TCR 711, 713 - Holy Supper and the Opposite

TCR 711

. . . the Lord Himself is present in the Holy Supper, 
and that flesh and bread are the Lord 
in respect of the Divine good of love, 
and blood and wine are the Lord 
in respect of the Divine truth of wisdom. 
There are therefore three items 
involved in the Holy Supper, 
the Lord, His Divine good and His Divine truth. 
So since the Holy Supper 
includes and contains these three, 
it follows that it also includes and contains 
the universals of heaven and the church.

TCR 713

Contrariwise 
there are three opposites to these universals: 
the devil, evil and falsity. 
The devil (by which we mean hell) 
is in opposition to the Lord, 
evil is in opposition to good and falsity to truth. 
These three make one, 
for where the devil is, there are evil too 
and the falsity which comes from it. 
These three also contain 
at the universal and the particular level 
everything to do with hell and also the world, 
which are in opposition to heaven and the church.

  

TCR 702 - Flesh and Blood; TCR 706 - Michael and His Angels

TCR 702 

A knowledge of correspondences allows us to know 
what is meant by the Lord's flesh and blood, 
much the same as by bread and wine. 
This is that the Lord's flesh and the bread 
mean the Divine good of His love 
and also all the good of charity; 
and the Lord's blood and the wine 
mean the Divine truth of His wisdom 
and also all the truth of faith. 
Eating means making one's own.

TCR 706 [3-4]

War broke out in heaven, 
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; 
and they defeated him by the blood of the Lamb 
and by the word of their witness.
(Revelation 12:7, 11)

It is impossible to think 
that Michael and his angels defeated the dragon 
by anything but the Lord's Divine truth in the Word. 
For angels in heaven cannot think about any blood, 
nor do they think about the Lord's passion; 
but they think of Divine truth and His resurrection. 
When therefore a person thinks 
about the Lord's blood, 
the angels perceive the Divine truth of His Word. 
When he thinks about the Lord's passion, 
they perceive His glorification, 
and then only His resurrection.

TCR 701 - Holiness Proclaimed & Seen; Outward & Inward

TCR 701 [4]

The difference between holiness 
that is only proclaimed 
and holiness that is seen to be such 
may be illustrated by this example, 
which I saw and heard in the spiritual world. 
A letter was read out which was written by Paul 
at the time of his travels in the world, 
but not published 
so that any knew that it was Paul's. 
To begin with the audience thought poorly of it. 
But when it was disclosed 
that it was one of the Pauline Epistles, 
it was received with joy, 
and every detail in it was revered. 
This made it plain 
that merely proclaiming the holiness 
of the Word and the sacraments, 
so long as performed by leading churchmen, 
imprints the mark of holiness. 
But it is quite different when its holiness 
is disclosed and displayed to view 
before one's eyes;
and this is what the revelation 
of the spiritual sense does. 
This turns its outward holiness into inward holiness, 
and when it is proclaimed it is acknowledged. 
It is much the same with the holiness 
of the sacrament of the Lord's supper.

 

TCR 697 - The Form of the Soul

TCR 697 [9=10]

'The soul then is a form, 
but what sort of form I will tell you. 
It is the form of all the parts of love 
and all the parts of wisdom. 
All the parts of love are called affections, 
and all the parts of wisdom are called perceptions. 
The perceptions as a result of 
and so together with 
the affections 
make up a single form containing countless parts 
but arranged in such order and so cohering 
that they can be called a unity; 
and they can be called a unity, 
because nothing 
can be taken away from it or added to it, 
if it is to be a unity. 
What is the human soul but such a form? 
All the parts of love 
and all the parts of wisdom 
are the essentials of such a form, 
and in the case of a person 
these essentials are in his soul, 
and from his soul in his head and body.'

TCR 694 [2-3] - The Dangers of Complete Leisure TCR 694 [7] - Everlasting Rest and Peace Is Service

TCR 694 [2-3]

'What is the news from earth,' . . .
'about our world and about heaven?'

They replied that 
when recently they had arrived in this world 
they had heard 
that there and in heaven 
there are administrative duties, 
ministries, public offices, businesses, 
studies of all sciences and wonderful work. 
Yet they had believed 
that after their migration or transfer 
from the natural world to this spiritual one, 
they would come into everlasting rest from labors, 
and what were duties but labors?

To this the elder said: 
'Did you understand everlasting rest from labors 
to mean everlasting leisure, 
in which you would continually sit or lie,
plying your hearts with delights 
and filling your mouths with joys?' 
The three newcomers smiled gently at this, 
and said they had supposed something of the sort.

'What have joy, and delights and so happiness 
got in common with leisure? 
they were asked in reply. 
'The result of leisure 
is that the mind collapses instead of expanding, 
or one becomes as dead instead of lively. 
Imagine someone sitting completely at leisure, 
with his hands folded, 
his eyes cast down or withdrawn, 
and imagine him being at the same time 
surrounded with an aura of cheerfulness; 
would not his head and body 
be gripped by lassitude, 
the lively expression of his face would collapse, 
and eventually his every fiber 
would become so relaxed 
that he would sway to and fro 
until he fell to the ground? 
What is it that keeps the whole system of the body
stretched and under tension 
but the stretching of the mind?
And what is it that stretches the mind 
but administrative duties and tasks, 
so long as they are enjoyable? 
So I will tell you some news from heaven: 
there are there administrative duties, ministries, 
higher and lower law-courts, 
as well as crafts and work.'

TCR 694 [7]

When they had seen this, 
the elder talked with them again 
about the everlasting rest from labors 
the blessed and happy obtain after death. 
'Everlasting rest,' he said, 'is not leisure, 
since that reduces the mind 
and so the whole body 
to a state of feebleness, torpidity, 
stupidness and somnolence. 
These are not life, but death, 
much less the everlasting life 
of the angels in heaven. 
So everlasting rest is a rest that banishes 
all those ills and makes people alive. 
This can only be something that uplifts the mind. 
So it is some interest or task 
which excites, enlivens and delights the mind. 
This depends upon the purpose 
for which, in which and towards which it aims. 
This is why the whole of heaven 
is seen by the Lord as a coherent purpose, 
and it is the purpose he serves 
that makes every angel an angel. 
The pleasure of service carries him along, 
as a favorable current does a ship, 
and confers upon him everlasting peace 
and the rest peace gives. 
This is what is meant by everlasting rest from labors. 
The extent to which an angel is alive 
depends upon his mental commitment 
arising from service. . . ' 

 

TCR 693 - good affections

TCR 693

. . . good affections go along with wisdom . . .

 

TCR 692 - In the Octagonal Palace called Palladium

TCR 692 [3, 7]

We joined them and went up together, 
and found on the hill an octagonal palace, 
which they called the Palladium. 
When we went in 
we found eight hexagonal recesses, 
in each of which was a bookcase, 
as well as a table 
at which those who wore laurels sat down. 
In the Palladium itself 
we saw seats carved out of stone, 
on which the remainder seated themselves.

But then someone 
standing in the middle of the Palladium 
and holding a palm-frond in his hand said: 
'Please unravel this mystery. 
How could a person 
having been created a form of God 
be changed into the form of a devil? 
I am well aware that the angels of heaven 
are forms of God, 
and the angels of hell are forms of the devil, 
and that these two are completely opposite forms, 
one of madness, 
the other of wisdom. 
Tell me, then, how could a person
created as a form of God 
pass from daylight into such a night 
as to be able to deny 
the existence of God and everlasting life?'

'. . . in the earliest ages people 
acknowledged with heart and soul 
that all the good of love, 
and so all the truth of wisdom, 
came to them from God, 
and also that this good and truth were God's in them, 
so that they were purely receivers of life from God; 
which is why they were called images of God, 
sons of God and born of God. 
But in the following ages 
people no longer acknowledged this 
with their heart and soul, 
but by some incorrect belief, 
later by historical faith 
and finally merely professing it with the lips. 
Acknowledging anything of this kind 
merely by professing it with the lips 
is not acknowledging it, 
and is in fact denying it at heart.

 

TCR 691 - Why We Can't See the Lord, a History

TCR 691

Moses said to Jehovah:

Show me your glory. 
Jehovah said to him, 
You cannot see My face, 
because no one can see Me and live. 
And He said, 
Here is a place, where you can stand on the rock, 
and I will put you in a crevice of the rock 
and put My hand as a covering upon you, 
until I have passed by; 
and when I take My hand away, 
you will see My back parts,
but my face will not be seen.
(Exodus 33:18-23}

The reason why a person cannot see God and live 
is that God is love itself, 
and love itself 
or the Divine love in the spiritual world 
appears to the sight of angels like the sun, 
as far distant from them 
as the sun of our world is from people. 
If therefore God, 
who is in the midst of that sun, 
were to come close to angels, 
they would perish just as people would 
if the sun of the world came close to them, 
for it is equally burning.

For this reason there are constant controls 
which modify and moderate 
the burning heat of that love, 
so that its radiation 
should not reach heaven undiluted, 
since this would consume the angels. 
When therefore the Lord makes His presence 
more immediately felt in heaven, 
the irreligious beneath heaven begin to complain, 
suffering torture and fainting, 
so that they take refuge in caves and fissures 
in the mountains, crying:

Fall upon us and hide us from the face of Him 
that sits upon the throne.
(Revelation 6:16; Isaiah 2:19. 21)

It is not the Lord Himself who comes down, 
but an angel with the sphere of love 
from the Lord around him. 
I have on several occasions seen 
irreligious people terrified by this coming down, 
as if they had seen death itself before their eyes;
some of them hurled themselves 
deeper and deeper into hell, 
and some were driven frenzied.

This was the reason why the Children of Israel 
prepared themselves for three days before 
Jehovah the Lord came down on Mount Sinai; 
and why the mountain was fenced about 
to prevent anyone approaching and being killed 
(Exodus chapter 19). 
It was much the same 
with the holiness of Jehovah the Lord 
in the Ten Commandments 
which were then made public, 
and written by the finger of God on two tables, 
and then laid up in the Ark. 
On top of this in the Tabernacle 
was placed the Mercy-seat,
and cherubs on top of this, 
to prevent anyone directly coming 
into contact with it by hand or eye, 
Not even Aaron was able to approach 
except once a year, 
after making expiation for himself 
by sacrifices and censing.

It was for this reason 
that the men of Ekron and Bethshemesh 
were killed to the number of several thousand, 
solely because they had seen the Ark 
with their own eyes (1 Samuel 5:11-12; 6:19); 
and the same happened to Uzzah, 
because he touched it (2 Samuel 6:6-7). 
These few examples illustrate 
what a curse and slaughter 
would have struck down the Jews,
if they had not been prepared by John's baptism 
for the reception of the Messiah, 
who was Jehovah God in human form; 
and if He had not assumed the Human 
and revealed Himself in that form. 
They were prepared by being enrolled in heaven 
and counted among those 
who at heart waited and longed for the Messiah, 
as the result of which 
angels were sent to become their protectors.

 

TCR 690 - Baptisms Performed by John and The Lord

TCR 690

The baptism performed by John 
represented the cleansing of the external person; 
but baptism as practiced 
among Christians at the present time 
represents the cleansing of the internal person, 
which is his regeneration. 
That is why we read that John baptized with water, 
but the Lord baptists with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 
So too John's baptism is called 
a baptism of repentance.
The Jews who were baptized 
were nothing but external people, 
and the external person cannot become internal 
without faith in Christ. 
. . . those who received John's baptism 
became internal men, 
when they accepted faith in Christ 
and were then baptized in the name of Jesus.

 

TCR 685 - The Third Purpose of Baptism - Regeneration

TCR 685

. . . the three purposes of baptism 
combine into one, 
just as do the first cause, 
the intermediate or efficient cause, 
and the last cause or the effect, 
which is the real end in view 
for the sake of which the others exist. 
The first purpose 
is for a person to be named a Christian; 
the second is what follows from this,
so that he may get to know and acknowledge 
the Lord, the Redeemer, Regenerator and Savior; 
the third is so that he may be 
regenerated by the Lord, 
and when this happens, 
he is redeemed and saved. 
Since these three purposes follow 
one succeeding the other and combine in the last, 
so that angels think of them together as one, 
then when baptism is performed, 
read about in the Word or mentioned, 
the angels present 
understand not baptism, but regeneration.

 

TCR 681 - The First Two Purposes of Baptism; TCR 682 - The Lord's Name in the Word

TCR 681

This second purpose of baptism is
getting to know the Lord,
the Redeemer and Savior Jesus Christ,
comes as the inseparable companion of the first, 
which is being brought into the Christian church 
and being associated with 
Christians in the spiritual world.

TCR 682

The name of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Word
means nothing other than His acknowledgment
and living in accordance with His commandments.
. . . His name is woven into baptism 
with golden threads . . . 

TCR 679 - Order Holds Everything Together

TCR 679 [1-2]

Anyone who traces effects back to their causes 
may know that what holds everything together
depends on order; 
and there are many kinds of order, 
both general and particular. 
There is one order 
which is the most universal of all 
on which the general and particular 
depend in a continuous chain, 
and this most universal order enters into all others, 
like essence into forms, 
and they could not otherwise 
make up a single whole. 
It is this unity which holds the whole together, 
which would otherwise fall apart and slip back 
not merely into primeval chaos, but into annihilation. 

Without a clearly defined order 
what would go on in a person's mind or spirit 
but confusion and muddle, 
unless his partnership 
depended upon the will and the understanding?

 

TCR 676 - What Makes the Chosen People, the Chosen People?

TCR 676

There were many among the Children of Israel, 
and there are many among 
the Jews at the present time, 
who believe that they are specially chosen, 
because they are circumcised. 
There are also many Christians 
who think the same because they are baptized. 
Yet both these rites, circumcision and baptism, 
were only given as a sign and memorial 
that they should be purified from evils, 
and so become the chosen people. 
. . . The external person is not a person, 
but only the figure of a person; 
for it is the internal, 
the power to be wise 
which comes from God, 
which makes the person. 
It is much the same 
with the circumcised and the baptized, 
unless each circumcises or washes his heart. 
 

TCR 663 - Clothes in the Spiritual World; TCR 664 - All Are Called and Predestined for Heaven; TCR 666 - Conscience

TCR 663 [3]

It is a special feature of the spiritual world 
that a spirit thinks himself to be 
what the clothes he wears indicate. 
The reason is 
that it is the understanding 
which clothes each person there.

TCR 664

. . .  all are chosen and predestined for heaven, 
because all are called. 
After death the Lord chooses those 
who have lived good lives 
and held a proper belief, 
and these only after they have been examined. 

TCR 666 [3]

All who have a conscience 
speak from the heart when they speak, 
and act from the heart when they act; 
for they have their minds undivided, 
speaking and doing 
according to what they understand 
and believe truth and good to be. 
. . . It is in true conscience 
that a person's actual spiritual life resides, 
for there his faith is linked to charity. 
For such people therefore 
acting according to conscience 
is acting according to one's spiritual life, 
and acting against conscience 
is for them acting against that life of theirs.

TCR 661 [3] - Written on Our Hands; TCR 661 [14-15] - Heaven Is a Container of Useful Services

TCR 661 [3]

After this conversation I wished them peace, 
and leaving them went back home. 
When I was at home, I was told from heaven: 
Examine those three general facts 
above and below, 
and then we shall see them on your hand.' 
They said 'on your hand' 
because everything a person examines 
with his understanding 
appears to the angels as if written on his hands. 
That is why it is said in Revelation 
that they had a mark 
on their forehead and on their hand
(Revelation 13:16; 14:9, 20:4).

TCR 661 [14-15]                            

. . . the whole of heaven 
is nothing but a container of services, 
from first to last. 
What is a service 
but the realization in action of love for the neighbor? 
And what holds the heavens together but this love?'

On hearing this I asked: 
'How can anyone tell 
whether he is performing services 
out of self-love or out of a love of service? 
Everyone, good as well as wicked, 
performs services and does so 
at the bidding of some love. 
Suppose that in the world 
there were a community composed of none but devils, 
and another composed of none but angels. 
It is my opinion that the devils in their community, 
fired by self-love and resplendent in their self-esteem, 
would perform just as many services 
as the angels in their community. 
Who then can tell what is the love and the origin 
from which these services come?'

The two angels replied to this speech thus: 
'Devils perform services 
for their own sakes and to get a reputation, 
so as to be promoted to honors, 
or to make a profit. 
But angels do not perform services for these reasons, 
but for the sake of the services 
and their love of being of service. 
No person can distinguish between those services, 
but the Lord can. 
Everyone who believes in the Lord 
and shuns evils as sins 
performs services at the Lord's bidding. 
But anyone who does not believe in the Lord, 
and does not shun evils as sins, 
performs services for himself and for his own sake. 
This is the difference between services performed 
by devils and those performed by angels.'

 

TCR 659 - No Evil a Person Thinks

TCR 659

The reason no evil a person thinks 
is imputed (assigned) to him 
is that a person is so created 
that he can understand 
and so think about good or evil, 
the good coming from the Lord, 
the evil from hell. 
A person is placed in the middle, 
with the power to choose 
one or the other 
by reason of his free will in spiritual matters . . .. 
Since he has freedom to choose, 
he can will a thing or not will it. 
What he wills is received by the will 
and made its own; 
what he does not will 
is not received 
and so is not made its own. 
All the evils to which a person tends from birth 
are written upon the will of his natural person. 
To the extent that he draws upon these evils, 
they flow into his thoughts. 
Likewise good things together with truths flow 
down into his thoughts from the Lord, 
and there they are balanced, 
like weights on the pans of a pair of scales. 
If a person then takes to himself evils, 
they are received by his old will 
and added to the former ones. 
But if he takes to himself 
good things together with truths, 
the Lord forms a new will 
and a new understanding above the old one, 
and there the Lord plants new forms of good 
one after another by means of truths. 
By means of this good He overcomes 
the evils which are below and removes them, 
setting all in order. 
This also makes it plain 
that thought is the process 
which purifies and excretes the evils 
inherited from one's parents.
If therefore the evils 
one thinks were to be imputed, 
reformation and regeneration would be impossible.

TCR 658 - Love and Resulting Intelligence

TCR 658

1. Love itself, and things to do with love, 
are lodged in the will; 
knowledge, intelligence and wisdom 
are lodged in the understanding. 
The will breathes its love into these, 
and procures their favor and assent; 
hence every person is such 
as are his love and resulting intelligence.

 

TCR 650, 651 - The Lord Assigns (Imputes) Good to Everyone and Hell Imputes Evil to Everyone; TCR 652 - The Lord's Continuous Sphere

TCR 650

It is news to the church 
that the Lord imputes (assigns) good 
and never evil to a person, 
and that the devil (by which is meant hell) 
imputes evil and never good to him. 
The reason this is news 
is that we read in many passages in the Word 
that God is angry, takes revenge, hates, 
condemns, punishes, throws someone into hell, 
tempts him, 
all of which are the actions of a wicked person, 
and so are evils. 
But, as was shown 
in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture, 
the literal sense of the Word 
was composed out of what are called 
appearances and correspondences. 
This was in order to conjoin 
the externals of the church with its internals, 
and so to link the world with heaven. 
The same chapter also showed 
that when such things are read about in heaven, 
the appearances of truth 
in their passage from man to heaven 
are actually changed into genuine truths. 
These are that the Lord is never angry, 
never takes revenge, hates, condemns, punishes, 
throws anyone into hell, or tempts him; 
thus He never does evil to anyone. 

TCR 651

Reason itself offers an additional guarantee 
that the Lord cannot do evil to anyone, 
and consequently cannot impute evil to him either; 
for He is love itself, mercy itself, and so good itself, 
and these are attributes of His Divine essence. 
To attribute evil, or anything to do with evil, 
to the Lord 
would be to attribute to Him something contrary to 
His Divine essence, and so a contradiction.

TCR 652 [3] 

There is in fact a sphere 
continuously radiated by the Lord, 
which raises all to heaven; 
this fills the whole of both 
the spiritual and natural worlds. 
It is like a strong current in the ocean, 
which invisibly draws a ship along. 
All who believe in the Lord 
and live in accordance with His commandments 
come within that sphere or current, 
and are raised up. 
But those who do not believe 
are unwilling to come within it, 
but take themselves off to one side or the other, 
and are there swept away 
by the stream bound for hell.

TCR 646 - Imputation or Assignment After Death

TCR 646

Good which is charity, 
and evil which is iniquity, 
are imputed (assigned) after death. 
. . . Every one, 
after some days in the world of spirits, 
is examined as to his nature, 
particularly his nature 
from the point of view of religion, 
in the former world. 
When this has been done 
the examiners make their report to heaven 
and then he is transferred to the company 
of those like himself, thus to his own, 
and in this way imputation is effected. 
There is an imputation of good to all 
who are in heaven 
and an imputation of evil to all 
who are in hell. 
This was made clear to me 
from the orderly arrangement of each 
by the Lord. 
For the whole heaven is arranged into societies 
according to all the varieties of the love of good, 
and all hell 
according to all the varieties of the love of evil. 
Similarly, the Church on earth, 
as it corresponds to heaven, 
is arranged in order by the Lord, 
good being its religion. 

 

TCR 641 - The Merit and Righteousness of the Lord

TCR 641

The merit and righteousness of the Lord 
are purely Divine, 
and if things purely Divine 
were applied and ascribed to a person 
he would instantly die; 
and like a log cast into the sun's pure fire, 
he would be so consumed 
that scarcely his ashes would remain. 
Therefore, the Lord with His Divine 
approaches both angels and people 
by means of light tempered and moderated 
according to the capacity and nature of each, 
thus by means of 
that which is matched and made suitable; 
and in like manner 
He approaches by means of heat.