45. CHAPTER VIII ¹ . THE CONFIRMING OF A TRINITY OF PERSONS, EACH OF WHOM IS A GOD FROM ETERNITY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NICENE AND ATHANASIAN CREEDS, HAS FALSIFIED THE WHOLE WORD

1. Every heretic is able to confirm his heresy, and does confirm it, by the Word, this having been written by means of appearances and correspondences. On this account the Word is said by some to be "the book of all the heresies".

2. A man, after confirming his dogmas, sees no otherwise than that they are true, even when they are false.

3. It is possible to confirm a plurality of Gods by many things from the Word; also to confirm a faith that is imputative of Christ's merit, in which faith three Gods have each their separate part; and, further, that works of charity contribute nothing towards faith, and so nothing towards salvation.

4. A plurality of Gods can be confirmed from the following:

Trinity is mentioned by the Lord.

Trinity made its appearance when the Lord was baptized.

There are "three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit". [1 John 5:7.]

Jehovah God said, "Let us make man in our image and likeness". [Gen. 1:26.]

Before Abraham three angels, who are called Jehovah, made their appearance. [Gen. 17:2-3.]

In the New Word, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are mentioned many times by the Lord in the Gospels, and by the Apostles in the Epistles, and this without its being said that they are One.

Then, too, it can be confirmed that there is a faith by which there is imputation of Christ's merit, and that this faith is the only saving faith; also that the works of charity do not conduce to salvation. Let it be added that any reasoning mind can augment the above with contributions of its own, and strengthen them.

5. Not a single one of these can be seen to be false and so be dispelled, unless reason, enlightened by the Lord through the Word, confirm that God is One and that there is a conjunction of charity and faith.

6. When this is done, it is obvious that the theology based upon a Trinity of Persons, each one of whom is God, and upon a faith made applicable to each of them separately, and upon the worthlessness of charity for salvation, has falsified the whole Word; for the reason, chiefly, that these three, God, charity, and faith, are the universals of religion to which every single thing in the Word, and every single thing of heaven and the Church therefrom, has reference.

7. The result, with him who has confirmed this enormity, is that, wherever he reads of the Father, or of the Son, or of the Holy Spirit, indeed wherever he reads of Jehovah and God, he thinks of three Gods because he is thinking of one out of the three; further, wherever he reads of faith, he thinks of no other faith than of one by which there is imputation of Christ's merit; and wherever he reads of charity, he thinks of it as not contributing anything towards salvation, or else he thinks of that faith in its stead. Confirmation once impressed carries this with it.

Footnotes:

3538. 'Which were with her in the house' means which come from Divine Good by way of the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational. This is clear from the representation of Rebekah, to whom the pronoun 'her' refers here, as the Divine Truth of the Divine Rational, dealt with already, and from the meaning of 'the house' as Divine Good in this instance because it has reference to the Lord. As regards 'house' meaning good, see 710, 2233, 2234, 2559, 3128. The reason why these considerations are meant by the words 'which were with her in the house' is that 'the house' means the rational both as regards good and as regards truth, or what amounts to the same, as regards both the will part of the mind, the dwelling-place of good, and the understanding part, the dwelling-place of truth. When the rational functions from the will or from good, by way of the understanding or of truth, the rational mind in that case is called 'one house'. This also is why heaven itself is called 'the house of God', for heaven consists of nothing else than good and truth, with good functioning through truth united or joined to itself. This is also represented in marriages in which husband and wife constitute one house, the reason being that conjugial love originates in the Divine marriage of good and truth, 2728, 2729, 3132, and forms the will of the two of them by virtue of good. There is a difference however, which is like the relationship of good to its own truth. Consequently 'husband' also means good and 'wife' truth. For when the house is one, good is in that case the all in it, and truth, being wedded to good, is good as well. The reason why the phrase 'with her in the house' is used, and not with him or with them, is that the subject is the state of conjunction of truth and good, that is, the state prior to their being fully united or joined together. This state is dealt with next.