May 20, 2018

The Conjunction of the Infinite with the Human Race

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.  Genesis 17:9
The subject here treated of is the conjunction of the Lord with those who believe in Him, and therefore there is a repetition of the word "thou;" for it is said, Thou shalt keep My covenant, thou and thy seed; and from this repetition of the words in connection with "seed" it is evident that in the internal sense conjunction is signified, and in fact with those who are the seed, by which is signified the faith of charity...

Moreover when speaking of His union with the Father, the Lord speaks immediately and without a break of His conjunction with the human race; because this was the cause of the union, as is evident in John:
That they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and Thou in Me, for I have made known unto them Thy name, and will make it known, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them  (John 17:21, 22, 26)
from which it is evident that in the union of Himself with the Father the Lord had in view the conjunction of Himself with the human race, and that He had this at heart, because it was His love; for all conjunction is effected by means of love, love being conjunction itself.

Again in the same gospel:
Because I live, ye shall live also in that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you; he that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me  (John 14:19-21);
from which in like manner it is evident that in the union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence the Lord had in view the conjunction of Himself with the human race, and that this was His end, and this His love, which was such that the salvation of the human race, as held in the union of Himself with His Father, was to Him the inmost joy. There is also here described that which unites, namely, to have and to do His commandments, and thereby to love the Lord.

Again:
Father, glorify Thy name; there came therefore a voice from heaven, I have both glorified and will glorify it again. Jesus said, This voice hath not come for My sake, but for your sakes. But I, when I shall be lifted up from the earth, will draw all after Me (John 12:28, 30, 32)
by "glorification" is meant union, as before said; and that in the union of Himself with the Father He regarded the conjunction of Himself with the human race, is openly said in the words, when I shall be lifted up, I will draw all after Me.

That conjunction of the Infinite or Supreme Divine with the human race was effected through the Lord's Human made Divine, and that -
This conjunction was the cause of the Lord's coming into the world
is an arcanum into which many inquire in their own minds, and because they do not comprehend, they do not believe it; and as they do not believe for the reason that they do not comprehend, it becomes a scandal or stumbling-block to them. That this is so, I have learned from much experience from those who come into the other life. Very many of these - almost the greater part of those who had been men of talent in the world - when they merely think that the Lord became a man, and in external form was like other men, that He suffered, and that nevertheless He rules the universe, at once fill the sphere with scandals, because this had been a scandal or stumbling-block to them in the life of the body; although at that time they had divulged nothing about it, and had adored Him with outward sanctity. For in the other life the interiors are open, and are made manifest by the sphere diffused from them ....  In this way it is plainly perceived of what faith they had been, and what they had thought concerning the Lord.

Seeing that such is the case, it may be well to explain the matter a little further.
After all the celestial in man had perished, that is, all love to God, so that there was no longer any will of good, the human race had then been separated from the Divine; for nothing effects conjunction except love, and when this had been annihilated, there was disjunction; and when there is disjunction, then destruction and extirpation follow.
Therefore the promise was then made respecting the Lord's coming into the world, who should unite the Human to the Divine, and by this union should effect in Himself the conjunction of the human race by means of the faith of love and of charity.
From the time of the first promise (spoken of in Gen. 3:15) the faith of love in the Lord who was to come effected conjunction. But when there was no longer any faith of love remaining in the whole world, then the Lord came and united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, so that they were altogether one, as He Himself clearly says; and at the same time He taught the way of truth, that everyone who should believe in Him - that is, who should love Him and the things that are His, and who should be in His love which is love toward the universal human race, thus in love toward the neighbor - should be conjoined and saved.


When, in the Lord, the Human was made Divine, and the Divine Human, the result was an influx of the Infinite or Supreme Divine with man that otherwise could not possibly have existed; and an additional result was the dispersion of the direful persuasions of falsity and the direful cupidities of evil with which the world of spirits was brimful, and with which it was continually being filled full from the souls arriving from the world; and they who were in those persuasions and cupidities were cast into hell, and thereby were separated.
Unless this had been done, the human race would have perished, for the Lord rules the human race by means of spirits.
Nor could they have been dispersed in any other way, for no operation of the Divine was possible through man's rational things into those of internal sense, because these are far below the Supreme Divine when not so united; not to mention still deeper arcana that cannot be explained to the apprehension of any man.
(Arcana Cœlestia 2034)

May 19, 2018

The Divine Essence Itself is Love And Wisdom

Selection from Divine Love and Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Sum up all things you know and submit them to careful inspection, and in some elevation of spirit search for the universal of all things, and you cannot conclude otherwise than that it is Love and Wisdom. For these are the two essentials of all things of man's life; everything of that life, civil, moral, and spiritual, hinges upon these two, and apart from these two is nothing. It is the same with all things of the life of the composite Man - a society, larger or smaller, a kingdom, an empire, a church, and also the angelic heaven. Take away love and wisdom from these, and consider whether they be anything, and you will find that apart from love and wisdom as their origin they are nothing.

Love together with wisdom in its very essence is in God. This no one can deny;
For God loves every one from love in Himself, and leads every one from wisdom in Himself.
The created universe, too, viewed in relation to its order, is so full of wisdom coming forth from love that all things in the aggregate may be said to be wisdom itself. For things limitless are in such order, successively and simultaneously, that taken together they make a one. It is from this, and this alone, that they can be held together and continually preserved.

It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom that man has two capacities for life - from one of these he has understanding, from the other will. The capacity from which he has understanding derives everything it has from the influx of wisdom from God, and the capacity from which he has will derives everything it has from the influx of love from God.
Man's not being truly wise and not loving rightly does not take away these capacities, but merely closes them up; and so long as they are closed up - although the understanding is still called understanding and the will is called will - they are not such in essence.
If these two capacities, therefore, were to be taken away, all that is human would perish; for the human is to think and to speak from thought, and to will and to act from will. From this it is clear that the Divine has its seat in man in these two capacities, the capacity to be wise and the capacity to love (that is, that one may be wise and may love).
That in man there is a possibility of loving [and of being wise], even when he is not wise as he might be and does not love as he might...
It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom, that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth; for everything that proceeds from love is called good, and everything that proceeds from wisdom is called truth. ...

It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom, that the universe and all things in it - alive and not alive - have unceasing existence from heat and light; for heat corresponds to love, and light corresponds to wisdom; and therefore spiritual heat is love and spiritual light is wisdom. ...
From Divine Love and from Divine Wisdom, which make the very Essence that is God, all affections and thoughts with man have their rise - affections from Divine Love, and thoughts from Divine Wisdom - and each and all things of man are nothing but affection and thought; these two are like fountains of all things of man's life.
All the enjoyments and pleasantnesses of his life are from these - enjoyments from the affection of his love, and pleasantnesses from the thought therefrom. Now since man was created to be a recipient, and is a recipient in the degree in which he loves God and from love to God is wise, in other words, in the degree in which he is affected by those things which are from God and thinks from that affection, it follows that the Divine Essence, which is the Creator, is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom.
(Divine Love and Wisdom 28 - 33)

May 18, 2018

The Salvation of the Faithful, and The Condemnation of the Unfaithful

Excerpts from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Judgment belongs to the Lord's Divine Human and Holy proceeding
That it belongs to the Divine Human see in John:  The Father judgeth not anyone, but hath given all judgment unto the Son   (John 5:22); by the "Son" is meant the Divine Human.

That Judgment belongs to the Holy that proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human, see also in John:  If I go away, I will send the Comforter unto you; and when He is come, He shall reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go unto My Father, and ye shall see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged (John 16:7-11)

"Sin" here denotes all unfaithfulness. His "reproving in regard to righteousness" means in regard to all that is against good, when yet the Lord united the Human to the Divine to save the world - which is the meaning of I go unto My Father and ye shall see Me no more.

His "reproving in regard to judgment" means in regard to all that is against truth, when yet evils were cast down into their hells so as no longer to be able to inflict injury - which is meant by the prince of the world being judged.

In general, His "reproving in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment," means that it was in regard to all unfaithfulness against good and truth; and thus that there was no charity and faith; for in ancient times by righteousness and judgment were understood, as regards the Lord, all mercy and grace; and as regards man, all charity and faith.     (Arcana Cœlestia 2235:6)

[T]hat the Holy proceeds from the Lord, see in the same:  He shall not speak from Himself but shall take of Mine, and shall declare it  (John 16:13, 15); and this when the Human was made Divine, that is, when the Lord had been glorified, see in the same:  The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified  (John 7:39).

The human race could no longer have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world and had united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence; for without the Lord's Human made Divine salvation could no longer have reached to man.
The Holy Itself that proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human is that which separates the evil from the good
for the evil so fear and shudder at the Lord's Holy that they cannot approach it, but flee far away from it into their hells, each one according to the profaneness that is in him.
(Arcana Cœlestia 2320-2321)

May 17, 2018

Good Cannot Die, Because Evil Can Be Separated From It

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
to "cause the righteous to die with the wicked," is to make good die with evil
As this ought not to be done, and causes horror to think of, it is removed in the internal sense, and then there is presented this: that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.

Be it known that all the good a man has thought and done from infancy even to the last of his life, remains; in like manner all the evil, so that not the least of it completely perishes. Both are inscribed on his book of life (that is, on each of his memories [interior and exterior]), and on his nature (that is, his native disposition and genius). From these he has formed for himself a life, and so to speak a soul, which after death is of a corresponding quality.
But goods are never so commingled with evils, nor evils with goods, that they cannot be separated; for if they should be commingled, the man would eternally perish.
In relation to this the Lord exercises His providence, and when a man comes into the other life, if he has lived in the good of love and of charity, the Lord then separates his evils, and by what is good with him elevates him into heaven. But if he has lived in evils, that is, in things contrary to love and charity, the Lord then separates from him what is good, and his evils bring him into hell. Such is the lot of everyone after death; but it is a separation, and in no wise a complete removal.

Moreover, as the will of man, which is the one part of his life, has been utterly destroyed, the Lord separates this destroyed part from the other which is his intellectual part, and in those who are being regenerated, implants in this intellectual part the good of charity, and through this a new will — these are they who have conscience. Thus also, speaking generally, the Lord separates evil from good. These are the arcana which are meant in the internal sense by the statement that good cannot die, because evil can be separated from it.
(Arcana Cœlestia 2256)

May 16, 2018

The First Things to be Affirmed and Acknowledged

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore called she his name Dan.  Genesis 30:6
Though the name was given to him [Dan] from "judging," it nevertheless involves what is signified by all these words of Rachel: God hath judged me, and also hath heard my voice, that is, the good of life, and the holy of faith, and also in the supreme sense the justice and mercy of the Lord. It is this general principle of the church that is signified by "Dan," and that is represented by the tribe named from Dan. This general principle [the good of life, and the holy of faith] is the first that is to be affirmed or acknowledged, before a man can be regenerated or made a church.
Unless these things are affirmed and acknowledged, the rest of the things both of faith and of life cannot possibly be received, and therefore cannot be affirmed, still less acknowledged.
For he who affirms mere faith with himself, and not the holy of faith, that is, charity (for this is the holy of faith), and does not affirm this by the good of life, that is, by the works of charity, can no longer have a relish for the essence of faith, because he rejects it.
Affirmation together with acknowledgment is the first general principle with the man who is being regenerated, but is the last with him who has been regenerated
and therefore "Dan" is the first with him who is to be regenerated, and "Joseph" is the last; for "Joseph" is the spiritual man himself. But "Joseph" is the first with him who has been regenerated, and "Dan" the last; because the man who is to be regenerated commences from the affirmation that it is so, namely, the holy of faith and the good of life. But the regenerate man, who is spiritual, is in spiritual good itself, and from this he regards such affirmation as last; for with him the holy things of faith and goods of life have been confirmed.

The first boundary, that is, the midst or inmost of the land, was Beersheba, before Jerusalem became so, because Abraham was there, and also Isaac; but the last boundary, or the outermost of the land, was Dan; and hence when all things in one complex were signified, it was said, "from Dan even to Beersheba;" as in the second book of Samuel:
To transfer the kingdom from the house of Saul, and to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beersheba (2 Sam. 3:10)  See also 2 Sam. 17:11; 2 Sam. 24:2, 15; 1 Kings 4:25.
By this expression are meant in the historic sense all things of the land of Canaan; but in the internal sense all things of the Lord's kingdom, and also all things of the church.

The reason why, as before said, "Dan" is the first boundary, and also the last, is that the affirmative of truth and good is the first of all things when faith and charity are beginning with man, and the last when man is in charity and thereby in faith. It was from this also that the last lot fell to Dan when the land of Canaan was divided for inheritance (Josh. 19:40, etc.); for the lot was cast before Jehovah (Josh. 18:6); and hence it fell according to the representation of each tribe.

And because the lot did not fall to Dan among the inheritances of the rest of the tribes, but beyond their borders (Judges 18:1), that tribe was omitted by John in the Revelation (Rev. 7:5-8), where the twelve thousand that were sealed are mentioned;
for they who are only in the affirmative of truth and also of good, and go no further, are not in the Lord's kingdom, that is, among the "sealed."
Even the worst men are able to know truths and goods, and also to affirm them; but the quality of the affirmation is known from the life.
(Arcana Cœlestia 3923: 1, 7-9)

May 15, 2018

Love to the Lord is from the Lord

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
There are two kinds of good that are distinct from each other, namely, celestial good and spiritual good. Celestial good is that of love to the Lord, spiritual good is that of love toward the neighbor. From the former, or celestial good, comes the latter, or spiritual good; for-
No one can love the Lord unless he also loves his neighbor.
In love to the Lord is love toward the neighbor; for-
Love to the Lord is from the Lord, and thus is from love itself toward the universal human race.
To be in love to the Lord is the same as to be in the Lord; and he who is in the Lord cannot be otherwise than in His love; which is toward the human race and thus toward the neighbor; thus is he in both kinds of good, celestial and spiritual. The former is the veriest good itself; but the latter is its truth, or the truth therefrom; which truth is spiritual good ...
(from Arcana Cœlestia 2227)

May 14, 2018

Rightly Understanding the Lord's Prayer

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
A Memorable Relation - A Thing Worth Remembering
In Story Form, An Experience in the Spiritual World
Awaking once soon after daybreak, I went out into the garden in front of my house, and saw the sun rising in his glory, and round about him a halo, at first faint, but afterwards more distinct, and beaming like gold, and beneath its border was a rising cloud, which from the sun's rays glowed like a carbuncle. It set me thinking about the fables of the most ancient people which depicted Aurora with wings of silver and countenance of gold.

With my mind immersed in the delights of these meditations, I came into the spirit; and I heard certain spirits conversing, who said, "O that we might be permitted to talk with the innovator who has thrown among the leaders of the church that apple of discord after which so many of the laity have been running, and which they have picked up and held up for us to look at." By that apple they meant the little work, entitled, A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church*.  And they said, "It is certainly a schismatical writing, such as no man ever before conceived of." And then I heard one of them exclaim, "Schismatical? It is heretical!" But some of those beside him said, "Hush! Hold your tongue! It is not heretical; he gives an abundance of quotations from the Word; and to these our neophytes, by whom we mean the laity, give heed and assent."

Hearing this I came forward, being in the spirit, and said, "Here I am; what is the matter?"

At once one of them, a German, as I afterwards heard, a native of Saxony, said in an authoritative tone, "How dare you turn upside down the worship established in the Christian world for so many centuries, which teaches that God the Father should be invoked as the Creator of the universe, His Son as the Mediator, and the Holy Spirit as the Operator?  Moreover, you divest the first and the last God of the personality we ascribe to them, although the Lord Himself says, When ye pray, pray thus, Our Father who art in the heavens; hallowed be Thy Name; Thy Kingdom come.  Therefore are we not commanded to invoke God the Father?"

After this there was silence, and all who favored the speaker stood like brave seamen on their warships when they sight the enemy, and stand by to shout, "Now, have at them; victory is sure."

Then I rose to speak; and said, "Who among you is not aware that God came down from heaven and became Man? For we read, -
The Word was with God, and God was the Word, and the Word became flesh."
Then, looking towards the Evangelicals, among whom was that dictator who had just addressed me, I said,-
"Who among you does not know that in Christ, who was born of Mary the Virgin, God is Man and Man is God?"
But at this the assembly made a great noise; therefore I said, "Do you not know this? It is according to the doctrine of your confession which is called the Formula Concordioe, where this is affirmed and fully corroborated."

Then the dictator turned to the assembly and asked if they were aware of this; and they answered, "As to the person of Christ we have given the book very little study, but we have worked hard at the part on Justification by Faith Alone; if, however, it is so written in that book, we acquiesce." Then one of them remembering, said, "That is the way it reads; and it says furthermore that the Human nature of Christ has been exalted to Divine majesty and all its attributes; also that in that nature Christ sits at the right hand of the Father."

Hearing this they were silent; and as it was undisputed I spoke again, and said,-
"This being so, what then is the Father but the Son, and what is the Son but the Father also?"
Yet as this again offended their ears, I continued, "Hear the very words of the Lord and attend to them now, if you never have before; for He said,-
I and My Father are one;' 'I am in the Father and the Father in Me;' 'Father, all Mine are Thine and Thine are Mine;' 'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.
What do these things mean, but that the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, and that they are one as the soul and body in man are one, and thus that they are one person? And must not this be your belief, if you believe in the Athanasian Creed, where nearly the same things are said? But from the passages quoted take this one saying of the Lord, 'Father, all Mine are Thine, and all Thine are Mine.' What else does this mean than that-
The Divine of the Father belongs to the Human of the Son, and the Human of the Son to the Divine of the Father, consequently that, in Christ, God is Man and Man is God, and thus that they are one as soul and body are one?
Every man may say the same of his own soul and body, namely, All mine are thine, and all thine are mine; thou art in me and I in thee; he that seeth me, seeth thee; we are one in person and in life. This is because the soul is in the man, both in the whole and in every part of him, for the life of the soul is the life of the body, and between the two there is a mutuality.
All this makes clear that the Divine of the Father is the soul of the Son, and the Human of the Son the body of the Father.
From where does the soul of an offspring come unless from its father, and its body unless from its mother? The expression is the Divine of the Father; but the Father Himself is what is meant, since He and His Divine are the same; and this Divine is one and indivisible. That this is true is evident also from the words of the angel Gabriel to Mary,-
The power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, and the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee; and the Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
And just above He is called 'the Son of the Most High,' and elsewhere 'the only-begotten Son.' But you, who call Him merely the Son of Mary, destroy the idea of His Divinity; yet it is only the learned among the clergy and the scholars among the laity who destroy this idea, for these, when they raise their thoughts above the sensual things pertaining to their bodies, regard the glory of their reputation; and this not only obscures but extinguishes the light whereby the glory of God enters.

But let us return to the Lord's Prayer, where it says, -
Our Father who art in the heavens; hallowed be Thy Name; Thy kingdom come.
By these words you who are present understand the Father in His Divine alone but I understand the Father in His Human. Moreover, this Human is the name of the Father; for the Lord said, -
Father, glorify Thy name, that is, Thy Human; and when this is done the kingdom of God comes.
And the reason why this Prayer was commanded for the present time is evident, namely, that through His Human an approach may be had to God the Father. The Lord also said, -
No man cometh unto the Father but by Me;
And in the Prophet, -
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and His name is God, Mighty, Father of Eternity;
And elsewhere, -
Thou, Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer, from everlasting is Thy name;
Besides many other places where the Lord our Savior is called Jehovah. This is the true explanation of the words of that Prayer."

When I had said all this, I looked at them and noted the changes in their countenances according to changes in the states of their minds, some favoring me and looking toward me, and some not favoring and turning themselves away. And then on the right I saw a cloud of opal color, and on the left a dusky cloud, and under each the appearance of a shower. That under the dusky cloud was like a rain at the close of autumn, and that under the opal cloud was like the fall of dew in early spring.

Then suddenly I came out of the spirit into the body, and thus returned from the spiritual world into the natural world.
(True Christian Religion 112)
* click A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church