Här är vi på 2000-talet. Vi vet att universum är en enorm plats. Vi spricker bara av vetenskaplig kunskap. Men hur har vi det med de ännu större idéerna? Våra mänskliga samhällen verkar radera dem eller ignorera dem - kanske tror vi att vi är för upptagna för dem.

Här på webbplatsen New Christian Bible Study, kommer vi att utveckla trenden. Vi vill utforska de stora idéerna som ger oss en ram för att leva bättre liv. Här är en början på en lista med stora idéer ur ett nytt kristen perspektiv. För varje idé finns det en fotnot som listar några referenser i Swedenborgs teologiska verk:

1. Gud existerar. Bara en Gud, som skapade och upprätthåller hela universumet i alla dess dimensioner, andliga och fysiska. ¹

2. Guds väsen är kärleken själv. Det är kraften som driver allt. ²

3. Guds väsen blir till, det vill säga att den existerar, i och genom skapelsen. ³

4. Det finns nivåer eller grader av skapelse - allt från andliga som vi inte kan upptäcka med våra fysiska sinnen eller sensorer, till nivån i det fysiska universum där det mesta av vår medvetenhet är när vi lever här. ⁴

5. Det skapade universum härstammar från Gud, och det upprätthålls av Gud, men på ett viktigt sätt är det separerat från Gud. Han vill att det ska vara separat så att friheten kan existera. ⁵

6. Gud fungerar från kärlek genom visdom - villiga goda saker och förståelse för hur de ska åstadkommas. ⁶

7. Den fysiska skapelsenivån finns för att ge människor en möjlighet att välja i frihet, med rationalitet, oavsett om man erkänner eller samarbetar med Gud eller inte. ⁷

8. Gud ger alla människor överallt, oavsett religion, frihet att välja att leva ett kärleksliv till Gud och till grannen. ⁸

9. Gud älskar alla. Han vet att sann lycka bara kommer när vi är osjälviska; när vi verkligen motiveras av en kärlek till Herren som är grundad i en kärlek till grannen. Han strävar efter att leda alla, men kommer inte att tvinga oss att följa mot vår vilja. ⁹

10. Gud dömer oss inte. Han berättar vad som är bra och vad som är ont, och flyter in i våra sinnen för att leda oss mot det goda. Men vi är fria att avvisa hans ledande och istället välja att älska oss själva mest. Dag för dag skapar vi vanor av generositet eller själviskhet och lever ut ett liv i enlighet med dessa vanor. Dessa vanor blir de verkliga "oss", vår härskande kärlek. ¹⁰

11. Våra fysiska kroppar dör så småningom, men den andliga delen av våra sinnen fortsätter. Det har redan fungerat på ett spirituellt plan, men vår medvetenhet förändras - så att vi blir fullt medvetna om den andliga verkligheten. ¹¹

Fotnoter:

23. There is one human God who is the source of everything. All the elements of human reason unite in, and in a sense center on, the fact that a single God is the Creator of the universe. As a result, rational people, on the basis of their shared understanding, neither do nor can think in any other way. Tell people of sound reason that there are two creators of the universe and you will feel within yourself how they recoil from this notion, perhaps simply from the tone of their voice in your ear. This enables us to see that all the elements of human reason unite and center on the oneness of God.

There are two reasons for this. The first is that in its own right, our very ability to think rationally is not our own property. It is a property of God within us. Human rationality in general depends on this fact, and this general property causes our reason more or less spontaneously to see the oneness of God. The second is that through our rational ability either we are in heaven's light or we draw from it some general quality of its thought, and the all-pervading element of heaven's light is that God is one.

This is not the case if we have used our rational ability to skew our lower understanding. In this case we still possess the ability, but by the distortion of our lower abilities we have steered it off course, and our rationality is not sound.

322. Everyone Can Be Reformed, and There Is No Such Thing as Predestination

Sound reason tells us that everyone is predestined to heaven and no one to hell. We are all born human, which means that we have the image of God within us. The image of God within us is our ability to discern what is true and to do what is good. Our ability to discern what is true comes from divine wisdom and our ability to do what is good comes from divine love. This ability is the image of God; it is enduring with everyone who is whole and is never erased. It is why we can become civic, moral individuals; and if we can become civic and moral individuals, we can become spiritual individuals, since civic and moral life is receptive of spiritual life. We are called civic individuals if we know and abide by the laws of the country we are living in. We are called moral individuals if we make habits and virtues of these laws and live by them for rational reasons.

[2] Next I need to say how civic and moral living is receptive of spiritual living. Live by these laws not only as civic and moral laws but also as divine laws and you will be a spiritual person.

There is hardly a nation so barbaric that it does not have laws forbidding murder, promiscuity with other people's spouses, theft, perjury, and violation of others' rights. Civic and moral individuals keep these laws in order to be or to seem to be good citizens; but if they do not regard them as divine laws as well, they are civic and moral individuals only on the earthly level. On the other hand, if they do regard them as divine laws, they become civic and moral spiritual individuals.

The difference is that in the latter instance they are not just good citizens of their earthly kingdom, they are good citizens of the kingdom of heaven as well; in the former instance they are good citizens of their earthly kingdom but not of the kingdom of heaven. It is the good they do that makes the difference. The good that worldly civic and moral individuals do is not intrinsically good because they themselves and the world are at its heart. The good that civic and moral spiritual individuals do is intrinsically good because the Lord and heaven are at its heart.

[3] This shows that since we are all born capable of becoming civic and moral individuals on the earthly level, we are also born capable of becoming civic and moral individuals on the spiritual level. All we have to do is acknowledge God and not do evils because they are against God, and do what is good because that is for God. Doing this enables the spirit to enter into our civic and moral acts, and they come to life. Otherwise there is no spirit in our acts, and they are not alive. This is why worldly people are called "dead" no matter how civic and moral their behavior is, while spiritual people are called "living."

[4] Under the Lord's divine providence, every nation has a religion, and the first principle of every religion is a recognition of the existence of God. Otherwise we cannot call it a religion. Every nation that lives by its religion--that is, that does not do evil because it is against its God--is given a spiritual element within its worldly life.

Imagine hearing non-Christians say that they do not want to do some evil thing because it is against their God. Is there anyone who would not say inwardly that these people are saved? Nothing else seems possible; that is what sound reason tells us. Conversely, suppose some Christian says, "One evil or another does not matter to me. What is this business about saying that it's against God?" Is there anyone who would not say inwardly that this person is not saved? It seems impossible; that is what sound reason tells us.

[5] If this individual says, "I was born Christian, I was baptized, I have confessed the Lord, read the Word, and taken the Holy Supper," does all this matter if this individual has a craving for murder and revenge, for adultery, surreptitious theft, perjury, lies, and all kinds of violence, and does not regard them as sins? Are people like this thinking about God or about some eternal life? Do they think that they exist? Surely sound reason tells us that people like this cannot be saved.

I make these statements about Christians because non-Christians pay more attention to God than Christians do, because their religion is in their life.

I need now to say more about this, though, in the following sequence.

1. The ultimate purpose of creation is a heaven from the human race.

2. Consequently, under divine providence everyone can be saved; and everyone is saved who believes in God and lives a good life.

3. It is our own fault if we are not saved.

4. This means that everyone is predestined to heaven and no one to hell.