1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

700. The one and only reason why these types of ideas about this most holy sacrament are entertained throughout the Christian world today is that they accord with the literal meaning of the Word. Meanwhile its spiritual meaning lies hidden away and has not been disclosed until now. Yet the spiritual meaning alone reveals the true function and benefit of the Holy Supper.

This meaning is being revealed now for the first time because Christianity did not exist before, except in name only (some people, though, did have at least a shadow of it). Until now people have not turned directly to or worshiped the Savior himself as the only God, the One in whom the divine Trinity exists. People have approached him only indirectly, which is not turning to him and worshiping him, but merely showing him respect on the grounds that he is why we have salvation. He is seen then not as the essential cause but merely as an intermediate cause that is below and outside the essential cause.

Now, however, Christianity itself is arising for the first time. The Lord is now establishing the new church that is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation. In it, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are acknowledged as one, because they are together in one person. Therefore the Lord is pleased to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word now, so that this new church will be able to come into the true benefit of the sacraments of baptism and the Holy Supper. This will happen as people come to see with the eyes of their spirit (meaning with understanding) the true holiness that lies hidden within the sacraments, and will embrace that holiness through the means that the Lord has taught in his Word.

228. It stands to reason, then, that people who read the Word without a body of teaching are in the dark about every truth. Their mind is meandering and undecided, liable to go astray, and even susceptible to heresies. Such people will in fact embrace heresies if those heresies have gained any popularity or authority and their own reputation is therefore not in danger. To them the Word is like a lampstand that gives no light. In the shadows they think they see many things, but in fact what they see is practically nothing, because a body of teaching is the only oil lamp.

I have seen angels examining people like this and discovering that they were capable of using the Word to support whatever they wanted. The angels also discovered that these people do in fact support whatever they want, especially things that feed their love for themselves and for others they are partial to. I saw them stripped of their clothing, an indication that they had no truths. In that world, clothes are truths.