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.

115. 1. Redemption was actually a matter of gaining control of the hells, restructuring the heavens, and by so doing preparing for a new spiritual church. I can say with absolute certainty that these three actions are redemption, because the Lord is bringing about redemption again today. This new redemption began in the year 1757 along with a Last Judgment that happened at that time. The redemption has continued from then until now. The reason is that today is the Second Coming of the Lord. A new church is being instituted that could not have been instituted unless first the hells were brought under control and the heavens were restructured.

Because I have been allowed to see it all I could describe how the hells were brought under control and how the new heaven was built and put into the divine design, but that would be the subject of a whole work. In a little work published in London in 1758 I did lay out how the Last Judgment was carried out.

Gaining control over the hells, restructuring the heavens, and establishing a new church was redemption because without those actions no human being could have been saved. In fact, they follow in a sequence. The hells had to be controlled first before a new angelic heaven could be formed, and that heaven had to be formed before the new church on earth could be instituted, because people in the world are so closely connected to angels from heaven and spirits from hell that at the level of the inner mind they are one. This point will be taken up in the last chapter of this book, which specifically covers the close of the age, the Coming of the Lord, and the New Church [753-791].

264. 12. Before the Word That Exists in the World Today, There Was a Word That Has Been Lost

Before the Word existed that was given through Moses and the prophets among the Israelite nation, people knew a form of worship through sacrifices, and their prophets spoke the word of Jehovah. This is clear from things mentioned in the books of Moses.

The following is evidence that people knew a form of worship through sacrifices: The children of Israel were commanded to overturn the altars of other nations, shatter their statues, and cut down their groves (Exodus 34:13; Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3). "At Acacia, Israel began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab; they invited the people to sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate" (Numbers 25:1-3). Balaam, who was from Syria, built altars and sacrificed oxen and sheep (Numbers 22:40; 23:1-2, 14, 29-30). Balaam also gave a prophecy about the Lord saying, "A star will rise out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel" (Numbers 24:17); and Balaam spoke the word of Jehovah in prophecy (Numbers 22:13, 18; 23:3, 5, 8, 16, 26; 24:1, 13).

The passages just given make it clear that a divine worship existed among other nations that was virtually the same as the worship instituted by Moses among the Israelite nation. From words in Moses (Deuteronomy 32:7-8) it appears that this worship existed even before the time of Abraham. This is still clearer from Melchizedek, king of Salem, who brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram, and Abram in turn gave Melchizedek tithes of all he possessed (Genesis 14:18-20). Melchizedek represented the Lord - he is called a priest to God the Highest (Genesis 14:18). In David it says of the Lord, "You are a priest forever on the order of Melchizedek" (Psalms 110:4). This is why Melchizedek brought out bread and wine as the holiest things in the church, just as bread and wine are holy in the Holy Supper also. Besides many others, these things are outstanding indications that before the Israelite Word there was a Word that gave these revelations.