Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 5)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

In what precedes it has been told what the neighbor is: it is now to be told what the charity or love is which there must be toward the neighbor.

The very life of man is his love; and such as his love is, such is his life; nay, such is the whole man. But it is the ruling or reigning love, that is, the love of that which he has as the end, which makes the man. This love has subordinate to itself many particular and singular loves, which are derivations, and appear under a different shape; but still the ruling love is in each one of them, and directs them, and through them, as through mediate ends, looks to and aims at its end, which is the first and last of them all; and this both directly and indirectly.

There are two things in the natural world which make the life there, namely, heat and light; and there are two things in the spiritual world which make the life there, namely, love and faith. Heat in the natural world corresponds to love in the spiritual world, and light in the natural world corresponds to faith in the spiritual world. Hence it is that when spiritual heat or fire is mentioned, love is meant; and when spiritual light is mentioned, faith is meant. Moreover, love is actually the vital heat of man, for it is known that man grows warm from love; and faith is actually the light of man, for it can be known that man is illumined from faith.

The heat and light in the natural world arise from the sun of the world; but spiritual heat and light, or love and faith, arise from the sun of heaven. The sun of heaven is the Lord; the heat which comes from Him as a sun is love, and the light which comes from Him as a sun is faith. That the Lord is light is evident from these words in John:

Jesus said, I am the light of the world, he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12)

and that the Lord is a sun is evident in Matthew:

When Jesus was transfigured, His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as the light (Matt. 17:2).

From this correspondence it can also be known how the case is with faith and with love. Faith without love is like light without heat, as is the light of winter; and faith with love is like light with heat, as is the light of spring. That in the light of spring each and all things grow and flower, is known; and also that in the light of winter all things become torpid and die. It is similar with faith and love.

Now as love is the source of man's life, and as the whole man is such as is his love, and also as love is spiritual conjunction, it follows that all in the other life are consociated according to the loves; for everyone's life, that is, his love, follows him. They who are in love toward the neighbor, and in love to God, are consociate in heaven; but they who are in the love of self and the love of the world are consociate in hell; for the love of self is opposite to love to God, and the love of the world is opposite to love toward the neighbor.

It is said "love to God," and there is meant love to the Lord, because in Him is the Trinity, and He is the Lord of heaven, for He has "all power in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18).

(from Arcana Coelestia 7080-7086)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 4)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

It is a common saying that everyone is neighbor to himself, that is, that one should take care of himself first of all. The doctrine of charity teaches how the case herein is. Everyone is neighbor to himself, not in the first, but in the last place. In a prior place are others who are in good; in a still prior place is a society of many; in a place still prior is our country; in a place still prior is the church; in a place still prior is the Lord's kingdom; and above all men and all things is the Lord.

The saying that everyone is neighbor to himself, and that he must take care of himself first of all, is to be understood in this way. Everyone must make provision for himself so as to have the necessities of life, as food, clothing, a place to dwell in, and other things which are necessarily required in the civil life where he is; and this not only for himself, but also for his family; and not only for the present time, but also for the future. Unless each person procures for himself the necessities of life, he cannot be in a state to exercise charity toward the neighbor, for he is in need of all things.

The end in view declares in what way each person must be neighbor to himself, and must first of all take care of himself. If the end is that he may become richer than others merely for the sake of riches, pleasure, eminence, and the like, the end is evil; and therefore he who from such an end believes he is neighbor to himself, injures himself to eternity. But if the end is that he may acquire wealth for the sake of the necessities of life, for himself and for his family, so as to be in a state to do what is good according to the commandments of the doctrine of charity, he takes care of himself for eternity. The end itself makes the man, for the end is his love, because everyone has as the end that which he loves.

How the case herein is can be further seen from this similar example. Everyone ought to take care of his body in respect to its food and clothing. This must come first, but to the end that there may be a sound mind in a sound body. And everyone ought to take care of his mind in respect to its food, namely, in respect to such things as belong to intelligence and wisdom, to the end that his mind may thus be in a state to serve the Lord; he who does this, takes good care of himself for eternity. But he who takes care of his body merely for the sake of the body, and does not think of soundness of mind, and who does not take care of his mind in respect to such things as are of intelligence and wisdom, but in respect to such things as are contrary thereto, takes bad care of himself for eternity. From all this it is evident in what way everyone ought to be neighbor to himself, namely, not in the first place but in the last; for the end must not be for himself, but for others; and where the end is, there is the first.

Moreover, the case herein is like that of a man who is building a house. He must first lay the foundation; but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for a place to dwell in. And so everyone must first take care of himself, yet not for himself, but in order that he may be in a state to be of service to the neighbor, thus to his country, to the church, and above all to the Lord. He who believes that he is neighbor to himself in the first place, is like one who regards the foundation as the end, and not the house and dwelling in it; when yet the dwelling is the very first and last end, and the house together with its foundation is only a means to the end.

As is the case with possessions, so also is it with honors in the world; everyone is at liberty to provide himself with these also, yet not for the sake of himself, but for the sake of the neighbor; he who provides them for the sake of himself, provides ill for himself; but he who provides them for the sake of the neighbor, provides well for himself. For he who turns his ends to himself turns himself toward hell; but he who turns his ends from himself to the neighbor, turns himself toward heaven.

(from Arcana Coelestia 6933-6938)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 3)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —

With respect to the Neighbor, more must be said, because without knowing who the neighbor is, no one can know in what way charity must be practiced.

It was said that every man is the neighbor, but not one in like manner as another; and that he who is in good is more the neighbor than others, thus that it is the good in a man which is to be loved; for when good is loved, the Lord is loved, because it is the Lord from whom is good, who is in good, and who is good itself.

But not only is man in the singular the neighbor, but also man in the plural. For a society, smaller or greater, is the neighbor; our country is the neighbor; the church is the neighbor; the Lord's kingdom is the neighbor; and so above all is the Lord. All these are the neighbor who is to be benefited from charity. These also are ascending degrees of the neighbor; for a society of many is the neighbor in a higher degree than is an individual man; our country in a higher degree than a society; in a still higher degree the church; and in a still higher degree the Lord's kingdom; but in the highest degree the Lord is the neighbor. These ascending degrees are like the steps of a ladder, at the top of which is the Lord.

A society is more a neighbor than an individual man, because it consists of many. Charity is to be practiced toward it in like manner as toward an individual man, namely, according to the quality of good in it; thus quite differently toward a society of the upright, from the way in which it is to be practiced toward a society of those who are not upright.

Our country is more the neighbor than a society, because it is like a parent; for there the man has been born; it nourishes him, and protects him from harm. Our country is to be benefited from love, according to its necessities, which chiefly regard its sustenance, its civil life, and its spiritual life. He who loves his country, and from good will benefits it, in the other life loves the Lord's kingdom; for there the Lord's kingdom is his country. And he who loves the Lord's kingdom, loves the Lord, because the Lord is the all in all of His kingdom; for what is properly called "the Lord's kingdom" is the good and truth from the Lord in those who are in it.

The church is more the neighbor than our country, because he who has regard for the church, has regard also for the souls and eternal life of the men who are in the country. And the church is cared for when man is led to good, and he who does this from charity, loves the neighbor, for he desires and wills for another, heaven and happiness of life to eternity. Good can be instilled into another by anyone in his country, but not truth, except by those who are teaching ministers; if others do this, heresies arise, and the church is disturbed and rent asunder. Charity is practiced, if through the truth which is of the church, the neighbor is led to good. If in the church anything is called truth which leads away from good, this is not worthy of mention, for it is not truth. Everyone must first obtain for himself truth from the doctrine of the church, and afterward from the Word of the Lord; this must be the truth of his faith.

The Lord's kingdom is the neighbor in a higher degree than the church in which one is born; for the Lord's kingdom consists of all who are in good, both on earth and in the heavens; thus the Lord's kingdom is good with every quality of it in the complex; and when this good is loved, everyone who is in good is loved. Thus the whole, which is all good in the complex, is the neighbor in the first degree, and is that Grand Man which has been treated of at the end of many chapters, which Man is a representative image of the Lord Himself. This Man, that is, the Lord's kingdom, is loved, when from inmost affection those are benefited who are men through that man from the Lord, thus with whom is the Lord's kingdom.

These are the degrees of the neighbor, and according to these degrees charity ascends; but these are degrees in successive order, in which a prior or higher degree is always preferred to a posterior or lower one; and as the Lord is in the highest, and He is to be regarded in every degree as the end to which each tends, therefore He is above all, and is to be loved above all things.

(from Arcana Coelestia 6818-6824)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 2)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —
It must first be told what the neighbor is
because it is he toward whom charity is to be exercised

Unless it is known who the neighbor is, charity may be exercised in the same manner and without distinction equally toward the evil as toward the good, whereby charity becomes no charity; for by virtue of its benefactions the evil do ill to the neighbor; but the good do well.

The general opinion at the present day is that every man is equally the neighbor, and that everyone who is in need of help must be benefited. But it is the part of Christian prudence to search well the quality of a man's life, and to exercise charity in accordance therewith. The man of the internal church does this with discrimination, thus with intelligence; but as the man of the external church cannot thus discriminate, he does it indiscriminately.

The ancients reduced the neighbor into classes, and named each class according to the names of those who in the world appear to be especially in need; and they taught how charity was to be exercised toward those who were in one class, and how toward those in another; and in this way they reduced the doctrine, and the life according to it, into order. Hence the doctrine of their church contained the laws of life, and hence they saw of what quality was this or that man of the church whom they called "brother," but with a distinction in the internal sense in accordance with his exercise of charity from the genuine doctrine of the church, or from the doctrine as changed by himself; for as everyone desires to appear blameless, he defends his own life, and therefore either explains or changes the laws of doctrine in his own favor.

The distinguishing differences of the neighbor, which the man of the church ought to wholly know, in order that he may know the quality of charity, vary in accordance with the good which is with everyone; and as all good proceeds from the Lord, the Lord is the neighbor in the highest sense, and in a surpassing degree; and from Him the neighbor originates. From this it follows that -

in proportion as anyone has of the Lord in him, in the same proportion he is the neighbor

and as no two persons receive the Lord (that is, receive the good which proceeds from Him) in the same way, therefore no two persons are the neighbor in the same way; for without exception all persons in the heavens and on earth differ in good. Precisely one and the same good never exists in two persons; it must vary in order for each person to subsist by himself. But all these varieties, thus all the distinguishing differences of the neighbor, which are according to the reception of the Lord, that is, of the good proceeding from Him, can never be known to any man, nor even to any angel, except in general, thus as to their genera and some species of these. Nor does the Lord require more of the man of the church than to live according to what he knows.

From all this it is now clear that -

the quality of Christian good determines in what degree each one is the neighbor

for the Lord is present in good, because it is His, and He is present according to the quality of it. And as the origin of the neighbor must be drawn from the Lord, therefore the distinguishing differences of the neighbor are according to the Lord's presence in good, thus according to the quality of the good.

That the neighbor is according to the quality of the good, is plain from the Lord's parable of the man who fell among thieves, whom, while half dead, the priest passed by, and also the Levite; but the Samaritan, when he had bound up his wounds and poured in oil and wine, set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him; and he, because he exercised the good of charity, is called the "neighbor" (Luke 10:29-37). Hence it may be known that they are the neighbor who are in good; whereas they who are in evil are indeed the neighbor, but in quite a different respect; and for this reason they are to be benefited in a different way. But on this subject, of the Lord's Divine mercy more will be said hereafter.

As it is the quality of the good which determines how everyone is the neighbor, it is the love which does this; for there is not any good which is not of love; from this comes forth all good, and from this also comes forth the quality of the good.

That it is the love which makes a man to be the neighbor, and that each person is the neighbor according to the quality of his love, is very manifest from those who are in the love of self. These acknowledge as the neighbor those who love them the most; that is, insofar as they are theirs; thus are in themselves. These they embrace, these they kiss, these they benefit, and these they call brethren; nay, because they are evil, they say that these are the neighbor more than others. All the rest they hold to be the neighbor according as these love them, thus according to the quality and the amount of the love. Much derive the origin of the neighbor from themselves, for it is the love that is the determinant.

But they who do not love themselves more than others, as is the case with all who are of the Lord's kingdom, will derive the origin of the neighbor from Him whom they ought to love above all things, that is, from the Lord; and will regard everyone as the neighbor according to the quality of his love to Him. They therefore who love others as themselves, and especially those who - like the angels - love others more than themselves, all derive the origin of the neighbor from the Lord; for the Lord Himself is in good, because it proceeds from Him. Hence also it can be seen that the quality of the love determines who is the neighbor. That the Lord is in good, He Himself teaches in Matthew; for He says to those who had been in good, that they "had given Him to eat," that they "had given Him to drink, had gathered Him, clothed Him, visited Him, and had come to Him in prison;" and afterward, that "insofar as they had done it to one of the least of His brethren, they had done it to Him" (Matt. 25:34-40).

From all this it is now evident whence the origin of neighbor is to be drawn by the man of the church; and that everyone is the neighbor in the degree in which he is near the Lord; and because the Lord is in the good of charity, that the neighbor is according to the quality of the good, thus according to the quality of the charity.

(from Arcana Coelestia 6703-6712)
(series to be continued)

Seriatim Remarks on the Doctrine of Charity (Pt. 1)

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —
Such as is and ought to be the Doctrine of the Church
that it may agree with the good and truth in heaven

The Doctrine of Charity was the doctrine in the Ancient Churches, and that this doctrine conjoined all the churches, and so made one out of many; for they acknowledged as men of the church all who lived in the good of charity, and called them brethren, however greatly they might be at variance in the truths which at this day are called the truths of faith. In these one instructed another, and this was among their works of charity; nor were they indignant if one did not accede to the opinion of another, knowing that everyone receives truth in proportion as he is in good.

Such being the character of the Ancient Churches, they were more interior men, and being more interior they were more wise; for those who are in the good of love and of charity are as to the internal man in heaven, and in an angelic society there which is in like good. From this they have an elevation of mind to interior things, and consequently to the things of wisdom; for wisdom can come from no other source than heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; and in heaven there is wisdom, because there they are in good.

But in course of time this ancient wisdom decreased; for insofar as the human race removed itself from the good of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, so far it also removed itself from wisdom, because so far it removed itself from heaven. From this it is that man from internal became external, and this successively.

And when man became external, he also became worldly and corporeal; and when he is of this character he no longer cares for the things of heaven; for they have been so far removed as not to be believed to exist; because the delights of earthly loves, and with these all evils which from these loves are delightful to him, then take complete possession of the whole man; and then all that he hears about the life after death, about heaven, and about hell, is like chaff in the wind, which flies away as fast as it is seen.

From this also it is that the Doctrine of Charity, which was so precious among the ancients, is at this day one of the lost things; for who at this day knows what in the genuine sense charity is, and what in the genuine sense the neighbor is? when yet this doctrine abounds in arcana so many and so great that it cannot be described as to a thousandth part.

The whole Sacred Scripture is nothing else than the doctrine of love and of charity, as the Lord also teaches, saying, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God from all thy heart, and in all thy soul, and in all thy mind; this is the first and great commandment: the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang the law and the prophets  (Matt. 22:37-40).

"The law and the prophets" are the Word in all and each of its parts.

As the doctrine of charity is at this day one of the lost things, and as the doctrine of faith is consequently much alienated from the truth, this doctrine may of the Lord's Divine mercy be delivered, and thus be restored to the church.

(from Arcana Coelestia 6627-6633 )
(series to be continued)

Concerning The Word (series) Pt. 21

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It is an invariable truth that no one can understand the Word without doctrine; for he may be led away into any errors to which he may be inclined from some love, or to which he may be drawn from some principle, whereby his mind becomes unsettled and uncertain, and at length as it were destitute of truth. But he who reads the Word from doctrine sees all things that confirm it, and many things that are hidden from the eyes of others, and does not permit himself to be drawn away into strange things; and thus his mind becomes so settled as to see with certainty. The Word may be drawn away to confirm heresies unless it is read from doctrine, for the reason that the sense of its letter consists of mere correspondences, and these are in great part appearances of truth, and in part genuine truths, and unless there be doctrine for a lamp these cannot be seen and cannot be distinguished from each other.

But doctrine can be acquired from no other source than from the Word, and it can be acquired only by those who are in enlightenment from the Lord.

Those are in enlightenment who love truths because they are truths and make them to be of their life.

Moreover, all things of doctrine must be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word, because the Divine truth is in its fullness and in its power in that sense, and through it man is in conjunction with the Lord and in consociation with the angels.

In brief, he who loves truth because it is truth can inquire of the Lord, as it were, in doubtful matters of faith, and can receive answers from Him, but nowhere except in the Word, for the reason that the Lord is the Word.

(Apocalypse Explained 1089:2, 3)

Concerning The Word (series) Pt. 20

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Divine truth is what is called holy, but only when it is in its ultimate, and its ultimate is the Word in the sense of the letter; therefore the Divine truth there is holy, and may be called a sanctuary, and for the reason that that sense contains and encloses all the holy things of heaven and the church. The appearance is that the Divine truths in the heavens, which are called spiritual and celestial, are more holy than the Divine truths in the sense of the letter of the Word, which are natural; but the Divine truths in the heavens, which are called spiritual and celestial, are comparatively like the lungs and heart in man, which form the chest only when they are encompassed by ribs, and enclosed in the pleura and diaphragm; for without these integuments they could not perform their vital functions, and even unless connected with them by bonds. The spiritual things of the Word are like the breathing of the lungs, its celestial things are like the systole and diastole of the heart, and its natural things are like the pleura, the diaphragm, and the ribs, with the moving fibers attached, by which the motions are made reciprocal.

Again, the spiritual and celestial things of the Word are comparatively like the holy things of the tabernacle, which were the table upon which was the show bread, the golden altar upon which was the incense, the perfumes and the censer, also the lampstand with the lamps, and still further within the cherubim, the mercy seat and the ark. All these were the holy things of the Jewish and Israelitish church; nevertheless they could not be called holy and the sanctuary until they had been covered by curtains and veils, for without those coverings they would have stood under the naked sky, exposed to showers and storms, to the birds of heaven and the wild beasts of the earth, and also to robbers that would violate, plunder, and scatter them. So would it be with the Divine truths in the heavens, which are called spiritual and celestial, unless they were enclosed in natural truths, like the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word.

Natural truths, which are the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, are not the very truths of heaven, but are appearances of them; and appearances of truth encompass, enclose, and contain the truths of heaven, which are genuine truths, and cause them to be in connection and order and to act together, like the cardiac and pulmonary organs with their coverings and ribs, as has been said above; and when these truths are held in connection and in order they are holy, and not till then. This the sense of the letter of our Word does by means of the appearances of truth of which its ultimate consists; and this is why that sense is the holy Divine Itself and the sanctuary.

But he is greatly mistaken who separates appearances of truth from genuine truths and calls these appearances holy by themselves and from themselves, and not the sense of the letter holy by genuine truths and from them and together with them. He separates these who sees only the sense of the letter and does not explore its meaning, as those do who do not read the Word from doctrine. The "cherubim" mean in the Word a guard and protection that the holy things of heaven be not violated, and that the Lord be approached only through love; consequently these signify the sense of the letter of the Word, because that is what guards and protects. It guards and protects in this manner that man can think and speak according to the appearances of truth so long as he is well-disposed, simple, and as it were an infant; but he must take heed not to so confirm appearances as to destroy the genuine truths in the heavens.

(to be continued)
(Apocalypse Explained 1088:2-5)