7/28/2019 Swedenborg THE CORONIS or Appendix to the True Christian Religion The INVITATION to the NEW CHURCH Londo… http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/swedenborg-the-coronis-or-appendix-to-the-true-christian-religion-the-invitation 1/126 THE CORONIS OR APPENDIX TO THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION: IN WHICH IT TREATS OF THE FOUR CHURCHES OF THIS EARTH FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, AND OF THEIR PERIODS AND CONSUMMATION; - OF TH E N EW CHUR CH ABOUT T O S UCC EE D THOSE FOUR, WH ICH W ILL H ~ I ~ I , . Y CH R ISTIA N , AND THE CROWN OF THE PRECEDING ONES; OF THE COMING OF THE LORD TO IT, AND OF HI S DIVINE AUSPICES THEREIN TO ETERNITY, AN D FURTHER OF THE MYSTERY OF REDEMPTION: THEN ALSO "THE INVITATION TO THE NEW CHURCH" FROM THE LATIN OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY 20 BLOOMSBURY WAY LONDON, w.c.i 1966
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7/28/2019 Swedenborg THE CORONIS or Appendix to the True Christian Religion The INVITATION to the NEW CHURCH Londo…
PREFATORY NOTE CONCERNING THECONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME
THE work, which opens the Volume-" The Coronis " - i s , as it
proclaims itself, an "Appendix to THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION ,"
and was written for the purpose of treating somewhat more indetail certain specified points which had been little more than
touched upon in that work.It suffers under the two disadvantages of never having been
issued to the world by its author, and QLbeing incom lete.
So far as known, the work in its complete form nowhere now
exists. The MS. , we are informed, was lent by Swedenborg,
during is_last_illness, to_DIIVIesSlter, ana, un orfiiIi"itely,
" n e ~ r l y one-half of i t " was "mislaid and finally lost at the
( Dr's house" (see DOCUMENTS CONCERNING SWEDENBORG, Vol. Il l ,
p. 1022).A careful comparison of the work, as given in the following
pages, with the full plan of it outlined in the " Summaries"
prefixed to it, will show that the present Volume does not givethe complete treatise as designed by'-Swe-denborg. The working
outo f tn e lan iscan:ied orlJY. as far as to the end f P ~ o p ' o s i O i 1 V I of the" Summaries," when the matter comes to an abrupt stop
1at the successive changes of state in the Israelitish Church. This)
\ ~ s far as the r e s c u e ~ e o r t i o n of the MS. gQes.
U e e . m L ~ e < i s p . n a . ! : l l e to
P Q s ~ h a L h e _ M S was comJili:tewhen placed by Swedenborg in Dr M ~ s ~ i t e r ' s hands, and that,
therefore, the.l-<t.rge_pprJiQILoCit which_was first" mislaid and
finally lost at the Dr's house," contained th e full execution of(the ori inal lan. That it carried the work considerably beyond ]the contents of the present Volume must, at any rate;15e certain,
- T ne-fact that e m i n ~ J ~ o r t i o n c o m m e n c e d ~ i t h the dis
cussion of the Rise, Development, Decline and Fall of the First rNI Christian Church, and, after that, furnished some forecast
11 res ectin the N ew and " truly Christian " Church, makes theloss of it a matter of Rar ticular regret to th e latter Church now
existin - i n however in firm and strugglm a form-in the world.
But, imperfect though the work is, it is stITfOl high importance
to the Church, and well worthy of publication to serve as a
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sequel to the work to which it is the "Appendix," and also of
careful study.Il THE CORONIS, together with THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE,
2 . THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD, AND T H ~ - . ! i ~ Y C ~ U R C H , and
.3 THE INVITATION TO THE NEW CHURCH, which follow it in thisVolume, would seem, from Dr R. L. Tafel's DOCUMENTS CON-
CERNING SWEDENBORG (pp . 1020 and 1022), to have the s ecialI nterest of being the last works that Swedenbor ever enned.In the Revision of THE CORONIS, I have had the benefit of the
assistance of the Revs. J . G. Dufty and P. H. Johnson, RA.,
RSc.; in that of THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE, etc., and THE
INVITATION TO THE NEW CHURCH, of the Rev. G. F. Colborne
Kitching.
References to the chapters and v e r s ~ s of Scripture ar e ~ in accordance with the Authorized VerSIon of the English Bible,even w ere Swedenborg, through his use ott neLatiii-VerSlonof Schmidius, or from any other cause, employs a ( I{ffere; t
enumeration.
JAS. F. BUSS,
Editor and Reviser.
Vll l
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@The periodical changes of state which occurred in suc
cession in the third Church, which was the Israelitish, are also
described in Moses, and afterwards in Joshua, in the Books of
the Judges, of Samuel, and of the Kings, and likewise in the
Prophets.CYlI. The periodical changes which occurred in succession in
the fourth Church, which is the Christian, are described in the
Word of both Testaments; its Rise, or Morning, in particular,
in the Evangelists, and in the Acts and writings of the Apostles;its Progression towards Noon-day, in the ecclesiastical history
of the first three centuries; its Decline, or Evening, by the history
of the centuries immediately following; and its Vastation evento Consummation, which is its Night, in the Apocalypse.
VIII. After those four Churches, a new one is to arise whichwill be truly Christian, foretold in Daniel and in the Apocalypse,
and by the Lord Himself in the Evangelists, and looked for bythe Apostles.
* * * * * * *(0The Church successively declines from the truths of faith
and the goods of charity, and it declines in the same proportion
also from the spiritual understanding and genuine sense of theWord.
X. Consequently, the Church departs in the same proportion
from the Lord, and removes Him from itself.x I:' In proportion as this is effected, it tends towards its end.
I . It is the end of the Church, when there remains no
longer any truth of faith or genuine good of charity.
XIII The Church is then in falSities a nd the evils therefrom,
and i evils and the falsities therefrom.
XIV. Hence, from the deceased out of the world hell increases,
sothat
it raises itself up towards heaven,and
interposes itselfbetween heaven and the Church, like a black cloud betweenthe sun and the earth.~ T h i s interposition prevents the access of any truth of
faith, and thence any genuine good of charity, to the men of the
Church; but, instead of them, falsified truth, which in itself is
falsity, and adulterated good, which in itself is not good.
CXVj)Then naturalism and atheism take possession together.~ X V l i ) T h i s S t a t e O f t h e C h u r c h is-meant and described in the
ord, by " Vastation," " Desolation" and" Consummation."* * * * * * *(XVn j )While Vastation lasts, and before Consummation
supervenes, the Lord's Advent is announced, also Redemption
by the Lord, and after this there is a new Church.
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~ B e c a u s e the Lord foresaw these things, therefore
of necessity if man were to be saved, He promised that He ~ u d II
come again into the world and accomplish a Redemption, aa.d
"Youldthus institute a_new C h u r c h , ~ ~ c h wou!9.- be _ ~ y C h r i s t i a n . . A ~ I
XXXVI. TheLorc:J! Himself foretold H i s ! S e c o n ~ C o m i n g , and
the post es frequentfy prophesied respecting i0ndJohn openly
so in the Apocalypse; ~ z;
XXXVII. In like manner respecting the NeJ"Chu.!:ch ' hich
is meant y the" New Jerusalem" in the Apocalypse.XXXVIII. This Second Redem tion was effected in the same
way as t e rst (of which above, from n. xxiii to xxx),c .X X X q f ) And also for the sake of the Regeneration, and
hence the Salvation, of the men of the Church, as its final andefficient cause.
* * * * * * *C X LJ T he falsities which have hitherto desolated, and have at
length consummated, the Christian Church, were chiefly the
following:
C2'L j)They receded from the worship of the Lord, preached by
the Apostles, and from faith in Him.
They separated the Divine Trinity from the Lord, and transferred
it to three Divine Persons from eterni ty, consequently to three Gods.
e.XtIOThey divided saving faith among these three Persons.
. X I I . They separated charity and good works from that faith,
as not at the same time saving.
" XLIV. They deduced justification-that is, remission of sins,
regeneration, and salvation-from that faith alone, independently
of man's co-operation .
. XLV. hey denied to man free-determination in spiritual things,
thus asserting that God alone operates in man, and that man on
his part does nothing.XLVI. From this necessarily flowed forth Predestination, by
whic religion is abolished.
XLVII. heydecreedthat the Passion ofthe Cross isRedemption.
XLVIII. From these heresies, falsities burst forth in SUCh )abundance that there does not remain a single genuine truth which
is not falsified, nor, consequently, a single genuine good which is
not adulterated.
C X LI:X)T he Church knows absolutely nothing about this, its
Desolation and Consummation, nor can it know, until theDivine Truths announced by the Lord in the work e n t i t ~ E TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION:-ares een in light and acknowledged.
The Word is thus obscuredand-darkened, sOi: l:iat not a singletruth any longer appears in it.
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O R A P P E N D I X TO T H E T R U E C H R I S T IA N R E L I G I O N
I
W F o r many reasons this New Christian Church is not being
established thrau 11 an miracles, as the former was.
LI. But, instead of them, the spiritual sense of the Word is
revealed, and the spiritual world disclosed; and the nature of
both heaven and hell manifested ; also, that man lives as a manafter death; which thingsfsurpass all miracles.
* * * * *..- LII This! N ~ truly Qhristian Church Jwhich is at this day
bemg established by the Lord, will endure to eternity, as isproved from the Word of both Testaments; also it was foreseen
from the creation of the world; and it will be the Crown of the
four ~ d i n g Churches, because it will have true faith andtrUe
charity.
~ I n this New Church there will be spiritual p ; ~ § - e whichis " " ," and internal blessedness of life, as is also 1 ved from
t ~ ~ d of both Testaments.
\.!:!YJ These things will.£xist ~ this New Church, by r ~ its con junction with the Lord, and F i r o u g ~ with God the
J Father.~ n invitation addressed ~ a n d to the wholeChristian world; and a l l h o r t a t i ~ to_w£rthily receive theLord, who has Himself foretold that He would come into the
world for the sake of this Church and to it. --- - ~
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cDMiracles were performed in the Church before the Lord's
Advent, because, at that time, men were external, or natural,
and could not be led to their representative worship except by
miracles.
The Miracles performed in Egypt, in the wilderness, in the land
of Canaan, and even to the present time, are to be enumerated.
And that, yet, they never influence men.
Q£:/After the Lord's Advent, when man from external became
internal, and when the capacity of being able to know was
imparted to man, miracles were withheld.
Also, if that capacity were impeded, man would become more
external than before.
Ill. Miracles would abolish worship truly Divine, and intro
duce the former idolatrous worship; as also has taken place for
very many centuries back.
Nevertheless, the latter have not been Divine miracles, but~ ~ were wrought by the magicians of old .U V At this day, in lace of miracles, there has taken · lace
a manifestation of the L o r o ~ i m s e l f , an intromission into the
spmtual--woI- a, andeiiHghteniile'nt there, .sx immediate light
c l H e - r : o r a ~ i n suchthings as are the interior things of theChurch. ---- -
lftrt, above all, the opening of the spiritual sense in the Word,
in which the Lord is in His own Divine light.Q)These Revelations are not miracles; sinc e every: man is
in the spiritual world as to his s irit, without any separation
from his body in the natural world-I , however, with a certain
separation, though only as to the intellectual part of my mind,
but not as to the voluntary ; - and , as regards the spiritualsense,
the Lord through it is with all who approach Him in faith in the
above light; also, through that sense He is in man's natural
light.
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I. THESE three subjects-the Consummation of the Age, the
Coming of the Lord, and the New Church-have, it is true, been
treated of in the last chapter of the work entitled THE TRUE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION. The reason why a Continuation follows
about them, is, because no one at this day knows what the Con
summation of the Age is, why a Second Advent of the Lord
must take place, or that a New Church is about to com.e; and
yet these three subjects are treated of in both the Prophetic and
the Apostolic Word, and fully in the Apocalypse. That those
three subjects are treated of in the Prophetic Word of the Old
Testament, was made evident to me while it was given me to
layit open by
meansof
thespiritual sense;
andin like mannerthat they are treated of in the Prophetic book of the New
Testament, which is called the Apocalypse: that they are also in
the Evangelic and Apostolic Word, will be plain from the follow
ing pages. Hence it follows, that, W i t h o u t ~ o w l e d g e respecting the Consummation of the Age, the ~ d v e n of
the Lord, and th New Church, the Word is as it were shut up;
D;r tiii anything: but_know e d g ~ s (J£en Jt: these are like .key}
which open the door and let one in. When this takes pJaCe
with the Word, then the treasures which 1 ~ ~ e . ! ! . L e J L t h e r e i n \ 1as at the bottom of thesea;--cc>me into view; for, at the bottom, !t ~ are in the Word notllmg else but treasures. In this !
App.!'!!l.ix.Lof. Continuqjion, I shall proceed, in hke manner as in
the work itself, by prefixed Summaries, which will be confirmed
from Scripture and illustrated from reason,
J PROPOSITION THE F IR i i J
2@THERE HAVE BEEN FOUR CHURCHES ON THIS EARTH SINCETHE TIME OF ITS CREATION: A FIRST, WHICH IS TO BE CALLED THE
ADAMIC; A SECOND, THE NOACHIAN; A THIRD, THE ISRAELITISH;
1 This Appendix is promised in Nos. 15, 177, 343, 485, 627 and 758 of thework itself.
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AND A FOURTH, THE CHRISTIAN. That four Churches have existed
on this earth since the creation of the world, manifestly appears
in Daniel; first, from the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a
dream, and, afterwards, from the four beasts rising up out of the
sea. On the subject of Nebuchadnezzar's image we read asfollows:
Daniel said, Thou, 0 King, sawest, and behold a great image.
And the appearance thereof, standing over against thee, was
excellent, and the aspect thereof was terrible. The head of this
statue was offin.s:...gQ!d; its breast and arms, of silver; its belly and
its thighs, of brass; its legs, of iron; its feet, partly of iron and
partly of clay. Thou sawest until a stone was cut out, which was
cut without hands, and smote the image upon its feet that were
of iron and clay, and ground them to powder. Then were theiron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, ground to powder
together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors,
so that the wind carried them away, and no place was found for
them: but the stone which smote the image, became a great rock,
and filled the whole earth. In these days shall the God of the
heavens set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and
His kingdom shall not be entrusted to another people: it shall
break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms, but it shall stand
for ever (Dan. ii 31-35,44).
That this dream did not signify fQ.!!r political kingdoms on thisearth, but four Churches, which should follow one after another,
is plain from the following considerations: (I) That such kingdoms, one after another, have not existed on this earth. (2) That
the Divine Word, in its bosom, does not treat of the kingdoms of
the world, but of Churches, which consriture.God's kingdQ.I!!...Qne.ill:!E. (3) Also, because it is said that the God of the heavensshall set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed to the ages,
and that a stone, cut out, not by hands, became a great rock,which filled the whole earth. (4) And, inasmuch as the Lord
our Saviour Jesus Christ, in the ~ d of both Testaments, is
called the " ~ ! o n e " and" Rock," it is manifest that His..kingqomis meant by die last words in this passage. (5) Moreover, the
state of the Church is described, in inmtmerable passages of the
Word, by gold, silver, brass, and iron; its spiritual state as to
the good oflove by gold, its spiritual state as to the t ruth ofwisdom
by silver, its natural state as to the good of charity by brass, and
_ n a t U l : a l ~ ~ t e astoJhe__ D L t h _ 9 f ~ ~ t h by iron (as may be seenconfirmed from the Word in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 913,
2 and elsewhere). For this reason, the wise in the first ages, who
knew the significations of metals, compared the ages which were
to follow one another from the first to the last, to those four metals,
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These comparisons originate from the spiritual world, where all
the affections and thoughts therefrom, of angels and spirits, are
presented at a distance from them as beasts, which also appear
in a form in all respects similar to that of the beasts in the natural
world; the affections of the love of good as gentle beasts and
good uses, but the affections of the love of evil as savage beastsand evil uses. Hence it is that beasts are so often named in the
Word; and by them in the spiritual sense are signified affections,
inclinations, perceptions and thoughts. From these considerations
it is manifest what is meant by creatures in the following passages:
Jesus commanded the disciples to go into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature (Mark xvi 15).
If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things havepassed away, and all things are become new (2 Cor. v 17).
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creature of God (Rev. iii 14).
By " creatures," here, are meant those who are capable of being
created anew, that is, regenerated, and thus becoming of the
Lord's Church.
4. That there have been four Churches on this earth, one
before the flood, which is to be called the Adamic; the second,after the flood, which is to be called the Noachian; and a third,
after this, which was called the Israelitish ; also a fourth, which
exists at this day, and is called the Christian, will be demonstrated
in the following pages, in the exposition of each of them separarely.5 ® T H ~ R E HAVE BEEN FOUR SUCCESSIVE S T A T ~ , OR PERIODS, !OF EACH CHURCH, WHICH IN THE WORD ARE MEANT BY " MORN
iNG," " DAY," "EVENING," AND "NIGHT." That there have
been four successive sta tes, oc periods ,o f everyone of these
Churches above-named, will be illustrated in the following pages,wherein each will be dealt with in its turn. They are described
by those alternations of time, because e ~ r y man who is born inthe Church, or in whom the Church has commenced, first comes
into its light such as that is in the dawn and morning; afterwards, he advances to its day, and, he wh o loves its truths, right
on to its mid-day; if he then stops in the way, and does not (advance into the heat ~ ~ p n g a n d ~ m e r , his day c f e c l i ~ towards evening, till at length, like the light at night-time, it
grows dark; and then his intelligence in the spirituanhings--of
the Church becomes a cold light, like the light of the days in
winter, when he indeed sees the trees standing beside his house,or in his gardens, but stripped of leaves and destitute of fruits
thus, like bare trunks. For, the man of the Church advances
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a new Church, He introduces order, so that they may abide
under His guidance, and un er obedience to Him, to eternity,
is b e c a u s ~ J h e _ a n g e l i c h e a Y . e n _ a n 5 L ! h e Church on earth together
constitute one body, whose Soul and Life Ts- tJie-L
ofcf]ehOVIh,who is the _Lord our S a v i o The universal a n g e l i c ~ e n , together with the q l l l ' ; r c h ~ l s o appears beforethe t o r d ~ n e man ;- and a man abides under the guidance of and obedience
to his own soul: consequently, the entire ~ n together with
th e Clll{ ch"0tbides und er the gu ida I:!f e Qf a!1d o h ~ d i e I 1 c e ~ t hW : or the L..QuLis '1LthcJJ1, ang th e are in the Lord ohn
) xiv 20; xv 4, 5; xvii 23, 26); thus,JIe_isJhe.JU n all things
there. But the order which the Lord sets up in hell is such that
in w 0 are there may be diametrically opposite to all who arein heaven: whence it is evident, that, since the Lord rules heaven
He also rules hell, and that He rules the latter by means of the
former.
16. Moreover, the arrangement of all in the heavens, and of
all in the hells, is most perfect. For every heaven tl; ; n s founded
b)' the Lord after the consummation of each Church is made
ree-Iold] it is made highest, middle and lowest. Into the
are elevated t ~ ~ ~ Oilg es _ l ; ! . . r c ~ . t < L . . . t i l l : - - . L P . . r . d and in
wisdom thence; into the middle, those who are i n p i r i t u a l l o v e ~ ~ nei hbour and in intelligence thence; into the
lowest, those who are in ~ iritual-natu;-allove towards the neigh
bour, which is called charity, and thence in the faith of the
~ truths concerning God and I I I a life according to the flrecepts of
the Decalogue. Thes t}};;;e heaveng iconstitute . m:ee expanseS
one above another, and communicate with each otner y a
Divine influx from the Lord out of the sun of the spiritual world.
In the depth underneath, there are also three expanses into
which the hells are distinguished, between which, in like manner,
there is provided a communication by means of an influx
-.. through the heavens from the Lord. By means of these com
munications there is an intimate and indissoluble eOrllllllction of
all things .in the h e ~ ~ ~ ~ ; ; d - ~ ; ' l l .things in h ~ hells ;'-- ~ t i n t h e t e ~ -i"t- is"a con'unction of all the lusts of the love of evil,
while in the heavens it is a conjunction of all the affections of(. the love of good, By virtue of that conjunction, heaven is like
one Lord sitting upon a throne girt about with wreaths formed
of precious stones of every kind; but hell ~ . . . Q I 1 ~ 1 sitting-Iupon a seat entwined with vipers, serpents and poisonous worms' --J
From this orderly arrangement, induced on both, it follows that
both abide under the guidance and control of the Lord to
eternity.
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17. I t is well known, that, in order_that anything may jJe ) )
perfect, there -""list be a trir0in just order, one--:-uilder another,
anaa communication between-;-ancrtnat this trine must make
a one, not unlike a pillar,-at the top of which is the capital,
under this the smooth shaft, and under this again the pedestal.~ ~ h _ t r j n e ~ n : his highest part is the head, his middle
part is the body, and his lowest the feet and soles. In this
respect, every kingdom is like a man; there must be a king
there as the nead, also a d m i n i s ~ and officers as the body,
and yeomanry with servants as feet and soles: in like manner
in the Church, there must be a mitred primate, parish Rriests, J~ e th em cu:rat'es. Nor does t ~ . 5 i . itself subsist with
out three things following in order, namely, morning, noon andevening; as also the yearly spring, summer and autumn-spring
for the sowing of seeds, summer for their germination, and autumn
for bringing forth fruit: night and winter, however, do not con
2 tribute to the upholding of the world. Now since every per:(e.£t
thin _must be a trine in order to be a one, and to cohere well
together, therefore both worlds, spiritual and natural, consist
and subsist from three atmospheres, or elements; the first of
' which immediately encompasses the sun, and is called a U r ~ J the
second is under this, and is called and the third-!S'under(them both, and is calle air ) In the natural world these three\atmospheres are natural, and in themselves passive, because they
proceed from a sun which is pure fire; but the three correspond
ing to them in the spiritual world are spiritual, and in themselves
active, because they proceed from a sun which is pure love .
3 The angels of the heavens dwell in the regions of these three
atmospheres; the angels of the highest heaven 10 t e_celestia0aura which immediatel-encom asses ther un , 'Where the Lord 1.
IS; t e angels of the middle'heaven in t h ~ Q i r i t u a l e t h e r , under )the former ; and the angels of the lowest heaven in the spiritual- J~ r a air, under those two. Thus are all the heavens eo
established, from t h ~ t to this last which is p eing organized
by t e Lord at the present day. From these things it may be
apprehended whence it is that by ~ e in the WQr9 j s sigrill!edwhat complete (see APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 505, 875).
18. VI. FROM THIS NEW HEAVEN THE LORD J EHOVIH DERIVES J )AND PRODUCES A N E W C H i ! R ~ ON EARTH, WHICH TAKES PLACE
BY MEANS OF A REVELATION OF TRUTHS FROM HIS MOUTH, OR
FROM HIS WORD, AND BY INSPIRATION. It is written that John
Saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from God out of
heaven, prepared € : ~ d o r n e d for her husband (Rev. xxi 2).
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By the holy city, New Jerusalem, is meant the doctrine of the
New Church, consequently the Church as to doctrine; and by
Jerusalem descending from30d 0 It of the new_heaven, is meant
that ~ t r u e doctrinecifl the Ch1,!£.ch is from I.!Q....Q!her ~ c That the ooctrine descended, is because a Church is a Church
from doctrine and according to it; apart from doctrine, a
Church is no more a Church than a man is a man without
members, viscera and organs, thus from the mere covering of
skin, which only defines his external shape; nor any more than
a house is a house without bed-chambers, dining-rooms and
articles of use within, thus from the wall and arched roof alone.The case is similar with the Church apart from doctrine. That
Jerusalem signifies the Church with respect to doctrine, maybe seen proved from the Word i l l th e worK: I t s e l ~ E TRUE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION (n. 782). From these things, it is manifest
~ that the Church on earth is derived an_d_Rroduced E y ~ e LordI' bv means of the angelic heaven.19. I will mention some marvellous things, which yet are not
marvellous in heaven; these are: (1) That ~ i ! . ! ~ d Jcould not exist exceRt from the s iritual world; nor, con~ y subsist, i n a s ~ h as subsistence-is perpetual existence.
2 (2) That the Church is not possible with man, unless its internalbe spiritual and its external natural: there cannot be a ~ h u r c h
3 purely spiritual nor a Church exclusively natural. (3) Con
sequently, that no Church, nor anything of the Church, can be
raised up with man except there be an angelic heaven, from which
its whole spiritual is derived by the Lord and through which it
4 descends. (4) Since, therefore, the spiritual and the natural
thus make one, it follows that the one cannot exist and subsistapart from the other; neither the angelic heaven apart from the
Church with man, nor the Church with him apart from theangelic heaven; for, unless the spiritual flow into and terminate
in the natural, and rest therein, it is like a prior without a
posterior, consequently like an efficient cause without an effect,and like an active without a passive-which would be like a
bird flying in the air perpetually, without any resting 'place on
the earth, and like the mind of a man perpetually thinking and
willing, without any organ, sensory or muscular, in the body, to
which it may descend and produce the ideas of its thought, and
5 bring into operation the endeavours of its will. (5) These things
are adduced to the end that it may be perceived, or known,
that, as the natural world is not possible without the spiritual I
world, nor conversely the spiritual world without the natural Jworld, so neither can there be a Church on earth unless there
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OR A P P E N D I X TO T H E T R U E C H R I S T I A N R E L I G I O N [34
created from off the faces of the earth: only Noah found grace inthe eyes ofJehovah (Gen. vi 5--8).
But the Last]udgment upon them is described by the flood . It
is described by a " flood" for the reason that " waters" in theWord signify truths, and in an opposite sense falsities. Truths
are signified by the waters of a fountain, the waters of a river,
the waters of rain, and by the waters of the washings in time
past, and the waters of baptism at this day: such correspondence
arises from the circumstance that truths purify man's soul from
uncleanness, as waters do his body; hence they are called
" living waters." But in the opposite sense falsities are signified
by " waters " ; but by impure waters, such as those of marshes,
evil-smelling cisterns, urine, and deadly waters; in general, byall hurtful and death-producing waters, therefore, also, by waters
from an inundation of which man dies, consequently the
2 Noachian flood . That falsities in the mass are described by
inundations, may be evident from the following passages:
Jehovah is causing to come up upon them the waters of the river(Euphrates), strong and many; it shall pass through Judah, it shallinundate, it shall pass over, it shall reach even to the neck (Isa,
viii 7, 8).
By the" waters of the river" Euphrates, are signified reasonings
from falsities, because by Assyria, whose river it was, reasoning
is signified.
The spirit of Jehovah, like an inundating stream, shall dividein two even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity(Isa. xxx 28) :
by an inundating river, here, in like manner, is signified reasoning
from falsities.
Behold waters are rising up out of the north, which are like aninundating stream, and it shall inundate the land and the fulnessthereof (Jcr. xlvii 2):
here the Philistines are treated of, by whom are meant those
who are not in charity, and hence not in truths; the falsities
of these are signified by "waters coming up from the north,"and the devastation of the Church in consequence thereof, by
"a n inundating stream that shall inundate the land and its
fulness " ; " the land" is the Church, and its "fulness" all
things pertaining to it.
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and, on the other hand, every good is conceived of the Lord as a;
father and ' is born, as of a mother, of saving faith in Hi The
generations of all goods in their infinite varieties with men, are
f!£.m no other origin than from the marriage of the Lw:d and
~ the ~ h and, on the contrary, the generations of all evilsin tliclr varieties with them, are from no other origin than fromthe union of thedevil with -t oe community of the profane.
Who does not know, or may not know, that a man m ust be
regenerated by_the Lord, that is, be created anew, and that, so
far as this takes place, so far he is In goods? Hence this foll9,ws:
that, in so far as a man is unwilling to be generated anew, _or
created a n e ~ , so far he takes up and retains tIie evilS-implanted .
inliimfrom his parents. This is what lies concealed in the first
precept of the Decalogue :
I am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
sons, upon the third and upon the fourth generationof ~ a t hQld _Me in hatred, and showing mercy unto thousands wJ:<2Jove
Me and keep My commandments (Exod. xx 5, 6; Deut. v 9, 10).
* * * * * * *36.cYi. THE SIXTH S ~ OF THE MEN OF THIS CHURCH,
WHICH WAS THE ELEVATION TO GOD, AFTER THE LAST JUDGMENT, Jl
OF THE FAITHFUL, OF WHOM A NEW 'HEAvEN WAS FORMED, AND JTHE REMOVAL FROM GOD OF THE UNFAITHFUL, OF WHOM WAS
FORMED A NEW HELL. In the preceding propositions (from
n. 10 to 13, and from n. 14 to 17), it was explained that, after
consummation, a Last Judgment was executed upon all who
were of each of the four Churches above named, and after this a
new heaven and a new hell formed from them, and thus thatt ~ have been four judgments in this earjh on....its i n h a ~ t s , and four heJ!:Lens and hells formed from them; and it has been
granted me to know, that both those heavens and those hells are
so entirely distinct from each other, that no person can by any
possibility pass out of his own into that of another. All these
heavens have been described in the little work on CONJUGIAL
LOVE; and, as the spiritual origin of love truly conjugial! is from
no other source than the marriage of the Lord and the Church,
thus from the Lord's love towards the Church and that of the
Church to the Lord (as was shown in that little work, fromn. lT6-to- n l ) , and as the most ancient people were in both
I Here, and elsewhere throughout this work, conjugialis is translated .. conjug ial " in preference to .. marriage," on account of the new spiritual conceptintroduced by Swedenborg. In the first translation of De Amore Conjugiali,Rev.]. Clowes introduced this translation of conjugialis, but in this he is notfollowed by some translators of Swedenborg.
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these loves so long as they retained in themselves the image of
God, therefore, I may transcribe from that little work the follow
ing particulars respecting that heaven, to which I was at the
time granted admission; which are as follow:
37. "O n a time, when I was meditating on conjugial love,the desire seized my mind of knowing what that love had been
like with those who lived in the Golden Age, and what, after
wards, in the succeeding ones which are called the Silver, Copper
and Iron ages. And, as I knew that all who lived well in those
ages are in the heavens, I prayed to the Lord that it might bepermitted me to speak with them and be instructed.
" And, lo! an angel stood by me, and said, ' I am sent by the
Lord to be your guide and companion; and I will read and
accompany you, first, to those who lived in the first era, or Age,
which is called the Golden.' (The Golden Age is the same asthe age of the Most Ancient Church, which is meant by the
head of fine gold, on the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a
dream-Dan. ii 32--of which we have spoken before.) The
angel said, 'The way to them is laborious; it lies through a
dense wood, which no one can traverse unless a guide be givenhim by the Lord.'
2 " I was in the spirit, and prepared myself for the journey,and we turned our faces to the east; and as we proceeded.jj.
saw a mountain, whose summit towered beyond the re ion of~ s . e crosse a great esert, an reached a wood
crowded with all kinds of trees, and dark by reason of the dense
growth thereof, of which the angel told me beforehand. But
that wood was intersected by numerous narrow paths. The
angel said that these were so many windings of error, and that
unless the eyes were opened by the Lord, and the olive-trees
girt about with vine tendrils seen, and the steps led from olivetree to olive-tree, the traveller would stray into Tartarus. ThiS )wood is of such a nature, to the end that the approach may beguarded; for no other race but the primeval one dwells on that
mountain.
3 " After we entered the wood, our eyes were opened, and we
saw here and there the o l i v e - t r e ~ ~ _ ~ w i n e d with vines, fromwhich hung bunches of g0E..es of a dark-blue colour, and the
olive-trees were arrangeOln perpetual windings; wherefore, we
wa.IkeClround and round as they came into view; and at length
we saw a grove of lofty cedars, and some eagJes on their branches.
When he saw these, the angel said, ' Now we are on the moun
tain, not far from its summit.' - .- -
- "-And we went on; and lo! behind the_grove was ~ r 45
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plain, where were feeding male and female lambs, which were
forms" r e p r e s e ~ " t 1 i e s t a t e O T i n n o c e n c e and peace of the
-inhabitantSOf the mountain. -- cc ~ e __c"n)ssid_this_pl(lir.!"'.Jl.nd .12.! there were seen thousands
and thousands of tents to the front, and at thesides lil-eV(;ry
J
direction, as faras ffie sight could reach-.- Andt ne angeCsaId,'l'Now we---are- rn t he camp-where dwell the armies of the Lord
J e ~ f o r S O t h e y call themselves an<f their habitations:-fhese
most ancient people,whi letlley were- in-the world, dweltln
tents; for wli1cll reason they also d w e t H n l l r e ~ t Isaid, ' Let us bend our way to the south, where the wiser of them
dwell, that we may meet some one with whom we may enter
into conversation.'
4 " On the way, I saw at a distance three boys and three girlssitting at the door of their tent; but as we drew near, both the
b.2TI.. and the girls were seen as men and women of medium
height. And the angel said, ' All the inhabitants of this mountain
appear at a distance as young children, because they are in the
state of innocence, and early childhood is the appearance of
innocence.'
" On seeing us, the three men (viri) ran towards us, and said,, Whence are you ,-"and how have you come hither? your faces
<m;_Il..Qt.Q[..tb..e.. faces belonging to this mountain:
"But the angel r e p l i e d - and told the means by which we
obtained access through the wood, and the reason of our coming." On hearing this, one of the three men invited and conducted
us into his tent. The man was clad in a coat of a ~ p l e colour,and a tunic of white wool; and his wife was dressed in a crimson
robe, anOl1ad, underneath, a vest of fine e m b r o i d ~ ~ ~ 5 - a But inasmuch as the desireof Kn6wiiig "aootifthe marriages
of the most ancient people was in my mind,I
looked at thehusband and the wif<: b turns, and observed as it were a unIty
of their souls in their faces; and I said, ' You two are one.'
- " And the man answered:"'" e a re one; er IiIelsm me and
mine In her. We are two bodies, but one soul. There is between
us a union like that of the two tents in the breast, which are
called the heart and the lungs; she is the substance of my heart,
and I am lier lungs; buras by heart we here mean IQY.e, and bylungs wisdom-w e understand the latter by the formefOn account
of correspondence- she is the love of my wisdom, and I am thei wisdom of her love. Hence, as you saId, there is the appeariThce
L.- oLth-e_l.ill!!Y of our souls in our faces. Hence, it is as impossl le }Jt o ~ h e r ~ , J 9 . Q 9 inJust uRo the wife of a companion, as it isto look at the light of our heaven from the shaaeorrartarus. '
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"And the angel said to me, ' You hear now the speech of
these angels, that it is the speech of wisdom, because they speak
from causes.'
"After this conversation, I saw a great light on a hill among
the tents, and I asked, ' Whence is that light? '" He said, ' From the sanctuary of our tabernacle of worship.' )" I enquired whether it was allowed to approach; and he said
that it was. Then I drew near, and saw the tabernacle exactly
according to the descrie§>n without all:d withinJ_of the Taber
nacIe whIch was setUp for the sons ~ e l in the wi!Qerness,the form of which was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exod.xxv 40; xxvi 30). I asked, further, 'What is there within, in
its sanctuary, whence so great a light proceeds? '
" And he answered, 'There is a tablet, on which is written, 1\ 11" THE COVENANT BETWEEN THE LORD JEHOVIH AND HEAVEN.'" 1,1
He said no more. '\ - z.. "
"Then, also, I questioned them about the LORD JEHOVIH,
whom they worship; and I said, ' I s He not God the Father,
the Creator of the universe? '
"And they replied, 'H e is; but, by the Lord Jehovih weunderstand J ehovah in His Human; for we are not able to look
upon Jehovah in His inmost Divinity, except throygh His~ ' : and then they exE!ained what they: understood, and
also what at this day they understand, by the
Seed of the woman trampling the serpent's head (Gen. iii 15);
namely, that the Lord ] ehoyih would come into the world, and
redeem and save all who believed on Him, and who would
believe thereafter.
" When we had finished this conversation, the man ran to his
tent, and returned with a pomegranate in which was a vastnumber of golden seeds, which he presented to me, and I brought
away: this was a token that we had been with those who lived
in the Golden Age." [See the little work on CONJUGIAL LOVE,
n. 75.]-For an account of the heavens of the remaining Churches
which succeeded the Most Ancient, in their order, see in the
same little work on CONJUGIAL LOVE (n. 76-82).38. The hell of those who were from the Most Ancient Churcn
is, beyond all other hells, the most atrocious. It consists of those
who in the world believed themselves to be as God, accoraIIlgto t e c u n n m g j l t : c l a ! : ~ t i 9 n _ Q f the s e q ~ e n t (Gen. iii 5); and thoseare deeper in that hell who persuaded themselves, from the
fantasy that God had transfused His'Divinity into men, that they
were altogether gods, ~ n d _ J h 1 J s J h a L t h e r e _ w - a S _ Q J 9 1 ! . g e r a God
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in the. .tlgiverse. By reaso..!!_-9f that dreadful persuasion, there
exhaled from that hell a deadly stench, which infects the adjacent
places with so baleful a contagion, that, when anyone approaches,
he is at first seized with such a mad delirium that presently, aftersome convulsive struggles, he seems to himself to be in the agonies(. of death. I saw a certain one, in the vicinity of that place, lying
as it were dead; but, on being removed thence, he revived.
That hell lies in the middle region at the south, surrounded with
ramparts, on which stand sO!pew.Qo s h o l l ! . . 9 ~ t ) l ! : C l . l o u ~ , ~ ~ i a n ( volce,_." Approach no nearer." I have heard from the angels
who are in the heaven above that hell, that the vile spirits there
t appear like ser ents twisted into inextricable coils ; which is a
tl)consequence of their vain ecelts an InCantatIOns, by whichj t h e ~ u d e d the simple into agreeing that they are ~ o d s , and
that there is no God beside them. The ancients, who wove all
things into fables, denoted these by the " giants," who besieged
the camp of the gods, and were cast down 6y Jupiter by his
thunderbolts and thrust under the fiery mountain Etna, and
called " C ~ s . " They also called the hells of these, " ~ rtarus " and " pools of Acheron s r , and the deeps there " S ~ x " , , "aW those who dwe lt there, " Lerneean Hydras," and so fort .
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and what of him who has not religion, it shall be stated. The
\ man who has religion is, in spiritual!:!!ings, like a pelican, nourishI ing its young with its own "oIood; but the man who has not
, religion, is in those things like a vulture, in a state of starvation,i devouring its own offspring. The man who has religion is, in
moral t h l n g s ~ : t u r t l e - d o v e in the nest with its mate, sitting
on its eggs or young; but the man who has not religion is, in
IJI these things, like a kite or hawk in the coop of a dove-coLI/The)f man who has religion is,-ii1P01tical things, like a swan flying with (
Ia bunch of grapes in its mouth; but he who has not rehgIon, (
is in these matters like a basilisk with a poisonous herb in its Imouth. t The man who has religion is, in judiciary matters, like a '
tribune riding on a noble hOI§e; but the man who has notreligion, is in those things like a serpent in the desert of Arabia
biting its tail in its mouth, and hurling itself, thus enfolded,upon a horse to coil itself about its rider. The man who has
. religion is, in other civil affairs, like a prince, the son of a king,, who exhibitst he marks o{charity and the graces of truth; but
I the man who has not religion, is like the three-headed dog
Cerberus at the entrance to the court of Pluto, foaming out
poison from its triple mouth.
41. The successive states of this Church-which are: rise ormorning; progression into light, and day; vastation or evening,and consummation or night-i t is not permitted to follow up
with a description in the same manner as we before described
the states of the Most Ancient Church, because the states of that
Church cannot be so collected from our Word; for the posterity
of Noah, through his three sons, is recorded only in a summary,
in one or two pages; and, moreover, that Church was spread
through many kingdoms, and in each kingdom it differed, and
hence that Church underwent and ran through the states2 mentioned in a different manner. That THE FIRST AND SECOND
STATE THEREOF in the regions round about the Jordan and about
Egypt, was like t he" garden of Jehovah," is evident from the
words:
The plain of Jordan . . . was . . . like the garden of J ehovah,
like the land of Egypt, where thou comest unto Zoar (Gen. xiii 10).
And that the like was the case with Tyre, appears from thefollowing:
Thou prince of Tyre, . . . full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
Thou hast been in . . . the garden of God; every precious stone
was thy covering; . . . thou was perfect in thy ways, from the day
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that thou wast created until perversity was found in thee (Ezek.
xxviii 12-15).
That Asshur was like a " cedar in Lebanon," appears from the
following:
Behold, Asshur is a cedar in Lebanon, beautiful in branch, lofty
in height; . . . all the birds of the heavens nested in his branches,
and under his branches did every beast of the field bring forth its
young, and in his shadow dwelt all great nations: No tree
in the garden of God was equal to him in beauty, and all
those trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him
(Ezek. xxxi 3-9).
That wisdom flourished in Arabia, is evident from the queen
of Sheba's journey to Solomon (I Kings x 1-13); also from the
three wise men who came to the new-born Jesus, a star going3 before them (Matt. ii 1-12). THE THIRD AND FOURTH STATE OFTHAT CHURCH, which was that of its vastation and consum
mation, is described in various places in the Word, both in its
historical and prophetical parts. The consummation of the
nations round about the Jordan, or round about the land of
Canaan, is described by the destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah,
Admah and Zeboim (Gen. xix ); the consummation of the
Church of the nations within the Jordan, or in the land ofCanaan, is described in Joshua and in the Book of Judges by the
expulsion of some and the extermination of others. The con
summation of that Church in Egypt, is described by the drowning
of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the Red Sea (Exod. xiv ).
And so on.
42. Certain it is that this Ancient Church was a representative
Church, which, in visible and natural types and signs, figuredforth the invisible and spiritual things of the Church which was
yet to come, when Jehovah Himself would manifest Himself ina natural human form, and by this means secure for Himself
entrance to men, and for men access to Himself, and thus would
divest Himself of types, and found a Church with precepts
which should lead all who believe on Him as Man, and do His
commandments, by a ready way to heaven, the dwelling-place
of His Divinity . But, inasmuch as this Ancient Church, typical
of that which was to come, turned the representative correspond
ences into magic and idolatry, and thus into things infernal,
Jehovah raised up the Israelitish Church, in which He restoredthe primitive types, which were heavenly : such types were all
the tabernacles, feasts, sacrifices, priesthoods, the garments of
Aaron and his sons, and the anointings; besides the statutes in a
long series which were promulgated through Moses.51
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[_P_R O ; ; --;;I T I O N THE FOURTH The Israelitish and Jewish Church
46. IN order that the states of this Church may be thoroughly
laid open and distinctly shown, it is of importance that we
survey them in the following order:
I. The first State of this Church was the Appearing of the Lord
Jehovih, also the Call and Couenanting ; and then was its Rise and
Morning.
II. The second State of this Church was Instruction, and eventually
Introduction into the Land ofCanaan ; and then was its Progression into
light and Day.
Ill . The third State of this Church was the Turning aside from true
representative Worship into Idolatry, and then was its Vastation or Evening.
IV. The fourth State of thi! Church was the Profanation I?l holy
thin s ; and then was its Consummation or Night. - -
V.Be ore this State, and after it, a Promise was made of the Coming
o t e Lord Jehovih into the wor ,a n res ec ing - w urch in
w le justice an JU gment s ou reign. .-...::= = ::::::
tVI. The .fif th State of this Church was the Separation of the goodfrom
the evil, and then Judgment upon those who were from it: but this was
in the spiritual world.
VII. Something respecting the Heaven and Hell from that nation.
47(!)THE FIRST STATE OF THIS CHURCH WAS THE ApPEAR-
ING OF THE LORD J EHOVIH, ALSO THE CALL AND COVENANTING;
AND THEN WAS ITS RISE OR MORNING. We are taught from theWord, that the Lord Jehovih has appeared at the beginning of
each of the four Churches of this earth. This is because God is
t ~ All-in-all of the Church and of its religion; and the acknm;
ledgment of God in it is like the soul in the body, which causesboth its interiors and its exteriors to live; and it is like the prolific
element in seed, which, abiding inmostly in all the sap drawn
from the earth by the root, accompanies it from the firstgermination even to the fruit, in which it also is, and disposes
the vegetative process so that it proceeds in its proper order.For this reason, the man of the Church, without the acknowledgment of God, is in the eyes of the angels a brute like the wild
beasts of the forest, or like a bird of night, or like a monster of
the deep; yea, without the acknowledgment of God, man is
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instruction for that Church. After these instructions, the sons
of Israel were admitted into the land of Canaan, thus into the
Church itself; for the land of Canaan represented, and thus
signified, the Church. That land also was situated in the middle
portion of our entire world: for on the front it looked towardsEurope , on the left towards Africa, and on the hinder part and
right-hand side towards Asia. But after they came into that
land, the precepts given by Moses were enriched by the prophets.!
then by their King David, and at length by Solomon after the
temple was built; as appears from the Books of Judges, Samuel
and Kings. This, therefore, was the second state of this Church,
which was its progression into light, or day.
53. The following passages in the Word may be applied to
these two states of this Church:
Jehovah, after two days, will quicken us: on the third day He
will raise us up, that we may live before him. . . . Jehovah, His
going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto
us as the rain, as the latter rain He shall water the earth (Hosea
vi 2, 3).The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me . . . . He
is as th e light of the morning, . .. a morning without clouds
(2 Sarn. xxiii 3, 4).
And in Moses:
My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My word shall distil as the
dew , as the drops upon the grass, and as the small drops upon the
herb : I will proclaim the name of J ehovah; ascribe ye greatness
to our God. The Rock, whose work is perfect, all His ways are
judgment, a God of faithfulness without perversity, just and right
is He (Deur, xxxii 2, 3, 4).
From these passages, also, it may be confirmed that these two
states of this Church were from our Lord, who is the " God ofIsrael" and the "Rock." That He is t h e" Rock," is clear
from these words in Paul:
The Rock was Christ (I Cor. x 4).
5 4@THE THIRD STATE OF THIS CHURCH WAS DECLINE
FROM TRUE REPRESENTATIVE WORSHIP INTO IDOLATRY, AND THEN
WAS ITS VASTATION, OR EVENING. Some notable things were
adduced above respecting the difference between representative
worship and idolatrous worship, from which it may be plainlyseen, that, so long as the types, figures and signs, which were
In the Hebrew canon, "the Books of Judges, Samuel and Kings" aredesignated " the former (or earlier) Prophets"; what we call" the Prophets "- Isaiah to Malachi-being called" the later Prophets."
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The voice of a tumult; behold it cometh, and a great com
motion from the land of the north, to reduce the cities of'judah
to a waste, a habitation of dragons (Jer. x 22) .
The whole land shall be a desolation, a devastation (Jer. xxv 11);
" land " denotes the Church.
The voice of a cry from Horonaim, devastation and great break
ing; . . . the vastator shall come upon every city (Jer. xlviii 3, 5,
8, 9, 15, 18):
these things are about Moab, by whom is meant confidence in
one 's own works and in self-intelligence (as is manifest from
verse 29 of that chapter).
That they may want bread and water, and be desolated, a man
and his brother, and pine away for their inquity (Ezek. iv 17):
" bread" and" water" denote good and truth.
Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup
of devastation and desolation (Ezek. xxiii 33).
Woe unto them! for they have wandered; devastation unto
them! (Hosea vii 13) .
The land shall be a desolation, because of them that dwell
therein, for the fruit of their doings (Micah vii 13).
Besides many other passages, as Isa. vii 18, 19; xvii 4-6, 9-14;
xxii 4-9; xxix 10-12; li 19: Jer. xix 8; xxv 9-11,18; xliv 2, 6,22: Ezek. ix I to end; xii 19, 20 ; xxxiii 24, 28, 29: Hosea x 14;xii 2: Joel ii 20: Amos v 9: Micah vi 13,16: Hab. i 3: Hag. i
4,9: Zech. vii 14; xi 2,3.
From all these passages may be seen what " vastation " and
" desolation" are; and that it is not a vastation and desolation
of the peoples of a land and of cities, but of the goods and truthsof the Church, in consequence of which there is nothing left but
evils and falsities.
57 .@THE FOURTH STATE OF THIS CHURCH WAS THE PRO
FANATION OF HOLY THINGS, AND THEN WAS ITS CONSUMMATION,
OR NIGHT. Vastation and consummation differ from each other,
as do the shade of evening and the thick darkness of night ; for
vastation is a receding from the Church, but consummation a
complete separation from it. Vastation, therefore, is as when
anyone descends from heaven but not as far as to hell, andtarries in the middle, standing near both; but consummation
exists when anyone, standing thus, turns his face and breast to
hell, and his back and the hinder part of his hsad to heaven;
in like manner as happened with the Dragon and his angels
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OR A P P E N D I X TO T H E T R U E C H R I S T I A N R E L I G I O N [59
forth out of his mouth blasphemies like a flood against the Lord,
but that the Lord turns them aside and bears them away, and
thus delivers man from spiritual captivity and slavery. This
combat is felt in man as if waged by himself. That temptation
is such a combat, and that there is such a perception by man,and hence co-operation, I can avow, for, having often experienced
it, I have known it perfectly. That it is carried on outside man,
and is felt in him as if by himself, and that man is standing in
the middle, and co-operates, is for the end that recompense may
be ascribed to him when he conquers; but only that man
conquers who looks to the Lord, and trusts in Him alone for
help.4 That everyone who calls upon the Lord in temptations,
conquers, but that otherwise he yields, shall be illustrated by
comparisons. It is like a ship hurled by storms near the rocks:
unless the captain knows how to divert it from its danger, and
to direct it to an outlet and thus to port, it must be lost. It is
like a city besieged by enemies: unless there be escape or aid
somewhere, the commander and his garrison become hopeless
and disheartened, and yield themselves prisoners, and surrender
their lives to the will of the enemy. It is like a person on ajourney entering unawares into
acottage where there are robbers
,unless, when he is shut in, a friend come and knock at the door,
or show himself at the window, and thereby terrify those villainsand rescue him from ill-treatment. I t is like a person fallinginto a cave where there is a bear with cubs, or into a pit where
there are a wolf and a leopard, if his father, or brother, on seeing
this, do not immediately let down to him a ladder, or a rope,and draw him up thence. It is like a person who stands, or
walks, in the day-time, in a thick fog, who consequently does
not know which way to turn, unless he light a lamp, and therebyshow himself the place where he stands or the way in which he
should walk. It is like being in the depth of winter, and short
of provisions, if not supported by the hope of a harvest to come,
on the return of summer. So, again, it is like a person wandering
at midnight in a wood, unless he comfort himself with the hope
of day, and in that hope goes to lie down, and sleeps quietly tillmorning. It is also like one, who, for the sake of salvation, is
desirous of being instructed in the things of the Christian Religion,
and who meets with mitred doctors and laurelled teachers, whoexpound them by terms borrowed from metaphysics, and wrap
them in mysteries, unless there be some other person to explain
those terms, and thereby unravel the perplexities, and to set
forth from the Word, thus from the Lord, the holy things of the
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*** The numbers of the verses being printed in heavy type, thus 1, 2, 3,indicates that theuery words of the verses are qu oted in the paragraph mentioned.
When the numbers of the verses are printed in thin type, thus I, 2, 3, it
indica tes that the substance of the verse is given, but no t the very words.Thin Italic type, thus 1, 2, 3, signifies that the verses so indicated are merely
referred to--not quoted, either substantially or verbally.
REFERENCES TO THE WORD
Genesis Exodus-continued1,2 23 xx 1-18. 4926,27 25 4,5 43
1. Concerning the Consummation of the Age, and the
Abomination of Desolation at the time.
2. There is no cognition 1 of God, but such as is erroneous,
false, and entirely worthless; no cognition whatever of Omni
potence.
3. No cognition of the Lord.
4. No cognition of the Divine Human, but such as is historical.
5. No cognition of the Holy Spirit.
6. Hence, no cognition of the Divine Trinity.
7. No cognition of the holiness of the Word.8. No cognition of Redemption, but such as is false.
9. No cognition of Faith, but such as is perceived by a blind
man, which is n0 I!.e. It is similar with all things which depend
upon that faith, and which from" God" are called Theological,
from the "Church" Ecclesiastical, and from the "Spirit of
God," by which they are inspired, Spiritual.
10. No cognition of Charity.
11. No cognition of Free-determination; and hence no humanwill; and therefore man is not man.
12. No cognition of Repentance, except oral; which is not
Repentance.
13. No cognition of the Remission of Sins, and hence no
cognition of Conversion.
The term cognitiones, here used in the Latin, is translated "cognitions "
to distinguish these knowledges from those that are meant by the Latin
scientifica also used in the Writings of Swedenborg. Two of the meanings mostcommonly associated with cognitiones are (i) a particular species of knowledge,
as knowledges of the Word, of good and truth , or of spiritual things (A.C. 24,
3665,9945 ; N.].H.D. 51; H.H . 111,351 ,469,474,517,518); and (ii) a
higher tYPL.-Qf j= ledg .e which is from understanding and perceptio-;i"(tLQ,.J486-14[l; H.H . 110, ,353). ~
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[32.] I have spoken with Paris,' whose miracles occupy twovolumes, as to how he wrought his miracles-that it was done
through spirits who entered into man's memory.
I Franc;ois de Paris, who is referred to here and in " Invitation to the New
Church," nn. 29 and 55, and in Swedenborg's letter to Venator, was a Jansenist.The miracles at his tomb in the cemetery of St Medard , Paris, led to petitionsfor his canonization. See the volume entitled Recueil des Miracles Optfres au
Tombeau de M. de Paris, • . . Diacre, MDCCXXXII. The petitions were
ignored. The first of the two volumes referred to by Swedenborg was published
in 1737, and bears the title, La Veri/! des Miracles Optfres par l'Tntercession de
M. de Paris. Demontree conire M. l'Archev'que de Sens. Ouorage dedi! au Ray parM. de Monigeron Conseiller au Parlement, A Utrecht chez; les Librairies de la Com
pagnie, MDCCXXXVII. The second volume, without the dedication to the
King, and referring also to the Convulsionnaires, was published in 1741. Athird volume followed in 1747. See article by the Rev. E. J. E. Schreck, in
The New-Church Review of Boston, Mass., D.S.A., for October 1906.
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THERE is no Church truly such, unless God is One, and He,
Jehovah God, under a human form.-And thus God is Man, and
Man God.
The doctrinals contained in THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION }\\ Ja ree with the doctrinals of those Of the Roman Catholic Church, ~ an wiJh_t
_ d o c . t r i n a l L o L t h o s _ ~ m o n g the Protestants whoa c k n o w l e d g L ~ - - p ~ r § . . < m . a L l l l l i . Q ! L i . ! ! Christ and a p-roach Christ,
aIld t a k ~ ~ . ! : ! ~ a r in two kinds.Various causes why now, for the first time, and not before,
those truths of the Church [have been revealed]; among which
this, ~ ~ a new Church is not instituted before the former}I Church is being-ccmsumiiiiifeCI .- - --
lhe-Divine ProvIaence in these matters:
From the heresies spread abroad after the time of the
Apostles.Why the Romish Church was permitted.
Why the separation from it took place, and the causes why
it was an unworthy mother.
Why the Greek Church separated from the Romish.
Various things concerning miracles; that they have destroyed
the Church,-also from the Lord's words in Matt. xxiv.
All things tended to the invocation of men who were calledsaints.
This Church is not instituted and established through miracles,u through the revelation or the spiritual sense [of the Word],
and throu h the introduction of :rpys irit an d a t the same time
o ml 0 y, mto tne spInua woiIO, so. tha1(!)might there know
wh,:t - eaven and hell are, an at c.!)might imbibe from the
Lord immediately in light the truths of faith, where y man IS~ ed to eternal ~ - . . .
The Advent of the Lord-from the Word and the creeds.
Invitation to the New Church that men should go t ~ h e Lord-from/Rev. xxijand xxii; and also from Chap. i, etc., etc.
1 Latin text in Volume recently returned from Upsala to The Swedenborg
Society and entitled Opuscula Varia Swedenborgii, VoJ. n. Aug. Nordenskold.Also in Immanuel Tafe1's Diarium Spiriiuale, App. vii, pp . 142-160.
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of Paul, that faith enters by the hearing of the Word; and some
add, by a certain meditation from the Word. But by this is to
be understood that truths ought to be drawn from the Word ,
and that man ought to live according to them . Then man
approaches the Lord, who is the Word and the 5 u h ~ andreceives faith; for all truths are from the Word, which is
spiritual light. Thus faith is acquired; because faith is of truth,
and truth is of faith, and no_thing is to be be lieved exce t truth. )
8. There are numberless CV1s I n er ror y I n man; yea, t ere
a re numberless evils in each several lust. Every lust of which(
man becomes conscious is a mass and heap of many things.
These man does not see, but only the one mass. When, there
fore, man by repentance r:.emoves this, the Lord, who sees the
(. ~ r : i ~ a ! 1 t i inmost things o f m e ~ . > r : . e ~ ~ those interior things.
Unless, therefore, man approaches the Lord, he labours i l lvain
to ~ e himself The case herein is the same as that described
in tEe Memorable Relation concerning Turtles (see THE TRUE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION, n. 462).9. A man who has thoroughly confirmed himself in the faith
and doctrine of the present-day Church, may make no account
of repentance, of the law of the Decalogue, nor of works and
charity. For he can sa , " I cannot do good from myself; thesethings are included in faith, whence they proceed one by one
without my knowing it " ; and so forth. This, also, is the source 1of the naturalism which prevails at the present time.
10. The" fulness of t ime" also signifies consummation and
desolation: the reason is that " time " signifi es the state of the
l~ h (see Rev. x 6; and in Ezekiel). The same also is signified
by " a time, times, and half a time " [see Rev. xii 14; Dan. vii
25; xii 7]. Times in the world are spring, summer, autumn;
and the fulness of them is winter. Times as to light are morning,noon, evening; and the ~ s s of these is n ~ h t , etc., etc. This
is meant by the Lord's coming being in " t e fulness of time," \
or of " t1mes " ; that 1S, wh en there is no long<;£. a ny truth of \faith and good of charity remaining. (Concerning , c the 1U:rnFss Iof time," see"Rom. xi 12;25;Ga1. iv 4, and, especially, Ephes. i9, 10; Gen. xv 16).
11. The presence of the Lord's love is with those who are in
faith in Him. This may be clearly understood from the fact
that place cannot be predicated of love, nor of faith; for eachis spiritual. That the Lord Himself is present is manifest from
the consideration that what is s iritual also has no place. It
was ever so in my own case, when I was in a spintua 1 ea. In
a__word, p r e ~ e n c e in the spiri!].l.'!L...orld is accordLI:.!&-.1Q...love.
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Wherefore He is omnipresent; it is not a matter of moving
about: it is in place, but not [a proceeding] t h r o u g l ~ _ J ~ l a c e . I t is in space and in extense, but not through space and through
extense.
12. The desolation of the truth of the Church may be compared with the consummations on earth: namely, heat and all
those seasons [see n. 10, above] are consum mated by winter, U l ~ ~ n comes sJ2tiyg; and light on earth is consummated by nigi}t,ancr then comes morning. Wherefore, the Lord said to those
unde;.=me altar,
[that they should rest yet. for a little time, till their fellOW.servants, and their brethren, who should be killed as the were,
should be fulfilled (Rev . vi 11) .
(Many passages are to be adduced from the Apocalypse, to the
effect.rhar the Church has been devastated, even dow n to last1thin.g"s.)
13. At the present day, the union ofsoul and body is unknown .
This is owing to the hypothesis of the learned, es ecially that of
t ~ C a e a n s a n d others, that the soul is a substance separate\ from tJlelj()ay, in some place or other; when yet the soul isth-e,]inmost man; consequently, is man from head to ~ l . Thence it
is that, according to the ancients, the soul is in the whole, andin every part thereof, and that in whatever part the soul is not
inmostly, there the life of man is not. By virtue of this union ), it is that all things of the soul are of the body, and all t h i n ~ of
the body are of the soul; as the L o r d ~ d concerning His~ Father, that all His things are the Father's, and that all the
Father's things are His [John xvii 10]. Thence it is that the
Lord is God, even as to the flesh (Rom. ix 5; - C6loss. ii 9); and
that [He said],
" the Father in Me," and" I in the Father" [John xiv 10, 11],
thus that they are one.o@T h e human mind is of three degrees, which are the0 § a ] ) h spiritual, a n d ~ natural. In the first degree is the~ in the second, the s irit or mind, in the third is the ~ I r is the same thing, whether you say that man's mind is of treedegrees, or that man himself is. For that part of the body
which is in the beginnings-thus where its first is-is called the
mind. The remaining parts are propagated and continue therefrom. What is the mind, if only in the head, except somethingseparated or alien, and in which the mind does not exist by
continuation? Let autopsy settle it : The origins of the fibres are
the little glands, so-called,of-ihe cortical substance; thence
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on the above things from t h ~ . J ' Y Q r d _ a n d , _ w Q e n his orthodox isb r o u g ~ l ) e a r up on them, you will see that 'all things that T
I(have seen and said are true . (Let an example illustrate this . . .)Thus
the affirmand
th en deny,if orthodoxy
is inthe internal
man anot lie a ove-mentlOned preached in the external. Inthis case that which then remains in the external man IS of noaccount.and becomes like ~ I t is if h ~ ~ e . e ; ; ; ~ - - e ; : ; t h quake, or as if a ship in the water were wrecked from below.
19. A striking example may also be brought from genuine
orthodoxy on the subject of faith, charity, and freedom of
choice, from which example the absurdity will appear plainly.20. That the spiritual things of heaven flow into every man,
and that things flow in through the world, is luminously confirmed thus: that spiritual and natural things flow in conjointly,
but that the evil man mverts tne two. Tfrat whICh-is wltlllii"he
places in his mind without, andtl1at which is without he places
within; so that the world is above heaven, or heaven belOw the
world. But the pious and good man receives each in its own lrder in which it flows in: the spiritual things which flow in
t h r ~ ~ g h heaven, k places above iii- hism m , and the natural
things which flow in through the world, below. This latter man
stands erect on his feet; but the former, as it were, upside down.21. The whole of Theology at the present day is nothing but
Divine omnipotence. Thus it is asserted: 1. that God gives
faith where and to whom He will; 2. that He remits sins;3. that He regenerates; 4. that He sanctifies; 5. that He imputes
and saves; 6. that He will raise the dead bodies from the graves;that He will cause the skeletons to live, and will put into them
their former souls; 7. that He will destroy the world, together
with the sun, the stars, the planets, the earths, and will create a
new universe; 8. Since omnipotence is everything, and is the
order which God is, and which is from God in the whole world,
JL followUn.at .th e.-man_o£.the-.ChIJIclLCfln imagine whatever hewill; that he can raise himself even above what is eternal, that
is, above reason; and that, wherever he pleases, he can go counter
to reason, and simply declare, "reason must be kept under
obedience to our faith. For is not God omnipotent? Who i;;
able, or dateS. t reason a ainst His omni otence?" Such are
all t mgs of the present-day faith, etc.
22. Man cannot discover a single Divine Truth, e x c ~ ! J : ! . e aPQroach the Lord immediately. The reason is, that the Lord
alone is the Word, an t a He is Light and Truth Itself, and
that ~ ~ not become spiritual, except from the Lord only,but remains natural; and the natural man, in spiritual matters,
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sees all things i n v e r ~ ~ l y . That this is so, is known from Paul.
This is the reason why not a single truth has remained in the
Church, so that there is n ~ consummation, desolation , decision,)\ and fulness. But because the Lord is not dead, therefore there
still remains " a root left in the earth" according to Daniel[iv 15, 23, 26]; also that man desires to die, but is not able,
according to the Apocalypse [ix 6]. That which is " left" is the
facult of b e L r ~ g able Fo understand t r u t n ; a n a - - - o r ~ t o will good. This--is_" the root that is left ."~ - 23.- T he ts of modern orthodoxy object that faith,
charity, goo works, repentance, remission of sins, etc ., cannot
exist with man before he has received the Holy Spirit. But, as
has been shown, the Holy Spirit is the Divine which proceeds
from the L o ~ ; and the Lord is perpetually present with every
man , evil as well as goo. I OU IS presence, no one can
rve ; aE...- t e or constantly acts, urges and st!,ives_ to be
received; wherefore, the presence of the Holy Spirit is perpetual.For the sake of con rmation, this was prove-d-in -t hes pin t; al
Iworld, in the case of a certain devil, by th e Lord's presence being
removed from him. The devil lay dead, exactly like a corpse.Thousands both of spirrts-and-6f'-t c c er saw tlus, and were
astoun e. _U s_ y virtue of the perpetual presence 0 t e ord
that man h a ~ th_e faculty 5>f thinkitrg;-u nderstandmg an wlrrmg.
These facul ties are due soleI to th e influx of f ~ f r o m the Lord.
Both Luther and M elanchthon were present, and at this were
not able to open their mouth.
24. The onl y c ~ e why the Reformation took place was that 11the Word, "WIiich lay buried, mi ht be restored to the world.
For many centuries it had een in the world, bu t at length itwas entombed b the Roman Catholics, and not a single truth
o the Church could be roughTf
orth from it. The Lord couldnot be known, but the Pope was worshipped as God, in place
of the Lord. When, however, the Word had been drawn forth
out of its t o m b ~ Lord could become known, truth could be
derived from it, and therecould be conjunction with heaven.
For this purpose the Lord raised up ~ m u n o u y so many men JJto the attack. He stirred up weaen, enmar , H olland, Eng
land, to bring it [the Word] back; and, lest it [the movement]
should be extinguished in Germany through the Pope, He
[email protected] up Gustavus Adolphus, who stood for the R eformationand rose against him.~ this little ~ o k be not added to the precedin one, theC ~ c h cannot e h ~ d ; there would oe on y a palliative-cure,
a wound in which the corrupt matter remains, and eats away
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the neighbouring parts. 9 rt ,doxY-d itself ~ ~ ~ ~ r r u p t matter;
)Iand th.e doctrine of the New C mrch indeed furnishes a re ,
b u t - ~ - 6 u t w a r d l y . - 26: -T he origins of all errors in the Church have been that
man had been believed to live from himself, or fr9m his own
life, and that life is increate in him; when et he is onl an or an
of life and is in the midst between heaven and hell, and thus ~ (
equilibrium, or freedom of choke.
27. No one is able to see the desolation of truth in the Church[ before the truths of the Word come to light. What heretic,
indeed, knows anything else thant:ha tall his heresies are truths?
Everyone can swear to his own. There is a delusive light
ansmgfroITICOiifirmations. In such light is the n a t u r a ! . . 2 n n until the spiritual man enlightens him. Yea, an atheistic
naturalist may swear that there is no God, and that the existence
of God is a mere vain imagination of the common herd; wheref ~ t heart, he scoffs at the learned men of the Church.~ I t is known in the Church that, the Churc is the Body
o ~ g E _ r ~ t ; bu t how this i ~ ~ ~ s not been' known hitherto. - Henceit is, thatthe whole heav<;!Visas one man before the Lord; and
this one man IS Istinguished into societies, each of which has
reference to some member or organ, and viscus, in man. Inthis man, or body, the Lord is the soul or life. For the Lord
breathes into men; a ~ d , when He is present [with them], H ~ is present through the eavenS) as the soul through itS"body
The like is the case w n 1 ~ C h u h on ~ h ; for -thlS is- the
external man . Wherefore, everyone, after-death, is gathered to
his own in that body, etc.
29. The things which are related of me are not miracles, but
testimonies that I have been introduced into the spiritual wOrld
£y: the Lord for the sake of ends which -:-..
Reasons whymiracles do not take place at this day..- .. Further, from the
Lord's words in Matt. xxiv. Concerning the miracles of Anthony
of Padua, and of many who are worshipped as saints, of whose
miracles the monasteries are full. Concerning the miracles of
Paris, concerning which there are two volumes in 4to. 1
30. That the Lord would come in the fulness of time and
would judge, is meant by His words,
When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy
angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory; and
there shall be gathered before Him all nations: and He shall
separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the
sheep from the he-goats (Matt. xxv 31,32).
I See footnote on p. 88.
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I N V I T A T I O N TO T H E N E W C H U R C H [30-32
This coming of the Lord is meant by the following words con
cerning Jesus Christ, in the Apostles' Creed r - " He ascended into
the heavens, He sitteth at the right hand of God the Father
Almighty; ttqm thence He shall come to judge the quick and
the dead"; and also by this concerning the Lord Jesus Christin the Nicene Creed: "H e ascended into heaven; He sitteth at
t he righ t hand of the Father; and He shall come again in glory
to judge the quick and the dead; of whose kingdo 1TJ:.JMre shall beno end."
31. And also in the A thanasian Creed: "H e ascended to the
heavens; He sitteth at the right hand ofGod the Father Almighty:
from whence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead . . .and they shall give account of their own deeds, And they that
have done goods shall go into eternal life: and they that have
done evils into eternal fire" (Formula Concordie [Leipsic, 1756],pp. 1,2,4).
Besides, the Schmalkaldic Articles teach the same thing as
the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian creeds; namely,
" Jesus Christ ascended to the heavens; He sitteth at the right
hand of God, . . . He shall come to judge the quick and the
dead"; and our Catechism [the one used in Sweden] teaches
the same (p. 303). From the Augsburg Confession in like manner,
" He ascended to the heavens, that He might sit at the right
hand of the Father, and reign forever, and exercise dominion
over all creatures. . . . The same Christ will openly return to
judge ~ q u c k and the d e ~ d , according to the Apostles' Creed"
(Formula Concordie, p. 10). Luther teaches the same (in the
Lesser Catechism, p. 371; Augsburg Confession, pp. 10, 14).32. That the Lord will not come to judgment in order to
destroy heaven and earth, is plain from many passages in the
Word where His coming is treated of; where it is said,When th e Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
(Luke xviii 8) ;
besides many more passages which are quoted in THE TRUE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION, no. 765. Further, that He will not come
to destroy the visible heaven and the habitable earth (n. 768,
-> et seq.), but t o _ s l ' : p~ l 2 l t e the evil from t ! " t ~ good (n. 772, et seq.);and many more besides. The same also is declared in the Credal
Faith which is inserted in every Psalm book in the whole Christianworld, where the Apostles' Creed only is set forth. The same is
introduced thence into psalms. J 3y the _" quick," ! E ~ b o v e places, are meant those who _are in _<:!:tarity ~ ~ h and are
called "_sheep" by the Lord; but by the " d e a : g ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ' ! ! ? - t c.-8 103
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those who are not in charity and faith, and are called by theLord " he-goats." (Add to the above, Rev. xi 18; and xx 12.)
33. Title:
THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE, AND THE ABOMINATION OF
THE DESOLATION THEN.There is to be adduced what the Lord says,
I. Concerning the" abomination of desolation";
2. What He says [concerning vastationJ;
3. What the Lord says concerning the" affliction";
4. That" no flesh can be saved";
5. Concerning the "darkening of the sun and of the
moon ";
6. The things which are declared in the Apocalypse (i 18),
Behold, I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am
He that liveth unto the ages of the ages (see, also, Rev. ii 8 and v 6f.And again, the Lord says:
The night cometh when no man can work (John ix 4);
In that night, there shall be two men in one bed (Luke xvii 34).
Further, what the Lord says concerning Peter in John xxi 18;also, what Paul says concerning the last times, in 1 Tim. iv 1-3;
2 Tim. iii 1-7; iv 3, 4.
(What the Lord says in Matt. xxiv 27, that this should take
place in the day of the Last Judgment, must be explained; also,
what He says in vv. 30, 31. That this actually has thus taken
place, see THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, n. 791.)
34. The Coming of the Lord is according to the order that
the spring does not come until after the winter, nor the morning
until after the night; nor -comfort and joy to the travailing
woman until after the pain; that consolations are after temptations; one lives truly after death, even as the Lord says, ~ Except the grain . . . die, etc. (John xii 24).
The Lord exhibited the type of this order in that He suffered
Himself to be crucified and to die, and afterwards rose again.
This type signifies the state of the Church . . . . This, also, isinvolved in the image which appeared to Nebuchadnezzar, inthat the Stone became a great Rock at the last; it is further
involved in the four beasts out of the sea, and in what is relatedthere concerning that horrible nation (all of which is to beexplained). It is likewise involved in the four Ages known to
the ancients, the golden, the silver, the copper and the iron ages;
further, in the ages of every !llan, from infancy to old ag<::104
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xciv 22; xcv I; cv 41; Isa. ii 10; xxii 16; xlii 11; li I ; I Cor.
x 4). (" Fissures of the rock" denote falsified truths, Rev. vi
15, 16; Isa. ii 19; Jer. xvi 16; Song of Solomon, ii 14; Isa.
xlviii 21; Jer. xxiii 29; xlix 16; Obad. ver. 3; besides in the
Gospels.)In this wise also some of the Fathers explained it (see Formula
Concordie, p. 345).
, 36. Since the Son alone became Man, and not the whole
Trinity, was.not then the Divine Essence, which is a one and an
indivisible trine, separated, or disunited and divided?
37 That. the whole-.i>f the Lord's prayer, from beginning to
enc( has respect to the present time, isvery plain that s , - t ~ t God the Father is worshipped in human form. This appears if
(this prayer is rightly explained .38. That the Churches after the times of the Apostles fell
away into so many heresies, and that at the present day there
are none other than false Churches, is owing to their not having
approached the Lord, when yet the Lord is the Word, and the
Ligh! itself wEich enlightens the whole world. And yet- i t is
as impossible to see one genuine jruth from the Word , whichj s
not crowded about and defiled with falsities, and cohering with
falsities, as it is impossible to sail to the Pleiades, or to dig olit
\ the gold which is in the centre of the earth. Wherefore, in orderthat the true Christian religion might be op'ened u , it _ w a absolutely necessary that some one should be introduced into
the spiritual world, and derive from the Lord's mouth genuine
\ truths out of the Word. The Lord cannot enlighten anyone
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in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture [in THE TRUE CHRISTIAN
R ELIGION].{ 4 ~ ~ r r e s p o n d e n c e s , by which the Word, as to each and all~ of it, has been written, p ~ s e s such force and strength that
it may be called the force and stren th of Divine O mnipotence;for t roug t ese correspondences the natural acts conjoint Y
with the spiritual, and the spiritual with the natural, thus every
thing of heaven with everything of the world. Thence it is that
tnetwo sacraments are corresRondences of sp'iritual with natural
things; thence is their strength and ower,
46. What, on the other hand, do miracles amount to? Miracles
do not take place at this day, because they lead men astray, and
make th em natural. They close up the interiors of their mind,
in which faith ought to be rooted; wherefore, mere falsities pro
ceed thence (see Matt. xxiv 24). What did the miracles which
were wrought in Egypt effect with the sons of Israel? What
did those miracles effect which were wrought before them in
the wilderness? What those miracles at their entrance into the
land of Canaan? What the miracles wrought by Elijah and
Elisha? What the miracles performed by the Lord Himself?
Was anyone ever made spiritual by their means? What have
the miracles among the Roman Catholics done for them? and
those of Anthony at Padua? and of the three wise men at
Cologne? And what has been the use of the countless miracles
in the monasteries, which are filled with pictures, plates and
gifts? Has ever anyone been made spiritual thereby? Have
they not become natural thereby, so that there is scarcely any
truth of the Word among them, but only externals of worship
which pertain to men and to traditions?
47. That in Christ Godl s Man, and Man God, is confirmed
three times in theFormula Concordie ;
and also in theAthanasian
Creed, where is said, the " taking of the Manhood into God";
from the Word (Rom. xiv 11; Coloss, ii 9; 1 John v 20, 21),
as well as, by the Lord Himself, that the Father and He are one;
that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father; that all things
of the Father are His; that He has Life in Himself; that He
is God of heaven and earth. .
48. The soul is the inmost ~ , and, according to the ancients,
is in the whole and in every part of the body, for the beginning
J o£1!fe resides jn the soul; that p_arLoLthe . h o d ~ n which theI ~ o u L L nOLinmost1¥>--does i l ~ e . Wherefore, there exists areciprocal union; and hence the body acts from the soul, not
the soul through the body. Whate er roceeds from God
partakes of the human form, because God is Very Man; this
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is especially the case with the soul, which is the first of
man.
\- 49, Nothing is more common in the whole heaven and in the
whole world, than for one thing -to e wltliinanother, thus an
inmost, a middle and an outmost, and for the three to inter::c o m m u n i c e - ; a i J . a f O r ' P ~ r of the middle and outmost to
be deriv.ed fr.QJ!L the n m ~ s t . That there are th ese three, on'ewithin the other, is eVIdent from each and every thing in the
human body. Around the brain there are three tunics, which
are called the dura mater, the pia mater, and the arachnoid;
and over these is the skull. Around the whole body there are
tunics, one within the other, which, together, are called the skin.Around each artery and vein there are three tunics; likewise
around each muscle and fibre; in like manner, around all the
rest of the things there. So in the vegetable kingdom. How
they intercommunicate, and how the inm.ost enters the middle,
ancrtliemlddle the last, anatomy shows, etc. Thence it follows
that it is so with light: that spiritual ~ which in its essence
is truth, is inwardly in natural light; m like manner, spiritual
h ~ which in its essence is love, in natural heat. By natural
heat is meant natural love, because that love gr; 'ws warm; an
this is covered over by t he heat of the blood.
50. All that they say about the Holy Spirit falls to the ground
as soon as it is believed that man i s . . . . n o t . . l i f e , - b u t o _ n l ~ a n organ of life, and _th.US .. lb..a..t..God is constantly present in man, and that
He strives, acts and ur es that those things which relate to
religion, an consequently those relating to the Church, to
heaven and salvation, shall be received. It is, therefore, vain
to say that the Holy Spirit is " given;r or that it is " withheld."
For the HolY Spirit-iSilothing else than th e Divine which pro
ceeds out of the Lord from the Father, and this Divine con-st1Mes man's life, and also his understanding and love; and the
presence of this Divine is perpetual. Wi t.!!.Q.u.. l ~ _ p ~ e n c e of.'\ I~ r d , . . Q ! of the Hol)' S.2irit, man would be only a kind oH
animal; but he would have no more life than salt, a stone or cl
log. The reason of this is, that man is not born with instinct,
like the beasts; wherefore, a chiCK of one day.old knows the
order of its life better than an infant.
51. It is allowable to confirm the truths of ·the Church by
reason, or the understanding, as much as one pleases, and alsoby various things in nature; and, in proportion as truths are so
confirmed, they become inrooted and shine. It is also allowable
to confirm truths by the Word, wherever one pleases, and also
to apply for this purpose many things from the Word; and the
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Word is not then falsified. These sayings of Scripture, through
which truths are confirmed, rise into heaven: they are like the
fumes from incense; but if falsities are confirmed from the
rWord, they do not rise to heaven, but are driven back; and
\ they explode on the way with a loud report. I have heard it athousand times.
52. The__maJ!if!:Sl<!.li9!LoLthe _.Lord,_an!Ladmission into the
sgiritIJaLwo.dd.-surpass all m iracles. This has not been granted
to anyone since th e creation , as it has been to me. The men of
the golden age, indeed, conversed with angels; but it was not
granted to them to be in any other than natural light; to me,
however, it is granted to be at the same time both in spiritual
and in natural light. By this..JI1!:_ans_iLhaLheen-ZIanted ~ e / to see the wonderful things of h e a v ~ . l ! , ~ ~ m o l 1 : ~ e l s as
oneof i l iem, and-ar-fhe-same time-to imbibe truths in light, and~ c v e a n d t e a c h ~ m ; _ c o n S e q u e n t l y ) o - I ) e 1 e d b y\the Lord. But as concerns miracles: they would have been
nothing else than snares to lead astray, as the Lord says (Matt.
xxiv 24); and as is related of Simon the sorcerer, that he
"bewitched the people of Samaria," who believed that these
things were done f rom" the great power of God" (Acts viii 9
et seq.). What else are the miracles among the Papists, than
snares and deceptions? What else do they teach, than that they
themselves ought to be worshipped as deities, and that men
should give up the worship of the Lord? Have wonder-working
images any other effect? Have the idols or dead bodies of saints
throughout Popedom any other purpose? Those of Anthony of
Padua, of the three wise men of Cologne, and of all the rest,
whose miracles fill the monasteries? What have they taught
concerning Christ? What concerning heaven and eternal life?
Nota syllable.53. AnLQhurch and any coherent relig!on are impossible,
unless ' it is believed that God is One. When, therefore, the
Divine Trinity is believed to be divided into three Persons, how
can the metaphysical term" essence" make of the three one, so
long as the properties of each person are diverse, yea, so diversethat they are said not to be communicable and so long as
equal, proper persons subsist by themselves, and one person hasno part and no quality in another, or of another, person? But,
as soon as it is believed that the one God is not only Creator,but also Redeemer and Operator, then we have one God; and
then for the first time the Church exists and subsists, and religionlives. And there cannot be this union of three otherwise han, as
in every man, that of the soUl) the body;' and the roceeding.' l i l l 2- - r ~
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These three make one man: and why no God-,-w-ho is·-Very\
Man from firsts to l a s t ~ These things concerning G o d - M a ~ . . . J have been explained in the book concerning " Tile Divine]
Love and Wisdom," and may be consulted; and that He is
neither ether, nor air, nor wind. That the soul of every mall isthe man himself, thence follows. - . - -
As we n o ~ have in the Church one God, who is God-Man
and Man-God, this Church is called the crown of all the churches.
54. That in Christ M an is God:
From three places in the Formula Concordie;
From Paul (Rom. xiv 11 and Coloss. ii 9) ;
From John (first Epistle V 20, 21);
and from the words of the Lord:
I. That God was the Word, and the Word became flesh;2. That all things of the Father are His;
3. That all who are of the Father come to Him;
4. That as the Father hath life in Himself, so has the Son
(" Life in Himself" is God);
5. That the Father and He are one;
6. That He is in the Father, and the Father in Him;
7. That he who seeth Him, seeth the Father;
8. That He is God of heaven and earth;
9. That He governs the universe (from the Creed);
10. That He is called" Jehovah, the Redeemer";
11. That He is called" J ehovah, our Righteousness";
12. That it is said that Jehovah would come into the world;
13. In the Apocalypse (chap. i) it is said, that He is " the
First and the Last";
rI4) In a word, that He is God the Father who is invisible, in~ u m a n which is visible before minds.Inasmuch as there is thus one God in the Church, the Church
is the Church; etc ., etc.
From the Athanasian Creed: that God and Man in Christ is one
Person, like soul and body. Also that the Human Nature wastaken up into God.
55. CONCERNING MIRACLES.
From the sons of Israel; ,
From the Lord's words concerning the rich man and Lazarus;
From the Lord's words in Matt. xxiv 24.
The Popish miracles (which are to be enumerated). Theyonly lead astray, and do not teach anything except that they are
to be invoked as deities, and this to the end that they y bri!!ggold and silver to the monasteries, or, that they may scrape
together the treasures of the whole world. The miracles of
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