785. Verse 3. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been wounded to death, signifies the discordance of their doctrinals with the Word, in which "love," "life," and "works," which do not at all agree with that religious principle, are so often mentioned. This is evident from the signification of the "heads" of that beast, as being the knowledge of the holy things of the Word which are falsified and adulterated (See above, n. 775). When the church and those of the church are treated of in the Word, "head" signifies intelligence and wisdom; and in the most universal sense the understanding of truth and the will of good. But as this treats of those who are not willing that the understanding should enter into the mysteries of faith, but who wish it to be held captive under obedience to their mysteries, and as these are described by "the dragon" and this his "beast," it follows that the "head" of this beast signifies knowledge [scientia]; for where the understanding does not see there is no intelligence, but in place of it knowledge. Moreover, intelligence cannot be predicated of those who are in falsities, but only knowledge (See about this in the New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, n. 33). The above is evident also from the signification of "being wounded to death," as being in disagreement with the Word; for doctrine which disagrees with the Word is dead; and this death is what is signified by "being wounded to death."

[2] The discordance is that they separate the life of love, which is good works, from faith, and make faith alone justifying and saving, and they take away everything of justification and salvation from the life of love or from good works; and as loving and doing are mentioned in the Word in a thousand passages, and it is declared that man is to be judged according to his deeds and works, and as this does not agree with that religious principle, therefore this is what is signified by the death-stroke of the head of this beast. From this it can be seen that the words, "I saw one of the heads of the beast as if it had been wounded to death," signifies disagreement with the Word, in which "love," "life," and "works," which do not at all agree with that religious principle, are so often mentioned. That they do not agree is clearly evident from the fact that it is a dogma of that religion that faith alone, without the works of the law, justifies and saves, yea, that if anything of salvation be placed in works it is damnable, because of man's merit and what is his own [proprium] in them. For this reason many abstain from doing them, saying in their heart, Good works do not save me, and evil works do not damn me, because I have faith. From this principle they also assert that those are saved who about the hour of death declare with some confidence that they have faith, whatever their life may have been. But "deeds" and "works," also "doing" and "loving," are mentioned in the Word in a thousand passages, and as these disagree with that religious principle, therefore its dogmatists have devised means of conjoining them with faith. This, therefore, is the signification of the words "he saw one of the heads of the beast as if it had been wounded to death," and "the stroke of his death was healed, and the whole earth wondered after the beast." But how that stroke was healed, namely, by devised modes of conjunction, shall be said in the following article.

[3] In the first place, some passages shall here be quoted from the Word where "deeds," "works," "doing," and "working," are mentioned, that everyone may see the discordance that is here signified by "one of the heads wounded to death;" also that this stroke is wholly incurable unless man lives according to the precepts of the Word by doing them.

In Matthew:

Everyone that heareth My words and doeth them is like to a prudent man; but everyone that heareth My words and doeth them not is like to a foolish man (Matthew 7:24, 26).

In Luke:

Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say? Everyone who cometh to Me and heareth My words and doeth them is like a man that built a house upon a rock; but he that heareth and doeth not is like unto a man that built a house upon the ground without a foundation (Luke 6:46-49).

In Matthew:

He that was sown in good earth, this is he that heareth the Word and giveth heed, and who thence beareth fruit, and yieldeth some a hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold (Matthew 13:23).

In the same:

Whosoever shall break the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever doeth and teacheth them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens (Matthew 5:19).

In John:

Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you (John 15:14).

In the same:

If ye know these things happy are ye if ye do them (John 13:17).

In the same:

If ye love Me keep My commandments. He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself unto him. And I ¹ will come unto him and will make ² My abode with him. But he that loveth Me not keepeth not My words (John 14:15, 21-24).

In Luke:

Jesus said, My mother and My brethren are those who hear My ³ word and do it (Luke 8:21).

In Matthew:

I was an hungered and ye gave Me to eat, I was thirsty and ye gave Me to drink, I was a sojourner, and ye took Me in, I was naked and ye clothed Me, I was sick and ye visited Me, I was in prison and ye came unto Me. And to these the Lord said, Come, ye blessed, possess as inheritance the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. And to those who had not done these things He said, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:31-46 the end).

In John:

My Father is the vinedresser; every branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away (John 15:1, 2).

In Luke:

Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance; every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.

By their fruits ye shall know them (Luke 3:8, 9; Matthew 7:19, 20).

In John:

Herein is My Father glorified, that ye may bear much fruit and become My disciples (John 15:7, 8).

In Matthew:

The kingdom of God shall be taken away from them, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matthew 21:40-43).

In John:

He that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest that they have been wrought in God (John 3:21).

In the same:

We know that God heareth not sinners, but if anyone worship God and do His will, him He heareth (John 9:31).

In Matthew:

The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall render unto everyone according to his deeds ( Matthew 16:27).

In John:

Then shall come forth they that have done goods into the resurrection of life, but they that have done evils into the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29).

In Revelation:

I will give unto you to everyone according to his works; he that overcometh and keepeth My works unto the end (Revelation 2:23, 26).

Their works shall follow them (John 14:13).

The dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books according to their works. And the dead were all judged according to their works (Revelation 20:12, 13).

Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give unto everyone according to his works (Revelation 22:12).

Happy are they that do His commandments (Revelation 22:14).

He said to the angel of the church of Ephesus, I have against thee that thou hast left thy first charity; remember whence thou hast fallen, and do the first works; but if not, etc. (Revelation 2:4, 5).

It was said to the angel of the church in Smyrna, I know thy works; to the angel of the church in Pergamos, I know thy works; to the angel of the church in Thyatira, I know thy works; to the angel of the church in Sardis, I know thy works; and to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, I know thy works (Revelation 2:9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8).

These two chapters treat of the exploration and judgment of those seven churches as to what they are and will be from their works and according to their works.

[4] Also in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of Matthew from their beginning to their end the Lord teaches good works, and what they must be, and that thence is heavenly happiness; likewise in the parables of the laborers in the vineyard, of the husbandmen and servants, of the traders to whom pounds [minae] were given and those to whom talents were given; of the fig-tree in the vineyard which was to be cut down if it bore no fruit; of the man wounded by robbers, to whom the Samaritan showed mercy, respecting whom the Lord asked the lawyer which of the three was a neighbor, who answered, "He that showed mercy," and Jesus said to him, "Go and do thou likewise;" of the ten virgins, of whom five had oil in their lamps and five had none, "oil in the lamps" signifying charity in faith; also in other passages.

[5] Moreover, the twelve disciples of the Lord represented the church in respect to all things of faith and charity in the complex; and of them, Peter, James, and John represented faith, charity, and good works in their order, Peter faith, James charity, and John good works; therefore the Lord said to Peter, when Peter saw John following the Lord:

What is that to thee, Peter? Follow thou Me, John; for Peter said of John, What of him? (John 21:21-22).

This signifies that those who do good works must follow the Lord. Because John represented the church in respect to good works, he reclined at the Lord's breast. That the church is with those who do good works is also signified by the Lord's words from the cross to John:

Jesus saw His mother, and spoke to the disciple whom He loved, who was standing by; and He said to His mother, Woman, behold thy son; and He said to that disciple, Behold thy mother; and from that hour that disciple took her unto himself (John 19:26-27).

This signifies that where good works are, there the church will be, for in the Word "woman," like as "mother," signifies the church. Thus much from the New Testament; there are yet more passages in the Old Testament, as where:

All are called blessed who keep and do the statutes, the judgments, and the commandments, and those cursed who do them not (as in Leviticus 18:5; 19:37; 20:8; 22:31-33; 26:3-4, 26:14, 26:16; Numbers 15:39-40; Deuteronomy 5:9-10; 6:25; 15:5; 17:19; 27:26 in a thousand other passages).

[6] Besides those passages in the Word where "deeds" and "doing" are mentioned there are also very many where "love" and "loving" are mentioned; and "loving" means the like as "doing," since he that loves does, for to love is to will, since everyone wills what he interiorly loves; and to will is to do, since everyone does that which he wills when he is able. Moreover, what is done is nothing but the will in act. Respecting love the Lord teaches in many passages (as in Matthew 5:43-48; 7:12; Luke 6:27-39, 6:43-49; 7:36-50 to the end; John 13:34, 35; 14:14-23; 15:9-19; 17:22-26; 21:15-23), and in brief in these words:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God in thy whole heart and from thy whole soul; this is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:35-38, 40; Luke 10:27, 28; Deuteronomy 6:5).

"To love God above all things, and the neighbor as oneself," is to do His commandments (John 14:21-24); and "the law and the prophets" signify the Word in all things and in every particular. From all these passages cited from the Word it is fully evident that it is not faith separated from good works that saves, but faith from good works and with them. For he who does good works has faith, but he who does them not has no faith.

Voetnoten:

27. Wisdom comes into being out of goodness by means of truth. How rationality is conceived and born in us: 2093, 2524, 2557, 3030, 5126. This is brought about by means of an inflow of the Lord through heaven into whatever spiritual and worldly knowledge ¹ we have, lifting us up as a result: 1895, 1899, 1900, 1901. This lifting up depends on the useful things we do ² and on our love of them: 3074, 3085, 3086. Our rationality is born by means of truths, so the nature of the truths determines the nature of our rationality: 2093, 2524, 2557. Our rationality is opened and given form by truths that arise from living a good life; it is closed and destroyed by falsities that arise from living an evil life: 3108, 5126. Our being able to argue that this or that is true does not mean we are rational; we are rational if we are able to see and perceive whether something is actually true or not: 1944. We are not born with any truth, because we are not born with any goodness; we need to learn and absorb everything: 3175. Because of the deceptiveness of our senses and the persuasiveness of falsity, which lead to rationalizations and doubts, we are barely able to accept genuine truths and then become wise: 3175. The beginning of our wisdom occurs when we start to turn our backs on rationalizations that deny what is true, and to cast aside our doubts: 3175. When our rational ability is not enlightened it scoffs at inner truths: 2654 (which includes examples). Our truths can properly be called inner truths only when they have been rooted in our lives, and not merely because we know about them, even though some truths that we know about might be said to be of a deeper kind: 10199.

[2] Within goodness there lies a capacity to grow in wisdom; if our lives have been devoted to doing what is good, we attain angelic wisdom after our departure from this world: 5527, 5859, 8321. Within every type of goodness countless other types of goodness lie hidden: 4005. From goodness countless things can be learned: 3612. How truth multiplies as a result of goodness: 5345, 5355, 5912. By means of truths and by means of living according to them, the goodness we have in early childhood becomes the goodness that belongs to wisdom: 3504.

[3] We can be moved by a desire for truth and we can be moved by a desire for goodness: 1904, 1997. What we are like when we are moved by a desire for truth and what we are like when we are moved by a desire for goodness: 2422, 2429. Which people can come to desire truth and which people cannot: 2689. All truths are arranged under some emotion that they have in common: 9094. In earthly-minded people a desire for truth and a desire for goodness are like brother and sister, while in spiritually minded people they are like husband and wife: 3160.

[4] Pure truths are not to be found in us or even in angels-only in the Lord: 3207, 7902. Any truths that we have are only apparently true: 2053, 2519. The first truths we have are things that seem to be true according to our deceptive senses; we gradually shed these as we increase in wisdom: 3131. If we are devoted to what is good, the things we think are true are accepted as real truths by the Lord: 2053, 3207. The substance and nature of things that seem to be truths: 3207, 3357-3362, 3368, 3404, 3405, 3417. Much of the literal meaning of the Word is adapted to suit the way things seem to people: 1838. The same truths can be more true for one individual, less true for another, and false for yet another because they have been distorted: 2439. By coordinating the impressions of our earthly self with those of our spiritual self, we can see whether the things we hold as true are actually true or not: 3128, 3138. How true our truths are varies depending on our ideas and concepts of them: 3470, 3804, 6917.

[5] When a truth has been joined to goodness it vanishes from our memory because it has become part of our life: 3108. Truths can be joined to goodness only in a state of freedom: 3158. Truths are joined to goodness by means of the crises of the spirit we go through: 3318, 4572, 7122. All goodness makes a constant effort to put truths in their place and to be restored by means of an inversion of its state: 3610. Truths become unpleasant when their connection with goodness is cut off: 8352. It is hard for us to tell the difference between truth and goodness because it is hard for us to tell the difference between thinking and willing: 9995. In the Word, what is good is called the brother ³ of what is true: 4267. From one point of view, whatever is good is called a lord and whatever is true is called a servant: 3409, 4267.

Voetnoten: