scientia]. It is not a faith of the church, because it does not proceed from love to the neighbor, or charity, which is the spiritual itself from which faith comes, but proceeds from some natural love that has reference either to love of self or to love of the world, and whatever proceeds from these loves is natural.

Love forms the spirit of man; for man in respect to his spirit is wholly as his love is; from that he thinks, from that he wills, and from that acts; therefore he makes no other truth to be of his faith than that which is of his love -

and truth that is of the love of self or the world is merely natural, because it comes from man and from the world, and not from the Lord and from heaven; for such a man loves truth, not from a love of truth but from a love of honor, of gain and of fame, which he serves; and as his truth is such, his faith also is such. This faith, therefore, is not a faith of the truth of the church, or faith in a spiritual sense, but only in a natural sense which is a mere knowing [scientia]. And again because nothing of this is in man's spirit but only in his memory, together with other things of this world, therefore also after death it is dissipated. For only that which is of man's love remains with him after death, for (as has been said) it is love that forms man's spirit, and man in respect to his spirit is wholly such as his love is.

(from Apocalypse Explained 204:2-3)

All Things of the Law

Selection from Doctrine of the Lord ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
ITS BEING SAID THAT THE LORD FULFILLED ALL THINGS OF THE LAW MEANS
THAT HE FULFILLED ALL THINGS OF THE WORD

At the present day many persons believe that when it is said of the Lord that He fulfilled the law, the meaning is that He fulfilled all the commandments of the Decalogue, and thus became righteousness, and also justified the men of this world through this matter of faith. This however is not the meaning.

The meaning is that the Lord fulfilled all things written concerning Himself in the Law and the Prophets, that is, in universal Holy Scripture, because this treats solely of Him... The reason why many have believed differently, is that they have not searched the Scriptures and seen what is there meant by "the Law."

The Law there means, in a restricted sense, the ten commandments of the Decalogue; in a wider sense, all things written by Moses in the five books; and in the widest sense, all things of the Word. It is well known that By the Law in a restricted sense are meant the ten commandments of the Decalogue.

That by the Law in a wider sense are meant all things written by Moses in his five books, is evident from the following passages. In Luke:

Abraham said to the rich man in hell, They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them; if they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead (16:29, 31).

In John:

Philip said to Nathanael, We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and the Prophets did write (1:45).

In Matthew:

Think not that I am come to loosen the Law and the Prophets; I am not come to loosen, but to fulfill (5:17).

All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John (11:13).

In Luke:

The Law and the Prophets were until John since then the kingdom of God is evangelized (16:16).

In Matthew:

All things whatsoever that ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (7:12).

Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets (22:37, 39, 40).

In these passages, "Moses and the Prophets," and "the Law and the Prophets," mean all things that have been written in the books of Moses and in the books of the prophets.That "the Law" specifically means all things that have been written by Moses, is further evident from the following passages.

In Luke:

When the days of her purification, according to the Law of Moses, were fulfilled, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord; as it is written in the Law of the Lord: Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; and to offer a sacrifice, according to that which is said in the Law of the Lord: A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. And the parents brought Jesus into the temple, to do for Him after the custom of the Law. And when they had performed all things according to the Law of the Lord (2:22-24, 27, 39).

In John:

Moses in the Law commanded us that such should be stoned (8:5).

The Law was given by Moses (1:17).

From these passages it appears that where such things are spoken of as are written in the books of Moses, they are sometimes called "the Law," and sometimes "Moses."(So also in Matt. 8:4; Mark 10:2-4; 12:19; Luke 20:28, 37; John 3:14; 7:19, 51; 8:17; 19:7.)

Many things that were commanded also, are called by Moses "the Law," as:

• Concerning the burnt-offerings (Lev. 6:9; 7:37).
• Concerning the sacrifices (Lev. 6:25; 7:1-11).
• Concerning the meat-offering (Lev. 6:14).
• Concerning leprosy (Lev. 14:2).
• Concerning jealousy (Num. 5:29, 30)
• Concerning the Naziriteship (Num. 6:13, 21)

And Moses himself calls his books "the Law:"

Moses wrote this Law, and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bare the ark of the covenant of Jehovah; and he said to them, Take the Book of this Law, and put it at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah (Deut. 31:9, 11, 26).

It was placed at the side, because within the ark were the tables of stone, which in a restricted sense are the Law. Afterwards the books of Moses are called "The Book of the Law:"

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the Book of the Law in the house of Jehovah. And when the king had heard the words of the Book of the Law, he rent his garments (2 Kings 22:8, 11; 23:24).

That by "the Law," in the widest sense, are meant all things of the Word, is evident from these passages:

Jesus said, Is it not written in your Law, I said, Ye are gods? (John 10:34). (This is written in Ps. 82:6.)

The multitude answered Him, We have heard out of the Law, that the Christ abideth forever (John 12:34). (This is written in Ps. 89:29; 110:4; and in Dan. 7:11, 14.)

That the word might be fulfilled that is written in their Law, They hated Me without a cause (John 15:25) (This is written in Ps. 35:19.)

The Pharisees said, Have any of the rulers believed on Him? But this multitude that knoweth not the Law are cursed (John 7:48, 49).

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of the Law to fall (Luke 16:17). (Here "the Law" means all Holy Scripture.)

That the statement that the Lord fulfilled all things of the Law means that He fulfilled all things of the Word, is evident from passages where it is said that the Scripture was fulfilled by Him, and that all things were consummated: as from the following:

Jesus went into the synagogue, and stood up to read, and there was delivered to Him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and He unrolled the book, and found the place where it is written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me, He hath sent Me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He rolled up the book and said, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears (Luke 4:16-21).

Search the Scriptures, for they testify of Me (John 5:39).

That the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with Me hath lifted up his heel against Me (John 13:18).

None of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 17:12).

That the word might be fulfilled which He spake, Of them whom Thou gavest Me have I lost none (John 18:9).

Jesus said to Peter, Put up again thy sword into its place. How then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? But all this was done that the Scriptures of the Prophets might be fulfilled (Matt. 26:52, 54, 56). 

The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him, that the Scriptures be fulfilled (Mark 14:21, 49).

Thus the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, He was accounted among the transgressors (Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37).

That the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They divided My garments among them, and upon my under-vesture did they cast a lot (John 19:24).

After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now consummated, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (John 19:28).

When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, It is consummated, that is, fulfilled (John 19:30).

These things were done, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken.

And again another Scripture saith, They shall look on Him whom they pierced (John 19:36, 37).

Besides other places, where passages are adduced from the Prophets, without its being at the same time said that the Law, or the Scripture, was fulfilled.That all the Word has been written about the Lord, and that He came into the world to fulfill it, He also taught His disciples before His departure, in these words:

Jesus said to His disciples, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself (Luke 24:25-27).

Jesus said to His disciples, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me (Luke 24:44).

That in the world the Lord fulfilled all things of the Word, even to the veriest singulars of it, is evident from these His own words:

Verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall not pass from the law, till all things be accomplished (Matt. 5:18).

From these passages it may now be clearly seen that by its being said that the Lord fulfilled all things of the law is not meant that He fulfilled all the commandments of the Decalogue, but that He fulfilled all things of the Word.

(from Doctrine of the Lord 8 - 11)