AC 3263
And these are the births of Ishmael the son of Abraham.
(Genesis 25:12)
That this means the derivations
of the spiritual church represented by Ishmael,
is evident from the meaning of "births,"
as being the derivations of faith,
thus of the church;
from the representation of Ishmael,
as being those who are rational
and who are of the Lord's spiritual church;
and from the meaning of the "sons of Abraham,"
as being those who are in truth from the Lord;
for by "sons" are meant truths,
and by Abraham is represented
the Lord as to the Divine Human
also, from whom the spiritual have truth and good.
As regards the Lord's spiritual church,
be it known that it exists
throughout the universal world;
for it is not confined to those who have the Word
and thence know the Lord and some truths of faith;
but it exists also with those who have not the Word
and therefore are altogether ignorant of the Lord
and consequently know no truths of faith
(for all the truths of faith regard the Lord);
that is to say, this church exists among the Gentiles
who are remote from the church;
for there are many among them
who from rational light know that there is one God;
that He has created all things
and preserves all things;
and also that from Him is all good,
consequently all truth;
and that likeness to Him makes man blessed;
and moreover they live according to their religion,
in love to that God and in love toward the neighbor;
and from the affection of good
they do works of charity,
and from the affection of truth
they worship the Supreme Being.
The Gentiles who are of this character
are they who belong to the Lord's spiritual church;
and although while in this world
they do not know the Lord,
yet within themselves
they have the worship
and tacit acknowledgment of Him
when they are in good,
for in all good the Lord is present;
and therefore in the other life
they easily acknowledge Him,
and receive the truths of faith in Him
more readily than Christians do
who are not in good in this way . . ..
No comments:
Post a Comment