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.

221. 5. The exteriors of the Temple in Jerusalem, as well, represented the types of good and truth that exist in the Word's literal meaning. The Temple represented heaven and the church just as the tabernacle did, although the Temple meant the heaven where the spiritual angels are, while the tabernacle meant the heaven where the heavenly angels are. Spiritual angels have wisdom because of the Word. Heavenly angels have love because of the Word.

The Lord himself teaches in John that in its highest meaning the Temple at Jerusalem stood for the Lord's divine-human manifestation:

"Break this temple in pieces and I will raise it in three days. " He was speaking of the temple of his body. (John 2:19, 21)

When something means the Lord it also means the Word, because he is the Word.

Since the interiors of the Temple represented the inner parts of heaven and the church, and the inner parts of the Word as well, its exteriors in turn represented and meant the outer parts of heaven and the church, and the outer parts of the Word as well, which belong to its literal meaning. We read of the exteriors of the Temple that they were built of whole, uncut stone, with cedar on the inside face; all the walls were carved on the inside with angel guardians, palm trees, and open flowers; and the floor was overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:7, 29-30). All these details stand for the outer parts of the Word, which are holy aspects of its literal meaning.

647. There Is No Way in Which We Can Simultaneously Hold the Views of the New Church and the Views of the Former Church on Faith and the Assignment of Spiritual Credit; If We Did Hold Both These Views at Once, They Would Collide and Cause So Much Conflict That Everything Related to the Church Would Be Destroyed in Us

The views held by the new church regarding faith and the assignment of spiritual credit cannot coexist with the views of the former (and still persisting) church because the two positions do not overlap by a third or even a tenth.

The faith of the former church teaches that three divine persons have existed from eternity, each of whom is God individually or by himself, and all three are creators. The faith of the new church teaches that from eternity there has been only one divine person, and therefore one God; there is no other God except him. Therefore the faith of the former church says the divine Trinity has been divided into three persons, but the faith of the new church says the divine Trinity is united in one person.

[2] The faith of the former church was a belief in a God who cannot be seen, who is inaccessible, and with whom no partnership can be formed. Their idea of him was like their idea of a spirit, which is like their idea of ether or wind. The faith of the new church, however, is a belief in a God who can be seen, who is accessible, and with whom a partnership can be formed, inside whom, like a soul in a body, there exists a God who cannot be seen, who is inaccessible, and with whom no partnership can be formed. Their idea of him is that he is a human being, because the one God, who has existed from eternity, became a human being in time.

[3] The faith of the former church attributes all power to the God who cannot be seen and takes it away from the God who can be seen. It says that God the Father assigns faith to us, and through that faith gives us eternal life; the God who can be seen merely intercedes. Together each of them (or according to the Greek church, just God the Father) gives to the Holy Spirit - who by himself is the third God in the hierarchy - all power to produce the effects of that faith. The faith of the new church, however, attributes to the God who can be seen (in whom is [the God] who cannot be seen) all power to assign spiritual credit or blame and also to produce the effects of salvation.

[4] The faith of the former church is primarily a belief in God the Creator, and not also a belief in him as the Redeemer and Savior. The faith of the new church is a belief in one God who is the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Savior.

[5] The faith of the former church is that the faith we have been granted and assigned leads spontaneously to repentance, the forgiving of our sins, renewal, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation without anything of ourselves getting mixed up in or participating in these processes. The faith of the new church teaches that repentance, reformation, and regeneration, and therefore the forgiving of our sins, occur only with our cooperation.

[6] The faith of the former church says that Christ's merit is assigned to us and that that assigning is embraced by the faith we have been granted. The faith of the new church teaches that, in addition to whether we have faith, we are assigned spiritual credit or blame depending on whether our actions have been good or evil, and that this concept of assigning follows what is taught in Sacred Scripture, but the other goes against it.

[7] The former church says that a faith that contains the merit of Christ is granted to us when we are like a log or a stone; it also says we are completely powerless when it comes to spiritual matters. The new church, however, teaches a completely different kind of faith: it is not a faith in Christ's merit, but rather a faith in Jesus Christ himself as God the Redeemer and Savior. The new church also teaches that we have free choice, which allows us to adapt ourselves so that we are more receptive, and also allows us to cooperate [with the Lord].

[8] The former church attaches goodwill to its faith as a kind of appendage, but not as anything necessary for salvation; this is the nature of its religious practice. The new church unites faith in the Lord and goodwill toward our neighbor as two things that are inseparable; this is the nature of its religious practice.

There are also many other points of disagreement besides these.