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THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

Containing the Universal Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church
Emanuel Swedenborg, 1771

Table of Contents
 
The New Faith Summary of the faith of the new heaven and of the new church 1, 2, 3
I God the Creator God the creator 4
The unity of God 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17
The Divine Esse, which is Jehovah 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26
The Infinite of God or his immensity and eternity 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35
The Divine Essence, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48
The Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74
The creation of the universe 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80
II The Lord the Redeemer The Lord the redeemer 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108
A corollary 109, 110, 111, 112, 113
Redemption 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137
III The Holy Spirit and the Divine Operation The Holy Spirit and the Divine operation 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156, 157
Corollary 158, 159, 160, 161, 162
The Divine trinity 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188
IV The Sacred Scripture or Word of the Lord I. The sacred scripture or the Word is Divine truth itself 189, 190, 191, 192
II. In the Word there is a spiritual sense hitherto unknown 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209
III. The sense of the letter of the Word is the basis, the containant, and the support of its spiritual and celestial sense 210, 211, 212, 213
IV. In the sense of the letter of the Word Divine truth is in its fulness, its holiness, and its power 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224
V. The doctrine of the church should be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and confirmed thereby 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233
VI. By means of the sense of the letter of the Word there is conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with the angels 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239
VII. The Word is in all the heavens and angelic wisdom is from it 240, 241, 242
VIII. The church is from the Word, and with man it is such as his understanding of the Word is 243, 244, 245, 246, 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 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253
X. Heresies may be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word but to confirm them is hurtful 254, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260
XI. The Lord when in the world fulfilled all things of the Word, and thereby became the Word, that is, a Divine truth, even in things last 261, 262, 263
XII. Before the Word that is now in the world, there was a Word that was lost 264, 265, 266
XIII. Through the Word there is light also to those who are outside of the church and do not possess the Word 267, 268, 269, 270, 271, 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 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281
V The Catechism or Decalogue explained The catechism or decalogue explained in its external and its internal sense 282
In the israelitish church the decalogue was holiness itself 283, 284, 285, 286
In the sense of the letter the decalogue contains the general precepts of doctrine and life, but in the spiritual and celestial senses it contains all precepts universally 287, 288, 289, 290
The first commandment 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296
The second commandment 297, 298, 299, 300
The third commandment 301, 302, 303, 304
The fourth commandment 305, 306, 307, 308
The fifth commandment 309, 310, 311, 312
The sixth commandment 313, 314, 315, 316
The seventh commandment 317, 318, 319, 320
The eighth commandment 321, 322, 323, 324
The ninth and tenth commandments 325, 326, 327, 328
The ten commandments of the decalogue contain all things that belong to love to God, and all things that belong to love to God, and all things that belong to love toward the neighbor 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335
VI Faith Faith 336
I. Saving faith is faith in the Lord God the saviour, Jesus Christ 337, 338, 339
II. The sum of faith is that he who lives well and believes rightly is saved by the Lord 340, 341, 342
III. Man acquires faith by going to the Lord, learning truths from the Word, and living according to them 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 348
IV. An abundance of truths cohering, as if in a bundle, exalts and perfects faith. 349, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354
V. Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without faith is not charity, and neither has life except from the Lord 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361
VI. The Lord, charity, and faith, make one, like life, will, and understanding in man; and if they are divided, each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder 362, 363, 364, 365, 366, 367
VII. The Lord is charity and faith in man, and man is charity and faith in the Lord 368, 369, 370, 371, 372
VIII. Charity and faith are together in good works 373, 374, 375, 376, 377
IX. There is a true faith, a spurious faith and a hypocritical faith 378, 379, 380, 381
X. With the evil there is no faith 382, 383, 384, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391
VII Charity, or Love to the Neighbor, and Good Works Charity, or love to the neighbor, and good works 392, 393
I. There are three universal loves-the love of heaven, the love of the world, and the love of self 394, 395, 396, 397, 398, 399, 400, 401, 402
II. These three loves, when rightly subordinated, perfect man, but when not rightly subordinated, they pervert and invert him 403, 404, 405
III. Every man individually is the neighbor who is to be loved, but according to the quality of his good 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411
IV. The collective man, that is, a community smaller or greater, and the composite man formed of communities, that is, one's country, is the neighbor that is to be loved 412, 413, 414
V. The church is the neighbor who is to be loved in a still higher degree, and the Lord's kingdom in the highest degree 415, 416
VI. To love the neighbor, viewed in itself, is not to love the person, but the good that is in the person 417, 418, 419
VII. Charity and good works are two distinct things, like willing well and doing well 420, 421
VIII. Charity itself is acting justly and faithfully in the office, business, and employment in which a man is engaged, and with those with whom he has any dealings 422, 423, 424
IX. The benefactions of charity are giving to the poor and relieving the needy, but with prudence 425, 426, 427, 428
X. There are duties of charity, some public, some domestic, and some private 429, 430, 431, 432
XI. The diversions of charity are dinners, suppers, and social gatherings 433, 434
XII. The first thing of charity is to put away evils; and the second is to do goods that are of use to the neighbor 435, 436, 437, 438
XIII. In the exercises of charity man does not place merit in works so long as he believes that all good is from the Lord 439, 440, 441, 442
XIV. When moral life is at the same time spiritual, it is charity 443, 444, 445
XV. A friendship of love, contracted with a man without regard to his spiritual quality, is detrimental after death 446, 447, 448, 449
XVI. There is spurious charity, hypocritical charity, and dead charity 450, 451, 452, 453
XVII. The friendship of love among the evil is intestine hatred of each other 454, 455
XVIII. The conjunction of love to God and love towards the neighbor 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462
VIII Freedom of Choice Freedom of choice 463, 464, 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 man 466, 467, 468, 469
III. Man is not life, but a receptacle of life from God 470, 471, 472, 473, 474
IV. So long as man lives in the world, he is kept midway between heaven and hell, and is there in spiritual equilibrium, which is freedom of choice 475, 476, 477, 478
V. It is clearly manifest from that permission of evil in which every one's internal man is that man has freedom of choice in spiritual things 479, 480, 481, 482
VI. Without freedom of choice in spiritual things the Word would be of no use, and consequently the church would be nothing 483, 484
VII. Without freedom of choice in spiritual things, there would be nothing in man whereby he could in turn conjoin himself with the Lord; consequently there would be no imputation, but mere predestination, which is detestable 485, 486, 487, 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 489, 490, 491, 492
IX. Everything spiritual of the church that enters into man in freedom, and is received with freedom, remains; but not the reverse 493, 494, 495, 496
X. Man'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 497, 498, 499
XI. If men 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 man with freedom of choice does not remain 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508
IX Repentance Repentance 509
I. Repentance is the first thing of the church in man 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 512, 513, 514, 515
III. The mere lip-confession that one is a sinner is not repentance 516, 517, 518, 519
IV. Man is born (with an inclination) to evils of every kind; and unless he to some extent removes his evils by repentance, he remains in them; and he who remains in evils, cannot be saved 520, 521, 522, 523, 524
V. Recognition of sin and the discovery of some sin in oneself, is the beginning of repentance 525, 526, 527
VI. Actual repentance is examining oneself, recognizing and acknowledging one's sins, praying to the Lord, and beginning a new life 528, 529, 530, 531
VII. True repentance is examining, not only the actions of one's life, but also the intentions of one's will 532, 533, 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 work of charity exercise such repentance 535, 536, 537
IX. Confession ought to be made before the Lord God the saviour, followed by supplication for help and the power to resist evils 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 550, 551, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 559, 560
X. Actual repentance is easy for those who have now and then practised it, but it is a very difficult task for those who have not 561, 562, 563
XI. One who has never repented or has never looked into and searched himself, finally ceases to know what damning evil or saving good is 564, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570
X Reformation and Regeneration Reformation and regeneration 571
I. Unless a man is born again, and, as it were, created anew, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God 572, 573, 574, 575
II. The new birth or creation is effected by the Lord alone through charity and faith as the two means, man co-operating 576, 577, 578
III. Since all have been redeemed, all may be regenerated, each according to his state 579, 580, 581, 582
IV. Regeneration is effected in a manner analogous to that in which man is conceived, carried in the womb, born and educated 583, 584, 585, 586
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 587, 588, 589, 590
VI. The internal man must first be reformed, and by means of it the external; and thus is man regenerated 591, 592, 593, 594, 595
VII. When this takes place a conflict arises between the internal and the external man, and then the one that conquers rules over the other 596, 597, 598, 599, 600
VIII. The regenerated man has a new will and a new understanding 601, 602, 603, 604, 605, 606
IX. A regenerate man is in communion with angels of heaven and an unregenerate one in communion with spirits of hell 607, 608, 609, 610
X. So far as man is regenerated sins are removed, and this removal is the forgiveness of sins 611, 612, 613, 614
XI. Without freedom of choice in spiritual things regeneration is impossible 615, 616, 617
XII. Regeneration is impossible without truths, by which faith is formed and with which charity conjoins itself 618, 619, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625
XI Imputation I. Imputation and the faith of the present church (which is held to be the sole ground of justification), make one 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 628, 629, 630, 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 632, 633, 634, 635
IV. The faith imputative of Christ's merit was unknown in the preceding apostolic church, and is nowhere taught in the Word 636, 637, 638, 639
V. Imputation of Christ's merit and righteousness is impossible 640, 641, 642
VI. There is an imputation, but it is an imputation of good and evil, and at the same time of faith 643, 644, 645, 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 man perishes 647, 648, 649
VIII. The Lord imputes good to every man, but hell imputes evil to every man 650, 651, 652, 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 654, 655, 656, 657
X. Thought is not imputed to anyone, but will only 658, 659, 660, 661, 662, 663, 664, 665, 666
XII 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 667, 668, 669
II. The washing that is called baptism means spiritual washing, which is purification from evils and falsities, and thus regeneration 670, 671, 672, 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 674, 675, 676
IV. The first use of baptism is introduction into the Christian church, and at the same time insertion among Christians in the spiritual world 677, 678, 679, 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 681, 682, 683
VI. The third use of baptism, which is the final use, is that man may be regenerated 684, 685, 686, 687
VII. By the baptism of John a way was prepared, that Jehovah the Lord might descend into the world and accomplish redemption 688, 689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, 697
XIII The Holy Supper 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 698, 699, 700, 701
II. With a knowledge of correspondences what is meant by the Lord's flesh and blood can be known, also that bread and wine have a like meaning, namely, that the Lord's flesh and the bread mean the Divine good of 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 702, 703, 704, 705, 706, 707, 708, 709, 710
III. When all this is understood anyone can comprehend that the holy supper contains all things of the church and all things of heaven both in general and in particular 711, 712, 713, 714, 715
IV. In the holy supper the Lord is wholly present with the whole of his redemption 716, 717, 718
V. The Lord is present and opens heaven to those who approach the holy supper worthily, and is also present with those who approach 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 719, 720, 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 722, 723, 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 725, 726, 727
VIII. To those who come to the holy supper worthily it is like a signature and seal that they are the sons of God 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 734, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752
XIV The Consummation of the Age I. The consummation of the age is the last time of the church or its end 753, 754, 755, 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 757, 758, 759
III. This last time of the Christian church is the very night in which former churches have come to an end 760, 761, 762, 763
IV. This night is followed by a morning which is the coming of the Lord 764, 765, 766, 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 768, 769, 770, 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. 24:22) 772, 773, 774, 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 776, 777, 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 by means of the Word 779, 780
IX. This is what is meant in the apocalypse by "the new heaven and the new earth," and "the new jerusalem" descending therefrom 781, 782, 783, 784, 785
X. This new church is the crown of all the churches that have hitherto existed on the earth 786, 787, 788, 789, 790, 791
Supplement The spiritual world 792, 793, 794, 795
Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin in the spiritual world 796, 797, 798, 799
The dutch in the spiritual world 800, 801, 802, 803, 804, 805
The english in the spiritual world 806, 807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812
The germans in the spiritual world 813, 814, 815, 816
The papists in the spiritual world 817, 818, 819, 820, 821
The popish saints in the spiritual world 822, 823, 824, 825, 826, 827
The mohammedans in the spiritual world 828, 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834
The africans in the spiritual world; also something in regard to the gentiles 835, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840
The jews in the spiritual world 841, 842, 843, 844, 845, 846, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851
A theorem proposed by a certain duke, an elector in germany, who also enjoyed the highest ecclesiastical dignity 852

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