)^ the permission of the Librarian ; provided, that the President shall also have authority over the Constitution and the works on Parliamentary Law. II. The Librarian shall keep a copy of these rules continually posted in the Library. * THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION: CONTAINING OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH. QT^e Eotcb ffitiitfon. THE %Tr\je Christian Religion: tC CONTAINING THE f\ eaniliersal Cljeologp ~J5^ OF THE '2 NEW CHURCH, ^2 FORETOLD BY THE LORD IN DANIEL VII. 13, 14; AND Hi ^^ REVELATION XXI. i, 2. o ►A By EMANUEL :SWEDENBORG, ^0 SERVANT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. *T5 flptclj ^ition. .s PHILADELPHIA E^ J. B. LIPPINCOTT & COMPANY, 1879. DANIEL VII. 13, 14. / saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of Matt came with the clouds of the heavens. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom ; and all people, nations, and latiguages shall serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting do/ninion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. APOCALYPSE XXI. i, 2, 5, 9, 10. / fohn saw a new heaven and a new earth. And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down fro)n Cod out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And an angel talked with tne, saying. Come hither, I will show thee THE Bride, THE Lamb's Wife. And he carried me away in the spirit, upon a great and high tnountain, and showed me that great city, the Holy ferusalem, descending otit of heaven from Cod. He that sat 7ipon the throne said, Behold, I make all THINGS NEW. And He said uuto me, Write : for these words are true and faithful. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877, by SAMPSON REED, PELEG W. CHANDLER, AND THEOPHILUS PARSONS (trustees). In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. f3X g7lX GENERAL INDEX THE CONTENTS. THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH, IN THE UNIVERSAL FORM AND IN THE PARTICULAR FORM. n. 1-3. CHAPTER I. CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. Concerning ihe Unity of God. n. 5-15. I. The whole Sacred Scripture, and thence all the doctrines of the churches in the Christian world, teach that there is a God, and that He is one. n. 6, 7. II. There is a universal influx from God into the souls of men, that there is a God, and that He is One. n. 8. III. Thence it is, that in all the world there is no nation having religion and sound reason, which does not acknowledge a God, and that God is one. n. 9. IV. As to what the One God is, nations and people have differed, and still differ, from several causes, n. 11. V. Human reason, from many things in the world, may, if it will, per- ceive or conclude that there is a God, and that He is one. n. 12. VI. Unless God were One, the universe could not have been created and preserved, n. 13. VH. The man who does not acknowledge a God, is excommunicated from the church and condemned, n. 14. VIII. With men who do not acknowledge One God, but more than one, nothing of the church coheres, n. 15. Concerning the Divine Esse, which is Jehovah, n. 18-24. I. The One God is called Jehovah from Esse, thus from this, because He a'.one is [and was] and will be ; and because He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, n. 19. a5lf5.5 iv GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. II. The One God is Substance itself and Form itself, and angels and men are substances and forms from Him, and as far as they are in Him and He in them, so far they are images and likenesses of Him. n. 20. III. The Divine Esse is Esse in itself, and, at the same time, Existere in itself, n. 21, 22. IV. The Divine Esse and Existere in itself cannot produce another Divine that is Esse and Existere in itself; consequently, another God of the same essence is not possible, n. 23. V. A plurality of Gods, in ancient and also in modem times, originated from no other cause than from not understanding the Divine Esse. n. 24. Concerning the Infinity of God, or His Immensity and Eternity, n. 27-34. I. God is infinite, since He is and exists in Himself, and all things in the universe are and exist from Him. n. 28 II. God is infinite, for He was before the world, thus before spaces and times arose, n. 29. III. God, since the world was made, is in space without space, and in time without time. n. 30. IV. God's Infinity in relation to spaces is called Immensity, and in relation to times is called Eternity ; and although there are these relations, still there is nothing of space in His Immensity, and nothing of time in His Eternity. n. 31. V. Enlightened reason, from very many things in the world, may see the Infinity of God [the Creator], n. 32. VI. Every created thing is finite, and the Infinite is in finite things as in receptacles, and in men as in its images, n. 33. Concerning the Essence of God, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom. n. 36-47. I. God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and these two make His essence. n. 37- II. God is Good itself and Truth itself, because good is of love, and truth is of wisdom, n. 38. III. God, because He is Love itself and Wisdom itself, is Life itself, which is Life in itself, n. 39, 40. IV. Love and Wisdom, in God, make one. n. 41, 42. V. The Essence of Love is to love others outside of itself, to desire to be one with them, and to make them happy from itself, n. 43-45. VI. These [essentials] of the Divine Love were the cause of the creation of the universe, and they are the cause of its preservation, n. 46, 47. Concerning the Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God. n. 49-70. I. Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence, belong to th« Divine Wisdom from the Divine Love. n. 50, 51. GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. V II. There cannot be cognition of God's Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence, unless it be known what Order is, and unless these things be- longing to it be known, namely, tliat God is Order, and that at the creation He introduced order into the universe, and into all and every part of it. n. 52-55. in. The Omnipotence of God, as well in the universe as in all and every part of it, proceeds and operates according to the laws of His Order, n. 56-5S. IV. God is Omniscient, that is, perceives, sees, and knows all and every thing, even to the most minute, which is done according to order ; and thence also what is done contrary to order, n. 59-62. V. God is Omnipresent from the firsts to the lasts of His Order, n. 63, 64. VI. Man was created a Form of Divine Order, n. 65-67. VII. Man is so far in power against evil and falsity from the Divine Omnip- otence, and so far in wisdom concerning good and truth from the Divine Omni- science, and so far in God from the Divine Omnipresence, as he lives according to Divine Order, n. 68-70. Concemmg the Creation of the Universe, n. 75-80. No one can obtain for himself a just idea concerning the creation of the universe, unless some universal cognitions, previously acquired, put the under- standing in a state of perception, n. 75. The creation of the universe described by five Relations, n. 76-80. CHAPTER II. CONCERNING THE LORD THE REDEEMER. I. Jehovah God [the Creator of the universe] descended and assumed the Human, that He might redeem and save men. ri. 82-S4. II. Jehovah descended as the Divine Truth, which is the Word, and yet He did not separate the Divine Good. n. S5-SS. III. God assumed the Human according to His Divine Order, n. 89-91. IV. The Human, by whicli God sent Himself into the world, is the Son of God. n. 92-94. V. The Lord, by the acts of Redemption, made Himself Righteousness, n. 95, 96. VI. The Lord, by the same acts, united Himself to the Father, and the Father Himself to Him, [also according to Divine Order], n. 97-100. VII. Thus God became Man, and Man God, in one Person, n. 101-103. VIII. The progress to union was the state of His Exinanition and the union itself is the state of His Glorification, n. 104-106. IX. Hereafter no one from among Christians comes into heaven, unless he believes in the Lord God the Saviour, and goes to Him alone, n. 107, 108. X. A Corollary : Concerning the state of the church before the Coming of the Lord, and concerning its state after it. n. 109. Vi GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. Co7tcerning Redemption, n. 1 14-133. I. Redemption itself was a subjugation of the hells, and an establishment of order in the heavens, and thereby a preparation for a new spiritual church, n. 115. II. Without that Redemption, no man could have been saved, nor could the angels have continued to exist in a state of integrity, n. 118-120. III. The Lord thus redeemed not only men, but also angels, n. 121, 122. IV. Redemption was a work purely Divine, n. 123. V. This Redemption itself could not have been effected, but by God Incar- nate, n. 124, 125. VI. The Passion of the Cross was the last temptation which the Lord as the greatest Prophet sustained, and was the means of the Glorification of His Human; but it was not Redemption, n. 126-131. VII. The belief that the Passion of the Cross was Redemption itself is a fundamental error of the church ; and that error, together with the error con- cerning three Divine Persons from eternity, has perverted the whole church, so that not any thing spiritual is left in it. n. 132, 133. CHAPTER III. CONCERNING .THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CONCERNING THE DIVINE OPERATION. I. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth, and also the Divine virtue and operation, proceeding from the One God in Whom is the Divine Trinity, thus from the Lord God the Saviour, n. 139-141. II. The Divine virtue and operation which are meant by the Holy Spirit are, in general, reformation and regeneration ; and, according to these, renova- tion, vivification, sanctification, and justification ; and, according to these, puri- fication from evils and remission of sins and finally salvation, n. 142-145. III. That Divine virtue and operation which is meant by the sending of the Holy Spirit, with the clergy specially, is enlightenment and instruction. n. 146-148. IV. The Lord operates those virtues in those who believe in Him. n. 149- 151. V. The Lord operates out of Himself from the Father, and not the reverse. n. 153-155- VI. Man's spirit is his mind, and whatever proceeds from him. n. 156, 157, A Corollary : In the Word of the Old Testament, it is nowhere said that the prophets spoke from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah ; but otherwise in the New. n. 158. Concerning ihe Divbie T7-inity. n. 163-184. I. There is a Divine Trinity, which is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. n. 164, 165. GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. vii II. These Three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three Essentials of one God, which make one, as the soul, bod}', and operation in Man. n. i66- 169. III. Before the world was created, there was not this Trinity ; but after the world was created, when God became incarnate, it was provided and made ; and then in the Lord God, the Redeemer and Saviour, Jesus Christ, n. 170, 171. IV. A Trinity of Divine Persons from eternity, or before the world was created, is, in the ideas of thought, a trinity of Gods ; and this cannot be abol- ished by the oral confession of one God. n. 172, 173. V. A trinity of Persons was unknown in the Apostolic Church ; but was first broached by the Nicene Council, and from that was introduced into the Roman Catholic church, and from this into the churches that were sepaiated from it. n. 174-176. VI. From the Nicene trinity and the Athanasian together, a faith arose which had perverted the whole Christian Church, n. 177, 178. VII. Thence is that Abomination of desolation and the affliction such as has not been nor ever shall be, which the Lord had foretold in Daniel, and the Evangelists, and in the Apocalypse, n. 179-181. VIII. Thence also it is that unless a New Heaven and a New Church are founded by the Lord, no flesh would be saved, n. 182. IX. From a Trinity of Persons, each one of whom singly is God, according to the Athanasian Creed, have existed many discordant and heterogeneous ideas about God, which are hallucinations and abortions, n. 1S3, 184. CHAPTER IV. CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE OR THE WORD OF THE LORD. I. The Sacred Scripture, or the Word, is the Divine Truth itself, n. 189- 192. II. In the Word there is a spiritual sense, hitherto unknovm. n. 193. (i.) What the spiritual sense is. n. 194. (2.) From the Lord proceeds the Heavenly [Ce/cstia/] Divine, the Spiritual Divine, and the Natural Divine, one after another, n. 195. (3. ) The spiritual sense is in each and every thing in the Word. n. 196-198. (4.) The Lord when in the world spake by correspondences, thus when He spake naturally He also spake spiritually, n. 199. (5.) It is from the spiritual sense that the Word is Divinely inspired, and holy in every word. n. 200. (6.) The spiritual sense of the Word has been hitherto unknown, but it was known to the ancients ; also concerning Correspondences among them. n. 201- 207. ( 7. ) The spiritual sense of the Word will not be given to any one hereafter who is not in genuine truths from the Lord. n. 208. (8.) Wonderful things concerning the Word, from its spiritual sense, n. 209. viii GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. Til. The sense of the letter of the Word is the basis, the container, and the support of its spiritual and heavenly [cclestiall sense, n. 210-213. IV. Divine Truth, in the sense of the letter of the Word, is in its fulness, in its holiness, and in its power, n. 214-216. (1.) The truths of the letter of the Word are meant by the precious stones of which the foundations of the New Jenisalem consisted, of which in the Apocalypse; and this from correspondence, n. 217. (2.) The goods and truths of the Word in the sense of its letter are meant by the Urim and Thummim on the Ephod of Aaron, n. 218. (3.) Truths and goods in the ultimates, such as are in the sense of the letter of the Word, are meant by the precious stones in the garden of Eden, where the King of Tyre is said to have been, in Ezekiel. n. 219. (4.) The same were represented by the curtains, veils, and pillars of the Tabernacle, n. 220. (5.) Likewise by the externals of the Temple at Jenisalem. n. 221. (6. ) The Word in its glory was represented in the Lord when He was trans- figured, n. 222. (7.) The power of the Word in ultimates was represented by the Nazarites. n. 223. (8.) Concerning the inexpressible power of the Word. n. 224. V. The Doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and confirmed by it. n. 225, 229, 230. ( I . ) Without doctrine the Word is not understood, n. 226-228. (2.) Genuine truth, which will be of doctrine, does not appear in the sense of the letter of the Word to any but those who are ip enlightenment from the Lord. n. 231-233. VI. By the sense of the letter of the Word, there is conjunction with the Lord, and consociation with the angels, n. 234-239. VII. The Word is in all the heavens, and angelic wisdom is from it. n. 240- 242. VIII. The Church is from the Word, and it is such with man as his under- standing of the Word is. n. 243-247. IX. In every thing in the Word there is the marriage of the Lord and the Church, and thence the marriage of good and truth, n. 248-253. X. Heresies may be taken from the sense of the letter of the Word, but it is hurtful to confirm them. n. 254-260. ( I.) Many things in the Word are appearances of truth in which genuine truths lie concealed, n. 257. (2.) By confirming the appearances of truth, fallacies exist, n. 258. (3.) The sense of the letter of the Word is a guard for the genuine truths which are concealed within, n. 260. (4. ) The sense of the letter of the Word was represented by cherubs, and is signified by them in the Word. n. 260. XI. The Lord, in the world, fulfilled all things of the Word, and thereby became the Word, that is, the Divine Truth, also in ultimates. n. 261-263. XII. Before the Word which is in the world at this day, there was a Word which is lost. n. 264-266. GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. ix XIII. By means of the Word those also have light who are out of the church, and have not the Word. n. 267-272. XIV. If there were not a Word, no one would have a knowledge of God, of heaven, and hell, of the life after death, and still less of the Lord. n. 273- 276. CHAPTER V. THE CATECHISM OR DECALOGUE EXPLAINED AS TO ITS EXTERNAL AND ITS INTERNAL SENSE. I. In the Israelitish Church the Decalogue was Holiness Itself : here con- cerning the holiness of the Ark, in which was the Law. n. 283-286. II. In the sense of the letter the Decalogue contains the general precepts of doctrine and life ; but in the spiritual and heavenly [cel£siia/'\ senses, aU univer- sally. 287-290. III. The First Commandment: Thou shalt have no other God before My faces, n. 291-296. IV. The Second Commandment : Thou shalt not take the Name of Jehovah thy God in vain ; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless, that taketh His name in vain. n. 297-300. V. The Third Commandment : Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy ; six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work ; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Jehovah thy God. n. 301-304. VI. The Fourth Commandment : Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee upon the earth, n- 305-308. VII. The Fifth Commandment : Thou shalt not kill. n. 309-312. VIII. The Sixth Commandment : Thou shalt not commit adultery, n. 313- 316. IX. The Seventh Commandment : Thou shalt not steal, n. 317-320. X. The Eighth Commandment : Thou shalt not bear false witness againsf thy neighbor, n. 321-324. XI. The Ninth and Tenth Commandments : Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- bor's house ; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. n- 325-328. XII. The Ten Commandments of the Decalogue contain all things which are of love to God, and all things which are of love toward the neighbor, n. 329- 331- CHAPTER VI. CONCERNING FAITH. Preface : Faith is first in time, but charity is first in end. n. 336. I. Saving faith is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ n. 337-339: since it is in the visible God, in Whom is the invisible, n. 339. X GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. II. The sum of Faith is, that he who lives well and believes aright is saved by the Lord. n. 340-342. The first [element] of faith in Him is the acknowledgment that He is the Son of God. n. 34.?. III. Man acquires faith by going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them. n. 343-348. Concerning the Esse of Faith ; concerning the Essence of Faith ; concern- ing the State of Faith ; concerning the Form of Faith, n. 344 and the fol- lowing. Concerning merely natural faith ; that it is persuasion, counterfeiting faith. n- 345-348- IV. An abundance of truths, coherent as if bundled together, exalts and perfects faith, n. 349-354. (i.) The truths of faith may be multiplied to infinity, n. 350. (2.) The disposition of the truths of faith is into series, thus as it were into fascicles, n. 351. {3.) Faith is perfected according to the abundance and coherence of truths. 1- 352, 353- {4.) The tniths of faith, however numerous they are, and however diverse they appear, make one from the Lord. n. 354. (5.) The Lord is the Word, the God of Heaven and Earth, the God of all Flesh, the God of the Vineyard or Church, the God of Faith, Light itself, the Truth, and Life eternal; shown from the Word. n. 354. V. Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity; and neither lives except from the Lord. n. 355-361. (i.) Man can acquire faith for himself, n. 356. (2.) Man can acquire charity for himself, n. 357. (3.) Man can also acquire for himself the life of faith and charity, n. 358. (4.) Yet nothing of faith, and nothing of charity, and nothing of the life of either, is from man, but from the Lord alone, n. 359. (5.) The distinction between natural faith and spiritual faith; the latter is inwardly in the former from the Lord. n. 360, 361. VI. The Lord, charity, and faith, make one, like life, will, and understand- ing in man ; and if they are divided, each perishes, like a pearl reduced to powder, n. 362-367. (i.) The Lord, with all His Divine Love, with all His Divine Wisdom, thus with all His Divine Life, flows in with every man. n. 364. (2.) Therefore the Lord with all the essence of faith and charity flows in with every man. n. 365. (3. ) Those things which flow in from the Lord, are received by man accord- ing to his form. n. 366. (4.) But the man who divides the Lord, charity, and faith, is not a form receiving but a form destroying them. n. 367. VII. The Lord is Charity and Faith in man, and man is cliarity and faith in the Lord. n. 368-372. (i.) It is by conjunction with God that man has salvation and eternal liffc n. 369. GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. xi (2.) Conjunction with God the Father is not possible, but with the Lord, and through Him with God the Father, n. 370. (3.) Conjunction with the Lord is reciprocal, that is, the Lord is in man, and man in the Lord. n. 371. (4.) This reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man is effected by charity and faith, n. 372. VIIL Charity and Faith are together in good works, n. 373-377. (i.^ Charity is to will well, and good works are to do well from willing well. n. 374- (2.) Charity and faith are only mental and perishable things, unless they are determined to works and coexist in them, when possible, n. 375, 376. (3.) Charity alone does not produce good works, still less faith alone, but charity and faith together, n. 377. IX. There is a true faith, a spurious faith, and a hypocritical faith, n. 378- 381. The Christian church began from the cradle to be infested and divided by schisms and heresies, n. 378. ( I . ) The true faith is the one only faith ; it is faith in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ, and is with those who believe Him to be the Son of God, the God of Heaven and Earth, and one with the Father, n. 379. (2.) Spurious faith is all faith that departs from tlie true, which is the one only faith ; and it is with those who climb up some other way, and regard the Lord not as God but only as a man. n. 380. (3.) Hypocritical faith is no faith, n. 3S1. X. There is no faith with the evil. n. 382-384. (i.) The evil have no faith, because evil belongs to hell, and faith belongs to heaven, n. 383. (2.) All those in Christendom have no faith who reject the Lord and the Word, although they live morally, and speak, teach, and write rationally, even about faith, n. 384. CHAPTER VII. CONCERNING CHARITY, OR LOVE TOWARDS THE NEIGH- BOR, AND CONCERNING GOOD WORKS; I. There are three imiversal loves, the love of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self. n. 394-396. (i.) Of the Will and the Understanding, n. 397. (2.) Of Good and Truth, n. 398. (3.) Of Love in general, n. 399. (4.) Of the Love of Self and the Love of the World in particular, n. 400. (5.) Of the Internal and the External Man. n. 401, (6.) Of the merely Natural and Sensual Man. n. 402. II. These three loves, when rightly subordinated, perfect man; but vrhen they are not rightly subordinated, they pervert and invert him. n. 403-405. XU GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. in. Every man individually is to be loved, but according to the quality of his good, n. 406-411. IV. Man collectively, or a smaller and a greater society, and the man into whose composition societies enter, or one's country, is the neighbor that is to be loved, n. 412-414. V. The church is the neighbor that is to be loved in a higher degree, and the I^crd's kingdom in the highest, n. 415, 416. VI. To love the neighbor, viewed in itself, is not to love the person, but the good that is in the person, n. 417-419. VII. Charity and good works are two distinct things, like willing well and doing well. n. 420, 421. VIII. Charity itself is to act justly and faithfully in the office, business, and work in which any one is, and with whomsoever he lias any intercourse, n. 422- 424. IX. The Benefactions of Charity are, giving to the poor, and relieving the needy ; but with prudence, n. 425-428. X. There are Debts of Charity; some public, some domestic, and some private, n. 429-432. XI. The Diversions of Charity are dinners, suppers, and social gatherings. n. 433. 434- XII. The first thing of charity is to put away evils, and the second is to do goods which are of use to the neighbor, n. 435-438. XIII. In the exercises of charity man does not place merit in works while he believes that all good is from the Lord. n. 439-442. XIV. Moral life when it is at the same time spiritual, is charity, n. 443-445. XV. The friendship of love contracted with a man without regard to his quality as to the spirit, is detrimental after death, n. 446-449. XVI. There is a spurious charity, a hypocritical charity, and a dead charity, n. 450-453- XVII. The friendship of love among the evil is intestine hatred of each other, n. 454, 455. XVIII. The conjunction of love to God and love toward the neighbor. n. 456-45S. CHAPTER VIII. CONCERNING FREE-WILL. I. The precepts and dogmas of the present church respecting free-will. n. 463-465. II. That two trees were placed in the garden of Eden, one of life, and the other of the knowledge of good and evil, signifies that free-will in spiritual tilings was given to man. n. 466-469. III. Man is not life, but is a receptacle of life from God. n. 470-474. IV. As long as a man lives in the world, he is kept in the middle between heaven and hell, and there in spiritual equilibrium, wliich is free-will. n. 475- 478. GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. Xlll V. From the permission of evil, in which permission every one's intemai man is, it is dearly manifest that man has free-will in spiritvial things, n. 479- 482. VI. Without free-will in spiritual things, the Word would be of no use, and consequently the church would be nothing, n. 4S3-4S5. VII. Without free-will in spiritual things there would be nothing pertaining to man by which in his turn he could conjoin himself with the Lord ; and conse- (juently there would be no imputation, but mere predestination, which is detest- able, n. 4S5. Detestable things made knovm concerning predestination, n. 486-488. VIII. If there were no free-will in spiritual things, God would be the cause of evil, and so there would be no imputation, n. 489-492. IX. Every spiritual thing of the church that enters in freedom, and is re- ceived from freedom, remains ; but not the reverse, n. 493-496. X. Man's will and understanding are in this freedom {libera arbitrio) ; but in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, the doing of evil is restrained by laws, inasmuch as otherwise society would perish on both sides, n. 497-499. XI. If men had not free-will in spiritual things, all in the whole world might have been led in a single day to believe in the Lord ; but this cannot be done for the reason that what is not received by man from free-will does not remain. n. 500-502. Miracles are not now wrought, for the reason that they take away free-will in spiritual things, and they compel, n. 501. CHAPTER IX. CONCERNING REPENTANCE. I. Repentance is the first of the church with man. n. 510, 511. II. The contrition which at this day is said to precede faith, and to be fol- lowed by the consolation of the Gospel, is not repentance, n. 512-515. III. The mere oral confession that one is a sinner, is not repentance. n. 516-519. IV. Man is bom to evils of everj' kind ; and unless by repentance he re- moves them in part, he remains in them ; and he who remains in them cannot be saved, n. 520-524. What the Fulfilment of the Law is. n. 523, 524. V. Cognition of sin, and the examination of some sin in oneself, begin repentance, n. 525-527. VI. Actual repentance is to examine oneself, to recognize and acknowledge one's sins, to make supplication to the Lord, and begin a new life. n. 528-531. VII. True repentance is, to examine not only the acts of one's life, but also the intentions of his will. n. 532-534. VIII. They repent also, who do not examine themselves but yet desist from evils because they are sins ; and they repent in this way who from religion do the works of charity, n. 535-537. XIV GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. IX. Confession ought to be made before the Lord God the Saviour, and then supplication for aid and power to resist evils, n. 538-560. X. Actual repentance is an easy work for those who have sometimes prac- tised it; but it finds very great resistance in those who have not. n. 561-563. XI. One who has never practised repentance, or has not looked into and searched himself, at length does not know what damnable evU is, and what saving good is. n. 564-566. CHAPTER X. CONCERNING REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. I. Unless a man is bom again, and, as it were, created anew, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. n. 572-575. II. The new birth or creation is effected by the Lord alone through charity and faith as. the two means, man co-operating, n. 576-578. III. Because all have been redeemed, all can be regenerated, each according to his state, n. 579-5S2. IV. Regeneration is effected in a manner analogous to that in which man is conceived, carried in the womb, bom, and educated, n. 583-586. V. The first act in the new birth is called reformation, which is of the under- standing ; and the second is called regeneration, which is of the will and thence of the understanding, n. 5S7-590. VI. The internal man is to be reformed, and through this the external, and man is so regenerated, n. 591-595- VII. While this is taking place, a combat arises between the internal and the external man, and the one that conquers rules over the other, n. 596-600. VIII. The regenerate man has a new will and a new understanding, n. 601- 606. IX. A regenerate man is in communion with angels of heaven, and an unre- generate man in communion with spirits of hell. n. 607-610. X. So far as man is regenerated sins are removed, and this removal is the remission of sins. n. 611-614. XI. Regeneration cannot take place without free-will in spiritual things. n. 615-617. XII. Regeneration cannot take place without truths, by which faith is formed, and with which charity conjoins itself, n. 618-620. Some things concerning a masculine se.x and a feminine in the vegetable kingdom, n. 585. CHAPTER XL CONCERNING IMPUTATION. I. The faith of the present church (which is said alone to justify) and impu- tation make one. n. 626, 627. II. The imputation which belongs to the faith of the present day is twofold, GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. XV the imputation of Christ's Merit, and the imputation of salvation {sahts) there- from, n. 628-631. III. The faith which is imputative of the Merit and Righteousness of Christ the Redeemer, first arose from the decrees of the Council of Nice, concerning three Divine Persons from eternity, which faith has been received by the whole Christian world from that time to the present, n. 632-635. IV. The faith imputative of Christ's Merit vras unknown in the Apostolic Church, which existed earlier, and it is nowhere meant in the Word. n. 636-639. V. The Imputation of Christ's Merit and Righteousness is impossible. n. 640-642. VI. There is an imputation, but it is that of good and evil, and at the same time of faith, n. 643-646. VII. The faith and imputation of the New Church can by no means be together with the faith and imputation of the former church ; and if they are together, such collision and conflict result, that every thing of the church with man perishes, n. 647-649. VIII. The Lord imputes good to every man, and hell imputes evil. n. 650- 653. IX. The faith with that to which it conjoins itself, makes the sentence. If true faith conjoins itself with good, sentence is made for eternal life ; but if the faith conjoins itself with evil, sentence is made for eternal death, n. 654-657. X. Thought is not imputed to any one, but will. n. 65S-660. CHAPTER XIL CONCERNING BAPTISM. I. Without an apprehension {cognitio) of the spiritual sense of the Word, no one can know what the two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, involve and effect, n. 667-669. II. By the washing that is called Baptism is meant spiritual washing, which is purification from evils and falsities, and thus regeneration, n. 670-673. III. Baptism was instituted in the place of circumcision, because the circum- cision of the heart was represented by the circumcision of tlie foreskin, in order that an internal church might succeed the external church which in all things and in every single thing figured the internal church, n. 674-676. IV. The first use of Baptism is introduction into the Christian Church, and at the same time insertion among Christians in the spiritual world, n. 677- 680. V. The second use of Baptism is, that the Christian may know and acknowl- edge the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour, and follow Him. n. 681- 683. VI. The third use of Baptism, which is the final use, is that man may be regenerated, n. 6S4-687. VII. By the Baptism of John a way was prepared, so that Jehovah the Lord could descend into the world and work out redemption, n. 68S-690. XVi GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. CONCERNING THE HOLY SUPPER. I. Without acquaintance with the correspondences of natural with spiritual things, no one can know the uses and benefits of the Holy Supper, n. 698-701. II. From an acquaintance with correspondences it is known what is meant by the Lord's Flesh and Blood, and that the bread and wine have a similar mean- ing ; that by the Lord's Flesh and by the bread is meant the Divine Good of His Love, also all the good of charity; and by the Lord's Blood and by the vrine is meant the Divine Truth of His Wisdom, also all the truth of faith ; and by eating is meant appropriation, n. 702-710. What is meant by flesh, shown from the Word. n. 704, 705. What by blood, n. 706. What by bread, n. 707. What by wine. n. 70S. III. From understanding what has been already shown, it may be compre- hended that the Holy Supper contains all things of the church and all things of heaven, universally and severally, n. 711-715. IV. The Lord is in the Holy Supper in His fulness, with His whole redemp- tion, n. 716-718. V. The Lord is present and opens heaven to those who approach the Holy Supper worthily ; and He is also present with those who approach unworthily, but does not open Heaven to them; consequently, as Baptism is an introduc- tion into the church, so the Holy Supper is an introduction into heaven, n. 719- ■ 721. VI. They approach the Holy Supper worthily, who have faith in the Lord and are in charity toward the neighbor, thus who are regenerate, n. 722-724. VII. They who approach the Holy Supper worthily are in the Lord and the Lord is in them ; consequently conjunction with the Lord is effected by the Holy Supper, n. 725-727. VIII. The Holy Supper, to those who approach it worthily, is like a signa- ture and seal that they are sons of God. n. 728-730. CHAPTER XIV. CONCERNING THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE; CON- CERNING THE COMING OF THE LORD; AND CONCERN- ING THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH. I. The consummation of the age is the last time or the end of the church. n. 753-756- II. The present day is the last time of the Christian church, which was foretold and described by the Lord in the Evangelists and in the Apocalypse. n. 757-759- GENERAL INDEX OF THE CONTENTS. xvU III. This last time of the Christian church is the very night into which former churches have gone down. n. 760-763. IV. After this night follows morning, and the Coming of the Lord is the morning, n. 764-767. V. The Coming of the Lord is not His Coming to destroy the visible heaven and the habitable earth, and to create a new heaven and a new earth, as many, from not understanding the spiritual sense of the Word, have hitherto supposed. n. 76S-771. VI. This Coming of the Lord, which is the second, takes place in order that the evil may be separated from the good, also that those may be saved who have believed and do believe in Him, and also that a New Angelic Heaven may be formed from them, and a New Church on earth ; and without this no Flesh could be saved (Matt. xxiv. 22). n. 772-775. VII. This Second Coming of the Lord is not in Person, but is in the Word, which is from Him and is Himself, n. 776-778. VIII. This Second Coming of the Lord takes place by means of a man before whom He has manifested Himself in Person, and whom He has filled with His Spirit, to teach the Doctrines of the New Church through the Word from Him. n. 779," 7S0. IX. This is meant by the New Heaven and the New Jerusalem (Apoc xxi.) n. 7S1-7S5. X. This New Church is the Crown of all the Churches that have hitherto existed on earth. 0.786-791. SUPPLEMENT. 1. Concerning the spiritual world ; its quality, n. 792-795. 2. Concerning Luther in the spiritual world, n. 796. 3. Concerning Melancthon in the spiritual world, n. 797. 4. Concerning Calvin in the spiritual world, n. 798, 799. 5. Concerning the Dutch in the spiritual world, n. 800-805. 6. Concerning the English in the spiritual world, n. 806-S12. 7. Concerning the Germans in the spiritual world. 0.813-816. 8. Concerning the Papists in the spiritual world, n. 817-S21. 9. Concerning the Popish Saints in the spiritual world, n. 822-827. 10. Concerning the Moliammedans in the spiritual world, n. 828-834. 11. Concerning the Africans in the spiritual world; and also something con- cerning Gentiles, n. S35-840. 12. Concerning the Jews in the spiritual world, n, 841-845. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION: CONTAINING OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH. THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH. 1. The Faith, in a universal and a particular form, is prefixed, that it may be as a face before the work which follows ; and as a gate, through which entrance is made into a temple ; and a summary, in which the particulars which follow are in their measure contained. It is said, f/ie Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church, because heaven where angels are, and the church in which men are, make one, as the internal and the external with man. Thence it is, that, as to the interiors of his mind, the man of the church, who is in the good of love from the truths of faith, and in the truths of faith from the good of love, is an angel of heaven \ wherefore, after death, he also comes into heaven, and there enjoys happiness according to the state of their conjunction. It should be known that in the New Heaven which the Lord is at this day establishing, this faith is its face, gate, and summary. 2. The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church, in the universal Form, is this : That the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came" into the world, that He might subjugate the hells and glorify His Human ; and 2 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. that, without this, no mortal could have been saved ; and that those are saved who believe in Him. It is said, in the imiversal form, because this is the uni- versal of faith ; and a universal of faith is that which will be in the whole and every part. It is a universal of faith, that God is one in essence and in person, in Whom is a Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ. It is a universal of faith, that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. It is a universal of faith, that He came into the world that He might remove hell from man, and that He did remove it, by means of combats against it and victories over it ; thus He subjugated it and reduced it to order and under obedience to Himself. It is a universal of faith, that He came into the world, that He might glorify His Human, which He assumed in the world, that is, might unite it with the Divine, from which it proceeded \ thus He holds hell in order and under obedience to Himself forever. Since this could not have been done but by means of temptations admitted into His Human, even to the last of them, and the last was the passion of the cross, therefore He under- went that. These are the universals of faith concerning the Lord. The universal of faith, on man's part, is, that he should believe in the Lord ; for by believing in Him, conjunction with Him is effected, by which is salvation. To believe in Him, is to have confidence that He saves : and because no one can have this confidence but he that lives well, there- fore this also is meant by believing in Him. This the Lord also says in John : This is the Father's will, thai every one that believeth in the Son, may have eternal life (vi. 40) ; and in another place, He that believeth in the Son, hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (iii. 36). 3. The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church, in the particular Form, is this : That Jehovah THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN, ETC. 3 God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or that He is Good itself and Truth itself: and that He, as to Divine Truth, which is the Word, and which was God with God, descended and assumed the Human, to the end that He might reduce to order all things which were in heaven, and all things which were in hell, and all things which were in the church ; since, at that time, the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven, and, upon earth, the power of evil over the power of good, and thence a total damnation stood before the door and threatened. This impending damna- tion Jehovah God removed by means of His Human, which was Divine Truth, and thus He redeemed angels and men ; and' afterwards He united, in His Human, Divine Truth with Divine Good, or Divine Wisdom with Divine Love, and thus, together with and in the glorified Human, re- turned into His Divine, in which He was from eternity. These things are meant by this passage in John, llie Word- was with God, and the Word was God: and the Word became flesh (i. I, 14) ; and in the s^nne, I cmne forth frojn the Father, and have come into the world: again I leave the world, and go to the Father (xvi. 28) : and also by this, We kno7v that the Son of God hath come, and given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true; afid we are in Ifi?n that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ : This is the true God and eternal Life (i John v. 20). From these passages it is manifest that, without the coming of the Lord into the world, no one could have been saved. It is similar at this day : wherefore, unless the Lord comes again into the world, in Divine Truth, which is the Word, no one can be saved. The particulars of faith, on man's part, are, i. That God is One, in Whom is a Divine Trinit}^, and that He is the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ; 2. That sav- ing faith is to believe in Him; 3. That evils should not be done, because they are the devil's and from the devil ; 4. That goods should be done, because they are God's and 4 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. from God ; 5. And that these should be done by man as from himself; but that it should be believed, that they are from the Lord, with man and through him. The first two are of faith, the next two are of charity, and the fifth is of the conjunction of charity and faith, thus of the Lord and man. CHAPTER FIRST. CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 4. The Christian Church, since the time of the Lord, had passed through the several stages from infancy to extreme old age. Its infancy was in the time when the apostles lived, and preached throughout the world repentance and faith in the Lord God the Saviour. That they preached these two things, is evident from these words in the Acts of the Apostles : Paul testified, both to the yews and to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (xx. 21). It is worthy of remembrance, that the Lord, some months ago, called together His twelve disci- ples, now angels, and sent them forth into all the spiritual world, with the command that they should there preach the gospel anew, since the church which was established by the Lord through them, has at this day become so fully consum- mated, that scarcely any remains of it are left ; and that this has come to pass, because they divided the Divine Trinity into three persons, each one of them being God and Lord ; and that thence a sort of frenzy has gone forth into the whole of theology, and thus into the church, which, from the Lord's Name, is called Christian. It is said a frenzy, because the minds of men have been driven by it into such a delirium, that they do not know whether there is one God, or whether there are three ; there is one in the speech of the lips, but three in the thought of the mind, wherefore there is a disagreement between their mind and lips, or between their thought and speech ; from which dis- agreement comes the conclusion that there is no God. The naturalism which reigns at this day is from no other source. Consider, if you please, while the lips speak of one, and the 6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. mind thinks of three, whether the one does not, inwardly, as they meet, in turn expel the other ; thence it is that man scarcely thinks otherwise concerning God, if he thinks at all, than from the mere word God, without any sense of its meaning which involves cognition of Him. Since the idea concerning God, with all conception of Him, has been thus torn to pieces, I propose to treat, in their order, of God the Creator, of the Lord the Redeemer, and of the Holy Spirit the Operator, and lastly of the Divine Trinity ; to the end that what is torn to pieces may again be made whole ; which is effected while the reason of man is convinced, from the Word and the light thence proceeding, that there is a Divine Trinity, and that it is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ, as the soul and the body and the proceeding [life] in man ; and thus that this article in the Athanasian Creed is true, — That in Christ, God and Man, or the Divine and the Human, are not two, but in one person ; and that, as the rational soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ. CONCERNING THE UNITY OF GOD. 5. Since the acknowledgment of God from cognition of Him, is the very essence and soul of all things in universal theology, it is necessary that an exordium should be made concerning the Unity of God, which will be demonstrated in order by these articles : L The whole Sacred Scripture, and thence the doctrines of the churches in the Christian world, teach that God is one. IL There is a universal influx \_from God'\ into the souls of men, that there is a God, and that He is one. IIL Thence it is that, in all the zvorld, there is no nation, having religion and sound reason, which does not acknowledge a God, and that God is one. IV. As to what the one God is, nations and people have diflired and still differ, from several causes. V. Human reason, from many things ifi the world, may, if it will, perceive or conclude that there is a God, and that He is otie. VL Unless Gad were one, the universe could No. 6.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. / not have been created and preserved. VII. The man wJio does not acknowledge a God, is excommunicated from the church and condemned. VIII. With the man who does not acknowledge one God, but more than one, ?wthing of the church coheres. But these articles shall be unfolded one by one. 6. I. The whole Sacred Scripture, and thence ALL the Doctrines of the Churches in the Chris- tian WORLD, teach that THERE IS A GOD, AND THAT He is one. The whole Sacred Scripture teaches that there is a God, because, in its inmosts, it is no other than God, that is, the Divine which proceeds from God ; for it was dictated by God ; and nothing else can proceed from God, than that which is Himself, and is called Divine ; this the Sacred Scripture is in its inmosts. But in its derivatives, which are below and from the inmost, that Holy Scripture is accom- modated to the perception of angels and men ; in these it is likewise Divine, but in another form, in which it is called Heavenly [Celestial], Spiritual, and Natural-Divine, which are no other than coverings of God ; since God Himself, such as He is in the inmosts of the Word, cannot be seen by any creature. For He said to Moses, when he prayed that he might see the glory of Jehovah, that no one can see God and live. It is similar with the inmosts of the Word, where God is in His esse and in His essence. But still the Divine, which is the inmost, and is covered with such things as are accommodated to the perceptions of angels and men, shines forth, like light through crystalline forms ; but variously, according to the state of mind which man has formed for himself, from God or from himself. To every one who has formed the state of his mind from God, the Sacred Scripture is like a mirror before him, in which he sees God ; but each one in his own way. The truths which he learns from the Word, and with which he becomes imbued by a life according to them, compose that mirror. 8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. From these things, in the first place, it is evident, that the Sacred Scripture is the fulness of God. That it not only teaches that there is a God, but also that God is one, is evident from the truths, which, as was said, compose that mirror, in that they cohere in one series, and make man incapable of thinking of God but as one. Thence it is, that every one whose reason is imbued with any sanctity from the Word, knows as from himself that God is one, and perceives that it is like madness to say that there are more. The angels cannot open their lips to pronounce the word Gods \ for the heavenly aura, in which they live, opposes it. That God is one, the Sacred Scripture teaches not only thus universally, as has been said, but also in many particular passages, as in the following : Hear^ O Israel; yehovah our God is one yehovah (Deut. vi. 4) ; and in like manner, Mark. xii. 29. Surely God is in thee, and there is no God beside Me (Isa. xlv. 14). Am not I yehovah .? and there is no God else beside Me (xlv. 21). / am yehovah thy God, and thou shall know no God beside Me (Hos. xiii. 4). Tims saith yehovah, the King of Israel, I am the First and the last, and beside Me there is no God (Isa. xliv. 6). In that day yehovah shall be King over all the earth ; in that day yehovah shall be one, and His name one (Zech. xiv. 9). 7. It is known that the doctrines of the churches in the Christian world teach that God is one; they teach this because all their doctrines are derived from the Word, and they cohere so far as one God is acknowledged not only with the lips, but also in the heart. To those who confess one God with the lips only, and in heart three, as is the case with very many at this day in Christendom, God is nothing but a mere word of the mouth ; and every thing relating to theology is, to them, but as an idol of gold enclosed in a shrine, the key to open it being in the possession of the priests only ; and when they read the Word, they do not per- ceive any light in it or from it, and not even that God is one. The Word, with such persons, is as if it were spotted with No. 8.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 9 blots ; and, as to the unity of God, entirely covered. These are they who are described by the Lord in Matthew : By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive : their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and turn themselves about, and I should heal them (xiii. 14, 15). All such per- sons are like those who shun the light, and enter chambers where there are no windows, and feel about the walls, and search for food and for money, and at length acquire a vision like that of birds of the night, and see in darkness. They are like a woman having several husbands, who is not a wife but a lascivious harlot ; and like a virgin who accepts rings from several suitors, and after the nuptials bestows her favors upon one and also upon the others. 8. II. There is a universal Influx from God into THE Souls of Men, that there is a God, and that He is one. That there is an influx from God into man, is evident from the confession of all, that all good which in itself is good, and is in man, and is done by him, is from God ; in like manner all of charity and all of faith ; for it is read, A man can take nothing, except it be given him from heaven (John iii. 27) ; and Jesus said, Without Me ye can do nothing (xv. 5) ; that is, not any thing which is of charity and of faith. That this influx is into men's souls, is because the soul is the inmost and highest part of man, and the influx from God enters into that, and descends thence into those things which are below, and vivifies them according to reception. The truths which will be of faith, indeed, flow in by hearing, and so are implanted in the mind, thus below the soul. But man, by these truths, is only disposed for receiving the influx from God through the soul ; and as the disposition is, such is the reception, and such the trans- formation of natural faith into spiritual faith. That there 10 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. is an influx from God into the souls of men, that God is one, is because all the Divine, taken universally as well as particularly, is God ; and because all the Divine coheres as one, it cannot but inspire into man the idea of one God ; and this idea is corroborated daily, as man is elevated by God into the light of heaven ; for the angels, in their light, cannot force themselves to say Gods ; wherefore, also, their speech, at the end of every sentence, terminates as to accent in unity, which is from no other cause than from the influx into their souls, that God is one. The reason that, although it flows into the souls of all men that God is one, still many think that His Divinity is divided into more than one of the same essence, is because when that influx descends it falls into forms not correspondent, and the form itself varies it, as is the case in all the subjects of the three kingdoms of nature. It is the same God who vivifies man, that vivifies every beast ; but the recipient form causes beast to be beast, and man to be man. It is similar with man while he induces on his mind the form of a beast. There is a similar influx from the sun into every tree, but it is varied according to the form of each ; what flows into the vine is similar to what flows into the thorn ; but if the thorn is ingrafted into a vine, the influx is inverted, and proceeds according to the form of the thorn. The case is similar in the subjects of the mineral kingdom ; the light flowing into lime-stone and into the diamond is the same, but the latter is translucent and the former is opaque. As to human minds, they are varied according to their forms, which inwardly are spiritual according to faith in God, and at the same time a life from God, and those forms become translucent and angelic by faith in one God ; but on the contrary, they become dark and bestial by faith in more than one God, which differs but little from faith in no God. 9. III. Thence it is, that in all the World there IS NO Nation having Religion and sound Reason, No. 9-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. II WHICH DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE A GOD, AND THAT GOD IS ONE. From the divine influx into the souls of men, treated of just above, it follows, that there is an internal dictate with every man that there is a God, and that He is one. That still there are those who deny God, and who acknowledge nature as God, and who acknowledge more Gods than one, and also who worship images as Gods, is because they have filled up the interiors of their reason or understanding with worldly and corporeal things, and thereby have obliterated the primitive idea or the idea of infancy concerning God ; and, at the same time, they then rejected religion from the breast to the back. That Christians acknowledge one God (and in what manner), appears from the general Confession of their faith, which is as follows : The Catholic faith is this, that we should worship one God in a Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity ; there are three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and yet there are tiot three gods, but there is one God; and there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit, and their Divinity is one, their ^ory equal, and their majesty coeternal ; thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God : but although we are compelled by Christian verity to confess each Person, one by one, to be God and. Lord, yet we are for- bidden by the Catholic religion to say three Gods, and three Lords. Such is the Christian faith concerning the unity of God ; but that the trinity of God and the unity of God in that Confession are inconsistent with each other, will be seen in the chapter on the Divine Trinity, The other nations in the world who have religion and sound reason, agree in acknowledging that God is one ; all the Mahome- tans in their empires ; the Africans in many kingdoms of their continent ; and also the Asiatics in many of theirs ; and moreover the Jews at this day. Of the most ancient people in the golden age, those who had any religion, worshipped one God, whom they called Jehovah ; in like 12 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. manner the ancient people in the following age, before monarchical governments were formed, when worldly and at length corporeal loves began to close up the higher parts of their understanding, which before were open, and were then as temples and sacred recesses for the worship of one God. But the Lord God, that He might open them again, and so restore the worship of one God, instituted a church among the posterity of Jacob, and prefixed to all the pre- cepts of their religion this : Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me (Ex. xx. 3). jfehovah, also, the name by which He called Himself anew before them, signifies the supreme and only Being from Whom is every thing that is and exists in the universe. Ancient Gentiles acknowledged Jove as the supreme God, so called perhaps from Jehovah; and many others, who composed his court, they also clothed with divinity ; but the wise men in the following age, as Plato and Aristotle, confessed that these were not gods, but so many properties, qualities, and attributes of one God, which were called gods because in each of them there was divinity. 10. All sound reason, although not' imbued with religion, sees that every thing which is divided, unless it depend upon one, would of itself fall to pieces ; for instance, man, composed of so many members, viscera, and organs of mo- tion and sensation, unless he depended upon one soul ; and the body itself, unless it depended upon one heart. In like manner, a kingdom, unless it depended upon one king ; a household, unless upon one master ; and every office, of which there are many kinds in every kingdom, unless upon one officer. What would an army avail against the enemy, without a leader, having supreme power, and officers sub- ordinate to him, each of them having his proper command over the soldiers ? It would be similar with the church, unless it acknowledged one God, and also with the angelic heaven, which is as a head to the church upon earth, in both of which the Lord is the very Soul. Wherefore, heaven No. ii-l CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 13 and the church are called His body ; which, if they did not acknowledge one God, would both of them be like a life- less corpse, which being of no use would be cast away and buried. ii. iv. as to what the one god is, nations and People have differed and still differ, from several Causes. The first cause is, that cognition concerning God, and thence an acknowledgment of Him, is not attainable with- out revelation ; and cognition concerning the Lord, and thence an acknowledgment that in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, is not attainable except from the Word, which is the crown of revelations ; for man, by the revelation which is given, is able to approach God and to receive influx, and so from natural to be- come spiritual. The revelation belonging to the first age pervaded, all the world, and the natural man had per- verted it in many ways ; whence arose the disputes, dis- sensions, heresies, and schisms of religions. The second cause is, that the natural man cannot perceive any thing concerning God, but only something concerning the world, and apply this to himself; wherefore it is among the canons of the Christian Church, that the natural man is opposed to the spiritual, and that they fight against each other. Thence it is, that those who have recognized, from the Word or other revelation, that there is a God, have differed and still differ concerning the quality of God, and also concerning His unity. Wherefore, those whose mental sight depended on the senses of the body, and who still wished to see God, formed for themselves, as idols, images of gold, silver, stone, and wood, that under these, as objects of sight, they might worship God ; and others, who rejected artificial unages from their religion, formed for themselves ideal images of God in the sun and moon, in the stars, and in various things upon the earth. 14 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. But those who supposed themselves to be wise above the common people, and who still remained natural, from the immensity and omnipresence of God in creating the world, acknowledged nature as God, some in its inmost, some in its outmost parts : and some, that they might separate God from nature, conceived an idea of something most uni- versal, which they called the Ens of the universe ; and because they know nothing more of God, this Ens becomes with them a thing of reasoning, which signifies nothing. Who cannot comprehend that cognitions concerning God are mirrors of God, and that those who know nothing con- cerning God, do not see God in a mirror with its face turned towards their eyes, but in a mirror with its back towards them, which, being covered with mercury, or some dark, glutinous substance, does not reflect but extinguishes the image .'' The faith of God enters into man through a prior way, which is from the soul into the higher parts of the understanding; but cognitions concerning God enter through a posterior way, because they are imbibed from the revealed Word, by the understanding, through the senses of the body ; and there is a meeting of the influxes in the midst of the understanding ; and natural faith, which is only persuasion, there becomes spiritual, which is real acknowledgment ; wherefore the human understanding is as a refining vessel, in which the change is effected. 12. V. Human Reason, from many Things in the World, may, if it will, perceive or conclude that THERE is a God, and that He is One. This truth may be confirmed by innumerable things in the visible world ; for the universe is like a stage, upon which are continually exhibited testimonies that there is a God, and that He is one. But to illustrate this, I will adduce this memorable relation from the spiritual world. Once, while I was conversing with angels, there were present some newly arrived spirits from the natural world. Seeing them, No. 12.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 1 5 I bade them welcome, and related many things, before un- known, concerning the spiritual world ; and after some con- versation, I inquired of them what knowledge they brought with them from the world concerning God and nature. They said, This, that nature is the operator in all things that are done in the created universe ; and that God, after crea- tion, induced and impressed upon nature that faculty and power ; and that God only sustains and preserves them lest they should perish ; wherefore all things that exist, which are produced and reproduced upon the earth, are at this day ascribed to nature. But I replied, that nature of itself is not the operator in any thing, but God through nature ; and because they asked for proof, I said. Those who believe the Divine operation to be in every thing of nature, can, from very many things which they see in the world, confirm themselves in favor of God much more than in favor of nature ; for those who confirm themselves in favor of the Divine operation in every thing of nature, attend to the wonderful things which are seen in the productions of plants as well as of animals. — In the Productions of Plants : They observe that, from a little seed sown in the ground, there goes forth a root, and by means of the root, a stem, and successively branches, buds, leaves, flowers, and fruits, even to new seeds, just as if the seed knew the order of succession, or the process by which it was to renew itself. What rational man can think that the sun, which is pure fire, knows this, or that it can endue its heat and light with power to effect such things, and that it can intend uses ? The man whose rational faculty has been elevated, while he sees and properly considers those things, cannot think otherwise than that they are from Him who has infinite wisdom, thus from God. They who acknowledge the Divine operation in every thing of nature, also confirm themselves in the acknowledgment when they see those things ; but, on the contrary, they who do not acknowledge it, do not see such things with the eyes of l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. their reason in the forehead, but in the back of the head ; who are such as derive all the ideas of their thought from the senses of the body, .and confirm the fallacies of the senses, saying, " Do you not see the sun operating all those things by its heat and light ? What is that which you do not see? is it any thing?" — They who confirm themselves in favor of the Divine, attend to the wonderful things which they see in the Productions of Animals : To speak here first with regard to t^gs, that in them the chicken is concealed, in its seed, with every thing requisite for its formation, and also with every thing for progress after its exclusion, even until it becomes a bird in the form of the parent. Moreover, if we attend to winged creatures in general, such things are presented to the mind which thinks deeply, as excite astonishment ; as that in the least as well as in the greatest of them, in the invisible as well as in the visible, that is, in little insects as well as in great birds and beasts, there are organs of the senses, which are those of sight, smell, taste, and touch ; also organs of motion, which are muscles, for they fly and walk ; as also viscera con- nected with the heart and lungs, which are actuated by the brains. They who ascribe all things to nature see such things, indeed, but they think only that they are, and say that nature produces them ; and they say this because they have turned away the mind from thinking of the Divine : and those who have turned themselves away from the Divine, while they behold the wonderful things in na- ture, cannot think rationally concerning them, still less spiritually ; but they think sensually and materially ; and then they think in nature . from nature, and not above it ; with only this difference from beasts, that they possess rationality, that is, that they are able to understand if they will. Those who have turned themselves away from think- ing of the Divine, and have thereby become corporeal-sens- ual, do not consider that the sight of the eye is so gross and material that it sees many little insects as one obscure No. 12.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 1 7 object ; and yet every one of them is organized for feel- ing and for moving itself, and so is gifted with fibres and vessels, and also with a little heart, pulmonary tubes, little viscera, and brains ; and that these are woven together from the purest things in nature, and that those contex- tures correspond to life in its lowest degree, by which the minutest of them are distinctly actuated. Since the sight of the eye is so gross that many insects, with the innu- merable parts of each, appear to it as a small, obscure thing, and yet sensual men think and conclude from that sight, it is manifest how very gross their mind is, and thence in what darkness they are with respect to spiritual things. Every man, if he will, may confirm himself in favor of the Divine, from the things visible in nature ; and also he does confirm himself, who thinks concerning God, and His omnipotence in creating the universe, and concerning His omnipresence in preserving it : Avhilst, for instance, he ob- serves the fowls of the air, how each species of them knows its proper food and where it is ; recognizes its fel- lows from sound and sight ; how among the birds they can distinguish which are their friends, and which their enemies ; that they know how to couple ; that they take their mates, build nests with art, there lay their eggs, sit upon them, know the time of incubation ; which being ended, they help the young from the shell ; loving them most tenderly, cherishing them under their wings, offering them food, and nourishing them until they are able to pro- vide for themselves and to do similar things. Every man, who is willing to think of the Divine influx through the spiritual world into the natural, may see it in those things ; and he may also say in his heart, if he will, that such knowl- edge cannot be given to them from the sun by its heat and light ; for the sun from which nature takes its rise and its essence, is pure fire ; and thence the effluxes of its heat and light are altogether dead ; and thus they may conclude that such things are from the Divine influx through the spiritual world into the ultimates of nature. 1 8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. Every one, from the things visible in nature, may con- firm himself in favor of the Divine, while he sees those worms, which, from the enjoyment in a certain love, seek and aspire after a change of their earthly state into one analogous to the heavenly state ; and for this purpose crawl into suitable places, envelop themselves with a cov- ering, and thus put themselves into the womb, that they may be born again, and thus become chrysalises, aureliai, nymphs, and at length butterflies ; and when they have un- dergone these changes of form, and, according to their species, have been clothed with beautiful wings, they fly abroad into the open air as into their heaven, and there indulge in pleasant sports, take their mates, lay eggs, and provide for themselves a posterity ; and at that time they nourish themselves with pleasant and sweet food from flowers. Who that confirms himself in favor of the Divine, from the things visible in nature, does not see some image of the earthly state of man in them as worms, and an im- age of the heavenly state in them as butterflies ? But those who confirm themselves in favor of nature, see those things indeed, but, because they have rejected the heavenly state of man from the mind (iUiimtis), they call them mere opera- tions of nature. Every one, from the things visible in nature, may con- firm himself in favor of the Divine, while he attends to the things which are known concerning bees, that they know how to gather wax from roses and from blossoms, and to suck out honey, and to build cells like little houses, and arrange them in the form of a city with streets through which they may come in and go out ; that from afar they smell the flowers and herbs from which they may gather wax for their houses and honey for their food ; and that, laden with these, they fly back in the right direction to their hive ; and so they provide for themselves food for the coming winter, as if they foresaw it. They also set over themselves a mistress as queen, from whom a posterity No. 12] CONCERNIXG GOD THE CREATOR. I9 may be propagated ; and build for her, as it were, a palace above them, guarded round about. When the time of bring- ing forth has come, she goes, accompanied by her attend- ants called drones, from cell to cell, and lays her eggs, which her attendants cover with a sort of ointment, that Ihey may not be injured by the air. Hence arises a new race. Afterwards, when this has reached the proper age and is able to do like things, it is expelled from the hive ; the swarm first gathers itself into a band, that it may not be divided and dispersed, and afterwards flies abroad to seek for itself a habitation. About the time of autumn, those drones, because they have brought in no wax nor honey, are led forth and deprived of their wings, that they may not return and consume the food which they took no pains to provide. Many other things might be added. Whence it is evident, that, on account of the use which they per- form to the human race, they have, from the Divine influx through the spiritual world, a form of government such as there is with men on earth, yea, with angels in the heavens. What person of sound reason does not see that such things ■with them are not from the natural world ? What has the sun from which nature is, in common with a government the rival and the analogue of heavenly government .'' From these and similar things observable in brute animals, the advocate and worshipper of nature confirms himself in favor of nature ; whilst the advocate and worshipper of God, from the same things confirms himself in favor of God : for the spiritual man sees in them spiritual things, and the natural man sees in them natural things ; thus each according to his quality. As to myself, such things have been to me evident indications of the influx of the spirit- ual world into the natural from God. Consider also whether you can think analytically concerning any form of government, or concerning any civil law, or concerning any moral virtue, or concerning any spiritual truth, unless the Divine, from His wisdom, flows in through the spiritual v/orld. As to myself, I never could, nor can I now ; for I 20 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. have perceptibly and sensibly observed that influx now for twenty-six years, continually; wherefore I say this from what has been witnessed. Can nature have use as the end, and dispose uses into ordfers and forms ? This can be done only by one who is wise ; and the universe can be thus ordered and formed only by God, whose wisdom is infinite. Who else can fore- see and provide for men things serviceable for food and clothing ; their food from the harvests of the field, the fruits of the earth, and from animals ; and their clothing from the same ? It is among the wonderful things, that those petty worms called silk-worms, should clothe with silk and magnificently adorn both women and men, from kings and queens even to maid-servants and man-servants ; and that those petty insects called bees, should furnish wax for lights, by which temples and palaces are illuminated. These and many other things are standing proofs that God, from Himself through the spiritual world, operates all things which are done in nature. To these things it is proper to add, that, in the spiritual world, have been seen those who, from the things visible in the world, confirmed themselves in favor of nature to such a degree that they became atheists ; and that their understanding in spiritual light appeared open below and closed above, because in thought they looked downwards to the earth and not upwards to heaven. Above the sen- sual, which is the lowest of the understanding, there ap- peared, as it were, a veil sparkling with infernal fire ; in some cases black as soot, in others livid like a corpse. Let every one, therefore, beware of confirmations in favor of nature ; but let him confirm himself in favor of God ; material is not wanting. 13. VI. Unless God were one, the Universe could NOT HAVE been CREATED AND PRESERVED. That God's unity may be inferred from the creation of the universe, is because the universe is a work cohering as No. 13.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 21 one from firsts to lasts ; also that the universe depends upon one God, as the body on its soul. The universe is so created, that God may be everyAvhere present, and hold all and every part of it under His direction, and hold it together as one perpetually, which is to preserve it. Hence also it is, that Jehovah God says, That He is the First a7id the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega (Isa. xliv. 6 ; Apoc. i. 8, 17) ; and, in another place, That He mak- eth all things, spreadeth out the heavens, and stretcheth out the earth by Hitns elf (ls?i. xliv. 24). This great system, which is called the universe, is a work cohering as one from firsts to lasts, because God in creating it had one end in view, which was an angelic heaven from the human race ; and all things of which the earth is composed are means to that end ; for lie who wills an end also wills the means ; where- fore he who contemplates the world as a work containing means to that end, may contemplate the created universe as a work cohering as one, and may see that the world is a complex of uses in successive order for the human race, from which is the angelic heaven. The Divine Love can intend no other end than the eternal blessedness of men from Its own Divine ; and Its Divip^ Wisdom can produce nothing else than uses which are means to that end. From the world surveyed with this universal idea, every wise man may comprehend that the Creator of the universe is one, and that His essence is Love and Wisdom : wherefore there is not a single thing in the universe, in which is not hidden a use, more or less remote, for man.* Those who view some things in the world singly, and. not all things universally in a series in which are ends, mediate causes, and effects, and who do not deduce creation from the Divine Love through the Divine Wisdom, cannot see that the universe is the work of one God, and that He dwells in every use, because He dwells in the end ; for * Several lines are here omitted in the translation ; as they are found in No. 12, and seem to have been repeated accidentally. 22 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. every one who is in the end, is also in the means ; for the end is most internally in all the means, actuating and directing them. Those who do not contemplate the uni- verse as the work of God, and as the habitation of His love and wisdom, but as the work of nature, and the habi- tation of the heat and light of the sun, close the higher regions of their mind towards God, and open its lower regions for the devil ; and thereby they put off the na- ture of man, and put on the nature of beasts ; and they not only believe themselves to be like the beasts, but they also become so ; for they become foxes in cunning, wolves in fierceness, leopards in treachery, tigers in cruelty, and crocodiles, serpents, owls and other birds of the night, ac- cording to the nature of these animals. In the spiritual world, those who are such also appear in the distance like those wild beasts ; their love of evil so figures itself. 14. VII. The Man who does not acknowledge a God, is excommunicated from the Church and con- demned. That the man who does not acknowledge a God, is ex- communicated from tl;,e church, is because God is the all of the church, and divine things which are called theologi- cal constitute the church ; wherefore a denial of God is a denial of all things of the church ; and this denial itself excommunicates him ; thus the man himself, and not God, is the author of his excommunication. He is also con- demned, because whosoever is excommunicated from the church, is also excommunicated from heaven ; for the church upon earth and the angelic heaven make one, like the internal and external, and like the spiritual and natural in man. For man has been so created by God, as to be in the spiritual world as to his internal, and in the natural world as to his external ; thus he has been created a native of both worlds, in order that the spiritual, which is of heaven, may be implanted in the natural, which is of the world, as No. 14.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 23 seed is planted in the ground ; and that thus man may ac- quire a fixed and everlasting existence. The man who, by a denial of God, has excommunicated himself from the church and thus from heaven, has closed up his internal man as to the will, and thus as to his genial love ; for man's will is the receptacle of his love, and becomes its habitation. But he cannot close up his internal man as to the understanding ; for, if he could and should do this, the man would be no longer man. But the love of his will infatuates the higher regions of the understanding with falsities; whence the understanding becomes as it were closed as to the truths which are of faith, and as to the goods which are of charity ; thus more and more against God, and at the same time against the spiritual things of the church ; and thus he is excluded from communion with the angels of heaven ; and, when thus excluded, he enters into communion with the satans of hell and thinks in unity with them ; and all satans deny a God, and think foolishly concerning God and the spiritual things of the church ; so too does the man who is conjoined with them. When he is in his spirit, as he is when left to himself at home, he suffers his thoughts to be led by the enjoyments of evil and falsity, which he has conceived and brought forth in him- self ; and then he thinks that there is no God, but that what is called God is only a word sounded from the pulpits, to. bind the common people to obedience to the laws of jus- tice, which are laws of society. He also thinks that the Word, from which ministers proclaim a God, is a collection of visionary stories, the sanctity of which is derived from authority ; and that the Decalogue or Catechism is a little book, which, after it has been well worn by children's hands, may be thrown away ; for it ordains that we should honor our parents, that we should not do murder, nor commit adul- tery, nor steal, nor bear false testimony ; and who does not know the same things from the civil law .? Concerning the church, he thinks it is an assemblage of simple, credulous, 24 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. 1. weak-minded people, who see what they do not see. Re- specting man, and himself as a man, he thinks as he do'es of a beast ; and concerning the life after death, he thinks as he does of a beast's life after death. So his internal man thinks, however differently the external man speaks ; for, as was said, every man has an internal and an external ; and his internal constitutes the man, which is called the spirit, and which lives after death ; and the external, in which by a semblance of morality he plays the hypocrite, is buried ; and then, on account of his denial of God, he is condemned. Every man, as to his spirit, is consociated with his like in the spiritual world, and is as one with them ; and it has often been given me to see in societies the spirits of per- sons still living, some in angelic societies and some in infernal ; and I have also been permitted to converse with them for days ; and have wondered that man himself while he lives in his body should know nothing at all of this. Thence it was manifest, that whoever denies a God, is al- ready among the condemned, and after death is gathered to his companions. 15. VIII. With Men who do not acknowledge one God, but more than one, nothing of the Church COHERES. He who in faith acknowledges and in heart worships one God, is in the communion of saints on earth, and in the communion of angels in the heavens ; they are called commimiojis, and they are so because they are in one God, and one God is in them. The same are also in conjunction with the whole angelic heaven, and I might venture to say with all and every one there, for they are all as the chil- dren and descendants of one father, whose minds, manners, and faces are similar, so that they mutually recognize each other. The angelic heaven is arranged into societies ac- cording to all the varieties of the love of good; which varieties aim at one most universal love, which is love to No. i6.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 2$ God ; from this love have been generated all those who in faith acknowledge, and in heart worship, one God, the Cre- ator of the universe, and at the same time the Redeemer and Regenerator. But the case is altogether different with those who do not approach and worship one God, but more than one ; and also with those who profess one with their lips, and at the same time think of three, as do those in* the church at this day who distinguish God into three persons, and declare that each person by himself is God, and attrib- ute to each separate qualities or properties which do not belong to either of the others. Hence it comes to pass that not only the unity of God is actually divided, but also theology itself, and likewise the human mind, in which it should reside ; what thence can result but perplexity and incoherency in the things of the church ? That such is the state of the church at this day, will be demonstrated in the Appendix to this work. The truth is, that the division of God, or of the Divine essence, into three persons, each of whom by himself, or singly, is God, leads to the denial of God. It is as if one should enter a temple in order to worship, and should see, on a tablet above the altar, one God painted as the Ancient of days, another as the High Priest, and a third as the flying yEolus, with this inscription beneath, " These three are otte God ; " or as if he should there see the Unity and Trinity painted as a man with three heads upon one body, or with three bodies under one head, which is the form of a monster. If any one should enter heaven with such an idea, he would certainly be cast out head long, though he should say that the head or heads signified essence, and the body or bodies, distinct properties. i6. To the above I shall add a Relation [Memora- Bile]. I saw some new comers from the natural into the spiritual world, talking together about three Divine Persons from eternity ; they were dignitaries of the church, and one of tliem a bishop. They came up to me, and after some conversation concerning the spiritual world, of which tliey VOL. I. 2 26 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. before had not known any thing, I said, " I heard you talk- ing about three Divine Persons from eternity ; and I be- seech you to open to me this great mystery, according to your ideas which you conceived in the natural world, from which you have lately come." Then the primate look- ing at me said, " I see that you are a layman ; wherefore I wil! open the ideas of my thought concerning this great mystery, and teach you. My ideas always have been and still are that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, sit in the midst of heaven, upon magnificent and lofty seats or thrones ; God the Father, upon a throne of the finest gold, with a sceptre in His hand ; God the Son, at His right hand, upon a throne of the purest silver, with a crown on His head ; and God the Holy Spirit, near them, upon a throne of shining crystal, holding a dove in His hand ; and that lamps, hanging round about them in triple order, were glittering with precious stones ; and that, at a distance from this circle, were standing innumerable angels, all worshipping and singing praises ; and, more- over, that God the Father is continually conversing with His Son concerning those who are to be justified ; and that they together decree and determine who, upon earth, were worthy to be received by them among the angels, and crowned with eternal life ; and that God the Holy Spirit, having heard their names, instantly hastens to them over all parts of the earth, carrying with Him the gifts of right- eousness, as so many tokens of salvation for those who are to be justified ; and, as soon as He arrives and breathes upon them, He disperses their sins, as a ventilator dis- perses the smoke from a furnace and makes it white ; and also He takes away from their hearts the hardness of stone, and puts into them the softness of flesh ; and at the same time He renews their spirits or minds, and regenerates them, and induces upon them the countenances of infants ; and at last marks their foreheads with the sign of the cross, and calls them the elect, and children of God." The No. i6.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 27 primate, having finished this discourse, said to me, " Thus I unravelled this great mystery in the world ; and, because most of our order there applauded my opinions on this sub- ject, I am persuaded that you also, who are a layman, give them credit." After these things were said by the primate, I looked at him, and, at the same time, at the dignitaries with him, and observed that they all favored him with their full assent : wherefore I began to reply, and said, " I have well considered the declaration of your faith, and have thence collected that you have conceived and still cherish a merely natural and sensual, yea, material idea concerning the triune God, whence inevitably flows the idea of three Gods. Is it not to think sensually of God the Father, that He sits upon a throne with a sceptre in His hand ? and of the Son, that He sits upon His throne with a crown on His head ? and of the Holy Spirit, that He sits upon His, with a dove in His hand, and that, according to what He hears. He runs throughout the world ? And because such an idea thence results, I cannot believe what you have de- clared ; for, from my infancy, I have not been able to admit into my mind any other idea than that of one God ; and since I have received and still retain only this idea, all that you have said has no weight with me. And then I saw that, by the throne upon which, according to the Scripture, Jehovah is said to sit, is meant kingdom ; by the sceptre and crown, government and dominion ; by sit- ting' on the right hand, the omnipotence of God by His Human; and by those things which are related of the Holy Spirit, the operations of the Divine omnipresence. Assume, sir, if you please, the idea of one God, and revolve it well in your rational mind [ratiocinid], and you will at length clearly perceive that it is so. Indeed, you also say that there is one God, and this because you make the essence of those three persons one and indivisible ; yet you do not allow any one to say that the one God is one Person, but that still there are three ; and this you do, lest the idea of 28 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. three Gods, such as yours is, should be lost ; and you also ascribe to each a character separate from that of another : do you not thus divide your Divine essence ? Since it is so, how can you at the same time think that God is one ? I could overlook it if you should say that the Divine is one. When any one hears that the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God, and that each Person sifigly is God, how can he conceive that God is one ? Is it not a contradiction which can never be believed ? That this cannot be called one God, but similar Divinit)', may be illustrated by these examples : It cannot be said of sev- eral men who compose one senate, synod, or council, that they are one man ; but while they are all and each of them of one opinion, it may be said that they think one thing. Neither can it be said of three diamonds of one substance that they are one diamond, but that they are one as to substance ; and also each diamond differs from the others in value, according to its own weight; but it would not be so, if they were one, and not three. But I perceive that the reason why you call the three Divine per- sons, each of whom by Himself or singly is God, one God, and why you insist that every one in the church should so speak, is that sound and enlightened reason, throughout the whole world, acknowledges that God is one ; and there- fore you would be covered with shame, if you also should not speak in like manner. But even while you utter with your lips one God, although you entertain the idea of three, still the shame does not keep those two forms of expres- sion within your lips, but you speak them out." After this conversation, the bishop retired with his clerical attendants, and in retiring he turned about, and wished to exclaim, " There is one God ; " but he could not, because his thought drew back his tongue ; and then, with open mouth, he breathed out, "Three Gods." Those who were standing by laughed loudly at the strange sight, and departed. 17. Afterwards I inquired where I might find, amongst No. i;.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 29 the learned, those who are of the most acute genius, and who maintain that there is a Divine Trinity divided into three persons ; and three presented themselves, to whom I said, " How can you divide the Divine Trinity into three persons, and assert that each person by himself, or singly, is God and Lord ? Is not such a confession of the mouth that God is one, as distant' from the thought as the south is from the north ? " To which they replied, " It is not in the least, because the three persons have one essence, and the Divine Essence is God. We were, in the world, guardians of a Trinity of persons ; and the ward under our care was our faith, in which each divine person had his office : God the Father, the office of imputation and donation ; God the Son, that of intercession and mediation ; and God the Holy Spirit, that of effecting the uses of imputation and media- tion." But I asked, " What do you mean by the Divine Essence ? " They said, " We mean omnipotence, omni- science, omnipresence, immensity, eternity, equality of maj- esty." To which I said, " If that essence makes one out of several Gods, you may add still more, as, for example, a fourth who is mentioned in Moses, Job, and Ezekiel, and is called God Shaddai. In like manner also did the ancients in Greece and Italy, who ascribed equal attrib- utes and thus similar essence to their gods, as to Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Juno, Diana, Minerva, yea, also to Mercury and Venus ; but still they could not say that all these were one God. And also you, who are three, and, as I perceive, of similar learning, and so of sim- ilar essence as to that, still are not able to combine your- sehes into one learned man." But at this they laughed, saying, " You are jesting ; it is otherwise with the Divine Essence ; this is one, and not tripartite, and it is indivisible, and so not divided ; partition and division do not reach it." To this I rejoined, "Let us come down to this ground, and argue the subject." And I asked, "What do you mean hy J>erson, and what does the word signify ? " And they said, 30 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. L " The appellation Person signifies not a part or quality ir. an- other, but what subsists by itself \_proprie subsistit\ Thus do all the principal doctors of the church ^^^wo. person, and we agree with them." And I said, " Is this the definition of person ] " And they replied, " It is." To which I answered, " Then there is not any part of the Father in the Son, nor any of either in the Holy Spirit ; whence it follows, that each has His own judgment, right, and power ; and so there is not any thing which joins them together except the will, which is proper to each, and thus is communicable at pleas- ure : are not the three persons thus three distinct Gods ? Again, you have also defined person, that it is what subsists by itself : consequently it follows that there are three sub- stances into which you divide the Divine Essence ; and yet this, as you also say, is incapable of division, because it is one and indivisible ; and, moreover, to each substance, that is, to each person, you attribute properties which are not in another, and which cannot be communicated to an- other, such as imputation, mediation, and operation ; and what else thence results, than that the three persons are three Gods ? " At these words they withdrew, saying, " We will discuss these things, and, having discussed them, we will answer." There stood by a certain wise man, who, hearing these things, said, " I do not wish, by such subtle speculations [subtiles transennas], to look into this high sub- ject ; but leaving those subtilties, I see in clear light that, in the ideas of your thought, there are three Gods ; but, because it would be to your shame to publish them to all the world (for if you should publish them you would be called madmen and idiots), therefore, to avoid that dis- grace, it is expedient for you to confess with your lips one God." But the three disputants, still tenacious of their own opinion, paid no attention to these words ; and, in going away, they muttered out some terms bor- rowed from metaphysical science ; whence I perceived, that that was their tripod, from which they wished to ffive answers. No. 19-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 3 1 CONCERNING THE DIVINE ESSE, WHICH IS JEHOVAH. 18. We shall treat first of the Divine Esse, and after- wards of the Divine Essence. It appears as if these two were one and the same ; but still esse is more universal than essence, for an essence supposes an esse, and from esse essence is derived. The Esse of God, or the Divine Esse, cannot be described, because it is above every idea of human thought, into which nothing else falls than what is created and finite, but not what is uncreate and infinite, thus not the Divine Esse. The Divine Esse is Esse itself, from which all things are, and which must be in all things, that they may be. A further notion of the Divine Esse may flow in from the following articles : I. The one Godis called Jehovah from Esse \io be\ thiis from this, because He alone is, was, and will be, and because He is the First 'and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. II. The one God is Substance itself and Form itself, and angels and men are substances and forjns from Him ; and as far as they are in Him and He in them, so far they are images and like- nesses of Him. III. The Divine Esse is Esse [to be"] in itself, and at the same time Existere \to exist'\ in itself IV. The Divine Esse and Existere in itself cannot produce another Divine which is Esse and Existere in itself ; consequently, there cannot be aftother God of the same essence. V. A plu- rality of gods in ancient and also in modern times, existed f-om no other cause than from not understanding the Divi?ie Esse. But these articles are to be elucidated one by one. 19. I. The one God is called Jehovah from Esse, THUS FROM THIS, BECAUSE He ALONE IS [aND WAS] AND WILL BE ; AND BECAUSE He IS THE FiRST AND THE LaST, THE Beginning and the End, the Alpha and ' the Omega, That Jehovah signifies I am and To be, is known j and 32 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. that God was so called from the most ancient times is evi- dent from the book of Creation, or Genesis, where, in the first chapter. He is named God^ but in the second and the following, jfehovah God; and afterwards, when the descend- ants of Abraham by Jacob, during their sojourning in Egypt, forgot the name of God, it was recalled to their remem- brance ; concerning which it is thus written : Moses said unto God, What is thy name ? God said, I AM THA T I AM. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you ; and thou shalt say, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, hath sent me iinto you ; this is My name for ever, and this My niemorial front generation to generation (Ex. iii. 13, 14,- 15). Since God alone is the I AM, and the Esse, or Jehovah, therefore there is not any thing in the created universe which does not derive its esse from Him ; but in what manner will be seen below. The same is also meant by these words : / am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega (Isa. xliv. 6; and Apoc. i. 8, 11 ; xxii. 13) ; by which is signified, Who is the Itself and the Only, from firsts to lasts, from which are all things. That God is called the Alpha and the Omega, the Begin- ning and the End, is because Alpha is the first and Omega is the last letter in the Greek aljohabet ; and thence they signify all things in the complex : the reason is, because every alphabetic letter in the spiritual world signifies some- thing ; and a vowel, which serves for tone, something of affection or love : from this origin is spiritual or angelic speech, and also writing there. But this is an arcanum hitherto unknown ; for there is a universal language, in which all angels and spirits are ; and this has nothing in common with any language of men in the world: every man comes into this language after death, for it is im- planted in every man from creation ; wherefore all can un- derstand each other throughout the whole spiritual world. It has been given me often to hear that language, and I No. 20. 1 CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 33 have compared it with languages in the world, and have found that it does not even in the least degree make one with any natural language upon earth : it differs from them in its first principle, which is, that every letter of every word signifies a thing. In consequence of this, God is called the Alpha and the Omega, by which is signified that He is the Itself and the Only, from firsts to lasts, from which are all things. But concerning this language, and the writing of it, flowing from the spiritual thought of angels, see the work concerning Conjugial Love (n. 326-329), and also the following pages. 20. II. The one God is Substance itself and Form ITSELF, AND AnGELS AND MeN ARE SUBSTANCES AND Forms from Him ; and as far as they are in Him AND He in them, so far they are Images and Like- nesses OF Him. Since God is Esse, He is also Substance, for an esse, unless it be a substance, is only a thing of reasoning ; for substance is the thing which subsists : and whoever is a substance is also a form, for substance, unless it be a form, is a thing of reasoning ; wherefore both can be predicated of God, but so that He is the only, the very, and the first Substance and Form. That this form is the very Human, that is, that God is very Man, all things of whom are infinite, is demonstrated in the " Angelic Wisdom concern- ing the Divine Love and Wisdom," published at Amster- dam in the year 1763: in like manner, that angels and men are substances and forms, created and organized for receiving the Divine things flowing into them through heaven ; wherefore, in the book of Creation, they are called images and likenesses of God (Gen. i. 26, 27) ; and in other places. His sons, and bom of Him ; but in the course of this work, it will be fully demonstrated that, as far as man lives under the Divine influence, that is, suffers himself to be led by God, so far he becomes an image of Him, more and 2* 34 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. more interiorly. Unless an idea be formed of God, that He is the first substance and form, and of His form, that it is the very human, the minds of men would readily imbibe idle fancies, like spectres, concerning God Himself, the origin of man, and the creation of the world : of God they would conceive no other notion than as of the nature of the universe in its firsts, thus of the expanse of the universe, or as of emptiness or nothing ; of the origin of men, as of the conflux of the elements into such a form by chance ; of the creation of the world, that the origin of its substances and forms is from points, then from geometrical lines, which, because nothing can be predicated of them, are therefore in themselves not any thing. With such persons, every thing of the church is like the Styx, or the thick darkness of Tartarus. 21. HI. The Divine Esse [to be] is Esse in itself, AND, AT THE SAME TiME, ExiSTERE [tO EXISt] IN ITSELF. That Jehovah God is Esse in itself, is because He is the I AM, the Itself, the Only and the First, from eternity to eternity, from which is every thing which is, that it may be any thing ; thus, and not otherwise. He is the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last, and the Alpha and the Omega. It cannot be said that His Esse is from itself, be- cause this FROM ITSELF supposes what is prior, and thus time, which is not applicable to the Infinite, which is called '■'■from eternity ; " and also it supposes another God, who is God in Himself, thus a God from God, or that God formed Himself, and so could not be uncreate or infinite, because thus He made himself finite from Himself or from another. From this, that God is Esse in itself, it follows that He is Love in itself. Wisdom in itself, and Life in itself, and that He is the Itself, from which are all things, and to which all things refer themselves, that they may be any thing. That God is Life in itself and thus God, is evident from the Lord's words in John v. 26 ; and in Isaiah, / yehovah No. 22.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 35 make all things^ and spread out the heavens alone, and stretch out the earth by Myself {y^w. 24) ; and that He alone is God, and beside Him there is no God (xlv. 14, 15, 21, 22; Hos. xiii. 4). That God is not only Esse in itself, but also Existere in itself, is because an esse, unless it exist, is not any thing ; and, in like manner, an existere, unless it be from an esse ; wherefore, one being given, the other is given : in like man- ner, a substance is not any thing, unless it be also a form ; of a substance, unless it be a form, nothing can be predi- cated ; and this, because it has no quality, is in itself noth- ing. The reason why we here say Esse and Existere, and not Essence and Existence, is because a distinction is to be observed between Esse and Essence, and thence between Existere and Existence, as between what is prior and what is posterior ; and what is prior is more universal than what is posterior. Infinity and eternity are applicable to the Divine Esse, but to the Divine Essence and Existence Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are applicable, and, by means of these two, omnipotence and omnipresence ; of which, therefore, we shall treat in their order. 22. That God is the Itself, the Only and the First, which is called Esse and Existere in itself, from which are all things that are and exist, the natural man by his own reason cannot possibly discover ; for the natural man by his own reason can apprehend nothing else than what is of nature ; for this squares with his essence, because from his infancy and childhood nothing else has entered into it. But since man was created to be spiritual, also because he is to live after death, and then among the spiritual in their world, therefore God has provided the Word, in which He has not only revealed Himself, but also that there is a heaven and a hell ; and that in one or the other of these every man is to live to eternity, each according to his life and his faith together. He has also revealed in the Word that He is the I AM, or the Esse, and the Itself, and the 36 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. Only, which is in itself, and so the First or the Beginning, from which are all things. It is from this revelation that the natural man can elevate himself above nature, thus above himself, and see such things as are of God ; but yet only as from afar, although God is nigh to every man, for He is in him with His essence ; and, because it is so, He is nigh to those who love Him ; and those love Him who live according to His commandments and believe in Him ; these, as it were, see Him ; for what is faith, but a spiritual sight that He is? And what is a life according to His commandments, but an actual acknowledgment that from Him is salvation and eternal life ? But those who have not spiritual faith, but natural, which is only knowledge, and have thence a similar life, see God, indeed, but from afar, and this only when they are speaking of Him. The differ- ence between the former and the latter is like that between those who stand in clear light, and see men close to, and touch them, and those who stand in a thick fog, from which they cannot distinguish men from trees or stones. Or it is like the difference between those who stand upon a high mountain where there is a city, and who go hither and thither and talk with their fellow citizens, and those who look down from that mountain and know not whether the objects which they see are men, or beasts, or statues. Yea, it is like that between those who stand upon some planet- ary orb, and see their companions there, and those who are in another planet, with telescopes in their hands, and look thither, and say that they see men there, when yet they only see, in general, the earthy parts as lunar bright- ness, and the watery parts as spots. There is a similar difference between seeing God and the Divine things which proceed from Him in their mind, with those who are in faith and at the same time in the life of charity, and with those who are only in knowledge about them ; consequently, between natural and spiritual men. But those who deny the Divine sanctity of the Word, and still carry the things No. 23.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 37 which are of religion, as it were, in a sack upon the back, do not see God, but they only utter the word God, differing little from parrots. 23. IV. The Divine Esse and Existere in itself cannot produce another divine that is esse and Existere in itself ■ consequently, another God of THE SAME Essence is not possible. That one God, who is the Creator of the universe, is Esse and Existere in itself, thus God in Himself, has already been shown : thence it follows that a God from God is not possible, because the very essential Divine, which is Esse and Existere in itself, is in Him incommuni- cable. It is the same, whether it be said "begotten by God," or " proceeding from Him ; " in either case, there would be "produced by God;" and this differs but little from being created. Wherefore, to introduce into the church the faith that there are three Divine persons, each of whom singly is God, and of the same essence, and one born from eternity, and a third proceeding from eternity, is wholly to abolish the idea of the unity of God, and with this all notion of Divinity, and so to cause all the spiritual of reason to be banished into exile ; thence man becomes no longer man, but totally natural, differing from a beast only in possessing the power of speech ; and he is opposed to all the spiritual things of the church, for these the natu- ral man calls foolishness ; hence, and only hence, have originated heresies concerning God so enormous. Where- fore a Divine Trinity, divided into persons, has brought into the church not only night but also death. That an identity of three Divine Essences is an offence to reason, appeared evident to me from the angels, who said, that they could not even utter '''' three equal Divmitics ;'''' and if any one should come to them, and wish to utter that expression, he could not but turn himself away ; and after having given it utterance, he would become like the trunk of a man, and .•5.'5485.^> 38 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. would be cast out, and afterwards would go away to those in hell who do not acknowledge any God. The truth is that, to implant in infants and children an idea of three divine persons, to which inevitably adheres the idea of three Gods, is to take away from them all spiritual milk, and after^'ards all spiritual meat, and lastly all spiritual reason, and to bring upon those who confirm themselves in it spiritual death. The difference is this : Those who in faith and in heart worship one God, the Creator of the universe, and Him at the same time the Redeemer and Regenerator, are as the city of Zion was in the time of David, and as the city of Jerusalem in the time of Solo- mon after the temple was built; but the church which believes in three persons, and in each as a distinct God, is like the city of Zion and Jerusalem destroyed by Vespasian, and the temple there burnt. Moreover, the man who wor- ships one God, in whom is the Divine Trinity, thus who is one Person, becomes more and more a living and angelic man ; but he who confirms himself in a plurality of Gods, from a plurality of persons, gradually becomes like a statue made with movable joints, within which Satan stands, and speaks through its jointed mouth. 24. V. A Plurality of Gods, in ancient and also IN MODERN TliMES, ORIGINATED FROM NO OTHER CaUSE than from NOT UNDERSTANDING THE DiVINE EsSE. That the unity of God is most interiorly inscribed on the mind of every man, since it is in the midst of all the things which flow into the soul of man from God, has been shown above (n. 8) ; but that still it has not descended therefrom into the human understanding, is because there have been wanting the cognitions by means of which man ought to ascend to meet God ; for every one should prepare the way for God, that is, should prepare himself for reception, and this should be done by means of cognitions. The cogni- tions which have hitherto been wanting to enable the un- No. 24.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 39 derstanding to penetrate where it might see that God is one, and that only one Divine Esse is possible, and that all things of nature are from that, are the following: i. That hitherto no one has known any thing concerning the spiritual world, where spirits and angels are, and into which every man comes after death. 2. Also, that in that world, there is a sun, which is pure love from Jehovah God, who is in the midst of it. 3. That from that sun proceeds heat which in its essence is love, and light which in its essence is wisdom. 4. That thence all things which are in that world are spir- itual, and affect the internal man, and make its will and understanding. 5. That Jehovah God, out of His sun, not only produced the spiritual world and all its spiritual things, which are innumerable and substantial, but that He also produced the natural world, and all its natural things, which are also innumerable but material. 6. That hitherto no one has known the distinction between the spiritual and the natural, nor even what the spiritual is in its essence. 7. Nor that there are three degrees of love and wisdom, according to which the angelic heavens are arranged. 8. And that the human mind is distinguished into as many degrees, to the end that it may be elevated after death into one of the three heavens, which is effected according to man's life and faith conjointly. 9. And, finally, that all those things could not have existed as to a single point but from the Divine Esse, which in itself is the Itself, and so the First, and the Beginning, from which are all things. These cognitions have hitherto been wanting ; yet they are the means by which man may ascend and have cognition of the Divine Esse. It is said that man ascends ; but it is meant that he is raised up by God ; for man has free will in providing himself with cognitions ; and as he provides himself with them from the Word by means of the understanding, he thus prepares the way by which God descends and elevates him. The cognitions by means of which the human understanding ascends, being upheld and 40 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. led by God, may be compared to the steps of the hidder seen by Jacob, which was set on the earth, whose top reached to heaven, and by which the angels ascended, and jfehovah stood above it (Gen. xxviii. 12, 13). But it is quite other- wise when those cognitions are wanting, or when man despises them ; then the elevation of the understanding may be compared to a ladder raised from the ground to the windows of the first story of a magnificent palace, where men have their habitations, and not to the windows of the second story where spirits are, and still less to the win- dows of the third story where angels are. Thence it comes to pass that man abides in the atmospheres and material things of nature, in which he keeps his eyes, ears, and nostrils ; from which he derives no other ideas of heaven, and of the Esse and Essence of God, than such as are of the atmosphere and of matter ; and whilst a man thinks from these, he does not form any judgment concerning God, whether He exists or not, or whether He is one or more ; and still less what He is as to His Esse and as to His Essence. Thence arose a jDlurality of gods in ancient and also in modern times. 25. To the above I shall add this Relation : Some time since, having awaked from sleep, I fell into profound medi- tation concerning God ; and when I looked up, I saw above me in heaven a very bright light, in an oval form ; and when I fixed my gaze upon that light, the light receded to the sides and entered into the circumferences ; and then, lo, heaven was opened to me, and I saw magnificent things, and angels standing in the form of a circle on the southern side of the opening, and they were talking together ; and because I had an ardent desire to hear what they were say- ing, it was therefore given me first to hear the tone, which was full of heavenly love, and afterwards the speech, which was full of wisdom from that love. They were talking to- gether about the one God, and about conjunction with Him, and thence salvation. They spoke ineffable things, No. 25.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 4 1 most of which cannot be expressed in the words of any natural language ; but because I had sometimes been in company with angels in heaven itself, and then in a similar speech with them, because in a similar state, I was there- fore able now to understand them, and to select from their conversation some things which may be rationally expressed in the words of natural language. They said that the Di- vine Esse' is One, the Same, the Itself, and Indivis- ible. This they illustrated by spiritual ideas, saying that the Divine Esse cannot be communicated to several, each of whom has the Divine Esse, and still itself be One, the Same, the Itself, and Indivisible ; for each one would think from his own Esse from himself, and singly by himself ; if then also from the others and by the others, unanimously, there would be several Gods of one mind, and not one God ; for unanimity, because it is the agreement of several, and at the same time of each one from himself and by himself, does not accord with the unity of God, but with a plurality, — they did not say of Gods, because they could not ; for the light of heaven from which was their thought, and the aura in which their discourse was uttered, opposed it. They said, also, that when they wished to pronounce the word Gods, and each one as a person by himself, the effort of pronouncing was instantly directed to One, yea, to the Only God. To this they added, that the Divine Esse is a Divine Esse in Itself, not from itself \ hec2in?,& from itself supposes an Esse in itself from another prior ; thus it sup- poses a God from God, which is not possible. What is from God is not called God, but is called Divine; for what is a God from God ? thus, what is a God born of God from eternity ? and what is a God proceeding from God through a God born from eternity, but words in which there is noth- ing of light from heaven ? They said, moreover, that the Divine Esse, which in itself is God, is the Same, not the same simply, but infinitely ; that is, the Same from eternity to eternity : it is the Same everywhere, and the Same with 42 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. every one, and in every one ; but that all variableness and changeableness is in the recipient ; the state of the recipi- ent makes this. That the Divine Esse, which is God in Himself, is the Itself, they illustrated thus : God is the Itself, because He is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or be- cause He is Good itself and Truth itself, and thence Life itself, which, unless they were the Itself in God, would not be any thing in heaven and the world, because there would not be any thing in them having relation to the Itself, Every quality has its quality from that which is the Itself from which it is, and to which it has relation that it maybe such as it is. This Itself, which is the Divine Esse, is not in place, but is with those and in those who are in place, according to reception ; since of Love and Wisdom, or of Good and Truth, and thence of Life, which are the Itself in God, yea, God Himself, place cannot be predicated, nor progression from place to place, whence is Omnipresence ; wherefore the Lord says that He is in the midst of thevi ; also that He is in them, and they in Him. But because He cannot be received by any one as He is in Himself, He appears, as He is in His essence, as a sun above the angelic heavens ; the proceeding from which as light is Himself as to wisdom, and the proceeding as heat is Himself as to love ; that sun is not Himself ; but the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom emanating from Him, proximately, round about Him, appear to the angels as a sun. He within the sun is Man; He is our Lord Jesus Christ, both as to the Divine from which [are all things], and also as to the Divine Human ; since the Itself, which is Love itself and Wisdom itself, was a soul to Him from the Father \ thus the Divine life, which is life in itself. It is otherwise in every man ; in him the soul is not life, but a recipient of life. The Lord also teaches this, saying, I am the 7vay, the truth, and the Life; and in another place. As the Father hath life in Himself, so also hath he given to the Son to have life in Himself (John v. 26). Life in No. 26] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 43 Himself is God. To this they added that those who are in any spiritual Hght may perceive from these things that the Divine Esse, because it is One, the Same, the Itself, and thence Indivisible, cannot be in more than one ; and that, if it should be said to be, manifest contradictions would result. 26. When I had heard these things, the angels perceived in my thought the common ideas of the Christian church, concerning a trinity of persons in unity and their unity in the trinity, relating to God ; and also concerning the birth of the Son of God from eternity; and then they said, " What are you thinking ? Do you not have those thoughts from natural light, with which our spiritual light does not agree ? Wherefore, unless you remove them from your mind, we shut up heaven to you, and depart." But then I said, " Enter, I beseech you, more deeply into my thought, and perhaps you will see an agreement." They did so, and saw that by three persons I understood three proceeding Divine attributes, whiclj are Creation, Redemption, and Regeneration ; and that they are attributes of one God ; and that by the birth of the Son of God from eternity I understood His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time \ and that it is not above what is natural and ra- tional, but contrary to what is natural and rational, to think that any Son was born of God from eternity ; but not so, that the Son, born of God by the Virgin Mary in time, is the only Son of God, and the only begotten ; and that to believe otherwise is an enormous error. And then I told them that my natural thought concerning the trinity of per- sons and their unity, and concerning the birth of a Son of God from eternity, was from the doctrine of faith in the church, which has its name from Athanasius. Then the angels said, " Well." And they requested me to say from their mouth that, if any one does not approach the very God of heaven and earth, he cannot come into heaven, be- cause heaven is heaven from this only God, and that this 44 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. God is Jesus Christ, Who is the Lord Jehovah, from eternity Creator, in time Redeemer, and to eternity Regenerator ; thus Who is at once the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; and that this is the gospel which is to be preached. After these things the heavenly light, which was before seen over the opening, returned, and gradually descended thence, and filled the interiors of my mind, and enlightened my ideas concerning the trinity and unity of God. And then I saw the ideas at first entertained concerning them, which had been merely natural, separated as chaff is sepa- rated from wheat by winnowing, and carried away as by a wind to the northern region of heaven, and dispersed. CONCERNING THE INFINITY OF GOD, OR HIS IMMENSITY AND ETERNITY. 27. There are two things peculiar to the natural world, which cause all things there to be finite ; one is Space, and the other is Time ; and because this world was created by God, and spaces and times were created together with this world and make it finite, therefore it is proper to treat of their two beginnings, which are Immensity and Eternity; for the immensity of God has relation to spaces, and His eternity to times ; and Infinity comprehends both im- mensity and eternity. But because infinity transcends what is finite, and the cognition of it transcends a finite mind, therefore, that it may in some measure be perceived, it is to be treated of in this series : I. God is infinite, since He is and exists in Himself, and all things in the universe are and exist from Him, II. God is infi7iite,for He was before the world, thus before spaces and times arose. III. God, since t/ie world was made, is in space without space, and in time with- out time. IV. \(^od^s'\ Infinity, in relation to spaces is called immensity, and in relation to times is called eternity ; and, although there are these relations, still there is nothing of space in His immensity, and nothing of time in His eternity. No. 28.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 45 V. Enlightened reason, from very many things in the world, may see the infinity of God the Creator. VI. Every created thing is finite, and the infinite is in fifiite things as in its re- ceptacles, and in men as in its images. But these things shall be explained one by one. 28. I. God is infinite, since He is and exists in Himself, and all Things in the Universe are and exist from Him. It has already been shown that God is One, and that He is the Itself, and that He is the first Esse of all things, and that all things which are, exist, and subsist in the uni- verse, are from Him ; thence it follows that He is infinite. That human reason may see this from very many things in the created universe, will be demonstrated in the sequel. But although the human mind from those things may ac- knowledge that the first Being, or the first Esse, is infinite, still it cannot know what that is, and therefore it cannot define it otherwise than that it is the Infinite All, and that it subsists in itself, and thence that it is the very and the only Substance, and, because nothing is predicable of a substance, unless it be a form, that it is the very and the only Form. But still what are these things ? It does not thus appear what the Infinite is ; for the human mind, how- ever highly analytical and elevated, is itself finite, and the finiteness in it cannot be removed ; wherefore it is by no means capable of seeing God's infinity as it is in itself, thus God ; but it may see Him in the shade from behind, as it is said of Moses, while he prayed to see God, that he was put in the hole of a rock, and saw His back parts (Ex. xxxiii. 20 to 23). By the back parts of God are meant the things visible in the world, and especially the things perceptible in the Word. Hence it is manifest that it is vain to wish to have cognition of what God is in His esse or in His substance ,• but that it is enough to acknowledge Him from finite, that is, created things, in which He is 46 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. infinitely. Whosoever is anxious to know more may be compared to a fish drawn up into the air, or to a bird put into the receiver of an air-pump, which, as tlie air is pumped out, gasps for breath, and at last expires. He may also be compared to a ship, which, when it is overcome by a tem- pest and does not obey the rudder, is carried upon the rocks and quicksands. So it is with those who wish to have cognition of the infinity of God from within, not con- tented that they may acknowledge it from without, from manifest tokens. It is related of a certain philosopher amongst the ancients that he cast himself into the sea, because he could not see in the light [lumen] of his mind, or comprehend, the eternity of the world ; what would he have done if he had desired to comprehend the infinity of God? 29. II. God is infinite, for He was before the World, thus before Spaces and Times arose. In the natural world there are times and spaces, but in the spiritual world, not so actually, but still apparently. The reason why times and spaces were introduced into the worlds was, that one thing might be distinguished from another, great from small, many from few ; thus quantity from quantity, and so quality from quality ; and that, by means of them, the senses of the body might be able to distinguish their object^, and the senses of the mind theirs, and thus might be affected, think, and choose. Times were introduced into the natural world by the rotation of the earth about its axis, and by the progression of those rota- tions, from station to station, along the zodiac ; while these changes appear to be made by the sun, from which the whole terraqueous globe derives its heat and light. Thence are the times of the day, which are morning, noon, evening, and night ; and the times of the year, which are spring, sum- mer, autumn, and winter ; times of days for light and dark- ness, and times of years for heat and cold. But spaces No. 29.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 47 were introduced into the natural world by the earth's being formed into a globe, and filled with various kinds of matter, the parts of which were distinguished from each other, and at the same time extended. But in the spiritual world there are not material spaces, and times corresponding with them ; but still there are appearances of them, which ap- pearances are according to the differences of the states in which are the minds of spirits and angels there ; wherefore, times and spaces there conform themselves to the affections of their will, and thence to the thoughts of their understand- ing ; but those appearances are real, because constant ac- cording to their state. The common opinion concerning the state of souls after death, and thence also of angels and spirits, is, that they are not in any extense, and, conse- quently, not in space and time ; according to which idea it is said of souls after death, that they are in an undeter- mined somewhere, and that spirits and angels are aerial beings \^pneumata\ of which no other idea is entertained than as of ether, air, vapor, or wind ; when, nevertheless, they are substantial men, and live together, like men of the natural world, upon spaces and in times, which, as was said, are determined according to the states of their minds. If it were not so, that is, if there were no spaces and times, that whole world where souls are gathered after death, and where spirits and angels dwell, might be drawn through the eye of a needle, or concentrated upon the point of a single hair. This would be possible if there were no substantial extense there ; but since this is there, therefore angels dwell separately and distinctly from each other, yea, more dis- tinctly than men who have a material extense. But times there are not distinguished into days, weeks, months, and years, because the sun there does not appear to rise and set, nor to be borne along, but it remains stationary in the east, in the middle degree between the zenith and the hori- zon. They also have spaces, because all things in that world are substantial, as in the natural world they are mate- 48 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. rial ; but concerning these things, more will be said in the Lemma of this chapter, concerning Creation. From what has been said above, it may be comprehended that spaces and times make finite all and every thing in both worlds, and thence that men are finite, not only as to their bodies, but also as to their souls; and in like manner angels and spirits. From all these things it may be concluded that God is infinite, that is, not finite ; because He, as the Crea- tor, Maker and Former of the universe, made all things finite ; and He made them finite by means of His sun, in the midst of which He is, and which consists of the Divine Essence, which proceeds as a sphere from Him. There and thence is the first of finiteness, and its progression extends even to ultimates in the nature of the world. It follows that He in Himself is infinite, because He is un- created. But what is infinite appears to man as not any thing, because man is finite, and thinks from what is finite ; wherefore, if the finite which adheres to his thought were taken away, it would seem to him as if the residue were not any thing ; yet the truth is that God is infinitely all, and that man, respectively, is of himself not any thing. 30. in. God, since the World was made, is in Space without Space, and in Time without Time. That God, and the Divine which proceeds immediately from Him, is not in space, although He is omnipresent, and with every man in the world, and with every angel in heaven, and with every spirit under heaven, cannot be com- prehended by a merely natural idea, but it may to some extent by a spiritual idea. The reason why it cannot be comprehended by a merely natural idea, is because in that idea there is space ; for it is formed from such things as are in the world, in all and in every one of which that is visible to the eye, there is space : every thing great and 'small there is of space ; every thing long, broad, and high there is of space j in a word, every measure, figure, and form there is No. 30.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 49 of space. But still man may to some extent comprehend this by natural thought, provided he admit into it some- thing of spiritual light. But, in the first place, something shall be said concerning an idea of spiritual thought. This derives nothing from space, but it derives its all from state. State is predicated of love, of life, of wisdom, of affections, of joys, in general of good and truth ; a truly spiritual idea concerning these things has nothing in common with space ; it is above, and looks down upon the ideas of space under it, as heaven looks down upon the earth. The reason why God is present in space without space, and in time without time, is because God is always the same from eternity to eternity ; thus such since the world was created as He was before it ; and in God and in the sight of God there were no spaces nor times before creation, but after it ; where- fore, because He is the same. He is in space without space, and in time without time : thence it follows that nature is separate from Him, and yet He is omnipresent in it; scarcely otherwise than as life is in every substantial and material part of man, although it does not mingle itself therewith ; comparatively as light in the eye, sound in the ear, taste in the tongue, or as ether in the land and water, by means of which the terraqueous globe is held together and made to revolve, and so on ; and if these agents should be taken awayj the things substantiated and materialized {siibsta7itiata et materiata ; see "Divine Love and Wisdom," n. 229, &c.) would in a moment fall to pieces or be dispersed \ yea, the human mind, if God were not everywhere and at all times present in it, would be dissipated like a bubble in the air ; and both spheres of the brain, in which it acts from its principles, would go off into froth ; and thus every thing human would become dust of the earth, or an odor flying in the atmosphere. Since God is in all time without time, therefore in His Word He speaks of the past, and of the future, in the present, as in Isaiah : Unto tis a Child is horn; u?no us a Son is given, IVhose name is Alighty, the Prince of VOL. I. 3 50 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. Peace (ix. 6) ; and in David : / will declare the decree, Jeho- vah said to me, Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten Thee (Ps. ii. 7). These words are concerning the Lord, who was to come : wherefore it is also said in the same, A thou- sand years in thy sight are as yesterday (Ps. xc. 4). That God is everywhere present in the whole world, and yet not any thing proper to the world is in Him, that is, not any thing which is of space and time, may be clearly seen from very many other passages in the Word, by those who look and are watchful, as from this passage in Jeremiah : Am I a God at hand, and not a God afar off 7 Can any hide him- self in secret places, that I shall not see him ? Do ?iot I fill heaven and earth 1 (xxiii. 23, 24.) 31. IV, God's Infinity in Relation to Spaces is CALLED Immensity, and in Relation to Times is called Eternity ; and although there are these Relations, still there is Nothing of Space in His Immensity, and Nothing of Time in His Eternity. That the infinity of God in relation to spaces is called immensity, is because immense is predicated of whatsoever is great and large, and also of what is extended, and of what is spacious in extense. But that the infinity of God in rela- tion to times is called eternity, is because " to eternity " is predicated of things progressive (which are measured by times), and without end ; as, for example, the things which are of space are predicated of the terraqueous globe viewed in itself ; and the things which are of time are predicated of its rotation and progression ; the latter also make times, and the former make spaces ; and they are thus presented from the senses in the perception of reflecting minds. But in God there is nothing of space and time, as was shown above ; and yet the beginnings of these are from God ; thence it follows that His infinity in relation to spaces is meant by immensit}^, and that His infinity in relation to times is meant by eternity. But in heaven the angels perceive by No. 3I-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 5 1 the immensity of God Divinit)' as to Esse, and by eternity Divinity as to Existere ; and also by immensity Divinity as to Love, and by eternity Divinity as to Wisdom. The rea- son is, because the angels abstract spaces and times from Divinity, and then these notions result. But since man cannot think otherwise than from ideas derived from such things as are of space and time, he cannot perceive any thing concerning God's immensity before spaces, and His eternity before times ; yea, when he wishes to perceive them, it is as if his mind were falling into a swoon ; almost like one who, having fallen into the water, is at the point of sinking, or like one settling down in an earthquake, on the eve of being swallowed up ; yea, if he should persist in penetrating into those things he might easily fall into a de- lirium, and from this be led to a denial of God. I also was once in a similar state, while thinking what God was from eternity ; what He did before the world was created ; whether- He deliberated concerning creation and thought out the plan of it ; whether deliberate thought were possible in a pure vacuum ; beside other vain things. But lest by such things I should become delirious, I was elevated by the Lord into the sphere and light in which the interior angels are ; and after the idea of space and time, in which my thought was before, was there a little removed, it was given me to com- prehend that the eternity of God is not an eternity of time, and that, because time was not before the world, it was utterly vain to think any such things concerning God ; and also because the Divine from eternity, thus abstracted from all time, does not involve days, years, and ages, but all these are to God an instant, I concluded that the world was created by God, not in time, but that times were intro- duced by God with creation. To these things I shall add this memorable circumstance : There appear," at one ex- tremity of the spiritual world, two statues, in monstrous human form, with mouths wide open, and jaws dilated, by which those seem to themselves to be devoured who think 52 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. vain and foolish things concerning God from eternity ; but they are the fantasies into which those cast themselves who think absurdly and improperly concerning God before the world was created. 32. V. Enlightened Reason, from very many Things in the World, may see the Infinity of God [the Creator]. Some things shall be enumerated from which human reason may see the infinity of God, which are, I. That in the created universe there are not two things which are the same : that such identity does not exist in simultaneous things, human learning from reason has seen and proved ; and yet the substantial and material things in the universe, considered individually, are infinite in number. And that there is not an identity of two effects in things which are successive in the world may be concluded from the rota- tion of the earth, in that its eccentricity at the poles causes that there is never a return of the same thing. That it is so is evident from human faces, in that throughout the whole world there is not any one face wholly like another's or the same as another's, neither can there be to eternity ; this infinite variety could not by any means exist, but from the infinity of God the Creator. II. That the mind \ani??it{s\ of one is never exactly like another's ; where- fore it is said, ^^ Many men, many minds;" consequently the mind \7nens\ that is, the will and the understanding, of one, is never wholly like another's or the same as an- other's ; hence, also, neither is the speech of one, as to the tone and as to the thought whence it proceeds, nor his action, as to the gesture and as to the affection, exactly similar to that of another ; from which infinite variety, also, the infinity of God the Creator may be seen as in a mirror. III. That there is a kind of immensity and eternity inher- ent in every seed, as well of animals as of plants ; an immensity, in that it may be multiplied to infinity; and an No. 32] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 53 eternity, in that such multipHcation has continued hitherto, without interruption, from the creation of the world, and continues perpetually. From the animal kingdom take, for example, the fishes of the sea, which, if they should multiply according to the abundance of their seed, within twenty or thirty years would fill the ocean so that it wouW consist of mere fishes; thence its water would overflow and so destroy all the earth ; but, lest this should hap pen, it was provided by God that one fish should be food for another. It is similar with the seeds of plants , if as many of them as annually arise from one should be planted, within twenty or thirty years they would cover the surface not only of one earth, but also of several ; for there are shrubs of which every single seed produces a hundred and a thousand others. Try it by calculation,- reckoning the product of a single seed in a series of twenty or thirty terms, and you will see. From both cases, of plants and of animals, the divine immensity and eternity, from which a resemblance cannot but be produced, may be seen as in a common face. IV. The infinity of God may appear to the eye of enlightened reason, from the infinity to which every science may grow, and thence the intelligence and wisdom of every man ; both of which may grow as a tree from seeds, and as forests and gardens from trees ; for there is no end to them ; the memory of man is their ground, and the understanding is where their germination, and the will is where their fructification, takes place ; and these two faculties, the understanding and the will, are such that they may be cultivated and perfected in the world to the end of life, and afterwards to eternity. V. The infinity of God the Creator may also be seen from the infinite number of stars, which are so many suns ; and thence so many systems. That in the starry heaven, also, there are earths, upon which are men, beasts, birds, and plants, has been shown in a little work describing things seen. VI. The infinity of God has appeared still more evi- 54 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. dent to me from the angelic heaven, and also from hell, see- ing that they are both of them ordered and arranged into innumerable societies or congregations, according to all the varieties of the love of good and of evil, and that every one obtains a place according to his love ; for there all of the human race, since the creation of the world, have been col- lected, and are to be collected to ages of ages ; and seeing that, although every one has his own place or habitation, still all there are so joined together that the whole angelic heaven represents one Divine Man, and all hell one mon- strous devil. From these two, and from the infinite won- ders in them, the immensity, together with the omnipotence of God, is manifestly exhibited to view. VII. Who also cannot understand, if he elevates the rational powers of his mind a little, that the life to eternity, which every man has after death, is not communicable but from an eternal God ? VIII. Besides those things, there is a sort of infinity in many things which fall into natural light [/umm] and into spiritual light \lumai\ with man. Into natural light \lumeji\ — that there are various series in geometry which go on to infinity; that, between the three degrees of height, there is a progress to infinity, in that the first degree, which is called natural, cannot be perfected and elevated to the perfection of the second degree, which is called spiritual, nor this to the perfection of the third, which is called heavenly \celestial\ The case is similar with re- spect to end, cause, and effect ; as that the effect cannot be perfected so that it may become as its cause, nor the cause, so that it may become as its end. This may be illustrated by the atmospheres, of which there are three degrees ; for the highest is the aura, under this is the ether, and below this is the air ; and no quality of the air can be elevated to any quality of the ether, nor any of this to any quality of the aura ; and yet an elevation of perfec- tions to infinity is possible in each. Into spiritual light [lu7nen'\ — that natural love, which is that of a beast, can- No. 33] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 55 not be elevated into spiritual love, which from creation was implanted in man : the case is similar with the natural intelligence of a beast in relation to the spiritual intelli- gence of a man ; but these things, because they are as yet unknown, will be explained in another place. From these things it is evident that the universals of the world are perpetual types of the infinity of God the Creator ; but in what manner particulars resemble universals, and repre- sent the infinity of God, is an abyss ; and it is an ocean, in which the human mind may, as it were, sail ; but it must beware of the tempest, arising from the natural man, which, from the helm where the natural man stands confident in himself, will submerge the ship with its masts and sails. ;^S- VI. Every created Thing is finite, and the INFINITE is in FINITE THINGS AS IN RECEPTACLES, AND IN Men AS IN ITS Images. Every created thing is finite, because all things are from Jehovah God, by means of the sun of the spiritual world, which proximately encompasses Him ; and that sun is of the substance which has gone forth from Him, the essence of which is love ; out of that sun, by means of its heat and light, the universe was created, from the firsts to the lasts of it. But to set forth in order the progress of creation, does not belong to this place : some scheme of it will be given in the following pages. It is important here only to know that one thing was formed from another, and that thence were made degrees, three in the spiritual world, and three corresponding to them in the natural world, and as many in the quiescent things of which the terraque- ous globe consists. But whence and what those degrees are has been fully explained in the " Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom," published at Amsterdam in the year 1763 ; and in a small treatise con- cerning "The Intercourse of the Soul and Body," pub- lished at London in the year 1769. It is by means of 56 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. these degrees that all posterior things are receptacles of prior things, and these of things still prior, and thus, in order, receptacles of the primitives of which the sun of the angelic heaven consists, and thus that finite things are re- ceptacles of the infinite. This also coincides with the wis- dom of the ancients, according to which all and every thing is divisible to infinity. The common idea is that, because what is finite does not comprehend what is infinite, finite things cannot be receptacles of the infinite. But, from those things which are said concerning the creation in my works, it is evident that God first made His infinity finite, by substances emitted from Himself, from which existed His pro.ximate encompassing sphere, which makes the sun of the spiritual world ; and that afterwards, by means of that sun. He perfected other encompassing spheres, even to the last, which consists of things quiescent ; and that thus, by means of degrees, He made the world finite more and more. These things are adduced in order that human reason may be satisfied, which does not rest unless it see the cause. 34. That the Infinite Divine is in men, as in its images, is evident from the Word, where this is read : And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness ; so God created man into His owti image, into the image of God created He him (Gen. i. 26, 27): from which it follows that man is an organ recipient of God, and that he is an organ according to the quality of the reception. The human mind, from which and according to which man is man, is formed into three regions, according to three degrees : in the first degree it is heavenly [celestial], in which also are the an- gels of the highest heaven ; in the second degree it is spiritual, in which also are the angels of the middle heaven ; and in the third degree it is natural, in which also are the angels of the lowest heaven. The human mind, organized according to those three degrees, is a receptacle of the Divine influx ; but still the Divine flows in no further than as man prepares the way, or opens the door ; if he does No. 34.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 57 this even to the highest or heavenly [celestial] degree, then man becomes truly an image of God, and after death he becomes an angel of the highest heaven ; but if he prepares the way, or opens the door, only to the middle or spiritual degree, then, indeed, man becomes an image of God, but not in that perfection, and after death he becomes an angel of the middle heaven ; but if he prepares the way, or opens the door, only to the lowest or natural degree, then man, if he acknowledges God and worships Him with actual piet\-, becomes an image of God in the lowest de- gree, and after death he becomes an angel of the lowest heaven. But if he does not acknowledge God and does not worship Him with actual piety, he puts off the image of God, and becomes like some animal, e.xcept that he enjoys the faculty of understanding and thence of speech. If he then shuts up the highest natural degree, w'hich corresponds to the highest heavenly [celestial], he becomes as to love like a beast of the earth ; but if he shuts up the middle natural degree, which corresponds to the middle spiritual, he becomes as to love like a fox, and as to the sight of the understanding like a bird of the evening; but if he also shuts up the lowest natural degree as to its spiritual part, he becomes as to love like a wild beast, and as to the understanding of truth like a fish. The Divine life, which by influx from the sun of the angelic heaven actu- ates man, may be compared with the light from the sun of the world, and with its influx into a transparent ob- ject ; the reception of life in the highest degree, with the influx of light into a diamond ; the reception of life in the second degree, with the influx of light into a cr^-stal ; and the reception of life in the lowest degree, with the influx of light into glass, or into a transparent membrane ; but if this degree as to its spiritual part be entirely shut up, which is done when God is denied and Satan is worshipped, the reception of life from God may be compared with the influx of light into the opaque things of the earth, as into 3* 58 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. rotten wood, or into the turf of a bog, or into dung, &c. ; for man then becomes a spiritual carcass. 35. To the above I will add this Relation. I was once in amazement at the vast multitude of men who ascribe creation, and thence all things which are under the sun and which are above the sun, to nature ; saying from an acknowledgment of the heart, when they see any thing, " Is not this of nature ? " And when they are asked why they say that those things are of nature, and why not of God, when, nevertheless, they sometimes say with people in general that God created nature, and thence they may just as well say that the things which they see are of God as that they are of nature, they answer with an internal tone scarcely audible, " What is God but nature ? " All these from persuasion concerning the creation of the uni- verse by nature, and from that insanity as from wisdom, appear so elated that they look upon those who acknowl- edge the creation of the universe by God as ants which creep upon the ground and tread the beaten path, and upon some as butterflies which fly in the air, calling their opin- ions dreams, because they see what they do not see, saying, "Who has seen God, and who does not see nature?" While I was in amazement at the multitude of such per- sons, an angel stood at my side, and said to me, " What are you meditating about ? " And I replied, " About the multitude of the persons who believe that nature is of it- self, and thus the creator of the universe." And the angel said to me, " All hell is of such, and they are called there satans and devils ; satans, who have confirmed themselves in favor of nature, and thence have denied God ; devils, who have lived wickedly, and have thus rejected from their hearts all acknowledgment of God. But I will conduct you to the g^'mnasiums, which are in the south-western quarter, where there are such who are not yet in hell." And he took me by the hand, and led me along ; and I saw small houses, in which were gymnasiums, and, in the midst of them, one No. 3S] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 59 which was as the public hall of the rest : it was built of stones black as pitch, which were overlaid with little plates as of glass, sparkling as it were with gold and- silver, like those which are called selenites, or mirror-stones ; and here and there were interspersed glittering shells. Hither we came and knocked ; and presently one opened the door and said, "Welcome." And he ran to a table, and brought four books, and said, "These books are wisdom which is at this day applauded by many kingdoms ; this book or wisdom is applauded by many in France ; this, by many in Germany ; this, by some in Holland ; and this, by some in Britain." He said, further, " If you wish to see it, I will make these four books shine before your eyes ; " and then he poured forth and around the glory of his fame, and the books presently shone as from light, but this light before our eyes immediately vanished. And then we asked what he was now writing ; and he replied that he was produc- ing and bringing forth from his treasures things that are of inmost wisdom, which in a summary are these: I. Whether nature be of life, or whether life be of NATURE. II, Whether the centre be of the expanse, OR whether the expanse be of the centre. III. Concerning the centre and the expanse [of nature] AND OF life. Having said this, he placed himself again upon the seat at the table, but we walked in his gymnasium, which was spacious. He had a candle upon the table, be- cause the light of the sun was not there, but the nocturnal light of the moon ; and what appeared to me wonderful, the candle seemed to be carried round about there, and to give light ; but because it had not been snuffed, it gave but little light. And when he wrote we saw images in various forms, flying from the table to the walls, which, in that nocturnal lunar light, appeared like beautiful Indian birds ; but when we opened the door, in the daylight of the sun they appeared like the birds of evening which have wings of net-work ; for they were resemblances of 6o THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. truth, which by confirmations became fallacies, which had been ingeniously connected by him into series. After we had seen these things, we came up to the table, and asked him what he was now writing. He said, Concerning the first question, Whether nature be of life, or whether LIFE be of nature J and of this he said that he could con- firm both sides, and make them true ; but because something lurked within, which he feared, he durst confirm only this, That nature is of life, that is, from life, and not That life is of nature, that is, from nature. We asked him courteously what it was that lurked within, which he feared. He re- plied that it was that he might be called by the clergy a naturalist, and thus an atheist, and by the laity a man of unsound reason, since the latter and the former either believe from a blind faith or see from the sight of those who confirm it. But then, from some indignation of zeal for the truth, we addressed him, saying, " P>iend, you are very much deceived ; your wisdom, which is an ingenuity in writing, has misled you, and the glory of fame has in- duced you to confirm what you do not believe. Do you not know that the human mind is capable of being elevated above the sensual things which are in the thoughts from the senses of the body, and that when it is elevated it sees those things which are of life above, and those things which are of nature below .? What else is life but love and wisdom ? and what else is nature but their receptacle, by which they may work their effects. or uses ? Can these be one except as principal and instrumental are ? Can light be one with the eye, or sound with the ear ? Whence are the sensations of these but from life 1 whence their forms but from nature ? What is the human body but an organ of life ? Are not all things and every thing therein organi- cally formed for producing those things which the love wills and the understanding thinks ? Are not the organs of the body from nature, and love and thought from life ? A.nd are not these wholly distinct from each other ? Ele- No. 35-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 6l vate the keen sight of your genius yet a little higher, and you will see that it is of life to be affected and to think, and that it is of love to be affected, and of wisdom to think, and both are of life ; for, as was said, love and wisdom are life. If you elevate the faculty of understanding a little higher still, you will see that love and wisdom do not exist unless their origin is somewhere, and that their origin is Love itself, and Wisdom itself, and thence Life itself ; and these are God from whom nature is." Afterwards we conversed with him about the second. Whether the ex- panse BE OF the centre, OR WHETHER THE CENTRE BE OF THE expanse; and we asked him why he discussed this. He replied, for the end that he might conclude con- cerning the centre and the expanse of nature and of life, thus concerning the origin of the one and the other. And when we asked him what was his opinion, he replied con- cerning these, just as before, that he could confirm both sides, but that for fear of the loss of fame, he would con- firm that the expanse is of the centre, that is, from the centre ; " although I know that before the sun there was something, and this ever}-where in the expanse ; and that this from itself flowed together into order, thus into the centre." But then we again addressed him from an indig- nant zeal, and said, " Friend, you are insane." And when he heard this, he drew back the seat from the table, and looked timidly at us, and then listened, but laughing : we, Iiowever, continued the discourse by saying, " What can be said more insane, than that the centre is from the ex- panse ? By your centre we understand the sun, and by your expanse we understand the universe; and thus that the universe existed without the sun. Does not the sun make nature and all its properties, which depend solely on the light and heat proceeding from the sun through the atmos- pheres ? Where were these things before ? But whence they are we will say in the discussion that is to follow. Are not the atmospheres and all things which are upon the 62 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. earth as surfaces, and the sun their centre ? What are all those things without the sun ? Can they subsist a moment ? Then what were all these things before the sun ? Could they have existed ? Is not subsistence perpetual existence ? Since, therefore, the subsistence of all things of nature is from the sun, it follows that the existence of all things is so too. Every one sees this, and acknowledges it from seeing it himself. Does not what is posterior subsist from what is prior even as it exists from it ? If the surface were prior and the centre posterior, would not the prior subsist from the posterior, which yet is contrary to the laws of order ? How can posterior things produce prior, or ex- terior interior, or grosser purer ? Then how can surfaces, which make the expanse, produce the centre ? Who does not see that this is contrary to nature's laws ? We have adduced these arguments from reason's analysis, to prove that the expanse exists from the centre, and not the reverse, although every one who thinks justly sees this without the arguments. You said that the expanse flowed together into the centre from itself. Did it thus flow by chance into such wonderful and stupendous order, that one thing is for the sake of another, and all and every thing for the sake of man and his eternal life ? Can nature, from any love, by any wisdom, intend ends, provide causes, and thus provide effects, that such things may exist in their order ? Can nature from men make angels, and of these a heaven, and cause those who are there to live for ever ? Suppose these things and reflect, and your idea concerning the existence of nature from nature will fall." After this, we asked him what he had thought and what he then thought about the third. Concerning the .centre and the ex- panse OF nature and of life ; whether he believed the centre and the expanse of life to be the same with the cen- tre and the expanse of nature. He said that he hesitated, and that he had formerly thought that the interior activity of nature was life, and that love and wisdom, which essen- No. 35] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 63 tially make the life of man, were therefrom ; and that the fire of the sun by heat and light, through the medium of the atmospheres, produced it ; but that now, from what he had heard concerning the life of men after death, he was in doubt ; and that this doubt carried his mind now upwards, and now downwards ; and when upwards, he acknowledged a centre of which he before had not known any thing ; and when downwards, he saw the centre which he had believed to be the only one ; and that life was from the centre of which he before had not known any thing, and that nature was from the centre which he before believed to be the only one, and that each centre had an expanse around it. To this we said, " Well ; " provided he would also look at the centre and the expanse of nature from the centre and the expanse of life, and not reverse the order. And we in- structed him that above the angelic heaven there is a sun which is pure love, to appearance of fire like the sun of the world ; and that from the heat which proceeds from that sun angels and men have will and love, and that from the light thence they have understanding and wisdom ; and that the things which are therefrom are called spiritual; and that the things which proceed from the sun of the world are containers or receptacles of life, and are called natural ; also that the expanse of the centre of life is called the Spiritual World, which subsists from its sun ; and that the expanse of nature's centre is called the Natural World, which subsists from its sun. Now, because spaces and times cannot be predicated of love and wisdom, but instead of them states, it follows that the expanse around the sun of the angelic heaven is not an extense, but still is in the extense of the natural sun, and with the living subjects there according to reception, and the reception is according to forms and states. But then he asked, " Whence is the fire of the sun of the world or of nature ? " We replied that it is from the sun of the angelic heaven, which is not fire, but the Divine love proximately proceeding from God, who 64 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. is in the midst of it ; and because he wondered at this we demonstrated it thus : " Love, in its essence, is spiritual fire ; thence it is that fire^ in the Word, in its spiritual sense signifies love ; wherefore priests in the temples pray that heavenly fire may fill the hearts, by which they mean love. The fire of the altar and the fire of the candlestick in the tabernacle, among the Israelites, represented noth- ing else but the Divine love. The heat of the blood, or the vital heat of men and of animals in general, is from no other source than the love which makes their life ; thence it is that man is enkindled, grows warm, and is inflamed, whilst his love is exalted to zeal, or excited to anger and burning passion. Wherefore from this, that spiritual heat which is love produces natural heat with men, so far as to enkindle and inflame their faces and limbs, it may be evident that the fire of the natural sun existed from no other source than from the fire of the spiritual sun, which is Divine Love. Now, because the expanse arises from the centre, and not the reverse, as we said above, and the centre of life, which is the sun of the angelic heaven, is the Divine Love proximately proceeding from God, who is in the midst of that sun ; and because the expanse of that centre, which is called the spiritual worlds is thence ; and because from that sun existed the sun of the world, and from this, its expanse, which is called the natural world, it is manifest that the universe was created by God." After this we de- parted, and he accompanied us out of the court of his gymnasium, and talked with us concerning heaven and hell, and concerning the Divine auspices, from new sagacity of genius. CONCERNING THE ESSENCE OF GOD, WHICH IS DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM. 36. We have distinguished between the Esse of God and the Essence of God, because there is a distinction between the infinity of God and the love of God ; and the term in- No. 37.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 65 finity is used in application to the Esse of God, and love to the Essence of God ; for the Esse of God, as was said above, is more universal than the Essence of God : in like manner the infinity is more universal than the love of God ; wherefore infinite is an adjective belonging to the essen- tials and attributes of God, all which are called infinite; as it is said of the Divine Love that it is infinite, of the Divine Wisdom that it is infinite, and of the Divine Power like- wise ; not that the Esse of God existed before, but because It enters into the Essence, as an adjunct, cohering with, determining, forming, and at the same time elevating it. But this member of this chapter, like the former, shall be divided into articles, as follows : I. God is Love itself and Wisdom itself and these two make His Essence. 11. God is Good itself and Truth itself ; because Good is of Love, and Truth is of Wisdom. III. Sfiod, because He is'\ Love itself and Wisdom itself is Life itself which is Life in itself JV. Love and Wisdom, in God, make one. V. The Essence of Love is, to love others out of itself to desire to be one with them, and to make them happy fro7n itself VI. These [essen- tials'\ of the Divine Love were the cause of the creation of the universe, and they are the cause of its preservation. But of these one by one. 37. I. God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and THESE TWO MAKE HiS ESSENCE. Earliest antiquity saw that love and wisdom are the two essentials, to which all the infinite things which are in God and which proceed from Him refer themselves ; but the ages following successively, as they withdrew their minds from heaven and immersed them in worldly and corporeal things* could not see it ; for they began not to know what love is in its essence, and thence what wisdom is in its essence ; not knowing that there cannot be love abstracted from form, and that love operates in form and by form. Now, because God is the very and the only and 66 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. thus the first Substance and Form, whose essence is love and wisdom ; and because from Him all things were made, that were made ; it follows that He created the universe, with all and every thing of it, from love by wisdom ; and that thence the Divine Love together with the Divine Wis- dom is in all created subjects and in every one. Love, more- over, is not only the essence which forms all things, but it also unites and conjoins them, and thus keeps them in con- nection when formed. These things may be illustrated by innumerable things in the world; as by the heat and light from the sun, which are the two essentials and universals, by means of which all and every thing upon the earth exists and subsists : these are there, because they correspond to the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom ; for the heat which proceeds from the sun of the spiritual world, in its essence, is love ; and the light thence, in its. essence, is wisdom. They may also be illustrated by the two essentials and uni- versals by which human minds e.xist and subsist, which are THE WILL and THE UNDERSTANDING ; for of thcsc two the mind of every one consists ; and the two are and operate in all and every thing of it. The reason is, because the will is the receptacle and habitation of love, and the understanding of wisdom in like manner ; wherefore the two correspond to the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, from which they originate. Moreover, the same things may be illus- trated by the two essentials and universals by which human bodies exist and subsist, which are the heart and the LUNGS ; or the systole and diastole of the heart, and the respiration of the lungs : that these two operate in all and every thing there is known ; the reason is, because the heart corresponds to love, and the lungs to wisdom ; which correspondence is fully demonstrated fn the " Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom," pub- lished at Amsterdam. That love as the bridegroom and husband produces or begets all forms, but by wisdom as the bride and wife, may be proved by innumerable things. No. 38.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 6/ both in the spiritual and the natural world ; this only is to be observed, that the whole angelic heaven is arranged into its form and preserved in it from the Divine Love by the Divine Wisdom. Those who deduce the creation of the world from any other soufce than froni the Divine Love by the Divine Wisdom, and do not know that those two make the Divine Essence, descend from the sight of reason to the sight of the eye, and kiss nature as the creator of the universe, and thence conceive chimeras and bring forth phantoms ; they think fallacies, reason from them, and their conclusions are eggs in which are birds of night. Such cannot be called minds, but eyes and ears without understanding, or thoughts without a soul ; they speak of colors as if they existed without light, of the existence of trees as if without seed, and of all the things of the world as if without a sun ; since they make derivatives primitives, and effects causes ; and so they turn every thing upside- down, and lull to sleep the powers of reason, and thus see dreams. 38. IL God is Good itself and Truth itself, be- cause Good is of Love, and Truth is of Wisdom. It is universally known that all things have relation to good and truth ; a proof that all things derived their existence from love and wisdom ; for all that proceeds from love is called good, for this is felt, and the enjoy- ment by which love manifests itself each one calls good ; but all that which proceeds from wisdom is called truth, for wisdom consists of nothing but truths, and affects its objects with the pleasantness of light ; and this pleasant- ness, while it is perceived, is truth from good. Where- fore love is the complex of all varieties of goodness, and wisdom is the complex of all truths ; but both the former and the latter are from God, who is Love itself and thence Good itself, and Wisdom itself and thence Truth itself. Thence it is that in the church there are two 68 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I, essentials, which are called charity and faith, of which all and every thing of the church consists, and which are to be in all and every thing of it : the reason is because all the goods of the church are of charity, and are called charity ; and all its truths are of faith, atid are called faith. The enjoyments of love, which are also the enjoyments of charity, cause what is good to be called good ; and the pleasantness of wisdom, which is also the pleasantness of faith, causes what is true to be called true ; for enjoyments and pleasantness of various kinds make their life, and without life from them goods and truths are like inani- mate things, and they are also unfruitful. But love's enjoyments are of two kinds, as are also the varieties of pleasantness which appear as of wisdom ; for there are enjoyments of the love of good and enjoyments of tfhe love of evil, and thence there are varieties of pleasantness from the faith of truth and varieties of pleasantness from the faith of falsity. In the subjects in which they are, those two enjoyments of love, from the sensation of them, are called good ; and those two kinds of the pleasantness of faith, from the perception of them, are also called good ; but because they are in the understanding, they are no other than truths : they are so called, although they are opposite to each other, the good of one love being good, and the good of the other love being evil, and the truth of one faith being true, and the truth of the other faith being false. But the love whose enjoyment is essentially good is like the heat of the sun, fructifying, vivifying, and oper- ating on a fertile soil, on useful plants, and fields of corn ; and where it operates there is produced, as it were, a para- dise, a garden of the Lord, and, as it were, a land of Canaan ; and the pleasantness of its truth is as the light of the sun in the time of spring, and as the influx of light into a crystal vessel in which are beautiful flowers, and from which when opened there breathes forth a fragrant perfume ; but the enjoyment from the love of evil is as the No. 39-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 69 heat of the sun, parching, killing, and operating on barren ground, on noxious plants, as on thorns and briers ; and where it operates there is produced a desert of Arabia, where are hydras and venomous serpents ; and the pleas- antness of its falsity is as the light of the sun in the time of winter, and as light flowing into a bottle in which there are worms swimming in vinegar, and reptiles of noisome smell. It should be known that every good forms itself by truths, and also clothes itself with them, and thus dis- tinguishes itself from other goods ; and also that the goods of one stock or kind bind themselves into bundles, and, at the same time, clothe them, and thus distinguish them- selves from others : that formations are so effected is mani- fest from all and every thing in the human body ; and that similar formations are effected in the human mind is evident, because there is a perpetual correspondence of all things of the mind with all things of the body. Thence it follows that the human mind is organized inwardly of spiritual substances, and outwardly of natural substances, and lastly of material substances. The mind the enjoy- ments of whose love are good consists inwardly of spirit- ual substances such as are in heaven ; but the mind the enjoyments of whose love are evil consists inwardly of spiritual substances such as are in hell ; and the evils of the latter are bound into bundles by falsities, and the goods of the former are bound into bundles by truths. Since there are such bindings of goods and evils into bundles, therefore the Lord says, T/iat the tares are to be bound together into bundles, to be burned, atid in like manner all things that offend (Matt. xiii. 30, 40, 41 ; John xv.'B). 39. III. God, because He is Love itself and Wisdom ITSELF, is Life itself, which is Life in itself. It is said in John, The Word was with God, and the Word was God ; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (i. i, 4). By 6^^^/ there is meant the Divine Love, yo THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. and by the Word the Divine Wisdom ; and Divine Wis- dom is properly Hfe, and Hfe is properly the light which pro- ceeds from the sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is Jehovah God. Divine Love forms life, as fire forms light. There are two properties in fire, that of burn- ing and that of shining ; from its burning property proceeds heat, and from its shining property proceeds light. In like manner, there are two things in love ; one, to which the burning property of fire corresponds, which is something most interiorly affecting the will of man ; and another, to which the shining property of fire corresponds, which is something most interiorly affecting the understanding of man. Thence man has love and intelligence ; for, as has been several times said above, from the sun of the spiritual world proceeds heat which in its essence is love, and light which in its essence is wisdom ; and those two flow into all and every thing of the universe, and affect them most interiorly ; and with men, into their will and understanding, which two were created receptacles of the influx ; the will, the receptacle of love, and the understanding, the recepta- cle of wisdom. Thence it is manifest that the life of man dwells in his understanding, and that it is such as his wisdom is, and that the love of the will modifies it. 40. It is also read in John, As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (v. 26) ; by which is meant that as the Divine itself, which was from eternity, lives in itself, so also the Human, which it assumed in time, lives in itself. Life in itself is the very and the only life, from which all angels and men live. HumUn reason may see this from the light which proceeds from the sun of the natural world, in that this is not creata- ble, but that forms receiving it have been created ; for eyes are its recipient forms, and the light flowing in from the sun causes them to see. It is similar with life, which, as was said, is the light proceeding from the sun of the spirit- ual world, that it is not creatable, but that it flows in No. 4i] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 7 1 continually, and, as it enlightens, it also enlivens the under- standing of man ; consequently that, because light, life, and wisdom are one, wisdom is not creatable ; so neither is faith, nor truth, nor love, nor charity, nor good ; but that forms receiving them have been created : human and angelic minds are those forms. Let every one, therefore, be cautious how he persuades himself that he lives from himself ; and also, that he is wise, believes, loves, perceives truth, and wills and does good from himself ; for as far as any one indulges such a persuasion, he casts down his mind from heaven to earth, and from spiritual becomes natural, sensual, and corporeal ; for he shuts up the higher regions of his mind, whence he becomes blind as to all the things which are of God and heaven and the church ; and then, all that he by chance thinks, reasons, and says concerning them, is done in foolishness because in darkness, and then, at the same time, he becomes confi- dent that they are of wisdom ; for when the higher regions of the mind, where the true light of life dwells, are shut up, the region below them opens itself, into which only the light [lu7nen'\ of the world is admitted; and this light \luffie7i\, separate from the light of the higher regions, is a delusive light [iiwie/i] in which falsities appear as truths, and truths as falsities, and reasoning from falsities as wisdom, and from truths as madness ; and then he believes himself to be endued with the keen sight of an eagle, al- though he sees the things which are of wisdom no more thai: a bat sees in the light of day. 41. IV. Love and Wisdom, in God, make one. Every wise man in the church knows that all the good of love and charity is from God ; in like manner, all the truth of wisdom and faith : that it is so, human reason may also see, if it only knows that the origin of love and wis- dom is from the sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is Jehovah God ; or, what is the same, that it is from 72 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. Jehovah God, through the sun, which is round about Him ; for the heat proceeding from that sun, in its essence, is love, and the light thence proceeding, in its essence, is wis- dom : thence it is manifest, as in clear daylight, that love and wisdom, in that origin, are one ; and consequently in God, from whom is the origin of that sun. This may be illustrated, also, from the sun of the natural world, which is pure fire, in that heat proceeds from its fiery property, and light proceeds from the splendor of its fiery property ; and thus that both are, in their origin, one. But that they are divided in proceeding is evident from their subjects, some of which receive more of heat, and some more of light : this is the case especially with men ; in them the light of life, which is intelligence, and the heat of life, which is love, are divided ; which is done because man is to be reformed and regenerated ; and this cannot be done, unless the light of life, which is intelligence, teaches him what ought to be willed and loved. It should, however, be known that God is continually working for the conjunction of lave and wisdom in man, but that man, unless he looks to God and believes in Him, continually works for their division ; wherefore, as far as those two, the good of love or charity and the truth of wisdom or faith, are conjoined in man, so far man becomes an image of God, and is ele- vated to heaven and into heaven where the angels are ; and, on the contrary, as far as those two are divided by man, so far he becomes an image of Lucifer and the dragon, and is cast down from heaven to earth, and then under the earth into hell. From the conjunction of those two, the state of man becomes like the state of a tree in the time of spring, when the heat conjoins itself equally with the light ; whence it produces buds, blossoms, and fruit ; but, on the other hand, from the division of those two, the state of man becomes like the state of a tree in the time of winter, when the heat recedes from the light, whence it is stripped and divested of all its foliage and verdure. When No. 42.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. J^ spiritual heat, which is love, separates itself from spiritual light, which is wisdom, or, what is the same, charity from faith, the man becomes like sour or rotten ground, in which worms are bred ; and, if it produces shrubs, their leaves are covered with lice, and are consumed. For the allure- ments of the love of evil, which in themselves are lusts, burst forth ; which the understanding, instead of subduing and restraining, loves, pampers, and cherishes. In a word, to divide love and wisdom, or charity and faith, which two God continually endeavors to join together, is comparatively like depriving the face of its redness, whence comes a death-like paleness ; or like taking away the whiteness from the redness, whence the face becomes like a burning torch. It also becomes like dissolving the marriage-connection between two partners and making the wife to become a harlot, and the husband an adulterer ; for love or charity is as the husband, and wisdom or faith is as the wife ; and when those two are separated, spiritual whoredom and scortation ensue, which are the falsification of truth and the adulteration of good. 42. Moreover, it should be known that there are three degrees of love and wisdom, and -thence three degrees of life, and that the human mind, according to these degrees, is formed, as it were, into regions, and that life in the highest region is in the highest degree, and in the second region, in a lower degree, and in the last region, in the lowest degree. These regions are opened successively in man ; the last region, where life is in the lowest degree, is opened from infancy to childhood, and this is done by knowledges ; the second region, where life is in a higher degree, from childhood to youth, and this is done by thoughts from knowledges ; and the highest region, where life is in the highest degree, from youth to early manhood and onwards, and this is done by perceptions of truths, both moral and spiritual. It should be further known that the perfection of life consists not in thought, but in VOL. I. 4 74 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. the perception of truth from the light of truth. The differ- ences of life with men may be thence ascertained ; for there are some who, as soon as they hear the truth, per- ceive that it is truth ; these are represented in the spiritual world by eagles : there are others who do not perceive truth, but conclude it from confirmations, by appearances ; and these are represented by singing birds : there are others who believe a thing to be true because it has been asserted by a man of authorit}^" ; these are represented by magpies : and, also, there are others who are not willing, and who are not able, to perceive truth, but only falsity ; the reason is, because they are in a delusive light, in which falsity appears as truth, and the truth appears either as something above the head, hid in a thick cloud, or as a meteor, or as falsity ; the thoughts of these are represented by birds of the night, and their speech by screech-owls. Those amongst them who have confirmed their falsities cannot bear to hear truths ; and as soon as any truth strikes the drum of their ears they repel it with aversion, just as the stomach when loaded with bilious matter nauseates and vomits out food. 43. V. The Essence of Love is to love Others OUTSIDE OF Itself, to desire to be one with them, AND TO MAKE THEM HAPPY FROM ItSELF. There are two things which make the essence of God, — love and wisdom ; but there are three things which make the essence of His love, — to love others out of itself, to desire to be one with them, and to make them happy from itself : the same three things also make the essence of His wisdom, because love and wisdom, in God, make one, as was shown above ; but love wills those things, and wisdom produces them. The first essential, which is, to love others outside of itself, is acknowledged from God's love towards the whole human race ; and for their sake God loves all the things which He has created, because they are No. 43.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 75 means ; for he who loves the end also loves the means : and all persons and all things are outside of God, because they are finite, and God is infinite. The love of God goes and extends itself, not only to good persons and good things, Dut also to evil persons and evil things ; consequently, not only to those persons and things which are in heaven, but also to those which are in hell ; thus not only to Michael and Gabriel, but also to the Devil and Satan ; for God is everywhere, and from eternity to eternity the same. He says also that He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and that He sendeth rai?i on the Just and on the un- just (Matt, V. 45). But the reason that evil persons and evil things are still evil is in the subjects and objects them- selves, in that they do not receive the love of God, as it is, and as it is most interiorly in them, but as they themselves are ; just as the thorn and the nettle do with the heat of the sun and the rain of heaven. The second essential of God's love, which is to desire to be one with them, is ac- knowledged also from His conjunction with the angelic heaven, with the church upon earth, with every one there, and with every good and truth which enter into and make man and the church ; love also, viewed in itself, is nothing but an effort to conjunction ; wherefore, that this object of the essence of love might be attained, God created man into His image and likeness, with which conjunction may be effected. That the Divine Love continually intends con- junction is manifest from the words of the Lord, that He wills that they may be one. He in them and they in Him, and that the love of God may be in them (John xvii. 21, 22, 23, 26). The third essential of God's love, which is to make them happy from itself, is acknowledged from the eter- nal life, which is blessedness, happiness, and felicity with- out end, which God gives to those who receive His love in themselves ; for God, as He is love itself, is also blessed- ness itself ; for every love breathes forth from itself enjoy- ment, and the Divine Love breathes forth blessedness itself, 'jG THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. happiness and felicity to eternity. Thus God makes angels happy from Himself, and also men after death, which is effected by conjunction with them. 44. That such is the Divine Love is recognized from its sphere, which pervades the universe, and affects every one according to his state. It especially affects parents, from which it is that they tenderly love their children, who are outside of themselves, that they desire to be one with them, and that they desire to make them happy from themselves. This sphere of Divine Love affects not only the good, but also the evil ; and not only men, but also beasts and birds of every kind. For what else does a mother think of, when she has brought forth her child, than that she may, as it were, unite herself with it, and provide for its good ? What other concern has a bird, when she has hatched het young, than to cherish them under her wings, and through their little mouths to put food into their throats ? That dragons and vipers also love their young is known. This universal sphere affects, in a special manner, those who receive that love of God in themselves, who are such as believe in God and love their neighbor ; charity with them is an image of that love. Friendship amongst those not good also counterfeits that love ; for a friend, at his table, gives to a friend the better things : he kisses and caresses him, takes him by the hand, and proffers useful offices. The sympathies, and the efforts of homogeneous and similar things to conjunction, derive their origin from no other source. That same Divine sphere operates also into inanimate things, as into trees and plants, but through the sun of the world and its heat and light ; for the heat enters them from without, conjoins itself with them, and causes them to bud, blossom, and bear fruit, which things are in the place of blessedness in animals ; this heat does so, because it corresponds to spiritual heat, which is love. Representations of the operation of this love are also ex- hibited in various subjects of the mineral kingdom ; types No. 45-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 'J'J of it are presented in their exaltation to uses, and thence to proportionate values. 45. From the description of the essence of Divine Love, it may be seen what is the essence of diabolical love ; this may be seen from the opposite. Diabolical love is the love of self ; and this is called love, but, viewed in itself, it is hatred, for it does not love any one outside of itself, nor does it desire to be conjoined to others that it may do good to them, but only that it may do so to itself ; from its inmost it continually desires to rule over all, and also to possess the goods of all, and at last to be worshipped as a god. This is the reason why those who are in hell do not acknowledge God, but worship as gods those who have power over others ; thus lower and higher, or lesser and greater gods, according to the extent of their power ; and because every one there has this at heart, he also burns with hatred against his god, and the god against those who are under his power ; and he reputes them as vile slaves, with whom, indeed, he speaks courteously as long as they adore him, but he rages as from fire against others, and also inwardly or in his heart against his dependents ; for the love of self is the same with the love in robbers, who kiss each other while they are engaged in robberies, but afterwards they burn with the desire of killing each other, that they may also rob each other of their booty. This love causes its lusts to appear in the distance in hell where it reigns like various species of wild beasts, some like foxes and leopards, some like wolves and tigers, and some like crocodiles and venomous serpents ; it causes the deserts where they live to consist only of heaps of stones or of naked gravel, with bogs interspersed, in which frogs are croaking ; it also causes doleful birds to fly over their huts and screech. The ochim, tziim, and ijim, which are mentioned in the prophetical parts of the Word, where the love of ruling from the love of self is spoken of, are noth- ing else (Isa. xiii. 21 ; Jer. 1. 39 ; Ps. Ixxiv. 14). y8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. 46. VI. These [Essentials] of the Divine Love WERE the Cause of the Creation of the Universe, AND they are the CaUSE OF ITS PRESERVATION. That those three essentials of the Divine Love were the cause of creation may be clearly seen from an attentive examination of them. That this first, which is to love others outside of itself , was a cause, is evident from the uni- verse, which is outside of God, as the world is outside of the sun ; and into which He can extend His love, and exercise His love in it, and so rest. It is read also that after God had created the heaven and the earth, he rested ; and that thence the day of the Sabbath was made (Gen. ii. 2, 3). That the second, which is to will to be one with them, was a cause, is evident from the creation of man into the image and likeness of God ; by which is meant that man was made a form receptive of love and wisdom from God, so that God can unite Himself with man, and, for his sake, with all and. every thing of the universe, which are no other than means ; for conjunction with a final cause is also a conjunction with the mediate causes. That all things were created for the sake of man is manifest also from the book of Creation (Gen. i. 28, 29, 30). That the third, which is to make them happy fron itself is a cause, is evident from the angelic heaven, which is provided for every man who receives the love of God, where all are made happy from God alone. That those three essentials of God's love are also the cause of the preservation of the universe is because preservation is perpetual creation, as subsistence is perpetual existence ; and the Divine Love, from eternity to eternity, is the same ; thus such as it was in creating the world, such it is and continues to be in the created world. 47. From these things, rightly perceived, it may be seen that the universe is a work cohering from firsts to lasts, because it is a work comprising ends, causes, and effects, in an indissoluble connection ; and because in all love there is an end, and in all wisdom the promotion of an end by No. 48.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 79 mediate causes, and through them to effects, which are uses, it follows also that the universe is a work comprising Divine love. Divine wisdom, and uses, and thus a work alto- gether coherent from firsts to lasts. That the universe consists of perpetual uses produced by wisdom and begun by love, every wise man may see as in a mirror, when he gains a general idea of the creation of the universe, and in that views the particulars ; for particulars adapt themselves to their general, and the general disposes them into form so that they may agree. That it is so, will be more fully illustrated in the following pages. 48. To this will be added this Relation. I once con- versed with two angels, one from the eastern heaven, and the other from the southern heaven. When they perceived that I was meditating upon arcana of wisdom concerning love, they said, " Do you know any thing about the schools of wisdom in our world ? " I replied, that I did not yet ; and they said, " There are many ; and those who love truths from spiritual affection, or truths be- cause they are truths, and because by means of them is wisdom, come together at a given signal, and discuss and determine those questions which are of deeper understand- ing." They then took me by the hand, saying, " Follow us and you shall see and hear ; the signal of a meeting has been given to-day." I was led over a plain to a hill, and, behold, at the foot of the hill, an avenue of palm- trees, continued even to its top; we entered it, and as- cended ; and on the top or summit of the hill was seen a grove ; and among the trees, the raised ground formed as it were a theatre, within which was an area, paved with little stones of various colors. Around it, in a square, were placed seats, upon which the lovers of wisdom were sitting; and in the middle of the theatre was a table, upon which lay a paper sealed with a seal. Those who sat on the seats invited us to the seats still vacant ; and I replied, " I have been led hither by two angels, that I may see and hear, and 80 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. not to sit." And then those two angels went into the middle of the area to the table, and loosed the seal of the paper, and read in the presence of those who were sitting the arcana of wisdom written on the paper, which they were now to discuss and unfold. They were written by angels of the third heaven, and let down upon the table. There were three arcana : The first, " What is the image of God, and what the likeness of God, into which man was created i " The second, " Why is not man born into the knowledge of any love, when yet beasts and birds, noble as well as ignoble, are born into the kno7V ledges of all their loves .? " The third, " What does the tree of life signify ; and what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; and what the eating from them ? " Underneath was written, "Join those three together into one, and write it upon a new paper, and lay it back upon this table, and we shall see it ; if the opinion appear even- balanced and just on the scale, to each of you shall be given the prize of wisdom." The two angels, having read this, retired, and were carried up into their heavens. And then those who sat upon the seats began to discuss and unfold the arcana proposed to them ; and they spoke in order ; first those who sat at the North, then those at the West, afterwards those at the South, and lastly those at the East. And they took up the first subject of discussion, which was, " What is the image of God, and what the likeness of God, into which man was created ? " And then, in the first place, these words from the book of Crea- tion, were read in presence of all : God said. Let us make ?nan ifi our image, after our likeness; and God created man into his own image; into the image of God created He him (Gen. i. 26, 27). In the day that God created man in the likeness of God, made He him (Gen. v. i). Those who sat at the North spoke first, saying, that The image of God and the likeness of God are the two lives breathed into man by God, which are the life of the will, and the life of the understanding ; for it is read, jfehovcih No. 48] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 8 1 God breathed into the nostrils of Adam the soul of i^iVES, aiid man was made into a living soul (Gen. ii. 7) : by which seems to be meant that there was breathed into him the will of good and the perception of truth, and thus the soul of lives ; and because life from God was breathed into him, an image and a likeness signify integrity from love and wis- dom, and from justice and judgment in him. Those who sat at the West favored these things, adding however this, that The state of integrity breathed into him by God is con- tinually breathed into every man after him ; but that it is in man as in a receptacle, and that man, as he is a receptacle, is an image and likeness of God. Afterwards the third in order, who were those who sat at the South, said, *' The image of God and the likeness of God are two distinct things, but united in man by creation ; and we see, as from a kind of interior light, that the image of God may be de- stroyed by man, but not the likeness of God. This appears obscurely (as through a lattice) from this, that Adam re- tained the likeness of God after he had lost the image of God ; for it is read after the curse. Behold the man is become as one of us, by knowing good and evil (Gen. iii. 22). And afterwards he is called the likeness of God, and not the image of God (Gen. v. i). But let us leave to our conso- ciates who sit at the east, and are thence in superior light, to say what is properly an image of God, and what is prop- erly a likeness of God." And then, after there was silence, those sitting at the East arose from their seats, and looked up to the Lord ; and afterwards they sat down again upon their seats and said, that An image of God is a receptacle of God ; and because God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, an image of God is the reception of love and wisdom from God in it ; but that a likeness of God is a perfect likeness and a full appearance, as if love and wisdom were in man, and thence altogether as his ; for man is not sensible but that he loves from himself, and is wise from himself ; or that he wills good and understands truth from himself; 82 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. when yet none of this whatever is from himself, but from God. God alone loves from Himself and is wise from Him- self, because God is Love itself and Wisdom itself. The like- ness or appearance that love and wisdom, or good and truth, are in man as his, causes that man may be man, and that he can be conjoined to God, and thus live to eternity ; from which it flows that man is man from this, that he can will good and understand truth altogether as from himself, and still know and believe that it is from God ; for as he knows and believes this, God puts His image in man ; it would be otherwise, if he should believe that it is from himself, and not from God. When these things were said, there came upon them a zeal from the love of truth, from which they spoke these words : " How can man receive any thing of love and wisdom and retain it and reproduce it, unless he feels it as his own ? And how can conjunction with God be given by means of love and wisdom, unless there has been given to man some reciprocal of conjunction ? For with- out a reciprocal no conjunction is possible, and the re- ciprocal of conjunction is that man loves God, and does those things which are of God, as from himself, and yet believes that it is from God. Besides, how can man live to eternity, unless he be conjoined to the eternal God ? Con- sequently, how can man be man, without that likeness in him ? " All favored these words, and said, " Let a conclu- sion be made from them ; " and it was made thus : " Man is a receptacle of God, and a receptacle of God is an image of God ; and because God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, man is a receptacle of these ; and a receptacle becomes an image of God according to the reception." Also this : " Man is a likeness of God from this, that he feels in himself that the things which are from God are in him as his ; but still, from that likeness he is so far an image of God as he ac- knowledges that love and wisdom, or good and truth, are not his in him, and therefore are not from him, but are in God only, and thence are from God." After this, they took No. 48.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 83 up the second subject of discussion, "Why man is not BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF ANY LOVE, WHEN YET BEASTS AND BIRDS, NOBLE AS WELL AS IGNOBLE, ARE BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGES OF ALL THEIR LOVES." First they confirmed the truth of the proposition from various things ; as, concerning man, that he is born into no knowledge, not even into the knowledge of conjugial love ; and they in- quired and heard from investigators that an infant does not even know the breast of its mother from any connate knowledge, but that it learns this from its mother or nurse by being put to the breast ; and that it only knows how to suck, and that it has imbibed this knowledge from a con- tinual suction in the mother's womb ; and that afterwards it does not know how to walk, nor to articulate sound into any human word, nor yet to sound the affections of its love, as beasts do ; further, that it knows not what food is suitable for it, as beasts do, but that it lays hold of whatever comes in its way, whether clean or unclean, and puts it into its mouth. The investigators said that man without instruc- tion knows nothing at all about the modes of loving the sex, and that not even virgins and young men know any thing of this without instruction from others. In a word, man is born corporeal as a worm, and remains corporeal unless he learns to know, to understand, and to be wise, from others. After this they proved that animals, noble as well as ignoble, as the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, reptiles, fishes, and the vermicules which are called insects, are born into all the knowledges of the loves of their life ; as into all things concerning nourishment, into all things concerning habitation, into all things concerning the love of the sex and prolification, and into all things concerning the education of their young. These things they confirmed by the wonderful things which they recalled to memory from what they had seen, heard, and read in the natural world, in which they once lived, and in which there are not repre- sentative but real beasts. After the truth of the proposi- 84 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. L tion was thus established, they applied their minds to investigate and. discover the causes by means of which they might unfold and lay open this mystery ; and they all said that those things could not but exist from the Divine Wisdom, that man may be man, and beast may be beast ; and that thus the imperfection of man's nativity is his perfection, and the perfection of a beast's nativity is its imperfection. Then those on the North began first to open their minds, and they said, that " Man was born without knowledges, that he might be able to receive them all ; but, if he were bom into knowledges, he would not be able to receive any ex- cept those into which he was born, and then he would not be able to appropriate any to himself ; " which they illus- trated by this comparison : " Man when first born is like ground in which no seeds have been planted, but which can yet receive all, and bring them forth, and cause them to bear fruit. But a beast is like ground already sown and covered over with grass and herbs, which receives no other seeds than those which have been sown ; and if others were sown they would be choked. Thence it is that man is many years in coming to his growth, during which he may be cultivated like the ground, and bring forth as it were grain of every kind, flowers, and trees ; but a beast comes to its growth in a few years, during which it can be cultivated for no other things than tlipse which are born with it." Afterwards those on the West spoke, and said that man is not born knowledge, like a beast, but that he is born a faculty and an inclination ; a faculty for know- ing, and an inclination for loving ; and that he is born a faculty [* not only for knowing, but also for understanding and for being wise ; and also that he is born a most perfect inclination] not only for loving those things which are of himself and the world, but also those which are of God and * What is here enclosed in brackets is from the treatise concern- ing Conjugial Love, n. 134. No. 48.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 85 of heaven ; consequently, that man is born an organ which scarcely lives by the external senses, except obscurely, and by no internal senses, to the intent that he may succes- sively live and become a man ; first natural, afterwards rational, and at length spiritual ; which would not be the case if he were born into knowledges and loves as beasts are ; for the knowledges and affections of love which are born with one, limit the progression ; but mere faculties and inclinations born with one, limit nothing; wherefore man may be perfected in knowledge, intelligence, and wis- dom to eternity. Those on the South took up the subject, and declared their opinion, saying that it is impossible for man to derive any knowledge from himself, but he must derive it from others, since no knowledge is connate with him ; and as he cannot derive any knowledge from him- self, so neither can he any love, since where there is no knowledge there is no love ; knowledge and love are in- separable companions ; they can no more be separated than will and understanding or affection and thought ; yea, no more than essence and form ; wherefore, as man receives knowledge from others, so love adjoins itself to it as its companion. The universal love which adjoins itself is the love of knowing, and afterwards of understanding and of being wise ; man alone and no beast has these loves, and they flow in from God. We agree with our companions from the West that man is not born into any love, and thence not into any knowledge ; but that he is only born into an inclination for loving, and thence into a faculty for receiving knowledge, not from himself, but from others, that is, through others : it is said, through others, because neither have these received any thing from them- selves, but originally from God. We agree also with our companions at the North that man when first born is like ground in which no seeds have been planted, but in which all seeds, as well noble as ignoble, can be planted : thence it is that man was called ho^no from humus, the ground; and 86 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I he was called Adam from Adama, which, too, means ground. To this we add that beasts are born into natural loves, and thence into the knowledges corresponding to them ; but that still from the knowledges they do not know, think, un- derstand, nor are wise ; but that they are led to them from their loves, almost in the same manner as blind men are led through the streets by dogs ; for as to the understand- ing they are blind, or rather they are like persons walking in sleep, who do what they do from blind knowledge, while the understanding is asleep. Lastly those on the East spoke and said, " We assent to those things which our brothers have spoken, that man knows nothing from himself, but from others and through others, that he may cognize and acknowledge that all things which he knows, understands, and is wise in, are from God ; and that man cannot other- wise be born and begotten of God, and become an image and likeness of Him. For he becomes an image of God by acknowledging and believing that he has received and does receive all the good of love and charity and all the truth of wisdom and faith from God, and nothing at all from himself : and he is a likeness of God in that he feels those things in himself as if from himself ; and he feels this, be- cause he is not born into knowledges, but receives them ; and the receiving appears to him as from himself. To feel thus is also given to man by God, that he may be a man, and not a beast ; since by this, that he wills, thinks, loves, knows, understands, and is wise, as from himself, he receives knowledges, and exalts them into intelligence, and by their uses into wisdom ; thus God conjoins man with Himself, and man conjoins himself with God. These things could not have been done unless it had been provided by God that man should be born in utter ignorance." After this statement all desired that a conclusion should be made from the things discussed ; and it was made thus : That man is born into no knowledge in order that he may be able to come into all, and advance into intelligence, and No. 48.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 8/ through this into wisdom ; and that man is born into no love in order that he may be able to come into all by ap- plications of knowledges from intelligence, and may come into love to God through love towards the neighbor, and thus be conjoined to God, and by that means become a man and live to eternity. After this they took the paper, and read the third sub- ject for investigation, which was, What does the tree OF LIFE SIGNIFY ; WHAT THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL ; AND WHAT THE EATING FROM THEM ? And they all requested that those who were from the East would unfold this mystery, because it is of deeper under- standing, and because those who are from the East are in flamy light, that is, in the wisdom of love ; and this wisdom is meant by the garden of Eden, in which those two trees were placed. And they answered, " We will speak ; but because man does not take any thing from himself, but from God, we will speak from Him, but still from ourselves as if from ourselves." And then they said, " A tree signi- fies man, and its fruit the good of life ; thence by the tree of life is signified man living from God ; and because love and wisdom, and charity and faith, or good and truth, make the life of God in man, by the tree of life is signified the man in whom are those things from God, and who has thence eternal life. Similar things are signified by the tree of life, from which it will be given to eat (Apoc. ii. 7, xxii. 2, 14). By the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is sig- nified the man believing that he lives from himself, and not from God ; thus, that love and wisdom, charity and faith, that is, good and truth, are in man his, and not God's ; be- lieving this, because he thinks and wills, and speaks and acts, in all likeness and appearance as from himself ; and because man thence persuades himself that he is also a God, therefore the serpent said, God doth know that, in the day ye eat of the fruit of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil (Gex\. iii, 5). 88 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. By eating from those trees is signified reception and appro- priation ; by eating from the tree of Ufe, the reception of eternal life ; and by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the reception of damnation. By the ser- pent is meant the devil, as to the love of self and the pride of one's own intelligence j and this love is the possessor of the tree, and the men who are in pride from this love are the trees. They are, therefore, in an enormous error who believe that Adam was wise and did good from himself, and that this was his state of integrity ; when yet Adam was himself cursed on account of that belief ; for this is signi- fied by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ; wherefore he then fell from the state of integrity which he had from believing that he was wise and did good from God and nothing from himself ; for this is meant by eating from the tree of life. The Lord alone, when He was in the world, was wise from Himself, and did good from Him- self, because the Divine Itself was in Him and was His from the nativity ; wherefore also He became Redeemer and Saviour by His own power." From all these things they drew this conclusion, that " By the tree of life, and by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and by eat- ing from them, is meant that life, to man, is God in him, and that he thus has heaven and eternal life ; and that death, to man, is the persuasion and belief that God is not life to man, but that man is life to himself ; whence he has hell and eternal death, which is damnation." After this they looked at the paper which was left by the angels upon the table, and saw written underneath, Join THE THREE TOGETHER INTO ONE OPINION. And then they collected them, and saw that the three cohered in one series, and that the series or opinion is this, that " Man was created to receive love and wisdom from God, and yet in all likeness as from himself, and this for the sake of reception and conjunction ; and that therefore man is not born into any love, nor into any knowledge, nor even No. 49.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 89 into any power of loving and being wise from himself. Wherefore, if he ascribes all the good of love and all the truth of wisdom to God he becomes a living man ; but if he ascribes them to himself he becomes a dead man." This they wrote on a new paper and laid it upon the table ; and lo, suddenly the angels were present in a bright cloud, and they carried the paper away into heaven ; and after it was read there, those who sat upon the seats heard thence the words, "Well, well, well." And forthwith there appeared one from heaven as if flying, who had as it were two wings about the feet and two about the temples, bHng- ing the prizes, which Avere robes, caps, and wreaths of laurel. And he alighted, and gave to those who sat at the North robes of an opaline color ; to those at the West, robes of a scarlet color ; to those at the South, caps, the borders of which were adorned with bands of gold and pearls, and the higher parts of the left side with diamonds cut in the form of flowers ; but to those at the East he gave wreaths of laurel in which were rubies and sapphires. And they all went home with joy from the school of wisdom, decorated with these rewards. CONCERNING THE OMNIPOTENCE, OMNISCIENCE, AND OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. 49. We have treated of the Divine Love and the Di- vine Wisdom, and shown that these two are the Divine Essence. We come now to treat of the Omnipotence, Omni- science, and Omnipresence of God, because these three pro- ceed from the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, scarcely otherwise than the power and presence of the sun are in this world, and in all and every part of it, by means of light and heat. Also, the heat from the sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is Jehovah God, in its essence is Divine Love, and the light thence is in its essence Divine Wisdom ; whence it is manifest that as infinity, immensity, 90 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. and eternity pertain to the Divine Esse, so omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence pertain to the Divine Es- sence. But as those three universal predicables of the Divine Essence have not hitherto been understood, be- cause their progression according to their ways, which are the laws of order, has been unknown, it is proper to pre- sent them here by distinct articles, as follows : I. Omnip- otence, Omniscience, and Ot/inipresence belong to the Divine Wisdom from the Divitie Love. II. There cantiot be cognition of God's Omnipotence, OmJiiscience, and Omnipresence, unless it be known what Order is, and unless these things belonging to it be known, ?iamely, that God is Order, and that at the creation He introduced Order into the universe, and into all and every part of it. III. The Om/iipotence of God in the universe, and in all and every part of it, proceeds and operates accorditig to the laws of His Order. IV. God is omniscient, that is, perceives, sees, and knows all and every thiiig, even to the most minute, 7vhich is done according to Order ; and thence also what is done contrary to Order. V. God is omnipresent from the firsts to the lasts of His Order. VI. Man was created a form of Divine Order. VII. Man is so far in power against evil and falsity from the Divine Omnipotence, and so far in wisdom cojicerning good and truth from the Divine Ojnniscience, and so far in God from the Divine Om?iipres- ence, as he lives according to Divine Order. But these arti- cles are to be unfolded one by one. 50. I. Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipres- ence BELONG TO THE DiVINE WiSDOM FROM THE DiVINE Love. That omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence belong to the Divine Wisdom from the Divine Love, but not to the Divine Love by means of the Divine Wisdom, is an arcanum from heaven, which has not hitherto shone in the under- standing of any one ; because no one has yet known what love is in its essence, nor what wisdom thence is in its es- No. 51.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 9I sence, and still less concerning the influx of one into the other ; which is, that love, with all and every thing of it, flows into wisdom, and resides in it as a king in his king- dom, or as a master in his house, and relinquishes all the government of justice to its judgment ; and, because justice is of love and judgment is of wisdom, relinquishes all the government of love to its wisdom. But this arcanum will receive additional light in what follows ; in the mean time let it stand as a canon. That God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, by means of the wisdom of His love, is also meant by these words in John : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All thifigs were made by Hi7n, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of me?t ; and the world was made by Him ; and the Word was made flesh (i. i, 3, 4, 10, 14). By the Word is there meant the Divine Truth, or what amounts to the same the Divine Wisdom ; wherefore it is also called life and light ; and life and light are no other than wisdom. 51. Since in the Word justice is predicated of love, and judgment of wisdom, therefore some passages shall be ad- duced to prove that the government of God is effected in the world by means of those two ; the passages now fol- low : O Jehovah, Justice and Judgment are the support of Thy thro7ie (Ps. Ixxxix. 15). Let him that glorieth, glory in this, that Jehovah doeth Judgment and Justice in the earth (Jer. ix. 24). Let Jehovah be exalted, because He hath filled Zion* with Judgment <2;2/i, and the locusts leaped No. 72.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 1 13 after them ; and the air was purified, and the earth was cleared of those wikl creatures, and the tumult below ceased, and it became tranquil and serene. 72, Second Relation. I once heard an unusual mur- mur at a distance, and in the spirit I followed the direction of the sound, and approached it. When I came where it began, behold there was a company of spirits reasoning about Imputation and Predestination. They were from Holland and from Great Britain, and some from other na- tions were mingled with them, who, at the conclusion of every argument, exclaimed, " Wonderful ! Wonderful ! " The question discussed was, "Why God does not impute the merit and righteousness of His Son to all and every one created and afterwards redeemed by Him. Is He not omnipotent .-' Can He not, if He will, make archangels of Lucifer, the dragon, and all the goats ? Is He not omnipo- tent ? Why does He permit the injustice and impiety of the devil to triumph over the righteousness of His Son and over the piety of the worshippers of God ? What is easier for God than to bestow faith, and thus salvation, upon all ? What is necessary for this but a little word ? And if all are not saved, does He not act contrary to His own words, which are that He desires the salvation of all and the death of none ? Say, therefore, from whom and in whom is the cause of the damnation of those who perish." And then one of the Hollanders, a Supralapsarian Predestina- rian, said, " Is not this at the good pleasure of the Almighty ? Shall the clay find fault with the potter because he has made of it a vessel without honor ? " And another said, " The salvation of every one is in His hand as a balance in the hand of him who uses it." There stood at the sides some who were simple in faith and upright in heart, some of them with their eyes inflamed, some as it were amazed, some as it were intoxicated, and some as it were suffocated, muttering amongst themselves, "What have we to do with tliese ravings ? Their faith has infatuated them, which is 1 14 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. that God the Father imputes the righteousness of His Son to whom He will and when He will, and sends the Holy Spirit to give assurances of that righteousness ; and, lest man should claim any thing to himself in the work of his salvation, he must be altogether like a stone in the business of justification and like a stock in spiritual things." And then one of them thrust himself into the company, and speaking with a loud voice he said, " O madmen ! Your reasoning is about goat's wool ! You are totally ignorant that the omnipotent God is Order itself, and that the laws of order are myriads, even as many as there are truths in the Word, and that God cannot act contrary to them, be- cause to act contrary to them would be to act contrary to Himself, and thus not only contrary to His justice, but also contrary to His omnipotence." And he saw in the distance at his right hand as it were a sheep and a lamb and a flying dove ; and at his left hand as it were a goat, a wolf, and a vulture ; and he said, " Do you suppose that God by virtue of His omnipotence can change the goat into a sheep, or the wolf into a lamb, or the vulture into a dove, or the re- verse ? No ; for it is contrary to the laws of His order, of which not even a tittle can fall to the ground, according to His own words. How then can He introduce the right- eousness of His Son's redemption into any one who rebels against the laws of His righteousness ? How can Right- eousness itself commit unrighteousness, predestine any to hell, and cast any into the fire at which the devil stands with torches in his hand to feed it ? O madmen ! empty in spirit ! your faith has seduced you. Is it not in your hands as a snare for catching doves ? " A certain magician, hear- ing these words, formed a snare, as it were, from that faith, and hung it upon a tree, saying, " You will see that I shall catch that dove." And presently a hawk flew up, and put his neck into the snare, and was caught ; and the dove, see- ing the hawk, flew by. Those who stood near wondered, and exclaimed, " Even this play is The Reward of Right- eousness." No. 73] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. II5 73. The next day there came to me several from the company who were in the faith of predestination and im- putation, and they said, " We are, as it were, drunk, not from wine, but from what was said by tliat man -yesterday. He spoke concerning omnipotence, and at the same time concerning order ; and he concluded that as omnipotence is Divine, so also order is Divine, nay, that God Himself is Order ; and he said that there are as many laws of order as there are truths in the Word, which are not only thou- sands, but myriads of myriads, and that God is bound to His "laws there, and man to his. What then is the Divine omnipotence, if it is tied to laws .-' for thus all absolute power is wanting to omnipotence ; and so is not the power of God less than that of a king in the world who is sole ruler ? for he can change the laws of justice at his pleas- ure, and act absolutely, like Octavius Augustus and also like Nero. After we began to think of omnipotence tied to laws, we became, as it were, drunk, and ready to fall into a swoon unless a remedy be quickly applied ; for, ac- cording to our faith, we have prayed that God the Father would have mercy on us for the sake of His Son ; and we have believed that He can have mercy on whom He will, and remit sins to'whom He pleases, and save whom He will ; and we have not dared to take away the least parti- cle from His omnipotence. Wherefore, to bind God with the chains of any of His own laws we regard as great wickedness, because contradictory to His omnipotence." Having said these words they looked on me, and I on them, and I saw that they were amazed ; and I said, " I will pray to the Lord, and will thereby bring you a remedy by enlightenment on this subject ; but now only by examples." And I said, "The omnipotent God created the world from the order in Himself, and thus into the order in which He is, and according to which He governs ; and He stamped upon the universe, and upon all and every part of it, its order ; upon man, beast, bird, fish, worm, and tree of Il6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. every kind, yes, upon the grass, its own order [suns]. But, to illustrate by examples, I will briefly adduce the follow- ing : The laws of order prescribed to man are that man should acquire for himself truths from the Word, and think of them naturally, and as far as he can rationally, and thus procure for himself natural faith : the laws of order on the part of God then are that He should approach, fill the truths with His Divine light, and thus fill with the Divine essence man's natural faith, which is only knowledge and persuasion; thus, and not otherwise, saving faith is pro- duced. The case is similar with charity ; but we will briefly mention some particulars. God cannot according to the laws of His order remit sins to any man, except so far as man according to his laws ceases from them. God cannot spiritually regenerate man, except so far as man according to his laws regenerates himself naturally. God is in the perpetual effort to regenerate and thus to save man ; but He cannot effect this, except as man prepares himself to be a receptacle, and so prepares the way for God and opens the door. A bridegroom cannot enter into the cham- ber of a virgin not betrothed to him ; she shuts the door, and keeps the key with her within ; but after the virgin has become a bride, she gives the key to the' bridegroom. God could not from His omnipotence redeem men, unless He became Man ; nor could He make His Human Divine, un- less His Human were at first as the human of an infant, and afterwards as the human of a boy, and unless the Human afterwards formed itself into a receptacle and hab- itation into which its Father might enter ; which was done by fulfilling all things of the Word, that is, all the laws of order therein ; and as far as He did this, so far He united Himself to the Father, and the Father united Himself to Him. But these are a few things, adduced for the sake of illustration, that you may see that the Divine omnipotence is in order, and that its government which is called Provi- dence is according to order ; and that it acts continually and No. 74] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. I17 eternally according to the laws of its order ; and that it can- not act contrary to them nor change them as to a single tittle, because order with all its laws is Himself." When these words were spoken a radiant light of a golden color flowed in through the roof, and formed cherubs flying in the air ; and the effulgence therefrom enlightened the temples of some towards the occiput, but not as yet towards the forehead ; for they muttered, " We are still ignorant what omnipotence is." And I said, '* It will be revealed to you, when the things hitherto said to you shall have received some light." 74. Third Relation. I saw, at a distance, several gath- ered together, with caps on their heads ; some with caps bound round with silk, and who were of the ecclesiastical order ; some with caps whose borders were adorned with bands of gold, who were of the civil order ; all these were men of science and erudition ; and, besides, I saw some with turbans, who were not learned. I approached, and heard them conversing together concerning Divine Power being unlimited ; saying that if it proceeded according to any estab- ■ lished laws of order it could not be without limits, but lim- ited, and w^ould thus be power and not omnipotence. " But who does not see that no law of necessity can compel omnip- otence to do so and not otherwise ? Certainly while we think of omnipotence, and at the same time of the laws of order according to which it is obliged to proceed, our precon- ceived ideas concerning omnipotence fall, like a hand when its staff is broken." When they saw me near them, some of them ran up to me, and with some vehemence said, " Are you the man that has circumscribed God with laws, as with bonds ? How insolent this is ! Thus you have also torn to pieces our faith upon which our salvation is founded, in the centre of which we place the righteousness of the Redeemer, upon that the omnipotence of God the Father, and we make the operation of the Holy Spirit an apj^endage ; and we make its efficacy to lie in man's absolute impotency in spirit- Il8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. ual things, for whom it is enough to speak of the fulness of justification which is in tliat faitli from God's omnipotence. But we have heard that you see emptiness in it, because there is in it nothing of Divine order on the part of man." On hearing these words I opened my mouth, and, speak- ing with a loud voice, I said, " Learn the laws of Divine order, and afterwards open that faith, and you will see a vast desert, and in it Leviathan, the crooked and the extended, and all around nets, as it were, entangled in a knot that cannot be untied ; but do you as is read of Alex- ander when he saw the Gordian knot, that he drew his sword and cut it in two, and thus loosed its entanglements, and threw its thongs on the ground and trampled them under his feet." At these words those who were assembled bit their tongues, wishing to sharpen them for invectives ; but they durst not, because they saw heaven open above me, and heard a voice thence, — " Listen with self-control to hear for the first time what is the order according to the laws of which the omnipotent God acts. God from Him- self as Order created the universe in order and for order ; and likewise man, in whom He fixed the laws of His order, ■ from which he became an image and likeness of God ; which laws, in the sum, are that he should believe in God and love his neighbor, and as far as he does those two things by natural power, so far he makes, himself a receptacle of the Divine omnipotence, and so far God conjoins Himself to man and man to Himself ; thence his faith becomes liv- ing and saving, and his doing becomes charity, also living and saving. But it should be known that God is perpetu- ally present, and continually strives and acts in man, and also touches his free will, but never violates it ; for if He should violate the free will of man, man's dwelling in God would perish, and there would be only God's dwelling in man ; and this dwelling is in all, as well in those who are upon the earth as in those who are in the heavens, and also in those who are in the hells ; for thence is their ability to No. 74-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. I19 will and understand. But there is no reciprocal dwelling of man in God, except with those who live according to the laws of order prescribed in the Word ; and these become images and likenesses of Him, and to them paradise is given for a possession, and the fruit of the tree of life for food. But the rest gather themselves together around the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and talk with the serpent there, and eat; but afterwards they are driven out of paiadise; yet God does not leave them, but they leave God." Those in caps understood and approved these words ; but those in turbans denied, and said, " Is not omnipotence thus lim- ited .-• and limited omnipotence is a contradiction." But I replied, " It is not a contradiction to act omnipotently ac- cording to the laws of justice with judgment, or according to the laws inscribed on love from wisdom ; but it is a con- ti'adiction that God can act contrary to the laws of His justice and love ; and this would be from what is not judg- ment and wisdom. Such a contradiction is implied in your faith, which is that God can out of mere grace justify the unjust, and endow him with all the gifts of salvation and the rewards of life. But I will say in a few words what the omnipotence of God is. God from His omnipotence created the universe, and at the same time introduced order into all and every part of it ; God also by His omnipotence pre- serves the universe, and. watches over the order there with its laws perpetually, and when any thing falls from order, He brings it back and makes it whole again. Moreover, God from His omnipotence established the church, and re- vealed the laws of its order in the Word ; and -when it fell from order He re-established it, and when it fell totally He came down into the world, and by the assumed Human He clothed Himself with omnipotence, and restored it. God, by His omnipotence and also His omniscience, ex- amines every one after death, and prepares the righteous 01 the sheep for their places in heaven, and founds a heaven from them ; and He prepares the unrighteous or the goats I20 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. for their places in hell, and founds a hell from them ; and He disposes both classes into societies and congregated bodies, according to all the varieties of their love, which in heaven are as many as the stars in the firmament of the world ; and He joins the societies in heaven together into one, that they may be as one man in His sight ; in like man- ner the congregated bodies in hell, that they may be as one devil ; and He separates the latter from the former by a gulf, lest hell should do violence to heaven, and lest heaven should occasion torment to hell ; for those who are in hell are tormented so far as heaven flows in. Unless God by His omnipotence should every instant do all these things, the nature of the wild beast would enter into men to such a degree that they could no longer be restrained by the laws of any order, and so the human race would perish. These and similar things would happen, unless God were Order and omnipotent in order." On hearing these words those who wore caps went away, with their caps under their arms, praising God ; for in that world the intelligent wear caps. Not so those who wore turbans, because they are bald, and baldness signifies heaviness ; and these went away to the left, but the others to the right. CONCERNING THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE. 75. Since in this first chapter we treat of God the Crea- tor, we ought also to treat of the creation of the universe by Him ; as in the following chapter goncerning the Lord the Redeemer we shall also treat of Redemption. But no one can obtain for himself a just idea concerning the creation of the universe, unless some universal cognitions, previously acquired, put the understanding in a state of per- ception ; such are the following : I. There are two worlds, the spiritual world in which angels and spirits are ; and the natural world in which men are. II. In each world there is a sun, and the sun of the spiritual world is pure love No. 75-1 CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 121 from Jehovah God who is in the midst of it ; and from that sun proceed heat and light ; and the heat thence proceed- ing in its essence is love, and the light thence proceeding in its essence is wisdom, and these two affect the will and understanding of man, the heat his will, and the light his understanding ; but the sun of the natural world is pure fire, and therefore the heat therefrom is dead ; in like manner the light ; and these serve for clothing and sup- port to spiritual heat and light, that they may pass to man. III. And, further, those two things which proceed from the sun of the spiritual world, and thence all the things which exist there by means of them, are substantial, and are called spiritual ; and the two similar things which proceed from the sun of the natural world, and thence all the things which exist here by means of them, are material, and are called natural. IV. In each world there are three degrees, which are called degrees of height, and thence three regions according to which the three angelic heavens are arranged, and according to which human minds also are arranged, which thus correspond to the three angelic heavens ; and other things are arranged in like manner, both here and there. V. There is a correspondence between th€ things which are in the spiritual world, and the things which are in the natural world. VI. There is an order into which all and every thing in both worlds was created. VII. An idea concerning these things ought by all means to be first ob- tained ; and unless this is done the human mind from mere ignorance concerning them easily falls into the idea of the creation of the universe by nature, and says only from the authority of the church that nature was created by God ; but because it knows not how, if it inquires into it more interiorly it falls headlong into naturalism which denies God. But because it would be the work of a large volume to present and demonstrate these things in a proper man- ner, one by one, and also as it does not properly enter into such a system of theolog}- as this, as a lemma or an argu- VOL. I. 6 122 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. ment, I will only adduce some Relations, from which an idea of the creation of the universe by God may be con- ceived, and from conception some birth representing it may be produced. 76. First Relation. On a certain day, I was engaged in meditation about the creation of the universe ; and be- cause this was perceived by the angels who were above me on the right side, where were some who had several times meditated and reasoned on the same subject, therefore one descended and invited me in ; and I became in the spirit, and accompanied him ; and after I entered I was con- ducted to the prince, in whose palace I saw several hun- dreds assembled, and the prince in their midst. And then one of them said, " We perceived here that you were medi- tating about the creation of the universe, and we have sev- eral times been in similar meditation, but could never come to a conclusion, since there clung to our thoughts the idea of a chaos, and that this was, as it were, a great egg, out of which were brought forth all and every thing of the universe in their order ; when yet we now perceive that so great a universe could not have been so brought forth. Then, also, there clung to our minds another idea, which was that all things were created by God out of nothing ; and yet we now perceive that nothing is made out of nothing; and our minds have not yet been able to free themselves from these two ideas, and to see creation in any light as to how it was effected ; wherefore, we have called you out from the place where you were, that you may disclose your medita- tion concerning this subject," On hearing these words I replied, " I will do so." And I said, " I meditated on this subject for a long time, but to no purpose ; but afterwards, when I was admitted by the Lord into your world, I per- ceived that it would be vain to conclude any thing concern- ing the creation of the universe, unless it be first known that there are two worlds, one in which angels are, and another in which men are ; and that men by death pass No. 76.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 1 23 out of their world into the other ; and then also I saw that there were two suns, one from which all spiritual things flow forth, and the other from which all natural things flow forth ; and that the sun from which all spiritual things flow forth is pure love from Jehovah God, who is in the midst of it ; and that the sun from which all natural things flow forth is pure fire. Knowing these things, on a certain time when I was in enlightenment I was enabled to per ceive that the universe was created by Jehovah God by means of the sun in the midst of which He is ; and be- cause there cannot be love except together with wisdom, that the universe was created by Jehovah God from His love by His wisdom. That it is so is evinced by all and every thing that I have seen in the world where you are, and that I have seen in the world where I am as to the body. But to explain from the beginning how the progress of creation went on would be too prolix ; but when I have been in enlightenment I have perceived that by means of the light and heat from the sun of your world, spiritual atmospheres, which in themselves are substantial, were cre- ated one from another ; and because there were three, and thence three degrees of them, three heavens were made ; one for the angels who are in the highest degree of love and wisdom, another for the angels who are in the second degree, and the third for the angels who are in the lowest degree : but, because this spiritual universe cannot exist without a natural universe, in which it may produce its effects and uses, that then the sun from which all natural things proceed was created together with it ; and by this likewise, by means of light and heat, three atmospheres encompassing the former, as the shell does the kernel, or the bark of a tree the wood ; and at last by means of these, the terraqueous globe, where are men, beasts, and fishes, also trees, shrubs, and herbs, was formed of differ- ent kinds of earths, which consist of loam, stones, and min- erals. But this is a very general sketch of the creation and 124 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. its progression ; but the particulars and single things can- not be presented except by volumes of books ; but all things lead to the conclusion that God did not create the universe out of nothing, because, as you said, Nothing is made out of nothing ; but by means of the sun of the angelic heaven, which is from His Esse, and thence is pure love, together with wisdom. That the universe, by wh'ich are meant both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, was cre- ated from the Divine love by the Divine wisdom, all and every part of it witnesses and proves ; and if you consider the parts of the universe in their order and connection, from the light in which the perceptions of your understanding are, you may clearly see it. But it should be kept in mind that the love and wisdom which in God make one, are not love and wisdom in an abstract sense, but in Him as a sub- stance ; for God is the very, the only, and thence the first Substance and Essence, which is and subsists in itself. That all and every thing was created from the Divine love and the Divine wisdom is meant by these words in John : The Word was with God, and the Word 7vas God ; all things were made by Him ; and the world was rnade by Him (i. i, 3, id). God\h&x& signifies the Divine love, and the Word signifies the Divine truth, or the Divine wisdom ; wherefore the Word there is called light, and by light, when spoken of God, is meant the Divine wisdom." After this, when I was saying farewell, rays of light from the sun there de- scended through the angelic heavens into their eyes, and through them into the habitations of their mind; and when thus enlightened they favored the things that had been said by me, and afterwards followed me into ther hall, and my former companion to the house where I was, and from thence he reascended to his society. 77. Second Relation. One morning, when I had awaked from sleep, and was meditating in the early and serene light before full wakefulness, I saw through the window as it were the lightning flashing, and presently I heard as it were the No. 77-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 1 25 thunder rolling. While I was wondering whence this was I heard from heaven that there were then some not far from me who were reasoning sharply concerning God and Nature, and that the flashing of the light as of lightning and the rolling of the air as of thunder were correspon- dences and thence appearances of the contest and collision of arguments, on one side in favor of God, and on .the other in favor of 7iature. The beginning of this spiritual contest was this : There were some satans in hell who said amongst themselves, " O that we might be allowed to speak with the angels of heaven, and we would completely and fully demonstrate that nature is that which they call God, from whom are all things ; thus, that God is only a word, unless nature be meant." And because those satans be- lieved this with the whole heart and the whole soul, and desired to speak with the angels of heaven, it was given them to ascend out of the mire and the darkness of hell, and to speak with two angels then descending from heaven. They were in the world of spirits, which is mediate between heaven and hell. The satans, when they saw the angels there, ran quickly to them, and cried with a furious voice, " Are you the angels of heaven with whom we are allowed to engage in reasoning concerning God and concerning nature? You are called wise, because you acknowledge God ; but oh, how simple you are ! Who has ever seen God ? or who understands what God is ? Who conceives that God rules, and that He can rule the universe, and all and every part of it ? Who but the multitude and the rab- ble acknowledges what is not seen and understood ? What is more 'manifest than that nature is all in all ? Who has seen with the eye any thing but nature ? Who has heard with the ear any thing but nature ? Who has smelt with the nose any thing but nature ? Who has tasted with the tongue any thing but nature } Who, by any touch of the hand and of the body, has felt any thing but nature ? Are not the senses of our body the witnesses of truths ? Who 126 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. cannot swear from them that it is so ? Is not respiration, by which our body lives, also a witness ? What else do we breathe but nature ? Are not our heads and yours in nat- ure ? Whence is there influx into the thoughts of the head but from nature ? If it be taken away can you think any thing ? " Beside many other things of a similar kind. The angels, on hearing these things, replied, " You speak thus, because you are merely sensual. All in hell have the ideas of their thoughts immersed in the senses of the body, nor are they able to elevate their minds above them ; wherefore we forgive you. A life of evil, and thence a faith of falsity, has so closed up the interiors of your minds that with you elevation above sensual things is not possible, except in a state removed from the evils of life and the falsities of faith ; for a satan can understand the truth when he hears it, equally with an angel, but he does not retain it, because evil obliterates the truth and induces falsity. But we per- ceive that you are now in a state thus removed, and so you can understand the truth which we speak ; wherefore attend to the things which we shall say." Then they said, " You were in the natural world, and you died there, and now you are in the spiritual world ; did you ever till now know any thing concerning a life after death ? Did you not before deny it and make yourselves on a level with the beasts ? Did you know any thing before concerning heaven and hell ? or any thing concerning the light and heat of this world ? or concerning this, that you are no longer within nature, but above it ? For this world and all the things of it are spiritual ; and spiritual things are above natural things, so that not even the least thing of nature, in which you were, can flow into this world. But you, because you believed nature to be a god or a goddess, also believe the light and heat of this world to be the light and heat of the natural world, when yet it is not so at all ; for natural light here is darkness and natural heat here is cold. Did you know any thing concerning the sun of this world, from which No. 77-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 12/ our light and our heat proceed ? Did you know that this sun is pure love and that the sun of the natural world is pure fire ? and that the sun of the world, which is pure fire, is that from which nature existed and subsists ? and that the sun of heaven, which is pure love, is that from which life itself, which is love together with wisdom, exists and subsists ? and thus that nature, which you make a god or a goddess, is entirely dead .-' You can, if a guard be given you, ascend with us into heaven ; and we can, if a guard be given, descend with you into hell ; and you will see in heaven magnificent and splendid things, but in hell vile and filthy things; there are those differences because all in heaven worship God, and all in hell worship nature ; and those magnificent and splendid things in the heavens are correspondences of the affections of the love of good and truth ; but those vile and filthy things in the hells are cor- respondences of the affections of the love of evil and falsity. From all these things now conclude whether God or whether nature be all in all." To this the satans replied, " In the state in which we are now, we are able to conclude from what we have heard that there is a God ; but when the en- joyment of evil fills our minds we see nothing but nature." The two angels and the satans were standing not far from me, wherefore I saw and heard them ; and, behold, I saw around them many who had been celebrated for erudition in the natural world ; and I wondered that those scholars now stood near the angels, and now near the satans, and that they favored those near whom they were standing. And it was said to me, "The changes of their situation were changes of the state of their mind, which sometimes favored one side and sometimes the other ; for they are as to faith like Vertumni* And we will tell you a secret : we looked down upon the earth at those who were cele- * Vertummis was a god among the Romans, who changed himself into all kinds of forms, like Proteus among the Greeks. The mean- ing of vertumni, the plural, may be inferred. 128 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. brated for erudition, and we found six hundred out of a thou- sand for nature and the rest for God ; and these were for God, because they had frequently said, not from the under- standing but from what they had heard, that nature is from God ; for the practice of speaking from memory and recol- lection, although not at the same time from thought and intelligence, produces a species of faith." After this a guard was given to the satans, and they ascended with the two angels into heaven, and they saw magnificent and splendid things ; and then, in enlightenment from the light of heaven, they there acknowledged that there is a God, and that nature was created to be subservient to the life which is from God, and that nature in itself is dead ; and that thus it does nothing from itself, but is acted upon by life. Having seen and perceived these things they de- scended ; and while they were descending the love of evil returned, and closed their understanding above and opened it below j and then there appeared above it as it were a screen, sparkling from infernal fire ; and as soon as they touched the ea>th with their feet the ground under them opened, and they sunk down again to their companions. 78. Third Relation. The next day an angel came to me from another society of heaven, and said, "We have heard in our society that, in consequence of meditating on the cre- ation of the universe, you were invited into a society near ours, and that there you said. such things about the creation as they favored then, and have since recollected with pleas- . ure. I will now show you how animals and vegetables of every kind were produced by God." And he led me along into a large green field, and said, " Look around." And I looked around, and saw birds of the most beautiful colors, some flying, some perching upon the trees, and some upon the ground, plucking little leaves from the roses ; among the birds were also doves and swans. After these things vanished from my sight I saw, not far from me, flocks of sheep with lambs, and of kids and she-goats ; and round No. 78.] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 1 29 about the flocks I saw herds of cows and calves, and also of camels and mules ; and in a certain grove stags with high horns; and also unicorns. After these things were seen he said, " Turn your face toward the east." And I saw a garden, in which were fruit-trees, as orange-trees, citrons, olives, vines, fig-trees, pomegranates, and also shrubs which bore berries. Afterwards he said, " Look now toward the south." And I saw fields of grain of various kinds — wheat, oats, barley, also beans ; and round about them beds of roses, exhibiting colors beautifully variegated ; but toward the north, groves full of chestnut-trees, palm-trees, linden- trees, plane-trees, and others, all in the richest foliage. When I had seen these he said, " All those things which you have seen are correspondences of the affections of the love in the angels who are near by." And they told me to what affections they severally corresponded ; and they added, " Not only those things, but also all the other things which are presented to our eyes as objects of sight, are cor- respondences ; such as houses and the furniture in them, tables, and meats, and clothes, and also coins of gold and silver, as also diamonds and other precious stones with which wives and virgins in the heavens are adorned. From all these things we perceive what each one is as to love and wisdom. The things which are in our houses and serve for uses constantly remain there ; but to the eyes of those who wander from one society to another, such things are changed according to consociation. These things have been shown you in order that in a particular as a type you might see the whole creation ; for God is Love itself and Wisdom itself ; and the affections of His love are infinite, and the perceptions of His wisdom are infinite ; and each thing and all things that appear upon the earth are cor- respondences of these ; thence are birds and beasts, thence trees and shrubs, thence corn and other grain, thence herbs and grasses ; for God is not extended, but still He is in the extense everywhere ; thus in the universe from its firsts to its 6* I30 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. lasts ; and because He is omnipresent, such correspondences of the affections of His love and wisdom are in the whole natural world ; but in our world, which is called the spirit- ual world, there are similar correspondences with those who receive affections and perceptions from God ; the difference is that such things in our world are created by God instan- taneously, according to the affections of the angels ; but in your world they were created in like manner at the begin- ning, but it was provided that they should be perpetually renewed by generations of one from another, and that crea- tion should be so continued. The reason why creation in our world is instantaneous, and in yours continued by gen- erations, is, that the atmospheres and earths of our world are spiritual, and the atmospheres and earths of your world are natural ; and natural things were created that they might clothe spiritual things, as the skin clothes the bodies of men and animals, as the rind and bark clothe the trunks and branches of trees, as the dura mater, the arachnoid, and the pia mater clothe the brain, as the nerves are clothed by their coats, and as delicate membranes clothe the nerve- fibres, &c. Thence it is that all things in your world are constant, and constantly return with the years." To this the angel added, " Relate these things which you have seen and heard to the inhabitants of your world, because hitherto they have been in entire ignorance concerning the spiritual world ; and without some knowledge of it no one can know or even guess that creation is continual in our world, and that in yours it was similar to this while the universe was created by God." After this we talked upon various subjects, and at last concerning hell ; as, that no such things as are in heaven appear there, but only the opposites ; since the affections of their love, which are the lusts of evil, are opposite to the affections of the love in which the angels of heaven are. Wherefore, with those in hell, and generally in their deserts, there appear birds of night, as bats, and owls of various No. 79-] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. I3I kinds, and also wolves, leopards, tigers, rats, and mice ; beside these, venomous serpents of every kind, dragons and crocodiles ; and where there is any spot of grass, there grow briers, nettles, thorns, and thistles, and some poisonous plants, which at times vanish ; and then there appear only heaps of stones, and bogs in which ftogs croak. All these things are also correspondences ; but, as was said, corre- spondences of the affections of their love, which are the lusts of evil. Yet such things are not created there by God, nor were they created by Him in the natural world where similar things exist ; for all things that God created and creates were and are good ; but such things upon the earth arose together with hell, which existed from men who, by aversion from God, after death became devils and satans. But because these direful things began to hurt our ears, we turned our thoughts away from them, and recollected the things which we saw in the heavens. 79. Fourth Relation. Once, when I was engaged in thinking of the creation of the universe, there came to me some from the Christian world, who in their time were philosophers among the most celebrated, and reputed wise above the rest ; and they said, " We perceive that you are thinking of the creation ; tell us what your mind is about it." But I replied, " Tell first what is yours." And one said, " My mind is, that creation is from nature, and thus that nature created itself, and that it was from eternity; for there is not and cannot be a vacuum. But what do we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, smell with our nostrils, and receive into our breast by respiration, except nature, which because it is without us is also within us ? " Another hearing these words said, "You talk of nature, and make it the creator of the universe ; but you do not know how nature has operated in producing the universe ; wherefore I will tell you. It folded itself into vortexes, which dashed against each other like clouds, or like houses when they fall together in an earthquake ; and by means of 132 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. that collision the denser parts collected themselves together, whence was formed the earth ; and the more fluid parts sep- arated themselves from these, and also gathered themselves together, whence were formed seas ; and the lighter parts separated themselves from these also, whence were formed the air and ether ; and from the lightest of these, the sun. Have you not seen that when oil, water, and dust of the earth are mixed together, they separate of their own ac- cord, and arrange themselves in order, one above another?" Then another hearing this said, " You speak from fancy. Who does not know that the first origin of all things was chaos, which in magnitude had filled a fourth part of the universe ; and that in the midst of it was fire ; and round about it, ether ; and around this, matter ; and that that chaos was cleft, and through the fissures burst out fire as from ^tna and Vesuvius, whence originated the sun ; and that after this the ether issued forth and diffused itself, whence originated the atmosphere ; and at last the residue of matter collected itself into a globe, whence originated the earth ? As to the stars they are only luminaries in the expanse of the universe, which sprung from the sun and its fire and light ; for the sun at first was as it were an ocean of fire, which, lest it should burn the earth, separated from itself little shining flames, which being located in the cir- cumference completed the universe ; thence originated its firmament." But there stood one among them who said, " You are mistaken ; you appear to yourselves to be wise, and .1 appear to you simple; but still, in my simplicity, I have believed and do believe that the universe was cre- ated by God ; and because nature is of the universe, that all nature was then created at the same time. If nature created itself, would it not have been from eternity ? But oh, what folly ! " And then one of those so called wise men ran up nearer and nearer to him who was speaking, and put his left ear near his mouth, for his right ear was stopped up as it were with cotton, and asked what he said ; and he re- No. 79] CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 1 33 peated the same ; and then he who ran up looked around to see whether any priest were present ; and he saw one at the side of him who was speaking ; and then he repHed, saying, "I also confess that ail nature is from God, but " — . And then he went away, and whispering to his companions he said, " I said so because the priest was present ; but you and I know that nature is from nature ; and because thus nature is God I said that all nature is from God. But " — • Then the priest, hearing their whispering, said, " Your wis- dom which is merely philosophical has seduced you, and has so closed the interiors of your minds that no light from God and from His heaven could flow in and enlighten you ; you have extinguished it. Consider," said he, " and decide among yourseh^es, whence are your souls, which are im- mortal ; were they from nature, or were they at the same time in that great chaos ? " On hearing this, the former speaker went away to his companions, requesting that they together with him would solve this knotty question ; and they concluded that the human soul is nothing but ether, and that thought is nothing but a modification of ether by means of the sun's light ; and ether is of nature. And they said, " Who does not know that we speak by means of the air, and that thought is nothing but speech in a purer air, which is called ether ? Thence it is that thought and speech make one. Who cannot perceive this from man while he is an infant .'' He first learns to speak, and by degrees to speak with himself, and this is to think. What then is thought but a modification of ether ? and what else is the sound of speech but a modulation of that ? Whence we conclude that the soul which thinks is of nature." But some of them, not indeed dissenting from the rest, but to illustrate the state of the question, said : " Souls sprung into existence when the ether gathered itself together from that great chaos, and then in the highest region divided itself into innumerable individual forms, which infuse them- selves into men while they begin to think from the purer 134 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I air; and these are then called souIsP Hearing this another said, " I grant that the individual forms, formed by the ether in the higher region, were innumerable; but still the men born since the creation of the world have exceeded their number ; how then could those ethereal forms suffice ? Wherefore I have thought with myself that the souls which go out of the mouth of men when they die return to the same after some thousands of years, and they begin and end a life similar to the former ; that many of the wise men believe in similar things and a metempsychosis, is well known." Besides these, other conjectures were broached by the rest, which, because they were mere insanities, I pass by. After an hour or so the priest returned ; and then he who before spoke of the creation of the universe by God told him their decisions concerning the soul ; on hearing which the priest said to them, " You have spoken just as you thought in the world, not knowing that you are not in that world, but in another, which is called the spirit- tial world; all those who have become corporeal-sensual, by confirmations in favor of nature, know no otherwise than that they are in the same world in which they were born and educated. The reason is, because there they were in a material body, while here they are in a substantial body ; and a substantial man sees himself and his companions around him, just as a material man sees himself and his compan- ions around him ; for the substantial is the primitive of the material ; and because you think, see, smell, taste, and speak in like manner as in the natural world, therefore you sup- pose that the same nature is here, when yet the nature of this world is as different and distinct from the nature of that world as the substantial is from the material, or the spiritual from the natural, or the prior from the posterior ; and because the nature of the world in which you before lived is relatively dead, therefore you, by confirmations in favor of it, are become as it were dead ; and this in respect to the things which are of God, heaven, and the church, No. 79.J CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 135 and also in respect to that which concerns your souls. But still every man, the bad as well as the good, may as to the understanding be elevated even into the light in which the angels of heaven are, and then see that there is a God, and that there is a life after death, and that the soul of man is not ethereal, and thus from the nature of the natural world, but spiritual, and therefore that it will live to eternity. The understanding can be in that angelic light, provided natu- ral loves be removed, which are from the world and for the world and its nature, and from the body and for it and what is proper to it." And then in an instant those loves were removed by the Lord ; and it was given them to speak with the angels, and from their conversation, while in that state, they perceived that there is a God, and that after death they live in another world ; wherefore they were cov- ered with shame, and exclaimed, " We have been mad, we have been mad ! " But because this was not their proper state, and therefore after some minutes became tedious and irksome, they turned themselves away from the priest, and would not hear his speech any longer ; and so they returned into their former loves, which were merely natural, worldly, and corporeal ; and they went away to the left from society to society, and at length came to a way where the enjoy- ments of those loves blew upon them, and they said, "Let us go this way;" and they went, and descended, and at length they came to those who were in the enjoyments of similar loves, and so went on. And because their enjoyment was the enjoyment of doing evil, and in the way they also did evil to many, they were imprisoned, and became demons : and then their enjoyment was changed into what is unde- lightful, because by punishments and the fear of punish- ments they were restrained and held in check from their former enjoyment, which made their nature ; and they asked those who were in the same prison whether they were to live so to eternity. Some there replied, "We have been here several ages, and we are to remain for ages of ages ; 136 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. since the nature which we contracted in the world cannot be changed, nor expelled by punishments ; and whenever it is expelled by them, still, after a short lapse of time, it returns." 80. Fifth Relation. Once a satan by permission as- cended out of hell, a woman with him, and they came to the house where I was. On seeing them I shut the window, but yet through it I talked with them, and asked the satan whence he came. He said that he came from the company of his associates. And I asked, "Whence came the woman?" He said, " From the same." She was from a company of sirens, who know how to induce upon themselves by means of fantasies all the habits and forms of beauty and adorn- ment : at one time they figure the beauty of Venus ; at another, gracefulness of person, as it were of a nymph of Parnassus ; at another they adorn themselves, as it were, with the crowns and robes of a queen, and walk magnifi- cently, resting upon a silver wand. Such in the world of spirits are harlots, and they study fantasies. Fantasy is produced by sensual thought, while ideas from any interior thought are shut out. I asked the satan whether she was his wife. He replied, " What is a wife ? I do not know what a wife is, nor does my society. She is my harlot." And then she inspired the man with lascivious desire, which also sirens are skilled in doing ; and on receiving it he kissed her, and said, " Ah, my Adonis ! " But to proceed to serious things : I asked the satan what was his employ- ment ] and he said, " My employment is the pursuit of learning : do you not see the laurel upon my head ? " for his Adonis had formed this by her art, and standing behind she placed it upon his head. And I said, " Since you are come from a society where there are schools of learning, tell me what you believe and what your associates believe concerning God." He replied, " Our God is the universe, which also we call nature, and which the simple among us call the atmosphere, by which they mean the air ; but the wise No. So-l CONCERNING GOD THE CREATOR. 137 call it the atmosphere, meaning the ether also, God, heaven, angels, and the like, about which many tell various stories in this world, are empty words and fictions taken from meteors which play before the eyes of many here. Are not all the things which appear upon the earth created by the sun } Are not worms, with wings and without wings, produced at every coming of the sun, in the time of spring .-' And do not the birds, from its heat, mutually love each other and breed ? Does not the earth, warmed by its heat, from seeds bring forth plants, and at length fruits, as an offspring ? Is not thus the universe a God and nature a Goddess ; and does not she as the partner of the universe conceive, bring forth, educate, and nourish them } " I asked further, what he and his society believed concerning religion. He replied : " Religion, with those of us who are more learned than the multitude, is nothing but a charm for the common people, which is as it were an aura about the sensitive and imaginative powers of their mind, in which the ideas of piety fly like butterflies in the air ; and their faith, which connects those ideas as it were in a chain, is like a silk- worm in its silken envelope, from which it flies forth as the king of butterflies. For the common herd of the illiterate love images above the sensual things of the body and of the thought thence, on account of their strong desire to fly ; thus, also, they make for themselves wings, that they may raise themselves on high like eagles, and boastfully cry to those on the ground, ' Look at me.' But we believe what we see, and love what we touch." And then he touched his harlot, and said, " I believe in this, because I see and touch it ; but as for such ridiculous things, we cast them out through the windows from which we look, and drive them away with a blast of ridicule." Afterwards, I asked what he, together with his associates, believed concerning heaven and hell. He replied, with a loud laugh, "What is heaven but the ethereal firmament in its height ? and what are the angels there but spots wandering about the 138 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. I. sun ? and the archangels but comets with a long tail, on which dwell a troop of them ? And what is hell but bogs where are frogs and crocodiles, which in the imagination of those people are devils .-• Beyond these ideas concerning heaven and hell all others are trifles, introduced by some primate for the purpose of acquiring glory from an ignorant populace." But all these things he spoke just as he had thought concerning them in the world, not knowing that he was living after death, and having forgotten all that he heard when he first entered the world of spirits ; where- fore, also, to an inquiry concerning a life after death he replied, " It is an imaginary entity ; and perhaps some effluvium arising from a dead body in the tomb, in form as a man, or something which is called a spectre, about which some people tell fabulous stories, introduced some such thing into the imaginations of men." On hearing these words I could no longer restrain my laughter from breaking out, and I said, " Satan, you are raving mad. Why, now, are you not in form a man ? Do you not speak, see, hear, and walk ? Recollect that you once lived in an- other world, which you have forgotten, and that now you are living after death, and that you have been talking just as you did before." And recollection was given to him, and he remembered, and then he was ashamed, and cried, " I am mad : I saw heaven above, and heard angels there speaking ineffable things ; but this was when I had recently arrived here ; but now I will retain this, in order to relate it to my companions from whom I came, and perhaps they likewise will then be ashamed." And he kept it on his tongue, that he would call them mad ; but, as he de- scended, forgetfulness expelled recollection, and when he was there, he was as mad as ever, and called those things which he heard from me nonsense. Such is the state of thought and speech of satans after death. They are called satans who have confirmed themselves in falsities, even to belief, and they are called devils who have confirmed evils in themselves by the life. CHAPTER SECOND. CONCERNING THE LORD THE REDEEMER- 8 1. In the former chapter we have treated of God the Creator, and at the same time of Creation ; but in this chapter we are to treat of the Lord the Redeemer, and at the same time also of Redemption ; and in the following chapter, of the Holy Spirit, and at the same time of the Divine Operation. By the Lord the Redeemer we mean Jehovah in the Human ; for that Jehovah Himself de- scended and assumed the Human for the purpose of accomplishing redemption will be demonstrated in what follows. The reason why it is said the Lord, and not yehovah, is because yehovah in the Old Testament is called the Lord in the New, as is evident from these pas- sages : It is said in Moses, Hear, O Lsrael, Jehovah our* God is one yehovah ; and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deut. vi. 4, 5) ; but in Mark, The Lord our * God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul (xii. 29, 30) ; also in Isaiah, Prepare ye the way ^Jeho- vah ; 7nake smooth in the desert a highway for our God (xl. 3) ; but in Luke, Thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to pre- pare His ways (i. 76) ; besides other passages. And also the Lord commanded His disciples to call Him Lord, and therefore He was so called by the apostles in their Epistles, and afterwards by the apostolic church, as appears from its creed, which is called the " Apostles' Creed." The reason was, because the Jews durst not use the name yehovah, on account of its sanctity ; and also by yehovah is meant the * The Latin here reads vester, your. 140 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. Divine Esse, which was from eternity, and the human which He assumed in time was not that Esse. What the Divine Esse or Jehovah is, was shown in the foregoing chapter (n. i8 to 26, and n. 27 to 35). For this reason, here and in what follows, by the Lord we mean Jehovah in His Hiwian. Now, because cognition of the Lord sur- passes in excellence all the cognitions which are in the church, yes, those which are in heaven, the arrangement shall be so ordered that that cognition may come into the light, which therefore will be this : I. Jehovah, the Creator of the universe, descended and assumed the Ifuf/tan, that He might redeem and save men. II. He descended as the Divine Truth, which is the Word, and yet He did ?iot separate the Divine Good. III. He assumed the Huma?i according to His Divine order. IV. The Huinan by which He sent Himself into the world, is what is called the Son of God. V. The Lord, by acts of redemption, made Himself righteous- ness. VI. By the same acts. He united Himself to the Father, and the Father Himself to Him ; also according to Divine order. VII. Thus God became Man, and Man God, in otie person. VIII. The progression to union was the state of His exinanition \out-pouring or e77iptying\, and the union itself is the state of His glorification. IX. Hereafter no onefrotn among Christians comes into heaven, unless he believes in the Lord God the Saviour, and goes to Him alone. But these things shall be explained one by one. 82. I. Jehovah God, [the Creator of the Universe,] DESCENDED AND ASSUMED THE HUMAN, THAT He MIGHT REDEEM AND SAVE MeN. In the Christian churches at this day it is believed that God the Creator of the universe begat a Son from eternity, and that this Son descended and assumed the Human to redeem and save men ; but this is erroneous, and falls of itself while it is considered that God is one, and that it is more than fabulous in the eye of reason that the one God No. 82.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. I4I begat any Son from eternity, and also that God the Father, together with the Son and the Holy Ghost, each of whom singly is God, is one God. This fabulous representation is entirely dissipated, as a falling star to air, while it is de- monstrated from the Word that Jehovah God Himself descended and became Man and also Redeemer. As regards the first, that yehovah God Himself descended and became Man is evident from these passages : Behold a Vir- gin shall conceive and bear a Son, Who shall be called God WITH us (Isa. vii. 14; Matt. i. 22, 23). Unto us a Child is born ; unto us a Son is given ; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His naine shall be called Wonderful, {^Counsellor,'] God, Might v, Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace (Isa. ix. 6). // shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God, w^ have waited for Him to deliver jis ; this is Jeho- vah, tae have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation (xxv. 9). The voice of otie crying in the wilder- ness. Prepare ye the way of Jehovah ; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God ; aiid all flesh shall see it together (xl. 3, 5). Behold, the Lord Jehovih cometh in strength, and His arm shall rule for Him ; behold. His reward is with Him, and He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (xl. 10, i r). Jehovah said. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion ; for lo, I come to dwell iri the fnidst of thee ; then many nations shall cleave to Jehovah in that day (Zech. ii, 10, 11). I Jehovah have called thee in righteousness, and I will give thee for a covenant of the people ; I am Jehovah; this is my name, AND my glory I will NOT GIVE TO ANOTHER (Isa. xlii. 6, 8). Behold, the days are coming, when I will raise up u?ito David a righteous Branch, Who shall reign King, and do judgment and justice in the earth, and this is His name, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 ; xxxiii. 15, 16) ; beside many passages where the coming of the Lord is called the day of Jehovah, as Isaiah xiii. 6, 9, 13, 22 ; Ez. xxxi. 15; Joel i. 15; ii. i, 2, 11, 29, 31; iii. i, 14, 18; Amos v. 13, 18, 20; Zeph. i. 7-18; Zech. xiv. i, 4-21; and other 142 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. places. That Jehovah Himself descended and assumed the- Human is very evident in Luke, where are these words : Mary said to the angel, Hoiv shall this be, since I kfiow not a man ? To whom the angel replied. The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore the Holy Thing that is born of thee, shall be called the Son of God (i. 2,^, 2>S}' ^'^'^ i" Matthew: The angel said to Joseph, the bridegroom of Mary, in a dream. That which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit ; and Joseph knew her not, until she brought forth a Son, and called His name jfesus (i. 20, 25). That by the Holy Spirit is meant the Divine which proceeds from Jehovah will be seen in the third chapter of this work. Who does not know that tvie child has the soul and life from the father, and that thi.. body is from the soul ? What therefore is said more plainly, than that the Lord had His soul and life from Jehovah God ? and, because the Divine cannot be divided, that the Divine of the Father was itself His soul and life ? Wherefore the Lord so often called Jehovah God His Father, and Jehovah God called Him His Son. What then can be heard more ridiculous than that the soul of our Lord was from the mother Mary ? as both the Roman Catholics and the Re- formed at this day dream, not having as yet been awakened by the Word. '^T,. That any Son born from eternity descended and assumed the Human, utterly falls as erroneous, and is dis- sipated, from the passages in the Word in which Jehovah Himself says that He Himself is the Saviour and the Re- deemer, which are the following: .<4z« «- tion, by which the Lord made Himself righteousness ; for righteousness is doing all things according to Divine order ; and reducing to order those things which have fallen out of order ; for righteousness is Divine order itself. Those things are meant by these words of the Lord : // becometh us* to fulfil all RIGHTEOUSNESS (Matt. iii. 15); and by these in the Old Testament : Behold the days come, when I shall raise unto David a righteous branch, who shall reign King, and do righteousness in the earth, and this is His name, Jehovah our righteousness (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 ; xxxiii. 15. 16). / speak in righteousness, mighty to save (Isa. Ixiii. i). He shall sit upon the throne of David, to establish it in Judgment and righteousness (ix. 7). Zion shall be redeefned \with judgment, and they that return of hej-\ in righteousness (i. 27), 96. The men of our time, who bear rule in the church, describe the righteousness of the Lord quite differently; and also, by the inscription of it upon man, they make their faith saving ; when yet the truth is that the righteousness of the Lord, because it is such and thence, and in itself purely Divine, cannot be conjoined with any man, and thus cannot produce any salvation, any more than the Divine * The Latin here has " Mihi," Me. No. 96] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 57 Life, which is the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. The Lord enters with these into every man ; but, unless man lives according to order, that life is in him, indeed, but it contributes nothing at all to his salvation ; it only gives the faculty of understanding truth and of doing good. To live according to Divine order is to live according to the commandments of God ; and when a man so lives and does, then he procures for himself righteousness ; not the righteousness of the Lord's redemption, but the Lord Him- self as righteousness. These are they, who are meant by these words : Unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the king- dom of the heavens (Matt. v. 20). Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' SAKE,y6'r theirs is the kingdom of the heaveiis (v. 10), In the consummation of the age, the angels will go forth, and separate the wicked from the midst of the RIGHTEOUS (xiii. 49) ; besides other places. By the RIGHTEOUS, in the Word, are meant those who have lived according to Divine order, since Divine order is righteous- ness. Righteousness itself, which the Lord became by the acts of redemption, cannot be ascribed to man, inscribed upon him, adapted and conjoined to him, otherwise than light can be to the eye, sound to the ear, will to the muscles of one acting, thought to the lips of one speaking, air to the lungs of one breathing, heat to the blood, &c. ; that these flow in and adjoin themselves, and also conjoin themselves, every one perceives from himself. But righteousness is acquired so far as man exercises righteousness ; and he exercises righteousness as far as he act? with his neighbor from the love of what is just and true : in the good itself or in the use itself which he does, righteousness dwells ; for the Lord says, that every tree is known by its fruit. Who does not have cognition of another by his works, if he attends to them, with reference to the end and purpose of the will, and the cause and intention from which they are done ? AH angels attend to these things, and also all wise men in our 158 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. world. In general, every shrub and plant is cognized by its flower and seed, and by its use ; every metal, by its goodness; every stone, by its quality; every field, every kind of food, every animal of the earth, and every bird of the heaven, by their quality : why not man ? But concerning the quality of man's works, whence it is will be disclosed in the chapter concerning Faith. 97. VI. The Lord, by the same Acts, united Him- self TO the Father, and the Father Himself to Him [also according to Divine Order]. That the union was effected by the acts of redemptic n is because the Lord performed them from His Human ; and as He operated, so the Divine, which is meant by the Father, came nearer, assisted, and co-operated, and at length They so conjoined Themselves, that They were not two, but one ; and this union is glorification, of which in the following pages. 98. That the Father and the Son, that is, the Divine and the Human in the Lord, are united like soul and body, is indeed according to the faith of the church at this day, and also according to the Word ; but still scarcely five in a hun- dred or fifty in a thousand know this : this is because of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which most of the clergy, who seek the reputation of learning for the sake of honors and riches, have embraced with all zeal, until that doctrine has got complete possession of their minds at this day ; and because this has intoxicated their thoughts, like the vinous spirit called alcohol, therefore, like men intoxi- cated, they have not seen this most essential thing of the church, that Jehovah God descended and assumed the Human ; when yet, solely by this union, is given to man conjunction with God ; and by conjunction, salvation. That salvation depends on the cognition and acknowledgment of God, may be evident to every one who considers that God is the all in all of heaven, and thence the all in all of the No. 99-] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 59 church ; consequently, the all in all of theolog)'. But first it shall here be demonstrated that the union of the Father and the Son, or of the Divine and the Human in the Lord, is as the union of soul and body; and afterwards, that the union is reciprocal. That the union is like that of the soul and the body is established in the Athanasian creed, which is received in all the Christian world as doctrine concerning God. There we read these words : Our Lord yesus Christ is God and Man ; and although He be God and Man, still there are not two, but there is one Christ : He is one, because the Divine took the Hutnan to itself; yea, He is altogether one, and He is one person ; for as the soul and body is one man, so God and MaJi is one Christ. But here it is meant that there is such a union of a Son of God from eternity with the Son born in time ; but because God is one and not three, while by that union is meant union with the one God from eter- nity the doctrine agrees with the Word. In the Word these things are read, that Z^ was conceived of yehovah the Father (Luke i. 34, 35), whence His soul and life ; wherefore He says that He and the Father are one (John x. 30) ; that He who seeth and knoweth Him, seeth and knoweth the Father (xiv. 9); If ye had known Me, ye should have knotvn My Father cUso (viii. 19) ; He who receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me (xiii. 20) ; that He is in the bosom of the Father (i. 18) ; that All things whatsoever the Father hath are His (xvi. 15) ; that He is called the Father of eternity (Isa. ix. 6) ; that Thence He hath power over all flesh Qohn xvii. 2) ; and all power in heaven aiid in earth (Matt, xxviii. 18). From 'these and several other passages in the Word, it may be clearly seen that the union of the Father and Himself is like that of the soul and body ; wherefore also, in the Old Testament, He is often named yehovah, yehovah Zebaoth, and yehovah the Redeemer : see above (n. %'^. 99. That the union is reciprocal is very evident from these passages in the Word : Philip, bclicvest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me 1 Believe Me that l6o THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John xiv. lo, ii) ; That ye may know atid believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (x. 38) ; That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee (xvii. 21) ; Father, all Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine (xvii. 10). That the union is reciprocal, is because no union or conjunction between two is given, unless in turn they accede one to the other : all conjunction in the universal heaven, in the universal world, and in the whole of man, is from no other source than the reciprocal accession of one to another, while they both will one thing ; thence is effected something homogeneous, sym- pathetic, unanimous, and concordant in every part of each. Such is the reciprocal conjunction of soul and body with every man ; such is the conjunction of the spirit of man with the organs of sensation and motion in his body ; . such is the conjunction of the heart and lungs ; such is the conjunction of will and understanding; such is the conjunction of all the members and viscera in themselves and with one an- other in man ; such is the conjunction of minds, amongst all those who inwardly love each other, for it is inscribed on all love and friendship, for love wishes to love, and wishes to be loved. There is a reciprocal conjunction of all things in the world that are fully conjoined with each other ; similar is the conjunction of the heat of the sun with the heat of wood and of stone ; of the vital heat with the heat of all the fibres in animals ; similar is that of a tree with its root, — by the root with the tree, and by the tree with the fruit ; such is that of the magnet with iron, &c. Unless conjunction be effected reciprocally and mutually by the accession of one to another, only an external con- junction is effected, and not an internal one ; and this in time is mutually dissolved by them, and sometimes so that they no longer recognize each other. 100. Now, because there is no conjunction which is con- junction unless it be effected mutually and reciprocally, therefore the conjunction of the Lord and man is not dif- No. loi.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. l6l ferent, as is very manifest from these passages : He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me AND I IN HIM (John vi. 56). Abide in Me, and I in you : HE THAT ABIDETH IN Me, AND I IN HIM, brillgeth forth f/lUch fruit (xv. 4, 5). Whosoc7>er openeth the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Apoc. iii. 20) ; besides other places. This conjunction is effected by man's acceding to the Lord, and the Lord to him ; for it is a fixed and immutable law, that as far as man accedes to the Lord so far the Lord accedes to man : but more will be seen concerning this in the chapters concerning Charity and Faith. loi. VII. Thus God became Man, and Man God, in one Person. That Jehovah God became Man, and Man God, in one person, follows as a conclusion from all the preceding arti- cles of this chapter, particularly from these two ; that jfeho- vah, the Creator of the universe, descended and assumed the Human, that He tnight redeem and save 7nen ; of which above (n. 82, 83, 84) ; and that The Lord by the acts of redemption united Himself to the Father, and the Father united Himself to Him, thus reciprocally and mutually ; of which above (n. 97 to 100). From that reciprocal union it is very manifest that God became Man, and Man God, in one person. The same also follows as a consequence of the union of both, that it is like that of the soul and body : that this is accord- ing to the faith of the church at this day, from the creed of Athanasius, may be seen above (n. 98) ; also according to the faith of the evangelical Protestants, in their chief book of orthodoxy, which is called the " Formula Concordiae," where it is strongly confirmed, both from the Sacred Script- ure and from the fathers, and also by rational arguments, that the human nature of Christ is exalted to Divine maj- esty, omnipotence, and omnipresence ; and also that, in Christ, Man is God, and God Man ; concerning this, see l62 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. that work (pp. 607, 765). Besides, in this chapter it has been proved that Jehovah God, as to His Human, in the Word is called jfclwvah^ jfehovah God, yehovah Zcbaoth \of hosts\ and also the God of Israel ; wherefore Paul says that In jfcsiis Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9) ; and John says, that jfesus Christ, the Son of God, is the true God and eternal life (i John v. 20). That by the Son of God is properly meant His Human may be seen above (n. 92, &c.). And, moreover, Jehovah God calls both Himself and Him Lord; for we read, The Lord said unto fny Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand (I's. ex. i) ; and in Isaiah, Unto us a Child is bom, unto us a Son is given, Whose 7iame is God, the Father of eternity (ix. 6). By Son, also, is meant the Lord as to the Human, in David ; / will declare the decree, jfehovah said, Thou art 7?iy Son ; to-day I have be- gotten Thee. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way (Ps. ii. 7, 12). Here is not meant a Son from eter- nity, but the Son born in the world ; for it is prophetical of the Lord, Who was to come ; wherefore it is called the decree, which Jehovah declared to David ; and in that Psalm it is written before, I have anointed my King upon Zion (v. 6) ; and it follows, I will give to Him the nations for an inheritance (v. 8) ; wherefore to-day, there, is not from eternity, but in time, for with Jehovah the future is present. 102. It is believed that the Lord as to the Human not only was but also is the son of Mary ; but in this the Chris- tian world is under a delusion. That He was the son of Mary is true ; but that He is so still is not true ; for by the acts of redemption He put off the human from the mother, and put on a Human from the Father ; thence it is, that the Human of the Lord is Divine, and that, in Him, God is Man, and Man God. That He put off the human from the mother, and put on a Human from the Father, which is the Divine Human, may be seen from this, that He never called Mary His mother, as may be evident from these pas- sages : The ffiother of Jesus said to Him, They have 710 wi7ie. No. I03.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER, 163 j^e:us said to her, Woman, what is it to Me and thee ? My hour is not yet come (John ii. 3, 4). And in another place ; Jesus from the cross, seeing His mother, and the disciple stand- ing by, whom He loved, saith to His mother. Woman, behold thy Son I Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother (xix. 26, 27). And once He did not acknowledge her: // was told jfesus by some, saying, Thy tnother and Thy brethren stand 7vithout, desiring to see Thee, jfesus, aiiswering, said. My mother and My brethren arc those who hear the Word of God, and do it (Luke viii. 20, 21 ; Matt. xii. 46-50 ; Mark iii. 31-35). Thus the Lord did not call her mother, but woman, and gave her to John as a mother ; in other places she is called His mother, but not by His own mouth. This also is confirmed by this, that He did not acknowledge Him- self to be the son of David \ for it is read in the Evangelists, jfesus asked the Pharisees, saying, IVhat think ye of Christ 1 Whose son is He ? They say to Him, David's. He saith to them, How, then, doth David, in the spirit, call Him his Lord, saying. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Lf David then call Him Lord, how is He his Son ? And no matt was able to answer Him a word (Matt. xxii. 42-45 ; Mark xii. 35, 36, 37 ; Luke XX. 41-44 ; Ps. ex. i). To the above I will add this that is new : It was once given me to speak with Mary the mother. She at one time passed by, and appeared in heaven over my head, in white raiment as of silk ; and then, stopping a little while, she said that she was the mother of the Lord, as He was born of her ; but that, when He became God, He put off all the human which he had from her, and that therefore she adores Him as her God, and that she is unwilling that any one should acknowledge Him as her son, because in Him all is Divine. From these things this truth now shines forth, that thus Jehovah is Man, as in the firsts, also in the lasts, according to these words : L am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, He Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty (Apoc. 164 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. i. 8, 11). jfohn, when he saw the Son of Alan in the midst of the seven candlesticks , fell at His feet as dead ; but He laid His right hand upon him, saying, I am the First and the Last (Apoc. i. 13, 17 ; xxi. 6). Behold, I come quickly, that I may give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last (xxii. 12, 13). And in Isaiah, Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the First and the Last {y^w . 6; xlviii. 12). 103. To the above I will add this arcanum : The soul which is from the father is the man himself, and the body which is from the mother is not the man in itself, but is from him. The body is only a covering of the soul, composed of such things as are of the natural world ; but the soul is of such things as are in the spiritual world. Every man, after death, puts off the natural, which he had from the mother, and retains the spiritual, which he had from the father, together with a kind of border from the purest things of nature, around it ; but this border, with those who come into heaven, is below, and the spiritual above ; but the border with those who come into hell is above, and the spiritual below ; thence it is, that a man-angel speaks from heaven, thus what is good and true ; but that a man-devil speaks from hell while speaking from his heart, and, as it were, from heaven while speaking from his mouth ; this he does abroad, but that at home. Since the soul of man is the very man, and is spirit- ual from its origiri, it is manifest whence it is that the mind, the animus, the disposition, the inclination, and the affection of the father's love dwell in offspring after offspring, and return and make themselves plainly seen from generation to generation. Thence it is that many families, yea, nations, are recognized from their first father ; there is the common image in the face of each descendant, which shows itself ; and this image is not changed except by the spiritual things of the church. The reason that the common image of Jacob and Judah still remains in their posterity, and that by it they No 104.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 65 may be distinguished from others, is, that they have hitherto adhered firmly to their system of religion ; for in the seed, from which conception takes place, there is in every case a graft or offset of the father's soul, in its fulness, within a certain envelope of elements from nature ; by these its body is formed in the womb of the mother ; which may be made either to the likeness of the father, or to the likeness of the mother, the father's image still remaining within this, which continually endeavors to put itself forth ; wherefore, if it cannot do this in the first descendant, it effects it in descendants who follow. The reason why the image of the father is in its fulness in the seed, is because, as was said, the soul is spiritual from its origin, and what is spiritual has nothing in common with space ; wherefore it is like itself in little compass as in great. With respect to the Lord, He, while in the world, by the acts of redemption put off the human from the mother, and put on a Human from the Father, which is the Divine Human ; thence it is that in Him Man is God, and God Man. 104. Vin. The Progress to Union was the State OF His Exinanition [Out-pouring or Emptying], and THE Union itself is the State of His Glorification. That the Lord, while He was in the world, was in two states, which are called states of exinanition and glorifica- tion, is known in the church ; the former state, which was that of exinanition, is described in many passages in the Word, especially in the Psalms of David, and also in the prophets, and particularly in Isaiah (liii.), where it is said, that He poured out His soul unto death (v. 12). This same state was the state of His humiliation before the Father, for in it He prayed to the Father, and says that He does His will, and ascribes to the Father all that He has done or said. That He prayed to the Father is evident from these pas- sages : Matt. xxvi. 39, 44. Mark i. 35 ; vi. 46; xiv. 32-39. Luke V. 16; vi. 12 ; xxii. 41-44. John xvii. 9, 15, 20. That l66 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II He did the will of the Father, John iv. 34; v. 30. That He ascribed to the Father all that He did and said, John viii. 26-29 ; xii. 49, 50 ; xiv. 10. Yea, upon the cross He cried out, My God, My God, why dost Thou forsake Me ? (Matt, xxvii. 46; Mark xv. 34;) and, moreover, without this state He could not have been crucified. The state of glori- fication is also the state of union. He was in this state when He was transfigured before His three disciples, and when He did miracles, and whenever He said that the Father and He were one ; that the Father was in Him, and He in the Father ; that all things of the Father were His ; and when the union was full, that He had power over all Jlesh (John xvii. 2); and all power in heaven and in earth (Matt, xxviii. 18); besides many other things. 105. The reason that the Lord had those two states of exinanition and glorification was, that there is no other possible way of progressing to union, since it is according to the Divine order, which is unchangeable. The Divine order is, that man should dispose himself for the reception of God, and prepare himself as a receptacle and habita- tion into which God may enter and dwell as in His temple. Man must do this from himself, but still acknowledge that it is from God \ he must acknowledge this, because he does not feel the presence and operation of God, although God being most perfectly present 02Jerates in man all the good of love and all the truth of faith. According to this order every man proceeds and must proceed, that from being nat- ural he may become spiritual. In like manner the Lord, that He might make His Natural-Human Divine : thence it is that He prayed to the Father ; that He did His will ; and that all that He did and said. He attributed to Him ; and that upon the cross He said. My God, My God, why dost Thou forsake Mel for in this state God appears absent. But after this state comes another which is a state of con- junction with God : in this man acts in like manner, but now from God ; nor has he now need in like manner as No. io6.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 6/ before to ascribe to God all the good which he wills and does, and all the truth which he thinks and speaks, because this is inscribed upon his heart, and thence it is inwardly in all his actions and speech. In like manner the Lord united Himself to His Father, and the Father united Him- self to Him ; in a word, the Lord glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine, in the same manner in which He regenerates man, that is, makes him spiritual. That every man who from natural is becoming spiritual undergoes two states, and that through the first he passes into the other, and thus from the world to heaven, will be fully demonstrated in the chapters concerning Free-will, concerning Charity and Faith, and concerning Refor- mation and Regeneration ; here only, that in the first state, which is called the state of reformation, man is in full liberty of acting according to the rational of his under- standing; and that in the second, which is the state of regeneration, he is also in similar liberty, but that he then wills and acts, and thinks and speaks, from a new love and a new intelligence which are from the Lord ; for in the first state the understanding acts the first part, and the will the second ; in the other, the will acts the first, and the understanding the second ; but still, the under- standing acts from the will, and not the will through the understanding. The conjunction of good and truth, of charity and faith, and of the internal and the external man, is not effected otherwise. 1 06. Those two states are represented by various things in the universe. The reason is, because they are according to the Divine order, and Divine order fills all and every thing, even to each minutest particular in the universe. The first state is represented with every man by the state of his infancy and childhood, even to puberty, youth, and early manhood, which is the state of his humiliation before his parents, and then of obedience, and also of instruction from masters and ministers : but the other state is repre- 1 68 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. sented by the stale of the same person when he becomes his own master, and freely exercises his own will and understanding, in which state he has control in his own house. The first state is also represented by the state of a prince, the son of a king or of a duke, before he becomes a king or a duke ; in like manner, by the state of every citizen before he becomes a magistrate ; of every subject before he discharges the duties of any office ; of every student who is preparing for the ministry, before he be- comes a priest ; and of the priest before he becomes a pastor ; and then of the pastor before he becomes a primate ; also of every virgin before she becomes a wife ; and of every maid-servant before she becomes a mistress ; in general, of every clerk before he becomes a merchant ; of every soldier before he becomes an officer ; of every servant before he becomes a master. The first of these is a state of servitude ; the other is that of one's own will and the understanding therefrom. Those two states are represented also by various things in the animal kingdom ; the first, by beasts and birds as long as they are with their parents, which they then follow constantly, and they are nourished and led by them ; and the other state, when they leave them, and take care of themselves : in like manner by worms ; the first state, while they crawl and are nour- ished by leaves, the second, when they cast off their skins and become butterflies. Those two states are represented also in the subjects of the vegetable kingdom ; the first, when the plant springs up from the seed, and is adorned with branches, buds, and leaves ; the other, when it bears fruit, and produces new seeds ; this may be likened to the conjunction of good and truth, since all things which belong to a tree correspond to truths, and the fruit to good. But the man who stops in the first state, and does not enter the second, is like a tree which bears only leaves and not fruit, concerning which it is said in the Word that it is to be rooted up, and cast into the fire (Matt. vii. 19 ; No. 107] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 169 Luke iii. 9 ; xiii. 6-9 ; John xv. 5, 6). And he is like a slave that is not willing to be free, concerning whom it was commanded that He should be brought to the door, or to the door-post, and hi» ear should be bored through with an awl (Ex. xxi. 6). Servants are those who are not con- joined with the Lord, but the free are those who are con- joined with Him ; for the Lord says, If the Son maketh you free, ye are truly free (John viii. 36). 107. IX. Hereafter no one from among Chris- tians COMES into Heaven, unless he believes in the Lord God the Saviour, and goes to Him alone. It is read in Isaiah, Behold I create a new heaven and a new earth, and the former shall not be mentioned, nor come into mind ; and behold, I create jFerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy (Ixv. 17, 18). And in the Apocalypse : I saw a new heavefi and a new earth ; and I saw the holy yeru- salem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride for her husband ; atid He that sat upon the throtte said, Behold, J make all things new (xxi. i, 2, 5). And it is often said, that No others will enter into heaven, than those who are written in the Lamb's book of life (Apoc. xiii. 8 ; xvii. 8 ; xx. 12, 15 ; xxi. 27). By heaven is not there meant the heaven which is visible to our eyes, but the angelic heaven ; by jferusalem, not any city from heaven, but the church which will descend out of that heaven from the Lord ; and by the Lamb's book of life is not meant any book written in heaven which will be opened, but the Word which is from the Lord and concerning Him. That Jehovah God, who is called the Creator and Father, descended and assumed the Human, in order that He may be approached, and that there may be conjunction with Him, has been proved, confirmed, and established in the preceding articles of this chapter. For who that draws near to a man goes to his soul ? and who can do so ? But he goes to the man himself, whom he sees face I/O THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. to face, and with whom he speaks mouth to mouth. The case is similar with God the Father and the Son, for God the Father is in the Son, as the soul in its body. That there must be belief in the Lord God the Saviour is evi- dent from these passages in the Word : God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever BELiEVETH IN Hiu may tiot J>erish, but have eternal life (Johxi iii. 15, 16). He thai believeth in the Son is not Judged, biit he that believeth not is already judged because he hath not believed in the name of the Only begotten Son of God (iii. 18). He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God shall abide on him (iii. 36). The Bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst (vi. 33, 35). This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every otie that seeth the Son, and believeth in Him, may have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (vi. 40). They said to Jesus, What shall we do that we may work the works of God 1 jfesus ansivered. This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom He hath sent (vi. 28, 29). Verily I say unto you. He that believeth in Me hath eternal life (vi. 47). jfesus cried, saying. If any man thirst, let him come unto Ale and drink ; he that believeth in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living 7iiater (vii. 37, 38). If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins (viii. 24). Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life ; he that be- lieveth IN Me, although he die, shall live: but every one that liveth and believeth in Me, shall never die (xi. 25, 26). Jesus said, I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me may not abide in darkness (xii. 46 ; viii. 12). As long as ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be children of the light (xii. 36). Also that they should abide in the Lord, and the Lord in them (xiv. 20 ; xv. 1-5 ; xvii. 23) ; which is done by faith. Paul testified, both to the Jews and No. io8.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 17I to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts xx. 21). / a^n the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; no man cometh to the Father but by Me (John xiv. 6). That he who beUeves in the Son beheves in the Father (since, as above said, the Father is in Him, as the soul in the body) is evident from these passages : If ye had known Me, ye would also have known My Father (John viii. 19 ; xiv. 7). He that secth Me, seeth Him that sent Me (xii. 45). He that receiveth Me, receiveth Him that sent Me (xiii. 20). The reason is, because No one can see the Father and live (Ex. xxxiii. 20). Wherefore the Lord says. No man hath seen God at any time ; the Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath manifested Him (John i. 18). No man hath seen the Father, but He that is of God, He hath seen the Father ( vi, 46). Ye have neither heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seeti His shape (v. 37). But those who do not know any thing concerning the Lord, as most of those in the two divisions of the world Asia and Africa, and also in the Indies, if they believe in one God, and live according to the precepts of their religion, are saved by means of their faith and life ; for imputation is to those who know, and not to those who know not, as it is not to the blind when they stumble ; for the Lord says, If ye were blitid ye would not have si?i ; but now ye say that ye see, therefore your sin remaineth (John ix. 41). 108. To confirm this further, I will relate what I know, because I have seen, and therefore I can testify what fol- lows : That the Lord, at this day, is forming a new angelic heaven, and that it is forming from those who believe in the Lord God the Saviour, and go immediately to Him; and that others are rejected. Wherefore, if any one here- after comes from Christendom into the spiritual world, into which every man comes after death, and does not believe in the Lord and go to Him alone, and then is not able to receive this because he has lived wickedly or has con- 172 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL firmed himself in falsities, he is repelled at his first ap- proach towards heaven, and his face is averted from it, and turned towards the lower earth ; whither he also goes, and conjoins himself with those there who are meant in the Apocalypse by the dragon and the false prophet. Every man also in Christian countries who does not believe in the Lord is not hereafter heard with accept- ance ; his prayers are, in heaven, like ill-scented odors, and like eructations from ulcerated lungs ; and if it is thought that his prayer is like the perfume of incense, still it does not ascend towards the angelic heaven otherwise than as the smoke of a fire, which is driven back by a violent tempest into his eyes, or as the perfume from a censer under a monk's cloak. So is it henceforth with all piety which is determined to a divided trinity, and not to one conjoined. To show that the Divine trinity is conjoined in the Lord is the principal object of this work. Here I will add this news ; that some months since, the twelve apostles were called together by the Lord, and sent forth into all the spiritual world, as before they were into the natural world, with the command that they should preach this gospel ; and then every apostle had his province assigned him ; which command, also, they are executing with all zeal and industry. But concerning this subject we shall treat par- ticularly in the last chapter of this work, where we shall speak concerning The Consummation of the Age, con- cerning The Coming of the Lord, and concerning The New Church. 109. A Corollary. All the churches which had been before the coming of the Lord were representative churches, which could see Divine truths only as in the shade ; but after the coming of the Lord into the world, a church was instituted by Him which saw, or rather was able to see. Divine truths in the light. The difference is like that between evening and morning ; the state of the church before the coming of the Lord is also called roening No. 109.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1/3 in the Word, and the state of the church after His coming is called morning. The Lord before His coming into the world was indeed present with the men of the church, but mediately through angels who represented Him ; but since His coming He is present with the men of the church immediately ; for in the world He put on also the Natural Divine, in which He is present with men. The glorification of the Lord is the glorification of His Human which He assumed in the world, and the glorified Human of the Lord is the Natural Divine. That it is so is evident from this, that the Lord rose from the sepul- chre with His whole Body which He had in the world ; nor did He leave any thing in the sepulchre ; consequently, that He took thence with Him the natural Human itself, from the firsts to the lasts of it ; wherefore He said to the disciples after the resurrection, when they supposed that they saw a spirit, See My hands afid My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have (Luke xxiv. 37, 39). Whence it is manifest that His natural body by glorification was made Divine. Wherefore Paul says that In Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9 ; and John, that The Son of God, jfesiis Christ, is the true God, (i Epistle V. 20). Hence the angels know that the Lord alone, in the whole spiritual world, is fully man. It is known in the church that all the worship with the nation of Israel and Judah was merely external, and that it shadowed forth the internal worship which the Lord opened ; and thus that worship before the coming of the Lord consisted in types and figures, which represented true worship in its just effigy. The Lord Himself, indeed, was seen among the ancients ; for He said to the Jews, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw and was glad ; I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am (John viii, 56, 58). But because the Lord then was repre- sented only, which was done by means of angels, therefore 174 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. all the things of the church with them were made repre- sentative ; but after He came into the world those repre- sentations vanished ; the interior reason of which was, that the Lord in the world put on also the Natural Divine, and from this He enlightens not only the internal spiritual man but also the external natural; and unless the two are enlightened at the same time, the man is is it were in the shade ; but while both are enlightened at the same time, he is as it were in the day ; for while the internal man alone is enlightened, and not the external at the same time, or while the external only, and not at the same time the internal, he is like one that sleeps and dreams, and presently when he awakes, he remembers the dream, and from it he concludes various things which are nevertheless imaginary. And he is also like one walk- ing in sleep, who thinks that the objects which he sees are seen in daylight. The difference between the state of the church before the coming of the Lord and after His com- ing is like the difference between reading a writing in the night by the light of the moon and stars and reading it by the light of the sun ; that the eye in the former light, which is only pale, is liable to mistake, and in the latter, which is also flamelike, is not liable to mistake, is well known. Wherefore it ,is read concerning the Lord, The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He is as the light of the morning when the sun ariseth, a morning without clouds (2 Sam. xxiii. 3, 4). The God of Israel and the Rock of Israel is the Lord. And in another place. The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day 7ahen Jehovah shall bind up the breach of His people (Isaiah xxx. 26). These things are said concerning the state of the church after the coming of the Lord. In a word, the state of the church before the coming of the Lord may be compared to an old woman whose face has been painted, and who from the rouge appeared to herself No. no.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1/5 beautiful ; but the state of the church after the coming of the Lord may be compared to a virgin, beautiful from the native glow of her complexion. And also the state of the church before the coming of the Lord may be compared to the skin of any sort of fruit, as of an orange, an apple, a pear, or a grape, and to its flavor ; but the state of the church after His coming may be compared to the inner parts of those fruits, and to their flavor; besides with other similar things. The reason of this difference is, that the Lord, since He put on also the Natural Divine, enlightens the internal spiritual man and the external natural at the same time ; for while only the internal man is enlightened, and not at the same time the external, there is produced a shadow ; in like manner, while only the external, and not at the same time the internal. no. Here the following Relations will be presented. First, Once in the spiritual world I saw an ignis faiiius in the air, falling to the earth, and a lucid border around it ; it was a meteor, which the common people call a dragon. I observed the place where it fell ; but it disap- peared in the morning twilight, before sunrise, as an ignis fatuus always does. In the morning I went to the place where I saw it fall in the night, and behold the ground there was of a mixture of sulphur, iron-filings, and clay ; and then suddenly there appeared two tents, one directly over the place, and the other at the side towards the south : and I looked up, and saw a certain spirit falling down from heaven like lightning, and cast into the tent which stood directly over the place where the meteor fell ; and I was in the other, which was near it towards the south : in the door of this I stood, and saw the spirit in the other also stand- ing in the door of his tent ; and then I asked him why he thus fell down from heaven ; to which he replied that he was cast down, as an angel of the dragon, by the angels of Michael, "because," said he, "I said some things concern- ing my faith, in which I confirmed myself in the world \ 176 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. among which was this, that God the Father and God the Son are two, and not one ; for all in the heavens at this day believe that they are one, like soul and body ; and every word spoken against that is like a sting in their nostrils, and like an awl boring through their ears, whence they have disturbance and pain ; and, therefore, whoever contradicts their belief is commanded to go out, and if he hesitates he is cast down headlong." On hearing this I said to him, " Why did you not believe as they did ? " He answered, " After he has left the world, no one can believe any thing else than what he had by confirmation impressed upon himself ; this remains fixed in him, and cannot be torn away, especially that which any one has confirmed in him- self concerning God, since every one in the heavens has a place according to his idea of God." Then I asked, by what he had confirmed the idea that the Father and the Son were two. He said, " By these things in the Word : that the Son prayed to the Father, not only before the pas- sion of the cross, but also upon the cross ; as also that He humbled Himself before His Father ; how, then, can they be one, as soul and body are one in man ? Who prays as to another, and humbles himself as before another, while he himself is that other ? No one does so, much less the Son of God ; and, besides, the whole Christian church in my time divided the Godhead into persons ; and every per- son is one by himself, and is defined to be what subsists in itself.^' When I had heard these things from him, I re- plied, " I have perceived from what you say that you do not know at all how God the Father and the Son are one ; and because you know not how, you had confirmed your- self in the falsities in which the church still is concerning God. Do you not know that the Lord when He was in the world had a soul, as every other man has ? Whence had He this soul but from God the Father ? That it is so, is abundantly manifest from the Word of the Evangelists. What then is that which is called the Son but the Human, No. no.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 77 which was conceived from the Divine of the Father, and born of the virgin Mary ? A mother cannot conceive a soul ; this is totally repugnant to the order according to which every man is born ; nor can God the Father impart a soul from Himself, and then recede from it, as every father in the world can, since God is His own Divine essence, and this is one and indivisible ; and because it is- indivisible, it is Himself. Thence it is that the Lord says that The Father and He arc one; and that the Father is in H.m and He in the Father ; besides many similar things. The composers of the Athanasian creed also saw this in the distance ; wherefore, after they divided God into three per- sons, they say still that in Christ God and Man, that is, the Divine and the Human, are not two but one, like soul and body in man. That the Lord in the world prayed to the Father as to another, and that he humbled Himself before the Father as before another, was according to the order established from creation, which is immutable, ac- cording to which every one must proceed to conjunction with God. The order is, that as a man, by a life according to the laws of order which are the commandments of God, conjoins himself with God, so God conjoins Himself with the man, and from natural makes him spiritual. In like manner the Lord united Himself to His Father, and God the Father united Himself to Him. While He was an infant was not the Lord like an infant, and while a boy, like a boy ? Is it not read that He increased i/i wisdom atid favor ? and after- wards, that He asked the Father that He would glorify His Name, that is, His Human ? To glorify is to make Divine by union with Himself, Thence it is manifest that the Lord, in the state of His exinanition [out-pouring or emptying], which was the state of His progress to union, prayed to the Father. The same order is inscribed from creation on every man ; that is, as man by means of truths from the Word pre- pares his understanding, so he adapts it to the reception of faith from God ; and as by works of charity he prepares his s» 178 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. will, so he accommodates it to the reception of love from God ; for as an artist cuts a diamond, so he fits it to receive and emit the splendor of light, &c. To prepare oneself for the reception of God and for conjunction, is to live accord- ing to Divine order ; and the laws of order are all the com- mandments of God ; these the Lord fulfilled to every tittle, and thus made Himself a receptacle of the Godhead in all fulness. Wherefore Paul says that In jfesus Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily ; and the Lord Himself says that All things of the Father are His. It is further to be held that the Lord alone is active with every man, and that man of himself is merely passive ; but that by an influx of life from the Lord he is also active. From this perpetual influx from the Lord it appears to man as if he were active from himself ; and because it is so he also has free will, and this is given him that he may prepare himself for receiving the Lord, and thus for conjunction, which there cannot be, unless it be reciprocal ; and it becomes reciprocal while man acts from his freedom, and yet from faith attributes all activity to the Lord." After this I asked whether he like the others, his compan- ions, confessed that God is one. He replied that he did ; and then I said, " But I am afraid that the confession of your heart is that there is no God. Does not all the speech of the mouth proceed from the thought of the mind ? Where- fore it cannot be otherwise than that the confession of the mouth that God is one, should expel from the mind the thought that there are three; and conversely, that the thought of the mind should expel from the mouth the confession that He is one. What else results from this than that there is no God ? Is not all the intermediate region, which is from the thought to the mouth and from the mouth back to the thought, thus rendered an empty void ? And what else is then concluded by the mind concerning God, but that nat- ure is God ? and concerning the Lord, but that His soul was either from the mother or from Joseph ? from which No. III.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 179 two things, as horrid and abominable, all the angels of heaven turn themselves away." After these things were said, that spirit was sent away into the abyss, mentioned in the Apocalypse (ix. 2, and the following), where the angels of the dragon discuss the mysteries of their faith. The next day, when I looked towards the same place,. I saw instead of the tents two statues in the likeness of human beings, made of the dust of the earth, which was a mixture of sulphur, iron, and clay; and one statue seemed to have a sceptre in the left hand, a crown on the head, and a book in the right hand, and also a stomacher obliquely crossed by a sash and set with precious stones, and behind, a robe flowing to the other statue ; but these things were induced upon that statue by fantasy ; and then a voice was heard thence, from a certain dragonist : " This statue represents our faith as a queen ; and the other behind it, charity as her maid-servant." This was composed of a similar mixture of dust, and placed at the end of the robe that trailed behind the queen ; and she held in her hand a paper, upon which was written, " Beware lest you approach nearer and touch the robe." But then, on a sudden, a shower fell from heaven and penetrated both the statues, which, because they were composed of a mixture of sulphur, iron, and clay, began to bubble, as is the case with a mixture of those ingredients while water is poured upon it ; and being thus caused to burn by an inward fire, they were reduced to ashes, and became heaps, which afterwards stood upon the ground there like sepulchral mounds. III. Second Relation. In the natural world man has twofold speech, because his thought is twofold, external and internal; for a man can speak from internal thought and at the same time from external thought, and he can speak from external thought and not from the internal, yes, contrary to the internal ; thence come dissimulation, flat- tery, and hypocrisy. But in the spiritual world man has not twofold speech, but single ; he speaks there as he iSo THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. thinks ; or else the sound is grating and hurts the ear ; but still he can be silent, and so not divulge the thoughts of his mind. Wherefore a hypocrite, when he comes among the wise, either goes away, or gets himself into a corner of the room and avoids observation and sits in silence. Once there were many assembled in the world of spirits, and were conversing together upon this subject, saying that " Not to be able to speak except as one thinks is hard for those who have not thought justly concerning God and concern- ing the Lord, while they are in company with the good." In the middle of the assembly were the reformed and many of the clergy ; and next to them, the papists with the monks ; and both classes at first said, " This is not hard ; what ne- cessity is there for one to speak otherwise than he thinks ? and, if by chance he does not think justly, can he not close his lips and keep silence?" And one of the clergy said, " Who does not think justly concerning God and concern- ing the Lord ? " But some of the congregation said, " Let us try them." And they said to those who had confirmed themselves in a trinity of persons concerning God, that they from thought should say. One God; but they could not. They twisted and turned their lips in many folds, and could not articulate sound into other words than such as were consonant with the ideas of their thought, which were those of three persons, and thence of three Gods. Then it was said to those who confirmed faith separate from charity, that they should name Jesus ; but they could not, although they all could say Christ, and also God the Father. They wondered at this, and asked the reason, and found it to be this : that they had prayed to God the Father for the sake of the Son, and had not prayed to the Saviour Himself ; and jfesiis signifies Saviour. Moreover they were told, from their thought concerning the Human of the Lord, to say Divine Human ; but no one of the clergy who was there present could do it, but some of the laity could ; where- fore this was submitted to a serious discussion ; and then, No. III.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER l8l I. These passages in the EvangeHsts were read to them : The Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son (John iii, 35) ; The Father hath given to the Son power over all flesh (xvii. 2) ; All things are delivered to Me by the Father (Matt. xi. 27) ; All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth (xxviii. 18). And it was said to them, " From these things, keep it in thought that Christ is the God of heaven and earth, both as to His Divine and as to His Human, and so pronounce Divine Human;" but still they could not ; and they said, that from this they indeed had some thought about it from the understanding, but still no acknowledgment ; and that therefore they could not say it. H. Afterwards it was read to them from Luke (i. 32, 34, 35), that the Lord as to the Human was the Son of Jehovah God, and that He is there called the Son of the Highest, and in various other places the Son of God, and also the Only-begotten ; and they requested them to keep this in their thought, and also that the Only-begotten Son of God born in the world could not but be God as the Father is God, and then to say distinctly Divine Human. But they said, "We cannot, because our spiritual thought, which is the more internal, does not admit into the thought next to the speech any other than similar ideas;" also that from this they perceived that now it was not allowable for them to divide their thoughts, as in the natural world. HI. Then were read to them these words of the Lord to Philip : Philip said, Lord, show us the Father ; and the Lord said, He that sceth Afe seeth the Father; believest thou not that L am in the Father, and the Father in Me Qohn xiv. 8-1 1); and also other passages. That the Father and He are one (as John X. 30). And it was said to them that they should keep this in their thought, and so say. Divine Human ; but, because that thought was not rooted in the acknowl- edgment that the Lord was God even as to the Human, they twisted their lips into folds, even to indignation, and wished to force their mouth to speak out, but they could l82 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. not do it : the reason was, because the ideas of thought,, which flow from acknowledgment, make one with the words of the tongue with those who are in the spiritual world ; and where there are not those ideas words are not given, for ideas become words in speech. IV. Moreover there were .read to them, from the doctrine received in all the Christian world, these words, that The Divine and the Human in the Lord are not two, but one ; yea, one Person, united as the soul and the body in man. These words are from the Confession of Faith named from Athanasius, and recognized by councils. And it was said to them, " You can from this certainly have an idea from acknowledgment, that the Human of the Lord is Divine, because His soul is Divine ; for it is from the doctrine of your church, which you acknowledged in the world ; besides, the soul is the very essence of man, and the body is its form, and essence and form make one, as esse and existere, and as the cause producing an effect and the effect itself." They retained that idea, and wished from it to pronounce Divine Human ; but they could not ; for their interior idea concerning the Human of the Lord exterminated and expunged this new adscititious idea, as they called it. V. Then this passage from John was read to them : The Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh (i. i, 14); and also this : yesus Christ is the true God, and eternal Life (i Epistle of John, v. 20) ; and from Paul : Lti Jesus Christ dwellefh all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9); and it was said to them that they should think in like manner ; that is, that God, who was the Word, became Man, that He was the true God, and that all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily. And they did so, but only in external thought; wherefore they could not, on account of the re- sistance of the internal, pronounce Divine Human, saying openly that they could not have an idea of Divine Human, because God is God, and man is man ; and "God is a Spirit, and concerning spirit we have thought no otherwise than No. iii.J THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 183 as concerning wind or ether." VI. At length it was said to them, "You know that the Lord said, Abide in Me, and I in you ; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, beareth much fruit ; for without Me, ye can do nothing'''' (John xv. 4, 5) ; and be- cause some of the clergy of England were present, it was read to them, from one of their exhortations at the Holy Communion, '■'■ For when we spiritually eat the flesh of Christ and drink His blood, theti we dwell in Christ and Christ in us." " If now you think that this cannot be, unless the Human of the Lord is Divine, then say Divine Human from the acknowledgment in the thought ; " but still they could not, as the idea was so deeply impressed on them that the Divine could not be Human, and the Human could not be Divine, and that His Divine was frorn the Divine of the Son from eternity, and His Human like the human of another man. But it was said to them, " How can you think so ? Can a rational mind ever think that any Son was born of God from eternity ? " VII. Afterwards they turned themselves to the evangelical, saying, that the Augs- burg Confession and Luther taught that the Son of God and the Son of Man is one Person in Christ, and that He .even as to the human nature is omnipotent and omnipres- ent ; and that as to this He sits at the right hand of God the Father, and governs all things in the heavens and on earth, fills all things, is with us, dwells and operates in us ; and that there is no difference of adoration ; because, through the nature which is discerned, the Divinity which is not discerned is adored ; and that in Christ God is Man and Man God. On hearing these things they replied, " Is it so? " And they looked around and presently said, "We did not know this before ; wherefore we cannot say Divine Human." But one and another said, "We have read it and we have written it, but still, when we thought about it in ourselves, there were only words of which we had no interior idea." VIII. At last, turning about to the papists, they said, " Perhaps you can say Divine Human, because 184 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. you believe that in your eucharist Christ is entire in the bread and wine and in every part of them ; and also you adore Him, when you exhibit and carry about the Host, as the most holy God ; also because you call Mary Deipara, or the Mother of God ; consequently you acknowledge that she brought forth God, that is, the Divine Human." And they then wished to speak it, but because there arose then a material idea concerning the body and blood of Christ, and also the faith that His Human is separable from the Divine, and that it is actually divided with the pope, to whom only His human and not His Divine power was trans- ferred, they could not speak it. And then a monk arose and said that he could think of a Divine Human in respect to the most holy virgin Mary, and also in respect to a saint of his monastery. And another monk came forward, say- ing, " From the idea of my thought which I now entertain, I can say Divine Human in respect to the most holy Pope, rather than in respect to Christ." But then some of the papists pulled him back, and said, " Shame on you ! " After this, heaven appeared open, and there were seen tongues like little flames, descending and flowing in with some ; and then they celebrated the Divine Human of the Lord, saying, " Remove the idea of three Gods, and believe that in the Lord dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and that the Father and He are one, as soul and body are one, and that God is not wind and ether, but that He is Man, and then you will be conjoined with heaven, and you will be able from the Lord to speak the name Jes'js, and to say Divine Human." 112. Third Relation. Once, having awaked just after daybreak, I went out into the garden before the house, and saw the sun rising in his splendor, and round about him a halo, at first faint, and afterwards more distinct, shining as if from gold, and under its border a cloud ascending, which glittered like a carbuncle from the flame of the sun. And then I fell into meditation respecting No. 112.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 85 the fables of the ancients, that they feigned Aurora with wings of silver feathers, and in her face displaying the lustre of gold. When my mind was delighted in these things, I became in the spirit, and heard some talking among themselves, and saying, " Oh that we might be allowed to speak with the innovator who has thrown the apple of contention amongst the rulers of the church, which many of the laity have run after ; and, having picked it up, they have presented it to our eyes." By that apple they meant a little pamphlet, entitled, " A brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church." And they said, " It is indeed a schismatical thing, which no one ever before conceived." And I then heard one of them ex- claiming, " What ! schismatical.'' it is heretical." But some at his side replied, " Hush, hold your tongue ; it is not heretical ; he quotes a great many passages of the Word, to which our inexperienced ones, by whom we mean the laity, attend and assent." When I heard these things, because I was in the spirit, I went to them and said, " Here I am ; what is the matter ? " And presently one of them, who as I afterwards heard was a German, a native of Saxony, speaking in a tone of authority said, " Whence had you the audacity to invert the worship in the Christian world, established for so many ages, which was, that God the Father should be invoked as the Creator of the universe, and His Son as the Mediator, and the Holy Spirit as the Operator ? And you separate the first and last God from our personality, when yet the Lord Himself says, When ye pray, pray thus, Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come. Thus is it not commanded that we should invoke God the Father ? " These things being said, there was silence, and all who favored him stood like brave soldiers on ships of war when they see a hostile fleet, ready to cry. Now let us light ; the victory is sure. And then I began to speak, and said, " Which of you does not know that God descended from 1 86 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. heaven and became man ? for we read, The Word was with God, and the Word was God ; and the Word becat?ie Flesh : also, which of you does not know (and I looked at the evangelical, among whom was that dictator who had just addressed me) that in Christ, who was born of the vir- gin Mary, God is Man, and Man God ? " But at these words the assembly made a great noise ; wherefore I said, " Do you not know this .'' It is according to the doctrine of your confession, which is called the * Formula Concordiae,' where this is said and corroborated by many things." Then that dictator turned himself towards the assembly, and asked whether they knew this. And they replied, ** We have studied very little in that book concerning the Person of Christ, but we have sweat over the article there concerning Justification by faith alone. But still, if that is read there, we acquiesce." And then one of them, recollecting, said, " It is read ; and still further, that the human nature of Christ is exalted to Divine majesty and to all its attributes, and also that in it Christ sits at the right hand of the Father." Having heard these words they were silent ; and after this concurrence I spoke again saying, " Since it is so, what then is the Father but the Son, and what the Son but the Father also ? " But be- cause this again grated in their ears, I continued, saying, " Hear the very words of the Lord, and if you have not attended to them before, attend now; for He said, The Father and I are one ; the Father is in Me, and I in the Father ; Father, all Mine are Thine and all Thine are Mine ; he that seeth Me seeth the Father. What else do those words mean than that the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and that they are one as the soul and the body in man, and so that they are one person ? This also must be of your faith if you believe the Athanasian creed, where similar things are said. But take from the words adduced only this declaration of the Lord: Father, all Mine are Thine, and all Thine are Mine; what else is thisj No. 112.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 8/ than that the Divine of the Father belongs to the Human of the Son, and the Human of the Son to the Divine of the Father ? consequently that, in Christ, God is Man, and Man God ? and so that they are one, as soul and body are one. Every man also may say the same concerning his soul and his body, viz., ' All thine are mine, and all mine thine ; thou in me, and I in thee ; he who sees me, sees thee ; we are one as to person and as to life.' The reason is, because the soul is in the whole and in every part of man ; for the life of the soul is the life of the body, and there is a mutuality between them. Hence it is mani- fest that the Divine of the Father is the Soul of the Son, and that the Human of the Son is the Body of the Father. Whence is the soul of a son but from the father? and whence is his body, but from the mother } It is said, f^e Divine of the Father, and the Father Himself is meant, since He and His Divine are the same ; this also is one and indivisible. That it is so, is evident also from these Avords of the angel Gabriel to Mary : The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee, and the Holy Spirit come upon thee, and the Holy thi?ig that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God ; and just above He is called the Son of the High- est, and elsewhere, the Only begotten Son. But you who call him only the Son of Mary lose the idea of His Divin- it}'^; but none lose it but the learned of the clergy, and scholars among the laity, who, while they elevate their thoughts above the sensual things of the body, look at the glory of their own reputation, which not only overshadows but also extinguishes the light by which the glory of God enters. But let us return to the Lord's prayer, where it is said, Our Father Who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come. You who are here understand by these words the Father in His Divine alone; but I, Him in His Human, and this also is the Father's Name ; for the Lord said, Father, glorify Thy Name ; that is, Thy Human; and when this is done the kingdom of God l88 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. comes ; and this prayer was commanded for this time, plainly in order that God the Father may be approached through His Human. The Lord also said, No one cometh to the Father but by Me ; and in the prophet, Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and His name is God, Mighty, the Father of eternity ; and in another place, Thou, O yehovah, art our Father ; our Redeemer from everlast- ing is Thy Name ; beside a thousand other places, where the Lord our Saviour is called Jehovah. This is the true explanation of the words of that prayer." After these things were said, I looked at them, and observed the changes of their countenances, according to the changes of the state of their minds ; some favoring and looking at me, and some not favoring and turning themselves away from me ; and then on the right I saw a cloud of an opal color, and on the left a dusky cloud, and under each the appear- ance of a shower ; under the latter, as a fall of rain in the end of autumn, and under the former, as a fall of dew at the beginning of spring ; and then suddenly I came out of the spirit into the body, and thus returned from the spiritual world into the natural world. 113. Fourth Relation. I looked forth into the world of spirits, and saw an army on red and black horses. Those who sat upon them appeared like apes, with face and breast turned towards the loins and tails of the horses, and the hinder part of the head and the back turned towards the horses' necks and heads, and the bridles hang- ing about the necks of the riders ; and they were crying out against those who rode upon white horses, and shaking the bridles with both their hands, and thus were pulling the horses back from the fight, and this continually. Then two angels descended from heaven, and came to me, and said, " What do you see ? " And I replied, that I saw this ludicrous company of horsemen ; and I asked, " What is it, and who are they ? " And the angels answered, " They are from the place which is called Armageddon (Apoc. xvi. No. 113.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 89 16), into which are gathered several thousands to fight against those who are of the Lord's New Church, which is called the New Jerusalem. They were talking in that place about the church and religion ; and yet there was not any thing of the church in them, because not any spiritual truth ; nor any thing of religion, because not any spiritual good. They were talking there with the mouth and the lips about religion and the church, but for the sake of having domin- ion by means of them. They learned in their youth to confirm faith alone, and something about God ; but when they were promoted to higher offices in the church, for a while they retained those things ; but because they then began to think no more about God and heaven, but about themselves and the world, thus not about eternal blessed- ness and happiness, but about temporal eminence and opulence, they rejected the doctrinals acquired in their youth from the interiors of the rational mind, which com- municate with heaven and thence are in the light of heaven, to the exteriors of the rational mind, which com- municate with the world and thence are in the light [lume7{\ of the world ; and at length they thrust them down into the sensual-natural region ; whence the doctrinals of the church became with them things of the mouth only, and no longer of thought from reason, and still less of affection from love ; and because they have made themselves such, they do not admit any Divine truth which is of the church, nor any genuine good which is of religion ; the interiors of their mind have become comparatively like bottles filled with iron-filings mixed with powdered sulphur, into which if water is poured there is at first a heat and afterwards a flame, by which the bottles are burst ; in like manner when they hear any thing about living water, which is the genuine truth of the Word, and it enters their ears, they are violently heated and inflamed, and reject it as some- thing that would burst their heads. These are they who appeared to you like apes riding backwards upon red and 190 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. black horses, with the bridles about their necks ; since they who do not love the truth and good of the church from the Word do not wish to look at the front parts of a horse, but at his hinder parts ; for horse signifies the understand- ing of the Word ; a red horse, the understanding of the Word, destroyed as to good ; and a black horse, the under- standing of the Word destroyed as to truth. They cried for battle against those who were riding upon white horses, because a white horse signifies the understanding of the Word as to truth and good; they seemed to pull back their horses by their necks because they feared the battle, lest the truth of the Word should come to many, and so into the light. This is the interpretation." The angels further said, " We are from the society of heaven which is called Michael, and were commanded by the Lord to descend into the place called Armageddon, whence issued that company of horsemen, which you saw. By Annageddon, with us in heaven, is signified the state and disposition \animus'\ of fighting from falsified truths, arising from the love of command and supereminence ; and as w-e perceive in you a desire to know about that battle, we will relate something. After our descent from heaven we came to the place called Armageddon, and saw there several thousands assembled. We did not, indeed, enter into their assembly, but there were some houses on the southern side of that place, where were boys with their masters ; we went in there, and were courteously received. We were delighted with their company; they were all beautiful in face from the life in their eyes, and from the zeal in their discourse. The life in their eyes was from the perception of truth, and the zeal in their discourse from the affection of good ; wherefore, also, we gave them caps, the borders of which were adorned with bands of golden threads interwoven with pearls ; and we gave them also garments variegated with white and hyacinth. We asked them whether they ever looked into the place near No. II3-] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. I9I them called Armageddon. They said that they had looked through a window, which is in the roof of the house, and that they saw there an assembly, but under various figures ; sometimes as tall men, and sometimes not as men, but as statues and carved idols, and around them a multitude of people bending the knee. These also appeared to us under various forms ; some like men, some like leopards, and some like goats, and these with horns pointing downwards, with which they dug up the ground. We have interpreted those transformations, whom they represented, arwi what they signified. But to the point : They who were assem- bled, when they heard that we had entered into the houses, said among themselves, ' What business have they among those boys .-' Let us send some of our company to turn them out.' So they sent; and when they came, they said to us, * Why have you entered into these houses .'' Whence are you ? We, by authority, command you to depart.' But we replied, ' You cannot give that order by authority. You are, indeed, in your own eyes, like the Anakim, and tliose who are here are like dwarfs ; but still you have no power and jurisdiction here, except by means of cunning, which yet will not avail ; wherefore go and tell your com- panions that we were sent hither from heaven to see whether there is any religion with you or not ; if there is not, you will be cast out of this place. Wherefore, propose to them this, in which is the very essential of the church and of religion, — How they understand these words in the Lord's prayer. Our Father, who art in the heavens, HALLOWED BE THY NAME, THY KINGDOM COME.' When they had heard these words, at first they said, ' What is this ? ' and afterwards they said that they would propose it. And they went away, and told these things to their companions, who replied, ' What sort of a proposition is that ? ' But they understood the secret, and said, ' They wish to know whether those words confirm the way of our faith to God the Father.' Wherefore they said, ' The words are clear, 192 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. that we ought to pray to God the Father ; and because Christ is our Mediator, that we ought to pray to God the Father for the sake of the Son.' And then in indignation they determined that they would go to us, and make this declaration to our faces, saying also that they would pull our ears. So they went out of that place, and entered a grove near those houses in which the boys were with their masters, in the middle of which grove there was a plain, ele- vated like a place of exercise ; and they held each other by their hands, and entered into that place of exercise where we were, and we waited for them. There were there sods rising from the ground like hillocks : upon them they re- clined, for they said one to another, ' We will not stand in their presence, but will sit down.' And then one of them, who could make himself appear like an angel of light, and who had been appointed by the rest to speak with us, said, ' You have proposed to us to open our minds concerning the first words of the Lord's prayer, how we understand them. I say to you, therefore, that we understand them thus : that we must pray to God the Father ; and because Christ is our Mediator, and we are saved by His merit, that we must pray to God the Father from faith in His merit.' But we then said to them, ' We are from the society of heaven which is called Michael, and we were sent to visit and to inquire whether you who are assembled in this place have any religion or not ; for the idea of God enters into every thing of religion, and by it conjunction is effected, and by conjunction salvation. We in heaven read that prayer daily, as men do on earth ; and we do not then think of God the Father, because He is invisible ; but we think of Him in His Divine Human, because in this He is visible ; and in this He is called by you Christ, but by us the Lord ; and so to us the Lord is the Father in the heavens. The Lord also taught that He and the Father are one ; that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father ; and that he that seeth Him seeth the. NO. 113] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 93 Father; also, that no one cometh to the Father but by Him ; and, also, that it is the will of the Father that men should believe in the Son ; and that he that believeth not in the Son doth not see life ; yea, that the wrath of God abideth on him ; from which it is manifest that the Father is approached through Him and in Him ; and because it is so, He also taught that all power is given unto Him in heaven and in earth. It is said in that prayer, hallowed BE THY NAME, THY KINGDOM COME. We have demon- strated from the Word that His Divine Human is the Father's Name, and that the Father's kingdom then is when the Lord is approached immediately, and by no means when God the Father is approached immediately. Wherefore, also, the Lord commanded the disciples that they should preach the kingdom of God ; and this is the kingdom of God.' Having heard these words, the com- batants said, ' You recite many things from the Word, and perhaps we have read such things there, but we do not remember ; wherefore open the Word before . us, and read them from it, especially this, that the kingdom of the Father then comes when the kingdom of the Lord does.' And then they said to the boys, ' Bring hither the Word.' And they brought it ; and we read from it the following passages : jfohn^ preaching the gospel of the kingdom, said, The time is fulfilled ; the kitigdotn of God is at hand (Mark i. 14, 15 ; Matt. iii. 2). yesiis Himself preached the gospel of the kingdotn, and that the kingdom of God was at hand (Matt. iv. 17, 23 ; ix. 35). jfesus commanded the disci- ples that they should preach and show the glad tidings of the kingdom of God (Mark xvi. 1 5 ; Luke viii. i ; ix. 6) ; in like manner the seventy whom He sent forth (x, 9, 1 1 ; besides other places, as Matt. xi'. 5; xvi. 27, 28; Mark viii. 35 ; ix. i, 47 ; x. 29, 30 ; xi. 10 ; Luke i, 19 ; ii. 10, 11; iv. 43; vii. 22; xxi. 31; xxii. 18). The kingdom of God, of which the good tidings were made known, was the king- dom of the Lord, and so the Father's kingdom: that it is VOL. I. 9 194 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. SO is manifest from these passages : The Father hath given all things into the hand of the Son (John iii. 35). The Father hath given to the Son power over all fie sh (John xvii. 2). All things are delivered to Me of My Father (Matt. xi. 27). All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth (xxviii. 18). And moreover from these : jfehovah Zebaoth is His naf7ie; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called (Isa. liv. 5). / sazv, and, behold, one like the Son of Man, to Whom was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, and all peoples and nations shall worship Him ; His dominion is an everlasting domin- ion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Dan. vii. 13, 14). When the seventh angel sounded, there were great voices in the heavens, saying. The kingdoms of the world are becofne our Lord^s and His Christy's, and He shall reign for ever and ever (Apoc. xi. 15 ; xii. 10). And, besides, we instructed them from the Word that the Lord came into the world not only to redeem angels and men, but also that they might be united to God the Father by Him and in Him ; for He taught that He is in those who believe in Him, and that they are in Him (John vi. 56; xiv. 20; xv. 4, 5). Having heard these things, they asked, * How, then, can your Lord be called Father .? ' We said, ' From those passages which have been read, and also from these : Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, whose name is God, Mighty, the Father of eternity (Isa, ix. 6). Thou art our Father ; Abra- ham is ignorant of us, and Israel doth 7iot acknowledge us ; Thou, jfehovah, art our Father ; our Redeemer from everlast- ing is Thy name (Isa. Ixiii. 16). Did He not say to Philip, who wished to see the Father, Hast thou not known Me, Fhilip 1 He that secth Me, seeth the Father (John xiv. 9 ; xii. 45). Who else, then, is the Father, but He whom Philip saw with his eyes ? ' To which we added this : * It is said in the whole Christian world that they who are of the church make the Body of Christ, and are in His No. 114.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 1 95 Body: how, then, can a man of the church go to God the Father, except through Him in whose Body he is ? If otherwise, he must go entirely out of His Body, and go to Him.' At last we informed them, that the Lord is at this day establishing a New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, in which will be the worship of the Lord alone, as in heaven, and that thus every thing will be fulfilled which is contained in the Lord's prayer from beginning to end. We confirmed all from the Word in the Evangelists and in the Prophets, also from the Apocalypse in which that church is treated of from the beginning to the end, in so great abundance that they were tired of hearing. While hearing these things with indignation, the Arma- geddons wished at every turn to interrupt our discourse ; and at length they broke it, and exclaimed, " You have spoken contrary to the doctrine of our church, which is, that God the Father is to be approached immediately, and that we must believe in Him : you have thus made your- selves guilty of a violation of our faith ; wherefore, go out from this place ; and if not, you shall be cast out." And their minds being inflamed, from threats they proceeded to violence ; but then, by power given us, we struck them with blindness ; and not seeing us because of this, they rushed forth, and in their wandering they ran in different direc- tions, and some fell into the abyss which is mentioned in the Apoc. ix. 2, which is now in the southern quarter, towards the east, where those are who confirm justifica- tion by faith alone ; and those there who confirm it from the Word are sent forth into a desert, in which they are brought even to the extremity of the Christian world, and are mixed with pagans. CONCERNING -REDEMPTION. 114. That there are with the Lord two offices, the office of priest and the office of king, is known in the church ; but 196 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. few know in what the one and in what the other consists ; wherefore it shall be told. The Lord is called yesus from the office of priest ; and from the office of king He is called Christ : and from the office of priest He is also called in the Word jfehovah and Lord ; and from the office of king, God, and the Holy One of Israel, as also King. These two offices are distinguished from each other, as love and wis- dom, or, what is the same, as good and truth, are distin- guished from each other ; wherefore, whatever the Lord did and operated from Divine love or Divine good. He did and operated from His priestly office ; but whatever from Divine wisdom or Divine truth, from His kingly office. In the Word, also, priest and priesthood signify Divine good ; and king and royalty signify Divine truth : those two things were represented by priests and kings in the Israelitish church. As to what concerns redemption, that pertains to both offices ; but what part of it to the one, and what part of it to the other, will be shown in what follows. But, that every thing may be distinctly perceived, the exposition of it will be divided into canons or articles, as follows : I. Redemp- tion itself was a subjugation of the hells, and an establishment of order in the heavens, and thereby a preparation for a New Spiritual Church. II. Without that redemption no man could have been saved, nor could the angels have continued to exist in a state of integrity. III. The Lord thus redeemed not only men, but also angels. IV. Redemption was a work purely Divine, V. This redemption itself could not have been effected but by God iruarnate. VI. The passion of the cross was the last temptation which He as the greatest Prophet sustained, and was the means of the glorification of His Human, that is, of union with the Divine of His Father; but it was not redemp- tion. VII. The belief that the passion of the cross was re- demption itself, is a fundamental error of the church ; and that error together with the error concerning three Divine per- sons from eternity, has perverted the 7vhole church, so that not any thing spiritual is left in it. These things will now be unfolded one by one. No. Ii6.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. I97 115. I. Redemption itself was a Subjugation of THE Hells, and an Establishment of Order in the Heavens, and thereby a Preparation for a New Spiritual Church. That these three things are redemption, I can say with all certainty, since the Lord is also at this day performing a redemption, which He commenced in the year 1757, to- gether with the Last Judgment which was then performed. This redemption has continued from that time even to this : the reason is, because at this time is the Second Coming OF the Lord ; and a New Church is to be instituted, which cannot be instituted unless there be first a subjugation of the hells, and an establishment of order in the heavens ; and because it was granted me to see all, I can describe how the hells were subjugated, and how the new heaven was ordered and established ; but this would be the sub- ject of a whole work. But how the last judgment was per- formed I have made known in a small volume, published at London in the year 1758. That the'subjugation of the hells, the establishment of order in the heavens, and the establishment of a New Church, were redemption, is be- cause without these no man could have been saved : they follow, also, in order ; for first the hells are to be subjugated before a new angelic heaven can be formed ; and this is to be formed before a New Church upon earth can be insti- tuted ; for men in the world are so conjoined with angels of heaven and spirits of hell, that, in the interiors of the mind on both sides, they make one : but concerning this we shall speak in the last chapter of this work, where we shall treat specially of the Consummation of the Age, of THE Coming of the Lord, and of the New Church. 116, That the Lord, while He was in the world, fought against the hells, and conquered and subjugated them, and thus brought them under obedience to Him, is evident from many passages in the Word, of which I shall select these few : In Isaiah, Who is this that cometh from Edom, with 198 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. dyed garments from Bozrah, this that is glorious in His ap- parel, travelling in the greatness of His strength ? I thai speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments as of Him that tread- eth in the wine fat 7 I have trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people not a man with Me ; for I have trodden them in Mine anger, and trampled the?n in My fury ; thence their vic- tory is sprinkled upon My garments ; for the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come ; My arm brought salvation to Me ; I made their victory descend to the earth. He said, Behold My people, they are children ; so He became their Saviour ; for His love and for His pity He redeemed the?n (Ixiii. 1-9). These things are concerning the Lord's combat against the hells ; by the garment in which He was glorious, and which was red^ is meant the Word, to which violence was offered by the Jewish people. The battle itself against the hells, and the victory over them, is described by this, that He trod them in His attger, and tram- pled them in His fury. That He fought alone and from His own power, is described by these words : Of the people not a man [vir] with Me; My arm brought salvation to Me ; J jtiade their victory descerid to the earth. That thereby He saved and redeemed, by these words : Therefore He became their Saviour ; for His love and for His pity He redeemed them. That this was the cause of His coming is meant by these : The day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed is come. Again in Isaiah : He saw that there was no mafi, and wondered that there was no intercessor ; therefore His arm brought salvation utito Him, and His right- eousness it sustained Him ; thence He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon His head, and He put on the garments of vengeance, and covered Himself with zeal as a cloak ; then came to Zion the Redeemer (lix. 16, 17, 20). In Jeremiah : They were dismayed, their strong ones were beaten down ; they fled apace, and they looked not back; this is the day of the Lord yehovih Zebaoth, a day of ven- No. 116I THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 199 geance, that He may avenge Him of His adversaries ; that the sword may devour and be satiated (xlvi. 5, 10). Both of these are concerning the Lord's battle against the hells, and con- cerning the victory over them. In David : Gird Thy s7vord upon Thy thigh, O Mighty ; Thy arrows are sharp, the peo- ple shall fall under Thee, ejiemies of the Kingfroi7i the heart. Thy throne is for ever and ever. Thou hast loved righteous- ness, therefore God hath anointed Thee (Ps. xlv. 4-7); besides many other places. Since the Lord alone conquered the hells, without help from any angel, therefore He is called a Hero, and a Man of wars (Isa. xlii. 13; ix. 6); the King OF GLORY, Jehovah the Mighty, the Hero in War (Ps. xxiv. 8, 10); The Mighty One of Jacob (cxxxii. 2); and in many places, Jehovah Zebaoth, that is, Jehovah of hosts. And also His advent is called the day of Jehovah, terrible, cruel, of indignation, of wrath, of anger, of vengeance, of ruin, of war, of a trumpet, of a loud noise, of tmnult, &c. In the Evangelists these things are read : Nozv is the judgment of this world; the prince of this world shall be cast out (John xii. 31). The prince of this wo7'ld is judged (xvi. 11). Be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world (xvi. 33). / beheld Satan as lightnifig fall from heaven (Luke x. 18). By the world, the prince of the world, Satan, and the devil, is meant hell. Besides these things, it is described in the Apocalypse, from the beginning to the end, what the Christian church is in quality at this day, and it is also told that the Lord is about to come again, and subjugate the hells, and make a new angelic heaven, and then to establish a New Church upon earth. All these things are there predicted, but they have not been uncovered till the present time : the reason is, because the Apocalypse, as also all the prophetical parts of the Word, was written throughout by mere correspondences ; and unless these had been made known by the Lord, scarcely any one would have been able rightly to understand a single little verse there ; but now, for the sake of the New Church, all the things which are there, have been uncovered in the 200 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. "Apocalypse Revealed," published at Amsterdam, in the year 1766 ; and those will see them who believe the Word of the Lord in Matt. xxiv. concerning the state of the church at the present time, and concerning His coming. But this belief is as yet only wavering with those who have im- pressed on their hearts, so deeply that it cannot be rooted out, the faith of the present church concerning a trinity of Divine persons from eternity, and concerning the passion of Christ that it was redemption itself. But these (as was said in the Relation above, n. 113) are like bottles filled with iron-filings and powdered sulphur, into which if water be poured, there is first produced a heat, and afterwards a flame, by which the bottles are burst : so they, when they hear any thing concerning living water, which is the genu- ine truth of the Word, and this enters through their eyes or ears, are violently heated and inflamed, and reject it, as something which would burst their heads. 117. The subjugation of the hells, the orderly arrange- ment of the heavens, and afterwards the establishment of a church, may be illustrated by various similitudes. The hells may be illustrated by comparison with an army of robbers or rebels who invade a kingdom or a city, and then set fire to the houses, plunder the goods of the inhabitants, and divide the spoil among themselves, and then exult and triumph : but redemption itself may be illustrated by com- parison with a just king, who marches against them with his army, puts a part of them to the sword, shuts a part up in work-houses, takes away their spoil and restores it to his subjects, and afterward establishes order in the kingdom, and renders it secure from similar invasions. It may also be illustrated by comparison with a herd of wild beasts, issuing out together from a forest, which attacks flocks and herds, and also men ; on account of which, no man dares go out from the walls of his city to till the ground ; whence the fields will be deserted, and the inhabitants of the city will perish by famine : and redemption may be illustrated No. ii8.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 20I by the destruction and dispersion of those wild beasts, and the protection of the fields and plains from further invasion by such animals. It may also be illustrated by locusts con- suming every green thing on the face of the ground, and by the means taken to prevent their further progress : also, by the little worms in early summer, which deprive the trees of leaves, and thus, also, of fruits, so that they stand naked as in the midst of winter ; and by shaking them off, and thus restoring the garden to the state of its bloom and fruitfulness. The case would be similar with the church, unless the Lord, by redemption, had separated the good from the evil, and cast the latter into hell, and raised the former into heaven. What would become of an empire or a kingdom, if there were no justice nor judgment by which the evil might be taken away from the midst of the good, and the good protected from violence, so that every one might live securely in his own house, and, as is said in the Word, might sit under his own fig-tree and vine in tran- quillity .'' Ti8. II. Without THAT Redemption, no Man could HAVE BEEN SAVED, NOR COULD THE AnGELS HAVE CON- TINUED TO EXIST IN A State of Integrity. In the first place it shall be told what redemption is. To redeem signifies to liberate from damnation, to deliver from eternal death, to rescue from hell, and take away cap- tives and prisoners out of the hand of the devil. This was done by the Lord, in that He subjugated the hells, and formed a new heaven. Man could not otherwise have been saved, because the spiritual world has such a connection with the natural world that they cannot be separated. This connection is principally with the interiors of men, which are called their souls and minds : those of the good are connected with the souls and minds of angels, and those of the evil, with the souls and minds of infernal spirits. They have such union, that, if they were removed from 9* 202 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. man, he would fall down dead as a stock ; in like manner angels and spirits could not continue to exist, if men were withdrawn from them. Thence it is manifest why redemp- tion was performed in the spiritual world, and why heaven and hell were first to be arranged in order before the church on earth could be established. That it is so, is very manifest from what is said in the Apocalypse, that, after the new heaven was made, tlie New Jerusalem, which is the New Church, came down out of that heaven (xxi. I, 2). 119. The reason why the angels could not have con- tinued to exist in a state of integrity unless redemption had been performed by the Lord, is that the whole an- gelic heaven together with the church on earth is before the Lord as one man, whose internal is constituted by the angelic heaven, and its external by the church : or, more particularly, the highest heaven constitutes the head ; the second and the lowest constitute the breast and the middle region of the body ; and the church on earth, the loins and feet ; and the Lord Himself is the Soul and Life of the whole of this man : wherefore, unless the Lord had wrought re- demption, this man would have been destroyed ; as to the feet and loins, by the falling away of the church on earth ; as to the gastric region, by the falling away of the lowest heaven ; as to the breast, by the falling away of the second heaven ; and then the head, having no correspondence with the body, falls into a swoon. But this shall be illustrated by similitudes. It is as when mortification attacks the feet, and, in its ravages, gradually ascends, and infects first the loins, then the viscera of the abdomen, and at length in- vades the neighborhood of the heart ; and it is known that man then falls a victim in death. It may also be illustrated by comparison with diseases of the viscera below the dia- phragm, that when they have any rupture, the heart begins to palpitate, and the lungs to pant heavily, and at length they both cease! It may also be illustrated by comparison No. 119.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 203 with the internal and external man, in that the internal man is well as long as the external man obediently per- forms its functions ; but if the external does not obey, but resists the internal, and still more if it assaults it, at length the internal is weakened and finally carried away by the enjoyments of the external, until it even favors and assents to it. It may also be illustrated by comparison with a man standing upon a mountain, who sees below him the country inundated, and that the waters are rising higher and higher; and when they reach the summit on which he stands, he also is engulfed, unless he is enabled to secure his safety by a boat which comes to him through the flood : in like manner, if any one from a mountain sees a dense fog rising higher and higher above the earth, and hiding the fields, villages, and cities ; and afterwards, when the fog reaches even to him, he does not see any thing, not even himself where he is. So it is with the angels when the church on earth perishes ; then the lower heavens also pass. away. The reason is, because the heavens consist of men from the earth ; and when there ho longer remains any good of heart and truth of the Word, the heavens are inundated by the evils which rise up, and are suffocated by them as by Stygian waters ; but still they are concealed by the Lord somewhere, and are reserved to the day of the last judgment, and are then raised up into a new heaven. These are they who are meant in the Apocalypse by those mentioned in the follow- ing passage : / saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held ; and they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, O Lord, Holy and True, dost Thou not jiidge and avefige our blood on them that dwell on the earth ? And white robes were given unto every one of them ; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also, afid their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled (y'l. 9, 10, 11). 204 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II 120. One reason, among many others, why, without re- demption by the Lord, iniquity and wickedness would spread through the whole Christian orb, in both worlds, the natural and the spiritual, is, because every man after death comes into the world of spirits, and then is alto- gether like himself, such as he was before ; and at his entrance he cannot be restrained from conversing with deceased parents, brothers, relatives, and friends ; every husband then first seeks his wife, and every wife her hus- band ; and by these they are introduced into various companies of such as outwardly appear like sheep, and inwardly are like wolves ; and by these even those are perverted who have been devoted to piety: from this cause, and from abominable arts unknown in the natural world, the spiritual world is as full of the wicked and cunning, as stagnant water growing green with the spawn of frogs. That intercourse with the wicked there also effects this, may be rendered manifest from these consid- erations, that whoever associates with robbers or pirates at length becomes like them ; and whoever lives with adulterers and harlots at length regards adulteries a!s nothing; and, also, whoever connects himself with per- sons in rebellion at length does not scruple to do violence to any one. For all evils are contagious, and may be compared to the plague, which an infected person com- municates by breath or perspiration ; and also to a cancer, or to gangrene which spreads and putrefies the parts near it, and successively those more distant, until the whole body perishes. The enjoyments of evil, into which every one is born, cause wickedness to be contagious. From these things it may now appear evident that without redemption by the Lord no one could be saved, nor could the angels continue to exist in a state of integrity. The only refuge, that one may not perish, is in the Lord ; for He says, Abide in Me, and I in you ; as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, I No. 121.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 20$ except ye abide in Me. latn the Vine, ye are the branches : he that abideth in Ale, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for tvithout Me ye can do nothing. If a man abide fiot in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and being withered is cast into the fire and burned (John xv. 4, 5, 6). 121. III. The Lord thus redeemed not only Men, BUT ALSO Angels. This follows from what was said in the preceding article, That zvithout redejnption by the Lord, the angels could not have continued to exist. To the reasons above mentioned, these may be added : i. That, at the time of the first com- ing of the Lord, the hells had grown up to such a height that they filled all the world of spirits, which is in the midst between heaven and hell, and thus not only confused the heaven which is called the ultimate, but also assaulted the middle heaven, which they infested in a thousand ways, and which would have gone to destruction unless the Lord had protected it. Such inroad of the hells is meant by the tower built in the land of Shinar, the head of which was to reach even to heaven ; but the design of the builders was frustrated by the confusion of languages, and they were dispersed, and the city was called Babel (Gen. xi. 1-9). What is there meant by the tower and by the confusion of languages is explained in the " Arcana Ccelestia," published at London. The reason that the hells had grown up to such a height was, that at the time when the Lord came into the world, the whole world had entirely alienated itself from God by idolatries and magic ; and the church which had been among the sons of Israel, and afterward among the Jews, was utterly destroyed by falsification and adulteration of the Word ; and these two classes after death all flocked into the world of spirits, where at length they so increased and multiplied that they could not be expelled thence but by the descent of God Himself, and then by the strength of His Divine Arm. 206 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. How this was done is described in a little treatise con- cerning the " Last Judgment," published at London in the year 1758. This was accomplished by the Lord when He was in the world. The like, also, has been done by the Lord at this day, since as was said above, at this day is His second coming, which was predicted in the Apocalypse in various places ; and in Matt. xxiv. 3, 30 ; in Mark xiii. 26 ; in Luke xxi. 27 ; and in the Acts of the Apostles i. 11 ; and in other places. The difference is that, at His first coming, the hells had grown to such a degree from the multitude of idolaters, magicians, and falsifiers of the Word ; but at this second coming, from Christians so called, both such as are imbued with naturalism, and also such as have falsified the Word, by confirmations of their fabulous faith concerning three Divine Per- sons from eternity, and concerning the passion of the Lord, that it was redemption itself j for these are they who are meant by the dragon and hie two beasts in the Apocalypse xii, and xiii. 2. The second reason why the Lord also redeemed angels is, that not only every man, but also every angel, is withheld by the Lord from evil and held in good ; for no one, whether angel or man, is in good from himself, but all good is from the Lord : when, therefore, the footstool of the angels, which is in the world of spirits, was taken away from them, it was then with them as with one sitting upon a throne when its pedestals are removed. That the angels are not pure in the sight of God is evident from the prophetical parts of the Word, and also from Job ; and likewise from this, that there is not any angel who had not previously been a man. Hereby are confirmed those things which are said in the " Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church in a uni- versal and a particular Form," prefixed to this work, namely, " That the Lord came into the world that He might re- move hell from man, and that He did remove it by com- bats against it and by victories over it ; thus He subjugated No. 122-1 THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 20/ it, and reduced it under obedience to Himself." And also by these things there, " That Jehovah God descended and assumed the Human, to the end that He might reduce to order all things which were in heaven [and all things which were in hell], and all things which were in the church ; since, at that time, the power of the devil, that is, of hell, prevailed over the power of heaven, and upon earth the power of evil over the power of good, and thence a total damnation stood threatening before the door. This impending damnation Jehovah God removed by means of His Human, and thus He redeemed men and angels : from which it is manifest that without the coming of the Lord no one could have been saved. It is similar at this day ; wherefore, unless the Lord comes again into the world, no one can be saved." See above (n. 2, 3). 122. That the Lord has delivered the spiritual world, and by means of it is about to deliver the church from universal damnation, may be illustrated by comparison with a king, who, by victories over the enemy, liberates the princes his sons, who had been taken by the enemy, confined in prisons, and bound with chains, and brings them back to his palace ; also by comparison with a shepherd, who, like Samson and David, rescues his sheep from the jaws of the lion or the bear, or drives away those wild beasts when they rush forth from the forest into the pastures, and pursues them even to the utmost limits, and at last forces them into swamps or deserts, and afterwards returns to the sheep, and feeds them in safety, and gives them drink from fountains of pure water. It may also be illustrated by comparison with one who sees a serpent coiled up, lying in the way, and ready to wound the heel of the traveller ; and who seizes it by the neck, and, although it twists itself about his hand, he car- ries it home, and there cuts off its head, and throws the rest into the fire. It may also be illustrated by comparison with a bridegroom or a husband, who, when he sees an adulterer attempting to do violence to his bride or wife, 208 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. attacks him, and either wounds his hand with a sword, or covers his legs and loins with blows, or casts him into the streets with the help of his servants, who pursue him with clubs even to his house ; and so he leads her away, now free, into his chamber. By a bride and a wife, also, in the Word, is meant the Lord's church ; and by adulterers are meant its violators, who are those who adulterate His Word ; and because the Jews did this, they were called by the Lord an adulterous generation. 123. IV. Redemption was a Work purely Divine. He who knows what hell is, and what was its height and inundation over all the world of spirits at the time of the Lord's coming, and also with what power the Lord cast down and dispersed hell, and afterwards reduced it together with heaven into order, cannot but be amazed, and exclaim that all those things were a work purely Divine. First, as to what hell is : it consists of myriads of myriads, since it consists of all those who, from the creation of the world, by evils of life and falsities of faith, have alienated themselves from God. Secondly, as to the height and inun- dation of hell over all the world of spirits, at the time of the Lord^s coming, something has been stated in the preceding articles. What it was at the time of the first coming, was not made known to any one, for it is not revealed in the literal sense of the Word. But what it was at the time of His second coming, it was granted to see with my eyes ; from which there may be conclusions concerning the former; and this is described in a little treatise concerning the " Last Judgment," published at London in the year 1758. In that work is also described, with what power the Lord cast down and dispersed that hell ; but to transfer hither those things which are described from personal observation in that little treatise is a needless work, because that is extant, and there are yet copies in abundance at the bookseller's in London. Every one who reads that treatise may clearly see that this No. 123.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 209 was the work of God Almighty. Thirdly, how the Lord afterwards reduced all things, both in heaven afid in hell, into order, has not yet been described by me, since the arrange- ment in order of the heavens and the hells has continued in progress from the day of the last judgment to the present time, and still continues ; but after this book is published, if it be desired, it shall be given to the public. As to myself, I have seen, and do see every day, the Divine omnipotence of the Lord in this thing, as in the face. This last work properly belongs to redemption, but the former properly belongs to the last judgment ; those who view these two things distinctly may see many things which, in the prophet- ical parts of the Word, are concealed under figures ; and yet can see them described when, by an explanation of the correspondences, they are brought forth into the light of the understanding. The former Divine work and the lat- ter can be illustrated only by comparisons, and so but imperfectly. They may be illustrated by comparison with a battle against the armies of all the nations in the whole world, armed with spears, shields, swords, muskets, and cannon, having skilful and cunning generals and other officers : this is said, because many in hell are skilled in arts unknown in our world, in which they practise with each other, how they may attack, ensnare, beset, and assault those who are from heaven. The combat of the Lord with hell may also be compared, but yet imperfectly, with a combat with the wild beasts of the whole world, and with their slaughter and subjugation, until not one of them dares to come forth and make an assault upon any man who is in the Lord ; whence, if any one shows a threaten- ing aspect, he suddenly shrinks back, as if he felt the vult- ure in his bosom, endeavoring to eat through even to the heart. Infernal spirits are also described in the Word as wild beasts.: these, too, are meant in Mark i. 13, by the wild beasts with which the Lord was for forty days. There may also be comparison with resistance to the whole ocean, 210 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. rushing with its billows into countries and cities when the dikes are demolished. The subjugation of hell by the Lord is also meant by His calming the sea, by saying, Peace, be still (Mark iv. 38, 39 ; Matt. viii. 26 ; Luke viii. 23, 24). For by the sea there, as in many other places, is signified hell. The Lord, with similar Divine power, at this day fights against hell in every man who is becoming regen- erate ; for hell assaults all such with diabolical fury ; and unless the Lord resisted and subdued it, man could not but yield. For hell is as one monstrous man, and like a huge lion, with which also it is compared in the Word. Where- fore, unless the Lord should keep that lion, or that monster, bound with manacles and fetters, it could not be other- wise than that a man, when rescued from one evil, would of himself fall into another, and then into many more. 124. V. This Redemption itself could not have BEEN effected, BUT BY GOD INCARNATE. In the preceding article it was shown that redemption was a work purely Divine; consequently, that it could not have been performed but by an omnipotent God. The reason that it could not have been performed but by God incarnate, that is, made Man, is because Jehovah God, such as He is in His infinite essence, cannot draw near to hell, much less enter into it ; for He is in purest and first things. Wherefore Jehovah God, being in Himself such, if He should only breathe upon those who are in hell, would kill them in a moment ; for He said to Moses, when he wished to see Him, Thoti canst not see My face, for there shall no man see Me and live (Ex. xxxiii. 20). As, therefore, Moses could not, still less could those who are in hell, where all are in the last and grossest things, and so in those most remote ; for they are the lowest natural. Where- fore, unless Jehovah God had assumed the Human, and thus clothed Himself with a body which is in ultimates, He might have undertaken any redemption in vain. For No. 124.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 211 who can attack any enemy, unless he approach him, and unless he be furnished with arms for the battle ? Or who can drive away and destroy dragons, hydras, and basilisks in some desert, unless he cover his body with a coat of mail and his head with a helmet, and have a spear in his hand ? Or who can catch whales in the sea, without a ship and the proper implements for catching them ? By these and similar things may be illustrated, though not justly compared, the battle of the omnipotent God with the hells, upon which battle He could not have entered, unless He had before put on the Human. But it should be known that the battle of the Lord with the hells was not an oral battle, as between reasoners and wranglers ; such a battle effects nothing at all there : but it was a spiritual battle, which is of Divine truth from Divine good, which was the very vital principle of the Lord : the influx of this through the medium of sight, no one in hell can resist. There is in it such power that the infernal genii flee away at the mere perception of it, cast themselves down into the deep, and creep into caverns that they may hide themselves. This is the same that is described in Isaiah : They shall enter into the caverns of the rocks, and into the fissures of the dust, for fear of Jehovah, when He shall arise to terrify the earth (ii. 19) ; and in the Apocalypse : They shall all hide themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and shall say to the mountains and rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throfie, and from the wrath of the Lamb (vi. 15, 16, 17). What was the Lord's power, which He has from the Divine good, while He performed the last judg- ment in the year 1757, may be evident from those things which are described in the little treatise concerning that judgment ; as that He tore up from their places the hills and mountains which the infernals occupied in the world of spirits, and removed them to distant places, and made some sink down ; and that He deluged their cities, villages, and fields with a flood, and tore up their lands from the 212 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. foundation, and cast them, together with the inhabitants, into whirlpools, bogs, and fens ; besides many other things ; and all these things were done by the Lord alone, through the power of Divine truth from Divine good. 125. That Jehovah God could not have operated and effected these things, except by His Human, may be illus- trated by various comparisons ; as that one who is invisible cannot join hands nor converse but with one visible to him ; an angel or a spirit cannot with a man, although he should stand close to his body and before his face. Neither can any one's soul speak and act with any one, except through his body. The sun cannot with its light and heat enter into any man, beast, or tree, unless it first enter the air, and act through this ; so, too, it cannot enter into fishes, except through the water ; for it must act by means of the element in which the subject is. No one can scale a fish without a knife, nor pick the feathers from a crow without fingers, nor descend to the bottom of a lake without a diving-bell. In a word, one thing must be accommodated to another, before there can be effected any communication and operation against it or with it. 126. VI. The Passion of the Cross was the last Temptation which the Lord as the greatest Prophet SUSTAINED, AND WAS THE MeANS OF THE GLORIFICATION OF His Human, that is, of union with the Divine of His Father ; but it was not Redemption. There are two things for which the Lord came into the world, and by which He saved men and angels, viz., re- demption and the glorification of His Human. These two are distinct from each other, but yet they make one with respect to salvation. What Redemption is has been shown in the preceding articles, namely, that it was battle with the hells, subjugation of them, and afterwards the arrangement of the heavens in order. But glorification is the unition of the Human of the Lord with the Divine of His Father. No. I27.J THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 213 This was done successive!}^, and was fully completed by the passion of the cross ; for every man ought, on his part, to approach to God, and in proportion as man approaches, God on His part enters. This is the same as with a tem- ple ; it is first to be built, and this is done by the hands of men; and afterwards it is to be consecrated, and finally prayer offered that God may be present, and unite Himself with the church there. The reason why the union itself was fully effected by the passion of the cross is, because that was the last temptation which the Lord underwent in the world, and conjunction is effected by temptations ; for in them man to appearance is left to himself alone, although he has not been left, for God is then most really present in man's inmosts, and supports him ; wherefore, when any one conquers in temptation he is most intimately conjoined with God ; and the Lord then was most intimately united to God His Father. That the Lord in the passion of the cross was left to Himself, is evident from this His exclamation upon the cross : My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? and also from these words of the Lord : No one taketh life from Me, but I lay it down of Myself ; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again ; this commandment have I re- ceived of My Father (John x. 18). From these passages, now, it may be evident that the Lord did not suffer as to the Divine, but as to the human ; and that then an inmost and thus a complete union was ejffected. This may be illus- trated by this, that while a man suffers as to the body, his soul does not suffer, but only grieves ; and God takes away this grief after the victory, and wipes it away as one wipes tears from the eyes. 127. These two things, redemption and the passion of the cross, must be distinctly perceived, otherwise the human mind, likp 1 ship, falls into quicksands or upon rocks and is lost, together with the pilot, master, and sailors ; that is, it errs in all those things which are of salvation by the Lord ; for a man without a distinct idea concerning those two things 214 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. is as one who dreams, and sees imaginary things, and draws conclusions from those things which he thinks to be real, when, nevertheless, they are ludicrous ; or he is as one who walks in the night, and, while he takes hold of the leaves of some tree, he thinks them to be the hair of a man, and comes nearer, and entangles his own hair in the branches. But although redemption and the passion of the cross are two distinct things, yet they make one with respect to salva- tion ; since the Lord, by union with His Father, which was completed by the passion of the cross, became Redeemer to eternity. 128. Concerning the Glorification, by which is meant the unition of the Divine Human of the Lord with the Divine of the Father, that it was fully completed by the passion of the cross, the Lord Himself thus speaks in the Evangelists : After jftidas went out, jpesus said, Now is the Son of Alan glorified, and God is glorified in Him ; if God be glorified in Him, God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him (John xiii. 31, 32): Here glorifi- cation is said both of God the Father and of the Son, for it is said, God is glorified in Him, and God will glorify Him in Himself : that this is to be united is manifest. Father, the hour is come ; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Sofi also may glorify Thee (xvii. 1,5): It is so said, because the unition was reciprocal, and as it is said. The Father in Him and He in the Father. Now is my soul troubled ; and He s^ii^L, Father, glorify Thy name ; and there came a voice from heaven, I have both glorified, and will glorify again (xii. 27, 28) : This was said because the unition was effected successively. Ought not Christ to suff^er this, and enter into His glory 1 (Luke xxiv. 26:) Glory, in the Word, when it is. used concern- ing the Lord, signifies Divine truth united to Divine good. From these passages it is very manifest that the Human of the Lord is Divine, 129. The reason why the Lord was willing to be tempted even to the passion of the cross was, because He was The No. 130.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 21 5 Prophet ; and prophets formerly signified the doctrine of the church from the Word, and thence they represented the church, such as it was, by various things, and even by things unjust, grievous, and even not fit to be mentioned, which were enjoined on them by God. But the Lord, because He was the Word itself, as The Prophet represented by the passion of the cross the Jewish church, how it profaned the Word itself. To this reason another may be added, that thus He might be acknowledged in the heavens as the Saviour of both worlds ; for all the things of His passion signified such things as belong to the profanation of the Word, and the angels understand them spiritually while the men of the church understand them naturally. That the Lord was The Prophet, is evident from these pas- sages : The Lord said, A prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in his own house (Matt. xiii. 57; Mark vi. 4 ; Luke iv. 24). yesiis said, It is not meet that a prophet perish out of yerusalem (Luke xiii. 2,i)- Fear seized them all, praising God, and saying that a Great Prophet was raised up atnong them (Luke vii. 16). They said concerning yesus, This is the Prophet of Nazareth (Matt, xxi. 1 1 ; John vii. 40, 41). That a Prophet should be raised up from the tnidst of the brethreJi, Whose words they should obey (Deut. xviii. 15-19), 130. That prophets represented the state of their church as to doctrine from the Word, and as to a life according to it, is evident from these passages : It was commanded the prophet Isaiah, that he should loose the sackcloth from off his loins, afid the shoe from off his foot, and should go naked and barefoot three years, for a sign and a wonder (Isa. xx. 2, 3).. It was commanded the prophet Ezekiel, that he should rep- resent the state of the church by jnakifig vessels for removing, and that he should remove to another place, in the sight of the sons of Israel, and should bring forth the vessels by day, and should go forth in the evening through a hole dug in the wall, and should cover his face that he might fwt see the ground^ 2l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. and that thus he should be a sign to the house of Israel, and should say, Behold, i am your sign ; as I have done, so shall it be done to you (Ez. xii. 3-7, 11). It was commanded the prophet Hosea that he should represent the state of the church by taking to himself a harlot to wife ; and also he took her, and she brought forth to hitn three sons, one of whom he called yezreel, afiother Not-to-be-pitied, and the third Not-my- people. And again it was commanded him that he should go and love a woman beloved by her companion, and an adul- teress, whom also he bought for himself {Yios. i. 2-9 ; iii. 2, 3). It was also enjoined upon a certain prophet that he should put ashes upon his eyes, and suffer himself to be sinitten and beaten (i Kings xx. 35, 37). It was enjoined upon the prophet Ezekiel, that he should represent the state of the church by taking a tile, and that he should portray upon it Jerusalem, lay siege, and cast a rampart and a mound against it, should put a pan of iro?i between himself and the city, and should lie upon the left side and upon the right side. Also, that he should take wheat, barley, lentiles, millet, and fitches, and make bread of the?n, and also a cake of barley with man^s dung; and because he prayed that this might not .be, it was permitted that he should make it with cow 's dung. It was said to him, Lie thou upon the left side, and lay the iniquity OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL upon it : the number of days that thou shall lie upon it, thou shalt bear their iniquity ; for I will give thee the years of their iniquity according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days, that thou MAYEST BEAR THE INIQUITY OF THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL ; a7ld when thou shalt have accofnplished them, thou shalt lie upon thy right side, that thou mayest bear the iniquity of the HOUSE OF JuDAH (Ez. iv. 1-15). That the prophet by these things bore the iniquities of the house of Israel, and of the house of Judah, and did not take them away and thus expiate them, but only represented and pointed them out, is mani- fest from what follows there : Thus scJth Jehovah, The sons of Israel shall eat their unclean bread; behold, I will break No. 130.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 21/ the staff of bread, that they may tuant bread and water, and be made desolate, a man and his brother, and consume away for their itiiquity (iv. 13, 16, 17). The like, therefore, is meant concerning the Lord, where it is said, He hath BORNE ^//r^/vV/Jr rt//^/ CARRIED oiir sorrows; jfehovah hath LAID ON Him the iniquities of us all. By His knowledge hath He justified many, because He hath borne their iniqui- ties (Isa. liii. 4, &c.), where, in the whole chapter, the pas- sion of the Lord is treated of. That the Lord, as The Prophet, represented the state of the Jewish church, as to the Word, is manifest from the particulars of His passion ; as that He was betrayed by jfudas ; that He was taken and condemned by the chief priests and by the elders; that they buffeted Him ; that they smote His head with a reed ; that they put on Hii7i a cro7un of thorns ; that they divided His garments, and cast the lot for His vesture ; that they crucified Him ; that they gave Him vinegar to drink ; that they pierced His side ; that He was buried ; and that on the third day He rose again. His being betrayed by Judas signified that He was betrayed by the Jewish nation, with whom the Word then was, for Judas represented that nation : His being taken and condemned by the chief priests and elders signi- fied that He was so by all that church : their buffeting Him, spitting in His face, scourging Him, and smiting His head with a reed, signified that they did in like manner to the Word as to its Divine truths : their putting on Him a crown of thorns signified that they falsified and adulterated those truths : their dividing His garments and casting the lot upon His vesture signified that they dispersed all the truths of the Word, but not its spiritual sense ; this sense was signified by the Lord's vesture : their crucifying Him signi- fied that they destroyed and profaned the whole Word : their offering Him vinegar to drink signified that the truths which they had were merely falsified truths ; wherefore He did not drink it : their piercing His side signified that they totally extinguished all the truth of the Word and all the VOL. I. 10 2l8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. good of it : His being buried signified the rejection of what remained from the mother : His rising again on the third day signified glorification or the union of His Human with the Divine of the Father. Hence now it is manifest that to bear iniquities does not mean to take them away, but to represent the profanation of the truths of the Word. 131. These things, also, may be illustrated by compari- sons, which is done for the sake of the simple, who see better by means of comparisons than by deductions formed analytically from the Word and at the same time from rea- son. Every citizen or subject is united to the king by doing his commands and precepts, and more so if he suffers hard- ships for him, and still more if he undergoes death for him, which is done in combats and battles. In like manner, a friend is united to a friend, a son to his father, and a ser- vant to his master, by doing those things which are agree- able to their will, and more so if they defend them against their enemies, and still more if they fight for their honor. Who is not united to the virgin whom he is courting for a bride, when he fights with those who defame her, and con- tends with his rival even to wounds ? That they are united by such means, is according to a law inscribed on nature. The Lord says, T a7n the good Shepherd : the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep ; therefore doth my Father love Me (John x. 11, 17). 132. VII. The Belief that the Passion of the Cross was Redemption itself is a fundamental Error OF THE Church ; and that Error, together with the Error concerning three Divine Persons from Eter- nity, HAS perverted THE WHOLE ChURCH, SO THAT NOT any thing spiritual is left in it. What at this day more fills and crams the books of the orthodox, or what is more zealously taught and inculcated in the schools, and more frequently preached and pro- claimed from the pulpits, than that God the Father, being No. 132.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 219 enraged against the human race, not only removed it from Himself, but also sentenced it to universal damnation, and thus excommunicated it ; but, because He is gracious, that He persuaded or excited His Son to descend and take upon Himself the determined damnation, and thus appease the anger of His Father ; and that thus, and not otherwise. He could look upon man with some favor ? Then, that this also was done by the Son, Who, in taking upon Himself the damnation of the human race, suffered Himself to be scourged by the Jews, to be spit upon in the face, and then to be crucified as the accursed of God (Deut. xxi. 23) ; and that the Father, after this was done, became propitious, and from love towards His Son cancelled the sentence of damnation, but only in respect to those for whom the Son should intercede ; and that He thus became a Mediator in the presence of His Father for ever. These and similar things at this day are sounded in the temples, and are reverberated from the walls like an echo from the woods, and fill the ears of all there. But cannot any one whose reason is enlightened and made sound by the Word see that God is mercy and pity itself, because He is love itself and good itself, and that those are His essence ? and that hence it is a contradiction to say that Mercy itself or Goodness itself can look upon man with anger, and decree his damnation, and still continue to be His Divine Essence ? Such things are scarcely ascribed to a good man, but to a wicked man; nor to an angel of heaven, but to a spirit of hell : wherefore it is abominable to ascribe them to God. But, if the cause be sought, it is this, that they have taken the passion of the cross to be redemption itself : thence have flowed those opinions, as from one falsity flow falsities in a continued series, or as from a cask of vinegar nothing comes but vinegar, or from an insane mind nothing but what is insane ; for from one established" principle, theorems of the same sort are de- duced : they are hidden witliin it, and they proceed from 220 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. it one after another ; and from this concerning the passion of the cross, that it is redemption, still many other things scandalous and dishonorable to God may go forth or be drawn, until it comes to pass, as Isaiah says : The priest and the prophet err through strong drink ; they stumble in judgment ; all tables are full of vomit and flthiness (xxviii. 7-8). 133. From this idea concerning God and concerning redemption, all theology has from spiritual become in the lowest degree natural ; which is so, because merely natural properties have been attributed to God ; and yet on the idea of God, and on the idea of redemption, which makes one with salvation, every thing of the church depends. For that idea is like the head, from which all parts of the body proceed ; wherefore, when that is spiritual all things of the church become spiritual, and when that is natural all things of the church become natural ; hence, because the idea con- cerning God and concerning redemption has become merely natural, that is, sensual and corporeal, therefore all things which the heads and members of the church have taught and still teach in their dogmatical theology are merely natural. The reason whj'^ nothing but falsities can be pro- duced therefrom is, because the natural man continually acts against the spiritual, and thence he regards spiritual things as ghosts and phantoms in the air. Wherefore it may be said that on account of that sensual idea concern- ing redemption, and thence concerning God, the ways to heaven, which are ways to the Lord God the Saviour, have been beset with thieves and robbers (John x. i, 8, 9); and that in the temples the doors have been thrown down, so that dragons and owls, the tziim and the ijim, have entered, and sing together in horrible discord. That this idea con- cerning redemption and concerning God pervades the faith of the present age, is known ; for that faith is that men should pray to God the Father that He would forgive their sins for the sake of the cross and blood of His Son ; and to No. 134.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 221 God the Son, that He would pray and intercede for them ; and to God the Holy Spirit, that He would justify and sanctify them. And what else is this than to make sup- plication to three Gods in their order ? And how, then, is the thought concerning the Divine government different from that concerning an aristocratical or hierarchical gov- ernment, or from that concerning a triumvirate such as there was once at Rome ? But instead of a triumvirate it may be called a tripersoiiate. And what, then, is easier for the devil than to do, as is said, divide and rule ? that is, to distract the minds of men, and excite rebellious movements, now against one God, now against another, as has been done from the time of Arius to the present day ; and thus to cast down from the throne the Lord God the Saviour, Who has all power in heaven and earth (Matt, xxviii. 18), and to set upon it some one of his minions, and to ascribe wor- ship to him ; or, because it is taken away from him, to take it away also from the Lord Himself } 134. To the above will be added these Relations. First : I once went into a temple in the world of spirits, where many were assembled ; and, before the sermon, they reasoned among themselves concerning Redemption. The temple was square, and there were no windows in the walls, but a large opening above in the middle of the roof, through which light from heaven entered, and lighted it better than if there had been windows at the sides. And behold, sud- denly, while they were talking about redemption, a black cloud coming from the north covered the opening ; whence it became so dark that they could not see one another, and scarcely could any one see the palm of his hand. While they stood amazed on account of this, lo, that black cloud was parted in the middle, and through the parting were seen angels descending from heaven ; and they dispersed the cloud on each side, whence it became again light in the temple ; and then the angels sent down one of their num- ber, who, in their stead, asked the congregation what they 222 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. were contending about, since so thick a cloud came over them, and took aw.ay the Hght, and brought on darkness. They replied that it was about redemption, and that this was wrought by the Son of God by the passion of the cross, and that by this He made expiation, and deliv- ered the human race from damnation and eternal death. But to this the deputed angel said, "What by the pas- sion of the cross ? Explain, why by that." And then a priest came and said, " I will set forth in order what we know and believe, which is, that God the Father, being angry with the human race, condemned it, and excluded it from His clemency, and declared all accursed and rep- robate, and doomed them to hell ; and that He wished His Son to take upon Himself that condemnation, and that the Son consented, and for that purpose descended and assumed the Human, and suffered Himself to be cru- cified, and thus the condemnation of the human race to be transferred to Himself; for it is written. Cursed is every 07ie that hangeth on the wood of a cross ; and that the Son thus appeased the Father by interceding and mediating; and that then the Father, from love towards the Son, and moved with the misery seen in Him upon the cross, determined that He would forgive ; ' But only those to whom I impute Thy righteousness ; these I will make, from sons of wrath and curse, sons of grace and blessing, and will justify and save ; but the rest may remain, as was before determined, sons of wrath,' This is our faith, and these things are the righteousness which God the Father introduces into our faith, which alone justifies and saves." The angel having heard these words was silent for a long time, for he was fixed in astonishment; and afterwards he broke silence, and spoke these words : " Can the Christian world be so insane, and wander from sound reason into such hallucina- tions, and draw conclusions concerning the fundamental arti- cle of salvation from such paradoxes ? Who cannot see that those things are diametrically contrary to the very Divine No. 134.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 223 essence, that is, contrary to the Lord's Divine love and His Divine wisdom, and, at the same time, contrary to His om- nipotence and omnipresence? No good master can deal so with his servants and maids ; nay, a wild beast is not so cruel to its cubs, nor a bird of prey to its young. Is it not contrary to His Divine essence to annul the call which has been made to all and every one of the human race ? Is it not contrary to the Divine essence to change the order established from eternity, which is, that every one should be judged according to his life ? Is it not contrary to the Divine essence to withdraw love and mercy from any man, and much more from the whole human race .'' Is it not contrary to the Divine essence to be brought back to mercy from the misery seen in the Son, and so to be brought back to His own essence ? since mercy is God's very essence ; and it is abominable to think that He ever went out of it, for it is Himself from eternity to eternity. Besides, is it not impossible to introduce, into any such thing as your faith is, the righteousness of redemption, which in itself is of the Divine omnipotence, and to impute and ascribe it to man, and to declare him righteous, pure, and holy without any other means ? Is it not impossible to remit sins to any one, and to renew, regenerate, and save any one by impu- tation alone, and thus to turn unrighteousness into right- eousness, and the curse into a blessing? If that were possible, would it not be possible to turn hell into heaven or heaven into hell, and the dragon into Michael or Michael into the dragon, and so to end the battle between them ? What is necessary but to take away the imputation of your faith from one, and put it into the other ? So we who are in heaven would for ever be in trepidation. Nor is it in accordance with justice and judgment that one should take upon himself another's wickedness, and the wicked become innocent, and that wickedness should so be washed away. Is not this contrary to justice, both Divine and human ? The Christian world as yet does not know that order 224 THE TRUE .CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. exists ; and still less does it know what the order is which God introduced into the world at the time when He cre- ated it ; and that God cannot act contrary to it, as, if He should. He would be acting contrary to Himself ; for God is Order itself." The priest understood the things said by the angel, because the angels who were above infused light from heaven ; and then he groaned, and said, " What is to be done ? All at this day so preach and pray and believe. This is in the mouth of all, * Good Father, have mercy on us, and remit to us our sins for the sake of Thy Son's blood, which He shed for us on the cross ; ' and to Christ it is said, ' Lord, intercede for us ; ' to which we priests add, * Send to us the Holy Spirit.' " And then the angel said, " I have observed that the priests prepare eye-salve from the Word not interiorly understood, which they put upon the eyes which are blinded by their faith, or they make of it a sort of plaster for themselves, which they put upon the wounds inflicted by their dogmas, but still they do not heal them, because they are inveterate ; wherefore go to him who stands there (and he pointed with the finger to me), he will teach you from the Lord that the passion of the cross was not redemption, but that it was the unition of the Human of the Lord with the Divine of the Father, while redemption was the subjugation of the hells and the ar- rangement of the heavens in order; and that, unless those things had been performed by the Lord when He was in the world, there would have been no salvation for any on earth, nor for any in the heavens ; and he will teach you also the order introduced at the creation, according to which men must live that they may be saved, and that they who do live according to it are numbered among the redeemed, and are called the elect." These things being said, windows were made in the temple at the sides, through which light \lummosum\ flowed in from the four quarters of the world, and cherubs appeared flying in the splendor of light ; and the angel was taken up to his companions above the opening, and we retired full of gladness. No. 135.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 22$ 135. Second Relation. One morning, as I awaked from sleep, the Sun of the spiritual world appeared to me in its splendor, and under it I saw the heavens, distant as the earth is from its sun ; and then were heard from the heavens unspeakable words, which, being collected to- gether, were articulated into this expression, that " There is one God, who is Man, whose habitation is in that Sun." This articulate sentence descended through the interme- diate heavens to the lowest, and from this into the world of spirits, where I was ; and I perceived that the idea of one God, which the angels had, was changed, according to the degrees of descent, into an idea of three Gods. When I observed this, I began to speak with those who thought of three Gods, saying, " Oh, what an enormity ! Whence did you get that ? " And they replied, " We think of three, from the idea of our perception concerning the triune God ; but still this does not fall into our mouth ; when we speak, we always say roundly, that ' God is one ; ' if in our minds there is another idea, let it be so, provided it do not flow down and divide the unity of God in the mouth ; but still from time to time it does flow down, because it is within ; and then, if we should speak out, we should say 'three Gods ; ' but we are on our guard against this, lest we should be exposed to the ridicule of those who hear us." And then they spoke openly from their thought, saying, " Are there not three Gods, because there are three Divine per- sons, each one of whom is God ? We cannot think other- wise, since the leader of our church, from the depository of his holy dogmas, ascribes creation to one, redemption to another, and sanctification to the third ; and, especially, since he attributes to each of them His peculiar properties, which, he asserts, are incommunicable, and which are not only creation, redemption, and sanctification, but also im- putation, mediation, and operation. Is there not, then, one who created us, and he also imputes ? another who redeemed us, and he also mediates ? and a third who oper- 226 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. ates the mediated imputation, and he also sanctifies ? Who does not know that the Son of God was sent by the Father into the world to redeem the human race, and thus become an Expiator, Mediator, Propitiator, and Intercessor ? And, • because he is one with the Son of God from eternity, are there not two persons distinct from each other ? and be- cause these two are in heaven, one sitting at the right hand of the other, should there not be a third person, who may execute in the world what is decreed in heaven ? " Having heard this, I was silent, but thought with myself, Oh, what infatuation ! They do not know any thing at all of what is meant in the Word by mediation. And then, by the com- mand of the Lord, three angels descended from heaven and were associated with me, in order that from an interior perception I might speak with those who had the idea of three Gods ; and particularly concerning mediation, inter- cession, propitiation, and expiation, which are attributed by them to the second person, or the Son, but not until He had become man, many ages after the creation, when those four means to salvation were not yet in existence, and thus God the Father was not propitiated, the human race not expiated, nor any one sent from heaven, to intercede and mediate. Then, from the inspiration afforded me, I spoke with them, saying, " Come hither as many of you as can, and hear what is meant in the Word by mediation, intercession, expiation, and propitiation. These four are predicated of the grace of the one God in His Human. God the Father can never be approached, nor can He come to any man, because He is infinite, and in His esse, which is Jehovah ; and if He should come to man from this. He would con- sume him, as fire consumes wood and reduces it to ashes. This is manifest from these considerations : that He said to Moses who wished to see Him, that No one can see Him and live (Ex. xxxiii. 20). And the Lord said. No one hath ever seen God, except the Son, who is in the bosotn of the J^ather (John i. 18; Matt. xi. 27); also that No one hath No. 135.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 22/ heard the voice of fhe Father, nor seen His shape (John v. 37). It is read, indeed, that Moses saw Jehovah face to face, and spoke with Him mouth to mouth ; but this was done through an angel ; in like manner, with Abraham and Gideon. Now, because God the Father in Himself is such, He was pleased to assume the Human, and in this to admit men to Himself, and thus to hear them and to speak with them ; and this Human is what is called the Son of God ; and this is what mediates, intercedes, propitiates, and expiates. I will tell, therefore, what those four things, predicated of the Human of God the Father, signify. Media- tion signifies that the Human is the medium between them, through which man may come to God the Father, and God the Father may come to man and so teach and lead him that he may be saved ; wherefore the Son of God, by whom is meant the Human of God the Father, is called Saviour ; and in the world, jfesus, that is, Salvation.* Intercession signifies perpetual mediation ; for love itself, the properties of which are mercy, clemency, and grace, perpetually inter- cedes, that is, mediates, for those who do His command- ments, whom He loves. Expiation signifies the removal of sins, into which man would rush if Jehovah not clothed should be approached by him. Propitiation signifies the operation of clemency and grace, lest man by sins should bring himself into condemnation ; likewise protection, lest he should profane holiness ; this was signified by the pro- pitiatory or mercy-seat over the ark in the tabernacle. It is known that God spoke in the Word according to appear- ances, as that He is angry, avenges, tempts, punishes, casts into hell, condemns, yea, that He does evil ; when yet He is angry with no one. He does not avenge, tempt, punish, cast into hell, nor condemn : these things are as far from God as heaven is from hell, and infinitely farther ; where- fore they are forms of speech according to appearance ; such, also, in another sense, are expiation, propitiation, in- tercession, and mediation, by which are meant the ways and * Sahis. See p. 251. 228 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. means of access to God, and of receiving grace from God through His Human; which not being understood, men have divided God into three, and upon these three have founded all the doctrine of the church, and so have falsi- fied the Word : hence the abomination of desolation, foretold by the Lord in Daniel, and again in Matt, xxiv." When I had said this, the company of spirits retired from around me, and I observed that they who actually had the thought of three Gods looked towards hell, and those who had the thought of one God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and that this is in the Lord God the Saviour, looked towards heaven ; and to these appeared the Sun of heaven, in which Jehovah is in His Human. 136. Third Relation. I saw, at a distance, five gym- nasiums, each of which was surrounded with light from heaven. The first gymnasium was surrounded with purple light, such as is in the clouds in the morning before sun- rise on earth ; the second gymnasium was surrounded with a yellow light, like that of the morning after sunrise ; the third gymnasium was surrounded with a bright light, like that of noonday in the world ; the fourth gymnasium was surrounded with a middle kind of light, such as there is when it begins to be mixed with the shade of evening; and the fifth gymnasium stood in the very shade of even- ing. The gymnasiums in the world of spirits are spacious halls, where the learned assemble, and discuss various im portant questions, which serve to promote their knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. On seeing them, I felt a strong desire to go to one of them, and I went in the spirit to that which was surrounded with a middle kind of light ; and I entered, and there was seen a company of learned men assembled, who were discussing what is involved by that which is said concerning the Lord, that, being taken up into heaven. He sitteth at the right hand of God (Mark xvi. 19). Most of the company assembled said that those things should be understood exactly according to the words, that No. 136.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 229 the Son thus sits beside the Father. But it was asked, "Why so?" Some said that the Son was placed by the Father at the right hand, on account of the redemption which He accomplished ; some, that He sits thus out of love ; some, that it was in order that He might be His Counsellor, and because He is so, that He may receive honor from the angels ; and some that it was for the rea- son that it was given Him by the Father to reign in His stead, for it is read that All p07ver is given imto Him in heaven and in earth ; but a great part, that He may hear those on the right hand, for whom He intercedes ; for all in the church at this day go to God the Father, and pray Him to have mercy for the sake of the Son; and this causes the Father to turn Himself to Him, that He may receive His mediation. But some said that only the Son of God from eternity sits at the right hand of the Father, that He may communicate His Divinity to the Son of Man born in the world. On hearing these words, I wondered exceedingly that learned men, although they had been liv- ing some time in the spiritual world, should still be so ignorant of heavenly things ; but I perceived the cause, that, by reason of confidence in their own intelligence, they did not suffer themselves to be instructed by the wise. But that they might not continue any longer in ignorance con- cerning the Son's sitting on the right hand of the Father, I raised my hand, requesting that they would listen to a few words which I wished to speak on that subject. And as they assented, I said, " Do you not know from the Word that the Father and the Son are one, and that the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father ? This the Lord openly says in John x, 30, and xiv. 10, 11. If you do not believe these words, you divide God into two, which being done, you cannot think otherwise than naturally, sensually, yes, materially, concerning God, which has also been done in the world, ever since the Nicene council, which intro- duced three Divine persons from eternity, and thereby 230 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. turned the church into a theatre, ornamented with painted scenery, within which the actors represented new scenes. Who does not know and acknowledge that God is one ? If you acknowledge this in heart and spirit, all that you have said is dissipated of itself, and rebounds into the air, like idle words from the ear of a wise man." At these words, many were enraged, and longed to pull my ears, and to command silence ; but the president of the assem- bly, in a fit of indignation, said, "The discussion here is not concerning the unity and the plurality of God, because we believe both ; but concerning this : What is involved by the Son's sitting at the right hand of the Father ? If you know any thing about this, speak." And I replied, " I will speak ; but, I beseech you, stop the noise." And I said, ^'' By sittifig on the right hand is not meant sitting on the right hand ; but by that expression is meant the omnipo- tence of God by means of the Human which He assumed in the world ; by this He is in the lasts as well as in the firsts ; by this He entered, destroyed, and subjugated the hells ; by this He arranged the heavens in order ; so by this He redeemed both angels and men, and continues to redeem for ever. " If you consult the Word, and are such that you can be enlightened, you will perceive that, by the right hand there, is meant omnipotence, as in Isaiah : Mv hand hath laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand hath spantied the heavens (xlviii. 13) ; Jehovah hath sworn by His right HAND, and by the arm of His strength (Ixii. 8). And in David : Thy right hand holdeth me up (Ps. xviii. 35). Look to the Son, whom Thou madest strong for Thyself; let Thy HAND be for the man of the right hand, for the Son of Ma7i whom Thou madest strong for Thyself (\xxx. 15, 17). Thence it is evident how this is to be understood : Jehovah said unto my Lord: Sit Thou at My right hand, until L make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Jehovah shall send the rod of Thy stre?igth out of Zion ; rule Thou in the midst of I No. 137] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 23 1 Thine etiemies (Ps. ex. i, 2). That whole psalm treats con- cerning the battle of the Lord with the hells, and concern- ing their subjugation. Since the right hand of God signifies omnipotence, therefore the Lord says, that He is to sit at THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER (Matt. XXvi. 64), and at THE RIGHT HAND OF THE POWER OF GOD (Lukc Xxii. 69)." But at these words the company became tumultuous ; and I said, " Take heed to yourselves ; perhaps a hand may ap- pear from heaven, which, when it appears (as it had to me), strikes an incredible dread of power ; which was to me a confirmation, that the right hand of God signifies omnipo- tence." Scarcely was this said, when a hand was stretched out under heaven, at the sight of which, so great a terror seized them that they rushed in crowds to the gates, and some to the windows that they might cast themselves out, and some, losing their breath, fainted away. But I re- mained not terrified, and, after them, went slowly away; and at some distance thence I turned about, and saw that gymnasium covered over with a dark cloud ; and it was told me from heaven that it was so covered because they spoke from the belief of three Gods, and that the former light would return when those of a sounder mind should assemble there. 137. Fourth Relation. I heard that a council was convened of those who were celebrated for their writings and learning concerning the faith of the present time, and concerning the justification of the elect by it. This was in the world of spirits ; and it was given me to be present in the spirit ; and I saw those summoned from the clerg}', some assenting and some dissenting. On the right stood those, who, in the world, were called Apostolic Fathers, and who lived in the ages preceding the Nicene council ; and on the left stood men renowned in succeeding ages for their books, printed or written out by students. Many of the latter had their faces shaved, and their heads covered with curled wigs made of women's hair, and some of them 232 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. had collars with little rolls [in collariis ex volvulis\ and some had collars with flying ends \in collariis ex alls'] ; but the former had long beards, and wore their natural hair. Before both parties there stood a man, a judge and critic of the writings of this age, with a staff in his hand, who struck the floor, and caused silence. He ascended to the upper step of the pulpit, and breathed out a groan ; and from that he wished to raise his voice aloud, but the sigh- ing gasp kept back his voice in the throat ; but at length, speaking, he said, " Oh ! my brethren, what an age ! There has risen up one from the herd of the laity, having neither gown, tiara, nor laurel, who has pulled down our faith from heaven, and cast it into the Styx. Oh, horrible ! and yet that alone is our star, which shines like Orion in the night, and like Lucifer in the morning. That man, although ad- vanced in years, is entirely blind in respect to the mysteries of our faith, because he has not opened it, and seen in it the righteousness of the Lord the Saviour, and His mediation and atonement ; and, since he has not seen those, neither has he seen the wonders of His justification, which are the remission of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and salva- tion. This man, instead of our faith, which is in the liigh- est degree saving, because it is in the three Divine persons, thus in the whole Deity, has transferred faith to the second person ; and not to Him, but to His Human, which, indeed, we call Divine from the incarnation of the Son from eter- nity ; but who thinks of it as any thing more than merely human ? And what else can thence result, but a faith from which naturalism flows as from a fountain? And such a faith, because it is not spiritual, differs but little from faith in a pope or a saint. You know what Calvin said in his time, concerning worship from this faith ; and I beseech you, tell me, one of you, whence is faith ? Is it not imme- diately from God, which thus has in it all things of salva- tion ? " At these words, his companions on the left side, whose faces were shaven, and who wore wigs and collars. m No. 137.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 233 clapped their hands, and exclaimed, " You have spoken most wisely ! We know that we cannot take any thing which is not given us from heaven. Let that prophet tell us whence faith is, and what it is, if that be not faith. It is impossible that there should be any other, or from any other source ; and to produce a faith which is faith, other than this, is as impossible as it is for a man to ride on horseback to a constellation in heaven, and take thence a star, and put it in his pocket, and bring it down." This he said, that his companions might laugh at every new faith. On hearing these words, the men on the right, who had long beards and wore their natural hair, were filled with indignation ; and one of them rose up (an old man, but still he seemed like a young man afterwards, for he was an angel from heaven, where every age becomes youthful), and spoke, saying, *' I have heard what your faith is, which the man in the pulpit has so magnified. But what is that faith but the sepulchre of our Lord, after the resurrection, again closed by the soldiers of Pilate ? I have opened it, and have seen nothing there but the rods of jugglers, with which the magicians in Egypt did miracles. Truly your faith externally in your eyes is like a chest made of gold' and set with precious stones, which when it is opened is empty, except perhaps in the corners of it there may be dust from the relics of Roman Catholics ; for these, also, have the same faith, only at this day it is covered over by them with external sanctities. It is also (to use compari- sons) like the vestal virgin amongst the ancients, buried under the ground, because she let the sacred fire go out ; and I can solemnly declare that to my eyes it is like the golden calf, around which the children of Israel danced, after Moses departed and ascended into mount Sinai to Jehovah. Do not wonder that I should speak of your faith by such comparisons, because we speak so of it in heaven. But our faith is, was, and will for ever be, in the Lord God the Saviour, whose Human is Divine, and whose Divine is 234 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. Human, thus accommodated to reception, and by means of which the spiritual Divine is united to the natural of man, and there results a spiritual faith in the natural, whence the natural becomes as it were transparent, from the spiritual light in which our faith is. The truths of which it consists are as many as the verses in the sacred volume ; those truths are all like stars which manifest and form that faith by their lights. Man takes it from the Word by means of his natural light [lumen], in which it is knowledge, thought, and persuasion ; but the Lord causes it to become, in such as believe in Him, conviction, trust, and confidence ; thus natural faith becomes spiritual, and by means of charity it becomes living. This faith with us is like a queen adorned with as many precious stones as the wall of the holy Jeru- salem (Apoc. xxi. 17-20). But lest you should suppose that these things which I have said are only high-flown words, and that they may not therefore be despised, I will read to you some things from the holy Word, from which it will be manifest that our faith is not in a man, as you suppose, but in the true God, in whom is all the Divine. John says, y^esus Christ is the true God and eternal life (i John v. 20) ; Paul, In Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9) ; and in the Acts of the Apostles, that he preached, both to the yews and to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith i?i our Lord yesus Christ (xx. 21) ; and the Lord Himself, that All potver is given to Him in heaven and in earth (Matt, xxviii. 18); these are but few of the passages." After this, the angel looked at me, and said, *' You know what the so-called Evangelical believe, or are expected to believe, concerning the Lord the Saviour : recite, therefore, some things, that we may know whether they are in such in- fatuation as to believe that His Human is merely human, or whether they ascribe to it something of the Divine, or how they do believe." Then, in the presence of all the assem- bly, I read the following passages from those which I had collected from their book of orthodoxy, called " Formula i No. 137.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 235 Concordiae," and printed at Leipsic in the year 1756: In Christ the Divine and human natures are so united that they make one person (pp. 606, 762). Christ is truly God and Man, in an undivided person, and continues to be so for ei^rer (pp. 609, 673, 762). In Christ God is Man, and Man God (pp. 607, 765). The human nature of Christ is exalted to all Divine majesty ; this also from many of the fathers (pp. 844 -852, 860-865, 869-878), Christ, as to the human nature, is omnipresent, and fills all things (pp. 768, 783-785). Christ, as to the human nature, has all power in heaven and in earth (pp. 775, 776, 780). Christ, as to the human nature, sits at the right hand of the Father (pp. 608, 764). Christ, as to the human nature, is to be invoked, conftrmed by quotations from the Scripture (p. 226). The Augsburg confession very highly approves of that worship (p. 19)." After these pas- sages were read, I turned myself to the president, and said, " I know that all here are consociated with their like in the natural world ; tell me, I pray, whether you know with whom you are consociated." He replied in a grave tone, " I do know ; I am consociated with a famous man, a leader of illustrious bands from the army of the church." And as he answered in so grave a tone, I said, "Allow me to ask whether you know where that famous leader lives." And he said, " Yes, I do ; he lives not far from Luther's tomb." At this I smiled, and said, " Why do you speak of his tomb ? Do you not know that Luther has risen again, and that he has now renounced his erroneous opinions con- cerning justification by faith in three Divine persons from eternitj", and has therefore been transferred to a place among the happy of the new heaven, and that he sees and laughs at those who are running mad after him ? " And he rejoined, " I know it ; but what is th^ to me ? " And then I addressed him in a tone similar to his owti, saying, " Inspire the famous companion with whom you are con- sociated with this, — that I am afraid, that, contrary to the orthodoxy of his church, he robbed the Lord of His Divinity, 236 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II or suffered his pen to make a furrow in which he thought- lessly sowed naturalism, at the very time when he wrote against the worship of the Lord our Saviour." To this he replied, " I cannot do this, because he and I, as to this thing, make almost one mind ; but he does not understand the things that I say, while I understand clearly all that he says : " for the spiritual world enters into the natural world, and perceives the thoughts of men there ; but not the re- verse : this is the state of the consociation of spirits and men. Now, because I had begun to speak with the presi- dent, I said, " I will ask, if you please, another question. Do you know that the orthodoxy of the Evangelical, in the hand-book of their church, called the " Formula Concordiae," teaches, that in Christ God is Man, and Man is God, and that His Divine and Human are, and continue for ever to be, in an undivided person ? How then could he, and how can you, defile the worship of the Lord with naturalism ? " To which he replied, " I know that, and yet I do not know it." Wherefore I continued, by saying, " I ask him, although he is absent, or you in his stead. Whence was the soul of our Lord ? If you answer that it was from the mother, you talk insanely ; if from Joseph, you profane the Word ; but if from the Holy Spirit, you say rightly, if only by the Holy Spirit you mean the Divine proceeding and operating, so that He is the Son of Jehovah God. Again I ask. What is the hypostatic union ? If you answer that it is a union as between two, one above and the other below, you talk insanely ; for, in that case, you might have made God the Saviour two, as you have made God three; but if you say that it is a personal union like that of the soul and body, you say rightly : this also is according to your doctrine and also to that of the fathers. Consult the " Formula Con- cordiae " (pp. 765-768) ; also the creed of Athanasius, where are these words : The right faith is, that we believe and con- fess that our Lord jfesus Christ is God and Man; Who, although He is God and Matt, yet is not two, but one Christ : No. 137.] THE LORD THE REDEEMER. 237 one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person ; for, as the ratio7ial soul and the flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ. I ask, moreover, What else was the damnable heresy of Arius (on account of whom the Nicene council was convened by the emperor Constan- tine the Great) than that he denied the Divinity of the Lord's Human? Again, tell me whom you understand by these words in Jeremiah, Behold the days come, when I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch who shall reign a King; and this shall be His name, Jehovah our Righteousness (xxiii. 5, 6 ; xxxiii. 15, 16). If you say, the Son from eter- nity, you talk insanely ; that was not the Redeemer ; but if you say, the Son born in time, who was the Only-begotten Son of God (John i. 18; iii. 16), you say rightly ; He by redemption became Righteousness, from which you make your faith. Read also Isaiah ix. 6 ; besides other passages, in which it is foretold that Jehovah Himself was about to come into the world." At these words, the president was silent, and turned himself away. After these things were done, the president wished to close the council with prayer ; but suddenly a man then started up from the company on the left, who had a tiara on his head, and a cap over that ; and he touched the cap with his finger, and spoke, saying, " I am also consociated with a man in your world, who is there in a place of high honor : this I know, because I speak from him, as he does from me." And I asked, "Where is the abode of that eminent per- son ? " He replied, " At Gottenburg ; and I once thought from him that your new doctrine savored of Mohamme- danism." On hearing which, I saw that all on the right hand, where the apostolic fathers stood, were astonished and changed countenance ; and I heard exclamations com- ing from their minds, through the mouth, " Oh, horrible ! Oh, what an age ! " But to calm their just resentment, I put forth my hands, and requested a hearing ; which being granted, I said, "I know that a man of that eminence 238 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. II. wrote some such thing in a letter, which was afterwards printed ; but if he had known at the time what a blas- phemy that is, he surely would have torn it in pieces with his fingers, or committed it to the flames. It is such con- tumely as that which is meant by the words of the Lord to the Jews who said that Christ did miracles by other power than the Divine (Matt. xii. 22-32) : besides this, He also says in the same place, He that is not with Me, is against Me ; and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth abroad (v. 30)." At these words, the consociated spirit hung down his head ; but presently he raised it up, and said, " I have heard severer things from you than ever." But I rejoined, " The two charges of naturalism and Mo- hammedanism are the cause of this, which are wicked lies invented by craft, and two deadly stigmas designed to turn away men's wills and deter them from the holy wor- ship of the Lord." And I turned myself to the latter consociated spirit, and said, " Tell him at Gottenburg, if you can, to jead what is said by the Lord in the Apoca- lypse (iii. 18; and also ii. 16)." At these words, a noise was made, but it was stilled by light descending from heaven ; in consequence of which many of those on the left side went over to those on the right, those only re- maining who think only vain things, and therefore depend on the authority of some master, and also those who be- lieve concerning the Lord in the human only. From both of these classes the light which descended from heaven seemed to be thrown back, and to flow into those who had passed from the left to the right side. CHAPTER THIRD. CONCERNING THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND CONCERNING THE DIVINE OPERATION. 138. All of the sacred order who have entertained any just idea concerning the Lord our Saviour, on their en- trance into the spiritual world, which is generally on the third day after their decease, are first instructed concerning the Divine Trinity ; and particularly concerning the Holy Spirit, that it is not a God by itself, but that by it in the Word is meant the Divine Operation, proceeding from- the one omnipresent God. The reason why they are partic- ularly instructed concerning the Holy Spirit is, because most enthusiasts after death fall into the insane fancy that they themselves are the Holy Spirit ; and also be- cause many of the church, who in the world believed that the Holy Spirit spoke through them, terrify others by the words of the Lord in Matthew, that to speak against those things with which the Holy Spirit inspired them is the unpardonable sin (xii. 31, 32). They who after instruc- tion recede from the faith that the Holy Spirit is a God by itself are informed afterwards concerning the unity of God, that it is not divided into three persons, each one of whom singly is God and Lord, according to the Athana sian creed ; but that the Divine Trinity is in the Lord the Saviour, as the soul, the body, and the proceeding virtue, with every man. These are then prepared for receiving the faith of the new heaven ; and, after they are prepared, a way is opened for them to a society in heaven, where there is the same faith ; and a mansion is given them among their brethren, with whom they will live in blessed- 240 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. ness for ever. Now, because we have treated concerning God the Creator, and concerning the Lord the Redeemer, it is necessary that we should also treat concerning the Holy Spirit ; and this subject, like the rest, is to be divided into its articles, which are the following : I, The Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth^ and also the Divine Virtue and Operation, proceediiig from the One God in Whom is the Di- vine Tri?tity, thus from the Lord God the Saviour. II. The Divine Virtue and Operation which are meant by the Holy Spirit are, in general, Reformation and Regeneration, and, according to these. Renovation, Vivification, Sanctijication, and yustification ; and, according to these, Purification from evils and Remission of sins and finally Salvation. III. That Divine Virtue and Operation which is meant by the send- ing of the Holy Spirit, with the clergy specially, is En- lightenment and Instruction. IV. The Lord operates those virtues in those who believe in Him. V. The Lord operates out of Himself, from the Father, and not the reverse. VI. The spirit of a man is his mind and whatsoever proceeds from it. 139. I. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth, and ALSO THE Divine Virtue and Operation, proceeding FROM THE One God in whom is the Divine Trinity, thus from the Lord God the Saviour. By the Holy Spirit is properly signified the Divine Truth, thus also the Word ; and in this sense the Lord Himself is also the Holy Spirit ; but because in the church at this day the Divine operation which is actual justification is described by the Holy Spirit, therefore this is here assumed as the Holy Spirit ; and of this chiefly we speak for the reason, also, that the Divine operation is effected by the Divine truth which proceeds out of the Lord ; and that which proceeds is of one and the same essence with Him from Whom it proceeds, like these three, the soul, the body, and the proceeding virtue, which together make one es- sence ; with man, merely human, but with the Lord, Divine No. 139. 1 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 24 1 and Human also ; these after the glorification being united together, like the prior with its posterior, and like an essence with its form. Thus the three essentials, which are called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the Lord are one. That the Lord is the Divine Truth itself, or Divine Verity, was shown abo\'e ; and that the Holy Spirit is also the same, is manifest from these passages : And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the Spirit of jfehovah shall rest upon Hifn, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might ; He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked ; righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His reins (Isa. xi. i, 4, 5). He shall come like a food, the Spirit of jfehovah shall bear the standard against him; then the Redeemer shall come to Zion (lix. 19, 20). The Spirit of the Lord Jfehovah is upon Me, yehovah hath anointed Me, He hath sent Me to preach good tidings to the poor (Ixi. i j Luke iv. 18). This is My covenant; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words shall not depart out of thy mouth, frojn henceforth and for. ever (Isa. lix. 21). Since the Lord is the Truth itself, therefore all that which proceeds out of Him is truth ; and this is meant by the Comforter, which is also called the Spirit of Iruth, and the Holy Spirit; this is manifest from these passages: / tell you the TRUTH ; // is expedient for you that I go away ; for, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come UJito you ; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you (John xvi. 7). When the Spirit of Truth is come. He shall lead you into all truth ; He shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear shall He speak (x\d. 13). He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mi?ie, and shall show unto you : all things that the Father hath, are Mine ; therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show unto you (xvi. 14, 15). / will ask the Father that He may give you another Com- forter, the Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive^ 242 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. HI. because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, because He dwelleth ivith you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans ; I will come to yo2(, and ye shall see Me (John xiv. 16-19). When the Comforter is come, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, He shall testify of Ale (xv. 26). This is called the Holy Spirit (xiv. 26). That the Lord meant Himself by the Comforter or tlie Holy Spirit, is manifest from those words of the Lord, that the world did not yet know Him, but ye know Him ; I will not leave you orphans ; I will come to you ; ye shall see Me. And in -another place, Lo, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age (Matt, xxviii. 20) ; also from these words, He shall not speak from Himself, but shall receive of Mine. 140. Now, because the Divine Truth is meant by the Holy Spirit, and this was in the Lord, and was the Lord Himself (John xiv. 6), and so because it could not pro- ceed from any other source, therefore it is said. The Holy Spirit was not yet, because jfesus was not yet glorified (vii. 39) ; and after the glorification, He breathed upon the dis- ciples, and said. Receive ye the Holy Spirit (xx. 22). The reason why the Lord breathed upon the disciples, and said this, was because aspiration [or breathing upon] was an external representative sign of Divine inspiration ; but in- spiration is an insertion into angelic societies. From these things the understanding may comprehend this which was said by the angel Gabriel concerning the conception of the Lord : The Holy Spirit shall cotne upon thee, and the Pozver of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore the Holy Thing which is born of thee shall be called the Son of God (Luke i. 35). Also, The angel of the Lord in a dream said to jFoseph, Fear not to take Alary for thy wife, for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit. And Joseph knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son (Matt. i. 20, 25). The Holy Spirit there is the Divine Truth proceeding from Jehovah the Father ; and this pro- No. 141.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 243 ceeding is the Power of the Highest, which then over- shadowed the mother. This, therefore, coincides with this in John : The Word was with God, and the Word tvas God ; and the Word became Flesh (i. i, 14). That by the Word is there meant the Divine Truth, see in "The Faith of the New Church," above (n. 3). 141. That the Divine Trinity is in the Lord was demon- strated above, and will be demonstrated more fully in the sequel, when we come to treat professedly concerning it. Here, only some absurdities following from that trinity divided into persons will be considered. This would be as if some minister of the church were to teach from the pulpit what should be believed and what should be done, and beside him another minister should stand and whisper in his ear, "You say this rightly; add also something more ; " and they should say to a third, standing on the stairs, " Descend into the temple, and open their ears, and pour those things into their hearts, and at the same time cause them to be purities, sanctities, and pledges of right- eousness." A Divine Trinity divided into persons, each of whom singly is God and Lord, is also similar to three suns in one world ; one on high, near another, and the third beneath, which pours its rays around angels and men and brings the heat and light of the other two into their minds, hearts, and bodies, and subtilizes, clarifies, and sublimates them, as fire does the material in retorts. Who does not see that if it were so man would be burned even to ashes ? The government of three Divine persons in heaven, also, would be like the government of three kings in one king- dom, or to the command of three generals of equal rank over one army ; or rather to the Roman government before the times of the Caesars, when there were a consul, a senate, and a tribune of the people ; among whom, indeed, the power was divided, but still the sovereignty was in them all together. Who does not see that it is absurd, ridicu- lous, and foolish, to introduce such a government into 244 . THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. heaven ; and it is introduced when a power hke that of a chief consul is ascribed to God the Father, a power hke that of the senate to the Son, and a power hke that of the tribune of the people to the Holy Spirit ; and this is done when a peculiar office is ascribed to each one, especially if it is added that those properties are not communicable. 142. II. The Divine Virtue and Operation which ARE MEANT BY THE HoLY SPIRIT ARE, IN GENERAL, REF- ORMATION AND Regeneration; and, according to these, Renovation, Vivification, Sanctification, and Justifi- cation; AND, ACCORDING TO THESE, PURIFICATION FROM Evils and Remission of Sins and finally Salvation. These are, in their order, the virtues which the Lord oper- ates in those who believe in Him, and who accommodate and dispose themselves for His reception and abode ; and this is done by means of Divine truth, and with Christians by means of the Word ; for this is the only medium through which man draws near to the Lord, and into which the Lord enters ; for, as was said above, the Lord is the Divine Truth itself, and whatsoever proceeds from Him is Divine truth. But the Divine truth from good is to be understood, which is the same with faith from charity ; for faith is no other than truth, and charity is no other than goodness. By means of Divine truth from good, that is, by means of faith from charity, man is reformed and regenerated ; also renovated, vivified, sanctified, justified ; and, according to the progress and increase of these, is purified from evils ; and purification from evils is remission of sins. But all these operations of the Lord cannot be explained here, one by one, because each requires its analysis, confirmed from the Word, and illustrated by reason ; and this does not belong to this place ; wherefore the reader is referred to those things which follow in order in this work, which are concerning Charity, Faith, Free Will, Repentance, and also Reformation and Rejjeneration. It should be known that No. 144.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 24$ the Lord is continually operating those saving graces with every man, for they are steps to heaven, for the Lord wills the salvation of all ; wherefore the salvation of all is His end, and he who wills an end wills the means. His coming, redemption, and the passion of the cross, were for the sake of the salvation of men (Matt, xviii. 1 1 ; Luke xix. 10) ; and, because the salvation of men was and for ever is His end, it follows that the above-mentioned operations are mediate ends, and to save is the ultimate end. 143. The operation of these virtues is the Holy Spirit that the Lord sends to those who believe in Him and who dispose themselves to receive Him ; and it is meant by the Spirit in these passages : A new heart also will I give you and A NEW SPIRIT ; / will put My Spirit in the midst of you, and cause you to walk in My statutes (Ez. xxxvi. 26, 27 ; xi. ig). Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew A RIGHT SPIRIT within 7ne : restore iinto me the joy of Thy salvation, and let A free spirit uphold me (Ps. li. 10, 12). yehovah formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him (Zech. xii. i). With my soul I have waited for Thee in the night, and with my spirit in the ?nidst of me I have waited for Thee in the morning (Isa. xxvi. 9). Make you a new heart, afid a new spirit : why will ye die? (Ez. xviii. 31) : besides other passages. In those passages, by a new heart is meant the will of good, and by a new spirit, the under- standing of truth. That the Lord operates these, in those who do what is good, and believe what is true, thus in those who are in the faith of charity, is very manifest from the things there, as that God gives a soul to those who walk in His statutes; and also, that it is called a free spirit: and that man is to operate on His part is manifest from this : Make you a new heart, and a new spirit ; why will ye die, O house of Israeli 144. We read that, when yesus was baptized, the heavens were opened, and yohn saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove (Matt. iii. 16 ; Mark i. 10 ; Luke iii. 21 ; John i. 32, 33). 246 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. This look place because baptism signifies regeneration and purification, as also does the dove. Who cannot perceive, that the dove was not the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit was not in the dove ? Doves often appear in heaven ; and as often as they appear, the angels know that they are correspondences of the affections and thence the thoughts in relation to regeneration and purification, with some who stand near by ; wherefore, as soon as they come up to them, and speak with them concerning any thing else than what was in their thoughts when that appearance was pre- sented, the doves instantly vanish. This is like many things which appeared to the prophets ; as that a lamb appeared to John on Mount Zion (Apoc. xiv. i ; and in other places). Who does not know that the Lord was not that lamb, nor in the lamb, but that the lamb was a representation of His innocence ? Hence is manifest the error of those who deduce the three persons of the trinity from the dove seen upon the Lord when He was baptized, and from the voice then heard from heaven. This is my beloved Son. That the Lord regenerates man by faith and charity, is meant by what John the Baptist said: I baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after Me will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt. iii. 11 ; Mark i. 8; Luke iii. 16). To baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire is to regenerate by the Divine truth which is of faith, and by the Divine good which is of charity. The like is signified by these words of the Lord : Except a man be born if water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John iii. 5). By water here, as elsewhere in the Word, is signified truth in the natural or external man, and by the spirit, truth from good in the spiritual or internal man. 145. Now, because the Lord is Divine Truth itself from the Divine Good, and this is His very essence, and every one acts what he acts from his essence, it is evident that the Lord continually wills (nor can He will otherwise) to implant truth and good, or faith and charity, in every No. 146.1 THE HOLY SPIRIT. * 24/ man. This may be illustrated by many things in the world, as by this, that every man wills and thinks, and, as far as it is allowable, speaks and acts, from his essence ; as, for example, a faithful man thinks and intends faithful things ; an honest, upright, pious, and religious man, hon- est, upright, pious, and religious things ; and, on the con- trary, a haughty, cunning, treacherous, and covetous man, such things as make one with his essence. A fortune-teller wishes only to tell fortunes, and a fool only to prate against the things which are of wisdom ; in a word, an angel medi- tates and practises only heavenly things, and a devil only infernal things. The case is similar with every subject of lower rank in the animal kingdom, as with a bird, a beast, a fish, an insect, winged and not winged ; every one is cog- nized from its essence or nature, from which and according to which is the instinct of each. In like manner in the vegetable kingdom every tree, every shrub, and every herb, is cognized from its fruit and seed, in which its essence is innate ; nor can any thing else be produced therefrom, but what is similar to itself and its own ; yes, every kind of ground, clay, and stone, noble and ignoble, and every mineral and metal, is estimated from its essence. 146. III. That Divine Virtue and Operation which IS MEANT BY THE SENDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, WITH THE Clergy specially, is Enlightenment and Instruc- tion. The Lord's operations enumerated in the preceding arti- cle, which are reformation, regeneration, renovation, vivifi- cation, sanctification, justification, purification, remission of sins, and finally salvation, flow in from the Lord, as well with the clergy as with the laity, and are received by those who are in the Lord, and the Lord in them (John vi. 56 ; xiv. 20 ; XV. 4, 5). But the reasons why enlightenment and instruction are for the clergy specially, are, because these belong to their office, and inauguration into the ministry 248 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. Ill brings them with it ; and also they believe that, while they are preaching from zeal, they are inspired, like the disciples of the Lord on whom the Lord breathed, saying, Receive ye the Holy Spirit (John xx. 22 ; and also Mark xiii. 1 1), Some also afifirm that they have felt the influx. But they should be very cautious how they persuade themselves that the zeal by which many are actuated while they are speaking in public is the Divine operation in their hearts ; for a similar and even a warmer zeal is excited in the breasts of enthusiasts, and also in those who are in extreme falsities of doctrine ; yes, in those who despise the Word, and wor- ship nature instead of God, and cast faith and charity as it were into a bag behind the back ; and whilst they are preaching and teaching they hang it before them as a kind of stomach, like a ruminant's, from which they select and give out such things as they know will serve for food to the hearers. For zeal viewed in itself is a violent heating of the natural man ; if there is within it the love of truth, then it is like the sacred fire which flowed into the apostles, con- cerning which it is thus written in the Acts : There appeared to them cloven tongues^ as of fire, and sat npon every one of them, whe?ice they all were filled with the Holy Spirit (ii. 3, 4). But if the love of falsity lies inwardly concealed in that zeal or heat, it is then like fire imprisoned in wood, which bursts forth and burns the house. You, who deny the sanctity of the Word and the Divinity of the Lord, take off, I beseech you, your bag from your back, and open it, as you do freely at home, and you will see. I know that those who are meant by Lucifer in Isaiah, and who are of Babel, when they enter the temple, and especially when they ascend the pulpit, particularly those who call themselves of the society of Jesus, are hurried away by a zeal which in many cases is from infernal love ; and hence they shout more vehe- mently, and fetch deeper sighs from their breasts, than those who are in zeal from heavenly love. That there are two other spiritual operations with the clergy may be seen below (n. 155). No. 147.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 249 147. The church is yet nearly ignorant that in all man's will and thought, and hence in all his action and speech, there is an internal and an external, and that mali from infancy is taught to speak from the external, however the internal dissents ; thence proceed dissimulation, flattery, and hypocrisy ; consequently that he is double-minded ; and he only is single-minded whose external thinks and speaks and wills and acts from the internal : these also are meant by the simple [by honest and single] in the Word (as Luke viii. 15; xi. 34; and in other places); although they are wiser than the double-minded. That there is doubleness and triplicity in every created thing is evident from these things in the human body : every nerve therein consists of fibres, and every fibre of fibrils ; every muscle of little bundles of fibres, and these of moving fibres ; every artery of coats in a triple series. It is the same with the human mind, whose spiritual organism is such ; this is ac- cording to what was said above, that the human mind is distinguished into three regions, the highest of which (this js also the inmost) is called heavenly \celestial\ the mid- dle spiritual^ and the lowest natural. The minds of all men who deny the sanctity of the Word and the Divinity of the Lord think in the lowest region ; but, because from infancy they have learned also the spiritual things which are of the church, and receive them, but put them below natural things (which are various scientific, political, and civil-moral things), and because these have a seat in the mind lowest and nearest to the speech, they speak from these in temples and in companies ; and, what is wonder- ful, they then know no otherwise than that they speak and teach from belief in them ; when, nevertheless, as soon as they are in their freedom, which is the case at home, the door is opened which has closed the internal of their mind, and then sometimes they laugh at those things which they have preached in public, saying in heart, that theological things are specious snares for catching doves. 250 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. 148. The internal and external of such persons may be likened to poisons covered over with coatings of sugar ; and also to the wild gourds which the sons of the prophets gathered and cast into the pottage, and while they were eating it, they cried out, There is death in the pot (2 Kings iv. 38-43). They may also be compared to the beast com- ing up out of the earth,* which had two horns as of a lamb, and spoke as a dragon (Apoc. xiii. 11). In what follows, that beast is called the false prophet. And they are like robbers in a city where the citizens are moral, who in the city act morally and speak rationally, but when they return into the forests they are wild beasts ; or they are also like pirates, who upon the land are men, but at sea crocodiles. While on land or in the city, these walk about like pan- thers clothed with the skin of the sheep, or like apes dressed in men's clothes, with masks of the human coun- tenance covering their faces. They may also be likened to a harlot, who anoints herself with balsam, and paints her face with carmine, and clothes herself with white silk, ornamented with flowers ; who when she returns to her house undresses in the presence of her paramours, and infects them with her loathsome disease. That those who in heart deny sanctity to the Word and Divinity to the Lord are such has been given me well to know, by the experience of years in the spiritual world ; for there all at first are kept in their externals, but afterwards, when these are removed, they are let into internals, and then their comedy becomes a tragedy. 149, IV. The Lord operates those Virtues in THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HiM, That the Lord operates those virtues, which are meant by the sending of the Holy Spirit, in those who believe in Him, that is, that He reforms, regenerates, renovates, vivi- fies, sanctifies, justifies, purifies from evils, and finally * The Latin here reads ex mart, out of the sea. No. 150.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 25 1 saves them, is evident from all the passages in the Word that may be seen adduced above (n. 107), which prove that those have salvation* and eternal life, who believe in the Lord ; and, moreover, from this : ycsus said, He that be- LIEVETH IN Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers oflivi?ig water ; this spake He of the Spirit which they that believe in Him should receive (John vii. 38, 39) ; and also from this : The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit OF* Prophecy (Apoc. xix. 10). By the spirit of prophecy is meant the truth of doctrine from the Word ; prophecy sig- nifies no other than doctrine, and to prophesy, to teach it ; and by the testimony of yesus is meant confession from faith in Him. The like is meant by His testimony in this passage : The angels of Michael overcame the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony ; and the dragon went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testifnony of Jesus Christ (Apoc. xii. II, 17). 150. The reason why those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are to receive those spiritual virtues, is, because He is Salvation* and Eternal Life; Salvation,* because He is the Savior ; His name Jesus also means this : Eternal Life, because those in whom He is, and who are in Him, have eternal life ; wherefore also He is called Eternal Life (i John V. 20). Now, because He is Salvation* and Eternal Life, it follows that He is all that by which salvation * and eternal life are obtained ; consequently, that He is the all of refor- mation, regeneration, renovation, vivification, sanctification, justification, purification from evils, and at length is Salva- tion.t The Lord operates these in every man ; that is, He strives to introduce them ; and when man accommodates and disposes himself for the reception, He does introduce them. The active [work] of accommodation and disposition is also from the Lord ; but if man does not receive them with a free spirit, then, notwithstanding the Lord's effort which constantly continues. He cannot intro.duce them. * Salus, the state of salvation, f Salvatip, salvation in an active sense. 252 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. HI. 151. To believe in the Lord is not only to acknowledge Him, but also to do His commandments ; for merely to acknowledge Him is only of the thought, from some un- derstanding; but to do His commandments is also of acknowledgment from the will. Man's mind consists of understanding and will, and it is the part of the under- standing to think, and of the will to do ; wherefore, while man only acknowledges from the thought of the under- standing, he goes to the Lord from half of the mind onty ; but when he does His commandments, then from the whole; and^this is to believe. Otherwise, a man may divide his heart, and compel its surface to raise itself up- wards, while its flesh turns itself downwards ; and thus he flies like an eagle between heaven and hell , and yet man does not follow his sight, but the enjoyment of his flesh ; and because this is in hell, therefore he flies down thither ; and, after he has there sacrificed to his sensual pleasures, and poured out libations of wine to demons, he puts on a countenance of gayety, and causes his eyes to sparkle with fire, and thus counterfeits an angel of light. They who acknowledge the Lord but do not keep His command- ments, become such satans after death. 152. It was shown in the foregoing article that the sal- vation and eternal life of men are the first and the last ends of the Lord ; and, because the first and the last ends contain in them the mediate ends, it follows that the above-mentioned spiritual virtues are together in the Lord, and also from the Lord in man, but still they come forth successively; for the mind of man grows like his body; the body in stature, but the mind in wisdom. Thus, also, the latter is exalted from region to region ; that is, from the natural to the spiritual, and from this to the heavenly [celestial] ; and in this region man is called wise, in that intelligent, and in the lowest knowing; but this exaltation of the mind is not effected except from time to time ; and it is effected as man. procures for himself truths and con- No. 153.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 253 joins them with good. As with one who is building a house : he first procures for himself the materials for it, as bricks, tiles, beams, and rafters ; and so he lays the foundation, raises the walls, divides it into rooms, makes doors for them, and windows in the walls, and stairs from one story to another ; all these things are together in the end, which is a commodious and elegant habitation, which he foresees and provides. It is similar with a temple when it is build- ing; all things for its construction exist together in the end, which is the worship of God, It is similar with all other things, as with gardens and fields, and also with offices and employments, for which the end procures for itself the requisite instruments. 153. V. The Lord operates out of Himself from THE Father, and not the reverse. By operating is here meant the same thing as by sending the Holy Spirit, since the above-mentioned operations, which are, in general, reformation, regeneration, renova- tion, vivification, sanctification, justification, purification from evils, and remission of sins, which are at this day attributed to the Holy Spirit as to a God by Himself, are the operations of the Lord. That these are out of the Lord from the Father, and not the reverse, shall be first confirmed from the Word, and afterwards illustrated by many things which are of reason. From the Word by these : When the Comforter is come, whom I will send FROM THE Father, the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me (John xv. 26). If I go not away, the Comforter will not come to you ; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you (xvi. 7). The Comforter, the Spirit of truth, will not speak from Himself, but He will take of Mine, and shall show tmto you ; all things whatso- ever the Father hath are Mine ; therefore said I, that He shall take of Mine, and shall show ufito you (xvi. 13-15). The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet 254 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IIL GLORIFIED (vii. 39). Jesus BREATHED oti the discipks, and said. Receive ye the Holy Spirit (xx. 22). Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it (xiv. 13, 14). From these passages it is very manifest that the Lord sends the Holy Spirit, that is, operates those things which at this day are ascribed to the Holy Spirit as a God by Himself ; for it is said that He would send Him from the Father ; that He would send Him to you ; that the Holy Spirit was not yet, be- cause Jesus was not yet glorified ; that after the glorifica- tion He breathed on the disciples, and said. Receive ye the Holy Spirit ; and also that He said, Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, I will do; as also, The Comforter will take of Mine, wJiat He will show. That the Comforter is the same as the Holy Spirit may be seen, John xiv. 26. That God the Father does not operate those virtues out of Himself through the Son, but that the Son operates them out of Himself from the Father, is evident from these words: No one hath seen God at any time; the Only- begotteti Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath manifested Hitn (John i. 18); and in another place. Ye have not heard the voice of the Father at any time, nor seen His shape (v. 37). From these, therefore, it follows, that God the Father operates in the Son and into the Son, but not through the Son ; but that the Lord operates out of Him- self from His Father ; for He says. All things of the Father are Mine (John xvi. 1 5) ; that the Father hath given all things into the hatid of the Son (iii. 35) ; and also that, As the Father hath life in Himself, so He hath given to the Son to have life in Himself (v, 26) ; as also. The words that I speak are spirit and life (vi. 63). The reason why the Lord says that the Spirit of truth proceeds from the Father (John XV. 26), is because it does proceed from God the Father into the Son, and out of the Son from the Father ; wherefore also He says. At that day ye shall know that the No. 154.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 255 Father is in Me, and I in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (xiv. II, 20). From these plain declarations of the Lord, an error in the Christian world is very manifest, which is, that God the Father sends the Holy Spirit to man; and the error of the Greek church, that God the Father sends the Holy Spirit immediately. That the Lord sends the Holy Spirit out of Himself from God the Father, and not the reverse, — this is from heaven ; and the angels call it an arcanum, because it has not yet been made known in the world. 154. These things may be illustrated by many things which are of reason, as by these : It is known that the apostles, after they had received the gift of the Holy Spirit from the Lord, preached the Gospel through a great part of the world, and that they promulgated it by speaking and writings ; and they did this out of themselves from the Lord ; for Peter taught and wrote in one manner, James in another, John in another, and Paul in another ; each according to his own intelligence ; the Lord filled them all with His Spirit, but each took of it a measure according to the quality of his perception, and they exer- cised it according to the quality of their ability. All the angels in the heavens are filled by the Lord, for they are in the Lord and the Lord in them ; but still each speaks and acts according to the state of his mind, some in simplicity, some in wisdom, so with an infinite variety ; and yet every one speaks out of himself from the Lord. It is. similar with every minister of the church, whether he be in truths or in falsities ; each has his own mouth and his own intel- ligence, and each speaks out of his own mind, that is, out of his spirit which he possesses. While all Protestants, whether they are called Evangelical or Reformed, have been instructed in the dogmas delivered by Luther, Me- lancthon, or Calvin, — these leaders or their dogmas do not speak out of themselves through their followers, but their followers speak out of themselves from them ; every single 256 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. 111. dogma also may be set forth in a thousand ways, for each is hke a cornucopia^ from which every one takes out what is favorable and adapted to his own genius, and presents it according to his own talent. This may be illustrated by the action of the heart in the lungs and upon them, ana by the reaction of the lungs of themselves from the heart \ these are two distinct things, but still reciprocally united ; the lungs respire of themselves from the heart, not the heart through the lungs ; if this were done, both would stop. It is similar also with the heart's action in the viscera and upon the viscera of the whole body \ the heart sends forth the blood in all directions, but the viscera receive therefrom each its portion, according to the kind of use which it performs, and each also acts according to this ; thus they act in various ways. The same may be illustrated by these things : Evil from parents, which is called hereditary, acts in man and upon man ; in like man- ner, good from the Lord ; the latter acts above or within, the former acts below or without ; if evil should act through the man, he would not be capable of being re- formed, nor would he be a subject of blame ; in like man- ner, if good from the Lord should act through the man, he would not be capable of being reformed ; but because each depends on the free choice of man, he becomes guilty when he acts out of himself from evil, and guiltless when he acts out of himself from good. Now, because evil is the devil, and good is the Lord, he becomes guilty if he acts from the devil, and guiltless if he acts from the Lord. Owing to that free choice which every man has, man can be reformed. It is similar with all the internal and external in man ; these are two distinct things, but still reciprocally united ; the internal acts in the external and upon it, but it does not act through the external ; for the internal revolves a thousand things, of which the external takes only such as are accommodated to use ; for in the internal of man, by which is meant his mind, voluntary No. 154.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 257 and perceptive, there are heaps of ideas in a volume, which, if they should flow out through man's mouth, would be like a blast from the bellows. The internal, because it revolves universals, may be compared to an ocean, a flower-bed, or a garden, from which the external takes out as much as is sufficient for use. The Word of the Lord is like an ocean, a flower-bed, and a garden; when the Word, is in any degree of fulness in a man's internal, then the man speaks and acts out of himself from the Word, and not the Word through him. So it is with the Lord, be- cause He is the Word, that is, the Divine Truth and the Divine Good therein ; the Lord acts out of Himself or out of the Word, in man and upon him, but not through him, for a man acts and speaks freely from the Lord while he acts and speaks from the Word. But this may be more familiarly illustrated by the mutual intercourse between the soul and the body, which are two distinct things, but reciprocally united ; the soul acts in the body and upon the body, yet not through the body ; but the body acts out of itself from the soul. That the soul does not act through the body, is because they do not consult and deliberate with each other; nor does the soul command or request the body to do this or that, or to speak out of its mouth ; nor does the body require or ask the soul to give or supply any thing, for every thing of the soul is the body's mutually and interchangeably. It is similar with the Divine and the Human of the Lord ; for the Divine of the Father is the Soul of His Human, and the Human is His Body ; and the Human does not ask its Divine to tell what it shall speak or do ; wherefore the Lord says, At that day ye shall ask in My name, and I say not unto you that I will pray the Father for you ; for the Father Himself loveth you, because ye have loved Me (John xvi. 26, 27); in that day, is after the glorification, that is, after perfect and absolute union with the Father. This arcanum is from the Lord Himself, for those who will be of His New Church. 258 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. 155. It was shown above, in the third article, that that Divine virtue which is meant by the operation of the Holy Spirit, with the clergy is specially enlightenment and in- struction. But in addition to these two there are two intermediate ones, which are perception and disposition ; wherefore there are four, which with the clergy follow in order — Enlightenment, Perception, Disposition, and Instruc- tion. Enlightenment is from the Lord. Perception is with man according to the state of his mind formed by doctrinals ; if these are true, the perception becomes clear from the light which enlightens ; but if they are false, the perception becomes obscure, which may nevertheless ap- pear as if it were clear from confirmations ; but this is from illusive light which to merely natural sight is like clearness. But Disposition is from the affection of the love in the will ; the enjoyment coming from this love dis- poses ; if this is from the love of evil and thence of falsity, it excites a zeal which outwardly is stern, rough, burning, and flaming ; and inwardly it is anger, rage, and unmerci- fulness : but if it be of good, and thence of truth, it is outwardly mild, smooth, thundering, and flashing ; and inwardly it is charity, grace, and mercy. Instruction follows as an effect from the preceding as causes. Thus the enlightenment which is from the Lord is turned into various lights and into various heats with every one, ac- cording to the state of his mind. 156. VI, Man's Spirit is his Mind, and whatever PROCEEDS FROM HIM. By the spirit of man, in the concrete, no other is meant than his mind ; for it is this which lives after death, and then is called a spirit ; if good, an angelic spirit, and after- wards an angel ; if evil, a satanic spirit, and afterwards a satan. The mind of every man is his internal man which actually is the man, and is within the external man which makes his body ; wherefore, when the body is rejected, No. 156.J THE HOLY SPIRIT. 259 which is done by death, it is in a complete human form. They are therefore in error who beUeve that man's mind is in the head only ; it is there in principles only, from which first goes forth every thing that man thinks from the understanding and acts from the will ; but it is in the body in the derivatives formed for sensation and action ; and because inwardly it adheres to the things of the body, it imparts to them sense and motion, and in- spires a perception as if the body thought and acted from itself; but every wise man knows that this is a fallacy. Now because man's spirit thinks from the understanding and acts from the will, and the body does not think and act from itself but from the spirit, it follows that by man's spirit is meant his intelligence and the affection of love, and whatever proceeds from them and operates. That the spirit of man signifies such things as are of the mind is evident from many passages in the Word, for while they are only adduced it may be seen by any one that they mean no other. Of the many these are a few : Bezaleel was filled with the spirit of wisdojfi, intelligence^ and knoivledge (Ex. xxxi. 3). Nebuchadnezzar said concerning Daniel, that an excellent spirit of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom was inhitn (Dan. v. 12). jfoshua 7uas filled with the spirit of wisdom (Deut. xxxiv. 9). Make yon a new heart and a new spirit (Ez. xviii. 31). Blessed are the poor i?i spirit, for of such is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. v. 3). / d^vell in the contrite atid humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble (Isa. Ivii. 15). .The sacrifices of God are a brokeii spirit (Ps. li. 17). I will give the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isa. Ixi. 3) ; besides other places. That spirit signifies such things as are of a perverted and wicked mind, is evident from these : He said to the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit (Ez. xiii. 3). Con- ceive chaff, bring forth stubble ; as to your spirit, fire shall devour you (Isa. xxxiii. 11). A man who is a wanderer in spirit, ajid who uttereth falsehood (Micah ii. ji). A getiera- 26o THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. Ill tio?i whose spirit was not steadfast with God (Ps. Ixxviii. 8). The spirit of whoredo?Jts (Hosea v, 4 ; iv, 12). That every heart may melt, ajid every spirit may faint (Ez. xxi. 7). That which cometh itito your spirit shall never be done (Ez. XX. 32). hi whose spirit there is no guile (Ps. xxxii. 2), Tht spirit of Pharaoh was troubled (Gen. xli. 8). In like man- ner of Nebuchad?iezzar (Dan. ii. 3). From these and very many other passages, it is fully manifest that spirit signifies the mind of man and such things as are of the mind. 157. Since by the spirit of man is meant his mind, therefore by being in the spirit, which is sometimes said in the Word, is meant a state of the mind separate from the body ; and because in that state the prophets saw such things as exist in the spiritual world, it is called the vision of God. They were then in a state such as spirits and angels themselves are in, in that world. In that state, the spirit of man, like his mind as to sight, may be transported from place to place, the body remaining in its own. This is the state in which I have now been for twenty-six years, with this difference, that I have been in the spirit and at the same time in the body, and only some times out of the body. That Ezekiel, Zechariah, Daniel, and John when he wrote the Apocalypse, were in that state, is evident from the following passages : Ezekiel says, The spirit took me 7ip and brought me back into Chal- dea, to the captivity, in vision, in the spirit of God ; so the vision which I saw went up from me (xi. i, 24). That the spirit took him up, atid he heard behind him an earthquake (iii. 12, 13). That the spirit lifted him up between the earth and the heaven, and carried him away to Jerusalem, and he saw abominations (viii. 3, and following verses). - That he sa7v four animals, which were cherubs, and various things with them (chapters i. and x.). And also a new earth, and a new temple, and an angel ineasuring them (xl. to xlviii.). That he was then in vision and in the spirit (xl. 2, xliii. 5). The case was similar with Zechariah, in whom there was then No. 157.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 261 an angel, when he saw a man riding on a horse, among the myrtle-trees (i. 8, and following verses). When he saw four horns, and a fnan in whose hand was a measuring line (i. 18 ; ii. I, and following verses) : jfoshua, the high priest, (iii. I, and following verses) : four chariots going out between two mountains, and horses (vi. i, and following verses). In a similar state was Daniel, when he saw four beasts coming up out of the sea, and many more things conce?-ning them (vii. i, and following verses) : when he saw the battles of the ram and the he-goat (viii. i, and following verses). He saw those things in vision (vii. i, 2, 7, 13 ; viii. 2 ; x, i, 7, 8) : the angel Gabriel appca7-ed to him in vision, a?id talked with him (ix. 21). The case was similar with John when he wrote the Apocalypse, who says that he was in the spirit on the Lord's day (Apoc. i. 10): that he was carried in the spirit into the wilderness (xvii. 3) : upon a high mountain in the spirit (xxi. 10). It is said that he saw /// vision (ix. 17); and in other places, that he saw those things which he described j as that he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven candlesticks ; a tabernacle, a temple, an ark, and an altar, in heaven ; the book sealed with seven seals, and horses, going out of it ; the four animals around the throne ; the twelve thousand chosen out of each tribe ; the Lamb on Mount Zion ; locusts ascending out of the abyss ; the dragon and his battle with Michael ; a woman bring- ing forth a male child, and fleeing into the wilderness on account of the dragon ; two beasts, one ascending out of the sea, and the other out of the earth ; a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast ; the dragon cast into a lake of fire and brimstone ; a white horse, and a great supper ; the holy city Jerusalem coming down, described as to the gates, the wall, and its foundations ; the river of living water, and the trees of life yielding fruit every month ; besides many other things. In a similar state were Peter, James, and John, when they saw Jesus transfigured ; and Paul, when he heard out of heaven ineffable things. 262 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. 158. A Corollary. Since we have treated in this chapter concerning the Holy Spirit, it ought by all means to be mentioned that in the Word of the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is nowhere named, but only the Spirit of Holiness in three places ; once in David (Ps. li. 11), and twice in Isaiah (Ixiii. 10, ii): but in the Word of the New Testament, both in the Evangelists and in the Acts of the Apostles, and in their Epistles, frequently. The reason is, because the Holy Spirit was then for the first time when the Lord came into the world, for the Holy Spirit proceeds out of Him from the Father ; for THE Lord only is Holy (Apoc. xv. 4) ; wherefore also it is said by the angel Gabriel to Mary the mother, The Holy Thmg which shall be born of thee (Luke i. 35). The reason why it was said. The Holy Spirit was not yet, because jfesiis was not yet glorified (John vii. 39), and yet it is said before that the Holy Spirit filled Elizabeth (Luke i. 41, and Zechariah i. 67), as also Simeon (ii. 25), was, because the Spirit of Jehovah the Father filled them, which was called the Holy Spirit on account of the Lord who was already in the world. This is the reason why, in the Word of the Old Testament, it is nowhere said that the prophets spoke from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah ; for every- where it is said, jfehovah spake to tne ; The Word of jfcho- vah came to me; jfehovah said; the saying of Jehovah. That no one may doubt but that it is so, I will cite only from Jeremiah, where these things are said : i. 4, 7, 11, 12, i3» 14, 19; ii- I' 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 19, 22, 29, 31 ; iii. i, 6, 10, 12, 14, 16; iv. I, 3, 9, 17, 27 ; v. II, 14, 18, 22, 29 ; vi. 6, 9, 12, 15, 16, 21, 22 ; vii. I, 3, II, 13, 19, 20, 21 ; viii. i, 3, 12, 13 ; ix. 3, 6, 9, 12, 13, 15, 20, 22, 23 ; X, I, 2, 18 ; xi. i, 3, 6, 9, II, 17, 18, 21, 22 ; xii. 14, 17 ; xiii. i, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, i5» 25 ; xiv. I, 10, 14, 15; XV. I, 2, 3, 6, II, 19, 20; xvi. I, 3, 5, 9, 14, 16 ; xvii. 5, 19, 20, 21, 24; xviii. i, 5, 6, II, 13 ; xix. I, 3, 6, 12, 15 ; xx. 4 ; xxi. i, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12 ; xxii. 2, 5, 6, II, 18, 24, 29, 30; xxiii. 2, 5, 7, 12, 15, 24, 29, No. 159] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 263 31, 38 ; xxiv. 3, 5, 8 ; xxv. i, 3, 7, 8, 9, 15, 27, 28, 29, 32 ; xxvi. I, 2, 18; xxvii. I, 2, 4, 8, 11, 16, 19, 21, 22 ; xxviii. 2, 12, 14, 16; xxix. 4, 8, 9, 16, 19, 20, 21, 25, 30, 31, 32; XXX. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, II, 12, 17, 18 ; xxxi. i, 2, 7, 10, 15, 16, 17, 23, 27, 28, 31, 32, ss, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 ; xxxii. i, 6, 14, i5> 25, 26, 28, 30, 36, 42 ; xxxiii. i, 2, 4, 10, 12, 13, 17, 19, 20, 23, 25; xxxiv. I, 2, 4, 8, 12, 13, 17, 22 ; XXXV. 1, 13. i7» 18, 19; xxxvi. I, 6, 27, 29, 30; xxxvii. 6, 7, 9 ; xxxviii. 2, 3, 17 ; xxxix. 15, 16, 17, 18 ; xl. i ; xlii. 7, 9, 15, 18, 19 ; xliii. 8, 10; xliv. i, 2, 7. 11, 24, 25, 26, 30; xlv. 2, 5 ; xlvi. I, 23, 25, 28 ; xlvii. i ; xlviii. i, 8, 12, 30, 35, 38, 40, 43> 44, 47 ; xlix. 2, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 16, 18, 26, 28, 30, 32, 35, 37» 38, 39 i I- I, 4, 10, 18, 20, 21, 30, 31, 33, 35, 40 ; li. 25? 33, 36, 39, 52, 58. These in Jeremiah only; the like is said in all the other prophets, and not that the Holy Spirit spoke, nor that Jehovah spoke to them by the Holy Spirit. 159. To the above I will add these Relations. First: Once when I was in company with angels in heaven, I saw, at a distance below, a great smoke, and occasionally fire bursting out of it ; and then I said to the angels who were talking with me, that few here know that the smoke seen in the hells arises from falsities confirmed by reasonings, and that the fire is anger kindling against those who con- tradict ; to which I added, that this is as unknown in this world as it is in my world, where I live in the body, that flame is nothing but smoke set on fire : that it is so, I have often proved by experiment, for I have seen smoke ascending from the wood in the fire-place, and when I applied fire to it by a lighted torch, I saw that smoke turned into flame, and this in a similar form with that ; for the particles of smoke become little sparks, and they all blaze together, as is also the case with lighted powder. It is so with the smoke which we see below ; this consists of as many falsities, and the fire bursting forth as a flame there, is the kindling of zeal in favor of them. Then the 264 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. angels said to me, " Let us pray to the Lord, that it may be allowed us to descend and approach, so that we may perceive what are the falsities which with them thus smoke and burn." And leave was given ; and lo, there appeared around us a pillar of light extending continuously to the place ; and then we saw four companies of spirits who were strenuously maintaining that God the Father, because He is invisible, is to be approached and worshipped, and not His Son born in the world, because He is a man and visible. When I looked to the sides, at the left appeared the learned of the clergy, and behind them the unlearned ; and at the right the learned of the laity, and behind them the un- learned ; but between us and them there was a yawning gulf, which could not be passed. But we turned our eyes and ears to the left, where were the learned of the clergy, and the unlearned behind them, and we heard them reason- ing about God after this manner: "We know from the doc- trine of our church, which respecting God is the same in the whole European world, that God the Father, because He is invisible, is to be approached, and at the same time God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, who also are invisi- ble, because coeternal with the Father ; and because God the Father is the Creator of the universe and therefore is in the universe, wherever we turn our eyes He is present ; and when we pray to Him He graciously hears ; and, after having accepted of the Son's mediation, He sends the Holy Spirit, Who brings into our hearts the glory of His Son's righteousness and blesses us. Being appointed teachers of the church, while we have been preaching we have felt the holy operation of that mission in our breasts, and we have breathed out our devotion from His presence in our minds. We are so affected because we direct all our senses towards the invisible God, who operates not singly in the sight of our understanding, but universally in the whole system of our mind and body, by His emissary Spirit : such effects would not result from the worship of a visible God, No. 159.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 265 or one who is conspicuous to our minds as a man." At these words the unlearned of the clergy who stood behind them manifested their approval, and added this: "Whence is what is holy but from the Divine, unseen, and impercep- tible ? At this, as soon as it reaches our ears, our counte- nances expand, and we are exhilarated as by the fragrance of an odoriferous aura, and also we beat our breasts : it is otherwise with what is seen and perceptible ; this, when it enters the ear, becomes merely natural and not Divine. For a similar reason the Roman Catholics say their masses in Latin, and the Host, concerning which they tell Divine mystical things, they take out from the recesses of the altars and show ; at which, as at the most sacred mysteries, the people fall upon their knees, and breathe out some- thing holy." After this we turned towards the right, where stood the learned and behind them the unlearned of the laity; and from the learned I heard these things: "We know that the wisest among the ancients worshipped an invisible God, W^hom they called yehovah ; but that after these, in the age which succeeded, they made for them- selves gods of deceased monarchs, among whom were Sat- urn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, and also Minerva, Diana, Venus, Themis, and built temples for them, and offered Divine worship ; from which worship, when in time it degenerated, arose idolatry, which at length filled the whole world with insanity. We therefore unanimously agree with our priests and elders, that there were and are three Divine Persons from eternity, each of whom is God ; and it is enough for us that they are invisible." To this the unlearned behind them added, " We concur. Is not God God, and man man ? But we know that if any one should set forth the view of a God-Man, the common herd of mankind, who have a sensual idea concerning God, would accede to it." After these words their eyes were opened and they saw us near them ; and then, from indignation that we had heard them, they became silent : but then the VOL. I. 12 266 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. angels, by a power given to them, closed the exterior or lower regions of their thoughts from which they spoke, and opened the interior or higher regions, and compelled them to speak concerning God from these ; and then they spoke and said, " What is God ? We have not seen His shape nor heard His voice. What then is God but nature in its firsts and its lasts ? This we have seen, for it shines in our eyes ; and this we have heard, for it sounds in our ears." On hearing these words, we .said to them, *' Have you ever seen Socinus, who acknowledged only God the Father ? or Arius, who denied the Divinity of the Lord the Saviour ? or any of their followers ? " To which they replied, " We have not." " They are," we said, " in the deep below you." And presently some were called up thence, and, being ques- tioned concerning God, they spoke in like manner as those had before, and said moreover, " What is God ? We can make as many gods as we please." And then we said, " It is in vain to talk with you about the Son of God, born in the world ; but still we will say this : Lest faith respecting God, in Him and from Him (and this in the first and the second age was like a bubble beautifully colored), should also in the third and the following age burst into nothing- ness because no one saw Him, it pleased Jehovah God to descend and assume the Human, and thus to exhibit Him- self to view, and to evince that God is not a thing of rea- soning, but the Itself, which was, is, and will be from eternity to eternity ; and that God is not a mere word of three let- ters, but that He is the all of reality from Alpha to Omega ; consequently, that He is the life and salvation of all who believe in Him as visible, and not of those who say that they believe in an invisible God ; for to believe, to see, and to know, make one ; wherefore the Lord said to Philip, He that seeth and knoweth Me, seeth and knoweth the Father ; and, in other places, that it is the will of the Father that they should believe in the Son, and that whosoever be- lieveth in the Son hath eternal life, but he who believetb No. 160.1 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 267 not the Son, shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. All these things He says in John iii. 15, 16, 36; xiv. 6-15." On hearing these things, many of the four com- panies were so enraged that smoke and fire came out of their nostrils ; wherefore we went away, and the angels, after they had accompanied me home, ascended into their heaven. 160. Second Relation. Once, in company with angels, I walked in the world of spirits, which is mediate between heaven and hell, into which all men after death first come, and are prepared, the good for heaven, and the bad for hell ; and I conversed with them concerning many things, among them also concerning this, that in the world, where I am in the body, there appear in the time of night innu- merable stars, greater and smaller, and that they are so many suns, which only transmit the light into the world to which our sun belongs ; " and when I saw, that in your world, also, stars are to be seen, I conjectured that these may be as many as there are in the world where I am." The angels, being delighted with this discourse, said that perhaps there may be as many, since every society of heaven, to those who are under heaven, sometimes shines like a star ; and the societies of heaven are innumerable, all arranged in order, according to the varieties of the affec- tions of the love of good, which in God are infinite, and thence from Him innumerable ; and because these were foreseen before the creation, I suppose that, according to the number of them, there have been provided, that is, cre- ated, as many stars in the world where men are, who must be in a natural material body. When we were thus talking together, I saw in the north a paved way, so crowded with spirits that there was scarcely room to step between two, and I said, to the angels that I had also seen this way before, and that I had heard that this was the way through which all pass who depart from the natural world. The reason why that way was covered with so great a number of 268 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. spirits, is because some myriads of men die every week, and they all pass into this world after death. To this the angels added, that that way is terminated in this world in the middle of it, where we now are ; the reason why it is terminated in the middle of it, is, that on the side towards the east are the societies which are in love to God and towards the neighbor ; and to the left, towards the west, the societies of those who, are in opposition to those loves ; and forwards, in the south, the societies of those who are more intelligent than the rest. Thence it is, that new- comers from the natural world first come hither. When they are here, they are then in the externals in which they were last in the former world ; and afterwards they are suc- cessively let into their internals, and are explored as to their quality, and, after exploration, are carried, the good to their places in heaven, and the bad to their places in hell. We stopped in the middle, where the way terminated by which they were flocking in, and said, " Let us stay here a little while, and speak with some of the new-comers." And we chose twelve from those flocking in ; and, because they all had just come from the natural world, they knew not but that they were still there ; and we asked them what were their sentiments about heaven and hell, and what about A LIFE AFTER DEATH. To which One of them re- plied, as follows : " Our sacred order impressed upon me the belief, that we shall live after death, and that there is a heaven and a hell ; and I have therefore believed that all who live morally come into heaven ; and, because all live morally, that no one goes to hell, and thus that hell is a fable invented by the clergy, that people may be deterred from living wickedly. What matter is it, if I think about God in this way or that ? Thought is only like chaff, or a bubble upon the water which bursts and goes off." Another near him said, " It is my belief that there is a heaven and a hell, and that God governs heaven, and i No. 160.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 269 the devil hell ; and because they are enemies, and therefore opposed to each other, one calls evil what the other calls good ; and that the moral man, who can dissemble, and cause evil to appear as good, and good as evil, stands on the side of both. What then is the difference, whether I am with the one or the other lord, if he only favors me ? Evil and good give men equal enjoyment." A third al his side said, " Of what consequence is it to me to believe that there is a heaven and a hell, for who has come thence and told ? If every man lived after death, why should not one out of so great a multitude have returned and told ? " A FOURTH near him said, " I will inform you why no one has ever returned and told : the reason is, that when man has breathed out his soul and has died, he then either be- comes a spectre and is dissipated, or is like the breath of the mouth, which is only wind. How can such a one return and speak with any one ? " A fifth took up the matter and said, " My friends, wait till the day of the last judg- ment, for all will then return into their own bodies, and you will see them, and talk with them, and then they will tell each other their destinies." A sixth, standing opposite and smiling said, " How can a spirit, which is wind, return into a body eaten up by worms, and at the same time into its skeleton burnt up by the sun and reduced to dust? And how can any Egyptian, who has been made a mummy, and has been mixed in by the apothecary with his extracts and emulsions to be drank or eaten, return and relate any thing ? Wherefore wait, if you have faith, till that last day , but you may wait for ever and ever in vain." After him the seventh said, " If I believed that there is a heaven and a hell, and thus a life after death, I should also believe that birds and beasts would likewise live. Are not some of them moral and rational equally with men ? It is denied that beasts live ; wherefore I deny that men do ; the reason is equal ; one follows from the other. What is man but an animal ? " An eighth, standing behind him, came up 2/0 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. and said, " Believe there is a heaven, if you will ; but I do not believe there is a hell. Is not God omnipotent? and is He not able to save every one ? " Then a ninth, patting his hand, said, " God is not only omnipotent but also gra- cious, and cannot send any one into eternal fire ; and if any one is there, He cannot but take him out thence and lift him up." A tenth ran out of his rank into the midst, and said, " Neither do I believe there is a hell. Did not God send His Son, and did not He make an atonement, and take away the sins of the whole world ? What then can the devil avail against that ? And because he cannot prevail, what then is hell ? " An eleventh, who was a priest, on hearing this grew warm and said, " Do you not know that those who have obtained the faith on which the merit of Christ is inscribed are saved, and that those whom God elects obtain that faith ? Is not election according to the will of the Almighty ? and is it not His prerogative to judge who are worthy ? Who can do any thing against His will and judgment ? " The twelfth, who was a politician, was silent ; but, being asked to crown all with an answer, he said, " I shall not say any thing concerning heaven, hell, and a life after death, since no one knows any thing about them ; but still allow the priests without rebuke to preach those things ; for so the minds of the common people are held bound by an invisible bond to the laws and the leaders: does not the public safety depend on this ? " We were amazed at hearing such things, and said among ourselves, "These, although they are called Christians, are not men nor beasts, but men-beasts." But, in order to awaken them out of sleep, we said, "There is a heaven and a hell, and there is a life after death ; you will be convinced that there is, when we dispel your ignorance concerning the state of life in which you now are ; for every one, in the first days after death, knows not but that he still is living in the same world in which he lived before ; for the time past is like a sleep from which, when any one No. i6o.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 27I is awaked, he perceives not but that he is where he was. It is so with you now ; wherefore you have spoken just as you thought in the former world." And the angels dis- pelled their ignorance, and then they saw themselves in another world, and among those whom they did not recog nize ; and then they exclaimed, " Oh ! where are we ? " And we said, " You are no longer in the natural world, but in the spiritual world, and we are angels." Then, after waking up, they said, " If you are angels, show us heaven." And we replied, " Wait here a little while, and we will re- turn." And on our return, after half an hour, we saw them expecting us, and said, " Follow us into heaven." And they followed, and we ascended with them ; and be- cause we were with them, the keepers opened the gate and let us in. And we said to those who at the threshold receive new-comers, " Examine these." And they turned them about, and saw that the hinder parts of their heads were very hollow ; and then they said, " Depart hence, because you have enjoyment from the love of doing evil, and therefore you are not conjoined with heaven ; for in your hearts you have denied God and despised religion." And we then said to them, " Do not delay, for if you do you will be cast out." And they hastened down and went away. On the way home, we spoke of the cause why the back parts of the head, with those who have enjoyment in doing evil, are in this world hollow. And I said that this was the cause, that man has two brains, one in the back part of the head, which is called the cerebellum, and the other in the fore part, which is called the cerebrum, and that in the cerebellum dwells the love of the will, and in the cerebrutn the thought of the, understanding; and that, when the thought of the understanding does not lead the love of man's will, the inmost parts of the cerebellum, which in themselves are heavenly \celestial\ collapse, and thence there is hollowness. 272 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. i6i. Third Relation. Once I heard in the spirit- ual world a sound as of a mill ; it was in the northern quarter of that world. I wondered at first what this was ; but I recollected that by a mill and by grinding in a mill is meant to seek from the Word what is serviceable for doctrine. Wherefore I went up to the place where the sound was heard ; and when I was near, the sound died away ; and then I saw a kind of arched roof above the ground, the entrance to which was through a cave. Seeing which, I descended and entered ; and, behold, there was a chamber, in which I saw an old man sitting among books, holding before him the Word, and seeking therefrom what was serviceable for his doctrine. Scraps of paper lay around, on which be wrote down what served him. There were scribes in an adjoining room, who gathered up the scraps, and copied the things written on them upon an entire sheet. I asked first about the books around him. He said that they all treated of justifying faith ; those which were from .Sweden and Denmark profoundly, those which were from Germany more profoundly, those which were from Britain more profoundly still, and most pro- foundly those from Holland. And he added that they differ in various things, but that in the article concerning justification and salvation by faith alone, they all agree. Afterwards he said that he was now collecting from the Word this first article of justifying faith, that God the Father receded from grace towards the human race, on account of their iniquities ; and that therefore there was a Divine necessity, for the saving of men, that satisfaction, reconciliation, propitiation, and mediation should be madej by some one who should take upon himself the condemna- tion of justice ; and this could by ng means be done but by His only Son ; and that after this was done, access to God the Father was open for His sake ; for we say, " Father, have mercy on us for the sake of Thy Son." And he said, ** I see and have seen that this is according to all reason No. 161.1 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 273 and Scripture. How otherwise could God the Father have been approached, except through faith in the merit of the Son ? " I heard this, and was astonished that he should say that it was according to reason and according to Scripture, when yet it is contrary to reason and contrary to Scripture, which I also told him plainly. He then rejoined, in the heat of his zeal, " How can you talk, so ? " Where- fore I opened my mind, saying, " Is it not contrary to reason to think that God the Father receded from grace towards the human race, and rejected and excommuni- cated it? Is not the Divine Grace an attribute of the Divine Essence ? Wherefore to recede from grace would be to recede from the Divine Essence ; and to recede from His Divine Essence would be to be no longer God. Can God be alienated from Himself? Believe me, that grace, on the part of God, as it is infinite, is also eternal. The grace of God may be lost on the part of man if he does not receive it. If grace were to depart from God there would be an end of all heaven and all the human race, for which reason grace on the part of God endures for ever, not only towards angels and men, but also towards the devils in hell. Since this is according to reason, why do you say that the only access to God the Father is through faith in the merit of the Son, when yet there is perpetual access through grace ? But why do you say access to God the Father for the sake of the Son, and not through the Son ? Is not the Son the Mediator and Saviour ? Why do you not go to the Mediator and Saviour Himself ? Is He not God and Man ? Who on earth goes immediately to any emperor, king, or prince ? Must there not be some one to procure admission and introduce him ? Do you not know that the Lord came into the world that He might introduce us to the Father ? and that access is not given except through Him ? and that this access is perpetual, when you go immediately to the Lord Himself, since He is in the Father and the Father in Him ? Search now in the 274 'THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. Scripture, and you will see that this is according to it, and that your way to the Father is as contrary to it as it is contrary to reason. I tell you, too, that it is presumption to climb up to God the Father, and not through Him Who is in the bosom of the Father, and Who alone is with Him. Have you not read John xiv. 6 ? " Hearing these things, the old man was so angry that he sprang from his seat, and called to his scribes to cast me out. And when I went out immediately of my own accord, he threw out of doors after me the book which his hand happened to seize, and that book was the Word. 162. Fourth Relation. There arose a question among certain spirits, whether any one can see any doctrinal truth in the Word, except from the Lord. They all agreed in this, that no one can, except from God^ because a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven (John iii. 27) : for which reason the dispute was whether any one can, unless he goes immediately to the Lord. They said, on the one side, that the Lord is to be approached directly, because He is the Word ; on the other side, that doctrinal truth may also be seen when God the Father is immedi- ately approached. And so the dispute settled down to this first point. Whether it is lawful for any Christian to go immediately to God the Father, and so to climb over the Lord ; and whether this is not insolence and audacity, both indecent and rash ; because the Lord says that no one cometh to the Father but by Him (John xiv. 6). But they left this, and said, that a man can see doctrinal truth from the Word by his own natural light \lu7nen'\ ; but this was rejected : wherefore they insisted that it may be seen by those who pray to God the Father. And something was read to them from the Word ; and then they prayed upon their knees that God the Father would enlighten them ; and as to the words which had been read to them from the Word, they said that this and that was the truth therein ; but it was false : and this repeatedly, to tediousness. At No. 162.] THE HOLY SPIRIT. 2/5 length they confessed that it was not possible. But, on the other hand, they who went immediately to the Lord saw truths and informed the others. After this disputation was thus decided, there came up some out of the abyss who appeared at first like locusts, and afterwards like dwarfs. They were those who in the world prayed to God the Father, and confirmed themselves in justification by faith alone. They were the same who are treated of in the Apocalypse (ix. i-i i). They said that they saw the tenet. That man is justified by faith alone, without the works of the law, in clear light, and also from the Word. They were asked, "By what faith?" They replied, "In God the Father." But after they were examined, it was said to them from heaven, that they did not know even one doc- trinal truth from the Word. But they rejoined, that they still saw their truths in the light. It was then said to them, that they saw them in fatuous light. They asked, " What is fatuous light ? " They were informed that fatuous light is the light of the confimation of falsity ; and that this light corresponds to the light in which birds of night and bats are, to which darkness is light, and light is darkness. This was confirmed by the fact, that when they looked upwards to heaven, where light itself is, they saw darkness ; but when they looked downwards to the abyss whence they came, they saw light. Being indignant at this con- firmation, they said that thus light and darkness are not any thing, but only the state of the eye, according to which light is called light, and darkness darkness. But it was shown that their light was fatuous light, which is the light of the confirmation of falsity ; and that it was only the activity of their mind, arising from the fire of lust ; not un- like the light of cats, whose eyes (in consequence of their burning appetite for mice) appear like candles in cellars in the night. On hearing this they angrily replied that they were not cats, nor like cats ; because they could see, if they would. But, because they were afraid of being asked 2/6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. why they would not, they retired and let themselves doAvn into their abyss. They who are there, and others like them, are also called by the angels birds of night and bats, and also locusts. When they came to their companions in the abyss, and told that the angels said, " We do not know any doctrinal truth, not even one, and they called us birds of night, bats, and locusts," a tumult was made there; and they said, " Let us pray to God for permission to ascend, and we will show clearly that we have many doctrinal truths, which the archangels themselves will acknowledge." And be- cause they prayed to God, leave was given ; and they ascended to the number of three hundred. And when they appe.ared above the earth, they said, " We were cele- brated and renowned in the world, because we knew and taught the mysteries of justification by faith alone : from confirmations we not only saw the light, but saw it as a flashing radiance ; as we still do in our cells. And yet we have heard from our companions who were with you, that that light is not light, but darkness, because we have not, as you said, any doctrinal truth from the Word. We know that every truth of the Word shines ; and we believe that our radiance is therefrom, while we meditate profoundly on our mysteries. We will, therefore, demonstrate that we have truths from the Word in great abundance." And they said, " Have we not this truth, that there is a Trinity, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that we must believe in the Trinity ? Have we not this truth, that Christ is our Redeemer and Saviour? Have we not this truth, that Christ alone is righteousness, and that He alone has merit ; and that he is unjust and im- pious who wishes to claim to himself any thing of His merit and righteousness ? Have we not this truth, that no mortal can do any spiritual good from himself, but that all good which is good in itself is from God ? Have we not this truth, that there is meritorious and also hypocriti- I No. 162.] . THE HOLY SPIRIT. 2// cal good, and that these goods are evil ? Have we not this truth, that still good works are to be done ? Have we not this truth, that there is faith, and that one must believe in God, and that every one has life according to his belief? besides many others from the Word ? Can any of you deny one of these ? And yet you said that we have not any truth in our schools, not even one. Have you not laid such things to our charge ungraciously ? " But they then received the answer : " All the things which you have advanced are in themselves true, but with you the.y are truths falsified, which are falsities, because they are de- rived from a false principle. That it is so, we will demon- strate even to the eye. There is a place, not far from this, into which light flows directly from heaven. In the midst of it, there is a table. When any paper on which a truth from the Word is written is laid upon it, that paper, from the truth written on it, shines like a star. Write your truths, therefore, on a paper, and let it be laid upon the table, and you will see." They did so, and gave it to the keeper, who laid it upon the table, and then said to them, " Draw back, and look at the table." And they drew back and looked ; and behold, the paper shone like a star. And then the keeper said, " You see that the things which you wrote on the paper are truths ; but come nearer, and fix your gaze on the paper." And they did so, and then the light suddenly disappeared, and the paper became black, as if covered with the soot of a furnace. And the keeper said further, " Touch the paper with your hands, but be careful not to touch the writing." And when they did so, a flame burst forth and consumed it. After these things were seen, it was said to them, " If you had touched the writing, you would have heard an explosion, and would have burned your fingers." And it was then said to them, by those who stood back, " You have now seen that the truths which you have abused to confirm the mysteries of your justification, are truths in themselves, but that in you they 2/8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [CSap. III. are truths falsified." They then looked upwards, and heaven appeared to them as blood, and afterwards as thick darkness ; and they seemed before the eyes of angelic spirits, some like bats, some like owls, and some like other birds of night ; and they fled away into their own dark- ness, which to their eyes shone illusively. The angelic spirits who were present wondered that they had not before known any thing of that place and of the table there. And then a voice came to them from the southern quarter, saying, " Come up hither, and you will see something still more wonderful." And they drew near, and entered into a chamber, whose walls glittered as if they were of gold ; and they saw there also a table, upon which lay the Word, set around with precious stones in a heavenly form. And the angel keeper said, " When the Word is opened, there beams forth from it a light of ineffa- ble brightness ; and at the same time there is from the precious stones the appearance as of a rainbow above and around the Word. When any angel from the third heaven comes thither, there appears above and around the Word a rainbow on a red ground. When an angel from the second heaven comes thither and looks, there appears a rainbow on a blue ground. When an angel from the low- est heaven comes thither and looks, there appears a rain- bow on a white ground. When any good spirit comes thither and looks, there appears a variegation of light, as of marble." That it is so, was also shown them visibly. The angel keeper further said, " If any one comes up who has falsified the Word, the splendor is then first dissipated ; and if he comes near, and fixes his eyes upon the Word, there comes the appearance as of blood around ; and he is then admonished to depart, because there is danger." But a certain one, who in the world had been a great champion of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, came up boldly, and said, "When I was in the world I did not falsify the Word ; I also exalted charity, together No. 162.1 THE HOLY SPIRIT. 2/9 with faith, and taught that man, in the state of faith, in which he does charity and its works, is renewed, regener- ated and sanctified by the Holy Spirit ; and also that faith is not solitary, that is, without good works ; as a good tree is not without fruit, the sun without light, and fire without heat ; and I also blamed those who said that good works were not necessary, and who said, besides, that I magnified the precepts of the decalogue and repentance also, and that so I applied all things of the Word to the article concerning faith in a wonderful way, which I still set forth and demon- strated to be alone saving." In the confidence of his asser- tion that he had not falsified the Word, he came up to the table, and, contrary to the warning of the angel, touched the Word. But then suddenly fire with smoke issued from the Word, and an explosion took place with a crash, by which he was thrown to a corner of the room, and lay there as dead for half an hour. The angelic spirits won- dered at this ; but it was said to them that this prelate had exalted the goods of charity, as proceeding from faith, more than others, but that still he meant no other than political works, which are also called moral and civil, and which are to be done for the sake of the world and of prosperity therein, and not at all for the sake of salvation ; and also, that he substituted some hidden works of the Holy Spirit, concerning which man knows nothing, which, in the state of faith, are ingenerated in faith. The angelic spirits then conversed with each other con- cerning the falsification of the Word ; and they agreed upon this, that to falsify the Word is to take truths from it and apply them to confirm falsities ; which is to drag them forth, outside of the Word, and to slay them. As for example : to apply all those truths, which were adduced above by those from the abyss, to the faith now prevalent, and to explain them from it. That this faith is impreg- nated with falsities will be demonstrated in what follows. Again, to take from the Word this truth, that charity is 280 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. to be exercised, and that good is to be done to the neigh- bor ; if any one then confirms this, that it is to be done, but not for the sake of salvation, as all the good from man is not good because it is meritorious, he drags that truth of the Word out of the Word, and destroys it ; since the Lord in His Word enjoins it upon every man who wishes to be saved, to love the neighbor, and from love to do him good. So in other cases. CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 163. We have treated of God the Creator, and at the san.e time we treated also of Creation ; then of the Lord the Rt deemer, and at the same time of Redemption ; and lastly of the Holy Spirit, and at the same time of the Divine Opera- tion. And having thus treated of the Triune God, it is necessary to treat also of the Divine Trinity, which is known in the Christian world, and yet is unknown. For by this alone can a just idea of God be obtained ; and a just idea of God is, in the church, like the shrine and the altar in a temple, and like a crown on the head and a sceptre in the hand of a king on his throne ; for on a just idea of God depends the whole body of theology, as a chain depends on its first link. And, if you will be- lieve it, every one is allotted his place in the heavens according to his idea of God ; for that is, as it were, the touchstone by which are tested the gold and the silver, that is, good and truth, as to their quality with man : for there is with him no saving good except from God, nor is there any truth which does not derive its quality from the bosom of good. But that it may be seen, with both eyes, what the Divine Trinity is, the exposition of it shall be divided into articles, as follows : I. There is a Divine Trinify, which is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. H. These three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three essentials of one God, which make one, as soul, body, and operation make one in man. No. 164.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 28r III. Before the world was created there was not this Trinity ; but after the world was created, when God became incarnate, it was provided and made ; and then in the Lord God, the Redeemer and Saviour, Jesus Christ IV. A Trinity of Divine Persons from eternity, or before the world was created, is, in the ideas of thought, a Trinity of Gods ; and this cati- not be abolished by the oral confession of one God. V. A Trinity of Persons was unknown in the Apostolic Church, but was first broached by the Nicene Council, and from that was ititroduced into the Roman Catholic Church, and from this into the Churches that were separated from it. VI. From the Nicene Trinity and the Athanasian together, a faith arose which had perverted the whole Christian Church. VII. Thence is that abomination of desolation, and the affliction such as has not been nor ei'er shall be, which the Lord had foretold in Daniel, in the Evangelists, and in the Apocalypse. VIII. Thence also it is that unless a New Heaven and a New Church are foiinded by the Lord, no flesh would be saved. IX. From a Trinity of Persons, each one of whom singly is God, according to the Athanasian Creed, have existed tfiany discordant and heterogeneous ideas about God, which are hal- lucinations and abortions. These will now be explained one by one. 164. I. There is a Divine Trinity, which is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. fhat there is a Divine Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is very evident from the Word, and from these things there : The angel Gabriel said unto Mary, The Holy Spirit shall come upon theey and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God (Luke i. 35). Here three are named, the Highest Who is God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the Son of God. When Jesus was baptized, Lo, the heavens were opened, and John saw the Sririt of God descending 282 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. like a dove, and lighting upon Hiin : and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased (Matt. iii. i6, 17 ; Mark i. 10, 11 ; John i. 32). And still more plainly from these words of the Lord to the disciples : Go ye, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of thk Father, and of the Son, and OF THE Holy Spirit (Matt, xxviii. 19) ; and moreover from these words in i John v. 7 : There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, a7id the Holy Spirit. And further, that the Lord prayed to His Father, and spoke of Him and with Him, and said that He would send the Holy Spirit, and also did send Him. Finally, that the apostles in their epistles frequently named the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. From these things it is manifest that there is a Divine Trinity, which is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 165. But how all this is to be understood; whether they are three Gods who in essence and therefore in name are one God, or that there are three objects belonging to one subject so that they are merely qualities or attri- bCites of one God which are so named, or that this is to be understood in some other way, unaided reason can by no means see. But what must be done .? There is no other way than for man to go to the Lord God the Saviour, and read the Word under His auspices, for He is the God of the Word ; and man will be enlightened, and will see truths which reason also will acknowledge. -But, if you do not go to the Lord, though you read the Word a thousand times, and see therein a Divine Trinity and Unity also, you surely will never understand but that there are three Divine Persons, each one of whom singly is God, and thus that there are three Gods. But because this is repugnant to the common perception of all men in the whole world, therefore to avoid reproach they have come to this, — that, although there are in truth three Gods, still faith requires that three Gods shall not be named, but i No. 165.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 283 one; and furthermore, lest they should be overwhelmed ■with censure on this subject especially, the understanding must be imprisoned, and held bound in obedience to faith ; and this must be the established law of Christian order in the Christian church evermore. Such a paralytic birth resulted from their not reading the Word under the Lord's auspices ; for every one who does not read the Word under His auspices, reads it under the auspices of his own intel- ligence, which is like an owl in respect to such things as are in spiritual light, as are all the essentials of the church. And while he reads such things in the Word as concern a Trinity, and from them thinks that although there are three still they are one, this appears to him like the answer from a tripod, which, because he does not understand it, he rolls between his teeth ; for if he were to put it before his eyes, it would be an enigma, which the more he tries to unfold, the more he involves himself in darkness, until he begins to think of it without understanding, which is like seeing with- out the eye. In short, to read the Word under the auspices of one's own intelligence, which is done by all who do not acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and who therefore do not approach and worship Him alone, may be likened to children playing, who tie a handkerchief over their eyes, and wish to walk in a straight line ; and they also think that they are doing so, when yet, step by step, they turn aside, and finally go on in the opposite direction, strike against a stone, and fall down. They are also like mariners sailing without a compass, who run the vessel against the rocks and perish. And they are like one walk- ing over a wide plain in a thick fog, who, seeing a scorpion and believing it to be a bird, wishes to catch it with his hand and take it up, and then is struck with a deadly wound. One who so reads the Word is also like a diver or a kite, which sees a small portion of the back of a great fish above the water, and flies upon it, and fixes its beak into it, and is drawn under by the fish and drowned. He 284 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. is also like one who enters a labyrinth without a guide or a thread ; and the further he goes in, the more is he at a loss as to the way out. The man who does not read the Word under the Lord's auspices, but under the auspices of his own intelligence, believes himself to be a lynx, and to have more eyes than Argus, when yet he inwardly sees no truth whatever, but only' what is false ; and when he has persuaded himself that this is true, it appears to him like the polar star, by which he directs all the sails of his thought ; and then he sees truths no more than a mole ; or if he sees any, he bends them to favor his own fancy, and so perverts and falsifies the holy things of the Word. 166. II. These three, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three Essentials of one God, which MAKE ONE, as THE SoUL, BODY, AND OPERATION IN MaN. There are general and also particular essentials of one thing, and together these make one essence. The general essentials of one man are his soul, body, and operation. That these make one essence, may be seen from this, that one is from another, and for the sake of another, in con- tinual series; for man begins from the soul, which is the very essence of the seed: thfs not only initiates but also produces in its own order the things which are of the body, and afterwards the things which proceed from them both, the soul and body together, which are called operations: wherefore, from the production of one from another, and thence the insertion and conjunction, it is manifest that these three are of one essence, and they are therefore called three essentials. 167. Every one acknowledges that these three essen-| tials, namely, the soul, body, and operation, were and are inj the Lord God the Saviour. That His soul was from Jeho- vah the Father, can be denied only by Antichrist, for in thel Word of both Testaments He is called the Son 0/ Jehovah, the Son of the Most High God, the Only-begotten ; the Divine No. 168] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 285 of the Father, like the soul in man, is therefore His first essential. That the Son whom Mary brought forth, is the body of that Divine soul, follows from this, that in the womb of a mother nothing is prepared but the body, con- ceived and derived from the soul ; this, therefore, is the second essential. Operations make the third essential, because they proceed from the soul and body together ; and the things which proceed are of the same essence with those which produce them. That the three essentials, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are one in the Lord, like the soul, body, and operation, in man, is very evident from the Lord's words, that the Father and He are one, and that the Father is in Him and He in the Father ; in like manner, that He and the Holy Spirit are one, since the Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding out of the Lord from the Father, as fully demonstrated above from the Word, (n. 153, 154); wherefore to demonstrate it again would be superfluous, and like loading a table with food when all have eaten enough. 168. When it is said that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three essentials of one God, like the soul, body, and operation in man, it appears to the human mind as if three persons were the .three essentials, which is not possible ; but when 'it is understood that the Divine of the Father which makes the Soul, and the Divine of the Son which makes the Body, and the Divine of the Holy Spirit, or the proceeding Divine, which makes the Operation, are the three essentials of one God, this then falls within the understanding For God the Father is His own Divine, the Son from the Father is His, and the Holy Spirit from both is His ; and these, because they are of one essence and unanimous, make one God. But if these three Divine essentials are called persons, and to each one is attributed His own property, as imputation to the Father, to the Son mediation, and to the Holy Spirit operation, then the Divine essence becomes divided, which yet is one and indivisible ; 286 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Ch.vp. HI. SO no one of the three is God in fuhiess, but each in the power divided among three ; and this, a sound understand- ing cannot but reject. 169. Who, then, cannot have a perception of the trinity in the Lord from the trinity in every man ? In every man there is a soul, a body, and operation ; so, too, in the Lord, for in the Lord dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily^ according to Paul (Col. ii. 9) ; wherefore the trinity in the Lord is Divine, but in man it is human. Who does not see that, in the mystical notion that there are three Divine persons, and yet one God, and that this God, although one, still is not one person, reason has no part ; but that, lulled to sleep, it still compels the mouth to speak like a parrot ? When reason is lulled to sleep, what then is the speech of the mouth but something inanimate ? When the mouth utters that from which reason dissents and turns away, what then is the speech but folly ? Human reason is at this day bound in relation to the Divine Trinity, like a man manacled and fettered in prison ; and it may be com- pared to a vestal virgin buried in the earth because she let the sacred fire go out ; when yet the Divine Trinity in the minds of men of the church ought to shine like a lamp, since God, in His Trinity, and. in the Unity of it, is All in all the sanctities of heaven and the church. For what is the difference between making one God of the Soul, an- other of the Body, and a third of the Operation, and mak- ing three parts distinct from one another out of these same three essentials in one man ? And what would that be but to cut him in pieces and kill him ? 170. HL Before the World was created, there WAS not this Trinity ; but after the World was cre- ated, WHEN God became incarnate, it was provided AND MADE ; AND THEN IN THE LORD GOD, THE REDEEMER AND Saviour, Jesus Christ. In the Christian church at the present day, a Divine No. 171.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 287 Trinity is recognized as having been before the world was created, which is this : that Jehovah God begat a Son from eternity, and that the Holy Spirit then went forth from both, and that each of the three is by Himself, or singly, God, because each is one person subsisting of Himself. But this, because it does not come within any reason, is called a mystery, which can only be entered in this way, that the three have one Divine essence, by which is meant eternity, immensity, omnipotence, and thence equal Divinity, glory, and majesty. But that this is a Trinity of three Gods, and therefore no Divine Trinity, will be demonstrated in what follows. But that the Trinity (which is also of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) which was provided and made after God became incarnate, thus after the world was created, is a Divine Trinity, because it is of one God, is evident from all that precedes. This Divine Trinity is in the Lord God the Redeemer and Saviour, Jesus Christ, because the three essentials of one God, which make one essence, are in Him. That in Him is all the fulness of the Godhead, as Paul says, is evident also from the Lord's own words, that all things of the Father are His, and that the Holy Spirit does " not speak from Himself," but from Him ; and further, that He took from the sepulchre, when He arose. His whole Human Body, both as to the Flesh and as to the Bones (Matt, xxviii. 1-8; Mark xvi. 5, 6; Luke xxiv. 1-3; John xx. 11-15), unlike every other man. This also He attested to His disciples, to the life, saying. Behold My hands and My feet ^ that it is I Myse/f; handle Me and see, for a Spirit hath not Flesh and Bones as ye see Me have (Luke xxiv. 39). From this every man may be convinced, if he will, that the Human of the Lord is Divine ; consequently, that in Him God is Man, and Man God. 171. The Trinity which the present Christian church has embraced and introduced into its faith, is, that God the Father begat a Son from eternity, that the Holy Spirit then proceeded from them both, and that each one by Himself 288 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. is God. This Trinity can be conceived by human minds only as a triarchy, and as a government of three kings in one kingdom, or of three generals over one army, or of three masters in one house, all having equal power. What but destruction could come from this ? And if any one wishes to figure or shadow forth this triarchy to the sight of his mind, and at the same time the unity of those in it, he can present it to his contemplation only as a man with three heads on one body, or three bodies with one head. Such a monstrous image of the Trinity must appear to those who believe there are three Divine persons, and that each by Himself is God, and who join these together into one God, and deny that because God is one He is one per- son. That a Son of God born from eternity descended and assumed the Human, may be compared to the fables of the ancients, that human souls were created from the beginning of the world, and enter into bodies and become men ; and also to the absurd opinions that the soul of one passes into another, as many in the Jewish church believed ; as, that the soul of Elijah passed into the body of John the Baptist ; and that David is to return into his own or an- other's body, and to reign over Israel and Judah, because it is said in Ezekiel, I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, My servant David; He shall be their Shep- herd, and I jfehovah will be their God, and David a Prince among them (xxxiv. 23, 24, and in other places) ; not know- ing that by David is there meant the Lord. 172. IV. A Trinity of Divine Persons from Eter- nity, OR BEFORE THE WORLD WAS CREATED, IS, IN THE Ideas of Thought, a Trinity of Gods ; and this can- not BE abolished by THE ORAL CONFESSION OF ONE GOD.. That a Trinity of Divine Persons from eternit}^ is a Trinity of Gods, is very evident from the following passage in the Athanasian Creed : " There is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. The 1 No. 172.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 289 Father is God and Lord, the Son is God and Lord, and the Holy Spirit is God and Lord ; nevertheless there are not three Gods and Lords, but one God and Lord ; for, as we are compelled by Christian verity to confess each per- son singly to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say three Gods or three Lords." This creed is received as oecumenical or universal by the whole Christian church ; and all that is at this day known and acknowledged concerning God, is from it. That no other Trinity than a Trinity of Gods was understood by those who were in the Nicene council, from which what is called the Athanasian Creed came forth like a posthumous birth, any one may see who but reads it with open eyes. That not only was a Trinity of Gods understood by them, but also that no other Trinity is understood in the Christian world, is the consequence : all the knowledge concerning God is from that creed, and every one abides in the belief of the words there. That no other Trinity than a Trinity of Gods is at this day understood in the Christian world, I appeal to every one, to layman and clergyman, to lau- relled masters and doctors, and to consecrated bishops and archbishops ; also to cardinals in their purple, and even to the Roman pontiff himself ; let every one counsel with himself, and then speak out from the ideas of his own mind. From the words of this universally accepted doc- trine concerning God, this is as manifest and clear as water through a crystal cup, that there are three persons, and that each one of them is God and Lord, and also that from Christian verity men ought to confess or acknowledge each person, singly, as God and Lord, but that the Catholic or Christian religion or faith forbids them to say or name three Gods and Lords ; and thus that verity and religion, or truth a.n6. faith, are not one thing, but two things con- ti ary to each other. But it was added, that there are not three Gods and Lords, but one God afid Lord, lest they should be exposed to ridicule before the whole world ; for who VOL. I. IT 290 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. Ill would not laugh at three Gods ? Yet who does not see a contradiction in this addition ? But if they had said that the Father has the Divine essence, the Son the Divine essence, and the Holy Spirit the Divine essence, yet that there are not three Divine essences, but that the essence is one and indivisible, then this mystery would be explicable ; that is, when by the Father is understood the Divine from which [are all things], by the Son the Divine Human there- from, and by the Holy Spirit the proceeding Divine, which are the three [essentials] of one God ; or if by the Divine of the Father the like is understood as by the soul in man, by the Divine Human the like as by the body of that soul, and by the Holy Spirit the like as by the operation which pro- ceeds from both, then are understood three essences which are of one and the same person, and so together make one and an indivisible essence, 173. The idea of three Gods cannot be blotted out by the oral confession of one God, because it has been implanted in the memory from childhood, and every man thinks from the things which are there. The memory with men is like the stomach connected with rumination in birds and beasts ; into that stomach they store the food from which they may gradually have nourishment, and from time to time they draw it thence and convey it to the true stomach, where it is digested, and distributed for all the uses of the body. The human understanding is this stomach, as the mem- ory is the other. Any one may see that the idea of three Divine persons from eternity, which is the same as an idea of three Gods, cannot be abolished by the oral con- fession of one God, merely from this, that it has not yet been abolished, and that there are amongst the celebrated those who are not willing that it should be abolished ; for they insist that the three Divine persons are one God, while they obstinately deny that God because He is one is also one person. But what wise man does not think within him- self that hy person is certainly not meant person, but it is the mi No. 174.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 29I predication of some quality ; but what quality is not known ; and because it is not known, that which has been implanted in the memory from childhood remains, like the root of a tree in the earth, from which a shoot still grows if the tree itself is cut down. But, my friend, not only cut down that tree, but also pull up its root, and then plant in your gar- den trees of good fruit. Beware, therefore, lest the idea of three Gods fix itself in your mind, and the mouth sound one God, but with no idea. What, then, is the understand- ing above the memor}^', which thinks of three Gods, and the understanding below it, from which the mouth at the same time utters one God, but like a player on the stage who can personate two characters by running from one side to the other, on one side saying something, and on the other say- ing the opposite, and by such contradiction calling himself here a wise man, and there a fool ? What else results from this, but that, while he stands in the middle and looks both ways, he thinks that neither one nor the other is any thing? and so, perhaps, that there is neither one God nor three, and thus that there is none. The naturalism reigning at this day is from no other origin. In heaven, no one can say a trinity of persons, each one of whom singly is God ; for the heavenly aura, in which their thoughts (like sounds in our air) fly and undulate, resists it. A hypocrite only can do it there ; but the tone of his voice grates in the heavenly aura, like tooth grinding against tooth ; or it croaks like a raven wishing to sing like a bird of song. I have heard also from heaven, that to abolish the faith established in the mind by confirmations in favor of a Trinity of Gods, by the oral confession of one God, is as impossible as it is to draw a tree through its seed, or a man's chin through a hair of his beard. 174. V, A Trinity of Persons was unknown in the Apostolic Church ; but was first broached by the NiCENE Council, and from that was introduced 292 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. INTO THE Roman Catholic Church, and from this INTO THE Churches that were separated from it. By the Apostolic Church is meant not only the church which existed in various places in the time of the apos- tles, but also in the two or three centuries after their day. But at length they began to wrest from its hinges the door of the temple, and like thieves to break into its shrine. By the temple is meant the church, by the door the Lord God the Redeemer, and by the shrine His Divinity; for Jesus says, Verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the Door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief ami a I'obber. I am the Door ; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved (John x. i, 9). This deed of crime was done by Arius and his followers ; and on that account a council was called together by Constan- tine the Great, at Nice, a city in Bithynia ; and in order to cast out the damnable heresy of Arius, it was devised, con- cluded, and ratified, by those who were there convened, that there were three Divine Persons from eternity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each of whom had person- ality, existence, and subsistence by himself and in himself ] and also that the second person, or the Son, descended and assumed the Human, and wrought redemption ; and that thence there was Divinity to His Human by hypo- static union, and that by this union He had close rela- tionship with God the Father. From that time, heaps of abominable heresies, concerning God and concerning the person of Christ, began to spring out of the earth, and Antichrists began to lift the head, and to divide God into three, and the Lord the Saviour into two, and so to destroy the temple built by the Lord through the apos- tles, and this even till not one stone was left upon another which was not thrown down, according to His own words in Matthew xxiv. 2 ; where, by the temple, is meant not only the temple at Jerusalem, but also the church, the consum- mation or end of which is treated of in the whole of that No. 176.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 293 chapter. But what else could have been expected from that council and from those that followed, which in like manner divided the Godhead into three persons, and placed the incarnate God under them upon their footstool ? For they separated the Head of the church from its body by climbing up another way ; that is, they passed Him by, and climbed beyond to God the Father as to another, with the mere mention of Christ's merit in the mouth, that He would have mercy for the sake of that, and that thus might immediately flow into them justification with all its train, - — remission of sins, renewal, sanctification, regeneration, and salvation, and these without the use of any means on the part of man. 175. That the apostolic church knew nothing whatever of a trinity of Persons, or of three Divine Persons from eternity, is very evident from the creed of that church, which is called the Apostles' Creed, in which are these words : / believe in God the Father Almighty^ Creator of heaven and earth ; and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Vir- gin Mary : also in the Holy Spirit. There no mention is made of any Son from eternity, but of the Son conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary ; they knowing from the apostles that Jesus Christ was the true God (i John v. 20) ; and that in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9) ; that the apostles preached faith in Him (Acts xx. 21); and that He had all power in heaven and in earth (Matt, xxviii. 18). 176. What confidence is to be had in councils, while they do not go immediately to the God of the church ? Is not the church the Lord's body, and He its Head ? What is a body without a head ? And what sort of a body is that on which have been put three heads, under the aus- pices of which men hold consultations and make decrees ? Does not enlightenment (which, from the Lord alone, Who is the God of heaven and the church, and at the same time 294 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IIL the God of the Word, is spiritual) then become more and more natural, and at length sensual ? And then no genuine theological truth is perceived in its internal form, without its being immediately cast out from the thought of the rational understanding, and dispersed like chaff into the air before the winnower's fan. In this state fallacies then present themselves instead of truths, and darkness in- stead of rays of light ; and men stand, as it were, in a cave, with spectacles on their noses and a candle in the hand, and close their eyelids to spiritual truths, which are in the light of heaven, and open them to sensual truths, which are in the delusive light of the senses of the body. And so it is afterwards, while the Word is read ; the mind is then asleep to truths, and awake to falsities, and becomes like the beast described as rising up out of the sea, as to the tnouth like a lion, in body like a leopard, and as to the feet like a bear (Apoc. xiii. 2). It is said in heaven that, when the Nicene council was closed, these things were at the same time accomplished which the Lord fore- told to the disciples : The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matt, xxiv. 29). Indeed the apostolic church actually was like a new star appearing in the starry heaven ; but the church, after the two Nicene councils, became like the same star afterward darkened and lost to view, just as has sometimes happened in the natural world, according to the observa- tion of astronomers. In the Word it is read that Jehovah God dwelleth in light inaccessible : who then could go to Him, unless He were to dwell in light accessible ? that is, if He did not descend and assume the Human, and become in this the Light of the world (John i. 9 ; xii. 46). Who can- not see, that to go to Jehovah the Father, in His light, is as impossible as for one to take the wings of the morning, and by means of them fly to the sun ? or as it is to feed on the sun's rays, and not on elementary food ? or as for a bird to fly in ether, or a stag to run in the air ? No. 177.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 295 177. VI. From the Nicene Trinity and the Atha- NASIAN TOGETHER, A FaITH AROSE WHICH HAD PERVERTED THE WHOLE CHRISTIAN ChURCH. That the Nicene Trinity together with the Athanasian is a Trinity of Gods, may be seen above, shown from their creeds (n. 172). From them arose the faith of the present church, which is in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit: — in God the Father, that He may impute the righteousness of His Son, the Saviour, and ascribe it to man ; in God the Son, that He may inter- cede and covenant; in the Holy Spirit, that He may actually inscribe the imputed righteousness of the Son, and seal it when established, by justifying, sanctifying, and regenerating man. This is the faith of the present time, which by itself is evidence that it is a Trinity of Gods which is acknowledged and worshipped. From the faith of every church arises not only all its worship, but also all that is dogmatic ; wherefore it may be said that such as the faith is, such is its doctrine. That this faith, because it is a faith in three Gods, has perverted all things of the church, therefore follows ; for faith is the principle, and doctrinals are derivatives ; and derivatives derive their essence from the principle. If one submits the several doctrines to examination, as the doctrine concerning God, concerning Christ's person, concerning charity, repentance, regeneration, free will, election, the use of the sacraments, which are baptism and the holy supper, he will clearly see that a Trinity of Gods is in every one of them ; and if it does not actually appear to be in them, still they flow from it, as from their fountain. But as such an examination cannot be made here, and yet it is important that it should be made in order to open the eyes, therefore an Appendbc will be added to this work, in which there will be a demonstration of it. The faith of the church respecting God is like the soul of the body, and doctrinals are like its members ; and, moreover, faith in God is like a queen, and dogmas are 296 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. Ill, like the officers of her court ; and as these all hang upon the word of the queen, so do dogmas upon the utterance of faith. From that faith, according to its measure, it may be seen how the Word is understood in the church where it is ; for a faith adapts and draws to itself, as it were by cords, whatsoever it can. If the faith is false, it plays the harlot with every truth there, and perverts and falsifies it, and makes man insane in spiritual things. But if the faith is true, then the whole Word favors it, and the God of the Word, Who is the Lord God the Saviour, pours light upon it, breathes upon it His Divine assent, and makes man wise. That the faith of the present time (which in the internal form is a faith in three Gods, but in the external a faith in one God) has extinguished the light in the Word, and removed the Lord from the church, and has thus precipitated its morning into night, will be seen also in the Appendix. This was done by heretical doctrines before the Nicene council, and afterwards by the heretical views that arose from that council, and after it. But what confidence is to be placed in councils that do not enter throngh the door into the sheepfold, but climb up some OTHER WAY, according to the words of the Lord in John (x. 1,9)? Their deliberation is not unlike the walking of a blind man in the day, or of a man who sees, in the night ; neither of whom sees the pit before he has fallen into it. What confidence, for example, can be placed in the councils that established the vicarship of the pope, the canonization of the dead, and the invocation of them as deities, the worship of their images, authority to grant indulgences, the division of the eucharist, and so on ? Or what confidence ought we to place in the council which established an abominable predestination, and hung it up before the temples of its church, as the palladium of re- ligion ? But, my friend, go to the God of the Word, and so to the Word, and thus enter through the door into the sheepfold, that is, into the church, and you will be en- No. 178.1 THE DIVINE TRINITY. 297 lightened ; and then you will yourself see, as from a moun- tain, not only the steps and wanderings of many others but your own former steps and wanderings in the dark forest below. 178. The faith of every church is as seed from which all its dogmas spring; and it may be compared to the seed of a tree, from which grows every thing belonging to the tree, even to the fruit ; and also to the seed of man, from which are begotten offspring and families in suc- cessive series. Wherefore, when the primary faith, which from its predominance is called saving, is known, there is a cognition of the quality of that church. This may be illustrated by an example : Let the faith be, that nature is the creator of the universe. From this it follows that the universe is what is called God ; that nature is its es- sence ; that the ether is the supreme God, whom the an- cients called Jupiter ; the air the goddess whom they called yimo, and whom they made the wife of Jupiter ; that the ocean is a God below them, that may be called Neptune^ after the manner of the ancients ; and because the divinity of nature reaches to the very centre of the earth, that there is a God there also, that, as with the ancients, may be called Pluto ; that the sun is the court of all the gods, where they meet whenever Jupiter summons a council ; and, moreover, that fire is life from God ; and thus that birds fly, beasts walk, and fishes swim, in God ; and, fur- ther, that thoughts are merely modifications of ether, as words from them are only modulations of air ; and that love's affections are occasional changes of state, from the influx of the sun's rays into them ; moreover, that life after death, together with heaven and hell, is a fable invented by the clergy for the purpose of acquiring honor and gain ; but although a fable, that still it is useful, and ought not to be openly ridiculed, because it is serviceable to the pub- lic in keeping the minds of the simple in the bonds of obedience to magistrates ; but still, that those who are 13* 298 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. inveigled into religion, are men of abstract minds, their tlioughts phantasms, their actions ludicrous, and they the drudges of the priests, believing what they do not see, and seeing what transcends the sphere of their minds. These consequences, and many others like them, are included within the faith that nature is the creator of the universe ; and they proceed from it when it is opened. They are presented that it may be known that within the faith of the present church, which in its internal form is a faith in three Gods, and in its external form in one, there are troops of falsities ; and that they may be drawn out of it, as many as the little spiders in the little ball produced by a spider. Any one whose mind has been made truly rational by light from the Lord, may see this. But how is any one else to see it, when the door to that faith and its oiTspring is shut and barred by the statute that it is unlaw- ful for reason to look into its mysteries ? 179. VII. Thence is that Abomination of Desola- tion AND the Affliction such as has not been nor ever shall be, which the Lord had foretold in Daniel, and the Evangelists, and in the Apoca- lypse. In Daniel we read : At length upon the bird of abomina- tions there shall be desolation, and even to a consummation and decree shall it drop upon the devastation (ix. 27). In the Evangelist the Lord says : Many false prophets shall rise, a7id shall deceive many ; when ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand iti the holy place, whoso readeth let him note it well (Matt. xxiv. II, 15); and afterwards in the same chapter (verse 21): Then shall be great affliction, such as has not been since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. This affliction and that abomination are treated of in seven chapters of the Apocalypse, and they are what are meant by the black horse and the pale horse, coming No. i8o.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 299 out of the book, the seal of which was opened by the Lamb (Apoc. vi. 5-8) ; also by the beast coming up out of the abyss, which made war with the two witnesses and slew them (xi. 7, and following verses) ; as also by the dragon which stood before the woman about to bring forth, that he might devour her child, and who pursued her into the wilderness, and there cast out from his mouth a flood of water to drown her (chap, xii.) ; and also by the beasts of the dragon, one from the sea and the other from the earth (chap, xiii.) ; also by the three spirits like frogs, which came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet (xvi. 13); and moreover by this, that after the seven angels poured out the vials of the wrath of God, in. which were the seven last plagues, upon the earth, the sea, the foun- tains and rivers, upon the sun, the throne of the beast, the Euphrates, and finally upon the air, there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since men were made (chap. xvi.). An earthquake signifies an inversion of the church, which is made by falsities and falsifications of the truth, which likewise is signified by the great affliction such as had not been since the beginning of the world (Matt, xxiv. 21). Similar things are meant by these words : The angel thrust in the sickle, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the wrath of God ; and the wine-press was trodden, and blood came out even to the horses'' bridles, for a thousand six hundred furlongs (xiv. 19, 20). The blood signifies truth falsified. Besides other things contained in those seven chapters, 180. In the Evangelists (Matt, xxiv., Mark xiii., and Luke xxi.) are described the successive states of the de- cline and corruption of the Christian church ; and by the great affliction such as had not been since the beginning of the world, neither should be, is there meant (as every- where else in the Word) the infestation of truth by falsities, until there remains no truth which is not falsified and 300 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IIL consummated : this also is there meant by the abomination of desolation ; and this likewise is meant by the desolation upon the bird of abominations, and by the consummation and decree in Daniel ; and this same thing is described in the Apocalypse by the passages which have just been ad- duced from it. This came to pass because the church has not acknowledged the Unity of God in Trinity and His Trin- ity in Unity in one person, but in three ; and therefore the church has been based in the mind on the idea of three Gods, and in the mouth upon the confession of one God ; for thus men separated themselves from the Lord, and at length so far as to have no idea left of Divinity in His Human nature, when yet He is God the Father Himself in the Human ; wherefore, also, He is called the Father of eternity (Isa. ix. 6) ; and He says to Philip, He that seeth Me, seeth the Father (John xiv. 7, 9). 181. But it is asked. Whence is the very vein of the foun- tain, from which has flowed such abomination of desolation as is described in Daniel (ix. 27), and such affliction as never was nor ever will be (Matt. xxiv. 21) ? The answer is, From the faith which universally prevails in the Chris- tian world, and from its influx, operation, and imputation, according to traditions. It is wonderful that the doctrine of justification by that faith alone (although it is not a faith, but a chimera) carries every point in Christian churches j that is, that it reigns there with the clerical order, almost as the only thing in theology. It is that which all students in theology eagerly study in the schools, drink in, and absorb ; and afterward, as if inspired with heavenly wis- dom, teach in the churches, and publish in books ; by it also they seek and obtain a name for superior erudition, fame, and glory ; for it also degrees, diplomas, and rewards are conferred ; and these things are done, although by that faith alone the sun is now darkened, the mccr. is deprived of her light, the stars of the heavens are fallen, and the powers of the heavens are shaken, according to the No. 182.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 3OI words of the Lord's prediction in Matt. xxiv. 29, That the doctrine of that faith has at this day bHnded the minds of men to such a degree that they will not, and therefore as it were cannot, see any Divine truth interiorly, by the light of the sun or by the light of the moon, but only exteriorly, as on some rough surface, by the light of the hearth by night, has been proved to me : wherefore I could predict, that if Divine truths concerning the true conjunc- tion of charity and faith, concerning heaven and hell, the Lord, the life after death, and eternal happiness, were sent from heaven written in letters of silver, they would not be deemed worth reading by those who justify and sanctify by faith alone ; but, on the other hand, if a treatise con- cerning justification by faith alone should be sent from the lower regions, this they would take up, kiss, and carry home in their bosom. 182. VIIL Thence also it is that unless a New Heaven and a New Church are founded by the Lord, no Flesh would be saved. It is read in Matthew, Then shall be great affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be : and except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved (xxxv. 21, 22). That chapter treats of the consummation of the age, by which is meant the end of the church of the present day ; wherefore by shortening those days, is meant to end that church, and to establish a new one. Who does not know that, unless the Lord had come into the world and wrought redemption, no flesh could have been saved ? To work redemption means, to found a new heaven and a new church. That the Lord would again come into the world, He foretold in the Evangelists (Matt. xxiv. 30, 31 ; Mark xiii. 26 ; Luke xii. 40; xxi. 27); and in the Apocalypse, particularly in the last chapter. That He is also working redemption to-day by founding a new heaven and establishing a new 302 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. church, to the end that man may be saved, was shown above, in the lemma concerning Redemption. The great arcanum, that unless a new church is established by the Lord no flesh can be saved, is this : So long as the dragon with his horde remains in the world of spirits into which he has been cast, no Divine truth united to Divine good can pass through to men on earth, without being perverted and falsified, or without perishing. This is what is meant by this passage in the Apocalypse : The dragon was cast out into the earth, and his afigels were cast out with him. Wo to the inhabitafits of the earth and of the sea, for the devil has cofne down to them, having great wrath (xii. 9, 12). But after the dragon was cast into hell (xx. 10), John saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven (xxi. i, 2), By the dragon, are meant those who are in the faith of the present church. I have several times conversed in the spiritual world with the justifiers of men by faith alone, and have said that their doctrine is erroneous, and also inconsistent, and that it induces the feeling of security, blindness, sleep, and night, in spiritual things, and consequently death to the soul ; and I have exhorted them to desist from it. But I received for answer : " Why desist ? Is not the superiority of the erudition of the clergy over that of the laity depend- ent on that doctrine alone ? " But I replied that so they do not regard the salvation of souls as any end, but the excellence of their own reputation ; and that because they have applied the truths of the Word to their false prin- ciples, and so have adulterated them, they are angels of the abyss, called Abaddons and Apollyons (Apoc. ix. 1 1) ; by whom are signified the destroyers of the church by the total falsification of the Word. But they replied : " What is that ? By our knowledge of the mysteries of that faith, we are oracles ; and from it as from the shrine we give responses ; wherefore we are not Apollyons, but Apollos.'* No. 183.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 303 Indignant at this, I said : " If you are Apollos, you are also Leviathans ; the first of you the crooked Leviathans, and the next the extended Leviathans, that God will visit with His hard and great sword " (Isa. xxvii. i). But they laughed at these words. 183. IX. From a Trinity of Persons, each one of WHOM singly is GoD, ACCORDING TO THE AtHANASIAN Creed, have existed many discordant and hetero- geneous Ideas about God, which are Hallucinations and Abortions. From the doctrine of three Divine persons from eternity, which is in itself the head of all doctrinals in Christian churches, have sprung many ideas concerning God that are unbecoming and unworthy of the Christian world, which yet ought to be and might be a luminary to all peo- ples and nations in the four parts of the earth, respect- ing God and His Unity. All who live outside of the Christian church, as Mohammedans and Jews alike, and besides these the Gentiles of every mode of worship, are averse to Christianity solely on account of the faith in three Gods therein. Its propagators know this, and they therefore are very cautious not to teach openly the Trinity of persons such as it is in the Nicene and Athanasian creeds, for if this were done, they would be shunned and ridiculed. The discordant, ludicrous, and frivolous ideas, which have sprung from the doctrine of three Divine persons from eternity, and which spring up with every one who remains in the belief of the words of that doctrine, and from the ears and the eyes rise up into the sight of the thought, are these : That God the Father sits on high above the head, the Son at His right hand, and the Holy Spirit before them, listening, and instantly running throughout all the world ; and, according to their decision, He dispenses the gifts of justification and inscribes them, and makes men from children of wrath to be children of grace, and from 304 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. being damned to be elect. I appeal to the learned of the clergy, and to the well instructed of the laity, whether in their minds they entertain any other than this ideal view ; for it flows in spontaneously from the doctrine itself ; see the Relation above (n. i6). There also flows in a curiosity for conjecturing what they conversed about with each other before the world was created ; whether about the world which was to be created, or whether also about those who were to be predestined and justified, according to the Supra- lapsarians, or whether also about redemption ; and likewise w^hat they have been conversing about since the world was created, — the Father from the authority and power to im- pute, the Son from the power to mediate ; also that impu- tation, which is election, is from the mercy of the Son interceding for all, and for some individually, and that for them the Father has grace, He being moved by love to the Son, and by the agony seen in Him when on the cross. But who cannot see that such things are ravings of the mind concerning God ? And yet they are, in Chris- tian churches, the holy things which are to be kissed with the lips, yet are not to be examined with the eye of the mind, because they are things above reason, and if they are raised from the memory into the understanding, the man becomes insane. Still this does not take away the idea of three Gods, but induces a stupid faith, from which man thinks of God as one while asleep thinks in a dream, walk- ing in the darkness of night, or as one blind from his birth walks in the light of day. 184. That a Trinity of Gods is fixed in the minds of Christians, although from shame they deny it, is very evi- dent from the ingenuity of many in demonstrating that three are one, and one three, by various things in geometry, stereometry, arithmetic, and physics, and likewise by the folding of pieces of cloth and paper ; thus they play with the Divine Trinity as jugglers play together. Their jug- gling concerning it may be compared to the vision of those No. 185.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 305 who, while sick with fever, see one object (whether it be a man, or a table, or a candle) as three, or three as one. It may also be compared with the mockery of those who turn soft wax between their fingers, and mould it into vari- ous forms, now making it triangular to show the Trinity, and now spherical to show the Unity, and saying, " Is it not still one and the same substance ? " When yet the Divine Trinity is like a pearl of the greatest value ; but, when divided into persons, it is like a pearl divided into three parts, which, consequently, is utterly and mani- festly ruined. 185. To the above will be added these Relations. First : In the spiritual world there are climates and zones as in the natural world ; there is not any thing in this world which is not also in that ; but they differ in origin. In the natural world, climates vary according to the dis- tances of the sun from the equator ; in the spiritual world, they vary according to the distances of the affections of the will, and thence of the thoughts of the understanding, from true love and true faith ; all things in that world are correspondences of these. In the frigid zones of the spiritual world, appear things similar to those in the frigid zones of the natural world ; lands there appear bound in ice, and likewise the waters, and also snow upon them. Those come thither and dwell there, who, in the world, lulled the understanding to sleep from their sluggishness in thinking of spiritual things, and who therefore were, at the same time, sluggish in doing any uses : they are called boreal spirits. I was once seized with a desire to see some region in the frigid zone where those boreal spirits were ; and therefore I was led iti the spirit to the north, even to a region where all the land appeared covered with snow, and all the water bound in ice. It was the Sabbath day; and I saw men, that is, spirits, of a similar stature with men of the world ; but, on account of the cold, their heads were clothed with lions' skins, the mouth of the skin being 306 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. fitted to their mouth ; but their bodies, before and behind as far down as the loins, were covered with the skins of leopards ; and their feet with the skins of bears. And I also saw many riding in chariots, and some in chariots carved in the form of a dragon whose horns projected forward. The chariots were drawn by little horses whose tails had been cut off ; they were running like terrible wild beasts, and the driver, holding the reins in his hands, was continually speeding and urging them on their course. I saw, at length, that the multitudes were flocking to a temple, which had not been seen because covered with snow. But those who had the care of the temple were removing the snow, and, by digging, were preparing an entrance for the coming wor- shippers who alighted and entered. It was granted me also to see the inside of the temple. It was lighted with torches and lamps in abundance ; there was an altar there of hewn stone, behind which hung a tablet, with the in- scription. The Divine Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Who essentially are one God, but personally three. At length a priest, standing at the altar, after kneeling three times before the tablet of the altar, ascended the pulpit with book in hand, and began a sermon on the Divine Trinity. " Oh, how great a mystery ! " he exclaimed, " that God in the Highest begat a Son from eternity, and by Him sent forth the Holy Spirit, the three joining them- selves together by essence, but separating themselves by their properties, which are imputation, redemption, and operation ! But if we look into these things by reason, the sight becomes darkened, and a spot comes before it, as before the eye of him who fixes his gaze upon the naked sun. Wherefore, my hearers, in this let us keep the understanding under obedience to faith." After this, he exclaimed again, "Oh, how great a mystery is our Holy Faith ! which is this : That God the Father imputes the righteousness of the Son, and sends the Holy Spirit, Who, from that imputed righteousness, works out the pledges of No. 185.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 307 justification, which in the sum are the remission of sins, renewal, regeneration, and salvation ; concerning the in- flux of which, or the act, man knows no more than the statue of salt into which Lot's wife was turned ; and con- cerning the indwelling of which, or the state, he knows no more than a fish in the sea. But, my friends, there is hid in it a treasure, so enclosed and concealed that not a par- ticle of it appears. Wherefore, in this also let us keep the understanding under obedience to faith." After some sighs, he again exclaimed, saying, " Oh, how great a mys- tery is Election ! He becomes of the elect to whom God imputes that faith which at His free pleasure, and out of pure grace. He infuses into whom He will, and when He will ; and man is like a stock while it is infused, but he becomes like a tree when it has been infused. Fruits, which are good works, hang indeed from that tree, which in a representative sense is our faith ; but still they do not cohere ; wherefore the value of that tree is not from the fruit. But, because this sounds like heterodoxy, and yet is a mystical truth, let us, my brethren, keep the under- standing under obedience to faith in this." And then, after a pause, standing as if he would yet draw something more from the memory, he continued : " From the store of mysteries I will produce still another, which is, that man, in spiritual things, has not a grain of free will ; for our rulers, the primates and priests, in their theological canons, say that in things which pertain to faith and salvation, which are specially called spiritual, man cannot will, think, or understand any thing, nor can he even accommodate and apply himself to receive them ; wherefore from myself I say that man of himself cannot think concerning those things from reason, and talk about them from thought, except like a parrot, a magpie, or a raven ; so that man in spiritual things is truly an ass, and a man only in natural things. But, my companions, lest this should trouble your reason, let us in it, as in the rest, keep the understanding 308 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. under obedience to faith. For our theology is an abyss without a bottom ; and if you let your understanding look into it, you will sink and perish as by shipwreck. But still, hear : we are, nevertheless, in the very light of the gospel, which shines high above our heads ; but, alas ! the hair of our heads and the bones of our skulls stand in the way and oppose its penetrating the inner chamber of our under- standing." Having said this, he descended ; and after he had offered his vows in prayer at the altar, and the service was ended, I went up to some who were talking together, where also was the priest ; and those standing around him said : " We give you everlasting thanks for a sermon so magnificent and rich in wisdom." But then I said to them: " Did you understand any thing ? " And they replied : " We took it all in with full ears ; but why do you ask whether we understood it ? Is not the understanding stu- pefied in the presence of such things ? " And the priest added this to what was said : " Because you have heard and have not understood, you are blessed ; for thence is salvation for you." Afterwards I spoke with the priest, and asked him if he had a degree ; and he replied ; " I am a laureate Master." And then I said : " Master, I have heard you preaching mysteries : if you know them, and not any thing which they contain, you know nothing ; for they are just like caskets locked up with a triple lock ; and unless you open them and look inside (which must be done by the understanding), you do not know whether the things they contain are precious, or worthless, or hurtful ; they may be the eggs of the asp or the spider, according to the description in Isaiah (lix. 5)." As I spoke these words, the priest looked at me with a stern countenance, and the worshippers withdrew, and mounted their chariots, intoxicated with paradoxes, infatuated with empty words, and enveloped with darkness in all the things of faith and the means of salvation. 186. Second Relation. I was once engaged in think- No. i86.] THE DIYINE TRINITY. 309 ing in what region of the mind matters of theology have their seat with man, and at first I believed that they were in the highest region, because they are spiritual and heav- enly \ceiestial'\ ; for the human mind is divided into three distinct regions, as a house is divided into three stories, and likewise as the abodes of the angels into three heavens. And then an angel stood before me, and said : " Things of theology, with those who love truth because it is truth, rise up even into the highest region, because their heaven is there, and they are in the light in which the angels are ; but morals, theoretically contemplated and perceived, place themselves beneath these, in the second region, because they communicate with spiritual things ; and political things have place under these, in the first region ; but matters of science, which are manifold, and may be referred to gen- eral and particular classes, make the door to those higher things. Those in whom spiritual, moral, political, and scientific things are thus subordinated, think what they think, and do what they do, from justice and judgment. This is because the light of truth, which is also the light of heaven, from the highest region, illumines the things which follow on, as the light of the sun, passing through the ethers and the air progressively, illumines the vision of men, beasts, and fishes. It is not so with the things of theology in those who do not love truth because it is truth, but only for the glory of their reputation. With them, mat- ters of theology have their seat in the lowest region, where are matters of science ; and in some cases they mingle themselves with these, and in some they cannot mingle themselves. Under these, in the same region, are political things, and under these moral, since with such persons the two higher regions are not opened on the right side ; where- fore they have no interior reason of judgment, nor affection of justice, but only ingenuity, from which they can speak upon every subject as if from intelligence, and confirm •whatever presents itself as if from reason ; but the objects 3IO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. of reason which they principally love are falsities, because these cohere with the fallacies of the senses. Thence it is that there are so many in the world who see the truths of doctrine from the Word no more than those born blind ; and when they hear them they close their nostrils, lest their odor should offend them and excite nausea ; but they open all their senses to falsities, and drink them in as whales drink-in water." 187. Third Relation. Once, when I was meditating about the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, that are mentioned in the Apocalypse, an angelic spirit appeared to me, and asked, " What are you meditating upon ? " I said that it was upon the false prophet. Then he said, " I will lead you to the place where they are who are meant by the false prophet," He said that they are the same as are meant in chapter xiii. of the Apocalypse, by the beast out of the earth which had two horns like a lamb, and spake like a dragon. I followed him, and behold, I saw a crowd, in the midst of which were leaders of the church, who taught that nothing saves man but faith in the merit of Christ ; and that works are good, but not for salvation ; and that still they are to be taught from the Word, that the laity, especially the simple, may be held the more strictly in bonds of obedience to the magistrates, and as from religion, thus interiorly, may be compelled to exercise moral charity. And then one of them, seeing me, said, " Do you wish to see our temple, in which there is an image representative of our faith ? " I drew near and saw ; and lo, it was rnag- nificent, and in the midst of it was the image of a woman, clothed in a scarlet dress, holding in her right hand a golden coin, and in the left a chain of pearls ; but both the image and the temple were induced by fantasy ; for infernal spirits can by fantasies represent magnificent things, by closing up the interiors of the mind and open- ing only its exteriors. But when I noticed that they were such illusions, I prayed to the Lord, and suddenly the in- No. 187.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 3 II teriors of my mind were opened ; and I then saw in place of the magnificent temple a house full of chinks from top to bottom, in which nothing held together ; and instead of the woman I saw hanging in that house an image, the head of which was like a dragon's, the body like a leopard's, the feet like a bear's, and the mouth like that of a lion ; thus precisely like the beast out of the sea (described, Apoc. xiii. 2) ; and in place of a floor, there was a quagmire, in which was a multitude of frogs ; and it was told me that under the quagmire there was a great hewn stone, under which lay the Word, deeply hidden. On see- ing these things, I said to the deceiver, " Is this your tem- ple ? " And he said that it was. But then suddenly his interior sight also was opened, by which he saw the same things that I did ; on seeing which, with a great cry he said, " What is this ? and whence is this ? " And I said, " It is from the light of heaven, which discloses the quality of every form, and thus the quality of your faith separated from spiritual charity." And forthwith the east wind blew, and carried away the temple, with the image, and also dried up the quagmire, and thus laid bare the stone under which lay the Word. And after this a warmth like that of spring was breathed from heaven ; and lo, then in the same place there was seen a tabernacle, simple in its outward form ; and the angels who were with me said, " Behold the taber- nacle of Abraham, such as it was when the three angels came to him, and foretold the birth of Isaac. This appears before the eyes as simple, but it becomes more and more magnificent according to the influx of light from heaven." And it was given them to open the heaven in which were the spiritual angels, who are in wisdom ; and then, from the light flowing in therefrom, that tabernacle appeared like a temple similar to that of Jerusalem. When I looked into it, I saw the foundation-stone, under which the Word was de- posited, set around with precious stones, from which as it were lightning flashed upon the walls on which were the 312 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. forms of cheiTjbs, and variegated them beautifully with colors. When I was admiring these things, the angels said, "You shall see some thing still more wonderful." And it was given them to open the third heaven, in which were the heavenly \celestial^ angels, who are in love ; and then, from the flamy light flowing in therefrom, the whole of that temple vanished ; and instead of it the Lord alone was seen, standing upon the foundation-stone which was the Word, in appearance like that in which He was seen by John (Apoc. chap. i.). But because the interiors of the angels' minds were then filled with a holiness which inclined them to fall down upon their faces, the way of the light from the third heaven was suddenly closed by the Lord, and the way was opened for the light from the second heaven ; in consequence of which the former appearance of the tem- ple returned, and also of the tabernacle, this now being in the midst of the temple. By this was illustrated what is meant (Apoc. chajD. xxi.) by this passage : Behold the taber- nacle of God is with men, atid He will dtvell zvith them (verse 3) ; and also by this : / satv no temple in the New Jerusalem ; for the Lord God Almighty is the Temple of it, and the Lamb (verse 22). 188. Fourth -Relation. Since it has been given me by the Lord to see wonderful things which are in the heavens and below the heavens, I must, as commanded, relate what has been seen. There was seen a magnificent palace, and in its inmost a temple ; in the midst of this was a table of gold, upon which was the Word, near which stood two angels. Around the table were seats in three rows ; the seats of the first row were covered with silken cloth of a purple color, the seats of the second row with silken cloth of a blue color, and the seats of the third row with white cloth. Under the roof, high above the table, there ap- peared a wide-spread canopy, shining with precious stones, from the splendor of which there was an effulgence as of a rainbow when the sky becomes serene after a shower. No. i88.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 313 There then suddenly appeared a number of clergymen sufficient to occupy all the seats, all clothed in the gar- ments of priestly service. At one side was a wardrobe, where an angel-keeper stood, and in it lay splendid gar- ments in beautiful order. It was a council called together by the Lord; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, ''Deliberate:' But they said, "On what?" It was said, "Concerning the Lord the Saviour, and concerning the Holy Spirit" But when they began to think on these subjects, they were not in enlightenment ; wherefore they made sup- plication. And then light flowed down from heaven, which illumined first the back parts of their heads, then their tem- ples, and at last their faces ; and then they made a begin- ning ; and, as it was commanded, first concerning the Lord the Saviour. The first thing proposed and discussed was, " Who assumed the Human in the Virgin Mary ? " And an angel, standing at the table, upon which was the Word, read before them these words in Luke : The angel said to Mary, Behold, thou shall conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name yesus ; He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. Then said Mary unto the angel. How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; therefore, also, the Holy Thing Which shall be born of thee shall be called THE Son of God (i. 30-32, 34, 35). Then also he read these words in Matthew : The angel said to Joseph in a dream, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for That Which is conceived in her is OF THE Holy Spirit. And Joseph knew her not until she had brought forth her first-born Son, and he called His name Jesus (i. 20, 25). And besides these passages, he read many more from the Evangelists (as Matt. iii. 17; xvii. 5; John i. 18; iii. i6; xx. 31); and many others, where the Lord as to the Human is called the Son of VOL. I. 14 314 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. God, and where He from His Human calls Jehovah His Father. He read also from the Prophets, where it is foretold that Jehovah Himself would come into the world ; among others these two passages in Isaiah : It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God, Whom we have waited for, that He may deliver us : this is Jehovah, Whom we have waited for ; let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation (xxv. 9). The voice of Him that cryeth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God; for the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed ; and all flesh shall see it together. Behold, the L.okd Jehovih Cometh in strength. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd (xl. 3, 5, 10, 11). And the angel said, "Since Jehovah Himself came into the world, and assumed the Human [* and thereby saved and redeemed men], therefore, in the Prophets, He is called the Saviour and the Redeemer." And then he read to them the following passages : Surely God is in thee, and there is fio God besides : verily Thou art a hidden God, O God of Israel the Saviour (Isa. xlv. 14, 15), Am not /Jehovah? and there is no God else beside Me; A JUST God and a Saviour, there is none beside Me (xlv. 2 1). I am Jehovah, and beside Me there is NO Saviour (xliii. 11). I Jehovah am thy God, and thou shall acknowledge no God but Me, and there is no Saviour BESIDE Me (Hos. xiii. 4). That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer (Isa. xlix. 26 ; Ix. 16). As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His name (xlvii. 4). Their Redeemer is strong ; Jeho- vah Zebaoth is His name (Jer. 1. 34), O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer (Ps. xix. 14). Thus said Jehovah THY Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I Jehovah am thy God (Isa. xlviii. 17; xliii. 14; xlix. 7 j liv. 8). Thou Jeho- vah art our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name (Ixiii. 16). Thus said Jehovah thy Redeemer, lam * The words within brackets are from "Apocalypse Revealed," n. 962. Jii No. 188.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 315 Jehovah that tnaketh all things, and alone, of Myself (xliv. 24). Thus said ychovah the King of Israel, and His Re- deemer, Jehovah Zebaoth, / ain the First and the Last, and beside Me there is no God (Isa. xliv. 6). Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called (liv. 5). Behold the days come, that I will raise unto David a righteous Bratich, Who shall reign King; and this is His name, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jer. xxiii, 5, 6; xxxiii. 15, 16). In that day, Jehovah shall be King over all the earth ; in that day shall Jehovah be one, and His name one (Zech. xiv. 9). Being confirmed from all these passages, those that sat upon the seats said unani- mously, that Jehovah Himself assumed the Human to re- deem and save men. But a voice was then heard from the Roman Catholics, who had hid themselves behind the altar, saying : " How can Jehovah God become Man ? Is He not the Creator of the universe ,'' " And one of those who sat upon the seats of the second row, turned himself about, and said, " Who then ? " And he behind the altar, now standing close to the altar, replied, " The Son from eter- nity." But he received for answer, " Is not the Son from eternity, according to your confession, the Creator of the universe also ? And what is a Son and a God born from eternity ? And how can the Divine Essence, which is one and indivisible, be separated, and one part of it descend, and not the whole at once ? " The second Discussion CONCERNING THE LoRD was upon this point : Are not the Father and He thus one, as soul and body are one .'' They said that this is a consequence, because the soul is from the Father. Then one of those who sat upon the seats in the third row read, from the general Creed which is called Athanasian, these words : " Although our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man, still they are not two, but one Christ; yea. He is alto- gether one; He is one Person : since, as the soul and the body 3l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. make one man, so God and Man are one Christ,^'' The reader said that the creed in which are those words is received in the whole Christian world, even by the Roman Catholics. And they said, " What need is there of more ? God the Father and He are one, as the soul and the body are one." And they said : " As it is so, we see that the Lord's Human is Divine, because it is the Human of Jeho- vah ; and also that the Lord as to the Divine Human is to be approached, and that so and not otherwise can the Divine which is called the Father be approached." This conclusion of theirs the angel confirmed by many more passages from the Word, among which were these : Unto us a Child is bam, unto us a Son is given, Whose name is Wonderful, Counsellor, God, the Mighty, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace (Isa. ix. 6). Though Abra- ham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not. Thou, Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer from ever- lasting is Thy Name (Ixiii. i6) ; and in John, yesus said, He that believeth in Me, believeth in Him that sent Me : and he that seeth Me, seeth Him that sent Me (xii. 44, 45). Philip said unto jfesus. Show us the Father, yesus saith unto him. He that seeth Me, seeth the Father ; how sayest thou then. Show us the Father 1 Believest thou not that I AM in the Father, and the Father in Me ? Believe Me, that I AM IN THE Father and the Father in Me (xiv. 8-1 1). Jesus said, I and the Father are one (x. 30) ; and also, All things that the Father hath are Mine, and all Mine are the Father^ s (xv\. 15; xvii. 10). Lastly, yesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; fio one comet h to the Father but by Me (xiv. 6). To this the reader added that things like these here said by the Lord concerning Himself and His Father may also be said by man concerning himself and his soul. Having heard these things, they all said, with one mouth and heart, that "the Lord's Hunian is Divine, and this is to be approached that the Father may be approached ; since Jehovah God by It sent Him- No. i88.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. 317 $e\i into the world, and made Himself visible to the eyes of men, and thus accessible. He likewise made Himself visible, and thus accessible, in a human form, to the an- cients, but then through an angel ; but because this Form was representative of the Lord Who was to come, there- fore all things of the church with the ancients were rep resentative." After this followed a deliberation concerning the Hoi} Spirit ; and in the first place was set forth the idea of many concerning God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; which was, that God the Father was sitting on liigh, and the Son at His right hand, and they were sending forth the Holy Spirit from them to enlighten, teach, justify, and sanctify men. But a voice was then heard from heaven, saying, "We cannot endure that idea of thought. Who does not know that Jehovah God is omnipresent .'' Who- ever knows and acknowledges this will also acknowledge that He Himself enlightens, teaches, justifies, and sancti- fies, and that there is not an intermediate God distinct from Him (and still less from two), as one person from another. Therefore let the former idea, which is vain, be removed ; and let this, which is just, be received ; and then you will see this clearly," But a voice was then heard from the Roman Catholics, who were standing by the altar of the temple, saying, "What then is the Holy Spirit, Who in the Word is named in the Evangelists, and in Paul, by Whom so many learned men of the clergy, and especially of ours, say that they are led ? Who in the Christian world at this day denies the Holy Spirit and His operations ? " At these words, one of those who were sitting upon the seats of the second row, turned round, and said : " You say that the Holy Spirit is a person by Him- self, and a God by Himself ; but what is a person going forth and proceeding from a person, but operation going for^h and proceeding ? One person cannot go forth and proceed from another, but operation can go forth and pro- 3'l8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. ceed. Or what is a God going forth and proceeding from God, but the Divine going forth and proceeding ? One God cannot go forth and proceed from another, but the Divine can go forth and proceed from the One God." On hearing these things, they who sat upon the seats con- cluded unanimously, that the Holy Spirit is not a person by Itself, so not a God by Itself; but that it is* the Holy Divine, going forth and proceeding from the Only Omnipres- ent God, Who is the Lord. To this the angels that stood by the golden table upon which was the Word, said : " Well. It is nowhere read in the Old Testament, that the prophets spake the Word from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah ; and where the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the New Testament, the proceeding Divine is meant, which is the Divine enlightening, teaching, vivifying, re- forming, and regenerating." After this there followed another Discussion concerning the Holy Spirit, upon the question. From whom does the Divine which is meant by the Holy Spirit proceed ? From the Father or from the Lord ? And when they were discussing this the light shone in from heaven, from which they saw that the Holy Divine, which is meant by the Holy Spirit, does not proceed out of the Father through the Lord, but out of the Lord from the Father ; comparatively as with man, whose activity does not proceed from the soul through the body, but out of the body from the soul. This the angel standing at the table confirmed by these things from the Word : He Whom the Father hath sent, speaketh the words of God : He hath not given the Spirit by measure unto Him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand (John iii. 34, 35). There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of yesse, the spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might (Isa. xi. i). That the spirit of Jehovah was put upon Him, and was in Him (xlii. i; lix. 20, 21; Ixi. i; Luke iv. 18). When the Holy Spirit is come, that I will send unto you No. i88.] THE DIVINE TRINITY. $19 FROM THE Father (John xv. 26). He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show you: all things that the father hath are mine; therefore SAID I, THAT He SHALL TAKE OF MiNE, AND SHALL SHOW UNTO YOU (xvi. 14, 15). If I depart I wiLi send THE Comforter unto you (xvi. 7). That the Comforter is THE Holy Spirit (xiv. 26). The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified (vii. 39). But after the glorification, Jesus breathed on the dis- ciples, and said unto them. Receive ye the Holy Spirit (xx. 22). And in the Apocalypse, Who shall not glorify Thy name, O Lord? for Thou alone art holy (xv. 4). Since the Lord's Divine operation, from His Divine omnipresence, is meant by the Holy Spirit, therefore, when He spoke to the disciples concerning the Holy Spirit, which He was about to send from the Father, He also said, / will not leave you orphans ; I go away, and COME unto you ; atid in that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (xiv. 18, 20, 28). And just before His departure out of the world, He said, Lo, I am with you all the days until the consum- matio?i of the age (Matt, xxviii. 20). Having read these words to them, the angel said : " From these and many other passages in the Word, it is manifest that the Divine which is called the Holy Spirit proceeds out of the Lord, from the Father." To this they who sat upon the seats said: "This is the Divine Truth." At length this decision was made ; that, " From the deliberations in this Council we have clearly seen, and therefore acknowledge as holy truth, that in the Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ there is a Divine Trinity, which is this : The Divine from which are all things, which is called the Father ; the Divine Human, which is called the Son ; and the proceeding Divine, which is called the Holy Spirit." And together they exclaimed : " In Jesus Christ dwelleth ALL the fulness OF THE GODHEAD BODILY (Col. ii. 9). Thus there is one God in the church." 320 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. III. After these things were concluded in that magnificent Council, they rose up, and the angel-keeper of the ward- robe came, and brought to each of those who sat upon the seats splendid garments interwoven here and there with threads of gold, and said : " Receive the wedding gar- ments." And they were conducted in glory into the New Christian Heaven, with which the Lord's Church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem, will be conjoined. CHAPTER FOURTH. CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, OR THE WORD OF THE LORD. I. The Sacred Scripture, or the Word, is the Divinb Truth itself. 189. It is on every one's lips that the Word is from God, is divinely inspired, and consequently holy ; but still it has not hitherto been known where in the Word the Divine is. For in the letter the Word appears like an ordinary writing, in a foreign style, neither sublime nor lucid, as the writings of the present age apparently are. Owing to this, a person who worships nature instead of God, or more than God, and who therefore thinks from himself and his proprium \ownhood\ and not from heaven from the Lord, may easily fall into error respecting the Word, and into contempt for it, saying within himself when he is reading it, " What is this? What is that? Is this Divine ? Can God, who has infinite wisdom, speak so ? Where is its holiness ? and whence, unless from some religious system, and persuasion from it ? " 190. But he who thinks in this manner does not conside) that Jehovah the Lord, Who is the God of heaven and earth, spake the Word through Moses and the Prophets, and thai it must therefore be the Divine Truth itself ; for that which Jehovah Himself speaks can be nothing else. Nor does he consider that the Lord the Saviour, Who is the same as Jehovah, spake the Word written in the Evangelists, many things from His own mouth, and the rest from the Breath of His mouth, which is the Holy Spirit, through His twelve apostles. Thence it is, as He Himself says, that in His 14* 322 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. words there are spirit and life, and He Himself is the Light which enlightens, and is the Truth ; which is manifest from the following passages : Jesus said. The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John vi. 63). Jesus said to the woman at Jacob's well. If thou knewest the Gift of God, and Who it ts That saith to thee. Give Me to drink, thou wouldst ask of Him, and He would give thee living water. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall give hii7i shall be in him a fountain of water, springing up into ever- lasting life (John iv. 10, 14). By the fountain [or well\ of yacob is signified the Word (as also Deut. xxxiii. 28) ; there- fore the Lord because He is the Word, sat there, and talked with the woman ; and by living water, is signified the truth of the Word. Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flo7v rivers of living water (John vii. 37, 38). Peter said to Jesus, Thou hast the words of eternal life (John vi. 68). Jesus said. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away (Mark xiii. 31). The Lord's words are truth and life, because He is the Truth and the Life, as He teaches in John : lam the Way, the Truth, and the Life (xiv. 6). And in the same : In the begimiing was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John i. i, 4). By the Word is meant the Lord as to Divine Truth, in which alone there is life and there is light. From this it is that the Word, which is from the Lord and which is the Lord, is called the fountain OF LIVING WATERS (Jcr. ii. 13 ; xvii. 13 ; xxxi. 9) ; the FOUNTAIN OF SALVATION (Isa. xii. 3) ; A FOUNTAIN (Zcch. xiii. i) ; and A river of the water of life (Apoc. xxii. i) ; and it is said that The Lamb, Who is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them at living fountains of waters (Apoc. vii. 17); besides other passages where the Word is also called a Sanctuary and a Tabernacle in which the Lord dwells with man. 4& No. 192.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 323 191. But still the natural man cannot from these consid- erations be persuaded that the Word is the Divine Truth itself, in which are Divine Wisdom and Divine Life; for he looks at it from its style, in which he does not see those things. Yet the style of the Word is the Divine style itself, with which no other can be compared, however sublime and excellent it may seem. The style of the Word is such that holiness is in every sentence, and in every word, yes in some places in the very letters : thence the Word conjoins man with the Lord, and opens heaven. There are two things which proceed from the Lord, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, or, what is the same, Divine Good and Divine Truth ; the Word, in its essence, is both of these : and because it conjoins man with the Lord and opens heaven, as was said, therefore the Word fills man with the goods of love and the truths of wisdom ; his will with the goods of love, and his understanding with the truths of wisdom : hence man has life through the Word. But it should be well known that only those have life from the Word, who read it for the purpose of drawing Divine truths from it, as from their fountain, and at the same time for the purpose of applying the Divine truths drawn therefrom to the life ; and that the contrary takes place with those who read it only for the sake of acquiring honors and gaining the world. 192. No person who is ignorant that there is a certain spiritual sense in the Word, as the soul is in the body, can judge in any other way concerning the Word than from the sense of its letter; when yet this is as a case containing precious things, which are its spiritual sense. When, there- fore, this internal sense is not known, one cannot judge of the Divine sanctity of the Word, otherwise than as he judges of a precious stone from the matrix which envel- opes it, and which sometimes appears as a common stone ; or from the box, made of jasper, lapis lazuli, amianthus, or agate, in which lie, in their order, diamonds, rubies, the 324 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. sardonyx, the oriental topaz, &c. While this is unknown, it is not to be wondered at if the box is esteemed only ac- cording to the price of its material, which is visible. It is similar with the Word, as to the sense of its letter. There- fore lest man should be in doubt as to whether the Word is Divine and most holy, its internal sense has been revealed to me, which in its essence is spiritual, and is within the external sense which is natural, as the soul is in the body. That sense is the spirit, which gives life to the letter ; it can therefore bear witness to the Divinity and sanctity of the Word, and can convince even the natural man, if he is willing to be convinced. II. In the Word there is a Spiritual Sense, hitherto UNKNOWN. 193. When it is said that the Word because it is Divine is in its bosom spiritual, who does not acknowledge this and give his assent? But who as yet has known what the spiritual is, and where in the Word it is stored ? But what the spiritual is, will be shown in a Relation following this chapter ; and where it is concealed in the Word, in what now follows. The Word in its bosom is spiritual because it descended from Jehovah the Lord, and passed through the angelic heavens ; and the Divine, which in itself is in- effable and imperceptible, was in its descent adapted to the perception of angels, and at last to the perception of men. Hence is the spiritual sense, which is inwardly in the natural, as the soul is in man, the thought of the under- standing in speech, and the affection of the will in action ; and if it is allowable to compare it with such things as ap- pear before the eyes in the natural world, the spiritual sense is in the natural as the whole brain is within its meninges or matres, or as the branches of a tree are within their inner and outer barks ; yes, as all things needful for the produc- tion of the little bird are within the shell of the egg, &c. ^ No. 194.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 325 But that there is such a spiritual sense of the Word within its natural sense, no one as yet has divined ; it is therefore necessary that this arcanum (which in itself stands pre-em- inent above all the other arcana hitherto disclosed) should be opened to the understanding, as it will be when ex- plained in the following order : i. What the Spiritual Sense is. 2. This sense is in each and every thifig in the Word. 3. It is from it that the Word is divinely inspired, and holy in every word. 4, That sense has been hitherto un- known. 5. It will not be given to any one hereafter who is not in genuine truths from the Lord. 6. Wonderful things concernifig the Word, from its spiritual sense. These things shall now be unfolded one by one, 194. (i.) What the Spiritual Sense is. The spiritual sense is not that which shines forth from the sense of the letter of the Word when any one is studying and explain- ing the Word to confirm some dogma of the church : this sense may be called the literal and ecclesiastical sense of the Word ; but if the spiritual sense does not appear in the sense of the letter it is inwardly in it, as the soul is in the body, as the thought of the understanding is in the eyes, and as the affection of love is in the face. It is prin- cipally that sense which makes the Word spiritual, not only for men, but also for angels ; wherefore the Word by that sense communicates with the heavens. Since the Word is inwardly spiritual, it is therefore written by mere corre- spondences ; and what is written by correspondences, is in the ultimate sense written in a style such as is found in the Prophets, the Evangelists, and the Apocalypse ; which, although it seems commonplace, still conceals within it Divine wisdom, and all angelic wisdom. What correspond- ence is, may be seen in the work concerning " Heaven and Hell," published at London in 1758, where it treats of The Correspondence of all the things of heavefi with all the things of man (n. 87-102), and The Correspondence of all the things of heaven with all the things of the earth (n. 1 03-1 15). And 326 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. it will be seen more fully by examples from the Word presented below. 195. From the Lord proceeds the Heavenly [Celes- tial] Divine, the Spiritual Divine, and the Natural Divine, one after another. That is called the Heavenly [Celestial] Divine which proceeds from His Divine Love, and it all is Good : that is called the Spiritual Divine which proceeds from His Divine Wisdom, and it all is Truth. The Natural Divine is from both, and is their complex in the ultimate. The angels of the heavenly [celes- tial] kingdom, of whom is the third or highest heaven, are in the Divine which proceeds from the Lord that is called Ifeavenly [Celestial'] ; for they are in the good of love from the Lord. The angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, of whom is the second or middle heaven, are in the Divine which proceeds from the Lord that is called Spiritual; for they are in Divine wisdom from the Lord. The angels of the Lord's natural kingdom, of whom is the first or low- est heaven, are in the Divine which proceeds from the Lord that is called the Natural Divine, and they are in the faith of charity from the Lord. But the men of the church are in one of those kingdoms according to their love, wisdom, and faith ; and into that in which they are, they also come after death. Such as heaven is, such also is the Word of the Lord : in its ultimate sense it is natural, in its interior sense it is spiritual, and in its inmost sense it is heavenly [celestial], and in each one of these senses it is Divine ; wherefore it is accommodated to the angels of the three heavens, and also to men. 196. (2.) TAe Spiritual Sense is in each and every thing in the Word. This cannot be seen better than by exam- ples, such as the following : John says, in the Apocalypse, I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse ; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteous- ness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as aflame of fire, and on His head were many crowns ; and He had a name No. 196.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 327 written, that no one knoweth but He Himself; and He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood ; and His name is called THE Word of God. And the armies in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. He hath upon His vesture and upon His thigh a name written. King of kings, and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice. Come and gather yourselves together unto the great supper, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of the mighty, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all, free and bond, small and great (xix. 11-18). What these things signify, no one can see but from the spiritual sense of the Word ; and no one can see the spiritual sense except from a knowledge of corre- spondences ; for all the words are correspondences, and no word is without meaning. 'The science of correspond- ences teaches what is signified by the white horse ; what by Him who sat upon him ; what by the eyes which were as a flame of fire ; what by the crowns upon His head ; what by the vesture tinged with blood ; what by the white fine linen, in which they who were of His army in heaven were clothed ; what by the angel standing iri the sun ; and what by the great supper to which they came and were gathered together ; and also what by the flesh of kings and captains ; and of many other things which they should eat. But what each of those expressions, in the spiritual sense, signifies, may be seen ex- plained in the " Apocalypse Revealed " (from n, 820 to 838) ; and also in a little work concerning the " White Horse ; " wherefore it is unnecessary to explain them further. In these it is shown that the Lord is there described as to the Word ; and that by His eyes, which were as a flame of fire, is meant the Divine wisdom of His Divine love ; and by the crowns Avhich were upon His head, and by the name which no one knoweth but Himself, are meant the Divine truths of the Word from Him, and that what the Word is, in its spiritual sense, no one sees but the Lord and those 328 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. to whom He reveals it ; also, that by the vesture dipped in blood, is meant the natural sense of the Word, which is the senge of its letter, to which violence has been done. That it is the Word which is thus described, is very manifest ; for it is said, His name is called the Word of God. That it is the Lord Who is meant, is also very manifest ; for it is said that the name of Him Who sat upon the white horse was King of kings and Lord of lords ; in like manner as in Apoc. xvii. 14, where it is said. And the Lamb shall over- come them, because He is Lord of lords and King ok KINGS. That the spiritual sense of the Word is to be opened at the end of the church, is signified not only by those things which are said concerning the white horse and Him Who sat upon him, but also by the great supper, to which the angel standing in the sun invited all to come, and eat the flesh of kings, and of captains, &c. ; by which is signified the appropriation of all good things from the Lord. All the expressions there would be empty words, and without life and spirit, unless there was a spiritual sense within them, as the soul is in the body. 197. In Apoc. xxi., the New Jerusalem is thus described: That in it there was a light like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, shining like crystal. That it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and twelve angels over the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel written. That the wall was of a hundred and forty- four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. That the building of the wall was jasper, and its fouftdations of every precious stone ; of jasper, sapphire, chal- cedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprasus, jacinth, and amethyst. That the gates were twelve pearls. That the city itself was pure gold, like pure glass ; and that it was four-square, the length, the breadth, and the height equal, being twelve thousand furlongs ; besides many other things. That all these things are to be under- stood spiritually may be evident from this, that by the '^ No. 198.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 329 New yerusakm is meant a New Church, which is to be estabHshed by the Lord, as is shown in the " Apocalypse Revealed " (n. 880) ; and because by yerusalem is there signified the church, it follows, that all the things which are said of it as a city — of its gates, of its wall, of the foundations of the wall, also the things which are said of their measures — contain a spiritual sense, since the things which are of the church are spiritual ; but what they signify has been shown in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (from n. 896 to 925) ; wherefore it would be superfluous to demon- strate them further; it is enough that it may thence be known that there is a spiritual sense in the several particu- lars of that description, as the soul in the body ; and that without that sense nothing of the church would be under- stood in those things which are written there ; as that the city was of pure gold, its gates of pearls, the wall of jasper, the foundations of the wall of precious stones ; that the wall was of a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel ; and that the city was in length, breadth, and height, twelve thousand fur- longs ; besides many other things. But he, who from a knowledge of Correspondences knows the spiritual sense, understands these things ; as that the wall and its founda- tions signify the doctrinals of that church, from the sense of the letter of the Word ; and that the numbers, 12, 144, 12,000, signify all things belonging to it, or its truths and goods in one complex. 198. Where the Lord speaks to His disciples of the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church, at the end of the predictions concerning its suc- cessive changes. He says : Immediately after the affliction of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of 330 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. Man coming in the clouds of heaven^ with power and great glory. And He shall send the angels, with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one e?id of the heavens even to the other (Matt. xxiv. 29, 30, 31). By these words, in the spiritual sense, it is not meant that the sun and moon would be darkened, that the stars would fall from heaven, and that the sign of the Lord would appear in the heavens, and that they would see Him in the clouds, and at the same time the angels with trumpets ; but by every particu- lar word there are meant spiritual things which are of the church ; and these things are said concerning the state of the church at its end. For in the spiritual sense by the sun, which will be darkened, is meant love to the Lord ; by the moon, which will not give her light, is meant faith in Him ; by the stars, which will fall from heaven, are meant cognitions of truth and good ; by the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, is meant the appearing of Divine Truth in the Word from Him ; by the tribes of the earth, which shall mourn, is meant the want of all truth which is of faith, and of all good which is of love ; by the Coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven with power and glory, is meant the Lord's presence in the Word, and revelation ; by the clouds of heaven, is signified the sense of the letter of the Word, and by glory, the spiritual sense of the Word ; by the angels with a great sound of a trumpet, is meant heaven, whence is Divine Truth \ by gathering together the elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other, is meant a new heaven and a new church of those who have faith in the Lord and live according to His commandments. That the darkening of the sun and rAoon and the falling of the stars to the earth are not meant, is very manifest from the prophets, for in them similar things are said concerning the state of the church, when the Lord was about to come into the world ; as in Isaiah, Behold, the day of Jehovah will come, cruel both with wrath and No. 199.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 33I fierce anger: the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light ; the sun shall he darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. I will punish the world for their wickedness (xiii. 9-1 1 ; also xxiv. 19-23). In Joel, The day of jfehovah Cometh, a day of darkness and thick darkness ; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining (\\. 1, 2, 10; also iii. 15). In Ezekiel, / will cover the heavens, and make the stars dark ; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. All the luminaries of light I will make dark, and set dark- ness upon the earth (xxxii. 7, 8). By the day of j^ehovah, is meant the Coming of the Lord, which was when there was no longer any good of love and truth of faith remaining in the church, or any cognition of the Lord ; therefore it is called a day of darkness and of thick darkness. 199. That the Lord when in the world spake by cor- respondences, thus that when He spake naturally He also spake spiritually, may be evident from His parables, in the several words of which there is a spiritual sense. Let the parable of the ten virgins be for an example. He said. The kingdom of the heavens is like ten virgins, who, tak- ing their lamps, went forth to meet the bridegroom ; five of them were wise, and five 7vere foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil ; but the wise took oil in their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold the bride- grootn Cometh ; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. Afid the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered, saying, Lest perchance there be not enough for us a7id you, go ye rather to them who sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the mar- riage ; and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying. Lord, lord, open to us. But he an- 332 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. swered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not (Matt. XXV. 1-12). That in these several words there is a spiritual sense, and thence a Divine Holiness, no one sees but he who knows that there is a spiritual sense, and what its quality is. In the spiritual sense, by the kingdom of the heave?is is meant heaven and the church ; by the bridegroom, the Lord ; by the wedding, the marriage of the Lord with them, by the good of love and the truth of faith ; by vir- gins, those who are of the church ; by ten, all ; by five, some ; by lamps, the things which are of faith ; by oil, the things which are of the good of love ; by sleeping and rising, the life of man in the world, which is natural, and his life after death, which is spiritual ; by buying, to pro- cure for themselves ; by going to them that sell and buying oil, to procure for themselves the good of love from others after death ; and because then it is no longer procured, therefore, though they came with lamps and the oil which they had bought to the door where the wedding was, still it was said to them by the bridegroom, / know you not. The reason is, because man remains, after the life in the world, such as he had lived in the world. From these examples, it is manifest that the Lord spake by mere cor- respondences, and this because He spake from "the Divine which was in Him, and was His. Because virgins signify those who are of the church, therefore so often in the prophetical Word it is said, the virgin and the daughter of Zion, of Jerusalem, of Judah, of Israel. And because oil signifies the good of love, therefore all the holy things of the church were anointed with oil. It is similar in the rest of the parables, and in all the words which the Lord spake. Thence it is that the Lord says that His words are spirit and are life (John vi. (i-^. 200. (3.) // is from the Spiritual Sense that the Word is divinely inspired, and holy in every word. It is said in the church that the Word is holy, and this because Jehovah the Lord spake it; but inasmuch as its holi- No. 200.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 333 ness is not apparent in the sense of the letter alone, any one who for that reason once has doubts concerning its holiness, when he afterwards reads the Word confirms himself in them by many things therein ; for he says to himself, " Is this holy ? Is this Divine ? " Lest, there- fore, such a thought should flow in with many, and after- ward grow stronger, and the Word should therefore be rejected as a worthless writing, and the conjunction of the Lord with man, by means of it, should perish, it has pleased the Lord now to reveal its spiritual sense, in order that it may be known where in the Word the Divine holi- ness is concealed. But let examples illustrate this. The Word treats sometimes of Egypt, sometimes of Assyria, sometimes of Edom, of Moab, of the sons of Ammon, of the Philistines, of Tyre and Sidon, and of Gog. He who does not know that by their names are signified things pertaining to heaven and the church may be led into the error that the Word treats much of peoples and nations, and but little of heaven and the church ; thus much of worldly, and little of heavenly things ; but when he knows what is signified by them, or by their names, he may be led back from error into the truth. In like manner, while he sees that in the Word are so often mentioned gardens, groves, forests, and their trees, as the olive, the vine, the cedar, the poplar, and the oak ; and so often the lamb, the sheep, the goat, the calf, the ox ; and also mountains, hills, valleys, and the fountains, rivers, and waters in them, and many such things ; he who knows nothing of the spiritual sense of the Word, cannot but believe that only those things are meant ; for he does not know that by a garden, grove, and forest, are meant wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge ; that by an olive, vine, cedar, poplar, and oak, are meant the good and truth of the church, heavenly [celestial], spiritual, rational, natural, and sensual ; that by a lamb, a sheep, a goat, a calf, an ox, are meant innocence, charity, and natural affection ; that by mountains, hills, and 334 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. valleys, are meant the higher, the lower, and the lowest things of the church ; also that by Egypt is signified the scientific ; by Assyria, the rational ; by Edom, the natural ; by Moab, the adulteration of good ; by the sons of Am- nion, the adulteration of truth ; by the Philistines, faith without charity ; by Tyre and Sidon, the cognitions of good and truth ; by Gog, external worship without internal. In general, by Jacob, in the Word, is meant the natural church ; by Israel, the spiritual church ; and by Judah, the heavenly [ce/esfia/] church. When a man knows all these things, he is then able to think that the Word treats only of heavenly things, and that those worldly things are only the subjects in which are the heavenly. But an example from the Word may illustrate this also. We read in Isaiah, In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt into As- syria, that Assyria may come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria; and that the Egyptians may serve with Assy- ria. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the lattd ; whom Jehovah Zebaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, and Assyria, the work of My hands, and Israel, Mine inheritance (xix. 23-25). By these words in the spiritual sense is meant, that at the time of the Coming of the Lord, the scientific, the rational, and the spiritual will make one, and that then the scientific will serve the rational, and they both will serve the spiritual ; for, as was said, by Egypt is signified the scientific, by Assyria the rational, and by Israel the spiritual ; by the day twice mentioned, is meant the first and the second Coming of the Lord. 2 o I ; (4.) The Spiritual Sense of the Word has been hitherto unknown. That all things and each thing in nature corre- spond to spiritual things, and in like manner all things and each thing in the human body, has been shown in the work concerning "Heaven and Hell" (n. 87-105). But what Correspondence is, has been hitherto unknown ; but in the most ancient times, it was very well known ; for No. 202.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 335 to those who then lived, the science of correspondences was the science of sciences, and was so universal that all their manuscripts and books were written by correspond- ences. The book of Job, which is a book of the ancient church, is full of correspondences. The hieroglyphics of the. Egyptians, and also the fabulous stories of the earliest times, were correspondences. All the ancient churches were churches represeritative of spiritual things. Their rites, and also the statutes according to which their woi ship was instituted, consisted of mere correspondences , so did all things of the church with the sons of Israel. The burnt-offerings, sacrifices, meat-offerings, and drink- offerings, with every thing pertaining to them, were cor- respondences ; likewise the tabernacle with all the things in it; and also their feasts, as the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of tabernacles, and the feast of the first- fruits ; also the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites, as also their garments of holiness ; but what the spiritual things were to which all these things corresponded has been shown in the "Arcana Coelestia," published at London. Besides these, all the statutes and judgments which con- cerned their worship and life were also correspondences. Now because Divine things present themselves in the world in correspondences, therefore the Word was written by mere correspondences ; wherefore the Lord, because He spake from the Divine, spake by correspondences ; for that which is from the Divine falls into such things in nat- ure as correspond to Divine things, and which then store up in their bosom Divine things which are called heavenly [celestial] and spiritual. 202. I have been instructed that the men of the most ancient church, which was before the flood, were of a genius so heavenly that they spoke with the angels of heaven, and that they were able to speak with them by correspondences : thence the state of their wisdom became such that whatever they saw on earth they thought of it 336 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV» not only naturally, but also spiritually at the same time ; thus also conjointly with the angels of heaven. Further- more, I have been informed that Enoch, of whom mention is made in Genesis (v. 21-24), with his associates, collected correspondences from the lips of those people, and trans- mitted the knowledge of them to posterity ; in consequence of which, the science of correspondences was not only known, but it was also cultivated, in many kingdoms of Asia, especially in the land of Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia, Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh, and was thence carried into Greece ; but there it was turned into fabulous tales, as is evident from the writings of the most ancient authors there. 203. That it may be seen that the knowledge of corre- spondences was long preserved among the nations of Asia, but among those who were called diviners and sages^ and, by some. Magi, I will present one example from i Sam. v. and vi. It is there recorded that the ark, in which were the two tables on which the decalogue was written, was captured by the Philistines, and placed in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod, and that Dagon fell to the ground be- fore it, and afterwards his head and the palms of his hands, severed from his body, lay upon the threshold of the temple ; and that on account of the ark, the men of Aihdod and Ekron were smitten by thousands with em- erods, and their land laid waste by mice. The Philistines therefore called together the princes and diviners, and in order to prevent their destruction they determined 10 make five emerods and five mice out of gold, also a new cart, and upon this to place the ark, and near it the emerods and mice of gold ; and, by two cows which lowed in the way before the cart, to send back the ark to the sons of Israel, by whom the cows and the cart were offered in sacrifice, and so the God of Israel was propitiated. That all these things, studied out by the diviners of the Philistines, were correspondences, is evident from their signification, which Na 205] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 337 is as follows: The Philistines themselves signified those who are in faith separate from charity ; Dagon represented that religious system ; the emerods with which they were smitten, signified natural loves, which separate from spiritual love are unclean ; and the mice signified the dev- astation of the church by falsifications of the truth ; the new cart signified natural doctrine of the church (for doc- trine from spiritual truths is signified in the Word by chariot) \ the cows signified good natural affections ; the etnerods of gold signified natural loves purified and made good ; the mice of gold signified the vastation of the church removed by good (for gold in the Word signifies good) ; the lowing of the cows in the way signified the difficult conversion of the natural man's lusts of evil into good affections ; the offering of the cows together with the cart for a whole burnt-offering, signified that thus the God of Israel was propitiated. All these things, which the Philis- tines did by the persuasion of their diviners, were corre- spondences ; from which it is manifest that a knowledge of them was long preserved among the Gentiles. 204. Since the representative rites of the church, which were correspondences, in the course of time began to be turned into what was idolatrous and also into what was magical, that knowledge, by the Divine Providence of the Lord, was then gradually lost, and, with the nation of Israel and Judah, was totally obliterated. The worship of this nation did indeed consist of mere correspondences, and was therefore representative of heavenly things ; but still they did not know what any thing signified, for they were wholly natural men, and consequently they would not and could not know any thing concerning spiritual and heavenly things ; nor therefore any thing concerning cor- respondences ; for correspondences are representations of spiritual and heavenly things in natural things. 205. The idolatries of nations in ancient times had their origin from a knowledge of correspondences, bpc.^use all VOL. I. 15 • ■. 338 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. things which appear upon the earth correspond ; thus not only trees, but also beasts and birds of every kind, also fishes and all other things. The ancients who had a knowledge of correspondences, made for themselves im- ages which corresponded to heavenly things, and were delighted with them because they signified such things as were of heaven and the church ; and therefore they placed them not only in their temples but also in their houses, not to adore them, but to call to mind the heavenly things which they signified. Therefore in Egypt and elsewhere there were images of calves, oxen, serpents, also of boys, old men, and virgins ; because calves and oxen signified the affections and powers of the natural man ; serpents, the prudence and also the cunning of the sensual man ; boys, innocence and charity ; old men, wisdom ; and vir- gins, affections for truth ; and so on. Their posterity, when the knowledge of correspondences was obliterated, began to worship as holy, and at length as deities, the images and figures set up by the ancients, because they were in their temples and near them. Hence also the ancients had worship in gardens and in groves, according to the kinds of trees in them ; also on mountains and hills ; for gardens and groves signified wisdom and intelligence, and each particular tree signified something pertaining to wis- dom and intelligence ; thus the olive signified the good of love ; the vine, truth from that good ; the cedar, rational good and truth ; a mountain, the highest heaven ; and a hill, the heaven below that. That the knowledge of cor- respondences remained with many of the people of the East even to the Coming of the Lord, is also evident from the wise men from the east, who came to the Lord when He was born; wherefore a star went before them, and they brought with them gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. ii. I, 2, 9, lo, ii); for the star which went before them signified knowledge from heaven ; the gold signified heavenly \celestiaf\ good ; the frankincense, spiritual good ; No. 206.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 339 and the myrrh, natural good ; from which three is all wor- ship. But still with the nation of Israel and Judah there was no knowledge whatever of correspondences, although every thing pertaining to their worship, and all the statutes and judgments given them by Moses, and all the things of the Word, were mere correspondences. This was be- cause they were in heart idolaters, and therefore such that they were not even willing to know that any thing in their worship signified what is heavenly and spiritual ; for they believed that all those things were holy in themselves ; therefore, if heavenly and spiritual things had been dis- closed to them they would not only have rejected, but would also have profaned them ; wherefore heaven was so closed to them that they scarcely knew that there was any eternal life. That this is so is very manifest from the fact that they did not acknowledge the Lord, although all the Sacred Scripture prophesied concerning Him, and foretold His Coming. They rejected Him for the sole reason that He taught them of a heavenly and not of an earthly king- dom ; for they wished for a Messiah who would exalt them above all the nations in the whole world, and not for any Messiah who would provide for their eternal safety. 206. The science of correspondences, through which is given the spiritual sense of the Word, was not disclosed after those times, because the Christians of the primitive church were so very simple that it could not be dis- closed to them ; for, if disclosed, it would have been of no use to them, nor would it have been understood. After their times, darkness spread over all the Christian world ; first by the heretical Opinions of many that were scattered abroad, and soon after by the deliberations and decrees of the Council of Nice, respecting three Divine persons from eternity, and concerning the person of Christ as the son of Mary and not as the Son of Jehovah God. Tlience originated the present faith of justification, in which three Gods are approached in their order; on which faith 340 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. the things of the church are at this day dependent, all and every one of them, as the members of the body depend on their head ; and as all things of the Word have been applied to confirm this erroneous faith, the spiritual sense could not be disclosed ; for, if it had been, they would have applied this sense also to that faith, and thereby would have pro- faned the very holiness of the Word ; and so they would have wholly closed heaven against themselves, and would have removed the Lord from the church. 207. The science of correspondences, through which the spiritual sense of the Word is given, has been revealed at this day, because now the Divine truths of the church are coming forth into the light, and of these the spiritual sense of the Word consists ; and while these are in man, the sense of the letter of the Word cannot be perverted. For the sense of the letter of the Word can be turned hither and thither ; but if it is turned to the false, then its internal holiness perishes, and with it the external ; but if turned to what is true, its holiness remains. But of this more will be said in the following pages. That the spiritual sense would be opened at this time, is meant by John's seeing heaven open, and then seeing a white horse ; and also by his seeing and hearing that an angel, standing in the sun, called all together to a great supper (concerning which see Apoc. xix. 11-18). But that for a long time it would not be ac- knowledged, is meant by the beast and by the kings of the- earth who were to make war with Him Who sat upon the white horse (Apoc. xix. 19) ; as also by the dragon, that he persecuted the woman who brought forth the son, even into the wilderness, and there cast forth from his mouth waters as a flood that he might drown her (Apoc. xii. 13-17). 208. (5.) TAe Spiritual Sense of the Word tuill not be given to any one hereafter who is not in genuine Truths from the Lord. The reason is that no one can see the spiritual sense except from the Lord alone, and unless he is in Divine truths from the Lord ; for the spiritual sense of the No. 209-1 THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 34! Word treats of the Lord alone, and of His kingdom ; and that is the sense in which His angels in heaven are, for it is His Divine truth there. A man can violate this if he has a knowledge of correspondences, and wishes by it to investigate the spiritual sense of the Word from His own intelligence ; for by means of some correspondences known to him he can pervert that sense, and force it to confirm even what is false ; and this would be doing violence to Divine truth, and thus also to heaven in which it has its habitation. Wherefore, if any one wishes, from himself and not from the Lord, to open that sense, heaven is closed ; and when it is closed man either sees nothing of truth, or becomes spiritually insane. The reason also is that the Lord teaches every one by the Word, and He teaches him from the cognitions which are with the man, and does not Infuse new ones immediately. Wherefore if man is not in Divine truths, or if he is in only a few truths and at the same time is in falsities, he may by these falsify the truths, as is also done by every heretic with the sense of the letter of the Word. Lest, therefore, any one should enter into the spiritual sense, and should pervert the genuine truth which is of that sense, guards are placed by the Lord, which are meant in the Word by chembs. 209. (6.) Wonderful things concerning tke Word, from its Spiritual Sense. In the natural world no wonderful things exist from the Word, because the spiritual sense does not there appear, nor is it inwardly received by man, such as it is in itself ; but in the spiritual world, wonderful things appear from the Word because all there are spiritual, and spiritual things affect the spiritual man as natural things the natural man. The wonderful things which exist in the spiritual world, from the Word, are many; a few of which I will here mention. The Word itself, in the shrines of the temples there, shines before the eyes of the angels like a great star> and sometimes like the sun ; and also, from the bright radiance round about it, there appear 342 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. as it were most beautiful rainbows ; this happens as soon as a shrine is opened. That the truths of the Word each and all are shining, was made evident to me from this, that when any single verse of the Word is written out upon paper, and this is thrown into the air, the paper itself shines in the form in which it was cut ; wherefore spirits are able to produce by the Word various shining forms, even those of birds and fishes. And. what is still more wonderful, when any one rubs the face, the hands, or the clothes which he has on, with the open Word, touching them with its writing, the face itself, the hands, and the clothes shine, as if he were standing in a star, surrounded with its light. This I have often seen and wondered at ; from which it was plain to me whence it was that the face of Moses shone when he brought the tables of the covenant down from mount Sinai. Besides these, there are many other wonderful things there, which are from the Word ; as, for instance, if any one who is in falsities looks at the Word as it lies in the holy place, thick darkness spreads before his eyes, and con- sequently the Word appears to him black, and sometimes as if covered over with soot ; but, if he also touches the Word, there comes an explosion with a crash, and he is thrown to a corner of the room, and for a brief hour he lies there as if he were dead. If some thing from the Word is written on paper by any one who is in falsities, and the " paper is thrown up toward heaven, then in the air, between his eye and heaven, there comes a similar explosion, and the paper is torn to atoms and vanishes : the same takes place if the paper is thrown towards an angel * who stands near : this I have often seen. Thence it was manifest to me, that those who are in falsities of doctrine have no com- munication with heaven by means of the Word ; but that their reading is dispersed in the way, and perishes, like * The Latin here reads angiilunty a corner. This is believed to be a misprint for angelum, an angel. No. 210.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 343 gunpowder enclosed in paper, when it is set on fire and thrown into the air. The contrary happens with those who are in truths of doctrine frorn the Lord through the Word : their reading of the Word penetrates even into heaven, and makes conjunction with the angels there. The angels them- selves, when they descend from heaven to discharge any duty below, appear encompassed with little stars, especially about the head ; which is a sign that Divine truths from the Word are in them. Furthermore, in the spiritual world there are things simi- lar to those which are upon earth, but all and every thing there is from a spiritual origin ; so there are also gold and silver, and precious stones of every kind, and their spiritual origin is the sense "of the letter of the Word. Therefore in the Apocalypse the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem are described by precious stones; the reason is that by the foundations of its wall are signified the doc- trinals of the New Church, from the sense of the letter of the Word. For the same reason also in Aaron's ephod there were also twelve precious stones, called Urim and Thummim, and by means of these answers were given from heaven. Besides these, there are many other wonderful things from the Word which concern the power oT truth there, which is so immense, that, if described it would sur- pass all belief. For the power is such as to overturn moun- tains and hills there, to remove them far away, and cast them into the sea ; beside many other things. In short, the Lord's power from the Word is infinite. IIL The Sense of the Letter of the Word is the Basis, the Container, and the Support of its Spiritual and Heavenly \Cekstial^ Sense. 210. In every thing Divine, there is a first, a mediate, and an ultimate ; and the first goes through the mediate to the ultimate, and so exists and subsists ; hence the ultimate is 344 I'HE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. the basis. The first, also, is in the mediate, and through the mediate in the ultimate ; thus the ultimate is the con- tainer. And because the ultimate is the container and the basis, it is also the support. It is comprehended by one who is well educated, that these three may be named end, cause, and effect ; and also esse [to be],yf^r?' [to become], and existere [to exist] ; and that the end is the •is's'e, the cause \\\Q. fieri, and the effect the existere; consequently, that in every complete thing there is a trine, which is called the first, the mediate, and the ultimate ; also end, cause, and efifect. When these things are comprehended, it is also comprehended that every Divine work is complete and per- fect in the ultimate ; and, likewise, that the all is in the ulti- mate, because in it the two prior [elements] are together. 211. It is from this, that by three, in the Word, in the spiritual sense is meant what is complete and perfect, and also all at once ; and because this is the signification of that number, it is used in the Word whenever any such thing is designated, as in these passages : Isaiah went naked afid barefoot three years (Isa. xx. 3). yehovah called Samuel three times, and Samuel ran three times to Elij and Eli the third time understood {\ Sam. iii. 1-8). fonathaii told David to hide himself in the field three days, and Jonathan afterwards shot three arrows on the side of a stone; and David then bowed himself three times before yonathan (xx. 5, 12-42). Elijah stretched liimself iuk'E.'E. times upon the widow^s son (i Kings xvii. 21). Elijah commanded that they should pour water iipon tJte burn't-offer- ing THREE times (xviii. 34). yesus said that the kingdom of the heavens is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in THREE measures of meal, till the whole was leavened (Matt. xiii. t^-^. yesus said to Peter, that he would deny Hijn THREE times (xxvi. 34). yesus said three times to Peter, Lox>est thou Mel (John xxi. 15-17). yonah was in the belly of a whale three days and three nights (Jon. i. 17). yesus said, Destroy this Temple, and I will raise it up in No. 213.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 34;^ THREE DAYS (John ii. 19 ; Matt. xxvi. 61). Jesus, in Geth- semane, prayed three times (Matt. xxvi. 39-44). Jesus rose again the third day (Matt, xxviii. i) : besides other places, where the nnmber three is used ; and it is used where a work finished and perfect is treated of, because this is what that number signifies. 212. There are three heavens, a highest, a middle, and a lowest. The highest heaven makes the Lord's heav- enly \celestiar\ kingdom, the middle heaven His spiritual kingdom, and the lowest heaven His natural kingdom. Just as there are three heavens, so there are three senses of the Word, the heavenly \celestial\ the spiritual, and the natural ; with which also those things agree which were «aid above (n. 210), namely, that the first is in the mediate, 'and, througli the mediate, in the ultimate ; just as the end is in the cause, and through the cause in the effect. The nature of the Word is thus manifest, namely, that in the sense of its letter, which is natural, there is an interior sense which is spiritual, and in this an inmost sense which is heav- enly "^^celestiari ; and thus that the ultimate sense, which is natural, and is called the sense of the letter, is the container, and so the basis and support, of the two interior senses. 213. Hence it follows that the Word without the sense of its letter would be like a palace without a foundation, thus like a palace in the air and not upon the earth, which would be only the shadow of a palace that would vanish away ; also that the Word without the sense of its letter would be like a temple in which are many holy things, and in the midst of it the shrine, but without roof or wall, which are its containers ; and if these were wanting, or if they were taken away, its holy things would be seized upon by thieves, and violated by the beasts of the earth and the birds of heaven, and thus they would be dissipated. It would also be like the tabernacle of the children of Israel in the wilderness (in the inmost part of which was the ark of the covenant, and in the middle the golden candlestick, 15* 346 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. the golden altar, on which was the incense, and also the table upon which the show-bread was placed), without its ultimates, which were the curtains, veils, and pillars. In- deed, the Word without the sense of its letter would be like the human body without its coverings, which are called skins, and without its supports, which are called bones ; without both of which all the inner parts of it would fall asunder. It would also be like the heart and the lungs in the thorax without their covering which is called the pleura, and their supports which are called ribs ; or like the brain without its coverings which are called the dura mater and pia mater, and without its general covering, container and support, which is called the skull. So would it be with the Word without the sense of its letter ; wherefore it is said in Isaiah (iv. 5), that Jehovah creates upon all the glory a covering [or defence\. IV. Divine Truth, in the Sense of the Letter of THE Word, is in its Fulness, in its Holiness, AND in its Power. 214. The Word in the sense of the letter is in its fulness, in its holiness, and in its power, because the two prior or in- terior senses, which are CdiA^diXh^ spiritual 2iWdi\}s\Q. heavenly \celestial\ are together in the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, as was said above (n. 210 and 212); but how they are together shall be further told. There are in heaven and in the world successive order and simul- taneous order : in successive order one thing succeeds and follows another, from things that are highest even to the lowest ; but in simultaneous order one thing is next to another from the inmost even to the outermost. Succes- sive order is like a column, graduated from the summit to the base ; while simultaneous order is like a work cohering within its circumferences, from the centre even to the outer- most surface. It shall now be told, how successive order be- J£ No. 215.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE 347 comes simultaneous order in the ultimate ; it becomes so in this way : The highest things of successive order be- come the inmost of simultaneous order, and the lowest things of successive order become the outermost of simul- taneous order ; comparatively, as a graduated column subsiding becomes a body coherent in a plane. Thus from the successive is formed the simultaneous, and this in all and in each thing of the natural world, and in all and in each thing of the spiritual world ; for there is every- where a first, a mediate, and an ultimate ; and the first tends and passes through the mediate to its ultimate. But it must be well understood that there are degrees of purity according to which either order is determined. Now to the Word : The heavenly [celestial^ the spiritual, and the natural, proceed from the Lord in successive order ; and in the ultimate they are in simultaneous order ; so then the heavenly [celesiiai'\ and the spiritual senses of the Word are together in its natural sense. When this is comprehended, it may be seen how the natural sense of the Word is the container, the basis, and the support of its spiritual and heavenly [celestial^^ senses ; also how the Divine good and the Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word are in their fulness, in their holiness, and in their power. From all this it may be evident, that the Word is the Word itself in its sense of the letter; for in- wardly in this there are spirit and life. This is what the Lord says in John (vi. 63) : The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life ; for the Lord spake His words in the natural sense. The heavenly [celestial^ and the spiritual senses without the natural sense are not the Word, for they are like spirit and life without a body ; and they are (as said above, n. 213) like a palace with- out a foundation. 215. The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, are in part not naked truths, but are appearances of truth, and like similitudes and comparisons are taken from such 348 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. things as are in nature, and thus such as have been accom- modated and adapted to the capacity of the simple and also of children. But as they are at the same time correspond- ences, they are the receptacles and dwelling-places of gen- uine truth ; and they are the vessels which contain them, as a crystal cup contains noble wine, and as a silver dish con- tains edible food ; and they are like garments used for cloth- ing, as swaddling-clothes wrap an infant, and as becoming dresses clothe a virgin ; they are also like the knowledges of the natural man, which comprise within them the per- ceptions and affections of spiritual truth. The naked truths themselves, which are enclosed, contained, clothed, and comprised, are in the spiritual sense of the Word, and the naked goods are in its heavenly \celestial^ sense. But this may be illustrated from the Word : Jesus said. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, because ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, hit within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside of them may be clean also (Matt, xxiii. 25, 26). Here the Lord spake by similitudes and comparisons, which at the same time are correspondences ; and He said cup and platter ; and by cup is not only meant but is also signified the truth of the Word ; for by the cup is meant wine, and truth is signified by wine; but by the platter is meant food, and good is signified by food. Therefore to cleanse the inside of the cup and of the platter, signifies to purify the interiors of the mind, which are of the will and the thought, by the Word ; that the outside may thus be clean, signifies that the exteriors, which are the works and the speech, are thus purified ; for these derive their essence from the will and the thought. Again : Jesus said, There was a certain rich man, who was clothed itt purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day ; and there was a certain poor man, named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores ''Luke xvi. 19, 20). Here also the Lord spake by simili- No. 215.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 349 tudes and comparisons, which were correspondences, and contained spiritual things. By the rich man is meant the Jewish nation, which is called rich because they had the Word, in which are spiritual riches. By the purple and fim linen with which he was clothed, are signified the good and truth of the Word ; by the purple its good, and by the fine linen its truth. By faring sutnptuously every day, is signified their delight in having the Word, and in hearing from it many things in the temples and synagogues. By the poor matt Lazarus are meant the Gentiles, because they had not the Word. That they were despised and rejected by the Jews, is meant by his being laid at the rich man's gate. By his being full of sores, is meant that the Gentiles, from ignorance of the truth, were in many falsities. The Gentiles are meant by Lazarus, because the Gentiles were loved by the Lord ; as the Lazarus who was raised from the dead was loved by the Lord (John xi. 3, 5, 36), and is called Wis friend (xi. 11), and sat at table with the Lord (xii. 2). From these two passages it is manifest that the truths and goods of the sense of the letter of the Word are as vessels, and as garments for the naked good and truth, which lie concealed in the spiritual and the heavenly \_celestial'\ senses of the Word. Since the Word is such in the sense of the letter, it follows that they who are in Divine truths and in the belief that the Word inwardly in its bosom is the holy Divine, and still more they who are in the belief that the Word is such from its spiritual and heavenly \celestial'\ senses, see Divine truths in natural light, while reading the Word in enlightenment from the Lord ; for the light of heaven, in which the spirit- ual sense of the Word is, flows into the natural light in which the sense of the letter of the Word is, and illu- minates the intellectual of man, which is called the rational, and makes him see and acknowledge the Divine truths, both where they stand forth and where they lie concealed. These flow in with the light of heaven, with some at times even when they are unconscious of it. 350 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. 216. Since the Word, in its inmost depths, from its heavenly \celestial'\ sense, is like a gentle flame which en- kindles, and in its intermediate depths, from its spiritual sense, is like a light which enlightens, therefore in its ulti- mate, from its natural sense, the Word is like a transparent object receiving both ; which from the flame is red like purple, and from the light is white like snow. Thus it is re- ■ spectively like a ruby and a diamond ; like a ruby from the heavenly \celesiial'\ flame, and like a diamond from the spiritual light. Because the Word is such in the sense of the letter, therefore the Word in this sense is meant, I. By the precious stones of which the foundations of the New yerusalem cofisisted. 2. Also by the Urim and Thum- mim on the ephod of Aaron. 3. And also by the precious stones in the garden of Eden, where the king of Tyre is said to have been. 4. As also by the curtains, veils, and pillars of the tabernacle. 5. In like manner by the externals of the temple at Jerusalem. 6. The Word in its glory was represented in the Lord when He was transfigured. 7. The power of the Word in ultimates was represented by the Naza- rites. 8. Of the inexpressible power of the Word. But these are to be illustrated one by one. 217. (1.) The Truths of the Letter of the Word are meant by the precious Stones of which the Foundations of the New Jerusalem consisted (Apoc. xxi. 17—21). It was mentioned above (n. 209), that there are precious stones in the spiritual world, as well as in the natural world, and that their spiritual origin is from the truths in the sense of the letter of the Word ; this seems incredible, but still it is the truth. Thence it is, that wherever pre- cious stones are named in the Word, in the spiritual sense truth* are meant. That the precious stones, of which the foundations of the wall around the city New Jerusalem are said to be constructed, signify the truths of the doctrine of the New Church, follows from this, because by the New yei'usalem is meant the New Church as to doctrine from M No. 2i8.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 35 1 the Word ; wherefore its wall and the foundations of the wall can mean nothing but the external of the Word, which is the sense of its letter ; for this is the sense from which doctrine is^ and by doctrine the church ; and it is like a wall with foundations, which encloses and protects a city. Concerning the New Jerusaler^ and its foundations, we read : The angel measured the wall of the city Jerusalem, a hundred forty and four cubits, which was the measure of a man, that is, of ati angel. And the wall had twelve founda- tions, garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second sapphire ; the third a chalcedony; the fourth an emerald; the fifth sardonyx; the sixth sardius ; the seventh chrysolite; the eighth beryl; the ninth a topaz ; the tenth a chrysoprasus ; the eleventh a ja- cinth ; the twelfth an amethyst (Apoc. xxi. 17-20). The foundations of the wall were twelve, and of as many pre- cious stones, because the number twelve signifies all the things of truth from good ; here, therefore, all things of doctrine. But these things, as also those which precede and follow in that chapter, may be seen explained as to particulars, and confirmed by parallel passages from the Word, in our " Apocalypse Revealed." 218. (2.) The Goods and Truths of the Word in the Sense of its Letter are tneanf by the Urim and Thummim on the Ephod of Aaron. The Urim and Thummim were upon the Ephod of Aaron, whose priesthood represented the Lord, as to the Divine good, and as to the work of salva- tion. The garments of his priesthood, or his garments of holiness, represented Divine truths from the Lord ; the ephod represented the Divine truth in its ultimate, and thus the Word in the sense of the letter, for this is Divine truth in its ultimate ; the twelve precious stones, with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, which were the Urim and Thummim, therefore represented Divine truths from Divine good in their whole complex. Concerning these things we read as follows in Moses : They shall make the 352 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. ephod of blue and of purple, scarlet double-dyed, and fine-twined linen ; afterwards they shall make the breastplate of Judgment after the work of the ephod ; and thou s/rnlt set in it settings of stone, fotir rows of stone ; the first row shall be a carbuncle, a topaz, and an emerald ; the seeond row, a chrysoprasus, a sapphire, and a diamond ;. the third row, a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst; the fourth row, a beryl, a sardius, and a Jasper, These stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel ; there shall be the engravings of a signet for the twelve tribes according to their name ; and Aaron shall ^aYry upon the breastplate of Judgment, the Urim and Thum- mim ; and let them be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before Jehovah (Ex. xxviii. 6, 15, 17-21, 29, 30). What was represented by the garments of Aaron, his ephod, robe, undercoat, mitre, and girdle, is explained in the " Arcana Coelestia," published at London, where that chapter is treated of, and where it is shown that by the ephod was represented Divine truth in its ultimate ; that by the pre- cious stones there, were represented Divine truths trans- lucent from good ; by twelve, arranged by fours, all those truths from the first to the ultimate \ by the twelve tribes, all things pertaining to the church ; by the breastplate, Divine truth from Divine good in the universal sense ; by the Urim and Thummim, the resplendence of Divine truth from Divine good in ultimates, for Urim is shining fire, and Thummim is resplendence in angelic language, and integrity in the Hebrew ; also that answers were given by variegations of light, and at the same time by tacit percep- tion, or by a living voice ; besides other things. From which it may be evident that by these stones also were signified truths from good in the ultimate sense of the Word ; nor are answers from heaven given by other means, for in that sense the proceeding Divine is in its fulness. 219. (3.) Similar things are meant by the Precious Stones in the Garden of Eden, where the King of Tyre is said to have been. We read in Ezekiel, King of Tyre, thou 'TA No. 220.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 353 sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty ; thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God ; every precious stone was thy covering ; the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond ; the beryl, the sardonyx, and the jasper ; the sapphire, the chtysoprasus, and the emerald, and gold (xxviii. 12, 13). By Tyre in the Word is signified the church, as to cognitions of good and truth ; by king is signified the truth of the church ; by the garden of Eden are signified wisdom and intelligence from the Word ; by precious stones are signified truths translu- cent from good, such as are in the sense of the letter of the Word ; and because these things are signified by those stones, therefore they are called his covering. That the sense of the letter covers the interiors of the Word may be seen above (n. 213). 220. (4.) Goods and Truths, in the ultimates, such as they are in the Sense of the Letter of the Word, were repre- sented by the Curtains, Veils, and Pillars of the Tabernacle. The tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness repre- sented heaven and the church ; wherefore the form of it was shown by Jehovah on mount Sinai ; consequently all the things which were in that tabernacle, which were the candle- stick, the golden altar for incense, and the table upon which was the show-bread, represented and signified the holy things of heaven and the church ; and the holy of holies, where was the ark of the covenant, represented and thence signified the inmost of heaven and the church ; and the law itself, written upon the two tables, signified the Word ; and the cherubs ab^ove it signified guards, that the holy things of the Word might not be violated. Now because externals derive their essence from internals, and both of these de- rive theirs from the inmost, which in that case was the law, therefore the holy things of the Word were represented and signified by all things belonging to the tabel"nacle. Hence it follows, that the ultimates of the tabernacle, which were the curtains, veils, and pillars, which w-ere cov- erings, containers, and supports, signified the ultimates of 354 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. the Word, which are the truths and goods of the sense of its letter. Because those things were signified, therefore all the curtains and veils were made of fine-twined linen, and blue, and purple, and double-dyed scarlet, with cherubs (Ex. xxvi. I, 31, 36). What was represented and signified by the tabernacle and by all things in it, both generally and particularly, has been explained in the " Arcana Cce- lestia," where that chapter of Exodus is treated of ; and it is there shown, that the curtains and veils represented the externals of heaven and the church, thus also the exter- nals of the Word ; and also that by the cotton or fine linen, was signified truth from a spiritual origin ; by hyacinthinc blue, truth from a heavenly [celestial^ origin ; by purple, heavenly [celestial'\ good ; by double-dyed scarlet, spiritual good ; and by cherubs, the guards of the interiors of the Word. 221. (5.) The same were represented by the Externals of the Temple at Jerusalem. The reason is, because by the temple, as well as by the tabernacle, was represented heaven and the church ; but by the temple, the heaven in which the spiritual angels are, and by the tabernacle, the heaven where the heavenly \celestial'\ angels are. Spiritual angels are they who are in wisdom from the Word, but heavenly \celestial^ angels are they who are in love from the Word. That the. Divine Human of the Lord was sig- nified by the temple at Jerusalem, in the highest sense. He teaches in John : Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up ; He spake of the Temple of His Body (ii. ig, 21) ; and where the Lord is meant, the Word also is meant, because He is the Word. Now, because the interiors of the temple represented the interiors of heaven and the church, thus also of the Word, therefore its exteriors rep- resented and signified the exteriors of heaven and the church, thus also of the Word, which belong to the sense of its letter. Concerning the exteriors of the temple, we read, that They were built of whole stone not hewn, and of No. 223-] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 355 cedar within ; and that all its walls were carved inside with cherubs^ palm-trees, and open flowers ; and that the floor was overlaid with gold (i Kings vi. 7, 29, 30) ; by all of which are also signified the externals of the Word, which are the holy things of the sense of its letter. 222. (6.) The Word in its Glory was represented in the Lord when He was trafisfignred. Of the Lord when trans- figured before Peter, James, and John, we read, that His face shone like the sun ; and His raiment became as the light; and that Moses and Elias were seen talking with Him ; and that a bright cloud overshadowed the disciples ; and that a voice was heard from the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him (Matt. xvii. 1-5). I have been instructed that the Lord then represented the Word ; by His face which shone like the sun, was represented the Divine good of His Divine Love ; by the raijneift, which became like the light, the Divine truth of His Divine Wisdom ; by Moses and Elias, the historical and the prophetical Word — by Moses the Word written through him, and the historic Word in general, and by Elias, all the prophetic Word ; by the bright cloud which overshadowed the disciples, the Word in the sense of the letter ; wherefore from it a voice was heard, saying, This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him ; for no announcements and answers from heaven are ever made except by ultimates, such as ace in the sense of the letter of the Word ; for they are made by the Lord in ful- ness. 223. (7.) The Power of the Word i7i Ultimates was repre- sented by the Nazarites. In the book of Judges we read of Samson, that he was a Nazarite from his mother's womb, and that his power lay in his hair ; moreover, Nazarite and Nazariteship also signify hair. That his power lay in his hair, he himself showed, when he said. There hath not come a razor upon my head, for I have been a Nazarite from jny mother'' s womb ; if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man 355 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. (Judges xvi. 17). It is not possible for any one to know why Nazariteship, which signifies hair, was instituted, and why Samson had strength from his locks, unless he knows what is signified in the Word by the head. By the head is signified the intelligence which angels and men have from the Lord by Divine truth ; consequently hair signifies in- telligence in ultimates, or extremes, from Divine truth. Because this was signified by hair, it was therefore a stat- ute for the Nazarites, that they should not shave the hair of their head, because it was the Nazariteship of God upon their head (Num. vi. 1-2 1); and therefore it was also a statute, that the high priest and his sons should not shave their heads, lest they sho7ild die, and lest wrath should come upon the whole house of Israel {L.Q.V. x. 6). Since the hair, on account of this signification from correspondence, was so holy, there- fore the Son of Man, Who is the Lord as to the Word, is described even as to the hair, that it was white like wool, as white as sttow (Rev. i. 14); in like manner, the Ancient of Days (Dan. vii. 9). Since hair signifies truth in ultimates, and thus the sense of the letter of the Word, therefore in the spiritual world they who despise the Word become bald ; and, on the other hand, they who have highly esteemed the Word, and have accounted it holy, appear with comely hair. Owing to this correspondence the forty-two boys were torn to pieces by two she-bears, because they called Elisha bald head (2 Kings ii, 23, 24); iot Elisha represented the church as to doctrine from the Word, and she-bears signify the power of truth in ultimates. The power of Divine truth, or of the Word, is in the sense of its letter, because the Word is there in its fulness, and th6 angels of both of the Lord's kingdoms and men are together in that sense. 224. (8.) Concerning the inexpressible Power of the Word. Scarcely any one at this day knows that there is any power in truths ; for truth is supposed to be only a word spoken by some one in authority, which ought therefore to be done ; consequently, to be like mere breath from the mouth, or No. 224.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 357 sound in the ear; when yet truth and good are the first principles of all things in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural j and [hardly any one knows] that by means of them the universe was created, and that by means of them the universe is preserved, and also that by means of them man was made ; wherefore those two are the all in all things. That the universe was created by the Divine Truth, is openly said in John : In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God ; all things that were made were made by it: and the world was made by it (i. i, 3, xo). And in David, By the Word of jfehovah ivere the heavens made (Ps. xxxiii. 6). By the Word in both of these places is meant the Divine Truth. Since the universe was created by this Truth, therefore it is also preserved by it ; for, as . subsistence is perpetual existence, so preservation is perpet- ual creation. Man was made by the Divine truth because all things in man refer themselves to the understanding and the will ; and the understanding is the receptacle of Divine truth, and the will, of Divine good ; consequently the human mind, which consists of those two principles, is no other than a form of Divine truth and Divine good, spiritually and naturally organized. The human brain is tliat form. And because the whole of man depends on his mind, all things in his body are appendages, which are actuated by those two principles, and live from them. From what has been said it may now be evident why God came into the world as the Word, and became Man, — that this was for the sake of redemption ; for then God, by the Human, which was Divine truth, put on all power and cast down the hells (which had grown up even to the heavens where the angels were), subjugated them, and reduced them to obedience to Himself ; and this not by a spoken word, but by the Divine Word, which is the Divine truth : and afterward He opened a great gulf between the hells and the heavens, which no one from hell can cross. If any one attempts it, at the first step he is tortured like a serpent 358 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. laid on sheets of hot iron, or on an ant-hill ; for devils and satans, as soon as they take in the odor of Divine truth, instantly precipitate themselves into the deep, and cast themselves into caverns, stopping them up so closely that not a crack may be open. This is because their will is in evils, and their understanding in falsities, thus in what is opposite to Divine good and Divine truth ; and because the whole man consists of those two first principles of life, as before said, therefore they are so grievously and wholly overpowered from head to foot, at the sense of what is opposite. Hence it may be evident that the power of Divine truth is inexpressible ; and since the Word which is in the Christian church is the container of Divine truth in the three degrees, it is manifest that it is that which is meant in John (i. 3, 10). That its power is inexpressitJe, I could confirm by many evidences of experience in tlie spiritual world ; but because they exceed belief, or appear incredible, I omit their presentation ; some, however, you may see recorded above (n, 209). From these things will now be given a statement that may serve to keep them in remembrance : The church which is in Divine truths from the Lord prevails over the hells, and it is this concerning which the Lord said to Peter, C//>on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. xvi. 18). The Lord said this after Peter had con- fessed that Christ was the Son of the living God (verse 16) ; this truth is there meant by the rock ; for by rock every- where in the Word is meant the Lord as to Divine truth. V. The Doctrine of the Church is to be drawn FROM the Sense of the Letter of the Word, AND CONFIRMED BY IT. 225. It was shown in the preceding articles, that the Word in the sense of the letter is in its fulness, in its holi- ness, and in its power ; and since the Lord is the Word, and No. 226.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 359 is the First and the Last (as He says in Apoc. i. 1 7), it fol- lows that He is most fully present in that sense, and that He teaches and enlightens man from it. But these things shall be demonstrated in this order : i. Without doctrine the Word is not understood. 2. Doctrine is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word [aftd to be confirmed by //]. 3. But the Divine truth which is of doctrine appears to none but those who are in enlightenment froin the Lord. 226. (i.) Without doctrine the Word is not understood. This is because the Word in the sense of the letter con- sists of mere correspondences, in order that spiritual and heavenly \celestial'\ things may be together therein, and every word may be a container and support for them. For this reason Divine truths in the sense of the letter are rarely naked, but clothed, and these are called appearances of truth ; and they are the many things accommodated to the capacity of the simple, who do not lift their thoughts above such things as they see before their eyes ; also some things which appear like contradictions, when yet there is no contradiction in the Word viewed in its own spiritual light \ and furthermore, in some passages in the prophets, there are brought together names of places and persons from which no sense can be elicited. Since, then, the Word is such in the sense of the letter, it may be evident that it cannot be understood without doctrine. But examples may illustrate this. It is said that yehovah repenteth (Ex. xxxii. 12, 14; Jon. iii. 9; iv. 2); and it is also said that jFehovah doth not repe7tt (Num. xxiii. 19 ; i Sam. xv. 29). Without doctrine these statements do not agree. It is said that jFehovah visiteth the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation (Num. xiv. 18) ; and it is also said that The father shall not die for the son^ nor the son for the father ; but every one in his own sin (Deut. xxiv. 16). By means of doctrine, these statements do not conflict, but are in agreement. Jesus says. Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; and to him 360 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. that kmcketh, it shall be opened (Matt. vii. 7, 8 ; xxi. 21, 22). Without doctrine, it might be supposed that every one is to receive what he asks \ but from doctrine it is known, that when man asks from the Lord, whatever he asks is given. This also the Lord teaches : If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be dofie unto you (John xv. 7). The Lord says : blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God (Luke vi. 20). Without doctrine it may be thought that heaven is for the poor, and not for the rich ; but doctrine teaches that the poor in spirit are meant ; for the Lord says : Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens (Matt. v. 3). Again, the Lord says : Judge not, that ye be not judged : with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged (Matt. vii. i, 2 ; Luke vi, 37). Without doctrine any one might be led to conclude that he ought not to judge concerning a wicked man, that he is wicked ; but according to doctrine it is lawful to judge, but justly ; for the Lord says, jfudge righteous judgment (John vii. 24). Jesus says : Be tiot ye called teacher ; for One is your Teacher, even Christ. Call no fnan your father upon the earth ; for One is your Father in the heavens. Neither be ye called mas- ters ; for One is your Master, even Christ (Matt, xxiii. 8, 9, 10). Without doctrine this would be, that it is not lawful to call any one teacher, father, or master ; but from doc- trine it is known that it is lawful in a natural sense, but not in a spiritual sense. Jesus said to the disciples. When the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upoti twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. xix. 28). From these words it may be concluded that the Lord's disciples also are to judge, when yet they can judge no one. Doctrine, therefore, will reveal this arcanum, by teaching that the Lord alone Who is omni- scient and knows all hearts is to judge, and is able to judge ; and that by His twelve disciples is meant the church as to all truths and goods, which it has from the idl No. 228.1 THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 361 Lord through the Word, Wherefore doctrine concludes that these are to judge every one, according to the words of the Lord in John (iii. 17, 18 ; xii. 47, 48). There are many other similar statements in the Word, from which it is clearly mani- fest that the Word is not understood without doctrine. 227. The Word by doctrine is not only understood, but it also shines in the understanding ; for doctrine is like a candelabrum with lamps lighted ; a man then sees more than he had seen before, and also understands what he had not understood before : what is obscure and discord- ant he either passes by unseen, or he sees and explains so that it may accord with doctrine. That the Word is seen from doctrine, and is explained according to it, the ex- perience of the Christian world witnesses. All the Re- formed see the Word from their doctrine, and they explain it according to their doctrine ; so also the Papists from theirs, and according to it ; yes, the Jews from theirs, and according to it ; consequently they see falsities from false doctrine, and truths from true doctrine. From this it is manifest that true doctrine is like a lamp in the dark, and like a guide-post on the highway, 228. From these things it may be evident, that they who read the Word without doctrine are in obscurity re- specting every truth, and that their mind is wandering and uncertain, prone to errors, and also easily falling into here- sies, which they embrace if favor or authority supports them and their reputation is not endangered ; for to them the Word is like a candelabrum without light, and they see many things as in the shade ; and yet they see scarcely any thing, for doctrine alone is the lamp, I have seen such examined by the angels, and it was found that they could confirm from the Word whatever they would, and that they confirm especially the things which are of their love, and of the love of those whom they favor. But I saw them stripped of their garments, a sign that they were without truths ; garments there are truths. VOL. I. 16 363 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. 229. (2.) Dodriiie is to be draivn from the Sense of the Letter of the Word, and to be conJir?ned by it. The reason is that the Lord is there present, and teaches and en- lightens ; for the Lord never operates except in fulness, and the Word is in its fulness in the sense of the letter, as was shown above ; thence it is, that doctrine should be drawn from the sense of the letter. The doctrine of gen- uine truth may also be fully drawn from the literal sense of the Word ; for the Word in that sense is like a man clothed, whose face is bare, and his hands also bare. All the things which pertain to a man's faith and life, and thus to his salvation, are naked there, but the rest are clothed ; and in many places where they are clothed, they show through, as objects appear to a woman through a thin veil of silk before her face. As truths of the Word are multi- plied from the love of them, and as by this they are arranged in order, they also shine and appear more and more clearly. 230. It may be believed that doctrine of genuine truth can be gathered by means of the spiritual sense of the Word which is given through a knowledge of correspond- ences ; but doctrine is not gathered by means of that sense, but only illustrated and corroborated ; for, as was said be- fore (n. 208), by some correspondences that are known a man may falsify the Word, for he may join them together and apply them to confirm that which inheres in his mind from some principle that he has adopted. Besides, the spiritual sense is not given to any one except by the Lord alone ; and it is guarded by Him as the angelic heaven is guarded, for heaven is in it. 231- (3-) Genuine Truth, which will be of Doctrine, does not appear in the Sense of the Letter of the Word to any but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord. Enlighten- ment is from the Lord alone, and is with those who love truths because they are truths, and who make them uses of the life ; with others, enlightenment in the Word is not No. 232.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 363 given. Enlightenment is from the Lord alone, because the Word is from Him, and consequently He is in it. They have enlightenment who love truths because they are truths, and who make them uses of the life, because they are in the Lord, and the Lord in them ; for the Lord is the Truth itself, as was shown in the chapter concerning the Lord ; and the Lord is then loved, when man lives accord- ing to His Divine truths, thus when uses are performed from them, according to these words in John : At that day ye shall know that ye are in Me, and I in you. He that hath My commandments and k^epeih them, he it is that loveth Me ; and I ivill love hitn, and will manifest Myself to him ; and will come to him, and make afi abode with him (xiv. 20, 2 1, 23). These are they who are in enlightenment v/hen they read the Word, and with whom the Word gives light and is translucent. The Word gives light and is translucent with them, because there are the spiritual and the heavenly [celestial'] senses in every thing of the Word, and these senses are in the light of heaven ; wherefore through these senses and their light the Lord flows into the natural sense of the Word, and into the light of it that is with a man. Hence the man acknowledges the truth from an interior perception, and afterwards sees it in his thought ; and this as often as he is in the affection of truth for the sake of truth ; for from affection comes perception, from percep- tion thought, and thus is effected the acknowledgment which is called faith. 232. The contrary is the case with those who read the Word from the doctrine of a false religion, and still more with those who confirm that doctrine from the Word, and this with a view to their own glory and to the riches of the world. With these the truths of the Word are as in the shadow of night, and falsities as in the light of day ; they read truths but they do not see them ; and if they see their shadow they falsify them. These are they of whom the Lord says, that they have eyes and see not, and ears but 364 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. do not understand (Matt, xiii. 14, 15). Therefore their Hght in spiritual things that pertain to the church becomes merely natural, and the sight of their mind like that of one who sees spectres in the bed while he is waking, or like that of a sleep-walker who believes himself to be awake when he is sleeping. 233. It has been granted me to converse with many after their death who believed that they should shine like stars in heaven, because, as they said, they esteemed the Word holy, often read it through, collected from it many things by which they confirmed the dogmas of their faith, and therefore were celebrated as learned men ; wherefore they believed that they should be Michaels and Raphaels. But many of them were examined as to the love from which they studied the Word ; and it was found that some studied it from the love of themselves, that they might be wor- shipped as leaders of the church ; and some from the love of the world, that they might gain riches ; when these were also examined as to what they knew from the Word, it was found that they knew nothing of genuine truth from it, but only such as is called truth falsified, which in itself is pu- trid falsity, for in heaven it has a putrid smell ; and it was said to them, that they had this because they themselves and the world were their ends when they read the Word, and not the truth of faith and the good of life. And when oneself and the world are ends, then the mind in reading the Word sticks fast in self and the world ; and therefore men think continually from their proprium \ow}ihood\ and man's proprium is in thick darkness as to all things which pertain to heaven and the church ; in which state man can- not be lifted up by the Lord, and raised into the light of heaven ; consequently he cannot receive any influx from the Lord through heaven. I also saw these persons ad- mitted into heaven, and when they were there found to be without truths they were cast down. But still there remained with them pride in their own merit. It was No. 235] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 365 Otherwise with those who had studied the Word from an affection for knowing truth because it is truth, and is of service for the uses of life, not only their own but also their neighbor's. I have seen these elevated into heaven, and so into the light in which the Divine truth is there ; and I have seen them exalted at the same time into angelic wisdom, and into its happiness in which the angels of heaven are. VI. By the Sense of the Letter of the Word, THERE IS Conjunction with the Lord, and Consociation with the Angels. 234. There is conjunction with the Lord by the Word, because He is the Word, that is, the Divine Truth itself and the Divine Good therein. The conjunction is by the sense of the letter, because the Word in that sense is in its ful- ness, in its holiness, and in its power, as was shown above in its proper article. This conjunction do^s not appear to the man, but it is in the affection for truth, and in the per- ception of it. By the sense of the letter th'-ire is consocia- tion with the angels of heaven, because the spiritual sense and the heavenly [celestial^ sense are witUn that of the letter, and the angels are in those senses ; the angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom in the spifitual sense of the Word, and the angels of His heavenly [cekstial'\ king- dom in its heavenly [celestial'\ sense. These two senses are evolved from the natural sense of the Word while a man who regards the Word as holy is reading it. The evolution is instantaneous ; consequently the consociatior is so too. 235. That the spiritual angels are in the spi'-itual sense of the Word, and the heavenly [ceksiial'\ angels in its heav- enly [celestial'\ sense has been made manifest to me by much experience. It has been granted me to perceive that, while I have been reading: the Word in the sense of its 366 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. letter, communication has been made with the heavens, now with this society there, now with that. Things which I have understood according to the natural sense, the spiritual an- gels have understood according to the spiritual sense, and the heavenly [celestial'] angels according to the heavenly [(.■eiesttal'\ sense, and this instantly. And as this commu- nication has been perceived several thousand times, I have no doubt left concerning it. There are also spirits who are below the heavens, and who abuse this communication ; for they recite some passages from the sense of the letter of the Word, and immediately observe and note the society with which communication is effected. This, too, I have often seen and heard. From these things it has been given me to know by living experience that the Word as to the sense of its letter is the Divine medium of conjunction with the Lord, and consociatipn with the angels of heaven. 236. But it shall be illustrated by examples, how from the natural sense the spiritual angels perceive their sense, and the heavenly [ceiestiai'\ angels theirs, when man is read- ing the Word. Let four commandments of the decalogue be for examples. The Fifth Commandment, Thou shalt not kill : By this a man not only understands to kill, but also to cherish hatred and breathe revenge even to the death : a spiritual angel for killing understands to act the devil and destroy a man's soul ; but a heavenly \celestiar\ angel for killing understands to hate the Lord and the Word. The Sixth Commandment, Thoic shalt not commit adultery : A man understands C07nmitting adultery to mean to commit whoredom, to do obscene things, to speak las- civious words, and to entertain filthy thoughts ; a spiritual angel understands for committing adultery, to adulterate the goods of the Word, and to falsify its truths ; but a heavenly \celestial'\ angel understands for committi?ig adul- tery, to deny the Lord's Divinity and to profane the Word. The Seventh Commandment, Thou shalt not steal: By stealing, a man understands to steal, to defraud. m No. 237.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 367 and to take away from the neighbor his goods under any pretext ; a spiritual angel understands for stealing, to deprive others of the truths and goods of their faith by falsities and evils ; but a heavenly [celestial'\ angel understands for steal- ing, to attribute to oneself those things which are the Lord's, and to claim to oneself His righteousness and merit. The Eighth Commandment, Thou shall not bear false witness : By bearing false witness a man understands also to lie and to defame ; a spiritual angel understands for bearing false witness, to say and to persuade others to believe that falsity is truth and that evil is good, and the converse ; but a heav- enly \celestiar\ angel understands for bearing false witness, to blaspheme the Lord and the Word. From these examples it may be seen how the spiritual and the heavenly \celestiar\ are unfolded and drawn out from the natural sense of the Word, within which they are ; and, what is wonderful, the angels draw forth what is for them without knowing what the man is thinking. But still the thoughts of angels and of men make one by correspondence, like end, cause, and effect. Ends are also actually in the heavenly \celestial'\ kingdom, causes in the spiritual kingdom, and effects in the natural kingdom ; hence, now, consociation of men with angels by means of the Word. 237. From the sense of the letter of the Word the spirit- ual angel draws out and calls forth what is spiritual, and the heavenly \cclestiar\ angel heavenly things, because they are agreeable to their nature and are homogeneous. That this is so may be illustrated by what is similar in the three kingdoms of nature, the animal, the vegetable, and the min- eral. In THE Animal Kingdom : From the food, when it has become chyle, the vessels draw out and call forth their blood, the nervous fibres their juice, and the substances which are the origins of the fibres their spirit. In the Vegetable Kingdom : A tree, with its trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit, stands on its root ; and out of the soil, by means of the root, it extracts and calls forth a grosser juice 368 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. for the trunk, branches, and leaves, a purer one for the pulp of the fruit, and the purest for the seeds within the fruit. In THE Mineral Kingdom : In the bosom of the earth in some places there are minerals impregnated with gold, sil- ver, copper, and iron ; from the exhalations and effluvia from rocks, the gold, the silver, [the copper], and the iron, respectively, derive their proper elements, the watery ele- ment conveying these round about. 238. The Word in the letter is like a casket, where lie in order precious stones, pearls, and diadems ; and when a man esteems the Word holy, and reads it for the sake of the uses of life, the thoughts of his mind are, comparatively, like one who holds such a cabinet in his hand, and sends it to heaven ; and it is opened in its ascent, and the precious things therein come to the angels who are deeply delighted with seeing and examining them. This delight of the angels is communicated to the man, and makes consociation, and also a communication of perceptions. For the sake of this consociation with angels, and at the same time, conjunction with the Lord, the Holy Supper was instituted, the Bread of which in heaven becomes Divine good, and the Wine becomes Divine truth, both from the Lord. Such corre- spondence is from creation, to the end that the angelic heaven and the church on earth, and in general the spirit- ual world and the natural world, may make one, and that the Lord may conjoin Himself with both at once. 239. The consociation of man with angels is effected by the natural or literal sense of the Word, for the further reason that there are in every man from creation three de- grees of life, the heavenly [ce/esfia/], the spiritual, and the natural ; but man is in the natural as long as -he is in the world, and is then so far in the angelic spiritual as he is in genuine truths, and so far in the heavenly [ce/esfta/] as he is in a life according to them ; but still he does not come into the spiritual itself and the heavenly [ce/esfia/'] itself, till after death, because these two are enclosed and stored up No. 240.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 369 within his natural ideas ; wherefore, when the natural passes away by death, the spiritual and the heavenly \celestial'\ re- main, and the ideas of his thought then come from them. From these things it may be evident that in the Word alone there is spirit and life, as the Lord says : The words that i speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life (John vi. 63) The water that I shall give shall be a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (iv. 14). Man doth not livt by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matt. iv. 4). Labor for the meat which en- dureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you (John vi. 27). VII. The Word is in all the Heavens, and angelic Wisdom is from It. 240. That the Word is in the heavens has been hitherto unknown ; nor could it be made known so long as the church did not know that angels and spirits are men, in face and body altogether like men in our world ; and that there are with them things similar in all respects to the things which are with men, with the sole difference that they are themselves spiritual, and all the things that are with them are from a spiritual origin ; while men in the world are natural, and all the things with them are from a natural origin. As long as this was concealed, it could not be known that the Word is also in the heavens, and that it is read by the angels there, and also by the spirits who are beneath the heavens. But that this might not be concealed for ever, it has been granted me to be in company with angels and spirits,* and to speak with them, and to see the things that are with them, and afterwards to relate many things which I have seen and heard ; this has been done in the work concerning " Heaven and Hell " (published at London in the year 1758) ; from which it may be seen, that angels and spirits are men, and that with them in abundance are iG* 370 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. all the things that are with men in the world. That angels and spirits are men, may be seen in that work (n. 73-77, and n. 453-456) ; that there are with them things similar to the things with the men in the world (n. 170-190); and also that with them there is Divine worship, and that there is preaching in their temples (n. 221-227); ^^^ that they have writings and also books (n, 258-264); and that they have the Sacred Scripture or the Word (n. 259). 241. As regards the Word in heaven, it is written in a spiritual style, which is wholly different from the natural style. The sjDiritual style consists of mere letters, each of which involves some meaning ; and there are little lines, curves, and dots over and between the letters and in them, which exalt the sense. With the angels of the spiritual kingdom the letters are similar to the letters used in our world in printing ; and with the angels of the heavenly [ce/esfial] kingdom they are with some similar to Arabic letters, and with some similar to the old Hebrew letters, but curved above and below, with marks over, between, and within ; each of these also involves a complete sense. As their writing is such, therefore the names of per- sons and places in the Word with them are marked with signs ; therefore the wise understand what spiritual and heavenly [ce/esfia/^ thing is signified by each name ; as by Moses, the Word of God written through him, and in a general sense the historical Word ; by Elias, the prophetic Word ; by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord as to the heavenly [celestial^ Divine, the spiritual Divine, and the natural Divine ; by Aaron the priesthood of the Lord, and by David His royalty ; by the names of the sons of Jacob, or of the twelve tribes of Israel, the various thinge of heaven and the church ; similar things by the names of the Lord's twelve disciples ; by Zion and Jerusalem, the church as to doctrine from the Word ; by the land of Canaan, the church itself ; by the places and cities there, on this side and be- yond the Jordan, various things which pertain to the church I No. 242.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 37 1 and its doctrine. It is similar with numbers ; these are not in the copies of the Word which are in heaven, but, instead of them, the things to whicli the numbers corre- spond. From these things it may be evident that the Word in heaven is, as to the Hteral sense, similar to our Word, while at the same time it corresponds to it, and that they are thus one. This is wonderful, that the Word in the heavens is so written that the simple understand it in sim- plicity, and the wise in wisdom ; for there are many curves and marks over the letters, which, as before said, exalt the sense ; the simple do not give attention to these, nor have they a knowledge of them, but the wise give attention to them, each one according to his wisdom, even to the highest.- A copy of the Word, written by angels inspired by the Lord, is kept with every larger society in its sacred repository, that the Word may not be changed elsewhere as to any point. The Word which is in our world is similar to the Word in heaven in this, that the simple understand it simply, and the wise wisely ; but this comes in another way. 242. That the angels have all their wisdom through the Word, they themselves confess ; for as far as they are in the understanding of the Word so far they are in light. The light of heaven is the Divine wisdom, which to their eyes is light. In the sacred repository in which a copy of the Word is kept, the light is fiamelike and bright, surpass- ing every degree of the light which is outside of it in the heaven. The wisdom of the heavenly [celestiaf] angels sur- passes that of the spiritual angels almost as the wisdom of the spiritual angels surpasses the wisdom of men ; and this, because heavenly [celestially angels are in the good of love from the Lord, and spiritual angels are in truths of wisdom from the Lord ; and where the good of love is, there wis- dom dwells at the same time ; but where there are truths, there no more of wisdom dwells than there is of the good of love at the same time. This is the reason why the Word 372 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. in the Lord's heavenly \celcstial'] kingdom is written differ- ently from the Word in His spiritual kingdom ; for, in the Word of the heavenly [celestial^ kingdom the goods of love are expressed, and the marks are love's affections ; but in the Word of the spiritual kingdom the truths of wisdom are expressed, and the marks are interior perceptions of truth. From these things it may be concluded what kind of wis- dom is stored up and concealed in the Word which is in the world, for in it is concealed all angelic wisdom, which is ineffable ; and the man who is made an angel by the Lord through the Word, comes into that wisdom after death. VIIL The Church is from the Word, and it is such WITH Man as his Understanding of the Word is. 243, That the church is from the Word is not a matter of doubt ; for it has been shown above, that the Word is the Divine truth (n. 189-192); that the doctrine of the church is from the Word (n. 225-233) ; and that by the Word there is conjunction with the Lord (n. 234-239) ; but that the ipider standing of the Word makes tlie church, may be called in question, inasmuch as there are those who believe that they are of the church because they have the Word, read it or hear it from a preacher, and know some- thing of the sense of its letter ; but how this and that in the Word is to be understood, they do not know, and some do not regard it, as of importance ; wherefore it will here be proved that not the Word, but the understanding of it makes the church ; and that the church is such in quality as is the understanding of the Word with those who are in the church. 244. The church is according to the understanding of the Word, because the church is according to the truths of faith and the goods of charity, and these two are the uni- versals which are not only spread through all the literal ■ir No. 245.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 373 sense of the Word, but are also concealed within, like pre- cious things in a treasuiy. The things which are in its literal sense are apparent to every man, because they pre- sent themselves directly to the eye ; but the things which are hid in the spiritual sense are not apparent, except to those who love truths because they are truths and do goods because they are goods ; to them the treasure is laid open, which the literal sense covers and guards ; and these are the things which essentially make the church. 245. That the church is according to its doctrine, and that doctrine is from the Word, is known ; but still doc- trine does not establish the church, but the soundness and purity of the doctrine, consequently the understanding of the Word. But doctrine does not establish and make the special church which is with the individual man, but faith and a life according to it. In like manner the Word does not establish and make the church, in particular, with a man, but a faith according to the truths, and a life accord- ing to the goods, which he derives from the Word and applies to himself. The Word is like a mine which con- tains in its depths gold and silver in all abundance ; and like a mine which, more and more interiorly, conceals stones more and more precious : these mines are opened according to the understanding of the Word. Without an understanding of the Word, as it is in itself, in its bosom and in its depth, it would no more make the church with man, than the mines in Asia would make a European rich ; it would be different if he were one of the owners and workers. The Word, with those who search for truths of faith and the goods of life therefrom, is like the wealth of the king of Persia, or of the emperor of the Moguls, or of China; and the men of the church are like officers placed over them, to whom permission is given to take for their use as much as they please ; but they who only pos- sess the Word, and read it, and yet do not seek genuine truths for faith and genuine goods for life, are like those 374 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. who know from hearsay that there are such great treasures there, but who do not receive from them a single farthing. They who possess the Word, and derive from it no under- standing of genuine truth and no will of genuine good, a:re like those who believe themselves to be rich, from having borrowed money of others, or from having in possession the farms, houses, and merchandize of others : that this is mere fancy, every one sees. They are also like those who go dressed in fine clothes, and ride in gilded chariots, with attendants behind them and at the side, and couriers ahead, while yet none of this is their own property. 246. Such was the Jewish nation : wherefore, because it possessed the Word, that nation was likened by the Lord to a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day ; and yet he had not derived from the Word enough of good and truth to take pity on poor Lazarus, who lay at his door full of sores. That nation not only did not appropriate to itself any truths from the Word, but it appropriated falsities in such abun- dance that finally not any truth appeared to them ; for truths are not only covered over by falsities, but they are also obliterated and rejected. Consequently the Jews did not acknowledge the Messiah, although all the prophets had announced His advent. 247. In many places in the prophets, the church with the nation of Israel and Judah is described as utterly destroyed and reduced to nothing by their having falsified the mean- ing or understanding of the Word ; for nothing else destroys the church. The understanding of the Word, both true and false, is described in the prophets by Ephraim, especially in Hosea>; for Ephraim in the Word signifies the under- standing of the Word in the church. Since the understand- ing of the Word makes the church, therefore Ephraim is called in the Word a dear son, and a pleasant child ; also the first-bor7i (Jer. xxxi. 20) ; the strength of the head of yehovah (Ps. Ix. 7; cviii. 7); mighty (Zech. x. f) ; filled with No. 247.J THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 375 the bow (ix. 13) ; and the sons of Ephraim are called armed, and shooters with the bow (Ps. Ixxviii. 9) ; for by the bow is signified doctrine from the Word fighting against falsities. Therefore, also, Ephraim. was removed to the right hafid of Israel^ and blessed ; and also he was accepted in the place of Reuben (Gen. xlviii. 5, 11, and the following verses). And therefore JSphraifn, with his brother Manasseh, in the bless- ing of the softs of Israel by Moses, under the name of their father Joseph, ivas exalted above thein all (Deut. xxxiii. 13-17). But what the church is, when the understanding of the Word has been destroyed, is also described in the prophets by Ephraim, especially in Hosea, as in these pas- sages : Israel and Ephraim shall fall. Ephraim shall be desolate. Ephraim is oppressed and broken ifi Judgment (Hos. V. 5, 9, II ; also 12-14). O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee 1 for thy goodness is as a morning cloud, a?id as the early dew it goeth away (vi. 4). They shall not dwell in the latid of Jehovah ; Ephraim shall returti to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things i7i Assyria (ix. 3). The land of Jehovah is the church ; Egypt is the knowledge of the natural man ; Assyria is reasoning therefrom ; from which two together, the Word as to the interior understanding of it is falsified ; therefore it is said, that Ephraim shall return to Egypt and shall eat unclean things in Assyria. Ephraiffi feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wifid. He daily multiplieth falsehood and desolation ; he maketh a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt (Hos. xii. i). To feed npo7i the wind, to follo7v after the east wind, and to multiply falsehood and desolation, is to falsify truths and thus destroy the church. Similar also is the signification of Ephraim' s whoredom; for whoredom signifies the falsification of the understanding of the Word, that is, of its genuine truth ; as in these passages : Ikfiow Ephraim, that he hath cotnmitted whoredom, and Israel is defiled (Hos. v. 3). I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel ; there Ephraim committed whoredom, and Israel is defiled (y\. 10). Israelis the church itself, and Ephraim is 376 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. the understanding of the Word, from which and according to which the church is ; wherefore it is said, Ephraim com- mitted whoredom, and Israel is defiled. Since the church with the nation of Israel and Judah was utterly destroyed by falsifications of the Word, therefore it is. said of Ephraim, Shall I give thee up, Ephraiin ? Shall /deliver thee up, Israel? Shall I make thee as Admah ? Shall I set thee as Zeboim 1 (Hos. xi. 8.) Now because the prophecy of Hosea, from the first chapter to the last, treats of the falsification of the gen- uine understanding of the Word, and the destruction of the church thereby, and because the falsification of truth is there signified by whoredom, therefore that prophet was commanded to represent that state of the church by taking to himself a harlot to wife, and begetting children by her (Hos. i.) ; and again he was commanded to take a woman who was an adulteress (iii.). These passages have been presented, that it may be known and proved from the Word that the church is such as is the understanding of the Word in it ; excellent and precious, if the understand- ing is from genuine truths out of the Word, but destroyed, yea, filthy, if from those that are falsified. IX. In every thing in the Word there is the Mar- riage OF THE Lord and the Church, and thence the marriage of Good and Truth. 248. That there is the marriage of the Lord and the church, and thence the marriage of good and truth in every thing of the Word, has not hitherto been seen ; nor could it be seen, because the spiritual sense of the Word has not before been disclosed, and the marriage cannot be seen except by that. For there are two senses in the Word, concealed in the sense of its letter, the spiritual and the heavenly \celestial'\. In the spiritual sense the things which are in the Word have relation chiefly to the church ; and in the heavenly [celestial'] chiefly to the Lord. And in the No. 2491 THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 377 spiritual sense they also have relation to the Divine truth, and in the heavenly [celestial'\ sense to the Divine good. Hence there is that marriage in the Word. But this does not appear except to one who, from the spiritual and heav- enly \celestial'\ senses of the Word, knows the significations of the words and names ; for some words and names are predicated of good, and some of truth, and some include both ; wherefore without this cognition, that marriage in every thing of the Word could not be seen. This is the reason why this arcanum was not disclosed before. Because there is such a marriage in every thing of the Word, there are often two expressions in the Word which appear like repetitions of one tiling. They are not repetitions, how- ever, but one has relation to good and the other to truth, and both taken together make their conjunction, and thus one thing. Thence also is the Divine holiness of the Word ; for in every Divine work there is good conjoined with truth, and truth conjoined with good. 249. It is said, that in every thing of the Word there is the marriage of the Lord and the church, and thence the marriage of good and truth ; because, where the marriage of the Lord and the church is, there also is the marriage of good and truth ; for this marriage is from that. For when the church, or the man of the church, is in truths, then the Lord flows into his truths with good, and vivifies them ; or, what is the same, when the man of the church is in the understanding of truth, then the Lord, by the good of charity, flows into his understanding, and so infuses life into it. In every man there are two faculties of life which are called the understanding and the will : the understand- ing is the receptacle of truth, and thence of wisdom ; and the will is the receptacle of good, and thence of charity. These two faculties must make one, that the man may be a man of the church ; and they do make one when the man fornis his understanding from genuine truths, which is done to appearance as by himself, and when his will is filled with 378 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. the good of love, which is done by the Lord. Hence man has the life of truth, and the life of good ; the life of truth in the understanding, and the life of good in the will, which when united do not make two lives, but one. This is the marriage of the Lord and the church, and also the marriage of good and truth in man. 250. That there are in the Word two expressions which appear like repetitions of the same thing, may be seen by readers who attend to this : as, brother and companion, poor and needy, waste and wilderness, void and emptiness, foe and enemy, sin and ifiiguity, anger and wrath, nation 2t.n(\ people, Joy and gladness, ?nourning and weeping, justice and judg- ment, &c., which appear as synonymous, when yet they are not so ; for brother, poor, waste, [void,^ foe, sin, atiger, nation, joy, 7nourning, 2iY\6. justice, are predicated of good, and in the opposite sense, of evil ; but companion, needy, wilderness, efnptiness, enemy, iniquity, wrath, people, gladness, weeping, zxvA judgment, are predicated of truth, and in the opposite sense, of falsity. And yet to the reader who does not know this arcanum, it appears as if poor and needy, waste and wilderness, void and emptiness, &c., are one thing, and yet they are not one thing, but they become one thing by con- junction. In the Word other things also are joined together, 2j~,Jire 2iXi&jlame, gold and silver, brass and iron, wood and stotie, [bread and water ^- bread and wine, purple a.\\d fne linen, &c. ; and this because fre, gold, brass, wood, bread, and purple, are predicated of good ; but flame, silver, iron, stone, water, wine, and fine linen, are predicated of truth. So when it is said that they are to love God with the whole heart and with the whole soul ; and also, that God is to create in man a new heart and a new spirit ; for heart is predicated of the good of love, and soul and spirit of the truths of faith. There are also words, which, because they partake of both good and truth, are used by themselves, others not being joined with them. But these and many other things are apparent only to the angels, and to those No. 251.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 379 who while in the natural sense are in the spiritual sense also. 251. It would be tedious to show from the Word that there are such dual expressions in the Word, appearing like repetitions of the same thing ; for it would take sheets to present them. But to remove doubt, I will adduce pas- sages where nation and people^ and where joy and gladness are mentioned together. The following are passages where 7iation and people are named : Woe to the sinful nation, to the PEOPLE laden with iniquity (Isa. i. 4). The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light ; Thou hast multi- plied the NATION (ix. 2, 3). Ashur, the rod of Mine anger; I will setid him against a hypocritical nation, against the PEOPLE of My wrath will I give him a charge (x, 5, 6). // shall come to pass in that day, that the nations shall seek the Root cf Jesse, Which standeth for a?i ensign of the people (xi. 10). yehovah, Who smiteth the people with a plague not curable^ ruling the nations with anger (xiv. 6). Iti that day shall the present be brought unto yehovah Zebaoth, of a people scattered and peeled, and a nation meted out and trodden underfoot (xviii. 7). The strong people shall hotior Thee, the city of powerful nations shall fear Thee (xxv. 3). yehovah will swallow up the covering over all people, and the veil over all nations (xxv. 7). Come near, ye nations, aftd hearken, ye people (xxxiv. i). I have called thee for a covenant of the people, and for a light of the nations (xlii. 6). Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled (xliii. 9). Behold I will lift tip My hand to the nations, and My standard to the people (xlix. 22). I have given Him for a Witness to the people, a Leader and a Law- giver to the [people ; behold thou shall call a nation that thou knowest not, and] nations [that knew not thee shall run unto thee'] (Iv. 4, 5). Behold a people cometh from the north country, and a great nation from the sides of the earth (Jer. vi. 22, 23). T will not cause thee to hear the calumny of thk nations any more, neither shall thou bear the reproach of the 38o THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. PEOPLE any 7nore (Ez. xxxvi. 15). All people and nations shall worship Hhn (Dan. vii. 14). Let ?wt tu'E. nations make a by-word of them, a7id say among the people, Where is their God? (Joel ii. 17.) The remnant of My people shall spoil them, and the residue of My nation shall inherit them (Zeph. ii. 9), Many people and numerous nations shall come to seek yehovah in Jerusalem (Zech. viii. 22). Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to enlighten the nations (Luke ii. 30-32). Thou hast redeemed us by Thy blood, out of every people aftd nation (Apoc. V. 9), Thou must prophesy again over peo- ple and nations (x, i i). Thou shall set me for the head of the nations; a people whom I had not known shall serve me (Ps, xviii. 43). Jehovah bringeth the counsel of the na- tions to nought ; He overthroweth the thoughts of the peo- ple (xxxiii, 10). Thou makest us a proverb amotig the NATIONS, a shaking of the head among the people (xliv. 14). yehovah will subdue the people under us, andTH^ nations under our feet ; God* hath reigned over the nations, the willing ones of THE people are gathered together (xlvii. 3, 8, 9). The people shall confess Thee, and the nations shall be glad, for Thou shall judge the people righteously, and lead the nations on the earth (Ixvii. 3, 4). Remember me, with the favor that Thou bearest unto Thy people, that I may be glad in the joy of Thy nation (cvi. 4, 5) : so in other places. Nations 2^x1^^. people 2^:0. mentioned together, because by nations are meant those who are in good, and in the opposite sense those who are in evil ; and hy people, those who are in truths, and in the opposite sense those who are in falsities. Wherefore they who are of the Lord's spiritual kingdom are czWed. people, and they who are of the Lord's heavenly [celestial] kingdom are called nations ; for in the spiritual kingdom all are in truths and thence in intelligence, but in the heavenly [celestial] kingdom all are in goods and thence in wisdom. * The Latin here has "yehovah. No. 252.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 381 252. It is the same with many other words ; for example, where joy is mentioned gladness also is mentioned, as in the following passages : Behold joy and gladness, to slay an ox (Isa. xxii. 13). T/iey shall obtain joy and gladness, sorrow and sighing shall fiee away (xxxv. 10 ; li. 1 1). Glad- ness and joy are cut off f7-07n the house of our God (Joel i. 16). The voice of 'io^ shall be taken away, and the voice of gladness (Jer. vii. 34 \ xxv. 10). The fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah joy a7id gladness (Zech. viii. 19). Be glad in Jerusalem, and rejoice in her (ls2i. Ixvi. 10). Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom (Lam. iv. 21). The heavens shall be glad, and the earth shall rejoice (Ps. xcvi. 1 1). Make me to hear joy and gladness (li. 8). Joy a«rt? gladness shall be found in Zion, confession and the voice of sifiging (Isa. li. 3). There shall be gladness, a?id many shall rejoice at his birth (Luke i. 14). I will cause to cease the voice of joy and the voice ^gladness ; the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jer. vii. 34 ; xvi. 9 ; xxv. 10). Again there shall be heard in this place the voice of JOY, and the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroofn, and the voice of the bride (xxxiii. 10, 11); and elsewhere. Both joy and gladness are mentioned, because /(C^ is predi- cated of good and gladness of truth, or joy of love and gladness of wisdom ; for joy is of the heart, and gladness of the spirit ; or joy is of the will, and gladness is of the understanding. That there is the marriage of the Lord and the church in these words also, is manifest from its being said. The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the Bridegroom atid the voice of the Bride (Jer. vii. 34 ; xvi. 9 ; xxv. 10 ; xxxiii. 10, 11) : and the Lord is the Bride- groom, and the church is the Bride. That the Lord is the Bridegroom may be seen in Matt. ix. 15 ; Mark ii. 19, 20; Luke V. 34, 35 ; and that the church is the Bride, Apoc. xxi. 2, 9; xxii. 17. Wherefore John the Baptist said of Jesus, He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom, (John iii. 29). 382 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. 253. On account of the marriage of Divine good and Divine truth in every thing of the Word, it is said in very many places jfehovah [and] God, also jfehovah and the Holy One of Israel, as if they were tvro, when yet they are one ; for by ydiovah is meant the Lord as to the Divine good of Divine love, and by God and by the Holy One of Israel is meant the Lord as to the Divine truth of the Divine wis- dom. That yehovah and God, and yehovah and the Holy One of Israel, are mentioned in very many places in the Word, and yet One is meant, may be seen in " The Doctrine coticerning the Lord the Redeemer." X. Heresies may be taken from the Sense of the Letter of the Word, but it is hurtful to con- firm them. 254. It was shown above that the Word cannot be under- stood without doctrine, and that doctrine is like a lamp, that genuine truths may be seen ; and this, because the Word was written by mere correspondences ; consequently, many things therein are appearances of truth, and not naked truths ; and many things are written according to the capacity of the merely natural man, and yet so that the simple may understand them simply, the intelligent intelli- gently, and the wise wisely. Now because the Word is such, the appearances of truth, which are truths clothed, may be taken for naked truths, which when confirmed be- come fallacies, which in themselves are falsities. From this, that appearances of truth have been taken for genu- ine truths and confirmed, have sprung all the heresies which have been and still are in the Christian world. Heresies themselves do not condemn men ; but confirma- tions from the Word and by reasonings from the natural man, of the falsities in heresy, — these and an evil life con- demn. , For one is born into the religion of his country or of his parents, is initiated into it from infancy, and after- No. 255] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 383 wards retains it ; nor can he withdraw himself from its falsi- ties, both on account of business in the world, and of the weakness of the understanding in investigating truths of that kind; but to live wickedly, and to confirm falsities even to the destruction of genuine truth, this condemns. For one who remains in his religion, and believes in God, and if in Christendom believes in the Lord and esteems the Word holy, and from religion lives according to the commandments of the decalogue, he does not swear to what is false ; and therefore, when he hears truths, and in his way has a perception of them, he can embrace them, and so be led out of falsities ; but not he who had con- firmed the falsities of his religion, for confirmed falsity remains and cannot be rooted out ; for a falsity after con- firmation is as if one had sworn to it, especially if it coheres with the love of self or with the pride of one's own intel- ligence. 255, I have conversed with some in the spiritual world who lived many ages ago and confirmed themselves in the falsities of their religion, and I have found that they still remained persistent in the same ; and I have also con- versed with some there, who were in the same religion, and thought as they did, but did not confirm its falsities in themselves ; and I have found that when instructed by the angels these have rejected falsities and received truths ; and that these were saved, but not the others. Every man after death is instructed by angels, and they are received who see truths, and from truths falsities ; but only those see truths who have not confirmed themselves in falsities, while they who have confirmed themselves are not willing to see truths ; and if they see them, they turn themselves away, and then either ridicule or falsify them. The real cause of this is, that confirmation enters the will, and the will is the man himself, and it disposes the understanding at its pleasure ; but bare cognition only enters the understand- ing, and this has no authority over the will, and so is not 384 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. in the man, except as one who stands in tlie hall, or in the door-way, and not yet in the house. 256. But this may be illustrated by an example. In many places in the Word anger, wrath, and vengeance are attrib- uted to God ; and it is said that He punishes, casts down into hell, tempts, and many such things. He who believes this in childlike simplicity^ and therefore fears God, and is careful not to sin against Him, is not condemned for that simple belief. But he is condemned who confirms in himself those things so far as to believe that anger, wrath, revenge, and thus such things as are of evil, are in God, and that from anger, wrath, and revenge. He punishes man, and casts into hell ; because he has destroyed the genuine truth, which is, that God is Love itself, Mercy itself, and Goodness itself; and, being these. He cannot be angry, become wrathful, and take vengeance. These things are attributed to God, in the Word, because such is the appearance ; such things are appearances of truth. 257. That many other things in the sense of the letter of the Word are appearances of truth in which genuine truths lie concealed, and that it is not hurtful to think in sim- plicity and also to speak according to the appearances of truth, but that it is hurtful to confirm them since by con- firmation the Divine truth concealed within is destroyed, may also be illustrated by an example in nature; which is presented because what is natural illustrates and teaches more clearly than what is spiritual. To the eye, the sun appears to revolve around the earth daily and also annu- ally. The sun is therefore said to rise and set, making morning, noon, evening, and night ; and also making the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; and thus days and years : when yet the sun stands motionless, for it is a fiery ocean, and the earth is made to revolve every day, and is carried round the sun every year. The man who from simplicity and from ignorance, thinks that the sun is borne around the earth, does not destroy the natural truth, m No. 25S.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 38$ which is, that the earth rotates on its axis, and every year is borne along the ecliptic. But he who confirms the ap- parent motion of the sun by reasonings from the natural man, and still more he who does so by the Word because the sun is there said to rise and set, weakens the truth and destroys it ; and afterwards he can scarcely see it, even if it were shown to the eye that the whole starry heaven is in like manner carried around every day and every year to all appearance, and yet not even one star is removed from its fixed place in relation to another. That the sun is moved is an apparent truth, but that it is not moved is the genuine truth ; yet every one speaks according to the apparent truth, and says that the sun rises and sets ; and this is allowable, for he cannot do otherwise ; but to think according to that apparent truth from confirmation, blunts and darkens the rational understanding. 258. It is hurtful to confirm the appearances of truth that are in the Word, since thereby fallacy arises and tl^s the Divine truth concealed within is destroyed, for the rea- son that the things in the sense of the letter of the Word communicate one and all with heaven ; for, as was shown above, in all things and in every single thing belonging to the sense of its letter there is a spiritual sense, and this is opened while passing from man to heaven ; and all things of the spiritual sense are genuine truths ; wherefore, when man is in falsities and applies the sense of the letter to them, then falsities are therein ; and when falsities enter, truths are dissipated, which is done in the way from man to heaven. And this is done, comparatively, as when a shin- ing bladder filled with gall is thrown toward another, which is burst in the air before it comes to him, and the gall is scattered about ; whereupon the other, when he smells the air infected with the gall, turns himself away, and also shuts his mouth, lest it should touch his tongue. It is also like a bottle girt with wicker-work of cedar, in which there is vinegar full of little worms ; and the bottle is burst on the VOL. I. 17 386 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. way, and its stench is perceived by the other, who, nause- ated, then instantly fans it away, that it may not enter his nostrils. It is also like an almond in the shell, within which is a newly-born snake instead of the kernel, and the shell is broken, and the little snake appears to be carried by the wind toward the eyes of another ; that he turns him- self away to avoid it, is plain of itself. It is similar with the reading of the Word by a man who is in falsities, and who applies to his falsities something of the sense of the letter of the Word, that it is then rejected on the way to heaven, lest any such thing should flow in and infest the angels ; for falsity when it touches the truth, is like the p>oint of a needle touching the fibril of a nerve or the pupil of the eye ; that the fibril of the nerve instantly coils itself into a spiral and withdraws within itself is known ; as also that the eye at the first touch covers itself with the lids. From this it is manifest that truth falsified takes away coBimunication with heaven and closes it. This is why it is hurtful to confirm any false heresy. 259. The Word is like a garden which may be called a heavenly paradise, containing delicacies and delights of every kind ; delicacies in its fruits, and delights in its flowers ; in the middle of the garden are trees of life, and near them fountains of living water, and round about the garden are forest trees. The man who from doctrine is in Divine truths is in the centre, where the trees of life are, and he is in the actual enjoyment of its delicacies and de- lights ; but the man who is not in truths from doctrine, but only from the sense of the letter, is on the outer limits, and sees only the things of the forest. But he who is in the doctrine of a false religion, and has confirmed its falsity in himself, is not even in the forest, but is beyond it, on a sandy plain where there is not even grass. That such also is their state after death is shown in the work concerning " Heaven and Hell." 260. Moreover it is to be known that the sense of the No. 260.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 387 letter is a guard for the genuine truths which are concealed within, that they may not be injured ; and it is a guard in this respect, that this sense may be turned hither and thither, and explained according to one's apprehension, and yet without hurt or violence to its internal. For that the sense of the letter is understood in one way by one person and in a different way by another person, does no harm ; but it does harm if a man introduces falsities that are contrary to Divine truths, which is done only by those who have confirmed themselves in falsities ; violence is done to the Word by this. The sense of the letter guards against this, and it does so with those who are in fal- sities from religion and do not confirm its falsities. The sense of the letter of the Word as a guard is signified and also described in the Word by cherubs. This guard is signified by the cherubs which were placed at the entrance of the garden of Eden after Adam and his wife were cast out ; of which we read as follows : When yehovah God had driven out the man. He made cherubs to dwell at the east of the gar- den of Eden, and the fame of a sword turning itself hither and thither, to keep the 7vay of the tree of life (Gen. iii. 23, 24) What these words signify, no one can see unless he knows what is signified by cherubs, and svhat by the garden of Eden, and by the tree of life there : and then what by the flame of a sword turning itself hither and thither. These are severally explained in the "Arcana Ccelestia," pub- lished at London, where that chapter is treated of. It is there shown that by cherubs is signified a guard ; by the way of the tree of life is signified entrance to the Lord, which men have through the truths of the spiritual sense of the Word ; by t\\& flame of a sivord turning itself is signified Divine truth in ultimates, like the Word in the sense of the letter, which can be so turned. Similar is the meaning of the CHERUBS OF GOLD placed upon the two ends of the mercy-seat, which was upon the ark in the tabernacle (Ex. XXV. 18-21). The ark signified the Word, because tlie 388 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap, IV. Decalogue in it was the primitive of the Word ; the cherubs there signified a guard ; wherefore the Lord spake with Moses between them (Ex. xxv. 22 ; xxxvii. g ; Num. vii. 89) ; and He spake in the natural sense ; for He does not speak with man, except in fulness ; and Divine truth is in its fulness in the sense of the letter (see above, n. 214-224). Nor was any thing else signified by the cherubs upon the curtains of the tabernacle^ and upon the veil (Ex. xxvi. i, 31) ; for the curtains and veils of the tabernacle signified the ulti- mates of heaven and the church, and so also of the Word, as may be seen above (n. 220) ; in like manner by the cher- ubs carved on the walls and doors of the temple of Jerusalem (i Kings vi. 29, 32, 35), as may be seen above (n. 221); and also by the cherubs in the new temple (Ez. xli. 18-20). Since by cherubs was signified a guard, that the Lord, heaven, and the Divine truth such as it is interiorly in the Word, may not be approached immediately, but mediately through ultimates, therefore it is thus said concerning the king of Tyre : Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty ; thou hast been in the garden of Eden ; every precious stone was thy covering. 2'hou, O cherub, art the outspreading of hif?i that covereth ; I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, /// the midst of the stones of fire (Ez. xxviii. 12-14, 16). By Tyre is signified the church as to the cognitions of truth and good ; and hence by the king of Tyre, the Word where and whence those cognitions are. That the Word in its ultimate is here signified by the king of Tyre, and a guard by cherub, is manifest ; for it is said, Thou sealest up the sum, every precious stone was thy covering, thou cherub art the outspreading of him that covereth ; as also, O covering cherub. By the precious stones, which are also named here, are meant those things which are of the sense of the letter (see above, n. 217, 218). Since by cherubs is signified the Word in the ultimates, and also a guard, it is therefore said in David, jfehovah bowed the heavens, and came down, and rode upon a cherub (Ps. xviii. No. 261. J THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 389 9, 10). Shepherd of Israel, Who sittest upon the cherubim, shifie forth (\xxx. i). yeho'oah sitteth tipon the cherubim (xcix. i). To ride upon cherubs, and to sit upon them, means upon the ultimate sense of the Word. The Divine truth in the Word, and its quality, are described by the four animals which are also called cherubs, in Ezekiel i., ix., and x. ; and also by the four animals in the midst of the throne, and near the throne (Apoc. iv. 6, and the fol lowing verses). See the " Apocalypse Revealed," pub- lished by me at Amsterdam (n. 239, 275, 314). XI. The Lord, in the World, fulfilled all Things of THE Word, and thereby became the Word, that IS, THE Divine Truth, also in Ultimates. 261. That the Lord, in the world, fulfilled all things of the Word, and that He thereby became the Divine Truth, or the Word, also in ultimates, is meant by these words in John : And the Word became flesh, and dwelt a?nong us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (i. 14). To become flesh is to become the Word in ultimates. What the Lord was, as the Woid in ultimates, He showed to the disciples when He was transfigured (Matt. xvii. 2, and the following verses ; Mark ix. 2, and the following ; Luke ix. 28, and the fol- lowing) : and it is there said that Moses and Elias were seen in glory. By Moses is meant the Word which was written by him, and the historical Word in general ; and by Elias, the prophetic Word. The Lord as the Word in ultimates was also represented before John (Apoc. i. 13-16); where all things of the description of Him sig- nify the ultimates of Divine truth or of the Word. The Lord had indeed been the Word or the Divine truth be- fore, but in first [principles] ; for it is said, /// the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was THE Word (John i. i, 2) ; but when the Word became Flesh, 390 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. then the Lord became the Word also in ultimates. It is from this that He is called the First a7id the Last (Apoc. i. 8, II, 17 ; ii. 8 ; xxi. 6 ; xxii. 13 ; Isa. xliv. 6). 262. That the Lord fulfilled all things of the Word, is manifest from the passages where it is said that the Law and the Scripture were fulfilled by Him, and that all things were finished ; as from these : Jesus said, T/wik not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets ; I am not cotne to destroy^ but to fulfil (Matt. v. 17, 18). yesus entered into the synagogue, and stood up to read; and there was de- livered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias ; and when He had opened the book, He fou7id the place where it was written, The Spirit of jfehovah is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me; He hath sent Me to preach the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the bound, and sight to the blind,; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Afterwards, closing the book. He said, This day IS this Scripture fulfilled in your ears (Luke iv. 16- 21). That the Scripture might be fulfilled. He that eateth bread with Me, hath lifted up his heel upon Me (John xiii. 18). And none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (xvii. 12). That the Word might be fulfilled, which He spake. Of them whom Thou gavest Me, have I lost none (xviii. 9). Jesus said to Peter, Put up thy sword into its place ; how then would the Scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be i But this was done, that the Scripture might be fulfilled (Matt. xxvi. 52, 54, 56). The Son of Man goeth, as it is written of Him, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled (Mark xiv. 21, 27, 49). So the Scripture was fulfilled which said. He was numbered with the transgressors (Mark xv. 28 ; Luke xxii. 37). That THE Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith. They parted amottg thei7i My * garments, and for My vesture they did cast lots Qohn xix. 24). After this, Jesus knowing that * The Latin here has sua, their. No. 262.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 39I all things were nozv accomplished, that the Scripture might BE FULFILLED (xix. 28). When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished {that is, It is ful- filled) (xix. 30). These things were done, that the Scrip- ture SHOULD be fulfilled, A bone ifi Him shall ye not break; and again another Scripture saith, They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced (xix. 36, 37). That the whole Word was written concerning Him, and that He came into the world to fulfil it, He also taught the disci- ples before He went away, in these words which He spake unto them : O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken ; ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into glory ? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets. He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Hirnself (Luke xxiv. 25-27). More- over, Jesus said that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, a?id in the Fsalms concerning Him (xxiv. 44, 45). That the Lord, in the world, fulfilled all things of the Word, even to its most minute several particulars, is manifest from these His words : Verily, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, ONE JOT or one tittle SHALL IN NO WISE PASS FROM THE LAW, TILL ALL BE FULFILLED (Matt. v. 1 8). From these things it may now be clearly seen, that by the Lord^s fulfilling all things of the law, is not meant that He ful- filled all the precepts of the Decalogue, but all things of the Word. That the law also means all things of the Word may be evident from these passages : jfesus said, Is it not written in your law, / said, Ye are gods ? (John x. 34.) This is written in Psalm Ixxxii. 6. The people ansivered. We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth for ever (John xii. 34) : this is written in Psalms Ixxxix. 29 ; ex. 4 ; Dan. vii. 14. That the Word might be fulfilled that is written in THEIR LAW, They hated Me without a cause (John xv. 25): this is written in Psalm xxxv. 19. // is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of Tn^ law to fail (IjuVq^ xvL 392 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. 17). By the law there, as frequently elsewhere, is meant the whole Sacred Scripture. 263. Few understand how the Lord is the Word ; for they think that the Lord can enlighten and teach men by the Word, and yet cannot therefore be called the Word. But let them know that every man is his own will, and his own understanding, and so one is distinct from another; and since the will is the receptacle of love and thus of all the goods which are of that love, and the understanding is the receptacle of wisdom and thus of all things of truth ■which are of that wisdom, it follows that every man is his own love and his own wisdom ; or, what is the same, his own good and his own truth. A man is not man from any thing else, and nothing else in him is man. With respect to the Lord, He is Love itself and Wisdom itself, thus Good itself and Truth itself, which He became by fulfil- ling all the good and all the truth which are in the Word ; for he who thinks and speaks nothing but truth, becomes that truth ; and he who wills and does nothing but good, becomes that good ; and the Lord, because he fulfilled all the Divine truth and the Divine good which are in the Word, both those which are in its natural sense and those which are in its spiritual sense, became Good itself and Truth itself, and thus the Word. XII. Before the Word which is in the World at this Day, there was a Word which is lost. 264. That worship by sacrifices was known, and that they prophesied from the mouth of Jehovah, before the Word was given to the Israelitish nation through Moses and the prophets, may be evident from what is related in the books of Moses. That worship by sacrifices was known, is evi- dent from these things : It was commanded that the sons of Israel should overthrow the altars of the nations, and break in pieces their images, and cut down their groves No. 265.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURK 393 (Ex. xxxiv. 13 ; Deut. vii. 5 ; xii. 3). Israel in Shittim be- gan to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, and they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat (Num. xxv. 1-3). Balaam, who was from Syria, made them build altars, and sacrificed oxen and sheep (xxii. 40; xxiii. i, 2, 14, 29, 30). He also prophesied concerning the Lord, saying, That a Star should rise out of Jacob and a Sceptre out of Israel (xxiv. 17). And he prophesied from the mouth of Jehovah (xxii. 13, 18 ; xxiii. 3, 5, 8, 16, 26; xxiv. i, 13). From which it is mani- fest, that there was among the nations Divine worship similar to the worship instituted by Moses with the Israel- itish nation. That it was also before the time of Abra- ham, is clear from the words in Moses (Deut. xxxii. 7, 8) ; but more manifestly from this, that Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and blessed Abram ; and that Abram gave him tithes of all (Gen. xiv. 18- 20) ; and that Melchizedek represented the Lord, for he is called priest of the Most High God (Gen. xiv. 18) ; and it is said in David concerning the Lord, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Afelchizedek (Ps. ex. 4). Hence it was that Melchizedek brought out bread and wine, as most holy things of the church, as they are the holy things in the Sacred Supper. These and many other things are manifest proofs that, before the Israelitish Word, there was a Word from which such revelations were made. 265. That there was a Word among the ancients, is evi- dent from Moses, by whom it is mentioned, and who took something from it (Num. xxi. 14, 15, 27-30); and that the historical parts of that Word were called the Wars of Jehovah, and its prophetic parts, the Enunciations. From the historical parts of that Word this passage was taken by Moses : Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah, At Vaheb in Suphah, and by the tvater- courses of Arnon, and by the ravines of the water-courses which go down to the dwellingplaces of Ar, and touch on the 17* 394 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. border of Moab (Num. xxi. 14, 15). By the wars of yeho- vah^ in that Word as in ours, were meant and described the combats of the Lord with the hells, and His vic- tories over them, when He should come into the world. The same combats are also meant and described in many places in the historical portions of our Word, as by the wars of Joshua with the nations of the land of Canaan, and by the wars of the judges and of the kings of Israel. From the prophetical parts of that Word, these passages were taken : Wherefore the Enunciators say, Come i?ito Heshbon; let the city of Sihon be built and strengthened ; for there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, aflame from the dty of Sihon ; it hath consumed Ar of. Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab ; thou hast perished, O people of Chemosh ; he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon, king of the Amorite. With weapons have we de- stroyed them. Heshbon hath perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even to Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba (Num. xxi. 27-30). Translators say, " Com- posers of Proverbs " [" they that speak in proverbs "], but the rendering ought to be Enunciators, or Prophetical Enunciations, as may be evident from the signification of the word fn 'shalitJi in the Hebrew tongue, which means not only proverbs, but also prophetic enunciations, as in Num. xxiii. 7, 18; xxiv. 3, 15, where it is said, that Balaam uttered his Enunciation, which was prophetical, and even concerning the Lord. His enunciation is called mashal in the singular. It may be added, that the things taken therefrom by Moses are not proverbs but prophecies. That that Word was likewise divinely inspired, is manifest from Jeremiah, where almost the same things are said : A fire hath C077ie forth out of Heshbon, and a fame from the midst of Sihon, which hath devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. Woe be unto thee, O Moab ; the people of Chemosh have perished ; for No. 268.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 395 thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives (xlviii. 45, 46). Besides these, a prophetic book of the ancient Word, called the book of Jasher, or the book of the Upright, is mentioned by David and by Joshua. By David : David lametited over Saul and over yonathan, and made the inscription, To teach the sons of yudah the bow ; behold it is written in the book of Jasher (2 Sam. i. 17, 18). And by Joshua : Joshua said, Sun, rest in Gibeon, and Moon in the valley of Ajalon ; is not this written in the book of Jasher? (Josh. x. 12.) 266. From these things it may be evident that there was an ancient Word in the world, particularly in Asia, before the Israelitish Word. That this Word is preserved in heaven, with the angels who lived in those ages, and also that at this day it is still among the nations in Great Tartary, may be seen in the third Relation following this chapter concerning the " Sacred Scripture." XIII. By means of the Word those also have Light WHO ARE out of THE ChURCH, AND HAVE NOT THE Word. 267. Conjunction with heaven cannot be given unless there is somewhere on earth a church where the Word is, and the Lord is known by it ; because the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and without the Lord there is no sal- vation. That by the Word, there is conjunction with the Lord and consociation with the angels, may be seen above (n. 234-239). It is enough that there be a church, where the Word is ; although it consist of comparatively few, still by the Word the Lord is present in the whole world, for by it heaven is conjoined with the human race. 268. But it shall be told how the presence and conjunc- tion of the Lord and of heaven are given in all lands by means of the Word. The whole angelic heaven, before the Lord, is as one man ; and so also is the church upon earth. 396 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. That they also actually appear as a man, may be seen in the work concerning "Heaven and Hell" (n. 59-86). In that man, the church where the Word is read and the Lord is known by it is as the heart and as the lungs ; the Lord's heavenly \celcstial'\ kingdom as the heart, and His spiritual kingdom as the lungs. As from these two fountains of life in the human body, all the other members, viscera and organs subsist and live, so also it is from the conjunction of the Lord and heaven with the church by means of the Word, that all those subsist and live, in all the earth, who have a religion, worship one God, and live a good life, and who are thus in that man and have relation to the members and viscera that are outside of the thorax which contains the heart and lungs. For the Word in the Christian church is life from the Lord through heaven to all the rest, just as the life of the members and viscera of the whole body is from the heart and lungs. There is also similar communi- cation. This also is the reason why the Christians among whom the Word is read constitute the breast of that man. They are also in the midst of all, and around them are the Papists ; around these are the Mohammedans who acknowl- edge the Lord as the greatest Prophet and as the Son of God ; after these are the Africans ; and the peoples and nations of Asia and the Indies make the outermost circum- ference. 269. That it is so in the whole heaven may be concluded from what is similar in each society of heaven ; for each society is a heaven in a less form, which also is like a man. That it is so, may be seen in the work concerning " Heaven and Hell" (n. 41-87). In every society of heaven they who are in its midst have relation in like manner to the heart and lungs, and with them is the greatest light ; the light itself, and the perception of truth therefrom, extends itself from this middle toward the circumferences in every direction, thus to all who are in the society, and makes their spiritual life. It has been shown that when those No. 270.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 397 who were in the middle and constituted the province of the heart and lungs, and with whom was the greatest light, were taken away, they who were around were in the shade as to the understanding, and then in so little perception of truth that they grieved ; but as soon as the others returned, the light was seen, and they had perception of truth as before. Comparison may be made with the heat and light from the sun of the world, which give vegetation to trees and shrubs, even to those which are out of its direct rays and in the shade, provided the sun be risen. So with the light and heat of heaven, from the Lord as the Sun there ; which light in its essence is Divine truth, from which is all the intelligence and wisdom of angels and men. Where- fore it is said of the Word, that it was with God and was God ; that it enlighteneth every man that cometh i7ito the world ; and that the light shineth also in darkness (John i. i, 5, 9. By the Word is there meant the Lord as to Divine Truth. 270. From this it may be evident that the Word which is with the Protestants and the Reformed enlightens all nations and peoples, by spiritual communication ; also that it is provided by the Lord that there should always be on the earth a church where the Word is read, and that by it the Lord should be made known. Wherefore, when the Word was almost rejected by the Papists, by the Lord's Divine Providence the Reformation took place, whereby the Word was drawn from its concealment, as it were, and brought into use. When also the Word with the Jewish nation was wholly falsified and adulterated, and, as it were, made of no effect, then it pleased the Lord to descend from heaven, and to come as the Word, and to fulfil it, and thereby to restore and re-establish it, and again to give light to the inhabitants of the earth, according to the words of the Lord : The people which sat in darkness saw great light ; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up (Isa. ix. 2 ; and Matt. iv. 16). 398 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. 271. Since it was foretold that, at the end of this church also, darkness would arise from not recognizing the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and from the separa- tion of faith from charity, lest the genuine understand- ing of the Word should thereby perish, and thus the church, therefore it has pleased the Lord now to reveal THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WoRD, and to make mani- fest that the Word in that sense, and from it in the natural sense, contains things innumerable, by means of which the light of truth from the Word, almost extin- guished, may be restored. That at the end of this church the light of truth would be almost extinguished, is foretold in many places in the Apocalypse, and it is also meant by these words of the Lord : Immediately after the affliction of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light \lumen'\, and the stars shall fall fro7n heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ; and the7i they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with glory and virtue (Matt. xxiv. 29, 30). By sun here is meant the Lord as to love ; by moon, the Lord as to faith ; by stars, as to cognitions of truth and good ; by the Son of Man, the Lord as to the Word ; by cloud, the sense of the letter of the Word ; by glory, the spiritual sense of the Word and its transparence through the sense of its letter; and by virtues its power. 272. It has been given me to know by much experience that man has communication with heaven through the Word. While I read the Word through, from the first chapter of Isaiah to the last of Malachi, and the Psalms of David, and kept my thought on their spiritual sense, it was given me to perceive clearly that every verse communicated with some society of heaven, and thus the whole Word with the uni- versal heaven ; from which it was manifest, that, as the Lord is the Word, heaven also is the Word, since heaven is heaven from the Lord, and the Lord by the Word is the All in all of heaven. No. 273.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 399 XIV. If there were not a Word, no one would have A KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, OF HeaVEN AND HeLL, OF THE Life after Death, and still less of the Lord. 273. Since they have also confirmed themselves in their opinion who insist that without the Word man would be able to know the existence of God, and also of heaven and hell, and the other things taught by the Word, it is there- fore not allowable to argue with them from the Word, but from the natural light \/uinen'\ of reason ; for they do not believe in the Word, but in themselves. From the light [lumeti] of reason then inquire, and you will find that there are two faculties of life in man, which are called the under- standing and the will ; and that the understanding is sub- ject to the will, and not the will to the understanding; for the understanding merely teaches and shows what is to be done from the will. Therefore many who have acute gen- ius, and understand better than others the morals of life, still do not live according to them. It would not be so if they willed them. Inquire further, and you will find that the will of man is his proprium [or his very nature], and that this from nativity is evil, and that thence there is falsity in the understanding. When you have found out these things, you will see that man of himself does not wish to understand any thing but what is from the pro- prium of his will ; and that unless there be some other source whence he may know it, man from the proprium of his will would not wish to understand any thing but what is of himself and the world. Whatever is above, is in thick darkness to him. Thus when he sees the sun, moon, and stars, if by chance he should then think of their origin, he could not think otherwise than that they exist of them- selves. Could he raise his thoughts higher than many learned men in the world, who, although they know from the Word that God created all things, still acknowledge 400 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. nature ? What then would the same persons have thought, if they had known nothing from the Word ? Do you believe that the wise men of old, as Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, and others, who wrote about God and about the immortality of the soul, took it first from their own understanding ? No ; but from others, by tradition from those who first gained their knowledge from the ancient Word, of which we have spoken above. Neither do writers on natural theology derive any such thing from themselves ; but they merely confirm by rational deductions those things which they know from the church in which the Word is ; and there may be some among them who confirm, and yet do not believe them. 274. It has been granted me to see people who were born in islands, and who were rational as to civil affairs, but who knew nothing at all concerning God, In the spiritual world they appear like apes. But as they were born men, and thence in the capacity of receiving spiritual life, they are instructed by the angels ; and are made alive by means of cognitions concerning the Lord as Man. What man is of himself, appears evidently from those who are in hell, among whom are also some prelates and learned men who are not willing even to hear of God, and therefore can- not speak His Name. I have seen them and conversed with them. And I have also conversed with those who went into a fire of anger and wrath when they heard any one speak of the Lord. Consider, therefore, what a man would be who had heard nothing about God, when such is the character of some who have talked about God, written about God, and preached about God. They are such from the will, which is evil ; and this, as said before, leads the understanding, and takes away the truth which is in it from the Word. If man had been able of himself to know that there is a God and that there is a life after death, why has he not known that a man is a man after death ? Why does he believe that his soul or spirit is as the wind or the ether, No. 276.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 4OI and that it does not see with eyes, nor hear with ears, nor speak with a mouth, until it is conjoined and reunited with its dead body and its skeleton ? Suppose then a doctrine put forth solely from rational light [lumefi] ; would it not be, that oneself should be worshipped ? as was done for ages, and also is done at this day by those who know from the Word that God alone is to be worshipped. There can be no other worship from what is proper to man ; not even the worship of the sun and moon. 275. That there has been some religion from the most ancient times, and that the inhabitants of the world every- where have known about God, and something about the life after death, has not been from themselves, or from their own intelligence, but from the ancient Word, of which we have treated above (n. 264-266) ; and at a later period from the Israelitish Word. From these two Words, relig- ious systems emanated into the Indies and their islands ; through Egypt and Ethiopia into the kingdoms of Africa ; from the maritime parts of Asia into Greece ; and thence into Italy. But because the Word could not be written otherwise than by representatives, which are such things in the world as correspond to heavenly things and thence sig- nify them, therefore the religions of the gentile nations were turned into idolatries, and in Greece into fable ; and the Divine attributes and properties into as many gods, over whom they made one supreme, whom they called yove, per- haps from yehovah. It is known that they had a knowledge of paradise, of the deluge, of the sacred fire, and of the four ages, from the first or golden age to the last or iron age, as in Daniel ii. 31-35. 276. They who believe themselves able, from their own intelligence, to acquire cognitions of God, of heaven and hell, and of the spiritual things which are of the church, do not know that the natural man viewed in himself is opposed to the spiritual, and therefore desires to extirpate the spirit- ual things which enter, or to involve them in fallacies, which 402 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. are like worms that consume the roots of herbs and the growing corn. They may be likened to men who dream that they are seated on eagles, and borne up on high ; or on horses like Pegasus, and flying over Mount Parnassus to Helicon ; and they are actually like the Lucifers in hell, who still call themselves there the sons of the morning (Isa. xiv. 12). And they are like the men who in the valley of the land of Shinah undertook to build a tower, the head of which should be in heaven (Gen. xi. 2-4) ; and they trust in themselves like Goliath, not foreseeing that like him they may be prostrated by a sling-stone buried in the forehead. I will tell what lot awaits them after death : at first they become as if drunk, then like fools, and at last they become stupid, and sit in darkness. Let them therefore beware of such madness. 277. To this I will add the following Relations. First : One day, in the spirit, I rambled through various places in the spiritual world, for the purpose of observing the representations of heavenly things, which are there exhibited in many places. And in a certain house, where there were angels, I saw great purses, in which silver was stored up in great abundance ; and as they were open, it seemed as if every one might take from the silver there laid up, yes, steal it. But near the purses sat two youths, who were guards. The place where the purses were stored appeared like a manger in a stable. In the next room were seen modest virgins with a chaste wife ; and near that room stood two little children : and it was said that they were not to be played with childishly, but were to be treated wisely. Afterwards appeared a harlot, then a horse lying dead. Having seen these things, I was instructed that they represented the natural sense of the Word, in which is the spiritual sense. The great purses full of silver signified cognitions of truth in great abundance. That they were open and yet guarded by youths, signified, that every one could take therefrom cognitions of truth, but that care is No. 278.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 4O3 taken, lest any one violate the spiritual sense, in which are unmixed truths. The manger, as in a stable, signified spirit- ual nourishment for the understanding ; a manger has this signification, because a horse, which eats from it, signifies the understanding. The modest virgins, who were seen in the next room, signified affections for truth ; and the chaste wife, the conjunction of good and truth. The little chil- dren signified the innocence of wisdom ; for the angels of the highest heaven, who are the wisest, appear at a distance like httle children, from innocence. The harlot, with the dead horse, signified the falsification of truth by many at this day, by which all understanding of truth perishes : a harlot signifies falsification ; and a dead horse, no under- standing of truth. 278, Second Relation. There was once sent down to me from heaven a little paper inscribed with Hebrew let- ters, but written as with the ancients, by whom those letters which at this day are in some part linear, were inflected with little curves turning upward. And the angels who were then with me said that they knew entire mean- ings from" the letters themselves, and that they knew these, especially, from the bendings of the lines and of the apexes of the letter ; and they explained what they signified sep- arately, and what conjointly ; saying that the H, which was added to the names of Abram and Sarai, signified infinite and eternal. They also explained to me the mean- ing of the Word in Psalm xxxii. 2, from the letters or syllables alone; that the meaning of them, summed up, was, THAT THE LORD IS ALSO MERCIFUL TO THOSE WHO DO EVIL. They informed me that writing in the third heaven consisted of letters inflected and variously curved, each one of which contained a certain meaning ; and that the vow- els there were for the tone, which corresponds to affection ; also that in that heaven they could not utter the vowels / and e, but instead of them y and eu ; and that the vowels a, 0, and u were in use with them, because they have a full 404 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. sound.* They also said that they did not pronounce any consonants hard, but soft; and that it is from this that certain Hebrew letters have a little dot in the centre when they are [hard, and are without this dot when] soft ; saying that hardness in letters is in use in the spiritual heaven, because there they are in truths, and truth admits what is hard, but not good, in which the angels of the Lord's heavenly [cekstiall kingdom, or of the third heaven, are.f They also said that they had among them the Word written with letters inflected with little curves and apexes that were significative. From this it was manifest what these words of the Lord signify : One Jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled (Matt. v. 18) ; also these, // is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one apex of the law to fail (Luke xvi, 1 7). 279. Third Relation. Seven years ago, when I was collecting the things which Moses wrote from the two books called the Wars of Jehovah and the Enunciations (Num. xxi.), certain angels were present, and said to me that those books were an Ancient Word, the historical parts of which were called the Wars of Jehovah, and the prophetical parts of which were called the Enunciations ; and they said that that Word was still preserved in heaven, and in use among the ancients there who had that Word when they were in the world. The ancients with whom * The sounds denoted by these letters are believed to be as fol- lows : i like /' in machine (or the English long e); e like ey in they (or the English long a); y like the Swedish jv, or the French 71 ; a like a in hart ; o as in no ; u like 00 in moon ; eu as in certain foreign words introduced into the Swedish language, both vowels being sounded, but running together (like the French eu va. feu, and nearly like the English u xwfur). t The words within brackets have been introduced to avoid con- flict with the ordinary use of the words '■'^ hard'''' and "soft" (tenuis and aspirata) by grammarians ; Swedenborg himself uses the terms in the common way in the " Spiritual Diary," n. 5620; but in the Latin of this number, and elsewhere, the terms are transposed in their application to the letters. No. 279] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 405 that Word is still in use in heaven were in part from the land of Canaan and the neighboring lands, as Syria, Meso- potamia, Arabia, Chaldea, Assyria, Egypt, Sidon, Tyre, and Nineveh ; the inhabitants of all which kingdoms were in representative worship, and consequently had a knowl- edge of correspondences. The wisdom of that time was from that knowledge, and by it men had interior percep- tion and communication with the heavens. They who knew the correspondences of that Word, were called wise and intelligent, and afterwards diviners and Magi. But be- cause that Word was full of such correspondences as sig- nified heavenly \celestial^ and spiritual things remotely, and consequently began to be falsified by many, by the Lord's Divine Providence in course of time it disappeared, and another Word was given, written by correspondences not so remote, and this through the prophets among the chil- dren of Israel. In this Word were retained many names of the places not only in the land of Canaan but also round about in Asia, all of which signified things and states of the church ; but the significations were from the ancient Word. For this reason Abram was commanded to go into that land, and his posterity, descended from Jacob, were introduced into it. Respecting that ancient Word which was in Asia before the Israelitish Word, I am at liberty to relate this news, that it is still preserved there among the people who live in Great Tartary. I have conversed with spirits and an- gels in the spiritual world who were from that country, who said that they possess a Word, and have possessed it from ancient times, and that they conduct their divine worship according to this Word, and that it consists sim- ply of correspondences. They said that in it also is the book of yasher^ which is mentioned in Joshua (x. 12, 13), and in the second book of Samuel (i. 17, 18); as also, that among them are the books called the Wars of Jehovah, and the Enunciations, which are mentioned by Moses (Num. 406 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV xxi. 14, 15, and 27-30) ; and when I read in their presence the words which Moses had taken therefrom, they searched to see if they were there, and they found them. From this it was manifest to me that the ancient Word is still among them. While conversing with them they said that they worship Jehovah, some as an invisible God, and some as visible. They further told me that they do not suffer foreigners to come among them, except the Chinese, with whom they cultivate peace, because the. emperor of China is from their country ; and also that their population is so great, that they do not believe any region in the whole world to be more populous ; which is also credible from the wall many miles in length, which the Chinese built long ago as a safeguard against invasion from them. I have further heard from the angels, that the first chapters of Genesis, which treat of creation, of Adam and Eve, of the garden of Eden, and of their sons and posterity down to the flood, and also of Noah and his sons, are also in that Word ; and so were transcribed from it by Moses. The angels and spirits from Great Tartary appear in the southern quarter, on its eastern side, and are separated from others by dwelling in a higher expanse, and by their not admitting any one to come to them from the Christian world ; and, if any ascend, by guarding them to prevent their going away. The cause of this separation is, that they possess another Word. 280. Fourth Relation. I once saw at a distance walks between rows of trees, and youths who had gathered there in groups ; so many little companies, conversing on the things of wisdom ; this was in the spiritual world. I went toward them ; and when I drew near I saw one whom the rest venerated as their primate, because he excelled them in wisdom. When he saw me he said, " I wondered when I saw you on your way hither, that at one time you came in sight, and at another you dropped out of it, or that you were seen by me and suddenly were not seen. Surely Jte No. 2S0.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 407 you are not in the same state of life as our people." Smil- ing at this, I replied, " I am not a stage-player, nor a Ver- tumnus ; but alternately, I am now in your light and now in your shade ; thus a foreigner and also a native here." On this that wise one looked at me and said, " You speak strange and wonderful things ; tell me who you are." And I said, " I am in the world in which you were, and out of which you have come, which is called the natural world ; and I am also in the world in which you are, which is called the spiritual world. Consequently I am in a natural state, and at the same time in a spiritual state ; in a nat- ural state with men of the earth, and in a spiritual state with you ; and when I am in a natural state, I am not seen by you ; but when in a spiritual state, I am seen : that I am such, is the Lord's gift. Enlightened man, you know that a man of the natural world does not see a man of the spiritual world, nor the reverse ; wherefore, when I let my spirit into the body, I was not seen by you, but when I let it out of the body, I was seen ; and this comes from the distinction between the spiritual and the natural." When he heard the words, T/ie distifictioii between the spiritual and the natural, he said, " What distinction .-* Is it not as be- tween the purer and the less pure ? Thus, what is the spirit- ual but a purer natural ? " And I replied, " The distinction is not such ; the natural can by no subtilization approxi- mate the spiritual, so as to become spiritual ; for the dis- tinction is like that between the prior and the posterior, between which there is no finite ratio ; for the prior is in the posterior, as a cause in its effect ; and the posterior is from the prior, as an effect from its cause. It is for this reason that the one does not appear to the other." To this the wise one said, " I have meditated on this distinction, but hitherto in vain. I wish that I might perceive it." And I said, ■' You shall not only perceive the distinction between the spiritual and the natural, but you shall also see it." And I then said : " You are in a spiritual state while with 408 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. your associates, but in a natural state with me ; for with your associates you speak in a spiritual language which is common to every spirit and angel, but with me you speak in my native tongue : for every spirit and angel, speak- ing with a man, speaks the man's own language ; thus French with a Frenchman, Greek with a Greek, Arabic with an Arab, and so on. That you may know, therefore, the distinction between the spiritual and the natural as to languages, do this : Go to your companions, and there say something; and retain the words in memory, and come back, and utter them in my presence," He did so, and returned to me with the words in his mouth, and uttered them ; and they were words altogether strange and foreign, which are not found in any language of the natural world. From this experiment several times repeated, it was clearly manifest that all in the spiritual world have a spiritual lan- guage which has nothing in common with any natural lan- guage ; and that every man comes of himself into that language after death. I once also proved by experiment that the very sound of spiritual language differed so much from the sound of natural language, that even a loud spiritual sound could not be heard at all by a natural man, nor a natural sound by a spiritual man. Afterward I asked him and those standing around him to go in among their companions, and write some sentence upon paper, and then to come out to me with the paper and read it. They did so, and returned with the paper in the hand ; but when they would read, they could not, because the writing con- sisted only of some alphabetical letters with curves over them, each one of which was significative of some meaning pertaining to the subject. Because every letter in the alphabet is there significative of some meaning, it is mani- fest whence it is that the Lord is called the Alpha and the Omega. Going in again and again, writing, and returning, they found that that writing involved and comprehended innumerable things which no natural writing could ever No. 2S0.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 4O9 express ; and it was said that this is so because the thoughts of the spiritual man are incomprehensible and ineffable to the natural man, and cannot be brought into other writing and into other language. Then as the b\^- standers were not willing to comprehend that spiritual thought so far exceeded natural thought as to be relatively ineffable, I said to them, " Make the experiment ; enter into your spiritual society, and think of some thing, and retain it, and return and express it in my presence." And they entered, thought, retained, and came out ; and when they would express the thing thought of, they could not ; for they found no idea of natural thought adequate to any idea of purely spiritual thought, and so no words expressing it ; for the ideas of thought become the words of speech. And afterward they went in again, and returned, and confirmed themselves [in the belief] that spiritual ideas were supernatural, inexpressible, ineffable, and incompre- hensible to the natural man ; and because they are so supereminent, they said that spiritual ideas or thoughts, in comparison with natural, were ideas of ideas, and thoughts of thoughts ; and that by them therefore were expressed the qualities of qualities, and the affections of affections ; consequently that spiritual thoughts were the beginnings and the origins of natural thoughts. Thence also it was manifest that spiritual wisdom was the wisdom of wisdom, thus inexpressible by any wise man in the nat- ural world. Then it was said from the higher heaven, that there is a wisdom still more interior or higher, which is called heavenly [celestial'], the relation of which to spiritual wisdom is like the relatiorf of this to natural wisdom ; and that these flow in, in order according to the heavens, from the Lord's Divine Wisdom which is infinite. There- upon the man speaking with me said, " This I see, because I have perceived it, that one natural idea is the container of many spiritual ideas, and also that one spiritual idea is the container of many heavenly [celestial] ideas. From VOL. I. 18 4IO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. this, also, follows the consequence, that what is divided does not become more and more simple, but more and more manifold, because it comes nearer and nearer to the Infinite, in which are all things infinitely." After these things had taken place, I said to the by-standers, " You see from these three experimental proofs what kind of distinction there is between spiritual and natural, and also the cause why the natural man does not appear to the spiritual, nor the spiritual man to the natural, although both are in perfect human form, and from this form it seems to each as if they might see each other ; but the in- terior things which are of the mind are what make that form, and the mind of spirits and angels is formed from spiritual things, and the mind of men, as long as they live in the world, from natural things." After this, a voice was heard from the higher heaven, saying to one who stood by, " Come up hither." And he went up and returned and said, that " The angels did not before know the differences between the spiritual and the natural, because there had not before been given the means of comparison, with any man who was in both worlds at the same time ; and the differences cannot be known without comparison and relation." Before we separated, we conversed again on this subject, and I said, "These distinctions exist only from this, that you in the spiritual world are substantial and not material, and substantial things are the beginnings of material things. What is matter but an aggregation of substances ? You, therefore, are in principles, and thus in the single particu- lars severally ; but we are in (tferivatives and in composites ; you are in particulars, but we in generals ; and as generals cannot enter into particulars, so neither can natural things, which are material, enter into spiritual things, which are substantial ; just as a ship's cable cannot enter or be drawn through the eye of a sewing needle, or as a nerve cannot be drawn into one of the fibres of which it consists. This now No. 2Si.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 4II is the cause that the natural man cannot think the things which the spiritual man thinks, and therefore cannot speak them. Paul therefore calls the things which he heard from the third heaven ineffable. Add to this, that to think spirit- ually is to think without time and space, and that to think naturally is to think with time and space ; for to every idea of natural thought there adheres something from time and space, but not to any spiritual idea. This is because the spiritual world is not in space and time, as the natural world is, but it is in the appearance of these two ; also the thoughts and the perceptions differ in this respect. Therefore you can think of the essence and omnipresence of God from eternity, that is, concerning God before the creation of the world, because you think of the essence of God without time, and of His omnipresence without space, and thus you comprehend such things as transcend man's natural ideas." I then related, that I once thought about the essence and omnipresence of God from eternity, that is, of God before the creation of the world ; and because I was not yet able to remove spaces and times from the ideas of my thought, I became anxious, for the idea of nature entered instead of God ; but it was said to me, " Remove the ideas of space and time, and you will see." And it was granted me to remove them, and I saw ; and from that time I have been able to think of God from eternity, but not at all of nature from eternity, because God in all time is without time, and in all space is without space ; but nature in all time is in time, and in all space is in space ; and nature with its time and space could not but have a beginning ; not so God, Who is without time and space ; wherefore nature is from God, not from eternity but in time, together with its time and space. 281. Fifth Relation. Since it has been granted me by the Lord to be in the spiritual world and in the natural world at the same time, and therefore to speak with angels as with men, and thereby to have cognition of the states of 412 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. those, who after death pass into that hitherto unknown world (for I have spoken with all my relations and friends, and likewise with kings and dukes, as also with learned men, who have met their fate, and this now con- tinually for twenty-seven years), I am therefore able to describe from living experience the states of men after death, what they are with those who have lived well, and with those who have lived wickedly. But here I shall only mention some things respecting the state of those who have confirmed themselves from the Word in falsities of doctrine, who are especially those who have done so in favor of justi- fication by faith alone. The successive states of these are as follows : I. When they are dead, and are reviving as to the spirit, which takes place generally on the third day after the heart has ceased to beat, they appear to themselves to be in a body like that in which they before were in the world, so much so that they do not know that they are not still living in the former world. Yet they are not in a material but in a substantial body, which to their senses appears as if material, although it is not. II. After some days they see that they are in a world where there are various societies instituted, which world is called the WORLD OF SPIRITS, and is midway between heaven and hell. All the societies there, which are innumerable, are wonderfully arranged, according to the natural affections, good and evil. The societies arranged according to good natural affections communicate with heaven, and the socie- ties arranged according to evil affections communicate with hell. III. The novitiate spirit, or the spiritual man, is conducted and transferred into various societies, as well good as evil, and is examined as to whether he is affected by goods and truths, and how ; or whether he is affected by evils and falsities, and how. IV. If he is affected by goods and truths, he is led away from the evil societies, and is led into good societies, and also into various ones, until he comes into a society corresponding with his natural No. 28i.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 413 affection, and there he enjoys the good correspondent to that affection ; and this until he puts off the natural affec- tion and puts on the spiritual, and then he is taken up into heaven. But this takes place with those who in the world lived a life of charity, and thus a life of faith also ; which is, that they believed in the Lord and shunned evils as sins, V. But they who have confirmed themselves in falsities by means of what is rational, especially by the Word, and so have lived no other than a merely natural, and thus an evil life (for evils accompany falsities and cling to them), these, because they are not affected by goods and truths, but by evils and falsities, are led away from the good societies, and are led into evil societies, and into various ones also, until they come into a society corresponding to the lusts of their love. VI. But because in the world they feigned good affections in externals, although in their internals there were nothing but evil affections or lusts, they are kept by turns in externals ; and they who in the world pre- sided over large bodies, are appointed over societies here and there in the world of spirits, in offices general or limited, according to the extent of the offices which they filled in their former life. But because they do not love what is true or what is just, and cannot be so far enlight- ened as to know what truth and justice are, they are there- fore after some days deposed. I have seen such transferred from one society to another, and an administration every- where given them, but after a short time as often deposed. VII. After frequent dismissions, some from weariness do not wish, and some from fear of the loss of reputation do not dare, to seek for offices any more ; they therefore withdraw, and sit in sadness ; and then they are led away into a desert, where are huts, which they enter; and there some work is given them to do ; and as they do it, they receive food ; and if they do not do it, they are hungry and receive no food ; and so necessity compels them. The food there is similar to the food in our world, but it is from a spiritual 414 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. origin, and is given from heaven hy the Lord to all accord- ing to the uses which they do ; to the idle, because they are useless, none is given. VIII. After a while they are disgusted with work, and then they leave the huts ; and if they were priests, they wish to build. And then forthwith there appear piles of cut stone, bricks, beams, boards, and also heaps of reeds and rushes, of clay, lime, and bitumen. When they see these, the lust of building is kindled, and they begin to construct a house, taking now a stone, now a timber, now a reed, now mud ; and they put one upon an- other, without order, but in their view with order. But what they build up during the day falls down in the night ; yet on the following day they gather from the rubbish the things that have fallen, and build again, and this goes on till they are tired of building. This takes place from corre- spondence, because they have heaped up texts from the Word for confirming the falsities of faith, and their falsities build up the church in no other manner. IX. Afterwards from weariness they go away, and sit solitary and idle ; and because food is not given from heaven to the idle, as was said, they begin to be hungry, and to think of nothing but how to get food and appease their hunger. When they are in this state, there come to them some of whom they ask alms ; and they say, " Why do you thus sit idle ? Come with us to our houses, and we will give you work to do, and will feed you." And then they rise up gladly, and go away with them to their houses ; and there to each one is given his work, and for the work food is given. But be- cause all those who have confirmed themselves in falsi- ties of faith are not able to do works of good use, but only works of evil use, nor these faithfully but fraudulently and also unwillingly, therefore they leave their works, and only love to be in company, to talk, to walk about, and to sleep ; and then because they cannot any longer be induced by their masters to work, they are therefore dismissed as use- less. X. When they are dismissed, the eye is opened with No. 28i.] THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. 415 them, and they see a way leading to some cavern. When they come to it, a door is opened, and they enter, and ask whether there is food there ; and when it is answered that there is, they ask leave to remain there, and it is said that they may ; and they are introduced, and the door is shut after them. And then the overseer of the cavern comes and says to them, " You can go out no more ; see your companions ; they all labor ; and as they labor, food is given them from heaven ; I tell you this that you may know [what to expect]." And their companions also say, *' Our overseer knows what work each one is fitted for, and such he assigns to each one daily. Every day on which you do the work, food is given you ; and if it is not done, neither food nor clothing is given. If any one does evil to another, he is cast to a corner of the cavern into some bed of accursed dust, where he is miserably tortured, and this until the overseer sees in him some sign of penitence ; and then he is released and is ordered to do his work." And it is also told him, that every one is permitted, after his work, to walk, to converse, and afterward to sleep. And he is conducted further into the cavern, where there are harlots, of whom each one is permitted to take some one to himself, and to call her his woman ; but he is forbidden under a penalty to commit whoredom promiscuously. Of such caverns, which are nothing but eternal work-houses, hell consists. It has been granted me to enter into some, and to see, in order that I might make it known ; and they were all seen as degraded ; nor did any one of them know who he was when in the world, or in what employment he was. But the angel who was with me, told me that this one in the world was a servant, this a soldier, this an offi- cer, this a priest, this one in a station of dignity, this one in opulence ; and yet none of them know that they were not as now slaves and boon companions : and this for the rea- son that they had been interiorly alike, although outwardly unlike ; and the interiors consociate all in the spiritual world. 4l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IV. As regards the hells in general : they consist solely of such caverns or work -houses, but those where satans are differ from those where devils are. They are called satans who have have been in falsities and thence in evils, and they are called devils who have been in evils and thence in falsities. Satans in the light of heaven seem livid like corpses, and some black like mummies ; but devils in the light of heaven seem dusky and fiery, and some black like soot ; while in face and bodily form they all are monstrous. But in their own light, which is like the light from burning charcoal, they appear not as monsters but as men. This is granted so that they may be conso- ciated. No. 282.1 THE DECALOGUE. 419 CHAPTER FIFTH. THE CATECHISM OR DECALOGUE EXPLAINED AS TO ITS EXTERNAL AND ITS INTERNAL SENSE. 282. There is not a nation in the whole world which does not know that it is evil to kill, to commit adultery, to steal, and to bear false witness ; and that if these evils were not guarded against by laws, kingdom, republic, and all organized society would be at an end. Who, therefore, can suppose that the Israelitish nation was so much more stupid than others that it did not know that these were evils ? One may therefore wonder that those laws, univer- sally known in the world, were promulgated from mount Sinai by Jehovah Himself, with so great a miracle. But listen : They were promulgated with so great a miracle, that men might know that these were not only civil and moral,' but also Divine laws ; and that to do contrary to them was not only to do evil against the neighbor, that is, to a fellow- citizen and society, but was also to sin against God. Wherefore those laws, by promulgation by Jehovah from mount Sinai were made laws of religion also. It is evi- dent that whatever Jehovah commands. He commands in order that it may be of religion, and so that it is to be done for the sake of salvation. But before the command- ments are explained, something must be premised con- cerning their holiness, that it may be manifest that religion ts in them. 420 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. In the Israelitish Church the Decalogue was Holiness Itself. 283. Because the commandments of the- decalogue were the first-fruits of the Word, and therefore the first-fruits of the church that was about to be established with the Is- raelitish nation, and because they were in a brief summary a complex of all things of religion, by which conjunction of God with man and of man with God is given, therefore they were so holy that there is nothing holier. That they were most holy is clearly manifest from what now follows : The Lord Jehovah Himself descended upon mount Sinai in fire and with angels, and promulgated them therefrom by the living voice, and the mountain was hedged around lest any should come near and die. Neither the priests nor the elders approached, but Moses alone. These command- ments were written upon two tables of stone by the finger of God. When Moses brought the tables down the second time, his face shone. The tables were afterwards depos- ited in the ark, and the ark was placed in the inmost of the tabernacle, and over it was placed the mercy-seat^ and over this were placed cherubs of gold : this inmost of the tabernacle, where the ark was, was called the holy of holies. Without the veil, within which was the ark, other things were arranged which represented the holy things of heaven and the church ; which were the table overlaid with gold, on which was the bread of faces [or shew-bread] ; the golden altar on which incense was burned ; and the golden, candlestick with seven lamps; also the curtains round about, of fine linen, purple, and scarlet. The holi- ness of this whole tabernacle was from nothing else than the law which was in the ark. On account of the holiness of the tabernacle, from the law in the ark, all the people of Israel by command encamped around it, in order ac- cording to the tribes, and marched in order after it ; and then a cloud was over it by day, and a fire by night. On No. 284.] THE DECALOGUE. 42 1 account of the holiness of that law, and the presence of Jehovah in it, Jehovah talked with Moses over the mercy- seat between the cherubs, and the ark was called jfehovah there. It was not lawful for Aaron to enter within the veil, except with sacrifices and incense, lest he should die. On account of the presence of Jehovah in and about that law, miracles also were wrought through the ark which contained the law. Thus the waters of the Jordan were divided ; and so long as the ark rested in the middle of it, the people passed over on dry ground : the walls of Jeri- cho fell by the ark's being carried around them : Dagon, the god of the Philistines, fell on his face before it, and afterwards, severed from the head and the two palms of the hands, lay upon the threshold of the temple : the Beth- shemites were smitten on account of it to the number of several thousands : and Uzzah died because he touched it. The ark was introduced by David into Zion, with sacrifice and jubilation ; and afterwards by Solomon into the tem- ple at Jerusalem, where it made its shrine. Other things are also recorded ; from all of which it is manifest that the decalogue was holiness itself in the Israelitish church. 284. The things which have been presented above re- specting the promulgation, holiness, and power of that law, are found in the following passages in the Word : Jehovah descended upon mount Sinai in fire, and the mountain then smoked and trembled, and there were thunderings, light- nings, a thick cloud, and the voice of a trumpet (Ex. xix. 16-18; Deut. iv. 11; V. 22, 23). Before the descent of Jehovah, the people prepared and sanctified themselves for three days (Ex. xix. 10, 11, 15). Bounds were set round about the mountain, lest any one should approach and come near its base, and should die ; nor might the priests draw near, but Moses alone (Ex. xix. 12, 13, 20-23 j xxiv. i, 2). The law was promulgated from mount Sinai (Ex. xx. 2-17 ; Deut. V. 6-21). The law was written on two tables of stone, and was written by the finger of God (Ex. xxxi. iS ; 422 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. xxxii. 15, 16; Deut. ix. 10). When Moses brought the tables down from the mountain a second time, his face shone so that he covered it with a veil while he talked with the people (Ex. xxxiv. 29-35). The tables were deposited in the ark (Ex. xxv. 16 ; xl. 20 j Deut. x. 5 ; i Kings viii. 9). The mercy-seat was laid over the ark, and above this were placed cherubs of gold (Ex. xxv. 17-21). The ark with the mercy-seat and the cherubs was put into the tabernacle ; and was the chief and thus the inmost thing thereof ; and the table overlaid with gold, upon which was the bread of faces [or shew-bread], and the golden altar for incense, and the candlestick with the golden lamps, made the external of the tabernacle ; and the ten curtains of fine linen, pur- ple, and scarlet, its outermost (Ex. xxv., xxvi., xl. 17-28). The place where the ark was, was called the holy of holies (Ex. xxvi. ^;^). The whole people of Israel encamped around the tabernacle, in order according to the tribes, and marched in order after it (Num. ii.). There was then a cloud over the tabernacle by day, and a fire by night (Ex. xl. 38 ; Num. ix. 15-23 ; xiv. 14 ; Deut. i. 33). Jehovah spake with Moses above the ark between the cherubs (Ex. xxv. 22 ; Num. vii. 89). The ark, owing to the law in it, was called yehovah there ; for when the ark went forward, Moses said. Arise, Jehovah; and when it rested. Return, yehovah (Num. x. 35, 36 ; 2 Sam. vi. 2 ; Ps. cxxxii. 7, 8). On account of the holi- ness of that law, Aaron was not allowed to enter within the veil except with sacrifices and incense (Lev. xvi. 2-14, and the verses following this). From the presence of the Lord's power in the law, which was within the ark, the waters of the Jordan were divided ; and while the ark was resting in the midst of it, the people passed over on dry ground (Josh, iii. 1-17 ; iv. 5-20). When the ark was carried around them, the walls of Jericho fell (Josh. vi. 1-20). Dagon, the god of the Philistines, fell to the ground before the ark, and afterwards lay upon the threshold of the temple, [the trunk being] separated from the head, and the palms of the hands No. 285.] THE DECALOGUE. 423 being cut off (i Sam. v.). That the Bethshemites on ac- count of the ark were smitten to the number of several thousands (i Sam. v. and vi.). Uzzah died because he touched the ark (2 Sam. vi. 7). The ark was introduced into Zion by David, with sacrifices and jubilation (2 Sam. vi. 1-19). The ark was introduced by Solomon into the temple of Jerusalem, where it made its shrine (i Kings vi. ig, and verses following; viii. 3-9). 285. Since by that law there is conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord, it is called the covenant, and the testimony ; the covenant because it conjoins, and the testimony because it confirms the articles of the cove- nant ; for covenant in the Word signifies conjunction, and testimony signifies the confirmation and witnessing of its articles. For this reason there were two tables, one for God and the other for man. Conjunction is effected by the Lord, but only when man does the things written in his table ; for the Lord is continually present, and wishes to enter in, but man, from the freedom which he has from the Lord, must open to Him ; for the Lord says. Behold I stand at the door and knock ; if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Apoc. iii. 20). That the tables of stone on which the law was written were called the tables of the covenant, and that the ark was called from them the ark of the covenant, and the law itself the covenant, may be seen (Num. X. 33 ; Deut. iv. 13, 23 ; v. 2, 3 ; ix. 9 ; Josh. iii. xi; I Kings viii. 21; Apoc. xi. 19 ; and elsewhere). Since cove- nant signifies conjunction, it is therefore said concerning the Lord that He shall be for a covenant to the people (Isa. xlii. 6 ; xlix. 8) \ and He is called the Messenger of the covenant (Mai. iii. i) ; and His blood, the blood of the cove- nant (Matt. xxvi. 28; Zech. ix. 11; Ex. xxiv. 4-10); and therefore the Word is called the Old and the New Covenant; for covenants are made for the sake of love, friendship, consociation, and conjunction. 424 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. 286. So great holiness and so great power were in that law, because it was the complex of all things of religion ; for it was written on two tables, one of which contains in the complex all things which regard God ; and the other contains in the complex all things which regard man. Therefore the commandments of that law are called The Ten Words (Ex. xxxiv. 28 ; Deut. iv. 13 ; x. 4). They were so called because fen signifies all, and words signify truths ; for there were more than ten words. That ten signifies all, and that tithes were instituted on account of that signification, may be seen in the "Apocalypse Re- vealed" (n. 101); and that that law is a complex of all things of religion, will be seen in what follows. In the Sense of the Letter the Decalogue contains THE general Precepts of Doctrine and Life; but IN THE Spiritual and Heavenly \Celestial'\ Senses, all universally. 287. It is known that in the Word the Decalogue is called the Law by way of eminence, as it contains all things which pertain to doctrine and life ; for it contains not only all things which regard God, but also all which regard man. Therefore that law was written on two tables, one of which treats of God, the other of man. It is also known that all things pertaining to doctrine and life have relation to love to God and love toward the neighbor ; all things belonging to these loves are contained in the decalogue. That the whole Word teaches nothing else, is evident from these words of the Lord : Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. On these two com- mandments hang the law arid the prophets (Matt. xxii. 37, 39, 40). The law and the prophets signify the whole Word. And again : A certain lawyer, tempting Jesus, said. Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? And Jesus said unto No. 288.] THE DECALOGUE. 425 him. What is written in the law ? Jfoiu readest thou 1 And he answerifig said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and %vith all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy 7nind, and thy neighbor as thyself. And yesus said, This do, and thou shalt live (Luke x. 25-28). Now because love to God and love toward the neighbor are the all of the Word, and the decalogue in the first table contains in a summary all things of love to God, and in the second table all things of love toward the neighbor, it fol- lows that the decalogue contains all things which are of doctrine and of life. From a view of the two tables, it is manifest that they are so conjoined that God from His table looks to man, and that man in his turn from his table looks to God ; and thus that the looking is reciprocal, which is such that God on His part never ceases to look at man, and to put in operation such things as pertain to his salvation ; and if man receives and does the things which are in his table, reciprocal conjunction is effected, and then it comes to pass according to the words of the Lord to the law)'er, This do, and thou shalt live. 288. The law is often mentioned in the Word ; and it shall be told what is meant by the law in a strict sense, in a broader sense, and in the broadest sense. In a strict sense, by the law is meant the decalogue ; in a broader sense, are meant the statutes given by Moses to the chil- dren of Israel ; and in the broadest, is meant the whole Word. That the law in a strict sense means the DECALOGUE, is known ; but that the law in a broader SENSE MEANS THE STATUTES GIVEN BY MOSES TO THE CHIL- DREN OF Israel, is evident from the several statutes in Exodus, which are called laws ; as. This is the law of the sacri- fice \of the trespass offering] (Lev. vii. i). This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings (vii. 1 1). This is the law of the meat offering (vi. 14, and verses following). This is the law of the burnt offering, of the meat offering, of the sin offering, and of the trespass offering, and of the consecrations (vii. 37), 426 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. (Chap. V. This is the law of the beast and of the fowl (xi. 46, and the following verses). This is the law for her that beareth,for a son and a daughter (xii. 7). This is the law of leprosy (xiii. 59 ; xiv. 2, 32, 54, 57). This is the law of him that hath an issue (xv. 32). This is the law of jealousy (Num. v. 29, 30). This is the law of the Nazarite (vi. 13, 21). The law of cleansing (xix. 14). The law concerning the red heifer (xix. 2). The law for the king (Deut. xvii. 15-19). Indeed the whole book of Moses is called the law (Deut. xxxi. 9, 11, 12, 26; and also in the New Testament, as Luke ii. 22 ; xxiv. 44; John i. 45 ; vii. 23 ; viii. 5 ; and in other places). That by the works of the law Paul means these statutes, where he says that man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Rom. iii. 28), is plainly manifest from what there fol- lows ; and also from his words to Peter, whom he censured for Judaizing, where he says, three times in one verse, that no one is justified by the works of the law (Gal. ii. 14-16). That by the law in the broadest sense is meant the WHOLE Word, is manifest from these passages : Jesus said, Is it not 7vritten in your law, Ye are gods (John x. 34) : this is written, Ps. Ixxxii. 6. The people answered, We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth for ever (John xii. 34) : this is written, Ps. Ixxxix. 36 ; ex. 4 ; Dan. vii. 14. That the Word might be fulfilled that is written in their LAW, They hated Me without a cause (John xv. 25) : this is written Ps. xxxv. 19. The Pharisees said, Have any of the rulers believed on Him ? But the multitude which knoweth not the LAW \are cursed"] (John vii. 48, 49). // is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one tittle of the law to fail (Luke xvii. 17). By the law there is meant the whole Sacred Scripture ; also in a thousand places in David. 289. The decalogue, in the spiritual and heavenly \celes- tial] senses, contains universally all the precepts of doc- trine and of life, thus all of faith and charity, because the Word, in the sense of the letter, in all things and in each No. 290] THE DECALOGUE. 427 single thing, or in general and in every part of it, contains two interior senses, one which is called spiritual, and an- other which is called heavenly \celestiar\ ; and because in these senses Divine truth is in its light, and Divine good- ness in its heat. Now because the Word is such in general and in every part, it is necessary to explain the ten com- mandments of the decalogue according to the three senses called fiatural, spiritual, and heavenly [celestial']. That the Word is such, may be evident from what has been de- monstrated above, in the chapter concerning the Sacred Scripture or the Word (n. 193-208). 290. No one, unless he knows the nature of the Word, can have any idea that there is infinity in every part of it, that is, that it contains innumerable things, which not even angels can exhaust. Each thing therein may be likened to a seed, which may grow up from the ground to be a great tree, and produce an abundance of seeds ; from which again may be similar trees, which together make a -garden ; and from the seeds of this come other gardens ; and so on to infinity. Such is the Word of the Lord, in its several par- ticulars, and such especially is the decalogue ; for this, because it teaches love to God and love toward the neigh- bor, is a short summary of the whole Word. That the Word is such, the Lord also explains by a similitude, thus : The kingdom of God is like a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field ; which is less than all seeds, but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof (Matt. xiii. 31, 32 ; Mark iv. 31, 32 ; Luke xiii. 18, 19 ; compare also Ez. xvii. 2-8). That such is the infinity of spiritual seeds or truths in the Word, may be evident from the wisdom of the angels, which is all from the Word ; it increases with them to eternity ; and the wiser they be- come, the more clearly they see that wisdom is without end, and they perceive that they are but in its entrance-hall, and cannot in the smallest particular attain to the Lord's Divine 428 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V, wisdom, which they call a great deep. Now, since the Word is from this great deep, because from the Lord, it is mani- fest, that there is a kind of infinity in all parts of it. The First Commandment. Thou shalt have no other God before My faces. 291. These are the words of the first commandment (Ex. XX. 3 ; Deut. v. 7). In the natural se?ise, which is the sense of the letter, the meaning nearest the letter is that idols must not be worshipped ; for it follows, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness \of any thing\ that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them ; for I Jehovah THY God am a jealous God (Ex, xx. 3-5). The meaning of this comrnandment which is nearest the letter is that idols must not be worshipped, because before this time, and after it down to the Lord's Advent, there was idola- trous worship in a great part of Asia. The cause of this worship was, that all the churches before the Lord came into the world were representative and typical ; and the types and representations were such that Divine things were set forth under various figures and sculptured forms, which the common people began to worship as gods when their significations were lost. The Israelitish nation also was in such worship when in Egypt, as is evident from the golden calf which they worshipped in the wilderness instead of Jehovah ; and from many passages in the Word, both historical and prophetical, it is evident that they were not afterwards alienated from that worship. 292. This commandment, Thoic shalt have 710 other God before My faces, also means in the natural sense that no man, dead or living, may be worshipped as a god ; which also was done in Asia and in various neighboring regions. No. 294.] THE DECALOGUE. , 429 Many gods of the Gentiles were no other than men ; as Baal, Ashtaroth, Chemosh, Milcom, Beelzebub ; and at Athens and Rome, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Pallas, and so forth ; some of whom they worshipped first as saints, afterwards as divinities, and lastly as gods. That they also worshipped living men as gods, is evident from the edict of Darius the Mede, that for thirty days no man should ask any thing of God, but of the king only; if otherwise, he should be cast into a den of lions (Dan. vi. 8 to the end). 293. In the natural sense, which is that of the letter, this commandment also means that no one but God, and nothing but that which proceeds from God, is to be loved above all things ; which is also according to the Lord's words (Matt. xxii. 35-40; Luke x. 25-28). For to him who loves any person or thing above all things, that person is God and that thing is Divine. For example, to him who loves himself above all things, or the world, himself or the world is his god. It is for this reason that such do not in heart acknowledge any God. They therefore are conjoined with their like in hell, where all are gathered who love themselves and the world above all things. 294. The spiritual sense of this commandment is, that no other God than the Lord Jesus Christ is to be wor- shipped ; because He is Jehovah, Who came into the world, and wrought the redemption without which no man and no angel could have been saved. That there is no God be- sides Him, is evident from these passages in the Word : // shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for Him to deliver us; this is Jehovah, we have waited for Him, let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation (Isa. x.xv. 9). The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, viake smooth in the desert a highway for our God. For the glory of yehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. Behold ! the Lord yehovih cometh in strength ; He shall feed His flock 430 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. like 'a shepherd (xl. 3, 5, 11). Surely God is in thee, and there is no God besides : verily thou art a God that hidesl Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour (xlv. 14, 15). Am not I Jehovah i and there is no God else beside Me ; a just God and a Saviour, there is none beside Me (xlv. 21, 22), / am jfehovah, and besides Me there is no Saviour (xliii. II ; also Hos. xiii. 4). That all flesh may know that I Je- hovah am THY Saviour and thy Redeemer (Isa. xlix. 26 ; also Ix. 16). As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His flame (xlvii. 4 ; also Jer. 1. 34), Jehovah, my Rock and MY Redeemer (Ps. xix. 14). Thus said Jehovah, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God (Isa. xlviii. 17 ; also xliii. 14 ; xlix. 7 ; liv. 8). Thus said Jehovah^ thy Redeemer, / am Jehovah, That tnaketh all things, and alone of Myself (xliv. 24). Thus said Jeho- vah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the First and the last, and beside Me there is no God (xliv. 6). Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and THY Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called (liv. 5). Abraham hath not known us, Israel doth not acknowledge us ; Thou, Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer from everlast- ing is Thy Na7ne (Ixiii. 16). Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and His Name shall be called Won- derful, Counsellor, God, Mighty, Father of Eternity, Prince of peace (ix. 6). Behold the days come, that I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch Who shall reign King, and this is His name, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 ; also xxxiii. 15, 16). Philip said to Jesus, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him. He that seeth Me, seeth the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Mel (John xiv. 8-10.) In Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. ii. 9). We are in the Truth, in Jesus Christ ; This is the true God and Eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols (i John V. 20, 21). From these passages it is clearly maiii- No. 296.] THE DECALOGUE. 43 1 fest that the Lord our Saviour is Jehovah Himself, Who is at once Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator. This is the spiritual sense of this commandment. 295. The heavenly [or celestial'\ sense of this command- ment is, that Jehovah the Lord is Infinite, Immeasur- able, and Eternal ; that He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent ; that He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End ; who Was, Is, and Will Be ; that He is Love itself, and Wisdom itself, or Good itself and Truth itself ; consequently, Life itself ; thus the Only One, from Whom all things are. 296. All who acknowledge and worship any other God than the Lord the Saviour Jesus Christ, Who is Himself Jehovah God in the human form, sin against this first com- mandment ; so also do they who persuade themselves that three Divine persons have actually existed from eternity. These, as they confirm themselves in that error, become more and more natural and corporeal, and then cannot interiorly comprehend any Divine truth ; and if they hear and receive it, still they defile and cover it up with falla- cies. They may therefore be compared to those who live in the lowest story of a house, or the basement below the level of the ground, and therefore do not hear any thing that those who are in the second and third stories say to each other, because the ceiling and floor over their heads prevent the sound from penetrating to them. The human mind is like a house of three stories, in the lowest of which are they who have confirmed themselves in favor of three Gods from eternity; in the second and third stories are they who acknowledge and believe in one God under a visible human form, and that the Lord God the Saviour is He. The sensual and corporeal man, because he is merely natural, viewed in himself is wholly animal, and only differs from a brute animal in being able to speak and reason ; he is therefore like one living in a menagerie where are wild beasts of every kind, and there he now acts the lion, 432 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. now the bear, and now the tiger, the leopard, or the wolf ; yes, he can also act the sheep, but then he laughs in his heart. The merely natural man does not think of Divine truths except from the things of the world, thus from the fallacies of the senses ; for he cannot elevate his mind above them. The doctrine of his faith may therefore be compared to pottage made of chafif, which he eats as a dainty. Or as Ezekiel the prophet was commanded to mix wheat, barley, beans, lentiles, and fitches, with the dung of man or of a cow, and make for himself bread and cakes, and so to represent the church such as it was with the Israelitish nation (Ez. iv. 9, and the verses following). So is it with the doctrine of the church which is founded and built upon [the faith that there have been] three Di- vine persons from eternity, each of whom singly is God. Who would not see the enormity of that faith, if it were exhibited as it is in itself in a picture before the eyes ; for instance, if the three were to stand in order near each other, the first distinguished by a sceptre and crown ; the second holding a book, which is the Word, in his right hand, and in his left a golden cross sprinkled with blood ; and the third with wings about him, standing upon one foot, in readiness to fly forth and operate ; and above them the inscription, These three Persons, being so many Gods, are one God ? What wise man, seeing the picture, would not say to himself, Alas, what hallucination ! But he would say otherwise, if he should see the picture of one Divine Person, with rays of heavenly light around the head, with the inscription over it, This is our God, at once Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator, thus the Saviour. Would not that wise man kiss this picture, and carry it home in his bosom, and by the sight of it gladden his own mind, and that of his wife, and the minds of his children and servants ? No. 297.] THE DECALOGUK 433 The Second Commandment, Thou shalt nIdt take the Name of Jehovah thy God IN VAIN ; FOR Jehovah will not hold him guiltless, THAT TAKETH HiS NaME IN VAIN. 297. Taking the name of Jehovah God in vain in the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, refers to the name itself, and the abuse of it in various kinds of con- versation, especially in uttering falsehoods or lies, and in oaths without cause, and for the purpose of exculpation in one's evil intentions (which are cursings), and in sorceries and enchantments. But to swear by God and His Holi- ness, the Word, and the Gospel, in coronations, in inaugu- rations into the priesthood and inductions into offices of trust, is not taking the name of God in vain, unless he who takes the oath afterwards casts aside his promises as vain. But the name of God, because it is Holiness itself, must continually be used in the holy things which pertain to the church, as in prayers, psalms, and in all worship ; and also in preaching, and in writing on ecclesiastical matters. For God is in all things of religion ; and when He is relig- iously invoked, He is present by His name and hears ; in these things the name of God is hallowed. That the name of Jehovah God is in itself holy, is evident from that name, in that the Jews from their earliest day have not dared and do not dare to say jfehovah; and for their sake the evangelists and apostles were not willing to say it, and there- fore said Lord instead of Jehovah ; as is evident from various passages transferred from the Old Testament to the New ; where the name Lord is used instead of Jehovah, as Matt, xxii. 37 ; Luke x. 27 ; compared with Deut. vi. 5, and other passages. That the name Resits is in like manner holy, is known from the saying of the apostle, that at that name the knee is bent and is to be bent, in heaven and in earth; and furthermore from this, that it can be named by no 434 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. devil in hell. There are many names of God which are not to be taken in vain, as jFehovah, yehovah God, yehovah Ze- baoth, the Holy One of Israel, yesus and Christ, the Holy Spirit. 298. In the spiritual sense the name of God means all that the church teaches from the Word, and by which the Lord is invoked and worshipped. AH these things in the complex are the name of God. Wherefore to take the name of God in vain, means to introduce any thing there- from in frivolous conversation, in speaking falsely, in lying, imprecations, sorceries, and enchantments ; for to do this also is to revile and blaspheme God, thus His name. That the Word, and whatever the church has therefrom, and thus all worship, is the name of God, may be evident from these passages.: From the rising of the sun shall he call upon My name (Isa. xli. 25). From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same. My name shall be great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My fiame. Ye profane My name, in that ye say, The table of yehovah is polluted ; and ye snuff at My name, in that ye bring that which was torn, the lame, and the sick (Mai. i. 1 1-13). All peoples walk in the name of their God, and we will walk in the name of yehovah our God (Mich, iv. 5). They shall worship yehovah in one place, cohere He shall place His name (Deut. xii. 5, 11, 13, 14, 18 ; xvi. 2, 6, II, 15, 16); that is, where He should set His worship. Jesus said. Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of than (Matt, xviii. 20). As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, e7)en to them that believe in His name (John i. 1 2). He that believeth not, is judged already, because he hath not be- lieved in the name of the Only -begotten Son of God (iii. 18). Believing, they shall have life in His name (xx. 31). Jesus said, / have manifested Thy name to men ; and I have de- clared unto them Thy name (xvii. 6, 26). The Lord said, I have a few names in Sardis (Apoc. iii. 4). There are also No. 300] THE DECALOGUE. 435 many other passages in which, as in the foregoing, the name of God means the Divine which proceeds from God, and by which He is worshipped. But the name of Jesus Christ means all of redemption, and all of His doctrine, and thus all of salvation ; by Jesus, is meant all of salva- tion through redemption, and by Christ, all of salvation through His doctrine. 299. In the heavenly \celestial'\ sense, taking the name. of God in vain means what the Lord said to the Pharisees, that All sin and blasphemy shall be remitted unto man, but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be remitted (Matt. xii. 31, 32). By blasphemy of the Spirit is meant blasphemy against the Divinity of the Lord's Human, and against the holiness of the Word. That the Divine Human of the Lord is meant by the name of Jehovah God in the heav- enly \celestial'\ or highest sense, is evident from these pas- sages : Jesus said. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again (John xii. 28). Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glori- fied in the Son ; if ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it (xiv. 13, 14). In the Lord's Prayer, by Hallowed be Thy name, in the heavenly [celestial'] sense, nothing else is signified ; so also by ?iame in Ex. xxiii. 21 ; Isa. Ixiii. 16. Since blasphemy of the Spirit is not remitted unto man, according to the words in Matt. xii. 31, 32, and this is meant in the heavenly sense, there is therefore added to this commandment, For Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who taketh His name in vain. 300. That the name of any one means not only his name, but also his whole quality, is manifest from the names in the spiritual world ; no one there retains the name which he received in baptism and that which he had from his father or ancestors, in the world ; but every one there is named according to his quality, and the angels are called according to their moral and spiritual life; these 436 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. latter also are meant by these words of the Lord : Jesus said, I am the good Shepherd ; the sheep hear His voice, and He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out (John X. ii, 3). And also by these : / have a few names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments. Whoso- ever overcometh, I will write upon him the name of the city. New Jerusalem, and My new name (Apod. iii. 4, 12). Gabriel and Michael are not the names of two persons in heaven, but by those names are meant all in heaven who are in wisdom concerning the Lord and worship Him. Also the names of persons and places in the Word do not mean persons and places, but the things of the church. And in the natural world, by name is not meant the name only, but at the same time the quality of the person, be- cause this adheres to his name ; for in common conversa- tion it is customary to say. He does this for the sake of his name, or for the fame of his name ; the man has a great name : which means that he is celebrated for such things as are in him, as for ingenuity, erudition, merits, and so forth. Who does not know that he who disparages and calumniates any one as to his name, also disparages and calumniates the actions of his life ? They are con- joined in idea; therefore the fame of his name perishes. In like manner whoever utters the name of a king, a duke, or any great man, with great disrespect, casts reproach also upon the majesty or the dignity of the person. So also he who utters the name of another in a tone of con- tempt, at the same time Shows a light estimation of the acts of his life. The case is similar with every person ; his name, that is, his quality and consequent reputation, ac- cording to the laws of all kingdoms, it is not allowable to blast and defame. No. 301.] THE DECALOGUE. 437 The Third Commandment. Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy; six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work ; but THE SEVENTH DAY IS A SaBBATH TO JeHOVAH THY GOD. 301. That this is the third commandment may be seen from Ex. xx. 8-10, and Deut. v. 12-14. In the natural sense, which is that of the letter, this means that the six days are for man and his labors, and the seventh for the Lord, and for man's rest from Him, Sabbath in the orig- inal tongue signifies rest. The Sabbath among the children of Israel was the sanctity of sanctities, because it repre- sented the Lord ; the six days represented His labors and combats with the hells ; and the seventh His victory over them, and therefore rest ; and because that day was repre- sentative of the close of the Lord's whole work of redemp- tion, therefore it was holiness itself. But when the Lord came into the world, and the representations of Him there- fore ceased, that day became a day of instruction in Divine things, and thus also a day of rest from labors, and of meditation on such things as relate to salvation and eternal life ; as also a day of love towards the neighbor. That it became a day of instruction in Divine things is manifest from this, that the Lord on that day taught in the temple and in synagogues (Mark vi. 2 ; Luke iv. 16, 31, 32 ; xiii. 10) ; and that He said to the man who was healed, Take up thy bed and walk; and to the Pharisees, That it was lawful for the disciples on the Sabbath day to gather the ears of corn and eat (Matt. xii. 1-9 ; Mark ii. 23-28 ; Luke vi. 1-6 ; John V, 9-19) ; and by each of these particulars, in the spiritual sense, is signified to be instructed in doc- trinals. That that day became also a day of love toward the neighbor, is evident from what the Lord did and taught on the Sabbath day (Matt. xii. 10-14 ; Mark iii. 1-9 ; Luke vi. 6-12 ; xiii. 10-18 ; xiv. 1-7 ; John v. 9-19 ; vii. 438 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. 22, 23 ; ix. 14, 16). From these and the former passages, it is manifest why the Lord said that He is Lord also of the Sabbath (Matt. xii. 8 ; Mark ii. 28 ; Luke vi. 5) ; and be- cause He said this, it follows that that day was representa- tive of Him. 302. This commandment in the spiritual sense signifies the reformation and regeneration of man by the Lord ; the six days of labor signify the combat against the flesh and its lusts, and at the same time against the evils and falsities which are in him from hell ; and the seventh day signifies his conjunction with the Lord, and regeneration thereby. That as long as that combat continues man has spiritual labor, but that when he is regenerated he has rest, will be evident from what will be said hereafter, in the chapter concerning Reformation and Regeneration, especially from these things there : I. Regeneration is ef- fected in a fnanner analogous to that in which man is con- ceived, carried in the womb, born, and educated. II. The first act in the new birth is called reformation, which is of the understanding ; and the second is called regeneration, which is of the will, and thence of the understanding. III. The inter- nal man is to be reformed first, and through this the external. IV. Then arises a combat between the internal and the exter- nal man, and the one that conquers rules over the other. V. The regenerate man has a new will and a new under- standing: and so forth. The reformation and regeneration of man are signified by this commandment in the spiritual sense, because they coincide with the Labors and Combats of the Lord with the hells, and with the Victory over them, and then the Rest ; for the Lord reforms and regenerates man and renders him spiritual, in the same manner in which He glorified His Human, and made it Divine : this is what is meant by following Him. That the Lord had combats, and that they afe called labors, is manifest in Isa. liii. and Ixiii. ; and that similar things are called labors in relation to men is manifest in Isa. Ixv. 23 ; Apoc. ii. 2, 3. No. 303] THE DECALOGUE. 439 303. In the heavenly \celestial'\ sense, by this command- ment is meant conjunction with the Lord, and then peace, because there is protection from hell ; for by Sabbath is signified rest, and in this highest sense, peace. The Lord is therefore called the Prince of Peace ; and also He calls Himself Peace, as is evident from these passages : Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Mighty, Father of eternity, the Prince of Peace ; of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end (ls2i. IX. 6, 'j). Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you (John xiv. 27). Jesus said, These things I have spoken, that in Me ye might have PEACE (xvi. 33). How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him That bringeth good tidings. That pub- lisheth PEACE, saying. Thy God* reigneth (Isa. lii. 7). jFeho^ vah will redeem my soul in peace (Ps. Iv. 18). Jehovah's work t is PEACE, the labor of righteousness is rest and secu- rity for ever ; that they may dwell in the tabernacle of PEACE, and in the tents of security, and in quiet resting- places (Isa. xxxii. 17, 18). Jesus said to the seventy whom He sent forth, Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say Peace be to this house; and if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it (Luke x. 5, 6 ; Matt. x. * The Latin here reads Rex, King. The same is also found in many other places where this verse is quoted. In the " Arcana Cce- lestia" (n. 8331), we find Deus, God. And it is interesting to note that in Swedenborg's own copy of the " True Christian Religion " (with which this translation has been qpmpared), Detts stands as a marginal correction in what is believed to be his own handwriting. The spiritual meaning is the same with either reading. t The Latin here reads Opus yehovte, yekovah's work. We find the same in Apoc. Rev. n. 306 ; also in Apoc. Expl. n. 365. But in the "Arcana Coelestia," n. 3780, and H. & H., n. 287, we have Opus justitice, the work of justice, or the work of righteousness. This agrees with the Hebrew and with our common translation. The internal meaning seems to be the same with either reading ; for it is written, * Jehauah our Righteousness?' 440 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. 12-14). yehovah will speak peace to His people ; righteous- ness and PEACE shall kiss each ot/ier (Ps. Ixxxv. 8, 10). When the Lord Himself appeared to the disciples, He said, Peace be with you (John xx. 19, 21, 26). Moreover, the state of peace into which men are to come, from the Lord, is treated of in Isa. Ixv. and Ixvi., and elsewhere ; and they will come into it who are received into the New Church which the Lord is establishing at this day. What in its essence the peace is in which the angels are, and those who are in the Lord, may be seen in the work con- cerning "Heaven and Hell" (n. 284-290). From these things also it is manifest, why the Lord calls Himself the Lord of the Sabbath, that is, of rest and peace. 304. Heavenly peace, in relation to the hells, so that evils and falsities may not rise from them and make their invasion, may be compared in many respects with natural peace ; as with peace after war, when every one lives in security from enemies, safe in his own city, in his own home, or in his own fields and gardens. It is as the pro- phet said, speaking naturally concerning heavenly peace : They shall sit every man under his vine, and under his Jig- tree, and none shall make them afraid (Micah iv. 4 ; Isa. Ixv. 21-23). It may be compared also to recreation of mind and to rest after severe la.bor, and with the comfort that mothers experience after the birth of a child, when the parental love {storge) manifests its enjoyments. It may also be compared with serenity after tempests, black clouds and thunders ; and likewise with spring after a terrible winter has passed, and tjien with the gladness that comes from the new growths in the fields, and from the blossom- ing in the gardens, meadows, and forests. It maybe com- pared also with the state of mind with those who after storms and dangers on the sea, reach the port, and set their feet on the wished-for land. No. 3o6.] THE DECALOGUE. 44I The Fourth Commandment. Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may be well with thee upon the earth. 305. This commandment is so read, Ex. xx. 12, and Deut. V. 16. 'Qy honoring thy father and thy mother in the natural sense which is the sense of the letter, is meant to honor parents, to obey them, to be attentive to them, and to show gratitude to them for the benefits they confer ; which are, that they feed and clothe their children, and introduce them into the world that they may act in it as civil and moral beings and also into heaven by the precepts of religion ; thus they have a care for their temporal pros- perity, and also for their eternal happiness ; and they do all these things from the love in which they are from the Lord, in Whose stead they fulfil these offices. In a relative sense, is meant the honor that wards should pay their guardians, if the parents are dead. In a broader sense this commandment means to honor the king and magis- trates, since they provide for all in general the necessities which parents provide in particular. In the broadest sense this commandment means th^ men should love their coun- try, because it supports and protects them : it is there- fore called fatherland {patria) from father {pater). But to their country, king, and magistrates honor must be rendered by parents, and by them implanted in their children. 306. In the spiritual sense to honor father and mother means to reverence and love God and the church. In this sense by father is meant God, Who is the Father of all ; and by mother, the church. In the heavens infants and angels know no other father and no other mother, since there they have been born anew of the Lord by the church. The Lord therefore says, Call no man your father upon the VOL. II. 2 442. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. earth ; for One is your Father, Who is in the heavens (Matt, xxiii. g). These words were spoken for children and angels in heaven, but not for children and men on earth. The Lord teaches the same in the common prayer of Christian churches : Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallmved be Thy name. The church is meant by mother, va the spiritual sense, because as a mother on earth feeds her children with natural food, so the church feeds them with spiritual food ; and for this reason the church is called mother in the Word, throughout ; as in Hosea : Plead with your mother ; she is not My wife, neither am I her husband (ii. 2, 5) ; in Isaiah : Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? (1. i ; also Ez. xvi. 45 ; xix. 10.) And in the Evangelists : Jesus, stretching out His hand to the disciples, said. My mother and My brethren are those 7vho hear the Word of God and do //(Matt. xii. 48, 49 ; Mark iii. 33-35 ; Luke viii. 21 ; John xix. 25-27). 307. In the heavenly [celestial^ sense, by Father is meant our Lord Jesus Christ; and by Mother, the communion of saints, by which is meant His Church, spread over all the world. That the Lord is the Father, is evident from these passages : Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and His name is God, Mighty, Father of eternity, the Prince of Peace (Isa. ix. 6). ^hoti art our Father ; Abra- ham is ignorant of us, and Israel doth not acknowledge us : Thou art our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name (Ixiii. 16). Philip saith. Show us the Father. Jesus saith to him. He that seeth Me, seeth the Father ; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father ? Believe Me, that I ain in the Father, and the Father in Me (John xiv. 8-1 1 ; also xii. 45). That by mother, in this sense, is meant the Lord's church, is evident from these passages : / saw the holy city. New jferusalem, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (Apoc. xxi. 2). The angel said to John, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, THE Lamb's wife. And he showed the city, the holy jferusa- No. 308.] THE DECALOGUE. 443 lem (xxi. 9, 10). The marriage of the Lamb is come, and HIS WIFE hath made herself ready. Blessed are ihey who are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb (xix. 7, 9 ; see also Matt. ix. 15 ; Mark ii. 19, 20 ; Luke v. 34, 35 ; John iii. 29 ; xix. 26, 27). That the New jFerusalem means the New Church which the Lord is now establishing, may be seen in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 880, 881): this church, and not the former, is the wife and the mother in this sense. The spiritual offspring, which are born from this marriage, are the goods of charity and the truths of faith ; and they who are in these from the Lord, are called sons of the marriage, sons of God, and born of Him. 308. It is to be kept in mind, that there continually pro- ceeds from the Lord a Divine heavenly \celestial'\ sphere of love toward all who embrace the doctrine of His church, and who obey Him, as little children in the world obey father and mother, apply themselves to Him, and wish to be nourished, that is, instructed by Him. From this heav- enly sphere arises a natural sphere, which is one of love toward infants and children ; this is most universal, and affects not only men, but also birds and beasts, even to serpents ; nor animate things only, but also things inani- mate. But that the Lord might operate upon these, even as upon spiritual things. He created the sun, to be in the natural world as a father, the earth being as a mother. For the sun is as a common father, and the earth as a common mother, from whose marriage exists all the vegetation that adorns the surface of our planet. From the influx of that heavenly \celestial'\ sphere into the natural world, exist the wonderful progressions of vegetation, from seed to fruit, and to new seed. It is from this, also, that many kinds of plants turn as it were their faces to the sun during the day, and turn them away when the sun sets ; from this also it is that there are flowers which open at the rising of the sun, and close themselves at his setting ; and from this it is that the birds of song carol sweetly at early dawn, and in like 444 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap.V. manner after they have been fed by their mother earth. Thus do all these honor their father and mother. They all bear witness that, through the sun and the earth in the natural world, the Lord provides all things necessary for animate and inanimate things. Wherefore it is said in David, Praise ye yehovah from the heavens ; praise ye Him, sun and tnoon. Praise Him from the earth, ye whales and deeps ; praise Him, fruitful trees and all cedars ; wild beast, and all cattle, creeping things and Jlying fowl, kings of the earth, and all people, young men and maidens (Ps. cxlvii. 7-12); and in Job : Ask, I pray, the beasts and they shall teach thee; or the birds of heaven, and they shall tell thee ; or the shrub of the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these, that the hand of yehovah hath wrought this ? (xii. 7-9.) Ask and they will teach signifies, observe, study, and judge from these things, that the Lord Jehovih created them. The Fifth Commandment. THOU SHALT NOT KILL. 309. This commandment, Thou shall not kill, in the natu- ral sense means not to kill a man, not to inflict on him any wound of which he may die, and also not to muti- late his body; and it means, moreover, not to bring any deadly evil upon his name and fame, since with many fame and life go hand in hand. In a broader natural sense murder means enmity, hatred, and revenge, which breathe out destruction ; for murder lies concealed within them like fire in wood under ashes. Infernal fire is nothing else ; hence one is said to be inflamed with hatred, and to bum with revenge. These are murders in intention, but not in act ; and if the fear of the law, and of retaliation and re- venge, were taken away from them, they would burst forth into, act ; especially if there be treachery or ferocity in the No. 3II-] THE DECALOGUE. 445 intention. That hatred is murder, is evident from these words of the Lord : ^ have heard, that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill ; and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that who- soever is angry with his brother rashly, shall be in danger of \the judgment, and whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of^ hell fire (Matt. v. 21, 22). This is because all that is of the intention is also of the will, and thus in itself is of the deed. 310. In the spiritual sense murder means all modes ol killing and destroying the souls of men, which are various and manifold ; as turning them away from God, religion, and Divine worship, by throwing out scandals against them, and by persuading to such things as cause aversion and also abhorrence. Such things are done by all the devils and satans in hell, with whom they who violate and prostitute the holy things of the church, in this world, are conjoined. Those who destroy souls by falsities axe meant by the king of the abyss, who is called Abaddon or Apol^- lyon, that is, the destroyer, in Apoc. ix. 11; and in the prophetic Word they [whom they destroy] are meant by the slain, as in these passages : Jehovah God said, Feed the sheep of the slaughter, which their possessors have slain (Zech. xi. 4, 5, also verse 7). We are killed all the day long; we are counted as a flock for the slaughter (Ps. xliv. 22). yacob shall cause them that come to take root ; is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain of him ? (Isa. xxvii. 6, 7.) The thief cometh not but to steal and to kill the sheep ; J am come that they may have life, and abundance (John x. 10; besides other places, as Isa. xiv. 2 1 ; xxvi. 2 1 ; Jer. iv. 3 1 ; xii. 3 ; Apoc. ix. 4 ; xi. 7). And therefore the devil is called a murderer from the beginning (John viii. 44). 311. In the heavenly \celestial'\ sense, to kill means to be rashly angry with the Lord, to hate Him, and to wish to blot out His name. Of these it is said that they crucify Him; which also they would do, as did the Jews, if He 446 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. ■were to come into the world as He did before. This is meant by the Lamb standing as it had been slain (Apoc. v. 6 ; xiii, 8) ; and by the crucified (Apoc. xi. 8 ; Heb. vi. 6 ; Gal. iii. i). 312. The quality of man's internal, when not reformed by the Lord, was made manifest to me from the devils and satans in hell ; for they have it constantly in mind to kill the Lord ; and as they cannot do this, they are in the endeavor to kill those who are devoted to the Lord ; but as they cannot do this as men can in the world, they make every effort to destroy their souls, that is to destroy faith and charity in them. Hatred and revenge with them show themselves like lurid and glowing fires ; hatred like lurid fires, and revenge like glowing fires ; yet these are not fires, but ap- pearances. Their cruelties of heart are sometimes seen in the air above them like contests with the angels, and their slaughter and overthrow and destruction ; it is their anger and hatred against heaven from which such direful mock fights arise. Moreover, in the distance these same also appear like wild beasts of every kind, as tigers, leopards, wolves, foxes, dogs, crocodiles, and all kinds of serpents ; and when in representative forms they see gentle animals, they rush upon them in fantasy and endeavor to tear them in pieces. They came to my sight like dragons standing near women who had infants with them, which these were trying, as it were, to devour, according to the things related in Apocalypse xii. ; which are nothing but representations of hatred against the Lord and His New Church. That men in the world who wish to destroy the Lord's church are like them, is not apparent to their companions ; be- cause their bodies, by which they perform moral duties, absorb and conceal these things. But still to the angels, who look not at their bodies but at their spirits, they ap- pear in forms like those of the devils above described. Who could have known such things, had not the Lord opened the sight of some one, and enabled him to look No. 3I4-] THE DECALOGUE. 447 inwardly into the spiritual world ? Otherwise, would not these, together with other most important matters, have lain concealed from men for ever ? T/ie Sixth Com7nandment. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 313. In the natural sense, this commandment refers not only to committing adultery, but also to willing and doing obscene things, and therefore to thinking and speaking las- civious things. That merely to lust is to commit adultery, is evident from these words of the Lord : Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time ^ Thou shalt not commit adul- tery. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on another^ s woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. v. 27, 28). This is because the lust becomes as a deed when it is in the will ; for allurement enters merely into the understanding, but inten- tion enters into the will, and the intention of lust is a deed. But more may be seen concerning these things in the work " Concerning Conjugial Love, and concerning Scortatory Love," published at Amsterdam in the year 1768; which treats On the Opposition of Conjugial Love and Scor- tatory, n. 423-443 ; On Fornication, n. 444-460 ; On Adul- teries and their Kinds and Degrees, n. 478—499 ; On the Lust of Defloration, n. 501-505 ; On the Lust for Variety, n. 506-510 ; On the Lust of Violation, n. 511, 512 ; On the Lust of seducing Lnnocences, n. 513, 514 ; On the Lmputation of each Love, Scortatory and Conjugial, n. 523-531. These all are meant by this commandment in the natural sense, 314. In the spiritual sense, to commit adultery means to adulterate the goods of the Word and to falsify its truths. That to commit adultery means this also, has been hitherto unknown, because the spiritual sense of the Word has been hitherto concealed. That no other is signified in 448 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. the Word, by committing adultery and whoredom, is very manifest from these passages : Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek if ye may find a man (vir') that EXECUTETH JUDGMENT, that SEEKETH THE TRUTH. When I had fed them to the full, they then committed WHOREDOM (Jer. V. 1,7). / have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible stubbornness, in committing adul- tery AND WALKING IN LIES (xxiii. 14). They have done folly in Israel, they have committed whoredom, and HAVE spoken My Word falsely (xxix. 23). They com- mitted whoredom because they have left Jehovah (Hos. iv. 10). The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and jofter wizards^ to go a whoring after them, I will cut him off (Lev. xx- 6). A covenant shall not be made with the inhabitants of the land, lest they go a whorino after their gods (Ex. xxxiv. 15). Since Babylon adulter- ates and falsifies the Word more than others, she is there- fore called the great harlot, and these things are said of her in the Apocalypse: Babylon hath made all the nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication (xiv. 8). The angel said, / will sho7v thee the judgment of the great whare, with whom the kings of the earth have committed whoredom (xvii. i, 2). He hath judged the great whore, who hath corrupted the earth with her whoredom (xix. 2). Since the Jewish nation had falsified the Word, it was therefore called by the Lord an adulterous generation (Matt. xii. 39 ; xvi. 4 ; Mark viii. 38) ; and in Isaiah, the seed of the adulterer (Ivii. 3), There are many other passages where adulteries and whoredoms mean adultera- tions and falsifications of the Word (as Jer. iii. 6, 8 ; xiii. 27; Ez. xvi. 15, 16, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33 ; xxiii. 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, 17, 18, 19 ; Hos. V. 3 ; vi. 10; Nah. iii. 4). 315. In the heavenly [celestial] setise, to commit adul- tery means to deny the holiness of the Word, and to pro- fane it. That this is meant in this sense "follows from the former, the spiritual sense, which is to adulterate its No. 3i6.] THE DECALOGUE. 449 goods and to falsify its truths. They deny and profane the holiness of the Word, who in heart laugh at every thing pf the church and of religion ; for all things of the church and of religion in the Christian world are from the Word. 316. There are various causes which make a man seem chaste, not only to others but also to himself, while yet he is wholly unchaste ; for he does not know that lust, when it is in the will, is a deed, and that it cannot be removed except by the Lord after repentance. Abstinence from the doing does not make one chaste ; but abstinence from the willing because it is sin, and when the doing is pos- sible, does. Just so far as any one abstains from adulteries and fornication solely from fear of the civil law and its penalties ; for fear of the loss of reputation, and therefore of honor ; for fear of diseases from them ; for fear of up- braidings from his wife at home, and thence of intranquiility of life ; for fear of the vengeance of the husband and rela- tions, or of being beaten by their servants ; on account of avarice; on account of any infirmity, arising from disease, abuse, age, or any other cause of impotence ; yes, if he ab- stains from them on account of any natural or moral law, and not, at the same time, on account of spiritual law, — still he is inwardly an adulterer and a fornicator ; for he none the less believes that they are not sins, and therefore does not in his spirit make them unlawful in the sight of God ; and thus in spirit he commits them, though not be- fore the world in the body ; therefore, after death, when he becomes a spirit, he speaks openly in favor of them. Moreover, adulterers may be compared to covenant-break- ers, who violate compacts ; and also to the satyrs and priapi of the ancients, who roamed in the forests, crying out, "Where are there virgins, betrothed maidens, and wives, with whom we may sport ? " Moreover, adulterers in the spiritual world, actually appear like satyrs and priapi. They may also be compared to rank he-goats ; and also to dogs that run about the streets, and look about, and smell 450 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. after other dogs with which they may exercise their lascivi- ousness ; and so on. Their virility, when they become husbands, may be compared to the blossoming of tulips in the spring, which after a month lose their flowers and wither. The Seventh Commandment, THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. 317. In the natural sense, this commandment means according to its letter, not to steal, to rob, or to commit piracy, in time of peace ; and, in general, not to take from any one his goods secretly, or under any pretext. It also extends itself to all imposture, illegitimate gain, usury, and exaction ; and also to fraudulent practices in paying duties and taxes, and in discharging debts. Workmen offend against this commandment who do their work unfaithfully and dishonestly ; merchants who deceive in merchandise, in weight, in measure, and in accounts ; officers who de- prive the soldiers of their just wages ; judges who give judgment for friendship, bribes, relationship, or from other causes, by perverting the laws or judicial investigations, and who thus deprive others of their goods which they rightfully possess. 318. In the spiritual sense, to steal means to deprive others of the truths of their faith, which is done by falsities and heresies. Priests who minister only for the sake of gain or the attainment of worldly honor, and who teach such things as they see or may see from the Word to be not true, are spiritual thieves ; since they deprive the people of the means for their salvation which are the truths of faith. Such are also called thieves in the Word in the following passages : He that entereth not by the door into the sheep/old, but dimbeth up sotne other way, the same is a thief and a robber. The thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John x. i, 10). Lay not up treasures upon earth. No. 320.] THE DECALOGUE. 45 1 hut in heaven^ where thieves do not come and steal (Matt. vi. 19, 20). If thieves come to thee, if robbers by night, how art thou cut off! Will they not steal what is enough for them (Obad. verse 5) ? They shall run to and fro in the city, they shall run on the wall, they shall climb tip upon the houses, they shall enter in at the windows like a thief Qoe\ ii. 9). They com- mit falsehood, and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without (Hos. vii. i). 319. In the heavenly \celestial'\ sense, by thieves are meant those who take away Divine power from the Lord ; and also those who claim for themselves His merit and right- eousness. These, though they adore God, yet do not trust in Him, but in themselves ; and also they do not believe in God, but in themselves. 320. They who teach what is false and heretical, and per- suade the common people that it is true and orthodox, although they read the Word, and from it may know what is false and what is true, — also they who by fallacies con- firm the falsities of religion, and seduce men by them, may be compared to impostors and their impostures of every kind ; and because these are in themselves thefts in the spiritual sense, they may be compared with counterfeiters, who make false coins, gild them, or give them outwardly the color of gold, and pass them as genuine ; then again to those who know how to cut and polish crystals skilfully, and to harden them, and who sell them as diamonds ; also to those who carry apes or monkeys, clothed like men, and with their faces veiled, through cities, on horses or mules, and proclaim that they are noblemen of an ancient stock. They are also like those who cover the living and natural face with masks bedaubed with paints' of various colors, and so conceal its beauty. And they are like men who show selenite and mica that shine as from gold and silver, and cry up [the source of their supply] as lodes of great value. They may also be likened to those who by theatrical exhibitions lead men away from true Divine 452 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. worship, and from temples to playhouses. They who con- firm falsities of every kind, "regarding truths as of no moment, and who discharge the offices of the priesthood only for the sake of gain and to attain honor, and who thus are spiritual thieves, may be likened to those thieves who carry keys with which they can open the door of any house ; also to leopards and eagles that with sharp eyes search for the richest prey. The Eighth Commandment. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, 321. By hearing false witness against the neighbor, or tes- tifying falsely, in the natural sense, the meaning nearest the letter is, to act as a false witness before a judge, or before others not in a court of justice, against any one who without cause is accused of any evil, and to assev- erate this by the name of God or by any thing holy, or by oneself and such things as make up one's reputation. In a wider natural sense, this commandment forbids lies of every kind and hypocrisy in civil life, which have an evil end in view ; and also to traduce and defame the neigh- bor, so that his honor, name and fame, on which the character of the whole man depends, are injured. In the widest natural sense it includes plots, crafty contrivances, and evils of design, against any one, from various sources, as from enmity, hatred, revenge, envy, rivalry, &c. ; for these evils conceal within them the testifying to what is false. 322. In the spiritual sense, to bear false witness means to persuade that falsity of faith is truth of faith, and that evil of life is good of life, and the reverse, — but to do these things from design and not from ignorance, thus to do them after one knows what is true and good, but not No. 324] THE DECALOGUE. 453 before ; for the Lord says, If ye were blind, ye would not have sin ; but now ye say, We see ; therefore yotir sin re- maineth (John ix. 41). This falsity is meant in the Word by a lie, and the design by deceit, in these passages : We have made a covenant with death, and with hell have we made an agreement, we have made a lie our trust, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves (Isa. xxviii. 15), They are a rebellious people, lying sons, they will not hear the law of jfehovah (xxx. 9). From the prophet even to the priest, every one doeth a lie (Jer. viii. 10). The inhabitants speak a lie, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth (Micah vi. 1 2). Thou wilt destroy them that speak a lie ; Jehovah abhorreth a man of deceit (Ps. v. 6). They have taught their tongue to speak a lie; thine* habitation is in the midst of deceit {^^x. ix. 5, 6). Because a lie means falsity, the Lord says that the devil speaketh a lie from his own (John viii. 44). A lie signifies falsity and false speaking in these passages also : Jer. xxiii. X4, 32 ; Ez. xiii. 6-9, 19 ; xxi. 29 ; Hos. vii. i ; xii. i ; Nahum iii. i ; Ps. cxx. 2, 3. 323. In the heavenly \celestiaT\ sense, to bear false wit- ness means to blaspheme the Lord and the Word, and so to banish the Truth itself from the church ; for the Lord is Truth itself, and also the Word. On the other hand, in this sense to bear witness means to speak the truth, and testimony means the truth itself. Hence the decalogue is called the testimony (Ex. xxv. 16, 21, 22 ; xxxi. 7, 18; xxxii. 15; xl. 20; Lev. xvi. 133 Num. xvii. 4, 7, 10). And be- cause the Lord is the Truth itself, He says concerning Himself, that He testifies : that the Lord is Truth itself, John xiv. 6 ; Apoc. iii.. 7 ; and that He testifies and is wit- ness of Himself, John iii. ix; viii. 13-19; xv. 26; xviii, 37- 324. Those who speak falsities from deceit or design, and utter them in a tone imitative of spiritual affection, * The Latin here reads illorum, their. In Apoc. Rev. n. 624, we dnd tuum, thine, which agrees with the Hebrew 454 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. and especially if they mingle with them truths from the Word which they thus falsify, were called by the ancients enchanters (concerning whom, see " Apocalypse Revealed," n. 462) ; and also pythons and serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These falsifiers, liars, and deceivers, may be likened to those who talk in a bland and friendly way with those to whom they bear enmity, and while speaking hold behind them a dagger with which they kill them. And they may be likened to those who poison their swords, and so attack their enemies in battle ; and to those who mingle wolf's-bane with water, and poison with wine and sweetmeats. They may also be compared to hand- some and seductive harlots, infected with venereal disease ; and to stinging shrubs, which, when brought near to the nos- trils, hurt the olfactory fibrils ; also to sv/eetened poisons ; and also to ordure, which, when dried in autumn, emits a fragrant odor. Such are described in the Word by leopards (see "Apocalypse Revealed," n. 572). The Ninth and Tenth Commandments. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man- servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. 325. In the Catechism now in use, thesd words are sepa- rated into two commandments ; one making the ninth, which is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor'' s house ; and the other making the tenth, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's. As these two commandments make one thing, and in Ex. xx. 17, and Deut. V. 21, one verse, I have undertaken to treat of both together; not that I wish them to be joined together into one com- mandment, but distinguished into two, as before ; inasmuch No. 326.] THE DECALOGUE, 455 as the commandments are called [in Hebrew] the ten words (Ex. xxxiv. 28 ; Deut. iv. 13 ; x, 4). 326. These two commandments have respect to all the preceding ones, and they teach and enjoin that evils must not be done, and also that they must not be lusted after ; consequently that they are not of the external man only, but also of the internal ; for he who does not commit evils, and yet lusts to do them, still does them. For the Lord says, that if any one lusteth after the 7vife of another, he hath already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt. v. 28) ; and the external man does not become internal, or does not act as one with the internal, until lusts have been put away. This also the Lord teaches, saying, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for ye make clean the outside of the cup a7id of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also (Matt. xxiii. 25, 26). And He teaches the same throughout the chapter. The internals which are pharisaical are lusts after those things which men are commanded not to do, in the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth com- mandments. It is known that the Lord in the world taught the internals of the church ; and not to lust after evils makes the internals of the church ; and He taught thus in order that the internal and the external man may make one. This is being born again, of which the Lord spake to Nicodemus Qohn iii.) ; and no one can be born again, or be regenerated, consequently he cannot become internal, except from the Lord. That these two commandments may have respect to all which precede, so that [what they pro- hibit] shall not be lusted after, therefore the house is first named, afterwards the wife, and then the man-servant, the maid-servant, the ox, and the ass ; and lastly, all that is the neighbor'' s ; for the home involves all things that follow; for in it are the husband, the wife, the man-servant, the maid-servant, the ox, and the ass. The wife, who is after- 456 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. wards named, involves again the things which follow; for she is mistress as the husband is master in the house ; the servant and maid are under them, and the oxen and asses under these ; and last come all things which are below or without, as it is said, aujy thing that is thy neigh- bor'' s. From which it is manifest, that these two command- ments, in general and in particular, in a broad and in a restricted sense, have respect to all the preceding, 327. In the spiritual sense these commandments pro- hibit all lusts which are contrary to the spirit of the church, thus which are contrary to its spiritual things which have relation primarily to faith and charity ; for unless the lusts were subdued, the flesh according to its freedom would rush into all wickedness. For it is known from Paul that the flesh lusteth against the spirit, a7id the spirit against the flesh (Gal. v. 17) ; and from James that every one is tempted 0/ his own lust when he is enticed ; then lust, after it hath con- ceived, brifigeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James i. 14, 15); and also from Peter that the Lord reserveth the unrighteous unto the day of judgment, to be punished ; but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in lust (2 Epis. ii. 9, 10). In short, these two commandments, understood in the spiritual sense, regard all things that have before been presented in the spiritual sense, and forbid to lust after them ; and likewise all that have before been pre- sented in the heavenly [celestiall sense. But to repeat them is unnecessary. 328. The lusts of the flesh, the eye, and the other senses, separate from the lusts, that is, the affections, desires, and enjoyments of the spirit, are wholly like the lusts of beasts ; wherefore they are in themselves ferine. But the affections of the spirit are such as the angels have, and they are there- fore to be called truly human. As far therefore as any one indulges the lusts of the flesh, he is a beast and a wild beast j but as far as he offers sacrifice to the desires of the spirit, so far he is a man and an angel. The lusts of the ^.a No. 329-] THE DECALOGUE. 457 flesh may be compared to scorched and withered grapes, and to wild grapes ; but the affections of the spirit, to juicy and delicious grapes, and also to the taste of the wine that is pressed out of them. The lusts of the flesh may be com- pared to stables where there are asses, goats, and swine ; and the affections of the spirit to stables where there are noble horses, also sheep and lambs : they differ also as an ass and a horse, a goat and a sheep, and a hog and a lamb ; in general, as dross and gold, as lime-stone and silver, and as coral and the ruby, &c. Lust and deed cohere like blood and fle$h, or like flame and oil ; for the lust is in the deed, as the air from the lungs in the breathing and in the speech while they are produced, and as the wind is in the sail while the vessel is in motion, and as water is on the wheel that gives motion and action to machinery. The Ten Commandments of the Decalogue contain all things which are of love to god, and all things which are of love toward the neighbor. 329. In eight precepts of the decalogue, in the first, sec- ond, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, there is nothing said of love to God and of love towards the neigh- bor ; for it is not said that God should be loved, nor that the name of God should be hallowed, nor that the neighbor should be loved, nor therefore that he should be dealt with sincerely and uprightly ; but only, Thou shalt have no other God before My face ; Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain ; Thou shalt not kill ; Thou shalt not commit adultery ; Thou shalt not steal ; Thou shalt not bear false witness ; Thou shalt not covet the things which are thy neighbor's : that is, in general, that evil is not to be willed, thought, or done against God, or against the neighbor. But the reason why such things as belong directly to love and charity are not commanded, but it is only commanded that such things as are opposite to them should not be done, is, 453 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. that as far as man shuns evils as sins, he wills the goods which are of love and charity. That in love to God and in love toward the neighbor the first thing is not to do evil, and the second is to do good, will be seen in the chapter on Charity. There are two opposite loves, the love of willing and doing good, and the love of willing and doing evil ; the latter love is infernal, and the former heavenly ; for all hell is in the love of doing evil, and all heaven in the love of doing good. Now, as man was born into evils of every kind, he therefore inclines from birth to the things which are of hell ; and as he cannot come into heaven unless he is born again, that is, regenerated, it is necessary that the evils which are of hell should first be removed, before he can will the goods which are of heaven ; for no one can be adopted by the Lord before he is separated from the devil. But how evils are removed, and man brought to do goods, will be shown in the two chapters concerning Repentance, and concerning Reformation and Regeneration. That evils must be put away before the goods which a man does become good in the sight of God, the Lord teaches in Isaiah : JVasA you, make you clean ; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; learn to do good : then, though your sins have been as scarlet^ they shall be white as snow ; though they have beefi red as purple, they shall be as wool {\. 16-18). Like this is what is said in Jeremiah: Stand in the gate of the house of yehovah, and proclaim there this word: Thus said jfehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings ; trust ye not in lying words, saying. The temple of yehovah, the temple of yehovah, the temple of yehovah is here (that is, the churcH). Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say, We are delivered, while ye do all these abominations 1 Is this house become a den of robbers 1 Behold, even I have seen it, saith yehovah (vii. 2-4, 9-1 1). That before washing or purifica- No. 330] THE DECALOGUE. 459 tion from evils, prayers to God are not heard, is also taught in Isaiah : Jehovah saiih, Ah sittful nation, a people laden with iniquity ; they have gone away backward. And when ye spread forth your hands, I hide Mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye make many prayers, I do not hear (i, 2, 4, 15). That love and charity follow when any one keeps the command- ments of the decalogue by shunning evils, is evident from these words of the Lord in John : Jesus said, He that hath My commandments, and keepeth thetn, he it is that loveth Me ; and he that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him ; and We will make an abode with him (xiv. 21, 23). By commandments are there meant particularly the commandments of the decalogue, which are, that evils must not be done or lusted after ; and that so the love of man to God and the love of God toward man follow, as good follows after evil has been removed. 330. It has been said that as far as man shuns evils, so far he wills goods ; this is because evils and goods are opposites, for evils are from hell, and goods from heaven. In proportion, therefore, as hell, that is evil, is removed, heaven draws near, and man looks to good. That it is so, is very manifest from the eight commandments of the decalogue, so viewed ; thus : I. As far as any one does not worship other gods, he worships the true God. II. As far as any one does not take the name of God in vain, he loves the things which are from God. III. As far as any one is not willing to kill and to act from hatred and revenge, he wishes well to the neighbor. IV. As far as any one is not willing to commit adultery, he is willing to live chastely with the wife. V. As far as any one is not willing to steal, he practises sincerity. VI. As far as any one is not willing to testify falsely, he wishes to think and speak what is true. VII, and VIII. As far as any one does not covet the things which are the neighbor's, he wishes the neighbor to enjoy his own. Hence it is evident, that the command- ments of the decalogue contain all things which are of love 460 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. to God, and of love towards the neighbor. Therefore Paul says, He that loveth aftother, hath fulfilled the law ; for this, Thou shall not conunit adultery, Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not steal. Thou shall tiot bear false witness. Thou shall not covet, and if there be any other commandnunt, it is compre- hended i?i this saying. Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself Love worketh no evil to the ?ieighbor ; therefore love is the ful- filling of the law (Rom. xiii. 8-10). To these are to be added two canons for the service of the New Church: I. No one can shun evils as sins, and do goods which are good in the sight of God, from himself ; but as far as any one shuns evils as sins, he does good not from himself but from the Lord. II. Man ought to shun evils as sins, and to fight against them, as from himself ; and if any one shuns evils from any other cause whatever than because they are sins, he does not shun them, but he does this only that they may not appear before the world. 331. That evil and good cannot be together, and that as far as evil is removed, good is regarded and felt, is because in the spiritual world there exhales from every one the sphere of his love, which spreads itself round about, and affects, and causes sympathies and antipathies. By these spheres the good are separated from the evil. That evil is to be removed, before good is recognized, perceived, and loved, may be compared to many things in the natural world ; for example : No one can go to another who keeps a leopard and a panther in his chamber (living safe with them himself because he feeds them), unless he has first removed those wild beasts. Who that has been invited to the table of a king and queen has not first washed his face and hands before coming near ? And who after the wed- ding enters the marriage-chamber with his bride without having bathed and clothed himself with wedding garment "i Who does not purify the ores by fire, and separate them from dross, before he obtains the pure gold and silver.? Who does not separate the tares from the wheat, before he No. 332.] THE DECALOGUE. 46 1 takes it into the barn ? and thresh the bearded chaff from his barley, before he gathers it into the house ? Who does not prepare his meat by cooking, before it becomes eatable and is set upon the table ? Who does not shake off the worms from the leaves of the trees in the garden, that the leaves may not be devoured and the fruit thus destroyed ? Who does not dislike dirt in houses and in halls of entrance, and remove it from them, especially when a prince is ex- pected, or a bride, the daughter of a prince ? Who loves a virgin, and intends marriage with her, who is full of disease, or covered with pimples and blotches, however she may paint her face, dress splendidly, and study to bring in the enticements of love by the charms of her conversation ? Man ought to purify himself from evils, and not wait for the Lord to do this immediately; otherwise, he may be compared to a servant, with face and clothes befouled with soot and dung, who comes up to his master and says, "Wash me, my lord." Would not the master say to him, "You foolish servant, what are you saying? See, there are water, soap, and a towel. Have you not hands and power to use them? Wash yourself.'' And the Lord God will say, The means of purification are from Me, and your ability to will and to do are from Me ; wherefore use these My gifts and endowments as your own, and you will be purified ; and so on. That the external man is to be purged, but by means of the internal, the Lord teaches in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, from beginning to end. 332. To the above shall be added Four Relations. First : I once heard voices which seemed to gurgle up from the lower regions through waters ; one toward the left, O HOW JUST ! another at the right, O how learned ! and a third from behind, O how wise ! And as it came into my thought, whether there are in hell, too, the just, the learned, and the wise, I felt a desire to see whether there are such there. And it was said to me from heaven, You shall see 462 THE TRUE CHRIST-IAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. and hear. And I went out of the house in spirit, and saw before me an opening. I approached it and looked down, and behold there was a ladder, by which I descended. And when I was below, I saw plains covered with shrub- bery intermixed with thorns and nettles. And I asked whether this was hell ; they said, " It is the lower earth, which is next above hell." And then I proceeded, follow- ing the order of the shouts, first toward the cry, O how JUST ! and I saw a company of those who in the world had been judges influenced by friendship and bribes ; then toward the second shout, O how learned 1 and I saw a company of those who in the world had been reasoners ; and toward the third shout, O how wise ! and I saw a company of those who in the world had been confirmers. But from these I turned back to the first, where were the judges influenced by friendship and bribes, and who were proclaimed just. And I saw at the side as it were an amphi- theatre, built of brick and roofed with black tiles ; and it was said to me, that there was their tribunal. There were three entrances to it on the north side, and three on the west, but none on the south and east ; an indication that their judgments were not judgments of justice, but arbi- trary decisions. In the midst of the amphitheatre was seen a fire-place, into which servants who took care of the fire threw pitch-pine dipped in sulphur and bitumen ; the light from which, flickering upon the plastered walls, presented images of birds of evening and night. But the fire-place, and the flickering of the light from it into the forms of those images, were representations of their judg- ments, that they could color the facts in any case, and give them an appearance according to the side they favored. After half an hour, I saw old men and youths entering, in robes and cloaks, who, laying aside their caps, seated' themselves at the tables to sit in judgment. And I heard and perceived how skilfully and ingeniously, out of regard for friendship, they bent and turned their judgments into No. 332-] 1'HE DECALOGUE. 463 seeming justice, and this to such an extent that they them- selves did not see but that what was unjust was just, and, on the other hand, that what was just was unjust. Such persuasions concerning these things appeared in their faces, and were heard in the sound of their voices. Tliere was then given me enlightenment from heaven, whereby I had a perception of each thing whether it was of right or not of right ; and I saw how industriously they covered over what was unjust, and induced upon it the appearance of what was just ; and from the laws they selected one which fa- vored them, to which they bent the thing in question, and by skilful reasonings they put all others aside. After the decision, the sentences were carried out to their clients, friends, and partisans ; and these, to return the favor, for a long way cried out, O how just ! O how just ! After this I conversed with angels of heaven concerning them, and told them some of the things that I had seen and heard. And the angels said ; " Such judges appear to others to be gifted with the keenest vision in understand- ing, when yet they see nothing whatever of what is just and equitable. If you take away their friendship for any one, they sit in judgment like statues, and only say, ' I assent; I concur with' — this one or that. This is because all their judgments are prejudices, and prejudice with par- tiality follows the case from beginning to end ; conse- quently they see nothing but what is for their friend ; towards all that is against him they turn their eyes side- ways, and look out of their corners ; and if they take it up again, they involve it in reasonings, as a spider does its cap- tives in its threads, and they consume it. Hence if they do not follow the web of their prejudice, they see nothing of right. They have been explored to ascertain whether they were able to see, and they were found to be unable. The inhabitants of your world will wonder that it is so ; but tell them, that this is a truth which has been explored by the angels of heaven. Since they see nothing of what 464 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. is just, we in heaven do not consider them as men, but as monstrous images of man, in which things which jjertain to friendship make the heads, things which are of injustice the breasts, things which are of confirmation the hands and feet, and things which are of justice the soles of the feet ; and these things, if they do not favor their friend, they put beneath the feet and trample upon them. But you shall see what they are, viewed in themselves, for their end is near." And, behold, the ground then suddenly opened, and the tables fell one upon another, and together with the whole amphitheatre the men were swallowed up, cast into caverns, and imprisoned. And then it was said to me : " Do you wish to see them there ? " And, behold, they were seen, in face as of polished steel, in body from the neck to the loins like sculptured images clothed with the skins of the leopard, their feet like serpents. And I saw the law-books which they had, lying on the tables, now turned into playing cards ; and instead of sitting as judges, the employment was now given them to prepare cinnabar into paints for besmearing the faces of harlots, and thus turning them into beauties. After these things were seen, I wished to go to the two other companies, to the one where were merely reasoners, and to the other where were merely confirmers. But it was said to me, " Rest a little while ; angels from the society next above them shall be given you as companions ; by these, light will be given you from the Lord, and you will see wonderful things." 2;^^. Second Relation. After some time, I heard again from the lower earth the words I had heard before, O HOW LEARNED ! O HOW LEARNED ! And I looked around to see who were present ; and behold there were angels who lived in the heaven immediately above those who were cry- ing, O HOW learned! i^nd I spoke with them about the shouting, and they said : " Those learned ones are some who only reason as to whether a thing is or is not, and who rarely think thai it is so: wherefore they are as winds No. 333.] THE DECALOGUE. 465 which blow and pass by ; and like bark around trees that have no heart ; and like shells covering almonds with no kernel ; and like the rind around fruit without the pulp ; for their minds are without interior judgment, and only united with the senses of the body ; wherefore, if the senses themselves do not judge, they are able to conclude noth- ing ; in a word, they are merely sensual, and by us they are called Reasoners. They are called reasoners because they never conclude any thing, but take up whatever they hear, and dispute whether it is so, by continually contradicting. They love nothing more than to attack truths, and thus to tear them to pieces by bringing them into dispute. These are they who believe themselves learned above all in the world." On hearing these words, I requested the angels to conduct me to them, and they conducted me to a cave, from which steps led to the lower earth ; and we descended and followed the cry, O how learned ! and, behold, there were some hundreds standing in one place, treading the ground. Wondering at this, I asked, " Why do they stand so, and tread the ground with the soles of their feet ! " and added, " They may thus make a hole in the ground with their feet." At this the angels smiled, and said: "There is the appearance that they stand so, because on any subject their thought is never, 'This is so,' but, * Is it so ? ' and they dispute ; and while the thought does not advance further, they appear only to stamp and wear one spot, and not to advance." The angels also said : "They who flock from the natural world into this, and hear that they are in another world, gather themselves into companies in many places, and ask, ' Where is heaven, and where is hell ? ' as also, ' Where is God ? ' and after they have been instructed, they still begin to reason, to dispute, and to wrangle, as to Whether there be a God. They do this, because there are at this day so many nat- uralists in the natural world, and these among themselves and with others, when the conversation is about religion, VOL. 11. 3 466 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. submit this to discussion ; and this proposition and the debate are seldom terminated in the affirmative of faith, that there is a God ; and afterwards they consociate them- selves more and more with the wicked ; and this is done because no one can do any good from the love of good, except from God." I was afterward conducted to the assembly; and, behold, they appeared to me men of not unhandsome face, and in ornamented dress ; and the an- gels said : " They appear so in their own light ; but if light out of heaven flows in, the faces are changed, and also the garments." And the light of heaven flowed in ; and then they appeared with dusky faces, clothed in black sack- clotli ; but this light being withdrawn, they seemed as before. Then I spoke with some of the assembly, and said : " I heard the shout of the throng about you, ' O how LEARNED ! ' We may therefore be permitted to converse with you on things which are of the highest learning." And they replied : " Say whatever you please, and we will satisfy you." And I asked : " Of what quality must the religion be by means of which man is saved .-• " And they said : " We will divide this question into several ; and, until we have formed conclusions concerning these, we cannot give an answer. And the discussion shall be : I. Whether religion is any thing. 2. Whether there is salvation or not. 3. Whether one religion effects more than another. 4. Whether there are a heaven and a hell. 5. Whether there is an eternal life after death. And there are other poirrts besides." And I made inquiry concerning the first point. Is religmi any thing I And they began to discuss this with arguments in abundance; and I begged that they would refer it to the assembly ; they did so, and the general response was, that the proposition needed so much investigation that it could not be finished in an evening. And I asked : " Can you finish it within a year ? " And one said : " It cannot be finished in a hun- dred years." And I said : " Meanwhile you are without No. 333-1 THE DECALOGUE. 467 religion ; and because salvation depends on that, you are without the idea of salvation, without faith in it, and with- out hope of it." And he replied : " Must it not first be demonstrated, whether there is religion, and what it is, and whether it is any thing } If it is, it must also be for the wise ; if not, it must be only for the common people. It is known, that religion is called a bond ; but for whom is it a bond ? If for the common people only, it is not in itself any thing; if also for the wise, it is something." Hearing this, I said : " You are any thing but learned, because you can think only whether it is, and you keep turning this one way, and the other. Can any one be learned, unless he knows something with certainty, and advances in that as a man walks, step by step, and succes- sively into wisdom ? Otherwise, you do not touch truths, even with the tip of the finger ; but you remove them more and more out of sight. Wherefore, to reason only whether a thing is, is to reason about [the fit of ] a cap which is never put on, or of a shoe which is not tried on. What comes of this, but that you know not whether there is any given thing, or whether it is any thing but an idea ? thus whether there is any salvation, whether there is an eternal life after death, whether one religion is better than another, whether there are a heaven and a hell. On these subjects you cannot think at all as long as you stick at the first step and tread the sand there, and do not set one foot before the other, and go forward. Take heed to your- selves, lest your minds, while they thus stand outside, where no judgment can be given [exfra judicium\ grow hard within, and become pillars of salt." Having said this I withdrew, and they in their indignation threw stones after me. They then appeared to me like graven images, in which there is no human reason. I asked the angels concerning their lot ; and they said that the lowest of them are let down into the deep, and into a desert there, and are compelled to carry packs ; and then, as they are 468 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. unable to bring forward any thing from reason, they prate and speak vain words ; and there, in the distance, they appear like asses carrying burdens. 334. Third Relation. After this one of the angels said : " Follow me to the place where they are shouting, ' O HOW WISE ! ' " And he said, " You will see ill-tokens of men : you will see faces and bodies which are of man, and yet they are not men." And I said : " Are they beasts, then ? " He replied : " They are not beasts, but beast-men ; for they are those who are wholly unable to see whether truth is truth or not ; and yet they can make whatever they wish seem true ; with us such are called Confinners.^'' And we followed the shouting, and came to the place ; and, behold, an assembly of men, and around them a throng, and in this some of noble lineage, who when they heard them proving every thing that they themselves were saying, and favoring them with concurrence so manifest, turned round and said, " O HOW WISE I " But the angel said to me : *' Let us not go to them, but let us call out one from the assembly ; " and we called one out, and withdrew with him, and talked of various things, and he confirmed them one by one, even so that they appeared altogether as true. And we asked him whether he could also confirm the opposites ; he said that he could as well as the former. Then he said, openly and from the heart, " What is truth ? Is there any truth in the nature of things, but what man makes true? Say what you please, and I will make it true." And I said : " Make this true, that faith is the all of the church." And he did it so dexterously and skilfully that learned persons who stood around admired and applauded him. Afterwards I requested that he would make it true that charity is the all of the church \ and he did so ; and then that charity is nothing of the church. And he so clothed and decorated both propositions with appearances, that the by-standers looked at each other, and said : " Is he not wise .'' " I then said : " Do you not know that to live well is charity, m No. 334-] THE DECALOGUE. 469 and that to believe well is faith ? Does not he who lives well, also believe well ? And so do you not know that faith is of charity, and charity of faith ? Do you not see that this is true ? " He rephed : " I will make it true, and shall see." And he did so, and said, " I see it now." But presently he made the contrary true, and then he said, "I see that this is trtie also." At this we smiled, and said, " Are they not contraries ? How can two contraries be seen to be true ? " Being indignant at this, he replied : " You are wrong ; they both are true, since nothing is true but what man makes true." There was one standing near, who in the world had been a legate of the highest grade. He wondered at this, and said : " I acknowledge that there is something like this in the world ; but still you are insane. Make it true if you can, that darkness is light, and light darkness." And he replied, "I shall easily do this. What are light and darkness, but states of the eye ? Is not light changed into shade when the eye comes from a sunny place, as also when a man fixes his eye intently on the sun ? Who does not know that the state of the eye is then changed, and that therefore light appears as shade ? and, on the other hand, that when the state of the eye returns, that shade appears like light ? Does not an owl see the darkness of night as the light of day, and the light of day as the dark- ness of night, also the sun itself altogether as an opaque and dusky globe ? If any one had eyes like an owl's, what would he call light, and what darkness ? What then is light but a state of the eye ? And if it is only a state of the eye, is not light darkness, and darkness light ? Where- fore both propositions are true." But, because this con- firmation confounded some, I said, " I perceive that that confirmer does not know, that there is given true light and fatuous light ; and that both those lights appear as if they were lights, but still fatuous light in itself is not light ; but, in respect to true light, it is darkness. An owl is in fatuous 470 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. light, for there is within its eyes the cupidity for pursuing and devouring birds ; and this light makes its eyes see in time of night, just as cats do, whose eyes in cellars appear like lighted candles ; it is the fatuous light within their eyes, arising from the cupidity for chasing and devouring mice, which produces that appearance. It is thus manifest, that the light of the sun is true light, and the light of desire is fatuous light." After this, the legate requested the con- firmer to make this as if true: that a raven is white and not black. And he replied, " This, also, I shall easily do." And he said, " Take a needle or a razor, and open the quills and feathers of a raven ; then remove the quills and feath- ers, and look at the raven's skin ; is it not white .'' What is the black which is around but shade .'' from which we should not judge concerning the color of the raven. That black is only a shade, consult those who are skilled in the science of optics, and they will tell ; or grind a black stone or glass into fine powder, and you will see that the powder is white." But the legate replied, " Does not the raven appear black to the sight ? " But the confirmer answered, " Are you, who are a man, willing to think any thing from appearance? You may indeed say from the appearance that a raven is black, but you cannot tliink so ; for example, speaking from the appearance, you may say, that the sun rises and sets ; but because you are a man you cannot think so, as the sun stands unmoved and the earth goes forward. It is similar with the raven. Appearance is ap- pearance. Say what you will, the whole raven is white ; it also grows white when it grows old; this I have seen." After this, the by-standers looked at me ; whereupon I said, that it is true that the quills and feathers of a raven inwardly partake of whiteness, and its skin likewise ; but this is the case not only with ravens, but also with all the birds in the universe ; but every man distinguishes birds by the appearance of their color ; if this were not done, we might say of every bird that it is white, which is absurd and m: No. 334-1 THE DECALOGUE. 4/1 ridiculous. The legate then asked, " Can you make it true that you are insane ? " And he said, " I can, but I do not wish to do so ; who is not insane ? " Finally they requested him to say from the heart whether he jested, or really be- lieved that there is nothing true but what man makes true. And he said, "I swear that I believe it." After this, that universal confirmer was sent to the angels, who explored him as to his quality ; and after the exploration they said that he did not possess a grain of understanding, because all that which is above the rational was closed with him; and only what is below the rational was open ; above the rational is spiritual light, and below the rational is natural light, and this light with man is such that he can confirm whatever he pleases ; but if spiritual light does not flow into natural ^ light, man does not see whether any truth is truth, and hence he does not see that any falsity is a falsity ; these both are to be seen from spiritual light in natural light, and spiritual light is from the God of heaven, Who is the Lord ; where- fore that universal confirmer is neither man nor beast, but a beast-rrran. I asked the angels concerning the lot of such, whether they can be together with the living, because the life of man is from spiritual light, and from this is his under- standing. And they said, that such, when they are alone, are not able to think any thing, and thence to speak ; but that they stand dumb like automatons, and, as it were, in a deep sleep ; but that they awake as soon as they catch any thing with the ear. They added, " They become such who are inrnostly evil ; into these spiritual light cannot flow in from above, but only something spiritual through the world, whence they have the faculty of confirming." These things being said, I heard a voice from the angels who ex- plored him, saying, " Form a universal conclusion from what has been heard." And I made this : Ability to con- firm whatever one pleases does not belong to the man of under- standing ; but the ability to see that a truth is truth, and that a falsity is falsity, and to confirm this. After this I looked 472 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V at the assembly where the confirmers were standing, and the crowd around them were crying, " O how wise ! " And lo ! a dark cloud covered them, and in the cloud owls and bats were flying. And it was said to me, " The owls and bats, flying in that cloud, are correspondences and thence appearances of their thoughts ; since confirma- tions of falsities, even till they appear like truths, are repre- sented in this world under the forms of birds of night, whose eyes are illuminated within by a fatuous light, from which they see objects in darkness, as in the light : such fatuous spiritual light have those who confirm falsities until they appear as truths, and afterwards are believed to be truths. All those are in posterior vision, and not in any prior sight. 335. Fourth Relation. Once when I awakened from sleep in the twilight of the morning, I saw before my eyes, as it were, spectres in various shapes; and afterwards, when it was morning, I saw fatuous lights in divers forms ; some like sheets of paper full of writing, which, being folded together again and again, at length appeared like falling stars, which in their descent vanished in the air ; and some like open books, some of which shone like little moons, and some burned like candles ; among these were books which raised themselves on high and were 'lost in the height, and others which fell down to the earth and there crumbled into dust. From these appearances I conject- ured that below those meteors stood some who were dis- puting about imaginary things, which they esteemed of great moment ; for in the spiritual world such phenomena appear in the atmospheres, from the reasonings of those standing below. And presently the sight of my spirit was opened to me, and I observed a number of spirits, whose heads were encircled with leaves of laurel, and who were clothed in gowns adorned with flowers, which signified that they were spirits who in the natural world had been re- nowned from their reputation for erudition. As I was in No. 335.] THE DECALOGUE. 473 the spirit 1 came to them and mingled with the assembly. I then heard that they were disputing sharply and warmly among themselves concerning connate ideas, whether there were any in men from birth, as in beasts. They who held the negative turned themselves away from-those who held the affirmative, and at length they stood sepa- rated from each other, like the ranks of two armies ready to fight with swords. But as they had no swords, they fought with pointed words. But suddenly, a certain an- gelic spirit stood in their midst, and speaking with a loud voice he said : "At a short distance from you, I heard that you were engaged in hot dispute on both sides, about con- nate ideas, whether there are any in men, as in beasts ; but I tell you, THAT MEN HAVE NO CONNATE IDEAS, AND THAT BEASTS HAVE NO IDEAS ; whcrcforc, you are quarrelling about nothing, or, as the saying is, about goat's wool, or about new-born Time's beard \barba hiijiis s(Bculi\" On hearing these words, they were all very angry, and cried : " Put him out ; he talks contrary to common sense." But when they tried to put him out, they saw him encircled with heavenly light, which they could not break through ; for he was an angelic spirit. They, therefore, drew back, and moved a little way from him. And after that light was indrawn, he said to them : " Why are you angry ? First listen, and bring together the reasons which I shall offer, and make a conclusion from them yourselves ; and I foresee that they who excel in judgment will concur, and will calm the tempests which have arisen in your minds." To this they said, yet with an indignant tone : " Speak, then, and we will hear." And then, beginning to speak, he said : " You believe that beasts have connate ideas, and you have inferred it from this, that their actions appear as if from thought; and yet they have no thought at all, and ideas are predicable only of that ; and it is the charac- teristic of thought that they who think do thus and so for the sake of this or that. Consider therefore whether the 3* 474 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. V. spider, which weaves its web most curiously, thinks in its little head, ' I will stretch out the threads in this order, and will bind them together with tlireads that run crosswise, so that my work may not be torn asunder by the jude vibration of the air ; and at the beginnings of the threads, which shall make the middle, I will prepare a seat for myself, where I shall feel whatever falls in, and run at once to the spot; so that if a fly gets in, it may be entangled, and I will quickly rush upon it and bind it fast, and it shall serve me for food.' Again ; does the bee think in its little head, * I will fly abroad ; I know where there are fields in flower ; and there I will gather wax from these flowers, and from those I will suck the honey ; and with the wax I will build little cells close to each other in the row, in such a manner that I and my companions may freely go in and out as through streets ; and afterwards we will lay up honey in them abundantly, so that there may be enough also for the coming winter, that we may not die ' ? besides other won- derful things in which they not only vie with, but in some cases surpass, the political and economical prudence of men (see above, n. 12). Moreover, does the hornet {Jucus major) think in its little head, ' I and my companions will build a little house of thin paper, the walls of which we will wind in the form of a labyrinth inside, and in the inmost part we will prepare a kind of forum, into which there shall be a way of entrance, and out of it a way of egress, and contrived with such art that no living creature but those of our family shall find the way to the inmost place where we assemble ' ? Again ; does the silk-worm, while it is a grub, think in its little head, * Now is the time for me to prepare to spin silk, so that when it is spun I may fly abroad in the air, into which I could not rise before, may sport with my equals and provide myself a posterity ' ? Or do other worrhs so think when they creep about the walls of houses, and become nymphs, aurelios, chrysalides, and finally butterflies ? Does a fly have an No. 335.] THE DECALOGUE. 475 idea of its meeting with another fly, that it happens here and not there ? It is the same with larger animals as with these smaller ones ; as with birds and feathered creatures of all kinds, when they pair, build their nests, lay their eggs in them, sit on them, hatch their young, provide food for them, take care of them until they can fly, and then drive them from their nests, as if they were not their offspring ; besides other things beyond number. The case is similar, also, with the beasts of the earth, with serpents, and with fishes. What one of you cannot see from what has now been said, that their spontaneous actions do not flow from any thought, of which alone the idea can be predicated ? The error that beasts have ideas has come from no other source than the persuasion that they think, equally with men, and that speech alone makes the difference between them." After this the angelic spirit looked around, and as he saw them still in doubt whether beasts have thought or not, he continued the discourse and said : " I perceive that from the actions of brute animals, similar to those of men, there still clings to you a visionary idea of their thinking ; wherefore I will tell whence their actions are. Plainly thus : Every beast, every bird, every fish, reptile, and insect, has its own natural, sensual, and corporeal love, the dwelling-places of which are their heads, and the brains therein ; through these, the spiritual world flows into the senses of their body immediately, and through them determines the actions ; which is the reason why the senses of their body are much more exquisite than those of men. This influx from the spiritual world is what is called instinct, and it is called instinct because it exists without intermediate thought ; there are also things acces- sory to instinct, coming from habit. But their love, through which, from the spiritual world, comes the determination ' to actions, is a love only for nutrition and propagation, not for any knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, by means of which love is successively developed with men. 476 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. IChap. V. " That neither has tnan any connate ideas may evidently appear from this, that he has no connate thought ; and where there is no thought, there is no idea ; for they be- long mutually to each other. This may be concluded from new-born infants, that they can do nothing but suck and breathe. Their being able to suck is not from any thing connate, but from a continual suction in the mother's womb; and they are able to breathe because they live, for this is a universal of life. The very senses of their body are in the greatest obscurity, and from this they work their way out successively by means of objects ; in like manner their powers of motion, by habitual exercise. And as they learn successively to prattle words, and to sound them at first without any idea, there arises some- thing obscure, belonging to fancy ; and as this grows clearer, something obsCure belonging to imagination arises ; and from this, of thought. According to the formation of this state, ideas exist, which, as before said, make one with thought ; and thought, from being none, grows by instruc- tions. Wherefore men have ideas, yet not connate, but formed ; and from them flow their speech and actions." That nothing is connate with man but the faculty for know- ing, understanding, and being wise, as also an inclination to love not only these things but also the neighbor and God, may be seen in a Relation above, n. 48, and also in a Relation further on. After this, I looked around, and saw near me Leibnitz and Wolfius, who paid close attention to the reasons advanced by the angelic spirit. Leibnitz then came forward and expressed his concurrence ; but Wolfius went away, both denying and affirming, for he did not excel in interior judgment as Leibnitz did. CHAPTER SIXTH. CONCERNING FAITH. 336. From the wisdom of the ancients flowed forth this dogma, That the universe and the things thereof, all and each, have relation to good and truth ; and thus all things of the church to love or charity and faith, since all is called good which flows from love or charity, and all is called truth which flows from faith. Now because charity and faith are two distinctly, but yet make one in a man that he may be a man of the church, that is, that the church may be in the man, it was a matter of controversy and dispute among the ancients which of the two must be first, and which there- fore is by right to be called the first-born. Some of them said truth, consequently faith, and some said good, conse- quently charity. For they saw that immediately after his birth man learns to talk and think, and by means of speech and thought to be perfected in understanding, which is done through knowledges ; and so that to learn and under- stand what is true [is first] ; and that by these means he afterwards learns and understands what is good ; conse- quently first what is faith and afterwards what is charity. They who so comprehended this subject supposed that the truth of faith is the first-born, and that the good of charity is born afterwards ; on which account they also attributed to faith the eminence and prerogative of primogeniture. But they overwhelmed their understanding with so many arguments in favor of faith that they did not see that faith is not faith unless conjoined with charity, and that charity is not charity unless conjoined with faith, and thus that they make one ; and, if not, that neither of them is any thing in the church. That they truly make one will be 47S THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. demonstrated in what follows. But in this preface I shall briefly show in what manner or by what course they make one ; for this is of importance, that the things which follow may be in some light. "Faith, by which is also meant truth, is first in time ; but charity, by which is also meant good, is first in end ; and that which is first in end is actually the first, because it is the primary, thus also the first-born ; while that which is first in time is not the first actually, but apparently. But that this may be comprehended, it shall be illustrated by comparisons with the building of a temple and of a house, the laying out of a garden, and the prepara- tion of a field. In the building of a temple, the first thing in time is to lay the foundation, to raise the walls, to put on the roof, and afterwards to put in the altar and erect the pulpit; but in end the first thing is the worship of God therein, for the sake of which those things are done. In the building of a house, the first thing in time is to build its external parts, and also to furnish it with various articles which are of necessity ; but the first thing in end is a suit- able dwelling for oneself and for all who are to be of the household. In the laying out of a garden, the first thing in time is to level the ground, prepare the soil, and plant trees, and sow such things as will serve for use ; but in end the first thing is the use of the fruits. In the preparing of a field, the first thing in time is to clear the land, to plough, to harrow, and then to sow the seed ; but in end the first thing is the harvest, thus again use. From these compari- sons any one may conclude what is in itself first. Does not every one who is wishing to build a temple or a house, or to lay out a garden and to cultivate a field, first intend the use, and constantly keep and revolve this in his mind, while he procures the means to carry it into effect ? We therefore conclude that the truth of faith is first in time, but that the good of charity is first in end ; and that this latter, because it is primary, is actually the first-born in the mind. But it is necessary to know what faith is, and what No. 337.] FAITH. 479 charity is, each in its essence ; and this cannot be known unless they are divided into their several articles, faith into its own, and charity into its own. Articles of faith then are these : I. Saving Faith is in the Lord God the Saviour yes us Christ. II. The sum of faith is that he who lives well and believes aright is saved by the Lord. III. Man acquires faith by going to the Lord, learning truths frojn the Word, and living according to them. IV. An abundance of truths, coherent as if bundled together, exalts and perfects faith. V. Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity ; and neither is alive except from the Lord. VI. The Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding in man ; and if they are divided, each perishes, like a pearl reduced to powder. VII. The Lord is Charity and Faith in man, and matt is charity and faith in the Lord. VIII. Charity and faith are together in good works. IX. There is a tnie faith, a spurious faith, and a hypocritical faith. X. There is no faith with the evil. These are now to be explained one by one. I. Saving Faith is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ. 337. Saving faith is in God the Saviour, because He is God and Man, and He is in the Father and the Father in Him, and thus They are one ; wherefore they who go to Him, go at the same time to the Father, and thus to the one and only God, and there is no saving faith in any other. That belief or faith is to be in the Son of God, the Re- deemer and Saviour, conceived from Jehovah and born of the Virgin Mary, named yesus Christ, is evident from the commands frequently repeated by Him, and afterwards by the apostles. That faith in Him was commanded by Him- self, is ver}'^ manifest from these passages : Jesus said, This is the will of the Father that sent Me, that every one who secth the Son and believeth in Him shall have everlasting life. 480 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. and I will raise him up at the last day (John vi. 40). He that BELIEVETH IN THE SoN hath everlasting life ; but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (iii. 36). That whosoever believeth in the Son should not perish^ but have eternal life ; for God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (iii. 15, 16). Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me shall tiever die (xi. 25, 26). Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth in Me hath ever- lasting life. I am the bread of life (vi. 47, 48). / am the bread of life. He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst (vi. 35). yesus cried saying. If any one thirst let him come unto Me and drink ; he that believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (vii. 37, 38). They said to Jesus, What shall we do that we might work the works of God "i jFesus answered. This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him Whom the Father hath sent (vi. 28, 29). While ye have light believe in the "light that ye may be sons of light (xii. 36). He that believeth in the Son of God, is not judged ; but he that believeth not, is judged already because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God (iii, 18). Tliese things are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Son of God ; and that believing, ye may have life in His name (xx. 31). For if ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins (viii. 24). Jesus said that when the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, is come. He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment ; of sin, because they believe NOT in Me (xvi. 8). 338. That the faith of the apostles was no other than faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is evident from many pas- sages in their Epistles, of which I shall present only these : / live, no more I, but Christ liveth in me; and what I fiow live in the flesh, I live in the faith which is in the Son of m No. 338.] FAITH. 48 1 God (Gal. ii. 20). Paul testified to the yews and to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord yesus Christ (Acts xx. 21). He who brought Paul out said, What must I do to be saved? He said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; thus thou shalt be saved, and thy house (xvi. 30, 31). He that hath the Son hath life, but he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. These things have I written to you, that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God (i John v. 12, 13). We who are yews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we even have believed IN Jesus Christ (Gal. ii. 15, 16). Since their faith was in Jesus Christ, which also is from Him, they called it the faith of yesus Christ, as just above (Gal. ii. 16), and in the following passages : The righteousness of God, by the faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that believe, that He may Justify him who is of the faith of Jesus (Rom. iii. 22, 26). Having the righteousness which is of the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith (Phil, iii. 9). That keep the commandnients of God, and the faith OF Jesus (Apoc. xiv. 12). Through the faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. iii. 15). In Jesus Christ [that which availeth'] is the faith which worketh by charity (Gal. v. 6). From these passages it may be evident what faith was meant by Paul in the saying so common at this day in the church. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Rom. iii. 28); that it was not faith in God the Father, but in His Son ; still less in three Gods in order, in one from whom, in another for the sake of whom, and in a third by whom [, comes salvation]. It is believed in the church that its tripersonal faith was meant by Paul in that saying, for the reason that the church for fourteen centuries, or ever since the Nicene Council, has acknowledged no other faith, and thence has 482 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. known no other, thus believing it to be the only faith, and that there can be no other. Therefore wherever faith is mentioned in the Word of the New Testament, it has been believed that that faith is meant, and to it every thing theie has been applied. Hence the only saving faith, which is in God the Saviour, has perished ; hence, also, so many falla- cies have crept into their doctrines, and so many paradoxes adverse to sound reason. For every doctrine of the church that will teach and point out the way to heaven or to the state of salvation, depends on faith ; and because so many fallacies and paradoxes crept into that, as already said, it was necessary to proclaim the dogma that the understand- ing is to be kept under obedience to faith. Now since/aiik, in that saying of Paul's (Rom. iii, 28), does not mean faith in God the Father but in His Son, and since the works of the law do not there mean the works of the law of the deca- logue, but the works of the Mosaic law for the Jews (as is manifest from subsequent verses there, and also from simi- lar passages in the Epistle to the Galatians, ii. 14, 15), the foundation-stone of the faith of the present day goes, and with it falls the temple built thereon, like a house sinking into the earth and leaving only the summit of its roof above ground. 339. Men ought to believe, that is, to have faith in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, because this is faith in the visible God. in Whom is the invisible ; and faith in a visible God, Who is Man and at the same time God, enters into man; for faith in its essence is spiritual, but natural in its form j therefore with man this faith becomes spiritual-natural ; for every thing spiritual is received in what is natural in order to be any thing with man. The naked spiritual does indeed enter into man, but it is not received ; it is like the ether, which flows in and flows out without affecting ; for in order to affect, there must be perception, and so a reception, each in man's mind ; and there are not these with man except in his natural. But on the other hand, merely natuial faith, No. 339] FAITH. 483 or faith destitute of spiritual essence, is not faith, but per- suasion only, or knowledge. Persuasion emulates faith in externals, but because in its internals there is nothing spirit- ual, there is therefore nothing saving. Such is faith with all who deny the Divinity of the Lord's Human ; such was the Arian faith, and such also is the Socinian faith, because they both reject the Lord's Divinity. What is faith without that to which it is determined } Is it not like a look into the universe, which falls as it were into vacuity and is lost ? Or it is like a bird flying above the atmosphere into the ether, where as in a vacuum it ceases to breathe. The abiding of this faith in the mind of man may be compared to the stay of the winds in the wings of ^olus, and of light in a falling star. It rises like a comet with a long tail, like it to pass by and disappear. In a word, faith in an invisi- ble God is actually blind, because the human mind does not see its God ; and the light of this faith, because it is not spiritual-natural, is a fatuous light ; and this light is like the light in a glow-worm, and like the light in swamps or over sulphurous glebes in the night, and like the light in decaying wood. From this light nothing else exists than what is of fantasy, in which the apparent is believed to be reality when it is not. Faith in an invisible God shines in no other light, especially when God is thought to be a Spirit and the same is thought of spirit as of ether. What fol- lows therefrom but that man regards God as he regards the ether ? And thus he seeks Him in the universe, and when he does not find Him there, he believes the nature of the universe to be God. The naturalism reigning at this day is from this origin. Did not the Lord say that no one hath euer heard the voice of the Father, or seen His shape 1 (John V. 37 ;) and also that no one hath seen God at any time, and that the Only-begotten Son Who is in the bosom of the Father hath revealed Hi77i ? (i. 18.) IV^o one hath seen the Father but He Who is of God ;* He hath seen the Father (vi. 46). * The Latin here reads apud Palretn, with the Father. 484 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. Also, that no one cometh to the Father but by Him (xiv. 6) ; and furthermore, that the man seeth and knoweth the Father, who seeth and knoweth Him (xiv. 7-12). But faith in the Lord God the Saviour is different ; He being God and Man, may both be approached and seen in thought ; faith in Him is not indeterminate, but it has its terminus, whence it comes and whither it goes ; and when once received, it remains ; as when any one has seen an emperor or a king, as often as he recollects this the image returns. The sight of that faith is as of one who sees a bright cloud, and in the midst of it an angel, who invites the man to him that he may be elevated into heaven. So does the Lord appear to them who have faith in Him ; He draws near to every man as the man knows and acknowledges Him. This is done as man knows and keeps His commandments, which are, to shun evils and do goods ; and at length the Lord comes into man's house, and makes His abode with him, together with the Father Who is in Him, according to these words in John : jfesus said. He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me ; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him; and We will come unto him, and make an abode with him (John xiv. 21, 23). These things have been written in the presence of the Lord's twelve apostles, who were sent to me by the Lord while I was writing them. II. The Sum of Faith is, that he who lives well and BELIEVES aright IS SAVED BY THE LoRD. 340. That man was created for eternal life, and that every man can inherit it provided he lives according to the means of salvation which are prescribed in the Word, is admitted by every Christian, and by every heathen, also, who has religion and sound reason. The means of salva- tion, however, are manifold ; but they have relation, one I No. 34i] FAITH. 485 and all, to living well and believing aright, thus to charity and faith, for to live well is charity and to believe rightly is faith. These two general means of salvation are not only prescribed to man in the Word, but they are also commanded ; and because they are commanded it follows that by means of them man can provide for himself eternal life, from the power implanted in him and given to him by God ; also as far as man uses that power, and at the same time looks to God, God gives it strength to make all that which is of natural charity to be of spiritual char- ity, and all that which is of natural "faith to be of spiritual faith ; so God makes dead charity and faith to be alive, and at the same time the man also. There are two things which are to be together, that man may be said to live well and believe aright ; in the church those two things are called the internal and the external man. When the internal man wills well and the external acts well, then the two make one, the external [acting] from the internal, and the internal through the external ; and so man from God, and God through man. But on the other hand, if the in- ternal man wills evil and yet the external man acts well, then none the less they both act from hell ; for his willing is from hell, and his doing is hypocritical ; and in all that is hypocritical, his willing which is infernal is inwardly concealed, as a snake in the grass, or a worm in a flower. The man who not only knows that there is an internal and an external man, but also knows what they are, and that they can act as one actually and can also act as one ap- parently, and who knows moreover that the internal man lives after death and the external is buried, possesses po- tentially the arcana of heaven and also of the world, in abundance. And he who conjoins these two men in him- self in good, becomes happy to eternity ; but he who divides them, and still more he who conjoins them in evil, becomes unhappy to eternity. 341. Under the belief that the man who lives we'l and 486 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. believes aright is not saved, and that God can save and condemn whom He will, freely and at pleasure, the man who perishes may justly accuse God of unmercifulness and want of clemency, and even of cruelty; yes, he may deny that God is God. He may make the further accusation that in His Word He has spoken vain things, and com- manded things that are of no importance or that are trifling ; and again, if the man who lives well and believes aright is not saved, he may also accuse God of violating His covenant which He made upon mount Sinai and wrote with His finger upon the two tables. That God cannot but save those who live according to His commandments and have faith in Him, is evident from the words of the Lord in John xiv. 21-24: and every one who has religion and sound reason may confirm himself in this, when he reflects that God, Who is constantly with man and gives him life and also the faculty of understanding and of lov- ing, cannot but love him who lives well and believes aright, and by love conjoin Himself with him. Is not this in- scribed by God on every man and every creature ? Can a father and mother reject their children, or a bird or a beast its young ? Even tigers, panthers, and serpents cannot do so. For God to do otherwise would be contrary to the order in which God is and according to which He acts; and also contrary to the order into which He created man. Now as it is impossible for God to damn any one who lives well and believes aright, so on the other hand it is impossible for God to save any one who lives wickedly and who therefore believes falsities. This latter, also, is contrary to order, and thence contrary to His omnipotence, which cannot proceed except by the. way of justice ; and the laws of justice are truths, which cannot be changed : for the Lord says, // is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one tittle of the imu to y^;// (Luke xvi. 17). Any one who knows any thing of the Essence of God, and of man's free-will, can perceive this. For example : Adam No. 342.] FAITH. 487 was at liberty to eat of the tree of life, and also of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ; if he had eaten of the tree or trees of life only, would it have been possible for God to expel him from the garden ? I believe that it would not. But after he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, would it have been possible for God to retain him in the garden } Again I believe that it would not ; and likewise that God cannot cast into hell any angel who has been received into heaven, or introduce into heaven any devil who has been judged. That He cannot from His Divine omnipotence do either, may be seen above in the section concerning the Divine Omnipotence (n. 49-70). 342. In the preceding lemma (from n. 336 to 339) it was shown that saving faith is faith in the Lord God the Sav- iour Jesus Christ. But the question arises, What is the first [element] of faith in Him ? And the answer is, The ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT He IS THE SON OF GOD. This was the first [element] of faith which the Lord revealed and announced when He came into the world. For unless men had first acknowledged that He was the Son of God, and thus God from God, in vain would He Himself and the apostles afterwards have preached faith in Him. Now as the case is somewhat similar at this day, — but with those who think from the proprium [ownhood], that is, from the external or natural man only, saying to them- selves, How can Jehovah God conceive a Son, and how can man be God? — it is necessary to confirm and estab- lish from the Word this first [element] of faith ; the follow- ing passages shall therefore be adduced : The angel said to Mary, T/iou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt caH His name Jesus. He shall be great, the Son of the Highest. Then said Mary unto the angel. How shall this be since I know not a man ? The angel an- swered, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power OF THE Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing That is born of thee shall be called the Son of 488 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI God (Luke i. 31-35). While Jesus was baptized, there came a voice from heaven, saying. This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased QAzit. iii. 16, 17 ; Mark i, 10, II ; Luke iii. 21, 22). And again, when Jesus was trans- figured, a voice also came from heaven, saying. This is My beloved Son, in Whom lam well pleased ; hear ye Him (Matt. xvii. 5 ; Mark ix. 7 ; Luke ix. 35). ^esus asked His disciples, Who do men say that I am ? Peter answered. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And jfesiis said. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, I say unto thee. Upon this rock I will build My church (Matt. xvi. 13-18). The Lord said that He would build His church upon this rock, namely, upon the truth and confession that He is the Son of God ; for rock signifies truth, and also the Lord as to Divine Truth ; wherefore the church is not with one who does not confess this truth, that He is the Son of God; and therefore it was said above that this is the first [element] of faith in Jesus Christ, and is thus faith in its origin. John the Baptist saw and bare record that This is the Son of God (John i, 34). The disciple Nathanael said to Jesus, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel (John i. 49). The twelve disciples said. We have believed that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (vi. 69), He is called the Only-begot- ten Son of God, the Only-begotten of the Father, Who is in the bosom of the Father (i. 14, 18 ; iii. 16). Jesus Himself confessed before the high priest, that He was the Son of God (Matt. xxvi. 63, 64; xxvii. 43 ; Mark xiv. 61, 62 ; Luke xxii. 70). They that were in the ship came and worshipped Jesus, saying. Of a truth Thou art the Son of God (Matt. xiv. 33). The eunuch who wished to be baptized said to Philip, / believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts viii. 37). Paul, when he was converted, preached Christ, that He was the Son of God (ix. 20). Jesus said. The hour is coining when the dead shall hear the voice of THE Son of God, and they that hear shall live No. 342.] FAITH. 489 (John V. 25). He that helieveth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name o/the Only-begotten Son OF God (iii. 18). These are ^oritten, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, afid that believing ye might have life in His name (xx. 31), These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of THE Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life ; and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God (i John V. 13). We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we tnay know Him that is true ; and we are in Him that is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal Life (v. 20). Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwclleth in him, and he in God (iv. 15). And also in other places (as Matt. viii. 29 ; xxvii. 40, 43, 54 ; Mark i. i ; iii. 11; xv. 39 ; Luke viii. 28 ; John ix. 35 ; x. 36 ; xi. 4, 27 ; xix. 7 ; Rom. i. 4 ; 2 Cor. i. 19 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; Eph. iv. 13 ; Heb. iv. 14; vi. 6 ; vii. 3 j x. 29 ; i John iii. 8; v. 10; Apoc. ii. 18). There are also many passages in which He is called by Jehovah Son, and where He Himself calls Jehovah God His Father; as in this: What- soever THE Father doeth, this doeth the Son ; as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickcneth them, even so doth THE Son. As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; all i7ien should honor the Son eveti as they hotior the Father (John v. 19-26). So in many other passages. And also in David : / will declare the decree, jfehovah hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten J^hee. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way, when His ivrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him (Psalm ii. 7, 12). From the foregoing now comes this conclusion : That every one who wishes to be truly a Christian, and to be saved by Christ, ought to be- lieve that jfesus is the Son of the living God. He who does not believe this, but only that He is the Son of Mary, im- VOL. II. 4 490 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chai'. VI. plants in himself various ideas concerning Him which are hurtful and destructive of that state of salvation ; of which see above, n. 92, 94, 102. Of such it may be said, as of the Jews, that instead of a royal crown, they put upon His head a crown of thorns, and give Him vinegar to drink, and cry out, If thou be the Son of God, cofnmand that these stones be made bread; or. If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down (Matt. iv. 3, 6). Such profane His church and His temple and make it a den of thieves. These are they who make the worship of Him like the worship of Mohammed, and do not distinguish between true Chris- tianity (which is the worship of the Lord) and naturalism. They may be compared with those who are borne in a chariot or coach over thin ice, and the ice breaks under them, and they sink ; and themselves, their horses, and the chariot are covered by the icy water. They may also be likened to those who make a little boat of reeds and canes, and stick it together with pitch that it may cohere, and in it launch out into the deep ; but there the cohesiveness from the pitch is destroyed ; and, suffocated in the waters of the sea, they are swallowed up and buried in its depths. III. Man acquires Faith by going to the Lord, LEARNING TRUTHS FROM THE WORD, AND LIVING ACCORDING TO THEM. 343. Before I proceed to demonstrate the Origin of Faith (which is, that man must go to the Lord, learn truths from the Word, and liye according to them), it is necessary first to set forth its summaries, from which may be had a general idea of faith, in the [consideration of its] several parts ; for thus may be more clearly comprehended not only the things which are said in this chapter concerning Faith, but also those which are said in chapters that follow con- cerning Charity, Free Will, Repentance, Reformation and Regeneration, and concerning Imputation. For faith enters No. 345] FAITH. 491 into the parts of a system of theology, one and all, as blood enters into the members of the body, and vivifies them. What the present church teaches respecting faith is known in the Christian world generally, and particularly in its ecclesiastical order ; for the books only on faith, and on faith alone, fill the libraries of the Doctors of th-e church ; for almost nothing besides this is regarded as properly theological at the present day. But before what the pres- ent church teaches concerning its faith is taken up, consid- ered, and examined (which will be done in an Appendix), the general things which the New Church teaches concern- ing its faith shall be presented. These now follow. 344. The Esse of the Faith of the New Church is, i. Con- fidence in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ. 2. Trust that he who lives well and believes aright is saved by Him. The Essence of the Faith cf the New Church is, Truth from the Word. The Existence of the Faith of the New Church is, I. Spiritual Sight. 2. Accordance of truths. 3. Con- viction. 4. Acknowledgment inscribed on the mind. The States of Faith, as taught in the New Church, are, i. In- fant faith, adolescent faith, adult faith. 2. Faith in genuine truth and faith in appearances of truth. 3. Faith of the memory, faith of the reason, faith of light. 4. Natural faith, spiritual faith, heavenly [r^/jfj-//^?/] faith. 5. Living faith and miraculous faith. 6. Free faith and forced faith. The Form itself of the Faith of the New Church, in a universal and in a particular view, may be seen above (n. 2 and 3). 345. Since things pertaining to spiritual faith have been presented in a summary, so also shall be presented those of merely natural faith, which in itself is a persuasion coun- terfeiting faith, and a persuasion of falsity, and is called heretical faith. Its denominations are these : i. Spuri- ous faith, in which falsities are commingled with truths. 2. Meretricious faith from truths falsified, and adulterous faith from goods adulterated. 3. Closed or blind faith, which is faith in mystical things, which are believed 492 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. although it is not known whether they are truths or falsi- ties, or whether they are above reason or contrary to it. 4. Wandering faith, which is a faith in more Gods than one. 5. Purblind faith, which is a faith in any other than the true God, and with Christians in any but the Lord God the Saviour. 6. Hypocritical or Pharisaic faith, which is a faith of the mouth and not of the heart. 7. Visionary and preposterous faith, which is the appearance of falsity as truth from ingenious confirmation. 346. It was stated above, that faith as to its Existence with man is spiritual sight. Now as spiritual sight which is that of the understanding and thus of the mind, and natural sight which is the sight of the eye and thus of the body, mutually correspond, therefore every state of faith may be compared with some state of the eye and its sight ; a state of the faith of truth with every normal state of eyesight, and a state of the faith of falsity with every perverted state of eyesight. But we will compare the correspondences of these two kinds of sight, mental and bodily, as to their per- verted states. Spurious faith, in which falsities are com- mingled with truths, may be compared to the disease of the eye, and consequently of the sight, called white speck on the cornea, which causes dimness of sight. Meretricious faith, which is from falsified truths, and Adulterous faith, which is from adulterated goods, may be compared to the disease of the eye, and consequently of the sight, called glaucotna,* which is a drying up and hardening of the crystalline humor. Closed or blind faith, which is in mystical things, that are believed although it is not known whether they are true or false, or whether they are above reason or con- trary to it, may be compared to the disease of the eye called gutta Serena and amaurosis, which is a loss of sight while the eye still looks as if it saw perfectly, and which arises from an obstruction of the optic nerve. Wandering faith, which is a faith in more Gods than one, may be compared * This term is now applied to a different condition. No. 347] FAITH. 493 to the disease of the eye called cataract^ which is a loss of sight arising from stoppage between the sclerotic coat and the uvea. Purblind faith, which is a faith in any other than the true God, and with Christians in any but the Lord God the Saviour, may be compared to the fault in the eye which is called strabismus. Hypocritical or Pharisaic faith, which is a faith of the mouth and not of the heart, may be com- pared with atrophy of the eye, and consequent loss of sight. Visionary and preposterous faith, which is the appearance of falsity as truth from ingenious confirmation, may be com- pared to the disease of the eye called nyctalopia, which is seeing in darkness from fatuous light, 347. But as regards the Formation of Faith : Faith is formed by man's going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them. First : Faith is formed by man's going to the Lord, because faith which is ■ faith, thus which is the faith that belongs to salvation, is from the Lord and in the Lord. That it is from the Lord is evi- dent from His words to the disciples. Abide in Me, and Tin you, for without Me ye can do nothing Qohn xv. 4, 5). That faith is in the Lord is manifest from the passages presented in abundance above (n. 337, 338), to the effect that men ought to belie^ie in the Son. Now since faith is from the Lord and in the Lord, it may be said that the Lord is Faith itself ; for its life and essence are in Him, and thus from Him. Second : Faith is formed by man's learning truths from the Word, because faith in its essence is truth ; for all things that enter into faith are truths; wherefore faith is nothing but a complex of truths shining in the mind of man ; for truths teach not only that man ought to believe, but also in Whom he ought to believe, and what he ought to believe. Truths are to be taken from the Word, because all truths which conduce to salvation are there, and there is efficacy in them because they have been given by the Lord, and are therefore inscribed on the whole angelic heaven ; wherefore when man learns truths from the Word, he comes 494 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VL into communion and consociation with the angels more than he knows. Faith without truths is Hke seed destitute of inner substance, which when ground yields nothing but bran ; while faith from truths is like good grain, which when ground yields flour. In a word, the essentials of faith are truths ; and if they are not in it and do not compose it, faith is only like the shrill sound of a whistle ; but when they are in it and compose it, faith is as the voice of glad tidings. Third : Faith is formed by man's living according to truths, because spiritual life is a life according to truths, and truths do not actually live until they are in deeds. Truths abstracted from deeds are of the thought only, which, if they do not become of the will also, are only in the entrance to the man, and so are not inwardly in him ; for the will is the man himself, and the thought is so far the man, in quantity and quality, as it adjoins to itself the will. He who learns truths and does not do them, is like one w^ho scatters seed about in a field and does not harrow it in ; and so the seeds become swollen by the rains and are spoiled ; but he who learns truths and does them, is like one who sows his seed and covers it ; and so the rain causes the seeds to grow, even to the harvest, to be of use for food. The Lord says. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them (John xiii. 17); and again. He that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the Word, and attendeth, who also heareth fruit and bringeth forth (Matt. xiii. 23) ; again. Whosoever heareth My words and doeth them, I will liken him unto a prudent man who built his house upon a rock. And every one who heareth My words but doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand (Matt, vii. 24, 26). All the Lord's words are truths. 348. From the things said above it is manifest that there are three things by which faith is formed with man ; first, by going to the Lord ; second, by learning truths from the Word ; and third, by living according to them. Now as 1 I No. 348.] FAITH. 495 these are three things, and as one is not the same as an- other, it follows that they can be separated ; for one can go to the Lord and not know any but historical truths con- cerning God and concerning the Lord ; and one can also know truths from the Word in abundance, and yet not live according to them. But with the man in whom those three things are separated, that is, in whom there is one without another, there is not the faith of salvation ; but this faith arises when the three are conjoined, and the faith is such as the conjunction is. Where these three things are sepa- rated, faith is like a sterile seed, which when dropped in the earth moulders into dust ; but where the three are con- joined, faith is like a seed in the ground, which grows up into a tree, the fruit of which is according to the conjunc- tion. Where those three things are separated, faith is like an egg which contains nothing prolific ; but, where they are conjoined, the faith is like an egg which produces a beauti- ful bird. Faith, with those in whom the three things are separated, may be likened to the eye of a fish or a crab when boiled ; but faith with those in whom the three are conjoined may be likened to an eye translucent from the crystalline humor even to and through the uvea of the iris. Faith separated is like a picture drawn in dark colors on a black stone ; but faith conjoined is like a picture drawn in beautiful colors on a transparent crystal. The light of faith separated may be compared to that of a firebrand in the hand of a traveller in the night ; while the light of faith conjoined may be compared to that of a torch, which when waved about shows plainly each step of the way. Faith without truths is like a vine bearing wild grapes ; but faith from truths is like a vine bearing clusters full of noble wine. Faith in the Lord when destitute of truths may be compared to a new star appearing in the expanse of heaven, which in time grows dim ; but faith in the Lord, together with truths, may be compared to a fixed star which remains constant. Truth is the essence of faith ; wherefore, such as the truth 496 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. is, such is the faith, which without truths is wandering, but with them is fixed ; moreover, the faith of truths shines in heaven Hke a star. IV. An Abundance of Truths, coherent as if bundled TOGETHER, EXALTS AND PERFECTS FaITH. 349. From the conception of faith which exists at this day, it cannot be recognized that faith in its compass is a complex of truths ; and still less that man can contribute any thing toward procuring faith for himself, when yet faith in its essence is truth, for it is truth in its light ; also that as truth can be procured, so too can faith. Who can- not go to the Lord if he will > Who cannot collect truths from the Word if he will ? And every truth in the Word and from the Word gives light, and truth in light is faith. The Lord Who is Light itself flows in with every man ; and in him in whom there are truths from the Word, He causes them to shine, and so to become of faith ; and this is what the Lord says in John, f/iaf they should abide in the Lord, and His words in them (xv. 7). The Lord's words are truths. But that it may be rightly comprehended that an abundance of truths, coherent as if bundled together, exalts and perfects faith, the comment is to be divided under the following heads : 1. The truths of faith may be multiplied to infinity. 2. Their disposition is into series, thus as it were into fascicles. 3. Faith is perfected according to their abundance and coherence. 4. Truths, however numerous they are, and however diverse they appear, make one from the Lord, Who is the Word, the God of heaven and earth, the God of all flesh, the God of the vineyard or church, the God of faith, Light itself, the Truth, and Life eternal. 350. (i.) The Truths of Faith may be mtiltiplied to Ln- finity. This may be evident from the wisdom of the angels of heaven, if we consider that it increases to eternity. The angels also say that there is no end to wisdom ; and more, -I i No. 3SI-] FAITH. 497 wisdom is from no other source than Divine truths, analyti- cally distributed into forms, by means of the light flowing in from the Lord. The human intelligence which is truly intelligence is also from no other source. Divine truth may be multiplied to infinity because the Lord is Divine Truth itself or Truth in its infinity, and He draws all to Himself ; but angels and men, being finite, can follow the current of the attraction only according to their measure, the effort of the attraction still continuing to infinity. The Word of the Lord is a great deep of truths, from which is all angelic wisdom ; although to a man who knows nothing of its spiritual and heavenly [ccks^ia/] sense, it appears no more than the water in a pitcher. The multiplication of the truths of faith to infinity may be compared to the seed of men, from one of whom may be propagated families to ages of ages. The prolification of the truths of faith may also be compared to the prolification of the seeds in a field or a garden, which may be propagated to myriads of myri- ads, and perpetually. Seed in the Word means nothing but truth ; z. field means doctrine ; and a garden, wisdom. The human mind is like soil, in which spiritual and natural truths are implanted as seeds, and they may be multiplied without end. Man derives this from the infinity of God, Who with His light and His heat, and with the faculty of generating, is in man perpetually. 351. (2.) The disposition of the Truths of Faith is into Series, thus as it were into Fascicles. That this is so, is as yet unknown ; and it is unknown because the spiritual truths of which the whole Word is composed, owing to the mystical and enigmatical faith which makes every point of the theology of the day, could not appear ; and therefore, like storehouses, they have sunk into the earth. That it may be known what is meant by series and fascicles, it shall be explained. The first chapter of this book, which treats of God the Creator, is distinguished into a series of sections ; the first of these is concerning the Unity of God ; 4* 498 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. the second, concerning the Esse of God, or Jehovah ; the third, concerning God's Infinity; the fourth, concerning the Essence of God, which is Divine 'Love and Wisdom ; the fifth, concerning God's Omnipotence ; and the sixth, concerning Creation. The arrangement of each section into its articles makes a series, binding what is therein as into bundles. These series, in general and in particular, thus conjointly and severally, contain truths, which accord- ing to their abundance and coherence exalt and perfect faith. He who* does not know that the human mind is organized, or that it is a spiritual organism terminating in a natural organism, in which and according to which the mind produces its ideas or thinks, cannot but suppose that perceptions, thoughts, and ideas are nothing but radiations and variations of light flowing into the head, and exhibiting the forms which man sees and acknowledges as reasons. But this is foolishness ; for every one knows that the head is full of brains, that the brains are organized, that the mind dwells in them, and that its ideas are fixed therein and remain as they have been accepted and confirmed. The question then is. What is the nature of that organiza- tion ? The answer is, It is the arrangement of all things in series, as it were in fascicles, and the truths which are of faith are so disposed in the human mind. That it is so may be illustrated by what now follows : The brain consists of two substances, one of which is glandular, and is called the cortical and cineritious substance, and the other is fibril- lous, and is called the medullary substance. The first, or the glandular substance, is disposed into clusters like grapes on a vine ; those clusterings are its series. The other sub- stance, which is called medullary, consists of perpetual bundlings of fibrils issuing from the glandules of the former substance ; these bundlings are its series. All the nerves which proceed therefrom, and pass down into the body to perform various functions, are only bundles and fascicles of fibres; and so are all the muscles, and in general all the No. 352.] FAITH. 499 viscera and organs of the body. All these are such because they correspond to the series into which the mental organ- ism is disposed. MoVeover, there is not any thing in uni- versal nature that is not fasciculated into series ; ever}- tree, every bush, shrub, and plant, yes, every ear of corn and blade of grass, in whole and in part, is so. The universal cause is, that Divine truths have such a conformation ; for we read that all things were created by the Word, that is, by Divine Truth, and that the world also was made by it (John i. I, and subsequent verses). From all this it may be seen, that unless there were such an arrangement of sub- stances in the human mind, man would have no power of rational analysis, which every one has according to the arrangement, thus according to the abundance of truths coherent as. it were in the general bundle ; and the arrange- ment is according to the use of reason from freedom. 352. (3.) That faith is perfected according to the Abun- dance and Coherence of Truths, follows from the things said above, and becomes manifest to every one who collects rea- sons, and observes what multiplied series effect when they cohere as one ; for then one thing strengthens and confirms another, and they make a form together, and, when this is put into action, they exhibit one act. Now as faith in its essence is truth, it follows that, according to the abundance and coherence of truths, it becomes more and more perfectly spiritual, therefore less and less sensual-natural ; for it is exalted to a higher region of the mind, from which it sees below it troops of confirmations of itself in the nature of the world. True faith, by an abundance of truths coherent as it were in a bundle, also becomes more lustrous, more perceptible, more evident, and clearer ; it also becomes more capable of conjunction with the goods of charit}'^, and consequently of being alienated from evils ; and succes- sively more removed from the allurements of the eye and the lusts of the flesh, therefore happier in itself. Espe- cially does it become more powerful against evils and 1 500 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. falsities, and consequently more and more living and saving. 353. It was said above, that all tilath in heaven shines, and thence that truth shining is faith in essence ; where- fore the beauty and comeliness of faith, coming from that enlightenment, when its truths are multiplied, may be com- pared to various forms, objects, and pictures, produced from different colors harmoniously combined ; and so to the precious stones of many colors in the breastplate of Aaron, which together were called the Urim and Thum- mim ; likewise to the precious stones of which the founda- tions of the wall of the New Jerusalem are to be built (concerning which see Apoc. xxi.). It may also be com- pared with the precious stones of many colors in the crown of a king. Precious stones also signify truths of faith. Comparison may be made, also, with the beauty of the rainbow, and with the beauty of a flowery field, and also of a garden blossoming in the early spring. The light and glory of faith, from an abundance of truths fitly entering into it, may be compared to the illumination of temples by numerous candelabra, of houses by chandeliers, and of streets by lamps. The exaltation of faith by an abundance of truths, may be illustrated by comparison with the uplift- ing of sound and likewise with the melody of many musical instruments played in concert ; and also with the increase of fragrance from a collection of sweet-smelling flowers; and so on. The power of faith formed of many truths, against evils and falsities, may be compared with the firm- ness of a temple, in consequence of the stones' being well laid; with columns built into its wall, and under its fretted ceiling ; it may also be compared with a battalion drawn up in square, where the soldiers stand side by side, and so form and act as one force ; it may also be compared with the muscles woven about the whole body, which, although numerous and situated in different places, still in actions make one power ; and so on. No. 3S4-] FAITH. 50I 354. (4.) Tlie Trtiths of Faith, however numerous they are, and 'however diverse they appear, make one from the Lord, Who is the Word, the God of Heaven and Earth, the God of all Flesh, the God of the Vineyard or Church, the God of Faith, Light itself, the Truth, and Life eternal. The truths of faith are various, and to man they appear diverse. For example : some are concerning God the Creator, some concerning the Lord the Redeemer, some concerning the Holy Spirit and the Divine Operation, some concerning Faith and Charity, and others concerning Free Will, Re- pentance, Reformation and Regeneration, Imputation, and so on. Still they make one in the Lord, and with man from the Lord, like many branches in one vine (John xv. i, and the subsequent verses). For the Lord joins scattered and divided truths together, as into one form, in which they present one aspect and exhibit one action. This may be illustrated by comparison with the members, viscera, and organs in one body ; although these are various and in man's sight diverse, nevertheless a man who is their general form feels them only as one ; and when he is acting from them all, he acts as if from one. So it is with heaven, which, although distinguished into innumerable societies, still ap- pears before the Lord as one ; that it appears as one Man, was shown above. This is as with a kingdom, which,, although divided into several departments and also into provinces and cities, still makes one under a king who has justice and judgment. It isfrofn the Lord that it is similar with the truths of faith (from which the church is the church), because the Lord is the Word, the God of heaven and earth, the God of all flesh, the God of the vineyard or church, the God of faith. Light itself, the Truth, and Life eternal. That the Lord is the Word, and therefore all the truth of heaven and the church, is evident in John : The Word was with God, and the Word was God ; and the Word became Flesh (i. I, 14). That the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, is evident in Matthew : Jesus said, All power is given unto 502 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. Me in heaven and in earth (xxviii. i8). That the Lord is the God of all flesh, in John : The Father hath given to the Son power over all flesh (xvii. 2). That the Lord is the God of the vineyard or church, in Isaiah : My Well-beloved had a vineyard (v. i) ; and in John : / am the Vine, ye are the branches (xv. 5). That the Lord is the God of faith, in Paul : Having the righteousness which is of the faith of Christ, of the God of faith (Philip, iii. 9). That the Lord is Light itself, in John : That was the true Light, Which lighteth every mafi that cometh into the world (i. g) ; and in another place, Jesus said, I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me should not abide in darkness (xii. 46). That the Lord is the Truth itself, in John : Jesus said, L am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (xiv. 6). That the Lord is Life eternal, in the first Epistle of John : We know that the Son of God is come into the world, that we may know the Truth, and we are in the Truth in yesus Christ ; this is the true God and eternal Life (y. 20, 21). To this must be added, that man, owing to his worldly occupations, can procure for him- self only a few truths of faith ; but still, if he goes to the Lord and worships Him alone, he comes into the power of recognizing all truths ; wherefore every true worshipper of the Lord, as soon as he hears any truth of faith with which he was not before acquainted, sees, acknowledges, and receives it instantly. This is because the Lord is in him, and he in the Lord ; .consequently the light of truth is in him, and he in the light of truth ; for, as said above, the Lord is Light itself and Truth itself. This may be confirmed by the fol- lowing experience. A spirit was seen by me, who in the company of some others appeared simple, because he ac- knowledged the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth, and confirmed this his faith by some truths from the Word. He was taken up into heaven, among the wiser angels ; and it was told me that there he was as wise as they ; yes that he spoke truths in abundance, of which he had before known nothing, and altogether as from himself. No. 355.] FAITH. 503 Similar will be the state of those who are to come into the Lord's New Church. It is the same state that is described in Jeremiah : This shall be the coveiiattt that I will make with the house of Israel, after these days ; I will put my law in the midst of them, and write it in their hearts ; and they shall teach no more every man his fellow, and every man his brother, saying. Know the Lord; for they shall all know Afe,f?-om the least of them unto the greatest of them (xxxi. 33, 34). That state will also be such as is described in Isaiah : There shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse ; truth shall be the girdle of His thighs. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, a7id the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice'' den ; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea. In that day the nations shall seek the Root of Jesse, and His rest shall be glory (xi. i, 5, 6, 8, 10). V. Faith without Charity is not Faith, and Charity WITHOUT Faith is not Charity; and neither lives except from the Lord. 355. That the church of this day would separate faith from charity, by saying that faith alone justifies and saves without the works of the law, and so that charity cannot be conjoined with faith, since faith is from God and charity from man so far as it is actual in works, never entered the mind of any of the apostles, as is very manifest from their Epistles. But this separation and division were introduced into the Christian Church when they divided the one God into three persons and ascribed equal divinity to each. But that there is no faith without charity, and no charity without faith, and that neither has life except from the Lord, will be illustrated in the following lemma ; here, to prepare the way, it shall be demonstrated, i . That man can acquire faith for himself. 2. That he can acquire charity 504 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. also. 3. And likewise the life of both. 4. But yet that fiothing of faith, not/wig of charity, and nothing of the life of either, is from man, but from the Lord alone. 356. (i.) Af an can acquire Faith for himself. This was shown in the third lemma above (n. 343-348) ; and it was shown in this way : That faith in its essence is truth, and truths from the Word can be acquired by any one ; and that so far as any one acquires them for himself and loves them, so far he initiates in himself faith. To which shall be added, that if man were not able to procure faith for himself, all that is commanded in the Word concerning faith would be useless ; for we read there that it is the will of the Father that men should believe in the Son ; and that whosoever believeth in Hitn hath eternal life, and that he who believeth not shall not see life. We read also that yesus would send the Comforter who would convifice the world of sin, because it believed not in Him : besides many other pas- sages which were adduced above (n. 337, 338). Moreover, that all the apostles preached faith, and this in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ. What meaning would there be in all this if man were to stand with his hands hanging down, like a sculptured statue with movable joints, and wait for influx ? the joints meanwhile being intrinsically excited to something that is not of faith, except that they are able to apply themselves to the reception of the influx. For modern orthodoxy in the part of the Christian world that is separate from the Roman Catholics, teaches thus : That man is utterly corrupt and dead to good, so that since the fall there does not remain or abide in man's nature, before regeneration, even a spark of spiritual strength by which he is capable of becoming prepared for the grace of God or of apprehending it when offered, or of retaining it, from and by himself ; nor can he from himself, in things spiritual, understand, believe, embrace, think, will, begin, carry out, act, operate, co-operate, or apply or accommodate himself to grace, or do any thing towards conversion, wholly, No. 357.] FAITH. 505 or by halves, or in the smallest measure. And that, in spiritual things which respect the safety of the soul, he is hke the statue of salt, Lot's wife, and like a stock or a stone without life, which has no use of eyes, mouth, or any of the senses. That still he has the power of moving from place to place, or can direct his external members, go to public meetings, and hear the Word and the Gospel. This is in the book of the church of the Evangelical, called "Formula Concordiae," in the Leipsic edition of 1756, pages 656, 658, 661, 662, 663, 671, 672, 673; to which book, and thus to which faith, the priests when they are inaugurated, make oath. The faith of the Reformed is similar. But who that has reason and religion would not hiss at those things as absurd and ridiculous ? Would he not say to himself, " If this were so, what would the Word amount to, or religion, or the priesthood, or preaching, but mere emptiness, or sound about nothing.^" Tell some pagan who has any judgment and whom you wish to con- vert, that he is such with regard to conversion and faith, and would he not look upon Christianity as one looks on an empty vessel ? For take from man all power of believ- ing as of himself, and then what else is he ? But this will be exhibited in clearer light in the chapter concerning Free Will. 357. (2.) Man can acquire Charity for hifjiself. The case here is similar to that of faith ; for what does the Word teach but faith and charity because these are the two essentials of salvation ? For we read, T/iou shalt love the Lord, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul ; and thy neighbor as thyself (Matt. xxii. 34-39). And Jesus said, A new cominandment I give unto you, That ye love one another ; by this shall ye be known that ye are My disciples, that ye love one another (John xiii. 34, 35 ; see also xv. 9 ; xvi. 27). Also, that men ought to bear fruit like a good tree ; and that he who does good shall be rewarded at the resurrection ; besides other similar things. For what would 506 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. all this be if man could not of himself exercise charity, and in some measure procure it for himself? Can he not give alms, help the needy, and do good in his house and in his employment? Can he not live according to the commandments of the decalogue ? Has he not a soul from v^rhich he can do these things, and a rational mind from which he can lead himself to act for this or that end ? Can he not think that he ought to do them because they are commanded in the Word, and thus by God ? This power is wanting to no man ; and it is not wanting, because the Lord gives it to every one ; and He gives it as some- thing that is man's own; for who while doing charity knows otherwise than that he is doing it from himself ? 358. (3.)- J/a« can also acquire for himself the Life of Faith and Charity. This again is similar ; for man ac- quires this life for himself when he goes to the Lord Who is Life itself ; and access to Him is not foreclosed to any man, for the Lord continually invites every one to come to Him ; for He said, He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst ; and him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out (John vi. 35, 37). yesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and dritik (vii. 37). And in another place : The king- dom of heaven is like one who made a wedding for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden. And at last he said, Go ye into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, call to the wedding (Matt. xxii. 2-9). Who does not know that the invitation or call is universal, and also the grace of reception ? Man obtains life by going to the Lord, because the Lord is Life itself ; not only the Life of faith, but also the Life of charity. That the Lord is that Life, and that man has it from the Lord, is evident from these passages : In the beginning was the Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John i. I, 4). As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickencth them, even so the Son quickeneth whofn He will (v. 21). No. 359-] FAITH. 507 As the Father hath life in Himself so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (v. 26). The Bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life Jinto the world (vi. ■^■^. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life (vi. 63). Jesus said, He that followeth Me, shall have the light of life (viii. 12). / am come that they may have life, and may have abun- dance (x. 10). He who believeth in Me, though he be dead yet shall he live (xi, 25). I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (xiv. 6). Because I live, ye shall live also (xiv. 9). These thifigs are written that ye may have life in His jiame (xx. 31). He is eternal life (i John v. 20). By the life in faith and charity, is meant spiritual life which is given by the Lord to man in his natural life. 359. (4.) Yet nothing of Faith, and nothing of Charity, and nothing of the Life of either, is from Man, but fro?n the Lord alone. For we read that A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven (John iii. 27). And Jesus said, He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same britigeth forth much fruit ; for without Me ye can do nothing (xv. 5). But this is to be understood thus : that man of himself can procure for himself none but natural faith, which is per- suasion that a thing is so because some man of authority has said so ; nor can he procure any but natural charity, which is a working for favor, for the sake of some remu- neration ; in which faith and charity there is man's pro- prium ^^ownhood^ and ijot yet life from the Lord. Still, man by both of these prepares himself to be a receptacle of the Lord ; and as he prepares himself, so the Lord enters, and causes his natural faith to become spiritual, also his charity, and so makes both to be alive ; and this is done when man goes to the Lord as the God of heaven and earth. Because man was created an image of God, he was created an abode of God. Wherefore the Lord says, He that hath My co77imandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me ; and I will love him, and will come to hijn, and 5o8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. make an abode with him (John xiv. 21, 23). And again: Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and xvill sup with him, and he with Me (Apoc. iii. 20). Hence follows the conclusion, that as man prepares himself naturally to receive the Lord, so the Lord enters and makes all things with him inwardly spiritual, and thus alive. But, on the other hand, as far as man does not prepare himself, he removes the Lord from him, and does all things from him- self ; and what man does from himself has nothing of life in it. But these things cannot yet be set forth to be seen in- any light, before Charity and Free Will have been treated of ; and they will be seen later, in the chapter con- cerning Reformation and Regeneration. 360. It was stated above that faith in its beginning with man is natural, and that as man draws near to the Lord it becomes spiritual ; so also with charity. But no one has yet been acquainted with the distinction that there is between natural faith and charity and spiritual. This great arcanum must therefore be disclosed. There are two worlds, the nat- ural and the spiritual ; and in each world there is a sun and from each sun proceed light and heat : but the heat and light from the Sun of the spiritual world have life in them their life is from the Lord, Who is in the midst of that Sun ; but the heat and light from the sun of the natural world have nothing of life in them, but they serve the other heat and light as receptacles for the conveyance of them to man, as instrumental causes always serve their principals. It must be known, therefore, that the heat and light from the Sun of the spiritual world are those from which all spiritual things are ; these also are themselves spiritual, because spirit and life are in them ; while the heat and light from the sun of the natural world are those from which are all natural things, which viewed in themselves are without spirit and life. Now because faith is of light and charity is of heat, it is manifest that as- far as man is in the light !i No. 361.] FAITH. 509 and heat which proceed from the Sun of the spiritual world, he is in spiritual faith and charity ; while as far as he is in the light and heat which proceed from the sun of the natu- ral world, he is in natural faith and charity. Evidently, therefore, as spiritual light is inwardly in natural light as in its receptacle or its casket, and as spiritual heat in like manner is inwardly in natural heat, so also is spiritual faith inwardly in natural faith, and spiritual charity in like man- ner inwardly in natural charity ; and this is effected in the degree in which man advances from the natural world into the spiritual world ; and he does this as he believes in the Lord, Who is Light itself, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, as He Himself teaches. This being so, it is manifest that when man is in spiritual faith he is also in natural faith ; for as was said, spiritual faith is inwardly in natural faith. Because faith is of light, it follows that by this insertion man's natural becomes as it were transparent, and, accord- ing to the quality of its conjunction with charity, beautifully colored. This is because charity has a ruddy glow, and faith is shining white from the splendor of the light there- from. The contrary happens if the spiritual is not inwardly in the natural, but the natural is inwardly in the spiritual ; this is the case with men who reject faith and charity. With these, the internal of their mind, in which they are when left to their own thoughts, is infernal ; moreover they think from hell, although they do not know it ; but the external of their mind, from which they speak with their associates in the world, is as it were spiritual, but it is filled with such unclean things as are in hell ; they are therefore in hell, for, compared with the former class, they are in an inverted state. 361. When, therefore, it is known that the spiritual is iriwardly in the natural with those who are in faith in the Lord and at the same time in charity towards the neighbor, and that therefore the natural with them is transparent, it follows that so far as thi§ is the case man is wise in spirit- 510 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap VI. ual things and consequently in natural things also ; for whenever he thinks or reads or hears any thing, inwardly in himself he sees whether it is a truth or not. He per- ceives this from the Lord, from Whom spiritual light and heat flow into the higher sphere of his understanding. As far as faith and charity with man are made spiritual, he is withdrawn from proprium, and looks not to himself, to re- ward and recompense, but only to the enjoyment of perceiv- ing the truths of faith, and of doing the goods of love ; and as far as this spirituality is increased, that enjoyment becomes blessedness. From this is his salvation, which is called eternal life. This state of man may be compared with the most beautiful and charming things in the world, and it also is compared with them in the Word ; as with fruitful trees and the gardens in which they are, with flowery fields, with precious stones, with delicacies, and with nuptials and their festivities and rejoicings. But when the reverse is the case, that is, when the natural is inwardly in the spiritual, and thence the man in his internals is a devil and in his exter- nals like an angel, he may then be compared to a dead person in a coffin made of costly wood and gilded ; he may also be compared to a skeleton in full dress like a man, and borne about in a magnificent chariot ; and also to a corpse in a sepulchre built like the temple of Diana ; yes, his inter- nal may be imaged forth by a nest of serpents in a cavern, and his external by butterflies whose wings are tinted with colors of every kind, but which nevertheless stick their filthy eggs to the leaves of useful trees, from which their fruit is consumed ; yes, the internal of such may be com- pared with a hawk, and their external with a dove, and the faith and charity in it with the dove endeavoring to escape while the hawk flies over it, which tires it out at last and then darts upon and devours it. No. 362.] FAITH. 5 [ I VI. The Lord, Charity, and Faith, make one, like Life, Will, and Understanding in Man ; and IF they are divided, each perishes, like a Pearl reduced to Powder. 362. There shall first be stated some things which have been heretofore unknown in the learned world, and so in the ecclesiastical order ; as much so as things buried in the ground ; when yet they are treasures of wisdom ; and unless they are dug up and given to the public, in vain does man toil to come into any just cognition concerning God, concern- ing faith, concerning charity, and concerning the state of his life, how he should regulate and prepare it for the state of eternal life. These are things that have been unknown : — that man is a mere organ of life : that life with all belong- ing to it flows in from the God of heaven Who is the Lord : that there are two faculties of life in man, called the will and the understanding ; and that the will is the receptacle of charity, and the understanding the receptacle of faith : that all the things which man wills, and all the things which he understands flow in from without ; the goods which are of love and charity, and the truths which are of wisdom and faith, from the Lord ; but all that is contrary to them, from hell : that it has been provided by the Lord that man should feel in himself as his those things which flow in from with- out, and should therefore produce them of himself as his own, although nothing of them is his : that nevertheless those things are imputed to him as his, on account of the freedom of choice in which are his willing and his thinking, and on account of the cognitions of good and truth given him, from which he can freely choose whatever conduces to his temporal and his eternal life. A man who looks askance at the things which have been advanced, or from the corners of the eyes, may draw from them many insane conclusions ; but a man who looks at them directly, or with the full pupil, may draw from them many conclusions which 512 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. are of wisdom; and that this may be done and not the other, it was necessary first to put forth decisions and dog- mas concerning God and tte Divine Trinity, and afterward to establisli decisions and dogmas concerning Faith and Charity, Free Will, and Reformation and Regeneration, as also Imputation ; and likewise concerning Repentance, Bap- tism, and the Holy Supper, as means. 363. But that this article of faith (which is, that the Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and un- derstanding in man, and that if they are divided each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder) may be seen as a truth and acknowledged, it is expedient to consider it in this order : i. The Lord, with all His Divine Love, with all His Divine Wisdom, thus with all His Divine Life, flows in with every man. 2. Therefore with all the essetiee of faith and charity. 3. But they are received by man according to his form. 4. But the man who divides the Lord, charity, and faith, is not a form receiving but a form destroying them. 364. (i.) The Lord, with all His Divine Love, with all His Divine Wisdom, thus with all His Divine Life, flows in with every Man. In the book of Creation we read, that man was created an image of God ; and that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives (Gen. i. 27 ; ii. 7) ; which describes man as being an organ of life, and not Life. For God could not create another like Himself; if He could have done so, there would be as many gods as there are men. Neither could He create life (just as light can- not be created) ; but He could create man a form of life, as He created the eye a form of light. Neither could God, nor can He, divide His essence ; for this is one and indivis- ible. Since, therefore, God alone is Life, it follows indu- bitably that from His Life He vivifies every man ; and that man without that vivification would be as to his flesh a mere sponge, and as to his bones a mere skeleton, having no more life in him than a clock which is set in motion by a pendulum together with a weight or a spring. This being No. 364] FAITH. 513 SO, it follows also that God flows in with every man with all His Divine Life, that is, with all His Divine Love and His Divine Wisdom ; these two constitute His Divine Life, as may be seen above (n. 39, 40) ; for the Divine cannot be divided. But how God flows in with all His Divine Life may be perceived by an idea somewhat like that by which the sun, of the world with all its essence which is heat and light is perceived to flow into every tree and flower, and into every stone common as well as precious, every object taking its portion from this common influx, the sun not dividing its light and its heat and dispensing a part to this object and a part to that. It is similar with the Sun of heaven, from which the Divine love proceeds as heat and the Divine wisdom as light ; these two flow into human minds (as the heat and light of the sun of the world flow into men's bodies), and vivify them according to the quality of the form, each form taking from the com- mon influx what is necessary for itself. To this is appli- cable what the Lord says : Your Father maketh His Sun to rise on the evil a?id on the good, and scndeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. v. 45). Moreover the Lord is omnipresent ; and where He is present, there He is with His whole essence : and it is impossible for Him to take some of it away, and thus to give a part to one and a part to another ; but He gives the whole, and gives man the opportunity to take little or much. He says, moreover, that He has an abode with those who keep His command- ments, also that the faithful are in Him and He in them. In a word, all things are full of God, and every,one takes his portion from that fulness. It is similar with every thing general, as with the atmospheres and the oceans ; the atmosphere in its least parts is such as it is in the greatest ; it does not apportion a part of itself for man to breathe, and for the bird to fly in, or for the sails of a ship, or for the fans of a wind-mill ; but each of these takes from it its portion, and applies to itself as much as is suffi- VOL. II. 5 514 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. cient. The case is also the same as with a storehouse full of grain ; from it the possessor daily takes his food, and the granary does not distribute it. 365. (2.) Therefore the Lord with all the Essence of Faith and Charity flows in with every Man. This follows from the former theorem, since the life of Divine wisdom is the essence of faith, and the life of Divine love is the essence of charity; wherefore when the Lord is present with those things which are properly His, which are Divine wisdom and Divine love, He is also present with all the truths which are of faith and with all the goods which are of charity ; for by faith is meant all the truth which man from the Lord perceives, thinks, and speaks, and by charity is meant all the good with which he is affected by the Lord, and which he thence wills and does. It was said above that the Divine love which proceeds from the Lord as a Sun is perceived by the angels as heat, and that the Divine wisdom therefrom is perceived as light ; but one who does not think beyond the appearance may imagine that that heat is bare heat, and that light bare light, such as are the heat and light proceeding from the sun of our world. But the heat and light which proceed from the Lord as a Sun contain in their bosom all the infinities that are in the Lord ; the heat all the infinities of His Love, and the light all the infinities of His Wisdom, and thus also in infinity all the good which is of charity and all the truth which is of faith. This is because that Sun is itself pres- ent everywhere in its heat and its light, and it is the circle moft closely encompassing the Lord, emanating from His Divine Love and at the same time from His Divine Wisdom ; for, as has been several times stated above, the Lord is in the midst of that Sun. Hence it is now manifest that there can be nothing lacking to preclude man's taking from the Lord (because He is omnipresent) all the good which is of charity and all the truth which is of faith. That there is no such lack is evident from the No. 365.] FAITH. 5 1 5 love and wisdom which the angels of heaven have from the Lord, in their being ineffable, and to the natural man incomprehensible, and also capable of being multiplied to eternit}'. That there are infinite things in the light and heat which proceed from the Lord, although they are perceived simply as heat and light, may be illustrated by various things in the natural world ; as by these : The sound of a man's voice and speech is heard only as simple sound, and yet when the angels hear it they perceive in it all the affections of his love, and they also show what and of what quality they are. That these things are inwardly concealed in the sound, a man can also perceive in some measure from the tone of one speaking with him, as whether there is contempt in it, or ridicule, or hatred ; and also whether there is charity, benevolence, gladness, or other affection in it. Similar things are concealed in the lighting of the eye when it looks at any one. It may also be illustrated by the fragrances from a large garden or from extensive fields of flowers ; the fragrant odor exhaled from them, consists of thousands and myriads of different odors, and still they are perceived as one. It is similar with many other things, which although they appear uni- form extrinsically, are yet intrinsically manifold ; sympa- thies and antipathies are nothing else than exhalations of affections from the mind, which affect another according to similitudes, and cause aversion according to dissimili- tudes. These, although innumerable, and unperceived by any bodily sense, are yet perceived by the sense of the soul as one ; and all conjunctions and consociations in the spiritual world are effected according to them. These things have been presented in order to illustrate what was said above concerning the spiritual light which proceeds from the Lord, that in it are all things of wisdom, and hence all things of faith ; and that it is that light from which the understanding analytically sees and perceives rational things, as the eye sees and perceives natural things symmetrically. 5l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. 366. (3.) Those thhigs which flow in from the Lord, are received by Man according to his Form. By fortn is here meant man's state as to his love and wisdom together, and consequently as to the afifections of his goods of charity, and at the same time as to the perceptions of his truths of faith. That God is one, indivisible, and the same from eternity to eternity, not the same simply but infinitely, and that all variableness is in the subject in which He is, was shown above. That the form or recipient state induces variations, may be evident from the life of infants, chil- dren, youths, adults, and aged persons. The same life, because the same soul, is in each one from infancy to old age ; but as his state is varied according to the age and "what is suitable thereto, life also is perceived accordingly. The life of God in all fulness is not only with good and pious men, but also with the wicked and impious ; in like manner both with the angels of heaven and the spirits of hell. The difference is that the wicked obstruct the way and shut the door, that God may not enter into the lower regions of their mind ; while the good clear the way and open the door, and also invite God to enter the lower parts of their mind as He dwells in its highest parts ; and so they form the state of the will for the influx of love and charity, and the state of the understanding for the influx of wisdom and faith, consequently for the reception of God ; but the wicked obstruct that influx by various lusts of the flesh and spiritual defilements, which bestrew the way and hinder the passage ; but still God resides in their highest parts, with all His Divine essence, and gives them the faculty of will- ing good and of understanding truth ; a facult}'' that every man has, but which he would by no means have if life from God were not in his soul. That the wicked also have this faculty, has been granted me to know from much expe- rience. That every one receives life from God according to his form, may be illustrated by comparisons with plants of every kind. Every tree, every shrub, ever}' bush, and No. 367.] FAITH. 5 1 7 every blade of grass, receives the influx of heat and light according to its form ; and not only those which are of good use, but those also which are of evil use ; the sun with its heat does not change their forms, but the forms change its effects in themselves. So it is with the subjects of the mineral kingdom ; each one of them, the valuable and the common alike, receives influx according to the form of the contexture of the parts among themselves, thus one stone differently from another, one mineral differently from another, and one metal differently from another. Some of them adorn themselves with most beautiful variegated colors, some transmit the light without variegation, and some confuse and suffocate it in themselves. From these few examples it may be evident, that as the sun of the world with its heat and its light is equally present in one object and another, but the recipient forms vary its operations, so is the Lord present, from the Sun of heaven, in the midst of which He is, with its heat which in its essence is love, and with its light which in its essence is wisdom ; but that man's form, which is induced by the states of his life, varies the operations ; consequently that the Lord is not the cause that a man is not born again and saved, but the man himself. 367. (4.) But the Man who divides the Lord, Charity, and Faith, is not a Form receiving but a Form destroying them. For he Avho separates the Lord from charity and faith, separates life from them, and when this is done, charity and faith either do not exist or they are abortions. That the Lord is Life itself, may be seen above (n. 358). He who acknowledges the Lord and separates charity, ac- knowledges Him with the lips only ; his acknowledgment and confession are only cold, in which is no faith ; for they are destitute of spiritual essence, as charity is the essence of faith. But he who does charity but does not acknowl- edge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, one with the Father (as He Himself teaches), does no other charity 5l8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI than what is merely natural, in which there is not eternal life. The man of the church knows that all good which in itself is good is from God, consequently from the Lord, Who is the true God and eternal Life (i John v. 20). So also with charity, because good and charity are one. Faith separate from charity is not faith, because faith is the light of man's life, and charity is the heat of it ; wherefore when charity is separated from faith, it is as when heat is sepa- rated from light ; man's state thus becomes like that of the world in winter, when all things on the earth die. That charity may be charity and faith may be faith, they can no more be separated than the will and the understanding ; and if these are separated, the understanding becomes nothing, and presently the will likewise. It is similar with charity and faith, because charity resides in the will, and faith in the understanding. Separating charity from faith is like separating essence from form. It is known in the learned world that essence without form, or form without essence, is not any thing ; for essence has no quality except from form, nor is form a subsisting entity except from essence ; consequently, nothing can be predicated of either when separated from the other. Charity is also the essence of faith, and faith is the form of charity ; just as good (as stated above) is the essence of truth, and truth is the form of good. These two, namely, good and truth, are in all things which essentially exist, and in each of them singly ; therefore charity, because it is of good, and faith, because it is of truth, may be illustrated by comparisons with many things in the human body and with many things on the earth. Comparison with the respiration of the lungs and the systolic motion of the heart, is fitting ; for charity can no more be separated from faith than the heart from the lungs ; for when the heart's pulsation ceases, immediately the respiration of the lungs ceases ; and when the respira- tion of the lungs ceases, all the senses faint, all the muscles are deprived of motion, and soon afterwards the heart stops, No. 367] FAITH. 519 and all the life is dissipated. This comparison is fitting, inasmuch as the heart corresponds to the will and therefore to charity also, and the respiration of the lungs to the un- derstanding and therefore to faith also ; for, as said above, charity resides in the will, and faith in the understanding. Nor is any thing else meant in the Word by heart and spirit. The separation of charity and faith also coincides with the separation of blood and flesh ; for blood separated from the flesh is gore, and becomes corruption ; and flesh separated from the blood gradually becomes putrid and breeds worms. Blood also in the spiritual sense signifies the truth of wisdom and faith ; and flesh, the good of love and charity. That this is the signification of blood, is shown in the " Apocalypse Revealed," n. 379, and that flesh has this signification, n. 832. Charity and faith, to be any thing, can no more be separated than food and water, or than bread and wine, with man ; for food or bread taken without water and wine merely distends the stomach, and as an undigested mass destroys it, and becomes like putrid filth. Water and wine without food or bread, also distend the stomach and likewise the vessels and pores, which being thus destitute of nutrition emaciate the body even to death. This comparison is also just, since food and bread in the spiritual sense signify the good of love and charity, and water and wine signify the truth of wisdom and faith, as maybe seen in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 50, 316, 778, 932). Charity conjoined with faith, and faith conjoined in its turn with charity, may be likened to the face of a hand- some virgin, beautiful from the blending of red and white ; which similitude is also fitting, since love and hence charity in the spiritual world are red from the fire of the Sun there, and truth and hence faith are white from the light of that Sun. Wherefore charity separated from faith may be likened to a face inflamed with pimples, and faith separated from ■charity may be likened to the pallid face of a corpse. Faith separated from charity may also be likened to paralysis of 520 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI.' one side, which is called hemiplegia, from which, when it increases the man dies. It may also be likened to St. Vitus's dance, or the dance of St. Guy, which comes from the bite of the tarantula. The rational faculty becomes like one so bitten ; like him it dances furiously ; and it believes itself to be then alive, when yet it can no more collect reasons into one, and think concerning spiritual truths, than one lying in bed weighed down with night- mare. These are sufficient for the demonstration of the two themes of this chapter: first, That faith without charity is not faith, that charity without faith is not charity, and that neither lives except from the Lord ; and second. That the Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding in man ; and that if they are divided, each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder. VII. The Lord is Charity and Faith in Man, and Man is Charity and Faith in the Lord. 368. That the man of the church is in the Lord, and the Lord in him, is evident from these passages in the Word : Jesus said. Abide in Me and I in you ; / am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit (John xv. 4, 5), He that eateth My fiesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me and I IN him (vi. 56). At that day ye shall know that L am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you * (xiv. 20). Who- soever confcsseth that yesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth IN HIM AND HE IN GoD (i John iv. 1 5). Yet the man him- self cannot be in the Lord, but the charity and faith which are with him from the Lord, from which two man is essen- tially man. But in order that this arcanum may appear in some light before the understanding, it is to be investigated in this series: i. It is by conjunctio7i with God that man has salvation and eternal life. 2. Conjunction with God the * The Latin here reads in illo, in him. No. 369.] FAITH. 521 Father is not possible, but with the Lord, and through Him with God the Father. 3. Conj miction with the Lord is re- ciprocal, that is, the Lord is in man, and man in the L^rd. 4. This reciprocal conjunction is effected by charity and faith. That these things are so will be manifest from the explana- tion that follows. 369. (i.) // is by Conjunction with God that Man has Salvation and eternal Life. Man was created that he may be conjoined with God ; for he was created a native of heaven, and also of the world ; and as far as he is a native of heaven he is spiritual, while as far as he is a native of the world he is natural ; and the spiritual man can think of God and perceive such things as are of God, he can also love God, and be affected with those things which are from God ; from which it follows that he can be conjoined with God. That man can think of God and can perceive such things as are of God, is beyond all doubt ; for he can think of the Unity of God, the Esse of God which is Jeho- vah, of God's Immensity and Eternity, the Divine Love and Wisdom which make the Essence of God, of God's Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence, of the Lord the Saviour His Son, and of Redemption and Mediation, and also of the Holy Spirit, and finally of the Divine Trinity; which all are of God, yes, are God. Moreover, he can think of God's operations, which are principally ' faith and charity, and of other things also which proceed from these two. That man can not only think of God, but also love Him, is evident from the two commandments of God Himself, which read thus : Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul ; this is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it ; Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself (Matt. xxii. 37-39 ; Deut. vi. 5). That man can keep God's commandments, and that this is to love Him and to be loved by Him, is evident from these words : Jesus said, LLe that hath ATy commandments afid keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and 522 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him (John xiv. 21). Besides, what is faith but conjunction with God by truths which are of the understanding and thence of the thought ? And what is love but conjunction with God by goods which are of the will and thence of the affection ? God's conjunction with man is spiritual conjunction in the nat- ural, and man's conjunction with God is natural conjunc- tion from the spiritual. For the sake of this conjunction as an end, man was created a native of heaven and at the same time of the world ; as a native of heaven he is spiritual, and as a native of the world he is natural. If therefore a man becomes spiritual-rational, and at the same spiritual-moral, he is conjoined with God, and by the conjunction he has salvation and eternal life. But if man is merely natural-rational and also natural-moral, there is indeed a conjunction of God with him, but not a conjunc- tion of him with God ; from this he has spiritual death, which viewed in itself is natural life without spiritual ; for with him the spiritual, in -which is the life of God, is extinct. 370. (2.) Conjunction with God the Father is not possible, but with the Lord, and through Him with God the Father. This the Scripture teaches, and reason sees. The Scrip- ture teaches that God the Father has never been seen or heard, and that He cannot be seen or heard ; consequently that from Himself, such as He is in His Esse and in His Essence, He cannot operate any thing with man ; for the Lord says that no one hath seen the Father* save He Who is of God,\ He hath seen the Father (John vi. 46). Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Sofi, and he to whotn- soever the Son will reveal him (Matt. xi. 27). Ye have neither heard the Father'' s voice, nor seen His shape (John v. 37). This is because He is in the firsts and the principles of all * The Latin here reads Deuvt, God. t The Latin here reads a^ud Patretn, with the Father. No. 370.] FAITH. 523 things, so most eminently above all the sphere of the human mind ; for He is in the firsts and the principles of all things of wisdom and all things of love, and with those man has no possible conjunction. Wherefore if He should come to man or man to Him, man would be consumed and would melt away like wood in the focus of a large burning-glass ; or rather, like an image thrown into the sun itself. It was therefore said to Moses, who desired to see God, that man cannot see H'un and live (Ex. xxxiii. 20). But that God the Father is conjoined through the Lord, is evident from the passages just adduced; that not the Father, but the Only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father and has seen the Father, has brought to view and revealed the things which are of God and from God. Furthermore, from these passages : At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father^ and ye in Me, and I in you (John xiv. 2«). And the glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one ; J in them, and Thou ift Me (xvii. 22, 23 ; also 26). Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me. And then Philip wished to see the Father, and the Lord answered him, He that seeth Me seeth the Father also; He that knoweth Me knoweth the Father also (xiv. 6, 7, and subsequent verses). And in another place. He that seeth Me seeth Him That sent Me (xii. 45). And He moreover says that He is the Door, and that whosoever entereth through Him, is saved ; while he that climbeth up some other way, is a thief and a robber (x. i, 9). And He says also that he that abideth not in Him is cast out, and, like a dried braiich, is cast into the fire (xv. 6). This is because the Lord our Saviour is Jehovah the Father Himself, in the Human form ; for Jehovah de- scended and became Man, that He might be able to draw near to man and man to Him, and so conjunction might be effected, and that by conjunction man should have sal- vation and eternal life. For when God became Man, and 524 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. thus also became Man-God, being then accommodated to man He could draw near to him and be conjoined with him, as God-Man and Man-God. There are three things which follow in order, Accommodation^ Application., and Conjunction. There must be accommodation before there is application ; and there must be accommodation and application together, before there is conjunction. The ac- commodation on God's part was, that He became Man ; application on God's part is perpetual so far as man ap- plies himself in his turn ; and as this is done, conjunction is effected also. These three follow one another and pro- ceed in their order, in all things which become one and co-exist, and in them singly. 371. (3.) Conjunction with the Lord is reciprocal, that is, the Lord is in Man, and Man in the Lord. That conjunc- tion is reciprocal, the Scripture teaches, and reason also sees. Of His conjunction with the Father, Hhe Lord teaches that it is reciprocal ; for He says to Philip, Believest thou not that L am in the leather and the Father in Me ? Believe Me that L am in the Father and the Father in Me (John xiv. TO, 11). That ye may knoiv atid believe that the Father is in Me, and L in the Father (x. 38). Jesus said. Father, the hour is come ; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (xvii. i). Father, all Mine are Thine, and all Thine are Mine (xvii. 10). The Lord says the same con- cerning His conjunction with man, that is, that it is re- ciprocal ; for He says. Abide in Me and L in you ; he that ABIDETH IN Me AND I IN HIM, the Same bringeth forth much fruit (John xv. 4, 5). He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and I in him (vi. 56). At that day ye shall know that L atn in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (xiv. 20). Lfe that keepeth the command- ments of Christ dwelleth in Him, and He in him (1 John iii. 24; also iv. 13). Whosoever confesseth that jfesus* is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God (iv. 15). * The Latin here reads Christus. No. 37i] FAITH. 525 If ariy man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and I will sup with him and he with Me (Apoc. iii. 20). From these plain declarations, it is evident that the conjunction of the Lord and man is reciprocal ; and because it is reciprocal, it n'ecessarily follows that man ought to conjoin himself with the Lord, that the Lord may conjoin Himself with man ; and that otherwise, conjunc- tion is not effected, but withdrawal, and consequently a separation, yet this not on the Lord's part but on man's. That there may be this reciprocal conjunction, free choice is given to man, from which he can walk in the way to heaven pr the way to hell. From this freedom that is given to man, flows his power of reciprocation, which enables him to conjoin himself with the Lord or to conjoin himself with the devil. But this liberty, its quality, and the pur- pose for which it is given to man, will be illustrated in the following chapters, where we shall treat of Free Will, of Repentance, of Reformation and Regeneration, and of Imputation, It is to be lamented that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, although it stands out so clearly in the Word, is still unknown in the Christian church. That it is unknown is because of certain hypothe- ses concerning faith and concerning free-will. The hy- potheses concerning faith are, that faith is bestowed upon man without his contributing any thing toward the acquisi- tion of it, or fitting and applying himself any more than a stock to its reception. The hypothesis concerning free- will is, that man has not even a grain of free-will in spiritual things. But that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, on which the salvation of the human race depends, may be no longer concealed and unknown, necessity itself enjoins its disclosure, which cannot be better effected than by examples, because they illustrate. There are two kinds of reciprocation by which conjunction is effected : one is alternate, and the other is mutual. The alternate recipro- cation by which conjunction is effected, may be illustrated 526 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI by the action of the lungs in breathing. Man inhales the air, and thereby expands the chest ; and then he expels the air that was inhaled, and thereby contracts the chest. This inhalation, and the consequent expansion, is effected by means of the pressure of the air proportionate to its column ; while this expulsion, and the consequent con- traction, is effected by means of the ribs, by the force of the muscles. Such is the reciprocal conjunction of the air and the lungs, on which depends the life of the senses and of the motions of the whole body ; for these grow faint when respiration stops. The reciprocal conjunction which is effected by alternations of action, may be also illustrated by the conjunction of the heart with the lungs, and of the lungs with the heart. The heart from its right chamber pours the blood into the lungs, and the lungs pour it back into the left chamber of the heart ; thus is effected that reciprocal conjunction on which the life of the whole body is wholly dependent. There is a similar conjunction of the blood with the heart ; the blood of all the body flows through the veins into the heart, and from the heart it flows out through the arteries into the whole body ; action and reaction make this conjunction. There is a similar action and reaction (by which there is a constant conjunction) between the embryo and the mother's womb. There is not, however, such a reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, but there is a mutual conjunction which is not effected by action and reaction, but by co-operation ; for the Lord acts, and man receives action from the Lord and operates as from himself ; yes, out of himself, from the Lord. This operation of man from the Lord is imputed to man as his, inasmuch as he is constantly kept in the freedom of will by the Lord. The freedom of will resulting from this is, that man has ability to will and to think from* the Lord, that is, from the Word ; and also ability to will and to think from the devil, that is, contrary to the Lord and the Word. The Lord gives man this freedom, so that he may No. 372.] FAITH. 527 be able to conjoin himself reciprocally, and by conjunction be gifted with eternal life and blessedness ; for this, with- out reciprocal conjunction, is not possible. This reciprocal conjunction which is mutual, may also be illustrated by various things in man and in the world : such is the con- junction of the soul and the body in every man ; such is the conjunction of will and action, and also that of thought and speech ; such is the conjunction of the two eyes with each other, of the two ears with each other, and of the two nostrils with each other. That the conjunction of the two eyes is in its way reciprocal, is manifest from the optic nerve, in which fibres from both hemispheres of the cere- brum are folded with each other, and thus folded together they extend to both the eyes. It is similar with the ears and the nostrils. There is a similar mutual reciprocal conjunction of light and the eye, of sound and the ear, of odor and the nostril, of taste and the tongue, of touch and the body ; for the eye is in the light and the light is in the eye, sound is in the ear and the ear is in sound, odor is in the nostril and the nostril is in odor, taste is in the tongue and the tongue is in taste, and touch is in the body and the body is in touch. This reciprocal conjunction may also be compared with the conjunction of a horse and a carriage, of an ox and a plough, of a wheel and machinery, of a sail and the wind, of a musical pipe and the air ; in short, such is the reciprocal conjunction of the end and the cause, and such is that of the cause and the effect. But there is not time to explain all these examples one by one, for that would be a work of many pages. 372. (4.) This reciprocal Conjunction of the Lord a7id Man is effected by Charity af id Faith. It is known at this day that the church constitutes the Body of Christ, and that every one in whom the church is, is in some member of that Body, according to Paul (Eph. i. 23 ; i Cor. xii. 27 ; Rom. xii. 4, 5). But what is the Body of Christ, but Divine Good and Divine Truth ? This is meant by the Lord's words in John, He 528 THE T-RUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and J in him (vi. 56). By the Lord's flesh, as also by bread, is meant Divine good ; and by His blood, as also by wine, is meant Divine truth ; that these are meant will be seen in the chapter concerning the Holy Supper. From this it follows, that as far as man is in the goods of charity and in the truths of faith, he is in the Lord and the Lord is in him ; for the conjunction with the Lord is spiritual conjunction, and spiritual conjunction is effected solely by charity and faith. That there is a conjunction of the Lord and the church, and consequently of good and truth, in all things of the Word and in every single thing, was shown in the chapter concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 248-253); and since charity is good and faith is truth, there is every- where in the Word a conjunction of charity and faith. Hence now it follows, that the Lord is Charity and Faith in man, and that man is charity and faith in the Lord ; for the Lord is Spiritual Charity and Faith in the natural charity and faith of man ; and man is natural charity and faith from the Spiritual of the Lord; which, conjoined, make a spiritual-natural charity and faith. VIIL Charity and Faith are together in Good Works, 373. In every work that proceeds from man, there is the whole man such as he is as to the mind [animtes], or such as he is essentially. By the mind [animus] is meant his love's affection and the thought therefrom ; these form his nature, and in general his life. If we look upon works thus, they are as mirrors of the man. This may be illus- trated by what is similar in brute animals and in wild beasts ; a brute is a brute and a wild beast is a wild beast in all their actions. In all their actions a wolf is a wolf, a tiger is a tiger, a fox is a. fox, and a lion is a lion ; so, too, with a sheep and a kid in all their actions. So, too, with No. 374-1 FAITH. 529 man ; but he is such as he is in his internal man ; if in this he is Hke a wolf or a fox, then all his work is internally wolfish or fox-like, but the reverse if he is like a sheep or a lamb. But that he is such in all his works, is not manifest in his external man, because this is changeable in its rela- tion to the internal ; but still it is inwardly concealed in this. The Lord s-ac^^, A good man, otit of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good ; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil (Luke vi. 45); and also. Every tree is known by its own fruit ; for of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes (vi. 44). That in the things which proceed from him, one and all, the man is such as he is in his internal man, is after death shown in him to the very life ; since he then lives an internal and no longer an external man. That good is in man, and that every work which proceeds from him is good, when the Lord, charity, and faith reside in his internal man, will be demon- strated in this series: i. Charity is to tvill 7vell, and good works are to do well fro?n 7villing ivell. 2 . Charity arid faith are only mental and perishable things, unless they are deter- mined to works and coexist in them, when possible. 3, Charity alone does not produce good works, and still less faith alone, but charity aftd faith together. But these will be considered one by one. 374. (i.) Charity is to will well, and Good Works are to do well from willing well. Charity and works are distinct from each other like will and action, and like the mind's affection and the body's operation ; consequently, also, like the internal man and the external ; and in relation to each other these are like cause and effect, since the causes of all things are formed in the internal man, and all effects are produced therefrom in the external; wherefore charity, because it is of the internal man, is to will well ; and the works, because they are of the external man, are to do well from willing well. But still there is infinite diversity be- 530 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. tween the good willing of one and of others ; for all that is done by any one in favor of another is believed or appears to flow from good will or benevolence ; but still it is not known whether the good deeds are from charity or not, still less whether they are from genuine or from spurious charity. This infinite diversity between the good will of one and of others, originates in the end, intention, and con- sequent purpose ; these are inwardly concealed in the will of performing good actions ; the quality of every one's will is from them. And the will searches the understanding for the means and modes of arriving at its ends which are effects ; and in the understanding it places itself in the light, that it may see not only the reasons but also the occasions, when and how it is to determine itself to acts, and thus produce its effects which are works ; and at the same time it brings itself in the understanding into the power of acting. From this it follows that works are essentially of the will, formally of the understanding, and actually of the body. Thus charity comes down into good works. This may be illustrated by comparison with a tree. Man himself, in all that belongs to him, is like a tree. In the seed of the tree there are concealed, as it were, the end, intention and purpose of producing fruits ; in these the seed corresponds to the will with man, in wliich are those three things, as stated above. Then the seed from its interiors shoots up from the earth, clothes itself with branches, branchlets, and leaves, and so prepares for itself means to the ends which are fruits j in these the tree corresponds to the understanding in man. And finally, when the time comes, and there is opportunity for determination, it bears blossoms, and yields fruits ; in these the tree corresponds to good works with man ; and it is manifest that they are essentially of the seed, formally of the branchlets and leaves, and actually of the wood of the tree. This may also be illustrated by comparison with a temple. Man is a temple of God according to Paul (i Cor, iii. i6, 17 ; 2 Cor. M No. 375-1 FAITH. 53 1 vi. 16; Ephes. ii. 21, 22). As a temple of God, man has salvation and eternal life for his end, intention, and pur- pose ; in these there is a correspondence with the will, in which these three are. Afterwards he acquires doctrinals of faith and charity from parents, masters, and preachers ; and, when he becomes capable of judging for himself, from the Word and from doctrinal works, all of which are means to the end ; in these there is a correspondence with the understanding. Finally there takes place a determination to uses, according to the doctrinals as means ; which is effected by acts of the body, which are called good works. Thus the end, through mediate causes, produces effects, which are essentially of the end, formally of the doctrinals of the church, and actually of uses. So man becomes a temple of God. 375. (2.) Charity and Faith are only Mental and Perish- able things, unless they are determined to Works and coexist in them, when possible. Has not man a head and a body con- nected by the neck ? Is there not in the head a mind which wills and thinks, and in the body power which performs and executes ? If therefore man were only to will weU or were to think from charity, and were not to do well and perform uses from it, would he not be as a head only, and thus as a mind only, which cannot subsist alone without a body ? Who does not see from this, that charity and faith are not charity and faith while they are only in the head and its mind and not in the body ? For they are then like birds flying in the air without any resting-place on the earth, and also like birds ready to lay, but having no nests, in which case the eggs would drop in the air or upon the branch of some tree, and would fall to the ground and be destroyed. There is nothing in the mind to which there does not correspond something in the body ; and that which corresponds may be called its embodiment ; wherefore, while charity and faith are in the mind only, they are not embodied in the man, and they may be likened to the aerial being 532 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. called a spectre, such as Fame was painted by the ancients, with a laurel around her head, and in the hand a horn.* Because they are such spectres and still are able to think, with such persons there cannot but be agitation by fanta- sies, which is also brought about by reasonings from various kinds of sophistry, almost as reeds of the marsh are shaken by the wind, beneath which shells lie at the bottom, and frogs croak on the surface. Who cannot see that such things take place when men merely know some things from the Word about charity and faith, and do not do them ? Moreover the Lord says, Whosoever heareth My words and DOETH THEM, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And every one that heareth My words and DOETH THEM NOT shall be likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand, or upon the ground with- out a foundation (Matt. vii. 24, 26 ; Luke vi. 47-49). Charity and faith with their factitious ideas while man does not practise them, may also be compared to butterflies in the air, upon which when seen the sparrow darts and devours them. The Lord also says, A sower went forth to sow ; and some fell upon the hard way, and the fowls came and devoured them (Matt. xiii. 3, 4). 376. That charity and faith do not profit a man while they inhere only in one hemisphere of his body, that i?, in his head, and are not grounded in works, is evident from a thousand passages in the Word, of which I will adduce only these : Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire (Matt. vii. 19 ; also verses 20, 21). He that received seed into the good ground, is he that heareth the Word and attendeth, who also beareth fruit AND bringeth FORTH. When Jesus said these things He cried saying. Who hath ears to hear let him hear (Matt. xiii. 23, 43). Jesus said, My mother and My brethren are these who hear the Word of God and do it (Luke viii. 21). We know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a war- * The Latin here has cornucopia, probably for coj-hu. No. 376.] FAITH. 533 shipper of God and doeth His will, him He heareth (John ix. 31). Jf ys know these things happy are ye if ye do them (xiii. 17). He that hath My comtnandmmts and keepeth THEM, he it is that loveth Me, and I will love him and will 7nanifest Myself to him ; and I will come unto him and make an abode with him (xiv. 21, 23). Herein is My Father glori- fied, that ye bear much fruit (xv. 8 ; also verse 16). Not the hearers of the law are justified before God, but the doers OF THE LAW (Rom. ii. 13 ; James i. 22). God in the day of wrath and righteous judgment will render to every man ac- cording to HIS DEEDS (Rom. ii. 5, 8). We must all appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, that every one 7nay receive THE THINGS DONE IN THE BODY, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. v. 10). The Son of Alan shall come iii the glory of His Father, and then He shall reward every man according to his works (Matt. xvi. 27). I heard a voice from heaven saying. Blessed are the dead "Who die in the Lord from henceforth ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do fol- low THEM (Apoc. xiii. 14). A Book was opened, which is the Book of Life ; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the book, all according to their works (xx. 12, 13). Behold I come quickly, and My reivard is with Me to give eiiery man according to his work (Apoc. xxii. 12). Jeliovah, Whose eyes are open upon all the ways of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings (Jer. xxxii. 19). / will visit according to his ways, and L will reward him his works (Hos. iv. 9). Jehovah dealeth with us according to our ways, and according to our works (Zech. i. 6). So in a thousand other passages. Hence it may be evident that charity and faith are not charity and faith before they are in works ; and that if they are only in the expanse, above works, or in mind, they are like images of a taber- nacle or of a temple in the air, which are nothing but a mirage, and vanish of themselves ; and are like pictures 534 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. drawn on paper, which moths consume ; or they are like an abode on the housetop, where there is no place to sleep, instead of in the house. From this it may now be seen that charity and faith are perishable things while they are merely mental, unless they are determined to works and coexist in them when this can be done. 377. (3.) Charity alone does not produce Good Works ^ still less Faith alone, but Charity and Faith together. This is because charity without faith is not charity, and faith with- out charity is not faith, as shown above (n. 355-358); wherefore there is no solitary charity or solitary faith ; consequently it cannot be said that charity by itself pro- duces any good works, or faith by itself. It is the same with them as with the will and the understanding. There is no solitary will, and therefore it does not produce any thing ; nor is there a solitary understanding, nor does it produce any thing ; but all production is effected by both together, and it is effected by the understanding from the will. There is this similarity, because the will is the abode of charity, and the understanding is the abode of faith. It is said, Still less does faith alone \_prod?tce good works'], be- cause faith is truth, and its operation is to make truths, and these illuminate charity and its exercises. That truths illu- minate, the Lord teaches by saying. He that doeth truth Cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, since they are done in G^^^ (John iii. 21). Wherefore while man does good works according to truths, he does them in light, that is, intelligently and wisely. The conjunction of charity and faith is like the marriage of husband and wife. All natural offspring are born from the husband as father and from the wife as mother ; in like manner all spiritual offspring (which are cognitions of good and .truth) are born from charity as the father and from faith as the mother. From this may be cognized the generation of spiritual families. In the Word, also, husband and father in the spiritual sense signify the good of charity, and wife No. 378-1 FAITH. 535 and mother the truth of faith. From this again it is mani- fest that neither charity alone nor faith alone can produce good works, as neither a husband alone nor a wife alone can produce any offspring. The truths of faith not only illuminate charity, but they also qualify it, and moreover nourish it ; wherefore a man who has charity but not truths of faith is like one walking in a garden by night, who plucks fruits from the trees, not knowing whether they are fruits of good use or of evil use. Since truths of faith not only illuminate charity but also qualify it, as said before, it follows that charity without truths of faith is like fruit with- out juice, like a dri?d-up fig, and like a grape after the wine has been pressed out of it. Since truths nourish faith, as was also said, it follows that if charity is without truths of faith it has no other nourishment than a man has from eat- ing burnt bread, and at the same time drinking unclean water from some stagnant pond. IX. There is a true Faith, a spurious Faith, and a HYPOCRITICAL FaITH. 378. The Christian church began from the cradle to be infested and divided by schisms and heresies, and in the course of time to be torn and mutilated almost as we read of the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho ; he was surrounded by robbers, who stripped him and beat him and then left him half dead (Luke x. 30). Whence it has come to pass as we read of that church in Daniel : At length upon the bird of abominations there shaJl be desolation, and even to a consummation and decree, shall it drop upon the dev- astation (ix. 27). Also according to these words of the Lord : Then shall the end come, zuhcn ye shall see the abomi- nation of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Matt. xxiv. 14, 15). The lot of this church may be compared with that of a ship laden with merchandise of the greatest value, which, as soon as it left the port was driven about 536 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. by storms ; and soon after, a wreck on the sea, it settles down, and its merchandise is in part destroyed by the water, and partly scattered by the fishes. That the Chris- tian church has been so vexed and torn from its infancy is evident from ecclesiastical history, which shows that this was done even in the time of the apostles by Simon who was a Samaritan by birth, and in practice a magician, of whom in the Acts of the Apostles (viii. 9-20) ; and also by Hymeneus and Phileius, who are mentioned by Paul in the [second] Epistle to Timothy ; also by Nicholas, from whose name {Nicolaus) the Nicolaitans were called, who are men- tioned in the Apocalypse (ii. 6), and in the Acts (vi. 5); and also by Cerinthus. After the times of the apostles, many others arose, as the Marciojiites, the Noetians, the EncratHes, the Cataphrygians, the Quarto- Decimans, the Aiogians, the Catharians, the Origenists or Adamites, the Sabellians, the Samosatenes, the Manichaeans, the Meletians, and lastly the Arians. After their times, also, whole bat- talions of heresiarchs invaded the church, as DonatistSy P/iotinians, Acacians or Se?niarians, Eimoviians, Alacedo- nians, Nestorians, Predestinarians, Papists, Zwinglians, Ana- baptists, Schwenckfeldians, Synergists, Socinians, Antitrini- tarians, Quakers, Moravians, and many more. At last Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin have prevailed over these, whose dogmas reign at this day. The causes of so many divisions and separations in the church are principally three : First, The Divine Trinity has not been understood ; Second, There has been no just recognition of the Lord ; Third, The passion of the cross has been taken for redemp- tion itself. While there is ignorance concerning these three things, which yet are the very essentials of faith from which the church has its being and is called a church, it cannot be otherwise than that all things of the church should be drawn aside into a wrong and at length into the opposite course, and when there, should still believe that it is in the true faith in God and in the faith of all the truths of God. No. 379-] FAITH. 537 It is with them as with those who bandage their eyes, and then fancy themselves to be walking in a straight line, and yet step after step they deviate from it, and at length turn in the opposite direction where there is a cave into which they fall. But the man of the church cannot be led back from his wandering, into the way of truth, except by know- ing what true faith is, what spurious faith is, and what hypo- critical faith is. It shall therefore be demonstrated, i. That the true faith is the one only faith^ atid that it is faith in the Lo?'d God the Saviour jfesus Christ, and is with those who believe Him to be the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father ; 2. That spurious faith is all faith that departs fro fti the true, which is the one only faith, and that it is with those who climb up some other way, and regard the Lord not as God but only as a man; 3. That hypocritical faith is no faith. 379. (i.) The true Faith is the one only Faith ; it is Faith in the Lord God the Saviour jfcsus Christ, and is with those who believe LLim to be the Son of God, the God of LLeaven and Earth, and one with the Father. The true faith is the one only faith, because faith is truth ; and truth cannot be broken up or cut in halves so that one part of it may look to the left and another to the right, and still remain its own truth. Faith in a general sense consists of innumerable truths, for it is the complex of them ; but those innumera- ble truths make as it were one body, and in that body the truths are what make its members ; some make the mem- bers which depend on the breast, as the arms and hands ; some make those which depend on the loins, as the feet and the soles of the feet. But interior truths make the head ; and the truths directly proceeding from these, make the sensories which are in the face. Interior truths make the head, because when it is said interior, higher also is meant ; for in the spiritual world all interior things are also the higher ; it is so with the three heavens there. Of this body and of all its members, the Lord God the Saviour is VOL. II. 6 538 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. the Life and Soul ; therefore Paul called the church the Body of Christ ; and the men of the church, according to the states of charity and faith in them, make its members. That the true faith is the one only faith, Paul also teaches thus : There is Ofie 'body and one spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God. He gave the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come into the UNITY OF THE FAITH, and the knowledge of the Son of God, and into a life perfected to the measure of the age of the fulness of C/zr/i-/ (Ephes. iv. 4, 5, 6, 12, 13). That the true faith, •which is the one only faith, is in the Lord God the Saviour yesus Christ, was fully shown above (n, 337-339). But that the true faith is with those who believe the Lord to be the Son of God, is because they believe also that He is God ; and faith is not faith unless it is in God. That this element of faith is primary in all the truths which enter into faith and form it, is evident from the words of the Lord to Peter when he said, Thou art the Christ the Son OF the living God: Blessed art thou, Simon. L say unto thee, upoti this Rock L will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (MaXt. xvi. 16, 17). By Rock, here as elsewhere in the Word, is meant the Lord as to Divine Truth ; and also Divine truth from the Lord. That this truth is the primary, and like a diadem upon the head and a sceptre in the hand of the body of Christ, is evident from the Lord's saying that upon that rock He would build His church, and the gates of hell should not prevail against it. That this primary of faith is such, is also evident from these words in John : Whosoever shall confess that yesus is the Sofi of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God {1 Epistle iv. 15). Besides this characteris- tic of their being in the true faith, which is the one only faith, there is also another, which is that they believe the Lord to be the God of heaven and earth. This follows from the former, that He is the Soti of God, and from the state- ments that in Him is all the fulness of the Godhead (Colos. No. 379-] FAITH. 539 ii. 9) : that He is the God of heaven and earth (Matt, xxviii. 18) : that all things of the Father are His (John iii. 35 ; xvi. 15). A third sign that they who beheve in the Lord are interiorly in faith in Hiin, thus in the true faith which is the only one, is that they believe the Lord to be one with the Father. That He is one with God the Father, and that He is the Father Himself in the Human, was fully shown in the chapter concerning the Lord and Redemption, and is very evident from the words of the Lord Himself, that the Father and He are one (John x, 30) : that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father (x. 38; xiv. 10, 11): that He said to the disciples, Henceforth ye know the Father and have seen Hi7n : also that He looked on Philip and said, that he then saw and knew the Father (John xiv. 7-10). These three are characteristic testimonies that men are in faith in the Lord, thus in the true which is the one only faith, because not all who go to the Lord are in faith in Him ; for true faith is internal, and at the same time ex- ternal. Those who have these three precious characteris- tics of faith are in both the internals of that faith and its externals ; thus it is not only a treasure in their heart, but also a jewel in their mouth. It is otherwise with those who do not acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, and as one with the Father. They look interiorly to other Gods who have like power ; but they acknowledge that this is to be exercised by the Son, either as a Vicar, or as One Who on account of redemption has deserved to reign over those whom He has redeemed. But these break the true faith in pieces by the division of the unity of God ; and when this has been done, there is faith no longer, but only the ghost of faith ; which when seen naturally appears like some image of it, but seen spiritually it becomes a chi- mera. Who can deny that the true faith is in one God Who is the God of heaven and earth, consequently faith in God the Father in the Human form, thus in the Lord } These three marks, testimonies, and indications that faith in the 540 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. Lord is faith itself, are like the touchstones by which gold and silver are recognized. They are also like the stones by the wayside, or the hands on the guide-posts, pointing out the way to the temple where the one and true God is worshipped. And they are like lights on rocks in the sea, by which those who are sailing at night know where they are, and to what quarter .to direct the ships. The first characteristic of faith, which is, that the Lord is the Son of the living God, is like the morning star to all who enter His church. 380. (2.) Spurious Faith is ail Faith that departs from the true, which is the one only Faith ; and it is with those who climb up some other way, and regard the Lord not as God but only as a mati. That spurious faith is all faith that departs from the true, which is the only one, is self-evident ; for when one only is truth, it follows that that which de- parts from it is not truth. All the good and truth of the church are propagated from the marriage of the Lord a-nd the church ; thus all that is essentially charity and essen- tially faith is from that marriage ; but on the other hand, all of charity and faith that is not from that marriage, is not from a legitimate but from an illegitimate bed ; thus either from a bed or marriage that is polygamic, or from adultery. Every faith which acknowledges the Lord, but adopts the falsities of heresies, is from polygamic marriage; and the faith which acknowledges three Lords of one church is from adultery ; for this is either like a harlot, or like a woman who is married to one man and spends nights with two others, and when she lies with them she calls the one she chooses her husband. Therefore such faith is called spurious. These the Lord in many places calls adulterers ; and He also means these in John, by thieves and robbers : Verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the Door into the sheep/old, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. I am the Dovr ; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved (x. i, 9). To enter into No. 380.] FAITH. 541 the sheepfold is to enter into the church, and likewise into heaven ; that it is into heaven also, is because the church and heaven make one, and nothing makes heaven but the church therein ; wherefore, as the Lord is the Bride- groom and the Husband of the churcli, so also He is the Bridegroom and the Husband of heaven. There may be an examination and cognition, as to whether a faith is a legiti- mate or a spurious offspring by the three indications men- tioned above, namely, the acknowledgment of the Lord as the Son of God, the acknowledgment of Him as the God of heaven and earth, and the acknowledgment that He is one with the Father. So far, therefore, as any faith de- parts from these its essentials, it is spurious. Faith is spurious and at the same time adulterous with those who regard the Lord not as God, but only as a man. That this is so, is very manifest from the two abominable heresies, the Arian and the Socinian, which have been anathema- tized in the Christian church, and excommunicated from it ; and this, because they deny the Lord's Divinity, and climb up some other way. But I fear that those abomina- tions lie concealed at this day in the general spirit of the men of the church. It is remarkable that the more any one deems himself superior to others in learning and judg- ment, the more prone he is to embrace and appropriate to himself the ideas concerning the Lord that He is a man and not God, and that because He is a man He cannot be God ; and one who appropriates to himself these ideas, introduces himself into companionship with the Arians and Socinians who in the spiritual world are in hell. Such is the general spirit of the men of the church at this day, be- cause there is with every man an associate spirit ; for man without this cannot think analytically, rationally, and spiritually, and thus would not be a man but a brute ; and every man attaches to himself a spirit similar to the affec- tion of his will, and to the perception of his understanding that comes from this. To the mau who introduces himself 542 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. into good affections by means of truths from the Word and by a life according to them, there is adjoined an angel from heaven ; while to him who introduces himself into evil affections J^y confirmations of falsities and by an evil life, a spirit from hell adjoins himself ; and when the spirit is joined, man enters more and more as it were into frater- nity with satans, and then confirms himself more and more in falsities contrary to the truths of the Word, and in the Arian and the Socinian abomination against the Lord. This is because no satan can bear to hear any truth from the Word, or to have Jesus named ; or if they hear them, they become like furies, and run hither and thither, and blaspheme. And then if light from heaven flows in, they throw themselves headlong into caverns and into their own thick darkness, in which there is light to them as there is to birds of night in the dark, and such as cats have in cellars when they are hunting for mice. All become such after death who in heart and faith deny the Divinity of the XrOrd and the holiness of the Word ; their internal man is such, howsoever the external may act the mimic and counterfeit the Christian. I know that this is so, for I have seen and heard it. The mouth of all who honor the Lord as Redeemer and Saviour with the mouth and the lips only, while in heart and spirit they look upon Him as a mere man, when they are speaking of these things and teaching them, is like a bag of honey, but their heart is like a bag of gall ; their words are like sweet cakes, but their thoughts are like emulsions of monk's-hood ; and they are like rolls of pastry containing serpents. If such per- sons are priests, they are like pirates on the sea, who hang out the flag of a kingdom at peace, but when a ship ap- proaches and hails them as friends, they raise the pirates' flag in place of the other, and capture the ship and carry its crew into captivity. They are also like serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that approach like angels of light, holding in the hand apples from that tree No. 381.] FAITH. 543 painted with gold-like colors, as if plucked from the tree of life ; and they offer them and say, God doth knotv that in the day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil (Gen. iii, 5). And when they have eaten, they follow the serpent into the lower world iJDrcus), and there they dwell together. Round about that world are the satans who have eaten of the apples of Arius and of Socinus. They are meant also by him who came in to the marriage not having on a wed- ding garment ; who was cast into outer darkness (Matt. xxii. 11-13). The wedding garment is faith in the Lord as the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father. They who honor the Lord with the mouth and lips only, but in heart and spirit look upon Him as a mere man, if they disclose their thoughts and persuade others, are spiritual murderers, and the worst of them are spiritual cannibals ; for man has life from love to the Lord and faith in Him ; but if this essential element of faith and love, that the Lord is God-Man and Man-God, is taken away, man's life becomes death ; so, therefore, the man is killed and devoured as a lamb by a wolf. 381. (3.) Hypocritical Faith is no Faith. Man becomes a hypocrite while he thinks much about himself, and places himself before others ; for so he directs the thoughts and affections of his mind to his body, pours them into it, and conjoins them with its senses. He thus becomes a natu- ral, sensual, and corporeal man ; and then his mind cannot be withdrawn from the flesh with which it coheres, cannot be elevated to God, and cannot see any thing of God in the light of heaven, that is, any thing spiritual ; and because he is a carnal man, the spiritual things which enter, — they enter the understanding through the hearing, — seem to him only like spectres, or like down which floats in the air, yes, like flies about the head of a running and sweating horse ; wherefore in heart he ridicules them ; for it is known that the natural man regards the things of the spirit, or 544 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. spiritual things, as foolishness. Among natural men the hypocrite is the lowest natural, for he is sensual, inasmuch as his mind is closely bound to the sense? of his body, and therefore he does not love to see any thing but what his senses suggest ; and the senses, because they are in nature, compel the mind to think from nature concerning every thing, and so of all that pertains to faith. If this hypocrite becomes a preacher, he retains in memory such things as were said concerning faith, in his childhood and youth ; but because there is nothing spiritual but only what is natural inwardly in those things, when he brings them forward before an assembly they are only soulless words ; their sounding as if they were animate comes from the enjoyments of the love of self and the world ; from these they ring out accord- ing to the eloquence of the speaker, and soothe the ear almost like the harmony of song. When a hypocritical preacher returns home after the sermon, he laughs at every thing concerning faith and at every thing from the Word which he has advanced to the congregation ; and perhaps says to himself, " I cast a net into the lake, and have caught flat-fish and shell-fish ; " for such to his fancy seem all who are in true faith. A hypocrite is like a sculptured image having a double head, one head within another; the inter- nal head is connected with the trunk or body; and the external, which can rotate about the other, is painted in front with appropriate colors, like a human face, not unlike the heads of wood that are displayed at the shops of hair- dressers. He is also like a boat which the sailor, by a proper adjustment of the sail, can direct at pleasure, either with the wind or against it ; his favoring every one who gives him indulgence in the enjoyments of the flesh and its senses, is his management of the sail. Ministers who are hypocrites are perfect comedians, mimics, and players, who can per- sonate kings, dukes, primates, and bishops ; and as soon as they have put off their theatrical robes, visit brothels and consort with harlots. They are also like doors hung on No. 382.] FAITH. 545 the round hinge, which can open either way ; such is their mind, for it can be opened toward hell and toward heaven, and when opened to one it is closed to the other ; for, what is wonderful, when they are ministering in holy things and teaching from the Word, they know not but that they believe those things, for the door is then closed toward hell ; but as soon as they return home, they believe nothing, for the door is then shut toward heaven. With consummate hypo- crites there is an intestine enmity against truly spiritual men, for it is like that of satans against the angels of heaven. They are not sensible of this while they live in the world, but it manifests itself after death, when their external, by which they counterfeited the spiritual man, has been taken away ; for it is their internal man which is such a satan. But I will tell how spiritual hypocrites (who are such as walk in sheep'' s dothmg, but inwardly are ravening wolves, Matt. vii. 15) appear to the angels of heaven ; they appear like soothsayers walking on the palms of their hands and praying ; who with the mouth and from the heart cry to demons and kiss them, but they clap in the air with their shoes, and so they make sound to God. But when they stand on their feet, their eyes look like those of a leopard, they step like wolves, as to the mouth they are like the fox, as to the teeth like crocodiles, and as to faith like vultures. X. There is no Faith with the Evil. 382. All who deny that the world was created by God, and so deny God, are evil ; for they are atheist naturalists. They all are evil, because all good which is good not only naturally but also spiritually is from God ; wherefore they who deny God are not willing, and therefore are not able, to receive any good from any other source than from their proprium \ownhood\ and man's proprium is the lust of his flesh; and whatever proceeds from this is spiritually evil, 6* 546 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chab. VI. however good it seems naturally. Such persons are theo- retically evil ; but they are practically evil who pay no regard to the Divine commandments (which are exhibited in a summary in the decalogue), and live like outlaws. These also deny God in heart (although many of them confess Him with the mouth), because God and His com- mandments make one ; for which reason the ten command- ments of the decalogue were called yehovah there (Num. ^- 35? 36 ; Ps. cxxxii. 7, 8). But to make it more manifest that the evil have no faith, a conclusion will be made from these two propositions: i. The evil have no faith, because evil belongs to hell, and faith belongs to heaven. 2. All those in Christendom have no faith who reject the, Lord and the Word, although they live morally, and speak, teach, and write rationally, even about faith. But of these separately. 383. (i.) The Evil have no Faith, because Evil belojigs to Hell, and Faith belongs to Heaven. Evil belongs to hell, because all evil is from hell ; faith belongs to heaven, because all the truth which is of faith is from heaven. As long as man lives in the world, he is kept and he walks in the middle [region] between heaven and hell, and is there in spiritual equilibrium, which is his free-will. Hell is under his feet, and heaven is above his head ; and what- ever ascends from hell is evil and false, but whatever comes down from heaven is good and true. Man being in the middle [region] between those two opposites, and at the same time in spiritual equilibrium, can choose, adopt, and appropriate to himself either the one or the other, from freedom. If he chooses the evil and false, he con- joins himself with hell ; if the good and true, he conjoins himself with heaven. From this it is manifest not only that evil belongs to hell and faith to heaven, but also that the two cannot be together in the same subject or man. For if they were together, the man would be drawn in two directions, as if two ropes were tied around him and he were drawn upward by one and downward by the other, No. 384-] . FAITH. 54/ and thus he would become as one suspended in the air. And it would be as if he were to fly like a blackbird, now upward and now downward ; and when flying upward, should adore God, and when downward, the devil. Every one sees that this is profane. That no man can serve huo masters, but hates one and loves the other, the Lord teaches in Matthew (vi. 24). That where evil is there is no faith, may be illustrated by various comparisons, as by these : Evil is like fire (infernal fire is nothing but the love of evil), and it consumes faith like stubble, reducing it and all belonging to it to ashes. Evil dwells in darkness, and faith in light ; and evil by falsities extinguishes faith, as darkness extinguishes light. Evil is black like ink, and faith is white like snow and clear-white like water ; and evil blackens faith, as ink blackens snow or water. More- over, evil and the truth of faith cannot be conjoined, except as what is stinking with what is aromatic, as urine with wine of good flavor ; and they cannot be together except as a noisome carcass in the same bed with a living man ; and they cannot dwell together any more than a wolf can dwell in a sheepfold, a hawk in a dovecote, and a fox in a hencoop. 384. (2.) All those in Christendom have no Faith who reject the Lord and the Word, although they live morally, and speak, teach, and write rationally, even about Faith. This follows as a conclusion from all that precedes ; for it has been shown that the true and only faith is in the Lord and from the Lord, and that faith which is not in Him and from Him is not spiritual faith but natural ; and merely natural faith has not the essence of faith in it. Moreover, faith is from the Word ; it is from no other source ; be- cause the Word is from the Lord, and consequently the Lord Himself is in the Word. He therefore says that He is the Word (John i. i, 2). From this it follows that they who reject the Word reject the Lord also, for these cohere as one ; and further that they who reject either the one or 548 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. the other also reject the church, because the church is from the Lord through the Word ; furthermore, that they who reject the church are outside of heaven, for the church gives introduction into heaven ; and they who are outside of heaven are among the damned, and these have no faith. They who reject the Lord and the Word have no faith, altliough they hve morally, and speak, teach, and write rationally even about faith, because their moral life is not spiritual but natural, and their rational mind also is not spiritual but natural ; and merely natural morality and rationality are in themselves dead; wherefore, to them as dead there is no faith. A man who is merely natural and dead as to faith, can indeed speak and teach concerning faith, charity, and God, but not from faith, from cliarity, and from God. That they alone have faith who believe in the Lord, and that others have not faith, is evident from these passages : He that believeth on the Soti is not conde7nned, but he that believeth not the Son is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the 7iame of the Only-begotten Son of God (John iii. i8). He that believeth on the Son hath ever- lasting life; and he that beliex>eth not the So?i shall fiot see life: but the wrath of God abideth on hi/n (iii, 36). Jesus said that when the Spirit of truth is come, it will reprove the world of sin because they believe not on Me (xvi. 8, 9) ; and to the Jews He said. If ye believe not that I am, ye shall die in your sins (viii. 24). Wherefore David says, / will declare the decree ; Jehovah hath said. Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the 7oay. blessed are all they that put their trust in Hi?n (Ps. ii. 7, 12). That in the consum- mation of the age, which is the last time of the church, there would be no faith, — because none in the Lord as the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father, — the Lord foretells in the Evangelists, saying that there would be the abomination of desolation, and tribulation such as was not, nor ever shall be. Also that No. 385.] FAITH. 549 the sun will be darkened, and the moon will ?iot gii'e her light, and the stars will fall from heaven (Matt. xxiv. 15, 21, 29). And in the Apocalypse, that Satan, being loosed from his prison, will go forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, whose number is as the sand of the sea (xx. 7, 8). And because the Lord foresaw this, He also said. Nevertheless, when the Sofi of Man comcth, shall He find faith on the earth I (Luke xviii. 8.) 385. To the above will be joined these Relations. First : An angel once said to me, " If you wish to see clearly what faith and charity are, and thus what faith separate from charity is, and what faith conjoined with charity, I will show it so that it shall be seen." I answered, " Show it." And he said, " Instead of faith and charity, think of light and heat, and you will see clearly. Faith in its essence is truth which is of wisdom ; and charity in its essence is the affection of love ; and the truth of wisdom in heaven is light, and the affection of love in heaven is heat. The light and heat in which angels are, essentially are nothing else. From this you can clearly see what faith separate from charity is, and what faith conjoined with charity is. Faith separate from charity is like the light in winter, and faith conjoined with charity is like the light in spring. Wintry light, which is light separated from heat, because it is conjoined with cold, even strips the trees wholly of their leaves, kills the grass, hardens the earth, and freezes the waters ; but the vernal light, which is light conjoined with heat, quickens the trees to put forth, first leaves, then blossoms, and finally fruits ; it opens and softens the earth, that ' it may produce grasses, herbs, flowers and shrubs ; it also melts the ice, that waters may flow from the springs. It is wholly similar with faith and charity. Faith separated from charity deadens all things, and faith conjoined with charity quickens all things. This quickening and that deadening may be seen to the life in our spiritual world, because here faith is light, and 550 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI charity is heat ; for where there is faith conjoined with charity, there are paradisal gardens, flower-beds, and grass- plots, in their pleasantness according to the conjunction ; but where there is faith separated from charity, there is not even grass ; and where it is green, this is from briers and thorns." Not far from us at this time were some clergy- men whom the angel called justifiers and sanctifiers of men by faith alone, and also mystery-men. We said these same things to them, and so demonstrated them that they could see that it was so ; and when we asked, " Is it not so ? " they turned themselves away and said, " We did not hear." But we cried out to them, saying, " Hear now, then." But they then put both hands over their ears, and shouted, " We do not wish to hear." After hearing this, I talked with the angel about solitary faith, and said that by living experience it was given me to know that that faith is like the light of winter. And I told him that for several years spirits with faith of various kinds had passed by me, and that whenever those who separated faith from charity came near, such coldness seized my feet and afterwards the loins, and at length my breast, that I hardly knew but that all the vitality of my body was about to become extinct, which also would have come to pass if the Lord had not driven those spirits away and liberated me. To me it seemed wonderful that those spirits had no sense of cold in themselves ; this they confessed. I there- fore compared them to fishes under the ice, which also do not feel any cold, since their life, and hence their nature, is in itself cold. I then perceived that this cold emanated from the fatuous light of their faith ; like what takes place in swampy and sulphurous places in midwinter after sunset; this fatuous and cold light is often seen by travellers. Such spirits may be compared to icebergs torn from their places in northern regions, which are carried about on the ocean ; of which I have heard it said, that when they come near a ship, all who are on board begin to shiver with cold. Where- No 386. j FAITH. 551 fore companies of those who are in faith separated from charity, may be hkened to those icebergs, and, if you please, they may also be called so. It is known from the Word that faith without charity is dead ; but I will tell whence comes its death. Its death is from cold ; from which that faith expires like a bird in a severe winter ; first it dies as to its power to see, then at the same time as to its power to fly, and at length as to power to breathe ; and then it falls headlong from the branch into the snow, and is buried there. 386. Second Relation. One morning, awaking from sleep, I saw two angels descending from heaven, one from the southern part of heaven and one from the eastern part, both in chariots, to which were harnessed white horses. The chariot in which was borne the angel from the south in heaven, shone like silver ; and the chariot that bore the angel from the east, shone like gold : and the reins which they held in their hands flashed as from the flamy light of the dawn. So did those two angels appear to me in the distance ; but when they came near they did not appear in chariots, but in their angelic form, which is the human. He who came from the east in heaven, was in a shining purple garment, and he who came from the south in heaven, in a garment of hyacinthine blue. When they were in the regions that are beneath the heavens, they ran to meet each other, as if emulous as to which should be first, and embraced and kissed each other. I heard that these two angels, while they lived in the world, were conjoined in an interior friendship ; but now one was in the eastern heaven, and the other in the southern. In the eastern heaven are they who are in love from the Lord, but in the southern heaven those who are in wisdom from the Lord. When they had con- versed awhile concerning the magnificent things in their heavens, this came up in their discourse, Whether heaven in its essence is love, or is wisdom. They at once agreed that the one is of the other, but questioned which is the 552 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. original. Tlie angel who was from the heaven of wisdom asked the other what love is ; and he answered that love, having its origin from the Lord as a Sun, is the heat of the life of angels and men, thus the esse of their life ; and that the derivations of love are called affections ; and that by these are produced perceptions, and so thoughts ; from which it flows that wisdom in its origin is love ; conse- quently that thought in its origin is the affection of that love ; and that it may be seen from the derivations viewed in their order that thought is nothing else than the form of affection ; and that this is not known, because thoughts are in light, but affections are in heat ; and that we therefore reflect upon thoughts, but not upon affections. That thought is nothing else than the form of the affection of some love, may also be illustrated by speech, as this is nothing but the form of sound. It is similar, also, because sound corresponds to affection, and speech to thought; wherefore affection makes sound, and thought speaks. This may also be made quite clear if we say. Take sound away from speech, and is there any thing of speech left ? In like manner, take away affection from thought, and is there any thing of thought left ? From this it is now mani- fest that love is the all of wisdom ; consequently, that the essence of the heavens is love, and their existence is wis- dom ; or, what is the same, that the heavens are from the Divine love, and that they exist from the Divine love by the Divine wisdom ; and therefore, as was said before, the one is of the other. There was with me then a novitiate spirit, who, on hearing this, inquired whether it was the same with charity and faith, because charity is of affection and faith is of the thought. And the angel replied, " It is altogether similar ; faith is nothing but the form of charity, just as speech is the form of sound.* Faith is also formed * The Latin here reads, "sicut Sonus est forma loquelae." We find the same in Apocalypsis Revelata, n. 875. But in Swedenborg's own copy of Vera Christiana Rcligio, there is a marginal correction in No. 387-] FAITH. 553 from charity, as speech is formed from sound. We are also acquainted with the mode of the formation in heaven, but there is not leisure to explain it here." He added, " By- faith, I mean spiritual faith, in which there are life and spirit solely from the Lord through charity ; for charity is sj^iritual, and through charity faith is so. Wherefore faith without charity is merely natural faith, and this faith is dead ; it conjoins itself also with merely natural affection, which is nothing but lust." The angels spoke of these things spiritually; and spiritual speech embraces thou- sands of things which natural speech cannot express, and what is wonderful, which cannot even fall into the ideas of natural thought. After this conversation the angels de- parted ; and as they withdrew, each to his own heaven, there appeared stars around their heads ; and when they were at a distance from me, they again appeared in chariots as before. 387. Third Relation. After these two angels were out of my sight, I saw a garden on the right, in which there were olive-trees, fig-trees, laurels, and palms, arranged in order according to correspondence. I looked thither, and among the trees I saw angels and spirits walking and conversing. And then in return one angelic spirit looked at me. They are called angelic spirits who are preparing for heaven, in the world of spirits. That spirit came to me from the garden, and said, " Will you come with me into our paradise ? You shall hear and see wonderful things." And I went with him. And he then said to me, "These whom you see (for there were many others), are all in the love of truth, and thence are in the light of wis- dom. There is also a palace here, which we call the TefnJ>le of Wisdom; but no one can see it who believes himself to be very wise, still less he who believes himself to be wise enough, and less still he who believes himself to his handwriting, Loqttela being substituted for Somis, and sou for loquelae. This agrees with the statement found earlier in this num- ber, and it has been followed in the translation. 554 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. be wise from himself. This is because these are not in the reception of the light of heaven from the love of gen- uine wisdom. It is genuine wisdom for a man to see from the light of heaven that what he knows, understands, and is wise in, is as little compared with what he does not know and understand and in which he is not wise, as a drop to the ocean ; and so, almost nothing. Every one who is in this paradisal garden, and acknowledges from perception and sight in himself that he has comparatively so little wisdom, sees that Temple of Wisdom ; for interior light in a man's mind enables him to see it, but not his exterior light without the interior." Now as I have often thought this, and from knowledge, and then from perception, and at last from interior light, have acknowledged that man has so little wisdom, behold it was granted me to see that temple. As to form it was wonderful. It was raised high above the ground, quadrangular, the walls of crystal, the roof of translucent jasper elegantly arched, the substruc- ture of various precious stones. There were steps for ascent into it, of polished alabaster. At the sides of the steps appeared the figures of lions with their whelps. And I then asked whether it was allowable to enter, and was told that it was. I therefore ascended; and as I entered, I saw as it were cherubs flying under the. roof, but soon vanishing. The floor on which we walked was of cedar ; and the whole temple, from the transparency of the roof and walls, was built for a form of light. The angelic spirit entered with me, to whom I related what I heard from the two angels concerning Love and Wisdom, as also concern- ing Charity and Faith. And then he asked, " Did they not speak of a third also ? " I said, " What third ? " He replied, "There is the Good of Use. Love and wisdom without the good of use are not any thing ; they are ideal entities only, nor do they become real before they are in use ; for love, wisdom, and use are three things which cannot be separated ; if separated, no one of them is any thing. Love is not any thing without wisdom, but in No. 387-] FAITH. 555 wisdom it is formed for something; this something for which it is formed, is use. Therefore, when love through wisdom is in use, it then really is, because it exists actually. They are wholly like end, cause, and effect. The end is not any thing, unless through the cause it is in the effect. If one of the three is dissolved, the whole is dissolved and becomes as nothing. It is similar with charity, faith, and works. Charity without faith is not any thing, nor is faith without charity ; nor are charity and faith without works : but in works they are something, the quality of which is according to the use of the works. It is similar with affec- tion, thought, and operation ; and similar also with will, understanding, and action ; for will without understanding is like the eye without sight ; and the two without action are like a mind' without a body. That it is so, may be clearly seen in this temple, because the light in which we are here is a light that enlightens the mind's interiors. That there is nothing complete and perfect unless there is a trine, geometry also teaches, for a line is not any thing unless it becomes a surface, nor is a surface any thing un- less it becomes a solid ; wherefore the one must be pro- duced into another that they may exist, and they co-exist in the third. As in this, so is it also in all created things and in each one singly; they have been made finite in their third. Now it is from this that three in the Word signifies complete, and wholly. Since this is so, I could not but wonder, that some profess faith alone, some charity alone, and some works alone ; when yet the one without a second, and two together without the third, are not any thing." But then I asked, " Cannot a man have charity and faith, and still not have works ? Cannot a man have a preference for something, and be in thought about it, and }''et not be in the performance of it ? " And the angel * * The Latin here reads Angelits. Injhe margin of Swedenborg's own copy (perhaps not by his hand), this is changed to Spiritiis Ange- //tM5, which better agrees with the statement in an earlier part of this number, and which is the reading in Apocalypsis Revelata, n. 875. 556 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. answered me, "He cannot except ideally, — not really; he must still be in the endeavor or will to operate ; and will or endeavor is in itself act, because it is a continual effort to act, which becomes an act in externals when the con- clusion is reached. On this account, endeavor and will, as an internal act, is accepted by every wise man, because it is accepted by God, altogether as an external act, provided it is not deficient when opportunity is given." 388. Fourth Relation. I have spoken with some who are meant in the Apocalypse by the dragon , and one of them said, " Come with me, and I will show you the enjoyments of our eyes and hearts." And he led me through a dark forest and up on a hill from which I could behold the enjoyments of the dragons. And I saw an amphitheatre built in the form of a circlis, with benches around constructed on an upward slant, upon which sat the spectators. They who sat upon the lowest benches appeared to me at a distance like satyrs and priapi, some with a slight covering for their shame, and some naked without any. On the benches above these sat whore- mongers and harlots ; such they appeared to me to be from their gestures. And the dragon then said to me, " Now you will see our sport." And I saw as it were bullocks, rams, sheep, kids, and lambs let into the area of the circus ; and after these were let in, a gate was opened, and there rushed in as it were young lions, panthers, tigers, and wolves, and they attacked the flock with fury, and tore and slaughtered them. But after that carnage, the satyrs scattered sand over the place of the slaughter. Then the dragon said to me, "These are our sports which de- light our minds " \animus\. And I answered, " Away, demon ; after a short time you will see this amphitheatre converted into a lake of fire and brimstone." At this he laughed and went away. And afterwards I was thinking to myself why such thiil^s are permitted by the Lord ; and I received the answer in my heart, that they are permitted as long as they are in the world of spirits ; but after their No. 3S8.] FAITH. 557 time in that world has passed, such theatrical scenes are turned into such as are direful and infernal. All those things that were seen were induced by the dragon by means of fantasies ; so there were no bullocks, rams, sheep, kids, and lambs ; but they made the genuine goods and truths of the church, which they hated, to appear so. The lions, panthers, tigers, and wolves, were appearances of the lusts in those who seemed like satyrs and priapi. Those with no covering for their shame, were they who believe that evils do not appear before God ; and those with a covering were they who believed that they do ap- pear, but do not condemn, provided men are in faith. The whoremongers and harlots were falsifiers of the truths of the Word, for whoredom signifies falsification of the truth. In the spiritual world all things in the distance appear ac- cording to correspondences ; which, when they appear in forms are called representations of spiritual things in ob- jects similar to those that are natural. Afterwards I saw them going out of the forest ; the dragon in the midst of the satyrs and priapi, and waiters and scullions (who were the whoremongers and harlots) behind them. The company was increased on the way, and then I heard what they were saying to each other. They said that they saw a flock of sheep with lambs in a meadow, and that this was a sign that one of the cities of Jerusalem was near, where charity is the chief thing. And they said, " Let us go and take that city, and cast out the inhabitants, and plun- der their goods." They approached the city, but there was a wall around it, and angel guards were upon the wall. And then they said, " Let us take it by stratagem ; let us send some one expert in mussitation,* who can make black white and white black, and can color the truth of any mat- ter." And one was found, skilled in metaphysical arts, who could change ideas of things into ideas of terms, and conceal * For the meaning of imissitation, muttering, or mumbling, as here used, see "Apocalypse Revealed," n. 462. Also see Isaiah viii. 19. 558 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. the things themselves under formulas, and so fly away like a hawk with the prey beneath his wings. He was in- structed how he should speak with the citizens, — that they were in fellowship in religion, and were to be, admitted. Going up to the gate he knocked ; and when it was opened, he said that he wished to speak with the wisest man of the city. And he entered, and was conducted to a certain one whom he addressed as follows : " My brethren are outside of the city, and they beg to be received. They are in fellowship with you in religion. With you we make faith and charity the two essentials of religion ; the only difference is that you say that charity is the primary and that faith is from it, while we say that faith is the primary and that charity is from it. What matters it whether the one or the other is called the primary when both are believed in ? " The wise man of the city answered, '* Let us not talk on this subject by ourselves, but in the presence of others who may be arbiters and judges ; otherwise, no decision is reached." And some were then sent for, to whom the dragonist .addressed the same words as before. And the wise man of the city then answered, " You have said that it is the same thing whether charity is taken as the primary of the church, or faith, provided it is agreed that both of them make the church and its religion ; and yet there is a difference like that between the prior and the posterior, between cause and effect, the principal and the instru- mental, the essential and the formal. I say such things because I perceive that you are expert in metaphysical art, which art we call mussitation, and some call it incan- tation : but to leave those terms, the difference is as be- tween that which is above and that which is beneath ; yes, if you are willing to believe it, the difference is like that between the minds of those who dwell in the higher and of those who dwell in the lower parts of this world ; for that which is the primary makes the head and the breast, and that which is from it makes the feet and their soles. But No. 388.] FAITH. 559 let us first agree as to what charity is, and what faith is ; — that charity is the afTection of the love of doing good to the neighbor for the sake of God, salvation, and eternal life ; and that faith is thought from trust, respecting God, salvation, and eternal life." And the emissary said, "I grant that this is faith ; and I grant also that charity is that affection, for the sake of God, because for the sake of His command, — not, however, for the sake of salvation and eternal life." After this agreement and disagreement, the wise man of the city said, " Is not affection or loving the primary ? is not thought from it ? " But he that was sent by the dragon said, " This I deny." But he received for answer, " You cannot deny it. Does not a man think from some love ? Take away love, can he think any thing ? It is precisely as if you should take away sound from speech. If you were to take away sound, could you speak any thing? Sound also is of the affection from some love, and speech is of the thought ; for love gives sound, and thought speaks. It is also like flame and light ; if you take away the flame, does not light perish ? It is similar with charity because this is of love, and with faith because this is of the thought. Can you not thus comprehend that the primary is the all in the secondary, altogether as with flame and light ? From which it is manifest, that if you do not make that the primary which is primary, you are not in the other. Wherefore if you put faith, which is in the second place, in the first, you will appear in heaven only as an inverted man, with his feet upward and his head downward ; or like a mountebank, who, with his body up- side down, walks on the palms of his hands. When ye appear such in heaven, what then are your good works, which are charity in act, but such as that mountebank .vould do with his feet, because he cannot do them with his hands ? Hence your charity is natural and not spirit- ual, because it is inverted." The emissary understood this ; for every devil can understand what is true when he hears 560 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. it, but he cannot retain it, because when the affection of evil which in itself is the lust of the flesh returns, it casts out the thought of truth. And afterwards the wise man of the city showed in many ways what the quality of faith is when it has been accepted as the primary, that it is merely natural and is persuasion without any spiritual life ; conse- quently, that it is not faith. And he added, " I can almost say that in your faith there is no more that is spiritual than in thought about the kingdom of the Mogul, the diamond mine there, and of the treasure and court of that emperor." Hearing this the dragonist went away angry, and reported to his companions outside of the city. And when they heard that it was said that charity is the affec- tion of the love of doing good to the neighbor for the sake of salvation and eternal life, they all cried out, " This is a lie ! " And the dragon himself exclaimed, " Alas, what wickedness ! Are not all the works which are of charity, when done for the sake of salvation, meritorious ? " Then they said to one another, " Let us call together still more of our people, and besiege this city, and cast out those charities." But when they attempted this, lo, there ap- peared as it were fire out of heaven which consumed them. But the fire out of heaven was an appearance of their anger and hatred against those who were in the city, be- cause they cast down faith from the first to the second place, yes, to the lowest beneath charity, because they said that [theirs] was not faith. They appeared to be con- sumed as by fire, because hell was opened under their feet, and they were swallowed up. Things similar to these happened in many places in the day of the last judgment, and this is what is meant by these words in the Apoc- alypse : The dragon shall go out to seduce the fiations which are in the four corners of the earth, to gather them together to battle ; and they tvent up on the plain of the earth, arid en- compassed the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from God out of heaven, and consisted them (XX. 8, 9). No. 389.J FAITH. 561 389. Fifth Relation. A paper was once seen, sent down from heaven to a society in the world of spirits, where were two prelates of the church, with canons and elders under them. The paper contained an exhortation that they should acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught (Matt, xxviii. 18) ; also that they should recede from the doctrine of faith justifying without the works of the law, because it is erroneous. This paper was read and copied by many ; and respecting those things which were in it, many thought and spoke from judgment. Yet after they received it, they said among themselves, "Let us hear the prelates." And they were heard ; but they spoke against it and dis- approved. For the prelates of that society were hard of heart, from the falsities with which they had been imbued in the former world. Wherefore, after a short consulta- tion among themselves, they sent the paper back to heaven whence it came. This having been done, after some mur- muring most of the laity receded from their former assent, and then the light of their judgment in spiritual things, which before shone bright, was suddenly extinguished. After they had been admonished again, but to no purpose, I saw that society sinking dowm (but how deeply I did not see), and thus withdrawn from the sight of those who wor- ship the Lord only, and are averse to justification by faith alone. But after some days, I saw nearly a hundred as- cending from the lower earth which was the limit to which that little society sunk down. They came up to me, and one of them spoke and said, " Listen to what is wonderful. When we sunk down, the place appeared to us like a swamp, but presently like dry land, and afterwards like a little city, in which many had each his own house. After a day had passed we consulted among ourselves as to what was to be done. Many said that we must go to the two prelates of the church and censure them mildly because they sent the paper back to heaven from which it was sent VOL. II. 7 562 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. down, and on account of which this had befallen us. They also chose some who went to the prelates (and he who was speaking with me said that he was one of them), and then one among us who excelled in wisdom spoke to the prel- ates thus : ' We believed that with us above others were thc'church and religion, because we have heard it said that we are in the greatest gospel light ; but there has been given to some of us enlightenment from heaven, and in the enlightenment a perception that at this day there is no longer any church in the Christian world, because there is no religion.' The prelates replied, ' What are you saying ? Is there not a church where there is the Word, where Christ the Saviour is known, and where there are the sacra- ments ? ' To this pur friend replied, ' Those things belong to the church, for they make the church ; but they do not make it outside of man, but within him.' And he further said, ' Can the church be where three Gods are wor- shipped ? Can the church be where its whole doctrine is founded on a single saying of Paul falsely understood, and consequently not upon the Word ? Can there be the church while the Saviour of the world Who is the very God of the church is not approached ? Who can deny that religion is to shun evil and to do good ? Is there any religion [where it is taught * ] that faith alone saves, and not charity at the same time ? Is there religion where it is taught that the charity proceeding from a man is nothing but moral and civil charity ? Who does not see that in that charity there is not any thing of religion ? Is there in faith alone any thing of deed or work ? and yet religion consists in doing. Is there found a nation in all the world, which excludes all saving power from the goods of charity, which are good works ? when yet the all of re- ligion consists in good, and the all of the church in doc- * The words within brackets have been supplied from the "Apoc- alypse Revealed," n. 675. We also find the corresponding Latin, ubi docetur, in the margin of Swedenborg's copy of this work. No. 389.] FAITH. 563 trine which teaches truths, and goods by truths. What glory we should have had if we had accepted those things which the paper that was sent down from heaven carried in its bosom ! ' Then the prelates said, ' You speak too loftily. Is not faith in act, which is faith fully justifying and saving, the church ? And is not faith in state, which is faith proceeding and perfecting, religion ? Sons, lay hold on this.' But then our wise companion said, ' Hear, Fathers : Does not man according to your dogma, conceive faith in act like a stock ? Can a stock be quickened into a church ? And is not faith in state, according to your idea, the continuation and progression of faith in act ? And since, according to your dogma, every thing saving is in faith, and not any thing in the good of charity from man, where then is religion ? ' Then the leaders said, ' You speak so, friend, because you do not know the mysteries of justification by faith alone ; and he who does not know them does not interiorly know the way of salvation. Your way is external and the way of the coinmon people. Go in that way if you will, yet know only that all good is from God and nothing from man, and so that in spiritual things man has no ability of himself. How then can man do good that is spiritual good, of himself ? ' To this our spokesman, being very indignant, replied, 'I know your mysteries of justification better than you do, and I tell you plainly that inwardly in your mysteries I have seen nothing but spectres. Is it not religion to acknowledge [and love*] God, and to hate and shun the devil ? Is not God good itself, and the devil evil itself ? Who in the whole world that has any religion does not know this .-* And is not acknowledging and loving God this, — to do good, because it is God's and is from Him ? And is not shunning and hating the devil this, — not to do evil, because this is the * The words within brackets have been supplied from the "Apoc- alypse Revealed," n. 675. The corresponding Latin, et amare, we find as a marginal correction in Swedenborg's own copy of this work. 564 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. devil's and is from him ? Or what is the same thing, does your faith in act, which you call faith fully justifying and saving, or what is again the same, your act of justification by faith alone, teach the doing of any good which is God's and is from Him ? And does it teach the shunning of any evil which is the devil's and from him ? Not in the least ; because you maintain that there is nothing of salvation in either. What is your faith in state, which you have called faith proceeding and perfecting, but the same with faith iti adt How can this be perfected when you exclude all good done by man as from himself ? saying in your mys- teries, ** How can a man be saved by any good from himself, when salvation is gratuitous ? and what good comes from man but what is meritorious ? and yet all merit belongs to Christ. Wherefore to do good for the sake of salvation would be to attribute to oneself what belongs to Christ alone ; thus also it would be to wish to justify and save oneself. Again, how can any one work what is good, when the Holy Spirit works all, without any help from man ? What need is there, then, of any accessory good from man, when all the good from man is in itself not good.'"' — besides other things. Are not these )'Our mysteries .'' But in my eyes they are mere subtleties and artifices, contrived for the purpose of setting aside good works which are the goods of charity, to establish your faith alone. And be- cause you do this, you look at man, with regard to faith, and in general with regard to all spiritual things that per- tain to the church and religion, as a stock or as a lifeless form, and not as a man created in the image of God, to whom was given and is given continually the faculty of understanding and willing, of believing and loving, and of speaking and doing, altogether as from himself ; and es- pecially in spiritual things, because man is man from them. If man did not think and operate as from himself in spirit- ual things, for what then would be the Word .'' for what the church, and religion ? and for what, worship 1 You know No. 390.] FAITH. 565 that to do good to the neighbor from love is charity ; and yet you do not know what charity is, when yet charity is the soul and essence of faith. And as charity is both of these, what then is faith when charity is removed but dead faith ? And dead faith is nothing but a spectre. I call it a spectre, because James calls faith without good works not only dead, but also diabolical.' Then one of those prelates, when he heard his faith called dead, diabolical, and a spectre, became so enraged, that he snatched the mitre from his head, and threw it upon the table, saying, ' I will not resume it until I have taken vengeance upon the enemies of the faith of our church ; ' and he shook his head, muttering, and saying, '^ That jfatnes, that yames /' On the front of the mitre there was a plate on which was engraved, Faith alone justifymg. And suddenly there ap- peared a monster rising out of the earth, with seven heads, with feet like a bear's, a body like a leopard's, and a mouth like a lion's, altogether like the beast which is described in the Apocalj'pse (xiii. i, 2), whose image was made and worshipped (verses 14, 15). This spectre took the mitre from the table, and stretched it wide at the bottom, and put it on his seven heads ; and then the earth opened under his feet, and he sunk down. On seeing this, the prelate cried out, ' Violence ! Violence ! ' We then left them ; and behold there were steps by our eyes, by which we ascended and returned upon the earth, and into the view of heaven, where we were before." These things were related to me by the spirit who with a hundred others had ascended from the lower earth. 390. Sixth Relation. In the northern quarter of the. spiritual world, I heard as it were the noise of waters ; I therefore went toward it ; and when I was near, it ceased ; and I heard a sound like that from an assembled multitude. And then was seen a house full of holes, surrounded by a rough wall, from which that sound was heard. I went to it. A doorkeeper was there, and I asked him who were 566 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap.' VI." there. He said, " The wisest of the wise, who determine with each other supernatural things." He spoke so from his simple faith. And I asked whether it was allowable to enter. He said that it was, " provided you do not say any thing, for I have leave to admit gentiles, who stand with me near the door." I therefore entered ; and behold there was a circular hall, and in the middle of it a pulpit ; and a com- pany of so-called wise men were discussing the mysteries of their faith. The matter or proposition then submitted for discussion was, " Whether the good which a man does in i/ie state of justification by faith, or in its progress after the act, is the good of religion or not." They said unanimously that by the good of religion was meant good which con- tributes to salvation. There was sharp discussion, but those prevailed who said that the good deeds which a man does in the state or progress of faith are only moral good, which are conducive to prosperity in the world, but con- tribute nothing to his being saved ; to this, only faith con- tributes. And they confirmed it thus : " How can any voluntary good of man's be conjoined with free grace ? And is not salvation of free grace ? How can any good from man be conjoined with Christ's merit? And is not salvation by that alone ? And how can man's operation be conjoined with the operation of the Holy Spirit? Does not this do all, without man's help ? Are not these three things alone saving, in the act of justification by faith ? and the same three continue alone saving in its state or progress. Wherefore the accessory good from man can by no means be called the good of religion, which as'was said contributes ^to his being saved ; but if any one does it for the sake of being saved, since the will of man is in it (and this cannot but regard it as merit), it should rather be called the evil of religion." There were two gentiles standing near the doorkeeper in the vestibule ; and they heard these things, and said to each other, " These people have no religion. Who does not see that to do good to the neighbor for No. 391.] FAITH. 567 God's sake, thus with God and from God, is what is called religion ? " And the other said, " Their faith has infatuated them." And they then asked the doorkeeper, "Who are they?" The doorkeeper said, "They are wise Christians." And they replied, " Nonsense, you are feigning this ; they are play-actors ; they talk like them." And I went away. It was of the Divine auspices of the Lord that I came to that house, and that they then deliberated concerning these matters, and that all took place as described. 391, Seventh Relation. What a desolation of truth and theological meagreness there are at this day in the Christian world, was brought to my knowledge from con- versing with many of the laity and of the clergy in the spiritual world. With the latter there is such spiritual destitution that they scarcely know any thing but that there is a Trinity, of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; and that faith alone saves ; and of Christ th^ Lord they know only the historical things concerning Him found in the Evange- lists. But all else which the Word of both Testaments teaches concerning Him, — as that the Father and He are one, that He is in the Father and the Father in Him, that He has all power in heaven and in earth, that it is the Father's will that they should believe in the Son, and that whosoever believeth in Him hath everlasting life, — these and many other things are as unknown to them and as remote as the things that lie at the bottom of the ocean, yes, as those which are at the centre of the earth. And when such things are brought forth from the Word and read, they stand as if they heard and yet did not hear ; nor do they enter their ears more deeply than the whispering of the wind or the beating of a drum. The angels who are sometimes sent by the Lord to visit the Christian societies that are in the world of spirits, thus beneath heaven, lament exceedingly, saying tliat there is a dulness and consequent tliick darkness among them in matters that pertain to sal- vation, almost like that of a talking parrot. Their learned 568 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI. also say that in spiritual and Divine things they understand no more than statues. An angel once told me that he con- versed with two of the clergy, one of whom was in faith separate from charity, and the other in faith not separate. With the one who was in faith separate from charity he spoke as follows : " Friend, who are you ? " He replied, " I am a Reformed Christian." " What is your doctrine, and the religion from it .'' " He answered, " It is faith." The angel asked, " What is your faith ? " He replied, " My faith is, that God the Father sent the Son to take upon Him- self the damnation of the human race, and that we are saved thereby." The angel asked further, "What more do you know about salvation ? " He replied, " Salvation is effected by that faith alone." Again the angel asked, " What do you know of redemption ? " He replied, " It was accom- plished by the passion, of the cross, and the merit of the Son is imputed through that faith." Again, " What do you know of regeneration ? " He answered, " It is effected by that faith." " Tell what you know about love and charity." He replied, "They are that faith." "And what do you think of the commandments of the decalogue, and of the others in the Word ? " He replied, " They are in that faith." Then said the angel, " You will therefore do noth- ing." He replied, "What am I to do ? I cannot from myself do good that is good." " Can you have faith from yourself?" asked the angel. He replied, "I do not inquire into that ; I am to have faith." At length he said, " Surely you know something more about the state of salvation [sa/iis] } " He replied, " What more, since the work of sal- vation [sah'af/o] is by that faith alone ? " But then the angel said, " You answer like one who plays but one note on a flute ; I hear nothing but faith. If you know that and know nothing else, you know nothing. Go and see your companions." He went and found them in a desert, where there was no grass. He asked why this was so ; and it was said, " Because they have nothing of the church." No. 391.] FAITH. 569 With him who was in faith conjoined with charity, the angel spoke as follows : " Friend, who are you } " He re- plied, "I am a Reformed Christian." "What is your doc- trine, and the religion from it ? " He answered, " Faith and charity." " These are two things," said the angel. He replied, " They cannot be separated." The angel asked, " What is faith ? " He replied, " To believe what the Word teaches." "And what is charity? " He answered, "To do what the Word teaches." The angel said, " Have you only believed those things, or have you also done them ? " He replied, " I have also done them ? " The angel of heaven then looked at him and said, " My friend, come with me, and dwell with us." CHAPTER SEVENTH. CONCERNING CHARITY, OR LOVE TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOR, AND CONCERNING GOOD WORKS. 392. Having treated of Faith, we now go on to treat of Charity ; for faith and charity are conjoined hke truth and good, and these two like Ught and heat in spring. This is said because spiritual light, which is the light that proceeds from the Sun of the spiritual world, in its essence is truth ; therefore truth in that world, wherever it appears, shines with a splendor according to its purity ; and spiritual heat, which also proceeds from that Sun, in its essence is good. These things are said, because it is the same with charity and faith as with good and truth ; for charity is the com- plex of all things which a man does to the neighbor which belong to good, and faith is the complex of all things belonging to truth which a man thinks concerning God and concerning Divine things. Since, therefore, the truth of faith is spiritual light, and the good of charity is spiritual heat, it follows that it is the same with these two as with the two that bear the same name in the natural world ; that is to say, from their conjunction all things on earth flourish, and in like manner from their conjunction all things in the human mind ; but with the distinction that natural heat and light cause things on the. earth to blos- som, but spiritual heat and light cause things to blossom in the human mind ; and that the latter blossoming, be- cause it is spiritual, is wisdom and intelligence. There is also correspondence between them ; and therefore the human mind in which charity is conjoined with faith and faith with charity, is in the Word likened to a garden, and No. 393-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 571 is also meant by the garden of Eden. This has been fully shown in the " Arcana Coelestia " (published at London). It must be known, moreover, that if charity were not treated of after having treated of faith, what faith is could not be comprehended ; since, as stated and shown in t,he preceding chapter, Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity, and neither of them lives except from the Lord (n. 355-361). And also. The Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and under- standing ; and if they are divided, each perishes, like a pearl reduced to powder (n. 362-367). And further, Chai ity and faith are together in good works (n. 373-378). 393. It is a constant truth that, for man to have spirit- ual life and consequently to be saved, charity and faith cannot be separated. This is self-evident to the under- standing of any man even if it is not cultivated by means of the talents and the pounds of learning. Who does not see from some interior perception, and therefore give assent from the understanding, when he hears any one say that whoever lives well and believes aright is saved ? And who does not reject it from the understanding, as he would a bit of dirt falling into the eye, when he hears it said that whoever believes aright and does not live well is also saved ? inasmuch as from interior perception it then in- stantly comes into the thought. How can any one believe aright when he does not live well .'' And what is believing then, but a painted figure of faith, and not its living image? So again, if any one hears it said that whoever lives well is saved, although he does not believe, does not the under- standing while revolving this or turning it over and over, see, perceive, and think that this is without coherence, in- asmuch as to live well is from God ? for all good that in itself is good is from God. What then is it to live well and not believe, but as with clay in the hand of the potter which cannot be formed into any vessel of use in the spir- itual kingdom, but only in the natural ? Furthermore, who 572 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII does not see contradiction in these two statements, that he who beheves but does not live well is saved, — and, that he is saved who lives well and does not believe ? Now because living well, which belongs to charity, is at this day hath, known and not known, — it is known what it is to live well naturally, but it is not known what it is to live well spiritually, — this will therefore be treated of, for it belongs to Charity. And this will be done distinctly, in series, by articles. I. There are three universal Loves, the Love of Heaven, the Love of the World, and the Love OF Self. 394. A commencement is made with these three loves, because they are the universal and fundamental of all, and because charity has something in common with each of them. For by the Love of Heaven is meant love to the Lord and also love towards the neighbor ; and because each of these regards use as the end, it may be called the love of uses. The Love of the World is not merely the love of wealth and property, but also of all that the world af- fords, and of all that delights the senses of the body ; as beauty delights the eyes, harmony the ear, fragrance the nostrils, delicacies the tongue, softness the skin ; also becoming dress, convenient habitations, society, thus all the enjoyments coming from these and many other things. The Love of Self is not merely the love of honor, glory, fame, and eminence, but also the love of meriting and soliciting office, and so of reigning over others. Charity has something in common with each of these three loves, because, viewed in itself, it is the love of uses ; for charity wishes to do good to the neighbor (and good is the same as use), and from those loves every one regards uses as his ends ; the love of heaven regards spiritual uses, the love of the world natural uses which may be called civil. No. 39S-J CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 573 and the love of self corporeal uses which may also be called domestic, done for oneself and his own. 395. That these three loves are in every man from creation and therefore from birth, and that when they are rightly subordinated they perfect him, and when not rightly subordinated they pervert him, will be demonstrated in the next article. It is proper here merely to remark that these three loves are rightly subordinated when the love of heaven makes the head, the love of the world the breast and the abdomen, and the love of self the feet and their soles. The human mind is divided into three distinct re- gions, as repeatedly stated above : from the highest region man regards God, from the second or middle region the world, and from the third or lowest himself. Because the mind is such, it can be raised and it can raise itself upward, because to God and heaven ; it can be spread and it can spread itself to the sides in all directions, because into the world and its nature ; and it can be let downward and can let itself downward, because to earth and to hell. In these respects the sight of the body emulates that of the mind ; it, too, can look upward, round about, and down- ward. The human mind is like a house of three stories which communicate by stairs ; in the highest of which stories dwell angels from heaven, in the middle men from the world, and in the lowest genii. The man in whom these three loves are rightly subordinated, can ascend and descend at pleasure ; and when he goes up to the highest story, he is in company with angels as an angel ; and when from this he goes down to the middle story, he is there in company with men as an angel-man ; and when from this he descends further, he is in company with genii as a man of the world, and instructs, reproves, and subdues them. In the man in whom these three loves are rightly subor- dinated, they are also so co-ordinated that the highest love which is the love of heaven is inwardly in the second which is the love of the world, and by this in the third or 574 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. lowest which is the love of self ; and the love which is within directs at its pleasure that which is without. Where- fore if the love of heaven is inwardly in the love of the world, and by this in the love of self, the man does uses in each from the God of heaven. In operating, these three loves are like will, understanding, and action. The will flows into the understanding, and there provides itself with the means by which it produces action. But on these points more will be seen in the next article, where it will be demonstrated that the three loves if rightly subordinated perfect man ; but if they are not rightly subordinated they pervert and invert him. 396. But in order that what follows in this chapter and in those succeeding, on Free Will, Reformation and Re- generation, and so forth, may be presented in the light of reason so as to be clearly seen, it is necessary to premise something respecting the Will and the Understanding, Good and Truth, Love in general, the Love of the World and the Love of Self in particular, the External and the Internal Man, and the merely Natural and Sensual Man. These things will be laid open, lest the rational sight of man in its perception of what follows further on, should be as it were in a thick fog, and so should run through the streets of a city till it knows not the way home. For what is theology without the understanding, and if the understanding is not enlightened when the Word is read, but as a lamp in the hand not lighted, such as were in the hands of the five foolish virgins who had no oil ? Of each, then, in its order. 397. I. Of the Will and the Understanding. I. Man has two faculties which make his life; one is called the will, and the other the understanding. These are distinct from each other, but so created as to be one ; and when they are one, they are called the mind. Where- fore they are the human mind, and all man's life is therein in its principles, and is thence in the body. 2. As all things I No. 39S.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 575 in the universe which are according to order have relation to good and truth, so all things in man have relation to the will and understanding, since good in man is of his will, and truth in him is of his understanding ; for these two faculties, or these two lives of man, are their receptacles and subjects, the will being the receptacle and the subject of all things of good, and the understanding being the receptacle and the subject of all things of truth. Goods and truths with man are nowhere else. And because goods and truths with man are nowhere else, therefore neither are love and faith elsewhere, since love is of good and good is of love, but faith is of truth and truth is of faith. 3. The will and the understanding also make man's spirit; for in them reside his wisdom and intelligence, also his love and charity, and in general his life. The body is only obedi- ence. 4. Nothing is of more concern to know than how the will and the understanding make one mind. They make one mind as good and truth make one ; for there is a marriage between the will and the understanding like that between good and truth. What the quaUty of that marriage is, will be evident from what will presently be adduced respecting good and truth, namely, that as good is the very esse of a thing and truth is its existcre therefrom, so the will with man is the very esse of his life, but the understanding is the existere of life therefrom ; for good, which is of the will, foniis itself in the understanding, and presents itself to be seen. 398. II. Of Good and Truth, i. All things in the universe that are in Divine order, have relation to good and truth. Nothing exists in heaven and nothing in the world that does not have relation to these two. This is because both of them, good as well as truth, proceed from God from Whom are all things. 2. From this it is manifest, that it is necessary for man to know what good is and what truth is, as also how the one regards the other, and how the one is conjoined with the other. But this is most necessary 5/6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. for the man of the church ; for as all things of heaven have relation to good and truth, so also have all things of the church, because the good and truth of heaven are the good and truth of the church also. 3. It is according to Divine order for good and truth to be conjoined and not separated, so for them to be one and not two ; for they proceed from God conjoined, and in heaven they are conjoined ; and therefore they must be conjoined in the church. In heaven the conjunction of good and truth is called the heavenly marriage ; for all who are there are in this marriage. For this reason heaven is compared in the Word to a marriage ; and the Lord is called the Bridegroom and Husband, but heaven is called the Bride and Wife, and the church the same. Heaven and the church are so called because they who are therein receive Divine good in truths. 4. All the intelligence and wisdom which the angels have is from that marriage, and not any from good separate from truth, nor from truth separate from good. It is the same with the men of the church. 5. Since the conjunction of good and truth is like a marriage, it is manifest that good loves truth, and that in return truth loves good, and that the one desires to be conjoined with the other. The man of the church who has not such love and such desire is not in the heav enly marriage, thus the church is not yet in him ; for the conjunction of good and truth makes the church. 6. Goods are manifold : in general there are spiritual good and natu- ral good, and both conjoined in genuine moral good. As are goods, so are truths ; because truths are of good and are the forms of good. 7. As it is with good and truth, so it is, in the opposite way, with evil and falsity ; that is, as all things in the universe which are according to Divine order have relation to good and truth, so all things that are contrary to Divine order have relation to evil and falsity : and as good loves to be conjoined with truth and truth with good, so evil loves to be conjoined with falsity and falsity with evil : and also, as all intelligence and wis- No. 399] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 577 dom are born from the conjunction of good and truth, so are all insanity and folly from the conjunction of evil and falsity. The conjunction of evil and falsity, viewed interi- orly, is not marriage but adultery. 8. Because evil and falsity are opposite to good and truth, it is manifest that truth cannot be conjoined with evil, nor good with the falsity of evil. If truth is adjoined to evil, it becomes no longer truth but falsity, because it is falsified ; and if good is adjoined to the falsity of evil, it becomes no longer good but evil, because it is adulterated. Yet falsity which is not of evil can be conjoined with good. 9. No one who is in evil and consequently in falsity from confirmation and the life, can know what good and truth are ; since he believes his evil to be good, and from this he believes his falsity to be truth ; but every one who is in good and consequently in truth from confirmation and the life, can know what evil and falsity are. This is because all good and its truth are heavenly in their essence, but all evil and the falsity from it are infernal in their essence ; and every thing heavenly is in light, but every thing infernal in darkness. 399. III. Of Love in general, i. Man's very life is his love ; and such as the love is, such is the life, yes such is the whole man. But it is the dominant or reigning love which makes the man. This love has many other loves subordinate to it, which are derivations. Their appearance is under another aspect ; but yet every one of them is in the dominant love, and with it they make one kingdom. The dominant love is as their king and head ; it directs them ; and through them as through mediate ends it regards and intends its own end, which is the primary and the ulti- mate of all ; and this both directly and indirectly. 2. That which is of the dominant love, is what is loved above all things. What a man loves above all things is continually present in his thought, because it is in his will and it makes his veriest life. For example, one who loves wealth above all things, whether money or possessions, is continually 578 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIL considering in his mind how he may procure it, rejoices inmostly when he acquires it, inmostly grieves when he loses it; his heart is in it- He who loves himself above all things is mindful of himself in every thing ; he thinks of himself, speaks of himself, acts for the sake of himself; for his life is the life of self. 3, A man has for an end that which he loves above all things ; this he regards in all things and in every single thing. It is in his will like the latent flow of a river which sweeps along and bears him away even when he is acting in some other way, for it is that which animates him. Such is that which one man searches out in another, and also sees ; and by it he either leads him or acts with him. 4, A man is wholly such as the dominant [principle] of his life is ; by this he is distinguished from others ; according to this his heaven is made if he is good, and his hell if he is evil ; it is his very will, his pro- prium, and his nature ; for it is the very esse of his life. This cannot be changed after death, because it is the man himself. 5. All that gives enjoyment, satisfaction, and happiness to any one, comes to him from his ruling love and according to it. For a man calls that which he loves enjoyment, because he feels it ; but that which he thinks and does not love, he may also call enjoyment, but it is not the enjoyment of his life. The love's enjoyment is what is good to a man, but the undelightful is what to him is evil. 6. There are two loves from which, as from their very fountains, all goods and truths exist ; and there are two loves from which all evils and falsities exist. The two loves from which are all goods and truths, are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor ; but the two loves from which are all evils and falsities, are the love of self and the love of the world. The two latter when they are predominant, are wholly opposed to the two former. 7. The two loves [from which all goods and truths are*], which, as * The words within brackets have been supplied from " The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine," n. 59 ; from which treatise this is an extract. No. 400.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 579 was said, are love to the Lord and love towards the neigh- bor, make heaven with man, for they reign in heaven ; and because they make heaven with man, they also make the church with him. The two loves from which all evils and falsities are, which, as was said, are the love of self and the love of the world, make hell with man ; for they reign in hell; consequently also they destroy the church with him. 8. The two loves from which are all goods and truths, which, as was said, are the loves of heaven, open and form the internal spiritual man, for they reside there ; but the two loves from which are all evils and falsities, wliich, as was said, are the loves of hell, when they are predominant close and destroy the internal spiritual man, and cause the man to be natural and sensual according to the quantity and quality of their dominion. 400. IV. Of the Love of Self and the Love of THE World in particular, i. The Love of Self is, to wish well to oneself only, and not to others except for the sake of self; not even to the church, one's country, any human society, or to a fellow-citizen ; it is also to do good to them only for the sake of one's reputation, honor, and ' glory ; and unless these are seen in the good which is done to others, it is said in the heart, " What matters it ? Why should I do this 1 What shall I gain by it t " And so it is passed by. Whence it is manifest that he who is in the love of self does not love the church, or his country, or societ}', or his fellow-citizen, or any thing truly good, but only himself and what is his. 2. A man is in the love of self, when, in what he thinks and does, he does not regard the neighbor, therefore not the public, still less the Lord, but only himself and those who are his ; consequently, when he does every thing for the sake of himself and those belonging to him ; and if for the public, it is only for the appearance-; and if for the neighbor, it is that the neighbor may favor him. 3. It is said, for the sake of himself and those who a7e his ; for he who loves himself also loves his 58o THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, [Chap. VII. own, who are especially his children and grandchildren, and in general all who make one with him, whom he calls his own. To love these two classes, is also to love himself, for he regards them as it were in himself, and himself in them. Among those whom he calls his, are likewise all who praise, honor, and pay court to him ; all others he indeed looks upon with the eyes of the body as men, but with the eyes of his spirit he scarcely regards them other- wise than as spectres. 4. The man is in the love of self who despises his neighbor in comparison with himself, vho holds him as an enemy if he does not favor him and if he does not venerate and pay court to him. Still more in the love of self is he who on that account hates his neighbor and persecutes him ; and more still he who therefore burns with revenge against him and desires his destruction. Such at length love to be cruel. 5. It may be evident what the love of self is, from comparison with heavenhr love. It is heavenly love to love uses for the sake of the uses, or goods for the sake of the goods, which a man per- forms for the church, his country, human society, and the fellow-citizen ; but he who loves these things for his own sake, loves them only as he loves the servants of the household, because they are serviceable to him. It follows hence that he who is in the love of self wishes the church, his country, human societies, and his fellow-citizens to serve him, and not that he should serve them ; he puts himself above them, and them beneath himself. 6. Moreover, as far as any one is in heavenly love, which is to love uses and goods and to have heartfelt enjoyment in promoting them, he is led by the Lord ; because that is the love in which the Lord is, and which is from Him. But as far as any one is in the love of self, he is led by himself and is led by his proprium \oumhood\ and man's proprium is nothing but evil ; for it is his hereditary evil, which is to love one- self more than God, and the world more than heaven. 7. Such also is the love of self, that as far as the reins No. 40o] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 58I are given to it, that is, as far as external bonds are re- moved, which are fears of the law and its penalties, and of the loss of reputation, honor, gain, office, and life, so far it rushes on, even till it wishes to have command not only- over the whole world, but also over heaven, yes, over God Himself. There is nowhere any limit or end to it. This lurks in every one who is in the love of self, although it is not manifest before the world, where the reins and bonds which have been named restrain him ; and every such per- son, where impossibility is in the way, there makes his stand until there comes possibility. It is owing to all these things, that the man who is in such love does not know that an insane and unlimited cupidity of this kind is concealed within him. Nevertheless, that it is so no one can help seeing in potentates and kings to whom there are no such reins, bonds, and impossibilities ; they rush on and subju- gate provinces and kingdoms as far as they have success, and aspire to power and glory beyond bounds ; and still more in those who extend their sovereignty into heaven, and transfer to themselves all the Lord's Divine power. These continually desire more. 8. There are two kinds of rule, one of love towards the neighbor, and the other of the love of self. These two kinds of rule are opposites. He who rules from love towards the neighbor wishes good to all, and loves nothing more than to perform uses, thus to serve others (to serve others is to do good to others from good will, and to perform uses) ; this is his love, and the enjoyment of his heart. As far, too, as he is raised to dignities he is also glad, not for the sake of the dignities, but for the sake of the uses which he can then perform in more abundance and in a greater degree. Such is rule in the heavens. But he who rules from the love of self wills good to no one but himself and his. The uses which he performs are for the sake of the honor and glory of him- self, which to him are the only uses ; his end in serving others is that he may be served and honored, and may 582 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. rule. He solicits dignities, not for the sake of the good which he may do, but that he may be in eminence and glory, and thereby in his heart's enjoyment. 9. A love of rule remains also with every one after the life in the world ; but to those who have ruled from love towards the neighbor, is also entrusted dominion in the heavens ; and then they do not rule, but the uses and goods which they love ; and when uses and goods rule, the Lord rules. But they who in the world ruled from the love of self, after the life in the world are made to abdicate and are reduced to servitude. From these things it is now cognized who are in the love of self. It matters not how they appear in the external form, whether elated or submissive ; for such things are in the internal man, and the internal man is hidden by most people, and the external is trained to coun- terfeit what belongs to the love of the public and the neighbor, thus contrary things ; and this also for the sake of self ; for they know that to love the public and the neighbor affects all men interiorly, and that they them- selves are esteemed in the same measure. This love so affects men because heaven flows into it. 10. The evils which are with those who are in the love of self are, in general, contempt of others, envy, enmity against those who do not favor them, consequently hostility, hatred of various kinds, revenge, cunning, deceit, unmercifulness and cruelty. And where there are such evils there is also con- tempt of God and of Divine things which are the truths and goods of the church ; if they honor these, it is with the mouth only, not with the heart. And because such evils are thence, similar falsities are so too ; for falsities are from evils. 11. But the Love of the World is to wish to draw to oneself the wealth of others by any art, and to set the heart upon riches, and to suffer the world to with- draw and lead one away from spiritual love which is love towards the neighbor, and so from heaven. They are in the love of the world who desire to draw to themselves No. 401.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 583 the goods of others by various arts, especially by cunning and deceit, making nothing of the neighbor's good. They who are in that love covet the goods of others, and, as far as they do not fear the laws and the loss of reputation on account of the gain, they deprive them of their goods, yes, prey upon them. 12. But the love of the world is not opposed to heavenly love to such a degree as the love of self is, inasmuch as so great evils are not concealed in it. 13. This love is manifold : there is the love of wealth, that one may be raised to honors ; there is the love of honors and dignities, that one may gain wealth ; there is the love of wealth for the sake of various uses from which one has delight in the world ; there is the love of wealth for its own sake only ; such love have the avaricious ; and so on. The end for the sake of which wealth is loved is called the use ; and it is the end or use from which a love derives its quality ; for the love is such as the end is which it regards ; other things serve it as means. 14. In a word, the love of self and the love of the world are wholly opposite to love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor. Where- fore the love of self and the love of the world, such as have been described above, are infernal loves, reign also in hell, and likewise make hell with man. But love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor are heavenly loves, reign also in heaven, and likewise make heaven with man. 401. V. Of the Internal and the External Man. I. Man has been so created that he is in the spiritual world and in the natural world at the same time. The spiritual world is where angels are, and the natural world where men are. And because man has been so created, there has been given him an internal and an external ; an internal by which he may be in the spiritual world, and an external by which he may be in the natural world. His internal is what is called the internal man, and his external what is called the external man. 2. Every man has an internal and an ex- ternal, but with a difference between the good and the evil. 584 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIJ. With the good the internal is in heaven and its light, and the external in the world and its light; and this light is with them illumined by the light of heaven ; and so with them the internal and the external act as one, like cause and effect, or like the prior and the posterior. But with the evil the internal is in hell and in its light, which light, viewed in relation to the light of heaven, is thick darkness ; and their external may be in light similar to that in which the good are. The case is therefore the reverse of the other. Hence it is that the evil just like the good can speak and teach about faith, about charity, and about God ; but not, like the good, from faith, charity, and God. 3. It is the internal man that is called the spiritual man, because it is in the light of heaven, which light is spiritual ; and it is the external man that is called the natural man, because it is in the light of the world, which light is natural. The man whose internal is in the light of heaven and his exter- nal in the light of the world, is a spiritual man as to both, inasmuch as spiritual light from the interior illumines the natural light and makes it as its own ; but the case is re- versed with the evil. 4. The internal spiritual man viewed in itself is an angel of heaven, and while living in the body is also in society with angels without knowing it, and after release from the body also comes among them. But with the evil the internal man is a satan, and while living in the body is also in society with satans, and after separation from the body also comes among them. 5. With those who are spiritual men, the interiors of the mind are actually elevated towards heaven, for they look primarily to that ; but with those who are merely natural, the interiors of the mind are turned away from heaven, and turned to the world, because they look primarily to this. 6. They who entertain only a general idea of the internal and the exter- nal man, believe that it is the internal man that thinks and that wills, and the external that speaks and that acts; inas- much as thinking and willing are internal, and speaking No. 401.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 585 and acting are external. But it is to be known that when a man thinks and wills well concerning the Lord and the things which are the Lord's, and well concerning the neigh- bor and the things which are the neighbor's, he then thinks and wills from a spiritual internal, because from the faith of truth and from the love of good ; but that when a man thinks ill concerning them and wills ill to them, he then thinks and wills from an infernal internal, because from the faith of falsity and from the love of evil. In a word, as far as a man is in love to the Lord and in love towards the neighbor he is in a spiritual internal, and thinks and wills from it, and also speaks and acts from it ; while as far as a man is in the love of self and in the love of the world he thinks and wills from hell, though he speaks and acts otherwise. 7. It has thus been provided and arranged by the Lord that the spiritual man should be opening and forming so far as a man thinks and wills from heaven ; the opening is into heaven even to the Lord, and the formation is to the things which are of heaven. But on the other hand, so far as a man thinks and wills not from heaven but from the world, the internal spiritual man is closing, and the external is opening and formang ; the opening is into the world, and the formation is to the things which are of hell. 8. Those with whom the internal spiritual man is opened into heaven to the Lord, are in the light of heaven and in illumination from the Lord, and thereby in intelli- gence and wisdom ; these see truth from the light of truth, and perceive good from the love of good. But those with whom the internal spiritual man is closed, do not know what the internal man is, neither do they believe in the Word, nor in a life after death, nor the things which are of heaven and the church : and because they are in only natu- ral light \lumaP\, they believe that nature is of itself and not from God ; they see falsity as truth, and perceive evil as good. 9. The internal and external here treated of, are the internal and external of man's spirit. His body is only VOL. II. 8 586 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI T an external superadded, within which the others exist ; for the body acts in nothing from itself, but from the spirit which is in it. It is to be known that the spirit of man after its release from the body, equally thinks and wills, and speaks and acts : thinking and willing are its internal, but speaking and doing are then its external. 402. VI. Of the merely Natural and Sensual Man. Inasmuch as few know who are meant by sensual men, and of what quality they are (and yet it is important to know), they shall therefore be described, i. He is called a sensual man who judges of all things by the senses of the body, and who believes nothing but what he can see with the eyes and touch with the hands, saying that such things are something, and rejecting all others. The sensual man is therefore the lowest natural man. 2. The interiors of his mind, which see from the light of heaven, are closed, so that he there sees nothing of the truth which pertains to heaven and the church, since he thinks in outermosts and not interiorly from any spiritual light. 3. And since he is in gross natu- ral light [iu/neti], he is interiorly opposed to the things which are of heaven and the church, and yet he can exte- riorly speak in favor of them, and ardently according to the dominion attainable by means of them. 4. Sensual men reason sharply and ingeniously, because their thought is so near to speech, almost in it, and as it were in the lips ; and because they place all intelligence in speech from memory alone. 5, Some of them can confirm any thing they wish, and falsities dexterously ; and after confirming them, they believe them to be truths ; but they reason and confirm from the fallacies of the senses, by which the common peo- ple are captivated and persuaded. 6. Sensual men are shrewd and crafty above all others. 7. The interiors of their minds are foul and filthy, inasmuch as through them they communicate with the hells. 8. Those who are in the hells are sensual ; and the deeper they are the more sensual they are ; also the sphere of infernal spirits conjoins itself No. 402.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 587 with man's sensuals, from behind. 9. As sensual men do not see any genuine truth in light, but reason and dispute about every thing as to whether it is so, and as these dis- putes are heard at a distance from them as the gnashing of teeth, which viewed in themselves are collisions of falsities with each other, and also of the false and the true, it is manifest what is signified in the Word by gnashing of teeth. The reason is that reasoning from the fallacies of the senses corresponds to the teeth. 10. Men of science and erudi- tion, who have deeply confirmed themselves in falsities, and still more they who have confirmed themselves against the truths of the Word, are more sensual than others, although they do not appear so to the world. Heresies have flowed chiefly from such as were sensual. 11. The hypocritical, the deceitful, the voluptuous, the adulterous, and the avari- cious are for the most part sensual. 12. They who rea- soned from sensual things only, and against the genuine truths of the Word and thus of the church, were called by the ancients serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Inasmuch as sensual things mean the things presented to the senses of the body, and imbibed through those senses, it follows : 13. That by sensual things man communicates with the world, and by the rational things above them, with heaven. 14. That sensual things minister in furnisloing such things from the natural world as are of service to the interiors of the mind in the spiritual world. 15. That there are sensual things which minister to the understanding, and these are the various things which are called physics ; and there are sensual things which minister to the will, and these are the enjoyments of the senses and the body. 16. That unless the thought is elevated above sensual things, man has little wisdom ; that a wise man thinks above sensual things ; and that when the thought is elevated above them it comes into clearer light \lumc>i\^ and at length into the light of heaven ; hence man has a perception of truth which is 588 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. properly intelligence. 17. That the elevation of the mind above sensual things and its withdrawal from them, was known to the ancients. 18. That if sensual things are in the last place, through them is opened a way for the under- standing, and truths are polished by the mode of extrac- tion ; but if sensual things are in the first place, that way is closed by them, and man does not see truths except as in a mist, or as in the night. 19. That sensual things with a wise man are in the last place, and are subject to more internal things ; but that with an unwise man they are in the first place, and have dominion. Such are they who are properly called sensual. 20. That with man there are sensual things which he has in common with beasts, and there are sensual things not held in common with them. 21. That so far as any one thinks above sensual things, he is a man ; but no one can think above sensual things and see the truths of the church, unless he acknowledges God and lives according to His commandments ; for God elevates and enlightens. II. These three Loves, when rightly subordinated, PERFECT Man ; but when thev are not rightly SUBORDINATED, THEY PERVERT AND INVERT HIM. 403. Something shall first be said concerning the sub- ordination of the three universal loves, which are the love of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self ; and then concerning the influx and insertion of one into an- other ; and lastly, concerning man's state according to the subordination. These three loves, in relation to each other, are like the three regions of the body, the highest of which is the head, the middle is the chest with the abdo- men, while the knees, the feet, and their soles make the third. When the love of heaven makes the head, the love of the world the chest and the abdomen, and the love of self the feet with their soles, then man is in a perfect state ac- No. 403.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 589 cording to creation ; because the two lower loves then subserve the highest, as the body and all its parts subserve the head. When, therefore, the love of heaven makes the head, it flows into the love of the world which is chiefly a love of riches, and by means of these it performs uses ; and through this love it flows mediately into the love of self which is chiefly a love of dignities, and it performs uses by means of these. Thus those three loves breathe out uses from the influx of one into another. Who does not comprehend that when a man wishes to perform uses from spiritual love (which is from the Lord and is what is meant by the love of heaven), his natural man performs them by means of his riches and his other goods, and his sensual man in its own function, and that it is his honor to produce them ? Who also does not comprehend that all the works which a man does with the body are done according to the state of his mind in the head, and that if the mind is in the love of uses, the body by means of its members effects them ? And this is so because the will and the understanding in their principles are in the head, and in their derivatives in the body, as the will is in deeds, and the thought in speech ; and, comparatively, as the prolific principle of the seed is in all and in every one of the things pertaining to a tree, by which it produces fruits which are its uses. And it is like fire and light within a crystalline vase, which thereby becomes warm and shows the light through it. Moreover, the spiritual sight in the mind, and at the same time the natural sight in the body, with him in whom those three loves are justly and rightly subordinated, from the light which flows in through heaven from the Lord, may be likened to an African apple which is pellucid even to the centre, where is the repository of the seeds. Something like this is meant by these words of the Lord : The light of the body is the eye ; if the eye be single (that is, good) the whole body is full of light (Matt. vi. 22 j Luke xi. 34). No man of sound reason can condemn 590 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VI L riches, for they are in the general body like the blood in a man ; nor can he condemn the honors attached to office, for they are the hands of a king and the pillars of society, provided the natural and sensual loves of them are subor- dinated to spiritual love. There are also administrative offices in heaven, and dignities attached to them ; but they who fill them love nothing m.ore than to do uses, because they are spiritual. 404. But a man puts on an entirely different state if the love of the world or of riches makes the head, that is, if it is the reigning love ; for then the love of heaven is exiled from the head and betakes itself to the body. The man who is in this state prefers the world to heaven ; he wor- ships God, indeed, but from merely natural love which places merit in all worship ; he also does good to the neighbor, but for the sake of rewards. To them the things which are of heaven are as coverings, in which they go shining before the eyes of men, but dusky before the eyes of angels ; for when the love of the world possesses the internal man, and the love of heaven the external, the former then obscures all things of the church, and hides them as under a veil. But this love is in much variety, worse as it verges toward avarice j in this the love of heaven grows black ; so, too, if it verges toward pride and eminence over others from the love of self. It is different if it tends to prodigality ; it is less hurtful if it has in view as an end the splendors of the world, as palaces, decora- tions, magnificent clothing, servants, horses and chariots, with pompous display, and so on. The quality of any love is predicated according to the end which it regards and intends. This love may be likened to a crystal of a black- ish hue, which smothers the light, and variegates it only in dusky and fading colors. And it is like the mist and the cloud which take away the rays of the sun. It is also like new, unfermented wine, which tastes sweet, but troubles the stomach. Such a man viewed from heaven No. 40Sl CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 591 appears like a hunchback walking with his head down, looking to the earth ; and when he raises it toward heaven, he strains back the muscles, and then quickly relapses into his stooping posture. By the ancients in the church such were called Mavnmons ; the Greeks called them Plutos. 405. But if the love of self or the love of ruling makes the head, then the love of heaven passes through the body to the feet ; and so far as that love increases, the love of heaven descends through the ankles to the soles of the feet ; and if it increases still further, the love of heaven passes beneath the shoes, and is trampled under foot. There is a love of ruling that comes from the love of the neighbor, and there is a love of ruling from the love of self. They who are in the love of ruling from the love of the neighbor, seek dominion to the end that they may perform uses to the public and to private individuals ; and to them, therefore, is also entrusted dominion in the heavens. Emperors, kings, and dukes, born and educated for positions of authority, if they humble themselves before God are sometimes less in that love than they who are of low origin but from pride seek for places of pre-eminence. But to those who are in the love of ruling from the love of self, the love of heaven is like a bench on which, for the sake of the common people, they plant their feet, which, however, when the people are out of sight, they toss into a corner or out of doors. This is because they love them- selves only, and consequently immerse their wills and the thoughts of the mind in the proprium, which viewed in itself is hereditary evil ; and this is diametrically opposed to the love of heaven. The evils appertaining to those who are in the love of ruling from the love of self are in general these : Contempt of others, enmity against those who do not favor them, consequently hostility, hatred, re- venge, unmercifulness, harshness, and cruelty ; and where there are such evils, there also is contempt of God and of Divine things which are the truths and goods of the church ; 592 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII.. if these are honored, it is only with the mouth, lest they should be denounced by the ecclesiastical order and cen- sured by others. But this love is one thing with the clergy, and another with the laity. With the clergy, this love climbs upward, when the reins are given to it, until they wish to be gods ; but with the laity until they wish to be kings ; tlie fantasy of that love carries their minds \animus\ away, even to this extent. Since the love of heaven holds the highest place with the perfect man, and makes as it were the head of all the loves that follow, while the love of the world is below it and is like the chest which is beneath the head, and the love of self is below this like the feet, — it follows that if the love of self were to make the head, it would completely invert the man. He would then appear to the angels like one lying bent over, with the head to the earth- and the back toward heaven; and when at worship, he would appear to be on his hands and feet, and to dance like a panther's cub ; and moreover such would appear as beasts of various form, with two heads, one above having the face of a wild animal, another below having a human face, which would be constantly thrust forward by the upper one and compelled to kiss the earth. These all are sensual men, and are such as were described above (n. 402). III. Every Man individually is the Neighbor who is TO BE LOVED, BUT ACCORDING TO THE QUALITY OF HIS Good. 406. Man is not born for the sake of himself, but for the sake of others ; that is, he is born not to live for himself alone, but for others ; otherwise there would not be any society that would hold together, and with some good in it. It is a common saying that every one is neighbor to him- self ; but the doctrine of charity teaches how this is to be understood, which is thus : Every one should provide for No. 407-1 CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 593 himself the necessaries of life, as food, clothing, a habita- tion, and other things which are necessarily required in the civil life in which he is ; and this not only for himself but also for his family, and not for the present time only but also for the future ; for unless he acquires for himself the necessaries of life, he is not in a state to exercise charity, as he is in want of all things. But how every one ought to be neighbor to himself, may be evident from a comparison : Every one ought to provide his body with food ; this must be first, but to the end that there may be a sound mind in a sound body ; and every one ought to provide the mind with its food, namely, such things as are of intelligence and judgment, but to the end that he may thereby be in a state to serve his fellow-citizen, society, his country, the church, and thus the Lord ; he who does this, provides well for him- self to eternity. From this it is plain what is first in time and what is first in end, and that the first in end is that to which all things look. This is also as with one who is building a house : he first lays the foundation, but the foundation will be for the house, and the house for resi- dence. He who believes that he is neighbor to himself in the first place or primarily, is like one who regards the foundation as the end, and not residence ; when yet resi- dence is itself the first and the last end, and the house with the foundation is only the means to the end. 407. It shall be told what it is to love the neighbor. To love the neighbor is not merely to will and do good to the relative, the friend, and the good man, but also to the stranger, the enemy, and the bad man. But charity is ex- ercised toward the latter in one way, and toward the former in another ; toward a relative and a friend by direct bene- fits ; toward an enemy and a wicked man by indirect benefits which are conferred by exhortation, discipline, punishment, and so by correction. This may be illustrated thus : The judge who according to law and justice punishes an evil- doer, loves the neighbor ; for so he corrects him and coa- 8* 594 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. suits the welfare of the citizens, that he may not do them harm. Every one knows that a father who chastises his children when they do wrong, loves them ; and on the other hand, that he who does not chastise them therefor, loves their evils ; and charity cannot be said to belong to this. Further, if any one repels an insulting enemy, and in self-defence strikes him or delivers him to the judge, so as to prevent injury to himself yet with a disposition to be- friend the man, he acts in the course of charity. Wars that have for their end the defence of one's country and the church are not contrary to charity ; the end in view shows whether there is charity or not. 408. Since, therefore, charity in its origin. is to have good will, and as this has its seat in the internal man, it is mani- fest that when any one who has charity resists an enemy, punishes the guilty, or chastises the wicked, he does so by means of the external man ; wherefore after he has done it, he returns to the charity that is in the internal man ; and then, as far as he can, and as far as is useful, he wishes him well, and from good will does good to him. They who have genuine charity have a zeal for what is good ; and that zeal in the external man may seem like anger and flam- ing fire, but its flame is extinguished and it is quieted as soon as the adversary returns to reason. It is otherwise with those who have no charity : their zeal is anger and hatred ; for from these their internal is heated and set on fire. 409. Before the Lord came into the world, scarcely any one knew what the internal man was, or what charity was ; therefore in so many places he taught brotherly love, that is, charity ; and this makes a distinction between the Old Testament or Covenant and the New. That good ought to be done, from charity, to the adversary and the enemy, the Lord taught in Matthew : Ye have heard that it hath been said (to them of old time). Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your efiemies. No. 410.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 595 bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that injure and persecute you ; that ye may be sons of your Father Who is in the heavens (v. 43-45). And when Peter asked how often he should forgive one sinning against him, whether until seven times, He answered, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven (xviii. 21, 22). And I have heard out of heaven that the Lord remits to every one his sins, and never takes ven- geance, and does not even impute them, because He is Love itself and Good itself ; yet that sins are not thereby washed away, for they are not washed away except by re- pentance ; for, when He said to Peter that he should for- give until seventy times seven times, what will not the Lord do ? 410. Since charity itself has its seat in the internal man, where it is good will, and from that in the external man where it is well-doing, it follows that the internal man is to be loved, and from that the external ; consequently, that a man is to be loved according to the quality of the good which is in him. Wherefore good itself is essentially the neighbor. This may be illustrated thus : When any one selects for himself among three or four a steward for his house, or a servant, does he not search his internal man, and choose a sincere and faithful person, and therefore love him ? So, too, a king or a magistrate from three or four persons would select one qualified for an office, and reject one not competent, whatever his looks might be, and though his words and his deeds might be in his favor. Since, therefore, every man is the neighbor, and the variety of men is infinite, and every one is to be loved as a neigh- bor according to his good, it is manifest that there are genera and species, and also degrees, of love towards the neighbor. Now as the Lord is to be loved above all things, it follows that the degrees of love towards the neighbor are to be measured by the love to Him, thus by the meas- ure in which another possesses the Lord in himself, or has 596 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIL a possession from the Lord ; for so much good he also pos- sesses, because all good is from the Lord. But as these degrees are in the internal man, and this rarely manifests itself in the world, it is enough that the neighbor be loved according to the degrees of which one has cognizance. But after death those degrees are clearly perceived ; for there, [in the spiritual world,] the will's affections and the thoughts of the understanding which are from these, make a spirit- ual sphere around them, which is felt in various ways ; but in the w'orld this spiritual sphere is absorbed by the mate- rial body, and encloses itself within the natural sphere, which then flows out from man. That there are degrees of love toward the neighbor, is evident from the Lord's para- ble of the Samaritan who showed mercy to him who was wounded by thieves, whom the priest and the Levite saw and passed by ; and when the Lord asked which of those three seemed to have been the neighbor, the answer was, He who showed mercy (Luke x. 30-37). 411. We read. Thou shalt love the Lord God above all things, and the neighbor as thyself (JL\x\ie. x. 27). To love the neighbor as oneself is, not to despise him in comparison with oneself, to deal justly with him, and not to judge evil of him. The law of charity laid down and given by the Lord Himself is this: All thitigs whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. vii. 12; Luke vi. 31, 32). So do they love the neighbor who are in the love of heaven ; while they who are in the love of the world love the neigh- bor from the world and for its sake ; and they who are in the love of self love the neighbor from self and for the sake of self. No. 4I2-1 CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 597 IV. Man collectively, or a smaller and a greater Society, and the Man into whose composition Societies enter, or one's Country, is the Neighbor that is to be loved. 412. They who do not know what the neighbor is in the genuine sense, suppose that man individually only is the neighbor, and that to confer benefits upon him is to love the neighbor. But the neighbor and love to him extend further, for they ascend as men are multiplied. Who can- not understand that to love many men in a body is to love the neighbor more than to love one individual of the body ? Wherefore a smaller or a greater society is the neighbor because it is man collectively. From this it follows that he who loves a society loves those of whom the society consists ; therefore he who wishes well and does good to a society, consults the good of the individuals in it. A society is like one man ; and those who enter into it compose as it were one body, and are distinct from each other like the members in one body. The Lord, and from Him the angels, when they look down upon the earth, see an entire society but as one man, and its form from the qualities of those who are therein. It has also been granted me to see a certain society in heaven altogether as one man, in stature like that of a man in the world. That love toward a society is a fuller love to the neighbor than love toward a separate or individual man, shows itself in this, that dignities are dis- pensed according to the official stations Over societies, and honors are attached to them according to the uses they per- form. For there are in the world higher and lower offices, subordinated according to their more or less universal gov- ernment over societies ; and the king is he whose govern- ment is the most universal ; and each one, according to the extent of his duties together with the goods of use which he promotes, has remuneration, glory, and the general love. 598 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. But the rulers of the present age can perform uses and con- sult the good of society, and yet not love the neighbor ; just like those who perform uses and consult the good of others on account of the world and of themselves, for the sake of appearances, or that they may be esteemed worthy to be elevated to higher dignities. But such although not dis- cerned in the world are yet discerned in heaven ; wherefore those who have promoted uses from love to the neighbor, are also placed as rulers over a heavenly society, and are there in splendor and honor ; but yet they do not set the heart on these, but on uses. The others, however, who have done uses from the love of the world and of self, are rejected. 413. The difference between love towards the neighbor and the exercise of it toward man individually, and toward man collectively or a society, is like that between the re- spective duties of a citizen, a magistrate, and a duke ; and like that between him who traded with two talents, and him who traded with five* (Matt. xxv. 14-31). The difference is also like that betv/een the value of a shekel and that of a talent ; and like that between the profit from the fruit of a vine and of a vineyard, or of an olive-tree and of an olive- yard, or of a tree and of an orchard. Moreover, love toward the neighbor ascends more and more interiorly with man ; and as it ascends he loves a society more than an individ- ual man, and his country more than a society. Now since charity consists in wishing well and thence acting well, it follows that it is to be exercised toward a society almost in the same manner as toward an individual man ; but in one way toward a society of good men, and in another toward a society of wicked men. Toward the latter, charity is to be exercised according to natural equity ; toward the former, according to spiritual equity. But of these two kinds of equity something will be seen elsewhere. 414. One's country is the neighbor more than a society, * The Latin here reads decern, ten. No. 415.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 599 because it consists of many societies, and consequently the love toward it is more extended and higher ; and besides, to love one's country is to love the public welfare. A man's country is the neighbor, because it is like a parent ; for there he was born ; it has nourished and still nourishes him, it has protected and still protects him from injury. Men ought to do good to their country from love, accord- ing to its necessities, some of which are natural and some spiritual. Natural necessities regard civil life and order, and spiritual necessities regard spiritual life and order. That one's country is to be loved, not as a man loves him- self but more than himself, is a law inscribed on the human heart; whence has been promulgated what is affirmed by every just man, that if ruin threatens one's countrj'- from an enemy or any other source, it is noble to die for it, and glorious for a soldier to shed his blood for it. This is a common sa}nng, because one's country ought to be loved so much. It is to be known that they who love their coun- tr}', and do good to it from good will, after death love the Lord's kingdom ; for this is their country there ; and they who love the Lord's kingdom love the Lord, because the Lord is the All in all of His kingdom. V. The Church is the Neighbor that is to be loved IN A HIGHER DeGREE AND THE LoRD's KINGDOM IN THE HIGHEST. 415. Since man was born for eternal life, and is intro- duced into it by the church, therefore the church is to be loved as the neighbor in a higher degree ; for it teaches man the means which lead to eternal life, and introduces him into it, — leads to it by the truths of doctrine, and in- troduces by the goods of life. It is not meant that the priesthood is to be loved in a higher degree, and from it the church ; but that the good and the truth of the church are to be loved, and the priesthood for their sake ; this 600 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. only serves, and just as it serves is to be honored. The church is the neighbor that is to be loved in a higher degree, thus even above one's country, for the further rea- son that man is initiated by his country into civil life, but by the church into spiritual life, and this life parts man from merely animal life. Moreover, civil life is temporal, which has an end, and then it is as if it had not been ; but spiritual life is eternal, for it has no end ; wherefore of the latter may be predicated being, but of the former, non-being. Their distinction is like that between the finite and the infinite, between which there is no ratio ; for the eternal is infinite as to time. 416. The Lord's kingdom is the neighbor that is to be loved in the highest degree, because by the Lord's king- dom is meant the church throughout the world, which is called the communion of saints, and by it is also meant heaven. Wherefore he who loves the Lord's kingdom, loves all in the whole world who acknowledge the Lord and have faith in Him and charity toward the neighbor, and he also loves all in heaven. They who love the Lord's kingdom love the Lord above all things, and are conse- quently in love to God more than others ; for the church in the heavens and in the earth is the Body of the Lord, since they are in the Lord and the Lord in them. Love toward the Lord's kingdom is therefore love toward the neighbor in its fulness ; for they who love the Lord's kingdom not only love the Lord above all things, but they also love the neighbor as oneself ; for love to the Lord is a universal love, and consequently it is in all things of spiritual life and in each one of them, and is also in all things and in each thing pertaining to natural life ; for this love has its seat in the highest things with man, and the highest flow into the lower and vivify them, as the will flows into all things of intention and the action that is from it, and the understanding into all things of thought and the speech therefrom. Wherefore the Lord says, Seek ye first the No. 417.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. Ooi KINGDOM OF THE HEAVENS * utid its ri'ghteousness, then all things will be added unto you (Matt. vi. t,^). That the king- dom of the heavens is the Lord's kingdom, is evident from these words in Daniel : Behold He was comitig as the Son OF Man, with the clouds of the hcavetis ; and there was given Him dominion, glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, tiations, and tongues shall worship Him. His dofninion is an ever- lasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdofn that which shall not be destroyed (vii. 13, 14). VI. To LOVE THE Neighbor, viewed in itself, is not TO love the Person, but the Good that is in THE Person. 417. Who does not know that a man is not man from the human face and the human body, but from the wisdom of his understanding and the goodness of his will ? The quality of these as it rises makes him the more a man. When born, a man is more a brute than any animal, but he becomes man by instruction of various kinds, by the reception of which his mind is formed ; and from the mind and according to it, a man is man. There are beasts whose faces resemble man's ; but they enjoy no faculty of under- standing, or of doing any thing from the understanding, but they act from the instinct which their natural love excites. The distinction is that a beast sounds forth the affections of its love, but a man speaks them when brought into thought ; again, a beast with its face downward looks upon the ground, while man with the face raised beholds the heaven around him. From which the conclusion may be drawn that a man is man so far as he speaks from sound reason and looks to his abode in heaven ; while he is not man so far as he speaks from perverted reason, and looks only to his abode in the world. Yet even such are men ; not actually, however, but potentially ; for every man enjoys * The original Greek has GoD. 602 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. the power of understanding truths and of willing goods ; but so far as he is not willing to do goods and understand truths, he can in externals counterfeit a man, and ape him. 418. Good is the neighbor because good is of the will, and the will is the esse of man's life. The truth of the understanding is also the neighbor, but only so far as it proceeds from the good of the will ; for the good of the will forms itself in the understanding, and there presents itself to be seen in the light of reason. That good is the neighbor is evident from all experience. Who loves a per- son except from the quality of his will and understanding, that is, from what is good and just in him ? As for ex- ample, who loves a king, a prince, a duke, a governor, a consul, any magistrate, or any judge, except for the [justice and] judgment from which* they act and speak? Who loves a primate, a minister of the church, or a canon, ex- cept for learning, integrity of life, and zeal for the safety of souls ? Who loves the general of an army or any officer under him, except for bravery united with prudence ? Who loves a merchant except for honesty ? Who loves a work- man and a servant except for faithfulness ? Yes, who loves a tree but for its fruit, the soil but for its fertility, a stone but for its preciousness ? and so on. And what is remark- able, not only does an upright man love what is good and just in another, but a man who is not upright does so too, because with him he is in no fear of losing reputation, honor, or wealth. But the love of good with one who is not upright, is not love of the neighbor ; for he does not love another interiorly except so far as he is of service to him. But to love the good in another from good in oneself is genuine love toward the neighbor ; for then the goods kiss each other and join with each other, 419. The man who loves good because it is good and • In the Latin this word is plural. The words within brackets have therefore been introduced. No. 420.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 603 truth because it is truth, loves the neighbor eminently, because he loves the Lord Who is Good itself and Truth itself. The love of good and thence of truth, and so of the neighbor, is from no other source. Thus is formed love towards the neighbor from a heavenly origin. Whether it is said use or good, it is the same ; wherefore, to perform uses is to do goods ; and according to the quantity and the quality of the use in goods, so far in quantity and in quality the goods are goods. VII. Charity and Good Works are two distinct things, LIKE WILLING WELL AND DOING WELL. 420. With every man there is an internal and an ex- ternal. His internal is what is called the internal man, and his external what is called the external man. But he who knows not what the internal man is and what the exter- nal, may believe that it is the internal man which thinks and wills, and the external which speaks and acts. These latter indeed pertain to the external man, and the former to the internal ; but yet they do not essentially make the external and the internal man. In common perception, indeed, man's mind is the internal man ; but the mind is itself divided into two regions ; one region which is the higher and more internal is spiritual, and the other which is the lower and more external is natural. The spiritual mind looks principally to the spiritual world, and has for objects the things that are there, whether they be such as are in heaven or as are in hell ; for both are in the spiritual world. But the natural mind looks principally to the nat- ural world, and has for its objects the things that are there, whether they be good or evil. All man's action and speech proceeds from the lower region of the mind directly, and indirectly from its higher region ; inasmuch as the lower region of the mind is nearer to the senses of the body, and the higher region is more remote from them. There is this 604 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. division of the mind with man, because he was created so as to be spiritual and at the same time natural, and thus a man and not a beast. Hence it is manifest that the man who primarily regards the world and himself, is an external man, because he is natural not only in body but also in mind ; while the man who primarily regards the things of heaven and the church, is an internal man, because he is spiritual both in mind and body. He is spiritual in body also, because his actions and words proceed from the higher mind which is spiritual, through the lower which is natural. For it is known that effects proceed from the body, and the causes which produce them from the mind ; also that the cause is the all in the effect. That the human mind is so divided is plainly manifest from a man's being able to act the part of a dissembler, a flatterer, a hypocrite, and a player ; and that he can assent to what another says and yet laugh at it. This he does from the higher mind ; but that, from the lower. 421. From this it may be seen how it is to be under- stood that charity and good works are distinct, like willing well and doing well ; that is to say, they are formally dis- tinct like the mind which thinks and wills and the body by which the mind speaks and acts ; while they are essentially distinct because the mind itself is distinct, its interior re- gion being spiritual and the exterior natural, as said above. Wherefore if works proceed from the spiritual mind they proceed from its good will which is charity ; but if from the natural mind, they proceed from a good will which is not charity ; although it may appear like charity in the ex- ternal form, still it is not charity in the internal form ; and charity only in the external form indeed presents the look of charity, but does not possess its essence. This may be illustrated by a comparison with seeds in the ground. From every seed is brought forth a plant, useful or useless according to the nature of the seed. So likewise with spiritual seed, which is the truth of the church from the No. 422.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 60$ Word. From this is formed doctrine, useful if from gen- uine truths, useless if from truths falsified. The case is similar with charity from good will, whether the good will is for the sake of self and the world, or for the sake of the neighbor in a restricted or a broad sense. If for the sake of self and the world, it is a spurious charity ; but if for the sake of the neighbor, it is genuine charity. But of this, more may be seen in the chapter concerning Faith, espe- cially in the article where it is shown, T/iai charity is to will well, and good works are to do well from willing well (n. 374) : and That charity and faith are only mental and perishable things unless they are deter7ni?ied to works and co- exist in them, when possible (n. 375, 376). VIII. Charity itself is to act justly and faithfltlly IN THE Office, Business, and Work in which any one is, and with whomsoever he has any Intercourse. 422. Charity itself is to act justly and faithfully in the office, business, and work in which any one is, because all things which a man so does are of use to society ; and use is good ; and good, in a sense abstracted from persons, is the neighbor. (That not only an individual man, but also a smaller society, and one's country itself, is the neighbor, was shown above.) For example : A king who sets his subjects an example of well-doing, as he wishes them to live according to the laws of justice, rewards those who do so, regards every one according to his merit, defends them against injuries and invasions, acts as the father of the kingdom, and consults the general prosperity of his people ; charity is in his heart, and his deeds are good works. The priest who teaches truths from the Word, and by them leads to the good of life and so to heaven, because he con- sults the good of the souls of the men of his church is eminently in the exercise of charity. The judge who 6o6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. judges according to justice and law, and not for reward, friendship, and relationship, consults the good of society and of men individually ; of society, because it is thereby kept in obedience to law and in the fear of transgressing it ; and of the individual, because justice triumphs over injustice. The merchant, if he acts from sincerity and not from fraud, consults the good of the neighbor with whom he has business. So, too, a workman and an artist, if he does his work uprightly and. honestly, and not fraudulently and deceitfully. It is the same with all others ; as with shipmasters and sailors, and with farmers and servants. 423. This is charity itself because charity may be de- fined as doing good to the neighbor, daily and continually ; and not only to the neighbor individually, but also collec- tively ; and this can be done only by means of what is good and just in the office, business, and work in which any one is, and in his relations with those with whom he has any dealings; for this he does daily; and when he is not doing it, it still has its seat in his mind continually, and he has it in thought and intention. The man who thus practises charity, becomes charity in form, more and more ; for jus- tice and faithfulness form his mind, and their exercises form his body ; and little by little, from his form, he wills and thinks only such things as are of charity. Such be- come at length like those of whom it is said in the Word, that they have the law written on their hearts. Moreover they do not place merit in their works, because they do not think of merit but of duty, that it is becoming for a citizen to do so. But a man can by no means from himself act from spiritual justice and faithfulness ; for every man in- herits from his parents an inclination to do what is good and just for the sake of himself and the world, and no man inclination to. do it for the sake of what is good and just. Wherefore only he who worships the Lord and acts from the Lord while acting out of himself, attains to spiritual charity, and becomes imbued with it by its exercises. No. 425-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 607 424. There are many who act justly and faithfully in their occupation, and although they thus promote works of charity still do not possess any charity in themselves. But these are they in whom the love of self and the world predominates, and not the love of heaven ; and if per- chance this latter loye is present, it is beneath the former, like a servant under his master, and like a common soldier under his officer, and is like a doorkeeper standing at the door. IX. The Benefactions of Charity are, giving to the Poor and relieving the Needy ; but with Pru- dence. 425. A distinction is to be made between the offices of charity and its benefactions. By the offices of charity are meant the exercises of it which proceed immediately from charity itself ; and these, as has just been shown, belong primarily to one's occupation. But by benefactions are meant those deeds of help that are performed outside of one's occupation. They are called benefactions, because the doing of them is with man's liberty and at his pleasure; and when done, they are regarded by the recipient simply as benefactions ; and they are dispensed according to the reasons and the intentions which the benefactor has in mind. It is the common belief that charity is only to give to the poor, to relieve the needy, to care for widows and orphans, and to contribute to the building of hospitals, infirmaries, asylums, orphans' homes, and especially tem- ples, and to their decorations and revenues. But many of these things are not the proper constituents of charity, but are things extraneous to it. They who place charity itself in these benefactions, cannot but place merit in these works ; and" although they profess with the mouth that they do not wish them to be regarded as meritorious, still a be- lief in their merit lurks within. This is very manifest in them after death. Then they enumerate their works, and 6o8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. demand salvation as a reward. But inquiry is then made as to the origin of the works, and thus of what quality they are ; and if it is found that they proceeded from pride, or a hunting after fame, from bare munificence, friendship, merely natural inclination, or from hypocrisy, they are then judged from that origin ; fdr the quality of the origin is in the works. But genuine charity proceeds from those who are imbued with it from justice and judgment in the works which they do without expectation of reward as an end, according to the Lord's words in Luke (xiv. 12-14). They also call such things as have been mentioned above benefactions, as also debts, although they are of charity. 426. It is known that some who have performed those beneficent acts which to the world present the image of charity, have the opinion and belief that they have prac- tised the works of charity, and they regard them as many in popedom regard indulgences, that on account of them they are purified from sins, and as regenerate are to be gifted with heaven ; and yet they do not regard as sins, adultery, hatred, revenge, fraud, and, in general, the lusts of the flesh, in which they indulge at pleasure. But what are those good works then but painted pictures of angels in the company of devils, or boxes made of lapis lazuli with hydras in them ? But it is quite otherwise if these benefactions are made by those who shun the evils above mentioned as hateful to charity. But in truth those bene- factions are advantageous in many ways, especially giving to the poor and to beggars ; for thereby boys and girls, servants and maids, and in general all simple-minded per- sons, are initiated into charity, for they are its externals, wheieby such are trained to the duties of charity; for they are the rudiments of it, and are then like unripe fruits. But with those who are afterward perfected by just cogni- tions respecting charity and faith, they become like ripe fruit ; and then they regard those former works done from simplicity of heart only as what was due from them. No. 428.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 609 427. Such benefactions are at this day believed to be the proper deeds of charity that are meant in the Word by good works, because charity is often described in the Word as giving to the poor, helping the needy, and caring for widows and orphans. But it has been hitherto un- known that the Word in the letter mentions only such things as are the externals, yes, such as are the most exter- nal things of worship, and that spiritual things which are internal are meant by them ; as may be seen above, in the chapter concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 193-209). From which it is manifest, that by those called poor, needy, widows, and orphans, these are not there meant, but they who are such spiritually. That by the poor are meant those who are not in cognitions of truth and good, may be seen in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 209); also that widows mean those who are without truths and still desire them (n. 764) ; and so on. 428. They who from birth are compassionate, and do not make their natural mercifulness spiritual by exercising it from genuine charity, believe that it is charity to give to any poor person, and to relieve any one who is in want ; and they do not first make inquiry whether the poor and needy person is good or bad ; for they say that this is not necessary, since God looks only at the aid and the alms. But after death these are well discerned, and are separated from those who have performed the benefactions of charity prudently; for they who have performed them from that blind idea of charity, then do good to bad and good alike ; and by means of what is done for them the wicked do evils, and thereby injure the good ; wherefore those bene- factors also are a cause of injury to the good. For to per- form a beneficent act to an evil-doer, is like giving bread to the devil, which he turns into poison ; for all bread is poison in the devil's hand, or if it is not, he turns it into poison, and this he does by using good deeds as allure- ments to evil. And it is like handing to an enemy a sword 6lO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. with which he may kill some one. And it is like giving a shepherd's crook to a man-wolf that he may lead the sheep to pasture; when yet, after he has obtained it, he drives the sheep from the pasture to a desert, and there he slaughters them. And it is like entrusting the government to a robber, who studies and watches only for plunder ; according to the richness and abundance of which, he dis- penses the laws and executes judgments. X. There are Debts of Charity; some public, some DOMESTIC, AND SOME PRIVATE. 429. The benefactions of charity and the debts of charity are distinct from each other, like the things which are done from free-will and those which are done from necessity. But still, by the debts of charity is not here meant what is due from the offices in a kingdom and a republic, — as from a minister that he should minister, from a judge that he should judge, and so on, — but what is due from every one, in whatever office he is. Such duties have therefore a different origin and flow from another will, and are there- fore done from charity by those who are in charity, and, on the other hand, from no charity by those who are in no charity. 430. The public dues of charity are especially tribute and taxes, which ought not to be confounded with what is due from office. They who are spiritual pay these with one disposition of heart, and they who are merely natural with another. The spiritual pay them from good will, because they are collected for the preservation of their country, and for its protection and that of the church, also for the ad- ministration of government by officials and rulers, to whom salaries and stipends are to be paid from the public treasury. Wherefore they to whom their country and also the church are the neighbor, pay them with a spontaneous and favorable will, and regard it as iniquitous to deceive and to prevent No. 43iJ CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 6ll their collection. But they to whom their country and the church are not the neighbor, pay them with a reluctant and repugnant will, and at every opportunity they defraud and pilfer ; for with them their own house and their own flesh are the neighbor. 431. The /louseholti dues of charity ?Lre those of a husband toward his wife and of a wife toward her husband, of a father and a mother toward their children and of children toward their father and mother, also those of a master and a mistress toward their servants of either sex and of the servants toward them. These debts because they relate to the bringing tip and the management of the household, are so numerous that if recounted they would fill a volume. To meet these debts every one is moved by a love different from that which moves him to meet what is due from his occupation ; to those of a husband toward his wife and of a wife toward her husband, they are moved by conjugial love and according to it ; of a father and a mother toward their children by the love implanted in every one, called parental love ; and of children toward their parents, by and according to another love which closely conjoins itself with obedience from its being due. But what is due from a mas- ter and a mistress to their servants, male and female, has its derivation from the love of reigning, and this is accord- ing to the state of each one's mind. But conjugial love and love toward children, with what is due from them and its practice, do not produce love towards the neighbor like the practice of what is due in one's employment, for the love called parental love exists equally with the bad and the good, and is sometimes stronger with the wicked ; and it also exists in beasts and birds, in which no charity can be formed. That it is with bears, tigers, and serpents as much as with sheep and goats, and with owls as much as with doves, is known. As to what particularly regards the things which parents owe their children : with those who are in charity these are intrinsically different from what they are with 6l2 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. those who are not in charity, but outwardly they appear alike. With those who are in charity, that love is con- joined with love towards the neighbor and with love to God ; for by them the children are loved according to their morals, virtues, endeavors, and qualifications for serving the public. But withthose who are not in charity, there is no conjunction of charity with the love called parental love ; so that many of them can love wicked, immoral, and crafty children, more than those who are good, moral, and pru- dent ; thus those who are useless to the public more than those who are useful. 432, The private dues of charity are also- numerous, such as the payment of wages to workmen, the payment of inter- est, the fulfilment of contracts, the guarding of securities, and other things like these, some of which are debts by statute law, some by civil common law, and some by moral law. These also are discharged by those who are in charity with a different mind from that with those who are not in charity. They who are. in charity perform them justly and faithfully \ for it is a precept of charity that every one should act justly and faithfully with all with whom he is in any business and intercourse, of which above (n. 422-425), But the same things are performed very differently by those who are not in charity. XI. The Diversions of Charity are Dinners, Suppers, AND Social Gatherings. 433. It is known that dinners and suppers are every- where customary, and are given for various purposes ; also that with most people they are for the sake of friendship, relationship, gladness, and for the sake of gain and recom- pense ; also that they are means for corrupting men and drawing them over to a party, and that among the great they are also for the sake of honor, and in kings' palaces for the sake of splendor. But the dinners and suppers of No. 434] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 613 charity are among those only who are in mutual love from similar faith. With the Christians of the primitive church, the dinners and suppers were for no other end, and they were called Feasts, being instituted that they might be glad from the heart together and be conjoined with one another. Suppers with them signified consociations and conjunctions, in the first state of the establishment of the church ; for evening, when they took place, signified this state : but Din Iters, the same in the second state, when the church was established ; for morning and day signified this state. At table they conversed on various subjects, both domestic and civil, but especially on such as pertained to the church ; and because they were feasts of charity, on whatever sub- ject they spoke, charity with its joy and gladness was in their speech. The spiritual sphere which reigned in those feasts was a sphere of love to the Lord and of love toward the neighbor, which cheered the mind \_anitnus'\ of every one, softened the tone of every one's words, and carried festivity from the heart to all the senses. For there ema- nates from every man a spiritual sphere, which is of his love's affection' and the thought therefrom ; and it inte- riorly affects his associates, especially at feasts ; it emanates through the face as well as by the respiration. Inasmuch as such consociations of minds S^animus'\ were signified by dinners and suppers, or by feasts, therefore they are men- tioned in the Word ; and nothing else is there meant by them in the spiritual sense ; also in the highest sense by the paschal supper among the children of Israel, and also by the banquets of the other festivals ; as also by their eat- ing together of the sacrifices near the tabernacle. Con- junction itself was then represented by breaking the bread and distributing it, and by drinking from the same cup and handing it to one another. 434. As to Social Gatherings in the primitive church, they were among such as called themselves brethren in Christ ; they were therefore assemblies of charity, because 6l4 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. there was spiritual brotherhood. They were also a con- solation in the adversities of the church, a season of rejoic- ing in its increase, and also a recreation of the so-ul after study and labor, and at the same time gave opportunity for conversation on various subjects ; and because they flowed from spiritual love as from a fountain, they were rational and moral from a spiritual origin. There are at this day assemblies of friendship, which regard as their end the enjoyments of sociability, the exhilaration of the mind by conversation, and which are therefore for the expansion of the mind [animus], and the liberation of imprisoned thoughts, and thus for warming anew the sensuals of the body and perfecting their state. But there are as yet no gatherings of charity; for the Lord says, In the consumma- tion of the age, that is, in the end of the church, iniquity will be multiplied, and charity will grow cold (Matt. xxiv. 12). This is because the church had not yet acknowledged the Lord God the Saviour as the God of heaven and earth, and gone immediately to Him from Whom alone genuine charity proceeds and flows in. But the social gatherings where a friendship emulating charity does -not join minds [animus] together, are mere pretences of friendship, and deceptive attestations of mutual love, seductive insinua- tions into favor, and sacrifices offered to the delights of the body, especially the sensual, whereby other people are carried away like ships by sails and favoring currents, while sycophants and hypocrites stand at the stern and hold the helm. XIL The first thing of Charity is to put away Evils, and the second is to do goods which are of Use to the Neighbor. 435. In the doctrine of charity this holds the primary place, that the first thing of charity is not to do evil to the neighbor ; and to do good to him the second place. This No. 435-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 615 dogma is as a door to the doctrine of charity. It is known that evil resides in every man's will from his birth ; and as all evil regards man, both far and near, and society also, and one's country, it follows that hereditary evil is evil against the neighbor in every degree. A man may see from reason itself, that as far as the evil resident in the will is not removed, the good which he does is impregnated with that evil ; for evil then is inwardly in the good, like a kernel in its shell, and like marrow in the bone ; where- fore although the good that is done by such a man appears as good, still intrinsically it is not good ; for it is like a fresh-looking shell containing a worm-eaten kernel, and like a white almond rotten inside, from which streaks of rottenness extend even to the surface. To will evil and to do good are in themselves opposites ; for evil belongs to hatred against the neighbor, and good belongs to love toward the neighbor ; or evil is the neighbor's enemy, and good is his friend. The two cannot exist in one mind, that is, evil in the internal man and good in the external ; if they do, the good in the external man is like the superfi- cial healing of a wound, within which there is putrid matter. The man is then like a tree with a decayed root, which still produces fruit which outwardly looks like well-flavored and useful fruit, but is inwardly offensive and useless. Such are also like the scoriae left [in the smelting of ores], which being polished on the surface and beautifully colored are sold as precious stones. In a word, they are like the eggs of an owl, which one is made to believe to be the eggs of a dove. Man ought to know that the good which a man does with the body proceeds from his spirit, or from the internal man ; the internal man is his spirit that lives after death ; wherefore when the man casts off the body which made his external man, then all that there is of him is in evils and has enjoyment in them, and is averse to good as inimical to his life. That a man cannot do good that in itself is good before evil has been removed, the Lord 6l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. teaches in many places : They do not gather the grape from ihorfis, or Jigs from thistles. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit (Matt. vii. 16-18). Woe unto you ^ scribes atid Pharisees ; ye make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but the itisides are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse- first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside may be clean also (xxiii. 25, 26). And in Isaiah : Wash you ; put away the evil of your doings ; cease to do evil ; learn to do good ; seek judgment. Thett though your sifis have . been as scarlet, they shall be white as snow , though they have beefi red as purple, they shall be as wool (i. 16-18). 436. This may be further illustrated by the following comparisons : No one can go to another who keeps a leopard and a panther in his chamber (living safe with them himself because he feeds them), miless he has first removed those wild beasts. Who that has been invited to the table of a king and queen has not first washed his face and hands before coming near ? Who does not purify the ores by fire, and separate them from dross, before he ob- tains the pure gold and silver } Who does not separate the tares from the wheat before he takes it into the bam ? Who does not prepare his meat by cooking, before it be- comes fit to eat and is set upon the table ? Who does not shake ofif the worms from the leaves of a tree in the gar- den, that the leaves may not be devoured, and the fruit thus destroyed .' Who loves a virgin and intends marriage with her who is full of disease and covered with pimples and blotches, however she may paint her face, dress splen-- didly, and study to bring in the enticements of love by the charms of her conversation ? Man ought to purify himself from evils [and not wait for the Lord to do this immedi- ately ; otherwise he] * may be compared to a servant with face and clothes befouled with soot and dung, who comes up to his master and says, " Wash me, my lord." Would not the master say to him, " You foolish servant, what are * The words within brackets have been supplied from n. 331. No. 43S] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 617 you saying ? See ; there are water, soap, and a towel. Have you not hands, and power in them ? Wash your- self." And the Lord God will say, ** The means of purifi- cation are from Me ; and it is from Me that you will and that you are able ; wherefore use these My gifts and endowments as your own, and you will be purified," 437. It is believed at the present day that charity is simply to do good, and that then one does not do evil ; consequently, that the first thing of charity is to do good, and the second not to do evil ; but this is wholly inverted ; the first thing of charity is to put away evil, and its second is to do good ; for it is a universal law in the spiritual world, and from this in the natural world also, that so far as one does not will evil he wills good ; thus as far as he turns away from hell, from which comes up all evil, so far he turns toward heaven, from which comes down all good ; consequently also, that so far as one rejects the devil, he is accepted by the Lord. One cannot stand with his head ever turning between the two, and pray to both at once ; for of them the Lord says, / know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wcrt cold or hot ; *'but because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth (Apoc. iii. 15, 16). Who can fly about with his troop between two armies and favor them both ? Who can be in evil against the neighbor and at the same time in good toward him ? Does not evil then hide itself in the good ? Although the evil that hides itself does not appear in the acts, it still manifests itself in many things when they are reflected upon rightly. The Lord says, N'o servant can serve two masters. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke xvi. 13). 438. But no one is able to purify himself from evils by his own power and his own strength, and yet it cannot be done without the power and strength of man, as his own. If these were not as his own, no one could fight against the flesh and its lusts, which is nevertheless enjoined upon 9* 6l8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. every one ; yes, he would not think of any combat, and so would let the mind [animusi run loose into evils of every kind, and he would be restrained from them in his deeds only by the laws of justice established in the world, and their penalties ; and thus he would be inwardly like a tiger, a leopard, and a serpent, that do not reflect upon the cruel enjoyments of their loves. From this it is plain that be- cause man, above the wild beasts, is rational, he ought to resist evils from the power and the strength given him by the Lord, which in every sense appear to him as his own; and this appearance has been given by the Lord to every man for the sake of regeneration, imputation, conjunction, and salvation. XIIL In the Exercises of Charity Man does not PLACE Merit in Works while he believes THAT all Good is from the Lord. 439. It is hurtful to place merit in works that are done for the sake of salvation ; for in this are hidden evils of which he who does so knows nothing ; there is hidden a denial of God's influx and operation with man; trust in one's own power in matters of salvation ; faith in oneself and not in God ; justification of oneself ; saving by one's own strength ; making Divine grace and mercy to be nought ; rejection of reformation and regeneration by Divine means ; especially, derogation from the merit and righteousness of the Lord God the Saviour, which such claim for them- selves ; besides a continual looking to reward, which they regard as the first and last end ; the sinking and extinc- tion of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor ; a total ignorance and incapacity for the perception of the enjoyment of heavenly love (which enjoyment is without merit), there being only a sense of the love of self. For they who put reward in the first place and salvation in the second, and thus [seek] the latter for the sake of the No. 440.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 619 former, invert order, and immerse the interior desires of their mind in their proprium [ownhood'l, and in the body defile them with the evils of their flesh. It is from this that the good of merit appears to the angels as rust, and good that is not of merit as purple. That good is not to be done for reward as the end is taught by the Lord in Luke : If ye do good to them who do good to you, luhat thank have ye ? Rather, love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again ; then your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Highest ; for He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil (vi. 33-35). And in John it is taught that man cannot do good that in itself is good, except from the Lord : Abide itt Me and I in you. As the branch canjiot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more cati^ye except ye abide in Me ; for without Me ye can do nothing (xv. 4, 5). And elsewhere, A man can take nothing, except it be given him from heaven (iii. 27). 440. But to think that men come into heaven, and that good is to be done for that, is not to regard reward as the end, and to place merit in works ; for they, too, think that, who love the neighbor as themselves and God above all things ; for they so think from faith in the Lord's words, that their reward shall be great in heaven (Matt. v. 11, 12 ; vi. I ; X. 41, 42 ; Luke vi. 23, 35 \ xiv. 12-14 \ John iv. 36) : That they who have done good shall possess as an inheritance a kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world (Matt. XXV. 34) : That to every one it is given according to his works (Matt. xvi. 27; John v. 29; Apoc. xiv. 13; xx. 12, 13; Jer. XXV. 14; xxxii. 19; Hos. iv. 9 ; Zech. i. 6; and else- where). These do not trust to reward on account of their merit, but they are in the faith of the promise from grace. With them the enjoyment in doing good to the neighbor is a reward. The angels in heaven have this enjoyment, and it is a spiritual enjoyment which is eternal, and immensely exceeds every natural enjoyment. They who are in this enjoyment do not wish to hear of merit, for they love to do, 620 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. and they perceive that they are favored in the doing; and they are sorry if it is believed that their doing is for the sake of a return. They are like those who do good to friends for the sake of friendship, to the brother for the sake of brotherhood, to wife and children for the sake of wife and children, to their country for their country's sake, thus from friendship and love. They who do acts of kind- ness also say and give assurance that they do them not for their own sake, but for theirs. 441. It is quite otherwise with those who in their works regard reward as the end itself. Such are like those who form friendships for the sake of profit, also make presents, perform services, profess love as from the heart ; but when they do not obtain what they have hoped for, they turn away, renounce their friendship, and devote themselves to the enemies of him for whom they professed love, and to those who hate him. They are also like nurses who suckle infants merely for wages, and in presence of the parents kiss and fondle them, but as soon as they are not fed with delicacies and rewarded just as they wish, turn against the infants, treat them harshly, and beat them, laughing at their cries. They are also like those who regard their countr}' from the love of self and the world, and say that they are willing to spend their property and their lives for it, and yet if they do not attain honors and riches as re- wards, speak ill of their country and join its enemies. They are also like shepherds who feed the sheep merely for hire, and, if they do not receive it at the time they choose, drive the sheep with their staff from the pasture into the desert. Like these are the priests who discharge the duties of their ministry solely for the sake of the emoluments attached to them ; that they care little for the salvation of the souls over whom they have been placed as leaders, is plain. It is the same with magistrates who look only to the dignity of their office and to its fees ; when they do good it is not for the sake of the public good, but No. 442-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 621 for the sake of the enjoyment from the love of self and the world, which they breathe-in as the only good. It is simi- lar with all others ; for the end in view carries every point, and the mediate causes pertaining to the function are re- nounced if they do not promote the end. It is the same with those who demand reward because of their merit in matters of salvation ; after death they loftily demand heaven, but after they are found to possess nothing of love to God, and nothing of love toward the neighbor, they are sent back to those who may instruct them concerning charity and faith ; if they repudiate their doctrines, they are dismissed to their like, among whom are some who are angry with God because they do not obtain rewards, and who call faith a thing of reasoning. These are they who in the Word are meant by hirelings, to whom were assigned services of the lowest kind in the outer courts of the tem- ple. At a distance they seem to be splitting wood. 442. It is to be well known that charity and faith in the Lord are closely conjoined ; consequently, as is faith such is charity. That the Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding, and that if they are divided each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder, may be seen above, n. 362, 363 ; and that charity and faith are together in good works, n. 373-377. From which it follows that as faith is, such is charity, and that works are such as faith and charity together are. Now if there is the faith that all the good which a man does as from himself is of the Lord, man is then the instrumental cause of the good, and the Lord the principal cause ; which two causes appear as one to man, when yet the principal cause is the all in all of the instrumental cause. It follows from this, that if a man believes that all good which is in itself good is from the Lord, he does not place merit in works ; and in the degree in which this faith is perfecting in man, the fantasy concerning merit is taken away from him by the Lord. In this state man fulfils the exercises of charity abun- 622 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. dantly, without a fear of merit, and at length he perceives the spiritual enjoyment in charity, and then he begins to be averse to merit as injurious to his life. The merit is easily washed away by the Lord with those who are imbued with charity by acting justly and faithfully in the work, business, and office in which they are, and toward all with whom they have any dealings, concerning whom see above (n. 422-424). But merit is taken away with difficulty from those who believe that charity is acquired by giving alms and relieving the needy ; for while they do these works, in the mind, at first openly and afterward tacitly, they wish for reward and claim merit. XIV. Moral Life when it is at the same time Spirit- ual, IS Charity. 443. Every man learns from parents and teachers to live morally, that is, to fulfil the duties of citizenship and to per- form the offices of honorable life (which have relation to the various virtues, which are the essentials of honorable life), and to produce them in its formalities which are called proprieties ; and as he advances in years, he learns to add to these what belongs to reason, and thereby to perfect the morals of life. For moral life in boys even to early youth, is natural, and becomes more and more rational afterward. He who reflects well can see that moral life is the same as the life of charity ; and that this is to act well with the neighbor, and so to regulate the life that it shall not be contaminated with evils, follows from what was shown above (n. 435-438). But yet in life's first period, moral life is the life of charity in outermosts ; that is, is merely its outer and foremost part, not the interior. For there are four periods of life through which man passes from infancy to old age ; the first is the period in which he acts from others, according to instructions ; the second is that in which he acts from himself, while the understanding is the moder- No. 444] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 623 ator ; the third is that in which the will acts upon the under- standing and the understanding modifies the will ; the fourth is that in which he acts from what has been confirmed and from purpose. But these periods of life are the periods of the life of man's spirit, and not likewise of his body ; for the body can act morally and speak rationally, and his spirit still will and think the contrary. That such is the natural man is clearly manifest from pretenders, flatterers, liars, and hypocrites ; that they possess a double mind, or that their mind is divided into two minds that are not in accord, is evident. It is otherwise with those who will well and think rationally, and consequently act well and talk rationally. These are meant in the Word by the simple in spirit ; they are called simple, because they are not double- minded. From this it may be seen what is properly meant by the external and the internal man ; also that no one, from the morality of the external man can form a conclu- sion as to the morality of the internal, inasmuch as this may be turned the opposite way, and may hide itself as a tortoise hides its head within its shell, or as a serpent hides its head in its coil. For such a so-called moral man is like a robber in a city and in a forest, acting the moral man in the city, but the plunderer in the forest. It is quite other- wise with those who are moral interiorly or as to the spirit, which they become through regeneration by the Lord. These are meant by the spiritual moral. 444. Moral life, when at the same time spiritual, is the life of charity, because the practices of moral life and of charity are the same, for charity is to will well to the neigh- bor, and from good will to act well with him ; and this is of moral life also. The spiritual law is this law of the Lord : All things whatsoever ye would' that men should do to you, do ye even so to them ; this is the law and the prophets (Matt. vii. 12). This same law is the universal law oi moral life. But to recount all the works of charity and compare them with those of moral life, would fill many 624 'THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. pages ; let but six precepts of the second table of the law of the decalogue serve for illustration. That these are precepts of moral life is manifest to every one ; and that they also comprise all things that pertain to love towards the neighbor, may be seen above (n. 329-331). That charity fulfils them all, is evident from the following in Paul : Love one another ; for he that loveth another hath ful- filled the law : for this, Thou shall not coi7iinit adultery, thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall not bear false witness, thou shall not covet ; and if there be any other com- mandment it is comprehended in this saying, namely. Thou shall love thy Jteighbor as thyself Charity doeth no evil to the neighbor; charity is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. xiii. 8-10). He who thinks from the external man only cannot but won- der that the seven precepts of the second table were promul- gated by Jehovah on mount Sinai with so great a miracle, when yet these same precepts, in all the kingdoms on earth, consequently also in Egypt whence the children of Israel had lately come, were the precepts of the law of civil jus- tice, for no kingdom continues to exist without them. But they were promulgated by Jehovah, and were, moreover, written on tables of stone by His finger, that they might be not only the precepts of civil society and thus of natural moral life, but also the precepts of heavenly society and thus of spiritual moral life ; so that to do contrary to them was not merely to act against men, but against God also. 445. Viewing moral life in its essence, it may be seen that it is a life according to human laws and at the same time according to the Divine laws ; wherefore he who lives according to those two as one law, is a truly moral man, and his life is charity. Any one, if he will, can from ex- ternal moral life comprehend the quality of charity. Only transcribe external moral life such as there is in civil con- sociation into the internal man, so that in the will and the thought of the internal man [the life] may be similar and conformable to the acts in the external, and you will see charity in its own type. No. 447-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS, 625 XV. The Friendship of Love contracted with a man without regard to his quality as to the Spirit, is detrimental after Death. 446. By the friendship of love is meant interior friend- ship, which is such that not only is one's external man loved, but also his internal, and this without scrutiny into his quality as to the internal or spirit, that is, as to the affections of the mind, whether they are from love toward the neighbor and from love to God, and thus adapted to consociation with the angels of heaven, or whether they are from a love opposed to the neighbor and from a love op- posed to God, and thus adapted to consociation with devils. Such friendship is contracted By many, from vari- ous causes and for various ends. It is distinct from exter- nal friendship, which is only of the person, and which exists for the sake of various enjoyments of the body and the senses, and for the sake of dealings of various kinds. Friendship of this kind may be formed with any one, even with the clown who jokes at the table of a duke. This is called friendship, simply ; but the former is called the friendship of love, for friendship is natural conjunction, but love is spiritual conjunction. 447. That the friendship of love is detrimental after death, may be evident from the state of heaven, from the state of hell, and from the state of man's spirit with rela- tion to them. As to the state of heaven : it is divided into innumerable societies according to all the varieties of the affections of good ; while hell, on the other hand, is divided into societies according to all the varieties of the affections of love of evil ; and man after death, who is then a spirit, according to his life in the world is at once assigned to the society where his reigning love is, to some heavenly society if love to God and toward the neighbor made the head of his loves ; and to some infernal society if the love of self 626 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. and the world made the head of his loves. Immediately after his entrance into the spiritual world (which takes place by death and the rejection of the material body to the sepulchre), man is for some time preparing for his society to which he has been assigned ; and the preparation is made by the rejection of the loves which are not in concord with his principal love. Therefore one is then separated from another, friend from friend, dependant from patron, also parent from children, and brother from brother, and each one of them is joined to his like, with whom he is to live the life of a common lot and properly his own, to eternity. But in the first part of the time of preparation, they come together, and converse in a friendly way as in the world, but they are gradually parted, and this is so done' that they are not sensible of it. 448. But those who in the world contracted with each other the friendships of love, cannot like others be sepa- rated according to order, and assigned to the society cor- respondent with their life ; for they are bound together interiorly as to the spirit, nor can they be severed, because they are like branches ingrafted into branches. Therefore if one as to his interiors is in heaven, and the other as to his in hell, they remain fast to each other, much like a sheep tied to a wolf, or a goose to a fox, or a dove to a hawk ; and he whose interiors are in hell inspires the in- fernal things belonging to him into the one whose interiors are in heaven. For among the things that are well known in heaven is also this, that evils may be inspired into the good, but not goods into the evil ; this is because every one is by birth in evils. Consequently the interiors are closed to the goods that are thus joined fast to evils. And they both are thrust down into hell, where the one who is good suffers hard things, but after a lapse of time is taken out, and then first begins preparation for heaven. It has been granted me to see cases of such binding, particularly between brothers and relatives, and also between patrons No. 450.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 627 and their dependants, and of many with flatterers, — these having contrary aiTections and diverse genius ; and I have seen some like kids with leopards, and kissing each other, and swearing to their former friendship ; and I then per- ceived that the good were absorbing the enjoyments of the evil, holding each other by the hand, and together entering into caves where crowds of tlie wicked were seen in their hideous forms, though to themselves, from the illusion of fantasy, they seemed in lovely forms. But after a while I heard from the good mournful cries of fear, as if on account of snares, and from the wicked I heard rejoicings like those of enemies over spoils ; beside other sad scenes. I have heard that the good, when taken out, were afterward pre- pared for heaven by the means of reformation, but with greater difficulty than others. 449. It is wholly different with those who love the good in another, that is, who love the justice, judgment, sincerity, benevolence from charity, and especially with those who love the faith and the love to. the Lord. These, because they love what is within a man apart from the things which are outside of him, if they do not observe the same things in the person after death, immediately with- draw from the friendship, and are associated by the Lord with those who are in similar good. It may be said that no one can explore the interiors of the mind of those with whom he associates or deals. But this is not necessary ; only let him guard against a friendship of love, with any one. External friendship for the sake of various uses is harmless. XVI. There is a spurious Charity, a hypocritical Charity, and a dead Charity. 450. There is no genuine, that is, living charity, but that which makes one with faith, and unless they both look to the Lord conjointly ; for these three, the Lord, charity, and faith are the three essentials of salvation, and when they 628 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. make one, charity is charity and faith is faith ; and the Lord is in them, and they are in the Lord, as may be seen above (n. 363-367, and n. 368-372). But, however, when these three are not conjoined, charity is either spurious, or hypocritical, or dead. There have been different here- sies in Christendom since the foundation of the Christian Church, and there are also such at the present day, in each of which these three essentials (which are, God, char- ity, and faith) have been and are acknowledged ; for with- out these three there is not religion. In regard to charity in particular, it may be adjoined to any heretical faith, as that of the Socinians, of the Enthusiasts, of the Jews, yes, of idolaters ; and they may all believe it to be charity, since it appears like it in the external form ; but still char- ity changes its quality according to the faith to which it is joined or with which it is conjoined, as may be seen in the chapter concerning Faith. 451. All charity that is not conjoined with faith in one God in Whom there is a Divine Trinity, is spurious ; as the charity of the church of the present day, the faith of which is in three persons of the same Divinity in succes- sive order, in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit ; and because in three persons each of whom is a God sub- sistent by himself, it is therefore a faith in three Gods ; to which faith charity may be adjoined, as has also been done by the supporters of that faith, but it can never be conjoined with it ; and the charity that is merely adjoined to faith is simply natural, not spiritual, wherefore it is spurious char- ity. So also with the charity of many other heresies, as that of those who deny the Divine Trinity, and so approach the Father alone, or the Holy Spirit alone, or both, pass- ing by God the Saviour ; with their faith charity cannot be conjoined ; and if conjoined or adjoined, it is spurious. It is called spurious, because it is like the offspring of an illegitimate bed, or as the son of Hagar by Abraham, who was cast out of the house (Gen. xxi. 10). Such charity is No. 452-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 629 like fruit on a tree where it has not grown but has been fastened with the needle ; and it is like a carriage to which the horses are fastened only by the reins in the driver's hands, and when they run they drag the driver from the seat and leave the carriage behind. 452. But HYPOCRITICAL charity is with those who in temples and in private dwellings humble themselves almost to the dust before God, devoutly pour forth long prayers, present a holy expression of countenance, kiss images of the cross and the bones of the dead, now bend the knee at sepulchres, and there with the mouth mutter words of holy veneration for God, and yet in heart think of being worshipped themselves and look forward to being adored as divinities. Such are like those whom the Lord describes in these words : When thou doest alms^ do not sound a tnnn- pet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of vioi. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are ; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues at id in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men (Matt. vi. 2, 5). Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites I for ye shut up the kingdo?n of heaven against men ; for ye neither go iji your- selves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, hypocrites / for ye cornpass sea and land to make one proselyte ; and when he is made, ye make him tiuofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe ufito you, hypo- crites ! for ye make clea?i the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess (Matt, xxiii. 13, 15, 25). Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written. This people hoiwreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me (Mark vii. 6). Woe unto you, hypocrites I for ye are as graves which appear not, so that the men that walk over them are not azvare of them (Luke xi. 44) ; and elsewhere. They are like flesh without blood, like ravens and parrots taught to say words from a psalm, and like birds taught to sing the tune of a sacred hymn ; 630 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. and the sound of their speech is like that of a bird-catcher's whistle. 453. But DEAD charity is with those who have a dead faith, since the charity is such as the faith is ; that they make one was shown in the chapter concerning Faith. That faith is dead with those who are without works, is evident from the Epistle of James (ii. 17, 20). Moreover, they have dead faith who do not believe in God, but in men living and dead, and who worship idols as in themselves holy, as the gentiles formerly did. The offerings of those who are in this faith, which for the sake of salvation they make to miraculous images as they call them, and count among the works of charity, are on a level with the gold and silver placed in the urns and monuments of the dead, yes, like the bits of meat given to Cerberus, and the fee paid to Charon for ferriage across to the Elysian fields. But the charity of those who believe that there is no God, but in- stead of Him Nature, is neither spurious, hypocritical, nor dead, but is no charity at all, because it is not adjoined to any faith ; for it cannot be called charity, since the quality of the charity is predicated from the faith. Their charity when viewed from heaven, is like bread made of ashes, or cake of fishes' scales, and fruit of wax. XVII. The Friendship of Love among the Evil is INTESTINE Hatred of each other. 454. It was shown above that every man has an internal and an external, and that his internal is called the internal man, and his external the external man. To which it must be added, that the internal man is in the spiritual world, and the external in the natural world. Man was so created that he might be associated with spirits and angels in their world, and thereby think analytically, and after death be transferred from his own world to another. By the spirit- ual world are meant both heaven and hell. Since the inter- No 455.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 63 1 nal man is in company with spirits and angels in their world, and the external man with men, it is manifest that man can be consociated with spirits of hell, and also with angels of heaven. By this faculty and power man is dis- tinguished from beasts, Man is in himself such as he is as to his internal man, but not such as he is as to the external ; for the internal man is his spirit which acts by the external. The material body, with which his spirit is clothed in the natural world, is an accessory for the sake of the processes of procreation and for the sake of the for- mation of the internal man ; for this latter is formed in the natural body, as a tree in the ground, and as seed in fruit. More concerning the internal and the external man may be seen above (n. 401). 455. But of what quality a wicked man is as to his in- ternal man, and of what quality is the good man as to his, may be seen from the following brief description of hell and heaven ; for with the wicked the internal is conjoined with devils in hell, and with the good it is conjoined with angels in heaven. Hell from its loves is in the enjoyments of all evils ; that is, is in the enjoyments from hatred, revenge, and murder, in those from plundering and theft, in those from railing and blasphemy, in those from the denial of God and the profanation of the Word. Those enjoyments lurk in the lusts, upon which man does not reflect ; these blaze in the enjoyments, like lighted torches ; the enjoyments are what are meant in the Word by infernal fire. But the enjoyments of heaven are those of love toward the neighbor and of love to God. Since the enjoy- ments of hell are opposite to the enjoyments of heaven, there is a great interspace between them, into which flow the delights of heaven from above and those of hell from beneath. Man is in the middle of this interspace while he lives in the world, in order that he may be in equilibrium, and so in a free state to turn to heaven or to hell. It is this interspace that is meant by the great gulf fixed be- 632 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. tween those who are in heaven and those who are in hell (Luke xvi. 26). From this it may be evident what is the quality of the friendship of love among the wicked, — that as to the external man it is full of gesture, affected, and putting on the semblance of morality, for the end of spreading its nets and searching for opportunity to gratify the enjoyments of its loves, from which their internal man is on fire. Nothing but fear of the law, and consequently for their reputation and life, withholds them and prevents their acts. Their friendship is therefore like a spider in sugar, a viper in bread, a young crocodile in a cake of honey, and a snake in the grass. Such is the friendship of the wicked for any one; but among those confirmed in evil, such as thieves, robbers, and pirates, it is of a familiar character so long as they are with one mind bent on plunder ; for then they embrace each other as brothers, enjoy themselves with feasting, singing, and dancing, and conspire for the destruc- tion of others ; yet each one within himself regards his companion as one enemy regards another ; this, too, the cunning robber sees in his fellow, and fears it. It is plain from this that among such is no friendship, but intestine hatred. Any man who has not openly connected himself with malefactors and committed robberies, but has led a civil moral life for the sake of various uses as ends, and yet has not curbed the lusts residing in the internal man, may be- lieve that his friendship is not like this ; but, from many examples in the spiritual world, it has been given me to know with certainty that it is such, in various degrees, with all who have rejected faith, and scorned the holy things of the church, regarding them as nothing to them but only for the common herd. With some of them the enjoyments of infernal love have lain hidden like fire in heated logs that are covered with bark ; with some like coals under ashes ; with some like little torches of wax, that blaze as soon as fire is applied to them ; and with others in other ways. No. 456] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 633 Such is every man who has rejected from his heart the things of religion. Their internal man is in hell ; and as long as they live in the world (and then they are ignorant of this because of the semblance of morality in their ex- ternals), they do not acknowledge as neighbor any but themselves and their children ; they regard others either from contempt (and then they are like cats lying in wait for birds in their nests), or from hatred (and then they are like wolves when they see dogs that they may devour). These things have been presented that it may be known of what quality charity is, from seeing its opposite. XVIII. The Conjunction of Love to God and Love TOWARD THE NEIGHBOR. 456. It is known that the Law promulgated from mount Sinai was written upon two tables ; that one of these is con- cerning God, and the other concerning men ; that in the hand of Moses they were one table, on the right side of which was written what is concerning God, and on the left side what is concerning men ; and that when so presented to the eyes of men, the writing of both parts was seen at once ; thus one part was in view of the other, like Jehovah speaking with Moses and Moses with Jehovah, face to face, as it is written. This was done in order that the tables so united should represent the conjunction of God with men, and the reciprocal conjunction of men with God ; for which reason the Law written on them was called the Covenant and the Tesfimo/iy, covenant signifying conjunction, and testimony, life according to the compact. From these two tables thus united may be seen the conjunction of love to God and love toward the neighbor. The first table in- volves all things pertaining to love to God, which are, primarily, that man ought to acknowledge one God, the Divinity of His Human, and the holiness of the Word, and that He is to be worshipped by means of holy things 634 '^HE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. that proceed from Him. That this table involves these things is evident from the commentary, in the fifth chapter, on the commandments of the decalogue. The second table involves all things that pertain to love toward the neighbor; its first five commandments, all things pertaining to the deed, which are called works ; and the last two, all things that belong to the will, thus to charity in its origin ; for in these it is said, 27iou sha/t ?iot covet ; and when a man does not covet the things that are the neighbor's, then he wishes well to him. That the Ten Commandments contain all things which are of love to God and of love toward the neighbor, may be seen above (n. 329-331) ; where it is also shown that there is a conjunction of the two tables with those who are in charity. 457. It is otherwise with those who are only in the wor- ship of God and not at the same time in good works from charity ; such are like those who break a covenant. Again it is different with those who divide God into three, and worship each one separately. And again it is different with those who do not go to God in His Human ; these are they who do not enter by the Door, but climb up some other way (John X. I, 9). It is still different with those who from con- firmation deny the Lord's Divinity. With those of these classes there is not conjunction with God, and consequently there is not the saving work {salvatid) ; their charity is noth- ing but spurious charity; and this does not join together by the face, but by the side, or the back. How conjunction is effected shall also be told in a few words. With every man, God flows-in with an acknowledgment of Himself, into the cognitions concerning Him ; and at the same time He flows-in with His love toward men. The man who receives the former only and not the latter, receives that influx in the understanding and not in the will ; and he remains in cognitions with no interior acknowledgment of God, and his state is Uke that of a garden in winter. But the man vvho receives both the former and the latter, receives the No. 458] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 635 influx in the will, and from the will in the understanding, thus in the whole mind ; and he has an interior acknowl- edgment of God, which vivifies in him the cognitions con- cerning God ; his state is like that of a garden in the spring-time. Conjunction is effected by charity because God loves every man ; and because He cannot do good to him immediately, but mediately by men, He therefore in- spires them with His own love, as He inspires parents with love for their children ; and the man who receives it is con- joined with God, and loves the neighbor from the love of God ; with him the love of God is inwardly in the love of man toward the neighbor, and it produces in him the will and the power. And as man does nothing good without the appearance to him that the ability, the willing, and the doing are of himself, this therefore has been given him ; and when he does good from freedom as of himself, it is imputed to him, and is accepted as something reciprocal, by which conjunction is effected. This is like the active and the passive, and the co-operation of the latter, which is effected from the active in the passive ; it is also like will in actions, and like thought in speech, and the operation of the soul from the inmost into both ; it is also like effort in motion ; and also like what is prolific in a seed, which from within acts in the juices by which the tree grows even to fruit, and by fruit produces new seed ; and it is like light in precious stones, which is reflected according to the texture of the parts ; whence come various colors as if they belonged to the stones, whereas they are of the light. 458. It is manifest from this whence comes the conjunc- tion of love to God and love toward the neighbor, and of what quality it is, — that there is an influx of God's love toward men, and that the reception of this by man and co-operation in him is love toward the neighbor. In brief, there is conjunction according to this Word of the Lord : Ai that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John xiv. 20). Also according to this: 636 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. He that hath My commandments andkeepeth theni^ he it is that loveth Me, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him; and will make an abode with hitn (John xiv. 21-23). The Lord's commandments all relate to love to the neigh- bor, being in the sum not to do evil to him, but to do him good. That they who do so, love God, and that God loves them, is in accordance with those words of the Lord. As those two loves are so conjoined, John says, He that keepeth th'. commandments of Jesus Christ, abideth in Him, arid He in him. Also : If a man say, I love God, but hateth his brother, he is a liar ; for he that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God Whom he hath ?iot seen ? And this commandtnent have we from Him, That he who loveth God loveth his brother also (i John iii. 24; iv. 20, 21). 459. To this will be added these Relations. First: I saw at a distance five gymnasia, each encompassed by a different light, the first by a flame-like light, the second by a yellow, the third by a clear-white light, the fourth by a light intermediate between that of noon and evening, the fifth was indistinct, for it stood as it were in the evening shadow. And on the roads I saw some on horses, some in carriages, and some walking, also some running and hastening toward the first gymnasium which was covered with the flamy light. When I saw this I was seized with a strong desire that impelled me to go thither and hear what was there under discussion ; I therefore quickly got ready, joined company with those hastening to the first gymna- sium, and entered it with them. And lo, there was a large assembly, part of which moved off to the right and a part to the left, to take seats on benches near the walls. Before me I saw a low pulpit in which stood one who filled the office of president ; he had a staff in his hand, a cap on his head, and a robe tinted with the flamy light of the gymnasium. After the people had here assembled, he raised his voice and said, " Brethren, you will to-day dis- cuss the question. What is charity ? Each one of you can No. 459.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 637 know that in its essence charity is spiritual, and in its exercises natural." Then one from the first bench on the left, on which sat those who were reputed wise, arose ; and beginning to speak he said, " It is my opinion that morality inspired by faith is charity." And he confirmed it in this way: "Who does not know that charity follows faith as a maid in attendance follows the steps of her mistress ? and that the man who has faith acts according to the law, and thus exercises charity, so spontaneously that he does not know that it is the law and charity accord- ing to which he is living ; for if he were to do so knowingly, and at the same time were to think of being saved on ac- count of so doing, he would pollute holy faith with his proprium \o'wnhood\ and so would impair its efficacy. Is not this according to the dogma of those with whom we are connected ? " (And he looked at those who were seated beside him, among whom there were Canons, and they expressed their assent.) " But what is spontaneous charity but morality, into which every one is initiated from infancy, which is therefore in itself natural, but becomes spiritual when inspired by faith ? Who knows from the moral life of men which of them have faith, or do not have it ? for every one lives morally. But God alone Who gives faith and seals it, recognizes and distinguishes. I there- fore assert that charity is morality inspired by faith ; and that this morality, owing to the faith in its bosom, is sav- ing, while all other morality brings no salvation, because it is meritorious. Thus all those who commingle charity and faith, that is to say, who conjoin them from within instead of adjoining them from without, lose their oil ; for to commingle and conjoin them would be like putting into the carriage with a primate the servant that stands behind, or like introducing the porter into the dining-hall to sit at table with a nobleman." After this one rose up from the first bench on the right, and spoke as follows : " My opinion is that piety inspired by piteotisness is charity^ and I 638 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. confirm it by this, that nothing else can propitiate God more than piety out of a humble heart ; and piety prays continually that God may give faith and charity ; and the Lord says, Ask, and it shall he given you (Matt. vii. 7) ; and because these both are given, they both are in it. I say that piety inspired by piteousness is charity, as all devout piety is piteous ; for piety moves man's heart so that he groans, and what is this but piteousness ? This does indeed retire after prayer, but still it comes back with the return of prayer ; and when it comes again piety is in it, and is thus in charity. Our priests ascribe all things that promote salvation to faith, and nothing to charity. What then remains but piety praying piteously for both? When I was reading the Word, I was not able to see but that faith and charity were the two means of salvation ; but when I consulted the ministers of the church, I heard that faith was the only means, and that charity was nothing. And then it seemed to me that I was on the sea, in a ship that was drifting between two rocks ; and when I feared that it would be broken to pieces, I betook myself to a boat and set sail. My boat is piety. And, moreover, piety is profitable for all things." After him arose one from the second bench on the right, and spoke as follows : " It is my opinion that charity is to do good to every one, virtuous and vicious alike; and I confirm it in this way: What is charity but goodness of heart ? and a good heart wishes good to all, alike to the virtuous and the vicious. And the Lord has said that good is to be done even to enemies. If, therefore, you withhold charity from any one, does not charity on that side become null, and so like a man who has lost one foot, and goes hopping on the other ? A vicious man is a man equally with a virtuous one; and charity regards a man as a man ; if he is vicious, what is that to me ? It is with charity as with the heat of the sun ; this vivifies beasts, both fierce and gentle, wolves as well as sheep ; and it causes trees to grow, both bad and good, the No. 459] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 639 thorn as well as the vine," Having said this, he took in his hand a fresh grape and added, " It is with charity as with this grape ; if you divide it, all that is within runs out." He divided it, and the contents ran out. After this address another arose from the second bench on the left, and said : " It is my opinion that chanty is in every way to serve Ofie's relatives and friends, which I confirm thus : Who does not know that charity begins with oneself .'' for eveiy one is neighbor to himself. Wherefore charity passes on from oneself through the grades of nearness, first to brothers and sisters, and from them to kinsmen and con- nections ; and so the progression of charity is self-limited. They who are beyond its limits are strangers, and strangers are not acknowledged interiorly ; thus they are estranged from the internal man. But nature joins those together who are related by blood and birth ; and habit, which is a second nature, conjoins friends ; and so they become the neighbor. Charity also unites another to itself from within, and so from without ; and they who are not united from within ought to be called companions only. Do not all birds recognize their own kindred, not by the plumage but by the sounds they make, and when they are near by the sphere of life exhaled from their bodies ? This affection of relationship, and conjunction from it, in the birds is called instinct ; but there is the same in men, which, since it is for those of their family and those that are their own, is truly an instinct of human nature. What gives homo- geneity but blood ? This a man's mind which is also his spirit feels, and as it were smells. In this homogeneity and its sympathy consists the essence of charity. But heterogeneity, on the contrary, from which also comes antipathy, is, as it were, not blood, and therefore not char- ity. And as habit is a second nature, and this also makes homogeneity, it follows that it is also charity to do good to friends. Any one coming from the sea into some port, and finding himself in a foreign land, the language and 640 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. customs of whose inhabitants he is unacquainted with, is out of himself, as it were, and feels none of the enjoyment of love towards them. But if he finds himself in his own native land, the language and customs of whose inhab- itants he is acquainted with, he is within himself, as it were, and then feels enjoyment from love, which is also the enjoyment of charity." Then from the third bench on the right another one arose, and speaking with a loud voice said, " It is my opinion that charity is giving alms to the poor, and rendering assistance to the needy. This is cer- tainly charity, for the Divine Word so teaches, and its declaration admits no contradiction. What is the giving to the rich and to the possessors of abundance but vain- glory, in which there is not charity, but a looking to a gift in return ; and in this there can be no genuine affection of love toward the neighbor, but a spurious affection, which avails on earth but not in the heavens. Therefore want and indigence ought to be relieved, because into this the idea of repayment does not come. In the city where I dwelt, and where I knew who were virtuous and who were not, I observed that all the virtuous, on seeing a poor per- son in the street, would stop and give alms ; while all the vicious, on seeing a poor man at their side, would pass him by as if they were blind to the sight of him and deaf to his voice. And who does not know that the virtuous have charity and that the vicious have not ? He who gives to the poor and relieves the needy, is like a shepherd who leads the hungry and thirsty sheep to pasture and to water; while he who gives only to those who are rich and who abound in wealth, is like one who takes care of those who share the Divine power \_deastros\ or presses food and drink on those who are intoxicated." After him arose another from the third bench on the left, and said : "It is my opinion that charity is to build hospitals, infirm- aries, orphans^ homes, aiid asyliifns, and to support them by gifts. I confirm it by this, that such benefactions and such No. 459-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 64I aids are public, and are many leagues beyond private aid ; thereby charity becomes richer, and replete with goods, the goods being manifold in their number ; and the reward that is hoped for, from the promises of the Word, becomes more abounding ; for as one ploughs the ground and sows, so he reaps. Is not this giving to the poor and relieving the needy in an eminent degree ? Who does not therefrom obtain glory from the world, and at the same times praises in the humble voice of gratitude from those whom he has cherished ? Does not this lift up the heart, and with it the affection that is called charity, even to its highest eleva- tion ? The rich, who do not walk the streets but ride, cannot take notice of those who sit at the sides of the streets by the walls of the houses, and hand them pennies ; but they make their contributions to such things as are of service to many at once. But let those do otherwise who are less great than they, and who walk the streets, without such stores of wealth." Hearing this, another one on the same bench suddenly drowned the voice of the speaker with his louder tones, and said : " Let not the rich, how- ever, prefer the excellence and munificence of their charity to the pittance .which one poor man gives to another; for we know that every one in what he does, does what is fitting to the dignity of his personal position ; a king, a governor, a captain, and a yeoman of the guard, each what is worthy of his own position. For charity, viewed in itself, is not estimated by the excellence of the person and consequently of the gift, but by the fulness of the affection which makes it ; so that the menial giving one penny may give from a larger charity than the great man who gives or bequeaths a treasure ; which is also accord- ing to these words : Jesus saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury ; He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites ; a?id He said, Of a truth J say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all (Luke xxi. 1-3)." After these arose one from the fourth 10* 642 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. bench on the left, and said : " It is my opinion that charity is to endow temples^ and to do good to their ministers ; which I confirm by this, that he who does such things is revolv- ing in his mind what is holy, and acts from what is holy in the mind, and further, that this sanctifies his gifts. Char- ity demands this, because it in itself is holy. Is not all worship in churches holy.-" For the Lord says, Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them ; and the priests, His servants, minister in the worship. I therefore conclude that the gifts which are bestowed upon ministers and upon temples are superior to those dispensed to other people and for other purposes. And besides, to the minister is given the power to bless, whereby he also sanctifies the gifts ; and afterward there is nothing that expands and gladdens the mind more than to see one's gifts as so many sanctuaries." Afterwards arose one from the fourth bench on the right, and spoke as follows : " It is my opinion that the old Chris- tiati brotherhood is charity ; and I confirm it by this, that every church which worships the true God begins from charity, as did the Christian church of old. Because char- ity unites minds and makes one of many, -those belonging to it called themselves brethren, but brethren in Jesus Christ their God. But because they were then surrounded by the barbarous of the nations whom they feared, they made a community in property : in which, being together and of one mind, they were glad ; and in their social gather- ings, every day, they discoursed about the Lord God their Saviour Jesus Christ, and at their dinners and suppers about charity : hence their brotherhood. But after their times, when schisms began to spring up, and at last the abomi- nable Arian heresy, which with many took away the idea of the Divinity of the Lord's Human, charity decayed and brotherhood was dissolved. It is true that all who wor- ship the Lord in truth, and keep His precepts, are brethren (Matt, xxiii. 8), but brethren in spirit. But as at this day No. 459.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 643 no one is known as to his quality in the spirit, it is un- necessary for men to call each other brethren. The broth- erhood of faith alone, and still less that of faith in any other God than the Lord God the Saviour, is not brother- hood, because charity which makes brotherhood is not in it. I therefore conclude that the old Christian brotherhood was charity. But that was, and is not ; yet I prophesy that it is coming." When he said this, a flamy light made its appearance through the window on the east, and tinged his cheeks ; at the sight of which the assembly were amazed. At last there arose one from the fifth bench on the left, and asked permission to add his contribution to the remarks of the last speaker ; and when leave was given, he said, " It is my opinion that charity is to forgive every one his trespasses. This opinion I have drawn from a customary remark of those who approach the Holy Supper, for some then say to their friends, Forgive me what I have done amiss ; thinking that so they have fulfilled all the duties of charity. But I have thought within myself that this is but a painted picture of charity, and not the real form of its essence ; for both those who do not forgive, and those who do not follow charity with any effort, say this ; and such are not among those of the Prayer which the Lord Himself taught, Father forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. For trespasses are like ulcers, within which, if they are not opened and healed, matter collects, which infects the neighboring parts, and creeping about like a serpent turns the blood every- where into matter. It is similar with trespasses against the neighbor ; unless they are removed by repentance, and by a life according to the Lord's precepts, they remain and are filled with food ; and those who without repentance, merely pray to God to forgive their sins, are like the in- habitants of a city who, being infected with contagious disease, go to the chief magistrate and say, ' Sir, heal us.' To whom the magistrate would say, ' How can I heal you ? 644 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. Go to a physician, find out what medicines you need, get them from an apothecary and take them, and your health will be restored.' And the Lord will say to those who make supplication for the forgiveness of sins without actual repentance, ' Open the Word and read that which I have spoken in Isaiah : Ah, sinful nation, laden with iniquity ; wherefore when ye spread forth your hands, I hide Mine eyes from you ; yea, when ye make many prayers, I do tiot hear. Wash you ; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes ; cease to do evil ; learn to do well ; and then shall your sins be removed and forgiven (i. 4, 15-18).'" After all this was finished, I extended my hand, and asked that I might be permitted, although a stranger, to present my opinion also. The president proposed my request; and when consent was given, I spoke as follows : " It is my opinion that charity is to act from the love of justice with judgment, ifi every work and office, but from love from no other source than the Lord God the Saviour. All that I have heard from those sitting upon the benches, both on the right and on the left, are eminent examples of charity ; but as the president of this assembly remarked at first, charity is spiritual in its origin, and natural as it turns into its channels (/// sua derivatione) ; and natural charity, if it is inwardly spiritual, appears to the angels transparent like a diamond ; but if it is -not inwardly spiritual, and there- fore is merely natural, it appears to the angels like a pearl that looks like the eye of a cooked fish. It is not for me to say whether the eminent examples of charity which you have presented in order are inspired by spiritual charity or not ; but it is for me to say here what the spiritual must be, which ought to be in them, that they may be natural forms of spiritual charity. The spiritual itself, belonging to them, is that they be done from the love of justice, with judgment ; that is to say, that in the exercises of charity man should see clearly whether he acts from j.istice. and he sees this from judgment. For a man may No. 4S9-] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 645 by deeds of beneficence do evil ; and by what seem like evil deeds he may do good. For example : he who gives a needy robber money to buy Iiimself a sword, does evil by the benefaction, although the robber does not say what he shall do when begging for the money ; or if he rescues the robber from prison, and shows him the way to the forest, and says within himself, 'It is not my fault that he com- mits robbery ; I have given succor to the man.^ Take also as another example, one who feeds an idler, and keeps him from being driven to labor, and says to him, ' Go into a c-^iamber in my house, and lie in bed ; why should you weary yourself ? ' Such a one favors laziness. And again, take one who promotes relatives and friends with dishonest inclinations, to offices in which they can plot many kinds of mischief. Who cannot see that such works of charity are not from any love of justice together with judgment ? On the other hand also, a man by what seem like evil: deeds may do good. To illustrate, take a judge who ac- quits a criminal because he sheds tears, and pours out words of piety, and prays that he will forgive him because he is his neighbor ; now the judge performs a work of charity when he decrees the man's punishment according to law; for in this way he guards against his doing further evil and being a pest to society, which is the neighbor in a higher degree, and against the scandal of an unjust judg- ment. Who does not know also that it results in good to servants if they are chastised by their masters, and to children when chastised by their parents, on account of wrong-doing ? It is similar with those in hell, all of whom have the love of doing evil ; for they are kept shut up in prison, and are punished when they do evil, which the Lord permits for the sake of amendment. This is so because the Lord is Justice itself, and does whatever He does from Judgment itself. From these examples it may be clearly seen whence it is, that, as before stated, spiritual charity is carried into effect from the love of justice, v/itli 646 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. judgment, but from love from no other source than the Lord God the Saviour. This is because all the good of charity is from the Lord ; for He says, He that abideth in Me, and I iti him, the same bringeth forth much fruit ; for without Me ye can do nothing (John xv. 5) ; also that He hath all power in heaven and in earth (Matt, xxviii. 18). And all love of justice, with judgment, is from no other source than the God of heaven. Who is Justice itself, and from Whom man has all his judgment (Jer. xxiii. 5 ; xxxiii. 15). From which comes the conclusion that all that has been said concerning charity, from the benches on the right and the left, as being morality inspired by faith, piety inspired by piteousness, as doing good alike to the virtuous arid the vicious, serv^ing one's relatives and friends in every way, giving to the poor and rendering assistance to the needy, building infirmaries and supporting them by gifts, endowing temples and doing good to their ministers, as be- ing the old Christian brotherhood, and as forgiving every one his trespasses; — all these are excellent examples of char- ity when they are done from the love of justice, with judg- ment ; otherwise, they are not charity, but are merely like brooks separated from their fountain, and like branches torn from their tree ; because genuine charity is to believe in the Lord, and to act justly and rightly in every work and office. He, therefore, who from the Lord loves jus- tice, and practises it with judgment, is charity in its image and likeness." After these remarks there was silence, such as there is with those who from their internal man, but not as yet in the external, see and acknowledge that something is true ; I noticed this from their faces. But I was then suddenly withdrawn from their sight, for from the spirit I re-entered my material body ; for the natural man, because he is clothed with a material body, does not appear to any spiritual man, that is, to a spirit or an angel, nor do they appear to him. 460. Second Relation. Once when I looked around No. 460.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 647 in the spiritual world, I heard something like the gnashing of teeth, and also a kind of knocking, and mingled with them something grating ; and I asked what they were. The angels who were with me said, " They are schools, which are called by us debating clubs, where disputations are car- ried on. Their disputations are heard thus at a distance, but when near, they are only heard as disputations." I drew near, and saw small houses constructed of reeds plas- tered together with mud. I wanted to look in through a window (for there was no admittance by the door, because light would thus fiow-in out of heaven and cause confusion), but there was no window. However, one was made sud- denly just then on the right side, and then I heard them complaining that they were in darkness. But presently a window was made on the left side, that on the right being closed up ; and then the darkness was gradually dissipated, and they seemed to themselves to be in their proper [sua] light : and after this it was granted me to enter by the door, and to hear. There was a table in the midst, and benches round about ; yet to me they all seemed to be standing upon the benches, and to be disputing sharply with one another about luiiyA and Charity, — on the one part, that Faith was the essential of the church, on the other. Charity. They who made faith the essential said, " Do we not act with God by faith, and by charity with man ? Is not faith there- fore heavenly, and charity earthly ? Are we not saved by heavenly things, and not by earthly things ? Again, can- not God give faith out of heaven because it is heavenly ? and is not man to gain charity for himself, because it is earthly "i And what a man gains for himself is not of the church, and therefore does not save. And so can any one be justified before God by the works which are called of charity .'' Believe us that we are not only justified but also sanctified by faith alone, if the faith is not defiled by the things.of merit which are from the works of charity." But they who made Charity the essential of the church, sharply 648 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. refuted these things; saying that "Charity saves, and not faith. Does not God hold all men dear, and will good to all ? How can God do this good, except through men ? Does God give us only to speak with men the things of faith, and does He not give us to do to men the things of charity ? Do you not see that you said absurdly of charity that it is earthly? Charity is heavenly; and, because you do not do the good of charity, your faith is earthly. How do you receive your faith, except as a stock or a stone ? You say, by the hearing of the Word. But how can the Word operate when merely heard .-* and how upon a stock or a stone ? You, perchance, are quickened, yourselves being wholly unconscious of it. But what is the quickening, ex- cept that you are able to say that faith alone justifies and saves ? Yet what faith is, and what saving faith, you do not know." But one then arose, who was called a Syncre- tist by the angel who was speaking with me. He took off his square cap, and laid it on the table ; but hastily put it on again, because he was bald. He said, " Hearken : you all are in error. It is true that faith is spiritual, and charity moral ; but still they are conjoined ; and they are conjoined by the Word, and then by the Holy Spirit, and by the effect which indeed may be called obedience, but in this obedi- ence man has no part ; because when faith is brought in, man knows no more than a statue. I have long meditated upon these things, and I have at length found that a man may receive from God a faith which is spiritual, but that he cannot be moved by God to a charity which is spiritual any more than a stock." At these remarks they who were in faith alone applauded, but they who were in charity hissed. And from their indignation these latter said, "Listen, friend : you do not know that there is a moral life which is spiritual, and that there is a moral life merely natural, — a moral life which is spiritual with those who do good from God and still as of themselves, and a moral life merely natural with those who do good from hell and still as of themselves." No. 461.3 CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 649 It was said that the disputation was heard as the gnash- ing of teeth, and as a knocking, with which was intermingled something grating. The disputation that sounded like the gnashing of teeth was from those who made faith the one only essential of the church ; the knocking was from those who made charity the one only essential of the church ; and the grating intermixed was from the Syncretist. Their tones sounded so at a distance, because they were all given to disputation in the world, and did not shun any evil, and therefore did no good that was from a spiritual source. And they were wholly ignorant, also, that the all of faith is tmth, and the all of charity, good ; and that truth without good is not truth in spirit, and that good without truth is not good in spirit ; and that so the one makes the other. 461. Third Relation. I was once carried away in spirit to the southern quarter of the spiritual world, and into a certain paradise there ; and I saw that this paradise excelled all that I had before surveyed. This was because a garden signifies intelligence, and all who are mighty in intelligence beyond others are conveyed to the south. The garden of Eden in which was Adam with his wife, signifies only this ; that they were expelled from it therefore signi- fies that they were driven from intelligence, and thus from integrity of life also. While I was walking in this southern paradise, I saw some persons sitting under a laurel, eat- ing figs. I went to them and asked them for some figs, which they gave me ; and lo, in my hand the figs be- came grapes ! As I marvelled at this, an angelic spirit who stood near me said, " The figs became grapes in your hand, for figs from correspondence signify the goods of charity and hence of faith in the natural or external man, while grapes signify the goods of charity and hence of faith in the spiritual or internal man ; and because you love spiritual things, this has happened to you. For in our world all things come to pass, and exist, and are changed also, according to correspondences." Then instantly there 6SO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. came over me the desire to know how man can do good from God, and yet altogether as from himself. I therefore asked those who were eating figs how they comprehended this. They said that they could comprehend it only in this way, that God works this inwardly in man and through him when man does not know it ; since if man were con- scious of it, and so should do, he would do only apparent good which inwardly is evil. *' For all that proceeds from man proceeds from his proprium \ownhood'\, and this by birth is evil ; then how can good from God and evil from man be conjoined and so go forth conjointly into act? And man's proprium in matters pertaining to salvation is continually thinking about merit ; and so far as it does this, it derogates from the Lord His merit, which is the height of injustice and impiety. In a word, if the good which God works in man were to flow into man's willing and thence into his doing, the good would assuredly be defiled and also profaned, which, however, God in no wise permits. Man can indeed think that the good which he does is from God, and may call it God's through him, but still we do not comprehend that it is so." But I then opened my mind . and said : " You do not comprehend, because you think from the appearance ; and thought from confirmed appear- ance is fallacy. To you there is appearance, and fallacy from it, because you believe that all things which a man wills and thinks, and which he thence does and says, are in himself and consequently from himself, when yet there is nothing of them in him except the state for receiving what flows in. Man is not life in himself, but an organ receptive of life. The Lord is Life in Himself, as He also says in John : As the Father hath life ifi Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (y. 26 ; besides other passages, as John xi. 25 ; xiv. 6, 19). There are two things which make life, namely. Love and Wisdom ; or what is the same, the Good of love and the Truth of wisdom. These flow-in from God, and are received by man as if they were No. 46i.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 65 1 his ; and because they are felt thus, they also proceed from man as his. That they are thus felt by man, is of the Lord's giving, that that which flows-in may affect man, and so be received and remain. But as all evil fiows-in also, not from God but from hell, and as this is received with enjoyment because man has been born such an organ, therefore good is received from God only in proportion as evil is removed by man as by himself, which is done by repentance and at the same time by faith in the Lord. That love and wisdom, charity and faith, or, speaking more generally, the good of love and of charity and the truth of wisdom and of faith, flow-in, and that the things which flow-in appear in man altogether as his, and therefore proceed from him as his, is very evident from sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch ; all things which are felt in the organs of those senses flow- in from without, and are felt in them. It is the same in the organs of the internal senses, with the sole difference that spiritual things which are not apparent flow into these, but natural things which are apparent flow into the former. In a word, man is an organ receptive of life from God ; con- sequently he is a recipient of good so far as he desists from evil. The power to desist from evil the Lord gives to every man, because He gives him to will and to understand ; and whatever man does from the will according to the under- standing, or, what is the same thing, from freedom of will according to the reason of the understanding, is permanent; through it the Lord induces on man a state of conjunction with Himself, and in this state He reforms, regenerates, and saves him. The life which flows-in is life proceeding from the Lord, which life is also called the Spirit of God, and in the Word the Holy Spirit, of which also it is said that it enlightens and vivifies man, and even that it operates in him. But this life is varied and modified according to the organization induced by love. You may also know that x\l the good of love and charity and all the truth of wisdom and faith flow-in, and are not in the man, from this, — that 652 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. whoever thinks that there is any such thing in man from creation, cannot but think at last that God infused Himself into man, and so that men were partly gods ; and yet they who think so from faith, become devils, and to us smell like corpses. Moreover what is man's action but the mind act- ing? For what the mind wills and thinks, this it does and says by its organ the body ; wherefore, when the mind is led by the Lord, action and speech are also led by Him ; and these are led by Him when man believes in Him. If this were not so, tell, if you can, why the Lord in thousands of places in His Word has commanded that a man must love his neighbor, work out the goods of charity, bear fruit like a tree, and do His commandments, and all this that he may be saved ; also why He said that man would be judged according to his deeds or works, he who does goods to heaven and life, and he who does evils to hell and death. How could the Lord say such things if every thing that pro- ceeds from man were meritorious and thence evil ? You may know therefore that if the mind is charity, the action is charity also ; but if the mind is faith alone, which is also faith separated from spiritual charity, the action also is that faith." Hearing this, they who sat under the laurel said, "We comprehend that you have spoken justly; but still we do not comprehend." I answered them, " That I have spoken justly, you comprehend from the general perception which a man has from the influx of light from heaven when he hears any truth ; but you do not comprehend from your own perception, which is what a man has from the influx of light from the world. These two perceptions, namely, the internal and the external, or the spiritual and the natural, make one with the wise. You also can make them one, if you look to the Lord and remove evils." As they under- stood these things also, I plucked some branchlets from a vine, and handed them to them, saying, "Do you believe that this is of me or of the Lord ? " And they said that it was from me but of the Lord. And lo, those branchlets No. 462.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 653 put forth grapes in their hands ! But as I withdrew, I saw a cedar table, upon which was a book, under a green olive- tree whose trunk was entwined with a vine. I looked, and behold, it was a book written by me, called " Arcana Cce- lestia." And I said that it was fully shown in that book that man is an organ recipient of life, and that he is not life ; also that life cannot be created, and so created be in man, any more than light [can be created and be] in the eye. 462. Fourth Relation. I looked forth to the sea- shore in the spiritual world, and saw a magnificent dock. I drew near, and looked into it, and behold there were vessels there large and small, and merchandise in them of every kind ; and sitting on the benches were boys and girls, distributing it to those who wished. And they said, " We are waiting to see our beautiful tortoises which very soon will rise up out of the sea to us." And behold, I saw tortoises great and small, on the shells and scales of which young tortoises were sitting, looking toward the islands around. The father tortoises had two heads ; a large one covered over with a shell similar to the shell of their body, whence they had a reddish glow ; and a small one, such as tortoises have, which they were able to draw back into the forepart of their bodies, and also to insert in some unseen way in the larger head. But I kept my eyes on the great reddish head, and I saw that it had a face like a man's, and talked with the boys and girls on the seats, and licked their hands. And the boys and girls then patted them, and gave them food and dainties, and also costly things, as pure silk for garments, thyine wood for tablets, purple for decorations, and scarlet for paints. Seeing these things, I desired to know what they represented, as I knew that all the things that appear in the spiritual world are corre- spondences, and represent the spiritual things which are of affection and thence of thought. And they then spoke with me out of heaven and said, " You know yourself what 654 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. the dock represents, also what the vessels, and the boys and girls that are on them. But j'ou do not know what the tortoises represent." And they said, " The tortoises repre- sent those of the clergy there who altogether separate faith from charity and its good works, affirming in themselves that there is evidently no conjunction between them, but that the Holy Spirit, through faith in God the Father for the sake of the Son's merit, enters into man, and purifies his interiors even to his own will, out of which they make a sort of oval plane ; and they say that when the operation of the Holy Spirit approaches this plane, it turns itself around it, on the left of it, and does not touch it at all ; and thus that the interior or higher part of a man's nature is for God. and the exterior or lower is for man ; and that so nothing which the man- does, whether good or evil, appears before God : not the good, because this is meritorious ; and not the evil, because this is evil ; since if they were to appear before God, the man would perish by either of them. And this being so, they say that man is at liberty to will, think, speak, and do whatever he pleases, provided he is careful before the world." I inquired whether they also assert that it is allowable to think of God as not omnipotent and omniscient. It was answered from heaven [that they say] that this also is allowable for them ; because God, in him who has obtained faith and has been purified and justified through it, does not look at any thing of his thought and will ; and that he still retains in the inner bosom or higher region of his mind or nature, the faith which he had received in its act, it being some- times possible for the act of faith to return, man knowing nothing of it. " These are the things represented by the small head, which they draw into the forepart of the body, and also insert in the great head when they talk with the laity. For they do not speak with them from the small head, but the large one, which in front appears as if pro- vided with a human face ; and they speak with them from No. 462.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 655 the Word, concerning love, charity, good works, the pre- cepts of the decalogue, repentance ; and they select from the Word almost all the things that are there on these subjects. But they then insert the small head into the large one, and from it they understand inwardly in them- selves that all those things are not to be done for the sake of God and of salvation, but only for the sake of public and private good. But as they speak concerning these things from the Word, especially concerning the Gospel, the operation of the Holy Spirit, and salvation, in a pleas- ing and elegant manner, they therefore appear before their hearers as handsome men, and the wisest in all the world. And you saw that costly and precious things were there- fore given them by the boys and girls that sat upon the benches in the vessels. These, therefore, are they whom you saw represented as tortoises. In your world they are little distinguished from others, — only by this, that they believe themselves to be wiser than all, and laugh at others, even at those who are in similar doctrine as to faith but who are not in those secrets. They carry with them on their clothing a certain little mark by which they make themselves to be recognized by others." He who was talking to me said, " I shall not tell you what their senti- ments are respecting other matters of faith, such as elec- tion, free will, baptism, the Holy Supper, which are such that they do not divulge them ; but we in heaven know. But as they are such in the world, and as one is not at liberty after death to speak otherwise than as he thinks, therefore because they cannot then do otherwise than speak from the insanity of their thoughts, they are re- garded as insane, and are cast out of the societies, and are at length let down into the pit of the abyss spoken of in the Apocalypse (ix, 2), and become corporeal spirits, and appear like the mummies of the Egyptians. For a callous- ness is induced on the interiors of their minds, because in the world also they interposed a barrier. The infernal 656 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGI N. [CHAr. VII. society made up of them borders on the infernal society from the Machiavelians, and they pass everywhere from one to the other, and call themselves companions ; but chey go back, because there is a separating difference in this, that there was with them some religious system con- cerning the act of justification through faith, but none among the Machiavelians." After I saw them cast out of the societies, and gathered together to be cast down, I saw a vessel in the air flying with seven sails, and therein officers and sailors clothed in purple dress, having magnificent laurels upon their hats, crying, " Lo, we are in heaven ; we are the purple-robed doctors, and crowned above all, because we are the chief of the wise from all the clergy in Europe." I wondered what this was, and was told that these were images of the pride, and the ideal thoughts called fantasies, from those who were before seen as tortoises, and now as insane per- sons cast out of the societies and gathered together into one body ; and they were standing together, in one place. And I was then desirous of speaking with them, and I came to the place where they were standing, and saluted them, and said, " You are they who have separated men's internals from their externals, and the operation of the Holy Spirit as in faith from its co-operation with man out- side of faith, and so you have separated God from man. Have you not thus removed not only charity itself and its works, from faith, like many other doctors of the clergy, but also faith itself as to its manifestation before God, from man ? But tell me, I pray, whether you wish that I should speak with you on this matter from reason, or from the Sacred Scripture." They said, " Speak first from rea- son *' And I spoke as follows : " How can the internal and the external in a man be separated } Who does not see, or cannot see, from common perception that all of man's interiors go forth and are continued into his ex- teriors, and even into the outermosts, in order to work out y No. 462.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 657 their effects and accomplish their works ? Are not inter- nals for the sake of externals, that they may terminate in them, and subsist in them, and so exist, hardly otherwise than as a column does upon its base ? You can see that if there were not a continuation, and so conjunction, the outermosts would be dissolved, and would pass away like bubbles in the air. Who can deny that the interior opera- tions of God with man are myriads of myriads, of which man knows nothing ? And what matters it for him to know them, provided he knows the outermosts, in which, with his thought and his will, he is together with God ? But this shall be illustrated by an example. Does a man know the interior operations of his speech ? as how the lungs draw in the air, and with it fill the vesicles, the bronchial tubes, and the lobes ? how they send out the air into the trachea, and there turn it into sound .-' how that sound is modified in the glottis with the aid of the larynx ? and how the tongue then articulates, and the lips complete the articulation, so that it may become speech ? Are not all those interior operations, of which man knows nothing, for the sake of the outermost, that man may be able to speak ? Remove or separate one of those internals from its con- tinuity with the outermosts, and could man speak any more than a stock ? Take another example : The two hands are the ultimates of man. Are there not interiors, which are continued thither? They are from the head through the neck, also through the breast, the shoulders, the arms, and the forearms ; and there are the innumerable muscular textures, the unnumbered battalions of moving fibres, the numberless companies of nerves and blood- vessels, and the many hinge-like joints of the bones, to- gether with their ligaments and membranes. Does man know any thing of these } And yet the working of his hands is from them, one and all. Suppose that those in- teriors were to turn back near the elbow, to the left or the right, and did not enter the hand by a continuous course, VOL. II. II 658 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VII. would not the hand decay from the fore-arm, and rot like something torn off and without life ? Indeed, if you are willing to believe it, it would be with the hand as with the body if the man were beheaded. It would be wholly like this with the human mind and with its two lives, the will and the understanding, if the Divine operations which are of faith and charity were to leave off in the midst of the wa}^, and not pass by a continual course even to man. Clearly man would then be not merely a brute, but a rot- ten stick. AH this is according to reason. Now if you are willing to hear it, the same things are also according to the Sacred Scripture. Does not the Lord say, Abide m Me, and I in you ; I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in /?/;;;, the satne bringeth forth much fruit 1 (John xv. 4, 5.) Are not fruits the good works which the Lord does by the man, and which the man does out of himself from the Lord ? The Lord also says that He stands at the door and knocks, and that He enters to him that opens, and sups with him, and he with Him (Apoc. iii. 20). Does not the Lord give the pounds and the talents, that mafi niay trade tt'ith them, and get gain ; and as he gaiits, give hi7n eternal life"} (Matt. xxv. 14-34 ; Luke xix. 13-26.) Does He not say also that He gives reward to every one according to his labor in His vineyard 1 (Matt. xx. 1-17.) These are but a few passages, however ; pagies might be filled from the Word concerning this, that man ought to bear fruit as a tree, to do according to the commandments, to love God and the neighbor, and so forth. But I know that your own intelligence cannot have [this truth], such as it is in itself, in common with what is from the Word ; for although you say such things, still your ideas pervert them. And you cannot do otherwise, because you remove from man all the things of God as regards communication and thence con- junction ; what then remains, except all the things of wor- ship too ? " They were afterwards seen by me in the light of heaven, which discloses and makes manifest what the No. 462.] CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS. 659 quality of each one is ; and then they were not seen as before in a ship in the air as it were in heaven, and clothed therein in purple, their heads crowned with laurel ; but in a sandy place, in garments of rags, and girt about the loins with network (as it were with fishers' nets), through which their nakedness appeared. And they were then sent down into the society bordering on the Machiavelians. THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. CHAPTER EIGHTH. CONCERNING FREE WILL. 463. Before coming girded to the work of delivering the doctrinal of the New Church concerning Free Will, it is necessary to premise what the present church gives forth on that subject in its dogmatic works ; for if this is not done, a man who has sound sense and religion may believe that it is not worth the labor to write any thing new about it. For he would say to himself, "Who does not know that man has free will in spiritual things ? Otherwise, why should priests preach for men to believe in God, to turn themselves to live according to the precepts in the Word, to fight against the lusts of their flesh, and to make them- selves new creatures ? " and so on. So that he cannot but think within himself that all this would be but empty words if there were no free will in matters of salvation, and that to deny it would be madness, because contrary to common sense. But yet that the present church goes the other way, and banishes it from its temples, may be seen from the book called the " Formula Concordiae," which the Evangel- ical swear to, from the things therein which now follow. That there is similar doctrine and hence faith respecting free will, with the Reformed, thus the same throughout the whole Christian world, and so in Germany, Sweden, Den- mark, England, and Holland, is evident from their dogmatic 662 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. books. The extracts that follow, then, are from the " For- mula Concordise," the Leipsic edition of 1756. 464. I. " The doctors of the Augsburg Confession assert, that owing to the fall of our first parents, man is so thor- oughly corrupt that in spiritual matters, which regard our conversion and salvation, he is blind by nature, that he neither understands nor can understand the Word of God when preached, but esteems it as a foolish thing, and never of himself draws nigh unto God ; but rather is an enemy of God, and so remains until by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the Word preached and heard, out of pure grace, without any co-operation of his own, he is converted, gifted with faith, regenerated, and renewed " (page 656). II. " We believe that in spiritual and Divine things, the understanding, heart, and will of the man who has not been born again, are wholly unable, by his own natural powers, to understand, believe, embrace, think, will, begin, finish, act, operate, and co-operate ; but as to good, man is alto- gether corrupt and dead, so that in his nature since the fall, before regeneration, there has remained not even a spark of spiritual power by which he could prepare himself for the grace of God, or grasp it when offered, or adapt himself to it, and by himself be capable of holding it ; nor can he by his own powers contribute any thing to his own conversion, — not all, nor half, nor the smallest part, — nor act, operate, or co-operate from himself, or as if from him- self ; but he is the servant of sin and the slave of Satan, by whom he is moved. So, consequently, his natural free will, by reason of his powers corrupted and his nature de- praved, is active and effective only for those things which are displeasing to God an-d are opposed to Him " (page 656). III. "In civil and natural affairs man is industrious and ingenious, but in things spiritual and Divine, which regard the soul's salvation, he is like a stock, or a stone, or the pillar of salt into which Lot's wife was turned, which have No. 464.] FREE WILL. 663 not the use of eyes or mouth or any of the senses " (page 661). IV. " Man, however, has a power of locomotion which he can exercise over his external members, he can hear the Gospel, and in some measure can meditate thereon ; but yet in his secret thoughts he despises it as a foolish thing, nor can he believe ; and in this respect he is worse than a stock, unless the Holy Spirit is efficacious in him, enkindling and operating in him faith and other virtues approved of God, and also obedience " (page 662). V. " In a certain sense it may be said that a man is not a stone or a stock. A stone and a stock do not resist and they do not understand or feel what is done with them, as man by his will resists God until he has been converted to Him ; it still is true that before conversion man is a rational creature having understanding, but not in Divine things, and a will, but not such as to will any saving good : still, how- ever, he cannot contribute any thing to his conversion, and in this respect he is worse than a stock or a stone " (pages 672, 673). VI. " The whole of conversion is the operation, gift, and work of the Holy Spirit alone, Who effects and operates it with His own virtue and power, through the Word, in the understanding, heart and will of man as in a passive sub- ject ; where the man does not act, but is passive only. Nevertheless that this does not take place in the manner in which a statue is formed from stone, or in which a seal is impressed vipon wax, for the wax has neither knowledge nor will " (page 681). VII. "According to the sayings of some of the fathers and of doctors of later days, ' God draws only the willing' and so in conversion man's will does something ; but these are not like sound words, for they confirm a false opinion concerning the powers of human will in conversion " (page 582). VIII. In the external matters of the world, which are 664 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. subject to reason, there is still left to man some portion of understanding, powers, and faculties ; although these wretched remnants are exceedingly feeble ; and insignifi- cant as they are, even these are so poisoned and contami- nated by hereditary disease that in the sight of God they are worthless " (page 641). IX. " In conversion, whereby from being a child of wrath he becomes a child of grace, man does not co-operate with the Holy Spirit, since man's conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit solely and exclusively" (pages 219, 579 and following, 663 and following; Appendix, p. 143). "Never- theless the man who is born anew, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can co-operate, although much infirmity still accompanies this co-operation ; and he works well so far and so long as he is led, ruled, and guided by the Holy Spirit ; but yet he does not work together with the Holy Spirit as two horses together draw a carriage " (page 674). X. " Original sin is not some wrong which is perpetrated in act, but it is inmostly inherent, fixed in man's nature, substance, and essence; it is the fountain of all actual sins,- such as depraved thoughts, conversation, and evil works " (page 577). "This hereditary disease, by which the whole nature has been corrupted, is a horrible sin, and is indeed the beginning and head of all sins, from which as a root and a fountain all transgressions proceed " (page 640). " By this sin, as if by a spiritual leprosy, even throughout the inmost organism and the heart's deepest recesses, all of man's nature is in the sight of God infected and corrupted ; and on account of this corruption man's person is by God's law accused and condemned ; so that we are by nature chil- dren of wrath, slaves of death and damnation, unless by the benefit of Christ's merit we are delivered and preserved from these evils " (page 639). " Hence there is a total want or deprivation of the original righteousness created with man in Paradise, or of the image of God, and hence is the impotence, inaptitude, and stupidity, by which man No. 466.] FREE WILL. 665 has been wholly unfitted for all Divine or spiritual things. In the place of the lost image of God in man, there is an inmost, most wicked, deepest, inscrutable, and inexpressible corruption of his whole nature, and of all his powers, — especially of the higher and chief faculties of the soul, — in mind, understanding, heart, and will " (page 640). 465. These are the precepts, dogmas, and decrees of the present church respecting man's free will in spiritual and in natural things, as also respecting original sin. They have been presented to the end that the precepts, dogmas, and decrees of the New Church on these subjects may be seen more clearly ; for from the two formulas so placed side by side, the truth appears in the light : as is done in pictures, in which an ugly face is placed beside a handsome one ; both being seen at once, the beauty of the one and the ugliness of the other stand out clearly before the eye. The decrees of the New Church are these which follow. I. That two Trees were placed in the Garden of Eden, one of Life, and the other of the Knowl- edge OF Good and Evil, signifies that Free Will IN spiritual things was given to Man. 466. It has been believed by many that by Adam and Eve, in the book of Moses, are not meant the first created human beings, and in proof they have brought forward arguments respecting Pre-adamites drawn from the compu- tations and chronologies in some Gentile lands ; and also from the saying of Cain, Adam's first-born, to Jehovah : J shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that every one that Jindeth me shall slay me. Therefore jfehovah set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him (Gen. iv. 14, 15) ; and he after- ward went out from the face of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, and he builded a city (iv. 16, 17). From this they argue that the earth was inhabited before the time of 666 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. Adam, But that Adam and his wife mean the most an- cient church on this planet has been demonstrated by many things in the " Arcana Coelestia " published by me at London ; and in the same work it is also shown that the garden of Eden means the wisdom of the men of that church ; the tree of life, the Lord in man and man in the Lord ; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man not in the Lord but in his proprium, as he is who believes that he does all things, even good, from himself ; and that eat- ing from that tree means the appropriation of evil. 467. By the garden of Eden in the Word is not meant any garden, but intelligence ; and by tree is not meant any tree, but man. That the garden of Eden signifies intelligence and wisdom, may be evident from the following passages : /n thitie intelligence and thy ivisdo7n thou hadst gotten thee riches ; also (which follows in the same chapter), Full of 7visdom, thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God ; every precious stone was thy covering (Ez. xxviii. 4, 12, 13). These things are said of the prince and the king of Tyre, of whom wisdom is predicated, because Tyre in the Word signifies the church as to cognitions of truth and good, by which is wisdom ; the precious stones which were his covering, also signify cognitions of truth and good ; for the prince and the king of Tyre were not in the garden of Eden. And in another passage in Ezekiel : Ashur is a cedar in Lebanon; the cedars in the garden of God did not hide it; nor was any tree in the garden of God equal to it in beauty ; all the trees of Eden in the gar- den of God emulated it (xxxi. 3, 8, 9). And again : To whom art thou thus become like ifi glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden ? (verse 18.) This is said con- cerning Ashur, because by Ashur in the Word is signified rationality and intelligence therefrom. In Isaiah : J^eho- vah shall comfort Zion ; He will turn her desert into Eden, and her wilderness itito the garden of Jehovah (li. 3). Here Zion is the church, while Eden and the garden of No. 468.] FREE WILL. 66/ Jehovah are wisdom and intelligence. In the Apocalypse : To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the fnidst of the paradise of God (ii. 7). In the i7iidst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, there will be the tree of life (xxii. 2). From these pas- sages it is clearly manifest that the garden of Eden, in which Adam is said to have been placed, means intelli- gence and wisdom, because similar things are said respect- ing Tyre, Ashur, and Zion. Also, by a garden is signified intelligence elsewhere in the Word, as in Isaiah (Iviii. 11 ; Ixi, 11), Jeremiah (xxxi. 12), Amos (ix. 14), and Numbers (xxiv. 6). This spiritual meaning of garden has its cause from representations in the spiritual world ; paradises ap- pear there, where the angels are in intelligence and wis- dom ; the intelligence and wisdom themselves which they have from the Lord, present such things around them ; and this comes from correspondence, for all things existing in the spiritual world are correspondences. 468. That a tree signifies man, is evident from the fol- lowing passages in the Word : All the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, will humble the high tree, will exalt the low tree, and will dry up the green tree, and will make the dry tree to flourish (Ez. xvii. 24). Blessed is the man whose delight is in the lata ; he shall' be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season (Ps. i. 1-3 ; Jer. xvii. 8). Praise Jehovah, ye fruit- ftil trees (Ps. cxlviii. 9). The trees of Jehovah are full (Ps. civ. 16). The axe lieth at the root of the tree ; evefy tree that beareth not good fruit shall be cut do7on (Matt. iii. 10; vii. 16—21). Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt \and its fruit corrupt^ ; for the tree is known by its fruit (Matt. xii. 33 ; Luke vi. 43, 44). / will kittdle a fire, which shall devour every green tree and every dry tree (Ez. xx, 47). Because a tree signifies man, it was a statute that the fruit of a tree serviceable for food in the land of Canaan should be counted as uncircumcised [for 668 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. three years] (Lev. xix. 23). Because an olive-tree signifies the man of the heavenly [celestial'] church, .it is said of the two witnesses who prophesied that they were two olive- trees, standifig be/ore the Lord* of the whole earth (Apoc. xi. 4; so too, Zech. iv. 3, 11-14). And in David: / am a green olive-tree in the house of God (Ps. Hi. 8). And in Jeremiah : jFehovah called thy name a green olive-tree, fair, with fruit (yi\. 16); besides other passages, not here pre- sented because of their great number. 469. At this day any one who is interiorly wise may perceive or divine that what is written of Adam and his wife involves spiritual things, with which no one has here- tofore been acquainted because the spiritual sense of the Word has not been unfolded until now. Who cannot see, without close examination, that Jehovah had not placed two trees in the garden, and one of them for a stumbling- block, but for the sake of some spiritual representation } And that they were cursed because they both ate of any tree, and that the curse clings to every man coming after them, and thus that the whole human race was damned for the fault of one man, in which there was no evil of the lusts of the flesh, and no iniquity of heart, — does this square with Divine justice? And, first of all, why did not Jehovah withhold him from eating ? as He was present and saw it. And why did He not. cast the serpent down into the lower world {Orals'), before he persuaded them ? But, my friend, God did not do this, because He would thus have deprived man of free will, from which, nevertheless, man is man, and not a beast. When this is known, it is very evident that by those two trees, one for life and the other for death, was represented man's free will in spiritual things. Moreover hereditary evil is not from that, but from parents, by whom is transmitted to their children an inclination towards the evil in which they themselves have been. That this is so, is seen clearly by any one who carefully studies the man- * The Apocalypse here has God. Zechariah has Lord. No. 470.] FREE WILL. 669 ners, dispositions [afitmus], and faces of the children, yes, of families, from a common father. But yet it depends on each one of a family to choose whether he will accede to [the hereditary inclination] or recede from it ; for every one is left to his own free will. But the special significa- tion of the tree of life, and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, was fully explained in a Relation above (n. 48), which may be seen. II. Man is not Life, but is a Receptacle of Life from God. 470. It is commonly believed that life is in man, his own, — so that he is not merely a receptacle of life, but is also Life. That this is the common belief, is from the appearance ; for man lives, that is, feels, thinks, speaks, and acts, altogether as from himself. Wherefore the state- ment that man is a receptacle of life, and is not life, cannot but seem as something unheard of, or as a paradox, being opposed to sensual thought because contrary to the ap- pearance. The cause of this fallacious belief (that man is also life, consequently that life was created in man and for him, and afterward generated in him by an offshoot), I have deduced from appearance ; but the cause of fallacy from appearance is, that most men are at the present day natural, and but few spiritual, and the natural man judges from appearances and the fallacies therefrom, which are diametrically opposed to this truth, that man is merely a receptacle of life, — not life. That man is not life, but a receptacle of life from God, is evident from these obvious proofs, that all created things are in themselves finite, and that man because he is finite could not have been created except from finite things. Wherefore it is said in the book of Creation, that Adam was made from the earth and its dust, from which he was also named, for Adam signifies the earth's soil ; and every man actually consists only of 6/0 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. such things as are in the earth, and from the earth in the atmospheres. Those things which are in the atmospheres from the earth, man absorbs by the lungs and by the pores of the whole body, and the grosser constituents he absorbs by means of food made up of earthy substances. But as regards man's spirit, that also is created from finite things. What is man's spirit but a receptacle of the life of the mind ? The finite things of which it is, are spiritual sub- stances, which are in the spiritual world, and also are orought together into our earth and stored therein. Un- less they were there together with material things, no seed could be impregnated from the inmosts, and then in a wonderful manner grow up, with no departure from the right way, from the first shoot even to fruit and to new seed ; nor could any worms be procreated from the effluvia from the earth and the exhalations from vegetable matter, with which the atmospheres are impregnated. Who with reason can think that the Infinite can create any thing but what is'finite? and that man, being finite, is any thing but a form which the Infinite can vivify from the life in itself ? And this is meant by these words: yehovah God formed ■mati, the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives (Gen. ii. 7). God, because He is infinite, is Life in Himself; this He cannot create, and so tran- scribe into man, for that would be to make him God. [To hold] that this was done, was the madness of the serpent or the devil, and from him of Eve and of Adam ; for the serpent said. In the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God (Gen. iii. 5). That this dire persuasion that God transfused and transcribed Himself into man, was held by the men of the most ancient church at its end, when it was consummated, I have heard from their own mouth ; and they, on account of that horrible belief that so they were gods, lie deeply hidden in a cavern, near to which no one can approach without being seized by an inward dizziness that causes him to fall. That by No. 472J FREE WILL. 67I Adam and his wife is meant and described the most an- cient church, was made known in the preceding article. 471. Who that is able to think from reason raised above the sensuals of the bod)', cannot see that life is not creat- able ? For what is Life but the inmost activity of the Love and Wisdom which are in God and are God, which Life may also be called living Force itself ? He who sees this can also see that this life cannot be transcribed into any man, except together with love and wisdom. Who denies, or who can deny, that all the good of love and all the truth of wisdom are solely from God .-' and that so far as a man receives them from God he lives from God, and is said to be born of God, that is regenerated ? And on the other hand, that so far as any one does not receive love and wisdom, or what is the same, charity and faith, he does not receive life which in itself is life, from God, but from hell ? and this is no other than inverted life which is called spiritual death. 472. From the foregoing it may be perceived and con- cluded that the things which follow are not creatable, namely: i. The infinite is not creatable: 2. Nor are love and wisdom: 3. And therefore life is not: 4. Nor are heat and light: 5. Nor indeed is activity itself, viewed in itself. But it may be perceived and concluded that organs recep- tive of these are creatable and have been created. These things may be illustrated by the following comparisons : Light is not creatable, but its organ, the eye ; sound, which is the activity of the atmosphere, is not creatable, but its organ, the ear ; neither is heat, which is the primary active, for the reception of which all things in the three kingdoms of nature have been created, which according to reception do not act but are acted upon. It is according to creation that where there are actives there are also passives, and that the t^vo join themselves together as in one. If actives were creatable, as passives are, there would have been no need of the sun and heat and light from it, but all created 6/2 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII things would subsist without them ; whereas, if they were removed, the created universe would lapse into chaos. The sun of this world consists of created substances, the activity of which produces fire. These things are presented for the sake of illustration. It would be the same with man, if spiritual light which in its essence is wisdom, and spiritual heat which in its essence is love, did not flow into him and were not received by him. The whole man is nothing but a form organized to receive light and heat, as well from the natural world as from the spiritual, for they correspond to each other. If it were denied that man is a form receptive of love and wisdom from God, influx would also be denied, and so that all good is from God ; conjunc- tion with God would also be denied, and consequently, that man can be an abode and a temple of God. 473. But that man does not know this from any light, of reason is because fallacies from the credited appearances to the external senses of the body cast a shade on that light. Man feels not otherwise than that he lives from his life, because an instrumental feels the principal as its own [.f7^«j], and therefore cannot distinguish between them ; for the principal and the instrumental causes act together as one cause, according to a proposition known in the learned world. The principal cause is life, and the instrumental cause is man's mind. It seems as if beasts, too, possess life created in them, but this is a similar fallacy; for they are organs created to receive light and heat from the natural world and at the same time from the spiritual world ; for every species is a form of some natural love, and receives light and heat from the spiritual world medi- ately, through heaven and hell, the gentle ones through heaven, and the fierce through hell. Man alone receives light and heat, that is, wisdom and love, immediately from the Lord. This is the difference. 474. That the Lord is Life in Himself, thus Life itself, He teaches in John : The Word was with God, and the No. 475] FREE WILL. 673 Word was God ; in Him was Life, and the Life was the light of men (i. i, 4). Again : As the Father hath Life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have Life iti Hiinsclf (v. 26). And again : L am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (xiv. 6). And again: He that followeth Me shall have the light of life (viii. 12). III. As LONG AS A Man lives in the World, he is kept IN THE MIDDLE BETWEEN HeAVEN AND HeLL, AND THERE IN SPIRITUAL EQUILIBRIUM, WHICH IS FrEE Will. 475. That it may be known what free will is, and of what quality, it is necessary, to know whence it is. From a recognition of its origin, especially, it becomes well known not only that it is, but also what it is in quality. Its origin is from the spiritual world, where man's mind is kept by the Lord. The mind of man is his spirit which lives after death ; and man's spirit is constantly in com- pany with its like in the spiritual world, and by means of the material body with which it is encompassed it is with men in the natural world. The reason why man does not know that he is in the midst of spirits as to his mind, is that the spirits with whom he is in company in the spiritual world think and speak spiritually ; but man's spirit, so long as he is in the material body, thinks and speaks naturally ; and spiritual thought and speech can neither be understood nor perceived by a natural man, nor the re- verse ; and it is from this that they cannot be seen. But when a man's spirit is in society with spirits in their world, he is then also in spiritual thought and speech with them, because his mind is interiorly spiritual but exteriorly natural, and he therefore communicates with spirits by his interiors, but with men by his exteriors. By that communication man perceives things, and thinks of them analytically ; without it, he would not think any more or any otherwise than a beast, 674 'THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. as he would also die instantly if all relations with spirits were cut off. But to make it comprehensible how man can be kept in the middle between heaven and hell, and thereby in spirit- ual equilibrium, from which he has free will, a few words shall be said. The spiritual world consists of heaven and hell ; heaven is over head, and hell is there beneath the feet, — not, however, in the centre of the planet inhabited by men, but under the earths of the spiritual world, which also are of spiritual origin, and therefore not in extension but in its appearance. Between heaven and hell there is a great interspace, which to those who are there seerns like a complete orb. Into this interspace, from hell exhales evil in all abundance ; and from heaven, on the other hand, good flows in thither, also in all abundance. It was this interspace of which Abraham said to the rich man in hell, Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they who would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that would come from thence (Luke xvi. 26). In the midst of this interspace is every man as to his spirit, and solely for this, that he may be in free will. This inter- space, because it is so vast, and to those who are there appears as a great orb, is called the World of Spirits. It is also full of spirits, because every man after death first comes to it, and is there prepared either for heaven or for hell. There he is among spirits, in company with them, as he was among men in the former world ; nor is there a purgatory there ; that is a fable invented by the Roman Catholics. But that world has been specially treated of in the Work on " Heaven and Hell " (published at London in 1758, n. 421-535)- 476. Every man, from infancy even to old age, is chang- ing his locality or situation in that world. While an infant, he is kept in the eastern quarter, toward its northern part ; in boyhood, as he learns the first lessons of religion, he gradually leaves the north for the south ; in adolescence, as he begins to think from his own mind, he is borne south- No. 477.] FREE WILL. 6/5 ward ; and afterward, when he judges for himself and be- comes his own master, according to the increase in such things as interiorly regard God and love toward the neigh- bor, he is borne into the south and to the east. But if he favors evil and imbibes it, he keeps on toward the west. For in the spiritual world all have their abode according to the quarters ; in the East dwell those who are in good from the Lord, for the Sun is there, in the midst of which the Lord is ; in the North dwell those who are in ignorance ; in the South, those who are in intelligence ; and in the West, those who are in evil. Man himself is not kept as to the body in that interspace or middle region, but as to the spirit ; and as the spirit changes its state, by drawing near to good or to evil, so it is transferred to localities or situations in this quarter or that, and there comes into company with those who dwell there. But it is to be known that the Lord does not transfer man hither or thither, but man transfers himself in different ways. If he chooses good, he then together with the Lord, or rather the Lord together with him, transfers his spirit toward the east. But if man chooses evil, he then in unity with the devil, or rather the devil in unity with him, transfers his spirit toward the west. It is to be observed that where it is here said heaven, the Lord also is meant, because the Lord is the All in all of heaven ; and where it is said the devil, hell is meant, be- cause all who are there are devils. 477. Man is kept in this great interspace, and there con- tinually in the midst of it, solely for this, that he may be in free will in spiritual things; for this equilibrium is a spirit- ual equilibrium, because it is between heaven and hell, thus between good and evil. All who are in that great inter- space are, as to their interiors, conjoined either with angels of heaven or devils of hell, but at this day either with the angels of Michael or with the angels of the dragon. After death every man betakes himself to his own in that inter- space, and associates himself with those who are in similar 6^6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. love ; for love there conjoins every one with his like, causes him freely to breathe the breath of his life {ut libere respird animaffi) and to be in the state of his previous life. But the externals that do not make one with internals are then successively put off ; which being done, the good man is raised into heaven, and the wicked man betakes himself to hell, each to those with whom he makes one as to the reigning love. 478, But this spiritual equilibrium, which is free will, may be illustrated by examples of natural equilibrium. It is like the equilibrium of a man bound about the body or at the arms, between two men of equal strength, one of whom draws the man who is between them to the right, and the other to the left : then the man in the middle can freely turn this way or that, as if not acted upon by any force ; and if he turns toward the right, he draws the one on his left forcibly toward him, even so that the man falls to the ground. It would be the same if any man, however peace- able, were bound between three men on his right and the same number on his left, of equal power ; it would be the same if he were bound between camels or horses. Spirit- ual equilibrium, which is free will, may be compared to a balance, in each scale of which are placed equal weights ; if but a little be added to the scale of one side, the tongue at the axis above begins to vibrate. It is similar with a lever, or with a great beam on its supporting roller. The things which are within man are one and all in such equilib- rium, — as the heart, the lungs, the stomach, the liver, the pancreas, the spleen, the intestines, and all others ; hence it is that each one can discharge its functions in perfect quiet. So with all the muscles : without such an equilib- rium witli them, all action and reaction would cease, and man would no longer act as man. Since, therefore, all things in the body are in such equilibrium, all things in the brain also are so too, consequently all things that are in the mind there, which have relation to the will and under- No. 479] FREE WILL. ^JJ Standing. Beasts, birds, fishes, and insects also have free- dom, but they are carried along by the senses of their body, appetite and pleasure prompting them. Man would not be unlike them if he had freedom in doing, like his free- dom in thinking ; he also would be carried along only by the senses of the body, lust and pleasure prompting him. It is otherwise with him who drinks-in the spiritual things of the church, and curbs his free will by their means. He is then led by the Lord away from lusts and evil pleasures and the connate avidity for them, and has an affection for good, and is averse to evil. He is then transferred by the Lord nearer to the east and at the same time to the south in the spiritual world, and is intromitted into heavenly free- dom, which is freedom indeed. IV. From the Permission of Evil, in which permis- sion EVERY one's internal MAN IS, IT IS CLEARLY MANIFEST THAT MaN HAS FrEE WiLL IN SPIRITUAL THINGS. 479. That man has free will in spiritual things is to be confirmed first from things general and afterward by par- ticulars which every one will acknowledge at the first hear- ing. The generals are: i. That the wisest of mankind, Adam and his wife, suffered themselves to be seduced by a serpent. 2. And their first son Cain killed his brother Abel, and Jehovah God did not withhold them, by speak- ing with them, but only after the deeds by cursing them, 3. That the Israelitish nation worshipped a golden calf in the desert, when yet Jehovah saw this from mount Sinai and did not take precautions against it. 4. That David numbered the people, and therefore a plague was sent upon them, by which so many thousands of men per- ished ; and that God, not before but after the deed, sent Gad the prophet to him and denounced punishment. 5. That Solomon was permitted to establish idolatrous worship. 6y8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. 6. And many kings after him were permitted to profane the temple and the holy things of the church ; and finally, that nation was permitted to crucify the Lord. 7. That Mohammed was permitted to establish a religious system in many respects not conformable to the Sacred Scripture. 8. That the Christian religion is divided into many sects, and each into heresies. 9. That there are so many impious persons in Christendom, and also glorying in their impie- ties, as also plots and craft, even against the pious, just, and sincere. 10. That injustice sometimes triumphs over justice in the courts and in business. 11. That even im- pious persons are exalted to honors, and become great men and leaders. 12. That wars are permitted, and in them the slaughter of so many men, and the plundering of so many cities, nations, and families. And so on. Can any one deduce such things from any other source than the free will with every man.^ The permission known in all the world, has no other origin. That the laws of permis- sion are also laws of the Divine Providence, may be seen in the work concerning the " Divine Providence " printed at Amsterdam in 1764,. n. 234-274, where the things that have been introduced above are also explained. 480. The particulars which show that there is free will in spiritual things as much as in natural, are innumerable. Let any one take counsel of himself, if he chooses, whether he cannot seventy times in a day, or three hundred times within a week, think of God, of the Lord, of the Holy Spirit, and of the Divine things which are called the spiritual things of the church ; whether he has then a sense of any thing as forced, if he is moved to this from any pleasure, or indeed from any lust, and this whether he has faith or does not have it. Examine also, in whatever state you may be, whether you can think any thing without free will, in your conversation, in your prayers to God, in preaching, and even in listening. Does not free will carry every point in all these? Yes, [see] that without free will, and this in No. 48i.] FREE WILL. 679 every particular and in the most minute particulars sever- ally, you would no more breathe than a statue ; for respira- tion follows thought, and hence speech, in every step. I say, no more than a statue, and [not] no more than a beast ; for a beast breathes from natural free will, but man from free will in natural things and at the same time in spiritual ; for man is not born like a beast ; a beast is born, with all the ideas that wait on its natural love at every step, — into those things that pertain to nutrition and prolification ; but a man is born destitute of connate ideas, and only into the faculty for knowing, understanding, and being wise, and into the inclination to love himself and the world, and also the neighbor and God ; it is therefore said that if he were deprived of free will in the several things which he wills and thinks, he would no more breathe than a statue, and it is not said that he would no more breathe than a beast. 481. That man has free will in natural things is not denied ; but this he has from his free will in spiritual things ; for the Lord flows-in with every man from above or within, with Divine good and Divine truth, as before shown ; and thereby breathes into man life distinct from that of beasts ; and it is His gift that man is able and will- ing to receive the Divine good and truth and to act from them, — and this He never takes away from any one. Hence it follows that it is the Lord's constant will that man should receive truth and do good, and so become spiritual, for which he was born ; and to become spiritual without free will in spiritual things is as impossible as it is to thrust a camel through the eye of a sewing-needle, or to touch a star in the heavens with the hand. That ability to under- stand truth and to will it is given to every man, and to the devils also, and is in no wise taken away, has been shown me by living experience. One of those who were in hell was once brought up into the world of spirits ; and being there questioned by angels from heaven as to whether he could understand the things which they were speaking with 680 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. him (they were Divine spiritual things), he replied that he did understand ; and having been asked why he did not receive such things he said that he did not love them, and was therefore not willing. Again he was told that he could- wish to. He wondered at this, and said that he could not. Wherefore the angels inspired his understanding with the glory of fame with its pleasantness ; receiving which, he also willed those things and even loved them. But pres- ently he was sent back into the former state, in which he was a plunderer, an adulterer, and an abuser of the neigh- bor ; and then because he did not will, he no longer under- stood those things. From this it is manifest that man is man from having free will in spiritual things, and that with- out it man would be a stock, a stone, or the statue Lot's v/ife. 482. That man would have no free will in civil, moral, and natural things, if he had none in spiritual things, is evident from this, that spiritual things, which are called theological, have their seat in the highest region of man's mind, like the soul in the body. They have their seat there, because the door is there by which the Lord enters to man. Beneath them are civil, moral, and natural things, which in man receive all their life from the spiritual things which are seated above them. And since life flows-in from the Lord from the highest things, and man's life is to be able to think, to will, and hence to speak and to do, freely, it follows that free will in political and natural things is from this and no other origin. From this spiritual free- dom, man has a perception of what is good and true, just and right, in civil matters, which perception is under- standing itself in its essence. Man's free will in spiritual things is comparatively like the air in the lungs, which is inhaled, retained, and expelled, in accordance with all the changes of his thought ; and without it he would be in a worse condition than one laboring under a nightmare, an- gina, or asthma. And it is like the blood in the heart, at « No. 483] FREE WILL. 681 tiie first deficiency of which, the heart would first palpitate, and then after convulsive action cease to beat at all. It also might be likened to a body in motion, which is borne along while there is effort remaining, and effort and motion cease at one and the same time. So also is it with the freedom of determination in which man's will is ; both together, the freedom of determination and the will, in man may be called living effort; for when will ceases, action ceases, and when freedom of determination ceases, will ceases. If man were deprived of spiritual freedom, it would be comparatively as if the wheels were taken from machinery, the fans from windmills, or the sails from ships. Yes, it would be as with one who breathes his last in dying; for the life of man's spirit consists in his free will in spirit- ual things. The angels lament when they but hear it said that at this day many ministers of the church deny that there is this free will ; and they call the denial of it madness on madness. V. Without Free Will in spiritual things, the Word would be of no use, and consequently the Church would be nothing. 483. It is well known throughout the Christian world that the Word is the law in the broad sense, or the book of the laws according to which man is to live that he may obtain eternal life ; and what is more frequently stated therein than that man is to do good and not evil, and that he is to believe in God and not in idols ? And it is full of commands and exhortations to those things, of blessings and promises of reward for those who do them, and of curses and threats for those who do them not. For what would all this be, if man had no free will in spiritual things, that is, in such things as concern salvation and eternal life? Would they not be vain words, and serviceable for no use ? And if a man were to persist in the idea that he has no 682 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. power and no liberty in spiritual things, and thus apart from any power of the will in them, would the Sacred Scripture then appear to him otherwise than as blank paper without a syllable upon it, or as paper on which the whole inkstand has been emptied, or as strokes or points merely, without letters, and thus as an empty volume } There ought to be no need of confirming this from the Word ; but as the churches have at this day made them- selves profound upon the emptiness of the mind in spiritual things, and to prove it have brought forward from the Word some passages to which they have given a false interpreta- tion, it is well to present some that command man to do and to believe. Such are the following : T/ie kingdom of God s/iall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matt. xxi. 43). Bring forth there- fore fruits worthy of i-epentance ; now also the axe is laid unto the root of the tree ; every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Luke iii. 8, 9). Tesus saidj Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say 1 Whosoever cometh to Me, and heareth My sayings, and doeth them, is like a tnan who built a house upon a rock ; but he that heareth and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth (vi. 46-49). Jesus said. My mother and My brethren are these who hear the Word of God and do it (viii. 21). We know that God heareth not sinners, butif afiy one worshippeth God, and doeth His ivill, him He heareth (John ix. 31). Lf ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do theitt (xiii. 17). He that hath My commaiidments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and / will love him (xiv. 21). Hereiri is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit (xv. 8). Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever L covunand you. I have chosen you, that ye should bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain (xv. 14, 16). Make the tree good ; the tree is knoiV7i by the fruit (Matt. xii. 33). Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance (iii. 8). He that received seed into the good No. 484-] FREE WILL. 683 ground is he that heareth the Word and beareth fruit (xiii. 23). He that reapeth receiveth zuages, and gatherefh fruit unto life eternal (John iv. 36). Wash you, make you dean, put azvay the evil of your doings, learn to do good (Isa. i. 16, 17). The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, and then He shall reward every 07ie according to his deeds (Matt. xvi. 27). And shall come forth, they that have done good, unto the resur- rection of life (John v. 29). Their 7vorks do follozv them (Apoc. xiv. 13). Behold I cof?ie quickly ; and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work (Apoc. xxii. 12). Jehovah Whose eyes are open, to give every one according to his ways [Jer. xxxii. 19], according to our doings hath He dealt with us (Zech. i, 6). The Lord also teaches the same in the parables, many of which imply that they who do good are accepted and they who do evil are re- jected; as in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. xxi. 33-44); of the talents and the pounds with which they were to trade (Matt, xxv, 14-30; Luke xix. 13-25). So, too, of Faith: Jesus said, Whosoever believeth in Me shall fiever die ; yet shall he live (John xi. 25, 26). This is the Father'' s 7vill, that every one who believeth in the Son may have eternal life (vi. 40 ; also verse 47). He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life ; but he that believeth not the Son shall 7iot see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him (iii. 36). God so loved the zvorld that He gave His Only- begotten Sofi, that whosoever believeth in Hijn should 7iot perish, but have ever last itig life (iii. 15, 16). And further : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God from all thy heart, and in all thy soul, and in all thy 7nind ; a7id thou shalt love the neighbor as thy- self. On these two C07n77ia7id77ie7its ha7ig the Law and the Prophets (xxii. 37-40). But these are only a very few of such passages from the Word, and they are like a few cups of water from the sea. 484. Who does not see the emptiness (I am not willing to say the folly) in the passages quoted above (n. 464), from the ecclesiastical work entitled " Formula Concordiae," after 684 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. reading them and then reading passages from various parts of the Word ? Would he not think to himself, If it were as is there taught, that man has no free will in spiritual things, what would religion be, which is to do good, but an idle word ? And what is the church without religion but as the bark about a stick of wood, which is fit for no other use than to be burned ? And furthermore, he would think. If there is no church, because there is no religion, then what are heaven and hell but the fables of the ministers and prel- ates of the church to catch the people, and elevate them- selves to higher honors ? Hence that detestable saying, on the lips of many, Who can do good of himself ? and, who can acquire faith of himself ? And so they neglect those things, and live like pagans. But, my friend, shun evil, and do good, and believe in the Lord from all your heart and in all your soul, and the Lord will love you, and will give love to do with and faith to believe with ; and then from love you will do good, and from faith, which is' trust, you will believe ; and if you persevere in this way, there will take place a reciprocal conjunction, and this perpetual, which is salvation itself and eternal life. If man, from the strength given him, were not to do good, and from his mind believe in the Lord, what would he be but a wilderness and a desert, and wholly like dry ground which receives no rain, but repels it ? or like a sandy plain where there are sheep without pasture ? And he would be like a dried-up foun- tain, or like stagnant water therein, the course being ob- structed ; or like one having a mansion where there is neither harvest nor water-supply; where, unless he fled from the place immediately, and sought a habitable abode elsewhere, he would perish with hunger or thirst. No. 486.] FREE WILL. 685 VI. Without Free Will in spiritual things there WOULD BE nothing PERTAINING TO MAN BY WHICH in his turn he could conjoin himself with the Lord; and consequently there would be no Imputation, but mere Predestination, which is detestable. 485. That without free will in spiritual things there would be neither charity nor faith with any man, still less a conjunction of the two, was fully shown in the chapter on Faith. From this it follows that without free will in spiritual things there would not be any thing pertaining to man by which the Lord could conjoin Himself with him ; and yet, without reciprocal conjunction there can be no reformation and regeneration, and consequently no salva- tion. That without a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord and of the Lord with man there would be nc imputation, is a consequence that cannot be gainsaid. The consequences that result from confirming the belief that there is no imputation of good and evil, on the ground that man is without free will in spiritual things, are numer- ous ; and those enormities are to be laid open in the las^ part of this work, where it will treat of the heresies, para- doxes and contradictions flowing from the faith of the pres- ent day as to the imputation of the merit and righteousness of the Lord God the Saviour. 486. Predestination is an offspring of the faith of the church of the present day, for it is born from a belief in man's absolute impotence and his having no power of determination in spiritual things, — from believing this, and also that man's conversion is as a turning where there is no life, that he is like a stock, and that afterward he has no conscious knowledge whether he is a stock vivi- fied by grace or not ; for it is said that election is of the mere grace of God, to the exclusion of man's action, whether from the powers of his nature or of reason ; and 686 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. that it takes place where and when God wills, thus from His good pleasure. The works which follow faith as evidences, to the reflective eye are similar to the works of the flesh, and the Spirit which operates them does not manifest their origin, but makes them to be of grace or good pleasure, like the faith itself. From this it is plain that the dogma of the present church respecting predesti- nation, sprang from that faith, as a shoot from its seed ; and I may say that it has flowed out of it as an almost inevitable result ; this was reached first among the Predes- tinarians, then by Godoschalcus, afterward by Calvin and his followers, and was at length firmly established by the Synod of Dort, and carried forth therefrom into their church as the palladium of religion, — rather as the head of Gorgo or Medusa graven on the shield of Pallas, — by the Supra- and Infra-Lapsarians. But what more per- nicious thing could have been devised, or what could have been believed concerning God more cruel, than that some of the human race have been damned by predestination ? For it would be a cruel creed, that the Lord, Who is Love itself and Mercy itself, wills that a multitude of men should be born for hell, or that myriads of myriads should be born doomed, that is, born devils and satans ; and that from His Divine Wisdom, which is infinite. He did not pro- vide and does not provide that those who live well and ac- knowledge God should not be cast into eternal fire and torment. He is still the Lord, the Creator and Saviour of all, and He alone leads all and wills not the death of any. What, therefore, can be believed or thought of that is more shocking than that whole nations and peoples should, under His auspices and oversight, be handed over to the devil, by predestination, to glut his appetite } But this is an offspring of the faith of the church of the present day ; but the faith of the New Church abhors it as a monster. 487. Inasmuch as I thought that such a crazy thing never could have been sanctioned by any Christian, still No. 487.J FREE WILL. 6S7 less declared and publicly proclaimed (which nevertheless was done by so many chosen from among the clergy at the Synod of Dort, in Holland, and it was afterward ele- gantly written out and given to the public), therefore, to prevent my doubting it, some of those who took part in the decrees of that Synod were called to me. When they were seen standing near me; 1 said, " Who from any sound reason can come to the conclusion that there is predestination ? Must there not necessarily flow from it cruel ideas of God, and shameful ideas concerning religion .'' When one has engraved predestination on his heart by confirmations, must he not necessarily think of all things that pertain to the church as being vain things, and so too of the Word 1 Must he not think of God as a tyrant, for having predestined to hell so many myriads of men ? " At these remarks they looked at me with a satanic expression of countenance, and said, " We were among those chosen to form the Synod of Dort, and we then confirmed our- selves, and have since done so still more, in many things concerning God, the Word, and Religion, which we have not dared to make public ; but when we have spoken and taught about it, we have woven and twisted a web of threads of various colors, and over it we have strewed feathers borrowed from the wings of peacocks." But as they now wished to do the same, the angels, by power given them by the Lord, closed the externals of the mind, and opened its internals with them, and they were com- pelled to speak from the internals. And then they said, " Our faith, which we have formed from conclusions that follow one from another, has been and still is this : I. There is no Word of Jehovah God, but some windy thing breathed forth from the mouth of the prophets. This has been our thought because the Word predestines all to heaven, and teaches that only man is in fault if he does not walk in the ways that lead to it. 2. There is religion, because it is necessary ; but it is like ^ strong 688 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. wind that brings a fragrant odor for the common herd ; it ought therefore to be taught by ministers both small and great, and this from the Word, because the Word has been received. This has been our thought, because where there is predestination, there religion is nothing. 3. The civil laws of justice are religion ; but predestination is not according to the life from these laws, but purely from the good pleasure of God, as with a being whose power is absolute at the mere sight of the face. 4. All things taught by the church are to be exploded as vanity and rejected as rubbish, except that God is. 5. The spiritual things, which are cried up, are no more than the ethereal things beneath the Sun, which if they penetrate deeply into a man bring upon him vertigo and stupor, and make him a hateful monster in the sight of God." 6. Being asked about faith, from which they deduced predestination, as to whether they believed it to be spiritual, they said that it was effected according to predestination ; but that while it is given, men are like stocks ; that they are indeed vivified from being such, but not spiritually. After these horrible sayings, they wished to go away. But I said to them, " Stay a little longer, and I will read to you from Isaiah ; " and I read as follows : Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, because the rod that smote thee is broken ; for out of the serpent's root hath gone forth a basilisk, whose fruit shall be a fery flying serpent (xiv. 29). And I explained it by the spiritual sense ; that Philistia means the church separated from charity ; that the basilisk which has gone forth out of the serpent's root, means its doctrine of three gods, and of imputative faith applied to each singly; and that its fruit, which is a fiery flying serpent means no im- putation of good and evil, but immediate mercy whether man has lived well or ill. Having heard this they said, "This maybe so; but from that volume which you call the Holy Word, select something on predestination." And I opened it, and in the same prophet I met with this No. 489] FREE WILL. 689 passage which was appropriate : They laid asp's eggs, and wove the spider's web ; he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and when one presseth it out, a viper is hatched (lix. 5), When they heard this they did not endure the explanation ; but some of those who had been called to me (there were five) hurried away into a cave, round about which appeared a dusky burning ; a sign that they had neither faith nor charity. It is manifest from this that the decree of that synod respecting predestination is not only an insane but also a cruel heresy ; it is therefore to be eradicated from the brain, so that not even a single stroke of it shall be left. 488. The horrible creed that God predestines men to hell, may be compared to the horrible cruelty of fathers among certain barbarous nations, who throw their suck- lings and infants into the streets ; and to that of some in war, who cast those who are slain into the forests to be devoured by huge beasts. It may also be compared to the cruelty of a tyrant who divides a people subject to him into companies, and gives some of the companies to the execu- tioner, some he casts into the depths of the sea, and some into the fire. It may also be compared to the madness of some wild beasts which devour their own young ; also to the mad fury of dogs which fly at their own likenesses seen in a mirror. VII. If there were no Free Will in spiritual things, God would be the Cause of Evil, and so there WOULD be no Imputation. 489. That God is the cause of evil comes by sequence from the faith of this day, which was first hatched by those who held council in the town of Nice. There was devised and produced the still persistent heresy, that there have be^n three Divine persons from eternity, and each one a God by himself. This tgg being hatched, the followers of this faith could not but approach each person separately as 690 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII, God. They seized upon faith as imputing the merit or righteousness of the Lord God the Saviour; and that no man might share merit with the Lord, they took away from man all free will in spiritual things, and they attributed to him absolute impotence as to that faith. And as they de- duced every thing spiritual pertaining to the church from that faith, they asserted that there was similar impotence in relation to every thing that the church teaches concern- ing salvation. Hence sprung dreadful heresies, one after another, based upon that faith and man's impotence in spiritual things, and also that most pernicious heresy of predestination, which was treated of in the preceding arti- cle; all of which imply that God is the cause of evil, or that God created both good and evil. But, my friend, put faith in no council, but in the Lord's Word which is above councils. What have not Roman Catholic councils brought forth } or that of Dort, whence was drawn forth ■ that terri- ble viper, predestination ? The thought may occur that the free will given to man in spiritual things was the mediate cause of evil ; consequently, that if such free will had not been given him, he could not have transgressed. But, my friend, pause here and consider whether any man could have been created so as to be a man without free will in sj^iritual thmgs ; if he were deprived of that, he would be no longer a man but only a statue. What is the free will but that he can will and do and can think and speak to all appearance as of himself .'' Since this was given to man that he might live a man, therefore two trees were placed in the garden of Eden, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ; and this signifies that from the freedom given him man can eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 490. That every thing which God created was good, is manifest from the first chapter of Genesis, where it is said (verses 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25), God saw that it was good ; No. 490] FREE WILL. 69I and finally (in verse 31), that God saw every thing that He had made, and behold it was very good ; also from man's primeval state in paradise. But that evil had its rise from man, is plain from Adam's state that followed or which was after the fall, — that he was expelled from paradise. It is evident from this that unless free will in spiritual things had been given to man, God Himself, and not man, would have been the cause of evil, and thus that God must have created both good and evil ; but to think that He created evil also, is horrible beyond expression. That God did not create evil because He gave man free will in spiritual things, and that He in no wise inspires any evil into man, is because He is Good itself, and in good God is omnipresent, contin- ually urging and importuning to be received ; and if He is not received still He does not withdraw, for if He were to withdraw, man would instantly die, yes, would lapse into nothingness ; for man has life from God, and the subsistence of all the things of which he consists is from God. God did not create evil, but it was introduced by man, because man turns into evil the good which is continually flowing in from God, by turning himself away from God and toward himself; and when this is done, the enjoyment of good remains, and then becomes the enjoyment of evil ; for without the enjoyment's remaining, as it were similar, man would not live, for enjoyment makes the life of his love. But still these enjoyments are diametrically opposite to each other ; however, man does not know this so long as he lives in the world ; but he is to know this, and is also to perceive it manifestly, after death ; for then the enjoyment of the love of good is turned into heavenly blessedness, while the enjoyment of the love of evil is turned into in- fernal horror. From what has been presented it is evident that every man has been predestined to heaven, and no one to hell, but that a man gives himself over to hell by the abuse of his free will in spiritual things, whereby he em- braces such things as exhale from hell. For, as before 692 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. said, every man is kept in the midst, between heaven and hell, so as to be in equilibrium between good and evil, and consequently in free will in spiritual things. 491. That God has imparted freedom not only to man but also to every beast, yes, and an analogxie of it to things inanimate (enabling each to receive it according to its nature), as also that He provides good for them all, but that the objects turn it into evil, may be illustrated by com- parisons : The atmosphere gives to every man means of breathing, in like manner to every beast, tame or wild, also to every bird, to the owl and the dove alike ; and it also gives means for flying ; and yet the atmosphere is not the cause that what it gives is received by creatures of con- trary genius and nature. The ocean gives within itself an abode, and also offers nourishment to every fish ; but it is not the cause that one devours another there, and that the crocodile turns its food into poison with which it kills man. The sun provides heat and light for all things ; but objects, which are the various vegetable productions of the earth, receive them diversely, a good tree and a good shrub in one way and the thorn and thistle in another, or the harm- less herb in one way and the poisonous in another. The rain falls from the higher region of the atmosphere upon all parts of the earth, and the earth supplies water there- from to every shrub, herb and grass, and each one of them takes to itself according to its need. This is what is called an analogue of free will, because they freely drink those things in by their little mouths, pores, and ducts, which stand open in the warm season ; the earth merely supplies fluids and elementary substances, and the shrubs appro- priate them with something like thirst and hunger. It is similar with men, as with every one the Lord flows-in with spiritual heat which in its essence is the good of love, and with spiritual light which in its essence is the truth of wis- dom ; but man receives them according to the way in which he turns, whether toward God or toward himself. There- No. 493-] FREE WILL. 693 fore where the Lord teaches concerning love toward the neighbor, He says, That ye may be the children of your Father, Who maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. v. 45); and elsewhere He says that He willeth the salvation of all. 492. To what has been said, I will add this Relation : I have several times heard words made to descend from heaven concerning the good of charity, which passed through the world of spirits and penetrated into hell, even to its depths ; and those words in their progress were turned into such things as were clearly opposed to the good of charity, and at length into those which were of hatred towards the neighbor ; indicating that every thing which proceeds from the Lord is good, and is turned into evil by the spirits in hell. The same was done with certain truths of faith, which in their progress were turned into falsities opposite to the truths. For the recipient form itself turns what enters into it into what is concordant with itself. VHL Every Spiritual thing of the Church that ENTERS IN Freedom, and is received from Freedom, remains ; but not the reverse, 493. That wl^ch is received by man from freedom re- mains with him, because freedom is of his will ; and because it is of the will it is also of his love ; for it has been shown elsewhere that the will is the receptacle of love. That all which is of the love is free, and that it also is of the will, every one understands when it is said, " I will this because I love it ;" and also the converse, " Because I love this I also will it." But man's will is two-fold, in- terior and exterior, or of the internal and of the external man ; therefore a knave may act and talk before the world in one way, and in another with his familiar friends ; before the world he acts and talks from the will of his ex- 694 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. ternal man, and with his famiUar friends from the will of the internal ; but the will of the internal, where one's reigning love is, is the will that is here meant. From these few observations it is evident that the interior will is the man himself, for the esse and the essence of his life are there ; the understanding is its form, by which the will renders its love visible. All that a man loves and that he wills from love is free ; for whatever proceeds from the love of the internal will is his life's enjoyment ; and because the same is the esse of his life, it is also his proprium [own/wod] ; and from this cause, whatever is received from the freedom of this will remains, for it adds itself to the proprium. The contrary is the case if any thing is brought-in in a state of non-freedom ; this is not thus received. But of this in what follows. 494. But it must be well known that the spiritual things of the Word and the church, which a man imbibes from love and which his understanding confirms, remain in him, but not so civil and political things ; because spiritual things ascend into the highest region of the mind and take form there. This is because the Lord's entrance into man with Divine goods and truths is there, and this region is as a temple in which He is. But things civil and political, because they belong to the world, occupy lower regions of the mind, and some of them are there like little buildings outside of the temple, and some like porches through which there is entrance. Another reason why the spiritual things of the church dwell in the highest region of the mind, is be- cause they are proper to the soul and regard its eternal life, and the soul is in things highest, and its nourishment is from no other than spiritual food. Wherefore the Lord calls Himself Bread, for He says, / am the living Bread which came down from heaven ; if any man eat of this Bread, he shali live for ever i^oXwi vi. 51). In that region also resides man's love which makes his blessedness after death ; his free will in spiritual things also has its chief No. 495.] FREE WILL. 695 seat there, and from this descends all the freedom that man has in natural things, and because the origin of this is there, this is shared with all the forms of free will in natural things ; and by means of those, the love that reigns in things highest assumes whatever is conducive to its ends. There is communication like that between the fountain- spring and the waters that flow from it, and like that between the prolific principle itself of a seed with the parts of the tree, one and all, especially with the fruit, in which it renews itself. But if any denies that there is free will in spiritual things, and therefore rejects that, he makes another fountain for himself, and there opens the course, and changes spiritual freedom into merely natural and at length into infernal freedom. This freedom, too, becomes like the prolific principle of a seed, passing freely through trunk and branches into the fruits, which owing to their origin are inwardly rotten. 495. All the freedom that is from the Lord is freedom indeed, but that which is from hell and is with man there- from, is bondage. Yet spiritual freedom necessarily seems like bondage to him who is in infernal freedom, because they are opposites. Nevertheless, all who are in spiritual freedom not only know but also perceive that infernal freedom is bondage ; the 'angels therefore turn with aver- sion from it as a cadaverous stench, while the infernals draw it in like an aromatic odor. It is known from the Lord's Word that worship from freedom is truly worship, and that what is spontaneous is pleasing to the Lord , wherefore it is said in David, / will freely sacrifice to God, (Ps. liv. 6). Again, The willing ones of the- people are gath- ered together, the people of the God of Abraham (xlvii. 9). Therefore there were free-will offerings in sacrifice among the children of Israel ; their sacred worship consisted chiefly in sacrifices ; and because of God's being well plaased with what is spontaneous, it was commanded that every 7nan whose heart impelled him, and every one whose 696 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII willing spirit fuoved him, should bring an offering to Jehovah for the work of the tabernacle (Ex. xxxv. 5, 21, 29). And the Lord says, If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed ; and ye shall ktiow the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free i7ideed ; but whosoever comtnitteth sin is the servant of sin (John viii. 31-36). 496. That which a man receives from freedom remains, because his will takes it to itself and appropriates it, and because it enters into his love, and the love acknowledges it as its own, and forms itself by means of it. But this shall be illustrated by comparisons ; but as these are taken from natural things, heat will stand in place of love. It is well known that by means of heat, and according to its degree the ways of entrance are opened in every plant, and that as they are opened the plant intrinsically returns into the form of its nature, spontaneously receives its nutriment and retains what is suitable, and grows. It is similar with a beast ; all that is selected and eaten from the love of nutrition which is called appetite, adds itself to its body, and so remains. That which is suitable con- tinually adds itself to the body, because all things that compose the body are perpetually renewed. This is known to be so, but by few. And with beasts, too, heat opens all things of the body, and causes their natural love to act freely. It is from this that in spring and summer they enter and return into the instinct of prolification and of rearing their young, which is done from the utmost free- dom, because this belongs to the reigning love implanted in them by creation for the sake of preserving the uni- verse in the state created. The freedom of love may be illustrated by the freedom induced by heat, because love produces heat, as is evident from its effects, as that man is enkindled, grows warm, and is inflamed, as love is exalted to zeal, or to a blaze of anger. The heat of the blooc> or the vital heat of men, and in general of animals, is from No. 497-1 FREE WILL. 697 no other source. It is from this correspondence that the bodily parts are by heat adapted to receive freely those things to which the love aspires. In such equilibrium and consequent freedom are all things that are within man. In such freedom the heart propels its blood upward and downward alike, the mesentery' gives forth its chyle, the liver does its work for the blood, the kidneys their work of secretion, the glands theirs in straining, and so on ; if its equilibrium were to suffer, the member would sicken, and would labor under paralysis or loss of strength ; equi- librium and freedom here are one. There is no substance in the created universe which does not tend to equilibrium, in order that it may be in freedom. IX. Man's Will and Understanding are in this Free- dom {Libera Arbitrid) ; but in both Worlds, the SPIRITUAL AND THE NATURAL, THE DOING OF EVIL is RESTRAINED BY LaWS, INASMUCH AS OTHERWISE Society would perish on both sides.- 497. Every man may know that he has free will in spiritual things from the mere observation of his own thought. Cannot any one from freedom think of God, the Trinity, charity and the neighbor, faith and its opera- tion, of the Word and all those things that are from it, and, after he has studied theology, of the particulars thereof ? And who cannot think, and even draw conclu- sions, teach, and write, in accordance with those things and against them ? If man were deprived of this freedom for a single moment, would not his thinking cease, his tongue become dumb, and his hand powerless ? Where- fore, my friend, if you choose you can from merely observ- ing your own thought reject and execrate that absurd and hurtful heresy, which at this day has induced in Christen- dom a lethargy upon heavenly doctrine concerning charity and faith and salvation therefrom, and concerning eternal 698 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap, VIII. life. . The reasons why this freedom {libei-um arbitriuin) resides in man's will and understanding are the following : I. Those two faculties are first to be instructed and re- formed, and by means of them the two faculties of the external man which make him speak and act, 2. Those two faculties of the internal man constitute his spirit which lives after death, and which is under no other than Divine law ; and of this the primary thing is that man should think of the law, do it, and obey it, from himself although from tlae Lord. 3. Man as to his spirit is in the midst between heaven and hell, thus between good and evil, and hence in equilibrium ; from this he has free will in spiritual things ; concerning which equilibrium see above (n. 475 and the numbers following it) ; but as long as he lives in the world he is as to his spirit in equilibrium between heaven and the world, and then he hardly knows that so far as he withdraws from heaven and draws near to the world he draws near to hell ; man knows this and yet does not knowjt, in order that in this, too, he may be in free- dom and may be reformed. 4. These two, the will and the understanding, are the two receptacles of the Lord, the will the receptacle of love and charity, the under- standing the receptacle of wisdom and faith ; and each of these is wrought by the Lord while man is in full freedom, that there may be mutual and reciprocal con- junction, through which is salvation. 5. All the judgment that is effected with man after death is effected accord- ing to the use that he has made of free will in spiritual things. 498. Hence comes the conclusion that free will itself, in spiritual things, resides in man's soul in all perfection ; and from that, as the vein of the spring opens into a fountain, it flows into his mind, into its two parts which are the will and the understanding, and through these into the senses of the body, and into speech and actions. For with man there are three degrees of life, the soul, the No. 498-] FREE WILL. 699 mind, and the sensual body ; all that is in a higher degree, is in perfection above that which is in a lower degree. It is this freedom of man, through which, in which, and with which the Lord is present in him ; and He urges the reception of Himself without ceasing ; but He in no wise removes and takes away freedom, since, as said above, all that is done by man in spiritual things which is not from freedom is not permanent ; and it may therefore be said that it is this freedom of man in which the Lord dwells with him, in his soul. But that the doing of evil, in both the spiritual and the natural world, is restrained by laws, since otherwise society would nowhere continue to exist, is manifest without explanation. But yet it shall be illus- trated that without those external bonds not only would society cease to exist, but the whole human race also would perish. For man is as a prey to two loves, the love of ruling over all and the love of possessing the wealth of all. These loves, if uncurbed, rush onward to infinity. The hereditary evils into which man is born have arisen principally from these two loves ; nor was that of Adam any other than his desire to become as God, which evil the serpent infused into him, as we read ; wherefore in the curse pronounced upon him it is said, that the earth should bring forth the thorn and the thistle to him (Gen. iii. 5, 18), by which are meant all evil and the falsity from it. Every one who has given himself up to those loves, regards him- self alone as the only one, in whom and for whom all others have their being. Such have no pity, no fear of God, no love of the neighbor ; and hence there are in them un- mercifulness, inhumanity, and cruelty, and an infernal lust and greed for plundering and robbing, and craft and cun- ning in working out their purposes. Such things are not innate in the beasts of the earth ; they do not slaughter and devour each other from other love than to satisfy their hunger and to defend themselves ; wherefore a wicked man, viewed with reference to those loves, is more 700 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. inhuman, fiercer, and worse than any beast. That man is such inwardly, is manifest in seditious disturbances where the bonds of law have been loosed ; and also in massacres and pillaging, when the signal is given of freedom to turn their fury on the vanquished and besieged ; scarcely one desists until the drum is heard as a signal that they must stop. From this it is plain that if no fear of legal penal- ties restrained men, not only society but the whole human race would be destroyed. But all these evils are removed solely by the true use of free will in spiritual things, which is, to direct the mind to reflection upon the state of the life after death. 499, But this shall be further illustrated by comparisons, as follows : Without some sort of free will in all created things, both animate and inanimate, there could not have been accomplished any creation. For without free will in natural things, in the case of beasts, there would be no choice of food conducive to their nourishment, and no prop- agation and preservation of offspring ; thus there would be no beast. If the fishes of the sea and the shell-fish at its bottom had not such freedom, there would be no fish and no shell-fish. In like manner, unless such freedom were in every little insect, there would be no silk-worm to yield silk, no bee to furnish honey and wax, no butterfly to sport with its consort in the air, to feed on the juices of flowers, and to represent the happy state of man in the heavenly aura after he has shed his exuvice, like the worm. Unless there were something analogous to free will in the soil of the earth, in the seed sown in it, in all parts of the tree that has grown out of it, and in its fruit, and again in the new seed, there would be nothing of the vegetable kingdom. If there were not something analogous to free will in every metal, and in every stone both precious and common, there would not -be any metal, or stone, or even a grain of sand ; for this freely absorbs the ether, exhales what is natural to itself, throws ofif what is worn-out, and No. 500.] FREE WILL. 7OI restores itself with what is new . hence there is a magnetic sphere about the magnet, an iron sphere about iron, cop- pery about copper, silver about silver, golden about gold, stony about stone, nitrous about nitre, sulphurous about sulphur, and a different sphere about every particle of the dust of the earth. And from this sphere the inmost of every seed is impregnated, and what is prolific vegetates ; for without such exhalation from every little particle of the dust of the earth, there would be no beginning of germination, and hence no continuance of it. How could the earth, except by what is exhaled from it, penetrate with dust and water to the inmost centre of a grain sown in it, as into a grain of mustard seed, which is less than all seeds, but when it is groivn is greater than the herbs, and becometh a great tree? (Matt. xiii. 32; Mark iv. 30-32.) Since freedom has been thus implanted in all created subjects, to each according to its nature, why should not free will have been implanted in man according to his nature, which is, for him to be spiritual ? Hence it is that free will in spiritual things is given him from the womb even to the close of his life in the world, and after- ward to eternity. X. If men had not Free Will in spiritual things, ALL in the whole WORLD MIGHT HAVE BEEN LED IN A SINGLE DAY TO BELIEVE IN THE LORD ; BUT THIS CANNOT BE DONE FOR THE REASON THAT WHAT IS NOT RECEIVED BY MAN FROM FrEE WiLL DOES NOT REMAIN. 500. That God, apart from the free will given to man in spiritual things, could in a single day lead all to believe in Him, follows as a truth from the Divine omnipotence when not understood. They who do .not understand the Divine omnipotence, may suppose either that there is no order, or that God can act contrary to order as well as according 702 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. to it ; when yet no creation was possible without order. The primary thing of order is for man to be an image of God, consequently, for him to be perfecting in love and wisdom, and so to become that image more and more. God is continually working this in man ; but in the ab- sence of the free will in spiritual things by which man can turn to God and conjoin himself with Him in his turn, this would be in vain, because it would be an impossibility. For there is Order, from which and according to which the whole world has been created, with the things belong- ing to it, one and all ; and because all the work of creation has been done from this, therefore God is called Order itself ; and so it is the same whether you say, to do con- trary to Divine order, or to do contrary to God. Indeed, God Himself cannot do contrary to His own Divine order, for this would be to do contrary to Himself. Wherefore He leads every man according to that which is Himself, — the wandering and the backsliding into it, and the resist- ing to it. If man could have been created without free will in spiritual things, then what would be more easy for an omnipotent God than to lead all in the whole world to believe- in the Lord ? Could He not have brought about this faith with every one, both immediately and mediately ? immediately by His absolute power, and its irresistible ojoeration, which is continual for man's salvation ; or mediately, by means of torments brought upon his con- science, by mortal convulsions of the body, and grievous threats of death, if he did not receive it .'' and moreover, by the opening of hell, and thus by the presence of devils holding frightful torches in their hands ; or by calling forth therefrom the dead whom they had known, in the form of fearful spectres ? But to this the reply is in the words of Abraham to the rich man in hell : Jjf they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead (Luke xvi. 31). 501. It is asked at the present day, why miracles do not No. 5oi.] FREE WILL. 703 .take place as formerly; for it is believed that if they were to take place, every one would make a hearty acknowledg- ment. For miracles are not now wrought as formerly, for the reason that they compel, and they take away free will in spiritual things, and from being spiritual they make man natural. Every one in the Christian world, since the Com- ing of the Lord, can become spiritual, and he becomes spiritual solely from the Lord through the Word ; and the capacity for this would perish if man were led to believe through miracles ; since they, as before said are compulsory and deprive him of free will in spiritual things ; and every thing that is compelled in such matters betakes itself into the natural man, and shuts up the spiritual as with a door (the spiritual being truly the internal man), and deprives this of all power to see any truth in light ; wherefore he would afterwards reason about spiritual things from the natural man alone, that sees every thing truly spiritual inversely. But miracles were wrought before the Coming of the Lord, because those of the church were then natural men to whom the spiritual things which belong to the in- ternal church could not be opened ; for if opened, they would have profaned them. And all their worship there- fore consisted in rituals which represented and signified the internals of the church ; and they could not be brought to observe those rituals properly except by miracles. And that even by miracles they could not (because there was a spiritual internal in those representatives), is manifest from the children of Israel in the desert, who, although they saw so many miracles in Egypt, and afterward that greatest of miracles upon mount Sinai, still after Moses had been absent a month, danced around the golden calf, and shouted that it had led them out of Egypt. Similar things were done by them in the land of Canaan, although they saw the eminent miracles wrought by Elijah and Elisha, and at last the truly Divine miracles wrought by. the Lord. Miracles are not wrought at the present day, 704 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. especially for the reason that the church has taken from man all free will ; and it has done this by decreeing that man can contribute nothing toward the acquisition of faith, or to conversion, or in general to salvation, as may be seen above (n. 464). The man who believes this becomes more and more natural ; and the natural man, as said above, looks at everything spiritual inversely, and hence thinks against it. The higher region of the man's mind, where free will in spiritual things primarily resides, would be closed up ; and the spiritual things which have been as it were confirmed by miracles, would occupy the lower region of the mind, which is merely natural, while falsities respect- ing faith, conversion, and salvation would thus remain above this region. Hence it would come to oass that satans would dwell above, and angels below, like vultures over hens. Consequently after a little while the satans would break down the barrier, and rush forth with fury upon the spiritual things which hold a place below them, and would not only deny them, but would also blaspheme and profane them. The latter state of the man would thereby become far worse than the former. 502. The man who through falsities concerning the spirit- ual things of the church has become natural, cannot think of the Divine Omnipotence but as being above order, and thus as apart from order ; from which he would fall into the following ravings : Why the Coming of the Lord into the world, and why redemption in that way, when God from His omnipotence could have effected the same from heaven as was effected on earth ? Why might He not by redemption have saved the whole race without an excep- tion? And why has the devil since been able to prevail over the Redeemer in man .? Why is there a hell } Could not God blot it out, and cannot He blot it out, by His omnipotence, or deliver all from it and make them angels of heaven? Why a last judgment? Cannot God transfer all the goats from His left to the right, and make them No. 503.1 FREE WILL. 705 sheep ? Why did He cast down the angels of the dragon and the dragon himself from heaven, and not change them into angels of Michael ? Why does He not to all of these give faith, and impute His Son's righteousness, and so remit their sins, justify, and sanctify them ? Why does He not cause the beasts of the earth, the birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea to talk, give them intelligence, and introduce them into heaven together with men ? Why had He not made, or why does He not yet make the whole world a paradise, with no tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and with no serpent, and where all the hills would flow with generous wine and produce both native gold and silver, so that all might live therein with jubilee and song, and thus in perpetual festivity and joy, as images of God ? Would not these things be worthy of an omnipotent God ? And other things like these. But, my friend, this is all idle talk. The Divine omnipotence is not without order ; God Himself is Order; and all things were created from order, in order, and for order, because they were created from God. There is an order into which man was made, and this is that his blessing or his curse must depend on his free will in spiritual things. For, as said above, a man without free will could not be created, nor even the beast, the bird, and the fish. But beasts are in natural free will only ; while man is in natural and at the same time in spiritual free will. 503. To the foregoing shall be added these Relations. First: I heard that an assembly was called together, in which they were to deliberate on man's free will in spiritual things. This was in the spiritual world. There were present learned men from every quarter, who had thought on that subject in the world in which they lived before ; and many of those who had been members of general and smaller councils, before that of Nice and later. They were assembled in a certain circular temple, similar to that at Rome called the Pantheon (which had formerly VOL. iL 13 -jOA THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. been consecrated to the worship of all the gods, and was afterward dedicated by the papal chair to the worship of all the holy martyrs). In this temple near its walls, also there were what seemed like altars ; but there were low benches near each of them, upon which those who were assembled took their places, resting their elbows on the altars, as upon so many tables. No president was ap- pointed to act as primate among them ; but each one, as the desire seized him, rushed forth into their midst, poured out what he had at heart, and made public his opinion ; and, what I wondered at, all who were in the assembly were loaded with proofs of man's utter impotence in spiritual things \ so they ridiculed the idea of free will in those things. When they were assembled, behold, sud- denly one rushed forth into the midst, and with a loud voice he thus poured forth his breath : " Man has no more free will in spiritual things than Lot's wife had after she was turned into a pillar of salt ; for if man had any more free will than that, it is plain that he might from himself lay claim to that faith to which our church holds, and of which it teaches that God the Father bestows it gratuitously, of entire freedom and good pleasure, to whom He will and when He will. This good pleasure and that gratuitousness God would by no means have, if man from any freedom or good pleasure could also claim faith for himself ; and so our faith, which is a star that shines before us day and night, would be dissipated like a falling star to air." After him another rushed from his bench and said, " Man has no more free will in spiritual things than a beast, nay, than a dog ; for if he had, he would do good of himself, when yet all good is from God, and man cannot take to himself any thing that is not given him from heaven." After him one sprang from his seat, and in the middle space he raised his voice and said, " Man has no more free will in spiritual things, even in discerning them, than a bird of night has in the daytime, nay, than a chick still hidden in No. 503 ] FREE WILL. 'JO'} the shell ; he is in all those things as blind as a mole ; for if he had been lynx-eyed in his quick sight into the things of faith, salvation, and eternal life, he would have believed that he could regenerate and save himself, and he would also endeavor to do so, and thus would profane his thoughts and deeds with merit on merit." Again another ran out into the middle space, and made his speech : " The man who imagines that he, living after the fall of Adam, has ability to will and understand any thing in spiritual matters is insane, and becomes a maniac, inas- much as he would then believe himself to be a subordinate deity or divinity, possessing a share of the Divine power in his own right." After him another hastened panting to the centre, carrying under his arm a book called " Formula Concordise," to the orthodoxy of which (as he called it) the Evangelical [ministry] now swear. He opened the book and from it read the following : " That man is utterly corrupt and dead to good, so that since the fall there does not remain or abide in man's nature, before regeneration, even a spark of spiritual strength by which he is capable of becoming prepared for the grace of God or of appre- hending it when offered, or of retaining it, from and by himself \ nor can he from himself, in things spiritual, understand, believe, embrace, think, will, begin, carry out, act, operate, co-operate, or apply or accommodate himself to grace, or do any thing towards conversion, wholly, or by halves, or in the smallest measure. And that, in spiritual things which respect the salvation \salus\ of the soul, he is like the statue of salt. Lot's wife, and like a stock or a stone without life, which has no use of eyes, mouth, or any of the senses. That still he has the power of moving from place to place, or can direct his external members, go to public meetings, and hear the Word and the Gospel," (In the edition that I have, this is found on pages 656, 658, 661, 662, 663, 671, 672, 673.) After this they all crowded to- gether, and together they exclaimed, "This is truly ortho- 708 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. dox." I stood near and listened intently to all that had been said. And because I grew warm in my spirit, I asked with a loud voice, " If you make man in spiritual things a pillar of salt, a beast, blind, and insane, what then are the things of your theology ? Are they not one and all spiritual ? " To this, after some silence they replied, " In our whole system of theology there is nothing spiritual whatever which reason comprehends. Only our faith is spiritual there ; but we keep that strictly shut up, that no one may look into it ; and we have taken care that no spiritual ray should go forth from it and appear to the understanding ; and besides, man does not contribute a particle to it from any will of his own. Charity also we have removed from all that is spiritual, and have made it merely moral ; so also the decalogue. Respecting justifi- cation, the remission of sins, regeneration, and thence salvation, we give forth nothing spiritual ; we say that they are wrought by faith, but how we are wholly ignorant. Instead of repentance, we" have taken contrition ; and lest this should be believed to be spiritual, we have removed it from faith, even as to any contact with it. Respecting redemption we have adopted none but purely natural ideas, which are, that God the Father included the whole human race in a sentence of damnation, and that His Son took the damnation upon Himself, suffered Himself to be hanged on a cross, and so He moved His Father to com- passion ; besides other things like these, in which you will find nothing spiritual, but what is merely natural." But then with the warmth that was previously excited, I went on to say, " If man had not free will in spiritual things, what would he then be but a brute ? Is he not above brute beasts by virtue of it ? Without it, what is the church but the dusky face of the fuller in whose eyes is the white speck ? What is the Word without it but an unmeaning volume ? What is more frequently declared and commanded therein, than that man should love God, No. 504.1 FREE WILL. 709 and should love the neighbor, and also that he should believe, and again, that he has life and salvation according to the measure in which he loves and believes ? Is there any man who has not the faculty of understanding and doing what is commanded in the Word and in the deca- logue ? How could God have given such precepts and commandments to man, unless that faculty were given him ? Tell any rustic, the way to whose mind has not been blocked by fallacies in the things of theology, that he has no more power than a stock or a stone to under- stand and to will in matters of faith and charity and hence of salvation, and that he cannot . even apply and adapt himself to receive them, would he not laugh heartily, and say, * What can be more irrational ? What then have I to do with the priest and his preaching ? What then is the temple more than a stable ? And what is worship more than following the plough ? What madness to speak so ! It is folly upon folly. Who denies that all good is from God ? Has it not been given to man to do good out of himself from God .'' And so it is with believing.' " Hear- ing this they all cried out, " We have spoken from things that are orthodox, in an orthodox way ; but you, from things that are rustic, in a rustic wa3^" But then suddenly the lightning came down from heaven ; and lest it should consume them, they rushed out in troops, and fled away, each to his own home. 504. Second Relation. I was in the interior spiritual sight in which the angels of the higher heaven are ; but I was then in the world of spirits. And I saw two spirits not far from me, but standing apart from each other ; and I perceived that one of them loved good and truth and was thereby conjoined with heaven, and that the other loved evil and falsity and was thereby conjoined with hell. I approached, and called them ; and from their tones and their replies I gathered that one could perceive truths like the other, could acknowledge them when perceived, could 710 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII thus think from the understanding, could also determine things belonging to the understanding as he pleased, and tilings belonging to the will as he chose ; consequently that the two were in similar free will as to rational things. I .observed, moreover, that from that freedom in their minds, there appeared a lucidity, from the first sight which was that of perception to the ultimate sight which was that of the eye. But when he who loved evil and falsity was in thought while left to himself, I noticed that smoke, as it were, arose fro«i hell, and extinguished the lucidity which was above the memory, so that in him there was thick dark- ness there, like that of midnight ; and also that the smoke being ignited burned like a flame which illuminated the region of the mind below the memory,- and consequently he thought enormous falsities from the evils of the love of self. But with the other, who loved good and truth, when he was left to himself, I saw, as it were, a gentle flame flow- ing down from heaven, which illuminated the region of his mind above the memory, and also that below it even to the eye ; also that the light [lumen] from that flame shone more and more according to his perception and thought of truth from the love of good. From seeing this it was manifest to me that every man, evil as well as good, has spiritual free will, but that hell sometimes extinguishes it with the wicked, and that heaven exalts and enkindles it with the good. Afterwards I conversed with both of them, first with him who loved evil and falsity ; and when, after a few words concerning his lot, I mentioned free will, he grew warm and said, " Ah, what madness it is to believe that man has free will in spiritual things ! What man can take faith to him- self and do good from himself.^ Do not the priesthood teach from the Word at the present day that no one can receive any thing unless it be given him from heaven ? And the Lord Christ said to His disciples, Without Me ye can do nothing. And I add to this that no one can move foot or hand to do any good, or the tongue to speak any truth No. 504] FREE WILL. 71 £ from good. Therefore the church by her wise men has concluded that man can no more will, understand, and think any thing spiritual, or even adapt himself to the will- ing, understanding, and thinking, than a statue, a stock, and a stone ; and that therefore faith is inspired by God, Who alone has most free and unlimited power, and of His good pleasure ; and this faith, without any labor or power of ours, under the operation of the Holy Spirit, produces all that the unlearned ascribe to man." I then conversed with the other, who loved good and truth ; and when, after a few words concerning his lot, I mentioned free will, he said, " What madness it is to deny man's free will in spirit- ual things ? Who cannot will and do good and think and speak truth out of himself from the Word, thus from the Lord Who is the Word ? For He said. Make the fruit good^ and Believe in the Lights and also Love one another, and Love God; and again, Whosoever heareth My precepts and doeth them loveth Me, and I will love hitn ; besides thousands of things like these, throughout the Word. What then would be the use of the Word, if man had no power to will and think, and hence to do and say what is there commanded t Without that power in man, what would religion and the church be but like a wrecked vessel lying at the bottom of the sea, the master standing on the very top of the mast, and crying, ' I cannot do any thing,' while he sees the other sailors in the boats, going away with sails spread ? Was there not giv^en to Adam the freedom of eating from the tree of life, and the freedom of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil .'' And because from his freedom he ate of the latter, smoke from the serpent, that is from hell, entered his mind, on account of which he was banished from paradise and cursed. And yet he did not lose free will ; for we read that the way to the tree of life was guarded by a cherub ; for unless this had been done, he would have been able still to wish to eat of it." At these remarks the other, who loved evil and falsity, said, 712 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIIL " What I have heard, I leave ; what I advanced, I still hold to. But who does not know that only God is alive and thus active, and that man of himself is dead and thus merely passive ? How can one who is such, in himself dead and merely passive, take to himself any thing alive and active ? " To which I replied : " Man is an organ of life, and God alone is Life ; and God pours His life into the organ and every thing thereof, as the sun pours its heat into the tree and every part of it. It is also God's gift that man should feel that life in him as his ; and God wills that man should feel it so, in order that he may as from himself live accord- ing to the laws of order which are just as many as are the truths in the Word, and may dispose himself for the recep- tion of God's love. But still God perpetually holds with His finger the perpendicular above the scales, and moder- ates the free will of man, but never violates it by com- pulsion. A tree cannot receive any thing which the heat of the sun brings to it through its roots, unless it grows warm and heated as to each one of its fibres ; nor can the elements rise up through the root, unless its several fibres give out heat from that which has been received, and so contribute to the passage. Man does likewise, from the heat of life received from God. But unlike a tree, he feels the heat as his although it is not his ; and so far as he believes it to be his and not God's, he receives the light of life, yet not the heat of love from God, but the heat of love from hell ; and this, being gross, obstructs and close* the purer little branches of the organ, as impure blood does with the capillaries of the body. Thus man from being spiritual makes himself merely natural. Man's free will is from this, that he feels the life in himself as his, and that God leaves him so to feel in order that conjunction may take place, which cannot be unless it be reciprocal ; and reciprocal conjunction takes place while man from freedom acts altogether as from himself. If God had not left this to man, he would not be man, neither would he have eternal No. SOS-] FREE WILL. 713 life ; for reciprocal conjunction with God causes man to be man and not a beast, and also causes that after death he lives for ever. Free will in spiritual things effects this." After hearing this, that evil spirit removed to a distance ; and then I saw on a certain tree a flying serpent, such as is ca:lled the fiery serpent, which held out fruit from the tree to some one. And then in the spirit I drew near to the place, and there, instead of the serpent, was seen a mon- strous man, his face so. covered with beard that nothing but his nose was visible ; and instead of the tree there was a burning brand, near which he stood whose mind the smoke had entered before, and who afterward rejected free will in spiritual things. And suddenly similar smoke came out of the brand and enveloped them both ; and as they were thus taken out of my sight, I went away. But the other, who loved good and truth, and asserted that man has free will in spiritual things, accompanied me home. 505. Third Relation. I once heard a grating sound like that of two millstones grinding on each other. I went in the direction of the sound, and it died away ; and I saw a narrow gate leading obliquely downwards to a kind of vaulted building, in which were several chambers contain- ing cells, in each of which two were sitting, who were col- lecting from the Word passages confirming justification by faith alone. The one was collecting, and the other was writing, and this by turns. I went up to one cell, which was near the door, and asked, " What are you collecting and writing? " They said, " Concerning the Act of yustifi- cation, or concerning. Faith in act ; which is faith itself justi- fying, vivifying, and saving, and is the chief doctrine of the church in our part of Christendom." And I then said to him, "Tell me some sign of the act, when that faith is brought into the heart and into the soul of a man." He answered, " The sign of the act is in the moment when the man is overcome with distress that he is condemned, and, while in that state of contrition, thinks of Christ as having 13* 714 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. taken away the condemnation of the law, and lays hold of this merit of His with confidence ; and with this in thought goes to God the Father, and prays," Then I said, " Thus does the act take place, and this is the moment;" and I asked, " How shall I comprehend what is said of this act, that nothing of the man concurs in it, any more than if he were a post or a stone ? and that a man, as to that act, can- not begin, will, understand, think, operate, co-operate, apply and adapt himself thereto ? . Tell me how this agrees with what you have said, that the act takes place when the man thinks of the rightful power of the law, of his condemnation as taken away by Christ, of the confidence with which he lays hold of that merit of His, and when in thought con- cerning this he goes to God the Father and prays : are not all these things done by man?" But he said, "They are not done actively by the man, but passively." And I re- plied, " How can one think, have confidence, and pray, pas- sively ? Take away activity and co-operation from man at that time, and do you not take away receptivity also? thus every thing, and with every thing the act itself? What does your act then become but a purely ideal thing, which is called a thing of reasoning ? I hope that you do not believe with some that there is such act only with the pre- destined, who know nothing whatever of the infusion of faith with themselves. These can cast the dice, and deter- mine in that way whether faith has been infused into them or not. For which reason, my friend, believe that as to faith and charity man operates out of himself from the Lord, and that without this operation your act of faith which you have called the chief of the doctrines of the church in Christendom is nothing but the statue, Lot's wife, tinkling as from mere salt, when scratched by the scribe's pen or his finger-nail (Luke xvii. 32). I have said this, because as to that act you make yourselves like statues." When I said this he seized the candlestick with a strong grasp to throw it in my face ; but the light being No. 5o6.] FREEWILL. 715 then suddenly extinguished, he threw it against the forehead of his companion ; and I went away laughing. 506. Fourth Relation. Two flocks were seen in the spiritual world, one of goats, and the other of sheep. I wondered who they were ; since I well knew that the animals seen in the spiritual world are not animals, but are correspondences of the affections and thence of the thoughts of those who are there. For this reason I drew , nearer ; and as I approached these likenesses of animals disappeared, and in place of them men were seen ; and it was made manifest that they who made up the flock of goats were those who confirmed themselves in the doctrine of justification by faith alone, and that they who made up the flock of sheep were those who believed that charity and faith are one, as good and truth are one. And I then spoke with those who were seen as goats, and said, " Why are you thus gathered together ? " The most of them were of the clergy, who gloried in their reputation for learning, because they knew the arcana of justification by faith alone. They said that they were assembled to sit as a council, because they had heard that [some were teaching that] Paul's saying (Rom. iii. 28) that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. was not rightly understood, inasmuch as by faith there he did not mean the faith of the church of the present day, which is a faith in three Divine persons from eternity, but faith in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ ; also by the deeds of the law he did not mean those of the law of the deca- logue, but the works of the Mosaic law which were for the Jews ; and that thus from these few words, by a wrong interpretation, two enormous falsities had been drawn as conclusions, namely, that Paul meant the faith of the church of the present day and the works of the law of the decalogue : [saying also] that it is clearly evident that Paul did not mean the works of the law of the decalogue, but those of the Mosaic law, from his own words to Peter, 7l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. whom he blamed for Judaizing while he knew that no man is justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of yesus Christ (Gal. ii. 14-16). (By the faith of Jesus Christ, is by faith in Him and from Him, as may be seen above, n. 338.) Also, because by the works of the law Paul meant those of the Mosaic law, he therefore distinguished between the law of faith and that of works, and between the Jews and the Gentiles, or the circumcision and the un- circumcision, — circumcision signifying Judaism, as it does everywhere ; and moreover he closes the subject with these words : Do 7i>e then make void the law through faith ? Not so : but we establish the law. All these things he says in one connection (Rom. iii. 27-31): and in the chapter which precedes, he also says, Not the hearers of the law shall be Justified by God, but the doers of the law shall be justified (Rom. ii, 13) : also that God will render to every man according to his deeds (Rom. ii. 6) : ^d further. We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things dofie in the body, whether good or bad (2 Cor. v. 10) : besides other things in his writings. From which it is manifest that Paul rejected faith without good works as much as James did (Epistle, chap, ii, 17-26). That Paul meant the works of the Mosaic law which was for the Jews, we are further confirmed, [they say,] by this, that all the statutes for the Jews are called the law in Moses, thus the works of the law, as we see from these passages: 7'his is the law of the meat-offeri7ig {y,^\ . vi. 14). This is the law for the burnt-ofi'ering, for the meat-qfferifig, for the sacrifice for sin and guilt, for the consecrations (Lev. vii. 37). This is the law of the beast and of the bird (Lev. xi. 46, 47). This is the law of her that bringeth forth, for a son or a daughter (Lev. xii. 7). This is the law of leprosy (Lev. xiii. 59 ; xiv. 2, 32, 54, 57). This is the law of him that hath an issue (Lev. xv. 32). This is the law of jealousy (Num. V. 29, 30). This is the law of the Nazarite (Num. vi. 13, 21), This is the law of cleansing (Num. xix. 14). No. so6.] FREE WILL. 717 This is the law concerning the red heifer (Num. xix. 2). The law for the king (Deut. xvii. 15-19). Indeed the whole book of Moses is called tlie Book of the Law (Deut. xxxi. 9, II, 12, 26; also in Luke ii. 22; xxiv. 44; John i. 45; vii. 22, 23; viii. 5). To this they have also added that they saw in Paul that the law of the decalogue is to be lived, and that it is fulfilled by charity (Rom. xiii. 8-1 1); and that he also says that there are the three, faith, hope and charity, and that the greatest of these is charity (i Cor. xiii. 13) ; not faith, therefore. They said that because of this they were called together. But lest I should disturb them, I withdrew. And then they were again seen in the distance as goats, and sometimes as lying down and some- times as standing ; but they turned away from the flock of sheep.' They appeared to be lying down while deliber- ating, and standing while drawing conclusions. But I kept my sight fixed on their horns, and wondered that the horns on their foreheads now appeared to be extended forward and upward, now curved backward toward their bodies, and at length wholly thrown back. And then they all suddenly turned toward the flock of sheep, but they still appeared as goats. I therefore approached them again, and asked, " What now ? " They said that they had concluded that faith alone produces the goods of charity as a tree produces fruit. But thunder was then heard and lightning was seen overhead ; and very soon an angel appeared, standing between the two flocks ; and he cried out to the flock of sheep, " Do not listen to them ; they have not receded from their former faith, which is, that faith alone justifies and saves, and that actual charity does not at all. Neither is faith a tree, but man is the tree. But repent, and look to the Lord, and you will have faith. Before this is done, the faith is not a faith in which there is any thing living." Then the goats, their horns turned back, wished to approach the sheep. But the angel standing between them divided the sheep into two flocks ; 71 8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. and he said to those on the left, "Join the goats, but I tell you that a wolf is coming who will carry them off, and you with them." But after the two flocks of sheep were separated, and they on the left heard the threatening words of the angels, they looked at each other and said, " Let us converse with our former associates." And then the left-hand flock spoke to the right, saying, " Why did you withdraw from our shepherds ? Are not faith and charity one, as a tree and its fruit are one ? for the tree is continued into the fruit by the branches. Tear from the branch any thing through which the tree by continuity flows into the fruit, and will not the fruit perish, and together with it all the seed of any tree that would have sprung up anew? Ask our priests whether it is not so." And then they asked, and [the priests *] looked around, toward the others, who were winking for them to say that they spoke well. And then they answered, " You have spoken well ; but in rela- tion to the continuation of faith into good works, like that of a tree into the fruit, we know many arcana, but this is not the place to publish them ; in the chain or thread of faith and charity there are many knots, which we priests only are able to untie." And then one of the priests, who was among the sheep on the right, arose and said, " They have answered you that it is so, but they have answered their own that it is not so ; for they think differently." Wherefore they asked, " How then do they think ? Do they think as they teach ? " He said, " No ; they think that every good of charity which is called a good work, which is done by a man for the sake of salvation and eternal life is not good in its smallest part, for the reason that the man wishes to save himself by work that is from himself, claiming to himself the righteousness and merit of the one Saviour; and they think that it is so with every good work in which a man is sensible of his own will. They * Apoc. Rev., n. 417, has sacerdotes, the priests. No. So6.] FREE WILL. 719 therefore assert that there is no conjunction whatever be- tween faith and charity, and they do not even assert that faith is retained and preserved by good works." But they of the left flock said, " You speak lies against them. Do they not openly preach charity to us, and the works of charity which they call works of faith ? " He replied, " You do not understand their preaching. A clergyman only, being present, attends and understands. They think of moral charity only, and its civil and political goods, and they call them of faith, but they are not so at all ; for an atheist can do them in a like manner and under the same form. They therefore say unanimously, that no one is saved by any works, but by faith alone. But let this be illustrated by comparisons. An apple-tree produces ap- ples ; but if a man does goods for the sake of salvation as that tree bears apples by continuity, then those apples are inwardly rotten and full of worms. They say also that a vine produces grapes ; but if a man were to do spiritual goods as the vine bears grapes, he would produce wild grapes." But they then asked, " What kind of goods of charity or works have they, which are the fruits of faith .'' " He answered that "they are perhaps not conspicuous, being somewhere near faith ; to which, however, they do not cohere, being like the shadow which follows after a man when he faces the sun, which shadow he does not notice unless he turns around : indeed I may say that they are like horses' tails, which in many places are at this day cut off, for people say, ' What is the use of them ? They are good for nothing ; if they are kept by the horse they are easily made dirty.' " Hearing this, one of the flock of sheep on the left said indignantly, "There is certainly some conjunction ; otherwise, how can they be called the works of faith ? Perhaps the goods of charity are insinuated by God into man's voluntary works by some influx, as by some affection, aspiration, inspiration, incitation, and excita- tion of the will, by tacit perception in the thought, and thence 720 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. exhortation, by contrition and thus conscience, and thence urging, and by obedience to the decalogue and the Word (as if he were a little child, or as if he were a wise man), or by something else like these acting as a medium. Otherwise, how can they be called fruits of faith ? " To this the priest replied, " Not so ; and if they say that it takes place by any such means, in their sermons they overload it with words, from which comes the conclusion that it is not from faith. Still, some put forth such things, but as the signs of faith, not however as its bonds with charity. Some, however, have thought out a conjunction by means of the Word." And then they said, " Is there not a conjunction in this way, [that a man does voluntarily according to the Word *] ? " But he answered, "They do not think this, but that it is only by the hearing of the Word ; for they assert that all that is rational and all that is voluntary with man in mat- ters of faith is impure and meritorious, inasmuch as man in spiritual things can no more understand, will, operate, and co-operate, than a post." But one, when he heard that man is believed to be such in all things pertaining to faith and salvation, said : " I heard a certain one say, ' I have planted a vineyard ; now I will drink wine till I am drunk.' But another asked him, ' Shall you drink the wine from your own cup, by your own right hand?' And he said, * No, but from an unseen cup, by an unseen hand.' And the other answered, 'You certainly will not get drunk, then.' " Presently the same man said, " But hear me, I pray : I say to you, Drink wine from the Word understood. Do you not know that the Lord is the Word ? Is not the Word from the Lord ? Is He not thus in it ? If then you do good from the Word, do you not do it from the Lord ? from His mouth and will ? And if you then look to the Lord, He will also lead and teach you, and you will do * The words within brackets have been supplied from the " Apoc- alypse Revealed," n. 417. The Latin there reads, " quod homo vol' untarie faciat secundum Verbum." No. 507.] FREE WILL. 72 1 the good out of yourselves from the Lord. Who that does any thing from a king, at his mouth and command, can say, " This I do from rifiy own mouth or command, and from my own will ? " After this he turned to the clergy, and said, *' Ministers of God, do not mislead the flock." On hearing these things, the greater part of the flock on the left with- drew, and united with the flock on the right. Then some of the clergy said, " We have heard what we never heard before. We are shepherds ; we will not leave the sheep." And they withdrew together with them ; and they said, *' This man spoke a true word ; who that acts from the Word, and thus from the Lord, His mouth and will, can say, ' I do this from myself ? ' Who that acts from a king, from his mouth and will, says, * This I do from myself .-• ' Now we see the Divine Providence, why a conjunction of faith and good works has not been found that has been acknowledged by ecclesiastical society. It could not be found, because it could not be given, for there has not been faith in the Lord Who is the Word, and consequently neither has there been faith from the Word." But the other priests, who were of the flock of goats, went away, waving their hats and shouting, " Faith alone, Faith alone, it will still live." 507. Fifth Relation. I was in conversation with angels, and finally spoke of the lust of evil in which every man is from birth. One said, referring to the world where he then was, "They who are in lust seem to us angels like the foolish ; but those very ones seem to themselves like those who are in the highest degree wise. Therefore, that they may be drawn forth from their folly, they are let alter- nately into it and into the rationality which with them is in externals ; and in this latter state they see, acknowledge, and confess their insaneness ; but still they long to return from their rational into their insane state, and they also bring themselves into it, as from what is compulsory and without enjoyment into freedom and enjoyment. Thus 722 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. lust and not intelligence is interiorly agreeable to them. There are three universal loves of which every man is com- posed by creation ; the love of the neighbor, which is also the love of doing uses (this love is spiritual) ; the love of the world, which is also the love of possessing wealth (this love is material) ; and the love of self, which is also the love of lording it over others (and this love is corpo- real). A man is truly man while the love of the neighbor or the love of doing uses makes the head, and the love of the world or the love of possessing wealth makes the chest and abdomen, and the love of self or the love of ruling makes the feet and the soles of the feet. But if the love of the world makes the head, the man is man but as one who is hunchbacked ; but if the love of self makes the head, he is not like a man standing on his feet, but like one standing on the palms of his hands with head down and the hind parts up. When the love of doing uses makes the head, and the two other loves make the body and the feet in their order, the man appears in heaven with an angelic face and a beautiful rainbow about his head ; but if the love of the world or of wealth makes the head, he appears from heaven with a face pale like that of a dead person, with a yellow circle about the head ; but if the love of self or of lording it over others makes the head, he ap- pears from heaven with a face of a fiery du.skiness, with a white circle about the head." On this I asked, " What do the circles about the head represent ? " They answered, " They represent intelligence. The white circle about the head with the face of a fiery duskiness, represents that the intelligence of that one is in externals or round about him, while insaneness is in the internals or in him ; and further, the man who is such, is wise when in the body, but insane while in the spirit ; and no man is wise in the spirit except from the Lord, which is the case when he is generated and created anew by Him." After this was said, the earth was opened toward the left, and through the opening I saw a No. 507.] FREE WILL. 723 devil rising up, with a face of a fiery duskiness, and a white circle about the head. I asked, " Who are you ? " He said, " I am Lucifer, the son of the morning ; and because I made myself like unto the Most High, I was cast down, as I am described in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiali." He was not that Lucifer, however, but he believed that he was. And I said, *' Since you were cast down, how can you rise again out of hell ? " And he answered, '* I am a devil there, but here I am an angel of light. Do you not see my head girt around with a white circlet? You shall also see if you wish, that I am moral among the moral, and rational among the rational, yes, spiritual among the spirit- ual. I have also been able to preach." I asked, " How did you preach ? " He said, " Against defrauders, adulter- ers, and all infernal loves ; yes, then I called myself who am Lucifer, a devil ; and I made false oath against myself as such ; and for so doing I was borne up to heaven with praises. It is from this that I have been called the son of the morning. And, what was astonishing to myself, when I was in the pulpit I had no thought that I was not speaking rightly and properly. But the cause of this was disclosed to me, which was this : I was in externals, and these were then separated from my internals. But although this was disclosed to me, still I could not change, because I exalted myself above the Most High and set myself against Him." At last I asked, " How were you able to speak thus, when you yourself are a defrauder and an adulterer ? " He re- plied, " I am one person while I am in externals or in the body, and another while I am in internals or in the spirit. In the body I am an angel, but in the spirit a devil ; for in the body I am in the understanding, but in the spirit I am in the will ; and the understanding carries me upward, but the will carries me downward. And while I am in the understanding, a white circlet encompasses my head ; but while the understanding wholly gives itself up as a slave to the will, and becomes the will's, which is ultimately our lot, 724 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. then the circlet grows black and disappears ; and when this is the case, I am able no longer to ascend into this light." But suddenly, when he saw the angels with me, he became excited in face and in voice, and he became black even as to the circlet that was about the head, and he slipped down into hell through the opening by which he rose up. From what they had seen and heard, they who stood near came to this conclusion, that a man is in quality such as his will is, and not such as his understanding is, inasmuch as the will easily carries over the understanding to its side, and enslaves it. I then asked the angels, " Whence have devils rationality ? " And they said, " It is from the glory of the love of self, for the love of self is encompassed with a glory; for this is the resplendence of its fire ; and this glory uplifts the understanding almost into the light of heaven ; for the understanding in every man is capable of elevation accord- ing to cognitions, but not the will except by a life according to the truths of the church and of reason. Hence it is that atheists themselves who are in the glory of fame from self- love, and thence in the pride of their own intelligence, enjoy a loftier rationality than many others, but at the very time when they are in the thought of the understanding ; not however when they are in the will's love ; and the love of the. will has possession of the internal man, but the thought of the understanding possesses the external. The angel furthermore told the cause of man's being composed of the three loves, namely, the love of use, the love of the world, and the love of self ; it is, that he may think from God, though altogether as of himself. He said that what are highest in man's mind are turned upward toward God ; what are mediate therein, outward toward the world ; and the lowest there, downward into the body; and because these last are turned downward, a man thinks wholly as of himself, when yet he thinks from God. 508. Sixth Relation. One day there appeared to me a magnificent temple, square in form, the roof of which No. 50S.] FREE WILL. 725 was crown-shaped, arched above, and raised round about. Its walls were continuous windows of crystal, its gate of the substance of pearl. Within, on the south side and near the west, was a pulpit, on which at the right lay the open Word, enveloped with a sphere of light, the splendor of which surrounded and illuminated the whole pulpit. In the centre of the temple was the shrine, before which was a veil, but lifted now, where stood a cherub of gold with a sword in hand, that turned hither and thither. While I viewed these things there was an influx to me in my meditation, of what they each signified : That temple signified the New Church ; the gate, of the substance of pearl, entrance into it ; the windows of crystal, the tniths which enlightened it ; the pulpit signified the priesthood and preaching ; the Word open upon the pulpit and illuminat- ing its upper part, signified the internal sense of the Word revealed, which is spiritual ; the shrine in the centre of the temple, signified the conjunction of that church with the angelic heaven ; the cherub of gold therein, the Word in the sense of the letter ; the sword vibrating in his hand signified that this sense can be turned hither and thither, provided this is done in application to some truth ; that the veil before the cherub had been lifted, signified that the Word was now laid open. Afterward, when I drew nearer, I saw this wTiting above the gate. Nunc licet {Now it is lawful^, which signified that it is now lawful to enter intellectually into the arcana of faith. From seeing this writing, it came into my thought that it is exceedingly dangerous to enter with the understanding into dogmas of faith composed from one's own intelligence and thus from falsities, and still more to confirm them from the Word ; the understanding is thereby closed above, and gradually below also, to such an extent that theological matters not only cause disgust, but they are also obliterated as writing on paper by worms, and the wool of a piece of cloth by moths ; the understanding abiding only in political matters 726 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. VIII. which regard a man's life in the dominion where he is, in the civil matters pertaining to his employment, and the domestic affairs belonging to his own house. And in all these things he constantly kisses nature, and owing to the allurements of her pleasures he loves her as an idolater loves the golden image in his bosom. Now as the dogmas of the Christian churches of the present day have not been composed from the Word, but from men's own intel- ligence and thus from falsities, and as they have also been confirmed by some things from the Word, by the Lord's Divine Providence the Word has been taken from the laity among the Roman Catholics, and among the Protestants has been opened but still has been closed by their common declaration that the understanding is to be kept under obedience to their faith. But in the New Church the contrary is the case ; in this church it is allowable to enter with the understanding and to penetrate into all its secrets, and also to confirm them by the Word. This is because its doctrinals are continuous truths, laid open by the Lord by means of the Word ; and confirmations of those truths by means of what is rational cause the understanding to be opened above more and more, and thus to be elevated into the light in which the angels of heaven are ; and that light in its essence is truth, and in this light the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven and earth shines in its glory. This is meant by the writing over the door of the temple, Nunc LICET ; and also by the veil of the shrine before the cherub being lifted. For it is a Canon of the New Church that falsities close the understanding, and that truths open it. After this, I saw above the head one like an infant, holding a paper in his hand. As he drew near to me, he increased to the stature of a man of the average size. He was an angel from the third heaven, where all in the distance look like infants. While he was with me, he handed me the paper ; but as it was written with rounded No. 508.] FREE WILL. 727 letters, such as are in that heaven, I returned the paper, and begged that they would themselves explain the mean- ing of the words there written, in terms adapted to the ideas of my thought. And he replied, "This is there written : Enter hereafter into the mysteries of the Word which has been heretofore shut up; for its SEVERAL truths ARE SO MANY MIRRORS OF THE LORD." CHAPTER NINTH. CONCERNING REPENTANCE. 509. After the treatises on Faith, Charity, and Free Will, next in connection comes Repentance, since true faith and genuine charity cannot be given without repent- ance, and no one can repent without free will. Repentance is here treated of for the further reason that a treatise on Regeneration follows next, and no one can be regenerated before the more grievous evils which render a man detest- able in the sight of God, are removed, and these are re- moved by repentance. What is an unregenerate man but an impenitent one ? And what is an impenitent man, but like one who is in a state of lethargy, and knows nothing of sin, and therefore cherishes it in his bosom, and kisses it every day, as an adulterer kisses the harlot in his bed? But that it may be known what Repentance is, and what it accomplishes, the treatise concerning it is to be divided into articles. I. Repentance is the first of the Church with MAN. 510. The communion called the church consists of all those in whom the church is ; and fhe church with man enters him while regenerating, and every one is regener- ated by abstaining from the evils of sin, and shunning them as one would avoid infernal hordes who sees them with torches in hand making ready to spring upon him and cast him upon a burning pile. There are many things which prepare one for the church, as he advances in the first stages of life, and which introduce him into it; but No. 510.J REPENTANCE. 729 acts of repentance are what make the church to be in the man. Acts of repentance are all such as cause a man not to will and consequently not to do evils which are sins against God ; for before this is done, the man stands outside of regeneratioH ; and then, if any thought respecting eternal salvation creeps in, he turns toward it, but presently turns away from, it ; for it enters into the man no further than the ideas of his thought, and it goes forth thence into the words of his speech, and also, it may be, into some gestures con- formable to the speech. But when such thought enters into the will, it is then in the man ; for the will is the man himself, because his love has its dwelling there, while thought is outside of the man, unless it proceeds from his will ; when this is the case, then the will and the thought act as one, and both together make the man. From this it follows that, for repentance to be repentance and to be effective in man, it is necessary for it to be of the will and thence of the thought, and not of the thought alone, con- sequently for it to be actual and not of the lips merely. That repentance is the first of the church is very manifest from the Word. John the Baptist, who was sent before, to prepare men for the church which the Lord was about to establish, when he baptized, at the same time preached repentance ; therefore his baptism was called the baptism of repentance, because baptism signified spiritual washing, which is a cleansing from sins. John did this in the Jordan, because the Jordan signified introduction into the church, for it was the first boundary of the land of Canaan where the church was. The Lord Himself also preached re pentance for the remission of sins ; whereby He taught that repentance is the first of the church, that so far as man repents sins with him are removed, and that so far as they are removed they are remitted. And furthermore, the Lord commanded the twelve apostles, and also the seventy whom He sent forth, to preach repentance. From which it is plain that the first of the church is repentance. VOL. II. 14 730 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. 511. That the church is not in man until after sins with him are removed, any one can conclude from reason, and it may be illustrated by the following comparisons : Who can introduce sheep, kids, and lambs into fields or woods where there are all kinds of wild beasts, before he has driven these out ? And who can make a garden of a piece of ground that is overgrown with thorns, briers, and net- tles, before he has rooted out those noxious weeds ? Who can introduce a form of administering justice according to judicial law into a city held by hostile forces, and establish citizenship, before he has expelled the enemy ? It is the same with the evils in man ; they are like wild beasts, like briers and thorns, and like hostile forces ; and with these the church cannot have an abode in common any more than a man can dwell in a cage where there are tigers and leopards; or lie in a bed with poisonous herbs strewed upon it and stuffed into the pillows ; or sleep at night in a temple, beneath the floor of which are sepulchres con- taining dead bodies. Would not ghosts infest him there like furies ? II. The Contrition which at this day is said to pre- cede Faith, and to be followed by the Consola- tion of the Gospel, is not Repentance. 512. In the Reformed Christian world they tell of a species of anxiety, grief, and terror, which they call Con- trition^ and which, with those who are to be regenerated, precedes their faith and is followed by the consolation of the gospel. They say that this contrition in them arises from a fear of the just wrath of God, and hence of eternal damnation, which is inherent in every man owing to Adam's sin and the consequent proclivity of man to evils; also that without that contrition, the faith that imputes to man the merit and righteousness of the Lord the Saviour, is not bestowed ; and that they who have obtained this faith re- No. sh] repentance. 73 1 ceive the consolation of the Gospel, which is, that they are justified, that is, that they are renewed, regenerated, and sanctified, without any co-operation of their own ; and that they are transferred from damnation to eternal blessedness, which is life eternal. But respecting this contrition these questions are to be considered : i. Is it repentance? 2. Is it of any moment ? 3. Is there any such thing ? 513. Whether that contrition is repentance or not, may be concluded from the description of repentance given hereafter, where it is shown that repentance cannot exist unless man, not only in a universal way but also in par- ticulars taken severally, knows that he is a sinner; which no one can know unless he examines himself, and sees the evils that are in him, and condemns himself on account of them. But that contrition which is declared necessary to faith, has nothing in common with these things ; for it is merely the thought, and thence a confession, that he was born into Adam's sin and into a proclivity to the evils springing therefrom ; and that therefore the wrath of God is upon him, and therefore merited damnation, doom, and eternal death. From which it is plain that this contrition is not repentance. 514. The next point is, Since that contrition is not repentance, is it of any moment 1 It is said to con- tribute to faith, as an antecedent to a consequent, but yet that it does not enter into it and conjoin itself with it by commingling with it. But what is the faith which follows, but that God the Father imputes to man the righteousness of His Son, and then declares him, while not conscious of any sin, righteous, renewed, and holy, and thus clothes him in a robe washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb ? And when man walks in this robe, what then are the evils of his life, but like sulphurous stones thrown into the depths of the sea? And what is then the sin of Adam but something covered over, or removed, or carried away by the imputed righteousness of 732 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. Christ? When man, owing to that faith, walks in the righteousness and at the same time in the innocence of God the Saviour, for what is that contrition then service- able but to make him confident that he is in Abraham's bosom, and hence to look upon those who have not had this contrition before faith as miserable in hell, or as dead ? For it is said that there is not a living faith to those who lack contrition. It may therefore be said that if they [who have had such contrition] have sunk or are now sinking in damnable evils, they pay no more attention to them, and are no more sensible of them, than pigs lying in the mud in the gutters of the street are sensible of the stench. It is manifest from this that the contrition, not being repent- ance, is not any thing. 515. The third point to be considered is. Whether there is any such contrition without repentance. In the spiritual world I have asked many who have confirmed in them- selves the faith imputative of the merit of Christ, whether they had any contrition, and they have answered. Why contrition, when from childhood we have believed as a certainty that Christ by His passion took away all our sins ? Contrition does not square with this belief ; for it is contrition for men to cast themselves into hell, and to torture the conscience, when yet they know that they have been redeemed and so delivered from hell, and are consequently secure from harm. To this they added that this statute of contrition was wholly a fictitious thing, held in the place of the repentance so often men- tioned in the Word, and also enjoined. They said that with the simple, who know but little about the Gospel, there is, perhaps, some emotion of mind when they hear or think about the torments in hell. They also said that the consolation of the Gospel, impressed upon them from ear- liest youth, so banished contrition that in heart they laughed at it when mentioned ; and that hell could not strike them with terror any more than the fires of Vesuvius and of No. 516.] REPENTANCE. 733 ^tna could terrify those who dwell at Warsaw and Vienna, or than the basilisks and vipers in the deserts of Arabia, or the tigers and lions in the forests of Tartary, could terrify those who live in safety, tranquillity, and quiet in some city of Europe. They also said that the wratla of God excited in them no more terror and contrition, than the wrath of the king of Persia could excite in those who live in Pennsylvania. From these things, and also from rational inferences from their declarations, I am con- vinced that contrition, unless it is repentance such as is described in the following pages, is nothing but a freak of the fancy. The Reformed supported contrition instead of repentance, in order to sever themselves from the Roman Catholics, who insist upon repentance and at the same time charity ; and when they afterward confirmed justifi- cation by faith alone, they alleged as their reason, that by repentance, as by charity, something of man, savoring of merit, entered into his faith and blackened it. III. The mere oral Confession that one is a sinner, IS NOT Repentance. 516. Concerning this oral confession, the Reformed who adhere to the Augsburg Confession teach as follows : " No man can ever know his sins ; wherefore they cannot be enumerated ; they are, moreover, interior and hidden, and the confession would therefore be false, uncertain, incom- plete, and mutilated ; but he who confesses himself to be all mere sin, includes all sins, excludes none, and forgets none. But still the enumeration of sins, although not necessary, for the sake of tender and timid consciences is not to be done away with ; but this is only a childish and common form of confession for the simpler and ruder people " (" Formula Concordiae," pages 327, 331, 380). But this con- fession was held by the Reformed instead of actual repent- ance, after they had separated from the Roman Catholics, 734 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. because it is based upon their imputative faith, which alone, without charity and so too without repentance, works the remission of sins and regenerates man ; and also upon this, which is an inseparable appendage to that faith, that there is no co-operation on man's part with the Holy Spirit in the act of justification ; also upon this, that no man has free will in spiritual things ; and again upon this, that all things are of immediate mercy, and nothing whatever of mercy made mediate by man and through him. 517. Among the many reasons why the confession of the lips that one is a sinner is not repentance, is this, that every man, an impious one and even a devil, may so cry out, and this with external devoutness, when he thinks of the torments in hell impending or through which he is then passing. But who does not see that this is not from any internal devotion, and consequently that it is imaginary and therefore of the lungs, but not voluntary from within, and therefore not of the heart .-' For an impious man and a devil still burn inwardly with the lusts of the love of doing evil, from which they are borne on as windmills are driven by strong winds ; and therefore such an exclamatipn is nothing but a contrivance to cheat God, or to deceive the simple, and for the sake of deliverance. For what is easier than to compel the lips to give forth the cry, and the breath of the mouth to adapt itself to it, to turn the eyes upward, and raise the hands ? This is what the Lord says in Mark, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you, hypocrites. This people hono7-eth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me (vii. 6) ; and in Matthew, Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, for ye make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and the platter, that the outside also may be made clean (xxiii. 25, 26) ; and more in the same chapter. 518. In hypocritical worship like this are they who have confirmed in themselves the faith of the present day, that No. 518.] REPENTANCE. 735 the Lord by the passion of the cross took away all the sins of the world, meaning by this the sins of every one, provided men only pray according to the formularies about propitiation and mediation. Some of them can with loud voice and apparently burning zeal pour forth from the pul- pit many holy things about repentance and charity, while they deem each of these useless in respect to salvation ; for they mean no other repentance than confession with the lips, and no other charity than that belonging to public life ; but they do this for the favor of the people. These are they who are meant by these words of the Lord : Many •will say to Me in that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophe- sied by Thy name ? and in Thy name done many wonderful works ? And then will I profess unto them, I know you not ; depart from Me^ ye that work iniquity (Matt. vii. 22, 23). In the spiritual world I once heard one praying in this way : " I am full of sores, leprous, unclean from my mother's womb. There is nothing in me sound, from my head to the sole of my foot; I am not worthy to lift up my eyes to God ; I am deserving of death and eternal damnation. Have mercy upon me for the sake of Thy Son ; purify me in His blood. The salvation of all is in Thy good pleasure. I implore Thy mercy.'' His words were heard by some standing near, and they asked him, " How do you know that you are such ? " He replied, " I know it, because I have heard so." But he was then sent to angels who were examiners, before whom he spoke in the same way ; and they, after examination, reported that he had spoken true things about himself, but still without knowing a single evil in himself, because he had never examined himself, and had believed that after oral confes- sion evils were no longer evils in the sight of God, both because God turns His eyes away from them, and because He has been propitiated ; and that therefore he did not come to a sense of any evil and turn from it, although he was an adulterer from purpose, a thief, a crafty detractor, 736 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. and burning with revenge ; and that he was snch in will and heart, and would therefore be the same in word and deed if the fear of the law and of the loss of reputation did not restrain him. After he was found to be such, he was judged, and sent away to the hypocrites in hell. 519. The quality of such may be illustrated by compar- isons. They are like temples where only the spirits of the dragon, and those who are meant in the Apocalypse by the locusts, are congregated ; and they are like the pulpits therein, where the Word is not, because it is put beneath the feet. They are like plastered walls, the plaster beauti- fully colored ; within which, as the windows are open, owls and direful birds of the night are flying about. They are like whitened sepulchres, that contain dead men's bones. They are like coins made of the lees of oil or dried dung, and overlaid with gold. They are like the bark and the wood that surround the rotten heart, and like the garments of Aaron's sons on a leprous body; yes, like ulcers con- taining foul matter, but covered over with a thin skin and supposed to be healed. Who does not know that a holy external and a profane internal do not accord ? Such also fear more than others to examine themselves ; they are therefore no more sensible of the vicious things within them, than of the pungent and ill-smelling substances in their stomachs and bowels before they are cast out into the draught. But it is to be kept in mind that those who have been hitherto spoken of, are not to be confounded with those who do well and believe well, nor with those who repent of some sins, and who, while in worship and still more while in spiritual temptation, speak within them- selves or pray from an oral confession like that of the others. For that general confession both precedes and follows reformation and regeneration. No. 520.] REPENTANCE. 737 IV. Man is born to Evils of every kind ; and unless BY Repentance he removes them in part, he REMAINS IN them ; AND HE WHO REMAINS IN THEM CANNOT BE SAVED. 520. That every man is born to evils, so that he is noth- ing but evil from his mother's womb, is known in the church, and it has become known because it has been handed down by the councils and by the prelates of the churches that the sin of Adam was transmitted to all his posterity ; and that for this one thing alone, every man after him was damned together with him ; and that it is this which is inherent in every man from birth. On this assertion, moreover, are based other things which the churches teach, as that the washing of regeneration, which is called baptism, was instituted by the Lord for the re- moval of this sin ; also that it was the cause of the Lord's Coming, and that faith in His merit is the means whereby it is removed ; besides other things which the churches have founded upon this assertion. But that there is no hereditary evil from that origin, may be evident from what was shown above (n, 466 and subsequent numbers), that Adam was not the first of mankind, but that by Adam and his wife is representatively described the first church on this orb, and by the garden of Eden its wisdom, by the tree of life its looking to the Lord Who was to come, and by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil its looking to self and not to the Lord. That this church is representatively described by the first chapters of Genesis, has been proved from many parallel passages from the Word, in the " Arcana Ccelestia " published at London. When these things are understood and accepted, the opinion hitherto entertained, that the evil innate in man from his parents is from that source, falls to the ground ; for it has its origin not from this but from another source. That the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are with every 14* 738 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. man, and that they are said to be placed in a garden, signified man's free will in turning to the Lord and in turn- ing from Him, as has been fully shown in the chapter concerning Free Will. 521. But, my friend, hereditary gvil is from no other source than from parents ; not indeed the evil itself which a man actually commits, but the inclination to it. Every one will acknowledge that it is so, if he joins reason to experience. Who does not know that children are born with a general resemblance to their parents in face, in man- ner, and in mind [animtts] ? and even grandchildren and great-grandchildren with a resemblance to grand-parents and great-grandparents ? Also that by many persons fami- lies are thus known apart, and nations also- as Africans from Europeans, Neapolitans from Germans, Englishmen from Frenchmen, and so on? Who does not recognize a Jew by his face, eyes, speech, and gestures ? And if you were able to feel the sphere of life flowing out from the native genius of every one, you might in like manner be convinced of the resemblance of minds (both animus and mens). From this it follows that man is not born into evils themselves, but only into an inclination to evils ; having, however, a greater or less proclivity for particular ones ; wherefore after death no man is judged from any heredi- tary evil, but from the actual evils which he has himself committed. This is also evident from the following statute of the Lord : The father shall not die because of the son, and the son shall not die because of the father ; every one shall die for his own sin (Deut. xxiv. 16). This was made certain to me in the spiritual world, from those who die in infancy, by their having only an inclination to evils and thus willing them, but still not doing them ; for they are educated under the Lord's auspices, and saved. The inclination and pro- clivity to evils that have been mentioned, transmitted from parents to their children and posterity, are broken only by the new birth from the Lord, which is called regeneration. No. 523.] REPENTANCE. 739 Without this, that inclination not only remains uninter- rupted, but also increases from parents that succeed each other, and becomes more prone to evils, and at length to evils of every kind. It is from this that the Jews are still images of their father Judah, who begat three branches of them, having taken a Canaanitish woman to wife, and com- mitting adultery with Tamar his daughter-in-law. Where- fore this hereditary disposition, in process of time, has increased in them even so that they are not able to em- brace the Christian religion from faith at heart. It is said that they are not able to do so, because the interior will of their mind is adverse thereto, and this will causes the inability. 522. That every evil, unless removed, remains with man, and that man cannot be saved if he remains in his evils, follows of itself. That no evil can be removed except by the Lord, and with those who believe in Him and love the neighbor, may be very evident from things that have been already considered, especially from these in the chapter on Faith : The Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding ; and if they are divided, each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder ; and further. The Lord is Charity and Faith in man, and man is charity and faith in the Lord. But it is asked. How can man enter into this union ? The reply is, that he cannot unless by repentance he removes his evils in part. It is said that man must remove them, because the Lord does not do that immediately without man's co-operation ; which is also fully shown in the same chapter, and in the later chapter on Free Will. 523. It is objected, that no man can fulfil the law, and tjiat he has the less ability to do so, since he who trespasses against one precept of the decalogue trespasses against all. But this saying does not mean just as it sounds ; for it is to be understood in this -manner, that he who from purpose and determination acts contrary to one precept, acts con- trary to the rest; inasmuch as to act from purpose and 740 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. determination, is to wholly deny that it is sin, and if it is said to be sin, to throw that aside as of no consequence ; and he who denies and rejects sin in this way, thinks noth- ing of all that is called sin. They who do not wish to hear any thing about repentance become fixed in purpose of this kind ; but on the other hand, they who by repent- ance have removed some evils that are sins come into the purpose of believing in the Lord and loving the neighbor ; these latter are kept by the Lord in the purpose to abstain from other evils ; wherefore, if they commit sin from igno- rance or some overpowering lust, this is not imputed to them, because they did not intend it, nor do they confirm it in themselves. This may be confirmed by what follows : In the spiritual world I have met with many who in the natural world lived like others, dressing finely, feasting delicately, having money like others from trading, witness- ing plays, joking about lovers as if from licentiousness, and doing other such things ; and yet the angels charged some with these things as evils of sin, and others they did not charge with them as evils, declaring the latter innocent, but the former guilty. To the question, " Why is this, when they all did alike ? " they replied that they view all from their purpose, intention, and end, and distinguish accord- ingly; and that therefore they excuse or condemn those whom the end excuses or condemns, since good is the end with all in heaven, and evil is the end with all in hell. 524. But these things shall be illustrated by comparisons. The sins retained in an impenitent man may be compared to various diseases in him ; unless medicines are brought to bear on them, and malignities removed thereby, the man dies. They may be compared especially with the disease called gangrene, which, unless healed in time, spreads, and causes inevitable death. In like manner to imposthumes and abscesses, where they are not reached and opened ; for from them efnpyeyjiata or collections of pus will diffuse themselves into the neighboring parts, from these into ad- No. 525.] REPENTANCE. 74 1 joining viscera, and finally into the heart, whence comes death. There may also be comparison with tigers, leopards, lions, wolves, and foxes, which, unless kept in dens or bound with chains or ropes, would attack the flock and the herd, the fox attacking the poultry, and kill them : also with ven- omous serpents, which unless held tight with sticks, or deprived of their teeth, would inflict deadly wounds on man. A whole flock would perish if left in fields where there are poisonous herbs, instead of being led by the shepherd to pastures where there is nothing hurtful. The silk worm also would perish, and thus all the silk, unless other worms were shaken from the leaves of its tree. Comparison may also be made with corn in granaries or its houses, which would be rendered musty and offensive and thus useless, if the air were not permitted to pass freely through . it and remove every thing that would do harm. If a fire were not extinguished at the very outset, it might lay waste a whole city or forest. Brambles, thistles, and briers would take full possession of a garden, if not rooted out. Gardeners know that a tree, bad from the seed and root, brings its bad juices into the wood that comes from a good tree budded or engrafted upon it, and that the bad juices coming up are turned into good, and produce useful fruit. And so with man by the removal of evil by means of repentance ; for man is thereby set in the Lord, as a branch in the Vine, and bears good fruit (John xv. 4-6). V. Cognition of Sin, and the Examination of some Sin in oneself, begin Repentance. 525. Cognition of sin can be wanting to no one in the Christian world ; for there every one is from infancy taught what evil is, and from childhood what the evil of sin is. All youths learn this from parents and teachers, and also from the decalogue, [the catechism containing] this being the first book that is put into the hands of all in Christen- 742 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. dom ; and in their subsequent progress by preaching in the temples and instruction at home, and in fulness from the Word ; and furthermore from the civil laws of justice, which teach things like those taught by the decalogue and the other parts of the Word. For the evil of sin is no other than evil against the neighbor ; and evil against the neigh- bor is also evil against God, which is sin. But the cognition of sin effects nothing unless a man examines the acts of his life, and sees whether secretly or openly he has com- mitted any such thing. Before this is done, that is all merely knowledge ; and then what the preacher presents is mere sound going in at the left ear and passing out at the right, and finally it becomes a mere matter of thought, and something devout in the breathing, and with many imag- inative and chimerical. But it is wholly different if man, according to his cognitions of what sin is, examines him- self, finds something in himself, and says to himself, " This evil is a sin," and abstains from it for fear of eternal pun- ishment. Then first what is said in the temples by the preachers, in instruction and in prayer, is received by both ears, is introduced into the heart, and from a pagan the man becomes a Christian. 526. Can there be any thing better known in the Chris- tian world, than that a man ought to examine himself? For everywhere, in the empires and kingdoms adhering to the Roman Catholic religion and in those adhering to the Evangelical, before approaching the Holy Supper they are taught and admonished that a man must examine him- self, recognize and acknowledge his sins, and live a new and a different life. In the English dominions this is accom- panied with fearful threatenings, where in the address that precedes the Communion the following is read and pro- claimed by the priest from the altar : " The way and means" to become a worthy partaker of the Holy Supper, " is first to examine your lives and conversations by the rule of God's commandments ; and whereinsoever ye shall No. 527. J REPENTANCE. 743 perceive yourselves to have offended, either by will, word, or deed, there to bewail your own sinfulness, and to confess yourselves to Almighty God, with full purpose of amend- ment of life. And if ye shall perceive your offences to be such as are not only against God but also against your neighbor, then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto him, being ready to make restitution and satisfaction, according to the uttermost of your powers, for all injuries and wrongs done by you to any other, and being likewise ready to for- give others that have offended you, as ye would have forgiveness of your offences at God's hand ; for otherwise the receiving of the holy communion does nothing else but increase your damnation. Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, a hinderer or slanderer of His Word, an adulterer, or be in malice or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent ye of your sins, or else come not to that holy table, lest after the taking of that holy sacrament, the devil enter into you as he entered into Judas, and fill you full of all iniquit}^ and bring you to destruction both of body and soul." 527. And yet there are some who cannot examine them- selves, such as infants, boys and girls before they arrive at the age when they become capable of looking into them- selves ; also the simple-minded who are not capable of re- flection ; and again, all those who have no fear of God ; and beside these, some who are sick in mind [ani»ms] and body ; and furthermore, those who (being confirmed from the doc- trine of justification by faith alone as imputative of Christ's merit) have persuaded themselves that by examination and thence repentance something of the man would enter, which would ruin faith,' and so would cast out and banish salvation from its one and only home \_foais]. Mere con- fession with the lips serves all these ; and that this is not repentance has been already shown in this chapter. But they who know what sin is, and still more they who know many other things from the Word and teach them, and who 744 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. do not examine themselves and consequently see no sin in themselves, may be likened to those who scrape up wealth and lay it up in chests and coffers, making no further use of it than to look at it and count it; also to those who gather into their treasuries jewels of gold and silver and shut them up in vaults, solely for the sake of being opu- lent^ such are like the trader that hid his talent in the earth, and like him who hid his pound in a napkin (Matt. XXV. 25 ; Luke xix, 20). They are also like the hard way- side and stony places upon which the seed fell (Matt. xiii. 4, 5) ; also like fig-trees full of leaves but bearing no fruit (Mark xi. 13). They are the hearts of adamant, that do not become hearts of flesh (Zech. vii. 12). They are like the partridges 7vhich gather and bring not forth ; they get riches but tiot with judgment ; they leave them in the midst of their days, and at their end become fools (Jer. xvii. 1 1). They are like the five virgins who had lamps but no oil (Matt. XXV. 1-12). They who acquire from the Word much about charity and repentance, and who know its precepts in abundance, and do not live according to them, may be compared to gluttons who stuff bits of food into their mouths, and swallow it without chewing into the stomach, where it stays undigested, and when it has been passed onward it vitiates the chyle, and brings on lingering dis- eases, from which they die at last a miserable death. Such persons being without spiritual heat, however much light they may be in, may be called winters, frozen grounds, arctic climates, yes, fields of snow and ice. VI. Actual Repentance is to examine oneself, to RECOGNIZE and ACKNOWLEDGE ONE's SiNS, TO MAKE Supplication to the Lord, and begin a new Life. 528. That man is by all means to repent, and that his salvation depends thereon, is evident from many passages No. 529.] REPENTANCE. 745 and plain sayings of the Lord in the Word, from which the following shall for present purposes be adduced : John preached the baptism of repentance and said, Bring forth fruits worthy of refeniance (Luke iii. 3, 8 ; Mark i. 4). yestis began to preach and to say, Repent (Matt. iv. 17). And He said, because The kingdotn of God is at hand. Repent ye (Mark i. 15). Again : Except ye repent, ye will all perish (Luke xiii. 5). Jesus commanded His disciples that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations (Luke xxiv. 47 ; Mark vi. 12). Where- fore Peter preached repentance and baptism in the name of jfesus Christ for the reinission of sins (Acts ii. 38) ; and he also said, Repent ye therefore, and turn, that your sins may be blotted out (iii. 19). Paul preached to all men everywhere to repent (xvii. 30) ; he also declared first u7ito thetn of Damascus, and at jferusalem, and throughout all the region of yudea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance (xxvi. 20). Again, he testified to the yews and to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord yesus Christ (xx. 21). The Lord said to the church at Ephesus, I have some- what against thee, that thou hast left thy first charity. Repent, or else-I will re7nove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent (Apoc. ii. 2, 4, 5). To the church at Pergamos, / know thy 7Vorks, repent (ii. 13, 16). To the church in Thyatira, / will cast her into afftiction, if she does not repent of her works (Apoc. ii. 22), To the church of the Laodiceans, I know thy- works, be zealous, therefo?-e, and repetit (Apoc. iii. 15, 19). There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth (Luke xv. 7) ; beside other passages. From which it is manifest that man is by all means to repent ; but the quality and the mode of the repentance will be shown in what follows. 529. Who cannot understand, from the reason given him, that it is not repentance for one merely to confess with the mouth that he is a sinner, and to recount many 746 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. things respecting it, as the hypocrite did who was men- tioned above (n. 518) ? For what is easier for a man when he is in distress and agony, than to pour out the breath, and to utter sighs and groans from the lungs by the lips, and also to beat the breast and make himself guilty of all sins, when yet he is not conscious of a single sin in himself ? Do the diabolical horde, which are in his loves, go out together with the sighs ? Do they not rather hiss at those things, and remain in him as before, as in their own house .-• It is manifest from this that such repentance is not meant in the Word, but repentance from evil works, as it also says. 530. The question is, therefore, How ought man to repent? The reply is. Actually; and this is, for one to examine himself, recognize and acknowledge his sins, make supplication to the Lord, and begin a new life. That there can be no repentance without examination was shown in the preceding article. But for what purpose is examina- tion, but that one may recognize his own sins ? And for what is this cognition, but that he may acknowledge that they are in him ? And for what are the three, but that he may confess them before the Lord, supplicate aid, and then begin a new life, which is the end to be attained ? This is actual repentance. That man ought so to pro- ceed and do, every one may know (after he has passed the first period of life and comes under his own control and to the exercise of his own reason) from Baptism, the washing of which means regeneration ; for in Baptism his sponsors have promised for him that he will reject the devil and all his works ; in like manner from the Holy Supper, for all are forewarned to repent of their sins, to turn to God, and to enter upon a new life, before they can come to it worthily ; and moreover from the Decalogue or Catechism which is in the hands of all Christians, where in six of its precepts nothing is commanded but that they should not do evils. And unless these are removed by No. 531.] REPENTANCE. 747 repentance, man cannot love the neighbor, and still less God ; when nevertheless on those two commandments hang the law and the prophets, that is, the Word, con- sequently salvation. Actual repentance, if performed at recurring seasons, as often, for instance, as a man prepares for the communion of the Holy Supper, if he afterwards abstains from one sin or another that he then discovers in himself, is sufficient to initiate him into actuality [in repent- ance] ; and when he is in this, he is on the way to heaven, for from being natural he then begins to become spiritual, and to be born anew from the Lord. 531. This maybe illustrated by the following compari- sons. Man before repentance is like a desert where there are terrible wild beasts, dragons, owls of various kinds, vipers, and poisonous serpents, where in the thickets are the doleful creatures, the ochirn and the tziim, and where satyrs dance. But after these have been banished by the industry and labor of man, the desert may be ploughed and brought into fields that may be planted ; and these may be sowed first with oats, beans, and flax, and after- ward with barley and wheat. It may also be compared to the wickedness which reigns in full force among men ; if the wicked Vere not corrected according to law, and punished by stripes or death, no city and no kingdom could stand. Man is as it were a society in miniature. If he did not deal with himself in a spiritual manner as the wicked in a great society are dealt with in a natural manner, he would be castigated and punished after death, and this even til! he does not do evil for fear of the pen- alty, although he can in no wise be brought to do good from the love of good. 748 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Ghap. IX. VII. True Repentance is, to examine not only the Acts of one's Life, but also the Intentions of HIS Will. 532. For a man to examine not only the acts of his life, but also the intentions of his will, is true repentance, because the understanding and the will make the acts ; for man speaks from thought, and acts from will ; wherefore speech is thought speaking, and action is will acting. And because the words and actions are from them, it follows undoubtedly that will and thought are the two that sin when the body sins. And further, a man can repent of evils which he has done with the body, and still think and will evil ; but this is like cutting off the trunk of a bad tree and leaving its root in the ground, from which the same bad tree grows up again and spreads itself around. But when the root is torn up also, it is different ; and this is done in man when he at the same time examines the intentions of his will and removes the evils by repentance. A man examines the intentions of his will while he exam- ines his thoughts, for in these the intentions make them- selves manifest ; [to find] how far, while thinking of them, he wills and intends revenge, adulteries, thefts, false wit- ness, and the desires for them, and also blasphemy against God, the holy Word, and the church, and so on. If he still directs his attention to this, and searches to find whether he would do such things if the fear of the law and for reputation did not hinder, then after such scru- tiny he who thinks that he will not because they are sins, repents truly and interiorly ; and still more when he is in the enjoyment from those evils and is at the same time in freedom to do them, and then resists and abstains. He who practises this repeatedly, perceives the enjoyments of the evils when they return as not enjoyable, and at last he condemns them to hell. This is what is meant by these words of the Lord : He that willeth to find his life shall lose No. 533] REPENTANCE. 749 it ; and he that loseth his life for My sake, shall fnd it (Matt. X. 39). He who by this repentance removes the evils of his will, is like one who in time pulls up the tares sown in his field by the devil, so that the seeds implanted by the Lord God the Saviour find a clear soil, and grow to a harvest (Matt. xili. 25-30). 533. There are two loves which have long been enrooted in the human race, the love of lording over all and the love of possessing the goods of all. The former love, if free rein is given it, reaches on even so far as to wish to be the God of heaven ; and the latter, if free rein is given it, reaches on even so far as to wish to be the God of the world. To these two loves are subordinated all other evil loves, of which there are hosts ; but to examine these two is exceed- ingly difficult, because they reside most deeply within, and hide themselves ; for they are like vipers concealed in a rock full of holes ; these retain their poison, but when any one lies down on the rock they give their deadly stroke, and then draw back. They are also like the sirens of the ancients, who allured men by their song, and by that means killed them. These two loves also array themselves in shining robes and undergarments, as a devil by magical fantasy does among his own, or among those whom he wishes to delude. But it is to be well known that these two loves may bear rule with those in humble life more than with the great, with the poor more than with the rich, with subjects more than with kings ; for kings are born to dominion and wealth, which they at length regard only as others regard their households and possessions, — as one in civil office, a director, a shipmaster, or even a poor farmer regards his. It is different with kings who aspire to dominion over the kingdoms of others. The intentions of the will are to be examined, because the love has its seat in the will, for the will is its receptacle, as shown above. From thence every love breathes out its enjoyments into the perceptions and thoughts of the understanding, for 750 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. these latter do not act at all from themselves but from the will, for they favor it, consenting to and confirming every thing that is of its love. The will is therefore the very house in which the man dwells, and the understanding is the hall through which he goes out and in. For this rea- son it has been said that the intentions of the will are to be examined ; and when they have been examined and removed, man is lifted out of the natural will, in which hereditary and actual evils have their seat, into the spirit- ual will, through which the Lord reforms and regenerates the natural, and by means of this what is sensual and volun- tary pertaining to the body, thus the whole man. 534. They who do not examine themselves, by compari- son, are like invalids whose blood is vitiated from the closing of the smallest vessels, which causes atrophy, numbness of the limbs, and painful chronic diseases aris- ing from a thickening, tenacity, acridness, and acidity of the humors, and consequently of the blood. But, on the other hand, they who include the intentions of the will in their examination of themselves, by comparison, are like those who have been cured of these diseases, and who return to the life they were in while young. They who examine themselves aright, are like ships from Ophir laden with gold, silver, and precious things ; but before they have examined themselves, they are like ships loaded with filth, such as are used to carry away the mud and ordure of the streets. They who examine themselves interiorly, become like mines, all the walls of which are resplendent with ores of precious metal ; but before, like foul bogs in which are snakes and venomous serpents with glittering scales, and noxious insects with shining wings. They who do not examine themselves are like the dry bones in the valley ; but after they have examined themselves, they are like the same bones on which the Lord Jehovih laid sinews, caused flesh to come upon them, covered them with skin, and put breath in them, and they lived (Ez. xxxvii. 1-14)- No. 535.] REPENTANCE. 75 1 VIII. They repent also, who do not examine them- selves, BUT YET DESIST FROM EviLS BECAUSE they are sins ; and they repent in this way who from religion do the works of Charity. 535. Since actual repentance (which is to examine one- self, to recognize and acknowledge one's sins, to make supplication to the Lord, and begin a new life) is in the Reformed Christian world exceedingly difficult, for many reasons that will be given in the last article of this chapter, therefore an easier kind of repentance will be here pre- sented, which is, that when one is considering evil with the mind [animus], and is intending it, he should say to himself, " I am thinking of this and intending it; but because it is sin, I will not do it." By this means the temptation in- jected from hell is interrupted, and its further entrance prevented. It is wonderful that any one can find fault with another who is intending evil, and say, " Do not do that, because it is sin," and yet it is hard for him to say so to himself ; this is because the latter moves the will, but the other only the thought nearest to the hearing. Inquiry was made in the spiritual world who could practise this second kind of repentance ; and they were found as rare as doves in a vast desert ; and some said that they could indeed do this, but that they were not able to examine themselves and confess their sins before God. But still, all they who do good from religion avoid actual evils ; and yet how very rarely do they reflect upon the interiors, which are of the will, under the belief that they are not in evils because they are in good, yes, that the good covers the evil. But, my friend, the primary thing in charity is to shun evils ; the Word teaches this, the Decalogue, Baptism, the Holy Supper, and also reason ; for how can any one flee from evils and banish them without some self-inspec- tion ? and how can good become good unless it has been 752 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX, inwardly purified ? I know that all pious men, and also all who have sound reason will assent to this while they read it, and will see that it is genuine truth ; but still that few will act accordingly. 536. But yet, all who do good from religion, not Chris- tians only but also pagans, are acceptable to the Lord, and after death are adopted ; for the Lord said, " I was an hun- gered^ and ye gave Me meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave Me drink ; I was a stranger, and ye [took Me in ; naked, and ye\ clothed Me ; I was sick, and ye visited Me ; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me : and He said. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of My least brethren, ye have done it unto Me. Come ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (M.2itt. xxv. 31, and subsequent verses). To this I will add the following, which is new : All who do good from religion, reject after death the doc- trine of the church of the present day concerning three Divine persons from eternity, and also its faith applied to the three in order, and they turn to the Lord God the Saviour, and accept with pleasure what belongs to the New Church. But the others, who have not practised charity fronfr- religion are hearts of adamant, thus hard hearts. They first resort to three Gods, afterward to the Father only, and at last to none ; they look upon the Lord God the Saviour as only Mary's son, born from marriage with Joseph, and not as the Son of God ; then they discard all the goods and truths of the New Church, and presently join the spirits of the dragon, and with them are driven away into deserts or into caverns on the furthest borders of what is called the Christian world ; and after a time, because they are separate from the New Heaven, they rush into crime, and are therefore sent down ihto hell. Such is the lot of those who do not perform works of charity from religion, owing to the belief that no one can do good from himself, except what is meritorious ; and consequently they omit those works, and associate themselves with the goats, No. 537j REPENTANCE. 753 who are the damned, and are cast into the eternal fire pre- pared for the devil and his angels, because they have not done what was done by the sheep (Matt. xxv. 41-46). It is not there said that they did evils, but that they did not do goods ; and they who do not do goods from religion do evils, since No man can serve two masters^ for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and neglect the other (Matt. vi. 24). Jehovah says by Isaiah, Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings frofn before Mine eyes ; cease to do evil, learn to do good; and then, though your sins have been as scarlet, they shall become ivhite as snow ; though they have been red as purple, they shall be as wool (i. 16-18) : and to Jeremiah, Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim there this word: Thus said yehovah Zcbaoth, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings ; trust ye not in lying words, saying. The temple of jfehovah, the tejnple of jfehovah, [the temple of Jeho- vali] is here (that is, the church). Will ye steal, murder, and swear falsely, and come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My Name, and say. We are delivered, while ye do all these abominations 1 Is this house become a den of robbers ? Behold, even I have seen it, saith jFehovah (vii. 2-4, 9-1 1). 537. It is to be known that they who do good from natural goodness only, and not from religion at the same time, are not accepted after death, because there is only natural good in their charity, and not at the same time spiritual good ; and it is the spiritual which conjoins the Lord with man, not the natural without this. Natural goodness is of the flesh alone, born of one's parents ; but spiritual goodness is of the spirit, being born anew from the Lord. They who do the good works of charity from religion, and who consequently do not do evils, before they have accepted the doctrine of the New Church concerning the Lord, may be likened to trees that bear good fruit, although but little, and also to trees that bear excellent VOL. II. 15 754 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. small fruit, which are none the less cared for in gardens ; and they may also be likened to olive-trees and fig-trees in the woods ; and again to fragrant herbs and balsamic shrubs on the hills. They are like little chapels or houses of God, where pious worship is held ; for they are sheep on the right hand, and rams that the goats assault accord- ing to Daniel (viii. 2-14). In heaven they have been clothed with garments of a red color ; and after initiation into the goods of the New Church, they are clothed with garments of a purple color, which acquire a beautiful yellow glow as they receive truths also. IX. Confession ought to be made before the Lord God the Saviour, and then Supplication for aid and power to resist evils. 538. The Lord God the Saviour is to be approached, because He is the God of heaven and earth, the Redeemer and Saviour, to Whom belong omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, mercy itself and justice together ; also be- cause man is His creature, and the church His fold ; add, also, that many times in the New Covenant He has com- manded men to come to Him and worship and adore Him. He" has given the injunction that He only must be ap- proached by these words in John : Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that eiitercth not by the Door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other 7vay, the same is a thief and a robber ; But he that entereth in by the Door is the Shepherd of the sheep. I am the Door ; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall find pastu?-e ; the thief cometh not but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy ; I am come that they may have life and abundance ; lam the Good Shepherd (x. i, 2, 9-1 1). That man ought not to climb up some other way, means that he is not to [approach] God the Father, because He is invisible and therefore unapproachable, with Whom there cannot be conjunction; for which reason He Himself No. 539.] REPENTANCE. 75 5 came into the world, and made Himself visible and ap- proachable, with Whom there can be conjunction ; which was solely for the end that man might be saved. For unless in thought God is approached as Man, every idea of God perishes, falling like the sight directed out upon the uni- verse, that is, into empty nothingness, or into nature, or to what is met within nature. That God Himself, Who from eternity is One, came into the world, is clearly evident from the nativity of the Lord the Saviour, in that He was conceived from the power of the Highest through the Holy Spirit, and that His Human was born therefrom, of the virgin Mary ; from which it follows that His Soul was the Divine itself which is called the Father (for God is indivis- ible) ; and that the Human born therefrom is the Human of God the Father, Which is called the Son of God (Luke i. 32, 34, 35) ; from which it again follows that when the Lord God the Saviour is approached, God the Father is approached also ; wherefore to Philip asking Him to show them the Father, He replied. He that seeth Me seeth the Father ; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me ? Believe Ale that I am in the Father, and the Father in ATe (John xiv. 6-1 1). But of this more may be seen in the chapters concerning God, the Lord, the Holy Spirit, and concerning the Trinity. 539. There are two duties incumbent on man, to be done after examination ; these are Supplication and Confession. The Supplication will be that the Lord may be merciful, may give power to resist the evils of which he has repented, and supply inclination and affection for doing good, since man without the Lord can do nothing (John xv. 5). The Con- fession will be, that he sees, recognizes, and acknowledges his evils, and finds himself to be a miserable sinner. There is no need of enumerating sins before the Lord, nor of supplicating for their remission. The enumeration of sins is unnecessary because the man has searched them out 756 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. and seen them in himself, and hence they are present to the Lord because they are present to the man. Moreover the Lord led him in the examination, and laid them open, and inspired sorrow, and together with this the effort to desist from them and begin a new life. It is not a duty to make supplication before the Lord concerning the remis- sion of sins, for the following reasons : First, because sins are not abolished, but are removed ; and they are removed as the man afterward desists from them and goes on in the new life ; for there are innumerable lusts inherent, rolled up as it were, in every evil, and they cannot be moved away in a moment, but successively, as the man suf- fers himself to be reformed and regenerated. The second reason is, that the Lord, because He is Mercy itself, remits their sins to all, nor does He impute them to any one ; for He says, They know not what they do ; but still, the sins have not therefore been taken away. For to Peter asking how often he should forgive his brother his trespasses, whether he should do so seven times, the Lord said, /say not unto thee until seven times, but until severity times seven (Matt, xviii. 21, 22). What will the Lord not do ? But still it does no harm for one burdened in conscience to enumerate his sins in the presence of a minister of the church, for the sake of absolution, that his burden may be lightened ; because he is thus introduced into the habit of examining himself, and of reflecting upon the evils of each day. But this confession is natural ; but that de- scribed above is spiritual. 560.* To adore some vicar on earth, or to invoke some saint, as God, is of no more avail in heaven than to make supplication to the sun, moon, and stars, or to ask a re- sponse of a diviner and credit what he gives forth, which is vain. This would also be like adoring a temple and not God in the temple ; it would be like supplicating a king's * The numbering here follows the original. It cannot be changed, because of future references. No. 561.] REPENTANCE. 757 servant who carries the sceptre and the crown in his hand, for the honors of glory, and not the king himself ; and this would be to as little purpose as kissing the splendor of purple, glory, light, the sun's golden rays, and a mere name, apart from their subjects. They who do such things may take to themselves these words in John : We abide in the truth, in Jesus Christ. This is the true God and Eternal Life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols (i Epistle V. 20, 21). X. Actual Repentance is an easy work for those WHO HAVE SOMETIMES PRACTISED IT; BUT IT FINDS VERY GREAT RESISTANCE IN THOSE WHO HAVE NOT. 561. Actual repentance is to examine oneself, to recog- nize one's sins, to make confession before the Lord, and so to begin a new life ; this is in accordance with the description of it in what has gone before. In the Reformed Christian world, meaning by this all who are separate from the Roman Catholic church and also all those at- tached to this church who have not practised any actual repentance, with both of these classes, it finds very great resistance. This is because some are not willing and some are afraid to practise it ; and this disusage makes a man old in his habits, induces unwillingness, and at length gains the consent of the reasoning intellect [to the neglect], but with some induces sadness, dread, and terror, instead of repentance. Actual repentance finds very great resist- ance in the Reformed Christian world, primarily because of their belief that repentance and charity contribute noth- ■ing to salvation, but faith alone, from the imputation of which follow the remission of sins, justification, renewal, regeneration, sanctification, and eternal salvation, — to the exclusion of man's co-operating from himself or as from himself, which their dogmatic writers call useless, and an obstacle to Christ's merit, and repugnant and injurious to 758 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. it. And this is implanted in the minds of the common people, although they are ignorant of the mystical things of that faith, merely by these sayings, that "faith alone saves," and "Who can do good of himself?" Hence it is that with the Reformed repentance is like a nest of young birds deprived of the parent birds that have been caught and killed by the fowler. To this may be added another cause, that one of the Reformed, so-called, as to his spirit, is among no others in the spiritual world than those like himself, who introduce such things into the ideas of his thoughts, and lead him away from his step towards self-inspection and self-examination. 562. I have asked many of the Reformed in the spiritual world why they did not practise actual repentance, when it was enjoined upon them both in the Word and at Bap- tism, as also before the Holy Communion in all their churches. They have made various replies. Some said, that contrition is enough, with the oral confession that one is a sinner. Some said that such repentance, taking place while man is operating from his own will, does not accord with the faith universally accepted. Some said, " Who can examine himself when he knows himself to be mere sin ? This would be like casting a net into a lake full from bottom to top of mud containing noxious worms." Some said, " Who is able to inspect himself so deeply as to see in himself Adam's sin, from which sprung all his actual evils ? Are not these latter, together with it, washed away by the waters of Baptism, and wiped off and covered by the merit of Christ ? What is repentance, therefore, but an imposition, which sadly disturbs the conscientious .■' Are we not by the Gospel under grace, and not under the hard law of that repentance ? " And so on. Some said that whenever they intend to examine themselves, dread and terror seize them, as if they saw a monster near their bed in the morning twilight. From these things the rea- sons are made plain, why actual repentance in the Re- No. 563.J REPENTANCE. 759 formed Christian world has become rusty, as it were, and is discarded. In tlie presence of these persons I also asked some who were attached to the Roman Catholic religion about their actual confession before their minis- ters, whether it was made with resistance. And they replied that after they were initiated into it, they did not fear to recount their trespasses to a confessor who was not severe, and that with a kind of pleasure they gathered them together, telling the lighter ones cheerfully, but the more serious somewhat timidly ; also that according to custom they freely returned every year to their appointed confession, and, after receiving absolution, to festivity ; moreover, that they look upon all as impure who are not willing to disclose the defilements of their hearts. Hear- ing this, the Reformed who were present hastened away, some deriding and laughing, some astounded and yet com- mending. Afterward some drew near who belonged to that same church, but who lived in countries where there were the Reformed ; and who, conforming to the usage there established, did not make a special confession, like their brethren elsewhere, but only a general confession before the one who held the keys for them. They said that they were wholly unable to search themselves, to trace out and to set forth their actual evils and the secrets of their thoughts ; and that they thus felt this to be repugnant and terrible, as if they were wishing to cross a ditch to a ram- part where an armed soldier stands and cries, Keep back. From this it is now evident that actual repentance is easy to those who have sometimes practised it, but it finds very great resistance in those who have not. 563. It is w^ll known that habit makes a second nature, and that therefore what is difficult for one is easy for an- other; and so it is with examining oneself and making con- fession of the results of the examination. What is easier for a hired laborer, a porter, or a farmer, than to work with his hands from mornins: till evening? while on the other 760 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. hand a gentleman or one delicately brought up could not without fatigue and sweat do the same work for half an hour. It is easy for a footman, with a staff and easy shoes, to tear his way on for miles, while one accustomed to ride can hardly run slowly from one street to another. Every mechanic who is devoted to his work goes through it easily and willingly, and when he leaves it, longs to return ; while another who is acquainted with the same trade but who is indolent can scarcely be driven to it. So with every one who is in any employment or pursuit. To one diligent in piety, what is easier than to pray to God .'' and to one who is a slave to impiety, what is more difficult ? and vice versA. What priest preaching before a king for the first time is not timid ? while after he has become established in the office, he goes boldly through. What is easier for a man, an angel, than to raise the eyes toward heaven ? and for a man, a devil, than to cast them down toward hell ? But if the lat- ter becomes a hypocrite, he too can look up to heaven, but with the heart turned away. Every one becomes imbued with the end that he has in view, and the habit therefrom. XI. One who has never practised Repentance, or HAS NOT LOOKED INTO AND SEARCHED HIMSELF, AT LENGTH DOES NOT KNOW WHAT DAMNABLE EviL IS, AND WHAT SAVING GOOD IS. 564. Inasmuch as few in the Reformed Christian world practise repentance, it is here added, that he who has not looked into and searched himself, at length does not know what damnable evil is, and what saving good is ; for he has not a religion from which to know it : for the evil which a man does not see, recognize, and acknowledge, remains ; and that which remains becomes more and more enrooted, until it obstructs the interiors of his mind ; from which man becomes first natural, then sensual, and at last corporeal, and neither the sensual nor the corporeal man knows any No. 564.] REPENTANCE. 761 damnable evil, or any saving good. He becomes like a tree growing on a hard rock, which spreads its roots within the crevices, and finally withers away from lack of moist- ure. Every man rightly educated is rational and moral ; but there are two ways to rationality, one from the world, the other from heaven. He who has become rational and moral from the world, but not from heaven also, is rational and moral in word and gesture only, but is inwardly a beast, yes, a wild beast, because he acts in unity with those who are in hell where all are such. But he who is rational and moral from heaven also, is truly rational and moral, because he is so at once in spirit, word, and body ; the spiritual is in these two latter inwardly, like a soul, and it actuates the natural, sensual, and corporeal ; he also acts as one with those who are in heaven. Wherefore there is the spiritual rational and moral man, and also the merely natural rational and moral man ; and the one is not known from the other in the world, especially if one by practice becomes imbued with hypocrisy ; but they are known apart by the angels in heaven as well as doves from owls, and as sheep from tigers. The merely natural man can see evils and goods in others, and can also rebuke others ; but because he has not looked into and searched himself, he sees no evil in himself ; and if any is detected by another, he cloaks it by means of his rationality as a serpent hides its head in the dust, and sinks himself in it as a hornet buries itself in dung. The enjoy- ment of evil eflfects this, which encompasses him as a fog does a marsh, absorbing and smothering the rays of light. The enjoyment in hell is no other. This is exhaled thence, and flows into every man, but into the soles of the feet and into his back and his occiput. But if it is received by the head in the forehead, and by the body in the breast, the man is made a slave to hell. This is because the human cere- brum is devoted to the understanding and wisdom there, but the cerebellum to the will and its love ; and it is from this that there are two brains. But that infernal enjoyment 15* 762 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. is amended, reformed, and inverted solely by the rational and moral that are spiritual. 565. Now follows a brief description of the merely natu- ral rational and moral man, who viewed in himself is sensual, and if he goes on, becomes corporeal or fleshly ; but the description shall be given in a sketch with its divisions. The sensual is the ultimate of the life of man's mind, ad- herent to and coherent with the five senses of his body. He is called a sensual man who judges of all things from the senses of the body, and believes nothing but what he can see with the eyes and touch with the hands, saying that this is something, and rejecting every thing else. His mind's interiors, which see from the light of heaven, are closed so that he may see nothing of the truth which is of heaven and the church. Such a man thinks in outermosts, and not interiorly from any spiritual light, because he is in gross natural light [lumeti]. It is from this that he is inte- riorly opposed to the things which are of heaven and the church, although he is able outwardly to speak in favor of them, and earnestly too, in proportion to his hope of having power and wealth by means of them. Men of learning and erudition, who have confirmed themselves deeply in falsi- ties, and still more they who have confirmed themselves against the truths of the Word, are sensual more than others. Sensual men reason acutely and skilfully, because their thought is so near to speech as to be almost in it, and, as it were in the lips, and because they place all intelligence in the speech that is from memory merely ; moreover they can dexterously confirm falsities, and after confirming them they believe them to be truths ; but they reason and con- firm from the fallacies of the senses, which captivate and persuade the common people. Sensual men are more cun- ning and malicious than others. The avaricious, adulterous, and crafty, are especially sensual, although to the world they seem to be men of talent. The interiors of their minds are foul and filthy; they communicate by them with No. 566] REPENTANCE. 763 the hells ; in the Word they are called the dead. They who are in the hells are sensual, and the more so, the deeper they are in them ; the sphere of infernal spirits conjoins itself with man's sensual, behind; in the light of heaven, their occiput seems hollow. They who reasoned from sensual things only, were called by the ancients ser- pents of the tree of knowledge. Sensual things ought to be in the last place, and not the first ; and with a wise and intelligent man they are in the last place, and are made subject to things interior; but in one wh(* is not wise, they are in the first place and are predominant. When things sensual are in the last place, a way is opened through them to the understanding ; and truths are refined by the mode of drawing them forth. Those sensual things stand out nearest to the world, admit the things which come to them from the world, and as it were sift them. By means of sensual things, man communicates with the world ; and by means of rational things, with heaven. Sensual things supply such as serve the interiors of the mind. There are sensual things which supply the intellectual part, and those which supply the voluntary part. Unless the thought is raised above sensual things, man has little wisdom ; when man's thought is raised above sensual things he comes into clearer light \lumeri\, and at length into heavenly light ; and then he has a perception of such things as flow down from heaven. The ultimate of the understanding is what belongs to natural knowledge ; the ultimate of the will is sensual enjoyment. 566. Man, as to the natural man, is like a bejst ; he adopts a beast's image by the life. Therefore in the spiritual world there appear about such men beasts of every kind, which are correspondences ; for man's natural [part] viewed in itself is merely animal, but because the spiritual has been superadded, he can become a man ; and if he does not become a man from the faculty which en- ables him to do so, he can counterfeit one, but yet he is a 764 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. talking beast ; for he talks from the natural rational, but he thinks from a spiritual madness, and he acts from the natural moral, but he loves from a spiritual satyriasis. His actions, viewed by a spiritual rational man, differ little from the dance of one bitten by a tarantula, and called St. Vitus's dance or the dance of St. Guy. Who does not know that a h5qDocrite can talk about God, a robber about sincerity, an adulterer about chastity.? and so on. But unless man were endowed with ability to close and to open the door between his thoughts and his words, and between his intentions and his actions, and if prudence or cunning were not the doorkeeper, he would rush into abominations and cruelties more fiercely than any wild beast. But that door is opened in every man after death, and then he appears such as he has been ; but he is kept under re- straint by punishments and custody in hell. Therefore, kind reader, inspect yourself, and find out one or another evil that is in you, and from religion turn it away ; if you do so from any other purpose or end, you turn evils away only that they may not appear to the world. 567. To the foregoing shall be added the following Relations. First: I was suddenly seized with a disease almost deadly ; my whole head was weighed down heavily ; a pestilential smoke was let in upon me from the Jerusalem which is called Sodom and Egypt (Apoc. xi. 8) ; I was half dead with the cruel pain ; I expected the end. I lay in my bed thus for three days and a half ; my spirit was brought into that condition, and from it my body. And then I ]ieard about me the voices of some who said, " Be- hold he who preached repentance for the remission of sins, and only the man Christ, lies dead in the street of our city." And they asked some of the clergy whether that man was worthy of burial, and they said that he was not ; " let him lie, let him be looked at ; " and they were going and coming and mocking. Of a truth this happened to me while the eleventh chapter of the Apocalypse was ex- •M No. 567.] REPENTANCE. 765 plained. Harsh speeches were then heard from the scof- fers, especially these : " How can repentance be performed without faith ? How can Christ, a man, be adored as God ? When we are saved of free grace, without any merit of our own, what need we then but the faith alone that God the Father sent the Son to take away the condemnation of the law, impute to us His merit, and so to justify us before Him and give us absolution from our sins (the priest pro- claiming it), and then give the Holy Spirit to work all good in us ? Is not this according to the Scripture, and also according to reason ? " At this, the crowd that stood by applauded. I heard all this, but could make no answer, because I lay almost dead. But after three days and a half my spirit recovered ; and as to the spirit I went forth from the broad way into the cit}^, and said again, " Repent, and believe in Christ, and your sins will be remitted, and you will be saved ; and if not, you will perish. Did not the Lord Himself preach repentance for the remission of sins, and that they should believe in Him ? Did He not com- mand the disciples to preach the same ? Does not full security of life follow the dogma of your faith ? " But they said, " What nonsense are you talking ? Has not the Son made satisfaction ? Does not the Father impute it, and justify us who have believed this ? So we are led by the spirit of grace. What then is sin in us ? What then is death with us ? Proclaimer of sin and repentance, do you comprehend this Gospel .-• " But then a voice came forth out of heaven, saying, "What is the faith of one not penitent but a dead faith ? The end has come, the end has come upon you, secure, blameless in your own eyes, justified in your own belief, Satans ! " And then suddenly a cleft was opened in the midst of the city ; and it widened, and house after house fell, and they were swal- lowed up ; and presently water boiled up from the broad gulf, and overflowed the waste. When they had thus sunk down, and seemed to be over- ^66 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. flowed, I was desiring to know their lot in the deep, and it was said to me from heaven, " You shall see and hear." And then the waters disappeared from before my eyes, with which they seemed to be overflowed because waters in the spiritual world are correspondences, and hence appear around those who are in falsities. And then they were seen by me in a sandy bottom, where heaps of stones were piled, among which they were running, and lamenting that they had been cast out of their great city, and they were shouting and crying out, " Why has this befallen us ? Are we not, through our faith, clean, pure, just, and holy? Are we not cleansed, purified, justified, and sanctified through our faith ? " And others exclaimed, " Are we not, through our faith, made such as to appear, be seen, and reputed before God the Father, and be declared before the angels, as clean, pure, just, and holy ? Are not we reconciled, propitiated, expiated, and so absolved, washed, and cleansed from sins ? Has not the condemnation of the law been taken away by Christ ? Why then have we together been cast hither as condemned ? In our great city we heard an audacious proclaimer of sin cry, ' Believe in Christ, and repent.' Have we not believed in Christ, since we have believed in His merit t And have we not repented, since we have confessed that we are sinners ? Why then has this befallen us .'' " But a voice was then heard speaking to them from one side, " Do you know any sin in which you are ? Have you in any wise examined yourselves ? Have you there- fore shunned any evil as a sin against God ? and he who does not shun it is in it. Is not sin the devil .-' Wherefore you are they of whom the Lord says. Then shall ye begin to say. We have eaten and dnmk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets. But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are ; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity (Luke xiii. 26, 27 ; of whom He also speaks in Matt, vii. 22, 23). Go, therefore, each to his place. You see open- ings into caverns ; enter into them, and to each of you will be No. 567.] REPENTANCE. J^J given there his work to do ; and then food, in proportion to the work. If you do not, hunger will yet compel you to go in." Afterward there came a voice from heaven to certain ones upon the earth who were outside of that great city (who are also spoken of in the Apocalypse, xi. 13), saying loudly, " Beware, beware of consociation with such. Cannot you understand that the evils which are called sins and iniquities render a man unclean and impure ? How can the man be cleansed and purified from them but by actual repentance and by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ? Act- ual repentance is to examine oneself, to recognize and acknowledge his sins, to hold himself guilty, to confess them before the Lord, to implore aid and power to resist them, and so to desist from them and lead a new life ; and you must do all this as of yourselves. Do so once or twice a year, when you come to the Holy Communion ; and after- ward, when the sins of which you have found yourselves guilty recur, then say to yourselves, ' We do not will these, because they are sins against God.' This is actual repent- ance. Who cannot understand that he who does not ex- amine and see his sins, remains in them ? For every evil has enjo3nnent in it from birth ; for there is enjoyment in taking revenge, in scortation, in defrauding, in blasphem- ing, and especially in ruling from the love of self. Does not the enjoyment prevent your seeing them .'' And if per- chance it is said that they are sins, do you not from the enjoyment in them excuse them ? yes, by falsities confirm it that they are not sins ? and so remain in them, and do them afterwards more than before ; and this even until you do not know what sin is, yes, whether there is any. It is otherwise with any one who actually repents. The evils which he recognizes and acknowledges, he calls sins, and therefore begins to shun them and turn away from .them, and at length to feel their enjoyment as unenjoyable. And as far as this is the case, he sees and loves goods, and y6Z THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. • at length feels the enjoyment of them, which is the enjoy- ment of the angels of heaven. In a word, as far as one puts the devil behind him, he is adopted by the Lord ; and is taught, led, withheld from evils, and is kept in goods by Him. This and no other is the way from hell to heaven." It is wonderful that with the Reformed there is a certain enrooted objection, repugnance, and aversion to actual re- pentance, which is so great that they cannot compel them- selves to examine themselves, and see their sins, and confess them before God. It is as if a horror comes over them when they propose it. I have asked very many in the spiritual world about this, and they have all said that it is beyond their power. When they have heard that still the Papists do it, that is, that they examine themselves, and openly confess their sins before a monk, they have wondered greatly ; and [they have said] still further that the Reformed cannot do it in secret before God, , although it is equally enjoined upon them before coming to the Holy Supper. And some there inquired why this was so ; and they found that faith alone induced such a state of impenitence and such a heart. And it was then given them to see that those of the Papists who worship Christ and do not invoke saints, are saved. After this there was heard as it were thunder, and a voice speaking from heaven, saying, " We are astonished ! Say to the assembly of the Reformed, ' Believe in Christ and repent, and ye shall be saved.' " And I said so; and I added further, " Is not Baptism a Sacrament of repent- ance, and thus an introduction into the church .•* What else do the sponsors promise for the one who is to be baptized, but that he shall renounce the devil and his works ? Is not the Holy Supper a Sacrament of repent- ance, and thus introduction into heaven "i Are not com- municants told this, that they may without fail repent before coming ? Is not the Catechism (the doctrine of the universal Christian church) a teacher of repentance ? Is^ it not there said, in the six precepts of the second table, No. 568.] REPENTANCE. 769 Thou sJialt not do this or that evil, and not, Thou shalt do this or that good ? From this you may know, that as far as one renounces evil and becomes averse to it, hfe aims at good and loves it ; and that before this he does not know what good is ; nor indeed does he know what evil is." 568. Second Relation. What pious and wise man does not wish to know his life's lot after death ? I will therefore present general truths concerning it plainly, that he may know. Every man after death, when he is sensible that he still lives and that he is in another world, and hears that heaven is above him, where there are eternal joys, and that hell is beneath him, where there are eternal sor- rows, is at first remitted into his externals, in which he was when in the former world ; and he then believes that he is certainly going to heaven, and talks intelligently and acts prudently. And some say, "We have lived morally, our pursuits have been honorable, we have not done evil pur- posely." And others say, " We have frequented churches, heard masses, kissed sacred images, and poured out pray-' ers upon our knees." Others again, " We have given to the poor, aided the needy, read pious books, and the Word also, and have done many such things." But after they have said these things, angels stand near and say, "All that you have mentioned, you have done in externals, but you do not yet know of what quality you are in internals. You are now spirits, in a substantial body, and the spirit is your internal man ; it is this in you which thinks what it wills, and wills what it loves, and this is its life's enjoy- ment. Every man from infancy begins life from externals, and learns to act morally and talk intelligently, and when he first acquires an idea of heaven and the happiness there, he begins to pray, to frequent churches, to observe the so- lemnities of worship ; and still, when evils spring from their native fountain, he begins to hide them in the bosom of his mind, and also to veil . them ingeniously with reasonings from fallacies, to such an extent that he does not even 770 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. know that evil is evil. And then, because the evils are veiled over, and covered up as it were with dust, he thinks no more- about them than merely to guard against their appearing to the world. Thus he only studies to lead a moral life in externals, and so becomes a double man, a sheep in externals and a wolf in internals ; and he is like a golden box containing poison, like a man with foul breath holding something aromatic in his mouth to prevent those near from perceiving it ; and he is like the skin of a mouse that smells of balsam. You said that you had lived morally, and had followed pious pursuits ; but, tell me, have you ever examined your internal man, and perceived any lusts for ' taking revenge even to the death, for living lustfully even to adultery, for defrauding even to theft, for lying even to false witness ? In four precepts of the decalogue it is said, Thou shalt 7iot do these things ; and in the two last. Thou shalt not covet them. Do you believe that in these things your internal man has been like your external 1 If you do, perhaps you are deceived." But to this they replied, " What is the internal man ? Are not the internal and the external one and the same thing ? We have heard from our minis- ters that the internal man is nothing but faith, and that piety of the lips and morality of life are signs of it, because they are its operation." To which the angels answered, " Saving faith is in the internal man, and charity likewise ; and from them are Christian faithfulness and morality in the external man. But if the lusts above-mentioned remain in the internal man, and thus in the will and from it in the thought, consequently if you love them interiorly and yet act and speak otherwise in externals, then with you evil is above good, and good is below evil ; wherefore, however you may talk as if from the understanding, and act from love, evil is within, and thus it is veiled over; and then you are like cunning apes, which perform actions like those of men, but the heart of men is wholly wanting. But what your internal man is in quality (of which you know nothing No. 569.] REPENTANCE. 77I because you have not examined yourselves and after ex- amination repented), you will see after awhile, when your external man is put off and you are intromitted into the internal ; and when this is done, you will no longer be rec- ognized by your companions, nor by yourselves, I have seen wicked men, who were moral, like wild beasts then, looking fiercely at the neighbor, burning with deadly hatred, and blaspheming God, Whom in the external man they have adored." Hearing this they withdrew, while the angels were saying, " You will see your life's lot hereafter, for your external man will soon be taken from you, and you will enter into the internal which is your spirit now." 569. Third Relation. Every love in man breathes out enjoyment, by which it makes itself felt ; proximately it breathes it into the spirit, and thence into the body ; and the enjoyment of his love, together with the pleasantness of thought, makes his life. Of those enjoyments, and this pleasantness, man is but dimly sensible while he lives in the natural body, because this body absorbs and blunts them ; but after death (when the material body is taken away, and thus the covering or clothing of the spirit is re- moved), the enjoyments of his love and the pleasantness of his thought are fully felt and perceived ; and, what is won- derful, sometimes as odors. It results from this, that all in the spiritual world are consociated according to their loves, those in heaven according to theirs, and those in hell according to theirs. The odors into which the enjoy- ments of the loves are turned in heaven, are all perceived like the fragrances, sweet smells, pleasant exhalations, and delightful perceptions, which arise from gardens, flower- beds, fields, and forests, in the mornings of the spring time. But the odors into which the enjoyments of the loves of those in hell are turned, are perceived like the pungent, fetid, and rotten smells, that arise from cesspools, dead bodieSj and stagnant waters filled with rubbish and ordure ; and, what is wonderful, the devils and satans there •JJl THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. perceive them as balsams, aromatics, and frankincense, refreshing their nostrils and hearts. In the natural world it is also given to beasts, birds, and worms to be conso- ciated according to odors, but not to men until they have laid aside their bodies as extivice. It results from this, that heaven is arranged with most minute distinctions, accord- ing to all the varieties of the love of good ; and hell, as its opposite, according to all the varieties of the love of evil. It is owing to this opposition that there is a gulf between heaven and hell, which cannot be passed ; for they who are in heaven cannot endure any odor from hell, for it excites nausea and vomiting, and threatens them with swooning if they take it in. The result is similar with those who are in hell if by climbing they pass the middle of that gulf. Once I saw a devil appearing in the distance like a leop- ard, — but who a few days before was seen among the angels of the ultimate heaven, and who possessed the art of making himself an angel of light, — passing beyond the middle and standing between two olive-trees, and not per- ceiving any odor offensive to his life. The reason was that there were no angels present. But, however, as soon as they were there, he was seized with convulsions, and fell down with all his limbs drawn up ; and then he appeared like a great serpent drawing himself into folds, and at length rolling down through the gulf; and he was taken out by his companions and carried away into a cavern, where by the rank odor belonging to his own enjoyment he revived. At one time also I saw a satan punished by his own com- panions. I asked the cause, and was told that with his nostrils stopped up he had gone near to those who were in the odor of heaven, and had returned and brought that odor with him on his clothing. It has often happened that a putrid odor like that from a corpse, from some ojoen cavern of hell, has reached my nostrils and brought on vomiting. It may be evident from this why it is that the sense of smell in the Word signifies perception ; for it is often said that No. 570.] REPENTANCE. 773 Jehovah smelled a sweet savor from the burnt-offerings ; also that the anointing oil and the incense were made of fragrant things ; and, on the other hand, that the children of Israel were commanded to carry out from their camps what was unclean in them, and to dig down and bury their excrements (Deut. xxiii. 12, 13). This was because the camp of Israel represented heaven, and the desert without the camp represented hell. 570. Fourth Relation. I once spoke with a novitiate spirit, who, while he was in the world, meditated much upon heaven and hell. By novitiate spirits are meant men who have lately died, and who, because they are then spiritual men, are called spirits. This spirit, as soon as he entered the spiritual world, began to meditate in the same manner concerning heaven and hell, and he seemed to him- self to be in a state of gladness when meditating concerning heaven, and of sadness when meditating concerning hell. As soon as he observed that he was in the spiritual world he asked where heaven was, and where hell ; also what and of what quality each of them was. And they an- swered, " Heaven is over your head, and hell beneath your feet ; for you are now in the world of spirits, which is intermediate, between heaven and hell ; but what each of them is, and what its quality, we cannot describe in few words." And then because he burned with the desire of knowing, he threw himself upon his knees and devoutly prayed to God that he might be instructed. And behold, an angel appeared at his right hand and raised him up, and said, " You have made supplication to be instructed con- cerning heaven and hell. Inquire and learn what En- joyment IS, AND YOU WILL KNOW." And the angel, after these words, was taken up. The novitiate spirit then said to himself, " What is this ? Inquire and learn what Enjoy- ment is, and you will know what and of what quality heaven is, and heliy Soon leaving that place, he wandered around ; and, addressing those he met, he said, " Pray tell me, if you 774 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. please, what enjoyment is." " And some said, " What sort of a question is that ? Who does not know what enjoy- ment is ? Is it not joy and gladness ? And so enjoyment is enjoyment. The one is the same as the other. We know no difference." Others said that enjoyment was the mind's laughter ; for while the mind is laughing, the face is merry, the speech is jocular, the gestures are playful, and the whole man is in enjoyment. But some said, " Enjoyment is nothing but feasting and eating dainties, and drinking and getting drunk with generous wine, and then chatting about various things, especially the sports of Venus and Cupid." Hearing these things, the novitiate spirit being indignant said to himself, " These answers are boorish, not those of well-bred persons. These enjoyments are not heaven, nor are they hell. Would that I could meet the wise." And he went away from these persons and sought for the wise. He was then seen by an angelic spirit, who said, " I perceive that you are ardeqtly desirous for knowledge of that which is the universal of heaven and the universal of hell ; and because this is Enjoyment, I will conduct you up the hill where there is a daily assem- bly of those who search into effects, of those who investi- gate causes, and of those who examine ends. Those there who search into effects, are called Spirits of knowledge, abstractly, Knowledges ; they who investigate causes are called Spirits of intelligence, abstractly, Intelligences ; and they who examine ends are called Spirits of wisdom, ab- stractly. Wisdoms. Directly above them in heaven are angels who from ends see causes, and from causes see effects ; from these angels the three companies have en- lightenment." Then taking the novitiate spirit by the hand, he led him up the hill, and to the assembly composed of those who examine ends, and who are called Wisdoms. To these he said, " Pardon my coming up to you. I came because from my childhood I have meditated about heaven and hell ; I . came lately into this world, and some who No. 570.] REPENTANCE. 775 were then associated with me' said that heaven is here above my head, and hell beneath my feet ; but they did not say what each of them is, and of what quality it is ; wherefore, becoming anxious from constantly thinking about them, I prayed to God, and then an angel stood near and said, ' Inquire and learn what Enjoyment is, AND YOU WILL KNOW.' I have inquired, but so far in vain. I therefore beg that you will teach me, if you please, what Enjoyment is." To this the Wisdoms replied : " Enjoy- ment is the all of life, to all in heaven, and to all in hell. They who are in heaven have enjoyment in good and truth, but they who are in hell have enjoyment in evil and falsity ; for all enjoyment is of love, and love is the esse of man's life. Wherefore as a man is man according to the quality of his love, so he is man according to the quality of his enjoyment. The activity of love makes the sense of enjo}Tnent ; its activity in heaven is with wisdom, and its activity in hell is with insanity ; the activity in both cases yielding enjoyment in its own subjects. The heavens and the hells, however, are in opposite enjoyments ; the heavens are in the love of good and thence in the enjoy- ment of doing good, but the hells are in the love of evil and thence in the enjoyment of doing evil. If, therefore, you know what enjoyment is, you will know what and of what quality heaven is, and hell. But inquire and learn still further what enjoyment is, from those who investigate causes, and who are called Intelligences ; they are off to the right." And he left them and drew near to the other assembly, and told the cause of his coming, and begged that they would instruct him as to what enjoyment is. And rejoicing at the question they said, " It is true that he who has a knowledge of enjoyment, knows what heaven and hell are, and of what quality. The will, from which man is man, is not moved in the least point, except by enjoyment ; for the will, viewed in itself, is nothing but the affection of some love, thus of enjoyment ; for it is 'J'j6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. IX. something pleasurable, and the state of pleasure there- from, that causes the willing. And because the will moves the understanding to think, there is not the least thought but from the influent enjoyment of the will. This is so for the reason that the Lord by influx from Himself act- uates all things of the soul and all things of the mind, with angels, spirits, and men; and He actuates them by an influx of love and wisdom ; and this influx is the activity itself from which is all the enjoyment which in its origin is called blessed, satisfactory, and happy ; and in its deriva- tion, enjoyable, pleasant, and pleasurable ; and in the universal sense, Good. But the spirits of hell invert all things in themselves, thus good into evil, and truth into falsity, the enjoyment remaining without interruption, for without permanence of enjoyment they would not have will or sensation, thus they would not have life. It is mani- fest from this, what, of what quality, and whence the enjoy- ment in hell is ; also what, of what quality, and whence the enjoyment in heaven is." Having heard this, he was conducted to the third assembly, where those were who search into effects, and who are called Knowledges. And these said, " Descend to the lower earth, and ascend to the higher ; in them you will perceive and be sensible of what give the enjoyments of both heaven and hell." But behold at that moment the earth at a distance from them, opened ; and through the opening, three devils came up, apparently on fire with their love's enjoyment ; and as the angels consociated with the novitiate spirit perceived that those three came up from hell providentially, they called out to the devils, " Come no nearer, but from where you are tell something about your enjoyments." And they replied, " Know this, that every one, whether called good or bad, is in his enjoyment, the so-called good man in his, and the so-called evil man in his." And they asked, "What is your enjoyment?" They said that it was the enjoyment in scortation, in taking revenge, in defrauding, No. 570.] REPENTANCE. 777 in blaspheming. And again they asked, " Of what quality are those enjoyments with you ? " They said that they were perceived by others like the fetid smell from excre- ment, the putrid smell from dead bodies, and the pungent odor from stagnant urine. And they asked, " Are those things enjoyable to you ? " They answered, " Exceedingly so." And they Said, " Then )'ou are like the unclean beasts that live in such things." They replied, " If we are, we are ; but such things are delights to our nostrils." And they asked, " What more ? " They said, " Every one is allowed to be in his own enjoyment, even the most un- clean, as they call it, provided he does not infest good spirits and angels ; but as from our enjoyment we could not do otherwise than infest them, we were cast into work- houses where we suffer hard things ; restraint of our en- joyments and drawing them back there, are what is called the torment of hell ; it is also interior pain." And they asked, " Why did you infest the good ? " They said that they could not do otherwise ; " it is as if fury comes upon us, when we see any angel, and feel the Lord's Divine sphere about him." To this we said, " Then you are also like wild beasts." And then, when they saw the novitiate spirit with the angels, a fury came over the devils, which seemed like the fire of hatred ; and lest they should do harm, they were cast back into hell. After this appeared angels who from ends saw causes, and through causes effects, and who were in the heaven above those three assemblies. And these were seen in shining white light ; which, rolling down through spiral flexures, brought with it a wreath of flowers, and placed it upon the head of the novitiate spirit ; and then a voice came thence to him, " This laurel wreath is given you, because from childhood you have meditated upon heaven and hell." VOL. ir. 16 CHAPTER TENTH. CONCERNING REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 571. Having treated of Repentance, Reformation and Regeneration are next to be treated of in their order, because they follow repentance, and gradually advance by means of it. There are two states into which man will step and through which he will be passing while from natural he is becoming spiritual. The first state is called Reformation, and the second Regeneration. In the first, man looks from his natural state toward a spiritual one, and desires it ; in the second state he becomes spiritual-natural. The first state is formed by means of truths which will belong to faith, and by means of which he looks to charity ; the second is formed by means of the goods of charity, and from these he enters into truths of faith. Or what is the same, the first is a state of thought from the understand- ing, but the second a state of love from the will. When this latter state begins and is progressing, a change takes place in the mind ; for a reversal is effected ; because then the love of the will flows into the understanding, and acts upon it and leads it to think in concord and agreement with its love. Wherefore so far as the good of love then acts the first part, and the truths of faith the second, the man is spiritual and is a new creature. And then he acts from charity and speaks from faith, and feels the good of charity and perceives the truth of faith ; and he is then in the Lord, and in peace, and thus regenerate. A man who in the world has begun upon the first state, can after death be introduced into the second ; but he who in the world has not entered into the first state, cannot be introduced No. 572.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 779 into the second after death, thus cannot be regenerated. These two states may be compared with the progression of light and heat in the days of the spring time ; the first with the morning twiUght or the time of cock-crowing, the second with the morning and sunrise ; and the progress of this latter state may be compared with the progression of the day to noon, and thus into light and heat. It may also be compared with the grain of the harvest, which is at first in the blade, then grows into the ear or head, and afterward in these comes the grain. It may also be com- pared to a tree, which first grows out of the ground from a seed, then it becomes a stem from which branches go out, which are adorned with leaves, at length it blossoms, and from the inmost of the blossoms it begins the fruits, which as they mature produce new seeds, like a new generation. The first state, which is that of reformation, may also be compared with the state of a silk-worm when it draws out and evolves from itself filaments of silk, and after its indus- trious labor flies forth into the air, nourishing itself not from leaves as before, but from the juices in flowers. I. Unless a man is born again, and, as it were, CREATED ANEW, HE CANNOT ENTER INTO THE KING- DOM OF God. 572. That unless a man is born again he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, is the Lord's doctrine in John, where are these words : Jesus said to Nicodemus, Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can- not see the kingdom of God ; and again. Verily, verily I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdo?n of God ; that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that tvhich is born of the Spirit is Spirit (iii. 3, 5, 6). By the kingdom of God are meant both heaven and the church, for the church is God's kingdom on earth. So in other places where the kingdom of God ,780 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. is mentioned (as Matt. xi. ii ; xii. 28; xxi. 43; Luke iv. 43 ; vi. 20; viii. i, 10 j ix, 11, 60, 62 ; xvii. 21 ; and else- where). To be born by means of water and the spirit, signifies to be born by means of truths of faith and a life according to them. That water signifies truths, may be seen in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 50, 614, 615, 685, 932) ; that spirit signifies a life according to Divine truths, is manifest from the Lord's words in John vi. 63 ; verily, verily (" amen, amen "), signifies that it is truth ; and be- cause the Lord was the truth itself, He so often used that expression. He is also Himself called the Amen (Apoc. iii. 14). In the Word the regenerate are called sons of 'God, and born of God ; and regeneration is described by a new heart and a new spirit. 573. Because to be created also signifies to be regener- ated, it is said, " Unless a man is born again, and, as it were, created anew." That to be created has this signifi- cation in the Word, is evident from the following passarges : Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me (Ps. li. 10). Thou openest Thy hand, they are filled with good ; Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created (civ. 28, 30). The people that shall be created, shall praise jFah (cii. 18). Behold I create yerusalem a rejoicing (Isdi. Ixv. 18). 7'hus said yehovah, thy Creator, O yacob, thy T'onner, O Israel ; I have redeemed thee ; every one called by My name, I have created him into My glory (xliii. i, 7). That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the Holy Ofie of Israel hath created it (xli. 20), and elsewhere ; also where the Lord is called Creator, Former, and Maker. Hence it becomes plain what is meant by these words of the Lord to the disciples : Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark xvi. 15). By creatures are meant all who can be regenerated. So too, Apoc. iii. 14; 2 Cor. v. 17. 574. It is evident from all reason that man must be re- generated ; for he is born into evils of every kind, from No. 574.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 781 his parents, and these have theu* seat in his natural man, which of itself is diametrically opposite to the spiritual man; and yet he was born for heaven, and he does not come to heaven unless he becomes spiritual, and this he does by regeneration solely. From this it follows of neces- sity that the natural man with its lusts must be subdued, subjugated, and inverted, and that otherwise man cannot approach a single step toward heaven, but lowers himself more and more into hell. Who does not see this, who believes that he was born into evils of every kind, and acknowledges that there are good and evil, and that one of these is contrary to the other, and -believes in a life after death, a hell and a heaven, that evils make hell and goods make heaven ? The natural man viewed in himself, does not in his nature differ at all from beasts ; like them he is wild, but he is such as to will ; he differs from them, however, as to understanding. The understanding can be elevated above the lusts of the will, and not only see but also moderate them. Consequently man can think from the understanding and speak from the thought, which beasts cannot do. Of what quality man is from birth, and of what quality he would be if he were not regenerated, may be seen from fierce animals of every kind ; that he would be a tiger, a panther, a leopard, a wild boar, a scor- pion, a tarantula, a viper, a crocodile, and so on. Where- fore if he were not transformed by regeneration into a sheep, what would he be but a devil among devils in hell ? Then if such were not restrained by the laws of the king- dom, would they not from innate ferocity rush one upon another, and slaughter each other, or strip each other even of necessary clothing? How many of the human race are there who were not born satyrs, and priapi, or four-footed lizards ? And who, among them all, does not without regeneration become an ape ? External morality, which is learned for the sake of covering up their internals, makes this to be so. 782 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. IChap. X. 575. What is the quality of man when not regenerated, may be still further described by the following comparisons and similitudes in Isaiah: The pelican and the bittern shall possess it, the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it ; and he shall stretch out over it the line of emptiness, and the plumh- lines of the waste. And thorns shall come up in her palaces* the thistle and the thorn-bush in her fortresses ; and it shall be a habitation of dragons, a court for the daughters of the owl: And tziim shall meet ijimj and the satyr shall come upon his fellow : the lilith also shall rest there. There the arrow-snake f shall make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and cherish under her- shadow. There shall the kites also be gathered every one with her matcixxxiw. 11, 13, 14, 15). II. The new Birth or Creation is effected by the Lord alone through Charity and Faith as the TWO means, man co-operating. 576. That regeneration is effected by the Lord through charity and faith, follows from what was demonstrated in the chapters on Charity and Faith, especially from this therein, that the Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding in man, and that if they are divided each one of them perishes, like a pearl reduced to powder. These two, charity and faith, are called the means, because they conjoin man with the Lord, and [thus his] charity is made to be charity and [his] faith to be faith, which cannot be done unless man has part in regeneration ; wherefore it is said, man co-operating. In the preceding treatises of this work, man's co-operation with the Lord has been several * The Latin here reads altaria, altars ; but elsewhere we invariably have palatia, palaces. t The Latin here reads merida, blackbird, — following Schmidius, Castellio, and others. But in his "Index Biblicus," under the head of Serpens, Swedenborg says that merula must here be understood to mean " acontias, vel jaailus serpens" — arrow-snake. Gesenius and others now give the same meaning. No 577.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 783 times touched upon ; but as the human mind is such as not to perceive but that man effects this from his own power, the subject shall be illustrated again. In all motion, and con- sequently in all action, there is activity and passivity ; that is to say, an active acts, and a passive acts from the active; hence one action results from the two ; comparatively as a mill [is in motion] from its wheel, a carriage from the horse, as motion is from effort, an effect from its cause, a dead force from a living force, and in general, as the instru- mental [acts] from the principal. Every one knows that these two together make one action. As to charity and faith, the Lord acts, and man acts from the Lord ; for in man's passive there is the Lord's active ; wherefore the power to act aright is from the Lord, and the will to act coming from this is as it were man's ; for he is in freedom of will, from which he is able to act together with the Lord and thus conjoin himself, and is able to act from the power of hell, which is without, and so separate himself. Man's action, concordant with the Lord's action, is what is here meant by co-operation. That this may be perceived more clearly, it will be further illustrated by comparisons which follow. 577. It follows from tliJs that the Lord is constantly in the act of regenerating man, because He is constantly in the act of saving him, and no one can be saved unless he is regenerated, according to the Lord's own words in John : Except a man be born again, he cannot sec the kingdom of God (iii. 3). Regeneration, therefore, is the means of salvation, and charity and faith are the means of regeneration. To say that regeneration follows the faith of the church of the day, which leaves out man's co-operation, is vanity of vanities. Action and co-operation such as have been described, can be seen in every thing which is in any state of activity and mobility. Such are the action and co-operation of the heart and of every artery connected with it ; the heart acts, and the artery by its sheaths or coats co-operates ; 784 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. hence circulation. It is similar with the lungs ; the air by pressure according to the height of its atmosphere acts, and the ribs first co-operate with the lungs, and immedi- ately after, the lungs with the ribs; hence a respiration of every membrane in the body. Thus the meninges of the brain, the pleura, the peritoneeum, the diaphragm, and the other membranes which cover the viscera and which enter into their composition, act and are acted upon, and thus co-operate ; for they are elastic : hence their existence and subsistence. It is similar in every fibre and nerve, in every muscle, and even in cartilage ; it is known that there are action and co-operation in every one of these. There is such co-operation also in every sense ; for the sensories of the body, like its motor parts, consist of fibres, membranes, and muscles ; but to describe the co-operation on the part of each one, is needless ; for it is known that light acts upon the eye, sound upon the ear, odor upon the nostril, and taste upon the tongue, and' that the organs adapt themselves thereto ; whence sensation. Who can- not perceive from this, that if there were not such action and co-operation with the influent life in the spiritual or- ganism of the brain, thought and will could not exist ? For life flows from the Lord into that organism ; and be- cause this co-operates, there is a perception of what is thought, and in like manner of what is there considered, concluded upon, and determined into act. If life were to act alone, and man were not to co-operate as from himself, he could no more think than a stock, or than a temple while the minister is preaching. The temple indeed, owing to the reverberation of the sound from its doors, may as it were feel the echo, but not be sensible of the dis- course. Such would man be in respect to charity and faith if he did not co-operate with the Lord. 578. What man would be if he did not co-operate with the Lord, may also be illustrated by comparisons. When he has a perception and sense of any thing spiritual per- No. 579.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 785 taining to heaven and the church, it would be as if some- thing distasteful or discordant flowed in, and would be like an offensive smell entering the nose, inharmonious sound the ear, a monstrous sight the eye, and a foul taste reach- ing the tongue. If the enjoyment in charity and the pleasantness of faith were to flow into the spiritual organism of the mind of those who are in the enjoyment from evil and falsity, if such enjoyments and pleasantness were to intrude upon them they would be in anguish and torture, and would finally fall into a swoon. Because that organ- ism consists of perpetual helices, it would with such per- sons here coil itself up in spirals, and writhe like a serpent upon an ant-hill. It has been proved to me that this is so by much experience in the spiritual world. III. Because all have been redeemed, all can be re- generated, EACH according TO HIS STATE. 579. In order that this may be understood, something must be premised concerning Redemption. The Lord came into the world chiefly for these two things, to remove hell from angel and from man, and to glorify His Human. For before the Lord's Advent, hell had grown up so far as to infest the angels of heaven, and also (by interposing between heaven and the world), to cut off the Lord's com- munication with men on earth, so that no Divine truth and good could pass through, from the Lord to men. Consequently total damnation threatened the whole hu- man race ; and further, the angels of heaven could not have long continued to exist in their integrity. And therefore, in order that hell might be removed, and this impending damnation thereby taken away, the Lord came into the world, removed hell, subjugated it, and thus opened heaven ; so that He could afterward be present with the men of the earth, and save those who should live according to His precepts, — consequently regenerate and 16* ^86 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X save them, for those who are regenerated are saved. This is what is meant when it is said, that, because all have been redeemed, all can be regenerated ; and, because regeneration and salvation make one, that all can be saved. Therefore, what the church teaches, that without the Lord's Coming no one could have been saved, is to be understood in this way, that v/ithout the Lord's Coming no one could have been regenerated. As to the other end for the sake of which the Lord came into the world, namely, to glorify His Human, this was because He thereby be- came the Redeemer, Regenerator, and Saviour for ever. For it is not to be believed that, subsequent to the Re- demption once wrought in the world, all men have been redeemed by that, but that the Lord is perpetually redeem- ing those who believe in Him and keep His words. But on these points more may be seen in the chapter on Redemption. 580. Every man may be regenerated, each according to his state, because the simple and the learned are regenerated differently ; as are those engaged in different pursuits, and those also who are in different offices ; those who search into the externals of the Word, and those who search into its internals ; those who are in natural good from their parents, and those v/ho are in natural evil ; those who have from their infancy entered into the vanities of the world, and those who earlier or later have withdrawn from them ; in a word those who constitute the Lord's external church are regenerated differently from those who constitute His internal church ; and this variety is infinite like that of men's faces and their minds [animus] ; but still every one, according to his state, can be regenerated and saved. That this is so, may be evident from the heavens into which all the regenerate come, in their being three in number, the highest, the middle, and the ultimate ; and they come into the highest who by regeneration receive love to the Lord ; into the middle, they who receive love toward the neighbor; No. sSi.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 787 into the ultimate, they who practise only external charity, and at the same time acknowledge the Lord as God the Redeemer and Saviour. All these are saved, but in differ- ent ways. All can be regenerated and thus saved, because the Lord with His Divine Good and Truth is present with every man ; from this comes the life of every one, from this the faculty of understanding and willing, and with these free-will in spiritual things ; these are wanting to no man. And also means are given ; to Christians in the Word, and to the Gentiles in the religion of each, teaching that there is a God, and giving precepts concerning good and evil. From all this it follows that every one can be saved ; con- sequently that the Lord is not to blame if man is not saved, but man himself ; and man is in fault in not co-operating. 581. That redemption and the passion of the cross are two distinct things and not at all to be confounded, and that by means of both the Lord took to Himself the power of regenerating and saving men, has been shown in the chap- ter on Redemption. From the accepted faith of the church of the present day respecting the passion of the cross, as being redemption itself, have sprung close bands of horri- ble falsities respecting God, faith, charity, and all that in a continuous chain depends on those three ; respecting God, for example, that He determined upon the damnation of the human race, that He was willing to be brought back to mercy by the imposition of the damnation upon His Son, or by the Son's taking it upon Himself, and that only those are saved who by foreknowledge or by predestination have Christ's merit given to them. From this fallacy has come forth another part of that faith, namely, that they who have been gifted with that faith were at the same time regener- ated without any co-operation on their part ; yes, that they were thus absolved from the condemnation of the law, and are no longer under the law, but under grace, and this although the Lord has said that He did not take away even 788 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. a Utile of the law (Matt. v. i8, 19 ; Luke xvi. 17), and also commanded His disciples to preach repentance for the remis- sion of sins (Luke xxiv. 47; Mark vi. 12); and He also said, The kingdom of God is at hand ; repent ye, and beliere the Gospel (Mark i. 15). By the Gospel is meant, that they can be regenerated and thus saved, which could not have been unless the Lord had wrought redemption, that is, had deprived hell of its power by combats against it and victo- ries over it, and unless He had glorified His Human, that is, had made it Divine. 582. From rational thought say what in quality the entire human race would be, if the faith of the present church were to continue ; this faith being, that men were redeemed by the passion of the cross alone, and that they who have been gifted with that merit of the Lord are not under the condemnation of the law ; and again, that that faith (and man does not know at all whether it is in him) remits sins, and regenerates, and that man's co-operation in the act thereof, that is, while it is given and entering, would ruin it, and with it would take away salvation, inasmuch as he would commingle his own merit with that of Christ. Tell me from rational thought, I say : Would not the whole Word have been thus rejected, the primary teaching of which is regeneration by means of spiritual washing from evils and by the exercises of charity ? What would the decalogue (first in reformation) then be, more than the paper that is sold in the low shops, and used to wrap up spices ? What would religion then be, but a kind of lamentation that one is a sinner, and supplication for God the Father to be merci- ful on account of the passion of His Son ? thus a thing of the mouth and lungs only, but not what is done from the heart. What would redemption then be but a papal indul- gence, or more than the flagellation of one monk for the whole company, as is sometimes done ? If that faith alone regenerated man, repentance and charity having no part, what then would the internal man (and this is his spirit that No. 583.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 789 lives after death) be like, but a burnt city, the ruins of which make the external man ? or a field or plain laid waste by canker-worms and locusts .'' Such a man appears to the angels just like one who cherishes a serpent in his bosom, and tries to hide it with his clothing ; or like one who sleeps as a sheep with a wolf ; or like one who lies down, with a beautiful bedquilt over him, in a night-dress made of spiders' webs. And what is then the life after death (when all are distinguished, in heaven according to the differences of their regeneration, and in hell according to the differ- ences in their rejection of it), but a life of the flesh, and so like the life of a fish or a crab .•' IV, Regeneration is effected in a manner analogous TO THAT in which MAN IS CONCEIVED, CARRIED IN THE WOMB, BORN, AND EDUCATED. 583. In man there is a perpetual correspondence be- tween those things which take place naturally and those which take place spiritually, or between the things which take place in the body and those which take place in the spirit. This is because man is born spiritual as to his soul, and is clothed with what is natural, which forms his material body. When this body, therefore, is laid aside, his soul comes clothed with a spiritual body into a world where all things are spiritual, and is there asso- ciated with his like. Now since the spiritual body must be formed in the material body, and is formed by means of truths and goods which flow-in from the Lord through the spiritual world and which are received by man in wardly in such things in him as are from the natural world, which are called civil and moral, the character of the formation which takes place is manifest. And since, as before said, there is in man a perpetual correspondence between what takes place naturally and what takes place spiritually, it follows that this formation is like conception, 790 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. gestation, birth, and education. It is for this reason that natural births in the Word mean spiritual births, which are of good and truth ; for whatever is presented in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is natural, involves and signifies what is spiritual. That there is a spiritual sense in the things of the sense of the letter of the Word, one and all, is fully shown in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture, That the natural births mentioned in the Word involve spiritual births, is clearly manifest from the following pas- sages : We have conceived, we have been in travail, we have as it were brought forth [wind], we have not wrought any de- liverance (Isa. xxvi. 1 8). At the presence of the Lord the earth travaileth (Ps. cxiv. 7). Hath the earth borne in one day ? Shall I make the breach, and not cause to bring forth 1 shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb 1 (Isa. Ixvi. 8, 9.) Sin shall travail, and No shall be at the breaking forth (Ez. XXX. 16). The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon Ephraim, he is an unwise son, for he doth not stay the time in the womb of sons (Hos. xiii. 13) ; so also in many other places. Since in the Word natural generations signify spiritual generations, and these are from the Lord, He is called the Former and He that taketh from the •womb ; which is evident from the following : Jehovah That made thee and formed thee from the womb (Isa. xliv. 2). He that took 7ne otit of the womb (Ps. xxii. 10). / have been laid upon Thee from the womb ; Thou art He That took me out of my mother's bowels (Ps. Ixxi. 6). Hearkeji unto Me, ye that are borfie [by Me] from the womb, carried from the belly (Isa. xlvi. 3) ; besides other passages. The Lord is therefore called Father (as in Isa. ix. 6 ; Ixiii. 16 ; John x. 30; xiv. 8, 9) ; and they who are in goods and truths from Him, are called sons of God and born of God, and brethren to one another (Matt, xxiii. 8) ; and also the church is called Mother (Hos. ii. 2, 5 ; Ez. xvi. 45). 584. It is now evident from this, that there is a corre- spondence between the processes of natural generation and No. 585.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 79 1 of spiritual ; and because there is correspondence, it fol- lows that not only may conception, gestation, birth, and education be predicated of the new birth, but also that they actually are such. But what these are in their nature, is being presented to view in their order in this chapter concerning Regeneration. Here it is only to be said that man's seed is conceived interiorly in the understanding, and is formed in the will, and is transferred therefrom to the testicle where it clothes itself with a natural covering ; and is thus conducted into the womb, and enters the world. Moreover, there is a correspondence of man's regeneration with all things in the vegetable kingdom ; therefore, also, man is described in the Word by a tree, his truth by the seed, and his good by the fruit. That an evil tree may be born anew, as it were, and afterward bear good fruit and good seed, is evident from grafting and budding ; for although the same sap ascends from the root through the trunk to the graft or bud, still it is changed into good sap, and makes a good tree. It is similar in the church with those who are engrafted in the Lord, as He teaches in these words ; / ajn the Vine, ye are the branches ; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the satne bringeth forth much fruit ; if a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branchy and being dried is cast into the fire (John xv. 5, 6). 585. It has been taught by many of the learned, that the processes of vegetation, not only of trees but also of all shrubs, correspond to those of human prolification. I will therefore add something on this subject, by way of appendix. In trees and in all the other subjects of the vegetable kingdom, there are not two sexes, a masculine and a feminine, but every one of them is masculine ; the earth alone, or the soil, is the common mother, thus as the woman; for it receives the seeds of all plants, — opens them, — carries them as it were in the womb, and then nourishes them, — and it brings them forth, that is ushers them into the day, — and afterward clothes and sustains 792 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. them. When the earth first opens a seed, the beginning is with the root, which is a kind of heart; from this it emits and transmits sap, like blood, and so makes as it were a body provided with limbs ; its body is the stem itself, and the branches and their branchlets are its limbs. The leaves which it puts forth immediately after birth, are for lungs ; for as the heart without the lungs does not produce motion and sensation, and by these vivify the man, so without leaVfes the root does not cause a tree or a shrub to vegetate. The blossoms which precede the fruit are means for straining the sap, which is its blood, and of separating its grosser from its purer parts ; for forming in their own bosom, for the influx of these parts, a new little stem, by which the strained sap may flow in, and so initiate and by successive steps form fruit (which may be compared to the testicle), in which the seeds are perfected. The vege- tative soul, which governs inmostly in every particle of sap, or its prolific essence, is from no other source than from the heat of the spiritual world ; which heat, because it is from the spiritual Sun there, aspires to nothing but gener- ation, and through it to a continuance of creation ; and because it essentially aspires to the generation of man, it therefore induces upon whatever it generates a certain resemblance to man. Lest any one should wonder at the statement that the subjects of the vegetable kingdom are masculine only, and that the earth alone or the soil is as the common mother, or as the woman, this shall be illus- trated by something similar among bees : they, according to the observation of Swammerdam, reported in his Books of Nature, have only one common, mother, and from her are produced the offspring of the whole hive. Since there is but one common mother for these little members of the animal kingdom, why not so with all plants ? That the earth is the common mother may also be spiritually illus- trated ; and it is illustrated by this, — that in the Word the earth signifies the church, and the church is the com- No. 587.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 793 mon Mother, as she is also called in the Word* As to the earth's signifying the church, consult the " Apocalypse Revealed " (n. 285, 902), where it is shown. The earth or ground is able to enter into the inmost of the seed, even to what is prolific in it, and to call this forth and bring it into circulation, because every little particle of dust, or powder even, exhales from its essence a subtle something, as an effluvium, which penetrates. This results from the active force of the heat from the spiritual world. 586. That man can be regenerated only by successive steps, may be illustrated by the things existing in the nat- ural world, one and all. A tree cannot reach its growth as a tree in a day ; but first there is growth from the seed, next from the root, and afterAvard from the shoot, from which is formed the stem ; and from this proceed branches with leaves, and at last blossoms and fruits. Wheat and barley do not spring up and become ready for the harvest in a day. A house is not built in a day, nor does a man attain to his full stature in a day, still less to wisdom. The church is not established and perfected in a day ; nor is there any progression to an end except from a begin- ning. They who have a different conception of regenera- tion know nothing of charity and faith, and of the growth of each according to man's co-operation with the Lord. It is evident from all this that regeneration is effected in a manner analogous to that in which man is conceived, carried in the womb, born, and educated. V. The first Act in the new Birth is called Refor- mation, WHICH IS OF THE UNDERSTANDING; AND THE SECOND IS CALLED REGENERATION, WHICH IS OF THE Will and Whence of the Understanding. 587. Inasmuch as Reformation and Regeneration are treated of here and in what follows, and reformation is ascribed to the understanding and regeneration to the will, 794 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. it is necessary that the distinctions between the understand- ing and the will should be known, and those distinctions were described above (n. 397) ; it is advisable, therefore, to read first concerning them, and afterward what is in this article. It was also shown above, in the same connection, that the evils into which man is born are in the will of the natural man by generation, and that the will makes the understanding favor it by thinking in agreement with it ; wherefore, that man may be regenerated, it is necessary for this to be done by means of the understanding as a medi- ate cause ; and it is done through the various information which the understanding receives, given first by parents and teachers, afterward . from reading the Word, from preaching, books, and conversation. The things which the understanding receives from these sources, are called truths ; it is the same, therefore, whether reformation is said to be effected by means of the understanding, or by means of the truths which the understanding receives. For truths teach man in Whom and in what he ought to believe, also what he ought to do, thus what he ought to will ; for whatever any one does, he does from the will according to the understanding. Since, therefore, man's will is itself evil from birth, and as the understanding teaches what good and evil are, and he can will the one and not will the other, it follows that he must be reformed by means of the understanding. But as long as any one sees and acknowl- edges in mind that evil is evil, and that good is good, and thinks that good ought to be chosen, the state is called that of reformation ; but when his will is to shun evil and do good, the state of regeneration begins. 588. For the sake of this end, there has been given to man the faculty of elevating the understanding almost into the light in which the angels of heaven are, that he may see what it is necessary for him to will and thence to do, that he may be prosperous in the world for a time, and blessed after death for ever. He becomes prosperous and m No. 589] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 795 blessed if he acquires wisdom and keeps his will in obedi- ence to it ; but he becomes unprosperous and unhappy if he puts his understanding under obedience to the will. This is because the will inclines from birth to evils, even to enormities ; wherefore if it were not held in check by means of the understanding, man left to the freedom of his will would rush into abominations ; and from the ferine nature inherent in him, he would plunder and slaughter, for the sake of himself, all who do not favor him and indulge his cupidities. Moreover, unless the understanding could have been perfected separately, and the will by means of it, man would not be man but a beast ; for without that separation, and without the ascent of the understanding above the will, he would not have been able to think, and from thought to speak, but only to sound his affection ; nor would he have been able to act from reason, but from instinct ; still less would he have been able to have cognition of the things which are of God, and thereby of God Himself, and so to be conjoined with Him and live for ever. For man thinks and wills as of himself; and this as of himself \s the recip- rocal [element] in conjunction ; for conjunction is not possible without, reciprocation, as there can be no conjunc- tion of an active with a passive without adaptation or ap- plication. God alone acts ; and man suffers himself to be acted upon, and co-operates to all appearance as of himself although interiorly from God. But from a right perception of these things, it may be seen of what quality the love of a man's will is, if elevated by means of the understanding ; and also of what quality when not elevated ; thus, of what quality the man is. 589. It is to be known that the faculty of raising the understanding even to the intelligence in which the angels of heaven are, is by creation inherent in every man, bad as well as good, yes, also in every devil in hell, for all who are in hell have been men. This has been frequently shown me by living experience. But they are not in intelligence 796 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. but in insanity in spiritual things, for the reason that they do not will good but evil ; consequently they are averse to knowing and understanding truths, for truths favor good and oppose evil. From this also it is evident that the first thing of the new birth, is the reception of truths in the understanding ; and the second is willing to do according to truths, and at length doing them. No one, however, can be said to be reformed by mere cognitions of truths ; for man can apprehend them, and also talk about, teach, and preach them, from the faculty of elevating the understand- ing above the will's love. But he is a reformed man who is in the affection of truth for the sake of truth ; for this affection conjoins itself with the will, and, if it advances, conjoins the will with the understanding, and then regen- eration begins. But how regeneration afterward progresses and is perfected, will be told in what follows. 590. But of what quality the man is whose understand- ing has been elevated, but not the will's love by means of it, will be illustrated by comparisons. He is like an eagle flying on high, but as soon as he sees food below, as hens, young swans, or lambs even, he darts down in a moment and devours them. He is also like an adulterer who hides a harlot in a lowest room ; and who now goes up to the upper story of the house, and in his wife's presence talks wisely with those staying there about chastity ; and now he steals away from their company, and satiates his lust with the harlot below. He is also like the flies of the marsh, which fly swarming about the head of a horse at full speed, but when the horse stops they settle down and bury them- selves in their marsh. Such is the man who is in a state of elevation as to the understanding, while the will's love remains down at the foot, immersed in all the uncleanness of nature and the libidinous [exercises] of the senses. But because they shine as to the understanding, as if from wisdom, while the will is opposed to wisdom, they may be likened also to serpents with shining skins, and to the I No. 591.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 797 Spanish flies that glitter as if they were of gold ; as also to the ignis yatuus in swamps, to shining rotten wood and phosphorescent substances. There are those among them who can counterfeit angels of light, both among men in the world and after death among the angels of heaven ; but after a brief examination these are deprived of their clothing, and cast down naked. The same cannot be done in the world, however, because there their spirit is not open, but covered over by a mask like that used by actors on the stage. They are able to counterfeit angels of light in face and with the lips, because they can elevate the understanding almost to angelic wisdom, above the will's love, as before said ; and their ability to counterfeit, is a proof that they can so elevate the understanding. Now, since man's internal and his external can run thus counter to each other, and since the body is laid aside while the spirit remains, it is obvious that a dusky spirit may dwell beneath a bright white face, and a fiery one behind a bland mouth. Therefore, my friend, know a man not from his mouth but from his heart, that is, not from his words but from his deeds ; for the Lord says, Beware of false prophets who come to yoti in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Know them by their fruits {^zM, vii. 15, 16). VI. The Internal man is to be reformed, and THROUGH THIS THE EXTERNAL, AND MAN IS SO REGENERATED. 591. That the internal man must first be regenerated, and through it the external, is commonly said in the church at this day ; but from the term internal man, nothing else comes into the thought than faith, which faith is, that God the Father imputes to men the merit and righteousness of His Son, and sends the Holy Spirit. They believe that this faith makes the internal man, and that from the internal flows forth the external, which is the moral nat- 798 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. ural man, this being an appendage to the former, compar- atively like the tail of a horse or a cow, or like that of a peacock or a bird of paradise, which is continued to the soles of its feet without cohering [with them] ; for it is said that charity follows that faith, but that the faith perishes if charity comes in from man's will. But inas- much as no other internal man than this is acknowledged in the church at the present day, there is not any internal man ; for no one knows whether that faith has been be- stowed on him or not ; moreover, that it cannot be given, and is therefore imaginary, was shown above. From which it follows, that at the present day, among those who have confirmed themselves in that faith, there is no other in- ternal man than that natural man which from birth over- flows with evils in all abundance. It is said in addition, that regeneration and sanctification follow that faith of themselves, and that man's co-operation (and only by means of this is salvation effected) must be excluded. It results from this, that in the church of the present day there cannot be a knowledge of regeneration, when yet the Lord says that he who is not born again cannot see the kingdom of God. 592. But the internal and the external man of the New Church are altogether different. The internal man is of the will, from which man thinks when left to himself, as is the case at home ; but the external man is his action and speech, such as proceed from the man when he is in com- pany, thus abroad ; consequently the internal man is charity (because this is of the will), and at the same time faith (which is of the thought). Before regeneration the two make the natural man, which is thus divided into an in- ternal and an external ; this is manifest from its not being allowable for man to act and speak in company, or abroad, as he does when left to himself, or at home. The cause of this division is, that civil laws prescribe punishments for those who act wickedly, and rewards for those who do J No. 593.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 799 well ; and so men compel themselves to separate the ex- ternal man from the internal ; for no one wishes to be punished, and every one wishes to be rewarded, which is done by riches and honors ; for man does not attain either of these without living according to those laws. It results from this that morality and benevolence have place in externals, even with those who do not have them in in- ternals. From this origin come all hypocrisy, flattery, and dissimulation. 593. As to the division of the natural man into two forms, it is an actual division both of will and of thought therein ; for every action of man starts from his will, and all speech from the thought ; wherefore another will has been formed by the man beneath the former, and likewise other thought ; but still they both constitute the natural man. This will, which is formed by the man, may be called bodily will, be- cause it actuates the body to regulate its motions morally ; and this thought may be called pulmonary thought, because it actuates the tongue and lips to say such things as are of the understanding. This thought and this will together may be compared to the inner bark that adheres to the outer bark of a tree, or to the membrane that adheres to the shell of an egg, the internal natural man being within them. And if this is evil it may be compared to the wood of a rotten tree, around which the outer bark that was mentioned, with its inner bark, seems sound ; also to a rotten egg within a white shell. But it shall be told of what quality is the internal natural man from birth. Its will inclines to evils of every kind ; and the thought from it inclines to falsities, also of every kind ; this therefore is the internal man that is to be regenerated ; for unless this is regenerated, it is nothing but hatred against all things pertaining to charity, and hence hot zeal against all things pertaining to faith. It follows from this that the internal man of the natural must be first regenerated, and by means of it the external, for this is according to order ; 800 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. while to regenerate the internal by means of the external is contrary to order ; for the internal is as a soul in the external, not only generally but also in every particular, consequently in every single thing that he speaks, without the man's knowing it. It results from this that the angels, from a single action of a man, perceive what the quality of his will is, and from a single expression, what the quality of his thought is, whether infernal or heavenly. Thus they have a knowledge of the whole man ; from a tone they perceive the affection of his thought; and from a gesture, or the form of his action, they perceive the love of his will ; they perceive them, however he may counterfeit the Christian and the moral citizen. 594. Man's regeneration is described in Ezekiel by the dry bones which were clothed with sinews, then with flesh and skin, and at last breatk was breathed into them, whereby they lived again (xxxvii. 1-14). That regeneration was rep- resented by those things, is clearly manifest from what is there said. These bones are the whole house of Israel (verse 1 1). A comparison is also made there with sepulchres, for we read, that Jehovah God would open their graves, and cause them to come up out of their graves , and put His Spirit upon them, and bring them into the land of Israel (verses 12-14). The land of Israel here and elsewhere means the church. A representation of regeneration was made by bones and graves, because the unregenerate man is called dead, and the regenerate alive ; for in the latter there is spiritual life, but in the former spiritual death. 595. In every created thing in the world, whether living or dead, there is an internal and an external ; one of these is not given without the other, as there is no effect without a cause ; and every created thing is esteemed according to its internal goodness, and is regarded as without worth from its internal baseness, as is the external goodness within which there is internal baseness. Every wise man in the world and every angel in heaven so judges. But the quality No. 595.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 80I of the unregenerate man and that of the regenerate, may be illustrated by comparisons. The unregenerate man who counterfeits the moral citizen and the Christian man, may be compared to a corpse wrapped in aromatics, which nevertheless gives forth a foul odor that infects the aromat- ics, insinuates itself into the nostrils, and injures the brain. He may also be compared to a mummy, gilded or placed in a silver coffin ; and when this is examined within, a hideously black body comes to view. He may be com- pared to bones or skeletons in a sepulchre built of lapis lazuli, and adorned with other precious things ; and also to the rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, but whose internal was nevertheless infernal (Luke xvi. 19). He may be compared, further, to poison of a taste like that of sugar, to the poison-hemlock in flower, to fruit with shin- ing surface whose inner substance has been consumed by worms ; and also to an ulcer dressed first with a plaster and afterward covered with a thin skin, but which has noth- ing but foul matter within. The internal [of the unregen- erate man] may be estimated from the external in the world, but only by those who have not internal good, and who therefore judge according to appearance ; but it is other- wise in heaven. For when the body, changeable about the spirit and capable of being bent from evil to good, is sepa- rated by death, the internal then remains, for this makes the man's spirit; and then in the distance he looks like a serpent that has shed its skin, or like rotten wood stripped of the bark or rind in which it looked bright. But it is otherwise with the regenerate man ; his internal is good, and his external similar [in appearance] to the external of the other ; but his external differs from that of the unre- generate man as heaven differs from hell, inasmuch as the soul of good is in it ; and it matters not to him whether he is a noble, dwells in a palace, and goes surrounded by attendants, or lives in a cottage and is waited upon by a boy ; yes, whether he is a primate, clad in a purple robe VOL. II. 17 S02 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. and wearing the official cap {of two grades), or the shepherd of a few sheep, covered with a loose rustic frock, and wear- ing a little cap on his head. Gold is still gold, whether it flashes when brought near the fire, or has its surface black- ened when held over the smoke ; also, whether it has been melted into a beautiful form as of an infant, or into an ugly one as of a mouse ; the mice that were made of gold, and placed near the ark, also were accepted and made propitia- tion (i Sam. vi. 3-5, and the subsequent verses) ; for gold signifies internal good. The diamond and the ruby obtained from whatever matrix, of lime or of clay, are in like manner esteemed according to their internal goodness, the same as those in the necklace of a queen ; and so on. From which it is manifest that the external is estimated from the internal, and not the reverse. VII. While this is taking place, a Combat arises BETWEEN THE INTERNAL AND THE EXTERNAL MAN, AND THE ONE THAT CONQUERS RULES OVER THE OTHER4 596. A combat then arises for the reason that the internal man has been reformed by means of truths, and from these it sees what is evil and false, and these still are in the ex- ternal or natural man. Wherefore first there springs up dissension between the new will which is above, and the old will which is below ; and because this dissension is between these wills, it is also between their delights; for it is well known that the flesh is opposed to the spirit, and the spirit to the flesh, and that the flesh with its lusts must be subdued before the spirit can act and become a new man. After this dissension of the wills, a combat arises which is what is called spiritual temptation ; but this temp- tation or combat does not take place between goods and evils, but between the truths of good and the falsities of evil ; for good cannot fight from itself, but fights by truths; No. 597.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 803 nor can evil fight from itself, but fights by its falsities ; just as the will cannot fight from itself, but by the understanding where its truths are. Man has not a sense of that combat except as in himself, and as remorse of conscience ; never- theless it is the Lord and the devil (that is, hell), that fight in man, and they fight for dominion over him, or as to who shall possess him. The devil or hell attacks man and calls out his evils, and the Lord protects him and calls out his goods. But although that combat takes place in the spirit- ual world, still it takes place in man, between the truths of good and the falsities of evil that are in him ; man is therefore to fight wholly as of himself, for he has free-will to act for the Lord, and also to act for the devil : he is for the Lord if he abides in truths from good, and for the devil if he abides in falsities from evil. It follows from all this that whichever conquers, 'Whether the internal man or the external, rules over the other; just like two hostile powers contending as to which shall be master of the other's kingdom ; the conqueror takes the kingdom, and places all therein under obedience to himself. In this case, therefore, if- the internal man conquers, it obtains the empire, and subjugates all the evils of the external man, and regeneration is then continued ; while if the external man conquers, it obtains the empire, and dissipates all the goods of the internal* man, and then regeneration perishes. 597. It is known, indeed, at the present day, that there are temptations ; but hardly any one knows whence they are, and their quality, and what good they yield. Whence they are, and what their quality, was shown just above, and also what good they yield; namely, that when the internal man conquers, the external is subjugated ; and that when this is subjugated, lusts are dispersed, and affections of good and truth are implanted in place of them ; and these are so arranged that man may do the goods and truths * The Latin reads externi, external. 8o4 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. which he wills and thinks, and may speak them from the heart. Besides this, by victory over the external man a man becomes spiritual, and he then is consociated by the Lord with the angels of heaven, who all are spiritual. Temptations have not heretofore been well known, and scarcely any one has had knowledge of their origin and quality and the good which they yield, because heretofore the church has not been in truths. No one is in truths but he who goes to the Lord immediately, rejects the former faith, and embraces the new ; hence no one has been ad- mitted into any spiritual temptation in all the ages reck- oned from that when the Nicene Council introduced the faith of three Gods ; for if any one had been admitted, he would have succumbed immediately, and so would have precipitated himself more deeply into hell. The contrition which is held to precede the present faith, is not tempta- tion ; I have questioned very many about it, and they have said that it is a word and nothing more, except that per- haps there may be some timorous thought among the simple about hell-fire, 598, After temptation has passed, man is in heaven as to the internal man, and in the world by the external ; wherefore a conjunction of heaven and the world is effected with man by means of temptations, and then the Lord with him rules his world from heaven according to order. The contrary takes place if man remains natural ; he is then desirous to rule heaven from the world ; such does every one become who is in the love of bearing rule from the love of self ; if he is examined within, he does not believe in a God, but in himself, and after death he believes him to be God who is strong in power over others. Such in- sanity there is in hell, which has proceeded even to such a length that some call themselves God the Father, some God the Son, and some God the Holy Spirit, and among the Jews some call themselves the Messiah. It is mani- fest from this of what quality man becomes after death, if No. 6oo.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 805 the natural man is not regenerated, consequently what he would become in his fantasy, if a new church, in which genuine truths are taught, were not established by the Lord. Such is the meaning of these words of the Lord : In the consummation of the age, that is, at the end of the present church, there shall be affliction^ such as was not since fhe beginning of the world, nor shall be, wherefore except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be sated (Matt. xxiv. 21, 22). 599. In the combats or temptations of men the Lord works a particular redemption, as He wrought redemption that embraced the whole when in the world. The Lord in the world, by means of combats and temptations, glorified His Human, that is, made it Divine ; in like manner now, with a man individually, while he is in temptations ; in these the Lord fights for him, and conquers the evil spirits who are infesting him ; and after temptation glorifies him, that is, renders him spiritual. After His universal redemption, the Lord reduced to order all things in heaven and in hell ; with man after temptation He does in like manner, that is to say, He reduces to order all the things that are of heaven and the church with the man. After redemption the Lord established a new church ; in like manner also He estab- lishes those things which are of the church with the man, and makes him to be a church in particular. After redemption the Lord gifted those who believed in Him with peace ; for he said. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you ; not as the world giveth, give I unto you (John xiv. 27); so likewise He gives to man after temptation to feel peace, that is, gladness of mind and consolation. From which it is manifest that the Lord is the Redeemer for ever. 600. A regenerated internal man, and no regenerated external man with it, may be compared to a bird flying in the air without a resting place on dry land, but in a swamp only, where it is infested by serpents and frogs, so that it 8o6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X- flies away and dies. It may be compared also to a swan swimming in mid ocean, which cannot reach the shore and make her nest ; so the eggs she lays she lets sink in the water, where they are eaten by fishes. It may be compared also to a soldier on a wall, who falls down when this is undermined beneath his feet, and dies amid the ruins. And it may be compared to a beautiful tree transplanted into filthy ground, where troops of worms eat up its root, so that it withers and dies. And again it may be compared to a house without a foundation, and to a column without a pedestal. Such is the internal man when reformed alone, and not the external with it ; for it has no means of determining itself to doing good. VIII. The Regenerate Man has a new Will and a NEW Understanding. 6oi. That a regenerate man is a renewed or new man, the church of this day knows, both from the Word and from reason ; from the Word, by the following passages ; Make you a fiew heart and a new spirit ; for why will ye die, O house of Israeli (Ez. xviii. 31.) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit in the midst of you ; and I will take away the sto?iy heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh, and I will give My spirit in the midst of you (Ez. xxxvi. 26, 27). Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh ; therefore if any man be ifi Christ, he is a new creature (2 Cor. v. 16, 17). A new heart here means a new will, and a new spirit means a new understanding ; for heart in the Word signifies the will, and spirit when joined with heart signifies the understanding. It knows frotfi reason that a regenerate man has a new will and a new understanding, because these two faculties make the man, and they are what are regenerated. Wherefore every man is such as he is with respect to those faculties, he being evil who has an evil will, and still more so he whose under- No. 603.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 807 standing favors it ; while he is good who has a good will, and still more so he whose understanding favors it. Religion alone renews and regenerates man. Religion occupies the highest seat in the human mind, and sees under itself the civil matters pertaining to the world ; it also passes through these as the pure sap passes through the tree to its very top, and from that height it surveys what is natural, as from a tower or a mountain one surveys the plains below. 602. But it must be known that man can rise as to the understanding almost into the light in which the angels of heaven are, but that if he does not rise as to the will also, he is still the old and not the new man. But how the understanding elevates the will more and more to a height with itself, was shown before. Wherefore regeneration is predicated primarily of the will, and secondarily of the understanding. For the understanding in man is like light in the world, and the will is like the heat there ; that light without heat does not vivify and promote vege- tation, but light joined with heat, is well known. More- over the understanding, as to the lower region in the mind, is actually in the light of the world, and in the light of heaven as to the higher region ; and therefore if the will is not elevated out of the lower region into the higher, and there conjoined with the understanding, it remains in the world ; and then the understanding flies upward and down- ward, but every night it flies to the will below, and there it has its bed, and they join themselves like a man and a harlot, and produce two-headed offspring. It is also mani- fest from this, that unless a man has a new will and a new understanding, he is not regenerate. 603. The human mind is divided into three distinct regions ; the lowest is called the natural, the middle the spiritual, and the highest the heavenly [celesiiaf] ; by regen- eration man is elevated from the lowest region which is the natural, into the higher which is the spiritual, and through this into the heavenly [ceksiial\ That there are 8o8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. three regions of the mind will be demonstrated in the next article. It is for this reason that the unregenerate man is called natural, and the regenerate man spiritual. It is therefore manifest that the mind of a regenerate man has been elevated into the spiritual region, and there it sees from the higher what takes place in the lower or natural mind. That there is a lower and a higher region in the human mind, every one may see and acknowledge by a slight attention to his thoughts ; for he sees what he thinks ; wherefore he says that he thought and that he thinks this and that ; this could not be so unless there were an interior thought that is called perception, which looks into the lower that is called thought. A judge, when he has heard or read the evidence in a case, brought to- gether in a long series by an advocate, collects it into one view in the higher region of his mind, thus into a universal idea; and from this he afterward looks down into the lower region, which is that of natural thought, and there disposes the arguments in order, and following the higher, presents his opinion and pronounces judgment. Who does not know that a man can in a moment or two think and conclude what he cannot by the lower thought express in a brief hour ? These things have been brought forward, that it may be known that the human mind is divided into distinct regions, lower and higher. 604. As to the new will, it is above the old, in the spiritual region ; so is the new understanding ; this is with that, and that with this. In that region they conjoin them- selves, and conjointly they look into the old or the natural, and dispose all things therein so as to attemper them. Who cannot see that if there were in the human mind but one region, and if evils and goods, falsities and truths, were put together and commingled there, a conflict would take place ? as if wolves and lambs, tigers and calves, hawks and doves were put together in one enclosure. What would then result but a cruel slauffhter there ? No. 605.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 809 Would not the savage beasts tear in pieces the tame ones ? It has therefore been provided that goods with their truths should be gathered into the higher region, that they may subsist in safety and debar assault, and also by chains and other means may subjugate and afterward disperse evils with their falsities. This then is what was said in the preceding article, that with the regenerate man the Lord through heaven rules the things which are of the world. The higher or spiritual region of the human mind also is a heaven in miniature, while the lower or natural region is a world in miniature. Wherefore by the ancients man was called a little world ; and he may also be called a little heaven. 605. That the regenerate man, that is, the man renewed as to will and understanding, is in the heat of heaven, that is, in its love, and at the same time in the light of heaven, that is, in its wisdom, — and on the other hand, that the unregenerate man is in the heat of hell, that is, in its love, and at the same in the darkness of hell, that is, in its insanities, — is at this day known and still unknown. This is because the church existing at the present day makes regeneration an appendage to its faith, and into faith they suffer no reason to be admitted, and conse- quently reason is not to be admitted into any thing which belongs to an appendage of it ; and, as before said, regen- eration and renovation are such. These latter, together with that faith itself, are to those of the present church like a house, the doors and windows of which are closed, so that it is not known what is within it, whether it is empty, or full of genii from hell, or of angels from heaven. An additional reason is, that this confusion has been brought about from fallacy arising from [misapprehension of the truth] that because man can ascend with the under- standing [he comes] almost into the light of heaven, and consequently can from intelligence think and speak of spiritual things, whatever his will's love may be. Out of 17* 8lO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X ignorance of this truth has also come ignorance of all that concerns regeneration and renovation. 606. From this it may be concluded, that an unregen- erate man is like one who sees phantoms at night and believes them to be men ; and afterward, while becoming regenerate, he is like the same man at the earliest dawn seeing those things to be but delusions which he saw in the night ; and still later, when he is regenerated and is in the day, he sees them as the offspring of delirium. The unregenerate man is like one dreaming, and the regenerate like one awake ; in the Word, moreover, natural life is likened to sleep, and spiritual life to a state of wakeful- ness. The unregenerate man is meant by the foolish vir- gins who had lamps but no oil, and the regenerate man by the prudent virgins that had both lamps and oil. By lamps are meant such things as are of the understanding, and by oil such as are of love. The regenerate are like the lamps of the candlestick in the tabernacle ; they are like the shew-bread there with the frankincense upon it ; and they are those who shall be resplendent as the brightness of the firmament, and shall shine as the stars for ever and ever (Dan. xii, 3). The unregenerate man is like one who is in the garden of Eden and eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and is therefore driven out of the garden ; yes, he is that very tree. But the regenerate man is like one who is in that garden and eats from the tree of life. That it is given to eat of it, is evident from these words in the Apocalypse : To him thai overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the tnidst of the paradise of God (ii. 7). The garden of Eden means intelligence in spiritual things, from the love of truth, as may be seen in the " Apocalypse Revealed " (n. 90). In a word, an unregenerate man is a son of the wicked one, and a regenerate man is a son of the kingdom (Matt. xiii. 38) ; a son of the wicked one here is a son of the devil, and a son of the kingdom is here a son of the Lord. No. 6o7.| REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 8ll IX. A REGENERATE MAN IS IN COMMUNION WITH AnGELS OF Heaven, and an unregenerate man in com- munion WITH Spirits of Hell. 607. Every man is in communion, that is, in consociation with angels of heaven, or with spirits of hell, because he was born to become spiritual; and this is not possible unless he is born to be in some conjunction with those who are spiritual. That man as to his mind is in both worlds, the natural and the spiritual, has been shown in the work con- cerning " Heaven and Hell." But man knows not of this conjunction, and an angel and a spirit know not of it, for the reason that man while he lives in the world is in a nat- ural state, and the angel and the spirit are in a spiritual state ; and because of the distinction between the natural and the spiritual, the one does not appear to the other. This distinction has been described as to its nature in the work on " Conjugial Love," in the Relation, n. 326-329 [this may be seen above, n. 280]. From which it is mani- fest that they are not conjoined as to thoughts, but as to affections, and scarcely any one reflects upon these, because they are not in the light in which the understanding is, and hence its thought, but in the heat in which the will is, and hence its love's affection. The conjunction between men and angels by means of the love's affections is so close that if it were severed, and they were thereby separated, men would fall instantly into a swoon ; and if it were not restored and the conjunction renewed, men would die. It has been said that man becomes spiritual by means of re- generation ; but this does not mean that he becomes spirit- ual such as an angel is in himself, but that he becomes spiritual-natural, that is to say, that inwardly in his natural is the spiritual, like thought in speech, and like will in action, for when one of these ceases the other ceases. In like man- ner man's spirit is in every single thing that takes place in 8l2 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. the body, and it is this which impels the natural to do what- ever it does. The natural viewed in itself is passive or is a dead force, but the spiritual is active or is a living force ; the passive or the dead force cannot act from itself, but must be actuated by the active or the living force. Whereas man lives continually in communion with the inhabitants of the spiritual world, when he leaves the natural world he is introduced immediately among such as are like those with whom he had been associated in the world. Therefore, after death, every one seems to himself to be still living in the world ; for he then comes into the company of those who are like him as to his will's affections, and whom he then acknowledges, as kinsmen and relations acknowledge their own in the world ; and this is what is meant when it is said in the Word of those who die, that they are brought together and gathered to their own. It is now evident from this, that a regenerate man is in communion with angels of heaven, and an unregenerate man in communion with spirits of hell. 608. It must be known that there are three heavens, and these distinct from each other according to the three degrees of love and wisdom, and that man is in communion with angels from those three heavens according to his regenera- tion ; and as this is so, that the human mind is divided into three distinct degrees or regions according to the heavens. But concerning these three heavens and their distinction according to the three degrees of love and wisdom, see the work on " Heaven and Hell " (n. 29, and subsequent num- bers), as also the pamphlet concerning the "Intercourse between the Soul and the Body" (n. 16, 17). We will here only illustrate by a simile what in quality those three de- grees are, according to which those heavens are distin- guished : they are like head, body, and feet in man ; the highest heaven makes the head, the middle the body, and the ultimate the feet ; for the universal heaven is before the Lord as one man. That it is so has been disclosed to me No. 6io.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 813 by my own observation ; for it was granted me to see one society of heaven which consisted of ten thousand, all together as one man. Why should not the universal heaven so appear before the Lord .'' Respecting this liv- ing experience, see the work on " Heaven and Hell " (n. 59, and subsequent numbers). Hence also it is mani- fest how this, which is well known in the Christian world, is understood, that the church makes the body of Christ, and that Christ is the Life of this body. And that the Lord is the All in all of heaven, may also be illustrated by this ; for He is the Life in that body. In Hke manner the Lord is the Church with those who acknowledge Him alone as the God of heaven and earth, and believe in Him. That He is the God of heaven and earth. He teaches in Matthew (xxviii. 18) ; and that men must believe in Him, He teaches in John (iii. 15, 16, 36; vi. 40; xi. 25, 26). 6og. Those three degrees in which the heavens are, and in which the human mind consequently is, may also be illustrated to some extent by comparisons with material things in the world. Those three degrees are as gold, silver, and copper are in relative nobility, with which metals they are also compared in Nebuchadnezzar's statue (Dan. ii. 31-35). Those three degrees are also distinct from each other as are the ruby, the sapphire, and the agate in relative purity and goodness ; and also as an olive-tree, a vine, and a fig-tree ; and so on. Moreover, gold, the ruby, and the olive in the Word signify heav- enly [ce/esfia/] good, which is that of the highest heaven ; silver, the sapphire, and the vine signify spiritual good, which is that of the middle heaven ; and copper, the agate, and the fig signify natural good, which is that of the ultimate heaven. That there are three degrees, the heav- enly [ce/esfia/], the spiritual, and the natural, has been stated above. 610. This shall be added to what has been said already: Man's regeneration is not effected in a moment, but by 8 14 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. successive steps, from the beginning to the end of his life in the world, and it is continued and perfected afterward. And because man is reformed by combats, and victories over the evils of his flesh, the Son of Man therefore says to each one of the seven churches, that He will give gifts to him that overcometh ; as, to the church of Ephesus, To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life (Apoc. ii. 7) ; to the church of Smyrna, He that overcometh shall fiot be hurt of the second death (verse 11); to the church in Pergamos, 7o him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden jnafina (verse 17) ; to the church in Thyatira, And he that overcometh, to him will I give power over the nations (verse 26); to the church in Sardis, He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment (iii. 5) ; to the church in Philadelphia, Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God (verse 12); and to the church of the Laodiceans, To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne (verse 21). Finally it will be added, that so far as man is regenerated, or so far as regeneration is perfected in him, so far he attributes nothing of good and truth, that is, of charity and faith, -to himself, but to the Lord ; for the truths which he succes- sively imbibes, manifestly teach this. X. So FAR AS Man is regenerated Sins are removed, AND THIS Removal is the Remission of Sins. 611. Sins are removed so far as man is regenerated, because regeneration is the restraining of the flesh that it may not rule, and the subjugation of the old man with its lusts that it may not rise up and destroy the intellectual [principle], for when this is destroyed man is no longer capable of reformation ; for reformation cannot be effected unless man's spirit, which is above the flesh, be instructed and perfected. Who that yet has sound understanding, cannot conclude from this that such things cannot be done No. 6i2.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 81$ in a moment, but by successive stages, as a man is con- ceived, is carried in the womb, is born, and is educated, according to what was shown above ? For the things which are of the flesh or the old man are inherent in him from birth, and they build the first habitation of his mind, in which lusts have their abode like wild beasts in their dens, and they dwell first in the outer courts, and by turns they steal as it were into the underground rooms of that house, and afterward they make their way up by ladders, and form chambers for themselves ; and this is done by successive stages, as an infant grows, reaches childhood, then youth, and then begins to think from his own under- standing, and to act from his own will. Who does not see that this house which has been thus far built in the mind, in which lusts dance with joined hands, like the doleful creatures, the wild-creatures of the desert, and the satyrs, cannot be destroyed in a moment, and a new house built in place of it ? Must not the lusts, holding each other by the hand and so sporting, be themselves first removed, and new desires which are of good and truth be introduced in the place of the cupidities which are of evil and falsity ? That these things cannot be done in a mo- ment every wise man sees from this alone, that every evil is composed of innumerable lusts, and that it is like fruit that beneath the surface is full of worms with white bodies and black heads ; and, moreover, that evils are numerous and joined together like the progeny of a spider when first hatched ; wherefore unless one evil is brought out after another, and this until their connection is broken up, man cannot be made new. These things have been pre- sented for the sake of its being known that so far as any one is regenerated, sins are removed. 612. Man inclines by birth to all kinds of evils, and from the inclination he lusts after them, and so far as he is in freedoni he also does them ; for by birth he lusts after dominion over others, and to possess the goods of 8l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. Others, which two lusts cut off love toward the neighbor, and then man holds in hatred every one who opposes him, and from hatred he breathes revenge, which inwardly cher- ,#ishes murder. Hence also it is that he makes nothing of adulteries, nothing of depredations that are secret theft, and nothing of blasphemy which is also false witness ; and he who makes nothing of all these, is also in heart an atheist. Such is man by birth, from which it is manifest that he is from birth hell in miniature. Now because man as to the in- teriors of his mind has been born spiritual, and not as the beasts, consequently born for heaven, while yet his natural or external man is, as before said, hell in miniature, it follows that heaven cannot be implanted in the hell unless this be removed. 613. He who is acquainted with the relation in which heaven and hell are to each other, and who knows how the one is removed from the other, may know how man is regenerated, as also of what quality the regenerate man is. That this may be understood, it shall be set forth in brief that all who are in heaven look to the Lord with the face toward Him, while all who are in hell turn the face away from the Lord ; wherefore when hell is looked at from heaven, only the occiput and the back appear ; yes, they who are therein also seem to be inverted, as antipodes, feet upward and heads down, and this although they walk upon their feet and turn their faces around ; for it is the contrary direction of their minds' interiors which produces that ap- pearance. I relate these wonderful things from what I have myself seen. They disclosed to me how regeneration is effected, namely, just as hell is removed and thus sepa- rated from heaven ; for, as stated above, man as to that first nature which he derives from birth is hell in minia- ture, and as to that other nature which he derives from the second birth he is heaven in miniature. From this it follows that evils with man are removed and separated, like heaven and hell in their larger form, and that evils, as they are No. 6i4.1 REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. Si/ removed, avert themselves from the Lord, and successively invert themselves, and that this takes place in the same degree in which heaven is implanted, that is, as man is made new. To which shall be added, for the sake of illus- tration, that every evil with man has conjunction with such in hell as are in similar evil, and on the other hand that every good with man has conjunction with such in heaven as are in similar good. 614. From what has been presented it maybe evident that the remission of sins is not the extirpation and wash- ing-away of them, but is the removal of them, and thus their separation ; also that every evil which a man has actually appropriated to himself remains. And since the remission of sins is the removal and separation of them, it follows that man is withheld from evil by the Lord and kept in good, and that this is what is given to man by re- generation. I once heard a certain person in the ultimate heaven saying that he was free from sins because they were washed away, — by the blood of Christ, he added. But because he was within heaven, and was in that error from ignorance, he was let into his own peculiar sins, and as they returned he acknowledged them ; whereby he acquired a new belief, which was, that every man, as well as every angel, is withheld of the Lord from evils and held in goods. It is manifest from this what the remission of sins is, that it is not instantaneous, but follows regeneration according to the progress of it. The removal of sins which is called their remission, may be compared to the casting-forth of the filth from the camp of the children of Israel into the desert which was rQund about them ; for their camp repre- sented heaven, and the desert hell. It may be compared also to the removal of the nations from the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, and of the Jebusites from Jerusalem ; these were not cast out, but separated. It may be compared to what took place with Dagon the god of the Philistines ; that when the ark was brought in, he first lay 8l8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. upon his face on the ground, and afterward, with his head and the palms of his hands cut off, he lay upon the thresh- old ; thus he was not cast out, but removed. It may also be compared to the demons sent by the Lord into the swine, that afterwards rushed into the sea; the sea here and in other passages of the Word signifies hell. It may also be compared to the throng that followed the dragon, which, being separated from heaven, first invaded the earth, and was afterward cast down into hell. It may be compared also to a forest where there are wild beasts of many kinds ; this being cut down, the wild beasts flee to the thickets round about, and then the land being levelled in the midst is brought by cultivation into a field. XI. Regeneration cannot take place without Free- WlLL in spiritual THINGS. 615. Who except a stupid person cannot see that with- out free-will in spiritual things man cannot be regenerated ? Can he without this go to the Lord, and acknowledge Him Redeemer and Saviour, and as God of heaven and earth, as He teaches (Matt, xxviii. 18)? Who without that free- will can believe, that is, from faith look to Him and worship Him, and apply himself to receive the means and benefits of salvation from Him, and from Him co-operate in the reception of them ? Who without free-will can do any good to the neighbor, exercise charity, also bring into his thought and will other things which are of faith and charity, take them out, and send them forth into act ? Otherwise, what is regeneration but a mere word dropp,ed from the lips of the Lord (John iii.), which either remains in the ear, or, as it passes from the thought that is nearest to speech, becomes in the mouth an articulated sound of so many letters ? which sound cannot by any sense be elevated into some higher region of the mind, but falls upon the air and is dissipated there. i^ No. 6i6.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 819 616. Say, if you are able, whether there can in any way be a blinder stupidity respecting regeneration than such as there is with those who confirm themselves in the faith of the present day, which is, that faith is infused into man while he is like a stock or a stone, and that then, when it has been infused, it is followed by justification, which is the remission of sins, regeneration, and other gifts beside ? Also, that man's work must be wholly excluded, that it may do no violence to Christ's merit. In order that this dogma might be still more firmly established, they have deprived man of all free-will in spiritual things, by intro- ducing his utter helplessness in them. It is, then, as if God alone were to operate on His part, and no power were given man to co-operate on his, and thus to conjoin him- self. What then is man in respect to regeneration, but as one bound hand and foot, like the prisoners in the vessels called galleys ? and who, if he were to free himself from his manacles and fetters would be punished and condemned to death, as would be done with them if they were to free themselves from theirs, — that is, if he were from free-will to do good to the neighbor, and of himself were to believe in God for the sake of salvation. What would a man be, when confirmed in such opinions, and who yet has a pious desire for heaven, but like a spectre standing in vision, to see whether that faith has been already infused with its benefits ; and if not, whether it is being infused ; and so, whether God the Father has taken pity, or whether His Son has interceded, or whether the Holy Spirit is inoper- ative because employed elsewhere ? And yet, owing to his utter ignorance of the matter, the man may go away and console himself by saying, " Perhaps that grace is in the morality of my life, in which I am and remain as heretofore ; and in me, therefore, this may be holy, while in those who have not attained that faith, it is profane. Therefore, in order that holiness may remain in my mo- rality, I will be careful hereafter not to work faith or 820 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELipiON. [Chap. X, charity from myself ; " and so on. Such a spectre, or if you choose, such a statue of salt, does every one become who thinks of regeneration apart from free-will in spiritual things. 617. The man who believes that regeneration takes place without any free-will in spiritual things, thus without co-operation, becomes as cold as a stone in regard to all the truths of the church ; or if warm, he is like a brand burning on the hearth, that blazes from the combustible elements in it, for his warmth is from lusts. He becomes comparatively like a palace sinking into the ground even to its roof, and is overflowed with muddy waters ; and afterward he dwells upon the bare roof, making a tent- like covering for himself of marsh rushes ; but at last the roof sinks also, and he is drowned. He is also like a ship laden with all kinds of precious merchandise taken from the Word as a treasury ; but these are gnawed by mice and moth-eaten, or are thrown by the sailors into the sea, and so the merchants are defrauded of their goods. Those who are learned or rich in the mysteries of that faith, are like the venders in little shops who sell statues for idols, fruits and flowers of wax, shells, vipers in bottles, and other things like them. They who do not wish to look upward, as [according to their belief] there is no power adapted to man and given to him by the Lord, are actually like beasts which look with the head downward, and which seek for nothing but pasture in the forests ; and if they come into orchards they are like worms that consume the foliage of the trees, and if they see the fruits with their eyes, or still more if they feel them with their hands, they fill them with worms. And finally they become like scaly serpents, their fallacies sounding and glittering like the scales of a serpent. And so on. No. 6iS.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 821 XII. Regeneration cannot take place without Truths, BY WHICH Faith is formed, and with which Charity conjoins itself. 6i8. There are three agents whereby man is regener- ated, — the Lord, Faith, and Charity ; these three would lie hidden, like precious things of the highest value buried in the earth, if Divine truths from the Word did not reveal them ; yes, they would be hidden to those who deny man's co-operation, if they were to read the Word a hundred or a thousand times, although they stand forth there in clear light. As concerns the Lord: Who that is confirmed in the faith of the day, sees there with open eyes that He and the Father are one, that He is the God of heaven and earth, that it is the will of the Father that men should be- lieve in the Son, besides innumerable statements of the same kind respecting the Lord in both Covenants ? They do not see, because they are not in truths, and conse- quently not in the light from which things of this kind can be seen ; and if light were given, still falsities would ex- tinguish it, and then those things would be passed over like something blotted out, or like underground drains which are trodden upon and passed over. These state- ments are made that it may be known that without truths this primary agent in regeneration cannot be seen. As regards Faith : Neither can this be given without truths, for faith and truth make one thing ; for the good of faith is as a soul, and truths make its body. To say, therefore, that a man believes or has faith, while he knows no truths thereof, is like taking the soul out of the body, and talking with it when thus invisible. Moreover, all the truths that make the body of faith, emit light and enlighten and present the face of faith to be seen. It is similar with Charity : This sends out heat from itself, with which the light of truth conjoins itself, as heat does with light in the 822 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, [Chap. X. world in the spring time, from the conjunction of which things of the earth's animal and vegetable kingdoms return to their prolific powers. It is similar with spiritual heat and light ; these in like manner conjoin themselves in man while he is in the truths of faith and at the same time in the goods of charity ; for, as was said above in the chapter on Faith, from every single truth of faith there flows out light which enlightens, and from every single good of charity there flows out heat which enkindles ; and it is also there stated that spiritual light in its essence is intelligence, and that spiritual heat in its essence is love, and that the Lord alone conjoins these two in man when He regenerates him. For the Lord said, The words that I speak unto you^ they are spirit^ and they are life (John vi. 63). Believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light ; I am C07ne a Light into the world (xii. 36, 46). The Lord is the Sun in the spiritual world : from this are all spiritual light and heat ; that light en- lightens, and that heat enkindles ; and by the conjunction of the two, the Lord vivifies and regenerates man, 619. From all this it may be evident, that without truths there is no cognition of the Lord \ also that without truths there is not faith, and so there is not charity ; consequently that without truths there is no theology ; and where there is not this, there is no church. Such is the condition at this day of the company of peoples who call themselves Christians, Snd say that they are in the light of the Gospel, when yet they are in thick darkness itself; for truths lie hidden beneath falsities, like gold, silver, and precious stones buried among the bones in the valley of Hinnom. That it is so, was clearly manifest to me from the spheres in the spiritual world which flow forth from the Christen- dom of to-day and propagate themselves. One sphere is that respecting the Lord ; this exhales and effuses itself from the southern quarter, where are the learned of the clergy, and laymen of erudition ; wherever it goes, it enters the ideas secretly, and with many takes away faith in the No. 6i9] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 823 Divinity of the Lord's Human, with many weakens it, and makes it as foolishness with many ; this is because it brings in at the same time the faith of three Gods, aiid so there is confusion. Another sphere which takes away faith, is hke a black cloud in winter, which brings on darkness, turns rain into snow, strips the trees bare, freezes the waters, and takes all pasture away from the sheep ; this sphere, in con- junction with the former, insinuates as it were a lethargy concerning the one God, regeneration, and the means of salvation. A third sph5re belongs to the conjunction of faith and charity; this is so strong as to be irresistible; but at the present day it is abominable, and like a pesti- lence it infects every one on whom it breathes, and it tears asunder every tie between those two means of salvation established from the creation of the world, and restored anew by the Lord. This sphere also invades men in the natural world, and extinguishes the conjugial torches "be- tween truths and goods. I have felt this sphere, and then, when I have thought of the conjunction of faith and charity, it has interposed between them and violently endeavored to separate them. The angels complain greatly of these spheres, and pray to the Lord that they may be dissipated; but they have received the response, that they cannot be dissipated so long as the dragon is on the earth, since that sphere is from the dragonists ; for it is said of the dragon that he was cast unto the earth, and then it is said, There- fore rejoice^ ye heavens, and woe to the inhabiters of the earth (Apoc. xii. 12, 13). These three spheres are like tempest- driven atmospheres, arising from the breathing holes of the dragons ; and because they are spiritual, they invade minds and force them. The spheres of spiritual truths there are as yet few, — only in the new heaven, and with those be- neath heaven who are separated from the dragonists. For this reason those truths are so little seen among men in" the world at this day ; just as ships in the eastern ocean are invisible to the captains and ship-masters who are sailing in the western ocean. 824 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. 620. That regeneration cannot take place without truths by which faith is formed, may be illustrated by the follow- ing comparisons : It is no more possible than the human mind without the understanding ; for the understanding is formed by means of truths, and it therefore teaches what ought to be believed, what ought to be done, what regen- eration is, and how it is effected. There can no more be regeneration without truths, than there can be vivification in animals and vegetation in trees without light from the sun ; for if the sun did not give light at the same time with heat, it would become like sackcloth of hair, as described in the Apocalypse (vi. 12), and darkened as described in Joel (ii. 10, 31), and thus mere darkness would be upon the earth (Joel iii. 15). It would be similar with man without truths which send out light from themselves ; for the Sun from which the lights of truths flow forth is the Lord in the spiritual world ; if spiritual light did not flow therefrom into human minds, the church would be in mere darkness, or in shadow from a perpetual eclipse. Regeneration, which is effected by means of faith and charity, without truths that teach and lead, would be like navigation on the great ocean without a rudder, or without a mariner's compass and charts • and it would be like riding in a dark forest by night. The mind's internal sight with those who are not in truths, but in falsities which they believe to be truths, may be compared to the sight of those with whom the optic nerves are ob- structed, the eye still appearing sound and capable of sight, although it sees nothing, which kind of blindness is called by physicians amaurosis and gutta serena ; for with them the rational or intellectual is obstructed above and opened only below ; and owing to this, rational light becomes like the light of the eye ; and hence all their judgments are but imaginary, and fashioned from mere fallacies. And so men would stand like astrologers in the market-places with their long telescopes, and uttering their vain prophecies. Such would all students of theology become, unless genuine truths from the Word were opened by the Lord. m No. 621] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 825 621. To this will be added the following Relations. First : I saw an assembly of spirits, all upon their knees, praying to God to send angels to them, with whom they might speak face to face, and to whom they might open the thoughts of their hearts ; and when they rose up, there were seen three angels in fine linen standing in their pres- ence. And these said, " The Lord Jesus Christ has heard your prayers, and has therefo'e sent us to you. Open to us the thoughts of your hearts." And they answered, " The priests have told us that in theological matters it is not the understanding but faith that avails, and that intel- lectual faith does not profit in those things, because it springs from the man and savors of him, and is not of God, We are Englishmen, and we have heard many other things from our sacred ministry which we believed ; but when we have spoken with others, who also called them- selves Reformed, and with some who called themselves Roman Catholics, and again with those of various sects, they all seemed learned, and yet in many things no one agreed with another ; and still they all said, Beiiei'e us ; and some, We are vihiisters of God, and we know. But as we knew that the Div^ine truths which are called truths of faith, and are those of the church, are not any one's by birthright alone, nor from inheritance, but out of heaven from God, and as they show the way to heaven, and enter the life together with the good of charity, and thus lead to eternal life, we became anxious, and on our knees prayed to God." Then the angels answered, " Read the Word and believe in the Lord, and you will see the truths which must be of your faith and life. All in the Christian world draw their doctrinals from the Word as the one only fountain." But two of the assembly said, " We have read, but we have not understood." And the angels answered, " You did not go to the Lord, Who is the Word, and you had also first confirmed yourselves in falsities." The angels said further, "What is faith without light? VOL. II. 18 826 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. And what is thinking without understanding? It is not human ; ravens and magpies, also, can learn to speak without understanding. We can assure you that every man whose soul desires it, can see the truths of the Word in light. There is no animal found that does not know the food of its life when it sees it ; and man is a rational and spiritual animal ; he sees the food of his life (not so the body's but the soul's), which is the truth of faith, if he hungers for it and seeks it from the Lord. Moreover, whatever is not received by the understanding, does not abide in the memory as to the thing itself, but only as to the words ; and therefore when we have looked down from heaven into the world, we have not seen any thing, but have only heard sounds, for the most part inharmonious. But we will enumerate some things which the learned of the clergy have removed from the understanding, not knowing that there are two ways to the understanding, one from the world and the other from heaven, and that the Lord withdraws the understanding from the world while He enlightens it. But if the understanding is closed from religion, the way from heaven is closed to it, and then the man sees no more in the Word than a blind man ; we have seen many such that had fallen into pits out of which they did not rise. Let examples serve for illustration : Can you not understand what charity is, and what faith is ? that charity is to act well with the neighbor, and that faith is to think aright concerning God and concerning the essentials of the church ? and hence that he who acts well and thinks aright, that is, who lives well and believes aright, is saved ? " To these things they said that they under- stood them. The angels said further, that man must repent of his sins in order to be saved, and that unless he repents he remains in the sins into which he was born ; and that to repent is not to will evils because they are against God, and to search oneself once or twice a year, to see one's evils, to confess them before the Lord, to implore help, to No. 621.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 827 desist from them, and to enter upon a new life ; and so far as he does this, and bdieves in the Lord, his sins are re- mitted. They then said, from the assembly, "We under- stand this, and so too what the remission of sins is." And then they asked the angels to inform them further; and now, indeed, concerning God, concerning the immortality of the soul, regeneration, and baptism. To this the angels replied, " We will not say any thing that you do not under- stand : otherwise our discourse falls like rain upon the sand and upon seeds therein, which, however watered from heaven, still wither and perish." And concerning God they said : " All who come into heaven are allotted a place there, and thence eternal joy, according to their idea of God ; because this idea reigns universally in all the things of worship. The idea of God as a Spirit, when spirit is believed to be like ether or wind, is an empty idea ; but the idea of God as Man is the just idea ; for God is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom with every quality of them ; and the Subject of these is Man, not ether or wind. In heaven the idea of God is the idea of the Lord the Saviour. He is the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught. Let your idea of God be like ours, and we shall be conso- ciated." When they said these things the faces of the others shone. Concerning the Immortality of the Soul they said : " Man lives for ever, because he is capable of being conjoined with God by love and faith ; every one is capable of this. That this ability makes the immortality of the soul, you can understand if you think somewhat more deeply concerning it." Of Regeneration they said : " Who does not see that ever}' man has freedom to think of God, and not to think of Him, provided he has been instructed that there is a God ? Thus every one has free- dom in spiritual things as much as in civil and natural things. The Lord gives this to all continually ; wherefore man is in fault if he does not think. A man is a man from this ability ; while a beast is a beast from not having 828 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. it. A man can therefore reform and regenerate himself as of himself, provided he acknowledges in heart that it is from the Lord. Every one who repents and believes in the Lord is becoming reformed and regenerate. A man must do both as from himself ; but as from himself is from the Lord. It is true that a man cannot contribute any thing to this, can contribute nothing whatever, out of himself ; but yet you were not created statues, but men, that you may do this from the Lord as from yourselves. This one and only return, of love and of faith, is what the Lord ever wishes man to make to Him. In a word, do from yourselves, and believe that you do from the Lord ; thus you do as from yourselves." But then they asked whether it was implanted in man from creation to do as from himself. An angel answered, " It was not im- planted in him, because to do from Himself belongs to God alone ; but it is continually given, that is, adjoined continually ; and then so far as man does good and be- lieves truth as from himself, he is an angel of heaven ; but so far as he does evil and thence believes falsity (and this also is as fro77i himself), he is a spirit of hell. You wonder that this, too, is as from himself ; but still you see it when you pray to be guarded from the devil lest he seduce you, enter into you as he did into Judas, fill you with all iniquity, and destroy both soul and body. But every one becomes guilty who believes that he does from himself, whether he does good or evil ; but he does not become guilty who believes that he does as from himself ; for if he believes that the good is from himself, he claims for himself that which is God's ; and if he believes that the evil is from himself, he attributes to himself that which is the devil's." Concerning Baptism they said, that it is spiritual washing, which is reformation and regeneration ; and that "an infant is reformed and regenerated, while, having be- come an adult, he does the things which the sponsors promised for him, which are two, — repentance and faith No. 621.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 829 in God. For they promise, yfr^/, that he shall reject the devil and all his works ; and second, that he shall believe in God. All infants in heaven are initiated into these two [duties] ; but to them the devil is hell, and God is the Lord. Besides, baptism is a sign before the angels that a man is of the church." Having heard this, they said from the assembly, " We understand these things." But a voice was then heard from the side, crying, " We do not understand ; " and another voice, " We do not wish to understand." And it was asked, from whom those voices came ; and it was found that they were from those who confirmed in themselves falsities of faith, and who wished to be believed as oracles, and so to be adored. The angels said, " Do not be surprised ; there are very many such at this day ; they appear to us from heaven like sculptured images constructed with such art that they can move the lips, and make sounds like organs ; and they do not know whether the breath by which they make the sound is from hell or from heaven, because they do not know whether a thing is false or true ; they reason and reason, and they confirm and confirm, nor in regard to any thing do they see whether it is so. But know this, that human ingenuity can confirm whatever it wishes, even till it appears as if it were so ; and therefore heretics can do so, the impious can do so, yes, atheists can prove that there is no God, but nature only." After this, that assembly of Englishmen, ardently desirous of being wise, said to the angels, " They speak such various things concerning the Holy Supper ; tell us what the truth is." The angels replied, " The truth is, that the man who looks to the Lord and repents, is by that most holy thing conjoined with the Lord and intro- duced into heaven." But they said from the assembly, " This is a mystery." And the angels answered, " It is a mystery, but yet such as can be understood. The bread and wine do not effect this ; there is nothing holy from them ; but material bread and spiritual bread correspond 830 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X to each other, and material wine and spiritual wine ; and spiritual bread is the holy of love, and spiritual wine is the holy of faith, both of them from the Lord ; and both, the Lord : hence conjunction of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord ; not with the bread and the wine, but with the love and faith of the man who has repented ; and conjunction with the Lord is also introduction into heaven," And after the angels had taught them something concerning correspondence, they said from the assembly, " Now for the first time we can understand this also." And when they said this, behold a flame descending from heaven with light consociated them with the angels, and they loved one another. 622. Second Relation. All who are prepared for heaven, which is done in the world of spirits which is midway between heaven and hell, after the time is fulfilled, desire heaven with a kind of longing ; and soon their eyes are opened, and they see a way which leads to some society in heaven. This way they enter, and ascend ; and in the ascent there is a gate, and a keeper there. He opens the gate, and so they enter in. Then an examiner meets them, who tells them from the president to enter in further, to look and see whether there are houses anywhere which they recognize as theirs, for there is a new house for every novitiate angel. And if they find them, they so report, and remain there ; but if they do not find them, they return and say that they have not seen any. And then an examination is made by some wise one there, to see whether the light that is in them harmonizes with that in the society, and especially whether the heat does ; for the light of heaven in its essence is Divine Truth, and the heat of heaven in its essence is Divine Good, both proceeding from the Lord as the Sun there. If there are in them a light and a heai different from those of that society, that is, a different truth and a different good, they are not received. They therefore go away, and pass on through ways opened between socle- No. 622.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 83 1 ties in heaven ; and this until they find a society wholly in agreement with their affections ; and there is their home for ever. For there they are among their own, just as if among relatives and friends, whom they love from the heart because they are in similar affection ; and there they are in what is favorable to their own life, and in what gives enjoyment to the whole breast from peace of soul ; for in the heat and light of heaven there is ineffable delight, which is communicated. Such is the case with those who are becoming angels. But they who are in evils and falsities may ascend into heaven with leave ; but when they enter, they begin to catch the breath and to have labored respira- tion ; and presently their sight grows dim, the understand- ing is darkened, they cease to think, oblivion as it were hovers before their eyes, and so they stand like stocks; and then the heart begins to throb, the breast to be strait- ened, and the mind to be seized with anguish and to be tortured more and more ; and in this state they writhe like serpents brought near the fire ; they therefore roll them- selves away, and by a steep way which then appears they cast themselves down, nor do they rest until they are in hell among their like, where they can draw breath, and ■where their hearts beat freely. They afterwards hate heaven, reject truth, and blaspheme the Lord in heart, believing that their tortures and torments while in heaven were from Him, From these few things it can be seen of what sort is their lot who lightly esteem truths which belong to faith, which nevertheless make the light in which the angels of heaven are, and who lightly esteem goods which belong to love and charity, which nevertheless make the heat of life in which the angels of heaven are. It can also be seen from this, how great is their error who believe that every one can enjoy heavenly blessedness provided he is admitted into heaven. For it is the belief of the present day, that to be received into heaven is of mercy alone, and that reception into heaven is like that of one coming into a 832 riJE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. hoQse at a wedding m the world, and then at the same time into the joys and gladness there. But let it be known that in the spiritual world there is a communication of the affec- tions of love, and the thoughts therefrom, as man is then a spirit, and the life of a spirit is love's affection and the thought therefrom ; also that homogeneous affection con- joins, and heterogeneous affection separates; and again that the heterogeneity torments a devil in heaven, and an angel in hell. For which reason they are separated in strict accordance with the diversities, varieties, and differ- ences of the affections that are of the love. 623. Third Relation. It was once given me to see three hundred of the clergy and laity together, all learned and erudite, because they knew how to confirm faith alone even to justification, and some still further. And because they had the belief that heaven is only admission from grace, leave was given them to ascend into a society of heaven, which however was not among the higher ones. And when they ascended, then in the distance they were seen as calves. And when they were entering heaven, they were received civilly by the angels ; but while they were conversing, a tremor seized them, afterward a horror, and at length torture like that of death ; and they then cast themselves down headlong, and in their fall -they were seen as dead horses. They seemed like calves in their ascent, because the natural affection for seeing and knowing, ex- ultant, appears from correspondence like a calf. And they seemed like dead horses in their fall, because the under- standing of truth appears from correspondence like a horse, and no understanding of the truth which belongs to the church appears like a dead horse. There were boys below, who saw them descending, and in their descent seen as dead horses. And they then turned their faces away, and said to their teacher who was with them, " What ill-omen is this ? We saw men, and now instead of them we see dead horses ; and because we could not look No. 623] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 833 at them we turned away our faces. Teacher, let us not stay in this place, but let us go away." And they went away. And then the teacher, on the way, instructed them as to the sig- nification of a dead horse ; saying, " A horse signifies the understanding of truth from the Word ; all the horses which you have seen have had that signification ; for when a man goes along meditating upon the Word, his meditation then appears in the distance like a horse, noble and lively as he meditates spiritually, but, on the other hand, poor and life- less as he meditates materially." The boys then asked, " What is it to meditate spiritually and to meditate mate- rially upon the Word ? " Their teacher answered, " I will illustrate it by examples : Who, while reading the Word in a holy way, does not think interiorly within himself of God, of the neighbor, and heaven ? Every one who thinks of God from person only, and not from essence, thinks mate- rially ; and every one who thinks of the neighbor from out- ward form only, and not from quality, thinks materially ; and every one who thinks of heaven from place only, and not from love and wisdom from which heaven is heaven, also thinks materially." But the boys said, "We have thought of God from person, of the neighbor from form as being a man, and of heaven from place as being above us ; have we, therefore, when we have been reading the Word, then appeared to any one like dead horses ? " The teacher said, " No, you are yet boys, and cannot do otherwise ; but I have perceived in you an affection for knowing and un- derstanding ; and as this is spiritual, you have also thought spiritually ; for there is some spiritual thought latent within your material thought, and this you do not yet know. But I will return to the things which I said before, that he who thinks materially when he is reading the Word, or is in meditation from the Word, appears in the distance like a dead horse ; while he who thinks spiritually appears like a living horse ; and that he thinks materially of God who thinks of Him from person only and not from essence. 18* 834 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. For the attributes of the Divine essence are many; as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, eternity, love, wisdom, mercy and grace, and others. And there are attributes that proceed from the Divine essence, which are creation and preservation, redemption and salvation, en- lightenment and instruction. Every one who thinks of God from person [only],* makes three Gods, saying that the Creator and Preserver is one God, the Redeemer and Saviour another, and the Enlightener and Instructor a third ; while every one who thinks of God from essence makes God one, saying, * God created [and has preserved] * us, and the same has redeemed us and saves us, and He also enlightens and instructs.' This is the reason that they who think concerning the trinity of God from person, and thus materially, cannot, from the ideas of their thought which is material, do otherwise than from one God make three. But still, contrary to their thought, they are com- pelled to say that there is a union of those three by the essence, because they have thought indirectly {sicut per transemiam) of God from essence. Wherefore, my scholars, think from the essence, and from this concerning the person ; for to think concerning the essence, but from the person, is to think materially concerning the essence also ; while to think concerning the person, but from the essence, is to think spiritually concerning the person also. The ancient gentiles, because they thought materially of God, and so of God's attributes also, not only made three gods but more, even as many as a hundred ; for they made a god of every attribute. You must know that the material does not enter into the spiritual, but the spiritual into the mate- rial. It is similar with thought respecting the neighbor from the outward form and not from his quality ; as also with thought about heaven from place, and not from the love and wisdom from which heaven is. It is similar with * The words within brackets are supplied from the " Apocalypse Revealed," n. 6ii. No. 624-] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 835 the things that are in the Word, one and all ; he, therefore, who cherishes a material idea of God, and likewise of the neighbor and of heaven, cannot understand any thing in the Word ; it is dead letter to him ; and while reading it, or in meditation from it, he appears in the distance like a dead horse. Those whom you saw in their descent from heaven, having become to your eyes like dead horses, were such as have closed up the rational sight, as to the theological or spiritual matters of the church, in themselves and others, by their peculiar dogma that the understanding must be kept in obedience to their faith ; not having it in thought that the understanding closed by religion is as blind as a mole, with nothing but thick darkness in it, and such thick darkness as rejects from itself all spiritual light, shuts out the influx of it from the Lord and out of heaven, and places before it a barrier in the corporeal-sensual, far below the rational in matters of faith ; that is, puts it close to the nose, and fixes it in its cartilage ; on which account, it cannot afterward even have the scent of spiritual things ; whence some have become such that when they are sensi- ble of the odor from spiritual things, they fall in a swoon ; by scent I mean perception. These are they who make God three. They say indeed, from essence, that God is one ; but still, when they pray according to their faith (which is, for God the Father to have mercy for the Son's sake, and to send the Holy Spirit), they manifestly make three Gods. They cannot do otherwise ; for they pray to one to have mercy for the sake of another, and to send a third." And then their teacher taught them concerning the Lord, that He is the One God, in Whom is the Divine Trinity. 624. Fourth Relation. Having awaked at midnight from sleep, I saw at some height toward the east an angel holding in his right hand a paper which appeared of lustrous brightness, from the Sun, and in the centre of which there was a writing in golden letters; and I saw written The Marriage of Good and Truth. From the writing flashed 8t,6 the true christian religion. [Chap. X. a splendor which spread into a wide circle around the paper ; the circle or border appeared, therefore, like the dawn of day in spring. After this I saw the angel with the paper in his hand descending; and as he descended the paper appeared less and less bright, and that writing which was The Marriage of Good and Truth, seemed changed from a golden to a silver color, then to that of copper, then to that of iron, and at length to the color of iron rust and of copper rust ; and at last the angel seemed to pass into a dark cloud, and through it to the earth ; and there the paper, although still retained in his hand, was not seen. This was in the world of spirits, into which all men first gather after death. The angel then spoke to me, saying, " Ask those who are coming hither whether they see me or any thing in my hand." There came a multitude, one body from the east, one from the south, one from the west, and one from the north. And I asked those coming from the east and the south, who were such as in the world were devoted to learning, whether they saw any one present with me, or any thing in his hand. They all said that they saw nothing whatever. Then I asked those who came from the west and the north, who were such as in the world had believed in the words of the learned ; these said that they, too, did not see any thing. But yet the last of them, who in the world had been in simple faith from charity, or in some truth from good, after the former had gone away, said that they saw a man with a paper, — a man well dressed, and a paper upon which letters were traced ; and when they looked at it more closely, they said that they read the words. The Marriage of Good and Truth. And these spoke to the angel^ and asked him to tell them what it was. And he said, that all things in the whole heaven, and all things in the whole world, are from creation, nothing but a mar- riage of good and truth ; " inasmuch as they one and all, those which are living and which give animation and those No. 625.] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 8^7 which are not living and which do not give animation, were created from the marriage of good and truth and into it. There is nothing that has been created into truth alone, or into good alone ; either of these alone is noth- ing ; but by marriage they exist and become something, in quality according to the marriage. In the Lord God the Creator are Divine Good and Divine Truth in their very substance ; Divine Good is the esse of His substance, and Divine Truth is the existere of His substance ; and they are ctlso in their very oneness, for in Him they make one infinitely. Inasmuch as these two are one in God the Creator Himself, therefore they are also one in all things and in every single thing created by Him ; by this, also, the Creator is conjoined in an eternal covenant like that ol marriage with all things created by Him." The angel said further, that the Sacred Scripture which was dictated by the Lord, is in general and in particular a marriage of good and truth (see above, n. 248-253) ; and because the church which is formed by means of the truths of doctrine, and religion which is formed by means of the goods of a life according to truths of doctrine, are with Christians solely from the Sacred Scripture, it may be evident that the church also in general and in particular is marriage of good and truth. The same that was said above concern- ing the marriage of good and truth has also been said concerning the Marriage of Charity and Faith, since good is of charity and truth is of faith. After these things were said, the angel raised himself from the earth, and borne through the cloud he ascended into heaven ; and then the paper shone as before, according to the degrees of ascent ; a'nd lo, the circle which before appeared like the dawn of day, then settled down and dispelled the cloud which brought darkness upon the earth, and it became sunny. 625. Fifth Relation, Once when I was meditating upon the Lord's Second Coming, there suddenly appeared 838 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. a flash of light, coming forcibly upon my eyes. I there- fore looked up, and lo, the whole heaven above me appeared luminous, and there in continued series was heard a Glori- fication. And an angel stood near, who said " That is a glorification of the Lord on account of His Coming, which is made by the angels of the eastern and the western heavens." From the southern and the northern heavens there was heard only a gentle murmur. And because the angel heard all, he first said to me that the glorifications and celebrations of the Lord are made from the Word ; and presently he said, " Now, in particular, they are glori- fying and celebrating the Lord by these words which were spoken by the prophet Daniel : Thou sawest irofi mixed with miry clay, but they shall not cohere ; and in those days shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall tiot perish for ages : it shall break in pieces and eonsume all these kingdoms, but it shall stand for ages " (ii. 43, 44). After this I heard as it were the voice of singing, and more deeply in the east I saw a flashing of light, more brilliant than the former ; and I asked the angel what they were glori- fying there. He said, " By these words in Daniel : I saw in the 7iight visions, afid behold the Son of Man 7iias coming with the clouds of heaven ; and there was given Him do- minion and a kingdom ; and all peoples and iiations shall worship Him ; His dominion is the dominion of an age which shall not pass away, and His ki/igdom that 7vhich shall not perish (vii. 13, 14). In addition to those words, they are celebrating the Lord from these in the Apocalypse : To yesus Christ be glory and strength ; behold He cometh with clouds ; He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Begitining and the End, the First and the Last, Who is. Who was, and Who is to cotne, the Almighty ; I yohn heard this from the Son of Man out of the midst of the seven candlesticks" (Apoc. i. 5, 6, 7, 8, II, 12, 13; xxii. 13; also Matt. xxiv. 30, 31). I looked again into the eastern heaven, and it gave forth ligfht on the risfht side, and an illumination extended into No. 625] REFORMATION AND REGENERATION. 839 the southern expanse, and I heard a sweet sound. I asked the angel, " What of the Lord are they glorifying there ? " He said, " By these words in the Apocalypse : I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; and I saw the holy city, Ne7V Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a Bride for her Husband. And I heard a great voice from heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them. And the angel spake with me and said, Cojne, I will show thee the Bride the Lamb's Wife. And he carried me away in the spirit upon a great and high mowitain, and showed me the holy city jferusalem (Apoc. xxi. I, 2, 3, 9, 10), Also by these words : / Jtsus am the bright and morning Star; and the Spirit and the Bride say. Come; arid He said, I come quickly; amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus" (xxii. 16, 17, 20). After this and more, there was heard a general glorification from the east to the west of heaven, and also from the south to the north ; and I asked the angel, " What now ? " He said " These words from the prophets : And all flesh shall kjiow that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer (Isa. xlix. 26). Thus said jfehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah Zebaoth, I arn the First and the Last, and beside Me there is no God{yX\v. 6). // shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for Him that He may save us ; This is Jehovah ; we have waited for YliM (xxv. 9). The voice of him that crieth in the 7uilderness, Pre- pare ye -the 7C'ay of Jfehovah. Behold the Lord Jehovih Cometh in strength ; He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd (xl. 3, 10, 11). Unto us a Child is born ; tinto us a Son is give?i ; and His tiame shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Mighty, Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace (ix. 6). Behold, the days are coming, when I will raise up tmto David a righteous Branch, Who shall reign King, and this is His naf?ie, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 ; xxxiii. 15, 16). Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of 840 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. X. THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL He BE CALLED (Isa. Hv. 5). In THAT DAY JeHOVAH SHALL BE KiNG OVER ALL THE EARTH. In THAT DAY JeHOVAH SHALL BE ONE, AND HiS NAME ONE (Zech. xiv. 9). From hearing and understanding these things, my heart exulted, and I went home rejoicing, and there I returned from the state of the spirit into the state of the body, in which I have written out the things which were seen and heard. No. 627.] IMPUTATION. 843 CHAPTER ELEVENTH. CONCERNING IMPUTATION. I. The Faith of the present Church (which is said ALONE TO justify) AND IMPUTATION MAKE ONE. 626. The faith of the present church (which is said alone to justify) is imputation, — or, faith and imputation make one in the present church, — because each of these belongs to the other, or each runs into the other (and this mutually and interchangeably) and gives it being. For if faith is mentioned and imputation is not added, it is merely a sound ; and if imputation is mentioned without the addi- tion of faith, it also is a mere sound ; but if the two are named jointly, there results something articulate, but still without meaning ; therefore in order that the understanding may perceive something, there must of necessity be added a third term, which is Christ's merit. And thus comes a sense which a man may express with some reason. For it is the faith of the present church that God the Father im- putes His Son's righteousness, and sends the Holy Spirit to work out its effects. 627. These three, therefore, faith, imputation, and Christ's merit, are one in the present church, and may be called a triune ; for if one of the three were now taken away, the 844 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. present theology would become nothing, for this is depend- ent on the three perceived as one, as a long chain on a fixed hook.; so if either faith, or imputation, or Christ's merit were taken away, all things that are said of justification, the remission of sins, vivification, renewal, regeneration, sanctification, and of the Gospel, free-will, charity, and good works, yes, of life eternal, would become like deso- late cities, or the ruins of a temple, and faith itself which ■heads the column would come to nothing, and so the whole church would be a desert and a desolation. Hence it is manifest upon what a pillar the house of God has at this day been made to rest. If this were torn away, the house would fall, like that in which the lords of the Philistines and three thousand of 'the people were at their sport ; the two pillars of which Samson pulled down at once, and all then died and were slain (Judges xvi. 29). This is said because it has already been shown, and will be shown in an Appendix, that this faith is not Christian, because it is at variance with the Word, and that the imputation belong- ing to this faith is vain, because the merit of Christ cannot be imputed. II. The Imputation which belongs to the faith of THE present day IS TWOFOLD, THE IMPUTATION OF Christ's Merit, and the Imputation of Sal- vation (Salus) THEREFROM. 628. Throughout the Christian church it is taught that justification, and hence the work of salvation (salvatio), is effected by God the Father through the imputation of the merit of Christ His Son, and that the imputation is made from grace, when and where He wills, thus arbitrarily ; also that they to whom Christ's merit is imputed, are adopted into the number of the Sons of God. And because the leaders of the church have not advanced the foot beyond that imputation, or raised the mind above it, from its hav- M No. 629.] IMPUTATION. 845 ing been decreed that God's election is arbitrary they have fallen into enormous and fanatical errors, and at length into the detestable one concerning predestination, and further into the abominable error that God does not re- gard the deeds of a man's life, but only the faith inscribed upon the interiors of his mind. Wherefore unless the error respecting imputation were now abolished, atheism would overrun all Christendom, and then the king of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek Apollyon, would reign over it (Apoc. ix. 11), Abaddon or Apollyon signifies the destroyer of the church by falsities, and the abyss signifies the abode of those falsities ; see the "Apoca- lypse Revealed," n. 421, 440, 442 • from which it is manifest that that falsity and the falsities following from it are in an extended series, and that that destroyer reigns over them ; for, as said above, the whole system of the theology of the present day is dependent on this imputation, as a long chain on a fixed hook, and as the man with all his mem- bers depends on the head. And because that imputation reigns everywhere, it is as Isaiah says : The Lord will cut off f row Israel head and tail ; the honorable, he is the head ; and the *eacher offalse/iood, he is the tail (ix. 13, 14). 629. The imputation which belongs to the faith of the present day is said t(i be twofold ; but it is not twofold like God and mercy toward all, but like God and mercy toward some ; or not like a parent and his love toward all his chil- dren, but like a parent and his love toward one or another of them ; or not like the Divine law and its command to all, but the Divine law and its command to a few. Where- fore one kind of doubleness is extended and undivided, but the other is restricted and divided ; and the latter is double- ness, but the other is oneness. For it is taught that the imputation of Christ's merit is from arbitrary election, and that to those [so elected] there is an imputation of salva- tion (salus), thus that some are adopted and the rest re- jected ; which would be as if God were to lift some up into 846 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. Abraham's bosom, and give others over as food to the devil ; when yet the truth is, that the Lord rejects and gives up no one, but that the man himself does this. 630. It may be added that the imputation of the day deprives man of all power coming from any free-will in spiritual things, and does not leave him enough to enable him to brush fire from his clothing and keep his body from harm, or to put out the fire by pouring on water when his house is burning, and thus save his family ; when yet the Word gives its teaching from beginning to end in order that every one may shun evils because they are the devil's and are from the devil, and do goods because they are God's and are from God, and teaches that he is to do this of himself, the Lord working. But the imputation of the day denounces the power to do this as destructive to faith and hence to salvation, in order that nothing belonging to man may enter the imputation, and so the merit of Christ ; from which established [dogma of imputation] has flowed forth this satanic one, that man is absolutely without power in spiritual things, which is like saying, " Go along, although you have no feet, not even one ; wash yourself, and yet both your hands are cut off ; " or, " Do good, but sleep ; " or, " Feed yourself, but you have no tongue ; " and it is also as if a will were given which is not a will. Can he not then say, " I am no more able than Lot's wife as a pillar of salt, or than Dagon the god of the Philistines when the ark of God was introduced into his house ; I am afraid that my head may be torn off as his was, and the palms of my hands thrown upon the threshold (i Sam. V. 4) ; nor have I any more power than Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron, who, according to the signification of his name, can only drive away flies." That at this day there is believed to be such impotency in spiritual things, may be seen above (n. 464) from the extracts respecting free-will. 631. As to the first part of the doubleness of that im- putation respecting the saving {salvatid) of men, which is, No. 631.] IMPUTATION. 847 the arbitrary imputation of Christ's merit, and the imputa- tion of salvation (sa/us) thereby, the dogmatists differ ; some teaching that the imputation is absolute from free power, and is made to those whose external or internal form is well pleasing ; and some, that imputation is made from foreknowledge to those in whom grace has been infused, and to whom this faith can be applied. But still these two opinions aim at one goal, and they are like the two eyes which have one stone for their object, or the two ears that have as their object one song. At the first view it seems as if they depart from each other, but still in the end they join and act together. For since complete im- potence in spiritual things is taught on both sides, and every thing belonging to man is excluded from faith, it follows that this grace which is receptive of faith, whether infused arbitrarily or infused from foreknowledge, is alike election ; for if that which is called preventing [or preced- ing] grace were universal, application on man's part from some power of his own would come in, which, nevertheless, is rejected as leprous. Hence it is that no one knows any more than a stock or a stone (such as he was when it was infused), whether he has from grace been gifted with that faith or not ; for there is no sign attesting it, when charity, piety, the desire of a new life, and the free faculty of doing good as he does evil, are denied to man. The signs that are brought forward as attesting that this faith is in man, are all ludicrous, and not unlike the auguries of the an- cients, from the flight of birds, or the determination of differences by the astrologers from the stars, or by players from dice. Such things, and others still more ridiculous, follow from [the dogma of] the Lord's imputed righteous- ness, which together with faith, which is called that right- eousness, is [said to be] communicated to the man who is elected. 848 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL III. The Faith which is imputative of the Merit and Righteousness of Christ the Redeemer, first AROSE from the DECREES OF THE COUNCIL OF Nice, concerning three Divine Persons from ETERNITY, WHICH FaITH HAS BEEN RECEIVED BY THE WHOLE CHRISTIAN WORLD FROM THAT TIME TO THE PRESENT. 632. As to the Nicene Council itself ; it was convoked by the emperor Constantine the Great, by the advice of Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, all the bishops in Asia, Africa, and Europe being summoned to compose it ; and was held in his palace at Nice, a city in Bithynia. Its object was to overthrow and condemn, from the sacred writings, the heresy of Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, who denied the Divinity of Jesus Christ. This took place in the year of Christ 325.* The members of that council decided that there were from eternity three Divine per- sons, — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; as is evident es- pecially from the two creeds called the Nicene and the Athanasian. In the Nicene creed we read ; " I believe in one God the Father, omnipotent, Maker of heaven and earth ; and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten of the Father, born before all ages, God from God, consubstantial with the Father, Who descended from the heavens and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit from the virgin Mary ; and in the Holy Spirit, Lord and Vivifier, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, and Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified." In the Athanasian creed is the following : " The Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in a Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the person nor separating the substance. But as we are com- * There is an error, probably typographical, in the date as given in the original Latin. It was corrected in the reprint. No. 633.] IMPUTATION. 849 pelled by the Christian verity to confess each Person sep- arately, God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to say three Gods or three Lords." That is, men may confess, but not say, three Gods and Lords ; may not say so because religion forbids it, but may confess them because the truth so dictates. This Athanasian creed was written out immediately after the holding of the Nicene Council, by one or more of those who had been present, and it was also accepted as oecumenical or catholic. It is manifest from this that it was then decreed that three Divine persons from eternity ought to be acknowledged ; and that although each person singly by himself was God, still they ought not to be called three Gods and Lords, but one. 633. That the faith of three Divine persons has been received from that time, and has been confirmed and preached by all bishops, hierarchs, church rulers, and presbyters, up to the present, is well known in the Chris- tian world ; and because a mental persuasion of there being three Gods has emanated therefrom, no other faith could be devised than one that might be applied to those three in their order ; which is, that God the Father must be approached and implored to impute His Son's righteous- ness, or to show mercy on account of His Son's passion on the cross, and to send the Holy Spirit to work the mediate and the ultimate effects of salvation. This faith is a birth from those two creeds ; but when the swaddling- clothes are removed, there comes to view not one but three, at first joined together as it were in an embrace, but presently separated ; for it is declared that essence joins them together, but peculiar properties, which are creation, redemption, operation (or imputation, imputed righteous- ness, and making this effectual), separate them. And for this reason, although they have composed one God out of three, yet still they have not made a one out of the three persons ; [and they would not do this] for the reason that the 850 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. idea of three Gods was not to be obliterated ; for [it is not obliterated] while each person singly is believed to be God, as stated in the creed ; if then, as a consequence, the three persons were made one, the whole house built upon the three as columns would fall into a heap. The reason why that council introduced [the dogma of] three Divine per- sons from eternity, was because they did not rightly search the Word, and therefore they found no other refuge from the Arians. That they afterward combined into one God those three persons, each one of whom is God by himself, was from a fear that they should be regarded as guilty of a belief in three Gods, and reproached for it by every rational religious person in the three grand divisions of the globe. They taught a faith applied to the three in their order, because no other faith flows from that prin- ciple ; to which it is to be added, if one of the three were passed by, the third would not be sent, and so every oper- ation of Divine grace would come to nought. 634. But the truth must be told. When a belief in three Gods was introduced into the Christian churches, which was done at the time of the Nicene Council, they banished all the good of charity and all the truth of faith, for these two are wholly inconsistent with the mental worship of three Gods and the oral worship at the same time of one God ; for the mind denies what the mouth says, and the mouth denies what the mind thinks ; the result is that there is no belief either in three Gods or in one. From this it is manifest that from that time the Christian temple has not only cracked open, but has fallen to ruins ; and that from that time the pit of the abyss has been open, from which has ascended smoke like that of a great furnace, and the sun and the air have been darkened thereby, and from it locusts have gone forth open the earth (Apoc. ix. 2, 3). See the explanation of these things in the " Apocalypse Revealed." Yes, from that time the desolation foretold by Daniel has begun and has increased (Matt. xxiv. 15), No. 635-1 IMPUTATION. 85 1 and to that faith and the huputation thereof the eagles have gathered together (verse 28 of the same chapter) ; eagles there mean the lynx-eyed leaders of the church. It may be said that the council in which so many bishops and laurelled men sat together passed its decree by unanimous vote ; but what confidence can be placed in councils, when Roman Cathchc councils, also by unanimous vote, estab- lished the vicarship of the pope, the invocation of saints, the worship of images and bones, the division of the holy eucharist, purgatory, indulgences, and so on ? And what confidence can be placed in councils, when that of Dort, also by unanimous vote, decreed a detestable predestina- tion, and exalted it as the palladium of religion ? But, my reader, believe not in councils, but in the holy Word, and go to the Lord, and you will be enlightened ; for He is the Word, that is, the Divine Truth therein. 635. Finally, this arcanum shall be disclosed : in seven chapters in the Apocalypse the consummation of the present church is described, much as the devastation of Eg)^pt is described ; and both are described by similar plagues, each one of which spiritually signifies some falsity which con- tinued its devastation even to destruction ; therefore also the present church which at this day has been destroyed, is called Egypt, spiritually understood (Apoc. xi. 8). The plagues of Eg)^pt were the following : the waters were turned into blood, so that every fish died, and the river stank (Ex. vii.) ; a similar statement is made in the Apocalypse (viii. 8 ; xvi. 3) ; the blood signifies Divine truth falsified, see "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 379, 404, 681, 687, 688); and the fishes which then died signify the truths in the natural man, likewise [falsified] (n. 290, 405). Frogs were brought upon the land of Eg}'pt (Ex. viii.) ; something is also said of frogs in the Apocalypse (xvi. 13) ; frogs signify reasonings from the desire of falsifying truths, see the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 702). In Egypt noisome sores were brought upon both man and beast (Ex. ix.) ; 852 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XT. the same is said in the Apocalypse (xvi. 2) ; sores signify interior evils and falsities destructive of good and truth in the church, see the "Apocalypse Revealed " (n. 678). In Egypt there was hail mingled with fire (Ex. ix.) ; the same is spoken of in the Apocalypse (viii. 7; xvi. 21); hail signifies infernal falsity, see the " Apocalypse Revealed " (n. 399, 714). The locust was sent upon Egypt (Ex. x.) ; the same is spoken of in the Apocalypse (ix. i-ii) ; locusts signify falsities in outermosts, see the " Apocalypse Re- vealed " (n. 424, 430). Great darkness was brought upon Egypt (Ex. X.) ; so in the Apocalypse (viii. 12) ; darkness signifies falsities arising either from ignorance, or from falsities of religion, or from evils of life, see the " Apo- calypse Revealed" (n. no, 413, 695). Finally, the Egyp- tians perished in the Red Sea (Ex. xiv.) ; but in the Apocalypse (xix. 20; xx. 10), the dragon and the false prophet were cast into the lake of fire and brimstone ; both the Red Sea and that lake signify hell. Similar things are said of Eg}fpt and of the church whose consummation and end are described in the Apocalypse, because Egypt means a church which in its beginning was pre-eminent ; where- fore Egypt, before its church was devastated, is compared to the garden of Eden and the garden of Jehovah (Gen. xiii. 10 ; Ez. xxxi. 8) ; and is also called the corner-stone of the tribes, the son of the wise, and of the kings of old (Isa. xix. II, 13). More respecting Egypt in its primeval and in its devastated state may be seen in the " Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 503). IV. The Faith imputative of Christ's Merit was un- known IN the Apostolic Church, which existed EARLIER, and IS NOWHERE MEANT IN THE WORD. 636. The church which existed before the Nicene Coun- cil has been called the Apostolic church. That it was extensive, and was spread over the three parts of the globe, No. 637] IMPUTATION. 853 Asia, Africa, and Europe, is evident from this, — that the emperor Constantine the Great was a Christian and a zealot for religion, and his dominion extended not only over many kingdoms of Europe that were afterwards sep- arated, but also over the neighboring countries outside of Europe ; therefore as before stated, he assembled bishops from Asia, from Africa, and from Europe, in his palace at Nice, a city of Bithynia, that he might banish from his empire the scandalous dogmas of Arius. This was done of the Lord's Divine Providence, since if the Divinity is denied, the Christian church is left without life, and be- comes like a sepulchre adorned with the epitaph, '■'' Here lies" &c. The church that existed before this time has been called Apostolic, and its distinguished writers have been called the Fathers ; and the true Christians called one another brethren. That this church did not acknowl- edge three Divine persons, and therefore acknowledged no Son of God born from eternity, but only the Son of God born in time, is evident from their creed, which from their church has been called the Apostles' Creed, where the following words are read : " I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth ; and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of the saints." - It is manifest from this that they acknowledge no other Son of God than the One conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary, and by no means any Son of God born from eternity. This creed, like the two others, has been acknowledged as purely catholic by the whole Christian church, to the present day. 637. That in that primeval time all in what was then the Christian world acknowledged that the Lord Jesus Christ was God, to Whom was given all potver in heaven and earth, ax\d power over all flesh, according to His own express words (Matt, xxviii. 18 ; John xvii. 2) ; and that they believed in 854 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. Him according to His commandment from God the Father (John iii. 15, 16, 36 ; vi. 40 ; xi. 25, 26), — this is also very- evident from the convoking of all the bishops by the em- peror Constantrne the Great, in order that they might from the sacred writings convict and condemn Arius and his followers, who denied the Divinity of the Lord the Saviour born of the virgin Mary. This indeed they did, but trying to escape the wolf they came upon the lion, or, according to the proverb, in their desire to avoid Charybdis they ran upon Scylla ; they did so by the figment of a Son of God from eternity. Who descended and assumed Humanity; believing that they thus vindicated the Lord's Divinity and restored it to Him, and not knowing that God Himself the Creator of the universe descended in order to become the Redeemer, and thus Creator anew, according to these plain declarations in the Old Testament : Isa. xxv. 9 ; xi. 3, 5, 10, 11 ; xliii. 14; xliv. 6, 24; xlvii. 4; xlviii. 17; xlix. 7, 26 ; Ix. 16 ; Ixiii. 16; Jer. 1. 34; Hos. xiii. 4; Ps. xix. 14; to which add John i. 14. 638. That Apostolic church which worshipped the Lord God Jesus Christ, and at the same time God the Father in Him, may be likened to the garden of God, and Arius who then arose to the serpent sent from hell, and the Nicene Council to Adam's wife who offered the fruit to her husband and persuaded him to eat it, and after eating it they appeared to themselves to be naked, and covered their nakedness wjth fig-leaves. By their nakedness is meant the innocence in which they were before ; and by fig-leaves, truths of the natural man which were falsified in succession. That primitive church may also be com- pared to the dawn and morning, from which the day advanced to the tenth hour ; but then a dense cloud inter- vened, under which the day went on to evening, and after- ward to night, in which the moon arose for some ; there were those who, by its light [iumen'\ saw something from the Word, but the others went on into the thick darkness of No. 639] IMPUTATION. 855 night SO far that they saw nothing of Divinity in the Lord's Humanity, although Paul says that in Jesus Christ dwelkth all tke fulness of the Godhead (or Divinity) bodily (Coloss. ii. 9), and John, that the Son of God sent into the world is the true God and eternal Life (i John v. 20, 21). The primi- tive or Apostolic church never could have divined that a church was to follow which would worship more Gods than one in heart, and one with the lips ; which would separate charity from faith, the remission of sins from repentance and the pursuit of a new life ; which would introduce [the dogma of man's] utter impotence in spir- itual things ; and, least of all, that an Arius would lift up his head, and when dead would rise again, and secretly rule even to the end. 639. That no faith imputative of Christ's merit was meant in the Word, is clearly manifest from this, — that this faith was not known in the church till after the Nicene Council in- troduced the [dogma of] three Divine persons from eternity. And when this faith was introduced, and pervaded the whole Christian world, all other faith was cast into the shade ; wherefore, whoever then reads the Word, and sees faith, imputation, and Christ's merit, falls of himself into that which he has believed to be the one only thing ; like one who sees what is written on a single page, and stops there, not turning the leaf and seeing something else. Or as one who persuades himself that a certain thing though false is true and who confirms that only, then sees falsity as truth and truth as falsity ; he would afterward set the teeth and hiss at every one opposing it, and say, " You do not understand." The man's whole mind is in it, covered over with a thickened skin that rejects as heterodox every thing that is not consonant with his so-called orthodoxy; for his memory is like a tablet upon w'hich is written this one thing that rules in theology ; if any thing else enters there is no room for its insertion, and he therefore ejects it as the mouth does froth. For example, say to a con- 856 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL firmed naturalist, who believes that nature created itself, or that God came into existence after nature, or that nature and God are one, that the very reverse is the truth, and would he not look upon you as one deluded by the fables of the presbyters, or as simple, or as stupid, or as deranged ? It is the same with all things that are fixed by persuasion and confirmation ; they appear at last like pictured tap- estry fastened with many nails to a wall laid with crumbling stones. V. The Imputation of Christ's Merit and Righteous- ness IS IMPOSSIBLE. . 640. That it may be known that the imputation of the merit and righteousness of Jesus Christ is impossible, it is necessary to know what His merit and righteousness are. The merit of the Lord our Saviour is redemption, the nature of which may be seen in its proper chapter above (n. 1 14-133), where it is described as the subjugation of the hells, the orderly arrangement of the heavens, and the subsequent establishment of a church, and thus as being a work purely Divine. It is also shown there that the Lord by redemption entered into the power of regenerating and saving those who believe in Him and do His precepts, and that without this redemption no flesh could have been saved. Now since redemption was a work purely Divine, and of the Lord alone, and since this is His merit, it follows that His merit cannot be applied, ascribed and imputed to any man, any more than the creation and pres- ervation of the universe. Redemption also was a kind of new creation of the angelic heaven, and likewise of the church. That the present church attributes that merit of the Lord the Redeemer to those who from grace obtain faith, is manifest from their dogmas, among which this is chief. For it is said by the hierarchs of this church and by their subordinates, both in the Roman Catholic and in No. 641.] IMPUTATION. 857 the Reformed churches, thai by the imputation of Christ's merit they who have obtained faith are not only reputed just and holy, but that they also are such; and that their sins are not sins in God's sight, because they are remitted, and they themselves are justified, that is, reconciled, re- newed, regenerated, sanctified, and enrolled for h'eaven. That the whole Christian church teaches these same things to-day, is clearly evident from the Council of Trent, the Augustan or Augsburg confessions, and from the com- ments appended and received with the same. From what has been said above, when transferred to that faith, what follows but that the possession of this faith is that merit and that righteousness of the Lord, consequently that its possessor is Christ in another person ? for it is said that Christ Himself is Righteousness, and that that faith is righteousness, and that imputation (by which is also meant ascription and application) causes men not only to be re- puted just and holy, but to be so in reality. To imputation, application, and ascription, only add transcription, and you will be a vicarious pope. 641. Since, therefore, the Lord's merit and righteousness are purely Divine, and as things purely Divine are such that if they were applied and ascribed man would instantly die, and like a log of wood cast into the naked sun would be so consumed that hardly a particle of ashes would be left of him, therefore the Lord approaches angels and men with His Divine by means of light tempered and moder- ated to the capacity and the quality of each one, thus through what is made adequate and accommodated ; and in like manner by heat. In the spiritual world there is a Sun, in the midst of which is the Lord. From that Sun He inflows by light and heat into the whole spiritual world and into all who are there ; all the light and all the heat there are from this source. From that Sun, and with the same light and the same heat, the Lord also inflows into the souls and the minds of men. That heat in its essence 858 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL is His Divine Love, and that light in its essence is His Divine Wisdom. The Lord adapts this light and that heat to the capacity and the quality of the recipient angel and man, which is done by means of spiritual auras or atmos- pheres that convey and transfer them. The Divine itself which'immediately encompasses the Lord makes that Sun. This Sun is distant from the angels as the sun of the natural world is from men, so that it may not touch them without a covering, and thus immediately; for otherwise they would be consumed, like a log of wood cast into the naked sun, as said before. It may be evident from this that the Lord's merit and righteousness, because they ara purely Divine things, cannot possibly be brought by impu- tation into any angel' or man; yes, if any thing distilling therefrom and not thus moderated, as was said, were 10 touch them, they would forthwith writhe as if struggling with death, with cramp in the feet, with staring of the eyes, and would become lifeless. In the Israelitish church this was made known by their being told that no one can see God and live. Moreover the Sun of the spiritual world, such as it is since Jehovah God assumed the Human and joined to it Redemption and a new Righteousness, is described by these words in Isaiah : The light of the Sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day in which yehovah shall bind up the breach of His people (xxx. 26). This chapter from beginning to end treats of the Lord's Coming. What would take place if the Lord were to come down and draw near to any impious person, is also described by the following in the Apocalypse : They hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountaifis, and said to the mountains and rocks, Hide us from the face of Him That sitteth on the throne, and frojn the wrath of the Lamb (vi. 15, 16). It is said, the wrath of the Lamb, because their terror and torment when the Lord draws near so ap- pear to them. The same again may be clearly inferred from this, that if any wicked person is admitted into No. 642.] IMPUTATION. 859 heaven where charity and faith in the Lord reign, thick darkness comes over his eyes, giddiness and madness come upon his mind, pain and torment upon his body, and he becomes as if without Ufe. What then if the Lord Him- self, with His Divine merit which is redemption and with His Divine righteousness, were to enter into man ? The apostle John himself could not bear the presence of the Lord, for we read that when he saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven candlesticks^ he fell at his feet as one dead (Apoc. i. 17). 642. In the decrees of the Councils and in the articles of die Confessions to which the Reformed make oath, it is said that God justifies the wicked man by means of the merit of Christ infused into him ; when yet the good of any angel even cannot be communicated to any wicked man, still less conjoined with him, without being thrown back and rebounding like an elastic ball thrown against a wall, or swallowed up like a diamond put in a marsh ; yes, if any thing truly good were pressed upon him, it would be as if a pearl were fastened to a swine's snout. For who does not know that clemency cannot be introduced into unmer- cifulness, innocence into vindictiveness, love into hatred, or concord into discord, which would be like commingling heaven and hell ? The man who has not been born again is as to his spirit like a panther or an owl, and may be likened to a thorn-bush and a nettle ; while the man who has been born again is like a sheep or a dove, and may be likened to an olive-tree or a vine. Consider, I pray, if you will, how a man-panther can be converted into a sheep, or an owl into a dove, or a thorn-bush into an olive-tree, or a nettle into a vine, by any imputation, ascription, or appli(?a- tion of the Divine righteousness, which would damn rather than justify him. In order that the conversion may take place, must not the ferine nature of the panther and the owl, or the noxious quality of the thorn-bush and the nettle, first be taken away, and what is truly human and 860 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. harmless implanted in its stead ? How this is effected the Lord also teaches in John (xv. 1-7). VI. There is an Imputation, but it is that of Good AND Evil, and at the same time of Faith. 643. That there is an imputation of good and evil, which is what is meant where imputation is named in the Word, is evident from innumerable passages therein, which indeed have in part been adduced before ; but that every one maybe made certain that there is no other imputation, some passages from the Word shall be presented here also as follows : The Son of Man shall come, and then He shall reward every one according to his deeds (Matt. xvi. 27). They shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrec- tion of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation (John v. 29). A book was opened, which is the book of life, and they were judged every man according to their works (^K'^oc. xx. 12, 13). Behold, I come quickly and My reward is with Me, to give every man according to his work (Apoc. xxii. 1 2). / will visit according to his ways, and I will reward him his works (Hos. iv. 9 ; Zech. i, 6 ; Jer. XXV. 14 ; xxxii, 19). In the day of wrath and of His righteous judgment, God will render to every man according to his deeds (Rom. ii, 5, 6). We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad (2 Cor. v. 10). There was no other law of imputation in the beginning of the church, nor will there be any other at its end. That there was no other at the beginning of the church, is manifest from the case of Adam and his wife, that they were condemned because they did evil in eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. ii. iii.) ; and that there will be no other at the end of the church, is manifest from these words of the Lord : When the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His No. 644-] IMPUTATION. 86 1 Father^ then shall He sit upon the throne oj His glory ; and He shall say to the sheep on His right hand. Come ye blessed, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ; for I was a-hungered and ye gave Me fneat ; I was thirsty and ye gave Me drink ; I was a stranger and ye took Me in ; naked and ye clothed Me ; I was sick and ye visited Me; I was i7i prison and ye came unto Me. But to the goats on His left, because they had not done good, He said, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, pre- pared for the devil and his angels (Matt. xxv. 3 1-41). From these passages any one with his eyes open may see that there is an imputation of good and evil. There is an im- putation of faith also, because charity which is of good and faith which is of truth are together in good works ; and that unless they are together the works are not good, may be seen above (n. 373-377). Therefore James says : Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offei'ed his son upon the altar 1 Seest thou how faith wrought with the works, and from works was faith known as perfect 1 And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham be- lieved God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness (Epistle, ii. 21-23). 644. The reason why the prelates of the Christian churches, and hence their subordinates, by imputation in the Word have understood the imputation of faith on which the righteousness and merit of Christ have been inscribed, and thus ascribed to man, is, that for fourteen centuries, that is since the time of the Nicene Council, they have not wished to know of any other faith. Wherefore this alone has had its seat in their memory and consequently in their minds, as if organized there ; and from that time this has supplied a light, like that of a fire in the night time, from which the faith has been seen as if it were true theology itself, on which all other things are dependent in a linked series, and these would fall asunder if that head or pillar were removed. Wherefore if they were to think of any other 862 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. than this imputative faith while reading the Word, that light together with all their theology would be extinguished, and a darkness would arise from which the whole Christian church would vanish. It has therefore been left to them like the stump of roots in the earth, the tree being hewti down and destroyed, left until seven times pass over (Dan. iv. 23). Who among the confirmed leaders of the church at this day- does not, when that faith is attacked, close his ears as with cotton so as to hear nothing against it } But, my reader, open your ears, and read the Word, and you will have a clear perception of a faith and an imputation other than those of which you have hitherto persuaded yourself. 645. It is wonderful, that although the Word from be- ginning to end is full of testimonies and proofs that to every man is imputed his own good or evil, still the dog- matical teachers of the Christian religion have so closed their ears as if with wax, and have so besmeared their eyes as if with eye-salve, that they have not heard or seen, and do not now hear or see, any imputation but that of their own above-named faith. And yet this faith may be justly compared to the disease of the eye called gutta serena (indeed this faith deserves to be so named), which is an absolute blindness of the eye, arising from an obstruction of the optic nerve, while yet the eye appears as if its sight were perfect. So also those who are in that faith walk as if with open eyes, and seem to others to see all things, when yet they see nothing ; since the man knows nothing about this faith while it is entering him, for he is then like a stock ; neither does he know afterward whether it is in him, nor does he know whether there is any thing in it. And afterward they see, and this too as with clear eyes, this faith in travail and bringing forth the noble offspring of justification, that is to say forgiveness of sins, vivification, renewal, regeneration, and sanctification ; when yet they have not seen and they cannot see a sign of any one of them. No. 646.] IMPUTATION. 863 646. That the good which is charity, and the evil which is iniquity, are imputed after death, has been proved to me by all my experience in relation to the lot of those who pass from this to the other world. After he has waited there for some days, every one is examined to ascertain his quality, thus what he was in respect to religion in the former world ; when this has been done, the examiners carry back their report to heaven, and then he is transferred to those who are like him, and thus to his own ; imputation is thus made. That there is an imputation of good to all who are in heaven, and of evil to all who are in hell, was made manifest to me from the arrangement of both by the Lord. All heaven is arranged in societies according to all the varieties of the love of good, and all hell according to all the varieties of the love of evil. The church on earth is arranged by the Lord in like manner, for it corresponds to heaven ; its religion is the good. Moreover ask any one you please who is endowed with religion and at the same time with reason, whether from this or from one of the other two divisions of the globe, who he believes will go to heaven and who to hell, and the unanimous answer will be, that they who do good will go to heaven, and they who do evil to hell. Furthermore, who does not know that every true man loves a man, a company of many men, a state, and a kingdom, from their good? yes, not only men, but also beasts, and even inanimate things, such as houses, posses- sions, fields, gardens, trees, forests, lands, metals even, and stones, for their goodness and use ; good and use are one. Why should not the Lord love man and the church from good ? 864 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL VII. The Faith and Imputation of the New Church CAN BY NO MEANS BE TOGETHER WITH THE FaITH AND Imputation of the former Church; and IF they are together, such Collision and Con- flict result, that every thing of the Church with Man perishes. 647. The faith and imputation of the New Church can- not be together with the faith and imputation of the former church, or that which still remains, because they do not agree in a third or even a tenth part. For the faith of the former church teaches that three Divine persons have ex- isted from eternity, each of them singly or by Himself being God, and so many Creators also : but the faith of the New Church is, that there has been but one Divine Person, thus one God, from eternity, and that there is no other God beside Him. Thus the faith of the former church has taught a Divine Trinity divided into three persons, while that of the New Church teaches a Divine Trinity united in one Person. The faith of the former church has been in an invisible God, inaccessible, and with whom there could be no conjunction, and concerning whom the idea has been like that of spirit, which is like that of ether or wind : but the faith of the New Church is in a visible God, accessible, and with Whom there can be conjunction, in Whom, as the soul in the body, is the invisible God, inaccessible, and with Whom there cannot be conjunction ; the idea of Whom is that of a Man, because the one God Who was from eternity became Man in time. The faith of the former church at- tributes all power to the invisible God, and denies it to the visible ; for it teaches that God the Father imputes faith, and through it bestows eternal life; and that the visible God intercedes only ; and that both give (or, according to the Greek church, God the Father gives) to the Holy Spirit,' Who is by Himself the third God in order, all power to No. 64S.] IMPUTATION. 865 work out the effects of that faith: but the faith of the New Church attributes to the visible God in Whom is the invisi- ble all power to impute, and also to work out the effects of salvation [sa/us]. The faith of the former church is in God the Creator primarily, and not at the same time in Him as Redeemer and Saviour : while the faith of the New Church is in one God Who is at once Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour. The faith of the former church is, that repent- ance, remission of sins, renewal, regeneration, sanctifica- tion, and salvation, of themselves follow the faith that is given and imputed, without any thing of man's being com- mingled or conjoined with them : but the faith of the New Church teaches repentance, reformation, regeneration, and thus remission of sins, with man's co-operation. The faith of the former church teaches the imputation of Christ's merit, and that the imputation is embraced in the faith that is given : but the faith of the New Church teaches the imputation of good and evil, and at the same time of faith, and that this imputation is according to the Sacred Script- ure, while the other is contrary to it. The former church teaches that faith in which is the merit of Christ is bestowed while man is like a stock and a stone ; and it also teaches man's utter impotence in spiritual things : but the New Church teaches a wholly different faith, which is not a faith in the merit of Christ, but in Jesus Christ Himself, God, Redeemer, and Saviour, and free-will on man's part both to apply himself for reception and for co-operating. The former church adjoins charity as an appendage to its faith, but not as saving, and so it makes religion : the New Church, however, conjoins faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor as two inseparable things, and so it makes religion. They disagree in many other things. 648. From this brief review of the points of discordance or disagreement between them, it is manifest that the faith and imputation of the New Church cannot by any means be together with the faith and imputation of the former 866 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI church, or that which still remains ; and because there is such a discord and disagreement between the faith and imputation of one church and those of the other, they are totally heterogeneous ; wherefore if they were together in a man's mind, there would result such collision and con- flict that every thing of the church would perish, and in spiritual things the man would fall into a delirium or into a swoon, so that he would not know what the church is, or whether there is a church. The faith of the former church, because it excludes all the light coming from reason, may be likened to an owl ; while the faith of the New Church may be likened to a dove which flies by day and sees by the light of heaven. Their conjunction in one mind would therefore be like the meeting of the owl and the dove in the same nes't, where the owl would lay her eggs and the dove hers, and after incubation the young birds would be hatched, and then the owl would tear the young of the dove to pieces and give them for food to her own young; for the owl is a voracious bird. As the faith of the former church is described in the Apocalypse (ch. xii.) by a dragon, and that of the New Church by a woman encompassed by the sun, upon whose head was a crown of twelve stars, it may be inferred from the comparison what the state of a man's mind would be if the two were together in one abode ; namely, that the dragon would stand near the woman when she was about to bring forth, with a mind [animus] to devour her offspring; and that after she fled into the wilderness he would follow her, and would cast out water like a flood upon her, that she might be swallowed up. 649. The result would be similar if any one were to embrace the faith of the New Church, and retain that of the former church respecting the imputation of the Lord's merit and righteousness ; for from this as a root have sprung up all the dogmas of the former church as offshoots. If this were to take place, it would be comparatively as if one should free himself from five of the dragon's horns, and let No. 650.] IMPUTATION. 86/ himself be caught by the other five ; or as if one should escape from a wolf and fall upon a tiger ; or as if one, on coming out of a pit with no water in it, should fall into one with water, where he would be drowned. For in such a case the man would easily return into all things of the former faith, and what these are has been shown above ; and then he would come into the damnable [falsity] that he imputed and applied to himself the Divine things of the Lord themselves, which are redemption and righteousness, and which may be adored but not applied. For if a man were to impute and apply those to himself, he would be consumed as if he were cast into the naked sun ; but he sees and he lives with the body from the light and the heat of this sun. That the Lord's merit is redemption, and that His redemption and His righteousness are the Divine things which cannot be conjoined with man, was shown above. Let every one beware, therefore, of the transcription of the imputation of the former church upon that of the new, inas- much as baneful results, which would be obstacles to his salvation, would arise from it. VIII. The Lord imputes Good to every Man, and Hell imputes Evil. 650. That the Lord imputes good to man and not any evil, and that the devil (by whom is meant hell) imputes evil to man and not any good, is new in the church ; it is new because it is frequently read in the Word that God is angry, takes vengeance, hates, damns, punishes, casts into hell, and tempts ; all of which are of evil and hence are evils. But that the sense of the letter of the Word is composed of such things as are called appearances and correspondences, in order that there may be a conjunction of the external church with the internal, thus of the world with heaven, has been shown in the chapter concerning the Sacred Scripture; and it is there shown also that when such 868 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. things in the Word are read, the appearances of truth while they pass from man to heaven are themselves turned into genuine truths, which are, that the Lord is never angry, never takes vengeance, hates, damns, punishes, casts into hell, or tempts, consequently does evil to no man. I have often observed this transmutation and turning in the spiritual world, 651. Reason itself assents to this, that the Lord cannot do evdl to any man, consequently cannot impute it to him, for He is Love itself, Mercy itself, thus Good itself, and these are of His Divine Essence ; wherefore to attribute evil or any thing belonging to evil to the Lord, would be contrary to His Divine Essence, and thus a contradiction, and this would be as inexpressibly wicked as to conjoin the Lord and the devil or heaven and hell, when yet there is a great gulf fixed between them, so that they who wish to pass from the latter to the former cannot, nor can they pass from the former to the latter (Luke xvi. 26). An angel of heaven, even, cannot do evil to any one, because the essence of good is in him from the Lord ; and on the other hand, a spirit of hell cannot but do evil to another, because the nature of evil is in him from the devil. The essence or nature which any one appropriated to himself in the world cannot be changed after death. Think, I pray, what the Lord would be if He were to look upon the wicked from anger, and upon the good from mercy (the evil numbering myriads of myriads, and the good likewise), and if from grace He were to save the good, and damn the evil from vengeance, and were to look on them with the eye so dif- ferent, gentle and stern, or mild and severe. What would the Lord God be then ? Who that has been instructed by preaching in the temples, does not know that all good which in itself is good is from God, and on the other hand, that all evil which in itself is evil is from the devil? If any man, therefore, were to receive both good and evil, good from the Lord and evil from the devil, both of them No. 652.] IMPUTATION. 869 with the will, would he not become neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, and therefore be spewed out, according to the Lord's words in the Apocalypse ? (iii, 15, 16.) 652. That the Lord imputes good to every man and evil to none, consequently that he does not adjudge any one to hell, but so far as man follows raises all to heaven, is evi- dent from His words : Jesus said. When lam lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto Myself (John xii. 32.) God sent not His Soti into the world to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believ- eth on Him is not judged, but he that believeth not is judged already (iii. 17, 18). If any man hath heard My words and yet hath not believed, I judge hi7n not ; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that despise th Me and receiveth not My words, hath OJie that judgeth him ; the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day (xii. 47, 48). Jesus said, I judge no man (viii. 15). By judgment here and elsewhere in the Word is meant adjudg- ment to hell, which is damnation ; while of salvation judg- ment is not predicated, but resurrection to life (John v. 24, 29 ; iii. 18). By the Word that shall judge, is meant truth, and the truth is that all evil is from hell, and thus that they are one ; wherefore when a wicked man is raised by the Lord toward heaven, his evil draws him down, and because he loves evil he follows of his own accord. It is also a truth in the Word that good is heaven ; wherefore when a good man is raised by the Lord toward heaven, he ascends as of his own accord, and is introduced. Such are said to be written in the book of life (Dan. xii. i ; Apoc. xiii. 8 ; xvii. 8; xxi. 27). There is actually a sphere elevating all to heaven, that proceeds continually from the Lord and fills the whole natural world and the whole spiritual world ; it is like a strong current in the ocean, which draws the ship in a hidden way. All those who believe in the Lord and live according to His precepts, enter that sphere or current and are lifted ; but they who do not believe are 8/0 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL unwilling to enter, but remove to the sides, and are there carried away by a stream that sets toward hell. 653. Who does not know that a lamb can act only as a lamb, and a sheep as a sheep? and, on the other hand, that a wolf can act only as a wolf, and a tiger as a tiger ? If those beasts were put together, would not the wolf de- vour the lamb, and the tiger the sheep ? Therefore there are shepherds to guard them. Who does not know that a spring of sweet water cannot from its vein send forth bitter waters, and that a good tree cannot yield evil fruit, that a vine cannot prick like a thorn, a lily cause burning like a brier, or a hyacinth repel with its sting like a thistle ? or the reverse. Those evil plants are therefore rooted from fields, vineyards, and gardens, and being gathered into heaps are cast into the fire. So is it done with the wicked flocking into the spiritual world, according to the Lord's words (Matt, xiii, 30 ; John xv. 6). The Lord also said to the Jews, O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak good things / A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things ; and an evil man ojit of the evil treasure brvigeth forth evil things (Matt. xii. 34, 35). IX. The Faith with that to which it conjoins itself, MAKES the Sentence. If true Faith conjoins itself with good, sentence is made for eternal Life; but if the Faith conjoins itself with Evil, Sentence is made for eternal Death. 654. The works of charity performed by a Christian and those done by a heathen, in outward form appear alike, for one like the other does the good deeds of civility and morality toward his fellow, which are in part similar to those of love toward the neighbor ; yes, both may give to the poor, aid the needy, listen to the preaching in tem- ples. But who can thereby decide whether or not those external goods are alike in their internal form, or whether No. 655.J IMPUTATION. 8/1 the natural are spiritual also ? Concerning this there can be no conclusion except from the faith, for faith gives them quality ; for it causes God to be in them, and con- joins them with itself in the internal man ; thereby natural good works become interiorly spiritual. That this is so may be seen more fully from what has been treated of in the chapter concerning Faith, where the following points are established : That faith is not living before it is conjoined with chanty ; That cha7-ity becomes spiritual frotn faith, and faith from charity ; That faith without charity, because it is not spiritual, is not faith ; and that charity without faith, because it is not living, is not charity ; That faith and charity apply and conjoin themselves to each other mutually and inter- changeably ; That the Lord, charity, and faith make one like life, will, ajid understandi?ig'; but if they are divided, each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder. 655. From what has been presented it may be seen that faith in the one and true God causes good to be good in internal form also ; and on the other hand, that faith in a false god causes good to be good in outward form only, which is not good in itself ; as was formerly the faith of the gentiles in Jove, Juno, and Apollo ; of the Philistines in Dagon, of others in Baal and Baal-peor, and of Balaam the magician in his god, and of the Egyptians in others. It is wholly different with faith in the Lord, Who is the true God and eternal Life, according to John (i Epistle, v. 20), and in Whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, according to Paul (Col. ii. 9). What is faith in Gad but a looking to Him, and hence His presence, and at the same time confidence that He gives aid ? And what is true faith but this, and at the same time a confidence that all good is from Him, and that He makes His good to be saving ? Wherefore if this faith conjoins itself with good, sentence is made for eternal life ; wholly other- wise if it does not conjoin itself with good, and especially if it conjoins itself with evil. 8/2 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. 656. Of what quality the conjunction of charity and faith is with those who believe in three Gods and yet say that they believe in one, was shown above ; namely that charity conjoins itself with faith in the external natural man only. This is because the mind is in the idea of three Gods, and the mouth makes confession of one ; wherefore if the mind at that moment were to pour itself forth into the confession of the lips, it would prevent the announce- ment of one God, but would open the lips and proclaim its three Gods. 657. That evil and faith in the one and true God cannot be together, any one may see from reason ; for evil is against God, and faith is for Him ; and evil is of the will, and faith is of the thought, and the will flows into the understanding and makes it think, not the understanding into the will ; the understanding merely teaches what is to be willed and done. Wherefore the good that is done by a man who has evil in the will, is in itself evil ; it is like a polished bone, the marrow of which is rotten ; it is like a player on the stage who personates a great man ; it is like the painted face of a worn-out harlot ; it is like a butterfly that flying about with its silver wings deposits its little eggs on the leaves of a good tree, whereby all its fruit is destroyed ; it is like a fragrant smoke from a poi- sonous herb ; yes, it is like a moral robber and a pious sycophant. Wherefore his good which in itself is evil is in a chamber within, Avhile his faith, walking about in the vestibule and reasoning, is a mere chimera, spectre, and bubble. From this is manifest the truth of the proposi- tion that faith makes sentence respecting the good and the evil which is conjoined with it. X. Thought is not imputed to any one, but Will. 658. Every man of learning knows that there are two faculties or parts of the mind, the will and the understand- No. 65S.] IMPUTATION. 873 ing; but few know how to distinguish them justly, examine their properties separately, and afterward to conjoin them. They who cannot do this, can form for themselves only the most obscure idea respecting the mind ; wherefore unless the properties of each by itself are first described, it is not comprehended that thought is not imputed to any one, but will. The properties of both are in brief the following: i. Love itself and the things belonging to it reside in the will ; and knowledge, intelligence, and wis- dom, in the understanding ; the will inspires these with its love, and works out favor and assent ; hence it is that the man is such as are the love and the intelligence therefrom. 2. From this it also follows that all good, and likewise all evil, is of the will ; for whatever proceeds from love is called good, even if it be evil ; for enjoyment, which makes the life of love, produces this ; by this enjoyment the will enters the understanding and produces consent. 3. The will is therefore the esse or the essence of man's life ; the understanding, however, is the existere or the existence therefrom. And as an essence is nothing unless in some form, so the will is nothing unless in the understanding ; wherefore the will forms itself in the understanding, and so goes forth into the light. 4. Love in the will is the end, and in the understanding it seeks and finds causes, by means of which it may move onward to the effect. And because the end is the purpose and this exercises intention, purpose is also of the will, and it enters the understanding by the intention, and prompts it to occupy itself with and to consider means, and to conclude on such as tend to effects. 5. All man's proprium \ownhood^^ is in the will, and this is evil from the first birth, but becomes good by the second. The first birth is from parents, but the second from the Lord. From these few statements it may be seen that the property of the will and the property of the under- standing are not the same, and that from creation they are conjoined like esse and existere ; consequently that man 2* 8/4 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL is man primarily from the will, and from the understanding secondaiily. Hence it is that will is imputed to man, but not thought ; consequently, evil and good, because these, as before said, reside ir the will and thence in the thought of the understanding. 659. No evil that a man thinks of, is imputed to him, because man has been so created that he can understand and hence think good or evil, good from the Lord and evil from hell ; for he is on middle ground, and from free-will in spiritual things he has the faculty of choosing one or the other. This free-will has been treated of in its own chap- ter. And because man has the faculty of choosing from freedom, he can will and not will ; and what he wishes is received by the will and is appropriated, while what he does not wish is not received and so is not appropriated. All the evils to which man inclines by birth are inscribed on the will of his natural man ; these inflow (so far as the man takes from them) into the thoughts ; in like manner goods with truths flow from above from the Lord into the thoughts ; and there they are balanced like weights in the scales of a balance. If the man then adopts the evils, they are received by the old will and add themselves to those [therein] ; but if he adopts the goods with the truths, a new will is formed and a new understanding above the old, and there the Lord successively implants new goods by means of truths, and by means of these He subjugates the evils which are below, and removes them, and disposes all things in order. From this it is also manifest that thought is the seat of purification and excretion of the evils resident in man from his parents ; wherefore if the evils that a man thinks of, were imputed, reformation and regeneration could not be effected. 660. Since good is of the will and truth is of the under- standing, and many things in the world correspond to good, such as fruit and use, while imputation itself cor- responds to the estimation and price, it follows that what No. 66i.] IMPUTATION. 875 has here been said of imputation may be compared with all created things ; for as before shown in various places, all things in the universe have relation to good and truth, and on the contrary to evil and falsity. A comparison may therefore be made with the church, that its value is reck- oned from charity and faith and not from the rituals which are adjoined. A comparison may also be made with the minister of the church, that his worth is estimated from his will and love and at the same time from his under- standing in spiritual things, and not from his affability and dress. There is also comparison with worship and with the temple in which it is offered ; worship itself takes place in the will, and in the understanding as in its temple ; and this temple is called holy not from itself but from the Divine that is there taught. And there is also comparison with a government where good reigns together with truth, which government is beloved ; but not where truth reigns, and not good. Who judges of a king by his attendants, horses, and carriages, and not by the royalty which they know to be in him ? The royalty belongs to the love and prudence in governing. In a triumph who does not regard the victor and from him the pomp, and not the victor from the pomp ? consequently the formal from the essential, and not the reverse ? The will is the essential, and the thought is the formal ; and no one can impute to the formal any thing but what it draws from the essential ; thus the impu- tation is to the latter, not to the former. 661. To this I will add two Relations. First : In the higher northern quarter near to the east in the spiritual world, there are places of instruction for boys, for youths, for men, and also for old men. All who have died infants, and who are being brought up in heaven, are sent to these places ; so, too, all who are new comers from the world, and desire cognitions concerning heaven and hell. That tract is near the east, in order that all may be instructed by influx from the Lord ; for the Lord is the East, because He is in the Sun d,y6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL there, which from Him is pure Love ; therefore the heat from that Sun in its essence is love, and the hght from it in its essence is wisdom. These are inspired into them by the Lord from that Sun, and are inspired ac- cording to reception, and reception is according to the love of being wise. After the periods of instruction, they who have become intelligent are sent out thence, and these are called disciples of the Lord. They are sent out thence first to the west, and those who do not remain there to the south, and some through the south to the east, and are introduced into the societies where their mansions are to be. Once, when meditating upon heaven and hell, I began to desire a universal cognition of the state of each, knowing that he who knows universals can afterward comprehend the particulars severally, because these are in them as parts are in the whole. With this desire I looked toward that tract in the northern quarter near the east, where the places of instruction were, and by a way then opened to me I went thither, and entered into a college where there were young men. And there I went to the head teachers who were giving instruction, and asked them whether they knew the universals concerning heaven and hell ; and they replied that they had some little knowledge of them; "but," said they, "if we look toward the east to the Lord, we shall be enlightened and shall know." They did so, and said, " The universals of hell are three ; but these are diametrically opposite to the universals of heaven. The universals of hell are these three loves : the love of ruling from the love of self, the love of possessing others' goods from the love of the world, and scortatory love. The universals of heaven opposite to those, are these three loves : the love of ruling from the love of use, the love of possessing the goods of the world from the love of performing uses by means of them, and love truly conjugial." When this had been said, after wishing them peace, I left them and returned home. When No. 66i.] IMPUTATION. 877 I was at home it was said to me out of heaven, " Survey those three universals, above and below, and afterward we shall see them in your hand." It was said in the hand, be- cause all things which a man surveys with the understand- ing appear to the angels as if written upon the hands. Therefore it is said in the Apocalypse that they received a mark on the forehead and in the hand (xiii. 16 j xiv. 9 ; XX. 4). After this I surveyed the first universal love of hell, which was the love of ruling from the love of self, and afterward the universal love of heaven corresponding with it, which was the love of ruling from the love of uses ; for I was not allowed to survey one love without the other, because the understanding does not perceive one without the other, for they are opposites ; therefore, in order that there may be a perception of both, they must be placed in contrast one against the other ; for a beautiful and well- formed face is brought out clearly when an ugly and ill- formed face is set in contrast. When I was considering the love of ruling from the love of self, it was given me to perceive that this love was in the highest degree infernal, and hence was with those who are in the deepest hell ; and that the love of ruling from the love of uses was in the highest degree heavenly, and hence with those who are in the highest heaven. The love of ruling from the love of self is in the highest degree infernal, because to rule from the love of self is to rule from proprium \own- hood\ and man's proprium is by birth evil itself, and evil itself is directly contrary to the Lord ; on which account, the more men advance into that evil the more they deny God and the holy things of the church, and adore them- selves and nature ; let those, I pray, who are in that evil examine it in themselves, and they will see. This love is also such that so far as loose rein is given it, which is done when impossibility does not stand in the way, it rushes on from step to step, and even to the highest ; neither does 8/8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. it stop there, but if a higher step does not offer, it is in pain and groans. With politicians this love goes higher and higher, even so that they wish to be kings and em- perors, and if possible to rule over all things in the world and be called kings of kings and emperors of emperors ; while among ecclesiastics the same love goes higher and higher, even so that they wish to be gods, and so far as possible to rule over all things of heaven and be called gods [of gods].* That these classes do not in heart ac- knowledge any God, will be seen in what follows. But, on the other hand, they who wish to rule from the love of uses do not wish to rule from themselves, but from the Lord, since the love of uses is from the Lord and is the Lord Himself. Such regard dignities only as means to perform uses, which they place far above dignities, while the others place dignities far above uses. While I was meditating upon these things it was said to me through an angel from the Lord, " Now you shall see, and from seeing it shall be proved to you, of what quality that infernal love is." Then the earth suddenly opened on the left, and I saw a devil coming up out of hell, having on his head a square cap pressed down over his forehead even to the eyes, a face covered with pustules like those of a burning fever, his eyes fierce, the breast swelling out into a rhomb ; from his mouth he belched smoke like a fur- nace, his loins were all on fire, instead of having feet the lower extremities were bony and without flesh ; and from his body there exhaled a foul-smelling and unclean heat. I was terrified at the sight of him, and cried out to him, " Do not come here ; tell me where you are from." He answered hoarsely, " I am from the lower regions, where I live in a society of two hundred, which is pre-eminent over all other societies. All of us there are emperors of emper- * The words within brackets are supplied from " Conjugial Love," n. 262. The corresponding Latin, deorujn, is found in pencil in the margin of Swedenborg's copy of this work, in his own handwriting. No. 66i.] IMPUTATION. 879 ors, kings of kings, dukes of dukes, and princes of princes ; there is no one there who is merely an emperor, king, duke, or prince ; we there sit on thrones of thrones, and send forth mandates into all the world, and beyond." I then said to him, " Do you not see that you are insane from fantasy about pre-eminence ? " And he replied, " How can you talk so ? for to ourselves we wholly seem to be such, and are also acknowledged as such by our compan- ions." On hearing this, I did not wish to say again, " You are insane," because he was so from fantasy ; and it was given me to know that that devil, when he lived in the world, was merely the steward of some house ; and that then he was so lifted up in spirit, that he despised the whole human race in comparison with himself, and in- dulged the fantasy that he was more worthy than a king, or an emperor even. Owing to this pride, he had denied God, and had accounted all the holy things of the church as of no concern to. him, but as something for the stupid common people. At length I asked him, " How long do you two hundred there thus glory among yourselves ? " He said, " For ever ; but those among us who torture others for denying* their pre-eminence sink down ; for we are allowed to glory, but not to bring evil upon any one." Again I asked, " Do you know the lot of those who sink down ? " He said, " They sink down into a certain prison, where they are called viler than the vile, or the vilest, and where they labor." I .then said to this devil, " Do you take heed, then, lest you sink down too." After this the earth again opened, but at the right ; and I saw another devil rising out, upon whose head was some- thing resembling a mitre, with a coil wound round it, like that of a snake, the head of which stood out from the crown ; his face was leprous from the forehead to the chin, as were both of his hands also ; the loins were bare, and black as soot, while through the blackness fire like that of a hearth showed itself duskily ; and the lower extremities 88o THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. were like two vipers. When he was seen, the former devil tJirew himself on his knees and worshipped him. I asked him why he did so. He answered, " He is god of heaven and earth, and has all power." I then asked the other, " What do you say to this ? " He replied, " What shall I say ? I have all power over heaven and hell ; the lot of all souls is in my hand." Again I asked, "How can he who is emperor of emperors humble himself so? and how can you receive his worship ? " His answer was, " He is still my servant ; what is an emperor in the sight of God? The thunderbolt of excommunication is in my right hand." And then I said to him, " How can you be so crazy ? In the world you were only an ecclesiastic ; and because you labored under the fantasy that you had the keys, and thus the power to bind and to loose, you have worked up your spirit to such a height of madness that you now believe that you are God Himself." Afigry at this, he swore that he was ; and that the Lord had no power in heaven " because " said he, " He has transferred it all to us ; we need but to command, and heaven and hell reverently obey ; if we send any one to hell, the devils at once receive him ; as do the angels him whom we send to heaven." I asked him further, " How many are you, in your society ? " He said, " Three hundred ; and all of us there are gods, but I am the god of gods." After this the earth opened beneath the feet of them both, and they sunk down deep into their hells. And it was given me to see that beneath their hells were work-houses, into which those would fall who do harm to others. For to every one in hell is left his own fantasy, and also freedom to glory in it ; but he is not allowed to do evil to another. Such they are there, because man is then in his spirit, and after the spirit is separated from the body it comes into full liberty to act according to its affections and the thoughts therefrom. It was afterward given me to look into their hells ; and the hell where the emperors of emperors and kings of kings No. 66I.J IMPUTATION. 88 1 were, was full of all uncleanness, and they seemed like wild beasts of various kinds, with fierce-looking eyes : so too in the other hell, where the gods and the god of gods were ; and in this there appeared direful birds of night, called ochitn and ijim, flying round them. So did the images of their fantasy appear to me. It was manifest from this, of what quality is political love of self, and of what quality is ecclesiastical love of self, — that the latter is that they wish to be gods, but the former, that they wish to be emperors ; and that they wish for this and long for it, so far as loose rein is given to those loves. After I had seen these sad and dreadful things, I looked round and saw two angels standing not far from me, and conversing ; one was clad in a woollen robe brilliant from a flamy purple glow, and a tunic of shining linen under it ; the other in similar garments of a scarlet color, with a mitre, on the right side of which were set some sparkling stones. I went toward them, and, with a salutation of peace, I reverently asked, " Why are you here below ? " And they replied, " We have come down hither from heaven at the Lord's command, to speak with you of the blessed lot of those who desire to rule from the love of uses. We are worshippers of the Lord ; I am the prince of a society, this one is the high priest there." The prince also said that he was a servant of his society, because he served it by performing uses ; and the other said that he was a minister of the church there, because in serving them he ministered holy things for the uses of their souls : also, that they both are in perpetual joys from the eternal happiness which is in them from the Lord ; and that all things in that society are splendid and magnificent, — splendid from gold and precious stones, and magnificent from palaces and paradises. It was also said, " This is because our love of ruling is not from the love of self, but from the love of uses ; and because the love of uses is from the Lord, all good uses in the heavens are resplen- 882 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. dent and refulgent ; and because in our society we are all in this love, there the atmosphere appears golden, from the light there which has its derivation from the flamy [element] of the Sun, and this corresponds to that love." At these words a similar sphere appeared also to me, en- circling them, and there was a sense of something aromatic from it, as I also told them, and begged them to add some- thing more to what they had said about the love of use. And they continued thus : " The dignities in which we are, we indeed sought, but only for the end that we might be more fully able to perform uses, and to extend them more widely. Honor also is poured upon us, and we accept it, not for our own sake, but for the good of the society ; for our brethren and companions there, who are of the common people, hardly know but that the honors of our dignities are in us, and thus that the uses we perform are from us. But we are sensible that it is otherwise ; we are sensible that the honors of the dignities are outside of ourselves, and are like garments with which we are clothed ; but that the uses which we fulfil are from the love of them that is within us from the Lord ; and this love finds its blessedness from communication with others by means of the uses. And we know by experience that, so far as we perform uses from the love of them, that love increases, and with it the wisdom from which communication is effected ; but that so far as we hold the uses in ourselves and do not communicate them, the blessedness perishes ; and then use becomes like food retained in the stomach, not like food which being generally diffused nourishes the body and its parts, but like that which remains undigested and causes nausea. In a word, all heaven is nothing but a containant of use, from firsts to lasts. What is use but actual love of the neighbor ? And what keeps the heavens together but this love ? " When I had heard this I asked, *' How can any one know whether he does uses from the love of self, or from the love of uses ? Every man, both ■im No. 662.] IMPUTATION. 883 good and bad, performs uses, and performs them from some love. Let it be supposed that there is in the world a society composed of devils only, also a society composed of angels only ; and I think that the devils in their society, from the fire of the love of self and from the splendor of their own glory, would perform as many uses as the angels in theirs. Who can know, therefore, from what love and from what origin uses are?" To this the two angels made answer : " Devils perform uses for the sake of themselves and of fame, that they may be exalted to honors, or may gain wealth ; but angels perform uses not for the sake of those things, but for the sake of the uses from love of them. Man cannot distinguish these uses from each other, but the Lord distinguishes them. Every one who believes in the Lord and shuns evils as sins, performs uses from the Lord ; but every one who does~ not believe in the Lord and does not shun evils as sins, performs uses from him- self and for his own sake. This is the distinction between uses performed by devils and those performed by angels." After this had been said the two angels went away, and in the distance they seemed to be carried in a chariot of fire like Elijah, and were taken up into their heaven. 662. Second Relation. After some time had elapsed, I entered a certain grove, and there walked about, medi- tating upon those who are in the lust, and hence in the fantasy, of possessing the things which are of the world ; and then I saw at some distance from me two angels con- versing together, and looking at me in return. I therefore drew nearer, and addressing me as I approached they said, " We perceive in ourselves that you are meditating on what we are talking about, or that we are talking of what you are meditating upon, which is owing to a recip- rocal communication of affections." I therefore asked of what they were talking ; and they said, " Of fantasy, lust, and intelligence ; and just now, concerning those who take delight in seeing and imagining themselves in possession 884 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL of all the things of the world," And I then asked them to express their mind respecting the three, — concerning lust, fantasy, and intelligence. And beginning their dis- course, they said that every one is from birth interiorly in lust, but from education exteriorly in intelligence ; and that no one is in intelligence, still less in wisdom, interiorly, thus as to the spirit, except from the Lord. " For," said they, " every one is withheld from the lust of evil, and kept in in- telligence, according to his looking to the Lord, and at the same time according to conjunction with Him ; without this, man is nothing but lust ; but still, in externals or as to the body he is in intelligence from education. For man lusts after honors and wealth, or eminence and opulence, and these two he does not reach unless he appear moral and spiritual, thus intelligent and wise ; and from infancy he learns to appear so. This is why he inverts his spirit as soon as he comes among men or into company, removing it from lust, and speaking and acting from the becoming and honorable things which he has learned from infancy and retains in the memory of the body ; and he is especially on his guard, that nothing from the madness of lust in which his spirit is may show itself. Hence every man who is not interiorly led by the Lord, is a pretender, a sycophant, a hypocrite, thus appearing as a man, and yet not a man ; of whom it may be said, that his shell or body is wise, but his kernel or spirit is insane ; also that his external is hu- man, but his internal ferine. Such persons look with the occiput upward but downward with the forehead ; thus they walk as if overcome with heaviness, the head hanging down, with the face turned toward the earth. When they put off the body and become spirits, and are then set free, they become the madnesses of their lust. For they who are in the love of self desire to rule over the universe, yes, to enlarge its borders that they may extend their dominion thither ; they nowhere see an end. They who are in the love of the world desire to possess all things belonging to No. 662.] IMPUTATION. 885 it, and they grieve and are envious if any treasures are hidden from them, laid up in others' stores. Wherefore, lest such should become merely lusts, and so not men, it is granted them in the spiritual world to think from fear of the loss of reputation, and thus of honor and gain, as also from fear of the law and its penalty ; and it is also granted them to apply the mind to some study or work, whereby they are kept in externals, and so in a state of intelligence, however delirious and insane they may be interiorly." After this I asked whether all those who are in lust are also in its fantasy. They answered that those are in the fantasy of their lust who think interiorly in themselves, and indulge the imagination excessively by talking to them- selves ; for these almost separate the spirit from connec- tion with the body, and from vision they inundate the understanding, and foolishly delight themselves as if from universal possession. Into this delirium is the man let after death who has abstracted his spirit from the body, and has been unwilling to recede from the delight of the delirium, by taking any thought from religion concerning evils and falsities, and still less concerning the unbridled love of self as being destructive of love to the Lord, and the unbridled love of the world as being destructive of love toward the neighbor. After this there came over the two angels, and myself also, a desire to see those who from the love of the world are in the visionary lust or the fantasy of possessing all wealth ; and we perceived that we were inspired with this desire in order that they might be known. Their places of abode were under the ground on which we stood, but above hell. We therefore looked at each other and said, '• Let us go." And an opening was seen, and a ladder there ; by this we descended, and we were told that they must be . approached from the east, that we might not enter the mist of their fantasy, and have the understanding beclouded, and at the same time the sight. And lo, a house was seen, built 886 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. of reeds, thus full of chinks, standing in the mist, which like smoke continually poured through the chinks in three of the walls. We entered, and there were seen fifty here and fifty there sitting on benches, and being turned away from the east and the south they were looking out toward the west and the north. Before each one was a table, and upon the table were purses filled full, and around the purses an abundance of gold coin. And we asked, " Is that the wealth of all in the world ? " They said, " Not of all in the world, but of all in the kingdom." Their speech had a hissing sound, and they were seen to have round faces having a ruddy glow like a cockle-shell, and the pupil of the eye as it were flashed in a field of green, which was from the light of fantasy. We stood in their midst and said, " You believe that you possess all the wealth of the kingdom." And they answered, "We do possess it." " Which of you ? " we then asked. They said, " Each one of us." And we asked, " How each one of you ? You are many." They said, " Each one of us knows, ' All his things are mine.' It is not lawful for any one to think, still less to say, ' My things are not yours ; ' but it is law- ful to think and say, * Your things are mine.' " The coin on the tables appeared as of pure gold even in our sight ; but when we let in light from the east they were granules of gold, which by their common united fantasy they thus magnified. They said that every one who comes in is obliged to bring with him some gold which they cut into little pieces, and these into granules, and by the force of fantasy from their unanimity they enlarge these into coins of larger form. And we then said, " Were you not born men of reason ? Whence has this visionary folly come upon you ? " They said, " We know that it is an imaginary vanity, but because it gives enjoyment to the interiors of our minds, we enter this place and are delighted as if from the possession of all things ; but we stay here a few hours only ; when these have passed we go out, and as often as ,-:)( No. 663.] IMPUTATION. 88y we do so a sound mind comes back to us ; but still our visionary diversion comes upon us in its turn, and this cauces us to re-enter and to go out again, by turns ; so we are alternately wise and insane. Besides, we know that a hard lot awaits those who craftily deprive others of their goods." We asked, " What lot ? " They replied, " They are swallowed up, and are thrust naked into some infernal prison, where they are kept at work for clothing and food, and afterward for a few bits of money, which they collect, and in which they place the joy of their hearts ; but if they do evil to their companions, they must give up a part of their little coins as a fine." 663. Third Relation. I was once in the midst of angels and heard their discourse. It was about intelli- gence and wisdom, that man has no sense or perception but that both are in himself, and so that whatever he wills and thinks is from himself, when yet no part of them what- ever is from man, except the faculty of receiving them. Among many other things that they said was also this: that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden signified the belief that intelligence and wisdom were from man, and that the tree of life signified that intelligence and wisdom were from God ; and because Adam by the persuasion of the serpent ate of the former tree, thus believing that he was or was becoming like God, he was therefore driven out of the garden and condemned. While the angels were engaged in this discourse, there came two priests, together with a man who in the world had been the ambassador of a kingdom, and I related to them what 1 had heard from the angels concerning intelligence and wisdom ; hearing which, the three began to dispute about them both, and also about prudence, whether they are from God or from man. The dispute was warm. The three believed alike, that they are from man, because sensation itself and hence perception prove it ; but the priests, who were then in their theological zeal, insisted that nothing of THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. intelligence and wisdom, and so nothing of prudence, is from man, and they confirmed this by the following from the Word : A man caJt receive nothing except it be give?i him from heaven (John iii. 27) ; and from what Jesus said to the disciples, Without Me ye can do nothing (xv. 5). But then, because the angels perceived that although the priests spoke in this way, still in heart they believed the same as the am- bassador, they said to them, " Lay aside your vestments, and put on the garments of ministers of state, and believe your- selves to be such." And they did so ; and then they thought from the interior self, and they spoke from those arguments that they cherished inwardly, which were, that all intelli- gence and wisdom dwell in the man, and are his ; for they said, " Who has ever felt that they flowed-in from God ? " And they looked at one another, and confirmed themselves in this. It is a peculiarity of the spiritual world that a spirit thinks himself to be such as his dress is ; this is because the understanding clothes every one there. At that moment there appeared near them a tree, and they were told, " That is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ; be careful not to eat of it." But still, infatuated with their own intel- ligence, they burned with the desire to eat of it, and said one to another, " Why not ? Is it not good fruit .? " And they drew near and ate of it. When the ambassador ob- served this, they came together and became cordial friends; and holding each other by the hand, together they went the way of their own intelligence which tended to hell. But still I saw them conducted back, because as yet they were not prepared. 664. Fourth Relation. Once I looked into the spirit- ual world, toward the right, and observed some of the elect conversing together. I approached them and said, " I saw you at a distance, and round about you a sphere of heavenly light, from which I recognized you to be of those who in the Word are called the elect. I therefore drew near in order to hear on what heavenly theme you are conversing," They No. 6651 IMPUTATION. 889 replied, " Why do you call us the elect ? " I answered, " Because in the world, where I am in body, they do not know but that the elect in the Word mean those elected and predestined to heaven by God, either before they were born or after their birth, and that faith, as a token of elec- tion, is given to them alone ; that the rest are held as rep- robates, and are left to themselves so that they may go to hell by any way they please ; when yet I know that no elec- tion is made either before or after birth, but that all are elected and predestined to heaven, because all are called ; also that the Lord after their death elects those who have lived well and believed aright, and this after they have been examined. That it is so, it has been given me to know by much experience. And because I saw your heads encircled with a sphere of heavenly light, I have perceived that you are of the elect who are preparing for heaven." To this they replied : " You relate things never heard before. Who does not know that there is no man born who is not called to heaven, and that from those [who are called] they are chosen who have believed in the Lord and lived according to His precepts ; and that to acknowledge any other elec- tion is to accuse the Lord Himself not merely of being impotent to save but also of injustice?" 665. After this a voice was heard out of heaven from the angels who were directly above us, saying, " Come up hither, and we will, ask the one of you who is still in the natural world in body, what they know there about Con- science.^'' And we went up ; and after we had entered, some wise men came to meet us and asked me, " What do they know in your world about Conscience ? " And I replied, " Let us descend, if you please, and call together, both from the laity and from the clerg}^, a number of those who are believed to be wise, and we will stand in a direct line beneath you, and will question them ; and so you shall hear with your own ears what they will answer." And this was so done. And one of the elect took a trum- VOL. III. 3 890 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL pet, and sounded it toward the south, north, east, and west ; and then after the space of a short hour so many were present that they almost filled a square furlong. But angels from above disposed them all into four companies, one consisting of those engaged in political matters, an- other of scholars, a third of physicians, and a fourth of clergymen. When thus arranged we said to them, " Pardon us for calling you together ; we have called you because the angels who are directly above us ardently desire to know what you thought, in the world in which you were formerly, about conscience, and thus what you still think about it, as you yet retain your former ideas on such sub- jects ; for it has been reported to the angels that cognition concerning conscience is among the cognitions that in the world have been lost." After these remarks we made a beginning ; and first we turned to the company that con- sisted of those engaged in political matters ; and we asked them to tell us from the heart, if they pleased, what they had thought, and thus what they still thought, about con- science. To this they replied, one after another. The sum of their answers was, that they know only that conscience is seciini scire or knowing within oneself, thus conscire or being conscious of, what one has intended, thought, done, and spoken. But we said to them, " We did not ask about the etymology of the word conscience, but about conscience." And the reply was, " What is conscience but discomfort arising from an apprehensive fear of danger to one's honor or wealth, and also to reputation on account of them ? but that discomfort is dispelled by feasts and cups of generous wine, also by talk about the sports of Venus and her boy." To this we said, " You are jesting ; tell us, if you please, whether any of you has had some sense of anxiety from another source ? " They answered, " What other source ? Is not the whole world like a stage on which every man acts his part, just like comic actors on theirs ? We play our game and gain our ends with every person my No. 665.] IMPUTATION. 89 1 whatever by his own lust, with some by jests, with some by flattery, by cunning, by pretended friendship, by feigned sincerity, and by various poHtical arts and allurements. From this we feel no mental discomfort, but, on the con- trary, cheerfulness and gladness, which with expanded chest we quietly but fully breathe forth. We have heard, indeed, from some of our craft, that an anxiety^ and a sense of constriction as it were of the heart and chest have at times come over them, and hence a sort of con- traction of the mind ; but when they asked the apothecaries about these things, they were informed that they came from a hypochondriacal humor arising from undigested sub- stances in the stomach or from a disordered state of the spleen ; but with regard to some of these, we have heard that they were restored to their former cheerfulness by means of medicines." After hearing this, we turned to the company composed of scholars, among whom there were also several skilful naturalists, and addressing them we said : " You, who have studied the sciences, and there- fore are believed to be oracles of wisdom, tell us, if you please, what conscience is." And they answered, " What kind of a subject for consideration is this ? We have heard, indeed, that with some there is a sadness, gloom, and anxiety, which infest not only the gastric regions of the body, but also the dwelling-places of the mind ; for we believe that the two brains are those dwelling-places, and because these consist of containing fibres, that there is some acrid humor which irritates, gnaws, and consumes them, and thus compresses the sphere of the mind's thoughts, so that it cannot pour itself forth into any of the enjoy- ments arising from variety ; hence it comes to pass that the man fixes his attention on one thing only, owing to which the tension and elasticity of these fibres is de- stroyed, whence they become unyielding and rigid ; from these arises an irregular motion of the animal spirits, which by physicians is called ataxy, and also a defect in their 892 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. functions which is calied lipothymia. In a word, the mind then sits as if it were beset with hostile forces, nor can it turn itself in any direction any more than a wheel fastened with nails, or a ship stuck fast in quicksands. Such con- striction of mind and consequently of the chest comes upon those with whom the reigning love suffers loss ; for if this is assaulted, the fibres of the brain contract, and this contraction prevents the mind from going out freely and partaking of delights in various forms. Fantasies of various kinds, madness, and delirium, attack such persons while this crisis is upon them, each according to his tem- perament, and some are attacked by brain sickness in religious matters, which they call remorse of conscience." After this we turned to the third company, which was com- posed of physicians, among whom there were also some surgeons and apothecaries. And we said to them, '* Per- haps you know what conscience is. Is it a grievous pain which seizes both the head and the parenchyma of the heart, extending to the subjacent regions, the epigastric and hypogastric ? or is it something else ? " And these replied : " Conscience is nothing but such a pain ; we understand its origin better than others ; for diseases occur that affect the organic parts of the body and also those of the head, consequently the mind also, since this has its seat in the organs of the brain like a spider in the midst of the threads of its web, by means of which it runs out and about in a similar way ; these diseases we call organic, and such as return at intervals we call chronic. But the pain that has been described by the sick as a pain of con- science, is nothing but hypochondria, which primarily affects the spleen, and secondarily the pancreas and mesentery, depriving them of their proper functions ; hence are de- rived diseases of the stomach from which domes a deterio- ration of the juices ; for there takes place a compression about the orifice of the stomach, which is called cardialgia ; from these diseases arise humors impregnated with black, No. 665.] IMPUTATION. 893 yellow, or green bile, by which the smallest blood-vessels, which are called capillaries, are obstructed ; whence come cachexy, atrophy, and symphysia, also bastard pneumonia arising from sluggish pituitous matter, and ichorous and corroding lymph throughout the entire mass of the blood. Similar consequences arise when pus finds its way into the blood and its serum during the softening process in empyema, and from abscesses and imposthumes in the body. This blood, as it ascends through the carotids to the head, frets, corrodes, and eats into the medullary and cortical substances and the meninges of the brain, thus ex- citing the pains that are called the pangs of conscience." Hearing this we said to them, " You talk the language of Hippocrates and Galen ; those things are Greek to us ; we do not understand them. We did not ask you about these diseases, but about conscience which pertains to the mind only." They said, " The diseases of the mind and those of the head are identical, and those of the head ascend from the body ; for there is a connection like that of the two stories of one house, between which is a stair- way by which one can ascend and descend. We therefore well know that the state of the mind is inseparably depen- dent on that of the body ; but we have cured that heaviness of the head or those headaches (which we take it are what you mean by conscience), some cases by plasters and blisters, some by infusions and emulsions, and some by stimulants, and by anodynes." Since what we heard from them was still of the same kind, we turned from them and toward the clergy, saying, " You know what conscience is ; tell us therefore, and instruct those who are present." And they replied, " What conscience is, we know and we do not know. We have believed it to be the cotitrition that precedes election, that is, the moment when man is gifted with faith through which a new heart and a new spirit are made for him and he is regenerated. But we perceived that that contrition came upon few ; fear and 894 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XL thus anxiety about hell-fire came upon some only; and upon scarcely any one, about his sins and hence the just anger of God. But we confessors have cured those by the gospel that Christ took away damnation by the passion of the cross, and so extinguished hell-fire, and opened heaven to those who are blessed with the faith on which is in- scribed the imputation of the merit of the Son of God. Moreover, there are conscientious persons of different religions, both true and fanatical, who make to themselves scruples about matters of salvation, not only in essentials but also in what is formal, and even in what is indifferent. Therefore, as we have said before, we know that there is conscience, but what and of what quality true conscience is, which must by all means be spiritual, we do not know." 666. All these declarations made by the four assemblies were heard by the angels who were above them ; and they said to each other, " We perceive that no one in Christendom knows what conscience is ; we will therefore send down from us one who will give instruction." And then immediately there stood in their midst an angel in white clothing, around whose head appeared a bright band in which were little stars. And addressing the four companies, he said : " We have heard in heaven that you have presented in succes- sion your opinions about conscience, and that you all have regarded it as some pain of mind which infests the head with heaviness, and hence the body, or infests the body and thence the head. But conscience viewed in itself is not a pain, but it is a spiritual willingness to do according to what is of religion and of faith. Hence it is that they who enjoy conscience are in the tranquillity of peace and in internal blessedness when they are doing according to con- science, and in a certain disquietude when doing contrary to it. But the pain of mind which you have believed to be conscience is not conscience but temptation, which is a con- flict of the spirit and the flesh ; and this, when it is spiritual draws from the spring of conscience, but if it is natural No. 666.] IMPUTATION. 895 merely, it originates from those diseases which the physi- cians just recounted. But what conscience is may be illus- trated by examples : A priest who has a spiritual willingness to teach truths for the end that his flock may be saved, has conscience ; but he who teaches for the sake of any thing else as an end, has not conscience. A judge who regards justice and it alone, and executes it with judgment, has con- science ; but he who primarily regards reward, friendship, or favor, l.as not conscience. Again, any man who has in his possession another's goods, the other not knowing it, and so is able to appropriate them without fear of the law and the loss of honor and reputation, but yet restores them to the other because they are not his own, has conscience, for he does what is just for the sake of what is just. So again, he who can attain an office, but, knowing that another who also seeks it is more useful to society, gives place to him for the sake of the good of society, has a good con- science. So, too, in other things. All who have conscience say what they say from the heart, and do what they do from the heart ; for they have a mind that is not divided, for they say and do according to what they understand and believe to be true and good. It follows from this that there can be a more perfect conscience with those who are in the truths of faith more than others, and who are in a clearer perception than others, than with those who are less enlight- ened and are in obscure perception. In true conscience is man's spiritual life, for there his faith is conjoined with charity ; to such, therefore, acting from conscience is acting from their spiritual life, and acting contrary to conscience to them is acting contrary to that life. Furthermore, who does not know from common conversation what conscience is ? As when it is said of any one. He has conscience, is it not then meant also that he is a just man } But on the other hand, when it is said of any one. He has no con- science, does not this also mean that he is unjust ? " When the angel had said this, he was suddenly taken up into his 896 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XI. heaven ; and the four companies came together into one ; and after they had conversed awhile about the remarks of the angel, behold they were again divided into four assem- blies, but not the same as before ; one, where those were who comprehended the words of the angel and assented to them ; a second, where those were who did not comprehend but still favored them ; a third, where those were who did not wish to comprehend them, saying, " What have we to do with conscience ? " and a fourth, where those were who laughed at what was said, saying, "What is conscience but flatulence ? " And I saw them separating from one another, the two former companies then going away to the right, and the two latter to the left ; these going downward, but those upward. CHAPTER TWELFTH. CONCERNING BAPTISM. I. Without an apprehension {cognitid) of the Spiritual Sense of the Word, no one can know what the TWO Sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, involve and effect. 667. That there is a spiritual sense in the things of the Word one and all, that this sense has been heretofore un- known, and that it is at this day opened for the sake of the New Church which is to be established by the Lord, has been shown in the chapter concerning the Sacred Scripture. What the nature of that sense is, may be seen not only there but also in the chapter on the Decalogue, which moreover is explained according to it. If that sense were not opened, who would think of those two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, except according to the nat- ural sense, which is that of the letter "i saying, therefore, or muttering to himself, "What is Baptism but pouring water on an infant's head ? and what does this contribute toward salvation ? " Also, " What is the Holy Supper but a par- taking of bread and wine ? and what does this contribute toward salvation ? " And besides, " Where is the holiness in them except from their having been received and their observance enjoined by the ecclesiastical order as holy and Divine ? " adding further, that in themselves they are noth- ing but ceremonies, that are said by the churches to become sacraments when the Word of God comes to those elements. I appeal to the laity, and to the clergy also, whether in spirit and in heart they have had any other conception of these two sacraments, and whether they have not held them 3* 898 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. up as Divine for various causes and reasons ; when yet those two sacraments, viewed in the spiritual sense, are the hohest things of worship : that they are such will be evident from what is to follow, where their uses will be made known. But inasmuch as the uses of these sacraments cannot pos- sibly enter the mind of any one, unless the spiritual sense discovers and unfolds them, it follows that without that sense no one can know any thing else than that they were ceremonies which now are holy because they were instituted by commandment. 668. That Baptism was commanded, is clearly manifest from John's baptizing in the Jordan, to which Jerusalem and all Judea went out (Matt. iii. 5, 6 ; Mark i. 4, 5) ; again from this, that the Lord our Saviour was Himself baptized by John (Matt. iii. 13-17); and furthermore, that He com- manded the disciples to baptize all nations (Matt, xxviii. 19). Who that wishes to see, does not see that in the institution of it there is something Divine which has hitherto been con- cealed ? and this because the spiritual sense of the Word has not been revealed before. And this has been revealed at the present day, because the Christian church, such as it is in itself, is now first beginning ; the former church was Christian in name only, but not in reality and in essence. 669. The two sacraments. Baptism and the Holy Supper, are in the Christian Church like two jewels in the sceptre of a king, which, if their -uses are unknown, are no more than two figures of ebony on a staff. These two sacra- ments in the Christian church may also be compared with two rubies or carbuncles in the robe of an emperor, which, if their uses are unknown, are like two carnelians or crystals in any cloak. Apart from the uses of those two sacraments as revealed by means of the spiritual sense, only conjectures about them would be spread abroad, like the conjectures of those who practise divination by the stars, yes, such as there were in days of old with those who drew auguries from the flying of birds or by the inspection of entrails. The uses No. 670] BAPTISM. 899 of these two sacraments may be compared to a temple, which by reason of its antiquity had sunk into the ground, and which now lies buried even to the roof in the surround- ing ruins, and over it the old and the young walk, and ride in carriages or on horses, not knowing that such a temple is beneath their feet and hidden from them, in which are altars of gold, walls of silver within, and decorations of precious stone ; and these things cannot be dug up and brought forth into the light except by means of the spirit- ual sense which has been disclosed at the present day for the New Church, for the sake of its use in the worship of the Lord. These sacraments may also be compared to a double temple, — a temple below, and another above ; and in the lower one is preached the gospel concerning the Lord's new Coming, and also concerning regeneration and thence salvation by Him. From this temple, close by the altar, there is a way of ascent into the upper temple where the Holy Supper is celebrated ; and thence there is a pas- sage to heaven, where the Lord receives those [who come to Him]. They may also be compared to a tabernacle, in which, on entering, appears the table on which the shew- bread is disposed in its order, also the golden altar for incense, and in the midst the candlestick with lighted lamps by means of which all these things come into view; and at length for those who suffer themselves to be illumi- nated, the veil is opened to the holy of holies, where instead of the ark, in which was once the decalogue, the Word has its place, over which is the mercy-seat with cherubs of gold. These are representations of those two sacraments with their uses. n. By the Washing that is called Baptism is meant Spiritltal Washing, which is Purification from EVILS and falsities, AND THUS REGENERATION. 670. That washings were commanded the children of Israel is well known from the statutes given by Moses, 900 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. as that Aaron should wash himself before putting on the garments of ministry (Lev. xvi. 4, 24) ; and before approach- ing the altar to minister (Ex. xxx. 18-21 ; xl. 30-32) ; so also the Levites (Num. viii. 6, 7) ; and likewise others who be- came unclean through sins, and they are said to be sancti- fied by washings (Ex. xix. 9 ; xl. 12 ; Lev. viii. 6). Therefore in order that they might wash themselves, the brazen sea and many baths were placed near the temple (i Kings vii. 23-29) ; yes, we read that they washed vessels and uten- sils, such as tables, seats, beds, platters, and cups (Lev. xi. 32 ; xiv. 8, 9 ; xv. 5-12 ; xvii. 15, 16 ; Matt, xxiii. 25, 26). But washings and many similar things were enjoined upon the children of Israel and were commanded them, because the church instituted among them was a representative church, and this was such as to prefigure the Christian church that was to come. Wherefore when the Lord came into the world, He annulled the representatives which were all external, and instituted a church of which all things were to be internal ; thus the Lord dispersed figures and revealed the very forms, as one withdraws a veil or opens a door, and causes the interiors not only to be seen but also to be approached. Out of them all the Lord retained but two, which should contain all things of the internal church in one complex ; these two are Baptism in place of washings, and the Holy Supper in place of the lamb, of which there was a daily sacrifice, and a full sacrifice at the feast of the passover. 671. That the washings above mentioned figured and shadowed forth, that is, represented spiritual washings, which are purifications from evils and falsities, is clearly evident from the following passages : When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem, in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of burning (Isa. iv. 4). JFor though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine in- iquity will retain the spots (Jer. ii. 22. See also Job be. 30, No. 672.] BAPTISM. 901 31). IVas/i me from mine iniquity, and I shall be whiter than snow (Fs. li. 2, 7). O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou may est be saved (Jer. iv. 14). Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes ; cease to do evil (Isa. i. 16). That the washing of man's spirit was meant by that of his body, and that the internals of the church were represented by externals, such as were in the IsraeHtish church, is clearly manifest from these words of the Lord : The Pharisees and Scribes seeing that His disciples ate bread with wiwashcn hands, found fault ; for the Pharisees and all the Jews, ex- cept they wash their hands to the fist^ eat not ; and many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of beds.\ To them and to the people the Lord said, Hear Me, every one of you, and understand : There is nothing from without a man, that enteritig into him can defile him ; but the things which come out of him, those arc they that defile the man (Mark vii. I, 2, 3, 4, 14, 15 ; Matt. xv. 2, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20) ; and from other passages, as this : Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess ; thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside may be made clean also (Matt, xxiii. 25, 26). From all this it is evident that by the washing that is called Baptism is meant spiritual washing, which is purification from evils and falsities. 672. What man of sound reason cannot see that the washing of the face, hands and feet, and of all the limbs, yes, of the whole body in a bath, does nothing more than wash away the dirt, so that they who are washed appear clean in the human form before men ? And who cannot understand that no washing enters into man's spirit and * Pugnotenus. See the Greek, or the margin of the English Bible. Some of the best commentators regard the meaning to be, thoroughly. t Lectorum. See the Greek, or the margin of the English Bible. 902 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. renders that equally clean ? For any villain, plunderer, or robber may wash himself till the skin shines ; but is the disposition to villany, to plundering, and to robbery thus washed away ? Does not the internal flow-in into the exter- nal, and work the effects of its will and understanding, but not the external into the internal ? For the latter is con- trary to nature, because it is contrary to order ; but the former is according to nature, because it is according to order. 673. From all this it follows that washings and baptisms also, unless man's internal is purified from evils and falsi- ties, have no more efficacy than the cups and platters made clean by the Jews, or (as follows also in the same passage) than the sepulchres which appear beautiful without, but within are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness (Matt, xxiii. 25-28) ; which is further manifest from the hells' being full of satans who have been men baptized as well as unbaptized. But the advantage of Baptism will be seen in what follows. Therefore without its uses and fruits it contributes no more to salvation than the triple mitre on the pope's head and the sign of the cross upon his shoes contribute to his pontifical supereminence ; and no more than the purple robe about a cardinal contributes to his dignity, or the mantle about a bishop to the true discharge of his ministry ; and no more than the throne, crown, sceptre, and robe of a king to his regal power ; or the silken cap on the head of a laurelled doctor to his intelligence ; or than the standards borne before bodies of cavalry to their bravery in war ; yes, it may be said still further that Baptism does not purify man any more than the washing of a sheep or a lamb before shearing ; for the natural man separate from the spiritual, is merely animal, and indeed, as before shown, is more a wild beast than the wild beast of the forest ; so that if you are washed with the water of the rain, of the dew, of the most excel- lent fountains, or, as the prophets say, if you are daily ^ No. 674.J BAPTISM. 903 cleansed with nitre, hyssop, or soaps, still you cannot be purified from iniquities except by the means of regenera- tion which have been treated of in the chapters on Repent- ance, and on Reformation and Regeneration, III. Baptism was instituted in the place of Circum- cision, BECAUSE the CiRCUMCISION OF THE HeaRT WAS represented by the Circumcision of the Foreskin, in order that an Internal Church might succeed the External Church which in all things and in every single thing figured THE Internal Church. 674. It is well known in the Christian world that there is an internal man and an external ; also that the external is the same as the natural man, and that the internal is the same as the spiritual man because man's spirit is in it; and also, as the church consists of men, that there is the internal and the external church. And if the chucches are viewed in the order of their succession, from ancient times to the present, it will be seen that the former churches were external, that is, that their worship con- sisted in externals which represented the internals of the .Christian church which was founded by the Lord when He was in the world, and which now is first being built by Him. That which primarily distinguished the Israelit- ish church from the pthers in the Asiatic world, and after- ward from the Christian church, was circumcision. And because, as before said, all things in the Israelitish church, which were external, figured all things of the Christian church, which are internal, the primary sign of that church was interiorly similar to the sign of the Christian church ; for circumcision signified the rejection of the lusts of the flesh, and thus purification from evils, and Baptism also has a similar signification. From which it is manifest that Baptism was commanded in the place of circumcision, in 904 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. order both that the Christian church might be distinguished from the Jewish, and that there might thus be a more ex- act cognition of the internal church; and there is this cognition from the uses of Baptism, of which presently. 675, That ■ circumcision was instituted for a sign that the men of the Israelitish church were of the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is evident from what fol- lows : God said unto Abraham, This is the covena7it with Me, which ye shall keep between Me and you and thy seed after thee ■: Every male amo7igyou shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a sign of the covenant between Me and you (Gen. xvii. 9-1 1). This covenant or its sign was afterward confirmed through Moses (Lev. xii. i, 2, 3). And as that church was distinguished from the others by that sign, therefore be- fore the children of Israel passed over Jordan, the com- mandment was given for them to be circumcised again (Josh. v). This was because the land of Canaan repre- sented the church, and the river Jordan introduction into it. And, furthermore, in order that they might be mindful of that sign in the land of Canaan itself, it was commanded them, " When ye shall have come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised ; three years shall it be as uncircum- cised unto you ; it shall not be eaten of (L.ey. xix. 23). That circumcision represented and hence signified the rejection of the lusts of the flesh, and thus purification from evils, — the same as Baptism, — is manifest from the passages in the Word where they are told to circumcise the heart, as in the following : Moses said. Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, harden not your neck (Deut. x. 16). yehovah God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love yehovah thy God from thy whole heart and from thy whole soul, that thou mayest live (xxx. 6). And in Jeremiah : Cir- cufncise yourselves to yehovah, that He may take away the foreskins of your heart, thou man of yudah and ye inhabi- No. 676.] BAPTISM. 905 iants of yerusalem, lest Mine anger go forth like fire because of the evil of your doings (iv. 4). And in Paul : In jfesui Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircum- cision, but faith which worketh by charity ; also, a new crea- ture (Gal. v. 6 ; vi. 15). From these passages it is now plain that Baptism was instituted in place of circumcision, because by the circumcision of the flesh was represented the circumcision of the heart which also signifies purifica- tion from evils ; for all kinds of evils arise from the flesh, and the foreskin signifies its filthy loves. Because circum- cision and the washing of Baptism have similar signifi- cation, it is said in Jeremiah, Circumcise yourselves to yehovah, and take away the foreskins of yotir heart (iv. 4) ; and a little after, O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness that thou mayest be saved (ytrsQ 14). What the circumcision and washing of the heart is, the Lord teaches in Matthew (xv. 18, 19). 676. There were many among the children of Israel who believed that they were elected in preference to all others, and many among the Jews now believe the same in regard to themselves, from their having been circumcised ; and among Christians many have had the same belief concern- ing themselves, because they have been baptized ; when yet both circumcision and baptizing were given only as a sign and a memorial for them to be purified from evils and so to become elect. What is an external in man without an internal, but like a temple without worship, which is of no use except perhaps as a stable ? And further, what is an external without an internal, but like a field full of reeds and rushes, with no grain ? Or a vineyard consisting merely of vines and leaves, without grapes ? Or the fig- tree without its fruit, which the Lord cursed (Matt. xxi. 19) ? Or like the lamps in the hands of the foolish virgins who had no oil (Matt. xxv. 3) ? Yes, what is it but like a dwell- ing in a mausoleum where there are dead bodies under foot, bones around the walls, and spectres of the night fly- 906 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIL ing beneath the roof ? Or like a carriage drawn by leopards, having a wolf as driver, and a fool riding in it ? For the external man is not the man, but only the figure of a man ; for the internal, which is to be wise from God, makes man. So it is with one circumcised and baptized, if he does not circumcise or wash his heart. IV. The first Use of Baptism is Introduction into THE Christian Church, and at the same time Insertion among Christians in the Spiritual World. 677. That Baptism is an introduction into the Christian church, is evident from many considerations, such as these : 1. Baptism was instituted in the place of circumcision; and as circumcision was the sign that they who received it were of the Israelitish church, so Baptism is the sign that they who receive it are of the Christian church, as was shown in the preceding article ; and the sign does nothing more than cause therri to be recognized, just as swaddling clothes of different colors are put on the infants of two mothers in order that they may be known apart and not exchanged. 2. That it is only a sign of introduction into the church is clearly evident from the baptizing of infants, who have no part whatever in any thing of reason, and who as yet are no more fitted for receiving any thing of faith than the young branches of any tree. 3. Not only are infants bap- tized, but also all foreign proselytes who are converted to the Christian religion, both small and great, and this before they have been instructed, from the mere confession of their wish to embrace Christianity, into which they are inaugu- rated by Baptism, The same was also done by the apos- tles, according to the Lord's words that they should make disciples of all nations, and baptize them (Matt, xxviii. 19). 4. JoJm baptized in the Jordan all who came to him from Judea and jferusalem (Matt. iii. 5, 6 ; Mark i. 5). He bap- No. 678.] BAPTISM. 907 tized in the Jordan, because the entrance into the land of Canaan was through that river ; and the land of Canaan signified the church because the church was there, and hence the Jordan signified introduction into it. That that land signified the church, and the Jordan introduction into it, may be seen in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 285). But this is done on earth. In the heavens, however, infants are introduced by Baptism into the Christian heaven, and angels are there assigned them by the Lord, to take care of them. Wherefore, as soon as infants have been baptized, angels are appointed over them, by whom they are kept in the state of receiving faith in the Lord ; but as they grow up, and come under their own control and into the exercise of their reason, the guardian angels leave them, and they associate with themselves such spirits as make one with their life and faith. From which it is manifest that Bap- tism is insertion among Christians in the spiritual world also. 678. Not infants only, but also all others, are by Bap- tism inserted among Christians in the spiritual world, for the reason that peoples and nations in that world are dis- tinct from each other according to their religious systems. Christians are in the centre, Mohammedans are round about them, after them come idolaters of various kinds, and the Jews are at the sides. Moreover, all who are of the same religion are disposed into societies; in heaven, according to the affections of love to God and toward the neighbor ; and in hell, into congregations according to the affections that are opposed to those two loves, and so according to the lusts of evil. In the spiritual world, by which we mean both heaven and hell, all things both in the whole and in every part, or in general and in every particu- lar, are most distinctly arranged; upon distinct arrange- ment there, depends the preservation of the whole universe ; and this distinction cannot be carried out, unless every one after he is born is recognized by some sign showing to what 908 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. religious community he belongs. For without the Christian sign, which is Baptism, some Mohammedan spirit, or one from among the idolaters, might apply himself to new-born Christian infants, and to children also, and breathe into them an inclination for his religion, and so distract their minds \animt] and estrange them from Christianity, which would be to distort and destroy spiritual order. 679. Every one who traces effects even to their causes, may know that the consistence of all things depends on order, and that orders are manifold, general and particu- lar ; and that there is one which is the most universal of all, and on which depend the general and the particular in connected series ; also that the most universal enters into them all, as the essence itself into forms, and that thus and thus only do they make one. It is this unity that effects the preservation of the whole, which would otherwise fall asunder, and relapse not only to primal chaos, but to noth- ing. How would it be with man if the things in his body, one and all, were not most distinctly arranged, and if their common [life] were not dependent on one heart and one pair of lungs ? Otherwise, what would there be but confu- sion ? Could the stomach then perform its functions, the liver and pancreas theirs, the mesentery and mesocolon theirs, the kidneys and intestines theirs.? It is from the order in them and among them, that all and each of them appear to man as one. Without distinct order in man's mind or spirit, — unless its common [life] were dependent on the will and understanding, — what would there be but what is confused and indigested ? Without that order, would man be more able to think and will than his picture on a tablet, or his statue in the house ? What would man be without a most perfectly arranged influx from heaven, and the reception of it ? And what is this influx without that which is most universal, on which depends the govern- ment of the whole and of all its parts ? thus unless it be dependent on God, and unless all things have their being, No. 6So.] BAPTISM. 909 live and are moved in Him and from Him ? This may be illustrated to the natural man by innumerable things, such as these : Without order, what would an empire or a king- dom be, but a gang of robbers, many of whom being gath- ered together would slay thousands, a few at last slaying these many ? What is a city without order, yes, what is a house without order ? And what is a kingdom, a city, or a house, without some one's acting the highest part in each ? 680. Furthermore, what is order without distinction ? and what is distinction without evidences ? and what are evidences without signs by which qualities are recognized ? For without knowledge of qualities, order is not recognized as order. In empires and kingdoms the signs or marks are titles of rank, and the administrative rights attached to them ; hence subordinations, by means of which all are co-ordinated as into a one. In this manner the king exer- cises his royal power, distributed according to order among many ; and from this the kingdom becomes a kingdom. It is similar in very many other things, as for example in armies : what strength would they have if they were not distinctly organized into regiments, these into battalions, and these again into companies, with subordinate officers over each, and over all one commander in chief? And what would these several organizations amount to without the signs called standards, which are to show in what sta- tion every one is to be ? By such means in battle all act as one, while without them they would rush upon the enemy merely like a pack of hounds with open mouths, with howling, and vain fury ; and then they all, their courage gone, would be cut to pieces by the enemy formed in well-ordered ranks ; for what can those who are divided do against those who are united ? By this is illustrated this first use of Baptism, which is, that it is a sign in the spiritual world that one belongs to the Christians ; where every one is inserted into the societies and congregations there, according to the quality of the Christianity in him or outside of him. 9IO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. V. The second Use of Baptism is, that the Christian MAY KNOW AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE LORD JeSUS Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour, and follow Him. 68 1. This second use of Baptism, which is that the Lord, the Redeemer and Saviour Jesus Christ may be known, inseparably follows the first, which is that there is an introduction into the Christian church, and insertion among Christians in the spiritual world. And what is this first use without the second's following it, but a mere name ? And yet it is really like a subject that gives-in his allegiance to a king, and nevertheless repudiates his laws or those of his country, and yields allegiance to a foreign king and serves him ; or like a servant who binds himself to some master, and accepts his livery as a token thereof, and then runs away and serves another master in the livery of the first ; or like a standard-bearer who goes off with the standard and cuts it to pieces, throwing the pieces into the air, or else throws the standard beneath the feet of the soldiers to be trodden upon. In a word, the name of a Christian, that is, that one is of Christ, without acknowl- edging Him and following Him, that is, living according to His commandments, is a thing as empty as a shadow, as smoke, and as a blackened picture ; for the Lord says, IV/iy call ye Me Lord, and do not the things which I say ? (Luke vi. 46, and the subsequent verses.) Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord ; but then will L profess unto them, L neirer knew you (Matt. vii. 22, 23). 682. By the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word is meant nothing else than an acknowledgment of Him, and a life according to His commandments. Why His name has this signification, you may see in the explanation of the second commandment of the decalogue. Thou shall not take the name of God in vain. Nothing else is meant by the name of the Lord in the following passages : Jesus No. 682.] BAPTISM. 91I said, Ve shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake (Matt. X. 22 ; xxiv. 9). Where two or three are gathered to- gether in My name, there am I in the midst of them (xviii. 20). As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name (John i. 1 2). Many believed in His name (ii. 23). He that believeth not is already judged, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God (iii. 18). Believing, ye shall have life in His name (xx. 31). For My name's sake thou hast labored, and hast not failed (Apoc. ii. 3) ; and else- where. Who cannot see that the name of the Lord in these passages does not mean His name only, but the acknowl- edgment of Him as being the Redeemer and Saviour, to- gether with obedience, and finally faith in Him ? For in Baptism the infant receives the sign of the cross upon the forehead and the breast, which is a sign of inauguration into the acknowledgment and the worship of the Lord. The name also means the quality of any one, for the rea- son that in the spiritual world every one is named accord- ing to his quality ; wherefore the name that one is a Christian means his quality, that he has faith in Christ, and that he has charity toward the neighbor, frpm Christ. This is meant by 7ia77ie in the Apocalypse, The Son of Man said. Thou hast * a few names even in Sardis tvhich have not defied their garments, a?id they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy (iii. 4). Walking with the Son of Man in white signifies following the Lord and living according to the truths of His words. The meaning of name is similar in John : Jesus said, The sheep hear My voice, a fid I call Mine oivn sheep by name, and lead them out. I go before them, and the sheep follow Me, for they know My voice ; but a strariger do they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers (x. 3-5). By name, is by the quality, that they are Christians; and to follow Him, is to hear His voice, * The Latin reads habeo, I have ; perhaps a misprint for habes, thou hast. 912 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. that is, to obey His commands. All receive this name in Baptism, for it is in the sign. 683. What is a name without the reality but a vain thing, or a sound like the echo given back by the trees of the forest or from vaulted ceilings ? or like the almost lifeless tone of dreamers, the noise of the wind, of the sea, or of machinery, in which there is no use ? Yes, what is the name of king, duke, consul, bishop, abbot, or monk, with- out the office attached to the name, but vanity ? So what is the name of Christian while the man lives like a barba- rian, and contrary to the precepts of Christ, but like looking to Satan's sign instead of the sign of Christ, Whose name nevertheless was in-wrought in golden threads at Baptism? What are they who, after they have received the signature of Christ, deride His worship, mock at His name, and pro- fess Him not as the Son of God but as the son of Joseph, but rebels and regicides ? And what are their words but blasphemies against the Holy Spirit, which cannot be for- given in this world or in the next ? These like dogs with open jaws bite at the Word, and tear it to pieces with their teeth ; with them, against Christ and His worship, all tables are full of vomit and filthincss (Isa. xxviii. 8; Jer. xlviii. 26). When yet the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of the Most High God (Luke i. 32, 35) ; the Only-begotten (John i. 18 ; iii. 16) ; the true God and Eternal Life (t John V. 20) ; in Whom dwelleth all the fulness of Divinity bodily (Col. ii. 9). And that He is not the son of Joseph, see Matt, i- 25 ; besides thousands of other passages. VI. The third Use of Baptism, which is the final Use, is that Man may be regenerated. 684. This is the very use for the sake of which Baptism was instituted, and thus the final one. This is because one who is truly Christian knows and acknowledges the No. 6S5.] BAPTISM. 913 Lord the Redeemer, Jesus Christ ; Who, because He is the Redeemer is also the Regenerator, — that redemption and regeneration make one may be seen in the chapter concerning Reformation and Regeneration, article iii. ; — also because a Christian possesses the Word, in which the means of regeneration are manifestly described, those means being faith in the Lord and charity towards the neighbor. This is identical with what is said of the Lord, that He baptizeth 7vith the Holy Spirit and with Fire (Matt, iii. 11; Mark i. 8-1 1; Luke iii. 16; John i. 33). The Holy Spirit means the Divine truth of faith, and Fire the Divine good of love or of charity, both proceeding from the Lord. That the Holy Spirit means the Divine truth of faith may be seen in the chapter on the Holy Spirit ; and that Fire means the Divine good of love may be seen in the " Apocalypse Revealed " (n. 395, 46S) ; and by means of these two, all regeneration is effected by the Lord. The reason why the Lord Himself was baptized by John (Matt. iii. 13-17 ; Mark i. 9; Luke iii. 21, 22), was not merely that He might institute Baptism for the future, and might go before as an example, but also because He glorified His Human and made It Divine as He regenerates man and makes him spiritual. 685. From what has been said now and heretofore, it may be seen that the three uses of Baptism cohere as a one, just as a primary cause, a mediate cause which is the efficient, and an ultimate cause which is the effect, and is the end itself for the sake of which the former exist ; for the first use is that one may be named a Christian ; the sec- ond, following from this, is that he may know and acknowl- edge the Lord the Redeemer, Regenerator, and Saviour; and the third, that he may be regenerated by Him ; and when this is done, he is redeemed and saved. Since these three uses follow in order, and join in the last, and hence in the idea of the angels cohere as a one, therefore when Baptism is performed, read of in the Word, and named, VOL. HI. 4 914 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. the angels who are present do not understand Baptism, but regeneration. Therefore by these words of the Lord, He that helieveth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark xvi. i6), the angels in heaven understand that he who acknowledges the Lord and is becoming regenerate will be saved. From this also it is, that by Christian churches on earth Baptism is called the laver of regeneration. Let the Christian know, there- fore, that he who does not believe in the Lord cannot be regenerated, although he has been baptized ; and that bap- tizing without faith in the Lord effects nothing whatever, may be seen above in the fourth paragraph of the second article of this chapter (n. 673). That Baptism involves purification from evils, and thus regeneration, may be well known to every Christian ; for when one is baptized as an infant, the priest with his finger makes the sign of the cross, as a memorial of the Lord, on his forehead and over the breast, and afterward turns to the sponsors and asks whether he renounces the devil and all his works, and whether he receives the faith ; to which the sponsors reply in the infant's stead, "Yes." The renunciation of the devil (that is, of evils which are from hell), and faith in the Lord, perfect regeneration. 686. It is said in the Word that the Lord God our Re- deemer baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with Fire, which means that the Lord regenerates man by the Divine truth of faith and the Divine good of love or of charity, as may be seen above in the first paragraph of this article (n. 684). They who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, that is, by the Divine truth of faith, are distinguished in the heavens from those who have been regenerated by Fire, that is, by the Divine good of love. They who have been regenerated by the Divine truth of faith, in heaven walk in white raiment of linen, and are called spiritual angels ; but they who have been regenerated by the Divine good of love, walk in purple raiment, and are called heavenly No. 687.] BAPTISM. 915 {celestial) angels. They who go clothed in white raiment are meant in the following passages : They follow the Lamb, clothed in Jitie linen white and clean (Apoc. xix. 14). They shall walk with Me in white (iii. 4 ; see also vii. 14). The angels in the Lord's sepulchre seen in white and shin- ing garments (Matt, xxviii. 3 ; Luke xxiv. 4) were of this class ; for fine linen signifies the righteousness of the saints, as in Apoc. xix. 8, where this is plainly stated. That garments in the Word signify truths, and that garments of white and of fine linen signify Divine truths, may be seen in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 379), where this is shown. They who have also been regenerated by the Divine good of love are in purple garments, because purple is love's color, which it derives from the fire of the sun and its redness, which fire signifies love, as may be seen in the "Apocalypse Revealed" (n. 468, 725). It was be- cause garments signify truths, that he who was found among those called to the wedding, not clothed with wed- ding garments, was ejected and cast into outer darkness (Matt. xxii. 11-13). 687. Moreover Baptism as regeneration is represented both in heaven and in the world by many things : in heaven, as just stated, by white and purple clothing ; also by the marriage of the church with the Lord ; and also by the new heaven and the new earth, and the New Jerusalem descending therefrom, of which He Who sat upon the throne said, Behold I make all things new (Apoc. xxi. 1—5) ; and by the river of living tuater, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb (xxii. i) ; and again by the five pru- dent virgins who had lamps and oil, and entered in with the bridegroom to the marriage (Matt. xxv. i, 2, 10). One who is baptized, that is, regenerated, is meant by creature (Mark xvi. 15 ; Rom. viii. 19, 20, 21) ; and by a new crea- ture (2 Cor. v. 17 j Gal. vi. 15) ; for he is called a creature from being created, which also signifies being regenerated, as may be seen in the " Apocalypse Revealed " (n. 254). 9l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. In the world regeneration is represented by various things, as by the blossoming of all things on earth in the spring- time, and by the gradual development of the blossoms, even to fruiting ; by the growth of every tree, shrub, and flower, from the first month of the warm season to its last ; it is also represented by the progress of all fruits toward maturity, from the earliest germ to their perfection ; then again by morning and evening showers, and by dews, for the coming of which the flowers open, while they close themselves against the darkness of night ; by the fragrance from gardens and fields ; by the rainbow in the cloud (Gen. ix. 14-17); by the resplendent colors of the dawn; and in general by the continual renewal of everj^ thing in the body by means of the chyle and the animal spirit, and hence by the blood, the purification of which from sub- stances that are no longer of use, and its renewal and its regeneration as it were, are perpetual. If attention is given to the most insignificant things on earth, an image of regeneration is presented in the wonderful transformation of silkworms, and of other worms into nymphs and butter- flies, and of other kinds which after a time are endowed with wings ; to which may be added what is more trifling still, that it is shown in the desire of certain birds to plunge themselves into the water for the sake of washing and cleansing themselves, after which they return as warb- lers, to their songs. In a word, the whole world, from what is first to what is last in it, is full of representations and t\'pes of regeneration. VII. By the Baptism * of John a way was prepared, so that Jehovah the Lord could descend into THE world and WORK OUT REDEMPTION. 688. We read in Malachi, Behold I send Mine angel, and he shall prepare the way before Me, and the Lord Whom ye * Throughout this article, wherever John's Baptism is spoken of the word Bafilsma is used ; Christian Baptism is called Baptismus. No. 689-] BAPTISM. 917 seek shall suddenly come to His temple, and the Angel of the covenant whom ye desire. Who will abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth 1 (iii. i, 2.) And again, Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great arid dreadful day of Jehovah ; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (iv. 5, 6). And Zacha- rias the father, prophesying of John his son, says, Thou, child, shall be called the prophet of the Highest ; thou shall go before the face of the Lord, to prepare His ways (Luke i. 76). And the Lord Himself says concerning the same John, This is he of whom it is written. Behold I send Mine angel before Thy* face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee (vii. 27). From these passages it is evident that this John was the prophet sent to prepare the way for Jehovah God, that He might descend into the world and work out redemption, and that he prepared that way by Baptism, and by then announcing the Coming of the Lord ; and that without this preparation all therein would have been smitten with a curse and would have perished. 689. A way was prepared by the Baptism of John, be- cause through it, as shown above, men were introduced into the future church of the Lord, and inserted in heaven among those there who expected and desired the Messiah ; and so they were guarded by angels, that devils might not break forth from hell and destroy them. Wherefore it is said in Malachi, Who will abide the day of His Coming ? also. Lest jfehovah come and smite the earth with a curse (iii. 2 ; iv. 6). So too in Isaiah, Behold the day of Jehovah Cometh, cruel, and of indignation, and of wrath, and of anger. L will shake the'heaven, and the earth shall tremble out of her place, in the day of His fierce anger (xiii. 9, 13 ; see also verses 6, 22 ; xxii. 5, 12). Again, in Jeremiah that day is called a day of wasting, of vengeance, and of destruction (iv, 9 ; vii. 32 ; xlvi. 10, 21 ; xlvii. 4 j xlix. 8, 26) ; in Ezekiel, a day of wrath, of cloud, and of thick darkness (xiii. 5 ; xxx. 2, * The Latin reads meam, my. QlS THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. 3, 9 ; xxxiv. 11,12; xxxviii. 14, 16, 18, 19); as also in Amos (v. 13, 18, 20 ; viii. 3, 9, 13). In Joel it is said, The day of the Lord is great and terrible^ and who can abide it? (ii. i, 2, II, 29, 31.) And in Zephaniah, that in that day there shall be the noise of a cry, that the great day of jfehovah is near, that that day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation ; that in the day of Jeho- vah's 7vrath the whole lafid shall be devoured, and that He will make a consummation with all them that dwell in the land (i. 7-18) ; besides other passages. From all of which it is manifest that unless a way had been prepared for Jeho- vah when He was descending into the world, by means of Baptism, the effect of which was in heaven, so that the hells should be closed and the Jews guarded against total destruc- tion, [all on earth must have perished]. Jehovah also says to Moses, In one moment, if I should come up into the midst of thee, I should consume the people (Ex. xxxiii. 5). That it is so, is clearly manifest from the words of John to the multitudes going out to be baptized by him: O generation of vipers, who hath xvarned you to flee from the wrath to cornel (Matt. iii. 7 ; Luke iii. 7.) That John also taught Christ and His Coming when he baptized, may be seen in Luke (iii. 16) and in John (i. 25, 26, 31—33; iii. 26). It is plain from this how John prepared the way. 690. As to the Baptism of John : that represented the cleansing of the external man, but the Baptism which is at this day with Christians represents the cleansing of the internal man, which is regeneration. We therefore read that John baptized with water, but that the Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with Fire ; and the Baptism of John is therefore called the Baptism of repentance (Matt, iii. II ; Mark i. 4, 5 ; Luke iii. 3, 16; John i. 25, 26, 33; Acts i. 22 ; X. 37 ; xviii. 25). The Jews who were baptized were merely external men, and the external man without faith in Christ cannot become internal. That they who were baptized with John's Baptism became internal men No. 691.] BAPTISM. 919 when they received faith in Christ, and were then baptized in the name of Jesus, may be seen in the Acts of the Apostles (xix. 3-6). 691. Moses said to Jehovah, Show me Thy glory. Jehovah said to him, Thou canst not see My face, for there shall no man see Me and live. And He said. Behold there is a place where thou shall stand upon a rock ; and I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by ; and when I shall have removed My hand, thou shall see My back parts, but My face shall not be seen (Ex. x.xxiii. 18-23). The reason why man cannot see God and live, is that God is Love itself, and Love itself or Divine Love in the spirit- ual world appears to the angels as a Sun, distant from them as the sun of our world is distant from men ; wherefore, if God, Who is in the midst of that Sun, were to come near to the angels, they would perish, as men would if the sun of the world were to come near to them ; for it is equally burning. For this reason there are perpetual temperatures which modify and moderate the heat of that love, so that it may not flow-in into heaven as it is in itself ; for the angels would thus be consumed. Therefore when the Lord shows Himself more fully present in a heaven, the impious who are beneath the heaven begin to lament, to be tortured, and to become lifeless ; they therefore flee into caves and clefts of the mountains, crying, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne (Apoc. vi. 16; Isa. ii. 19, 21). The Lord Himself does not descend, but an angel with a sphere of love from the Lord about him. I have several times seen the impious terrified by that descent, as if they saw death itself before their eyes, some precipi- tating themselves deeper and deeper into hell, and some driven to fury. It was for this reason that the children of Israel prepared themselves for three days before the descent of Jehovah the Lord upon mount Sinai, and that the mount was fenced about, lest any one should come near and die (Ex. xix.). It was similar with the holiness of Jehovah the 920 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. Lord in the decalogue then promulgated, and written on two tables by the finger of God, and afterward deposited in the ark, upon which in the tabernacle was placed the mercy-seat, and upon this the cherubs, that no one might touch that holiness immediately with hand or eye; and neither could Aaroii come near to it but once a year, after having made expiation for himself by sacrifices and offer- ings of incense. Hence, also, many thousands of the peo- ple of Ekron and Bethshemesh died, merely because they looked upon the ark (i Sam. v. ii, 12 ; vi. 19); and Uzzah also, because he touched it (2 Sam. vi. 6, 7). These few things illustrate with what a curse and destruction the Jews would have been smitten, if they had not been prepared by John's Baptism for receiving the Messiah Who was Jeho- vah God in the Human form, and unless He had assumed the Human, and so revealed Himself ; also that they were prepared by this, that in heaven they were enrolled and numbered with those who in heart expected and desired the Messiah, and owing to this angels then were sent and made their guardians. 692. To this I will add these Relation.s. First: While returning home from a school of wisdom [see n. 48], I saw on the way an angel in clothing of a violet color. He joined me at my side, and said, " I see that you have come from a school of wisdom, and that you have been made glad by what you heard there ; and as I perceive that you are not fully in this world, because you are at the same time in the natural world, and do not therefore know of our Olympic gymnasiums where the old Sophi meet, and learn from those who have lately come from your world what changes and successions of state wisdom has undergone and is still un- dergoing, if you wish I will conduct you to a place where dwell many of the ancient Sophi and their sons, that is, their disciples." And he conducted me to the border-land between the north and the east ; and when I looked for- ward into it from a height, lo ! a city appeared, and at one No. 692.] BAPTISM. 921 side of it two hills, the one nearer to the city being the lower. And the angel said to me, "That city is called Athenaeum, the lower hill Parnassium, and the higher Heli- coneum. They are so named because in and around the city sojourn the old sages of Greece, such as Pythagoras, Socrates, Aristippus, and Xenophon, together with their disciples and scholars." I asked about Plato and Aris- totle ; and he said that they and their followers dwell in another region, because they taught rational things which belong to the understanding, but the others morals which pertain to the life. He said that studious persons are fre- quently sent from the city Athenaeum to the literati of the Christians, that they may be told what they think at this day concerning God, the creation of the universe, the soul's immortality, the state of man relative to that of beasts, and other matters of interior wisdom. He said also that a herald had this day proclaimed a meeting, an indication that those who had been sent out had met with new-comers from the earth, from whom they heard curious things. And we saw many going out of the city and from the neighbor- ing parts, some having laurels on their heads, some holding palnis in their hands, some with books under their anns, and some with pens under the hair of the left temple. We mingled with them and ascended in their company ; and lo ! on the hill was an octagonal palace which they called the Palladium ; and we went in. And behold, there were eight hexagonal alcoves there, in each one of which was a library, and also a table at which sat those with the laurel ; and in the Palladium itself were seen seats cut in stone, upon which the others sat down. And then a door opened at the left, through which were ushered two visitors, lately come from the earth ; and after salutations, one of those who wore the laurel asked them, " What news frotn earth i " And they replied, "The news is that there have been found in the forest human beings like beasts, or beasts like human beings, but that from the face and body they were recognized as having 4* 922 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIL been born human beings, but left or lost in the forest when two or three years old. It was said that they wei'e not able to express by sound any thing of thought, nor could they learn to articulate any word ; also that they did not, like beasts, know the food suitable for themselves, but put into their mouths things found in the forest, both clean and unclean. And many such things are told of them. From which some learned men among us have conjectured and some have concluded many things respecting the state of men relative to that of beasts." Hearing this, some of the ancient Sophi asked, " What do they conjecture and conclude from those facts ? " And the two visitors answered, " Many things ; which, however, may be referred to the following : I. That man from his nature, and also from birth, is more stupid and thus of less account than any beast ; and that so he goes on to be, if not instructed. 2. That he can be instructed, because he has learned to make articulate sounds, and thence to speak; and that by this means he began to express his thoughts, and this successively more and more, until he became able to bring out the laws of society, many of which however are impressed upon beasts from birth. 3. That rationality belongs as much to beasts as to men. 4. Wherefore if beasts had been able to speak, they would reason on any subject as skilfully as men ; a proof of which is, that they think from reason and prudence as much as men. 5. That understanding is a mere modifica- tion of light from the sun, heat co-operating, and the ether being the medium ; so that it is merely an activity of interior nature, and that this can be exalted even so far as to appear like wisdom. 6. That it is therefore vain to believe that man lives after death any more than the beast, except, perhaps, that for some days after death, from the exhalation of the life of the body, he may appear as a mist in the form of a ghost, before he is dissipated into nature ; almost as a shrub raised' from the ashes appears in the likeness of its own form. 7. Consequently that religion, which teaches a life No. 692.] BAPTISM. 923 after death, is an invention to hold the simple in bonds by its laws, from within, as they are held from without by the laws of the state." To this they added that the merely ingenious so reason, but not the intelligent. And they were asked, " What do the intelligent say ? " They an- swered that they had not heard, but that they supposed [that they did not reason] so. Hearing this, all who were sitting at the tables exclaimed, " Oh what times there are now on earth ! Alas, what changes wisdom has undergone ! Is it not turned into an infatuated ingenuity .-* The sun has gone down, and is be- neath the earth, directly opposite to its noonday height. Who may not know from the evidence presented in those left in the forest and found again that man is such if not instructed ? Is he not what instruction makes him ? Is he not born more ignorant than the beasts .-' Must he not learn to walk and to talk ? If he did not learn to walk, w'ould he raise himself erect upon his feet ? And without learning to talk, would he mutter any thing of thought ? Is not every man what instruction makes him ? insane from falsities, and wise from truths. And is not one who is insane from falsities in the full fantasy of being wiser than he who is wise from truths? Are there not fools and madmen who are no more men than those found in the forest ? Are not those who are wholly destitute of mem- ory like them. From all this we have concluded that man without instruction is not man nor beast, but a form capable of receiving into itself that which makes the man ; and so that he is not born a man, but becomes a man ; also that man is born such a form as to be an organ re- cipient of life from God, to the end that he may be a subject into which God may bring every good, and make blessed for ever by union with Himself. We perceive from your remarks that wisdom is at this day so far extin- guished or infatuated, that nothing whatever is known of the state of the life of men relative to that of beasts ; 924 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. hence it is that they do not know the state of man's Hfe after death ; but they who are able to know this, and yet do not wish to know, and hence deny it, as many of your Christians do, we may liken to those found in the forest ; not that they have become thus stupid from lack of in- struction, but they have made themselves so by the falla- cies of the senses, which are the darkness of truths." But just then some one standing in the middle of the Palladium, holding a palm in his hand, said, '' Unfold, I pray, this arcanum ; how man, having been created a form of God, could be changed into a form of the devil. I know that the angels of heaven are forms of God, and that the angels of hell are forms of the devil ; and the two forms are opposite to each other, the latter being forms of in- sanity, the others of wisdom. Tell me, therefore, how man, created a form of God, could pass from day into such a night as to be able to deny God and eternal life." To this the teachers made answer in order, first the Pythag- oreans, next the disciples of Socrates, and afterward the others. But there was among them a certain Platonist, who spoke last, and his opinion prevailed. This was, that men of the Saturnian or golden age knew and acknowl- edged themselves to be forms recipient of life from God, and that wisdom was therefore inscribed on their souls and hearts, and consequently that they saw truth from the light of truth, and by means of truths they had a perception of good from the enjoyment belonging to the love of it. But as the human race in succeeding ages had receded from the acknowledgment that all the truth of wisdom and hence the good of love with them, continually flowed-in from God, they ceased to be dwelling-places of God, and discourse with God then ceased also, and consociation with angels. For the interiors of their minds were bent from their direction which had been upraised to God by God, into a direction more and more oblique,, outward into the world, and so to God by God through the world ; and at No. 693-1 BAPTISM. 925 length they were inverted to the opposite direction, which is downwards to self. And as the man who is interiorly inverted and thus turned away, cannot look to God, men separated themselves from Him, and became forms of hell and so of the devil. From this it follows that in the first ages they acknowledged in heart and soul, that they had all the good of love, and hence all the truth of wisdom, from God, and also that these were God's in them ; thus that they were mere receptacles of life from God, and were therefore called images of God, sons of God, and born of God ; but that in succeeding ages they acknowledged this not with heart and soul, but with a kind of persuasive faith, afterward with a historic faith, and finally with the lips only ; and to acknowledge a thing like this with the lips only, is not to acknowledge, yes, it is to deny it in heart. From this it may be seen of what quality is wisdom at this day on earth and among Christians, although they can be inspired by God from a written revelation, while they know not the distinction between man and beast. And therefore many believe that if man lives after death, a beast is to live also ; or, that as a beast does not live after death, neither is man to live. Has not our spiritual light, which illuminates the sight of the mind, become thick darkness with them ? and has not their natural light, which only illuminates the sight of the body, become brightness to them ? After this they all turned to the two visitors, and thanked them for their company and for what they had told them ; they also begged them to report to their brethren what they had heard. The visitors answered that it was for them to confirm their brethren in this truth, that as far as they attribute all the good of charity and the truth of faith to the Lord and not to themselves, so far they are men, and become angels of heaven. 693. Second Relation. Some weeks after this I heard a voice from heaven saying, " Lo ! there is again a meet- 926 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. ing on Parnassium ; come, we will show you the way." I went, and when I was near I saw one standing on Heli- coneum with a trumpet, with which he proclaimed and sum- moned the meeting. And I saw them as before going up from the city Athenaeum and its borders, and in their midst three novitiates from the world. These three were from among Christians ; one was a priest, a second a politician, and the third a philosopher. They were entertaining them on the way with varied conversation, especially about the ancient wise men whom they named. The novitiates asked whether they should see them. They were told that they would, and that they might salute them if they wished, as they were affable. They asked about Demosthenes, Dio- genes, and Epicurus ; it was answered, " Demosthenes is not here, but with. Plato ; Diogenes with his scholars so- journs at the foot of Heliconeum, because he accounts worldly things as of no moment, and revolves in his mind heavenly things only ; Epicurus dwells on the border to- ward the west, and does not come among us because we distinguish between good affections and evil affections, and say that good affections are in unity with wisdom and that evil affections are against wisdom." When they ascended the hill Parnassium, some guards brought water from a fountain there in crystal cups, saying, " This is water from the fountain which, according to the fable of the ancients, was broken through by the hoof of the horse Pegasus, and afterward consecrated to the nine virgins ; but by the winged horse Pegasus they understood the understanding of truth, by means of which is wisdom ; by his hoofs they understood the experiences through which is natural intelligence ; and by the nine virgins, cognitions and knowledges of every kind. These things are now called fable, but they were correspondences, from which the men of the earliest age spoke." Their companions then said to the three visitors, " Be not surprised ; the guards have been instructed to speak so ; and drinking No. 693] BAPTISM. 927 water from the fountain, we understand as meaning to be instructed concerning truths, and, by means of truths, con- cerning goods, and so to be wise." After this they entered the Palladium, and with them the three novitiates from the world, the priest, the politician, and the philosopher. Then those wearing the laurel, who were sitting at the tables, asked, " What news from earth ? " And they re- plied, " This is new, that a certain man professes to talk with angels, and to have his sight open into the spiritual world as fully as into the natural ; and from that world he brings many new things, among which are these : That man lives a man after death, as he before lived in the world ; that he sees, hears, and speaks as he did before in the world ; that he is clothed and wears ornaments as before in the world ; that he hungers and thirsts, eats and drinks, as before in the world ; that he enjoys conjugial delight as before in the world ; that he sleeps and wakes as before in the world ; that there are there lands and lakes, moun- tains and hills, plains and valleys, springs and rivers, para- dises and groves ; also that there are palaces and houses there, and cities and villages, as in the natural world ; and again that there are writings and books, employments and business, also precious stones, gold and silver ; in a word, that the things which are on earth, one and all, are there, those in the heavens being infinitely more perfect, with the sole difference that all things in the spiritual world are of spiritual origin and are therefore spiritual, because they are from a Sun there which is pure love ; and that all things which are in the natural world are of natural origin, and are therefore natural and material, because they are from the sun there which is pure fire. In a word, he says that man after death is perfectly a man, yes, more perfectly than before in the world ; for before, in the world, he was in a material body, but in this he is in a spiritual body." When this was said, the ancient wise men asked, "What do they think of those things on earth ^ " The three re- 928 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. plied, " We ourselves know that they are true, because we are here, and have examined and searched into them all ; and we shall therefore tell what they said and reasoned about them on earth." And then the priest said, *' Those of our order, when they first heard those things, called them visions, then fictions ; afterward they said that the man saw spectres, and at last they hesitated, and said, ' Believe, if you will ; we have hitherto taught that man is not to be in a body after death until the day of the last judgment.' " It was then asked, " Are there not some in- telligent persons among them, who are able to demonstrate and convince them of the truth that man lives a man after death ? " The priest said, " There are some who demon- strate it, but they do not convince. They who demonstrate it say that it is contrary to sound reason to believe that a man does not live a man until the day of the last judg- ment, and that meanwhile he is a soul without a body. [They say], What is a soul, and where is it meanwhile ? Is it a breath, or something like wind, floating in the air, or an entity hidden in the midst of the earth ? Show us its whereabouts. Have the souls of Adam and Eve, and of all who have lived since, for these six thousand years or sixty centuries, still been flying about the universe, or are they kept shut up in the very centre of the earth, awaiting the last judgment ? What could be more anxious and wretched than such a waiting ? May not their lot be com- pared to that of men bound with chains and fetters in prisons ? If such were the lot of man after death, would it not be better to be born an ass than a man ? Moreover, is it not contrary to reason to believe that the soul can be reclothed with its body ? Is not the body eaten up by worms, mice, and fishes ? Can the bony skeleton, burnt up by the sun or fallen into powder, be covered with that new body ? How will those cadaverous and ill-smelling things be collected and united to the souls ? But when they hear such arguments, they do not answer them with No. 693.] BAPTISM. 929 any thing from reason, but cling to their faith, saying, ' We hold reason under obedience to faith.' As to the gather- ing of all from the graves at the day of the last judgment, they say, * This is the work of omnipotence.' And when they name omnipotence and faith, reason is exiled, and I may say that sound reason is then as naught, or with some is like a spectre ; yes, they can say to sound reason, * You are crazy.' " Having heard this, the wise men of Greece said, " Are not those paradoxes dissipated of themselves, as contradictions ? and yet in the world at this day even sound reason cannot dissipate them. What greater para- dox can be believed than that which is told of the last judgment, that the universe is then to pass away, and that the stars of heaven will then fall to the earth which is smaller than they ? and that the bodies of men, either car- casses then, or mummies consumed by men, or mere atoms, are to unite again with their souls ? When we were in the world, we believed in the immortality of men's souls from the inductions which reason afforded us, and we also desig- nated places for the blessed which we called the Elysian fields ; and we believed that souls were human effigies or shapes, but subtle because spiritual." After these remarks, they turned to the second visitor, who in the world had been -Sl politician. He confessed that he had not believed in a life after death, and that he had thought of the new things that he had heard about it as fictions and inventions. [He added], " Meditating upon that life, I said, How can souls be bodies ? Does not all of the man lie dead in the sepulchre ? Is not the eye there .-' How can he see ? Is not the ear there ? How can he hear ? Whence has he a mouth to speak with ? If any thing of the man were to live after death, would it be other than spectre-like ? and how can a spectre eat and drink, and how can it enjoy conjugial delight ? Whence does it have clothing, house, food, and other things ? And spectres, whjch are airy images, seem to be, and yet are not. These and similar 930 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIL thoughts I had in the world concerning the life of man after death. But now, since I have seen every thing, and touched every thing with my hands, I am convinced by the ver)' senses that I am a man as in the world, even so that I know no other than that I live as I formerly lived, with the difference that my reason is now more sound. I have more than once been ashamed of my former thoughts." The philosopher told similar things concerning himself, with this difference, however, that the new things that he had heard respecting a life after death, he classed among the opinions and hypotheses which he had collected from both ancients and moderns. When they heard these things the Sophi were astounded ; and those who were of the Socratic school said that they perceived by this news from earth that the interiors of human minds were successively closed up, and that faith in falsity now shines in the world like truth, and fatuous ingenuity like wisdom, and that the light of wisdom since their times has lowered itself from the interiors of the brain into the mouth beneath the nose, where it appears before the eyes as a brightness of the lip, and the speech of the mouth thence appeared like wis- dom. Having heard these things one of the t}Tos there said, " And how stupid are the minds of those who now dwell on earth ! Would that the disciples of Heraclitus and of Democritus were here, those who laugh at every thing and those who weep at every thing, and we should hear great laughter and great weeping." After the busi- ness of the meeting was finished, they gave to the three novitiates from earth badges of their authority, which were thin plates of copper on which some hieroglyphics were engraved, with which they departed. 694. Third Relation. Some time afterward I looked toward the city Athenseum, of which something was said in a former Relation, and I heard an unusual clamor from it ; there was in it something of laughter, in this something of indignation, and in this something of sadness ; but yet that No. 694.] BAPTISM. 931 clamor was not therefore discordant, but there was a con- cordance of sound, because one [of these elements] did not co-exist with another, but one was within another. In the Spiritual world variety and commingling of affections are perceived distinctly in a sound. At a distance I asked what was the matter. And they said, " A messenger has arrived from the place where new-comers from the Chris- tian world first appear, who says that he has heard from three persons there, that in the world from which they came they believed with the others, there that after death the blessed and happy would have perfect rest from labors; and that because administrations, offices, and work are labors, there would be rest from them. And as those three have now been brought hither by the messenger whom we sent out, and stand waiting at the door, a clamor has arisen ; and after consultation it was decided that they should not be introduced into the Palladium on Parnassium like the former visitors, but into the great audience-hall there, that they might tell their news from the Christian world ; and some have been delegated to formally introduce them." As I was in the spirit (and to spirits distances are accord- ing to the states of their affections), and as I then had an affection for seeing and hearing them, I seemed to myself to be there present ; and I saw them introduced and heard them speak. In the audience-hall the seniors or wiser ones sat at the sides, and the others in the middle, and in front of these latter was a raised floor. Hither the three visitors, together with the messenger, were conducted through the middle of the audience-hall by the younger ones in formal attendance. And when silence was obtained, they were saluted by a certain Elde-r there, and were asked, " IVAaf news from earth ? " And they said, " There are many new things ; but pray tell us to what subject your inquiry refers." The Elder replied, " What news from earth respecting our world and respecting heaven ? " They answered : " When we first came into this world, we heard that in it and in 932 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. heaven there are administrations, ministries, employments, business, pursuits of all kinds of learning, and wonderful work ; and yet our belief was that after migration or trans- fer from the natural world into this spiritual world, we were to come into eternal rest from labors ; and what are employ- ments but labors ? " To this the Elder replied : "By eternal rest from labors did you understand eternal idleness, in which you would constantly sit and lie, inhaling delights with the breast, and jdrinking-in joys with the mouth ? " To this the three visitors, smiling pleasantly, said that they had some such opinion. And then they were answered : *' What have joys, and delights, and thence happiness, in common with idleness ? From idleness the mind collapses, and is not expanded ; or the man is deadened and not vivi- fied. Suppose some one sitting in utter idleness, his hands hanging down, his eyes cast down or withdrawn [from every object], and suppose him to be at the same time surrounded by an aura of gladness ; would not a lethargy seize both his head and body, and the vital expansion of his face give place to contraction, and would not he at last with relaxed fibres nod and nod until he fell to the ground ? What keeps the whole bodily system expanded and tense but the tension of the mind [animus] ? And whence comes the mind's ten- sion but from labors in administration and from work, when these are performed from enjoyment in them ? I will there- fore tell you news from heaven, that there are there admin- istrations, ministries, judicial tribunals greater and less, as also mechanical arts, and trades." The three visitors, when they heard that there were greater and lesser judicial tribu- nals in heaven, said, " Why those ? Are not all in heaven inspired and led by God, and do they not therefore know what is just and right ? What need then of judges ? " And the Elder replied, " In this world we are instructed, and we learn what is good and true, also what is just and equitable much as in the natural world ; and we learn these things not immediately from God, but mediately through others ; i No. 694] BAPTISM. 933 and every angel, like every man, thinks truth and does good as from himself, and this, according to the state of the angel, is mixed and not pure : and further, among the angels there are the simple and the wise ; and the wise must judge, when the simple from simplicity and from ignorance doubt about what is just or depart from it. But as you are yet new in this world, follow me into our city, if it be your good pleas- ure, and we will show you all things." And they left the audience-hall, and some of the seniors also accompanied them. And first they entered a large library, which was divided into smaller collections according to the different branches of knowledge. The three visitors seeing so many books were amazed, and said, "There are books, too, in this world ! Whence come the parchment and paper ? ■whence the pens and ink .-' " The seniors replied, " We perceive that in the former world you believed this world to be empty because it is spiritual ; and this you believed because concerning the spiritual you cherished an idea abstracted from the material ; and what is abstracted from the material appeared to you like nothing, thus like a vacuum; when nevertheless here is a fulness of all things; all things here are substantial, not material ; and material things originate from the substantial. We who are here are spiritual men, because w^e are substantial and not mate-, rial. Hence it is that all things which exist in the natural world are found here in their perfection, even books and WTitings, and many things besides." When the three vis- itors heard the word substantial mentioned, they thought that this was so, because they saw the written books and because they heard the statement that matter is by origin from substance. That they might be still further convinced of these things, they were taken to the abodes of the writers who were transcribing those things that had been written by the wise men of the city ; and they examined the writ- ings, and wondered that they were so neat and finished. After this they were conducted to the museums, gymna- 934 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. siums, and colleges, and the places where their literary schools [or games ludi] were held, some of which were called the schools (or games) of the Heliconides, some of the Parnassides, some of the Athenseides, and some of the Virgins of the fountain. They said that the latter were so named, because virgins signify affections for knowledges, and according to the affection for knowledges every one has intelligence. The schools, so called, were spiritual ex- ercises and trials of skill. They were afterward conducted about the city to the rulers {nioderatores), administrators, and their subordinate officers, and by the latter to view the wonderful works which their artificers execute in a spirit- ual manner. After these things had been seen, the Elder spoke with them again about the eternal rest from labors into which the blessed and happy come after death, and said : " Eternal rest is not idleness, inasmuch as idleness produces a languor, torpor, stupor, and drowsiness of the mind and hence of the whole body, and these are not life but death, still less is it the eternal life in which the angels of heaven are. Eternal rest is therefore a rest that dispels those conditions, and causes man to live ; and this is noth- ing else than what elevates the mind ; it is therefore some pursuit and work by which the mind is aroused, enlivened, and delighted; and this is effected according to the use 'from which, in which, and for which it works. Hence it is that the universal heaven is regarded by the Lord as con- taining uses, and every angel is an angel according to use. The enjoyment in use bears him on, as a favoring current does a ship, causing him to be in eternal peace and in the rest of peace. Eternal rest from labors is thus understood. That an angel is alive according to the application of the mind from use is clearly manifest from this, that every one has conjugial love with its manhood, its potency, and de- lights, according to his application to the genuine use in which he is." After those three visitors were confirmed in this, that eternal rest is not idleness but is the enjoy- No. 695.] BAPTISM. 935 ment in some work that is for use, some virgins came with their handiwork, things embroidered and woven, and pre- sented these to them. And while those novitiate spirits were going away, the virgins sang an ode, in which with angelic melody they expressed the affection for works of use with its charms. 695. Fourth Relation. At the present day most of those who believe in a life after death, also believe that in heaven their thoughts will be only devotions, and their words prayers ; and that all these, together with the ex- pressions of the face and the actions of the body, will be simply glorifications of God ; and their houses, so many houses of worship or sacred buildings ; and thus that all will be priests of God. But I can affirm that the holy things of the church do not there occupy their minds and homes any more than in the world where the worship of God is celebrated, although they occupy them more purely and interiorly ; but that there, in their excellency, are the various things that pertain to civil prudence and to rational erudition. One day I was taken up into heaven, and was conducted into a society there in which were the Sophi who in ancient times excelled in erudition, owing to their study and meditation upon such things as belonged at once to reason and to use, and who were now in heaven because they believed in God and now in the Lord, and loved the " neighbor as themselves. And afterward I was introduced into an assembly of them, and was there asked whence I came ; I told them that in body I was in the natural world, but in spirit in their spiritual world. Hearing this, those angels were made glad, and inquired, " What do they know and understand about Influx in the world where you are in body ? " And then, having recollected what I had gathered on that subject from the discourses and writings of cele- brated men, I replied that they did not yet know of any influx from the spiritual world into the natural world, but of the influx of nature into things endowed with natural 936 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. qualities (tiafurafa), as of the sun's heat and light into ani- mate bodies, as also into trees and shrubs, which are thereby all made to live ; and, on the other hand, of the influx of cold into the same, whereby they are made to die ; and furthermore, of the influx of light into the eye, whence comes sight, of sound into the ear, whence hearing, of odor into the nostrils, whence smell ; and so on. In addition to this, the learned of this age reason diversely respecting an influx of the soul into the body and of the body into the soul, and about this they divide into three parties, — as to whether the influx is of the soul into the body (which they call occasional, from the occasion [presented by] things fall- ing on the senses of the body), or whether there is an influx of the body into the soul (which they call physical, because objects fall upon the senses, and from them upon the soul), or whether there is a simultaneous and instan- taneous influx into the body and at the same time into the soul (which they term pre-established harmony). Never- theless each thinks that the influx to which he holds is within nature. Some believe the soul to be a particle or drop of ether, some that it is a little ball or spark of light, and others that it is some entity that hides itself in the brain. They indeed call this or that spiritual which is the soul to them, but by spiritual they mean a purer natural ; for they do not know any thing of the spiritual world and of its influx into the natural world and they therefore re- main within the sphere of nature ; in this they go up and down, and into it they raise themselves, as eagles into the air ; and those who stay in nature are like the nations of some island in the sea who do not know that there is any land beyond them, and that they are like fishes in a stream which do not know that there is air above their waters. Therefore, when mention is made to them of a world dis- tinct from their own, where angels and spirits dwell, and they are told that all the influx into men is from thlt world, and also the interior influx into the trees, they stand No. 695.] BAPTISM. 937 amazed as if they were listening to some visionary tales about ghosts, or to the nonsense of astrologers. Excepting the philosophers, in the world where I am in body our people do not think and speak of any influx but that of wine into cups, of food and drink into the stomach, of taste into the tongue, and also, it may be, of the influx of air into the lungs, and so on ; and if they hear any thing said about an influx of the spiritual world into the natural, they say, " If it flows-in, let it flow ; what is the advantage or use of knowing it ? " And they go away ; and when talking afterward about what they have heard of that influx, they play with it as some play with pebbles between their fingers. I afterward talked with the angels about the wonders that exist from the influx of the spiritual world into the natural ; as about the grubs which become butterflies, also about bees and drones, and the wonderful things respect- ing silk-worms, and also about spiders ; [saying] that the inhabitants of the earth ascribe those things to the light and heat of the sun, and thus to nature ; and what I have often wondered at, by means of them they confirm them- selves in favor of nature ; and by the confirmations in favor of nature they bring sleep and death upon their minds and become atheists. I then related wonderful things about plants ; as that they all progress in proper order from seed even to new seeds ; just as if the earth knew how to fit and adapt its elements to the prolific prin- ciple of a seed, to bring out the germ from it, to expand it into a stem, from this to send out branches and clothe them with leaves, then to make them beautiful with flowers, from the interiors of the flowers to form the rudiments of fruits and develop them, and by them produce seeds like off- spring, in order to be born again. But these things, be- cause they have become familiar, usual, and common, by being seen continually and by their yearly recurrence, are not looked upon as wonderful, but as mere effects of VOL. III. 5 938 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. nature ; and they have this opinion solely because they are ignorant that there is a spiritual world, and that from the interior this operates upon and actuates the things that exist and are formed in the world of nature and upon its earth, one and all (and it operates as the human mind operates upon the senses and motions of the body), and that the particular things of nature are like tunics, sheaths, and clothing which envelop spiritual things, and proxi- mately produce effects corresponding to the end designed by God the Creator. 696. Fifth Relation. I once prayed to the Lord that I might speak with disciples of Aristotle, and at the same time with those of Descartes and of Leibnitz, in order that I might obtain their views of the Intercourse between the Soul and the Body, After I had prayed, nine men presented themselves, three of them disciples of Aristotle, three of Descartes, and three of Leibnitz ; and they stood around me, the adorers of Aristotle on the left, the followers of Descartes on the right, and the favorers of Leibnitz be- hind. Far in the distance, and at some distance from each other, three persons were seen, appearing to be crowned with laurel ; and from perception which flowed-in from heaven, I recognized them as those leaders or great teachers themselves. A man stood behind Leibnitz, holding the skirt of his garment, who was said to be Wolf. When the nine men saw each other, they at first saluted and addressed each other in courteous tones. But just then a spirit with a torch in his right hand rose up from the lower regions, and waved the torch before their faces. Thereupon they became enemies, three parties of them, and looked at each other with fierce countenances ; for the lust of altercation and dispute seized them. The Aristotelians, who were also schoolmen, then began, by saying, " Who does not see that objects flow-in through the senses into the soul, as one passes through a door into a chamber, and that the soul thinks according to the influx ? When a lover sees No. 696.] BAPTISM. 939 the beautiful virgin or bride, does not his eye sparkle, and bear the love of her to the soul ? When a miser sees bags of money, is there not a burning for them in every sense, and does not this introduce itself therefrom into the soul, and excite the desire to possess them ? When a proud man hears another praising him, does he not prick up his ears, and do not these transmit the praises to the soul ? Are not the senses of the body like entrance-halls, through which alone there is ingress to the soul ? From these examples and innumerable others like them, who can draw any other con- clusion than that influx is from nature, or is physical ? " The followers of Descartes, holding their fingers beneath the forehead at these remarks, and now withdrawing them, replied by saying, " Alas, you speak from appearances. Do you not know that it is not the eye that loves the virgin or bride, but the soul ? And that the sense of the body does not from itself desire the money in the purse, but from the soul ? And again, that in no other way do the ears take in the. praises of flatterers? Is it not perception that causes sensation ? and perception belongs to the soul, not to the organ. Tell, if you can, What causes the tongue and lips to speak but thought ? and what causes the hands to work but will ? and thought and will belong to the soul. Thus what but the soul causes the eye to see, the ears to hear, and the other organs to feel, to attend to objects and turn toward them ? From these examples and innumerable others like them, any one who is wise above the sensual things of the body concludes that there is not an influx of the body into the soul, but of the soul into the body. This is called by us occasional and also spiritual influx." When this was heard, the three who stood behind the former triads and who favored Leibnitz, raised the voice and said, " We have heard the arguments on both sides, and have compared them, and have perceived that in many respects the first arguments are the stronger, while in many the last are the stronger. We therefore, if permitted, will 940 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. settle the dispute." Being asked how they would do this, they said : " There is no influx of the soul into the body, and none of the body into the soul ; but there is a unan- imous and instantaneous operation of both together, which a celebrated author has designated by a beautiful term, calling it pre-established harmony." After this the spirit appeared again with the torch in his hand, but this time in his left, and waved it at the backs of their heads, whereby the ideas of all of them became confused, and they cried out together, " Neither our souls nor our bodies know what side we are to take ; therefore let us decide this dispute by lot ; we will favor what comes out first by lot." And they took three slips of paper, on one of them they wrote Phys- ical Influx, on a second Spiritual* Influx, and on the third Pre-established Harmony. They put the three papers into a cap, and chose one of their number to draw ; he put his hand into the cap and drew out the paper on which was written Spiritual Influx. When they saw this and read it, they all said (some, however, speaking in a clear avid flow- ing and some in a faint and restrained tone), " We favor that, because it came out first." But then an angel sud- denly stood near and said, " Do not believe that the little paper in favor of Spiritual Influx came out by chance, it came providentially ; for you, because you are in confused ideas, do not see its truth ; but the paper offered itself to the hand, that you may favor it." 697. Sixth Relation. I once saw not far from me a meteoric display : I saw a cloud divided into little clouds, some of which were blue, and some dark ; and I saw them dashing against each other, as it were ; rays of light glit- tered in streaks across them, which now seemed sharp like pointed swords, now blunt like broken swords ; those streaks now ran out toward each other, and now drew back into themselves, just like combatants. In this way those little clouds of different colors seemed as it were to be fighting with each other, but they were playing. And as this mete- No. 697.] BAPTISM. 941 oric display did not seem to be far from me, I raised my eyes and looked at it intently ; and I saw boys, young men, and old men entering into a house built of marble, with a substructure of porphyry. That phenomenon was over this house. And then addressing one of those who were enter- ing, I asked him what was there. He replied, "That is a g)'mnasium where young men are initiated into various things belonging to wisdom." Hearing this, I entered with them ; I was in the spirit, that is, in a state like that of the men of the spiritual world, who are called spirits and angels. And behold, in that gymnasium in front was seen a desk, in the centre were benches, round about the sides were seats, and over the entrance was an orchestra. The desk was for the young men who were to give answer to the problem to be proposed at that time, the benches were for the hearers, the seats at the sides for those who had answered wisely on former occasions, and the orchestra for the seniors who were to be arbiters and judges. In the middle of the orchestra was a pulpit, where there sat a wise man whom they called the head teacher ; and he proposed the prob- lems to which the young men were to answer from the desk. And after they were assembled, the man arose from the pulpit and said : " Make answer now, I pray, to this problem,. and solve it if you can : What is the soul, and what its quality t " All were amazed when this was heard, and murmured ; and some of the assembly seated on the benches exclaimed, " What man even from the Saturnian age to our own, has by any rational thought been able to see and con- clude what the soul is ? Still less has any one been able to see and conclude what its quality is. Is not this above the sphere of the understanding of any ? " But to this it was replied from the orchestra, "This is not above the understanding, but in it, and before it; only answer." And the young men arose who were chosen that day to go up to the desk and. make answer to the problem. There were five who had been examined by the seniors and found to 942 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. possess much sagacity, and who then were sitting beside the desk on sofas ; and afterward these went up in the order in which they sat. Each one, when he was to go up, put on a silk tunic of an opaline color, and over it a gown of soft wool inwoven with flowers, and also a cap, on the top of which was a rosette encircled by small sapphires. And I saw the first one so clothed, as he went up, and he said : "What the soul is, and what its quality is, has been revealed to no man since the day of creation ; it is an arca- num among the treasures of God alone. But this much has been discovered, that the soul has her residence in man like a queen ; where her court is, learned masters indeed have guessed ; some, that it is in the little tubercle between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, which is called the pineal gland ; they have devised a seat for the soul in this, because the whole man is governed from those two brains, and that tubercle regulates them ; wherefore this, which regulates the brains at its will, also regulates the entire man from head to foot." He also said, " This, therefore, seemed like the truth or to be probable to many in the world ; but after their time it was rejected as a fiction." After he had said this he put off the gown, tunic, and cap, which the second of those chosen then put on and entered the desk. What he delivered concerning the soul was, that throughout all heaven and all the world none knows what the soul is, and what its quality is. " This is known," he said, " that there is a soul, and that it is in man, but where, is a matter of conjecture ; this much is certain, that it is in the head, for there the understanding thinks, and there the will intends, and in the fore part of the head, that is, in the face, are man's five sensories ; to all of those life is given only by the soul which resides within the head. But where its court there is, I dare not say ; but I have agreed, now with those who have assigned it a seat in the three ventricles of the brain, now with those who have assigned it in the stri- ated bodies, now with those who fix it in the medullary sub- No. 697.] BAPTISM. 943 Stance of either brain, now with those who seat it in the cortical substance, now with those who give it a seat in the dura mater. For there have not been wanting the white pebbles [as suffrages] in favor of each one of these as the seat, on the ground of evidence : in favor of the three ven- tricles in the brain, on the ground that they are the recep- tacles of the animal spirits, and of the lymph of every variety belonging to the brain ; in favor of the striated bodies, on the ground that they form the marrow through which the nerves go forth, and through which both brains are con- tinued into the spinal column, and from this column and that substance emanate the fibres from which the whole body is woven ; in favor of the medullary substance of both brains, since that is a collection in mass of all the fibres that are the rudiments of the whole man ; in favor of the cortical substance, on the ground that the first and the last ends are there, and hence the principles of all the fibres, and thus of the senses and motions ; in favor of the dura mater, because that is the general covering of both brains, and extends itself therefrom by a kind of continuity over the heart and the viscera of the body. As for myself, I do not decide in favor of one more than another. Do you decide, I beg of you, and choose what you prefer." Hav- ing said this, he descended from the desk, and handed the tunic, gown, and cap to the third, who stepping up to the desk spoke as follows : " What have I, a young man, to do with a question so sublime ? I appeal to the learned men sitting here beside me ; I appeal to you wise men in the orchestra ; yes, I appeal to the angels of the highest heaven, whether any one from his own rational light can acquire for himself any idea respecting the soul. But respecting its seat in man, like others I can speak as a seer, and speak- ing so I say that it is in the heart and thence in the blood ; and I divine that this is so, because the heart by its blood rules both the body and the head, for it sends forth the great vessel called the aorta throughout the whole body, 944 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. and the vessels called the carotid arteries into all parts of the head. It is therefore universally agreed that the soul, from the heart through the blood, sustains, nourishes, and vivifies the whole organic system of both the body and the head: It adds credence to this assertion, that soul and heart are so often mentioned together in the Sacred Script- ure, as that thou shalt love God from the whole soul and from the whole heart ; and that God creates in man a new soul and a new heart (Deut. vi. 5 ; x. 12 ; xi, 13 ; xxvi. 16 ; Jer. xxxii. 41 ; Matt. xxii. 37 ; Mark xii. 30, -^T) 'i Luke x. 27 ; and elsewhere) ; it is also openly stated that the blood is the soul of the flesh (Lev. xvii. 11, 14)." On hearing this, some, who were of the canons, cried out, " Learned, learned ! " After this, the fourth, having put on the vestments of the other and entered the desk, said : " I, too, suspect that no one is of a genius so subtile and refined that he can see clearly what the soul is and what its quality is ; I am there- fore of the opinion that, with him who wishes to pry into it, subtilty is wasted on what yields no return. But still, from my boyhood I have continued to credit the opinion of the ancients, that man's soul is in the whole of him and in every part of this whole, and thus that it is both in the head and every part of it, and in the body and every part of it ; and that it was an idle invention of the moderns to desig- nate for it a seat in any one place, and not everywhere. Moreover, the soul is a spiritual substance, of which is predicated neither extension nor place, but habitation and impletion. Furthermore, who does not mean life when he names the soul ? Is not life in the whole and in every part ? " Many of the audience favored these remarks. After him arose the fifth, and arrayed in the same distin- guishing dress, he spoke from the desk as follows : " I do not stop to say. Where is the soul, — whether in anyone part or in the whole ; but from my own store and larder, I will open my mind on the question, What is the soul and what its quality ? The soul is not thought of by any one No. 697.] BAPTISM. 945 except as a pure something whiph may be likened to ether, or air, or wind, in which there is vitality from the rationality which man has above the beasts. This opinion I have based upon this, that when man expires he is said to breathe out or give up the soul or spirit. Hence also the soul as it lives after death is believed to be such a breath, in which there is cogitative life which is called the soul. What else can the soul be ? But as I heard those who said from the orchestra that the problem respecting the soul, what it is and what its quality, is not above the under- standing, but in it and before it, I ask and beg that you yourselves [who are seated there] will open this eternal arcanum." And the seniors in the orchestra looked at the head teacher who had proposed that problem, and he under- stood from their nods that they wished him to descend and teach. And forthwith he descended from the pulpit, crossed the auditorium, and entered the desk ; and there stretching forth the hand he said, "Listen, I pray. Who does not believe the soul to be man's inmost and most subtile essence ? Yet what is essence without a form but a mere thing of reasoning ? The soul, therefore, is a form ; but what kind of a form shall be told. It is a form of all things of love and all of wisdom ; all things of love are called affec- tions, and all of wisdom are called perceptions. These per- ceptions from the affections and thus with them, make one form, in which are innumerable things in such order, series, and coherence, that they may be called a one ; and they may be called a one, because nothing can be taken from this one or added to it, and it be such a form. What is the human soul but such a form ? Are not all things of love and all things of wisdom the essentials of that form ? and these in man are in the soul, and from the soul in the head and the body. You are called spirits and angels ; and in the world you believed that spirits and angels were like wind or ether, and thus minds {inentes and aniini) ; but now you see clearly that you are truly, really, and actually men, 5* 946 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XII. who in the world lived and thought in a material body; and you know that the material body did not live and think, but the spiritual substance in that body, and you called this the soul, of the form of which you had no knowl- edge, and yet you have now seen it and still see it. You all are the souls respecting whose immortality you have heard, thought, said, and written so much ; and because you are forms of love and wisdom from God, you can never die. The soul therefore is a human form, from which noth- ing whatever can be taken away, and to which nothing what- ever can be added ; and it is the inmost form of all the forms of the whole body. And since the forms which are without receive from the inmost form both essence and form, therefore you, even as you appear to yourselves and to us, are souls. In a word, the soul is the man him- self, because it is the inmost man ; therefore its form is fully and perfectly the human form. Yet it is not life, but it is the nearest receptacle of life from God, and thus God's dwelling-place." Many applauded these remarks, but some said, " We will think about it." I then went home. And lo ! in the place of the former meteoric display, there ap- peared over that gymnasium a bright cloud, without any contending streaks or rays. This cloud passing through the roof brightened the walls ; and I heard that they saw writings, and among others this, jfehovah God breathed into man's nostrils the SOUL OF lives, and man became a living SOUL (Gen. ii. 7). CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. CONCERNING THE HOLY SUPPER. I. Without acquaintance with the Correspondences OF natural with spiritual things, no one can KNOW THE uses AND BENEFITS OF THE HoLY SUPPER. 698. This was partially explained in the chapter on Baptism, where it was shown that, without an apprehen- sion of the spiritual sense of the Word no one can know what the two sacraments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, involve and effect (which may be seen n. 667-669). It is now said, Without acquaintance with the correspondences of natural with spiritual things, — which is the same thing, because by correspondences the natural sense of the Word is turned into the spiritual in heaven ; and because of this, those two senses correspond to each other ; wherefore he who has an acquaintance with correspondences can become acquainted with the spiritual sense. But what correspon- dences are, and what their quality, may be seen in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture from beginning to end ; also in the explanation of the Decalogue, from the first to the last commandment ; and as to particulars, in the " Apocalypse Revealed." 699. Who that is truly Christian does not acknowledge that these two sacraments are holy, and indeed that they are in Christendom the holiest things of worship ? But who knows where their holiness resides, or whence it is ? In the institution of the Holy Supper, nothing more is known from the natural sense than that the flesh of Christ is given to eat, and His blood to drink, and that bread 948 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. and wine are in place of these. Who can from this think otherwise than that it is holy solely because of the com- mandment from the Lord ? Wherefore the most sagacious men of the church have taught that when the Word is added to the element, it becomes a sacrament. But be- cause the origin of the holiness of this sacrament as so stated does not fall within the understanding, and does not show itself in its elements or symbols, but falls merely into the memory, therefore some observe it trusting that sins are remitted by its means, some because they believe that it sanctifies, some because it strengthens faith and thus also promotes salvation. But those who think lightly of it, attend to its observance only from being accustomed to do so from childhood ; and some, because they see no reason in it, neglect it. But the impious turn away from it, saying to themselves, " What is it but a ceremony stamped with holiness by the clergy ? For what is there in it but bread and wine ? And what is it but a fiction that the Body of Christ which hung upon the cross and His Blood which was then poured out, are distributed to the communicants together with the bread and wine .-* " And so on. 700. Such ideas respecting this most holy sacrament are at this day cherished throughout all Christendom, solely because they accord with the sense of the letter of the Word ; and the spiritual sense, in which alone the use and benefit of the Holy Supper are displayed in their truth, has been hitherto hidden, not having been disclosed till the present time. This sense is now first disclosed, because there has hitherto been Christianity only in name, and with some persons some shadow of it ; for m^n have not heretofore approached and worshipped the Saviour Him- self immediately as the one only God in Whom is the Divine Trinity, but only mediately; which is not to ap- proach and worship, but merely to venerate Him as the cause for the sake of which man has salvation ; and this is not the essential but the mediate cause, which is beneath No. 701.1 THE HOLY SUPPER. 949 and exterior to the essential. But, however, because real Christianity is now beginning to dawn, [and] the Lord is now establishing a New Church meant by the New Jeru- salem in the Apocalypse, wherein God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are acknowledged as one because in one Person, it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spirit- ual sense of the Word in order that this church may come into the very use and benefit of the sacraments. Baptism and the Holy Supper ; and this is done when men see with the eyes of their spirit, that is, with the understanding, the holiness concealed therein, and apply it to themselves by the means which the Lord has taught in His Word. 701. The holiness of the sacrament here treated of, with- out the opening of the spiritual sense of the Word, or what is the same, without a revelation of the correspondences of natural with spiritual things, can no more be spiritually acknowledged than a treasure hid in a field. The field is not valued more highly than any common one ; but when it is discovered that there is a treasure in it, the field is valued at a great price, and then the purchaser gathers to himself wealth from it ; still more so when it is ascertained that there is a treasure in it more precious than all gold. Without the spiritual sense this sacrament is like a closed house full of jewels and treasures, which is passed by like any other house on the street ; though because the clergy built its walls of marble and covered its roof with plates of gold, it attracts the gaze of the passers-by, to view it, to praise it, and to estimate its value. It is different when that house has been opened and free leave is given to every one to enter, and the custodian supplies some with a loan from it, and to others presents a gift from it, to each ac- cording to his rank. It is said a gxitfrom it ; because the precious things therein are inexhaustible and are continu- ■ally supplied. So it is with the Word as to its spiritual things, and with the sacraments as to their heavenly things. The sacrament here treated of, without a revelation of its 950 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. holiness which lies concealed within, appears like the sand of a river which contains in great abundance little grains of gold scarcely visible ; but when its holiness has been revealed, it is like the gold collected from it, melted into a mass, and this fashioned into beautiful forms. This Sacra- ment, when its holiness is not disclosed and seen, is like a box or casket made of beech or poplar, in which diamonds, rubies, and many other precious stones are arranged in order in little compartments. Who does not value that box or casket if he knows that such things are concealed within it, and still more when he sees them, and when they are also freely distributed ? This sacrament without a revela- tion of its correspondences with heaven, and so when the heavenly things to which it corresponds are not seen, is like an angel appearing in the world in common clothing, and who is honored only according to the clothing ; but it is altogether different when he is known to be an angel, and what is angelic is heard from his lips, and marvellous things are seen in his deeds. The difference between a holiness that is merely attributed to any thing and a holiness which is seen, may be illustrated by this example that was seen and heard in the spiritual world : There was read an epistle written by Paul while he sojourned in the world, but not published, without any one's knowing that it was by Paul. The hearers at first regarded it as of little moment ; but when it was discovered to be one of Paul's epistles, it was received with joy, and the things therein were adored, one and all. It was manifest from this, that the mere attribution of holiness to the Word and the sacraments, when made by the primates of the clerical order, does indeed give the stamp of holiness ; but it is otherwise when the holiness itself is disclosed and pre- sented so as to be seen before the eyes, which is done by a revelation of the spiritual sense ; by this means external holiness becomes internal, and the attribution of holiness becomes the acknowledgment of it. So it is with the holi- ness of the sacrament of the Supper. No. 703.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 95 1 II. From an acquaintance with Correspondences it IS known what is meant by the Lord's Flesh and Blood, and that the Bread and Wine have a similar meaning ; THAT BY THE LoRD'S FlESH AND BY THE BrEAD IS MEANT THE DiVINE GoOD OF His Love, also all the Good of Charity; AND BY the Lord's Blood and by the Wine is MEANT THE DiVINE TrUTH OF HiS WiSDOM, ALSO ALL THE Truth of Faith ; and by Eating is MEANT Appropriation. 702. Since the spiritual sense of the Word is at this day disclosed, and together with it correspondences because they mediate [between the senses], there will therefore only be presented some passages from the Word, from which it may be clearly seen what is meant by Flesh and Blood, also by bread and wine, in the Holy Supper. But these shall be preceded by what is said concerning the institu- tion of this sacrament by the Lord, and by His doctrine concerning His Flesh and Blood, and the bread and wine. 703. The Institution of the Holy Supper by the Lord. Jesus kept the passover with His disciples ; and when evening had come He sat down with them. And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to the disciples, and said. Take, eat, this is My Body. And He took the cup and gave thanks, and gave to them, say- ing, Drink ye all of it, for this is My Blood of the New Testament which is shed for matiy (Matt. xxvi. 26-28 ; Mark xiv, 22-24 'j Luke xxii. 19, 20). The Lord's Doctrine concerning His Flesh and Blood, and the Bread and Wine. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not the bread Jrom heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from 952 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. heaven ; for the bread of God is He That C07neth dotvn from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. I am the bread of life ; he that co7neth to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Ale shall never thirst. I am the bread which came down fro?n heaven. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believ- eth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and a7'e dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a jnan may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever ; and the bread that I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My Flesh and drinketh Aly Blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day ; for My Flesh is meat indeed, and Afy Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him (John vi. 27, 32, n, 35, 41, 47-51. 53-56). 704. Any one enlightened from heaven may perceive in himself that Flesh and Blood in these passages do not mean flesh and blood, but that they both in the natural sense mean the passion of the cross, which they were to keep in remembrance. Therefore when the Lord insti- tuted this Supper of the last Jewish and first Christian passover, He said, This do in remembrance of Me (Luke xxii. 19 ; I Cor. xi. 24, 25), In like manner it may be seen that the bread and wine do not mean bread and wine, but in the natural sense the same as Flesh and Blood, that is, the passion of His cross ; for \Ye read, jfesus brake the bread aiid gave to the disciples, and said, This is My body ; and He took the cup, and gave to them, saying. This is. Aly Blood QAzit. xxvi. ; Mark xiv. ; Luke xxii.). Therefore also He called the passion of the cross a cup (Matt. xxvi. 39, 42 ; Mark xiv. 36 ; John xviii. 11). 705. That these four, flesh, blood, bread, and wine mean No. 705.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 953 the spiritual and heavenly \celestiaf\ things which correspond to them, may be evident from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. ThzX Jlesh in the Word means what is spiritual and heavenly [celestiall, may be evident from the following passages : Cotne and gather yourselves together unto the Supper of the great God ; that ye may eat the flesh of kings ^ and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of tnighty ?nen, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men both free and bond, both stnall and great (Apoc. xix. 17, 18). And in Ezekiel : Gather yourselves on every side to Mv Sj^rifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sac- rifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth ; and ye shall cat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of My sacrifice ; and ye shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with juighty men a7id with all men of war ; so I will set My glory among the 7iatio7is (xxxix. 17-21). Who does not see that in these passages flesh does not mean flesh and that blood does not mean blood, but the spiritual and heavenly \celestiat\ things which correspond to them ? Otherwise, what would they be but unmeaning and strange expres- sions, that they should eat the flesh of kings, of captains, of mighty men, of horses and them that sat on them, and that they should be filled at the table v/ith horses, chariots, mighty men, and all men of war ? also that they should drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and should drink blood till they were drunken ? That these things were said concerning the Holy Supper of the Lord, is clearly manifest ; for the Supper of the great God is men- tioned, and also a great Sacrifice. Inasmuch as all spiritual and heavenly \celestiaf\ things have relation solely to good and truth, it follows that flesh means the good of charity, and blood the truth of faith ; and in the supreme sense; the Lord as to the Divine Good of love and the Divine Truth of wisdom. Spiritual good is also meant by flesh in tho 954 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. following passage in Ezekiel : / will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you ; and I will take away the heart of stone, and will give them a heart of flesh (xi. 19 ; see also xxxvi, 26). By heart in the Word is signified love ; therefore a heart of flesh signifies the love of good. Further- more, that by flesh and blood are meant good and truth, both spiritual, is still more evident from the signification of bread and wine in what now follows ; for the Lord says that His Flesh is bread, and His Blood the wine which was drunk from the cup. 706. By the Lord's Blood is meant the Divine ITruth of the Lord and the Word, because His Flesh spiritually means the Divine Good of love ; and these two are united in Him, It is well known that the Lord is the Word ; and there are two [principles] to which all things of the Word have relation, — Divine Good and Divine Truth ; where- fore if for the Lord we take the Word, it is plain that those two [principles] are meant by His Flesh and Blood. That blood means the Divine Truth of the Lord or of the Word, is evident from many other passages, as, for example, that blood was called the Blood of the Covenant, a covenant being conjunction ; and conjunction is effected by means of His Divine Truth ; as in Zechariah : By the blood of thy COVENANT / will send forth the bound out of the pit (ix. 11). And in Moses: After Moses had read the book of the law in the ears of the people, he sprinkled half of the blood upon the people, and said. Behold the blood of the COVENANT which jfehovali hath made with you concerning all these words (Ex. xxiv. 3-8). And yesus took the cup, and gave to them, sayitig. This is My Blood, of the New Cove- nant (Matt. xxvi. 27, 28 ; Mark xiv. 24; Luke xxii. 20). The Blood of the New Covenant or Testament signifies no other than the Word (which is called a Covenant and Tes- tament, the Old and the New), thus the Divine Truth therein. Since this is signified by blood, therefore the Lord gave His disciples the wine, saying, This is My Blood; No. 7o6.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 955 and wine signifies Divine Truth ; wherefore it is also called the blood 0/ grapes (Gev\. xlix. 11 ; Deut. xxxii. 14). This is still more manifest from the Lord's words : Verily, verily, I say tin to you, Except ye eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you ; 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 (John vi. 53-58). That Blood here means the Divine Truth of the Word is very manifest, for it is said, that he who drinketh it hath life in him, and dwelleth in the Lord and the Lord in him ; that this is effected by Divine Truth and a life according to it, and that the Holy Supper con- firms it, may be known in the Church. Inasmuch as blood signified the Lord's Divine Truth, which is also the Divine Truth of the Word (and this is the real Covenant and Testament, Old and New), therefore blood was the holiest representative in the church among the children of Israel, in which all things together and singly were correspond- ences of natural with spiritual things. For example : They were to take of the paschal blood, and strike it on the side-posts and on the upper door-posts of the houses, lest the plague should come upon them (Ex. xii. 7, 13, 22); and the blood of the burnt-offering was to be sprinkled upon the altar at its founda- tions, on Aaron and his sons, and on their garments (xxix. 12, 16, 20, 21 ; Lev. i. 5, II, 15 ; iii. 2, 8, 13 ; iv. 25, 30, 34; viii. 15, 24; xvii. 6; Num. xviii. 17; Deut. xii. 27); also on the veil over the ark, ofi the mercy-seat thereon, and on the horns of the altar of incense (Lev. iv. 6, 7, 17, 18 ; xvi. 12-15). The Blood of the Lamb, in the Apocalypse, has a similar signification : These have washed their robes, and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb (vii. 14). Also in the following passages : There was war in heaven ; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony (xii. 7, 1 1). For it cannot be thought that Michael and his angels overcame the dragon by any thing 956 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. else than the Lord's Divine Truth in the Word ; for the angels in heaven cannot think of any blood, nor can they think of the Lord's passion, but of Divine Truth and of His Resurrection. Wherefore when man thinks of the Lord's Blood, the angels have a perception of the Divine Truth of His Word ; and when men think of the Lord's passion, they have a perception of His Glorification, and then of His Resurrection only. It has been given me to know that this is so, by much experience. That blood signifies Divine truth is manifest also from the following passages in David : God shall save the souls of the needy ; precious shall their blood be in His sight ; and they shall live, and He will give them of the gold of Sheba (Ps. Ixxii. 13- 15); the blood precious in the sight of God, means the Divine truth with them ; the gold of Sheba, is the wisdom from it. And in Ezekiel : Gather yourselves to the great sacrifice upon the 7nountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh atid drink blood ; ye shall drink the blood of the princes of the earth, and ye shall drink blood till ye be drunken ; a fid I will set ATy glory among the nations (xxxix. 17-21). This treats of the Church which the Lord was about to establish among the nations. That blood cannot here mean blood, but truth from the Word with them, may be seen just above. 707. That BREAD has a similar meaning with flesh, is clearly evident from the Lord's words : yesus took bread, and brake, and gave it, saying. This is My Body (Matt. xxvi. ; Mark xiv. ; Luke xxii.). And again : The bread that Twill give is Afy Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (John vi. 51). And He also says that He is the bread of life, and that if any man eat of this bread he shall live for EVER (vi. 48, 51, 58). It is this bread also that is meant by the sacrifices that are called bread [or food] in the follow- ing passages : The priest shall burn it tipon the altar ; it is the bread of the offering made by fire unto Jehovah (Lev. iii. 1 1 ; also verse 16). The sons of Aaron shall be holy Ko. 7oS.] . THE HOLY SUPPER. 957 unto their God, and not profane the name of their God, for the offerings of jfchovah made by fire, the bread of their God, they do offer. Thou shalt sanctify him, for he offereth the BREAD OF THY GoD. No man that hath a blemish, of the seed of Aaron, shall come iiigh to offer the bread of his God (xxi. 6, 8, 17, 21). Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, My offering, My bread, yi?/- offerings made by fire for an odor of rest, shall ye observe to offer unto Me in their due season (Num. xxviii. 2). Whoever hath touched an unclean thing shall not eat of the holy things, but shall wash his flesh with water, and shall afterward eat of the holy things, because it is his bread (Lev. xxii. 6, 7). To eat of the holy things, was to eat of the flesh of the sacrifices, which also is here called bread, as also in Malachi (i. 7). The meat-offerings in the sacrifices which were of fine wheaten flour, and were therefore bread, had no other signi- fication (Lev. ii. i-i I ; vi. 14-18 ; vii. 9-13 ; and elsewhere) ; nor had the bread on the table in the tabernacle, which was called the bread of faces and the shew-bread (of which in Ex. XXV. 30 ; xl. 23 ; Lev. xxiv. 5-9). That by bread is not meant natural but heavenly bread, is manifest from the following passages : Man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth fnan live (Deut. viii. 3). I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, ?ior a thirst for 7vater, but of hearing the 7vords of Jehovah (Amos viii. 11). Moreover, bread means all food (Lev. xxiv. 5-9 ; Ex. xxv. 30 ; xl. 23 ; Num. iv. 7 ; I Kings vii. 48). That it also means spiritual food is plain from these words of the Lord : Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you (John vi. 27). 708. That wine has a similar meaning with blood, is clearly manifest from the Lord's words : Jesus taking the cup said, This is My Blood (Matt. xxvi. ; Mark xiv. ; Luke xxii.). Also from the following : He washeth His gannent 958 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. i?i wine, and His covering in the blood of grapes (Gen. xlix. ii); this refers to the Lord, jfchovah Zebaoth shall make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, or of sweet wine (Isa. xxv. 6); this refers to the sacrament of the Holy Supper to be instituted by the Lord. And in Isaiah again: Ho ! every one that thirsteth, cojtie ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, cotne ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine (Iv. i). The fruit of the vine which they were to drink new in the heavenly kingdom (Matt, xxvi. 29 \ Mark xiv. 25 ; Luke xxii. 18), means no other than the truth of the New Church and of heaven. There- fore also the church in many places in the Word is called a vineyard (as in Isa. v. 1-4 ; Matt. xx. 1-8) ; and the Lord calls Himself the true Vine, and men who are ingrafted into Him, the branches (John xv. 1-6 ; besides many other passages). 709. From this may now be evident what is meant by the Lord's Flesh and Blood, also by bread and wine, in the threefold sense, natural, spiritual, and heavenly [celestial\ Every man imbued with religion in Christendom may know, and if he does not, may learn, that there is natural nourish- ment and spiritual nourishment, and that natural nourish- ment is for the body, but spiritual nourishment for the soul ; for Jehovah the Lord says in Moses, Man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of jfehovah doth man live (Deut. viii. 3). Now because the body dies, and the soul lives after death, it follows that spiritual nourishment is for eternal salvation. Who can- not see from this, that these two kinds of nourishment are by no means to be confounded ? and that if any one con- founds them, he cannot but acquire to himself natural and sensual ideas (which are material, corporeal, and carnal) respecting the Lord's Flesh and Blood and the bread and wine, which ideas suffocate spiritual ideas concerning this most holy sacrament ? If, however, any one is so simple as to be unable to think from the understanding any thing else No. 711.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 959 than what he sees with the eye, I advise him when he takes the bread and the wine, and then hears them called the Lord's Flesh and Blood, to think within himself of the Holy Supper as being the holiest thing of worship, and to keep in remembrance Christ's passion, and His love for man's salvation; for He says. This do in remembrance of Me (Luke xxii. 19); and The Son of Man came to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45); I lay doivn My life for the sheep (John x. 15, 17 ; xv, 13). 710. This may also be illustrated by comparisons. Who does not remember and love him, who from the zeal of love for his country fights with the enemy even unto death, that he may thereby free her from the yoke of servitude ? And who does not remember and love_him, who, when he sees his fellow-citizens in extreme want, — with death from grievous famine before their eyes, — then out of pity brings forth all his silver and gold from his house, and distributes it freely ? And who does not remember and love him, who out of love and friendship takes the only lamb he possesses, kills it, and sets it before his guests ? and so on. HL From understanding what has been already shown, it may be comprehended that the holy Supper contains all things of the Church AND ALL THINGS OF HeaVEN, UNIVERSALLY AND SEVERALLY. 711. It was shown in the preceding article that the Lord Himself is in the Holy Supper, that flesh and bread are the Lord as to the Divine Good of Love, and that blood and wine are the Lord as to the Divine Truth of Wisdom ; wherefore the Holy Supper involves three [universals], namely, the Lord, His Divine Good, and His Divine Truth, Since, therefore, the Holy Supper includes and contains these three, it follows that it also includes and contains the universals of heaven, and the church. And as all single 960 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. particulars depend on universals, as contents on their con- tainers, it also follows that the Holy Supper includes and contains all the several particulars of heaven and the church. From this it is first manifest that as by the Lord's Flesh and Blood, and in like manner by the bread and wine, are meant Divine Good and Divine Truth, both from the Lord and both being the Lord, the Holy Supper contains all things of heaven and the church universally and severally. 712. It is also known that the essentials of the church are three, namely, God, charity, and faith, and that all things in the church have relation to those three as their universals. These are the same as those named above ; for God is in the Holy Supper the Lord, charity is the Divine Good, and faith the Divine Truth. What is charity but the good that man does from the Lord ? and what is faith but the truth that man believes from the Lord ? Hence there are three [essentials] in man as to his inter- nal, namely, the soul or mind, the will, and the under- standing; these three are the receptacles of those three universals ; the soul itself or the mind is the receptacle of the Lord, for thence it lives ; the will is the receptacle of love or good ; and the understanding is the receptacle of wisdom or truth. Wherefore in the soul or mind all things a«d every single thing not only have relation to those universals of heaven and the church, but also pro- ceed from them. Mention any thing that proceeds from man in which there are not mind, will, and understanding ; if any one of these were taken away, would the man be more than an inanimate thing.'' In like manner there are three things in man as to his external, to which again all things and every single thing have relation, namely, the body, the heart, and the lungs. These three belonging to the body also correspond to the three belonging to the mind, the heart corresponding to the will, and the lungs or respiration to the understanding. That there is such a correspondence has been fully shown, in former treatises. No. 715-] THE HOLY SUPPER, 961 Thus now, all things and every thing in man have been formed, both universally and as to the particulars severally, as receptacles of those three universals of heaven and the church. This is because man has been created an image and likeness of God, consequently that he may be in the Lord and the Lord in him. 713. By contrariety, there are three [universals] opposite to the universals that have been described ; these are the devil, evil, and falsity. The devil (by this is meant hell) is directly opposite to the Lord, evil is directly opposite to good, and falsity to truth ; these three make one, for where the devil is, evil and the falsity from it are there also. These three also contain all things of hell and also all things of the world, universally and severally, these being contrary to heaven and the church. But as they are oppo- sites, they are therefore entirely separate, but yet are held in a connection by a wonderful subjection of all hell to heaven, of evil to good, and of falsity to truth ; which sub- jection is treated of in the work on " Heaven and Hell." 714. That the several particulars maybe held in their order and connection, it is necessary that there should be universals from which they exist and in which they subsist; and it is also necessary that the several particulars should in a certain image answer to their universals ; otherwise the whole would perish with the parts. It is owing to this relationship that all things of the universe have been pre- served in their integrity from the first day of creation until now, and will be still further. That all things in the uni- verse have relation to good and truth, is known ; they ha\'e this relation because all things were created by God from the Divine Good of Love by means of the Divine Truth of Wisdom. Take any thing j'ou please, an animal, a shrub, a stone ; those three most comprehensive universals are inscribed in some relationship upon them all. 715. Since Divine good and Divine Truth are the most universal of all the things of heaven and the church, there- VOL. III. 6 962 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII, fore Melchizedek, who represented the Lord, brought forth bread and wine to Abram and blessed him. Concerning Melchizedek we thus read : Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine to Abram, and he was the priest of the most high God, and he blessed him (Gen. xiv. 18, 19). That Melchizedek represented the Lord, is evi- dent from these words in David : Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek (Ps. ex. 4). That this is con- cerning the Lord may be seen in Hebrews (v. 6, 10; vi. 20 ; vii. I, 10, II, 15, 17, 21). He brought forth bread and wine, because those two included all things of heaven and the church, thus all things of blessing, like the bread and wine in the Holy Supper. IV. The Lord is in the Holy Supper in His fulness, WITH His WHOLE REDEMPTION. 716. That the Lord is in the Holy Supper in His ful- ness, both as to the glorified Human and as to the Divine from Which the Human came, is evident from His own express words. That His Human is present in the Holy Supper, is evident from the following : jfesus took bread and brake, and gave to the disciples, and said. This is My Body ; and He took the cup, and gave to them, saying, This is My Blood (Matt. xxvi. ; Mark xiv. ; Luke xxii). And in John : I am the bread of life : if any one eat of this bread he shall live for ever : the bread that I will give is My Flesh. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whoso eateth Aly Flesh and drinketh My Blood hath eternal life, and dwelleth in Me and I in him (vi.). From these words it is clearly evident that the Lord is in the Holy Supper as to His glorified Human. That the Lord is present in the Holy Supper in His fulness, — as to His Divine also, from Which was the Human, — is evident from this, that He is the bread which came down from heaven (John vi.). He came down from heaven with the Divine ; for it is said. The Word was with God, and the No. 7i8.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 963 Word was God; all things were made by Him; arid the Word was made Flesh (John i. i, 3, 14), and further, that He and the Fat/ier are one (John x. 30), that ail things be- longing to the Father are His (iii. 35 ; xvi. 15), that He is in the Father and the Father in Him (xiv. 10, 11); and so forth. Moreover His Divine can no more be separated from His Human than the soul from the body ; wherefore when it is said that the Lord is present in the Holy Supper in His fulness as to His Human, it follows that His Divine from Which the Human was, also is there at the same time. Now since His Flesh signifies the Divine Good of His Love, and His Blood the Divine Truth of His Wisdom, it is manifest that the Lord in His fulness, both as to the Divine and the glorified Human, is omnipresent in the Holy Supper; consequently, that there is a spiritual eat- ing. 717. That the whole of the Lord's redemption is in the Holy Supper, follows from what has just been said, for where the Lord is in His fulness there also is His whole redemption ; for as to the Human He is the Redeemer, and consequently is Redemption itself ; no part of redemp- tion can be absent where He is in His fulness ; therefore all who go to the Holy Communion worthily become His redeemed. And since redemption means deliverance from hell, conjunction with the Lord, and salvation (of which hereafter in this chapter, and more fully in the chapter on Redemption), therefore these fruits are ascribed to man ; not indeed, so far as the Lord wills (because from His Divine Love He wishes to ascribe all things to man), but so far as man receives ; and he who receives is redeemed in the degree in which he receives. From which it is evi- dent that the effects and fruits of the Lord's redemption return to those who worthily approach. 718. In every man of sound mind there is a faculty of receiving wisdom from the Lord, that is, of multiplying the truths from which it is, to eternity ; also a faculty of re- 964 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. ceiving love, that is, of yielding an increase of the goods from which it is, Hkewise to eternity. There is this perpet- ual increase of good and thence of love, and that perpetual multiplication of truth and thence of wisdom, with the angels, and also with men who are becoming angels ; and as the Lord is Love itself and Wisdom itself, it follows that man has the faculty of conjoining himself with the Lord and the Lord with himself for ever. But still, as man is finite, the Lord's Divine itself cannot be conjoined to him, but only adjoined ; as, for the sake of illustration, the light of the sun cannot be conjoined to the eye, or the sound of the air to the ear, but only adjoined to them, and thus give the ability to see and hear. For man is not Life in himself, as the Lord is even as to the Human (John v. 26), but is a receptacle of life ; and it is Life itself which is adjoined to man, but not conjoined. This has been added in order that it may be understood in what way the Lord in His fulness with His whole redemption is present in the Holy Supper. V. The Lord is present and opens Heaven to those WHO APPROACH THE HOLY SUPPER WORTHILY ; AND He is also PRESENT WITH THOSE WHO APPROACH UNWORTHILY, BUT DOES NOT OPEN HeaVEN TO THEM ; CONSEQUENTLY, AS BAPTISM IS AN INTRODUCTION INTO THE Church, so the Holy Supper is an INTRODUCTION INTO HeAVEN. 719. Who they are that approach the Holy Supper wor- thily, will be shown in the two following articles, which at the same time will tell of those who approach it unworthily ; for from what is affirmed of the one class, there is a cognition of the other from their being opposite. The Lord is present both with the worthy and the unworthy, from His being omnipresent both in heaven and in hell, and also in the world, consequently with the evil as well as with the good. No. 720.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 965 But with the good, that is, the regenerate. He is present both universally and individually ; for He is in them and they are in Him, and where the Lord is there is heaven. Heaven, moreover, constitutes the Lord's body ; where- fore to be in His body is to be at the same time in heaven. But the Lord's presence with those who approach the Holy Supper unworthily, is His universal but not His individual presence, or, what is the same, it is external and not at the same time internal presence. And His universal or exter- nal presence causes man to live as man, to enjoy the fac- ulty of knowing, understanding, and speaking rationally from the understanding ; for man is born for heaven, and therefore also spiritual, and not like the beast, only natural. He also enjoys the faculty of willing and doing those things which his understanding can know, understand, and hence speak rationally. But if the will refuse the truly rational things of the understanding, which are also intrinsically spiritual, the man then becomes external ; wherefore with those who only understand what truth and good are, the Lord's presence is universal or external, while with those who also will and do the truth and good, the Lord's pres- ence is both universal and individual, or both internal and external. They who merely understand and talk about truths and goods, are like the foolish virgins who had lamps but no oil ; while they who not only understand and talk about them but also will and do them, are the wise virgins who were admitted to the wedding ; the former stood at the door and knocked, but were not admitted (Matt. XXV. 1-12). From this it is evident that the Lord is present and opens heaven to those who approach the Holy Supper worthily, and that He is also present with those who approach unworthily, but does not open heaven with them. 720. But still it is not to be believed that the Lord shuts heaven to those who approach unworthily; this He does to no man, even to the end of his life in the world ; but it is 966 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. to be believed that the man shuts it against himself, which he does by rejection of faith and by evil of life. But still man is being kept continually in a state in which repent- ance and conversion are possible, for the Lord is constantly present and urging to be received; for He says, I stand at the door and knock ; if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will svp with him and he WITH Me (Apoc. iii. 20). Wherefore the man himself who does not open the door, is in fault. It is otherwise after death ; then heaven is shut, and is not to be opened to those who, even to the end of life, have approached the Holy Supper unworthily ; for the interiors of their minds have then been fixed and established. 721. That Baptism is an introduction into the church has been shown in the chapter on Baptism ; but that the Holy Supper is an introduction into heaven, is evident from the things above said, and to perception. These two sacra- ments, Baptism and the Holy Supper, are like two gates to eternal life. By Baptism, which is the first gate, every Christian is intromitted and introduced into what the church teaches from the Word respecting the other life; all of which serves as means by which man may be pre- pared for heaven and led to it. The other gate is the Holy Supper; through this, every man who has suffered himself to be prepared and led by the Lord is intromitted and introduced into heaven. There are no other univer- sal gates. These two sacraments may be compared with [what takes place with] a prince born heir to the throne : first he is introduced into a cognition of matters that belong to governing ; second follow his coronation and govern- ment. They may also be compared with [what takes place with] a son born to a great inheritance : first he must learn and become imbued with such things as pertain to the proper management of possessions and wealth ; second is the pos- session, and control. They may also be compared to flie building of a house, and the living in it ; also to the course No. 722.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 967 of a man's instruction from infancy even to the age when he comes under his own control and judgment, and his subsequent rational and spiritual life : one period must nec- essarily precede in order that the other may be attained, for the latter cannot be given without the former. These things serve to illustrate that Baptism and the Holy Supper are like two gates through which man is introduced to eternal life ; that beyond the first gate is a plain which he must pass over ; and that the second is the goal where l".es the prize to which he has directed his course. For the palm is not given until after a combat, nor the reward until the contest is decided. VI. They approach the Holy Supper worthily, who HAVE faith in THE LoRD AND ARE IN CHARITY TOWARD THE NEIGHBOR, THUS WHO ARE REGEN- ERATE. 722. That God, charity, and faith are the three univer- sals of the church, because they are the universal means of salvation, is known, acknowledged, and perceived by every Christian who studies the Word. That God must be acknowl- edged in order that one may have religion, and that any thing of the church may be in him, reason itself (if there is any thing spiritual in it) dictates. Wherefore he who approaches the Holy Supper and does not acknowledge God, profanes it ; for he sees the bread and wine with the eye and tastes them with the tongue, but the thought of his mind is, " What is this but a mere ceremony ? and wherein do these differ from similar things on my own table ? But I do thi.s, lest I should be charged by the priesthood, and consequently by people of a lower class, with the infamy of being an atheist." That after the acknowledgment of God, charity is the second means which fits one to approach the Holy Supper worthily, is evident both from the Word and from the exhortations read throus^hout the Christian world 968 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII before coming to the Supper. It appears from the Word in this, that the first commandment and precept is that fnen should love God above all things, a?id the neighbor as them- selves (Matt. xxii. 34-39 ; Luke x. 25-28). Again, in Paul it is said that there are three things which contribute to salvation, and that the greatest of these is charity (i Cor. xiii. 13). Also from these passages : We know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man is a worshipper of God and doeth His will, him He heareth (John ix. 31). Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire (Matt, vii, 19, 20 ; Luke iii. 8, 9). It appears also from the exhortations read throughout the whole Chris- tian world before coming to the Holy Supper; ever}.-where men are thereby earnestly admonished to be in charity by recon- ciliation and repentance. Of these I will here quote only the following passage from the exhortation read to com- municants in England : "The way and means" to become worthy partakers of the Holy Supper " is, first to examine your lives and conversations by the rule of God's command- ments ; ana whereinsoever ye shall perceive yourselves to have offended, either by will, word, or deed, there to bewail your own sinfulness, and to confess yourselves to Almighty God, with full purpose of amendment of life. And if ye shall perceive your offences to be such as are not only against God but also against your neighbors, then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them, being ready to make resti- tution and satisfaction, according to the uttermost of your powers, for all injuries and wrongs done by you to any other ; and being likewise ready to forgive others that have offended you, as ye would have forgiveness of your offences at God's hand ; for otherwise the receiving of the Holy Communion doth nothing else but increase your damna- tion. Therefore if any of you be a blasphemer of God, a hinderer or slanderer of His Word, [an adulterer,] or be in malice or envy, or in any other grievous crime, repent ye of your sins, or else come not to that holy table, lest, after No. 723] THE HOLY SUPPER. 969 the taking of that holy sacrament, the devil enter into you as he entered into Judas, and fill you full of all iniquities, and bring you to destruction both of body and soul." Faith in the Lord is the third means of worthily enjoying the Holy Supper, because charity and faith make a one, like heat and light in the spring time, from which two in conjunction every tree is born anew ; so from spiritual heat, which is charity, and from spiritual light, which is the truth of faith, every man lives. That faith in the Lord does this, is evident from, the following passages : He that believeth in Me shall never die, but shall live Qohn xi. 25, 26). This is the will of the Father, That every one that believeth on the Son should have eternal life (vi. 40). God so loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should have eternal life (\[\. 16). He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life, and he that believeth not tlu Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abidcth on him (iii. 36). We are in the Truth, in the Son of God, jfesus Christ ; this is the true God •and eternal life (i John v. 20). 723. That man is regenerated by these three, the Lord, charity, and faith, as one, and that unless one is becoming regenerate he cannot come into heaven, was shown in the chapter on Reformation and Regeneration ; wherefore the Lord cannot open heaven to any but the regenerate, and after natural death introduction into heaven is given to no others. By the regenerate who approach the Holy Supper worthily, are meant those who are interiorly in those three essentials of the church and heaven, but not those who are so exteriorly only ; for these latter confess the Lord not with the soul but with the tongue only, and exercise charity toward the neighbor not with the heart but only with the body. Such are all who work iniquity, ac- cording to these words of the Lord : Then shall ye begin to say, Lord, We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence ; but L shall say unto you, L know you fiot whence ye are ; depart from Me, all ye workers of i?iiquity (Luke xiii. 26, 27). 6* 9/0 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. 724. These like former things may be illustrated by various things which accord with them, and which also cor- respond, as for example the following : None are admitted to the table of an emperor or a king, but those who are in high office and rank ; and even these, before they go, clothe themselves in becoming garments, and appear with the proper decorations, so as to be received and favored at their coming. What should not be done for the Table of the Lord, of Him Who is Lord of lords, and King of kings (Apoc. xvii. 14), to which table all are called and invited ? But only those who are spiritually worthy, and are clothed in honorable apparel, after they rise from the table are admitted within the palaces of heaven and into the joys there, and are honored as princes because they are sons of the Great King, and afterward sit down daily with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matt. viii. 11), by whom is meant the Lord as to the Divine celestial, the Divine spiritual, and the Divine natural. The same things may also be compared to weddings on earth, to which only the- relatives, connections, and friends of the bridegroom and the bride are invited ; if any other person is entering, he is admitted indeed, but as he has no place at the table he withdraws. So it is with those who have been called to the marriage of the Lord as the Bridegroom with the Church as the Bride ; and among them are connections, kindred, and friends, — those who derive their common origin from the Lord by regeneration. Furthermore, who is initiated into another's friendship in the world, but he who is faithful to him with a sincere heart, and does his will } Such a one, and no others, he numbers among his friends, and trusts him with his goods. No. 726.1 THE HOLY SUPPER. 97 1 VII. They who approach the Holy Supper worthily, ARE IN THE LoRD AND THE LORD IS IN THEM ; CONSEQUENTLY CONJUNCTION WITH THE LORD IS EFFECTED BY THE HOLY SuPPER. 725. That they approach the Holy Supper worthily who have faith in the Lord and are in charity toward the neigh- bor, and that the truths of faith establish the Lord's pres- ence, and the goods of charity together with faith establish conjunction, has been demonstrated above in several chap- ters. Whence it follows that they who approach the Holy Supper worthily, are being conjoined with the Lord ; and they who are conjoined with Him are in Him and He in them. That this takes place with those who approach worthily, the Lord Himself declares in John, as follows : Jle that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him (vi. 56). That this is conjunction with the Lord, He also teaches elsewhere in Xphn : Abide in Me, and I in you. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit (xv. 4, 5 ; also Apoc. iii. 20). What is conjunction with the Lord but being among those who are in His body ? and they who believe in Him and do His will constitute His body. His will is the exer- cise of charity according to the truths of faith. 726. That eternal life and salvation cannot be given without conjunction with the Lord, is because He is both of these. That He is eternal life is clearly evident from passages in the Word ; also from the following in John : Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life (i John v. 20). He is also Salvation,* because this and eternal life are one. His name Jesus also signifies Salvation,* and from this He is called Saviour throughout the whole Christian world. But still none approach the Holy Supper worthily but those who are interiorly conjoined with the Lord, and * Salus. See p. 251, note. 9/2 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. they are interiorly conjoined with Him who are regenerate ; but who the regenerate are, has been shown in the chapter on Reformation and Regeneration. Moreover, there are many wlio confess the Lord and who do good to the neighbor ; but unless they do so from love toward the neighbor and from faith in the Lord, they are not regen- erate ; for they do good to the neighbor only for reasons that regard the world and themselves, but not the neighbor as the neighbor. Their works are merely natural, which do not inwardly have in store within them any thing spirit- ual ; for such persons confess the Lord with the mouth and lips only, from which the heart is far away. Love toward the neighbor and faith are themselves from the Lord alone, and both are given to man when he from his free-will does good to the neighbor naturally, believes truths rationally, and looks to the Lord, doing these three on account of the commandments in the Word. Then the Lord implants charity and faith in the midst of him, and makes both spiritual. Thus the Lord conjoins man to Himself, and man conjoins himself to the Lord ; for there is no conjunction unless it is effected reciprocally. But all this has been fully shown in the chapters on Charity, Faith, Free-Will, and Regeneration. 727, It is known that conjunctions and consociations are brought about in the world by invitations to the table and by feasts ; for one who gives an invitation, thereby in- tends something conducive to some end looking to agree- ment or friendship. Much more so the invitations which have spiritual things for their end. The feasts in the an- cient churches were feasts of charity, as also in the prim- itive Christian church ; at these feasts they strengthened one another to abide in the worship of the Lord from sincere hearts. That the children of Israel ate together of the sacrifices near the tabernacle, signified nothing else than unanimity in the worship of Jehovah ; therefore the flesh that they ate was called holy (Jer. xi, 15 j Hag. ii. 12 ; No. 727-1 THE HOLV SUPPER. 973 and frequently so elsewhere), because it was part of the sacrifice. Why not, then, the bread and the wine, and the paschal flesh at the Supper of the Lord, JV/io offered Himself a sacrifice for the sins of all the world ? Moreover, conjunction with the Lord by means of the Holy Supper maybe illustrated by the conjunction of families descended from a common father; from him descend those who are related by blood, kindred and connections in their, order, and they all draw something from the first stock ; they do not, however, thus derive the flesh and the blood [of the first father] ; but they draw from the flesh and blood, thus a soul, and hence an inclination to similar things whereby they are conjoined. Also the conjunction is itself apparent in a general way in their faces and also in their manners, and they are therefore called one flesh (as in Gen. xxix. 14; xxxvii. 27 ; 2 Sam. v. i ; xix. 12, 13 ; and elsewhere). It is similar in respect to conjunction with the Lord, Who is the Father of all the faithful and blessed ; conjunction with Him is effected by love and faith ; and by these two they are called one flesh. Therefore the Lord said. He that eateth My Flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him (John vi. 56). Who does not see that the bread and wine do not effect this, but the good of love which is meant by the bread, and the truth of faith which is meant by the wine, and which are the Lord's own, and proceed and are communicated from Him only ? Moreover, all conjunction is effected by love, and love is not love without trust. Let those who believe that the bread is the Flesh and that the wine is the Blood, and who are unable to elevate their thought further, remain in their belief, yet not without this view, — that what is most holy, and that which effects conjunction with the Lord, is what is attributed and appropriated to man as his, although it remains continually the Lord's. 974 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. VIII. The Holy Supper, to those who approach it WORTHILY, IS LIKE A SIGNATURE AND SeAL THAT THEY ARE SONS OF GOD. 728. That the Holy Supper, to those who approach it worthily, is like a signature and seal that they are sons of God, is' because, as before said, the Lord is then present and intromits into heaven those who have been born of Him, that is, the regenerate. The Holy Supper does this because the Lord is then present even as to His Human, for it was shown above that the Lord is present in the Holy Supper in His fulness, and with His whole redemp- tion ; for He says of the bread. This is My Body, and of the wine. This is My Blood ; consequently He then admits them into His Body, and the church and heaven constitute His Body. While man is regenerated the Lord is indeed present, and by His Divine operation prepares man for heaven ; but in order that he may actually enter he must actually present himself to the Lord ; and because the Lord actually presents Himself to man, man must actually receive Him, not, however, as He hung upon the cross, but as He is in His glorified Human, in which He is pres- ent : and the Body of this is Divine Good, and the Blood is Divine Truth ; these are given to man, and by means of them man is regenerated, and is in the Lord and the Lord in him ; for as shown above, the eating which is brought to view in the Holy Supper, is a spiritual eating. From this rightly understood, it is evident that the Holy Supper is like a signature and seal that they who approach it worthily are sons of God. 729. But those who die in infancy or childhood, and so do not attain such an age that they can worthily ap- proach the Holy Supper, are introduced by the Lord through Baptism ; for, as was shown in the chapter on Baptism, Baptism is an introduction into the Christian No. 730.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 975 Church, and at the same time an insertion among Christians in the spiritual world ; and the church and heaven are one there ; wherefore to those who are there, introduction into the church is also introduction into heaven ; and they, be- cause they are educated under the auspices of the Lord, are regenerated more and more, and become His children ; for they know no other father. But the infants and chil- dren born outside of the Christian Church, by other means than Baptism are introduced into the heaven assigned to their religion after they have received faith in the Lord, but they are not commingled with those who are in the Christian heaven. For there is not a nation in all the world which cannot be saved if they acknowledge God and live well ; for the Lord has redeemed all of these, and man is born spiritual, whereby he has the faculty of receiv- ing the gift of redemption. They who receive the Lord, that is, who have faith in Him and are not in evils of life, are called sons of God, and born of God {]o\sx\ i. 12, 13; xi. 52) ; also sons of the kingdom (Matt. xiii. 38) ; and again heirs (xix. 29 ; xxv. 34) ; the Lord's disciples are also called sons (John xiii. 33) ; and so are all tha angels Qob i. 6 ; 730. It is with the Holy Supper as with a covenant, which, after the articles are settled, is agreed to, and finally signed and sealed. That the Lord's Blood is a cov- enant. He Himself teaches ; for when He took the cup and gave it [to the disciples]. He said, Drink ye all of it : this is My Blood, that of the new testament (Matt. xxvi. 28 ; Mark xiv. 24 ; Luke xxii. 20). The new testament is the new covenant ; therefore the word written by the prophets before the Coming of the Lord is called the Old Testament and Covenant, while that written after His Coming by the evangelists and apostles, is called the New Testament or Covenant. That the Divine truth of the Word is meant by blood and likewise by the wine in the Holy Supper, may be seen above (in the seventh and ninth paragraphs 976 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. of Article ii. [n. 706, 708] ); and the Word is the Cove- nant itself which the Lord made with man and man with the Lord ; for the Lord descended as the Word, that is, as Divine Truth ; and as this is His Blood, therefore in the Israelitish church which was representative of the Christian church, blood was called the blood of the covenant (Ex. xxiv. 8 ; Zech. ix. 1 1) ; and the Lord, the Covenant of the people (Isa. xlii. 6 ; xlix. 8 ; see also Jer. xxxi. 31-34 ; Ps. cxi. 9). That there ought by all means to be a signing in order that there may be some certainty, and that this follows after the matter has been fully considered, is also in ac- cordance with the order in the world. What is a commis- sion or a will without signature'? What is judging in law, without a decree signed to ratify the judgment ? What is a high office in a kingdom without a warrant ? What is pro- motion to any office without confirmation ? What is the possession of a house without purchase or agreement with the owner .-* What is the progression to any end, or the running to any goal, and thus for a reward, if there is no end or goal where the reward is to be obtained, or if the proper officer has* not in some manner made his promise sure .'' But these last have been added merely for illustra- tion, in order that even the simple may perceive that the Holy Supper is like a signature, a seal, a pledge, and evi- dence of. commission, even to the angels, that they [who approach it worthily] are sons of God ; and, moreover, it is like a key to the house in heaven where they will dwell for ever. 731. An angel was once seen by me flying beneath the eastern heaven, who held a trumpet in his hand and to his mouth, and sounded it toward the north, the west, and the south. He was clad in a robe which flowed behind him as he flew, and he was girdled with a belt, blazing as it were, and shining with carbuncles and sapphires. He was flying downward, and he alighted gently upon the earth not far from me. As he touched the ground he walked hither and No. 731.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 977 thither erect upon his feet, and then, seeing me, directed his steps toward me. I was in the spirit, and in it was standing on a hill in the southern quarter ; and when he came near, I addressed him and inquired, "What now? I heard the sound of your trumpet, and saw your descent through the air." The angel replied, " I am sent to con- voke, from among those in this land who are from the kingdoms of the Christian world, such men as are most celebrated for learning, most acute in genius, and most eminent in reputation for wisdom, that they may come together on this hill where you are staying, and freely ex- press their minds, and tell what thought, understanding, and wisdom they had in the world concerning heavenly joy and ETERNAL HAPPINESS. The cause of my being sent was this : Some new-comers from the world having been ad- mitted into our heavenly society which is in the east, related that not even one person in the whole Christian world knows what heavenly joy and eternal happiness are, and so what heaven is. At this my brethren and companions were much astonished, and said to me, ' Go down, make proclamation", and call together the wisest men in the world of spirits into which all mortals are first gathered after their departure from the natural world, in order that we may know with certainty from the mouths of many whether it is the truth that such thick darkness or cloudy ignorance prevails among Christians respecting the future life.' " The angel then said, " Wait a little, and you will see companies of wise ones flocking hither ; the Lord will prepare for them a house to meet in." I waited, and behold, after half an hour I saw two troops coming from the north, two from the west, and two from the south ; and as they arrived they were intro- duced by the angel with the trumpet into the house pre- pared for them, and there they occupied places assigned them according to the quarters [whence they came]. There were six troops or companies ; and there was a seventh from the east, which on account of the light was 978 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. not seen by the others. After they had assembled, the angel made known the reason of their convocation, and asked that the companies in their order would set forth their wisdom respecting heavenly joy and eternal hap- piness. Each company then formed a circle, standing face to face, that they might recall the subject from the ideas acquired in the former world, might then examine it, and after consultation present the result of their examination. 732. After consultation, the first company, which was from the north, said : " Heavenly joy and eternal happiness are one with the verj' life of heaven ; wherefore one who enters heaven, as to the life enters into its festivities, just as one who goes to a wedding enters into its festivities. Is not heaven before our sight, above us, and so in a place ? and there, and only there, is good fortune on good fortune and there are pleasures on pleasures. A man is admitted into these as to every perception of the mind and every sensa- tion of the body, owing to the fulness of the joys of that place, when he is admitted into heaven. Therefore heav- enly happiness, which is also eternal, is nothing else than admission into heaven, and admission from Divine Grace." When they had ended, the other company from the north from their wisdom expressed this opinion : " Heavenly joy and eternal happiness are nothing else than most gladsome companionship with angels, and the sweetest conversations with them, whereby the countenance is continually expanded in gladness, and the faces of the whole company are kept sweetly smiling from courteous discourse and pleasantry. What are heavenly joys but the variations of such pleasures to eternity ? " The third company, which was the first of the wise from the western quarter, from the thoughts of their affections uttered this : " What are heavenly joy and eternal happiness but feasting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ? on whose tables there will be delicate and costly food, with generous and noble wines ; and the feasts will be followed by sports and dances of virgins and young men to the music No. 732.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 979 of symphonies and flutes, and in the intervals the sweetest songs will be sung. And then in the evening there will be dramatic exhibitions, after these feasting again, and so every day for ever," When they had ended, the fourth company, which was the second from the western quarter, thus de- clared their opinion : "We have entertained many ideas of heavenly joy and eternal happiness ; we have also exam- ined various joys, comparing them with one another ; and we have come to the conclusion that heavenly joys are paradisal joys. What is heaven but a paradise, reaching from the east to the west and from the south to the north, and containing fruit trees and delightful flowers ? And in the midst of these is the magnificent tree of life, around which the blessed will sit, eating delicious fruit and adorned with garlands of sweetest flowers. And [we have thought] that these, under the breath of a perpetual spring, are pro- duced and come forth anew daily with infinite variety; and that the minds of those who are there, being continually renewed by this perpetual growth and flower, and also from the ever vernal temperature, cannot but draw to themselves and respire new joys daily ; and that they cannot but be restored thereby to the bloom of life, and through this to the primitive state into which Adam and his wife were created, and so be readmitted into their paradise, trans- ferred from earth to heaven." The fifth company, which was the first of the ingenious ones from the southern quarter, spoke as follows : " Heavenly joys and eternal happiness are nothing but supereminent dominion, bound- less wealth, and hence more 'than royal magnificence and most dazzling splendor. That the joys of heaven (and their continual fruition, which is eternal happiness) are these things, we saw clearly from those in the former world who possessed them ; and, moreover, from this, — that the happy are to reign in heaven with the Lord, and to be kings and princes, because they are the son^ of Him Who is King of kings and Lord of lords ; and that they are to sit on thrones, 980 THE TRUE. CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIIL and that angels are to minister unto them. The magnifi- cence of heaven we clearly saw from this, — that the New Jerusalem, by which the glory of heaven is described, is to have gates each of which will be one pearl, and streets of pure gold, and a wall with foundations of precious stones ; consequently, that every one who is received into heaven has his palace glittering with gold and precious things, and dominion that will follow in order from one to another. And because we know that joys are inborn in such things, and that happiness is inherent in them, and that God's promises cannot fail, we have not been able to attribute the most happy state of heavenly life to any other source." After this the sixth company, which was the second from the southern quarter, said with a loud voice : " The joy of heaven and its eternal happiness are nothing else than the perpetual glorification of God, a never-ceasing festival, and most blissful worship with songs and jubilee ; thus a con- stant uplifting of the heart to God, with full trust in His acceptance of the prayers and praises because of the Divine munificence in their blessedness." Some of the company added that this glorification would be attended with mag- nificent illuminations, with most fragrant incense, and with grand processions, headed by the chief priest with a great trumpet, who would be followed by primates and the keep- ers of the keys, great and small, and that after these would follow men bearing palms, and women with, golden images in their hands. 733. The seventh company, which was not seen by the others on account of the light-, was from the east in heaven. They were angels from the same society from which the angel with the trumpet was sent. When they heard in heaven that not a single person in the Christian world knew what the joy of heaven and eternal happiness were, they said one to another, " Surely this cannot be true ; there cannot be such thick darkness and such stupor of mind with Christians ; let us go down ourselves also, and hear No. 734-1 THE HOLY SUPPER. 98 1 whether it is the truth ; and if it is indeed the truth, it cer- tainly is a wonder." Then those angels said to the angel with the trumpet, "You know that every man who had before his death desired heaven and had had any certain thought of the joys therein, is afterward introduced into the joys of his imagination; and that after such have found by trial what is the quality of those joys, that they are ac- cording to the vain ideas of the mind and the delusions of their fantasy, they are then led out of them and instructed ; this takes place with most of those in the world of spirits who in the former life meditated about heaven, and formed some conclusions respecting the joys there so far as to desire them." On hearing this, the angel with the trumpet said to the six companies called together from the wise of the Christian world, " Follow me, and I will introduce you into your joys, and thus into heaven." 734. When the angel had thus spoken, he led the way; and the first company that followed h'im was of those who had persuaded themselves that heavenly joys were only most gladsome companionship with angels, and the sweet- est conversations. These the angels introduced to an as- sembly in the northern quarter, who. in the former world had held the joys of heaven to be of this character. There was a spacious house there, in which such were gathered ; in the house were more than fifty rooms, distinct according to the various kinds of conversation. In certain rooms they conversed about what they had seen and heard in the public places of resort and on the streets ; in some they said many agreeable things about the fair sex, with occasional pleasantry, more and more vmtil every face in the company expanded with merry laughter. In other rooms they talked about the news relating to courts, pub- lic ministers, state-policy, and various things that had transpired from pri\'y councils, together with reasonings and conjectures about events ; in other rooms they talked about business ; in others on subjects connected with liter- 982 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. ature ; in others on matters pertaining to civil prudence and to moral life ; in others concerning church matters, the sects, and so on. It was granted me to look into that house, and I saw people running from room to room, seek- ing companionship in their affection and thence in their joy ; and among those in such companionship I saw three classes, some panting, as it were, to speak, some eager to ask questions, and some greedy to hear. There were four doors to the hous^e, one toward each quarter ; and I ob- served that many released themselves from the companies and hastened to go out. I followed some to the eastern door, and saw those who were sitting near it with sad faces. I went near, and asked why they sat so sad. They answered, '• The doors of this house are kept shut against those who would go out ; it is now the third day since we entered, and we have exhausted the life of our desire in company and conversation, and we have become so weary with continual talk that we can hardly bear to hear the murmur of the voices of those whom we have left. Therefore, owing to the irksomeness, we came to this door and knocked ; but we are answered that the doors of this house are not opened to let people out, but to let them in, and we are told to stay and find enjoyment in the joys of heaven. From this reply we have concluded that we are to remain here for ever ; therefore sadness has seized our minds, and now our breasts begin to feel oppressed and anxiety is coming upon us." Then the angel addressed them and said : " This state is the death of those joys of yours which you believed to be the only heavenly joys, whereas they are but the accessories of heavenly joys." And they asked the angel, " What then is heav- enly joy ? " The angel answered briefly, " It is the enjoy- ment in doing something useful to oneself and to others j and the enjoyment in use draws its essence from love and its existence from wisdom. Enjoyment in use arising from love through wisdom is the soul and life of all heav- No. 735] THE HOLY SUPPER. 983 enly joys. In the heavens there are most gladsome com- panionships, which exhilarate the minds of the angels, cheer their spirits [ani'mi], fill their bosoms with enjoyment, and refresh their bodies; but they have these after they have fulfilled their uses in their functions and their work ; from these are the soul and life in all their gladness and their pleasures. But if you take away that soul or life, the accessory joys gradually become no joys ; they first become matters of indifference, then worthless, and finally they bring sadness and anxiety." After these words the door was opened, and those who sat near it sprung out ; and they fled to their homes, each to his function and his work, and were warmed into new life. 735. After this the angel addressed those who had em- braced the idea respecting the joys of heaven and eternal happiness, that they were feasts with Abraham,* Isaac, and Jacob, followed by sports and exhibitions, and then feast- ing again, and so on eternally. And he said to them, *' Follow me, and I will introduce you into the felicity of your joys." And he led them through grove and meadow to a plain staked out, on which were set tables, fifteen on either side. They asked why there were so many tables ; and the angel replied, " The first table is Abraham's, the second Isaac's, the third Jacob's, and near them in order are the tables of the twelve apostles ; on the other side are as many tables for their wives ; the three first of these are for Sarah Abraham's wife, Rebecca Isaac's wife, and Leah and Rachel Jacob's wives ; the other twelve are for the wives of the twelve apostles." After a little delay, all the tables appeared loaded with dishes, while the spaces be- tween them were ^decorated with little pyramids of sweet- meats. The guests stood around the tables, waiting to see those who were to preside at the tables. After they had waited for them a little while, they saw them enter in procession, from Abraham to the last of the apostles ; and * Throughout this number the Latin reads Abramus, Abram. 984 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. each of these going at once to his own table, took his place upon the couch at the head of it; and from theirplaces they said to those standing around, " Take your places also with us." And the men took places with those Fathers, and the women with their wives, and ate and drank in gladness and with veneration. After the repast the Fathers went out ; and then sports were introduced, dances of maidens and young men, and then exhibitions. When these were ended, they were again invited to the feasting, but with the regulation that on the first day they should eat with Abraham, on the second with Isaac, on the third with Jacob, on the fourth with Peter, on the fifth with James, on the sixth with John, on the seventh with Paul, and with the others in order up to the fifteenth day, when they were to renew the feasting again in the same order, changing seats, and so on to eternity. After this the angel called together the men of his company, and said to them ; " All those whom you saw at the tables had been in simi- lar imaginary thought with yourselves concerning the joys of heaven and eternal happiness therefrom ; and in order that they may see the vanity of their ideas and be Jed out of them, these seeming feasts were instituted, and were permitted by the Lord. Those chief men whom you saw at the head of the tables merely personated old men ; most of them were rustics, having their beards, and puffed up by some little wealth, upon whom has been induced the fan- tasy that they were those ancient Fathers. But follow me to the ways that lead from this school of practice." They followed him ; and they saw fifty here and fifty there who had loaded their stomachs with food until they were nau- seated, and longed to return to the familiar scenes of their own homes, some to their offices, some to their business, and some to their trades. But many were retained by the keepers of the grove, and questioned as to the days of their feasting, and whether they had yet eaten at the tables with Peter and Paul ; and they were told that it would bring No. 735-] THE HOLY SUPPER. 985 disgrace upon them to go away before eating with them, as it would be unbecoming. But most of them answered, " We are surfeited with our joys, food has lost its relish, our palate too is parched, the stomach revolts, we cannot bear those drinks ; w^e have spent several days and nights in that luxury, and we earnestly beg to be let out."- And being dismissed, with panting breath and hurried steps they fled home. Then the angel called the men of his company, and on the way he taught them this concerning heaven : " In heaven as well as in the world there are food and drink, there is eating together and there are con- vivial parties ; on the tables of those who are chief there, are the choicest food, rarities, and delicacies, whereby their minds [ammi] are exhilarated and refreshed ; there are, besides, sports and exhibitions ; and also music, in- strumental and vocal ; and all in the highest perfection. Such things are even joys to those who are there, but they are not happiness ; happiness must be in the joys, and hence from the joys. Happiness in joys makes them joys, enriches them, and sustains them so that they do not be- come v.'orthless and loathsome ; and this happiness each one has from use in his employment. There is a sort of latent current in the affection of every angel's will, that draws his mind to the doing of something, whereby it is tranquillized and finds satisfaction. This satisfaction and tranquillity form a state of mind capable of receiving from the Lord the love of use ; from the reception of this love is heavenly happiness, which is the life of those joys already mentioned. Heavenly food in its essence is no other than love, wisdom, and use together ; that is, use from love, by wisdom. For this reason, food for the body is given to every one in heaven according to the use that he promotes ; the most excellent to those who are in eminent use ; food of a less excellent quality but of exquisite relish to those who are in use of a middle grade ; inferior to those who are in low use ; but none to the indolent." VOL. in. 7 986 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. 736. The angel afterward called to him that company of so-called wise men who had placed heavenly joys and eter- nal happiness therefrom in exalted dominion, with most abundant treasures, also in more than royal magnificence and most dazzling splendor ; because it is said in the Word that they should be kings and princes, should reign for ever with Christ, and be ministered unto by the angels ; with many other things. To them the angel said, " Follow me, and I will introduce you into your joys." Then he led them into a portico constructed of columns and pyramids. In front of it was a porch, through which lay the entrance to the portico. Through this porch he introduced them. And lo ! there were twenty persons seen there ; and they were waiting. And then suddenly there was present one who personated an angel ; and he said to them, " The way to heaven is through this portico. Wait awhile, and make yourselves ready ; for the elder among you are to be kings, and the younger princes." When he had said this, there appeared near each column a throne, and on this a robe of silk, and on the robe a sceptre and crown ; and near each pyramid appeared a seat raised three cubits from the ground, and on the seat a chain made of small links of gold, and the ensigns of an order of knighthood fastened at the ends with rings of diamonds. . It was then proclaimed, " Go now and robe yourselves, take your seats, and wait." And forthwith the older ones ran to the thrones, and the younger to the seats, robed themselves, and sat down. And then appeared as it were a mist, coming up from the lower regions ; and when this was drawn to those who sat upon the thrones and seats, their faces began to swell and their breasts to puff up, and they began to be filled with confidence that they were now kings and princes. The mist was an aura of the fantasy that inspired them. And suddenly young men flew to them as if from heaven, and stood two behind each throne, and one behind each seat, to minister. And then proclamation was made, in turn, by a herald, "Ye kings No. 736.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 987 and princes, wait yet a little while ; your palaces in heaven are now being made ready j very soon the courtiers will come with the guards, and introduce you." They waited and waited until their spirits panted and they grew weary with desire. After three hours the heaven above their heads was opened, and the angels looked down, and pity- ing them said, "Why do you sit there so foolish, assuming characters which do not belong to you ? They have played tricks upon you, and have changed you from men into idols, because you have fixed it in your hearts that you are to reign with Christ as kings and princes, and that angels are then to minister unto you. Have you forgotten the Lord's words, that he who would be great in heaven must become a servant ? Therefore learn what is meant by kings and princes and reigning with Christ, that it is to be wise and do uses ; for the kingdom of Christ, which is heaven, is a kingdom of uses ; for the Lord loves all, and thence wills good to all, and good is use. And because the Lord does goods or uses mediately by the angels, and in the world by men, to those who do uses faithfully He therefore gives the love of use, and its reward which is internal blessedness, and this is eternal happiness. In the heavens as on earth there are exalted dominion and most abundant treasures ; for there are gov^ernments, and forms of government, and thus there are powers and dignities, greater and less ; and those who are in the highest stations have palaces and courts, which surpass those of emperors and kings on earth in mag- nificence and splendor ; and honor and glor\' surround them from the number of the courtiers, ministers, and attendants, and the splendid vestments in which these are clad. But those who are highest are chosen from among those whose hearts are in the public welfare, while only the senses of the body are in the grandeur of magnificence for the sake of obedience. And because it pertains to the public welfare that every one should be of some use in society as in a common body, and because all use is from the Lord and is 988 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. effected through angels and through men as if by them, it is manifest that this is to reign with the Lord." When this had been heard from heaven, those who had personated kings and princes descended from the thrones and seats, and threw away the sceptres, crowns, and robes ; and the mist in which was the aura of fantasy receded from them, and a bright cloud encompassed them, in which was the aura of wisdom; and from this, sanity returned to their minds. 737. After this the angel returned to the house where the wise from the Christian world were assembled, and called to him those who had embraced the belief that the joys of heaven and eternal happiness were paradisal de- lights. To them he said, " Follow me, and I will introduce you into paradise, your heaven, that you may enter upon the blessings of your eternal happiness." And he con- ducted them through a lofty gate-way, formed of the inter- woven branches and twigs of noble trees ; after they had entered he led them about through winding paths from quarter to quarter. It was actually a paradise at the first entrance to heaven, into which they are sent who in the world had believed all heaven to be one paradise, because it is called paradise, and had impressed upon themselves the idea that after death there is complete rest from labor, and that this rest is nothing else than breathing the very soul of delights, walking upon roses, being gladdened by the most delicate juice of the grape, and banqueting ; and that this life is to be found only in a heavenly paradise. As they followed the angel they saw a great multitude of old men and young, also of boys, and also of women and giris, sitting in groups of three and in groups of ten on flower-beds, where they wreathed garlands to decorate the heads of the old men and the arms of the young, and to encircle the bosoms of the children ; others were pressing juice from grapes, cherries, and mulberries, into cups, and drinking it in a genial way ; others were inhaling the fra- No. 737-] THE HOLY SUPPER. 989 grance breathed forth and diffused from flowers, fruit, and odorous leaves ; others were singing sweet songs that soothed the ears of the Hsteners ; others sat at fountains, turning the waters of the gushing stream into various forms ; some were walking about, talking together, and scat- tering their pleasantry; some entered into little garden- houses, to recline on couches ; and they saw many other paradisal forms of gladness. After they had seen these things, the angel conducted his companions here and there by circuitous routes, and at last to some persons seated on a most beautiful flower-bed, which was surrounded by olive, orange, and citron trees ; they sat swaying themselves to and fro, their faces resting on their hands, wailing and weeping. The companions of the angel addressed them ■and asked, "Why do you sit so?" They replied, "It is now seven days since we came into this paradise. When ■we entered, our minds seemed to be as if elevated into heaven, and introduced into the inmost favors of its joys ; but after, three days those favors began to grow dim, to fade from our minds, to become imperceptible, and so to become naught. And when our imaginary joys thus expired, we feared the loss of all that makes our life enjoyable, and began to doubt about eternal happiness, even whether there be any. And afterward we wandered through paths and plots in search of the gate by which we entered. But we wandered through winding paths, round and round, making enquiries of those we met. Some of them said that the gate is not found because this paradisal garden is a vast labyrinth, which is such that any one wishing to go out enters more deeply in ; and they added, ' You must there- fore necessarily remain here to eternity ; you are now in the midst of the paradise, where all delights centre.' " They further said to the companions of the angel : " We have now sat here for a day and a half; and as we are now without hope of finding the way out, we have been resting ourselves on this flower-bed, and look around us upon 990 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap XIII. olives, grapes, oranges, and citrons in abundance. But the more we look at them the more is our sight wearied with seeing, our smell with smelling, and our taste with tasting. This is the cause of the sadness in which you find us, and of our wailing and weeping." On hearing this, the angel of the company said to them, " This paradisal labyrinth is really an entrance to heaven. I know the way out, and will lead you forth." At these words those who were seated arose and embraced the angel, and went with him joining his company. And on their way the angel taught them what heavenly joy and its eternal happiness are, — that they are not external paradisal delights, unless together with these others are internal paradisal delights. "Exter- nal paradisal delights," said he, "are only delights of the senses of the body, but internal paradisal delights are those of the soul's affections ; unless these latter are in the others, there is no heavenly life in them, because there is no soul in them ; and every delight without its correspondent soul, languishes continually and becomes torpid, and it wearies the mind [animus] more than labor. There are paradisal gardens everywhere in heaven, and the angels also have joys from them ; and so far as the soul's delight is within these, the joys are joys to them." Hearing this they all asked, "What is the soul's delight, and whence comes it?" The angel replied, "The soul's delight is from love and wisdom from the Lord ; and because love is effective, and is effective through wisdom, they both have their seat in the effect, and the effect is use. This delight flows into the soul from the Lord, descends through the higher and the lower regions of the mind into all the senses of the body, and fills itself full in them ; hence joy becomes joy, and it becomes eternal from the Eternal from Whom it is. You have seen paradisal scenes ; and I declare to you that there is not one thing there, not even a little leaf, that is not from the marriage of love and wisdom in use. Wherefore if man is in this marriage he is in a heavenly paradise, and so in heaven." No. 738.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 99I 738. After this the angel-guide returned to the house [of assembly], to those who had firmly persuaded them- selves that heavenly joy and eternal happiness were a perpetual glorification of God and an endless festival ; and this, because they had believed when in the world that they should then see God, and because the life of heaven from the worship of God is called a perpetual Sabbath. To them the angel said, " Follow me, and I will introduce you into your joy." And he introduced them into a small city, in the midst of which was a temple, and where all the houses were called sacred buildings. In this city they saw a gathering of the people from eveiy corner of the surrounding land, and among them a number of priests who received them as they came, saluted them, and taking them by the hand led them to the gates of the temple, and from them to some sacred buildings round about the tem- ple, and initiated them into the perpetual worship of God ; saying,." This city is an entrance-court to heaven, and the temple of this city is the entrance to a magnificent and most spacious temple which is in heaven, where God is glorified by angels with praises and prayers for ever. It is ordered both here and there that those who come are first to enter the temple and remain there for three days and three nights, and after this initiation are to enter the houses of this city which are so many buildings conse- crated by us, and going from one sacred house to another, in communion with those assembled there, shall pray, and shout, and repeat what has been preached. Be very care- ful to think of nothing within yourselves, and to speak of nothing with your companions, but what is holy, pious, and religious." After this the angel introduced his com- pany into the temple, which was full and crowded with many who had enjoyed high dignity in the world, and also with many of the common people ; and guards were sta- tioned at the gates, to prevent any one from going out before he had stayed three days. And the angel said, 992 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. " This is the second day since those who are now here came in ; observe them, and you will see their glorification of God." And they looked at them ; and they saw most of them asleep, and those who were awake continually yawning ; some, in consequence of the continual elevation of their thoughts to God, without allowing them to come down at all into the body, seemed like faces apart from the body (for so they appeared to themselves, and there- fore to others also) ; the eyes of some looked wild from being constantly turned away [from things below] ; in a word, the breasts of all were oppressed, and they were weary in their spirits ; they turned away from the pulpit and cried out, " Stop preaching, our ears are stunned ; we no longer hear a word, the very sound of your voices be- gins to be more than we can bear." And then they arose, rushed in a mass to the gates, broke them open, pressed upon the guards and drove them away. Seeing this the priests followed, keeping close to them, teaching and teach- ing, prapng, sighing, and saying, " Celebrate the festival, glorify God, sanctify yourselves ; in this entrance-court of heaven we will inaugurate you into the eternal glorification of God in a magnificent and most spacious temple that is in heaven, and so into the enjoyment of eternal happi- ness." These words, however, were not understood, and were scarcely heard by them, owing to the dulness of their minds from a two days' suspension and detention from ordi- nary business within and outside of their houses. But when they endeavored to tear themselves away from the priests, the priests caught them by the arms and also their cloth- ing, urging them to the houses where they were to preach ; but in vain; they cried out, "Leave us; we feel as if we should faint." At these words, lo, there appeared four men in white garments, and with mitres. One of them had been an archbishop in the world, and the other three had been bishops ; they had now become angels. They called the priests together, and addressing them said, " We No. 739-] THE HOLY SUPPER. 993 saw you from heaven with these sheep, and saw how you feed them. You feed them even to madness. You do not know what glorification of God means. It means to bring forth the fruits of love, that is, to discharge faithfully, sincerely, and diligently the work of one's calling, for this is of the love of God and of the love of the neighbor ; and it is the bond of society, and its good. By this God is glorified, and then by worship at stated times. Have you not read these words of the Lord, Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bearmuch fruit : so shall ye be My disciples (John XV. 8) ? You priests are able to be in the glorifica- tion of worship, because to be so is your office, and you have honor, glory, and recompense therefrom ; but still you could be in that glorification no more than they, unless honor, glory, and recompense were united with your office." Having thus said, the bishops charged the keepers of the gate to admit all, and to let all pass out : "for," said they, " there are very many who have not been able to think of any other heavenly joy than the perpetual worship of God, because they have known nothing of the state of heaven." 739. After this the angel returned with his companions to the place of meeting, from which the companies of wise men had not yet gone ; and there he called to him those who believed heavenly joy and eternal happiness to be merely admittance into heaven, and who believed that admittance is from Divine grace ; also that those who are admitted have joy at once, like those who in the world enter the palaces of kings on days of festivity, or come by invita- tion to a marriage. To them the angel said, "Wait here awhile ; I will sound my trumpet, and those who have high reputation for wisdom in the spiritual things of the church will come hither." After some hours nine men presented themselves, each wearing a laurel wreath to mark his fame. These were introduced by the angel into the house of assembly where all those were waiting who were convoked before. In the presence of these latter the 7* 994 I'f^E TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIIL angel addressed the nine wearing the laurel wreaths, and said : " I know that in accordance with your wish, and fol- lowing out your ideas, it was granted you to ascend into heaven ; and that you have returned to this lower or sub- celestial earth with a full knowledge of the state of heaven ; tell us therefore how heaven appeared to you." And they replied in order. The first said : " My idea of heaven, from earliest boyhood even to the end of my life in the world, was, that it was a place of all blessings and favors, of all that promotes enjoyment and is charming, and of all pleasures ; and that if I were admitted there, I should be surrounded with an aura of such felicities, inhaling them with full breast, as surrounds a bridegroom when he cele- brates his marriage and when he enters the marriage- chamber with his bride.* With this idea I ascended to heaven ; I passed the first guards, and the second also ; but when I came to the third, the officer of the guard ad- dressed me and said, ' Who are you, friend .-' ' I answered, ' Is not this heaven ? I have ascended hither at my earnest wish ; admit me, I entreat you.' And he admitted me. And I saw angels in white garments, who walked around me, and looked at me, and murmured, ' Here is a new guest who is not clothed with the raiment of heaven.' I heard these words, and thought, ' This seems to me to be as it was with him of whom the Lord says that he came to the wedding not having a wedding-garment.' And I said, ' Give me such garments ; ' but they laughed. And then one came running from the court with the order, ' Strip him naked, cast him out, and throw his clothes after him ;' and so I was cast out." The second in order then said : " My belief also, like his, was, that if I were only admitted into heaven which was above my head, joys would flow around me, and that I should breathe them forever. I also obtained my wish. But when the angels saw me they fled, and said to one another, * What portent is this ? How did this bird of night come hither?' And I actually felt No. 739.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 995 myself changed from being a man, although I was not changed. This happened to me from my inhaling the heavenly atmosphere. But presently one ran from the court, with the order that two servants should lead me out, and conduct me back by the way I ascended even to my own house. And when I was at home I appeared to myself and to others as a man." The third said : My idea of heaven was always from place, and not from the love ; so when I came into this world, I longed for heaven with a great desire ; and seeing some ascending, I followed them and was admitted, but only a few steps. But when I wished to gladden my mind \anhnus\ by the idea of the joys and blessings there, owing to the light of heaven (which was white like snow, and the essence of which is said to be wisdom), stupor seized my mind, and from it thick dark- ness came over my eyes, and I began to be insane ; and presently, owing to the heat of heaven (which corresponded to the brightness of that light, and the essence of which is said to be love), my heart palpitated, anxiety took pos- session of me, I was tortured with interior pain, and threw myself on the ground there upon my back ; and while I lay there, an attendant came from the court with an order to carry me carefully into my own light and heat ; and when I came into them, my breath and my heart returned to me. The fourth said that he also had been in the idea of place, and not in the idea of the love, in respect to heaven. He said further : " As soon as I came into the spiritual world I asked wise men whether it was allowable to ascend into heaven. They said that any one was at liberty to ascend, but that those w^ho go up must be careful lest they be cast down again, I laughed at this, and went up, believing like others that all in the whole world were capable of receiving the joys of heaven in their fulness. But truly, as soon as I was within, I became almost dead ; and from the pain and its torture in my head and body, I prostrated myself on the ground, writhed like a serpent near the fire, crawled even to the > 996 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. brink, and in that way threw myself down. I was after- ward taken up by some who stood below, and carried to an inn, where I became well again." The other five also gave wonderful accounts of their ascents to heaven ; and they compared the changes in the states of their life with the state of fishes when lifted from the water into the air, and that of birds when in the ether. And they said that after those hard experiences, they no longer had a desire for heaven, but only for a life in company with their like wher- ever they were ; and that they know that in the world of spirits, where we then were, all first undergo a preparation, the good for heaven and the evil for hell, and that when prepared they see ways opened for them to societies of those like themselves, with whom they are to remain for ever ; also that they then enter these ways with enjoyment because they are the ways of their love. When they of the first assembly heard these things, they all confessed that they, too, had entertained no other idea of heaven than as of a place where with full mouth they should for ever drink-in the joys flowing around them. The angel with the trumpet then said to them : " You now see that the joys of heaven and eternal happiness do not pertain to place, but to the state of man's life ; and the state of heav- enly life is from love and wisdom ; and as use is the con- tainant of these two, the stale of heavenly life is from the conjunction of love and wisdom in use. It is the same if we say charity, faith, and good work ; inasmuch as charity is love, faith is truth from which comes wisdom, and good work is use. Moreover, in our spiritual world there are places as in the natural world ; otherwise there would not be places to live in, and distinct mansions ; but still place in this world is not place, but is an appearance of place according to the state of love and wisdom or charity and faith. Every one who becomes an angel carries his heaven within him, because he carries the love belonging to his heaven j for man from creation is the least efligy, image. No. 740.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 997 and type of the great heaven ; the human form is nothing else ; wherefore every one comes into that society in heaven of which he is a form in his individual effigy. Therefore when he enters into that society, he enters into a form correspondent with himself : thus as from himself he enters into that which is a [more general] self, and as from this he enters into it [as it is] in himself; and he draws-in its life as his life, and his life as its. Every society is as what is general, and the angels therein are as similar parts from which the general co-exists. From this it now follows that they who are in evils and thence in falsities, have formed in themselves an effigy of hell ; and this suffers torment in heaven from the influx and the violence in the activity of one opposite upon another ; for infernal love is opposite to heavenly love, and consequently the enjoyments be- longing to those two loves come into collision with each other like hostile forces, and destroy each other when they meet." 740. After this a voice was heard out of heaven saying to the angel with the trumpet, " Select ten out of the whole assembly, and introduce them to us ; we have heard from the Lord that He will prepare them so that the heat and light, or the love and wisdom, of our heaven may be borne by them without injury for three days." Then ten were chosen, who followed the angel. And they ascended by a steep path to a certain hill, and from this to a mountain on which was the heaven of those angels, which had before appeared to them at a distance like an expanse in the clouds. The gates were opened for them ; and after they had passed the third, the introducing angel ran to the prince of that society or heaven and announced their arrival. And the prjnce said in reply, " Take some of my attendants, and carry back word to them that their arrival is pleasing to me, and introduce them into my ante-court, and give to each his own room with his bed-chamber ; and take some of my courtiers, and servants also, to wait on 998 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. them and to render them all the service they desire." And it was done. But when they were conducted in by the angel, they asked whether it was allowable to go and see the prince ; and the angel answered them, " It is now morn-, ing, and he cannot be seen before noon ; until that time all are engaged in fulfilling their own part in offices and in their work. But you are invited to dinner ; and then you will sit at table with our prince. Meanwhile I will intro- duce you into his palace, where you will see magnificent and splendid things." When they had come to the palace, they first viewed it from without. It was spacious, built of porphyry, with the substructure of jasper; and before the gate were six lofty columns of lapis lazuli, the roof was of plates of gold, the high windows were of the clearest crystal, and their frames also of gold. They were afterward introduced into the interior of the palace, and conducted from room to room ; and they saw ornaments of inexpressible beauty, and on the ceilings decorations of inimitable sculpture ; placed against the walls they saw tables of silver fused with gold, on which were various utensils of precious stones, and of entire gems in heavenly forms. And they saw many other things which no eye on earth had ever seen; and no one therefore had been able to believe that there are such things in heaven. While they were amazed at the sight of such magnificence, the angel said : " Do not wonder ; the things which you see were not fashioned and wrought by any angelic hand, but were formed by the Builder of the universe, and presented to our prince ; wherefore here we have architectural art in its own perfection, and from it are all the rules of that art in the world." The angel said further: "You may possibly imagine- that such things fas- cinate our eyes, and infatuate them so far that we believe them to be the joys of our heaven ; but because our hearts are not in them, they are only accessory to the joys of our hearts ; therefore so far as we contemplate them as acces- No. 741.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 999 sory, and as the workmanship of God, we contemplate in them the Divine omnipotence and clemency." 741. After this the angel said to them, "It is not yet noon ; come with me into the garden of our prince, which adjoins this palace." They went, and at the entrance the angel said, " Behold the most magnificent garden in this heavenly society." But they replied, " What do you say .'' There is no garden here ; we see only one tree, and on its branches and on its top what seem like fruits of gold, and leaves of silver with their edges adorned with emeralds ; and under the tree little children with their nurses." To this the angel with inspired voice replied: "This tree is in the midst of the garden, and is called by us the tree of our heaven, and by some the tree of life. But proceed and draw nearer, and your eyes will be opened and you will see the garden." And they did so, and their eyes were opened, and they saw trees laden with delicious fruit, with vines entwining their tendrils about them, and their tops bend- ing with the fruit toward the tree of life in the centre. These trees were planted in a continued series which came out and went on in endless circles or curves like those of a perpetual spiral ; it was a perfect spiral of trees, in which one species followed another continually, according to the excellence of their fruit. A broad space lay between the beginning of the spiral and the tree that was in the midst; and this space gleamed with beaming light that made the trees of the spiral glow with a radiance which was gradu- ated but unbroken from the first to the last. The first trees were the noblest of all, luxuriant with the rarest fruit ; these were called trees of paradise, being nowhere seen in any land of the natural world, for they do not and cannot exist there. After these followed olive-trees, then those that yielded wine, then trees yielding fragrance, and last of all those useful to workmen for the wood. Here and there in this coil of trees, or this spiral, were seats formed of branches of the trees behind them drawn forward and interlaced, and lOOO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. enriched and adorned with their fruits. In that perpetual circle of trees were passages which opened into flower- plots, and from these into lawns laid out in areas and beds. Seeing these things, the companions of the angel exclaimed, " Behold heaven in form ! Wherever we turn our eyes, some- thing heavenly and paradisal meets them, which is inexpres- sible." The angel rejoiced on hearing this, and said : "All the gardens of our heaven are representative forms or types of heavenly beatitudes in their origin ; and because an influx of these beatitudes elevated your minds, you exclaimed, ' Behold heaven in form.' But they who do not receive that influx, look on these things of paradise only as they look on those of a forest. All those receive the influx who are in the love of use ; while they do not receive it who are in the love of glory, and a glory that is not from use." He afterward explained and taught what was represented and signified by the several things in the garden. 742. While they were thus engaged, there came a mes- senger from the prince, who invited them to- eat bread with him ; and at the same time two attendants of the court brought garments of fine linen, and said, " Put these on, for no one is admitted to the prince's table unless he is clothed with the garments of heaven." And they made themselves ready, and accompanied their angel. They were introduced into a corridor, the walk of the palace, and waited for the prince. And there the angel introduced them to compan- ionship with great men and rulers who also were waiting for the prince. And behold, in less than an hour the doors were opened, and through one wider than the rest, on the western side, they saw him enter in the order and pomp of procession. Before him came his privy counsellors {con- siliarii a latere), after these the chamberlains {co7isiliarii a cameris), and after these the chief oflicers of his court ; the prince was in the midst of the latter ; after him came court- iers of various rank, and last of all the guards. In all, they numbered one hundred and twenty. The angel standing No. 743-1 THE HOLY SUPPER. lOOI in front of the ten new-comers, Avho from their dress now appeared as inmates of the place, advanced with them to the prince, and reverently presented them ; and the prince, without stopping the procession, said to them, " Come with me to eat bread." And they followed him into the dining- hall, where they saw a table magnificently prepared. In the centre of it was a high pyramid of gold, having on its forms in triple order a hundred dishes containing sweet bread, new wine solidified, with other delicacies made of bread and wine together. And through the middle of the pyramid there welled up, as it were, a fountain streaming with wine like nectar, the flow of which parted at the top of the pyramid and supplied the cups. At the sides of this high pyramid were various heavenly forms of gold, on which were dishes and plates loaded with all kinds of food. The heavenly forms on which were the dishes and plates, were forms of art derived from wisdom, such as cannot be por- trayed in the world by any art, or described by any language. The dishes and plates were of silver, engraved around with forms similar to those on their supports ; the cups were of pellucid gems. So was the table furnished. 743. But the dress of the prince and his ministers was this : The prince was clad in a long robe of a purple color, decorated with silver stars of needlework ; under the robe he wore a tunic of shining silk of a violet color. This was open at the breast, where was seen the front part of a belt, bearing the ensign of his society ; this was an eagle brood- ing her young at the top of a tree ; it was of shining gold set round with diamonds. The privy counsellors were clad in a somewhat similar way, but without the ensign ; instead of it they had carved sapphires hanging from their necks by golden chains. The courtiers wore gowns of a brown color, in which were interwoven flowers encircling young eagles ; the tunics under these were of silk of the color of the opal, as were their breeches and stockings. Such was their clothing. I002 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. 744. The privy counsellors, the chamberlains, and the rulers stood around the table ; and at the order of the prince they clasped their hands, and uttered together in a low tone a prayer of praise to the Lord ; and then at a nod from the prince, they took their places on the cushioned seats at the table. And the prince said to the ten strangers, " Sit you down also with me ; your seats are there." And they sat down. The court-attendants before sent by the prince to wait upon them stood behind them.' The prince then said to them, " Take, each one of you, a plate from its stand, and then a little dish from the pyramid." They did so ; and lo, there instantly appeared new plates and little dishes in the place of those taken away. Their cups were filled with wine from the fountain streaming from the great pyramid, and they ate together. When they were moder- ately satisfied, the prince addressed the ten guests and said : " I have heard that you were called together on the earth that is beneath this heaven, to disclose your thoughts con- cerning the joys of heaven and the eternal happiness there- from ; and that you expressed your views variously, each according to the enjoyments of the senses of his body. But what are the enjoyments of the senses of the body without those of the soul .'' It is the soul that makes them to be enjoyments. The enjoyments of the soul are in them- selves imperceptible beatitudes ; but they become more and more perceptible as they descend into the thoughts of the mind, and from these into the sensations of the body. In the thoughts of the mind they are perceived in the con- sciousness of being highly favored, in the sensations of the body in a sense of enjoyment, and in the body itself as pleasures. From these when all together, comes eternal happiness ; but from the latter alone, the happiness is not eternal but temporal, which comes to an end and passes away, and sometimes becomes unhappiness. You have now seen that all your joys are also joys of heaven, and more excellent than you have ever been able to conceive; No. 745-] THE HOLY SUPPER. IOO3 but yet these do not aflFect our minds [am'mz'] interiorly. There are three things which as one flow from the Lord into our souls ; these three as one, or this trine, are love, wisdom, and use : but the love and wisdom do not exist except ideally, because only in the affection and thought of the mind ; but they exist in use really, because simultane- ously in the act iand work of the body ; and where they exist really, there they also subsist. And as love and wis- dom exist and subsist in use, it is use which affects us ; and use is, to discharge the works of one's function faith- fully, sincerely, and diligently. The love of use, and con- sequent earnest application in use, holds the mind together, and prevents its dissipating itself, and wandering about, and drinking-in all the cupidities which with their allurements flow-in through the senses from the body and from the world, and from which the truths of religion and the truths of morality with their goods are scattered to every wind. But the earnest application of the mind in use, holds and binds these together, and disposes the mind into a foi'm receptive of wisdom from these truths, and then it banishes to the sides the illusions and mockeries both of falsities and vanities. But on this subject you will hear more from the wise men of our society, whom I will send to you this afternoon." So saying the prince arose, and with him his guests ; and wishing them peace, he directed the angel who had them in charge to lead them back to their rooms, and to show them all honor and every civility ; and also to invite courteous and affable men to entertain them with conversa- tion respecting the various joys of the society. 745. When they had returned to their rooms all this was done. Men invited from the city came to entertain them with conversation on the various joys of the society ; and after salutations, conversed with them as they walked, very pleasantly. But their angel-guide said, " These ten men were invited to this heaven to see its joys, and thus to receive a new idea of eternal happiness. Recount, I004 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. therefore, some of its joys which affect the senses of the body ; some wise men are to come afterward who will re- late some things that render those joys satisfactory and happy." Hearing this, the men invited from the city re- lated the following: '* i. There are here days of festivity appointed by the prince, that the mind [animus] by relax- ation may recover from the weariness which the zeal of emulation may have brought upon some. On these days there are concerts of instrumental and vocal music in places of public resort, and outside of the city there are games and shows. At such times orchestras are raised in the places of public resort, surrounded by lattice-work of interwoven vines, from which hang clusters of grapes ; within the lattices, in three rows one above another, sit the musicians with stringed and wind instruments, high- toned and low-toned, some powerful and some sweet ; at the sides are singers of both sexes ; and they delight the citizens with the sweetest jubilees and songs, choruses and solos, varied in character at intervals. On these days of festivity this is continued from morning until noon, and then again till evening. 2. Moreover, every morning there are heard from the houses around the public places the sweetest songs of virgins and young girls, with which the whole city resounds. There is some one affection of spirit- ual love that is sung every morning, that is sounded forth by modifications or modulations of the musical voice ; and that affection is perceived in the singing, as if this were the affection itself. It flows-in into the souls of the hearers, and excites them to correspondence [with it]. Such is heavenly song. These singers say that the sound of their singing draws as it were an inspiration and ani- mation from within, and exalts itself joyously, according to its reception by the hearers. When the singing ceases, the windows of the houses on a public square are closed, and at the same time those of the houses on the streets, and the doors also, and then the whole city is still ; No. 746.] THE HOLY SUPPER. IOO5 there is no noise anywhere, nor are any wandering idlers seen, but all, girt for their work, enter upon the duties of their respective employments. 3. But at noon the doors are opened, and in the afternoon in some places the win- dows also, and the boys and girls are seen playing in the streets, while their nurses and their teachers sit in the porches of the houses, overseeing them. 4. In the out- skirts of the city, there are various games of the boys and young men ; there are foot-races, and games of ball, and the game in which the ball is struck back and forth, called tennis. There are trials of skill among the boys, to de- termine who is quick and who is slow in speaking, acting, and perceiving ; and to the quick, some laurel leaves are given as a reward; and there are many other ways of calling forth the latent abilities of the boys. 5. More- over, there are theatrical exhibitions outside of the city, where players represent the various proprieties and virtues of moral life ; among them are also players of lower parts, for the sake of relations." And one of the ten asked, " How for the sake of relations ? " They replied : " No virtue can be presented to the life, together with what is honorable and becoming pertaining to it, except by means of relatives, from the greatest to the least of them. The players of the lower parts represent the virtues, and the honorable and becoming things pertaining to them as they are when least, even till they become none"; but it is decreed by law that nothing opposite (which is called dis- honorable and unbecoming) shall be exhibited except fig- uratively and as it were remotely. It is so provided, be- cause nothing that is honorable and good in any virtue passes by successive steps to what is dishonorable and evil, but to the very least of it even till it perishes ; and when it perishes, the opposite begins. Therefore heaven, where all things are honorable and good, has nothing in common with hell, where all things are dishonorable and evil." 746. While they were talking, a servant ran to them and I006 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. announced the arrival of eight wise men who had come by the order of the prince, and wished to enter ; hearing this, the angel went and received them, and introduced them. And the wise men, as soon as the usual and proper forms of introduction were over, first spoke with them about the beginnings and growth of wisdom, mingling with their con- versation various remarks respecting its progress, show- ing that with the angels wisdom nowhere has an end and ceases, but grows and is increased to eternity. Hear- ing this, the angel of the company said to the wise men, " Our prince spoke at table with these men concerning the seat of wisdom, as being in use. Do you also, if you please, talk with them on the same subject." And they said : " Man as first created was imbued with wisdom and its love, not for the sake of himself, but for the sake of its communication with others from himself; hence it is in- scribed in the wisdom of the wise, that no one should be wise and live for himself alone but for others at the same time ; hence society, which otherwise would not exist. To live for others is to do uses. Uses are the bonds of society ; there are just as many of these bonds as there are good uses, and these are infinite in number. There are spiritual uses, which pertain to love to God and love toward the neighbor ; there are moral and civil uses, which pertain to the love of the society and state in which a man is, and of the companions and citizens with whom he is ; there are natural uses, which pertain to the love of the world and its necessities ; and there are bodily uses, which pertain to the love of self-preservation for the sake of higher uses. All these uses are inscribed on man, and follow in order one after another ; and when they exist simultaneously, one is within the other. They who are in the first uses, which are spiritual, are also in those that follow, and they are wise ; but they who are not in the first, and yet are in the second and hence in those that follow, are not wise thus, but only appear to be so owing to external morality No. 746.] THE HOLY SUPPER. IOO7 and orderly civil life ; they who are not in the first and second but are in the third and fourth, are any thing but wise, for they are satans, as they love the world only, and themselves from the world ; but they who are in the fourth only, are the least wise of all, for they are devils because they live for themselves alone, or if for others it is solely for the sake of self. And further : every love has its own enjoyment, for by this the love lives ; and the enjoyment in the love of uses is a heavenly enjoyment which enters succeeding enjoyments in order, and according to their order of succession exalts them and makes them eternal." They afterward enumerated heavenly delights proceeding from the love of use, and said that there are myriads of myriads of them, and that they enter into them who enter into heaven. And moreover, in discourses of wisdom con- cerning the love of use, they pass the day with them even till evening. But towards evening there came a footman clothed in linen to the ten visitors, companions of the angel, and invited them to a wedding to be celebrated the next day. The visitors were very glad that they were also to see a wedding in heaven. After this they were conducted to one of the privy counsellors, and supped with him ; and after supper they returned and separated from one another, and retired each to his own bed-chamber, and slept till morning. And then, having wakened they heard the song of the virgins and young girls from the houses round the place of public assembly, which was mentioned above. The affection of conjugial love was sung at that time ; deeply affected and moved by the sweetness of which, they perceived a blessed charm implanted in their joys, which exalted and renewed them. When the time came, the angel said, "Make yourselves ready, putting on the gar- ments of heaven which our prince sent to you ; " and they put them on ; and behold their garments shone as from flamy light. And they asked the angel, " Whence i-. thLs ? " I008 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII He replied, "It is because you are going to a wedding; with us our garments then shine and become wedding garments." 747. After this the angel conducted them to the house of the wedding, and the porter opened the door. They were received near the threshold and saluted by an angel sent by the bridegroom, conducted in, and taken to seats set apart for them ; and soon after they were invited into an ante-room of the bridal chamber ; in the centre of this they saw a table on which was placed a magnificent candle- stick with seven branches and bowls of gold ; on the walls hung lamps of silver ; when these were lighted, the atmos- phere had a golden appearance. And they saw two tables, at the sides of the candlestick, on which were loaves in triple order ; and in the four corners of the room, tables upon which were cr}'stal cups. While they were examin- ing these things, behold a door was opened from an apart- ment next the bridal chamber, and they saw six virgins come out, and following them the bridegroom and bride holding each other by the hand, and leading each other to their seat which had been placed directly opposite the candlestick ; they took their seats, the bridegroom on the left and the bride on his right, and the six virgins stood at the side of the seat near the bride. The bridegroom was dressed in a robe of glowing purple and a coat of shining linen, with an ephod on which was a golden plate set round with diamonds ; a young eagle, the nuptial badge of this society of heaven, was engraved on the plate ; on his head he wore a mitre. But the bride was dressed in a scarlet mantle, and under it an embroidered dress reaching from the neck to the feet ; beneath her bosom was a golden girdle, and upon her head a crown of gold set with rubies. While they thus sat together, the bridegroom turned to the bride, and placed on her finger a golden ring ; and he drew forth bracelets and a necklace of great pearls, fasten- ing the bracelets on her wrists, and the necklace about her No. 74S.] THE HOLY SUPPER. IOO9 neck, and saying, " Accept these pledges." And while she took them, he kissed her, and said, *' Now you are mine," and he called her his wife. When this had been done, the guests cried out, " A blessing upon you ! " First each one said this by himself, and then all together ; one sent by the prince in his stead, joined in the cry ; and at that moment the ante-room was filled with an aromatic smoke, which was a sign of blessing from heaven. And then the servants in waiting took loaves from the two tables near the candlestick, and cups, now filled with wine, from the tables in the corners of the room, and gave to each of the guests his bread and his cup, and they ate and drank. After this the husband and his wife arose, the six virgins following them to the threshold with the now lighted sih^er lamps in their hands ; and the married pair entered the bridal chamber ; and the door was shut. 748. The angel-guide afterward talked with the guests about his ten companions, saying that he had introduced them by command, had shown them the magnificent things of the prince's palace and the wonderful things it contained, that they had dined with him, and had afterward conversed with the wise of the society. And he asked, " May they be permitted to converse a little with yourselves also ? " And they approached, and entered into conversation. And one wise man of the wedding guests said to them, " Do you understand what is signified by the things which you have seen ? " They replied that they understood a little. And then they asked him, " Why was the bridegroom, now a husband, so clothed ? " He answered, " The bride- groom, now a husband, represented the Lord ; and the bride, now a wife, represented the Church ; because nup- tials in heaven represent the Lord's marriage with the €hurch. It was for this reason that the bridegroom had a mitre on his head, and was clad in a robe, coat, and ephod, like Aaron ; and that the bride, now a wife, had a crown on her head, and was dressed with a mantle like a VOL. III. 8 lOlO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. queen. But to-morrow they will be clothed differently, because this representation lasts only to-day." Again they asked, " Since he represented the Lord, and she the Church, why did she sit at his right ? " The wise man replied : " Because there are two things which make the marriage of the Lord and the Church, Love and Wisdom, and the Lord is Love, and the Church is Wisdom ; and Wisdom is at the right of Love ; for the man of the church is wise as of himself, and as he becomes wise he receives love from the Lord. The right hand also signifies power, and love has power through wisdom. But as before said, after the nuptials the representation is changed ; for the' husband then represents wisdom, and the wife the love of his wis- dom. This latter love, however, is not the prior love, but it is a secondary love which the wife has from the Lord through the wisdom of the husband ; the love of the Lord which is the prior love, is the love of becoming wise, [and this is] with the husband : wherefore, after the nuptials, both together (the husband and his wife) represent the church." Again they asked, " Why did not you men stand beside the bridegroom, now a husband, as the six virgins stood beside the bride, now a wife ? " The wise man re- plied : " Because to-day we ourselves are counted among the virgins, and the number six signifies all and the com- plete." But they said, " How is that ? " He replied : "Virgins signify the church; and the church is of. both sexes ; wherefore we, too, are virgins in relation to the church ; that this is so is evident from these words in the Apocalypse, These are they who were not dcjiled with 7votne?i, for they are virgins ; and they follozv the Lamb whithersoever He goeth (xiv. 4). And because virgins signify the church, the Lord likened it to tcti virgins invited to a marriage (Matt. xxv. 1-13). And because Israel, Zion, and Jerusa- lem signify the church, mention is so often made in the Word of the virgin and daughter of Israel, Zion, and Jerusalem. The Lord also describes His marriage with the No. 75oJ THE HOLY SUPPER. lOII Church by these words in David : Upon Thy right hand DID STAND THE QUEEN in fiiic gold of OpMr ; her clothing is of wrought gold ; she shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needle-work ; the virgins her companions that follow her shall come into the King's palace " (Ps. xlv. 9-14). Afterward they said, " Is it not proper that a priest should be present and minister at nuptials ? " The wise man answered, " This is proper on earth, but not in the heavens, on account of the representation of the Lord Himself and the Church. On earth they do not know this. Yet with us a priest ministers at the betrothments, and hears, receives, confirms, and consecrates the consent. Consent is the essential of marriage, and all other succeeding ceremonies are its formalities." 749. After this the angel-guide went to the six virgins, and told them also of his companions, and requested that they would honor them with their company. And they approached, but when they were near they suddenly went back and entered the women's apartment, where their virgin friends also were. On seeing this, the angel-guide followed them and asked why they had withdrawn so sud- denly without speaking with them. They replied, " We could not go near them." He said, " Why so ? " And they answered, " We do not know ; but we perceived some- thing that repelled and drove us back ; they must excuse us." And the angel returned to his companions, and told them this answer, and added, " I suspect that your love of the sex is not chaste ; in heaven we love virgins for their beauty and the elegance of their manners, and we love them dearly, but chastely." At this his companions smiled and said, " Your suspicion is correct ; who can see such beauties near, and not feel some desire ? " 750. After this social festivity, all those invited to the nuptials departed, and also the ten men in company with their angel. The evening was far advanced, and they went to bed. At dawn they heard it proclaimed, " To-day is the I0I2 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIII. Sabbath;" and they arose, and asked the angel what it meant. He replied, " It is a call to the worship of God, which returns at stated times, and is proclaimed by the priests ; it is celebrated in our temples, and lasts about two hours. Come with me, therefore, if you like, and I will introduce you." They made themselves ready, accompanied the angel, and entered the temple. And behold, the temple was large, capable of seating about three thousand persons, semicircular in form, with benches or seats extending con- tinuously around, following the figure of the temple. The pulpit in front of the seats was drawn back a little from the centre ; the door was back of the pulpit, at the left. The ten strangers entered with their angel-guide, and he told them where they were to sit, saying, " Every one who enters the temple knows his place ; he knows it from some- thing within, nor can he sit anywhere else ; if he sits else- where, he hears nothing and perceives nothing, and also he disturbs the order; and when this is done, the priest is not inspired." 751. When the congregation had assembled, the priest ascended the pulpit, and preached a sermon full of the spirit of wisdom. The sermon was concerning the holiness of the Sacred Scripture, and the conjunction of the Lord by means of it with both worlds, the spiritual and the nat- ural. In the enlightenment in which he was, he fully proved that that Holy Book was dictated by Jehovah the Lord, and that consequently He is in it, even so that He is the Wis- dom there ; but that the Wisdom which is Himself therein, lies concealed under the sense of the letter, and is opened to none but those who are in truths of doctrine and at the same time in goods of life, and who thus are in the Lord and have the Lord in them. To the sermon he subjoined a prayer, and descended. As the audience were leaving, the angel asked the priest to speak a few words of peace to his ten companions ; and he came to them, and they conversed together for half an hour, and he spoke concern- No. 752.] THE HOLY SUPPER. 101 3 ing the Divine Trinity as being in Jesus Christ, in Whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead (or Divinity) bodily, according to the saying of the Apostle Paul ; and he after- ward spoke of the union of charity and faith, but he said the union of charity and truth, because faith is truth. 752. After expressing their thanks, they went home. And the angel said to them, " This is the third day since you came up to this heavenly society, and you were pre- pared by the Lord to remain here three days ; the time has therefore come for us to part. So put off the clothes sent you by the prince, and put on your own." And as soon as they were in their own clothes, they were inspired with a desire to depart; and they departed, and descended, the angel accompanying them all the way to the place of the assembly. And there they gave thanks to the Lord for hav- ing vouchsafed to bless them with knowledge and thence with intelligence respecting heavenly joys and eternal hap- piness. CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. CONCERNING THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE; CONCERNING THE COMING OF THE LORD; AND CONCERNING THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH. I. The Consummation of the Age is the last time or THE end of the ChURCH. 753. There have been several churches on this earth, and in the course of time they have all been consummated, and after their consummation new churches have come into existence ; and so it has been up to the present time. The consummation of a church takes place when there remains no Divine truth except what is falsified or rejected ; and while there is no genuine truth no genuine good can be given, inasmuch as all the quality of good is formed by means of truths ; for good is the essence of truth, and truth is the form of good, and without form there is no quality. Good and truth can no more be separated than the will and the understanding, or, what is the same thing, than love's affection and the thought therefrom. Therefore when truth is consummated in a church, good is also consummated there ; and when this is done, the church then has an end, that is, then is its consummation. 754. A church is consummated by various means, espe- cially by such things as cause falsity to appear as truth ; and when falsity appears to be truth, then the good which in itself is good and is called spiritual good, is found no more. The good which is then believed to be good, is only the natural good which a moral life produces. The cause No. 755-] THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 1015 that truth and together with it good are consummated, is found chiefly in the two natural loves that are diametrically opposed to the two spiritual loves, and are called the love of self and the love of the world. The love of self when it reigns, is opposed to love to God, and the love of the world when it reigns is opposed to love toward the neighbor. The love of self is to wish well to oneself alone, and not to another unless for the sake of self; similar things may be said of the love of the world ; and these loves, where they have been fed, spread like gangrene through the body, and consume all things thereof one after another. That such love has invaded churches, is clearly manifest from Baby- lonia and the description of it (Gen. xi. 1-9 ; Isa. xiii., xiv., xlvii. ; Jer. 1.; also. Dan. ii. 31-47; iii. 1-7, and subsequent verses ; v. ; vi. 8-28 ; vii. 1-14 ; and in the Apocalypse, xvii. and xviii., in both from beginning to end) ; for Babylonia has at last exalted itself to such a degree as not only to have transferred the Lord's Divine power to itself, but also to be striving with the utmost zeal to grasp all the riches of the world. That similar loves would break forth from many of the leaders of the churches outside the pale of Babylonia if their power were not limited and thus curbed, may be inferred from signs and appearances not wholly without meaning. What else follows, then, but that such a man regards himself as God, and the world as heaven, and per- verts all the truth of the church ? for that truth which in itself is truth cannot be recognized and acknowledged by a merely natural man, nor can it be given him by God because it falls into the inverse, and becomes falsity. Beside these two loves there are still other causes of the consummation of truth and good, and hence of the church, but these causes are secondary and subordinate to those two. 755. That the consummation of the age is the last time of the church, is evident from the passages in the Word where it is mentioned ; as in the following : / have heard frotn Jehovah a consummation a7id decision upon the I0l6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIV. ivhole earth (Isa. xxviii. 22). 7%^ consummation is decreed, 07>erflowing with righteousness, for the Lord jFchovih Zebaoth shall make a consummation and decision in the whole land (x. 22, 23). The whole land shall be devoured in the fire of the zeal of jfehovah^for He shall make a speedy consumma- tion with all thefn that dwell in the land (Zeph. i. 18). By earth (or land) in these passages is signified the church, because the land of Canaan is meant, where the church was. That the earth (or land) signifies the church, may be seen confirmed by many passages from the Word in the " Apoc- alypse Revealed " (n. 285, 902). At length upon the bird of abominations there shall be desolation, and even to a consummation and decision shall it drop upon the devast- ation (Dan, ix. 27). That these words were spoken by Daniel concerning the end of the present Christian church, may be seen in Matthew (xxiv. 15). The whole earth shall be a waste, yet 7vill I not make a consummation (Jer. iv, 27). The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet consummated (Gen, XV. 16), jfehovah said, I will go down and see whether they have made a consummation, altogether according to the cry which is come unto Me (xviii. 21); spoken of Sodom. The last time of the present Christian church is also meant by the Lord by the consummation of the age in the follow- ing passages : The disciples asked Jesus, What shall be the sign of Thy Coming, and of the consummation of the age ? (Matt. xxiv. 3.) In the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares to burn them ; gather the wheat ifito 7ny barn. So shall it be in //^^consummation of the age (Matt. xiii. 30, 40). /;/ the consummation of the age the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked frotn among the just (xiii. 49). Jesus said to His disciples, Lo, I am with you even to the consummation of the age (xxviii. 20). It is to be known that devastation, desolation, and decision have a similar signification with consumma- tion ; but desolation signifies the consummation of truth, devastation the consummation of good, and decision the No. 7S6] THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. lOI/ full consummation of both ; and that the fulness of time, in which the Lord came into the world, and in which He is to come, is also a consummation. 756. The consummation of the age may be illustrated by various things in the natural world ; for here the things that are upon earth one and all grow old and are consumed, but by alternate changes that are called the circles of things. Times, in general and in particular, run through these circles. In general, the year passes from spring to summer, through this to autumn, then ends in winter, and from this retwrns to spring again ; but this is the circle of heat : in particular, the day passes from morning to noon, through this to evening, ends in night, and from this returns again to morning ; but this is the circle of light. Every man also runs through the circle of nature ; he begins life in infancy, from that advances to youth and early man- hood, from this to old age, and dies. So likewise every bird of the air and every beast of the earth. Every tree also begins with the germ, goes on to full stature, and gradually declines, even till it falls. So it is with every bush and every twig, yes, with every leaf and flower, and even with the soil itself, which in time becomes barren ; So it is also with all still water, which gradually becomes foul. All these are alternate consummations that are natu- ral and temporal, but still are periodical ; for when one thing has passed from its origin to its end, another like it arises ; thus every thing is born and dies, and is born again, in order that creation may be continued. What is similar takes place with the church, because man is a church, and man in general constitutes the church ; and one genera- tion follows another, and there is the variety of all minds [animil ; and iniquity once enrooted is transmitted to pos- terity so far as to give an inclination thereto, and is extir- pated only by regeneration which is effected by the Lord alone. 8* I0l8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIV. II. The present day is the last time of the Chris- tian Church, which was foretold and described BY the Lord in the Evangelists and in the Apocalypse. 757. That the consummation of the age signifies the last time of the church was shown in the preceding article ; from which it is manifest what is meant by the consumma- tion of the age of which the Lord spoke in the Evangelists (Matt. xxiv. ; Mark xiii. ; Luke xxi). For wff read that as Jesus sat upon the mount of Olives^ the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, What shall be the sign of Thy Coming, and of the consiwimation of the age 1 (Matt. xxiv. 3.) And the Lord beginning then, foretold and described the con- summation, what would be its character successively even to His Coming ; and that He then should come in the clouds of heaven with power and glory, and should gather together His elect, beside many other things (verses 30, 31) which by no means occurred at the destruction of Jerusa- lem. These things the Lord described there in prophetic discourse, in which every single word has weight. What these things each involve, has been explained in the "Arcana Coelestia" (n. 3353-3356, 3486-3489, 3650-3655, 3751-3757, 3898-3901, 4057-4060, 4229-4231, 4332-4335, 4422-4424). 758. That all these tilings which the Lord spake with the disciples were said concerning the last time of the Christian church, is very manifest from the Apocalypse in which there are similar predictions concerning the con- summation of the age and concerning His Coming; all of which are particularly explained in the "Apocalypse Re- vealed," published in the year 1766. Now, since what the Lord said in presence of His disciples respecting the con- summation of the age and concerning His Coming coin- cides with what He afterward revealed through John in No. 759-1 THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. lOIQ the Apocalypse on the same subjects, it is very clear that He meant no other consummation than that of the present Christian church. Moreover, there is also a prophecy in Daniel respecting the end of this church ; therefore the Lord says, When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, whoso readeth let him note it well (Matt. xxiv. 15 ; Dan. ix. 27 ; and there is what is similar^in the other prophets). That such abomination of desolation exists to-day in the Christian church will be still more manifest from the Appendix ; in which it will be seen that there is not a single genuine truth remaining in the church, and also that unless a new church be raised up in place of the present, no flesh can be saved, according to the Lord's words in Matthew (xxiv. 22). That the Christian church as it is to-day is so far consummated and devastated, cannot be seen by those on earth who have confirmed themselves in its falsities ; this is because the confirmation of falsity is the denial of truth ; it therefore veils, as it were, the under- standing, and thereby guards against the secret entrance of any thing else to pull up its cords and its stakes, by which it has builded and fashioned its system like a strong tent. Add to this, that the natural rational can confirm whatever it likes, thus falsity equally as well as truth ; and when it is confirmed, both appear in a similar light, nor is it cognized whether the light is fatuous like that in a dream, or true like that of day. But the spiritual rational, in which they are who look to the Lord and from Him are in the love of truth, is wholly different. 759. It is owing to this that every church built up of those who see by confirmations, appears [to them] as if it alone were in the light, and all others which dissent from it appear to be in darkness. For they who see by confirma- tions are not unlike owls, which see light in the shade of night, and in the daytime see the sun and its rays as thick darkness. Such has been and such also is every church in I020 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIV. falsities, when once founded by leaders who seem to them- selves as lynx-eyed, who have made for themselves a morn- ing light from their own intelligence and an evening light from the Word. Did not the Jewish church when it was wholly devastated (this was when our Lord came into the world), cry aloud by its scribes and those skilled in the law, that because it had the Word it alone was in heavenly light [lumen], when yet they crucified the Messiah or Christ \\"ho was the Word itself and the All in all thereof? What is the cry of the church meant by Babylonia in the prophets and in the Apocalypse, but that she is the queen and mother of all churches, and that those which withdraw from her are spurious offspring that must be excommunicated ? and this although she has thrust the Lord the Saviour from the throne and altar, and placed herself thereon. Does not every church, even the most heretical, when once received, fill country and town with the cry that it alone is orthodox and oecumenical, and that it possesses the gospel which the angel flying in the midst of heaven announced .'' (Apoc. xiv. 6.) And who does not hear an echo from the crowd, that this is so? Did the whole Synod of Dort view pre- destination otherwise than as a star descending from heaven above their heads, and did they not kiss that dogma as the Philistines kissed the image of Dagon in the temple of Eben-ezer at Ashdod, and as the Greeks kissed the Palla- dium in the temple of Minerva ? For they called that the palladium of religion, not knowing that the falling star is a meteor from fatuous light, which, when it falls upon the brain can confirm twcvy falsity (which is done by fallacies), until it is believed to be the true light, and decreed to be a fixed star, and finally sworn to be the star of stars. Who speaks with fuller persuasion of the certain truth of his fantasy than the atheistic naturalist ? Does he not laugh most heartily at the Divine things of God, the celestial things of heaven, and the spiritual things of the church ? What lunatic does not believe his folly to be wisdom, and wisdom to be folly ? No. 76o.] THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. I02I Who by the sight of the eye distinguishes the illusive light of decaying wood from the light of the moon ? Who that loathes balsamic odors (as those do who are aff 8, 9). Ascribe ye strength unto God; * His strength is in the clouds (Ps. Ixviii. 34). Jehovah created over every dwelUngplace of Zion a cloud * The Latin here has Jehmah. 1038 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. IChap. XIV. by day, for upon all the glory shall be a covering (ls2.. iv. 5). The Word in the sense of the letter was also represented by the cloud in which Jehovah descended upon mount Sinai, when He promulgated the Law : the things of the Law which were then promulgated were the first fruits of the Word. In confirmation the following also may be added : There are clouds in the spiritual world as well as in the natural, but from different origin. In the spiritual world there are sometimes bright clouds over the angelic heavens, but dusky clouds over the hells. The bright clouds over the angelic heavens signify obscurity there, from the literal sense of the Word ; but when those clouds are dispersed, this signifies that they are in its clear light * from the spirit- ual sense : but the dusky clouds over the hells signify the falsification and profanation of the Word. The origin of this signification of the clouds in the spiritual world is, that the light which proceeds from the Lord as the Sun there, signi- fies Divine truth ; wherefore He is called the Light (John i. 9 ; xii. 35). It is owing to this that the Word itself which is kept in the shrines of the temples, appears encompassed with a clear white light ; and its obscurity is induced by clouds, 777. That the Lord is the Word, is clearly evident from the following in John : /// the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made Flesh (John i. i, 14). That the Word here means Divine Truth, is because Christians have Divine truth from no other source than the Word, which is the fountain from which all churches named from Christ draw living waters in their own fulness, although [that church] in which the sense of the Word is natural is as in a cloud, while [the church] in which is its spiritual and its heavenly [celestial'\ sense, is in glory and power. That there are three senses in the Word, a natural, a spiritual, and a heav- * The Latin here reads Charitate. This has been regarded as a misprint for Claritate. No. 777-] THE COMING OF THE LORD. IO39 enly [celestial^ one more interior than another, was shown in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture, and in that on the Decalogue or Catechism. It is manifest from this that by the Word in John is meant Divine Truth. John also bears witness to this in his first Epistle : We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, a7id we are in Him that is true, even in His Son yesus Christ (v. 20). And there- fore the Lord so often said Amen (or Verily) I say unto you ; and ameji in the Hebrew language means truth ; and that He is the Amen may be seen in the Apocalypse (iii. 14) ; and that He is the Truth, in John (xiv. 6). When also the learned of the present age are asked what they understand by the Word in John i. i, they say that they understand the Word in its pre-eminence ; and what is the Word in its pre- eminence but Divine Truth ? From all this it is manifest that now also the Lord will appear in the Word. He is not to appear in Person, because since He ascended into heaven He is in the glorified Humanity, and in this He cannot appear to any man unless He first opens the eyes of his spirit, and this cannot be done with any one who is in evils and thence in falsities, thus not with any of the goats whom He sets on His left. Wherefore when He manifested Himself to His disciples, He first opened their eyes ; for we read, And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight (Luke xxiv. 31). The same thing took place with the women who were at the sepulchre after the resurrection, who therefore then saw angels sitting in the sepulchre and talking with them ; and no one can see angels with the material eye. That neither did the apostles see the Lord in the glorified Human before His resurrection with the eyes of the body, but in spirit (which appears, after returning to [bodily] wakefulness, as if in sleep), is evident from His transfiguration before Peter, James, and John, for it is said that they were then heavy ■with sleep (Luke ix. 32). It is therefore a vain thing to I040 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIV. believe that the Lord will appear in a cloud of heaven in Person ; but He is to appear in the Word, which is from Him and thus is Himself. 778. Every man is his own love and his own intelligence, and whatever proceeds from him derives essence from those two essentials or properties of his life. Therefore angels recognize of what quality a man essentially is from a brief intercourse with him ; they have cognition of his love from the sound of his voice, and of his intelligence from his speech. This is because there are two universals of every man's life, the will and the understanding ; and the will is the receptacle and abode of his love, and the understand- ing the receptacle and abode of his intelligence. Wherefore all things that proceed from man, whether action or speech, make the man and are the man himself. In a similar man- ner, but in a supereminent degree, the Lord is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, or what is the same. Divine Good and Divine Truth ; for His Will is of the Divine Love, and Divine Love is of His Will ; and His Understanding is [of] the Divine Wisdom, and Divine Wisdom is of His Under- standing ; the Human Form is their containant. From this it can be thought out how the Lord is the Word. But on the contrary, he who is opposed to the Word, that is, to the Divine truth therein, consequently to the Lord and His church, is his own evil and his own falsity, both as to the mind and as to its effects proceeding from the body, which refer themselves to actions and words. Vni. This Second Coming of the Lord takes place BY MEANS of A MAN BEFORE WHOM He HAS MANI- FESTED Himself in Person, and whom He has FILLED WITH HiS SPIRIT, TO TEACH THE DOC- TRINES OF THE New Church through the Word, from Him. . 779. Since the Lord cannot manifest Himself in Person, as just shown above, and nevertheless has foretold that He No. 78o.] THE COMING OF THE LORD. 104I •will come and found a new church which is the New Jeru- salenT, it follows that He will do this by means of a man who can not only receive the doctrines of this church with the understanding but can also publish them by the press. That the Lord manifested Himself before me His servant, and sent me to this office, and that He afterward opened the sight of my spirit, and so has intromitted me into the spiritual world, and has granted me to see the heavens and the hells, also to converse with angels and spirits, and this now uninterruptedly for many years, I testify in truth ; like- wise, that from the first day of that call I have not received any thing which pertains to the doctrines of that church from any angel, but from the Lord alone while I have read the Word. 780. For the sake of the end that the Lord might be constantly present. He has disclosed to me the spiritual sense of His Word, in which Divine truth is in its light, and in this light He is continually present. For His pres- ence in the Word comes only by means of the spiritual sense ; through the light of this, He passes into the shade in which the sense of the letter is ; comparatively, as it is with the light of the sun in the day-time, passing through a cloud that is interposed. That the sense of the letter of the Word is as a cloud, while the spiritual sense is the glory, and the Lord Himself is the Sun from which the light comes, and that so the Lord is the Word, was demon- strated above. That the glory in which He is to come (Matt. xxiv. 30) signifies Divine truth in its light, in which the spiritual sense of the Word is, is clearly evident from these passages : T/ie voice of him that crieth in the wilder- ness. Prepare ye the way of Jehovah : the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together (Isa. xl. 3, 5). \Arise^ shine, for thy light is eome, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee (Ix. i to the end). / will give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gen- tiles, and My glory will I not give to another (xlii. 6, 8 ; . 9* 1042 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIV. see also xlviii. 1 1). Thy light shall break forth as the morn- ifig, the GLORY OF Jehovah shall gather thee (Iviii. 8). All the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah (Num. xiv. 21 ; Isa. vi. i, 2, 3 ; Ixvi. 18). In the begitming was the Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. That was the true Light. And the Word was made Flesh, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-be- gotten OF the Father (John i. i, 4, 9, 14). The heavens will declare the glory of God (Ps. xix. i). The glory of God will enlighten the holy Jerusalem, and the Lamb is the light thereof ; and the nations that Q,re saved shall walk in the light of it (Apoc. xxi. 23, 24). So also in many other places. Glory signifies Divine truth in its fulness, because all that is magnificent in heaven is from the light which proceeds from the Lord, and the light proceeding from Him as the Sun there, is in its essence Divine truth. IX. This is meant in the Apocalypse by the New Heaven and the New Earth and the New Jerusalem descending therefrom. 781. We read in the Apocalypse : / saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And I yohn saw the holy city New j/^erusalem coming dotvn from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband (xxi. i, 2). So, too, we read in Isaiah : Behold, I create a new heaven and a new earth ; be ye glad and rejoice for ever : for behold I create yeriisalem a rejoicing and her people a joy (Ixv. 17, 18). That the Lord is at this day forming a new heaven from Christians who acknowledged in the world, and after their departure out of it were able to acknowledge, that He is the God of heaven and earth according to His words in Matthew (xxviii. 18), has been ^sclosed above in this chapter. 782. That a new church is meant by the New Jerusalem coining down from God out of heaven (Apoc. xxi.), is be- No. 7S2.] NEW HEAVEN AND NEW CHURCH. IO43 cause Jerusalem was the metropolis in the land of Canaan and the temple and the altar were there, the sacrifices were offered there, and thus the Divine worship itself, to which every male of the whole land was commanded to come three times a year ; and further, because the Lord was in Jerusalem, and taught in His temple, and afterward glori- fied His Human there. It is from this that Jerusalem signifies the church. That Jerusalem means the church, is clearly evident from the prophecies in the Old Testament respecting the new church to be established by the Lord, as this is there called Jerusalem. Only those passages shall be adduced from which any one endowed with inte- rior reason can see that Jerusalem there means the church. Let only these be cited : Behold I create a new heaven and a new earth ; the former shall not be remembered ; behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy, that I may rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people. Then the wolf and the lamb shall feed together ; they shall not hurt in all My holy mountain (Isa. Ixv. 17, 18, 19, 25). J^or Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as bright- ness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burnetii. Then the gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory ^ and thou shall be called by a new name which the mouth of yehovah shall name. Thou shall also be a croimi of glory in the hand of jfehovah, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. yehovah shall delight in thee, and thy land shall be married. Behold thy Salvation cometh ; behold His re- ward is with Him ; and they shall call them the people of holiness, the redeemed of yehovah : and thou shall be called a ' city sought out, and not forsaken (Isa. Ixii. 1-4, 11, 12). Awake, awake : put on thy strength, O Zion ; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city ; for hence- forth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust ; arise and sit down, O Jerusalem. My people shall know My na?/ie in that day; I044 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIV. for I am He that doth speak, behold, it is I. Jehovah hath comforted His people. He hath redeemed ^'s.v.x^'&ky.ym (lii. i, 2, 6, 9). Shout, O daughter of Zion ; be glad with all the heart, O daughter of jKKVSAhEM ; the King of Israel is in the 7nidst of thee ; fear not evil afiy more ; He will rejoice over thee with joy. He shall rest in thy love ; He will joy over thee with shouting ; I will make you a name and -a praise to all the people of the earth (Zeph. iii. 14-17, 20). Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, That saith /£> Jerusalem, Thou shall be inhabited (Isa. xliv. 24, 26). Thus said Jehovah, I will return unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst n new wine, and the hills shall fow with milk ; and Jerusalem shall divell to generation and generation (Joel iii. 17, 18, 20). In that day shall the braiich of Jehovah be beautiful and glorious ; and it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and he that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy, every one that is written to life in Jerusalem (Isa. iv. 2, 3). In the last days shall the mountain of the house of Jehovah be established at the top of the mountains, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of Jehovah from Jerusalem (Mich. iv. i, 2 ; see also verse 8). At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all nations shall be gathered together at Jeru- salem to the name of Jehovah, neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart (Jer. iii. 17). Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities ; thine eyes shall jass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk ; and Jerusalem shall abide from generation to generation (iii. 18, 20). In Jeremiah: At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all nations shall be gathered together at Jerusalem to the name of Jeho- vah, neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart (iii. 17 ; see also Apoc. xxi. 24, 26), In Isaiah : Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down ; the stakes thereof shall never be removed, neither shall the cords thereof be broken (xxxiii. 20). In these passages Jerusalem means the holy New Jerusalem described in the Apocalypse (xxi.), by which is meant the New Church. Again in Isaiah : Ihere shall co77ie forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and righteous- ness shall be the girdle of His loins, and truth the girdle of His thighs ; wherefore the wolf shall dwell with the lamby No. 79o] NEW HEAVEN AND NEW CHURCH. IO53 and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the young lion and the falling together, and a little child shall lead them ; the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together ; and the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, afid the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice^ den ; they shall not do evil nor corrupt them- selves in all the mountain of My holiness ; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah. And it shall come to pass in that day that the nations shall seek the Root of yesse, which standethfor an ensign of the people, and His rest shall be glory (xi. i, 5-10). That such things have not yet had existence in the churches, least of all in the last, is known. In Jeremiah : Behold the days come in which I will make a new covenant ; and this shall be the covenant, I will put My law in the midst of them and write it upon the heart, and will be their God, and they shall be My people ; they shall all ktww Me, from the least of them unto t/ie greatest of them (xxxi. 31— 34 ; Apoc. xxi. 3). That these things have not hitherto been in the churches, is also known. This has been be- cause men have not approached the visible God Whom all shall know, and because He is the Word or the Law which He will put in the midst of them and write upon the heart. In Isaiah : For Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousjiess thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burnetii ; and thou shall be called by a new name which the 7?iouth of Jehovah shall 7iame. Thou shall also be a crown of glory, and a royal diadem /;/ the hand of thy God ; Jehovah shall delight in thee, and thy land shall be married. Behold thy Salvation cometh ; behold His reward is with Hiin ; and they shall call them the people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah ; and thou shall be called a city sought out, and tiot forsaken (Ixii. 1-4, II, 12). 790. What the quality of this church is to be, is fully described in the Apocalypse, where the end of the former church and the rise of the new are treated of. This New 1054 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [Chap. XIV. Church is described by the New Jerusalem, by its magnifi- cent things, and that it is to be the Bride and Wife of the Lamb (xix. 7 ; xxi. 2, 9). In addition I will take only the following from the Apocalypse. When the New Jerusalem was seen to descend from heaven, it is said : Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will drvell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, their God. And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it, and there shall be no night there, I jFesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright and morning Star. And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come; and let him that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever tvill, let him take the luater of life freely. Even so, come, Lord yesus. Amen. (xxi. 3, 24, 25 ; xxii. 16, 17, 20). A Memorandum. 791. After this work was finished the Lord called to- gether His twelve disciples who followed Him in the world ; and the next day He sent them all forth into the whole Spiritual World to preach the Gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, Whose kingdom shall be for ages of ages, according to the prediction by Daniel (vii. 13, 14), and in the Apocalypse (xi. 15) ; and that blessed are they who come unto the marriage supper of the La?nb (Apoc. xix. 9). This took place on the nineteenth day of June, in the year 1770. This is what is meant by these words of the Lord : He will send His angels, and they shall gather together His elect from one end of the heavens even to the other (Matt. xxiv. 31). SUPPLEMENT. CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 792. The spiritual world has been treated of in a special work concerning " Heaven and Hell," in which many things belonging to that world are described ; and because every man enters into that world after death, the state of men there is also described. Who does not know, or may not know, that man lives after death, because he is born a man, created an image of God, and because the Lord teaches it in His Word ? But what the character of his life is to be, has been hitherto unknown. It has been believed that he would then be a soul ; and of this men have entertained no other idea than that of ether or air, regarding it thus as a breath, such as man breathes from his mouth when he dies, in which, however, his vitality resides ; regarding it also as without sight like that of the eye, without hearing like that of the ear, and without speech like that of the mouth; when yet, man after death is none the less a man, and such a man as not to know that he is not still in the former world ; he sees, hears, and speaks as in the former world ; he walks, runs, and sits as in the former world ; he lies down, sleeps, and awakes as in the former world ; he eats and drinks as in the former world ; he enjoys conjugial delight as in the former world ; in a word, he is a man in all things and in every particular. From which it is manifest that death is not the extinction of life, but its continuation, and that it is only a passage across. 793. That man is as much a man after death as before, although he does not then appear to the eyes of the material body, may be evident from the angels seen by Abraham, I0S6 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 794- Hagar, Gideon, Daniel, and some of the prophets, from the angels seen in the Lord's sepulchre, and many times after- ward by John (concerning whom in the Apocalypse), and especially from the Lord Himself, Who showed by touch and by eating that He was a Man, and yet became invisible to the eyes of His disciples. Who can be so crazy as not to acknowledge that although invisible He was just as much a Man ? He was seen because the eyes of the spirit were opened with them who saw Him ; and when these are opened, the things that are in the spiritual world appear as clearly as those which are in the natural world. The differ- ence between man in the natural world and man in the spiritual world is, that the latter is clothed with a substan- tial body, but the former with a material body, in which inwardly is his substantial body; and the substantial man sees the substantial man just as clearly as the material man sees the material. But the substantial man cannot see the material man, nor the material man the substantial, owing to the difference between what is material and what is sub- stantial, the nature of which difference may be described, but not in few words. 794. From what I have seen for so many years I can relate the following: In the spiritual world there are lands just as in the natural world, and there are plains and val- leys, mountains and hills, as also springs and rivers ; there are paradises, gardens, groves, and forests ; there are cities, with palaces and houses in them ; there are writings and books ; tHere are employments and business ; there "are gold, silver, and precious stones ; in a word, there are all things whatever that there are in the natural world ; but the things in heaven are more perfect beyond measure. But the difference is, that all things which are seen in the spiritual world are instantaneously created by the Lord, as houses, paradises, food, and the rest; and that they are created in correspondence with the interiors of angels and spirits, which are their affections and the thoughts there- No. 796.] LUTHER. IO57 from J while all things that are seen in the natural world exist and grow from seed. 795. This being the case, and as I have there been in dail}' conversation with the nations and peoples of this world, thus not only with those who are in Europe, but also with those who are in Asia and Africa, thus with those of different religions, as a conclusion to this work I will add a brief description of the state of some of them. It is to be held in mind that in the spiritual world the state of every nation and people in general, as well as of individuals severall}'^, is according to their acknowledgment of God and their worship of Him ; and that all who in heart acknowl- edge God, and henceforth all who acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as God, Redeemer and Saviour, are in heaven; that they who do not acknowledge Him, are beneath heaven, and are there instructed ; that they who receive are r'aised up into heaven, and that they who do not are cast down into hell. Among the latter come those also who, like the Socinians, have approached God the Father only, and who, like the Arians, have denied the Divinity of the Lord's Human. For the Lord said, /am the Way, the Truth, and the Life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me : and to Philip who wished to see the Father, He said that he who seeth and knoweth Him seeth and knoweth the Father (John xiv. 6-9). I. Concerning Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin in THE spiritual WORLD. 796. I have frequently conversed with these three cham- pions, Reformers of the Christian Church, and have thus been instructed as to what has been the state of their life, from the beginning to the present time. As regards Luther : From the time when he first entered the spirit- ual world, he was a most vehement propagator and de- fender of his dogmas, and his zeal for them grew as the 1058 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 796. multitude increased of those coming from the earth who agreed with and favored him. A house was given him there, such as he had had in the life of the body at Eisle- ben ; and there in its midst he erected a sort of throne somewhat elevated, where he sat. He admitted hearers through the open door, and arranged them in classes ; to the class nearest himself he invited those who were the more favorable, behind those he placed those less favor- able, and then he spoke right on, occasionally permitting questions, in order that he might from some new point take up the thread of the discourse that was ended. Owing to this general favor, he at length became imbued with the power of persuasion, which is so effective in the spiritual world that no one can resist it or speak against what is said. But as this was a kind of incantation used by the ancients, he was strictly forbidden to speak from that persuasive power any more ; and thereafter, as be- fore, he taught from the memory and the understanding together. Thi^ persuasion, which is a kind of incantation, springs from the love of self ; and from this it at length becomes such that when any one contradicts, it not only attacks the matter of the question that is made, but the per- son [making it]. This was the state of Luther's life up to the time of the Last Judgment, which took place in the spiritual world in the year 1757 ; but a year after that, he was brought from his first house to another, and then at the same time into a different state. And because he heard here that I, who am in the natural world, spoke with those in the spiritual world, he among others came to me ; and after some inquiries and answers, he perceived that there is at this day an end of the former church and the beginning of the New Church, of which Daniel prophe- sied, and which the Lord Himself foretold in the Evange- lists ; he also perceived that this New Church is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, and by the ever- lasting Gospel which the angel flying in the midst of No. 796.] LUTHER. IO59 heaven preached unto them that dwell on the earth (Apoc. xiv. 6). He became exceedingly indignant and scolded away. But as he perceived that the New Heaven [in- creased] (which was formed and is still forming of those who acknowledge the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth, according to His words in Matthew, xxviii. 18), and as he observed that the number of those who resorted to him daily diminished, his scolding stopped ; and then he came nearer to me, and began to talk with me more familiarly. And when he was convinced that he had not taken his principal dogma of justification by faith alone from the Word, but from his own intelligence, he suffered himself to be instructed respecting the Lord, charity, true faith, free-will, and redemption also, and this solely from the Word. At length, after being convinced, he began to favor more and more those truths from which the New Church is made to stand firm, and afterward to confirm himself in them more and more. At this time he was with me daily ; and then, as often as he gathered these truths together, he began to laugh at his former dogmas as being diametrically opposed to the Word. And I heard him say, " Do not wonder that I seized upon faith alone as justifying, excluding charity from its spiritual essence, also taking away from men all free-will in things spiritual, and holding many other things that depend on faith alone once accepted, as links on a chain, inasmuch as my end was to break away from the Roman Catholics, and this end I could not otherwise follow out and attain. I therefore do not wonder that I erred, but I do wonder that one crazy man could make so many others crazy (and he looked at some dogmatical writers at his side, men of celebrity in his time, faithful followers of his doctrine), so that they did not see in the Sacred Scripture things on the other side, which nevertheless are very manifest." It was told me by the examining angels that this leader was in a state of conversion above many others who confirmed them- I060 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 797. selves in justification by faith alone, because in his child- hood, before he entered on the reformation, he was imbued with the dogma of the pre-eminence of charity ; for which reason also, both in his writings and in- his discourses, he taught of charity so excellently ; and it resulted from this that the faith of justification with him was implanted in his external natural man, but was not enrooted in his internal spiritual man. The case is different, however, with those who in their childhood confirm themselves against the spiritual- ity of charity, which is also done of itself while by confir- mations they are establishing justification by faith alone. I have conversed witli the prince of Saxony with whom Luther had been associated in the world ; he told me that he often reproved Luther, especially for separating charity from faith, and declaring faith to be saving and not charity, when, nevertheless, not only does the Sacred Scripture join together those two universal means of salvation, but Paul even sets charity above faith when he says that there are the three^ faith, hope, and charity, and that the greatest of these is charity (i Cor. xiii. 13) ; but he added that Luther as often replied that he could not do otherwise because of the Roman Catholics. This prince is among the happy. 797. As regards Melancthon : Concerning his lot, what it was when he first entered the spiritual world, and what was its character afterward, it has been granted me to know many things, not only from the angels but also from himself; for I have conversed with him several times, but not so often as with Luther, nor so near to him. I have not conversed with him so often or so near, because he could not approach me as Luther did, inasmuch as he spent his study on justification by faith alone so fully, and not on charity ; and I was surrounded by angelic spirits who are in charity, and they were in the way of his ap- proach to me. I have heard that when he first entered the spiritual world, a house was prepared for him like that in which he had lived in the world. This also is done with No. 797.] MELANCTHON. IO61 the most of new-comers, owing to which they do not know that they are not still in the natural world, and the time which has passed since their death seems to them merely as sleep. The things in his room, also, were all like those he had before, a similar table, a similar desk with compartments, and also a similar library ; so that as soon as he came to it, as if he had just awakened from sleep, he seated himself at the table and continued his writing, and this on the subject of justification by faith alone, and so on for several days, and writing nothing whatever concerning charity. As the angels perceived this, he was asked through messengers why he did not write about charity also. He replied that there was nothing of the church in charity, for if that were to be received as in any way an essential attribute of the church, man would also ascribe to himself the merit of justification and consequently of salvation, and so also he would rob faith of its spiritual essence. When the angels who were over his head perceived this, and when the angels who were associated with him while he was outside of his house heard it, they withdrew ; for angels are associated with every new-comer at the beginning. A few weeks after this, the things which he used in his room began to be obscured, and at length to disappear, until at last there was nothing left there but the table, paper and inkstand j and, moreover, the walls of his room seemed to be plas- tered with lime, and the floor to be covered with a yellow, brick-like material, and he himself seemed to be more coarsely clad. When he wondered at this, and inquired of those arorund him why it was, he was answered that it was because he removed charity from the church, which was nevertheless, its heart. But as he so often contra- dicted this, and continued to write about faith as the one only essential of the church, and the means of salvation, and to remove charity more and more, he suddenly seemed to himself to be under ground in a sort of work-house, where there were others like him. And when he wished I062 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 797. to go out he was detained, and it was announced to him that no other lot awaits those who thrust charity and good works outside of the doors of the church. But inasmuch as he was one of the Reformers of the church, he was taken out, and sent back to his former chamber, where there was noth- ing but the table, paper, and inkstand. But still, owing to his confirmed ideas, he bedaubed the paper with the same error, so that he could not be kept from being alternately let down to his captive fellows and sent back again. When sent back, he appeared clad in a hairy skin, because faith without charity is cold. He told me himself that there was another room adjoining his own in the rear, in which there were three tables, at which sat men like himself, who also cast charity into exile* and that a fourth table also sometimes appeared there, on which were seen monstrous things in various forms, by which, however, they were not frightened from their work. He said that he conversed with them, and was confirmed by them day by day. But after some time, smitten with fear, he began to write some- thing about charity ; but what he wrote on the paper one day, he did not see the next; for this happens to every one there when he commits any thing to paper from the externa! man only, and not at the same time from the in- ternal, thus from compulsion and not from freedom ; it is obliterated of itself. But after the New Heaven began to be established by the Lord, from the light out of this heaven he began to think that perhaps he might be in error ; therefore owing to anxiety on account of his lot, he felt impressed upon him some interior ideas respecting charity. In this state he consulted the Word, and then his eyes were opened, and he saw that it was all filled with Love to God and love toward the neighbor, so that it was as the Lord says, that on these two commandments hang the law and the prophets, that is, the whole Word. From this time he was transferred interiorly into the south, towards the west, and so to another house, from which he No. 79S.] CALVIN. 1063 conversed with me, saying that now his writing concerning charity did not vanish as before, but appeared obscurely the next day. I have wondered at this, that when he walks his steps have a thumping sound, like the steps ©f those who walk with iron heels on a stone pavement. To this must be added that when any novitiates from the world entered his room to talk with him and to see him, he called one of the spirits given to magic, who by fantasy could produce various beautiful shapes, and who then ad- orned his room with ornaments and flowered tapestry, and also with what seemed to be a library in the centre. But as soon as the visitors were gone, these shapes vanished, and the former plastering and emptiness returned, but this was when he was in the former state. 798. Of Calvin I have heard the following : i. When he first entered the spiritual world, he fully believed that he was still in the world where he was born ; and although he heard from the angels who were associated with him at the beginning that he was now in their world and not in his former world, he said, " I have the same body, the samehands, and similar senses." But the angels instructed him that he was now in a substantial body, and that before he was not only in this but also in a material body which invested the substantial ; and that the material body had been cast off, while the substantial body, from which a man is man, still remained. At first he understood this ; but the next day he returned to his former belief, that he was still in the world where he was born. This was because he was a sensual man, believing nothing that he could not derive from the objects of the senses of the body ; it resulted from this that he drew all the dogmas of his faith as conclusions from his own intelligence and not from the Word. His quoting the Word was for the purpose of winning the assent of the common people. 2. After this first period, having left the angels he wandered about inquiring for those who in andent times believed in Predestination ; and 1064 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 798. he was told that they were removed from that place, and shut up, and covered over; and that there was no way open to them except on the back side under ground ; but yet that the disciples of Godoschalcus still go about freely, and sometimes congregate in a place called in spiritual language, Pyris. And as he earnestly desired their com- pany, he was conducted to an assembly where some of them were standing; and when he came among them he was in his heart's enjoyment, and bound himself to them in interior friendship. 3. But after the followers of Godos- chalcus were led away to their brethren in the cavern, he became weary ; he therefore sought here and there for an asylum, and was at last received into a certain society where they were merely simple-minded, with some among them who were religious also ; and when he saw that they knew nothing about predestination, and were not able to under- stand any thing about it, he betook himself to one corner of the society, and there he concealed himself for a long time ; nor did he open his mouth on any church matter. This was so provided, in order that he might recede from his error respecting predestination, and that the ranks of those who after the Synod of Dort adhered to that detes- table heresy, might be filled up ; and these were all sent in their order into the cavern, to their fellows. 4. At length when it was asked by the modern Predestinarians, " Where is Calvin ? " after a search for him, he was found on the confines of a society consisting merely of the simple-minded. He was therefore called forth from it, and conducted to a certain governor who had swallowed similar dregs. This governor therefore received him into his house and guarded him, and this until the New Heaven began to be estab- lished by the Lord ; and then, as his guardian governor was cast out together with his band, Calvin betook himself to a certain house of ill-repute, and stayed there for some time. 5. And as he then enjoyed the liberty of wander- ing about, and also of coming nearer to the place where I No. 798] CALVIN. IO65 was stopping, it was granted me to converse with him ; and to speak first concerning the New Heaven which at this day is forming of those who acknowledge the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth, according to His words in Matthew (xxviii. 18); and to say that these beheve that He and the Father are one (John x. 30), that He is in the Father and the Father in Him, and that he that seeth and knoweth Him, seeth and knoweth the Father (xiv. 6-1 1), and thus that there is one God in the church as in heaven. At first when I said this, he was silent, as usual ; but after half an hour he broke the silence and said : " Was not Christ a man, the son of Mary who was married to Joseph ? How can a man be adored as God ? " And I said, " Is not Jesus Christ our Redeemer and Saviour God and Man ? " To which he replied, " He is God and man ; nevertheless the Divinity is not His, but the Father's." I asked, " Where then is Christ ? " He answered, " In the lowest parts of heaven ; " and he confirmed this by His humiliation before the Father, and by His suffering Him- self to be crucified. To this he added some witty remarks directed against His worship, that stole from the world into his memory, the sum of which was, that the worship of Him was nothing but idolatry, and he wished to add things unfit to be spoken about that worship ; but the angels who were with me shut his lips. But from a zeal to con- vert him, I said that the Lord our Saviour is not only God and Man, but that in Him, moreover, God is Man and Man is God. And I confirmed this by Paul's saying that in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead (or Divinity) bodily (Col. ii. 9) ; and also from John, that He is the true God and Eternal Life (i Epistle, v. 20) ; and also from these words of the Lord Himself, that it is the will of the Father that whosoever believeth on the Son hath eternal life, and that he who believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him (John iii. 36 ; vi. 40) ; and furthermore by the declaration in the confes- 10* 1066 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 798. sion of faith that is called the Athanasian, that in Christ, God and Man are not two but one, and are in one Person, like the soul and the body in man. Hearing this, he re- plied : " What are all those things which you have brought forward from the Word but empty sounds ? Is not the Word the book of all heresies, and so like the weather-cocks on houses and ships, which turn every way according to the wind ? It is Predestination alone that determines all things of religion ; this is their habitation and their tabernacle of congregation ; and faith, through which justification and salvation are effected, is the shrine and sanctuary there. Has any man free-will in spiritual things ? Are not all things of salvation a free gift? Arguments therefore in opposition to these things, and so against predestination, I listen to and regard only as I do eructations from the stomach or the rumbling of the bowels. And as all this is so, I have thought to myself that a temple where they teach about any thing else, and from the Word, with the crowd there congregated, is like a pen of beasts containing both sheep and wolves together, but the wolves are muzzled by civil laws of justice lest they should attack the sheep (by the sheep I mean the predestined) ; and I have thought that the prayer-like preaching there, is then only so much hiccoughing. But I will give my confession of faith ; it is this : There is a God, and He is omnipotent; and there is no salvation for any but those who have been elected and predestined to it by God the Father ; and every one else is written down for his own lot, that is, for his fate." On hearing this, in great heat I rejoined, "You say things that are too bad to be spoken. Begone, wicked spirit ! Since you are in the spiritual world, do you not know that there is a heaven and a hell, and that predestination in- volves that some have been enrolled for heaven and some for hell ? Can you then form to yourself any other idea of God than as of a tyrant, who admits those whom He favors into the city, and sends the rest to the place where crim- No. 79S.] CALVIN. 1067 inals are tortured ? Shame on you ! " After this I read to him what is written in the dogmatic work of the Evan- gelical, called Formula Concoriiice, about the erroneous doctrine of the Calvinists respecting the Worship of the Lord, and Predestination ; respecting the Worship of the Lord, as follows: " That it is damnable idolatry, if the trust and faith of the heart be placed in Christ not only accord- ing to His Divine but also according to His Hunian nature, and the honor of adoration be directed to both ; " and respecting Predestination, as follows : " That Christ did not die for all men, but only for the elect. That God created the greater part of men for eternal damnation, and is unwilling that the greater part should be converted and live. That the elect and born again cannot lose faith and the Holy Spirit, although they should commit all kinds of great sins and crimes. But that those who are not elected are necessarily damned, and cannot attain to salvation even if they were to be baptized a thousand times, go to the eucharist every day, and besides lead as holy and blameless lives as it is ever possible to live : " from the Leipsic edition of 1756, pp. 837, 838. After reading this, I asked him whether these things which were written in that book were from his doctrine or not ; and he answered that they were from his doctrine, but that he did not remember whether those very words had flowed from his pen, although they had from his lips. On hearing this, all the servants of the Lord withdrew from him, and he betook himself hastily to a way leading to the cave where they were who have confirmed in themselves the execrable dogma of predestination. I afterwards conversed with some of those imprisoned in that cave, and inquired into their lot. They said that they were compelled to labor for food, that all were enemies of each other, that each sought an occasion to do evil to another, and that they also did it whenever they found any trifling cause, and that this was the enjoyment of their lives. On Predestina- I068 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 800. tion and the Predestinarians, see also what is said above (n. 'J85-488). 799. I have also conversed with many others, both with followers of those three leaders and with heretics ; and con- cerning all of them it was given me to conclude, that who- ever among them have lived a life of charity, and still more they who have loved truth because it is truth, in the spirit- ual world suffer themselves to be instructed, and accept the doctrinals of the New Church ; while on the other hand those who have confirmed themselves in falsities of religion, and also those who have lived an evil life, do not suffer themselves to be instructed ; and that these latter remove step by step from the New Heaven, and associate them- selves with their like who are in hell, where more and more they confirm themselves against the worship of the Lord and become obstinately set against it, even so that they cannot bear to hear the name of Jesus. But it is the reverse in heaven, where all with one accord acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven. IL Concerning the Dutch in the Spiritual World. 800. In the work on " Heaven and Hell " it is related that Christians among whom the Word is read and among whom there is a knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord the Redeemer and Saviour, are in the middle of the nations and peoples of the whole spiritual world, because the greatest spiritual light is with them ; and the light is shed from this as a centre in all directions even to the most remote circumference, according to what is shown in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture (see above, n, 267-272). In this Christian centre the Reformed have places allotted to them according to their reception of spiritual light from the Lord ; and because the Dutch possess that light more deeply and more fully joined-in with their natural light [iumeft\ than others, and from this are more receptible of No. 8o2.] THE DUTCH. IO69 such things as pertain to reason, therefore in that Christian centre they have obtained abodes in the east and south, — in the east owing to the faculty of receiving spiritual heat, and in the south owing to the faculty of receiving spiritual light. That the quarters in the spiritual world are not like those in the natural world, and that abodes according to the quarters are abodes according to the reception of faith and love, and that they are in the east who excel in love, and they in the south who excel in intelligence, may be seen in the work on "Heaven and Hell" (n. 141-153). 801. The Dutch occupy those quarters of the Christian centre for the further reason that traffic is their final love, and money is a mediate love subservient to this, and that love is spiritual ; but where money is the final love, and traffic is a mediate love subservient to it (as with the Jews), that love is natural, and it partakes of the character of avarice. That the love of trading when final is spiritual, is owing to its use, in its being serviceable to the general good ; and with this the man's own good is indeed coherent, and this is more apparent than the general good because he thinks from his natural man ; but yet when traffic is the end it is also the final love, and every one is regarded in heaven according to tliat love. For the final love is like the ruler of a kingdom or the master of a house, while the other loves are as subjects or servants of it ; the final love also has its seat in the highest and inmost regions of the mind, while mediate loves are below and outside of it, and serve it at its nod. The Dutch are in this spiritual love more than others ; while the Jews are in the love inverted, so that their love of trading is merely natural, in which there is inwardly latent nothing from the general good, but only from their own. 802, The Dutch are fixed in the principles of their relig- ion more firmly than others, and they are not parted from them ; even if they are convinced that this or that is not accordant, still they do not assent, but they turn back and I070 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 802. remain unmoved ; thus they also remove themselves from the interior intuition of truth, for they keep their rational close under obedience. Since this is their character, after death when they come into the spiritual world they are pre- pared in a peculiar manner to receive the spiritual things of heaven, which are Divine truths. They are not taught, because they do not receive ; but heaven is described to them as to its quality, and afterward it is granted them to ascend thither and see it ; and then whatever accords with their genius is infused into them ; and so being sent down, they return to their companions with a full desire for heaven. If they do not then receive this truth, that God is one in Person and in Essence, and that the Lord the Redeemer and Saviour is this God, and that the Divine Trinity is in Him; also this truth, that faith and charity in one's cog- nition and discourse amount to nothing without their life, and that they are given by the Lord when men after self- examination repent; if they turn away from these truths when they are taught, and still think of God as being in three Persons, and of religion merely in acknowledging its existence, they are reduced to a miserable condition, and their trade is taken away from them, even until they find themselves reduced to extremities. They are then con- ducted to those who, because they are in Divine truths, abound in all things, and with whom trade flourishes; and there the thought is insinuated into them from heaven. Why is it that these are so prosperous ? And at the same time they are brought to reflect upon their faith and their life, that they are averse to evils as sins. They also make some little inquiry, and perceive a harmony with their own thought and reflection. This is done repeatedly, at inter- vals. At length, of themselves, they think that, in order to be freed from their misery, they must believe and must live in the same way; and then, as they receive that faith and live that life of charity, wealth is given them, and they are highly favored in their lives. In this manner those No. 8o4.] THE DUTCH. IO71 who led any life of charity in the world, are amended of themselves, and prepared for heaven. These afterward become more constant than others, so that they may well be called constancies ; they do not suffer themselves to be led away by any reasoning, fallacy, obscurity induced by sophistry, or by mere confirmations coming from some preposterous view ; for they become more clear-sighted than before. 803. The doctors who instruct in their lyceums, study the mysteries of the present faith very attentively, espe- cially those there who are called Cocceians ; and because the dogma of predestination springs inevitably from those mysteries, and this moreover was established by the Synod of Dort, it also is sown and implanted, as seed taken from the fruit of any tree is sown or planted in a field. Hence it is that the laity talk much among themselves about pre- destination, but in different ways ; some grasp it with both their hands, some with one hand only and laugh at it, and some cast it from them as a snaky lizard (anguem lacertum), for they know nothing of the mysteries of faith, from which that viper was hatched. They are ignorant of these mys- teries because they are intent upon their business, and the mysteries of that faith indeed touch their understanding, but they do not penetrate into it. Wherefore the dogma of predestination with the laity, and even with the clergy, is like an image in the human form placed on a rock in the sea, with a great shell shining like gold in its hand ; at the sight of which some captains as they sail by, lower the sail as a mark of honor and veneration, some only wink and salute it, while some hiss at it as an object of ridicule. It is also like an unknown bird from India placed on a high tower, which some swear is a turtle-dove, some guess is a cock, while others exclaim with an oath, " It surely is an owl." 804. The Dutch are readily distinguished from others in the spiritual world, because they appear in clothing similar 1072 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 805. to that worn by them in the natural world, with the differ- ence that they who have received faith and spiritual life are more finely clad. They appear in similar clothing because they remain steadfast in the principles of their religion, and in the spiritual world all are clothed ac- cording to those principles. Therefore those there who are in Divine truths have white garments, and of fine linen. 805. The cities in which the Dutch dwell, are guarded in a manner peculiar to themselves. All their streets are roofed over, and have gates in them, that they may not be looked-at from the rocks and hills round about. This is done on account of their innate prudence in concealing their designs and not divulging their intentions 3 for in the spiritual world such things are drawn out by inspection. When any one comes with a disposition to examine into their state, he is conducted on his departure to gates of the streets which are shut; and so he is led back, and conducted to others, and this till he is most thoroughly annoyed ; and then he is let out ; this is done that he may not come again. Wives who aim at authority over their husbands dwell at one side of the city, and do not meet their husbands except when they are invited, which is done in a civil manner. The husbands then take them to houses where married pairs live without exercising authority over each other, and show them how beautiful and clean their houses are, and what enjoyment they have in life, and that they have all this owing to their mutual and conjugal love. Those wives who attend to these things and are affected by them, cease from their dominion and live together with their husbands ; and then they obtain a habitation nearer the centre, and are called angels. The reason is, that love truly conjugal is heavenly love, which is free from dominion. No.8o8.] THE ENGLISH. IO73 III. Concerning the English in the Spiritual World. S06. There are two states of thought in man, an external and an internal ; man is in the external state in the natural world ; he is in the internal state in the spiritual world. These states make one with the good, but not with the wicked. What a man is in quality as to his internal, is rarely manifest in the world, because from infancy he has karned to be moral and rational, and loves to appear so. But in the spiritual world it clearly appears what he is ; for man is then a spirit, and the spirit is the internal man. Now as it has been granted me to be in that world, and there to see what is the quality of the internal men from different kingdoms, I ought, because it is important, to make it known. 807. As regards the English nation : the better ones among them are in the centre of all Christians, because they have interior intellectual light ; this light is not appar- ent to any one in the natural world, but it is quite con- spicuous in the spiritual world ; they acquire it from their freedom to speak and to write, and thus to think. With others, who are not in such liberty, that light is wasted, because it has no outlet. This light, however, is not active of itself, but is rendered active by others, especially by men of reputation and authority ; as soon as any thing is said by them, that light shines forth. For this reason governors are appointed over them in the spiritual world and priests are given to them of celebrity and of eminent talent, in whose decisions, owing to this natural disposition of theirs, they acquiesce. 808. There is among them a similarity of minds [ammi'], owing to which they become familiarly attached to friends who are their own countrymen, but rarely to others ; they also aid each other, and love sincerity ; they are lovers of their country', and zealous for its glory ; and they regard 1074 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 809. foreigners much as one from the roof of his palace looks with a spy-glass on persons dwelling or wandering about outside of the city. The political affairs of their kingdom occupy their minds and possess their hearts, sometimes so far as to withdraw their minds from the studies that belong to a loftier judgment, by which a higher intelligence* is gained. These studies are indeed pursued eagerly in youth, by those who give their attention to such things in the pub- lic seminaries ; but they pass away, like the phenomena of nature ; but still their rationality is quickened from these studies, and sparkles with a light from which they form beautiful images, as a crystal prism turned toward the sun shows the rainbow, and paints with its glowing colors the surface that lies ready to receive them. 809. There are two great cities like London, into which most of the English pass after death. I have been per- mitted to see the chief city, and to walk through it. Where in London is the merchants' place of meeting called the P2xchange, there is the centre of this city; here dwell the governors. Above this centre is the east, below it is the west, on the right is the south, and on the left the north. In the eastern quarter dwell those who more than the others have lived a life of charity ; here are magnificent palaces. In the southern quarter dwell the wise, among whom there is much splendor. In the northern quarter dwell those who more than others have loved freedom to speak and to write. In the western quarter dwell those who cry up justification by faith alone. On the right in this latter quarter is the entrance to the city, also the way of exit ; they who live wickedly are sent out here. The elders who are in the west and who teach that faith alone, do not dare to enter the city by the great streets, but through the narrow alleys, because none but those who are in the faith of charity are tolerated in the city itself. I have heard them complaining of the preachers from the west, that they compose their sermons with so much art No. 8io] THE ENGLISH. IO75 and eloquence, secretly weaving into them the doctrine of justification by faith, that they do not know whether good ought to be done or not. They preach faith as intrinsic good, and they separate this from the good of charity which they call meritorious, and therefore not acceptable to God. But when those who dwell in the eastern and southern quarters of the city hear such sermons they leave the churches, and the preachers are afterward deprived of the priestly office. 810. I afterward heard many reasons why those preachers were deprived of the priestly office. I was told that the chief reason was, that they did not frame their sermons from the Word and thus from the Spirit of God, but from their own rational light [lumen], and thus from their own spirit. They do indeed take texts from the Word, as a prelude, but they merely touch these with their lips and then aban- don them as tasteless ; and presently they select something savor}' from their own intelligence, which they roll about in their mouths and turn over upon their tongues as some- thing delicious ; and in this way they teach. It was said that there was therefore no more spirituality in their ser- mons than in the songs of warblers ; and that they were merely allegorical adornments, much like wigs beautifully curled and powdered, on bald heads. The mysteries of their discourses on justification by faith alone they com- pared to the quails brought up from the sea and cast upon the camp of the children of Israel, from which several thousand persons died (Num. xi.) ; but the theology of charity and faith together, they compared to the manna from heaven. I once heard their elders talking together about faith alone ; and I saw a kind of image formed by them which represented their faith alone ; in their light \lumefi\ which was that of fantasy, this appeared like a great giant ; but when light from heaven was let in, it looked like a monster above and a serpent below. Seeing this they withdrew, and the bystanders threw the image into a stagnant pool. 1076 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 813, 811. The other great city, also called London, is not in the Christian centre, but at some distance to the north. Into it those pass after death who are interiorly evil. In the middle of it there is an open communication with hell, by which also at times they are swallowed up. 812. From those in the spiritual world who are from England, it was perceived that they have a double the- ology, a kind that is from their doctrine of faith, and another from the doctrine of charity; the former being held by those who are initiated into the priesthood, and the latter by the laity, especially those who dwell in Scot- land and on its borders. With these the believers in faith alone are afraid to engage in argument, because they com- bat with them both from the Word and from reason. This doctrine of charity is set forth in the exhortation always read in the churches on the Sabbath day to those who ap- proach the Sacrament of the Holy Supper, before they come to it ; in that exhortation it is openly declared that if they are not in charity, and do not shun evils as sins, they cast themselves into eternal damnation; and that if they should come to the Holy Communion when not in charity and without shunning evils as sins, the devil would enter into them as he did into Judas. IV. Concerning the Germans in the Spiritual World. 813. It is well known that the inhabitants of every king- dom which is divided into several provinces are not alike in genius, and that they differ from each other in their own particular ways, as those who dwell in the several climates of the globe differ from each other in a universal way; and yet that a common genius reigns among those who are under one king, and thus under the same statute law. As regards Germany, it is divided into separate governments more than the surrounding kingdoms. There is there an No. Si4.] THE GERMANS. lO;/ imperial government, under the universal authoritj'^ of which they all are ; but yet the prince of each division enjoys despotic power in his own dominions ; for there are greater and lesser dukedoms there, and each duke is like a mon- arch in his own state. Furthermore, religion is divided there ; in some dukedoms are the Evangelical, so called ; in some, the Reformed ; and in some they are Papists. With such diversity of both government and religion, the minds [ammi], inclinations, and lives of the Germans, from those seen in the spiritual world, are more difficult to de- scribe than those of other nations and peoples. But still, as a common genius reigns everywhere among peoples speaking the same language, it may be in some measure seen and described from ideas collected together. 814. Inasmuch as the Germans are under despotic gov- ernment in each particular dukedom, they have not free- dom of speech and of writing, as the Hollanders and the people of Great Britain have ; and when this freedom is restrained, freedom of thought also, that is to say, the freedom of investigating matters in their full extent, is kept in restraint at the same time. It is then as if high w^alls were built as the sides of the basin of a fountain, so that the water within the basin rises even to the level of the source of the salient stream, and therefore the stream itself no longer forms a jet. Thought is like the stream, and speech therefrom is like the basin. In a word, influx adapts itself to efflux ; and in like manner the understand- ing from above adapts itself to its measure of freedom to utter and give vent to the thoughts. For this reason that noble nation devotes itself little to matters of judgment, but rather to those of memoiy. It is for this reason that they apply themselves especially to the history of letters, and in their books they trust to men of reputation and learning among them, quoting their opinions abundantly, and supporting some one of them. This state of theirs is represented in the spiritual world by a man carrying books 10/8 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 815. under his arm, and when any one disputes about any mat- ter of judgment, he says, "I will give you an answer," and immediately he draws a book from under his arm and be- gins to read. 815. From this state of theirs proceed many things, and among them this, that they keep the spiritual things of the church inscribed upon the memory, and seldom elevate them into the higher understanding, but only admit them into the lower, from which they reason about them ; thus they do altogether differently from free nations. These latter, in relation to the spiritual things of the church, called theological, are like eagles which rise to whatever height they please, while nations that are not free are like swans in a river. And free nations are like the larger deer with lofty horns, that roam the fields, groves, and forests in full freedom ; while nations that are not free are like the deer kept in parks for the use of a prince. Moreover, free peoples are like winged horses, such as the ancients called Pegasus, that fly not only over the seas, but also over hills that they call Parnassian, and also over the seats of the Muses beneath them ; while peoples that have not been freed are like noble horses beautifully caparisoned in kings' stables. There are similar differences between the judgment of one and of the other in the mystic matters of theology. The clergy in Germany, while they are stu- dents, write out from the lips of the teachers in the semi- naries their dida^ and these they guard as the tokens of erudition ; and when they are inaugurated into the priest- hood, or are appointed lecturers in the schools, they draw their official discourses (whether they are in the desk or in the pulpit), for the most part from those dicta. Such of their priests as do not teach from what is regarded as orthodox, usually preach about the Holy Spirit and His wonderful workings and excitation of holiness in the heart. But those who from the orthodoxy of the present day teach about faith, seem to the angels as if they were decorated No. 8i8.] THE PAPISTS. IO79 with wreaths formed from the leaves of the bay-oak ; while they who teach from the Word concerning charity and its works, appear to the angels as if adorned with wreaths woven ai the odoriferous leaves of the laurel. The Evan- gelical there, in their disputes with the Reformed about truths, appear to be tearing garments, because garments signify truths. 816. I asked where the people of Hamburg are found in the spiritual world, and was told that they do not appear anywhere assembled in one society, still less in a civil communit)', but are scattered about and intermingled with the Germans in various quarters. And when the reason was asked, it was answered that it results from this, that their minds are continually looking abroad and travelling, as it were, outside of their city, and very little within it ; for as the state of man's mind is in the natural world, such is it in the spiritual world ; for man's mind is his spirit, or the posthumous man that lives after his departure from the material body. V. Concerning the Papists in the Spiritual World. 817. The Papists in the spiritual world appear round about and beneath the Protestants, and they are separated from them by interspaces which they are forbidden to pass. But yet the monks by clandestine arts procure a communi- cation for themselves, and also send out emissaries by un- known paths to make converts ; but they are traced out, and after being punished are either sent back to their com- panions or cast down. 818. Since the last judgment, which took place in the spiritual world in the year 1757, the state of all, and there- fore of the Papists, is so changed that they are not allowed to band themselves into companies as formerly ; but for every love, good and evil, ways have been appointed, which they who come from the world immediately enter, I080 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. S19. and pass to socieries correspondent to their loves. Thus the wicked are borne toward societies which are in. hell, and the good toward societies which are in Ijeaven. So care is taken that they shall not form for themselves arti- ficial heavens, as formerly. Such societies in the world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, are very numerous, for they are as many as the genera and species of the affections belonging to the love of good and of evil ; and meanwhile, before they are elevated into. heaven or are cast down into hell, they are in spiritual conjunction with men of the world, because men too are in the midst be- tween heaven and hell. 819. The Papists have a place of council in the southern quarter, toward the east, where their chiefs assemble and consult on the various matters pertaining to their religion, especially bow to keep the common people in blind obedi- ence and how to enlarge their dominion. No one, how- ever, is admitted thereto who was a pope in the world, because a semblance of Divine authority has its seat in the mind [animus] of such a one, from having arrogated to himself the Lord's power in the world. Neither are any cardinals permitted to enter that place of council, and this on account of their pre-eminence. Nevertheless these lat- ter assemble together in a spacious conclave beneath the others, but after staying there a few days they are taken away ; whither, it was not given me to know. There is also another place of meeting in the southern quarter, but toward the west ; the business there is to let the credulous common people into heaven. Here they arrange round about themselves several societies that are in various ex- ternal enjoyments ; in some there are dances, in some concerts of music, in some processions, in some theatres and scenic exhibitions ; in some there are persons who by fantasies induce various forms of magnificence ; in some they merely act like clowns and jest; in some they talk together in a friendly way, here about religious matters, No. 820.] THE PAPISTS. I081 there about civil matters, and elsewhere even lasciviously ; and so on. Into some one of these societies they intro- duce the credulous, each one according to his peculiar pleasure, calling it heaven. But after they have been there a day or two they all become weary and go away, be- cause those enjoyments are external and not internal. In this way also many are led away from the folly of their belief about the power to admit into heaven. As regards their worship specially : it is almost like their worship in the world ; it consists in like manner of masses which are celebrated not in the common language of spirits, but in a language made up of high-sounding words which inspire external sanctity and trembling, but which they do not at all understand. 820. All who come from the earth into the spiritual world are kept at first in the confession of faith and the religion of their country; so also are the Papists; where- fore they always have some representative pontiff set over them, whom they also adore with similar ceremony to that observed in the world. It rarely happens that one who has been a pope in the world is placed over them, after he leaves the world ; yet he who filled the pontifical chair thirty or forty years ago was placed over them, because he cherished in his heart the idea that the Word was holier than it is believed to be, and that the Lord ought to be worshipped. It was granted me to speak with him, and he said that he adored the Lord alone, because He is God Who has all power in heaven and earth, according to His words (Matt, xxviii. 18). He said also that the invocation of saints was an absurdity; also that he had intended to restore that church when in the world, but was not able for reasons that he stated. When the great northern city, which contained Papists and Reformed together, was de- stroyed in the day of the last judgment, I saw him carried out in a litter and transferred to a place of safety. On the borders of the great society in which he acts as pontiff, VOU. III. II I082 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. S21. schools have been instituted, to which those go who are in doubt respecting religion ; and there are converted monks there who teach them concerning God the Saviour Christ, and also concerning the holiness of the Word ; and the monks leave it to their option to turn away their minds [auimt] from the modes of sanctification introduced into the Roman Catholic church. They who receive instruction are introduced into a large society composed of those who have withdrawn from the worship of the pope and the saints ; and when they come into that society they are like those who having been roused from sleep are fully awake, and like those who come from the discomforts of winter into the pleasantness of early spring, and like a sailor when he reaches port ; and then they are invited by those there to feasts, and noble wine is given them to drink from crystal cups. I have also heard that angels send down from heaven to their host a plate containing manna, in form and taste like that sent down upon the camp of the chil- dren of Israel in the desert, and this plate is carried around to the guests, and to every one is given liberty to taste the manna. 821. All those of the Catholic religion who in the former world thought more of God than of the papacy, and from a simple heart did works of charity, when they find themselves living after death, and have been instructed that the Lord Himself the Saviour of the world reigns here, are easily led away from the superstitions of that religion. To them the transition from popery to Christianity is as easy as to pass through open doors into a temple, or to pass the guards in the entrance-hall and to enter the court when the king so commands, or to raise the countenance and look up to heaven when voices are heard therefrom. But on the other hand, to lead away from the superstitions of that religion those who during the course of their life in the world rarely if ever thought of God, and valued that worship merely for its festivities, is as difficult as to enter a temple through No. 822.] THE POPISH SAINTS. IO83 closed doors, or to pass the guards in the entrance-hall into the court when the king forbids, or for a snake in the grass to raise its eyes to heaven. It is wonderful that none who pass into the spiritual world out of that Catholic religious system, there see the heaven where the angels are ; there is as it were a dark cloud over them which bounds the sight ; as soon, however, as any convert comes among the con- verted, heaven is opened ; and sometimes they see the angels there in white garments, and they are also taken up to them after having completed the period of prepa- ration. VI. Concerning the Popish Saints in the Spiritual World. 822. It is well known that man has in him from his parents inherent or hereditary evil, but it is known to few where that evil dwells in its fulness ; it has its dwelling in the love of possessing the goods of all others, and in the love of exercising dominion, for this latter love is of such a nature that, so far as the reins are given to it, it rushes on until it burns with the desire of exercising dominion over all, and finally wishes to be invoked and worshipped as God. This love is the serpent that deceived Eve and Adam ; for it said to the woman, God doth ktiow that in the day ye eat of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and ye will then be as God (Gen. iii. 5). So far, therefore, as man rushes into this love without restraint, he turns away from God and turns to himself, and becomes an adorer of him- self ; and then he can call upon God with lips fervent from the love of self, but with the heart cold from contempt of God. And then also the Divine things of the church may serve him as means ; but because dominion is his end, he has the means at heart only so far as they subserve that •end. Such a man, if exalted to the highest honors, is in his own imagination like Atlas carrying the terraqueous 1084 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. S24. globe on his shoulders, and like Phoebus with his horses bearing the sun around the globe. 823. Since man is such from inheritance, therefore all who have been made saints by papal bulls, in the spiritual world are removed from the sight of others and concealed, and they are deprived of all intercourse with their worship- pers, lest that worst root of evils should be quickened in them, and they should be carried away into the delusions of fantasy, such as there are with demons. Into such delu- sions do they come, who while they live in the world ear- nestly aspire to be made saints after death, that they may be invoked. , 824. Many from the papal jurisdiction, especially the monks, when they enter the spiritual world, search for the saints, especially the saint of their order, but they do not find them. They are surprised at this, but they are after- wards instructed that these saints are intermingled either with those who are in heaven or with those who are in the earth below (Jnfcra ferrd). and that in either case they know nothing of the worship and invocations that are offered them ] also that those who do know, and who wish to be invoked, fall into delusions and talk like fools. The wor- ship of saints is such an abomination in heaven, that when it is merely heard of it excites horror, since so far as wor- ship is yielded to any man it is denied to the Lord ; for in that case He cannot be worshipped alone ; and if the Lord is not worshipped alone, there is a division made, which destroys communion and the happiness of life that flows from it. That I might learn the quality of the saints of the papists, so that I might make it known, there were brought out from the lower earth as many as a hundred of them, who knew that they had been made saints. They ascended behind me, only a few before the face, and I spoke with one of them who they said was Xavier. While he was talk- ing with me, he was like a fool ; nevertheless he could tell' that in his own place, where he was shut up with others, he No. 8271 THE POPISH SAINTS. IO85 was not a fool, but that he becomes a fool as often as he thinks himself a saint and wishes to be invoked. I heard the same thing murmured by those who were behind. With the saints, so-called, who are in heaven, the case is differ- ent ; they know nothing at all of what is done on earth, nor is it given them to converse with any from the papal jurisdiction who are in that superstition, lest some idea of that thing should enter into them. 825. From this state of the saints any one may conclude that the invocation of them is mere mockery ; and further- more I can affirm that they no more hear the invocations addressed to them on earth than their images by the way- side, or than the walls of a temple, or than the birds that build nests in the towers. It is said by those who pay them service on earth, that the saints reign in heaven together with the Lord Jesus Christ ; but this is a fiction and a false- hood, for they no more reign with the Lord than a groom with his king, or a porter with a nobleman, or a courier with a primate. For John the Baptist said of the Lord, The latchet of His shoes I am not worthy to unloose (Mark i. 7 ; John i. 27) ; what then are such as these ? 826. There appears sometimes to the Parisians who in the spiritual world are in a society, at a middle altitude, a certairi woman in shining raiment and with a face that seems holy, and she has said that she is Genevieve. But when some of them begin to adore her, her face and also her clothing change instantly, and she becomes like an ordinary woman, and rebukes them for desiring to adore a woman who among her companions is no more esteemed than a maid-servant, wondering that the men of the world are duped by such nonsense. 827. To this I will add the following which is most worthy of note : Mary the Mother of the Lord once passed by, and appeared overhead, in white raiment ; and then pausing a little she said that she had been the Mother of the Lord, and tliat He was indeed born of her; but that being made God, I086 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 829. He put off all the human from her, and that therefore she now adores Him as her God, and is unwilling that any one should acknowledge Him as her son, -inasmuch as in Him all is Divine. Vn. Concerning the Mohammedans in the Spiritual World. 828. The Mohammedans in the spiritual world appear behind the Papists in the west, and form as it were a border around them. They appear next behind Christians for the reason that they acknowledge our Lord as a very great prophet, the wisest of all, who was sent into the world to teach men, and aiso as Son of God. In that world every one dwells at a distance from the central region where the Christians are, according to his confession of the Lord and of one God ; for that confession conjoins minds [a;//w/] with heaven, and makes the distance from the east, above which point is the Lord. 829. Inasmuch as religion has its seat in what is highest in man, and as his lower things have life and light from the highest, and because Mohammed is associated with religion in the minds [animi'] of Mohammedans, some Mohammed is always placed within their sight ; and that they may turn their faces toward the east, over which is the Lord, he is placed beneath the Christian centre. This is not the Mohammed who wrote the Koran, but another person who fills his office ; nor is there always the same person, but he is changed. He who formerly filled this place was one from Saxony, who having been taken pris- oner by the Algerines, became a Mohammedan. This person, because he had also been a Christian, was some- times moved to speak with them concerning the Lord, and to say that He was not Joseph's son, but the Son of God Himself. Other Mohammeds afterward succeeded this one. In the place where that representative Mohammed No. 832.] THE MOHAMMEDANS. IO87 has his station, there appears a fire as of a little torch to distinguish him ; but that fire is not visible to any but Mohammedans. 830. The Mohammed who wrote the Koran is not seen at the present day. I was told that at first he presided over them, but that because he wished to rule as God over all things pertaining to their religion, he was ejected from his seat, which he had under the Papists, and sent down to the right side near the south, A certain society of Mo- hammedans was once incited by some malicious spirits to acknowledge Mohammed as God. To quiet the disturb- ance, Mohammed was brought up from the earth below and shown to them ; and I also saw him at that time. He appeared like corporeal spirits, who have no interior per- ception ; his face inclined to black. And I heard him utter these words : "I am your Mohammed ; " and pres- ently he seemed to sink down. 831. The Mohammedans are hostile to the Christians chiefly on account of the belief, in three Divine persons, and the consequent worship of three Gods, so many Crea- tors ; and to the Roman Catholics, still further, on account of their bendiqg the knee before images. Therefore they call these latter idolaters, and the others fanatics, saying that they make a three-headed God, also that they say one and mutter three ; consequently that they part omnipo- tence, and from and of the one omnipotence make three ; and that thus they are Mk&fauni with three horns, one for each God, and at the same time three for one ; and that so they pray, so they sing, and so they preach. 832. The Mohammedans, like all nations who acknowl- edge one God, and who love justice, and do good from religion, have their own heaven, but it is outside of the Christian. The Mohammedan heaven, however, is divided into two. In the lower they live honorably, with more than one wife ; but none are elevated from this into the higher heaven except those who give up their concubines, and I088 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 833. acknowledge the Lord our Saviour, and at the same time His dominion over heaven and hell. I have heard that it is impossible for them to think that God the Father and our Lord are one, but that it is possible for them to believe that the Lord rules over the heavens and the hells because He is the Son of God the Father. It is by means of this belief with them, that it is given them by the Lord to ascend into the higher heaven. 833. That the Mohammedan religion is received by more kingdoms than the Christian religion, may be a stumbling-block to those who think about the Divine Prov- idence, and at the same time believe that no one can be saved except those who are born Christians. But the Mohammedan religion is not a stumbling-block to those who believe that all things are of the Divine Providence ; they ask in what this is, and they also find out ; it is in this, that the Mohammedan religion acknowledges the Lord as a very great prophet, the wisest of all, and also as Son of God. But as they have made only the Koran the book of their religion, and consequently Mohammed who wrote it has held his seat in their thoughts, and they follow him with some worship, they therefore think but little concerning our Lord. That it may be known fully that that religion was raised up owing to the Lord's Divine Providence, to blot out the idolatries of many nations, it shall be told in some order. First, then, con- cerning the origin of idolatries. Previous to that religion, idolatrous worship was spread throughout very many king- doms of the world. This was because the churches before the coming of the Lord were all representative churches. Such, too, was the Israelitish church ; in it the tabernacle, Aaron's garments, the sacrifices, all things belonging to the temple at Jerusalem, and the statutes also, were representative. And among the ancients there was a knowledge of correspondences, which is also a knowledge of representations, the very knowledge of knowl- No. 833:] THE MOHAMMEDANS. IO89 edges, which was especially cultivated by the Egyptians ; hence their hieroglyphics. From their knowledge of correspondences, they knew the signification of animals of every kind, also of all kinds of trees, and of mountains, hills, rivers, fountains, and also of the sun, the moon, and the stars. By means of this knowledge they also had an apprehension of spiritual things, inasmuch as the things represented, which were such as pertain to spiritual wis- dom among the angels in heaven, were the origins [of the representatives]. Now as aJl their worship was represent- ative, consisting of mere correspondences, therefore they worshipped on mountains and hills, and also in groves and gardens ; and therefore they consecrated fountains, and moreover they made sculptured horses, oxen, calves, lambs, birds too, and fishes, also serpents, and placed them near the temples, and in their courts, and also at their homes, in an order following the spiritual things of the church to which they corresponded, or which they represented, and therefore signified. After a time, when the knowledge of correspondences was obliterated, their posterity began to worship the sculptured things themselves, as holy in them- sejves, not knowing that their fathers of ancient time did not see any holiness in them, but only that according to correspondences they represented what was holy. Hence arose the idolatries which filled so many kingdoms of the world. For the extirpation of these idolatries, from the Lord's Divine Providence it was brought about, that a new religion should auspiciously begin, accommodated to the genius of the people of the East ; ir> which there should be something from the Word of both Testaments, and which should teach that the Lord came into the world, and that He was a very great prophet, the wisest of all, and Son of God. This was done through Mohammed, from whom that religion was named. It is manifest from this that that religion was raised up, from the Lord's Divine Providence, and accommodated to the genius of the people of the lOQO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 834. East, as already said, for the end that it might blot out the idolatries of so many nations, and give them some knowl- edge of the Lord before they should come into the spirit- ual world, which they do after death. And this religion ■would not have been received by so many kingdoms, and had power to extirpate idolatries, if it had not been made conformable to the ideas of their thoughts, and especially if polygamy had not been permitted, for the reason that the Orientals without that permission would have burned for filthy adulteries more than Europeans, and would have perished. 834. It was once given me to perceive of what quality is the heat of their polygamic love. I conversed with one who occupied the place of Mohammed ; and this substi- fute, after some conversation with him at a distance, sent to me an ebony spoon and some other things, which were tokens that they came from him ; and at the same time there was opened from various places a communication for the heat of their polygamic love, which was felt from some places like the heat in baths after the washing; from some like the heat in kitchens, where meats are boiling ; from some like the heat in eating-houses where foul-smelling eatables are exposed for sale ; from some like the heat in apothecaries' cellars, where emulsions and such things are prepared ; from some like the heat in stews and brothels ; and from others like the heat in shops where skins, leather, and shoes are sold. There was even some- thing rank, harsh, and burning in the heat, arising from jealousy. But the heat in the Christian heavens, when the enjoyment from their love is perceiv^ed as odor, is fragrant like the odor in gardens and vineyards, and like that in rose-gardens, and in some places like that where spices are sold, and in others like those in wine-presses and wine- cellars. That the enjoyments from loves in the spiritual world are often perceived as odors, has been shown every- where in my Relations, which follow these chapters. No. S36.] THE AFRICANS. IO9I VIII. Concerning the Africans in the Spiritual World ; and also something concerning Gentiles. 835. The Gentiles who have known nothing of the Lord, in the spiritual world appear outside of those who have known of Him, even sc that the outermost circumference is formed by those only who are thoroughly idolaters, and in the former world worshipped the sun and moon. But those who acknowledge one God, and make such precepts as are in the decalogue precepts of religion and so of the life, communicate more directly with the Christians in the central region ; for so the communication is not intercepted by the Mohammedans and Papists. The Gentiles are also distinguished according to their genius and their faculty for receiving light through the heavens from the Lord, for there are among them some interior and some exterior, and this comes partly from climate, partly from the stock from which they have sprung, partly from education, and partly from religion. The Africans are more interior than the others. 836. AH who acknowledge and worship one God, the Creator of the universe, entertain the idea of God as a Man ; they say that no one can have any other idea of Him. When they hear that many entertain an idea re- specting God as of ether or a cloud, they inquire where such people are ; and when they are told that they are among the Christians, they deny that it is possible. But it is answered that they have such an idea from this, that God is called a Spirit in the Word, and of spirit they have no other thought than of ethereal substance or of some form of cloud, not knowing that every spirit and every angel is a human being. Further examination has' been made, however, to ascertain whether their spiritual idea is similar to their natural ; and it has been found that it is not similar with those who interiorly acknowledge the Lord 1092 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 837. the Saviour as the God of heaven and earth. I lieard a certain elder saying that no one can have an idea of Divine Human ; and I saw him conveyed to various classes of Gentiles, to the more and more interior, and also to their heavens, and at last to the Christian heaven ; and every- where there was given a communication of their interior perception respecting God : and he observed that they liad no other idea of God than that of the Divine Man ; and that man, who is an image and likeness of Him, could not have been created by any other. 837. As the Africans surpass the others in interior judg- ment, I have had conversation with them on matters of loftier inquiry, and lately concerning God, concerning the Lord the Redeemer, and concerning the interior and the exterior man. And as they were delighted with this con- versation, I will present some of the things which they perceived from .interior sight respecting these three sub- jects. Of God they said, that He certainly did descend and present Himself to be seen by men, because He is their Creator, Guardian, and Guide, and because the hu- man race is His ; also that He sees, surveys, and provides the things, one and all, that are in the heavens and on earth, — their goods as in Himself, and Himself in them ; this, because He is the Sun of the angelic heaven, which is seen as high above' the spiritual world as the sun of the earth is above the natural world ; and He Who is the Sun, sees, surveys, and provides all things and every single thing below. And because it is His Divine Love which appears as a Sun, it follows that He provides for the greatest and the least such things as pertain to life, and for men such things as are of love and wisdom, — the things which are of love by the heat from that Sun and the things which are of wisdom by the light therefrom. If, therefore, you form to yourselves an idea of God as being the Sun of the universe, you will surely from that idea see and acknowl- edge His omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence. No. 838.] THE AFRICANS. IO93 83S. And further, I conversed with them respecting the Lord the Saviour. It was said that God in His essence is Divine Love, and that Divine Love is as purest fire ; and as love viewed in itself can purpose only to become one with another whom it loves, and Divine love to unite itself to man and man to itself so that it may be in man and man in it, and because the Divine Love is as purest fire, — it is manifest that God being such could not possibly be in man and cause man to be in Him ; for He would thus reduce the whole man to the thinnest vapor. Yet as God from His essence burned with the love of uniting Himself with man, it was necessary that He should veil Himself over with a Body adapted to reception and conjunction. Therefore He descended and assumed the Human accord- ing to the order from Himself established from the creation of the world ; which order was, that, by the power propa- gated from Himself, [the Human] should be conceived, car- ried in the womb, and born, and then should grow in wisdom and love, and so draw near to union with the Divine Origin thereof, and that thus God became IMan, and Man God. That this is so, the Scripture respecting Him (which exists among Christians and is called the Word) manifestly teaches and testifies ; and God Himself, Who in His Human is called Jesus Christ, says that the Father is in Him and He in the Father, and that he that seeth Him seeth the Father ; besides other things to the same purport. That God, Whose Love is as purest fire, could not otherwise unite Himself to man and man to Himself, reason also sees. Can the sun's fire as it is in itself touch man, still less enter into him, unless it veil its rays with atmospheres, and so by a tem- pered heat present itself accommodated t Can the pure ether envelop man, still less enter his bronchial tubes, unless it become more dense with air and thus adapt itself ? A fish cannot even draw the breath of life in the air, but in an element suited to its life ; nor yet can a king on earth, in his own person or immediately, administer the affairs !094 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 839. of his kingdom, one and all, except by higher and lower officers who together constitute his royal body. Nor can a man's soul render itself visible to another, enter into companionship with him, and communicate proofs of its love, except through a body. How then could God do so, except through a Humanity of His own ? The Africans more than the others had a perception of these things when they heard them, because they are more interiorly rational ; and each favored them according to his per- ception. 839. Lastly we conversed respecting the interior and the exterior man. And it was said that men who perceive things interiorly are in the light of truth, which is the light of heaven, and that those who perceive things exteriorly are in no light of truth, because they are in the light of the world only ; that thus interior men are in intelligence and wisdom, but exterior men are in insanity and in preposter- ous vision [see n. 345] ; that interior men are spiritual, be- cause they think from the spirit elevated above the body, and therefore see truths in light, but that exterior men are sensual-natural, because they think from the fallacies of the senses of the body ; therefore they see truths as in a thick cloud, and when they revolve them in their minds they see falsities as truths ; that internal men are like those who stand on a mountain in a plain, or on a tower in a city, or on a light-house in the sea ; while external men are like those who stand in a valley at the foot of the mountain, or in a vault beneath the tower, or in a boat under the light-house, and who see only what is nearest to them. Moreover, internal men are like those who live in the second or third story of a house or palace, the walls of which are continuous windows of clearest glass, who look round about upon the city in its whole extent, and recognize every cottage in it ; while external men are like those who live in the lowest story, the windows of which are of parchment, who cannot even see a single street out- No. 840.] THE AFRICANS. IO95 side of the house, but only what is within it, and this only by the light of a candle or of the fire. Furthermore, in- ternal men are like eagles soaring on high, which see all things spread out beneath them ; while external men, on the other hand, are like cocks that stand on a post and crow aloud before the hens that are walking on the ground. And, moreover, internal men perceive that what they know compared with what they do not know is as the water in a pitcher compared to that in a lake ; while external men do not perceive but that they know all things. The Africans were delighted with, what was said, because from the in- terior sight in which they excel they acknowledged that it was so. 840. Such being the character of the Africans, a revela- tion is therefore made among them at this day, which is spreading round about from the place where it began, but has not yet reached the coasts. They despise strangers coming from Europe, who believe that man is saved by faith alone, and thus by merely thinking and speaking, and not at the same time by willing and doing ; they say that there is no man with any worship who does not live according to his religion, and that if one does not, he cannot but become stupid and wicked, because he receives nothing from heaven. I have several times conversed with Augustine, who was bishop of Hippo in Africa in the third century. He said that he is there at the present day, and is inspiring them with the worship of the Lord, and that there is hope of the propagation of this new gospel to the surrounding regions. I have heard the angels rejoicing over that revelation, because by it there is opening to them communication with the human rational, hitherto closed up by the universal dogma that the understanding is to be under obedience to the faith of the ecclesiastics. 1096 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION [No. 842. IX. Concerning the Jews in the Spiritual World, 841, Previous to the last judgment, which took place in the year 1757, the Jews appeared in a valley at the left side of the Christian centre ; after that they were transferred northward, and intercourse with Christians, except with those wandering outside of the cities, was forbidden them. There are in that quarter two great cities into which the Jews are transferred after death, each of which before the judgment they called Jerusalem, but afterward by another name ; because since the judgment Jerusalem means the church in which the Lord alone is worshipped, as to its doctrine. Converted Jews are placed over them in their cities, who warn them not to speak contemptuously of Christ, and punish those who persist in doing so. The streets of their cities are filled with mud ankle-deep, and the houses with uncleanness, from which they smell so abominably that they cannot be approached. I afterward noticed that many others of that nation also obtained a place of abode in the southern quarter ; and when I asked who they were, I was told that they were those who made light of the worship of the others, and who still questioned in their own minds [am'mi^ whether the Messiah would ever come, and those who in the world thought from reason about various matters, and lived according to it. Those who are called the Portuguese Jews constitute the greater part of this class. 842. An angel with a staff in his hand sometimes appears to the Jews, above, at a middle altitude, and gives them to believe that he is Moses. He exhorts them to desist from their senseless expectation of the Messiah even there, be- cause the Messiah is Christ, Who rules them and all men ; that he knows this, and that he also knew about Him while he was in the world. When they hear this they go away. The greater part of them forget it, but a few keep it in No. 844] THE JEWS. IO97 mind. These few are sent to synagogues composed of con- verted Jews, and are instructed ; and after they have been instructed, new clothes are given them instead of their tat- tered ones ; and the Word, neatly written, is given to them, also a dwelling in the city, not inelegant. But they who do not receive are cast down, many of them into forests and deserts, where they steal from each other. 843. In that world as in the former the Jews traffic in various articles, especially in precious stones, which they obtain in unknown ways from heaven, where there are precious stones in abundance. They traffic in precious stones because they read the Word in the original tongue, and hold the sense of its letter holy ; and precious stones correspond to that sense. That the spiritual origin of those stones is the sense of the letter of the Word, and that from this arises their correspondence, may be seen above in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture (n. 217, 218). They are also able to make artificial stones that look like them, and to induce the fantasy that they are genuine ; but those who do so are heavily fined by their rulers. 844. The Jews are more ignorant than others that they are in the spiritual world, but they believe that they are still in the natural world. This is because they are wholly external men, and think nothing about religion from the interior. Therefore they also talk about the Messiah as formerly, and some say that He will come with David, and glittering with diadems will go before them and introduce them into the land of Canaan ; that on the way He will dry up the rivers they are to cross by raising His rod, and that Christians (whom among themselves they also call Gentiles) will then take hold of the skirts of their garments, suppli- antly beseeching permission to accompany them ; that they shall receive the rich according to their abundance, and that these also will serve them. In all this they confirm themselves by what is read in Zechariah (viii. 23) and in Isaiah (Ixvi. 20); also by what is said of David, that he is 1098 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 845. to come and be their king and shepherd Qer. xxx. 9 ; Ez. xxxiv. 23-25 ; xxxvii. 23-26). They are utterly unwilling to hear that by David is there meant our Lord Jesus Christ, and that by Jews are there meant those who will be of His church. 845. When asked whether they firmly believe that they all are to come into the land of Canaan, they say that all are then to come, and that the Jews who are dead are then to rise again, and from their sepulchres are to enter that land. When it is said in return that they cannot possibly come out of sepulchres, because they themselves were liv- ing after death, they reply that they are then to descend and enter their own bodies and live so. When it is said that that land cannot hold them all, they answer that it will then be enlarged. When told that the kingdom of the Messiah, because He is the Son of God, will not be on earth but in heaven, they reply that the land of Canaan will be heaven then. When told that they do not know where Bethlehem Ephratah is, where the Messiah will be born according to the prediction in Micah (v. 2), and in David (Ps. cxxxii. 6), they answer that still the mother of the Messiah will give birth there ; and some say that where she brings forth, there is Bethlehem. When they are asked how the Messiah can dwell with such wicked people, and it is proved by many passages from Jeremiah, and espe- cially by the Song of Moses (Deut. xxxii.), that they are the worst, they answer that among the Jews there are the good as well as the bad, and that the bad are meant there. When they are told that they sprung from a Canaanitish woman and from Judah's whoredom with his daughter-in-law (Gen. xxxviii.), they answer that there was no whoredom. But when the rejoinder is made that still Judah commanded that she should be brought and burned for whoredom, they go away to consult about it, and after consultation they say that he only performed the part of the husband's brother, an office which neither his second son Onan nor his third No. 846.] CONCLUDING RELATION. IO99 son Selah fulfilled. And to this they add that ver)' many of them are of the tribe of Levi who held the priesthood ; and they add, "It is enough that we are all from the loins of Abraham." When they are told that interiorly in the Word there is a spiritual sense in which the Christ or Mes- siah is much treated of, they answer that this is not so ; and some of them say that interiorly in the Word, or in its depths, there is nothing but gold ; and they say other things of the same sort. 846, I was once taken up as to my spirit into the angelic heaven, and into one of its societies. And then some of the wise ones there came to me and said, " What neivs from earth ?" I answered, " This is new, that the Lord has re- vealed arcana which in excellence surpass those revealed from the beginning of the church even to the present time." They asked, " What are they ? " I replied, they are these ; 1. In the whole Word and in every particular of it there is a Spiritual Sense corresponding to the natural sense; by means of that sense the Word is a conjunction of the men of the church with the Lord, and also a consociation with angels ; and the holiness of the Word resides in that sense. 2. The Correspondences of which the spiritual sense con- sists are disclosed." The angels asked, " Did not the in- habitants of the earth know of correspondences before ? " I answered, that they knew nothing whatever ; and that these have been hidden now for thousands of years, that is, even from the time of Job ; but that with those who lived at that time and before it, the knowledge of correspondences was the knowledge of knowledges, from which they had wis- dom, because by it they had a cognition of spiritual things which pertain to heaven and the church ; but that as that knowledge was turned into an idolatrous knowledge, by the Lord's Divine Providence it was so obliterated and lost that no one has seen any sign of it ; but that yet it is now disclosed by the Lord, that a conjunction of the men of the church with Himself and a consociation with the IIOO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No 846 angels may be effected, and this is done by means of the Word in which all things and every single thing are cor- respondences. The angels rejoiced exceedingly that it had pleased the Lord to reveal this great arcanum, so deeply hidden for thousands of years ; and they said that this was done in order that the Christian church which is founded on the Word, and which is now at its end, may again revive and draw spirit through heaven from the Lord. They asked whether, by means of a knowledge of corre- spondences, it has at this day been disclosed what is signi- fied by Baptism, and what by the Holy Supper, about which there have hitherto been such various views. And I replied that it has been. 3. I said further that the Lord has at this day made a revelation concerning the life of MEN AFTER DEATH. The angel said, " Why about the life after death ? Who does not know that man lives after death ? " I replied, " They know and they do not know. They say that the man does not live after death, but his soul, and that this lives as a spirit ; and they entertain an idea of spirit as of wind or ether ; and they say that one does not live as a man until after the day of the last judg- ment, when the corporeal elements which were left in the world, although eaten up by worms, mice, and fishes, will be collected together again, and again formed into a body, and that in this way men are to rise again." The angels said, " How is this ? Who does not know that man lives a man after death, with the sole difference that he then lives a substantial man, not a material man as before, and that the substantial man sees the substantial man as much as the material man sees the material, and that they know not a single difference except that they are in a more per feet state ? " 4. The angels asked, " What do they know of our world, and of Heaven and Hell? " I answered that they have known nothing, but that at this day it has been disclosed by the Lord what is the nature of the world in which angels and spirits live, thus what is the nature of I No. 846.] CONCLUDING RELATION. IIQI heaven and of hell ; as also that angels and spirits are in conjunction with men, besides many wonderful things re- specting them. The angels rejoiced that it has pleased the Lord to disclose such things, so that man may no longer from ignorance be in doubt respecting his immor- tality. 5. I said further, " It has at this day been revealed by the Lord, that there is in your world a different Sun from that of our world ; that the Sun of your world is pure Love, and that of ours pure fire ; that therefore all that proceeds from your Sun, because it is pure love, partakes of life, while all that proceeds from our sun, because it is pure fire, partakes not at all of life ; and that from this comes the distinction between the Spiritual and the Natural, which distinction, hitherto unknown, has also been disclosed. And from these things it has been made known whence comes the light which illuminates the hu- man understanding with wisdom, and whence the heat which enkindles the human will with love. 6. Moreover it has been disclosed that there are f/irce degrees of life ^ and consequently three heavens ; that the mind of man is dis- tinguished into those degrees, and that man therefore cor- responds to the three heavens." The angels asked, " Did they not know this before ? " I answered that they knew of the degrees between more and less, but nothing of the degrees between the prior and the posterior. 7. The angels asked whether any thing else has been revealed. I answered that many other things have been revealed re- specting the Last jfudgment : respecting the Lord 2^.% being the God of heaven and earth ; that God is one in Person and in Essence, in Whom is a Divine Trinity, and that the Lord is this God ; also respecting the New Church about to be established by Him, and the Doctrme of this Church ; concerning the Holiness of the Sacred Scripture ; that the Apocalypse also has been revealed ; and further, many things about the Inhabitants of the Planets, and about the Earths in the Universe ; besides many memorable and II02 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 848 wonderful things from the spiritual world, by which many things that pertain to wisdom have been disclosed from heaven. 847. After this, speaking with the angels, I told them that something more has been revealed in the world by the Lord. They asked what. I said, " Respecting Love truly conjugal* and its spiritual delights." And the angels said, " Who does not know that the delights of conjugal * love surpass those of all loves ? And who cannot conceive that into some one love (inasmuch as it corresponds to the love of the Lord and the Church) are brought together all the varieties of blessedness, satisfaction, and enjoyment that can ever be brought together by the Lord ? also that Love truly conjugial is their receptacle, which can receive and perceive them even to a full sense?" I replied that men do not know this, because they have not approached the Lord, and therefore have not shunned the lusts of the flesh, and so could not be regenerated ; and love truly conjugal * is solely from the Lord, and is given to those who are being regenerated by Him ; and these, too, are they who are received into the Lord's New Church which is meant in the Apocalypse by the New Jerusalem. To this I added that I doubt whether they are willing to be- lieve at this day in the world that this love is in itself spiritual, and therefore from religion, because they cherish a merely corporeal idea of it ; and so [whether they are willing to acknowledge ] f that, because it is according to religion, it is spiritual with the spiritual, natural with the natural, and merely carnal with adulterers. 848. The angels rejoiced exceedingly in what had been said now and before ; but they perceived sadness in me, * The word here used is co7ijugalis. In this Relation as found in the treatise on "Conjugial Love," n. 534, the word conjiigialis is used. Conjugalis is also found twice in n. 805 of this work. t The words within brackets are supplied from the treatise on "Conjugial Love," n. 534. No. 849-] CONCLUDING RELATION. IIO3 and asked, " Whence comes your sadness ? " I told them that these arcana revealed by the Lord at this day, although in excellence and dignity they surpass all the cognitions hitherto divulged, still are regarded on earth as of no value. The angels wondered at this, and besought the Lord that it might be allowable for them to look down upon the world ; and they looked down, and lo ! mere darkness was there. And they were told that these arcana should be written on paper and the paper should be let down to the earth, and they would see a prodigy. This was done ; and behold, the paper on which these arcana were written was let down from heaven, and in its progress while it was yet in the spiritual world it shone as a star, but when it descended into the natural world the light waned, and in proportion as it fell it was darkened. And when it was let down by the angels into assemblies where there were men of learn- ing and erudition from among the^lergy and the laity, there was heard a murmur from many, in which were the words, " What is this } Is it any thing ? What matters it whether we know these things or not ? Are they not the offspring of the brain .'' " And it seemed as if some persons took the paper, and folded it, and rolled and unrolled it with their fingers, and as if others tore it in pieces and wished to trample it under foot. But they were withheld by the Lord from that outrage ; and the angels were directed to with- draw the paper and guard it. And because the angels were made sad, and thought, " How long will this be ? " it was said, " Jufr a fhne, and times, and half a time " (Apoc. xii. 14). 849. After this I heard a hostile murmur from the lower regions, and at the same time these words : " Work mira- cles a?id we will believed And I replied, "Are not those things miracles.'"' It was answered, "They are not." And I asked, " What miracles, then ? " They said, " Manifest and reveal future events, and we will have faith." But I answered, " Such things are not granted by the Lord, be- 1 104 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. 851. cause so far as man knows future events, his reason and understanding together with prudence and wisdom sink into inactivity, become torpid and fall." And again I asked, " What other miracles shall I work ? " Then arose the cry, " Such as Moses wrought in Egypt," And I replied, " Per- haps you would harden your hearts to them, as did Pharaoh and the Egyptians." And they answered that they should not. And again I said, "Assure me that you will not dance around a golden calf and adore it, as the posterity of Jacob did a single month after they saw all mount Sinai burning, and heard Jehovah Himself speaking out of the fire, thus after a miracle which was the greatest of all " {a golden calf in the spiritual sense is the pleasure of the flesJi). And it was answered from the lower regions, " We will not be like the posterity of Jacob." But at that moment I heard it said to them from heaven, " If you believe not Moses and the prophets, that is, the Word of the Lord, you will not believe on account of miracles any more than the posterity of Jacob did in the desert ; or any more than they believed when with their own eyes they saw the miracles wrought by the Lord Himself, when He was in the world." 850. After this I saw some persons ascending from the lower regions, from which those things were heard, who addressing me in a grave tone said, "Why has your Lord revealed the arcana that you have just enumerated in a long list, to you who are a layman, and not to some one of the clergy ? " To which I replied : " Such is the good pleas- ure of the Lord, Who has prepared me for this office from earliest youth. Nevertheless, 1 will ask you in return, Why did the Lord when in the world choose fishermen for His disciples, and not some of the lawyers, scribes, priests, or rabbis .' Discuss this among yourselves, draw your con- clusions from judgment, and you will discover the cause." When they heard this, a murmur arose among them ; and after this there was silence. 851. I foresee that many who read ih& Relations annexed No. Ssi-l CONCLUDING RELATION. IIO5 to the chapters will believe that they are inventions of the imagination. But I assert in truth that they are not inven- tions, but were truly seen and heard ; not seen and heard in any state of the sleeping mind, but in a state of full wake- fulness. For it has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to send me to teach those things which will belong to His New Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, For this purpose he has opened the interiors of my mind or spirit, whereby it has been given me to be in the spiritual world with angels, and at the same time in the natural world with men, and this now for twenty-seven years. Who in the Christian world would have known any thing of Heaven and Hell, if it had not pleased the Lord to open in some one the sight of his spirit, and to show and teach ? That such things as are described in the Relations do appear, is manifest from simi- lar things that were seen by John and described in the Apocalypse, as also in the Word of the Old Testament by the prophets. In the Apocalypse are these: John saw the Son of Man in the midst of the seven candlesticks ; he saw the tabernacle, the temple, the ark, and the altar, in heaven ; he saw a book sealed with seven seals, he saw it opened, and horses going out of it ; four animals round about the throne \ twelve thousand chosen out of each tribe ; locusts ascending out of the pit ; a woman bringing forth a man-child, and fleeing into the desert on account of the dragon ; two beasts, one going up out of the sea, and the other out of the earth ; an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel ; a sea of glass mingled with fire ; seven angels having the seven last plagues ; vials poured out by them on the earth, the sea, the rivers, the sun, the throne of the beast, the Eu- phrates, and the air; a woman sitting on a scarlet beast; the dragon cast into a lake of fire and brimstone; a white horse ; a great supper ; a new heaven and a new earth ; the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven, which VOL. III. 12 II06 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. [No. S51. is described as to its gates, wall, and foundations ; also the river of the water of life, and trees of life bearing fruit every month ; besides other things, all of which were seen by John, and seen when as to his spirit he was in the spiritual world and in heaven. Add what was seen by the apostles after the Lord's resurrection, also what was seen later by Peter (Acts xi.), and what was seen and heard by Paul. Add to this what was seen by the prophets of the Old Testament, as by Ezekiel who saw four animals which were cherubs (i. and ix.), a new temple and a new earth, and an angel measuring them (xl.-xlviii.) ; he was carried away to Jerusalem and saw the abominations there, and also into Chaldea (viii. and xi.). What was similar took place with Zechariah : he saw a man riding among myrtle trees (i. 8-1 1); he saw four horns, and afterward a man with a measuring-line in his hand (i. and ii.); he saw a flying roll and an ephah (v. 1, 6); he saw four chariots between two mountains, also horses (vi. 1—8). So likewise with Daniel ; he saw four beasts coming up out of the sea (vii. 1-8) ; he saw the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, Whose dominion shall not pass away, and Whose kingdom shall not be destroyed (vii. 13, 14); he saw the conflict between the ram and the he-goat (viii. 1-27) ; he saw the angel Ga- briel, and he talked with him (ix.). The servant of Elisha saw horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha, and saw them when his eyes were opened (2 Kings vi. 17). From these and many other passages in the Word, it is evident that those things which exist in the spiritual world have appeared to many both before and since the Coming of the Lord. What marvel, then, that they should be seen now also, when a New Church is commencing, or when the New Jerusalem is descending from heaven .-' A THEOREM. 110/ [In the original, what follows is found appended to the Index to the Relations'\ A THEOREM PROPOSED BY A CERTAIN DUKE, AN ELECTOR IN GERiMANY, WHO ALSO ENJOYED THE HIGHEST ECCLE- SIASTICAL DIGNITY. I once saw in the spiritual world a certain duke, an elector of Germany, who also enjoyed the highest eccle- siastical dignity, and near him two bishops and also two ministers, and from a distance I heard their conversation. The electoral duke asked the four bystanders whether they knew what constituted the head of religion in Christendom. The bishops replied, " The head of religion in Christendom is, Faith alone Justifying and saving" Again he asked, " Do you know what lies inwardly concealed in that faith ? Open it, look into it, and tell me." They replied that there is nothing inwardly concealed in it but the merit and right- eousness of the Lord the Saviour. To this the electoral duke^ said, " Is there not concealed in it, then, the Lord the Saviour in His Human, in which He is called ^esus Christ, because He alone in His Human was Righteousness?" To this they replied, " This certainly and inseparably fol- lows." The electoral duke persisted, saying, " Open that faith, look into it further, search well, and see whether there is any thing else in it." And the minister said, " The grace of God the Father \s also concealed in it." To this the electoral duke said, " Obtain a right conception and per- ception, and you will see that it is the Son's grace with the Father, for the Son begs and intercedes. Wherefore I say to you, since you confess, venerate, and kiss that faith alone of yours, that you ought by all means to confess, venerate, and kiss the Lord the Saviour alone in His Hu- man ; for, as already said, He in His Human was and is Righteous7iess. That in this Human He is also jfehovah r.nd God, I have seen in the Sacred Writings from these passages : Behold, the days a7-e coming when I will raise up II08 THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. unto David a righteous Branch, Who shall reign King and prosper ; and this is His natne whereby He shall be called, Jehovah our Righteousness (Jer. xxxiii. 15, 16). In Paul : In yesus Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead (or Divinity) bodily (Col. ii. 9). And in John : yesus Christ is the true God and eternal Life (i Epistle, V. 20). Wherefore He is also called the God of Faith (Phil. iii. 9)." INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. [This is the Author's Index. The figures refer to the numbered paragraphs.] I. I HEARD certain newcomers in the spiritual world talking together about three Divine Persons from eternity ; and then a certain one who in the world had been a primate opened the ideas of his thought respecting that mystery, saving that it had been and still was his opinion that the three sit upon high thrones in heaven ; God the Father upon a throne of the finest gold, with a scep- tre in His hand ; God the Son at His right hand, upon a throne of the purest silver with a crown on His head ; and God the Holy Spirit upon a throne of shining crystal, holding in His hand the dove, in which He appeared when Christ was baptized ; and that lamps, hanging round about them in triple order, glittered with precious stones ; and that at a distance innumerable angels stand in a circle, adoring and singing praises. He also spoke of the Holy Spirit, — how He introduces faith, purifies, and justifies. He said that many of his order favored his ideas, and he trusted that I also as a layman gave them credit. But as an opportimity to speak was then given me, I said that from my childhood I have cherished the idea that God is one ; I therefore explained to him what the trinity involves, and what is signified by throne, sceptre, and crown, where in the Word these are predicated of God. To which I added, that all who believe in three Divine Persons from eternity, must necessarily believe in three Gods. And, furthermore, that the Divine essence cannot be parted (n. i6). II. A discourse of the angels concerning God, — that His Divine is Divme Esse in itself, and not from itself ; and that it is One, the Same, the Itself, and Indivisible ; also that God is not in place, but with those who are in place ; and that His Divine Love appears to the angels as a Sun, and that the heat there- from in its essence is Love, and the light therefrom in its essence is Wisdom (n. 25). That the proceeding Divine attributes, which are creation, redemption, and regeneration, are attributes of one God, and not of three (n. 26). IIL Since I perceived that a vast multitude of men are in the persuasion that all things are of nature, and consequently that nature created the universe, in a certain gymnasium where there were persons of this kind I spoke with aa I no INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. ingenious one repeating these three things : i. Whether natiire is of life, or life is of nature ; 2. Whether the centre is of the expanse, or the expanse is of the centre ; 3. Concerning the centre and the expanse of nature and of life ; that the centre of nature is the sun of the natural world, and the expanse of this centre is the world itself belonging to that sun ; and that the centre of life is the Sun of the spiritual world, and the expanse of this centra is the world itself that belongs to that Sun. These propositions were discussed on both sides, and lastly it was shown what the truth is (n. 35). IV. I was conducted into a theatre of wisdom where angelic spirits from the four quarters were assembled with an injunction from heaven to discuss three arcana : i. What is the image of God, and what the likeness of God. 2. Why man is not bom into the knowledge that pertains to any love, when yet the beasts and the birds are bom into the knowledge that belongs to all their loves. 3. What is signified by the tree of life and by the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And further, they were to join the three into one opinion, and refer this to the angels of heaven ; this was done, the opinion was referred, and was accepted by tlie angels (n. 48). V. From evil spirits who were just above hell a sound was .heard like the roar of the sea ; which was from a tumult that arose among them from their hearing it said above them that the Almighty God bound Himself to order. Certain ones ascending thence, addressed me sharj)ly on the matter, saying that inas- much as God is omnipotent He is not tied to any order. And on being ques- tioned concerning order, I said: i. God is Order itself. 2. He created man from order, in order, and for order. 3. He created man's rational mind according to the order of the spiritual world, and his body according to the order of the nattiral world. 4. Hence it is a law of order that man from his little heaven or little spiritual world should govern his microcosm or little natural world, as God from His great heaven or the spiritual world governs His macrocosm or the natural world. 5. Many other laws of order flow forth from these, some of which are recited. What afterward befell those spirits is described (n. 71 ). VI. Concerning the reasoning between certain Hollanders and Englishmen in the spiritual world on the subject of imputation and predestination. On one side, why God, because He is omnipotent, does not impute the righteousness of His Son to all, and thus make them redeemed, when yet, inasmuch as He is omnipotent. He is able to make all the satans of hell angels of heaven ; yes, if it be His good pleasure. He can make Lucifer, the dragon, and all the goats, to be archan;;cls ; and what is needed for this but a little word? On the other side, that tiod is Order itself, and that He can do nothing contrary to the laws of His order, because to act contrary to them would be to act contrary to Him- self. Also much beside, with which they contended on this subject (n. 72). INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. I III VII. I afterward spoke with others who were in the faith of predestination, deducing it from God's absolute power or omnipotence; saying that otherwise the power of God would be less than that of a king in the world who is sole niler, and who can turn the laws of justice as he turns his hands, and can act absolutely, like Octavius Augustus and also like Nero. To which it was answered, tliat God created the world and the things thereof, one and all, from Himself as Order, and thus stamped order upon them ; also that the law^s of His order are just as many as are the truths in the Word. Some of the laws of order are then recited, — what they are, and of what quality, on God's part, and also what on man's part. These cannot be changed, because God is Order itself; man, too, was created an image of His order (n. 73). VIII. I spoke with clergymen and laymen who had gathered together, concerning the Divine Omnipotence: They said that omnipotence is unlimited, and that limited omnipotence is a contradiction. To which it was ahswered, that there is no contradiction in acting onmipotently according to laws of justice with judgment ; it is also said in Da\'id that Justice and judgment are the support of God' s throne (Ps. Ixxxi.K. 14) ; and that there is no contradiction in acting omnipotently according to the laws of love from wisdom. But there is a con- tradiction in God's being able to act contrary to the laws of justice and love ; and this would be to act from what is not judgment and wisdom ; and such contradiction is involved in the faith of the church of the present day, that God is able to make what is unjust just, and distinguish the impious with all the gifts of salvation and the rewards of life. With much more concerning this faitli and concerning onmipotence (n. 74). IX. While I was once meditating on the creation of the universe by God, I was led in the spirit to certain wise ones who at first complained of ideas that they had acquired in the world, concerning the creation of the universe out of chaos, and concerning creation out of nothing ; because these ideas obscure meditation on the creation of the universe by God, and degrade and pen-ert it. Wherefore being questioned as to my opinion, I replied that it is useless to try to form any but a speculative conclusion concerning the creation of the universe, unless it be known that there are two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, and that in each of these is a sun; also that the Sun of the spiritual world (in the midst of which is God), is pure Love, and that from it are all spiritual things, which in themselves are substantial ; while the sun of the natural world is pure fire, and from it are all natural things, which in themselves are material. From a coicnition of these things it can be concluded respecting the creation of the uni- verse, that it is from God, and how. This is also slightly traced out (n. 76). 1 1 12 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. X. Some satans of hell desired to converse with the angels of heaven, for the purpose of convincing them that all things are from nature, and that God is but a word unless nature be meant. They were permitted to ascend. And then certain angels descended from heaven into the world of spirits to hear them. The satans, when they saw the angels, ran up to them furiously and said, " You are called angels because you believe that there is a God, and that nature comparatively is nothing ; and yet you believe this though it is contrary to every sense ; for which of your five senses has a sensation of any thing but nature ? " After these and many other bitter words, the angels called to their remembrance that they were then living after death, and that formerly they had not even believed that they should do so ; and then they made them see the beautiful and splendid things of heaven, and told them that these were there because all there believe in God ; and afterward they made them see the vile and filthy things of hell, and told them that these were there because they be- lieve in nature. From seeing these things, the satans were at first convinced that there is a God and that He created nature ; but as they descended, the love of evil returned and closed their understanding from above ; and when this was closed they believed as before, that all things are nature's, and nothing God's (n. 77)- XI. A type of the creation of the universe was shown me, to the life, by angels. I was conducted into heaven ; and it was given me to see there all things of the animal kingdom, of the vegetable kingdom, and of the mineral kingdom, similar in all respects to the objects of tliose kingdoms in the natural world. And tliea they said, " All these things are created in a moment by God; and they continue to exist as long as the angels are, as to thought, in the state of love and faith; " also that this instantaneous creation evidently testifies the creation of similar things, yes, and similar creation, in the natural world, with the sole difference that natural things invest the spiritual, and that this clothing was provided by God for the sake of the generative processes of one from another, by which creation is perpetuated. Consequently, that the creation of the uni- verse was effected in a manner similar to that in vvhicli it is effected every mo- ment in heaven. But, however, all the noxious and hideous things in the three kingdoms of nature (and these are enumerated), were not created by God, but had their rise together with hell (n. 78). XII. In a conversation concerning the creation of the universe, wth some who in the world were celebrated for erudition, speaking from the same ideas which they before had cherished, one of them said that nature created itself ; another, that nature gathered its elements into vortexes, and that by the collision of these the earth was formed ; and a third, that the origin of all things was chaos, INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. Ill 3 which in extent had equalled a great part of the universe ; and that first there burst forth therefrom the purest things, of which the sun and stars were formed ; and afterwards those less pure, from which originated the atmospheres ; and at last the grosser matters, from which originated the teiTaqueous globe. To the question, " Whence come human souls ? " they answered, that the ether gathered itself into little individual spheres, and that these infuse themselves into those who are about to be born, and make their souls ; and that after death these fly away to their former company in the ether, and afterward return into others ac- cording to the doctrine of metempsychosis of the ancients. After this a certain priest, by solid arguments in favor of the creation of the universe by God, showed all the things which they had said to be an absurd medley, and put tliera to shame. But still tliey held to their former delusions (n. 79). XIII. A conversation with a certain satan concerning God, concerning the angelic heaven, and concerning religion ; who, not knowing that he was not still in the former world, said that God is the universe, and that tlie angelic heaven is the atmospheric firmament, and that religion is but a charm for the common people, besides other follies. But when it was brought to his remembrance that he was then living after death, and that he formerly did not believe in that life, for the moment he confessed that he was insane ; but as soon as he turned and went away, he was as crazy as before (n. So). XIV. I saw by night an ignis fatuus, often called a dragon, falling to the earth. I obser\-ed the place where it fell ; the groimd there was sulphurous, mixed with iron dust. And looking there in the morning, I saw two tents ; and just then a spirit falling from heaven. I went to him and asked why he fell down from heaven. He replied that he was cast down by the angels of Michael, for saying that God the Father and His Son are two, and not one. He also said that the whole angelic heaven believes that God the Father and His Son are one, as soul and body are one, and that they confirm this by many things from the Word and moreover from reason, urging that the soul of a son is from the father only, and that this is a likeness of the father, and that from it there is a likeness in the body. And he added, that he indeed confessed in heaven, as before on earth, that God is one ; but because the confession of the mouth and the thought of the mind dis.igreed in regard to this, they said in heaven that he did not believe in any God, because the confession and the thought dissipate each other ; and he said that this was the cause of his being cast down. Re- turning the next day to the same place, I saw two statues composed of the same sort of powder, which was a mixture of sulphur and iron, in place of the two tents. One of these represented the faith and the other the charity of the church of the present day, both beautifully clothed ; but the garments were induced by fantasies. And because they were of that powder, when rain descended from heaven both of them began to bubble and to bum (n. iio\ 12* 1 1 14 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. XV. In the spiritual world it is not lawful for one to speak except what he thinks ; if he does, the hypocrisy is distinctly manifest to the ear. In hell, therefore, no one can name Jesus, because Jesus signifies salvation {salus). In this way there was a trial by experiment to ascertain how many in the Christian world at this day believe that Christ even as to His Human is God. When, therefore, many clergymen and laymen had assembled, it was proposed to them to say Divine Human ; but hardly any were able to draw forth from the thought these two words at once, and so to utter them. It was proved in their presence by many tilings out of the Word, that the Lord even as to His Human was God (as by those found in Matt, xxviii. 18; John i. i, 2, 14; xvii. 2; Col. ii. 9 ; i John v. 20; and in other places also) ; still they were notable to enunciate the words Divine Human ; and, what seemed surprising, neither were the Evangelical able to do this, although their orthodoxy teaches that in Christ God is Man and Man is God ; and still more, neither could the monks, though they most devoutly adore the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. It was ascertained from this, that Christians at the present day for the most part are interiorly either Arians or Socinians ; and that these, if they adore Christ as God, are hj-pocritcs (n. 1 1 1 ). XVI. An altercation concerning a little book entitled, " A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church," published by me at Amsterdam ; and especially concerning this therein, that not God the Father, but the Lord God the Re- deemer is to be approached and adored. It was argued that still it is said in the Lord's Prayer, Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallcwed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come ; and that consequently God the Father is to be approached. I was summoned to end this strife ; and 1 then demonstrated that God the Father cannot be approaclied in His Divine, but in His Human; and inasmuch as the Divine and Human are in Him one Person, that the Lord is that Father ; this also was confirmed from the Word ; both from the Word of the Old Testament, where the Son of God is called Father of Eternity, and in many places called Jehovah the Redeemer, Jehovah our Righteousness, and the Ciod of Israel, and from many passages of the Word of the New Testament; and thus that when the Lord the Redeemer is approached, the Father is ap- proached ; and that then His name is hallowed, and His kingdom comes. With much beside (n. 112). XVII. I saw an army on red and black horses, with the faces of the riders turned to the horses' tails, and with the hinder part of the head turned towards the horses' heads ; tliey were crying out for battle against those who were riding on wliite horses. This ridiculous army was from tlie jilace called Armageddon ( Apoc. xvi. 16), and consisted of those who in youth had become imbued with the dogmas relating to justification by faith alone, and who afterwards, on being promoted to eminent offices, rejected all things belonging to faitli and religion INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. II 15 from the internals of their minds to the externals of their bodies, where at last they disappeared. A description of those who were seen in Armat;eddon. It was heard that they desired to meet and contend with the angels of Michael; this was permitted, but at some distance from that place. The disputation was concernini^ the meaning of these words in the Lord's Prayer : Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy navic ; Thy kingdom come. It was then said by the angels of Michael that the Lord the Redeemer and Saviour is Father to all in the heavens; since He taught, that the Father and He are one; that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father; and that he that seeth Him seeth the Father; that all things of the Father are in Him; also, that it is the will of tlie Father that they should believe in the Son, and that those who believe not the .^on shall not see life, but that the wrath of God will abide on them ; also, that He has all power in heaven and in earth ; and that He has power over all flesh ; and moreover, that no one has seen or can see God the Father, except the Son alone Who is in the bosom of the Father ; and more besides. After this combat, some of the vanquished Armageddons were cast into the abyss mentioned Apoc. ix., and some of them were sent forth into a desert (n. 113). XVIII. That I was in a temple, in which there were no windows, but a large opening in the roof, and that those assembled there conversed together about Redemp- tion, saying unanimously that redemption was made by the passion of the cross. But when they were engaged in that conversation, a black cloud covered the opening in the roof, whence it became dark in the temple ; but a little afterwards that cloud was dispersed by angels descending from heaven, who then sent down one of their number into the temple to instruct them about redemption. He said that the passion of the cross was not redemption, but that redemption was the subjugation of the hells, the establishment of order in the heavens, and thus the restitution of all things which were in disorder both in the spiritual world and in the natural world ; and that without it no flesh could have been saved. And concerning the passion of the cross he said, that by it was completed the inmost unition with the Father ; and that when it is taken for redemption, many things unworthy of God, yes, unfit to be spoken, follow as consequences ; as that He passed sentence of condemnation upon the whole human race, and that the .Son took it upon Himself, and that thus He propitiated the Father, and by inter- cession brought Him back to His Divine essence, which is love and mercy ; besides many other things, which it is scandalous to attribute to God (n. 134). XIX. That the Sun of the spiritual world was seen, in which Jehovah God is in His Human: and then this was heard from heaven, that God is 0.\e. But when this descended into the world of spirits it was turned according to the forms of the minds there, and at length into [a confession of] three Gods ; which also one there confirmed by this reasoning : That there is one who created all things, another who redeemed all, and a third who operates all things ; also that there IIl6 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. is one who imputes, another who mediates, and a third who inscribes, i nd thus plants faith in man, by which he justifies him. But because the faith of three Gods had perverted tlie whole Christian church, from the perception given, I disclosed to them what with the one God is meant by Mediation, Intercession, Propitiation, and Expiation ; namely, that these four are attributes of the Human of Jehovah God ; that because Jehovah God without the Human cannot approach man, nor be approached by man, Mediation signifies tliat the Human is the intermediate ; that Intercession signifies that it mediates perpetually ; that Pro- pitiation signifies that an approach is kindly opened for every man to God ; and that Expiation signifies that this is also for sinners; and all these tlirough the Human (n. 135). XX. That I entered into a g>'mnasium, where the questioa^was disaissed how that is to be understood which is said concerning the Son of God, that He sits AT THE Right Hand of the Father. Concerning this there were various opinions ; yet it was the opinion of all that the Son actually sits thus ; but they were debating why it was so. Then some supposed that it was done on account of redemption ; some that it was from love ; some, that He might be a counsel- lor ; some, that He might have honor from the angels ; some, because it was given Him to reign instead of the Father; some, that His right ear may hear those for whom He intercedes. They further debated whether the Son of God from eternity sits thus, or whether the Son of God bom in the world. Having heard these things, I raised my hand, requesting that I might be permitted to say something, and to tell what is meant by sitting at the right hand of God. And I said that the omnipotence of God, by means of the Human which He assumed, is meant ; for by means of this He wrought redemption, that is, sub- jugated the hells, created a new angelic heaven, and established a new church. That this Is meant by sitting at the right hand, I confirmed from the Word, in which power is signified by the right hand ; and afterwards it was confirmed from heaven, by the appearance of a right hand over them, from the power of which and the terror therefrom, they all became almost lifeless (n. 136), XXI. I was conducted in the spiritual world to a certain council at which were assembled those celebrated persons who lived before the Nicene council, and were called Apostolic Fathers ; also men renowned in the ages that followed after that council ; and I saw that some of the latter appeared with beardless chin, and in curled wigs of women's hair ; but all the fonner with bearded chin, and in natural Ixair. Before them stood a man, the judge and critic of the writ- ings of this age, who commenced by a certain lamentation, saying, "A man from the laity has risen up, who has dragged down our faith out of its sanctuary, whidi yet is a star shining day and night before us ; but this is done because that man is blind in the mysteries of that faith, and does not see in it the right- eousness of Christ, and thus not the wonderful things of its justification ; when yet that f.iith is in three Divine Persons, and thus in the whole God ; and be- cause he has transferred his faith to the Second Person, and not to tins, but to INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. Ill/ His Human, it cannot be otherwise than that naturaiism should spring there- from." Those who lived after the Nicene council favored his speech, saying, that it is impossible that there should be any other faith, and from any other source. But the Apostolic Fathers, who livetl before that age, being indignant, related many things which are said in heaven concerning the Nicene and Atha- nasian faith, which may be seen [in the text]. But because the president of the council was consociated as to the spirit with the writer in Leipsic, I addressed him, and demonstrated from the Word that Christ, also as to the Human, is God; and also from the dogmatic book of the Evangelical called "Formula Concordia," That in Christ God is Man, and Man God; as also that the Augsburg Confession very highly approves of the worship of Him; besides other things ; at which he was silent, and turned himself away. Afterwards I spoke with a certain spirit who was consociated with an eminent man in Got- tenburg, who defiled the worship of the Lord with a still greater reproach. But at length both of the scandals were declared to be lies craftily invented to turn away men's wills, and deter them from the holy worship of the Lord (n. 137.) XX I L There appeared a smoke ascending from the lower earth, and it was said that smokes are nothing else than falsities collected together. And then some angels had a desire of exploring what the falsities were, which thus smoked ; and they descended, and found four companies of spirits, two of which were of the learned and unlearned of the clergy, and two of the learned and unlearned of the laity, who all were proving to each other that an invisible God is to be worshipped, and that the worshippers then have holiness and are heard ; otherwise if a visible God should be worshipped. Holiness and a hearing from an invisible God they confirmed by various things ; and it was made known tliat therefore they acknowledge three Gods from eternity, who are invisible. But it was shown, that the worship of an invisible God, and still more of three invisible ones, is no worship. To confirm this, Socinus and Anus with some of tlieir followers, who all had worshipped an invisible Divinity, weie brought forth from below ; who, when they spoke from the natural or ex- ternal mind, said that there is a God, although He is invisible; but when their external mind was shut and the internal was opened, and they were forced to make their confession concerning God, from this they said, "What is God? We have not seen His shape, nor heard His voice. What then is God, but a thing of reasoning, or nature? " But they were instructed that it had pleased God to descend and assume the Human, that they might see His shape, and hear His voice. But this was said to them in vain (n. 159). XXIII. First concerning the stars in the natural world ; that perhaps they were of the same number as the angelic societies in heaven, since every society there sometimes shines as a star. After\vards, I spoke with the angels concerning a certain way, which appears crowded with innumerable spirits, and that it is the way by which all who depart out of the natural world pass into the spirit- IIl8 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. ual world. To that way I went in company with angels ; and we called from that way twelve men, and asked what they believed concemini; heaven and hell, and concerning a life after death ; and because they were recently from the world, and did not know that they were not still in the natural world, they answered from the idea which they brought with them. The First, Tliat all who live morally come into heaven ; and that no one comes into hell, because all live morally. The Second, That God governs heaven, and the devil hell ; and be- cause they are opposite, one calls good what the other calls evil ; and that the man who is a dissembler, because he stands on the side of both, can live equally under the dominion of one and of the other. The Third, That there is no heaven and no hell. Who has come thence and told ? The Fourth. That no one could return thence and tell, because man when he dies is either a spectre or wind. The Fifth, That we must wait till the day of the last judgment, and then they will tell, and you will know all about it. But when he said this, he laughed in his heart. The Sixth, " How can the soul of man, which is only wind, re-enter its body eaten up by worms, and be clothed with a skeleton either bumt up or reduced to dust? " The Seventh, That men no more live after death than beasts and birds. Are not these equally rational .' The Eighth, " I believe there is a heaven, but I do not believe there is a hell, because God is almighty, and is able to save all." The Ninth, That God, because He is gracious, cannot send any one to eternal fire. The Tenth, That no one can come into hell, because God sent His Son, Who has made expiation for all, and taken away the sins of all. What can the devil do against that ? The Eleirnth, who was a priest, That those only are saved, who have obtained faith, and that election is according to the will of the Almighty. The Twelfth, who was a politician, " I do not say any thing about heaven and hell ; but let the priests preach about them, that the minds of the common people may be kept bound by an invisible bond to the laws and rulers." On hearing these things, the angels were astonished; but they waked them up by instructing them that they were now living after death ; and they introduced them into heaven, but they did not stay there long, because it was found that they were merely natural, and that from this the hinder part of their heads was excavated ; concerning which e.xcavation and the cause of it, something is lastly said (n. i6o). XXIV. That there was heard a sound as of a mill, and that, following the sound, I saw a house full of chinks, into which there was an entrance opening under ground, and in it a man collecting from the Word and books many things con- cerning J ustificvtion BY FAITH alone; and that scribes at his side were writing his collections upon paper ; and to the question what he was now collect- ing, he said, '' This, that God the Father receded from grace towards the human race, and that He therefore sent the Son to make c.>ipiation and propitiation." To which I answered, that this is contrary to Scripture and contrary to reason, that God could recede from grace ; thus He would also recede from His essence, and thus would not be God. And when I demonstrated this even to conviction, he grew warm, and commanded the scribes to cast me out. But when I went out of my own accord, he threw after me the book which his hand happened to seize ; and that book was the Word (n. i6i). INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. III9 XXV. It was disputed among spirits whether any one can see any genuine truth in the Word unless he goes immediately to the Lord Who is the Word itself. But because there were those who contradicted, an experiment was made ; and then those who went to God the Father, did not see any truth ; but all who went to the Lord saw. During this disputation, some spirits ascended out of the abyss, of which Apoc. ix., where they discuss the mysteries of justification by faith alone, saying that they go to God the Father and see their mysteries in clear light. But it was answered that they see them in fatuous light, and that they have not even a single truth ; at which being indignant, they brought forth from the Word many things which were true ; but it was said to them that they were tme in themselves, but falsified in them. That it was so was proved by their being led into a house where there was a table upon which light from heaven flowed directly ; and it was said to them that they should write those truths which they had brought forth from the Word upon paper, and lay it upon that table ; which being done, that paper on which the truths were written shone like a star ; but when they came up and fixed their eyes upon it, the paper appeared blackened as by soot. And afterwards they were led to another similar table, upon which lay the Word encircled with a rainbow ; and when a certain champion of the doctrine of faith alone touched this with his hand, an explosion was made as from a gun, and he was cast into a comer of the room, and lay as dead for half an hour. From these things they were convinced that all the truths which were with them from the Word, were true in themselves, but falsified in them (n. 162). XXVI. There are climates in the spiritual world, as in the n.itural world ; thus also there are northern zones where are snow and ice. Once being brought thither in spirit, I entered a temple then covered over with snow, illuminated within by lamps, where behind the altar there was seen a table, upon which was written this, The divine Trinity, F.\ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, who essen- Ti.\LLY -ARE ONE, BUT PERSONALLY THREE. And I heard a pHest preaching about four mysteries of faith, respecting which the understanding is to be kept under the obedience of faith, which may be seen [in the text]. After the dis- course, the hearers thanked the priest for his sermon so full of wisdom. But when I asked them whether they understood any thing, they answered, " We took it all in with full ears ; why do you ask whether we understood ? Is not the understanding stupefied in such things.? " To this the priest who was pres- ent added, " Because you have heard and have not understood, you are blessed, since thence is salvation for you," &c. (n. 185). XXVII. The human mind is distinguished into three regions, like the heaven in which angels are ; and things of theology with those who love truths because they are truths reside in the liighest region of the mind ; and under them, in II20 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. the middle region, morals ; but under these, political things ; and the various sciences make the door. But matters of theology with those who do not love truths have their seat in the lowest region, and mingle themselves there with man's own things, and thus with the fallacies of the senses ; and thence it is that some cannot perceive theological things at all (n. 186). XXVIII. I was brought to a place where were those who are meant by the false TROPHET in the Apocalypse ; and by those there I was invited to see their tem- ple. I followed and saw in it the image of a woman clothed in .a scarlet robe, holding in her right hand a jjblden coin, and in her left a chain of pearls; but these things were induced by fantasy. But when the interiors of the mind were opened by the Lord, instead of the temple there was seen a house full of chinks ; and instead of the woman there was seen a beast, such as is described, Apoc. xiii. 2 ; and under the floor there was a quagmire, in which lay the Word, deeply concealed. But presently the east wind blew, the temple was carried away, and the quagmire dried up, and tiie Word appeared ; and then, by the light from heaven, there appeared there a tabernacle like that of Abraham when the three angels came and told him concerning Isaac, who was to be bom ; and afterwards, light being sent forth from the second heaven, in- stead of the tabernacle there appeared a temple similar to that of Jerusalem ; and after this a light shone upon it from the third heaven, and then the temple disappeared, and there was seen the Lord alone, standing upon the foun- dation stone where the Word was. But because overpowering sanctity then filled their minds, this iight was withdrawn, and instead of it, light from the second heaven was let in, from whidi the view of the temple returned, and within it that of the tabernacle (n. 1S7). XXIX. There was seen a magnificent palace, in which there was a temple, and in this seats were placed in three rows. In it there was a council convoked by the Lord, in which they deliberated concerning the Lord the Saviour, and con- cerning the Holy Spirit. When as many of the clergy were present as there were seats, they entered the council. And because they were consulting in relation to the Lord, the first proposition was. Who assumed the human in the virgin Mary? And then the angel standing at the table read before them what the angel Gabriel said to Mary : The Holy Spirit shall come UPON thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; and the Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God, Luke i. 35 ; and also from Matt. i. 20, 25. And moreover many things from the prophets, that Jehovah Himself was about to come into the world, and that Jehovah Himself is called Saviour, Redeemer and Righteousness ; from which it was concluded that Jehovah Himself assumed the Human. Another deliberation concerning the Lord, was, whether the F.^ther and the Lord Jesus Christ are not thus one, as soul and INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. 1 121 BODY ARK ONE ; and this was confirmed from many passages in the Word, and also from the general creed of the present church ; from which it was concluded that the soul of the Lord was from God the Father, and hence that His Hu- man is Divine ; and that this is to be approached that the Father may be ap- proached, since Jehovah God by it sent Himself into the world, and made Himself visible to the eyes of men, and thus also accessible. The third delib- eration followed, which was concerning the Holy Spirit ; and then first the idea concerning three divine persons from eternity was shaken off, and it was proved from the Word, that the Holy Divine, which is called the Holy Spirit, proceeds out of the Lord from the Father. At length, from what was deliber- ated in this council, this conclusion was made : That in the'. Lord the Saviour there is a Divine Trinity, which is, the Divine from which are all things which is called the Father, the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the proceed- ing Divine which is called the Holy Spirit ; and that thus there is one God in the church. After the council was ended, splendid garments were given to those who sat in it, and they were conducted into the new heaven (n. i8S). XXX. I saw in a certain stable great purses, in which there was silver in great abundance, and by them young men as guards ; in the next room, modest vir- gins with a chaste wife ; and also in another room, two little children ; and at last a harlot and dead horses. And afterwards I was instructed what each of those things signified ; and that by them was represented and described the Word, as it is in itself, and as it is at this day (n. 277). XXXL Writing was seen, such as there is in the highest or third heaven, which consisted of inflected letters with little curves turning upwards ; and it was said that the Hebrew letters in the most ancient time were somewhat similar to them, when they were more inflected than they are at this day ; and that the letter //, which was added to the names of Abram and Sarai, signifies infinite and eternal. They explained before me the sense of some words in Psalms xxxii. 2, from the letters only or syllables there, which is. That the Lord is merciful also to those who do evil (n. 278). xxxn. Before the Israelitish Word there was a Word, the prophetical books of which were called Enunciations, and the historical, the Wars of Jehovah ; and besides these, also one called the book of Jashcr ; which three also are named in our Word : and that ancient Word was in the land of Canaan, Syria, Mesopo- tamia, Arabia, Assyria, Chaldea, Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh ; but be- cause it was full of such correspondences as signify heavenly {celestial ) and spiritual things remotely, which ^ave occasion to idolatries, of the Divine Providence this disappeared. I heard that Moses copied out of that Word the things which he related concerning the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Flood, 1 1 22 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. and concerning Noah, and his three sons, but no further. That that same Word is still reserved with the people in Great Tarlary, and that they draw from it the precepts of their faith and life, was related to me in the spiritual world by tlie angels therefrom (n. 279). XXXIII. Those who are in the spiritual world cannot appear to those who are in the natural world, nor conversely ; thus spirits and angels cannot appear to men, nor men to spirits and angels, on account of i/u distinction between spiritual and natural ; or, what is the same, between substantial and material. It is from this origin that spirits and angels have altogether a different language, dif- ferent writing, and also different thought, from what men have. That it is so, was made manifest by living experience, which was done by their entering by tums to their companions, and returning to me, and thus comparing. Thence it was discovered, that there is not even one word of spiritual language similar to any word of natural language ; and that their writing consists of syllables, each of which involves a meaning pertaining to the subject ; and that the ideas of their thought do not fall into the ideas of natural thought. The cause of these distinctions is, that spirits and angels are in principles, but men in deriv- atives ; or that the former are in prior things from which as causes arc posterior things, and men in posterior things from them. It was said that there is a similar distinction between the languages, writings, and thoughts, of the angels of the tliird heaven and those of the angels of the second (n. 280). XXXIV. Concerning the state of men after death, in general, and concerning the state of those who have confirmed themselves in falsities, in particular. Concerning all of these the following things were observed: i. Men are most commonly resuscitated the third day after death, and then they do not know that they are not still living in the former world. 2. All flock into the world which is in the middle between heaven and hell, which is called the world of spirits. 3. There tliey are transferred into various societies, and thus are examined as to their quality. 4. There the good and believing are prepared for heaven, and the evil and unbelieving for hell. 5. After the preparation, which lasts some years, a way is opened for the good to some society in heaven where they are to live for ever, but a way for the evil into hell ; besides many more things. Afterwards hell is described as it is ; and it is stated that there those are called satans who are in falsities from confirmation, and those are called devils who are in evils of life (n. 281). XXXV. From the lower earth, which is next above hell, I heard shouts, how just '. O how learned ! O how wise ! and because I wondered that there should be there also any just, learned, and wise, I descended, and first went to the place where tliey were cr>ing, O how just ! and I saw there, as it were, a tribunal, and in it unjust judges who could dexterously pervert the laws, and turn judg- INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. ' 1 1 23 ments to the favor of any one whatever ; and that thus their judgments were only arbitrary judgments ; and when the sentences were carried out to the clients, then they cried a long way, O how just ! Concerning tliese the angels after- wards said, that such cannot see any thing at all of what is just. After a while those judges were cast into hell, and their books were turned into playing-cards, and instead of judging, there was given to them the office of preparing paint, with which they daubed the faces of harlots, and thus turned them into beauties (n- 332). XXXVI, Afterwards, I went on to the place where the cry was, how learned ! and I saw a company of those who reasoned w/uther a thing is or is not, and did not think that it is so ; and hence they stopped at the first step concerning any subject whatever ; thus they only touched it from without, and did not enter : thus also they argue concerning God, whether there is a God. That I might know for certain whether they were such, I proposed to them the question, 0/ it'hat quality must the religion be by means of which man is saved? They replied that, I. It is to be discussed whether religion is any thing. 2. Whether one religion effects more than another. 3. Whether there is any eternal life, and thus whether there is any salvation. 4. Whether there are a heaven and a hell. And then they began to discuss the first, Whether religion is any thing. And they said that that needed so much investigation that it could not be fin- ished in tlie space of a year; and one among them said, that it could not in the space of a hundred years ; to wliich I replied that in the mean time they were without religion. But still they discussed this first point so artfully that the company standing by cried, O haw learned .' It was said to me by the angels, that such apf>ear like carved images ; and that afterwards they aie sent out into deserts, where among themselves they prate and speak only vain things (n-333)- XXXVII. I went on further to the third company, where I heard the cry, how -wise! and I found that there were assembled those who cannot see whether truth is truth, but still can make whatever they please appear as truth, and hence are called Confirmers. That they were such, I observed also from various answers to propositions, as that they could make it true that faith is the all of the church, and afterwards that charity is the all of the church, and also that faith and charity together are the all of the church ; and because they confirmed whichever of them they liked, and adorned them with appearances so that they shone like truths, therefore the by-standers cried, O how wise I Afterwards some ludicrous things, also, were proposed to them, that they might make them true ; for they say that there is nothing true, except what man makes true. The ludicrous things were these : that light is darkness, and darkness light ; and also that a crow is white, and not black ; which two they made appear altogether as true : the confirma- tions of them may be seen in the text. It was told me by the angels tliat such do not possess even a grain of understanding, since all that is above the rational with them is shut up, wliile all below the rational is open ; and tliis can confiim 1 1 24 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. whatever it likes, but cannot see any truth to be truth ; wherefore, this is not the part of an intelligent man ; but to be able to see that truth is truth and that falsity is falsity, and to confirm it, is the part of an intelligent man (n. 334). XXXVI ri. I spoke with spirits, who, in the natural world, were renowned from their reputation for erudition, who then among themselves disputed about connate ideas, whether men have any, as beasts have ; and then a certain angelic spirit thrust himself in and said, "You are disputing about goat's wool. Men have no connate ideas, neither have beasts." At which words all grew warm. But afterwards, opportunity of speaking being given, he spoke first concerning beasts, that they have no connate ideas : "the reason is, tliat they do not think, but only operate from instinct, which they have from their natural love, which makes something analogous to will with them, flows immediately into the senses of their body, and excites that which agrees with and favors the love ; and yet ideas are predicable only of thought." That beasts have only sensation and no thought, he confirmed by various things, especially by the wonderful things which are known respecting spiders, bees, and silk-worms, saying, "Does a spider think in its little head, when it forms its web, that it is to be so woven for the sake of tliese uses or those? Does a bee think in its little head. From these flowers I will suck honey, and from tliese I will gather wax ; out of this I will build little ceils close to each other in the row, and in these I will put honey in abundance that it may be sufficient also for the winter? besides other things. Does the silk-worm think in its little head. Now I will betake myself to spinning silk, and when I have spun it, then I shall fly off and sport with my companions, and provide for myself a posterity?" besides similar things with beasts and birds. Concerning men he said, that every mother and nurse, and the father also, knows that new-bom infants have no connate ideas, and that they have not any ideas before they have learned to think, and that then ideas rise up and are produced according to every quality of the thought which they had imbibed by instruction ; and that this is the case because man has nothing else bom \vith him but a faculty for knowing, understanding, and being wise, and an inclination for loving not only himself and the world, but also the neigh- bor and God. These things Leibnitz and Wolfius heard at a distance; and Leibnitz favored, but Wolfius did not (n. 335). XXXIX. Once a certain angelic spirit illustrated what faith and cJiarity are, and what their conjunction effects. He illustrated it by comparison with light and heat, which meet together in a third ; because the light in heaven in its essence is the truth of faith, and the heat there in its essence is the good of charity ; therefore as light without heat, such as there is in the time of winter, strips the trees of leaves and fruits, so is faith without charity ; and as light conjoined to heat, such as there is in the time of spring, vivifies all tilings, so is faith conjoined with charity (n. 385). INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. 1 1 25 XL. Two angels descended, one from the eastern heaven where they are in love, and the other from the southern heaven where they are in wisdom, and spoke concerning the essence of the heavens, whether it is love or wisdom ; and they agreed tliat it is love and thence wisdom ; consequently, that the heavens were created by God, from love by wisdom (n. 386). XLI, After that, I entered a garden, where I was led around by a certain spirit, and at length to a palace which was called the Temple of Wisdom. This was quadrangular, the walls of cr\'stal, the roof of jasper, the substructure of various precious stones. And he said that no one could enter into it who did not believe that what he knows, understands, and in which he is wse, compared with that which he does not know and understand and in which he is not wise, is relatively so little that it is scarcely any thing. And because 1 believed this, it was given me to enter ; and it was seen that the whole of it was constructed for a form of light. In that temple I related what I had lately heard from the two angels concerning love and wisdom ; and they asked, "Did they not also speak con- cerning the third, which is use ? " And they said that love and wisdom without use, are only ideal entities, but that in use they become real, and that it is similar with charity, faith, and good works (n. 3S7). XLII. One of the spirits of the dragon invited me to see the enjo)-ments of his love ; and he led me to something like an amphitheatre, upon the benches of which sat satyrs and harlots. And then he said, " Now you will see our sport." And he opened a door, and let in, as it were, bullocks, rams, kids, and lambs; and presently through another door he let in lions, panthers, tigers, and wolves, which rushed upon the flock and tore and slaughtered them. But all those things which were seen were induced by fantasies. Having seen this I said to the dragon, "After a while you will see this theatre turned into a lake of fire and brimstone." The sport being finished, the dragon went out, attended by his sat}TS and harlots, and saw a flock of sheep ; from which he inferred that a city of the Jerusalemites was near by ; on seeing which, he was seized with the desire of taking it, and casting out the inhabitants ; but because it was sur- rounded with a wall, he planned to take it by stratagem. And then he sent one skilled in incantation, who being admitted spoke craftily with the citizens con- cerning faith and charit>' ; especially as to which of them is the primary, and whether charity contributes any thing to salvation. But the dragon, enraged at the answer, went out and gathered together many of his crew, and began to besiege the city ; but when he was endeavoring to reach and invade it, fire from heaven consumed them, according to what was foretold in the Apocalypse, XX. 8, 9 (n. 388). 1 1 26 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. XLIII. Once there was a paper sent down from heaven, in which there was an exhor- tation that they should acknowledge the Lord the Saviour as the God of heaven and earth, according to His words (Matt, xxviii. iS). But two bishops who were there were consulted what should be done. They said that they should send the paper back to heaven from which it cajne; and when this was done, that society simk down, but not very deep. The next day some ascended there- from and told what lot they met with tliere, and also tiiat there they went to the bishops and reproved them for their advice, and that they spoke many things concerning the state of the church at this day, and found fault with (heir doc- trine concerning the Trinity, concerning justifying faith, concerning charity, and concerning other tilings which were of the orthodoxy of the bishops, and re- quested that they would desist from them, because they were contrary to the Word ; but to no purpose. And because they called their faith dead and also diabolical, according to James in his Epistle, one of the bishops took off the mitre from his head, and laid it down upon the table, saying that he would not take it up again before he was avenged upon the scoffing of his faith. But then there appeared a monster coming up from below, similar to the beast described in the Apocalypse (.\iiL i, 2), which took up the mitre and carried it away (n. 3S9). XLIV, 1 went to a certain house where those who were assembled were arguing one with another, whether the good which a man does in the state of justification by faith is the good of religion or not. There was an agreement that by the good of religion is meant good which contributes to salvation. But their opinion pre- vailed who said that all the good that man does, contributes nothing to salva- tion ; since no voluntarj- good of man can be conjoined with what is of free grace, because salvation is bestowed freely ; that neither can any good from man be conjoined with Christ's merit by which alone salvation is given ; that neither can the operation of man be conjoined with the operation of the Holy Spirit, that does all things without the help of man. From which it was concluded that good works, even in the state of justification by faith, contribute nothing to salvation ; but faith alone. On hearing these things, two gentiles who stood at the door said to each other, "These people have no religion. Who does not know that to do good to the neighbor for God"s sake, thus from God and with God, is religion.'' " (n. 390.) XLV. I heard the angels lamenting that there was such sfiritual destitution at this day in the church that they know nothing more than that there are three Divine Persons from eternity, and that faith alone saves ; and concerning the Lord, only the historical things ; and that they are deeply ignorant of the things which are related in the Word concerning the Lord, His unity with the Father, His divinity and power. And they said that a certain angel was INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. 112/ sent down by them to see whether there was such destitution at this day among Christians ; and that he asked a certain one what his religion was. He an- swered, that it was faith. And that then he asked him about redemption, re- generation, and salvation. He answered that tliey all were of faith ; and also concerning charity that it is in faith ; also, who can do good from himself ? To whom afterwards the angel said, " You have answered like one who plays with one tone of a pipe : I hear only faith ; but if you know nothing else but that, you know nothing." And then he led him to his companions in a desert, where there was not even grass. Besides more (n. 391). XLVI. That I saw five gymnasia surrounded with various light, and that with many others I entered into the first, which was seen in flame-like light. Many were assembled there, and the president proposed that they should declare their opinions concerning Charity: and after they had begun, \\\z first said that his opinion was that charity was morality inspired by faith. The second, that it was piety inspired by piteousness. The third, that it was to do good to every one, both good and bad. The fourth, that it was in every way to serve one's relatives and friends. Tlie fifth, that it was to give alms to the poor and to help the needy. The sixth, that it was to build hospitals, infinnaries, and orphans' homes. The seventh, that it was to endow temples and to do good to their ministers. Tlie eighth, that it was the old Christian brotherhood. The ninth, that it was to forgive even,- one his trespasses. Each of them ad- vanced ample confirmations of his opinion : these cannot be adduced because they are many ; they may therefore be seen in the Rel.^tion itself. After this there was given to me, also, ^n opportunity- of expressing my opinion ; and 1 said that charity was to act from the love of justice with judgment, in every work and office, but from love from no other source than the Lord the Saviour ; and after this was demonstrated, I added that all those things which were said before by the nine celebrated men concerning charit>-, were excellent examples of charity when done from justice with judgment ; and because justice and judgment are from no other source than the Lord the Saviour, they are to be done by man from Him. This was approved by most of them in the internal man, but not as yet in the external (n. 459). XLVII. At a distance there was heard something like the gnashing of teeth, and mingled with this a kind of knocking ; and I went toward the sounds, and saw a small house built of reeds plastered together; and instead of the gnashing of teeth, and the sound of knocking, I heard within, in the little house, altercations about faith and charity, which of them was the essential of the church. And those who were for faith brought forward their arguments, saying that faith was spiritual because from God, but charity natural because from man. On the other hand, those who were for charity said that charity was spiritual, and faith was natural unless conjoined to charity. To these things a certain syncretist wishing to settle the dispute offered an addition, confirming that faith was 1 128 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. spiritual and charity only natural. But it was said that moral life was of two kinds, spiritual and natural, and that in the man who lives from the Lord it is spiritual-moral but in the man who does not live from the Lord it is naturals moral, such as is given with the evil and sometimes with the spirits in hell (n. 460). XLvrn. In spirit I was brought into a certain garden In cne southern quarter, and saw some sitting there under a laurel, eating figs. I asked them how they under- stood that man can do good from God, and nevertheless still as from himself. And they answered that God works good inwardly in man; but if man does it from his own will and from his own understanding, he defiles it so that it is no longer good. But to this I said that man is only an organ of life, and that if ha believes in the Lord, he may do good out of himself from Him ; but if he does not believe in the Lord, and still more, if he does not believe in any God, hf may do good out of himself from hell ; and further, that the Lord has given to man free-will in doing from the one or from the other. That the Lord has given this freedom was confirmed from the Word, in that He commanded man to love God and the neighbor, to produce the goods of charity as a tree produces fruits, and to do His commandments that he may be saved, and that every one would be judged according to his deeds'; and that all these things would not have been commanded if man could not do good out of himself from God. After these things were said, I gave them branchlets from a vine, and tlie shoots ire-their hands put forth grapes. And more beside (n. 461). XLIX. That I saw a magnificent Docl; and in it vtssels large and small, and upon the decks, boys and girls, who were waiting for tortoi-ses to rise up out of the sea ; and when they emerged, I saw that they had two heads : one, which at pleasure they drew back into the shell of the body, and another which appeared in form as a man, and from this they spoke with the boys and girls ; and these on account of their elegant discourses caressed them and also gave them presents. When these things had been seen, it was explained by an angel what they signi- fied ; namely, that there are men in the world, and thence as many spirits after death, who Say that God does not see any thing that is thought and done by those who have acquired faith, but only looks at the faith, which He has hid in the interiors of their minds; and that those same persons, before the congrega- tions in temples, bring forth holy things from the Word altogether as others, but these from the greater head which appears as a man, in which they then insert the little one, or draw it into the body. The same persons afterwards were seen in the air in a vessel flying with seven sails, and those in it in laurels and in puqile garments, crying that they were the chief of the wise of all the clergy ; but the things seen were images of pride flowing from the ideas of their mind. And when they were upon the earth 1 spoke with them, first from rca on and afterwards from the Sacred Scripture ; and by many things I demon- strated that their doctrine was unsound, and, because contrar>' to the Sacred Scripture, from hell ; but the arguments by which I demonstrated this cannot INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. II 29 be transferred hither, on account of their prolixity ; they may be therefore seen in the Relation itself. Also, that afterwards they were seen in a sandy place, in garments of rags, and girt about the loins with network (as it were with fishers' nets), through which their nakedness appeared ; and at last they were sent down into a society bordering on the Machiavelians (n. 462.) L. An assembly was called together which sat in a round temple. There were altars at the sides, by which the members of the assembly sat, but there was no primate there ; wherefore each one of himself rushed forth into the midst, and spoke out the feelings of his mind. And there was begun a discourse concern- ing Free-will in spiritual things. And theyfrj/, rushing forth, cried that man had no more free-will in those things than Lot's wife when turned into a statue of salt. The seamd, that he had no more than a beast or a dog. The third, that he had no more than a mole, or than a bird of night in the day- time. The fourth^ that if man had free-will in spiritual things, he would be- come a maniac and believe himself to be as a God who can regenerate and save himself. Theyf/M, read from the book of the Evangelical, called " Formula Concordise," that man has no more free-will in spiritual things than a stock or a stone, and that he has no abiltty at all concerning those things, to understand, think, will, and not even to apply and accommodate himself to receive wiiat is spiritual ; besides other things, of which above, n. 464. After these things were said, there was also given me an opportunity of speaking; and I said, " What else is man, without free-will in spiritual things, than a brute ? And without it, to what purpose are all theological things? " But to this they replied, " Read our theolog)', and you will not find therein any thing spiritual, and you will find that this is so concealed witliin that not even a shadow of it appears. Wherefore, read what our theology teaches concerning justification, that is con- cerning the remission of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation ; you will not see there any thing spiritual because they flow-in through faith, without any consciousness on man's part. It has also removed charity far from what is spiritual, and repentance also from contact with it. And besides, as to re- demption, it attributes to God purely natural human properties, as that He included the human race under universal damnation ; that the Son took that upon Himself, and that thus He propitiated the Father ; and what else are in- tercession and mediation with the Father .' From these things it is evident that in all our theology there is nothing spiritual, and not even what is rational, but merely what is natural below them." But then suddenly a thunderbolt was heard from heaven, and the members of the assembly being terrified by this, rushed forth, and each one fled to his own home (n. 503). LI. 1 spoke with two spirits, one of whom loved what is good and true, and the other what is e\'il and false ; and 1 found that both enjoyed a similar faculty o^ thinking rationally. But when he who loved what is evil and false was left t<^ himself, I saw, as it were, smoke that ascended from hell and extinguished the vol.. III. 13 1 130 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. lucidity which was above his memory' ; but when he who loved what is good and true was left to himself, I saw that, as it were, a gentle flame descended from heaven and illuminated the region of his mind above the memory, and thence also the things that were below it. Afterwards I spoke with him who loved what is evil and false concerning Free-will in spiritual things ; and at the mere mention of it he grew warm, and cried that no one can move his foot or hand to do any spiritual good, or his tongue and mouth to speak any spiritual truth, and thus that he cannot even apply and accommodate himself to receive any such thing. " Is not man in such things dead, and merely passive ? How can what is dead and merely passive do good and speak truth of itself? Does not our church also say so? " But the other, who loved what is good and true, spoke thus concerning free-will in spiritual things : " What would the whole Word be without it? And what the church, what religion, what the worship of God, thus what the ministry, without it ? And from the light of my under- standing, I know that man without that spiritual freedom would not be man but a beast ; for that he is man, and not a beast, is from that freedom ; and moreover, that man without free-will in spiritual things would not have life after death, thus not eternal life, because not any conjunction with God ; wherefore, to deny it is the part of those who are insane in spiritual things." Afterwards there was seen, as it were, a fiery serpent upon 4 tree, whicii readied fruit there- from to him who denied free-will in spiritual things ; which being eaten, there appciired smoke ascending from hell, which extinguished the higher part of his rational mind as to light \lumcn\ (n. 504). LII. There was heard a grating noise as of two mill-stones grinding on each other ; and I went up to where the sound began and saw a house in which were many little cells, in which the learned of this age were sitting and confirming justifica- tion by faith alone; and going up to one, I asked what he was now studying. He answered, " Concerning the Act of Justification which is the head of all things of doctrine in our orthodoxy." And I asked whether he knew any sign to tell when justifying faith enters, and when it has entered. And he said, that this was done passively, and not actively. To which I replied, "If you take away what is active in it, you also take away receptivity ; and thus that act would be only something purely ideal, which is called a thing of reasoning, and thus nothing more than the statue Lot's wife, tinkling from mere salt when scratched with a scribe's pen or his finger nail." The man growing warm took a candlestick, to throw it at me ; but the light being then extinguished he threw it at his companion (n. 505). LIII. There were seen two flocks, one of goats and the other of sheep ; but when they were viewed closely, instead of goats and sheep, men were seen ; and it was perceived that tlie flock of goats consisted of those who make faith alone sav- ing, and the flock of sheep, of those who make charity and at the same time faith. To the inquiry w-hy they were there, those who were seen as goats said INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. II3I that they were sitting as a council, since it was disclosed to them that the say- ing of Paul, that man is justified by faith withmtt the works of the law, Rom. ill. 2S, is not rightly understood; since \yj faith there, is not meant the faith of this day, but faith in tiie Lord the Sa\"iour ; and by the works of the laxv are not meant the works of the law of the decalogue, but the works of the Mosaic law which were rituals ; which also was demonstrated. And they said that they concluded that faith produces good works as a tree produces fniit. Those who constituted the fiock of sheep favored them ; but then an angel, standing be- tween the two fiocks, cried to the flock of sheep, " Do not listen, because they have not receded from their former faith." And he divided the flock of goats into two, and said to those on the left hand, "Join yourselves to the goats; but I tell you beforehand that a wolf is about to come which will seize them and you with them." But then inquiry was made how they understood that faith produces good works as a tree produces fruit ; and it was found that their perception concerning the conjunction of faith and charity was altogether dif- ferent from that comparison, and thus that it was a fallacious mode of speaking. When these things were understood, the flocks of sheep reunited themselves into one as before, to which some of the goats joined themselves, confessing that cliarity is the essence of faith, and that thus faith separate from it is only natural, but conjoined to it it becomes spiritual (n. 506). LIV. A discourse with angels concerning the three loves, which are universal, and thence with every man ; which are the Love of the neighbor, or the Love of uses, which in itself is spiritual ; the Loz'e of the world, or tlie Lave of possessing wealth, which in itself is material ; and the Love of self, or the Love of ruling ot'^roM^rj, which in itself is corporeal; and that when those three loves are rightly subordinated with man, he is truly man ; and that they are rightly subordinated when the love of the neighbor makes the head, the love of the world the body, and the love of self the feet : it is altogether otherwise when their seat with man is. contrary to order. And it was shown what man is in quality when the love of the world makes the head, and what he is when the love of self ; that then he is an inverted man ; as to the interiors of his mind a wild beast, and as to its exteriors and thence of the body, a stage-playei . After this there was seen a certain devil ascendin.j from below, having a dark fare with a white circle around the head ; and he said tliat he was Lucifer, although he was not ; and that, in his internals, he was a devil, but in his externals an angel of light : and he told that in externals he was moral among the moral, rational among the rational, yes, spiritual among the spiritual ; and that when he was in the world he preached : and that then he uttered imprecations against evil doers of ever>- kind, and that thence he was called Son of the morning ; and, what he himself wondered at, that when he was in the pulpit he perceived no othenvise than that it was as he spoke ; but otherwise when he was out of the temple. He said the reason was, that in the temple he was in his exter- nals and then in the understanding only, but out of the temple in his internals and then in the will ; and thus that the understanding elevated him into heaven, 1 132 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. but the will draws him down into hell ; but that the will prevails over the under- standing, because the former disposes the latter at its beck and nod. After this the devil wlio pretended to be Lucifer slipped down into hell (n. 507). LV. There was seen a round * temple, the roof of which was crown-shaped, the walls continuous windows of crystal, the gate of a pearly substance : in it there was a pulpit, on which was the Word encompassed with a sphere of light. In the middle of the temple was the shrine, before which was a veil, but lifted now, where stood a cherub with a sword vibrating in his hand. After these things, were seen, it was explained before me what they each signified ; which may be seen. Above the gate there was this writing, I\^ou' it is lawful ; which signified, that now it is lawful to enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith ; and it was given nie to perceive that it was very dangerous to enter with the under- standing into dogmas of faith wiiich are from one's own intelligence and thence in falsities, and still more to confirm them from the Word ; and that, therefore, by the Divine Providence the Word was taken away from the Roman Catholics, and that with Protestants it is shut up by their dogma that the understanding is to be kept under obedience to their faith. But because the dogmas which are of the New Church are all from the Word, that into them it is lawful to enter with the understanding, because they are continuous truths from the Word, which also shine before the understanding. This was what is meant by the writing above the gate. Now it is lawful, and by the circumstance that the veil of the shrine was lifted, within which there stood a cherub. After this there was brought to me a paper from an infant who was an angel in the third heaven, on which was written. Enter hereafter into the mysteries of the Word which has been luretofore shut up ; for its sci'eral truths are so many mirrors of the Lord (n. 508). LVL I was seized with a grievous disease, from the smpke which came in from the Jerusalem which is c.dled Sodom and Egypt, Apoc. xi. 8 ; and I was seen by those who were in that city as dead ; and they said one to another that I was . not worthy of burial, just as it is said concerning the two witnesses in the same chapter in the Apocalypse ; and meanwhile I heard blasphemies in abundance from the citizens, on account of my having preached repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But because judgment came upon them, I saw that that whole city fell down and was overflowed «nth waters : and afterwards that they were running about among the heaps of stones, and lamenting on account of their lot ; when yet they believed tliat, by the faith of their church, they were born again and thus righteous. But it was said to them that they were any thing else than such, since they had never performed any actual repentance ; and that therefore they did not know one damnable evil with them. Afterwards it was said to them from iieaven, that faith in the Lord and repentance are the • In tlie Relation, n. 508, we read square. INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. 1 1 33 two means of regeneration and salvation ; and that this was very well known from the Word, and moreover, from the decalogue, baptism, and the hoi) supper; concerning which see the Relation (n. 567). LVII. All who after death come into the spiritual world, at first are kept in exter- nals, in which they were in the natural world ; and because most while they are in externals live morally, frequent temples, and pray to God, they believe that they shall certainly come into heaven ; but they are instructed that every man after death successively puts off the external man, and the internal man is opened, and then the man is known, as he is in himself, since man is man from the will and understanding, and not merely from action and speech ; and that thence it is that man can in externals appear as a sheep, although in inter- nals he is as a wolf ; and that he is such in his internal man, unless he explores tlie evils of liis wiU and thence of the intention, and repents of them ; besides more (n. 568). LVIIL Ever>' love breathes forth enjoj-ment, but the enjoyments from loves are but little felt in the natural world, but manifestly in the spiritual world ; and in this they are sometimes turned into odors ; then also it is perceived of what quality the enjoyments are, and of what love ; and the enjoyments from the love of good, such as are in the heavens, are perceived as fragrances in gar- dens and flower-beds ; and on the other hand, the enjoyments from the love of evil, such as are in hell, as the pungent and fetid smells from stagnant waters and from cesspools ; and because they are so opposite, the devils are tortured when they are sensible of any sweet odor from heaven, and on the other hand the angels are tortured when they are sensible of any ill-smelling odors from hell. That it is so, was confirmed by two examples. This is why the oil of anointing was prepared from fragrant things, and why it is said concerning Jehovah that He smelled a sweet savor from the burnt-offerings ; and on the other hand, why it was commanded the sons of Israel that Ihey should carry unclean things out of their camp, and that they should buiy their excrements ; for their camp represented heaven, and the desert outside of it represented hell (n. 569). LIX. A certain novitiate spirit, who in the world meditated much concerning heaven and hell, desired to know what is the quality of the one and the other; and it was said to him from heaven. Inquire what enjoyment is, and yo2i will know. Wherefore going away he inquired, but among spirits merely natural in vain. But he was led to three companies in order ; to one where they explored ends, and thence were called wisdoms ; to another where they investigated causes, and thence were called intelligences ; and to a third where they exam- ined effects, and thence were called knowledges ; and by them he was instructed that every angel, spirit, and man has life from the enjoyment of his love; and that the will and thought cannot move at all, except from the enjoyment in some 1 1 34 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. love ; and that this is to every one that which is called good. And, moreover, that the enjoyment of heaven is the enjoyment of doing good, and that the enjoyment of hell is the enjoyment of doing evil. That he might be further instructed, a devil providentially ascended, and in his presence described the enjoyments of hell, that they were the enjojTnents of revenging, of committing whoredom, of defrauding, and of blaspheming ; and that those things when they are perceived there as odors, are perceived as balsams ; whence he called them the delights of their nostrils (n. 570). LX. There was seen a company of spirits praying to God that He would send angels to instruct them concerning various things which are of faith, because in most things they hesitated, since churches so differ one from another, and all their ministers say. Believe us; we are the minisfcrs of God, and we knmv. And there appeared angels, whom they questioned respecting charity and faith, respecting repentance, respecting regeneration, respecting God, respecting the immortality of the soul, and respecting Baptism and the Holy Supper ; to each of which the angels gave such answers that they fell into their understanding ; saying further that all that which does not fall into the understanding is like what is sown in the sand, which, however watered by the rain, still withers away ; and that the understanding, closed from religion, no longer sees any thing in the Word from the light which is therein from the Lord ; yes, that if one reads it he becomes more and more blind in the things of faith and salvation (n. 621). LXL How man, when he is prepared for heaven, enters it; namely, that after preparation he sees a way which leads to the society in heaven in which he is to live to eternity; and that near the society there is a gate which is opened; and that after entrance it is inquired whether there are in liim similar light and similar heat, that is, similar good and truth, to those in the angels of that society. When this is ascertained he goes about and inquires where his house is ; for there is for every novitiate angel a new house ; when this is found, he is received and numbered as one among them. But those in whom there is not the light and heat, that is, the good and truth of heaven, have this hard lot, that when they enter they are miserably tortured, and from the torture cast themselves down headlong. This happens to them from the sphere of the light and heat of heaven, in the opposite of which they are ; and they afterwards no longer desire heaven, but are consociated with their like in hell. Thence it is manifest that it is vain to think that heaven is only an admission from favor, and that those who are admitted come into the fruition of the joys there, like those in the world who enter into a house where there is a wedding (n. 622). LXIL Many who believed that heaven was only an admission from favor, and after admission eternal joy, by permission ascended into heaven ; but because they could not bear the light and heat, tiiat is, the faith and love there, they cast INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. 1 1 35 themselves down headlong ; and then they were seen by those who stood below as dead horses. Among those who stood below and saw them thus, were boys with their master ; and he instructed them what appearing as dead horses signified, and then who they are who at a distance so appear ; saying that they are those who when they read the Word think materially and not spiritually concerning God, concerning the neighbor, and concerning heaven ; and that those think materially concerning God who Uiink from person concerning essence ; in regard to the neighbor, from the face and speech concerning quality ; and in regard to heaven, from place concerning tlie state of love there ; but that those think spiritually who think concerning God from essence, and thence con- cerning person ; concerning the neighbor from quality, and thence concerning the face and speech ; and concerning heaven from the state of love there, and tlience concerning place. And afterwards he taught tliem that a horse signifies the understanding of the Word ; and because the Word with those who think spiritually when they read it, is a living letter, that therefore those appear at a distance as live horses ; and on the other hand, because the Word with those who think materially when they read it, is a dead letter, that tliese therefore at a distance appear as dead horses (n. 623). Lxrii. There was seen an angel, with a paper in his hand, upon which was written the marriage of good and truth, descending from heaven into the world j and it was seen that that paper shone in heaven, but in its descent gradually less and less, until neither the paper nor the angel appeared, except only before some unlearned ones who were of simple heart : before these the angel explained what the marriage of good and truth involves, namely, that all and each of the things in the whole heaven and in the whole world contain them both at the same time, because good and truth in the Lord God the Creator make one ; and that therefore there is not anywhere given any thing which by itself is good, nor any thing which by itself is true ; consequently that in each and every thing there is a marriage of good and truth, and in the church a marriage of charity and faith, since charity is of good and faith is of truth (n. 624). LXIV. When I was in profound thought concerning the Second Coming of the Lord, I saw heaven from the east to the west luminous, and heard from the angels a glorification and celebration of the Lord, but from the Word, as well the prophetic Word of the Old Testament, as the apostolic of the New. The passages themselves by which the glorifications were made, may be seen in the Rel.\tion (n. 625). LXV. In the north-eastern quarter, there are Places of instruction ; and those who receive instructions interiorly are there railed disciples of the Lord. Once when I was in the spirit, I asked the teachers there whether they knew the imiversals of heaven and the universals of hell ; and they answered that the universals of 1 1 36 INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. heaven were three loves, which are the love of uses, the love of possessing the goods of the vrorld from the love of doing uses, and truly conjugial love ; and that the universals of hell were three loves opposite to those three, which are the love of ruling from the love of self, the love of possessing the goods of others from the love of the world, and scortatory love. It is described afterwards what the first infernal love is, which is //le love of ruling from the love of self ; that it is such with the laity that, when the reins are given to it, they wish to rule over all things of the world, and with the clergy, that they wish to rule over all things of heaven. That there is such fantasy with those who are in that love, was confirmed by the like in hell, where such are together in a certain valley, who find enjoyment for their minds \animt\ in the fantasies that they are emperors of emperors, or kings of kings ; and elsewhere that they are gods : and it was seen that at the sight of these latter, the former who were of so lofty a mind fell upon their knees and adored. Afterwards I spoke with t^vo, one of whom was the prince of a certain society in heaven, and the other was the high-priest there ; who said that with those in that society there are magnificent and splen- did things, because their love [of ruling] is not from the love of self, but from the love of uses ; and that they are surrounded with honors and that they accept them, not for the sake of themselves but for the sake of the good of obedience. I then asked them, " How can any one know whether he does uses from the love of self, or of the world, or from the love of uses, since all the three do uses ? Let it be supposed that there is a society composed of mere satans, and a society composed of mere angels, and I can imagine that the satans, from the love of self and the world, would do as many uses in their society as the angels would in theirs; who, then, can know from which love the uses are?" To this the prince and priest replied, "Satans do uses for the sake of fame, that they may be raised to honors and gain wealth, but angels do uses for the sake of uses : but these are discriminated from those especially by this, that every one who believes in the Lord and shims evils as sins does uses from the Lord, and thus from the love of uses ; but that ever)- one who does not believe in the Lord and does not shun evils as sins does uses from himself and for the sake of himself, thus from the love of self or of the world " (n. 661 ). LXVL I entered a certain grove and saw two angels conversing together. I went up to them, and they were speaking of the lust of possessing all things of the ■world ; and it was said that many who in actions appear moral, and in conver- sation rational, are in the madness of that lust, and that that lust is turned into fantasies with those who indulge their ideas concerning it. And because every one is permitted to delight himself in his fantasy in the spiritual world, provided he does no evil to another, there are also congregations of such in the lower earth ; and because it was known where they were, we descended and went in to them ; and we saw that they were sitting at tables, upon which there was a great plenty of gold coin, and it was said that this was the wealth of all in the kingdom ; but it was only an imaginary vision, which is called fantasy, by which they made that appearance. But when it was said to them that they INDEX TO THE RELATIONS. IT 3/ were insane, when turned away from the tables they confessed that it was so ; but because that vision exceedinus affection separates, 832. The affection of love in heaven is heat, 549- Merely natural affection is nothing but lust, 553. ■ Africans. The Africans are more in- terior than the other Gentiles, 1091. All who acknowledge and worship one God the Creator of the univer^e, entertain the idea of God as a Man ; they say that no one can have any other idea of Him, ioer(ietual so far as man applies himself in his turn, 524. Approach or Accede (To). So far as m.iii .iccedes to the Lord, the Ix)rd ac- cedes to man, 161. Every man ought on his part to approach to God ; and in proportion as man approaches, God on His part enters, 213. Arcana, or Secrrts. The angels c.ill that an arcanum which has not yet been made known in the world, 255. An ar- canum concerning the soul, 7f>4. Con- cerning the sending of the Holy Spirit, 253-255. Concerning the consummation of the church of the present day, 301. The great arcanum, that unless a new church is established by the Lord no flesh can be saved, 302. A great ar- canum in regard to the distinction that there is between natural faith and chanty and spiritual, 508. An arcanum from the Lord Himselt for those who will be of His New Church, 257. Arcana revealed by the Lord still are regarded on earth as of no value, 1 103 ; their excellence, 1099. Architecture. In heaven architectural art is in its own perfection, and from it are all the rules of that art in the world, r,98. Arianism. Whence it proceeds, 154. Wherein it consisted, 237, 483, S4i| io57> ArISTIPPUS, 921. .Aristotle, 12, 921, 938. Aristotelians, 938. Arius, 237, 2f>6, 292, 543, 848, 854. Armageddon signifies the state and dis- position of fighting from falsified truths, arising from the love of command and super-eminence, 190. See also 195. Arrangement or Establishment of Order in heaven and hell by tiie Lord ; all heaven is arranged into societies ac- cording to all the varieties of the love of good, and all hell according to all the varieties of the love of evil, 863, 907, 50. Ujion distinct arrangement in the spirit- ual world depends the preservation of the whole universe, 907. The arrange- ment in order of the heavens and the hells has continued in progress from the day of the last judgrnent to the present time, and still continues, 209. In the world of spirits, all the societies, which are innumerable, are wonderfully ar- ranged, according to the natural affec- tions, good and evil, 412. Establishment of order in the heavens follows sub- jugation of the hells, and precedes the mstitution of a New Church, 197, 200. The arrangement of substances in the human mind is according to the use of reason from freedom, 499. Artery. Its composition, 249. The co- operation of an artery with the heart, .\kts (Mechanical) in the spiritual world, 93»- AsHUR OR Assyria signifies the rational, 334. Ashur in the Word signifies ration- ality and intelligence therefrom, 666. Ashtaroth, 429. As of oneself. As from himsflf. Man can reform and regenerate him.self as of himself, provided he acknowledges in heart that it is from the Lord ; man must do both as from himself; but as from himself is from the Lord, 828. To do from Himself belongs to God alone, S2.S. It is continually given, that is, adjoined continually to man, to do as from himself, S28. Aspect. See Looking. Every angel in whatever direction he turns his body and his face, looks to the Lord before him ; origin of this aspect, 1028. Assurance or Trust. The trust that he who lives well and believes aright is saved by the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ is the Esse of the faith of the New Church, 491. See Confidetu*. INDEX. 1 149 Ataxy, Sgi. Athanasian Creed. How far it agrees with the Word, 159, 161. It teaches that the Father and .Son are one as the soul and the body in man, 186, 229, 231, 315. A Trinity of Divine Persons from etemity, which is taught in this creed, is in the ideas of thouRht a Trinity of Gods, 288, 84c), X50. From this Trinity arose a faith which has perverted the whole Christian Church, 295, 850. Athanasius, 43. Atheist. He who makes nothing of adulteries and depred.itions, and noth- ing of blasphemy, is also in heart an atheist, 816. Atheists who are in the plory of fame from self-love, and thence in the pride of their own intelligence, enjoy a loftier ratinnality than many others, 724. See also 936. At/jen^um, 921, 926, 930. Atmospheres. There are three degrees of the atmospheres, the highest is the aura, under this is the ether, and below this the air ; no quality of the a r can be elevated to any quality of the ether, nor any of this to any quality of the aura, 54. See Degrees. There are also three spiritual atmospheres, which in themselves are substantial, and in the order of the degrees : they have been created by means of the light and heat of the Sun of the spiritual world, as the natural atmospheres have been cre- ated by means of the light and heat of the sun of the natural world, 123, 858. See also 513. Atrophy. Hypocritical or Pharisaic faith may be compared with atrophy of the eye, 493. See also S93. Attractio.n. Current of attraction, 497, 869. Attributes. See Divine Attributes, At'CUsTiNB OF Hippo, logj. At'RA. No quality of the ether can be elevated to any quality of the aura, 54. See Atmospheres. Aurora, 185. Baai-, 249, 871. Baal-Zeblb, cod of Ekron, 846. Babylonia. The church which in the Prophets and in the Apocalypse is meant by Babylonia, 1015, 1020 Bad. See IVuked. Bald. In the spiritual world they who despise the Word become bald, 356. PiALDNEss signifies heaviness, 120. I.ANQUETs OR Feasts. That the children of Israel ate together of the sacrifices near the tabernacle, signified n"thins else than unanimity in the worship of Jehovah, 972. Baptism signifies regeneration and puri- fication, 246, 746, 8<)7-902. Baptizing was given as a sign and memorial for Christians to be purified from evils, 905. Baptism is a sign of introduction into the Christian church, 906. Baptism is a sign before the angels that a man is of the church, 82.>. Baptism is a sacrament of repentance, 76.S. By the washing that is called Bajilism is meant spiritual washing, which is purification from evils and falsities, and thus regen- eration, 899-903, 729, S28. Why Bap- tism was instituted in the place of cir- cumcision, 903-905 By Baptism, which is the first gale, every Christian is intro- mitted and introduced into what the church teaches from the Word respect- ing the Dther life, 966. Baptism and the Holy Supper are like two gates thrt)ugh which man is introduced to eternal life, 967. There is something Divine in the institution of I'aptism which has hitherto been concealed, be- cause the spiritual sense of the VVord has not been revealed before, 89S. The first use of B.iptism is introduction into the Christian Church, and at the same time insertion among Christians in the spiritual world, 906-909. As soon as infants have been baptized, angels are appointed over them, by whom they are kept in the state of receiving faith in the Lord ; but as they grow up, and come under their own control and into the exercise of their reason, the guar- dian angels leave them, and they asso- ciate with themselves such spirits as make one with their life and faith, 907. Without the Christian sign, which is Baptism, some Mohammedan spirit, or one from among the idolaters, might apply himself to new-born Christian infants, and to children also, and breathe into them an inclination for his religion, 90S. Not infants only, but also all others, are by Baptism inserted among Christians in the spiritual world, 907. The second use of Baptism is, that the Christian may know and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and .Saviour, and follow Him, 910-912. The third use of Baptism, which is the final use, is that man may be regener- ated, qi2-9i''-. The three uses of Bap- tism foi ow in order and join in the last, 913 He who does not believe in the Lord cannot be regenerated, although he lias been baptized : baptizing w ithout faith in the I^oid effects nothing what- ever, 914. By the Baptism of John a way was prepared so that Jehovah the Lord could descend into the world and work out redemption, 916-920. The Baptism of John represented the cleans- ing of the external man, but the Baptism at this dav with Christians represents the cleansing of the intern.al man, 918. Effects of the Baptism of John, 920 The Baptism of John was called the Baptism of repentance ; why, 729. Why the Lord Himself was baptized by John, 913. 1 1 50 INDEX. Baptize (To) ■with the Holy Spirit and with fire is to regenerate by the Divine truth which is of faith, and by the Di- vine good which is of charity-, 246, 913, 914. Why John baptized ni the Jor- dan, 729. Battle (The) of the omnipotent God ■with the hells, 211. The battle of the Lord with the hells was not an oral bat- tle, as between reasoners and wranglers ; but it was a spiritual battle, which is of Divine truth from Divine good, which was the very vital principle of the Lord, 211. The influx of this through the medium of sight, no one in hell can resist, 211. Why the Lord fought this battle from the Human, 211. See Com- bat. Bears. The she-bears ^2 Kings 11, 23, 24), signify the power of truth in ulti- matcs, 35S. Beast. I'easts are organs created to re- ceive light and heat from the natural world and at the same time from the spir- itual world, 672. Every species is a form of some natural love, and receives light and heat from the spiritual world medi- ately, through heaven and he'.l, the gen- tle ones through heaven, and the fierce through hell, 672. Man alone rcCL-ives light and heat, that is, wisdom and love, immediately from the Lord ; this is the difference, 672. Every bea-^t, every bird, every fish, reptile, and insect, has its own natural, sensual and corporeal love, the dwelling-places of which are their heads and the brains therein ; through these, the spiritual world flows into the senses of their body immedi- ately, and through them determines the actions, 475. Beasts are born into the knowledges of all their loves, 80. The error that beasts have ideas has come from no other source than the persua- sion that they think, equa'ly with men, and that speech alone makes the ciffer- ence between them, 475. Why in the time of spring beasts return into the instinct of prolification, 69*^1. The ani- mals in the spiritual world are likenesses of the affections of the love and thence of the thoughts of the angels, 105. The beasts which appear in hell are forms representative of the anger and hatred of the infernal spirits, 446. Infernal spirits are described in the Word as wild beasts, 209. Sec Animals. Be?5. To take up the bed and walk (Matt. ix. 6), signifies to be instructed in doctrinals, 437. Beelzbhub, 429. See BnalZebub. Bees. Remarkable things about them, 18, 19, 474. Beginnings (The) of space and time come from God, 50. Believe (To) in the Lord is not only to acknowledge Him, but also to do His conuuandments, 252. To believe in Him is to have confidence that He saves ; and because no one can have this confidence but he that lives well, therefore this also is meant by believing in Him, 2. He who believes in the Son believes in the Father, 171. To believe, to see, and to know make one, 266. Beneficent Acts. The benefactions of . charity are, giving to the poor and re- lieving the needy : but with prudence, 607, 60S, 609. By benefactions are meant those deeds of help that are per- formed outside of one's occupation, 607. Charity is exercised both by direct and indirect benefits, 593. Birds (Singing) represent those who do not perceive truth, but conclude it from confirmations by appearances, 74. Bii;th. Man inclines by birth to all kinds of evils, and from the inclination "he hists after them, 815. Man as to the first nature which he derives from birth is hell in miniature, and as to the other nature which he derives from the second birth he is heaven in miniature, 816. Natural births in the Word mean spiri- tual births, which are of good and truth, 790. Blaspheme (To) the Lord and the Word is to banish the Truth itself from the church, 453. Blasphemv. By blasphemy of the Spirit (^L-ltt. xii. 31, 32^ is meant blasphemy against the Divinity of the Lord's Human, and against the holiness of the Word, 435- Blood in the spiritual sense signifies the truth of wisdom and faith, 519, 953. By the Lord's Blood is meant the Di- vine Truth of the Lord and the Word, 054. When man thinks of the Lord's I'.lood. the angels have a perception of the Divine Truth of His Word. 956. The Blood of the Covenant signifies the Divine Truth by which conjunction is effected, 054, 976. Blood, on account of its signification, was the holiest repre- sentative in the church among the chil- dren of Israel, 955. The Blood of the I^amb (Apoc. vii. 14, xii. 7, 14) signifies the Divine Truth of the Lord, 955. The blood of grapes (Gen. xlix 11; Deut. xxxii. 14) signifies Divine Truth, 955. Blosso.m (To). .Spiritual heat and light cause things to blossom in the hunmn mind; this blossoming is wisdom and intelligence, 570. Blosso.ms. See Floivers. BoD\ (The) is an organ of life. 60. The •soul which is from the father is the man himself, the body which is from the mother is not the man in itself, but is from him; the body is only a covering of the soul, composed of such things as are of the natural world, 164. How the body is formed in the womb, and why it may be made either to the likeness of INDEX. 1151 the father, or to- the likeness of the mother, 165. The child has the soul and life from the father, and the body is from the soul, 142. Because the whole of man depends on his mind, all things in his body are appendages, which are actuated by the understanding and will, and live from them, 357. The material body, with which the spirit is clothed in the natural world, is an accessory for the sake of the processes of procreation and for the sake of the formation of the internal man; for this latter is formed in the natural body, as a tree in the ground and as seed in fruit, 6ji. Of the enjoyments of his love, together with the pleasantness of thouj;ht, man is but dimly sensible while he lives in the natural body, because this body absorbs and blunts them ; but after death (when the material body is taken away) they are fully felt and perceived, 771. The body does not act and think from itself, but from the spirit, 259. The spiritual btidy must be formed in the material body, and is formed by means of truths and goods, 789. Substantial body of spirits and angels, _ 1032, 1057, lo'Ss. The church constitutes the Body of Christ, 527, 600, 813, 974 ; why, 538. To be in the Lord's Body is to be at the same time in heaven, 965. Book The Lsmb's Book of Life means the Word which is from the Lord and concerning Him, i6g. The books of the ancients were all written by corre- spondences, 335. There are books in the spiritual world, 1056. BoKDER. Every man after death puts off the natural which he had from the mother, and retains the spiritual which he had from the father, together with a kind of border from the purest things of nature, around it, 164. BoKEAL Spirits, 305. Born (To be) by means of water and the spirit, signifies to be born by means of truths of faith and a life according to them, 7S0. Born of God. In the Word the regen- erate are called sons of God, and born of God, 7S0. They who are in goods and truihs from the Lord are called sons of God and bom of God, 790, 925, 975- BoT.Tt,ES. Comparisons with bottles, 189, 200, 385. Bow signifies doctrine from the Word fighting against falsities, 371; ; also sig- nifies truth which fights, 146. Brain (Hi/M^n). The human brain is a form of Divine truth and Divine good, spirituallv and naturally organized, 357. The brains are organized, the mind dwells in them, 498. Organization of the brain, 49S, \ 7(^9 Catholics (Ro.man). The Papists in the spiritual world appear round about and beneath the Protestants, 1079. All thi>se of the Catholic religion who in the former world thought more of God th.ui of the pap.icy, and from a simple heart did works of charily, are easily led away from the supt:rstitions of that re- ligion, 10S2. They w'ho while they live in the world earnestly aspire to be made s.iints after death, that they m.ay be in- voked, come into the delusions of fan- tasv, 1084 The worship of saints is such an abomination in heaven, that when it is merely heard of it excites horrnr, since so far as worship is yielded to any man it is denied to the Lord, 10S4. Cats. Their eyes (in consequence of their burning appetite for mice) appear like candles in cellars in the night, 275, 470. Cause. The cause is the all in the effect, 604. The princijial c.iuse and the in- strumental cause ap|iear as one to man. 621. The principal cause is the all in all of the instrumental cause, 621. The causes of all things are formed in the internal man, and all effects are produced therefrom in the externa', 519. Ends are also actually in the heavenly kingdom, causes in the spiritual kin^;- dom, and effects in the natural kingdom, 367. The cause of the creation of the universe, and the cause of its preserva- tion, 78. Causes of so many divisions and separations in the church, 536. See Etui and Effect. Caverns in Hell, 415. Who they are who profane the Lord's temple and make it a den of thieves, 490. Cedar (The) means the rational good and truth of the church, 333 ; it signifies rational good and truth, 338- Centre. Whether the centre is of the expanse, or whether the expanse is of the centre, 59- Concerning the centre and the expanse of nature and of life, 59. '^2- Cerebbli.um. See Brain. The inmost parts of the cerebellum in themselves are heavenly, 271. Ceremonies (The) are the dress, 94. Baptism and the Holy Supper as cere- monies, 897, 898. Changes of locality or situation in the spiritual world, 674. Changes of situ- ation in the spiritual world are changes of the state of mind, 127. Chaos. With the idea of chaos, it is im- possible to come to a conclusion as to the creation of the universe. 122, 133. Chariot, in the Word, signifies doctrine from spiritual truths, 337. Chariots carved in the form of a dragon, 306. Chariot of fire, 883. Charity is no other than goodness, 44; see also 636-646. Before the Lord came into the world, scarcely anv one knew what charity was, 594. Charity consists in wishing well and thence act- ing well, ficfl 529, 594, 623. Charity is the affection of the love of doing cood to the neighbor for the sake of God, salvation and eternal life, 559. Charity is all the good with which man is affected by the Lord, and which he thence wills and does, 514. Charity is the heat of man's life, >;i8. Charily itself is to .net justly and faithfully in the office, busi- ness, and work in which any one is, and with whomsoever he has any inter- course, f>o5-/'«7. The man who practises charity becomes charity in form more and more ; for justice and faithfulness form his mind, and their exercises form his boro. The benefactions of charity and the debts of charity are distinct from each other, like the things which arc done from free-will and those which are done from necessity, 610. The pub ic dues of charity are especiallv tribute and taxes ; thev who arc spiritual pay these with one disposition 01 heart, and they who are merely natural wiih an- other, 610. The household dues of charitv are those of a husband toward his wife and of a wife toward her hus- band, of a father and a mother toward their chi'dren and of children toward their father ar.d mother, also those of a master and a mistress toward their ser- vants of either sex, and of the servants toward them, 611. As to what particu- larly re;^ard.s the things which parents owe the;r children ; with those who are in charity these are intrinsically different from what they are with those who are not in charity, but outwardly they ap- pear alike, 612. Ihe private dues of charity are numerous, such as the pay- ment of wages to workmen, the payment of interest, the fulfilment of contracts, etc These are discharged by those who are in charity with a different mind from that with those who are not in charity, 612. The diversions of charity are dinners, suppers, and social gather- ings, 612-614 The dinners and sup- pers ot cliarity are among those only who are in mutual love from similar faith, 613. There is a spurious charity, a hyixKritical charity, and a dead char- ity, 62S-630. All charity that is not con- joined with faith in one God in Whom there is a Divine Trinity is spurious, 628. Hypocritical charity is with those who apparently worship God with great ven- eration, iind yet in heart think of being worshipped themselves, 629. Dead charity is with those who have a dead faith. 630. The charity of those who believe that there is no God, but instead of Him Nature, is no charity at all, 630. Charit\' and Faith are the two essen- tials of the church, 6S All the goods of the church are of charity, and are called charity ; and all its truths are of faith, and are called faith, 58. Charity is of affection, and faith is of thought, 552. Kaith is nothing but the form of charitN', as speech is the form of sound, 552. Charity and faith are two d stinctly, but yet make one in a man that he may be a man of the church, that is, that the church may be in the man, 477. Faith is first ill time ; but charity is first in end, 478. Separating charity from faith is like separating essence from form, 51S. Charity and faith are together in good works, 528, 555, 621, S61. Charity and faith are only mental and perishable things, unless they are determined to works and coexist in them, when possi- ble, 531, 532, 555. Charity alone does not produce good works, still less faith alone, but charity and faith together, 534 Charity is the complex of all things which a man does to the neigh- bor which belong to good, and faith is the complex of all things belonging to truth which a man thinks concerning God and concerning Divine things, 570. Chaste. Abstinence from the doin^ does not make one chaste ; but abstinence from the willing because it is sin and when the doing is possible, does make one chaste, 449. Chemosh, 429. Chfkubs. I.est any one should enter into the spiritual sense, and should per- vert the genuine truth which is of that sense, guards are placed by the I.ord, which are meant in the Word by cherubs, 34'> 354i 3^8- The sense of the letter of the Word as a guard, is signified by cherubs, 387, 725, 1037. Chest, 526. Chimeras in the church; whence they come, 96 The doctrine of justifica- tion by faith alone is a chimera, 300, 539- Chinese, 406. Emi>erorof China, 373. Christ. See Jesus. Christendom. The spheres in the spir- itual world which flow forth from the Christendom of to-day, 822. Christian. The name that one is a Christian means his quality, that he has faith in Christ, and that lie has charity toward the neighbor from Christ, 911. The name of a Christian, that is, that one is of Christ, without acknowledging Him, that is, living according to His commandments, is a thing as empty as a shadow, as smoke, and as a blackened picture. Qio. Primitive Christians, or Christians before the Nicene Council, 852-856. Christians since this Coun- cil, 339. Christians of the present day, 822. Christian Church (The) began from the cradle to be infested and divided by schisms and heresies, 535. The present day is the last time of the Christian Church, 1018-1024. 14 "54 INDEX. Christianity' is now be^nninp to dawn ; there has hitherto been Chrlsiianiiy only in name, and wiih some persons some shadow of it, 949, 948. Chrysalis, iS. Church. The church is from the Word, and it is such with man as his under- standing of tlie Word is, 372-3 ;6. On the idea of God, and on the iHe.a of re- demption, which makes one wiih salva- tion, every thing of tlic church depends, 220. The essentials of the church are three, namely, God, charity and faith, g6o. A just idea concerning God is, in the church, like the shrine and the altar ill a temple, 280. The conjunction of pood and truth makes the church, 576. The things which are hid in the spiritual sense are the things which etseniialiy mike the church, 373 The communion called the church consists of all those in whom the church is; and the church With man enters him wliile regenerating, 72S. A man who is in faith in the Lord and in charity toward the nciahbor is a church in particular ; ihechuich in gen- eral is Composed of such, 102S. Flie understanding and the will must make one, that the m.in may be a m.nn of the cliurcl), 377. The church teaches man the means which ie.id to eternal life, and introduces him inio il, S'lq. With- out free wi:l in spirilual things, the church would be nolh ng, 6S1. Ke; eiit- auce is the first of the church with man, 72S. See Rt/'inlnnce. Man is iiitm- duced into spiritual life by the church, S9> Ihe church appears Inrfoie the Lord as one man, 1024. The church constitutes the Hodyof Christ, and every cue in whom the church is, is in some meribcr of thni Bo.ly, 527, 53S, 600, S13. The chuich where the Word is read and the Lord is known by it is as the heart and as the lungs of the One Man which is heaven, 396. The church wli ch is in Divin,; truths from the Lord prevails over the hells, 35*^. The falih of eveiy church is as seed from wh.ch all its do.;inas spring. Wherefore when the piimary faith is known, there is a cog- nition of the qunlity of that chuich, 2.;;. The church is iuternal and externa', and the internal church ni.ikes one with the church ill he wen, and thus w.lh heiven, 1046. The Christian church was founded solely uj on the worship of Jehovah in the Human, consequently upon God- Man, 155. This church jiassed through the several stages from infancy to ex- treme old .igc, 5. In the Evan;;ersts are described the successive slates of the decline and corruption of the Christian church, 2/9, 5 t'l- The Christian chuich wh.ch was founded by the Lord when He was in the world, and wh.ch is m-w first being built by Him, >>o3. _ The Christian church, such as it is id itself, is now first beginning, the former church was Christian in name only, but not in reality and in essence, S^.**, 940, 948. The Lord is at this day establishing a New Church, in which will be the wor- ship of the Lord alone, as in heaven, 195, 301, 1049, 1050. This church, which is meant in the Apocalypse by the New Jerusalem, will descend out of heaven from the Lord, 169, 195. This New Church is to endure for ages of ages, and is to be the crown of aM the churches that have gone before it, 105 1, 1050. It is provided by the Lord that there should always b; on the earth a church where the Word is read, and that by it the Lord should be mide known, 397. The church is called mother, because as a mother on earth feeds her children with natural food, so the church feeds thi-m with spiritual food, 442. The Lord C>od to restore the worship of one God instituted a church among the posterity of Jacob, 12. Church (Thr Apostolic). That the apostolic church knew nothing whatever ot a trinity of Persons, or of three Di- vine Persons from eternity, is very evi- dent from the Apostles' Creed, 291.293, 853. The f.iitli imputative of Christ's merit was unknown in the Apostolic Church, 852-856. In thit jirimeyal time all in what was then the Christian world acknowledged that the Lord Jesus Christ was God, to Whom was given n/l /lower in hfaven and earth, 853. This church actually was like a new star ap|>earing in the siarry heiven, 294. See Soil of Ged. The .-Vpostolic church worshipped the Lord God Jesus Christ, and at the same time God the Father in Him. 854. Chukch CThe Greek). The error of this church is, that (iod the Father sends the Ho!y S; irit immediately. That the Lord sends the Holy .Spirit out of Him- self from God the Father and not the reverse, — this is from heaven, and the angels call it an arcanum, because it has not yet been made known in the world, 255, S64. Churches. All the churches which had been before the Coming of the Lord were repiesentative churches, which could see Divine truths only as in the shade, 172, 10(9. Before the Coming of the I^ord all llie things of the church were representative, because the Lord then was repre.-ented only, which was done by means of angels, 173. There have been tour churches in general on this earth since its creation, one suc- ceed ng another ; the Most Ancient Church wliicli existed before the flood, the Ancient t-hurch, the Israciiiish Church, the Christian Cliurch, 1021, 1023, 1049 Tlie last lime of the Chris- tian Church is the very night into which INDEX. II55 former churches have gone down, 102 1. The succe^4sive slates of the church in general and in particular are described in the Word by the lour seasons of the year, and by the four divisions of the day. 1025 Why there were four churches, 1036, 1040. As all churches depend on the cognition and acknowledgment of one God with Whom the man of the church may be conjoined, and as all the four churches have not been in that truth, it follows that a church is to suc- ceed the fourwhich will be in the co:;ni- tion and acknowledgment of one God, 1049 The Most Ancient Church which was before the flood worshipped the in- visible Godj with Whom there can be no conjunction ; so also did the Ancient Church, 10 (g. The Israeliii-sh Church worshipped Jehovah, Who in Himself 16 the invisible God. but under a human form wh ch Jehovah God put on by means of anangel, 1049. The Chi istian church acknowledged one fJod indeed with the mouih, but in three persons, each one of whom singly or by himself was God ; and so a divided trinity and not a Trinity united in one Person, 1049. Chyi.e, 367 Cicero, 400- CiNEKtTiofs substance of the brain, 498. Circles of things, 1017. The Sun of the spir'tual world is the circle most closely encompassing the Lord, 514. Circles abur, which with the c'ergy follow in order — En';igh;enment, Perception, Disposition, and Instruction, 25S With the clergv the love of ruling from the love of self c'.iinbs upward, when the reins are givei" to it, until they wish to be gods, 592 See Priests. Climates in the spiritual world, 305. Action of the c'imate on man, 1091. Climb Not to climb up some other way (John X. i) means that or.e is not to approach God the Father because He is invisible and therefore unapproachable, with Whom there cannot be conjunction, 754. Clouds. By the clouds of heaven is meant the Word in the sense of the letter, 1037. By the bright cloud which overshadowed the disciples, the Word in the sense of the letter i-; meant, 355. It is a vain thing to believe that llie Lord will appear in a cloud of heaven in Per^on, but He is to appear in the Word, 1040. In the s| iritual world there .ire sometimes bright clouds over the angelic heavens, but dusky clouds over the hells. The bright ciouds over the angelic heavens signify obscurity there, from the literal sense of the Word ; but when these clouds are dis- persed, this signifies that they are in us clear light from the spiritual sen-e: but the dusky clouds over the hells sig- nify the falsification and profanation of the Word, 1038. Cocceians, 107 1- Cognitions. Cognition concerning Got! is not attain.-tble without revelation, 13. ■ It is vain to wish to have cogt.ition of what God is in His esse or in His sub- stance ; but it is enough to acknowl- edjje Him from finite, that is, created thincs, in which He is infinitely, 45. Cognition of the Lord surpasses in ex- cellence all the cognitions wh;ch are in the church, 140. When the cognitions are wanting, man does not form any judgment concerning God, 40. The Lord teaches every one by the Word, and He teaches him from the cognitions which are with the man. and does not infuse new ones immediately, 341. Uy the stars which will fall from heaven, are meant cognitions of truth and good, 330. Cognition of sin, and the exami- nation of some sin in oneself, begin le- pentance, 741-744. Coins of gold and silver in heaven, 129. Collision between the faith of the forrrer church and-the faith of the New Chun h, 864. Combat. The Lord's combat against the hells, 198. The six days of labor repre- sented the Lord's labors and combats with the hells, 437. The six days of labor -signiiy man's combat against the evils and falsities which are in him from hell, 438. Combat between the internal and the external man, 802-805. See Battle. Ci>.M PORTER (The), also called the Spirit of Truth, and the Holy Spirit, 241. Coming of the Lord. Beiore the Lord came into the world, scarcely any one knew what the internal man was, or what charity was, 594. Without the Coming of the Lord into the world, no one Could have been saved, 3. How this is to be understood, 7S6 Unless the Lord comes again into the world, in II56 INDEX. Divine Truth, no one can be saved, 3. The Second Crd Jesus Christ is to be worshipped ; because He is Jehovah, Who came into the world, and wrought the redemption without which no man and no angel could have been saved, 42). The heavenly sense: That Jeho- vah the Lord is Infinite, Immeasurable, and Kternai ; that He is Love itself and Wisdom itself; thus the Only One, from Whom all things are, 431. The Second Commandment. The spiritual sense: The name of God means all that the church teaches from the Word, and by which the I^ord is invoked and wor- shipped, 434. I he heavenly sense: By the name of Jehovah God is meant the Divine Human of the Lord, 435- The Third Cotiimaiidment. Tlte spiritual sense: This signifies the refi)rmation and regeneration of man by the Lord, 43S. The heavenly sense: 1 his means conjunction with the Lord, and then peace, because there is protection from hell, 430. The Fourth Coininand- vieiii. The spiritual sense : By Father is meant God, Who is the Father of all; and by Mother, the church, 441. The heavenly sense: By Father is meant our Lord Jesus Christ ; and by Mother, His Church, spre.id over all the world, 442. Fifth Commandinent. Tlie spir- itual sense: Murder means all modes of killing and destroying the sou's of men, 445, 366. The heavenly sense: To kill means to be rashly angry with the Lord, to hate Him, and to wish to blot out His name, 445, 366. The Sixth Comvtaii^- ntetit. J'he spiritual sense: To com- mit adultery means to adulterate the goods of the Word and to falsify its truths, 447, 366. The heavenly sense: 'i'his means to deny the holiness of the Word, and to profane it, 448, 366. The Seventh CotHmandtnent. The spiritual sense : To steal means to deprive others of the truths of their faith, which is done by falsities and heresies, 450, 367. '1 he heavenly sense : By thieves are meant those who take away Divine power from the Lord ; and also those who claim for themselves His merit and righteousness, 451, 367. Tlie Eighth Commandment. The spiritual sense : To bear false witness means to persuade that lalsity of f.iith is truth of faith, and that evil of life is good of life, and the reverse, — and to do these things from design and not from igiiorance, 452, 367. The heavenly sense: This means to blaspheme the Lord and the Word, and so to banish the Truth itself from the church, 45-:, 367. The Ninth and Tenth Commas dmeuts . These two command- ments have respect to all the preceding ones, and they teach and enjoin that evils must not be done, and also that they must not be lusted after, 455. In the spiritual sense, these command- ments prohibit all lusts which are con- trary to the spirit ot the church, thus which are contrarv to its spiritual things which have relation primarily to faith and charity, 456. These two command- ments understood in the spiritual sense, regard all th ngs that have before been f)res,-nted in the spiritual sense, and ikewise all that have before been pre- sented in the heaven'y sense, 456. The Lord's commandments all relate to love to the neighbor, being in the sum not 10 do evil to him, but to do him good, 636. The reason why such things as belong directly to love and charity are not com- manded, but it is only commanded that INDEX. II57 such things as are opposite to them should not be done, is, that as far as man shuns evils as sins, he wills the goods which aie of love and charity, 457, 458. Eight commandments pre- sented in a manner to show that as hell, that is, evil, is removed, heaven draws near, and man looks to good, 459. To do contrary to the commandments is not merely to act against men, but against God also, 624. Communication. By the reading of the Word in the sense of its letter, commu- nication is made with the heavens, 365, 385, 398. Man communicates with spir- its by his interiors, but with men by his exteriors. By that communication man perceives things, and thinks of them analytically, 673. Reciprocal commu- nication of affections, 8S3. Before the Lord's Advent hell had grown up so far as to infest the angels of heaven, and also (by interposing between heaven and the world), to cut ofiE the Lord's communication with men on earth, 785- Communion. What it is to be in the communion of saints on earth, and in the communion of angels in heaven, 24, 493 The church throughout the whole world is called the communion of faints, 600. A regenerate man is in commun- ion with angels of heaven, and an unre- generate man in communion with spirits of hell, 811, S12, 813. Comparisons. The following subjects, ar- ranged alphabetically, are illusirated by comparisons : — Baptism as resenera- tion, 915; baptism without its uses and fruits, 902 ; the first use of baptism, 909- Beneficent acts when imprudent, 609. Conversion of the Roman Catholics in the spiritual world, 1082. Charity and faith are only mental and perishable unless determined to works, 531, i;32 ; spurious charity, 628 : hypocritical, 629 ; dead, 630; none at all, 630. The four churc)ies which have existed on earth, 1023 ; the apostolic church, 854 ; the church is not in man until sins are re- moved, 730. The combat of the Lord against the hells, 309. Conjunction with the Lord is reciprocal, 524 ; con- junction with the Lord by means of the Holy Supper, 973 ; conjunction with the invisible God, 1050. Co-o/>eration of man and conjunction with the Lord, 635, S20. Consummation of the age, 1017. Contrition without repentance, 732. Creatable things, and things not creatable, 671. The passion of the cross, 212. The three degrees in which the heavens are, and in which consequently the human mind is, 813. Velir'erance of the spiritual world from a universal damnation, 207. Points of discordance between the New Church and former churches, 865, 866. The Divine Good and the Divine Truth, 146. The di- vision of the natural man into two forms, 799. The first and the last ends, 253. Spiritual equilibrium, 676. Evil unless removed remains with man, 739 ; evil, and true faith, which cannot be together, 546, 872. 'VXx^/aith of the church, 295, 296, 297. 492 ; faith in the Lord not as God but only as a man, 540; the faith concerning a trinity of Divine per- sons from eternity, 200, 220, 243, 1%?., 287, 290; faith separate from charity, and faith conjoined with charity, 495, 534 ; the beauty of faith, 500 ; living faith and dead laith, 550; characteristic testimonies and signs of true faith, 538, 539. Reception according to forms, 516. That which man receives from jfreedomtexm^wM, 696 ; freedom of speech and of writing, 1077, 1078. Free-will, 680, 692, 700; in spiritual things, 678, 820; the Word, if man had not free- will in spiritual things, 6S1. The_/r/VW- shi/t of love, 626. I'he good which man does before removing evil from his will, 615, 6i6; meritorious good, 621. The subjugation of the hells, the orderly ar- rangement of the heavens, and after- wards the establishment of a church, 200, 208, 2 10. The union of the Human with the Divine, 218. The hypocrite, 543 ; hypocrites who make confession with the lips only, 736. Imputation, 875. The ingenuity of many in demon- strating that three are one, 304. The Lord operates out of Himself from the Father, and not the reverse, 253 ; the Lord continually wills to implant truth and good, 246. The friendshijj of love, 626 ; love among the wicked, 615, 632 ; love of self, 591 ; love of the world, 590, 749. lilan, such as he is by birth, 781, 7>^2 ; interior and exterior, 1094 ; when not regenerate, 8or, 859; before and after repentance, 747 ; moral ex- ternally, 622, 8S4 ; believing that regen- eration takes place without any free-will in spiritual things, thus without co- operation, 820 ; the man whose under- standing has been elevated, but not the will's love by means of it, 796 ; men who know many things about doctrine, and yet do not examine themselves, 743, 750; attached to the faith I'f the pres- ent day, 6S4, /SS ; men who do good from religion before they have accejited the doctrine of the New Church, 753 ; the man who elevates his mind to God and acknowledges that all the truth of wisdom is fnan tlim, and the man who confirms in himse f the idea that all the truth of wisdom is from the natural light in him, thus from himself, loS ; a re- generated internal man and a regene- rated extenal with it, 805 ; men wlio approach the Holy Supper worthily, 970 ; the regenerate man, 808. The human mind, 497. The Lord operates out of Himself from the Father, and not II58 INDEX. the reverse, 253. Order, the most uni- versal, c(o8, 909. Heavenly peace., 440. Recetition according to forms, 516 Re- demption, 143, 202, 212. 'i'he two states of reformation and regeneration, 167 ; re'^eneralion cannot take place without truths, fv24. Remission of sins, 817. Habit of repentance, 759. The two Sacraments, Baptism .and the Holy Supper, 89S; signature or seal of the Holy Supi er, 976. The sense of the letter of the lVo>d, 323 ; the Word with- out the sense of the letter, 3.(5 ; the spiritual sense of the Word, 32 t., 324 ; th : Word, if man had not free-will in spirimal things, 681. CoMfAKisoNS in the Word are at the same time correspondences, 347. Conception of man ; how it is effected, 791. CoNDRMN (To) To live wickedly, and to confirm falsities even to the destruction of genuine truth, condemns, 3S3. Condition- Lot of man's lif" after death, 760. Condition of t^'>se who believe themselves able ^rf^m their own intelli- gence to accjirire cognitions of GoH, of heaven and hell, and of the spiritual things which are of the church, 401. CoNFEssiiiN is, that man sees, recognizes, and acknowledges his evils, and finds himself to be a misernble sinner, 755. The mere oral confession that one is a sinner is not repentance, 733-73*^. A general confession of sins, without enu- meration, was accepted by the Reformed who adhere to the Augsburg Conle-sion, instead of actual repen ance, 733. Con- fession ought to be made before the Lord < lod the Saviour, and then suppli- cation for ad and power to resist evils, 754. See Supplication. There is no need of enumerating sins before the Lord, because the man has searched tlieni out and seen them in himself, moreover the Lord led him m the ex- amination and laid them open, and inspired sorrow, and together with ihis the effort to desist from th^m and begin a new life, 756. It does no ha'm for one burdened in conscience to enu- merate his sins in the presence of a minister of the church, for the sake of absolution, that his burden may be lightened, because he is thus introduced into the habit of examining himse:f, and of reflecting upon the evils of each day. But this confession is natural ; that be- fore the Lord is spiritua', 756. The confession of the Lord and of one God conjoins minds with heaven, 1086. The idea of three CJodscaniiot be blotted out by the oral confession of one God, 290. General Confession of the Christian Kaith, II. Confidence in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ is the Esse of the faith of tne New Church, 491. CoNFii^in. Everv man if he will, may confirm himself in favor of the Divine, from the things visible in nature, 17. Those who confirm themselves in favor of the Divine operation in every thing of nature, attend to the wonderful things which are seen in the productions of plants as well as of animals, 15. With those who from the things visible in the world, confirmed themselves in favor of nature to such a degree that they be- came atheists, their understanding in spiritual light appeared open below and cloiied above, 20. Human ingenuity can Confirm whatever it wishes, 829- The natural rational can confirm v.natever it likes, thus falsity equally as well as truth ; and when it is confirmed, both appear in a similar light, 1019. Con- firmed falsity remains and cannot be rooted out, 383. It is exceedingly dan- gerous to enter with the understanding mto dogmas of faith composed from one's own intelligence and thus from falsities, and still more to confirm them from the Word, 725. Some in the spiritual world who iivcd many years ago and confirmed themselves in the falsities of their religion, 383. Confirmation. The confirmation of fal- sity is the denial of truth, 1019. After one has left the world, he cannot believe any thing else than what he had bv con- firmation impressed upon himself; this remains fixed in him, and cannot be torn away, especially that which any one has confirmed in himself concerning (jod, 176. The real cause of this is, that confirmation enters the will, and the will is the man himself, and it disposes the understanding at its pleasure ; but bare cognition only enters the under- standing, and this has no authority over the will, 3S3. No one who is in evil and consequently in falsity from con- firmation and the life, can know what good and truth are ; since he believes his evil to be good, and from this he believes his falsity to be truth ; but every one who is in good and conse- quently in truth tVom confirmation and the life, can know what evil and falsity are, 577. CoNFiRMERS. Those who are wholly un- able to see whether truth is truth or not, and yet can make whatever they wish seem true, are called confirmers, 468. CONJUGIAL LovB ; CONJUGAL LOVE (COH- Juginlis, conjugtlis). Love truly con- jugal is heavenly love, which is free from donunion, 1072. Love truly conjugal corresponds to the love of the Lord and the Church ; itito it are b:ought together all the varieties of blessedness, satisfac- tion, and enjovment that can ever be brought together by the Lord, 1102. Love truly conjugal is solely from the Lord, and is given to those who are INDEX. II59 being regenerated by Him, 1102. Be- cause conjujfal love is according to re- ligion, it IS spiritual with the spiiitual, natural with the natural, and merely canial with adulterers, 1 102. Conjunction. It is by conjunction with God that man has salvation and eternal life, 521, 971. There can be no conjunc- tion with an invisible God, 1049, 1050. Conjunction with God is given to man solely by the union of the Divine and the Humnn in the Lord, 15S, 522 No conjunction between two is given, unless in turn they accede one to the other, 160. There cannot be conjunction un- less it be reciprocal ; and it becomes re- ciprocal while man acts from his free- dom, and yet from faith attributes all activity to the Lord, 178. Reciprocal conjunction, 160, 213, 524, 6S5. 72'!. The reciprocal conjunciion, by which man has salvation and eternal life, is perpetual, 684. The conjunction of the Lord and man is reciprocal ; and because it is recipriical it follows that man ou-jht to conjoni himself with the Lord that the Lord may conjoin Himself with man, 525, 6">4, 1050. God's conjunction with man is spiritual conjunction in the nat- ural, and man's conjunction with (.iod is natural conjunciion from the spiiitual. For the sake of this cor.jimction as an end, man was created a native of heaven and at the same time of the world ; as a native of heaven he is spiritual, and as a native of the world he is natural, 522. The reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man is effected by charity and faith, 527. Goods should be don- by man as from himself; but it should be believed tl.at they are from the Lord, with man and through him ; this is of the con- junction of charity and faith, thus of the Lord and man, 4. The conjiincti' n wi:h the Lord, effected by charity and faith is spiritual conjunction, 52S. There is conjunciion with the Lord by the Word ; this conjunction does not ap- pear to man, but it is in the affection for truth and in the perception of it, 565. Conjunc.ion is effected bv temptations, 213. Conjunction is effected by the Lord only when man does the things written in his table, 423. Conjunction with the Lord is effected bv the Holy Supper, 971, 972, 973. Conjunction with heaven cmnot be given unless there is somewhere on earth a chuich where the Word is, and the Lord is knowni bv it, 395. Conjunction of good and truth, of charity and faith, and of the internal and the external man, 16;, 621, 871. In heaven the conjunction of good and truth is called the heavenly marriage, sjf-<. I'he conjunction be- tween men and angels by means of the love's affections is so c ose that if it were severed men would die, 811. Con- junction was represented bj; breaking the bread and distributing it, and by drinking from the same cup and hand- ing it to one another, 613. Friendship is natural conjimciion, but luve is spirit- ual conjunction, 625. Conscience viewed in itself is not a pain, but it is a spiritual willingness to do according to what is of religion and of faith, ,*-g4. The pain of mind which is believed to be conscience is not con- science but temptation, which is conflict of the spirit and the flesh ; and this when it is spiritual draws from the spring of conscience, but if it is natural mere- ly, it originates from diseases, 894. All who have conscience say what they say from the heart, and do what they do from the heart, 895. See 889-894- Consistence of all things depends on order, 908. Consociation. Every man is in com- munion, that is, in consociation with angels of heaven, or with spirits of hell, 81 1. Consf>ciation of man with angels is effected by the natural or literal sense of the Word, 368. Kverv man, as to his spirit, is consiiciated with his like in the spiritual world, and is as one with them, 24, 235. All conjunctions and consoci- ations in the spiritual world are effected according to sympathies and autipathies, 5'S- Consonants. In the third heaven the angels do not pronounce any consonants hard, but soft, 404. Constantine the Great, 848, 853, 854. Con>ummation of the age is the last time or the end of the church, 1019. The consummation of a church ta'rces place when there remains no Divine truth except what is falsilied or rejected. 1014. U hen truth is consummated in a church, good is alsoconsummaied, 10 1.;.; the good which is then believed to be goi'd, is only the natural good which a moral life produces, 1014. Causes of the consummation of a church, 1014. Devastation, desolation, and decision have a similar signification with consum- mation ; but desolation signifies the con- summaiion of truth, devastation the consummation of good, and decision the full consummation of both, 1016. In the Lvangeiists and the .'Vpocalypse the consummation of the age, means the end of the church of the present day, 301 329, 1047. Contradiction. It is not a contradiction to act omnipotently according to the laws of justice with judgment, or accord- ing to the laws inscribed on love from wisdom; but it is a contradiction that God can act contrary to the laws of His justice and love, 119. Contradictory propositions, 289, 572. CosTKiTioN. The contrition which at this day is said to precede faith, and to ii6o INDEX. be followed by the consolation of the Gospel, is not repentance, 730, 732, 8113 ; that it is of no moment, 711. Contri- tion which is held to precede the pres- ent failh is not temptation, R04. The Reformed supported contrition instead of repentance, in order to sever them- selves from the Roman C'atliolics who insist upon repentance and at the same lime charity, 733. CoNVEKMON. Man is being kept continu- ally in a state in which repentance and conversion are possible, <»66. In order that conversion may take place, must not the ferine nature of the panther and the owl, or the noxious quality of the thorn bush and the neille, first be taken away, and what is frulv human and harmless implanted in its steid ? fijq. Cooperation of the active and the pas- sive, 635. Co-operation of man with the l^ord in regeneration, 516, 782, 7S7. Illustrated by examples, 7X^-7X5. Man's action, concordant with the Lord's ac- tion, is what is meant by co-operation, 7^3- CoRRRvpoNDHvcHs are representations of spiritual and heavenly things in natural things, 337. There is a C"rTesp, 294. 296, 339, Af'i, S48. Coun- cil called together by the Lord, in the spiritu-il world, 313. Coi;ntrv. Men should love their coun- try, because it supports and protects them, 441. One's country is to be loved not as a man loves himself, but more than himself, $99. To love one's coun- try is to love the public welfare, 59) ; it is noble to die for it, and glorious for a soldier to shed his blood for it, 50-). Thev who love their country, and do good to it from good will, after death love the Lord's Kingdom, for this is their country there, 599- CovEN.^NT. VVhythe Decalogue is called a covenant, 423. The old covenant ; the new covenant ; the blood of the new covenant, 954, 975. The covenant of the people, ' pood natural afFections 7^7. Crfatabi.e. WisHom is not creatable ; so neither is f.iith, nor truth, nor love, nor chsritv, nor cood : but forms re- Ceivinp them h:ive been created, ji. 511, 671. It is accnrdinc to creation that where there are actives there are also passives, and that the two join them- selves toirether as in one, 671, 7^5. If actives were creatable as passives are, there would have been no need of the sun, and heat and light from it, 671. Crkatk. To create means to form for heaven, 10^4. To be created signifies to be regenerated, 780. CRK^TtiiN. An idea of creation, 55, 56. <1ne thinjj was formed from another, 55. A sketch of creation, iz;?. The whole creation seen in a particular as a type, I JO. God created the universe with all and every thin?: of it, from love by wisdom, 66. God in creating the universe had one end in view, which was an angelic heaven from the human race. 21, 1034. The three essentials of the Oi- vine Love were the cause of the creation of the universe, and they are the cause of its preservation. 78. See Le. No one can obtain for himself a just idea conceniinp the creation of the universe, unless some universal cognitions pre- viously acquired, put the understanding in a state of perception, 120. God did not cre.ite the universe out of nothing, because nothing is ntitile out of nothing ; but by means of the Sun of the angelic he.iven, 124. This has been done ac- cording to the laws of correspondence, 130. No creation was possible without order, 702. All things in the spiritual world are created by f>od instanta- neously, according to correspondence with the affections of the angels ; while all those things that are in the natural world exist and grow from seeds, 130. 1056. Creation in the natural world was simiKar to creation in the spiritual world, while the universe was created by God, 130. Obnoxious animals and pmduc- tions have not been created by God, for all things that God created and creates were and are good ; but such things upon the earth arose together with hell, which existed from men. 131- Natural things were created that they might clothe spiritual things, 130. Because man is the principal end of creation it follows that all and every thing has been created for the sake of man, and conse- quently that all and every thing of order has been brought together into him. and concentrated in him, that God may do primary uses through him, 106. As subsistence is perpetual existence, so preservation is perpetual creation, 357. See Creatable Things ; also Sun. Crkature. The spiritual man is a new creature, 778. Every creature (Mark I xvi. 15) means all who can be regener- ated, 780. By a new creature is meant one who is regenerated, 915. CKoCfinit.Es represent the lusts of diaboli- cal love, 77. Cross. In Baptism the infant receives the sign of ihe cross upon the forehead and the breast, which is a sign of inaugu- ration into the acknowledgment and the worship of the l-ord, qii. Cr"WN op Thorvs (The) put on the Lord, signified that they falsified and adulterated the Word as to its Divine tnitlis, 217. Ckucifixion (Thb) of the Lord signified that thev destroyed and profaned the whole \Vord, 217. Crucify (To) the Lord is to be rashly angrv with the Lord, to hate Him, and to wish to blot out His name, 445. Cup sitnifies the truth of the Word, 348. The Lord called the passion of the cross a cup (Matt. xxvi. 39, 42; Mark xiv. 36 ; John xviii. 11), 952. CuRRK.NT OF ATTRACTION from the Lord, 497, .S69. There is a sort of latent cur- rent in the affection of every angel's will, that draws his mind to the doing of something, 985. Curtains of thk Tabernaci.k (The) signify goods and truths, in the ulti- mates, such as they are in the sense of the letter, 35?. They signify the ulti- niates of heaven and the church, and also of the Word, 388. Dacon represented the religious system of those who are in faith separate from charity, 337. See also, 112, 421,817. Damnation. The total damnation which threatened the whole human race, be- cause the power of evil prevailed over the power of good, was removed by means of the Lord's Human, 3, 207, 7S5. The Lord has delivered the spirit- ual world, and by means of it is about to deliver the church from universal damnation, 207. Daphne, gS. Darkness signifies falsities arising either from ignorance or from falsities of re- ligion, or from evils of life, 852. That at the end of the Christian church the light of truth would be almost extin- guished, is foretold in many places in the ApocaKT^se, 308. Davjd. By David, in the Word, is meant the Lord, 28S. Day (The) of Jehovah means the Coming of the Lord, 331, 1023. The Coming of the Lord is the morning, 1025. Death is not the extinction of life, but its continuation, and it is only a passage across, 1055. Entrance into the spirit- ual world is generally on the third day after decease, 239, 412. Man after death is none the less a man, and such a man Il62 INDEX. as not to know that he is not still in the former world, 1055. Spiritual death viewed in itself is natural life without spiritual, 522. Immediately after his entrance into the spiritual world man is for some time preparing for his society to which he has been assigned, 626, 769 See World 0/ Spirits. Debts of Charity, 610, 611. Wherein they consist, 610 ; some are public, 610 ; some domestic, 611 ; and some are pri- vate, 612. These are discharged by those who are in charity with a different mind from that with those who are not in charity, 612. See Charity. Decalogue The decaloeue was holiness itself in the Israelitish church. 421-424 In the sense of the letter the decalogue contains the general precepts of doc- trine and life ; but in the spiritual and heavenly senses, all universally, 424, 427. The ten commandments of the decalogue contain all things which are ol love to God, and nil things which are of love to the neighbor, 4i;7, 6.-(4. The laws of the decalogue, universally known in the world, were promulgated from mount Sinai by Jehovah Himself wilh so great a miracle, that men might know that these were not only civil and moral, but also Divine laws, 417, 624. The commandmenis of the decalogue were the first-fruits of the Word, 420. They were in a brief summar>' a complex of all things of religion, bv which con- junction of God with mail and of man with God is given, 420. Since by that law there is conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord, it is called the covenant and the testi- mony, 423, 633. It was written on two tables, one of which contains in the complex all things which regard God ; and the other contains in the complex all things which regard man, 424, 633. See Commamijn.'nts. Decision in the Word signifies the full consummation of both truth and good, 1016. See Consmniiiation. Dhgrees. In each world, the spiritual and the natural, there are three de- grees, which are called degrees of height, 121. These three degree's among them- selves are similar to end, cause, and effect, 54. Betw;een the three degrees of height, there is a progress to infinity, in that the first degree, which is called natural, cannot be perfected and elevated to the perfection of the second degree, which IS called spiritual, nor this to the perfection of the third which is called heavenly, 54. The three heavens were made from the three degrees of spiritual atmospheres "23 '• they "are distinct from each other according to the three de- grees of love and wisdom, S12, 813. By means of degrees, God made the world finite more and more, 56. There are three degrees of love and wisdom, and thence three degrees of life, 73. There are in every man from creation three degrees of life, 368. Man is in the nat- ural degree as long as he is in the world, and is then so far in the angelic spirit- ual as he is in genuine truths, and so far in the heavenly as he is in a life ac- cording to them ; he does not come into the spiritual itself and the heavenly itself till after death, because these two are enclosed and stored up within his nat- ural ideas, 368. Effects of opening and shutting the various degrees of the mind, 57. Delight. In the heat and light of heaven there is Ineffable delight, which is com- municated. 831. The soul's delight is from Love and Wisdom from the Lord ; this delight flows into the soul from the Lord, descends through the higher and the lower regions of the mind into all ^he senses of the body and fills itself full in them, 990. See Enjoytnent. Deimocritus, 932. Demosthenes, 926. Denmark. 272. Depo>e. Those deposed, who presided over large bodies, because they do not love what is true or what is just, 413. Descartes, 939. Desolation in the Word signifies the consummation of truth, 1016, 300. See Consummation- Deucalion and Pvrrha, 98. Devastation of the present church even to destruction, 851. -Devastation in the Word signifies the consummation of good, 1016. See Consummation. Devils. They are called devils who have been in evils and thence in falsities, 4 id. They are called devils who have con- firmed evils in themselves by the life, 138 Devis; those who have lived wickedly, and have thus rejected from their hearts all acknowledgment of God, 58. Devils considered in their essence are no other than evils and falsities. 148. A devil meditates and practises only in- fernal things, 247. Every devil can understand what is true when he hears it, but he cannot retain it, because when the affection of evil returns, it casts out the thought of truth, s^-o, 679. Devils have rationality from the glory of the love of self, 724. The name Jesus can be spoken by no devil in hell, 434. Every one is allowed to be in his own enjoyment, even the most unclean, pro- vided he does not infest good spirits and angels; but as from their enjoyment evil si irits cannot do otherwise than in- fest them, they are cast into work-houses where thev suffer hard things, 777, 879, 880. See Satans, Hell. Diana, 29, 98, 265. Die. Man can never die, 946. Difference between man in the natural INDEX. 1 163 world, and man in the spiritual world, 1056; between man and beast, 601, 672, 781 ; between natural and spiritual f.>uh and charity, 647-652 ; between things that are seen in the natural world and the things that are seen in the spiritual world, 1056. Dignities. The love of self is chiefly a love of dignities, 5S9. Dinners and suppers of charity are among those only who are in mutual love frum simihir faith, 613. DuKlENRS, 926. DiRiXTloN. Contrary direction of the mind's interiors ; what it produces, 816, 925- . , . . . , Disciples. The twelve disciples in the spiritual world, 1054, 5, 172. SesApos- tles. Diseases, 892. Lingering diseases, 744 ; chron c diseases, 750. Disposition is from the affection of the love in the will ; the enjoyment comirtg from this love disposes, 258. As the disposition is, such is the reception, g. The disposition of the truths of faith is into series, thus, as it were, fascicles, 497. The Divine order is that man should dispose himself for the reception of God, 166. Dissimulation. Origin of all dissimu- lation, 799, 179. Distinction between the spiritual and the natural, 407, Sii, iioi. Divide. Every thing which is divided, unless it depend on one, would of itself fall to I ieces, 12. Kvery thing is divisi- ble to inlinity, 56. What is divided does not become more and more simple, but more and more manifold, because it comes nearer and nearer to the Infinite, in which are all things infinitely, 410. A man may divide his heart, and com- pel its surface to raise itself upwards, while its flesh turns itself downwards, 252. Divine. What is from God is not called God, but is called Divine. 41. The Divine which proceeds immedi.ite!y from God is not in space, although He is omnipresent, 48. From the Lord pro- ceeds the Heavenly \Cehsti/il\ Divine, the Spiritual Divine, and the Natural Divine, :?26. That is called the Heav- enly Divine which proceeds from His Divine Love ; that is called the Spiritual Divine which proceeds from His Divine Wisdom ; the Natural Divine is from both, and is their complex in the ulti- mate. 326. In every Divine there is a first, a mediate, and an ultimate ; and the first passes throuch the medi.ite to the ultimate, 343. Divine things pre- sent themselves in the world in corre- spondence*, 335 Divine Attributes, 43, 834. Changed by the gentile nations into as many gods, 29, 401, 834. Divine Esse (The) is Jehovah, 31-40. It is Esse in itself, and, at the same time, Existere in itself, 34, 35. The Divine Esse and Existere in itself can- not produce another Divine that is Esse and Existere in itself, 37. A plu- rality of gods, in ancient and also in modern times, originated from no other cause than from not understanding the Divine Esse, 38. The Divine Esse is One. The Same, The Itself, and Indi- visible, 41. ^lee Esse. Divine Esse and Divine Essence. As infinity, immensity, and eternity pertain to the Divine Esse, so omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence pertain to the Divine Essence, 90. It appears as if these two were one and the same ; but still esse is more universal than essence, for an essence sujjposes an esse, and I'rom esse essence is derived, 3t, 65. Not th:it the Esse of God existed before, but because it enters into the Essence, as an adjunct, cohering with, determining, forming, and at the same time elevating it, 65. Divine Essence (The) is made of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom ; or of Divine Good and Divine Truth, 67. (5od neither could nor can divide His Essence, for this is one and indivisi- ble, 512. Where the Lord is present, there He is with His whole Essence : and it is impossible for Him to take some of it away, and thus to give a part to one and a part to another; but He gives the whole, and gives man the opportunity to take little or much, 513. Hecause God cannot be received by any one as He is in Himself, He appears as He is in His Essence as a Sun above the angelic heavens, 42. See Essence. DiviNK Good and Divine Truth are the Essence of God, 145. In the Word by Jehovah is meant the Divine Love or the Divine Good ; and by God. the r)i- vine Wisdom or the Divine Truth, 145. Nor is any other than the Divine Truth meant by the Messiah or Christ, nor by the Son of Man, nor by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, 145. Jehovah God descended into the world as Divine Truth that He might do the work of redemption, 146. Although God de- scended as the Divine Truth, still He did not separate the Divine Good, 14S. He did the work of redemption by the Divine Truth from the Divine Good, 146. Divine Human (The). See Human. Divine ItsELF (The), 37. The Divine, which in itself is ineffable and imper- ceptible, was in its descent adapted to the perception of angels, and at last to the perception of men, 324. Divine Love and Divine Wisdom. These are two things which proceed from the Lord, 323. The universe v«as 1 164 INDEX. created by Jehovah Ood from His Love by His Wisdom, m. The Divine I.ovc, together with the Divine Wisdom, is in all created subjects and in every one, (>6. God in His Essence is Divine Love, 1093. Divine l-ove forms hfe, as fire forms light, 70. r)ivine Wisdom is firoiJCrlv life, and life is properly the ight which proceeds from the Sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is Jehovah God, 70. Divine Ix)ve cin purpose only to unite itself to man and man to itself, 1093. The whole angelic heaven is arranged into its form and preser\'ed in it from the Divine Love by the Divine Wisdom, 67. DiVPNE Oki>kr. kigliteousnesK is Divine order itself, 156. The iJivine order is unchangeable, 166. The Divine order is, that man shculd dispose himself for the receulion of God, and prepare him- self as a rece|)(ac!e and habitation into which God may enter, and dwell there as in His temple, iitit. Divine ortler fills all and every thing, even to each minutest particular in the universe, 1^7. Man was created a form of 1 >ivine order, 104. Man is so far in poth should be to- gether in everv single thing, and that otherHise particulars do not exist and subsist, 10J5. DiviNiTiBS. Angels said that they could nut even utter '' lArte tqtdoJ Drvini- tirs," 37. DixTTRTNALs (Thr) of the New Church are continuous truths, laid open by tlic Ijird by means of the Word ; and con- firmations of those truths by means of what is rational cause the understanding to be opened above more and more, and thus to be elevated into the light in which the angels of heaven are. 72'). Faith is the principle, and doctrinals are derivatives, 2)5. Doctrine (The) of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed by it, 35S-j'S2. The doctrine of genuine truth mav be fully drawn from the literal sense of the Word; for the Word in that sense is like a man clothed, whose face is bare and his h.inds also bare. M the ihings which (certain to a man's faith and life, and thus to his salvation, are naked there, but the rest are clothed, 3^2. The Word is not understood without doc- trine, 361. The Word by doctrine is not only understood, but it also shines in the understanding, 361. True doctrine is like a lamp in the dark, and like a guide-post on the highway, 361. They who read the Word withoot doctrine ar« in obscurity respecting every truth, and their mind is wandering and uncertain, prone to errors, and also easily falling into heresies, 361. The most essential thing of the church is, that Jehovah God descended and assumed the Human, 15s. Doctrine is not gathered by means ol the spiritual sense of the Word, but only illustrated and corroborated, 3^2. Genuine truth, which will be of doctrine, docs not appear in the sense of the let- ter of the Word to any but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord, 3'>2, 363. Doctrine does not establish and make the special cluirch which is with the individofcl man, but faith and a life according to it. 373. All things per- taining to doctrine and life have relation to love to God and love toward the neighbor, 424. Do FROM Himself (To) belongs to God alone, 828 Dogmas. It is exceedingly dangerous to enter with the understanding into dog- mas of faith composed from one's own intelligence and thus from falsities, and still more to confirm them from the Word, 725. But in the New Church it is allowable to enter with the under- standing and to penetrate into all its st-crcts, and also to confirm them by the Word, 726. Dominant Love (The). Man's very life is his love, and such as the love is such is the life, 577. This love has many other loves subordinate to it, which are derivations, and with it make one king- dom, 577. That which is of the domi- nant love, is what is loved above all things; this is continually present in man's thouuht, bccau.se it is in his will and makes his veriest life, 577- A man is wholly such as the dominant (princi- ple) of his life is: by this he is distin- guished from others ; .nccording to this his heaven is made if he is good, and his hell if he is evil. After death this cannot be changed, because it is the man himself, ^.yi DcxiR (The) signifies the Lord God the Redeemer, 202. DoRT {Synod o/}, 6.S6, 6S7, loio. Dot'Ri.R. Man is double-minded, 240* Pretenders, flatterers, liars, and hypo- crites pos-scss a double mind, 623. DovK (The) signifies rei;eneration and purification, 246. llie doves which ap- pear in heaven are correspondences of the alTections and thence the thoughts in relation to regeneration and purifica- tion, 246. Dra(k;)n. Bv dragon, in the Apocalypse, are meant llio^e who are in the faith of the present church, 302, 8'>6. By the dragon' .s persecuting the woman who brought forth the son, is meant that fot a long time the spiritual sense would not f INDEX. I165 » be acknowledged, J140. The spheres in the spintiial world v/hich flow forth from the C hristendom of tiwlay are like tempest-driven atmospheres, arising from the breathin;; holtrs of the dragons, 823. See aiso 44^, 55S. Drink. Dnnking water from a fountain means to lie instructed concerning truths 9IJ. Conjunction was represented by dnnking from the same cup and hand- ing it to one another, 613. Dt'HA MATRR AND PIA MATER, 346. Dt'TCM. Traffic is the final love of the I)utch, and money is a mediate love subservient to this; and that love is spirituaJ, io6q. The Ilutch are fixed in the principles of their religion more firmly than others, and thev are rot parted from them, lo'x). l^ose who led any life of charity in the world, are amended of themselves and prepared for heaven ; these aflervvard become more constant than otlicrs, 1071. E. In the third heaven thev cannot utter the vowel e, but instead of it eu, 403. EAr;t.RS in the spiritual world represent those who, as soon as ihey hear the truth, perceive that it is truth, 74. By eagies (.Matt. rxiv. 28) are meant the lynx-eyed leaders of the church, H51. Ears- To gather the ears of com and eat (.Matt. xii. i-q), in the spiritual sense signifies to be instructed id doc- trinals. 437. Earth (Thr) is as a common mother, 443, 791. In the Word the earth signi- fies the church, 792. Eaktiiqi/akb (An) signifies an inversion of the church, which is made by fal- sities and falsifications of the truth, 299- E ASTERN Nations See Orientals. Eat. Eating from the tree of the knowl- edge of good and evil means the appro- priation of evil, 666. See Tree. Eatiko. By eating is meant appropria- tion. 951. The Holy Supper is a spiri- tual eating, 963, 974. Eden (The Gvrden of) signifies wisdom and intelligence from the Word, 353, 666. EuoM signifies the natural, 335. Effects. The causes of all things are formed in the internal man, and ail effects are produced therefrom in the external, 52(>. See Cause- Efflux. Intlux adapts itself to efBux, 1077 See Injiux. Egt.s (Wonders in), 16. Egypt signifies the scientific, 334. Egypt means a church which in its begioiilng was pre-eminent, 852. Ekronites, 920. Elect. By gathering together the elect from the (our winds, from one end of tbe beaveiu to the other (Matt. xxiv. ji), is meant a new heaven and a new church of ihose who have faith in the Ixird and live according to His com- mandments, 330. See Election. ElfcT'ON. No election is made before or after birth, but all are ca led to heaven, 889. The Lord after their death elects those who have lived well and behaved arinhf, ."■89. The dogma of the present church respecting predestination, sprang from the faith in election as a shoot from its seed, 686, 845. El 1A.S (iR Elijah represented all the pro- phetic Word, 355. Elisha represented the church as to doctrine from the Word, 356. Elvsian fields, 929. Embrvos in the mother's womb have neither motion nor feeling, 147. E.mfroi>s signify natural loves, which sep- arate from spiritual love are unclean, 337- Enchanters. Who those were whom the ancients called enchanters, 434. End. The inhnite diversity between the good will of one and of others, originates in the end, intention, and consequent purpose, 530- Man him- self in all that belongs to him is like a tree. In the seed of a tree there are concealed, as it were, the end, inten- tion, and purpose of producing fruits, 530. As a temple of God, man has sal- vation and eternal life for his end, in- tention, and purpose, 531. Ciod is the end with all in heaven, and evil is the end with all in hell, 740. There are three things which follow each other in order, — end, cause, and effect, 106. The end is not any thing unless it looks to the efficient cause, and the end and this cause are not any thing unless the effect is priiduced, 106, 555. The end and tbe cause may indeed be contem- plated abstractly in the mind, but still for the sake of some effect which the end intends, and for which the cause provides, 106. In eveiy complete thing there is a trine, which is called the first, the mediate, and the ultimate ; also end, cause, and effect, 344. The first and last ends contain iti them the mediate ends, 252. The end, through mediate causes, produces effects, 531. He who loves the end also loves the means, 75. Every one who is in the end, is also in the means ; for the end is most inter- nally in all the means, actuating and directing them, 22. The universe is a work comprising ends, causes, and ef- fects, in an indissoluble connection, 78, 344. The effect cannot be perfected so that it may become as its cause, nor the cause, so that it may become as its end, 54. The end of creation was an angelic heaven from the human race, conse- quently man, 105, 1034. The salvation and eternal life of men are tbe first and ii66 INDEX. the last ends of the Lord, 252. See Cause, Effects- Endkavor (The) or the will is in itself act, because it is a continual effort to act, which becomes an act in externals when the conclusion is reached, 556. English (Thr) in the spiritual world. 107J-1076. The better ones among the Eng'ish nation are in the centre of all Christians, because they have interior intellectual lisht, 1073 ; this light, they acquire fromtlieir freedom to speak and to write, and thus to think, 107J. There is amone; the English a similarity of minds, owin^,; to which they become familiarly attached to friends who are their own countrymen, but rarely to others; they also aid each other and love sincerity, 1073. Enjoyments. Enjoyment make^ the life of man's love, 6gi. Every love has its own enjoyment, 1007. Enjoyment, by which love manifests itself, each one calls good, 67. Love's enjoyments are of two kinds, enjoyments of the love of good and enjoyments of the love of evil, 68. Man calls that which he loves en- joyment, because he feels it ; but that which he thinks and does not love, he may also call enjovment, but it is not the enjoyment of his life, 57S. What- ever proceeds from love is called good, even if it be evil : for enjoyment, which makes the life of love, produces this 873. The love's enjoyment is what is good to a man, but the undelightful is what to him is evil, S7S. The activity of love makes the sense of enjoyment ; its activity in heaven is with wisdom, and its activity in hell is with insanity ; the activhy in both yields enjoyment in its own subjects, 775. Enjoyment is the all of life to all in heaven, and to all in hell, 775. The enjoyments of hell are oppo-iite to the enjoyments of heaven, 63 1 . The enjoyment of evil encom|iasses the merely natural man as a fo? does a marsh, absorbing and smothering the rays of light, 761. Infernal enjoyment is amended, reformed, and inverted so'ely by the rational and moral that are spiritual, 761, 762. Enjoyment in use arising I'roni love through wisdom is the soul and lite of all heavenly joys, 9S2. The enjoyments of the soul are in them- selves imperceptible beatitudes ; but they become more and more perceptible as they descend into the thoughts of the mind, and from these into the sensations of the body, 1002. The enjoyment of doing good to the neighbor is a reward. The angels in heaven have this enjoy- ment, and it is a spiritual enjoyment which is eternal, and immensely exceeds evei'y natural enjoyment, 6ig, 083- They who are in this enjoyment do not wish to hear of merit ; for they love to do, and they perceive that they are favored in the doing, 620. Of the enjoyments of love and the pleasantness of thought, man is but dimly sensible while he lives in the natural body, 771. Enjoyments from loves in the spiritual world are often perceived as odors, loqo. Enlighten (To). The Sun of the angelic heaven enlightens the understanding of all, both of angels and men, qq Enlightenment is from the Lord alone, and is with those who love truths be- cause they are truths, and who make them uses of the life, 3^2. What it is to be in enlightenment in reading Jhe Word. 363. When man does not im- mediitely go to the Lord, enlightenment which from the Lord alone is spiritual then becomes more and more natural, and at leniith sensual, 294. Enlighten- ment which is from the llord is turned into various lights and intov.arious heats with every one, according to the state of his mind, 25S. The state of those who are to come into the Lord's New Church, 503. Enoch with his associates collected cor- respondences from the lips of the men of the most ancient church, and trans- mitted the knowledge of them to pos- terity, 33^-. En.irmitikj (The') which have flowed into the church from the Lord's being called the son of Mary, and not the Son of ( Jod, 154. Enthusiasts. Men shoidd be cautious how they persuade themselves that the zeal by which main' are actuated while they are speaking in public is the Di- vine ojieration in their hearts: for a similar, and even a warmer zeal is ex- cited in the breasts of enthusiasts, 248. Most enthusiasts after death fall into the insane fancy that they themselves are the Holy Spirit, 230. Entrance (The) of the Lord into m,an with Divine goods and truths is in the highest region of the mind, 694- En- trance of man into the world of spirits, 204. Entrance into the spiritual world is generally on the third day after decease, 230- Enitnciatiovs (Prophetical), 394, 404. No announcements and answers from heaven are ever made except by ulti- mates, 355. Ephod (The) signifies the Divine truth in its ultimate, and thus the Word in the sense of the letter, 351. Ephrmm signifies the understanding of the Word in the church, 374. EpictJRUS, 926. Epistles of the Apostles, 503. An epistle written by Paul while he sojourned ia the world, but not publishedj 950. EgiMLiHRiUM. Man is in spiritual equili- brium, which is his free will, 546, 673, 676. There is no substance in the created universe which does not tend to INDEX. 1 167 equilibrium in order that it may be in freedom, 697. Error. Fundamental error of the church at this day with regard to redemption, 21S. 787. With regard to the Holy Spirit, 255. Essi; in iiself is Jehovah God, 34. The Esse of God, or the Divine Esse cannot be described, because it is above every idea of human thought, 31, 45. The Divme Ejse is Esse itself, from which all things are, and which must be in all things, that they may be, 31. Divine Good is the Esse of His substance, 837. The will is the esse of man's life, 602. Esse (to be\ fieri (to become), and ex- tstere (to exist) ; the end is the esse, the cause the fieri, and the effect the ex- istere, 344. Esse, unless it be a sub- stance, is only a thing of reasoning, 33- A distinction is to be observed between Esse and Essence, and thence between Existere and Existence as between what is prior and what is posterior ; and what is prior is more universal than what is posterior, 35. See Divine Esse. Essence (The) supposes an esse, and from esse essence is derived, 31, 35. Essence and form make one, as esse and existere, 182. Essence without a form is but a mere thing of reasoning, 045. Essence without form, or form without essence, is not any thing ; for essence his no quality except from form, nor is form a subsisting entity except from essence, 518. Charity is the essence of faith and faith is the I'omi of charity ; just as good is the essence of truth and truth is the form of good, 51S. The essence of love is to love others outside of itself, t') desire to be one with thein, and to make them happy from itself. 74. The Essence of the faith of the New Church is truth from the Word, 401. Externals derive their essence from in- ternals, and both of these derive theirs from the inmost, 353. Every one acts what he acts from his essence, 246. The essence or nature which any one ap- propriated to himself in the world can- not be changed after death, 868. See Divine Essence. EssENTiAL-s (The three), which are called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the Lord are one, 241, 2'^4, 2S7. 290. The Lord, charity, and faith are the three essentials of salvation, 627 ; they are also the essentials of the church, 960. All the essentials of the church are in spiritual light, 283. There are general and also particular.essentials ot one thing, and together these make one essence, 284. The general essen- tials of one man are his soul, body, and operation. 2'^4. Establishment op order. See Ar- rangement. Eternal is infinite as to time, 600. To eternity is predicated of things progres- sive without end, 50. Ethknitv of God, 44-58. The eternity of God has relation to times, 44. God's infinity in relation to times is caled eternity, 50. By eternity the angels perceive Divinity as to Existere, and also as to Wisdom, 51. See Immensity and Infinity. Ether. There is ether in the land and water bv means of which the terraque- ous globe is held together and made to revolve, 49. Ether flows in and flows out without affecting, 4S2. No quality of the ether can be elevated to any quality of the aura, 54. See Atmos- pheres. EvENiNO and night mean the last time of the church, 1026. The state of the church before the Coming of the Lord is called evening in the Word, 172. Evil. h.id its rise in man; to think that God created evil, is horrible beyond ex- pression, 691. All evil is from hell, 546. The evils which are of hell should first be removed before man can will the goods which are of heaven, 458, 615. 616, 737, 740, 817. Evil resides in every man's will from his birth, 615 The evils into which man is born are in the wi.l of the natural man by generation, 794- M.in inclines by birth to all kinds of evils, and from the inc'inalion he lusts after them, 815. Sllyare from the conjunction of evil and falsity, 577. Truth cannot be conjoined with evil, nor good with the falsity of evil. If truth is adjoined to evil, it becomes no longer truth but falsity, because it is falsified; and if good is adjoined to the falsity of evil, it becomes no longer good but evil, because it is adulterated, 577- ExiNANiTiON. The state of exinanitinn of the Ixird was the same as the s'.ate of His humiliation before the Father, I'^S. The state of His exinaiiition was the state of His progress to union, 177. Without this state the Lord could not have been crucified, 166. See Glorifi- cation- Existence. See Existere. ExiSTGKR. An existere, unless it be from an e-ise. is not any thing, 35. A dis- tinction is to be observed between exis- tere and existence, as between what is prior and what is posterior, 35. See Es.'ie. Divine Truih is the Existere of God's substance, 837. God is not only Esse in itself, but also Existere in itse'f, 35 Expanse ( Thk) arises from the centre and not the reverse, 64. The spiritual world is not in extension but in its ap- pearance, 674. Concerning the centre and the expanse of nature and of life, Expiation signifies the removal of sins, into which man would rush if Jehovah not clothed should be approached by him, 227. Extensk. The expanse around the Sun of the angelic heaven is not an extense, but still isCui.tv (Thk) for knowing, understand- ing, and being wise, is connate with man, 476. Man is born a faculty for knowing and an inclination for loving, 84. God preserves always with man, even the wicked, a faculty for under- standing .Tiul an inclination for loving, 109. 1 here are two faculties or parts of the mind, the will and the understand- ing, 806, .S72. Description of the prop- erties of each by itself, 873. In every man of sound mind there is a faculty of receiving wisdom from the Lord, also a faculty of receivinglove, 963 Man has the fncully of conjoining himself with the Lord and the Lord with himself for ever, 964 Every man, from any nation whatever, has the faculty of re- ceiving redemption, 975. Whence comes the faculty of knowing, of under- standing, and of speaking rationally, Faith is the form of chanty, 518, 552. Faith is no other than truth, 245, 493, 495, 504, 534, <;49; it is truth in its light, 496. Faith is spiritual sight, 36, 491, 492. Faith is nothing but a com- plex of truths shining in the mind of man. 493. Fa'th is to think aright con- cerning God and concerning the essen- tials of the church, 826. Faith is the truth that man believes from the Lord, 960. By f.iith is meant all the truth which man from the Lord perceives, thinks, and speaks, 514, 570. Faith is conjunction with God by truths which are of ihe understanding and thence of the thought, 522. Faith and truth make one thing; for the good of laith is as a soul, and truths make its body, 821. The faith of the church respecting God is like the soul of the body, and doctii- nals are like its members, 295. 'J he faith of every church is as seed from which all its dogmas spring, 297, 4K2. Such as the faith of a church is, such is its doctrine, 295. Faith enters into the parts of a system of theology, one and ;tll, as blood enters into the members of the body, 491. 'J'he true faith is the one only fajth ; it is faith in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ, and is with those who beiieve Him to be the Son of God, the God of Heaven and Earth, and one with the Father, 537. Faith in the one and true God causes good to be good in internal form also; and on the other hand, faith in a false god causes INDEX. 1 169 good to be good in outward form only, which is not good in itself, 871. Saving faith is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ, 47.>-484, 547- '"'le life artd essence of lailh are in the Lord and from the Lord, 493. It is a law of order that man should procure to himself faith by means of truths from the Word ; and also that man should justify himself, 112. The truths of which faith in the Divii>e Human of the Lord God the Saviour consists, are all like stars which manifest and form that faith by their lights, 234 Man takes this faith from the Word by means of his natural light. in which it is knowledge, thought, and persuasion ; but the Lord causes it to become, in such a's believe in Him, con- viction, trust, and confidence. 234. How natural faith, which is only persuasion, becomes spiritual, which is real acknowl- edgment, 14. Faith is formed by man's going to the I^ord. by learning truths from the Word, and by living according to truths, 493, 494. An abundance of truths, coherent as if bundled together, exalts and perfects faith. 496. The truths of faith however numerous they are. and however diverse they appear, make one from the Lord, 501. Faith in its essence is spiritual, but nat- ural in its form. 4S2. When man is in spiritual faith he is also in natural faith : for spiritual faith is inwardly in natural faith, 505. Faith in the Lord is not indeterminate, but it has its terminus, whence it comes and whither it goes. 4S4. Faith and a life according to it establish and make the speci.il church which is with the individual man, 373. Nothing of faith is from man but from the Lord alone, 507. Man can acquire faith for himself, 504. See Charity and Faith. Faith of the Ne\v Church. It is as a gate through which entrance is made into a temple, i. Universal form of this faith, I, 2. Particular form, 2, 3. The Esst of the faith of the New Church is, i. Confidencfe in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Chrilit; 2. Trust that he who lives well and believes aright is saved by Him. The Essence of this faith is Truth from the Word. Its Existence is. i. Spiritual Sight: 2. Accordance of truths ; 3. Conviction ; 4. Acknowledgment inscribed on the mind, 491. The first element of faith in the Lord is the acknowledgment that He is the Son of God, 4S7. '&e.& Son of God. The faith of the New Church is, that there has been but one Divine Person, thus one God. from etemtty ; that there is a Divine Trinity united in one Per- son ; this faith is in a visible God, acces- sible, and with Whom there can be con- junction, in Whom, as the soul in the body, is the invisible God, inaccessible, and with Whom there cannot be con- junction. The faith of the New Church attributes to the visible God in Whom is the invisib'e all power to impute, and also to work out the effects of sal- vation ; it is in one God Who is at once Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour ; it teaches repentance, reformation, re- generation, and thus remission of sins, with man's co-operation: an imputa- tion of good and evil, and at the same time of f.iith in Jesus Christ Himself, God, Redeemer, and .Saviour ; also free will on man's part both to apply him- self for reception and for co-operating; it conjoins faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor as two inseparable things, and so it makes religion, 865. It is now lawful to enter intellectually into the arcana of faith, 725. See Nevt Church- Faith of thb Oi-d Church, or of thk Church of the Present Day. In this faith, which in its internal form is a faith in three Gods, and in its external form in one. there are troops of falsi- ties, 298. When a belief in three Gods was introduced into the Christian churches, which was done at the t-me of the Nicene Council, they banished all the good of charity and all the truth of faith, for these two are wholly incon- sistent with the mental wors'iip of three Gods and the oral worship at the same time of one God, 850. The faith of the present day prevents the truths which are in the Word from being seen clearly, 821. The idea of three Gods induces a stupid faith, 304. Faith in an invisible God is actually blind, because the human mind does not see its God, 4S3. That God is the cause of evil comes by se- quence from the faith of this day, 68g. Faith without charity is not faith, 571. Faith is not faith unless conjoined with charity, 477, 503, 520, 534. 555- . f^'^h separate from chanty is like the light in winter, and faih conjoined with charity is like the light in spring, 549, 821. Actual repentance finds very great re- sistance in the Relormed Christian world, primarily because of their belief that repentance and charity contribute nothing to salvation, but faith alone, — to the exclusion of man's co-operating from himself or as from himself, 757. These three, faith, imputation, and Christ's merit, are one in the present church, and may be called a tnune ; for if one of the three were now taken away, the present theology would become nothing, 844, 843. This faith is not Christian, because it is at variance with the Word, and the imputation belong- ing to this faith is vain, because the merit of Christ cannot be imputed, 844. This faith is described in the Apocalypse by a dragon ; and that of I I/O INDEX. the New Church, by a woman encom- passed by the sun, upon whose head was a crown of twelve stars, 866. Merely natural faith, or faith destitute of spiritual essence, is not faiih, but persuasion only, or knowledge, 483, 491. A man who is merely natural and dead as to faith, can indeed speak and teach concerning faith, charity and God, but not from faith, from charity, and from God, 548. The practice or speaking from memory and recollection, although not at the same time from thought and intelligence, produces a species of faith, 128. If the faith is false it plays the harlot with every truth in the Word, and perverts and falsifies it, and makes man insane in spiritual things, 2^)6. There is a true faiih, a spurious faith and a hypocritical faith, 535, 537, 540. Spurious faith, in wliich falsities are commingled with truths, 491, 452, 540. Hypocriiical or Pharisaic faith is a faith of the mouth and not of the heart, 492, 49.'i 54V Meretricious faith is from truths falsified, and adulterous faith from goods adulterated, 491, 492. Closed or blind faith is faith in mvstical things, which are believed although it is not known whether they are truth or falsi- ties, or whether they are above reason or contrary to it, 491, 492. Wandering faith is a faith in more Gods than one. 492. Purblind faitli is a faith in any other than the true God, and with Christians in any but the Lord God the Saviour, 492, 493. Visionary and pre- posterous faith is the appearance of falsity as truth from ingenious confir- mation, 493, 493. There is no faith with the evil, 545-^49- Fai.laoes spread in the church; their origin, i)6. Appearances of truth may be taken for naked truths, which when confirmed become fallacies, 3S2. Falsify (To) the Word is to t.ake truths from it and apply ihem to confirm falsi- ties, 279. Examples of truth falsified, 279. Falsities. All falsities are from hell, 117 Every one who is in' falsity from evil, is as to his spirit actually in hell with the devils, 109. From one falsity flow falsities in a continued series, 219. Fn the light of the world, separate from the light of the higher regions, falsities ap- pear as truths, and truths as falsities, 71. Truths are not only covered over by falsities, but they are also obliterated and reiected, 374. With those who read the ^\ ord from the doctrine of a false religion, the truths of the Word are as in tne sliadow of night, and falsities as in ihe light of day, 363. Confirmed fal- sity remains and cannot be rooled out, 3S3. Evils accompany faNities and cling to them, 413. Falsity which is not of evil can be conjoined with good, 577. Falsity when it touches the truth, !s like the point of a needle touching the fibril of a nerve or the pupil of the eye, 386. Falsity does not see truth, but truth sees falsity, 102 1. Falsities close up th^ un- derstanding, 725. Origin of many hor- rible falsities in the church of the present day, 7S7, 788. Fame as painted by the ancients, s.iz- Families are recognized from their first father, 164. Spiritual families, 535. Fanaticism. Origin of the many fanati- cal and hence heretical opinions which have been introduced into the world, in everj' country where there is any religion, 98, 154, 845. Fantasy is produced by sensual thought, while ideas from any interior thought are shut out, 136. Fantasies are ideal thought. 656. In fantasy the apparent is believed to be reality when it is not, 4S3. By fantasies infernal spirits can represent magnificent things, by closing up the interiors of the mind and open- ing only the exteriors, 310, 8S5, 1080. Those are in the fantasy of their lust who think interiorly in themselves, and indulge the imagination excessively by talking to themselves ; they almost sep- arate the spirit from connection with the body, and from vision they inundate the understanding, S85. Fantasy about pre-eminence, 879. Father, .Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three essentials of one God, which make one, as the soul, body, and oper- ation of man, 284. The Father and the Son, that is, the Divine and the Human in the Lord, are united like soul and body, 158, 315 ; the union is reciprocal, 159. No one can sec the Father, nor have cognition of Him, nor come to Him, nor lielievein Him, unless through His Human, 155, i<)5, 316. By the Father is meant the Divine Good, 148. It is lawful in a natural sense to call any one father, but not in a spiritual sense, 360. The child has the soul and life from the father, 142. Fatuous light is the light of the confir- mation of 'falsity, 275. Tliey who are in fatuous spiritual li^ht, 472. Fault. The Lord is not to blame if man is not saved; man is in fault in not co- operating, 787, 966. It is wonderful that any one can find fault with another who is intending evil, and say, " Do not do that, because it is sin," and yet it is hard for him to say so to himself; why, 75'' Feasts. The dinners and suppers of charity are among those only who are in mutual love from similar faith, 613. The feasts in the ancient churches were feasts of charity, as also in the primitive Christian chuicli, 972. With the Chris- tians of the primitive church feast* were instituted that they might be glad INDEX. II7I from the heart together and be conjoined with one another, 613. The spiritual sphere which reigned in those feists was a sphere of love to the Lord and ol love toward the neighbor, 613. Consoca- tions of minds were signified by the ban- quets among the children of Israel, and also by their eating together of the sacri- fices near the tabernacle, 613. Feasts in heaven, looi, ioo2. Febi. (I'o). It has been provided by the Lord that man should feel in himself as his those things which flow in from without, and should therefore produce them of himself as his own, although nothing of them is his, 511. As far as evil is removed, good is regarded and felt. Vk). FiBRiLLOus (The^ or medullar)' substance of the brain consists of perpetual bun- dlings of fibrils issuing from the glandules ot' the cortical substance, 498. Field in the Word means doctrine, 497. Fk'.mt. Good cannot fight from iiselt. but tights by truths; nor can evil fiuht from it>e f, but it fights from its falsities, .S02, 803. Man i^ to fight wholly asof himself ; why, 803. It is the Lord who fights for man, and against the evil spirits who are infesting hun, 803, 805. Figs signify the goods of charity and hence of faith in the natural or external man, 648. FiG-LEWF.s signify truths of the natural man which were falsified in succession, 854. Fig-Tree signifies natural good, 813. Finite. All that is created is called finite with respect to God Who is Infinite, that is. not finite, 48, 55, 670. The Infi- nite cannot create any thing but wh-it is finite, 670. What is infinite appears to man as not any thing, because man is finite, and thinks from what is finite ; wherefore, if the finite which adheres to his thought were taken away, it would seem to him as if the residue were nut any thing, 4S. The finite is by no means capable of seeing God's infinity, 45. Finite things are receptacles of the infinite, 56. Fire in the Word in its spiritual sense signifies love ; the fire of the altar and the fire of the candlestick in the taber- nacle, among the Israelites, represented nothing else But the Divine love, 64 Fire signifies the Divine good of love, J13, 914. By infernal fire, in the Word, IS meant enjoyment in evil, 631. 'I'he fire seen in hell is anger kindling against those who contradict, 263. The sun from which nature takes its rise and its essence is pure fire, 17, 72, 672 There are two properties in fire, that of burn- ing and that of shining, 70. First (The) and the Beginning, from which are all things, is the Divine Esse, 38. In the Word Jehovah is called the First and the Last; why, 144, 164, 390. There is everywhere a first, a mediate, and an ultimate; and the first tends and passes through the mediate, to its ultimate, 347, 343- First in time and first in end, 478. The first in end is that to which all things look, 593. That which is first in time is not the first actually, but apparently, 47S. That which is first in end is actually the first, 478. Faith is first in time, but charity is first in end, 478- First use of bap- tism is introduction into the Christian church, ^o*). See Ultimate. Fishes signify the truths in the natural man, 831. See also 53. Five. By five is meant some, 332. Flame. By the flame of a sword turn- ing itself (Gen. iii. 24), is signified Divine Truth in ultimates, like the Word in the sense of the letter, which can be so turned, 3S7. Flame is the all of light, 559. A flame is nothing but smoke set on fire, 2(13. Flattery. Origin of all flattery, 799, 179, 249. Flesh (The) signifies the good of love and charity, 519. It signifies spiritual good, 953. Flourishing. See Blossom. Flowkrs and Bi.osso.ms. The blossoms which precede the fruit are means for straining the sap, which is its blood, and of separating its grosser from its purer parts, 792. There are flowers which open at the rising of the sun, and close themselves at his setting; why, 443. Food. Heavenly food in its essence is no other than love, wisdor. , and use together, 9S5. Food for the body is given to every one in heaven according to the U'^e he promotes, 9S5. See Idle. The nourishment of the soul is from no other than spiritual food, 694- See A feats ■ Forest means knowledge, 333. Foreskin signifies the filthy loves of the flesh, 905. Form. God is the very and the only and thus the first Form, and His Form is the very Human, 34, 65. The human form is nothing else than the image of heaven, 997. All the angelic heaven is in the greatest effigy a form of Divine order, 104. Love operates in form and by form, 65. Forms receiving faith, truth, jOve, charity, and good have been cre- ated ; human and angelic minds are these forms, 71. Those things which flow in from the Lord are received by man according to his form, 516. By form is meant man's state as to his love and wisdom together ; the form or re- cipient state induces variations, 516. Man's form which is induced by the stales of his life varies the operations, 517. The man who divides the Lord, II72 INDEX. charity, and faith, is not a form receiv- ing but a form destrnying tliem, 517. Form is not a subsisting entity except from essence, 518. Without form there is no quality, 1014. Quality is derived from no other source than from form, 9;?. See Essence, Substance- Formations. How they are effected, 6<). Formation of faith, 4 .j, 494- Formula Concordia (Thp) strongly con- firms that the human nature of Christ is exalted to Divine majesty, 161 ; and that in Christ, God is Man, and Man God, iSft, 236 That man has no free will in spiritual things is taught in the book of the church of the Kvangelical, called " Formula Concordias ;" to which book and thus to which faith the priests when they are inaugurated, make oath, 505, fi6i, 6S3. The " Formula Con- cordii "' puts oral confession in the place of repentance, 73.'i. It says that It is damnable idolatry if the trust and faith of the heart be placed in Christ not only according to His Divine but also according to His Human nature. 1067. It admits the direful dogma of predestination, iof)7. Foundations (The) of the wall of the New Jerusalem signify the doctrinals of the New Church, from the sense of the letter of the Word, 343, 331- Fountain (The) nf Jacob signifies the Word, 322. Drinknig water from a fountain means to be instructed con- ceniing truths, and by means of truths, concerning goods, and so to be wise, 927. Fowus. Wonderful things about them, 1 7. See Birds. Foxes. Diabolical love causes its lusts to appear in the distance in hell like vari- ous species of wild beasts, some like foxes 77- . . . , Frankincense signifies spiritual good. Free (The) in the Word are those who are conjoined with the Lord, 169. See Slitvts Frek Will is. that man can will and do and can think and speak to all appear- ance as of himself, 690. As long as man lives in the world, he is kept in the middle between heaven and hell, and there in spiritual equilibrium, which is freewill, 673, ^-71, 675. The origin of free will is from the spiritual world where man's mind is kept by the Lord, 673. God is perpetually present and continually strives and acts in man, and also touches his free will, but never vio'ates it, iiS, 712. It is from freewill thit man is man and not a beast. 6')8. If man were deprived of free will in the several things which he wills and thinks, he would no more breathe than a statue, 67^ Man has free will in spiritual things, 677, 67S, 679. Man has free- will in natural things ; but this he has from his free will in spiritual things, 670, 6.S0. The freedom of determination and the will in man may be called living effort; for when will ceases, action ceases, and when freedom of determina- tion ceases, will ceases, 681. Without free will in spiritual things, the Word would be of no use, and consequently the church would be nothing. 6XI-6S5. Without free will in spiritual things there would not be any thing pertaining to m.m by which the Lord could conjoin Himself with him, 68|;. That there may be reciprocal conjunction free choice is given to man, from which he can walk in the way to heaven or the way to hell, 525. Man has free will which he can turn t<> good use or evil use, lo.;;. If there were no free will in spiritual things, God would be the cause of evil, and so there would be no imputation, 6S9, 690. Every man mav know that he has free will in spiritual things from the mere observation ol his own thought, 607. Free will itself, in spiritual things, resides in man's soul in all perfection ; from that it flows into his mind, into its two parts which are the will and understanding, and through these into the senses of the body and into speech and actions, 698. If men had not free will in spiritual things, all in the whole world might have been led in a single day to believe in the Lord, 701. Every man, evil as well as good, has spiritual free will, 710. Frekdom is of man's will ; and because it is of the will it is also of his love, 693. All freedom that is from the Lord is freedom indeed, but that which is from hell and is with man therefrom is bondage. 695 P^ery spiritual thing of the church that enters in freedom and is received from freedom, remains : but not the reverse, 693-696, 701 It is this freedom of man in which the Lord dwells with him, in his soul, 6';9, j'^j. If any one denies that there is free will in spiritual things, he changes sp ritual freedom into merely natural and at leui-lh into infernal freedom, 695. When the freedom of s(>eech and of writing is re- strained, freedom of thought also, that is to say, the freedotn of investigating matters in their full extent, is kept in restraint at the same time, 1077. Friendship is natural conjunction, but love is spiritual conjunction, 625- The friendship of love contracted with a man without regard to his quality as to the spirit, is detrimental after death, 625- 627. Wherein consists friendship of love, 625. By the friendship of love is me.ant interior friendship; it is distinct from external friendship, which is only of the person, and which exists for the sake of various enjoyments oi the body INDEX. 1 173 and the senses, and for the sake of dealings of various kinds, 625. Ex- ternal friendship may be formed with any onCj 625. Friends who differ as to the spirit are gradually parted, and this is so done that they are not sensible of it, 626. Tho^e who in the world con- tracted with each other the friendship of love, cannot like oihers be separated according to order, and a>isigned to the society correspondent with their life ; for they are bound topether interiorly as to the spirit, nor can they be severed, because they are like branches in',;rafted into brandies, 626. It is wholly different wth those who love the good in another ; these, if they do not observ'e the same things in the person after death, im- mediately withdraw from the friendship, 627. The friendship of love among the evil is intestine hatred of each other, 630-633. What is friendship among thieves, robbers,^ and pirates, 632. Of what kind is fiiendship among those who have led civil and moral lives for the sake of varifius uses as ends and yet have not curbed the lusts residing in the internal man. 632. See also 76. FRor.s signify reasonings from the desire of falsifying truths, S$t. Fructification. Perpetual increase of good and thence of love, 964. Fruits are the good works which the Lord does by the man, and which the man does out of himself from the Lord, 65S. Full, Fulness. The Word is in its ful- ness in the sense of the letter, 362. In this sense Divine truth is in its fulness, 38S. The Lord alone, in the whole spiritual world, is fu ly Man, 173. The fulness of time in which the Lord came into the world, and in which He is to come, is a consummation, 1017. The universe, as to essence and order, is the fulness of God, 103. -AH things are full of God, and every one takes his portion from that fulness, 513. Functions, or Offices. There are with the Lord two offices the office of Priest and the office of King ; whatever the Lord did and operated from Divine love or Divine good. He did and operated from His priestly office ; but what- ever from Divine wisdom or Divine truth, from His kingly office, 196.- There are furxtions in heaven, 932. Gabriel and Michael are not the names of two persons in heaven, but by those names are meant all in heaven who are in wisdom concerning the Lord and worship Him, 436. Games. Literary schools [or games ludi], 934. Games and shows in heaven, 1004. Garden signifies wisdom, 333- A garden signifies intelligence, 649, 666, Garments in the Word signify tniths, and garments of white and of fine linen signify Divine truths, 915, 1079. Gar- ments in the spiritual world, 1000, 1072. Garment (tunica) or vesture of the Lord si.enifies the spiritual sense of the Word ; their dividing His garments and cast- ing the lot upon His vesture signified that they dispersed all the truths of the Word, but not its spiritual sense, 21^. A spirit thinks himself to be such as his dress is, 8SS. Gates. Baptism and the Holy Supper are like two gates through which man is introduced to eternal life, 967. By Baptism, which is the first gate, every Christian is intromitted and introduced into what the church teaches from the Word respecting the other life; all of which serves as means by which man may be prepared for heaven and led to it. The otlier gate is the Holy Supjier; through this, every man who has suffered himself to he prepared and led by the Lord is intromitted and introduced into heaven There are no other universal gates, 966. Gatheked What is meant when it is s.iid in the Word of those who die, that they are gathered to their own, 8i2._ Gathkrin(;s (Social) in the primitive church were among such as called them- selves brethren in Christ ; they were therefore aN^emb ies of charity, because there was spiritual brotherhood, 614. There are at this day assemblies of friendship, but there are as yet no gath- erings of charity, 614. The social gath- erings wlu-re a friendship emulating charily does not join minds together, are mere pretences of friendship, and deceptive attestations of mutual love, 614. General. Particulars adapt themselves to their general, and the general disposes them into form so that they may agree, 79. Particulars taken together are called a general, 99. In the whole man there are general things and particular things, and the general include the particular therein, and they join themselves to- gether by such a connection that one is of another, 99. Generat'on of men, 151, 164. See Soul. In the Word natural generations signify spiritual generations, 700. All that is said of natural generation can be said of spiritual generation, 791. Genesis. The first chapters were tran- scribed from the ancient Word by Moses, 406. Genrvieve. 1085. Genius of the men of the most ancient church, 336. A common genius reigns everywhere among peoples speaking the same language, 1077. Gentiles. Ancient Gentiles acknowU edged Jove as the supreme God, so 1 174 INDEX. called perhaps from Jehovah, 12, 401. The ancient gentiles, because they thought materially. of God, and so of God's attributes also, not only made three pod< but more, even as many as a hundred ; for thev made a god of everj- attribute, Si4. Thev who believe in one God, and live according to the precepts of their religion, are saved bv means of their faith and life, 171. The Gentiles of every mode of worship are averse- to Christianity solely on account of the faith in three Gods therein, 303 Afri- cans and Gentiles in the spiritual world, 109 1. %tK Nations and People. Geomktrv teaches that there is nothing complete and perfect unless there is a trine, 5!;5. There are various series in geometry which go on to infinitv, 54. Ghrmnns. Character of the Germans, 1077. The German nation devotes itself hitle to matters "f judgment, but rather to those of memory. 1077. The Ger- mans keep the spiritual things of the church inscribed upon the memory, and seldom elevate them into the higher understanoing, but only admit them into the lower, from which ihey reason abmit them ; thus they do differently frnm free nations, 107S. A German, a native of Saxony, 1S5. Germany, ?7j, 1076. Germination. Whence its beginning and continuance, 701. Glandular substance of the brain, 498. Gr.AUCiiM \, 492. Glohe (terraqueous), 55. By what it is held tocelher and made to revolve, 49. Sec Ethfr. Glorification (Thh) of the Lord is the unition of the Human of the Lord with the Di\-ine of His Father. This was done successively and was fully com- pleted by the passion of the cio.ss, 212, 214, ijR. State of g'orification, 16^. See ExiHiinition. The l^rd was m the state of glorification when He was transfi'-'ured be'ore His three disciples, i6^. G'orification or celebration 01 the Lord, S38, ogi. Glokifv. The I^rd asked the Father that He would glorify His Name, that is. His Human; 10 iilorily is to make Divineby union with Himself, 177. The Lord glorified His Human, that is made it Divine, in the same manner in which He regenerates man, that is, makes him spiritual, 167, 91.3- The Lord after temptaiion glorifies man, that is, renders him spiritual, K05. Gliiry. By glory is signified the spirit- ual sense of the Word, 330, 39^, 1037; and its transparence through the sense of its letter, 3.)^- Glorv, in the Word, when U'^ed concerning the Lr rd, signifies Divine irulh united to Divii e good, 214. The glory in which the Lord is to come ■igniiies Divine Truth in its light, in which the spiritual sense of the Word is, 1041. Why it issaid in Isaiah (iv. 5), Upon all the glory a covering, 346. Goal, 967. Goats. The Lord separated the evil from the good, and the goats from the sheep, 156. Comparison with rank he- goats, 449. God is one in essence and in person, 2. The Sncred Scripture not only teaches that there is a God, but also that God is one, 8. There is a universal influx from God into the souls of men, that there is a God, and that He is one, 9. There is no nation having religion aiid sound reason which does not acknowl- edge a God, and that God is one. 11. As to what the one God is, nations and people have differed and still differ from several causes, 13. Human reason, from many things in the world, may, if it will, percei\-e or conclude that there is a God, and that He is one, 14. Angels do not say Gods, and they cannot, 41. The universe is like a stage, ujon which are continually exhibited testimonies that there is a God, and that He is one, 14. (lod Himself, such as He is in the inmosts of the Word, cannot be seen by any creature, 7 God dwells in every use, because He dwells in the end, 21. See Uses. God is the all of the church, 22, 2X7, 433. The one God is Substance itself and Form itself, 33, 124. His Form is the verv Human, 33. God is not only Esse in itself, but also Existere in itself, 3<;. God is the Itself, the Only, and the First, 35. God b called the Alpha and the Omega, 33. A God from God is not possible, 37, 512. God is infinite, since He is and exists in Himself, and all things in the universe are and exist from Him, 45. God was before the world, 46, 51, 105- If is vain to wish to have cognition of what God is in His esse or in His substance ; but it is enough to acknowledjie Him from finite, that is, created things, in which He is infinitely, 4'S God, s nee the world was made, is in space without s|wce, ard in time without time, 48, 49, 411. God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, consequently Good itself and Truth itself, 6f>, h-j. Gf>d, because He is Love itself and Wisdom it>el , is Life itself, which is Life in itself, 69. God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipres- ent by means of the wisdom of His love, 91. His power and His will are one; and because He will-- nothing but what is good, therefore He can do nothing but what is good, 95. God is the S.ime ; not the same simply, but infinitely ; that is, the .Same from eternity to eternity ; all variableness is in the recipient, 41, 4a, S16. God is Order, and at the creation He intri>d"ced order into the univrrse and into all and every part of it, 93. INDEX. II75 God perceives, sees, and knows aM and every thing, even to the most minute, wh ch is done according to order ; and thence also what is done contrary to order, 98-102. God is omnipresent from the firsts to the lasts of His order, 102, 103. God, Who is one, descended and became Man for the j>urpose of accom- plishing the work of redemptioii, 144, 357. God could not redeem man, ex- cept by the assumed Human, 143. God Himse'f, the Creator of the Universe, descended in order to beccmie the Re- deemer, and thus Creator anew, 854. God, although He descended as the Divine Truth, still did not separate the Divine Good. n'i. God assumed the Human according to His Divine order, I4"-'. God came into the world as the Word : then God, by the Human, which was Divine Truth, put on all power, 357. Thus God became Man, and Man God, in one person, 161, lojj. In Christ, Man is God, and God Man, 161-163. Besides the Lord Jesus Christ there is no God, 429. God the Sa- viour Jesus Christ is the visible God in Whom is the invisible God, 4*^2, 865, 1050. All who acknowledge and worship one God, the Creator of the universe, entertain the idea of God as a Man, logi. He who forms to him- self an idea of God as being the Sun of the universe, will surely from that idea see and acknowledge His om- nipresence, omniscience, and omnipo- tence, 1092. God is angry w.th no one ; He does not avenge, tempt, punish, cist into hell, nor ccmdemn ; these things are as far from God as heaven is from hell, and infinitely farther, 227. Grace on the part of God, as it is infi- nite, is also eternal, 273. God is Mercy itself, 384 Every one is allotted his place in the heavens according to his idea of. God, 2!*o, 827: th.it is, as it weie, the touchstone by which are tested the gold and silver, that is, good and truth, as to their quality with man, 280. Unless in thou'.;ht God is ap- proached as Man. every idea of God perishes falling like the sight directed out upon the universe, that is into empty nothingness, or into nature or to wliat is met within nature, 755, 1050. All th ngs have their being, live, and are moved in God and iVom Him, 908, 909. Whoever denies God is a'ready among the condemned, and after death is gath- ered to his companions, 24. GoDO.-tHAiCUs, 68f', J064. Gc'us. Many gods of ihe Gentiles were no other th.in men ; some of whom they worshipped first as saints, afterwards as dNnnities, and lastly as gods, 429. Gog signifies external worship without internal, 334. Gold in the Word signifies good, 337 ; heavenly [celestial] good, which is of the highest heaven, 338, 813. Gold signifies internal good, 802. The gold ofSheba (Ps. Ixxii. 13-15) is the wis- dom from Divine truth, 956. Mice of gold, 337, 802. Good. All that proceeds from love is called good, 67. The enjoyment by which love manifests itself, e.ich one calls good, 67. Every good forms itself by truths, and also clothes itself with them, and thus distineuishes itself from other goods, 6g. What good without truth is, 147. All the good of love and charity is from God, 71, 107 God is Good Itself, 67. In good God is omni- present, continually urging and impor- tuning to be received ; and if He is not received still He does not withdraw, for if He were to withdraw, man would in.stantly die, yes, would lapse into nothingness, 691, 1026, 1035. No one can do any good from the love of good except from God, 466, Goods are man- ifold : in general there are spiritual good and natural good, and both are con- joined in genuine moral good, 576. A man is to be loved according^ to the quality of the good which is in him. Wherefore good itself is essentially She neighbor, 595, 601, 602. See Neighbor. Good is in man, and every work which proceeds from him is good, when the Lord, charity, and faith reside in his internal man, 529. Everv good with man has conjunction with such in heaven as are in similar good, 817. Good which is good in outward form only, is not good in itself, S71. They who deny God are not willing, and therefore are not able, to receive any good from any other source than from their proprium; and whatever proceeds from this is spiritually evil, however good it seems naturally, 545. Evil and good cannot be together : and as far as evil is removed, good is regarded and felt, 460. He is good who has a good will, and still more he whose under- standing favors it, S07. Good and Truth. All good resides in the will, and all truth in the under- standing, 147. The understanding is the receptacle of truth, and the will is the receptacle of good. 377. Good is of the will and truth is of the understand- ing 874. Good is the very esse of a thing and truth is its existere there- from; nothing exists in heaven and nothing in the world that does not have relation to these two. 575. It is accord- ing to Divine order for good and truth to be conjoined and not separated, 576. The Lord continually wills to implant truth and good, or faith and charity, in every man, 246. In ever>' thing of^ the Word there is the marriage of good and truth, 377. The marriage of good 11/6 INDEX. and truth in man, 378. Good loves truth, and in return truth loves good, and the one desires to be conjoined with the other, 576. Good alone or truth alone is nothing ; but by marriage they exist and become something, 837. See Divine Good and Divine Truth. Goodness. Natural goodness is of the flesh alone, born of one's parenis; but spiritual goodness is of the spirit, being born anew of the Lord, 753. They who do good from natural goodness only and not from religion at tlie same time, are not accepted after death, 753. Good Works are to do well from willing well, 529. Charity and faith are to- gether in good works, 528, 529. Char- ity and good works are two distinct things, like willing well and doing well, 603-605. GoTTENUURG, 237, 238. GoVEKNMFNT (The) of three Divine per- sons in heaven would be like the govern- ment of three kings in one kingdom, 243- Grace (Divine) is an attribute of the Di- vine Essence, 273. Grace on the pari of God, as it is infinite is also cteinal. The grace of God may be lost on the part of man if he does not receive it If grace were to depart from God there would be an end of all heaven and all the human race, for which reason grace on the part of God endures for ever, ^273- Great Heaven. It is a law of order that man from his little heaven or little spiritual world should govern his mi- crocosm or his little natural world, as God from His great heaven or the spirit- ual world governs the macrocosm or the natural world m all and every part, iii. Greece, 336, 401. Greek Church. Its error, 255. See Church {Greek) Grikf. While a man suffers as to the body, his soul does not suffer, but only grieves ; and God takers away this grief after the victory, and wipes it away as one wipes tears from the eyes, 213. Grind ( I'o). F.y grinding in a mill is meant to seek from the Word what is serviceable lor doctrine, 272. Grove (By a) is meant intelligence, 333. Gui-F. Between heaven and hell there is a great gulf, 95. The Lord separates the congregated bodies in hell from the societies in heaven by a gulf, 120 GuTTA Serena, closed or blind faith, 492, 824. 862 Gymnasiums in the spiritual world, 59, 228. H. The A which \vas added to the names of Abram and Sarai, signified infinite and eternal, 403. Habit in repentance, 759. Habit makes a second nature, 759. Disusage makes a man old in his habits, induces unwill- ingness, &c , 757. Hail signifies internal falsity, 852. Hair signifies truth in ultimates, and thus the sense of the letter of the Word, 223. Hamburg. Its people in the spiritual world, 1079. Hand The right hand of God signifies omnipotence, 231. The two hands are the ultimates of man, 657. Happiness. Eternal happiness, 977-1013. Eternal happiness does not pertain to place, but to the state of man's life, 91/6. From the enjoyments of the soul with the thoughts ol the mind and the sensations of the body, all together, comes eternal happiness, 1002. Happi- ness from the sensations of the body alone is not eternal but temporal, which comes to an end and passes away, and sometimes becomes unhappiness, 1002. Harlot signifies falsification, 403. Harmony. Pre-established, 936. See Infiux. Hatred breathes revenge; it inwardly cherishes murder, 816. Unless the in- ternal man is regenerated, it is nothing but hatred against all things pertaining to charity, 71)9. Head signifies the intelligence which angels and men have from the Lord by Divine truth, 356. Head (The hinder parts of the). In the spiritual world, the hinder parts of the heads of those who have enjoyment from the love of doing evil are very hol- low, 271, 763. Heart and Lungs. The heart and the lungs are the two essentials and univer- sals by which human bodies exist and subsist, 66. The heart and lungs operate in all and every thing there ; the reason is, because the heart corres|)onds to love, and the lungs to wisdom, 66. The heart corresponds to the will and its goods, and the lungs to the understanding and its truths, 147, 519, 806. The heart, without the respiration of the lungs, does not produce any motion or any feeling, but the respiration of the lungs from the heart does both, 147, 256, 518. Conjunction of the heart with the lungs, and of the lungs with the heart, 526. The heart acts, and the artery by its sheaths or coats co-operates; hence cir- culation. It is similar with the lungs; the air by pressure according to the height of its atmosphere acts, and the ribs first co-operate with the lungs, and immediately after, the lungs with the ribs; hence a respiration of every mem- brane in the body, 7.S4. In the Word heart signifies the will; a new heart means a new will, 806. A new heart means the will of good, 345. See Lungs. INDEX. II77 Heat and Light. From the Sun of the spiritual world proceed heat which in its essence is love, and light which in iis essence is wisdom, 70. The heat and light wliicli proceed from the Lord as a Sun contain in their bosom all the infini- ties that are in the Lord; the heat all the infinities of His Love, and the light all the infinities of His Wisdom, 514. Heat and light are in the world, because they correspond to the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, 66. The natural heat and lijzht serve for clothing and support to spiritual heat and light, that they may pass to man, 121, 508. The light and heat in which angels are, essen- tially are nothing else than the affection of love and the truth of wisdom, 519. Spiritual light in its essence is truth ; and spiritual heat in its essence is good, 570 The heat of the spiritual word aspires to nothing but generation, and through it to a continuance of creation, 7()2. Spiritual heat which is love pro- duces natural heat with men, so f.ir as to enkind e and inflame their faces and limbs, 64. The heat of the blood, or the vital heat of men and animals in gen- eral, is from no other source than the love that niakes their life, 64, 6g6. The heat of polygamic love, loqo. Heaven constitutes ihe Lord's Body, 965. Heaven in the comp'ex is a form of Divine order, 105. 'I'he ange ic heaven is as a head to the church upon earth, in both of which the Lord is the very Soul. 12. The end 01 creation was an angelic heaven from the human race, 21, 105, 1034. The angelic heaven is arranged into societies according to all the varie- ties of ih- love of good, 2^, 51, 625. The whole angelic heaven is arranged into its form and preserved in it from the Divine Love by the Divine Wisdom, 6/. The angelic heaven is in the sight of God as one man, 104, 107, 202, 395, 501, .S12. There is a plenarj- corre- spondence between the angelic heaven and man, 104. There are three heavens, a highest, a middle, and a lowest, 202, 345, 786; these are distinct from each other according to the three degrees of love and wisdom, 812; they are like head, body, and feet in man ; the high- est heaven makes the head, the middle the body, and the ultimate the feet, S12. The essence of the heavens is love, and their existence is wi-dom, 552. The Lord at this day is forming a new an- gelic heaven, and it is forming from those who believe in the Lord God the Saviour and go immediately to Him, 171, 1042-1047. The enjnyments of heaven are those of love toward the neighbor and of love to God, 631. If any wicked person is admitted into heaven where charity and faith in the Lord reign, thick darkness comes over VOL. in. I his eyes, giddiness and madness come upon his mind, pain and torment upon his body, and he becomes as if without life, 859. There are administrative offices in heaven and dignities attached to them ; but they who fill them love nothing more than to do uses, because they are spirit- ual, 5<)o, 932, 1)87. In the heavens there are most gladsome corlipanionships, 9.S3, 1003-1005; repasts, 983-985; concerts, games, theatrical exhibitions, 1003-1005. In the eastern heaven are they who are in love from the Lord, but in the south- ern heaven those who are in wisdom from the Lord, 551. Infants in heaven, 974t 975- rhe Slohammedan heaven, 1087. Artificial heavens, loSo. Hehkew letthrs, 370, 403. Heirs. They who have faith in the Lord and are not in evils of life are called heirs. 975. Hei.iconel'.m. 921, 926, 402. Hfi.ices. The spiritual organism of the mind consists of perpetual helices, 785. Hell exists from men who, by aversion from God, after death became devils andsatans, 131. Hell consists of myriads of myriads, since it consists of all those who, from the cre.ition of the world, by evils of life and falsities of faith have alienated themselves from God, 208. Hell is ordered and arranged into innu- merable societies, according to all the varieties of the love of evil, 54, 625. In the sight of God hell is as one giant, that is, a monster, 107, 210. Those in hell do not acknowledge God, but wor- ship as gods those who have power over others, 77. All who are in hell have been men, 795. Many in hell are skilled in arts unknown in our wor)d, in which they practise with each other how they may attack, ensnare, beset, and assault those who are from heaven, 209. When the Lord came into the world, the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven, 3, 785. At the time of the first Coming of the Lord, the hells had grown up to such a height that they filled all the world of spirits, and not only confused the heaven which is called the' ultimate, but also assaulted the middle heaven, which they infested in a thousand ways, 205, 208, 211, 785. It has been similar at this day, 206. In the spiritual sense murder means all modes of killing and destroying the souls of men ; such things are done by all the devils and satans in hell, with whom they who violate and prostitute the holy things of the church in this world are conjoined, 445. Man by a denial of God is excluded from communion with the angels of heaven ; and when thus ex- cluded, he enters into communion with the satans of hell and thinks in unity with them, 23. In hell all are gathered who love themselves and the world 1 178 INDEX. above all thinf.s, 429. Hell is beneath the earths of the spiritual world, which also are of spiritual origin, and there- fore not in extenbion but in its appear- ance, 674. Hell consists of caverns, which are nothing but eternal work- houses, 415. The smoke seen in the hells arises from falsities confirmed by reasonings, and the fire is anger kind- ling against those who contradict, 2f>3. Infernal fire is murder; hence one is said to he inflamed with hatred, and to burn with revenge, 444. Hl!MIPLE<;iA, 520. Heraclitus, 930. Hbreditakv. Every man inherits from his parents an inc ination to do what is good and just for the sake of himself and the world, and no man inherits inclina- tion to do it for the sake of what is good and just, 606. Hereditary evil is from parents, by whom is transmitted to their children an inclination towards the evil in which they themselves have been, 668, 737, 7jS, 10S3. It depends cm each one of a family to choose whether he will accede to the hereditary inclination or recede from it, 669. Hereditarv evil acts in man and upon man ; if evil should act through the man, he would not be capable of being reformed, nor would he be a subject of blame, 256. 'I'he hereditary evils into which man is born have arisen principally from the love of ruling over all, and the love of possessing the wealth of all, 699, 884, 1083, 1084 ; in ilie^e two loves hereditary evil dwells in its fulness, 1083. Man is not born into evils themselves, but only into an inclination to evils ; having, how- ever, a greater or less proclivity for par- ticular ones ; wheiefore after death no man is judged from any hereditary evil, but from the actual evils which he has himself committed, 73S. The inclina- tion and proclivity to evils, transmitted from parents to their children and pos- terity, are broken only bv the new birth from the Lord, which is called regenera- tion, 738. All the evils to which man inclines by birth are inscribed on the will ol his natural man : these inflow (so far as the man takes from them) into the thoughts, 874. Heresies. From this, that appearances of truth have been taken for genuine truths and confirmed, have sprung all the heresies which have been and still are in the Christian world, 3S2. Heresies themselves do not condemn men ; but confirmations, from the Word and by reasonings from the natural man, of the falsities m heresy ; these and an evil litfe condemn, 382- Heresies have flowed chiefly from such as were sensual, 587. The causes of so many divisions and separations in the church are principally three: 1. The Divine Trinity has not been understood; 2. There has been no just recognition of the Lord; 3. The passion of the cross has been taken for redemption itself, 536. F'rom the faith that there are three Divine persons, each of whom singly is God, have origi- nated enormous heresies concerning God. 37. Heterogeneity torments a devil in heaven, and an angel in hell, 832. Hieroglyphics of the Egj'ptians were correspondences, 335, 338, 1089. Highest things (su/>re>na). What is highest in man's mind is turned upward toward God ; what is mediate therein, outward toward the world ; and the low- est there, downward into the body, 724. If man does not live according to Divine order, still God is with him, but in his highest parts, and gives him the power to understand truth and to will good, 109, 516. Hill signifies the heaven below the high- est heaven, 358. It also means the lower things of the church, 334. HiRtsLiNGS. By hirelings to whom were assigned services of the lowest kind in the outer courts of the temple, are meant those who demand reward because of their merit in matters of salvation, 621. See Merit. HoLiNiiSS (Sanctum). The st^Ie of the Word is such that holiness is in every sentence, and in every word, yes, in some places in the very letters, 323. The name of God is Holiness itself, 4 jj. To pervert and falsify the holy things of the Word, 284. Holiness of the sacra- ment of the Supper, c)5o. HoLV OK Holies (The), where was the ark of the covenant, represented and thence signified the inmost of heaven and the church, 353. HoLV One of Israel (The) means the Lord as to the Divine liuman, 153. In •the Word, by Jehovah is meant the Lord as to the Divine good of Divine love, and by the Holy (Due of Israel is meant the Lord as to the Divine truth of the Divijie wisdom, 3S2. Hi.LV Spirit (The) is not a God by itself, but by it in the Word is meant the Di- vine Operation, proceeding from the one omnipresent God, 23<), 240. The Divine Virtue and Operation which are meant by the Holy Spirit are, in gen- eral, reformation and regeneration, 244. I'y ihe Holv Spirit is properly si'jnified the Di\-ine Truth, thus also the Word ; and in this sense the Lord Himself is also the Holy Spirit, 240. Those things, which are at this day attributed to the Holy Spirit as to a God by Himself, are the operations of Ihe Lord, 253. In the Word of the Old Testament the Holy Spirit is nowhere named, but only the Spirit of Holiness in three places, 2'i2. The Holy Spirit was then for the first INDEX. 1 179 time wlien the Lord came into the world, a62. The life proceed! iic; from the Lord is called the Spirit of Ciod, and in the Word the Holy Spirit, 651. 'I'he Spirit of Jehovah the Father filled Elizabeth (I^uke i. 44, and Zecliariah (i. 67), as also Simeon (ii. 25), which was c:illed the Holy Spirit on account of the Lord Who was already in the world, 262. Hoi.Y Supper (The) was instituted for the sake of consociation with angels, and at the same time conjunction with the Lord ; the Bread becomes in heaven Divine good, and the Wine becomes Divine truth, both from the Lord, 368, 951-959. Such correspondence is from creation, to the end that the angelic heaven and the church on earth, and in general the spiritual world and the nat- ural world, may make one, and that the Lord may conjoin Himself with both at once. 3^8 By the Lord's Flesh, as also by bread, is meant Divine Good ; and by His Blood, as also by wine, is meant Divine truth, 52S, 951-959- The two sacraments. Baptism and the Holy Sup- per, are the holiest things of worship, 947i 950- The Holy Supper is a sacra- ment of repentance, and thus introduc- tion into heaven, 76S. The man who looks to the Lord and repents, is by that most holy thing conjoined with the Lord and introduced inio heaven, S29; the bre.id and wine do not effect this, but love and faith which corTes;)ond to them, 830, 953. Without acquaintance w ith the correspondences of natural wiih spiritual things, no one can know the uses and benefits of the Holy Supper, 947-950. Because real Christianity is now bednning to dawn, and the Lord is now establishmg a New Church meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apoc.i- lypse, it has pleased the Lord to re- veal the spiritual sense of the Word in order that this church mav come into the very use and benefit of the sacra- ments of Baptism and the Holy Supper, 949. Bread and wine in the natural sense, mean the same as flesh and blood, th.1t is, the passion of the cross, 952. In ihe sriritual sense by flesh and bread is meant the good of charity, and by blood and wine the truth of faith ; and in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine Good of love and the Divine Truth of wisdom. 953. The Holy Supper involves three universals. namely, the Lord, His Divine Good, and His Divine Truth; therefore the Holy Supper includes and contains the uni- versals of heaven and the church, 059- ^2. The Lord is in the Holy .Supper in His fulness, w th His whole redemp- tion, 962-964. A 1 who go to the Holy Communion worthily become His re- deemed, 963. The Lord is present and opens heaven to those who approach the Holy Supper worthily ; and He is also present with those who approach un- worthily, but does not open heaven to them ; consequently as Baptism is an introduction into the church, so the Holy Supper is an introduction into heaven, 964-967. They approach the Holy Supper worthily, who have faith in the Lord and are in charity toward the neighbor, thus who are regenerate, 967- 970. By the regenerate who approach the Holv Supper worthily, are meant those wfio are interiorly in the three es.sentials of the church and heaven, but not those who are so exteriorly only, 969. They who approach the Holy Supper worthily, are in the Lord and the Lord is in them ; consequently con- junction is effected by the Holy Supper, 97'~973' The Holy Supper to those who approach it worthily is like a signa- ture and seal that they are sons of God, 974~976. Baptism and the Holy Supper are like two gates through which man is introduced to etenial life, 967, 9'^6. HoMOGKNEOus aflfection conjoins, and heterogeneous affection sejiarates, 832. HoNOK. To houor thy father and thy mother., in a broader sense means to honor the king and magistrates, since they provide for all in general the necessities which parents provide in par- ticular. In the broadest sense it means th.it men should love their country be- cause it supports and protects them, 441. In the spiritual sense by father is meant God, Who is the Father of all; and by mother, the church, 441. In the heav- enly sense by father is meant our Lord Jesus Christ ; and by mother, the com- munion of saints, by which is meant His Church, spread over all the world, 44^- HoRSE signifies the understanding of the Word, 190, 403, 833, 1037. A white horse signifies the understanding of the Word as to truth and good ; a red horse, the understanding of the Word de- striiyed as to good; and a black horse, th;; underst.indingofthe Word destroyed as to truth, igo. A dead horse signifies no understanding of truth, 403, 832. See Fegasus. House. A house similar to the one in which they lived in the world, is pre- pared in the spiritual world, for most of the new comers, 1060. HiM.\N. The Lord from eternity Who is Jehovah, came into the world, that He might subjugate the hells and glorify His Human, i. This Human was the Divine Truth, which He united with Divine Good, 3. As the Divine itself Which was from eternity lives in Itself, so also the Human Which It assumed in time, lives in Itself, 70. God could not make His Human Divine, unless His Human were at first as the human ii8o INDEX. of an infant, and afterwards as the hu- man of a boy, and unless the Human afterwards formed itself into a receptacle and habitation into Which Its Father misht enter, ii6, 140. The human which He assumed in time was not the Divine Esse, 140. Jehovah Himself descended and assumed the Human. Because the Divine cannot be divided, the Divine of the Father was itself the Lord's soul and hfe, 142, 755. God assumed the Human according to His Divine Order. In order that He might become Man actually. He could not but be conceived, carried in the womb, brought forth, educated, and success- ively gain kiunviedges, and by them be introduced into inte.ligence and wisdom, 148, 149. Wherefore, as to ihe Human, He was an infant as an infant, a boy as a boy, &c., with this difference only, that He accomp ishcd lliat progression sooner, more fully, and nu>re perfectly, than others, 149. by the acts of Re- demption the I>ord put off the hum.in from the mother, and put on a Human from the hather; tlicnce it is, that the Human of the Lord is Divine, and th.it in Him Uod is Man, and Man God, 162, 2S7. The Divine of the Father is the Soul of the .Son, a^d the Human of the Son is the Body of the Father, 1S7. The omnipotent Gi>d could not have entered upon the battle with the hells, unless He had previously put on the Human, 211. The Lord did not suffer as to the Divine, but as to the human, 213. By the Human God is in the Lists as well as in the firsts, 230. Tlie Hu- man does not ask its Divine to tell what it shall speak or do, 257. The Lord as to the Divine Human is to be ap- proached, and so and not otherwise can the Divine which is called the Father be approached, 316, 754. The one God Who is invisible came into the world and assumed the Human, not only that He mipht redeem men, but also that He might become visible, and thus capable of conjunction, 1050 This Hu- man is what is called the Son of God ; and this is what mediates, intercedes, propitiates, and expiates, 227, 755. Con- cerning the Divine Human, see, also, I So, 6;o. The Lord rose from the sepulchre with His whole Body which He h.id in the world; nor d.d He leave any thing in the sepulchre ; conse- quently. He took thence with Him the natural Human itself from the firsts to the lasts of it, 173. The glorified Hu- man of the Lord is the Natural Divine, in which He is present with men, and from which He enlightens not only the internal spiritual man but also the e.v- tcrnal natural, 173, 174. Concerning those in the spiritual world who could not pronounce Divine Human, 1S2. Humiliation of the Lord before the Father, is what is called His state of exinanition, 165. See Exittanition. Hunchback. Comparison with a hunch- back, 51) «, 722. HusB.\ND in the Word, in the spiritual sense signifies the good of charity, 534. Love or charity is as the husband, and wisdom or faith is as the wife, 73. Hypocrisy in worship, 734-736. Origin of hypocrisy, 179, 799. Hypocrite Every man who is not in- teriorly led by the Lord, is a pretender, a sycophant, a hypocrite, 884. Among natural men the hypocrite is the lowest natural, for he is sensual, 544. H the internal man wills evil .and yet the ex- ternal man acts well, then none the less they both act from hell ; for his willing is from hell, and his doing is hypocriti- cal ; and in all that is hypocritical, his willing which is infernal is inwardly concealed, 485. With consummate hyp- ocrites there is an intestine enmity against truly spiritual men ; thev are not .sensible of this while they h've in the world, but it manifests itself after death, 545. HvpiiTHEsEs concerning faith and free- will, S2S- I. In the third heaven they cannot utter the vowel /, but instead,^, 403. lurA makes one with thought ; where there is no thought there is no idea, 476. A merely natural idea is formed from such things as are in the world, and in that idea there is space and time, 4$, 51, 411. An idea of spi:itual thought derives nothing from space, but it derives its all from slate, 49. Spiritual ideas are supernatural, inexpressible, ineffable, and incom|;rehensible to the natural man, 407. An idea conceniing the cor- respondence between the things which are in the spiritual world.and the things which are in the natural world ought by all means to be first obtained ; and unless this is done, the human mind from mere ignorance falls into naturalism which denies God. 121. One natural idea is the container oi many spiritual ideas, and one spiritual idea is the container of many heavenly ideas, 409. Ideas are fixed in' the mind and remain as they have been accepted and confirmed, 498. LHeas of thought become words of speech, 409. Ideas of thought, which flow from acknowledgment, make one with the words of the tongue with those whoare in the spiritual world, 1S2. It is an error that beasts have ideas, 475 Man has no connate ideas, 476. The idea of a I'rinity of Gods, cannot be abolished by the oral confession of One God, 288, 2i)o The idea to be formed of God, 34, 827, 1092. Every one is allotted bis INDEX. II81 place In the heavens according to his Wea of God, 280. Idbnuty. In the created universe there are not two things wliich are the same ; there is not an identiiy of two eflfects In things wliicli are successive in the world, 52. An identity of three Divine Essences IS an offence to reason, 37. loLB. In the spiritual world no food is given to the idle except when they work, 414. Idolatries (Origin of), 13, 337, 401, 428, loSg. iDOiJi (Worship of), whence it arose, 42S. I JIM, 77, 219. Image and Likeness op God. What is meant by it, 56, 57. The infinite is in men as in its images, 55, 56. Men are called images and likenesses of God, 33, 56, 72, So, 104, iiS, 025. Every good of love is an image of the Lord, 1028. The image of the father is in its fulness in the seed, 165. In the spiritual world when the angels' ir.mo>t sight is opened, they recognize their own image m the surrounding objects ; why, 105. The ancients who had a knowledge of corre- spondences, made for themselves images which corresponded to heavenly things, and were delighted with them because they signified such things as were of heaven and the church, 33S. Immensity is the beginning of space, 44. God's infinity in relation to spaces is called immensity, 50. In heaven the angels perceive by the immensity of God Divinity as to Esse, 51. Immortality of the Soul. Man lives for ever because he is capable of being conjoined with God by love and faith, 827. See also Relation, 940. Impossible. It is impossilslc for God to damn any one who lives well and be- lieves aright ; so on the other hand it is impossible for God to save any one who lives wickedly and who therefore be- lieves falsities ; this is contrary to His omnipotence, 4S6. It was impossible for God to accomplish the work of re- demption without the Human, 144. See Omnif'otence- Imputation is to those who know, and not to those who know not, 171. The imputation of the merit and righteous- ness of Christ is impossible, 222-224, 856, 859, 866. The Lord remits to every one his sins, and does not impute them, because He is Love itself and Good itself, 595, 868, 8'>9. Without a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord and of the Lord with man there would be no imputation, 6S5. If there were no free-will in spiritual things, God would be the cause of evil, and so there would be no imputation, 689-693. The imputation of the day deprives man of all power coming from any free- will in spiritual things, 846. The faith of the present church (which is said alone to justify) and imputation make one, 843, 844. The imputation which belongs to the faith of the present day is twofold, the imputation of Christ's merit, and the imputation of salva- tion therefrom, 844-S47, 855. Unless the error respecting imputation were now abolished, atheism would over- run all Christendom. 845. The faith imputative of Christ's merit was un- known in the Apostolic Church, and is nowhere meant in the Word, 852-856 ; it first arose from the decree of the Council of Nice, concerning three Di- vine Persons from eternity, 84S-S52 ; when this faith was introduced and per- vaded the whole Chnstian world, all other faith was cast into the shade, 855. The imputation of faith has supplied a light, like that of a fire in the night time, from which the faith has been seen as if it were true theology itself, 861 ; if the leaders of the church were to think of any other than this imputative faith while reading the Word, that light to- gether with all their theology would be extinguished, and a darkness would arise from which the whole Christian church would vanish, 862. There is an impu- tation, but it is that of good and evil, and at the same time of faith, which is what is meant where imputation is named in the VVord, S60 ; there was no other law of imputation in the beginning of the church, nor will there be any other at its end, S60. The good which is charity, and the evil which is iniquity, are imputed after death, 863 The faith and imputation of the New Church can by no means be together with the faith and imputation of the former Churcli ; and if they are together, such collisif>n and conflict result, that every thing of the church with man perishes, 864-S67. The Lord imputes good to everv man, and hell imputes evil, 867-S69. Thought is not imputed to any one, but will, 872, 873. Imputation corresponds to estimation and price, 874. Concern- ing imputation see also Relation, 103. Inclination towards the enl in which they themselves have been, is trans- mitted by parents to their children, 668, 73S, 813. Man is not born into evils themselves, but only into an inclination to evils ; having however a greater or less proclivity for particular ones, 738. All the evils to which man inclines by birth are inscribed on the will of his natural man, 874. Indies. From the ancient Word and from the Israelitish Word, religious systems emanated into the Indies and their islands, 401. Those in the Indies, if they believe in one God, and live ac- cording to the precepts of their religioui II82 INDEX. are saved by means of their faith and life, 171. Infancy (The) of the Christian Church was in the time when the apostles lived, and preached throughout the world re- pentance and faith in the Lord God the Saviour, 5. Infants. How thouq;ht is formed and ideas exist with infants, 476. Those who die in infancy have an inclination to evils, and thus will them but still do not do them ; for tliey are educated under the Lord's auspices, and saved, 73S. As soon as infants have been baptized, angels are appointed over them, (^07. Infants and children bom outride of the Christian Church, are introduced by other means than Baptism into the heaven assigned to their religion after they have received tailh in the Lord, 975- In the heas'ens infants know no other father and no other mother than the Lord and the church, 441. The love called parental love exists equally with the bad and the good, and is sometimes stronger with the wicked, 611. See Parental lave. Infinite. God is infinite, since He is and exists in Himself, 45. God is in- finite, for He was before the world, thus bcfiire spaces and times arose, 46. The infinite is in finite things as in recepta- cles, and in men as in its images, 55. Inkinitv and eternity are applicable to the Divine Esse, 35. Infinity compre- hends both immensity and eternity, 44, ^o, God s infinity in relation to spaces IS called immensity, and in relation to times is called eternity, 50. Enlight- ened reason, from very many things in the world, may see the infinity of God; instances, ^12-54. How God made His infinity finfte, 56. As the Esse of God is more universal than the Essence of God, in like manner the infinity is more universal than the love ot God ; wher<.-fore infinite is an adjective be- longing to the essentials and attributes of God, all which are called infinite, 65 The heat and light which proceed from the Lord as a Sun contain in their bosom all the infitiities that are in the Lord; the heat all the infinities of His Love, and the light all the infinities of His Wisdom, 514. In every p.irt of the Word there is infinity, that I's, it contains innumerable things, which not even the angels can exhaust, 427 Influx. There is a universal influx from God into the souts of men, that there is a God, and that He is one, <) The rea- son tliat many think that His Divinity is divided into more than one of the same essence, is because when that inlUix descends it falls into forms not correspondent, and the form itself vanes it, 10. How the Lord flows into the whole universe, 857. God flows-in with every man with all His Divine Life, that is, with all His Divine Love and His Divine Wisdom, 513. The Lord with all the essence of faith and charity flows-in with every man, 514. Those things which flow-in from the Lord, are received by man according to his form, 516. With every man God flows-in with an acknowledgment of Himself, into the cognitions concerning Him; and at the same time He flows-in with His love toward men, 634; the man who receives the former only and not the latter, receives that influx in the understanding and not in the will ; and he remains in cognitions, with no inte- rior acknowledgment of God But the man who receives both the former and the latter receives the influx in the will and from the will in the understanding, thus in the whole mind, 634, 635. The enjoyment of evil is exhaled from hell, and flows into every man, but into the soles of the feet and into his back and occiput. But if it is received by the head in the forehead, and by the body in the breast, the man is made a slave to hell, 761. If the enjoj-ment in charity and the pleasantness of faith were to flow into the spiritual organism of the mind of those who are in the enjoy- ment from evil and falsity, if such en- joyments and pleasantness were to in- trude upon them they would be in au^uish and torture, and would finally fall into a swoon, 785. With animals the spiritual world flows into the senses of their body immediately, and through them determines the actions, 475. .See Instinct. At the present day nothing is known of any influx from the spiritual world into the natural world, but of the influx of nature into things endowed with natural qualities, 935. The learned of this age reason diversely respecting an influx of the soul into the body and of the bodv into the soul, and about this they divide into three parties, as to whether the influx is of the soul into the body, which they call occasional, or of the body into the soul, which they call physical, or whether there is an instantaneous influx into the body and at the same time into the soul, which they term pre-established harmony, 936. Wonders that exist from the influx of the spiritual world into the natural, 937. Influx .adapts itself to efflux, 1077. See Efflux. Inira-Lapsarians, 686. Iniquity once enrooted is transmitted to posterity so far as to give an inclimttion thereto, and is extirpated only by regen- erali(m, 1017. To bear iniquities, in the Word, does not mean to take them away, but to represent the profanation of the truths of the Word, 218. Inmost. God is omnipresent in the uni- INDEX. I183 verse, and in all and every part of it in the inmosts of the parts, for these are in order. log. P'rom the inmost God's omnipotence governs those things which are without, 95. Insbcts. Wonders about them, 16, 474, Inspiration is an insertion into angelic societies, 242. Aspiration was an ex- ternal representative sign of Divine in- spiration. 242. Ikstinct (The) of animals is from influx from the spiritual world, and it is called instinct because it exists without in- termediate thought There are also thing, accessory to instinct, coming from habit, 475. The instinct of every' animal is according to its essence or nature, 247. Without the ascent of the understanding above the will, man would not have been able to act from reason, but from instinct, 795. Instruction. Enlightenment and in- struction with the clergj', 258; see 247. Every man after death is instructed by angels, and they are received who see truths, and from truths falsities; but only those see truths who have not con- firmed themselves in falsities, 38,?. They who after instruction in the spirit- ual world recede from the faith that the Holv Spirit is a God by itself, are informed afterwards concerning the unity of God. These are then pre- pared for receiving the faith of the new heaven, 239. Man without instruction is neither man nor beast, but a form capable of receiving into itself that which makes the man, 923. Instri'mentai. (The) and the principal tOiiether make one action, 783. An in- strumental feels the principal as its own, 672. Integrity. Without redemption, the angels could not have continued to exist in a slate of integrity, 201, 202. .AH things of the universe have been pre- served in their integrity from the first day of creation, 96 1. Intelligence Is from the Lord and not from man ; man has only the faculty of receiving, 887. Intelligence resides in the understanding, 873. It Is the light of life, 72. Those with whom the inter- nal spiritual man is opened into heaven to the Lord are in the light of heaven and in illumination from the Lord, and thereby in intelligence and wisdom ; these see truth from the light of truth and perceive good from the love of good, 585 According to the affection for knowledges every one has intelli- gence, 934 Human inteliigence which IS truly mtelligence is from no other source than Divine truths, analytically distributed into forms, by means of the light flowlng-ln from the Lord, 497. By his own intelligence man cannot acquire cognitions of God, of heaven and hell, and of the spiritual things which are of the church, 401. See Wisdom. Intkntion. .Mlurement enters merely into the understanding, but intention eniers into the will, 447. All that is of intention is also of the will, and thus in itself is of the deed, 445. Because the end is the purpose, and this exercises intention, purpose Is also of the will; and It enters the understanding by the intention, and prompts it to occupy it- self w 1th and to consider means, and to conclude on such as tend to effects, 873. In the spiritual world all are viewed from their purpose, intention, and end, 740. A man examines the intentions of his will while he examines his thoughts, for in these the intentions make themselves manifest, 748- Intercession signifies perpetual media- tion, 227. See Afediation. Intercourse. Mutual intercourse be- tween the soul and the body, 257. Interiors. All of man's Interiors go forth and are continued into his exte- riors, and even into fhe outermosts, in order to work out their effects and ac- complish their works, 656, 657. Internal and External. In every created thing in the world, whether liv- ing or dead, there is an internal and an external ; one of these is not given with- out the other, as there Is no effect without cause, 800, 1047. The external depends on the internal as the body on its soul, 1047. The internal must be formed before the external, and the external must afterward be formed by means of the internal, 1047. The internal is as a soul in the external, 800. In all man's will and thought, and hence in all his action and speech, there is an internal and an external, 249. The internal and external in man, are two distinct things, but still reciprocally united, 256. The internal acts m the external and upon it, but it does not act through the exter- nal ; for the internal revolves a thousand things, of which the external takes only such as are accommodated to use, 256. By the Internal, man is in the spiritual world, and by the external in the natural world, 5S3, 630. With the good the in- ternal is in heaven and its light, and the external In the world and its light ; and this light is with them illumined by the light of heaven ; and so with them the internal and the external act as one, like cause and effect, 5S4. With the evil the Internal is in hell and in its light, which light, viewed In relation to the light of heaven, is thick darkness, 5S4. The in- ternal and external, are the Internal and external of man's spirit ; his body is only an external superadded, within which the others exist, 586, 603. ii84 INDEX. Internal Man and External Man. It is the internal man that is called the spiritual man, because it is in the light of heaven, which light is spiritual ; and it is the external man that is cal'ed the natural man, because it is in the light of the world, which light is natural, 584. The internal man is to be reformed, and through this the external, and man is thus regenerated. 797-802. The exter- nal man does not become internal, or does not act as one with the internal, until lusts have been put away. 455. When the internal man wills well and the external acts well, then the two make one, 4S5. The causes of all things are formed m the internal man, and all effects are produced therefrom in the external. 529. Man is in himself such as he is as to his internal man, but not such as he is as to the external, 631. Intkoducmon into the Christian Church by Haptism, 906-909. Introduction into heaven by the Holy Supper, 964-966. Invocations of the saints arc only mock- eries, 1085. See Catholics (Ronuirt). Israel signifies the spiritual church, 3.^4. The land of Israel means the church, 800. Italy, 401. Jacob signifies the natural church, 334. The Lord God to restore the worship of one Cfod, instituted a church among the posterity of Jacob, 12. Jasiirr (Hook of) or the Rook of the Upriglit, 395.. 405' Jehovah God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or He is Good itself' and Truth itself, 3, 65, 67. God is one, in Whom is a Divine Trinity, and He is the Lord God I he .Saviour Jesus Christ, 3. The one God is called Jehovah from Esse, because He alone is and was and will be, 31. Jehovah signifies the supreme and only I'eing from Whom is every thing that is and exists in the universe. 12. The one God is Substance itsef and Form itself, and angels and men are substances and forms from Him, 33. In the New Testament Jehovah is called the Lord, 139; why, 433. The Lord our Saviour is jehov.ih the Father Himself, in the Human form, 523. Jehovah is Man, as in the firsts also in the lasts, 163. Jehovah God assumed the Human that He might redeem and save men, 140-144. 16'. 3 '5. 52.^' ''S'^' '".so- Jeho- vah descended as ihe Divine Truth, which is the Word, and yet did not sejv arate the Divine Good, 144, 146. God could not redeem men, that is, deliver them from damnation and hell, except bv the assumed Human, 143. Jehovah descended and became Man, that He might be .ible to draw near to man and man to Him, and so conjunction might be effected, and that by conjunction man should have salvation and eternal life, 523. In the Word, by Jehovah is meant the Divine Love or the Divine Good, and by God, the Divine Wisdom or the Divine Truth, 145, 382. The Jews from their earliest day have not dared and do not dare to say Jehovah, 433, 139. Jeru.salem signifies the church, 1043. Since the judgment, Jerusalem means the church in which the Lord alone is worshipped, as to its doctrine, 1096. Jerusalem means the holy New Jerusa- lem described in the Apocalypse (xxi.), by which is meant the New Church, 1052. See Netv JeruiaUtn. Jesuits, 248. Jksus (The name) is so holy that it can be named by no devil in hell, 433. In the spiritual world those who confirmed faith sep.arate from charity could not name Jesus, 180. By Jesus is meant all of salvation through redemption, and by Christ, all of salvation through His docirine, 435, 251, 971. The Lord is called Jesus from tlie office of Priest ; and from the office of King He is called Christ, 196, Jesus signifies Saviour, 180, Jksus Christ, Who is the Lord Jehovah, from eternity Creator, in time Kcdecnier, and to eternity Regenerator; thus Who is at once the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 44, 3i3-3«0. 429-432i Oiz- No other God than the Lord Jesus Christ is to be worshipped, 429. Men ought to have faith in 6od the Saviour Jesus Christ, because this is faith in the visible God iu Whom is the invisible, 482. The first element of faith in Jesus Christ is the acknowledgment that He is the Son of God, 4S7. ITie Body of Christ is Divine Good and Divine Truth, 527. By the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word is meant nothing else than an acknowledgment of Him, and a life according to His command- ments, 910. Jews (The) were called an adulterous generation, because they adulterated the Word, 208. The common image of Jacob and Judah still remains in their poster- ity, because they have hitherto adhered firmly to their system of religion, 165, 739. With them there was no knowledge whatever of corres^)ondenceSj although every thing pertaining to their worship, and all the statutes and judgments given them by Moses, and all Ihe things of the Word, were mere correspondences, 339. The heredit.ary disnositicm of the Jews, in process of time, has increased in them even so that they are not able to em- brace the Christian religion from faith at heart ; the interior win of their mind is adverse thereto, 739. The Jews durst not use the name Jehovah, on account of its sanctity, 139, 433. By the rich man, in the parable of Lazarus, is meant the INDEX. I185 Jewish nation, which is called rich be- cause they had the Word, in which are spiritual riches, 340, 374- Previous to the last judgment, the Jews in the spirit- ual world appeared in a valley at the left side of the Christian centre ; af ler that tliey were transferred northward, and intercourse with Christians, except with those wandering outside of the cities, was forbidden ilieni, 1096. Many of the Jewish nation obtained a place of abode in the southern quarter in the spiritual world ; tliey were those who made light of the worship of others, and who still questioned in their own minds whether the Messiah would ever come, and those who in the world thought from reason, and lived according to it, 1096 How the Jews are instructed, 1096. 1097. The Jews are more ignorant than others that they are in the spiritual world, but they believe that thev are still in the natural world. This is because they are who ly externa] men, and think nothing about religion from the interior, 1097. An angel with a staff in his hand somelimts appears to the Jews above, at a middle altitude, and gives them to believe that he is Moses. He exhorts them to desist from their senseless expectation of the Messiah even there, 1096. Job (Thk Book of), which is a book of the ancient church, is full of correspond- ences, 335. 1099. John the Baptist, 728, 916-920. JoRDXN (The) signified introduction into the church, lor it was the first boundary of the land of Canaan where the church was, 729, 904, 907. See Canaan. JovK, 12, 401. .See Jupiter. Jov AND Gladness. Both joy and glad- ness are mentioned, becau.se joy is pre- dicated of good and gladness of truth, or joy of love and gladness of wisdom ; for joy is of the heart, and gladness of the spirit ; or joy is of the will, and gladness is of the understanding, 381. Heavenly joy and eternal happiness, 977i 97^) 979- Heavenly joy is the en- joyment of doing something useful to oneself and to others, 9S2. JuD\H means the heavenly church, 334. JuDA.s. The Lord's being betrayed by Judas signified that He was betrayed by the Jewish nation, with whom the Word then was, for Judas represented that nation, 217. Juor.Es. Conscientious judges, 605, 645. Unjust judges, 450, 462-464, 895. JuDCMENT." See Justice ami Judgrmnt. All the judgment that is effected with man after death is effected according to the use that he has made of free-will in spiritual things, 6gS. By judgment in the Word is meant adjudgment to hell which is damnation ; while of salvation judgment is not predicated, but resur- rection to life, S69. Juno, 29, 297. Jupiter, 29, 297, 429. See Jove- Justice and Judgment. Justice is of love, and judgment is of wisdom, 91. It is contrary to justice and judgment that one should take upon himself another's wickedness, 223. All love of justice, with judgment, is iVom no other source than the God of heaven. Who is Justice itself, and from Whom man has all his judgment, 646 See Righteottsness. Justification by faith ai.one. Whence it originated, 339. The doctrine of justi- fication by faith alone has intoxicated the thoughts of those who embrace it; therefore they have not seen the most essential thing of the church, i^S. Al- though it is not a faith, but a chimera, it carries every point in Christian churches, 300, 561. This erroneous and also in- consistent doctrine induces the feeling of security, blindness, sleep, and night, in spiritual things, and consequently death to the soul, 302. See Reuvtions, 561, 7'3- KiDNEV.s (The) do their work of secretion in freedom, 697. Kill (To) signifies, in the spiritual sense, to destroy a man's soul, 366 ; and in the heavenly sense, to hate the Lord and the Word, 3'>6, 445. King in the Word signifies Divine truth ; why, 196. King signifies the truth of the church, 353. By the king of Tyre is signified the Word where and whence the cognitions of truth and good are, 3S8. The king of the abyss means those who destroy souls by falsities, 445. Kings in the world, 605, 749. KiNGDO.vt (The). The Father's kingdom is when the Lord is approached imme- diately, and by no means when God the Father is ajiproached immediately. 193. Heavenly kingdom, spiritual kingdom, and natural kingdom of the Lord, 345. Ends are also actually in the heavenly kingdom, causes in the spiritual king- dom, and effects in the natural kingdom, 367. In the spiritual sense, by the king- dom of the heavens is meant heaven and the church, 332. Koran (The), 1088. Labor. The six days of labor signify the combat against the flesh and its lusts, and at the same time against the evils and falsities which are in man from hell, 438. In the Word the combats of the Lord with the hells are called labors, 438. Ladder of Jacob, 40. Laity With the laily the love of ruling from the love of self climbs upward until they wish to be kings, ^92. Lake of fire and brimstone signifies hell, 852. >5' ii; INDEX. Lamb signifies innocence, 333. The Lamb which appeared to John on Mount Zion (Apoc. XIV. 1), was a representation of the Lord's innocence, 2»6. What is meant by the Lamb standing as it had been slam (Apnc. v. 6: xiii. S): and by the crucified (Apoc. xi. 8; Heb. vi. 6 ; Gal. iii. 1), 446. Lamps signify the things which are of faith, 332, 574. By lamps are meant such things as are 01 the understanding, 810. LAN<;t»AGK. There is a universal language in which all angels and spirits are ; this has nothing in common with any lan- guage of men in the world, 32, 33, 40S. Kvery man comes into this language after de.Tth, for it is implanted in every man from creation, 32. Every spirit and angel speaking with a man, sjjeaks the man's own language, 408. The very sound of spiritual language differs so much from the sound of natural lan- guage, that even a loud spiritual Sdund could not be heard at all by a natural man, nor a natural sound by a spiritual man. 40S. Last Judgmhvt (The) was performed in the year 1757, pp. 197, io33,-io58, 1070, ioq6. Since the last judgment llie stale of all is so changed that they are not allowed to band themselves into com- panies as formerly; but for every love, good and evil, ways have been appointed which they who come from the world immetliately enter and pass to societies conesjyjndent to their loves, irvSo Laver of Rkgknhratioh. Why Bap- tism is called the laz'er of regeturation. Law. The spiritual law is this law of the Lord : All thins^s -,vhatsoevi'r ye •would that mm should do to you, do ye eren so to them, f>23, so'i ; this same law is the universal law of moral life, 623. The primary thing of Divine law is that man should think of the law. do it, and obey it, from himself although from the Lord, 6()8. It is a universal law in the spirit- ual world, and from this in the natural world also, that so far .is one does not .will evil he wills good, 617. The laws of justice are truths which cannot be changed, 4S6. In a state the laws of justice are in the highest place, pfilitical laws in the second, economical laws in the third, 94. The doing of evil, in both the s^iiritual and the natural world, is restrained by laws, since otherwise so- ciety would nowhere continue to exist, 609. Laws of order, 94, 95, iii, 115- 117, 148. Laws of order are as many as there are truths in the Word, 94, 115. It is a law of order that as far as man approaches and draws near 10 God (which he must do altogether as from himself), so far God approaches and diaws near to man, and in the midst conjoins Himself with him, 149, 161, 177. The law itself written upon the two tables, signilied the Word, 353, 391. By the law is meant the whole Sacred Scripture, 392, 426. In a strict sense, by the law is meant the decalogue ; in a broader sense, are meant the statutes given by Moses to the children of Israel ; and in the broadest, is meant the whole Word, 425. The law and the prophets signify the whole Word, 424. Lazarus. Bv the poor man Lar.arus are meant the Gentiles, beciuse they had not the Word. That they were despised and rejected by the Jews, is meant by his being laid at the rich man's gate By his being full of sores, is meant that the Gentiles from ignorance of the truth were in many falsities. The Gentiles are meant by Lazarus, because the Gen- tiles were loved by the Lord, as the Lazarus who was raised from the dead was loved by the Lord, 349. Learned (The), 127, 264, 464. Leaves (The) of plants are for lungs, 792. I-EinNITZ, 476, 038. Leopards. Diabolical love causes its lusts to appear in the distance in hell like various species of wild beasts, some like leopards, 77. Letters. Alphabetic letters in the spir- itual world, 32. Writing in the third heaven consists of letters inflected and variously curved, each one of which contains a certain meaning, 403. With the angels of the spiritual kingdom the letters are similar to the letters used in our world in printing ; and with the angels of the heavenly kingdom they are with some similar to .Arabic letters, and with stime similar to the old Hebrew letters, but cur\-ed above and below, with marks over, between, and within ; each of these also involves a complete sense, 370. Leviathan, 118, 303. LiBHKTV. In the state of reformation man is in full liberty of acting according to the rational of his imderslanding ; and in the state of regeneration he is also in similar liberty, but he then wills and acts, and thmks and spe.iks, from a new love and a new intelligence which are from the Lord, 167. Libraries in the spiritual world, 921, 933. Lip, in the Word, signifies falsity and false speaking, 453. Life. God alone is Life. 512. God is Life itself, which is Life in itself, 34, 69, 650, 672. Life in itself is Divine life, 42. The Lord's Divine Love and Divine Wisdom constitute His Divine Life, 513. Life in itself is the very and the only life, from which all angels and men live, 70, 511. Life is the inmost activity of the Love and Wisdom whirh are in God and are God, which Life may also be called living Force itself INDEX. I 187 671. Life vjttk Man : Ood because He is infinite is Life in Himself; this He cannot create, and so transcribe into nun, for that wonld be to mske him ( '■(«!, 670. God fliws-in with eveiy man with all His I)ivine Life, 513. So far as a man receives the good of love and the truth of wisdom from C»<)d he lives from God ; so far as any one does rot receive love and wisdom, or what is the same, charity and faith, he does not receive life which in itself is life, from God, biit from hell ; and this is no other than inverted life which is called spiritual death, 671. Life, to man, is Gi>d in him, and death, to man, is the persuasion and belief that t iod is not life to man, but that man is life to him- self, SS. Life with all belonging to it flows-in from the God of heaven Who is the 1-ord, 511. The life of God in all fulness is not only with goi«d and pious men, but also »iih the wicked and im- pious. The difference is that the wicked obstruct the way and shut the door, that God may not enter into the lower regions of their mind; while the good clear the way and open the door, 516. The life of God is in the spiritual of man, 522. It is God's gift that man should feel that life in him as his ; and God wills that man should feel it so, in order that he may as from himself live according to the laws of order, 712. Man is not life, but is a receptacle of life from God, 66<>-672. The soul of man is not life, but a recipi- ent of life, 42 Life is nothing else than love and wisdom, 60. The Good of love and the Truth of wisdom make life. ^150. Life is prf.perly the light which proceeds firom the Sun of the spiritual world. Divine I^ve forms life, as fire forms light, 70. Man's very life is his love ; and such as the love is, such is the life, yes, such is the whole man, 577. There are two universals of every man's life, the will and the under- standing, 1040. The life of man dwel s in his understanding, and is such as his wisdom is, — and the love of the will modifies it, 70. The will and under- standing are the human mind, and all man's life is therein in its principles, and is thence in the body, 574. Life, will, and understanding make one in man, 511. The life of man is from spiritual liijht, and from this is his understanding, 471. Those things which flow-in from the Lord, are received by man according to his form, 516. It is of life to be affected and to think, and it is of love to be affected, and of wis- dom to think, 61. Man's life is to be able to think, to wiil, and hence to speak and to do freely, 6*;els, and in the world by men, 987. The Lord took from the sepulchre when He arose His whole Human Body, both as to the Flesh and as to the Hones, 287. Lord's Prwf.k. This prayer was com- manded for this time, plainly in order that God the Father may be apiroaclted through His Human, 1S8. The very essential of the church and of religion is how these words in the Lord's prayer, "Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name, Thv kingdom come," are understoF Heaven. By the love of heaven is meant love to the Lord and also love towards the neighbor, 572- The love of heaven may be called the love of uses, 572. See Uses. \l the love of heaven is inwardly in the love of the world, and by this in the love of self, the man does uses in each from the God of heaven, 574. Heavenly love is to love uses for the sake of the uses, or goods for the sake of the goods, which a man performs for the church, his country, human society and the fellow-citizen, 5S0. Love of Self is to wish well to oneself alone, and not to another unless for the sake of self, 1015, 579. The love of self is not merely the love of honor, glory, fame, and eminence, but also the love of meriting and soliciting office, and so of reigning over others, 572. The love of self when it reigns is opposed to love to God, 1015, 379. Love of self viewed in itself is hatred, for it does not love any one outside of itself, nor does it de- II90 INDEX. sire to be conjoined to others that it may do good to them, but only that it may do si> to itself, 77. 'I'he love of self IS such, that as far as the reins are given to it, it rushes on, even till it wishes to have command not only over the whole world, but also over heaven, yes, over God Himself, 581, 804, 877, 108.^. They who are in the love of self desire to rule over the universe, yes, to enlarge its borders that they may extend thuir dominion thither. 884. The evils which are with those who are in the love of self are, in general, contempt of others, envy, enmity against those who do not favor them, consequently hostility, ha- tred of various kinds, revenge,. cuiniing, dect.it, unmercifulness, and cruelty. And where there are such evils there is also contempt of God and <. They who are in the love of the world desire to possess all things belonging 10 it, and they grieve and are envious if any treasures are hidden from them, 884. If a man's ruling love is the love of the world, he prefers the world to heaven ; he worships God, indeed, but from merely natural love which places merit in all worship ; he also does good to the neighbor, but for the sake of rewards, 590. l.dvi-- TO THK Lord is a universal love, and consequently it is in all things of spiritual life, and is also in all things and in each thing pertaining to natural life, 600. In love to God and in love toward the neighbor the first thing is not to do evil, and the second is to do good, 45S, 6i4-(Si7. I.ove to the Lord and love towards the neighbor are the two loves from which are all goods and truths, 57S. Love to the Lord and love to- ward the neighbor make heaven, and also the church with man, 571); they open and form the internal spiritual man, for ihey reside there, 578. See Love 0/ Hciiven. Love toward thr Neighbor. There is an influx of God's love toward men, and the reception of this by man and co-operation in him is love toward the neighbor, 635. See Charity, Love to the Lord, Neig;hbor. Lower Earth (The) is next above hell, 4r.2. Lowest tiiinos. The lowest things in man's mind are turned downward into the body ; and because these are turned downward, a man thinks wholly as of himself, when yet he thinks from God, 724. LyOFPR. Those who are meant by Luci- fer in Isaiah, and who are of Babel, are hurried away bv a 7.eal which in many cases is from infernal love, 24S, 402, Li;ngs (Thp) correspond to the under- standing and its truths, 147- See Heart and L ungs. Lust and deed cohere like blood and flesh, or like flame and oil, 457. The lust becomes as a deed when it is in the will, for allurement enters merely into the understanding, but intention enters into the will, and the intention of lust is a deed, 447. See pp. 883-88^. LuTHKR has now renounced his erroneous opinions concerning justification by faith in three Divine persons from eternity, and has therefore been transferred to a place among the happy of the new heaven, 235. From the time Luther first entered the spiritual world, he was a most vehement propagator and de- fender of his dogmas. In his childhood, however, before he entered on the Ref- ormation, he was imbued with the dogma of the pre-eminence of charity ; and it resulted from this that the faith of justification with him was implanted in his external natural man, but was not enrooted in his internal spiritual man ; and when he was convinced that he hnd not taken his principal dogma of justification by faith alone from the Word, but from his own intelligence, he suffered himself to be instructed re- specting the Lord, charity, true faith, free-will, and redemption also, and this solely from the Word, 1057-1060. Machiavelians The society from the Machiavelians in the spiritual world, 656, ^159. , Macrocosm. See Great Heaven and Great World. Magpies represent those who believe a thing to be trtie because it has been asserted by a man of authority, 74. Mahomet. See Mohammed. M AHoMKTANisM. See Af'ham?nednr$ism. Mahometans. See Mohammedans. Mammon. The ancients called those Mammons with whom love of the world was the ruling love, 590. Man was created a form of Divine order, 104-106. Man is not life but a recepta* INDEX. II9I de of life from God, 669-673, 924, 925. Man is a receptncle of Love and Wis- dom ; and a receptacle becomes an image of God according to the recep- tion. 82, q2f;. Man is an organ recipient of God, and he is an organ according to the quality of llie reception. 56. Tlie whole man is nothing but a form organ- ized to receive light and heat, as well from the natural world as from the spiritual, 672. Man is not man from the human face and the human body, but from the wisdom of his understand- ing and the goodness of his will, 601. Man from creation is the least effigy, image, and tyiw of the great heaven, 9<;6. Man is born into evi^s of every kind from hi< parents, 7S0. When born, a man is more a brute than any animal, but he becomes man by instruction of various kinds, by the reception of which his mind is formed, 601. Man is not born for the sake of himself, but for the sake of others, 592. Kvery man actually consists only ot such things as are in the earth, and from the eanh in the atmos- pheres, 670. Man in the earthly state may be compared to a worm and in the heavenly state to a butterfly, iR, 779. Man has been so created that he is in the spiritual world and in the natural world at the same time, 58.? ; because he has been so created, there have been given him an internal and an external ; an internal by which he may be in the spiritual world, and an external by which he may be in the natural world. His internal is what is called the internal man, and his external what is called the external man, 58J. The internal constitutes the man, which is called the spirit, and which lives after death, 24. Every man as to his spirit, is consociated with his like in the spiritual world, and is as one with them, 24,630, Sii. Man's spirit is in his mind, and whatever pro- ceeds from him, 258, 260. See Mitid. Man as to the interiors of his mind has been born spiritual, consequently for heaven, while yet his natural or external man is hrll in miniature, 816. With the wicked the internal is conjoined with devils in hell, and with the good it is conjoined with angels in heaven, 631, 811. . 'i'he conjunction between men and angels is very close, 811. If angels and spirits were removed from man, he would fall down dead as a stock, 202, 81 1. God is continually working for the conjunction of love and wisdom in man ; but man, unless he looks to God and believes in Him, continually works for their division, 72. God is in every man, evil as well as good, but man is not in God unless he lives according to order, 109, 118. The absence of God from man is no more possible than the absence of the sun, by its heat and light, from the earth, 109. Man alone re- ceives light and heat, that is, wisdom and love immediately from the Lord, 672. Man is endowed with ability to close and to open the door between his thought and his words, and between his intentions and his actions, 764. All the things which man wills, and all the things which he understands, flow-in from without; the goods which are of love and charity and the truths which are of wisdom and faith from the Lord, but all that is contrary to them from hell, 511. Kvery man enjoys the power of understanding truths and of willing goods, 601. Man of himself does not wish to understand any thing but what is from the proprium of his will, 399. Man can acquire faith for himself, 504 Man can acquire charity for him- self, 505. ^L^n can also acquire for himself the life of faith and charity, 506. Vet nothing of faith, and nothing of charity, and nothing of the life of either, is from man, but from the Lord alone, 507. Man was created to receive love and wisdom from God, and yet in all likeness as from himself, and this for the sake of reception and conjunction ; and therefore man is not bom into any love, nor into any knowledge, nor even into any power of loving and being wise from himself Wherefore, if he ascribes all the good of love and all the truth of wisdiim to God he becomes a living man ; but if he ascribes them to himself he becomes a dead man, 89. Man after death is none the less a man, and such a man as not to know that he is not still in the former world; he is a man in all things, and in every particular, 1055, 1056. After death the regenerate man pas.ses into heaven, to the Lord Him- self; and there although'he died an old man, he is restored to the morning of his life, 102S. Man without instruction knows nothing at all about the modes of loving the sex, 83. Man is born cor- poreal as a worm, and remains corporeal unless he learns to know, to understand, and to be wise from others, 83. Manger (The), as in a stable, signified spiritual nourishment for the under- standing, 403. M.^RRiAc.E. In heaven the conjunction of good and truth is called the heavenly marriage, 576. AH the intelligence and wisdom wliich the angels have is from the marriage of good and truth, 576. All things \\\ the whole heaven and all things in the whole world are from crea- tion nothing but a marriage of good and truth, S36. In every thing in the Word there is the marriage of the Lord and the Church, and thence the marriage of good and truth, 376, 382. The spiritual offspring, which are born from the mar- riage of the Lord with the church, are the 1192 INDEX. goodi of charity and the truths of faith, 443. 540- Marriage of love and wisdom in use, 990. Nuptials in heaven represent the Lord's marriage with the Church ; the bridesroom represents the Lord, and the bride represents the Church, loot). After the nupiia's, both together (tlie husband and his wife) represent the church, 1010. Consent is the essential of marriage, and ill other succeeding ceremonies are its formalities, loii. M vKV. The Holy Spirit is the Divine 'rriith proceeding from Jehovah the Father ; and this proceeding is the Power of the Highest, which over- shadowed ALiry, 243. What can he more ridiculous than that the soul of our Lord was from the mother NLary ? 142 It is believed that the Lord as to the Human not only was but also is the son of Mary; but in this the Christian world is under a delusion. That He was the son of ALirj- is true; but that He is so still is not true, 162. The Lord never called Mary His mother, 162. The Lord was born of Mary, but when He became Cod He put off ail the human which He h id from her, 163, 10.85. I'v -^on of Mary is meant the Jiuman which He assumed, 151. S,ee Son 0/ ^^/arjy. Let every one question himself whether lie has conceived and cherishes any other idea concerning the Lord, as the son of Mary, than as of a mete man, 154. He who believes only that He is the son of Mary, implants in himseif various ideas which are hurtful and destructive, 400- The Roman Catholics have sanctified Mary the mother above tlie rest, and have exalted her as a goddess or queen over all their saints; when yet the I-ord, when He glorified His Human, put off all of His mother, and put on all of the Father, 154. Mary in heaven said that she adores the Lord as her God, and she is unwilling that any one should acknowl- edge Him as her son, because in Him all is Divine, 163. Masses of the Catholics, 265. M \STRR. From doctrine it is known that it is lawful in a natural sense, but not in a spiritual sense, to call any one master, 360. ALxTKRiAL things originate from the sub- stantial, 933. Substantial things are the becinnings of material things, 410. All things in the spiritual world are substan- tial, not material. 934. The material does not enter into the spiritual, but the spirit- ual into the material, 834. What it is to meditate spiritually and to meditate ma- terially upon the Word. 833. They who are in the spiritual world are spiritual men. because they are substantial and not material, 933, 410. See Substantial, S/tiritnal. Matter is an aggregation of substances, 410. Maxjm. See Canons. Mbans (The) of salvation are manifold, 4S4, 511, 783, 913, 967. They are given by the Lord to Christians in the Word, and to Gentiles in the religions of each, 787. Mr>rablr Relations (The) annexed to the chapters are not inventions of the imagination, 1105. They were related according to command, 312. Memorandum (A), 1054. Memory (.The) of man is the ground of every science, and thence intelligence and wisdom, 53. F'.very man thinks from the things in the memory, 290. The memory with man is like the stomach connected with rumination in birds and beasts; the human under- standing is like the stomach itself in which food is digested, 2