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Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings

This list of Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings was originally compiled by W. C. Henderson in 1960 but has since been updated.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #486

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486. Predestination is the offspring of the faith of the church at the present time, because it is the product of a belief in man's utter impotence and lack of choice in spiritual matters. It results from that belief and also from man's, so to speak, lifeless conversion, that he is like a block of wood, and that he has therefore no way of telling whether the block is brought to life by grace or not. For it is said that one is chosen purely as an act of God's grace without any activity on one's part, whether derived from one's natural powers or one's reason. Being chosen takes place where and when God wills, that is, at His good pleasure. The deeds which follow faith as its evidences are to the eyes of one who reflects like the deeds of the flesh; and the spirit which brings them about does not display their origin, but makes them the subject of grace or good pleasure, just as faith is.

[2] These considerations make it plain that the dogma of the present-day church concerning predestination has emerged from this source, like a shoot from a seed. I can assert that it stemmed from that belief as an almost inevitable consequence; an event which first happened with the Predestinarians, starting with Gottschalk 1 , then with Calvin and his followers, and was finally established firmly by the Synod of Dort 2 . Afterwards it was imported by the Supralapsarians and Infralapsarians into their church as an ensign of religion, or rather like the head of the Gorgon or Medusa engraved on the shield of Pallas.

[3] But what more hurtful idea could be thought up, or what more cruel belief could anyone hold about God, than that some of the human race are predestined to damnation? It would be cruel to believe that the Lord, who is love itself and mercy itself, could wish a large number of people to be born destined for hell, or that hundreds of millions are born lost souls, that is, born devils and satans; and that the Lord did not of His Divine wisdom, which is infinite, and does not take care that those who live a good life and acknowledge God are not cast into the fire and everlasting torment. In fact, the Lord is the creator and saviour of all; He alone guides all and wishes no one's death. Could therefore anything more horrifying be believed or thought than that a group of nations and peoples under His control and gaze should be predestined to be handed over as prey to the devil, to fill his maw? Yet this is the offspring of the faith of the present-day church. The faith of the new church recoils from this as a monstrosity.

Footnotes:

1. A German theologian of the 9th century.

2. A conference held at Dordrecht in 1618-19 which condemned the belief of the Arminians, and upheld Calvin's doctrine of predestination.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #796

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796. Luther, Melanchthon and Calvin in the spiritual world.

I have held many conversations with these three leaders, who were the reformers of the Christian church, and thus I learned what has been the condition in which they lived from the beginning down to the present day. As for Luther, as soon as he arrived in the spiritual world, he was at once a keen propagator and defender of his dogmas, and as the numbers of his supporters coming from the earth increased, so did his zeal for those dogmas. He was given a house there similar to the one he had lived in while in the bodily life at Eisleben. In the middle of this he set up a slightly raised platform, where he took his seat. The door was open to admit listeners, whom he arranged in rows, the strongest supporters nearest to him, and those less favourable behind him. Then he spoke continuously, from time to time allowing questions, in order to be able to begin again by picking up the thread of the discourse he had just finished.

[2] As a result of this general support he finally adopted a false conviction; this is so potent in the spiritual world that no one can resist it or speak against what it prescribes. But because this was a kind of incantation as used by the ancients, he was forbidden to go on talking seriously on the basis of that conviction, and after that he taught as before from memory and at the same time the use of his understanding. A conviction of this sort which is a kind of incantation wells up from self-love. This ends up by making a person so disposed that, when anyone contradicts him, he not only attacks the subject under debate, but the other person himself.

[3] He lived like this up to the Last judgment, which took place in the spiritual world in 1757. A year later he was moved from his first house to another, at the same time moving into a different state. On hearing that I, although in the natural world, spoke with those who were in the spiritual world, he was one of a number who came to see me. After some questions had been put and answered, he perceived that the present time is the end of the former church and the beginning of the new church foretold by Daniel's prophecy, and also by the Lord Himself in the Gospels. He also grasped that it is this new church which is meant by the New Jerusalem in Revelation, and by the everlasting gospel which the angel flying in the midst of heaven announced to dwellers upon earth (Revelation 14:6). He became very indignant and abused me; but as he grasped that there was a new heaven, which was and is being made from those who acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth, as His words in Matthew 28:18 state, and noticing that the size of his audience grew less day by day, he stopped being abusive, and then came closer to me and began to talk with me in a more intimate fashion. Once he had been convinced that he had drawn his principal dogma about justification by faith alone not from the Word, but from his own intelligence, he allowed himself to be instructed about the Lord, charity, true faith, free will and so on to redemption, all of this from no source but the Word. Finally when he had been convinced, he began to take a favourable view, and more and more to convince himself of the truths on which the new church is being founded.

[4] At this time he was with me daily, and then, whenever he recalled as being those truths, he began to laugh at his previous dogmas, as being something completely opposite to what the Word says. I heard him say: 'You should not be surprised that I seized upon faith alone as justifying, shut off charity from its spiritual essence and also took away from people all free will in spiritual matters, not to mention other things which hang like hooks from a chain on faith alone, once it is accepted. My aim was to make a split with the Roman Catholics, and there was no other way to achieve and accomplish this aim. I am not surprised therefore that I myself went astray, but I am surprised that one madman could drive so many others mad.' He glanced round here at some dogmatic writers who had been famous in his time, faithfully following his teaching, for failing to see the contradictions contained in Holy Scripture, evident though they were.

[5] The examining angels told me that this leader was in a better position to be converted than many others who had convinced themselves of justification by faith alone, because in childhood, before he started making the reformation, he had absorbed the dogma of the preeminence of charity. This was why both in his writings and his sermons he gave excellent teaching about charity. It is to be deduced from these facts that his belief in justification was implanted in his external natural man, not rooted in his internal spiritual man. The case is quite different with those who while young convince themselves that there is no spirituality in charity; and this also happens automatically, when justification by faith alone is well grounded upon arguments.

[6] I talked with the prince of Saxony with whom Luther had been in the world. He told me how he had often criticised him, in particular for separating charity from faith, and declaring faith and not charity as the means to salvation, when Holy Scripture not only links them as the two universal means to salvation, but Paul too puts charity above faith, saying that there are three things, faith, hope and charity, and the greatest of these is charity (1 Corinthians 13:13). Luther, however, replied every time that he could do no other because of the Roman Catholics. This prince is among the blessed.

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

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