THE LORD

by Emanuel Swedenborg

Translated from the Latin by George F. Dole

The Portable New Century Edition

Swedenborg Foundation, West Chester, Pennsylvania

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Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord

Preface:

Some years ago, I published five small works:

1. Heaven and Hell

2. The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Teachings

3. Last Judgment

4. White Horse

5. Planets and Worlds in the Universe

Many things were presented in these works that had previously been unknown. Now the following works are to be offered to the public at the command of the Lord, who has been revealed to me.

- Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord

- Teachings for the New Jerusalem on Sacred Scripture

- Teachings about Life for the New Jerusalem: Drawn from the Ten Commandments

- Teachings for the New Jerusalem on Faith

- Supplements on the Last Judgment [and the Spiritual World]

- Angelic Wisdom about Divine Providence

- Angelic Wisdom about Divine Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Infinity, and Eternity

- Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love and Wisdom

- Angelic Wisdom about Life

“Teachings for the New Jerusalem” means teachings for the new church now to be established by the Lord. The fact is that the old church has come to its end, as can be seen from what is said in of the booklet Last Judgment and from more that will be said in the forthcoming booklets just listed.

The twenty-first chapter of Revelation tells us that after the judgment the New Jerusalem will come. As you will see under the last heading below, this New Jerusalem means a new church.

4976. 'And ministered to him' means that factual knowledge was assigned to its own good. This is clear from the meaning of 'ministering' as serving by supplying what another has need of, in this case as being assigned to since the subject is natural good to which factual knowledge is to be assigned. 'Ministering' is also used to describe known facts, for in the Word a minister and a servant mean factual knowledge or natural truth because this is subservient to good as its lord. Factual knowledge stands in relation to delight present in the natural man - or what amounts to the same, natural truth stands in relation to its good - in exactly the same way as water does to bread, or drink to food. Water or drink enables bread or food to be dissolved, and once dissolved to be conveyed into the blood, from which it passes into all parts around the body and nourishes them. Without the water or drink the bread or food is not broken down into extremely small particles and carried around the body to fulfill its purpose.

[2] The same applies to factual knowledge in relation to delight, or truth in relation to good. That being so, good longs for and desires truth, and does so because of the purpose such truth can fulfill by ministering to it and serving it. Food and drink also correspond to these. No one in the next life is nourished by any natural food or natural drink, only by spiritual food and spiritual drink, spiritual food being good, and spiritual drink truth. This is why, when bread or food is mentioned in the Word, angels understand spiritual bread or food, which is the good of love and charity; and when water or drink is mentioned they understand spiritual water or drink, which is the truth of faith. From this one may see what the truth of faith without the good of charity is, and also what kind of nourishment the former without the latter is able to supply to the internal man; that is to say, it is like the nourishment supplied by water or drink alone without bread or food. It is well known that a person fed on water or drink alone wastes away and dies.