At face value, the Ten Commandments can seem intense and unforgiving. But Emanuel Swedenborg’s understanding of the internal sense of the Bible—spiritual meanings that lie beneath the literal words—can give us a new perspective on these familiar rules.

In this episode of their Swedenborg and Life web series, hosts Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose study the inner meaning of the first commandment.

(Препратки: Apocalypse Revealed 950; Arcana Coelestia 8864, 8865, 8868, 8869, 8875, 8878, 8879, 8880, 8881)

8632. I talked to spirits belonging to that planet about the Lord, saying that He does ill to no one, still less punishes anyone. Being some of the more simple, those spirits were at first unwilling to accept this, believing that the Lord was the author of punishments. But I told them that their angels present with a person on their planet do not chastise or even speak harshly, and that they do no more than allow spirits that administer punishment, who are also present, to chastise. And since those angels do not chastise, much less does the Lord, who is Goodness itself and the Ruler of the angels, do so. Having heard what I told them those spirits acknowledged and declared affirmatively with a clear voice that the Lord punishes no one, does ill to no one, and does not even speak harshly to anyone. Regarding the angels and regarding the spirits who administer punishment among the inhabitants of Jupiter, see 7802-7805, 7810.