When Charity is Principal

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

All who are in the Lord's kingdom are heirs; for they live from the Lord's life, which is the life of mutual love; and from this they are called sons. The Lord's sons or heirs are all who are in His life, because their life is from Him, and they are born of Him, that is, are regenerate. They who are born of anyone are heirs; and so are all who are being regenerated by the Lord, for in this case they receive His life.

In the Lord's kingdom there are those who are external, those who are interior, and those who are internal. Good spirits, who are in the first heaven, are external; angelic spirits, who are in the second heaven, are interior; and angels, who are in the third, are internal. They who are external are not so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are interior; nor are these so closely related or so near to the Lord, as they who are internal. The Lord, from the Divine love or mercy, wills to have all near to Himself; so that they do not stand at the doors, that is, in the first heaven; but He wills that they should be in the third; and, if it were possible, not only with Himself, but in Himself.

What pertains to doctrine does not itself make the external, still less the internal; nor with the Lord does it distinguish churches from each other, but that which does this is a life according to doctrinals, all of which, provided they are true, look to charity as their fundamental.

What is doctrine but that which teaches how a man must live?

In the Christian world it is doctrinal matters that distinguish churches; and from them men call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists, or the Reformed and the Evangelical, and by other names. It is from what is doctrinal alone that they are so called; which would never be if they would make love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor the principal of faith. Doctrinal matters would then be only varieties of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith, which truly Christian men would leave to everyone to hold in accordance with his conscience, and would say in their hearts that a man is truly a Christian when he lives as a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. Thus from all the differing churches there would be made one church; and all the dissensions that come forth from doctrine alone would vanish; yea, all hatreds of one against another would be dissipated in a moment, and the Lord's kingdom would come upon the earth.

The Ancient Church just after the flood, although spread through many kingdoms, was yet of this character, that is, men differed much among themselves as to doctrinal matters, but still made charity the principal; and they looked upon worship, not from doctrinal matters which pertain to faith, but from charity which pertains to life. This is meant where it is said (Gen. 11:1), that they all had one lip, and their words were one.

(Arcana Coelestia 1799)

Every One has His Peculiar Life

From Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Every one has his peculiar life, thus a life distinct from that of another, is known; for there is a perpetual variety and no one thing is the same as another. Each one therefore has what is his own. This is very manifest from the faces of men, in that there is no one face just like another, and cannot be to eternity.

The reason is that there are no minds alike, and the faces are from the mind; for the face, as has been said, is the type of the mind, and the mind derives its origin and form from the life.

If a man had not his own life, just as he has his own mind and his own face, he would have no life after death distinct from that of another. Yea, neither would there be any heaven, for heaven consists of perpetually distinct individuals. Its form is solely from the varieties of souls and minds disposed in such order as to make one, and they make one from the One whose life is in all and in the single ones therein, as the soul is in man. If it were not so heaven would be dispersed because its form would be dissolved. The One, from whom all and each single individual have life, and from whom the form coheres, is the Lord. Every form in general is from various things, and is such as is their harmonious co-ordination and disposition into one. Such is the human form. Hence it is that man, consisting of so many members, viscera and organs, has no feeling within himself or from himself but that he is one.

That his own life awaits every one after death is known in the church from the Word, as from these things there:
The Son of man shall come, and then He shall reward every man according to his works (Matt. xvi. 27).
I saw the books opened, and they were judged every man according to his works (Rev. xx. 12, 13).
In the day of judgment God shall render to every man according to his deeds (Rom. ii. 5, 6; 2 Cor. v. 10).
The deeds, according to which it will be rendered to every one, are the life, because the life does them and they are according to the life.

As it has been given to me for many years to be with the angels, and to talk with those that were coming from the world, I can testify for a certainty that every one is explored there as to what his life has been; and that the life which he has contracted in the world remains with him to eternity. I have conversed with those who lived ages ago whose life was known to me from history, and have recognized that it was like the description. I have also heard from the angels that the life of no one can be changed after death, because it is organized, in accordance with his love and thence his works, and if they were changed the organization would be torn to pieces, which can never be done. And that a change in organization only takes place while in the material body, and is entirely impossible in the spiritual body, after the former is cast off.

That then is imputed to an evil man the evil of his life; and to the good man is imputed the good of his life. The imputation of evil is not accusation, crimination, inculpation, and judgment, as in the world, but the evil itself works this; for the evil, of their own free will, separate themselves from the good, because they cannot be together. The delights of the love of evil have an aversion to the delights of the love of good, and from every one his delights exhale, as do the odors from every plant on earth; for they are not absorbed and concealed by a material body as before, but flow freely forth from their loves into the spiritual aura. And as evil is there sensibly perceived as in its odor, it is this that accuses, criminates, inculpates, and judges, not before any judge, but before every one who is in good. And this is what is meant by imputation. Moreover an evil man chooses his companions, with whom he may live in his delight; and as he has an aversion to the delight of good, he of his own accord, betakes himself to his own in hell.

The imputation of good is effected in like manner. This takes place with those who in the world acknowledged that all the good in them is from the Lord and none from themselves. These are let into the interior delights of good, after they are prepared, and then the way is opened for them into heaven, to the society where its delights are homogeneous. This is done by the Lord.                                                                                     (Conjugial Love 524)

What Order Is

From True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

(1) God is order itself.

(2) He created man from order, in order, and into order.

(3) He created man's rational mind in accordance with the order of the whole spiritual world, and his body in accordance with the order of the whole natural world; and this is why man was called by the ancients a little heaven and a little cosmos.

(4) Therefore it is a law of order that man from his little heaven or his little spiritual world should govern his little cosmos or little natural world, just as God from His great heaven or spiritual world governs the great cosmos or natural world in each thing and all things of it.

(5) It is a resulting law of order that it is needful for man to lead himself into faith by means of truths from the Word, and into charity by means of good works, and so reform and regenerate himself.

(6) It is a law of order that man by his own exertion and power should purify himself from sins, and not stand still, believing in his own impotency, and expecting God to wash his sins away in a moment.

(7) It is also a law of order that man should love God with his whole soul and with his whole heart, and his neighbor as himself, and should not wait and expect that God will in an instant put these loves into his mind and heart, as bread from a baker may be put into his mouth.

(True Christian Religion 71:2)

Light

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In the Word frequent mention is made of "light," and by this in the internal sense is signified the truth which is from good but in the supreme internal sense there is signified the Lord Himself, because He is good and truth itself. Moreover there actually is light in heaven, but infinitely brighter than the light on earth; and in this light spirits and angels see one another, and by means of it is displayed all the glory which is in heaven. In regard to its lucidity, this light does indeed appear like the light in the world; but still it is not like it, for it is not natural, but spiritual, having in it wisdom; so that it is nothing else than wisdom which so shines before the eyes of the angels; and therefore the wiser the angels are, the brighter is the light in which they are. Moreover this light illumines the understanding of man, especially that of a regenerate man; but it is not perceived by man so long as he is in the life of the body, because of the light of the world, which then is regnant.

Moreover the evil spirits in the other life see one another, and also see many representatives which exist in the world of spirits, and this indeed they do from the light of heaven; but their lumen is such as proceeds from a fire of coals, for the light of heaven is changed into such a lumen when it comes to them.

As regards the very origin of light, this has been from eternity from the Lord alone; for Divine good itself and Divine truth, from which light comes, is the Lord. The Divine Human, which was from eternity (John 17:5), was this light itself. And whereas this light could no longer affect the human race, which had removed itself so far from good and truth, thus from light, and had cast itself into darkness, therefore the Lord willed to put on by birth the human itself; for thus He could illumine not only the rational but also the natural things of man; for He made both the rational and the natural in Himself Divine, in order that He might also be a light to those who were in such gross darkness.

That the Lord is light, that is, good itself and truth itself, and that thus from Him is all intelligence and wisdom, consequently all salvation, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John came to bear witness of the light; he was not that light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. That was the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:1, 4, 7-9).

The "Word" was the Divine truth, thus the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human, concerning which it is said that "the Word was with God, and God was the Word."

In the same Evangelist:
This is the judgment, that light is come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19);

where "light" denotes the Divine truth. Again:
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).

Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while ye have the light, lest darkness seize upon you; while ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:35-36).
He that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me; I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me may not abide in the darkness (John 12:45-46).

In Luke:
Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel (Luke 2:30-32).

This is the prophecy of Simeon concerning the Lord when he was born.

In Matthew:
The people that sat in darkness saw a great light, and to them that sat in the region and shadow of death, did light spring up (Matt. 4:16: Isa. 9:2);

from which passages it is very plain that the Lord as to the Divine good and truth in the Divine Human, is called "light." Also in the prophecies of the Old Testament, as in Isaiah:
The light of Israel shall be for a fire, and His Holy One for a flame (Isa. 10:17).

I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness, and I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles (Isa. 42:6).

I have given thee for a light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation, unto the end of the earth (Isa. 49:6).

Again:
Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. The gentiles shall walk to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising (Isa. 60:1, 3).

That all the light of heaven, consequently wisdom and intelligence, is from the Lord, is thus taught in John:
The holy city New Jerusalem, descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; the glory of God will enlighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Rev. 21:2, 23).

Again, speaking of the same:
There shall be no night there, and they need no lamp, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light (Rev. 22:5).

Again in Isaiah:
The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee; but Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory; thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light (Isa. 60:19-20).

"The sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee" denotes that this will be the case with the things not of natural, but of spiritual light, which is signified by "Jehovah being an everlasting light." That "Jehovah" as mentioned here and elsewhere in the Old Testament, is the Lord, may be seen above.

And that He is the light of heaven He also manifested to the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, at his transfiguration, when:
His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment became as the light (Matt. 17:2).

His "face as the sun" was the Divine good; His "raiment as the light" was the Divine truth. Hence it may be known what is meant by the expression in the benediction:
Jehovah make His faces shine upon thee, and be merciful unto thee (Num. 6:25);

that the "faces of Jehovah" are mercy, peace, and good; and that the "sun" is the Divine love; thus that it is the Divine love of the Lord which appears as a sun in the heaven of angels, may also be seen above.

(Arcana Coelestia 3195)

The Accommodation of the Purely Spiritual and Celestial with Man

From Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Matthew 19:28

by the "apostles" are not meant apostles, nor by "thrones," thrones, nor by "tribes," tribes, nor in fact by "twelve," twelve; but by all these terms - "apostles," "thrones," "tribes," and also by "twelve," are signified the primary things of faith; and it is from these and according to them that judgment is effected upon everyone. It was further shown that the apostles cannot judge even one man, but that all judgment is of the Lord alone.

(Arcana Coelestia 2129)

***

Man cannot apprehend any doctrine that is purely spiritual and celestial, that is, Divine, because it infinitely transcends his apprehension, and thus also his belief. All man's thoughts are terminated in the natural things which are connected with his senses. Whatever is not said from and according to these natural things is not comprehended, but perishes, like sight that has no bound in some ocean or universe; and therefore if doctrinal matters were set forth before a man in any other manner, they would not be at all received, and thus no respect would be entertained for them; as may be sufficiently evident from everything in the Word, where for this very reason purely Divine things themselves are set forth naturally, nay, sensuously; as that Jehovah has ears, eyes, and a face; and that He has feelings like a man, such as anger, and so forth.

This need was still greater at the time when the Lord came into the world, for then men did not know even what the celestial and the spiritual was, nor even that there was anything internal. Things merely earthly and worldly, and thus external, had full possession of their minds, as was the case with the apostles themselves, who imagined that the Lord's kingdom would be like a kingdom of this world, and therefore asked that one might sit on His right hand and another on His left, and who long thought that they should sit upon twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel; not as yet being aware that in the other life they would not have ability to judge even the smallest thing of one man.

(Arcana Coelestia 2553)

How Charity is to be Exercised

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

EVERY MAN INDIVIDUALLY IS THE NEIGHBOR WHO IS TO BE LOVED
BUT ACCORDING TO THE QUALITY OF HIS GOOD

Man is born not for the sake of himself but for the sake of others; that is, he is born not to live for himself alone but for others; otherwise there could be no cohesive society, nor any good therein. It is a common saying that every man is a neighbor to himself; but the doctrine of charity teaches how this is to be understood, namely, that everyone should provide for himself the necessaries of life, as food, clothing, a dwelling, and other things which are necessarily required in the social life in which he is, and this not only for himself, but also for his family, nor for the present alone, but also for the future. For unless a man acquires for himself the necessaries of life, he is not in a condition to exercise charity, since he is in want of everything. But how every man ought to be a neighbor to himself may be seen from the following comparison:  Every man ought to provide his body with food; this must be first, but the end should be that he may have a sound mind in a sound body; and every man ought to provide his mind with food, namely, with such things as pertain to intelligence and judgment; but the end should be that he may thereby be in a state to serve his fellow-citizens, society, his country, the church, and thus the Lord. He who does this provides well for himself to eternity. From this it is plain what is first in time, and what is first in end, and that the first in end is that to which all things look. It is also like building a house; first the foundation must be laid; but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for a dwelling-place. He who believes himself to be a neighbor to himself in the first place or primarily, is like one who regards the foundation, not the dwelling, as the end; and yet the dwelling is itself the first and the last end, and the house with its foundation is only a means to the end.

What it is to love the neighbor shall be explained. To love the neighbor is not alone to wish well and do good to a relative, a friend, or a good man, but also to a stranger, an enemy, or a bad man. But charity is to be exercised toward the latter in one way and toward the former in another; toward a relative or friend by direct benefits; toward an enemy or a bad man by indirect benefits, which are rendered by exhortation, discipline, punishment, and consequent amendment. This may be illustrated thus: A judge who punishes an evil-doer in accordance with law and justice, loves his neighbor; for so he makes him better, and consults the welfare of the citizens that he may not do them harm. Everyone knows that a father who chastises his children when they do wrong, loves them, and that, on the other hand, he who does not chastise them therefore, loves their evils, and this cannot be called charity. Again, if a man repels an insulting enemy, and in self-defense strikes him or delivers him to the judge in order to prevent injury to himself, and yet with a disposition to befriend the man, he acts from a charitable spirit. Wars that have as an end the defense of the country and the church, are not contrary to charity. The end in view declares whether it is charity or not.

Since, therefore, charity in its origin is good will, and good will has its seat in the internal man, it is plain that when anyone who has charity resists an enemy, punishes the guilty, and chastises the wicked, he does this by means of the external man; and therefore, after he has done it he returns to the charity that resides in his internal man, and then, so far as he can, and so far as is useful, he wishes him well, and from good will does good to him. Those who have genuine charity have a zeal for what is good, and that zeal may appear in the external man like anger and flaming fire; but its flame dies out and is quieted as soon as his adversary returns to reason. It is different with those who have no charity. Their zeal is anger and hatred; for by these their internal man is heated and set on fire.

(True Christian Religion 406-408)

Why Wars?

Selection from The Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The worshiper of himself and of nature confirms himself against Divine providence when he reflects that wars are permitted, and the consequent slaughter of so many men, and the plundering of their wealth. It is not from the Divine providence that wars exist, for they are connected with murders, plunderings, violence, cruelties, and other terrible evils, which are directly opposed to Christian charity; and yet they must needs be permitted, because, since the time of the most ancient people, meant by Adam and his wife, the life's love of man has become such that it wills to rule over others, and finally over all; also to possess the wealth of the world, and finally all wealth. These two loves cannot be kept bound, for it is according to the Divine providence that every one be allowed to act from freedom in accordance with reason; furthermore, without permissions man cannot be led from evil by the Lord, and thus be reformed and saved. For unless evils were permitted to break out man would not see them, and therefore would not acknowledge them, and thus could not be led to resist them. For this reason evils cannot be prevented by any providence; for if they were they would remain shut in, and like the diseases called cancer and gangrene would spread about and consume all that is vital in man.

For man from birth is like a little hell, between which and heaven there is perpetual discordance. No man can be withdrawn from his hell by the Lord unless he sees that he is in hell and wishes to be led out; and this cannot be done without permissions, the causes of which are laws of the Divine providence. For this reason there are wars, lesser and greater, the lesser between the possessors of estates and their neighbors, and the greater between the rulers of kingdoms and their neighbors. Between the lesser and greater there is no difference, except that the lesser are kept within bounds by the laws of the nation, and the greater by the laws of nations; also that while both the lesser and greater wish to transgress their laws, the lesser cannot, and the greater can, although not beyond its abilities.

There are many other reasons stored up in the treasury of Divine wisdom why the Lord does not check the greater wars, with their kings and commanders, connected as they are with murders, depredations, violence, and cruelties, neither in their beginning nor in their progress, but only at the close, when the power of one or the other has become so reduced that he is in danger of destruction. Some of these reasons have been revealed to me, and among them is this: that all wars, however much they may belong to civil affairs, represent in heaven the states of the church, and are correspondences. Such were all the wars described in the Word, and such also are all wars at this day. The wars described in the Word are those that the children of Israel waged with various nations, as the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Philistines, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and the Assyrians; and when the children of Israel, who represented the church, departed from their commandments and statutes and fell into the evils signified by those nations, they were punished by some nation, because each nation with which the children of Israel waged war signified some particular kind of evil. For example, when they profaned the holy things of the church by foul idolatries they were punished by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, because "Assyria" and "Chaldea" signify the profanation of what is holy.

Like things are represented by the wars of the present day, wherever they occur; for all things that take place in the natural world correspond to spiritual things in the spiritual world, and every thing spiritual has relation to the church. It is not known in this world what kingdoms in Christendom answer to the Moabites and Ammonites, what to the Syrians and Philistines, or what to the Chaldeans and Assyrians, and the others with whom the children of Israel waged war; and yet there are those that do answer to them. Moreover, what the quality of the church upon earth is and what the evils are into which it falls, and for which it is punished by wars, cannot be seen at all in the natural world; because in this world externals only are evident, and these do not constitute the church; but this is seen in the spiritual world, where internals are manifest, in which the church itself is; and there all are conjoined in accordance with their various states. The conflicts of these in the spiritual world correspond to wars; which are governed by the Lord on both sides correspondentially, in accordance with His Divine providence.

That in this world wars are governed by Divine providence the spiritual man acknowledges, but the natural man does not, except when a festival is appointed on account of a victory that he may return thanks on his knees to God that He has given the victory, also by a few words before going into battle. But when he returns into himself he ascribes the victory either to the prudence of the general or to some measure or occurrence in the midst of the battle, which they had not thought of, from which nevertheless came the victory.

The Divine providence that is called fortune is in the least particulars of even trivial things; and if in these you acknowledge the Divine providence you must certainly acknowledge it in the affairs of war. Also the successes and favorable occurrences of war are called in common language the fortune of war; and this is Divine providence, especially in the plans and preparations of the general, even although he then and afterwards may ascribe it all to his own prudence. And let him do this if he will, for he is in full liberty to think in favor of the Divine providence or against it, and even in favor of God and against Him; but let him know that no part whatever of the plan or preparation is from himself; it all flows in either from heaven or from hell,- from hell by permission, from heaven by providence.

(Angelic Wisdom Concerning The Divine Providence 251)