From Swedenborg's Works

 

Secrets of Heaven #863

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

863. Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made symbolizes the second state, when religious truth appeared to them. This can be seen from the final words of the last verse (saying that the heads of the mountains appeared) and their meaning; from the symbolism of a window; and from the fact that this is the first moment of light. A window, dealt with above at §655, symbolizes the intellectual side of things and consequently religious truth, which is the same thing.

As for the intellectual realm or the religious truth that the window symbolizes, I must make the same remark as before [§§854, 859]: No religious truth is at all possible unless it develops out of the goodness that goes with love or with charity, just as nothing truly belongs to the intellect unless it rises out of something in the will. If you take away volition, there is no comprehension, as demonstrated several times already [§§112, 585, 590, 628]. So if you take away charity, there is no faith.

But since the human will is undiluted greed, the Lord made a miraculous provision to prevent us from plunging the contents of the intellect — religious truth — into our selfish desires. He divided what belongs to the intellect from our will by the specific means of conscience, which he infuses with charity. Without this miraculous act of providence, no one could ever have been saved.

  
/ 10837  
  

Many thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation and its New Century Edition team.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Secrets of Heaven #855

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

855. These explanations show what the elements of the current verse mean on an inner plane: the spiritual person embodies a holy restfulness that results from the new glimmer of understanding radiated by charity. The angels perceive these details in all their amazing variety, arranged in a delightful pattern. If we could possess ourselves of just one idea like theirs, thousands and thousands of other insights along manifold lines would enter into it and touch our hearts. Those thoughts are completely beyond description. Such is the Lord's Word throughout its inner meaning, even though it looks like an unpolished history in its literal meaning — as does the current verse (despite the symbolism given): The ark came to rest in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the mountains of Ararat.

  
/ 10837  
  

Many thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation and its New Century Edition team.