Heavenly Doctrine 2

0.1 Objectives

• Identify key themes of Emanuel Swedenborg’ spiritual philosophy.
• Explain Swedenborg’s particular use of a range of common and theological terms.
• Communicate your own understanding of Swedenborg’s spiritual work.

0.1 Assessment

1. Ongoing assessment will comprise:

• Written responses to assignment questions which draw from the required reading.

• A student’s own questions emerging from the chapter for further reading and exploration (and any suggested sources).

• Glossary of terms used by Swedenborg the term itself, and the paragraph in which you first encountered it.

  your own understanding of what Swedenborg means by the use of the term,

  a comparison with the work of scholars of Swedenborg (see below),

  how might this be understood / misunderstood by the novice reader?,

  alternative translations - from Woofenden, Chadwick, your own suggestions.

• Journal submissions, applying some of the key themes of each session to your own life experience.

• Discussions via telephone tutorial.

You will find the following resources useful in completing this task:

• Bogg, J. S. (1915). A Glossary or the Meaning of Specific Terms and Phrases used by Swedenborg in his Theological Writings given in his own words.
• Chadwick, J (1990). “Glossary of Terms”, Introducing the New Jerusalem (Swedenborg Society, 2003), p. 101.
• Duckworth, J (1994). Presenting Swedenborg: A roadmap for readers (Swedenborg Association of Australia,2006).
• Rose, F (1985). Words in Swedenborg: And their meanings in modern English. (Available in part at: http://aztec.asu.edu/worship/newchurch/vocab.html).

2. Formal assessment will be by way of a presentation in your own words of one chapter of the book. This should include:

• A summary of the contents of the chapter.
• Application of those principles to everyday life.
• Explanation of any terms or phrases which may surprise or be misinterpreted by the novice reader.
• You will need to draw from references found in “From the Heavenly Arcana” at the end of the chapter, but it may also include other relevant material.

The presentation might take the form of:

• an introductory leaflet (printed on two sides of A4 paper, perhaps in “trifold” format),
• a short article, or
• another format, to be agreed with your tutor.

Reflect on the principles you are learning in the context of your own life.

0.2 Introduction

The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine stands alongside a number of recent attempts to summarise Swedenborg’s teaching. In particular, I think of such titles as Spirituality That Makes Sense by Rev Douglas Taylor, You Can Believe! by Rev Grant Schnarr and Rev Brian Kingslake’s Swedenborg Explores the Spiritual Dimension. These are merely some examples that the New Church has been engaged with presenting Swedenborg’s message to its contemporaries from its earliest days. However, only The New Jerusalem does so using Swedenborg’s own words and he published it for that reason.

George Trobridge lists the work alongside the likes of True Christian Religion, The Four Leading Doctrines and Brief Exposition as a systematic statement of Swedenborg’s theological teachings. This contrasts with the philosophical works or expository works (those whose purpose is to discuss the spiritual meaning of the Bible), although Trobridge conceeds that all three of these endeavours exist side by side throughout Swedenborg’s writing. J. Theodore Klein suggests that The New Jerusalem was an attempt to reach new audiences along with the other works published the same year; The White Horse; Earths in the Universe; The Last Judgment and, most prominently, Heaven and Hell.

The New Jerusalem’s brevity and simple presentation makes the work an ideal recommendation for anyone who is interested in understanding Swedenborg’s philosophy following even the briefest of introductions. For example, one might have read part or all of Heaven and Hell (his most popular and well known work) and been impressed by Swedenborg’s descriptions of heaven and the afterlife, but still not have any real sense of how Swedenborg understands theology, the spiritual condition of mankind, traditional Christian doctrines or the place of religion in modern life. It is, as John Chadwick describes it, “… a clear and concise statement of the teaching of this new philosophy of religion, … an excellent introduction for those who wish to become quickly acquainted with the essentials of a difficult and complex subject”.

For those readers who want to explore the ideas presented in greater detail, whether that means following one particular train of thought or taking a more comprehensive approach, the references at the end of each chapter provide a useful springboard for further reading. These references are very largely to Arcana Caelestia which was completed in 1757, the year before The New Jerusalem was published. Obviously, a full exploration of Swedenborg’s ideas would be incomplete without examining the later works too (he continued writing and publishing until his death in 1772) but they provide an excellent start.

A word of caution, however. Swedenborg often gives words a particular slant or significance which is not always present in more familiar usage. Some might have a common, everyday use (e.g., “good”) or more theological overtones (“church”). Frank Rose calls these, “misleading words”. The culture in which we are raised and trends in the language of our contemporaries can only serve to exaggerate the difference between Swedenborg’s original intention and our understanding of the text.

Modern revisions and new translations will bridge this divide to some extent, but every reader ought to be aware of the possibility that familiar words can be used in unfamiliar ways or with subtle shades of meaning of which we might have been previously unaware. Such unconscious misunderstanding is far harder to recognise and remedy than those difficult, foreign terms (such as “proprium”) for which translations of Swedenborg’s work are sometimes criticised. This may become clear to you from your first reading.

So, one of the central features of this course is the glossary of terms which you will be required to compile as you read this work. It asks you to think about your own use and understanding of even those words which appear commonplace. What does Swedenborg mean by these terms? How might common usage cause the inexperienced reader to misunderstand Swedenborg’s writing. How should Swedenborg’s message be communicated to the modern audience? Of course, you should not neglect the terms which are unfamiliar to you, but these do not pose quite the same problem precisely because they will be readily identified.

This experience will be valuable to you in speaking about your personal convictions and in coming alongside those for whom Swedenborg’s writing is new and foreign, and it will give you an appreciation of the effect of culture, religion, societal expectations and a range of other issues influence the way language is read and the concepts contained here are understood. Your tutor will be keenly interested to see how you bridge that gap.

Finally, you should be aware that The New Jerusalem does not dedicate a chapter to every important concept in Swedenborg’s spiritual output. You will not find sections on correspondences; influx; degrees; conjugial love; end, cause and effect; the trinity; or the omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence of the Lord. Questions in the study materials will draw your attention to these subjects and you will find some reference to them in the Further Reading. Any other subjects which might present themselves to you but which do not appear here should be listed in the questions emerging from each chapter. You will also notice that this course omits two chapters: those on The Church and Ecclesiastical and Civil Government.

0.3 References

1. The Power of Service. Klein, J. Theodore.
2. Words in Swedenborg. Rose, F.
3. Life of Emanuel Swedenborg. Trobridge.

0.4 Links

1. Heavenly Doctrine
2. Words in Swedenborg
3. A Roadmap for Readers

1. Repentance

1.1 Introduction

159. 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.

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.

1.2 The Heavenly Arcana

Concerning Sin, that is Evil. There are innumerable kinds of evil and falsity, nos. 1188, 1212, 4818, 4822, 7574. There is evil from falsity: there is falsity from evil, and there is evil and falsity from thence, nos. 1679, 2243, 4818. What the evil of falsity is and what its quality, nos. 2408, 4818, 7272, 8265, 8279. What the falsity of evil is, and what its quality, nos. 6359, 7272, 9304, 10302. Concerning evils by which a man incurs guilt, and concerning those by which he does not incur guilt, nos. 4171, 4172. Evils arising from the understanding, and evils arising from the will, no. 9009. The difference between prevarication, iniquity, and sin, nos. 6563, 9156.

All evils adhere to a man, no. 2116. Evils cannot be taken away from a man; he can only be withheld from them and kept in good, nos. 866, 868, 887, 894, 1581, 4564, 8206, 8393, 8988, 9014, 9333, 9446-9448, 9451, 10057, 10109. The Lord alone causes a man to be withheld from evil, and kept in good, nos. 929, 2406, 8206, 10109. Thus only, are evils and sins removed, and this is brought about successively, nos. 9334-9336. This is done by the Lord through regeneration, nos. 9445, 9452-9454, 9938. Evils preclude the Lord’s entrance, no. 5696. A man ought to abstain from evils in order to receive good from the Lord, no. 10109. Good and truth flow in, in the proportion in which there is an abstention from evils, nos. 2388, 2411, 10675. Being withheld from evil and kept in good is remission of sins, nos. 8391, 8393, 9014, 9444-9450. The signs whether sins are remitted or not, nos. 9449, 9450. The remission of sins consists in looking at things from good, and not from evil, no. 7697.

Evil and sin are a separation and a turning away from the Lord; and this is signified by evil and sin in the Word, nos. 4997, 5229, 5474, 5746, 5841, 9346; they are also, and signify a separation and a turning away from good and truth, no. 7589; they are, and signify what is opposed to Divine order, nos. 4839, 5076. Evil means damnation and hell, nos. 3513, 6279, 7155. Unless it is known what evil is, it is not known what hell is, no. 7181. Evils are as it were heavy, and of themselves fall into hell; likewise falsities from evil, nos. 8279, 8298. Unless it is known what the love of self and the love of the world are, it is not known what evil is, nos. 4997, 7178, 8318. All evils are from those loves, nos. 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488, 7491, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742.

All men how many soever, are born into evils of every kind, so much so, indeed, that their Self (proprium) is nothing but evil, nos. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10731. Wherefore a man must be born again, that is, regenerated in order to receive a life of good, no. 3701.

A man casts himself into hell when he does evil from assent, afterwards from purpose, and at last from delight, no. 6203. They who are in the evil of life, are in the falsities of their own evil, whether they know it or not, nos. 7577, 8094. Evil would not be appropriated to a man, if he believed, as is really the case, that all evil is from hell, and all good from the Lord, nos. 4151, 6206, 6324, 6325. In the other life evils are removed from the good, and goods from the evil, no. 2256. All in the other life are let into their interiors; the evil, thus, are let into their evils, no. 8870.

In the other life its own punishment is contained in evil, and its own reward in good, nos. 696, 967, 1857, 6559, 8214, 8223, 8226, 9048. In the other life a man does not suffer punishment for hereditary evils, because he is not to blame for them, but for his actual evils, nos. 966, 2308. The interiors of evil are foul and filthy, however differently they may appear in the outward form, no. 7046.

Evil is attributed in the Word to the Lord, and yet nothing but good proceeds from Him, nos. 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7677, 7926, 8227, 8228, 8632, 9306; likewise anger, nos. 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483, 9306, 10431. Why it is said so in the Word, nos. 6071, 6991, 6997, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8282, 9010, 9128. What is meant by bearing iniquity, when said of the Lord, nos. 9937, 9965. With the good who are infested and tempted, the Lord turns evil into good, no. 8631. Permission means leaving a man to do evil, according to his own freedom, no. 10778. Evils and falsities are ruled by the Lord through the laws of permission; and they are permitted for the sake of order, nos. 7877, 8700, 10778. The permission of evil by the Lord is not the permission of one who wills, but of one who does not will; but on account of the pressure of the end, no help can be brought, no. 7877.

Concerning Falsity. There are innumerable kinds of falsity, namely, as many as there are evils; and evils and falsities are according to their origins, which are many, nos. 1188, 1212, 4729, 4822,7574. There is a falsity from evil, that is, the falsity of evil; and there is an evil from falsity, that is, the evil of falsity; and there is again falsity therefrom, nos. 1679, 2243. From a falsity which has been assumed as a principle, falsities flow in a long series, nos. 1510, 1511, 4717, 4721. There is a falsity from the lusts of the love of self and of the world; and there is a falsity from the fallacies of the senses, nos. 1295, 4729. There are falsities of religion, and there are falsities of ignorance, nos. 4729, 8318, 9258. There is falsity in which is good, and falsity in which there is no good, nos. 2683, 9304, 10109, 10302. There is what is falsified, nos. 7318, 7319, 10648.

The falsity of evil, its quality, nos. 6359, 7272, 9304, 10302. The evil of falsity, its quality, nos. 2408, 4818, 7272, 8265, 8279. The falsities from evil appear like rain-clouds and impure waters over the hells, nos. 8137, 8138, 8146. Such waters also signify falsities, nos. 739, 790, 7307. Those who are in hell speak falsities from evil, nos. 1693, 7351, 7352, 7357, 7392, 7699. Those who are in evil cannot do otherwise than think what is false when they think from themselves, no. 7437.

There are falsities of religion which agree with good, and such as disagree, no. 9258. If falsities of religion do not disagree with good, they produce evil only with those who are in evil of life, no. 8318. Falsities of religion are not imputed to those who are in good, but to those who are in evil, nos. 8051, 8149. Every falsity may be confirmed, and when it has been confirmed it appears like truth, nos. 5033, 6865, 8521, 8780. The confirmation of falsities of religion ought to be carefully guarded against, because chiefly by such means arises a persuasion of falsity, nos. 845, 8780. How injurious the persuasion of falsity, nos. 794, 806, 5096, 7686. The persuasion of falsity constantly stirs up confirmations of falsity, nos. 1510, 1511, 1677. Those who are in the persuasion of falsity are inwardly bound, no. 5096. When those who are in a strong persuasion of falsity, in the other life approach others, they close up their Rational, and as it were suffocate them, nos. 3895, 5128.

Truths which are not genuine, and also falsities, may be consociated with genuine truths; but such falsities as contain good, and not falsities in which is evil, nos. 3470, 3471, 4551, 4552, 7344, 8149, 9298. Falsities in which there is good are accepted by the Lord as truths, nos. 4736, 8149. The good, the quality of which comes from a falsity, is accepted by the Lord, if there be ignorance, and in it innocence, and a good end, no. 7887.

Evil falsities truth, because it leads the truth away towards evil, and applies it to evil, nos. 8094, 8149. Truth is said to be falsified, when through confirmation it has been applied to evil, no. 8062. Falsified truth is opposed to truth and good, no. 8062. Further statements concerning the falsifications of truth, see nos. 7318, 7319, 10648.

Concerning profanity and profanation, spoken of above in the Doctrine, at no. 169. Profanation is a commingling with a man, of good and evil, and also of truth and falsity, no. 6348. None other can profane goods and truths, that is, the holy things of the Church and of the Word, except those who first acknowledge them, believe them, and still more live according to them, and afterwards decline from faith, do not believe the above things, and live for themselves and the world, nos. 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 3398, 3898, 4289, 4601, 10284, 10287. He who in youth believes truths, and afterwards does not believe them, commits profanation slightly; but he who afterwards confirms himself in truths, and then denies them, commits profanation grievously, nos. 6959, 6963, 6971. They who believe truths, and live badly, also commit profanation; likewise they who do not believe truths, and lead a holy life, no. 8882. If a man after repentance of heart relapses into his former evils, he commits profanation, and then his latter state is worse than the former, no. 8394. Those who in the Christian world defile the holy things of the Word by unclean thoughts and speeches, commit profanation, nos. 4050, 5390. There are various kinds of profanation, no. 10287.

Those who have not acknowledged holy things, cannot profane them, still less those who are not acquainted with them, nos. 1008, 1010, 1059, 9188, 10287. Those who are within the Church are capable of profaning holy things, but not those who are outside of it, no. 2051. Because the Gentiles are outside the Church, and have not the Word, they cannot commit profanation, nos. 1327, 1328, 2051. Neither can the Jews profane the holy interior things of the Word and the Church, because they do not acknowledge them, no. 6963. Wherefore interior truths were not disclosed to the Jews; for if they had been disclosed and acknowledged [by them], they would have profaned them, nos. 3398, 3479, 6963. Profanation is meant by the Words of the Lord quoted above at no. 169, “When the unclean spirit goeth out of a man, he passeth through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth it not. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first” (Matt. xii. 43-45). By the unclean spirit going out of a man, is signified the repentance of him who is in evil; his passing through dry places and not finding any rest signifies, that the life of good to such a person is of that quality; the house into which he returns, and which he finds empty, swept, and garnished, signifies the man himself and his will, as being without good; the seven spirits which he takes to himself and with whom he returns, signify evil conjoined to good - his [new] state then being worse than his former [state], signifies profanation: this is the internal sense of these words, for the Lord spoke by correspondences. The same thing is meant by the words of the Lord to him whom He cured at the pool of Bethesda, “Behold, thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing came unto thee than before” (John v. 14). As well as, by these words of the Lord, “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them” (John xii. 40); where being converted and healed, signifies committing profanation, which takes place when truth and good are acknowledged, and afterwards rejected; this would have taken place, if the Jews had been converted and healed, as was stated above.

The lot of profaners in the other life is the worst of all, because the good and truth which they acknowledged remains, and also the evil and falsity; and since they cohere, there ensues a tearing asunder of the life, nos. 571, 582, 6348. Wherefore the Lord provides most carefully against the commission of profanation, nos. 2426, 10287. A man therefore is withheld from acknowledgment and faith, if he cannot remain therein to the end of his life, nos. 3398, 3402. On this account also a man is rather kept in ignorance and in external worship, nos. 301-303, 1327, 1328. The Lord also hides away in a man’s interiors the goods and truths which he has accepted by acknowledgment, nos. 6595.

Lest interior truths should be profaned, they are not revealed before the Church is at its end, nos. 3398, 3399. Wherefore the Lord came into the world, and laid open interior truths, when the Church was wholly vastated, no. 3398. See what has been adduced on this subject in the work on The Last Judgment and the Destruction of Babylon, nos. 73, 74.

Babel, in the Word, signifies the profanation of good, and Chaldea, the profanation of truth, nos. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326. These profanations correspond to the prohibited degrees, that is, to the foul adulteries, spoken of in the Word, no. 6348. Profanation was represented in the Israelitish and Jewish Church by eating blood; wherefore this was so severely prohibited, no. 1003. You are logged in as Paul Manning (Logout) NJHD2

1.3 Assignment 1

1. What principles do you recommend to those who ask “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”.
2. Are there other principles or steps not listed in this chapter you would also recommend?

2. Regeneration

2.1 Introduction

173. 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.

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.

2.2 The Heavenly Arcana

What Regeneration is, and why it is caused. Why little is known at the present day concerning regeneration, the causes thereof, [see 3761, 4136, 5398]. A man is born into evils of every kind, and on that account is from birth in respect to his Self (proprium) nothing but evil, nos. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3761, 8480, 8549, 8550, 8552, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731. A man’s hereditary nature is nothing but evil, see the extracts quoted above in this Doctrine, no. 83. A man’s Self (proprium) is nothing but evil, see also above, no. 82. A man of himself, in respect to his hereditary nature and his Self (proprium), is worse than the brute animals, nos. 637, 3175. Wherefore, a man of himself constantly looks towards hell, nos. 694, 8480. If, therefore, a man should be led by Self (proprium), he could not possibly be saved, no. 10731.

A man’s natural life is opposed to spiritual life, nos. 3913, 3928. The good which a man does from himself, that is, from Self (proprium), is not good, because he does it for the sake of himself and the world, no. 8480. A man’s Self (proprium) has to be removed in order that the Lord and heaven may be present, nos. 1023, 1044. A man’s Self (proprium) is actually removed when he is being regenerated by the Lord, nos. 9334-9336, 9452, 9454, 9938. Wherefore, a man must be created anew, that is, regenerated, nos. 8549, 9450, 9938. Creating a man, in the Word, signifies regenerating him, nos. 16, 88, 10634.

A man is conjoined with the Lord through regeneration, nos. 2004, 9338. He is also consociated with angels in heaven, no. 2379. A man does not come into heaven, before he is in a state in which he is led by the Lord through good, which is the case when he has been regenerated, nos. 8516, 8539, 8722, 9139, 9832, 10367.

With the man who has not been regenerated, the external, that is, the natural man rules, and the internal man serves, nos. 3167, 8743. The state of a man’s life is thus inverted from his birth; wherefore, in order that he may be saved, his state must be inverted by all means, nos. 6507, 8552, 8553, 9258. The end of regeneration is, that the internal, that is, the spiritual man may rule, and the external, that is, the natural man may serve, nos. 911, 913. This also is actually the case after a man has been regenerated, nos. 5128, 5651, 8743. For after regeneration the love of self and the world no longer reigns, but love to the Lord and towards the neighbour, consequently, the Lord, and not man, nos. 8856, 8857. From this it is plain that unless a man is regenerated, he cannot be saved, nos. 5280, 8548, 8772, 10156.

Regeneration is a plane for perfecting a man’s life to eternity, no. 9334. The regenerate man also is perfected to eternity, nos. 6648, 10048. The quality of the regenerate, and of the unregenerate man, nos. 977, 986, 10156.

Who is being regenerated? A man cannot be regenerated before he has been instructed in the truths of faith and in the goods of charity, nos. 677, 679, 711, 8635, 8638-8640, 10729. Those who are only in truths, and not in good, cannot be regenerated, nos. 6567, 8725. No one is being regenerated unless he is possessed of charity, no. 989. Only those can be regenerated who have conscience, nos. 2689, 5470. Every one is regenerated according to his faculty of receiving the good of love to the Lord, and of charity towards the neighbour, through the truths of faith from the doctrine of the Church, which is drawn out of the Word, nos. 2967, 2975. Who else can be regenerated, and who cannot, no. 2689. Those who live a life of faith and charity, and are not being regenerated in the world, are regenerated in the other life, nos. 989, 2490.

Regeneration is [wrought] by the Lord alone. The Lord alone regenerates man, and it is not done at all either by man or by an angel, no. 10067. Man’s regeneration is an image of the Lord’s glorification; that is, just as the Lord made His Human Divine, so He makes spiritual the man whom He regenerates, nos. 3043, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402, 5688, 10057, 10076. The Lord wills to have the whole of the man whom He regenerates, and not only a part of him, no. 6138.

Additional statements concerning Regeneration. A man is regenerated through the truths of faith, and a life according thereto, nos. 1904, 2046, 9088, 9959, 10028. This is meant by the Lord’s words (John iii. 5), “Unless a man is born through water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God;” water signifies the truth of faith, and spirit, a life according thereto, no. 10240. By water, in the Word, is signified the truth of faith, nos. 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238. Through the truths of faith also there is wrought that spiritual purification, which cleanses from evils and falsities, nos. 2799, 5954, 7044, 7918, 9088, 10229, 10237. When a man is being regenerated, truths are inseminated and implanted in good, that they may become matters of life, nos. 880, 2189, 2574, 2697. What must be the quality of truths in order that they may be implanted in good, no. 8725. In regeneration truth is initiated into, and conjoined with, good, and good reciprocally with truth, nos. 5365, 8516. How this reciprocal initiation and conjunction is effected, nos. 3155, 10067. Truth is implanted in good when it becomes a subject of the will, because then it becomes a subject of the love, no. 10367.

A man who is being regenerated has two states: the first state is, when through truth be is led to good; the second state when he acts from good, and from good sees truth, nos. 7992, 7993, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 8643, 8648, 8658, 8685, 8690, 8701, 8772, 9227, 9230, 9274, 9509, 10048, 10057, 10058, 10076. The quality of a man’s state when truth is in the first place, and good in the second, no. 3610. From this it is evident that while a man is being regenerated, he looks from truth to good but that after he has been regenerated, he looks from good to truth, no. 6247. A sort of inversion thus takes place, in that the state of a man is being turned about, no. 6507.

It is to be borne in mind, however, that the case is so, that when a man is being regenerated, truth is in the first place and good in the second not actually, but only apparently; but that after a man has been regenerated, good is actually and perceptibly in the first place, and truth in the second, nos. 3324, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3325, 3330, 3336, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 4977, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6273, 8516, 10110. Good, consequently, is the first and the last of regeneration, no. 9337. Since during a man’s regeneration, or what is the same thing, while he is becoming a Church, truth appears to be in the first place, and good in the second, on account of this appearance it was a controverted point among the ancients, whether the truth of faith or the good of charity was the first-born of the Church, nos. 367, 2435. The good of charity is actually the first-born of the Church, and the truth of faith only apparently, nos. 3325, 3494, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 8042, 8080. By the first-born, in the Word, there is also signified the first thing of the Church, to which belongs priority and superiority, no. 3325. Wherefore, the Lord is called the First-born, because in Him and from Him is all the good of love, charity, and faith, no. 3325.

From the latter state which prevails when truth is regarded from good, a man ought not to return to the former state, in which good is regarded from truth; the reasons, why, nos. 2454, 3650-3651, 5895, 5897, 7857, 7923, 8505, 8506, 8510, 8512, 8516, 9274, 10184. The Lord’s words in Matthew (xxiv. 18), are there explained “Let him who is in the field not return back to take his clothes;” also, Luke (xvii. 31, 32), “Whosoever then shall be in the field, let him not return to those things which, are behind him. Remember Lot’s wife;” for by these words are signified the above things.

How the process of man’s regeneration is accomplished; a description of this process, nos. 1555, 2343, 2490, 2657, 2979, 3057, 3286, 3310, 3316, 3332, 3470, 3701, 4353, 5122, 5126, 5270, 5280, 5342, 6717, 8772, 8773, 9043 9103, 10021, 10057, 10367. The arcana of regeneration are innumerable, since regeneration continues throughout the whole of a man’s life, nos. 2679, 3179, 3584, 3665, 3690, 3701, 4377, 4551, 4552, 5122, 5126, 5398, 5912, 6751, 9103, 9258, 9296, 9297, 9334. Scarcely anything of these arcana reaches a man’s knowledge and perception, nos. 3179, 9336. This is what is meant by the Lord’s words in John (iii. 8), “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” The process of the regeneration of the man of the spiritual Church, nos. 2675, 2678, 2679, 2682. And the process of the regeneration of the man of the celestial Church; what difference there is between them, nos. 5113, 10124.

The case with a man when he is being regenerated, is like that of a child, in that he first learns how to speak, then how to think, afterwards bow to lead a good life, until all these things flow, as it were, of their own accord, nos. 3203, 9296, 9297. He who is being regenerated is thus first led by the Lord as a child, afterwards as a youth, and lastly as an adult, nos. 3665, 3690, 4377-4379, 6751. When a man is being regenerated by the Lord, he is first in a state of external innocence, which is the state of his infancy, afterwards he is successively led into a state of internal innocence, which is the state of his wisdom, nos. 9334, 9335, 10021, 10210. What the innocence of infancy is, and what its quality; and what the innocence of wisdom is, and what its quality, nos. 1616, 2305, 2306, 3494, 4563, 4797, 5608, 9301, 10021. A comparison between the regeneration of man, and the conception and formation of the embryo in the womb, nos. 3570, 4931, 9258. On this account, generations and births in the Word signify spiritual generations and births, that is, the things which belong to regeneration, nos. 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2584, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668, 6239, 10204. Man’s regeneration is illustrated by the germinations in the vegetable kingdom, nos. 5115, 5116. Man’s regeneration is represented in the rainbow, nos. 1042, 1043, 1053.

Both the internal or spiritual man, and the external or natural man, have to be regenerated, and the one by means of the other, nos. 3868, 3870, 3872, 3876, 3877, 3882. The internal man has to be regenerated before the external, because the internal man is in the light of heaven, and the external man in the light of the world, nos. 3221, 3325, 3469, 3493, 4353, 8746, 9325. The external or natural man is regenerated through the internal or spiritual man, nos. 3286, 3288, 3321. A man is not regenerate before his external or natural man has been regenerated, nos. 8742-8747, 9043, 9046, 9061, 9325, 9334. The spiritual man is closed up unless the natural man is regenerated, no. 6299 and with respect to the truths and goods of faith and love, it is, as it were, blind, nos. 3493, 3969, 4353, 4588. When the natural man has been regenerated, the whole man is regenerate, nos. 7442, 7443. This is signified by the washing of the disciples’ feet, and by these words of the Lord (John xiii. 9, 10), “He that is washed needeth, not save to wash his feet, and is wholly clean,” no. 10243. Washing, in the Word, signifies spiritual washing, which is purification from evils and falsities, nos. 3147, 10237, 10241; and the feet signify those things which belong to the natural man, nos. 2162, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952. Wherefore washing the feet means purifying the natural man, nos. 3147, 10241.

How the natural man is regenerated, nos. 3502, 3508, 3509, 3518, 3573, 3576, 3579, 3616, 3762, 3786, 5373, 5647, 5650, 5651, 5660. The quality of the natural man after it has been regenerated, and its quality when it is not regenerated, nos. 8744, 8745. So far as the natural man does not combat with the spiritual man, so far a man has been regenerated, no. 3286. When a man has been regenerated, the natural man by means of influx, perceives spiritual things, no. 5651.

The Sensual which is the last or ultimate [part] of the natural man is not regenerated at the present day, but the man is elevated above it, no. 7442. Those who are being regenerated, are actually raised above sensual things into the light of heaven, nos. 6183, 6454. What the sensual man is, and what its quality, may be seen in the extracts above, no. 50.

A man is regenerated through an influx into the knowledges of good and truth, which he possesses, nos. 4096, 4097, 4364. When a man is being regenerated, he is introduced through intermediate goods and truths into genuine goods and truths, and afterwards the intermediate goods and truths are abandoned, and those which are genuine succeed in their place, nos. 3665, 3686, 3690, 3974, 3982, 4063, 4067, 4145. Another order is then introduced among the truths and goods, nos. 4250, 4251, 9931, 10303. They are arranged according to ends, no. 4104. Thus according to the uses of spiritual life, no. 9297. Those who are being regenerated undergo many states, and are continually being brought more interiorly into heaven, and thus nearer to the Lord, no. 6645. He who is regenerate is in the order of heaven, no. 8512. His Internal has been opened into heaven, nos. 8512, 8513. Through regeneration a man comes into angelic wisdom, which however lies concealed in his interiors so long as he lives in the world, but is made manifest in the other life; and then, he enjoys a wisdom similar in kind to that of the angels, nos. 2494, 8747. The state of those who are being regenerated in respect to enlightenment, nos. 2697, 2701, 2704. Through regeneration a man receives a new understanding, no. 2657. How the case is with respect to the fructification of good and the multiplication of truth, with those who are being regenerated, no. 984. Truths from good with one who has been regenerated, through successive derivations, form as it were a star, and continually multiply themselves round about, no. 5912. Truths from good with one who has been regenerated, are arranged into such order, that the genuine truths of good, from which, as from parents, the rest proceed, are in the middle, while the rest succeed in order according to their relationship and affinities, down to the last, where there is obscurity, nos. 4129, 4551, 4552, 5134, 5270. Truths from good, with one who has been regenerated, are arranged in the form of heaven, nos. 3316, 3470, 3584, 4302, 5704, 5709, 6028, 6690, 9931, 10303; and in the work on Heaven and Hell, in the chapters “Concerning the Form of Heaven, according to which are effected there, all consociations and communications,” nos. 200-212; and ” Concerning the Wisdom of the Angels of Heaven,” nos. 265-275.

With one who has been regenerated, there is a correspondence between spiritual and natural things, no. 2850. With one who has been regenerated, the order of life has been altogether inverted, nos. 3332, 5159, 8995. The regenerate man is entirely new as to his spirit, no. 3212. As to outward things he appears like one who has not been regenerated, but not as to inward things, no. 5159. Only through regeneration does a man obtain spiritual good which consists in willing and in doing good from the affection of the love of good, no. 4538. Those truths which enter with an affection are also reproduced, no. 5893. In proportion as truths are deprived of life from a man’s Self (proprium), they are conjoined with good and receive spiritual life, nos. 3607, 3610. In proportion as evils from the love of self and of the world are removed, truths have life, no. 3610.

The first affection of the truth with a man who is being regenerated is not pure, but it is purified successively, nos. 3089, 8413. Evils and falsities are removed slowly, not quickly, with a man who is being regenerated, nos. 9334, 9335. The evils and falsities which belong to a man’s Self, nevertheless remain, and are removed only through regeneration, nos. 865, 868, 887, 929, 1581, 2406, 4564, 8206, 8393, 8988, 9014, 9333-9336, 9445, 9447, 9448, 9451-9454, 9938, 10057, 10060. A man can never be regenerated so far as to be called perfect, nos. 894, 5122, 6648. Evil spirits do not dare to assault any one who has been regenerated, no. 1695. Those who believe the justification [taught] in the Church, know little about regeneration, no. 5398.

A man must have freedom, in order that he may be regenerated, nos. 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146, 3158, 4031, 8700. Through regeneration a man is introduced into heavenly freedom, nos. 2874, 2875, 2882, 2892. Through compulsion there does not exist any conjunction of good and truth, and therefore no regeneration, nos. 2875, 3881, 4031, 8700. The remaining statements concerning freedom, so far as they have a bearing on Regeneration, may be seen in the Doctrine above, where Freedom is treated of.

He who is being regenerated, must necessarily undergo temptations, nos. 3696, 8403; because temptations take place for the sake of the conjunction of good and truth, is well as for the sake of the conjunction of the internal and external man, nos. 4248, 4572, 5773.

2.3 Assignment 2

1. Describe the state of a person before regeneration, and then after.
2. How would you describe the process by which a person is regenerated to someone who is unfamiliar with Swedenborgian or Christian terminology?
3. Compare and reconcile the end of paragraph 178 (see also paragraph 203) with the following statement from Heaven and Hell, paragraph 318:

“There is a general opinion that those born outside the Church, who are called heathen, or gentiles, cannot be saved, because not having the Word they know nothing about the Lord, and apart from the Lord there is no salvation. But that these also are saved, can be known from this alone, that the mercy of the Lord is universal, that is, towards every individual; that these are born men equally with those within the Church, who are few in comparison, and that it is not their fault that they do not know the Lord.”

4. Does paragraph 180 suggest that it doesn’t matter what I do, so long as I just “mean well”?

3. Temptation

187. 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.

3.1 From The Heavenly Arcana

196. Before stating summarily what has been written in the Heavenly Arcana concerning temptations, something has to be premised on this subject, so that the source from whence temptations are, may be known more definitely. A temptation is said to be spiritual, when interiorly in a man the truths of faith are assaulted which he believes at heart, and according to which he loves to live; especially when the good of love, in which he places spiritual life, is assaulted. These assaults take place in various ways: as for instance, by an influx into the thoughts, and also into the will of stumbling-blocks against good and truth; further, by a constant rising up and bringing into remembrance, of the evils which a man has done, and also of the falsities which he has thought - and thus by a flooding of such things; and at the same time by an apparent closing up Of the interiors of the mind, and thus of the communication with heaven, whereby there is intercepted from a man the thought flowing from his own faith, and the volition springing from his own love. These things are caused by the evil spirits who are with a man; and when they happen, they take place under the form of an interior distress and of pangs of conscience; for such things affect and torture a man’s spiritual life, the man not believing that they arise from evil spirits, but from himself in his interiors. A man does not know that these things arise from evil spirits, because he does not know that there are spirits with him; evil spirits in his evils, and good spirits in his goods; and that they are in his thoughts and affections. These temptations are most grievous, when conjoined with pains inflicted on the body; and still more so, if these pains continue long, and become intensified, and if the Divine Mercy is implored, and there is no deliverance: hence comes despair which is the end.

Some statements shall first be adduced from the Heavenly Arcana, concerning the Spirits who are with a man; because temptations are from them.

With every man there are spirits and angels, nos. 697, 5846-5866. They are in his thoughts and affections, nos. 2888, 5846, 5848. If spirits and angels were removed, a man could not live, nos. 2887, 5849, 5854, 5993, 6321; because through spirits and angels he communicates, and is conjoined, with the spiritual world, without which he would not have any life, nos. 697, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 4048, 5846-5866, 5976-5993. The spirits with a man are changed according to the affections belonging to his love, no. 5851. The spirits from hell are in the loves peculiar to a man, nos. 5852, 5979-5993. The spirits enter into all things of a man’s memory, nos. 5853, 5857, 5859, 5860, 6192, 6193, 6198, 6199; the angels into the ends from which, and for the sake of which, a man thinks, wills, and acts so, and not otherwise, nos. 1317, 1645, 5854. The man is not visible to the spirits, even as the spirits are not visible to the man, no. 5862. Wherefore it is impossible for spirits through a man to see anything which is in our solar world, no. 1880. Though there are spirits and angels with a man, in his thoughts and affections, still he is in the freedom of thinking, willing, and acting, nos. 5982, 6477, 8209, 8307, 10777; see also the work on Heaven and Hell, where The Conjunction of Heaven with the Human Race is treated of, nos. 291-302.

197. Temptations, their source and quality. Temptations arise from the evil spirits who are with a man, and who insinuate stumbling-blocks against the goods and truths which the man loves and believes; and who likewise stir up the evils which he has done and the falsities which he has thought, nos. 741, 751, 761, 3927, 4307, 4572, 5036, 6657, 8960. Evil spirits in such cases make use of every kind of cunning and malice, no. 6666. The man who is in temptations is near hell, no. 8131. Two forces are active in temptations, the force from the Lord which acts from within, and the force from hell which acts from without, the man being in the middle, no. 8168.

A man’s ruling love is assaulted in temptations, nos. 847, 4274. Evil spirits attack only those things which belong to a man’s faith and love, and consequently those which belong to his very spiritual life; wherefore his eternal life is then at stake, no. 1820. The state of temptations compared with the state of a man among thieves, no. 5246. In temptations, the man through angels from the Lord is kept in the truths and goods which are with him, but through evil spirits in the falsities and evils which are with him; hence conflict and combat, no. 4249.

Temptation is a combat between the internal or spiritual man, and the external or natural man, nos. 2183, 4256; thus between the delights of the internal man, and those of the external man, which are then in opposition to each other, nos. 3928, 8351. It has place on account of the antagonism between them, nos. 3928, 8351. The dominion of one over the other is what is contended for, nos. 3928, 8961.

No one can be tempted unless he is in the acknowledgment of truth and good, and in an affection for them, because otherwise there is no combat; for the Spiritual does not act then against the Natural, wherefore there is no question about rule, nos. 3928, 4299. He is tempted who has acquired something of spiritual life, no. 8963. Temptations exist with those who have conscience, and consequently, with those who are in spiritual love; more grievous temptations, however, exist with those who have perception, and, therefore, with those who are in celestial love, nos. 1668, 8963. Dead men, that is, those who are neither in faith, nor in love to God and love towards the neighbour, are not admitted into temptations, because they would succumb, nos. 270, 4274, 4299, 8964, 8968. Wherefore few at the present day come into spiritual temptations, no. 8965. They are, however, in states of distress on account of various causes in the world, past, present, and future; which causes are wont to be combined with faintness of mind and weakness of body; these states, however, are not those of the distress of temptations, nos. 762, 8164. Spiritual temptations are sometimes combined with pains of the body, and sometimes they are not, no. 8164. A state of temptations is an unclean and filthy state, because evils and falsities, and also doubts concerning goods and truths, are injected, no. 5246. Further, because indignation, pain of mind, and many affections which are not good are involved in temptations, nos. 1917, 6829; likewise, states of obscurity and doubt concerning the end, nos. 1820, 6829; and also concerning the Divine Providence and the hearing of prayer, since prayers are not answered in temptations, as they are when out of them, no. 8179. And because a man, when in temptation, seems to himself to be in a state of damnation, no. 6097. The reason of this is, that a man perceives clearly what takes place in the external man, and consequently what is injected and called forth by evil spirits, in accordance with which the man also thinks of his state; but he does not perceive what takes place in his internal man; nor consequently what flows in from the Lord through the angels; from which, therefore, he cannot judge of his state, nos. 10236, 10240.

Temptations for the most part are carried on even to despair, which is their end, nos. 1787, 2694, 5279, 5280, 6144, 7147, 7155, 7166, 8165, 8567. The reasons whereof, no. 2694. In the temptation itself also there are despairs, but these terminate in the general one, no. 8567. In a state of despair a man speaks bitter things, but they are not heeded by the Lord no. 8165. After a temptation has ended, there is at first a fluctuation between truth and falsity, nos. 848, 857. Afterwards, however, the truth shines, and there arises serenity and gladness, nos. 3696, 4572, 6829, 8367, 8370.

Those who are being regenerated do not undergo temptations only once, but many times, because many evils and falsities are to be removed, no. 8403. If those who have acquired some spiritual life, do not undergo temptations in this world, they undergo them in the other life, no. 7122. How temptations take place in the other life, and where, nos. 537-539, 699, 1106-1113, 2694, 4728,4940-4951, 6119, 6928,7090, 7122, 7127, 7186, 7317, 7474, 7502, 7541, 7542, 7545, 7768, 7990, 9331, 9763. The state of enlightenment of those who come out of temptation, and are raised into heaven, and their reception there, nos. 2699, 2701, 2704.

The nature of the temptation occasioned by a failure of truth, which is attended then by a desire for truth, nos. 2682, 8352. The temptation of children in the other world, whereby they learn how to resist evils, no. 2294. The difference there is between temptations, infestations, and vastations, no. 7474.

198. How and when Temptations take place. Spiritual combats are chiefly carried on by means of truths of faith, no. 8962. Truth is the first thing of combat, no. 1685. The men of the spiritual Church are tempted with regard to the truths of faith, wherefore they combat by truths; but the men of the celestial Church are tempted with regard to the goods of love, wherefore they combat by goods, nos. 1668, 8963. Those who are of the spiritual Church, for the most part, do not combat from genuine truths, but from such as they believe to be genuine from a doctrinal of their Church; but which doctrinal ought nevertheless to be such as to be capable of being conjoined with good, no. 6765.

Whoever is regenerated must undergo temptations, and without them he cannot be regenerated, nos. 5036, 8403; wherefore temptations are necessary, no. 7090. The man who is being regenerated comes into temptations, when evil strives to gain dominion over good, and the natural man over the spiritual man, nos. 6657, 8961; and he comes into temptations when good is about to have the precedence, nos. 4248, 4249, 4256, 8962, 8963. Those who are being regenerated are first let into a state of tranquillity, then into temptations, and afterwards return into a state of tranquillity of peace, which is the end, no. 3696.

199. The good effected by Temptations. A summary of what is effected by temptations, nos. 1692, 1717, 1740, 6144, 8958-8969. Dominion is acquired through temptations for the spiritual or internal man over the natural or external man, and consequently for good over evil, and truth over falsity; for in the spiritual man there is good, without which the spiritual man has no being, and in the natural man there is evil, no. 8961. Since temptation means the combat between these, therefore dominion is the object of the strife, namely, whether the spiritual man shall have dominion over the natural man, and thus whether good shall have dominion over evil, or conversely; and, consequently whether the Lord or hell shall have dominion over man, nos. 1923, 3928. The external, that is, the natural man, through temptations, receives truths which correspond to the affection thereof in the internal, that is, in the spiritual man, nos. 3321, 3928. The internal spiritual man is opened, and conjoined with the external man, through temptations, in order that the man as to both may be capable of being elevated, and of looking to the Lord, no. 10685. The reason why the internal spiritual man is opened and conjoined with the external through temptations, is, that the Lord acts from the interior, and from it flows into the external man, and therein removes and subjugates evils, and together therewith subjects the external man, and renders it subordinate to the internal, no. 10685.

Temptations are for the sake of the conjunction of good and truth, and for the sake of the dispersion of the falsities which adhere to truths and goods, no. 4572. Through temptations, consequently, good is conjoined with truths, no. 2272. The vessels receptive of truth are softened through temptations, and put on a state in which they are capable of receiving good, no. 3318. Truths and goods, and thus the things belonging to faith and charity, are confirmed and implanted through temptations, nos. 8351, 8924, 8966, 8967; and evils and falsities are removed, and room is thus afforded to goods and truths, no. 7122. The loves of self and of the world, from which spring all evils and falsities, are broken through temptations, no. 5356; and the man is thus humbled, nos. 8966, 8967. Evils and falsities are subdued, separated, and removed, but not abolished, through temptations, no. 868. Corporeal things with their concupiscences are subdued through temptations, nos. 857, 868. A man through them learns what good and truth are, even from their relation to their opposites, which are evils and falsities, no. 5356. He also learns that with himself there is nothing but evil, and that all the good which is with him, is from the Lord and His Mercy, no. 2334.

Through the temptations in which a man conquers, evil spirits are deprived of the power of operating further against him, nos. 1695, 1717. The hells do not dare to rise up against those who have suffered temptations and have conquered, nos. 2183, 8273.

After the temptations in which a man has conquered, there is joy arising from the conjunction of good and truth, although the man does not know that the joy proceeds therefrom, nos. 4572, 6829. There exists then enlightenment of the truth which belongs to faith, and a perception of the good which belongs to love, nos. 8367, 8370. From it a man has intelligence and wisdom, nos. 8966, 8967. After temptations, truths increase immensely, no. 6663; and good then has the precedence, that is, holds the first place, and truth the second, no. 5773. As to his internal spiritual man, the man is admitted into angelic societies, and thus into heaven, no. 6611.

Before a man undergoes temptations, truths with goods are arranged with him in order by the Lord, so that he may resist the evils and falsities which are with him from hell, and which are being stirred up, no. 8131. In temptations the Lord provides good in place of the evil which is intended by infernal spirits, no. 6574. After temptations the Lord reduces truths with goods into a new order, and arranges them into a heavenly form, no, 10685. The interiors of the spiritual man are arranged into a heavenly form; see in the work on Heaven and Hell, the. chapter on “The Form of Heaven, according to which the consociations and communications therein take place,” nos. 200-212.

Those who fall in temptations come into damnation, because evils and falsities are victorious, and the natural man prevails over the spiritual man, and afterwards has dominion: the latter state then becomes worse than the former, nos. 8165, 8169, 8961.

200. The Lord combats for a Man in Temptations. The Lord alone in a man struggles in temptations, and the man does not struggle at all from himself, nos. 1692, 8172, 8175, 8176, 8273. From himself a man cannot struggle at all against evils and falsities, because that would mean struggling against all the hells, which no one except the Lord alone can subdue and conquer, no. 1692. The hells fight against a man, and the Lord fights for him, no. 8159. The man struggles from the truths and goods, and thus from the knowledges and the affections thereof which are with him; but it is not the man that struggles, but the Lord that struggles through them, no. 1661. When in temptations, the man thinks that the Lord is absent, because his prayers are not listened to as they are when he is not in them; nevertheless, the Lord is then more present, no. 840. In temptations a man ought to struggle as from himself, and not to hang down his hands, or to expect immediate help; but he ought nevertheless to believe that help is from the Lord, nos. 1712, 8179, 8969. Otherwise the man cannot receive a heavenly Self (proprium), nos. 1937, 1947, 2882, 2883, 2891. The quality of that Self (proprium), that it is not man’s but the Lord’s with him, nos. 1937, 1947, 2882, 2883, 2891, 8497.

Temptation serves no purpose, and is productive of no good, unless the man, at least after the temptations, believes that the Lord has fought and conquered for him, no. 8969. Those who place merit in works, cannot struggle against evils, because they struggle from Self (proprium), and do not allow the Lord to combat for them, no. 9978. Those who believe that by temptations they have merited heaven, are saved only with difficulty, no. 2273.

The Lord does not tempt, but He liberates, and introduces good, no. 2768. It appears as if temptations were from the Divine, when yet they are not, no. 4299. How the petition: Lead us not into temptation, is to be understood in the Lord’s Prayer; from experience, no. 1875. The Lord does not concur in temptations by permitting them, according to the idea of permission entertained by man, no. 2768.

In every temptation there is freedom, although it does not appear so; but this freedom is with man interiorly from the Lord, and by virtue of it he combats and desires to conquer, and not to be conquered; without that freedom he would not do this, nos. 1937, 1947, 2881. The Lord effects this through the affection of truth and good which has been impressed on the internal man, the man being ignorant of it, no. 5044. For all freedom belongs to affection, that is, to love, and is according, to its quality, nos. 2870, 3158, 8987, 8990, 9585, 9591.

201. The Lord’s Temptations. The Lord endured the most grievous and terrible temptations, which are but little treated of in the literal sense of the Word, but much in the internal sense, nos. 1663, 1668, 1787, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2814, 9528. The Lord fought from Divine Love towards the whole human race, nos. 1690, 1691, 1812, 1813, 1820. The Lord’s love was the salvation of the human race, no. 1820. The Lord combated from His own power, nos. 1692, 1813, 9937. The Lord alone became Justice and Merit, through temptations and victories from His own power, nos. 1813, 2025-2027, 9715, 9809, 10019. Through temptations the Lord united the Divine Itself which was in Him from conception, to His Human, and made this Divine; as He makes a man spiritual through temptations, nos. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 3318, 3381, 3382, 4286. The temptations of the Lord in the end were attended with despair, no. 1787. Through the temptations admitted against Himself, the Lord subjugated the hells, and reduced all things in them and in the heavens to order, and at the same time glorified His Human, nos. 1737, 4287, 9315, 9528, 9937. The Lord alone fought against all the hells, no. 8273. He admitted temptations from hell against Himself, nos. 2816, 4295.

The Lord could not be tempted as to the Divine, because the hells cannot assault the Divine; wherefore He assumed from the mother such a Human as could be tempted, nos. 1414, 1444, 1573, 5041, 5157, 7193, 9315. Through temptations and victories He expelled everything hereditary from the mother, and put off the Human from her, until at length He was no longer her son, nos. 2159, 2574, 2640, 3036, 10830. Jehovah, who was in Him from conception, appeared to be absent in His temptations, no. 1815. This was the state of His humiliation, nos. 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866. His last temptation and victory, by which He fully subjugated the hells, and made His Human Divine, was in Gethsemane and on the cross, nos. 2776, 2803, 2813, 2814, 10655, 10659, 10828.

Not to eat any bread and not drink any water for forty days, signifies an entire state of temptations, no. 10686. Forty years, months, or days, signify a complete state of temptations from beginning to end; such a state is meant by the deluge lasting forty days; by Moses abiding upon Mount Sinai during forty days; by the sons of Israel sojourning in the desert, for forty years; and by the Lord’s temptation in the desert for forty days; nos. 730, 862, 2272, 2273, 8098.

3.2 Assignment 3

1. Illustrate the difference between spiritual and natural distress referred to in paragraph 189.

Swedenborg writes,

“…it is plain that temptations are caused by hell, and not by heaven; as is also in accordance with the faith of the Church, which teaches that God tempts no one.” (paragraph 188), yet, “these combats are caused by the truths of faith which are from the Word.” (paragraph 191). He also writes, “Whoever is regenerated must undergo temptations; and without them he cannot be regenerated”.

1. How can we say that temptation is not caused by God, but that it is also a prerequisite to the successful completion of regeneration?
2. In paragraph 193, Swedenborg writes that spiritual temptation was rare in his own day - do you think that it is still true today? Why?

3.3 Journal Work

What has been your experience of “stumbling-blocks against good and truth”? (paragraph 196)

3.4 Further reading

• True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, especially chapters 9 & 10 (paragraphs 509-570 & 571-625).
• Spiritual Recovery, by Grant Schnarr.
• The Art of Spiritual Warfare, by Grant Schnarr.
• The Joy of Spiritual Growth by Frank Rose and Bob Maginel.

4. Baptism

202. 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.

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.

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.

4.1 The Heavenly Arcana

209. Baptism signifies regeneration by the Lord through the truths of faith from the Word, nos. 4255, 5120, 9088, 10239, 10386-10388, 10392. Baptism is for a sign that a person is of the Church, in which the Lord is acknowledged from whom is regeneration, and in which there is the Word, from which are the truths of faith, through which regeneration is effected, nos. 10386-10388. Baptism imparts neither faith nor salvation, but testifies that both will be received by those who are regenerated, no. 10391.

Washings in the Ancient Churches, and in the Israelitish Church, represented, and hence signified, purifications from evils and falsities, nos. 3147, 9088, 10237, 10239. The washings of garments signified the purification of the understanding from falsities, no. 5954. The washing of the feet signified the purification of the natural man, nos. 3147, 10241. An explanation of what is signified by the Lord’s washing the disciples’ feet, no. 10243.

Waters signify the truths of faith, nos. 28, 2702, 3058, 5668, 8568, 10238. A fountain and a well of living waters signify the truths of faith from the Lord, consequently the Word, no. 3424. Bread and water signify all the goods of love and all the truths of faith, nos. 4976, 9323. Spirit signifies the life of truth, that is, the life of faith, nos. 5222, 9281, 9818. What is meant by spirit and flesh; spirit signifies life from the Lord, and flesh, life from man, no. 10283. Hence appears the signification of these words of the Lord: “Unless any one be born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God;” namely, that unless any one be regenerated through the truths of faith, and a life in accordance therewith, he cannot be saved, no. 10240. All regeneration is effected through the truths of faith, and a life in accordance therewith, nos. 1904, 2046, 9088, 9959, 10028.

The complete washing which took place through immersion in the waters of Jordan signified regeneration, just like baptism, nos. 9088, 10239. What was signified by the waters of Jordan, and by Jordan itself, nos. 1585, 4255.

The deluge and a flooding of waters signify temptations, nos. 660, 705, 739, 756, 790, 5725, 6853; the same is signified by baptism, nos. 5120, 10389. How baptism was represented from heaven, no. 2299.

4.2 Assignment 4

1. Baptism is described as a “sign” in this chapter. Summarise everything this sign means as it is presented here.
2. How does this differ from other understandings of baptism as you have encountered them?

5. The Holy Supper

210. 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

5.1 The Heavenly Arcana

215. Concerning the Supper. Dinners and suppers signified consociation by love, nos. 3596, 3832, 4745, 5161, 7996. The Paschal meal signified consociation in heaven, nos. 7836, 7997, 8001. The feast of unleavened things, or of the Passover, signified deliverance by the Lord from damnation, nos. 7093, 7867, 9286-9292, 10655; and in the inmost sense it signified the remembrance of the glorification of the Lord’s Human, because from it is deliverance, no. 10655.

Flesh. The Lord’s flesh signifies the Divine Good of His Divine Love, which is that of His Divine Human, nos. 3813, 7850, 9127, 10283. His body has a like signification, nos. 2343, 2359, 6135. Flesh in general signifies the Voluntary, and thus the Self (proprium), of man, which regarded in itself is evil but which when vivified by the Lord, signifies good, nos. 148, 149, 780, 999, 3813, 8409, 10283. On this account flesh, in the Word, signifies the whole man, and every man, nos. 574, 1050, 10283.

Here and in what follows, it is said that things signify; the reason is that they correspond; for whatever corresponds, signifies, nos. 2896, 2179, 2987, 2989, 3002, 3225. The Word was written by pure correspondences, whence comes its internal or spiritual sense; and without a knowledge of correspondences it cannot be known what that sense is, and scarcely that it exists, nos. 3131, 3472-3485, 8615, 10687. Wherefore through the Word there is a conjunction of heaven with the man of the Church, no. 10687. For additional information on this subject see the work on HEAVEN AND HELL, nos. 303 to 310, where the Conjunction of Heaven with the man of the Church through the Word is treated of.

217. Concerning Blood. The Lord’s Blood signifies the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Divine Good of His Divine Love, nos. 4735, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152, 10210. The blood sprinkled upon the altar round about, and at its base, signified the unition of Divine Truth and Divine Good in the Lord, no. 10047. The blood of grapes signifies the truth of faith from the good of charity, no. 6378. A grape and a cluster signify spiritual good which is the good of charity, no. 5117. Shedding blood means offering violence to the Divine Truth, nos. 374, 1005, 4735, 5476, 9127. What is signified by blood and water issuing from the Lord’s side, no. 9127. What by the Lord’s redeeming man by His blood, no. 10152.

218. Concerning Bread. Where the Lord is treated of, by bread is signified the Divine Good of the Lord’s Divine Love, and the principle of reciprocity with the man who eats, nos. 2165, 2177, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 9323, 9545. Bread involves and signifies all food in general, nos. 2165, 6118. Food signifies everything that nourishes the spiritual life of man, nos. 4976, 5147, 5915, 6277, 8418. Thus bread signifies all celestial and spiritual food, nos. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 6118, 8410; and consequently, everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God, according to the Lord’s words in Matthew iv. 4, no. 681. Bread in general signifies the good of love, nos. 2165, 2177, 10686; likewise wheat, of which bread is made, nos. 3941, 7605. Where bread and water are mentioned in the Word, they signify the good of love, and the truth of faith, no. 9323. In the ancient Churches, the breaking of bread was a representative of mutual love, no. 5405, Spiritual food is knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, and thus good and truth, because from the latter the former are derived, nos. 3114, 4459, 4792, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 8562, 9003; and because these nourish the mind, nos. 4459, 5293, 5576, 6277, 8418. Sustenance by food denotes spiritual nourishment, and the influx of good and truth from the Lord, nos. 4976, 5915, 6277.

The loaves of bread on the table in the tabernacle, signified the Divine Good of the Lord’s Divine Love, nos. 3478, 9545. The meat-offerings in the sacrifices, which consisted of cakes and wafers, signified worship from the good of love, nos. 4581, 10079, 10137. What was signified by the various meat-offerings specifically, nos. 7978, 9992-9994, 10079.

The ancients, when mentioning bread, meant all food in general (see Gen. xliii. 16, 31; Exod. xviii. 12; Judges xiii. 15, 16; 1 Sam. xiv. 28, 29; xx. 24, 27; 2 Sam. ix. 7, 10; 1 Kings iv. 22, 23; 2 Kings xxv. 29).

219. Concerning Wine. Where the Lord is treated of, by wine is signified the Divine Truth which proceeds from His Divine, Good, even as is the case with blood, nos. 1071, 1798, 6377. Wine in general signifies the good of charity, no. 6377. Must signifies truth from good in the natural man, no. 3580. Wine was called the blood of grapes, no. 6378. A vineyard signifies the Church with respect to truth, nos. 3220, 9139. The drink-offering in the sacrifices, which consisted of wine, signified spiritual good, which is holy truth, no. 1072. The Lord alone is holy, wherefore everything holy is from Him, nos. 9229, 9680, 10359, 10360. The Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord is called in the Word the Holy, nos. 6788, 8302, 9229, 9820, 10361.

220. Concerning Eating and Drinking. Eating signifies being appropriated and conjoined through love and charity, nos. 2187, 2343, 3168, 3513, 5643. Hence it signifies being consociated, no. 8001. Eating is predicated of the appropriation and conjunction of good, and drinking of the appropriation and conjunction of truth, nos. 3168, 3513, 3832, 9412. What is signified by eating and drinking in the Lord’s kingdom, no. 3832. Hence it is, that by being hungry and desiring to eat, in the Word, is signified desiring good and truth from affection, nos. 4958, 10227.

What has here been mentioned the angels do not understand otherwise than according to the internal or spiritual sense, because they are in the spiritual world, no. 10521. Hence it is that holiness flows in from heaven with the members of the Church, when they partake of the sacrament of the Supper in a holy manner, no. 6789: and hence there is conjunction with the Lord, nos. 3464, 3735, 5915, 10519, 10521, 10522.

221. Concerning Sacrifices. Burnt-offerings and sacrifices signified all things pertaining to worship from the good of love, and from the truths of faith, nos. 923, 6905, 8680, 8936, 10042. Burnt-offerings and sacrifices signified the Divine-celestial things, which are the internal things of the Church, from which is worship, nos. 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519; with a variety and a distinction according to the various things of worship, nos. 2805, 6905, 8936. Wherefore there were many kinds of sacrifices and various procedures therein; and also various animals were made use of, nos. 2830, 8936, 9990. The various thing signified thereby in general, may appear from an unfolding of each single thing by the internal sense, no. 10042. What was signified specifically by the animals which were sacrificed, no. 10042. Arcana of heaven are contained in the rituals and procedures of the sacrifices, no. 10057. In general there are contained therein arcana of the glorification of the Lord’s Human; and in a respective sense, arcana of man’s regeneration and purification from evils and falsities; wherefore they were [appointed] for various sins, crimes, and purifications, nos. 9990, 10022, 10042, 10053,10057. What was signified by the imposition of hands on the beasts which were sacrificed, no. 10023. What by the lower parts of the slain beasts being put in the burnt-offerings under their upper parts, no. 10051. What by the meat-offerings that were burned at the same time, no. 10079. What by the drink-offering, nos. 4581, 10137. What by the salt which was used no. 10300. What by the altar and all the things which belonged to it, nos. 921, 2777, 2784, 2811, 2812, 4489, 4541, 8935, 8940, 9388, 9389, 9714, 9726, 9963, 9964, 10028, 10123, 10151, 10242, 10245, 10344. What by the fire of the altar, nos. 934, 6314, 6832. What by eating together of the things sanctified, nos. 2187, 8682. It is shown from the Word, that sacrifices were not commanded, but charity and faith; that sacrifices thus were only permitted, nos. 922, 2180. Why they were permitted, nos. 2180, 2818. That the burnt-offerings and sacrifices, in which were offered lambs, she-goats, sheep, kids, be-goats, bullocks, and oxen, were in one word called “bread,” may appear from the following passages: “And the priest shall burn it upon the altar; IT IS THE BREAD OF THE OFFERING MADE BY FIRE UNTO THE LORD (Levit. iii. 11, 16).” “The sons of Aaron shall be holy unto their God; neither shall they profane the name of their God; for the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, the BREAD OF THEIR GOD, they do offer. Thou shalt sanctify him therefore; for he offereth THE BREAD OF THY GOD. A man of the seed of Aaron, in whom there is a blemish, let him not come nigh to offer the BREAD OF HIS GOD (Ibid. xxi. 6, 8, 17, 21).” “Command the sons of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, MY BREAD, for my offerings made by fire for an odour of rest, ye shall observe, to offer unto Me in their due season (Numb. xxviii. 2).” “He that toucheth any unclean thing shall not eat of the things sanctified, but shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his BREAD (Levit. xxii. 6, 7).” “Ye offer POLLUTED BREAD upon mine altar (Malachi i. 7).” Hence it was said above (no. 214), “The Holy Supper includes and comprises the whole of the Divine worship instituted in the Israelitish Church; for the burnt-offerings and sacrifices in which the worship of that Church principally consisted, were termed in one expression ‘bread’; and hence, also, the Holy Supper is a summing up of that worship.”

From all this it can now be seen what is meant by Bread in John (vi. 31-35, 47-51), “Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave them not BREAD FROM HEAVEN; but My Father giveth you the TRUE BREAD FROM HEAVEN; for THE BREAD OF GOD is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. They said unto Him, Lord, evermore give us THIS BREAD. Jesus said unto them, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE: he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. He that believeth on Me, hath eternal life. I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. THIS IS THE BREAD which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I AM THE LIVING BREAD which came down from heaven; if any one shall eat OF THIS BREAD, he shall live for ever.” From the latter and the former passages it is evident, that bread means all the good that proceeds from the Lord; for the Lord Himself is in His own good; and therefore the bread and wine in the Holy Supper mean all the worship of the Lord from the good of love and faith.

222. To the above shall be added some things from the Heavenly Arcana, no. 9127: “He who knows nothing of the internal, that is, the spiritual sense of the Word, does not know otherwise than that flesh and blood, when mentioned in the Word, mean natural flesh and blood. The internal sense, however, does not treat of the life of a man’s body, but of the life of his soul, that is, of his spiritual life, which he is to live to eternity. This life is described in the Word in the sense of the letter, by such things as belong to the life of the body, namely, by flesh and blood; and since a man’s spiritual life subsists through the good of love and the truth of faith, therefore in the internal sense of the Word the good of love is meant by flesh, and the truth of faith by blood. These things are understood in heaven by flesh and blood, and by bread and wine; for bread there has altogether the same signification as flesh, and wine altogether the same signification as blood. But those who are not spiritual men do not comprehend this: wherefore, let them remain in their faith, yet, let them believe that in the Holy Supper, and in the Word, because they are from the Lord, there is something holy. They may not know wherein this holiness consists, yet let those who enjoy interior perception, consider whether flesh means flesh, and blood, blood, in the following passages. In the Revelation (xix. 17, 18), “I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying unto all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains of thousands, and the flesh of the strong ones, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit upon them, and the flesh of all both free and bond, both small and great.” Who can possibly understand these words, unless he knows what is meant in the internal sense by flesh, and what by kings, captains of thousands, strong ones, horses, them that sit on them, freemen and bondmen? And in Ezekiel (xxxix. 17-21), “Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Say to, every bird of heaven, to every wild beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves from every side to My sacrifice that I sacrifice for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel; that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the strong ones, and drink the blood of the primes of the earth; and ye: shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood even to drunkenness, of My sacrifice which I shall sacrifice for you. Ye shall be filled at My table, with the horse and the chariot, and with the strong one, and with every man (vir) of war; thus will I set My glory among the nations.” Here the calling together of all to the kingdom of the Lord, and specifically the establishment of the Church among the gentiles, are treated of; and eating flesh and drinking blood signify appropriating to one’s self Divine Good and Divine Truth, thus the Holy which proceeds from the Lord’s Divine Human. Who cannot see, that flesh does not mean here flesh, nor blood, blood? as when it is said, that they should eat the flesh of the strong ones, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth; and that they should drink blood even to drunkenness; also that they should be filled with the horse, with the chariot, with the strong one, and with every man of war? What is meant by the birds of the heaven and the beasts of the field in the spiritual sense, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, no. 110 and in the notes there (l). Let us now examine what the Lord said concerning His flesh and His blood, in John (vi. 51-58), “The bread that I will give, is My flesh. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye shall not have life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day; for My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. This is the bread which came down from heaven.” That the Lord’s flesh denotes the Divine Good, and His blood the Divine Truth, both proceeding from Him, may be seen from the fact, that these nourish a man’s spiritual life. Hence, also, it is said, My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed: and since a man is conjoined with the Lord through the Divine Good and Truth, it is further said, Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and, He abideth in Me, and I in him; and in the former part of the chapter (ver. 27), “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto eternal life;” that abiding in the Lord means being in the love to Him, the Lord Himself teaches in John (xv. 2-12).

5.2 Assignment 5

1. “The Holy Supper was instituted by the Lord, that through it there may be conjunction of the Church with heaven, and thus with the Lord” (paragraph 210) In your own words, explain how this conjunction takes place.

2. Describe the difference between the “presence” and “conjunction” brought about through the Holy Supper.

3. Are there times when you have taken the Holy Supper and felt closer to or more distant from the Lord?

4. Paragraph 214 states very briefly that the Holy Supper “… includes and comprises the whole of Divine Worship instituted in the Israelitish Church; …” How does the reference section of this chapter help you to understand this statement?

5. How would you talk to someone who is non-religious about the significance and benefits of the Holy Supper?

5.3 Journal Work

“Eating is making one’s own and being linked.” (paragraph 212).

As you eat your daily meals in the coming week, meditate upon the process of eating: chewing and swallowing, the absorption of nutrients and the rejection of what we cannot assimilate (this could be good and / or bad). Use this to consider how the Lord’s good and truth becomes “our own”. You might use specific examples such as life experience or your reading of the Word in this task

5.4 Further reading

• True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, especially chapters 12 & 13 (paragraphs 667-697 & 698-752

6. The Resurrection

223. 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.

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. It is superfluous to adduce here anything from the Heavenly Arcana, because the subjects which concern the Resurrection and Man’s life after death, have been fully treated of in the work on Heaven and Hell, the following chapters of which may be consulted: I. Every man is a spirit as to his interiors, nos. 432-444. II. A man’s resuscitation from the dead, and his entrance into eternal life, nos. 445-452. III. After death a man is in a perfect human form, nos. 453-460. IV. After death a man enjoys every sense, and all the memory, thought, and affection, which he had in the world; leaving behind nothing but his earthly body, nos. 461-469. v. A man’s quality after death is such as his life had been in the world, nos. 470-484. VI. The delights of a man’s life are turned into corresponding things, nos. 485-490. VII. A man’s first state after death, nos. 491-498. VIII. A man’s second state after death, nos. 499-511. IX. A man’s third state after death, which is a state of instruction for those who go to heaven, nos. 512-520. X. Heaven and hell are from the human race, nos. 311-317.

That the Last Judgment, which was also spoken of above at no. 226, will not be attended with the destruction of the world, see the small work on The Last Judgment and the Babylon Destroyed, from beginning to end.

6.1 Assignment 6

1. Paragraph 226 criticises the modern world’s failure to accept the reality of life after death. Do you think it is a fair assessment?
2. What determines the difference faith and lack of faith ?
3. How does this definition confirm or challenge the understanding you hold now or may have held in the past?
4. What is Swedenborg’s view on reincarnation?

7. Heaven And Hell

7.1 Introduction

230. 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.

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.

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. Since Heaven and Hell have been treated of in a separate work, and since those things which are contained on this subject in the Heavenly Arcana have also been adduced in that work, it is unnecessary to add here anything further.

7.2 Assignment 7

In paragraph 233, we read the Lord’s words being quoted “for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)

1. Describe what heaven means in these terms.
2. Do the same for hell.

“A man’s life cannot be changed after death.” (paragraph 239). Comparing this with paragraph 227 (“A man’s life after death is the life of his love and the life of his faith.”),

3. Is life after death entirely static and unchanging? If not, what do you think can be changed?

7.3 Journal Work

“Those with whom the love of self and love of the world are dominant, do not know what heaven and heavenly happiness are; …” (Paragraph 238)

Describe these two opposite states as you have experienced them. In other words, what is it like to be so wrapped up in yourself as to dismiss heavenly happiness? How does heavenly happiness contrast with it?

7.4 Further reading

Heaven and Hell, by Emanuel Swedenborg.

Conjugial Love, by Emanuel Swedenborg, especially chapter 1 (paragraphs 1-32)

8. The Sacred Scriptures

8.1 Introduction

There is evidence that the young Swedenborg flirted with the rationalism of the deists, which proclaimed that God had no further part in creation. This thought ultimately leads to atheistic rationalism, which denies God altogether. But in this chapter we witness an abrupt about-face, which declares our need of God’s intervention in our world and in our lives. Human reason without the touchstone of Divine Truth is doomed to failure. I wonder whether Swedenborg’s own experience of enlightenment effected that change of heart. The Sacred Scriptures was to occupy much of Swedenborg’s attention and efforts in the later years of his life. This session also asks you to consider your own attitude to Swedenborg’s work - was it the recorded experience of highly intelligent and gifted individual or a revelation from God?

249. 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.

8.2 The Heavenly Arcana

255. The Necessity and Excellency of the Word. Nothing is known from the light (lumen) of nature concerning the Lord, heaven and hell, man’s life after death, and the Divine Truths through which a man has spiritual and eternal life, nos. 8944, 10318-10320. This may appear from the fact, that many, and among them men of education, do not believe these things, although they were born where the Word is, and by means of it have been instructed concerning them, no. 10319. Wherefore, it was necessary that there should be some Revelation from heaven because man is born for heaven, no. 1775; and therefore in every age there has been a Revelation, no. 2895. The various kinds of revelation that have been successively on this earth, nos. 10355, 10632. The Most ancient people who lived before the flood, and whose age was called the golden age, had an immediate Revelation, and from it Divine Truth was inscribed on their hearts, no. 2896. In the Ancient Churches, which existed after the flood, there was a Word which was both historical and prophetical, nos. 2686, 2897 (concerning which Churches, see above, no. 247). Its historical parts were called the Wars of Jehovah, and its prophetical parts, Enunciations, no. 2897. That Word was like ours with respect to inspiration, no. 2897. It was mentioned by Moses, nos. 2686, 2897. But that Word has been lost, no. 2897. There were prophetic revelations also among others, as appears from the prophecies of Balaam, no. 2898.

The Word is Divine in each and all things, nos. 639, 680, 10321, 10637. The Word is Divine and holy as to each iota and dot, from experience, no. 9349. How it is explained at the present day, that the Word is inspired as to every iota,, no. 1886.

The Church specifically is where the Word exists, and where through it the Lord is known, and Divine Truths have been revealed, nos. 3857, 10761. Still those who are born where the Word is, and where the Lord by means of it is known are not on that account of the Church, but those are who through truths from the Word are being regenerated by the Lord; and these are they who live according to the truths therein, and consequently those who lead a life of love and faith, nos. 6637, 10143, 10153, 10578, 10645, 10829.

256. The Word is understood only by those who have been enlightened. The human Rational cannot comprehend Divine things, nor even spiritual things, unless it is enlightened by the Lord, nos. 2196, 2203, 2209, 2654. Wherefore, only those who have been enlightened comprehend the Word, no. 10323. To those who are being enlightened it is granted by the Lord to understand the truth, and to see how to reconcile those things in the Word which seem to contradict each other, nos. 9382, 10659. The Word in the sense of the letter is not consistent with itself, and sometimes appears contradictory to itself, no. 9025. Wherefore, by those who have not been enlightened it can be explained and twisted so as to confirm any opinion and any heresy whatever, and to favour any worldly and corporeal love, nos. 4783, 10330, 10400. Those are enlightened from the Word who read it from the love of truth and good, but not those who read it from the love of fame, of gain, and of places of honour, and thus from the love of self, nos. 9382, 10548, 10549, 10551. Those are enlightened who are in the good of life, and from it in an affection for the truth, no. 8694. Those are enlightened with whom their Internal has been opened; those consequently who as to their internal man can be elevated into the light of heaven, nos. 10400, 10402, 10691, 10694. Enlightenment consists in an actual opening, and also in an elevation into the light of heaven, no. 10330. Holiness from the Internal, that is, through the Internal from the Lord, flows in with those who deem the Word holy, they themselves being ignorant of it, no. 6789. Those are enlightened, and see truths in the Word, who are led by the Lord, but not those who are led by self, no. 10638. Those are led by the Lord who love the truth because it is true, and these are they who love to live according to Divine Truths, nos. 10578, 10645, 10829. The Word is vivified with a man, according to his life of love and faith no. 1776. Those things which are from self-intelligence have no life in them, because nothing or good proceeds from a man’s Self (proprium) nos. 8941, 8944 Those who have confirmed themselves much in a false doctrine, cannot be enlightened, no. 10640.

It is the understanding that is enlightened, nos. 6608, 9300. Because the understanding is the receptacle of the truth, nos. 6222, 6608, 10659. There are ideas Concerning every doctrinal of the Church, by, which the understanding of a thing is determined, nos. 3310, 3825. So long as a man lives in the world, his ideas are natural, because he then thinks in the Natural; nevertheless spiritual ideas lie concealed in them with those who are in the affection of the truth for the sake of truth, nos. 10237, 10240, 10551. Apart from any ideas on a subject there is no perception, no. 3825. The ideas concerning matters of faith are opened in the other life, and their quality is then seen by the angels, nos. 1869, 3310, 5510, 6200, 8885. Wherefore the Word is understood only by a rational man; for believing a thing without any idea of it, and without any rational view of it, means retaining in the memory words void of every life of perception and affection, which actually means not believing, no. 2553. The literal sense of the Word is what is enlightened, nos. 3436, 9824, 9905, 10548.

257. The Word is not understood except through doctrine from the Word. The doctrine of the Church must be from the Word, Nos. 3464, 5402, 6832, 10763, 10765. The Word is not understood without doctrine, nos. 9025, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 10431, 10582. True doctrine is a lamp to those who read the Word, no. 10400. Genuine doctrine should be from those who are in enlightenment from the Lord, nos. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105. The Word is understood by means of a doctrine made by one who has been enlightened, no. 10324. Those who are in enlightenment make doctrine for themselves from the Word, nos. 9382, 10659. The difference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine of the Church, and those who teach and learn from the mere sense of the letter, no. 9025. Those who are in the sense of the letter apart from any doctrine, do not come into any understanding of Divine Truths, nos. 9409, 9410, 10582. They lapse into many errors, no. 10431. When those who are in the affection of the truth for the sake of the truth, arrive at adult age, and are able to see by virtue of their own understanding, they do not simply remain in the doctrinals of their Church, but examine from the Word whether they are true, nos. 5402, 5432, 6047. Otherwise every man’s truth would be derived from another person, and from his native soil, whether he be born a Jew or Greek, no. 6047. Nevertheless such things as have become matters of faith from the literal sense of the Word, ought not to be put off, except after a full examination, no. 9039.

The true doctrine of the Church is the Doctrine of Charity and Faith, nos. 2417, 4766, 10763, 10764. The doctrine of faith does not constitute the Church, but the life of faith which is charity, nos. 809, 1798, 1799, 1834, 4468, 4672, 4766, 5826, 6637. Doctrinals are nothing unless a man lives according to them, nos. 1515, 2049, 2116, In the Churches at the present day, there is the doctrine of faith, but not the doctrine of charity, the latter being delegated to a science called Moral Theology, no. 2417. The Church would be one, if men were acknowledged to be members of the Church from their life, and thus from their charity, nos. 1285, 1316, 2982, 3267, 3445, 3451, 3452. How much the Doctrine of Charity excels the doctrine of faith separate from charity, no. 4844. Those who know nothing about heavenly things are in ignorance concerning charity, no. 2435. Into how many errors those fall who have only the doctrine of faith, and not at the same time the doctrine of charity, nos. 2388, 2417, 3146, 3325, 3412, 3413, 3416, 3773, 4672, 4730, 4783, 4925, 5351, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 7790, 8094, 8313, 8530, 8765; 9186, 9224, 10555. Those who are only in the doctrine of faith, and not in the life of faith, which is charity, were formerly called uncircumcised or Philistines, nos. 3412, 3413, 8093. Among the ancients there was the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, and the doctrine of faith was subservient to it, nos. 2417, 3419, 4844, 4955.

The doctrine which has been formed by one enlightened, may afterwards be confirmed by means of things rational; and thus it is more fully understood and corroborated, nos. 2553, 2719, 2720, 3052, 3310, 6047 (see more on this subject above, no. 51). Those who are in faith separated from charity desire the doctrinals of the Church to be simply believed, without any rational intuition, no. 3394.

It is not the part of a wise man to confirm a dogma, but to see whether it is true before it is confirmed; and this is done among those who are in enlightenment, nos. 1017, 4741, 7012, 7680, 7950. The light of confirmation is natural, not spiritual, light, and may exist even with the wicked, no. 8780. All things, even falsities, may be confirmed, so as to appear like truths, nos. 2480, 2490, 5033, 6865, 8521.

258. In the Word there is a Spiritual Sense, which is called the Internal Sense. No one can know what the internal sense of the Word is, unless he knows what correspondence is, nos. 2895, 4322. Each and all things down to the minutest singular, in the natural world, correspond to spiritual things, and therefore are significative of these things, nos. 1886-1889, 2987-3003, 3213-3227. The spiritual things to which natural things correspond, present themselves in the Natural under a different appearance, so as not to be recognized, nos. 1887, 2395, 8920. Scarcely any one at the present day knows wherein the Divinity of the Word resides, when yet it is in its internal, that is, in its spiritual sense, the existence of which is unknown at the present day, nos. 2899, 4989. The mystical [element] of the Word is nothing else than the contents of its internal or spiritual sense, which treats of the Lord, His kingdom, and the Church, and not of the natural things which are in the world, no. 4923. In most places, the prophetic portions are not understood, and thus are of no use apart from the internal sense; shewn by examples, nos. 2608, 8020, 8398. As for instance, by the signification of the White Horse, in the Apocalypse, no. 2760 et seq.; by that of the Keys of the Kingdom of the heavens which were given to Peter (see Preface to Chapter xxii. of Genesis, no. 9410); by that of flesh, blood, bread, and wine, in the Holy Supper, and thus why it was instituted by the Lord (see no. 8602); further, by the signification of the prophecies of Jacob concerning his sons, in Chapter xlix. of Genesis, nos. 6306, 6333-6465; and by that of many prophecies concerning Judah and Israel, which are not at all in keeping with that people, and do not harmonize according to the sense of the letter, nos. 6333, 6361, 6415, 6438, 6444. Besides innumerable other instances, no. 2608.

A summary of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, nos. 1767-1777, 1869-1879. In each and all things of the Word there is an internal sense, nos. 1143, 1984, 2135, 2333, 2395, 2495, 2619. These things do not appear in the sense of the letter, but are nevertheless inwardly contained in it, no. 4442.

259. The internal sense of the Word is chiefly for the angels; and it is also for men. In order that it may be known what the internal sense is, and what its nature and origin, a summary must here be made concerning it: In heaven they speak and think differently from what they do in the world; in heaven they speak and think spiritually, in the world naturally; when, therefore, a man reads the Word, the angels who are with him perceive it spiritually, whilst men perceive it naturally; the angels consequently are in the internal sense while men are in the external; but still they make one by correspondence.

The Word is understood differently by the angels in the heavens from what it is by men on earth; the former have the internal, that is, the spiritual sense, but the latter the external, that is, the natural sense, nos. 1887, 2395. The angels perceive the Word in the internal, and not in the external sense; which is shown from the experience of those who have spoken with me out of heaven, while I was reading the Word, nos. 1769-1772. The angelic ideas and utterances are spiritual, but human ideas and utterances are natural; wherefore the internal sense which is spiritual, is for the angels; illustrated by experience, no. 2333. Nevertheless, the sense of the letter of the Word serves the spiritual ideas of the angels as mediums; comparatively, as with a man the expressions of speech are of use to the meaning of a subject, no. 2143. The things belonging to the internal sense of the Word, fall into such as belong to the light of heaven, and thus into the angelic perception, nos. 2618, 2619, 2629, 3086. Wherefore the things which the angels perceive from the Word are precious to them, nos. 2540, 2541, 2545, 2551. The angels do not understand a single expression of the sense of the letter of the Word, nos. 64, 65, 1434, 1929. They are unacquainted with the names of the persons and places mentioned in the Word, nos. 1434, 1888, 4442, 4480. Names cannot enter into heaven, and cannot be pronounced there, nos. 1876, 1888. All names in the Word signify things, and in heaven are changed into the ideas of things, nos. 768, 1888, 4310, 4442, 5225, 5287, 10329. The angels also think abstractedly from persons, nos. 6613, 8343, 8985, 9007. How exquisite the internal sense of the Word is, although [in the letter] there are mere names; shown by examples from the Word, nos. 1224, 1888, 2395. Many names in a series also express a single thing in the internal sense, no. 5095. All numbers in the Word signify things, nos. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 6175, 9488, 9659, 10217, 10253. Spirits also perceive the Word in its internal sense, in the proportion that their interiors, are open into heaven, no. 1771. The sense of the letter of the Word which is natural, on account of its correspondence, is changed instantly with the angels into the spiritual sense, no. 5648. And this is brought about without that which is contained in the literal or external sense, being heard or known, no. 10215. The literal or external sense consequently is only with man, and does not proceed any further, no. 2015.

There is the internal sense of the Word, and also the inmost or highest sense; concerning which senses see nos. 9407, 10604, 10614, 10627. The spiritual angels, that is, those who are of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, perceive the Word in its internal sense; and the celestial angels, that is, those who are of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, perceive the Word in its inmost sense, 1108. 2157, 2275.

The Word is for men, and also for angels, being accommodated to each, nos. 7381, 8862, 10322. The Word is what unites heaven and earth, nos. 2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357. The conjunction of heaven with man is effected through the Word, nos. 9396, 9400, 9401, 10452. Wherefore the Word is called the “covenant,” no. 9396; because a covenant signifies conjunction, nos. 665, 666, 1023, 1038, 1864, 1996, 2003, 2021, 6804, 8767, 8778, 9396, 10632. In the Word there is an internal sense, because the Word has descended from the Lord even to man through the three heavens, nos. 2310, 6597. Whereby it became accommodated to the angels of the three heavens, and also to men, nos. 7381, 8862. Hence it is that the Word is Divine, nos. 2989, 4989; and that it is holy, no. 10276; and that it is spiritual, no. 4480; and that it is inspired by the Divine, no. 9094. That is inspiration, no. 9094.

The man, also, who has been regenerated is actually in the internal sense of the Word, although he is ignorant of it, since his internal man which enjoys spiritual perception, has been opened, no. 10400. With him, however, the Spiritual of the Word flows into natural ideas, and thus is presented naturally, because while he lives in the world he thinks in the Natural, no. 5614. The light of truth, consequently, with those who are being enlightened, is from their Internal, that is, it is from the Lord through the Internal, nos. 10691, 10694. Through the same way, also, holiness flows in with those who esteem the Word holy, no. 6789. Since the regenerate man is actually in the internal sense of the Word, and indeed in the holiness of it, although he is ignorant of the fact, therefore after death he comes into that sense, and is no longer in the sense of the letter, nos. 3226, 3342, 3343.

260. In the internal or spiritual sense of the Word there are innumerable arcana. The Word in its internal sense contains innumerable things which transcend the human comprehension, nos. 3085, 3086. It also contains things that cannot be explained, no. 1965; which are represented only to angels, and understood by them, no. 167. The internal sense of the Word contains arcana of heaven, which relate to the Lord and His kingdom in the heavens and on earth, nos. 1-4, 937. These arcana do not appear in the sense of the letter, nos. 937, 1502, 2161. Many things contained in the prophets, appear there as detached, which in the internal sense are connected in a beautiful continuous series, nos. 7153, 9022. Not a single expression, and not even a single iota can be omitted from the sense of the letter of the Word, without causing an interruption in the internal sense; wherefore, by the Lord’s Divine Providence, the Word has been preserved entire, as to every word and every tittle, no. 7933. Innumerable things are contained in each single thing of the Word, nos. 6617, 6620, 8920; and in every expression, no. 1869. Innumerable things are contained in the Lord’s Prayer, and in each single thing thereof no. 6619; also in the Commandments of the Decalogue, in the external sense of which, nevertheless, there are some things of such a nature as are known to every nation without revelation. Nos. 8867, 8900.

In the Word, and especially in its prophetical part, there are two expressions as it were of the same thing; but one of them has relation to good, and other to truth; thus one to what is spiritual and the other to what is celestial, nos. 683, 707, 2516, 8339. Goods and truths are conjoined in the Word in a wonderful manner, and this conjunction appears only to him who is acquainted with the internal sense, no. 10554. In the Word, and in each single thing thereof, there is, consequently, the Divine marriage and also the heavenly marriage, nos. 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 5138, 7022. The Divine Marriage is the marriage of the Divine Good and the Divine Truth, thus the Lord, in whom alone is that marriage, nos. 3004, 3005, 3009, 5138, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7945, 8339, 9260, 9314. By Jesus is signified the Divine Good, and by Christ the Divine Truth; and by both, the Divine Marriage in heaven, which is the marriage of the Divine Good and the Divine Truth, nos. 3004, 3005, 3009. This marriage is in each single thing of the Word, in its internal sense; and thus the Lord is in it, as to the Divine Good and the Divine Truth, no. 5502. The marriage of good and truth from the Lord in heaven and the Church, is what is called the heavenly marriage, nos. 2508, 2618, 2803, 3004, 3211, 3952, 6179. Wherefore the Word in this respect is, as it were, heaven, nos. 2173, 10126. By virtue of the marriage of good and truth in the Word, heaven is compared in it to a marriage, nos. 2758, 3132, 4434, 4835.

The internal sense is the very doctrine of the Church, nos. 9025, 9430, 10400. Those who understand the Word according to the internal sense are acquainted with the very true doctrine of the Church, because the internal sense contains that doctrine, nos. 9025, 9430, 10400. The Internal of the Word is also the Internal of the Church, as well as the Internal of worship, no. 10460. The Word is the doctrine of love to the Lord, and of charity towards the neighbour, nos. 3419, 3420.

The Word in the letter is as the cloud, and in the internal sense it is the glory, see the Preface to Chapter xviii of Genesis, also nos. 5922, 6343, where the words, “The Lord shall come in the clouds of heaven with glory,” are explained. A cloud in the Word also signifies the Word in the sense of the letter, and glory the Word in the internal sense, see the Preface to Chapter xviii, of Genesis, also nos. 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574. The things which are in the sense of the letter, in respect to those which are in the internal sense, are like rude projections round a polished optical cylinder, by which nevertheless there is exhibited in the cylinder a beautiful image of a man, no. 1871. Those who are in favour of and acknowledge only the sense of the letter of the Word, in the other life are represented by an ugly old woman; but those who at the same time are in favor of and acknowledge the internal sense, are represented by a virgin beautifully arrayed, no. 1774. The Word in its whole aggregate is an image of heaven, because the Word is Divine Truth, and Divine Truth constitutes heaven; and since heaven has reference to one man, therefore the Word in this respect is, as it were, an image of man, no. 1871. Heaven in the aggregate has reference to one man, as may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, nos. 59-67; and the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord constitutes heaven, nos. 126-140, 200-212. The Word is presented beautifully and agreeably before the angels, nos. 1767, 1768. The sense of the letter is like the body, and the internal sense like the soul of that body, no. 8943. The Word, consequently, has life by virtue of the internal sense, nos. 1405, 4857. In the internal sense the Word is pure, and it does not appear so in the sense of the letter, nos. 2362, 2395. Those things which are in the sense of the letter of the Word are holy from internal things, nos. 10126, 10728.

In the historical parts of the Word there is also an internal sense, but it is contained interiorly within them, no. 4989. The historical parts of the Word thus contain arcana of heaven, just like the prophetical parts, nos. 755, 1659, 1709, 2310, 2333. The angels perceive these parts not historically, but spiritually, no. 6884. The reason why the interior arcana which are contained in the historical parts, are less evident to a man than those contained in the prophetical parts, nos. 2176, 6597.

Further particulars concerning the quality of the internal sense of the Word, shown, nos. 1756, 1984, 2004, 2663, 3035, 7089, 10604, 10614; and illustrated by comparisons, no. 1873.

261. The Word was composed by means of correspondences, and thus by means of representatives. As to the sense of the letter, the Word was composed by means of pure correspondences, and thus by means of such things as represent and signify the spiritual things which belong to heaven and the Church, nos. 1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 2179, 2763, 2899. This was done for the sake of the internal sense, which is in each single thing, no. 2899; and thus for the sake of heaven, since those who are in heaven do not understand the Word according to the sense of the letter, which is natural; but according to the internal sense which is spiritual, no. 2899. The Lord spoke through correspondences, representatives, significatives, because He spoke from the Divine, nos. 9048, 9063, 9086, 10126, 10728. The Lord therefore spoke before the world, and before heaven, nos. 2533, 4807, 9048, 9063, 9086. The things which the Lord spoke filled the whole heaven, no. 4637. The historical things of the Word are representative; the words are significative, nos. 1540, 1659, 1709, 1783, 2686. The Word could not have been composed in any other style, in order that through it there might be communication and conjunction with the heavens, nos. 2899, 6943, 9481. Those are much mistaken who despise the Word on account of its apparently simple and uncouth style, and who think that they would receive the Word if it had been written in another style, no. 8783. The most ancient people also had a method and a style of writing by means of representatives and significatives, nos. 605, 1756, 9942. The ancient wise men were delighted with the Word, on account of the representatives and significatives therein; from experience, nos. 2592, 2593. If a man of the Most Ancient Church had read the Word, he would have seen clearly the things which are in its internal sense, and obscurely those which are in its external sense, no. 4493. The sons of Jacob were led into the land of Canaan, because all the places therein had become representative from the most ancient times, nos. 1585, 3686, 4447, 5136, 6516; and that thus there might be written in it a Word, in which places might be named for the sake of the internal sense, nos. 3686, 4447, 5136, 6516. But the Word was, nevertheless, altered as to the external sense, for the sake of that nation, yet not as to the internal sense, nos. 10453, 10461, 10603, 10604. In order that it may be known what the correspondences and representatives in the Word are, and what their quality, something shall also be said concerning them.

All things which correspond likewise represent and hence signify, so that correspondences and representatives are one thing, nos. 2896, 2897, 2973, 2987, 2989, 2990, 3002, 3225. What correspondences and representatives are; from experience and examples, nos. 2763, 2987-3002, 3213-3226, 3337-3352, 3472-3485, 4218-4228, 9280. The science of correspondences and representatives was the chief science among the ancients, nos. 3021, 3419, 4280, 4748, 4844, 4964, 4966, 6004, 7729, 10252; especially among the eastern nations, nos. 5702, 6692, 7097, 7779, 9391, 10252, 10407; and in Egypt more than elsewhere, nos. 5702, 6692, 7097, 7779, 9391, 10407. Likewise among the Gentiles, as in Greece and other places, nos. 2762, 7729. At this day, however, that science is among the lost sciences, particularly in Europe, nos. 2894, 2895, 2994, 3630, 3632, 3747-3749, 4581, 4966, 10252. This science, nevertheless, is more excellent than all other sciences, because apart from it the Word cannot be understood, nor can the signification of the rites of the Jewish Church, which are treated of in the Word, be known; neither can the nature of heaven be known, nor what the Spiritual is, nor how the case is with spiritual influx into the Natural, with many other things, no. 4280, and the passages cited above. All things which appear among the angels and spirits are representative, according to the correspondences of such things as belong to love and faith, nos. 1971, 3213-3226, 3349, 3475, 3485, 9481, 9574, 9576, 9577. The heavens are full of representatives, nos. 1521, 1532, 1619. Representatives appear more beautiful and perfect, in proportion as they are more interiorly in the heavens, no. 3475. The representatives there are real appearances, because they are from the light of heaven which is Divine Truth, and Divine Truth is the very Essential of the existence of all things, no. 3485.

The reason why each and all things in the spiritual world are represented in the natural world, is that the Internal clothes itself with appropriate things in the External, whereby it presents itself visibly and becomes apparent, nos. 6275, 6284, 6299. The end thus clothes itself with suitable things so as to present itself as the cause in a lower sphere, and afterwards as the effect in a sphere lower still; and when the end through the cause becomes the effect, it becomes visible, that is, appears before the eyes, no. 5711. This may be illustrated by the influx of the soul into the body, namely, that the soul becomes clothed in the body with such things as render it possible for things which the soul thinks and wills to appear and to be presented visibly; when, therefore, the thought flows down into the body, it is represented by such gestures and actions as correspond, no. 2988. The affections, belonging to the mind, are represented in the face, through the various expressions of the countenance, so as to appear therein, nos. 4791-4805, 5695. Hence it is evident, that in each and all things of nature, there is latent interiorly a cause and an end from the spiritual world, nos. 3562, 5711; since those things which are in nature are ultimate effects in which are prior things, nos. 4240, 4939, 5051, 6275, 6284, 6299, 9216. Internal things are those which are represented, and external things those which represent, no. 4292.

Since all things in nature are representative of spiritual and celestial things, therefore, in ancient times, there were Churches wherein all the externals which were rituals, were representative; wherefore those Churches were called representative Churches, nos. 519, 521, 2896. The Church which was instituted among the sons of Israel was a representative Church, nos. 1003, 2179, 10149. All the rituals in it were externals which represented the internal things belonging to heaven and the Church, nos. 4288, 4874. The representatives of the Church and of worship ceased when the Lord came into the world, because the Lord laid open the internal things of the Church, and because all the externals of the Church, in the highest sense, had respect to Him, no. 4832.

262. The literal or external sense of the Word. The sense of the letter of the Word is according to the appearances in the world, nos. 589, 926, 1832, 1838, 1874, 2242, 2520, 2533, 2719; and accommodated to the comprehension of the simple-minded, nos. 2533, 9048, 9063, 9086. The Word in the sense of the letter is natural, no. 8783; because the Natural is the ultimate in which spiritual and celestial things terminate, and upon which they rest, like a house upon its foundation; and otherwise the internal sense of the Word apart from the external would be like a house without a foundation, nos. 9360, 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436. Since the Word is of such a quality, it is the continent of the spiritual and celestial senses, no. 9407. And, because it is of such a quality, the holy Divine is in the sense of the letter, as to each and all things therein, even down to every iota, nos. 639, 680, 1869, 1870, 9198, 10321, 10537. Although the laws which were enacted for the sons of Israel, have been abrogated, they are still the Holy Word, on account of the internal sense within them, nos. 9211, 9259, 9349. Among the laws, judgments, and statutes for the Israelitish and Jewish Church, which was a representative Church, there are some which are still in force, both in the external and the internal sense; there are some that ought by all means to be observed in their external sense; there are others that may be of use, if people are so disposed, and there are still others that are altogether abrogated, concerning which see no. 9349. The Word is Divine, even as to those things which have been abrogated, no. 10637.

Concerning the quality of the Word in the sense of the letter, if it is not understood at the same time as to the internal sense, or, what amounts to the same thing, according to true doctrine from the Word, no. 10402. Innumerable heresies spring from the sense of the letter apart from the internal sense, that is, apart from genuine doctrine from the Word, no. 10400. Those who are in an External apart from an Internal cannot endure the interior things of the Word, no. 10694. The Jews were of such a character, and they are also such at the present day, nos. 301-303, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4947, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10694, 10701, 10707.

263. The Lord is the Word. In its inmost sense the Word treats only of the Lord, and there are described in it all the states of the glorification of His Human, that is, of its union with the very Divine; and likewise all the states of the subjugation of the hells, and of the orderly arrangement of all things in them and in the heavens, nos. 2249, 7014. In that sense, consequently, the Lord’s whole life in the world is described, and through it there is the Lord’s continuous presence with the angels, no. 2523. Consequently the Lord alone is in the inmost of the Word, and the Divinity and holiness of the Word is thence, nos. 1873, 9357. The Lord’s saying that the Scripture was fulfilled concerning Him, signifies that all the things which are contained in the inmost sense were fulfilled, no. 7933.

The Word signifies the Divine Truth, nos. 4692, 5075, 9987. The Lord is the Word because He is the Divine Truth, no. 2533. The Lord also is the Word because the Word is from Him, and concerning Him, no. 2859. And because in the inmost sense it treats of the Lord alone, wherefore the Lord Himself is therein, nos. 1873, 9357. And because in each and all things of the Word there is the marriage of the Divine Good and the Divine Truth, nos. 3004, 5502. Jesus denotes the Divine Good, and Christ the Divine Truth, nos. 3004, 3005, 3009. The Divine Truth is the only reality, and that in which it is, which is from the Divine, the only substantiality, nos. 5272, 6880, 7004, 8200. Since the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord is light in heaven, and the Divine Good heat in heaven; and since all things in heaven exist therefrom, and the natural world exists through heaven, that is, through the spiritual world; it is evident that all things that have been created, were created out of the Divine Truth, that is, out of the Word, according to these words in John: “In the beginning was the Word; and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; and through it were all things made which were made; AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH;” nos. 2803, 2894, 5272, 7796. Further particulars concerning the creation of all things by the Divine Truth, thus, by the Lord, may be seen in the Work on Heaven and Hell, no. 137. And more fully in the two articles therein, nos. 116-125, and nos. 126-140.

The conjunction of the Lord with man has place through the Word, by means of the internal sense, no. 10375. By means of each and all the things of the Word there is conjunction, and therefore the Word is more wonderful than any other writing nos. 10632-10634. Since the Word was written, the Lord speaks with men by means of it, no. 10290.

264. Those who are opposed to the Word. Concerning those who despise, scoff at, blaspheme, and profane the Word, no. 1878. Their quality in the other life, nos. 1761, 9222. They have reference to the viscous parts of the blood, no. 5719. The great danger arising from the profanation of the Word, nos. 571-582. How injurious it is, if the principles of falsity - especially those that favour the love of self and of the world - are confirmed by means of the Word, no. 589. Those who have no affection for truth for the sake of truth, utterly reject the internal sense of the Word, and are nauseated by it; from experience, no. 5702. Concerning some in the other life who had rejected the interior things of the Word, that they were deprived of rationality, no. 1879.

265. Further particulars concerning the Word. The term “word,” in the Hebrew tongue, signifies various things; namely, speech, the thought of the mind, everything which has a real existence, and also something, no. 9987. The Word signifies the Divine Truth and the Lord, nos. 4692, 5075, 9987. Words signify truths, nos. 4692, 5075. They signify doctrinals, no. 1288. The ten words signify all Divine Truths, no. 10688. They signify the thing which have a real existence, nos. 1785, 5075, 5272.

In the Word, particularly in its prophetic portion, two expressions are used concerning one thing one has reference to good, and the other to truth, and they are thus conjoined, nos. 683, 707, 2516, 8339. Which expression has relation to good, and which to truth, can be known only from the internal sense of the Word; for there are special words by which the things which have reference to good are expressed, and there are special words by which the things which have reference to truth are expressed, nos. 793, 801. And this is carried so far, that from the mere words which are predicated, it may be known whether the subject treated of is good, or whether it is truth, no. 2722. Sometimes also in one expression is involved something general, and in another something that has been determined by [that] general, no. 2212. There is a kind of reciprocation in the Word, concerning which see no. 2240. Most things in the Word have also an opposite meaning, no. 4816. The internal sense follows its subject, in the manner of a predicate, no. 4502.

Those who have been delighted with the Word, in the other life receive the heat of heaven, in which there is heavenly love, according to the quality and the quantity of their delight from love, no. 1773.

266. Which are the Books of the Word. The books of the Word are all those which have an internal sense; but those books which have no internal sense, are not the Word. The books of the Word, in the Old Testament, are: the five Books of Moses, the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the two Books of Samuel, the two Books of Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: and in the New Testament, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Book of Revelation. The rest have no internal sense, no. 10325

8.3 Assignment 8

Briefly record your experience of reading the Word and coming to understand something of its meaning for you:

1. When has the Word simply presented its inner meaning to you?
2. When have you had to work at it?
3. Has the Word ever refused your attempts to force a particular meaning upon its text?
4. Do you sense that it is the Lord speaking to you?
5. Identify what you would consider to be an appropriate way to approach and read the Word - what has been helpful and what a hinderance?

“… the Divine out of love towards the human race, has revealed such things as will lead to eternal life, and conduce to a man’s salvation.” (paragraph 251)

6. If the Word is the Divine means to achieve salvation, how effective do you believe this means to be?
7. Might there be other ways to achieve the same end - why / why not?

In paragraphs 252 and 254, Swedenborg talks about the Word being “accommodated” to the wisdom of angels and the comprehension of men.

8. Why is it necessary to shape truth according to our understanding?
9. Why wouldn’t it be more efficient to reveal actual Divine Truth?

Paragraph 261 (part of the reference section of this chapter) presents two important ideas which Swedenborg spends a great detail of time on elsewhere: the Science of Correspondences, and End - Cause - Effect.

10. Use these ideas to explain what the Word is, it’s purpose, and the means by which it might be understood.

Paragraph 266 lists those books of the Bible in which there is an internal sense and which are considered to comprise the Word.

11. What do you think and feel about this list?
12. Swedenborg is often accused of “taking away from the Word.” (see Deuteronomy 12:32; Revelation 22: 18, 19) What is your opinion of that charge

9. Providence

9.1 Introduction

Again, we see Swedenborg turning his back on the rationalism of some of his contemporaries, in contemplating the work of the Lord in human affairs. Later he was to write a whole book on the subject.

267. 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?

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.

9.2 The Heavenly Arcana

Since all the good which is provided by the Lord for man flows in, therefore in what follows there shall also be adduced from the Heavenly Arcana what is stated there concerning Influx: and since the Lord provides all things according to Divine Order, there shall likewise be adduced what is stated there concerning Order.

276. Providence. Providence is the Lord’s government in the heavens and on earth, no. 10773. By Providence Lord governs all things according to order; wherefore, government according to order, is Providence, nos. 1755, 2447. He governs all things either from will, from leave, or from permission; and thus in a different way according to a man’s quality, nos. 1755, 2447, 3704, 9940. Providence acts invisibly, no. 5508. Most things which happen under Providence, appear to a man as if they took place by chance, no. 5508. Providence acts invisibly for this reason, that a man be not compelled to believe from things visible, and that thus his freedom be not violated; for unless a man is in a state of freedom he cannot be reformed, and thus cannot be saved, nos. 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3854, 5508, 5982, 6477, 8209, 8987, 9588, 10409, 10777. Divine Providence has no respect to temporal things, which pass away shortly, but to eternal things, nos. 5264, 8717, 10776; illustrated, no. 6491. Those who do not comprehend this, believe that wealth and rank in the world are the only things which are provided, which therefore they call blessings from the Divine; when yet they are not regarded by the Lord as blessings, but only as means for a man’s life in the world; but the Lord has respect to those things which contribute to a man’s eternal happiness, nos. 10409, 10776. Those who are in the [stream of the] Lord’s Divine Providence, are led to eternity, in each and all things, to the things of blessedness, nos. 8478, 8480. Those who ascribe all things to nature and to their own prudence, and nothing to the Divine, neither think nor comprehend this, nos. 6484, 10409, 10775.

The Lord’s Divine Providence is not, as is believed in world, universal only; and the particulars, that is, the singulars do not belong to a man’s own prudence, nos. 8717, 10775. No universal is possible except from singulars, and together with them: for the singulars taken together are called a universal just as the particulars taken together are called a general, nos. 1919, 6159, 6338, 6482-6484. The universal is such as are the singulars from which, and together with which, it exists, nos. 917, 1040, 6483, 8857. The Lord’s Providence is universal, because it is in the minutest singulars, nos. 1919, 2694, 4329, 5122, 5949, 6058, 6481-6486, 6490, 7004, 7007, 8717, 10774; confirmed from heaven, no. 6486. Unless the Lord’s Divine Providence were, universal from, and in, the minutest singulars, nothing could subsist, no. 6338. All things are thereby arranged in order, and kept in order, in general and in particular, no. 6338. The case herein is comparatively as with a king on earth, nos. 6482, 10800. A man’s own prudence is like a small speck in the universe, while the Divine Providence is respectively like the universe itself, no. 6485. That this is so, men in the world comprehend with difficulty, nos. 8717, 10775, 10780: because many fallacies oppose themselves, and induce blindness, no. 6481. Concerning a certain person in the other life, who by dint of confirmation had believed in the world, that all things belonged to his own prudence, and nothing to the Divine Providence; the things which were with him appeared to be infernal, no. 6484.

The quality Of the Lord’s Providence with respect to evils, nos. 6481, 6495, 6574, 10777, 10779. Evils are governed by the Lord by the laws of permission, and they are permitted for the sake of order, nos. 8700, 10778. The permission of evil by the Lord is not the permission of one who wills, but of one who does not will, yet who, under the urgency of the end which is salvation, cannot bring assistance, no. 7877. The leaving a man from his own freedom to think, and will evil, and, so far as the laws do not forbid, to do it, is permitting, no. 10778. Apart from freedom, and thus apart from permission, a man cannot be reformed, and thus cannot be saved, as may be seen above in the Doctrine concerning Freedom, nos. 141-149.

To the Lord belong Providence and Foresight, and the one does not exist without the other, nos. 5195, 6489. Good is provided for by the Lord, and evil foreseen, nos. 5155, 5195, 6489, 10781.

There is no such thing as predestination or fate, no. 6487. All are predestined to heaven and none to hell, no. 6488. Under Providence there is no absolute necessity with a man, but he is in perfect freedom - illustrated by comparison, no. 6487. By the “Elect” in the Word are meant those who lead a life of good, and consequently of truth, nos. 3755, 3900, 5057, 5058. How “God causeth one to meet another’s hand” (Exod. xxi. 13) is to be understood, no. 9010.

Fortune, which in many things in the world appears wonderful, is the operation of the Divine Providence in the ultimate of order, according to the quality of a man’s state; and this may serve as a confirmation that the Divine Providence is in the most minute singulars of all things, nos. 5049, 5179, 6493, 6494. Fortune comes from the spiritual world, and consequently its variations; also from experience, nos. 5179, 6493, 6494.

277. Influx. Concerning the influx of heaven into the world, and the influx of the soul into all things of the body; from experience, nos. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495, 6598-6626. Nothing exists from itself, but from something prior to itself; thus all things from a First, nos. 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056. All things even as they have existed, so also they subsist, because subsistence is perpetual existence, nos. 2886, 2888, 3627, 3628, 3648, 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056. Influx takes place according to that order, no. 7270. From this it is evident that all things perpetually subsist from a first Esse, because they have had their existence therefrom, nos. 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056. The all of life flows in from a First, because it is from it - thus from the Lord, nos. 3001, 3318, 3337, 3338, 3344, 3484, 3628, 3741-3743, 4318-4320, 4417, 4524, 4882, 5847, 5986, 6325, 6468-6470, 6479, 9276, 10196. All Existere is from Esse, and nothing can exist unless its own Esse is in it, nos. 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056.

All things which a man thinks and wills enter by influx; from experience, nos. 904, 2886-2888, 4151, 4319, 4320, 5846, 5848, 6189, 6191, 6194, 6197-6199, 6213, 7147, 10219. A man’s ability of beholding things, of thinking, and of drawing analytical conclusions, is from influx, nos. 2888, 4319, 4320. If the influx from the spiritual world were taken away from a man he could not live for a moment; but the man is still in freedom; from experience, nos. 2887, 5849, 5854, 6321. The life which flows in from the Lord is varied according to a man’s state, and according to reception, nos. 2069, 5986, 6472, 7343. The good which flows in from the Lord is with the wicked turned into evil, and truth into falsity; from experience, nos. 3643, 4632. So far as the good and truth, which constantly flow in from the Lord, are received, so far evil and falsity do not obstruct, nos. 2411, 3142, 3147, 5828.

All good flows in from the Lord, and all evil from hell, nos. 904, 4151. A man at the present day believes that all things are in himself and from himself, when nevertheless they enter by influx, and he knows from a doctrinal of the Church that all good is from heaven, and all evil from hell, nos. 4249, 6193, 6206. But if he would believe as the case really is, he would not appropriate evil to himself: for he would cast it away from himself into hell; neither would he account good to be his own, and thus would not claim any merit from it, nos. 6206, 6324, 6325. How happy the state of a man would then be, because from the interior he would then see from the Lord both good and evil, no. 6325. Those who deny heaven, or know nothing about it, are ignorant of the fact that there is any influx from it, nos. 4322, 5649, 6193, 6479. What influx is; illustrated by comparisons, nos. 6128, 6190, 9407.

Influx is spiritual and not physical; consequently, there is an influx from the spiritual world into the natural, and not from the natural world into the spiritual, nos. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9109, 9110. Spiritual influx takes place through the internal into the external man, and not conversely, nos. 1702, 1707, 1940, 1954, 5119, 5259, 5779, 6322, 9380: because the internal man is in the spiritual world, and the external in the natural world, nos. 978, 1015, 3628, 4459, 4523, 4524, 6057, 6309, 9701-9709, 10156, 10472. The appearance is as though influx passed from external into internal things, but this is a fallacy, no. 3721. Influx with a man takes place into his rational, and through them into his scientific things, and not conversely, nos. 1495, 1707, 1940. The nature of the order of influx, nos. 775, 880, 1096, 1495, 7270.

There is an immediate influx from the Lord, and also a mediate influx through the spiritual world, that is, through heaven, nos. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. The Lord’s immediate influx takes place into the minutest singulars, nos. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717, 8728. Concerning the Lord’s mediate influx through heaven, nos. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996; it takes place through the spirits and angels who are adjoined to the man, nos. 697, 5846-5866. Through angels the Lord flows into the ends from which, and for the sake of which, a man thinks, wills, and acts, nos. 1317, 1645, 5846, 5854; and thus He flows into those things which belong to conscience with a man, nos. 6207, 6213. Through spirits however He flows into the thoughts, and from them into the things of the memory, nos. 4186, 5854, 5858, 6192, 6193, 6198, 6199, 6319. It is difficult for man to believe this, no. 6214. The Lord flows into first, and at the same time into last, things, that is, He flows into inmost, and at the same time into outermost, things, and in what manner, nos. 5147, 5150, 6473, 7004, 7007, 7270. The Lord’s influx with a man is into good, and through good into truth, and not conversely, nos. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153. Good imparts the faculty of receiving influx from the Lord, but not truth apart from good, no. 8321. Nothing is hurtful that enters into the thought, but that which enters into the will, because this is appropriated to the man, no. 6308. The Divine in the highest parts is tacit and peaceful but in proportion as it descends with a man towards the lower parts, it becomes unpeaceful and noisy, on account of the things therein being without order, no. 8823. The quality of the Lord’s influx with the prophets, no. 6212.

There is a general influx; which is described, no. 5850. It consists in a constant effort of acting according to order, no. 6211. This influx takes place into the lives of animals, no. 5850. And also into the subjects of the vegetable kingdom, no. 3648. Thought also in accordance with general influx descends with man into speech, and will into gestures, nos. 5862, 5990, 6192,6211.

278. The Influx of Life with Man in particular. There is one only life, from which all both in heaven and in the world live, nos. 1954, 2021, 2536, 2658, 2886-2889, 3001, 3484, 3742, 5847, 6467. This life is from the Lord alone; illustrated by various things, nos. 2886-2889, 3344, 3484, 4319, 4320, 4524, 4882, 5986, 6325, 6468-6470, 9276, 10196. The Lord is Life itself; see John i. 1, 4; v. 26; xiv. 6. Life from the Lord flows in with angels, spirits, and men, in a wonderful manner, nos. 2886-2889, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3742. The Lord flows in from His Divine Love, which is of such a character, that it wills that what is its own shall be another’s, nos. 3742, 4320. All love is such a quality; the Divine Love, consequently, is infinitely more, so, nos. 1820, 1865, 2253, 6872. Life thus appears as though it were within man, and not as if it were flowing in, nos. 3742, 4320. Life appears as if it were within man also, for this reason, that the principal cause which is life from the Lord, and the instrumental cause which is the recipient form, act as one cause, which is felt in the instrumental cause, no. 6325. The chief thing of the wisdom and intelligence of the angels consists in perceiving and knowing that the all of life is from the Lord, no. 4318. Concerning the joy of the angels arising from their not living from themselves, but from the Lord, which was perceived and confirmed by their speech to me, no. 6469. The evil are not willing to be convinced that life enters by influx, no. 3743. Doubts concerning the influx of life from the Lord cannot be removed, so long as fallacies, ignorance, and a negative principle prevail, no. 6479. All who are of the Church know, that all good and truth are from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, and that all evil and falsity are from hell; when yet the all of life has relation to good and truth, and to evil and falsity, so much so indeed, that apart from them there is nothing of life, nos. 2893, 4151. This also is declared by a doctrinal of the Church, which is derived from the Word, no. 4249. Nevertheless a man does not believe that life enters by influx, no. 4249. If communication and conjunction with spirits and angels were taken away, a man would instantly die, no. 2887. From this it is also evident, that the all of life flows in from the First Esse of life, because nothing has existed from itself, but from things prior to itself, and thus each and all things from a First; and because, even as a thing has existed, so also it is bound to subsist, subsistence being perpetual existence, nos. 4523, 4524. Angels, spirits, and men, have been created in order to receive life, wherefore they are only forms recipient of life, nos. 2021, 3001, 3318, 3344, 3484, 3742, 4151, 5114, 5986. They are such forms as is their quality of reception, nos. 2888, 3001, 3484, 5847, 5986, 6467, 6472. Wherefore men, spirits, and angels are of such a character, as they are forms recipient of life from the Lord, nos. 2888, 5847, 5986, 6467, 6472. Man has been so created that in his inmost parts, and from thence in those which follow in order, he is able to receive the Divine and to be raised to the Divine, and to be conjoined with the Divine through the good of love and the truths of faith; on which account, differently from animals, he lives to eternity, no. 5114

Life from the Lord flows in likewise with the wicked, and hence also with those who are in hell, nos. 2706, 3743, 4417, 10196. But the latter turn good into evil, and truth into falsity, and thus life into spiritual death; for such as the man is, such is his reception of life, nos. 4319, 4320, 4417. Goods and truths from the Lord also flow in constantly with them; but they either reject, suffocate, or pervert them, no. 3743. Those who are in evils and the falsities thence, have no real life; the quality of their life, nos. 726, 4623, 10284, 10286.

279. Order. It is from the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord that Order is, and Divine Good is the essential of Order, nos. 1728, 2258, 8700, 8988. The Lord is order, because Divine Good and Divine Truth are from the Lord, yea, are the Lord, in the heavens and on earth, nos. 1919, 2011, 5110, 5703, 10336, 10619. Divine truths are the laws of order, nos. 2447, 7995. Where order is, there the Lord is present; but where there is no order, there the Lord is not present, no. 5703. Since Divine Truth is order, and Divine Good the essential of order, therefore each and all things in the universe, in order to be something, have reference to good and truth, because they have reference to order, nos. 2452, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555. Because good is the essential of order, therefore it arranges truths into order; and not conversely, nos. 3316, 3470, 4302, 5704, 5709, 6028, 6690. The universal heaven, so far as all the angelic societies are concerned, has been arranged by the Lord according to His Divine order, because the Divine of the Lord with the angels constitutes heaven, nos. 6338, 7211, 9128, 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157. For this reason, the form of heaven is a form according to Divine order, nos. 4040-4043, 6607, 9877.

So far as a man lives according to order, and thus so far as he is in good according to Divine truths, which are the laws of order, so far he is a man, no. 4839. So far indeed as he lives thus, he appears in the other life is a perfect and handsome man; but so far as he does not live thus, so far he appears as a monster, nos. 4839, 6605, 6626. From this it is evident that it is man into whom are collected all things of order, and that from creation man is Divine order in form, nos. 4219, 4220, 4223, 4523, 4524, 5114, 5368, 6013, 6057, 6605, 6626, 9706, 10156, 10472. Because every angel is a recipient of Divine order from the Lord, he is in a human form which is perfect and beautiful according to reception, nos. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 3804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879, 10177, 10594. The angelic heaven, in its whole aggregate, in form is also like a man; and indeed for this reason that the entire universal heaven, in respect to all the angelic societies therein, has been arranged by the Lord according to Divine order, nos. 2996, 2998, 3624-3629, 3636-3643, 3741-3745, 4625. From this it is evident, that it is the Divine Human from which are all these things, nos. 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745. From this it also follows, that the Lord is the only Man, and that those are men who receive the Divine from Him, no. 1894. So far as they receive the latter, so far they are images of the Lord, no. 8547.

A man is not born into good and truth, but into evil and falsity; thus he is not born into Divine order, but into the opposite of order; and on this account it is that he is born into sheer ignorance, and that he must necessarily be born anew, that is, regenerated; which is brought about through Divine truths from the Lord, and through a life according thereto, to the intent that he may be initiated into order, and thus become a man, nos. 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731. When the Lord regenerates a man, He arranges all things with him according to order, that is, according to the form of heaven, nos. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303. The man who is led by the Lord, is led according to Divine order, no. 8512. The interiors which are of the mind, with the man who is in Divine order are open into heaven, even to the Lord, but they are closed with him who is not in Divine order, no. 8513. So far as a man lives according to order, so far he has intelligence and wisdom, no. 2592.

The Lord governs the first and last things of order, and He governs the first things from the last, and the last things from the first; and thus He holds all things together in connexion and order, nos. 3702, 3739, 6040, 6056, 9828. Concerning successive order; and the ultimate of order, in which things successive are also together in their order, nos. 634, 3691, 4145, 5114, 5897, 6239, 6326, 6465, 8603, 9215, 9216, 9828, 9836, 10044, 10099, 10329, 10335.

Evils and falsities are contrary to order, and still they are governed by the Lord, not according to order, but from order, nos. 4839, 7877, 10778. Evils and falsities are governed through the laws of permission, and indeed for the sake of order, nos. 7877, 8700, 10778. What is opposed to Divine order is impossible; as for instance, that a man who lives in evil can be saved from pure Mercy, and further, that in the other life the evil may be consociated with the good, and many other things, no. 8700.

9.3 Assignment 9

1. Use this chapter to describe the motivation, focus and activity of the Divine Providence to someone not versed in Swedenborgian thought.
2. How do you understand the Lord’s presence and working with the evil from this chapter ?
3. Paragraphs 271 and 274 make reference to “Laws of Divine Order” - what are these ?
4. What is “Influx” ? see paragraphs 277 and 278 in the reference section

9.4 Journal Work

During your quiet time, observe your thoughts and emotions. After observing them, experiment with stopping the thoughts, and observe the impact upon your emotions. (from Aim: The Workbook by Peter Rhodes)

9.5 Further Reading

• Divine Providence, by Emanuel

10. The Lord

10.1 Introduction

This is the third chapter which refutes the claims of the deists, who denied that the Lord could or would come into the world. But the other great heresies of the contemporary Christian church are also treated here.

280. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

10.2 The Heavenly Arcana

298. The Divine was the Lord’s from His very conception. The Lord had the Divine from the Father, nos. 4641, 4963, 5041, 5157, 6716, 10125. The Lord alone had Divine seed, no. 1438. His soul was Jehovah, nos. 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025. The inmost of the Lord was thus the very Divine, the covering was from the mother, no. 5041. The Divine Itself was the Esse of the Lord’s life, from which the Human subsequently went forth, and became the Existere from that Esse, nos. 3194, 3210, 10269, 10372.

299. The Lord’s Divine is to be acknowledged. Within the Church where the Word is, and where the Lord thereby is known, neither the Lord’s Divine nor the Holy proceeding from Him, ought to be denied, no. 2359. Those who within the Church do not acknowledge the Lord, have no conjunction with the Divine; it is different with those who are outside the Church, no. 10205. The essential of the Church is to acknowledge the Lord’s Divine and His unition with the Father, nos. 10083, 10112, 10370, 10730, 10738, 10816-10818, 10820.

300. The Lord glorified His Human in the world. In many places in the Word the Lord’s glorification is treated of, no. 10828; and in the internal sense it is treated of throughout, nos. 2249, 2523, 3245. The Lord glorified His Human, not His Divine, because this was glorified in itself, no. 10057. The Lord came into the world in order to glorify His Human, nos. 3637, 4287, 9315. The Lord glorified His Human through the Divine which was in Him from conception, no. 4727. An idea of the glorification of the Lord’s Human may be had from the idea of man’s regeneration, since the Lord regenerates man in the same manner in which He glorified His Human, nos. 3043, 3138, 3212, 3296, 3490, 4402, 5688. Some things about the arcana concerning the glorification of the Lord’s Human, no. 10057. The Lord saved the human race by glorifying His Human, nos. 1676, 4180. The state of the Lord’s glorification and humiliation, nos. 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866. Glorification when predicated of the Lord, means the unition of His Human with the Divine, and glorifying means making Divine, nos. 1603, 10053, 10828.

301. While the Lord was in the world, He subjugated the hells from His Human. While the Lord was in the world, He subjugated all the hells, and He then reduced to order all things in the heavens and in the hells, nos. 4075, 4287, 9937. The Lord delivered then the spiritual world from the antediluvians, no. 1266. What their quality was, nos. 310, 311, 560, 562, 563, 570, 581, 607, 660, 805, 808, 1034, 1120, 1265-1272. By the subjugation of the hells, and the glorification of His Human at the same time, the Lord saved mankind, nos. 4180, 10019, 10152, 10655, 10659, 10828.

302. The glorification of the Lord’s Human and the subjugation of the hells, were effected through temptations. The Lord underwent more grievous temptations than all others, nos. 1663, 1668, 1787, 2776, 2786, 2795, 2816, 4295, 9528. The Lord fought from the Divine Love towards the human race, nos. 1690, 1691, 1812, 1813, 1820. The Lord’s Love was the salvation of the human race, no. 1820. The hells fought against the Lord’s Love, no. 1820. The Lord alone, from His own power, fought against the hells, and overcame them, nos. 1692, 1813, 2816, 4295, 8273, 9937. The Lord alone thereby became Justice and Merit, nos. 1813, 2025-2027, 9715, 9809, 10019. The Lord’s last temptation was in Gethsemane and upon the cross; and then also [He gained] the complete victory, through which He subjugated the hells, and at the same time glorified His Human, nos. 2776, 2803, 2813, 2814, 10655, 10659, 10828. The Lord could not be tempted as to the Divine Itself, nos. 2795, 2803, 2813, 2814. Wherefore He assumed an infirm Human from the mother, into which He admitted temptations, nos. 1414, 1444, 1573, 5041, 5157, 7193, 9315. Through temptations and victories He expelled everything hereditary from the mother, and He put off the human from her, till at length He was no longer her son, nos. 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10830. In temptations, Jehovah, who was in Him, appeared as absent, and indeed in the proportion in which He was in the human from the mother, no. 1815. This state was the state of the Lord’s humiliation, nos. 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866. Through temptations and victories the Lord also arranged into order all things in the heavens, nos. 4287, 4295, 9528, 9937. Through the same temptations and victories He likewise united His Human with His Divine, that is, He glorified His Human, nos. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 3318, 3381, 3382, 4286, 4287, 4295, 9528, 9937.

303. While the Lord was in the world, His Human was the Divine Truth. While the Lord was in the world, from the Divine Good which was in Him, He made His Human the Divine Truth, nos. 2803, 3194, 3195, 3210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199. The Lord then arranged all things in Himself into the heavenly form, which is according to the Divine Truth, nos. 1928, 3633. Heaven, consequently, was then in the Lord, and the Lord was as heaven, nos. 911, 1900, 1928, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523-4525, 6013, 6057, 6690, 9279, 9632, 9931, 10303. The Lord spoke from the very Divine Truth, no. 8127. Wherefore the Lord spoke in the Word by correspondences, nos. 3131, 3472-3485, 8615, 10687. For this reason the Lord is the Word, and is called the Word, which is the Divine Truth, nos. 2533, 2813, 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712. The Son of Man, in the Word, signifies the Divine Truth, and the Father the Divine Good, nos. 2803, 3704, 7499, 8724, 9194. Since the Lord was Divine Truth, He was Divine Wisdom, nos. 2500, 2572. The Lord alone had perception and thought from Himself, beyond all angelic perception and thought, nos. 1904, 1914, 1919. The Divine Truth could be tempted, but not the Divine Good, no. 2814.

304. The Lord united the Divine Truth with the Divine Good, and thus the Human with the Divine Itself. The Lord was instructed like any other man, nos. 1457, 1461, 2523, 3030. The Lord advanced successively, even to union with the Father, nos. 1864, 2033, 2632, 3141, 4585, 7014, 10076. So far as the Lord was united to the Father, so far He spoke as with Himself; but at other times He spoke with Him as with another, nos. 1745, 1999, 7058. The Lord united the Human to the Divine from His own power nos. 1616, 1749, 1752, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2523, 3141, 5005, 5045, 6716. The Lord united the Divine Truth which was Himself, with the Divine Good which was in Himself, nos. 10047, 10052, 10076. The unition was reciprocal, nos. 2004, 10067. When the Lord departed out of the world, He made His Human Divine Good, nos. 3194, 3210, 6864, 7499, 8724, 9199, 10076. Thus He came forth from the Father, and returned to the Father, nos. 3194, 3210. He thus became one with the Father, nos. 2751, 3704, 4766. In the unition with the very Divine which was in Himself, the Lord had respect to the conjunction of Himself with the human race, no. 2034. Since the unition the Divine Truth proceeds from the Lord, nos. 3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 7499, 8127, 8241, 9199, 9398. How the Divine Truth proceeds, illustrated, nos. 7270, 9407.

Unless the Divine had been in the Lord’s Human from conception, the Human could not have been united with the Divine Itself, on account of the ardor of the infinite Love in which the Divine Itself is, no. 6849. For this reason no angel can ever be united with the Divine Itself except from a distance, and by a veiling; otherwise he would be consumed, no. 6849. The Divine Love is of such a quality, no. 8644. From this it may appear that the Lord’s Human was not like the human of any other man, nos. 10125, 10826. His union with the Father, from whom was His soul, was not like a union between two, but like that between the soul and the body, nos. 3737, 10824. The union of the Lord’s Human with the Divine is called union; but that of man with the Divine is called conjunction, no. 2021.

305. The Lord thus made His Human Divine. The Lord’s Human is Divine, because He had His soul from the Esse of the Father; illustrated by a father’s likeness in his children, nos. 10269, 10372, 1082. And because it is from the Divine Love which is in Him, no. 6872. Every man is such as his love is, and he is his own love, nos. 6872, 10177, 10284. The Lord was Divine Love, nos. 2077, 2253. The Lord made His whole Human, the internal as well as the external, Divine, nos. 1603, 1815, 1902, 1926, 2093, 2803. Wherefore He rose again as to the whole body differently from any other man, nos. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825. That the Lord’s Human is Divine, is acknowledged by the omnipresence of His Human in the Holy Supper, nos. 2343, 2359. It is evident also from His transfiguration before the three disciples, no. 3212. And likewise from the Word, no. 10154. And, that He is there called Jehovah, nos. 1603, 1736, 1815, 1902, 2921, 3035, 5110, 6281, 6303, 8864, 9194, 9315. In the sense of the letter a distinction is made between the Father and the Son, that is, between Jehovah and the Lord, but not in the internal sense, in which are the angels of heaven, no. 3035. The Christian world does not acknowledge the Lord’s Human as Divine, which was done in council for the sake of the Pope, that he might be acknowledged as the Lord’s vicar; from conversation in the other life, with those [who had then been present], no. 4738.

The Divine Human from eternity was the Divine Truth in heaven, thus the Divine Existere, which afterwards became in the Lord the Divine Esse, from which is the Divine Existere in heaven, nos. 3061, 6280, 6880, 10579. The quality of the state of heaven previously, nos. 6371-6373. The Divine was not perceptible, and therefore not capable of being received, except as it passed through heaven, nos. 6982, 6996, 7004. The Lord from eternity was the Divine Truth in heaven, nos. 2803, 3195, 3704. This is the Son of God born from eternity, nos. 2628, 2798.

No other Divine is perceived in heaven except the Divine Human, nos. 6475, 9303, 9356, 10067. The most ancient people could not adore the infinite Esse, but the infinite Existere, which is the Divine Human, nos. 4687, 5321. The ancients acknowledged the Divine, because it appeared in a human form, and this was the Divine Human, nos. 5110, 5663, 6846, 10737. The inhabitants of all the earths adore the Divine under a human form, and they rejoice when they hear that God actually became a man, nos. 6700, 8541-8547, 9361, 10736-10738. See also the little work on The Earths in our Solar System and in the Starry Heaven. God can only be thought of in the human form, and that which is incomprehensible does not enter into the idea, nos. 9359, 9972. A man can worship him of whom he has some idea, but not him of whom he has no idea, nos. 4733, 5110, 5663, 7211, 9356, 10067. Wherefore by most in the whole world the Divine is worshipped under a human form, which is due to an influx from heaven, no. 10159. All who are in good as to life when thinking of the Lord, think of a Divine Human, but not of a Human separated from the Divine, nos. 2326, 4724, 4731, 4766, 8878, 9193, 9198. Those in the Church at the present time who are in evil as to life, as well as those who are in a faith separated from charity, think of the Lord’s Human apart from the Divine; they also do not comprehend what the Divine Human is: the causes thereof, nos. 3212, 0241, 4689, 4692, 4724, 4731, 5321, 6371, 8878, 9193, 9198.

306. There is a Trinity in the Lord. Christians were examined in the other life as to the kind of idea they entertained concerning the one God, and it was found that they entertained an idea of three Gods, nos. 2329, 5256, 10736-10738, 10821. A Divine Trinity may be conceived in one person, and hence one God, but not in three persons, nos. 10738, 10821, 10822. The trinity in one person, and thus in the Lord, consists of the Divine Itself which is called the Father, of the Divine Human which is called the Son, and of the Divine that proceeds which is called the Holy Spirit; and thus the trinity is a one, nos. 2149, 2156, 2288, 2321, 2329, 2447, 3704, 6993, 7182, 10738, 10822, 10823. The Divine Trinity in the Lord is acknowledged in heaven, nos. 14, 15, 1729, 2005, 5256, 9303. The Lord is one with the Father; thus He is the Divine Itself, and the Divine Human, nos. 1729, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2751, 3704, 3736, 4766. His Divine which proceeds is also His Divine in heaven, which is called the Holy Spirit, nos. 3969, 4673, 6788, 6993, 7499, 8127, 8302, 9199, 9228, 9229, 9278, 9407, 9818, 9820, 10330. Wherefore the Lord is the one and only God, nos. 1607, 2149, 2156, 2329, 2447, 2751, 3194, 3704, 3712, 3938, 4577, 4687, 5321, 6280, 6371, 6849, 6993, 7014, 7091, 7182, 7209, 8241, 8724, 8760, 8864, 8865, 9194, 9303.

307. The Lord in Heaven. The Lord appears in heaven as a sun and also as a moon: as a sun, to those who are in the celestial kingdom, and as a moon, to those who are in the spiritual kingdom, nos. 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3641, 4321, 5097, 7078, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8812, 10809. The light which proceeds from the Lord as a sun is Divine Truth, from which the angels have all wisdom and intelligence, nos. 1053, 1521-1533, 2776, 3138, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3225, 3339, 3341, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4180, 4302, 4415, 5400, 9399, 9407, 9548, 9571, 9684. And the heat which proceeds from the Lord as a sun, is Divine Good, from which the angels have love, nos. 3338, 3636, 3643, 5215. The very Divine of the Lord is far above His Divine in heaven, nos. 7270, 8760. The Divine Truth is not in the Lord, but proceeds from Him, as the light is not in the sun, but proceeds from it, no. 3969. Esse is in the Lord, and Existere is from the Lord, no. 3938. The Lord is the common centre to which all the angels in heaven turn themselves, nos. 3633, 9828, 10130, 10189. Nevertheless the angels do not turn themselves to the Lord, but the Lord turns them to Him, no. 10189: because the angels are not present with the Lord, but the Lord is present with them, no. 9415. The Lord’s presence with the angels is according to their reception of the good of love and charity from Him, nos. 904, 4198, 4206, 4211, 4320, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682, 9683, 10106, 10810. The Lord is present with all in heaven, and also in hell, no. 2706. The Lord wishes from the Divine Love to draw all men to Himself in heaven, no. 6645. The Lord is in a continual endeavour at conjunction with man; but influx and conjunction are impeded by a man’s own loves, nos. 2041, 2053, 2411, 5696.

The Lord’s Divine Human flows into heaven, and causes heaven; and there is no conjunction with the very Divine in heaven, but with the Divine Human, nos. 3038, 4211, 4724, 5663. This Divine flows in with men out of heaven and through heaven, no. 1925. The Lord is the all of heaven, and He is the life of heaven, nos. 7211, 9128. The Lord dwells with the angels in His own, nos. 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157, Those therefore who are in heaven are in the Lord, nos. 3637, 3638. Heaven corresponds to the Lord’s Divine Human, and man, as to each and all things, to heaven; wherefore heaven in general is as one Man, and is therefore called the Grand Man, nos. 2988, 2996, 3624-3629, 3636-3643, 3741-3745, 4625. The Lord is the only Man; and those only are men who receive the Divine from Him, no. 1894. So far as they receive the same, so far they are images of the Lord, no. 8547. The angels are forms of love and charity in a human form, and this is from the Lord, nos. 3804, 47135, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177.

308. A11 Good and Truth are from the Lord. The Lord is Good itself and Truth itself, nos. 2011, 5110, 10336, 10619. All good and truth, and consequently all peace, innocence, love, charity, and faith, are from the Lord, nos. 1614, 2016, 2751, 2882, 2883, 2891, 2892, 2904; also all wisdom and intelligence, nos. 109, 112, 121, 124. Nothing but good comes from the Lord; but the good which is from the Lord the wicked turn into evil, nos. 7643, 7679, 7710, 8632. The angels know that all good and truth are from the Lord, but the wicked are unwilling to know this, nos. 6193, 9128. From the Lord’s presence the angels are more in good; but the infernals, from His presence, are more in evil, no. 7989. At the Lord’s mere presence the wicked cast themselves into hell, nos. 8137, 8265. The Lord judges all from good, no. 2335. The Lord regards all from mercy, no. 2235. The Lord is never angry with any one, nor does evil to any one, and does not send any one to hell, nos. 245, 1683, 2335, 8632. How this is to be understood, where it is said in the Word, that Jehovah, that is, the Lord, is angry, that He kills, casts into hell, and other things of a like nature, nos. 592, 696, 1093, 1874, 1875, 2395, 2447, 3605, 3607, 3614, 6071, 6997.

309. The Lord has all Power in the Heavens and on, Earth. The whole heaven is the Lord’s, nos. 2751, 7086. And He has all power in the heavens and on earth, nos. 1607, 10089, 10827. Since the Lord governs the whole heaven, He also governs all things which depend thereon, and thus all things in the world, nos. 2026, 2027, 4523, 4524. He also governs the hells, no. 3642. The Lord governs all things from the Divine through the Divine Human, nos. 8864, 8865. The Lord governs all things according to Divine order and Divine order has relation to those things which belong to His will, to those which take place from leave, and to those which happen from permission, nos. 1755, 2447, 6574, 9940; concerning Order, see what is said above at no. 279. The Lord governs the last things from the first, and the first from the last; and on that ground He is called the First and the Last, nos. 3702, 6040, 6056. The Lord alone has the power of removing the hells, of withholding from evils, and of keeping in good, and thus the power of saving, no. 10019. Judgment belongs to the Lord, nos. 2319-2321, 10810, 10811. What the Lord’s priestly office is, and what His regal office, nos. 1728, 2015.

310. How some things are to be understood in the Word concerning the Lord. What is meant by the “seed of the woman,” in the prophecy concerning the Lord, no. 256. What the Son of Man and the Son of God signify in the Word, nos. 2159, 2813. What the two names “Jesus Christ,” signify, nos. 3004-3011. What is signified by it being said that the Lord was sent by the Father, nos. 2397, 6831, 10561. How it is to be understood, that the Lord bore the iniquities of all, no. 9937. How it is to be understood, that the Lord redeemed man by His blood, no. 10152. How it is to be understood, that the Lord fulfilled all things of the law, no. 10239. How it is to be understood, that the Lord intercedes for mankind, nos. 2250, 8573, 8705. How it is to be understood, that without the Lord there is no salvation, no. 10828. Salvation is not effected by looking to the Father, that is, by praying to Him that He may have mercy for the sake of the Son; for the Lord says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: no one cometh to the Father, but by Me” (John xiv. 6), no. 2854. The contradictions involved in the received faith, that the Lord, by the passion of the cross, reconciled the human race to the Father, no. 10659. The coming of the Lord is His presence in the Word, nos. 3900, 4060. The Lord does not desire glory from man for the sake of Himself, but for the sake of man’s salvation, nos. 5957, 10646. The term “Lord” where it occurs in the Word, signifies Divine Good, nos. 4973, 9167, 9194. Where the term “Christ” occurs, it signifies Divine Truth, nos. 3004, 3005, 3008, 3009.

The true acknowledgment and true worship of the Lord consists in doing His precepts; shown from the Word, nos. 10143, 10153, 10578, 10643, 10829.

10.3 Assignment 10

“Those who are born within the Church ought to acknowledge the Lord, His Divine and His Human” (paragraph 282) The first and foremost thing of the Church is to know and acknowledge one God. (paragraph 296) The Church is said to be where the Lord is acknowledged, and where the Word exists; …” (paragraph 242)

1. What does it mean to “acknowledge the Lord” ? Be sure to consider the brief chapter on the Church, beginning at paragraph 281.
2. How is the Lord described as different from and similar to other men?
3. Summarise the true idea of the trinity and how it has been corrupted (see especially paragraphs 289, 290, 306).
4. How do you think this might have taken place?

10.4 Journal Work

How do you see the Lord working in your own life and in the wider world? During the preparation of this session, make a conscious effort to notice Him at work. Record these encounters.

10.5 Further reading

• True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, especially chapters 1-3 (paragraphs 4-80, 81-137 & 138-188)
• Doctrine of the Lord, by Emanuel Swedenborg.
• The Path: The inner life of Jesus Christ, by Geoffrey S Childs.
• The Glorification of the Lord’s Humanity, by Thomas Child.

11. Final Assessment

In your own words, present one chapter of the book. This should include:

• A summary of the contents of the chapter.
• Application of those principles to everyday life.
• Explanation of any terms or phrases which may surprise or be misinterpreted by the novice reader.

You will need to draw from references found in “From the Heavenly Arcana” at the end of the chapter, but it may also include other relevant material.

The presentation might take the form of:

• an introductory leaflet (printed on two sides of A4 paper, perhaps in “trifold” format),
• a short article, or another format, to be agreed with your tutor.