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.

254. 10. We May Derive Heretical Ideas from the Word's Literal Meaning, but We Are Condemned Only If We Become Adamant about Those Ideas

I have already shown [226-228] that the Word is impossible to understand without a body of teaching, and that a body of teaching is like an oil lamp for making genuine truths visible. This is because the Word was written entirely in correspondences. As a result, many things in the Word are apparent truths, not naked truths. Many things in it were written to be understood by people who are merely earthly. Yet these things were written in such a way that simple people can understand them simply, intelligent people intelligently, and wise people wisely.

Since the Word is like this, its apparent truths, which are clothed truths, can be taken for naked truths. If apparent truths become convictions, however, they turn into mistaken ideas that are actually false. In Christianity all the heresies that have existed and that are currently in existence were born as a result of apparent truths being taken for genuine truths and being reinforced as such.

Our heretical ideas themselves do not condemn us; but using the Word and reasoning from our own lower self to reinforce the false ideas in the heresy and living in evil ways do condemn us. We are all born into the religion of our country or our family. We are initiated into it from early childhood. We retain that religion and cannot rid ourselves of its falsities, because of our interactions in the world and also our own intellectual inability to scrutinize truths that we have inherited in this way. Living in evil ways does condemn us, however, and so does becoming adamant about falsities to the point of destroying genuine truth. If people stay in their religion and believe in God, or - if Christians - they believe in the Lord, regard the Word as holy, and follow the Ten Commandments for religious reasons, then they simply will not swear allegiance to things that are false. Therefore, when they hear truths and see them in their own way they are able to embrace those truths and be led away from false notions. This is not true of people who have become adamant about false teachings in their religion. A false teaching that is adamantly believed is permanent. It cannot be uprooted. A false concept that people have reinforced in themselves is like something they have sworn allegiance to, especially if it ties in with their love for themselves or their pride in their own intelligence.

712. It is well known that three things are essential to the church - God, goodwill, and faith - and that all the specific teachings and practices go back to these three essentials as the universal qualities that underlie them.

These three are actually the same as the three mentioned just above. In the Holy Supper, the Lord is God; divine goodness is goodwill, and divine truth is faith. What else is goodwill but something good that we do with the help of the Lord? What else is faith but something true that we believe with the help of the Lord?

From these come the three grand faculties within our inner self: the soul or mind as a whole, the will, and the intellect. These three are vessels for receiving the three universal qualities mentioned just above. The soul or mind is a vessel for receiving the Lord (its life comes from him); the will is a vessel for receiving love or goodness; and the intellect is a vessel for receiving wisdom or truth. As a result, each and every attribute of our soul or mind does not merely relate to the three universal qualities of heaven and the church but actually emanates from them. Name something that human beings accomplish without using the mind, the will, or the intellect. If even one of these three were removed, would we be more than some soulless creature?

[2] Likewise there are three vital systems in our outer self: the body as a whole, the heart, and the lungs. Each and every subsystem within our bodies is part of and is dependent on these three vital systems. In fact, these three vital systems of our bodies correspond to the three grand faculties within our minds. The heart corresponds to the will, and the lungs (or breathing) correspond to the intellect. (The existence of correspondences like these has been fully covered earlier in the work.)

Therefore each and every part of us has been formed in a general way and also in specific to be a vessel for the three universal qualities of heaven and the church. The reason for this is that we have been created to be an image and likeness of God, so that we can be in the Lord and the Lord can be in us.