The Law of God's Providence

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of the Divine Providence, because acting contrary to them would be acting contrary to His Divine love and contrary to His Divine wisdom, thus contrary to Himself.

The Lord is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and that these two are Being (Esse) itself and life itself, from which everything has being and life.  This same goes forth from Him - the Divine that goes forth is Himself. Of all that goes forth the Divine providence is primary - for this is continually in the end for the sake of which the universe was created. The operation and progress of the end through means is what is called the Divine providence. Since, then, the Divine that goes forth is Himself, and the Divine providence is the primary thing that goes forth, it follows that to act contrary to the laws of His Divine providence is to act contrary to Himself.

It may be said furthermore, that the Lord is Providence, as it is said that God is Order, for the Divine providence is Divine order with primary regard to the salvation of men; and as there is no order possible without laws - for laws are what constitute order - and every law derives from order that it is order, it follows that as God is order so is He the Law of His order. The same is to be said of the Divine providence, that as the Lord is His providence He is also the law of His providence.

From this it is evident that the Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of His providence, for to act contrary to them would be to act contrary to Himself.

Again, there can be no operation except upon a subject and upon it through means - operation except upon a subject and upon it through means is impossible.

• The subject of the Divine providence is man
• The means are the Divine truths whereby man gains wisdom and the Divine good whereby he gains love

The Divine providence through these means works out its end, which is man's salvation - for He that wills an end wills the means also, consequently in willing to accomplish an end He accomplishes it through means.

(from Divine Providence 331)

The Principal of Faith

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.  For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.   (Romans 10: 8-17)

There are two lives in man; one is of the will, the other of the understanding. They become two lives when there is no will, but cupidity (yearnings, lust, strong desires) in place of a will. Then it is the other or intellectual part that can be reformed; and afterwards through this a new will can be given, so that the two may still constitute one life, namely, charity and faith.

When a man is being reformed, which is effected by combats and temptations, such evil spirits are associated with him as excite nothing but his things of knowledge and reason [scientifica ejus et rationalia]; and spirits that excite cupidities are kept entirely away from him. For there are two kinds of evil spirits, those who act upon man's reasonings, and those who act upon his cupidities. The evil spirits who excite a man's reasonings, bring forth all his falsities, and endeavor to persuade him that they are true, and even turn truths into falsities. A man must fight against these when he is in temptation; but it is really the Lord who fights, through the angels who are adjoined to the man.

As soon as the falsities are separated, and as it were dispersed, by these combats, the man is prepared to receive the truths of faith.

For so long as falsities prevail, a man never can receive the truths of faith, because the principles of falsity stand in the way.

When he has thus been prepared to receive the truths of faith, then for the first time can celestial seeds be implanted in him, which are the seeds of charity. The seeds of charity can never be implanted in ground where falsities reign, but only where truths reign. Thus is it with the reformation or regeneration of the spiritual man. ...

This agrees with what is at this day known in the churches: that faith comes by hearing. But faith is by no means the knowledge [cognitio] of the things that are of faith, or that are to be believed. This is only memory-knowledge [scientia]; whereas faith is acknowledgment. There can however be no acknowledgment with anyone unless the principal of faith is in him, which is charity, that is, love toward the neighbor and mercy.

When there is charity, then there is acknowledgment, or faith. He who apprehends otherwise is as far away from a knowledge of faith as earth is from heaven. When charity is present, which is the goodness of faith, then acknowledgment is present, which is the truth of faith.

When therefore a man is being regenerated according to the things of knowledge, of reason, and of understanding, it is to the end that the ground may be prepared - that is, his mind - for receiving charity; from which, or from the life of which, he thereafter thinks and acts. Then he is reformed or regenerated, and not before.

(from Arcana Coelestia 652-654)

Elevating The Mind Above Sensual Things

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them (Deut. 28:13).

"To make as the head" means to make spiritual and intelligent, and thus to elevate out of the light of the world into the light of heaven; and "to make as the tail" means to make sensual and foolish, so as not to look to heaven but only to the world; therefore it is said "and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath," "to be above" meaning to be elevated by the Lord so as to look to heaven, and "to be beneath" meaning not to be elevated by the Lord, but by self, and man by self looks only to the world. For man's interiors, which belong to his thought and affection, are elevated to heaven by the Lord when man is in the good of life and thence in the truths of doctrine; but when he is in the evil of life and thence in falsities, his lower things look downward, thus only to his body and to such things as are in the world, and thus to hell. Thus man puts off his truly human nature and puts on a beastly nature, for beasts look downward and to such things only as are met with in the world and upon the earth. Elevation into the light of heaven by the Lord is an actual elevation of man's interiors to the Lord; and a depression or casting down to such things as are below and outside the eyes is an actual depression and casting down of the interiors, and when this takes place, all the thought of the spirit is immersed in the ultimate sensual.

Sensual knowledges are such knowledges as enter from the world through the five bodily senses, and thence viewed in themselves are more material, corporeal, and worldly than those that are interior. All who are in the love of self and have confirmed themselves against Divine and spiritual things are sensual men, and when they are left to themselves and think in their spirit, they think about Divine and spiritual things from sensual knowledges, and consequently they reject Divine and spiritual things as not to be believed, because they do not see them with their eyes or touch them with their hands; and they apply their knowledges - which they have made sensual and material - to the destruction of these. For example, men who are learned in this kind of knowledge, who are skilled in physics, anatomy, botany, and other branches of human learning, when they see the wonderful things in the animal and vegetable kingdoms say in their hearts that all these things are from nature, and not from the Divine, and this because they believe in nothing that they do not see with their eyes and touch with their hands; for they are unable to elevate their minds upward so as to see these things from the light of heaven, for that light is thick darkness to them; but they detain their minds in earthly things, much the same as the animals of the earth do, with which indeed they compare themselves.

In a word, with such all knowledges [scientiae] are made sensual; for such as the man himself is, such are all things of his understanding and will; if the man is spiritual all things become spiritual; if he is merely natural all things become natural and not spiritual; if the man is sensual all things become sensual, and this however learned and erudite he may seem to the world to be.

But as every man has the faculty to understand truths and perceive goods, such men are able from that faculty to talk about these things like those who are spiritual-rational, although in respect to their spirit they are sensual; for when such men speak before others, they do not speak from the spirit but from the bodily memory.

All this has been said to make known what sensual knowledges are. These are what especially persuade, or are especially persuasive, because they are the ultimates of the understanding; for into these, as into its ultimates, the understanding closes, and these captivate the common people because they are appearances drawn from such things as they see in the world with their eyes; and so long as the thought clings to these it is impossible to dispose the mind to think interiorly or above them until they are put away; for the interior things of the mind all close into ultimates and rest upon them, as a house upon its foundation; consequently these are especially persuasive, but only with those whose minds cannot be elevated above sensual things; and the mind is elevated above them with those who are in the light of heaven from the Lord, for the light of heaven dissipates them. For this reason spiritual men rarely think from things sensual, for they think from things rational and intellectual; but sensual men, who have confirmed themselves in falsities against Divine and spiritual things, when they are left to themselves think only from sensual things.

(from Apocalypse Explained 559:6,2-3)

Two Distinct Things Created to Act as One

Selection from Divine Love and Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Man's soul, which lives after death, is his spirit, and is in complete form a man. The soul of this form is the will and understanding, and the soul of these is love and wisdom from the Lord; these two are what constitute man's life, which is from the Lord above, yet for the sake of man's reception of Him, He causes life to appear as if it were man's. But that man may not claim life for himself as his, and thus withdraw himself from this reception of the Lord, the Lord has also taught that everything of love, which is called good, and everything of wisdom, which is called truth, is from Him, and nothing of these from man, and as these two are life, that everything of life which is life is from Him.

Since the soul in its very esse is love and wisdom, and these two in man are from the Lord, there are created in man two receptacles, which are also the abodes of the Lord in man — one for love, the other for wisdom, the one for love called the will, the other for wisdom called the understanding. Now since Love and Wisdom in the Lord are one distinctly, and Divine Love is of His Divine Wisdom, and Divine Wisdom is of His Divine Love, and since these so go forth from God-Man, that is, from the Lord, therefore these two receptacles and abodes of the Lord in man - the will and understanding - are so created by the Lord as to be distinctly two, and yet make one in every operation and every sensation; for in these, (every operation and every sensation), the will and understanding cannot be separated. Nevertheless, to enable man to become a receptacle and an abode of the Lord, it is provided, as necessary to this end, that man's understanding can be raised above his proper love into some light of wisdom in the love of which the man is not, and that he can thereby see and be taught how he must live if he would come also into that higher love, and thus enjoy eternal happiness. But by the misuse of this power to elevate the understanding above his proper love, man has subverted in himself that which might have been the receptacle and abode of the Lord (that is, of love and wisdom from the Lord), by making the will an abode for the love of self and the world, and the understanding an abode for whatever confirms those loves. From this it has come that these two abodes, the will and understanding, have become abodes of infernal love, and by confirmations in favor of these loves, abodes of infernal thought, which in hell is esteemed as wisdom.

The reason why the love of self and love of the world are infernal loves, and yet man has been able to come into them and thus subvert the will and understanding within him, is as follows: the love of self and the love of the world by creation are heavenly loves; for they are loves of the natural man serviceable to spiritual loves, as a foundation is to a house. For man, from the love of self and the world, seeks the welfare of his body, desires food, clothing, and habitation, is solicitous for the welfare of his family, and to secure employment for the sake of use, and even, in the interest of obedience, to be honored according to the dignity of the affairs which he administers, and to find delight and refreshment in worldly enjoyment; yet all this for the sake of the end, which must be use. For through these things man is in a state to serve the Lord and to serve the neighbor. When, however, there is no love of serving the Lord and serving the neighbor, but only a love of serving himself by means of the world, then from being heavenly that love becomes hellish, for it causes a man to sink his mind and disposition in what is his own, and that in itself is wholly evil.

Now that man may not by the understanding be in heaven while by the will he is in hell, as is possible, and may thereby have a divided mind, after death everything of the understanding which transcends its own love is removed; whereby it comes that in everyone the will and understanding finally make one. With those in heaven the will loves good and the understanding thinks truth; but with those in hell the will loves evil and the understanding thinks falsity. The same is true of man in this world when he is thinking from his spirit, as he does when alone; yet many, so long as they are in the body, when they are not alone think otherwise. They then think otherwise because they raise their understanding above the proper love of their will, that is, of their spirit. These things have been said, to make known that the will and understanding are two distinct things, although created to act as one, and that they are made to act as one after death, if not before.

(from Divine Love and Wisdom 394-397)

When Memory-knowledges Become of the Life

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

What memory-knowledges are relatively to the truths and goods of life with man, shall be briefly told.

All things learned and stored up in the memory, and that can be called forth from it to the intellectual sight, are called memory-knowledges, and in themselves are the things that constitute the understanding of the natural or external man. Being knowledges, these memory-knowledges are of service to the sight of the internal or rational man as a kind of mirror in which to see such things as are of service to itself. For these fall under the view of the internal man just as fields full of grass, flowers, various kinds of crops, and of trees; or as gardens adorned with various useful and delightful objects, fall under the view of the external man in the material world. Yet the internal sight, which is the understanding, sees nothing else in the fields or gardens of the things of its memory than such as agree with the loves in which the man is, and also favor the principles he loves.

Wherefore they who are in the loves of self and of the world see only such things as favor these loves, and they call them truths, and by means of fallacies and appearances they also make them appear like truths; and afterward they see such things as agree with the principles they have adopted, which they love because they are from themselves. From this it is plain that the knowledges which are things of memory, are of service to those who are in the aforesaid loves as means of confirming falsities against truths, and evils against goods, and thus of destroying the truths and goods of the church. Hence it is that the learned who are of this character are more insane than the simple, and when by themselves deny the Divine, Providence, heaven, hell, the life after death, and the truths of faith. This is well seen from the learned of the European world at this day in the other life, where a vast number of them are atheists at heart; for in the other life hearts speak, and not lips. From all this it is now evident of what use knowledges are to those who think from the delights of the loves of self and of the world.

But it is very different with those who think from the delights of heavenly loves, which are love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor. As the thought of these persons is led by the Lord through heaven, they see and choose nothing else in the fields and gardens of the things of their memory than those which agree with the delights of their loves and with the doctrinal things of their church, and which they love. To them the things of the memory are like heavenly paradises, and in the Word they are also represented and signified by paradises.

Be it known further that when memory-knowledges - that is, the things of the memory - become of the man's life, they vanish from the exterior memory, just as the gestures, actions, speech, reflections, intentions, and in general the thoughts and affections of man are wont to do, when by continual use or habit they become as it were spontaneous and natural; but no other things become of man's life than those which enter into the delights of his loves and form them; thus those which enter into his will.

That memory-knowledges are vessels, and in the Word are signified by vessels of every kind, as by "basins," "cups," "waterpots," and the like, is because every memory-knowledge is a general thing that contains in it particular and singular things that agree with the general; and such generals are disposed into series, and as it were into bundles; and these bundles and series are in turn so arranged in order as to bear relation to the heavenly form; and thus everything is set in order from things the most singular to those the most general. An idea of such series can be formed from the series and bundles of muscular fibers in the human body, every bundle therein consisting of many motor fibers, and every motor fiber of blood-vessels and sinewy fibers; every muscular bundle also, which in a general term is called a muscle, is encompassed by its coat or sheath, whereby it is kept distinct from other muscles; and the same is the case with the interior little bundles or fascicles which are called motor fibers.

Nevertheless all the muscles, and the motor fibers contained in them, in the whole body, have been so set in order as to concur in every action according to the pleasure of the will, and this in a manner incomprehensible. So it is with the knowledges of the memory, which also are in like manner excited by the delight of the man's love, which is of his will, yet by means of his intellectual part. That which has been made of the man's life - which is that which has been made of his will or love - excites them; for the interior man has them constantly in view, and is delighted with them insofar as they agree with his loves; and those things which enter fully into the loves, and become spontaneous, and as it were natural, vanish out of the external memory; but remain inscribed on the internal memory, from which they are never erased. In this manner memory-knowledges become of the life.

From this it is also evident that memory-knowledges are as it were the vessels of the interior life of man, and that this is the reason why memory-knowledges are signified by vessels of various kinds, and here by "basins." Similar things are signified by "vessels" and "basins" in Isaiah:

I will fasten him as a nail in a trusty place, that he may be for a throne of glory to the house of his father, upon whom they may hang all the glory of his father's house, of sons and grandsons, every vessel of small capacity, from the vessels of basins even to all the vessels of psalteries (Isa. 22:23, 24).

The subject here treated of in the internal and representative sense is the Divine Human of the Lord, and that through Him and from Him are all truths and goods from first to last; memory-truths from a celestial stock are meant by "vessels of basins," and memory-truths from a spiritual stock by "vessels of psalteries."

And in Zechariah:

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness to Jehovah; and the pots in the house of Jehovah shall be like the basins before the altar (Zech. 14:20);

"the bells of the horses" denote memory-truths from an enlightened understanding; and "the basins before the altar" denote memory-goods. Similar things are signified by "the basins of the altar" in Exodus 27:3; 38:3.

(from Arcana Coelestia 9394)

The Opening of the Word

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.  And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.  (Genesis 29:2–3)

That this signifies that the Word was closed, is evident without explication. The Word is said to be closed when it is understood solely as to the sense of the letter, and when all that is in this sense is taken for doctrine. And it is still more closed when those things are acknowledged as doctrinal things which favor the cupidities of the love of self and of the world; for these especially roll a great stone upon the mouth of the well, that is, close up the Word; and then mankind do not know, neither do they desire to know, that there is any interior sense in the Word, when yet they may see this from many passages where the sense of the letter is unfolded as to the interior sense; and also from the doctrinal things received in the church, to which by various explications they refer all the sense of the letter of the Word.

What is meant by the Word being closed may be seen especially from the Jews, who explain each and all things according to the letter, and thence believe that they are chosen in preference to all nations on the face of the earth, and that the Messiah will come to bring them into the land of Canaan and exalt them above all nations and peoples of the earth; for they are immersed in earthly corporeal loves, which are such that they altogether close up the Word as to interior things. Therefore also they do not yet know whether there is any heavenly kingdom, whether they shall live after death, what the internal man is, nor even that there is anything spiritual; still less do they know that the Messiah has come to save souls. That the Word is closed with them, may be sufficiently evident also from the fact that although they live among Christians, they do not receive the least of their doctrinal things-according to the following words in Isaiah:

Say to this people, Hearing, hear ye, and do not understand; and seeing, see ye, and do not perceive. Make the heart of this people fat, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes. And I said, Lord, how long? And He said, Until the cities be waste without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the ground be wasted to a solitude (Isa. 6:9-11; Matt. 13:14-15; John 12:40-41).

For insofar as a man is immersed in loves of self and of the world, and in the cupidities of these loves, so far the Word is closed to him; for these loves have self as their end, which end kindles a natural lumen, but extinguishes heavenly light, so that men sharply see the things of self and the world, but not at all those of the Lord and His kingdom; and when this is the case, they may indeed read the Word, but it is with the end of acquiring honors and riches, or for the sake of appearance, or from the love and consequent habit of it, or from piety, and yet not from a purpose of amending the life. To such persons the Word is in various ways closed; to some so much that by no means are they willing to know anything but what their doctrinal things dictate, whatever these may be.

For example: should anyone say that the power of opening and shutting heaven was not given to Peter, but to the faith of love, which faith is signifiedby Peter's keys, inasmuch as the love of self and of the world opposes this, they will by no means acknowledge it. And should anyone say that saints ought not to be worshiped, but the Lord alone, neither do they receive this. Or if anyone should say that by the bread and wine in the Holy Supper is meant the Lord's love toward the universal human race, and the reciprocal love of man to the Lord, this they do not believe. Or should anyone assert that faith is of no avail unless it is the good of faith, that is, charity, this they explain inversely; and so with everything else. They who are of this character cannot see one whit of the truth that is in the Word, nor are they willing to see it, but abide obstinately in their own dogma; and are not even willing to hear that there is an internal sense wherein is the sanctity and glory of the Word, and even when they are told that it is so, from their aversion thereto they loathe the bare mention of it. Thus has the Word been closed, when yet it is of such a nature as to lie open even into heaven, and through heaven to the Lord, and it is closed solely in relation to man, insofar as he is in the evils of the love of self and of the world in respect to his ends of life, and in the consequent principles of falsity. From this it is evident what is signified by a great stone being upon the well's mouth.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3769)

As regards the Word being opened to the churches, and being afterwards closed, the case is this: in the beginning of the setting up of any church, the Word is at first closed to the men of it, and is afterwards opened, the Lord so providing; and thus they learn that all doctrine is founded on the two commandments-that the Lord is to be loved above all things, and the neighbor as themselves.

The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.  (Mark 12:29-31)

When these two commandments are regarded as the end, the Word is opened; for all the Law and the Prophets, that is, the whole Word, so depend on these commandments that all things are derived from them and therefore all have reference to them. And whereas the men of the church are then in the principles of truth and good, they are enlightened in everything they see in the Word; for the Lord is then present with them by means of angels, and teaches them (although they are unaware of this), and also leads them into the life of truth and good.

This may be seen also from the case of all churches, in that they were such in their infancy, and worshiped the Lord from love, and loved the neighbor from the heart. But in process of time churches withdraw from these two commandments, and turn aside from the good of love and charity to the so—called things of faith, thus from life to doctrine; and insofar as they do this, so far the Word is closed. This is what is signified in the internal sense by the words:

Behold a well in the field, and behold there three-droves of the flock lying by it; for out of that well they watered the droves; and a great stone was upon the well's mouth. And all the droves were gathered together thither; and they rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock, and they put the stone in its place again upon the well's mouth.

(from Arcana Coelestia 3773)

When Charity Rules

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

"If thou doest well, is there not an uplifting? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door; and to thee is his desire, and thou rulest over him. (Genesis 4:7)

Charity is desirous to be with thee, but cannot because thou desirest to rule over it

The doctrine of faith called "Cain" is here described, which in consequence of separating faith from love — separated it also from charity, the offspring of love. Wherever there is any church, there arise heresies, because while men are intent on some particular article of faith they make that the main thing; for such is the nature of man's thought, that while intent on some one thing he sets it before any other, especially when his imagination claims it as a discovery of his own, and when the love of self and of the world puff him up. Everything then seems to agree with and confirm it, until at last he will swear that it is so, even if it is false. Just in this way, those called "Cain" made faith more essential than love, and as they consequently lived without love — both the love of self and the phantasy thence derived conspired to confirm them in it.

The nature of the doctrine of faith that was called "Cain" is seen from the description of it in this verse, from which it appears that charity was capable of being joined to faith, but so that charity and not faith should have the dominion. On this account it is first said, "If thou doest well art thou not uplifted?" signifying, If thou art well disposed, charity may be present; for to "do well" signifies, in the internal sense, to be well disposed, since doing what is good comes from willing what is good. In ancient times action and will made a one; from the action they saw the will, dissimulation being then unknown. That an "uplifting" signifies that charity is present, that to "lift up the face" is to have charity, and that for the "face to fall" is the contrary.

Secondly, it is said, "If thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door" which signifies, If thou art not well disposed, there is no charity present, but evil. Everybody can see that "sin lying at the door" is evil ready and desirous to enter; for when there is no charity, there are unmercifulness and hatred, consequently all evil. Sin in general is called the "devil" who, that is, his crew of infernals, is ever at hand when man is destitute of charity; and the only means of driving away the devil and his crew from the door of the mind, is love to the Lord and toward the neighbor.

In the third place it is said, "Unto thee is his desire, and thou rulest over him" by which is signified that charity is desirous to abide with faith, but cannot do so because faith wishes to rule over it, which is contrary to order. So long as faith seeks to have the dominion, it is not faith, and only becomes faith when charity rules; for charity is the principal of faith, as was shown above.

Charity maybe compared to flame, which is the essential of heat and light, for heat and light are from it; and faith in a state of separation may be compared to light that is without the heat of flame, when indeed there is light, but it is the light of winter in which everything becomes torpid and dies.

(from Arcana Coelestia 361-365)