The Thefts of Evils

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Jacob was wroth, and chided with Laban; and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? What is my sin, in that thou hast hotly pursued after me? Whereas thou hast felt about all my vessels, what hast thou found of all the vessels of thy house? Set it here before my brethren and thy brethren, and let them judge between us two. These twenty years have I been with thee; thy sheep and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. The torn I brought not unto thee, I bore the loss of it, from my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the heat consumed me, and the cold in the night, and my sleep has been chased from mine eyes. These twenty years have I served thee in thy house, fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock, and thou hast changed my reward ten ways. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Dread of Isaac, had been with me, surely now hadst thou sent me away empty. God hath seen my misery and the weariness of my hands, and judged yesternight. (Genesis 31:36-42)

The torn I brought not unto thee. That this signifies that evil not by his fault was with that good, is evident from the signification of "torn," as being death inflicted by another, and thus evil not by his fault.

Evils with man have many origins.

• The first origin is from inheritance by continual derivations from grandparents and great-grandparents into the father, and from the father, in whom the evils are thus accumulated, to one's self.
• The second origin is from what is actual, that is, what a man acquires to himself by a life of evil. This evil he in part receives by inheritance, as from an ocean of evils, and carries into act; and in part adds thereto many things of himself. From this comes the own which man acquires for himself.

But this actual evil, which man makes his own, has also various origins - in general two: one, that he receives evil from others through no fault of his own; and the other, that he receives it of his own accord, thus through his own fault.

That which a man receives from others without any fault of his own, is what is signified in the Word by "what is torn;" but that which he receives of his own accord, thus through his own fault, is signified in the Word by a "carcass."

Hence it was that, as in the Ancient Church, so also in the Jewish, it was forbidden to eat that which had died of itself, or a carcass, and also that which had been torn; concerning which we read in Moses:

Every soul that eateth a carcass and that which is torn, whether he be homeborn or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even; then shall he be clean. And if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, he shall bear his iniquity (Lev. 17:15-16).

A carcass and that which is torn he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith: I am Jehovah (Lev. 22:8)

"that which is torn" denotes the evil which is from falsity that is injected by the evil, who are the wild beasts in the forest which tear; for in the Word the infernals are compared to wild beasts. In the same:

Men of holiness shall ye be unto Me; therefore ye shall not eat any flesh that is torn in the field, ye shall cast it to the dogs (Exod. 22:30).

In Ezekiel:

The prophet says to Jehovah, my soul hath not been defiled; and a carcass and that which is torn have I not eaten from my youth up, neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth (Ezek. 4:14).

The priests shall not eat of any carcass or that which is torn, of fowl or of beast (Ezek. 44:31);

speaking of the Lord's kingdom, that the new earth is there.

From these passages it may be seen what is meant in the internal sense by "that which is torn;" but to make this still more manifest, let us take an example.

If a man who is leading a life of good, or who does well to another from willing well, suffers himself to be persuaded by another who is in evil that the life of good effects nothing toward salvation, for the reason that all are born in sins; and because no one can will good of himself, and therefore cannot do it; and that on this account a means of salvation has been provided which is called faith; and therefore that a man can be saved by faith without a life of good, and this even though he should receive faith in death's last hour - if such a person who has lived in a life of good suffers himself to be so persuaded, and then becomes careless in regard to life, and even treats it with contempt, he is said to be "torn"; for "torn" is predicated of good into which falsity is insinuated, and thereby the good becomes no longer living.

Take also as an example,

the conjugial, which in the beginning some one regards as heavenly, but afterwards one of the married partners or both of them suffer themselves to be persuaded that it is only for the sake of order in the world, and for the education and individual care of children, and for the sake of inheritance; and further that the bond of marriage is nothing but a matter of compact, which may be dissolved or relaxed by either party, provided that it is done by consent; the result being that after he has received this persuasion the individual has no heavenly idea of marriage; and supposing that lasciviousness is the consequence, there then comes into existence that which is called "torn"

and so in all other cases.

That it is the evil who tear, and this by reasonings from external things, into which internal things cannot be insinuated on account of the evil of life, may be seen from the following passages.

In Jeremiah:

A lion out of the forest hath slain the great ones, a wolf of the deserts hath laid them waste, a leopard watcheth over their cities, everyone that goeth out from thence is torn, because their transgressions are multiplied, their backslidings are increased (Jer. 5:5-6).

And in Amos:

Edom did pursue his brother with the sword, and destroyed his compassions, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he keeps his fury continually (Amos 1:11).

I bore the loss of it. That this signifies that good came of it, is evident from the signification of "bearing the loss," as being to make good; here, that good came of it. As regards the evil of fault, and the evil not of fault, which as before shown are signified by a "carcass" and "what is torn," the case is this.

The evil of fault, or the evil which a man has contracted by actual life, and has also confirmed in thought even to belief and persuasion, cannot be amended, but remains to eternity; whereas the evil not of fault, which a man has not confirmed by thought, and of which he has not inwardly persuaded himself, does indeed remain, but only adheres in externals; for it does not penetrate to the interiors and pervert the internal man. Such is the evil through which good comes; for the internal man, which has not yet been affected and given consent, can see it in the external as evil, and therefore it can be removed. And as the internal man can see it, it can on that account at the same time see good more clearly; for good is seen more clearly from what is opposite than from what is not opposite; and the man is then also more sensibly affected by good. This then is what is meant by good coming of it.

From my hand didst thou require it. That this signifies that it was from Him, is evident from the signification of "hand," as being power, thus that it was from Him; for that which is from His own power is from Him.

Whether stolen by day or stolen by night. That this signifies the evil of self-merit in like manner, is evident from the signification of "stolen" or of "theft," as being the evil of self-merit. There is the evil of self-merit when a man ascribes good to himself, and supposes that it is from himself, and on this account desires to merit salvation. This evil is what is signified in the internal sense by "theft." But in regard to this evil, all who are being reformed at first suppose that good is from themselves, and therefore that by the good which they do they merit salvation; for their supposing that they merit salvation by the good which they do is the result of their supposing that the good is from themselves, for the one idea coheres with the other. But they who suffer themselves to be regenerated do not confirm this in their thought, or persuade themselves that it is so; but the idea is gradually dissipated. For so long as anyone is in the external man, as is the case with all in the beginning of their reformation, he cannot do otherwise than think so, because he thinks solely from his external man. But when the external man together with its concupiscences is being removed, and the internal man is beginning to work; that is, when the Lord flows in through the internal man with the light of intelligence, and thereby enlightens the external man; the man then begins to believe otherwise, and ascribes good not to himself, but to the Lord. From this it is plain what is here meant by that evil of self-merit through which comes good, in like manner as through the evil which is not of fault. But if when he has arrived at adult age a man confirms in his thought, and altogether persuades himself that he merits salvation by the good he does, the evil in question inheres radically, and cannot be amended. For such men claim to themselves that which is the Lord's, and thus do not receive the good which continually flows in from the Lord; but immediately on its flowing in, divert it to themselves, and into their own, and consequently defile it. These are the evils which in the proper sense are signified by "thefts".

(from Arcana Coelestia 4171-4174)

The Operation of the Divine Providence

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The operation of the Divine providence for the salvation of man begins at his birth and continues until the end of his life and afterwards to eternity.

[A] heaven from the human race is the essential end of the creation of the universe, and that this end in its operation and progress is the Divine providence for the salvation of men. All things exterior to man, and that are serviceable to him in the way of use, are secondary ends of creation, which in brief have relation to all things in the three kingdoms, the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral. When these things go forth regularly in accordance with the laws of Divine order established in their first creation, how is it possible for the primary end, which is the salvation of the human race, not to go forth regularly in accordance with the laws of its order, which are the laws of the Divine providence?

Watch a fruit tree. Does it not first have birth as a slender shoot from a small seed, and does it not afterwards gradually grow to a trunk and spread forth branches, which are covered with leaves, and then put forth blossoms, and bring forth fruit, depositing therein new seeds by which it provides for its perpetuity? The same thing occurs with every shrub, and with every herb of the field. In these do not each thing and all things go forth regularly and wonderfully from end to end in accordance with the laws of its order? Why not likewise the primary end, which is a heaven from the human race? Can there be any thing in its progress that does not go on most regularly in accordance with the laws of the Divine providence?

As there is a correspondence between man's life and the growth of a tree, let a parallel or comparison be drawn between them. Man's infancy is comparatively like the tender shoot of a tree sprouting up out of the ground from the seed; his childhood and youth are like that shoot growing into a trunk with its little branches; the natural truths that every one first imbibes are like the leaves with which the branches are covered ("leaves" in the Word signifying nothing else); the man's initiation into the marriage of good and truth, that is, the spiritual marriage, is like the blossoms that the tree brings forth in the springtime; spiritual truths are the petals of these flowers; the primary activities of the spiritual marriage are like the beginnings of the fruit; spiritual goods, which are the goods of charity, are like the fruit (and these are signified by "fruit" in the Word); the procreations of wisdom from love are like the seeds, and by these procreations man becomes like a garden or a paradise. Moreover, man is depicted in the Word by a "tree;" and his wisdom originating in love by a "garden" ("the garden of Eden" signifies nothing else).

In fact, man is a corrupt tree from the seed; nevertheless, a grafting or budding with shoots taken from the tree of life is possible, whereby the sap drawn from the old root is turned into sap forming good fruit. This comparison has been made to show that when there is so regular a progression of the Divine providence in the growth and regeneration of trees, there must needs be a regular progression in the reformation and regeneration of men, who are of much more value than trees, according to these words of the Lord:-

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten in the sight of God? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows. And which of you by being anxious can add to his stature one cubit? If ye, then, be not able to do that which is least, why are ye anxious concerning the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow. If, then, God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O ye men of little faith? (Luke 12:6, 7, 25-28).

The operation of the Divine providence for the salvation of man is said to begin at his birth and to continue unto the end of his life. To understand this it must be known that the Lord sees what man is, and foresees what he wills to be, thus what he will be; and that he may be a man and therefore immortal the freedom of his will must not be taken away, as has been frequently shown before. Consequently the Lord foresees man's state after death, and provides for it from his birth until the end of his life. With the evil the Lord provides by permitting evils and continually withdrawing them from evils; while with the good He provides by leading to good. Thus the Divine providence is unceasingly in the work of saving men. But no more can be saved than are willing to be saved, and those are willing to be saved who acknowledge God and are led by Him; and those are unwilling who do not acknowledge God and who lead themselves; for such do not think about eternal life or about salvation, while the others do. This the Lord sees and still He leads them, and leads them in accordance with the laws of His Divine providence, contrary to which laws He cannot act, since to act contrary to them would be to act contrary to His Divine love and contrary to His Divine wisdom, which is to act contrary to Himself.

Since, then, the Lord foresees the states of all after death, and also foresees the places in hell of those who are not willing to be saved, and the places in heaven of those who are willing to be saved, it follows that for the evil, as has been said, the Lord provides their places by permitting and by withdrawing, and for the good by leading; and unless this were done unceasingly from every one's birth until the end of his life neither heaven nor hell would continue to exist, for without that foresight and providence together neither heaven nor hell would be anything but confusion. That the Lord from foresight has provided for every one his place may be seen above (n. 202, 203).

This may be illustrated by this comparison. If an archer or a marksman should aim at a mark, and behind the mark a straight line were drawn for a mile, and if he should err only by a finger's breadth in his aim, his missile or ball keeping on to the end of the mile would depart very far from the line. So would it be if the Lord did not every moment, and even every least fraction of a moment, regard the eternal in His foreseeing and providing every one's place after death. But this the Lord does because the entire future is present to Him and the entire present is to Him the eternal. That the Divine providence in every thing it does has regard to the infinite and eternal may be seen above (n. 46-69, 214, seq.)

It is also said that the operation of the Divine providence will continue to eternity, since every angel is perfecting in wisdom to eternity, but each according to the degree of that affection for good and truth in which he was when he left the world. It is this degree that is being perfected to eternity. Anything beyond this degree is outside of the angel and not within him, and that which is outside of him cannot be perfected within him. This is meant by the -

Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over, that shall be given into the bosom of those who forgive and give to others (Luke 6:37, 38),

that is, who are in good of charity.

(Divine Providence 332-334)

What Use Temptations Promote

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Man is nothing but an organ, or vessel, which receives life from the Lord — Man does not live from himself. The life which inflows with man from the Lord is from His Divine love. This love, or the life thence derived, inflows and applies itself to the vessels which are in man's rational, and to those which are in his natural. In consequence of the hereditary evil into which man is born, and of the actual evil which he acquires, these vessels are in a contrary position within him relatively to the inflowing life, yet insofar as the life which flows in can dispose the vessels to receive it, it does so dispose them. These vessels in the rational man, and in the natural, are what are called truths, but in themselves they are merely perceptions of the variations of form of these vessels, and of the changes of state according to which in divers ways these variations come forth, being effected in the most subtle substances, by methods inexpressible.

I have been instructed that regarded in itself the exterior memory is simply something organic formed from the objects of the senses-specially those of the sight and of the hearing-in the substances which are the beginnings of the fibers; and that according to the impressions from these objects are effected variations of form, which are reproduced; and that these forms are varied and changed according to the changes of the state of the affections and persuasions. Also that the interior memory is in like manner organic, but purer and more perfect, being formed from the objects of the interior sight; which objects are disposed into regular series, in an incomprehensible order. (Arcana Coelestia 2487)

Good itself, which has life from the Lord, or which is life, is that which flows in and disposes.

When therefore these vessels, which are to be varied as to forms, are as before said in a contrary position and direction in respect to the life, it is evident that they must be reduced to a position in accordance with the life, or into compliance with it. This cannot possibly be effected so long as the man is in that state into which he is born, and to which he has reduced himself — for the vessels are not obedient, being obstinately resistant, and hardening themselves against the heavenly order according to which the life acts — for the good which moves them, and with which they comply, is of the love of self and of the world; which good, from the gross heat that is in it, causes them to be of such a quality, and therefore before they can be rendered compliant and fit to receive anything of the life of the Lord's love, they must be softened. This softening is effected by no other means than temptations; for temptations remove all that is of the love of self and of contempt for others in comparison with self, consequently all that is of self-glory, and also of hatred and revenge on this account. When therefore the vessels have been somewhat tempered and subdued by temptations, they begin to become yielding to, and compliant with, the life of the Lord's love, which continually flows in with man.

Hence then it is that good begins to be conjoined with truths; first in the rational man, and afterwards in the natural; for as before said truths are nothing else than perceptions of the variations of form according to states that are continually being changed and these perceptions are from the life which flows in. This is the reason why man is regenerated, that is, made new, by temptations; or what is the same, by spiritual combats; and that he is afterwards gifted with another nature, being made mild, humble, simple, and contrite in heart. From these considerations it may now be seen what use temptations promote, namely, that good from the Lord may not only flow in, but may also dispose the vessels to obedience, and thus conjoin itself with them. ....

But as regards the Lord, who in the supreme sense is here treated of, He by the most grievous temptation combats reduced all things in Himself into Divine order, insomuch that there remained nothing at all of the human which He had derived from the mother, so that He was not made new as are other men, but altogether Divine. For the man who is made new by regeneration still retains in himself an inclination to evil, and even evil itself; but is withheld from evil by an influx of the life of the Lord's love, and this with a force exceeding great; whereas the Lord utterly cast out all the evil that was hereditary to Him from the mother, and made Himself Divine, even as to the vessels, that is, as to truths. This is that which in the Word is called "glorification."

(from Arcana Coelestia 3318)

Spiritual Equilibrium — Freedom of Choice

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

So long as man lives in the world, he is kept midway between heaven and hell, and is there in spiritual equilibrium, which is freedom of choice.

In order to know what freedom of choice is and the nature of it, it is necessary to know its origin.

Especially from a recognition of its origin it can be known, not only that there is such a thing as freedom of choice, but also what it is. Its origin is in the spiritual world, where man's mind is kept by the Lord.

Man's mind is his spirit, which lives after death, and his spirit is constantly in company with its like in the spiritual world, and at the same time by means of the material body with which it is enveloped, it is with men in the natural world. Man does not know that in respect to his mind he is in the midst of spirits, for the reason that the spirits with whom he is in company in the spiritual world, think and speak spiritually, while his own spirit thinks and speaks naturally so long as he is in the material body.  The natural man cannot understand or perceive spiritual thought and speech, nor the reverse; this is why spirits cannot be seen. But when the spirit of man is in company with spirits in their world, he is also in spiritual thought and speech with them, because his mind is interiorly spiritual but exteriorly natural; therefore by means of his interiors he communicates with spirits, while by means of his exteriors he communicates with men. By such communication man has a perception of things, and thinks about them analytically. If it were not for such communication, man would have no more thought or other thought than a beast, and if all connection with spirits were taken away from him, he would instantly die.

But to make it comprehensible how man can be kept midway between heaven and hell and thereby in spiritual equilibrium from which he has freedom of choice, it shall be briefly explained.

The spiritual world consists of heaven and hell; heaven then is overhead, and hell is beneath the feet, not however, in the center of the globe inhabited by men, but below the lands of the spiritual world, which are also of spiritual origin, and therefore not extended [spatially], but with an appearance of extension.

Between heaven and hell there is a great interspace, which to those who are there appears like a complete orb. Into this interspace, evil exhales from hell in all abundance; while from heaven, on the other hand, good flows into it, also in all abundance. It was of this interspace that Abraham said to the rich man in hell:

Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they who are there cross over to us (Luke 16:26).

Every man, as to his spirit, is in the midst of this interspace, solely for this reason, that he may be in freedom of choice.

Because this interspace is so large and because it appears to those who are there like a vast orb, it is called the World of Spirits. Moreover, it is full of spirits, because every man after death first goes there, and is there prepared either for heaven or for hell. There he is among spirits, in company with them, as formerly he was among men in the world. There is no purgatory there; that is a fiction invented by the Roman Catholics.

Every man from infancy even to old age is changing his locality or situation in that world.

When an infant he is kept in the eastern quarter towards the northern part; when a child, as he learns the first lessons of religion, he moves gradually from the north towards the south; when a youth, as he begins to exercise his own thoughts, he is borne southward; and afterwards when he judges for himself and becomes his own master, he is borne into the southern quarter towards the east, according to his growth in such things as have regard interiorly to God and love to the neighbor.

But if he inclines to evil and imbibes it, he advances towards the west. For all in the spiritual world have their abodes according to the quarters; in the east are those who are in good from the Lord, because the sun, in the midst of which is the Lord, is in that quarter; in the north are those who are in ignorance; in the south, those who are in intelligence; and in the west, those who are in evil.

Man himself is not kept as to his body in that interspace or middle region, but only as to his spirit; and as his spirit changes its state by advancing towards good or towards evil, so is it transferred to localities or situations in this quarter or in that, and comes into association with those who dwell there.

But it must be understood that the Lord does not transfer man to this or that place, but man transfers himself in different ways — if he chooses good, he together with the Lord, or rather the Lord together with him, transfers his spirit towards the east; but if man chooses evil, he together with the devil, or rather the devil together with him, transfers his spirit towards the west. It must be noticed that where the term heaven is here used, the Lord also is meant, because the Lord is the all in all things of heaven; and where the term devil is used, hell also is meant, because all who are there are devils.

Man is kept in this great interspace, and midway therein continually, for the sole purpose that he may have freedom of choice in spiritual things, for this is a spiritual equilibrium, because it is an equilibrium between heaven and hell, thus between good and evil.

All who are in that great interspace are, as to their interiors, conjoined either with the angels of heaven or with the devils of hell; or at the present day either with the angels of Michael or with the angels of the dragon.

After death every man betakes himself to his own in that interspace and associates himself with those who are in a love similar to his own, for love conjoins everyone there with his like, and causes him to breathe out his soul freely, and to continue in his previous state of life. But the externals that do not make one with his internals are then gradually put off, and when this has been done the good man is raised up to heaven, and the evil man betakes himself to hell, each to such as he is at one with as to his ruling love. ... ...

There is a freedom also belonging to beasts, birds, fishes and insects; but these are impelled by their bodily senses, prompted by appetite and pleasure. Man would not be unlike these if his freedom to do were equal to his freedom to think. He, too, would then be impelled by his bodily senses, prompted by lust and pleasure. It is otherwise with one who heartily accepts the spiritual things of the church, and by means of them restrains his freedom of choice. Such a man is led by the Lord away from lusts and evil pleasures and his connate avidity for them, and acquires an affection for what is good, and turns away from evil. He is then transferred by the Lord nearer to the east, and at the same time to the south of the spiritual world, and is introduced into heavenly freedom, which is freedom indeed.

(from True Christian Religion 475-478)

The Use which the Lord Performs for Himself

Selections from Divine Love and Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)

The essence of spiritual love is doing good to others, not for the sake of self but for the sake of others - infinitely more is this the essence of Divine Love. It is like the love of parents for their children, in that parents do good to their children from love, not for their own sake but for their children's sake. This is especially manifest in a mothers love for her offspring. Because the Lord is to be adored, worshiped and glorified, He is supposed to love adoration, worship, and glory for His own sake, but He loves these for man's sake, because by means of them man comes into a state in which the Divine can flow in and be perceived - since by means of them, [the adoration, worship, and glory], man puts away that which is his own, which hinders influx and reception, for what is man's own, which is self-love, hardens the heart and shuts it up. This is removed by man's acknowledging that from himself comes nothing but evil and from the Lord nothing but good; from this acknowledgment there is a softening of the heart and humiliation, out of which flow forth adoration and worship. From all this it follows, that the use which the Lord performs for Himself through man is that man may be able to do good from love, and since this is the Lord's love, its reception is the enjoyment of His love. Therefore, let no one believe that the Lord is with those who merely worship Him - He is with those who do His commandments, thus who perform uses - with such He has His abode, but not with the former.

Divine love and Divine wisdom must necessarily
have being [esse] and have form [existere]
in others created by itself.

It is the essential of love not to love self, but to love others, and to be conjoined with others by love.

It is the essential of love, moreover, to be loved by others, for thus conjunction is effected.

The essence of all love consists in conjunction - this, in fact, is its life, which is called enjoyment, pleasantness, delight, sweetness, bliss, happiness, and felicity.

Love consists in this, THAT ITS OWN SHOULD BE ANOTHER'S.

To feel the joy of another as joy in oneself, that is loving, but to feel one's own joy in another and not the other's joy in oneself is not loving - for this is loving self, while the former is loving the neighbor. These two kinds of love are diametrically opposed to each other. Either, it is true, conjoins; and to love one's own, that is, oneself, in another does not seem to divide, but it does so effectually divide that so far as any one has loved another in this manner, so far he afterwards hates him. For such conjunction is by its own action gradually loosened, and then, in like measure, love is turned to hate.

Who that is capable of discerning the essential character of love cannot see this? For what is it to love self alone, instead of loving some one outside of self by whom one may be loved in return? Is not this separation rather than conjunction? Conjunction of love is by reciprocation; and there can be no reciprocation in self alone. If there is thought to be, it is from an imagined reciprocation in others. From this it is clear that Divine Love must necessarily have being (esse) and have form (existere) in others whom it may love, and by whom it may be loved. For as there is such a need in all love, it must be to the fullest extent, that is, infinitely in Love Itself.

With respect to God: —

It is impossible for Him to love others and to be loved reciprocally by others in whom there is anything of infinity, that is, anything of the essence and life of love in itself, or anything of the Divine. For if there were beings having in them anything of infinity, that is, of the essence and life of love in itself, that is, of the Divine, it would not be God loved by others, but God loving Himself. Since the Infinite, that is, the Divine, is ONE Only, and if this were in others, Itself would be in them, and would be the love of self Itself and of that love not the least trace can possibly be in God, since it is wholly opposed to the Divine Essence. Consequently, for this relation to be possible there must be others in whom there is nothing of the Divine in itself. It is possible in beings created from the Divine. But that it may be possible, there must be Infinite Wisdom making one with Infinite Love; that is, there must be the Divine Love of Divine Wisdom, and the Divine Wisdom of Divine Love.

(from Divine Love and Wisdom 335; 47-49)

Man's Love is ...

Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Man knows that love is, but does not know what it is. He knows that love is, from common speech, such as the expressions, he loves me; a king loves his subjects, and the subjects love their king; a husband loves his wife, and a mother her children, and vice versa; also this or that man loves his country, his fellow-citizens, his neighbor. Love is likewise said of things apart from person, as that one loves this thing or that.

But although love is so universal in speech, yet scarcely any one knows what love is. When he reflects upon it, being unable to form any idea of thought about it, and so to set it in the light of the understanding (for the reason that it is not a thing of light but of heat), he says either that it is not anything or that it is merely something flowing in from sight, hearing, and conversation, and thus affecting. It is entirely unknown to him that it is his very life, not only the general life of his whole body and the general life of all his thoughts, but also the life of all the single parts thereof. A wise man can perceive this from the following:

If you take away the affection of love, can you think anything? can you do anything? Is it not a fact that, so far as affection, which is of the love, grows cold, the thought, speech, and action also grow cold? and that, so far as it grows warm, these grow warm?

Love then, is the heat of man's life, that is, his vital heat; the heat of the blood and its redness are from no other source. What makes all this, is the fire of the angelic sun, which is pure love.

That every one has his own love, or a love distinct from another's love, that is, that the love of one man is not the same as that of another, is evident from the infinite variety of faces. Faces are the types of loves; for it is well known that countenances change and vary according to the affections of the love. Moreover, desires, which are desires of the love, and also the love's joys and sorrows, shine forth from the face. It is clear from this that a man is his love, yea, the form of his love. But it should be known that the form of man's love is the inner man, being the same as his spirit which lives after death, and not in the same way the outer man [which lives] in the world; for the latter has learned from infancy to conceal the desires of his love, yea, to simulate and make a show of desires other than his own.

The reason why his own love remains with every man after death is because, love is man's life, and hence is the man himself.

A man is also his own thought, and so his own intelligence and wisdom, but these make one with his love; for man thinks from his love and according to it, yea, if in freedom, he speaks and acts from it and according to it. From this it can be seen, that love is the esse or essence of a man's life, and that thought is the existere or existence of his life therefrom. Therefore the speech and action, which flow forth from thought, flow not from the thought but from the love by means of the thought. It has been given me to know from much experience, that after death man is not his thought but his affection and the thought therefrom, or that he is his love and his intelligence therefrom; and that after death he puts off everything that is not concordant with his love; yea, that he successively puts on the face, tone, speech, gestures, and manners of his life's love. Hence it is that the entire heaven is ordinated according to all the varieties of the affections of the love of good; and the entire hell according to all the [varieties of the] affections of the love of evil.

(from Conjugial Love 34-36)

When Faith is Conjoined to Charity

Selections from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 13:35)

Let it be considered whether having faith is anything else than living it; and whether living it is not merely knowing and thinking, but also willing and doing; for faith is not in man when it is only in his knowing and thinking, but when it is also in his willing and doing. Faith in man is the faith of the life, but faith not yet in man is the faith of the memory and of thought therefrom. The faith of the life means believing in God; but believing those things that are from God, and not believing in God, is historical faith, which is not saving.

Who that is a true priest and good pastor does not wish that men should live aright?  Who does not know that the faith of knowledges, based on what another has said, is not the faith of the life, but historical faith?

Faith of the life is the faith of charity, for charity is life. But even though this be so, still I foresee that those who have confirmed themselves in the doctrine of faith alone and of justification by faith will not recede from it, because they connect falsities with truths - for they teach truths when they teach from the Word, but falsities when they teach from doctrine; and they therefore confound these things by saying that the fruits of faith are the goods of life, and that these follow from faith, and yet that the goods of life contribute nothing to salvation, but that faith alone saves. Thus they both join and separate the two. When they join the two they teach truths, but only before the people, who do not know that they are inverting things, and that they say these things of necessity, in order that their doctrine may cohere with the Word, but when they separate the two they teach falsities, for they say that faith saves, and not the goods of charity which are works, not knowing then that charity and faith act as one, and that charity is acting well and faith is believing well, and that believing well apart from acting well is impossible; thus that there can be no faith apart from charity; as also that charity is the esse of faith and its soul; consequently faith alone is faith without a soul, thus a dead faith; and as such faith is not faith, so justification by such faith is a thing of naught.

The Lord is conjoined with those who receive Him in heart and life, because the Lord enters or flows in into life; He enters or flows in only with those who are in a life of spiritual love, or in a life of charity; for charity is spiritual love. When that love makes a man's life, the Lord enters or flows in through it into the truths of faith, and causes man to see, or to know them; from this man has the spiritual affection of truth. It is a great mistake to suppose that the Lord enters or flows in into faith alone or into faith separate from charity with man; in such a faith there is no life, for it is like the breathing of the lungs without the inflow from the heart, which breathing would be only a lifeless movement, for the breathing of the lungs is made alive by the inflow from the heart, as is well known.

This makes clear by what way the Divine proceeding from the Lord is admitted, namely, by the way of the heart, that is, of the love; whether you say the heart or the love, it is the same as the life of the spirit therefrom. Love makes man's life, as anyone may know and see if he is only willing to give thought to it; for what is a man without love? Is he not a stock? Therefore, as the love is so is the man. Love is willing and doing, for what man loves he wills and does. An idea of the good of charity and of the truth of faith may be formed from the sun's light and heat. When the light that proceeds from the sun is conjoined with heat, as in spring and summer time, then all things of the earth bud and blossom; but when there is no heat in the light, as in winter time, then all things of the earth become torpid and die. Spiritual light also is the truth of faith, and spiritual heat is the good of charity. From this an idea may be formed of the man of the church; that when faith with him is conjoined to charity he is like a garden and a paradise; but when faith in him is not conjoined to charity he is like a desert, or a land covered with snow.

(from Apocalypse Explained 250:9,10; 251)