Em swedenborg-a-brief-exposition-of-the-doctrine-of-the-new-church-amsterdam-1769-london-1952

A

BRIEF EXPOSITION
OF THE

DOCTRINE
OF

THE NEW CHURCH
SIGNIFIED BY THE

NEW JERUSALEM in THE REVELATION

BY

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
A SWEDE

BEING A TRANSLATION OF
Summaria Expositio Doetrina Novae Eeclesiae

SWEDENBORG SOCIE TY. INCORPORATBD
20/21 BLOOMSBURY WAY,
LONDON

1952

REVELATION xxi 2, 5.
f, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. . . . And He that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, f make all things
new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words
are true and faithful.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY

THE THANET PRESS, MARGATE.

PREFACE
THE SUMMARIA EXPOSITIO DOCTRINAE NOVAE
ECCLESIAE was first published in Latin at
Amsterdam in the year 1769. According to Robert
Hindmarsh's statement in his Rise and Progress of
the New Church, an indifferent translation was
made soon afterwards either by a certain Mr.
John Merchant, a literary gentleman acquainted
with Swedenborg, or by Mr. William Cookworthy,
a Quaker of Plymouth. The statement continues :
"It was this first translation of the BRIEF
EXPOSITION of which Dr. Messiter speaks in the
postscript of his letter to the Rev. H. Hamilton,
Professor of Divinity in the University of
Edinburgh, where he says, 'Whatever esteem the
Latin work may deserve, this I am sure will
procure but little, it is so indifferently translated.'
A new translation of the BRIEF EXPOSITION was
afterwards made and published by me in the year
1789."
Two further translations have appeared: one
in 1818, "most probably" (according to Hyde's
Bibliography of Swedenborg's Works) by the Rev.
Samuel Noble; the other in 1895 by the Rev.
R. J. Tilson. A second Latin edition, in which
several printer's errors are corrected, was produced
by Dr. J. F. I. Tafel in 1859. .
As the title implies, the work gives a summary
statement of the fundamental doctrines of
the New Church. This statement, however,
occupies only a small proportion of the whole work.
iii

PREFACE

The greater part consists of a searching exposure
of the principal falsities of the decadent Christian
Church, Roman Catholic and Reformed. Numerous
extracts are first adduced from the Decrees of the
Council of '[rent, a principal Roman Catholic
statement of faith, and from the Protestant
Formula Concordiae: after which follows a re
morseless examination of these extracts in twenty
five Articles, showing their disagreement with the
doctrines of the New Church drawn from the Word
and confirmed thereby.
Naturally, the work is limited in scope, since,
as the Author states in the first paragraph, this
little work is a preliminary sketch to the major
work, THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, published
two years later. This fact, however, should in no
way detract from the importance of the smaller
work which, indeed, gives a more detailed and
exhaustive refutation of the main errors of
Christian theology than does the major work, thus
clearing the ground for the full presentation of
genuine truth given in the major work. And if, as
Swedenborg writes in a letter from Stockholm,
30th October, 1769, to Dr. G. A. Beyer, Professor
of Greek in the University of Gothenburg, the
BRIEF EXPOSITION is "a forerunner of the major
work, and is to prepare the way for its reception,"
it is, nevertheless, a complete treatise, and of
considerable value in itself, as is shown by the
following quotations from a posthumous work
entitled SKETCH OF AN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
OF THE NEW CHURCH:
When the Brief Exposition was published, the
angelic heaven, from east to west and from south
IV

PREFACE
to north, appeared of a deep crimson colour,
with most beautiful flowers. This took place
before myself, and before the Danish kings and
others. At another time it appeared'like a flame,
beautifully so.
On the books was written, "The Advent of
the Lord"; on all in the spiritual world. I
also wrote the same, by command, on two copies
in Holland.
One of the two copies referred to has been
found, 'and is available for inspection in the
Library of the British Museum, London. On the
inside page of the wrapper which is bound up
with the volume there is this inscription in Sweden-
borg's handwriticg :-

. )I,',' i..:1)({r 'f a)vvrJi)f;,'Vl4~~ ~~s;::~,
(L.x,£1.6)
. /"u.'...J....: Q- ".,l;:),J". i 6S'1!:
/~ '/"-'" )141.'1.,.,/,

The numbers refer to paragraphs in the ARCANA
CAELESTIA, and treat of the Second Advent of the
Lord. The" A.R." number is from THE
ApOCALYPSE REVEALED.
It remains to say that while keeping close to the
Latin the aim of this translation has been to
express the Author's meaning in clear and simple
English. Scripture quotations are given in the
language of the Authorised Version except where
fidelity to Swedenborg's rendering necessitates a
change. The small numbers in the margin indicate
the subdivisions of the' longer paragraphs in-
troduced by the Rev. J. F. Potts in his SWEDENBORG
CONCORDANCE. Footnotes have been kept to the
v

PREFACE

minimum, and it is hoped that the work will be
read with ease and satisfaction alike by the
ordinary reader and the scholar. To my Consultant,
the Rev. Eustace R. Goldsack, M.A., also to
Mr. William C. Dick, M.A., F.E.LS., I tender my
thanks for their assistance and advice.
RUPERT STANLEY.
Glasgow, 1952.

VI

CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION (n. I)

THE DOCfRrNALS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS CONCERN-
ING JUSTIFICATION: FROM THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.
(n. 2-8) . . . . . . . . . .. 2

THE DOCTRINALS OF THE PROTESTANTS CONCERNING
JUSTIFICATION: FROM THE Formula Concordiae.
~.~I~ 9

A SKETCH OF THE DOCTRINALS OF THE NEW CHURCH
~I~ n
THE DISAGREEMENTS BETWEEN THE TENETS OF THE
PRESENT CHURCH AND THOSE OF THE NEW CHURCH

I. The Churches which separated themselves at
the Reformation from the Roman Catholic
Church dissent in various points, but they all
agree on the Articles concerning a Trinity of
Persons in the Godhead, Original Sin from
Adam, the Imputation of Christ's Merit, and
Justification by Faith Alone. (n. 17, 18). . 24

11. The Roman Catholics held exactly the same
beliefs before the Reformation as the Re-
formed Church did after it concerning the
four Articles mentioned above, namely, a·
Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original
Sin, the Imputation of Christ's Merit, and
Justification by Faith therein; with the sole
difference that they united that Faith with
Charity or Good Works. (n. 19,20) 25
vu

CONTENTS
PAGE
Ill. The leading Reformers, Luther, Melanchthon
and Calvin, retained all the dogmas concerning
a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original
Sin, the Imputation of Christ's Merit, and
Justification by Faith, just as they were and
had been with the Roman Catholics; but
they separated Charity or Good Works from
that Faith, and declared that they were not
conjointly saving, in order that they might be
completely severed from the Roman Catholics
as to the very essentials of the Church, which
are Faith and Charity. (n. 21-23) 26
IV. Nevertheless, the leading Reformers adjoined
Good Works, and even conjoined them, to
their Faith, but in man as a passive subject;
whereas the Roman Catholics did so in man
as an active subject ; and yet there is actually
a conformity between the latter and the
former as to Faith, Works and Merit. (n. 24-29) 28
V. The whole theology of the Christian World
at this day is founded on the idea of three
Gods, arising from the doctrine of a Trinity
of Persons. (n. 30-38). 31
VI. The dogmas of the aforesaid theology are
seen to be erroneous after the idea of a Trinity
of Persons, hence of three God~, has been
rejected, and the idea of one God, in Whom
is the Divine Trinity, received instead.
(n. 39, 40) 37
VII. Then truly saving Faith, which is Faith in One
God united with Good Works, is acknow
ledged and received. (n. 41, 42) 39
VIII. This Faith is Faith in God the Saviour Jesus
Christ, which in its simplest form is as follows:
1. There is One God in Whom is the Divine
Trinity, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
2.A Saving Faith is to believe on Him.
Vlll

CONTENTS
PAGE
3. Evil actions ought to be shunned because
they are of the devil and from the devil.
4. Good actions ought to be done because
they are of God and from God.
5. And these are to be done by man as of
himself, yet it ought to be believed that
they are from the Lord, with him and
through him. (n. 43, 44) . 40

IX. The Faith of the present day has separated
religion from the Church; for religion con
sists in the acknowledgment of One God, and
in the worship of Him from the Faith of
Charity (n. 45, 46) 43

X. The Faith of the present Church cannot be
united with Charity, or produce any fruits
which are Good Works. (n. 47-50) . 45

XI. From the Faith of the present Church there

flows forth a worship of the mouth and not

of the life; when yet the worship of the

mouth is accepted by the Lord only so far

as it accords with worship which is of the life.

(n. 51, 52) 47

XII. The doctrine of the present Church is bound

together by.many paradoxes which are to be

embraced by faith; therefore, its dogmas

enter the memory only, and not into any part

of the understanding above the memory,

but merely into confirmations below it.

(n. 53-57) 50

XIII. The dogmas of the present Church cannot be .
learned without great difficulty, nor retained,
since they slip from the memory; neither
can they be preached or taught without using
great care and caution lest their nakedness
appear; because sound reason neither
perceives nor receives them. (n. 58, 59) 53
ix

CONTENTS
PAGE
XIV. The doctrine of the Faith of the present Church
ascribes to God human properties, as that
He viewed man from anger, that He required
to be reconciled, that He is reconciled through
His love to the Son and by intercession, that
He required to be appeased by the sight of
His Son's misery, and thus to be brought
back to mercy, that He imputes the righteous
ness of His Son to the unrighteous man who
supplicates it from Faith Alone; and that
thus from being an enemy He makes him into
a friend, and from a son of wrath into a son of
grace. (n. 60-63) . 56
XV. From the Faith of the present Church mon
strous births have been produced, and may
still be produced, such as, Instantaneous
Salvation from Direct Mercy, Predestination,
the notion that God does not attend to
man's actions, but only to faith, that there
is no bond between Charity and Faith, that in
conversion man is as a stock, with many other
such enormities; likewise concerning the
Sacraments of Baptism and the Holy Supper,
as to the principles of reason drawn from
the doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone
respecting the benefits they confer; also as
regards the Person of Christ. The heresies
from the first period to the present day have
flowed from no other source than the doctrine
founded upon the idea of three Gods. (n. 64-69) 59
XVI. The last state of the present Church, when it is
at an end, is meant by the Consummation
of the Age and the Advent of the Lord at
that time. Matt. xxiv 3 (n. 70-73) . . . . . 67
XVII. Infestation by falsities, thence the consumma
tion of all truth, or desolation, in the Christian
Churches at this day, is what is meant by
the Great Affliction such as was not from the
beginning of the world, nor shall be. Matt.
xxiv 21. (n.74-76) 71
X

.

CONTENTS
PAOE
XVIII. That neither Love, nor Faith, nor the Cog
nitions of Good and Truth, exist in the last
period of the Christian Church when it draws
to its end, is meant by these words in the
aforesaid chapter of Mal/hew:
After the affliction of those days, shall the
sun be darkened and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens ~hall
be shaken.-Verse 29 (n.77-81) . 73

XIX. Those who hold to the present belief in
Justification by Faith Alone are meant by the
he-goats in Daniel and Matthew. (n. 82-86). 78

XX. Those who have confinned themselves in the
present belief in Justification by Faith Alone
are meant in the Revelation by the Dragon,
his two Beasts, and the Locusts; and this
Faith, when confinned, is meant there by the
Great City, which is spiritually called Sodom
and Egypt, where the Two Witnesses were
slain; also by the Pit of the Abyss from
which the Locusts came forth. (n. 87-90) . 82

XXI. Unless a New Church is established by the

Lord, no one can be saved ; this is meant by

these words :

Except those days should be shortened,
there should no flesh be saved.-Matt. xxiv 22
(n. 91-94) 85

XXII. The exposure and rejection of the dogmas of

the Faith of the present Church, and the

revelation and reception of the dogmas of the

Faith of the New Church, is meant by these'

words in the Revelation :

He that sat upon the throne said, Behold,
I make all things new. And he said unto me,
Write: for these words are true and faithful.
Rev. xxi 5 (n. 95-98) . 88
Xl

CONTENTS
PAGE
XXIII. The New Church about to be establi~hed_by
the Lord is the New Jerusalem treated of in the
J
Revelation, chaps. xxi and xxii, which is
there called the Bride and Wife of the Lamb.
(n. 99-101). . ; . . . . . 91
XXIV. The Faith of the New Church cannot possibly
be together with the Faith of the former
Church; for if they were together, such a
collision and conflict would ensue that
everything of the Church with man would
perish (n. 102-104) 96
XXV. Roman Catholics at this day know nothing of
the Im utation of Christ' Men, or 0 ustifi
cation by];'aith therein, into which Faith eir
Church has been mitiated, because this lies
entirely concealed under their external forms
of worship, which are numerous. Wherefore,
if they recede even in part from the externals
oftherr worship, ana appr<facnGOO -the
Jll
SavIOur Jesus Christ direct, and also recei e
the-t!oly Eucharist in both kinds, they may be
brought Into the New Jerusalem, that is, into
the Lord's New Church,- before the Reformed.
(n. 105-113) . 99
Two MEMORABLE NARRATIVES FROM THE Apocalypse
Revealed. (n. 114 and liS) . . . . . 112
ApPENDIX •.• THE FATTH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND
THE
NEW--cHtrRCH IN ITs UNIVERSAL AND
PARTICULAR FORMS. (n. 116 and 117) 120
THREE· MEMORABLE NARRATIVES FROM THE Apocalypse
Revealea. (n. 1[8-flU
122

xii

1] DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH

A BRIEF EXPOSITION

of the

DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH

signified by

THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE

APOCALYPSE
1. As several works and tracts have been
published by me during the past few years con
cerning the NEW JERUSALEM, by which is meant
a New Church to be established by the Lord,
and as the Apocalypse has now been revealed',
I have decided to bring to light the Doctrine of
that Chu~ch in its fulness, thus as a whole. This,
however, is a work which will take some years to
complete; wherefore I have thought it advisable
to produce some sort of a sketch of it, in order that a
general idea of this Church and its Doctrine may
first be obtained. For, when general things precede,
then each and everything stands out clearly in the
light; for particulars enter into generals as things
homogeneous into their own receptacles. This brief
exposition, however, is not designed for critical
examination, but is only offered to the world for
information; its contents will be fuIly proved in
the major work itself. Yet the doctrinal tenets of
to-day concerning Justification are to be set forth
first, on account of what follows concerning the
disagreement between the doctrines of the present
Church and th'ose of the New Church.
(I) See the work entitled THE APOCA.LYPSE REVEALED, published in
Amsterdam in 1766.

A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE [2-4
THE. DOCTRINALS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS
CONCERNING JUSTIFICATION : FROM THE COUNCIL
OF TRENT.
2. In the bull of Pope Pius IV, dated 13th
November, 1564, are the following words: .. I
embrace and receive everything, in general and
particular, which the most holy Council of Trent
has determined and declared concerning Original
Sin and Justification."
3. From the Council o/Trent, concerning Original
Sin.
Ca) Adam, by his transgression, was wholly
changed for the worse, both in body and soul.
This transgression proved injurious not only to
Adam but to his offspring. It not only transmitted
death and bodily sufferings to the whole human
race, but also sin which is the death of the soul :
Sess. V, 1, 2.
Cb) This sin of Adam, which in origin was a
single transgression, but which has been trans
mitted by propagation, not by imitation, is im
planted in everyone as his own, and cannot be
removed by any other remedy than the Merit of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Saviour, Who
has reconciled us to God by His blood, being made
for us righteousness, sanctification and redemp
tion: Sess. V, 3.
Cc) By Adam's transgression all men lost their
innocence and became unclean, and by nature
children of wrath: Sess. VI, chap. 1.
4. Concerning Justification.
Ca) The heavenly Father, Father of mercies,
sent Christ Jesus, His Son, to men, when the
blessed fulness of time arrived, in order to redeem
2


both the Jews who were under the law and the
Gentiles who followed not after righteousness, so
that they might lay hold of righteousness, and all
receive adoption as sons'. God offered Him to be
a propitiation for sin through faith in His blood,
and this, not only for our sins but also for the sins
of the whole world: Sess. VI, chap. 2.
(b) Yet all do not receive the benefit of His
death, but only those to whom the merit of His
passion is communicated; wherefore, unless they
are born again in Christ, they will never be justified:
Sess. VI, chap. 3.
(c) The origin of justification is to be derived
from the prevenient grace of God through Christ
Jesus, that is, from His call: Sess. VI, chap. 5.
(d) Men are disposed to righteousness when,
being stirred by divine grace, and acquiring faith
by hearing, they are freely moved towards God,
believing those things to be true which are divinely
revealed and promised; and especially this, that
the ungodly are justified by God by His grace, by
the redemption which is in Christ Jesus ; and when
they realise that they are sinners, from fear of
divine justice, by which they are profitably dis
quieted, they are raised to hope, trusting that God,
for Christ's sake, will be well-disposed towards
them: Sess. VI, chap. 6.
(e) The consequence of this disposition and
preparation is actual justification, which is not
only a remission of sins but also a sanctification
and renewal of the interior man by the reception
of grace and gifts, whereby man, from being un
righteous, becomes righteous, and from being an
enemy becomes a friend, so as to be an heir accord
(1) See textual nole on p. 140.
3

ing to the hope of eternal life : Sess. VI, chap. 7.
er) The final cause of justification is the glory
of God and of Christ, and life eternal. The
efficient cause is God Who freely cleanses and
sanctifies. The meriting cause is the most dearly
beloved and only-begotten of God, our Lord
Jesus Christ, Who, although we were enemies, on
account of the exceeding great love wherewith He
loved us, and by His most holy passion upon the
cross, earned justification for us, and made satis
faction on our behalf to God the Father. The
instrumental cause is the sacrament of baptism,
which is a sacrament of faith without which no
one can ever be justified. The formal cause is the
sole righteousness of God; not that whereby He
is righteous Himself, but that whereby He makes
us righteous, with which, that is, we, being
gifted by Him, are renewed in the spirit of our
mind. Moreover, we are not only reputed righteous
but truly called righteous ; being so in reality, each
according to that measure which the Holy Spirit
imparts to everyone just as it pleases Him:
Sess. VI, chap. 7, par. 2.
(g) Justification is a transference from that
state in which man is born a son of the first Adam
into a state of grace and adoption among the sons
of God through the second Adam, our Saviour
Jesus Christ: Sess. VI, chap. 4.
5. Concerning Faith, Charity, Good Works and
Merit.
(a) When the Apostle declares that man is
justified by faith, and freely, these words are to be
understood in the sense in which, by general con
sent, the Catholic Church has always held and
4


expressed them ; to wit, that we are said to be justi
fied by faith because faith is the beginning of man's
salvation, and the foundation and root of all
justification, without which it is impossible to
satisfy God and attain to the fellowship of His
children. Moreover, we are said to be justified freely
because none of those things which precede justi
fication, whether faith or works, merit the actual
grace of justification; for if it be grace, it does not
arise from works, otherwise grace would not be
grace: Sess. VI, chap. 8.
(b) Although no one can be righteous except
those to whom the merit of the passion of our Lord
Jesus Christ is communicated, nevertheless this
communication is effected in justification when, by
the Merit of the same most holy passion, the love
of God is infused by the Holy Ghost into the hearts
of those who are justified, and abides in them.
Whence, in the act of justification, man receives,
together with the remission of sins, all these things
infused into 'him at once by Jesus Christ, in Whom
he is ingrafted by faith, hope and charity. For
faith, unless charity be added to it, neither unites
perfectly to Christ, nor constitutes man a living
member of His body: Sess. VI, chap. 7, par. 3.
(c) Christ is not only the Redeemer in Whom
they are to have faith, but also a Lawgiver Whom
they must obey: Sess. VI, chap. 16, can. 21.
(d) Faith without works is dead and vain,
because in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith
which works by charity; for faith without hope and
charity cannot avail unto eternal life; wherefore
they hearken at once to the word of Christ: "If
thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
2 5

A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE [5
Thus, being reborn instantly, and receiving true
Christian righteousness, they are bidden to
preserve it white and unspotted, as their principal
robe given them by Jesus Christ in place of that
which Adam lost for himself and us by his disobe
dience, that they may present it before the judg
ment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ and have eternal
life: Sess. VI, chap. 7, par. 4.
(e) There is a continual influx of power from
Jesus Christ Himself into those who are justified,
as from the head into the parts of the body, and
from the vine into its branches. This power always
precedes, accompanies and follows their good
works, and without it these could not by any means
be acceptable and meritorious in the sight of God.
Wherefore, it is to be believed that nothing more
is wanting for those who are justified than that they
be adjudged to have fully deserved eternal life,
which will be bestowed on them in due time, by
virtue of those works which were wrought in God :
Sess. VI, chap. 16.
(f) When we speak of our own righteousness,
this is not said as though it were our own from
ourselves; for that which is called our righteous
ness is the righteousness of God, because it is
infused into us by God through Christ's merit.
Far be'it, therefore, from any Christian man to
trust or glory in himself, and not in the Lord,
Whose goodness towards us men is so great that
He wills to regard those things as our deserts,
which are His own gifts: Sess. VI, chap. 16.
(g) For of ourselves, as from ourselves, we can
do nothing; but with Him, Who strengthens us,
co-operating, we can do all things. Thus man has
not anything in which he may glory. All our glory
6

5-6J DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH

is in Christ, in Whom we live, in Whom we have
merit, in Whom we make satisfaction, bringing
forth fruits worthy of repentance,_ which have their
efficacy from Him, are offered unto the Father by
Him, and are accepted by the Father through Him :
Sess. XIV, chap. 8.
(h) If anyone shall say that man may be justified
in the sight of God by his own works, which are
done either through the powers of human nature
or through the teaching of the law, without divine
grace through Christ Jesus, let him be accursed:
Sess. VI, can. 1.
(i) If anyone shall say that man may believe,
hope and love (that is, have faith, hope and
charity), as is necessary in order that the grace of
justification may be conferred upon him without
the prevenient inspiration of the Holy Spirit arid
His assistance, let him be accursed: Sess. VI,
can. 2.
(k) If anyone shall say that man is justified
without the righteousness of Christ, whereby He
has acquired merit for us, let him be accursed :
Sess. VI, ,can. 10.
And many other passages there are which are
not mentioned here, principally relating to the
conjunction of faith with charity or good works,
and condemning their separation.
6. Concerning Free-will.
(0) Free-will is by no means destroyed by Adam's
sin, although it is impaired and warped thereby :
Sess. VI, chap. 1.
(b) If anyone shall say that man's free-will, when
moved and aroused by God, cannot at all co
operate by concurring with God Who stirs and
7

calls it, so that man may dispose and prepare
himself to receive the grace of justification; or
that he cannot dissent if he wishes, but like some
thing inanimate is merely passive and can do
nothing, let him be accursed: Sess. VI, can. 4.
7. The Doctrinals of the Roman Catholics
concerning Justification, collected from the Decrees
of the Council of Trent, may be summed up and
arranged in a Series, as follows :
The sin of Adam is transfused into the whole
human race, whereupon his state and from him
the state of all men-became perverted and alienated
from God, and thus they became enemies and
children of wrath. Therefore, God the Father
graciously sent His Son to reconcile, expiate,
propitiate, make satisfaction, and thus to redeem
(mankind), and that by these works He became
righteousness. Christ accomplished and fulfilled
all this by offering up Himself upon the cross as a
sacrifice to God the Father, thus by His passion
and His blood. Christ alone has acquired merit,
and this, His merit, from grace, is imputed, attribut
ed, applied and transferred to the man who is a
recipient thereof, by God the Father through the
Holy Spirit; in this way the sin of Adam is re
moved from man, concupiscence, however, still
remaining in him as the kindling point of sin.
Justification is the remission of sins, from which
a renewal of the interior man takes place, whereby
man, from being an enemy, becomes a friend, and
from being a child of wrath becomes a child of
grace; thus, union with Christ is effected, and
the regenerate person becomes a living member
of His body.
8


8. Faith comes by hearing, when a man believes
those things to be true which are Divinely revealed,
and trusts in the promises of God. Faith is the
beginning of man's salvation, the foundation and
root of all justification, without which it is im-
possible to please God and enter into the fellowship
of His children.
Justification is brought about by faith, hope and
charity, and unless faith is accompanied by hope
and charity, it is not living but dead, and incapable
of effecting union with Christ. It is man's duty
to co-operate; he has the power to approach and
withdraw. Otherwise, nothing could be given to
him, for he would be like an inanimate body.
Inasmuch as the reception of justification renews
man, and as this is effected by the application to
him of Christ's merit with man's co-operation,
it follows that works are meritorious. But since
they are done from grace, and by the Holy Spirit,
and as Christ alone has merit, therefore God makes
His own gifts in man as meritorious; whence it
follows that no one ought to attribute anything
of merit t:) himself.

THE DOCTRINALS OF THE PROTESTANTS CONCERNING
JUSTIFICATION: FROM THE Formula Concordiae.

9. This book from which the following extracts
are collected is called the Formula Concordiae.
It was written hy men who took part in the
Augsburg Confession. As the pages will be in-
dicated where the quotations are to be found, I
may say that I have made use of the edition printed
at Leipzig in the year 1756.
9

A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF· THE [10-11
10. From the Formula Concordiae, concerning
Original Sin.
(a) Since the fall of Adam, all men, being
descended from him according to nature, are born
in sin, which brings damnation and eternal death
on those who are not reborn. The merit of Christ
is the only means whereby they are reborn; con
sequently, the only remedy whereby they are
restored. Pages 9, 10, 52, 53, 55, 317, 641, 644 ;
also Appendix, pages 138, 139.
(b) Original sin is such a deep corruption of
nature that there is no spiritual soundness in man's
body or soul, or in his I::nergies. Page 574.
(c) It is the source of all actual sins. Pages 317,
577, 639. 640. 642. Appendix, page 139.
(d) It is the total absence or deprivation of t)le
image of God.. Page 640.
(e) We ought to distinguish between our nature
such as God created it, and original sin which
dwells in our nature. Page 645.
(f) Moreover, original sin is there called the work
of the devil, spiritual poison, the root of all evils.
an accident' and a quality; whereas our nature is
there called the work and creature of God, the
personality of man, a substance and an essence;
and the difference between them is the same as the
difference between a man infected with a disease
and the disease itself.
11. Concerning Justification by Faith. The
general heads are these :
(a) By the Word and the Sacraments the Holy
Spirit is given, Who produces faith whenever and
(1) Latin U accidens"; i.e., an accident in the philosophical sense
of a nOD-essential property; DOt in tbe sense of a misbap.
10


wherever it appears, in those who hear the gospel.
(b) Contrition, Justification by faith, Renewal
and Good Works, follow in order; they are to be
carefully distinguished from each other. Contrition
and good works contribute nothing towards
salvation; faith alone avails.
(c) Justification by faith alone is remission of
sins, deliverance from damnation, reconciliation
on the part of the Father, and adoption as sons.
It is effected by the imputation of Christ's merit
or righteousness.
(d) Hence faith is that very righteousness where
by we are accounted righteous before God, and it
is trust in grace and reliance on it.
(e) Renewal, which follows, is vivification,
regeneration and sanctification.
(f) This renewal is followed by good works
which are the fruits of faith, being in themselves
works of the Spirit.
(g) This faith may be lost by grievous sins.
THE GENERAL HEADS CONCERNING THE LAW AND
THE GOSPELS ARE THESE :
(h) We must carefully distinguish between the
Law and the Gospel, and between works of the
Law and works of the Spirit, which are the fruits
of faith.
(i) The Law is doctrine which shows that man
is in sin, and therefore in damnation, and in the
wrath of God; thus exciting terror. But the
Gospel is doctrine concerning atonement for sin
through Christ, and deliverance from damnation;
it is thus a doctrine of consolation.
(k) There are three uses of the Law: to restrain
the wicked, to bring to men an acknowledgment
of their sins, and to teach the reborn the rules of life.
11

(l) The reborn are in the Law, yet not under
the Law, but under Grace.
(m) It is the duty of the reborn to exercise
themselves in the Law because, while they live in
the world, they are prompted to sin by the flesh,
but they become pure and perfect after death.
(n) The reborn are also reproved by the Holy
Spirit, and undergo various struggles; neverthe
less, they keep the Law willingly; thus, being the
children of God, they live in the Law.
(0) With those who are not reborn, the veil of
Moses still remains before their eyes, and the old
Adam bears rule; but with the reborn the veil of
Moses is taken away, and the old Adam is
mortified.
12. Particulars from the Formula Concordiae
concerning Justification by Faith without the Works
of the Law.
. (a) Faith is imputed for righteousness without
works on account of Christ's merit, which is laid
hold of by faith. Pages 78, 79, 80, 584, 689.
(b) Charity follows the faith that justifies, but
faith does not justify to the extent that it has been
formed by charity, as the Papists allege. Pages 81,
89, 94, 117, 688, 691. Appendix, page 169.
(c) Neither the contrition which precedes faith,
nor the renewal and sanctification which follow it,
nor the good works then performed, have anything
to do with the righteousness offaith. Pages 688, 689.
(d) It is foolish to imagine that the works of the
second table of the Decalogue justify before God,
for by that table we regulate our relations with men,
not properly with God ; and in justification every
thing must be done in relation to God, and to
appease His wrath. Page 102.
12

12J DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH

(e) If, therefore, anyone believes that remission
of sins is obtained because he has charity, he
brings a reproach on Christ, for this is an impious
and vain confidence in his own righteousness.
Pages 87, 89.
cn Good works are to be utterly excluded in
treating of justification and eternal life. Page 589.
(g) Good works are not necessary as a meri
torious cause of salvation, and they do not enter
into the act of justification. Pages 589, 590, 702,
704. Appendix, page 173.
(h) The position that good works are necessary
for salvation is to be rejected, because it takes
away the consolation of the Gospel, gives occasion
for doubt concerning the grace of God, and instils
a conceit of one's own righteousness; also because
good works are accepted by the Papists in support
of a bad cause. Page 704.
(i) The expression that good works are necessary
for salvation is rejected and condemned. Page 591.
(k) Expressions concerning good works as being
necessary for salvation ought not to be taught and
defended; they should be derided and rejected
by the churches as false. Page 705.
(I) . Works which do not proceed from a true
faith are in reality sins in the sight of God; that
is, they are defiled with sin because a corrupt tree
cannot bring forth good fruit. Page 700.
(m) Faith and salvation are neither preserved
nor retained by good works, because they are onty
evidences that the Holy Spirit is present and dwells
in us. Pages 590, 705. Appendix, page 174.
(n) The decree of the Council of Trent that good
works preserve salvation, or that either the
acquired righteousness of faith or faith itself is
13

maintained or preserved, either in whole or at least
in part, by our works, must rightly be rejected.
Page 707.
13. Particulars from the Formula Concordiae
concerning the Fruits of Faith.
(a) A difference is to be observed between works
of the Law and works of the Spirit. The works
which a reborn person performs with a free
and willing spirit are not works of the Law, but
works of the Spirit which are the fruits of faith.
This is because those who are reborn are not
under the Law, but under Grace. Pages 589,
590, 721, 722.
(b) Good works are the fruits of repentance.
Page 12.
(c) The reborn receive by faith a new life,
new affections and new works; these are from
faith in the course of repentance. Page 134.
(d) After conversion and justification, man begins
to be renewed in his mind, and at length in his
understanding; then his will is not idle in the
daily exercise of repentance. Pages 582, 673, 700.
(e) We ought to repent on account of original
sin as well as on account of actual sins. Page 321.
Appendix, page 159.
(f) With Christians repentance continues until
death, because they have to wrestle with sin
remaining in the flesh as long as they live. Page 327.
(g) We must enter upon, and advance more and
more in, the practice of the law of the Decalogue.
Pages 85, 86.
(h) Although the reborn are delivered from
the curse of the Law, they ought still to continue
observing the Divine Law. Page 718.
14


(i) The reborn are not outside the Law,
though not under the Law, for they live according
to the law of the Lord. Page 722.
(k) To the reborn the Law ought to be a
rule of religion. Pages 596, 717. Appendix,
page 156.
(/) The reborn do good works of their own
accord and freely, not by constraint, as though
they had received no command, had heard of no
threatenings, and expected no reward. Pages 596,
701.
(m) With them, faith is always employed in
deeds, and he who does not thus perform good
works is destitute of true faith; for where there
is faith there will also be good works. Page 701.
(n) Charity and good fruits follow upon faith
and regeneration. Pages 121, 122, 171, 188, 692.
(0) Faith and works agree well together and are
inseparably connected; but faith alone lays hold
of the blessing without works, and yet it is not
alone; hence it is that faith without works is
dead. Pages 692, 693.
(p) After man is justified by faith, his faith,
being true and living, becomes effective through
charity; for good works always follow the faith
that justifies, and are most certainly found with it.
Thus, faith is never alone, but is always accompanied
by hope and charity. Page 586.
(q) We grant that where good works do not
follow faith, it is a false and not a true faith.
Page 336.
(r) It is as impossible to separate good works
from faith as it is to separate heat and light from
fire. Page 701.
15

(s) Because the old Adam is always inherent in
our very nature, the reborn have continual need of
the admonition, doctrine, threatenings, and even
the chastisements of the Law; for they are re-
proved and corrected by the Holy Spirit through
the Law. Pages 719, 720, 721.
(t) The reborn must wrestle with the old
Adam, and the flesh must be subdued by exhorta-
tions, threatenings and stripes, because renewal of
life by faith is begun only in the present life.
Pages 595, 596, 724.
(u) With the elect and truly reborn there
remains a perpetual wrestling between the flesh
and the spirit. Pages 675, 679.
(x) The reason Christ promises remission of sins
for good works is because they follow reconciliation,
and also because good fruits must necessarily
follow, and because they are the signs of promise.
Pages 116, 117.
(y) Saving faith is not in those who have no
charity, for charity is the fruit which inevitably
and necessarily follows true faith. Page 688.
(z) Good works are necessary for many reasons,
but not as a cause of merit. Pages 11, 17, 64, 95,
133, 589, 590, 702. Appendix, page 172.
(aa) The reborn ought to co-operate with
the Holy Spirit by the new gifts and powers which
they have received, but in the right way. Pages
582, 583, 674, 675. Appendix, page 114.
(bb) In the Confession of the Churches in the
Low Countries, which was received in the Synod of
Dort,l we read as follows: "Holy faith cannot
(I) An Assembly of the Reformed Dutch Church held at Dort
(present name Dordrecht) in Holland, in the years 1618 and 1619, to
refute the tenets of the Armenians.
16


be inactive in man, for it is a faith working through
charity, and works which proceed from a good
root of faith are good and acceptable before
God, like the fruits of a good tree; for we are
under obligation to God to do good works. But
God is no debtor unto us, inasmuch as it is God
Who does them in us."
14. From the Formula Concordiae concerning
Merit.
(a) It is false to suppose that our works merit
remission of sins; false, also, that men are
accounted righteous by the righteousness of
reason ; and false to suppose that reason
of its own power is capable of loving God above all
things and of keeping the law of God. Page 64.
(b) Faith does not justify because it is in itself
so good a work and so excellent a virtue, but
because it lays hold of Christ's merit in the promise
of the Gospel. P.ages 76, 684.
(c) The promise of remission of sins and justifi
cation for Christ's sake does not involve any con
dition of merit, because it is freely offered. Page 67.
(d) Man, a sinner, is justified before God, or
absolved from his sins and from the most just
sentence of damnation, and adopted into the
number of the children of God, by pure grace,
without any merit of his own, and without any
works of his own, whether past, present or future;
and this purely on account of the sole merit. of
Christ which is imputed to him for righteousness.
Page 684.
(e) Good works follow faith, remission of sins
and regeneration, and whatever pollution or im
perfection is in them is not accounted sinful or
·17

defective; and this for Christ's sake. Thus the
whole man, both as to his person and works, is
rendered and pronounced righteous and holy from
Christ's pure grace and mercy shed, displayed and
increased, upon us; wherefore we cannot glory
on account of merit. Pages 74, 92, 93, 336.
(f) Whoever trusts in works as being meritorious
to himself, despises the merit and grace of Christ,
and seeks a way to heaven by human power without
Christ. Pages 16-19.
(g) Works are not only unprofitable but even
harmful to such as desire to mingle good works
with the doctrine of justification, and by them to
merit the grace of God. Page 708.
(h) The works of the Deca10gue are specified,
and other necessary works, which God honours
with rewards. Pages 176, 198.
(i) We teach that good works are meritorious,
not indeed as regards remission of sins, grace and
justification, but as regards other bodily rewards,
as also spiritual rewards in this life and after this
life; for Paul says that everyone will receive a
reward according to his work, and Christ says that
great will be your reward in heaven. Moreover, it
is frequently said that to everyone will be rendered
according to his works. Wherefore we acknowledge
eternal life to be a reward, because it is our due
according to the promise, and because God crowns
his own gifts, but not on account of our merit.
Pages 96, 13J-138.
(k) When the good works of believers are done
for right reasons and directed to right ends, such as
God requires from the reborn, they are signs
of eternal salvation ; and God the Father accounts
them acceptable and pleasing for Christ's sake,
18

14-l5J DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH

and promises them excellent rewards in this life
and in the life to come. Page 708.
(l) Although good works merit rewards, yet
neither by their worthiness nor fitness do they
merit remission of sins or the glory of eternal life.
Pages 96, 135, 139, etc. Appendix, page 174.
(m) At the last judgment Christ will pass sen
tence on good and evil works as being the proper
effects and evidences of men's faith. Page. 134.
Appendix, page 187.
(n) God rewards good works, but it is of grace
that He crowns His own gifts: this is asserted in
the Confession of the Churches in the Low
Countries.
15. Concerning Free-will: from the Formula
Concordiae.
(a) Man is altogether impotent in spiritual
things. Pages 15, 18, 219, 318, 579, 656, etc.
Appendix, page 141.
(b) By the fall of his first parents, man has
become so totally corrupt as to be by nature blind
with respect to spiritual things which relate to
conversion and salvation, and so accounts the
Word of God as a foolish thing. He is, and con
tinues to be, an enemy to God until by the power
of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching and
hearing of the Word, he is converted, 'gifted with
faith, regenerated and renewed by pure grace
without any co-operation on his part. Pages 656,
657.
(c) Man is altogether corrupt and dead to what
is good, so that in the nature of man since the fall
and before regeneration there is not so much as a
spark of spiritual vigour subsisting or remaining
19

whereby he can prepare himself for the grace of
God, or lay hold of it when offered, or of and by
himself be capable of receiving it, or understand,
believe, embrace, think, will, begin, perfect, act,
operate or co-operate in spiritual things, or apply
or accommodate himself to grace, or contribute
anything towards his conversion, either in the
whole, the half, or the least part. Pages 656, 658.
(d) In spiritual and Divine things which regard
the soul's salvation, man is like the pillar of salt
into which Lot's wife was turned, and like a stock
or a stone without life and having neither the use
of eyes, mouth, nor any of the senses. Pages 661,
662.
(e) Still, man has the power of movement and
can govern his external members, attend public
worship and hear the Word of God and the Gospel;
but in his private thoughts he despises all this as
something foolish, and in this respect he is worse
than a stock unless the Holy Spirit becomes effec
tive in him. Pages 662, 671, 672, 673.
(f) Still, man's conversion is not just like the
formation of a statue from stone, or the stamping
of an impression on wax, which have neither know
ledge, sense nor will. Pages 662, 681.
(g) In his conversion, man is a merely passive
subject, not an active one. Pages 662, 681.
(h) In his conversion, man does not at all co
operate with the Holy Spirit. Pages 219, 579, 583,
672, 676. Appendix, pages 143, 144.
(i) Since the fall, man retains and possesses the
faculty of knowing natural things, also free-will
in some measure to choose natural and civil good.
Pages 14, 218, 641, 664. Appendix, page 142.
(k) The assertions of certain of the Fathers and
20


modem Doctors that God draws man, though with
his consent, are not in agreement with Holy
Scripture. Pages 582, 583.
(l) When man is born again by the power of the
Holy Spirit, he co-operates, though very feebly,
by means of the new powers and gifts which the
Holy Spirit began to operate in him at his con
version, not indeed forcibly, but freely. Pages 582,
etc., 673-5. Appendix, page 144.
(m) Not only the gifts of God, but also Christ
.Himself, dwell by faith in the reborn, as in
His temples. Pages 695, 697, 698. Appendix,
page 130.
(n) There is a vast difference between baptized
persons and those not baptized ; for it is according
to the doctrine of Paul that all who have been
baptized have put on Christ and are truly regenerate,
these having thereby acquired freedom of will,
that is, made free again, as Christ testifies. Where
fore, they not only hear the Word of God but are
in truth also enabled, though very feebly, to
assent to and embrace it by faith. Page 675.
It should be observed that the foregoing extracts
are taken from a book called Formula Concordiae,
which was written by men of the Augsburg
Confession. Nevertheless, the same doctrines
concerning Justification by Faith Alone are main
tained and taught by the members of the Reformed
Church in England and Holland; wherefore the
following treatise is intended for all. See also
below, paragraphs 17 and 18.

3 21


A SKETCH

of the

DOCTRINALS OF THE NEW CHURCH

16. Now follows a brief Exposition of the
Doctrine of the New Church, meant by the New
Jerusalem in the Revelation, chapters xxi and xxii.
This Doctrine, which is not only a matter of faith
but also of life, will be divided in the maJofWOrK 1
into tliree parts.
THE FIRST PART will treat of : .
(1) The Lord God the Saviour, and the Divine
Trinity in Him.
(2) The Sacred Scripture and its two senses,
the Natural and the Spiritual, and its
holiness thence.
(3) .Love to God and love towards the neigh
bour, and the agreement of these loves with
each other.
(4) Faith,anditsconjunction with those two loves.
(5) The Doctrine of Life, from the Command
ments of the Decalogue.
(6) Reformation and Regeneration.
(7) Free-will, and man's co-operation with the
Lord by its means.
(8) Baptism.
(9) The Holy Supper.
(10) Heaven and Hell.
-- - -
(11) The conjunction of men therewith, and the
--
(I) The work alluded to is THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, published
two years after the present work. In writing the larger work, the author
adheres in the main to the plan laid down here, yet more as regards the
substance than the form.
22


state of their life..-after death according to
thatc..Qn~n. ----
(12) Eternal life.
THE SECOND PART will treat of :
(1) The Consummation of the Age, or end
of the present Church.
(2) The Coming of the Lord.
(3) The Last Judgment.
(4) T~w Church, which IS the New
Jerusalem.
THE THIRD PART will point out the disagreements
between the tenets of the present Church and those
of the New Church. But we will dwell a little
upon these now, because it is believed both by the
clergy and the laity that the present Church is in
the very light of the Gospel and its truths, which
cannot possibly be disproved, overturned or
I(assailed, not even by an angel, if one should
aescend from heaven. Neither does the present
Church see otherwise, because it has withdrawn the
understanding from faith, and yet has confirmed ifs
tenets by a kind of sight beneath the understanding ;
for in that sight falsities -can be confirmed until
they appear as truths, and falsities tllere confirmed
acquire a fallacious light in which the light of
trut appears as thick darkness. For this reason,
we shall here dwell a little upon this subject,
mentioning the disagreements and illustrating
them by brief remarks, so that those whose under
standing has not been closed by blin aitli may
see tbese differences in a kind of twill ht, after
wards as in morning light, and at ength, in e
major wor ,~ u I <la li ht. The disagreements
in general are as follows :
23


1.

17. The Churches which separated themselves at
the Reformation from the Roman Catholic Church
dissent in various points, but they all agree on the
Articles concerning a Trinity of Persons in the
Godhead, Original Sin from Adam, the Imputation
of Christ's Merit, and Justification by Faith Alone.

BRIEF ANALYSIS
18. The Churches which separated themselves
at the Reformation from the Roman Catholic
Church are composed of those who call themselves
Evangelicals and Reformed, likewise Protestants ;
or, from their leaders, Lutherans and Calvinists.
Among these the Church of England holds a
middle place. We shall say nothing here concerning
the Greek Church which was separated long ago
from the Roman Catholic Church.
That the Protestant Churches dissent in various
points, particularly concerning the Holy Supper,
Baptism, Election, and the Person of Christ, is
well known to many people, but it is not generally
known that they all a ee on the Articles concern
ing a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original
Sin, the Imputation of Christ's Merit:-and Justifi
I cation by Faith Alone. This is because few-people
apply themselves to exploring the differences of
the tenets maintained by the different Churches;
consequently, neither do they inquire into those
P9ints 0 hich they. agree. Only the clergy study
the tenets of their Cn.urch; the laity rarely
understand them interiorly, and so are unacquainted
24

l8-20J DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH

with their differences. Nevertheless, they agree on

the four Articles above-mentioned, both as regards

the general affirmation and as regards most of the

particulars therein. This appears evident from their

books, if they are consulted, and from their

sermons, if they are heard. This, however, is

premised for information on account of what

follows.

n.
19. The Roman Catholics held exactly the same
beliefs before the Reformation as the Reformed
Church did after it concerning the four Articles
mentioned above, namely, a Trinity of Persons in
the Godhead, Original Sin, the Imputation of Christ's
Merit, and Justification by Faith therein: with the)
sole difference that they united that Faith with
Chart)!. or Good Works.

BRIEF ANALYSIS
20. That there is such a conformity between the
Roman Catholics and the Protestants regarding
these four articles so that there is scarcely any
important difference between them, except that the
former conjoin faith and charity while the latter
separate them, is scarcely known to anyone;
indeea, it "is so generally unknown that the learJled
themselves will be astonished at this assertion.
The reason for this ignorance is that the Roman
Catholics rarely approach God our SaviOiif' ;
instead of Him they look to the Pope as His vicar,
and to the saints. Hence they have dee 1 buried
--.-
25

in oblivion their tenets concerning the imputation
{ of Christ's merit and justification by faith. Never
theless, such tenets are received and acknowledged
by them, as clearly appears from the Decrees of the
Council of Trent quoted above, nos. 3-8, and con
firmed by Pope Pius IV, n. 2. If these be compared
with the tenets advanced above from the Augsburg
Confession and from the Formula Concordiae
derived therefrom, nos. 9-12, the differences
between them will be found to consist mor III
woros than in substance. The Doctors of the
Church may inoeeOsee some conformity between
them by reading and comparing the above passages
together, but still only obscurely. However, in
order that they, as well as those who are less
learned, and also the laity, may see this agreement,
some illustrations will now be added.

Ill.

21. The leading Reformers, Luther, MelanchthJn
and Calvin, retained all the dogmas concerning a
Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original Sin, the
Imputation of Christ's Merit, and Justification by
Faith, just as they were and had been with the
Roman Catholics; but they separated Charity or
Good Works from that Faith, and declared that the
were not conjointly saving, in order that they might
be completely severed froiii't e Roman Catholics
as to t every essentials of the Church, which are
Faith and Charity.
BRIEF ANALYSIS
22. The four articles mentioned above, as at
26


present taught in the Reformed Churches, were
not new, nor were they first hatched by those
three leaders, but were handed down from the
time of the Council of Nicaea, and by writers
after that period, and preserved from that time in
the Roman Catholic Church, as is clear from books
on Ecclesiastical History. Why the Roman
Catholics and the Reformed agree regarding the
article on the Trinity of Persons in the Godhead is
because they both acknowledge the three creeds,
the A ostles', the Nicene and toe fthanasian;ln
I
w c a Trinity is taught. That they agree on the
article concerning the Imputation of Christ's merit,
is plain from the extracts from the Council of
Trent, nos. 3-8, compared with those from the
Formula Concordiae, nos. 10-15. That they also
agree on the article concerning Justification shall
now be shown.
23. Concerning Justification by Faith, the
Council of Trent declares as follows: "It has
always been the agreed opinion of the Catholic
Church that faith is the beginning of human
salvation, the foundation and root of all justifica
tion, without which it is impossible to please God
and to come into the fellowship of His children" ;
see above, n. 5 (a). Also it is said that" faith comes
by hearing the Word of God," n. 4 (d). Moreover,
the aforesaid Roman Catholic Council conjoined
faith and charity, or faith and good works, as may
be clearly seen from the above quotations, nos. 4,
5, 7, 8. But the Reformed Churches, following
their own leaders, have separated them,
making salvation to consist in faith, and not at the
same time in charity or good works, to the end
27

that they might be totally severed from the Roman
Catholics as to the very essentials of the Church,
which are faith and charity; this I have fre
quently heard from the aforesaid leaders
themselves.
I have also heard that they established this
separation by the following considerations : that
no one can do any good which avails for salvation
of himself, nor can anyone fulfil the law; nor,
again, can any merit of man's enter into faith.
From these principles, and in view of the end
stated above, they excluded the goods of charity
from faith, and thereby from salvation. This is
evident from the quotations given above from the
Formula Concordiae, n. 12, among which are
these: "Faith, to the extent that it is formed by
charity, does not justify as the Papists allege,
12 (b). The position that good works are necessary
for salvation is to be rejected on many accounts ;
and also because they are accepted by the
Papists in support of a bad cause, 12 (h). The
decree of the Council of Trent that good works
preserve and retain salvation must rightly be
rejected," 12 (n); besides many other points
there stated. However, the Reformed still conjoin
faith and charity into one for salvation, with the
sole difference as to the quality of the works, as
will be shown in the following article.

IV.

24. Nevertheless, the leading Reformers adjoined
Good Works, and even conjoined them, to their
Faith, but in man ps a passive suj:Jject,. whereas the
28


Roman Catholics did so in man as an active subject;
and yet there is actually a conformity betweenthe
latter and the former as to Faith, Works and Merit.
BRIEF ANALYSIS
25. Although the leading Reformers separated
faith and charity, they still adjoined and at length
conjoined them ; but they did not wish them to be
regarded as one, or as conjointly necessary for
salvation; as is evident from their books, sermons
and declarations. For, after they have separated
them they conjoin them, and even express this
union in decisive terms, not in ambiguous
expressions. Note, for instance, the following:
Faith following on justification is never alone, but
is always accompanied by charity or good works;
and if not, then such faith is not a living but a
dead faith; see above n. 13 (0, p, q, r, y, bb),
Indeed, good works necessarily follow faith,
n. 13 (x, y, z). The reborn person co-operates with
the Holy Spirit by new powers and gifts, n. 13
(aa). That the Roman Catholics teach exactly the
same is clear from the passages collected from the
Council of Trent; nos. 4-8;.
26. The Reformers profess nearly the same
things as the Roman Catholics concerning the
merit of works, as is evident from the following
quotations from the Formula Concordiae. Good
works are rewarded by virtue of the promise ~md
by grace, from which they merit rewards both
bodily and spiritual, n. 14 (i, k, I, n); and
God crowns His gifts with a reward, n. 14 (h, n).
The same is asserted in the Council of Trent ;
namely, that God by His grace makes His gifts
29

to be merits, n. 5 (f); further, that salvation is
not from works, but from promise and grace,
because God operates them by His Holy Spirit,
n. 5 (e, f, g, h, i, k).
27. Comparing the one position with the other,
it appears at first sight as though they were in
entire agreement. Lest, however, this should be
so, the Reformers distinguished between works
of the Law proceeding from man's purpose and will,
and works of the Spirit proceeding from faith as
from a free and spontaneous disposition. The
latter good works they called the fruits of faith,
as may be seen above, n. 11 (h, f) and n. 13 (a, i,
f) and n. 15 (f). From this penetrating examina
tion and comparison there does not appear to be
any difference in the works themselves, but only in
their quality; thus, in that the latter sort proceed
from man as a passive subject, but the former as
from an active subject. Consequently, the latter
are spontaneous since they proceed from man's
understanding and not at the same time from his
will. This is said because man cannot be unaware
when he is doing them, because he is doing them,
and awareness is from the understanding.
Nevertheless, as the Reformed also preach the
exercises of repentance and wrestlings with
the flesh, n. 13 (d, e, f, g, h, k), and these
cannot be done by man except from his purpose
and will, and thus by him as from himself, it
follows that there is still an actual agreement.
28. As regards free-will in conversion, or in the
act of justification, it appears as if the Roman
Catholics and the Reformed were entirely opposed;
30

28-30] DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH

but that they are still in accord may be seen if the
passages transcribed from the Council of Trent,
n. 6 (a, b), are rightly considered and compared
with those from the Formula Concordiae, n. 15 (n).
For in Christian countries all are baptized, and
are thereby in a freed state of the will, so as to be
able not only to hear the Word of God but also to
assent to it, and to embrace it by faith;
consequently, no one in the Christian world is
like a stock.
29. From all this, then, the truth of what is
asserted in nos. 19 and 21 appears; namely, that
the Reformers derived their tenets concerning
a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original Sin,
the Imputation of Christ's merit, and Justification
by Faith, from the Roman Catholics. These things
have been advanced in order to show the origin of
their tenets, especially of the separation of faith
from good works, or the doctrine of faith alone,
and to show that this was done with no other aim
than to be severed from the Roman Catholics ;
and to show that, after all, their disagreement is
more in words than in reality. From the above
passages, it clearly appears upon what foundation
the faith of the Reformed Churches has been
erected, and from what inspiration it arose.

v.
30. The whole theology of the Christian World
. at this day is ounded on the idea 0 three Gods,
arising from the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons.
31

BRIEF ANALYSIS
31. Something shall first be said concerning the
source from which the idea of a Trinity of Persons
in the Godhead, thus of three Gods, has proceeded.
There are three creeds, called the Apostles', the
Nicene and the Athanasian, which specifically
teach the Trinity. The Apostles' and the Nicene
teach just the Trinity, whilst the Athanasian
teaches a Trinity of Persons. These three creeds
appear in many of the Books of Worship (Libris
Psalmorum) ; the Apostles' Creed as a psalm which
is sung, the Nicene after the Decalogue, and the
Athanasian apart by itself. The Apostles' Creed
was written after the time of the Apostles. The
Nicene Creed was composed at the Council of
Nicaea, a city of Bithynia, to which all the bishops
in Asia, Africa and Europe were summoned by the
Emperor Constantine in the year A.D. 325. The
Athanasian Creed was composed after that
Council by some person or persons in order
utterly to overthrow the Arians, and was after
wards received by the churches as <:ecumenical.
From the first two creeds the confession of a
Trinity clearly appeared, but from the third or
Athanasian Creed proceeded the profession of a
Trinity of Persons. That hence arose the idea of
three Gods will be seen from what now follows.
32. That there is a Divine Trinity is manifest
from the Lord's words in Matthew:
Jesus said, Go ye therefore, make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Matt. xxviii 19.
Also from these words in the same Evangelist:
When Jesus was baptized, . . . 10, the heavens were
32

opened unto Him, and He saw the Holy Spirit descending
like a dove and alighting upon Him; and 10, a voice
from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in Whom
I am well pleased. Matt. iii 16, 17.
The reason the Lord sent His disciples to
baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit was because in Him, then glorified, was the
Divine Trinity; for in the preceding verse, n. 18
(Matt. xxviii), He says:
All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.
and in the 20th verse:
Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the consum
mation of the age.
Thus, He spoke of Himself alone, and not of three.
Again, it is written in John: )
The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet
glorified. - John vii 39
The former words He spoke after His glorifica
tion, and His glorification yvas His complete union
with His ather, Who was the Divine Itself in
Him from conception; and the Holy Spirit was
the Divine proceeding from Him after His glori
fication ; see John xx 22.
33. The reason the idea of three Gods proceeded
chiefly from the Athanasian Creed, where a
Trinity of Persons is taught, is because the word
" person" begets such an idea. Moreover, this
idea is further implanted by these words in the
Creed: "There is one person of the Father,
another of the Son, and another of the Holy
Ghost"; and later: "The Father is God and
Lord, the Son is God and Lord, and the Holy
Ghost is God and Lord"; but especially
by these words in the Creed: "For like as
33

we are compelled by the Christian verity to
acknowledge every Person by himself to be God
and Lord, so we are forbidden by the Catholic
Religion to say there are three Gods or three
Lords." The import of these words is that
by the Christian verity we are bound to
confess and acknowledge three Gods and three
Lords, but by the Catholic religion we are not
allowed to say, or to mention, three Gods and three
Lords; consequently, we may have an idea of
three Gods and three Lords, but we are not to
make oral confession thereof. Nevertheless, the
doctrine of the Trinity in the Athanasian Creed
agrees with the truth if only there is substituted
for a Trinity of Persons a Trinity of Person which
is in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, as may be
seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM
CONCERNING THE LORD, published at Amsterdam
in the year 1763, nos. 55-61.
34. It is to be observed that in the Apostles'
Creed it is said : "I believe in God the Father ...
in Jesus Christ ... and in the Holy Ghost," and in
the Nicene Creed: "I believe in one God, the
Father ... in one Lord Jesus Christ ... and in the
Holy Ghost" ; thus, only in one God. But in the
Athanasian Creed it is said: .. In God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost" ; thus,
in three Gods. Yet because the authors and
favourers of this creed saw clearly that an idea of
three Gods would inevitably result from the ex
pressions used therein, in order that this might be
remedied, they asserted that one substance or
essence belongs to the three. But, in truth, from
these expressions po other idea ~ tfuilL.L.fiat
34


there are three Gods of one mind and agreeing
togetlier:-For when one indivisible substance or
essence is attributed to the Three, it does not remove
the idea of three, but confuses it. This is because
the expression is a metaphysical one, and meta
J
Rh sics with all its ingenuit cannot make oneout
of three Persons, each of Whom IS God. It may,
indeed, make a unity of them in utterance, but
never in the idea.
35. That the whole Christian theology at this
day is founded on the idea of three Gods, clearly
appears from the doctrine of justification, which is
the principal doctrine of the Church among
Christians, both Roman Catholics and Protestants.
This doctrine asserts that God the Father sent His
Son to redeem and save mankind, and gives the
Holy Spirit to perform this. Everyone who hears,
reads, or repeats this cannot but divide God into
three in his thought, that is, in his idea, and suppose
that one God sent another and operates by a third.
That the same notion of a Divine Trinity dis
tinguished into three Persons, each of Whom is
God, is continued throughout the rest of the
doctrinal tenets of the present Church, as from a
head into its body, will be demonstrated in the
proper place. In the meantime, consider what has
already been set forth concerning justification,
consult theology in general and particular, and,
at the same time, notice while in church listening
to sermons, or while praying at home, whether
you have any other perception and thought than
of three Gods; especially when you are praying
or singing separately to one, and then separately
to the other two, as is the common practice. From
35

these considerations the truth of the proposition
is established that the universal theology in the
Christian world at this day is founded on the idea
of three Gods.
36. That a trinity of Gods is contrary to Holy
Scripture is well known, for it is written :
Am not I Jehovah ? and there is no God else besides Me ;
a just God and a Saviour there is none besides Me.
Isa. xlv 21, 22.
I, Jehovah, am thy God ... and thou shalt acknowledge
no God besides Me ; for there is no Saviour besides Me.
Hosea xiii 4.
Thus saith Jehovah the King ofIsrael, and His Redeemer,
Jehovah Zebaoth : I am the First and I am the Last, and
besides Me there is no God. Isa. xliv 6.
Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, and thy Redeemer the
Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall
He be called. Isa. liv 5.
In that day ... Jehovah shall be King over all the earth;
in that day there shall be one Jehovah and His Name
One. Zech. xiv 9.
There are also many more such passages.
37. That a trinity of Gods is contrary to en
lightened reason may appear from these con
siderations. What man of sound reason can bear
to hear that three Gods created the world, or can
bear to hear that creation and preservation,
redemption and salvation, reformation and re
generation are the work of three Gods, not of One?
On the other hand, what man of sound reason is
unwilling to hear that the same God Who created
us also redeemed us and regenerates and saves us ?
As the latter idea and not the former accords with
reason, there is, therefore, no nation upon the whole
earth, possessed of religion and sound reason,
36


which does not acknowledge one God. As is
well known, the Mohammedans, also certain)
nations in Asia and Afnca, abhor CfuistlaImy,
becausrthey-bclieve---m:ere IS In It the worship of
--three-uo-ds ; anolhe-onlyarrswerofTl1eCnnshans
fo the cfiarge is that for the three there is one
essence, thus one God. I can affirm, from the
faculty of reason which has been given me, that I
can clearly see that neither the world, nor the
angelic heaven, nor the church, nor anything
therein, could have come into existence or could
subsist but from one God.
38. To what has been said shall be added the
following from the Confession of the Churches
in the Low Countries, received at the Synod of
Dort: "I believe in one God, WholSOneessence
wherein are three Persons in communicable
properties, truly ~ndrealh dis..tinct from eternity ;
namely, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Father is the cause, origin and beginning of
all things visible and invisible; the Son is the
Word, Wisdom and Image, of the Father; the
Holy Spirit is the eternal Virtue and Power pro
ceeding from the Father and the Son. However,
it must be allowed that this doctrine far exceeds
the comprehension of the human mina; rinfilct,
we await a perfect knowledge of this in heaven."

VI.
39. The dogmas of the aforesaid theology are
seen to be erroneous after the idea of a Trinity of
Persons, hence of three Gods, has been rejected, and
4 37

the idea of one God, in Whom is the Divine Trinity,
received instead.

BRIEF ANALYSIS
40. The reason why the dogmas of the present
Church, which are based upon the idea of three
Gods, derived from the doctrine of a Trinity of
Persons, literally understood, are seen to be
erroneous after the idea of one God in Whom is the
Divine Trinity has been received instead, is because
it is not possible to see what is erroneous before
this has been done. For it is like one who in the
night, by the light of a few stars, sees various
objects, especially statues, and believes them to be
living men; or, like one who in the twilight
before sunrise, as he lies in bed, beholds, as it were,
spectres in the air, and believes them to be angels;
or, again, like one who sees many things in the
foolish light of phantasy, and believes them to
be real. Such things, as is well known, do not
appear for what they really are, and are not
perceived as such, until the man comes into the
light of day; that is, until his. understanding is
wide awake. It is similar with the spiritual things
of the Church, which have been erroneously and
falsely perceived and confirmed, when genuine
truths are presented to view in their own light,
which is the light of heaven.
Who cannot understand that all dogmas founded
on the idea of three Gods are erroneous and false
from within? I say, from within, because the
idea of God enters into all things of the Church,
of religion and of worship; also because theo
logical matters reside higher than all others in the
human mind, and among these the idea of God is
38


supreme. Wherefore, if this is false, all things
that follow from this initial falsity from which
they flow are false or are falsified. For what is
supreme, being also the inmost, constitutes the
very essence of all that is derived from it; and
the essence, like a soul, forms them into a body
after its own image; and when, in its descent, it
comes upon truths, it even infects them with its own
blemish and error. The idea of three Gods in
theology may be compared to a disorder seated in
the heart or in the lungs, when yet the invalid
fancies himself to be in health, because his physician,
not knowing his disease, persuades him that he is
so. But if the physician knows of the disease,
and still persuades the patient that he is healthy,
he deserves to be charged with excessive malignity.

VII.

41. Then truly saving Faith, which is Faith in one
God united with Good Works, is acknowledged and
received.

BRIEF ANALYSIS
42. Thoe reason why this faith, which is a faith
in one God, is acknowledged and received as truly
saving when the former faith in three Gods is
rejected is because, until this is done, a faith in one
God cannot be seen in its proper aspect. For the
faith of the present day is preached as the only
saving faith, because it is a faith in one God, and in
a Saviour. But there are two aspects to this present
day faith, one internal, the other external. The
internal is formed from the perception of three
39

Gods; for who perceives or thinks otherwise ?
Let everyone examine himself. But the external is
formed from the confession of one God. Again,
who acknowledges or says otherwise? Let every
one examine himself. These two aspects are alto
gether discordant with each other,so that the
external is not acknowledged by the internal ; nor
is the internal known by the external. Because of
this discord and discrepancy when the one is
compared with the other, a confused idea of the
means of salvatiqn has been conceived and brought
forth in the Church.
It is otherwise when the internal and external
aspects agree, and when they mutually regard and
acknowledge each other as a concordant unity.
That this is the case when one God in Whom is a
Divine Trinity is not only perceived by the mind
but also acknowledged by the mouth, is self
evident. Then the dogma concerning the alienation
of the Father from the human race is abolished,
together with that of His reconciliation, and quite
another doctrine results concerning imputation,
remission of sins, regeneration and thence salvation.
This will be clearly seen in the major work, in the
light of reason illuminated by divine truths from
the Sacred Scripture. This faith is 'called a faith
united with good works, because without this
union it is impossible to have faith in one God.

VIII

43. This Faith is Faith in God the Saviour Jesus
Christ, which in its simplest form is as follows:
40


(1) THERE IS ONE GOD IN WHOM IS THE DIVINE
TRINITY, AND HE IS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
(2) A SAVING FAITH IS TO BELIEVE ON HIM.
(3) EVIL ACTIONS OUGHT TO BE SHUNNED BECAUSE
THEY ARE OF THE DEVIL AND FROM THE DEVIL.
(4) GOOD ACTIONS OUGHT TO BB DONE BECAUSE
THEY ARE OF GOD AND FROM GOD.
(5) AND THESE SHOULD BE DONE BY MAN AS OF
HIMSELF, YET IT OUGHT TO BE BELIEVED THAT
THEY ARE FROM THE LORD, WITH HIM AND
THROUGH HIM.

BRIEF ANALYSIS
44. This is the Faith of the New Church in
simple form. It will appear more fully in the
Appendix, and in still greater fulness in the first
part of the major work, treating of the Lord God
the Saviour, and of the Trinity in Him; of love to
God and love towards the neighbour; of faith,
and its conjunction with those two loves. This
faith will also be treated of in the remaining parts
of that work, which will follow in their proper
order there. But it is important that this pre
liminary account of the above-mentioned faith
should be shown here to some extent.
The first Article, viz., that there is one God in
Whom is the Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord
Jesus Christ, is shown by the following summary.
It is a sure and abiding truth that God is one, that
His essence is indivisible, and that there is a Trip,ity.
Since, therefore, God is one, and His essence is
indivisible, it follows that God is one Person; and
that, since He is one Person, the Trinity is in that
Person. That this Person is the Lord Jesus Christ is
evident from the following statements: He was
41

conceived of God the Father, Luke i, 34, 35 : thus,
as to His soul and essential life, He is God. There
fore, as He Himself said, the Father and He are
one, John x 30. He is in the Father, and the
Father in Him, John xiv 10, 11. He who sees Him
and knows Him, sees and knows the Father,
John xiv 7, 9. No one sees and knows the Father
except He Who is in the bosom of the Father,
John i 18. All things of the Father are His, John iii
35 and xvi 15. He is the way, the truth and the
life, and no one comes to the Father but through
Him, John xiv 6; consequently by Him, because
He is in Him, thus is He Himself. According to
Paul, in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily, Colossians ii 9 ; and according to Isaiah,
Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, Whose
name is God, Father of eternity. Isa~ ix 6.

Further, He has power over all flesh, John xvii 2 :
whence it follows that He is the God of heaven and
earth.
The second Article, viz., that a saving faith is
to believe on Him, is shown by these sayings :
Jesus said ... He that believeth on Me shall never die,
but shall live. John xi 25, 26.
This is the will of My Father, that everyone who believes
on the Son may have eternal life. John vi 40.
God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. John iii 16.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, but
he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him. John iii 36.
There is no need to illustrate and prove the
remaining Articles, which are that evils ought to
be shunned because they are of the devil and from
42


the devil, that good. actions ought to be done
because they are of God and from God, yet that
man ought to believe that they are from the Lord
with him and through him; for the whole
Sacred Scripture from beginning to end confirms
them and, in short, teaches nothing else than
shunning evils and doing goods, and believing on
the Lord God. Besides, without these three
things there is not any religion, for religion
belongs to life, and life is to shun evils and
do goods; and man cannot do the one or
the other except as of himself. Wherefore, if
you remove these three things from the Church,
you remove the Sacred Scripture, and religion also;
in which case the Church ceases to be a Church.
For a further account of the Faith of the New
Church in its universal and particular forms; see
below, nos. 116 and 117. All this will be demon
strated in the major work.

IX
45. The Faith of the present day has separated
religion from the Church: for religion consists in
the acknowledgment of One God, and in the worship
of Him from the Faith of Charity.

BRIEF ANALYSIS
46. What nation is there upon the earth,
possessed of religion and sound reason, that does
not know and believe that there is one God;
that to do evil is contrary to Him, and that to do
good is to be in accord with Him ; also that man
must do good from his soul, his heart, and
43

his strength, although good inflows from
God; and that religion consists in this? Who,
therefore, does not see that to confess three Persons
in the Divine, and to assert that in good works
there is nothing of salvation, is to separate religion
from the Church? For it is declared that in those
works there is nothing of salvation, as in these
statements: "Faith justifies without good works,"
n. 12 (a, b). "Works are not necessary for
salvation, nor for faith, because salvation and
faith are neither preserved nor retained by good
works," n. 12 (g, h, rn, n). Consequently, there is no
bond of conjunction of faith with good works. If it
is afterwards said that good works nevertheless
follow faith spontaneously, as fruit from a tree,
n.13 (I, n), who then does them; nay, who thinks
of them, or who is spontaneously led to them, while
he knows and believes that they contribute nothing
to salvation, and, further, that no one can do any
good of salvation from himself? and so on.
It may. be said that, nevertheless, they have
conjoined faith with good works. We reply that
this conjunction, when closely inspected, is not
conjunction, but mere adjunction; and this only
like a superfluous appendage that neither coheres
nor adheres in any other manner than as a dark
background to a portrait which serves to give it
more of the appearance of life. Moreover, because
religion belongs to life, and this consists in good
works according to the truths of faith, it is clear
that religion itself is the portrait and not an
appendage. Indeed, with many, religion is as a
horse's tail which, because it is of little value, may
be cut oft' at pleasure. Who can rationally conclude
otherwise while he understands such expressions
44


as the following according to their obvious mean-
ing? "It is folly to imagine that the works of the
second table of the Decalogue justify in the sight
of God," n. 12 (d). "If anyone believes he will
necessarily obtain salvation because he has charity,
he brings a reproach upon Christ," n. 12 (e). " Good
works are to be utterly excluded in treating of
justification and eternal life," n.12 (f): besides
many other statements there. Who, therefore,
when he reads afterwards that good works neces-
sarily follow faith, and that, if they do not follow,
the faith is false and not true, n. 13 (p, q, v), with
more to the same effect, attends to these sayings ;
or, if he attends to them, does so with any per-
ception? Yet the good which proceeds from man
without perception has no more life in it than if it
came from a statue.
But, if we enquire more deeply into the grounds
of this doctrine, it will appear that the leaders of
the Church first laid down faith alone as their
ruling principle, in order that they might be
severed from the Roman Catholics, as mentioned
above, nos. 21-23, and afterwards adjoined works
of charity lest their principle should be contrary
to Sacred Scripture, and so that it might appear
to be religious and sound.

X.
47. The Faith of the present Church cannot be
united with Charity, or produce any fruits which are
Good Works.
BRIEF ANALYSIS
48. Before this proposition is demonstrated,
we will first explain the derivation and nature of
45

charity, of faith, and of good works which are
called fruits. Faith is truth; wherefore the doc
trine of faith is the doctrine of truth, and the
doctrine of truth is in the understanding, thence in
the thought, thence in the speech. Wherefore, it
teaches what should be willed and what should be
done; thus, that evils are to be shunned, and
which evils in particular: and that good actions
are to be done, and which in particular. When man
does good from faith, goods unite themselves with
truths, because the will is then united with the
understanding; for good belongs to the will and
truth to the understanding. From this conjunction
arises the affection of good, which in its essence is
charity, and the affection of truth, which in its
essence is faith; and these two united make a
marriage. From this marriage good works are
produced as fruits from a tree; whence they
become the fruits of good and the fruits of truth.
The latter are signified in the Word by grapes, the
former by olives.
49. From this derivation of good works, it is
evident that faith alone cannot possibly produce
or beget any works which are called fruits, any more
than a woman can produce of herself any offspring
without the man. Wherefore, the expression
" fruits offaith " is mere words, devoid of meaning.
Besides, throughout the whole world nothing ever
was or is produced save from a marriage union
in which one part has relation to good and the
other to truth; or, in the case of the opposite
kind, one part has relation to evil, the other to
what is false. Consequently, no works can be
conceived, much less born, save from such a
46

marriage union ; good works from the marriage
of good and truth, evil works from the marriage of
evil and falsity.
50. The reason why charity cannot be united
with the faith of the present Church, and why no
good works can be born from any such marriage,
is because imputation supplies everything, remits
sins, justifies, regenerates, sanctifies, and imparts
the life of heaven, thus salvation; and all this
freely, without any works of man. In such a case,
what is charity, whose union should be with faith,
but something superfluous and vain, an accessory
and token of imputation and justification, which,
however, avails nothing? Besides, a faith founded
on the idea of three Gods is erroneous, as has been
shown above, nos. 39, 40 ; and with an erroneous
faith charity that in itself is charity cannot be
united.
It is believed that there is no bond of union
between the above-mentioned faith and charity
for two reasons; one, because the leaders of the
Church make this faith spiritual, but charity they
make natural-moral, imagining that there can be
no union between what is spiritual and what is
natural. The other reason is, lest anything from
man, and so anything of merit, should flow into
their faith, which alone they regard as saving.
Moreover, no bond of charity is possible with that
faith; but there is a bond with the new faith, as
may be seen below, nos. 116, 117.
XI.
51. From the Faith of the present Church there
flows forth a worship of the mouth and not of the
47

life.. when yet the worship of the mouth is accepted
by the Lord only so far as it accords with worship
which is of the life.

BRIEF ANALYSIS
52. This is shown by experience. How many
are there at this day who live according to the
precepts of the Decalogue, and the other precepts
of the Lord, from a religious principle? And how
many are there at this day who desire to look their
own evils in the face and perform actual repentance,
and thus enter upon worship which is of the life?
Or who, among those who practise piety, perform
any other repentance than that of the mouth and
speech, confessing themselves to be sinners, and
praying from the doctrine of the Church that God
the Father, Who from compassion on account of
the Son Who suffered upon the cross for their sins,
took away their damnation and atoned for them
with His blood, would mercifully forgive their
transgressions so that they might stand unspotted
before His judgment-seat? Who does not see that
this worship is of the lungs only, not of the heart ;
thus, external, not internal? For in such worship a
man prays for remission of sins, and yet is not
conscious of a single sin in himself; and if he
should know of any, he would envelop it with
favour and indulgence, or with a faith supposedly
purifying and absolving, without any works on his
part. But this may be compared to a servant who,
approaching his master with his face and clothes
bedaubed with soot and filth, should say to him:
" Master, wash me." Would not his master say
to him: "Thou foolish servant, what are you
saying? See, there is water, soap and a towel.
48


Have you not hands, and can you not use them?
Wash yourself." So also, would not the Lord God
say: "There are from Me the means of purifica
tion; from Me also you have will and power.
Wherefore, use these gifts of Mine and these talents
of your own, and you will be purified."
Consider also another example by way of illus
tration. Suppose you should pray a thousand
times at home and in church that God the Father,
for the sake of His Son, would preserve you from
the devil, and yet you did not keep yourself from
evil and so from the devil by that freedom of will
in which you are perpetually kept by the Lord,
you could not then be preserved even by legions
of angels sent by the Lord. For the Lord cannot
act contrary to His own Divine order, which is
that a man should examine himself, discover his
evils and resist them, and this as of himself,
although from the Lord. This, indeed, does not
appear at this day to Ibe the gospel; nevertheless,
it is so; for the gospel is that we are saved by
the Lord.
The reason why the worship of the mouth is
. accepted by the Lord only so far as it accords with
worship which is of the life, is because man's
speech before God and before His angels sounds
from the affection of his love and faith, and these
two are in man according to his life. Wherefore,
if the love of God and faith in Him are in your
life, the sound of your voice will be like that ~f a
dove. But if self-love and self-confidence are in
your life, the sound of your voice will be like that
of an owl, however you may attempt to imitate
the turtle-dove. The spiritual quality, which is
within the sound, effects this.
49


XII
53. The doctrine of the present Church is bound
together by many paradoxes which are to be em
braced by faith,. therefore its dogmas enter the
memory only, and not into any part of the under
standing above the memory, but merely into
confirmations below it.
BRIEF ANALYSIS
54. The prelates of the Church insist that the
understanding is to be kept under obedience to
faith; nay, they say that a faith in what is un
known, which is a blind or nocturnal faith, is
properly faith. This is the first paradox. For
faith belongs to truth, and truth to faith; and, in
order that truth may belong to faith, it must be in
its own light and be seen in that light; otherwise,
what is false could be believed.
The paradoxes proceeding from such a faith are
many; as, that God the Father begat a Son from
eternity, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both,
and each of these three is a Person by Himself
and is God; that the Lord was from the mother
both as to His soul and body; that these three
Persons, thus three Gods, created the universe ;
that one of them descended and assumed the
Human in order to reconcile the Father, and thus
to save mankind; that those who by grace obtain
faith and believe these paradoxes are saved by the
imputation, application and transfer of His justice
to themselves; that a man, at his first reception
of this faith, is like a statue, stock or stone, and
50

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