The Bible

 

Luke 1:26-38 : The Annunciation to Mary

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26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Charity #102

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102. 3. A man ought to be a charity in form, not from himself but from the Lord; thus he is a receptacle of charity.

The life of a man who is to be regenerated is the affection of truth from good, or charity; and that life does not exist except from Life, thus from the Lord who is Life in Himself, as He Himself teaches: that He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life"; 1 and elsewhere, that "As the Father hath Life in Himself, so hath He given unto the Son to have Life in Himself"; 2 and elsewhere. But, because Life is God, the Divine cannot be appropriated to man, who is finite and created, but it can inflow into, and be adjoined to, a receptacle; just as the eye is not light in itself, but can receive light, and as the ear is not hearing in itself, but is the receptacle for it. So with the rest of the senses. So, also, with the mind and its interior senses.

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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.