New Jerusalem and Heavenly Doctrine (Chadwick)

0. On

THE NEW JERUSALEM

AND HEAVEN’S TEACHING FOR IT

Based on Instruction received from heaven,

Preceded by a note on

‘The New Heaven and the New Earth’

by

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG


Seek first the kingdom of God and you will be given everything in addition.
Matthew 6:33.

sRef Rev@21 @19 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @21 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @20 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @18 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @2 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @1 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @24 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @22 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @23 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @12 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @17 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @14 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @15 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @16 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @13 S0′ 1. ON THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW EARTH, AND THE MEANING OF ‘THE NEW JERUSALEM’

In Revelation we read:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. The city had a great, high wall, which had twelve gates, and twelve angels on the gates, and the names inscribed, which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, on which were the twelve names of the apostles of the Lamb. The city lay square, its length the same as its breadth. And he measured the city with a rod, making twelve thousand furlongs; and its length and its breadth and its height were equal. And he measured its wall as a hundred and forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, which is that of an angel. Its wall was of jasper, but the city itself pure gold, like pure glass; and the foundations of the wall were of every precious stone. The twelve gates were twelve pearls; and the street of the city pure gold like transparent glass. The glory of God gave it light, and its lantern was the Lamb. The nations which have been saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring to it their glory and honour. Rev. 21: 1, 2, 12-24.

Anyone reading these words can only understand them in their literal sense. That is, that the sky and the earth will perish, and a new heaven will come into existence; the holy city Jerusalem will come down upon a new earth, and will agree in its measurements with the description. But the angels understand these words quite differently. They understand spiritually what human beings understand naturally. The real meaning is what the angels understand, and that is the internal or spiritual sense of the Word.

A new heaven and a new earth means, in the internal or spiritual sense understood by angels, a new church both in the heavens and on earth. (I shall speak about the church in both places later on.) The city of Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven means its heavenly teaching. Its length, breadth and height, which are equal means everything good and true in its teaching taken as a whole. Its wall means the truths which protect it. The measurement of the wall, which was a hundred and forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, which is that of an angel, means all the truths that protect it taken together, and what they are like. The twelve gates made of pearls mean the truths which lead into it, and the twelve angels on the gates likewise. The foundations of the wall which were of every precious stone mean the items of knowledge on which that teaching is based. The twelve tribes of Israel mean everything belonging to the church in general and in particular; likewise the twelve apostles. The gold like pure glass, of which the city and its street are made, mean the good of love which makes the teaching with its truths shine through. The nations who are saved, and the kings of the earth who will bring to it glory and honour, mean all the people in the church who possess good and truth. God and the Lamb mean the Lord as regards His Divinity and His Divine Humanity.
Such is the spiritual sense of the Word; the natural or literal sense serves as its foundation. But still the two senses, the spiritual and the natural, make one by their correspondence. There is not room here to show that all these statements contain that spiritual meaning; that is not the purpose of this book. But they can be seen demonstrated in my ARCANA CAELESTIA.

2. Before speaking about the New Jerusalem and its teaching, I must say something about the new heaven and the new earth. In my short work THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE DE5TRUCTION OF BABYLON I showed what is meant by the first heaven and the first earth which had passed away. After they had passed away, that is, after the completion of the last judgment, a new heaven was created, that is, formed by the Lord. This heaven was formed from all those who, from the time of the Lord’s coming down to the present, have lived a life of faith and charity, since these alone were in heaven’s image. For the image of heaven, which determines all association and communication there, is an image of Divine truth arising from Divine good, coming forth from the Lord; and a person puts on this image in his spirit by living in accordance with Divine truth.
These facts enable us to know from whom the new heaven was made, and also its nature, as being totally of one mind. For anyone who lives a life of faith and charity loves another as himself, and he links the other to himself by love, so that the other loves him in turn. Love is a linking in the spiritual world; so when all act alike, then the association of many, or rather countless, people, in keeping with the form of heaven, brings about unanimity and they become as one. For there is nothing to separate and divide them, but everything links and unites them.

3. Since this heaven has been formed from all who were such as described, from the time of the Lord down to the present, it is clear that it is composed as much of non-Christians as of Christians. For the greater part it is composed of all the children throughout the world, who have died since the Lord’s time; for all of these have been taken in by the Lord and brought up in heaven. They have been taught by angels, and then kept so as to constitute together with the rest the new heaven. That will give some idea how large that heaven is.

4. It must further be appreciated that this new heaven is distinct from the ancient heavens, which existed before the Lord’s coming. Still the former ones fall into such a pattern with this that taken together they make up a single heaven. The reason why this new heaven is distinct from the ancient heavens is that teaching in the ancient churches was about nothing but love and charity, and at that time they knew nothing of teaching about faith separated from love. This too is why the ancient heavens make up the upper levels, but the new heaven a level beneath them. For the heavens are on different levels, one above the other.
The highest levels contain those called celestial angels, most of whom are from the Most Ancient church. Those in them are called celestial angels from celestial love, which is love directed to the Lord. The levels below them contain those called spiritual angels, most of whom are from the Ancient church. Those in them are called spiritual angels from spiritual love, which is charity directed towards the neighbour. Below them are the angels who possess the good of faith; these are those who have lived lives of faith. Living a life of faith means living in accordance with the teaching of one’s church, and living means willing and doing. Still all these heavens make one through the direct and indirect inflow from the Lord.

5. So much for the new heaven. I shall now say something about the new earth. A new earth means a new church on earth, for when a previous church ceases to exist a new one is started by the Lord. For the Lord sees to it that there is always a church on earth, since the church is the means by which the Lord is linked with the human race and heaven with the world. A church is where the Lord is known and the Divine truths are to be found which enable people to be linked to Him.
The reason why a new earth means a new church is the spiritual sense of the Word. For in that sense earth does not mean any particular part of the earth, but the people who live there and their worship of God, since this is the spiritual element which takes the place of earth. Moreover, the earth in the Word without any geographical name means the land of Canaan; and there was a church in the land of Canaan from the most ancient times. That is how it comes about that all the places in that land and the surrounding area, together with the mountains and rivers, that are mentioned in the Word, became representations and symbols of such things as are the internals of the church, what are called its spiritual elements. That is why the earth, as I have said, in the Word means the church, because the land of Canaan is meant. So here a new earth has a similar meaning. From this has arisen the custom in the church of speaking of the heavenly Canaan, when one means heaven.

sRef Rev@21 @2 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @9 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @17 S0′ sRef Rev@21 @16 S0′ 6. I shall now state briefly what Jerusalem means in the Word in its spiritual sense. Jerusalem means the church as regards its teaching. This is because the land of Canaan and no other was where the Temple was, and the altar, there sacrifices were made, so there was the worship of God. For this reason too three festivals were held there every year, and every male throughout the land was ordered to attend them. It follows that Jerusalem in the spiritual sense means the church as regards worship, or, what is the same thing, as regards its teaching. For worship is laid down in what is taught and is conducted in accordance with this.
The reason it is called the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven is that, in the spiritual sense of the Word, city and town mean teaching; and the holy city means the teaching of Divine truth, for it is Divine truth which is called holy in the Word. It is called the New Jerusalem for much the same reason that the earth is called new; for, as I said just above, earth means the church, and Jerusalem that church as regards its teaching. It is said to be coming down from God out of heaven because all Divine truth, the source of teaching, comes down out of heaven from the Lord.
It is obvious that Jerusalem here does not mean a city, even though it was seen as a city, from its being said that its height was as its length and breadth, twelve thousand furlongs, and that the measurement of its wall was a hundred and forty-four cubits by the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (verses 16, 17). Also by it being described as made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (verse 2); and by the angel saying later on:

Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he showed me the holy city Jerusalem. Rev. 21: 9, 10.

It is the church which in the Word is called the Lord’s bride and wife, bride before and wife after being united with Him.

7. To be specific about the teaching which will now follow, that too comes from heaven, because it is from the spiritual sense of the Word, and that sense is the same as the teaching which exists in heaven. For there is a church in heaven just as much as on earth. There the Word is to be found, and teaching from the Word; there are church buildings there, and sermons are preached in them. There too are to be found church and secular systems of government. In short, the only difference between things in the heavens and those on earth is that everything in the heavens is in a higher state of perfection, because all the people there are spiritual, and what is spiritual is immeasurably more perfect than what is natural.
These facts can make it clear what is meant by the holy city, New Jerusalem, being seen to come down from God out of heaven. But I shall now proceed to the actual teaching intended for the new church. Since this has been revealed to me from heaven, it is called heaven’s teaching; for it is the aim of this book to convey this.

8. PROLOGUE TO THE TEACHING

I showed in the short book THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON that a church reaches its end when there is no faith because there is no charity. Since the churches in Christendom have at the present time made themselves distinct solely by such matters as relate to faith, and yet there is no faith where there is no charity. I should like before describing the teaching itself to say a few words by way of introduction on the teaching about charity among the ancient peoples. When I speak of the churches in Christendom I mean the churches among the Reformed or Evangelical Christians. I do not include the church among the Roman Catholics, because there is no Christian church there. For a church is where the Lord is adored and the Word is read, and this is not the case among the Catholics. There they are adored themselves in place of the Lord, and the people are prevented from reading the Word; and the Pope’s utterance is placed on a level with, or rather above, the Word.

sRef Matt@22 @39 S0′ sRef Matt@22 @40 S0′ sRef Matt@22 @38 S0′ sRef Matt@22 @37 S0′ 9. The teaching about charity, that is, how to live, was the chief teaching in the ancient churches. That teaching united all churches and so made one out of many. For they recognised as members of the church all those whose lives showed the good of charity and called them brothers, however much otherwise they differed in truths, what are to-day called matters of faith. One taught another about truths, and this was one of their charitable deeds. Also they did not take it amiss, if one failed to accept another’s point of view, knowing that each person accepts truth only to the extent that he is in a state of good. Since the ancient churches were of this kind their members were therefore ‘interior’ people; and for this reason they were wiser. For those who possess the good of love and charity are in heaven, so far as their internal man is concerned; and in this manner belong to a community of angels there which enjoys a like good. This has the effect of raising their minds to more inward matters, and this consequently gives them wisdom. Wisdom can come from nowhere except out of heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord. Wisdom exists in heaven, because people there are in a state of good. Wisdom is seeing the truth by the light of truth, and the light of truth is the light heaven enjoys.
But this wisdom of the ancients declined with the passage of time; for the more the human race withdrew from the good of love to the Lord and of love towards the neighbour, the love called charity, the more it also withdrew from wisdom, because it withdrew further from heaven. Thus it is that man from internal became successively more and more external. And when he became external, he also became worldly and concerned with the body. When a person is like that, he pays little heed to the matters which have to do with heaven, for he is then totally in the grip of the pleasures of earthly loves, as well as of the evils which are rendered attractive by those loves. Then what he hears about life after death, about heaven and hell, in short about spiritual matters, are as it were outside him, and not inside as they ought to be. This too is the reason why the teaching about charity, which was so highly prized by the ancients, is to-day one of the things which have been lost to view. Is there anyone to-day who knows what is the real meaning of charity, and what the real meaning of the neighbour? Yet that teaching not only teaches this, but countless things in addition, of which people to-day know less than a thousandth part. The whole of the Sacred Scripture is nothing but teaching about love and charity. The Lord too teaches this when He says:

You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like it. You are to love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments the Law and the Prophets depend. Matt. 22:37-40.

The Law and the Prophets are the Word in all its details.

10. Not translated.

11. I

ON GOOD AND TRUTH

All things in the universe, which are in accordance with God’s order, have reference to good and truth. Nothing exists in heaven, and nothing on earth, which does not have reference to these two. The reason is that both, good as well as truth, proceed from the Deity who is the source of all things.

12. From this it is clear that there is nothing a person needs more to know than what good is and what truth is, how one has the other in view, and how one is linked to the other. This is above all needed by a member of the church. For just as all things in heaven have reference to good and truth, so too do all things in the church, because the good and truth of heaven are also the good and truth of the church. This is why it is necessary to start with good and truth.

13. It is a law of Divine order that good and truth should be linked and not kept separate, so that they make a single unit, not two. For linked they proceed from the Divine, linked they are in heaven and therefore linked they should be in the church. In heaven the linking of good and truth is called the heavenly marriage, for all there are linked in this marriage. This is why heaven in the Word is likened to a marriage, and the Lord is called bridegroom and husband, while heaven is called bride and wife; and these same terms are used of the church. The reason why heaven and the church are so called is that those in them receive Divine good in truths.

14. All the intelligence and wisdom the angels have comes from this marriage, none of it from good separated from truth or from truth separated from good. The same is true of people in the church.

15. Since the linking of good and truth resembles a marriage it is plain that good loves truth and truth in turn loves good, and one longs to be linked with the other. Anyone in the church who lacks such love and longing has not yet achieved a heavenly marriage. So the church is not yet present in him, for it is the linking of good and truth which makes the church.

16. There are many kinds of good. Generally speaking, there is spiritual good and there is natural good, and the two are linked in true moral good. What applies to kinds of good also applies to kinds of truth, because truths belong to good and are forms taken by good.

17. The relation of good and truth is matched by their opposites, evil and falsity. This means that just as all things in the universe which are in accordance with Divine order have reference to good and truth, so all things which are contrary to Divine order have reference to evil and falsity. Again, just as good loves to be linked with truth and truth with good, so evil loves to be linked with falsity and falsity with evil. Also, just as all intelligence and wisdom is born of the linking of good and truth, so all madness and stupidity is born of the linking of evil and falsity. This linking is called the hellish marriage.

18. It is plain from the fact that evil and falsity are the opposites of good and truth that truth cannot be linked with evil nor good with the falsity which comes from evil. If truth is attached to evil, it is no longer truth but falsity, since it has been falsified. And if good is attached to the falsity which comes from evil, it is no longer good but evil, since it has been adulterated. However, the falsity which does not come from evil can be linked with good.

19. No one who by conviction and manner of life has chosen evil and the falsity which comes of it can know what good and truth are, because he believes that his own evil is good and thus that his own falsity is truth. However, everyone who by conviction and manner of life has chosen good and the truth which comes of it can know what evil and falsity are. The reason is that all good, and the truth which comes of it, is in its essence heavenly, and that which is not in its essence heavenly is still of heavenly origin. But all evil and the falsity which comes of it is in its essence hellish, and what is not in its essence hellish still comes from that origin. Everything heavenly is bathed in light and everything hellish is sunk in darkness.

20. Not translated.

sRef Matt@25 @29 S0′ 21. Not translated.

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28. II

ON THE WILL AND THE INTELLECT

A person has two faculties which give him life: one is called the will, the other the intellect. These are quite distinct, but created to form one, and when they are one they are called the mind. The human mind therefore is composed of these two parts, and the whole of a person’s life is located there.

29. Just as all things in the universe which are in accordance with Divine order have reference to good and truth, so all things in a person have reference to the will and the intellect. For the good there is in a person belongs to his will, and the truth in him belongs to his intellect. For these two faculties, or these two aspects of a person’s life, are designed to receive and be acted upon by good and truth. The will receives and is acted upon by everything to do with good, and the intellect receives and is acted upon by everything to do with truth. This is the only place where a person can have the various kinds of good and truth. And since it is the only place a person has for good and truth, so it is the only place for love and faith, because love is the product of good and good of love, and faith is the product of truth and truth of faith.

30. Now since all things in the universe have reference to good and truth, and since all things to do with the church have reference to the good which comes from love and the truth which comes from faith; and since it is the two faculties just mentioned which make a person a person, these subjects too must be discussed in this account of the teaching. Nor would it be possible otherwise for a person to form a distinct idea of them or found his thought upon them.

31. The will and the intellect also make up a person’s spirit, for that is where his wisdom and intelligence reside, and so, generally speaking, his life. The role of the body is merely to obey them.

32. There is nothing more important to know than how the will and the intellect make up a single mind. They do this just as good and truth make one; for there is a marriage between the will and the intellect like that between good and truth. The nature of that marriage can be fully established from the facts about good and truth adduced above. To be precise, just as good is the real cause of a thing’s existence and truth is its consequent expression, so a person’s will is the cause of his life and his intellect is its consequent expression. For the good which resides in the will develops and makes itself manifest in the intellect.

33. Those in a state of good and truth have a will and an intellect. But those in a state of evil and falsity have no will and intellect, but desire in place of will and knowledge in place of intellect. For a truly human will serves to receive good, and a truly human intellect serves to receive truth. The term ‘will’ therefore cannot be used in connexion with evil, nor the term ‘intellect’ in connexion with falsity, since these are opposites, and opposites are mutually destructive. Thus it is that a person in a state of evil and falsity arising from it cannot be called rational, wise and intelligent. Moreover the evil have the interiors, which are part of the mind, closed; and this is where the will and the intellect chiefly reside. It is thought that the evil too have a will and an intellect, because they talk of willing and understanding. But willing for them is merely desiring, and understanding for them is merely knowing.

34. Not translated.

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36. III

ON THE INTERNAL MAN AND THE EXTERNAL MAN

Human beings have been so created as to be at once both in the spiritual world and the natural world. The spiritual world is where angels live, the natural world is where human beings live. Because human beings are created so as to be in both worlds, they have been given an internal and an external, the internal to enable them to be in the spiritual world, and an external to enable them to be in the natural world. A person’s internal is what is called the internal man, the external what is called the external man.

37. Each individual has an internal and an external but there is a difference between the case of the good and that of the evil. The good have their internal in heaven and its light, and their external in the world and its light. For them this light is lit up by the light of heaven, so that for them the internal and the external act as one, like the efficient cause and the effect, or like prior and posterior. For the evil, however, their internal is in the world and its light, and their external too is in the same light. Consequently they see nothing by heaven’s light, but only by the world’s light, which they call the illumination of Nature. That is why anything to do with heaven seems to them to be in thick darkness, and anything to do with the world in light. It is obvious from this that the good have an internal and an external man, but the evil have no internal man, but only an external one.

38. The internal man is what is called the spiritual man, because he is in heaven’s light, which is spiritual light; and the external man is what is called the natural man, because he is in the world’s light, which is natural light. A person whose internal is in heaven’s light and whose external is in the world’s light is a spiritual man in both respects; but one whose internal is not in heaven’s light, but only in the world’s light shared with the external, is a natural man in both respects. A spiritual man is called in the Word living, and a natural man is called dead.

39. A person whose internal is in heaven’s light, and whose external is in the world’s light, thinks in both a spiritual and a natural fashion. But his spiritual thought then flows into his natural thought and is perceived there. However, a person whose internal together with his external is in the world’s light thinks not in a spiritual but a material fashion; for his thought is based upon things present in Nature in the world, and these are all material. Thinking in a spiritual fashion is thinking about things as they really are, seeing truths by the light of truth, and perceiving what is good by the love for good; also seeing what things are like and perceiving affection for them in an abstract or immaterial fashion. But thinking in a material fashion is thinking, seeing and perceiving things together with matter, and in material form, so in a fashion which compared to the other is gross and obscure.

40. An inwardly spiritual person is, seen as he really is, an angel of heaven; and he is also, even while he lives in his body, in company with angels though he is unaware of it; and after being released from his body he comes to join the angels. However, a person who is inwardly only natural is, seen as he really is, a spirit and not an angel; and he is also, while he lives in his body, in company with spirits, but with those spirits who are in hell; and after being released from his body, he comes to join them.

41. The interiors of those who are spiritual people are in fact raised towards heaven, since that is their chief aim. However, the interiors of the mind of those who are only natural are in fact turned to the world since that is their chief aim. Each individual has the interiors of his mind turned to that which he loves above all; and the exteriors of the outward mind are turned in the same direction as the interiors.

42. Anyone with only a general idea of the internal and external man believes that it is the internal man who thinks and wills, and the external who speaks and acts, since thinking and willing are inward matters and speaking and acting as a result are outward matters. But it should be known that when a person thinks intelligently and wills wisely, then his thinking and willing come from a spiritual internal. When, however, he does not think intelligently and will wisely, his thinking and willing come from a natural internal. Consequently, when a person has good thoughts about the Lord and matters concerning the Lord, and when he has good thoughts about the neighbour and matters concerning him, and has good intentions towards them, his thinking and willing are then from a spiritual internal because his thinking and willing are then from faith in truth and love for good, so they come from heaven. When, however, a person has evil thoughts and intentions concerning them, then his thinking and willing come from a natural internal, because they arise from faith in falsity and love for evil, that is, from hell. In short, the more a person is in a state of love to the Lord and of love towards the neighbour, the more he has a spiritual internal, and this is the source of his thinking and willing, and also of his speech and actions. However, the more he is in a state of self-love and love for the world, the more he has a natural internal, and this is the source of his thinking and willing, and also of his speech and actions.

43. It is a rule of the Lord’s providence and order that the more a person’s thinking and willing comes from heaven, the more the spiritual internal man is opened up and developed. This opening leads into heaven, even as far as the Lord, and the development is in accordance with heaven’s principles. But in the opposite case, the more a person’s thinking and willing comes, not from heaven, but from the world, the more his spiritual internal man is closed off and the external is opened up. This opening leads to the world, and the development is in the direction of worldly matters.

44. Those whose internal spiritual man is opened up heaven- wards to the Lord enjoy the light of heaven and illumination from the Lord, so that they are intelligent and wise. These people see truth because it is true, and perceive good because it is good. But those who have the spiritual internal man closed off are unaware that an internal man exists, not to mention what the internal man is. Nor do they believe in the existence of the Deity, nor of life after death, nor therefore matters to do with heaven and the church. Because they rely solely on the world’s light and the illumination it gives, they believe in Nature as a deity, and they see falsity as truth and perceive evil as good.

45. One whose internal is so external that he believes in nothing but what he can see with his eyes and touch with his hands is termed the dupe of the senses. He is the lowest type of natural man, a prey to fallacies concerning everything to do with the church’s faith.

46. The internal and external, about which I have written, are the internal and external of a person’s spirit. His body is merely an extra external, within which the internal and external of the spirit come into existence. For the body does nothing of itself, but is directed by the spirit which resides in it. It should be known that a person’s spirit after being released from the body is just as much able to think and will, speak and act. Thinking and willing are its internal, speaking and acting are its external.

47. Not translated.

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54. IV

ON LOVE IN GENERAL

A person’s life is really the same as his love; and what his love is like determines what his life is like, in fact his whole personality. But what makes a person is his dominant or ruling love. That love has a number of subordinate loves with it, which derive from it. These appear to be different but are each a part of the dominant love and make up a single kingdom with it. The dominant love is as it were their king and chief; it controls them and by their instrumentality, using them as mediate ends, aims at and pursues its end which is the mainspring and ultimate of all, and this both directly and indirectly. What belongs to the dominant love is loved above all.

55. What a person loves above all is constantly present in his thoughts and also in his will, and it makes up his life in the truest sense. For example, anyone who loves wealth above all, whether money or possessions, continually ponders in his mind how to get these; he feels the keenest pleasure when he acquires them, the keenest grief when he loses them. His heart is in them. Anyone who loves himself above all, remembers himself in everything, thinks about himself, talks about himself and acts for his own advantage; for his life is a selfish life.

56. Everyone has as his end in view what he loves above all. This is what he aims at in every detail of his life. His will contains something like a hidden current in a river, which drags and carries him away even when he is doing something else, for it is what motivates him. This is the kind of thing one person looks for and sees in another, and, depending on what he sees, he either leads him or acts jointly with him.

57. A person’s character is determined by the dominant factor in his life, and this is what distinguishes him from other people. This factor makes his heaven, if he is good, his hell if evil. It is his real will, his self and his nature, for it is the real essence of his life. It cannot be changed after death, for it really is the person.


58. Everyone’s pleasure, bliss and happiness come from his dominant love and are characterised by it. One calls pleasant what one loves, for that is what one feels. One may, however, call pleasant what one thinks about and does not love, but it is not the pleasure of one’s life. It is what pleases his love which is anyone’s good, and what displeases it which is his evil.

59. There are two loves from which all kinds of good and truth arise, as it were from their proper sources. There are also two loves from which all kinds of evil and falsity arise. The two loves which are the source of all kinds of good and truth are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour; and the two loves which are the source of all kinds of evil and falsity are self-love and love of the world. These two latter loves are the complete opposite of the former two.

60. The two loves which are the source of all kinds of good and truth, which, as just said, are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, are what make heaven in a person. These therefore are the ruling loves in heaven. And because they make a person’s heaven, they also make the church for him. The two loves which are the source of all kinds of evil and falsity, which are, as just said, self-love and love of the world, make hell in a person. These therefore are the ruling loves in hell.

61. The two loves which are the source of all kinds of good and truth, which, as has been said, are the loves of heaven, open up and develop the internal spiritual man, because that is where they reside. But the two loves which are the source of all kinds of evil and falsity when dominant close off and destroy the internal spiritual man. These make a person the more natural and influenced by the senses in proportion to the strength and nature of their dominance.

62. Not translated.

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65. V

ON SELF-LOVE AND LOVE OF THE WORLD

Self-love is wishing well to oneself alone and not to others except on one’s own account, not even to the church, one’s country, any human community or fellow citizen. It also includes doing good to them solely for the sake of one’s own reputation, honours and glory. If such a person does not see these ends in the good he does for others, he says in his heart ‘What does it matter? Why am I doing this? What’s in it for me?’ and so he stops doing it. This shows plainly that a person in a state of self-love does not love the church, his country, his community or his fellow citizen, nor any good, but himself alone.

66. A person is in a state of self-love when in his thoughts and actions he pays no regard to his neighbour, and so not to the general public, much less the Lord, but only to himself and his own people. As a result, this is when all his actions are for the sake of himself and his people, and if he does anything for the general public and his neighbour, this is only for the sake of appearances.

67. I say, for the sake of himself and his people, because one who loves himself also loves the people who belong to him, in particular his children and grandchildren, and in general all who act in concert with him, and whom he calls his own. Loving these two groups of people is also loving oneself, for one looks upon them as if part of one, and oneself as part of them. Among those called his own are also included all who praise, honour and pay respect to him.

68. A person is in a state of self-love, if he despises his neighbour as compared with himself, if he treats him as an enemy, unless he shows him favour, stands in awe of him and pays him respect. He is even more in a state of self-love, if as a result he hates and persecutes his neighbour; even more so, if as a result he is fired with a desire for vengeance on him and longs for his ruin. Such people end up by loving to inflict violence.

69. A comparison with heavenly love can show what self-love is like. Heavenly love is loving to perform services for their own sake, or to do good actions for their own sake; and these are those one does for the church, one’s country, a human community and one’s fellow citizen. But someone who loves doing those things for his own sake loves them only as servants who do his bidding. It follows that a person who is in a state of self-love wants the church, his country, human communities and his fellow citizens to be his servants, instead of his being theirs. He sets himself above them and looks down on them.

70. Furthermore, in so far as anyone is in a state of heavenly love, which is loving to be of service and to do good actions, and experiencing heartfelt pleasure when he does them, to that extent he is guided by the Lord, because that is the love the Lord has and which comes from Him. But in so far as anyone is in a state of self-love, to that extent he is guided by himself, and in so far as he is guided by himself, to that extent he is guided by the self. A person’s self is nothing but evil, for it is the evil he inherits, loving oneself more than God, and the world more than heaven.

71. Self-love has also this quality, that in so far as the brakes are taken off, that is, external restraints are removed (which are fear for the law and the penalties it can inflict, for loss of reputation, honours, gain, office and life), so far does it rush, not only to want to rule over the whole globe, but even over heaven and the Deity Himself. It has no limit or end set to it. This lies hidden in everyone in a state of self-love, although it is not to be seen in the world’s eyes, for there he is held in check by the brakes and restraints just mentioned. Anyone of this sort, when confronted with an impossibility, waits until it becomes possible to go on.
The result of these two facts is that a person in such a state of love is unaware of this mad, limitless desire lurking in him. Yet anyone can see the truth of this by looking at autocrats and kings, who, lacking these brakes, restraints and impossibilities, rush to conquer provinces and kingdoms as far as their success takes them, and aspire to limitless power and glory. This is even more the case with those who extend their rule to heaven and arrogate to themselves all the Lord’s Divine power, constantly desiring to go further.

72. There are two kinds of rule: one is the rule of love towards the neighbour, the other is the rule of self-love. These two kinds of rule are in essence diametrically opposed. One who rules from love towards the neighbour wishes the good of all, and loves nothing better than performing services, or being of service to others. Being of service to others is doing them good as the result of goodwill and performing services for them. This is what he loves, this is the pleasure of his heart. Such a person is pleased the higher the offices to which he is advanced, not for their own sake, but for the sake of the services which he is then able to perform in greater numbers and at a higher level. Ruling in heaven is like this.
But someone who rules from self-love wishes good to no one but himself and his own. Any services he performs are for the sake of his own honours and glory, which are the only services he recognises. If he is anyone’s servant, it is so that he may be served, honoured, and exercise rule himself. He canvasses for advancement not for the sake of good actions he can perform, but to achieve eminence and a glorious position, and so to give pleasure to his heart.

73. This love of ruling remains with everyone after his life in the world. But those who have exercised rule out of love towards the neighbour have rule entrusted to them also in the heavens. But then it is not they who rule, but the services and good actions they love to do; and when services and good actions rule, the Lord rules. Those, however, who have ruled in the world out of self-love are after their life in the world in hell, and lowly slaves there.

74. These remarks now make it possible to recognise who the people are who are in a state of self-love. It makes no difference what they are like to outward appearance, whether they are proud or submissive. For the qualities meant are in the inward man, and most people keep their inward man concealed, while the outward man is trained to put on a pretence of loving the general public and the neighbour, so as to seem the opposite of what he is. This too is for his own sake. For they know that loving the public and the neighbour makes a deep impression on everybody, and that is what makes them liked and esteemed so much. This impression is due to the inflow from heaven into that love.

75. The evils exhibited by those in a state of self-love are, generally speaking, contempt for others, envy, unfriendliness to those who do not favour them, resulting in hostility, various kinds of hatred, vindictiveness, tricks, deceit, lack of pity, and cruelty. Where such evils exist, there is also contempt for the Deity and for the things of God, the truths and kinds of good the church teaches. If they do pay respect to them, it is only with the lips and not the heart. Since such evils arise from this source, so too do the like falsities, for evils are the source of falsities.

76. The love of the world, however, is wanting to direct to oneself by any device other people’s wealth, setting one’s heart on being rich, and allowing the world to withdraw one and lead one away from spiritual love, that is, love towards the neighbour, and so away from heaven.
Those in a state of love of the world are those who desire to direct to themselves other people’s goods by various devices, especially by trickery and deceit, paying no heed to the good of the neighbour. Those who are in that state covet others’ goods, and so far as they are not afraid of laws and losing their reputation for the sake of gain, they take them away from them, or rather loot them.

77. But the love of the world is not as fully opposed to heavenly love as is self-love, seeing that it does not have such great evils concealed in it. This is a love of many kinds. It is the love of wealth, as the means of advancement to honours. It is the love of honours and rank with the aim of procuring wealth. It is the love of wealth for various purposes which give delight in the world. It is the love of wealth merely for the sake of wealth – that is the love of misers; and so on.
The end which wealth has in view is called its purpose. It is the end in view or purpose which gives a love its quality. For a love is such as is its end in view; other things serve it as means.

78. In short, self-love and the love of the world are the very opposites of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. Therefore self-love and love of the world are infernal loves, and they are dominant in hell; they also make a person’s private hell. Love to the Lord, however, and love towards the neighbour are heavenly loves, and are dominant in heaven; they also make a person’s private heaven.

79. What has been stated allows it to be seen that all evils are contained in and come from those two loves. For the evils which were listed above (75) are generic. The remainder, which were not listed, because they are specific, are derived and flow from them. From this it can be established that a person has by birth evils of every kind, because he has by birth those two loves.

80. For a person to know his evils, he must know their sources; and unless he knows his evils, he cannot know the kinds of good he has, so he cannot know what sort of person he is. That is why those two sources of evils have been discussed here.

81. Not translated.

82. Not translated.

83. Not translated.

84. VI

ON LOVE TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOUR, THAT IS, CHARITY

I shall start by defining the neighbour, for it is he who is to be loved and towards whom charity is to be exercised. Without knowing what the neighbour means charity may be exercised in like measure without distinction, equally towards the evil as the good. Charity thus becomes no charity. For the evil harm the neighbour by the benefits they confer, but the good do good by them.

85. It is generally believed to-day that everyone is equally the neighbour, and good is to be done to anyone who needs help. But Christian prudence demands that a person’s life should be carefully checked and charity exercised accordingly. A person who belongs internally to the church does so in a discriminating way, and so intelligently. But a person who belongs externally to the church does so without discrimination, because he is not so well able to tell things apart.

86. The distinctions in the neighbour, which anyone who belongs to the church certainly ought to know, depend upon the good present in each individual. Because all good proceeds from the Lord, it is the Lord who is in the highest sense and in the fullest degree the neighbour, the source of good. It follows from this that anyone is the neighbour to the extent that he has the Lord with him. And because everyone receives the Lord, that is, good from Him, differently, therefore no two people are the neighbour in the same way. For all in the heavens, and all on earth who are good, differ in their goodness. There are never two whose goodness is exactly identical; it has to differ for each sort of goodness to continue in existence. But all these variations, and so all the distinctions in the neighbour, which depend upon the receiving of the Lord, that is, the receiving of good from Him, cannot be known by any person, not even by an angel, except generally, that is to say, by genus and species. Nor does the Lord demand more from one who belongs to the church than to live in accordance with what he knows.

sRef Luke@10 @32 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @34 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @35 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @30 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @33 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @37 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @31 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @36 S0′ sRef Luke@10 @29 S0′ 87. Since the good in each individual is different, it follows that the quality of that good determines on what level and how anyone is the neighbour. This fact is obvious from the Lord’s parable about the man who fell into the hands of robbers, and a priest, as well as a Levite, went past him as he lay half-dead. But the Samaritan, after binding up his wounds and pouring oil and wine into them, lifted him on to his own animal and took him to an inn, and gave orders that he should be looked after. This man is called the neighbour, because he exercised the good of charity (Luke 10:29-37). This shows that the neighbour means those in a state of good. The oil and wine, which the Samaritan poured into his wounds, also stand for good and the truth from it.

88. From what has been said it is now plain that in a universal sense the neighbour is good, because a person is the neighbour in accordance with the nature of the good he has from the Lord. Because the neighbour is good, so also he is love, for all good is concerned with love. So each person is the neighbour in accordance with the nature of the love he has from the Lord.

89. A proof that love determines who is the neighbour, and each person is the neighbour as the quality of his love dictates, is to be seen in the case of those in a state of self-love. They acknowledge as the neighbour those who love them best, that is, to the extent that they are their own. They embrace them, kiss them, do good to them and call them brothers; or rather, because they are evil, they call them above others the neighbour. They regard the rest as the neighbour in proportion to their love for themselves, so in accordance with the nature and depth of their love. Such people’s idea of the neighbour springs from themselves, because it is love which causes and determines it.
Those, however, who do not love themselves above others, the condition of all who belong to the Lord’s kingdom, will form their idea of the neighbour from Him whom they ought to love above all, that is, from the Lord; and they will regard each person as neighbour in accordance with the nature of the love they have for Him and receive from Him. From this it is clear from what a person who belongs to the church should form his idea of the neighbour, and that each is the neighbour in accordance with the good he has from the Lord, or goodness itself.

sRef Matt@25 @38 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @36 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @35 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @39 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @40 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @34 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @37 S0′ 90. This too the Lord teaches in Matthew; for He said to those in a state of good that they had given Him food, they had given Him drink, given Him hospitality, clothed Him, visited Him and come to Him in prison; and then that so far as they had done these things to the least of His brothers, they had done it to Him (Matt. 25:34-40). Those six good deeds understood in the spiritual sense comprise all the different kinds of neighbour. It is also plain from this that when good is loved, the Lord is loved; for it is the Lord who is the source of good, who is in a state of good and who is goodness itself.

91. But the neighbour is not only a person in the singular, but also people in the plural. The term includes smaller and greater communities, one’s country, the church, the Lord’s kingdom and above all the Lord Himself. All these are the neighbour to whom good is to be done out of love. There are too the ascending degrees of the neighbour. A community consisting of many people is the neighbour in a higher degree than a single person. One’s country is in an even higher degree, the church in one higher still. In an even higher degree is the Lord’s kingdom; and the Lord is in the highest degree. These ascending degrees are like the rungs of a ladder, at the top of which the Lord stands.

92. A community is more the neighbour than a single person, because it is composed of many people. Charity should be exercised towards it in the same way as towards an individual, that is, in accordance with the good to be found in it. It should therefore be exercised differently towards a community of upright people and towards a community of people who are not upright. A community is loved by caring for its good out of a love for good.

93. One’s country is more the neighbour than a community, because it is a kind of parent. It is there a person is born; one’s country feeds one and protects one from harm. Good should be done to one’s country out of love in accordance with its needs. These are principally concerned with its food supplies and the secular and spiritual life of its inhabitants. Anyone who loves his country, and does it good out of goodwill, in the other life loves the Lord’s kingdom, for there the Lord’s kingdom is his country. Anyone who loves the Lord’s kingdom loves the Lord, because the Lord is the all-in-all of His kingdom.

94. The church is more the neighbour than one’s country, because anyone who cares for the church cares for the souls and everlasting life of the people of his country. So anyone who cares for the church out of love loves the neighbour in a higher degree, since heaven and happiness of life for ever is what he seeks and wants for others.

95. The Lord’s kingdom is the neighbour in a still higher degree, for the Lord’s kingdom consists of all who are in a state of good, both those on earth and those in the heavens. Thus the Lord’s kingdom is goodness in all its aspects together. When this is loved, so are the individuals who are in a state of good.

96. These are the degrees of the neighbour, and with those who are in a state of love towards the neighbour their love rises to higher levels by these degrees. But these degrees are degrees of successive order, and in this what is prior or higher is to be preferred to what is posterior or lower. And because the Lord is the neighbour in the highest degree, and He is to be regarded in each degree as the end in view, so He is to be loved above all people and all things. From this it can now be established how love to the Lord links itself with love towards the neighbour.

97. It is commonly said that each person is his own neighbour, that is, each person should take care of himself first. But teaching about charity shows how this should be understood. Everyone ought to see to it that he has the necessities of life, for instance, food, clothing, somewhere to live and many more things which the civilised life he leads demands. This too not only for himself, but also for his own, and not only for the present time but also for the future. For unless anyone provides himself with the necessities of life, he cannot be in a position to exercise charity, being himself in want of everything.

98. In what way each person ought to be his own neighbour can be established from the following comparison. Everyone ought to provide his body with food and clothing. This must come first, but with the intention of having a healthy mind in a healthy body. Everyone ought also to provide his mind with food, such things as have to do with intelligence and wisdom, in order that they may be in a condition to be of service to one’s fellow citizens, society at large, one’s country and the church, and so to the Lord. Anyone doing this provides well for himself to eternity. It is plain from this that the end in view must take priority, for everything has regard to that.
This is also like the situation of someone building a house. One must first lay the foundation, but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for living in. Anyone who thinks being his own neighbour comes first is like a man who regards the foundation as the end in view, not the house and living in it. Yet living in it is the first and last end in view, and the house with its foundation is only a means to that end.

99. The end in view proclaims how each person should be his own neighbour and look after himself first. If his end is to grow richer than others merely for the sake of riches, or for the sake of pleasure, or of eminence and similar reasons, his end is evil, and he does not love the neighbour but himself. But if his end is to acquire wealth so that he may be in a position to look after his fellow citizens, society at large, his country and the church; or likewise so that he may acquire high office to the same end – then he loves his neighbour. The end which motivates his actions makes the man, for his end is his love; everyone has as his first and last end what he loves above all.
So much for the neighbour, but now I must discuss love towards him, or charity.

100. Many people believe that love towards the neighbour consists in giving to the poor, bringing help to the needy, and doing good to everyone. But charity consists in acting prudently, and with the intention that good may come of it. If anyone gives help to a poor or needy wrongdoer, he does harm to the neighbour through him. For the help he gives strengthens him in evil and supplies him with the resources to do harm to others. The opposite is the case if he gives help to the good.

101. But charity extends much further than to the poor and needy. For charity consists in doing what is right in every task, and one’s duty in every office one holds. If a judge sees justice done for justice’s sake, he exercises charity; if he punishes the guilty and acquits the innocent, he exercises charity, for he thus takes thought for his fellow citizens and his country. A priest who teaches the truth and guides people towards good, for the sake of truth and good, exercises charity. But if he does such things for his own or the world’s sake, he does not exercise charity, because it is not the neighbour he loves, but himself.

102. It is the same with other occupations, whether public office or not. So for instance, the attitude of children towards their parents, and of parents towards their children; of servants towards their masters, and of masters towards their servants; of subjects towards their king, and of a king towards his subjects. Any of them who do their duty because it is their duty, and justice because it is justice, are exercising charity.

103. The reason why all these things are a part of love towards the neighbour or charity is that, as was said before, each individual is the neighbour, but in a different way. A smaller or larger community is more of a neighbour, one’s country even more so. Even more so is the Lord’s kingdom; and the Lord is the neighbour above all. In a universal sense the good proceeding from the Lord is the neighbour, and as a result so are honesty and justice. Anyone therefore who does any kind of good for good’s sake, and acts honestly and justly for the sake of honesty and justice, loves the neighbour and exercises charity. For his actions are motivated by a love for good, honesty and justice, and so by a love for those in whom good, honesty and justice are to be found.

104. So charity is an internal affection causing a person to wish to do good, and this without recompense; it is his pleasure in life to do this. Those who are moved by an internal affection to do good, have charity in each single thought and utterance, in each single wish and action. When good is his neighbour, a person or an angel can be said to be charity as regards his interiors. That is how far charity extends.

105. Those who have self-love and love of the world as their end in view cannot possibly be in a state of charity. They do not even know what charity is; and they totally fail to grasp that willing and doing good to the neighbour without seeking reward makes heaven in a person, and this is an affection that brings happiness as great as that of the angels in heaven, which is past description. For they think that if they are robbed of the joy they get from the glory of possessing honours and wealth, there is no further joy possible. Yet this is when heavenly joy first begins, and this is infinitely greater.

106. Not translated.

sRef Matt@22 @37 S0′ sRef Matt@22 @39 S0′ sRef Matt@22 @40 S0′ sRef Matt@22 @38 S0′ 107. Not translated.

108. VII

ON FAITH

No one can know what in its essence faith is without knowing what charity is, since where there is no charity there is no faith; charity makes one with faith like good with truth. What a person loves or holds dear, that is for him good; and what he believes, that is for him truth. From this it is plain that the union of charity and faith is like the union of good and truth; and the nature of this union may be established from what has already been said about good and truth.

109. The union of charity and faith is also like that between a person’s will and his intellect. For those are the twin faculties for the reception of good and truth, good by the will, truth by the intellect. So those two faculties also receive charity and faith, since good relates to charity and truth to faith. Everyone is aware that charity and faith reside with a person and in him; and this being so, they cannot be elsewhere than in his will and his intellect, for the whole of a person’s life is located there and comes from there.
People also have a memory. But this is only a forecourt, where the things that are going to enter his intellect and will foregather. From this it is clear that the union of charity and faith is like that between the will and the intellect, and the nature of this union can be established from what has already been said about the will and the intellect.

110. Charity combines with faith for a person, when he wills what he knows and perceives; willing relates to charity, knowing and perceiving to faith. Faith enters into a person and becomes his, when he wills and loves what he knows and perceives; until this happens, it is outside him.

111. Faith does not become faith for a person, unless it becomes spiritual faith; and it does not become spiritual, unless it becomes related to love. This happens when a person loves to express truth and good in his life, that is, to live in accordance with the commandments given in the Word.

112. Faith is an affection for truth resulting from willing truth because it is true; and willing truth because it is true is the essence of a person’s spirituality. For then it is withdrawn from the natural, which is willing truth, not for its own sake, but for the sake of one’s own glory, reputation or gain. Truth withdrawn from such things is spiritual truth, because it comes from the Deity. What proceeds from the Deity is spiritual, and this is linked to people by love; for love is spiritual linking.

113. A person can know, think and understand a great deal, but when he is left alone to ponder, he casts away the things which are not in harmony with his love. For that reason he also casts them away when his bodily life is over, when he is in his spirit. For only what has entered his love remains in his spirit. The rest are after death regarded as alien, and because they do not harmonise with his love they are cast out of doors. The expression ‘in a person’s spirit’ is used because a person lives on as a spirit after death.

114. Some idea of good, which relates to charity, and truth, which relates to faith, can be formed from the sun’s light and heat. When the light radiated by the sun is combined with heat, as happens in springtime and summer, then everything on our earth buds and flowers. But when there is no heat in the light, as in wintertime, then everything on earth grows sluggish and dies off. Spiritual light actually is the truth of faith, and spiritual heat is love. This will enable one to form an idea of what a member of the church is like, when he has faith combined with charity; he is like a garden or park; or again, what he is like when his faith is not combined with charity; he is then like a desert or a countryside covered in snow.

115. The confidence or assurance which faith is said to confer, and which is called the really saving faith, is not a spiritual confidence or trust, but a natural one, so long as it comes from faith alone. Spiritual confidence or trust gets its essence and life from the good of love, but not from the truth of a faith separated from charity. The confidence that comes from separated faith is dead. For this reason true confidence is impossible for those who live an evil life. No more is truth the source of the confidence that a person is saved by the merit the Lord possesses with the Father, whatever a person’s life has been. All those in a state of spiritual faith are confident of being saved by the Lord, for they believe that the Lord came into the world to give everlasting life to those who believe and live in accordance with the commandments He taught. They believe that He regenerates them and fits them for heaven; and He does this by Himself without any help from the person, entirely out of His mercy.

116. Believing what the Word teaches, or the teachings of the church, without living in accordance with them, may look like faith; and there are also some who think that they are saved by it. But no one is saved by that alone, for it is a faith which comes from false belief. I shall now describe this sort of faith.

117. Faith from false belief is when the Word is believed and loved, and so is the teaching of the church, not for the sake of truth, and living in accordance with it, but when the ends in view are gain, honours and a reputation for learning. For this reason those who have that faith look not to the Lord and to heaven, but to themselves and the world. Those in the world with lofty ambitions and great desires are more the victims of the false belief that truth is what the church teaches, than those without lofty ambitions and great desires. This is because for them the teaching of the church is only a means to their own ends; and the more the ends are desired, the more the means are loved and believed in. But the fact of the matter is this: the more they are fired by self-love and love of the world, and are impelled by that fire to speak, preach and act, the more they are subject to that false belief; and then they know no better than that this is so. When, however, they are not fired by those loves, then they believe less, and many do not believe at all. From this it is plain that faith from false belief is a faith of the lips and not of the heart; and so it is no faith at all.

118. Those whose faith is from false belief have no inward light to tell them whether what they teach is true or false. Indeed, they do not care either, so long as the people believe them. For they have no affection for truth for truth’s sake. For this reason they withdraw from faith if they are deprived of honours and gain, so long as they do not risk their reputation. For faith from false belief is not inside the person, but stands outside, being only in the memory, from which it is recalled when he is teaching. That faith therefore together with what it sees as truths evaporates after death. For then only as much of faith as is inside the person remains, so much, that is, as is rooted in good, and has thus become part of his life.

sRef Luke@13 @26 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @12 S0′ sRef Luke@13 @27 S0′ sRef Matt@7 @23 S0′ sRef Matt@25 @11 S0′ sRef Matt@7 @22 S0′ 119. It is those whose faith is from false belief who are meant by these in Matthew:

Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and cast out devils in your name, and done many mighty deeds in your name? But then I shall admit to them, I do not know you, workers of iniquity. Matt. 7:22, 23.

Also in Luke:

Then you will begin to say, We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all workers of iniquity. Luke 13:26, 27.

These are also they who are meant by the five foolish virgins in Matthew, who had no oil in their lamps:

Finally, those virgins came saying, Lord, Lord, open up for us. But he will say in reply, Truly I tell you, I do not know you. Matt. 25:11, 12.

Oil in lamps stands for the good of love in faith.

120. Not translated.

sRef Matt@5 @37 S0′ 121. Not translated.

sRef John@21 @21 S0′ sRef Matt@26 @75 S0′ sRef John@19 @26 S0′ sRef John@19 @27 S0′ sRef John@21 @22 S0′ 122. Not translated.

123. VIII

ON PIETY

Many people believe that a spiritual life, a life which leads to heaven, consists in piety, keeping a holy external appearance and renouncing the world. But piety without charity, and a holy external without a holy internal, and the renunciation of the world without living like this in the world do not make up a spiritual life. What do make it up are piety inspired by charity, a holy external inspired by a holy internal, and the renunciation of the world combined with living like this in the world.

124. Piety is thinking and speaking piously, giving a lot of time to prayer, also behaving humbly, going regularly to church and listening devoutly to sermons there, frequently each year attending the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, and all the other religious observances prescribed by the church. A life of charity, however, is willing and doing good to the neighbour, acting in every task out of justice and equity, out of good and truth, and likewise in every public office. In short, a life of charity consists in performing services.
In such a life the worship of God takes first place, but in the former one second place. Consequently everyone who separates one from the other, living a life of piety and not a life of charity at the same time, does not worship God. He may think about God, yet not be inspired by God, but by himself, for he constantly thinks about himself and gives no thought to the neighbour. If he thinks about the neighbour, he disparages him, if he is not also such as he is. He also thinks of heaven as a reward. As a result his mind is full of the idea of merit, and also self-love, and a contempt for or neglect of performing services, and so of the neighbour, and at the same time a confident belief that he is without guilt. From this it can be established that a life of piety divorced from a life of charity is not a spiritual life, such as should be present in the worship of God. (Compare Matthew 6:7,8).

125. A holy external is like this kind of piety, and consists especially in a person regarding the whole of Divine worship as consisting in holy behaviour when he attends churches. But there is no holiness on a person’s part in this, unless his internal is holy. For a person’s external is such as his internal is, since the external proceeds from the internal like action from his spirit. So a holy external without a holy internal is natural and not spiritual. It is therefore possible for the evil to exhibit it equally with the good; and those who make it the whole of their worship are for the most part empty, devoid, that is, of any kind of knowledge of good and truth. Yet the various kinds of good and truth are the really holy things, which ought to be known, believed and loved, because they are from the Deity and have divinity in them.
Internal holiness is loving good and truth for their own sakes, and justice and honesty for their own sakes. The more a person so loves these, the more spiritual he is, and so is his worship, for he wishes the more to know them and do them. The less a person so loves them, the more natural he is, and so is his worship, and the less he wishes to know them and do them. External worship without internal can be compared with living by breathing without the heart beating, but external worship which comes from the internal can be compared with living by breathing combined with the heart beating.

126. As regards the renunciation of the world, many people believe that renouncing the world and living by the spirit rather than the flesh means rejecting worldly things, principally riches and honours, and going about continually meditating piously on God, salvation and everlasting life, spending one’s time in prayer, reading the Word and religious books, and also mortifying oneself. But these things are not renouncing the world. It is rather loving God and the neighbour; and God is loved by leading a life in accordance with His commandments, and the neighbour is loved by doing services for him. So in order to receive the life of heaven, a person has to live fully in the world, and engage in offices and business there. A life withdrawn from worldly things is a life of thought and faith divorced from a life of love and charity. Such a life destroys the will to do good and the doing of good to the neighbour; and when this is destroyed, spiritual life is like a house with no foundations, which in course of time either sinks into the ground, or opens up gaping cracks, or totters until it collapses.

sRef Luke@6 @49 S0′ sRef Matt@7 @27 S0′ sRef Matt@7 @25 S0′ sRef Matt@7 @26 S0′ sRef Luke@6 @47 S0′ sRef Luke@6 @48 S0′ sRef Matt@7 @24 S0′ 127. It is clear from the Lord’s words that doing good is worshipping the Lord:

Everyone who hears my words and does them I shall liken to a prudent man, who built his house on rock; but anyone who hears my words, and does not do them, I shall liken to a foolish man, who built his house on sand; or on ground without foundations. Matt. 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49.

128. From this it is now plain that a life of piety has value and is acceptable to the Lord, to the extent that it is combined with a life of charity. For the latter takes first place, and determines the quality of the former. Again, external holiness has value and is acceptable to the Lord, to the extent that it proceeds from internal holiness, for the latter determines the quality of the former. So too the renunciation of the world has value and is acceptable to the Lord to the extent that it takes place in the world. For those renounce the world who put away self-love and love of the world, and behave justly and honestly in every office, in every business and in every task, motivated by an inward, and so heavenly, source. This source is present in his life when a person acts well, honestly and justly, because this is in accordance with the laws of God.

129. Not translated.

130. IX

ON CONSCIENCE

A person’s conscience is formed by his religious belief, depending on how he receives it inwardly in himself.

131. A member of the church has his conscience formed by the truths of faith he learns from the Word, or by teaching from the Word, depending upon how he receives them in his heart. For when someone knows the truths of faith and grasps them in his own manner, and so comes to will and do them, then he develops a conscience. Receiving them in the heart means in the will, for a person’s will is what is called the heart. That is why those who possess a conscience speak from the heart what they say, and do from the heart what they do. They also have their mind undivided, for they act in accordance with what they understand and believe to be true and good.

132. A more perfect conscience is attainable by those who are more enlightened than others in the truths of faith, and who have a clearer perception of them than others, as compared with those who are less enlightened and have only a dim perception.

133. A person’s spiritual life really consists in having a true conscience, for there his faith is combined with charity. Acting in accordance with one’s conscience is therefore for such people the same as acting in accordance with the prompting of one’s own spiritual life; and acting against one’s conscience is for them acting against their own spiritual life. Consequently they enjoy the tranquillity of peace and inner blessedness, when they act in accordance with their conscience; but they experience disturbance and pain when they act against it. This pain is what is called remorse.

134. A person can have a conscience of good and a conscience of justice. A conscience of good is that of the internal man, that of justice is that of the external man. A conscience of good is acting according to the commands of faith out of internal affection, but a conscience of justice is acting according to civil and moral laws out of external affection. Those who have a conscience of good also have a conscience of justice. But those who have only a conscience of justice have the capability of receiving a conscience of good, and they do so when they are taught.

135. Conscience in the case of those who are in a state of charity towards the neighbour is a conscience of truth, because it is formed by faith in truth. Those, however, who are in a state of love to the Lord have a conscience of good, because it is formed by a love for truth. In their case their conscience is a higher one, and it is called the perception of truth out of good. Those who have a conscience of truth belong to the Lord’s spiritual kingdom; but those who have the higher conscience called perception belong to the Lord’s celestial kingdom.

136. Some examples will illustrate the nature of conscience. If someone has in his possession someone else’s goods, without the owner’s knowledge, so that he can enjoy them without fear of legal action or losing his honours or reputation, but still gives them back to the other person, because they are not his, such a person has a conscience. For he does good for good’s sake and justice for justice’s sake. There may also be someone who could claim an office, but knows that some other candidate is more useful to his country; if he yields place to the other for his country’s good, he has a good conscience; and so on in other cases.

137. From these examples it is possible to deduce what those who have no conscience are like; they can be recognised by opposites. So those who for some gain or other make injustice look like justice, or evil look like good, or vice versa, are without conscience. They do not even know what conscience is. If they are told this, they do not believe it, and in some cases do not want to know. Such are those who do everything for themselves or for the world’s sake.

138. Those who have not received a conscience in the world cannot receive one in the other life, so they cannot be saved. The reason is that they do not have a level into which heaven can flow and through which heaven can work. Heaven means the Lord working through heaven, and so drawing them to Himself. For conscience is a level of the mind capable of receiving inflow from heaven.

139. Not translated.

sRef Matt@5 @37 S0′ 140. Not translated.

141. X

ON FREEDOM

All freedom is a matter of loving, for what a person loves, that he does freely. Consequently all freedom is a matter of the will, for what a person loves that he also wills. And because loving and willing make a person’s life, so too does freedom. From this it can be established what freedom is, namely a matter of loving and willing, and so a matter of how a person lives. That is why what a person does by free choice seems to him as if it were done of his own self.

sRef John@8 @36 S0′ sRef John@8 @34 S0′ sRef John@8 @35 S0′ 142. Doing evil by free choice looks like freedom, but it is slavery, because that freedom comes of self-love and love of the world, and these loves are from hell. Such freedom is after death actually turned into slavery, for a person who indulged in such freedom then becomes in hell a lowly slave.
But doing good by free choice is real freedom, because it comes of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, and these loves are from heaven. This freedom also lasts after death, and then becomes true freedom; for a person who enjoys such freedom becomes in heaven as it were a son of the house. This the Lord teaches in these words:

Everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the house for ever; the son remains for ever. If the son makes you free, you will be truly free. John 8:34-36.

Now because all good is from the Lord, and all evil is from hell, it follows that freedom is being led by the Lord and slavery is being led by hell.

143. A person is free to have evil and false thoughts, and also to do evil and false actions, in so far as he is not restrained by laws, because this enables him to be reformed. For the various kinds of good and truth need to be implanted in his love and his will, in order to become part of his life. This cannot take place unless he is free to have evil and false thoughts as well as good and true ones. Each individual has this freedom given him by the Lord. When he has good and true thoughts, then the less he loves evil and falsity, the more the Lord implants the others in his love and his will, and thus in his life, and so reforms him.
The seed that is sown in freedom lasts; but what is sown under compulsion does not, because compulsion is not in accordance with the person’s will, but with the will of the one who compels him. This too is why freely offered worship is pleasing to the Lord, but not worship under compulsion. For freely offered worship is inspired by love, but worship under compulsion is not.

144. The freedom to do good and the freedom to do evil are as different and as far apart, for all their similarity in external appearance, as are heaven and hell. The freedom to do good comes from heaven, and is called heavenly freedom. The freedom to do evil comes from hell, and is called hellish freedom. The more a person has of one, the less he has of the other, for no one can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). A further indication of this is the fact that those who have hellish freedom think it is slavery and compulsion, if they are not allowed to will evil and have false thoughts to their heart’s content. But those who enjoy heavenly freedom, loathe willing evil and having false thoughts, and would suffer torments if they were compelled to do so.

145. Since acting freely seems to a person to be following the dictates of one’s own self, heavenly freedom can also be called the heavenly self; and hellish freedom can be called the hellish self. The hellish self is what one has by birth, and it is evil; but the heavenly self is what one acquires by being reformed, and it is good.

146. From this it can be established what free will is, namely, doing good by choice or of one’s own will. Those who are led by the Lord enjoy that freedom, and those led by the Lord are those who love good and truth for the sake of good and truth.

147. One can recognise what sort of freedom one has by the pleasure one feels while thinking, speaking, acting, hearing and seeing; for all pleasure depends upon love.

148. Not translated.

149. Not translated.

150. XI

ON MERIT

Those who do good deeds to acquire merit are acting not out of love for good, but out of love for reward. Anyone who wants a reward wants to be repaid. Those who act thus look for pleasure and gain it in their reward, and not in good. They are therefore not spiritual, but natural.

151. Doing good that is really good must be out of a love for good, and so for the sake of good. Those who are in a state of love for good are unwilling to hear talk of reward, for they love doing good and get a blessed feeling from it. In the opposite case they are saddened, if it is thought that what they are doing is for any personal motive. The situation is almost the same as in the case of those who do good to their friends for friendship’s sake, to their brother for brotherhood’s sake, to their wife and children for their sakes, to their country for its sake, thus out of friendship and love. Those who have the right idea also say and persuade others that they are not doing good for their own sake, but for the others’.

152. Those who do good for reward are not doing good from the Lord, but from themselves. For they give first place to looking after themselves, because it is their own good they seek. They regard the good of the neighbour, that is, the good of their fellow citizens, society at large, their country and the church, only as a means to an end. This is why good done for reward has lurking in it the good of self-love and the love of the world, and that kind of good is of human origin, and not from the Lord. All good of human origin is not good; or rather, to the extent that self-interest and the world lurks in it, it is evil.

153. Genuine charity and genuine faith have no thought of reward, for the pleasure of charity is real good, and the pleasure of faith is real truth. As a result those who have that kind of charity and faith know what good is which seeks no reward; but those who do not have them do not.

sRef John@3 @27 S0′ sRef John@15 @4 S0′ sRef John@15 @5 S0′ sRef John@15 @8 S0′ sRef John@15 @6 S0′ sRef John@15 @7 S0′ sRef Luke@6 @32 S0′ sRef Luke@6 @35 S0′ sRef Luke@6 @33 S0′ sRef Luke@6 @34 S0′ 154. The Lord Himself teaches that good is not to be done for reward, in Luke:

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For sinners do the same. Rather, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend to them expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. Luke 6:32-35.

The Lord also teaches that a person cannot do good of himself which is real good, in John:

A person cannot take anything unless it is given him out of heaven. John 3:27.

And in another passage:

Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. He who remains in me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For you can do nothing except from me. John 15:4-8.

155. Since all good and truth is from the Lord, and none is from man, and the good which comes from man is not real good, it follows that merit belongs to no human being, but to the Lord alone. It is the Lord’s merit that by His own power He saved the human race, and also continues to save those who do good from Him. That is why anyone to whom the Lord’s merit and righteousness is attributed is called ‘righteous in the Word, and anyone to whom his own righteousness and his own merit is attributed ‘unrighteous’.

156. The real pleasure which belongs to the love of doing good without having recompense in view is the reward which lasts forever. For the Lord introduces into that kind of good heaven and everlasting happiness.

157. Thinking and believing that those who do good go to heaven, and also that one ought to do good so as to go to heaven, is not looking on reward as an end, and so regarding deeds as meritorious. For those too who do good from the Lord think and believe this. But it is those who think, believe and do this without loving good for good’s sake who look on it as a reward and regard deeds as meritorious.

158. Not translated.

159. XII

ON REPENTANCE AND THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

Anyone who wishes to be saved must confess his sins and repent.

160. Confessing one’s sins is recognising evils and seeing them in oneself, acknowledging them, considering oneself guilty and condemning oneself on account of them. If this is done in God’s presence, that is confessing one’s sins.

161. Repentance is, after thus confessing one’s sins and with a humble heart begging for forgiveness, to stop doing them, and to lead a new life in accordance with the commandments of charity and faith.

162. Anyone who acknowledges only in general terms that he is a sinner, and considers himself guilty of all kinds of evil without examining himself, that is, without seeing his sins, may make a confession, but it is not a confession of repentance. Because he does not know his evils, he goes on living as he did before.

163. Anyone who lives a life of charity and faith repents every day, reflecting on the evils in himself, acknowledging them, taking care to avoid them, and begging the Lord for help. Human beings by themselves are continually slipping, and continually being helped up by the Lord and led towards good. This is the condition of those who are in a state of good. But those who are in a state of evil are continually slipping and they too are continually lifted up by the Lord, but they are only held back from falling into the most serious evils, to which, if left to themselves, all their efforts tend.

164. A person who examines himself in order to repent must examine his thoughts and the intentions of his will. In this he must examine what he would do if he could, if, that is, he was not afraid of the law and the loss of reputation, honours and gains. All of a person’s evils are to be found there, and all the evil actions he actually does come from that source. Those who fail to examine the evils of their thought and will cannot repent, for they think and will to act afterwards as they did before. Yet willing evils is the same as doing them. This is the meaning of self-examination.

165. To repent with one’s lips but not in one’s life is no repentance. Sins are not forgiven by repentance with the lips, but by repentance in life. A person’s sins are continually being forgiven by the Lord, for He is absolute mercy. But the sins cling to the person, however much he thinks they are forgiven, and the only way to have them taken away is to live in accordance with the commandments of true faith. The more he lives thus, the more his sins are taken away, and the further they are taken away, the more they are forgiven.

166. It is believed that sins are wiped out, or washed away, like dirt by water, when they are forgiven. But sins are not wiped out, they are taken away. That is to say, a person is held back from them when he is kept in a state of good by the Lord; and when he is kept in that state, he seems to be without them, and so as if they have been wiped out. The more a person is reformed, the more he can be kept in a state of good. The process of reformation will be discussed in the following chapter which teaches about regeneration. Anyone who believes that sins are forgiven in any other way is much deceived.

167. The signs that sins are forgiven, that is, taken away, are the following. Such people feel pleasure in worshipping God for God’s sake and in performing services for the neighbour for his sake, and so in doing good for good’s sake and in speaking truth for truth’s sake. They are unwilling to acquire merit by any charitable act or point of faith, they flee from and loathe evils, enmity for example, or hatred, revenge, or adultery, and even thinking about such things with the intention of doing them.
However, the signs that sins are not forgiven, that is, taken away, are the following. These people worship God, but not for God’s sake. They perform services for the neighbour, but not for his sake. So they do not do good or speak truth for the sake of good and truth, but for selfish and worldly reasons. They want to acquire merit by their deeds. They experience a not unpleasant feeling in evils, in enmity for example, in hatred, revenge and adultery, and as a result they have no constraints in thinking about them.

168. Repentance is valid if done in freedom, but not if done under compulsion. Instances of compulsion are illness, depression as the result of misfortune, the imminence of death, and any fear which takes away the use of reason. An evil person, who under compulsion promises to repent and really does good, on coming into a condition of freedom reverts to his previous evil life. The good do not.

sRef Matt@12 @43 S0′ sRef Matt@12 @45 S0′ sRef Matt@12 @44 S0′ 169. After examining himself, acknowledging his sins and repenting a person must remain steadfast in a state of good right to the end of his life. For if he then slips back into his previous evil life, and embraces this, then he commits profanation by combining evil with good. His condition is then worse afterwards than it was before, as the Lord said:

When an unclean spirit leaves a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but does not find it. Then it says, I shall return to the home which I left. And when it comes and finds it empty, swept and made ready for itself, then it goes away and takes into its company seven other spirits worse than itself, and they go in and live there. And that person’s last state is worse than his first. Matt. 12:43-45.

170. Not translated.

171. Not translated.

sRef John@12 @40 S0′ sRef Matt@12 @44 S0′ sRef Matt@12 @43 S0′ sRef John@5 @14 S0′ sRef Matt@12 @45 S0′ 172. Not translated.

sRef John@3 @3 S0′ 173. XIII

ON REGENERATION

Anyone who does not receive spiritual life, that is, who is not born anew from the Lord, cannot come into heaven. This the Lord teaches in John:

Truly, truly I tell you, Unless one is born again, one cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3.

174. The life one has by being born of one’s parents is not spiritual but natural life. Spiritual life is loving God above all, and loving the neighbour as oneself, and doing this in accordance with the commandments of faith, which the Lord taught in the Word. Natural life, however, is loving oneself and the world more than the neighbour, in fact, more than God Himself.

175. Each individual acquires from his parents by birth the evils of self-love and love of the world. Every evil which has by habitual indulgence become second nature is passed on to one’s children, so in succession from parents, grandparents, and ancestors going far back. The extent of the evils thus passed on eventually becomes so great that the whole of a person’s own life is nothing but evil. The chain of inheritance is not snapped or bent except by living in a state of faith and charity by the Lord’s guidance.

176. A person has a continuing tendency to and slips into what he has inherited. As a result he strengthens that evil in himself, and also supplements it with many more evils. These are totally inimical to spiritual life, and destroy it. Consequently unless he has new life, which is spiritual life, given to him by the Lord, unless, that is, he is conceived anew, born anew, and brought up anew, unless in fact he is created anew, he is damned. For his only wish and his only thought is concerned with himself and the world, which is what happens in hell.

177. No one can be regenerated unless he knows what concerns his new, that is, spiritual life. These things are the truths he ought to believe and the good deeds he ought to do. The truths concern faith, the deeds charity. No one can know this by himself, for he grasps only such things as have been apprehensible by the senses. From these he has acquired some sort of illumination, called natural illumination, which allows him to see nothing but what concerns the world and himself, and he is blind to what concerns heaven and God. This he has to learn by revelation; as for example, the fact that the Lord, who is God from eternity, came into the world to save the human race; that He has all power in heaven and on earth; that the whole of faith and the whole of charity, so all truth and good, are from Him; that there is a heaven and a hell; that one is destined to live for ever in heaven if one has behaved well, in hell if badly.

178. These points and many more concerning faith are what a person who is to be regenerated ought to know. For if he knows them, he can think about them, then want them, and finally do them, and so acquire a new way of life. As for example, anyone who does not know that the Lord is the Saviour of the human race cannot have faith in Him, love Him, and so do good for His sake. Anyone who does not know that all good is from Him, cannot think that his salvation is from Him, much less want that to be the case, so he cannot live from the Lord. Anyone who does not know that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is everlasting life, cannot even think about life in heaven, or fit himself to receive it. It is the same with other things.

179. Each person has an internal and an external man. The internal man is what is called the spiritual man, the external the natural man. Both of these have to be regenerated for a person to be regenerated. In the case of someone who is not regenerated, the external or natural man is the master, and the internal is the servant. But in the case of someone who is regenerated, the internal or spiritual man is the master, and the external is the servant. This shows clearly that from birth one has the correct order of life turned upside down; thus what ought to be master is servant, and what ought to be servant is master. For a person to be saved that order has to be reversed and the only way this reversal can happen is by being regenerated by the Lord.

180. An illustration of what is meant by the internal man being master and the external the servant, and vice versa, would be this. If someone’s good consists in pleasure, gain and luxury, and he takes delight in hatred and revenge, seeking within himself for reasons to justify himself, then his external man is master and his internal is servant. But when someone feels goodness and pleasure in good thoughts and good intentions, and is honest and fair, and outwardly speaks and behaves to others likewise, then his internal man is master and his external is servant.

sRef John@3 @5 S0′ 181. The internal man is first regenerated by the Lord, and the external afterwards, the external by means of the internal. For the internal man is regenerated by thinking the thoughts of faith and charity, but the external by living in accordance with them. This is what is meant by the Lord’s words:

Unless one is born of water and spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5.

Water in the spiritual sense means the truth of faith, and spirit means living in accordance with it.

182. If a person is regenerated, he is as regards his internal man in heaven, and is there an angel among angels, and after death he comes to join them. He can then live the life of heaven, love the Lord, love the neighbour, understand truth, taste good and feel the blessedness these bring.

183. Not translated.

184. Not translated.

185. Not translated.

sRef Luke@17 @31 S0′ sRef Luke@17 @32 S0′ sRef John@3 @5 S0′ sRef John@13 @10 S0′ sRef John@13 @9 S0′ sRef John@3 @8 S0′ 186. Not translated.

187. XIV

ON TEMPTATION

It is only those who are being regenerated who undergo spiritual temptations. For spiritual temptations are periods of mental distress experienced by those in states of good and truth, which are brought on by evil spirits. When these arouse the evils in them a state of anxiety arises due to being tempted. A person is not aware where it comes from because he does not know of this origin for it.

188. For each individual has with him evil spirits and good spirits. The evil spirits are attached to his evil qualities, the good spirits to his good qualities. When evil spirits come close, they elicit a person’s evils, and good spirits on the other hand elicit his good qualities. The result is a collision and conflict, which causes him inward anxiety, and this is being tempted. It is plain from this that temptations are brought on by hell, and are not from heaven. This is also in keeping with the church’s belief that God tempts no one.

189. Inward anxiety can also be experienced by those who are not in states of good and truth, but these are natural rather than spiritual anxieties. They can be told apart by natural anxieties having as their subject worldly matters, but by spiritual anxieties being about heavenly matters.

190. The point at issue in temptations is whether good is to master evil, or evil good. The evil which wants to be master is in the natural or external man, the good in his spiritual or internal man. If evil wins, then the natural man is master; if good wins, then it is the spiritual man.

191. These conflicts are fought by means of the truths of faith which come from the Word. A person must use them to fight against evils and falsities. If he uses other means than these, he does not win, for it is only in these that the Lord is present. It is because he must use the truths of faith to fight with that a person is not exposed to their conflict before he has some knowledge of truth and good and so has some measure of spiritual life. Consequently these conflicts do not beset a person until he has come of age.

192. If a person succumbs to temptation, the condition afterwards is worse than before it, since evil has then gained power over good, and falsity over truth.

193. Since to-day faith is rare because of the absence of charity, the church being at its end, few people nowadays experience any degree of spiritual temptation. As a result it is hardly known what spiritual temptations are and what purpose they serve.

194. Temptations serve to win for good mastery over evil and for truth mastery over falsity. They also serve to strengthen truths, and to join them to good qualities, while at the same time dispelling evils and the falsities that confirm them. They also serve to open up the internal spiritual man, and to make the natural man subject to him; also, to break down self-love and the love of the world, and to tame the longings which arise from this. When all this has happened a person gains enlightenment and a perception of what truth and good are, and what falsity and evil are. Thus he acquires intelligence and wisdom which thereafter go on increasing day by day.

195. It is only the Lord who fights for a person in temptations. If he does not believe that it is the Lord alone who fights for him and wins for him, then he undergoes merely external temptation, which does not do him any good.

196. Not translated.

197. Not translated.

198. Not translated.

199. Not translated.

sRef Matt@6 @13 S0′ 200. Not translated.

201. Not translated.

202. XV

ON BAPTISM

Baptism was instituted to be a sign that a person belongs to the church, and a reminder that he ought to be regenerated. The washing of baptism is simply a spiritual washing, and this is regeneration.

203. All regeneration is accomplished by the Lord by means of the truths of faith and by living in accordance with them. Baptism therefore bears witness that a person belongs to the church, and can be regenerated. For in the church the Lord is acknowledged as the source of regeneration, and that is where the Word is to be found, and the Word contains the truths of faith which are the means of regeneration.

sRef John@3 @5 S0′ 204. The Lord teaches this in John:

Unless one is born of water and spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5

Water in the spiritual sense is the truth of faith drawn from the Word, spirit is living in accordance with it, and being born is being regenerated by these.

205. Since everyone being regenerated undergoes temptations, which are spiritual combats against evils and falsities, the waters of baptism also stand for these temptations.

206. Since baptism is intended to be a sign and a reminder of these things, a person can be baptised as a child; and if not then, as an adult.

207. Let those then who have been baptised know that baptism does not by itself confer faith or salvation; but that it bears witness that they are in receipt of faith and are saved, if they are regenerated.

sRef Mark@16 @16 S0′ 208. This can establish what is meant by the Lord’s words in Mark:

He who has believed and has been baptised will be saved; but he who has not believed will be condemned. Mark 16:16.

One who has believed is one who acknowledges the Lord and receives Divine truths from Him by means of the Word. One who has been baptised is one who is being regenerated by the Lord by means of those truths.

sRef John@3 @5 S0′ 209. Not translated.

210. XVI

ON THE HOLY SUPPER

The Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord to be a means of linking the church with heaven, and so with the Lord. That is why it is the holiest part of worship.

211. How that linking takes place cannot be grasped by those who do not know something about the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. For the thinking of these people does not extend beyond the external or literal sense. From the internal or spiritual sense of the Word it may be known what is the meaning of body and blood, of bread and wine, and also of eating.

212. In that sense the Lord’s body or flesh is the good of love, and bread is the same. The Lord’s blood is the good of faith, and wine is the same. Eating is making one’s own and being linked. The angels who attend upon a person taking the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper understand these words in this way only, for they perceive everything in a spiritual way. As a result the holiness of love and the holiness of faith then flow in from the attendant angels, so through heaven from the Lord; this brings about linking.

213. From this it is plain that when a person takes the bread which is the Lord’s body, he is linked with Him by means of the good of love directed to Him and coming from Him. And when he takes the wine, which is the Lord’s blood, he is linked to the Lord by means of the good of faith in Him and coming from Him. But it should be known that this linking with the Lord by means of the sacrament of the Supper only occurs in the case of those who are in possession of the good of love and faith to the Lord and coming from the Lord. In their case the Holy Supper is a means of linking, but in the case of others there is presence, but not linking.

214. Moreover the Holy Supper includes and gathers together all the worship of God instituted in the Israelite church. For burnt offerings and sacrifices, which were the chief components of the worship of that church, were called by the single term ‘bread’. As a result the Holy Supper is its culmination.

215. Not translated.

216. Not translated.

217. Not translated.

218. Not translated.

219. Not translated.

220. Not translated.

sRef John@6 @51 S0′ sRef John@6 @47 S0′ sRef John@6 @48 S0′ sRef Lev@21 @17 S0′ sRef John@6 @49 S0′ sRef John@6 @50 S0′ sRef Lev@21 @21 S0′ sRef Lev@3 @16 S0′ sRef Lev@3 @11 S0′ sRef John@6 @32 S0′ sRef John@6 @34 S0′ sRef John@6 @31 S0′ sRef John@6 @33 S0′ sRef John@6 @35 S0′ sRef Num@28 @2 S0′ sRef Lev@21 @6 S0′ sRef Mal@1 @7 S0′ sRef Lev@22 @6 S0′ sRef Lev@21 @8 S0′ sRef Lev@22 @7 S0′ 221. Not translated.

sRef Rev@19 @17 S0′ sRef John@6 @27 S0′ sRef Rev@19 @18 S0′ sRef John@6 @57 S0′ sRef John@6 @56 S0′ sRef John@6 @58 S0′ sRef Ezek@39 @18 S0′ sRef Ezek@39 @17 S0′ sRef John@6 @55 S0′ sRef John@6 @51 S0′ sRef John@6 @50 S0′ sRef John@6 @52 S0′ sRef John@6 @54 S0′ sRef John@6 @53 S0′ sRef Ezek@39 @19 S0′ sRef Ezek@39 @21 S0′ sRef Ezek@39 @20 S0′ sRef Ezek@39 @22 S0′ 222. Not translated.

223. XVII

ON RESURRECTION

Man was created in such a way that he cannot die so far as his internal is concerned. For he can believe in God, and also love God, and so be linked to God by faith and love. And being linked to God is living for ever.

224. Every person who is born has this internal. His external is the means by which he performs what faith and love dictate. The internal is what is called the spirit, the external is what is called the body. The external, called the body, is fitted for services in the natural world; this is cast away when a person dies. But the internal, called the spirit, is fitted for services in the spiritual world; and this does not die. This internal is then a good spirit and an angel, if the person was good in the world; but an evil spirit, if he was evil in the world.

225. After the death of the body a person’s spirit appears in the spiritual world in human shape, exactly as in the world. He also enjoys the faculties of sight, hearing, speech and feeling, as in the world. He has to the full his faculties of thinking, willing and doing, as in the world. In short, he is a human being in every detail, except that he is not enclosed in the coarse body he had in the world. He abandons this when he dies, and never assumes it again.

226. This continuation of life is what is meant by resurrection. The reason people believe that they will not rise again before the Last Judgment, when the whole of the visible world will be destroyed, is due to failure to understand the Word. It is also because people who rely on the senses restrict life to the body, and believe that, unless this comes to life again, a person can have no future.

227. A person’s life after death is the life of his love and of his faith. So the nature of his love and faith when he lived in the world determines what kind of life awaits him for ever. Those who have loved themselves and the world above all have a life in hell. But a life in heaven awaits those who have loved God above all and the neighbour as themselves. These are those who have faith; the others do not. The life of heaven is what is called everlasting life, and the life of hell is what is called spiritual death.

sRef Matt@22 @32 S0′ sRef Luke@23 @43 S0′ sRef Luke@16 @23 S0′ sRef Luke@16 @22 S0′ 228. The Word teaches that people live after death, as for example, that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. 22:32); that Lazarus after death was taken up into heaven, but the rich man was cast into hell (Luke 16:22, 23ff); that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are there (Matt. 8:11; 22:31, 32; Luke 20:37, 38); that Jesus said to the thief, Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).

229. Not translated.

230. XVIII

ON HEAVEN AND HELL

There are two things which make up the life of a person’s spirit: love and faith. Love makes up the life of his will, and faith that of his intellect. The love of good and faith in truth from it make up the life of heaven; and the love of evil and faith in falsity from it make up the life of hell.

231. Love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour make heaven, together with faith, but faith only to the extent that it has life from those loves. Since both those loves and the faith from them are from the Lord, it is plain that the Lord makes heaven.

232. Each individual has heaven in him to the extent that he receives love and faith from the Lord. Those who receive heaven from the Lord while living in the world come into heaven after death.

sRef Luke@17 @21 S0′ 233. Those who receive heaven from the Lord are those who have heaven within them, for heaven resides in a person. This too is what the Lord teaches:

They will not say, Look, the Kingdom of God is here, or, look, it is there; for the Kingdom of God is in you. Luke 17:21.

234. A person has heaven in his internal, so in his willing and thinking as a result of love and faith, and from this in his external, which is his acting and speaking as the result of love and faith. But it is not to be found in the external without being in the internal. For all hypocrites can do good deeds and speak good words, but they do not have good intentions or thoughts.

235. When a person comes into the other life, which happens immediately after death, it is plain whether he has heaven in him, but not so long as he lives in the world. For in the world the external is visible, but not the internal; but in the other life the internal becomes plain to view, since then the person lives in his spirit.

236. Everlasting happiness, which is also called heavenly joy, is granted to those who are in love and faith to the Lord and from the Lord. That love and that faith have this joy in them, and a person who has heaven within him comes after death into that joy. In the meantime it lies hidden in his internal. All forms of good in heaven are shared. The peace, intelligence, wisdom and happiness of all are shared with each individual, yet in each case depending upon the way he receives love and faith from the Lord. From this it is plain how great are the peace, intelligence, wisdom and happiness in heaven.

237. Just as love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour make the life of heaven in a person, so when self-love and love of the world have the mastery, these make the life of hell in him. For these are the opposites of the former loves. As a result those who are mastered by self-love and love of the world cannot receive anything from heaven; what they do receive comes from hell. Whatever a person loves and believes comes either from heaven or from hell.

238. Those who are mastered by self-love and love of the world are ignorant about what heaven is and what the happiness of heaven is. It seems incredible to them that any loves other than these can possibly bring happiness. Yet the more those loves, regarded as ends in themselves, are banished, the more does the happiness of heaven enter in. The happiness which takes their place, once they are banished, is so great as to be beyond a human being’s capacity to grasp.

sRef Luke@16 @26 S0′ 239. A person’s life cannot change after death; it then remains as it had been. For a person’s spirit is wholly and completely such as is his love; and hellish love cannot be translated into a heavenly one, since they are opposites. This is what is meant by Abraham’s words to the rich man in hell:

There is a great gulf between you and us, so that those who would cross over to you cannot, neither can they cross from there over to us. Luke 16:26.

It is plain from this that those who come into hell remain there for ever; and those who come into heaven remain there for ever.

240. Not translated.

241. XIX

ON THE CHURCH

What makes heaven in the case of a person, also makes the church. For as love and faith make heaven, so too love and faith make the church. So from what has already been said about heaven it is plain what the church is.

242. The name of church is given where the Lord is acknowledged and where the Word is known. For the essential elements of the church are love and faith directed to the Lord and coming from the Lord; and the Word teaches how a person must live, in order to receive love and faith from the Lord.

243. For a church to exist, there must be teaching from the Word, since the Word is not intelligible without teaching. But it is not teaching alone that makes the church in the case of a person, but living in accordance with that teaching. From this it follows that it is not faith alone which makes the church, but the life of faith, which is charity. The true teaching is the teaching of charity and faith together, not faith without charity. For the teaching of charity and faith together is teaching how to live one’s life; but the teaching of faith without charity is not.

244. Those outside the church who acknowledge one God and who in accordance with their religion live in some sort of charity towards the neighbour are in communion with those who belong to the church. For no one is damned who believes in God and lives a good life. From this it is plain that the Lord’s church exists throughout the whole world, although it is especially located where the Lord is acknowledged and the Word is known.

245. Everyone who has the church present with him is saved; but everyone who does not have it present is condemned.

246. Not translated.

247. Not translated.

248. Not translated.

249. XX

ON THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, THAT IS, THE WORD

Without a revelation from the Deity human beings could not know anything about everlasting life, or even anything about God, much less about love to and faith in Him. For they are born totally ignorant, and have to learn everything from things in the world, and to develop their intellect from them. They also have by birth an inheritance of every kind of evil, which arises from self-love and love of the world. The pleasures these give are constantly in control and suggest things that are diametrically opposed to the Deity. This is why human beings know nothing about everlasting life, and therefore there must be a revelation to enable them to know about it.

250. Such ignorance about subjects relating to everlasting life is induced by the evils of self-love and love of the world, as is obvious by considering people within the church. Although they know by revelation of the existence of God, of heaven and hell, of everlasting life, and that that life is to be won by the good of love and faith, they still stumble into a denial of these facts; and this whether they are well educated or not. This again makes it plain how great people’s ignorance would be in the absence of revelation.

251. Since therefore people live after death and go on living for ever, and their life then depends upon their love and faith, it follows that the Deity out of love for humanity has revealed the means which lead to such a life and are of value for salvation. God’s revelation for us is the Word.

252. Since the Word is a revelation from the Deity, it is Divine in every detail; for what comes from the Deity could not be otherwise. What comes from the Deity comes down through the heavens until it reaches human beings. It is therefore in the heavens adapted to the wisdom of the angels there, and on earth to the understanding of people there. The Word consequently contains an internal, spiritual sense for angels and an external, natural sense for human beings. As a result heaven is linked with human beings through the Word.

253. Only those who are enlightened can understand the true sense of the Word, and the only people enlightened are those who have love to and faith in the Lord. For their internals are lifted up by the Lord into the light of heaven.

254. The literal sense of the Word cannot be grasped except by teaching drawn from the Word by someone who is enlightened. The literal sense is adapted to the grasp of even simple people. So teaching from the Word must be a lamp for them.

255. Not translated.

256. Not translated.

257. Not translated.

258. Not translated.

259. Not translated.

260. Not translated.

261. Not translated.

262. Not translated.

sRef John@1 @14 S0′ sRef John@1 @3 S0′ sRef John@1 @1 S0′ 263. Not translated.

264. Not translated.

265. Not translated.

266. Not translated.

sRef John@15 @5 S0′ sRef John@14 @6 S0′ sRef John@15 @4 S0′ 267. XXI

ON PROVIDENCE

The Lord’s rule in the heavens and on earth is called Providence. Since all good, which concerns love, and all truth, which concerns faith, the two things necessary for salvation, come from Him, and nothing at all from the person himself, it is clear that the Lord’s Divine Providence is over every detail which is of use for the salvation of the human race. This is taught by the Lord in these words from John:

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

and elsewhere:

As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains in me, so neither can you unless you remain in me. You cannot do anything, except from me. John 15:4, 5.

268. The Lord’s Divine Providence extends to the smallest details of a person’s life. For there is only a single source of life, the Lord, from whom we are able to exist, live and act.

269. Those whose thinking about Divine Providence is based on worldly matters are led thereby to conclude that Providence is only a universal tendency, and the details are specific to the individual. But they are unaware of the secrets of heaven, for their conclusions are derived merely from self-love and love of the world, and the pleasures these give. When therefore they see wicked men promoted to honours, and gaining greater wealth than the good, when they see wicked men prosper more the craftier they are, they say in their hearts that this would not happen, if Divine Providence were concerned with every detail. But they fail to consider that Divine Providence pays no attention to what swiftly passes and comes to an end when a person’s life in the world ceases, but rather to what lasts for ever, and so has no end. That which has no end is; that which has an end is comparatively non-existent. Anyone who can ought to think, are a hundred thousand years anything compared to eternity? He will see that they are not. What then are the few years of life in the world?

sRef Luke@12 @33 S0′ sRef Luke@12 @34 S0′ 270. Anyone giving the matter due consideration can know that high position and riches in the world are not really Divine blessings, although people are pleased to call them that. For they pass away, and lead many astray, turning them away from heaven. Everlasting life and its happiness are the real blessings given by the Deity. This too is what the Lord teaches in Luke:

Make for yourselves a treasure which will not fail in the heavens, one where thieves do not penetrate, nor do grubs spoil it. For where your treasure is, there too will your heart be. Luke 12:33, 34.

271. The reason why the wicked prosper the more the craftier they are is that God’s order prescribes that each person should act from reason in what he does, and also by free choice. Unless therefore it was left to a person to act in freedom by the light of his reason, and if too the tricks which he devises by the use of his reason did not succeed, people could by no means be so disposed as to be able to receive everlasting life. For this is introduced into a person when he is in freedom and his reason is enlightened. No one can be forced to be good, because nothing done under compulsion sticks, since it is not the person’s. What really becomes the person’s is what he does of his free choice by the light of his reason. What he does by free choice is what he does of his own will or out of love, and the will or love is the real person. Even if people were forced to do what they do not want, their minds would still always tend towards what they want. Moreover, everyone strives after what is forbidden, and this for the unseen cause, that it is after freedom. From this it is plain that if people were not kept in freedom it would be impossible for them to acquire goodness.

272. Leaving people to use their freedom to think, will and, so far as the law does not prevent it, do evil is called permission.

273. When someone is led towards happiness in the world by his own devices, it looks to him as if this was due to his own prudence. But Divine Providence still continually attends him, permitting him to act as he does and constantly drawing him away from evil. But when someone is led towards happiness in heaven, he knows and perceives that this is not due to his own prudence, since it is from the Lord, and happens by His Divine Providence disposing and constantly leading him towards good.

274. The illumination afforded by Nature cannot enable a person to see that this is so, for this does not allow him to know the rules of God’s order.

275. It needs to be known that there is providence and foresight. Good is what is provided by the Lord, evil is what is foreseen by the Lord. One has to be accompanied by the other. For what comes from human beings is nothing but evil, and what comes from the Lord is nothing but good.

276. Not translated.

277. Not translated.

278. Not translated.

279. Not translated.

280. XXII

ON THE LORD

God is one, the Creator and Preserver of the universe, so He is the God of heaven and the God of earth.

281. There are two things which make the life of heaven for a person, the good of love and the truth of faith. He has this life from the Lord, and nothing at all from himself. It is therefore the first principle of the church to acknowledge God, to believe in Him and to love Him.

sRef John@3 @36 S0′ sRef John@11 @26 S0′ sRef John@11 @25 S0′ sRef John@6 @40 S0′ 282. Those who have been born within the church ought to acknowledge the Lord, His divinity and His humanity, and believe in Him and love Him. For all salvation is from the Lord. This is what the Lord teaches in John:

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; he, however, who does not believe the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains with him. John 3:36.

In the same book:

This is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have everlasting life, and I shall raise him up on the last day. John 6:40.

Again:

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in me, though he die, shall live. But everyone who lives and believes in me shall not ever die. John 11:25, 26.

sRef John@14 @7 S0′ sRef John@14 @8 S0′ sRef John@14 @10 S0′ sRef John@14 @9 S0′ sRef John@14 @11 S0′ sRef John@10 @38 S0′ sRef John@5 @37 S0′ sRef John@14 @6 S0′ sRef John@10 @30 S0′ sRef Matt@11 @27 S0′ sRef John@1 @18 S0′ 283. Those therefore within the church who do not acknowledge the Lord and His divinity cannot be linked with God, and so cannot have any part with the angels in heaven. For no one can be linked with God except by the Lord and in the Lord. The Lord teaches in John that no one can be linked with God except by the Lord:

No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, who is in the Father’s bosom, he has revealed him. John 1:18.

In the same book:

You have never heard the Father’s voice, nor have you seen his appearance. John 5:37.

In Matthew:

No one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son has chosen to reveal him. Matt. 11:27.

And in John:

I am the way, truth and life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6.

The reason why no one can be linked with God except in the Lord is that the Father is in Him, and they are one, as He also teaches in John:

If you know me, you also know my Father. He who sees me sees the Father. Philip, do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? Believe me, I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. John 14:7-11.

And in the same book:

The Father and I are one,…so that you may know and believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. John 10:30, 38.

sRef Matt@1 @23 S0′ sRef Isa@7 @14 S0′ sRef Jer@23 @5 S0′ sRef John@1 @3 S0′ sRef John@1 @14 S0′ sRef Jer@23 @6 S0′ sRef Isa@9 @6 S0′ sRef John@1 @1 S0′ 284. Since the Father is in the Lord, and the Father and the Lord are one, and since we must believe in Him, and he who believes in Him has everlasting life, it is plain that the Lord is God. This is the teaching of the Word, as in John:

In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him, and nothing that was made was made without him. And the Word was made flesh and lived among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. John 1:1, 3, 14.

In Isaiah:

A boy is born to us, a son is given to us, on whose shoulder is the princedom; and His name shall be called God, Hero, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace. Isa. 9:6.

In the same book:

A virgin shall conceive and bear a child, and His name shall be called God with us. Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23.

And in Jeremiah:

See, the days will come when I shall raise up for David a righteous shoot, who shall reign as king and flourish. And this is the name which they will call Him, Jehovah our righteousness. Jer. 23:5, 6; 33:15, 16.

sRef John@17 @10 S0′ 285. All who belong to the church and enjoy enlightenment from heaven see the divinity in the Lord. But those who are not so enlightened can only see the humanity in the Lord. Yet the divinity and the humanity are so united in Him as to be one. This was the Lord’s teaching also elsewhere in John:

Father, all that is mine is yours, and all that is yours is mine. John 17:10.

sRef Luke@24 @39 S0′ 286. It is well known in the church that the Lord was conceived of Jehovah the Father, and was thus by conception God; also that He rose again in His whole body, for He left nothing in the tomb. He subsequently confirmed His disciples in this belief, saying:

Look at my hands and my feet to see that it is really I. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have. Luke 24:39.

Although He was man having flesh and bones, He still passed in through closed doors, and after revealing Himself became invisible (John 20:19, 26; Luke 24:31, 36). This is not what happens to every human being, for they only rise again in the spirit, not in the body. When therefore He said that He was not like a spirit, He meant that He was not like any other human being. From this it is plain that in the Lord His humanity too was divine.

sRef John@14 @9 S0′ 287. Every human being owes to his father the existence of his life, what is called his soul, and to that the manifestation of his life which is called his body. As a result the body is an effigy of the soul within and the means by which the soul can lead its life as it wishes. This is why people are born resembling their parents, and why families can be identified. From this it is plain what kind of body, or what kind of humanity, the Lord had; it must have been one resembling the real divinity to which He owed His life, that is, His soul from the Father. So He could say:

He who sees me sees the Father. John 14:9.

288. The creed accepted throughout the Christian world declares that the Lord’s divinity and His humanity are one person, in these words:

Although Christ is God and man, still there are not two, but one Christ. Rather, he is completely one and only one person, because, just as the body and the soul are one man, so too God and man are one Christ.

These words are from the Athanasian Creed.

289. Those whose idea of the Deity is of three persons cannot have an idea of one God. Even if their lips speak of one, they think of three. But those whose idea of the Deity is of three in one person can have an idea of one God, say the words ‘one God’, and think of one God.

290. One has an idea of three in one person, when one thinks of the Father being in the Lord, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from Him. There is then a Trinity in the Lord: the Deity Himself, which is called the Father, the Divine humanity called the Son, and the Divine proceeding, called the Holy Spirit.

sRef John@3 @35 S0′ sRef John@17 @2 S0′ sRef Matt@28 @18 S0′ sRef Matt@11 @27 S0′ 291. Since the whole Deity is in the Lord, He has all power in the heavens and on earth. This too is what He says in John:

The Father has given everything into the Son’s hand. John 3:35.

In the same book:

The Father gave the Son power over all flesh. John 17:2.

In Matthew:

All things were handed over to me by the Father. Matt. 11:27.

In the same book:

All power in heaven and on earth was given to me. Matt. 28:18.

Power of this kind is Divine.

sRef John@7 @39 S0′ 292. Those who equate the Lord’s humanity with that of any other human being are forgetting that He was conceived of the Deity Himself. Nor do they take into account the fact that each person’s body is an effigy of his soul. They forget that His resurrection was with His whole body; and they forget about His appearance when He was transfigured and His face shone like the sun. They forget too what the Lord said concerning faith in Him, His being one with the Father, His glorification, and His power over heaven and earth, as being Divine attributes, yet said of His humanity. Neither do they remember that the Lord is present everywhere even in His humanity (Matt. 28:20). Yet this is the source of the belief that He is present everywhere in the Holy Supper; being present everywhere is an attribute of God. Or perhaps they are forgetting that the Divinity which is called the Holy Spirit proceeds from His humanity, for it is said:

The Holy Spirit did not yet exist, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:39.

293. The Lord came into the world to save the human race, which would otherwise have perished in everlasting death. He achieved this salvation by subduing the hells, which were attacking every person coming into and leaving the world. He did this at the same time by glorifying His humanity, for He could thus keep the hells subdued for ever. The subjugation of the hells, and at the same time the glorification of His humanity, were achieved by the temptations which were permitted to assail the humanity He inherited from His mother, and by constantly winning victories over them. His passion on the cross was the last temptation and His complete victory.

sRef Isa@63 @6 S0′ sRef John@13 @31 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @12 S0′ sRef John@12 @27 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @8 S0′ sRef John@12 @28 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @7 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @17 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @5 S0′ sRef John@17 @5 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @13 S0′ sRef John@12 @31 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @3 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @4 S0′ sRef John@13 @32 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @1 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @2 S0′ sRef Luke@24 @26 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @15 S0′ sRef John@16 @33 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @19 S0′ sRef John@17 @1 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @11 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @16 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @14 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @10 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @9 S0′ sRef Isa@63 @18 S0′ 294. The Lord teaches in John that He subdued the hells; when the passion on the cross was at hand, Jesus said:

Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. John 12:27, 28, 31.

In the same book:

Be confident, I have defeated the world. John 16:33.

And in Isaiah:

Who is this who comes from Edom? Walking in the greatness of his strength, mighty to save. My arm has given me safety, so he became for them a saviour.
Isa. 63:1-19; 59:16-21.

He also teaches in John that He glorified His humanity and that the passion on the cross was the last temptation and the complete victory by means of which He was glorified:

After Judas went out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man has been glorified. And God will glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once. John 13:31, 32.

In the same book:

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may also glorify You. John 17:1, 5.

In the same book:

Now my soul is troubled. Father, glorify your name; and a voice came out of heaven, I have glorified it and I shall glorify it again. John 12:27, 28.

And in Luke:

Ought not Christ to suffer this and to enter into glory? Luke 24:26.

These sayings relate to His passion; to glorify is to make Divine. These facts now establish that if the Lord had not come into the world and become man, and in this way freed from hell all who believe in Him and love Him, no mortal could have been saved. This is what is meant by there being no salvation without the Lord.

295. When the Lord fully glorified His humanity, then He put off the humanity He inherited from His mother, and put on the humanity He inherited from the Father, which is the Divine humanity. He was therefore then no longer the son of Mary.

sRef John@3 @36 S0′ sRef John@8 @24 S0′ 296. The first and leading principle of the church is to recognise and acknowledge its God. Without this recognition and acknowledgment it is impossible to be linked with Him, and so in the church this means without acknowledging the Lord. This is taught by the Lord in John:

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. But he who does not believe the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains with him. John 3:36.

And elsewhere:

Unless you believe that it is I, you will die in your sins. John 8:24.

297. The existence of a Trinity in the Lord, the Deity Himself, the Divine humanity and the Divine proceeding, is a secret revealed from heaven, and intended for those who are to be in the Holy Jerusalem.

298. Not translated.

299. Not translated.

300. Not translated.

301. Not translated.

302. Not translated.

303. Not translated.

304. Not translated.

305. Not translated.

306. Not translated.

307. Not translated.

308. Not translated.

309. Not translated.

sRef John@14 @6 S0′ 310. Not translated.

311. XXIII

ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH AND STATE

There are in human beings two sets of things which need to be well ordered: those of heaven and those of the world. Those of heaven are called church affairs, those of the world affairs of state.

312. Order cannot be kept in the world without having governors to note everything that happens according or contrary to order, rewarding those who live orderly lives and punishing those who are disorderly. Failing this, the human race will inevitably perish. For everyone inherits by birth a tendency to wish to rule over others and to possess other people’s goods; and this leads to quarrels, envy, hatred, revenge, deceit, cruelty and many other evils. If therefore people were not kept under restraint by laws, rewarding those who do good by advancing their interest, conferring honours and advantages on them, and punishing those who do harm by opposing their interest, threatening the loss of honours, property and even life, the human race would perish.

313. So there must be governors to keep human societies in order. They must be learned in the law, wise and God-fearing. There must also be order among governors, to prevent anyone out of a whim or ignorance permitting evils contrary to order, thus destroying it. This is guarded against by having governors of higher and lower rank, so that one is subordinate to another.

314. The governors people have in charge of affairs which relate to heaven, that is, church affairs, are called priests, and their office is the priesthood. But the governors people have in charge of affairs which relate to the world, that is, affairs of state, are called magistrates. The highest of these, where such systems of government exist, is the king.

315. As for priests, their duty is to teach people the way to heaven, and also to guide them. They must teach them in accordance with the teaching their church derives from the Word, and guide them to live in accordance with it. Priests who teach truths and by their means guide people to lead good lives, and so bring them to the Lord, are good shepherds. Those, however, who teach, but do not guide people to lead good lives, and so bring them to the Lord, are bad shepherds.

316. Priests must not claim for themselves any power over people’s souls, because they do not know the condition of a person’s interiors. Much less must they claim the power of opening or closing heaven, since the Lord alone has that power.

317. Priests must be given status and honours because of their sacred functions. But those of them who are wise ascribe the honours to the Lord from whom what is holy comes, and not to themselves. Priests, however, who are unwise attribute the honours to themselves, and so take them away from the Lord. Those who attribute honours to themselves because of their sacred functions, set honours and gain above the salvation of souls, which should be their care. Those, however, who ascribe honours to the Lord and not to themselves set the salvation of souls above honours and gain. None of the honours attaching to any office depends upon the person, but they are assigned to him in proportion to the level of government he undertakes; and what is assigned does not belong to the person himself, and is taken away when he gives up the office. Personal honours are those of wisdom and the fear of the Lord.

318. Priests must teach the people and guide them to lead good lives. But still they must compel no one, since no one can be forced to believe what is contrary to what he thinks in his heart to be true. Anyone whose belief is different from the priest’s should be left in peace, provided he does not make trouble. If he does make trouble, he should be expelled, for this too is in accordance with order for which purpose the priesthood exists.

319. Just as priests are in charge of affairs concerning God’s law and worship, so kings and magistrates are in charge of affairs concerning civil law and justice.

320. Since the king cannot by himself control everything, governors are needed to rule under him. Each of these has an area to control, where the king’s ability or power is lacking. These governors taken together make up the total administration, headed by the king himself.

321. Royalty does not reside in the person, but is assigned to the person. A king who believes that the royalty resides in his person, and a governor who believes that the rank of governor resides in his person, is unwise.

322. Royalty consists in governing in accordance with the kingdom’s laws, and in judging justly in accordance with them. A king who looks upon the laws as above him is wise; one who looks upon himself as above the laws is not. A king who looks upon the laws as above him attributes royalty to the law, and the law is his master. For he knows that law is justice, and all justice which is truly justice is Divine. One, however, who regards himself as above the laws, attributes royalty to himself and either believes himself to be the law or the law which is justice to be from himself. Thus he claims for himself what is God’s, when he ought to be subject to it.

323. The law which is justice ought to be passed by the wise and God-fearing lawyers in the kingdom, and thereafter both the king and his subjects ought to live in accordance with it. A king who lives in accordance with a law that has been passed, and in this sets his subjects an example, is truly king.

324. A king with absolute power, who believes that his subjects are so far his slaves that he has right over their possessions and lives, is, if he exercises that power, no king but a tyrant.

325. A king must be obeyed in accordance with the kingdom’s laws, and he must not be harmed in any way by word or deed. For on this the safety of the state depends.