Without the Spiritual Sense, Heresy is Confirmed

An Excerpt From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Word is such in the sense of its letter that it may be drawn aside to confirm any heresy whatever.

The sense of the letter consists of appearances of truth, which hold enclosed in them the genuine truths of heaven, which are called spiritual truths, and unless these truths are revealed and laid bare, that is, unless they are taught in the doctrines of the church, the appearances they present may be drawn over and perverted to favor any falsity whatever, and even to favor evil. For the genuine truths of the Word are like a man, and the appearances of truth, of which the sense of the letter consists, are like his garments, from which alone no judgment can be formed respecting who the man is or what he is. If a man were judged from his garments alone, a king might be called a servant, and a servant a king, and a good man might be called an evil man, and an evil man a good man; and so on.

Those who arrogate to themselves dominion over all things of the church and heaven can apply the sense in its letter a thousand ways to favor their dominion. And this is an easy task, because all things of the church, which are called holy, they place above the human understanding, and when this is assented to and no genuine truth is taught, infernal falsities may be called truths, and devilish evils may be called goods; and the simple may even be persuaded that the edicts of the Pope are just as holy as the commandments of the Word, and even more holy, and yet these are from heaven, while those edicts are for the most part from hell.

For every edict respecting government, faith, and worship in the church, that has for an end dominion in the world, however it may appear in the external form, and may sound as if from the Word, is from hell; while every commandment from the Word, because it has for its end the salvation of souls by the Lord, is from heaven.

(from Apocalypse Explained 1033)

The Distinction Between Uses Done By Devils and Uses Done By Angels

A Portion from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

How can one know whether he is performing uses from the love of self or from the love of uses?

Every man, good or evil, does uses and does them from some love. Suppose there were in the world a society composed entirely of devils, and a society composed entirely of angels:  I am of the opinion that the devils in their society, from the fire of self-love and the glamour of their own glory, would perform as many uses as the angels in theirs. Who then can know from which love or from which source the uses are?

Devils do uses for the sake of themselves and for the sake of fame in order to achieve honors or to amass wealth. But not for these ends do angels perform uses, but for the sake of the uses from love of them.

Man cannot distinguish between these uses, but the Lord does. Everyone who believes in the Lord and shuns evils as sins does uses from the Lord; but everyone who does not believe in the Lord and does not shun evils as sins, performs uses from himself and for the sake of himself. This is the distinction between uses done by devils and uses done by angels.

(from Conjugial Love 266)

Who is the God of Heaven?

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THE LORD IS THE GOD OF HEAVEN

The first essential is to know who the God of heaven is, since everything else depends upon that.

Throughout the whole of heaven no other than the Lord alone is acknowledged as the God of heaven. There they declare as He Himself taught,

That He is one with the Father; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father, that he who sees Him sees the Father, and that everything that is holy goes forth from Him.  John 10:30, 38; 14:10, 11; 16:13-15.

I have quite often talked with angels on this matter and they have constantly declared that in heaven they are unable to distinguish the Divine into three because they know and perceive that the Divine is One and that it is one in the Lord. They even said that people who come from this world from the Church having an idea of three Divine beings cannot be admitted into heaven because their thought wanders from one to another, and it is not allowable there to think of three and say one. This is because everyone in heaven speaks from the thought, for there they have a cogitative speech or thought speaking. Consequently, those who in this world have distinguished the Divine into three and have adopted a separate idea of each, and have not made that idea one in the Lord and centred it there, cannot be received. For in heaven, they have a communication of the thoughts of all, so that if anyone came there, thinking of three and saying one, he would immediately be discovered and rejected. It ought to be known, however, that all those who have not separated truth from good, or faith from love, receive, when instructed in the other life, the heavenly idea of the Lord, that He is the God of the universe. It is indeed otherwise with those who have separated faith from life, that is, who have not lived in accordance with the precepts of a true faith.

Those, within the Church, who have denied the Lord and have acknowledged only the Father, and have confirmed themselves in that faith, are outside heaven; and because no influx from heaven where the Lord alone is worshipped, reaches them, they are gradually deprived of the faculty of thinking what is true about anything at all. And at length they become as though they were dumb, or else they talk stupidly and wander about with their arms dangling and swinging as if lacking strength in their joints. In the same way, those who have denied the Divinity of the Lord and, like the Socinians,* have acknowledged only His Human are outside heaven. They are brought forward a little towards the right, and let down into the deep and are thus completely separated from the rest of those from the Christian world.

Moreover, those who profess belief in an invisible Divine which they call the soul of the universe [Ens universi], from which all things came into existence, but who reject a faith regarding the Lord, are found to have no belief in any God, since to them this invisible Divine is like nature in its first principles which faith and love cannot reach because it cannot be thought about. Such are relegated among those called naturalistic.

Things happen in a different manner with those born outside the Church and called Gentiles.

All little children, of whom a third part of heaven is formed, are initiated into the acknowledgment and faith that the Lord is their Father, and afterwards that He is the Lord of all, therefore God of heaven and earth. Little children that grow up in the heavens and, by means of cognitions, are perfected even to angelic intelligence and wisdom. Those who are from the Church cannot doubt that the Lord is the God of heaven, for He Himself taught, that

all things of the Father are His. Matt. 11:27; John 16:15; 17:2.

and that

All power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth. Matt. 28:18.

He says "in heaven and in earth" because He who rules heaven rules the earth also, for the one depends upon the other. To rule heaven and earth means to receive from Him every good pertaining to love and every truth pertaining to faith, thus all intelligence and wisdom and so all happiness, in short, eternal life. This also the Lord taught when He said,

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life. John 3:36.

Again:

I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. John 11:25, 26.

And again,

I am the way, the truth and the life. John 14:6.

There were certain spirits who, while they lived in the world, acknowledged the Father, without having any other idea of the Lord than as of another man, and who therefore did not believe that He was the God of heaven. For this reason they were permitted to wander about and enquire wherever they wished whether there were any other heaven than the Lord's heaven. They searched for several days but nowhere found any. These spirits were amongst such as placed the happiness of heaven in glory and in domination, and because they could not get possession of what they desired and were told that heaven does not consist of such things, they were indignant and wished to have a heaven where they could lord it over others and be eminent in a glory like that in the world.

(Heaven and Hell 2-6)

* an adherent of a 16th and 17th century theological movement professing belief in God and adherence to the Christian Scriptures but denying the divinity of Christ and consequently denying the Trinity

Moral Life — Two-fold Origin

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

What Moral Life Is ~ What Spiritual Life Is
What Moral Life From Spiritual Life Is ~ What Moral Life Apart From Spiritual Life

Moral life is acting well, sincerely, and justly with one's companions in all the affairs and occupations of life; in a word, it is the life that is apparent before men, because it is the life lived with them. But this life has a two-fold origin — it is either from the love of self and the world, or it is from love to God and love towards the neighbor.

Moral life from the love of self and the world is not in itself moral life, although it seems to be moral; for the man acting thus acts well, sincerely, and justly for the sake of self and the world only, and what is good, sincere, and just serves him as means to an end, which is, either that he may be raised above others and rule over them, or that he may gain wealth; and of these things he thinks in his spirit, or when he is by himself secretly; but these things that he thinks he does not dare to avow openly, because they would destroy the good opinion others have of him, and thus destroy the means by which he wishes to attain his ends. From this it can be seen that there lies within the moral life of such a man nothing else than to acquire all things in preference to others, thus that he wishes to have all others to serve him, or to gain possession of their goods; from which it is evident that his moral life is not in itself a moral life; for if he should gain what he aims at, or what he has as an end, he would subject others to himself as slaves, and would deprive them of their goods. And as all means savor of the end, and in their essence are of the same quality as their ends, for which reason they are also called intermediate ends, therefore such a life, regarded in itself, is merely craftiness and fraud. And this also becomes clearly evident in the case of those with whom these external bonds are released, as takes place, when engaged in lawsuits against their fellows, when they desire nothing so much as to subvert justice, and secure the good will of the judge or the favor of the king, and this secretly, that they may deprive others of their goods; and when they obtain this, they rejoice in spirit and in heart. This is still more evident in the case of kings who place honor in wars and victories, that they find the highest joy of their hearts in subjugating provinces and kingdoms, and where resistance is made, in depriving the vanquished of all their goods, and even of life. Such also is the delight of many who engage at such times in military service. This becomes still more evident with all of this character when they become spirits, which is immediately after the death of the body. As they then think and act from their spirit, they rush into every wickedness according to their love, however morally they may have lived in appearance while in the world.

But spiritual life is wholly different because it has a different origin; for it is from love to God and love towards the neighbor. Consequently, the moral life also of those who are spiritual is different, and is a truly moral life; for these, when they think in their spirit, which takes place when they are thinking secretly by themselves, do not think from self and the world, but from the Lord and heaven; for the interiors of their minds, that is, of their thought and will, are actually elevated by the Lord into heaven, and are there conjoined to Him; thus the Lord flows into their thoughts, intentions, and ends, and governs them and withdraws them from their proprium [what is their own], which is solely from the love of self and of the world. The moral life of such persons is, in appearance, like the moral life of those described above, and yet their moral life is spiritual, because it is from a spiritual origin. Their moral life is simply an effect of spiritual life, which is the efficient cause, thus the origin. For they act well, sincerely, and justly with their fellows from fear of God and from love of the neighbor; in these loves the Lord keeps their mind and disposition [mentem et animum]; consequently when they become spirits, which takes place when the body dies, they think and act intelligently and wisely, and are elevated into heaven. Of these it may be said, that with them every good of love and every truth of faith flows in out of heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord. But this is not true of those described above; for their good [the good of heaven] is not the good of heaven, nor is their truth the truth of heaven; but what they call good is the delight of the lust of the flesh, and it is falsity therefrom that they call truth; these flow into them from self and from the world. From this it can also be known what moral life from spiritual life is, and what moral life apart from spiritual life is; namely, that moral life from spiritual life is truly moral life, which may be called spiritual since it has its cause and origin in the spiritual; but that moral life apart from spiritual life, not moral life, and may be called infernal, for so far as the love of self and of the world reign in it, so far it is fraudulent and hypocritical.

From what has now been said, the quality of external sanctity may also be inferred (by which is meant worship in churches, prayers, and gestures then), with such as are in the love of self and of the world, and yet live an apparently moral life, namely, that nothing of these is elevated to heaven and is heard there, but that they flow out from some thought of the external or natural man, and thus from their mouth into the world. For the interior thoughts of such, which are of their very spirits, are full of craftiness and fraud against the neighbor; and yet it is through interiors that there is elevation into heaven. Moreover, their worship in churches, and prayers, and gestures at such times, are either the result of habit from infancy, and are thence become familiar, or they are from a principle that such external things contribute everything to salvation, or they are a consequence of there being no business for them at home and abroad on holy days, or of a fear of being regarded as irreligious by their companions.

But worship with those who live a moral life from a spiritual origin is altogether different, for it is truly a worship of God, for their prayers are elevated to heaven and are heard, for the Lord leads their prayers through heaven to Himself.
--
As few know what it is to live a moral life from a spiritual origin, and what it is to apply the knowledges of truth and good from the Word to the uses of their life, it shall be told.

Man lives a moral life from a spiritual origin when he lives it from religion; that is, when he thinks, when anything evil, insincere, or unjust presents itself: that this must not be done because it is contrary to the Divine laws. When one abstains from doing such things in deference to Divine laws he acquires for himself spiritual life, and his moral life is then from the spiritual; for by such thoughts and faith, man communicates with the angels of heaven, and by communication with heaven, his internal spiritual man is opened, the mind of which is a higher mind, such as the angels of heaven have, and he is thereby imbued with heavenly intelligence and wisdom. From this it can be seen that to live a moral life from a spiritual origin is to live from religion, and within the church, to live from the Word; for those who live a moral life from religion and from the Word are elevated above their natural man, thus above what is their own [proprium], and are led by the Lord through heaven; consequently they have faith, the fear of God, and conscience, and also the spiritual affection of truth, which is the affection of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, for to such men these are Divine laws, according to which they live. Many of the heathen live such a moral life, for they think that evil must not be done because it is contrary to their religion; this is why so many of them are saved.

But on the other hand, to live a moral life not from religion, but only from the fear of the law in the world, and of the loss of fame, honor, and gain, is to live a moral life not from a spiritual but from a natural origin; therefore to such there is no communication with heaven. And as they think insincerely and unjustly regarding the neighbor, although they speak and act otherwise, their internal spiritual man is closed, and the internal natural man only is opened; and when this is open they are in the light of the world, but not in the light of heaven. For this reason such persons have in them little regard for Divine and heavenly things, and some deny them, believing nature and the world to be everything. ...

It was said above, that man becomes spiritual by means of the knowledges of truth and good from the Word applied to the uses of life. Why men become spiritual by means of knowledges from the Word, and not by means of other knowledges, shall now be told.

All things that are in the Word are Divine, and they are Divine for the reason that they have in them a spiritual sense, and by that sense communicate with heaven and with the angels there. When, therefore, man has knowledges from the Word and applies them to life, then through these he has communication with heaven and by that communication becomes spiritual; for man becomes spiritual by his being in like or in corresponding truths with the angels of heaven. It is said in "corresponding" truths, because each and all things in the sense of the letter of the Word are correspondences, for they correspond to the truths that angels have. But the knowledges derived from other books, which set forth and by various means establish the doctrines of the church, do not effect communication with heaven except by the knowledges from the Word they contain; such knowledges do give communication if they are rightly understood and are applied to life, and not to faith alone. Everyone can see that this is so from this, that the Word in itself is Divine, and what is Divine in itself can become Divine with man by his applying it to life. "Becoming Divine with man" means that the Lord can have His abode with man (John 14:23), thus dwelling with him in what is His own. The Lord dwells in His own when He dwells in those things with man that are from the Word, for the Lord is the Word (John 1:1, 2, 14); and the words that He spoke, that is, that are in the Word: Are spirit and life (John 6:63, 68; 12:50).

(from Apocalypse Explained 182; 195)

Christians In Heart, Not In Profession Only

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

No one is admitted into the Lord's kingdom unless he is in the good of faith, for the good of faith is of the life, and the life of faith remains, but not the doctrine of faith, except insofar as it makes one with the life; nevertheless they who are in the truth of faith (that is, who profess faith and call it essential, because they have so learned) and yet are in the good of life (that is, who are Christians in heart and not in profession only), are in the Lord's spiritual kingdom. For anyone may easily be persuaded that faith is the essential when he has been so taught by his instructors and has imbibed this opinion in his childhood, and because they who are reputed most learned and the heads of the church say so, some of whom are afraid to speak of the good of life because their life condemns them; moreover the things that belong to faith flow in perceptibly, but not so those which belong to charity.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3242)

Who Is, and Who Was, and Who Is To Come

Selections from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

There are two things that can be predicated only of Jehovah, that is, the Lord, namely, infinity and eternity; infinity of His esse, which is the Divine good of His Divine love; eternity of His existere from that esse, which is the Divine truth of His Divine wisdom. These two are Divine in themselves. Out of these the universe was created; consequently, all things in the universe are referable to good and to truth, and good everywhere is the esse of a thing, and truth is the existere therefrom; but these two in all things of the universe are finite.
---
All times in the Word signify not times but states of life, and as all times signify states of life, so in reference to the Lord they signify infinite state, and infinite state as to time is eternity. That all times are comprised in "who is, and who was, and who is to come," is evident.

Of eternity, which is of the Lord alone, many things might be said; but such things are not understood by the natural man, whose thoughts are chiefly based on time, space, and matter, while, nevertheless, eternity, in itself, does not include such things. If, indeed, man could think of eternity as the angels of heaven do, he might arrive at some idea of it, and thus might comprehend what from eternity is, which is signified by "who was;" also what the Divine foresight is, that it is in the most particular things from eternity; and what Divine Providence is, that it is in the most particular things to eternity; consequently, that whatsoever proceeds from the Lord is from eternity to eternity; and unless it were so heaven and the universe would not subsist.

Let it be known, that the like is meant by "Jehovah" as by "who is, who was, and who is to come," since "Is," which is the meaning of Jehovah, involves what precedes, that is, "who was," and also what is future, that is, "who is to come," and thus signifies from eternity to eternity.

That "Is," signifies from eternity is also known in the Christian world from the Psalm of David, where it is said: I will declare of the decree; Jehovah said unto me; thou art My son; this day have I begotten thee (Ps. 2:7) — it is known that these things are said of the Lord, and that by "today" is meant from eternity. (That by "tomorrow," also in the Word, where the Lord is treated of, is signified to eternity.)

That the words "who is," "who was," and "who is to come," signify also the All in all things of heaven and the church is because they signify eternity; and in heaven, eternity can be expressed by no other word than Divine, for the reason that what is infinite cannot fall into the angelic idea, and still less into a human idea; and eternity is infinite Existere from infinite Esse; but only this enters the idea, that eternity, which is the Divine in respect to Existere, is the All in all things of heaven and of the church. For the whole heaven is heaven not from the angels' proprium [selfhood, or what is their own], but from the Divine of the Lord; nor is the church the church from the proprium of men, but from the Divine of the Lord; for all the good of love and the truth of faith are from the Lord, and it is the good of love and the truth of faith that make heaven and the church. Angels and men are only recipients, and so far as they receive, heaven and the church are in them.

(Selections from Apocalypse Explained 286; 23)

'The Word' Throughout the Ages

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

We read in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light appeareth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not.  And the Word was made flesh and dwelt within us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (1:1-5, 14).

Few know what is here meant by the "Word." That it is the Lord, is evident from the several particulars; but the internal sense teaches that it is the Lord as to His Divine Human that is meant by the "Word," for it is said: "the Word was made flesh and dwelt within us, and we beheld His glory." And because the Divine Human is meant by the "Word," all that Truth also is meant which relates to Him, and is from Him, in His kingdom in the heavens, and in His church on the earth. Hence it is said that "in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light appeareth in the darkness." And because Truth is meant by the "Word," all revelation is meant, and thus also the Word itself or Holy Scripture.

As regards the Word specifically, it had existed in all times, but not the Word which we have at this day.

There had been another Word in the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood, and another Word in the Ancient Church which was after the flood; then came the Word written by Moses and the prophets in the Jewish Church; and lastly the Word that was written by the Evangelists in the new church. The reason why there has been a Word at all times, is that by the Word there is communication of heaven with earth; and also because the Word treats of good and truth, from which man is to live happy forever; and on this account in the internal sense it treats of the Lord alone, because all good and truth are from Him.

The Word in the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood was not a written Word, but was revealed to everyone who was of that church. For they were celestial men, and therefore were in the perception of good and truth, as the angels are (with whom moreover they were in company), so that they had the Word written on their hearts. As they were celestial men, and had companionship with angels, all the things which they saw and apprehended by any of the senses were to them representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things which are in the Lord's kingdom; so that they indeed saw worldly and earthly things with their eyes, or apprehended them by some other sense, but from them and by means of them they thought of celestial and spiritual things. In this way, and in no other, were they able to speak with angels; for the things with the angels are celestial and spiritual things, and when they come down to man they fall into such things as are with him in the world. That each one of the things in the world represents and signifies something in the heavens, has been shown from the first chapter of Genesis up to this point. Thence came the representatives and significatives which, when communication with angels began to cease, were collected by those meant by "Enoch," as was signified by the words (Gen. 5:24) "Enoch walked by himself with God, and was no more, for God took him".

From this source was the Word in the Ancient Church which was after the flood. As the man of this church was spiritual and not celestial, he knew but did not perceive what the representatives and significatives involved; and as they involved Divine things, they came to be in use among those men, and were employed in their Divine worship; and this in order that they might have communication with heaven; for as before said, all things in the world represent and signify such things as are in heaven. They also had a written Word, which consisted of Histories and Prophecies, like the Word of the Old Testament; but in process of time that Word was lost. The Histories were called "Wars of Jehovah," and the Prophecies were called "Enunciations," as is evident in Moses (see Num. 21:14, 27), where they are quoted. Their histories were written in the prophetic style, and were, for the most part, made up histories, like those in the first eleven chapters of Genesis; as is plain from the quotations from them in Moses, where are these words:

Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, and the rivers of Arnon, and the slope of the rivers that inclineth toward the dwelling of Ar, and leaneth upon the border of Moab (Num. 21:14-15)

Their prophecies were written like the prophecies of the Old Testament, as is likewise plain from the quotations made from them also in Moses, where are these words:

Wherefore the Enunciations (or the Prophetic Enunciators) say, Come ye to Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established; for a fire is gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it hath devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab; thou hast perished, O people of Chemosh; he hath given his sons as escapers, and his daughters into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorite. And we have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba (Num. 21:27-30).

That these prophecies involve heavenly arcana, as do the prophecies of the Old Testament, is clearly manifest not only from their having been transcribed by Moses and applied to the state of things of which he was then writing, but also from the fact that nearly the same words are found in Jeremiah, inserted in the prophecies of that book; in which it is evident, from what has been said about the internal sense of the Word, that there are as many heavenly arcana as there are words. The words in Jeremiah are:

A fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from among Sihon, and hath devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. Woe unto thee, O Moab, the people of Chemosh has perished, for thy sons are taken into captivity, and thy daughters into captivity (Jer. 48:45-46).

From this also it is plain that that Word also had an internal sense.

That with them there were prophecies which in the internal sense treated of the Lord and of His kingdom, may be seen not only from what has been shown, but also from the prophecies of Balaam, who was from Syria, spoken of in Moses (Num. 23:7-10, 18-25; 24:3-10, 15-25), which are expressed in a style similar to the other prophecies of the Word, and plainly foretell the Lord's coming, in these words:

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel and shall smite through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth (Num. 24:17).

These prophecies, like the former, are called "Parables" [Enuntiata], for the same word is used (Num. 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 20).

A Word afterwards followed in the Jewish Church that in like manner was written by representatives and significatives, so that it might have within it an internal sense understood in heaven, and that thus by the Word there might be communication, and the Lord's kingdom in the heavens be united to the Lord's kingdom on earth. Unless everything in the Word represents, and unless all the words by which everything therein is written, signify the Divine things pertaining to the Lord, thus the celestial and spiritual things belonging to His kingdom, the Word is not Divine; but being so it could not possibly be written in any other style; for by means of this style and not possibly by any other, human things and human words correspond to heavenly things and heavenly ideas, even to the least jot. From this it is that if the Word is read even by a little child, the Divine things therein are perceived by the angels.

In regard to the Word of the New Testament which is in the Evangelists, as the Lord spoke from the Divine itself, the several things spoken by Him were representative and significative of Divine things, thus of the heavenly things of His kingdom and church, as has been abundantly shown above.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2894 - 2900)