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.

414. Our country is our neighbor more than our community is, because our country consists of many communities. Love for our country is therefore broader and higher. Loving our country is also loving the well-being of the general public.

Our country is our neighbor because it is like a parent. We were born in it. It has nourished us and continues to nourish us. It has kept us safe from harm and continues to do so.

We are to do good to our country with love according to what it needs. Some of its needs are earthly and some are spiritual. Its earthly needs center on its civic life and order. Its spiritual needs center on its spiritual life and order.

We are to love our country not merely as much as we love ourselves; we are to love it more. There is a law written on the human heart that gives rise to the statement all just people say when they are in imminent danger of dying because of an enemy or some other cause. They say that it is a noble thing to die for their country. They say that it is a glorious thing for soldiers to shed their blood for their country. They say this because that is how much one ought to love one's country.

It is important to know that if people love their country and benefit it because they wish it well, they love the Lord's kingdom after death. The Lord's kingdom is their country at that point. And those who love the Lord's kingdom love the Lord, since the Lord is everything to all his kingdom.

454. The Bond of Love between Evil People Is Actually a Deep Mutual Hatred

I showed above [401, 420] that we each have an inner level and an outer level and that our inner level is called our inner self and our outer level is called our outer self.

To those points I will add the following: Our inner self is in the spiritual world and our outer self is in the physical world. We have been created with this nature so that we can be associated with spirits and angels in their world and be able to think analytically as a result, and also so that we can be transferred from our world to the other world after we die.

"The spiritual world" means both heaven and hell. Since our inner self is present with spirits and angels in their world and our outer self is present with people, clearly we can be associated with spirits from hell and with angels from heaven. This faculty and ability differentiates us from animals.

The way we are in our inner self is the way we truly are. We are not necessarily the way we appear on the outside. Our inner self is our spirit. It acts through our outer level. The physical body that our spirit wears in the physical world is something added on so that we can reproduce and so that our inner self can be formed. Our inner self is formed in our physical body like a tree in the ground or a seed in a piece of fruit. (For a number of points about the inner and outer self see 401 above.)