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.

344. The underlying reality of the faith of the new church is (1) trust in the Lord God our Savior Jesus Christ; (2) confidence that he saves those who live good lives and believe the right things.

The essence of the faith of the new church is truth from the Word.

The manifestations of the faith of the new church are (1) spiritual sight; (2) harmony among truths; (3) conviction; (4) acknowledgment engraved on the mind.

The states of the faith of the new church are (1) a newborn faith, a growing faith, a mature faith; (2) faith based on genuine truth, and faith based on things that seem true; (3) faith based on memory, faith based on reason, faith based on light; (4) earthly faith, spiritual faith, heavenly faith; (5) faith based on life experiences, and faith based on miracles; (6) faith that is free and faith that is coerced.

For a universal idea and a specific idea of the form itself of the faith of the new church, see above, 2 and 3.

240. 7. The Word Exists throughout the Heavens; It Is the Source of Angelic Wisdom

Up until now people have not known that the Word exists in the heavens. They had no way of knowing this as long as the church remained unaware that angels and spirits are people who have faces and bodies just as people do in our world. Angels and spirits also have things that are like the things people have, with one difference: the things angels have are spiritual. All the things around them have a spiritual origin, while we here in the physical world, and all the things around us, have a physical origin. As long as this piece of information was still hidden there was no way to know that the Word does in fact exist in the heavens and that it is read by the angels there and by the spirits below the heavens.

To prevent this point from staying hidden forever, I have been allowed to have interaction with angels and spirits, to talk to them and see the things they have, and afterward to pass on many of the things I have heard and seen. This I have done in the work Heaven and Hell, published in London in 1758. That work shows that angels and spirits are people and that they have in great abundance all the things we have in this world. For angels and spirits being people, see 73-77, 453-456 in that work. For their possession of things similar to those we have in this world, see 170-190. For their having divine worship and sermons in church buildings, see 221-227. For their possession of writing and books, see 258-264. For their possession of the Word, see 259.