1. THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM REGARDING FAITH

Faith is an Internal Acknowledgment of Truth

Faith today is taken to mean no more than the thought that a thing is so because it is something the church teaches, and because it is not evident to the intellect. For we are told, "Believe and do not doubt." If we reply, "I do not understand," we are told that that is why it should be believed.

Faith today is therefore a faith in the unknown and may be termed a blind faith. Moreover, because it is one person’s assertion received by another, it is an inherited faith. We will see in what follows that that is not a spiritual faith.

“Faith” technically means “belief,” but it has taken on a thick layer of emotional import in the modern world, at least in terms of religion. Many people could happily entertain intellectual questions about what we believe to be true, but if those questions touch on our “faith” then they suddenly become an “attack.” We also use “faith” to describe the connection we can feel with God during emotionally charged worship services. This idea also filters through to secular uses: when we express “faith” that our favorite football team can win a game, that’s more of an emotional statement than an intellectual one.

One reason for that emotional content may be that Christian churches adopted the word “faith” to mean “accepting something as true even though it can’t be seen or understood.” For instance, the idea that God is one, divided into three persons without being divided. This defies reason, but Christians have long been called on to accept it as a “mystery of faith.” The idea that God the Father is completely loving, but that He requires the blood sacrifice and pleading of Jesus to let anyone into heaven is equally confounding, but is also an article of faith. Since it’s basically impossible to see the truth in these ideas from our minds, we have to simply believe them in our hearts, which makes them into emotional issues.

Swedenborg, however, uses “faith” in a more traditional sense, defining it as “an internal acknowledgement of truth.” That has some connection to the Christian concept of faith - it is truth seen and acknowledged, not necessarily truth that has been reasoned out and proven logically. But it’s not truth that defies logic; instead it is truth that is plain on its face.

Swedenborg is also clear that faith must include charity, or the desire and actual act of doing good to others, and that both act together to be complete. For us too, it is helpful to link faith with faithfulness, to God and to what we do. Swedenborg is consistently opposed to faith-alone: faith that lacks charity and good works.

For reference, and further reading, here are some key sections from Swedenborg's capstone theological work: True Christian Religion 337, 339, 344, 348, 355, 373, 393.

(Referencias: Teachings about Faith 27, The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith 1, 4, 11, 13, 18, 24, 25)

337. I. Saving faith is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ.

Saving faith is in God as Saviour, because He is God and man, and He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, so that they are one. Those therefore who approach Him, at the same time approach the Father, that is, the one and only God, and saving faith is in no other. We are to believe or have faith in the Son of God, the Redeemer and Saviour, who was conceived of Jehovah and born of the Virgin Mary, and was named Jesus Christ. This is evident from His own often-repeated commands, and later from those of the Apostles. The following passages show clearly that He commanded faith in Himself:

Jesus said, This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have everlasting life, and I should raise him up on the last day,John 6:40.

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him, John 3:36.

So that everyone who believes in the Son may not perish, but have everlasting life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life, John 3:15-16.

Jesus said, I am the resurrection and life. He who believes in Me shall not ever die, John 11:25-26.

In truth I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life, John 6:47-48.

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty, John 6:35.

Jesus cried out saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. If anyone believes in me, as the Scripture says, streams of living water will flow from his belly, John 7:37-38.

They said to Jesus, What shall we do to perform God's work? Jesus answered, This is God's work, to believe in Him whom the Father has sent, John 6:28-29.

So long as you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may be sons of light, John 12:36.

He who believes in the Son of God is not judged; but he who does not believe has already been judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God, John 3:18.

These things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and so that by believing you may have life in His name, John 20:31.

If you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins, John 8:24.

Jesus said, When the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will try the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, for not believing in Me, John 16:8-9.