Attending to Thoughts and Purposes

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THE EXTERNAL MAN
MUST BE REFORMED BY MEANS OF
THE INTERNAL
AND NOT THE REVERSE

By the internal and external man the same is meant as by the internal and external of thought, which have been frequently defined above. The reformation of the external by means of the internal means that the internal flows into the external, and not the reverse. It is admitted in the learned world that there is an influx of the spiritual into the natural, and not the reverse; and it is admitted in the church that the internal man must be first cleansed and renewed and thereby the external. This is admitted because it is taught by the Lord and declared by the reason. It is taught by the Lord in these words:—

Woe unto you, hypocrites; for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside of them may become clean also (Matthew 23:25, 26).

That reason declares this has been abundantly shown in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. For what the Lord teaches He gives man ability to perceive rationally, and this in two ways,

In one, man sees in himself that a thing is so as soon as he hears it.

In the other, he understands it by means of reasons.

His seeing it in himself is in his internal man.
His understanding it by means of reasons is in the external man.

Does not every one see it in himself when he hears that the internal man must be cleansed first, and the external by means of it? But one who does not receive a general idea of this subject by influx from heaven may be misled when he consults the external of his thought; from that alone no one sees otherwise than that the external works of charity and piety, apart from internal works, are what save. So in other things; as that sight and hearing flow into thought, and that smell and taste flow into perception, thus the external into the internal, when, nevertheless, the contrary is true. The appearance that things seen and heard flow into the thought is a fallacy — for it is the understanding that sees in the eye and hears in the ear, and not the reverse. So in everything else.

HOW THE INTERNAL MAN IS REFORMED, AND THE EXTERNAL BY MEANS OF IT

The internal man is NOT reformed merely by knowing, understanding, and being wise, consequently NOT by thought alone; but by willing that which knowledge, understanding, and wisdom teach. When a man from his knowledge, understanding, and wisdom sees that there is a heaven and a hell, and that all evil is from hell, and all good is from heaven, if he ceases to will evil because it is from hell, and wills good because it is from heaven, he is in the first stage of reformation, and is at the threshold from hell into heaven. When he goes further and wills to refrain from evils he is in the second stage of reformation, and is outside of hell, but not yet in heaven; he sees heaven above him. Man must have such an internal in order to be reformed; and yet he is not reformed unless the external is reformed as well as the internal. The external is reformed by means of the internal when the external refrains from the evils that the internal does not will because they are infernal, and still more when the external for this reason shuns evils and fights against them. Thus willing is the internal and doing is the external; for unless one does that which he wills, there is within a failure to will, and finally the willing ceases.

From these few statements it can be seen how the external man is reformed by means of the internal. This is what is meant by the Lord's words to Peter:—

Jesus said, If I wash thee not thou hast no part with Me. Peter said unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus said unto him, He that hath bathed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit (John 13:8-10).

"To wash" means spiritual washing, which is to cleanse from evils

"washing the head and the hands" means to cleanse the internal man

"washing the feet" means to cleanse the external man.

That when the internal man has been cleansed the external must be cleansed is meant by this, "He that hath bathed needeth not save to wash his feet." That all cleansing from evils is from the Lord is meant by this, "If I wash thee not thou hast no part with Me." That among the Jews washing represented cleansing from evils, and this is what "washing" signifies in the Word, and "washing the feet" signifies the cleansing of the natural or external man, has been shown in the Arcana Coelestia, in many places.

Since man has an internal and an external, and both must be reformed that the man may be reformed, and since no one can be reformed unless he examines himself, sees and acknowledges his evils, and afterwards refrains from them, it follows that not only the external but also the internal must be examined. If the external alone is examined, a man sees only what he has actually done, as that he has not committed murder, adultery, or theft, has not borne false witness; and so on. Thus he examines the evils of his body, and not the evils of his spirit. Nevertheless, one cannot be reformed unless the evils of the spirit are examined, for after death man lives as a spirit, and all the evils that are in the spirit remain. The spirit is examined only by man's attending to his thoughts, especially his purposes, for purposes are thoughts from the will; that is where evils are in their origin and in their root, that is, in their lusts and in their enjoyments; and unless these are seen and acknowledged the man is still in evils, although in externals he has not committed them. That to think from purpose is to will and to do is clear from the Lord's words:—

Everyone that looketh on another's woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:28).

Such is the examination of the internal man, whereby the external man is essentially examined.  I have often wondered, that although it is known by the whole Christian world that evils must be shunned as sins, and that otherwise they are not remitted, and unless they are remitted there is no salvation, yet this is known by scarcely one among thousands. Inquiry was made about this in the spiritual world, and it was found to be so. This is known by everyone in the Christian world from the exhortations read before those who come to the Holy Supper, for it is openly declared in these; nevertheless when they are asked whether they know this, they answer that they do not, and that they have never known it. This is because they have not thought about it, and because most of them have thought only of faith, and of salvation by it alone. I have also wondered that faith alone so closes the eyes that when those who have confirmed themselves in it are reading the Word they see nothing that is there said about love, charity, and works. It is as if they had daubed faith over all things of the Word, as one might so smear a manuscript with red lead that nothing underneath it would appear. Or if anything does appear, it is absorbed by faith and is said to be faith.

(from Divine Providence 150 - 153)

The Truth Shall Make You Free

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

To Compel Oneself is NOT Contrary to Rationality and Liberty

It has been shown already that man has an internal of thought and an external of thought, and that these are distinct like what is prior and what is posterior, or like what is higher and what is lower; and because they are so distinct they can act separately and can act conjointly.

These act separately when from the external of his thought a man speaks and acts in one way while interiorly he thinks and wills in another way

These act conjointly when a man speaks and acts as he interiorly thinks and wills.

The latter is generally true of the sincere, the former of the insincere.

Inasmuch as the internal and the external of the mind are so distinct, the internal can even fight with the external, and can force it by combat into compliance. Combat arises when a man thinks that evils are sins and therefore resolves to refrain from them; for when he refrains a door is opened, and when it is opened the Lord casts out the lusts of evil that have occupied the internal of thought, and implants affections for good in their place. This is done in the internal of thought. But as the enjoyments of the lusts of evil that occupy the external of thought cannot be cast out at the same time, a combat arises between the internal and the external of thought, the internal wishing to cast out these enjoyments because they are enjoyments of evil and not in accord with the affections for good in which the internal now is, and to bring in, in place of these enjoyments of evil, enjoyments of good that are in accord. The enjoyments of good are what are called goods of charity. From this contrariety a combat arises; and when this becomes severe it is called temptation.

Since, then, a man is a man from the internal of his thought, for this is a man's very spirit, it is clear that when a man compels the external of his thought to acquiescence or to an acceptance of the enjoyments of his affections, which are goods of charity, he is compelling himself. This evidently is not contrary to rationality and liberty, but is in accord with them, for rationality excites the combat and liberty carries it on. Moreover, liberty itself with rationality has its seat in the internal man, and from that in the external.

When, therefore, the internal conquers, as it does when the internal has reduced the external to acquiescence and compliance, the Lord gives man liberty itself and rationality itself; for the Lord then withdraws man from infernal freedom, which in itself is slavery, and brings him into heavenly freedom, which is in itself real freedom, and bestows upon him fellowship with the angels. That those who are in sins are servants, and that the Lord makes free those who accept truths from Him through the Word He teaches in John (8:31-36)

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall MAKE you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

This may be illustrated by the example of a man who has had a sense of enjoyment in fraud and secret theft, and who now sees and internally acknowledges that these are sins, and therefore wishes to refrain from them. When he refrains a combat of the internal man with the external arises. The internal man has an affection for sincerity, while the external still finds an enjoyment in defrauding; and as this enjoyment is the direct opposite of the enjoyment of sincerity, it only gives way when it is compelled; and it can be compelled only by combat. But when the victory has been gained the external man comes into the enjoyment of the love of what is sincere, which is charity; afterwards the enjoyment of defrauding gradually becomes unenjoyable to him. It is the same with other sins, as with adultery and whoredom, revenge and hatred, blasphemy, and lying. But the hardest struggle of all is with the love of rule from the love of self. He who subdues this easily subdues all other evil loves, for this is their head.

HOW THE LORD CASTS OUT THE LUSTS OF EVIL
WHICH OCCUPY THE INTERNAL MAN FROM BIRTH
AND
HOW HE IMPARTS IN THEIR STEAD AFFECTIONS FOR GOOD
WHENEVER A MAN
AS IF FROM HIMSELF
PUTS AWAY EVILS AS SINS

Man has a natural mind, a spiritual mind, and a celestial mind; and that so long as a man is in the lusts of evil and in their enjoyments, he is in the natural mind alone, and the spiritual mind is closed. But as soon as a man after examination acknowledges evils to be sins against God, because they are contrary to Divine laws, and resolves in consequence to refrain from them, the Lord opens his spiritual mind and enters into his natural mind through affections for truth and good, and He also enters into the rational, and from it arranges in order the things that are contrary to order below it in the natural. This is what appears to man as combat; and in those that have indulged much in the enjoyments of evil, it appears as temptation, for there is grief of mind when the order of his thoughts is being reversed. And as there is a combat against the things that are in the man himself and that he feels to be his own, and as one can fight against himself only from an interior self and from freedom there, it follows that the internal man then fights against the external, and fights from freedom, and compels the external to obedience. This, therefore, is compelling one's self; and this, evidently, is not contrary to liberty and rationality, but in accordance with them.

EVERY MAN WISHES TO BE FREE

Furthermore, every man wishes to be free, and to put away from himself non-freedom or servitude. Every boy subject to a teacher wishes to be his own master, and thus free; the same is true of every servant under his master, and every maidservant under her mistress. Every maiden wishes to leave her father's house and to marry, that she may act freely in her own house; every youth who desires employment or to be in business or to perform the duties of some office, while he is subject to others longs to be released, so as to be at his own disposal. All such who willingly serve for the sake of liberty compel themselves; and when they compel themselves they act from freedom in accordance with reason, but from an interior freedom, from which exterior freedom is looked upon as a servant. This has been presented to show that it is not contrary to rationality and liberty to compel oneself.

Man does not wish, in like manner, to come out of spiritual servitude into spiritual liberty, for the reason —

first, that he does not know what spiritual servitude is and what spiritual liberty is; he does not possess the truths that teach this; and without truths, spiritual servitude is believed to be freedom, and spiritual freedom to be servitude.

Another reason is that the religion of the Christian world has closed up the understanding, and faith alone has sealed it; for both of these have placed around themselves, like a wall of iron, the dogma that theological matters transcend the comprehension, and cannot therefore be reached by any exercise of the reason, and are for the blind, not for those that see. In this way have the truths been hidden that teach what spiritual liberty is.

A third reason is, that few examine themselves and see their sins; and he who does not see his sins and refrain from them is in the freedom of sin, which is infernal freedom, in itself bondage; and from this to see heavenly freedom, which is freedom itself, is like seeing day when immersed in thick darkness, or like seeing what is from the sun above when under a dark cloud.

For these reasons it is not known what heavenly freedom is, and that the difference between it and infernal freedom is like the difference between what is alive and what is dead.

(from Divine Providence 145 - 149)

Reformed in States of Rationality and Liberty

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

NO ONE IS REFORMED IN STATES THAT DO NOT SPRING FROM RATIONALITY AND LIBERTY

Nothing is appropriated to man except what he does from freedom in accordance with reason. This is because freedom belongs to the will and reason to the understanding; and when man acts from freedom in accordance with reason he acts from the will by means of his understanding; and whatever is done in a conjunction of these two is appropriated. Since, then, it is the Lord's will that man should be reformed and regenerated, that he may have eternal life or the life of heaven, and no one can be reformed and regenerated unless good is so appropriated to his will as to be as if it were his, and truth is so appropriated to his understanding as to be as if it were his, and since nothing can be appropriated to any one except what is done from freedom of the will in accordance with the reason of the understanding, it follows that no one is reformed in states that do not spring from liberty and rationality. These states are many, but in general they may be referred to the following, namely states of fear, of misfortune, of disordered mind, of bodily disease, of ignorance, and of blindness of the understanding. Something shall be said of each state in particular.

NO ONE IS REFORMED IN A STATE OF FEAR

No one is reformed in a state of fear, because fear takes away freedom and reason, or liberty and rationality; for while love opens the interiors of the mind, fear closes them; and when they are closed man thinks but little, and only of what then presents itself to the mind or the senses. Such is the effect of all fears that take possession of the mind.

It has been shown above that man has an internal and an external of thought; fear can in no wise take possession of the internal of thought; this is always in freedom because in its life's love; but it can take possession of the external of thought, and when it does this the internal of thought is closed; and when that is closed man can no longer act from freedom in accordance with his reason, and therefore cannot be reformed.

The fear that takes possession of the external of thought and closes the internal is chiefly a fear of the loss of honor or gain. The internal of thought is not closed by a fear of civil punishments or of external ecclesiastical punishments, because such laws only prescribe penalties for those who speak and act contrary to the civil interests of the kingdom and the spiritual interests of the church, and not for those who merely think in opposition to them.

A fear of infernal punishments may take possession of the external of thought, but only for a few moments or hours or days; it is soon brought back to its freedom from the internal of thought, which belongs strictly to its spirit and its life's love, and is called the thought of the heart.

But a fear of the loss of honor and gain takes possession of the external of man's thought; and when it does this it closes the internal of thought from above against influx from heaven, and makes it impossible for man to be reformed. This is because every man's life's love from his birth is a love of self and the world; and the love of self makes one with the love of honor, and the love of the world makes one with the love of gain. When, therefore, a man has gained honor or wealth, from a fear of losing them he strengthens with himself the means that are serviceable to him for honor and gain, whether civil or ecclesiastical, both of which are means of power. One who has not yet gained honor and wealth does the like if he desires them; but he does it from a fear of the loss of reputation on their account.

It is said that that fear takes possession of the external of thought, and closes the internal from above against the influx from heaven. The internal is said to be closed when it completely makes one with the external, for it is not then in itself but in the external.

But inasmuch as the loves of self and the world are infernal loves, and are the fountain heads of all evils, it is clear what the internal of thought is in itself in those in whom these loves are the loves of the life, or in whom these loves rule, namely, that it is full of the lusts of evils of every kind. This is not known to those who from a fear of the loss of dignity and wealth are strongly persuaded respecting the religion they accept, especially if the religion involves their worship as deities, and also as having supreme power over hell. Such may seem to be in a blaze of zeal for the salvation of souls, and yet this may be from an infernal fire. As such a fear especially takes away rationality itself and liberty itself, which are heavenly in their origin, it is evidently a hindrance to man's ability to be reformed.

NO ONE IS REFORMED IN A STATE OF MISFORTUNE

No one is reformed in a state of misfortune, if he thinks of God and implores His aid only in that state, because that is a compelled state; consequently as soon as he comes into a free state he goes back to his former state, in which he had thought little or nothing about God. It is otherwise with those who in their former free state had feared God. By "fearing God" is meant fearing to offend Him, "offending God" meaning to sin. This fear is not a matter of fear but of love, for when one loves another does he not fear to do him wrong? And does he not fear this the more, the more he loves? Without such a fear love is insipid and superficial, a mere matter of the thought and not at all of the will. By "states of misfortune" are meant states of despair from danger, as in battles, duels, shipwrecks, falls, fires, threatened or unexpected loss of wealth or of office and thus of honors, and other like things To think of God only when in such dangers is not from God but from self. For the mind is then as it were imprisoned in the body; thus not at liberty, and therefore not in rationality; and apart from these no reformation is possible.

NO ONE IS REFORMED IN UNHEALTHY MENTAL STATES

No one is reformed in unhealthy mental states, because these take away rationality, and consequently the freedom to act in accordance with reason. For the mind may be sick and unsound; and while a sound mind is rational a sick mind is not. Such unhealthy mental states are melancholy, a spurious or false conscience, hallucinations of various kinds, grief of mind from misfortunes, and anxieties and mental suffering from a vitiated condition of the body. These are sometimes regarded as temptations, but they are not. For genuine temptations have as their objects things spiritual, and in these the mind is wise; but these states have as their objects natural things, and in these the mind is unhealthy.

NO ONE IS REFORMED IN A STATE OF BODILY DISEASE

No one is reformed in a state of bodily disease, because the reason is not then in a free state; for the state of the mind depends upon the state of the body. When the body is sick the mind is also sick, because of its separation from the world if for no other reason. For when the mind is removed from the world it may think about God, but not from God, for it does not possess freedom of reason. Man has freedom of reason by his being midway between heaven and the world, and by his ability to think from heaven or from the world, also from heaven about the world, or from the world about heaven. So when a man is sick, and is thinking about death and the state of his soul after death, he is not in the world; but in spirit he is withdrawn; and in this state alone no one can be reformed; but if before he fell sick he had been reformed this can then be strengthened.

It is the same with those who give up the world and all business there, and give themselves solely to thoughts about God, heaven, and salvation; but of this more elsewhere. As a consequence, if these persons had not been reformed before their sickness, if they die they afterwards become such as they were before the sickness. It is therefore vain to think that any can repent or receive any faith during sickness, for in such repentance there is nothing of action, and in such faith nothing of charity; thus both belong wholly to the lips and not at all to the heart.

NO ONE IS REFORMED IN A STATE OF IGNORANCE

No one is reformed in a state of ignorance, because all reformation is effected by means of truths and a life according to them; consequently those who are ignorant of truths cannot be reformed; but if they desire truths from an affection for truths, after death in the spiritual world they are reformed.

NO ONE IS REFORMED IN A STATE OF IN A STATE OF BLINDNESS OF THE UNDERSTANDING

Neither can any one be reformed in a state of blindness of the understanding. These, too, are ignorant of truths, and consequently of life; for the understanding must teach truths, and the will must do them; and when the will does what the understanding teaches its life comes into harmony with the truths. But when the understanding is blinded the will also is closed up; and from a freedom that is in accord with its reason it does only the evil that has been confirmed in the understanding, which is falsity. The understanding is blinded not only by ignorance but also by a religion that teaches a blind faith, also by false doctrine. For as truths open the understanding so falsities close it; they close it above but open it below; and an understanding that is opened only below cannot see truths, but can merely confirm whatever it wills, especially falsity. The understanding is also blinded by the lusts of evil. As long as the will is in these it moves the understanding to confirm them; and so far as the lusts of evil are confirmed the will cannot be in affections for good and to see truths from them, and thus be reformed.

When one, for example, is in the lust of adultery, his will, which is in the enjoyment of his love, moves his understanding to confirm it, saying, "What is adultery? Is there anything wicked in it? Is there not a like thing between husband and wife? Cannot offspring be born from adultery as well as from marriage? Cannot a woman admit more than one without harm? What has the spiritual to do with this?" So thinks the understanding that is then the will's harlot, and that has become so stupid from debauchery with the will as to be unable to see that conjugial love is the spiritual heavenly love itself, an image of love of the Lord and of the church, and derived from that love, and thus is in itself holy, is chastity itself, purity, and innocence; also that it makes men to be loves in form, since consorts can love each other mutually from inmosts, and thus form themselves into loves; while adultery destroys this form, and with it the image of the Lord, and, what is horrible, the adulterer mingles his life with the husband's life in his wife, since a man's life is in his seed.

Because this is profane hell is called adultery, and heaven on the other hand is called marriage. Moreover, the love of adultery communicates with the lowest hell, while love truly conjugial communicates with the inmost heaven; and the organs of generation in either sex correspond to societies of the inmost heaven. All this has been presented to make known how blinded the understanding is when the will is in the lust of evil; and that no man can be reformed in a state of blindness of the understanding.

(from Divine Providence 138 - 144)

Compelled Worship and Worship Not Compelled

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

NO ONE IS REFORMED BY THREATS AND PUNISHMENTS

No one is reformed by threats and punishments, because they compel.

IT IS OF THE LORD'S DIVINE PROVIDENCE
MAN SHOULD ACT FROM FREEDOM
IN ACCORDANCE WITH REASON

It is admitted that the external cannot compel the internal, but that the internal can compel the external; also that the internal is so averse to compulsion by the external that it turns itself away.

It is also admitted that external enjoyments allure the internal to consent and love; and it may be known that a compelled internal and a free internal are possible. But although all these things are admitted they nevertheless need illustration; for many things when they are heard, being true, are at once perceived to be so, and are therefore assented to; but unless they are also corroborated by reasons they may be disproved by arguments from fallacies, and at last denied. Therefore the things just stated as admitted must be taken up and rationally confirmed.

First: The external cannot compel the internal, but the internal can compel the external. Who can be compelled to believe and to love? One can no more be compelled to believe than to think that a thing is so when he thinks that it is not so; and one can no more be compelled to love than to will what he does not will; for belief belongs to thought, and love belongs to the will. But the internal may be compelled by the external not to speak ill of the laws of the kingdom, the moralities of life, and the sanctities of the church; thus far the internal may be compelled by threats and punishments; and it is so compelled and ought to be. This internal, however, is not the strictly human internal, but is an internal that man has in common with beasts; and beasts can be compelled. The human internal has its seat above this animal internal. It is this human internal that is here meant, and that cannot be compelled.

Secondly: The internal is so averse to compulsion by the external that it turns itself away. This is because the internal wishes to be in freedom, and loves freedom, for freedom belongs to man's love or life, as has been shown above; consequently when freedom feels itself to be compelled it withdraws as it were within itself and turns itself away, and looks upon compulsion as its enemy; for the love that constitutes man's life is irritated, and causes the man to think that in this respect he is not his own, and therefore does not live for himself. Man's internal is such from the law of the Lord's Divine providence that man should act from freedom in accordance with reason.

From this it is clear that to compel men to Divine worship by threats and punishments is pernicious.

But there are some who suffer themselves to be compelled in respect to religion, and some who do not. Of those who suffer themselves to be so compelled there are many within the papal jurisdiction; but this takes place with those in whose worship there is nothing internal, but all is external. Of those who do not suffer themselves to be compelled there are many of the English nation; and as a consequence of this there is in their worship an internal, and what there is in the external is from their internal. In regard to their religion their interiors appear in spiritual light like bright clouds; while the interiors of the former, in respect to religion, appear in the light of heaven like dark clouds. These appearances are presented to sight in the spiritual world, and will be seen by any one who wishes to see them when he comes into that world after death. Furthermore, compelled worship shuts in evils, which evils then lie hidden like fire in wood under ashes, which is continually kindling and spreading till it breaks out in flames; while worship not compelled, but spontaneous, does not shut evils in, and in consequence they are like fires that blaze up quickly and are gone. All this makes clear that the internal is so averse to compulsion that it turns itself away. The internal can compel the external, because the internal is like a master, and the external like a servant.

Thirdly: External enjoyments allure the internal to consent, and also to love. There are two kinds of enjoyments, enjoyments of the understanding and enjoyments of the will; those of the understanding are also enjoyments of wisdom, and those of the will are also enjoyments of love; for wisdom belongs to the understanding, and love to the will. And inasmuch as the enjoyments of the body and its senses, which are external enjoyments, act as one with the internal enjoyments which belong to the understanding and the will, it follows that while the internal is so averse to compulsion by the external as to turn itself away from it, it also looks with such favor on enjoyments in the external as even to turn itself to it; thus on the part of the understanding there is consent, and on the part of the will there is love.

In the spiritual world all children are led by the Lord into angelic wisdom, and through that into heavenly love, by means of things enjoyable and pleasing; first by means of beautiful things in their homes, and by means of pleasing things in gardens; then by means of representatives of spiritual things, which affect the interiors of their minds with pleasure; and finally by means of truths of wisdom, and so by means of goods of love. Thus this is done continuously by means of enjoyments in their order; first by means of the enjoyments of the love of the understanding and of its wisdom; and finally by the enjoyments of the will's love, which becomes their life's love; and to this all other things that have entered by means of enjoyments are held subordinate.

This takes place because everything of the understanding and will must be formed by means of what is external before it is formed by the means of what is internal; since everything of the understanding and will is first formed by means of what enters through the senses of the body, especially through the sight and hearing; and when the first understanding and first will have been formed, the internal of thought looks upon these as the externals of its thought, and either conjoins itself with them or separates itself from them. It conjoins itself with them if they are delightful to it, and it separates itself from them if they are not.

But it must be clearly understood that the internal of the understanding does not conjoin itself with the internal of the will, but that the internal of the will conjoins itself with the internal of the understanding, and makes the conjunction to be reciprocal; but this is done by the internal of the will, and not in the least by the internal of the understanding. This is the reason why man cannot be reformed by means of faith alone, but only by means of the will's love, which makes a faith for itself.

Fourthly: A compelled internal and a free internal are possible. A compelled internal is possible in such as are in external worship only and in no internal worship; for their internal consists in thinking and willing that to which the external is compelled. Such is the state of those who worship men living and dead, and thus worship idols, and whose faith is based on miracles. In such no internal is possible except what is at the same time external.

A compelled internal is also possible in such as are in the internal of worship. It may be an internal compelled by fear or an internal compelled by love.

Those have an internal compelled by fear who are in worship from a fear of the torment of hell and its fire. Such an internal, however, is not the internal of thought before treated of, but is the external of thought, and is here called an internal because it belongs to thought. The internal of thought before treated of cannot be compelled by any fear; but it can be compelled by love and by a fear of losing love. In its true sense the fear of God is nothing else.

To be compelled by love and a fear of losing it is to compel oneself — that compelling oneself is not contrary to liberty and rationality.

COMPELLED WORSHIP AND WORSHIP NOT COMPELLED

All this makes clear what compelled worship is and what worship not compelled is.

Compelled worship is corporeal, lifeless, darkened, and sad; corporeal because it is of the body and not of the mind, lifeless because there is no life in it, darkened because there is no understanding in it, and sad because there is no enjoyment of heaven in it. But worship not compelled, when it is genuine, is spiritual, living, clear, and joyful; spiritual because there is spirit from the Lord in it, living because there is life from the Lord in it, clear because there is wisdom from the Lord in it, and joyful because there is heaven from the Lord in it.

(from Divine Providence 136, 137)

Visions, and Conversation with the Dead

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
NO ONE IS REFORMED BY VISIONS OR BY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD

No one is reformed by visions or by conversations with the dead, because they compel.

IT IS OF THE LORD'S DIVINE PROVIDENCE
MAN SHOULD ACT FROM FREEDOM
IN ACCORDANCE WITH REASON

Visions are of two kinds, Divine and diabolical.

Divine visions are produced by means of representations in heaven

Diabolical visions by means of magic in hell

There are also fantastic visions, which are delusions of an abstracted mind.

Divine visions, which are produced (as has been said) by means of representations in heaven, are such as the prophets had, who were not in the body but in the spirit when they were in these visions; for visions can not appear to any one in the waking states of the body, When, therefore, they appear to the prophets they are said to have been "in the spirit," as is evident from the passages that follow.

Ezekiel says:-

Moreover, the spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision of God, in the spirit of God, into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up over me (10: 1, 24).

Again —

that the spirit lifted him up between the earth and the heaven, and brought him in the visions of God to Jerusalem (8: 3, seq.).

In like manner —

he was in the vision of God or in the spirit when he saw the four living creatures which were cherubim (1 and 10).

As also —

when he saw the new temple and the new earth, and the angel measuring them (40 - 48).

That he was then in the visions of God he says (40: 2, 26); and in the spirit (43: 5).

In a like state was Zechariah —

When he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees (Zech. 1: 8, seq.)

When he saw four horns (1: 18)

and a man in whose hand was a measuring line (2: 1-3, seq.)

When he saw a lampstand and two olive trees (4: 1, seq.)

When he saw the flying roll and the ephah (5: 1, 6)

When he saw four chariots coming out from between two mountains, and horses (6: 1, seq.).

In a like state was Daniel —

When he saw four beasts coming up from the sea (Dan. 7: 1, seq.)

When he saw the combat between a ram and a he-goat (8: 1, seq.).

That he saw these things in the vision of his spirit is stated (7: 1, 2, 7, 13; 8: 2; 10: 1, 7, 8)

that the angel Gabriel was seen by him in vision (9: 21).

John, also, was in the vision of the spirit when he saw what he described in the Apocalypse: —

As when he saw seven lampstands, and in their midst the Son of man (1: 12-16)

When he saw a throne in heaven, and One sitting upon the throne, and four animals which were cherubim round about it (4)

When he saw the book of life taken by the Lamb (5)

When he saw horses going out from the book (6)

When he saw seven angels with trumpets (8)

When he saw the pit of the abyss opened, and locusts going out of it (9)

When he saw the dragon, and its combat with Michael (12)

When he saw two beasts, one rising up out of the sea and the other out of the earth (13)

When he saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet colored beast (17)

And Babylon destroyed (18)

When he saw a white horse and Him who sat upon it (19)

And when he saw the new heaven and the new earth; and the Holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (21)

And when he saw the river of the water of life (22)

That he saw these things in the vision of the spirit is said (1: 10; 4: 2; 5: 1; 6: 1; 21: 1, 2)

Such were the visions that appeared to them from heaven, not before the sight of the body but before the sight of the spirit. Such visions do not take place at the present day; if they did, they would not be understood, because they are produced by means of representations, each one of which is significative of the internal things of the church and the arcana of heaven.

Moreover, it was foretold by Daniel (9:24) that they would cease when the Lord came into the world.

But diabolical visions have sometimes appeared, induced by enthusiastic and visionary spirits, who from the delirium that possessed them called themselves the Holy Spirit. But these spirits have now been gathered up by the Lord and cast into a hell separate from the hells of others.

All this makes clear that by no other visions than those in the Word can one be reformed.

There are also fantastic visions: but these are mere delusions of an abstracted mind.

NO ONE IS REFORMED BY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD

That no one is reformed by conversations with the dead is evident from the Lord's words respecting the rich man in hell and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom.

for the rich man said: —

I pray thee, father Abraham, that thou wouldst send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come unto this place of torment. Abraham said unto him, They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them. But he said, Nay, father Abraham, but if one come to them from the dead they will repent. He answered him, If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rise from the dead (Luke 16: 27-31).

Conversation with the dead would have the same effect as miracles, namely, man would be persuaded and forced into a state of worship for a short time. But as man is thus deprived of rationality, and at the same time evils are shut in, this spell or internal bond is loosed, and the evils that have been shut in break out, with blasphemy and profanation. But this takes place only when some dogma of religion has been imposed upon the mind by spirits, which is never done by any good spirit, still less by any angel of heaven.

(from Divine Providence 134)

A Faith Induced by Miracles

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
NO ONE IS REFORMED BY MIRACLES AND SIGNS

No one is reformed by miracles and signs, because they compel.

It has been shown that man has an internal and an external of thought, and that the Lord flows into man through the internal of thought into its external, and thus teaches and leads him.

IT IS OF THE LORD'S DIVINE PROVIDENCE
MAN SHOULD ACT FROM FREEDOM IN ACCORDANCE WITH REASON

Both of these would perish in man if miracles were wrought and man were thereby driven to believe. That this is true can be seen rationally in this way.

It cannot be denied that miracles induce a belief and powerfully persuade that what is said and taught by him who does the miracles is true, and that this at first so occupies man's external thought as to bind and fascinate it, as it were. But by this, man is deprived of his two faculties called rationality and liberty, and thus of the ability to act from freedom in accordance with reason; and then the Lord can no longer flow in through the internal into the external of his thought, except merely to leave the man to confirm by his rationality what he has been made through the miracle to believe.

The state of man's thought is such as to enable him from the internal of his thought to see any matter in the external of his thought as in a sort of mirror; for, as has been said above, a man is able to see his own thought, which would not be possible except from a more internal thought. And when he thus sees a matter as in a mirror, he can turn it this way and that, and shape it until it appears to him beautiful; and if the matter is a truth it may be likened to a virgin or a youth, beautiful and living. But when one cannot turn it this way and that, and shape it, but can simply believe it from the persuasion induced by the miracle, it may be likened, if it is a truth, to a virgin or a youth carved from stone or wood, in which there is no life. It may also be likened to an object that is constantly before the sight, and being alone seen conceals every thing that is on either side of it and behind it. Or it may be likened to a sound continually in the ear that takes away the perception of harmony from many sounds. Such blindness and deafness are induced on the human mind by miracles. It is the same with every thing confirmed that is not looked into with some rationality before it is confirmed.

From all this it can be seen that a faith induced by miracles is not faith but persuasion — for there is nothing rational in it, still less anything spiritual — for it is only an external without an internal. The same is true of every thing that a man does from such a persuasive faith, whether he acknowledges God, worships Him at home or in churches, or does good deeds.

When a miracle alone leads a man to acknowledgment, worship, and piety, he acts from the natural man and not from the spiritual.

For a miracle imparts faith through an external way and not through an internal way, thus from the world and not from heaven; and the Lord enters into man through no other than an internal way, which is through the Word, and doctrine and preachings from the Word. And as miracles close this way, at this day no miracles are wrought.

That miracles are such can be seen very clearly from the miracles wrought before the people of Judah and Israel. Although these had seen so many miracles in the land of Egypt, and afterwards at the Red Sea, and others in the desert, and especially on Mount Sinai when the law was promulgated, yet only a month afterwards, while Moses tarried on that mountain, they made themselves a golden calf and acknowledged it as Jehovah who led them forth out of the land of Egypt (Exod. 33:4-6). So again, from the miracles afterwards wrought in the land of Canaan; and yet the people relapsed so many times from the prescribed worship. And again, from the miracles that the Lord wrought before them when He was in the world; and yet they crucified Him.

Miracles were wrought among them because the men of Judah and Israel were wholly external men, and were led into the land of Canaan merely that they might represent the church and its internals by means of the externals of worship, a bad man equally with a good man being able to represent; for externals are rituals, and all of their externals were significative of spiritual and celestial things. Aaron even, although he made the golden calf and commanded the worship of it (Exod. 32:2-5, 35), could represent the Lord and His work of salvation. And because they could not be brought by the internals of worship to represent those things they were brought to it and even driven and forced to it by miracles.

They could not be brought to it by the internals of worship because they did not acknowledge the Lord, although the whole Word that was in their possession treats of Him alone; and he that does not acknowledge the Lord is unable to receive any internal of worship. But when the Lord had manifested Himself, and had been received and acknowledged in the churches as the eternal God, miracles ceased.

But the effect of miracles on the good and on the evil is different.

• The good do not desire miracles, but they believe in the miracles recorded in the Word. And when they hear anything about a miracle they give thought to it only as an argument of no great weight that confirms their faith; for they think from the Word, thus from the Lord, and not from the miracle.

• It is not so with the evil. They may be driven and compelled to a belief by miracles, and even to worship and piety, but only for a short time; for their evils are shut in; and the lusts of their evils and the enjoyments therefrom continually act upon their external of worship and piety; and in order to get out of their confinement and break away they reflect upon the miracle, and at length call it a trick or artifice, or a work of nature, and thus go back to their evils. And he who returns to his evils after he has worshiped profanes the goods and truths of worship; and the lot after death of those who commit profanation is the worst of all. Such as these are meant by the Lord's words (Matt. 12:43-45), that their last state becomes worse than the first. Furthermore, if it is needful to work miracles for the sake of those who do not believe from miracles in the Word, they must be wrought for all such continually and visibly. All this makes clear why miracles are not wrought at this day.

(from Divine Providence 130-133)

Acting from Freedom in Accordance with Reason

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

MAN SHOULD NOT BE COMPELLED BY EXTERNAL MEANS
TO THINK AND WILL AND THUS TO BELIEVE AND LOVE THE THINGS OF RELIGION
BUT SHOULD GUIDE HIMSELF AND SOMETIMES COMPEL HIMSELF

This law of the Divine providence — man should act from freedom in accordance with reason — he should do this from himself and yet from the Lord, therefore as if from himself.

Everyone admits, moreover, that it is impossible to compel any one to think what he is not willing to think, and to will what his thought forbids him to will, thus to believe what he does not believe, and wholly so what he is unwilling to believe; or to love what he does not love, and wholly so what he is unwilling to love. For a man's spirit or mind has full liberty in thinking, willing, believing, and loving. It has this liberty by influx from the spiritual world, which does not compel (for man's spirit or mind is in that world), and not by influx from the natural world, which is received only when it acts in harmony with spiritual influx.

A man may be forced to say that he thinks and wills and believes and loves the things of religion; but he does not think, will, believe, and love them unless they are matters of affection and consequent reason with him, or come to be so. Also, a man may be compelled to speak in favor of religion and to do what it inculcates; but he cannot be compelled to favor it in his thought from any belief in it, or to favor it in his will from any love for it. Moreover, in kingdoms where justice and judgment are guarded, men are compelled not to speak against religion, and to do nothing in opposition to it, and yet no one can be compelled to favor it in his thought and will. For it is within every one's freedom to think in harmony with hell and to will in favor of hell, and also to favor heaven in thought and will. But the reason teaches what hell is and what heaven is, and what the abiding condition is in the one and in the other; and it is from the reason that the will has its preference and choice.

From all this it can be seen that the external cannot compel the internal. Nevertheless, this is sometimes done; but that it is pernicious.

More to follow.

(from Divine Providence 129)