201-250

Charity, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1766], tr. by John Whitehead [1914] at sacred-texts.com

Charity

201.

As regards the FIRST, No one can have charity except from the Lord. Here, as in what follows, we name only the Lord, because the Lord is the only God; for He is God of heaven and earth, as He himself teaches. . . 201-1 He and the Father are one, like soul and body, as He also teaches . . . .  201-2 He and the Spirit are the same, like the Divine in Him, and the Divine from Him. 201-3 Thus He Himself is the One Only God; and thus the Divine Trinity is in His Person, and is named the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, because the whole Church, and all religion, is founded upon the idea of God, and upon the idea that God is one, and because this idea exists to no purpose unless God is one in Essence and in Person, and unless this unity of the trinity and trinity of the unity is in the Lord alone, therefore here at the very beginning, and afterwards in what follows, we name the Lord only. See, besides, THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, from beginning to end; also ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, nos. [157, 262, 263]. 201-4 The reason no one can have charity except from the Lord, is that by charity is meant every good a man does to others; and the good a man does to others is indeed good for those to whom it is done, but it is not good him by whom is done, unless it is from God. For no good that is in itself a good, and is called a good of charity, and in its essence is a spiritual good, can flow forth from man, but from the Lord only. For, in order that a good of charity, or a spiritual good, may exist, the Lord must be in the Good, must indeed be the Good; for it proceeds from Him, and what proceeds from anyone derives its essence from Him; for He Himself is in what is His Own. If, therefore, the Lord were not the Good a man does to the neighbour, or, what is the same, unless the good a man does to the neighbour were from the Lord, it would not have an essence of good in it, but an essence of evil, for the man would be in it; and a man in himself and in his proprium is nothing but evil. This evil must first be removed, in order that the good proceeding from the man may not be the man's but the Lord's. A man is only a recipient of life: he is not life in himself, for, if he were life in himself, he would be God; and therefore, man is only a recipient of good, for good is of life, because love and wisdom are life, and good is of love, and truth is of wisdom. This life cannot be made over to man as his own; for man is finite and created, and the Lord cannot create and finite Himself in another. In that case, He Himself would no longer exist, and then the entire human race, and each individual by himself, would be God. To think this is not only irrational, but abominable also. In the spiritual world, such an idea about God and man stinks like a corpse. From all this it can be taken as established that there cannot be any good, which is in itself good, and is termed a good of charity, from man; it must be from the Lord, who alone is Good itself, thus is in Himself Good. This, the Lord does, indeed, produce from Himself, but through man. There is no subject through which the Lord produces good from Himself, other than man. Nevertheless the Lord has given man the faculty of feeling it in himself, indeed, as from himself, and therefore as his own, to the end that he may do it. For if he felt it was not from himself, but from the Lord, he would not do it; for he would then believe himself to be not a man, not even alive, and at length scarcely otherwise than like an automaton. And, from experience, I know that a man would rather die, than live perceptibly from another in himself. Indeed, unless a man felt the good he does as being from himself, the good would not remain in him either, but would flow through, like water through a water-skin all full of holes; nor could he then be formed for heaven, that is, reformed and regenerated, and so, being saved, live to eternity. Lest, however, a man, owing to this appearance, should attribute to himself the good or charity he does to the neighbour, and thereby appropriate evil to himself, in place of good, through believing he lives from himself, and consequently does the good from himself, thus attributing to himself what is the Lord's, it has pleased the Lord to reveal this in His Word, and to teach it. For the Lord says, "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing" (John xv. 5, and elsewhere).

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2. No one can have charity from the Lord unless he shuns evils as sins. By charity, here as above, is meant the good a man does to the neighbour. Everyone is able to do good to the neighbour, an evil man as well as a good man; but no one is able to do it by reason of good in himself, except from the Lord, and unless he shuns evils as sins. That no one is able to do good to the neighbour by reason of good in himself, except from the Lord, has been shown just above. The reason no one is able to do it unless he shuns evils as sins, is that the Lord cannot inflow into anyone with good so that it is received, unless the evils in him are removed; for evils do not receive good, they reject it. For it is the same with a man who is in evils, as it is with devils in hell. With devils, the Lord inflows with good, in just the same way as He inflows with angels in heaven; but the devils do not receive it, they turn the good into evil, and the truth into falsity, for their life's form is such, and everything that inflows is turned into a likeness of the form; just as the pure heat of the sun is turned into putrid and noisome smells when it inflows into urine that has been stagnant, into dung, and into corpses. In the same way, the pure light of the sun, inflowing into objects in which all things are disordered, is turned into hideous colours. It is the same with heavenly heat, which is Divine Good, and heavenly light, which is Divine Truth, in the case of a man whose life's form is inverted, and so is opposed to the heavenly form. From this it is evident that, as long as a man is not shunning evils as sins, he cannot be doing otherwise than loving evils; and the love with everyone makes the form of his life. It is comparatively like a bad tree, which receives heat and light from the sun just as a good tree does, but still can only produce fruit that is a likeness of its own form, and therefore bad. It is, too, comparatively like malignant and noxious plants, which derive from the sun's heat and light the life by which they grow, just the same as good and useful plants, and yet can produce nothing but what agrees with their own form. Every man is the form of his own love. Nothing else forms a man in respect of his spiritual part, but his love. If he loves evils, he becomes a form of evil, which is an infernal form; whereas if he loves goods, he becomes a form of good, which is a heavenly form. From this it is evident that unless a man shuns evils as sins, the form of his mind [mens] becomes, in respect of its spiritual things, an infernal form, which in itself does not receive any good from the Lord, and consequently does not bring forth any good that is in itself good. The Lord can bring forth good through any man, and He can turn the evil that an evil man brings forth into good. He can rouse an evil man to do good from selfish and worldly considerations; but in that case the Lord does not inflow into the evil of the man himself, but round about it into the surrounding things in him, thus into his external, by means of which the man wants to appear like a good man. That good, therefore, is good so far as the surface goes, but intrinsically is evil. With hypocrites, it is like gilded dung, so that scarcely anyone thinks it to be other than pure gold; nevertheless, if it is brought near to a sensitive nostril, the smell of the dung in it is perceived. These things, however, are fully shown in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, in the section where it is shown that, in so far as a man shuns evils as sins, he does goods, not from himself, but from the Lord, nos. 18-31; to which I will add only this, that every one can see this from merely general influx out of heaven. Take anyone you like, servant, farmer, workman, ship-captain, or merchant, provided only he has something rational, and tell him only that he who hates evil does good, and all of them will see it clearly. And, inasmuch as they know that all good is from God, tell them that, in so far is a man hates evil because it is against God, he does good from God; and they will see it. But say the same things to someone who has confirmed himself in faith alone, and accordingly at the same time in the idea that no one can do good from himself, and he will not see it; for false things have closed his rational sight or understanding, but not that of the others.

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3. A man ought to shun evils as sins, as from himself, while doing so nevertheless from the Lord. Who, having read the Word, and having some religion, does not know that evils are sins? This is what the Word teaches from beginning to end, and this is the whole of religion. Evils are termed sins on account of their being contrary to the Word, and to religion. Who does not know that no one can shun evils as sins unless he does so as from himself? Who can repent any other way? Does not a man say within himself, "I won't do this. I will give up doing this. Indeed, when it recurs, I will fight against it and overcome it"? No one ever speaks in this is way within himself, however, unless he believes in God. He who does not believe in God does not reckon an evil as a sin, and so does not fight against it, but rather in favour of it. But he who believes in God says also within himself, "With God's help I will overcome it"; and so he makes supplication, and gets help. This is not denied to anyone, but is given to him, because the Lord, from His Divine Love, is in the continual endeavour to reform and regenerate man, and so to purify him from evils, and this constant endeavour of the Lord comes into effect, when the man truly desires it, and makes an effort for it. In this and no other way does a man receive the power to resist evils and to fight against them. Before this, he does not receive it, he rejects it. This, then, is shunning evils as sins as from oneself, while doing so nevertheless from the Lord. But on this subject, THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, nos. 101-107, may also be seen; to which I will add this: Say to a man of sound reason, "Only believe that Christ, the Son of God, redeemed you from hell, and thus from all evil, and beseech God the Father to forgive you your sins on that account, and He will do so; and in that case there will be no need for you, as of yourself, to shun evils as sins. You can't do anything of yourself, can you? What is 'as of yourself,' then?" And picking up a pebble, or a little bit of wood, tell him, "Are you any more able to do anything towards justification and salvation than this pebble, or little bit of wood?" Then the man of some reason will reply, "I know I can do nothing of myself, but all the same I should repent of evils. This, the Lord Himself taught: His apostles taught it: Paul taught it: the Word teaches it, and so does all Religion. When I practise repentance, shall I not be doing something as of myself?" Suppose you then say, "What will you be doing, seeing you can do nothing? Do it if you like: I repent through faith, and faith saves without works." But the man of sound reason will reply, "You are mistaken, Sir. The Lord taught that I am both to do and to believe. For you, let it be faith; for me there shall be faith and works together. I know that after death a man will have to render an account of his works, and that everyone's believing is according to his doing."

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4. In so far as anyone does not shun evils as sins, he remains in them. Man was created into the image and likeness of God, and made so that he might be a recipient of the Lord's love and wisdom. But, because he did not want to be a recipient, but wanted to be actual love and wisdom, and thus like God, he consequently inverted his form, and so turned away his affections and thoughts from the Lord to himself, and so began to love, even to worship, himself more than the Lord. In this way he estranged himself from the Lord, and looked backwards away from Him, thereby perverting the image and likeness of God in himself, and making it into an image and likeness of hell. This is signified by his eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 204-1 By the serpent which he obeyed is signified the sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural man, and its lust. The sensual, because it exists in the world, and admits therefrom the objects it desires, loves the things of the world; and, if it is allowed to rule, it draws the mind [mens] away from the objects of heaven, which are goods of love and truths of wisdom, in themselves Divine. This is the origin of man being, in respect of his proprium, nothing but evil, and of his being born into it from parents. But means have been provided by the Lord, so that he may not perish on account of this; and these are, to look to the Lord and acknowledge that every good of love and every truth of wisdom is from Him, and nothing from man himself. In this way man inverts his form, turning away from himself and turning round to the Lord; thus he returns to the state into which he was created, which was, as has been said, that he might be a recipient of good and truth from the Lord, not from himself at all. Man's proprium having, by this inversion, become evil only, there is the other means of recovering the image of God, shunning evils as sins. For if a man does not shun evils as sins, but only shuns them as hurtful, he is still not looking to the Lord, but to himself, and so continues in a perverted state. When, however, he shuns evils as sins, he is also shunning them because they are against the Lord and contrary to His Divine laws; and then he beseeches the Lord for help and for power to resist them; and this power, when besought, is never denied. It is by these two means that a man is purified from his innate evils. Consequently, if he does not adopt these two means, he cannot but remain such as he was born. He cannot be purified from evils if he only looks to God and prays; for in that case he believes, after having prayed, either that he is entirely without sins, or that they have been remitted, by which he understands that they have been taken away. But in that case he still remains in them; and to remain in them is to increase them; for they are like a disease that eats away everything round about it and brings death. Nor are evils removed by only shunning them; for in that case the man is looking to himself, and he thereby strengthens the origin of evil, which was, that he turned himself backwards, away from the Lord, and round towards himself.

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5. In so far as anyone does not recognize and know what sins are, he sees no otherwise than he is without sin. Every man loves his proprium, both the voluntary proprium and the intellectual. The voluntary proprium is evil, and the intellectual proprium is falsity from that evil, thus it is the falsity of evil. And because every man loves his proprium, he is thus loving the evil and its falsity; and, because everything that is loved is also delightful, therefore he knows no otherwise than that the evil he has is good, and that its falsity is truth - for that which is said to be good is all that which is delightful. From these things it can be seen at the outset that, if a man does not recognize and know what sins are, to that extent he sees no otherwise than that he is without sin. But, inasmuch as a man loves his own evil and its falsity, because he loves his proprium, he is not able from himself to know which thing is evil, and what thing is falsity from it; he has to see it from some other source. He must see it from the precepts of religion, all of which have reference to the ten precepts of the Decalogue. If at heart he rejects these precepts, he cannot by any means see otherwise than that he is without sin; and in that case, having been initiated from childhood into the worship of God, and being aware from the Church's teaching that he is a sinner from his very origin and subsequent birth, he sets about confessing that he is a sinner; but nevertheless, being unaware of what sin is, he believes all the time that he is not a sinner. I have heard people declaring that they were sinners, that they were in sins of every kind from conception and birth, that, from the head to the sole of the foot, there was no soundness in them, and more things of the same kind; but, because they did not know what sin is, they did not know that the love of self, and arrogance, are the heads of all sins. They did not know that bearing hatred and taking revenge just because one is not honoured and worshipped as a demigod, is a sin, nor that slandering the neighbour out of enmity and thus bearing false witness against him, is a sin; nor that deceiving anyone by word or deed, is a sin; that despising another in comparison with oneself, envying him his goods, being covetous of them, are sins. They did not know, either, that claiming merit for performing the various acts of worship towards God, in matters both of faith and of charity, is a sin; besides innumerable other things. I have heard them say that they did not know such things were sins; nor anything, indeed, no matter what the nature of it, that one thinks but does not say, or wills but does not do. On account of this ignorance one of them said he did not know he was a sinner - "and if I am," he said, "I am purified from them when I have said this prayer, 'I know not my sins, O God, take them away.'" But when the same person examined himself, which took place in the world of spirits, he noticed that his sins were so numerous that he could not tell them all. He saw, too, that he could, if he wanted to, recognize and know them. He said, however, that he did not want to, as he would then have to abstain from thinking and willing them, to do which would conflict with the delight of his life. From these things it is now evident that, in so far as any one does not recognize and know what sins are, he sees no otherwise than that he is without sin.

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6. In so far as anyone recognizes and knows what sins are, he can see them in himself, confess them before the Lord, and repent of them. This follows as a result of all that has now been said. Therefore, in order that a man may see what sins are, the "first" of the Word was the Decalogue. For that reason also the Decalogue is a complex of all things of the Word. That is why it is called the Ten Words, the Ten Words signifying all truths in the complex. For the same reason, too, there are similar precepts among all nations in the universe with whom there is religion. Moreover, the man who knows that they are Divine laws, and that consequently anyone acting contrary to them is acting against God, or sinning, can receive Divine influx, and with that, too, a will or effort as of himself, that he would like to give up doing them and repent. The confession of one's sins before the Lord brings about conjunction with Him, and a reception of influx from Him; and then the Lord does it, while giving to the man to do it all the time as of himself. Otherwise the man would not do it. The Lord then operates through his inmost things right down to the outermost, and removes the lustings that are the roots of evil. This it is impossible for the man himself to do of himself. Of himself man acts upon the outermost things only, whereas it is the inmost things that make these. Therefore, if a man of himself were to remove the outermost things, the lustings would still remain.

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7. Good before repentance is not good, nor, before repentance, is charity charity. Before repentance a man is in evil; he is evil only, for he is a form of evil and an image of hell. By repentance, however, the evil is removed and good is implanted. From which it follows that the good before repentance is not good. Before repentance the good is not done from the Lord, but from the man; and therefore it has not an essence of good but an essence of evil within it, however much in its form it appears outwardly as good. This is not recognized in the world, but it is after death, manifestly. It is heard in the very tone of his speech, and more, which evil there is in it, whether there is deceitfulness, enviousness, vaingloriousness, haughtiness, blasphemousness, or what is hypocritical, or even a desire for reward. All the words of his speech derive their tone from the evil that is in it and regards only itself. After repentance, however, the good is quite a different thing. It is a full good, open from the Lord Himself. It is lovely, innocent, pleasing, heavenly. There is the Lord and heaven in it, there is good itself in it. It is alive; it is formed out of truths though being from good, in good, and towards good; it is nothing else but some use to the neighbour; and hence it is serving. With every breath it puts away itself and its proprium, thus putting away evil. Its form is like the form of a lovely and beautifully coloured flower, shining out brilliantly under the sun's rays. Consequently, too, in the case of those who are in good, they are forms that can never be comprehended by the natural man: 207-1 they cannot be depicted, nor can they be described: the forms they have are forms of good. It is rightly said that they are forms of good; yet the form itself consists of truths, while its life is the good of love; for the good sets the truths into a form suited to itself, and makes every one of its truths living. This is what good after repentance is like.

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8. Consequently, the "first" of charity is to look to the Lord and shun evils as sins, which is done by repentance. Who does not see that before a man can do good that is good, he must be cleansed from his evils? Does not a cup have to be cleansed? And if it is not cleansed, does not the wine get a taste from its uncleanness? And does not a dish have to be cleansed before food is put on it? For if the inside of the dish is all unclean, will not the food excite aversion? How can anything pure inflow from heaven into a man, when he is wholly impure and unclean? Must not the impure and unclean things be removed first? If you let your bedroom get filled with excreta, would not the whole house have an offensive smell? Could anyone go into it? Would not anyone going in say, "I can't," and would he not turn away from the house, saying, "It's only fit for swine"? Consequently, before the Lord can inflow with good, evil must be removed; for influx before that is dangerous, as the good is turned into evil and increases it. The first thing, therefore, is to remove evil, and afterwards to inflow with good, and bring it into operation by means of the man. Anyone attempting to do good from the Lord, before evil has been removed by repentance, or without shunning evils as sins, is attempting what is impossible, and such things as may make him worse, inasmuch as, in the case of a wicked man, the good is turned into evil, and in that way it is profaned. That evil must be removed first, is clearly evident from the precepts of the Decalogue. Who is loving a person, when he wants to kill him, or hates him? Who is loving the neighbour, when he commits whoredom with someone else's wife? Who is loving the neighbour, when he defrauds him? Who is loving the neighbour, when he slanders him? Who is loving the neighbour, when he covets what belongs to him? Those evils, therefore, must first be removed; and in the measure that they are being removed, to that extent the neighbour is being loved. Paul speaks of these things thus: . . . 208-1 But people ask whether love towards the neighbour should be first, or whether shunning those evils should be first. Everyone can see that shunning those evils should be first, inasmuch as a man is born into evil. Is it not necessary then for him to repent?

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II THE "SECOND" OF CHARITY IS TO DO GOOD TO THE NEIGHBOUR. Isaiah, chapter i.; also concerning the cup and dish that are to be cleansed inside first. 209-1 If this cleansing is not done, they still appear good outwardly. This is Pharisaic or hypocritical good, or something natural in which there is nothing spiritual, thus it is spurious good; and if done for the sake of salvation, it is good done for reward. But these things are to be illustrated in this order: (1) Not wishing to do evil to the neighbour, is loving him. (2) Wishing to do good to the neighbour, is loving him. (3) In so far as a man does not wish to do evil to the neighbour, he wishes to do him good from charity; but not the reverse. (4) From this it follows, that the "first" of charity is to look to the Lord and shun evils as sins; and that the "second" of charity is to do good to the neighbour.

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1. Not wishing to do evil to the neighbour, is loving him. For no one who loves another, does evil to him. Paul, too, says that he who loves the neighbour keeps the precepts of the Decalogue; he does not wish to kill; he does not wish to commit whoredom with someone else's wife; he does not wish to steal; he does not bear false witness; "therefore, he says," fulfilling the law is what charity is." 210-1 But, people ask, which is first, and which comes after? Whether loving the neighbour is first, and from that love not doing those evils - or whether removing them from oneself is first, and in that way loving the neighbour? It is evident enough that he who loves the neighbour does not do those evils. But people ask, how is anyone able to love the neighbour? Is he able to do so before he shuns those evils, and fights against them? It appears as if this love itself fights and so it does, though not before the man is in it. But, that he cannot come into that love, unless he first removes those evils, can be taken as established from the fact that every man by birth is in evils of every kind, that he lusts only after what is evil, and that, if he does not repent of them, he remains in them. Consequently those evils stand in the way of his being able to love the neighbour from that spiritual love. And Paul, therefore, says also, that the flesh is against the spirit, and that the flesh with its lusting must be crucified, 210-2 and that thus a man becomes spiritual, and a new creature. 210-3 From this it may be seen that, in so far as a man crucifies the flesh, he lives in the spirit. Accordingly, man being such by birth, it follows that his spirit cannot love the neighbour unless he crucifies his flesh, which is done by repentance; and that, in so far as he does this, he loves the neighbour from the spirit, that is, inwardly; and that loving the neighbour from the heart, previous to this, is against man's nature. A belief has gathered strength in Christendom, that he who has faith loves the neighbour; but this belief is erroneous. No one can have a faith that has anything living in it, unless he shuns evils as sins, indeed, he has it to the extent that he shuns them. From these things it is now evident that the "first" of charity is not to do evil to the neighbour; for not doing evil to the neighbour is fighting against the evils in oneself, and repenting of them; and that the "second" of charity is to do good to the neighbour. It is possible for anyone, from the principle that it is Christian not to do evil to the neighbour, actually not to do it; but he who, from that principle alone, does not do evil to the neighbour, and does good to him, is still not loving him. His not doing evil to him is out of obedience to Divine law, not from the affection of love towards the neighbour. No one has any knowledge of this affection: he, however, who shuns evils as sins, that is, who does not love evils, comes into the affection of that love. Not doing evil but doing good from obedience is one thing, and not doing evil but good to the neighbour from an affection of love towards him is another. The difference is like that between the heat and light by night from the moon and stars, and the heat and light by day from the sun. In the obedience there is not any of the heat of that love, nor any of its light; but in the affection there is; for the of love is heat. Consequently, they who have done good from obedience are in the lowest regions of heaven, and in a light and heat like that, of the moon. Indeed, the light of their understanding is in the shade: they do not see any spiritual truths in light. The distinction between them, moreover, is that those who do good from obedience are doing it from fear of punishment, and for the same reason also they abstain from doing evil; whereas those who do good from affection are not doing it from fear of punishment; and, further, those who do good from obedience are natural, while those who do it from affection are spiritual. Again, those who do good from obedience are those who are being reformed - this, moreover, comes first; 210-4 whereas those who do good from affection are being regenerated - this comes next in order. All who have been under the belief that man is saved by faith alone, if they are living in a Christian manner, confessing they are sinners, but without having examined themselves, do good from obedience, not from affection; indeed, they have no knowledge at all of faith, or of love, or of God, except what they hear from a preacher: they do good deeds, nevertheless.

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The affection itself of love is like a flame, from which there is light in truths. The reason for this is that the Lord inflows into a man's affection, and gives light. Moreover, love, in the spiritual world, appears from afar as a flame. Sometimes what look like flames descend from heaven, and these flames are affections of good and truth so appearing. It is like someone doing homage to a king, a governor, or a person in authority, in accordance with the rules of rank, and thus outwardly loving him, without, however, inwardly loving him. He loves him because he sees in him . . .

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XII WHERE THERE IS NO TRUTH OF FAITH, THE CHURCH DOES NOT EXIST; AND WHERE THERE IS NO GOOD OF LIFE, RELIGION DOES NOT EXIST. The Church and religion make one, like truth and good. And because truth is of faith and good is of charity, they make one as faith and charity do; and, in order that it may be still more clearly understood, they make one as do the understanding and the will. It is well known that it is possible for a man to understand well and all the while not will well, and to understand truths and thence give utterance to them, and yet not from willing them do them. But when he wills as he understands, and does as he says, then the will and the understanding with him make one. It is similar in the case of the Church and religion. The Church is a Church from its doctrine; and religion is religion from a life in accordance with doctrine. And the doctrine ought to be composed of truths, and the life ought to be made up of goods.

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But, in order that these things may come into a clearer light, they must be explained in the following order: (1) All the truths of faith in the Church are from the Word. (2) The truths of faith that are from the Word teach what is to be believed and what is to be done, so that a man's lot may be eternal life. (3) It is said "the Church" on account of doctrine, and "religion" on account of a life in accordance therewith. (4) With those who, by both doctrine and life, are in faith separate from charity, there is neither the Church nor religion.

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IV THE NEIGHBOUR IS TO BE LOVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS SPIRITUAL GOOD, AND HIS MORAL, CIVIL, AND NATURAL GOOD THEREFROM; CONSEQUENTLY IT IS GOOD THAT, IN A SPIRITUAL SENSE, IS THE NEIGHBOUR TO BE LOVED. (1) A man is not a man by reason of his face and body, but by reason of the good of his will. (2) When the good of a man's will is loved, the man himself is being loved. (3) A man is a man by reason of his spiritual good, and not by reason of his moral, civil, and natural good separate from spiritual good. (4) Such as a man's spiritual good is, such is his moral, civil, and natural good; because these three goods derive their life solely from spiritual good. (5) Consequently, it is good that, in a spiritual sense, is the neighbour to be loved. OBS. - Spiritual good is the good of charity, thus, the Lord, heaven, and the Church with him; for such is the man in the goods derived from it.

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III IN A NATURAL SENSE, THE NEIGHBOUR WHO IS TO BE LOVED IS A FELLOW-CITIZEN, ALSO A SOCIETY, SMALL OR LARGE, ALSO ONE'S COUNTRY, ALSO THE HUMAN RACE.

Footnotes

201-1 See Matt. xi 27; xxviii. 18: John iii. 35; xvii. 2.

201-2 See John x. 30, 38; xiv. 9-11; xvii. 10.

201-3 See John xiv. 16-19; Matt. xxviii. 20.

201-4 The Author did not give any nos. in the MS., evidently intending to supply them later.

204-1 Gen. iii. 6.

207-1 In the margin: "N.B."

208-1 In the MS. no passage is quoted here; but the intended passage is possibly Rom. xiii. 10: "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: love therefore is the fulfillment of the law" (R.V.).

209-1 Matt. xxiii. 26; Luke xi. 39

210-1 It is those who do good from obedience who take the lead in benefactions, such as giving to the poor, helping the needy, and endowing places of worship and hospitals; and they cannot but think that they merit reward in doing these things. Nor do they understand the Word as meaning anything else, where it is said that they shall have their reward. Nor do they know that the affection itself of good, with its delights, is the reward.

210-2 Cf. Rom. Xiii. 10.

210-3 Cf. Gal. v. 16, 17, and 24, 25.

210-4 Cf. 2 Cor. v. 17; Gal. vi. 15; Eph. iv. 23, 24.