According to Swedenborg, a person's name in the Bible represents his or her entire spiritual nature, their whole state of love (good or evil) and thought (from heavenly wisdom to infernal insanity). This is why the name of the Lord is so important; it represents and embodies His perfect love and perfect wisdom, which is everything that we should worship and follow. It's easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and included in the Ten Commandments the order that believers "shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." In the New Testament, Zacharias was told to name John the Baptist "John," and both Joseph (Matthew 1:21) and Mary (Luke 1:31) were told to name Jesus "Jesus." Jesus himself renamed Simon as Peter, and included the phrase "hallowed be thy name" in the Lord's prayer.

(Odkazy: Luke 1)

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Traditional Christianity asserts that we're all born doomed because of what Adam and Eve did thousands of years ago. While we don't believe that to be true, there is some truth in it. This week we'll take a look at Swedenborg's concept of "hereditary evil" and note just how hard it is to change what we've been born into.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 4818, Genesis 38; True Christian Religion 521)