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SPIRITUAL LIFE AND THE WORD OF GOD
by
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)
Extracted from the Apocalypse Explained
Contents
Part First--THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
I. How Spiritual Life is Acquired
II. Goods of Charity
III. Shunning Evils
IV. Cleansing the Inside
V. What Religion Consists In
Part Second--THE COMMANDMENTS
I. The First Commandment
II. The Second Commandment
III. The Third Commandment
IV. The Fourth Commandment
V. The Fifth Commandment
VI. The Sixth Commandment
VII. The Seventh Commandment
VIII. The Eighth Commandment
IX. The Ninth and Tenth Commandments
X. The Commandments in General
Part Third--PROFANATIONS OF GOOD AND TRUTH
I. Goods and Truths and Their Opposites
II. The First Kind of Profanation
III. The Second Kind of Profanation
IV. The Third Kind of Profanation
V. The Fourth and Fifth Kinds of Profanation
Part Fourth--THE DIVINE WORD
I. The Holiness of the Word
II. The Lord is the Word
III. The Lord's Words Spirit and Life
IV. Influx and Correspondence
V. The Three Senses of the Word
VI. Conjunction by the Word
VII. The Sense of the Letter
Part First--THE SPIRITUAL LIFE
I. How Spiritual Life is Acquired
Spiritual life is acquired solely by a life according to the
commandments in the Word. These commandments are given in summary in
the Decalogue, namely, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not
steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou
shalt not covet the goods of others. These commandments are the
commandments that are to be done, for when a man does these his works
are good and his life is spiritual, and for the reason that so far as a
man shuns evils and hates them so far he wills and loves goods.
For there are two opposite spheres that surround man, one from hell, the
other from heaven; from hell a sphere of evil and falsity therefrom,
from heaven a sphere of good and of truth therefrom; and these spheres
do [not immediately] affect the body, but they affect the minds of men,
for they are spiritual spheres, and thus are affections that belong to
the love. In the midst of these man is set; therefore so far as he
approaches the one, so far he withdraws from the other. This is why so
far as a man shuns evils and hates them, so far he wills and loves goods
and the truths therefrom; for no one can at the same time serve two
masters, for he will hate the one and will love the other. (Matt. vi.
24).
But let it be noted, that man must do these commandments from religion,
because they are commanded by the Lord; and if he does this from any
other consideration whatever, for instance, from regard merely to the
civil law or the moral law, he remains natural, and does not become
spiritual. For when a man acts from religion, he acknowledges in heart
that there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death. But
when he acts from regard merely to the civil and moral law, he may act
in the same way, and yet in heart may deny that there is a God, a heaven
and a hell, and a life after death. And if he shuns evils and does
goods, it is merely in the external form, and not in the internal; thus
while he is outwardly in respect to the life of the body like a
Christian, inwardly in respect to the life of his spirit he is like a
devil. All this makes clear that a man can become spiritual, or receive
spiritual life, in no other way than by a life according to religion
from the Lord.
I have had proof that this is true from angels of the third or inmost
heaven, who are in the greatest wisdom and happiness. When asked how
they had become such angels, they said it was because during their life
in the world they had regarded filthy thoughts as abominable, and these
had been to them adulteries; and had regarded in like manner frauds and
unlawful gains, which had been to them thefts; also hatreds and
revenges, which had been to them murder; also lies and blasphemies,
which had been to them false testimonies; and so with other things.
When asked again whether they had done good works, they said they loved
chastity, in which they were because they had regarded adulteries as
abominable; that they loved sincerity and justice, in which they were
because they had regarded frauds and unlawful gains as abominable; that
they loved the neighbor because they had regarded hatreds and revenges
as abominable; that they loved truth because they had regarded lies and
blasphemies as abominable, and so on; and that they perceived that when
these evils have been put away, and they acted from chastity, sincerity,
justice, charity and truth, it was not done from themselves, but from
the Lord, and thus that all things whatsoever that they had done from
these were good works, although they had done them as if from
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