Swedenborg emanuel-the-canons-of-the-new-church-1769-the-swedenborg-society-london-1954

The Canons of the New Church
OR

The Whole Theology
of the New Church
TREATING Of
The One, Infinite God
The Lord the Redeemer ; and Redemption
The Holy Spirit
The Divine Trinity

BElNO A TRANSLATION Of
.. Canones Novae Ecclesiae seu Integra The%gia Novae
Ecclesiae" etc.

A POSTHUMOUS WORK
OF
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

.....

THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INe.)
BLOOMSBURY WAY, LONDON, W.C.I
1954

EDITORIAL NOTE
This littie work, written most probably in 1769,
was left by Swedenborg among his manuscripts.
The original is now lost; but two independent
copies were made by others.
One of these copies was made by C. Johansen,
under the superintendence of A. Nordenskjold,
and is now in the possession of the Swedenborg
Society. A note therein states that the original
consisted of 45 folio pages, of which pp. 29, 30, 31,
32, 39 and 40 were missing at the time of the
transcription. The other, known as the Skara
copy, was in the possession of Dr. R. L. Tafel, but
it is not known where it is now. The Rev. S. H.
Worcester, Editor of the Latin Edition published
by the American Swedenborg Printing and
Publishing Society, had access to this version, and
a photographie copy of his notes of aIl variations
between the Skara MS. and the Nordenskjold
version has been obtained. In the footnotes to the
present Edition the two versions are referred to as
" Sk." and" N." respectively.
In preparing the present Edition, these two
versions and the Latin text as edited by Mr.
Worcester have ail been carefully compared and
consulted. The Skara MS. was without any title,
and differs somewhat from the other MS. From
internai evidence it would appear that the" N."
version is a substantially accurate copy of what
Swedenborg wrote, whereas the "Sk." version
appears to have disregarded the missing pages and
endeavoured, by minor changes of order and
arrangement and a few verbal alterations, to present
iii

a more polished version than Swedenborg's MS.
aétually contained. For the sake of accuracy, we
have, therefore, based the text of the present
Edition on the Nordenskjold version, noting all
significant variations of the Skara version in
footnotes. The title of the work is that found in
Johansen's writing at the beginning of his MS.
The subject matter covers the same ground as the
first three chapters of The True Christian Religion
(published in 1771), and it appears to have been
written as a preparation for that work. It consists
mainly of general propositions which the author
may have intended either for expansion later into
fully reasoned paragraphs or purely as preparatory
for the great work to follow. There are five main
sections dealing with the following subjects :-
God
God the Redeemer, Jesus Christ
Redemption
The Holy Spirit
The Divine Trinity
The treatrnent in the last of these is much fuIler
than that of the others.
The translation now presented has aimed at
faithfulness to the original combined with clarity
and perfection of English. It was originally made
by Rev. E. C. Mongredien who had as his con
sultant Rev. A. Wynne Acton and has now been
revised and prepared for publication in the light
of Rev. S. H. Worcester's notes on the Skara
manuscript. For convenient reference the sections
or chapters have been nurnbered consecutively,
and these numbers appear in the margin in square
brackets.
Although incomplete, this work is of very great
iv

value to the student and to the general reader of
Swedenborg. As a concise summary of true
Christian doctrine on the above subjects, it has its
own place in the revelation made by the Lord
Jesus Christ at the end of the first Christian Church,
and a warm place in the hearts of aIl who love
truth for its own sake.
FRANK F. COULSON,
Editor.

'

INDEX OF GENERAL SUBJEcrS l
GOD
PAGE
1. The Unity of God .. 3

2. The Essence and Existence of Go<! 4

3. The Infinity of Go<! .. . . 5

4. The Creation of the Universe by God 7

5. The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom .. 9

6. Creation from both the Divine Love and the Divine

Wisdom .. 10

7. The End of Creation which is a Heaven of Angels .. 12

8. Omnipotence; Omniscience; Omnipresence 14

THE LORD THE REDEEMER
• 9. In God is Love and Wisdom, or Divine Good and
Divine Truth .. .. 17

:.L 10. He descend~d~respe<:t of the Divine Truth .. 18

• 11. That Truth ls:.,the Word) .. .. .. 19

12. What the HolY-S]'iîrlt, and the Power of the

Highest are .. .. 20

13. The Human of the Lord is the Son of God. . 21

14. The Lord's state of Exinanition while in the world.. 22

15. The Uniting of Divine Truth and Good in the

Human .. .. .. .. 24

16. After uniting them, He returned to the Father 25

17. He glorified Himself successively .. 26

18. The Union is like that of Soul and Body .. 27

REDEMPTION
19. A Church declines successively from good to evil.. 28

20. The end of a Church is whenever the power of eviJ

and hell prevails over good and heaven .. " 30

21. Similarly there is a departure from what is internai

to what is external .. .. .. .. .. 32

22. The description in the Word of the end and of the

progression .. 33

23. A total damnation is then imminent 34

(1) Sk. has .. Inde. of General Subjecls of the Christi~n Religio;;~.-
vii

24. The Lord redeemed men and angels 35

25. The temptations of the Lord, the Christ .. 36

26. Redemption can be etl'ected only by God Incarnate 38

THE HOLy SPIRIT
27. The Holy Spirit is the Divine proeeeding 42

28. It proceeds from God by means of the Human 43

29. It passes into the world through heaven 44

30. And after that, to men by means of men 45

31. The Holy SpirLt is the..Word .. 47

32. Its Operation is Instruction, Reformation, etc. •
33. God is recogJ:)jzed from Divine-Truth
34. What is meant by a man's spirit
THE TRINlTY
35. There is a Divine Trinity 50

36. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the three

essentials of the One God .. 52

37. Before the world was created, the Trinity did not

exist .. 54

38. The Trinity, after the world was created, came into

existence in Jesus Christ .. 59

39. This Trinity is derivable from the Word as weil as

from the Apostles' Cree<!, but not from the

Nicene Cree<! 60

40. Discordant ideas derived from the Nicene Trinity .. •
41. This Trinity has perverted the Church 66

42. Tt has also falsified the Word .. .. .. 67

43. Thence there is the "àffliCIion .. and" desolation ..

foretold by the Lord 69

44. There cannot be any salvation unless a new

Church is established by the Lord .. - . '---.. 72

45. The Trinlty isÎntheLOrd the Saviour. wherefore He

Alone is to be approached that there may he

salvation, or eternal Iife 75

•
----_._.- .... __._
...
The Chapters marked with aD asterisk are misslng rram the text.

viii

THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH [1-2]

[1] PROLOGUE!
2At this day nothing but the self-evidencing
reason of love will restore [ihe Church], because
[menJ have fallen away.
The present=daYCliï.Irch is in error about God,
in error about faith, and in_errorâhout charity,
afso it knows nothing about eternal life; and so
it is in gross darkness.
The whole of religion is based upon the idea
held about God, and is in conformity with it.
This is the Church towards which all Churches
from the first have pointed as it were in a regular
series, and about which Daniel prophesied.
[2J This Work
contains
The Entire Theology of the New Church
meant by
the" New Jerusalem .. in the Revelation
(1) Sk. does not contain the statements printed on tbis page, but bu
tbe fol!owing at the heginning :
The reason tbe New Church could not be established before tbe last
judgment bad been accomplished was 50 tbat boly things should not be
profaned. Il bas been foretold that the spiritual sense of tbe Word is
to he disclosed tben. also that t~ Lord alonitis lhe Word wh~adve.nt
then takes l'lace.
- 'The réiSoii religion exislS with few at the present day is that :
1. Il is not known of the Lord, that ,He is God alone in person
and essence, and that the Trinity is in Him; wben yet ail religion is
foûnded upon a knowledge of God and upon tbe adoration an.d
worship of Him ;
2. It is not known lhaJ...f!!itl! is nothing but the truth, or whether
what they cal! faith isThetruïh or not ;
3. It is not known what charity is. nor what evil is, or good ;
4. It is not known wbat eternallife is.
In soSar as truths of life are made a matter of life, Uutbs of faith become
a mauer-of-faitb. not a fraction more nor a fraction less. Sorne trutbs
are maUers of knowledge. not matters of faitb.
(2) Tbe Latin of tbis setitence is elliptical-as follows :-
Quod bodie non aliud quam suisona ratio amoris instaurabit,
quia lapsi sunl.
~

[3] THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH

[3] SUMMARIES
treating of
GOD
1. THERE IS ONE GOD.
II. THAT ONE GOD IS BEING (Esse) ITSELF, WInCH
IS JEHOVAH.
III. THAT GOD HIMSELF IS FROM ETERNITY, AND
THEREFORE IS ETERNITY ITSELF.
IV. GOD, BECAUSE HE IS BEING (Esse) ITSELF, AND
IS FROM ETERNITY, IS THE CREATOR OF THE
UNIVERSE.
V. THAT ONE ONLY GOD IS LOVE ITSELF AND
WISDOM ITSELF, THUS LIFE ITSELF.
VI. HE CREATED THE UNIVI!RSE FROM DIVINE
LOVE, BY MEANS OF DIVINE WISDOM, OR WHAT
IS THE SAME THING, FROM DIVINE GOOD, BY
MEANS OF DIVINE TRUTH.
VII. WITH mM THE CREATION OF THE UNI VERSE
HAD AS AN END AN ANGELIC HEA VEN FROM
THE HUMAN RACE.
VIII. AND IN CONSEQUENCE, WITH MEN AND
ANGELS, THE COMMUNICATION AND CON
JUNCTION OF HIS LOVE AND WlSDOM, AND
THEREBY THEIR BLESSEDNESS AND HAPPlNESS
TO BTERNITY.
IX. THAT END WAS IN GOD THE CREATOR FROM
ETBRNITY, AND IS IN HlM TO ETERNITY, HENCE
THERE IS THE PRESERVATION OF THE CREATED
UNIVERSE BY HlM.
2

THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH [4J
X. By MEANS OF HIS DIVINE PROCEEDING GOD HAS
OMNIPOTENCE, OMNIPRESENCE AND OMNI-
SCIENCE. Apocalypse Revealed, n.31,1

[4] CHAPTER 1
THE UNITY OF GOD, OR THAT THERE IS ONE GOD

1. The recognition and acknowledgement that
God is One is the highest and innermost, conse-
quently the universal, of aH the doctrinal things
of the Church.
2. Unless there were one God, the universe could
not have been created and preserved.
3. In a man who does not acknowledge God,
there is not the Church, and so there is not heaven.
4. In a man who acknowledges not one God but
several, nothing of the Church holds together.
5. From God, and out of the angelic heaven,
there is a universal influx into man's soul, that
there is a God, and that He is One.
6. Human reason can, if it will, perceive from
many things in the world that there is a God and
also that He is One.
(1) Marginal Notes :-
The Essence and Existence of God; the immcnsity and eternity
of God ; or chiefly such . , , .
Theological things occupy the highest region of the human mind ;
they are innumerable.
In the midst of them is God.
There is an influx from Him, like that from a sun, into every
single thing round about underneath.
Therefore a mode of spcaking, so that a knowledge of Hlm
penetrates and lills them ail.
Conjunclion with Him makes a man an image of Him.
Conjunclion is effected by means of love and wisdom.
The above propositions were copied by Johansen immediately after
X above and numbered consecutively Il to 17. Worcester says, .. Tbe
first of them seems to be imperfect and is not found in the Skara MS,"
Nordenskjold regarded them as belonging to Chapter II and following
no. 7 there.
3


7. It is due to this that there is not a nation in
the whole world having religion and sound reason
that does not acknowledge and confess Qne God.
8. Scripture, and therefrom the doctrines ortlie
Churches in Christendom, teach that there is One
God.
9. But as regards what kind of God this One is,
peoples and nations have deviated and do deviate
into different opinions.
10. There are several reasons for past and present
deviation into different opinions about God and
about His unity.

[5] CHAPTER II
TffiS ONE GOD IS BEING (Esse) ITSELF, AND THIS IS

JEHOVAH

or

THE ESSENCE AND EXISTENCE OF GOD IN HIS VERY SELF

1. That One God is termed lehovah from
Being (Esse), thus from the fact that He is
He who is, who was, and who is to come
or, what is the same, that He is
the first and the last, the beginning and the end,
the Alpha and the Omega.
[Rev. i 8, 11 ; xxii 13 ; Isa. xliv 6.J
2. Therefore this one only God is very Essence,
Substance, and Form; and men and angels are
spiritual essences, substances and forms, or images
and likenesses, in so far as they derive quality
from that very and one only Divine.
3. The Divine Being (Esse) is Being (Esse) in
itself.
4

4. The Divine Being (Esse) in itself is Divine
Existing (Existere) in itself as well.
5. The Divine Being (Esse) and Existing
(Existere) in itself cannot produce another Divine
that is Being (Esse) and Existing (Existere) in
itself.
6. Consequently another God of identical essence
with the One God is not possible.
7. The plurality of gods in aftcient times, and
partly in modern times, did not originate from any
other source than the Divine Essence not being
understood.

[6J CHAPTER In
THE INFINITY OF GOD
I. Because God existed before the world, thus
before there were spaces and times, He is infinite.
2. Because God is and exists in Himself, and
all things in the world are and exist from Him,
He is infinite.
3. Because God, after the making of the world,
is in space apart from space and in time apart
from time, He is infinite.
4. Because God is the All in all things of the
world, and especially the All in all things of
heaven and the Church, He is infinite.
5. The Infinity of God, in relationship to spaces,
is termed Immensity; and in relationship to
times, termed Eternity.
6. Although the Immensity of God is in relation
ship to spaces, and His Eternity is in relationship
to times, still there is nothing of space in His
Immensity, and nothing of time in His Eternity.
5

[6J THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH

7. By the Immensity of God is meant His
Divinity in respect of Being (Esse), and By His
Eternity, His Divinity in respect of Existing
(Existere); each in itself, or in Him.
8. Every created thing is finite ; and the infinite
is in finite things as in its receptacles.
9. Because angels and men are created and
therefore finite, they cannot comprehend either
the Infinity of G~d, or His Immensity and Eternity,
such as these are in themselves.
10. Nevertheless those who are enlightened by
God can see as through a lattice that God is
Irlfinite.
11. Indeed there is an image of the Infinite
stamped upon varieties and propagations in the
world; upon varieties, in that there are never two
things identical ; and upon propagations, animate
and inanimate, in that there is the mutliplying
of one seed to infinity; and its prolification to
eternity; besides many other things. l
12. According to how far and in what way a
man and angel acknowledges the Unity and
Infinity of God, he becomes, if he lives well, a
rece{tacle and image of God.
13. It is useless to think about what there was
prM to the world, or what there is outside of if,
for prior to the world ~ did not exist, and
outside of it spa.~ does not exist.
14. By thinking about these things a Il}aIL can
become crazy if he is not partly withdrawn by G29
(I) Marginal Notes :-
There are certain forms-the squaring of the circle. the hyperbola.
series oLnu!'L~r~~ tending to infinity, the diversity of human faces.
and of minds also ;- lhen-t(x),· the angelic heaven of light can be
increased without limit, [and] the starry heaven, etc.
6

from the spa~x Md time idea, for this is inherent
in each ana all things"""Of human tnought, and it
clings to each and all things of angelic thought.

[7J CHAPTER IV
THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE BY THE ONE, INFINITE
GOD I

I. No one can form to himself an idea of God
creating the universe, or perceive that He created
it, without first knowing something about the
spiriiiial worlo'!md its Sun, as well as about the
correspondence and the conjunction thereby of
spiritual things with natural things.
2. There arJL t'ft-Q worlds, the spiritual world
where spirits and angel5are: and the natural world
where men are.
3. There is a sun in the spiritual world and
another in the natural world; also the spiritual
world came into existence and continues in exis
tence from its sun, and the natural world by means
of its sun.
4. The Sun of the spiritual world is pure love
from Jehovah God who is in the midst of it ; and
the sun of the natural world is pure fire.
.( (2) Everything that goes forth out of the Sun
. of thespiritual world iu!.U:e; and everything
out of the sun of the natural world i~.
6. Consequently everything that goes forth out
of the Sun of the spiritual world is sQiritual and
everything out of the sun of the natural world is
natural.
(I) Marginal Note : -
See above concerning lehovah or the Being (Esse) of God : also
no. I; also the thing lacking here may be selected therefrom.
7


7. lehovah God created the spiritual world by
means of the Sun in the midst of which He is, and
the natural world indirectly by means of the
spiritual world.
8. Spiritual things are substantial and natural
things areii}ateriaj; and theSe ratter cameimo
existence and continue in existence from the former,
as that which follows does from that which
precedes, or as what is exterior from what is
interior.
9. Consequ~ntly all the things in the spiritual
world are, with a difference in perfection, also in
the natural world; and conversely.
10. Because what is natural originates from
what is spiritual, as the material does from the
substantial, they_are everywhere together, and thus
by means of the natural the spiritual carries on its
activities and performs its functions.
ill In the spiritual world a conception of crejl.
tion is G.ol!§.tantly coming into existence, inasmuch
as all things that exist and take place there are
created in a moment by lehovah God.
12. Around every angel in heaven there is the
concept of creation. l

(I) Marginal No~ :
In the spiritual world creation can be visible before the sight;
there all thin~!e created hy the Lord as in a moment; houses.
thingsOl'Use Ut tl1el1OuSe: loods;garments ; fields, gardens, plains;
flocks and herds; all are created. These and innumerable other
things are created in accor.djj.nce with the angels' affcctions and their
perceptions therefr15it,"and 'they come into sigllt round the angels
and last so long as the angels are in those affections, and they are
taken away as soon as the affections cease. Also in the hells,
serpents, and harmful animals and birds are created; not that these
.!!,te.$Ieate~-JX.lhe fuWd,J2.ut the good_arcuumed into eyd. Hence
.t is clear t at alD.gs inllie wOrIO are created by the "Lord, and
fixed by means ortlie natural thinis encompassing tbem.
8

THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH [8]
13. There is a correspondence between the things
of the spiritual world and the things of the natural
world ; and by means of the correspondence there
is C.Q!.1jy~ between them.
14. From these things it is clear that, without
knowledge beforehand of the spiritual world and
its Sun, and about correspondence, the creation of
the universe by the one infinite God c~l}llQ.L..Q~
c.,9mprehel}ded a~; and it is due to this that
there have appeared hypotheses, based upon
naturalism, about the creation of the universe,
that are foolis

[8] CHAPTER V

THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM IN GOD

1. Love and Wisdom are the two essentials and
universals of Life; Love is t~eing (E~.£) Qf
Life, and Wisdom the Existing (ExisTere) of Life
~ from Jhat Being. -
2. GOCIlSLove and Wisdom itself, because He
is Ye!Y..-Heing_(Esse) and Existing (fixistere) itself.
3. Unless God were Love and Wisdom its~
there would not be anything of love or any1Iimg
of wisdom with angels in heaven or with men in
the world.
4. To the extent that, by means of wisdom and
love, angels and men are united to God, they are
in true love and in true wisdom.
5. Two things go forth from lel1ovah. God, by
means of the Sun in the midst of which He is,
heat and light; t~.h~.a.LgoingJprth from it is
love..! and the light wisdo!ll.
9


6. The light going forth out of it is the splendour
of love, meant in the Word by " glory."
7. That light is life itself.
8. Angels and men are- alive to the extent that
from God they are in wisdom derived from love.
9. It is the same whether you say God is Good
itself and fiiItlf'itself or He is Love itself and
Wisdo!Jl itself; because all good lSof love and
all truth is of wisdom.
10. Love and wiidom are inseparable and in
divisible; similarly, good and truth; on which
.account, lcuch as the loye is with angels and men,
)J such is the wls<TOm with them, or what is the same,
. sucIi as me gooa; sucK the truth; not, however,
the converse. -

[9] CHAPTER VI
THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE BY THE ONE INFINITE

GOD, FROM THE DIVINE LOVE BY MEANS OF THE

DIVINE WISDOM

1. Enlightened reason sees that the very first
origin of the world is love, and that the world was
created from that by means of wis~Il).. It is
owing to this and not anything else that the world
is, from its first things to its last things, a work that
is eternally self-consistent.
2. That the world was created from love by
means of wisdom, thus by means of the Sun l which
is pure Love with Jehovah God in the midst of it,
(I) This' Sun' is the Sun of the spiritual world, not to be confused
with the sun of the natural world. See above, chapter iv.
10

can be seen from the correspondence of love with
heat, and wisdom with light. By means of these
two, heat and light, the world continues in existence,
and year by year all the things on its surface are
created; and if they were both withdrawn, the
world would fall into chaos, and so into nothing.
-~. ---.....-.::-0
3. There are three things that follow in regular
sequence and go forth in inseparable companion
ship, namely, Love, Wisdom, and Use.
4. Love comes into existence by means of wis
dom, and in use continues in existence.
5. These three are in God, and the three of
them go forth from God.
6. The created universe consists of an endless
number of receptacles of those three.
7. Because love and wisdom come into existence
and continue in existence in use, the created
universe is a receptacle of uses, which, by reason
of their source, are limitless.
8. As all good is from God and good and use
are one, and as the created universe is the fulness
of uses in forms, it follows that the created universe
is the fulness of God.
9. That creation was effected from the Divine
Love by means of the Divine Wisdom is meant
by these words in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.... All things
were made by Him . . . and the world was made
by Him. [John i I, 3, 10.J
By "God" there is meant the Divine Good of
love, ana-by" the Word" which also was God,
the Divine Trulh -of wisdom.
11


10) Evils, or evil uses, did not come into existence
unUl after creation.

[10] CHAPTER VII

THE VERY END OF CREATION: IT IS AN ANGELIC
HEAVEN FROM THE HUMAN. RACE

1. In the created world there are continuous
progressions of ends, that is, progressions from
first ends, through intermediate ends, to last ends.
2. First ends are of love or are things relating
to love; intermediate ends are of wisdom or are
things relating to wisdom; last ends are of use
or are things relating to use. This is so because
the infinitely all things in God and from God are of
love, wisdom, and use.
3. These progressions of ends advance from
first things to last things, and then return from the
last things to the first things; they advance and
return in periods, called the cycles of things.
4. These progressions of ends are more universal
and less universal and are aggregates of individual
ends.
5. The most universal end, which is the end of
ends, is in God, and it goes forth from God from
the first things of the spiritual world to the last
things of the natural world; and then from these
last it returns to those first things, thus to God.
6. That most universal end, or end of ends from
God, is an angelic heaven from the hum~n race.
12

THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH [l1J
7. That most universal end is the aggregate of
all ends and of their progressions in both the
spiritual and natural worlds. l

[l1J ALTERNATIVELY
1. Love is a spiritual conjoining.
True love cannot remain inactive in itself,
nor be restricted within its own confines; but it
desires to go out and embrace others in love.
3. True love desires to be conjoined to others
and to impart and give its own things to them.
({ True love desires to dwell in others, and to
dwell in itself from others.
5. Divine love, which is love itself and God
Himself, desires to be in a subject that is an
image and likeness of Himself; consequently it
desires to be in man, and desires man to be in Hiril.
§. For this to be brought about, it follows frori!
the very.......e1>s-enceofthe love.-that.-EJn-OQd, l!.n~
h.~n~JQJ~n impelling r~a~.Q.!1, that a universe had
to be created by God, in which there should be
earths, upon which there should be men, and in
the men minds and souls with which a Divine love
can be conjoined.
7. All the things, therefore, that have been
created have regard to man as an end.
(I) In Ihe original MS., according to N., tbe three paragrapbs following.
numbered 8. 9 and 10. have a line deleting them. In Sk. this line is not
noted, and 8 and 9 make one paragraph. numbered 8, and what is here
numbered 10 is numbered 9.
8. That most universal end is tbe inmost and as it were tbe life
and soul, the force and effort, in evcry single created thing.
9. On account of this there is a binding connection between all
tbings in the created universe from the first to the last and from the
last to the first.
10. The preservation of the universe results from this end beinll
implanted in created things. in the whole and in the part.

Cf. no. II of the alternative version of this chapter.

13


8. Because the angelic heaven is formed of men,
of their spirits and souls, all the things that have
been created have regard to an angelic heaven
as an end.
9. The angelic heaven is the dwelling-place
itself of God with men, and of men with God.
10. Eternal blessednesses, happinesses, and
delights are ends of creation at the same time ;
because they are of love. .
11. This end is inmost; thus it is as it were the
life and soul, and as it were the force and effort
in every single created thing.
12. That end is God in them.
13. This end implanted in created things in the
whole and in the part causes the universe to be
preserved in its created state, in so far as the ends
of a contrary love do not hinder or overthrow.
14. God, in His Divine Omnipotence, Omni
presence, and Omniscience unceasingly provides
that contrary ends from contrary loves shall not
prevail, and the work of creation be overthrown
to the point of utter destruction.
15. Preservation is an unceasing creation, just
as subsistence is an unceasing coming forth.

[12J CHAPTER VIII
GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE, OMNISCIENCE, AND OMNI
PRESENCE
1. God's Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omni
presence do not come within the scope of the
human understanding because God's Omni
potence is infinite power, God's Omniscience is
infinite wisdom, and Omnipresence is infinite
presence in all the things that have gone forth and
14

that do go forth from Him; and indeed the
Infinite Divine does not come within the scope of a
finite understanding. 1
2. That God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and
Omnipresent is acknowledged without rational
investigation; for this flows in from God into
the higher part of the human mind, and thence,
with all with whom there is religion and sound
reason, into acknowledgement. It flows in also with
those with whom there is not religion; but with
these, there is not reception, and hence not
acknowledgement.
3. That God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and
Omnipresent, a man can himself confirm from
innumerable things that are matters of reason and
at the same time of religion, as for instance these
that follow :
4. First, God jl:lone is and exists in Himself;
and every otKer being ana everY-other thing is
from Him.
5. Second, God alone loves, is wise, and lives
and acts from Himself; every other being and
every other thing does so from Him.
6. Third, God alone has power-from Himself;
every other being and every other thing has power
from Him.
7. Consequently, God is the soul of the whole,
from which all beings and all things are, live, and
move.
8. Unless every single thing in the world and in
heaven had relation to One who is, lives, and has
power from Himself, theuniverse would be dissi
pated in a moment.
(I) In Sk. words follow here which N. regarded as a margiMl note :
All things proceed according to order. God is order.
15


9. On this account the universe was created by
God a fullness of God, wherefore He Himself said
that He is
the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End,
the Alpha and the Omega,. who was, is, and will be,
the Almighty. [Rev. i 8, I1.J
10. The preservation of the universe which is
an unceasing creation is complete evidence that
God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omni
present.
11. The reason contrary things, which are evils,
are not taken away because God is Omnipotent,
Omniscient, and Omnipresent, is that evils are
extraneous to subjects and created things and so
do not penetrate to the Divine things that are
within.
12. Of the Divine Providence, which indeed is
universal in_ the very s.J.llill!~st t~s, evils are
removea-more and more from The interiotsalliI
<;.ast-ojt to the outside, and in this way are con
veyed_ away and separate.s! in order that they
should not do any harm to the. internaLthings
that are Divine. 1 .

(I) The three following paragraphs are regarded by N. as annotations
and are not numbered. In Sk. the first and second are united as number
13. and the last is numbered as 14.
Tbere is Divine Omnipotence by means of His Human; this is
.. sittinll at the right hand" [Mark xiv 62 ; xvi 19; Matt. xxvi 64]
and beinll .. the First and the Last ", as is said of lhe Son of Man
in the Revelation [i 8, Ill. and it is lhere said lhal He is .. lhe
Almighty". The reason is that God acts from first things by means
of the last, and thus holds all lhings together.
The Lord acts from firsl things by means of the last things with
mCrl;liOf6'y means of anythinll of man's, but by what is His .own
in man; in the case of the Jews He acted by means of the Word
with t!iem, thus by what was His Own; by it also He performed
miracles through Elijah and E1ishir;-~t because the Jews perverted
the Word. God Himself came and made Himself" the Last" ; and
so then He performed miracles from Himself.
Tbere is an order first created, according to whieh God may act;
and therefore God Himself made Himself Order.
16

THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH [13-14J

[13J SUMMARIES
treating of
GOD THE REDEEMER JESUS CHRIST,
AND REDEMPTIONl

[14J CHAPTER I
IN JEHOVAH GOD THERE ARE TWO TffiNGS OF THE
SAME ESSENCE, DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM,
OR DIVINE GOOD AND DIVINE TRUTH

1. Both as a whole and individually, all things
in the two worlds, the spiritual and the natural,
have relation to love and wisdom, or to good and
truth, for God, Creator and Establisher of the
universe, is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or
Good itself and Truth itself.
2. Exactly as all things in man, both as a whole
and individually, have relation to the will and the
understanding, inasmuch as the will is the receptacle
of good or love, and the understanding is the
receptacle of wisdom and truth.
3. And exactly as all things in the universe in
respect of coming into existence and continuing
in existence have relation to heat and light; and
the heat in the spiritual world is in its essence love
and the light there in its essence is wisdom; and
the heat and light in the natural world correspond
to the love and wisdom in the spiritual world.
(1) Marginal Note : -
Falsities of faith cannot be conjoined with the good of charity.
The things successively predicted in Daniel and all the prophets.
About Christ [Matt. xxiv].
In Sk. this note has only a comma after" prophets ".
17


4. It is on this account that all things in the
Church have relation to charity and faith, ina&much
as charity is good and faith is truth.
5. Consequently in the prophetical Word there
are pairs of expressions, the one of which has
relation to good, and the other to truth, and thus
they have relation to Jehovah God who is Good
itself and Truth itself.
6. In the Word of the Old Testament" Jehovah "
signifies th~ Q~ Being (Esse) which is Divine
Good" and ", G~" signifies the .Ui.Y!ne Existing
"EStere) which IS Divine Truth,t; and "JeRovah
God" signifies both ; so alsoaoes " Jesus Christ".
7. Good is good, andtruthistrutIi, tQ~extenJ
that ~Y aLe-s.Q!!i~d and according t~
~nn~r in which they are conjoined.
L!. Good has existence b~ mea~ of tr~th;
consequently truth is good's f'OIID, and tlierefOre
good's quality. - - _.

[15J CHAPTER II
JEHOVAH GOD IN RESPECT OF DIVINE WISDOM OR
DIVINE TR.UTH DESCENDED AND TOOK TO m~F I)
A HUMAN IN THE VIRGIN MARY J
..-.::. -" -.::::=.

18

Human, except by means of the DivinLIr'!th,
as it was by means of the Divine Truth that from 1
the beginning~al.l-things were ma<te that were made.
4. It was possible for the DiYiIle--TIuth-tofight
against the hells, and it could be tempted, blas
phemed, reviled, and undergo suffering.
• 5. But it was not possible for the Divine Good ;
'. nor for God, except in a human conceived and

born in accordance with Divine order.

6. Jehovah God therefore descended iILrespect
oJ th~ Divine Truth and took to Himself a human.
7. This is in agreement with Sacred Scripture
and with reason enlightened therein and therefrom.
[16] CHAPTER III
THIS DIVINE TR UTH IS MEANT BY "THE WORD"
WHICH" BECAME FLESH" [John L]l
1. "Word" in Sacred Scripture ~s various
things; for instance, it signifies "..a-..th.ing. that
( really comes into existence ", then "the mind's
tMught", and thence" speech I t •

. 2. First of all it signifies everythin,., 'H~'
w . u
into existence from the moutlCot'tfo::l - :J~
-~
(I) Marginal Note :
The Hypostatic Word
The Son would not have been able to call Himself God, thus call
Himself the Father. No Son of God from eternity could descend
in accordance with the declaration of the doctrine. of the present
Church, inasmuch as :
I. He would not have been able to call Him His Father;
2. Nor would He have been able to say that all thing. of the
Father were His.
3. Nor that He who sees Him sees the Father;
4. At the Baptism and the Transfiguration God the Father would
not have been able to say:
This is My beloved Son. [Matl. Hi 17 ; xvii S.]
besides a number of passages from the Old Testament Word about
the Coming of the Lord, brought together in THE DoCTRINB OP
THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING TI-lE LORD, no. 6, and in them,
that Jehovah would come.
In Sk. this note follows in the text as number 8 of chapter ii.
19


forth, tl:!!ls the Divine Truth; then derivatively it
signifies Sacred Scripture, for therein Divine Truth
is in its essence and form. It is because of this
that the Divin~ TrUUL!Ltenned in a single ex-
I pression '~he-Ford ".
3. The" ten words" of the Decalogue signify
'
all Div,ine truths in the aggregate.
4." The Word" in consequence si@mes 1he
J Lord! tlie Reaeem~r and Sav~our; for all things
therem are from HIm, thus HImself.
5. It can be seen from these things that by " the
Word that in the beginning was with God" and
that" was God" and that was" with God beiQre
the world was" is meant the Divine Truth, which
before creation was inJehovafi,anoaTte"r creation
was from Jehgvah, ancrrrnal!Y was t~ Divine
I HUIDlln which Jehovah 1OQI< to RImset in time ;
for it is said that" the Word became flesh", that
is Qecame Man.
6.TIlehypostatic Word is nothing else than the
Divine Truth.
[17] CHAPTER IV
THE " HOLY SPIRIT" WHICH CAME (UPON MAiYl
SIGNiFIES THE DIVINE TRUTH, AND THE "POWER
OF THE HIGHEST" WHICH OVERSHADOWED HER
:1. SIGNIFIES THE DIVINE GOOD FROM WHICH THE
FORMER IS
1. The Holy S~irit is the Divine going forth,
JI thus the I >JVme Truth teaching, refonning, re
generating, and making anve:
2. This is the Divine Truth, which Jehovah God
spoke through the pro£b,ets, and which the Lord
-HImself spoke fromtIIS own mouth when He was
in the world.

20

3. This Divine Truth, ~ l!lso is~;-the Word~,

was in the Lord from His birth as a resulf oftfis

conception. Afterwards it was increased beyond

all measure, that is, infinitely, and this is meant

by the Spirit of Jehovah having been put upon Him.

[Isa. xlii 1 ; Matt. ill 16.]

. '4. The Spirit of Jehovah is called the Holy

Spirit inasmuch as " h~." in the Word is said of

r Divine Truth. It is because of this that the Lord's

human born in Mary is said to be "HOly"

{(LUke 1); and the Lord Himself is said to be the

L" Only Holy" (Rev. xv 4); and that others are

said to be holy, n()t from themselves, but from Him.
5. In .the Wo!£.; Divine Good is termed" the

Highest "; and so the " Power of the Highest"

[Luke i 35] signifies Power proceeding from

Divine Good.

6. These two things, therefore, " the Holy Spirit
f I cornin&-.llpon " and " the power of the Highest
l..oversfiadowing" signify both, namely, Divine
(Truth and Divine Good-the latter making the
I1.. soul and the former the body-and their being
communicated. -
7. Consequently, in the Lord when newly-born
those two were distinct, .as sow-anabodyare, bllt ~.;.r ....
)J
afterwards they were ~d. -r L,... - I'.>-' "'")J
8. In the same way as takes place in a man,

who is born and afterwards regenerated.

[18] CHAPTER V

THE HUMAN OF THE LORD JEHOVAH IS "THE SON

-
OF GOD SENT INTO THE WORLD" -
1. Jehovah God sent Himself into the world by
r.:D

-
taking to Himself a human.
21


2. This Human, conceived of Jehovah God, is
termed " the Son of God which was sent into the
world" [John iii 17J.
3. This Human is termed" the Son of God"
and" the Son of Man" ; n the Son of God;;IT;on
.4 aCCOUnt of ilieDivine Truth anat1lel5ivine Good

- in it, which is "the Word"; and" the Son 2fl
Man ~QP. account of Divine Truth and Good IrQlll
Hlliisetf, which is the doctrinel o~Church from
.
~~

"'1.5 the Word 11ieilce. • ~/jj
4. No other .. Son of God" is meant in the
Word than the Son who was born in the world.
5. A .. Son of God born from eternity" who is
a God by Himself is not from Sacred Scripture
and is also contrary to reason that is enlightened
by God.
6. This was devised and produced by the Nicene
Council as a refuge into which those could betake
themselves who wanted to keep clear of the
scandals spread by Arius and his followers con
cerning the Lord's Human.
7. The Primitive Church, called Apostolic, knew
nothing about the birth of any Son of God from
eternity.
[19] CHAPTER VI
THE LORD, IN THE DEGREE THAT HE WAS, IN RESPECT
OF THE HUMAN, IN DIVINE TRUTH SEPARATE~Y, WAS}
IN A STATE OF EXINANlTION ; BUT IN THrDEG~E_E
THAT HE WAS WITH DIVINE GOOD, C0J:lJOINTLY, HE }
WAS IN A STATE OF G.~~N
I. The Lord had two states : the one called a
- - - - - - - - - - - -..- - -,,~TJle ",- -
(1) This rendering follows Sk. N. has do~trinae
- - - which
would be, " of the doctrine of the Church ". Ttiere is ( out note.
U Sce below chap. v, no. 9.", which may refer lo the section on IfThe
Holy Spirit".
22

state of exinanition , the other a state of glorifica
1

tion.
2. The state of exinanition was also a state of
humiliation before the Father, but the state of
glorification. was a state of being united with the
Father.
3. The· Lord, when in the state of exinanition or
humiliation, prayed to the Father as to one
absent or far off, but when in the state of glorifica
tion or of being united He spoke with Himself
when He spoke with the Father; exactly as in the
case of man there are states of the soul and the
body before and after regeneration.
4. The Lord, when in the Divine Truth, separ
ately, was in the state of exinanition, inasmuch as
the Divine Truth could be attacked by the hells,
or by the devils there, and could be reviled by men ;
therefore the Lord when in the Divine Truth
separately could be tempted and could suffer.
5. On the other hand, however, the Lord when
in Divine Good conjointly could not, either by
devils in hell, or by men in the world, be tempted
or made to suffer; for the Divine Good cannot
be approached, still less assailed.
6. The Lord, in the world, was alternately in
those two states.
7. In no other way was it possible for the Lord
to become Righteousness and Redemption.
8. The like takes place with a man being
regenerated by the Lord.
9. This from experience, reason, and Sacred
Scripture.
(I) The term .. exinanition .. is used in the Latin Vulgate in Pbilipp.
ii 7... made himself of no reputation". The literal translation of tbe
Greek is .. emptied himself". Cr. Isa. lill 12... he pOured out his soul
unto deatb ". See also True Christian Religion. no. 104.
23


[20J CHAPTER VII
THE LORD, BY MEANS OF TEMPTATIONS, AND FULLY

BY THE PASSION OF THE CROSS, UNITED THE DIVINE

TRUTH TO THE DIVINE GOOD, AND THE DIVINE GOOD

TO THE DIVINE TRUTH, THUS THE HUMAN WITH THE

DIVINE OF THE FATHER, AND THE DIVINE OF THE

FATHER WITH THE HUMAN

1. The Lord, in the world, admitted into Him
self, and underwent severe and terrible temptations
from the hells, and in the end the last of them,
which was the passion of the cross.
2. In the temptations the Lord fought with the
hells, but He conquered and subjugated them.
3. He thereby reduced the hells to order, and
then at the same time the heavens where angels
are and the Church where men are, as the state
of the one is at all times dependent on the state
of the other.
4. The Lord, furthermore, by means of His
temptations and rejections, and finally by the
passion on the cross, represented the state of the
Church, such as it then was, in respect of Divine
Truth, thus in respect of the Word.
5. The Lord, by fulfillin the Word and by
fu
means of temptations;-anaruly by the last of the
temptations which was the passion on the cross,
glorified the Human.
6. He thus took away the universal damnation
threatening not only Christendom but the whole
world also and the angelic heaven as well.
7. This is what is meant by His" bearing" and
.. taking away" the sins of the world.
24

8. He underwent the temptations and the
rejections when. in the state of truth separately,
which was His state of exinanition.
9. The'conjoining of the spiritual man with the
natural, and of the natural man with the spiritual,
is effected by means of temptations.

[21] r- .:.... _r.
J .. CHAPTER VIII
'_ ..... ''i J /
AFTER THE--UNITIN~WAS COMPLET~ HE RETURNEJ?
INTO THE DIVINEINVl!ICIf'HE""'WAS FROM ETERNITY,
TOGETHER WITH, AND IN, THE GLORIFIED-HUMAN-

1. From eternity Jehovah God had a human
such as angels in the heavens have, but of infinite
essence, thus Divine: He did not have such a
human as men on the earths have.
2. Jehovah God took to Himself such a Human
as men on the earths have in accordance with His
Divine Order, which is, that it should be conceived,
be born, grow up, and should drink in Divine
Wisdom and Divine Love, successively.
3. Thus He united this Human with His Divine
from eternity, and in this manner He " came forth
from the Father and returned to the Father"
[John xv:i 28].
4. Jehovah God, in this Human, and by means
of it, " executed righteousness" and made Himself
Redeemer and Saviour.
5. And by uniting it with His Divine He made
Himself Redeemer and Saviour to eternity.
6. Jehovah God by the union of this Human
with His Divine exalted His Omnipotence. This
is meant by " sitting on the right hand of God ..
[Mark xvi 19].
25

[22J THE CANONS OF THE NEW ~HURCH

7. lehovah God in this Human is above the
heavens, enlightening the universe with the light
of wisdom, and inspiring into the universe the
excellence of love.
8. Those two gifts are what they receive who
approach Him as a Man and live according to His
precepts.
9. In the view of angels lehovah God alone is a
full Man.

[22] CHAPTER IX
JEHOYAH GOD SUCCESSIVELY PUT OFF THE HUMAN)
FROM THE MOTHER ~...f.UT ON THE HUMAN FROM
THE FATHER, AND IN THIS WAY HE MADE THAT
HUMAN DIVINE

1. The soul of an offspring is from its father
and it clothes itself in the womb with a body from
the mother's substance; as, by analogy, a seed
does in the earth, and from the earth's substance.
2. Hence there is present in the body an image
of the father, at first obscurely, afterwards more
and more plainly, as a son applies himself to his
father's pursuits and duties.
3. Christ's b_ody,,..in so-far as it was from !!le )
mother's substance, was not life in itself, but a
recipienf of life from the Divine williin Him,
which was Life in itself.
4. Successively, as He exalted the Divine

Wisdom and the Divine Love with Himself, Christ

took upon Himself the Divine Life, which is Life

in itself.

5. In the :Qroportion that He took upon Himself

Life in itself from the Divine in itself, Christ lout

26

5....
- ')
.1
'--

r1."'k
1- ~

D .H. L-. ...... ~ 0;... {'I- clY-'i

Tc~
(7

[23] CHAPTER X

,.,.. ) THE DIVINE FROM ETERNITY- AND THE HUMAN IN

I TIME,~A~SOU"L AND WODY, ARE oNA' PERSON
lJ-. '1-0 .~ - - WHO IS JEHOVAH
1. In Jesus Christ the Divine from eternity and ~1
the human in-Lime are united as are the soul and j.L._
body 1ft a man.
2. The uniting was and is reciprocal, and is
thus a full uniting.
3. Consequently, God and man, that is the
Divine and the human, are One Person.
4. In the Lord'sJlilllan all the Father's Divine
things are pre_s~nt at the same time.
' 5. Thus,fhe !I~s the One only God who from
I
J
eternity had, to eternity will have, all power

in the heavens and on the earths.

6. He is " the First and the Last", " the Begin

ning and the End ", " who was, is, and is to come ",

" the Alpha and the Omega", " the Almighty".

27

(24) THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH

7. He)is " Father of Eternity", "Jehovah our
Righteousness ", "Jehovah Saviour and Re
deemer ", " Jehovah Zebaoth ".
8. Those whg.ap-l2roach Hi~as Jehovah and as
the Father are united to Him, become Hissons,
N'3
and are spoken of as " sons of God". J .
9. They are receptacles of His Divin~ Human.

REDEMPTIONl
~24) CHAPTER I
A CHURCH IN THE COURSE OF TIME TURNS AWAY
FROM THE GOOD OF CHARITY, AND WHILE DOING SO
TURNS TOWARDS FALSITIES OF FAITH, AND SO ~
~
1. There is a Church in the heavens and a
(I) It would appear from the copy made by Johansen that before
proceeding with this section Swedenborg made some notes in the MS.
A title for the section on .. The Holy Spirit" was written and scored out.
This was followed by a draft of chapter headings for that section, which
we have included in a footnote at the be~innins of that section. where it
evidently belongs. See p. 40. Then. Immediately after the heading
" Redemption", the following general observations are found in both
MS. copies. N. leaves them unnumbered and marks them as "Annota
tions in the Margin", while Sk. calls them" Summaries" and numbers
them aLhere :
~,Redemptio'!ltself consistedjn subjugating the hells and puttingJ
the hea'Vens iiitOoraer;ancrUiUspreparing for a new spiritual Church.
2. Without that redemption no man could have been saved, nor
could any angel have continued in his state of happiness.
3. The Lord redeemed not only men but angels as well.
4. Redemption was a work purely Divine.
5. This redemption could not have been effected except by God
Incarnate.
6. The passion of the cross was the final temptation whicb He
as the greatest Prophet endured, and by means of which also He
might truly subjugate the hells and glorify His Human; thus it
wa:; a means of redemption, but was not redemption.
n:--'rrhe belief) that the passion of the cross was redemptionl
it$e!f is arundameniill error 'of the Church.
-s:-'rbat error,-together with thc"etror about three Divine Persons
from eternity, has perverted the whole Church to such a degree that
there is no spiritual residue of it remaining.
T~errQrs that have ari~nJrom the present-day [~eJ:l-tbat
redemption IS the 'ii1iSSion-oT tlie cross al'e'115' bhnumerate ,
28 .~

Church on earth, and they make' a one, like the
internal and the external with a man.
2. The Church in either world is together before
the Lord as one man, and appears so before
angels.
3. Hence a Church may be compared to a man
who is first an infant, then a youth, afterwards a
man, and finally an old man.
J While it is an infant a Church is in the good I
of charity, while a youth and a man it is in the
truths of faith from that good, and when an old
man it is in the marriage of charity and faith.
~ When a Church is such, and continues to be
such, it lasts for ever, but it is otherwise if it
recedes from tne-g-60"d of charity of its infancy.
6. If a Church recedes from the good of charity
of its infancy, it i$ in the dark about truths, and
falls into falsities as a blind man falls into pits.
7. The four essentials of a Church are the
recognition of God, the recognition of the goods
of charity, the recognition of the verities of faith,
and a life in accordance with them.
8. When a Church recedes from charity it
recedes also from those four essentials. At the
same time falsities in regard to God, charity, faith
and worship, flow in.
(2) These flow i!!.. into the/Church's leaders and
'ram g~§lJf&~ p~QPIe1 asJrom a le~to
'*' Itf"Eo y. '"
~There are two reasons why falsities flowing
into the leaders flow out again tUm.Lthem : oneis
the love of having dominion, arising from the love
29


of self, the other is understanding things from one's
RIQR.Q.um1 and not from Sacred Scripture.
1I. When that is the case, from a single falsity
there flow forth falsities in a continual series, and
!his goes on until there is nothing of truth remaiii:
mg.
12. When Sacred Scripture is applied in confirma
tion of them, it is then completely falsified and so
the Church perishes.
[25] CHAPTER II
THE END OF A CHURCH IS NEAR WHEN IN THE

NATURAL WORLD THE POWER. OF EVIL- THROUGH

FALSlIIES BEglNLTO ~REVAIL OYER THE POWER OF

GOOD THROUGH TRUTHS, AND THEN AT THE SAME

TIME AS THAT THE POWER OF HELL ABOVE THE

POWER OF HEAYEN

I. Every man comes after death into his own
good and the truth thence, in which he was in the
world; or similarly into his own evil and the
falsity thence.
2. Those who are in good and thence in truth
come into heaven : those in evil and thence in
falsity come into hell.
!&>Those who are in good on earth are interiorly
in truths, and, if they are· in falsities, still after
death they receive truths agreeing with their good ;
the reverse is the case, however, with those who are
in evils. This is because good and evil are of the
will, and the will iL.a man's bei.nL'(~ tile
erstanding having existence therefrom.
4. To what extent good is prevailing on earth
(1) The Latin word proprium means H what is one's own to. Sweden
barK uses it in a special sense involving wllatiso!..!...h[gl'.
30

THE CANONS OF THE NEW CHURCH , [25J
over evil, or evil over gQod, is disc:erned in the
spiritual world from the state of heaven-aiid--:§f
hell; inasmuch as every man is gathered to his
own after death, that is, he comes into his own
evil or his own good, and as heaven and hell are
from the human race.
5. This for many reasons cannot be discerned
at all on earth.
( 6~etween heaven and hell there is IUlJnteQl.Q.l,
w'h-erein evil breathed out from hell ascends and

I
good from heaven descends, and where they meet.
7. Midway' in lhi§...iI!~~1 there is equilibrium
between good and evil.
8. It is from this equilibrium that the extent to
which good is prevailing against evil, or evil against
I good, is discerned.
9. There the Lord weighs it, as in a balance.
10. This equilibrium becomes raised ·towards
heaven as evil prevails against go<Xt,""iind is de-
It~1~ tow..a,r.d~-!lell as ,good prevails against eviT;
e acf6eing that good from heaven depresseS-it
and evil from hell raises it.
-11 This equilibrium is as it were a footstool for
"the-angels of heaven into which their good comes
to a termination and upon which it rests-.--~
trIil the_ degretlhaJ Jhl~_e_qym9ri.!!mjsraised,
( the happiness of the angels of heaven, arismgTrom
their goods and the truths thence, is diminished.
13. When evil prevails against good onearth,
then at the same time hell prevails against heaven.
14. It is clear from the above that the end of the
Church is near, when the power-of evilprevarrs
over the power of good.
15. It is said "the power of good through
truths" and "power of evil through falsities"
31


because it is . t~ough ~ruths that.good haU'~~,
1 and througli falsities that evil has power.

[26J CHAPTER III

AS A CHURCH TURNS AW Ay FROM GOOD TO EVIL,
SO ALSO DOES IT TURN AW Ay FROM INTERNAL TO
EXTERNAL WORSHIP

1. In so far as evil increases in a Church, the
man of the Church bec.omes extern~.
2. In so far as the man of the Church becomes
external, he becomes iv' ed, that is, eviJ in
internals aria aving the appearance of goocfTri1fie
externats. -
3. Every man after death becomes finally such
as he was in internaIs, not such as he was in
externals. -
4.JIt is moreover owing to this that the world,
jùoging as it does from externals, does not dlScern
what the state of the Church is; then 'too~ it dOês
not discern either how the Church is growing
weaker and dec1ining to its end. - -.
5. Every man has an internaI and an external,
termed ,the internaI maj} and the exter~~_~.
6) In the internai man it is tlw wjlL thus .the
titRs .c.hieLlQy~. that has dominion; but in the
external man his understandin~ hgs do.mini9n, and
ihis is weil ciispôsed towards t e internaI, whether
it be c1early, cautiously, or craftily.
7. If the internaI man is evil and the external
man good, then in the latter the internaI man is a
disse!.Ubler ano·anypoênte.------~-
32

8. No man is good in respect of his internai
man unless he is so from the Lord.

[27] CHAPTER IV
THE PROGRESSION OF A CHURCH TOWARDS ITS END,
AND THE END ITSELF, ARE DESCRIBED IN VERY MANY
P~ACES IN THE WORD

1. A successive decreasing of good and truth
and increasing of evil and falsity in a Church is
termed in the Word -its "beinglaid waste" and
.. becoming desolate".
2. Hs final state, when there is nothing of good
or truth remaining, is there termed " consumma-
tion " and" being cut off".
3. The end itself of a Church is the" fulness rof
timeJ ".
4. The same things also are meant in the Word
by " evening" and " night " .
5. And also by these things in the Prophets and
in the Gospels : then shall the sun be darkened,
the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall
fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shaH be shaken. 1
;:) Then the Church exists no longer excep!- in
~~~; nevertheless, there iUhis wremnanf" in
1
it, tnat a man,jf he wishes, can know anërunder-
stand truths, and canCIO'goods. 2 • ,

(1) s.elsa. xiii 10; Ezek. xxxii 7; Joelii 10, 31 ; iii 15; Amos viii 9 ;
Matt. xxiv 29; Mark xiii 24; Luke xxi 25, 26; Rev. vi 12, 13 ; viii 10, 12.
(2) In the margin of N. by anotber band are tbe words : But DOW
hardly one in the whole of Christendom wisbes to know.

4 33


[28J CHAPTER V

AT THE END OF A CHURCH TOTAL DAMNATION IS

THREATENING BOTH MANKIND ON EARTH AND THE

ANGELS IN THE HEAYENS

1. Every man is in the equilibrium that is between
heaven and hell, and on that account in freedom
to look or to turn either towards heaven or
towards hell.
2. Every man after death comes at first into this
equilibrium, and so into a state of life similar to
the one in which he was in the world.
3. Those who in the world had looked and turned
towards heaven or towards hell look and turn in
the same way after death.
4. At the end of a Church when the power of
evil is prevailing over the power of good, this
equilibrium is swollen and filled out by the wicked
arriving like a fioQ9 from the world. l
@ The result is that the equilibr~um is pu~
W'_nearer and nearer to heaven and, according to
Its nearness to them, infests the angels there.
~ ~o are within the raised equilibrium are
intc:.ri'Orly internal and~t~,i.orlYYl2J!l.
7.)These, being of such a nature, are constantly
endeavouring !.Q destroy the heaven above them,
doing so moreover by,,=-crafty methods derived
from hell, with which in respect oftheir interiors,
they make a one.
(I) For a fuller description of this equilibrium between heaven and hell
see HeaYen and Hell. nos. 589-596. See also chapter ii above. no. [25],
34

8. This is why at the end of a Church destruction
and consequent' d~iInnaI16i11hreaten angels in
heaven also. .
9. Unless a judgment is then effected, no man
on earth could be saved nor could any angel in
the heavens continue ~ his_state of safety.

[29J CHAPTER VI
JEHOYAH GOD, BY HIS COMING INTO THE WORLD,

WITHST00I? THAT TOTAL_DAMISATION, AND THEREBY

REDEEMED MANKIND ON EARTH AND ANGELS IN THE

HEAVENS

1. Jehovah God Himself came into the world
to deliver men and angels from the insolt<nce and
violence of hell and thus from damnation.
, T This He effected by combats against hell and
by victories over it ; and He subjugated it, reduced
it to order, and set it under His control.
3. Moreover, after thiS}Udgment~He created,
that is formed, a new heaven, and by means of this
a new Church.
4. By these acts Jehovah God put Himself into
the ability to save all who believe in Him and do
His commandments.
{ 5. So He redeemedJ11 in the whole world and
all in the wllole heaven.
6. This is the Gospel He commanded to be
preached in all the world.
7. This Gospel is for those who are penitent,
but not fQ.r those who purposely transgress His
commandments.
35

(30] THE CANONS OF THE NEW CH URCH

(30] CHAPTER VII
THE LORD WHEN IN THE WORLD ENDURED THE MOST
GRIEVOUS TEMPTATIONS FROM THE HELLS AS WELL
AS FROM THE JEWISH CHURCH, AND BY VICTORIES IN
THEM HE REDUCED ALL THINGS TO ORDER, AND AT
THE SAME TIME GLORIFIED HIS HUMAN; THUS HE
REDEEMED ANGEL~ AND MEN AND IS FOR EVER
REDEEMING THEM
1. All spiritual temptations are combats against
evils and falsities, and therefore against the hells ;
these temptations are the more grievous in pro
portion as they assail a man's spirit and his body
at the same time, and torture both.
2. The Lord endured the most grievous tempta
tions of all, because He fought against all the hells,
and against the evils and falsities of the Jewish
Church as well.
3. In the Gospels the Lord's temptations are
only described to a small extent, by his combat
with wild beasts, that is with satans in hell, during
the forty days in the wilderness, and afterwards by
the attacks of the devil, and finally by His anguish
in Gethsemane and by the cruel suffering on the
cross. 1 . •• His temptations or combats with the
helis are, however, described in greater detail and
fulness in the Prophets and in David; these
because they were not visible, could not be openly
declared. [Isa. lxiii.]
4. The Lord underwent these temptations to
subjugate the hells that were attacking heaven,
and at the same time the Church, and to deliver
(I) N. has a mark here as il there were some omissions. Perhaps
space was left for references to the Word.
36

angels and men from that attack, and so to
save them.
. The end-in-view of all spiritual temptation is
tlie~ubduing of evil and falsity, and soornellas
well, then too the subduing of the external man
at the same time, for it is into this that evils and
falsities from hell inflow. For temptations are)
concerned with the dominion of evil over ~g60Q,
~ of~th~~xternal man over the internal. Which
ever side, .therefore, s_ecures victory ~ secures
dominion also. And so, when victory is on the I
side of gooa, good seizes dominion over evil, as
does also the internal man over the external.
6. The Lord suffered those temptations from
childhood right on to the last period of his life,
and so subjugated the hells successively, and suc
cessively glorified His Human; and in the last
temptation on the cross, the most grievous of all,
He fully conquered the heUs, and made His Human
Divine.
7. The Lord fought with the heUs, and also

against the falsities and evils of the Jewish Church,

as Divine Truth itself, or the Word, which He

was; and He suffered Himself to be reviled, to

have indignities heaped upon Him, and tQ Quut

to death, just as the Church at that time did with

the Word. It was in almost the same way the

prophets were treated, be~us_e th~y repre?e.n.~ed

the Lord in respect of the Word, and so in the case

ofthe Lord, who was .The Prop~t, because He

wast:ne"WOrd itself. That this was done was in

accordance-Wiffil)ivine Order. 1

or A marginal note here reads: See DOCTRINE OF THE LORD nos. IS,
16, 17 in reference to the representations by the proPMl~ the state
of the Church; as well as its being said four times ot$zc e that" he
bears the iniquities of the house of Israel"; and that t e Lord was
lied the ~eatest ProJ'het.
n


8. An image of the Lord's victories over the
hells and of the glorification of His Human, by
means of temptations, is presented in man's
regeneration; for just as the Lord subjugated the
hells and made His Human Divine, so, in a man's
case, He subjugates them and makes him spiritual,
and so regenerates him.
9. It is well known that the Lord rescues a man
from the jaws of the devil, that is of hell, and raises
him to Himself into heaven, and that He does this
for the man by drawing him back from evils, which
is effected through his contrition and repentance.
These two states are temptations which are means
of regeneration. l
[31J CHAPTER VII12
IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE FOR REDEMPTION TO BE
EFFECTED, NOR CONSEQUENTLY FOR THERE TO BE
SALVATION, EXCEPT BY GOD I~~IE
1. The Word of the Old and New Testaments
teaches that God became incarnate.
2. All the Church's worsnip-prior to God be
coming incarnate foreshadowed and had respect
(I) The following annotations, of which the first is underlined, are
found at the end of this chapter :
The Lord as a Prophet carried the iniquities of the Jewish Church,
He did not take them away.
His glorification, or His being united with the Divine_ofthe1'!ther,
which was in Him~_I1fe soulAinaman, coulcIOiUYDe accoRPlished
bra reciprocal process; tne Ruman co-operates wilh the Divine;
it is however originally from lhe Divine, nevertheless lhere is
reception and action, or rather reaction, by the Human as of Itself.
To the extent thal lbere was conjunction, it was broughl about by
both together.
th:L~~d. same way as a man is regener~ed a!!.d majupiritual by
When He was an infant, He was as an infant is; when He was a
child and from childhood onwards, He grew in wisdom. Luke ii 40, 50.
rt was not possible for Him to be born wisdom, but He could
become wisdom in accordance with order. He progressCl! to fuij
conjunction.
(2) This cbapter was not in Sk.
38

to Him who was afterwards incarnate; for that
reason, and for no other, that worship was Divine.
3. God Incarnate is "Jehovah our Righteous
ness ", "Jehovah our Redemption ", "Jehovah
our Salvation", " Jehovah our Truth"; and all
these are meant by the two names, Jesus Christ.
4. It was not possible for God not incarnate to
fight against the hells and overcome them.
5. It was not possible for God not incarnate to
be tempted, and still less for Him to suffer the cross.
6. It was not possible for God not incarnate
to be seen and recognized, nor consequently to be
approached and thus conjoined with men and
angels, except through Himself incarnate.
7. There cannot be faith in a God not incarnate,
only in Him incarnate.
8. This is why it was said by people of old that
no one can see God and live [Exod. xxxiii 20J, and
why the Lord said that no one hath seen the
Father's shape nor heard His voice [John v 37J.
9. And why, too, God showed Himself visibly
to people of old through angels in a human form,
a form representative of God Incarnate.
10. All God's operating is effected from first
things through last things, thus from His Divine
through His Human. It is on this account that
God is " the First and the Last, who is, who was,
and who is to come" [Rev. i 8, 11, 17J.
11. In the ultimates of God all Divine things
are present together, thus in our Lord Jesus Christ
are all things of His Father.
12. It follows from these propositions that
redemption_G-ould not have been effected by any
means whatever except by God Incarnate.
39


13. Nor can there be salvation either, except by
God Incarnate, thus only by the Lord Redeemer
and Saviour; and this salvation is a perpetual
redemption.
14. It is for this reason that those who believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ" have eternal life ", and
that those who do not believe in Him have not
that life [John Hi 15, 16, 36].

THE HOLY SPIRIT
[32J [UNIVERSALSJ1 2

I. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE DIVINE THAT PRO
CEEDS FROM THE ONE, INFINITE, OMNI
POTENT, OMNISCIENT, AND OMNIPRESENT
GOD.
(1) The following is written here in the original. but crossed out :
"Universals. Special attributes, not general or communicable. Alterna
tive,essential attributes."
(2) A draft of headings for this section is found in N. at the end of the
section on "The Lord the Redeemer ", as follows :
The Holy Spirit is the Divine that proceeds from the One Infinite
God; and it is the operation and virtue proceeding from God
[by means of the Human, which] was taken on in the world.
It proceeds out of the Lord and from God the Father.
Cn-proceeds to the clergy and from_!hem lo...:t!!e ~'lY. i )1
l( 'proceeds from the-Lord by 'means of the Wor .
It is the Divine virtue and operation that is meant by the Holy
Spirit : this is renewal, reformation, regeneration. and following
these, vivification, sanctification, and justification, and following
these, purification from evils, remission of sins, and salvation.
By a man's spirit is meant his intelligence, and so it is also his
virtue and operation proceeding from that.
The Holy Spirit is the Divine operation and virtue proceeding
from the One God.
It proceeds out of the Lord from God the Father, and not the
reverse.
It is operation and virtue that is understood . . . .

The end-in-view of this operation by the Lord through the Word.

It is an inflowing into men who believe in the Lord, and, un
accordan~"order" into the cleray. and so by me.ans...oLtllem to
I

I
thdai,U':
In Sk. the last five of these propositions are, with some combination
and modification, added to the nine universals " above, making twelve
U

in all, and numbered accordingly.
40

II. IN ITS ESSENCE THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THAT GOD
HIMSELF, BUT IN THE THINGS SUBORDINATE
TO HIM WHERE IT IS RECEIVED IT IS THE
DIVINE PROCEEDING.
Ill. THE DIVINE, CALLED THE HOLY SPIRIT,
PROCEEDS FROM THAT GOD HIMSELF BY
MEANS OF HIS HUMAN, COMPARATIVELY AS
THAT WHICH PROCEEDS FROM A MAN,
THAT IS, WHAT HE TEACHES AND PERFORMS,
FROM HIS SOUL BY MEANS OF HIS BODY.
IV. THE DIVINE, CALLED THE HOLY SPIRIT, PRO-
GEEDING FROM GOD BY MEANS OF HIS
HUMAN, PASSES THROUGH THE ANGELIC
HEAVEN, AND THROUGH THIS INTO THE
WORLD, THUS THROUGH ANGELS INTO MEN.
V. THENCE IT PASSES THROUGH MEN TO MEN,
AND, IN THE CHURCH,~IEFLY THROUQ!!
THE CLERGY TO 'I!::!E LAITY ; THAT WHICH
IS HOLY IS CONTINUALLY GIVEN, AND IT
DRAWS BACK IF THE LORD IS NOT AP-
PROACHED.
VI. THE DIVINE PROCEEDING, CALLED THE HOLY
SPIRIT, IN ITS OWN SPECIAL SENSE, IS THE
HOLY WORD, AND IN THIS, THE DIVINE
TRUTH.
VII. ITS OPERATION IS INSTRUCTION, REFORMA-
TION, AND REGENERATION, AND IN CONSE-
QUENCE VIVIFICATION AND SALVATION.
VIII. To THE EXTENT THAT ANYONE RECOGNIZES
AND ACKNOWLEDGES THE DIVINE TRUTH
THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE LORD, HE
RECOGNIZES AND ACKNOWLEDGES GOD,
AND TO THE EXTENT THAT ANYONE DOES
THIS DIVINE TRUTH, HE IS IN THE LORD
AND THE LORD IS IN HIM.
41


IX. ~PIRIT, IN THE CASE OF A MAN, IS .INTELLI
GENCE AND WHATEVER PROCEEDS THERE
FROM.

[33J CHAPTER I
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE DIVINE THAT PROCEEDS

FROM THE ONE, INFINITE, OMNIPOTENT, OMNISciENT,

AND OMNIPRESENT GOD BY MEANS OF HIS HUMAN

TAKEN ON IN THE WORLD

1. The Holy Spirit is not" by itself, or inde
pendently, a God, nor does it proceed from God
the Father by means of the Son, like a Person
proceeding from Persons, in accordance with the
doctrine of the present-day Church.
2. This is quite inconsistent, the definition of the
term "person" being that it is not a part or
quality in another, but has a continuing existence
on its own.
3. It is also inconsistent that, although the
peculiar nature and quality of the one are separate
from those of the other, nevertheless they are one
undivided essence.
4. Not only does this result inevitably in an idea
of three Gods, but in an avowal of three Gods as
well; yet, in accordance with the Athanasian
Creed, these three must not, on account of Christian
faith, be spoken of as three but as one.
5. The truth is that, from eternity or before
creation, there were not three Persons each one of
Whom was God; thus there were not three
Infinites, three Uncreates, three Immeasureable,
Eternal, Omnipotent Beings, but One.
42

6. On the contrary, it was after creation that a
Divine Trinity came into being, for then from the
Father was born the Son, and from the Father by
means of the Son proceeds the Holy called the
Holy Spirit.
7. Consequently, because the Father is the Soul
and Life of the Son, because the Son is the Human
Body of the Father, and because the Holy Spirit
is the Divine proceeding, it follows that they are
of one and the same Substance, and therefore they
do not continue in existence independently, but
conjointly.
8. And because the peculiar attributes of the
one, in accordance with order, are derived into and
pass over into the second, and from this into the
third, they are One Person, and so One God.
9. Comparatively as in every angel and in every
man all his activity proceeds from the soul by
means of the body.
10. Reason, enlightened by Sacred Scripture,
perceives this; accordingly it is the trinity of a
Person that is God's Trinity, not a Trinity of
Persons, because this is a Trinity of Gods.

[34J CHAPTER II
THE HOLY SPIRIT, BECAUSEl IT PROCEEDS FROM TB!!
ONI! GOD BY MEANS OF illS.HUMAN, IS IN ITS ESSENCE
THAT SAME GOD; BUT IN REFERENCE TO~_{)1l0RDINg13
TillNGS WH1CH ARE SPATIAL IT IS TO ALL APPEARANCE
THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. What God was before creation, such He is
after it ; and so, such as He has been from eternity,
such He is to eternity.
(1) N. here has qui (" who" or" which "), but Sk. has quia ("because").
. 43


2. Before creation God was not in an extended
space, nor is He after creation either, to eternity.
3. Consequently God is present in space apart
from space and in time apart from time.
4. Thus the Holy Spirit proceeding from the
One God, by means of His Human, is that same
God.
5. Because God is everywhere the same, it
cannot be said that He proceeds, except in ap
pearance in reference to spaces, for these do
proceed; just as is the case to all appearance with
subordinate things which are in spaces.
6. And because these spaces are in the created
world, it follows that the Holy Spirit there is the
Divine proceeding.
7. The fact of God's Omnipresence is ample
proof that the Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding
from the One and Indivisible God, and is not a
God as a person by himself.

1);) J:,... •
[35] CHAPTER III
j-....- j ''-''=-..
THE DIVINE CALLED THE HOLY SPIRIT, PROCEEDING

FROM GOD BY MEANS OF HIS HUMAN, PASSES THROUGH

THE ANGELIC HEAVEN INTO THE WORLD, THUS

THROUGH ANGELS INTO MEN

1. The One God in His Human is above the
angelic heaven, being visible there as a Sun, from
which proceed love as heat and wisdom as light.
2. Thus the Holy of God, called the Holy Spirit,
flows in regular order into the heavens, directly
iiiiOtiiehfghest heaven, called the third heaven,
44

directly and also mediately into the middle heaven,
called the second, and likewise into the outermost
heaven, called the first.
3. Through these heavens it flows into the
world, and through this into men there.
4. Nevertheless angels of heaven are not the
Holy Spirit.
5. All the heavens together with the Churches
on earth are, in the sight of the Lord, as a single
man.
6. The Lord alone is the soul and life of that
man, and all those who are filled with breath by
Him, and live from Him, are His body ; this is the
reason for its being said that the faithful compose
the Lord's body, and that they are in Him, and He
is in them.
7. The Lord flows in into angels of heaven and
into men of the Church in much the same way as
the soul, with men, flows into the body.

[36J CHAPTER IV
THENCE IT PASSES THROUGH MEN TO MEN, AND, IN

THE CHURCH, CHIEFLY THROUGH THE CLERGY TO

THE LAITY

I. No one can receive the Holy Spirit exceQt
from the Lord Jesus Christ, because It proceeds
from GoOfneFather through Him, and by the
Holy Spirit is meant the Divine proceeding.
2. No one can receive the Holy Spirit, that is,
the Divine truth and good, unless he aQE!:9aches
t~e LQId directly and is at the same time in cnanty
(dilectione)l.
(I) DUectia is used in the Vulgate~c-'1r charity. In T.C.R. 409
it is slated, " This is why He so frequei1tTy taughi'loviig-kindncss (dUecl/a),
( and this is charity."
- ' 45


3. The Holy Spirit, that is, the Divine proceed
ing, never becomes man's but is constantly the
Lord's with him.
4. The Holy, meant by the Holy Spirit, therefore,
does not become inherent in man, and it only
remains with the man receiving it for so long as he
believes in the Lord and is at the same time in the
doctrine of truth from the Word and a life in
accordance with it.
5. The Holy meant by the Holy Spirit is not
transferred from one man to another, but from the
Lord, through one man to another.
6. God the Father does not send the Holy Spirit,
that is, His Divine, through the Lord into man ;
the Lord sends it from God the Father.
n.) A clergyman, because it is frop1 the Word he
has- to teach doctrine concerning tIle Lord, and
co-ncerning redemption and salvation by Him,
~l1ould b~ inaugurated by the solemn promise
(sponsionem) of the Holy' Spirit and by a repre
sentation of its transfer; t§:1l It is received from i
the clergyman according to the faith of his [the
recipient'sJ life.
8. The Divine, meant by the Holy Spirit, pro
ceeds to the layman from the Lord by means of
the clergyman, through the things preached, in
(I) The Latin reads" sed quod e clerico recipiatur secundum fidem
vitae ejus ". which is susceptible of several interpretations. Worcester
assumes the" e" to be a copyist's error for Ha", and~enders bilt U

it is received by the clergyman according to the faith offjlis life". But
the two MSS. have" e ". and it is unlikely that both shouf,f have made
the mistake. Retaining the" e ". there are two explanations: (A) that
" derieo" refers to the officiating clergyman and the 11 ejus" to the
one to be inaugurated. which is the one here adopted ; (B) that the
.. ejus " refers to the e a.C1. thus" but it is.. received from the clergyman
u
~£P~djpg tq the ~aitb 'ts}[the C;hy[Ch'~ I~ ". For both (A) and (B)
t e Latin is imper eet, t 0 of course su dent as a note for Swedenborg
himself.
46

accordance with [the layman'sJ reception there
from of the teaching of the truth. .
9. Also by means of the sacrament of the Holy
Supper in accordance with his repentance before
hand.
t}o '; c;:...-- )
s--. !j.7J'-f_'" . CHAPTER V
THE DIVIN PROCEEDING, CALLED THE HOLY SPIRIT,
IS, IN ITS PROPER SENSE. T@ WORD, WHEREIN IS THE
>-"fo HOLY OF GOD
1. The Word ~s the Holy Itself in the Christian
Church, on account of the Divine of the Lord that
is within it and from it. Therefore the Divine
proceeding, ~lled 'fheHoly Spirit, is in its proper t.
sense the W.2!9 and the HoIyorGog) 3
2. Thereason the Lord is tile Wor4i is that it is
~ from the Lord and it is abounner::ord, thus it is,
, in its essence, the Lord Himself. '
I! 1.) Because theLord is the WQrQ, He alQne_is
'Holy, and He is "the Holy One of Israel" so
often mentioned in the Prophets, of whom, more
over, it is there said that He alone is God.
4. It is on this account that the place where the
ark was in the tabernacle-because in it was the
Law, the beginning of the Word, and above it the
mercy seat, and above this the Cherubim, ~ll these
things signifying' the Lord as the Wordr-was
spoken of as the "Sanctuary" and tne" Holy
of Holies ".
5. It is on this account, too, that the New
M; Jerusalem, the Church tha.t approaches the Lord
j"only and draws truths out of His Word;'is spoken
of as "holy" and also-"-tne cifyof holiness",
and that the men in whom that Church is- are
47


spoken of as "the people of holiness"; also

that thi~ Ch!I'ch is " the kingdom of the saints (lit:

Jh~ ones), that sfiiill last for ever "1, mentiOned in

DanTeT [Dan. vii 18-27J.

6. The Prophets and the Apostles, because the

W~rd'lwas wr.itte.n through theJ!1! are spoken of as

<6-no~[Luke 1 70 ; Rev. XVl1l 20].

7.::!,he Holy S.£i® with reference to the Holy
Word tauglfr6Y the Lord, is termed" the Spirit
of Truth" [John xiv 17 ; xv 26 ; xvi 13J, of which
the Lord says that He speaks not from Himself
but from the Lord [John xvi 13, 14J ; and further
that He is that Spirit [John xiv 18 ; xvi 14-22}.
8. The reason why a man " who speaks a word
against the Holy Spirit is not forgiven" [Matt,):
xii 32J, is because he denies the Divinity of the
'L Lor4.;and the holiness of the· !VorsJ!; for this man
isaeyoi~ of religion.
, 9. The reason why one" who speaks a word
against the Son of Man" is forgiven [Matt. xii 32J
is because he denies that this or that is Divine
truth from the Word in the Church, yet he believes
that there are Divine truths in and from theWoro. .
'/" The~on...Q~" iill-¥i o vtruth from the Word klJ
~ in_ th~c; andtIiis Dlvfne truth cannot be

seenoy everyone.

[Four pages of the original are missing here.J

(I) The words .. Ibal sball lasl for ever" are omilled in Sk.
48

[38J THE DIVINE TRINITY
1.1 The idea the common people have of the
Divine Trinity is that God the Father is seated on
high with His Son at His right hand, and that they
send the Holy Spirit to men.
2. The idea the clergy have of the Divine
Trinity is that there are three Persons, each one
of whom is God and Lord, and that these three
have one and the same essence.
3. The idea the wise among the clergy have is
that there are three communicable natures and
qualities; it is however three natures and qualities
not communicable that are meant by three Persons.
4. The existence of a Divine Trinity is demon-
strable from Sacred Scripture and from reason.
5. From a trinity of persons there results in-
evitably a trinity of Gods.
6. If God is One, there is of necessity2 a Trinity
belonging to God, and thus a trinity of the Person.
7. G,.Qd's Trinity, which is also a Trinity of the
Person, is from God Incarnate: it is Jesus Christ. 3
8. This is-esta15Iished from Sacred Scripture.
9. And from reason as well, in that there is a
trinity in every man.
& The ApostolkChJ.![ch had never any thought i;:gnAt I;
of a Trinity of Persons : shown by their Creed. {
(I) These statements, numbered but not set out in paragraphs, are
found here before chapter i. A venical line drawn down the margin of
N. suggests that perhaps they may be annotations, but Worcester in
the A.P. and P.S. Edition has supplied the title" Observanda" and
printed them in the text. In Sk. nos. 8 and 9 are incorporated with the
preceding number, and the subsequent paragraphs numbered accordingly.
(2) Sk. has recessoria, whereas N. had r«essoria subsequently altered
to necessaria, which is taken as correct.
(3) N. has U sit a Deo incarnato, seu Jesus Chrislus "t so underlined.
The Skara MS. has 11 in ., instead of" a ":- Worcester reads U in Deo
incarnato. seu Jesll Christo "t that is, ., in God Incarnate, or Jesus Christ ft.
49


~ A Trinity of Persons was first devised by the
Nlcene_ Council.
12. Thence it was spread into the Churches that
have existed since, right up to the present time.
'I 13. Before now it has not been possible for that
I doctrin$..-to be corrected.
"r f~ The "Trinity of Persons" has tutllecLtlle
( wllOle Church uQ~i.de qQwn and falsified every single
thing in it.
15. Ev.eryone has declared it to be beY.Qnd com
5 . ~re!J.~s.ion, and that the understanding must oe
1, held down under obedience to faith. What is "a
Son born from eternity" ?
16. In the Lord there is one Trinity, and in the
Trinity there is Unity.

[39J CHAPTER I
A DIVINE TRINITY EXISTS, NAMELY, FATHER, SON,
AND HOLY SPIRIT

1. The Unity of God has been acknowledged
land admitted everywhere in the world where there
has been religion and sound reason.
2. It was not possible, therefore, for God's
Trinity to be known. For if it had been known,
indeed if it had only been mentioned, a man
would have thought of God's Trinity as a plurality

l of Gods; and this both religion and souna--reason
abnor.
3. Knowledge of God's Trinity, therefore, could
pnly be acquired from revelation, thus only from
...!!le Word~and it could not be admitted unless the
Trinity was also the Unity Jof God, for otherwise
-50

there would be a ,contradiction, and this brings
forth nothing ~ .•
4. God's Trinity did not come forth into actual
nexistence until the Son of God, the Saviour of the
I~'l world, was born, nor, before then, arclthere exist a
Unity in Trinity and a Trinity in Unity.
5. The salvation of the human race depends upon
God's Trinity which is at the same time a Unity.
6. By God's Trinity which is at the same time a
Unity is meant a Divine Trinity !.!LQne Person.
7. The Lord, the Saviour of the world, taught
that there is a Divine Trinity, namely, Father, Son,
and Spirit:
for He commanded the disciples to baptize " in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit". [Matt. xxviii 19.J
He said also that He would, from the Father,l send
the Holy Spirit. [John xv 26.J
Moreover, He frequently spoke of the Father, and
of Himself as His Son, and He "breathed upon
His disciples, saying, Receive ye the Holy Spirit ".
[John xx 22.J
Again, when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan,
there came a voice from the Father saying, "This
is My beloved Son ", and the Spirit appeared above
Him in the form of a dove. [Matt. iii 16, 17; Mark
i LO, 11 ; Luke iii 22; John i 32, 33.J
The angel Gabriel, too, told Mary, "The Holy
Spirit shall come upon thee and the Power of the
Highest shall overshadow thee, and the Holy
Thing that is born of thee shall be called the Son
of God"; the "Highest" is God the Father.
[Luke i 35.J
Many times, too, the apostles in their epistles
(I) The words" from the Father "are omitted in Sk.

51

mention the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit;

and John in his first epistle wrote, .. There are three

that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word,

and the Holy Spirit" [1 John v 7.J

etc.

[40] CHAPTER II
THOSE THREE, FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT,
ARE THE THREE ESSENTIALS OF THE ONE GOD, BEING
~I A ONE IN THE SAME WAy AS SOUL, B_ODy,~b
• ACTIVITY, WITH MAN AR~ A O!'ffi
1. The Divine Trinity, which is at the same time a
Unity, cannot be comprehended by anyone in any
other way than as being like soul, body, and
activity, in the case of man; consequently in no
other way than that the Divine Itself called the
Father is the soul, the Human called the Son is
the body of that soul, and the Holy Spirit is the
activity proceeding. l
2. Everywhere in the Christian Church, there
fore, there is acknowledgement that in Christ God
and man, that is the Divine and the human, are
One Person, as are soul and body in man. This
acknowledgement is there due to the Athanasian
Creed.
3. Anyone, therefore, who has an understandi~
oUhe union of soul and body, and the resulting
activity, cJllllP.rehendLGod.l-.Trinjty, and at the
same time His Unity, in an obscure sort of way.
4. A rational man knows, or can know, that the
soul of a son is from his father, and that the soul
clothes itself with a body in the mother's womb,
and that afterwards all activity proceeds from
both.
(1) In N. the words ab ulroque• .. from both ". are added here by
another hand.
52

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