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done anything toward the production from the time the author
Merry Christma(i966)
'--
My dear reader:
out from the presence of the Lord and there he knew his
wife. (Gen 4: 16, 17). According to its singular sense there
were only four people in the world, Adam and Eve, and Cain
and Abel, but there he knew his wife and there he found
people to build a city. And in the fifth chapter of Genesis
(Gen 5: 1, 2) we read, "These are the generations of the book
of Adam in the day which God created them and called their
name Adam." Here we are taught to think of mankind both
( singularly and collectively in the creation.
They were wont to live a life free from care out of the
reach of ail ills. "Nor was wretched old age at aD impending,
but, ever the same in hands and feet, did they delight them-
selves in festivals out of the reach of aIl ills;. "( Hesiod,
Works and Days) THEY died or passed into the spiritual
world as if oyercome bv sleep.
Their Bible was nature. Ail nature was alive and full of
information. The whole world spake ta them, birds, beasts,
fish of the sei; fiowers, trees, vines, moutrtîlns, sunsets and
nvers. Ail had messages of love and wisdom for them and
the y knew that this world came from the spiritual world and
tn:attFilS world corresponded to the spiritual world. They
knew that everything in the natural world was emblematic of
the spiritual world. Therefore, everything had deep lessons of
spiritual life of love and wisdom. They could read from the
book of nature heavenly lessons from the Lord more freely
than we can read our daily newspapers. Hence arose those
beautiful parables, allegories, myths and fables, also hiero
glyphics or nature writing and representative architecture.
But more than this it was capable of taking one's own king
dom and of removing one's reason, of returning one to animal
existence and of driving one from men. But most of al!, it
showed that He alone was the one who set men up and set
men down.
Daniel 4: 35, And all the inhabitants of the earth are re
puted as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in the
Army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth:
and none can stay his hand, or say unto Him, What doest
thou?
A few hundred years ago man thought the world was flat
and lived in fear of coming to the end and faHing off. Today,
man knows the earth to be globular. The horizon appears to
meet the sky a few miles away. A storm seems to coyer the
whole earth. A railroad track appears to be narrower at a
distance, but we know it is just as broad there as it is where
we stand. The sun appears to rise and set, but we know it
neither rises nor sets. We seem to be at rest from any given
point, but in reality we are being whirled through space at
the rate of thousands of miles per second.
These things help us to see that the anger and evil deeds
attributed to the Lord in the scriptures as weil as in the world
of nature are only appearances or sense impressions which de
ceive us, and make us think that both good and evil come
from the Lord.
The scripture passages which express the Lord's love, state the
attual or genuine truth concerning the Lord's true nature. In
reality the Lord never was, is, nor can be angry or evil in an)
manner or degree. He never did, does, nor will punish His
children. Ali the punishment that man endures is the
boomerang result of his misconduct, or of others like himself.
"For with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again." "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap. (Gal. 6, 7). Although man's sufferings and punishments
seem or appear to come from the Lord, the actual truth re
mains that the rational mind cannot conceive of t\VO opposing
natures existing in the Lord God the Perfect Creator. Nothing
but perfect harmony can dwell within Him. If anger or evil
could be expected of Him, it must be of an Infinite Nature.
If both anger and love existed in the Lord, each in. an In
finite degree, the opposing influences would counteract each
other. His infinite evil wou Id counter3,ct His Infinite Good
and His Infinite Good would counteract his infinite evil and
would produce equilibrium or neutrality and the Lord could
accomplish nothing. From this we must conclude that the Lord
according to the Holy Scriptures is the Perfect Creator, the
Fountain Source of Inexhaustible Love, wisdom, power and
mercy. He is forever working to save mankind from wars,
famines, pestilences and other consequential punishments which
man ·brings upon himself through wilful disobedience to the
Divine Love and Wisdom, which were ordained to thrill him
with endless happiness here and hereafter.
kingdhm and broug -t- ort t e first human life on this planet.
The animal must have been the basis of ground for the next
see t e truth with regard to God being the Father, and Nature
Now then, what more was ever daimed for Jesus Christ?
It is written, He had no earthly father. If this be an objection,
it lies equally against every kingdom of Nature. Although He
had no human father, it is an interesting truth that b9_th male
and female principles actually conculTed in His, production.
The fact is, a mitfing Christ's birth as such, it is exceptional
only in its individuality, not at aH in its principle. It is not
.
:::ontrary to aH law~ ·...d analmôes of Nature.
" -' ~
........:..- -=-.: ---~
.-/ - rhe~asked ~f t~he ang-e-l; "How shaH this be, seeing
J. that I have no 1'iUSband?" The angel answered and said unto
her, "The Holy S irit shaH come upon thee, and the Power
of the HIg est s a l over-shadow thee; therefore also that
Holy Thing which shaH be born of thee shaH be caHed the
Son of God." (Luke 1: 34-35) Here is in fact the next ascension
~!he-DivinLprinciple. (Naturally spea mg, it IS an ascen
sion; spiritually speaking, it is a descension.) When conditions
arose making it necessary for the Divine Itself, as yet un
manifested in Nature except in man, to take conceptive effect
and form in the human kingdom, an m t e ema e depart
ment Olt, as in aIl prevlOUS creation, a~in God was the \ \
Father and Mary was the mother of the Divine Man, Cfïnst JJ
\,\,Jesus. The SImple truth 1S, there fias been <l:_wl10le succession
)JJI QLJ::!2irM:_ulC}!.!-s 12irths ~vhic~ .ar~ s:~able of beingJationalized,
and this' he order' which they stand; mineraI, vegetable,
anima huma an Div~ Each was conceived of God the
Father, m t e womb(of N'lture, and born into the world.
l
If any are still disposed ta view man ~s God's highest in 1~
carnation, we would remind them that this is ta acknowledge
1 !!9 fuUx-incarnated 1?i~Î!ty at aU, but only humanity. For
( man himself is not Divine, not even in his inmost, where Gad
is resident or dweUswith him. Man's nature is human nature
only, whereas God's natu~e_is bath hu_man and Divine. Ta
speak of the Divinity of human Nature i5 thëfëforeanabsurd
ity. Rather, Gad is resident in man; man himself is not a little
Divinity. But the Lord Jesus Christ was Gad HiITIself humanized
in Nature as He had been from etermty In Himse f. e who
had always existed as Gad-Man in first princip les now became
Gad-Man in last principle-s-.
Do not the Holy Scriptures declare that "No man has seen
Gad at any time?" "That no man can see his face and live?"
Why then s eak of Him in the human for!D when the church
catechism teaches that Oô - is an invisible Divine Being with
out body, parts or passion?
The saille Hall' Scriptures also teach us that man can know
of men and \vomen seeing "Gad face ta face" and talking with
Him. Anel throughout the Scriptures, His hands, His feet, His
eyes, His cars, His arms, His face, etc., are frequently men
Divine Human form that l'very true believer thinks and prays
h
It..
The Lord in His Infinity is wholly present at every manifesta
tion, but the amount revealed depends upon each man's capa
cities and pO\vers of reception. '
L~c, Power and Order works only through and in comp ete
all His \vorks and activity. His WiscloTll never works contrary
1.O\c and Wisdom. This is why the Lord can do nothing dis
~
of ClIl infirm human nature born of a \'irgin, shows that there
The Scriptural term "Son of God" has led man y persons who
fOl'ln opinions and draw conc1usions so]ely from false sense im
can see that Jehovah God, the Creator, who is infinitely above
'1
rolling sea.
Excerpts
of
Emanuel Swedenborg
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.l
THE INCARNATION.
xix. 1-:1:). "Thus saith Je7wvah, thy Redce7lwr, the IIoly One
of Israel, l am Jehovah thy Gad" (Isaiah xlviii. 17; xliii.
14; xlix. 7). "Thus saith Jeho'IJah thy Recleemer, . . . l am
Jehovah, that maketh all things . . . euen alone by JrIyseif"
(xliv. 24). "Th1ls saith Jehovah the King of Israel, and His
Redeeme1', JelW1XI,h of Hasts, l am the First and the Last, and
beside Me theTe is no God" (xliv. 6). "Thou, 0 Jehovah, our
Father, O'lM' Rerleem,e'/' fTom etenlity is Thy name" (Ixiii. 16).
"With the 111e1'CY of eternity l will have merey, th1lS saith
Jehovah thy RerlccrneT" (liv. 8). Thou hast redeemed Me, 0
Jehovah, God of tndh" (Psalm xxxi. 5). "Let Israel hope in
Jehovah, beccmse in Jehovah is meny, and with Hi?n is plenteous
Redemption, and He 1vill '/'edeem Israel f1'om all his iniquities"
(cxxx. 7, 8). "Jehovah Gad, and thy Reeleeme1' the Holy One
of Israel, the Gael of the whole earth shall He be called" (Isaiah
liv. 5). From these passages and very many others, every man
who has eyes and a mind opened by means of them, may
r see that Q2d,. who is one, descended and becamEtJ')1an, for
\ the purpose of accomp lS 1ing the work of redemption.. Who
A~ 1 cannot see this as in the morning light, when he gives
') at.tention t·o these the very Divine declarations which have been
(adduced ~ ut those who are in the shade of night, by being
confirmed in favour of the birth of another God from eternity,
) a~d. of His des~ent and re?emption, close .their eyes at these
5- () DIvme declarahons; and III that state thmk how they may
apply them to their falsitics, and pervert them. (1'. C. R n.
82,83.) -
\. ~. '7'. ~G" 3 S'" -~ ~
JEHOVAH GOD DESCENDED ASro DIVINE TRUTH.,;/AND WAS SAID
TO B~)ORN.
AlI truth is from good, for it is the form of it, and aIl good is
the esse (or inmost being;) of truth. Good when it is formed, so
as to appear to the mind, and through the mind, in speech, is
caned truth. (A. E. n. 136.)
Truth is the form of good; that is, when good is forIged SQ
{ that it can e intel1e tually perceiv:ed, then it 1. c.alkd truth.
(A. C. n. 3049.) .
There are two things which make the essence of God, the
Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom; or what is the same
the Divine Good and the Divine Truth. These two in the
'Nord are meant also by Jehovah God; by Jehovah, the Divine
Love or Divine Good, and by God, the Divine Wisdom or
Divine Truth. Tbence it is that in the Word tlley are dis
tinauished in various ways, and sometimes only J ehovan ls
na::red, and sometimes only God. For where it treats of the
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
After ail the celestial in man, that is, ail love to God was lost,
so that there remained no longer any will to what was good, the
human race was separated from the Divine, for nothing conjoins
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
them but love, and when there was no love disjunction took
place, the consequence of which is destruction and extirpation.
A promise, therefure, was then made concerning the coming of
the Lord into the world, who should unite the Ruman ta the
Divine, and through this union should effect conjunction of the
human race in Rimself, by a faith grounded in love and charity.
From the time of the first promise (concerning which see Gen.
iii. 25), faith grounded in love to the Lord who was to come was
faith remaining throughout the earth, then the Lord came, and
) ti..!!!,ê tauaht the way of truth, sho~.=ing that every_one who should
'1 Divine, ta save the human race. Know, therefore, that the Lord
the Lord Himself teaches in John. " I and the Pather are one"
(x. 30); again, "Jesus said, Henceforth ye have known and seen the
Pather. . . . He that hath se~n Me hath seen the Pather. . . . Be
lieve Me that I am in the Pather and the Pather in Me" (xiv. 7,9,
11); and again, "Al! ~!lfine are thine, and aU thine a·re Mine"
(xvii. 10). This great mystery is described in John in these
words: "In the beginning was the V;-ord, and the Ward was with
Gad, and Gad was the Word; the same was in the beg'inning with
Gad; al! things were made by Him, ([nd without Him was not any
thin.c; rnade that was 1nade. ... And the Ward was made flesh,
and dVJelt among us, and we beheld His gliJry, the glory as of the
THE DOCTRL..VE OF THE LORD.
~J
only begotten of the FatheT. . . . No man hath SGen God at an/!
time; the only begotten Son, 1-dw is in the bosom of the FatheT, He
hath brought Him jOTth to 1-,iew" Ci. 1-3, 14, 18). The "Vord is the
Divine truth which has been revealed to men; and because this
could not he revealed except from J ehovah as Man, that is,
except from J ehovah in the human form, thus from the Lord,
therefore it is said, "In the beginning was the Wonl, and the WOTd
was with God, and God was the WOTd." Tt is known in the
church that by the W ord the Lord is meant. It is therefore
open] y said, 1/ The W ord was made flesh, a1",d dwelt among 1-&S, and
'lOI', beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the FatheT."
That the Divine truLh eould not be revealed to men except from
J ehovah i.n the human form, is also clearly stated: "No one hath
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of .
the Fatlter, He hath bronght Hirn fOTth to view." From this it is
evident that the Lord from eternity was J ehovah or the Father
in a llUman form, but not yet in the flesh; for an angel has not
flesh. And as J ehovah, or the Father, willed to put on aIl the
human, for the sake of the salvation of the human race, therefore
He a,lso assumed flesh; wherefol'e it is said, " God WClS the Wonl,
. . . and the Wo?'d 11'as made jlesh;" and in Luke, "Be7wld fi!.')
!Lands and jlfy jeet, that it is l Myself; handle Me and sec, f01' ([
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as YI', sec fife h(xve" (xxiv. 39). By
these words the Lord taught that He was no longer J ehovall
nnder the form of an angel, but that He "vas J ehovah Man;
which also is meant by these words of the Lord, " l came fOTth
fTom the Fathe?', and am corne into the world; again l leave the
world, and ,go to the FatheT " (John xvi. 28). CA. C. n. 9315.)
( Man is so natura'l and sensual that he is quite )~ca,,12abLe~y
) idea of thought concerning things abstract, unless he adjoins some
thing natural which had entered from the world through the
sensnals, for without such his thought perishes as in an abyss,
and is dissipated. Therefore, lest the Divine should perish with
( man, entirely immersed in corporeal and earthly things, and in
) those with whom it remained should be c1efiled by an impure
ic1ea, and "vith it everything celesti.al and spiritual from the
Divine, it pleased J ehovah to present Himself actuaUy as He is,
)
and as e app~rs in heaven,-nam.§ly, as a Divine Man. Fol'
every part of heaven conspires to the human form; as may be
seen from what has been shawn at the close of the chapters, con
cerning the correspondence of aU things of man with the Greatest
l\fan, which is heaven. This Divine, or this [presence] of Je
JlOvah in heaven is the LOTd from eternity. The same also the
Lord took upon Him when He glorified or made Divine the
Imman Ï11 Himse1f; which aIso is verymanifest from the form in
which He appeared before Peter, James, and John, when He ,vas
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
which fil1s the uuiversal heaven, and effeets that those should
be saved who before couId not be saved. This now is the Lord,
who, as to the Divine Ruman, alone is Man, and from whom
man derives that he is man. (A. C. n. 3061.)
Let it be weIl understood that aIl the correspondence there is
with heaven is with the Divine H uman of the Lord; since
heaven is from Rim and He is heaven. Fot' unless the Divine
Ruman flowed into aIl things of heaven, and according to col'
respondences into aIl things of the world, neither angel nor
man would exist. From this again it is manifest why the Lord
became Man, and clotJ1ed His Divine with the Ruman from first
to last; that it "vas because the Divine Ruman from which
heaven existed before the coming of the Lord, was no longer
sufficient to sustain aIl things; because man, who is the basiE; of
the heavens, subverted and destroyed order. (H. R. n. 101.)
It has been toJd me from heaven, that in t.he Lord from
cternity, who is J ehovah, before the assumption of the R uman in
the world, there were the two prior degl'ees actuaIly, and the third
degree in potency, as they are al~o with the angels; but that
aftel' Ris assumption of the Ruman in the world Re put on also
the third or natural degree, and thereby became Man, similar
to a man in the world,-save that in Rim this degree,'like the
two priur, is infil1ite and uncreate, while in angeIs and men
these degl'ees are finite and created. For the Divine, which
filled aIl space without space; penetrated also to the ultimates
of nature. TIut before the assumption of the R uman, the
Divine influx into the natural degree was mediate through the
angelie heavel1s; but after the assumption it was immediate from
HimseH. This is the reason why aIl the chmches in the world
before His advent were representative of spiritual and celestial
things, but after His eoming became spiritual and celestial
natural, and representative worship was abolished; also why the
sun of the angelic heaven-which is the proximate proceeding
of Ris Divine love and Divine wisdom-after His assumption of
the Human shone with more eminent effulgence and splendour
than before the assumption. This is meant by the words of
Isa{ah: "In that day, the light of the moon shall be as the light
of the sun, and the li.qht of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light
of se'Ven clays" (xxx. 26); which is spoken of the state of beaven
and the church, after the Lord's coming iuto the world. And
in the Apocalypse: « The conntenance of the Son of Man was as
the sun shineth in his stTength" (i. 16); and elsewhere, as in
Isaiah lx. 20; 2 Sam. xxiii. 3,4; Matt. xvii. 1, 2. The mediate
enlightenment of men through the angelic heaven, which there
was before the Lord's coming, may be compared to the light of
the rooon, w hich is the mediate light of the sun; and because
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
'2 1
this was made imrnediate after His corning it is said in lsaiah,
" That the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun;" and
in David, " In His days shall the righteousflourish, and ab~tndance
of pr;ace, until there is no longer any moon" (lxxii. 7). This also
is spoken of the Lord.
The Lord from eternity or J ehovah put on this third degree,
by the assumption of the Human in the world, because He could
not enter into this degree except by a nature similar to· the
hurnan nature; therefore only EY conc~tion from _His Djtine,
and b~ nativity from a virgiJl: . D~T. n. 33, 234.)
It S ouIa be known tIiat theLord is present with men in His
Divine natural; with the angels of His spiritual kingdom in His
Divine spiritual; and with the angels of His celestial kingdom
in His Divine celestial; yet He is not divided, but appears to
every one according to his quality. (A. R.p. 466.)
" Until Shiloh come." That this signifies the corning of the
Lord, and the tranquillity of peace then, appears from the signi
fication of Shiloh, which is the Lord,-·who is called Shiloh from
the fact that He calmed and tranquillized ail things; for in the
original tongue Shiloh is derived from a word which signifies
tranquillity. Why the Lord is here called Shiloh is evident
from what was said just above concerning the celestial kingdom
and its power; for when the Divine was manifested through
that kingdom there was intranquillity; because the things which
are in heaven, and those which are in hell, could not be reduced
by it to order-inasmuch as the Divine which flowed through
that kingdom could not be pure, because heaven is not pure.
That kingdom therefore was not so strong that by it aIl things
might be kept in order; on which account infernal and dia
bolical spirit::; even issued forth from the heils, and dornineered
over the souIs which came from the world. From which it
carne to pass that no others than the celestial could thus be
saved; and at length scarcely they, jf the Lord had not assurned
the human, and thereby made it in Himself Divine. By this
the Lord reduced ail things to order; first the things which are
in heaven, next those that are in the he11s. From this is the
tranquiIlity of peace. (A. C. n. 6373.)
AU the churches that existed before His advent were repre
sentative churchos, which could not see Divine truth, save as it
were in the shade; but after the advent of the Lord into the
world a church was instituted by Him which saw Divine truth,
or rather which could see it, in the light. The difference is
as that between evening and morning. The state of the
church before the Lord's advent is also caHed evening; and the
state of the church after His advent is called rnorning. The
Lord was indeed present with the men of the church before His
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
coming into the worla, but mediately through angels who repre
sented Him; but since His advent in the world, He is immedi
ately present with the men of the chnrch. For in the world He
put on also the Divine Natural, in which He is present with
men. (T. C. R. n. 109.)
It is frequently said in the \Vord concerning the Lord, that
He was sent by the Father, as also it is saicl here (Gen. xix.
13), "Jelwvah hath sent us;" and everywhere, to be sent, signi
fies in the internaI sense, to go forth; as in John: "They have
received and have known, s'nrely, that l came forth from Thee, and
have believecZ tltat Thou hast sent Me" (xvii. 8). So in other
places; as in the same Evangelist: « God sent not His Son into
the 11,'0rld, to i~ldge the wortel, b~d that the world thro~lgh Hi'fn
1n'ight be saverl" (iii. 17). Again: « Ile that honmlreth not the Son,
honou,reth not the Father who sent Him" (v. 23); besides many
other passages. In Eke manner it i:=; said of the Roly of the Spirit,
that it is sent; that i8, that it goeth forth from the Divine of the
Lord; as in John: « Jesus said, When the Comforte?' shall come,
whom l will send ~tnto you from the Father, the SpiJ-it of Tndh,
which goeth forth from the Father, He shall testify of Me" (xv. 26).
Again: "If 1 go away l will send the CO?nforter unto you" (xvi. 7).
Hence the Prophets were called the Sent, because the words which
they spake went forth from the Holy of the Spirit of the Lord.
And because aIl Divine Truth goes forth from Divine Good, the
expression, to be sent, is properly predicated of Divine Tl'uth.
And what it is to go forth is also evident, namely, that he who
goes forth, or that which goes forth, is of him from whom it goes
t'ortho (A. C. n. 2397.)
z~
than any man can ever sustain, and that He endmed them alone,
and by His ùwn power overcame evil, or the devil and all bell,
is also evident. . . ; An angel can never be tempted of the devil,
because, being in the Lord, evil spirits cannot approach him even
distantly. They would instantly be seized with terror and fright.
Much less could hen approach to the Lord if He had been born
Divine, tbat is, without an adberence of evil from the mother.
That the Lord bore theiniquities and evils of mankind, is a form
of speaking common with preachers; but for Him to take upon
Himself iniquities and evils otherwise than in the hereditary
way, was impossible. The Divine Nature is not susceptible of
evil. Wherefore, that He rnight overcome evil by His own
strength, which no man ever could or can do, and might thl1s
alone becorne righteousness, He was willing to be born as another
man. Otherwise tbere would have been no need that He should
be born; for He might have assumed the H uman Essence with
out nativity, as sometimes He had formerly done, when He
appeared to those of the Most Ancient Churcb, and likewise to
the prophets. But in order that He might also put on evil, to
fight against and conquer it, and might thus at the same time
join together in Himself the Divine Essence and the Human
Essence, He came into the world. The Lord, however, had no
actual evil, or evil that was His own, as He Himself declares in
John: " Which of you convicteth Me of sin t' (viii. 46.) (A. C.
n. 1573.) .
It is known that the Lord was born as another man, that when
an infant He learned to talk as another infant, and that then He
grew in knowledge, and in intelligence, and in wisdom. It is,
evident from this that His human was not Divine from uativity,
but that He made it Divine by His own power. It was by His
own power, because He was conceived of J ehovah; and hence
the inmost of His life was J ehovah Himself. For the inmost of
the life of every man, which is called the soul, is from the
father; and what that inmost puts on, which is called the body,
is from the mother. That the inmost of life, which is from the
father, is continually fiowing in and operating upon the external
which is from the mother, and endeavouring to make this like
itself, even in the womb, can be seen from chilùren, in that they
are born into the natural qualities of the fatber; and sometimes
grandsons and great-grandsons into the natural qualities of the
grandfatber and great-gral1dfather, because the soul, which is
from the father, contil1ually wills to make the external, which is
THE DOCTRIXE OF THE LORD.
from the mother, like itself. Since this is so with man, it is evi
dent that it must have been especially the case with the Lord.
His inmost was the very Divine, for it was J ehovah Himself; for
He was His only begotten Son. And as the inmost was the
very Divine, could not this, more than in the case of any man,
make the external which was from the mother an image of itseU,
that is, like to itself, thus make Divine the human which
was external and from the mother? And this by His own
power, because the Divine, which was inmost, from which He
operated into the human, was His; as the soul of man, which
is the inmost, is his. And as the Lord advanced accorcling to
Divine order, His Human when He was in the worlcl He made
Divine Truth, and afterwards when He was fully glorified He
made it Divine Good, thus one with J ehovah. (A. C. Il.6716.)
THE GLORIFICATION.
) f
man, but altogether Divine. For the man who is made new by
regeneration still retains within him an inclination to evil, yea,
eyil itself, but is withheld from evil by an inftowing of the life
of the Lord's love,-and this by exceedingly strong power; but
the Lord entirely cast out every evil wllich was hereditary 1.0 Hirn
from the mother, and made Himself Divine e\len as to the vessels,
that is, as 1.0 truths. This is ",hat in the Word is called glorifi
cation. (ib. n. 3318.)
The union of the Lord'R Human Essence with His Divine was
not effected at once, but successively through the whole course
of His life, from infancy 1.0 the end of His life in the world. He
thus ascended continuàlly 1.0 glorification, tllat is, to union. This
is what is said in John; "Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy name.
Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I both hœce glorificd
it, and will glori/y it again" (xii. 28). (iù. n. 2033.)
THE CROSS.
The reason why the union itseIf was fully effected by the pas
.sion of the cross, is because that was the last temptation \vhich
the Lord suffered in the world, and conJUIl ction is effected by
temptations. For in temptations man, 1.0 appearance, is left 1.0
himself alone; and yet he is not left, for God is then most pre
sent in His inmost parts, and supports him. \Vhen therefore
any one conquers in temptation, he is in inmost conjunction with
God; and the Lord was then in inmost union with God His
}'ather. That in the passion of the cross the Lord was left 1.0
Himself, is evident from ihis His exclamation upon the cross;
" 0 Gael, why hast ThO'Lt jonC/ken flIe?" and also from these words
of the Lord: "No man taketh life jrorn Me, but I lay it down of
JrIysclf; I have power to lay it clown, and I have power to take it
again; this commandment have I receivcd jro?n My Father" (John
x. 18). :From these passages, now, it is evident that the Loru
ùid not suffer as to the Divine, but as 1.0 the Human; and that
then an inmost and thus a complete union ,"vas cffected. (T. C. R.
n. 12G.)
Of the GLORIFICATION, Ly which is meant the unition of the
Divine Human of the Lord ,"vith the Divine of the Father, \'v'hich
was fully completed by the passion of the cross, the Lord thus
speaks: "Ajter J~/'das went out, Jesus saùl, Now the Son of Man
if; glor~fieel, and God is .qlor~ficd in Him,. if God be glorifierl in·
Jhm, (Joel will also glorl/Y Hùn in Himselj, anel will stmightway
gloTify Him" (Jolm xiii. 31,32). Here glorification is predicatecl
ùoth of God the FatIler and of the Son; fol' it is said, " God is
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
That the Lord had a Divine and a Ruman, the Divine from
.Jehovah as the Father, and the Ruman from the Virgin Mary,
is known. Renee it is that He was God and Man, and so had
the very Divine essence and a Ruman nature, the Divine essence
from the Fatller, and the Ruman nature from the mother; 'and
therefore Re "vas equal to the Fatber as to the Divine, and less
than the Father as to the Ruman. But then Re did not transmute
ihis Rurnan nature from the mother into the Divine essence,
Ilor commix it therewith, as the doctrine of faith called the
Athanasian Creed teaches; for the Ruman nature cannot be
transmuted into the Divine essence, nor can it. be commixed with
it. And yet it is from the same doctrine, that the Divine assumed
the Ruman, that ig united itself to it as a soul to its body, so
that they were not two but one person. From this it follows,
that He put off the Ruman taken from the mother,-which in
itself was like the hurnan of another man, and thus material,
and put on a Ruman from the Father; which in itself was like
Ris Divine, and. thus substantial, by which means the Ruman
also was made Divine. (L. n. 35.)
That the life of the Lord, from His earliest childhood even to
the last hoUT of His life in the world, was a continuaI tempta
tion and continuaI victory, appears from many passages in the
Word of the Old! Testament., And that it did not cease with the
temptation in the wilderness is evident from these words in
Luke, " When the Devil had encled aU the temptation, he departed
J'l'om Him Jar a season" Civ. 13); also from the fact that He was
tempted even tü the death of the cross, thus to the last hoUT of
His life in the world. Henee it appears that the Lord's whole
life in the world, from His earliest childhood, was a continuaI
temptation and continuaI victory. The last was when on the
cross He prayed for His enemies, thus for a11 on the face of.-t..he
whole earth. In the Word of the life of the Lord by the Evan
gelists, there is no mention of any but His temptation in the
wilderness, except the last. Others were not disclosed to the
disciples. Those which were disclosed appear, according to the
literaI sense, so light as scarcely to he any temptation; for so to
speak and so to answer is no ternptation. Ayd y~t iLw s ~ Il
g4eyOUs than any human_min can ever CDJl.cei e or be ·eve. \
r No one can know_what_temp~on is unless he has been in it. 1
The temptation whieh is related in Matt. iv. 1-11, Mark i. 12,
13, Luke iv. 1-13, contains the ternptations in a surnrnary;
J
namely, that out of love towards the whole hurnan race, the
Lord fought against the loves lf n -t -L, with
r~hich the he11s were fi11ed. ---.A-11 temptation is agains he love
ÛP which a man is; and 1he de ree of em ta lOn lS accor mg to
) that of too ove. If not against the love it is no temptation.
1'0 destro one's l e ' r i v rx life, ov i life.
The Lor 's 'fe was love towards the whole human race; and it .-..
(
was so reat, and of such a nature, as to be nothina but ure
love. -:Against this, IS l e, con mua emp a Ions were a
m"ltted, as was said, from His earliest childhood to His last hour
in the worM. . . . In brief, from His earliest childhood ta the last
hoUT of His life in the world the Lord was assa"Q-lted by ail the
That the Lord at the last fought in temptations with the angels
themselves, yea, with the whole angelic heaven, is an arcanum
which has not until now been revealed. But the case is this:
The angels are indeed in the highest wisdom and intelligence,
but all their wisdom and intelligence is from the Lord's Divine.
ortliemselves, or rom w a lS leu own, t ley lave nothing of
wisdom and intelligence; sa far therefore as they are in truths
and goods from the Lord's Divine they are wise and intelligent.
The angels themselves ,Openly confess that they have nothing of
wisdom and intelligence from themselves; yea, are even indig
nant if one attributes ta tbem anytbing of wisdom and intel
ligence. For they know and perceive that this would be ta
deroO'ate from the Divine that which is Divine, and tu claim for
themselves what is not their own, thus ta ineur the crime of
SPiritual theft. The angels also say, that all their proprium is
j evil and false, bath from what is hereditary and from actual life
in the world when they were men; and that what is evil and
false is not separated or wiped away from them, and they thus
l justified, but that it aU remains with them; and that they are
withheld from what is evil and false, and kept in good and truth
by the Lord. These thiu 0 s all angels c.on~ess; nor is any one
admitted into heaven unless he knows and believes them; for
otherwise they cannat be in the light of wisdom and intelligence
which is from the Lord, and therefore not in good and truth.
Hence also it may be known how it is ta be understood,
that heaven is not pure in the eyes of Gad, as in Job xv.
(15.. Because it is sa, in arder that the Lord might r.estore. the
~ umversal heaven ta heavenl arder, He even admltted mta
L ItIïûself temI?tations from th.e angels; who in sa far as t Oey
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
falsities, for these are from the he11s,-is said to carry sins, for
He alone sustains that burdeu. By carrying sins is also signified
the removal of evils and falsities from those who are in good;
because this is a consequence. For so far as the he11s are
removed from man evils and falsities are removed; for both, as
was said, are from the he11s. Evjls and falsities are sins and
iniquitjes. . . . That by carrying diseases, griefs, and iniquities,
and' by being thrust through and bruised by them, a. state of
temptation is signified is evident; for in temptation there are griefs
of mind, straitness, and despair, which cause anguish. Such
things are induced by the hells; for in temptations they assault
the love itself of him against whom they fight. The love
of every one is the inmost of his life. The Lord's love was
the love of saving the human race; which love was the Being
of Ris life, for the Divine in Himself was that love. It is so
described too in Isajah, where the Lord's combats are spoken
of in these words: "He said, Surely they are Ny pecple; . . .
therefore He became a Saviour to them; in aU their aifliction
He was aiflicted,o . . . in His love and His clernency He redeemed
the?n, and took them, and carried them aU the days of eternity"
(lxiii. 8, 9). That the Lord endured such temptations when He
was in the world, is described in few places in the Evangelists,
but in many places in the Prophets, and especially in the Psalms
of David. In the Evangelists it is only said that He was led
away into the wilderness, and afterwards was tempted of the
Devil; and that He was there forty days, and was with the
beasts (Mark i. 12,13; Matt. iv. 1). But that He was in tempta
tions, that is in combats with the hells, from earliest child
hood to the end of His life in the world, He did not reveal,
according to these words in Isaiah: "He was oppressed, and He
was aiflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is led as a lamb
to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dum"fJ, so He
opened not His mouth" (liü. 7). His last temptation was in
Gethsemane (Matt. xxvi.; Mark xiv.), and afterwards the passion
of the cross. That by this He fùlly subdued the hells He Him
self teaches in John: "Father, deliverMe from this hour; but for
this [cause] came I to this hour,o Father,glorify Thy name. There
came a voice from heaven, [saying] I have both glorified and u,ill
glorify [it]." Then Jesus said, " N ow is the j~tdgment of this world;
now shaU the prince of this world be cast out" (xii. 27, 28, 31).
The prince of this world is the Devil, thus aIl he11; to glorify is to
make the Ruman Divine. The reason why only the temptation
after forty days in the wilderness is mentioned is, that forty days
signify and involve temptations to the full, thus of many years;
the wilderness signifies he11; and the beasts with which Re fought
there, the diabolical crew. (A C. il. 9937.)
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
4-1
Lord was in the human which He received hereditarily from the
mother, He appeared distinct from J ehovah, and adored J ehovah
as one different from Himself; but in proportion as He put off
this human the Lord was not distinct from J ehovah, but one
with Him. The former state, as has been said, was the Lord's
state of humiliation, but this was His state of glorification.
(A. C. n. 1999.)
THE RESURRECTION.
Since the H uman of the Lord was glorified, that is was made
Divine, therefore after death He rose again on the third day
wIth His whole body; which does not take place witt any man, for
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
~!.
man rises again onlyas to the spirit, but not as to the body.
That man might know, and no one should doubt, that the Lord
rose again with His whole body, He not only said this by the
angels who were in the sepulchre, but He even showed Himself
in His human body to the disciples, saying to them, when they
believed that they saw a spirit, " Behold My hands and My feet,
that it is l Myself; handle Me, and see, for a spirit hath not ftesh
and bones, as ye see Me have. And whcn He had said this, He
showed them His hands and Hisfeet" (Luke xxiv. 39,40; John
xx. 20). And further: cc Jesus said to Thomas, Bcach hither thy
finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thntst
it into My side, and be notfaithless, but believing. Then said Thomas,
My Lord and my God" (John xx. 27, 28). That the Lord might
more fully prove to them that He was not a spirit, but a Man,
He said to the disciples, ce Have ye here any meat? And they gave
Hùn a piece of broiled fish and of an honeycomb, which He took
and ate before them" (Luke xxiv. 41-43). Since His body now
was Dot material, but substantial and Divine, therefore He came
in to the disciples while the doors were shut (John xx. 19, 26).
And after He had been seen "He beca1rw invisible" (Luke xxiv. .
J31). Such now the Lord was taken up and sat at the right hand
of God; for it is said in Luke, " It came to pass while Jesus was
blessing the disciples, He departed fr0111, them, and was carried 'np
into heaven" (xxiv. 51). And in Mark: "After He had spoken
to them, He was received up into hcœven, and sat at the right hand
of God" (xvi. 19). To sit at the right hand of God signifies
Divine Omnipotence. (L. n. 35.)
The Lord made the very corporeal in Himself Divine, both its
sensuals and their recipients. He therefore rose again from the
sepulchre even with His body, and also after the resurrection
said to the disciples, " Behold J.lfy hands and My feet, that it is 1
1Jfyself; handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as
ye see Me have" (Luke xxiv. 39). Very many at this day who
are of the Church believe that every one will rise again at the
last day, and then with the body. This opinion is sa universal
that scarcely any one from doctrine believes otherwise. But the
opinion has prevailed on account of the fact that the natural man
supposes it is the body alone which lives; unless therefore he
should believe that the body is to receive life again he would
entirely deny the resurrection. But the case is this :-Man rises
again immediately after death; and then appears to himself to be
in the body, precisely as in the world, with such a face, with such
members, arms, hands, feet, breast, beUy, loins; yea, when he sees
and touches himself, he also says that he is a man, as in the wor1d.
But it is not his external which he carried about in the wor1d
that he sees and touches, but the internaI, which constitutes that
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
very human that lives, and which had about itself, or outside of
the single things of itself, an external whereby it could be in the
world, and fitly act and perform its funet.ions there. The earthly
corporeal itself is no longer of any use to him. He is in l),nother
world, where there are other functions and other capabilities and
powers, to which such a body as he has there is adapted. This
body he sees with his eyes; not with the eyes that he had in the
world, but those which he has there, which are the eyes of his
internaI man, and with which, through the eyes of the body, he
had before seen worldly and terre::;trial things. He also feels it
with the touch; not with the hands or sense of touch that he
enjoyed in the world, but with the hands and sense of touch
which he there enjoys,-which is that from which sprang his
sense of touch in the world. Every sense there is also more
exquisite and perfect, because it is the sense of man's internaI
set loose from the external; for the internaI is in a more perfect
state, inasmuch as it gives the power of sensation to the externaL
But when it acts in the external, as it does in the world, the sen
sation is dulled and obscured; besides, it is the iriternal which
sensates the internaI, and the external which sensates the exter
naI. Hence it is that men see each other after death, and are
together in society, according to their interior [statesJ. That l
might be certain of these things it has even been given me to
touch spirits themselves, and frequently to talk with them on
this subject. Men after death,-who are then caUed spirits, and
those that have lived in good, angels,-are greatly surprised that
the man of the Church should believe that he is not to see eter
nallife until a last day when the world is to perish; and that
then he will be clothed again with the dust that has been re
jected,-when yet the man of the Church knows that he rises
again after death. For when a man dies, who does not say after
wards that his soul or spirit. is in heaven or in hell? And who
does not say of his own infants who are dead, that theyare in
heaven ? And who does not comfort the sick, or one condemned
to death, by the assurance that he will shortly come into another
life? And he who is in the agonyof deatb, and is prepared,
believes no otherwise. Yea, from that belief also manY claim to
themselves power to deliver from places of damnation, and to
introduce into heaven, and to celebrate maRses for them. Who
does not know what the Lord said to the thief-cc :l'o-day shalt
thou be with Me in pa?"adise" (Luke xxiii. 43); and what He said
concerning the rich man and Lazarus, that the former was car
ried into heU, but the latter by angels into heaven ? (Luke xvi. 22,
23.) And who is not acquainted with what the Lord taught
concerning theresurrection, that " He is not the God of the dead,
but of the living?" (Luke xx. 38.) Man is acquainted with tbese
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
,~
tlrlings; and he so thinks and speaks too wlJen he thinks and:
speaks from the spirit. But wh en he speaks from doctrinals he
says quite the contrary; namely, that he is not to rise again till
the last day,-when yet it is the last day "vith every one w hen
he dies; and then also is his judgment, as many also say. These
things are said in orner that it may 1e known that no ma.n rises
again in the body with which he wa.s clothed in the worlel; but
that the IJord so arose, and this because He glorified or made
His body Divine while He was in tbe world. (A. C. n. 5078.)
THE REDEMPTION.
beaten down,o they fled apace,o they looked not back; this day is to
the L01'd Jehovah of Hosts a day of vengeance, that He may take
vengeance on His enemies,o the swo-rd shall devour and be satiated"
(xlvi. 5, 10). Both of these passages relate to the Lord's
conflîct against the hells, and victory over them. In David:
te Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, 0 Mighty,o . . . Thine arrows
are sharp J' the people shall jall under Thee, jrom the heart of the
King's enemies; Thy throne . . . is for ever and ever. . . . Thou
hast loved rightem~sness, therefore God hath anointed Thee" (Psa.
xlv. 3-7); also in many other places. Since the Lord alone con
quered the hells, without help from any angel, therefore He
is called a Hero and a Man of Wan (lsa. xliv. 15; ix. 6);
The King of Glory, Jehovah the Mighty, the Hero of War
(Psa. xiv. 8, 10); The Mighty One of Jacob Ccxxxii. 2) ; and
in many places Jehovah Sabaoth, that is, Jehovah of Hosts. And
also His advent is called the day of Jehovah, terrible, cruel, a day
of indignation, of wrath, of anger, of vengeance, of ruin, of war,
of a tru??tpet, of a loud noise, of tum~ût. In the Evangelists it is
said: "Now is the judgment of this world: the prince of this world
shall be cast out" (John xii. 31); "The prince of this world is
jud.qed" (xvi. 11); "Be assu1'ed I have overcome the world" (xvi.
33); "I beheld Satan as lightning jallfrom heaven" (Luke x.18).
By the world, the prince of the world, Satan, and the Devil, is
meant hello (T. C. R. n. 116.)
It is known in the Church that the Lord is the Saviour and
Redeemer of the human race; but how this is to be understood
is known by few. They who are in the externals of the Church
believe that the Lord redeemed the world, that is the human
race, by His blood, by which they understand the passion
of the Cross. But those that are in the internaI [truths] of
the Church know that no one is saved by the Lord's blood,
but by a life according to the precepts of faith and charity
from the Lord's Word. Those who are in the inmost [truths] of
the Church, understand by the Lord's blood the Divine Truth
proceeding from Him, and by the passion of the cross they
understand the last of the Lord's temptation, by which He
entirely subjugated the hells, and at the same time glorified
His H uman} that is made it Divine; and that thereby He
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
4b'
redeemed and saved aH who suffer themselves ta be regenerated,
by a life according ta the precepts of faith and charity from His
"Vord. By the Lord's blood also in the internaI sense, accord
ing ta which the angels in the heavens perceive the \V urd,
Divine Truth -is meant proceeding from the Lord. But how
man was saved and redeemed by the Divine, through the sub
jugation of the hells and the glorification of His Human, no one
can know unless He knows that with every man there are
angeIs from heaven, and spirits from hell, and unless these are
present with man continuaIly he cannat think anything, or will
anything; and that thus as to his interiors man is either under
the dominion of spirits who are from hell, or under the dominion
of angels from heaven. When this is first known, then it
may be known that nnless the Lord had entirely subdued the
11ells, and reduced aIl things bath there and in the heavens ta
order, no man could have been saved. Sa, unless the Lordhaù
made His Human Divine, and hac!. thereby acquired to Himself
Divine power over the hells and over the heavens to et.ernity.
For without Divine power neither the hells nor the heavens can
be kept in arder; since the power by ,vhi<.:h anything existE;
must be perpetual in arder that it may subsist, for subsistence
is perpetuaI existence. The very Divine, whi(;h .is called the
Ij'ather, \vithout the Divine Human, which is called the Son,
could not effect this; inasmuch as the very Divine without the
Divine Human cannat reach ta man, nor even to an angel, when
the human race have altogether removed themselves from the
Divinc,-as was the case in the end of times, when there was no
longer any faith nor any charity. For this reason the Lord then
came into the worlù and resto:r:ecl aU things, and thts by virtue
of His Human, and thus saved and redeemed man through faith
and love ta the Lord from the Lord. For those [that have this
faith and love] the Lord can withhold from the hells and froln
eternal damnation; but not those who reject faith and love from
Him ta Him, for these reject salvation and redemptiun. CA. C.
n. 10, 152.)
Tfm LORD THl'8 REDEEMED r;OT ONLY MAN, DUT THE ANGELS.
At the time of the first coming of the Lofil, the hells lJad
increased ta such a beight that they fillecl aU the world of spirits,
-which is intermediate between heaven and hell,-and thus not
only disordered the heaven which is called the last or lowest,
but also assaulted the middle heaven; which they infested in a
thousand ways, and whi<.:h would bave gone ta destructiun if the
T.JÛrd had not witllstooù them. Such an ülsurrection of the hells
is meant by the tower built in the land of Shinar, the head of
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
which was ta reach even unto heaven; but the design of the
builders was frustrated by the confusion of tongues, and they
were dispersed, and tbe city was ca11ed Babel (Gen. xi. 1-9).
What is there meant by the tower, and the confusion of tongues,
is explàined in the Arcana Cœlestia, published in London.
The reason why the he11s bad grown to such a height was, that
at the time when tbe Lord came into the world the whole earth
had completely alienated itself from Gad, by idolatry and magic;
and the church which had existed among the children of Israel,
and afterwards among the J ews, was utterly destroyed through
the falsification and adulteration of the Word. And both the
former and the latter after death flocked into the world of spirits,
where at length they sa increased and multiplied, that they could
not be expelled but by the descent of Gad Himself, and then by
the strength of His Divine arm. How this was done is described
in a little work on the Last Judgment, published at London in
the year 1758. This was accomplished by the Lord when He
was in the world. A similar judgment has also been accom
plished by the Lord at this day, for, as was said above, now is
His second coming, which is foretold everywhere in the Apoca
lypse; and in Matt. xxiv. 3, 30; in Mark xiii. 26; in Luke xxi.
27; also in the Acts of the Apostles i. 11; and in other places.
The difference is that at His first coming tbe he11s had so
increased by idolater~, magicians, and falsifiers of the Word; but
at this second coming by so-ca11ed Christians, both those who
are steeped in naturalism, and also tbose who have falsified the
W ord, by confirmations of their fabulous faith concerning three
Divine Persons from eternity, and concerning the passion of the
Lord, that it was redemption itself; forit is these who are meant
by the dragon and his two beasts in the Revelation xii. and xüi.
(T. C. R. n. 121.)
The reason why the angels could not have subsisted in astate
of integrity if redemption had not been wrought by the Lord, is
that the whole angelic heaven, together with the church on earth,
before the Lord is as one man, whose internaI constitutes the
angelic heaven, and whose external constitutes the church; or
more particularly, whose bead constituies the higbest heaven,
whose breasts and middle region of the body constitute the second
and the ultirnate heaven, and whose loins and feet constitute the
church on earth; and the Lord Himself is the soul and life of tbis
wbole man. If therefore the Lord had not wrought redemption
this man would have been destroyed,-as to the feet and 10ins, by
the defection of the church on earth; as ta the gastric region, by
the defection of the lowest heaven; as to the breast, by the defec
tion of the second heaven; and then the head, having no corr-e
spondence with the body, would fall into a swoon. (T. C. R. n. 119.)
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
The reason why redemption could not have been wrought 'but
liy God incarnate, that is made :\Lm, is t1wt ,] c11O\"a11 Cod :~s He
is in His infinite esseuce cannot aIlproach hell, llluch less enter
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
1)0
Son ta descend and take upon Himself the determined damna
tion, and thns appeaSè the anger of His Father; and that thus,
and not otherwise, He could look upon man with sorne favour?
Then that this was even done by the Son; so that in taking
upon Himself the damnation of the human race, He snffered
Himself ta be sconrged by the J ews, ta be spit upon in the face,
and afterwards ta be crucified as one accursed of Gad (Dent. xxi.
23); and that after this was done the :Father became propitions,
and from love to\vards His Son cancelled the sentence of damna
tion,-but only in respect to those for whom He should inter
cede; and that He tlms became a Mediator in the presence of
His :Father for ever. These and similar ideas at this day sound
fnrth in temples and are reverberatecl from the walls as an echo
from the \voods, and fill the ears of aIl there. But cannot any
one vvllCise reason is enlightened and made sound by the "Vord
see that God is Mercy and Pit.y itself, becanse He i8 Love itselt
and Good itself, and that these are His essence; and therefore
that it is a contradiction to say that J\fercy itself, or Good
itself, can look UpOll man \vith angc'T, and c1ecree his damnation,
and yet continue to be His o\\'n Divine essence? Snell tllings
are scarcely ascribed to an upright man, but rather to one who
is not upright; nor to an angel of heaven, but rather to a spirit
of hello It is therefore shocking to attribnte them to God! But
if one inquires into the cause, it is this :-That men have taken
the passion of the cross for redemption itself. From this have
these opinions flowed, as from one falsity falsities flow in a con
ti.nued series. (T. C. R. n. 132.)
PROPITIATION.
There are four tenus expressive of the grace or' the Olle only
God in His Humanity, God the Father can never be approached,
nor can He come to any man; because He is infinite, and dwells
in His own being, which is J ehovah; from which being if He
should come to man He would consume or decompose him, as
fire consumes wood when it reduces it to ashes. This is evident
from what He said to Moses, who desired to see Him :-" No
rnan shall see Me and live" (Exoc1. xxiii. 20). And the Lord says,
" No man hath seen Goel at any tirne, save the Son VJhich is in the
bosmn of the Fathe?'" (John i. 18; Matt. xi. 27); also that no one
hath heard the voice of the Fathe?', nor seen His shape (.J ohn v.
27). It is indeecl. written that :1\1oses saw J ehovah face to face,
and talked with Him, as one man with another; but this was
through the medium of an angel, as was also the case with
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
r:;/
Abraham and Gideon. Now since such is God the Father in
~j
atones. MEDIATION signifies that the Humanity is the medium
by which man may come to God tne Fâther, and God the Fatlfér
because He endured the cross for the human race, He will pardon
them and be merciful. Such is the idea of intercession and
mediation which the simple derive from the literaI sense of the
vVord. But it should be known that the literaI sense is adapted
ta the apprehension of simple men, that they may be introduced
into the interior truths themselves; for the simple cannat form
an)" different idea of the heavenly kingdom than snch as they
have of an earthly kingdom, nor any different idea of the Father
than as of a king on earth, nor of the Lord, than as of the son of
a king, who is heir of the kingdom. . . . But he who knows the
interior [truthsJ of the "\iVord has an entirely different notion of
the Lord's mediation, and of His intercessioll; namely, that He
does not intercede as a son with a father king on earth, but as
the Lord of the universe with Himself, and of HimseH aSGOër;
for the Father and He are not two, but One, as He teachei:; in
John xiv. 8-11. He is called the Mediator and Intercessor
because the Son means Diyine truth, and the Father Divine
good, and mediation is effected by Divine trnth, for by it access
is given ta DIvine good. ]'01' Divine good cannat be approa~e4, ft
beCaUSe it is as the fil' of. [' m; out Dlvme truth can be, lU
l
~
becanse this is as the light from it wl1ich -gîves passage and
( approach to man's sight, which is from faith. It can be seen
from thjs what is ta be understood by mediation and lllterces-
~. Further, it. should be stated why it is that the Lord Him-
self, who is the very Divine good and the very Sun of heaven,
is called the Mediator and Intercessor with the Father. The
Lord when He was in the world, before He was fully glorified,
was Divine truth; for this reason there then was mediatioll, and
He interceded with the Father, that is, with the very Divine
gaod (John xiv. 16, 17; xvii. 9, 15, 17). And after He was
glorified as ta the Human, He is called the Mediator and Inter-j
cessaI' from the fact that no one can think of the very Divine
un1e8s he setfLb..eioLe.. himse I-=.t1ïe iêIêa-ofaL>ivine l\Tan ;"stilliess
can any one be conjoined by love ta the very Ivme except by
means of snch an idea. . . . It is for this reason that the Lord
( as to the Di;ine Hu~an is called .the ~ediator and Interc:..ss~r;
l but He medlates and mtercedes wIth Hlmself. CA. C. n. S/Oo.)
which are written of Him in the Law and the Prophets, that is
in the whole sacred Scripture; for this treats of Him alone. The
reason why many have believed otherwise is, that they have not
searched the Scriptures and seen what is there meant by the
Law. By the Law there, in a strict sense, the Ten Command
ments of the Decalogue are meant; in a wider sense, aIl that was
written by Moses in his five books; and in the widest sense, aIl
the Word. (L. n. 8.)
That the Lord fulfilled ail things of the Law means that He
fulfilled aIl things of the Word, is manifest from the passages
where it is said tbat by Him the Scripture was fnlfilled, and that
aIl things were finished. As from these: "Jesus went into the
synagogue, . . . and stood up to read. There was delivered unto
Him the book of the prophet lsaiah; and when He had opened the
book, He fO~tnd the place where it was 'UYritten, The Spirit of the
Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel
to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach
deliverance to the bound, and sight to the blind; . . . to proclaim
t~ acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book and said,
This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your 'ea?'s" (Luke iv.
16-21). "Ye sea?'ch the Scriptures, and they testify of Me" (John
v. 39). cc That the Scriptu're might be fulfilled, He that eateth hread
with Me hath lifted up his heelupon Me" (John xiii. 18). "None.
of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled" (John xvii. 12). "That the saying might be fulfilled
which He spake, Of those whom thmt gavest Me I have not lost one"
(John xviii. 9). cc Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword
into its place; . . . how then should the Scriptures be fuifilled, that
thus it must be? . . . But all this was done, that the Scriptures of
the Prophets might be fulfilled" (Matt. xxvi. 52, 54, 56). "The
Son of Man indeed goethas it i.e; written of Him; ... that the
Scriptures may be fulfilled" (Mark xiv. 21, 49). "Thus the Scrip
ture was fulfilled which saith, He was n'llmbeud with the wicked"
(Mark xv. 28; Luke xxii. 37). "That the Scripture might be
fulfilled, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture
they did cast lots" (John xix. 24). "After this, Jesus knmving
that all things were now consummated, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled" (John xix. 28). "1Vhen Jesus had received the vinegar,
He said, It is finished, " that is, "it is fulfilled" (John xix. 30).
"These things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled, A
bone of Him shall not be broken. And again another Scripture
saith, They shall look on Him whom they pierced" (John xix. 36,
37). Besides these, in other places passages of the Prophets are
adduced whel'e it is not at the same time said that the Law
or the Scripture was fulfilled. That the whole VYOI:d was written
concerning Him, and that He came into the world to fulfil it, He
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
S"~
also taught His disciples before He departed, in these words:
" JeS'llS said to them, 0 fools and slow of Aeart to believe aU that the
Prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have s'llffered this, and
to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and aU the Pro
phets, He eX1?ound~d to them in aU the Sc?'iptures the things con
cerning Hùnseif" (Luke xxiv. 25-27). Afterwards, Jesus said ta
His disciples, " These are the words '[vhich I spake ,[into Vou whilst
I '[I)as yet with Vou, That aU things m'list be f'lllfilled which we?'e
w?'itten in the Law of lI1"oses, and in the P?'ophets, and in the Psalms
concerning Me" (Luke xxiv. 44). That the Lord in the world
fulfilled aU things of the 'Vord, even ta its minutest particulars,
is evident from these His words: " Verity I say unto yml, Till
heaven and earth pass, one fot or one tittle shaU in no '[oise pass
j1'om the Law till aU be fulfillcd" (Matt. v. 18). From these now
one may clearly see that by the Lord's fulfilling aH things of the
Law it is not meant that He fulfilled aU the commandments of
the Decalogue, but al! things of the Ward. (L. n. 11.)
The Lord Himself says, " AU power is given unto Me, in heaven
and on earth" (Matt. xxviii. 18). . . . In respect ta aU pmver
being given ta the Son of Man, bath in the heavens and on earth,
it sbould be lmown that the Lord had. power over aU things in
the heavens anà on earth before He came into the world; for He
was God from eternity, and ,J ehovah,-as He Himself plainly
says in John: "And now, 0 Pather, glorify Thou Me with Thine
own self, with the glo?'y which I had with Thee before the vJorld
11)aS" (xvii. 5); and again: " Verily, verily I say unto you, Before
Abraham was I a11l/' (viii: 58). For He was Jehovah and Gad
ta the Most Ancient church which was before the flood, and ap
peared ta the men of that church; He was also J ehovah and Gad
ta the Ancient church which was after the flood; and He it was
whom aH the rites of the Jewish church represented, and whom
the members of that church worshipped. And the reason why
He says that an power was given unto Him in Heaven and on
earth, as if it were then first given, is, that by the Son of Man
His Human essence is meant, which when united ta the Divine
\Vas also J ehovah, and at the same time power was given unto
Him; which could not be done before He was glorified, that is,
before His Human essence by unition with the Divine had life
also in itself, and had thus in like manner become Divine, and
J ehovab; as He Himself says in John: "As the Pather hath lije
in Hùnselj, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himselj"
(v. 26). (A. C. n. 1607.)
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
Ulam the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End."
This signifies that He governs an things from first [principles]
by means of ultimates, and in this manner governs all things in
heaven to eternity. This is evident from the signification of
Alpha and Omega, which is the first and the last, or in first
[principles] and in ultimates; and He who is in first [principles]
and in ultimates alsù gfJverns things intermediate, and so aIl.
These things are said of the Lord's Divine Human, for they are
said of Jesus Christ, by which names His Divine Humanity is
meant. By means of this the Lord is in first [principles] and in
ultimates. But that He governs aIl things from first [principles]
by ultimates is a mystery which until now has not been per
ceived by man. For man knows nothing of the successive
degrees into which the heavens are distinguished; and into
which also the interiors of man are distinguished; and but little
of the fact that RS to his flesh and bones man is in ultimates.
NE}ither does he perceive how from first [principles] by ultimates
intermediates are governed; and yet in order that He might thus
govern aU things the Lord came into the world to assume the
Ruman and glorify it, or make it Divine, even to the ultimates,
that is even to the flesh and bones. That the Lord put on such
a Ruman, and took it with Him into heaven, is known in the
church from the fact that He left nothing of His body in the
sepulchre; and also from what He said to His disciples: " Behold
My hands and My feet that it is I Myselj " handle Me and see, f01'
a spirit hath not fiesh and bones as ye see Me have" (Luke xxiv. 39).
By this Human, therefore, the Lord is in ultimates; and by
making even these ultimates Divine, He clothed Himself with
Divine power to govern aU things from iirst [principles] by means
of ultimates. If the Lord had not done this, the buman race on
earth would have perished in eternal death. CA. E. n. 41.)
He who knows what in the Lord the SOil of God signifies, ancl
what in Him the Son of Man signifies, can see many secrets of
the W ord; for the Lord caUs Himself sometimes the Son of God,
and sometimes tbe Son of Man-always according to the subject
treated of. When His Divinity is treated of, His unity with the
Father, His Divine power, faith in Him, and life from Him, He
caUs Himself the Son, and the Son of God,-as in John v. 17-26,
and elsewhere; but where His passion, the judgment, His coming,
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
J t
Human [nature of the Lord, or the DiYine Ruman, lS the chief
. thi? 0' of the c. ur~h, ..?y w3ic~conj~nc~ion i8 effe<j,ed; and
as lt lS~chIef li lS als~_ the first tmng othe church. It
was because thlS lS the first tlîmg a tEe c urch thatwe Lord
whell He was in the world sa often asked those whom He healed
whether they believed that He was able ta do this, and when
they allswered that they believed, said, " According to your faith
be itunto you.'~ This He sa often said, in arder that the:L miO'ht
fi,rst believe that He had Divine om~nce from his Divine
Ruman; for wlt out that fai~ec mrc could not have been
begl1n; and without that faith~ey would not have been ÇQ!l
} joined ta the Divine, but separated from it, and sa cQulcl recëiVe
\ notfimg €)f good from Him. Afterwards the Lord taught them
,how they might be saved, namely, that they shonld receive
j~Diville truth fr..Qm Him; and this is received when it is apphed,
anulmpl.anted in the life by doing it. Henee the Lord so often
said they should do His words. Tt is therefore manifest that
these two, namely, believing in the Lord and doing His words,
make one, and that they can by no means be separated; for he
that does not the Lord's words does not believe in Him. And
he who imagines that He believes in the Lord, and does not His
words, does not believe in Him; for the Lord is in His words,
that is in His truths, and from them the Lord gives faith ta
THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.
for the angel of J ehovah. In the same Evangelist the angel said
to Zacharias concerning his son: "Many of the children of Israel
"
slwll he turn to the Lord their God" (i. 16); to the Lord their
God, for to J ehovah God. Again: the angel said to Mary con
cerning Jesus: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of
the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto.Him the thTone of
. . . David" (i. 32); the Lord God for J ehovah God. Again :
" !Jrgy said, MJLsoul doth magnify the Lord) and m'l spirit hath
rejoiŒ:LfJ~er God mu S vimt :-Çi..-4.6.,A7)..-ller~_~Iso the Lord
j~llli-Uor ehovah. Again:" Zacharias . .. prophesied, saying,
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel" (i. 67, 68). Here the Lord
God, for J ehovah God. Again:" The angel of the Lord stood near
the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them "
(ii. 9). The angel of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord, for the
angel of J ehovah, and the glory of J ehavah. In Matthew:
"Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord'" (xxi. 9 ;
xxiii 39; Luke xiii. 35; J ohu xii. 13). In the name of the
Lord, for in the name of J ehovah. There are also many other
passages, as Luke i. 28; ii. 15, 22-24, 29, 38, 39; v. 17; Mark
xii. 10, 11. Among the hidden reasons why they called J ehovah
Lord were alsû-these: ecause lrit lad been aeClared at tIia1time
Jehovah thy God ~Ui:t7~ aU thy heurt and ~vith aU t!Ly s01d" (Deut.
"t.
vi. 4, 5); but in l\1ark: "The Lord mtr God is one Lord; and
thou shalt love the Lord thy God 10ith aU thy heart and 'with aU
thy sonl" (xii. 29,30). Then in Isaiah: "Prcpewe ve the waV fOl'
Jehovah,o make straight in the dese?'t a path for our God" (xL :3);
but in Luke: "Thou shalt go bifo1'e the face of the Lord, to pre
pede the way f01' Hi?n" (i. 76); and elsewhere. And also the
Lord commanded His disciples ta caH Him Lord; and thercfore
He was sa caUed by the Apostles in their Epist1es; and after
wards by the Apostolic Church, as appears from its creed, which
is called the Apostles' Creed. Tho reason \Vas that the J ews did
not dare to speak the name J ehovah, on account of its sanctity;
and also that by Jehovah is meallt the Divine Esso, ",hieh was
from eternity, and the Human which He assumed in time was
not that Esse. (T. C. TI. n. 81.)
THE REASON WHY THESE THINGS CONCERNING THE LORD ARE j';'OW
FrrrST PUBLICLY MADE IOIOWN.
The reason why these tbings respecting the Lord are no'v for
the first time divulged is, that it is foretold in the Itevelation
(xxi. and xxii.) tJmt a new church would be institute<1 by
the Lord at the end of the former one, in which this shoulcl be
the primary truth. This church is there meant by the New
J ernsalern; into ",hich none can enter but those who acknow
ledge tho Lord alone as the Gael of heavon and earth. And this
l am able ta proc1aim, that the universal heaven acknowledges the
Lord alone; and that whoever does not acknowledge Him is not
admittecl into heaven. For heaven is heaven from the Lord.
This very ac1mowledgmont, from love and faith, causes aU tllere
to be in the Lord and the Lord in them; as the Lord Himself
teaches in John: "In that clay ye shull know, that l am in My
Pather, and ye in .Afe, and I in Vou" (xiv. 20). And again:
"Abide in Me, and l in YO'lt. . . . l con the 'vine, ye are the
branches; he that abideth in Me, and lin hiJn, the same bringeth
forth ?nueh fi'uit,o for VJithout .AIe ye Gan do nothing. If Cl ?nan
abide not in .AIe, he is cast out" (xv. 4-6; xvii. 22, 23). This has
not 1een seen before from the ,V ord, because if seen before it
would not have 1een received. :For the last juc1gment hac1 not
yet boen accomplished, and beforo that the power of heU pre
vailed ovo1' the power of heaven, and man is in the midst be
twccn heaven and he11; if therefore this doctrine haçl been
seen before, the c1evil, that i5 hon, would lutve plucked it from
:;he heftrts of men, nay more, ,vould have profaned it. This
state of the power of heU was entiroly crushed by the last judg
lllent \vhich has now been accomplished; since that event, that
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.
is now, every man who will may become enlightened and wise.
'J
CL. 61.)
WHY THE LORD WAS BORN ON THIS EARTH.
,~
Tt shoulà be known that the Word on our earth, given through
in its highest and in~ost sense treats .of the Lord, of His king
dom in the heavens and on the earths, and of love and faith from
Him and in Him, therefore of life from Him and in Him. Such
earth they are, when the Word of our earth is read and preached.
mouth, throngh spirits and angels, ... but this is done within
aIl, from whatsoever earth they are, who acknowledge and wor
ship God under the Ruman form; since God under the Ruman
fore \",hen spirits and angels from those earths bear from the
spirits and angels of our earth that God is aetually Man, they
wnich the interiors of rife ena, and in whieh they l'est, as III their
eommon [reeeptacle]. So_i truth Divine in its ultimatesJ in
( the letter which is çaIled the '\Vord; and 0-E- this acc~nt~o it
l was O'iven on this earth and not on another. And beeause the
Lord is the Word, and its first and last, that aIl things might
exist according to order He w~'3 willing al~o to be 'l2.orn on this
~h, and to beeome the W ord,-ac~rding~to t lese words in
John: "In the beginning U'a the Worel~ anclrJ..he Wo?]! was with
Goel, and Goel was fnt,.. . TVoTfl. T e sa e 'Was in th~75ëginning with
God: aU things were made by Him, a~ withmlt hi was not any
thing macle that was made. . ~ An the W ~çl wa 1 made flesh and
( dwelt among us, and we beheld Eli$..!!!::.1'y, th~gl01'YI as of the only- J't. J
begotten of the Father. ~ . . No man -li.,ath se~ Gà(l at any ti?ne;
b1'm&q7~t Him .l.orth to 1jiew" (i. 1-3, 14, 18).. Cfi;e Vlordjhere is
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