The Bible

 

Máté 4

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1 Akkor Jézus viteték a Lélektõl a pusztába, hogy megkisértessék az ördögtõl.

2 És mikor negyven nap és negyven éjjel bõjtölt vala, végre megéhezék.

3 És hozzámenvén a kisértõ, monda néki: Ha Isten fia vagy, mondd, hogy e kövek változzanak kenyerekké.

4 Õ pedig felelvén, monda: Meg van írva: Nemcsak kenyérrel él az ember, hanem minden ígével, a mely Istennek szájából származik.

5 Ekkor vivé õt az ördög a szent városba, és odahelyezé a templom tetejére.

6 És monda néki: Ha Isten fia vagy, vesd alá magadat; mert meg van írva: Az õ angyalainak parancsol felõled, és kézen hordoznak téged, hogy meg ne üsd lábadat a kõbe.

7 Monda néki Jézus: Viszont meg van írva: Ne kisértsd az Urat, a te Istenedet.

8 Ismét vivé õt az ördög egy igen magas hegyre, és megmutatá néki a világ minden országát és azok dicsõségét,

9 És monda néki: Mindezeket néked adom, ha leborulva imádsz engem.

10 Ekkor monda néki Jézus: Eredj el Sátán, mert meg van írva: Az Urat, a te Istenedet imádd, és csak néki szolgálj.

11 Ekkor elhagyá õt az ördög. És ímé angyalok jövének hozzá és szolgálnak vala néki.

12 Mikor pedig meghallotta Jézus, hogy János börtönbe vettetett, visszatére Galileába;

13 És odahagyva Názáretet, elméne és lakozék a tengerparti Kapernaumban, a Zebulon és Naftali határain;

14 Hogy beteljesedjék, a mit Ésaiás próféta mondott, így szólván:

15 Zebulonnak földje és Naftalinak földje, a tenger felé, a Jordánon túl, a pogányok Galileája,

16 A nép, a mely sötétségben ül vala, láta nagy világosságot, és a kik a halálnak földében és árnyékában ülnek vala, azoknak világosság támada.

17 Ettõl fogva kezde Jézus prédikálni, és ezt mondani: Térjetek meg, mert elközelgetett a mennyeknek országa.

18 Mikor pedig a galileai tenger mellett jár vala Jézus, láta két testvért, Simont, a kit Péternek neveznek, és Andrást az õ testvérét, a mint a tengerbe hálót vetnek vala; mert halászok valának.

19 És monda nékik: Kövessetek engem, és azt mívelem, hogy embereket halásszatok.

20 Azok pedig azonnal otthagyván a hálókat, követék õt.

21 És onnan tovább menve, láta más két testvért, Jakabot a Zebedeus fiát, és Jánost amannak testvérét, a mint a hajóban atyjukkal Zebedeussal a hálóikat kötözgetik vala; és hívá õket.

22 Azok pedig azonnal otthagyván a hajót és atyjukat, követék õt.

23 És bejárá Jézus az egész Galileát, tanítva azok zsinagógáiban, és hirdetve az Isten országának evangyéliomát, és gyógyítva a nép között minden betegséget és minden erõtlenséget.

24 És elterjede az õ híre egész Siriában: és hozzávivék mindazokat, a kik rosszul valának, a különféle betegségekben és kínokban sínlõdõket, ördöngösöket, holdkórosokat és gutaütötteket; és meggyógyítja vala õket.

25 És nagy sokaság követé õt Galileából és a Tízvárosból és Jeruzsálembõl és Júdeából és a Jordánon túlról.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #819

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819. Verse 12. And all the authority of the first beast he exerciseth before him, signifies the connection of the reasonings from the natural man with the sense of the letter of the Word, by which the religion of faith separate is strengthened. This is evident from the signification of "the beast coming up out of the earth," which exercised all the authority of the first beast before the dragon, as being confirmations from the sense of the letter of the Word in favor of faith separated from life, and the consequent falsifications of truth (See above, n. 815), also from the signification of "the first beast," as being reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from the life (See above, n. 774); also from the signification of "the dragon," before which this beast exercised all the authority of the first beast, as being in general, faith separated from the life of faith, which is charity. From this it can be seen that this beast's "exercising all the authority of the first beast before the dragon" signifies the connection of reasonings from the natural man with the sense of the letter of the Word, by which the religion of faith separate is confirmed.

[2] The connection of reasonings from the natural man with the sense of the letter of the Word is meant, because nothing false can ever be confirmed by the sense of the letter of the Word except by means of reasonings from the natural man. For the Word in the letter consists of appearances of truth and also of correspondences, and both of these in their bosom, that is, in their spiritual sense, contain genuine truths; consequently when any falsity is confirmed by the appearances of truth that correspond to genuine truths the Word is falsified; and the falsification of the Word can be effected only by reasonings from the natural man. This is why "the dragon," which signifies the heretical dogma of faith alone, is further described by two beasts, by the first of which reasoning from the natural man in favor of faith separated from its life, which is charity, is described; and by the other, confirmation from the sense of the letter of the Word, and thus corroboration of it, also the falsification of truth, are described; from which it is again evident that this beast's "exercising all the authority of the first beast before the dragon" signifies the connection of reasonings from the natural man with the sense of the letter of the Word. But these things shall be illustrated by examples.

1.

[3] The dogmatists who contend for faith alone pay no attention to any of those passages of the Word where "works," "deeds," "working," and "doing," are mentioned; and yet these are so plain as to admit of no contrary reasoning; nevertheless by reasonings they wrest these passages from their genuine meaning and bend and turn them away from the genuine truth that is in the heavens, and that is contained in their spiritual sense. For they reason by saying that faith alone includes deeds and works, because those who are in faith are also in these, thus they are wrought by faith; when in fact, faith without deeds or works is a dead faith, by which nothing can be wrought. If this is said to them they argue that deeds are nevertheless present by a secret Divine operation, although they exclude them from being a means of salvation, thus that they may be present and not be present, as can be seen from justification by instantaneous faith, and also in the hour of death, even in the case of evil men.

2. It is a reasoning from the natural man that faith separate from goods of life is also spiritual, and yet the goods that are of love are what give life to faith, and make it spiritual. For love is the very soul of faith, and love is doing, for what a man loves he wills, and what he wills he does. And this the Lord teaches in John:

He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me; but he that loveth Me not keepeth not My words (John 14:21, 24).

Thence it is clear that faith without works is not spiritual; for it is without its soul, and faith without its soul is a dead faith.

3. It is also a reasoning from the natural man that faith was made the means of salvation because man cannot do good of himself.

4. It is also a reasoning from the natural man that those who are merely in faith are in God and in a state of grace, even so that nothing can condemn them. From this it is believed by many that it is not necessary to live a Christian life, which is according to the Lord's commandments; for they say to themselves, Why should I give any thought to works, when good works do not save and evil works do not condemn? I have faith that the Lord suffered the cross for the sins of the world, and delivered us from the condemnation of the law; what more is necessary? 5. It is a reasoning from the natural man that faith alone is like a seed from which all kinds of salvation spring forth like shrubs and trees from seed in gardens; and yet in faith alone there is no seed of life except what is from the spiritual life of man.

6. Moreover, all those things that are taught by the learned dogmatists of this religious principle respecting the progression to justification through faith alone are reasonings from the natural man; as, that the trust of that faith must be acquired from the Word, from preaching, and from the authority of teachers, without intellectual sight; and if the understanding enters into it faith does not become spiritual. And yet when the intellectual sight is excluded man is blind, and before a blind man falsities can be confirmed as well as truths, and even better than truths, because with one who is blind fallacies which are darkness avail more than truths themselves which are in light. Shut up the understanding, bring forth reasonings, and cite confirmations from the sense of the letter of the Word, and you will persuade yourself of anything you wish, especially in theological matters that ascend into the interior of the rational mind.

[4] These are called reasonings from the natural man, because the natural man is in the delights of the love of self and of the world; and these delights, when they prevail, cause man to believe only such things as agree with them, which in themselves are falsities. They also induce darkness in everything spiritual, even to the extent that man shuns heavenly light, and thus rejects all enlightenment of the understanding. The reason is that the natural man, separated from the spiritual, regards only self and the world, and not the Lord and heaven; and thus he is conjoined to hell, which is the source of all falsities; and these can never be dissipated except by the prevalence of heavenly love and by genuine truths which are from that love. This, then, is why these are called reasonings from the natural man, and why reasonings from the natural man are what falsify the Word; for the Word cannot be falsified except by reasonings from the natural man.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Luke 9

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1 He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.

2 He sent them forth to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

3 He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey--neither staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats apiece.

4 Into whatever house you enter, stay there, and depart from there.

5 As many as don't receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them."

6 They departed, and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News, and healing everywhere.

7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,

8 and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.

9 Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who is this, about whom I hear such things?" He sought to see him.

10 The apostles, when they had returned, told him what things they had done. He took them, and withdrew apart to a deserted place of a city called Bethsaida.

11 But the multitudes, perceiving it, followed him. He welcomed them, and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and he cured those who needed healing.

12 The day began to wear away; and the twelve came, and said to him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and farms, and lodge, and get food, for we are here in a deserted place."

13 But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we should go and buy food for all these people."

14 For they were about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each."

15 They did so, and made them all sit down.

16 He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to the sky, he blessed them, and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.

17 They ate, and were all filled. They gathered up twelve baskets of broken pieces that were left over.

18 It happened, as he was praying alone, that the disciples were with him, and he asked them, "Who do the multitudes say that I am?"

19 They answered, "'John the Baptizer,' but others say, 'Elijah,' and others, that one of the old prophets is risen again."

20 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."

21 But he warned them, and commanded them to tell this to no one,

22 saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up."

23 He said to all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.

25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?

26 For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.

27 But I tell you the truth: There are some of those who stand here, who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Kingdom of God."

28 It happened about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray.

29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling.

30 Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah,

31 who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.

33 It happened, as they were parting from him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let's make three tents: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah," not knowing what he said.

34 While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud.

35 A voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!"

36 When the voice came, Jesus was found alone. They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

37 It happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met him.

38 Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.

39 Behold, a spirit takes him, he suddenly cries out, and it convulses him so that he foams, and it hardly departs from him, bruising him severely.

40 I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn't."

41 Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."

42 While he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him violently. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.

43 They were all astonished at the majesty of God. But while all were marveling at all the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples,

44 "Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man will be delivered up into the hands of men."

45 But they didn't understand this saying. It was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

46 There arose an argument among them about which of them was the greatest.

47 Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their hearts, took a little child, and set him by his side,

48 and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great."

49 John answered, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he doesn't follow with us."

50 Jesus said to him, "Don't forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us."

51 It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem,

52 and sent messengers before his face. They went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for him.

53 They didn't receive him, because he was traveling with his face set towards Jerusalem.

54 When his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from the sky, and destroy them, just as Elijah did?"

55 But he turned and rebuked them, "You don't know of what kind of spirit you are.

56 For the Son of Man didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." They went to another village.

57 As they went on the way, a certain man said to him, "I want to follow you wherever you go, Lord."

58 Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

59 He said to another, "Follow me!" But he said, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."

60 But Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce the Kingdom of God."

61 Another also said, "I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say good-bye to those who are at my house."

62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God."