1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

115. 1. Redemption was actually a matter of gaining control of the hells, restructuring the heavens, and by so doing preparing for a new spiritual church. I can say with absolute certainty that these three actions are redemption, because the Lord is bringing about redemption again today. This new redemption began in the year 1757 along with a Last Judgment that happened at that time. The redemption has continued from then until now. The reason is that today is the Second Coming of the Lord. A new church is being instituted that could not have been instituted unless first the hells were brought under control and the heavens were restructured.

Because I have been allowed to see it all I could describe how the hells were brought under control and how the new heaven was built and put into the divine design, but that would be the subject of a whole work. In a little work published in London in 1758 I did lay out how the Last Judgment was carried out.

Gaining control over the hells, restructuring the heavens, and establishing a new church was redemption because without those actions no human being could have been saved. In fact, they follow in a sequence. The hells had to be controlled first before a new angelic heaven could be formed, and that heaven had to be formed before the new church on earth could be instituted, because people in the world are so closely connected to angels from heaven and spirits from hell that at the level of the inner mind they are one. This point will be taken up in the last chapter of this book, which specifically covers the close of the age, the Coming of the Lord, and the New Church [753-791].

257. Many things in the Word's literal meaning are apparent truths. Real truths lie hidden inside them. It is not a damning thing to think and say apparent truths in a simple way. It is damning, however, to become adamant about apparent truths, since our becoming adamant destroys the divine truth that lies hidden inside them.

An example from nature can illustrate this. I cite it because something from nature provides clearer illustration and teaching than something spiritual.

To our eyes it seems that the sun goes around the earth once a day, and also once a year. On this basis we say that the sun rises and sets, which makes morning, midday, evening, and night, and also affects our time of year - the spring, summer, fall, and winter; its "motion" shapes both days and years. Yet in fact the sun remains motionless. It is an ocean of fire. The earth spins every day, and orbits the sun every year. People who simply or ignorantly think that the sun is moving around the earth do not destroy an idea that is physically true, which is that the earth rotates on its axis and follows the ecliptic in its yearly orbit. If, however, people rigidly believe the appearance that the sun is moving and use the reasoning of their earthly self as reinforcement, and especially if they use the Word's statements that the sun rises and sets as reinforcement, they undermine and destroy the truth. Afterward, they can scarcely see the true reality, even if you visibly demonstrate to them that the whole starry heaven seems to move daily and yearly in the same way as the sun and yet not a single star changes its location relative to another.

The sun's movement is an apparent truth. Its lack of movement is a genuine truth. Yet we all speak according to the apparent truth when we say that the sun rises and sets. This is acceptable. How else would we say it? But adamant loyalty to the appearance in our thinking weakens and darkens our rational understanding.