337. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Since the subject in this chapter is the degeneration of the Most Ancient Church - that is, the falsification of doctrine - and consequently the heresies and sects which the names of Cain and his descendants cover, it must be realized that nobody can begin to understand how doctrine was falsified, that is, understand the nature of the heresies and sects of that Church, unless he has a proper knowledge of the nature of the true Church. From the latter the nature of those heresies and sects can be recognized. The Most Ancient Church has been dealt with quite extensively already; and it has been shown that it was the celestial man, and that it acknowledged no other faith than faith that originated in love to the Lord and towards the neighbour. It was through that love from the Lord that they possessed faith, that is, a perception of everything that was a matter of faith. Consequently they were not even willing to mention faith for fear of separating it from love, as shown already in 200-203.

[2] Such is the nature of the celestial man, that nature being described also by means of representatives in David where the Lord is referred to as 'the King', and the celestial man as 'the King's son',

Give the King Your judgements, and the King's son Your righteousness. The mountains will bring peace to the people, and the hills, in righteousness. They will fear You with the sun and towards the face ¹ of the moon, a generation of generations. In his days the righteous man will flourish, and much peace, until the moon will be no more. Psalms 72:1, 3, 5, 7.

'The sun' means love, 'the moon' faith, 'mountains' and 'hills' the Most Ancient Church. 'A generation of generations' means the Church that came after the Flood. The statement 'until the moon will be no more' is made because faith will then be love. See also what is written in Isaiah 30:26.

[3] Such was the nature of the Most Ancient Church and such its doctrine. Nowadays things are altogether different, for now faith comes first. But by means of faith the Lord imparts charity, at which point charity becomes the chief thing. Consequently doctrine in most ancient times was falsified when people made profession of faith and in so doing separated faith from love. People who falsified doctrine in this way, or who separated faith from love, that is, made profession of faith alone, were at that time called 'Cain'; and such a thing with them was a gross error.

Poznámky pod čarou:

8516. 'Therefore on the sixth day He gives you the bread of two days' means that for this reason right at the end of the former state He imparts so great an amount of truth through good that the joining together takes place after that. This is clear from the meaning of 'the sixth day' as the end of a former state, dealt with in 8421; from the meaning of the manna, to which 'the bread' refers here, as the good of truth, dealt with in 8462, 8464; and from the meaning of the sabbath, for which day also the manna on the sixth day was given, so that it was two days' bread, as the joining together of goodness and truth, dealt with in 8495. It has been shown above that since 'the sabbath' means the joining together of goodness and truth, the fact that no man[na] was to be found on the seventh day means that when that joining together has taken place a person's actions spring from good and no longer from truth, indeed that they must not any longer spring from truth, 8510.

[2] But as this appears rather baffling, let a few further words of explanation be added. Everyone ought to be led to Christian good, which is called charity, through the truth of faith; for the truth of faith must teach not only what charity is but also what it needs to be like. And unless a person learns this first from the teachings of his Church - for he cannot by any means know it instinctively - he cannot be prepared and so made fit to receive that good. For example, he needs to know from religious teachings that charity in no way involves doing good for selfish reasons, that is, for the sake of reward, nor thus meriting salvation through the works of charity. He also needs to know that all the good of charity originates in the Lord, and none whatever in self, besides very many other teachings telling him what charity is and needs to be like. From all this it becomes clear that a person cannot be led to Christian good except through the truths of faith. In addition a person needs to know that truths do not of themselves enter good but that good adopts truths and attaches them to itself; for the truths of faith in a person's memory lie so to speak in a field that is spread out before his inward vision. Good from the Lord flows into that vision, and from the truths present there it selects and joins to itself those that are compatible. The truths, which lie below, cannot flow into the good, which is above, since it is altogether contrary to order, as well as impossible, for what is lower to flow into what is higher, 5259.

[3] From all this one may now see how Christian good is born with a person when he is being regenerated, and therefore also what a person will be like when he has been regenerated, namely one whose actions spring from good, but not from truth. That is, he is one who is led by the Lord through good and no longer through truth, for now he is governed by charity, that is, by an affection for doing that good. All who are in heaven are led in such a manner, for it is in keeping with Divine order. Thus everything they think or do flows so to speak spontaneously and freely. It would be altogether different if truth were to shape their thought and action, for then they would cogitate over whether or not they should do a certain thing, and so would hesitate over details, and in so doing would obscure the light they have. Eventually they would act in accord with what they themselves loved, thus in accord with influences that pander to their own loves, which is to be led by self, not by the Lord. From all this it is again evident what it is to be forbidden to acquire good through truth any longer, meant by the people gathering manna on six days, and finding none on the seventh day, dealt with in 8505, 8506, 8510.