1799. Indeed the "child" of my household is my heir means that only the outer dimension would exist in the Lord's kingdom, as can be seen from the inner-level symbolism of an heir and of inheriting. Becoming an heir, or inheriting, symbolizes eternal life in the Lord's kingdom. All people in the Lord's kingdom are his heirs, because their life comes from the Lord's life, which is a life of mutual love. That is why they are called his children. The Lord's children, or heirs, are all those who share in his life (because their life is from him) and have been born from him (that is, regenerated). Those who are born to a person are that person's heirs, so all who are reborn from the Lord are his heirs, since they then receive the Lord's life.

[2] The Lord's kingdom has people of little depth, moderate depth, and great depth in it. Good spirits, who inhabit the first heaven, have little depth. Angelic spirits, who inhabit the second heaven, have moderate depth. Angels, who inhabit the third heaven, have great depth. Those with little depth are not as close to the Lord as those with moderate depth, who in their turn are not as close as those with great depth. In his divine love and mercy, the Lord wants to have everyone near him. He does not want us to stay outside in the first heaven but to enter the third. If it were possible, he would like to have us not just beside him but in him. That is the nature of divine love — the Lord's love.

Because religion at that time was purely superficial, he complained here, saying, "Indeed the ‘child' of my household is my heir," meaning that as a result, only the outer dimension would exist in his kingdom. But a message of comfort follows in the next verses, as does the promise of deeper dimensions [§§1800-1810].

[3] The outer dimension of religion has already been defined (§§1083, 1098, 1100, 1151, 1153). Doctrine in itself does not make the outer shell; still less does it make the inner core, as noted above. The Lord does not differentiate religious movements by their doctrine, either, but by the way their members live what is taught. All doctrine — if it is true doctrine — looks to a life of love as its fundamental principle. What is the point of doctrine but to teach us how to be human?

[4] In the Christian world, it is doctrine that differentiates churches. Doctrine is the basis on which people call themselves Roman Catholic, Lutheran (or Evangelical), Calvinist (or Reformed), and other names as well. ¹ These names grow out of doctrine alone, which would never happen if we considered love for the Lord and charity for our neighbor the chief concern of faith. If we did, those distinctions would simply be differences of opinion on the mysteries of faith. True Christians would leave such issues up to the individual and the individual's conscience. In their hearts they would say, "A person who lives as a Christian — who lives as the Lord teaches — is a real Christian." One church would come out of all the different churches, and all disagreement due to doctrine alone would vanish. Even the hatred of one denomination for another would melt away in a moment, and the Lord's kingdom would come on earth.

[5] Right after the Flood the ancient church was like this, even though it was scattered through many countries. These countries differed greatly when it came to doctrine, but they still made neighborly love the main focus, and they regarded worship not from the viewpoint of doctrine (a matter of belief) but of charity (a matter of life). That is what is meant by the statement in Genesis 11:1 that they all had one language and the same words (concerning which, see §1285).

Footnotes:

1098. Anyone who wants to know what Shem and Japheth are — that is, who the people of the inner and outer church are — and by extension what Canaan is, can see from the following.

People in the inner church attribute every good deed they do and every true thought they think to the Lord, but people in the outer church do not know they should do this, although they still do good deeds.

People in the inner church assign crucial importance to charity-based worship of the Lord and in fact to inner worship; outward worship they consider less important. People in the outer church assign crucial importance to outward worship, not knowing what inner worship is, although they do engage in it. So people of the inner church believe they are violating conscience if they do not worship the Lord from within, while people of the outer church believe they are violating conscience if they do not reverently observe the external rituals.

The conscience of a person in the inner church is well supplied, because such a person knows much about the Word's inner meaning. The conscience of a person in the outer church, on the other hand, is less well supplied, since such a person knows little about the Word's inner meaning.

The former (a person in the inner church) is the one called Shem, while the latter (a person in the outer church) is the one called Japheth. But an individual who considers worship exclusively a matter of outward acts, who possesses no charity and therefore no conscience, is called Canaan.