1. True Christianity

Containing a Comprehensive Theology of the New Heaven and the New Church

The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

THE faith of the new heaven and the new church is stated here in both universal and specific forms to serve as the face of the work that follows, the doorway that allows entry into the temple, and the summary that in one way or another contains all the details to follow. I say "the faith of the new heaven and the new church" because heaven, where there are angels, and the church, in which there are people, act together like the inner and the outer levels in a human being. People in the church who love what is good because they believe what is true and who believe what is true because they love what is good are angels of heaven with regard to the inner levels of their minds. After death they come into heaven, and enjoy happiness there according to the relationship between their love and their faith. It is important to know that the new heaven that the Lord is establishing today has this faith as its face, doorway, and summary.

267. 13. Because of the Word, Even People Who Are outside the Church and Who Do Not Have the Word Have Light.

No connection to heaven is possible unless somewhere on earth there is a church where the Word exists and where the Lord is known through that Word. This is because the Lord is the God of heaven and earth - without the Lord there is no salvation. (For the Word providing a connection to the Lord and association with angels, see 234-239 above.) It is enough if there is one church where the Word exists. Even if this church consists of comparatively few people, still the Lord is present throughout the world by means of the Word, since heaven is connected to the human race through the Word.

834. On one occasion I was allowed to experience the heat of their polygamous love. I was in a conversation with one of the people who took turns acting as their Muhammad. After I had spoken with him for a while from a certain distance away, he sent me an ivory spoon and some other objects that identified him as the sender. At that same time, a communication was opened up to me from various places devoted to the heat of their polygamous love.

The heat from some of these places felt and smelled like a bathhouse after people have bathed; from others it was like a kitchen where someone is boiling meat; from others, like hole-in-the-wall shops that are selling hot food that smells rank; from others, like an apothecary's basement where medicinal emulsions and other remedies are being prepared; from others, like brothels and whorehouses; from others, like a shop where hides, leather, and shoes are sold. In that heat there was a sense of rottenness, bitterness, and burning jealousy.

The heat in the Christian heavens, though, when the delight of the angels' love there comes across as a smell, has the fragrance of gardens and vineyards and beds of roses. In some places, it smells like a perfumer's shop; in others, like a wine press or a winemaker's cellar.

(I have shown a number of times in the memorable occurrences after chapters that in the spiritual world the delightful feelings associated with various kinds of love often come across as aromas.)