1. THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM REGARDING FAITH

Faith is an Internal Acknowledgment of Truth

Faith today is taken to mean no more than the thought that a thing is so because it is something the church teaches, and because it is not evident to the intellect. For we are told, "Believe and do not doubt." If we reply, "I do not understand," we are told that that is why it should be believed.

Faith today is therefore a faith in the unknown and may be termed a blind faith. Moreover, because it is one person’s assertion received by another, it is an inherited faith. We will see in what follows that that is not a spiritual faith.

344. [336.] 1) That in heaven they reject completely the dogma that the intellect is to be held captive in obedience to faith.

2) That all matters of theology can be grasped with the intellect,

3) not only with the spiritual intellect by angels, but with the rational intellect by people.

4) That otherwise people could use theological authority to say whatever they please.