Spiritual Life and the Word of GodSwedenborg, Emanuel
Religion
Spiritual Life and the Word of God
Swedenborg, Emanuel
Spiritual life; Ten commandments; Word of God (Christian theology)
This commandment in the Divine celestial sense involves that the Lord
alone is to be acknowledged and whorshipped, and a trinity in Him,
namely, the Divine itself from eternity, which is meant by the Father,
the Divine Human born in time, which is meant by the Son of God, and the
Divine that goes forth from both, which is meant by the Holy Spirit.
These are the three senses of the first commandment in their order.
From this commandment viewed in its threefold sense it is clear that it
contains and includes in brief all things that concern the essence of
the Divine.
The second commandment, "Thou shalt not profane the name of God,"
contains and includes in its three senses all things that concern the
quality of the Divine, since "the name of God" signifies His quality,
which in its first sense is the Word, doctrine from the Word, and
worship of the lips and of the life from doctrine; in its second sense
it means the Lord's kingdom on the earth and the Lord's kingdom in the
heavens; and in its third sense it means the Lord's Divine Human, for
this is the quality of the Divine itself.
In the other commandments there are likewise three internal senses for
the three heavens; but these, the Lord willing, will be considered
elsewhere. (A.E., n. 1025.)
As the Divine truth united to Divine good goes forth from the Lord as a
sun, and by this heaven and the world were made (John i. 1, 3, 10), it
follows that it is from this that all things in heaven and in the world
have reference to good and to truth and to their conjunction in bringing
forth something. These ten commandments contain all things of Divine
good and all things of Divine truth, and there is also in them a
conjunction of these. But this conjunction is hidden; for it is like
the conjunction of love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor, Divine
good belonging to love to the Lord, and Divine truth to love toward the
neighbor; for when a man lives according to Divine truth, that is, loves
his neighbor, the Lord flows in with Divine good and conjoins Himself.
For this reason there were two tables on which these ten commandments
were written, and they were called a covenant, which signifies
conjunction; and afterward they were placed in the ark, not one beside
the other, but one above the other, for a testimony of the conjunction
between the Lord and man. Upon one table the commandments of love to
the Lord were written, and upon the other table the commandments of love
toward the neighbor. The commandments of love to the Lord are the first
three, and the commandments of love toward the neighbor are the last
six; and the fourth commandment, which is "Honor thy father and thy
mother," is the mediating commandment, for in it "father" means the
Father in the heavens, and "mother" means the church, which is the
neighbor. (A.E., n. 1026.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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