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Genesis 1:15

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15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #476

Studere hoc loco

  
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476. That 'male and female' means the marriage of faith and love has been stated and shown already. That is to say, 'male' or man (vir) means the understanding and what belongs to the understanding, and so what belongs to faith, while 'female' means the will, or what belongs to the will, and so what belongs to love. This also is why she was called Eve, from a word meaning life, which belongs to love alone. 'Female' therefore also means the Church, as also shown already, and 'male' the man (vir) of the Church. At present the subject is the state of the Church at the time it was spiritual and shortly to become celestial, which is why the word 'male' comes first, as it does also in 1:26-27. Furthermore the expression 'to create' has regard to the spiritual man. As soon however as that marriage has taken place, that is, the Church has become celestial, it is no longer called 'male and female' but 'Man' (Homo) who by virtue of the marriage means both. Consequently 'and He called their name Man', which means the Church, follows next.

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

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #8370

Studere hoc loco

  
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8370. 'And they encamped there beside the waters' means that after temptation the truths of faith were arranged into order by the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'encamping' as an arrangement of truth and good into order, dealt with in 8103 (end), 8130, 8131, 8155; and from the meaning of 'the waters' as the truths of faith, dealt with in 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668. The reason why 'they encamped there beside the waters' means that the truths of faith were arranged into order by means of the good of love is that 'camp' means truths and forms of good, 8193, 8196, and 'encamping' an arrangement of them, while 'beside the waters' means in keeping with truths that come from God. The expression 'the good of love' is used because every arrangement of truths into order is effected through the good of love; for truths arrange themselves under good and accord with it, making with good one body so to speak in the image of the person in whom they exist. The expression 'in the image of the person in whom they exist' is used because the image of a person's spirit - which, being his internal man, is the person's true self - is fashioned altogether according to the ordering and arrangement of truths by good residing with him. This is why when angels come to be present the sphere of the good of love ripples out from them and impinges on the affections of those who are present; and the truths of faith shine from their faces. In the spiritual world these kinds of things are apparent and clearly perceived. The arranging into order is said to take place after temptation because although forms of good and truths are instilled into a person through temptations they are not arranged into order until the temptations have finished. For a state of temptation is one of turmoil, whereas the state after temptation is peaceful; and when there is peace the arranging into order takes place. Therefore temptations are also followed by a feeling of pleasure as a result of enlightenment from truth and by a feeling of delight as a result of an affection for good, dealt with just above in 8367.

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