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.

343. [335.] 1) What faith is.

2) That there is a conjunction of faith with good works, there being as much faith as there is life.

3) That life is the soul of faith.

4) That faith by itself is not faith, being lifeless.

5) That it is the dragon, ¹ that it is the he-goat, ² that it is Philistia, that it is Cain, that it is Reuben.

6) What faith is, that it is truth.

7) How sterile it is at the present time and not constituting religion.

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