Here we are in the 21st century. We know that the universe is an enormous place. We're just bursting with scientific knowledge. But how are we doing with the even-bigger ideas? Our human societies seem to be erasing them, or ignoring them - maybe we think we're too busy for them.

Here on the New Christian Bible Study site, we'll buck the trend. We want to explore the big ideas that give us a framework for living better lives. Here's a start on a list of big ideas from a New Christian perspective. For each idea, there is a footnote that lists some references in Swedenborg's theological works:

1. God exists. Just one God, who created and sustains the entire universe in all its dimensions, spiritual and physical. ¹

2. God's essence is love itself. It's the force that drives everything. ²

3. God's essence comes into being, that is, it exists, in and through creation. ³

4. There are levels, or degrees, of creation - ranging from spiritual ones that we can't detect with our physical senses or sensors, to the level of the physical universe where most of our awareness is when we're alive here. ⁴

5. The created universe emanates from God, and it's sustained by God, but in an important way it is separate from God. He wants it to be separate, so that freedom can exist. ⁵

6. God operates from love through wisdom - willing good things, and understanding how to bring them about. ⁶

7. The physical level of creation exists to provide human beings with an opportunity to choose in freedom, with rationality, whether or not to acknowledge and cooperate with God. ⁷

8. God provides all people everywhere, regardless of their religion, the freedom to choose to live a life of love to God and to the neighbor. ⁸

9. God loves everyone. He knows that true happiness only comes when we're unselfish; when we're truly motivated by a love of the Lord which is grounded out in a love of the neighbor. He seeks to lead everyone, but will not force us to follow against our will. ⁹

10. God doesn't judge us. He tells us what's good, and what's evil, and flows into our minds to lead us towards good. However, we're free to reject his leading, and instead opt to love ourselves most. Day by day, we create habits of generosity or of selfishness, and live out a life in accordance with those habits. Those habits become the real "us", our ruling love. ¹⁰

11. Our physical bodies die eventually, but the spiritual part of our minds keeps going. It's been operating on a spiritual plane already, but our awareness shifts - so that we become fully aware of spiritual reality. ¹¹

फुटनोट:

13. The Lord's Divine Nature in Heaven Is Love for Him and Thoughtfulness toward One's Neighbor

In heaven, the divine nature that emanates from the Lord is called divine truth, for reasons that will be given below. This divine truth flows into heaven from the Lord, out of his divine love. Divine love and the divine truth that derives from it are like the sun's fire and the light that comes from it in our world. The love is like the sun's fire, and the derivative truth is like the light from the sun. By reason of correspondence, fire means love and light means the truth that flows from it. ¹

This enables us to determine the character of the divine truth that emanates from divine love: in its essence, it is divine good united to divine truth, and because it is united, it gives life to everything in heaven the way the warmth of the sun, united to its light, makes everything fruitful on earth in spring and summer. It is different when the warmth is not united to light, when the light is therefore cold. Then everything slows down and lies there, snuffed out.

The divine good we have compared to warmth is the good of love within and among angels, and the divine truth we have compared to light is the means and the source of this good of love.

फुटनोट:

4337. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Where Jacob is referred to in previous chapters, the subject in the internal sense has been the acquisition of truth within the Natural, an acquisition which is made there so that such truth may be joined to good; for all truth exists for the sake of that end. In the internal sense 'Jacob' is that truth, and 'Esau' is the good to which it is joined. Before the two are joined together truth seems to occupy first place, but after they have been joined good in fact does so, see 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 3995.

This is also what is meant by Isaac's prophecy addressed to Esau,

By your sword you will live, and you will serve your brother; and it will be, when you have dominion over him, that you will break his yoke from your neck. Genesis 27:40.

That state foretold there is the actual subject now. And this is why in verses 5, 8, 13-14 of the present chapter Jacob calls Esau his lord and himself Esau's servant

[2] It should be recognized that 'Jacob' at this point represents the good of truth. But regarded in itself such good is simply truth, for as long as truth exists solely in the memory it is referred to as truth. But once it exists in the will and as a consequence in action it is called the good of truth, for the performance of truth is nothing else. Whatever proceeds from the will is called good since in essence the will consists in love and in affection flowing from love, and everything that is done from love and attendant affection is termed good. Nor is truth able to be joined to good which flows in by way of the internal man and is Divine in origin - which good is represented here by 'Esau' - until truth exists as truth in will and action, that is, as the good of truth. For good which flows in by way of the internal man and is Divine in origin flows into the will, and there meets the good of truth which has been introduced by way of the external man.