Arcana Coelestia#3310
3310. That “a man of the field” signifies the good of life from doctrinal things, is evident from the signification of “field.” In the Word frequent mention is made of “earth” or “land,” of “ground,” and of “field;” and by “earth” or “land,” when used in a good sense, is signified the Lord’s kingdom in the heavens and on earth, thus the church, which is His kingdom on earth. The like is signified by “ground,” but in a more restricted sense (n. 566, 662, 1066-1068, 1262, 1413, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 2928). The same is signified also by “field,” but in a sense still more restricted (n. 368, 2971); and as the church is not the church from doctrinal things except insofar as these have respect to the good of life as their end; or what is the same, unless these doctrinal things are conjoined with the good of life, therefore by “field” is principally signified the good of life; and in order that this may be of the church, there must be doctrinal things from the Word which have been implanted in this good. Without doctrinal things there is indeed good of life, but not as yet the good of the church, thus not as yet good truly spiritual, except only in the capacity of becoming so; as is the case with the good of life among the Gentiles who have not the Word, and therefore are ignorant of the Lord.
[2] That a “field” is the good of life in which are to be implanted the things which are of faith, that is, spiritual truths which are of the church, is very evident from the Lord’s parable in Matthew:
The sower went forth to sow, and as he sowed, some fell upon the hard way, and the birds came and devoured them; and others fell upon stony places where they had not much earth, and straightway they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth; and when the sun was risen, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away; and others fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them; but others fell upon the good ground and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold: he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear (Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:3-9; Luke 8:5-8).
Here four kinds of earth or ground in a field-that is, in the church-are treated of. That the “seed” is the Word of the Lord, thus truth, which is said to be of faith, and that the “good ground” is the good which is of charity, is evident, for it is the good in man that receives the Word; the “hard way” is falsity; a “stony place” is truth that has no root in good; “thorns” are evils.
[3] As regards the good of life from doctrinal things, which is signified by “a man of the field,” the case is this: They who are being regenerated, at first do what is good from doctrinal things, for of themselves they do not know what is good, but learn it from the doctrinal things of love and charity; from these they know who the Lord is; who is the neighbor; what love is, and what charity; thus what good is. When they are in this state they are in the affection of truth, and are called “men [viri] of the field;” but afterwards when they have been regenerated, they do not do what is good from doctrinal things, but from love and charity, for they are then in the good itself which they have learned through doctrinal things, and then are called “men [homines] of the field.” The case herein is as with one who by nature inclines to adulteries, thefts, and murders, but who learns from the commandments of the Decalogue that such things are of hell, and so abstains from them. In this state he is affected by the commandments because he is afraid of hell, and from these and likewise from many things in the Word he learns how he ought to direct his life; and in this case when he does what is good, he does it from the commandments. But when he is in good, he begins to be averse to the adulteries, thefts, and murders to which before he had been inclined; and when he is in this state, he no longer does what is good from the commandments, but from good, which then is in him. In the former state he learns good from truth; in the latter state he teaches truth from good.
[4] The same is the case also with spiritual truths, which are called doctrinal things, and are still more interior commandments; for doctrinal things are the interior truths that belong to the natural man. The first truths are of sense, the next are of memory-knowledge, the interior ones are of doctrine. These doctrinal truths are founded upon truths of memory-knowledge, for man can form and retain no idea, notion, or conception of them except from memory-knowledges. But truths of memory-knowledge are founded upon truths of the senses, for without sensuous things no memory-knowledges can be comprehended by man. These truths, namely, those of memory-knowledge and of sense, are what are signified by “a man skillful in hunting;” but doctrinal truths are those which are signified by a “man of the field.” In this way do these truths follow in succession with man; and therefore until he is of adult age, and through truths of sense and of memory-knowledge is in doctrinal truths, no man is able to be regenerated, for he cannot be confirmed in the truths of doctrine, except by means of ideas derived from the things of memory-knowledge and of sense. For nothing is possible in man’s thought, even as to the deepest arcanum of faith, that is not attended with a natural and sensuous idea, although the man is for the most part ignorant of the nature of it; but in the other life, if he desires it, it is presented to view before his understanding, and even, if he so wishes, before his sight; for however incredible it may appear, in the other life such things can be presented to the sight.
Luke第9章
1
He called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
2
He sent them forth to preach the Kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
3
He said to them, "Take nothing for your journey--neither staffs, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; neither have two coats apiece.
4
Into whatever house you enter, stay there, and depart from there.
5
As many as don't receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them."
6
They departed, and went throughout the villages, preaching the Good News, and healing everywhere.
7
Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by him; and he was very perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead,
8
and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.
9
Herod said, "John I beheaded, but who is this, about whom I hear such things?" He sought to see him.
10
The apostles, when they had returned, told him what things they had done. He took them, and withdrew apart to a deserted place of a city called Bethsaida.
11
But the multitudes, perceiving it, followed him. He welcomed them, and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God, and he cured those who needed healing.
12
The day began to wear away; and the twelve came, and said to him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and farms, and lodge, and get food, for we are here in a deserted place."
13
But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we should go and buy food for all these people."
14
For they were about five thousand men. He said to his disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each."
15
They did so, and made them all sit down.
16
He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to the sky, he blessed them, and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17
They ate, and were all filled. They gathered up twelve baskets of broken pieces that were left over.
18
It happened, as he was praying alone, that the disciples were with him, and he asked them, "Who do the multitudes say that I am?"
19
They answered, "'John the Baptizer,' but others say, 'Elijah,' and others, that one of the old prophets is risen again."
20
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."
21
But he warned them, and commanded them to tell this to no one,
22
saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up."
23
He said to all, "If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
24
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake, the same will save it.
25
For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self?
26
For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed, when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels.
27
But I tell you the truth: There are some of those who stand here, who will in no way taste of death, until they see the Kingdom of God."
28
It happened about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up onto the mountain to pray.
29
As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling.
30
Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah,
31
who appeared in glory, and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32
Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him.
33
It happened, as they were parting from him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let's make three tents: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah," not knowing what he said.
34
While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud.
35
A voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!"
36
When the voice came, Jesus was found alone. They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
37
It happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met him.
38
Behold, a man from the crowd called out, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
39
Behold, a spirit takes him, he suddenly cries out, and it convulses him so that he foams, and it hardly departs from him, bruising him severely.
40
I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they couldn't."
41
Jesus answered, "Faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here."
42
While he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him violently. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
43
They were all astonished at the majesty of God. But while all were marveling at all the things which Jesus did, he said to his disciples,
44
"Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man will be delivered up into the hands of men."
45
But they didn't understand this saying. It was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
46
There arose an argument among them about which of them was the greatest.
47
Jesus, perceiving the reasoning of their hearts, took a little child, and set him by his side,
48
and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great."
49
John answered, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he doesn't follow with us."
50
Jesus said to him, "Don't forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us."
51
It came to pass, when the days were near that he should be taken up, he intently set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52
and sent messengers before his face. They went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, so as to prepare for him.
53
They didn't receive him, because he was traveling with his face set towards Jerusalem.
54
When his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from the sky, and destroy them, just as Elijah did?"
55
But he turned and rebuked them, "You don't know of what kind of spirit you are.
56
For the Son of Man didn't come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." They went to another village.
57
As they went on the way, a certain man said to him, "I want to follow you wherever you go, Lord."
58
Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59
He said to another, "Follow me!" But he said, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."
60
But Jesus said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce the Kingdom of God."
61
Another also said, "I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say good-bye to those who are at my house."
62
But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God."
