Samuel weems-the-virgin-birth-swedenborg-foundation-1966

DedicatioIL

This book is dedicated affectionately to aIl those who have

done anything toward the production from the time the author

was born to the present.

~."-~ d- r; ""- ~t..
r,6b (/" 13)

THE PURPOSE OF THIS REPRINT

Merry Christma(i966)
'--
My dear reader:

This book is especially written for you. 1 want you to know
how Jehovah God became the Lord God, Saviour Jesus Christ
nsen and glorified, the only God of Heaven and Earth, our
Heavenly Father. 1 want you to know the truth about the
first and greatest tlung on earth because nothing bULthe trüth
can make you free.

There are many millions in this world at this day who do
not know who the God of Heaven and Earth is. There are
those who believe in Jehovah God as the Father who is good
and evil, wrathful and angry, and who is capable of bringing
us into heaven or hel!. There are those who think of Jesus
Christ as the Son of God, born of a Vir~in or as a good man.
And there are sorne who believe in the 1:roly Spirit. There is
no necessity for these millions to live in this state of confusion
about the most important thing in their lives for "The earth
is full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea." ThIs 1 know to be true after sorne seventy-fivL):'ear~ of
li~ing. (f5è>~"'" '7,3')

Since graduating from the New Church Theological School,
1 have spent more than fifty years teaching and reading the
voluminous works of Swedenborg and comparing them with
the religious writings published during that time. 1 had in
tended to send you a book written in my own words, but this
proved too much for my eyesiK.ht and was abandoned threc
quarters finished. Rather than give up altogether this idea
which 1 cherished so long and which 1 had promised the Lord
1 would do if He would give me the wisdom, 1 decided to
make use orRev. Samuel ffirren's Compendium which was
published sorne years ago. By the hand of Divine Providence
( you are getting a better book than 1 ~ould have possibly pro
duced in my own words. Here you have the writings of
Swedenborg on the incarl'§tion in his own words. You will
find that he s h ~ t not only on this subject, but
t also on l he seeming contradicti~ns,' inaccuracies, historical
1 erro~s, absurdities, obscenitles, etc., in the scripture.

ln order that you might know for yourself something of the
great value of these writings, 1 have selected sixty-five pages
from a compendium from which is .tl).~reprint. These writings
can be had at most book stores, but it may interest you to
know that they have been given away for more than one hun
l dred years by the Swedenborg Foundation in New York City,
to ministers and theologlcaJ students. It is nope triat through
these writings every reader will become a fisher of m..!;n and a
{
keder of sheep.

The theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg have for
more than two hundred years been telling us who the true
Il God is, and how J ehovah -'God through the <vil' in birth be
came 0 ] VI esus nst, our Heavenly
Father. After more than two centuries it seems a pit Y that so
few people know who Jesus Christ is. Is it any wonder that
so much crime and confusion exists in the world to;!ay? 1 c r;:
If only the truth were known that God is Love 1tself and
that He punishes no one or casts any into hell, nor is he
wrathful, revengeful and unforgiving as he is pictured. He
could never be such that he could not forgive Adam and Eve
for their sins nor their posterity who must suffer eternal tor
ment. Who would or cou Id worship such a God who is worse
than the worst of men?

The true nature of God is to love others outside of himself
and to be loved by others. Therefore, he has only one desire
and that is to have a heaven of men and wowe.n from the
human race who are physically and spiritually perfecto ~

What the Bible really does is to invite us to take part in the
making of men. "Let us make man ..." At first it is difficult
to teU whether the subject is the making of man or the making
of earth, but this is c1arified in the twenty-sixth verse (Gen.
1: 26) "Let us make man in our image after our lilœness ...",
and in the twenty-seventh verse (Gen. 1: 27) "So God created
man in His own image, in the image of God created He
mm,;.. . . ." Tt is said in his image and likeness because God
does everything. He furnishes life and pc weI' for a whole
universe. l t is said in our image and likeness because man
takes an active part in the making of aIl mankind.

The word man is used in two ways, singularly and col
lectively, and inc1udes male and female. Almost aIl people
read it as singular and become confused at the very beginning.
This is a most ancient allegory and the proof is in the fourth
chapter of Genesis. Tt states that Cain after killing Abel went

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out from the presence of the Lord and there he knew his
wife. (Gen 4: 16, 17). According to its singular sense there
were only four people in the world, Adam and Eve, and Cain
and Abel, but there he knew his wife and there he found
people to build a city. And in the fifth chapter of Genesis
(Gen 5: 1, 2) we read, "These are the generations of the book
of Adam in the day which God created them and called their
name Adam." Here we are taught to think of mankind both
( singularly and collectively in the creation.

We are also taught to think of God as loving and the most
loveable being in the universe, and man as His most loving and
most loveable masterpiece in creation. There is no creature in
the universe that can love like man. H.is-.range is infinite like
that of God's. This is why it is said man is created in the
lmage and likeness of God and the highest love is love to God
with aIl thy heart and with ail thy mind and ail thy strength
and thy neighbor as thyself. (Matt. 22: 37-39). from the ~
ginning man was endowed with this love which is why he
occupies the highest position in the universe. In the eighth
psalm it is written that he was created a little lower than God,
not a little lower than the angels as sorne have thought. It is
said also that he is crowned with glory and honor and made
to have dominion over ail the works of thy hands. "Thou has
put aIl things under his feet, ail sheep and oxen, and also the
beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the
sea, and all things that ~seth througb the sea." 0!h.... Lfhd,
our Lord how excellent is th name in 11 t earth. is
?;lVeS us sorne i ea 0 the Lord's love for man. "A mother can
forget her sucking child, but l can never forget. l have graven
thee upon the palms of my hands and l have loved thee with
l an everlasting love."

"If l ascend up into heaven, thou art there' if l make my
bed in heU, behold, thou art there." (Ps. 139~8th verse)

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is ln
Heaven is perfect. Matt. 5: 48.

It is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. We are
His people and the sheep of His pasture 100th Ps. 3rd verse.
As in Heaven so upon earth Matt. 6.

We are in the habit of thinking of God creating single man
(Adam) but we would do well to think of man singularly and
collectively. Our early sacred records teach us of collective
man. Our most ancient world, Canaan, Babylon, Egypt, India,

China, Persia and Greece tell us of a Golden Age of speaking
men who ate fruits and vegetables.

So the peopie had become quickly accustomed to.looking in
each other's faces and become acquainted with each other's
IN infinity of faces - precious faces which only Divine love and
YP Divine wisdom can create.

Then ail joy and aIl delight were there.
Then it was eternal spring.
Then aH beauty, use and strength were there.
Then nectar, milk and honey were fiowing.
Friendly faces fresh from the hand of God often vied with
each other, to see who could offer the Father-Creator each
morning the prettiest face.
So they ate for perfection, they bathed for perfection.

They married, walked, talked and prayed for perfection, and
they achieved perfection. Thjs is why the most ancjent people
were the kindest an ost beautiful of aIl eo le. They were
the acme of perfection. This is ow we come by our parental
allegories: A Garden Eastward in Eden, the Hesperides or the
Garden of Golden AppIés, and the Garden more beautiful than
aIl the world besides. The Garden on the summit of the moun-
tain Kounlon, near the Gate of Heaven, The Holy Meroo, a
fair and stately mountain, a most exalted mass of glory; not
to be encompassed by sinful man, blameless Ethiopia and many
others.

They were innocent men endowed with the love of God in
their hearts, minds, souls and strengths, and they loved their
neighbors as themselves and they gladly reaped the labor of
their own hand.

They were wont to live a life free from care out of the
reach of ail ills. "Nor was wretched old age at aD impending,
but, ever the same in hands and feet, did they delight them-
selves in festivals out of the reach of aIl ills;. "( Hesiod,
Works and Days) THEY died or passed into the spiritual
world as if oyercome bv sleep.

Their Bible was nature. Ail nature was alive and full of
information. The whole world spake ta them, birds, beasts,
fish of the sei; fiowers, trees, vines, moutrtîlns, sunsets and
nvers. Ail had messages of love and wisdom for them and

the y knew that this world came from the spiritual world and
tn:attFilS world corresponded to the spiritual world. They
knew that everything in the natural world was emblematic of
the spiritual world. Therefore, everything had deep lessons of
spiritual life of love and wisdom. They could read from the
book of nature heavenly lessons from the Lord more freely
than we can read our daily newspapers. Hence arose those
beautiful parables, allegories, myths and fables, also hiero
glyphics or nature writing and representative architecture.

Such an age was the Golden Age or the first church of
Adam. These people knew no evil as they were endowed with
the highest type of love, and they enjoyed "Christmas" not one
day but three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. They
lived in their Father's house intuitively.

For how many centuries this lasted no one knows. In our
Bible it is called the Garden of Eden. We know that this
beautiful age did not last. After a time it gradually dec1ined
through a number of churches or communities over a period
of time under the name of various representative leaders. (See
Genesis: 5). Finally it was destroyed by a spiritual catac1ysm
known as the flood, not of waters, but of inequity and sin. In
this oldest allegory of Adam the Lord saw that "1t was not
good that man should be alone." (Gen 2: 18) "To be alone
means to be with God." Until this time peace and contentment
had reigned in the hearts of men, but now the Lord discovered
that man was discontented and wanted more freedom. He,
therefore, helped by giving man a helpmate. So he caused a
deep sleep to fall upon Adam and took out of his side a rib
and c10sed up the place with flesh. (Gen. 2:21) With this he
made an allegoric1e wife for Adam. This was a spiritual con
dition brought upon the first church on earth to pacify man.
He was given a spiritual wife to make him happy while he
sought independence. Though man was created to love God
intuitively or voluntarily, he wanted to do it independently.
He had reached the age of maturity. In this allegory the wife
ly independence was not satisfactory because it gave both par
ties an appetite for "truth as it appears." The serpent or
"truth as it appears" is a bonified resident of the garden of
Eden and is not a devil as sorne people misinterpret. He is the
most subtle beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
(Gen. 3: 1) The occupants might eat of the tree of life freely,
that is to say, they may eat of the tree of genuine knowledge
freely, but of the tree of truth of good and evil "as it ap
pears" they must not eat at all. The woman, on the love side
of the mind, was most easily deceived and the man, on the
understanding side of the mind, was most easily led. The ser

pent or the "appearance of truth" beguiled me and 1 did eat.
This was the helpless cry of the mind, the beginning of evil.
That genuine or actual truth, Divine Truth or the Lord's
truth may be eaten freely. This was the Foundation of the
Golden Age. The "appearance of truth" is the only deception
that can destroy man. Man is deceived through ignorance.

That there shaH be no confusion or misunderstanding con
cerning the true Ruler of Heaven and earth, the Lord through
a dream of a repentant King, Nebuchadnezzar and a stone cut
out of the mountain without hand, showed to mankind who
is the Absolute Ruler of Heaven and earth.

This stone was capable of doing many things. 1t was capa
ble of grinding to powder a mighty moulten image, whose head
was gold, breast of silver, body or brass and legs of copper,
feet mixed with iron and clay; it was capable of crushing and
grinding to powder 5 ages of wicked desires, and fiHing the
whole earth with good.

But more than this it was capable of taking one's own king
dom and of removing one's reason, of returning one to animal
existence and of driving one from men. But most of al!, it
showed that He alone was the one who set men up and set
men down.

Daniel 4: 35, And all the inhabitants of the earth are re
puted as nothing; and He doeth according to His will in the
Army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth:
and none can stay his hand, or say unto Him, What doest
thou?

The living stone is none other than the constant presence
and irresistable love of the Lord .Jesus Christ.

A few hundred years ago man thought the world was flat
and lived in fear of coming to the end and faHing off. Today,
man knows the earth to be globular. The horizon appears to
meet the sky a few miles away. A storm seems to coyer the
whole earth. A railroad track appears to be narrower at a
distance, but we know it is just as broad there as it is where
we stand. The sun appears to rise and set, but we know it
neither rises nor sets. We seem to be at rest from any given
point, but in reality we are being whirled through space at
the rate of thousands of miles per second.

These things help us to see that the anger and evil deeds

attributed to the Lord in the scriptures as weil as in the world
of nature are only appearances or sense impressions which de
ceive us, and make us think that both good and evil come
from the Lord.

The scripture passages which express the Lord's love, state the
attual or genuine truth concerning the Lord's true nature. In
reality the Lord never was, is, nor can be angry or evil in an)
manner or degree. He never did, does, nor will punish His
children. Ali the punishment that man endures is the
boomerang result of his misconduct, or of others like himself.
"For with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you
again." "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap. (Gal. 6, 7). Although man's sufferings and punishments
seem or appear to come from the Lord, the actual truth re
mains that the rational mind cannot conceive of tVO opposing
natures existing in the Lord God the Perfect Creator. Nothing
but perfect harmony can dwell within Him. If anger or evil
could be expected of Him, it must be of an Infinite Nature.
If both anger and love existed in the Lord, each in. an In
finite degree, the opposing influences would counteract each
other. His infinite evil wou Id counter3,ct His Infinite Good
and His Infinite Good would counteract his infinite evil and
would produce equilibrium or neutrality and the Lord could
accomplish nothing. From this we must conclude that the Lord
according to the Holy Scriptures is the Perfect Creator, the
Fountain Source of Inexhaustible Love, wisdom, power and
mercy. He is forever working to save mankind from wars,
famines, pestilences and other consequential punishments which
man ·brings upon himself through wilful disobedience to the
Divine Love and Wisdom, which were ordained to thrill him
with endless happiness here and hereafter.

The Lord wants man to. live a life of en joying Christmas
~he year bu t man cannot do this unless he understands
)1 every in
the Virgin Birth.

The miraculous conception
wom e v1rgm lS stn c r ws and
analogies" of Nature~ Ali creation was produced by a series of
virgin births, and every one of them confirmed by the full
strength of Divine analogy of the declared birth of Jesus
Christ. That is to say that none of the four kingdoms of
Nature: minerai, vegetable, animal, human has been produced
by a parentage like itself, because that parentage did not pre
viously exist. None of the kingdoms had a natural parentage
except on one side, which makes the case still more analogous
to the birth of Christ.

The great truth is that the Father was the Divine Spirit of
First Cause on the one hand, taking conceptive effect and
form in sorne medium of nature as a womb or mother and on
the other hand, producing the various kingdoms of Nature
before our eyes in the world about us. 1t must be initially
understood that al! things in creation exist first in their yet
unmanifested and uncreated state and substance in the Father
Creator of al! things, who exists in himself, not from another.

Here is the orderly process of impregnation by which these
various kingdoms of Nature came into existence. That degree
of the Divine Life or Spirit, "hi,h may be callcd thc Divine
yct unmanifested-'italizing-mineral-essen,c cmanated from the
Lord and took con,epti ve effeet and fon 11 in the previously
existing subtil' gasses, clcetrical formations and magnetic vibra
tions, These composee! the Illost subtIl' terlllinations and ulti
mations of the Divine Emanations on the natural or 100'est
plane, This lowest and most lifeless plane then brought forth
the first mineraI kingdolll. This may be illustrated by the fact
that 'ith heat enough the whole mineraI kingclom can be
transformed back into the subtIl' gases, ele,tri,a! forces and
magnetic vibrations which togcther makc up the natural parent
age from yhich the mineral kingdom was formed.

Tt is an undeniable fact that thcre is nothing of power,
Spirit or influence in mineraI, 'egctablc, animal, or human
nature, which alone was capable of producing the kingdom
above it. Next, the Divine Life or Spirit, whieh may be called
the Divine-yet-unmanifested-vitalizing Vegetable-Essence, took
conceptive effective and form in the matrixes of the minerai
kingdom, and the first vegetables came into existence. Again,
after sufficient continuity and progress of the vegetable king
dom, the same discrete operation was repeated. The next
higher degree of Divine Life or Spirit, which may be cai'led
the Divine-yet-unmanifested-vitalizing-Animal-Essence, came
down or out to meet and to take conceptive effect and form
in the prepared receptacles of the vegetable kingdom, with
animal existence as the birth product and thus, with the
Father Creator or First Cause on the one hand, and some
receptacle in Nature as mother on the other hand, new and
discrete creations came into being from parentage unlike them
selves.

Before we come to the ongm of man, we must invite your
attention to another peculiarity of this creating process. The
sexual process is everywhere manifested in the great discreted
divisions, showing creation to be a sexual process throughout,
a begetting by the Divinity, and an unfolding of the Divine

.J

Father Creator, Himself, glvmg Himself, and a bringing forth ,
of Nature for the benefit and welfare of all His children. In
aH these generative procedures of creation; philosophy and
science are obliged to recognize a sexual operation in aH ani
mate and inanimate Nature, though it cannot always easily be
discerned.

Now, if we consider the first human pair, we should find
precisely a similar process. The truth of the general principle
of the analogy remains. That degree of the Divine Life or
Spirit, which may be caHed the yet unmanifested-vitalizing

-, human-Essence of Nature, after sufficient advancement of the
animaIfkingdoITl} took conceptive effect and form in the animal

kingdhm and broug -t- ort t e first human life on this planet.

The animal must have been the basis of ground for the next

degree existing above it, as in ail previous creations. Therc

fore, the first human beings must have depended ~o~!~~_a~al

KingcIOiTlfor their Jv1aternity, but not their Paternity. Ail must

see t e truth with regard to God being the Father, and Nature

the mother, of these respective kingdoms of Nature.

Now then, what more was ever daimed for Jesus Christ?
It is written, He had no earthly father. If this be an objection,
it lies equally against every kingdom of Nature. Although He
had no human father, it is an interesting truth that b9_th male
and female principles actually conculTed in His, production.
The fact is, a mitfing Christ's birth as such, it is exceptional
only in its individuality, not at aH in its principle. It is not

.
:::ontrary to aH law~ ·...d analmôes of Nature.
" -' ~
........:..- -=-.: ---~
.-/ - rhe~asked ~f t~he ang-e-l; "How shaH this be, seeing
J. that I have no 1'iUSband?" The angel answered and said unto
her, "The Holy S irit shaH come upon thee, and the Power
of the HIg est s a l over-shadow thee; therefore also that
Holy Thing which shaH be born of thee shaH be caHed the
Son of God." (Luke 1: 34-35) Here is in fact the next ascension
~!he-DivinLprinciple. (Naturally spea mg, it IS an ascen
sion; spiritually speaking, it is a descension.) When conditions
arose making it necessary for the Divine Itself, as yet un
manifested in Nature except in man, to take conceptive effect
and form in the human kingdom, an m t e ema e depart
ment Olt, as in aIl prevlOUS creation, a~in God was the
Father and Mary was the mother of the Divine Man, Cfïnst JJ
,,Jesus. The SImple truth 1S, there fias been <l:_wl10le succession
)JJI QLJ::!2irM:_ulC}!.!-s 12irths ~vhic~ .ar~ s:~able of beingJationalized,
and this' he order' which they stand; mineraI, vegetable,
anima huma an Div~ Each was conceived of God the
Father, m t e womb(of N'lture, and born into the world.

l

If any are still disposed ta view man ~s God's highest in 1~
carnation, we would remind them that this is ta acknowledge
1 !!9 fuUx-incarnated 1?i~Î!ty at aU, but only humanity. For
( man himself is not Divine, not even in his inmost, where Gad
is resident or dweUswith him. Man's nature is human nature
only, whereas God's natu~e_is bath hu_man and Divine. Ta
speak of the Divinity of human Nature i5 thëfëforeanabsurd
ity. Rather, Gad is resident in man; man himself is not a little
Divinity. But the Lord Jesus Christ was Gad HiITIself humanized
in Nature as He had been from etermty In Himse f. e who
had always existed as Gad-Man in first princip les now became
Gad-Man in last principle-s-.

The Bo]! SGriptures teach nothing_ conçerning _the_Virgin
13i th, the watest and most profouDe! of aIl miraç~, but wnat
is simply supportee! by ail laws and analogies of Nature, and
therefore the Ward of Gad and the vvorks of nature are seen
fully ta harmonize. Here is the strongest proof, apart from the
direct testimony of the Holy Scriptures, of the Divinity of
Christ. "AU Thy vvorks shall praise Thee, 0 Lord." (Ps. 145)

For as sure as the discrete degree of life above the mineral
wodd is vegetable, and the next <Ïbove the vegetable wodd is
the animal, and the next above the animal wodd is the human,
and sa surely the next degree of Life above the human wodd
is the Divine. F00here is nothing~bove the human but the J
( Divine,~ll anels bei!!g_ formed aL hu~aE ~ture and 'even r
now but full re enerated and glorified men and women. The î
miraculous 0 12tion an --birffltn~en being grantea~he Di
~ vinity of Christ follows nèces~arily.- :rhus --;;:.esüS Christ· when
risen and completely glorifiedcould say of Himself, "1 am
1 Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and Ending, the First and
the Last." (Rev. 1: 8, 18.)

Do not the Holy Scriptures declare that "No man has seen
Gad at any time?" "That no man can see his face and live?"
Why then s eak of Him in the human for!D when the church
catechism teaches that Oô - is an invisible Divine Being with
out body, parts or passion?

The Holy Scriptures in many places teach us that Gad is
above ail human understanding. In Exodus, Moses was in
forrriee! that no man cou Id behold the naked Divinity of the
Lord. "Thou canst not see My Face, for there shall no man
see Me and live." A similar declaration is made in John, "No
man hath seen Gad at any time, nor seen his shape." These
~ and similar scriptures teach us about Gad as He exists in the
) Infinite depths Qf His Deity, Omnipotence, Ominscience and

Omnipresence; thus the human mind can form no idea of Him. 1)
The thought of limiting Gad ta the human form is highly ob
jectionable ta persans who attempt ta conceive of Gad without
form in terms of abstract Love, Wisdom, Power, Law, Order,
etc., but honest thinking will show that these Divine attributes
do not e.xist separately from a Divine Personality. The truth}
of the matter is that the human mind is sa constructed that it
cannat conceive of anything without form or shape. Try it!
(This helps us ta see that the idea of an invisible Gad without
1body, parts or passion as the church catechism suggests, pre
"sents nothing tangible ta the human mind, anel finall~' leads
(ta a belief in no Gad at al!. That which possesses no form,
possesses no substance nor quality, and does not fall within
the cons('iousness of the human mind. Man is a finite being,
who at his best ('an only acquire a finite ielea of the Lord. No
matter how lofty, intellectual, rational or angelic his idea of
Gael may be, it is still a finite, limited and imperfect idea of
') Gad. Only Gad a~He exiSJ in the Infinite. D~pths of His
) Inexhaustible Deity can possess an a equate dea -0 _Iiimself.
Tt follows that the finite mind ('an never grasp the Infinite.

The saille Hall' Scriptures also teach us that man can know

Gad only as He accommodates Himself ta the finite com

prehension of man. Thus in ail ages Gad has revealed Himself

ta man in the human form. Ta men in Old Testament days,

He revealed and spiritualized Himself in the Personality of the

"Angel of the Lord" always in the hUlllan form; and ta men

in Gospel elays and in modern times, He revealed himself in

the Divine Personality of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Under

these varied accommodated forms, the Hall' Scriptures speak

of men and vomen seeing "Gad face ta face" and talking with

Him. Anel throughout the Scriptures, His hands, His feet, His

eyes, His cars, His arms, His face, etc., are frequently men

tioned in arder that our finite mincls might get a permanent

gras]) of His Divine Personality and live constantly under His

Divine Presence and influence.

There exists in the Lord an infinite capacity of self adapta

tion, by which He accommodates Himself ta the reception of

every grade of human intelligence from the highest ta the low

est. This quality in the Lord is His Divine Human Principle,

through vvhich He humanizes Himself, and makes Himself

known ta l'very thought, feeling and perception. It is in the

Divine Human form that l'very true believer thinks and prays

ta the Lord as the Father of Us in heaven. And this is the

on1)' form in dlÏch we can have any definite or correct con

ception of Him. The Lord cannat reveal the whole of Himself

ta man; the finite is forever incapable of grasping the Infinite.

Therefore He reveals as much of Himse1f as man can receive.

h

It..
The Lord in His Infinity is wholly present at every manifesta

tion, but the amount revealed depends upon each man's capa
cities and pOvers of reception. '

From the very beginning aIl creation has been involved in a
continuai eff()Et to put forth the hurnan~m because the
highest revelation we have tells us that od is in that form.
This effort is manifested even in the fins of the fish, where the
five fingers of man are rudimentally shadowed forth. In the
higher animais, we see more distinctly the approaches to the
hlllnan form. Finally man appears, and at last God has un
folded Himself to the senses of man, or rather ultimates Him
sdJ in Nature at the summit of aIl crcatcd existence, altho~~h
the soul of the Man Jesus Christ Vas the pure Divine Essence
) Itsl'lf. It is to be remembered, hOien'r, that Jesus Christ had
inllnited from his Judaen mother an infirm human nature,
} and so vvas subject to temptation. This last unprecedented
birth, "Emanuel, God vith us," compkted the circ1e of crea
tion. just as a seed stops not until it reproduces itself.

1t is often asked, if God is a11 powcrful, and can do any

thing-, why was it necessary for Him to come to earth to ac

colilplish His purpose? It is true that the Lord is Ali Powerful

br'cause He is Love Itself, Wisdom l tself, and Order Itself in

t1H'ir uncreatefulness and perfection. Therefore His Infinite

L~c, Power and Order works only through and in comp ete

harmony and cooperation with His Infinite Visdom, which

s('cs aIl things from beginning to enel so perrectTytnat l t can

male no mistake. This is why perfect orcier is rnanifested in

all His vorks and activity. His WiscloTll never works contrary

to l ~ve nor His Love contrary to His Visdom. Therefore

a11 things are possible to Him according to the order of His

1.Oc and Wisdom. This is why the Lord can do nothing dis

Olr!l'r1y or evil. The fact that He chosc to make Himself visi

ble to redeem degenerate mankind through the instrumentality

~
of ClIl infirm human nature born of a 'irgin, shows that there

l'as no other way in which the work of redemption couId be

;)c(,olllplishecl with lasting success.

If Jesus is God, wh y is He spoken of as the Son of God?

The Scriptural term "Son of God" has led man y persons who

fOl'ln opinions and draw conc1usions so]ely from false sense im

pressions to think of Jesus as an entirely distinct person from

Jchovah, as though He were the son of an earthly father.

Whcn we give the subject our most profound consideration, we

can see that Jehovah God, the Creator, who is infinitely above

the comprehension, could not possibly have a separate son in

the same manner as an earthly father. The Divine Essence and

'1

Nature of Jehovas the Father cannot be divided or imparted as
in the case of an earthly father and son, for the vital reason
that only one Divine Being can have existence.

Lift every voice and sing

'Till earth and heaven ring

Ring Vith the harmonies of liberty

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the listening skies

Let it resound loud as the

rolling sea.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 1966

REV. SAMUEL O. WEEMS, Pastor Emeritus
(;.•. 1. ;/'iCf! t
NORTH CAMBRIDGE COMMUNITY CHURCH

,1

Excerpts

of

Emanuel Swedenborg

THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.l

THE DIVINE HUMAN FROM ETERNITY.

IN~avetrftî:e Divine Huma~ ~he
of Lor&:1§J all; the reason is,
because no one there, not even an angel of the inmost or third
heaven, can have any conception of the Divine itself; according
ta the Lord's words in J ohu, "No man hath seen Gad at any
tùne" Ci. 18). "Ye have neither heard the voice of the Pather at
any time, nor seen His shape" Cv. 37). For the angels are finite,
and what is finite can have no conception of the infinite. In
heaven therefore, if they had not an idea of Gad in the l:!~n
shape, th~y would have no idea, or an unbecoming one; and
Unis they could not be conjoined with the Divine either by
faith or love. This being sa, therefore in heaven they perceive
the Divine in the human form. Hence it is tha -'in th'e hea:veDs
( tie Divine Human is the aU ln their intui-tions concerning the /
~ivine; and is thus the all in their faith and love; whence
cames conjunction, and by conjunction sahation. CA. C. n.
7211.)
That· J ehovah appearing means the appeal'ing of the Lord's
Divine in His Human, is evident from this, that His Divine
cannat appear fO any man, nor even ta any angel, except b)l: the
D,i20-ne Human; and the Divine Human cannat appear butDY
tne Dlvme Truth which proceeds from Him. Cib. n. 6945.)
When J ehovah appeared before the coming of the Lord into
the world He appeared in the form of an angel ; for when He
passed through heaven He clothed HimseU _with that form,
which was the human for!'p. For -tb8Universal eaven";-- by
virtue of the Divine there,js as one man, called the Greatest
Man. Hence then is the D~Humani.. an as 8lfôvall ap- '
( peared in the human form as an angel, it is evident that it was
__~till J ehovah himself; and that very form was also His, because
it was I!is :qiviue in heaven. This was the Lord from eternity.
Cib. n. 10,579.)
When the Lord made His Human Divine He did this from
l By the Lord, in the Writings of Swedenborg, the Lord Jesus Christ i8
always meant, or Gad incarnate, afterwards glorified. (A. C. n. 14.)

"

THE DOCTilINE OF THE LORD.

in succeeding times to Abraham and the prophets, was mani
fested to them as a man. Rence it mayappear that the Infini~e
~ Es§.e never could have been manifested to man except by the
1.. Ruman E~ce, consequently by the Lord. (A. C. 1990.)
What proceeds immediately from t~e very Divine, not even
1 _
j
the angels in the inmost heaven can comprehen ~ The reason
is, because it is infinite and thus transcends ail, even angelic
eomprehension. ' But what proceeds from the LOJ,-d's Divine
2-
j
Ruman, this they can comprehend,' for it exhibits God as a
Div~an, of whom sorne conception can be formed from the
Ruman. (A. C. n. 5321.)

THE INCARNATION.

In the Christian churches at this day, it is believed that God,
the Creator of the universe, begat l,t Son from eternity; and that
this Son descended and assumed the Ruman, to redeem and
save men. But this is erroneous, and faUs of itself to the ground,
when it is considered that God is one, and that it is more than
fabulous in the eye of reason, that the one God should have be
gotten a Son from eternity, and also that Gad the Father,
together with the Son and the Holy Ghost, each of whom singly
is Gad, should be one God. This fabulons representation is
entirely dissipated when it is shewn from t e Wor, at Je
hovah God Rimself descended and became MAN, and became
r also the Redeemer. As, regards the first- Th~ J ehovah God
) Himself descended and became Man, is evident from t ese
passages:" eMld, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a Son,
l who shall be called God with us" (Isaiah vii. 14; Matt. i. 22, 23).
l " Unto us a Ghild is born, unto us a Son is given, and the govern
ment shall be upon His sMulder, and His name shall be called
Wonderful, God, Hero, the Father of Eternity, the Prince of Peace"
(Isaiah ix. 6). "It shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God,
wMm we have waited for to deliver us; this is Jehovah, whom we
have waited for: let us be glad and reJoice in His salvation"
(xxv. 9). "The voice of one c'rying in the wilderness, Prepare a
way for JeMvah; make smooth in the desert a way J01' our God;
. . . and all flesh shall see together" (xl. 3, 5). "BeMld, the
Lord JeMvah is coming in the mighty One, and His arm shall rule
for Him; beMld, His reward is with Him, . . . and He shall
feed His jlock like a shepherd" (xi 10, Il). CI Jehovah said, Sing
and reJoice, 0 daughter of Zion" behold, I am coming to dwell in
the midst of thee; then many nations shall cleave to JeMvah in
that day" (Zech. ii. 10, Il). <, I JeMvah have called thee in
righteousness, ' . . and I will give thee for a covenant of the

THE DOCTRINE OF' THE LORD.

people,. . . . l am Jehovah,. that ù lIfy name, and .My glory
will l not give to another" (Isaiah xlii. 6, 8). "Behold, the days
come, v)hen l will1'aise unto David a 1'ighteous bJ'anch, w7w shall
1'eign king, ... and execute judgment and justice in the earth,.
and this is His name, . . . Jehovah OUT Righteousness" (Jerem.
xxiii. 5, 6; xxxiii. 15, 16): besides other passages, where the
coming of the Lord is called the day of J ehovah, as Isaiah
xiii. 6,9,13,22; Ezek. xxxi. 15; Joel i. 15; ii. 1,2,11; iii. 2,4;
iv. 1,4, 18; Amos v. 1;), 18,20; Zeph. i. 7-18; Zech. xiv. 1,
4-21; and other places. Th2-t J ehovah Rimself descended and
assumed the Ruman, is very evident in Luke, where are lese
words: « l'{P;2-y7ë?;, to the ----angël;-How s faU-(1i}Î§!je, 8i~_ l
know not a' nwn? 0 wliom le anae replie, "The oly
') Spin shall COiiie ?tpon tlwe, and the poweT orthe l'irOii:7Iigh
sli"alz- ovërshaëlow thee ;therifo?'e t ~at IIOly 'l7ting that is bOTn
of t e, s a be called the Son of God" (i. 34, 35). And in
Matthew: The angel said to Joseph, the briçlegroom of Mary,
in a dream, "That which is conceived in he?' is of the Holy
SpiTit,. . . . and Joseph knew her not, until she b?'ought forth
a Son, and he called His name Jes~ts J, (i. 20, 25). That by
the Roly Spirit is meant the Divine which proceeds from
J ehovah, will be seen in the third chapter of this work. vTho
does not know that the child has its soul and life from the
father, and that the body is from the soul? Vhat therefore is
said more plainly, than that the Lord had his soul and life from
J ehovah God? And since the Divine cannat be divided, that
the Divine itself was Ris soul and life? Therefore the Lord so
often called J ehovah Gad Ris Father, and J ehovah Gad called
him His Son. Vlhat then can be heard more preposterous, tllan
that the soul of our Lord was from the mother Mary, as bath the
TIoman Catholics and the Reformed at this day dream, .Got having
as yet been awaked by the "Ward.
That a Son barn from eternity descended and assnmec1 the
Ruman, evidently falls and is dissipated as an error, by the
passages in the Ward in vl"hich J ehovah Rimself says that
II-L is the Saviour a!1~ RedeerrLer; w llch are the fol
lowing:" m not 1 Je7wvcdt? and the?'e is no Goel else besicles
flle; a just Goel anel a Scwio7J.,r; t7wre is none bes'ides lIJe"
(Isaiah xlv. 21, 22). " l am Jehovah, and besieles lIfe there is
no Savi01tr" (xliii. 11). ',' l ant Jehomh thy God, and tltou shalt
acknowledge no God b~d lIIe: the1-e is no Saviour besides }'Ie"
(Hosea xiii. 4). « That aU flesh m{l.IJ kn010 that l Jehovah
am thy Saviour and thy Reelemwr" (Isaü'h xlix. 26; lx. 1G).
"As for OU?' Redeemer, Jehovah of Hasts is His name" (xlvii. 4).
" Their Redeemer is might,1j; Je7wvah of ~fIosts is His name"
(Jerem. 1. 34). "0 Jehovah, my 1'ock:. ancl1Jl,1j Redce1ncJ'" (Psulm

THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD.

xix. 1-:1:). "Thus saith Je7wvah, thy Redce7lwr, the IIoly One
of Israel, l am Jehovah thy Gad" (Isaiah xlviii. 17; xliii.
14; xlix. 7). "Thus saith Jeho'IJah thy Recleemer, . . . l am
Jehovah, that maketh all things . . . euen alone by JrIyseif"
(xliv. 24). "Th1ls saith Jehovah the King of Israel, and His
Redeeme1', JelW1XI,h of Hasts, l am the First and the Last, and
beside Me theTe is no God" (xliv. 6). "Thou, 0 Jehovah, our
Father, O'lM' Rerleem,e'/' fTom etenlity is Thy name" (Ixiii. 16).
"With the 111e1'CY of eternity l will have merey, th1lS saith
Jehovah thy RerlccrneT" (liv. 8). Thou hast redeemed Me, 0
Jehovah, God of tndh" (Psalm xxxi. 5). "Let Israel hope in
Jehovah, beccmse in Jehovah is meny, and with Hi?n is plenteous
Redemption, and He 1vill '/'edeem Israel f1'om all his iniquities"
(cxxx. 7, 8). "Jehovah Gad, and thy Reeleeme1' the Holy One
of Israel, the Gael of the whole earth shall He be called" (Isaiah
liv. 5). From these passages and very many others, every man
who has eyes and a mind opened by means of them, may
r see that Q2d,. who is one, descended and becamEtJ')1an, for
the purpose of accomp lS 1ing the work of redemption.. Who
A~ 1 cannot see this as in the morning light, when he gives
') at.tention t·o these the very Divine declarations which have been
(adduced ~ ut those who are in the shade of night, by being
confirmed in favour of the birth of another God from eternity,
) a~d. of His des~ent and re?emption, close .their eyes at these
5- () DIvme declarahons; and III that state thmk how they may
apply them to their falsitics, and pervert them. (1'. C. R n.
82,83.) -
. ~. '7'. ~G" 3 S'" -~ ~
JEHOVAH GOD DESCENDED ASro DIVINE TRUTH.,;/AND WAS SAID
TO B~)ORN.

AlI truth is from good, for it is the form of it, and aIl good is
the esse (or inmost being;) of truth. Good when it is formed, so
as to appear to the mind, and through the mind, in speech, is
caned truth. (A. E. n. 136.)
Truth is the form of good; that is, when good is forIged SQ
{ that it can e intel1e tually perceiv:ed, then it 1. c.alkd truth.
(A. C. n. 3049.) .
There are two things which make the essence of God, the
Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom; or what is the same
the Divine Good and the Divine Truth. These two in the
'Nord are meant also by Jehovah God; by Jehovah, the Divine
Love or Divine Good, and by God, the Divine Wisdom or
Divine Truth. Tbence it is that in the Word tlley are dis
tinauished in various ways, and sometimes only J ehovan ls
na::red, and sometimes only God. For where it treats of the


Divine Good, there it says Jehovah, and where of the Divine
Truth, God, and where of both, Jehovah God.. That Jehovah
Goel descended as the Divine Truth, which is the 'Vord, is
evident in John, where are these words: "In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Ward was God.
AU things were made by Him, and without Him 'Was not any thing
'made that was made. . . . And the Word became flesh, and
dwelt among us" (i. 1, 3, 14). (T. C. R. n. 85.)
In the W ord the Lord is called J ehovah as to Divine Good;
for Divine Good is the very Divine. And the Lord is called
the Son of God as to Divine Truth; for Divine Truth proceeds
from Divine Good, as a son from a father, and also is said to be
born. (A. C. n. 7499.)

YET DID NOT SEPAHATE THE DIVINE GOOD.

Divine Good can in nowise be and exist without Divine
Truth, nor Divine Truth without Divine Good, but one in the
other, mutually and reciprocally. . . . The Divine Good is the
Father, and the Divine Truth the Son. CA. C. n. 2803.)
That God, although He descended as the Divine Truth, still
did not separate the Divine Good, is evident from the conception,
concerning which we read, that The virtue of the JrIost High over
shadowed Mary (Luke i. 35); and by the virtue of the Most
High is meant the Divine Good. The same is evident from the
passages where Hè says, that the :Father is in Him, and He in
the Father; that aU things of the Father are His; and that the
Father and He are one; besides many other things. By the
Father is meant the Divine Good. CT. C. R. n. 88.)
[NOTE.-To assist the reaùer to the rationality of the aboye conception, it may
he briefly stated that, as the Divine Good and Truth from eternity were not sepa.
rated, so in the Lord Jesus Christ; although He descended, or came ont from
infinity and eternity as Divine Truth, yet this is spoken of in reference to mani·
festation, as He is also called the Son of Goù in reference to His Divine Rumanity,
which only can be seen. Good, when it is jormcd. or brought forth so that it can be
intel1ectual1y perceived, is cal1ed Truth; for there is but one Divine Essence,
which is J"ove or Good, of which Wisdom or Truth is the bodily form. But
although the Lord was Divine Good, bemuse He v:as Jehovah Himself, yet that
whole Good and Truth appear'ing, is called Divine Truth. Hence may be corn·
prehellded the rationality of the explanation, that, although He descended as to
the Divine Truth, yet he did not separate the Divine Good.-C'ompiler.]

REASO~S FOR THE INCARNATION.

After ail the celestial in man, that is, ail love to God was lost,
so that there remained no longer any will to what was good, the
human race was separated from the Divine, for nothing conjoins


them but love, and when there was no love disjunction took
place, the consequence of which is destruction and extirpation.
A promise, therefure, was then made concerning the coming of
the Lord into the world, who should unite the Ruman ta the
Divine, and through this union should effect conjunction of the
human race in Rimself, by a faith grounded in love and charity.
From the time of the first promise (concerning which see Gen.
iii. 25), faith grounded in love to the Lord who was to come was

effect.ive of conjunction; but when there was no longer any such

faith remaining throughout the earth, then the Lord came, and

united the Ruman Essence ta the Divine, sa that they became

entirely one, as Re Rimself expressly declares. Re at the sa_me

) ti..!!!,ê tauaht the way of truth, sho~.=ing that every_one who should

believe on Rim-that is, ~h9uld love Himand the things apper

} tainillg to Him, and who should-oe in His love, which is extended

towards the whole human race-should be co_njoined Vith Him,
and be saved. hen the Human was made Divine, an the
Divine Ruman, in the Lord, then e infiu:l0 of the Infinite or
SU.Rreme Divine took place with man, w lC could never othêT
wise have come to pass. Hene.e, a180, there was a dispersion of
1
the direful :Qersuasio1l8 of fal~ity, and of the direful lusts of evil,
Vith which the world of spirits was filled and was-contlIïuaIly
being fiHed, by souls continually fiowing in from the world; and
they who were in those evils and falsities were cast into the
f he118, and thus were separated. Unless such a dispQsion had
' bee11 effected, mankind must have tQ.tally perished, for they are
( governed of the Lord by means of spirits. Nor was there any
other method of effecting such dispersion; since there could be
5no oyeration of the Divi~e upon man's, intèrnal sensual [prin
l cip~] throJ..!gh t~. ational, this be~ng-fàr15eneatllllie Supreme
( Divine not thus united with the Human. (A. C. n. 2034.)
The reason why it pleased the Lord ta be born a m-an was,
th~e might actua11y"'pnt on the JI uman, and might make this

'1 Divine, ta save the human race. Know, therefore, that the Lord

! is ehovah Himself or the Father in a human form. This also

the Lord Himself teaches in John. " I and the Pather are one"

(x. 30); again, "Jesus said, Henceforth ye have known and seen the
Pather. . . . He that hath se~n Me hath seen the Pather. . . . Be
lieve Me that I am in the Pather and the Pather in Me" (xiv. 7,9,
11); and again, "Al! ~!lfine are thine, and aU thine a·re Mine"
(xvii. 10). This great mystery is described in John in these
words: "In the beginning was the V;-ord, and the Ward was with
Gad, and Gad was the Word; the same was in the beg'inning with
Gad; al! things were made by Him, ([nd without Him was not any
thin.c; rnade that was 1nade. ... And the Ward was made flesh,
and dVJelt among us, and we beheld His gliJry, the glory as of the

THE DOCTRL..VE OF THE LORD.

~J
only begotten of the FatheT. . . . No man hath SGen God at an/!
time; the only begotten Son, 1-dw is in the bosom of the FatheT, He
hath brought Him jOTth to 1-,iew" Ci. 1-3, 14, 18). The "Vord is the
Divine truth which has been revealed to men; and because this
could not he revealed except from J ehovah as Man, that is,
except from J ehovah in the human form, thus from the Lord,
therefore it is said, "In the beginning was the Wonl, and the WOTd
was with God, and God was the WOTd." Tt is known in the
church that by the W ord the Lord is meant. It is therefore
open] y said, 1/ The W ord was made flesh, a1",d dwelt among 1-&S, and
'lOI', beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the FatheT."
That the Divine truLh eould not be revealed to men except from
J ehovah i.n the human form, is also clearly stated: "No one hath
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of .
the Fatlter, He hath bronght Hirn fOTth to view." From this it is
evident that the Lord from eternity was J ehovah or the Father
in a llUman form, but not yet in the flesh; for an angel has not
flesh. And as J ehovah, or the Father, willed to put on aIl the
human, for the sake of the salvation of the human race, therefore
He a,lso assumed flesh; wherefol'e it is said, " God WClS the Wonl,
. . . and the Wo?'d 11'as made jlesh;" and in Luke, "Be7wld fi!.')
!Lands and jlfy jeet, that it is l Myself; handle Me and sec, f01' ([
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as YI', sec fife h(xve" (xxiv. 39). By
these words the Lord taught that He was no longer J ehovall
nnder the form of an angel, but that He "vas J ehovah Man;
which also is meant by these words of the Lord, " l came fOTth
fTom the Fathe?', and am corne into the world; again l leave the
world, and ,go to the FatheT " (John xvi. 28). CA. C. n. 9315.)
( Man is so natura'l and sensual that he is quite )~ca,,12abLe~y
) idea of thought concerning things abstract, unless he adjoins some
thing natural which had entered from the world through the
sensnals, for without such his thought perishes as in an abyss,
and is dissipated. Therefore, lest the Divine should perish with
( man, entirely immersed in corporeal and earthly things, and in
) those with whom it remained should be c1efiled by an impure
ic1ea, and "vith it everything celesti.al and spiritual from the
Divine, it pleased J ehovah to present Himself actuaUy as He is,
)
and as e app~rs in heaven,-nam.§ly, as a Divine Man. Fol'
every part of heaven conspires to the human form; as may be
seen from what has been shawn at the close of the chapters, con
cerning the correspondence of aU things of man with the Greatest
lfan, which is heaven. This Divine, or this [presence] of Je
JlOvah in heaven is the LOTd from eternity. The same also the
Lord took upon Him when He glorified or made Divine the
Imman Ï11 Himse1f; which aIso is verymanifest from the form in
which He appeared before Peter, James, and John, when He ,vas

THE DOOTRINE OF THE LORD.

transfigured (Matt. xvii. 1, 2) ; and in "'vhich He aIso occasionaUy
appeared ta the prophets. Hence it i8 that now every oneis
able ta think of the very Divine as of a Man, and then of the
Lord, in whom i8 aU the Divine, and the perfect Trine. :For in
the Lord the very Divine is the :Father; that Divine in heaven
is the Son; and the Divine thence proceeding is tlle Roly Spirit.
And that they are one, as He Himself teaches, is therefore mani-
fest. (A. C. n. 5110.)
Inasmneh as the Lord operates aU things from the fil'st by
means of the last, and in the last or the ultimates is in His
power and in His fulness, therefore it pleased the Lord ta take
upon Him the Human, and ta become Divine truth, that i8, the
Ward; and thereby from Himself ta reduee ta arder aU things
of heaveu, and all things of hell, that is, ta execute a last jndg-
ment. This the Lord could accomplish from the Divine in Him-
self, which is in first [principlesJ, by means of His Human, which
was in ultimates; and not from His presence or abode in the
lllen of the Chnrch, as formerly; for these had entirely fallen
away from the truths and goods of the Ward, in which before
was the habitation of the Lord with men. This, and also that He
might make His Human Divine, was the primary cause of the
Lord's advent into the world; for thereby He put Him8elf in
possession of the power ta keep all things of heaven and aU things
of hell in arder ta eternity. (A. E. n. 1087.)
Before the coming of the Lord into the world, there was with
men and with spirits rinH~ of--.life from J ehovah or the Lord
through the celestial king Q...m, that is, through the angels who
werein that lüng am; llimce they then had power. But when
the Lord came into the world, and thereby made the human in
Himself Divine, He put on that itself which was with the angels
of the celestial kingdom, thus that power; for the DiviIlli..trans-
-flux through that heaven had before been the Human Divine;
it also was the Divine Man which was presented when J ehovah
sa appeared. But this Human Divine eeased when the Lord
Himself made the Human in Himself Divine. (A. O. n. 6371.)
The very Divine in heaven, or in the Greatest Man, was the
Divine Human, and was J ehovah Himself thus clothed with the
Imman. But when mankind became such that the very Divine
clothed as the Divine Human could no longer affect them,-that
is, whenJehovah could no longer come ta man, because he had
sa ·far removed himself,-then J ehovah, who is the Lord as ta
the Divine Essence, descended and took upon Him a human by
conception Divine, and by birth from a virgin like that of
another man. But this He expelled, and by Divine means He
made Divine the Human that was barn, from which all the Holy
proceeds. Thus the Divine Human exists, an Essence l)y itself,


which fil1s the uuiversal heaven, and effeets that those should
be saved who before couId not be saved. This now is the Lord,
who, as to the Divine Ruman, alone is Man, and from whom
man derives that he is man. (A. C. n. 3061.)
Let it be weIl understood that aIl the correspondence there is
with heaven is with the Divine H uman of the Lord; since
heaven is from Rim and He is heaven. Fot' unless the Divine
Ruman flowed into aIl things of heaven, and according to col'
respondences into aIl things of the world, neither angel nor
man would exist. From this again it is manifest why the Lord
became Man, and clotJ1ed His Divine with the Ruman from first
to last; that it "vas because the Divine Ruman from which
heaven existed before the coming of the Lord, was no longer
sufficient to sustain aIl things; because man, who is the basiE; of
the heavens, subverted and destroyed order. (H. R. n. 101.)
It has been toJd me from heaven, that in t.he Lord from
cternity, who is J ehovah, before the assumption of the R uman in
the world, there were the two prior degl'ees actuaIly, and the third
degree in potency, as they are al~o with the angels; but that
aftel' Ris assumption of the Ruman in the world Re put on also
the third or natural degree, and thereby became Man, similar
to a man in the world,-save that in Rim this degree,'like the
two priur, is infil1ite and uncreate, while in angeIs and men
these degl'ees are finite and created. For the Divine, which
filled aIl space without space; penetrated also to the ultimates
of nature. TIut before the assumption of the R uman, the
Divine influx into the natural degree was mediate through the
angelie heavel1s; but after the assumption it was immediate from
HimseH. This is the reason why aIl the chmches in the world
before His advent were representative of spiritual and celestial
things, but after His eoming became spiritual and celestial
natural, and representative worship was abolished; also why the
sun of the angelic heaven-which is the proximate proceeding
of Ris Divine love and Divine wisdom-after His assumption of
the Human shone with more eminent effulgence and splendour
than before the assumption. This is meant by the words of
Isa{ah: "In that day, the light of the moon shall be as the light
of the sun, and the li.qht of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light
of se'Ven clays" (xxx. 26); which is spoken of the state of beaven
and the church, after the Lord's coming iuto the world. And
in the Apocalypse: « The conntenance of the Son of Man was as
the sun shineth in his stTength" (i. 16); and elsewhere, as in
Isaiah lx. 20; 2 Sam. xxiii. 3,4; Matt. xvii. 1, 2. The mediate
enlightenment of men through the angelic heaven, which there
was before the Lord's coming, may be compared to the light of
the rooon, w hich is the mediate light of the sun; and because


'2 1
this was made imrnediate after His corning it is said in lsaiah,
" That the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun;" and
in David, " In His days shall the righteousflourish, and ab~tndance
of pr;ace, until there is no longer any moon" (lxxii. 7). This also
is spoken of the Lord.
The Lord from eternity or J ehovah put on this third degree,
by the assumption of the Human in the world, because He could
not enter into this degree except by a nature similar to· the
hurnan nature; therefore only EY conc~tion from _His Djtine,
and b~ nativity from a virgiJl: . D~T. n. 33, 234.)
It S ouIa be known tIiat theLord is present with men in His
Divine natural; with the angels of His spiritual kingdom in His
Divine spiritual; and with the angels of His celestial kingdom
in His Divine celestial; yet He is not divided, but appears to
every one according to his quality. (A. R.p. 466.)
" Until Shiloh come." That this signifies the corning of the
Lord, and the tranquillity of peace then, appears from the signi
fication of Shiloh, which is the Lord,-·who is called Shiloh from
the fact that He calmed and tranquillized ail things; for in the
original tongue Shiloh is derived from a word which signifies
tranquillity. Why the Lord is here called Shiloh is evident
from what was said just above concerning the celestial kingdom
and its power; for when the Divine was manifested through
that kingdom there was intranquillity; because the things which
are in heaven, and those which are in hell, could not be reduced
by it to order-inasmuch as the Divine which flowed through
that kingdom could not be pure, because heaven is not pure.
That kingdom therefore was not so strong that by it aIl things
might be kept in order; on which account infernal and dia
bolical spirit::; even issued forth from the heils, and dornineered
over the souIs which came from the world. From which it
carne to pass that no others than the celestial could thus be
saved; and at length scarcely they, jf the Lord had not assurned
the human, and thereby made it in Himself Divine. By this
the Lord reduced ail things to order; first the things which are
in heaven, next those that are in the he11s. From this is the
tranquiIlity of peace. (A. C. n. 6373.)
AU the churches that existed before His advent were repre
sentative churchos, which could not see Divine truth, save as it
were in the shade; but after the advent of the Lord into the
world a church was instituted by Him which saw Divine truth,
or rather which could see it, in the light. The difference is
as that between evening and morning. The state of the
church before the Lord's advent is also caHed evening; and the
state of the church after His advent is called rnorning. The
Lord was indeed present with the men of the church before His


coming into the worla, but mediately through angels who repre
sented Him; but since His advent in the world, He is immedi
ately present with the men of the chnrch. For in the world He
put on also the Divine Natural, in which He is present with
men. (T. C. R. n. 109.)
It is frequently said in the Vord concerning the Lord, that
He was sent by the Father, as also it is saicl here (Gen. xix.
13), "Jelwvah hath sent us;" and everywhere, to be sent, signi
fies in the internaI sense, to go forth; as in John: "They have
received and have known, s'nrely, that l came forth from Thee, and
have believecZ tltat Thou hast sent Me" (xvii. 8). So in other
places; as in the same Evangelist: « God sent not His Son into
the 11,'0rld, to i~ldge the wortel, b~d that the world thro~lgh Hi'fn
1n'ight be saverl" (iii. 17). Again: « Ile that honmlreth not the Son,
honou,reth not the Father who sent Him" (v. 23); besides many
other passages. In Eke manner it i:=; said of the Roly of the Spirit,
that it is sent; that i8, that it goeth forth from the Divine of the
Lord; as in John: « Jesus said, When the Comforte?' shall come,
whom l will send ~tnto you from the Father, the SpiJ-it of Tndh,
which goeth forth from the Father, He shall testify of Me" (xv. 26).
Again: "If 1 go away l will send the CO?nforter unto you" (xvi. 7).
Hence the Prophets were called the Sent, because the words which
they spake went forth from the Holy of the Spirit of the Lord.
And because aIl Divine Truth goes forth from Divine Good, the
expression, to be sent, is properly predicated of Divine Tl'uth.
And what it is to go forth is also evident, namely, that he who
goes forth, or that which goes forth, is of him from whom it goes
t'ortho (A. C. n. 2397.)

WHY IT lB SAID TIIAT JESUB PROCEEDED FORTH AND CAM~; FROM
GOD, AND WAS SENT.

In the spiritual sense to go forth or to proceed is to present
one's self before another in a form accommodated to him, thus
to present one's self the same only in another form. In this
sense going forth is predicated of the Lord in John: "Jesus said
of Himselj, l proceeded fo'rth and came from Goel" (viii. 42).
" The Pather loveth you, bccause ye have loved Me, and have believed
that 1 came forth from God: l came forth from the Father, and
am cO?ne into the worlel; again l leave the wOTld, and go to the
Father. The disciples said, . . . We believe that thml CCl1nest forth
f?'om Gorl" (xvi. 27, 28, 30). "They have known t?'uly that l
Ca1JM forth f1'om Gad" (xvii. 8). To illustrate what is meant by
going forth or proceeding, take the following examples :-It is
said of truth, that it goes forth or proceeds from good when truth

2'
is the form of good, or when truth is good in a form which the
understanding can apprehend. It may also be said of the under
standing that it goes forth or proceeds from the will, when the
understanding is the will formed, or when it is the will in a
form apperceivable to the internaI sight. In like mannerof thought
which is of the understanding, it may be said to go forth or pro
ceed when it becomes speech; and of the will, when it becomes
action. Thought clothes itself in another form when it becomes
speech, but it is still the thought which so goes forth or proceeds,
for the words and sounds which are put on are nothing but
"" adjuncts, which by accommodation cause the thought 1,0 be
apperceived. So the will assumes another form when it becomes
action, but it is still the will which is presented in such form;
"f the gestures and motions that are put on are nothing but adjul1cts,
which by accommodation make the will appear and affect the
external man. Also it may be said that it goes forth or proceeds
from the internaI, yea, substantially, because the external man is
nothing else than the inü'lrnal so formed that it mayact suitably
in the wo1'ld wherein it is. From ail this it may be seen what,
to go forth, or proceed, is in the spiritual sense; name]y, when
predicated of the Lord, that it is the Divine formed as Man, thus
accommodated to the perception of the believing; yet both are
one. (A. C. n. 5237.)

THE LORD'S HEllEDlTARY EVJL.

One may be surprised that it is said there was hereditary
evil from the mother with the Lord; but as it is here (Gen. xiii.
7) sa manifestly declared, and the internaI sense is concerning
the Lord, it cannot be doubted that it was so. It is quiLe impos
sible for any man to be born of a human parent and not thence
derive evil. But there is a difference between hereditary evil
which is derived from the father, and that which is derivecl from
the mother. Hereditary evil from the father is more interior,
and remains to eternity, for it can never be eradicated. The
Lord had no such evil, since He was born of J ehovah as His
.. Father, and thus as to internaIs was Divine, or J ehovah. Dut
hereditary evil from the mother pertains to the external man:
this was with the Lord. Thus the Lord was born as another
man, and had infirmities as another man. That He derived
hereditary evil from the mother evidently appears from the fact
that He suffered temptations; for it is impossible that any one
should be tempted who has no evil, evil being that in man which
tempts and by wlüch he js tempted. That the Lord was tempted.
and that He suffered temptations a thousanè. times more gricvous


z~
than any man can ever sustain, and that He endmed them alone,
and by His ùwn power overcame evil, or the devil and all bell,
is also evident. . . ; An angel can never be tempted of the devil,
because, being in the Lord, evil spirits cannot approach him even
distantly. They would instantly be seized with terror and fright.
Much less could hen approach to the Lord if He had been born
Divine, tbat is, without an adberence of evil from the mother.
That the Lord bore theiniquities and evils of mankind, is a form
of speaking common with preachers; but for Him to take upon
Himself iniquities and evils otherwise than in the hereditary
way, was impossible. The Divine Nature is not susceptible of
evil. Wherefore, that He rnight overcome evil by His own
strength, which no man ever could or can do, and might thl1s
alone becorne righteousness, He was willing to be born as another
man. Otherwise tbere would have been no need that He should
be born; for He might have assumed the H uman Essence with
out nativity, as sometimes He had formerly done, when He
appeared to those of the Most Ancient Churcb, and likewise to
the prophets. But in order that He might also put on evil, to
fight against and conquer it, and might thus at the same time
join together in Himself the Divine Essence and the Human
Essence, He came into the world. The Lord, however, had no
actual evil, or evil that was His own, as He Himself declares in
John: " Which of you convicteth Me of sin t' (viii. 46.) (A. C.
n. 1573.) .

THE LORD MADE HIS HUMAN DIVINE BY HIS OWN MIGHT.

It is known that the Lord was born as another man, that when
an infant He learned to talk as another infant, and that then He
grew in knowledge, and in intelligence, and in wisdom. It is,
evident from this that His human was not Divine from uativity,
but that He made it Divine by His own power. It was by His
own power, because He was conceived of J ehovah; and hence
the inmost of His life was J ehovah Himself. For the inmost of
the life of every man, which is called the soul, is from the
father; and what that inmost puts on, which is called the body,
is from the mother. That the inmost of life, which is from the
father, is continually fiowing in and operating upon the external
which is from the mother, and endeavouring to make this like
itself, even in the womb, can be seen from chilùren, in that they
are born into the natural qualities of the fatber; and sometimes
grandsons and great-grandsons into the natural qualities of the
grandfatber and great-gral1dfather, because the soul, which is
from the father, contil1ually wills to make the external, which is

THE DOCTRIXE OF THE LORD.

U

tLe Divine, by transfiux through heaven. Not that heaven
contributed anything of itself, Lut that the very Divine might
fiow into the human it flowed in through heaven. This trans
flux was the Divine Human before the coming of the Lord, and
,vas J ehovah Himself in the heavens, or the Lord. (ib. n. 6720.)

THE LORD'S ApPEARANCE 0:-< EARTH BEFORE TrIE INCARNATION, AS
AN A(GEL.

The angel of Jehovah is often mentioned in the 'Yord, and
everywhere, when in a good sense, he represents and signifies
sorne essential appertaining to the Lord, and proceeding from
Him. But what is particularly represented and signified may
Le seen from the series of things treated of. There were angels
who were sent to men, and also who spake by the prophets;
lmt what they spake was not from the angels, but by them; for
the state they were~ then in was such that tbey did not know but
they were J ehovah, that is, the Lord. Yet when they had done
speaking, they presently returned into their former state, and
spake as from themselves. This was the case with the angels who
spake the Lord's 'Vord; which it has been given me to know by
llluch similar experience at this day, in the other life. This is
the reason why the angels were sometimes called J ehovah, as is
very evident from the angel who appeared to Moses in the bush,
of .",hom it is thus written: " l'he angel of Jehovah appeared unto
him in a flame of fire out of the lI'ddst of the bush. . . . And when
Jehova h saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out
of the midst of the bush. . . . God said ~tnto Moses, I am that I
am . . . . And God said moreove?' ~mto ~!r1oses, Thus shalt t7wu say
~tnto the child?'en of Israel: Jehovah God of YOU?' fathers, hath sent
me unto you" (Exod. iii. 2, 4, 14, 15). From these words it is
evident that it was an angel who appeared to Moses as a
fiame in the bush; and that he spake as J ehovah because
the Lord, or J ehovah, spake by him. For in order that man
may be addressed by vocal expressions, which are articu
late sounds in the ultimates of nature, the Lord uses the
ministry of angels, by filling them with the Divine spirit or
influence, and laying asleep what is of tbeir proprium, so that
they do not know but that they are J ehovah. Thus the Divine
spirit or influence of Jehovah, which is in the highest or inmost"
descends into the lowest or outerrnost things of nature, in which
man is as to sight and hearing. It was so with the angel who
spake with Gideon, of whom it is, thus written in the book of
,J nclges: " The angel of Jehovah appeared unto him, and saiel unto
him, Jehovah is 1J.Jith thee, thou 11Lighty man of valour. And
Gideon saiel unt!) him, 0 my Lm'dl U'hy hath aU this beJalltn


us? And Jehovah looked at him and said, Go in this thy
might And Jehovah said unto hùn, S1trely l will be with
thee" (vi 12,13,16); and afterwards, "When Gideon perceived that
he was an angel of Jehovah, Gideon said, Alas, 0 Lord Jehovih!
for because l have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face. And
Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not" (ver. 22,23).
Here, in like manner, it was an angel who appeared ta Gideon,
but in such astate that he knew not but that he was J ehovah,
or the Lord. So again in the book of J udges: "The angel of
Jehovah came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, 1 made Vou to
go up out of Egypt, and have brought Vou, into the land which l
sware unto your fathers; and l said l will never break rny cove
nant with you" (ii. 1); where, in like manner, the angel spake
in the name of J ehovah, saying, that he had brought them up
out of the land of Egypt; when yet the angel did not bring
them up, but J ehovah, as it is frequently said in other places.
From this it may be seen how the angels spake by the prophets,
viz., that the Lord Himself spake, though by angels, and that
the angels did not speak at aH from themselves. That the
W ord is from the Lord appears from many passages; as from
this in Matthew: "That it might be fulfilled which VJas spoken
of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Beholcl, a virgin shall be with
child, and shall bTing forth a Son" (i. 22, 2:3); not ta mention
other passages. It is because the Lord spake hy angels when
He spake with man, that throughout the Ward He is called an
angel; and in such cases, as observed above, sorne essential is
signified appertaining ta the Lord, and proceeding from the
Lord. (A. C. n. 1925.)
The Israelitish church worshipped J ehovah, who in Himself
is the invisible Gad, but under a human form, which Jehovah
Gad put on by means of an angel; and in this form He was seen
by Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Hagar, Gideon, J oshua, and some
times by the prophets; which human form was representative
of the Lord who was ta come. (T. C. R. n. 786.)

THE VERY INFINITE CANNOT BE MANIFESTED OTHERWISE THAN DY
THE DIVINE HU.MAN.

The very Infinite, whi(;h is above aU the heavens and above
the inmost things iu man, cannat be manifested except by the
Divine Human, which exists with the Lord alone. The com
munication of the Infinite with the finite is in no other way
rossible; which is also the reason w hy J ehovah, w hen He
appeared ta the men of the Most Ancient Church, and after
wards ta those of the Anciint church after the Flood, and also

]0
THE DOCTRINE OF' THE LORD.

from the mother, like itself. Since this is so with man, it is evi
dent that it must have been especially the case with the Lord.
His inmost was the very Divine, for it was J ehovah Himself; for
He was His only begotten Son. And as the inmost was the
very Divine, could not this, more than in the case of any man,
make the external which was from the mother an image of itseU,
that is, like to itself, thus make Divine the human which
was external and from the mother? And this by His own
power, because the Divine, which was inmost, from which He
operated into the human, was His; as the soul of man, which
is the inmost, is his. And as the Lord advanced accorcling to
Divine order, His Human when He was in the worlcl He made
Divine Truth, and afterwards when He was fully glorified He
made it Divine Good, thus one with J ehovah. (A. C. Il.6716.)

THE GLORIFICATION.

The Lord successivelyand continually, even to the last of His
life when He was glorified, separatec1 from Himself and put off
what was merely human, namely, that which He derived from
the mother; until at length He was no longer her Son, but the
Son of Gad, as well in respect to nativityas conception, and w~s
one with the Father, and was Himself J ehovah. (A. C. n. 2649.)
The externa] man is nothing else than a something instru
mental or organic, having no lit'e in itself, but receiving life from
the internaI man; from which the external man appears to have
life of itself. With the Lord, however, after He had expelled
the hereditary evil, and thus had purified the organic substances
or vessels of the human essence, these also received life; so that
as the Lord was life with respect to the internaI man, He became
life also as to the external man. This is what is signified by
glorification in John: "Jes1f,S said, Now is the Son of Man glori
fied, and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him,
God shall also glorify Him if!: Himself, and shall stmightway
glorify Him" (xiii. 31, 32). And again: "Father, the Mur is
come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also 1nay glorify Thee. . . .
And now, 0 Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self, with the
glory which I had with Thee be/ore the world was" (xvii. 1, 5).
And again: Jesus said, "Father, glorify Thy name. Then came
there a voice from heaven, saying, I both have glorijied it, and will
glorify it again" (xii. 28). (ib. n. 1603.)
The Lord, by the most grievous temptation combats, reduced
aU things in Himself into Divine order; insomuch that there
remained nothing at aU of the human which He had derived
from the mother. So that He was not made new as another


) f
man, but altogether Divine. For the man who is made new by
regeneration still retains within him an inclination to evil, yea,
eyil itself, but is withheld from evil by an inftowing of the life
of the Lord's love,-and this by exceedingly strong power; but
the Lord entirely cast out every evil wllich was hereditary 1.0 Hirn
from the mother, and made Himself Divine elen as to the vessels,
that is, as 1.0 truths. This is ",hat in the Word is called glorifi
cation. (ib. n. 3318.)
The union of the Lord'R Human Essence with His Divine was
not effected at once, but successively through the whole course
of His life, from infancy 1.0 the end of His life in the world. He
thus ascended continuàlly 1.0 glorification, tllat is, to union. This
is what is said in John; "Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy name.
Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I both hœce glorificd
it, and will glori/y it again" (xii. 28). (iù. n. 2033.)

THE GLOnIFICATIOK WAS FULLY CO:MPLETED BY THE PASSION OF

THE CROSS.

The reason why the union itseIf was fully effected by the pas
.sion of the cross, is because that was the last temptation vhich
the Lord suffered in the world, and conJUIl ction is effected by
temptations. For in temptations man, 1.0 appearance, is left 1.0
himself alone; and yet he is not left, for God is then most pre
sent in His inmost parts, and supports him. Vhen therefore
any one conquers in temptation, he is in inmost conjunction with
God; and the Lord was then in inmost union with God His
}'ather. That in the passion of the cross the Lord was left 1.0
Himself, is evident from ihis His exclamation upon the cross;
" 0 Gael, why hast ThO'Lt jonC/ken flIe?" and also from these words
of the Lord: "No man taketh life jrorn Me, but I lay it down of
JrIysclf; I have power to lay it clown, and I have power to take it
again; this commandment have I receivcd jro?n My Father" (John
x. 18). :From these passages, now, it is evident that the Loru
ùid not suffer as to the Divine, but as 1.0 the Human; and that
then an inmost and thus a complete union ,"vas cffected. (T. C. R.
n. 12G.)
Of the GLORIFICATION, Ly which is meant the unition of the
Divine Human of the Lord ,"vith the Divine of the Father, 'v'hich
was fully completed by the passion of the cross, the Lord thus
speaks: "Ajter J~/'das went out, Jesus saùl, Now the Son of Man
if; glor~fieel, and God is .qlor~ficd in Him,. if God be glorifierl in·
Jhm, (Joel will also glorl/Y Hùn in Himselj, anel will stmightway
gloTify Him" (Jolm xiii. 31,32). Here glorification is predicatecl
ùoth of God the FatIler and of the Son; fol' it is said, " God is


glorified in Him, and God will glorify Him in Himself." That
this is to be united is plain. " Father, the hour is come, glm'ify
Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee" (xvii. 1, 5). It is
thus said because the unition was reciprocal; and so it is said,
" The Father was in Him and He in the Father." "Now My soul is
trmtbled; . . . and He said, Father, glorify Thy name; ami a
voice came md of heaven, I both have glorified, and will glorify
again" (xii. 27, 28). This was said because the unition "'as
effected successively. "Ought not Christ to harve s1ljfered these
ihings, and to enter into His glm'Y?" (Luke xxiv. 26.) Glory, in
the W ord, when it is predicated of the Lord, signifies Divine
Truth united to Divine Good. From these passages it is very
manifest that tbe Ruman of the Lord is Divine. (ib. n. 128.)

'THE LORD, IN GLORIFICATION, DID :KOT TRANSMUTE OR CHANGE HIS
HUMAN NATURE INTO DIVINE, BUT PUT OFF THE HUMAN AND
PUT ON THE DIVINE.

That the Lord had a Divine and a Ruman, the Divine from
.Jehovah as the Father, and the Ruman from the Virgin Mary,
is known. Renee it is that He was God and Man, and so had
the very Divine essence and a Ruman nature, the Divine essence
from the Fatller, and the Ruman nature from the mother; 'and
therefore Re "vas equal to the Fatber as to the Divine, and less
than the Father as to the Ruman. But then Re did not transmute
ihis Rurnan nature from the mother into the Divine essence,
Ilor commix it therewith, as the doctrine of faith called the
Athanasian Creed teaches; for the Ruman nature cannot be
transmuted into the Divine essence, nor can it. be commixed with
it. And yet it is from the same doctrine, that the Divine assumed
the Ruman, that ig united itself to it as a soul to its body, so
that they were not two but one person. From this it follows,
that He put off the Ruman taken from the mother,-which in
itself was like the hurnan of another man, and thus material,
and put on a Ruman from the Father; which in itself was like
Ris Divine, and. thus substantial, by which means the Ruman
also was made Divine. (L. n. 35.)

THE LORD DID NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ltfARY AS HIS MOTHER, BECAUSE
HE PUT OFF THE Hm.IAN DERIVED FROM HER.

It is believed. that the Lord, as to the Ruman, not only was
out also is the Son of Mary; but in this tbe Christian world is
under a delusion. That He was the Son of Mary is true; but
that Re is so still is not true; for by acts of redemption He put
off tbe Ruman from the mother, and put on ~Ruman from the


Father.~Hence it is that the Ruman of the Lord is Divine, and
-uïatan--HiIJÎX}od is Man and Man God. That He put off the
HUUl~m the mother, and put on a Ruman from the Father,
which is, the Divine Ruman, may be seen .from the fact that Re
never called Mary ,His mother, as appears from these passages:
" The mother""DTJesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. Jes~(,8:'
saith ~lnto her, Wyman, what have l to do with thee ? Mine hour
is not yet corne" (John ii. 3, 4); and in another place: From the
cross "Jesus saw His mother and the disciple standing by whom
l He loved, and saith to His mother Woman behol h son 1 Then
}J Jsaith He to the disci le, Behold thy mother 1" (xix. 26, 27): And
from the fact that once Re l not ac nowledge her: "It was
told Jesus by some, saying, Thy mother and Thy brethren are stand
ing W'ithout, and desire to see Thee. Jesus ansU'ering, said, lIfy
mother and My b?'ethren are these who hear the Word of God, and
do it" (Luke viii. 20, 21; Matt. xii. 46-49; Mark iii. 31-35).
Iftl Thus the Lord did not calI Œèf)" mother," but "woman," aml
JIJij/ gave her as a mother to J Qhn:-in other places sh~lled Ris
mother, but noTl5Y His own mouth. This also is confirmed by
the fact that He did not acknowledge Himself to be the Son of
David; for it is said in the Evangelists, "Jesus as7ced the Phari
Stes, sayin.rJ, What thin7c ye of Chr'Ù,t? Whose Son is He? They'
say unto IIim, Davùl's. He saith unto them, HoVJ then doth David,
in spirit, call1Iirn his Lord, saying, The Lord saùl unto my Lord,
Sit l'hml on l'rfY ri.r;ht hand, until l mal(e Thine enemies l'hy foot
stool. If, thcn, Da'vid calleth Him Lm'd, how is .lIe his Son?
And no man was aùle to answer .lJi?n a word" (Matt. xxii. 41-4G;
Mark xii. 35-:~7; Luke xx. 41-44; l'salm ex. 1), To the above
l shaH aùd this new thiTlg: Tt was Ollec granteù me to speak
with Mary the mother. SIle passcù hy at one time, and appearecl.
in heavcn allove rny heaù, in wl.itc miment, as of silk; and thflll,
pausillg a litUc, sltc sai<1 that SlliL11U<L 1J(~cn the l1l?ther ofJbe
l,orù, wllo was h)rn of her; but that IlUving becomc o( He
put off all the lImnan derived from her, anù she therefore W()]'
ships lIirn as 11er Cod, and diù not wish any one tu aclmowleugc
11 im as 11er SOli, hecuusc an jn H~m Ü, Di vine.' From aH thesc
tllings thel'<~ s11ines forOl tllis trnth: 1 lat t I11S Jchovah is Man,
as ill first things, sn also in the last, accor<ling ta tllcse worùs:
"1 (1.)1/, I/u; 71lpha (xnr1 -the-Onw!Ja, thc lJe!Jù~nù~:; and the Enrhn!J,
J{':ldl.ll ":"', ((nd who ?1)f.lS, anrlwho is to come, the Al?ni,r;ht:;" (n(~V,
i. R, ] 1). WII.f~n John salO the Son of Man in the midst of th",
.'W?;(;'n (;fl?ullr:s!ù1es, lw fdl at Iris fect as dead; and Ile laid IIis
/wnr1 ufJon hi?n, sr,y?:n:l, . . . "1 am, the Fù'st and the Last" (Rev.
i. 1:~, 17; xxi. G). "Jjf'1wld, J come qnir:lcly, . . . tlud l maV !Ji?:e
lo t'L'Ci'y O?W ar:r:orr1',:n:J to lâs uJm'le. l Cl?n the Alpha and the
Omega, thc Bcginning and tlU'; End, the }~rst and the Last" (xxii.

J'I
12, 13). And in Isaiah: " Thus said Jehovah, the King of Israel,
and His Redeemer, Jehovah of Hasts, l a'ln the Fint and the Last t,
(xliv. 6; xlviii. 12). (1'. C. R. n. 102.)

THE LORD'S WHOLE LI FE WAS A CONTINUAL TEMPTATION AND
VICTORY.

That the life of the Lord, from His earliest childhood even to
the last hoUT of His life in the world, was a continuaI tempta
tion and continuaI victory, appears from many passages in the
Word of the Old! Testament., And that it did not cease with the
temptation in the wilderness is evident from these words in
Luke, " When the Devil had encled aU the temptation, he departed
J'l'om Him Jar a season" Civ. 13); also from the fact that He was
tempted even tü the death of the cross, thus to the last hoUT of
His life in the world. Henee it appears that the Lord's whole
life in the world, from His earliest childhood, was a continuaI
temptation and continuaI victory. The last was when on the
cross He prayed for His enemies, thus for a11 on the face of.-t..he
whole earth. In the Word of the life of the Lord by the Evan
gelists, there is no mention of any but His temptation in the
wilderness, except the last. Others were not disclosed to the
disciples. Those which were disclosed appear, according to the
literaI sense, so light as scarcely to he any temptation; for so to
speak and so to answer is no ternptation. Ayd y~t iLw s ~ Il
g4eyOUs than any human_min can ever CDJl.cei e or be ·eve.
r No one can know_what_temp~on is unless he has been in it. 1
The temptation whieh is related in Matt. iv. 1-11, Mark i. 12,
13, Luke iv. 1-13, contains the ternptations in a surnrnary;
J
namely, that out of love towards the whole hurnan race, the
Lord fought against the loves lf n -t -L, with
r~hich the he11s were fi11ed. ---.A-11 temptation is agains he love
ÛP which a man is; and 1he de ree of em ta lOn lS accor mg to
) that of too ove. If not against the love it is no temptation.
1'0 destro one's l e ' r i v rx life, ov i life.
The Lor 's 'fe was love towards the whole human race; and it .-..
(
was so reat, and of such a nature, as to be nothina but ure
love. -:Against this, IS l e, con mua emp a Ions were a
m"ltted, as was said, from His earliest childhood to His last hour
in the worM. . . . In brief, from His earliest childhood ta the last
hoUT of His life in the world the Lord was assa"Q-lted by ail the

l he11s, which were continua11y overcome, su ~uga e ,an con
quered by Him; an iS-.SQ1ely.: t loy..eJ:.a 'ams the human
race. And because this love was not human, but Divine, and
temptatilllLis.-gr a i :pLQp---QI:.tioD..-as-.t.h.ùoY! is areat, it is evi
dent how grievous were His combats, and how reat the ferocit


art of the hells. That these things were sa 1 know of a
cer ,am y. ( . . n. 1690.)
That the Lord suffered and sustained the most grievous temp
tations, or more grievous than all in the universe, is not so fully
known from t e Ietter of the] Ward; where it is only mentioned
that He was in the wilderness forty days, and was tempted of the
De'Vil. The temptations themselves which He then had are not
described except in a few words; yet these few involve all. As
)for exampIe it is mentioned in Mark (i. 12, 13), that He was with
the ~,b which are siO'nified the worst of the infernal crew;
and elsewhere it is related that He was led by the Devil upon a
pinnacle of the Temple, and upon a high mountain, which are
) nothing else than re resentatives of most O'rievous tem t tians
which He suffi e.d.irL.tM wilderness. (ib. n. 1663.)

THE LORD WAS TEMPTED EVEN BY ANGELS.

That the Lord at the last fought in temptations with the angels
themselves, yea, with the whole angelic heaven, is an arcanum
which has not until now been revealed. But the case is this:
The angels are indeed in the highest wisdom and intelligence,
but all their wisdom and intelligence is from the Lord's Divine.
ortliemselves, or rom w a lS leu own, t ley lave nothing of
wisdom and intelligence; sa far therefore as they are in truths
and goods from the Lord's Divine they are wise and intelligent.
The angels themselves ,Openly confess that they have nothing of
wisdom and intelligence from themselves; yea, are even indig
nant if one attributes ta tbem anytbing of wisdom and intel
ligence. For they know and perceive that this would be ta
deroO'ate from the Divine that which is Divine, and tu claim for
themselves what is not their own, thus ta ineur the crime of
SPiritual theft. The angels also say, that all their proprium is
j evil and false, bath from what is hereditary and from actual life
in the world when they were men; and that what is evil and
false is not separated or wiped away from them, and they thus

l justified, but that it aU remains with them; and that they are
withheld from what is evil and false, and kept in good and truth
by the Lord. These thiu 0 s all angels c.on~ess; nor is any one
admitted into heaven unless he knows and believes them; for
otherwise they cannat be in the light of wisdom and intelligence
which is from the Lord, and therefore not in good and truth.
Hence also it may be known how it is ta be understood,
that heaven is not pure in the eyes of Gad, as in Job xv.
(15.. Because it is sa, in arder that the Lord might r.estore. the
~ umversal heaven ta heavenl arder, He even admltted mta
L ItIïûself temI?tations from th.e angels; who in sa far as t Oey


were in what is their own were not in good and truth.
These temptations are the inmost of all; for they act only upon
çends, and with such subtlety as to escape ail observation. Jlldt
, in ~ far as the~~s are not in what is their own they are jn
( good and trL!.th, and cannot tempt. Moreover the angels are
contmually being perfected by the Lord, and yet can by no
( means, to eternity, be so far perfected that their wisdom and
intelligence can be compared to the Divine wisdom and intelli
gence of the Lord; for they are Lnite, and the Lord is infinite,
and there is no comparison of the finite with the infinite. CA. C.
n. 4295.)

How THE LORD BORE THE INIQUITŒS OF ALL.

Tt is known in the Church that it is said of the Lord that He
carried sins for the human race, but it is yet unknown what is
meant by carrying iniquities and sins. By sorne it is believed
it means, that He took upon Hirnself the sins of the human
race, and suffered Himself to be condemned even to the death
of the cross; and that thus, because damnation for sins was cast
upon Him, mortals were liberated from damnation; and also
that damnation was taken away by the Lord through the ful
filling of the law, since the law would have condemned every
one who did not fulfil it. But these things are not meant by
carrying iniquity, sinee every man's deeds remain with him
after death, and he is then judged either to life or death accord
ing to their quality; anal they therefore cannot be taken away
by transfer to another who carries them. Rence it is evident
that something else is meant by carrying iniquities. And what
is meant may be seen from the calTying itself of iniquities
or of sins by the Lord; for the Lord calTies them when He
fights for man against the hells. For man of himself cannot
fight against them; but this the Lord alone does, even continu
ally for every man,-but with a difference according to the
reception of Divine good and Divine truth. When the Lord
was in the world Re fought against all the hells, and entirely
subdued them. Renee Re was also made Justice. He thus
redeemecl from damnation those who receive Divine good and
truth from Rim. If this had not been done by the Lord no
flesh could have been saved; for the hells are continually with
man, and so far as the Lord does not remove them they have
dominion over him; and He removes them in proportion as man
desists from evils. He who once conquers the hells conquers them
to eternity; and that this might be accomplished by the Lord He
made Ris Human Divine. Re therefore who alone fights for
man against the he11s,-or what is the same, against evils and

Samuel weems-the-virgin-birth-swedenborg-foundation-1966

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