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Genesis 1

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1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God's Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

3 God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.

5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." There was evening and there was morning, one day.

6 God said, "Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters."

7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

8 God called the expanse "sky." There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

9 God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;" and it was so.

10 God called the dry land "earth," and the gathering together of the waters he called "seas." God saw that it was good.

11 God said, "Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;" and it was so.

12 The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

14 God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;

15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;" and it was so.

16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.

17 God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,

18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20 God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky."

21 God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.

22 God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."

23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24 God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;" and it was so.

25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

26 God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

27 God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them. God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

29 God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.

30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;" and it was so.

31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Coronis (An Appendix to True Christian Religion) # 28

  
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28. In the work itself, named THE TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, it has been shown that by the two trees, the one of "life" and the other of the "knowledge of good and evil," being placed in the garden of Eden, is signified that free-determination in spiritual things was given to man (n. 466-469); to which must be added that without such free-determination man would not be a man, but only a figure and semblance; for his thought would be without reflection, consequently without judgment, and thus in Divine things, which are the things of the Church, he would have no more power of turning himself, than a door without a hinge, or, with a hinge, bolted with a steel bar; and his will would be without decision, consequently no more active with respect to justice or injustice than a tombstone, beneath which lies a dead body. That man's life after death, and the immortality of his soul, is owing to the gift of this free-determination, and that this is the "likeness of God," has been proved in the work itself-as also above.

[2] Yea, man, that is, his mind, without this would be like a sponge which imbibes water in great abundance but is not able to discharge it, in consequence of which both would decompose,-the water into foulness, and the sponge into slime. Consequently, the Church with such a person would not be a Church, and thus a temple wherein the worship of God is performed; it would be like the den of some wild beast under the root of a lofty tree which sways to and fro overhead; except, only, that it would be able to take something therefrom, and apply itself to some other use than lying in tranquillity under it. Moreover, without free-determination in spiritual things, man would be blinder in all and each of the things of the Church, than a bird of night in the light of day, but more sharp-sighted than such a bird in the darkness of night; for with his eyelids he would close his eyes, and dim their sight to the truths of faith, but would raise his eyelids, open his eyes, and expand their sight like an eagle, to the falsities of faith. Free-determination in spiritual things arises from man walking, and living his life in the midst between heaven and hell; from heaven operating into him from above, and hell from beneath; and from the option given to man of turning himself either to higher or to lower things, thus either to the Lord or to the Devil.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.