Striking Quotations

FROM SWEDENBORG'S WORKS

Originally compiledfor
private circulation by
R. W. KENYON

THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY

20 Bloomsbury Way

London WCIA 2TH

197 2
 ut impression 1932­
2.ndimpression 1935

3rd impression 1937

Revised and reprinted 1972.

Made and printed in Great Britain by

The Campfield Press, St. A/bans, Herts.

 ABBREVIATED TITLES OF THE VARIOUS

WORKS OF SWEDENBORG REFERRED TO

AC Arcana Ca:iestia
AE Apoca!Jpse Explained
AR Apoca!Jpse Revealed
CH Doctrine of Chariry
DLW Divine Love and Wisdom
DP Divine Providence
F Doctrine of Faith
HD New Jerusalem and its Heaven!;' Doctrine
illr Heaven and Hell
L Doctrine of the Lord
LIFE Doctrine of Life
LJ Last Jlldgment
SD Spiritllal DiaTJ!
ss Doctrine concerning the Sacred Scriptllre
TCR Trlle Christian Religion

The translations used are taken from The Swedenborg

Society'S current editions.
 THE PARTICULARS OF FAITH

ON MAN'S PART

1. God is one, in whom is the Divine Trinity and He

is the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ.
2. A saving faith is to believe on Him.
3. Evil actions ought not to be done because they are
of the devil and from the devil.
4. Good actions ought to be done because they are of
God and from God.
5. Moreover, these things ought to be done by a man
as of himself; but he should believe that they are
from the Lord acting with him and through him.
TCR 3

4
 ANGELS
Spirits are not able, and angels still less able, to see
anything that is in the world, by their own sight.
•-I.C 1880

When an angel does good to anyone, he also com­

municates his own good, good fortune and bliss to him
and this with the desire to give the other everything
and to retain nothing. .-I.C 6478

The angels have happiness from the Lord according

to the essence and quality of their use. .-I.C 997.z

AVARICE
Nothing removes men further from internal things
than avarice, because it is the lowest earthly cupidity.
AC 4751.4

There is in avarice not only the love of the world, but

also the love of self, and indeed the foulest love of self.
AC 475 I.Z
BOOK OF LIFE
Every man has two memories, one exterior, the other
interior; and the exterior memory is proper to his body,
but the interior proper to his spirit. AC Z469
 These two memories are altogether distinct from each
other. To the exterior memory, which is proper to man
during his life in the world, belong all the words of
languages, also the objects of the external senses as well
as the knowledges which belong to the world. To the
interior memory belong the ideas of the speech of
spirits, which are connected with interior sight, and all
rational things from the ideas of which thought itself
exists. That these things are distinct from one another,
man does not know, both because he does not reflect
upon it and because he is in corporeal things and cannot
then so far withdraw his mind from them. AC 2471

The interior memory vastly excels the exterior.

AC 2473

Man has an external or natural memory and an inter­

nal or spiritual memory. Upon this internal memory is
inscribed everything in general and in particular that he
has thought, spoken and done in the world from his
will, and that, so completely and particularly that no
detail is lacking. This memory is man's book of life
which is opened after death and according to which he
is judged. DP 227

The interior memory is such that there are inscribed

on it all the particular things, indeed the most particular,
which man has at any time thought, spoken and done,
nay, even those which have appeared to him as but a
6
shadow, with the most minute details, from his earliest
infancy to extreme old age. Man has with him the
memory of all these things when he comes into the other
life ... This is the Book of his Life which is opened in
the other life and according to which he is judged.
AC 2474

CHARITY
Charity is, in general, to will and do good to others,
for no selfish reason, but from the delight of affection.
AC 4538.4

With everyone, Christian charity consists in his per­

forming faithfully the duties of his calling. LIFE 114

Charity itself is to act justly and faithfully in the

office, business and employment in which one is engaged
for then everything that a man does is of use to Society
and use is good. TCR 422

The life of charity is to wish well and to do well to the

neighbour, to act from what is just and equitable, and
from what is good and true, in every work, in like
manner in every function. In a word, the life of charity
consists in performing uses. AC 8253

7
 The life of charity consists in thinking well of others
and wishing well to them and perceiving joy in oneself
at the fact that others also are saved. AC 2284

If you do good, for example, if you build churches,

adorn them and fill them with votive offerings, if you
expend money lavishly on hospitals and guesthouses
for strangers, give alms daily, succour widows and
orphans; if you diligently observetJ.1e Eoly th~ng~ of
w..£r~4!p, indeed if you think about t~?l, speak ana
preach about them as from the heart, -and yet do not
shun evils as sins against God, all those goods are not
good. They are either hypocritical or meritorious for
there is still evil interiorly within them ... Hence it is
clear that shunning evils because they are contrary to
religion, thus contrary to God, is living well. DP 326.8

The life of charity consists in observing the com­

mandments from love. AC 9193·3

He who loves the neighbour as himself perceives no

delight in charity except in its exercise or in use; and
therefore a life of charity is a life of uses ... the more
noble the use, the greater the delight. AC 997

THE CHURCH
There are three essentials of the Church; an acknow­
ledgment of the Divinity of the Lord, an acknowledg­
8
ment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is
called charity. DP 259.3

The Church would be one if all had charity, notwith­

standing that they differed as to doctrinals and worship.
AC 2913.2

When love to the Lord and charity towards the

neighbour, that is, the good of life, are the essentials
with all in general and in particular, then Churches, how
many soever they be, make one, and each is then one in
the Lord's kingdom. AC 2982

It is provided by the Lord that there is always a

Church on earth, because by means of the Church there
is conjunction between the Lord and the human race,
and between heaven and the world. HD 5

If the Lord's Church should be entirely extinguished

on the earth, the human race could by no means exist,
but one and all would perish ... This was the reason
of the Lord's coming into the world. If in His Divine
mercy he had not come, the whole human race on earth
would have perished, for the church was then at its last
extremity. AC 637.2

Since the Creation there have been on this earth four

Churches in general, following one another in regular
succession . . . The first Church, which may be called
9
the Most Ancient, existed before the flood and its con­
summation or end is described by the flood. The second
Church ... called the Ancient ... the third the Israelitish
. . . The fourth Church is the Christian which the
Lord established by the Evangelists and the Apostles.
TCR. 760

In the Most Ancient Church there was an immediate

revelation; in the Ancient Church a revelation by means
of correspondences; in the Jewish Church by the living
voice; and in the Christian Church through the Word.
HD Z47

It is foretold in the Revelation chapters xxi, xxii, that

at the end of the former Church a New Church is to be
established in which this will be the cardinal doctrine,
that God is one both in Person and in Essence ... and
that this God is the Lord. DP 263.2

CONFESSION OF SIN
Declaring in only a general way that one is a sinner,
and admitting guilt for all sins without carrying out
self-examination, that is, without seeing one's own
individual sins is making a confession but not a con­
fession of repentance. The man who does no more than
this has not arrived at a knowledge of his own particular
evils and so he continues to lead the same life as before.
HD 161

10
 CONSCIENCE
Conscience is an interior perception of what is good
and true. AC 4627.3

They who know little and yet have conscience are

enlightened in the other life, insomuch that they become
angels, and possess wisdom and intelligence inexpress­
ible. AC 1100

Those who are in hell have had no conscience. AC 965

With the regenerate man, there is a conscience of what

is good and true, and he does good and thinks truth
from conscience.... There is joy when he acts according
to conscience and anxiety when he is forced to do or
think contrary to it. AC 977

DEATH AND AFTER

Mter death, a man carries with him all the states of
his life, so that he is such as he has been in the body.
For instance, he who, in the life of the body, has de­
spised others in comparison with himself, in the other
life also despises others in comparison with himself; he
who, in the life of the body, has regarded the neighbour
with hatred, also in the other life regards the neighbour
with hatred; ... Every one retains, in the other life, the
nature he has acquired in the life of the body; and it is
II
known that a man's nature cannot be expelled and that
if it were, nothing of life would remain. AC 4663.2

Angels and spirits, or men after death, when the Lord

permits, can meet all whom they have known in this
world, or whom they have heard of ... can see them as
present, and can converse with them. Wonderful to say,
they are at hand in a moment in their immediate
presence. AC I I 14

The lot which a\vaits everyone is according to his

life. AC 5006

Angels have from the Lord the power of knowing at

once, when they but look upon anyone, what his char­
acter is, nor is there any mistake. AC 803.2

The quality of a man, or of a soul after the death of

the body, is known at once ... By the angels his quality
is perceived the moment he comes near. There is a
certain sphere which exhales, so to speak, from his
nature, or from everything in him. AC 1048

As a result of actual sins, a man takes with him into

the other life innumerable evils and falsities ... It is so
even with those who have lived uprightly. Before these
can be taken up into heaven, their evils and falsities must
be dissipated, and this dissipation is called vastation.
AC 698
12
 The life of every man is foreseen by the Lord, as to
how long he will live and in what manner; wherefore he
is directed from earliest infancy with a regard to a life to
eternity. SD 5°02

There are many who do not have an internal acknow­

ledgment of truth, and yet have the faith of charity.
They are those who have looked to the Lord in their
life, and who from religious principles have avoided
evils. But they have been kept from thinking about
truths by cares and business in the world, and also by
a want of truth on the part of their teachers. Neverthe­
less, they are interiorly, that is, in their spirit, in the
acknowledgment of truth, because they are in the
affection of it. Therefore, after death, when they become
spirits and are instructed by angels, they acknowledge
truths and receive them with joy. F 30

Man's ruling love remains with him after death, nor

is it ever rooted out to eternity. HH 363

After the death of his body, a man's spirit in the

spiritual world is seen in human form, just as in the
natural world. He likewise enjoys the faculties of sight,
hearing, speech and feeling as in the world; he has full
use of every faculty of thought, will and action, as in the
world. HD 22 5

A man's life cannot be changed after death; it remains

then such as it had been; for a man's spirit is throughout
13
such as is his love and infernal love cannot be changed
into heavenly love. HO 239

All little children who die, throughout the whole

world, are raised up by the Lord and taken to heaven,
and are there educated and instructed among the angels,
who have the care of them and they also grow up to
maturity as they advance in intelligence and wisdom.
AC 2289

FAITH
Merely believing what is true and believing the Word
is not faith, but faith is loving truth from heavenly love,
and willing and doing it from interior affection. HH 482

Man is admitted interiorly into the truths of faith and

into the goods of charity only so far as he can be kept in
them right on to the end of life. OP 249.2

HEAVENLY DELIGHT
In heaven there is mutual participation in all goods,
the peace, intelligence, wisdom and happiness of all
being communicated to everyone there. HO 236

It is the very feeling of delight itself, inherent in the

love of doing good apart from any thought of recom­
pense, that is the reward lasting to eternity. HO I j 6

14
 It is those who receive heaven from the Lord that
have heaven in themselves, for heaven is in man, as the
Lord also teaches:
Neither shall they say, Lo! the Kingdom of God is
here or Lo! it is there, for behold, the Kingdom of
God is within you Luke xvii, 21. HD 233

Those who are in heaven are continually advancing

towards the spring of life, with a greater advance to­
wards a more joyful and happy spring the more thou­
sand years they live. HH 414

Women who have died old and worn out with age, if
they have lived in faith in the Lord, in charity to the
neighbour, and in happy conjugiallove with a husband,
advance with the succession of years more and more
into the flower of youth and early womanhood, and
into a beauty that transcends every conception of any
such beauty as is seen on the earth. HH 414

In a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow young.

HH 414

JUDGMENT
Where it is said in the Word that man will be judged
according to his deeds, and will be rewarded according
to his works, it is meant that he will be judged and
rewarded in accordance with his thought and affection,
which are the source of his deeds, or which are in his
15
deeds; for deeds are nothing apart from these and are
precisely such as these are. HH 358

The last state of each person's life when he dies is his

last judgment. AC 2 I 19

LANGUAGE AND SPEECH

The angelic tongue has nothing in common with
human languages ... angels can utter nothing except
what is in entire agreement with their affections ... for
life belongs to affection and their speech is from that.
HH 237

In the entire heaven, all have one language ... and

all understand one another. Language there is not
learned but is implanted by nature with everyone for it
flows from their very affection and thought ... This
enables angels to know, merely from another's speech,
what he is. HH 236

All souls, as soon as they enter into the other life, are
endowed with the gift of being able to understand the
speech of all who are in the whole world, precisely as
if it were their native tongue, for they perceive whatever
a man thinks. AC 1637.2

LIFE
The life of everyone, whether man, spirit or angel,
flows in solely from the Lord alone who is Life itself.
AC 2888
16
 There is but one only life, which is the Lord's, and
this life flows in and causes man to live. AC 3484

Man is nothing else but an organ or vessel, which

receives life from the Lord, for man does not live from
himself. AC 33 I 8

A man is an organ recipient of life and not life itself;

and life cannot be created and be in man any more than
light can be seen in the eye. TCR 461,8

There is continuous influx from the spiritual world

into the natural world. DLW 340

Nothing whatever has existence in the natural world

which does not derive its cause and therefore its origin
from the spiritual world, and good is from the Lord and
evil from the devil, that is, from hell. By the spiritual
world is meant both heaven and hell. DLW 339

Nothing natural can exist without something spiritual

corresponding to it. HH 487

The things in nature are nothing but effects; their

causes are in the spiritual world. AC 571 I

It is plain that as each and all things in the world have

come forth from the Divine, they continue to come
forth from the Divine. AC p I I

17
 No one, whether within the Church where the Word
is, or out of that Church, who lives a good life according
to his religion, is condemned. AE 452

No one believing in God and living well is damned.

HD 244

THE LORD
He to whom it has not been given to know heavenly
arcana, may suppose that there was no need of the Lord's
coming into the world to fight against the hells, and by
means of temptations admitted into Himself to vanquish
and conquer them, when they might have been sub­
jugated at any time by the Divine Omnipotence; but
still that the fact is really so is a certain truth. AC 1676.2

Unless the Lord, by His coming into the flesh, had

liberated the world of spirits from that wicked crew,
the human race would have perished; for no spirit could
have been with man, and yet if spirits and angels are not
with man, he cannot live a moment of time. AC 1266

The internal man in the Lord was Jehovah Himself.

AC 1725.2

The Lord from His own power made DivlQe alL that
wa~ human with Him; thus not only the Rational,but
alsotnelntenor and exterior sensuous part, and ther<jJy
18
~. He thus united the H1,!!Ilag to the Divine.
This may be seen from the fact that He alo~m
the dead as to the body. AC 2083.2

It is known that the Lord was born like any other

man, and that when an infant, He learned to speak as
any other infant, and that He afterwards increased in
knowledge, also in intelligence and wisdom. Hence it is
evident that His Human was not Divine from birth, but
that He madel"tDivlne by his own power. The reason
it was done by His own power is that He was conceived
of Jehovah, and hence the inmost of His life was
Jehovah Himself. AC 6716.2

Since the Lord had from the beginning a human from

the mother, which He put off successively, therefore
while He was in the world, He had two states, called the
state of humiliation, and the state of glorification or
union with the Divine which is called the Father. He
was in the state of humiliation so far as, and when, He
was in the Human from the mother; and He was in the
r state of glorification-sofar as, and when, He was in !P-E

Human from the Father. In the state of humiliation He

\ prayecfto-t1reFa'theras to a being distinct from Himself;

but in tl:!~!'tate of glorificatLon He spoke with the Father

as with Hiinsefr. In tn[s latter state, He said that the

) Father was in Him and He in the Father, and that the

Father and He were One; but in the state of humiliation
He underwent temptations and suffered-the cross,--and
19
prayed to the Father not to forsake flim; for the Divine
could not be tempted, still less could it suffer the cross.
From these considerations it is now evident that, by
temptations and continual victories in them, and by the
passion of the cross, which was the last of the tempta­
tions, He fully conquered the hells, and fully glorified
the Human. 1.35.3

The Lord when He was in the world, subdued the

hells and reduced the heavens into order and acquired
to flimself Divine Power over them ... That the Lord
has that power, He Himself teaches expressly in
Matthew xxviii 18:
All power is given unto Me in the heavens and
on earth. AC 10019

Those who, in regard to the Divinity, have an idea of

three persons cannot have an idea of one God; if with
the mouth they say one, still they think of three.
AC 10821

An idea of three in one Person is obtained if one

thinks that the -Father is in the Lord, and that the Holy
Spirit proceeds from Him; then the Trine is in the
Lord, the Divine itself, called Father, the Divine Human
called Son, and the Divine Proceeding called Holy
Spirit. HO 290

20
 As all the Divine is in the Lord, therefore He has all
power in the heavens and on the earths.
All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.
Matthelv xxviii. 18.
Such power is the Divine. HD 2.9I

In so far as the Lord was in the human which He

received by inheritance from the mother, so far did He
appear distinct from Jehovah and adore Jehovah as one
different from Himself. But in so far as the Lord put off
this human, He was not distinct from Jehovah but was
one with Him. The former state was the Lord's state of
humiliation; but the latter was His state of glorification.
AC I999· 5

That the Divine itself, which is the Father, is incom­

prehensible, the Lord also teaches in John i. I8 No man
hath seen God at any time. AC Io067.4

That the Divine itself, which is the Father is compre­

hensible in the Lord by His Divine Human, He again
teaches in John:
He that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me
John xii. 45.
If ye had known me, ye would have known my Father
also; and henceforth ye have known Him, and have
seen Him. John xiv. 6-11.
AC Io067.4
2.I
 THE LORD'S TEMPTATIONS
The Lord could not be tempted as to the Divine
because the hells cannot assault the Divine; wherefore
Be assumed from the mother such a human as could be
tempted. HD 20r

His last temptation and victory by which He fully

subjugated the hells and made His Human Divine was
in Gethsemane and on the Cross. HD 20r

The life of the Lord, from His earliest childhood even

to the last hour of His life in the world, was continual
temptation and continual victory, as is evident from
many things in the Word of the Old Testament; and
that it did not cease with the temptation in the wilder­
ness is evident from what is said in Luke:
And when the devil had ended every temptation, he
departed from Him for a season. Luke iv. 13
Also from the fact that He was tempted even to the
death on the cross, and thus to the last hour of His life
in the world. Hence it is evident that the whole of the
Lord's life in the world, from His earliest childhood,
was continual temptation and continual victory. The
last was when He prayed on the cross for His enemies.
. AC r690

In the Word, of the Lord's life, in the Gospels, none

but the last is mentioned, except His temptation in the
wilderness. More was not disclosed to the disciples. The
22
 things that were disclosed appear in the sense of the
letter so slight as to be scarcely anything; for to speak
and answer in this manner is no temptation, when yet
His temptation was more grievous than can ever be
comprehended and believed by any human mind.
AC 169°.2.

In brief, the Lord from His earliest childhood up to

the last hour of His life in the world was assaulted by
all the hells against which He continually fought and
subjugated and overcame them, and this solely from
love towards the whole human race. AC 1690.6

The Lord alone sustained the most cruel combats of

temptations by His own strength or His own power; for
He was surrounded by all the hells and continually
conquered them. AC 1692.

LOVE
( A man is such as the quality of his love is. If it be the
) love of self and the world, and conse uentI of reven e,
"\ hatred, ~elty, a u tery an t e J e, t e man is a devil
. as ~Q hIS spJ.!!t ... out if there be with a man the lonof
God ana the love of the neighbour, and consequently
the l?ve of good and truth, also of what is just and
f
l
honoura61e, he IS, as to hrs spirit which lives on after
death, ag angel, no matter how he appears in the ex­
ternal form. AC 6872..2.
-~

2.3
 LOVE OF THE NEIGHBOUR
Loving the neighbour means doing what is good,
just and right in every work and every public office.
Wherefore charity towards the neighbour extends to
each and everything which a man thinks, wills, and does.
HD I06

Charity towards the neighbour is nothing less than a

life according to the Lord's precepts. AC 3249

Charity is an internal affection which consists in his

willing from the heart and in finding the delight of his
life in doing good to the neighbour, and this without
any reward. AC 8033

Every good grows immeasurably in the other life, and

that while they cannot go further in the life of the body
than to love the neighbour as themselves, because they
are immersed in what concerns the body, yet when this
is set aside their love becomes more pure and finally
becomes angelic, which is to love the neighbour more
than themselves. HH 406

The laws of the Lord's kingdom are eternal truths,

all of which are based on the one great law that men
should love the Lord above all things and their neigh
bour as themselves, and now even more than them­
selves if they would be as the angels. . AC 548
24
 Just as love to the Lord and love towards the neigh­
bour make a life of heaven with man, so love of self and
love of the world, when they rule, make a life of hell
with him. . HD 237

MERIT
Man can merit nothing by the goods which he does,
for they are not his but the Lord's; meriting or merit
looks to man, and thus conjoins itself with the love of
self, and with the thought of pre-eminence over others,
and consequently with contempt for others. AC 3956

THE NATURE OF GOOD AND EVIL

It is the nature of evil to desire to maltreat everyone;
but that of good to desire to maltreat no one. The evil
are in their very life when they are assaulting, for they
continually desire to destroy. The good are in their very
life when they are assaulting no one, and when they can
be of use in defending others from evils. AC 1683

PERCEPTION
Perception is nothi.ng but the speech or tho~ht .Qf ) J
the angels who are WIth man.' AC 5228

The second kind of perception (in the other life) is

what is common to all, in the highest perfection to
angels, and to spirits according to theIr quahty. It
-=-"
25
J
\~r\1 approach,
~~ ~
consists in ~no:ving the guality of ~nother at his first

even If he does not speak. AC J 388

As the perceptions are so exquisite, e~l spid

not approach a sphere, or any society, were there are
g~d spirits who are in mutual love. AC J 397

PIETY
If a man thinks and speaks pious things, and does not
shun evils as sins, the pious things which he thinks and
speaks are not pious. LIFE 23

The Word teaches that, so far as a man is not purified

from evils, his good deeds are not 300d, nor his pious
acts pious, n~er IS he WIse; and toe converse. LIFE 30

PRAYER
Worship does not consist in prayers and in external
devotion but in a life of charity; prayers are only the
externals thereof, for they proceed from the man by his
mouth, wherefore according to the quality of the man
as to his life such are his prayers. AE 32 5.3

Prayer considered in itself is speech with God ... so

that there is a certain opening of man's interiors towards
God; but this with a difference according to man's state,
and according to the essence of the object of the prayer.
AC 253 5

26
 The angels in heaven have such authority that if they
only will a thing they obtain it; but yet they do not will
anything but what is of use, and they will this as from
themselves but still from the Lord. AR 951.2

Man continually prays when he is in the life of charity,

although not with the mouth yet with the heart; for that
which is of the love is continually in the thought even
when he is unconscious of it. AB 325. I 2

PROFAl\IATION
To profane is to believe in God, the Word, eternal
life and many things taught in the sense of the letter of
the Word and yet to live contrary to them. AE 232.2

Those who do not acknowledge and believe, but only

know, cannot profane. AC 408

27
 All things in man, even the least, are foreseen by the
Lorc, ana provlaed for-m regW to his future state to
eternity, and this for his good so far as it is at all possible
and so far a~ man suffers himself to be led by the Lord.
AC 2679

We can see how greatly the man errs who believes

that the Lord has not foreseen and does not see, the
1Einutest things appertaining to man, and..t.bn in these
:t=reaoes not foresee and lead; when the truth is that the
Lord's ~oresight ~na providence are in the very least ~ l\
II these mlnutest thlngs connected W1tl1 man. AC 3854.3 it

Solicitude about the future, when confirmed by act,

greatly dulls and retards the influx of spiritual life.
AC 5In

Providence is in the minutest"things of all, from the

first thread of ~ e even to tlie last, ana afterwards
to eternity. AC 5894

They who are in the stream of Providence ne all the {'(

tim~eing carr1eaafong toward napplness, w~;\.tev~r
may be the appearance ?f the m~ns. AC 8478.4

There is no such thing as chance; and apparent

acci~>--9r .fortune, .is
Providence in the ultim~te 5?f II
1
J~~_e!, 10 whIch all thlngs are comparatlVely lnconstant.
AC 6493

28
 The Divine Providence is jn ~osLin...ctiY.isI~1 (I
S~s gf man's tlmgght ancfaCtI9n.- DP 212.2

Everyone, from infancy even to the end of his life, is

led by Him iDJ~ individual things and his place
foreseen and provided. DP 203

the evil

PUNISHMENTS
Such is the equilibrium in the other life that evil
punishes itself, that is to say, those who are evil run into
the punishment of their evil, but only when it has
reached its height. Every evil has its limit that varies in
29
 each individual case, be ond which it is not allowable to
eass; When an evil person passes eyon t !ID!t, he
precIpitates himself into the penalty. AC 1857.2

REFORMATION
Man believes that he is reformed and regenerated by
the truth of faith, but this is an appearance; he is re­
Il formed and regenerated by the good of faith, that is by
charity towards the neighbour andJoye to the Lord.
AC 3207.4

The goods of life appear to man as the fruits of faith,

but they are the fruits of charity. AC 3207.4

There is granted to everyone after death the oppor­

tunity of amending his life, if that is at all possible. All
g.re instructed and led by the Lord by means of angels;
aiiClasthey now know_thauhe_)C....live after deatn, a..Qd
that there is a_h.eav:en_aruLa...hell, theYJLfirst re_ceive
) \ truths. Those, however, who have not acknowledged
God and who have not shunned evils as sins when in
the world ~on show a distaste for t,ruths and withdraw.
- - DP 328,9

3°
 know that his delight is that of the infernals, for~
no other love in it than that of self and the world; and
when this love makes hi§ delight, thete is in it no
ch~ and no faith. AC 392.8.2.

Regeneration is nothing but the subjugation of the

~al and the dominion of the spliitual. - AC 5?J5!:3

When a man determines to shun evil and do good,

then commences the state of regeneration. TCR 587

Everyone becomes regenerate as he abstains from the

evils of sin. TCR 510

DOCTRINE OF REMAINS
Remains are not only the goods and truths that a man
~s learned from the Lord's Word f!.om i~cy, and has
thus impressed on his memory, but they are also all the
states thence derived, such as states of innocence TrOfu
infancy; states of love towards parents, brothers,
teachers, friends; states of charity toward~ the neigh­
bour, and also of pity for the poor and needy; in-aword,
aHstates of g,ood and truth. These states togetFler with
the goods and truths impressed on the memory are
ltl.ll called tl<~ns, which are preserved in man by the Lord
,,~ and are stored up, entirely without his knowledge in his
lOternal man. AC 561

31
 That there are remains, and that they are stored up in
a man in his interior rational is wholly unknown to man;
and this because he supposestnat nothing flows Ln, ®t
that everything is natural to him and born with him,
thus that it is all in him when an infant, when yet the
real case is altogether different. Remains are treawrof in
many parts of the Word, ana by them are signified those))
ih.tate~ by which man becomes a man, and t~m the
Lord alone. AC 1906.3

With those who are being regenerated through

temptations, the remains in a man are for the angels that
are with him, who draw out from them the t~s
'£.herewith the_)[..Skfrn------nne...man-agaJiist the eVIl sililtS
I
who excite the falsities in him and thus assail him.
AC 737

RENUNCIATION OF THE WORLD

With regard to renunciation of the world, many
believe that renouncing the world, and living 'after the
spirit' and not 'after the flesh', means putting away the
things of the world, chiefly riches and position, going
about continually\ in pious meditation about God,
salvation and etern\lllife, spending one's days in prayer
and in reading the lWord and pious books, and also in
doing penance. But doing thes~hings is not 'renounc­
ing the world'; the truth is, 'renouncing the world:' is
loving God and loving the n~hbour; and God is belng'
32
loved when one lives in accordance with His precepts;
and the neighbour is being loved when a man pg$orq;s
uses. So that for a man to receive heaven, he must most
:mTIredly live in the "Yo~~.ge in its""dut~d
emplo~mel1ts. A life withdrawn from the things-of the
~lalsa life of thought and faith separate_d IT<:>m a life
of love and charim such a life ~destructive of willing
gooa, and dQing ~d, to the rfeighoour, andW1len
these are destroyed, spiritual life is like a house without
,LfoundaJ!2n, which gradually sinks down, or else
cracks and gapes, or totters until ~s. HO 12.6

REPENTANCE
Sins cannot be taken away from a man, except by
actual repentance; and this consists in the man seeing
his sins, irn,tJloring hC;lp from the Lord and d~
from them. T_ I 7

A man ought to shun evils because they are sins, that

is, because they are infernal and diabolical, and conse­
quently opposed to the Lord and contrary to Divine
laws. LIFE 2.2.

A wicked man may shun evils as hurtful; no one but a

Christian can shun evils as sins. LIFE I I I

So far as a man shuns evils, so far he is with the Lord

and in the Lord; and so far as he-is in the Lord, so far he
does good, not from himseltbut from the Lord. r:u::E 2. I
33
 Repentance of the mouth and not of the life is not
repentance. Sins'*are not remitted by repentance of the
mouth, but by repentance of the life. AC 8393

Lust in the will acquires the nature of an act and it

can only be removed by the Lord after repentance.
TCR 316

1\ man ought to shun evils as sins and fight against

them, as of himself; and if he shuns evils for any other
reason than that they are sins, he does not really shun
them but only prevents them from appearing before the
world.- TCR 330

True repentance consists in a man's exaffilrung !lQ..t

only the acts of his life but also the i~ns of his will.
TCR 532

A man's evils are in his thoughts and intentions; it is

from them that all evil actions done with the body
proceed. Those who do not examine into the evils of
their thought and will cannot carry out repentance, for
they afterwards continue to think and will the same
things as before. HD 164

If men do not shun evils from a religious principle,

because they are sins and against God, the lusts of evil
with their delights still remain like polluted waters
dammed up or stagnant. DP 117

34
 He who leads the life of faith performs repentance
daily; for he reflects upon the evils that are in himself,
acknowledging them, guards himself against them, and
supplicates the Lord for aid. AC 8391

SALVATION
The life of charity is what saves after death, and not
any life of faith without charity, for without charity
there cannot be any life of faith ... In the latter case
when the exteriors are taken away, as is done in the
other life, the interiors are manifest in their truuhar­
acter, namely, that they are utterlycontrary to all truths
of faith. AC 2049.4

35
 All those throughout the whole world who have
lived in good, are, of the Lord's mercy, received and
saved. AC 2590.2

If man could have been reformed under compulsion,

there would not be a single man in the universe who
would not be saved. AC 288r

The nations who are outside the Church, and who are
in goohd, are saved alike with those who are wit1iin the
Churc . AC 33 80

In every religion there should be the two essentials of

salvation, namely, to acknowledge God and to refrain
from evil because it is against God. DP 328.8

The means of salvation relate to these two essentials,

that evils must be shunned because they are contrary to
the Divine laws in the Decalogue and there must be the
acknowledgment that there is a God. This everyone can
do provided he does not love evils; for the Lord is
<;ontinually flQFing into his will with power that fie
may be able to shun evils, and intQj1is understanding
with power that he may be able to thinktnat mere 1-S a
God. DP 329

36
 The member of the Church at this day believes that
anyone, no matter what his life is, may of mercy be
received Into heaven, and there enjoy eternal bliss ...
I1 But he is much mistaken, for no one can be admitted
and received into heaven, unless he i& being regen~ted.

AC 5342.4

SELF-LOVE
All those with whom the love of rule occupies the
first place are inwardly devils. AE I 18 9. 3

Does anyone have a feeling that it is wrong to 10veJ

oneself mor t n others? Who, then, knows that it is
11 evil? and yet it is the ead of all evils. DP 277 .'

The love of self which is the head of all evils, sur-

p~s~ot.her loves in it~~y_to_adult~rate-&oojsand
falsify- truths and it does this bLJ:he misuse of th.e {
f rationality which every man, wickea---aswen as good,
IV has from the Lord. It can inde~ confirmations make
~ evil to aPJ?,ear exactly like goo 3.ndfaisity lIke truth.
DP 233. I I

In so far as a love of domineering becomes strong in a

man, especially in a man of the Church, so far does hell
reign. LJ 55.6

l\ He who rules from the love of self wills good to no

one except himself; the uses he performs are for the sake
37
11 of his oWll honour and~!ory.... The love of dominion
continues with everyone after his life in the world.
HH 564.2

It is unknown in the world that love of self, regarded

in itself, is the love that rules in hell a71d makes hell with
man. I~IH 555

They who exercised rule in the world from love of

self, are, after their life i;the world, in hell. . .. HO 73

From the love of self and of the world come forth all
hatreds; from hatreds all revenges arut cruelties; and
from these, all deceits; in short all the hells. AC 169 I

From self-love, that is the love of self or ttroRrium,

all evils flow, such as hatreds, revenges, cruetIes, adul­
teries, deceits, hypocrisies, impiety. AC 1326

In proportion as man is in the lov~elf, he is in hell,

for in hell is the love of self. AC 7369

Man is in the love of self who despises his neighbour

in comEarison with himself. AC 7370
JI
Those with whom the loves of self and the world rule,
do not know what heaven is or what heavenly happiness
is. HO 238

38
 The love of self and the love of the world are alto­

gether contratf to love to the Lord and love towaras

the nelg6Squr; and therefore love of self and love of the

world are infernal loves. HD 78

SLEEP

The Lord guards man with most especial care during

his sleep. AC 959

Evil spirits most vehemently desire and burn to infest

and attack man when he is sleeping, but man is tb!.n nl~
especially guarded by the Lord, for rove does not 1I
.-:§. AC 1983

SPHERES

A man is not aware that he is encompassed with a

certain spiritua~p.h~e that)~.in accoraanc<:,:_with tllellre

Of fits affections, and that to the angels this sphere is

more perceptible than is the sphere of an odour to the

finest sense on earth. AC 4464.3

In the other life, whatever rules in anyone manifests

i~ by a certain sphere which is perceived by all around

39
him ... The sphere of him who has re~ard to himself in
everything, appropria~.~__!QjJ:.~clL an absorbs every..
thing that is favourable to itself, a.nd therefore it ~bs
allthedelight ortlie surrounding spirits, and destroys
all their freedom, ~ that s_ucb a person has .19_ ~e
1
b_ap.i~hed from society ... But when the common good
of all is regarded, one person never appropriates to
himself another's delight, or destroys another's freedom,
15iirt"ii'SQTar aspe can he_promotes and increases it. This
is the reason why heavenly societies are one, and this
solely through mutual love from the Lord. AC 13 16.2.

It is known in the other life what another is ~s

*?t aeeroas£, even though he ~oes not speak. From
t IS it may be known that a man's interiors are in a kind
of uncQ.nsciou.§ activity, and that from this the quality
oTthe spirit is perceived AC 1504

TEMPTA nONS
In temptations, what is being fought out is whether
good shall have dominion over evil or evil over good.
HD 190

It is to be known that no one is regenerated without

temptation; and that many temptations follow on, one
after aqother. AC 84°3.2.

Evil spirits never fight against things other than those

which the man loves. AC 182.0.2.

4°
 No one is tempted except through that to which he \
inclines. AC 2.818

The Lord Himself is present with those in temptation,

both immediately, and mediately by angels. AC 6514.2.

Temptations are nothing but combats of evil spirits

with the angels who are with a man. Evil sEirits call u
all the wrong things t~ has eit~r done or even
thought from~nls infancy . . . But through angels the
Lord guards the man and restrains the evil spirits and
genii from going beyond bounds and inundating the
man beyond what he is able to bear. AC 741

THOUGHTS
In the other life men cannot conceal what they have
thought, because there the thoughts show themselves
ooenly. AC 4464.4

41
r A deed or wo!"k is in quali!y such as are the will and
thou~~ th~t jfroduce it. If the thought and Will are
gooa, then the deeds and works are good; bY-cif t~
thoughLand will are evil, then the deeds and works are
evil, akhoqgh in external form they ::ppear alike.
-- . HH 472

THE TRINITY

A Trinity of Divine Persons from eternity, or before

the world was created, is in idea a trinity of gods; and

I
this idea cannot be removed by the .or.al confession of

one God. - TRC 172

It is u.!.terlY.-.opposed to reas~n to say that the one

God begot a-SOn fi:omerermty, and that God the
.Father, together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, each
of whom sep'arately is God, is one God. TcR82 _
All the details of the Athanasian Creed are in agree­

ment with the truth, provided that instead of three

persons, one person in whom is a Trinity, is acknow­

ledged. AE 1103.3

Know thereforeJh!tt the Lord is Jehovah Himself, or

the Father in a human form ... The Lond from eternity

42
 was Jehovah, that is, the Father in a human form but
not yet in the flesh. AC 93150

The Human of the Lord is Divine and one must come

to this Human in order to come to the F7lther;stnce
Jehovah God, by means of it, sent Himself into the
world, ~nd_ made Himsel£.. visible to the eyes of.1!~~,n,
{ and thus accessible. TCR 1881.6
~~

USES
In a word, the whole heaven is full of uses so that it
ought to be called the very kingdom of us~s ... He who
is not delighted with uses for the sife of uses, "'bUt
performs them only for the sake of ~ or of honour
and wealtp alone, does not at heart love his countrY'Or
his fellow citizens, but merely him.$~# and the wQtid.
AE 1226.3 and 7

Angelic happiness is in use, from use and according

to use, that is, ~aC.Eording to th~goods of l~d....2.f
charity. AC 454

What is marvellous is that every individual thing,

even to the most minute, is adapted for ~. -xE 11 9i. 2

Since man was c~ted..J.Q..per£o~es, which is to

Iheaven,
l~ neighboJ!r, therefore all those who come into
however many they may be, must perfor~es.

43
According to uses, an~ love of them, the inhabi~nts
oJ heaven receive all their delight and ble~sedness, nor
NO-J
does heavenly joy come from any other source ...
idls person is tolerated in hell ... The.difference is that
lrlhell Y§es are performed from f~r, b.Jlt in heaven frQ!!1
I
l~e, and it is not fear but l~ thatjmpartLigy.
AE II94.5

Heavenly love is loving uses for the sake of-uses, or

goods f.9r th~ sake of goods, which are done by man
for the Chur.f.h, his c~lltry, human .LQQety and a
fellow-citizen; for this iSloving God and loving the
neighbour ... Therefore, so far as anyone is ip th~ love
oL..g:lf he separates himself from heaven because ~
r~oves himself from heavenly love. HH 557

In uses, all the delights of heaven are brought

together and are present, because uses ate the goods of
l~ and_ charity in which angels are. Therefore every­
one has delights thaLare in acc.ur.cLw.ithJti~s, and in
the degree of his affection for use ... All the delights
of heaven are delights of use. HH 402

Everyone there (in heaven) performs a use, for the

Lord's kingdom is a kingdom of uses. HH 387

The angels find all their happiness in use, from use

and in accordance with use. -- H"H403
44
 Both the wicked and the good are raised to honours
and advanced to wealth, because the wicked as well as
the good pc:.rfor~es; the wlckeCl dO so for the sake
I ot tneir own personal honours and~in, but the good
\I for the '"'S'a'ke of the honour and'proflt 9f the_office for
which_j:h~y~vQrk. The good regard thel'ft)nour and
profit of the office as erins;iR?:l_cJllllles or motives a.£2 J
Rer,2Qnal honou~ and_gainsasiiiStrum~Qtal causes; but
tile wicked regard personal It'iriOllrS and gain as
p'ripcipal causes apd the honour and profit of th~ffice I
---
as Insfrumental causes.
-
The impious or wicked can perform uses equally with
DP 217.3

the pious or the good; and indeed with greater~l, for

they ha~~ard to th~elveun th~ses and they
r regard the honours as uses. Therefore, whatever the
hei ht to which the love of self mounts up, tliere bums
within it the consuming eSlre of performing uses for
the sake of its own glory ... Since there are so few who I
- areJ.overs of God aii~ many who are love..rs of self and
t~orld, and since the latter fumuheir zeaLperform
more uses than do the lovers of God from theirs, how
can anyone confirm himself against the Divine Provi­
\\ dence from the fact that the ~ed are in &E.eater
fi eminence and opulence t@n-the good? . . . Dignities
ana wealth are either c~s or bl~ngs. DP 250·3, 4, 5

The whole heaven is full of uses, so that it ought to

be called a very kingdom of uses. On the other hand
45
 those who perform no use are banished to the hells ...
AE 1226.3

There is nothing created in the heavens but for use.

Taken generally, one kingdom of nature was created
for the sake of another; the mineral kingdom for the
sake of the animal, and both the latter for tne sake of
lithe numm race, that its members m.,ight s~e the LO?d
.'buerforming us<;.sJ.Q th~ neighbour. AE u2()'-4

Every man is ... created and born for use ... The
life of the love of use is a life of the love both of the
p\!Wic good an~he ~eighbour. It is moreover a life
of loveto the Lora. - AE 1226.6

Those who have loved themselves and the world

more than use have no place in heaven. - H'H393.3

There are three universal loves enkindled in every

man from creation: !.he love of the neighbour~~iritu~l
love which is the love of performing ~es;'lthe love of
the world . . ~I and the love of self. TCR 5°7.2

The Lord's kingdom is nothing else than a king~om

oLuses_fouhe_good QLtheJJ.Uman race . . . in so far as a
man is in self, so far the angels retire and evil spirits
from FleIl.d'raw near, for there reigns in hell no other
end than this. AC 3796.4

46
 WORD OF GOD
There cannot be conjunction with heaven unless
there exists somewhere on the earth a Church in
possession of the Word by means of which the Lord is
known; for the Lord is the God of heaven and earth,
and without Him there is no salvation. ss 104

For the Word in the Church, although it is with

comparatively few, is life to the rest of the world from
the Lord through heaven, just as the members and
viscera of the whole body receive life from the heart
and lungs. ss I05.Z

It is enough that there is a Church in possession of

the Word, even although it should consist of com­
paratively few persons. ss 104

Without revelation from the Divine, man cannot

know anything about life eternal, nor even anything
about God. HD 249

j\s every expression in the Word is from the Lord

and, therefore, has what is Divine within it, it is evident
that there is no word, nor even an iota, that does not
signify and involve something. AC 771

Whoever is in simple good, and in simplicity believes

the Word according to its literal sense, is gifted with the
47
faculty of perceiving truths when he is instructed in the
other life by angels. AC 3436

The Prophets wrote as the spirit from the Divine

dictated, for the very words which they wrote were
uttered in their ears. AC 7°5 5.3

Although the laws which were enacted for the sons

of Israel have been abrogated, they are still the Holy
Word, on account of the internal sense within them.
HD 262

It is evident what is meant in the Word by good

works, that is, all works that are done by man \'ct:l~
~ils are beiogJ.enloved as sins. AE 979.2

Good works are evil works unless the things t~re

of the love of self and the \vorIa are removea.
AC 3147.7

48
 Those who are led by the Lord desire nothing more
than to do good works and they J:.hink..o£..nothing...kss
t~ of meriting by them. AC 6392

'Works' are often mentioned in the Apocalypse but

few know what is understood by 'works'. This is known,
that ten men can do works that appear alike in externals,
but are unlike even withall.Q.U~, be~use they come
fOrth out of a dtfferent en~~e, and the end and
me make works to be
eiffier good or evil. AR 76

WORSHIP
When a man is in love~y he is continually in
w~lP, externa'lWorshlp being merely the effect .--: .
]l1t a man, while in the world, o~ght not to be otherwise
fllan in external worship also; ~for by external worship
internal thmgs are excited, and by means of external
( worship, external thrngs-are kept in holiness, so
\ mternal things can How In. .
t~t
AC 1 () 18

The end of all worship is communication with heaven

and !pereoythe colilUilaion of man with the Lo;r-.
- AC 10436.3

49
 At the present day the worship of God means chiefly
oral worship in a temple both morning and evening.
The worship of God does not, however, consist essen-
tially in this, but in a life of uses, this worship ~<i9g
according to the order of heaven. Oral worship is also
\1 worship but it is cl no avail whatever unless there is
j1 worship of theITfe. ~ - AC 7884

Worship does not consist in prayers and in external

devotion, but in a life of charity. . The essential of
worship is a life of charity. AE F 5.3

He who believes that serving the Lord consists solely

in frequenting the temple, in hearing preaching there
and in praying, and that this is sufficient, is much
deceived. The real worship of the Lord consists in
performing uses, and uses, during man's life in the
world, consist in everyone discharging aright his func-
tion in his own station, thus in serving his country,
society and his neighbour from the heart, and in acting
with sincerity with his associates. AC 7°38

Divine worship itself in the heavens does not, how-

ever, consist in going to church and in listening to
sermons, but in a life of love, charity and faith in
accordance with doctrines. Preachings in churches serve
solely as a means of instruction in matters of life.
HH 222

5°