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DE
HEMELSCHE LEER
A
MONTHLY MAGAZINE
DEVOTED
TO THE DOCTRINE OF GENUINE TRUTH
OUT
OF THE LATIN WORD REVEALED FROM THE LORD
ORGAN
OF THE GENERAL CHURCH
OF
THE NEW JERUSALEM IN HOLLAND
EXTRACTS
FROM THE ISSUES AUGUST 1930 TO FEBRUAIIY 1932
(ENGLISH
TRANSLATION)
THIRD
FASCICLE
S-GRAVENHAGE
SWEDENBORG
GENOOTSCHAP
LAAN
VAN MEERDERVOORT 229
1932
LEADING
THESES PROPOUNDED IN
"DE
HEMELSCHE LEER" 1.
The "Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Third
Testament of the Word of the Lord. The DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE must be applied to the three Testaments
alike. 2.
The Latin Word without Doctrine is as a candlestick
without light, and those who read the Latin Word without Doctrine, or
who do not acquire for themselves a Doctrine from the Latin Word, are in
darkness as to all truth (cf. S. S. 50-61). 3.
The genuine Doctrine of the Church is spiritual out
of celestial origin, but not out of rational origin. The Lord is that
Doctrine itself (cf. A. C. 2496, 2497, 2510, 2516, 2533, 2859; A. E. 19).
DE
HEMELSCHE LEER
EXTRACT
FROM THE ISSUE FOR AUGUST 1930
THE
NINETEENTH OF JUNE 1930
Address
by H. D. G. Groeneveld. In our present
celebration of the Nineteenth of June, the day of the foundation of the New
Church, we are filled with great joy, since in our Society in the past year the
Doctrine of the Church has been born. Last year already it was felt that only by
the Doctrine of the Church the further upbuilding of the Church can take place,
and that by the Doctrine of the Church one comes into the sphere of the
essential, therefore for the first time truly living things, which is the sphere
of the Holy Spirit. The Doctrine which, last year, the Church was given to
receive as a seed from the Divine Human of the Lord, by the influx of the Lord
has come to life. After its invisible development, the Doctrine having been
borne in the body of the Church, in the past year it came to birth, as a result
of which the great importance of the Doctrine is now fully seen by the Church.
As to its very essence the attitude which the Church will now take with regard
to the Third Testament, has been changed. Similarly as centuries ago, after it
had been universally assumed, according to the impression of the senses, that
the earth stood still and the sun revolved around the earth, the view was
accepted that this was a fallacy of the senses and that not the earth but
the-sun stands still and that the earth revolves around the sun, whereby the
mode of thought of man was completely changed, so too by the Doctrine of the
Church the entire spiritual mode of thought will be changed. No longer will the
literal sense of the Third Testament be the resting point or the point of
support around which move the thought of the Church, also with regard to the Old
and the New Testament, but the Doctrine of the Church, 4
THE
NINETEENTH OF JUNE 1930 or the internal
or spiritual sense, will be the Centre to which the understanding of the literal
sense of the Third Testament will be directed. In the literal sense of the Third
Testament one is in the sensual fallacies of natural thought, which fallacies
disappear by the rational thought of the Doctrine of the Church. The Third
Testament by its literal sense is within the reach of all, and every one who
merely on the basis of the literal sense draws conclusions with regard to the
essential things of life is in the sensual fallacies of that sense, as a result
of which there is the danger of great falsities coming into existence. It is
only by the Doctrine of the Church which is in enlightenment from the Lord, and
by which the literal sense is read from within and therefore in true order, that
a perception of the essential things of life is possible. Though on the one
hand we may rejoice that the Doctrine of the Church has been born in our
Society, on the other hand we are anxiously waiting to see, whether, the GENERAL
CHURCH too will receive the Doctrine of the Church as the only essential thing
for the upbuilding of the Church. Although to a certain extent we may look
forward to the future with confidence, yet we may not overlook that in the
GENERAL CHURCH we find the following points of view generally represented:
That
the Third Testament is destined only for a special part of the mind, namely the
rational mind;
That
by direct cognizance of the letter of the Third Testament one has to do with the
spiritual sense
itself;
That
the Third Testament is a revelation of the
rational. That the GENERAL
CHURCH took these points of view certainly was according to order, similarly as
now the further upbuilding of the Church can only take place by the Doctrine of
the Church. In the Preface to
the CANONS it is revealed to us that the New Church is the Church to which all
Churches from the first in order have aimed. We further know from the Third
Testament that in the last things all previous things are contained. In the New
Church therefore all preceding Churches are present. 5
H.
D. G. GROENEVELD Before the Coming
of the Lord on Earth the conjunction of the Lord with the human race was from
His Divine through Creation. All the thought of the human race was therefore
founded on sensual and corporeal things. The men of the Adamic Church, as is
known, lived in open in the communication with the Heavens. This Church is the
New Church is the establishment of the Church through Emanuel Swedenborg. It is
the state of the New Church in the beginning, and also the sate of the man who
for the first time comes into touch with the New Church, and in general the
state of children in the New Church. It is a state of overpowering, of right
feeling, however without being able to give expression to a single thought. It was the
Noachic Church, which was the first to receive a written Word on earth. It is
this Church in the of the Church when they New Church which is the state of the
church when they regarded the writings as interiorly Divine, without
understanding, however, what this in its essence means. It is the state of the
man of the New Church who when reading the Writings realizes the rationality
thereof, but who, from himself, that is without literal quotations, cannot
render what he has read.
The succeeding Church, the Hebrew
Church, in the New Church, is the state of the New Church when the Writings were
seen as teachings for the life of man and when the upbuilding of the Church was
seen to be dependent on the spreading thereof by the cultivation of the Old and
the New Testament. It is the natural life of the Church especially that receives
attention. It is the state of the man of the New Church, who recognizes the
importance of gathering cognitions, while his life gives evidence of external or
natural charity. The then
succeeding Church, the Israelitish Church, in the New Church, is the state of
the New Church in which the Church feels itself bound to the letter of the
Writinigs, but when the Divinity thereof and the acceptance of the Writings as
the only means of conjunction of the Lord with the human race recedes into the
background. And thus the Old and the New Testament are then stamped as direct
means of conjunction. The Old, the New, and the Third Testament are regarded as
destined for certain parts of the human mind, and as it is thought that the Old
6
THE
NINETEENTH OF JUNE 1930 and the New
Testament are destined for the sensual and the natural mind and the Third
Testament for the rational mind, the Old and the New Testament are in the first
place regarded as direct means of conjunction with the, Lord. In that state of
the Church there is the great danger that the Writings will be considered as
merely human. The Church remains in existence only if the affection for the
Divinity of the letter of the Writings remains alive. It is in this state that
lies the origin for the separation of bodies such as CONFERENCE and CONVENTION,
which separation came to fulness in the succeeding state of the Church. This state of the
Church is to be compared with the Coming of the Lord on earth. Just as the birth
of the Lord was the Coming of the Father Himself on earth, so also the Church in
this state will recognize the Divinity of the Writings down into the letter and
accept these Writings as the Third Testament and thus as the Word of the Lord.
They, however, who in the previous state came to regard the Writings as merely
human, and with whom therefore the affection for the Divinity of the Writings
has been extinguished, will now most strongly oppose the new truth that the
Writings are the Word of the Lord. And thereby the separation of the above
mentioned bodies from the Church becomes complete. In this new state
the Church again encounters two great dangers, namely on the one hand that men
will take the point of view that by taking direct congnizance of the letter of
the Third Testament they have to do with the spiritual sense itself, and on the
other hand that the Third Testament is considered merely as a rational
revelation.
The first danger is the same as that
to which the Old Church succumbed, namely by not seeing the Divine of the Lord
in His Human, but by placing the Divine above the Human, and therefore by the
acknowledgment of a Son from eternity. By saying that by direct cognizance, that
is from without, the Third Testament is the spiritual sense itself, one places
the Divine of the letter above-the Human, and thus one recognizes in the Second
Coming the Son of man as a Son from eternity. The Second Coming no more than
the, Coming of the Lord in the flesh is an active redemption of the human race. 7
H.
D. G. GROENEVELD The second danger
arises when the Church has attention only for the letter of the Third Testament-
and therefore closes out enlightenment from the Lord by which the letter is read
from within, seeing such a reading does not seem to be in agreement with a
reading of the Third Testament from without. Similarly as the Lord was born from
the virgin Mary and the human of Mary clung to the Lord whereby the Lord was led
into temptation, so also by the birth of the Lord in the Church there clings to
the Church that own human from its affection of the letter of the Writings in
the previous state, which affection carries with it a human or natural rational
view of the Third Testament.
The Church fears to depart from the
letter of the Third Testament. It is as if the Church wishes to keep the Lord on
earth. May the Church in this state listen to the words of the Lord in the
seventh verse of the sixteenth chapter of the Gospel of John: "Nevertheless
I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if T depart, T will send Him
unto you", and in the thirteenth verse: "Howbeit when He, the Spirit
of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of
Himself; but whatsoever He shall bear, He shall speak: and He will show you the
things to come." Only then the
Church comes into its next state, which is to be compared with the pouring out
of the Holy Spirit. Then the Church enters into a spiritual state by seeing in
the letter of the Third Testament the truly spiritual things, and into the
understanding That the DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE applies also to
the Third Testament. This is the state for the development of the Doctrine of
the Church. In all the
preceding states there is ever present the state of the New Church itself,
namely a, revelation of the Doctrine of the Church as an internal Doctrine from
the Holy Spirit itself, apart from the letter of the Third Testament. It is by
the fulness of this revelation that the external Doctrine of the Church receives
its power in the letter of the Third Testament, by which an ever deeper vision
of that Testament is obtained, and consequently also of the Old and the New
Testament, which 8 THE NINETEENTH OF
JUNE 1930 vision appears to
the Church as an ever increasing miracle. Then the influx from the Lord can take
place from the most internal to the most external things, by which also a
rational insight becomes possible into the causes of natural things and
therefore into the Scientific Works of Swedenborg. Only then can the Lord give
the sensual things in their fulness, whereby the human race will dwell in a
paradise on earth.
DE
HEMELSCHE LEER
EXTRACT
FROM THE ISSUE FOR DECEMBER 1930
THE
REGENERATION OF THE NATURAL
ADDRESS
By H. D.G. GROENEVELD, AT THE SOCIAL
SUPPER
OF OCTOBER 26TH, 1930. "I indeed
baptize you with water unto repentance; but He that cometh after me is mightier
than 1, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy
Spirit, and with fire". MATTHEW 3:11. As we know from
the Third Testament, Baptism signifies the spiritual washing, that is, the
purification from evils and falsities and thus regeneration. Baptism is in the
first place the introduction into the Christian Church, and at the same time
insertion among the Christians in the spiritual world. As in the spiritual world
all things are according to the strictest order, Baptism therefore in the first
place determines the order of man's life. As the reception of this order depends
on man, Baptism determines only that one may receive faith and thus be
regenerated. John the Baptist
stands for the literal sense of the Word; for the first Christian Church for the
literal sense of the Now Testament; for the New Church for the literal sense of
the Third Testament. Water signifies natural truth. The words "I baptize
you with water" thus indicate that the order of man's life is determined by
the natural truth of the literal sense of the Word, and that reception of this
order and thus the regeneration of man depend on a life in accordance therewith
' The words "unto repentance" clearly- indicate that the end is the
change of the mind, namely the natural mind of man. Thus they who cling to the
things of this world prevent the reception of the true order in their minds and
thus hold back regeneration. To the First
Christian Church admission to the Natural of the Divine Human had been given by
the 10
H.
D. G. GROENEVELD revelation of the
New Testament. By the reception of the natural truth of the literal sense of
that Testament, separated from the things of this world, this Church by That
natural truth, and the genuine natural rational formed therefrom, might have put
itself into order for the influx of the Natural of the Divine Human of the Lord.
It would always have had to be a wrestling through the natural. It is of this
that the great artists gave evidence. Instead of
receiving the natural truth of the literal sense of the New Testament, apart
from the things of the world, these things were mixed with it more and more, by
which an ever more false natural rational came into existence. By this the
natural truth of the literal sense of the New Testament was entirely falsified
so that conjunction of the Lord with the human race on that basis was no longer
possible. To the New Church
admission to the Rational of the Divine Human has now been given by the
revelation of the Third Testament. By the reception of the natural truth of the
literal sense of that Testament the Church enters into a rational which puts
itself into order for the influx of the Holy Spirit. More than ever this natural
truth of the literal sense must now be received apart from the things of this
world. Where in the first Christian Church it was the natural that had to be
received, separated from the things of this world, it now is the rational. So
much so is this the case that one never enters into this rational if the natural
truth of the literal sense of the Third Testament is not received and applied to
life apart from the things of this world. In the first Christian Church it was
the rational which was dependent on the reception of the natural; in the New
Church, however, the natural is dependent on the reception of the rational,
since the natural for the New Church is formed only from the rational. A
falsification of the Third Testament, which is the Divine Rational of the Lord
laid down in the natural, therefore is not possible, but only a falsification of
the scientific of that Testament. If one takes up the natural truth of the
literal sense of the Third Testament, mixed with the things of this world, one
forms for one's self a rational that more and more falsifies the scientifics of
that Testament. Instead of this Testament being opened, it is closed mote and
more. 11
THE
REGENERATION OF THE NATURAL, "But He that
cometh after me is mightier than 1, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He
shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire". While John the
Baptist stands for the natural truth of the literal sense, the Lord represents
the genuine or internal truth of that sense. For, the first Christian Church the
Lord represents the Natural of the Divine Human. It is this Natural which ought
to have determined the essence of this Church and which might have been
its part by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Then this Church could have
come into the possession of a natural from the Lord; for the order of the life
of that Church with regard to the natural would have been determined from within
by the Divine Truth and the Divine Good, as appears from the words "He
shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire". This natural
'Would have been entirely different from the first natural, since this first
natural is still mixed with man's proprium. The new natural is unsoiled, for it
is the Lord's, as appears from the words "but He that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear". It is this natural
which the great artists produced. This natural is entirely pure, which appears
from their works, if one is able to see them from within. For the New
Church the Lord represents the Rational of the Divine Human. It is this Rational
which is to determine the essence of the New Church, and which becomes its part
by the Holy ' Spirit. The rational thus obtained is so different, from the
preceding or human rational, that a comparison is not possible, since the human
rational has been obtained by the natural truth of the literal sense of the
Third Testament; the new rational, however, from within by the Holy Spirit. It
is now this rational which is to determine the order of the life of the Church
with regard to the rational. It is through this rational that the Doctrine of
Genuine Truth and thus the Doctrine of the Church comes into existence. Just as John the
Baptist prepares the way for the Coming of the Lord, or the natural truth of the
literal sense of the New Testament prepares the way for the Natural of the
Divine Human, so the natural truth of the literal sense of the Third Testament
prepares the way for the Rational of the Divine Human and thus for the Second
Coming of 12
H.
D. G. GROENEVELD the Lord. From
this it therefore appears that only by the Doctrine of Genuine, Truth and
therefore by the Doctrine of the Church there can be question of the Second
Coming of the Lord, so that they who do not wish to accept the Doctrine of the
Church do not wish to receive the Lord in His Second Coming. 13
DE
HEMELSCHE LEER
EXTRACTS
FROM THE ISSUE FOR JANUARY 1931
MATTHEW
7: 24-27
ADDRESS
BY H. -D. G. GROENEVELD, AT TI-IE NEW YFAR'S
BREAKFAST,
JANUARY IST, 1931. Therefore
whosoever heareth these words of Mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a
wise man who built his house upon a rock; And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one
that heareth these words of Mine, and doeth shall be likened unto a foolish man
who built his them not, house upon the sand; And the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;
and it fell, and great was the fall of it. MATTHEW 7: 24-27. "Words"
signify truths in the literal sense of the Third Testament, namely those truths
which have been opened out of the Doctrine of the Church. Words are words only
when they are animated from within. So too the truths in the literal sense of
the Third Testament are truths only when they are animated out of the Doctrine
of the Church and have been brought to life. "These words of Mine"
clearly indicates that the truths of the literal sense of the Third Testament
are opened only from the Lord, and that therefore the Doctrine of the Church is
the Lord's. "To hear," means to receive into the understanding, and
"to do" to receive into the will. "Whosoever heareth these words
of Mine, and doeth them" thus signifies every one who receives into the
understanding the truths opened out of the Doctrine of the Church and is
obedient to them, and receives them into the will and therefore lives according
to them. "I will liken him" means that the Lord will bring such a one
into the state that is represented by a wise man who has built his house upon a
rock. 14
H.
D. G. GROENEVELD "A man"
signifies truth, namely the truth of the rational. It is that truth by which the
man is man and out of which the woman is woman. "To be wise" means to
take into account, in the natural, the being and the existence of the Divine
Human of the Lord, in order to prevent the things of the Lord from being
violated and thus one's self from being injured. "A wise man"
therefore means a man who, in the meditations of his understanding, and a woman
who in the expressions of the affections in her will, from the rational takes
into account, in the natural, the being and the existence of the Divine Human of
the Lord and thus the Divine Providence in all things. "A house"
signifies the mind, in this case the natural mind of man and also of the Church.
"A rock" means the natural animated from the Lord. It is those truths
from the literal sense of the Third Testament which are kept conjoined by the
Lord in the natural mind of man, therefore those truths of the literal sense
which have been opened out of the Doctrine of the Church. "A wise man who
built his house upon a rock" thus means a man who in the meditations of his
understanding or a, woman who in the expressions of the affections in her will,
from the rational, for the upbuilding of his or her natural mind, takes into
account only the truths of the literal sense animated from the Lord. It is the
state of the Church 'In which for its upbuilding, from the rational, it takes
into account only the truths of the literal sense of the Third Testament opened
out of the Doctrine of the Church. "The rain
descending, the floods coming, and the winds blowing" represents the
consecutive temptations into which the man of the Church, as also the Church,
enter with a change of state. "The rain descending" is the falsities
from the evil of the will; "the floods coming" are the falsities
formulated by the understanding from the natural rational and "the winds
blowing" the thoughts resulting therefrom. As appears from the text the man
of the Church, as also the Church, stand firm in the ensuing combat because The
upbuilding has been done on truths of the literal sense of the Third Testament,
for man on such as were animated from the Lord, and for the Church on such as
were opened out of the Doctrine. "And every
one that heareth these words of Mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto
a foolish man who 15
Matthew
7: 24-27 built his house
upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it". Every
one who receives into the understanding the truths of the literal sense of the
Third Testament opened out of the Doctrine of the Church, and does not apply
them to life, brings himself into the state which- is represented by a foolish
man who built his house upon the sand. "A foolish
man" signifies the evil and the falsity in the natural from the rational
separated from the Lord. It is that rational by which the man loses the
masculine and the woman loses the feminine. "The sand" signifies the
scientifics of the literal sense of the Third Testament which are without any
connection. They are those scientifics which have been taken up from without by
the natural memory. "A foolish man who built his house upon the sand"
thus means a man who in the meditations of his understanding, or a woman who in
the expressions of the affections In her will, for the upbuilding of his or her
natural mind, from a separated rational, takes into account mere scientifics
taken from the literal sense of the Third Testament, and thus disconnected
scientifics, whereby mere phantasies come into existence. It is the state of the
Church in which for its upbuilding, from a separated rational, it takes into
account such scientifics. By the opening of
the truths of the literal sense out of the Doctrine of the Church the above
mentioned falsities are called forth one after the other in the mind of man and
in the Church, whereby the phantasies built in the natural mind from the
disconnected scientifics of the literal sense, are entirely destroyed and the
man and the Church are deprived of a supposed possession of truths. May we therefore
be impressed with this that the knowledge that the Lord is the Creator of Heaven
and earth does not save us. Let us continually kneel before the Lord, let us
throw down the natural mind which, with regard to each affection and with regard
to each thought, is soiled with the love of self and the love of the world; so
that the Lord may raise us and we may live in the genuine sense of the Third
Testament from within, and thus in the truths opened out of the Doctrine of the
Church, and not in that Testament from without. 16
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCAIRN
THE
SECOND ETDUCATION
BY
THE REVEREND THEODORE PITCAIRN. We read in the
ARCANA COELESTIA, n. 8552, that unless in respect to his spiritual life a man is
conceived anew, born anew, and educated anew, that is created anew, from the
Lord, he is damned". The first
education is for the sake of the second education, and in so far as it prepares
for this it is good and true, and in so far as it does not prepare for the
second education it is evil and false. Wherefore without a knowledge of the
second education no true doctrine of education is possible, and as this
knowledge is at present lacking or is very slight, we can at this time only deal
in we have certain glimpses, that may be compared to a flash of lightning in
contrast to the steady light of the noon-day sun. If the church had
perception in spiritual things it would have no need of elaborate theories of
education, for it would clearly see the nature of the second education, and from
this have the necessary knowledge as to the first or preliminary education. This
is involved in the statement in the MEMORABILIA, n. 4059: "If man were in
the love of true faith he would have no need to write so many books about the
education of infants and children". The first
education is an education in the things of the world, and especially an
education in the things of the letter of the Word including the letter of the
Writings. All things that are acquired during this education must as it were
die, in order that man may be educated anew, for they are such things as
appertain to his natural memory, and are therefore quiescent in Heaven. They are
like a fruit which must decay in order that the seed may take root and live, or
like the shell of a nut which must break in order that the kernel may live and
grow. The words "Unless a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it
abideth alone; but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit" have a universal
application. There is great
danger that the first education may, as it were, be too effective, so that it
with difficulty dies; it may become like a shell that is so hard that the kernel
cannot burst its bonds and come forth.
17
THE
SECOND EDUCATION We have said that
a man can take nothing that lie acquires by the first education into
Heaven; by Heaven is meant all things which appertain to the spiritual and
celestial mind, whether a man is living in this world or the next. It is of
great importance to realize that the letter of the Writings belongs to the first
education, which must, as it were, be left behind when one enters upon
the second education; if one confuses the letter of the Writings with the
spiritual and celestial things that are acquired by the second education, no
genuine doctrine of education is possible. That the letter
of the Writings belongs to the first education is obvious from the fact that
this can be taught to any one and learned like any other subject; while the
second education is part of the new creation by the Lord, and is only possible
with those who have first been conceived and born anew by the Lord. The word
education has the root meaning of leading out. The first education is a leading
of the mind out of merely corporeal and sensual things into natural things. The
second education is a leading out of the mind from natural things into spiritual
and celestial things. The first education is apparently done by man, the second
education is manifestly done by the Lord. The first education is also performed
by the Lord, but of this man is unconscious. While in the case of the
second education it is perceived that it is the work of the Lord. The second
education is an education in the genuine spiritual and celestial things of the
internal sense of the Word, and this is performed by the Lord by means of the
genuine Doctrine of the Church drawn from the Word. In, the following
we will treat of certain general aspects of education in relation to science,
language and art.
Science. Much is said in
the Writings concerning science, scientifics, and scientific truth. Scientific
truth is the second degree of truth, it is a discrete degree above sensual
truth, and it is below the higher forms of truth. There are two
kinds of scientifics, the scientifics of the letter of the Word including the
Writings, and the scientific 18
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCAIRN of the world.
Scientifics when used in the Writings, usually refer to the scientific of the
Word, or as they are called the scientifics of the Church. The scientifics of
the world are only useful as a scaffolding while the mind is being built up; as
they are beyond the borders of the Church they have no permanent place in the
human mind. Nevertheless the
scientifics of the world correspond to the scientifics of the Church, as is
evident from much that is said in the Writings concerning them, especially in
connection with the science of anatomy. The scientifics of the world are
mentioned in the letter of the Writings only for the sake of the representation
of interior things and have no part in the internal natural sense of the
Writings. To illustrate: when the Writings speak of optics and mathematics as
being useful sciences, the Angels of the natural 14eaven can only think of the
optics of the spiritual world, that is, the laws governing spiritual light and
the spiritual eye, that is, the laws of truth, and how truth is accommodated to
the understanding, by reflection and refraction. Likewise when mathematics are
mentioned they can have no idea of number such as have the mathematicians of the
world, but of the things that correspond thereto. The useful
spiritual scientifics of the Church are the spiritual science of astronomy,
geometry, optics, chemistry, mechanics, history, anatomy, medicine, civil law,
and such things also as are called philosophical (MEMORABILIA, CODEX MINOR,
4657), and above all the science of correspondences, the science of sciences. If we consider
these sciences correspondentially, it is clear that this is a description of the
Writings in their letter: astronomy is the science of cognitions, geometry the
science of degrees, optics the science of the influx of truth, chemistry the
science of means, history, the science of progression of state, medicine the
science of repentance and reformation, civil law the science of the government
of truth, and philosophy the science of cause and effect. These scientifics
of the Church, like the scientifics of the world, belong to the first education,
for they are subjects which can be taught to any one. Scientifics, we
are taught, are vessels which must be infilled with spiritual and celestial
things if they are to
THE
SECOND EDUCATION have life. It is
this infilling of scientifics that is meant by the second education. This
infilling of scientifics takes place by influx both immediate and mediate. At
first on] immediately from the Lord into the letter giving a general perception,
afterwards both immediately from the Lord and mediately through the Heavens.
During the first period man does not truly take part in the second education,
for he remains in the letter. It is only with the commencement of mediate influx
that an is lead by the Lord out of the letter. This twofold influx is treated of
in the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of EXODUS. Here it may be noted that exodus,
going out, and education, leading out, are almost identical in
meaning. In fact the book of EXODUS is nothing else than a description of the
second education, by which man is led out of the letter into the spirit, and
with the New Churchman. specifically, a leading out of the letter of the
Writings into their spiritual and celestial senses. This leading out is done by
the Lord alone as described under the representation of Moses. And it is
involved in the words of the ARCANA COELESTIA, 8552; "Unless in respect to
his spiritual life a man is conceived anew, born anew, and educated anew, that
is created anew, from the Lord, he is damned". The same teaching
is involved in the words of Jethro to Moses: "The word that thou doest is
not good", this signifies that a change must take place; "wearing thou
wiIt wear away, both thou, and this people that is with Thee", this
signifies that thus the truth which has been inseminated would perish (A. C.
8696). Jethro had seen
Moses judging the people alone, and saw that this could not continue. The people
are the scientifics of the letter of the Writings or those who are in such
scientifics; Moses represents the immediate influx from the Lord into these
scientifics. At the commencement of the Church, and at the, beginning of
regeneration, this is the only influx from which the scientifics of the Word
have life. But this state cannot endure or all truth in time would perish. This
first state is a state of good from truth, or a state of mere obedience to
truth, afterwards the Church must come into a state in which it is in good, and
from this sees truth. Then truths are said to be im- 20
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCAIRN planted in good.
With this change mediate influx through the Heavens commences, by which the
interior degrees of the mind of the Church are built up. And it is this building
up of the mind that is meant by the second education or education anew. Previously the
Lord did inflow with good into the truths of the letter, for without good, truth
is but a dead shell, but this influx was immediate and not perceptible. In the
second state when a man is in truth from good, there is a twofold influx, both
immediate from the Lord, and mediate by means of the Heavens; this influx is
perceptible, and is called revelation. Thus we read in
the ARCANA COELESTIA, n. 8694: "By revelation is meant enlightenment when
the Word is read, and then perception; for they who are in good and long for
truth are taught in this way from the Word; but they who are not in good cannot
be taught from the Word, but can only be confirmed in such things as they have
been instructed in from infancy, whether true or false. The reason why those who
are in good have revelation, and those who are in evil have no revelation, is
that in the internal sense each and all things in the Word treat of the Lord and
of His kingdom, and the Angels that are with man perceive the Word according to
its internal sense. This is communicated to the man who is in good and reads the
Word, and from affection longs for truth, and consequently has enlightenment and
perception. For with those who are in good and from this in the affection of
truth, the intellectual part of the mind is opened into Heaven, and their soul,
that is their internal man, is in fellowship with the Angels; but it is
otherwise with those who are not in good. But what is the nature of the
revelation of those who are in good and from this in the affection of truth
cannot be described. It is not manifest, neither is it altogether hidden; but it
is a certain consent and favoring from within that a thing is true, and a
non-favoring if it is not true. . . . The cause of its being so is from the
influx of Heaven from the Lord; for through Heaven from the Lord there is light,
that surrounds and enlightens the intellect, which is the eye of the internal
sight. The things which are then seen in that light are truths, for this very
light is the Divine Truth which proceeds from the Lord. 21
THE
SECOND EDUCATION That this Divine
Truth is light in Heaven has been frequently shown". This passage
shows that the scientifics in the Writings are not the source of light to the
mind, but are the objects which must be seen in light. The light itself is from
the Lord by means of the internal sense of the Writings which is with the Angels
and which may be communicated to a man who is in fellowship with them, when
reading the Writings. The spiritual and celestial sense, as it in itself, cannot
be expressed in natural language, and there ore is called ineffable,
nevertheless it may descend into corresponding natural language, in which case
the genuine Doctrine of the Church is born. The genuine Doctrine of the Church
is therefore the result of the education anew by the Lord. The genuine Doctrine
of the Church is in itself spiritual and celestial and therefore can only be
seen when in a state of enlightenment. If one reads the letter of the Doctrine
of the Church when not in a state of enlightenment one acquires mere scientifics,
as is the case when one reads the letter of the Three Testaments. From what has
been said it may be seen that there can be no knowledge of the second education
without mediate and immediate revelation from the Lord, and where there is no
knowledge of the second education there can be no genuine Doctrine as to the
first education. The second
education is described in the APOCAI,YPSE EXPLAINED as follows: "By
prophets here and elsewhere in the Word are meant in the nearest sense such
prophets as those were in the Old Testament through whom the Lord spoke; but in
the spiritual sense those prophets are not meant, but all whom the Lord leads;
with these also the Lord flows in and reveals to them the secrets of the Word,
whether they teach or not. . . . Prophets mean all whom the Lord teaches,
thus all who are in the spiritual affection of truth, that is who love truth
because it is truth; for the Lord teaches these, and flows into their
understanding and enlightens; and this is more true of these than of the
prophets of the Old Testament. From this it can be seen that prophets mean in
the spiritual sense all who are wise from the Lord; and this whether they teach
or do not teach. And as every truly spiritual sense is abstracted from the idea
of persons, places and 22
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCAIRN times, so the
prophets also signify in the highest sense the Lord in relation to the Word, and
a- to Doctrine from the Word; and likewise the Word and Doctrine. A prophet
means Divine Truth, which is the Word, and which is in the Church out of the
Word" (n. 624). Hence it may be
seen -that the Word, and to the New Churchman especially the Latin Word, Must be
as a vessel in his mind, and that the second education consists of an immediate
and mediate revelation from the Lord into this Divinely formed receptacle. Before passing on
let us consider briefly the place of what is called Swedenborg's scientific
works. From what has been said it can be seen that it is only in so far as these
works are seen as spiritual scientifics that they have a rightful place within
the borders of the Church, that is in so far as the corresponding spiritual
scientifics are seen within the apparent worldly scientifics of their letter. In
Providence the scientific works were not written to give, man a literal or
factual account of the physical world; but to act as an ultimate basis for the
giving of the Writings. The scientific works were given because they . contain
natural scientifics which correspond to spiritual scientifics. In the
future no one will think of even discussing the point as to whether the
scientific works agree with the facts of worldly science; for to do so brings
the mind down to the sensual corporeal plane; just as now a New Church minister
does not discuss whether the account of creation given in Genesis agrees with
the actual mode of the creation of the World, for to do so brings him into the
sphere of the perverted Christian church. If viewed from
within the Writings and philosophic works will indeed be seen to be in agreement
with the true scientifics of the world. but not if viewed from without, or from
the scientific. This may be illustrated by works of art: Those who regard the
works of art of Egypt, of Greece, of the Middle Ages, and other works of art,
merely from the science of anatomy, cannot see the agreement between the work of
art and human anatomy. But those who view art from within, that is those who see
art from the genuine love of art, see the harmony and agreement between the
things of art and 23
THE
SECOND EDUCATION of nature; this
is so because the agreement is internal, and the internal can never be
seen in the light of the external, but the external always in the light of the
internal.
Language. The subject of
language in a sense runs parallel to that of science; there are the languages of
the world and the languages of the Word, the three sacred Ianguages. Neither the
one nor the other can enter into Heaven nor have they any part in the internal
sense, and therefore languages as such belong solely to the first education. The
spiritual language, which one comes into without instruction when raised to the
spiritual degree of the mind, is the medium of the second education; while
living on earth this language descends into the natural mind and clothes itself
with corresponding words of natural language for the sake of communication. Concerning the
spiritual language we read in HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 236: "All in the
universal Heaven have one language. . . . This language is not learned there,
but is implanted in everyone, for it flows from their very affection and
thought". A tongue or language represents Doctrine or the truth of
Doctrine; the above passage therefore signifies that spiritual Doctrine cannot
be learned like natural doctrine, but flows out of the very affections and
thoughts, and indeed from the Lord. This was
represented by the tongues of flame descending upon the Apostles on the day of
Pentecost. The tongues of flame represented Doctrine from love. These tongues
caused the Apostles to speak in tongues, that is caused each one to hear the
Apostles in their own language. The descent of the tongues was the descent of
pure love, but those tongues of flame when received take on external doctrinal
form according to the nature of the mind of the one who receives, thus each one
heard according to his own tongue. We read in
GENESIS 11 : 1: "The earth was one lip", that is flier was but one
Doctrine, the lip of the Angels; yet the Ancient Church differed greatly as to
doctrinals. But as all these doctrinals were from the universal Doctrine they
were united by charity. Charity 24
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCAIRN was the life or
internal of their doctrinals, wherefore they were- in true doctrinals, although
in diverse ones. When charity no longer was the life of doctrinals the
doctrinals were separated from the Doctrine, and when so separated they had no
longer a uniting medium, which is represented by Jehovah confounding the lip.
What is said in the ARCANA COELESTIA in this connection about charity does not
mean that charity can unite false and true doctrinals, but that if the
doctrinals are from genuine charity then they are in harmony, because from the
universal Doctrine, and this no matter bow they may differ as to doctrinals. When an Angel
speaks to a man he speaks to him in his own language. An Angel represents the
good and truth of the internal mind; to speak represents influx of the Doctrine
out of Heaven; the man who hears represents the external mind; the language of
the man represents the doctrinal things that a man has acquired out of the Word.
When influx takes place it is according to the reception by vessels. We read in the
ARCANA COELESTIA, n. 7236: "From only twenty three letters, put together in
different ways, there can arise the words of all languages, and even with a
perpetual variety if there were thousands of languages". The twenty-three
letters signify the letter of the Word, the languages signify the Doctrine that
is drawn out of the letter of the Word. From the letters by arrangement words
are formed, from these sentences and from these chapters. It is only in the
chapter that the full use of the letters becomes evident, and, in fact, in the
meaning of the chapter; when one has learned to read fluently one becomes
unconscious of the letters. The same is true of the letter of the Word including
the letter of the Writings. From these words are formed, the internal natural
sense, from these sentences, the spiritual sense, and from these chapters, the
celestial sense. So far the Church has been occupied largely with acquiring- the
alphabet. Note that the language is finite and limited, while the alphabet is
unlimited and a-, it were infinite. But let us not
forget that the spiritual language which belongs to the second education is not
learned, but comes to a man from influx as he is raised into a spiritual state. 25
THE
SECOND EDUCATION
Art. The same
universal laws that rule in science and language rule in art. All genuine art is
a representation of celestial and spiritual things, it is not only a
representation but also corresponds. Thus all genuine art contains within it
what is spiritual and celestial, and within this what is Divine. All internal
art like all genuine Doctrine is due to immediate and mediate influx from the
Lord. Nevertheless art is natural, spiritual, or celestial, according to the
nature of the reception. Spiritual natural
art is characterized by the fact that the artist is unaware of the influx, while
with the interior degrees the influx is perceptible. This is involved in the
following quotation from the ARCANA COELESTIA, n. 552: "that all the joy
and happiness in Heaven are from the Lord alone has been shown me by many
experiences, of which the following may be related. I saw that with the utmost
diligence some angelic spirits were fashioning a lampstand with its lamps and
flowers of the richest ornamentation in honor of the Lord. For an hour or two I
was permitted to witness with what great pains they labored to make everything
about it beautiful and representative, they supposing that they were doing it of
themselves. But to me it was given to perceive that of themselves they could
devise nothing at all. At last after some hours they said that they had formed a
very beautiful representative candelabrum in honor of the Lord, whereat they
rejoiced from their hearts. But I told them that of themselves they had devised
and formed nothing at all, but the Lord alone for them. At first they would
scarcely believe this, but being angelic spirits they were enlightened, and
confessed that I was so. So it is with all other representative things, and with
everything of affection and thought both in general and in particular, and also
with heavenly joys and felicities, the very smallest bits of them is from the
Lord alone". Here we may note that the candlestick which the angelic
spirits, that is the Angels of the Lowest Heaven, formed, was Doctrine, without
which they could not have read the Word. The genuine Doctrine that The Church
has drawn from the Writings so far is included in what is here said concerning
this 26
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCIARN candlestick. For
the Church has thought it has fashioned it in honor of the Lord, when in truth
the Church has devised and fashioned no genuine Doctrine, but, the Lord alone
for it. Art is based on a
perception of nature as a representation of the Divine Human; in the lowest
degree of genuine art this perception, as such, is not consciously
realized by the artist. While genuine art
contains within it spiritual and celestial things, as it is first seen it is
merely sensual, and unless there is influx from Heaven raising the mind above
what is sensual, art remains so to the beholder; just as in the case of the
Doctrine of the Church, if the mind is not raised into spiritual light it is
seen only as natural. As one in enlightenment draws Doctrine from the infinite
source of the letter of the Word, so the genuine artist draws from the
indefinite source of nature the spiritual and celestial things that lie within.
But if the beholder is not in enlightenment he cannot see the spiritual
and celestial things that have been drawn out and let down again into the
natural, but he only sees the sensual appearances. In other words if the
beholder does not come into something of the same inspiration as the artist, he
cannot see art. This is involved in the following quotation, ARCANA COELESTIA,
n. 1954: "The eye does not see from itself, but from interior sight;
interior sight, does not see from itself, but from a still more interior sight,
or that of man's rational. Nay, neither does this see from itself, but does so
from a still more internal sight, which is that of the internal man. And even
this does not see from itself, for it is the Lord who sees through the internal
man, and He is the only one who sees, because He is the only one who lives, and
He it is who gives man the ability to see, and this in such a manner that it
appears as 'If lie saw of himself". As this law has a
universal application, it applies to art as well as to other things, whence it
can be seen that there is no genuine sight of art except from the Lord, and
their this sight becomes more and more interior according to the opening of the
degrees of the mind. Hence it is evident why there is no real seeing of art in
the world as it is today; nothing is seen, but the sensual appearance. As the
genuine seeing of art belongs to the second 27
THE
SECOND EDUCATION education, it
cannot be taught, but is due to mediate and immediate influx from the Lord. Man
in art as in Doctrine can only act as midwife.
Education
of Children in Heaven. The second or new
education is described in the Writings under the representation of the education
of children in Heaven. Heaven is the internal mind, into which a man enters by
the second birth. After this entrance a man must be educated anew, for at first
he is bit a child in the things of the spiritual world. Here we will
consider but a few of' the thin-s which are said in the Writings concerning the
education of' children in Heaven, in order that we ma see bow they apply to the
education anew. In the
MIEMORABILIA, n. 5660 and following numbers, we read: "How 'maidens are
educated in the other life and in Heaven". "Maidens" are the
affections of truth, "in Heaven" represents in the internal or
spiritual mind "They are always kept at their own work which is embroidery,
and the things which they make are either for themselves, or they give them to
others. . . . They receive their garments gratis, not knowing bow, which they
put on daily, and a better one, for festivals". "The garments which
they receive gratis" represent the truths or things of genuine Doctrine
which the internal mind receives by influx from the Lord without any effort on
the part of man. These garments
are woven by the Lord from within, or as said of the work of the weaver that it
is spiritual out of the celestial. "The festival days on which they receive
better garments" are such states -is are represented by the Sabbath days
and the days of feasts. Such days represent especially the conjunction of good
and truth, in such states more interior truths are received. "The
embroidery which is their work" represents the collection and arrangement
of spiritual scientifics. Concerning embroidery, we read as follows in the
ARCANA COELESTIA: "The work of the embroiderer signifies the things which
,ire scientific. The cause of this is from the representatives in the other
life. There appear their garments embroidered in various ways, by which are
signified scientific truths. Scientific 28
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCAIRN truths differ
from intellectual truths as external things from internal ones, or as the
natural from the spiritual; for the intellectual is the visual of the internal
man, and scientifics are its objects in the external man" (n. 9688).
"The work of the embroiderer signifies the cognitions of good and truth.
The work of the embroiderer signifies that which is from the scientific. The
reason it is said by means of the cognitions of good and truth, is that by these
are meant interior scientifics, such as are those of the Church concerning faith
and love" (n. 9945). The work of the
maidens in Heaven, that is, the work of the affection of truth in the internal
mind, is to collect and arrange interior scientifics, that is the cognitions of
good and truth, as if of themselves. It is obvious that these scientifics which
are called the cognitions of good and truth are by the New Churchman gathered
especially from the Writings. Yet this embroidery work belongs to the external
mind; man is given to do this work as if from himself in order that he may
perform uses, although reality this also is done by the Lord. As to truths
themselves here represented by the garments, these are given to the man gratis
by the Lord, man "not knowing how". "When they
see spots on their garments, it is a sign that they have thought what is evil
and that they have done what is wrong". In relation to the Church this
signifies that when something of the love of self or the world enters in,
blemishes begin to appear in the Doctrine of the Church and this is a sign for
the need of repentance. We read in the
MEMORABILIA, n. 5668: "On the education of little children in
Heaven: 1.
They are with their nurses whom they call their mothers"; a nurse
represents innocence, or the "spiritual celestial"; innocence guards,
protects, and feeds the spiritual affection of truth, for unless this ears for
it as a mother, the affection of truth perishes. 2.
"They read the Lord's prayer, and learn prayers from nurses by
influx out of Heaven". The, Lord's prayer represents the Word, especially
the Word as to worship. Prayers we are told represent revelation, for in genuine
prayer there is a revelation from the Lord which is an answer to the prayer; it
is here clearly stated that the prayers are by means of influx out of Heaven. 29
THE
SECOND EDUCATION 3.
"There are preachers for them". Preachers preach the Doctrine
of good and truth, wherefore abstractly from person the preacher signifies such
Doctrine. It is the Doctrine of genuine good and truth which instructs the
newborn internal affection of truth. 4.
"Intelligence flows in and also wisdom, which surpasses the
intelligence of the learned in the world, although they have an infantile idea
of these things". The learned of the world represent the scientifics of the
Word, and those who are in such scientifics. After the second birth intelligence
and wisdom flow in from the internal sense of the Word; this intelligence
surpasses the intelligence that has been acquired merely from the letter,
although as yet, the man, being but a spiritual infant, has only an infantile
idea of these things. 5.
"They have representations from Heaven". The representations
signify doctrinals, especially doctrinals as to their letter, for it is these
that represent interior things. 6.
"They are dressed according to their diligence, especially with
flowers and garlands". As has been shown above their diligence refers to
the acquiring of scientifics; they who do this in humility and innocence are
gifted with garments. The flowers and garlands represent the things of
intelligence, with which they are endowed. 7.
"They are led into paradises". Paradise represents the things
of wisdom. 8.
"They are tempted". During the first education man only
undergoes natural temptations, that is temptations as to the good and truth of
the letter of the Word. During the second education, that is, the education as
to the things of the internal sense of the Word, man undergoes spiritual
temptations, which are here represented by temptation of children in Heaven. 9.
"They grow according to their state of reception". Man's
internal mind like his external mind is a vessel, and the growth of this mind is
according to its opening to the reception of both immediate and mediate influx
from the Lord. 10.
"They are of diverse genius". The things of the internal mind,
like those of the external mind, are of diverse genius; it is the Divine of the
Lord which makes 30
REVEREND
THEODORE PITCAIRN each society of
Heaven, it is the Divine of the Lord which makes the spiritual sense of the Word
with every man whose mind is opened, yet the reception of the Divine of the Lord
is different, with every one and is indeed according to the genius of
each individual. 11.
"Nurses are given them who in the world have loved little
children". As we have already spoken of nurses we, will omit further
elucidation. 12.
"They who are educated is little children know no otherwise than
that they were born in Heaven". All birth takes place in the natural,
wherefore the word natural is derived from the word meaning birth. The birth of
the .spiritual mind originally takes place in The things of the letter of the
Word and Doctrine. Yet when it is perceived that all the things of the spiritual
mind are due to influx from the Lord immediately and through the Heavens, it it'
they were born in the spiritual mind instead of, as is really the case, that
they were raised by the Lord out of the things of the letter of the Word in the
natural mind. 13.
"They do not know what time and space and such earthly things
are". The things of time and space as related to the Church, signify the
things of the letter of the Word; such things cannot enter into Heaven, nor can
they enter into the things of the interior mind, so much is this the ease that
if man is in interior thought the things of the letter it were disappear
to such an extent that he does not know what such things are. 14.
"They speak the angelic language within a month". When man's
spiritual mind is first opened by means of the second birth, he cannot speak the
spiritual language, that is he cannot talk from genuine Doctrine, but is as it
were dumb. But this period is of short duration; it only applies to his first
state as to faith. After a month he can speak the angelic Ianguage, and this, as
was shown above, without instruction. The above are but a few preliminary thoughts
with regard to the second education; until we know more of this education, as we
have said, we can have scarcely any idea of the genuine nature of the first
education. Before closing we wish to note that no man
merits the second education; introduction into the things of the internal 31
THE
SECOND EDUCATION mind, that is introduction into the
things of the spiritual sense of the Word, is du(, to the merit of the Lord and
not due to any merit on man's part. No one merits Heaven; if any one
imagines that he can enter the things of the spiritual sense of the Word either
by study or by doing good works and not by means of the Lord, he is among those
in the other life who cut grass or chop wood to keep warm, under which is, as it
were, something of the Lord. Such do not enter into the sheep-fold by the door,
but like robbers climb up some other way.
DE HEMELSCHE
LEER
EXTRACT
FROM THE ISSUE FOR FEBRUARY 1931
LIFE
ACCORDTNC TO THE DOCTRINE
OF
THE CHURCH
AN
ADDRESS BY H. D. G. GROENEVELD, DELIVERED
AT
THE SOCIAL SUPPER, NOVEMBER 30TH, 1930. And Jesus, seeing great multitudes about
Him, gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain scribe came and said unto
Him: Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. And Jesus said unto Him: The foxes have
holes, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Man has not where to
lay His head. And another of His disciples said unto
Him: Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him: Follow Me; and
let the dead bury their dead.
MATTHEW
8 :18-22. Every man has interior things and exterior
things. The interior things are opened more and more if the exterior things
cooperate. When by the life of man the interior things and the exterior things
operate as one whole, man from the Lord receives an internal and an external.
The external derives its existence from the internal, while the internal
is the being of the external. The mind of man then is simple, one side
being the internal or the rational and the other side the external or the
natural. From the internal all things can then be seen in the external. "Jesus", with regard to the Lord,
signifies the Good of the Divine Human, and with regard to an the good from the
Divine Human of the Lord or the good of love to the Lord. It is the love which
dwells only in the internal or the rational of man. "Seeing great multitudes about Him"
signifies the understanding of the different truths in the natural or 34
H.
D. G. GROENEVELD In the external. "And Jesus, seeing
great multitudes about Him" therefore signifies the understanding from the
Doctrine of the Church of different truths of the literal sense of the Word, now
especially those of the literal sense of the Third Testament, in their proper
order. For the Doctrine of the Church -s the dwelling-place for the good of love
to the Lord, while the literal sense of the Word and also of the Doctrine of the
Church, only gives truths laid down in the natural. "The departing into the
other side" signifies a change of state, namely the going from the truths
as they are in the internal or rational to the truths as they are in the
external or natural. This change of state is necessary because the truths of the
Doctrine of the Church are from the internal or rational. and they who are in
the natural cannot see these truths. They see only the truths of The literal
sense of the Word and of the literal sense of the Doctrine of the Church. "And a certain scribe came and said unto
Him: Master. T will follow Thee withersoever Thou goest". A scribe
signifies one who is in truth from good. It is the truth from the internal or
rational. In an unfavorable sense I scribe is one who is in truth alone, that
is, in truth from the natural, therefore in the truth of the literal sense of
the Word or of the literal sense of the Doctrine of the Church. He is therefore
one who is in the natural rational as also appears from this, that he calls the
Lord "Master". Such a one will be in entire agreement with the
rational of the literal sense of the Word and of the literal sense of the
Doctrine of the Church, as appears from his Words: "Master, T will follow
Thee whithersoever Thou goest". "And Jesus saith unto Him: The foxes
have holes and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of Van has not where
to lay His bead." The foxes stand for the things of the will, the birds of
heaven for the things of the understanding. The foxes signify the rational thing
of the natural with regard to evil or with regard to apparent good, the birds of
heaven the rational things of the natural with regard to falsity or with regard
to apparent truth. "The foxes have holes, the birds of heaven nests"
signifies that the rational things with regard to evil and also apparent good
and the rational things with regard to falsity and also apparent truth find 35
LIFE
ACCORDING TO DOCTRINE a resting place with the human race in
general and in the Church in particular. For these things there is love, with
these things there is conjunction as by marriage. "But the Son of Man has not where to lay
His head". The Son of Man stands for the Doctrine of the Church, as appears
from the third verse of the fifth chapter of the second part of the CANONS:
"This Human is called the Son of God and the Son of Man: the Son of God
from the Divine Truth and the Divine Good in Him, which is the Word; and the Son
of Man from the Divine Truth and Good out of Him, which thence is of the
Doctrine of the Church out of the Word." The "head" signifies the
highest or inmost, therefore the good of love to the Lord. The head of the Son
of ),fan is therefore The good of love to the Lord, which is the inmost of the
Doctrine of the Church. It is the good of love from which the Doctrine of
the Church comes into existence, for the Doctrine is spiritual out of celestial
origin. There is then in The Church, in case of change of state, no love for the
essential of the Doctrine of the Church. There is no love for conjunction; the
true conjugal love is lacking. The external of the, Doctrine of the Church or
its literal sense is touched with coarse bands, without feeling the tenderness
of what is bidden within. Who is not painfully affected when he sees that a
small child, and especially a new born child, is, coarsely handled? Does not one
experience a certain fear to touch a newborn child with the hands or even with
the mouth? Ts one not especially sensitive on such an occasion of one's own
coarseness and impurity? Do not all movements express a tenderness so as not to
hurt the child? Let us then approach also the Doctrine of the Church as having
been born from the Lord with humility and with a feeling of our own coarseness
and impurity. "And another of His disciples said unto
Him: Lord, suffer me to o and bur my father." A "disciple"
signifies one who is in truth, more especially natural truth which leads to
good. "Father" signifies good, in the, unfavorable sense evil, and
also apparent good. Burying signifies resurrection, therefore a life in the
good of truth or in the unfavorable sense a life in the evil of falsity, and
also in the apparent good of apparent truth. In general 36
H.
D. G. GROENEVELD these words of the disciple signify that man
desires to continue to I've in the things of the world and not in the things of
Heaven. In particular they signify that the man of the Church loves the things
of the natural and therefore desires to be in those, things and not in the
things of The rational. which is to say that he primarily loves the thin-s of
the literal sense of the Third Testament and thus desires to live in those
things and not in the things of the, internal sense or the truths of the
Doctrine of the Church. For, when the Doctrine is offered to the men of the-
Church many will be of the opinion that the interior things are not vet
necessary, as there are very many truths in the literal sense that are not vet
known, and have therefore not, vet been applied to life, and that, consequently,
very many evils have not vet been removed. It is man's proprium that thus
expresses itself, fearing to lose its rest and its dominion. This appears from
the Lord's answer. "But Jesus said unto him: Follow Me, and
let the dead bury their dead". They who are in love to the Lord will
perceive from the influx of the Lord that one must live, according to the
interior things, therefore according to the truths of the Word opened by the
Doctrine of the Church, and that it may be left to the evil spirits to raise up
the evils and the falsities that are in man's mind. The man of the Church
therefore should not occupy himself with the things of the world, but must leave
them to those who are in those things. But also more and more must the man of
the Church leave the truths of the literal sense of the Word, and -now
especially those of the Third Testament, and turn to the interior things. Ever
more and more must the man of the Church direct himself to the interior things
and consequently withdraw more and more from the natural, so that finally each
fibber of his spiritual body is turned to the Lord alone. Then there is no
longer any gleam from the proprium in us and we are in the shadow of God. Then
for the first time the Lord is our Father and we are His children.
DE HEMELSCHE
LEER
EXTRACTS
FROM THE ISSUE FOR AUG.- SEPT. 1931
THE
NINETEENTH OF JUNE 1931
Address
by the Reverend Ernst Pfeiffer. This is the tenth time that the FIRST DUTCH
SOCIETY celebrates the Nineteenth of June; it was on Sunday, 19th June 1921,
that the Society was established. There were then twelve members of the GENERAL
CHURCH present, who signed the declaration of principle of the Society to be
established. During these ten years a deep-going change of state has Gradually
developed, and there are not more than two or three of those who originally
signed, who have been able or willing to follow us on the way which, as we
believe, the Lord has shown to us. But nevertheless we are convinced that the
inmost principle which has led us, is the same as that which then brought us
together, namely the inmost of the PRINCIPLES OF THE ACADEMY, the real heart of
those Principles, which the Church inherited from its great leader Bishop Benade
and his spiritual predecessors, namely that the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg
are the Word of God. The truth that the Writings are the Word is the only light
in which the Divine essence of the Doctrine of the Church can be seen. It is a
fact we may rejoice over that practically all new members of our society who
after its establishment as a result of our evangelisation have Joined us, have
gone with us in our development in an affirmative spirit. Although we believe that the inmost principle
which ten years ago gave life to our Society, is the same, our thought at the
present day has been entirely renewed. We believe it has been deepened
from the Lord, and we have the clear light and from that light the, interior
certainty that it is the Lord Himself who has led the Society, and that from the
beginning He has had a spiritual end in view with it, which we could then not
yet see, but which as we now 38
THE
NINETEENTH OF JUNE 1931 understand, has been attained in a remarkable
way. In a certain sense we may say it has been attained, for we have the
confidence that the spiritual things which have been born in our Society will
prove imperishable; but at the same time we are all deeply impressed with the
great difficulties in which we find ourselves now placed. The state of the
Society in many respects hovers in uncertainty. For this reason I feel urged to
restrict myself to-night as much as possible to a consideration of the abstract
spiritual things which fill our thought and not to enter into particular
as regards the concrete state of the Society. We may leave the further
development with the fullest confidence to the Lord's Providence. By The birth of the Doctrine of the Church
the essential life of the Church has been removed entirely from the natural or
external things to the spiritual or internal things. We have learnt to see the
letter of the Latin Word as something natural, as the Divine Truth laid down in
the Natural, and we have found that this truth has also been seen by leading men
of the past, although they have never before realized the consequences, with the
exception of the Rev. E. S. Hyatt who had a general perception of the difference
between the Latin Word and the Doctrine of the Church. We have learnt to understand that all that is
said in the DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE concerning the natural and
the natural or literal sense applies essentially to the Third Testament. As long
as man regards the letter of the Old and of the New Testament as the natural and
the letter of the Third Testament as the spiritual, he remains in a purely
natural state; only when we, begin to distinguish in ourselves what has been
revealed concerning the difference between the natural and the spiritual, and
not in anything outside of us, then we begin for the first time to see where we
stand, and then for the first time the possibility opens itself for man to pass
on from the interior-natural state to the spiritual state. We read in THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, n.
508, the description of a Temple in the spiritual world, and in connection with
this of a veil that has been lifted; and it is said that it is now allowed to
enter intellectually into the mysteries of faith. We have formerly always
believed that 39
REVEREND
ERNST PFEIFFER the lifting of this veil was nothing else
than the revelation of the Third Testament, and that therefore, when those Books
were in the world, the veil was lifted. But upon deeper insight it clearly
appears in that description that by the old state which preceded the lifting of
the veil and the new state that is meant by the lifting of the veil, not simply
the Old and the New Testament on the one side and the Third Testament on the
other side are meant, but the state of the old church at its end, after it had
falsified all truths of the Old and the New Testament, and the state of the New
Church, which had become possible on the basis of the Third Testament. This
appears clearly from the fact that in that description the doctrinal things of
the New Church are contrasted with the dogmas of the old church. Of the dogmas
of the old church it is said that they "are not out of the Word, but
patched together out of self-intelligence and thence out of falsities, and also
confirmed by some things oat of the Word"; and of the doctrinal things of
the New Church it is said that they "are truths continuous from the
Lord revealed through the Word". That by the Word here the Third Testament
is meant, is clear; for the New Church is not out of the Old Testament
and not out of the New, but out of the Third Testament; and that by, doctrinal
things the particulars of a literal sense of a universal revelation are never
meant, but the doctrinal thoughts which the Church on the basis of that letter
has developed, is clearly taught in many places of the Third Testament (A.C.
3052, 3057, 3309, 3726, 7233, 9380). In the measure in which the Church will
understand the words "that the doctrinal things of the New Church are
truths continuous from- the Lord", its understanding will be enlightened
and be more and more lifted up to the Lord. Then will it be understood what is
meant by this that by the Doctrine of the Church the essential life of the
Church has been removed from the natural or external things to the spiritual of
internal things, therefore from what is without to what is within. It will be
seen that the -genuine spiritual truths of the Church, all in the measure of its
regeneration, are, born from the Lord within in the human minds; that these
genuine spiritual truths differ from the truths which one has taken up by direct
cognizance out of the letter of the Third Testament, and that there is no 40
THE
NINETEENTH OF JUNE 1931 relation between them except that of
correspondence, such as exists between the spiritual and the natural. It is my intention this evening to say a few
words once more, as simply as possible, concerning one of the most interior and
therefore most hidden arguments in connection with the Doctrine of the Church,
as brought forth by Mr. Groeneveld in his address on The Coming of the Lord
in the Doctrine of the Church (DE HEMELSCHE LEER, First Fasc., pp.
38-43), namely concerning the difference between the rational And the natural,
both in the Divine Human of the Lord and in the individual man. It is the proper
task of the priest in the spiritual Church to clothe the interior arcana of the
Word in such words that they become conceivable to some extent to all members of
the Church, therefore even to the most simple. If one is able to understand this
difference between the rational and the natural and their mutual relation, one
his understood the proper core of the Doctrine of the Church, and this in such a
way, in the light of spiritual truth, that as a constants verity it will never
again be lost sight of. It is said that the Human of the Lord and the
human of each man consists of the rational and the natural. The natural are the
affections and thought, relative to the outside world, with which we come into
contact by the senses. In that respect a man is similar to a beast, a natural
being. But above and within that natural, man has a rational, which is directed
inwardly to the eternal things, to Heaven and the Lord. This rational together
with that natural makes the human, and the rational is the inmost of the human. Now it is said that the Lord, when He came
into the world, for the first time assumed a Rational of His own and a Natural
of His own, since He then assumed a Human of His own. Before, when He manifested
Himself as a Man, this was not done in a Human of His own, but He made use of
His Human Divine* in the Heavens, that is, He made use of the Angels. But by His
Incarnation He assumed a In the expression "the Human
Divine" the word "Divine" is the noun and the word
"Human" is the adjective, in contradistinction to the expression
"the Divine Human", where the word "Human" is the noun and
the word "Divine" the adjective. 41
REVEREND
ERNST PFEIFFER Human of His own, consisting of a Rational
and a Natural. |
