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

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213. As for love and wisdom, love is the purpose, wisdom the means, and service the result. Further, service is the composite, vessel, and foundation of wisdom and love, such a composite and such a vessel that every bit of love and every bit of wisdom is actively present in it. It is their total presence. We need to be absolutely clear, though, that in keeping with what was presented in 189-194 above, what are present in service are all the elements of love and wisdom that are of the same kind, harmonious.

9547. Verses 31-39 And you shall make a lampstand from pure gold; solid shall the lampstand be made. ¹ Its shaft and its branch, its cups, its pomegranates, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. ² And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it. There shall be three almond-shaped cups on one branch, a pomegranate and a flower, and three almond-shaped cups on one branch, ³ a pomegranate and a flower - thus for the six branches going out of the lampstand. And on [the shaft of] the lampstand there shall be four almond-shaped cups, its pomegranates and its flowers. And there shall be a pomegranate under [the first] two branches out of it, and a pomegranate under [the second] two branches out of it, and a pomegranate under [the third] two branches out of it - for the six branches going out of the lampstand. Their pomegranates and their branches shall be of one piece with it, ¹ all [shall be part] of it - one solid [piece made] from pure gold. And you shall make its seven lamps; and let it cause its lamps to go up and give light before its faces. ⁴ And its tongs and its trowels ⁵ [shall be made] from pure gold. A talent of pure gold shall [be used to] make it, together with all these vessels.

'And you shall make a lampstand' means the spiritual heaven. 'From pure gold' means that it must spring from celestial good. 'Solid shall the lampstand be made' means that all of it must spring from good. 'Its shaft and its branch, its cups' means the spiritual entities within the natural. 'Its pomegranates' means factual knowledge of good. 'And its flowers' means factual knowledge of truth. 'Shall be of one piece with it' means that both must form part of the spiritual springing from celestial good. 'And there shall be six branches going out of its sides' means all the capacities of truth derived from good in their entirety. 'Three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it' means completeness so far as good and truth are concerned. 'There shall be three almond-shaped cups' means completeness so far as factual knowledge derived from good is concerned. 'On one branch' means the power of truth derived from good. 'A pomegranate and a flower' means a known fact about good and a known fact about truth. 'And three almond-shaped cups on one branch, a pomegranate and a flower' has the same meaning. 'Thus for the six branches going out of the lampstand' means the power of truth derived from good so far as all things in the spiritual heaven are concerned. 'And on [the shaft of] the lampstand' means the middle of it, by means of which everything is brought together, and from which powers are derived. 'There shall be four almond-shaped cups' means factual knowledge of truth derived from good. 'Its pomegranates and its flowers' means factual knowledge of good and truth. 'And there shall be a pomegranate under [the first] two branches out of it, and a pomegranate under [the second] two branches out of it, and a pomegranate under [the third] two branches out of it' means factual knowledge of good for every single truth. 'For the six branches going out of the lampstand' means the power of truth derived from good so far as all things in the spiritual heaven are concerned. 'Their pomegranates and their branches shall be of one piece with it, all [shall be part] of it' means that the factual knowledge of good and the powers must spring from the Divine Spiritual, which comes from the Lord. 'One solid [piece made] from pure gold' means unblemished and perfect because it all consists of the same good. 'And you shall make its seven lamps' means the holy spiritual things from it. 'And let it cause its lamps to go up' means the light of the spiritual heaven. 'And give light before its faces' means from the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Human. 'And its tongs and its trowels' means things in the natural that serve to purify and clean out. '[Shall be made] from pure gold' means that these too must consist of good. 'A talent of pure gold shall [be used to] make it, together with all these vessels' means celestial good from which spiritual good together with its factual knowledge springs.

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