The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love. Emanuel Swedenborg

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СКАЧАТЬ FATHER OF ETERNITY, Prince of Peace,' Isaiah ix. 6. 'Behold the days will come, and I will raise up to David a righteous branch, who shall reign a King: and this is his name, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,' Jeremiah xxiii. 5, 6; chap, xxxiii. 15, 16. 'JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH is his name, and THY REDEEMER the holy one of Israel: THE GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL HE BE CALLED,' Isaiah liv. 5. 'IN THAT DAY THERE SHALL BE ONE JEHOVAH, AND HIS NAME ONE,' Zech. xiv. 9." On hearing and understanding these words, my heart exulted, and I went home with joy; and there I returned out of a state of the spirit into a state of the body; in which latter state I committed to writing what I had seen and heard: to which I now add the following particular. That conjugial love, such as it was with the ancients, will be revived again by the Lord after his coming; because this love is from the Lord alone, and is the portion of those who from him, by means of the Word, are made spiritual.

      

      82. After this, a man from the northern quarter came running in great haste, and looked at me with a threatening countenance, and addressing me in a passionate tone of voice, said, "Are you the man that wishes to seduce the world, under the notion of re-establishing a new church, which you understand by the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God; and teaching, that the Lord will endow with love truly conjugial those who embrace the doctrines of that church; the delights and felicity of which love you exalt to the very heaven? Is not this a mere fiction? and do you not hold it forth as a bait and enticement to accede to your new opinions? But tell me briefly, what are the doctrinals of the New Church, and I will see whether they agree or disagree." I replied, "The doctrines of the church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem, are as follow: I. That there is one God, in whom there is a divine trinity; and that he is the LORD JESUS CHRIST. II. That a saving faith is to believe on him. III. That evils are to be shunned, because they are of the devil and from the devil. IV. That goods are to be done, because they are of God and from God. V. That these are to be done by a man as from himself; but that it ought to be believed, that they are done from the Lord with him and by him." On hearing these doctrines, his fury for some moments abated; but after some deliberation he again looked at me sternly, and said, "Are these five precepts the doctrines of faith and charity of the New Church?" I replied, "They are." He then asked sharply, "How can you demonstrate the FIRST, 'that there is one God in whom there is a divine trinity; and that he is the Lord Jesus Christ?" I said, "I demonstrate it thus: Is not God one and individual? Is not there a trinity? If God be one and individual, is not he one person? If he be one person, is not the trinity in that person? That this God is the LORD JESUS CHRIST, is evident from these considerations, that he was conceived from God the Father, Luke i. 34, 35; and thus that as to his soul he is God; and hence, as he himself saith, that the Father and himself are one, John x. 30; that he is in the Father, and the Father in him, John xix. 10, 11; that he that seeth him and knoweth him, seeth and knoweth the Father, John xiv. 7, 9; that no one seeth and knoweth the Father, except he that is in the bosom of the Father, John i. 18; that all things of the Father are his, John iii. 35; chap. xvi. 15; that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and that no one cometh to the Father but by him, John xiv. 6; thus of or from him, because the Father is in him; and, according to Paul, that all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily in him, Coloss. ii. 9; and moreover, that he hath power over all flesh, John xvii. 2; and that he hath all power in heaven and in earth, Matt, xxviii. 18: from which declarations it follows, that he is God of heaven and earth." He afterwards asked how I proved the SECOND, "that a saving faith is to believe on him?" I said, "By these words of the Lord, 'This is the will of the Father, that every one that BELIEVETH ON THE SON should have eternal life, John vi. 40.' 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that every one that BELIEVETH ON HIM should not perish, but should have eternal life,' John iii. 15, 16. 'HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON, hath eternal life; but he that believeth not the Son will not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,' John iii. 36." He afterwards said, "Demonstrate also the THIRD, and the next two doctrines:" I replied, "What need is there to demonstrate 'that evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil and from the devil; and that goods ought to be done, because they are of God and from God;' also 'that the latter are to be done by a man as from himself; but that he ought to believe that they are from the Lord with him and by him?' That these three doctrines are true, is confirmed by the whole Sacred Scripture from beginning to end; for what else is therein principally insisted on, but to shun evils and do goods, and believe on the Lord God? Moreover, without these three doctrines there can be no religion: for does not religion relate to life? and what is life but to shun evils and do goods? and how can a man do the latter and shun the former but as from himself? Therefore if you remove these doctrines from the church, you remove from it the Sacred Scripture, and also religion; and these being removed, the church is no longer a church." The man on hearing this retired, and mused on what he had heard; but still he departed in indignation.

      

      ON THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE AS GROUNDED IN THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH.

      

      83. There are both internal and external origins of conjugial love, and several of each; nevertheless there is but one inmost or universal origin of all. That this origin is the marriage of good and truth, shall be demonstrated in what now follows. The reason why no one heretofore has deduced the origin of that love from this ground, is, because it has never yet been discovered that there is any union between good and truth; and the reason why this discovery has not been made, is, because good does not appear in the light of the understanding, as truth does, and hence the knowledge of it conceals itself and evades every inquiry: and as from this circumstance good is as it were unknown, it was impossible for any one to conjecture that any marriage subsisted between it and truth: yea, before the rational natural sight, good appears so different from truth, that no conjunction between them can be supposed. That this is the case, may be seen from common discourse whenever they are mentioned; as when it is said, "This is good," truth is not at all thought of; and when it is said, "This is true," neither is good at all thought of; therefore at this day it is believed by many, that truth is one thing and good another; and by many also, that a man is intelligent and wise, and thereby a man (homo), according to the truths which he thinks, speaks, writes, and believes, and not at the same time according to goods. That nevertheless there is no good without truth, nor any truth without good, consequently that there is an eternal marriage between them; also that this marriage is the origin of conjugial love, shall now be shewn and explained in the following order: I. Good and truth are the universals of creation, and thence are in all created things; but they are in created subjects according to the form of each. II. There is neither solitary good nor solitary truth, but in all cases they are conjoined. III. There is the truth of good, and from this the good of truth; or truth grounded in good, and good grounded in that truth: and in those two principles is implanted from creation an inclination to join themselves together into a one. IV. In the subjects of the animal kingdom, the truth of good, or truth grounded in good, is male (or masculine); and the good of that truth, or good grounded in that truth, is female (or feminine). V. From the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord, the love of the sex and conjugial love are derived. VI. The love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man, and hence it is common to every animal. VII. But conjugial love belongs to the internal or spiritual man; and hence this love is peculiar to man. VIII. With man conjugial love is in the love of the sex as a gem in its matrix. IX. The love of the sex with man is not the origin of conjugial love, but its first rudiment; thus it is like an external natural principle, in which an internal spiritual principle is implanted. X. During the implantation of conjugial love, the love of the sex inverts itself and becomes the chaste love of the sex. XI. The male and the female were created to be the essential form of the marriage of good and truth. XII. They are that form in their inmost principles, and thence in what is derived from those principles, in proportion as the interiors of their minds are opened. We will now proceed to the explanation.

      84. I. GOOD AND TRUTH ARE THE UNIVERSALS OF CREATION, AND THENCE ARE IN ALL CREATED THINGS; BUT THEY ARE IN CREATED SUBJECTS ACCORDING TO THE FORM OF EACH. The reason why good and truth are the universals of creation, СКАЧАТЬ