AC 2116 - Justification and Faith

AC 2116 [1, 2-3]

But in regard to justification,
the case is not as is commonly supposed,
namely, that all evils and sins are wiped away
and utterly blotted out when people,
as they imagine, believe --
even if it were their last and dying hour --
however they may have lived in evils and in misdeeds
during the entire course of their lives . . ..

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 contracted from them
awaits them after death,
indeed, so do all things of that life
both in general and in particular,
which return in succession;
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, are withheld from the evils
which they have appertaining to them,
so that these do not appear.
Those who in the other life
doubt their having evils with them,
because the evils do not appear,
are let into them until they know
that the case is really so,
and then are again uplifted into heaven.

This then is what is meant by being justified;
for in this way people come to acknowledge
not their own righteousness,
but that of the Lord.
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.
 

~ David's Charge to Solomon ~

When the time drew near for David to die,
he gave a charge to Solomon his son.

"I am going to go the way of all the earth," he said.
'So be strong,
show yourself a man,
and observe what the Lord your God requires:
Walk in His ways,
and keep His decrees and commands,
His laws and requirements,
as written in the Law of Moses,
so that you may prosper
in all you do and wherever you go,
and that the Lord may keep His promise to me:
'If your descendants watch how they live,
and if they walk faithfully before Me
with all their heart and soul,
you will never fail
to have a man on the throne of Israel."

(I Kings 2:1-4)

AC 2088 - "Blessed", "Fruitful", "Blessed"; AC 2093 - The Rational and the Internal

AC 2088

To be "blessed" means to be gifted with all goods.
To be "fruitful" denotes the goods of faith
with which they should be gifted;
and to be "multiplied"
denotes the truths consequently derived.

AC 2093 [4]

With all human beings,
since each has been created
in the likeness and image of God,
. . . his first rational too is conceived and born
through the influx of his internal person
into the life
of his external person's affection for knowledge,
but his second rational results
from the influx of good and truth from the Lord
by way of his internal person.
This second rational he receives from the Lord
when he is being regenerated,
for at that time
he senses within his rational
what the good and truth of faith are.
The internal person with anyone
is above his rational,
and is the Lord's.

AC 2077 - Unselfish Love

AC 2077

The Lord's affection or love was Divine,
being toward the universal human race,
which He willed to completely adjoin to Himself,
and to save to eternity,
by means of the union
of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence . . ..

Love such as the Lord had
transcends all human understanding,
and is in the highest degree incredible
to those who do not know
what the heavenly love is in which the angels are.
To save a soul from hell,
the angels would regard death as nothing,
indeed, if it were possible
they would undergo hell for that soul.
Consequently, it is the inmost of their joy
to translate into heaven
one who is rising from the dead.
But they confess that this love
is not one whit from themselves,
but that all things of it
both in general and in particular
are from the Lord alone;
indeed, they show irritation
if anyone thinks otherwise.

AC 2069 - The Sense of the Letter and the Spiritual Sense; AC 2072 - Characteristics of the Rational

 AC 2069

In the prophetic Word
there is frequent mention of "kings" and "peoples;"
but by these are never meant kings and peoples;
for in the very Word itself,
which is the internal sense,
kings and peoples are not treated of at all,
but the celestial and spiritual things
which belong to the Lord's kingdom,
thus goods and truths.
The sense of the letter simply furnishes objective forms
(as is done by human words)
for causing its meaning to be understood.


AC 2072 [2]

In a person's rational
there is truth,
which is its chief characteristic,
and there is also the affection of good,
but this is in the very affection of truth as its soul.
The affection of good
which is in the rational
does not display itself by means of laughter,
but by means of a certain joy
and consequent pleasurable delight
which does not laugh;
for in laughter there is usually something
that is not so good.
The reason why truth
is the chief characteristic in person's rational,
is that the rational is formed
by means of the knowledges of truth,
for by no other means
can anyone ever become rational.
The knowledges of good are truths,
equally as much as are the knowledges of truth.

~ He Is a Shield ~

"As for God,
His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is flawless.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him."

(2 Samuel 22:31)

 

AC 2057 - Love of Self vs. Mutual Love

AC 2057 [1, 2]

Those within the church who are in falsity,
and at the same time are in the love of self,
are most especially those who profane holy things . . .
for the love of self is the most foul of all,
because it is destructive of society,
and thus of the human race.
. . . it is also diametrically opposed to mutual love,
in which heaven consists,
and thus is destructive of heavenly order itself . . ..

Mutual love in heaven consists in the fact
that they love the neighbor more than themselves,
the effect of which is
that the whole heaven
represents as it were one person;
for by means of mutual love
all are so brought into fellowship by the Lord,
and so it is that the happiness of all
are communicated to each one,
and those of each one
to all.

. . . as the Lord's kingdom increases,
so the happiness of each angel increases.

 

~ From David's Song of Praise ~

"The Lord is my rock,
my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock,
in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold,
my refuge and my savior --
from violent men you save me.
I call to the Lord,
who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies."

(2 Samuel 22:2-4)

AC 2049 - Truths of Faith; AC 2053 - Truths of Conscience

AC 2049

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 people 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 do not have the Word.

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 been imbued with them,
and has regarded them as holy.
The Lord breaks no one,
but bends him,
as may be seen from the fact
that in every dogma 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.

AC 2041 - The Love of Self and the Love of the World Obstruct

AC 2041  [2, 4]

There are two so-called loves and their greeds
that obstruct the influx of heavenly love from the Lord;
for when these loves reign
in the interior and in the external person,
and take possession thereof,
they either reject or suffocate,
and also pervert and contaminate,
the inflowing heavenly love;
for they are utterly contrary to heavenly love . . ..
But insofar as these loves are removed,
so far the heavenly love flowing in from the Lord
begins to appear, indeed,
to give light in the interior person;
and so far he begins to see that he is in evil and falsity;
next that he is actually in uncleanness and filthiness;
and finally that this has been his proprium.
Those who are becoming regenerate
are those with whom these loves are being removed.
 
Be it known that heavenly love
is continually inflowing into a person from the Lord,
and that nothing else obstructs and impedes it,
and causes its reception by the person impossible,
except the greeds of those loves
and the falsities derived from them.

AC 2034 - His Union and His Love

AC 2034 [2. 3]

. . . in the union of Himself with the Father
the Lord had in view
the conjunction of Himself with the human race,
and that He had this at heart,
because it was His love;
for all conjunction is effected by means of love,
love being conjunction itself.

. . . and this His love,
which was such that the salvation of the human race,
as beheld in the union of Himself with His Father,
was to Him the inmost joy.

AC 2027 - Motivations Behind Charity

AC 2027 [1, 4]

Those who place merit in the actions of their lives
do not have the faith of charity,
and therefore are not the seed here meant;
for thereby they desire to be saved,
not because of the Lord's righteousness,
but because of their own.
That there is no faith of charity in them,
that is, no charity,
is evident from the fact,
that they set themselves before others,
and thus regard themselves and not others,
except insofar as they are of service to them;
and they either despise or hate those
who are not willing to render them service.
Thus by the love of self they dissociate,
and never associate;
and thus destroy what is heavenly,
namely, mutual love,
which gives heaven its stability;
for heaven itself is in it,
and all its consociation (fellowship) and unanimity
subsist and consist in it;
for in the other life
whatever destroys unanimity
is contrary to the order of heaven itself,
and thus conspires to the destruction of the whole.
Such are those who place merit
in the actions of their lives,
and claim righteousness for themselves.

Very different is the case with those
who from simplicity of heart
have supposed that they merit heaven,
and have lived in charity;
these have looked upon meriting heaven
as something that is promised,
and they easily acknowledge it
to be of the Lord's mercy;
for the life of charity is attended with this,
because true charity loves all truth.

AC 2021 - Union, Conjunction

AC 2021

For an eternal covenant.
(Genesis 17:7)

. . . the signification of a "covenant,"
as being conjunction . . ..

In order that a more distinct idea may be formed
concerning the union
of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence,
and concerning the Lord's conjunction
with the human race through the faith of charity,
it may be well here and in what follows
to call the former Union,
but the latter 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.
Whereas a person is not Life, but a recipient of life . . .
and when Life flows into a recipient of life,
there is conjunction . . ..

AC 2015 - The Lord Governs; AC 2016 - Appearances and the As of Self

AC 2015 [10]

All the laws of order
by which the Lord governs the universe as King
are truths,
while all the laws
by which He governs the universe as Priest
and by which He rules even over truths themselves
are goods.
For government from truths alone
condemns everyone to hell,
but government from goods
lifts them out of that place
and raises them up into heaven . . ..
Because, in the Lord's case,
these two - truths and goods --
are joined together,
they were also represented in ancient times
by kingship and priesthood combined,
as with Melchizedek
who was at one and the same time
king of Salem and priest to God Most High,
Gen. 14:18.

AC 2016

As regards the fact
that all good and the derivative truth
are from the Lord:
this is a constant truth.
The angels are in the perception of it
to such a degree that they perceive
that insofar as anything is from the Lord,
it is good and true,
and that insofar as it is from themselves,
it is evil and false.
They also confess this before novitiate souls,
and before spirits who are in doubt of it,
indeed, they go so far as to say
that it is by the Lord
that they are withheld from the evil and falsity
that come from what is their own,
and are kept in good and truth.
Moreover the very withholding
and the very influx
are perceptible to them.
But as to a person's supposing
that he does good from himself
and thinks truth from himself,
this is an appearance,
because he is in a state of no perception,
and in a state of the greatest obscurity
in respect to influx;
and therefore he infers this from the appearance,
indeed from the fallacy,
from which he by no means suffers himself
to be withdrawn
so long as he has belief in nothing but the senses,
and so long as he reasons from them whether it be so.
But although the case is as stated,
a person nevertheless
ought to do good and to think truth
as from himself;
for in no other way
can he be reformed and regenerated.

AC 2009 - The Lord's Name; AC 2010 - In the Word, Name Means Quality

AC 2009 [2]

Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain;
for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless
who takes His name in vain.
(Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11);

where to "take the name of God in vain"
does not mean the name,
but all things in general and particular that are from Him,
and therefore all things in general and particular
that belong to the worship of Him,
none of which are to be despised,
still less blasphemed and contaminated
with what is filthy.

In the Lord's Prayer:

Hallowed be Thy name;
Thy kingdom come Thy will be done,
as in heaven so also in the earth
(Luke 11:2);

where also by "name" is not meant the name,
but all things of love and faith;
for these are God's or the Lord's,
and are from Him;
and as these are holy,
the Lord's kingdom comes and His will is done
on earth as in the heavens
when they are held to be so.

AC 2010 [1, 2]

Since therefore the "name" means the quality
and to know what the quality is,
we can see what is meant by the words in this verse,
"thy name shall no more be called Abram,
and thy name shall be Abraham;"
means that he was not to be
such in quality as in the past,
but such as he was about to be.
That Abram served other gods,
and worshiped the god Shaddai,
was shown above (n. 1992);
but because he was to represent the Lord,
and in fact His internal man,
and thus the Celestial of His Love,
his former quality was to be blotted out,
that is, the name "Abram"
was to be so changed in character
that the Lord could be represented by it.
Therefore the letter H was taken
from the name of Jehovah --
which letter is the only one in the name "Jehovah"
that involves the Divine,
and which signifies I AM or BEING (Esse) --
and was inserted in his name,
and he was called "Abraham."
The case is similar with "Sarai,"
spoken of in what follows;
to whose name the same letter was also added,
and she was called "Sarah."
From this also we can see
that in the internal sense of the Word
Abraham represents Jehovah or the Lord.

. . . in the internal sense the meaning of these words
is that the Lord will put off the human,
and will put on the Divine;
which also is in a series with what goes before,
and likewise with what follows;
for a promise is now made
concerning the son Isaac,
by whom was to be represented
the Lord's Divine rational.

 

AC 2004 - The Result of Continuous Influx From the Lord

AC 2004 [2-3]

From the Lord,
through a person's internal,
life continually flows into a person's rational,
and through this into his external,
and in fact into his knowledges,
and this life not only adapts them to receive the life,
but also disposes them into order,
and so enables the person to think,
and finally to be rational.
Such is the conjunction of the Lord with a person,
without which a person could not think at all,
still less be rational . . ..
A person however, on his part,
by means of knowledges,
advances to meet this life which is from the Lord,
and thereby reciprocally conjoins himself.

But as regards the union
of the Lord's Divine Essence with His Human Essence,
and of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence,
this infinitely transcends the reciprocal conjunction
between a person and the Lord,
for the Lord's internal was Jehovah Himself
and therefore was life itself;
whereas a person's internal is not the Lord,
and therefore is not life but a recipient of life.
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.
It is this reciprocal union that is meant by the Lord,
where He attributes what is His own to the Father,
and what is the Father's to Himself, as in John:

Jesus said, He that believes on Me,
believes not on Me,
but on Him that sent Me:
I am come a light into the world,
that whosoever believes in Me
may not abide in the darkness
(John 12:44-46),

in which words lie hidden the deepest arcana --
arcana concerning the union of good with truth,
and of truth with good;
or what is the same,
concerning the union
of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence,
and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence . . ..

AC 1999 - Faces

*  Footnote:  (Usually read last,
but found helpful to read first this time.)

* "Faces" is in the plural
in both the Hebrew and the Latin
because a person really has
as many faces as affections
and it is the same with the Lord,
and with a country, and the sea and sky.
All these have many faces.
Even in English we speak of a person having two faces,
or being double-faced,
and of "making faces"
[Reviser.]

AC 1999 [1, 2]

 Abram fell upon his faces.*
(Genesis 17:3)

True adoration, or humiliation of heart,
carries with it prostration to the earth
upon the face
before the Lord,
as a gesture naturally flowing from it.
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 toward that which is such;
and when the mind is kept
in these two acknowledgments,
the very mind droops in lowliness toward hell,
and prostrates the body;
nor does it uplift itself
until it is uplifted by the Lord.
This takes place in all true humiliation,
with a perception of being uplifted by the Lord's mercy.

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,
for He was Jehovah Himself.

AC 1997 - Two Affections

AC 1997

There are two affections, namely,
the affection of good,
and the affection of truth.
The affection of good
is to do what is good from the love of good,
and the affection of truth
is to do what is good from the love of truth.
At the first view
these two affections appear to be the same;
but in reality they are distinct from each other
both as to essence and as to origin.
The affection of good,
or doing what is good from the love of good,
is properly of the will;
but the affection of truth,
or doing what is good from the love of truth,
is properly of the understanding.
Thus these two affections are distinct from each other
in the same way as are the will and the understanding.
The affection of good is from celestial love,
but the affection of truth is from spiritual love.

AC 1990 - The Lord's Ability to Conjoin Himself With Others; AC 1994 - "Being Perfect"

AC 1990 [3]

. . . the Infinite Esse, which is Jehovah,
could not possibly be shown to people
except through the Human Essence,
thus except through the Lord;
and therefore that it has been shown to no one
save the Lord alone.
That He might also be present
and be conjoined with a person,
after a person had completely
removed himself from the Divine,
and had immersed himself in foul evils,
and thereby in mere bodily and earthly things,
He assumed in actuality
the Human Essence itself by birth,
that so He might still adjoin the Infinite Divine
to person now so far removed;
otherwise people would have perished to eternity
with the death of the damned.

AC 1994

And be thou perfect.
(Genesis 17:1

That this means the good of charity,
is evident from the meaning of "being perfect",
which is from truth to do what is good,
that is, to do what is good from a conscience of truth,
and thus from charity,
for charity makes conscience.
But as the Lord is here treated of in the internal sense,
by "perfect" is meant the good of charity,
for good proceeds from charity,
insomuch that the truth which is derived from charity
is itself good.

AC 1974 - The Wicked; AC 1983 - The Lord Guards; AC 1984 - The Internal Sense

AC 1974

. . . the wicked are tormented . . .
when they see from afar
the blessedness of the good,
and even when they merely think of it.

AC1983

Evil spirits most vehemently desire
and burn to infest and attack a person
when he is sleeping,
but a person is then especially guarded by the Lord,
for love does not sleep.
The spirits who infest are miserably punished.

AC 1984

. . . the internal sense of the Word . . .
is remote, and in some places very remote,
from the sense of the letter.
But still the sense of the letter represents truths;
and sets forth appearances of truth,
in which a person can be
when not in the light of truth.

AC 1964 - The End Must Being Useful

 AC 1964

When Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.
(Genesis 16:16)

As in this chapter the subject treated of
is a person's rational,
and as there is described
the quality of the rational
when constituted solely of truths,
and also when of goods and of truths
derived from goods,
be 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,
and when they have use,
they have life as their end,
for all life belongs to uses,
because it belongs to ends,
and therefore unless knowledges are learned
for the sake of a life of uses,
they are of no moment, because of no use.

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.

AC 1949 - Ishmael, Rational Truth Alone

AC 1949 [1-2]

The rational consists of good and truth,
that is, of things belonging to charity
and of things belonging to faith,
and it is rational truth
that is signified by the "wild-ass."
This then is what is represented by Ishmael,
and is what is described in this verse.

It seems incredible
 that rational truth when separated from good
should be of such a character . . ..
Whether you say rational truth; 
or the person whose rational is of this kind,
amounts to the same.
The person whose rational is of such a character
that he is solely in truth -
even though it be 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;
for he looks at everything from truth,
and at nothing from good.
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);
all of which things are representative of one
who is endowed with such a rational.

AC 1931 - When Jehovah Questions a Person in the Word; AC 1937 - The Lord Communicates

AC 1931

It is a common thing in the Word
for Jehovah to question a person,
and for the person to reply,
although Jehovah knew all before,
not only what is done,
but also the causes and the ends,
and thus all the least and inmost things.
But as a person is not aware of this,
and believes that no one can possibly know
what he does in secret when no one sees it,
and still less what he thinks,
therefore the matter takes place
according to the person's belief.
But still it is really true
that even ordinary spirits perceive a person's thoughts
better than does the person himself;
angelic spirits still more interior things of his thoughts;
and angels things even more interior,
namely, the causes and the ends,
of which the person knows but little.
. . . As spirits and angels perceive these things,
what must be the case with the Lord, or Jehovah,
who is infinite,
and who gives to all their ability to perceive.

AC 1937 [6]

. . . the Lord wills to communicate what is His,
and therefore He wills to communicate what is heavenly,
so that it may appear as the person's, and in him,
although it is not his.

AC 1928 - The Truths of Faith

AC 1928 [2]

. . . the truths of faith have no life at all,
unless a person lives in charity,
for and when they are in charity and from charity,
then they have life.

~ The Lord Looks At The Heart ~

But the Lord said to Samuel,
"Do not consider his appearance or his height,
for I have rejected him.
The Lord does not look at the things a man looks at.
Man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart."

(I Samuel 16:7)

AC 1919 - Human Perception and Conscience And That of the Divine

 AC 1919 [1-4]

They who are in perception think from nothing else;
but still perception is one thing and thought another.
To show that this is the case,
take conscience as an illustration.

Conscience is a kind of general dictate,
and thus an obscure one,
of the things that flow in
through the heavens from the Lord.
Those which flow in
present themselves in the interior rational person
and are there as in a cloud,
which cloud is from appearances and fallacies
concerning the truths and goods of faith.
But thought is distinct from conscience,
and yet it flows from conscience;
for those who have conscience
think and speak according to it,
and the thought is little else
than an unfolding of the things which are of conscience,
and thereby the partition of them
into ideas and then into words.
So it is that those who have conscience
are kept by the Lord in good thoughts
respecting the neighbor,
and are withheld from thinking evil;
and therefore conscience can have no place
except with those
who love their neighbor as themselves,
and think well concerning the truths of faith.

. . . The Lord's perception
was immediately from Jehovah,
and thus from the Divine good;
but His thought was from intellectual truth
and the affection of it . . ..
The Lord's Divine perception cannot be
understood by any idea, not even of angels,
and therefore it cannot be described.
The perception of the angels is scarcely anything
in comparison with the perception which the Lord had.
The Lord's perception, being Divine,
was a perception of all things in the heavens,
and therefore also of all things on earth,
for such is the order, connection, and influx,
that he who is in the perception of the former
is also in the perception of the latter.

But after the Lord's Human Essence
had been united to His Divine Essence,
and at the same time had become Jehovah,
the Lord was then above
that which is called perception,
because He was above the order
that is in the heavens and consequently on the earth.
It is Jehovah who is the source of order,
and so it may be said that Jehovah is Order itself,
for He from Himself governs order;
not as is supposed in the universal only,
but also in the veriest singulars,
for the universal comes from these.

AC 1911 - The Rational and Intellectual Truth and the New Born Rational

 AC 1911 [1-5]

The rational first conceived cannot acknowledge
intellectual or spiritual truth as truth,
because there adhere to this rational
many fallacies from the memory-knowledges
drawn from the world and from nature,
and many appearances from the knowledges
taken from the literal sense of the Word,
and these are not truths.

For example:
it is an intellectual truth that all life is from the Lord;
but the rational first conceived
does not understand this,
and supposes that if it did not live from itself
it would have no life;
indeed, 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 understand this,
because it has the feeling that they 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 understand
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.

AC 1904 - Levels of Truth and Thought From Them

AC 1904 [2-3]

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 a 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.

The Lord alone, when He lived in the world,
thought from intellectual truth,
for this was His Divine truth in conjunction with Good,
or the Divine spiritual
in conjunction with the Divine celestial,
and herein was the Lord distinguished
from every other person.
To think from what is Divine
as from himself
is never possible to a person,
nor in a person,
but only in Him who was conceived of Jehovah.
Because He thought from intellectual truth,
that is, from the love or affection of intellectual truth,
from it also He desired the rational,
and this is why it is here said
that "Sarai, Abram's wife"
(by whom is meant the affection of intellectual truth) . . ..

AC 1901 - "Sarai"

AC 1901

By "Sarai," . . . is meant intellectual truth
which has been adjoined as a wife to good.
Intellectual truth,
which relates to the inmost,
is altogether barren,
or like a childless mother,
when as yet there is not any rational
into which and through which it may flow in;
for without the rational as a medium
intellectual truth cannot flow in with any truth
into the exterior person,
as may be seen from the case of little children,
who can know nothing whatever of truth
until they have been infilled with knowledges;
but, as before said,
the better and more perfectly
they are infilled with knowledges,
so much the better and more perfectly
can intellectual truth which concerns the inmost,
or to good, be communicated.

This intellectual truth, represented by Sarai,
is the spiritual itself which flows in through heaven,
and this by an internal way,
and with every person;
and it continually meets the knowledges
that are suggested by means of the things of sense,
and are implanted in the memory.
A person is not aware of this intellectual truth
because it is too pure to be perceived by a general idea.
It is like a kind of light that illuminates the mind,
and confers the faculty
of knowing, thinking, and understanding.
As the rational cannot come into existence
except by means of the influx
of the intellectual truth represented by Sarai,
it stands related to this truth as a son.
When the rational is being formed from truths
that have been adjoined to good,
and still more when it is being formed
from the goods from which are truths,
it is then a genuine son.
Before this it is indeed acknowledged as a son,
yet not as a genuine son,
but as coming from a handmaid;
and still it is adopted,
which is the reason why it is here said
that she might be built up by her.

AC 1893 - The Lord, Isaac and Ishmael

AC 1893 [2]

The rational man in the Lord
is treated of in this chapter. (Genesis 16)
The Divine Rational itself is represented by Isaac;
but the first rational
before it was made Divine,
by Ishmael;
and therefore that "Sarai, Abram's wife,
did not bear unto him" here means
that before this there was no Divine rational.
As before said,
the Lord was born as are other men,
and as regards all
that He drew from Mary the mother
He was like other men;
and as the rational is formed
by means of knowledges,
which enter through things of the external senses,
or those of the external man,
therefore His first rational
was born as with any other man;
but as by His own power
He made Divine all the human things
that appertained to Him,
so did He also make the rational Divine.

__________

Man also means all of humankind.

AC 1869 - When We Read the Word With Delight

AC 1869

How many things there are in a single word of the Word
has been shown me
by the opening of the ideas of thought.
It is a remarkable fact
that in the other life
this can be done so to the very life
that the ideas themselves appear visible in form,
and thus like pictured images.
One who during his life in this world
had lived in charity or mutual love,
and had taken great delight in the Word,
had his ideas thus opened.
There then appeared beautiful things beyond number,
together with delicious and delightful things
of an affecting nature,
and it was said
that the things which thus appear visible
can be opened again as to their interiors,
and that when these have been opened
things still more beautiful and delightful are presented
that are attended with happiness itself.
Such are all angelic ideas,
for they are open from the Lord Himself.

~ Two portions of Hannah's Prayer ~

"There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides You;
there is no Rock like our God.

"For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's;
upon them He has set the world.
He will guard the feet of His saints,
but the wicked will be silenced in darkness."

(I Samuel 2:2, 8.5-9)

AC 1860, 1862 - "Darkness" and "Thick Darkness" and What Hatred Does

AC 1860

In the Word "darkness" means 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 cupidity,
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.

AC 1862

. . . the intermediate space or interspace . . .
which comes in between the Lord and the church,
or between the Lord and the person of the church,
which is conscience,
in which goods and truths have been implanted
by means of charity.
When hatreds succeed in place of charity,
and evils and falsities in place of goods and truths,
there is then no conscience of what is good and true;
but this middle space or interspace
appears to be filled with a furnace of smoke
and with torches of fire, that is,
with persuasions of falsity and with hatreds,
which are what altogether
separate the Lord from the church.
 

AC 1843 - Charity and Faith

AC 1843 [2]

He who does not have 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.

AC 1831 - The Lord Alone Gives Charity; AC 1835 - The Role of Conscience

AC 1831

It is the Lord who gives love and charity;
it is the church that receives.
What unites is conscience,
in which the love and charity are implanted;
and therefore the middle space between the parts
means that in a person which is called
perception, internal dictate, and conscience.
The things which are above
the perception, dictate, and conscience,
are the Lord's;
those which are below, are in a person.
Because they thereby mutually regard each other,
there is said to be a parallelism;
and because they correspond to each other,
as the active and the passive,
there is said to be correspondence.

AC 1835 [2]

So far as possible
the Lord is continually putting evils and falsities to flight,
but through conscience.
When conscience is relaxed,
there is no medium through which the Lord can flow in,
for the Lord's influx with a person
is by means of charity into his conscience.
But in place of this charity
a new medium succeeds and is formed,
which is external, namely,
the fear of the law, fear for life, for honors and wealth,
and the reputation from these.
But these are not of conscience;
they are only external bonds
which enable a person to live in society with others,
and to appear as a friend,
whatsoever he may be inwardly.

AC 1822 - What Is Perception?

AC 1822

He said unto him.
(Genesis 15:9)

. . . this signifies perception . . ..
Perception itself is nothing else
than a kind of internal speech,
which internal speech manifests itself
by being perceived.
All interior dictate,
and even conscience,
is nothing else;
but perception is a higher or more interior degree of it.