The True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg

from Emanuel Swedenborg, The True Christian Religion Containing the Universal Theology of The New Church  (New York:  Swedenborg Foundation, 1946)

 

The True Christian Religion

Containing the Universal Theology of The New Church

Foretold by the Lord in Daniel 7; 13, 14; and in Revelation 21; 1, 2

By Emanuel Swedenborg
(First published, in Latin, 1771)
 

CONTENTS

FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH
 IN ITS UNIVERSAL FORM AND IN ITS PARTICULAR FORM (n. 1-3).

Chapter 1

God the Creator (n. 4)

The Unity of God  (n. 5)

1. The entire Holy Scripture, and all the doctrines therefrom of the churches in the Christian world teach that there is a God and that He is one (n. 5-7).

2. There is a universal influx from God into the souls of men of the truth that there is a God and that He is one  (n. 8).

For this reason in all the world there is no nation possessing religion and sound reason that does not acknowledge a God and that God is one (n. 9, 10).

4. Respecting what the one God is nations and peoples have differed and still differ from many causes (n. 11).

5. Human reason can, if it will, perceive and be convinced from many things in the world, that there is a God, and that He is one  (n. 12).

6. If God were not one, the universe could not have been created and preserved (n. 13).

7. Whoever does not acknowledge a God is excommunicated from the church and condemned (n. 14).

8 With people who acknowledge several Gods instead of one, there is no coherence in the things relating to the church (n. 15).

The Divine Being, Which is Jehovah (n. 18)

1. The One God is called Jehovah from Esse, that is, because He alone Is, [was], and is to be, and because He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega (n. 19).

2. The One God is Substance itself and Form itself; and angels and men are substances and forms from Him; and so far as they are in Him and He is in them, are images and likenesses of Him (n. 20).

3. The Divine Esse is at once Esse [Being] in itself and Existere [Outgo] in itself (n. 21,22).

4. It is impossible for the Divine Esse and Existere in itself to produce another Divine, which is Esse and Existere in itself; therefore another God of the same Essence is impossible (n. 23).

5. The doctrine of a plurality of Gods, both in past ages and at the present day, sprang solely from a failure to understand the Divine Esse (n. 24).

The Infinity of God, or His immensity and eternity (n. 27)

1. God is Infinite because He is Being and Existence in Himself, and because all things in the universe have their being and existence from Him (n. 28).

2. God is Infinite because He was before the world was, that is, before times and spaces arose (n. 29).

3. Since the creation of the world, God is in space without space and in time without time (n. 30).

4. In relation to spaces God's infinity is called Immensity, while in relation to times it is called Eternity; but although it is so related, there is nothing of space in His Immensity, and nothing of time in His Eternity (n. 31).

5. The Infinity of God may be seen by enlightened reason from very many things in the world (n. 32).

6. Every created thing is finite, and the Infinite is in the finite, as in its receptacles, and is in people as in its images (n. 33, 34).

The Divine Essence, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom (n. 36)

1. God is love itself and wisdom itself, and these two constitute His Essence (n. 37).

2. God is good itself and truth itself, because good is of love and truth is of wisdom (n. 38).

3. God, because He is love itself and wisdom itself, is Life itself, which is life in itself (n. 39, 40).

4. Love and wisdom in God make one (n. 41, 42).

5. It is the essence of love to love others outside of oneself, to desire to be one with them, and to render them blessed from oneself (n. 43-45).

6. These essentials of the Divine love were the cause of the creation of the universe, and are the cause of its preservation (n. 46, 47).

The omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of God (n. 49)

1. Omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence pertain to the Divine wisdom from the Divine love (n. 50, 51).

2. The omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence of God can be clearly understood only when it is known what order is, and when it is known that God is order, and that He introduced order both into the universe and into each and all things of it at the time of their creation (n. 62-65).

3. God's omnipotence in the whole universe, with each and all things of it, proceeds and operates in accordance with the laws of His order (n. 56-58).

4. God is omniscient, that is, He perceives, sees, and knows each thing and all things, even to the most minute, that take place according to order, and from these the things also that take place contrary to order (n. 59-62)

5. God is omnipresent from the firsts to the lasts of His order (n. 63, 64).

6. People were created a form of Divine order (n. 65-67).

7. From the Divine omnipotence people have power over evil and falsity; and from the Divine omniscience has wisdom respecting what is good and true; and from the Divine omnipresence is in God, just to the extent that he lives in accordance with Divine order (n. 68-70).

The creation of the universe (n. 75)

No one can gain a right idea of the creation of the universe until their understanding is brought into a state of perception by some universal knowledges previously recognized (n. 75).

The creation of the universe described in five Memorable Relations (n. 76-80).

Chapter 2

The Lord the Redeemer (n. 81)

1. Jehovah God descended and assumed a Human that He might redeem people and save them (n. 82-84).

2. Jehovah God descended as the Divine truth, which is the Word, although He did not separate from it the Divine good  (n. 85-88).

3. God assumed the Human in accordance with His Divine order (n. 89-91).

4. The Human whereby God sent Himself into the world is the Son of God (n. 92-94).

5. Through the acts of redemption the Lord made Himself righteousness  (n. 95, 96).

6. Through the same acts the Lord united Himself to the Father and the Father united Himself to Him (n. 97-100).

7. Thus God became Human, and a Human became God, in one Person (n. 101-103).

8. The progress towards union was His state of Exinanition [emptying Himself], and the union itself is His state of glorification (n. 104-106).

9. Hereafter no one from among Christians enters heaven unless he believes in the Lord God the Saviour [and approaches Him alone] (n.107, 108).

10.  Corollary on the state of the church before the Lord's coming, and its state after that (n. 109).

Redemption (n. 114)

1. Redemption itself was a subjugation of the hells, a restoration of order in the heavens, and by means of these a preparation for a new spiritual church (n. 115-117).

2. Without that redemption no person could have been saved, nor could the angels have continued in a state of integrity (n. 118-120).

3. In this wise not only people but the angels also were redeemed by the Lord (n. 121,122).

4. Redemption was a work purely Divine (n. 123).

5. This Redemption itself could not have been accomplished except by God incarnated (n. 124, 125).

6. The Passion of the cross was the last temptation which the Lord as the greatest prophet endured; and was the means whereby His Human was glorified, but it was not Redemption (n. 126-131). The belief that the Passion of the cross was Redemption itself is a fundamental error of the church; and this error, with the error respecting three Divine persons from eternity, has perverted the whole church to such an extent that there is nothing spiritual left in it (n. 132, 133).

Chapter 3

The Holy Spirit and the Divine Operation (n. 134-138)

1. The Holy Spirit is the Divine Truth and also the Divine Energy and Operation, proceeding from the one God in whom is the Divine Trinity – that is, from the Lord God the Saviour (n. 139-141).

2. The Divine Energy and Operation, which are meant by the Holy Spirit, are in general reformation and regeneration; and in accordance with these, renovation, vivification, sanctification, and justification; and in accordance with these latter, purification from evils, forgiveness of sins, and finally salvation (n. 142-145).

3. The Divine Energy and Operation, which are meant by the sending of the Holy Spirit, are, with the clergy specifically, enlightenment and instruction (n. 146-148).

4. The Lord makes these energies operative in those who believe in Him (n. 149-151).

5. The Lord operates of Himself from the Father, and not the reverse (n. 153-155).

6. The spirit of a person is his or her mind and whatever proceeds from it (n. 156, 157).

A Corollary: Nowhere in the Old Testament is it said that the Prophets spoke from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah God; it is otherwise, however, in the New (n. 158).

The Divine Trinity (n. 159-163)

1. There is a Divine Trinity, which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit  (n. 164, 165).

2. These three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three essentials of the one God, and they make one, as the soul, body, and operation make one in a person (n. 166-169).

3. Before the world was created this Trinity was not; but after creation, when God became incarnate, it was provided and brought about, and then in the Lord God the Redeemer and Saviour, Jesus Christ (n. 170, 171).

4. In the ideas of thought a Trinity of Divine persons from eternity, thus before the world was created, is a Trinity of Gods; and these ideas cannot be effaced by a lip-confession of one God (n. 172, 173).

5. A Trinity of persons was unknown in the Apostolic church, but was hatched by the Nicene Council, and from that was introduced into the Roman Catholic church, and from that again into churches separated from it (n. 174-176).

6. From the Nicene Trinity and the Athanasian Trinity together a faith in three Gods arose by which the whole Christian church has been perverted (n. 177, 178).

7. This is the source of that abomination of desolation, and that tribulation such as has not been nor ever shall be, which the Lord foretold in Daniel, and in the Gospels and in the Apocalypse  (n. 179-181).

8. So, too, unless a new heaven and a new church were established by the Lord there could no flesh be saved (n. 182).

9. From a Trinity of persons, each one of whom singly is God, according to the Athanasian Creed, many discordant and heterogeneous ideas. respecting. God have arisen, which are fantasies and abortions (n. 183, 184).

Chapter 4

The Sacred Scripture or Word of the Lord (n . 189)

I. The sacred scripture or the Word is Divine truth itself (n. 189-192).

II. In the Word there is a spiritual sense hitherto unknown (n. 193).

1. What the spiritual sense is. (n. 194)

From the Lord the Divine Celestial, the Divine Spiritual (and) the Divine Natural go forth one after the other.  (n. 195).

2.  The spiritual sense is in each and every part of the Word (n. 196-198).

The Lord when in the world spoke by correspondences; that is, when He spoke naturally He also spoke spiritually (n. 199).

3. It is because of the spiritual sense that the Word is Divinely inspired and holy in every Word (n. 200).

4.  Hitherto the spiritual sense of the Word has been unknown; although it was known to the ancients. Of correspondence among them (n. 201-207).

5. Henceforth the spiritual sense of the Word will be given only to such as are in genuine truths from the Lord. (n. 208).

6. Some wonderful things respecting the Word from its spiritual sense (n. 209).

III. The sense of the letter of the Word is the basis, the containant, and the support of its spiritual and celestial senses (n. 210-213).

IV. In the sense of the letter of the Word divine truth is in its fullness, its holiness, and its power (n. 214-216).

1. The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are meant by the precious stones of which the foundations of the New Jerusalem consisted (which is described in the Apocalypse; and this on account of the correspondence (n. 217).

2. The goods and truths of the sense of the letter correspond to the Urim and Thummim on the ephod of Aaron (n. 218)

3. Goods and truths in outmosts, such as are in the sense of the letter of the Word, are signified by the precious stones in the garden of Eden where the king of Tyre is said to have been (in Ezekiel). (n. 219).

4. The same were represented by the curtains, veils, and pillars of the tabernacle (n. 220).

5. Likewise by the externals of the temple at Jerusalem (n. 221).

6. The Word in its glory was represented in the Lord when He was transfigured (n. 222),

7. The power of the Word in its outmosts was represented by the Nazarites (n. 223).

8. The inexpressible power of the Word (n. 224).

V. The doctrine of the church should be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed thereby (n. 225,229, 230).

1. Without doctrine the Word is not understood. (n. 226-228).

2. Doctrine should be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed by it (n. 229-230).

3. The genuine truth of which doctrine must consist can be seen in the sense of the letter of the Word only by those who are in enlightenment from the Lord (n. 231-233).

VI. By means of this sense of the letter of the Word there is conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with the angels (n. 234-239).

VII. The Word is in all the heavens. And angelic wisdom is from it (n. 240-242).

VIII. The church is from the Word, and with people it is such as their understanding of the Word is (n. 243-247).

IX. In every particular of the Word there is a marriage of the Lord and the church, and. In consequence a marriage of good and truth (n. 248-253).

X. Heresies may be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, but to confirm them is hurtful  (n. 254-260).

Many things in the Word are appearances of truth, which conceal within them genuine truths (n. 257).

Fallacies arise through the confirmation of appearances of truth (n. 258).

The sense of the letter of the Word is a guard for the genuine truths concealed within it (n. 260).

The sense of the letter was represented by cherubs and is signified by cherubs in the Word (n. 260)

XI. The Lord when in the world fulfilled all things of the Word, and thereby became the Word, that is, divine truth, even in things last (n. 261-263).

XII. Before the Word that is now in the world, there was a Word that was lost (n. 264-266).

XIII. Through the Word there is light also to those who are outside of the church and do not possess the Word (n. 267-272).

XIV. If there were no Word there would be no knowledge of God, of heaven and hell, or of a life after death, still less of the Lord (n. 273-276).

Chapter 5

The catechism or Decalogue explained in its external and its internal sense

I. In the Israelitish church the Decalogue was holiness itself. the holiness of the ark which contained the law (n. 283-286).

II. In the sense of the letter the Decalogue contains the general precepts of faith and life; but in the spiritual and celestial senses it contains all precepts universally (n. 287-290).

III. THE FIRST COMMANDMENT: "There shall be [with thee] no other god in my presence" (n. 291-296).

IV. THE SECOND COMMANDMENT: "Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold a person guiltless that taketh His name in vain" (n. 297-300).

V. 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" (n. 301-304)

VI. 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. (n. 303-308).

VII. THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT: "Thou shalt not kill" (n. 309-312).

VIII. THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT: "Thou shalt not commit adultery" (n. 313-316).

IX. THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT: "Thou shalt not steal" (n. 317-320).

X. THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT: "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" (n. 321-324).

XI. 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" (n. 325-328).

XII. 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" (n. 329-331).

Chapter 6

Faith (n. 336)

Preface: Faith is first in time, but charity is first in end (n. 336).

I. Saving faith is faith in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ (n. 337-339)

Because He is a visible God in whom is the invisible (n. 339).

II. The sum of faith is, that a person who lives well and believes rightly is saved by the Lord (n. 340-342).

The first principle of Faith in Him is an acknowledgment that He is the Son of God (n. 342).

III. People acquire faith by going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them (n. 343-348).

The Esse of the Faith of the New Church is: 1. Confidence in the Lord God the Savior Jesus Christ. 2. A trust that a person  who lives well and believes aright is saved by Him. (n. 344, seq.).

Merely natural faith, that it is a persuasion counterfeiting faith (n. 345-348).

IV. An abundance of truths cohering as if in a bundle, exalts and perfects faith (n. 349-354).

1. The truths of faith may be multiplied to infinity (n. 350).

2. The truths of faith are disposed into series, thus, as it were, into bundles (n. 361).

3. According to the abundance and coherence of truths, faith is perfected (n. 352, 353).

4. However numerous the truths of faith are, and however diverse they appear, they make one from the Lord (n. 364).

5. The Lord is the Word, the God of heaven and earth, the God of all flesh, the God of the vineyard or church, the God of faith, Light itself, the Truth, and Life eternal (n.354).

V. Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity, and neither has life except from the Lord (n. 355-361)

1. People can acquire for themselves faith (n. 356).

2. People can acquire for themselves charity (n. 357).

3. People may also acquire for themselves the life of faith and charity (n. 358).

4. Yet nothing of faith, or of charity, or of the life of either, is from man, but from the Lord alone (n. 359).

5. The distinction between natural faith and spiritual faith, the latter being inwardly within the former, from the Lord (n. 360, 361)

VI. The Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding in a person; and, if they are divided, each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder  (n. 362-367).

1. The Lord with all of His Divine love, with all of His Divine wisdom, thus with all of  His Divine life, flows into every person (n. 364).

2.  Consequently the Lord, with the whole essence of faith and charity flows into every person (n. 365)

3. What flows in from the Lord is received by a person according to their state and form (n. 366).

4.  But the person who divides the Lord, charity, and faith, is not a form that receives, but a form that destroys them (n. 367).

VII. The Lord is charity and faith in people, and a person is charity and faith in the Lord (n. 368-372).

1. It is by conjunction with God that a person has salvation and eternal life (n. 369).

2. Conjunction with God the Father is not possible, but only conjunction with the Lord, and through Him with the Father

 (n. 370).

3. Conjunction with the Lord is a reciprocal conjunction, that is, that a person is in the Lord and the Lord in the person (n. 371).

4. This reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and person is effected by means of charity and faith (n. 372).

VIII. Charity and faith are together in good works (n. 373-377).

1. Charity is willing well, and good works are doing well from willing well (n. 374).

2. Charity and faith are only mental and perishable things, unless they are determined to acts and coexist in them when it is possible (n. 375, 376).

3. Good works are not produced by charity alone, still less by faith alone, but by charity and faith together (n. 377).

IX. There is a true faith, a spurious faith, and a hypocritical faith (n. 378-381).

From its cradle the Christian church began to be infested and divided by schisms and heresies (respecting which n. 378).

1. True faith is the one only faith, which is a faith in the Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and this is held by those who believe Him to be the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father (n. 379).

2. Spurious faith is, all faith that departs from the true faith, which is the only one faith; and this is the faith that is held by those who climb up some other way, and regard the Lord not as God but as a mere human being (n. 380).

3. Hypocritical faith is no faith (n. 381).

X. With the evil there is no faith (n. 382-384).

1. The evil have no faith, since evil belongs to hell and faith to heaven (n. 383).

2. Those in Christendom who reject the Lord and the Word have no faith although they live morally, and even speak, teach, and write rationally about truth (n. 384).

 Chapter 7

Charity or love to the neighbor, and good works (n. 392)

I. There are three universal loves - the love of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self  (n. 394-396).

1. The will and understanding (n. 397).

2. Good and truth (n 398)

3. Love in general  (n. 399).

4. Love of self and love of the world in particular' (n. 400).

5. The external and internal person (n. 401).

6. The merely natural and sensual person (n. 402).

II. These three loves, when rightly subordinated, perfect a person; but when not rightly subordinated they pervert and invert him or her (n. 403-405).

III. Every person individually is the neighbor who is to be loved, but according to the quality of  his or her good (n. 406-411).

IV. The collective human being, that is, a community smaller or greater, and the composite person formed of communities, that is, one's country, is the neighbor that is to be loved (n. 412-414).

V. The church is the neighbor that is to be loved in a still higher degree, and the Lord's kingdom in the highest degree (n. 415, 416).

VI. To love the neighbor, viewed in itself, is not to love the person, but the good that is in the person (n. 417-419).

VII. Charity and good works are two distinct things, like willing well and doing well (n. 420,421).

VIII. Charity itself is acting justly and faithfully in the office, business, and employment in which a person is engaged, and with those with whom he or she has any dealings (n. 422-424).

IX. The benefactions of charity are giving to the poor and relieving the needy, but with prudence (n. 425-428).

X. There are duties of charity, some public, some domestic, and some private (n. 429-432).

XI. The diversions of charity are dinners, suppers, and social gatherings (n. 433, 434).

XII. The first thing of charity is to put away evils, and the second is to do good works that are of use to the neighbor  (n. 435-438).

XIII. In the exercise of charity a person does not place merit in works so long as he or she believes that all good is from the Lord  (n. 439-442).

XIV. When a moral life is also spiritual it is charity  (n. 443-445).

XV. A friendship of love, contracted with a person without regard to their spiritual quality is detrimental after death (ii. 446-449).

XVI. There is spurious charity, hypocritical charity, and dead charity (n. 450-
453).

XVII. The friendship of love among the evil is intestine hatred of each other  (n. 454, 455).

XVIII. The conjunction of love to God and love towards the neighbor (n. 458-458)

Chapter 8

Freedom of choice (n. 463)

I. The precepts and dogmas of the present church respecting freedom of choice (n. 463-465).

II. The placing of two trees in the garden of Eden, one of life, and the other of the knowledge of good and evil signifies that freedom of choice in things spiritual has been given to a person (n. 466-469).

III. A person is not life, but a receptacle op life from God (n. 470-474).

IV. So long as a person lives in the world he or she is kept midway between heaven and hell, and is there in spiritual equilibrium, which is freedom of choice (n. 475-478).

V. It is clearly manifest from that permission of evil in which everyone's internal person is that person has freedom of choice in spiritual things (n. 479-482).

VI. Without freedom of choice in spiritual things the Word would be of no use, and consequently the church would be nothing (n. 483, 484).

VII. Without freedom of choice in spiritual things there would be nothing in a person whereby he could in turn conjoin himself with the Lord, consequently there would be no imputation, but mere predestination, which is detestable (n. 485).

Detestable things concerning predestination divulged (n. 486-488)

VIII. If there were no freedom of choice in spiritual things God would be the cause of evil, and thus there would be no imputation of charity or faith (n. 489-492).

IX, Everything spiritual of the church that enters a person in freedom, and is received with freedom, remains; but not the reverse (n. 493-496)

X. A person's will and understanding are in this freedom of choice; nevertheless in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, the doing of evil is restrained by laws, because otherwise society in both worlds would perish (n. 497-499).

XI. If a person had not freedom of choice in spiritual things all the inhabitants of the world might in one day be led to believe in the Lord; but this cannot be done, because that which is not received by a person from freedom of choice does not remain (n. 500-502).

Miracles are not wrought at the present day, because they take away freedom of choice in spiritual things, and compel  (n. 501).

Chapter 9

Repentance (n. 509)

I. Repentance is the first thing of the church in a person (n. 510, 511).

II. The contrition which at the present day is said to precede faith, and to be followed by the consolation of the Gospel, is not repentance (n. 512-515).

III. The mere lip-confession that one is a sinner is not repentance  (n. 516-519).

IV. A person is born [with an inclination] to evils of every kind; and unless he or she, to some extent, removes their evils by repentance, they remain in them; and he who remains in evils cannot be saved (n. 520-524).

The fulfilling of the law (n. 523, 524).

V. Recognition of sin, and the discovery of some sin in oneself, is the beginning of repentance (n. 525-527)

VI, Actual repentance is examining oneself, recognizing and acknowledging one's sins, praying to the Lord and beginning a new life (n. 528-531).

VII. True repentance is examining not only the actions of one's life, but also the intentions of one's will  (n. 532-534).

VIII. Those also repent, who, although they do not examine themselves, yet refrain from evils because they are sins; and those who from religion do the works of charity exercise such repentance (n. 535-537).

IX. Confession ought to be made before the Lord God the Saviour, followed by supplication for help and the power to resist evils (n. 538-560)

X. Actual repentance is easy for those who have now and then practiced it, but is a difficult task for those who have not (n. 561-563)

XI. A person who has never repented or has never looked into and searched himself, finally ceases to know what damning evil or saving good is (n. 564-566).

Chapter 10

Reformation and Regeneration (n. 571)

I. Unless a person is born again and, as it were, created anew, he or she cannot enter into the kingdom of God (n. 572-575).

II. The new birth or creation is effected by the Lord alone through charity and faith as the two means, a person cooperating  (n. 576-578)

III. Since all have been redeemed, all may be regenerated, each according to their state (n. 579-582).

IV. Regeneration is effected in a manner analogous to that in which a person is conceived, carried in the womb, born and educated (n. 583-586).

Something about the masculine and feminine sex in the vegetable kingdom (n. 585).

V. The first act in the new birth is called reformation, which pertains to the understanding; and the second is called regeneration, which pertains to the will and therefrom to the understanding (n. 587-590).

VI. The internal person must first be reformed, and by means of it the external; and thus is a person regenerated (n. 591-595).

VII. When this takes place a conflict arises between the internal and the external man, and then the one that conquers rules the other (n. 596-600).

VIII. The regenerated person has a new will and a new understanding (n. 601-606).

IX. A regenerate person is in communion with angels of heaven, and an unregenerate person with spirits of hell (n. 607-610).

X. So far as a person is regenerated sins are removed, and this removal is the forgiveness of sins (n. 611-614).

XI. Within freedom of choice in spiritual things regeneration is impossible (n. 615-617).

XII. Regeneration is impossible without truths, by which faith is formed and with which charity conjoins itself  (n. 618-620).

Chapter 11

Imputation (n. 626)

I. Imputation and the faith of the present church (which is held to be the sole ground of justification) make one  (n. 626, 627).

II. The imputation that belongs to the faith of the present day is a double imputation, an imputation of Christ's merit and an imputation of salvation thereby (n. 628-631).

III. The faith imputative of the merit and righteousness of Christ the redeemer, first arose from the decrees of the Council of Nice respecting three divine persons from eternity, which faith has been accepted by the whole Christian world from that time to the present  (n. 632-635).

IV. The faith imputative of Christ's merit was unknown in the preceding Apostolic Church, and is nowhere taught in the Word (n. 636-639).

V. The imputation of Christ's merit and righteousness is impossible (n. 640-642).

VI. There is an imputation, but it is an imputation of good and evil (n. 643-646).

VII. The faith and imputation of the New Church can by no means exist together with the faith and imputation of the former church, and if they are together, such a collision and conflict result that everything pertaining to the church in a person perishes (n. 647-649).

VIII. The Lord imputes good to every person and hell imputes evil (n. 650-653).

IX. Faith, with that to which it is conjoined, is what determines the verdict; if a true faith is conjoined to good, the verdict is for eternal life, but if faith is conjoined to evil the verdict is for eternal death (n. 654-657).

X. Thought is not imputed to anyone, but will only (n. 658-660).

Chapter 12 (n. 667)

Baptism

I. Without a knowledge of the spiritual sense of the Word no one can know what the two sacraments, baptism and the Holy Supper, involve and effect (n. 667-669).

II. The washing that is called baptism means spiritual washing, which is purification from evils, and thus regeneration (n. 670-673).

III. Because circumcision of the foreskin represented circumcision of the heart, in the place of circumcision, baptism was instituted, in order that an internal church might succeed the external, which in each and all things prefigured the internal church (n. 674-676).

IV. The first use of baptism is introduction into the Christian church, and at the same time insert ion among Christians in the spiritual world (n. 677-680).

V. The second use of baptism is that the Christian may know and acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ the redeemer and Saviour, and follow him (n. 681-683).

VI. The third use of baptism, which is the final use, is that the person may be regenerated (n. 684-687).

VII. By the baptism of John a way was prepared, that Jehovah God might descend into the world and accomplish redemption (n. 688-691).

Chapter 13

The Holy Supper (n. 698)

I. Without some knowledge of the correspondences of natural with spiritual things, it is impossible to know what the uses and benefits of the Holy Supper are (n. 698-701).

II. With a knowledge of correspondences what is meant by Lord’s flesh and the bread mean the divine good of bread and wine have a like meaning; namely, that the Lord's flesh and blood can be known, also that His love, also all good of charity; and the Lord’s blood and the wine mean the Divine truth of His wisdom, also all truth of faith, and eating means appropriation (n. 702-710).

Shown from the Word what is meant by "flesh" (n. 704, 705).

What is meant by " blood"  (n. 706).

What is meant by " bread"  (n. 707).

What is meant by " wine"  (n. 708).

III. When all this is understood any one can comprehend that the Holy Supper contains all things of the church and all things of heaven both in general and in particular (n. 711-715).

IV. In the Holy Supper the Lord is wholly present with the whole of His redemption (n. 716-718).

V. The Lord is present and opens heaven to those who come to the Holy Supper worthily; and is also present with those who come to it unworthily, but to them He does not open heaven; consequently, as baptism is introduction into the church, so is the Holy Supper introduction into heaven (n. 719-721).

VI. Those come to the Holy Supper worthily who have faith in the Lord and charity toward the neighbor that is, who are regenerate (n. 722-724).

VII. Those who come to the Holy Supper worthily are in the Lord and the Lord is in them; consequently conjunction with the Lord is effected by the Holy Supper  (n. 725-727).

VIII. To those who worthily come to the Holy Supper it is like a signature and seal that they are sons of God  (n. 728-730).

Chapter 14

The Consummation of the Age; the Coming of the Lord; and the New Heaven and New Church (n. 753)

I. The Consummation of the Age is the last time of the church or its end (n. 753-756).

II. The present is the last time of the Christian church, which was foretold and described by the Lord in the Gospels and in the Apocalypse (n. 757-759).

III. This last time of the Christian church is the very night in which former churches have come to an end (n. 760-763).

IV, This night is followed by a morning, which is the coming of the Lord  (n. 764-767).

V, The Lord's coming is not His coming to destroy the visible heaven and the habitable earth, and to create a new heaven and a new earth, as many, from not understanding the spiritual sense of the Word, have hitherto supposed (n. 768-771).

VI. This coming of the Lord, which is His Second Coming, is taking place in order that the evil may be separated from the good, and that those who have believed and do believe in Him may be saved, and that from them a new angelic heaven and a new church on earth may be formed, and without this, no flesh could be saved (matt. xxiv. 22)  (n. 772-775).

VII. This Second Coming of the Lord is not a coming in person, but in the Word, which is from Him and is Himself  (n. 776-778).

VIII. This Second Coming of the Lord is effected by means of a man, to whom the Lord has manifested Himself in person, and whom He has filled with His spirit, that he may teach the doctrines of the new church from the Lord through the Word (n. 779-780).

IX. This is what is meant in the Apocalypse by " the new heaven," and " the New Jerusalem descending therefrom" (n. 781-785).

X. This New Church is the crown of all the churches that have hitherto existed on the earth (n. 786-791).

Supplement (n. 752)

The nature of the spiritual world (n. 792-795). Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin in the spiritual world  (n. 796-799).

The Dutch in the spiritual world (n. 800-805).

The English in the spiritual world (n. 806-812).

The Germans in the spiritual world (n. 813-816).

The Papists in the spiritual world (n. 817-821).

The Popish saints in the spiritual world (n. 822-827).

The Mohammedans in the spiritual world (n. 828-834).

 The Africans in the spiritual world; also something in regard to the gentiles (n. 835-840).

The Jews in the spiritual world (n. 841-843).
 

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