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).

4899. 'Behold, I sent this kid' means it is enough that a pledge exists. This is clear from the meaning of 'a kid of the she-goats' as a pledge of conjugial love or of one assuring a joining together, dealt with in 4871, in this case simply a pledge since the kid was not accepted for the reason given already, that nothing of marriage existed. And because it was not for that reason accepted, 'you did not find her' therefore means even if nothing of marriage exists. This also ensues from the lack of interest referred to in 4897. Any further explanation of these matters is abandoned here for the reason given above in 4893, namely that it would enter the unlit parts of the understanding, and any ideas entering those unlit parts enter where no belief is present. For example the idea that something of marriage must be present if the Church is to exist; that is to say, the idea that some marriage must exist between truth and good. Also, the idea that what is internal must be present within what is external, and that without this and the previous requirement no Church at all exists. It is the exact nature of these realities within the Jewish Church that forms the subject here in the internal sense. That is to say, this sense deals with how, so far as that nation itself was concerned, nothing internal within what was external existed, but so far as their actual statutes and laws were concerned, something internal existed within these.

[2] Does anyone at the present day believe anything other than this, that the Church existed among the Jewish nation, indeed that this nation was chosen and loved in preference to all others, the chief reasons for such belief being that so many and such great miracles were performed among that nation, so many prophets were sent to it, and also the Word existed among it? Yet that nation possessed nothing at all of the Church within it, for no charity existed there; of what genuine charity was they were completely unaware. Nor did any faith in the Lord exist there. It knew that He was to make His coming, but believed that this was to set it above all people throughout the world. As this did not happen it rejected Him altogether. Of His heavenly kingdom it had no wish to know anything at all. The things which constitute the internal features of the Church were not even acknowledged in what that nation taught, let alone in its life. From all this one can only conclude that no Church at all existed within that nation.

[3] It is one thing for the Church to exist among a nation, and another for the Church to exist within a nation. For example, the Christian Church exists among those who have the Word and use doctrine to preach about the Lord. Yet no Church at all exists within them if no marriage of good and truth is present in them, that is, if charity towards the neighbour and faith rooted in this is not present in them, thus if the internal features of the Church are not present within the external ones. Those with whom solely external features separated from internal are present do not have the Church within them. Nor do those with whom faith separated from charity is present have the Church within them. Neither do those who acknowledge the Lord in their teachings but not in life have the Church within them. From this example it is evident that it is one thing for the Church to exist among a nation, and another for it to do so within a nation.

[4] The subject in the internal sense of this chapter is the Church among the Jewish nation and within that nation. The essential nature of the Church existing among that nation is described by Tamar's being joined to Judah under the pretext that the duty of a near kinsman was being performed, while the essential nature of the Church existing within that nation is described by Judah's being joined to Tamar as a prostitute. But a more detailed explanation of these matters is abandoned here for the reason given above, that it would enter, as stated, the unlit parts of the understanding. The accommodation of these matters in the unlit parts of the understanding is evident from the fact that at the present day scarcely anyone knows what the internal aspect of the Church is. This internal aspect is essentially charity towards the neighbour present within the intentions of a person's will, and from these in his actions, and from these again in faith within his perception; yet who knows this? When this is unknown, more so when it is denied, as is done by people who make faith without the works of charity the bringer of salvation, how unlit must those parts of the mind be, into which the ideas pass that are stated here in the internal sense about the joining of the internal aspect to the external aspect of the Church among the Jewish nation and within that nation? Those who have no knowledge of the existence of that internal and so essential aspect of the Church stand far removed from the first step towards understanding such ideas, and as a consequence from the countless, indescribable things existing in heaven, where realities connected with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour constitute every trace of life, and consequently every trace of wisdom and intelligence.