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.

TCR 625 - Glorifying and Praising the Lord

TCR 625

Once when I was meditating 
on the Lord's second coming, 
there suddenly appeared a beam of light, 
so powerful as to dazzle my eyes.
So I looked up, 
and saw the whole heaven above me full of light; 
and from east to west 
I heard a long series of voices glorifying God. 
An angel came close and said: 
'This is the glorifying of the Lord 
on account of His coming, 
uttered by the angels 
of the eastern and western heavens.' 
Nothing was heard 
from the southern or northern heavens 
but a polite murmur.

Since the angel could hear everything, 
he told me first 
that this glorifying and praising of the Lord 
was taken from the Word. 
Then he said: 'Now in particular 
they are glorifying and praising the Lord 
with the words spoken by the prophet Daniel.

You have seen iron mixed with common clay,
but they will not hold together. 
But in those days the God of the heavens 
will cause a kingdom to rise 
which shall not perish for ever. 
It will shatter and consume all these kingdoms, 
but will stand itself for ever.
(Daniel 2:43-44)

[2] After this I heard what sounded like singing, 
and yet further away to the east 
I saw a gleam of light more brilliant than before. 
I asked the angel 
what was the glorifying taking place there. 
He said it was what Daniel described:

I was watching in the visions of the night 
and I saw the Son of Man 
coming with the clouds of heaven. 
To Him were given dominion 
and the kingdom and all peoples and nations 
will worship Him. 
His dominion will be a dominion for ever, 
which will not pass away, 
and His kingdom one that will not perish.
(Daniel 7:13-14)

Besides this they praise the Lord 
with these words from Revelation:

To Jesus Christ be glory and strength. 
Behold, He comes with clouds. 
He is Alpha and Omega, 
the beginning and the end, the first and the last, 
who is and who was and who is to come, 
the Almighty. 
I, John, heard this from the Son of Man 
from the midst of the seven lampstands.
(Revelation 1:5-13; 22:8, 13)

Also with the words of Matthew 24:30-31)

[3] I looked again to the east of heaven, 
and the light was growing from the right; 
the brightness spread 
into the expanse of sky to the south, 
and I heard a sweet sound. 
I asked the angel what glorifying of the Lord 
was taking place there. 
He said it was with these words from Revelation:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; 
and I saw the holy city New Jerusalem 
coming down from God out of heaven, 
prepared like a bride for her husband. 
And I heard a mighty voice out of heaven saying: 
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, 
and He will dwell with them. 
And the angel spoke with me and said: 
Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 
And he carried me away in the spirit 
onto a great and high mountain, 
and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem.
(Revelation 21:1-3, 9-10)

Also with these words:

I, Jesus, am the bright star of the morning; 
and the Spirit and the bride say, Come. 
And He said, I am coming soon. Amen; 
even so, come, Lord Jesus.
(Revelation 22:16-17, 20)

[4] After this and more 
I heard a general glorifying 
from the east of heaven to the west, 
and also from the south to the north. 
I asked the angel what this was. 
He said it was these words from the Prophets:

Let all flesh know that I am Jehovah 
your Savior and your Redeemer.
(Isaiah 49:26)

Thus spoke Jehovah, the King of Israel 
and his Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth, 
I am the first and the last, 
and there is no God beside Me.
(Isaiah 44:6)

On that day it will be said, 
Behold, this is our God, 
whom we have awaited to free us. 
He is Jehovah, whom we have awaited.
(Isaiah 25:9)

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 
Prepare the way for Jehovah. 
Behold, the Lord Jehovih comes in strength. 
He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
(Isaiah 40:3, 5, 10-11)

A Child is born for us, 
a Son is given to us, 
whose name is Wonderful, Counselor, 
God, Hero, the Everlasting Father, 
the Prince of peace.
(Isaiah 9:6)

Behold, the days will come 
when I shall raise up for David a righteous shoot, 
who will reign as king. 
And this is His name, 
Jehovah our righteousness.
(Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16)

Jehovah Zebaoth is His name 
and the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. 
He will be called the God of the whole earth.
(Isaiah 54:5)

On that day 
Jehovah will be king over the whole earth; 
on that day Jehovah will be one, 
and His name one.
(Zechariah 14:9)

On hearing and understanding this 
my heart leaped for joy 
and I went home rejoicing; 
and there I came back from the state of the spirit
into that of the body, 
in which state I wrote down these things 
I had seen and heard.

TCR 623 - Thinking About Horses

TCR 623 [2-3]

'A horse,' he said, 
'means the understanding of truth 
drawn from the Word. 
All the horses you have seen meant that. 
When someone goes along 
meditating on something from the Word, 
his meditation seen from a distance 
looks like a horse, of good breeding and alive 
if he meditates spiritually, 
and by contraries a poor or dead one 
if he meditates materially.'

Then the boys asked: 'What is meant by
meditating spiritually or materially 
on something from the Word?' 
'I will illustrate this,' replied the master, 'by examples. 
Everyone who reverently reads the Word 
thinks inwardly about God, 
the neighbor and heaven, doesn't he? 
Anyone who thinks about God only as a Person 
and not as Essence thinks materially; 
and so does anyone 
who thinks about the neighbor 
merely as an external form, 
without regard to the sort of person he is. 
If anyone thinks of heaven 
merely as a place, 
instead of as love and wisdom, 
which are what make it heaven, 
he too is thinking materially.'

 

TCR 622 - A Home In Heaven or Hell?

TCR 622 [1-2]

All who have been prepared for heaven, 
a process which takes place in the world of spirits, 
half-way between heaven and hell, 
after some time has passed, 
sigh and long for heaven. 
Soon their eyes are opened, 
and they see a road 
leading towards some community in heaven. 
So they take this road and climb up; 
and on the ascent there is a gate with a guard at it. 
The guard opens the gate and so they go in.

Then an investigator comes to meet them, 
who gives them a message from the governor
to go further in and search to see 
if anywhere there are houses 
which they recognize as their own; 
for there is a new house 
for every newly-arrived angel. 
If they find one, they report this and stay in it.

But if they do not find one, 
they come back and say they have not seen one. 
Then a wise man there checks to see 
whether the light that is in them 
agrees with the light in the community, 
and what is more important, 
whether their heat does. 
For the light of heaven 
is in its essence Divine truth, 
and the heat of heaven 
is in its essence Divine good, 
both of them proceeding from the Lord 
as the sun there. 
If the light and heat in them is different 
from that in the community, 
if, that is, the truth and good are different, 
they are not made welcome. 
So they go away and travel along roads 
which open up between communities in heaven; 
and they continue to travel 
until they find a community 
which exactly matches their affections, 
and there they live for ever. 
For there they are among their own people, 
as if among relations and friends, 
and they love them from the heart 
because they share the same affection. 
There they enjoy the whole bliss of their life 
and the pleasure which fills the whole breast 
coming from tranquillity of the soul. 
For the heat and light of heaven contain 
an inexpressible delight, which is shared. 
That is the lot of those who become angels.

Those, however, 
who are subject to evils and falsities 
may get permission to go up to heaven, 
but on entering 
they begin to gasp and breathe with difficulty. 
Soon their sight becomes dim, 
their understanding is darkened 
and thought comes to a stop; 
it is as if death stared them in the face, 
and so they stand like blocks of wood. 
Then their heart begins to pound, 
their chest feels tight 
and their mind is desperately worried. 
Their pain becomes more and more severe, 
and in this condition 
they writhe like snakes placed on a hearth. 
So they roll away from this spot, 
and cast themselves over a precipice 
which then appears; 
and they do not rest until they are in hell 
with people like themselves, 
where they can draw breath 
and where their heart beats freely. 
After this they hate heaven and reject truth, 
in their hearts blaspheming against the Lord 
and believing Him responsible 
for the pain and torment 
they experienced in heaven.

 

TCR 621 - Read the Word

TCR 621 [3]

'Read the Word,' the angels said to this, 
'and believe in the Lord, 
and you will see truths 
which will be your guides to faith and life.'

 

TCR 618, 619 - The Lord, Faith and Charity

TCR 618

There are three means 
by which a person is regenerated: 
the Lord, faith and charity. 
These three would lie as deeply hidden 
as the choicest gems buried underground, 
if they were not exposed 
by Divine truths from the Word. 
In fact they would be hidden from 
the sight of those who deny man's co-operation, 
even if they read the Word 
a hundred or a thousand times; 
yet there they stand out in bright light.

TCR 619

These facts can establish 
that there is no knowing the Lord without truths; 
and without truths there is no faith and so no charity. 
It follows that without truths 
there cannot be any theology, 
and in its absence 
there cannot be any church either.

 

TCR 587-588 - The Understanding and Will In Reformation and Regeneration

TCR 601

. . . when a person is regenerated
he has a new will and a new understanding 
because these two faculties 
are what make him a human being, 
and it is these which are regenerated. 
Everyone, therefore, is such as he is 
in these two respects. 
If his will is evil, he is evil, 
and the more so if his understanding favors evil;
and the reverse is true, if his will is good. 
It is only religion 
which renews and regenerates a person. 
Religion is allotted the highest place 
in the human mind, 
and sees below it 
the social matters which concern the world.

TCR 605

A regenerate person, that is, 
one who is renewed in will and understanding, 
enjoys the heat of heaven, 
which is its love, 
together with the light of heaven, 
which is its wisdom, 
while in the contrary case 
one who is not regenerate 
experiences the heat of hell 
which is its love, 
together with the darkness of hell 
which is its madness . . ..

 

TCR 597, 599 - What Temptations Do

TCR 597

The existence of temptations 
is known at the present time, 
but hardly anyone knows their origin and nature 
or what good they do.

TCR 599

In people's struggles or temptations 
the Lord carries out an individual redemption, 
just as He did a total redemption 
when He was in the world. 
By struggles and temptations in the world 
the Lord glorified His Human, 
that is, He made it Divine. 
It is likewise now with people individually; 
when someone is subject to temptations, 
the Lord struggles for him, 
overcoming the spirits of hell who assail him; 
and after his temptation He glorifies him, 
that is, renders him spiritual. 
After His universal redemption 
the Lord brought everything 
in heaven and in hell into a state of order. 
He does much the same 
with a person after temptation, 
for He brings into a state of order everything 
in him relating to heaven and the world. 
After the act of redemption 
the Lord established a new church; 
likewise too He establishes in a person 
what is to do with the church, 
and makes him a church 
at the level of the individual.
After redemption the Lord granted peace
to those who believed in Him; for He said:

I leave peace with you, 
My peace I give to you; 
not as the world gives do I give it to you.
(John 14:27)

Likewise He grants to a person after temptation 
to feel peace, 
that is, gladness of mind and consolation. 
These facts show 
that the Lord is the Redeemer for ever.

 

TCR 592 - The Role of Civil Legislation

TCR 592

. . . civil legislation prescribes penalties 
for those who act wickedly 
and rewards for those who act well, 
so that people compel themselves 
to separate the external person from the internal. 
No one wants to be punished, 
and everyone wants to be rewarded 
by receiving wealth and honors. 
Neither of these aims can a person achieve, 
if he does not live in accordance with these laws. 
That is why morality or good-will 
are to be seen in externals, 
even with those who have 
no morality or good-will in internals. 
This is the origin 
of all hypocrisy, toadying and pretense. 

 

TCR 587-588 - The Understanding and Will In Reformation and Regeneration

TCR 587

. . . reformation takes place 
through the understanding 
or through the truths the understanding receives. 
For truths teach the person 
in whom and what he should believe, 
and what he should do, 
so what he should will. 
For anything a person does is the result of 
the will acting in accordance with the understanding.
. . . Since then a person's will is 
of itself evil from birth, 
and because it is the understanding 
which teaches us what is evil and what is good, 
and it is possible to will the one 
and not will the other, 
it follows that a person must be reformed 
through the understanding. 
So long as anyone sees 
and mentally acknowledges 
that evil is evil, 
and good is good, 
thinking that good ought to be chosen, 
for so long is his state called reformation. 
But when his will is to shun evil and do good, 
that is when his state of regeneration begins.    

TCR 588

The purpose for which a person has been given 
the ability to raise his understanding, 
almost into the light enjoyed by the angels of heaven, 
is so that he can see 
what he ought to will and so do, 
if he is to enjoy prosperity in the world 
for the time being 
and after death be blessed for ever. 
He becomes prosperous and blessed 
if he acquires wisdom, 
and keeps his will obedient to it. 
But he becomes unfortunate and wretched 
if he makes his understanding obedient to his will. 
The reason is that the will has from birth 
a tendency to evils, even monstrous evils. 
If therefore these are not 
held in check by the understanding, 
a person, if left to give free rein to his will, 
would rush into villainy, 
and his inborn savagery 
would lead him to wreak havoc on and slaughter, 
for selfish motives, 
any who did not look kindly on him 
and indulge his longings.

[2] Moreover, if the understanding 
could not be perfected separately, 
and the will by its means, 
a person would not be a person, but an animal.

 

TCR 583, 586 - Regeneration Is a Process

TCR 583

The natural and spiritual events in a person's life, 
that is, what happens to his body 
and what to his spirit, 
are so ordered as permanently to correspond. 
The reason is that a person is by birth 
spiritual as regards his soul, 
and he is clothed with a natural form 
which is constituted by his material body. 
When therefore this is laid aside, 
his soul, clothed in his spiritual body, 
comes into the world where all things are spiritual, 
and there associates with people like him. 
Now the spiritual body 
has to be formed in the material one, 
a process accomplished by the inflow of truths 
and various kinds of good from the Lord 
through the spiritual world. 
These are inwardly received by the person 
in such things belonging to the natural world 
as are called civil and moral . . .
as already said, 
there is a permanent correspondence 
between the natural and spiritual 
events in a person's life, 
it follows that this process must resemble 
his conception, gestation in the womb,
birth and upbringing. 
That is why natural births in the Word 
mean spiritual births, 
that is, the birth of good and truth.

TCR  586

The fact that a person 
can only be regenerated by stages 
can be illustrated by every single thing 
which comes into existence in the natural world. 
A tree cannot grow into a tree in a single day, 
but grows first from a seed, then a root, 
then a shoot which becomes a stem, 
from which branches develop with leaves, 
and finally flowers and fruits.
. . . No development towards an end 
is possible without a starting-point. 
Those who hold other ideas about regeneration 
know nothing about charity and faith, 
and how both of these grow in keeping with 
the person's co-operation with the Lord. 

 

TCR 580 - All Can Be Regenerated

TCR 580 [3] 

The reason why all 
can be regenerated and so saved 
is that the Lord is present 
with His Divine good and truth 
with every person. 
This is the source of his (the person's) life, 
and of his ability to understand and will, 
and of the free will he has in spiritual matters; 
no one is without these. 
Moreover the means are given. 
Christians have the means in the Word, 
non-Christians in any religion at all, 
if it teaches the existence of God 
and commandments about good and evil. 
From this it follows 
that everyone can be saved. 
Consequently, if a person is not saved, 
it is not the Lord who is to blame 
but the person; 
and he is to blame for failing to co-operate.