AC 2586 - God, Jehovah, Lord; AC 2588 - What Being Affirmative Really Is

AC 2586, 2588 [1]

. . . up to this point in this chapter (Genesis 20)
"God" is mentioned,
but here for the first time "Jehovah,"
is because "God" is mentioned where the subject is truth,
but "Jehovah" where the subject is good.
All the conception of doctrine is from good as a father,
but its birth is by means of truth as a mother,
as occasionally stated before.
Here the conception of doctrine is treated of,
and as this is from good,
"Jehovah" is mentioned . . ..

Whether we say "spiritual truth and celestial good,"
or "the Lord," it is the same;
because the Lord is truth itself and good itself,
and is the very marriage itself of truth and good,
and of good and truth.

AC 2588 [4, 5, 6]

It is among the primary things of the doctrine of faith
that all good is from the Lord,
and all evil from man, that is, from one's self.
Those who are in the affirmative that it is so,
can confirm themselves
by many things of reason and of memory-knowledge,
such as that no good can possibly flow in
except from good itself, that is,
from the Fountain of Good, thus from the Lord;
and that the beginning or principle of good
can be from no other source;
finding illustration in all things that are truly good,
in themselves, in others, in the community,
and also in the created universe.
But those who are in the negative
confirm themselves in what is contrary
by everything they think of,
insomuch that at last they do not know what good is;
and dispute among themselves
as to what is the highest good,
being deeply ignorant of the fact
that it is the celestial and spiritual good from the Lord,
by which all lower good is made alive,
and that the delight therefrom is truly delight.
Some also think that unless good is from themselves,
it cannot possibly come from any other source.

Those who are in love to the Lord
and charity toward the neighbor
can receive the truths of doctrine
and have faith in the Word,
but not those
who are in the life of the love of self and the world;
or what is the same,
that those who are in good can believe,
but not those who are in evil.
Those who are in the affirmative can confirm this
by numberless things of reason and memory.
From reason they can confirm it on the ground
that truth and good agree,
but not truth and evil;
and that as all falsity is in evil, so it is from evil;
and that if any who are in evil nevertheless have truth,
it is on the lips, and not in the heart;
and from their memory-knowledge
they can confirm by many things that truths shun evils,
and that evils spew out truths.
But those who are in the negative
confirm themselves by alleging that everyone,
of whatever character,
is able to believe just as well as others,
even though he lives in continual hatred,
in the delights of revenge, and in deceit;
and this even while they themselves
altogether reject from their doctrine the good of life,
after the rejection of which they do not believe anything.

Those who are in the affirmative
that the Word has been so written as to possess
an internal sense which does not appear in the letter,
can confirm themselves therein by
many rational considerations;
as that by the Word man has connection with heaven;
that there are correspondences
of natural things with spiritual,
in which the spiritual are not seen;
that the ideas of interior thought
are altogether different from the material ideas
which fall into the words of language;
that man, being born for both lives,
can, while in the world,
be also in heaven, by means of the Word
which is for both worlds;
that with some persons a certain Divine light
flows into the things of the understanding,
and also into the affections,
when the Word is read;
that it is of necessity
that there should be something written
that has come down from heaven,
and that therefore the Word cannot be
such in its origin as it is in the letter;
and that it can be holy only from a certain holiness
that it has within it.
He can also confirm himself
by means of memory-knowledges;
as that men were formerly in representatives,
and that the writings of the Ancient Church
were of this nature;
also that the writings of many among the Gentiles
had this origin;
and that it is on this account
that in the churches
such a style has been revered as holy,
and among the Gentiles as learned,
as examples of which
the books of many authors might be mentioned.
But those who are in the negative,
if they do not deny all these things,
still do not believe them, and persuade themselves
that the Word is such as it is in the letter,
appearing indeed worldly,
while yet being spiritual
(as to where the spiritual is hidden within it
they care little,
but for manifold reasons are willing to let it be so),
and this they can confirm by many things.