23. PROPOSITION THE SECOND

The Adamic, or Most Ancient Church of this Earth

The world has hitherto believed that by "the creation of heaven and earth," in the first chapter of Genesis, is meant the creation of the universe, according to the letter; and by Adam, the first man of this globe. Seeing that the spiritual or internal sense of the Word has not been disclosed till now, the world could not believe otherwise; nor, consequently, that by "creating heaven and earth" is meant to collect and found an angelic heaven from those who have finished with life in the world, and by this means to derive and produce a Church on earth (as above, n. 18-20); and that by the names of persons, nations, territories and cities, are meant such things as are of heaven, and at the same time of the Church: in like manner, therefore, by "Adam." That by "Adam," and by all those things which are related of him and his posterity in the first chapters of Genesis, are described the successive states of the Most Ancient Church-which are: its rise, or morning, its progression into light, or day; its decline, or evening; its end, or night; and after this the Last Judgment upon those composing it, and thereafter a new angelic heaven from the faithful, and a new hell from the unfaithful, according to the series of the progressions laid down in the preceding Proposition-has been explained, unfolded and demonstrated in detail in the ARCANA CAELESTIA on Genesis and Exodus, the labour of eight years, published in London; which work being extant in the world, nothing further is necessary than to recapitulate therefrom the universals respecting this Most Ancient Church, which will be cited in the present volume. At the outset, however, some passages shall be adduced from the Word, by which it is proved that by "creating" is there signified to produce and form anew, and, properly, to regenerate; on which account it is that regeneration is called a "new creation," by which the universal heaven of angels and the universal Church of men, exist, consist and subsist. That "creating" signifies this, is plainly manifest from these passages in the Word:

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a steadfast spirit in the midst of me (Psalm 51:10).

Thou openest the hand, they are filled with good; Thou sendest forth the Spirit, they are created (Psalm 104:28, 30).

The people that shall be created shall praise Jah (Psalm 102:18).

Thus said Jehovah, thy creator, O Jacob; thy former, O Israel: Every one that is called by My Name, I have created for My glory (Isa. 43:1, 7).

That they may see, know, consider and understand, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it (Isa. 41:20).

In the day that thou wast created, they were prepared; thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, until perversity was found in thee (Ezek. 28:13, 15):

these things are concerning the king of Tyre.

Jehovah that createth the heavens, that spreadeth abroad the earth, that giveth breath unto the people upon it (Isa. 42:5; 45:12, 18).

Behold I create a new heaven and a new earth; be ye glad to eternity in that which I create: behold I will create Jerusalem a rejoicing (Isa. 65:17-18).

As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall stand before Me (Isa. 66:22).

I saw a new heaven and a new earth: the former heaven and the former earth are passed away (Rev. 21:1).

We, according to promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein shall dwell righteousness (2 Peter 3:13).

From these passages it is now manifest what is spiritually meant in the first chapter of Genesis, by the verses,

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth; and the earth was waste and empty (Gen. 1:1-2).

The earth's being said to be "waste and empty," signifies that there was no longer any good of life or truth of doctrine with its inhabitants. That "wasteness" and "emptiness" signify the lack of those two essentials of the Church, will be established in Proposition IV of this volume, respecting the Israelitish Church, by a thousand passages from the Word: at present let the following in Jeremiah serve for some illustration:

I saw the earth, when, behold, it was vacant and empty; and [I looked] towards the heavens, when their light was not. Thus said Jehovah, The whole earth shall be wasteness; for this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above shall be made black (Jer. 4:23, 27-28).

1096. And he cried out in strength with a great voice.- That this signifies manifestation before heaven and in the church from joy of heart, is evident from the signification of crying out, as denoting to make manifest, namely, that the Last Judgment was accomplished upon Babylon, for the words "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great" follow; and from the signification of in strength, as denoting in power before heaven and in the church, of which we shall speak in what follows; and from the signification of a great voice, as denoting joy of heart, for from that the voice becomes great. The cause of the joy of heart was, that after the Last Judgment upon those who are meant by the harlot or Babylon, the Divine Truth, which proceeds from the Lord, acquired light and power as stated in the article above. A great voice signifies joy of heart, because exclamation in a loud voice proceeds from some affection, and is more intense according to the affection or degree of love. The reason why in strength signifies in heaven and on earth, is, that strength signifies power, and the power then existed of manifesting those things before heaven and the world. Concerning this power see above (n. 1093).

[2] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- The first and primary thought that opens heaven to man, is thought concerning God; the reason of this is, that God is the All of heaven, so that whether we speak of heaven or of God it is the same thing. The Divine things (Divina) taken together, which cause the angels, of whom heaven consists, to be angels, are God. This is the reason why thought concerning God is the first and primary of all the thoughts that open heaven to man; for it is the head and sum of all truths and loves celestial and spiritual. But there is thought from light, and there is thought from love, thought from light alone is the knowledge that God exists, which appears like acknowledgement, but is not.

[3] By thought from light, man has presence in heaven, but not conjunction with heaven. For the light of thought alone, does not conjoin, but is the cause of the presence of man before the Lord and the angels; for that light is like the light of winter, in which a man sees as clearly as in the light of summer, nevertheless that light does not enter into conjunction either with the earth, or with any tree, shrub, flower, or grass. In every man is implanted, by means of the light of heaven, the faculty of thinking about God, and, also, of understanding those things that pertain to God, but thought alone from that light, which is intellectual thought, is merely the cause of his presence before the Lord and before the angels, as said above.

[4] When a man is merely in intellectual thought concerning God and concerning those things which pertain to God, he appears then to the angels, from a distance, like an image of ivory or marble, which is capable of walking and uttering sounds, but in whose face and utterance there is yet no life. He also appears to the angels, comparatively, like a tree in winter time whose branches are bare and without leaves, which, is nevertheless, expected to be covered with leaves, and afterwards with fruit, when the heat is conjoined with light, as is the case in time of spring. As thought concerning God primarily opens heaven, so thought against God primarily closes heaven.