AC 2157
'If now I have found grace in your eyes'
(Genesis 18:3)
means the respectful regard
that became a feature of the Lord's state
when He took notice of that perception.
This becomes clear from the affection
that produces the state of humility which these actual words imply
and also those that follow immediately after,
'Do not, I beg of you, pass from over your servant',
which also imply a state of humility.
Within every individual part of the Word
there are both affection and subject matter.
Celestial angels perceive the Word
as it exists in the internal sense as to the affection there,
whereas spiritual angels perceive it
as it exists in the internal sense as to the subject matter there.
Those who perceive the Word in the internal sense as to the affection there
do not pay any attention at all to the words,
which are expressions of the subject matter,
but instead form ideas for themselves from the affection
and the consecutive details of that affection,
and do so with endless variety.
Here, for example, when they come to the words,
'If now I have found grace in your eyes,
do not, I beg of you, pass from over your servant',
they perceive the Lord's state of humiliation in the Human,
yet only the affection that produces humility.
From that affection - in a manner, variety, and profusion beyond words -
they form celestial ideas for themselves which can hardly be called ideas.
Rather they should be called so many 'lights'
engendered by affections and perceptions -
which follow one another in a continuous sequence
according to the chain of affection that runs through the things present
in the Word that is being read.
AC 2159
That 'servant' means the Lord's human before it was made Divine
becomes clear from many places in the Prophets.
The reason, which has been given frequently already, is this:
The Lord's human, before He cast it off and made it Divine,
was nothing else than a servant.
His human came from the mother and was for that reason imperfect.
From her it possessed a hereditary element
which He overcame and utterly cast aside
by means of the conflicts brought about by temptations.
He did so even to the point when nothing was left
of the imperfect and hereditary element received from the mother,
indeed until at length nothing whatever from the mother remained.
He cast off that which came from the mother so completely
that He was no longer her son . . ..
Tuesday, March 06, 2012
Monday, March 05, 2012
SD 2796 - ambition
SD 2796
. . . because love of the neighbor no longer exists in the world,
the ambition to stand out by various means has taken its place.
For what used to arouse people to do good was love of the neighbor,
but since this is no more,
the ambition to do great things has taken its place,
by means of which people are bent by the Lord
toward doing good to the neighbor, to society, and to the commonwealth.
(August 12, 1748)
. . . because love of the neighbor no longer exists in the world,
the ambition to stand out by various means has taken its place.
For what used to arouse people to do good was love of the neighbor,
but since this is no more,
the ambition to do great things has taken its place,
by means of which people are bent by the Lord
toward doing good to the neighbor, to society, and to the commonwealth.
(August 12, 1748)
Sunday, March 04, 2012
AC 2135 - "clouds of the heavens", "power and glory"
AC 2135 - Preface
At the end of the preceding chapter,
the subject of the Last Judgment was treated of,
and it was shown what is signified thereby, namely,
not the destruction of the world,
but the last time of the church.
When this is at hand, the Lord says
that He "will come in the clouds of the heavens, with power and glory"
(Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27).
. . . "clouds of the heavens" . . . is meant the literal sense of the Word;
and by "power and glory" the internal sense of the Word,
for in the internal sense of the Word there is glory,
since whatever is there
is concerning the Lord and His kingdom.
From this chapter we may see, in an especial manner,
what is the nature of the internal sense of the Word,
and how the angels perceive it when it is being read by a person.
At the end of the preceding chapter,
the subject of the Last Judgment was treated of,
and it was shown what is signified thereby, namely,
not the destruction of the world,
but the last time of the church.
When this is at hand, the Lord says
that He "will come in the clouds of the heavens, with power and glory"
(Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27).
. . . "clouds of the heavens" . . . is meant the literal sense of the Word;
and by "power and glory" the internal sense of the Word,
for in the internal sense of the Word there is glory,
since whatever is there
is concerning the Lord and His kingdom.
From this chapter we may see, in an especial manner,
what is the nature of the internal sense of the Word,
and how the angels perceive it when it is being read by a person.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
AC 2118 - last judgments
AC 2118
By the Last Judgment is meant the last time of a church,
and also the last state of each person's life.
As regards the last time of the church,
it was the Last Judgment of the Most Ancient Church,
which was before the flood,
when their posterity perished;
whose destruction is described by the flood
The Last Judgment of the Ancient Church,
which was after the flood,
was when almost all who were of that church became idolaters,
and were dispersed.
The Last Judgment of the Representative Church,
which succeeded among the posterity of Jacob,
was when the ten tribes were carried away into captivity,
and were dispersed among the nations;
and when later, after the Lord's coming,
the Jews were driven out of the land of Canaan,
and were scattered throughout the world.
The Last Judgment of the present church,
which is called the Christian Church,
is what is meant by John in Revelation
by the "New Heaven and the New Earth."
By the Last Judgment is meant the last time of a church,
and also the last state of each person's life.
As regards the last time of the church,
it was the Last Judgment of the Most Ancient Church,
which was before the flood,
when their posterity perished;
whose destruction is described by the flood
The Last Judgment of the Ancient Church,
which was after the flood,
was when almost all who were of that church became idolaters,
and were dispersed.
The Last Judgment of the Representative Church,
which succeeded among the posterity of Jacob,
was when the ten tribes were carried away into captivity,
and were dispersed among the nations;
and when later, after the Lord's coming,
the Jews were driven out of the land of Canaan,
and were scattered throughout the world.
The Last Judgment of the present church,
which is called the Christian Church,
is what is meant by John in Revelation
by the "New Heaven and the New Earth."
Friday, March 02, 2012
SD 2786 - the Lord speaks
SD 2786
That the Lord in person speaks with many,
and with each one individually or in particular
according to the mind of each,
and indeed, in this manner with many at once . . .
This is a heavenly truth.
Even though no one among earthly humans
is able to grasp it rationally that this is the case,
nevertheless it follows from His omnipresence with everyone,
and from His Divine auspice with each person in the universe.
(August 10, 1748)
That the Lord in person speaks with many,
and with each one individually or in particular
according to the mind of each,
and indeed, in this manner with many at once . . .
This is a heavenly truth.
Even though no one among earthly humans
is able to grasp it rationally that this is the case,
nevertheless it follows from His omnipresence with everyone,
and from His Divine auspice with each person in the universe.
(August 10, 1748)
Thursday, March 01, 2012
SD 2728 - the wonderful circulation of ideas in heaven
SD 2728-2731
It has been shown to me before
that the thoughts and speech of spirits in the world of spirits
circulate almost in the manner of the convolutions in the human brain,
with their wonderful winding, bending, flowing in, returning,
which are beyond all comprehension
because they follow the patterns of turnings of the world of spirits.
In heaven, following the heavenly pattern,
the circumvolutions are still more wonderful,
and indeed incomprehensible,
along which mental imagery, and so thoughts,
and so speech, and also so do symbolic displays circulate,
all being produced by feelings.
Those circulations are more wonderful
than anyone would ever be capable of comprehending
even in the most general way.
From this the conclusion can be drawn
that all the thoughts of angels and so of spirits
come forth from,
and are produced by
the Lord Alone . . . .
It has been shown to me before
that the thoughts and speech of spirits in the world of spirits
circulate almost in the manner of the convolutions in the human brain,
with their wonderful winding, bending, flowing in, returning,
which are beyond all comprehension
because they follow the patterns of turnings of the world of spirits.
In heaven, following the heavenly pattern,
the circumvolutions are still more wonderful,
and indeed incomprehensible,
along which mental imagery, and so thoughts,
and so speech, and also so do symbolic displays circulate,
all being produced by feelings.
Those circulations are more wonderful
than anyone would ever be capable of comprehending
even in the most general way.
From this the conclusion can be drawn
that all the thoughts of angels and so of spirits
come forth from,
and are produced by
the Lord Alone . . . .
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
AC 2116 - in the Word 'faith' is love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor
AC 2116 [2-3]
The truth is
that with those who have meditated and practiced
acts of hatred, of revenge, of cruelty, and of adultery,
and who thereby have lived in no charity,
the life they have acquired in so doing awaits them after death,
. . . and from this comes their torment in hell.
But with those who have lived in love to the Lord
and in charity toward the neighbor,
their evils of life also all remain,
but they are tempered by the goods
which during their life in the world they have received from the Lord
by means of a life of charity;
and thereby they are uplifted into heaven.
Indeed they are withheld from the evils which they have with them
so that these do not show themselves.
People in the next life who doubt that they have evils with them
because they do not show themselves
are brought back into those evils until they know that it really is so.
After that they are raised once more into heaven.
As to its being said that those are saved who have faith, this is true;
but in the Word by "faith"
nothing else is meant than love to the Lord
and charity toward the neighbor,
and thus a life from these loves.
The doctrinal things and dogmas of faith are not faith,
but belong to faith;
for they are one and all for the sake of the end
that a person may become such as they teach him to be,
as may be clearly seen from the Lord's words
that in love to God and love toward the neighbor
consist all the law and the prophets,
that is, the universal doctrine of faith . . ..
The truth is
that with those who have meditated and practiced
acts of hatred, of revenge, of cruelty, and of adultery,
and who thereby have lived in no charity,
the life they have acquired in so doing awaits them after death,
. . . and from this comes their torment in hell.
But with those who have lived in love to the Lord
and in charity toward the neighbor,
their evils of life also all remain,
but they are tempered by the goods
which during their life in the world they have received from the Lord
by means of a life of charity;
and thereby they are uplifted into heaven.
Indeed they are withheld from the evils which they have with them
so that these do not show themselves.
People in the next life who doubt that they have evils with them
because they do not show themselves
are brought back into those evils until they know that it really is so.
After that they are raised once more into heaven.
As to its being said that those are saved who have faith, this is true;
but in the Word by "faith"
nothing else is meant than love to the Lord
and charity toward the neighbor,
and thus a life from these loves.
The doctrinal things and dogmas of faith are not faith,
but belong to faith;
for they are one and all for the sake of the end
that a person may become such as they teach him to be,
as may be clearly seen from the Lord's words
that in love to God and love toward the neighbor
consist all the law and the prophets,
that is, the universal doctrine of faith . . ..
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
AC 2072 - laughter; AC 2083 - uniting the Human to the Divine
AC 2072
'And laughed' means the affection for truth.
This becomes clear from the origin and essential nature of laughter.
In origin it is nothing other than the affection for truth
or the affection for falsity,
which produces the mirth and pleasure
exhibited in the face by means of laughter.
This shows that the essential nature of laughter is nothing else.
Actually laughter is something external belonging to the body
since it belongs to the face;
but in the Word interior things are expressed and are meant by exterior.
Just as all interior affections of both areas of mind
are expressed and meant by the face;
interior hearing and obedience by the ear;
internal sight, which is understanding, by the eye;
power and strength by the hand and arm; and so on;
so is the affection for truth expressed and meant by laughter.
AC 2083 [2]
From His own power
the Lord made Divine everything that was human with Him.
Thus He made not only the rational Divine
but also the sensory part, interior and exterior,
and so the body itself.
In this way He united the Human to the Divine.
'And laughed' means the affection for truth.
This becomes clear from the origin and essential nature of laughter.
In origin it is nothing other than the affection for truth
or the affection for falsity,
which produces the mirth and pleasure
exhibited in the face by means of laughter.
This shows that the essential nature of laughter is nothing else.
Actually laughter is something external belonging to the body
since it belongs to the face;
but in the Word interior things are expressed and are meant by exterior.
Just as all interior affections of both areas of mind
are expressed and meant by the face;
interior hearing and obedience by the ear;
internal sight, which is understanding, by the eye;
power and strength by the hand and arm; and so on;
so is the affection for truth expressed and meant by laughter.
AC 2083 [2]
From His own power
the Lord made Divine everything that was human with Him.
Thus He made not only the rational Divine
but also the sensory part, interior and exterior,
and so the body itself.
In this way He united the Human to the Divine.
Monday, February 27, 2012
SD 2713-2714 - the government of the universe
About the government of the universe:
the universe is not ruled by the Lord
in agreement with human fallacies and fantasies,
in which there are countless things that oppose.
SD 2713-2714
In perverse and inverted human minds
there is this most powerful and almost exclusive tendency
to draw conclusions from the way outer things are governed,
thus especially from fallacies of the senses and fantasies:
why does the Lord not guard against and turn people away from evils,
indeed, from cruelties and other such dreadful and abominable things,
when yet the hearts of all are in His hand?
. . . But the truth is this,
that the Lord rules the universe by a providence,
an infinite one,
than which to rule more infinitely and more wisely is inconceivable.
And because this is the truth,
it follows that thoughts which oppose are false,
for there is one truth.
Moreover, that there is no moment of a person's thought and action,
which has not along with itself, and is wont to have,
a successive series of consequences to eternity;
Every single moment of life
is the starting point of consequences in life,
and like a single seed from which countless results ensue to eternity.
This also is true.
Since these are truths,
it follows that all things in lowest nature
that appear to oppose them (the truths)
are fallacies of the senses and fantasies.
the universe is not ruled by the Lord
in agreement with human fallacies and fantasies,
in which there are countless things that oppose.
SD 2713-2714
In perverse and inverted human minds
there is this most powerful and almost exclusive tendency
to draw conclusions from the way outer things are governed,
thus especially from fallacies of the senses and fantasies:
why does the Lord not guard against and turn people away from evils,
indeed, from cruelties and other such dreadful and abominable things,
when yet the hearts of all are in His hand?
. . . But the truth is this,
that the Lord rules the universe by a providence,
an infinite one,
than which to rule more infinitely and more wisely is inconceivable.
And because this is the truth,
it follows that thoughts which oppose are false,
for there is one truth.
Moreover, that there is no moment of a person's thought and action,
which has not along with itself, and is wont to have,
a successive series of consequences to eternity;
Every single moment of life
is the starting point of consequences in life,
and like a single seed from which countless results ensue to eternity.
This also is true.
Since these are truths,
it follows that all things in lowest nature
that appear to oppose them (the truths)
are fallacies of the senses and fantasies.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
AC 2063 - being regenerated is to be conjoined with the Lord
AC 2063 [3]
When a person is being regenerated,
that is, when he is to be conjoined with the Lord,
he proceeds to the conjunction by means of truth,
that is, by means of the truths of faith;
for no one can be regenerated
except by means of the knowledges of faith,
which are the truths by means of which he proceeds to conjunction.
The Lord goes to meet these by means of good,
that is, by means of charity,
and adjusts and fits this in to the knowledges of faith, that is, to its truths;
for all truths are recipient vessels of good,
and therefore the more genuine the truths are,
and the more they are multiplied,
the more abundantly can good accept them as vessels,
reduce them to order, and finally reveal itself;
so that at last the truths do not appear,
except insofar as good shines through them.
In this way truth becomes the celestial spiritual.
As the Lord is present solely in the good which is of charity,
the person is in this way conjoined with the Lord,
and by means of good, that is, by means of charity,
is gifted with conscience,
from which he afterwards thinks what is true
and does what is right;
but this conscience is in accordance
with the truths and right things
into which the good or charity is adjusted and fitted.
When a person is being regenerated,
that is, when he is to be conjoined with the Lord,
he proceeds to the conjunction by means of truth,
that is, by means of the truths of faith;
for no one can be regenerated
except by means of the knowledges of faith,
which are the truths by means of which he proceeds to conjunction.
The Lord goes to meet these by means of good,
that is, by means of charity,
and adjusts and fits this in to the knowledges of faith, that is, to its truths;
for all truths are recipient vessels of good,
and therefore the more genuine the truths are,
and the more they are multiplied,
the more abundantly can good accept them as vessels,
reduce them to order, and finally reveal itself;
so that at last the truths do not appear,
except insofar as good shines through them.
In this way truth becomes the celestial spiritual.
As the Lord is present solely in the good which is of charity,
the person is in this way conjoined with the Lord,
and by means of good, that is, by means of charity,
is gifted with conscience,
from which he afterwards thinks what is true
and does what is right;
but this conscience is in accordance
with the truths and right things
into which the good or charity is adjusted and fitted.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
AC 2049, 2051 - "sons that are strangers"; AC 2053 - the forming of conscience
AC 2049
. . . "sons that are strangers"
signify those who are not born within the church,
as is the case with the Gentiles.
Gentiles, who are outside the church,
may be in truths, but not in the truths of faith.
Their truths, like the precepts of the Decalogue,
are that parents are to be honored,
that men are not to kill, steal, commit adultery,
or covet things that belong to others;
also that the Deity is to be worshiped.
But the truths of faith
are all doctrinal things concerning eternal life,
the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself,
which cannot be known to the Gentiles
because they have not the Word.
They are purified when they reject filthy loves,
and live with one another in charity;
for then they live in truths,
since all truths are of charity . . ..
AC 2051
. . . purification from those filthy loves
is necessary most of all within the church,
and this for the reason
that they who are within the church
are able to render holy things themselves impure,
which they who are outside the church - that is, the Gentiles - cannot do . . . .
Moreover those who are within the church
are able to form principles of falsity contrary to the very truths of faith . . ..
whereas those who are outside the church cannot do this,
because they are ignorant of these truths.
Thus the former can profane holy truths, but not the latter . . ..
AC 2053 [2]
The truths of conscience are various,
that is, they are according to each person's religion;
and these truths, provided they are not contrary to the goods of faith,
the Lord will not do violence to,
because the person has taken them to himself,
and has regarded them as holy.
The Lord breaks no one, but bends him,
as may be seen from the fact
that in every teaching within the church
there are some who are being gifted with conscience,
which conscience is a better one
in proportion as its truths approach more closely
to the genuine truths of faith.
As conscience is formed from truths of faith of this kind,
it is evident that it has been formed in the intellectual part of a person,
for it is the intellectual part that receives these truths;
and therefore the Lord
has miraculously separated this part from the will part
- an arcanum not previously known . . ..
. . . "sons that are strangers"
signify those who are not born within the church,
as is the case with the Gentiles.
Gentiles, who are outside the church,
may be in truths, but not in the truths of faith.
Their truths, like the precepts of the Decalogue,
are that parents are to be honored,
that men are not to kill, steal, commit adultery,
or covet things that belong to others;
also that the Deity is to be worshiped.
But the truths of faith
are all doctrinal things concerning eternal life,
the Lord's kingdom, and the Lord Himself,
which cannot be known to the Gentiles
because they have not the Word.
They are purified when they reject filthy loves,
and live with one another in charity;
for then they live in truths,
since all truths are of charity . . ..
AC 2051
. . . purification from those filthy loves
is necessary most of all within the church,
and this for the reason
that they who are within the church
are able to render holy things themselves impure,
which they who are outside the church - that is, the Gentiles - cannot do . . . .
Moreover those who are within the church
are able to form principles of falsity contrary to the very truths of faith . . ..
whereas those who are outside the church cannot do this,
because they are ignorant of these truths.
Thus the former can profane holy truths, but not the latter . . ..
AC 2053 [2]
The truths of conscience are various,
that is, they are according to each person's religion;
and these truths, provided they are not contrary to the goods of faith,
the Lord will not do violence to,
because the person has taken them to himself,
and has regarded them as holy.
The Lord breaks no one, but bends him,
as may be seen from the fact
that in every teaching within the church
there are some who are being gifted with conscience,
which conscience is a better one
in proportion as its truths approach more closely
to the genuine truths of faith.
As conscience is formed from truths of faith of this kind,
it is evident that it has been formed in the intellectual part of a person,
for it is the intellectual part that receives these truths;
and therefore the Lord
has miraculously separated this part from the will part
- an arcanum not previously known . . ..
Friday, February 24, 2012
SD 2671 - it was replied from heaven
SD 2671
. . . it was replied from heaven,
that never is any one predestined to hell,
but that all are predestined from eternity
to eternal life.
(July 23, 1748)
. . . it was replied from heaven,
that never is any one predestined to hell,
but that all are predestined from eternity
to eternal life.
(July 23, 1748)
Thursday, February 23, 2012
AC 2039 - loves of three kinds
AC 2039
There are loves of three kinds
that constitute the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom,
namely, conjugial love,
love for infants,
and the love for society, or mutual love.
Conjugial love is the principal love of all,
because it has within it the end of greatest use,
namely, the propagation of the human race,
and thereby of the Lord's kingdom,
of which it is the seminary.
Love toward infants follows next,
being derived from conjugial love;
and then comes the love for society, or mutual love.
There are loves of three kinds
that constitute the celestial things of the Lord's kingdom,
namely, conjugial love,
love for infants,
and the love for society, or mutual love.
Conjugial love is the principal love of all,
because it has within it the end of greatest use,
namely, the propagation of the human race,
and thereby of the Lord's kingdom,
of which it is the seminary.
Love toward infants follows next,
being derived from conjugial love;
and then comes the love for society, or mutual love.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
SD 2648 - the life that is good; SD 2652-3 - meriting heaven
SD 2648
This is the case with those things in life that are good,
both on the part of people on earth and of spirits.
The Lord provides such minds,
and inspires them to think
that they do good on their own power,
when yet nothing whatever,
not the least bit,
is from them.
But then He instructs them
that they do not do good from themselves,
but from the Lord.
(July 18, 1748)
SD 2652-2653
. . . those who wish to merit heavenly joy, or heaven,
through piety, that is through prayers, gifts to the poor,
self-imposed humiliation and renunciation of the world, and the like,
by which people think, sometimes in simplicity,
that they merit heaven
- as also, for example,
by having during their bodily life
contributed something to the increase of the Lord's Church,
ascribing merit to themselves for it.
Of such people there are many, many kinds and species.
. . . the more people suppose that they merit heaven by such means
and thus come nearer to heaven,
the more they distance themselves from heaven,
because they ascribe merit to themselves
and take it away from the Lord
and the goodness of their works to themselves,
denying them to the Lord.
Thus the more one does this,
the farther one distances oneself from heaven.
(July 19, 1948)
This is the case with those things in life that are good,
both on the part of people on earth and of spirits.
The Lord provides such minds,
and inspires them to think
that they do good on their own power,
when yet nothing whatever,
not the least bit,
is from them.
But then He instructs them
that they do not do good from themselves,
but from the Lord.
(July 18, 1748)
SD 2652-2653
. . . those who wish to merit heavenly joy, or heaven,
through piety, that is through prayers, gifts to the poor,
self-imposed humiliation and renunciation of the world, and the like,
by which people think, sometimes in simplicity,
that they merit heaven
- as also, for example,
by having during their bodily life
contributed something to the increase of the Lord's Church,
ascribing merit to themselves for it.
Of such people there are many, many kinds and species.
. . . the more people suppose that they merit heaven by such means
and thus come nearer to heaven,
the more they distance themselves from heaven,
because they ascribe merit to themselves
and take it away from the Lord
and the goodness of their works to themselves,
denying them to the Lord.
Thus the more one does this,
the farther one distances oneself from heaven.
(July 19, 1948)
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
SD 2601 - no one is obliged by force or compulsion to serve the Lord
SD 2601
There are very many means of compelling people and spirits
to acknowledge and worship the Lord,
nor is anything easier;
there are restraints and kinds and species of restraints;
there are fears, there are joys, there are honors;
there are all kinds of desires that could compel a person or a spirit
to acknowledge the Lord.
What fears accomplish in them is obvious enough,
and also what honors achieve,
and when they are brought into a state of joy,
then all want to acknowledge the Lord and adore Him.
There are very many means of compelling people and spirits
to acknowledge and worship the Lord,
nor is anything easier;
there are restraints and kinds and species of restraints;
there are fears, there are joys, there are honors;
there are all kinds of desires that could compel a person or a spirit
to acknowledge the Lord.
What fears accomplish in them is obvious enough,
and also what honors achieve,
and when they are brought into a state of joy,
then all want to acknowledge the Lord and adore Him.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
AC 2021 - Union and conjunction
AC 2021
Between the Lord's Divine Essence and His Human Essence
there was a Union;
but between the Lord and the human race
there is a Conjunction, through the faith of charity,
as is evident from the fact that Jehovah or the Lord is Life,
and that His Human Essence also was made Life . . .
and between Life and Life there is Union.
. . . A person does not live from himself,
but the Lord in mercy adjoins a person to Himself
and thereby causes him to live to eternity;
and because the Lord and a person are thus distinct,
it is called conjunction.
Between the Lord's Divine Essence and His Human Essence
there was a Union;
but between the Lord and the human race
there is a Conjunction, through the faith of charity,
as is evident from the fact that Jehovah or the Lord is Life,
and that His Human Essence also was made Life . . .
and between Life and Life there is Union.
. . . A person does not live from himself,
but the Lord in mercy adjoins a person to Himself
and thereby causes him to live to eternity;
and because the Lord and a person are thus distinct,
it is called conjunction.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
AC 1999 - adoration, humiliation; AC 2004 - conjunction
AC 1999
Abram fell upon his faces.*
. . . this signifies adoration . . ..
To fall upon the face was a rite of adoration in the Most Ancient Church,
and also in that of the Ancients,
for the reason that the face signified the interiors,
and the state of their humiliation
was represented by falling upon the face;
so in the Jewish representative church
it became a customary ceremonial.
True adoration, or humiliation of heart,
carries with it prostration to the earth upon the face before the Lord . . ..
For in humiliation of heart
there is the acknowledgment of self as being nothing but filthiness,
and at the same time the acknowledgment of the Lord's infinite mercy . . ..
[2] That the Lord adored and prayed to Jehovah His Father,
is known from the Word of the Gospels;
and also that He did so as if to one different from Himself,
although Jehovah was in Him.
But the state in which the Lord was at these times
was His state of humiliation . . .
that He was then in the infirm human that was from the mother;
but insofar as He put this off,
and put on the Divine,
He was in another state,
which is called His state of glorification.
In the former state
He adored Jehovah as one different from Himself,
although in Himself;
for, as has been said, His internal was Jehovah;
but in the latter, that is, in His state of glorification,
He spoke with Jehovah as with Himself,
or He was Jehovah Himself.
[3] A person's internal is that from which he is a person,
and by which he is distinguished from brute animals.
By means of this internal he lives after death,
and to eternity a person,
and by means of it
he can be uplifted by the Lord among the angels.
This internal is the very first form
from which a person becomes and is a person,
and by means of it
the Lord is united to a person.
[5] . . . the Lord's internal was Jehovah Himself,
because He was conceived from Jehovah,
who cannot be divided and become another's,
as is the case with a son who is conceived from a human father;
for the Divine is not divisible,
like the human,
but is and remains one and the same.
To this internal the Lord united the Human Essence;
and because the Lord's internal was Jehovah,
it was not a form recipient of life,
like the internal of a person,
but was life itself.
. . . Insofar therefore as the Lord was in the human
which He received by inheritance from the mother,
so far did He appear distinct from Jehovah
and adore Jehovah as one different from Himself.
But insofar as the Lord put off this human,
He was not distinct from Jehovah,
but was one with Him.
The former state, as before said, was the Lord's state of humiliation;
but the latter was His state of glorification.
AC 2004 [3]
Between the Lord and Jehovah there was union,
but between a person and the Lord
there is not union,
but conjunction.
The Lord united Himself to Jehovah by His own power,
and He therefore also became Righteousness;
whereas a person by no means conjoins himself by his own power,
but by the power of the Lord;
so that the Lord conjoins a person with Himself.
* "Faces" is in the plural in both the Hebrew and the Latin
because a person has really as many faces as affection
and it is the same with the Lord . . .. [Reviser.]
Abram fell upon his faces.*
. . . this signifies adoration . . ..
To fall upon the face was a rite of adoration in the Most Ancient Church,
and also in that of the Ancients,
for the reason that the face signified the interiors,
and the state of their humiliation
was represented by falling upon the face;
so in the Jewish representative church
it became a customary ceremonial.
True adoration, or humiliation of heart,
carries with it prostration to the earth upon the face before the Lord . . ..
For in humiliation of heart
there is the acknowledgment of self as being nothing but filthiness,
and at the same time the acknowledgment of the Lord's infinite mercy . . ..
[2] That the Lord adored and prayed to Jehovah His Father,
is known from the Word of the Gospels;
and also that He did so as if to one different from Himself,
although Jehovah was in Him.
But the state in which the Lord was at these times
was His state of humiliation . . .
that He was then in the infirm human that was from the mother;
but insofar as He put this off,
and put on the Divine,
He was in another state,
which is called His state of glorification.
In the former state
He adored Jehovah as one different from Himself,
although in Himself;
for, as has been said, His internal was Jehovah;
but in the latter, that is, in His state of glorification,
He spoke with Jehovah as with Himself,
or He was Jehovah Himself.
[3] A person's internal is that from which he is a person,
and by which he is distinguished from brute animals.
By means of this internal he lives after death,
and to eternity a person,
and by means of it
he can be uplifted by the Lord among the angels.
This internal is the very first form
from which a person becomes and is a person,
and by means of it
the Lord is united to a person.
[5] . . . the Lord's internal was Jehovah Himself,
because He was conceived from Jehovah,
who cannot be divided and become another's,
as is the case with a son who is conceived from a human father;
for the Divine is not divisible,
like the human,
but is and remains one and the same.
To this internal the Lord united the Human Essence;
and because the Lord's internal was Jehovah,
it was not a form recipient of life,
like the internal of a person,
but was life itself.
. . . Insofar therefore as the Lord was in the human
which He received by inheritance from the mother,
so far did He appear distinct from Jehovah
and adore Jehovah as one different from Himself.
But insofar as the Lord put off this human,
He was not distinct from Jehovah,
but was one with Him.
The former state, as before said, was the Lord's state of humiliation;
but the latter was His state of glorification.
AC 2004 [3]
Between the Lord and Jehovah there was union,
but between a person and the Lord
there is not union,
but conjunction.
The Lord united Himself to Jehovah by His own power,
and He therefore also became Righteousness;
whereas a person by no means conjoins himself by his own power,
but by the power of the Lord;
so that the Lord conjoins a person with Himself.
* "Faces" is in the plural in both the Hebrew and the Latin
because a person has really as many faces as affection
and it is the same with the Lord . . .. [Reviser.]
Friday, February 17, 2012
AC 1992 - God Shaddai
AC 1992 [1-5]
I am God Shaddai.
(Genesis 17:1)
. . . In Syria, where Abram came from,
there still existed remains of the Ancient Church,
and many families there retained its worship . . ..
But this was not the case with the house of Terah,
the father of Abram and Nahor,
for this was one of the families of the nations there
that had not only lost the name "Jehovah"
but had also served other gods,
and instead of Jehovah had worshiped Shaddai,
whom they called their god . . ..
In his early manhood, Abram, like other Gentiles, was an idolater,
and that up to this time, while living in the land of Canaan,
he had not rejected from his mind the god Shaddai
- by which is meant in the sense of the letter the name of Abram's god -
and that by this name the Lord was first represented before them
(that is, before Abram, Isaac, and Jacob) . . ..
The reason why the Lord was willing
to be first represented before them by the name "Shaddai"
is that the Lord by no means desires to destroy suddenly
(still less in a single moment)
the worship that has been instilled in anyone from his infancy;
for this would be to tear up the root,
and thereby destroy the holy state of adoration and of worship
that has been deeply implanted,
and which the Lord never breaks, but bends.
The holy state of worship
that has been rooted in from infancy
is of such a nature that it cannot endure violence,
but only a gentle and kindly bending.
The case is the same with those Gentiles
who in their bodily life had worshiped idols,
and yet had lived in mutual charity.
As the holy state of their worship has been inrooted from their infancy,
in the other life it is not taken away in a moment, but successively;
for in those who have lived in mutual charity,
the goods and truths of faith can be easily implanted,
and they receive them afterwards with joy; for charity is the very soil.
And such also was the case with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
in that the Lord suffered them to retain the name "God Shaddai,"
insomuch that He said He was God Shaddai;
and this from the meaning of the name.
Some translators render Shaddai "the Almighty;"
others, "the Thunderer;"
but it properly signifies "the Tempter" or "Tester,"
and "the Benefactor," after the temptations" or "trials,"
as is evident from the book of Job,
which mentions "Shaddai" so frequently
because Job was in trials or temptations . . ..
I am God Shaddai.
(Genesis 17:1)
. . . In Syria, where Abram came from,
there still existed remains of the Ancient Church,
and many families there retained its worship . . ..
But this was not the case with the house of Terah,
the father of Abram and Nahor,
for this was one of the families of the nations there
that had not only lost the name "Jehovah"
but had also served other gods,
and instead of Jehovah had worshiped Shaddai,
whom they called their god . . ..
In his early manhood, Abram, like other Gentiles, was an idolater,
and that up to this time, while living in the land of Canaan,
he had not rejected from his mind the god Shaddai
- by which is meant in the sense of the letter the name of Abram's god -
and that by this name the Lord was first represented before them
(that is, before Abram, Isaac, and Jacob) . . ..
The reason why the Lord was willing
to be first represented before them by the name "Shaddai"
is that the Lord by no means desires to destroy suddenly
(still less in a single moment)
the worship that has been instilled in anyone from his infancy;
for this would be to tear up the root,
and thereby destroy the holy state of adoration and of worship
that has been deeply implanted,
and which the Lord never breaks, but bends.
The holy state of worship
that has been rooted in from infancy
is of such a nature that it cannot endure violence,
but only a gentle and kindly bending.
The case is the same with those Gentiles
who in their bodily life had worshiped idols,
and yet had lived in mutual charity.
As the holy state of their worship has been inrooted from their infancy,
in the other life it is not taken away in a moment, but successively;
for in those who have lived in mutual charity,
the goods and truths of faith can be easily implanted,
and they receive them afterwards with joy; for charity is the very soil.
And such also was the case with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
in that the Lord suffered them to retain the name "God Shaddai,"
insomuch that He said He was God Shaddai;
and this from the meaning of the name.
Some translators render Shaddai "the Almighty;"
others, "the Thunderer;"
but it properly signifies "the Tempter" or "Tester,"
and "the Benefactor," after the temptations" or "trials,"
as is evident from the book of Job,
which mentions "Shaddai" so frequently
because Job was in trials or temptations . . ..
Thursday, February 16, 2012
AC 1988, 1989 - names and numbers
AC 1988
The nature of the internal sense of the Word
may be seen in an especial manner
from the numbers, as well as from the names, that occur in the Word;
for within the numbers, whatever they may be,
signify actual things,
as do the names also;
for there is absolutely nothing in the Word
that has not what is Divine within it,
or that does not possess an internal sense;
and how remote this is from the sense of the letter
is especially clear from the numbers and the names;
for in heaven no attention is given to these,
but to the things that are signified by them.
For example, whenever the number "seven" occurs,
instead of seven there at once comes to the angels what is holy . . ..
Whenever "twelve" occurs,
there comes to the angels the idea of all things that belong to faith . . ..
The case is the same with the number "ninety-nine;"
and that this number signifies
the time before the Lord had fully conjoined the internal man with the rational,
is evident from the signification of a "hundred years,"
which was Abram's age when Isaac was born to him;
for by Isaac is represented and signified the Lord's rational man
that is conjoined with His internal man, that is, with the Divine.
In the Word, a "hundred" signifies the same as "ten,"
for it is formed by the multiplication of ten into ten
and "ten" signifies remains
. . . in the Lord's case remains mean the Divine goods
that He procured for Himself by His own power,
and by means of which
He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence.
AC 1989
. . . by "Abram" in the Word there is meant no other than the Lord.
But the angels, who are in heavenly ideas
and do not fix them on any person,
know nothing about Abram;
and therefore when the Word is being read by a person
and Abram is mentioned
they perceive no other than the Lord . . ..
The nature of the internal sense of the Word
may be seen in an especial manner
from the numbers, as well as from the names, that occur in the Word;
for within the numbers, whatever they may be,
signify actual things,
as do the names also;
for there is absolutely nothing in the Word
that has not what is Divine within it,
or that does not possess an internal sense;
and how remote this is from the sense of the letter
is especially clear from the numbers and the names;
for in heaven no attention is given to these,
but to the things that are signified by them.
For example, whenever the number "seven" occurs,
instead of seven there at once comes to the angels what is holy . . ..
Whenever "twelve" occurs,
there comes to the angels the idea of all things that belong to faith . . ..
The case is the same with the number "ninety-nine;"
and that this number signifies
the time before the Lord had fully conjoined the internal man with the rational,
is evident from the signification of a "hundred years,"
which was Abram's age when Isaac was born to him;
for by Isaac is represented and signified the Lord's rational man
that is conjoined with His internal man, that is, with the Divine.
In the Word, a "hundred" signifies the same as "ten,"
for it is formed by the multiplication of ten into ten
and "ten" signifies remains
. . . in the Lord's case remains mean the Divine goods
that He procured for Himself by His own power,
and by means of which
He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence.
AC 1989
. . . by "Abram" in the Word there is meant no other than the Lord.
But the angels, who are in heavenly ideas
and do not fix them on any person,
know nothing about Abram;
and therefore when the Word is being read by a person
and Abram is mentioned
they perceive no other than the Lord . . ..
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
SD 2545-2546 - the appearance and the reality
SD 2545-2546
There are very many like cases in nature
proved by experience
and being true [contrary to the appearance],
must nevertheless be believed.
It is similar with matters in the spiritual world,
especially those pertaining to faith.
These must not be doubted, much less rejected,
because we do not understand the causes
and because they are not according to the way things appear,
when yet they are truths
because the Lord, Who is Himself the Truth, has said them
- such as that it is the Lord Alone Who lives,
that other lives on earth and in heaven are nothing,
and very many statements of this kind.
These too are contrary to the appearance . . .
yet they are still true
and should therefore not be denied
just because we do not understand,
and because we seem to ourselves to live from ourselves.
(July 6, 1748)
There are very many like cases in nature
proved by experience
and being true [contrary to the appearance],
must nevertheless be believed.
It is similar with matters in the spiritual world,
especially those pertaining to faith.
These must not be doubted, much less rejected,
because we do not understand the causes
and because they are not according to the way things appear,
when yet they are truths
because the Lord, Who is Himself the Truth, has said them
- such as that it is the Lord Alone Who lives,
that other lives on earth and in heaven are nothing,
and very many statements of this kind.
These too are contrary to the appearance . . .
yet they are still true
and should therefore not be denied
just because we do not understand,
and because we seem to ourselves to live from ourselves.
(July 6, 1748)
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
AC 1984 - the Soul of the Word
AC 1984
Few persons can bring themselves to believe
that the Word has within it an internal sense
that is not apparent from the letter,
because it is so remote from the sense of the letter
that it is as it were distant from it as heaven is from earth.
. . . The sense of the letter bears a relation to the internal sense
like that of the human body to the soul.
While a person is in the body, and thinks from bodily things,
he knows almost nothing about the soul;
for the functions of the body are different from those of the soul,
so different that if the functions of the soul were disclosed,
they would not be acknowledged as such.
The case is the same with the internals of the Word:
its soul, that is, its life, is in its internals,
and these have regard solely to the Lord, His kingdom, the church,
and to those things in a person that belong to His kingdom and church;
and when these are regarded,
it is the Word of the Lord,
for in this case there is life itself within.
Few persons can bring themselves to believe
that the Word has within it an internal sense
that is not apparent from the letter,
because it is so remote from the sense of the letter
that it is as it were distant from it as heaven is from earth.
. . . The sense of the letter bears a relation to the internal sense
like that of the human body to the soul.
While a person is in the body, and thinks from bodily things,
he knows almost nothing about the soul;
for the functions of the body are different from those of the soul,
so different that if the functions of the soul were disclosed,
they would not be acknowledged as such.
The case is the same with the internals of the Word:
its soul, that is, its life, is in its internals,
and these have regard solely to the Lord, His kingdom, the church,
and to those things in a person that belong to His kingdom and church;
and when these are regarded,
it is the Word of the Lord,
for in this case there is life itself within.
Monday, February 13, 2012
SD 2495, 2502 - the deceit that leads to listlessness and destruction
SD 2495
it was a certain kind of deceit not before observed so much in others,
namely that they were able to slip into any company whatever . . ..
. . . there was nothing whatever of what was being thought and happening
that they did not pick up on and then want to make use of for their own sake.
It was therefore an active deceit
. . . concerned only for themselves, not for others.
2502.
There was such poison in them
that it blunted all my power to engage in truths and goodness,
taking away all zeal.
They have been with me for several days
and have so troubled me in thinking and doing serious things,
things true and good,
and in seeing them, that I hardly knew what to do.
Such is the influence of their poisons.
When they are in the company of good spirits,
they bring on them a sluggishness
in doing good and the duties of their function.
. . . when that kind of spirit comes among those
who are inclined to performing useful tasks in the commonwealth,
or into their societies, then all their ardor is dampened.
So the human race is being led astray mainly by them,
for which reason kings reject such people from their courts,
for they inflict great harm on societies,
leading them away from truths and goodness . . ..
They are destroyers of the human race.
For it is generally known
that people who begin to indulge in idleness
take the greatest pleasure in it,
like beggars who once they become accustomed to that laziness
then hold back and remove themselves
from every effort to be members of civil society, or to be citizens.
They cannot be called citizens, but destroyers of citizens.
(July 3, 1748)
it was a certain kind of deceit not before observed so much in others,
namely that they were able to slip into any company whatever . . ..
. . . there was nothing whatever of what was being thought and happening
that they did not pick up on and then want to make use of for their own sake.
It was therefore an active deceit
. . . concerned only for themselves, not for others.
2502.
There was such poison in them
that it blunted all my power to engage in truths and goodness,
taking away all zeal.
They have been with me for several days
and have so troubled me in thinking and doing serious things,
things true and good,
and in seeing them, that I hardly knew what to do.
Such is the influence of their poisons.
When they are in the company of good spirits,
they bring on them a sluggishness
in doing good and the duties of their function.
. . . when that kind of spirit comes among those
who are inclined to performing useful tasks in the commonwealth,
or into their societies, then all their ardor is dampened.
So the human race is being led astray mainly by them,
for which reason kings reject such people from their courts,
for they inflict great harm on societies,
leading them away from truths and goodness . . ..
They are destroyers of the human race.
For it is generally known
that people who begin to indulge in idleness
take the greatest pleasure in it,
like beggars who once they become accustomed to that laziness
then hold back and remove themselves
from every effort to be members of civil society, or to be citizens.
They cannot be called citizens, but destroyers of citizens.
(July 3, 1748)
Sunday, February 12, 2012
AC 1964 - knowledges, the rational, uses
AC 1964
. . . it known
that the rational cannot possibly be conceived and born,
that is, formed,
apart from knowledges
but these knowledges must have use as their end . . ..
From these knowledges alone,
without a life of use,
the rational becomes as here described,
resembling a wild-ass, morose, pugnacious,
and characterized by a parched and dry life,
from a kind of love of truth
that is defiled with the love of self.
But when these knowledges have use as their end,
they receive life from uses,
yet life of such a quality
as is that of the uses.
They who learn knowledges
in order that they may be perfected in the faith of love
- for true and real faith is love to the Lord and toward the neighbor -
are in the use of all uses,
and receive spiritual and celestial life from the Lord;
and when they are in this life,
they have a capacity to perceive all things of the Lord's kingdom.
In this life are all angels;
and because they are in this life
they are in intelligence itself and wisdom itself.
. . . it known
that the rational cannot possibly be conceived and born,
that is, formed,
apart from knowledges
but these knowledges must have use as their end . . ..
From these knowledges alone,
without a life of use,
the rational becomes as here described,
resembling a wild-ass, morose, pugnacious,
and characterized by a parched and dry life,
from a kind of love of truth
that is defiled with the love of self.
But when these knowledges have use as their end,
they receive life from uses,
yet life of such a quality
as is that of the uses.
They who learn knowledges
in order that they may be perfected in the faith of love
- for true and real faith is love to the Lord and toward the neighbor -
are in the use of all uses,
and receive spiritual and celestial life from the Lord;
and when they are in this life,
they have a capacity to perceive all things of the Lord's kingdom.
In this life are all angels;
and because they are in this life
they are in intelligence itself and wisdom itself.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
AC 1949 - the Ishmael rational; AC 1950 - the genuine rational
AC 1949
The person whose rational is of such a character that he is solely in truth -
even though it is the truth of faith -
and who is not at the same time in the good of charity,
is altogether of such a character.
He is a morose person, will bear nothing, is against all,
regards everybody as being in falsity,
is ready to rebuke, to chastise, and to punish; has no pity,
and does not apply or adapt himself to others and study to bend their minds;
So it is that Ishmael was driven out, and afterwards dwelt in the wilderness,
and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt (Gen. 21:9-21) . . .
AC 1950 [2-3]
All the genuine rational consists of good and truth,
that is, of the celestial and the spiritual.
Good, or the celestial, is its very soul or life;
truth, or the spiritual, is what receives its life from this.
Without life from celestial good,
the rational is such as is here described,
that is, it fights against all, and all fight against it.
Rational good never fights, however it is assailed;
because it is mild and gentle, patient and yielding;
for its character is that of love and mercy.
Yet although it does not fight, it conquers all,
nor does it ever think about combat,
or glory on account of victory;
and this because it is Divine, and is safe of itself.
For no evil can attack good;
it cannot even continue to exist in the sphere where good is,
for when this merely approaches,
evil withdraws and falls back of itself;
for evil is infernal,
and good is heavenly.
Very similar is the case with the celestial spiritual,
that is, with truth from a celestial origin,
or with truth which is from good,
for this truth is truth that is formed by good,
so that it may be called the form of good.
But truth separated from good,
which is here represented by Ishmael and is described in this verse,
is altogether different, being like a wild-ass,
and fighting against all, and all against it;
in fact it thinks of and breathes scarcely anything but combats;
its general delectation, or reigning affection, is to conquer,
and when it conquers it glories in the victory . . ..
Such a life is a life of truth without good,
yea, a life of faith without charity,
and therefore when a person is being regenerated,
this is indeed effected by means of the truth of faith,
but still at the same time by means of a life of charity,
which the Lord insinuates
in accordance with the increments of the truth of faith.
The person whose rational is of such a character that he is solely in truth -
even though it is the truth of faith -
and who is not at the same time in the good of charity,
is altogether of such a character.
He is a morose person, will bear nothing, is against all,
regards everybody as being in falsity,
is ready to rebuke, to chastise, and to punish; has no pity,
and does not apply or adapt himself to others and study to bend their minds;
So it is that Ishmael was driven out, and afterwards dwelt in the wilderness,
and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt (Gen. 21:9-21) . . .
AC 1950 [2-3]
All the genuine rational consists of good and truth,
that is, of the celestial and the spiritual.
Good, or the celestial, is its very soul or life;
truth, or the spiritual, is what receives its life from this.
Without life from celestial good,
the rational is such as is here described,
that is, it fights against all, and all fight against it.
Rational good never fights, however it is assailed;
because it is mild and gentle, patient and yielding;
for its character is that of love and mercy.
Yet although it does not fight, it conquers all,
nor does it ever think about combat,
or glory on account of victory;
and this because it is Divine, and is safe of itself.
For no evil can attack good;
it cannot even continue to exist in the sphere where good is,
for when this merely approaches,
evil withdraws and falls back of itself;
for evil is infernal,
and good is heavenly.
Very similar is the case with the celestial spiritual,
that is, with truth from a celestial origin,
or with truth which is from good,
for this truth is truth that is formed by good,
so that it may be called the form of good.
But truth separated from good,
which is here represented by Ishmael and is described in this verse,
is altogether different, being like a wild-ass,
and fighting against all, and all against it;
in fact it thinks of and breathes scarcely anything but combats;
its general delectation, or reigning affection, is to conquer,
and when it conquers it glories in the victory . . ..
Such a life is a life of truth without good,
yea, a life of faith without charity,
and therefore when a person is being regenerated,
this is indeed effected by means of the truth of faith,
but still at the same time by means of a life of charity,
which the Lord insinuates
in accordance with the increments of the truth of faith.
Friday, February 10, 2012
SD 2473 - 2474 - the circle of faith and charity
SD 2473 - 2474
Certain have a persuasion
that faith alone saves without works,
and, indeed, is enhanced in value,
when yet it is most clearly apparent from the Lord's Word
that the tree is known from its fruit,
[Matt. 7:20, Luke 6:44]
as well as that love towards the neighbor is the principal thing in the law,
[Lev. 19:18, Matt. 19:19, 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27]
besides other things,
which evidently prove that faith is not to be separated from works,
and that there is no life in faith,
if there are no works of charity,
which live from charity; so from faith.
. . . works without faith are like a body without a soul,
. . . and faith without works is like a soul endowed with no body.
Faith is given with much variety;
[there is] a faith merely oral; a scientific faith; intellectual faith;
faith with persuasion;
faith with persuasion from love towards the neighbor.
So it may appear what quality of life can be in oral faith,
and scientific faith, and intellectual faith,
for love is what forms the disposition of a person,
and gives him the faculty to be able to be an applied vessel.
Consequently it may appear
how the disposition is formed by faith, without persuasion;
and by faith, with persuasion;
and by persuasion, without love towards the neighbor;
and by persuasion, where there is love towards the neighbor;
and so faith with the works of charity.
(July 1, 1748)
[Marginal note] -
These things in general were confirmed this day from heaven.
The Lord, as it were, being seen.
(October 19 or 20, 1748)
Certain have a persuasion
that faith alone saves without works,
and, indeed, is enhanced in value,
when yet it is most clearly apparent from the Lord's Word
that the tree is known from its fruit,
[Matt. 7:20, Luke 6:44]
as well as that love towards the neighbor is the principal thing in the law,
[Lev. 19:18, Matt. 19:19, 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27]
besides other things,
which evidently prove that faith is not to be separated from works,
and that there is no life in faith,
if there are no works of charity,
which live from charity; so from faith.
. . . works without faith are like a body without a soul,
. . . and faith without works is like a soul endowed with no body.
Faith is given with much variety;
[there is] a faith merely oral; a scientific faith; intellectual faith;
faith with persuasion;
faith with persuasion from love towards the neighbor.
So it may appear what quality of life can be in oral faith,
and scientific faith, and intellectual faith,
for love is what forms the disposition of a person,
and gives him the faculty to be able to be an applied vessel.
Consequently it may appear
how the disposition is formed by faith, without persuasion;
and by faith, with persuasion;
and by persuasion, without love towards the neighbor;
and by persuasion, where there is love towards the neighbor;
and so faith with the works of charity.
(July 1, 1748)
[Marginal note] -
These things in general were confirmed this day from heaven.
The Lord, as it were, being seen.
(October 19 or 20, 1748)
Thursday, February 09, 2012
AC 1937 - self-compulsion and a new will or heavenly proprium
AC 1937 [6]
Whatever a person does from love appears to him as freedom.
But within that freedom,
when the person practices self-compulsion,
setting himself against evil and falsity
and doing what is good,
heavenly love is present
which the Lord instills at that time
and by means of which
He creates that person's proprium.
It is the Lord's will therefore
that this proprium should appear to the person to be his own,
though in fact it is not.
This proprium
which a person receives in this manner during his lifetime
by means, as it seems, of compulsion,
the Lord replenishes in the next life
with limitless forms of delight and happiness.
Such people are also by degrees enlightened,
or rather are confirmed,
in the truth
that their self-compulsion has not commenced at all in themselves
but that even the smallest of all the impulses of their will
has been received from the Lord.
They are also led to see that the reason
why their compulsion had appeared to commence in themselves
was that the Lord might give them a new will as their own,
and in this way the life belonging to heavenly love
might be imparted to them as their own.
Indeed the Lord's will is to share with everyone that which is His,
thus that which is heavenly,
so that it may appear to be that person's and to be within him,
though in fact it is not his.
A proprium such as this exists with angels,
and insofar as they accept the truth
that everything good and true comes from the Lord
the delight and happiness belonging to such a proprium exists with them.
Whatever a person does from love appears to him as freedom.
But within that freedom,
when the person practices self-compulsion,
setting himself against evil and falsity
and doing what is good,
heavenly love is present
which the Lord instills at that time
and by means of which
He creates that person's proprium.
It is the Lord's will therefore
that this proprium should appear to the person to be his own,
though in fact it is not.
This proprium
which a person receives in this manner during his lifetime
by means, as it seems, of compulsion,
the Lord replenishes in the next life
with limitless forms of delight and happiness.
Such people are also by degrees enlightened,
or rather are confirmed,
in the truth
that their self-compulsion has not commenced at all in themselves
but that even the smallest of all the impulses of their will
has been received from the Lord.
They are also led to see that the reason
why their compulsion had appeared to commence in themselves
was that the Lord might give them a new will as their own,
and in this way the life belonging to heavenly love
might be imparted to them as their own.
Indeed the Lord's will is to share with everyone that which is His,
thus that which is heavenly,
so that it may appear to be that person's and to be within him,
though in fact it is not his.
A proprium such as this exists with angels,
and insofar as they accept the truth
that everything good and true comes from the Lord
the delight and happiness belonging to such a proprium exists with them.
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
SD 2423, 2432 - It is the truth. The Lord said so.
SD 2423
By a spiritual idea made clear to me,
it was shown that the Lord rules all . . .
from interiors, by order.
SD 2432
But because it is so in truth,
it must be believed even more than the senses
because the Lord has said it.
(June 28, 1748)
By a spiritual idea made clear to me,
it was shown that the Lord rules all . . .
from interiors, by order.
SD 2432
But because it is so in truth,
it must be believed even more than the senses
because the Lord has said it.
(June 28, 1748)
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
AC 1914 - intellectual truth, conscience, perception
AC 1914
. . . the Lord thought from intellectual truth . . .
and because this truth is above the rational,
it could perceive and see the quality of this rational,
namely, that it held that truth in low esteem (contempt).
That the Lord could perceive and see from the interior man
what the quality of the new rational in Himself was,
may be seen from the fact
that the interior can perceive what takes place in the exterior,
or what is the same, that the higher can see what is in the lower;
but not the reverse.
Moreover they who have conscience can do this
and are accustomed to do it,
for when anything contrary to the truth of conscience
flows into the thought,
or into the endeavor of the will,
they not only perceive it,
but also find fault with it;
and it even grieves them to be of such a character.
Those who have perception can do this even more,
as perception is more interior in the rational.
What then could not the Lord do,
who had Divine celestial perception,
and thought from the affection of intellectual truth,
which is above the rational!
Therefore He could not but be indignant,
knowing that nothing of evil and falsity was from Himself,
and that from the affection of truth
He took the greatest pains that His rational should be pure.
This shows that the Lord did not lightly esteem intellectual truth,
but that He perceived the first rational in Himself to be thinking lightly of it.
The fathers of the Most Ancient Church who had perception,
thought from the interior rational.
The fathers of the Ancient Church,
who had not perception but conscience,
thought from the exterior or natural rational.
But all who are without conscience
do not think at all from the rational,
since they do not have the rational,
although they appear to have it;
but they think from the sensuous and corporeal natural.
. . . the Lord thought from intellectual truth . . .
and because this truth is above the rational,
it could perceive and see the quality of this rational,
namely, that it held that truth in low esteem (contempt).
That the Lord could perceive and see from the interior man
what the quality of the new rational in Himself was,
may be seen from the fact
that the interior can perceive what takes place in the exterior,
or what is the same, that the higher can see what is in the lower;
but not the reverse.
Moreover they who have conscience can do this
and are accustomed to do it,
for when anything contrary to the truth of conscience
flows into the thought,
or into the endeavor of the will,
they not only perceive it,
but also find fault with it;
and it even grieves them to be of such a character.
Those who have perception can do this even more,
as perception is more interior in the rational.
What then could not the Lord do,
who had Divine celestial perception,
and thought from the affection of intellectual truth,
which is above the rational!
Therefore He could not but be indignant,
knowing that nothing of evil and falsity was from Himself,
and that from the affection of truth
He took the greatest pains that His rational should be pure.
This shows that the Lord did not lightly esteem intellectual truth,
but that He perceived the first rational in Himself to be thinking lightly of it.
The fathers of the Most Ancient Church who had perception,
thought from the interior rational.
The fathers of the Ancient Church,
who had not perception but conscience,
thought from the exterior or natural rational.
But all who are without conscience
do not think at all from the rational,
since they do not have the rational,
although they appear to have it;
but they think from the sensuous and corporeal natural.
Monday, February 06, 2012
AC 1909 - what is our end? or love?; AC 1911 - intellectual truth vs. 'the rational first conceived'
Quotation marks were added to clarify the phrase
'the rational first conceived'.
AC 1909 [2]
There are many affections belonging to the exterior person,
all dedicated to their uses;
but the affection of knowledges stands preeminent above them all,
when it has for its end that we may become truly rational,
for thus it has good and truth for its end.
Everyone may see what kind of life he has,
if he will only search out what his end is;
not what all his ends are -
for he has numberless ones, as many as intentions,
and almost as many as judgments and conclusions of thoughts,
which are only intermediate ends,
variously derived from the principal one, or tending to it -
but let him search out the end he prefers to all the rest,
and in respect to which all others are as nothing.
If he has for his end himself and the world,
let him know that his life is infernal;
but if he has for his end the good of his neighbor, the common good,
the Lord's kingdom, and especially the Lord Himself,
let him know that his life is heavenly.
AC 1911[2-7]
. . . it is an intellectual truth that all life is from the Lord;
but 'the rational first conceived' does not apprehend this,
and supposes that if it did not live from itself it would have no life;
(and) it is indignant if the contrary is said,
as has been many times perceived from the spirits
who still cling to the fallacies of the senses.
It is an intellectual truth that all good and truth are from the Lord;
but 'the rational first conceived' does not apprehend this,
because it has the feeling that they (all good and truth) are as from itself;
and it also supposes that if good and truth were not from itself,
it could have no thought of good and truth,
and still less do anything good and true;
and that if they are from another
it should let itself go,
and wait all the time for influx.
It is an intellectual truth that nothing but good is from the Lord,
and not even the least of evil;
and this too 'the rational first conceived' does not believe,
but supposes that because the Lord governs everything,
evil also is from Him;
and that because He is omnipotent and omnipresent, and is good itself,
and does not take away the punishments of the evil in hell,
He wills the evil of punishment;
when yet He does evil to no one,
nor does He will that anyone should be punished.
It is an intellectual truth that the celestial person
has from the Lord a perception of good and truth;
but 'the first rational' either denies the existence of perception altogether,
or supposes that if a person were to perceive from another,
and not from himself, he would be as if inanimate, or devoid of life.
In fact the more the rational thinks from memory-knowledges
that originate from sensuous things and from philosophical reasonings,
the less does it apprehend the foregoing and all other intellectual truths,
for the fallacies therefrom are involved in so much the darker shades.
So it is that the learned believe less than others.
Since 'the rational first conceived' is such,
it is evident that ' it despises its mistress' (Hagar regarding Sarai),
that is, it lightly esteems intellectual truth.
Intellectual truth does not become manifest (open to view),
that is, is not acknowledged,
except as far as fallacies and appearances are dispersed,
and these are not dispersed
so long as a person reasons about truths themselves
from things of sense and from memory-knowledges,
but it for the first time becomes manifest
when he believes from a simple heart
that it is truth because so said by the Lord.
Then the shades of fallacies are dispersed,
and then nothing in him prevents him from understanding it.
In the Lord however there were no fallacies,
but when His 'rational was first conceived'
there were appearances of truth that in themselves were not truths . . ..
So also His 'rational at its first conception' lightly esteemed intellectual truth;
but gradually, as His rational was made Divine,
the clouds of the appearances were dispersed,
and intellectual truths lay open to Him in their light;
and this is represented and signified
by Ishmael being expelled from the house when Isaac grew up.
'the rational first conceived'.
AC 1909 [2]
There are many affections belonging to the exterior person,
all dedicated to their uses;
but the affection of knowledges stands preeminent above them all,
when it has for its end that we may become truly rational,
for thus it has good and truth for its end.
Everyone may see what kind of life he has,
if he will only search out what his end is;
not what all his ends are -
for he has numberless ones, as many as intentions,
and almost as many as judgments and conclusions of thoughts,
which are only intermediate ends,
variously derived from the principal one, or tending to it -
but let him search out the end he prefers to all the rest,
and in respect to which all others are as nothing.
If he has for his end himself and the world,
let him know that his life is infernal;
but if he has for his end the good of his neighbor, the common good,
the Lord's kingdom, and especially the Lord Himself,
let him know that his life is heavenly.
AC 1911[2-7]
. . . it is an intellectual truth that all life is from the Lord;
but 'the rational first conceived' does not apprehend this,
and supposes that if it did not live from itself it would have no life;
(and) it is indignant if the contrary is said,
as has been many times perceived from the spirits
who still cling to the fallacies of the senses.
It is an intellectual truth that all good and truth are from the Lord;
but 'the rational first conceived' does not apprehend this,
because it has the feeling that they (all good and truth) are as from itself;
and it also supposes that if good and truth were not from itself,
it could have no thought of good and truth,
and still less do anything good and true;
and that if they are from another
it should let itself go,
and wait all the time for influx.
It is an intellectual truth that nothing but good is from the Lord,
and not even the least of evil;
and this too 'the rational first conceived' does not believe,
but supposes that because the Lord governs everything,
evil also is from Him;
and that because He is omnipotent and omnipresent, and is good itself,
and does not take away the punishments of the evil in hell,
He wills the evil of punishment;
when yet He does evil to no one,
nor does He will that anyone should be punished.
It is an intellectual truth that the celestial person
has from the Lord a perception of good and truth;
but 'the first rational' either denies the existence of perception altogether,
or supposes that if a person were to perceive from another,
and not from himself, he would be as if inanimate, or devoid of life.
In fact the more the rational thinks from memory-knowledges
that originate from sensuous things and from philosophical reasonings,
the less does it apprehend the foregoing and all other intellectual truths,
for the fallacies therefrom are involved in so much the darker shades.
So it is that the learned believe less than others.
Since 'the rational first conceived' is such,
it is evident that ' it despises its mistress' (Hagar regarding Sarai),
that is, it lightly esteems intellectual truth.
Intellectual truth does not become manifest (open to view),
that is, is not acknowledged,
except as far as fallacies and appearances are dispersed,
and these are not dispersed
so long as a person reasons about truths themselves
from things of sense and from memory-knowledges,
but it for the first time becomes manifest
when he believes from a simple heart
that it is truth because so said by the Lord.
Then the shades of fallacies are dispersed,
and then nothing in him prevents him from understanding it.
In the Lord however there were no fallacies,
but when His 'rational was first conceived'
there were appearances of truth that in themselves were not truths . . ..
So also His 'rational at its first conception' lightly esteemed intellectual truth;
but gradually, as His rational was made Divine,
the clouds of the appearances were dispersed,
and intellectual truths lay open to Him in their light;
and this is represented and signified
by Ishmael being expelled from the house when Isaac grew up.
Sunday, February 05, 2012
AC 1902, 1904 - the use of the rational & influx
AC 1902
If people were not imbued (steeped in) with hereditary evil,
the rational would then be born immediately from the marriage
of the celestial things of the internal person with its spiritual things,
and the faculty of knowing would be born through the rational,
so that on coming into the world
a person would at once have in himself
all the faculty of reason and of knowing,
for this would be in accordance with the order of influx . . ..
That which causes him to be born without any knowledge
is hereditary evil received from his father and from his mother.
Because of that evil
all his faculties are turned in a contrary direction
insofar as goods and truths are concerned,
so that the latter are not able
through an immediate influx of celestial and spiritual things from the Lord
to be translated into correspondent forms.
This is the reason why a person's rational
has to be formed in an entirely different manner or way,
that is to say, by means of facts and knowledges
entering in through the senses, and so by the external route,
thus by what is a reversal of order.
So a person is made rational by the Lord in a miraculous manner.
AC 1904
There are two affections distinct from each other -
affection of good, and affection of truth.
When a person is being regenerated
the affection of truth has the lead,
for he is affected with truth for the sake of good;
but when he has been regenerated
the affection of good has the lead,
and from good he is affected with truth.
[3] Intellectual truth is internal,
rational truth is intermediate,
truth of memory-knowledge is external.
These are most distinct from each other,
because one is more internal than another.
With any person whatever,
intellectual truth, which is internal, or in his inmost,
is not the person's,
but is the Lord's with the person.
From this the Lord flows into the rational,
where truth first appears as belonging to the person;
and through the rational into the memory-knowledge;
from which it is evident
that a person cannot possibly think as of himself from intellectual truth,
but only from rational truth and truth of memory-knowledge,
because these appear as if they were his.
If people were not imbued (steeped in) with hereditary evil,
the rational would then be born immediately from the marriage
of the celestial things of the internal person with its spiritual things,
and the faculty of knowing would be born through the rational,
so that on coming into the world
a person would at once have in himself
all the faculty of reason and of knowing,
for this would be in accordance with the order of influx . . ..
That which causes him to be born without any knowledge
is hereditary evil received from his father and from his mother.
Because of that evil
all his faculties are turned in a contrary direction
insofar as goods and truths are concerned,
so that the latter are not able
through an immediate influx of celestial and spiritual things from the Lord
to be translated into correspondent forms.
This is the reason why a person's rational
has to be formed in an entirely different manner or way,
that is to say, by means of facts and knowledges
entering in through the senses, and so by the external route,
thus by what is a reversal of order.
So a person is made rational by the Lord in a miraculous manner.
AC 1904
There are two affections distinct from each other -
affection of good, and affection of truth.
When a person is being regenerated
the affection of truth has the lead,
for he is affected with truth for the sake of good;
but when he has been regenerated
the affection of good has the lead,
and from good he is affected with truth.
[3] Intellectual truth is internal,
rational truth is intermediate,
truth of memory-knowledge is external.
These are most distinct from each other,
because one is more internal than another.
With any person whatever,
intellectual truth, which is internal, or in his inmost,
is not the person's,
but is the Lord's with the person.
From this the Lord flows into the rational,
where truth first appears as belonging to the person;
and through the rational into the memory-knowledge;
from which it is evident
that a person cannot possibly think as of himself from intellectual truth,
but only from rational truth and truth of memory-knowledge,
because these appear as if they were his.
Saturday, February 04, 2012
AC 1902
If people were not imbued (steeped in) with hereditary evil,
the rational would then be born immediately,
from the marriage of the celestial things of the internal person with its spiritual things,
and the faculty of knowing would be born through the rational,
so that on coming into the world
a person would at once have in himself all the faculty of reason and of knowing,
for this would be in accordance with the order of influx . . ..
If people were not imbued (steeped in) with hereditary evil,
the rational would then be born immediately,
from the marriage of the celestial things of the internal person with its spiritual things,
and the faculty of knowing would be born through the rational,
so that on coming into the world
a person would at once have in himself all the faculty of reason and of knowing,
for this would be in accordance with the order of influx . . ..
AC 1989-1900 - Ishmael, Isaac: the developement of the rational
AC 1898
. . . there is something of truth adjoined to good which dictates;
afterwards there is good from which or through which the truth is perceived.
AC 1899
. . . that the Lord's Divine rational man is represented by Isaac,
but His first rational man, which was to become Divine, by Ishmael.
AC 1900 [2-3
The influx of the internal person
goes into the knowledges of the exterior person;
affection being the means.
Meanwhile, before there are these knowledges,
there is indeed a communication,
but through affections alone, by which the external person is governed;
but from this there exist only the most general motions, and certain appetites,
also certain blind inclinations, such as show themselves in infants.
But this life becomes by degrees more distinct
in proportion as the vessels of the memory
are formed by means of knowledges,
and the vessels of the interior memory by means of rational things.
But still there is a want of congruity (harmony)
unless the knowledges by which the vessels are formed are truths;
for the celestial and spiritual things of the internal person
find no correspondence for themselves except in truths.
These are the genuine vessels in the organic forms of each memory,
and to which the celestial things of love
and the spiritual things of faith can be fitted in;
for they are there arranged by the Lord
according to the idea and image of the societies of heaven,
or of His kingdom,
insomuch that the person becomes, in least form,
a heaven, or a kingdom of the Lord,
as also the minds of those who are in the celestial things of love
and the spiritual things of faith are called in the Word.
But these things have been said for those who love to think more deeply.
. . . there is something of truth adjoined to good which dictates;
afterwards there is good from which or through which the truth is perceived.
AC 1899
. . . that the Lord's Divine rational man is represented by Isaac,
but His first rational man, which was to become Divine, by Ishmael.
AC 1900 [2-3
The influx of the internal person
goes into the knowledges of the exterior person;
affection being the means.
Meanwhile, before there are these knowledges,
there is indeed a communication,
but through affections alone, by which the external person is governed;
but from this there exist only the most general motions, and certain appetites,
also certain blind inclinations, such as show themselves in infants.
But this life becomes by degrees more distinct
in proportion as the vessels of the memory
are formed by means of knowledges,
and the vessels of the interior memory by means of rational things.
But still there is a want of congruity (harmony)
unless the knowledges by which the vessels are formed are truths;
for the celestial and spiritual things of the internal person
find no correspondence for themselves except in truths.
These are the genuine vessels in the organic forms of each memory,
and to which the celestial things of love
and the spiritual things of faith can be fitted in;
for they are there arranged by the Lord
according to the idea and image of the societies of heaven,
or of His kingdom,
insomuch that the person becomes, in least form,
a heaven, or a kingdom of the Lord,
as also the minds of those who are in the celestial things of love
and the spiritual things of faith are called in the Word.
But these things have been said for those who love to think more deeply.
Friday, February 03, 2012
SD 2386 - body and spirit
SD 2386
. . . a person during life
has the sense of touch and the rest the senses
not from the body,
but from the spirit that is in the body,
from which the body has its life.
Without the life of the spirit,
there cannot be a life of touch in the body,
as there cannot be eyesight without the sight of the spirit.
Whatever is vital in the body,
is not of the body,
but of its spirit . . .
. . . a person during life
has the sense of touch and the rest the senses
not from the body,
but from the spirit that is in the body,
from which the body has its life.
Without the life of the spirit,
there cannot be a life of touch in the body,
as there cannot be eyesight without the sight of the spirit.
Whatever is vital in the body,
is not of the body,
but of its spirit . . .
Thursday, February 02, 2012
AC 1886, 1889 - Hagar & Ishmael, Abram & Sarai
AC 1886, 1889
Genesis Chapter 16
This chapter treats of Hagar and Ishmael.
But what is represented and signified in the internal sense
by Hagar and Ishmael
has not been known before now to anyone, nor could be,
because the world, even the learned world,
before now has supposed the histories of the Word
to be nothing but histories,
. . . Regarded in themselves, however,
historical matters effect but little toward a person's amendment,
and nothing at all for his eternal life,
since in the other life they are forgotten.
For what benefit would it be to those in that life
respecting the maid Hagar
that she was given by Sarai to Abram?
Or to know about Ishmael, or even about Abram?
Nothing but what belongs to the Lord
and is from the Lord that is necessary to souls
in order that they may enter into heaven and enjoy its happiness,
that is, eternal life.
It is for the sake of these things that the Word exists,
and these are the things that are contained in its interiors.
. . .as the subject here treated of in the internal sense
is the Lord's Rational Man,
and how it was conceived and born
by the influx of the internal man into the external,
and as it is these very matters that are involved
in the historical facts stated concerning Abram, Hagar, and Ishmael,
therefore in order to prevent what we have to say in the following explanation
from being utterly unintelligible,
be it known that in every person there is an internal person,
a rational person which is intermediate,
and an external person,
and that these are most distinct from one another.
Genesis Chapter 16
This chapter treats of Hagar and Ishmael.
But what is represented and signified in the internal sense
by Hagar and Ishmael
has not been known before now to anyone, nor could be,
because the world, even the learned world,
before now has supposed the histories of the Word
to be nothing but histories,
. . . Regarded in themselves, however,
historical matters effect but little toward a person's amendment,
and nothing at all for his eternal life,
since in the other life they are forgotten.
For what benefit would it be to those in that life
respecting the maid Hagar
that she was given by Sarai to Abram?
Or to know about Ishmael, or even about Abram?
Nothing but what belongs to the Lord
and is from the Lord that is necessary to souls
in order that they may enter into heaven and enjoy its happiness,
that is, eternal life.
It is for the sake of these things that the Word exists,
and these are the things that are contained in its interiors.
. . .as the subject here treated of in the internal sense
is the Lord's Rational Man,
and how it was conceived and born
by the influx of the internal man into the external,
and as it is these very matters that are involved
in the historical facts stated concerning Abram, Hagar, and Ishmael,
therefore in order to prevent what we have to say in the following explanation
from being utterly unintelligible,
be it known that in every person there is an internal person,
a rational person which is intermediate,
and an external person,
and that these are most distinct from one another.
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
SD 2365 - liberty
SD 2365
One law of order
in the government of the universe by the Lord
is that to everyone is left liberty;
for without liberty there is no life,
nor any worship,
and without liberty there is no reformation.
One law of order
in the government of the universe by the Lord
is that to everyone is left liberty;
for without liberty there is no life,
nor any worship,
and without liberty there is no reformation.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
AC 1873 - love to the Lord
AC 1873
. . . as charity or love toward the neighbor
ought to proceed from love to the Lord,
this love is the fruit of faith in the internal sense;
and as all love is from the Lord,
it is the Lord Himself.
For thus in the good work is charity;
in charity is love to the Lord;
and in love to the Lord
is the Lord Himself.
. . . as charity or love toward the neighbor
ought to proceed from love to the Lord,
this love is the fruit of faith in the internal sense;
and as all love is from the Lord,
it is the Lord Himself.
For thus in the good work is charity;
in charity is love to the Lord;
and in love to the Lord
is the Lord Himself.
Monday, January 30, 2012
AC 1861 - our love and seeing the Lord
AC 1861 [7, 15]
. . . those who are in the love of self,
or what is the same,
in hatred against the neighbor . . .
For Jehovah, or the Lord,
appears to everyone according to his quality -
to celestial angels as a Sun,
to spiritual angels as a Moon,
to all the good as a Light of varied delight and pleasantness
but to the evil as a smoke and as a consuming fire.
And because the Jews had no charity at all when the Law was given,
but the love of self and of the world prevailed in them,
and so nothing but evils and falsities,
He therefore appeared to them as a smoke and fire,
when at the same instant
He appeared to the angels as the Sun and Light of heaven.
. . . those who are in the love of self,
or what is the same,
in hatred against the neighbor . . .
For Jehovah, or the Lord,
appears to everyone according to his quality -
to celestial angels as a Sun,
to spiritual angels as a Moon,
to all the good as a Light of varied delight and pleasantness
but to the evil as a smoke and as a consuming fire.
And because the Jews had no charity at all when the Law was given,
but the love of self and of the world prevailed in them,
and so nothing but evils and falsities,
He therefore appeared to them as a smoke and fire,
when at the same instant
He appeared to the angels as the Sun and Light of heaven.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
AC 1860 - darkness and thick darkness
AC 1860
In the Word "darkness" signifies falsities,
and "thick darkness" evils . . ..
There is "darkness" when falsity is in the place of truth;
and there is "thick darkness" when evil is in the place of good,
or what is precisely the same,
when hatred is in the place of charity.
When hatred is in the place of charity,
the thick darkness is so great
that the person is quite unaware that it is evil,
still less that it is so great an evil
as in the other life to thrust him down to hell,
for they who are in hatred perceive a kind of delight
and as it were a kind of life in it,
and this delight and life themselves
cause him scarcely to know but that it is good,
for whatever favors a person's pleasure and desire,
because it favors his love,
he feels as good, and this to such a degree
that when he is told that it is infernal he can scarcely believe it,
still less when he is told
that such delight and life are in the other life
turned the stench of excrement and cadavers.
And still less does he believe that he is becoming a devil
and a horrible image of hell;
for hell consists of nothing but hatreds and such diabolical forms.
In the Word "darkness" signifies falsities,
and "thick darkness" evils . . ..
There is "darkness" when falsity is in the place of truth;
and there is "thick darkness" when evil is in the place of good,
or what is precisely the same,
when hatred is in the place of charity.
When hatred is in the place of charity,
the thick darkness is so great
that the person is quite unaware that it is evil,
still less that it is so great an evil
as in the other life to thrust him down to hell,
for they who are in hatred perceive a kind of delight
and as it were a kind of life in it,
and this delight and life themselves
cause him scarcely to know but that it is good,
for whatever favors a person's pleasure and desire,
because it favors his love,
he feels as good, and this to such a degree
that when he is told that it is infernal he can scarcely believe it,
still less when he is told
that such delight and life are in the other life
turned the stench of excrement and cadavers.
And still less does he believe that he is becoming a devil
and a horrible image of hell;
for hell consists of nothing but hatreds and such diabolical forms.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
AC 1853-1854 - Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace . . .
AC 1853
Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace.
(Genesis 15:15)
To "go to one's fathers"
is to pass from the life of the body into the life of the spirit,
or from the world into the other life.
"In peace," signifies that he shall lose nothing,
and thus that nothing shall be harmed . . ..
AC 1854
Thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
(Genesis 15:15)
That this signifies the enjoyment of all goods by those who are the Lord's,
is evident from the fact
that those who die and are buried do not die,
but pass from an obscure life into a clear one.
For the death of the body is merely the continuation
and also the perfection of the life,
and they who are the Lord's
then first come into the enjoyment of all goods,
which enjoyment is signified by "a good old age."
The expressions that they "died," were "buried,"
and were "gathered to their fathers," occur quite often,
but in the internal sense
these do not signify the same as in the sense of the letter.
In the internal sense
are such things as are of the life after death and are eternal;
but in the sense of the letter
are such as are of the life in the world and belong to time.
Consequently, when such expressions occur,
those who see into the internal sense, as angels do,
have no thoughts of such things as have to do with death and burial
but with such as have to do with the continuation of life;
for they look upon death as nothing else
than a casting off of the things
which belong to merely earthly matter and to time,
and as the continuing of life proper.
Indeed they do not know what death is,
for death does not enter into any of their thinking.
It is the same with people's ages.
By the phrase used here, 'at a good old age',
angels have no perception at all of old age;
indeed they do not know what old age is,
for they themselves
are constantly moving towards the life of youth and early manhood.
It is life such as this,
consequently the celestial and spiritual things belonging to it,
that are meant when the expression
'a good old age' and others like it occur in the Word.
Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace.
(Genesis 15:15)
To "go to one's fathers"
is to pass from the life of the body into the life of the spirit,
or from the world into the other life.
"In peace," signifies that he shall lose nothing,
and thus that nothing shall be harmed . . ..
AC 1854
Thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
(Genesis 15:15)
That this signifies the enjoyment of all goods by those who are the Lord's,
is evident from the fact
that those who die and are buried do not die,
but pass from an obscure life into a clear one.
For the death of the body is merely the continuation
and also the perfection of the life,
and they who are the Lord's
then first come into the enjoyment of all goods,
which enjoyment is signified by "a good old age."
The expressions that they "died," were "buried,"
and were "gathered to their fathers," occur quite often,
but in the internal sense
these do not signify the same as in the sense of the letter.
In the internal sense
are such things as are of the life after death and are eternal;
but in the sense of the letter
are such as are of the life in the world and belong to time.
Consequently, when such expressions occur,
those who see into the internal sense, as angels do,
have no thoughts of such things as have to do with death and burial
but with such as have to do with the continuation of life;
for they look upon death as nothing else
than a casting off of the things
which belong to merely earthly matter and to time,
and as the continuing of life proper.
Indeed they do not know what death is,
for death does not enter into any of their thinking.
It is the same with people's ages.
By the phrase used here, 'at a good old age',
angels have no perception at all of old age;
indeed they do not know what old age is,
for they themselves
are constantly moving towards the life of youth and early manhood.
It is life such as this,
consequently the celestial and spiritual things belonging to it,
that are meant when the expression
'a good old age' and others like it occur in the Word.
Friday, January 27, 2012
SD 2339-2340 - concerning the Last Judgment
SD 2339-2340
A common opinion prevails
that souls will not be raised up from their graves till the Last Judgment
[John 5:28-29]
when heaven and earth will perish,
[Matt. 24:35, Mark 12:31, Luke 21:33]
and that only then,
will all souls stand before the judgment, and be judged,
according to the literal statement in the Word of the Lord.
This opinion has this effect,
that scarcely anyone believes in the resurrection,
especially when he also believes that heaven and earth will not perish,
as well as that there is still a very long time to the last day.
In a word, such an opinion has sunk many people in lethargy.
But still the interior sense of the Lord's Word is different,
namely, that everyone has his judgment when he dies,
for immediately then is the soul or spirit separated from the body,
and comes into another life,
and undergoes (suffers) judgment
according the person's faith and works.
Judgment is the subject everywhere
where hell and heaven are discussed.
(June 17, 1748)
A common opinion prevails
that souls will not be raised up from their graves till the Last Judgment
[John 5:28-29]
when heaven and earth will perish,
[Matt. 24:35, Mark 12:31, Luke 21:33]
and that only then,
will all souls stand before the judgment, and be judged,
according to the literal statement in the Word of the Lord.
This opinion has this effect,
that scarcely anyone believes in the resurrection,
especially when he also believes that heaven and earth will not perish,
as well as that there is still a very long time to the last day.
In a word, such an opinion has sunk many people in lethargy.
But still the interior sense of the Lord's Word is different,
namely, that everyone has his judgment when he dies,
for immediately then is the soul or spirit separated from the body,
and comes into another life,
and undergoes (suffers) judgment
according the person's faith and works.
Judgment is the subject everywhere
where hell and heaven are discussed.
(June 17, 1748)
SD 2318 - spirals
SD 2318
. . . the flow of endeavors and forces everywhere is to their centers,
namely, through spirals from left to right, toward the centers.
It is so everywhere, in every least point.
(June 13,1748)
. . . the flow of endeavors and forces everywhere is to their centers,
namely, through spirals from left to right, toward the centers.
It is so everywhere, in every least point.
(June 13,1748)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
AC 1839, 1843, 1486 - in the last times
AC 1839 [2-3]
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.
(Matthew 24:29)
This does not mean that the sun of the world will be darkened,
but the celestial which is of love and charity;
nor the moon,
but the spiritual which is of faith;
nor that the stars will fall from heaven,
but that the knowledges of good and truth
with a person of the church will do so,
for these are "the powers of the heavens;"
nor will these things take place in heaven,
but on earth; for heaven is never darkened.
That "a terror of great darkness fell upon him,"
means that the Lord was horrified at so great a vastation.
So far as anyone is in the celestial things of love,
so far does he feel horror
when he perceives a consummation (closure, ending).
So it was with the Lord, above all others;
for He was in love itself, both celestial and Divine.
AC 1843 [3]
. . . by the faith that will perish in the last times
there is meant nothing but charity,
for there cannot possibly be any faith but the faith of charity.
He who has no charity cannot have any faith at all,
for charity is the very soil in which faith is implanted;
it is its heart, from which it exists and lives.
The ancients for this reason compared love and charity to the heart,
and faith to the lungs, both of which are in the breast.
This comparison involves a real likeness,
seeing that if a person should pretend to a life of faith without charity,
it would be like having life from the lungs alone without the heart . . ..
From this came the ancient forms of speech concerning good and truth;
that they must go forth from the heart.
AC 1846 [3-4]
He was despised, a man of sorrows,
on account of which as it were
men hid their faces from Him.
He was despised,
and we esteemed Him not.
Surely He has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows,
yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
(Isaiah 53:3, 4)
These words mean the Lord's temptations.
The words 'He has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows'
are not used to mean that believers will not undergo any temptation,
nor that He transferred their sins on to Himself and so bore them Himself.
Rather, they mean
that He who overcame the hells through the conflicts
brought about by temptations and through victories
would in the same manner
- all by Himself, even as to His Human Essence -
endure the temptations experienced by believers.
Temptations are also called by the Lord "afflictions" . . .
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.
(Matthew 24:29)
This does not mean that the sun of the world will be darkened,
but the celestial which is of love and charity;
nor the moon,
but the spiritual which is of faith;
nor that the stars will fall from heaven,
but that the knowledges of good and truth
with a person of the church will do so,
for these are "the powers of the heavens;"
nor will these things take place in heaven,
but on earth; for heaven is never darkened.
That "a terror of great darkness fell upon him,"
means that the Lord was horrified at so great a vastation.
So far as anyone is in the celestial things of love,
so far does he feel horror
when he perceives a consummation (closure, ending).
So it was with the Lord, above all others;
for He was in love itself, both celestial and Divine.
AC 1843 [3]
. . . by the faith that will perish in the last times
there is meant nothing but charity,
for there cannot possibly be any faith but the faith of charity.
He who has no charity cannot have any faith at all,
for charity is the very soil in which faith is implanted;
it is its heart, from which it exists and lives.
The ancients for this reason compared love and charity to the heart,
and faith to the lungs, both of which are in the breast.
This comparison involves a real likeness,
seeing that if a person should pretend to a life of faith without charity,
it would be like having life from the lungs alone without the heart . . ..
From this came the ancient forms of speech concerning good and truth;
that they must go forth from the heart.
AC 1846 [3-4]
He was despised, a man of sorrows,
on account of which as it were
men hid their faces from Him.
He was despised,
and we esteemed Him not.
Surely He has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows,
yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
(Isaiah 53:3, 4)
These words mean the Lord's temptations.
The words 'He has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows'
are not used to mean that believers will not undergo any temptation,
nor that He transferred their sins on to Himself and so bore them Himself.
Rather, they mean
that He who overcame the hells through the conflicts
brought about by temptations and through victories
would in the same manner
- all by Himself, even as to His Human Essence -
endure the temptations experienced by believers.
Temptations are also called by the Lord "afflictions" . . .
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
SD 2302 - the Lord alone is to be revered, worshipped & adored
SD 2302
The Lord alone is to be revered,
Who knows each and all things,
and rules the universal heaven and earth,
Who rewards and makes all good.
Angels, likewise, are not to be worshipped,
much less adored,
for the good they do is not theirs, but the Lord's,
as all the angels confess;
otherwise they are not angels.
Yet honor is shown them
so far as they are the Lord's.
(June 12, 1748)
The Lord alone is to be revered,
Who knows each and all things,
and rules the universal heaven and earth,
Who rewards and makes all good.
Angels, likewise, are not to be worshipped,
much less adored,
for the good they do is not theirs, but the Lord's,
as all the angels confess;
otherwise they are not angels.
Yet honor is shown them
so far as they are the Lord's.
(June 12, 1748)
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
AC 1834 - Abraham
AC 1834 [3]
. . . in heaven they do not know of Abraham
except as any other human being
who of himself has no power to accomplish anything -
for the Lord alone has such power,
as is also stated in Isaiah:
You are our Father,
for Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer;
from of old is Your name.
(Isaiah 63:16)
. . . in heaven they do not know of Abraham
except as any other human being
who of himself has no power to accomplish anything -
for the Lord alone has such power,
as is also stated in Isaiah:
You are our Father,
for Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not acknowledge us.
You, O Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer;
from of old is Your name.
(Isaiah 63:16)
Monday, January 23, 2012
SD 2250 - the proprium of a person
SD 2250
It can also be seen by a spiritual idea
that the proprium (also called self, own, ego) of a person,
is not only black in appearance,
but also hard,
for which reason it is called bony.
This is so
not only because what is a person's proprium is merely an instrument,
in which, seeing it has no vital sap, spirit and blood,
everything hardens and becomes bone-like -
but also because people can do nothing on their own power,
so that regarded in themselves, they are like bone, having no vital sap.
Only life, which is the Lord's, causes a person to soften,
and the more spiritual and heavenly life there is
encompassing each and every part of the person . . .
the less hard one is,
or the less one has from oneself
and the softer and more flowing one is, the more perfect one is.
(June 8,1748)
It can also be seen by a spiritual idea
that the proprium (also called self, own, ego) of a person,
is not only black in appearance,
but also hard,
for which reason it is called bony.
This is so
not only because what is a person's proprium is merely an instrument,
in which, seeing it has no vital sap, spirit and blood,
everything hardens and becomes bone-like -
but also because people can do nothing on their own power,
so that regarded in themselves, they are like bone, having no vital sap.
Only life, which is the Lord's, causes a person to soften,
and the more spiritual and heavenly life there is
encompassing each and every part of the person . . .
the less hard one is,
or the less one has from oneself
and the softer and more flowing one is, the more perfect one is.
(June 8,1748)
Sunday, January 22, 2012
AC 1806 - the Lord's sight; AC 1808 - stars
AC 1806
He led him forth abroad.
(Genesis 15:5)
Things internal are led forth,
when with the eyes of the body a person
contemplates the starry heaven,
and so thinks of the Lord's kingdom.
. . . The eye itself is properly nothing
but the sight of his spirit led forth abroad . . .
that he may, from the objects in the world,
reflect continually upon those which are in the other life;
for this is the life for the sake of which he lives in the world.
Such was the sight in the Most Ancient Church;
such is the sight of the angels who are with a person;
and such was the Lord's sight.
AC 1808
The "stars" are frequently mentioned in the Word,
and everywhere they signify things good and true,
and also, in the contrary sense, things evil and false . . ..
When they signify angels or societies of angels,
they are then fixed stars;
but when evil spirits and their associations,
they are wandering stars . . ..
He led him forth abroad.
(Genesis 15:5)
Things internal are led forth,
when with the eyes of the body a person
contemplates the starry heaven,
and so thinks of the Lord's kingdom.
. . . The eye itself is properly nothing
but the sight of his spirit led forth abroad . . .
that he may, from the objects in the world,
reflect continually upon those which are in the other life;
for this is the life for the sake of which he lives in the world.
Such was the sight in the Most Ancient Church;
such is the sight of the angels who are with a person;
and such was the Lord's sight.
AC 1808
The "stars" are frequently mentioned in the Word,
and everywhere they signify things good and true,
and also, in the contrary sense, things evil and false . . ..
When they signify angels or societies of angels,
they are then fixed stars;
but when evil spirits and their associations,
they are wandering stars . . ..
Saturday, January 21, 2012
AC 1793 - 'Lord Jehovih'
AC 1793
. . . 'the Lord Jehovih' is the Internal Man
in relationship to the Interior Man . . .
it was Jehovah Himself,
from whom He was conceived,
whose only Son He was,
and to whom the Lord's Human became united after the maternal human,
that is, the human derived from the mother,
had been purified by means of the conflicts brought about by temptations.
In the Word 'Lord Jehovih' occurs quite often;
indeed for as many times as Jehovah is called the Lord
He is not named 'Lord Jehovah' but 'Lord Jehovih';
and especially so when temptations are the subject . . ..
. . . 'the Lord Jehovih' is the Internal Man
in relationship to the Interior Man . . .
it was Jehovah Himself,
from whom He was conceived,
whose only Son He was,
and to whom the Lord's Human became united after the maternal human,
that is, the human derived from the mother,
had been purified by means of the conflicts brought about by temptations.
In the Word 'Lord Jehovih' occurs quite often;
indeed for as many times as Jehovah is called the Lord
He is not named 'Lord Jehovah' but 'Lord Jehovih';
and especially so when temptations are the subject . . ..
Friday, January 20, 2012
SD 2223 - one person is more easily led by the Lord than another
SD 2223
It is well known that all are guided by the Lord,
yet one person more easily than another.
All could be influenced by the Lord to thinking, speaking and doing things,
but because many, many people do not have faith
and are consequently not in order,
it is more difficult to guide them in this respect,
that the Lord does not want to break them
A bruised reed shall he not break,
and the smoking flax shall he not quench:
he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
[Isaiah 42:3]
Thus He does not want to make them think,
speak and do what would go contrary to their desires,
which to them are freedom.
So they are permitted
to think, speak and act in and according to their desires,
so that they may be bent toward good.
Those who have faith, however,
and thereby a deeper knowledge of the truths of religion,
are not broken, because they know and are moved by what is of heaven.
Therefore, because their thoughts, speech and actions
are to a greater extent in a spiritual order,
they are guided more easily than others.
(June 6,1748)
It is well known that all are guided by the Lord,
yet one person more easily than another.
All could be influenced by the Lord to thinking, speaking and doing things,
but because many, many people do not have faith
and are consequently not in order,
it is more difficult to guide them in this respect,
that the Lord does not want to break them
A bruised reed shall he not break,
and the smoking flax shall he not quench:
he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
[Isaiah 42:3]
Thus He does not want to make them think,
speak and do what would go contrary to their desires,
which to them are freedom.
So they are permitted
to think, speak and act in and according to their desires,
so that they may be bent toward good.
Those who have faith, however,
and thereby a deeper knowledge of the truths of religion,
are not broken, because they know and are moved by what is of heaven.
Therefore, because their thoughts, speech and actions
are to a greater extent in a spiritual order,
they are guided more easily than others.
(June 6,1748)
Thursday, January 19, 2012
AC 1783 - within the Word; AC 1786 - "a vision"
AC 1783
These events are historically true,
but even so every single one,
down to the smallest event that took place,
is representative;
and the actual words used to describe those events,
down to the smallest part of a letter,
carry a spiritual meaning, that is,
every single detail has an internal sense within it.
For every single detail in the Word is inspired,
and being inspired cannot come from other than a heavenly origin;
that is, celestial and spiritual things lie concealed in its inner recesses.
If this were not so
it could not possibly be the Word of the Lord.
. . . When this sense (the internal sense) lies open to view
the sense of the letter passes out of sight, as though it did not exist,
as also conversely
when attention is paid solely to the historical sense, or sense of the letter,
the internal sense passes out of sight, as though it did not exist.
AC 1786
That 'a vision' means inmost revelation,
which is an accompaniment of perception,
becomes clear from the nature of visions,
in that these take shape each one
in accordance with the state of the beholder.
A vision appearing to those whose interiors are closed
takes an entirely different shape
from a vision to those whose interiors are open.
For example,
when the Lord appeared to the whole congregation on Mount Sinai,
that appearing was a vision which was different
for the people from what it was for Aaron,
and was different for Aaron from what it was for Moses;
and a vision for the prophets was different again from what it was for Moses.
Many kinds of visions are possible,
which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken about later on.
Visions are more perfect the more interior they are.
With the Lord they were the most perfect of all,
because at that time He had a perception of all things
in the world of spirits and in the heavens,
and had direct communication with Jehovah.
This communication is represented,
and in the internal sense is meant,
by the vision in which Jehovah appeared to Abram.
These events are historically true,
but even so every single one,
down to the smallest event that took place,
is representative;
and the actual words used to describe those events,
down to the smallest part of a letter,
carry a spiritual meaning, that is,
every single detail has an internal sense within it.
For every single detail in the Word is inspired,
and being inspired cannot come from other than a heavenly origin;
that is, celestial and spiritual things lie concealed in its inner recesses.
If this were not so
it could not possibly be the Word of the Lord.
. . . When this sense (the internal sense) lies open to view
the sense of the letter passes out of sight, as though it did not exist,
as also conversely
when attention is paid solely to the historical sense, or sense of the letter,
the internal sense passes out of sight, as though it did not exist.
AC 1786
That 'a vision' means inmost revelation,
which is an accompaniment of perception,
becomes clear from the nature of visions,
in that these take shape each one
in accordance with the state of the beholder.
A vision appearing to those whose interiors are closed
takes an entirely different shape
from a vision to those whose interiors are open.
For example,
when the Lord appeared to the whole congregation on Mount Sinai,
that appearing was a vision which was different
for the people from what it was for Aaron,
and was different for Aaron from what it was for Moses;
and a vision for the prophets was different again from what it was for Moses.
Many kinds of visions are possible,
which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be spoken about later on.
Visions are more perfect the more interior they are.
With the Lord they were the most perfect of all,
because at that time He had a perception of all things
in the world of spirits and in the heavens,
and had direct communication with Jehovah.
This communication is represented,
and in the internal sense is meant,
by the vision in which Jehovah appeared to Abram.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
SD 2188-2189 - memories and pondering the future
SD 2188 - 2190
. . . the more inwardly perfect angels are,
the less memory they have of things past,
and that therein consists their happiness.
For at every moment,
the Lord gives them what is pleasant to them,
and causes them both to think and to feel -
so it is the Lord's doing, not theirs.
This is the meaning of the passage,
"Give us this day our daily bread"
[Matt. 6:11, Luke 11:3],
and that they should take no thought for the future,
what they should eat and drink [Matt. 6: 25, 31],
and that they gathered the manna daily [Exod. 16:14-21].
And since angels have no memory of things past,
neither do they have any foresight of the future,
which is a result of that same memory.
Yet they seem to themselves to have a memory
and to know all kinds of things beyond number,
because this is granted to them by the Lord from moment to moment.
Therefore they may indeed suppose that it is their memory,
when yet it is not.
In short, their happiness consists in this,
and in being in the Lord.
Nevertheless, they are all very much inclined to guessing . . ..
When anything happens,
everyone who is given the opportunity guesses
that the matter is thus or so,
and yet they are all wrong,
because they are doing so on their own power.
So also, if they were to be given the opportunity
to remember things of the past,
and to anticipate things to come,
then the whole aura would be filled with false guesses,
resulting in confusion and the destruction of their happiness.
(June 4,1748)
. . . the more inwardly perfect angels are,
the less memory they have of things past,
and that therein consists their happiness.
For at every moment,
the Lord gives them what is pleasant to them,
and causes them both to think and to feel -
so it is the Lord's doing, not theirs.
This is the meaning of the passage,
"Give us this day our daily bread"
[Matt. 6:11, Luke 11:3],
and that they should take no thought for the future,
what they should eat and drink [Matt. 6: 25, 31],
and that they gathered the manna daily [Exod. 16:14-21].
And since angels have no memory of things past,
neither do they have any foresight of the future,
which is a result of that same memory.
Yet they seem to themselves to have a memory
and to know all kinds of things beyond number,
because this is granted to them by the Lord from moment to moment.
Therefore they may indeed suppose that it is their memory,
when yet it is not.
In short, their happiness consists in this,
and in being in the Lord.
Nevertheless, they are all very much inclined to guessing . . ..
When anything happens,
everyone who is given the opportunity guesses
that the matter is thus or so,
and yet they are all wrong,
because they are doing so on their own power.
So also, if they were to be given the opportunity
to remember things of the past,
and to anticipate things to come,
then the whole aura would be filled with false guesses,
resulting in confusion and the destruction of their happiness.
(June 4,1748)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
AC 1767, 1776 - when the Word is being read
AC 1767
When the Word of the Lord is being read
by a someone who loves the Word and lives in charity,
or by a person who from simplicity of heart
believes what is written
and has not formed principles
contrary to the truth of faith which is in the internal sense,
it is presented by the Lord before the angels
in such beauty and in such pleasantness,
with representatives also,
and this with indescribable variety
in accordance with all their state at the time,
that every particular is perceived as if it had life,
which life is that which is in the Word,
and from which the Word had birth
when it was sent down from heaven.
From this cause the Word of the Lord is such,
that although in the letter it appears crude,
there are stored up in it spiritual and celestial things
which lie open before good spirits, and before angels,
when the Word is being read by a person.
AC 1776
It may seem a paradox,
but still it is most true,
that the angels understand the internal sense of the Word
better and more fully when little boys and girls are reading it,
than when it is read by adult persons
who are not in the faith of charity.
The cause has been told me,
and is that little boys and girls are in a state of mutual love and innocence,
and thus their most tender vessels are almost heavenly,
and are simply capacities for receiving,
which therefore can be disposed by the Lord;
although this does not come to their perception,
except by a certain delight suited to their character and disposition.
The angels said that the Word of the Lord is a dead letter,
but that in everyone,
when he is reading it,
it is given life by the Lord,
each according to his capacity to receive it,
and that it is made alive according to the life in his charity
and according to his state of innocence,
and this with inexpressible variety.
When the Word of the Lord is being read
by a someone who loves the Word and lives in charity,
or by a person who from simplicity of heart
believes what is written
and has not formed principles
contrary to the truth of faith which is in the internal sense,
it is presented by the Lord before the angels
in such beauty and in such pleasantness,
with representatives also,
and this with indescribable variety
in accordance with all their state at the time,
that every particular is perceived as if it had life,
which life is that which is in the Word,
and from which the Word had birth
when it was sent down from heaven.
From this cause the Word of the Lord is such,
that although in the letter it appears crude,
there are stored up in it spiritual and celestial things
which lie open before good spirits, and before angels,
when the Word is being read by a person.
AC 1776
It may seem a paradox,
but still it is most true,
that the angels understand the internal sense of the Word
better and more fully when little boys and girls are reading it,
than when it is read by adult persons
who are not in the faith of charity.
The cause has been told me,
and is that little boys and girls are in a state of mutual love and innocence,
and thus their most tender vessels are almost heavenly,
and are simply capacities for receiving,
which therefore can be disposed by the Lord;
although this does not come to their perception,
except by a certain delight suited to their character and disposition.
The angels said that the Word of the Lord is a dead letter,
but that in everyone,
when he is reading it,
it is given life by the Lord,
each according to his capacity to receive it,
and that it is made alive according to the life in his charity
and according to his state of innocence,
and this with inexpressible variety.
Monday, January 16, 2012
SD 2161 - the Lord gives
SD 2161
The Lord gives both
the thought of good,
and the will of good,
so that all ought to do good,
but still know,
and therefore understand,
that the good is not theirs,
but the Lord's.
The Lord gives both
the thought of good,
and the will of good,
so that all ought to do good,
but still know,
and therefore understand,
that the good is not theirs,
but the Lord's.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
AC 1756 - the series and the singular
AC 1756
In general, the foregoing are the things
that are involved in the internal sense of this chapter;
but the series or connection itself of the things, and its beauty,
cannot appear when each separate thing is explained in detail
according to the signification of the words,
as they would if they were embraced in a single idea,
for when they are all understood under a single idea
the things that had been scattered
appear beautifully coherent and connected.
In general, the foregoing are the things
that are involved in the internal sense of this chapter;
but the series or connection itself of the things, and its beauty,
cannot appear when each separate thing is explained in detail
according to the signification of the words,
as they would if they were embraced in a single idea,
for when they are all understood under a single idea
the things that had been scattered
appear beautifully coherent and connected.
AC 1745 - when the Lord spoke
AC 1745 [2]
So long as the Lord was in a state of temptations,
He spoke with Jehovah as with another;
but so far as he was united to His Human Essence,
He spoke with Jehovah as with Himself;
which is evident from many passages in the Gospels,
as also from many in the Prophets and in David.
So long as the Lord was in a state of temptations,
He spoke with Jehovah as with another;
but so far as he was united to His Human Essence,
He spoke with Jehovah as with Himself;
which is evident from many passages in the Gospels,
as also from many in the Prophets and in David.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
AC 1726, 1738 - peace & remains after temptations
AC 1726.
. . . "Salem" means "peace," and also "perfection;"
so it signifies a state of peace, and a state of perfection.
A state of peace is the state of the Lord's kingdom;
. . . in the state of peace
all celestial and spiritual things are as it were
in their morning or springtime flower and smile,
that is, in their happiness itself.
So does the state of peace affect everything,
for the Lord is peace itself.
. . . When a person is in the combats of temptations,
he is by turns gifted by the Lord with a state of peace,
and is thus refreshed.
AC 1738
. . . remains are . . . all the states of love and charity,
and consequently all the states of innocence and peace,
with which a person is gifted.
These states are given to a person from infancy,
but less by degrees as the person advances into adult age.
But when a person is being regenerated,
he then receives new remains also . . . thus new life.
. . . "Salem" means "peace," and also "perfection;"
so it signifies a state of peace, and a state of perfection.
A state of peace is the state of the Lord's kingdom;
. . . in the state of peace
all celestial and spiritual things are as it were
in their morning or springtime flower and smile,
that is, in their happiness itself.
So does the state of peace affect everything,
for the Lord is peace itself.
. . . When a person is in the combats of temptations,
he is by turns gifted by the Lord with a state of peace,
and is thus refreshed.
AC 1738
. . . remains are . . . all the states of love and charity,
and consequently all the states of innocence and peace,
with which a person is gifted.
These states are given to a person from infancy,
but less by degrees as the person advances into adult age.
But when a person is being regenerated,
he then receives new remains also . . . thus new life.
Friday, January 13, 2012
SD 2133, 2136 - saints
SD 2133, 2136
A certain one of the Catholic religion came to me today,
as do nearly every day some of various religions who have lately died.
This Roman Catholic conversed with me,
and his discourse was about such as were made saints on the earth.
He was told that there is no saint [holy one] in all heaven but the Lord alone,
and that it is from the Lord's holiness,
who is Holiness Itself,
that the angels are called saints [holy];
consequently He is also called the Holy Spirit.
Such as are angels confess
that in them is nothing at all holy, but that it is filthy,
and that holiness is the Lord's alone . . ..
Inquiry was made how it was with Peter,
to whom were given the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.
The answer was, that by Peter is understood faith,
and to the faithful are given the keys of the Lord's kingdom,
because no one can be admitted into heaven save through faith in the Lord,
and no one grants faith but the Lord,
wherefore the Lord alone has the keys of the heavens . . ..
Faith is understood by Peter,
like as by the other apostles, the things which are of faith;
as, for instance, by James charity,
and by John the fruits of charity . . ..
(May 31, 1748)
A certain one of the Catholic religion came to me today,
as do nearly every day some of various religions who have lately died.
This Roman Catholic conversed with me,
and his discourse was about such as were made saints on the earth.
He was told that there is no saint [holy one] in all heaven but the Lord alone,
and that it is from the Lord's holiness,
who is Holiness Itself,
that the angels are called saints [holy];
consequently He is also called the Holy Spirit.
Such as are angels confess
that in them is nothing at all holy, but that it is filthy,
and that holiness is the Lord's alone . . ..
Inquiry was made how it was with Peter,
to whom were given the keys of the kingdom of the heavens.
The answer was, that by Peter is understood faith,
and to the faithful are given the keys of the Lord's kingdom,
because no one can be admitted into heaven save through faith in the Lord,
and no one grants faith but the Lord,
wherefore the Lord alone has the keys of the heavens . . ..
Faith is understood by Peter,
like as by the other apostles, the things which are of faith;
as, for instance, by James charity,
and by John the fruits of charity . . ..
(May 31, 1748)
SD 2119 - little children
SD 2119
I have experienced today, and several times previously
when being allowed in a group of little children who were playing innocently,
for there is innocence in whatever they do.
Then wicked spirits round about, angered and enraged,
railed and cursed at them, trying to bring harm on them.
But the little children were not at all afraid,
sometimes completely unaware
of their being present and cursing them in this way;
and if they had known,
they still would have been shielded by their innocence.
So this is in line with the passage,
lions and bears [will lie down] with sheep,
and the suckling will play in the serpent's hole [Isaiah 11:6-8].
(May 29, 1748)
I have experienced today, and several times previously
when being allowed in a group of little children who were playing innocently,
for there is innocence in whatever they do.
Then wicked spirits round about, angered and enraged,
railed and cursed at them, trying to bring harm on them.
But the little children were not at all afraid,
sometimes completely unaware
of their being present and cursing them in this way;
and if they had known,
they still would have been shielded by their innocence.
So this is in line with the passage,
lions and bears [will lie down] with sheep,
and the suckling will play in the serpent's hole [Isaiah 11:6-8].
(May 29, 1748)
Thursday, January 12, 2012
AC 1712 - apparent good and truth
AC 1712
When anyone is in apparent good and truth,
he supposes them to be genuine good and truth
. . . if people confirm themselves in the belief
that they can do good and resist evil by their own powers,
and that they thus merit salvation,
in this case this idea remains attached,
and causes the good to be evil,
and the truth to be falsity.
But still it is according to order
for a person to do good as of himself;
and therefore he ought not to slacken his hand, with the thought,
"If I can do nothing of good from myself,
I ought to wait for immediate influx,"
and thus remain in a passive state,
for this would be contrary to order;
but he must do good as of himself;
yet, when he reflects upon the good which he does or has done,
let him think, acknowledge, and believe
that the Lord has done the work in him.
When anyone is in apparent good and truth,
he supposes them to be genuine good and truth
. . . if people confirm themselves in the belief
that they can do good and resist evil by their own powers,
and that they thus merit salvation,
in this case this idea remains attached,
and causes the good to be evil,
and the truth to be falsity.
But still it is according to order
for a person to do good as of himself;
and therefore he ought not to slacken his hand, with the thought,
"If I can do nothing of good from myself,
I ought to wait for immediate influx,"
and thus remain in a passive state,
for this would be contrary to order;
but he must do good as of himself;
yet, when he reflects upon the good which he does or has done,
let him think, acknowledge, and believe
that the Lord has done the work in him.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
SD 2098 - thanking the Lord
SD 2098
. . . the Lord never demands anything for His Divine benefits
from souls, spirits, and angels.
. . . the Lord never demands anything for His Divine benefits
from souls, spirits, and angels.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
AC 1690 - the Lord's love and temptations
AC 1690 [3, 6]
All temptation is an assault upon the love in which a person is,
and the temptation is in the same degree as is the love.
If the love is not assaulted,
there is no temptation.
To destroy anyone's love is to destroy his very life;
for the love is the life.
The Lord's life was love toward the whole human race,
and was indeed so great, and of such a quality,
as to be nothing but pure love.
. . . the Lord from His earliest childhood
up to the last hour of His life in the world,
was assaulted by all the hells,
against which He continually fought,
and subjugated and overcame them,
and this solely from love toward the whole human race.
And because this love was not human but Divine,
and because such as is the greatness of the love,
such is that of the temptation,
it may be seen how grievous the combats were,
and how great the ferocity on the part of the hells.
All temptation is an assault upon the love in which a person is,
and the temptation is in the same degree as is the love.
If the love is not assaulted,
there is no temptation.
To destroy anyone's love is to destroy his very life;
for the love is the life.
The Lord's life was love toward the whole human race,
and was indeed so great, and of such a quality,
as to be nothing but pure love.
. . . the Lord from His earliest childhood
up to the last hour of His life in the world,
was assaulted by all the hells,
against which He continually fought,
and subjugated and overcame them,
and this solely from love toward the whole human race.
And because this love was not human but Divine,
and because such as is the greatness of the love,
such is that of the temptation,
it may be seen how grievous the combats were,
and how great the ferocity on the part of the hells.
Monday, January 09, 2012
SD 2054, 2056 - when we read, or try to read, the Lord's Word
SD 2054
When he was there, I read in Deut. 1 respecting the Jewish people,
how they sent messengers to explore the land and what was in it,
all which were turned by the celestials into a spiritual sense,
so that they perceived nothing from the literal sense,
but only from the spiritual.
The spirit in question then said to me
that he knew nothing of what I was reading,
but that he heard wonderful things;
for there was an interior sense,
namely, that by the mountains of the Amorites
was signified the world of evil spirits,
through whom the way led to heaven,
and by the river of Eshkol,
where there were fruits and clusters of grapes,
[was signified] the interior heaven.
This, he said, was the true sense of the words in that passage,
and not the literal sense, of which he could perceive nothing.
From this we may judge how the sense of the Lord's Word
is elevated towards the interiors of the heavens,
so that nothing of the literal sense remains . . ..
SD 2056
It may now be known
that the sense of the letter is far more penetrative
when the mind does not inhere in that sense,
as the Lord then flows in with an interior sense,
which illuminates and makes perspicuous (plain, clear)
the literal sense as to what it signifies;
which is not the case while the mind,
as with critics,
is absorbed in letters and words.
(May 23, 1748)
When he was there, I read in Deut. 1 respecting the Jewish people,
how they sent messengers to explore the land and what was in it,
all which were turned by the celestials into a spiritual sense,
so that they perceived nothing from the literal sense,
but only from the spiritual.
The spirit in question then said to me
that he knew nothing of what I was reading,
but that he heard wonderful things;
for there was an interior sense,
namely, that by the mountains of the Amorites
was signified the world of evil spirits,
through whom the way led to heaven,
and by the river of Eshkol,
where there were fruits and clusters of grapes,
[was signified] the interior heaven.
This, he said, was the true sense of the words in that passage,
and not the literal sense, of which he could perceive nothing.
From this we may judge how the sense of the Lord's Word
is elevated towards the interiors of the heavens,
so that nothing of the literal sense remains . . ..
SD 2056
It may now be known
that the sense of the letter is far more penetrative
when the mind does not inhere in that sense,
as the Lord then flows in with an interior sense,
which illuminates and makes perspicuous (plain, clear)
the literal sense as to what it signifies;
which is not the case while the mind,
as with critics,
is absorbed in letters and words.
(May 23, 1748)
Sunday, January 08, 2012
AC 1680, 1683 - the nature of the good and of the evil
AC 1680 [2-3]
All spirits in the other life are distinguished in the following manner:
those who desire evil against others are infernal or diabolical spirits;
but those who desire good to others are good and angelic spirits.
A person can know among which he is . . .
if he intends evil to his neighbor, thinks nothing but evil concerning him,
and actually does it when he can, and takes delight therein,
he is among the infernals,
and also becomes infernal in the other life;
whereas the person who intends good to his neighbor,
and thinks nothing but good respecting him,
and actually does it when he can,
is among the angelic spirits, and also becomes an angel in the other life.
This is the distinctive characteristic.
Let everyone examine himself by this, in order to learn what he is.
AC 1683
It is the nature of evil to desire to maltreat everyone;
but that of good to desire to maltreat no one.
The evil are in their very life when they are assaulting;
for they continually desire to destroy.
The good are in their very life when they are assaulting no one,
and when they can be of use in defending others from evils.
All spirits in the other life are distinguished in the following manner:
those who desire evil against others are infernal or diabolical spirits;
but those who desire good to others are good and angelic spirits.
A person can know among which he is . . .
if he intends evil to his neighbor, thinks nothing but evil concerning him,
and actually does it when he can, and takes delight therein,
he is among the infernals,
and also becomes infernal in the other life;
whereas the person who intends good to his neighbor,
and thinks nothing but good respecting him,
and actually does it when he can,
is among the angelic spirits, and also becomes an angel in the other life.
This is the distinctive characteristic.
Let everyone examine himself by this, in order to learn what he is.
AC 1683
It is the nature of evil to desire to maltreat everyone;
but that of good to desire to maltreat no one.
The evil are in their very life when they are assaulting;
for they continually desire to destroy.
The good are in their very life when they are assaulting no one,
and when they can be of use in defending others from evils.
Saturday, January 07, 2012
AC 1667, 1668 - childhood goods and truths; conscience & perception
AC 1667[2]
. . . the goods that belong to earliest childhood,
which though they appear to be goods
are not in fact goods
as long as hereditary evil is befouling them,
for they have ingrained in them and clinging to them
that which derives from self-love and love of the world.
Whatever belongs to self-love or love of the world
appears at the time to be good, but it is not.
. . . Such good and truth as exist with a child before instruction
is meant by Chedorlaomer.
AC1668
The intermediate between no temptation (twelve)
and temptation (fourteen) is "thirteen."
[2] Evils, or evil spirits, are in rebellion to the extent
that a person who wishes to be governed by goods and truths
confirms within himself certain evils and falsities . . ..
It is in evil desires and falsities
that the life of evil spirits consists,
but in goods and truths that the life of angels consists;
and from this, infestation and conflict arise.
This is so with all who have conscience,
and was all the more so with the Lord when a boy, who had perception.
With those who have conscience a dull pain arises,
but with those who have perception intense pain;
and the more interior the perception,
the more intense is that pain.
From this it becomes clear what the temptation of the Lord,
who had interior and inmost perception,
was like in comparison with a person's.
. . . the goods that belong to earliest childhood,
which though they appear to be goods
are not in fact goods
as long as hereditary evil is befouling them,
for they have ingrained in them and clinging to them
that which derives from self-love and love of the world.
Whatever belongs to self-love or love of the world
appears at the time to be good, but it is not.
. . . Such good and truth as exist with a child before instruction
is meant by Chedorlaomer.
AC1668
The intermediate between no temptation (twelve)
and temptation (fourteen) is "thirteen."
[2] Evils, or evil spirits, are in rebellion to the extent
that a person who wishes to be governed by goods and truths
confirms within himself certain evils and falsities . . ..
It is in evil desires and falsities
that the life of evil spirits consists,
but in goods and truths that the life of angels consists;
and from this, infestation and conflict arise.
This is so with all who have conscience,
and was all the more so with the Lord when a boy, who had perception.
With those who have conscience a dull pain arises,
but with those who have perception intense pain;
and the more interior the perception,
the more intense is that pain.
From this it becomes clear what the temptation of the Lord,
who had interior and inmost perception,
was like in comparison with a person's.
Friday, January 06, 2012
SD 2007-2008 - spheres; SD 2024 - use
SD 2007-2008
The spheres governing the thoughts
of the person who is in faith
are of the Lord and peculiar to Him,
so much as they have in them of the true and the good;
as to the others combined with them,
they pertain to angels and spirits
who are ruled and ordered by the Lord
with reference to uses and ends.
By means of an almost similar general sphere,
others are otherwise governed,
everyone according to his nature and genius,
but yet within his proper limits,
beyond which he cannot roam,
for the general prescribes limits.
(May 20, 1748)
SD 2024
. . . nothing should be covetously desired except from use,
and use ought to excite affection.
(Odhner translates spheres as field or force.)
The spheres governing the thoughts
of the person who is in faith
are of the Lord and peculiar to Him,
so much as they have in them of the true and the good;
as to the others combined with them,
they pertain to angels and spirits
who are ruled and ordered by the Lord
with reference to uses and ends.
By means of an almost similar general sphere,
others are otherwise governed,
everyone according to his nature and genius,
but yet within his proper limits,
beyond which he cannot roam,
for the general prescribes limits.
(May 20, 1748)
SD 2024
. . . nothing should be covetously desired except from use,
and use ought to excite affection.
(Odhner translates spheres as field or force.)
Thursday, January 05, 2012
AC 1661, 1663 - wars & temptations; AC 1664 - Book of the Wars of Jehovah
AC 1661
[2] No one can ever fight against evils and falsities
until he has learned to know what evil and falsity are,
and therefore not until he has been instructed.
A person does not know what evil is, still less what falsity is,
until he has the full use of his understanding and judgment,
which is the reason why a person does not come into temptations
until he has arrived at adult age . . . but the Lord in His childhood.
[3] Every person combats
first of all from the goods and truths he has received through knowledges;
and from them and by them he judges about evils and falsities.
Every person also,
when he first begins to combat,
supposes that the goods and truths from which he combats are his own;
that is, he attributes them to himself,
and at the same time attributes to himself the power by which he resists.
This also is permitted; for a person cannot then know otherwise.
Until a person has been regenerated,
he cannot possibly know,
so as to be able to say that he knows, acknowledges, and believes,
that nothing of good and truth is from himself,
but that all good and truth are from the Lord;
or that he cannot resist any evil and falsity from his own power;
for he does not know
that evil spirits excite and infuse the evils and falsities;
still less that by means of evil spirits he is in communication with hell;
and that hell presses upon him as the sea does upon every part of a dike,
which pressure of hell no person can possibly resist by his own powers.
But as until he has been regenerated
a person cannot but suppose that he resists by his own powers,
this also is permitted;
and thus he is introduced into combats or temptations;
but afterwards he is more and more enlightened.
[4] When a person is in such a state
that he supposes good and truth to be from himself,
and that the power of resisting is his own,
then the goods and truths
from which he combats against evils and falsities
are not goods and truths,
although they appear so;
for there is what is his own in them,
and he places self-merit in victory,
and glories as if it were he who had overcome the evil and falsity,
when yet it is the Lord alone who combats and overcomes.
That this is really the case, none can know
but they who are being regenerated by means of temptations.
AC 1663 [2]
That the Lord underwent and endured the most grievous temptations
- temptations more grievous than have ever been endured by anyone -
is not so well known from the Word,
where it is only mentioned that He was in the wilderness forty days,
and was tempted by the devil.
The temptations themselves which He then had,
are described in a few words only;
but these few involve them all;
as that it is said in Mark (1:12, 13) that He was there with the beasts,
by which are signified the worst of the infernal crew;
and the things which are mentioned [in Matthew and in Luke],
that He was taken by the devil upon the pinnacles of the temple,
and upon a high mountain,
are nothing but representatives of most grievous temptations
which He had in the wilderness; concerning which,
of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.
AC 1664 [11-12]
Spirits and angels also appear as men of war
when a representation is made. As in Joshua:
Joshua lifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold there stood a man over against him,
and his sword drawn in his hand.
And he said unto Joshua,
I am the prince of Jehovah's army.
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth.
(Joshua 5:13-14)
These things were so seen because they were representative;
and for the same reason the posterity of Jacob
called their wars the Wars of Jehovah.
The same also was the case in the Ancient Churches;
and among them were books
which also were called The Wars of Jehovah:
It is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah.
(Numbers 21:14-15)
This was written in a manner
not unlike that in which wars are treated of in this chapter (Genesis 14);
but the wars of the church were signified.
Such a mode of writing was familiar in those times;
for then there were interior people,
and they thought of exalted things.
[2] No one can ever fight against evils and falsities
until he has learned to know what evil and falsity are,
and therefore not until he has been instructed.
A person does not know what evil is, still less what falsity is,
until he has the full use of his understanding and judgment,
which is the reason why a person does not come into temptations
until he has arrived at adult age . . . but the Lord in His childhood.
[3] Every person combats
first of all from the goods and truths he has received through knowledges;
and from them and by them he judges about evils and falsities.
Every person also,
when he first begins to combat,
supposes that the goods and truths from which he combats are his own;
that is, he attributes them to himself,
and at the same time attributes to himself the power by which he resists.
This also is permitted; for a person cannot then know otherwise.
Until a person has been regenerated,
he cannot possibly know,
so as to be able to say that he knows, acknowledges, and believes,
that nothing of good and truth is from himself,
but that all good and truth are from the Lord;
or that he cannot resist any evil and falsity from his own power;
for he does not know
that evil spirits excite and infuse the evils and falsities;
still less that by means of evil spirits he is in communication with hell;
and that hell presses upon him as the sea does upon every part of a dike,
which pressure of hell no person can possibly resist by his own powers.
But as until he has been regenerated
a person cannot but suppose that he resists by his own powers,
this also is permitted;
and thus he is introduced into combats or temptations;
but afterwards he is more and more enlightened.
[4] When a person is in such a state
that he supposes good and truth to be from himself,
and that the power of resisting is his own,
then the goods and truths
from which he combats against evils and falsities
are not goods and truths,
although they appear so;
for there is what is his own in them,
and he places self-merit in victory,
and glories as if it were he who had overcome the evil and falsity,
when yet it is the Lord alone who combats and overcomes.
That this is really the case, none can know
but they who are being regenerated by means of temptations.
AC 1663 [2]
That the Lord underwent and endured the most grievous temptations
- temptations more grievous than have ever been endured by anyone -
is not so well known from the Word,
where it is only mentioned that He was in the wilderness forty days,
and was tempted by the devil.
The temptations themselves which He then had,
are described in a few words only;
but these few involve them all;
as that it is said in Mark (1:12, 13) that He was there with the beasts,
by which are signified the worst of the infernal crew;
and the things which are mentioned [in Matthew and in Luke],
that He was taken by the devil upon the pinnacles of the temple,
and upon a high mountain,
are nothing but representatives of most grievous temptations
which He had in the wilderness; concerning which,
of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.
AC 1664 [11-12]
Spirits and angels also appear as men of war
when a representation is made. As in Joshua:
Joshua lifted up his eyes and looked,
and behold there stood a man over against him,
and his sword drawn in his hand.
And he said unto Joshua,
I am the prince of Jehovah's army.
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth.
(Joshua 5:13-14)
These things were so seen because they were representative;
and for the same reason the posterity of Jacob
called their wars the Wars of Jehovah.
The same also was the case in the Ancient Churches;
and among them were books
which also were called The Wars of Jehovah:
It is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah.
(Numbers 21:14-15)
This was written in a manner
not unlike that in which wars are treated of in this chapter (Genesis 14);
but the wars of the church were signified.
Such a mode of writing was familiar in those times;
for then there were interior people,
and they thought of exalted things.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
SD 1959,1961,1966 - we can bring it on ourselves and the protection of the Lord
SD 1959
There was a certain not evil, but serious spirit,
who spoke with me, and I noticed
that heaven was opened just a little into his inward parts,
so that it would be observed what goodness was in him.
He then began to wail, and to be tormented,
begging that this condition might cease,
for he could not stay in it on account of the distress.
This and other experience makes it clear
how dangerous it would be
if heaven were opened into someone not having faith.
For the person would be tortured
even to death by pangs of conscience.
(May 14, 1748)
SD 1961
An amazing fact
also not understood by very many,
is this paradox,
that when the heaven of the Lord looks into an evil one,
he or she is tortured by it,
that is, when the Lord is at hand with His presence,
they are then so distressed and tortured that,
just as Moses said, Num. 10:35,
His enemies are scattered,
and they that hate Him flee from His faces.
Yet He brings nothing whatever of evil,
not anything but good,
and the greatest gentleness.
This makes it clear that the person, or the spirit,
is the cause of their own evil, torture and death.
(May 15,1748)
SD 1966
It has been shown before
that evil spirits are distressed and tormented
when angels look into them [1959, 1961].
It is almost the same when a person on earth has faith,
or is kept in a state of faith by the Lord.
Then evil spirits cannot approach,
but likewise begin to feel distress, and want to flee away.
Several times I have heard them complaining and lamenting,
when they were in the presence of faith.
(May 16, 1748)
There was a certain not evil, but serious spirit,
who spoke with me, and I noticed
that heaven was opened just a little into his inward parts,
so that it would be observed what goodness was in him.
He then began to wail, and to be tormented,
begging that this condition might cease,
for he could not stay in it on account of the distress.
This and other experience makes it clear
how dangerous it would be
if heaven were opened into someone not having faith.
For the person would be tortured
even to death by pangs of conscience.
(May 14, 1748)
SD 1961
An amazing fact
also not understood by very many,
is this paradox,
that when the heaven of the Lord looks into an evil one,
he or she is tortured by it,
that is, when the Lord is at hand with His presence,
they are then so distressed and tortured that,
just as Moses said, Num. 10:35,
His enemies are scattered,
and they that hate Him flee from His faces.
Yet He brings nothing whatever of evil,
not anything but good,
and the greatest gentleness.
This makes it clear that the person, or the spirit,
is the cause of their own evil, torture and death.
(May 15,1748)
SD 1966
It has been shown before
that evil spirits are distressed and tormented
when angels look into them [1959, 1961].
It is almost the same when a person on earth has faith,
or is kept in a state of faith by the Lord.
Then evil spirits cannot approach,
but likewise begin to feel distress, and want to flee away.
Several times I have heard them complaining and lamenting,
when they were in the presence of faith.
(May 16, 1748)
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
AC 1645 - ends & uses, the speech of celestial angels
AC 1645
This speech of angels
is not of things represented by any ideas
like those of spirits and angelic spirits;
but it is a speech of ends and of the derivative uses,
which are the primaries and the essentials of things.
Into these are angelic thoughts insinuated,
and are varied there with indefinite variety;
and in each and all things of that speech
there is an inward and happy delight
from the good of mutual love from the Lord,
and a beautiful and delightful one
from the truth of faith from that good.
Ends, and the uses from them,
are as it were most delicate recipients,
and are the delightful subjects of unnumbered variations;
and this by means of celestial and spiritual forms
that are beyond comprehension.
In these they are kept by the Lord,
for the Lord's kingdom is simply a kingdom of ends and uses;
and for this reason also
the angels who are with a person
attend to nothing else than the ends and uses,
and elaborate nothing else from the person's thought.
All other things, which are ideal and material,
they care nothing for;
because these are far below their sphere.
This speech of angels
is not of things represented by any ideas
like those of spirits and angelic spirits;
but it is a speech of ends and of the derivative uses,
which are the primaries and the essentials of things.
Into these are angelic thoughts insinuated,
and are varied there with indefinite variety;
and in each and all things of that speech
there is an inward and happy delight
from the good of mutual love from the Lord,
and a beautiful and delightful one
from the truth of faith from that good.
Ends, and the uses from them,
are as it were most delicate recipients,
and are the delightful subjects of unnumbered variations;
and this by means of celestial and spiritual forms
that are beyond comprehension.
In these they are kept by the Lord,
for the Lord's kingdom is simply a kingdom of ends and uses;
and for this reason also
the angels who are with a person
attend to nothing else than the ends and uses,
and elaborate nothing else from the person's thought.
All other things, which are ideal and material,
they care nothing for;
because these are far below their sphere.
Monday, January 02, 2012
funny what strikes one
Now, I have read the book of Revelation a bunch of times in my life. What struck me most powerfully, as I was reading it last week, was that it is not only a book of amazing visions, but also of amazing sounds.
And then this morning, reading about Noah in Genesis 7:16 - "Then the Lord shut him in." (NIV & KJV) Noah didn't shut the door of the ark, Jehovah had.
So went back and found AC 781:
'And Jehovah closed the way behind him'
means that man no longer had the kind of communication with heaven that the member of the celestial Church had had.
Also AC 784 [2] is most interesting:
Since those times heaven has never been open in the way it was for the member of the Most Ancient Church. Many people in later times have indeed talked to spirits and angels - for example, Moses, Aaron, and others - but they did so in a completely different way. This, in the Lord's Divine mercy, will be dealt with later on. The reason why heaven has been closed is a very deep arcanum, as also is the reason why it is so closed nowadays that no one knows even of the existence of spirits, let alone that angels are residing with him. He imagines that when he is not with fellow men in the world and when thinking all by himself he is completely alone. In fact however he is constantly in the company of spirits who observe and perceive very accurately what a person is thinking and what he intends and devises, as accurately and clearly as if this manifested itself for all the world to see. Of this man is not at all directly conscious, so closed is heaven to him. Nevertheless it is utterly true. The reason he is not conscious of it is that if heaven were not in this way closed to him at a time when faith is non-existent with him, still less the truth of faith, and charity even less, he would stand in very great danger. This was the meaning also of Jehovah God's casting man out and causing cherubim to dwell at the east end of the Garden of Eden, with a flaming sword turning about to guard the way to the tree of life,* dealt with already in Chapter 3:14. See also 301-307.
And then this morning, reading about Noah in Genesis 7:16 - "Then the Lord shut him in." (NIV & KJV) Noah didn't shut the door of the ark, Jehovah had.
So went back and found AC 781:
'And Jehovah closed the way behind him'
means that man no longer had the kind of communication with heaven that the member of the celestial Church had had.
Also AC 784 [2] is most interesting:
Since those times heaven has never been open in the way it was for the member of the Most Ancient Church. Many people in later times have indeed talked to spirits and angels - for example, Moses, Aaron, and others - but they did so in a completely different way. This, in the Lord's Divine mercy, will be dealt with later on. The reason why heaven has been closed is a very deep arcanum, as also is the reason why it is so closed nowadays that no one knows even of the existence of spirits, let alone that angels are residing with him. He imagines that when he is not with fellow men in the world and when thinking all by himself he is completely alone. In fact however he is constantly in the company of spirits who observe and perceive very accurately what a person is thinking and what he intends and devises, as accurately and clearly as if this manifested itself for all the world to see. Of this man is not at all directly conscious, so closed is heaven to him. Nevertheless it is utterly true. The reason he is not conscious of it is that if heaven were not in this way closed to him at a time when faith is non-existent with him, still less the truth of faith, and charity even less, he would stand in very great danger. This was the meaning also of Jehovah God's casting man out and causing cherubim to dwell at the east end of the Garden of Eden, with a flaming sword turning about to guard the way to the tree of life,* dealt with already in Chapter 3:14. See also 301-307.
AC 1621, 1622 - the amazing atmospheres and paradises in heaven
AC 1621
As regards the atmospheres in which the blessed live,
which are of the light
because from that light they are numberless,
and are of beauty and pleasantness so great
that they cannot be described.
There are diamond-like atmospheres,
which glitter in all their least parts,
as if they were composed of diamond sphericals.
There are atmospheres resembling the sparkling of all the precious stones.
There are atmospheres as of great pearls translucent from their centers,
and shining with the brightest colors.
There are atmospheres that flame as from gold, also from silver,
and also from diamond-like gold and silver.
There are atmospheres of flowers of variegated hue
that are in forms most minute and scarcely discernible;
such, in endless variety fill the heaven of infants.
There are even atmospheres as of sporting infants,
in forms most minute, indiscernible,
and perceptible only to an inmost idea;
from which the infants receive the idea
that all the things around them are alive,
and are in the Lord's life;
which affects their inmosts with happiness.
There are other kinds besides,
for the varieties are innumerable, and are also unspeakable.
AC 1622
As regards the paradise scenes, they are amazing.
Paradise gardens are presented to view of immense extent,
consisting of trees of every kind,
and of beauty and pleasantness so great
as to surpass every idea of thought;
and these gardens are presented with such life before the external sight
that those who are there not only see them,
but perceive every particular much more vividly
than the sight of the eye perceives such things on earth.
. . . Each and all things there
appear in their most beautiful springtime and flower,
with a magnificence and variety that are amazing;
and they are living, each and all, because they are representatives;
for there is nothing that does not represent and signify
something celestial and spiritual.
Thus they not only affect the sight with pleasantness,
but also the mind with happiness.
As regards the atmospheres in which the blessed live,
which are of the light
because from that light they are numberless,
and are of beauty and pleasantness so great
that they cannot be described.
There are diamond-like atmospheres,
which glitter in all their least parts,
as if they were composed of diamond sphericals.
There are atmospheres resembling the sparkling of all the precious stones.
There are atmospheres as of great pearls translucent from their centers,
and shining with the brightest colors.
There are atmospheres that flame as from gold, also from silver,
and also from diamond-like gold and silver.
There are atmospheres of flowers of variegated hue
that are in forms most minute and scarcely discernible;
such, in endless variety fill the heaven of infants.
There are even atmospheres as of sporting infants,
in forms most minute, indiscernible,
and perceptible only to an inmost idea;
from which the infants receive the idea
that all the things around them are alive,
and are in the Lord's life;
which affects their inmosts with happiness.
There are other kinds besides,
for the varieties are innumerable, and are also unspeakable.
AC 1622
As regards the paradise scenes, they are amazing.
Paradise gardens are presented to view of immense extent,
consisting of trees of every kind,
and of beauty and pleasantness so great
as to surpass every idea of thought;
and these gardens are presented with such life before the external sight
that those who are there not only see them,
but perceive every particular much more vividly
than the sight of the eye perceives such things on earth.
. . . Each and all things there
appear in their most beautiful springtime and flower,
with a magnificence and variety that are amazing;
and they are living, each and all, because they are representatives;
for there is nothing that does not represent and signify
something celestial and spiritual.
Thus they not only affect the sight with pleasantness,
but also the mind with happiness.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
AC 1607 - all power given to the Son of man
AC 1607 [2,3]
As regards all power being given unto the Son of man
in the heavens and on earth,
it is to be known that the Lord had power over all things
in the heavens and on earth
before He came into the world;
for He was God from eternity and Jehovah . . .
for He was Jehovah and God to the Most Ancient Church
that was before the flood, and was seen by them.
He was also Jehovah and God to the Ancient Church
that was after the flood.
And it was He who has represented by all the rites of the Jewish Church,
and whom they worshiped.
But the reason He says
that all power was given unto Him in heaven and on earth,
as if it were then His for the first time,
is that by "the Son of man" is meant His Human Essence;
and this, when united to His Divine Essence, was also Jehovah,
and at the same time had power;
and this could not be the case until He had been glorified,
that is, until by unition with the Divine Essence
His Human Essence also had life in itself,
and so became in like manner Divine and Jehovah;
as He says in John:
As the Father has life in Himself,
so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself
(John 5:26)
. . . His Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence,
which was united when He had overcome the devil and hell,
that is, when by His own power and His own might
He had expelled all evil,
which alone disunites.
As regards all power being given unto the Son of man
in the heavens and on earth,
it is to be known that the Lord had power over all things
in the heavens and on earth
before He came into the world;
for He was God from eternity and Jehovah . . .
for He was Jehovah and God to the Most Ancient Church
that was before the flood, and was seen by them.
He was also Jehovah and God to the Ancient Church
that was after the flood.
And it was He who has represented by all the rites of the Jewish Church,
and whom they worshiped.
But the reason He says
that all power was given unto Him in heaven and on earth,
as if it were then His for the first time,
is that by "the Son of man" is meant His Human Essence;
and this, when united to His Divine Essence, was also Jehovah,
and at the same time had power;
and this could not be the case until He had been glorified,
that is, until by unition with the Divine Essence
His Human Essence also had life in itself,
and so became in like manner Divine and Jehovah;
as He says in John:
As the Father has life in Himself,
so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself
(John 5:26)
. . . His Human Essence had been united to His Divine Essence,
which was united when He had overcome the devil and hell,
that is, when by His own power and His own might
He had expelled all evil,
which alone disunites.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)