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

각주:

297. (5:1) And I saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. That this signifies the Lord as to omnipotence and as to omniscience, is evident from the signification of the right hand when said of the Lord, as denoting omnipotence and also omniscience (concerning which we shall speak presently): and from the signification of Him that sat upon the throne, as denoting the Lord as to Divine good in heaven. For throne signifies heaven in general, specifically the spiritual heaven, and, in the abstract, the Divine truth proceeding, from which heaven is, and by which judgment is effected (as may be seen above, n. 253). The reason why the Lord is meant by Him that sat upon the throne, and also by the Lamb which took the book from Him that sat upon the throne, is, because by Him that sat upon the throne is meant the Lord as to Divine good, and by the Lamb the Lord as to Divine truth: for there are two things that proceed from the Lord as the Sun of heaven, namely, Divine good and Divine truth. Divine good from the Lord is called the Father in the heavens, and this is meant by Him that sat upon the throne; and Divine truth from the Lord is called the Son of man, but in this case the Lamb. And because Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth, it is therefore said here, that the Lamb took the book from Him that sat upon the throne. That the Divine good judges no one, but Divine truth, is meant by the Lord's words in John:

"The Father judgeth no one, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, because he is the Son of man" (5:22, 27).

By the Father is meant the Lord as to Divine good; and by the Son of man, the Lord as to Divine truth. The reason why Divine good judges no one, is, because it explores no one: but Divine truth [judges], for this explores every one. But still it must be known that the Lord Himself does not judge any one from the Divine truth that proceeds from Him, for this is united to the Divine good, so that they are one, but that a man-spirit judges himself: for it is the Divine truth received by him that judges him; and because it appears as if the Lord judges him, it is therefore said in the Word that all are judged by the Lord. This also the Lord teaches in John:

Jesus said, "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejected me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; the Word that I have spoken, it shall judge him in the last day" (12:47, 48).

[2] For with respect to judgment, the case is this: the Lord is present with all, and from Divine love wills to save all and also turns and leads all to Himself. Those who are in good, and thence in truths, follow, for they apply themselves; but those who are in evil, and thence in falsities, do not follow, but turn themselves away from the Lord, and to turn themselves away from the Lord is [to turn] from heaven to hell; for every man spirit is either his own good and the truth thence, or he is his own evil and the falsity thence. He who is in good and the truth therefrom, suffers himself to be led by the Lord; but he who is in evil and the falsity thence, does not suffer himself to be led. The latter resists with all his might and effort; for he wills according to his own love, which inspires and animates him; therefore his desire is to those who are in a similar love of evil. Hence it is evident that the Lord judges no one, but that the Divine truth received judges to heaven those who have received Divine truth in the heart, that is, in the love: and to hell those who have not received Divine truth in the heart, and have denied it. From these considerations it is evident how the Lord's words must be understood. "All judgment is [given] to the Son, because he is the Son of man." And elsewhere, that "he came not to judge the world but to save the world, and that the Word which he has spoken will judge him."

[3] But these things are such as do not fall into man's own intelligence, for they are amongst the arcana of the wisdom of the angels. This subject, however, is in some measure elucidated in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 545-551, where this fact is treated of, that the Lord casts no one into hell, but that the spirit himself [casts] himself thither. That it is the Lord who is meant "by him that sat upon the throne," and not another whom they distinguish from Him, and call God the Father, is evident to every one from this consideration, that there was no other Divine which the Lord called Father, but His own Divine: for this assumed the Human, therefore this was His Father; and that this is infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord, and in nothing differing from the very Divine, which they distinguish from Him and call "the Father," is evident from the received faith, called the Athanasian; where it is also said, That none of them is greatest and least, and none of them first and last, but that they are altogether equal; and that as one is, so is the other, infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, God, Lord: and yet there are not three infinites, but one: not three eternals, but one: not three uncreate, but one: not three omnipotents, but one: not three Gods and Lords, but one.

These things are mentioned, in order that it may be known that there are not two distinct [beings] meant by "Him that sat upon the throne," and by "the Lamb," nor in what follows "by God" and "the Lamb" but that by the one is meant the Divine good, and by the other the Divine truth in heaven, both proceeding from the Lord. That the Lord is meant by Him that sat upon the throne, also appears from all the particulars of chapter four, where a throne and one sitting thereon is treated of; this may be seen explained, n. 258-295: and, moreover, in Matthew:

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory" (25:31; 19:28, 29).

Again in Ezekiel:

"And above the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man sitting upon it" (1:26; 10:1)

And in Isaiah:

"I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his borders filled the temple" (6:1).

[4] Because by a throne is signified heaven, and by one sitting upon a throne, the Lord as to His Divine in heaven, therefore it is said above (in chap. Revelation 3), "To him that overcometh, I will give to sit with me on my throne," by which is signified that he shall be in heaven where the Lord is (as may be seen above, n. 253); and therefore in what follows in this chapter, it is said,

"I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne a Lamb standing" (5:6).

And in chapter 22,

"He shewed me a river of the water of life, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 22:1).

By the throne of God and of the Lamb, is meant heaven and the Lord there, as to Divine good, and as to Divine truth; God there denoting the Lord as to Divine good; and the Lamb, as to Divine truth. There is a distinction made here between them, because there are those who receive one more than the other; those who receive the Divine truth in good are saved; but those who receive the Divine truth, which is the Word, not in good, are not saved, because all Divine truth is in good, and nowhere else. Therefore those who do not receive it in good, reject and deny it, if not openly yet tacitly, and if not with the mouth yet with the heart; for the heart of such is evil, and evil rejects. To receive Divine truth in good, is to receive it in the good of charity; for those who are in that good receive.

131. These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword. That this signifies the Lord who alone fights in temptations, is evident from the signification of a sword, as being truth fighting against falsity, and, in an opposite sense, falsity fighting against truth. It is called sharp, and two-edged, because it cuts on both sides. Because this is signified by sword, therefore it also signifies dispersion of falsities, and also temptation. That it signifies dispersion of falsities, may be seen above (n. 73). That it signifies temptation is because, in what is written to the angels of this church, temptations are treated of, and also because temptation is a combat of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth. (That spiritual temptation is such combat, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 187-201.) The reason why by these things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword, is meant the Lord as alone fighting in temptations is, that, in the preceding chapter, ver. 16, it is said that out of the mouth of the Son of man was seen going forth a sharp two-edged sword; and by the Son of man is meant the Lord as to Divine truth, as may be seen above, n. 63. (That the Lord alone fights in temptations, and not man at all, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, 195-200.) The reason why by a sword is signified the combat of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth, is, that by wars in the Word, are signified spiritual wars; and spiritual wars are those that take place between truths and falsities. And because wars in the Word have such a signification, therefore also all the arms used in war, as a sword, a spear, a bow, darts, a shield, and many others, signify specifically something pertaining to spiritual combat, especially the sword, because in wars they formerly fought with swords. (That wars signify spiritual combats may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 1659, 1664, 8295, 10455; and that hence, particular arms of war signify what belongs to spiritual combat, may be seen, n. 1788, 2686.)

[2] That a sword in the Word signifies truth combating against falsity, and falsity against truth, and hence the dispersion of falsities, and also spiritual temptation, is evident from many passages, of which we will adduce a few only by way of confirmation. Thus in Matthew:

Jesus said, that he was not come to send peace upon earth, but a sword (10:34);

where, by sword is meant the combat of temptation; the reason it is so said, was, that men at that time were immersed in falsities, and the Lord revealed interior truths; and falsities cannot be cast forth except by combats from those truths.

[3] In Luke:

Jesus said to the disciples "Now he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a scrip; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one" (22:35-38).

By a purse and scrip are signified spiritual knowledges (cognitiones), thus truths; by garments are signified things proper to themselves; and by a sword is signified combat.

[4] Again in Jeremiah:

"O sword, against the Chaldeans, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her princes, and against her wise men. O sword, against liars that they may become foolish; O sword, against her mighty men that they may be dismayed; O sword, against her horses and against her chariots; O sword, against her treasures that they may be spoiled; a drought upon her waters, that they may be dried up" (50:35-38).

By sword is here signified the dispersion and vastation of truth by each of those against whom it is denounced, as by the Chaldeans, the inhabitants of Babylon, the princes and wise men thereof, liars, mighty men, horses, chariots and treasures, are signified the persons or things that will be vastated; as by horses are signified intellectual things; by chariots, doctrinals; and by treasures, knowledges (cognitiones); hence it is said a drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for waters signify the truths of the church, and a drought by which they are dried up, signifies vastation. (That drought and drying up denote where there is no truth, may be seen, Arcana Coelestia 8185; that waters denote the truths of the church, may be seen above, n. 71; that treasure denotes knowledges, n. 1694, 4508, 10227; that horses denote intellectual things and chariots doctrinals, may be seen in the small work, The White Horse 2-5.)

[5] In Isaiah:

"Jehovah shall contend, and by his sword with all flesh, and the slain of Jehovah shall be multiplied" (66:16).

In Jeremiah:

"Upon all the hills in the desert the spoilers have come, because the sword of Jehovah devoureth from the end of the earth even to the end of the earth" (12:12).

In Ezekiel:

"Prophesy, and say, a sword well sharpened, and also well polished; it is sharpened to slay a slaughter, it is polished to glitter; the sword shall be repeated the third time; the sword of the slain, the sword of great slaughter penetrating into the secret chambers, that the heart may faint, and offences may be multiplied; against all their gates will I set the point of the sword; ah! it has become lightning" (21:9, 10, 14, 15, 28).

In Isaiah:

"Bring waters to meet him that is thirsty, with bread prevent him that wandereth; for before the sword shall they wander, before the drawn sword, and before the bended bow, and for the grievousness of war" (21:14, 15).

In Ezekiel:

"They shall quake with fear when I shall brandish my sword before their faces, that they may tremble every moment, a man for his own soul; by the swords of the mighty casting down the multitude of them" (32:10-12).

In David:

"The saints will be joyful in glory; they will sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand" (Psalms 149:5, 6).

In the same:

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty. In thy honour ascend thy chariot, ride on the Word of truth; thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things. Thine arrows are sharp" (Psalms 45:3-5).

And in the Apocalypse:

"And there was given to him sitting on the red horse a great sword" (6:4).

And in another place:

"And out of the mouth of him sitting upon the white horse goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse" (19:15, 21).

By sword in the above passages is signified truth combating and destroying; this destruction is especially evident in the spiritual world, where those who are in falsities cannot sustain the truth. They are in a state of anguish, as if struggling with death when they come into the sphere of light, that is, where Divine truth is, and also they are thus deprived of truths, and vastated.

[6] As most expressions in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also has sword, and in that sense it signifies falsity combating against truth and destroying it. The vastations of the church, which take place when there are no longer any truths, but only falsities, are described in the Word by a sword, as in the following passages:

"They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive among all nations; at length Jerusalem shall be trodden down of" all "nations, until the times of the nations shall be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24).

The consummation of the age, here treated of, is the last time of the church, when falsities shall prevail. To fall by the edge of the sword, denotes that truths would be destroyed by falsity; nations denote evils; by Jerusalem is signified the church.

[7] In Isaiah:

"I will make a man more rare than fine gold. Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is gathered together shall fall by the sword" (13:12, 15).

By the man who is rare, is denoted those who are in truths; to be thrust through and to fall by the sword, denotes to be consumed by falsities.

[8] In the same:

"In that day they shall cast away every man the idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold, which your own hands have made unto you. Then shall Asshur fall by the sword, not of a man (vir) and the sword, not of a man (homo), shall devour him; but he who fleeth before the sword, his young men shall be for tribute" (31:7, 8).

The idols which their hands have made denote falsities from their own intelligence; by Asshur is denoted the Rational by which this is effected. To fall by the sword, not of a man (vir), and not of a man (homo), denotes not to be destroyed by any combat of truth against falsity. By he who fleeth before the sword, his young men shall be for tribute, is denoted, that the truth which is not destroyed shall be made subservient to falsities. That this is the meaning of those words is not evident in the sense of the letter; it is therefore evident how far removed is the spiritual sense from the sense of the letter.

[9] In Jeremiah:

"I have smitten your sons in vain; and they received not correction; your own sword hath devoured your prophets" (2:30).

In the same:

"Behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine. By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword; and if I enter into the city, then behold the sicknesses of famine" (14:13-18).

Both these passages treat of the vastation of the church as to truth: by prophets are meant those who teach truths, and by the sword which consumes them, falsity combating and destroying. By field is signified the church; by city doctrine; the slain with the sword in the field, denote those in the church with whom truths are destroyed; by the sicknesses of famine in the city is signified a defect of all truth in doctrine.

[10] In the same:

"They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us: neither shall we see sword and famine" (5:12).

In the same:

"The young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine" (11:22).

By young men are signified those who are in truths, and, in the abstract, truths themselves; to die by the sword is to be destroyed by falsities; sons and daughters signify the knowledges of truth and good; by famine is meant a defect of them.

[11] In Lamentations:

"We get our bread with the peril of our souls, because of the sword of the wilderness" (5:9).

By wilderness is meant where there is no good because no truth; by the sword thereof, the destruction of truth; bread denotes good, which is obtained with the peril of the soul because all good is implanted in man by truth.

[12] In Ezekiel:

"The sword without, and the pestilence and famine within; he that is in the field shall die by the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him" (7:15).

By sword is here meant the destruction of truth; by pestilence, consequent extinction; and famine signifies a complete defect. The signification is similar in other places; as in Jeremiah (21:7; 29:17, 18; 34:17).

[13] In Zechariah:

"Woe to the shepherd of nought deserting the flock, a sword upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm in drying up shall dry up, and his right eye in darkening shall be darkened" (11:17).

A sword upon the arm denotes the destruction of the Voluntary as to good; by a sword upon the right eye is signified the destruction of the Intellectual as to truth; that all good and all truth would perish, is signified by its being said, that the arm in drying up shall dry up, and the right eye in darkening shall be darkened.

[14] In Isaiah:

"Thus shall ye say unto your master, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Asshur have blasphemed Jehovah. Behold, I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. And Sennacherib the king of Asshur returned; and it came to pass, when he bowed himself in the house of Nisroch his god, his two sons smote him with the sword" (37:6, 7, 37, 38).

Because it is the Rational that acknowledges and that denies the Divine, and when it denies it seizes eagerly on every falsity instead of truth, and thus perishes, therefore this representative came to pass, that is, that the king of Asshur, because he blasphemed Jehovah, was smitten with the sword by his sons, in the house of Nisroch his god. Asshur signifies the Rational in both senses (see Arcana Coelestia 119, 1186); the sons of that king signify falsities, and the sword signifies destruction by them. So also, in Moses, it was commanded that the city which worshipped other gods should be smitten with the sword, and burned with fire (Deuteronomy 13:12, 13, 15, 16).

[15] This statute was made, because at that time all things were representative; to worship other gods is to worship from falsities; to be smitten with the sword is to perish by falsity; and to be burned with fire is to perish by the evil of falsity.

[16] In the same:

"Whosoever toucheth one that is slain with the sword in the field shall be unclean" (Numbers 19:16, 18, 19).

The slain in the field with the sword, represented those within the church who destroyed the truths which they had; by field is meant the church.

[17] That sword signifies falsities destroying truth is clear in David:

"The sons of men are inflamed; their teeth are as spears and darts, and their tongue a sharp sword" (Psalms 57:4).

"Behold, they belch out with their mouth, swords are in their lips" (Psalms 59:7).

Working iniquity "they whet their tongue like a sword; they make ready their bow with bitter words" (Psalms 64:3).

From these considerations it is clear what is signified by the words of the Lord to Peter:

"All they that take the sword shall perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:51, 52);

that is, those who believe falsities will perish by them.

[18] From these things it is now clear what is signified in the Word by sword in both senses. The reason why such things are signified by it, is also from appearances in the spiritual world. When spiritual combats take place there, which are combats of truth against falsity, and of falsity against truth, various weapons of war are seen there, as swords, spears, shields, and similar things; not that these combats are carried on by such things, for they are appearances only, representative of spiritual combats. When falsities fight keenly against truths, sometimes the glitter or sheen of a sword waving itself on both sides, and striking with great terror, is seen, by which those are dispersed who fight from falsities.

[19] From this it is clear what is meant by these words in Ezekiel:

"They shall be horribly afraid when I shall brandish my sword before their faces, that they may tremble at every moment for their own soul" (Ezekiel 32:10, 11, 12).

In the same:

"Prophesy, and say, a sword has been sharpened, and also well polished, that it may shine, that the heart may faint, ah! it has become lightning" (Ezekiel 21:9, 10, 15).

The reason why a sword causes such great terror is that iron, of which it is made, signifies truth in ultimates, and glitter and sheen are from the light of heaven, and its shining upon it; the light of heaven is Divine truth proceeding from the Lord; Divine truth, thus falling into those who are filled with falsity, strikes terror.

[20] It is therefore clear what is signified when Adam was cast out

By cherubim being placed at the east of Eden, and the flame of a sword turning every way, and brandishing itself to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24).

By the tree of life is signified celestial love, which is love to the Lord; by cherubim a guard; by the flame of a sword turning itself every way, the terrible driving away and rejection of all who are in falsities; the east of Eden denotes where the presence of the Lord is in that celestial love. By those words therefore is signified that all approach to the acknowledgment of the Lord alone is closed to those who do not live a life of love. That by sword is signified falsity is quite clear in Ezekiel, where is thus said of the prince of Tyre:

"They shall unsheath swords upon the beauty of thy wisdom" (28:7).

By the prince of Tyre is here signified intelligence derived from the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth; and because this is extinguished by falsities it is therefore said that they should unsheathe their swords upon wisdom, which could not have been said unless by swords were meant falsities.