The Doctrinals of the New Church

Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A New Church, meant by the New Jerusalem
coming down from God out of heaven (Revelation 20 - 21)

Those who embrace the doctrinals of that Church,
the Lord will grant love truly conjugial.

Regarded in itself, love is nothing but a desire and thence a striving for conjunction, and conjugial love for conjunction into a one. (excerpt from Conjugial Love 37)

Since the Lord's coming He is reviving conjugial love, as it was among the ancient peoples, because that love comes only from the Lord, and is present with those who are under His guidance becoming spiritual by means of the Word. (excerpt from Conjugial Love 81)

Love Truly Conjugial

Few know from what origin comes forth conjugial love. They who think from the world believe that it comes forth from nature; but they who think from heaven believe that it comes forth from the Divine in heaven.

Love truly conjugial is the union of two minds, which is a spiritual union; and all spiritual union descends from heaven. From this it is that love truly conjugial is from heaven, and that its first being is from the marriage of good and truth there. The marriage of good and truth in heaven is from the Lord; wherefore in the Word the Lord is called the "Bridegroom" and "Husband," while heaven and the church are called the "bride" and "wife;" and therefore heaven is compared to a marriage. (Arcana Coelestia 10167 - 10168)

The Doctrinals of the Faith and Charity of the New Church

I. That there is one God, in whom is the Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord Jesus Christ.

II. That saving faith is to believe in Him.

III. That evils are to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil.

IV. That goods are to be done because they are of God and from God.

V. That these are to be done by man as of himself, but that he must believe that they are done by the Lord with him and through him.

Proof of the first point, that God is one, in whom is the Divine Trinity, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ —

Is not God one and indivisible? Is there not a Trinity? If God is one and indivisible, is He not one person? If one person, is not the Trinity in that person?

That He is the Lord Jesus Christ, I prove by these teachings; That:

He was conceived of God the Father (Luke 1:34, 35); so that as to the soul He is God, and hence, as He Himself says: The Father and He are one (John 10:30).That He is in the Father and the Father in Him (John 14:10, 11). That He that seeth Him and knoweth Him, seeth and knoweth the Father (John 14:7, 9). That no one seeth and knoweth the Father but He who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:18). That all things of the Father are His (John 3:35; 16:15). That He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no man cometh to the Father but by Him (John 14:6). Thus He is from Him because He is in Him; and according to the teaching of Paul, that: - In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). And besides we are taught that: - He hath power over all flesh (John 17:2); and that: He hath all power in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18), from which it follows that He is the God of heaven and earth.

Proof of the second, That saving faith is to believe in Him —

I replied, "I prove it by these words of the Lord Himself: This is the will of the Father, that all who believe in the Son shall have everlasting life (John 6:40). God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). He that believeth in the Son hath everlasting life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the anger of God abideth on him (John 3:36)."

Proof of the third also, and the following ones —

What need is there to prove that evils ought to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil?' And that goods ought to be done because they are of God and from God?' And that these things ought to be done by man as if of himself, yet that he ought to believe that they are done from the Lord with him and through him?

That these three doctrines are true the whole of the Sacred Scripture confirms from beginning to end. What else does it contain in summary, but admonition to shun evils and do goods, and to believe in the Lord God? And moreover, without these three there is no religion. Is not religion a matter of life? And what is life but the shunning of evils and doing goods? And how can a man do these and believe these except as of himself? Therefore if you take these doctrines away from the church you take from it the Sacred Scriptures, and you also take away religion from it which being removed from the church it is not a church.

(from Conjugial Love 82)

Cultivating The Rational

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The genuine rational consists of truths and not of falsities; whatever consists of falsities is not rational.

There are three kinds of truths, civil, moral, and spiritual. —

• Civil truths relate to matters of judgment and of government in kingdoms, and in general to what is just and equitable in them.
• Moral truths pertain to the matters of everyone's life which have regard to companionships and social relations, in general to what is honest and right, and in particular to virtues of every kind.
• Spiritual truths relate to matters of heaven and of the Church, and in general to the good of love and the truth of faith.

In every man there are three degrees of life. —

The rational is opened to the first degree by civil truths, to the second degree by moral truths, and to the third degree by spiritual truths. But it ought to be known that the rational that consists of these truths is not formed and opened by man's knowing them, but by his living according to them; and by living according to them is meant loving them from spiritual affection; and to love truths from spiritual affection is:

• to love what is just and equitable because it is just and equitable
• what is honest and right because it is honest and right
• what is good and true because it is good and true

while living according to them and loving them from the bodily affection is to love them for the sake of self and for the sake of one's reputation, honour or gain. Consequently, so far as man loves these truths from a bodily affection he fails to become rational, for he loves, not them, but himself; and the truths are made to serve him as servants serve their lord; and when truths become servants they do not enter the man and open any degree of his life, not even the first, but merely rest in the memory as knowledges under a material form, and there conjoin themselves with the love of self, which is a bodily love.

From these things it can be confirmed how man becomes rational, namely, that he becomes rational to the third degree by a spiritual love of the good and truth which pertain to heaven and the Church, to the second degree by a love of what is honest and right, and to the first degree by a love of what is just and equitable. These two latter loves also become spiritual from a spiritual love of good and truth, because that love flows into them and conjoins itself to them and forms in them, as it were, its own semblance.

(from Heaven and Hell 468)

Turning To One's Own Love

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

• Before the evil are cast down into hell they are devastated of truths and goods, and when these have been taken away they are of themselves carried into hell.
• The Lord does not devastate them, but they devastate themselves.
• Every evil has in it what is false; therefore those who are in evil are also in falsity, although some do not know it. Those who are in evil must needs think what is false when they think from themselves. All who are in hell speak falsities from evil.

All who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom, and no one there is in evils and at the same time in truths.

For the most part, evil men in the world have some knowledge of spiritual truths, which are the truths of the Church, having been taught them from childhood and later through preaching and the reading of the Word; and afterwards, they have talked about them. Some have even led others to believe that they are Christians at heart because of their knowing how to speak with pretended affection from truths, also how to act honestly as if from spiritual faith. But those among them whose interior thoughts have been hostile to these truths, and who have refrained from doing the evils that were in harmony with their thoughts, only because of the civil laws, or with a view to reputation, honors, and gain, are all of them evil in heart, and are in truths and goods not in respect of their spirit but only in respect of their body.

Consequently, when their externals are taken away from them in the other life, and the internals that their spirit had are revealed, they are wholly in evils and falsities, and not at all in truths and goods.

It is clear that truths and goods resided only in their memory merely as things known, and that they brought them forth therefrom when talking, pretending to the goods seemingly from spiritual love and faith.

When such are let into their internals and thus into their evils they are no longer able to speak what is true, but only what is false, since they speak from evils; for to speak true things from evils is then impossible, since the spirit is nothing but his own evil, and from evil that which is false goes forth.

Every evil spirit is reduced to this state before he is cast into hell. This is called being vastated in respect of truths and goods. Vastation is simply being let into one's internals, that is, into what is the spirit's proprium, or into the spirit itself.

When a man after death is such, he is no longer a man-spirit, as he was in his first state, but is truly a spirit; for he is truly a spirit who has a face and body corresponding to his internals which pertain to his mind (animus), that is, has an external form that is a type or effigy of his internals. A spirit is such after he has passed through the first and second states; consequently, when he is looked upon, his character is at once known, not only from his face but also from his body, and even more so from his speech and movements; and as he is then in himself he can be nowhere else than where his like are.

For in the spiritual world, there is a complete sharing of affections and the thoughts therefrom, and in consequence, a spirit is conveyed to his like as if of himself, since it is done from his own affection and its delight. In fact, he turns himself in that direction; for thus he inhales his own life or draws his breath freely, which he cannot do when he turns another way. It ought to be known that this sharing with others in the spiritual world is effected in accordance with the turning of the face, and that each one has constantly before his face those who are in a love like his own, and this in every turning of the body.

In consequence of this, all infernal spirits turn themselves backwards from the Lord towards the dense blackness and the darkness that are there in place of the sun and moon of this world, while all the angels of heaven turn themselves to the Lord as the Sun of heaven and as the Moon of heaven. From these things now it can be established that all who are in the hells are in evils and in falsities therefrom; also that they are turned to their own loves.

(from Heaven and Hell 551 - 552)

The Faith of The New Heaven and The New Church

Selection from Brief Exposition ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim there this word: Thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: Render good your ways and your words; trust ye not upon the words of a lie, saying, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah is here [that is, the church]. Will ye steal, kill, commit adultery, and swear falsely, and after that come and stand before Me in this house, whereon My name is called, and say, we are delivered, whilst ye do all these abominations? Is not this house become a den of robbers? Even I behold, I have seen, saith Jehovah.  Jeremiah (7:2-4, 9-11)

THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH IN ITS UNIVERSAL FORM, is this:

That the Lord from eternity who is Jehovah, came into the world that He might subdue the hells, and glorify His Human; and that without this no mortal could have been saved; and that they are saved who believe in Him.

It is said in the universal form, because this is the universal of faith, and the universal of faith is what must enter into each and all things.

It is a universal of faith, that God is one in essence and Person, in whom is the Trinity, and that the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ is He.

It is a universal of faith, that no mortal could have been saved, unless the Lord had come into the world. It is a universal of faith, that He came into the world to remove hell from man, and He removed it by combats against it, and by victories over it; thus He subdued it, and reduced it to order, and under obedience to Himself.

It is a universal of faith, that He came into the world to glorify the Human which He assumed in the world, that is, to unite it with the Divine from which it was; thus, having subdued hell, He keeps it in order and under obedience to Himself to eternity. Inasmuch as both these could only be effected by means of temptations admitted into His Human, even to the last, which was the passion of the cross, therefore He endured that.

These are the universals of faith concerning the Lord.

The universal of Christian faith on man's part is, that he should believe in the Lord, for by believing in Him conjunction with Him is effected, and by conjunction salvation. To believe in Him, is to have confidence that He will save; and because none can have such confidence but he who lives well, therefore this is also meant by believing in Him.

THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH, IN ITS PARTICULAR FORM, is this:

That Jehovah God is love itself and wisdom itself, or that He is good itself and truth itself; and that as to the Divine truth itself, which is the Word, and which was God with God, He came down and assumed the Human, for the purpose of restoring to order all things which were in heaven, and all things which were in hell, and all things which were in the church; inasmuch as at that time, the power of the devil, that is, of hell, prevailed over the power of heaven, and on earth the power of evil over the power of good; and thence a total damnation stood before the door and threatened. This impending damnation Jehovah God removed by His Human, which was the Divine truth, and thus He redeemed both angels and men; and afterwards He united in His Human the Divine truth to the Divine good, and thus He returned into His Divine, in which He was from eternity, together with His glorified Human. This is signified by these words in John:

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

And by this in the same:

I went forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world, and go to the Father (John 16:28).

Hence it appears, that without the coming of the Lord into the world, no one could have been saved. The case is similar at this day; wherefore, unless the Lord come again into the world in Divine truth, which is the Word, no one can be saved.

The particulars of faith on the part of man are these:

I. That God is one, in whom is the Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ.
II. That saving faith is to believe in Him.
III. That evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil and from the devil.
IV. That goods ought to be done, because they are of God and from God.
V. And that they should be done by man as of himself, but that he must believe that they are from the Lord with him and through him.

The first two have relation to faith; the next two to charity; and the fifth respects the conjunction of charity and faith, and thereby of the Lord and man.

(Brief Exposition 116 - 117)

Providence In The Veriest Singulars

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Foresight and Providence in general ~ foresight relatively to man, providence relatively to the Lord.

The Lord foresaw from eternity what the human race would be, and what would be the quality of each member of it, and that evil would continually increase, until at last man of himself would rush headlong into hell. On this account, the Lord has not only provided means by which man may be turned from hell and led to heaven but also from providence He continually turns and leads him. The Lord also foresaw that it would be impossible for any good to be rooted in man except in his freedom, for whatever is not rooted in freedom is dissipated on the first approach of evil and temptation. This the Lord foresaw, and also that man of himself, or from his freedom, would incline toward the deepest hell.  Therefore the Lord provides that if a man should not suffer himself to be led in freedom to heaven, he may still be bent toward a milder hell, but that if he should suffer himself to be led in freedom to good, he may be led to heaven. This shows what foresight means, and what providence, and that what is foreseen is thus provided.

And from this we can see how greatly the man errs who believes that the Lord has not foreseen, and does not see, the veriest singulars appertaining to man, and that in these He does not foresee and lead; when the truth is that —

the Lord's foresight and providence are in the very minutest of these veriest singulars connected with man, in things so very minute that it is impossible by any thought to comprehend as much as one out of a hundred millions of them; for every smallest moment of man's life involves a series of consequences extending to eternity, each moment being as a new beginning to those which follow; and so with all and each of the moments of his life, both of his understanding and of his will.

And as the Lord foresaw from eternity what would be man's quality, and what it would be to eternity, it is evident that His providence is in the veriest singulars, and as before said governs and bends the man to such a quality; and this by a continual moderating of his freedom.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3854)

Justice That Is Justice Is Divine

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There are two kinds of things with men that must be in order, namely, the things that belong to heaven, and the things that belong to the world. The things that belong to heaven are called Ecclesiastical; and the things that belong to the world are called Civil.

Order cannot be maintained in the world without overseers, who must take note of all things that are done according to order, and that are done contrary to order; and who must reward those who live according to order, and punish those who live contrary to order.

If this be not done, the human race will perish. For there is born in everyone, by inheritance, the desire to rule over others, and to possess the goods of others. From this come enmities, envyings, hatreds, revenges, deceits, fierce ragings, and many other evils; and therefore unless men are kept in bonds by laws, and by rewards suited to their loves, which are honors and gains for those who do good things; and by punishments contrary to their loves, which are the loss of honors, of possessions, and of life for those who do evil things, the human race must perish.

There must therefore be overseers learned in the law, wise, and god-fearing, to keep the assemblages of men in order. Among the overseers also there must be order, lest anyone should from caprice, or from ignorance, permit evils that are contrary to order, and should thus destroy it. This is guarded against when there are higher and lower overseers, among whom there is subordination.

Overseers over the things with man that belong to heaven, or over ecclesiastical things, are called priests, and their office is called the priesthood. But overseers over such things with man as belong to the world, or over civil matters, are called magistrates, and their chief, where such supreme powers exist, is called a king.

As regards priests, they must teach men the way to heaven, and must also lead them. They must teach them according to the doctrine of their church, and they must lead them to live according to it. Priests who teach truths and by means of them lead to the good of life, and thus to the Lord, are good shepherds of the sheep; but those who teach, and do not lead to the good of life, and thus to the Lord, are evil shepherds. The latter are called by the Lord "thieves and robbers," in John 10:7-16.

Priests must not claim for themselves any power over the souls of men, because they do not know in what state are a man's interiors; and still less must they claim for themselves the power of opening and closing heaven, because this power belongs to the Lord alone.

Priests must have dignity and honor on account of the holy things which they engage in; but those of them who are wise give the honor to the Lord, from whom come all holy things; and not to themselves. But those of them who are not wise attribute the honor to themselves. These take it away from the Lord. Those who attribute honor to themselves on account of the holy things which they engage in, set honor and profit above the salvation of souls, which they ought to have regard for. But those who give the honor to the Lord and not to themselves, set the salvation of souls above honor and profit.

No honor of any employment is in the person; but it is adjoined to him according to the dignity of the thing which he administers, and that which is adjoined is separate from the person, and also is separated from him together with the employment. The honor that is in the person is the honor of the wisdom and fear of the Lord [that he displays].

Priests must teach the people, and lead them to the good of life by means of truths. But they must not compel anyone, because no one can be compelled to believe contrary to what he thinks in his heart to be true. He who believes differently from the priest, and makes no disturbance, must be left in peace; but he who makes a disturbance must be separated; for this also belongs to the order for the sake of which is the priesthood.

As priests are overseers for the administration of the things that belong to the Divine law and to worship, so are kings and magistrates for the administration of the things that belong to the civil law, and to judgment.

As the king alone cannot administer all things, therefore there are overseers under him, to each of whom has been given the official duty of administering what the king cannot attend to. Taken together these overseers constitute the royalty, but the king himself is the chief.

The royalty itself is not in the person, but is adjoined to the person. The king who believes that the royalty is in his own person, and the overseer who believes that the dignity of the overseership is in his own person, is not wise.

The royalty consists in administering according to the laws of the kingdom, and in judging from justice according to these laws. The king who regards the laws as above him, consequently himself as below the laws, is wise; but he who regards himself as above the laws, consequently the laws as beneath him, is not wise.

The king who regards the laws as above himself, and thus himself as beneath the laws, makes the royalty to consist in the law, and the law rules over him; for he knows that the law is justice, and all justice that is justice is Divine. But he who regards the laws as beneath him, and thus himself as above them, makes the royalty to consist in himself, and either believes himself to be the law, or the law which is justice to be from himself; consequently he arrogates to himself that which is Divine, and under which he must be.

The law which is justice must be brought forward by persons in the realm learned in the law, who are wise and god-fearing; in accordance with which the king and his subjects must then live. The king who lives in accordance with the law which is justice, and therein sets an example to his subjects, is truly a king.

A king who has absolute power, and who believes that his subjects are such slaves that he has a right to their lives and properties, and who exercises this power, is not a king, but a tyrant.

The king must be obeyed in accordance with the laws of the realm, nor must he be injured in any way by word or deed, for upon this depends the public safety.

(from Arcana Coelestia 10789 - 10806)

Why Despair Precedes Regeneration?

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A state of desolation caused by the privation of truth - the last stage of which state is despair.

That despair is the last stage of this state, is because thereby the delight of the love of self and of the world is removed, and the delight of the love of good and of truth is instilled in its place.

In the case of those to be regenerated, the despair is about spiritual life, consequently is about the privation of truth and good, because when these persons are deprived of truth and good they despair of spiritual life; hence they have delight and bliss when they come out of their despair.

• Nothing shall be perceived therein of the truth previously there - the last state of desolation, when there is the despair which next precedes regeneration

Every man must be reformed and be born anew or regenerated that he may be able to come into heaven, for "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3, 5, 6).

Man is born into sin, which has been increased in a long line from parents, grandparents, and ancestors, and made hereditary, and thus transmitted to the offspring.

Every man who is born, is born into all these inherited evils thus increased in succession, and consequently is nothing but sin. Therefore, unless he is regenerated, he remains wholly in sin.

But in order that man may be regenerated, he must first be reformed, and this is done by means of the truths of faith; for he has to learn from the Word and from doctrine therefrom what good is. The knowledges of good from the Word, or from doctrine therefrom, are called the truths of faith, because all the truths of faith spring from good, and flow to good, for they look to good as the end.

This is the first state, and is called the state of re - formation.

During their childhood and youth most of those who are in the church, are introduced into this state, and yet few are regenerated; for most in the church learn the truths of faith or the knowledges of good for the sake of reputation and honor, and also for gain, and when the truths of faith have been introduced by means of these loves (hereditary inclinations), the man cannot be born anew or regenerated until these loves have been removed.

In order therefore that they may be removed, the man is let into a state of temptation, and this in the following manner. The loves referred to are excited by the infernal crew, for they desire to live in them; but the affections of truth and good that have been instilled from infancy in a state of innocence, and afterward stored up interiorly and preserved for this use, are then excited by angels. The result is a conflict between the evil spirits and the angels which is felt in the man as temptation; and because the conflict is about truths and goods, the truths previously instilled are as it were banished by means of the falsities injected by the evil spirits (by means of hereditary inclinations), so that they no longer appear. And then as the man suffers himself to be regenerated, the light of truth from good is instilled by the Lord through an internal way into the natural, into which light the truths are returned in order.

This is the case with the man who is being regenerated; but few at this day are admitted into this state. Insofar as they permit it, all do indeed begin to be reformed by means of instruction in the truths and goods of spiritual life; but as soon as they come to the age of early manhood, they suffer themselves to be carried away by the world, and thus go over to the side of infernal spirits, by whom they are gradually so estranged from heaven that they scarcely believe any longer that there is a heaven. Thus they cannot be let into any spiritual temptation, for if they were they would at once yield, and then their last state would be worse than the first (Matt. 12:45). From this it may be seen how the case is with what is here contained in the internal sense, namely, with the state of reformation and that of regeneration

• Desolation even to despair

Despair causes those who feel it to acknowledge in an effectual and feeling manner that there is nothing of truth and good from themselves, and that from themselves they are condemned; but that they are delivered from condemnation by the Lord; and that salvation flows in by means of truth and good.

Despair also causes them to feel the happiness of life which is from the Lord; for when they come out of that state, they are like those who have been condemned to death, and are set free from prison.

Moreover by means of desolations and temptations, states contrary to heavenly life are felt, the result of which is the implantation of a sense and perception of the satisfaction and happiness of heavenly life; for a sense and perception of what is satisfying and happy is impossible without comparison with the opposites. To the end therefore that full comparisons may be made, desolations and temptations are brought to their utmost, that is, to despair.

(from Arcana Coelestia 5279; 5280; 6144)