True Christian Religion

650 Pages·2009·1.98 MB·English

by  Emanuel Swedenborg

True
Christian
Religion
Containing
the universal theology of the new church
foretold by the Lord in Daniel 7:13–14
and Revelation 21:1–2
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
Volume 1
(Numbers 1–462)
Translated from the Original Latin by
John C. Ager
STANDARD EDITION
SWEDENBORG FOUNDATION
West Chester, Pennsylvania
© 2009 Swedenborg Foundation
This version was compiled from electronic files of the
Standard Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg as
further edited by William Ross Woofenden. Pagination of
this PDF document does not match that of the
corresponding printed volumes, and any page references
within this text may not be accurate. However, most if not
all of the numerical references herein are not to page
numbers but to Swedenborg’s section numbers, which are
not affected by changes in pagination. If this work appears
both separately and as part of a larger volume file, its
pagination follows that of the larger volume in both cases.
This version has not been proofed against the original, and
occasional errors in conversion may remain. To purchase the
full set of the Redesigned Standard Edition of Emanuel
Swedenborg’s works, or the available volumes of the latest
translation (the New Century Edition of the Works of
Emanuel Swedenborg), contact the Swedenborg Foundation
at 1-800-355-3222, www.swedenborg.com, or 320 North
Church Street, West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380.
Contents
Editor’s Preface
The faith of the new heaven and of the new church (1–3)
God the Creator (4–80)
The unity of God (5–17)
The Divine esse, which is Jehovah (18-26)
The infinity of God or his immensity and eternity (27–35)
The Divine essence, which is Divine love and Divine
wisdom (36–48)
The omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence of God
(49–74)
The creation of the universe (75–80)
The Lord the Redeemer (81–137)
A corollary (109–113)
Redemption (114–137)
The Holy Spirit and Divine operation (138–188)
A corollary (158–162)
The Divine trinity (163–188)
The Sacred Scripture or Word of the Lord (189–282)
1. The Sacred Scripture or the Word is Divine truth itself
(189–192)
2. In the Word there is a spiritual sense hitherto unknown
(193–209)
3. The sense of the letter of the Word is the basis,
container, and support of its spiritual and celestial
sense (210–213)
4. In the sense of the letter of the Word, Divine truth is in
its fullness, its holiness, and its power (214–224)
5. The doctrine of the church should be drawn from the
sense of the letter of the Word, and confirmed thereby
(225–233)
6. By means of the sense of the letter of the Word, there is
conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with the
angels (234–239)
7. The Word is in all the heavens and angelic wisdom is
from it (240–242)
8. The church is from the Word, and with man it is such
as his understanding of the Word is (243–247)
9. 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 (248–253)
10. Heresies may be drawn from the sense of the letter of
the Word, but to confirm them is hurtful (254–260)
11. 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 (261–263)
12. Before the Word that is now in the world there was a
Word that was lost (264–266)
13. That through the Word there is light also to those who
are outside of the church and do not possess the Word
(267–272).
14. 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 (273–281)
The catechism or Decalogue explained in its external and its
internal sense (282–335)
In the Israelitish church the Decalogue was holiness itself
(283–286)
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 (287–290)
The first commandment: “There shall be [with thee] no
other god in my presence” (291–296)
The second commandment: “Thou shalt not take the
name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not
hold him guiltless that hath taken His name in vain”
(297–300)
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” (301–304)
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” (303–308)
The fifth commandment: “Thou shalt not kill” (309–312)
The sixth commandment: “Thou shalt not commit
adultery” (313–316)
The seventh commandment: “Thou shalt not steal”
(317–320)
The eighth commandment: “Thou shalt not bear false
witness against thy neighbor” (321–324)
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” (325–328)
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 (329–331)
Faith (336–391)
1. Saving faith is faith in the Lord God the savior, Jesus
Christ (337–339)
2. The sum of faith is that a person who lives well and
believes rightly is saved by the Lord (340–342)
3. Man acquires faith by going to the Lord, learning truths
from the Word, and living according to them
(343–348)
4. An abundance of truths cohering, as if in a bundle,
exalts and perfects faith (349–354)
5. Faith without charity is not faith, and charity without
faith is not charity, and neither has life except from the
Lord (355–361)
6. 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
(362–367)
7. The Lord is charity and faith in man, and man is charity
and faith in the Lord (368–372)
8. Charity and faith are together in good works (373–377)
9. There is true faith, spurious faith, and hypocritical faith
(378–381)
10. With the evil there is no faith (382–391)
Charity, or love to the neighbor, and good works (392–462)
1. There are three universal loves—the love of heaven, the
love of the world, and the love of self (394–402)
2. These three loves, when rightly subordinated, perfect
man; but when not rightly subordinated they pervert
and invert him (403–405)
3. Every man individually is the neighbor who is to be
loved, but according to the quality of his good
(406–411)
4. Man collectively, which is one’s community, great or
small, and as a group of communities, which is one’s
country, is the neighbor who is to be loved (412–414)
5. 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)
6. To love the neighbor, viewed in itself, is not to love the
person, but the good that is in the person (417–419)
7. Charity and good works are two distinct things, like
willing well and doing well (420–421)
8. 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
(422–424)
9. The benefactions of charity are giving to the poor and
relieving the needy, but with prudence (425–428)
10. There are duties of charity, some public, some
domestic, and some private (429–432)
11. The diversions of charity are dinners, suppers, and
social gatherings (433–434)
12. The first thing of charity is to put away evils; and the
second is to do goods that are of use to the neighbor
(435–438)
13. In the exercises of charity man does not place merit in
works so long as he believes that all good is from the
Lord (439–442)
14. When moral life is at the same time spiritual, it is
charity (443–445)
15. A friendship of love, contracted with a man without
regard to his spiritual quality, is detrimental after death
(446–449)
16. There is spurious charity, hypocritical charity, and
dead charity (450–453)
17. The friendship of love among the evil is intestine
hatred of each other (454–455)
18. The conjunction of love to God and love toward the
neighbor (456–462)
TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 1
Editor’s Preface
This last work of Swedenborg, True Christian Religion, was
completed in 1770 but was not published until the following year.
Its subtitle reads: “containing the complete theology of the new
church as foretold by the Lord in Daniel 7:13–14 and in
Revelation 21:2–3.” When he published Conjugial Love in 1768,
Swedenborg announced on the last page that “within two years you
will see the doctrine of the new church predicted by the Lord in
Revelation 21–22 in fullness.”
However, the next year, in 1769, when he published his Brief
Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church, he stated in the
opening paragraph, “I have come to a determination to bring to
light the entire doctrine of that [new] church in its fullness. But as
this is a work of some years, I have thought it advisable to draw up
some sketch thereof, in order that a general idea may first be
formed of that church and its doctrine . . .” Having said that, he
did in fact complete the summary work the next year and published
it in 1771. He died in 1772.
Numerous passages throughout the book were adapted from
Swedenborg’s previously published books, particularly accounts of
his experiences in the spiritual world, which are generally known as
memorabilia or memorable relations. The first English translation
of this work was by John Clowes and was published in London in
1781.
The first English edition published by the Swedenborg
Foundation, based on several British translations and revisions,
appeared in 1868. This was replaced in the Standard Edition in
1906 by the translation of John C. Ager. The text for this present
edition was electronically scanned from that version. This process
has allowed the book to be completely redesigned and set in a new
and more readable typeface. Certain stylistic changes have also been
introduced. These include modernized spelling and punctuation as
well as substituting new words for terms whose meanings have
become obscure or have changed since the nineteenth century.
TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION 2
Arabic numerals have replaced roman numerals in Bible passages,
and certain capitalized words including pronouns referring to God
have been lowercased to reflect contemporary usage. All these
changes have been carefully made in order to make the book easier
to read and use, while preserving the dignity and power of the
original Latin. On the whole, however, the Ager translation has not
been materially altered.
As was the custom in his day, Swedenborg referred to the Psalms
as the book of David, and to the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) as the books of Moses. As
with previous printings, the bold numerals in brackets, [2], [3],
etc., indicate divisions of Swedenborg’s long numbered sections,
made for the convenience of the reader by John Faulkner Potts in
his six-volume Swedenborg Concordance (London: Swedenborg
Society, 1888–1902).
William Ross Woofenden
Sharon, Massachusetts