1. THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

A statement of faith, set out in both universal and particular terms, is placed at the beginning to serve as a preface to the book which follows, to be like a doorway leading into a church, and a summary presenting in a short compass what follows at more length. It is called the faith of the new heaven and the new church, because heaven, where the angels are, and the church among men form a single unit, just as the internal and external sides of the personality make up a single individual. This is why a member of the church who possesses the good of love which arises from the truths of faith, and possesses the truths of faith which arise from the good of love, is, so far as the interiors of his mind are concerned, an angel of heaven. Therefore too after dying he comes into heaven, and there enjoys happiness depending upon how far the good and truth are linked. It should be known that in the new heaven, which is at the present time being established by the Lord, this statement of faith serves as its preface, doorway and summary.

183. (ix) FROM A TRINITY OF PERSONS, EACH OF WHICH INDIVIDUALLY IS GOD, AS ASSERTED BY THE ATHANASIAN CREED, MANY ABSURD IDEAS OF VARIOUS KINDS HAVE ARISEN ABOUT GOD, WHICH ARE MERE FANCIES AND ABORTIONS.

The doctrine of three Divine persons from eternity, which is in itself the chief of all the doctrines held by the Christian churches, has given rise to many unbecoming ideas about God, unworthy of the Christian world, which, however, can and ought to be a light to all peoples and races in all four quarters of the globe concerning God and His oneness. All who live outside the Christian church, Mohammedans as well as Jews, and the heathen besides of whatever religion, reject Christianity solely on account of its belief in three Gods. Missionaries are well aware of this; so they take the greatest care not to speak openly of the Trinity of persons as described in the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, since then their converts would run away and make fun of them.

[2] The absurd, ridiculous and frivolous ideas which have arisen from the doctrine of three divine persons from eternity, and which still arise in the mind of anyone who sticks to believing the wording of that doctrine, rising from the ears and eyes to the level of mental contemplation, are these. God the Father sits overhead on high, with the Son at His right hand and the Holy Spirit in front of them listening, and rushing off on the instant through the world to hand out the gifts of justification according to the decision taken, inscribing these gifts and making their recipients sons of grace instead of sons of wrath, and elect instead of damned. I challenge the learned among the clergy and educated laymen to say whether they have in their minds any other picture than this imaginary one. For this springs to mind of its own accord from the doctrine itself; see the experience described in 16 above.

[3] Another thing that springs to mind is a curiosity to guess what they talked to each other about before the creation of the world. Did they talk about creating the world, about who were predestined to be saved and justified, as the Supralapsarians believe, and also about redemption? Likewise, what do they talk to each other about since the creation of the world, the Father with His authority and power to impute, the Son with His power to mediate; that imputation, which is election, is dependent upon the mercy of the Son who intercedes for all, and individually for some; and these receive grace from the Father, who is moved by love for His Son and by seeing His suffering on the cross. Can anyone fail to see that such ideas of God are the ravings of a deranged mind? Yet in Christian churches those are the holy things to be kissed with the lips, not inspected by any mental vision, because they are above the level of reason; if anyone were to lift them above the memory level to that of the understanding, they would drive him mad. But still this does not banish the idea of three Gods, but induces a foolish faith, which makes people think about God like someone dreaming in his sleep, walking in pitch darkness at night, or like a person blind from birth walking in daylight.

229. (ii) DOCTRINE IS TO BE DRAWN FROM THE LITERAL SENSE OF THE WORD, AND PROVED BY MEANS OF IT.

This is because the Lord is present in that sense, and He teaches and enlightens us. For the Lord never performs any act except in fulness, and the Word is in its fulness in the literal sense, as was shown above. This is why doctrine is to be drawn from the literal sense. The doctrine of genuine truth can even fully be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, for the Word in that sense resembles a person wearing clothes, but whose face and hands are bare. Everything needed for a person's faith and life, and so everything needed for his salvation, is there uncovered, though the remainder is clothed. In many passages where it is clothed it still shows through, like a woman's features through a thin silk veil over her face. Moreover, since the truths of the Word increase in number as they are loved and this love gives them shape, so they show through and become visible more and more clearly.