AC 3768 - What Is Natural; How Is Spiritual; AC 3773 - Churches and the Two Great Commandments

AC 3768 [2]

The natural person can indeed know,
and also perceive,
what good and truth are,
but only natural and civic good and truth;
but spiritual good and truth he cannot know,
because this must come from revelation,
thus from the Word.
For example: a person may know
from the rational that is possessed by everyone
that his neighbor ought to be loved,
and that God ought to be worshiped;
but how the neighbor is to be loved,
and how God is to be worshiped,
thus what spiritual good and truth are,
can be known only from the Word --
as that good itself is the neighbor,
consequently those who are in good,
and this according to the good in which they are;
and that good is the neighbor
because the Lord is in good,
and therefore
in the love of good the Lord is loved.

AC 3773

As regards the Word being opened to the churches,
and being afterwards closed,
the case is this:
in the beginning of the setting up of any church,
the Word is at first closed to the men of it,
and is afterwards opened,
the Lord so providing;
and thus they learn that all doctrine
is founded on the two commandments --
that the Lord is to be loved above all things,
and the neighbor as themselves.
When these two commandments
are regarded as the end,
the Word is opened;
for all the Law and the Prophets,
that is, the whole Word,
so depend on these commandments
that all things are derived from them
and therefore all have reference to them.
And whereas the people of the church
are then in the principles of truth and good,
they are enlightened
in everything they see in the Word;
for the Lord is then present with them
by means of angels,
and teaches them (although they are unaware of this),
and also leads them into the life of truth and good.

This may be seen also from the case of all churches,
in that they were such in their infancy,
and worshiped the Lord from love,
and loved the neighbor from the heart.
But in process of time
churches withdraw from these two commandments,
and turn aside from the good of love and charity
to the so-called things of faith,
thus from life to doctrine;
and insofar as they do this,
so far the Word is closed.