True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1771], tr. by John C. Ager [1906] at sacred-texts.com

True Christian Religion

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY SIX DAYS SHALT THOU LABOR AND DO ALL THY WORK; BUT THE SEVENTH DAY IS THE SABBATH OF JEHOVAH THY GOD. This is the third commandment, as may be seen from Exod. 20:8-10, and Deut. 5:12-14. In the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, it means that six days are for man and his labors, and the seventh for the Lord and rest for man from the Lord. In the original tongue Sabbath signifies rest. With the children of Israel the Sabbath, because it represented the Lord, was the sanctity of sanctities, the six days representing His labors and conflicts with the hells, and the seventh His victory over them, and consequent rest; and as that day was a representative of the close of the whole of the Lord's work of redemption, it was holiness itself. But when the Lord came into the world, and in consequence representations of Him ceased, that day became a day of instruction in Divine things, and thus also a day of rest from labors and of meditation on such things as relate to salvation and eternal life, as also a day of love towards the neighbor. That it became a day of instruction in Divine things is evident from this, That on that day the Lord taught in the temple and in synagogues (Mark 6:2; Luke 4:16, 31, 32: 13:10) And that He said to the man who was healed, Take up thy bed and walk and to the Pharisees that it was lawful for His disciples on the Sabbath day to pluck the ears of corn and eat (Matt. 12:1-9; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-6; John 5:9-19), each of these particulars signifying in the spiritual sense instruction in doctrinals. That that day was made also a day of love towards the neighbor is evident from what the Lord did and taught on that day (Matt. 12:10-14; Mark 3:1-9; Luke 6:6-12; 13:10-18; 14:1-7; John 5:9-19; 7:22, 23; 9:14, 16). From all this it is evident why the Lord said, That He is Lord also of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5); and because He said this, it follows that that day was a representative of Him.

In the spiritual sense, this commandment signifies man's reformation and regeneration by the Lord, "the six days of labor" signifying his warfare against the flesh and its lusts, and at the same time against the evils and falsities that are in him from hell, and "the seventh day" signifying his conjunction with the Lord, and regeneration thereby. That man's spiritual labor continues as long as that warfare lasts, but when he is regenerated he has rest, will be shown in what is to be said hereafter in the chapter on Reformation and Regeneration, especially under the following sections there: (1) Regeneration is effected in a manner analogous to that in which man is conceived, carried in a womb, born, and educated (2) The first act in the new birth is called reformation, which belongs to the understanding; and the second is called regeneration, which belongs to the will and therefrom to the understanding. (3) The internal man is to be reformed first, and through that the external. (4) Then a conflict arises between the internal and the external man, and the one that conquers rules the other. (5) The regenerate man has a new will, and a new understanding; and so forth. The reformation and regeneration of man are signified by this commandment in the spiritual sense, because they coincide with the labors and combats of the Lord with the hells, and with His victory over them, and the rest that followed. For the Lord reforms and regenerates man and renders him spiritual in the same manner in which He glorified His Human and made it Divine; and this is the meaning of the command to "follow Him." That the Lord had combats, which are called "labors," is evident from Isa. 53 and 58; and that like things are called "labors" in reference to men, from Isa. 65:23; Apoc. 51:2, 3.

In the celestial sense, this commandment means conjunction with the Lord, followed by peace, because of protection from hell. For the Sabbath signifies rest, and in this highest sense, peace; therefore the Lord is called the Prince of Peace, and He also calls Himself "Peace," as is evident from the following passages: Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end (Isa. 9:6, 7). Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you (John 14:27). Jesus said, These things have I spoken unto you that in Me ye may have peace (John 16:33). How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; saying, Thy King reigneth (Isa. 52:7). Jehovah will deliver my soul in peace (Ps. 55:18). Jehovah's work is peace; and the labor of righteousness rest and security forever that My people may abide in a habitation of peace, and in tents of security, in quiet resting-places (Isa. 32:17. 18). Jesus said to the seventy whom He sent forth, Into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house; and if a son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon him (Luke 10:6, 8; Matt. 10:12-14). Jehovah will speak peace unto His people. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other (Ps. 85:8, 10). When the Lord Himself appeared to His disciples, He said, Peace be unto you (John 20:19, 21, 28). Moreover, the state of peace into which men are to come from the Lord is treated of in Isa. 65, 66 and elsewhere; and those will come into that state, who are received into the New Church which the Lord is establishing at this day. What peace is in its essence, which is the peace in which the angels of heaven and those who are in the Lord are, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 284-290). From all this it is also evident why the Lord called Himself "Lord of the Sabbath," that is, of rest and peace.

Heavenly peace, which, in respect to the hells, is that evils and falsities shall not rise up from them and break forth, may be compared in many respects with natural peace; as with peace after war, when everyone is secure from enemies and is safe in his own city and home and living in his own fields and garden. This is as the prophet said when he spoke naturally of heavenly peace: They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, and none shall make them afraid (Micah 4:4; Isa. 65:21-23). It may also be compared to recreations of mind and to rest after severe labor, and to the consolation felt by mothers after childbirth, when their parental love (called storge) manifests its delights. It may also be compared with serenity after tempests, black clouds, and thunders; also with spring, after a terrible winter has passed, and with the gladdening influences from the new growths in the fields and the blossoming in the gardens, meadows, and woods; and again with the state of mind experienced by those who, after storms and dangers on the sea, reach a port and set foot on the longed-for land

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER, THAT THY DAYS MAY BE PROLONGED, AND THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH THEE UPON THE EARTH. So reads this commandment in Exod. 20:12; Deut. 5:16. In the natural sense, which is that of the letter, "to honor thy father and thy mother" means to honor parents, to be obedient to them, to be devoted to them, and to return thanks to them for the benefits they confer, which are that they provide food and clothing for their children, and so introduce them into the world that they may act in it as civil and moral persons; and introduce them also into heaven by means of the precepts of religion, thus providing both for their temporal prosperity and their eternal happiness. All this parents do from a love which they have from the Lord, in whose stead they act. In a relative sense it means that if parents are dead, guardians should be honored by their wards. In a broader sense, to honor the king and magistrates, is meant by this commandment, since these provide for all in general the necessities which parents provide in particular. In the broadest sense this commandment means that men should love their country, since it supports and protects them, therefore it is called fatherland from father. But to country, king, and magistrates honor must be rendered by parents and by them be implanted in their children.

In the spiritual sense, "to honor father and mother" means to reverence and love God and the church. In this sense, God who is the father of all, is meant by "father" and the church by "mother." In the heavens little children and the angels know no other father and no other mother, since they are there born anew of the Lord through the church. Therefore the Lord says: Call no man your father on the earth; for one is your Father, who is in the heavens (Matt. 23:9). This was said with reference to children and angels in heaven, and not of children and men on earth. The Lord teaches the same thing in the common prayer of the Christian churches, "Our Father who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name." In the spiritual sense, "mother" means the church, because as a mother on earth nourishes her children with natural food; so does the church nourish her children with spiritual food, and this is why the church is frequently called "mother" in the Word, as in Hosea: Plead with your mother; she is not my wife, and I am not her husband (2:2, 6). In Isaiah: Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? (50:1; Ezek. 16:46; 19:10). And in the Gospels: Jesus stretched forth His hand towards Ills disciples, and said, My mother and My brethren are these who hear the Word of God and do it (Matt. 12:48-50; Mark 3:33-36; Luke 8:21; John 19:25-27).

In the celestial sense, "father" means our Lord Jesus Christ, and "mother" the communion of saints, which means the Lord's church spread throughout the whole world. That the Lord is the Father, is evident from the following passages: Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. His name is God, Mighty, Father of eternity, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). Thou art our Father; Abraham knoweth us not and Israel doth not acknowledge us; Thou art our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Thy name (Isa. 63:16). Philip said, show us the Father; Jesus saith unto him, He that seeth Me seeth the Father; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:8-11; also 12:45). That "mother" in this sense means the Lord's church, is evident from the following passages: I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband (Apoc. 21:2). The angel said to John, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb; and he showed me the city, the holy Jerusalem (Apoc. 21:9, 10). The time of the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready: Blessed are they that have been called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb (Apoc. 19:7, 9). (See also Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19, 20; Luke 5:34, 36; John 3:29; 19:25-27.) That "the New Jerusalem" means the New Church which the Lord is at this day establishing, may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 880, 881); this church, and not the preceding, is the wife and the mother in this sense. The spiritual offspring which are born from this marriage are the goods of charity and the truths of faith; and those who are in these from the Lord, are called "sons of the marriage," "sons of God," and "born of God."

It must he kept in mind that a Divine-heavenly sphere of love continually goes forth from the Lord toward all who embrace the doctrine of His church, who are obedient to Him, as children are to their father and mother in the world, who devote themselves to Him, and who wish to be fed, that is, instructed by Him. From this heavenly sphere a natural sphere arises, which is one of love towards infants and children. This is a most universal sphere, affecting not only men, but also birds and beasts and even serpents; nor animate things only, but also things inanimate. But that the Lord might operate upon these even as upon spiritual things, He created a sun to be in the natural world like a father, the earth being like a mother. For the sun is like a common father and the earth like a common mother from the marriage of which all the vegetation that adorns the surface of the earth is produced. From the influx of that heavenly sphere into the natural world, come the marvelous developments of vegetation from seed to fruit, and again to new seed. It is from this also that many kinds of plants turn, as it were, their faces to the sun during the day, and turn them away when the sun sets. It is from this also that there are flowers that open at the rising of the sun and close at his setting. It is from this also that the song-birds sing sweetly at the early dawn, and likewise after they have been fed by their mother earth. Thus do all these honor their father and mother. They all bear testimony that in the natural world the Lord provides through the sun and the earth all necessities both for animate and inanimate things. Therefore it is said in David: Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens; praise ye Him, sun and moon; praise Him from the earth, ye dragons and all deeps; praise Him, fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; young men and maidens (Ps. 148:1-12); and in Job: Ask, I pray, the beasts and they shall teach thee; or the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee; or the shrub of the earth, and it shall teach thee; and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who doth not know from all these things that the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this? (Job 12:7-9). "Ask and they will teach," signifies to observe, study, and judge from these things that the Lord Jehovah created them.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT. THOU SHALT NOT KILL. In the natural sense, this commandment "Thou shalt not kill" means not to kill a man, and not to inflict upon him any wound from which he may die, also not to maim his body. It means also not to inflict any deadly harm upon his name and fame, since with many fame and life go hand in hand. In a broader natural sense, murder means enmity, hatred, and revenge, which breathe slaughter; for in them murder lies concealed as fire in wood under ashes. Infernal fire is nothing else; hence the expressions, to be inflamed with hatred, to burn with revenge. These passions are murder in intention, not in act; but if fear of the law or of retaliation and revenge were removed from them, they would break forth into act, especially if there is treachery or ferocity in the intention. That hatred is murder, is evident from these words of the Lord: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother rashly shall be in danger of the judgment. But whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council, and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of the hell of fire (Matt. 5:21, 22). This is because whatever pertains to the intention pertains also to the will, and so essentially to the deed.

In the spiritual sense, murder means all modes of killing and destroying the souls of men, which modes are various and manifold, as for example, turning men away from God, religion, and Divine worship by insinuating scandalous thoughts against these, or by inducing such persuasions as cause aversion and even abhorrence. Such murderers are all the devils and satans in hell, with whom those in this world who violate and prostitute the sanctities of the church are in conjunction. Those who destroy souls by falsities are meant by the king of the abyss, who is called "Abaddon" or "Apollyon," that is, the Destroyer (Apoc. 9:11); and in the prophetic Word [those whom they destroy] are meant by "the slain," as in the following passages: Thus said Jehovah God, Feed the flock of slaughter which their possessors have slain (Zech. 11:4-5, 7). We are killed all the day long; we are counted as a flock for the slaughter (Ps. 44:22, 23). Jacob shall cause them that come to take root. Is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? (Isa. 27:6, 7). The thief cometh not but to steal and to kill the sheep; I am come that they may have life and abundance (John 10:10). (Besides elsewhere, as in Isa. 14:21; 26:21; Ezek. 37:9; Jer. 4:31; 12:3; Rev. 9:4, 5; 11:7.) And therefore the devil is called: A murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).

In the celestial sense, to kill means to be rashly angry with the Lord, to hate Him, and to wish to blot out His name. It is said of such that they crucify the Lord, and this they would do, as the Jews did, if He were to come again into the world as before. This is meant by: A Lamb standing as though it had been slain (Rev. 5:6; 13:8). Also by the Lord's being crucified (Rev. 11:8; Heb. 6:6; Gal. 3:1).

The nature of man's internal, unless it is reformed by the Lord, has been made evident to me from seeing the devils and satans in hell; for they have it constantly in mind to kill the Lord; and as they cannot do this they are in the endeavor to kill those who are devoted to the Lord; but not being able, as men are in the world, to do this, they make every effort to destroy their souls, that is, to destroy faith and charity in them. With such, essential hatred and revenge appear like lurid and glowing fires-hatred like a lurid fire, and revenge like a glowing fire-yet these are not fires, but appearances. The cruelties of their hearts sometimes appear above them in the air like contests with angels and their slaughter and overthrow. Such direful mockeries arise from their wrath and hatred against heaven. Moreover, at a distance, these same spirits appear like wild beasts of every kind, as tigers, leopards, wolves, foxes, dogs, crocodiles, and all kinds of serpents; and when they see gentle animals in representative forms, they rush upon them in fantasy and strive to tear them in pieces. They came to my sight like dragons standing near women with whom there were little children, whom they were endeavoring, as it were, to devour (according to what is recorded in the twelfth chapter of Revelation); but these were nothing else than representations of hatred against the Lord and His New Church. That men in the world who wish to destroy the Lord's church are like these spirits is not evident to their companions; and for the reason that their bodies, through which they practice the moralities, absorb and conceal these things. But to the angels, who behold their spirits and not their bodies, they appear in forms like those of the devils above described. Who could have known such things had not the Lord opened the sight of some one, and given him the ability to look into the spiritual world? Otherwise, would not these, together with other most important matters, have lain concealed from man for ever?

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT. THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY. In the natural sense, this commandment means not only not to commit adultery, but it refers also to willing and doing obscene things and thinking and speaking about lascivious things. That merely to lust is to commit adultery, is evident from the Lord's words: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say to you, that everyone that looketh on another man's wife to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. 5:27, 28). The reason of this is that when lust enters the will it becomes, as it were, deed; for allurement enters into the understanding only, but into the will, intention; and the intention of a lust is a deed. But more on this subject may be seen in the work on Marriage Love and Scortatory Love (Amsterdam, 1768), which treats, On the Opposition of Marriage to Scortatory Love (n. 423-443); On Fornication (n. 444-460); On Adulteries and the Different Kinds and Degrees of Adultery (n. 478-499); On the Lust of Defloration (n. 501-505); On the Lust for Variety (n. 506-510); On the Lust of Violation (n. 511, 512); On the Lust of Seducing Innocences (n. 513, 514); On the Imputation of Scortatory Love and of Marriage Love (n. 523-531). All of these things are meant by this commandment in the natural sense.

In the spiritual sense, "to commit adultery" means to adulterate the goods of the Word and to falsify its truths. That "to commit adultery" means this also, has been hitherto unknown, because the spiritual sense of the Word has been hitherto concealed. That such is the meaning in the Word of "to commit adultery," "to adulterate," and "to commit whoredom" is evident from the following passages: Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and seek if ye can find a man that executeth judgment, and seeketh the truth. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery (Jer. 5:1, 7). In the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible stubbornness in adulterating and walking in a lie (Jer. 23:14). They have wrought folly in Israel, and have committed whoredom, and have spoken My Word falsely (Jer. 29:23). They committed whoredom, because they have left Jehovah (Hos. 4:10). I will cut off the soul that turneth unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, to go a whoring after them (Lev. 20:6). A covenant shall not be made with the inhabitants of the land, lest they go a whoring after their gods (Ex. 34:16). Because Babylon adulterates and falsifies the Word more than others, she is called the great harlot, and it is said of her in the Apocalypse: Babylon hath given all nations to drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication (Apoc. 14:8). The angel said, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great harlot; with whom the kings of the earth committed whoredom (Apoc. 17:1, 2). For He hath judged the great harlot that corrupted the earth with her whoredom (Apoc. 19:2). Because the Jewish nation had falsified the Word, it was called by the Lord: An adulterous generation (Matt. 12:39; 16:4; Mark 8:38); And the seed of the adulterer (Isa. 57:3). There are many other passages where "adulteries" and "whoredoms" mean adulterations and falsifications of the Word (as in Jer. 3:6, 8; 13:27; Ezek. 16:15, 16, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33; 23:2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, 16, 17; Hos. 5:3; 6:10; Nahum 3:4).

In the celestial sense, "to commit adultery" means to deny the holiness of the Word, and to profane it. This meaning follows from the preceding spiritual meaning, which is to adulterate its goods and to falsify its truths. The holiness of the Word is denied and profaned by those who in heart ridicule all things of the church and of religion, for in the Christian world all things of the church and of religion are from the Word.

There are many causes which make a man to seem chaste, not only to others but also to himself, when, in fact, he is wholly unchaste; since he does not know that when a lust occupies the will it is a deed and cannot be removed except by the Lord after repentance. A man is not made chaste by abstaining from doing, but by abstaining from willing because it is a sin when the doing is possible. Just so far as anyone abstains from adulteries and whoredoms, solely from fear of the civil law and its penalties; from fear of the loss of reputation and thus of honor; from fear of the diseases arising from them; from fear of the wife's upbraidings at home, and the consequent intranquillity of life; from fear of the vengeance of the husband and relatives, or of being beaten by their servants; or because of avarice, or any infirmity caused by disease or abuse or age or any other cause of impotence; even if he abstains on account of any natural or moral law, and not at the same time on account of spiritual law; he is nevertheless inwardly an adulterer and a fornicator. For he nonetheless believes that adulteries and whoredoms are not sins, and therefore he does not in his spirit make them unlawful before God; and thus in spirit he commits them, even if he does not commit them in the body before the world; and in consequence, when after death he becomes a spirit he speaks openly in favor of them. Furthermore, adulterers may be compared to covenant-breakers who violate compacts; also to the satyrs and priapi of the ancients, who roamed in forests, crying out, "Where are there virgins, betrothed maidens, and wives, to sport with?" Moreover, in the spiritual world adulterers actually appear like satyrs and priapi. They may also be compared to rank he-goats, or to dogs that run about the streets, looking about and smelling for female dogs to satiate their lasciviousness; and so on. When they become husbands their virility may be likened to the blossoming of tulips in spring, which in a month lose their flowers and wither.

THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT. THOU SHALT NOT STEAL. In the natural sense, this commandment means, according to its letter, not to steal or to rob or to commit piracy in time of peace; and in general, not to take away anyone's goods secretly or under any pretext. It also extends to all impostures and illegitimate gains, usuries, and exactions; and again to frauds in paying taxes and duties and in discharging debts. Laborers transgress this commandment when they do their work unfaithfully and deceitfully; merchants, when they practice deceit in their merchandise, in weight, in measure, and in their accounts; officers, when they deduct from the soldiers' wages; judges, when they give judgment for friendship, reward, relationship, or others reasons, preventing law and evidence, and so depriving others of the goods which they rightfully possess.

In the spiritual sense, to steal means to deprive others of the truths of their faith, which is done by means of falsities and heresies. Priests, who minister solely for gain or from a lust for honor, and teach what they see or might see from the Word to be untrue, are spiritual thieves, since they take away from the people the means of salvation, which are the truths of faith. Such are called thieves in the Word, in the following passages: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. The thief cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (John 10:1, 10). Lay not up treasures upon earth, but in heaven, where thieves do not come and steal (Matt. 6:19, 20). If thieves come to thee, if robbers by night, how art thou cut off; will they not steal what is enough for them? (Obad. verse 5). They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief (Joel 2:9). They have committed falsehood, and the thief cometh in, and the troop spreadeth itself without (Hos. 7:1).

In the celestial sense, thieves mean those who take away from the Lord His Divine power; also those who claim for themselves His merit and righteousness. These, even if they adore God, still do not trust in Him but only in themselves, and also do not believe in God, but only in themselves.

Those who teach what is false and heretical and persuade the common people that it is true and orthodox, although they read the Word, and from it may know what is false and what is true, also those who by fallacies confirm falsities of religion and seduce men thereby, may be compared to impostors and their impostures of all kinds; and because such impostures are in the spiritual sense essentially thefts, such persons may be compared to counterfeiters who strike false coins and gild them or give them outwardly the color of gold, and pass them for pure coins; then again to those who know how to cut and polish crystals skillfully and harden them, and who sell them for diamonds; also to men who carry apes or monkeys, clothed like men and with veiled faces on horses or mules through cities, and proclaim that these are noblemen of an ancient stock. They are also like those who put on false faces smeared with paints of various colors, over the living and natural face, concealing its beauty; and they are also like men who exhibit selenite and mica, which shine as if from gold and silver, and try to sell them as coming from veins that are very precious. They may also be likened to those who by theatricals lead men away from true Divine worship, or from churches to playhouses. Those who establish all kinds of falsity, regarding truths as of no moment, and who discharge priestly functions solely for gain and a lust for honor, being thus spiritual thieves, may be likened to those thieves who carry keys wherewith they can open the door of any house; also to leopards and eagles, that with sharp eyes search for the fattest prey.

THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR. "Bearing false witness against the neighbor," or testifying falsely, means, in the natural sense nearest to the letter, to act the part of a false witness before a judge, or before others not in a court of justice, against one who is rashly accused of any evil, and to support the accusation by the name of God or anything else that is holy or by one's personal influence and the strength of his personal reputation. In a wider natural sense this commandment forbids all kinds of lies and hypocrisies in civil life which look to an evil end; also traducing and defaming the neighbor, to the injury of his honor, name, and fame, on which the man's whole character depends. In the widest natural sense, the commandment forbids plots, cunning devices, and premeditated evils against anyone, which spring from various sources, as enmity, hatred, revenge, envy, emulation, and the like. For these evils conceal within them the bearing of false witness.

In the spiritual sense, "bearing false witness" means to persuade that falsity of belief is true belief and evil of life is good of life, and the reverse, doing this from purpose, not from ignorance; that is, doing this after one has learned what is true and good, not before; for the Lord says: If ye were blind, ye would have no sin; but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth (John 9:41). In the Word this kind of falsehood is called a "lie" and the intent is called "deceit," as in the following passages: We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we have made vision, for we have made a lie our trust, and in falsehood have we hid ourselves (Isa. 28:15). This is a rebellious people, lying sons, they will not hear the law of Jehovah (Isa. 30:9). From the prophet even unto the priest everyone worketh a lie (Jer. 8:10). The inhabitants speak a lie, their tongue is deceitful in their mouth (Micah 6:12). Thou wilt destroy them that speak a lie; Jehovah abhorreth the man of deceit (Ps. 5:6). They have taught their tongue to speak a lie; their habitation is in the midst of deceit (Jer. 9:5, 6). Because a "lie" means what is false, the Lord says: That when the devil speaketh a lie, he speaketh from his own (John 8:44). ("A lie" signifies what is false, and false speaking, in the following places also: Jer. 23:14, 32; Ezek. 13:6-9; 21:29; Hos. 7:1; 12:1; Nahum 3:1; Ps. 120:2, 3).

In the celestial sense, bearing false witness means blaspheming the Lord and the Word, thus banishing truth itself from the church; for the Lord is the Truth itself, as likewise the Word. On the other hand, to bear witness in this sense, means to speak the truth, and testimony means the truth itself. For this reason the Decalogue is called the "testimony" (Exod. 25:16, 21, 22; 31:7, 18; 32:15, 16; 40:20; Lev. 16:13; Num. 17:4, 7, 10). And because the Lord is the truth itself, He says of Himself, that He bears witness, That the Lord is the very truth (John 14:6; Rev. 3:7, 14); And that He bears witness, and witnesses of Himself (John 3:11; 8:13-19; 15:26; 18:37, 38).

Those who speak falsities from deceit or purposely, uttering them in a tone imitative of spiritual affection (and still more if they mingle with them truths from the Word, which are thus falsified), were by the ancients called sorcerers (on whom see the Apocalypse Revealed, n. 462), also pythons, and serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These falsifiers, liars, and deceivers may be likened to men who talk to those they hate in a bland and friendly manner, and while talking hold behind them a dagger with which to kill. They may also be likened to those who poison their swords and thus attack their enemies; or to those who mix hemlock with water, or who poison with wine and sweetmeats. They may also be likened to handsome and seductive harlots infected with venereal diseases; to stinging shrubs, which when brought near to the nostrils, hurt the olfactory fibers; to sweetened poisons; and also to ordure, which when dried emits in autumn a fragrant odor. Such are described in the Word by leopards (see the Apocalypse Revealed, n. 572).

THE NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS. THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE; THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE, NOR HIS MANSERVANT NOR HIS MAIDSERVANT, NOR HIS OX, NOR HIS ASS, NOR ANYTHING THAT IS THY NEIGHBOR'S. In the catechisms now in use, this commandment is divided into two, one forming the ninth, which is, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house;" and the other the tenth, which is, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's." As these two commandments constitute one thing, and in Exod. 20:17; Deut. 5:21, one verse, I have undertaken to treat of the two together; not wishing them to be joined together as one commandment, but rather that as heretofore they be kept separate as two, since the commandments are called (in the Hebrew) the Ten Words (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 4:13; 10:4).

These two commandments have relation to all the preceding ones, and teach and enjoin not only that evils must not be done, but also that they must not be lusted after, consequently that evils pertain not solely to the external man, but also to the internal; since he who refrains from doing evils and yet lusts to do them, still does them. For the Lord says: If anyone lusts after another's wife, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matt. 5:27, 28); and the external man becomes internal, or acts as one with the internal, only when lusts have been removed. This also the Lord teaches, saying: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees; for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also (Matt. 23:25, 26). And the same is taught throughout that chapter. The internals which are Pharisaical, are lusts after the things that are forbidden to be done in the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth commandments. It is known that when the Lord was in the world, He taught the internal things of the church, and these internal things are not to lust after evils; and He so taught in order that the internal and external man may make one. This is the being born anew, of which the Lord spoke to Nicodemus in the third chapter of John; and no man can be born anew or be regenerated, and consequently become internal, except from the Lord. That these two commandments may have relation to all the preceding ones, inasmuch as the things forbidden therein are not to be lusted after, the house is first mentioned, after the wife, then the manservant, maidservant, ox, and ass, and lastly, everything that is the neighbor's. For the house involves all that follows, since it includes the husband, wife, manservant, maidservant, ox and ass. Again, the wife, who is next mentioned, involves all that follows; for she is the mistress as the husband is the master in the house; the manservant and maidservant are beneath these, the ox and the ass beneath the latter, and last of all come all things that are below or without, which means everything that is the neighbor's. Evidently therefore, in these two commandments all the preceding, both in general and in particular, are regarded, both in a broad and a restricted sense.

In the spiritual sense, these two commandments forbid all lusts that are contrary to the spirit, thus all that are contrary to the spiritual things of the church, which relate chiefly to faith and charity; for unless lusts are subdued, the flesh let loose would rush into every wickedness. For it is known from Paul, That the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh (Gal. 5:17); and from James: Each man is tempted by his own lust when he is enticed; then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin; and sin, when it is completed, bringeth forth death (James 1:14, 15); again from Peter, That the Lord reserves the unrighteous unto the day of judgment, to be punished; but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in lust (2 Peter 2:9, 10). In short, these two commandments understood in the spirit sense relate to all things that have before been presented in the spiritual sense, that they must not be lusted after; so likewise, to all that has been before presented in the celestial sense; but to repeat all these things is unnecessary.

The lusts of the flesh, the eye, and the other senses, separated from the lusts, that is, from the affections, the desires, and the delights of the spirit, are wholly like the lusts of beasts, and consequently are in themselves beastlike. But the affections of the spirit are such as angels have, and therefore are to be called truly human. For this reason, so far as anyone indulges the lusts of the flesh, he is a beast and a wild beast; but so far as one satisfies the desires of the spirit, he is a man and an angel. The lusts of the flesh may be compared to shriveled and dried up grapes and to wild grapes; but the affections of the spirit to juicy and delicious grapes, and also to the taste of the wine that is pressed from them. The lusts of the flesh may be compared to stables where there are asses, goats, and swine; but the affections of the spirit to stables where there are noble horses, and sheep and lambs; and they differ as an ass and a horse, a goat and a sheep, a lamb and a pig; in general, as dross and gold, as limestone and silver, as coral and rubies, and so on. Lust and the deed are connected like blood and flesh, or like flame and oil; for lust is within the deed, as air from the lungs is in breathing or in speaking, or as wind in the sail when the vessel is in motion, or as water on the wheel that gives motion and action to machinery.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF THE DECALOGUE CONTAIN ALL THINGS THAT BELONG TO LOVE TO GOD, AND ALL THINGS THAT BELONG TO LOVE TOWARD THE NEIGHBOR. In eight of the commandments of the decalogue, the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, there is nothing said of love to God and love toward the neighbor; since it is not said that God should be loved, that His name should be hallowed, that the neighbor should be loved and consequently that he should be dealt with sincerely and uprightly. It is only said, "Thou shalt have no other God before Me;" "Thou shalt not take the name of God in vain;" "Thou shalt not kill;" "Thou shall not commit adultery;" "Thou shalt not steal;" "Thou shalt not bear false witness;" "Thou shalt not covet what belongs to thy neighbor;" that is in general, that evil, either against God or the neighbor, is not to be cherished in will or thought, nor to be done. The reason why such things as relate directly to love and charity are not commanded, but only such things as are opposed to them are forbidden, is that so far as man shuns evils as sins, so far does he will the goods that pertain to love and charity. That the prime thing of love to God and the neighbor is not to do evil, and the second to do good, will be seen in the chapter on Charity. [2] There are two opposite loves, the love of desiring and doing good, and the love of desiring and doing evil; this latter is infernal and the other is heavenly; for all hell is in the love of doing evil, and all heaven in the love of doing good. Since then, man is born into all kinds of evil, and therefore from birth inclines to what pertains to hell, and since he cannot enter heaven unless he is born again or regenerated, it is necessary that evils, which belong to hell, should be removed before he can desire goods, which are heavenly. For no one can be adopted by the Lord until he is separated from the devil. But how evils are removed and man is brought to do good, will be shown in the two chapters, on Repentance, and on Reformation and Regeneration. [3] That evils must be put away, before the good that a man does becomes good in the sight of God, the Lord teaches in Isaiah: Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; [cease to do evil], learn to do well, then though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isaiah. 1:16-18). The following, in Jeremiah, is similar: Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and proclaim there this Word, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings; trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, the temple of Jehovah, is this [that is, the church]. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear through falsehood, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, We are delivered, when ye are doing all these abominations? Is this house become a den of robbers? Behold, even I have seen it, saith Jehovah (7:2-4, 9-11). [4] That before washing or purification from evils prayer to God is not heard is also taught in Isaiah: Jehovah saith, Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, they have gone away backward. When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear (1:4, 15). That love and charity follow when by shunning evils what is commanded in the Decalogue is done is evident from the Lord's words in John: Jesus said, He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him: and We will make our abode with him (14:21, 23). By commandments here the commandments of the Decalogue are particularly meant, which are that evils must not be done or lusted after, and that the love of man to God and the love of God toward man then follow as good follows when evil is removed.

It has been said that so far as man shuns what is evil he wills what is good. This is so because evils and goods are opposites; for evils are from hell and goods from heaven; therefore so far as hell, that is, evil, is removed, so far heaven approaches and man looks to good. That this is so is very manifest from the eight commandments of the Decalogue when so viewed; thus, (i.) So far as one refrains from worshiping other gods, so far he worships the true God. (ii) So far as one refrains from taking the name of God in vain, so far he loves what is from God. (iii.) So far as one refrains from the wish to commit murder, or to act from hatred and revenge, so far he wishes well to his neighbor. (iv. ) So far as one refrains from a wish to commit adultery, so far he wishes to live chastely with a wife. (v.) So far as one refrains from a wish to steal, so far he pursues sincerity. (vi.) So far as one refrains from a wish to bear false witness, so far he wishes to think and say what is true. (7 and 8) So far as one refrains from coveting what belongs to the neighbor, so far he wishes the neighbor to enjoy his own. From all this it is evident that the commandments of the Decalogue contain all things of love to God and love towards the neighbor. Therefore Paul says: He that loveth another, hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to the neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:8-10). To this must be added two canons for the service of the New Church: (i.) That no one can of himself shun evils as sins and do good that is good in the sight of God; but that so far as anyone shuns evils as sins, so far he does good, not of himself, but from the Lord. (ii.) That man ought to shun evils as sins and to fight against them as if of himself; but if one shuns evils for any other reason than because they are sins he does not shun them, but only prevents their appearance before the world.

Good and evil cannot exist together, and so far as evil is put away good is regarded and felt as good, for the reason that there exhales from everyone in the spiritual world a sphere of his love which spreads itself round about and affects, and causes sympathies and antipathies. By these spheres the good are separated from the evil. That evil must be put away before good can be recognized, perceived, and loved, may be compared to many things in the natural world; for example: one cannot visit another who keeps a leopard and a panther shut up in his chamber (himself living safely with them because he feeds them), until those wild beasts have been removed. [2] Who that is invited to the table of a king and queen does not before he goes wash his hands and face? Or who enters the bridal chamber with his bride after marriage before he has washed himself wholly, and clothed himself with wedding garments? Who does not purify ores by fire, and separate the dross, before he obtains the pure gold and silver? Who does not separate the tares from the wheat before putting it into his granary? Who does not thresh the bearded chaff from his barley, before he gathers it into his house? [3] Who does not skim off raw meat in cooking before it becomes eatable and placed upon the table? Who does not beat the worms from the leaves of the trees in his garden, lest the leaves be devoured and the fruit thereby destroyed? Who does not dislike dirt in his chambers and halls, and cleanse them, especially when a prince or the espoused daughter of a prince is expected to arrive? Who loves and wishes to marry a maiden who is full of disease, and covered with pimples and blotches, however she may paint her face, dress splendidly, and labor by the charms of her conversation to move him by the enticements of love? [4] Man himself ought to purify himself from evils, and not wait for the Lord to do this without his cooperation. Otherwise he would be like a servant going to his master, with his face and clothes befouled with soot and dung, and saying, "Master, wash me." Would not his master say to him, "You foolish servant, what are you saying? See, there are water, soap, and a towel; have you not hands of your own and the power to use them? Wash yourself." So will the Lord God say, "These means of purification are from Me, and your ability to will and do are also from Me; therefore use these My gifts end endowments as your own, and you will be purified;" and so on. That the external man is to be cleansed, but by means of the internal the Lord teaches in the twenty-third chapter of Matthew from beginning to end.

To this shall be added four Memorable Relations. First: I once heard loud shouts, which seemed to gurgle up from the lower regions through waters, one toward the left, crying, "O how just!" another toward the right, "O how learned!" and a third from behind, "O how wise!" And as the thought came to me, whether even in hell there are just, learned and wise persons, I had a desire to see whether there were or not; and it was said to me from heaven, "You shall see and hear." And having in spirit left the house I saw before me an opening; and approaching it, and looking down, I saw a ladder by which I descended. And when I was below I saw plains covered with shrubbery intermixed with thorns and nettles; and I asked whether this was hell. They said, "This is the lower earth, which is just above hell." Then following the order of the shouts, I went first toward the cry, "O how just!" and I saw an assembly of those who in the world had been judges, and who had been influenced by friendship and bribes; then toward the second cry, "O how learned!" and I saw an assembly of those who in the world had been reasoners; then toward the third cry, "O how wise!" and I saw an assembly of those who in the world had been conformers. From these latter I turned to the first, where the judges were who had been influenced by friendship and bribes and who were proclaimed just; and I saw at the side as it were an amphitheater built of brick and roofed with black tiles; and I was told that in that was their Tribunal. On the north side there were three entrances to it and on the west three, but none on the south and east, an indication that their decisions were not decisions of justice, but arbitrary. [2] In the center of the amphitheater was a fireplace, into which the servants attending the fire were throwing pitch-pine dipped in sulfur and bitumen, the light from which, flickering upon the plastered walls, presented images of birds of evening and night. But this fire-place, and the flickering of the light from it forming such images were representations of their decisions, that they were able to color the facts in any case, and give them an appearance according to their own prepossessions. [3] Half an hour afterwards I saw old men and young men clad in gowns and cloaks enter, and removing their caps, take seats beside the tables to sit in judgment. And I heard and perceived how skillfully and ingeniously, out of regard for friendship, they turned and twisted their decisions into seeming justice; and this they did to such an extent that they did not see their injustice to be anything but justice, or what is just to be anything but unjust. Such persuasions concerning these matters shone from their faces and were heard in the tones of their voices. There was then granted me enlightenment from heaven, whereby I had a perception of each particular, whether it was in accordance with justice or not; and I saw how industriously they veiled over injustice, and made it look like justice, and selected from the laws that which favored them, to which they bent the matter in question, and by skilful reasonings put all else aside. After their decisions had been given, they were announced without to their clients, friends, and partisans, and these, to return the favor, cried out for a long distance, "O how just! O how just!" [4] After this I talked about these with the angels of heaven, and told them some of the things that I had seen and heard. And the angels said, "Such judges seem to others to be gifted with the keenest intellectual vision, when in fact they do not see the least particle of justice or equity. If you take away their friendship for anyone, they sit in judgment like statues, and merely say, 'I grant it; I agree to this, or to that.' This is because all their decisions are prejudiced, and their prejudice with partiality follows the case from beginning to end; consequently they see nothing in it but their friend's interest; at everything opposed to this, they look askance, viewing it with piratical glances, and if they take it up again they involve it in reasonings as spiders entangle their captives in their webs and devour them. Therefore it is that when they do not follow the thread of their prejudice, they see nothing of what is right. They have been examined as to whether they were able to see, and they were found unable. The inhabitants of your world will be astonished at this fact, but tell them that this is a truth that has been investigated by the angels of heaven. Because they see nothing of justice, we in heaven do not think of them as men, but as monstrous images of men, the heads of which are formed of what pertains to friendship, the breasts of what pertains to injustice, the hands and feet of what pertains to confirmation, and the soles of the feet of what pertains to justice; and if this is unfavorable to their friends, they cast it under foot and trample upon it. [5] But what they are, viewed in themselves, you shall see, for their end is near." And lo, the ground suddenly gaped, the tables fell one upon another, and the men, together with the whole amphitheater, were swallowed up, cast into caverns, and imprisoned. I was then asked if I wished to see them there; and behold, they appeared with faces like polished steel; their bodies from the neck to the loins looked like sculptured work clothed with leopard skins, and their feet like serpents. And I saw the law books which had lain upon their tables turned into playing-cards; and now instead of acting as judges they were hired to make cinnabar into paint for besmearing the faces of harlots, and turning them into beauties. Having seen all this, I wished to visit the other two assemblies, one composed of mere reasoners and the other of mere confirmers. But I was told to wait a while, and angel companions would be given me from a society most nearly above those spirits, and that through them light would be given me from the Lord, and I would see marvelous things.

Second Memorable Relation: After a while I heard again from the lower earth the exclamations I had heard before, "O how learned! O how learned!" And I looked about to see who were present, and behold the angels were there who occupied the heaven directly above those who cried, "O how learned!" To these I spoke about the shouting, and they said, "Those learned spirits are such as merely reason whether a thing is so or is not, and who rarely think that it is so. Therefore they are like winds that come and go, like bark around hollow trees, and like nutshells without a kernel; or like a rind about fruit without pulp; for their minds are devoid of interior judgment, and are merely united with the bodily senses; unless therefore the senses themselves decide, they are able to form no conclusions. In a word, they are merely sensual, and we call them Reasoners. They are so called because they never come to a conclusion about anything, but take up whatever they hear and dispute as to whether it is so or not, with unceasing contention. They love nothing better than to attack truths, and tear them to pieces by bringing them into disputation. These believe themselves to be more learned than all others in the world." [2] Having heard this, I asked the angels to conduct me to them; and they led me to a cave, from which steps descended to the lower earth. We went down, following the cry, "O how learned!" And behold, several hundred spirits stood in one place, stamping upon the ground. Wondering at this, I asked why they thus stood and stamped the ground with their feet, adding, that they might make a hole in it with their feet. At this the angels smiled and said, "They appear so to stand still, because their thought on any subject is never that it is so, but only whether it is so or not, and thus it is a matter of dispute; and as they never get beyond this in their thought, they appear as never advancing, but only as treading and wearing on one spot." The angels also said, "Those who come from the natural world into this and hear that they are in another world form themselves into companies in many places and ask where heaven is, where hell is, and where God is. And when they have been told they begin to reason, dispute, and contend about whether there is a God. This they do, because in the natural world at the present day, there are so many naturalists, who, whenever religion is talked about, bring the subject into dispute, both among themselves and with others; and the discussion of this question rarely terminates in an affirmation of belief that there is a God. Afterwards these persons associate themselves more and more with the wicked, which is done because no one can do any good from the love of good, except from God." [3] After this I was conducted to that assembly, and behold, there appeared to me men handsomely clothed and with faces not unbecoming; and the angels said, "These so appear in their own light; but if the light of heaven flows in, both their faces and their garments are changed." And when the light of heaven was admitted, they appeared with dusky faces and clothed in coarse black garments; but this light being withdrawn, they appeared as before. Presently I talked with some of the assembly, and said, "I heard from the throng about you the shout, 'O how learned!' It may therefore be permissible to have a conversation with you on matters of the most learned nature." They replied, "Say what you please; we will give you a satisfactory answer." And I asked, "What kind of religion is necessary for the salvation of man?" They answered, "We will divide this question into several; and until these are decided we can give no reply. The investigation will proceed as follows: (1) Is religion anything? (2) Is there such a thing as salvation or not? (3) Is one religion more efficacious than another? (4) Is there a heaven and a hell? (5) Is there is an eternal life after death? besides other questions." I asked about the first question, Is religion anything? and they began to discuss it with a host of arguments. I begged of them to refer it to the assembly. They did; and the general response was, that this proposition required so much investigation that it could not be finished before evening. I asked them whether they could finish it within a year. One of them replied, that it could not be finished in a hundred years. I answered, "Meanwhile you are without religion; and as salvation depends on this, you are without any idea of salvation or any belief in it or hope of it." He replied, "Must it not first be shown whether there is such a thing as religion, and what it is, and whether it is anything? If it is, it must be also for the wise; if not, it must be for the vulgar only. It is known that religion is called a bond; but for whom is it a bond? If for the vulgar only in reality it is not anything; but if for the wise also, then it is something." [4] Hearing this, I said, "You are anything but learned, because you are able to think only whether a thing is so or not, and bandy it from one side to the other. How can a man be learned unless he knows something for a certainty and advances in the knowledge of it as a man walks, step by step, thus gradually attaining to wisdom? Otherwise you do not even touch truths with the tip of your finger, but you remove them further and further out of sight. Therefore to reason merely as to whether a thing is so or not, is to reason about the fit of a cap or shoe without ever trying it on. What then comes of this but that you do not know whether anything is a reality, or is only an idea, thus whether there is such a thing as salvation, or eternal life after death, whether one religion is better than another, or whether there is a heaven and a hell? On these subjects you cannot think at all so long as you stick at the first step, and tread the ground there, instead of bringing forward one foot after the other, and going on. Have a care for your selves lest your minds, while standing thus outside the door of judgment, grow hard within and become like pillars of salt." So saying I withdrew, while they from indignation threw stones after me. They then appeared to me like graven images in which there is nothing of human reason. I asked the angels of the lot of such; and they said that the lowest of them were sent down into the deep, into a desert there, and are compelled to carry packs; and then, as they are unable to evolve anything from reason, they gabble and talk nonsense, and at a distance they appear like asses carrying burdens.

Third Memorable Relation: After this, one of the angels said, "Follow me to the place where they shout, "O how wise!" and you will see monsters of men; you will see faces and bodies that are human, and yet they are not men." "Are they beasts, then?" I asked. He replied, "They are not beasts, but beastmen; for they are those who are utterly unable to see whether truth is truth or not, and yet can make whatever they wish seem true. With us, such are called Confirmers." We followed the shouting, and came to the place; and behold, an assembly of men, and around about them a throng, and in the throng some of noble birth, and when these heard them prove whatever they themselves were saying and uphold it with so manifest a concurrence, they turned around and shouted, "O how wise!" [2] But the angel said to me, "Let us not go among them, but call one of the assembly to us." And we called one out and withdrew with him, and talked over various subjects; and had confirmed them one by one until they seemed to be perfectly true. We asked him whether he could confirm things contrary to each other; and he said he could just as well as the others. He then said openly and from his heart, "What is truth? Is there anything true in the nature of things, other than what man makes true? Say what you please and I will make it true." I said, "Make this true that faith is the all of the church." And this he did so dexterously and skillfully that the learned bystanders admired and applauded. I then asked him to make it true that charity is the all of the church; and he did so; and then that charity is no part of the church; and he so clothed and decorated both statements with appearances that the bystanders would look at each other, and say, "Is he not wise?" I then said, "Do you not know that to live well is charity, and to believe well is faith? Does not he who lives well also believe well? Thus does not faith belong to charity and charity to faith? Do you not see that this is true?" He answered, "I will make it true, and I shall see." This he did and said, "I see it now." But immediately he made the contrary true, and then he said, "I see that this is true also." At this we smiled and said, "Are they not contraries? How can two contraries both be true?" Becoming angry at this, he said, "You are wrong; both are true, inasmuch as there is nothing true but what man makes true." [3] There was one standing near who in the world had been an ambassador of the highest grade. He was astonished at this and said, "I acknowledge that something like this goes on in the world, nevertheless you are insane. Make it true, if you can, that light is darkness, and that darkness is light." He answered, "I can do that easily. What are light and darkness but states of the eye? Is not light turned to shade when the eye turns from sunlight, as also when a man fixes his eye intently upon the sun? Who does not know that the state of the eye is then changed, and that therefore light appears as shade? And again, when the former state of the eye returns, this shade appears as light. Does not the owl see the darkness of night as the light of day, and the light of day as the darkness of night, and even the sun itself as an opaque and dusky globe? If a man had eyes like an owl's what would he call light and what darkness? What then is light but a state of the eye? And if light is only a state of the eye, is not light darkness and darkness light? Therefore both statements are true." [4] But as this confirmation confounded some, I said, "I have noticed that this confirmer does not know that there is a true light and a fatuous light, and that both kinds seem to be light; yet the fatuous light in reality is not light, but compared to true light is darkness. An owl is in fatuous light; for within its eyes there is a passion for tearing birds to pieces and devouring them, and this light causes its eyes to see at night, precisely like those of cats, whose eyes in cellars look like lighted candles. It is the fatuous light arising within their eyes from the passion for tearing mice to pieces and devouring them, which produces this effect. Evidently, therefore, the light of the sun is true light, and the light of greed is fatuous light." [5] After this, the ambassador asked the confirmer to make it true that a raven is white and not black. He answered, "That also I can easily do." And he said, "Take a needle or a razor, and open the quills and feathers of a raven; then remove the quills and feathers, and look at the raven's skin; is it not white? What is the blackness that surrounds it, but a shade, from which we must not judge of the color of the raven? For proof that black is only a shade, consult those skilled in the science of optics, and they will tell you that if you grind a black stone or black glass to fine powder, you will see that the powder is white." But the ambassador said, "Does not the raven appear to the sight to be black?" The confirmer answered, "Are you, who are a man, willing to consider a subject from appearances? You may indeed say according to the appearance that a raven is black but you cannot think so. As for example you may say according to the appearance, that the sun rises and sets; but as you are a man you cannot think so, because the sun is motionless and the earth moves. It is the same with a raven. The appearance is an appearance. Say what you will, a raven is totally white; it even becomes white when it grows old; this I have seen." After this the bystanders looked at me; therefore I said, "It is true that the quills and feathers of a raven partake of whiteness inwardly; so does its skin; but this is the case not only with ravens but all the birds in the universe as well; and everyone distinguishes birds by their apparent colors; if this were not done, we might say that every bird is white, which would be absurd and meaningless." [6] Then the ambassador asked him whether he could make it true that he was himself insane; and he answered, "I can, but I do not wish to do so. Who is not insane?" Finally, they asked him to say from his heart whether he was jesting, or really believed that there is nothing true but what man makes true; and he said, "I swear that I believe it." Afterwards this universal confirmer was sent to the angels, who examined his character; and after the examination they said that he did not possess a single grain of understanding, because in him everything above the rational was closed, and only that below the rational was open; above the rational there is spiritual light, and below the rational natural light; and this light in man is such that by it he can confirm whatever he pleases. When spiritual light does not flow into natural light, man does not see whether any truth is a truth, nor, therefore, whether any falsehood is a falsehood; these must be seen from spiritual light in natural light, and spiritual light is from the God of heaven, who is the Lord. Therefore this universal confirmer is neither man nor beast, but is a beast-man. [7] I asked the angels about the lot of such, whether they could be with the living, since man has life from spiritual light, and from this comes his understanding. They said that such, when they are alone, are unable to think at all and therefore to speak, but stand dumb like automatons and as it were in a deep sleep; but that they wake up the moment their ears catch anything. They added that those who are inmostly wicked become such; into these spiritual light from above cannot flow, but only something spiritual from the world from which they derive their faculty of confirming. [8] When this had been said I heard a voice from the angels who examined him, saying, "From what you have heard form a universal conclusion." This was the conclusion: That the ability to confirm whatever one pleases is not an indication of understanding; but the ability to see that truth is truth, and that falsehood is falsehood, and to confirm it is an indication of understanding. After this, I looked toward the assembly where the confirmers were standing with the crowd about them crying, "O how wise!" And lo! a dusky cloud enveloped them, and in the cloud owls and bats were flying. And it was told me, "The owls and bats that are flying in the cloud were correspondences and therefore appearances of their thoughts; because in this world confirmations of falsities to such an extent that they seem to be truths, are represented under the form of birds of night, whose eyes are illumined within by a fatuous light, whereby they see objects in darkness as in light. Such fatuous spiritual light do those have who confirm falsities until they seem like truths, and who afterward believe them to be truths. All such have a sort of backward sight, but no forward sight."

Fourth Memorable Relation: Once when I awakened from sleep in the morning twilight, I saw as it were specters before my eyes in various shapes; and afterward when it was daylight I saw fatuous lights of different forms; some like sheets of paper filled with writing and folded again and again, so that they looked like falling stars which in their descent vanished in the air; and some like open books, some of which shone like little moons, and some burned like candles; among these were some books that ascended to a great height and there perished, and others that fell down to the earth and there crumbled to dust. From these appearances I conjectured that there were those standing below these meteors who dispute about imaginary matters, which they deem of great importance; for in the spiritual world such phenomena appear in the atmospheres from the reasonings of those standing below. And presently the sight of my spirit was opened, and I saw a number of spirits whose heads were wreathed with leaves of laurel, and their bodies clothed with flowered gowns, which signified that they were spirits who in the natural world had been famed for erudition. As I was in the spirit, I approached and mingled with the assembly. I then heard that they were bitterly and hotly disputing about connate ideas, whether any such were inherent in man from birth, as in beasts. Those who were in the negative turned away from those in the affirmative, and at length they stood apart from each other like the ranks of two armies ready to fight sword in hand; but as they had no swords, they fought with the points of words. [2] But suddenly an angelic spirit stood in their midst, and speaking with a loud voice said, "At a short distance from you I heard that you were engaged in hot dispute about connate ideas, whether they are inherent in men as in beasts; but I tell you, that men have no connate ideas, and that beasts have no ideas at all. You are therefore quarreling about nothing, or as the saying is, about goats' wool, or the beard of Time." Hearing this, they were all enraged and shouted, "Put him out; he talks contrary to common sense." But when they tried to put him out they saw that he was encompassed with heavenly light which they could not break through; for he was an angelic spirit. They therefore drew back and moved a little way from him; and when the light had been indrawn, the angel said to them, "Why are you angry? First listen, and put together the reasons I shall offer, and form a conclusion from them yourselves. I foresee that those among you who excel in judgment will accede, and will calm the tempests that have arisen in your minds." At these remarks they said, though still in an indignant tone, "Speak then, and we will listen." [3] So the angel began and said, "You believe that beasts have connate ideas; and this you have inferred from the fact that their actions seem to proceed from thought; and yet they have no thought whatever, and ideas are only predicable of thought. Furthermore, it is a characteristic of thought that those who think act in this or that manner for this or that purpose. Consider therefore, whether the spider which weaves its web with such perfect art thinks in its little head, I will stretch out my threads in this way, and bind them together with cross-threads, so that my web may not be blown asunder by a violent rush of air; at the inner ends of the threads, which shall form the center of the web, I will prepare a seat for myself, where I shall feel whatever touches my web, and run at once to the spot; so that if a fly gets in, he shall be entangled, and I will rush upon him instantly and bind him fast, and he shall serve me for food. Or again, does a bee think in his little head, I will fly abroad; I know where there are fields in bloom; and there I will get wax from the flowers, and will suck honey from them; and with the wax I will build compact rows of little cells in such a way that I and my companions can go in and out easily, as if by streets; then I will store in them abundance of honey, enough even for the coming winter, so that we may not die - and other marvelous things, in which they not only vie with the political and economical prudence of man, but even surpass it (see above, n. 12)? [4] Again, does the hornet think in his little head, I and my companions will build for ourselves a little house of thin paper, the walls of which we will make within like a labyrinth; and in the inmost we will prepare a kind of forum to which there shall be a way of ingress and of egress, contrived with such art that no living creature except those belonging to our own family, shall find the way to the inmost place where we are assembled? Again, does the silkworm, while it is a grub, think in its little head, Now is the time for me to prepare to spin silk, so that when it is spun, I may fly forth, and in the air, into which I could not ascend before, may sport with my equals and provide myself a posterity? Or do other worms so think, when they creep about the walls, and become nymphs, aureliae, chrysalides, and finally butterflies? Has a fly any idea about having congress with another in some one place and not another? [5] It is the same with larger animals as it is with these smaller ones; with birds and feathered creatures of all kinds when they pair, build their nests, lay their eggs therein, sit on them, hatch their young, provide food for them, care for them until they can fly, and then drive them from the nests as if they were not their own offspring; besides many other things. It is the same also with the beasts of the earth, with serpents and with fishes. Who among you cannot see from the above statements that the spontaneous acts of these creatures do not flow from any thought, of which alone ideas can be predicated? The error that beasts have ideas has come from no other source than a persuasion that they think equally with men, and that speech alone makes the difference between them." [6] After this, the angelic spirit looked around, and as he saw them still hesitating whether or not beasts have thought, he continued his discourse, and said, "I perceive that from those actions of brute animals that are similar to human actions, there still clings to you the fanciful idea that they possess thought. I will tell you, therefore, the source of those actions. Every beast, every bird, every fish, reptile, and insect has its own natural, sensual, and corporeal love, the abode of which is its head and the brains there; through their brains the spiritual world flows into their bodily senses immediately, and through them determines their actions; this is the reason why their bodily senses are much more exquisite than those of men. That influx from the spiritual world is what is called instinct; and it is called instinct because it exists without the mediation of thought. There are also things accessory to instinct that arise from habit. But their love, through which comes from the spiritual world their determination to action, is a love solely for nutrition and propagation, not for any knowledge, intelligence, or wisdom, by means of which the love in men is gradually developed." [7] That man has no connate ideas, is manifestly evident from the fact that he has no connate thought; and where there is no thought there are no ideas; for they belong mutually to each other. This may be inferred from new-born infants, in that they can do nothing but suck and breathe. Their being able to suck is not from anything connate, but from a continual sucking in the mother's womb; and they are able to breathe because they are alive, for this is a universal of life. Even their bodily senses are in the utmost obscurity, and from this they gradually work their way out by means of objects; and in like manner their powers of motion by habitual exercise. And as they gradually learn to utter words and pronounce them at first without any idea, there springs up in them some obscure element of fancy; and as this grows clearer an obscure element of imagination is born, and from that, of thought. Along with the forming of this state ideas spring forth, which, as before said, make one with thought; and from no thought, thought is developed by instruction. While, therefore, men have ideas, they are not connate, but are formed, and from them flow their speech and actions. That nothing is connate with man except a capacity to know, to understand, and to be wise, as also an inclination to love not only these things but also the neighbor and God, may be seen in the Memorable Relation above (n. 48), and also in some Memorable Relations further on. After this I looked around and saw Leibnitz and Wolff near at hand, who were attending closely to the reasoning advanced by the angelic spirit. Leibnitz then drew near and expressed his concurrence; but Wolff went away both denying and affirming, for he did not excel in interior judgment as Leibnitz did.

CHAPTER 6 FAITH From the wisdom of the ancients came forth this tenet, that the universe and each and all things therein relate to good and truth; and thus that all things pertaining to the church relate to love or charity and faith, since everything that flows forth from love or charity is called good, and everything that flows forth from faith is called true. Since then charity and faith are distinguishably two, and yet make one in man, that he may be a man of the church, that is, that the church may be in him, it was a matter of controversy and dispute among the ancients, which one of the two should be first, and which therefore is by right to be called the firstborn. Some of them said that truth is first and consequently faith; and some good, and consequently charity. For they saw that immediately after birth man learns to talk and think, and is thereby perfected in understanding, which is done by means of knowledges, and by this means he learns and understands what is true; and afterwards by means of this he learns and understands what is good; consequently, that he first learns what faith is, and afterward what charity is. Those who so comprehended this subject, supposed that the truth of faith was the firstborn, and that good of charity was born afterwards; for which reason they gave to faith the eminence and prerogative of primogeniture. But those who so reasoned overwhelmed their own understandings with such a multitude of arguments in favor of faith, as not to see that faith is not faith unless it is conjoined with charity, and that charity is not charity unless conjoined with faith, and thus that they make one, and if not so conjoined, neither of them is anything in the church. That they do completely make one, will be shown in what follows. [2] But in these prefatory remarks I will show briefly how or in what respect they make one; for this is important as throwing some light on what follows. Faith, by which is also meant truth, is first in time; while charity, by which is also meant good, is first in end; and that which is first in end, is actually first, because it is primary, therefore also it is the firstborn, while that which is first in time, is not actually first, but only apparently so. But to make this understood, it shall be illustrated by comparisons with the building of a temple, and of a house, the laying out of a garden, and the preparation of a field. In the building of a temple, the first thing in time is to lay the foundation, erect the walls and put on the roof; then to put in the altar and rear the pulpit; while the first thing in end is the worship of God therein, for the sake of which the preceding work is done. In the building of a house, the first thing in time is to build its outside parts, and also to furnish it with various articles of necessity; while the first thing in end is a suitable dwelling for the man and the others who are to constitute his household. In the laying out of a garden, the first thing in time is to level the ground, prepare the soil, and plant trees in it and sow in it the seeds of such things as will be of use; while the first thing in end is the use of its products. In the preparation of a field, the first thing in time is to smooth, plough and harrow it, and then to sow it; while the first thing in end is the crop; thus again, use. From these comparisons anyone may conclude what is essentially first. Does not everyone who wishes to build a temple or a house, or to lay out a garden, or cultivate a field, first intend some use? And does he not continually keep this in his mind and meditate upon it while he is procuring the means to it? We therefore conclude that the truth of faith is first in time, but that the good of charity is first in end; and that this latter, because it is primary, is actually the firstborn in the mind. [3] But it is necessary to know what faith is, what charity is, each in its essence; and this cannot be known unless each is divided into separate propositions - faith into its own, and charity into its own. Faith shall therefore be treated under the following heads: 1. Saving faith is faith in the Lord God the Savior, Jesus Christ. 2. The sum of faith is that he who lives well and believes rightly, is saved by the Lord. 3. Man acquires faith by going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them. 4. An abundance of truths cohering as if in a bundle, exalts and perfects faith. 5. Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity, and neither has life except from the Lord. 6. The Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding in man; and if they are divided, each perishes, like a pearl reduced to powder. 7. The Lord is charity and faith in man, and man is charity and faith in the Lord. 8. Charity and faith are together in good works. 9. There is a true faith, a spurious faith, and a hypocritical faith. 10. In the evil there is no faith. These shall now be explained separately.

I. SAVING FAITH IS FAITH IN THE LORD GOD THE SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. Saving faith is faith in God the Savior, because He is God and Man, and He is in the Father and the Father in Him; thus they are one; therefore those who go to Him, at the same time go to the Father also, thus to the one and only God, and there is no saving faith in any other. That men ought to believe or have faith in the Son of God, the Redeemer and Savior, conceived from Jehovah, born of the virgin Mary, and called Jesus Christ, is evident from the commands so frequently repeated by Him and afterwards by His apostles. That faith in Him was commanded by Himself, is clearly evident from the following passages: Jesus said, This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that everyone who beholdeth the Son and believeth in Him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40). He that believeth in the Son hath eternal life but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him (John 3:36) That whosoever believeth in the Son should not perish, but have eternal life for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:15, 16). Jesus said, I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me shall never die (John 11:25, 26). Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth in Me hath eternal life. I am the bread of life (John 6:47, 48). I am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall not hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst (John 6:35). Jesus cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink; he that believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37, 38). They said to Jesus, What must we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered, This is the work of God, that ye believe in Him whom He hath sent (that is, the Father) (John 6:28, 29). While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:36). He that believeth in the Son of God is not judged; but he that believeth not hath been judged already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18). These things are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31). Unless ye believe that I am, ye shall die in your sins (John 8:24). Jesus said, When the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will convict the world respecting sin, and righteousness, and judgment; respecting sin, because they believe not in Me (John 16:8, 9).

That the faith of the apostles was no other than a faith the Lord Jesus Christ, is evident from many passages in their Epistles, from which I will present only the following: I live; yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me but what I now live in the flesh, I live in faith which is in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20). Paul testified, Both to Jews and to Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). He who brought Paul out said, What must I do to be saved? And he said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, thus shalt thou be saved, and thy house (Acts 16:30, 31). He that hath the Son hath the life and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not the life. These things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:12, 13) We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, yet knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:15, 16). Because theirs was a faith in Jesus Christ, and also because faith is also from Him, they called it the faith of Jesus Christ, as in the passage just quoted (Gal. 2:16), and in the following: The righteousness of God, through the faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe that He may justify him who is of the faith of Jesus (Rom. 3:22, 26). Having the righteousness which is from the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith (Phil. 3:9). He that keepeth the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus (Apoc. 14:12). Through the faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:15). In Jesus Christ is faith working through love (Gal. 5:6). From all this it can be seen what kind of faith is meant by Paul in the saying now so often quoted in the church: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law (Rom. 3:28); namely, that it is not a faith in God the Father, but in His Son, still less a faith in three Gods in order, in one from whom, in another for the sake of whom, and in a third through whom [comes salvation]. It is believed in the church, that its tripersonal faith is meant by Paul in that saying, for the reason that the church, during fourteen centuries, or ever since the Nicene Council, has acknowledged no other faith, and consequently has known no other, and has therefore believed this to be the one only faith, and that no other is possible. So wherever the word faith occurs in the New Testament that faith is supposed to be meant, and to it everything there has been applied; therefore the only saving faith, which is a faith in God the Savior, has perished; and in consequence so many fallacies and so many paradoxes adverse to sound reason have crept into the doctrines of the church. For every doctrine of the church that will teach and point out the way to heaven or to salvation depends on faith; and so many fallacies and paradoxes having crept into that faith, as before said, it became necessary to proclaim the dogma, that the understanding must be kept in subjection to faith. But since in that saying of Paul (Rom. 3:28) the term faith does not mean faith in God the Father but faith in His Son; and works of the law do not there mean the works of the law of the Decalogue, but the works of the Mosaic law for the Jews (as is plain from subsequent verses there, and also from like passages in the Epistle to the Galatians, 2:14, 15), that foundation stone of the present faith is gone, and with it falls the temple built upon it, like a house sinking into the earth and leaving only the top of its roof above ground.

Men ought to believe, that is, have faith, in God the Savior Jesus Christ, because that is a faith in a visible God within whom is the invisible; and faith in a visible God, who is at once Man and God, enters into a man; for faith in its essence is spiritual but in its form is natural; consequently with man such a faith becomes spiritual-natural. For anything spiritual, in order to be anything with man, must have a recipient in the natural. The naked spiritual does indeed enter into man, but it is not received; it is like the ether, which flows in and out producing no effect, for to produce an effect there must be perception and consequent reception, both of these in his mind; and no such reception is possible with man except in his natural. But on the other hand merely natural faith, or faith destitute of a spiritual essence, is not faith, but only persuasion or knowledge. In externals persuasion emulates faith; but since there is in its internals no spirituality, neither is there anything saving in it. Such is the faith of all who deny the Divinity of the Lord's Human; such was the Arian faith, and such also is the Socinian faith, because both reject the Lord's Divinity. What is faith without an object toward which it is determined? Is it not like gazing into the universe, where the sight falls, as it were, into vacuity and is lost? It is like a bird flying beyond the atmosphere into the ether, where, as in a vacuum, it ceases to breathe. The abiding of this faith in man's mind may be compared to that of the winds in the wings [halls?] of Aeolus, or of light in a falling star. It rises like a comet with a long tail, and like it passes over and disappears. [2] In a word, faith in an invisible God is actually blind, since the human mind fails to see its God; and the light of that faith, not being a spiritual-natural faith, is a fatuous light; which light is like that of the glow-worm, or like that seen above marshes or sulphurous glebes at night, or like the phosphorescence of rotten wood. From that light nothing comes except what pertains to fantasy, which creates a belief that the apparent is the real, when yet it is not. Faith in an invisible God shines with no other light than this, especially when God is thought to be a Spirit, and spirit is thought to be like ether. What follows but that man regards God as he does the ether? Consequently he seeks God in the universe; and when he does not find Him there, he believes the nature of the universe to be God. This is the origin of the prevailing naturalism of the day. Did not the Lord say, That no one ever heard the Father's voice or saw His shape? (John 5:37); and also, That no man hath seen God at any time, but that the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father hath revealed Him (John 1:18). No man hath seen the Father, save He who is with the Father, He hath seen the Father (John 6:46). Also that no one cometh unto the Father, but through Him (John 14:8). Furthermore, That He who sees and knows Him sees and knows the Father (John 14:7-12). [3] But faith in the Lord God the Savior is different; He, being God and Man, can be approached and be seen in thought. Faith in Him is not indeterminate, but has an object from which and to which it proceeds and when once received is permanent, as when anyone has seen an emperor or king, as often as the fact is recalled the image returns. That faith's sight is like one's seeing a bright cloud, and in the midst of it an angel who invites the man to him, so that he may be raised up into heaven. Thus does the Lord appear to those who have faith in Him; He draws near to every man so far as man recognizes and acknowledges Him, which he does, so far as he knows and keeps the Lord's commandments, which are, to shun evils and do good; and at length the Lord comes into man's house, and together with the Father who is in Him, makes His abode with man, according to these words in John: Jesus said, He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him and We will come unto him and make Our abode with him (14:21, 23). The foregoing was written in the presence of the Lord's twelve apostles, who were sent to me by the Lord while I was writing it.

II. THE SUM OF FAITH IS THAT HE WHO LIVES WELL AND BELIEVES RIGHTLY IS SAVED BY THE LORD That man was created for eternal life, and that every man may inherit it provided he lives according to the means of salvation prescribed in the Word, is admitted by every Christian, and by every heathen who possesses religion and sound reason. Nevertheless, the means of salvation are manifold, although they each and all have relation to living well and believing rightly, thus to charity and faith, for living well is charity, and believing rightly is faith. These two general means of salvation are not only prescribed in the Word but are imposed as commandments, and as they are commanded, it follows that by means of them man can procure for himself eternal life from the power implanted in him and given to him by God; and so far as man uses that power and at the same time looks to God, so far God makes it effective in converting everything of natural charity into spiritual charity, and everything of natural faith into spiritual faith; thus God makes dead charity and faith to be alive, and the man also. [2] There are two things that must coexist, before man can be said to live well and believe rightly. In the church these two are called the internal and the external man. When the internal man's will is right and the external acts rightly, the two make one, the external [acting] from the internal and the internal through the external, thus man from God and God through man. But on the other hand, if the internal man's will is evil and yet the external acts rightly, they both act none the less from hell; for the man's willing is from hell, and his doing is hypocritical; and in all hypocrisy his willing which is infernal, is interiorly concealed like a snake in the grass or a worm in a flower. [3] The man who knows that there is an internal and an external man, and who also knows what they are, and that the two can act as one actually, and can also act as one apparently; and who knows, moreover, that the internal man lives after death, and the external is buried, possesses in potency the arcana both of heaven and of the world in abundance. And he who conjoins these two men in himself in good becomes happy to eternity; while he who divides them, and still more he who conjoins them in evil, becomes unhappy to eternity.

Under the belief that the man who lives well and believes aright is not saved, and that God is able freely and at pleasure to save and damn whom He will, the man who is lost may justly accuse God of unmercifulness and severity, and even of cruelty, and may even deny that God is God. He may also claim that in His Lord God has spoken unmeaning things, and has commanded things of no importance, or that are trifling. Or again, if the man who lives well and believes aright is not saved, he may also accuse God of violating His covenant, which He made on Mount Sinai and wrote with His finger upon the two tables. That God cannot but save those who live according to His commandments and have faith in Him, is evident from the Lord's words (in John 14:21-24); and anyone in possession of religion and sound reason can confirm himself in this, when he reflects that God who is unceasingly in man and who gives him life and also the ability to understand and love, must needs love him who lives well and believes aright, and must needs conjoin Himself with him by love. Is not this inscribed by God on every man and every creature? Can a father and mother reject their children, or a bird or beast its young? Not even tigers, panthers, or serpents can do this. For God to do otherwise would be contrary to the order into which He is and according to which He acts, and also contrary to the order into which He created man. Since then, it is impossible for God to damn anyone who lives well and believes aright, so on the other hand it is impossible for Him to save anyone who lives wickedly and therefore believes what is false; this too is also contrary to order, and therefore contrary to God's omnipotence, which can proceed only in the path of justice; and the laws of justice are truths that cannot be changed. For the Lord says: It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one tittle of the law to fall (Luke 16:17). This can be seen by anyone who knows anything about the essence of God, and man's freedom of will. For example, Adam was at liberty to eat of the tree of life, and also of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he had eaten of the tree or trees of life only, would it have been possible for God to expel him from the garden? I believe that it would not. But after he had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and will, would it have been possible for God to retain him in the garden? Again I believe that it would not; likewise that God cannot cast into hell an angel that has been received into heaven, neither introduce into heaven a condemned devil. That neither of these can He do from His Divine omnipotence, may be seen above in the section on the Divine Omnipotence (n. 19-70).

In the preceding section (n. 336-339), it is shown than saving faith is faith in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. But the question arises, What is the first principle of faith in Him? The answer is, The acknowledgement that He is the Son of God. This was the first principle of faith, which the Lord revealed and announced when He came into the world. For unless men had first acknowledged that He was the Son of God, and thus God from God, in vain would He Himself and His Apostles after Him have preached faith in Him. Now as the case is somewhat similar at the present day - but with those who think from their selfhood, that is, solely from the external or natural man, saying to themselves, How could Jehovah God beget a Son, and how can a man be God? - it is necessary to confirm and establish from the Word this first principle of faith. For this reason the following passages are quoted: The angel said to Mary, Thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee therefore that which is to be born of thee shall be called Holy, the Son of God (Luke 1:31-35.) When Jesus was being baptized, there came a voice out of heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:16, 17; Mark 1:10, 11; Luke 3:21, 22). Again when Jesus was transfigured, there also came a voice out of heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). [2] Jesus asked His disciples, saying, Who do men say that I am? Peter answered, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jonah. I say unto thee, that upon this rock I will build my church (Matt. 16:13-18). The Lord said that upon this rock, that is, upon the truth and the confession that He is the Son of God, He would build His church; for "rock" signifies truth, and also the Lord in respect to Divine truth. So with those who do not confess this truth that He is the Son of God, the church is not; therefore it is said above, that this is the first principle of faith in Jesus Christ, and thus is faith in its origin. John the Baptist saw and bare witness that this is the Son of God (John 1:34). The disciple Nathanael said to Jesus, Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel (John 1:49). The twelve disciples said, We have believed that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God (John 6:69). He is called the only begotten Son of God, and the only begotten from the Father, who is in the bosom of the Father (John 1:14, 18; 3:16). Jesus Himself confessed before the high priest, that He was the Son of God (Matt. 26:63, 64; 27:43; Mark 14:61, 62; Luke 22:70). They that were in the ship came and worshiped Jesus, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God (Matt. 14:33). The eunuch who wished to be baptized, said to Philip, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (Acts 3:37). Paul, when he was converted, preached Christ, that He was the Son of God (Acts 9:20). Jesus said, The hour cometh, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live (John 5:25). He that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18). These are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31). These things have I written unto you who believe in the name of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God (1 John 5:13). We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given that we may know Him that is True, and we are in Him that is True, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20). Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him and he in God (1 John 4:15). (Again elsewhere, as in Matt. 8:29; 27:40, 43, 54; Mark 1:1; 3:11; 15:39; Luke 8:28; John 9:35; 10:36; 11:4, 27; 19:7; Rom. 1:4; 2 Cor. 1:19; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:13; Heb. 4:14; 6:6; 7:3; 10:29; 1 John 3:8; 5:10; Apoc. 2:18.) There are also many passages where He is called "Son" by Jehovah, and where He calls Jehovah God His Father, as in this: Whatever the Father doeth, that the Son doeth also; as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so doth the Son; that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father; as the Father hath life in Himself, even so gave He to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:19-27). So in many other passages. And again in David: I will declare the decree; Jehovah hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way, for His anger will soon be kindled. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him (Ps. 2:7, 12). [3] From the foregoing now comes this conclusion, that everyone who wishes to be truly a Christian and to be saved by Christ, ought to believe that Jesus is the Son of the living God. He who does not believe this, but only that He is the Son of Mary, implants in his mind various ideas respecting Him, which are injurious and destructive to that salvation (On which see above, n. 92, 94, 102). Of such it may be said, as of the Jews, That instead of a royal crown, they place upon His head a crown of thorns, and also give Him vinegar to drink, and they cry out, If thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross (Matt. 27:29, 34, 40). Or as the devil, the tempter, said, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread or, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down (Matt. 4:3, 6). Such profane His church and temple, and make it a den of robbers. These are they who make the worship of Him like the worship of Mohammed, and do not distinguish between true Christianity, which is the worship of the Lord, and naturalism. They may be compared to men riding in a carriage or coach over thin ice, and the ice breaks under them, and they sink, and they, with their horses and vehicle, are covered by the icy water. They may also be likened to men who make a little boat of woven reeds and rushes, daubing it with pitch that it may hold together, and in it put out to sea; but there the cohesiveness of the pitch is destroyed, and they are choked by the waters of the sea and swallowed up and are buried in its depths.

III. MAN ACQUIRES FAITH BY GOING TO THE LORD, LEARNING TRUTHS FROM THE WORD, AND LIVING ACCORDING TO THEM. Before proceeding to show how faith originates, namely, by going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them, it is necessary first to set forth the summaries of faith, from which may be gained the general idea that runs through the several parts; for thus what is taught not only in this chapter on Faith, but also in those on Charity, Free Will, Repentance, Reformation, and Regeneration, and on Imputation, will be more clearly comprehended; for faith enters into all parts and each part of a system of theology, as blood flows into the members of the body and vivifies them. What the present church teaches respecting faith is known in the Christian world generally, and particularly in its ecclesiastical class; for the books treating solely of faith and faith alone fill the libraries of the doctors of the church, and almost nothing beyond this is regarded as properly theological at the present day. But before what the present church teaches respecting its faith is taken up, considered and examined (which will be done in an Appendix), the general principles which the New Church teaches respecting its faith shall be presented. They are the following:

The Esse of the Faith of the New Church is: 1. Confidence in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. 2. A trust that he who lives well and believes aright is saved by Him. The Essence of the Faith of the New Church is: Truth from the Word. The Existence of the Faith of the New Church is: l. Spiritual sight. 2. Accordance of Truths. 3. Conviction. 4. Acknowledgment inscribed on the mind. The States of the Faith of the New Church are: l. Infantile faith, adolescent faith, adult faith 2. Faith in genuine truth and faith in appearances of truth. 3. Faith of the memory, faith of reason, faith of light. 4. Natural faith, spiritual faith, celestial faith. 5. Living faith, and faith founded on miracle. 6. Free faith, and forced faith. The Form itself of the Faith of the New Church, in its universal view, and its particular view, may be seen above (n. 2, 3).

As the constituents of spiritual faith have been presented in a summary, so also shall those of merely natural faith, which in itself is a persuasion counterfeiting faith, and a persuasion of what is false, which is called heretical faith. It may be designated as follows: l. Spurious faith, in which falsities are mixed with truths. 2. Meretricious faith from truths falsified, and adulterous faith from goods adulterated. 3. Closed or blind faith, which is a faith in things mystical that are believed, although it is not known whether they are true or false, or whether they are above reason or contrary to it. 4. Wandering faith, which is a faith in several Gods. 5. Purblind faith, which is a faith in some other than the true God, and among Christians in any but the Lord God the Savior. 6. Hypocritical or Pharisaic faith, which is a faith of the lips and not of the heart. 7. Visionary and distorted faith, which is falsity made to appear like truth by ingenious confirmation of it.

It has been said above that faith, as to its existence in man, is spiritual sight. Now as spiritual sight which is the sight of the understanding, and thus of the mind, and natural sight which is the sight of the eye and thus of the body, mutually correspond, every state of faith may be compared with some state of the eye and its sight-a state of faith in what is true with every normal state of eyesight, and a state of faith in what is false with every perverted state Of eyesight. Let us compare then the correspondences of these two kinds of sight, mental and bodily, as to their perverted states. Spurious faith, in which falsities are mixed with truths, may be compared to that disease of the eye and consequently of the sight, called white specks on the cornea, which produces dimness of sight. Meretricious faith which comes from truths falsified, and adulterous faith which is from goods adulterated, may be compared to that disease of the eye and consequently of the sight, called glaucoma, which is a drying up and hardening of the crystalline humor. Closed or blind faith, which is a faith in things mystical that are believed, although it is not known whether they are true or false, or whether they are above reason or contrary to it, may be compared to the disease of the eye called gutta serena or amaurosis, which is a loss of sight while the eye still looks as though it saw perfectly, which arises from an obstruction of the optic nerve. Erratic faith, which is a faith in several Gods, may be compared to the disease of the eye called cataract, which is a loss of vision, arising from a stoppage between the sclerotic coat and the uvea. Purblind faith, which is a faith in any other than the true God, and among Christians in any but the Lord God the Savior, may be compared to the disease of the eye called strabismus. Hypocritical or Pharisiac faith, which is a faith of the lips and not of the heart, maybe compared to atrophy of the eye, and consequent loss of sight. Visionary and distorted faith, which is falsity made to appear like truth by an ingenious confirmation of it, may be compared to the disease of the eye called nyctalopia, which is seeing in darkness from an illusive light.

As to the formation of faith: it is effected by man's going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them. First: Faith is formed by man's going to the Lord, because faith that is faith, or that is a saving faith, is from the Lord and in the Lord. That it is from the Lord is evident from His words to His disciples: Abide in Me, and I in you for apart from Me, ye can do nothing (John 15:4, 5). That it is faith in the Lord, is evident from the passages presented in abundance (n. 337, 338), to the effect that men ought to believe in the Son. Since then faith is from the Lord and in the Lord, it may be said that the Lord is faith itself, for its life and essence are in Him, and thus from Him. [2] Secondly: Faith is formed by man's learning truths from the Word, because faith in its essence is truth; for all things that enter into faith are truths; consequently faith is nothing but a complex of truths shining in the mind of man; for truths teach not only that man ought to believe, but also in whom he ought to believe, and what he ought to believe. Truths ought to be taken from the Word, because all truths that conduce to salvation are in the Word, and there is efficacy in them because they are given by the Lord, and are therefore inscribed on the whole angelic heaven; consequently when man learns truths from the Word, he comes into communion and consociation with angels beyond what he knows. Faith destitute of truths like grain without inner substance, which when ground yields nothing but bran; while faith from truths is like useful grain, which when ground yields flour. In a word, the essentials of faith are truths; and if truths do not reside in and constitute the faith, it is only like the shrill sound of a whistle; but when they do reside in and constitute it, faith is like a voice of glad tidings. [3] Thirdly: Faith is formed by man's living according to truths, because spiritual life is life according to truths, and truths do not actually live until they are in deeds. Truths abstracted from deeds are merely matters of thought, and unless they become of the will also, are only in the entrance to the man, and thus are not inwardly in him; for the will is the man himself, and the thought is so far the man, in quantity and quality, as it adjoins the will to itself. He who learns truths and does not practice them, is like one who sows seed in a field and does not harrow it in; and consequently the seed becomes swollen by the rain and is spoiled. But he who learns truths and practises them, is like one who sows the seed and covers it, and the rain causes it to grow to a crop and to be of use for food. The Lord says: If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them (John 8:17) And again: He that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the Word and giveth heed; who also beareth fruit and bringeth forth (Matt. 13:23); also: Everyone that heareth these My words, and doth them, I will liken him unto a prudent man, who built his house upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these My words and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand (Matt. 7:24, 26). All words of the Lord are truths.

From the foregoing it is clear that there are three things by which faith is formed in man; first by going to the Lord; secondly, by learning truths from the Word; and thirdly, by living according to them. Now as these are three things, and one not the same as another, it follows that they can be separated; for a man may go to the Lord, and not know any but historical truths respecting God and the Lord; also a man may know truths from the Word in abundance, and yet not live according to them. But in the man in whom these three things are separated, that is, in whom one is apart from the other, there is no saving faith. Saving faith arises when the three are conjoined, and becomes such as the conjunction is. Where these three things are separated, faith is like a sterile seed, which when dropped in the earth moulders into dust. But where the three are conjoined, faith is like a seed in the ground which grows up to a tree, and the fruit of it is according to their conjunction. Where these three things are separated, faith is like an egg which contains no prolific principle; but where they are conjoined, faith is like an egg that can produce a beautiful bird. The faith of those in whom these three things are separated, may be likened to the eye of a fish or of a crab when cooked; but the faith of those in whom the three are conjoined, may be likened to an eye translucent from the crystalline humor even to and through the uvea of the iris. Separated faith is like a picture drawn in dark colors on a black stone; but conjoined faith is like a picture drawn in beautiful colors on a transparent crystal. The light of a separated faith may be compared to that of a firebrand in the hand of a traveller at night; while the light of a conjoined faith may be compared to that of a blazing torch which when waved about shows plainly each step of the way. Faith without truths is like a vine bearing wild grapes; but faith from truths is like a vine bearing clusters full of noble wine. Faith in the Lord destitute of truths may be compared to a new star appearing in the expanse of heaven, which in time grows dim; but faith in the Lord together with truths may be compared to a fixed star, which remains constant. Truth is the essence of faith; therefore, as the truth is, such is the faith; without truths it is a wandering faith, but with them it is fixed. Moreover, faith from truths shines in heaven like a star.

IV. AN ABUNDANCE OF TRUTHS COHERING, AS IF IN A BUNDLE, EXALTS AND PERFECTS FAITH. From the conception of faith that prevails at the present day it cannot be seen that faith in its compass is a complex of truths, still less that man can contribute anything toward acquiring faith for himself; and yet faith in its essence is truth; for it is truth in its own right, and as truth can be acquired so also can faith. Who cannot go to the Lord if he will? Who cannot collect truths from the Word if he will? And every truth in the Word and from the Word, gives light; and truth in light is faith. The Lord who is Light itself, flows into every man; and in everyone in whom there are truths from the Word, He causes truths to shine and thus to become truths of faith. And this is what the Lord teaches in John: That they should abide in Him, and His words in them (15:7). The Lord's words are truths. But to make it properly understood that an abundance of truths cohering as if in a bundle exalts and perfects faith, the consideration of the subject shall distributed under the following heads: (1) Truths of faith may be multiplied to infinity. (2) They are disposed into series, thus, as it were, into bundles. (3) According to their abundance and coherence faith is perfected. (4) However numerous truths are and however diverse they appear, they make one from the Lord, who is the Word, the God of heaven and earth, the God of all faith, the God of the vineyard or the church, the God of faith, light itself, the truth, and life eternal.

(1) The Truths of Faith maybe multiplied to Infinity. This is evident from the fact that the wisdom of the angels of heaven increases to eternity. Moreover, the angels say that there is no end to wisdom, as its source is no other than Divine truths analytically distributed into forms by means of light flowing in from the Lord. Such human intelligence as is truly intelligence is from no other source. Divine truth may be multiplied to infinity, because the Lord is Divine truth itself, or truth in its infinity, and He draws all men to Himself; but as angels and men are finite they can follow the current of the attraction only according to their measure, although the force of the attraction persists to infinity. The Lord's Word is a great deep of truths from which comes all angelic wisdom, although to the man who knows nothing of its spiritual and celestial meanings, it appears like the water in a pitcher. The multiplication of the truths of faith to infinity may be compared to the seed of men, from one of whom may be propagated families to ages of ages. The proliferation of the truths of faith may be compared to the proliferation of seeds in a field or a garden, which may be propagated to myriads of myriads and perpetually. In the Word "seed" means nothing but truth, "field" means doctrine, and "garden" wisdom. The human mind is like soil, in which spiritual and natural truths are implanted like seeds and may be endlessly multiplied. Man derives this from the infinity of God, who is perpetually in man with His heat and light, and the faculty of generating.