from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

El Cielo y el Infierno #2

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Capítulo 1 (EL CIELO): El Dios del Cielo es el Señor

2. Lo primero será saber quien es el Dios del cielo, puesto que de ello dependen las demás cosas. En el cielo entero sólo el Señor es reconocido por Dios del cielo y ningún otro. Allí dicen, como Él mismo enseñó:

Que Él es uno con el Padre; que el Padre es en Él y Él en el Padre; que quien ve a Él, ve al Padre y que todo lo Santo procede de Él (Juan 10:30, 38; 14:9-11; 16:13-15).

He hablado varias veces con los ángeles sobre este particular, y siempre han dicho, que en el cielo no se puede partir lo Divino en tres, porque saben y sienten que la Divinidad es única, y que es única en el Señor. También han dicho, que los de la iglesia que llegan del mundo, teniendo la idea de tres Divinidades (Divinas Personas), no pueden ser admitidos en el cielo, puesto que su pensamiento pasa continuamente de uno a otro, y allí no es permitido pensar tres y decir uno; porque cada uno en el cielo habla por el pensamiento, siendo así que allí el hablar es pensar, o sea el pensar es hablar, por lo cual los que en el mundo han dividido la Divinidad en tres, formándose separada idea de cada uno, y no habiéndolos reunido y concentrado en el Señor, no pueden ser recibidos, porque en el cielo tiene lugar una comunicación de todo pensamiento; por lo cual si allí entrase alguien que pensara tres y dijera uno, sería en seguida descubierto y rechazado. Pero hay que saber que todos aquellos que no han separado la verdad del bien, o sea la fe del amor, al ser instruidos en la otra vida, reciben el celestial concepto del Señor de que Él es el Dios del universo. Otra cosa sucede con los que han separado la fe de la vida, es decir, los que no han vivido conforme a los preceptos de la verdadera fe.

  
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Swedenborg en Español website and Swedenborg Library, Bryn Athyn College of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

Bibliorum

 

Juan 13

Study

   

1 Antes del día de la Fiesta de la Pascua, sabiendo Jesús que su hora había venido para que pasase de este mundo al Padre, como había amado a los suyos que estaban en el mundo, los amó hasta el fin.

2 Y la cena acabada, como el diablo ya se había metido en el corazón de Judas, hijo de Simón Iscariote, que le entregase,

3 sabiendo Jesús que el Padre le había dado todas las cosas en las manos, y que había salido de Dios, y a Dios iba,

4 se levantó de la cena, y se quitó su ropa, y tomando una toalla, se ciñó.

5 Luego puso agua en una vasija, y comenzó a lavar los pies de los discípulos, y a limpiarlos con la toalla con que estaba ceñido.

6 Entonces vino a Simón Pedro; y Pedro le dice: ¿Señor, tú me lavas los pies?

7 Respondió Jesús, y le dijo: Lo que yo hago, tú no lo entiendes ahora; mas lo entenderás después.

8 Le dice Pedro: No me lavarás los pies jamás. Le respondió Jesús: Si no te lavare, no tendrás parte conmigo.

9 Le dice Simón Pedro: Señor, no sólo mis pies, mas aun las manos y la cabeza.

10 Le dice Jesús: El que está lavado, no necesita sino que se lave los pies, porque está todo limpio; y vosotros limpios sois, aunque no todos.

11 Porque sabía quién era el que lo entregaba; por eso dijo: No sois limpios todos.

12 Así que, después que les hubo lavado los pies, y tomado su ropa, volviéndose a sentar a la mesa, les dijo: ¿Sabéis lo que os he hecho?

13 Vosotros me llamáis, Maestro y Señor; y decís bien; porque lo soy.

14 Pues si yo, el Señor y el Maestro, he lavado vuestros pies, vosotros también debéis lavar los pies los unos de los otros.

15 Porque ejemplo os he dado, para que como yo os he hecho, vosotros también hagáis.

16 De cierto, de cierto os digo: El siervo no es mayor que su Señor, ni el apóstol es mayor que el que le envió.

17 Si sabéis estas cosas, bienaventurados seréis, si las hiciereis.

18 No hablo de todos vosotros; yo sé los que he elegido; mas para que se cumpla la Escritura: El que come pan conmigo, levantó contra mí su calcañar.

19 Desde ahora os lo digo antes que se haga, para que cuando se hiciere, creáis que YO SOY.

20 De cierto, de cierto os digo: El que recibe al que yo enviare, a mí recibe; y el que a mí me recibe, recibe al que me envió.

21 Habiendo dicho Jesús esto, fue conmovido en el espíritu, y protestó, y dijo: De cierto, de cierto os digo, que uno de vosotros me ha de entregar.

22 Entonces los discípulos mirábanse los unos a los otros, dudando de quién decía.

23 Y uno de sus discípulos, al cual Jesús amaba, estaba sentado en la mesa al lado de Jesús.

24 A éste, pues, hizo señas Simón Pedro, para que preguntase quién era aquel de quien decía.

25 El, entonces, recostándose sobre el pecho de Jesús, le dice: Señor, ¿quién es?

26 Respondió Jesús: Aquel es, a quien yo diere el bocado mojado. Y mojando el bocado, lo dio a Judas Iscariote, hijo de Simón.

27 Y tras el bocado, Satanás entró en él. Entonces Jesús le dice: Lo que harás, hazlo más pronto.

28 Mas ninguno de los que estaban a la mesa entendió a qué propósito le dijo esto.

29 Porque los unos pensaban, porque Judas tenía la bolsa, que Jesús le decía: Compra lo que necesitamos para la fiesta; o que diese algo a los pobres.

30 Cuando él pues hubo tomado el bocado, luego salió; y era ya noche.

31 Entonces cuando él salió, dijo Jesús: Ahora es clarificado el Hijo del hombre, y Dios es clarificado en él.

32 Si Dios es clarificado en él, Dios también le clarificará en sí mismo, y luego le clarificará.

33 Hijitos, aun un poco estoy con vosotros. Me buscaréis; mas, como dije a los judíos: Donde yo voy, vosotros no podéis venir; y ahora os lo digo.

34 Un mandamiento nuevo os doy: Que os ameis unos a otros; como os he amado, que también os améis los unos a los otros.

35 En esto conocerán todos que sois mis discípulos, si tuviereis amor los unos con los otros.

36 Le dice Simón Pedro: Señor, ¿a dónde vas? Le respondió Jesús: Donde yo voy, no me puedes ahora seguir; mas me seguirás después.

37 Le dice Pedro: Señor, ¿por qué no te puedo seguir ahora? Mi alma pondré por ti.

38 Le respondió Jesús: ¿Tu alma pondrás por mí? De cierto, de cierto te digo: No cantará el gallo, sin que me hayas negado tres veces.

   

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #9300

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9300. 'The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of [Jehovah] your God' means that every truth of good and every good of truth is holy because it comes from the Lord alone. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstfruits of the ground' as the truth that the Church's forms of good and its truths must be attributed to the Lord alone (for these are meant by 'the firstfruits', see 9223, and the Church by 'the ground', 566, 1068), the expression 'the first of the firstfruits' being used because that truth must be paramount, since forms of good and truths receive their life from the Lord, that is, they receive it from the Lord when they are attributed to Him; and from the meaning of 'bringing into the house of God' as bringing them to the Lord, in order that they may be holy (for 'the house of God' is the Lord, see 3720, and everything holy comes from the Lord, 9229). From all this it is evident that 'the first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of your God' means that every truth of good and every good of truth is holy because it comes from the Lord alone.

[2] The terms 'truth of good' and 'good of truth' are used because in the case of a person who is being regenerated, and especially of one who has been regenerated, truths emanate from good, and forms of good emanate from truth. For the truths compose the life of his understanding, and the good the life of his will. And with the person who has been regenerated understanding and will form a mind that is one, communicating reciprocally with each other; the truths which belong to the understanding communicate with the good which belongs to the will, and the good belonging to the will with the truths belonging to the understanding. There is a mutual flow from one to the other, scarcely any different from the flow of the blood from the heart into the lungs, and from them into the heart again, then from the left side of the heart into the arteries, and from these back again through veins into the heart. One can form an idea similar to this regarding the reciprocal flow of the good and truth with a person from his understanding into his will and from his will into his understanding. The reason why the heart and lungs can give us an idea especially of the reciprocal activity of the truth of faith and the good of charity in the understanding and the will is that the lungs correspond to the truths belonging to faith and the heart to the good belonging to love, 3635, 3883-3896. So it is also that 'the heart' in the Word means the life of the will, and 'the soul' 1 the life of faith, 9050.

[3] The reason why those two organs can help us to form an idea regarding truths belonging to the understanding and good belonging to the will is that all things which are aspects of faith and of love are accompanied by ideas formed from such things as a person knows. For without ideas formed from things that can be known and things that can be perceived by the senses a person has no ability to think. And a person thinks properly, even about aspects of faith and love, when he does so from objects that correspond; for correspondences are natural truths in which spiritual truths are reflected as in a mirror. Therefore to the extent that ideas in the mind regarding spiritual realities are conceived of but not by means of those correspondences, they are formed either from the illusions of the senses or from absurdities. What a person's ideas are like regarding aspects of faith and of love is transparently evident in the next life, for people's ideas there are plainly perceptible.

[4] The statement that the truths of faith belong to a person's understanding and the good of charity to his will may seem to be nonsensical to people who say and are convinced that having a belief in matters of faith is all that is necessary. This is because the natural man and his power of understanding has no grasp whatever of things of that nature, and because faith comes not from a person himself but from the Lord. But those same people nevertheless acknowledge and believe that a person is enlightened by truths and inspired by good when he reads the Word, and that when he is enlightened he perceives what is or is not the truth. They also speak of those who excel others in uncovering truths from the Word as the enlightened. From this it is evident that those who are enlightened see and perceive within themselves whether something is the truth or not; what is then enlightened within them is their understanding, and what is then inspired within them is their will. But if that which enlightens them is the authentic truth of faith and that which inspires them is the authentic good of charity, it is the internal man's understanding that is enlightened and the internal man's will that is inspired. The situation is different if the truth of faith, or the good of charity, is unauthentic.

[5] People governed by these, and even those ruled by falsities and evils are indeed able to give their assent to the Church's truths; yet they have no inner ability to see and perceive whether they really are truths. So it is that most people keep to the teachings of the Church in which they were born but go no further than giving their assent to them. They would assent even to extremely heretical beliefs such as those of Socinianism or Judaism if they had been born from parents holding such beliefs. From all this it is evident that the understanding is enlightened in the case of those with an affection for truth arising from good but not in the case of those with an affection for truth arising from evil. In the case of those with an affection for truth arising from good the internal man's understanding is enlightened and the internal man's will is inspired, whereas in the case of those with an affection for truth arising from evil the internal man's understanding is not enlightened nor is the internal man's will inspired, for the reason that they are natural men and women. As a consequence of this they maintain that the natural man has no ability to grasp any thing which is a matter of faith.

[6] The fact that the understanding is what is enlightened by the truths of faith and the will is what is inspired by the good of charity in the case of those with an affection for truth arising from good, who are therefore more internal or spiritual men and women, is evident from the same kind of people in the next life. Those who are there are able to understand all matters of faith and to will all that constitutes charity, as they themselves also clearly perceive. Consequently intelligence and wisdom beyond description are theirs; for after they have cast aside the body they enjoy that more internal understanding which was being enlightened in the world and that more internal will which was being inspired in the world. But they could not perceive during that time how they were being enlightened and inspired because during that time their thinking took place within the body and was founded on such things as belong to the world. From all this it is now clear that the truths of faith compose the life of the understanding and the good of charity composes the life of the will, that is, that the understanding ought to be present in those things which are matters of faith and the will in those which are aspects of charity. Or what amounts to the same thing, those two powers of mind are what faith and charity from the Lord flow into; and these are received according to the state of those powers. Thus the Lord's dwelling-place with a person is nowhere else than within those powers.

[7] An idea of what more there is to all this may be gained from what has been stated about the internal man and the external man in 6057, 9279, namely this: The internal man has been created so as to conform to an image of heaven, but the external man so as to conform to an image of the world; and those whose internal man has not been opened up see nothing from a heavenly point of view. And what they see from a worldly point of view regarding heaven is thick darkness, as a consequence of which they cannot have any spiritual idea about such things as are matters of faith and charity. As a result of this furthermore they fail so completely even to see what Christian good is, that is, what charity is, that they entirely suppose that the life of heaven consists solely in truths, which they call the truths of faith, and also that this life can be imparted to anyone at all with whom the assurance of faith exists though not the life of faith.

[8] How blind these people are regarding the life of faith, which is charity, is plainly evident from the consideration that they pay no attention whatever to thousands of things taught by the Lord Himself regarding goodness of life, and that when they read the Word they instantly toss them away behind the back of faith, thereby concealing them from themselves and from others. So it is also that anything which has to do with good, that is, with charity and its works, is banished by them from the teachings of the Church to that lower body of teachings which they call moral theology, and which they regard as natural, not spiritual. But in reality the life of charity remains after death, and faith only in the measure that it accords with that life, that is, thought regarding the truths of faith remains in the measure that there is a will to do good in accordance with them. Those who have faith that arises out of good are able to use any factual knowledge whatever to corroborate things for themselves and thereby make their faith stronger, see 2454, 2568, 2588, 4156, 4293, 4760, 5201, 6047, 8629.

V:

1. The word for soul also means breath.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.