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Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings

This list of Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings was originally compiled by W. C. Henderson in 1960 but has since been updated.

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Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture #102

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102. That the Word among ancient peoples was written solely in terms of correspondences, but has since been lost, is something reported to me by angels in heaven. And I have been told that this Word is still preserved among them and used by the ancient peoples in that heaven who had that Word when they lived in the world.

Those ancient peoples, among whom that Word is still used in heaven, came partly from the land of Canaan and the lands surrounding it — Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Chaldea, Assyria, Egypt, Sidon, Tyre, and Nineveh — and the inhabitants of all those kingdoms practiced a representational worship and so possessed a knowledge of correspondences. The wisdom of that time flowed from that knowledge, and because of it they had an inner perception and communication with the heavens.

Those who had a more interior knowledge of the correspondences of that Word were called wise and intelligent, but later diviners and magi.

[2] However, because that Word was full of correspondences which only remotely symbolized celestial and spiritual things, and many people consequently began to falsify it, therefore in the course of time, of the Lord’s Divine providence it vanished and finally was lost. And another Word, written in terms of correspondences not so remote, was given, and this through prophets among the children of Israel.

Still, this latter Word retained many names of places in the land of Canaan and in Asia round about, which had the same symbolic meanings as in the Ancient Word.

It was for this reason that Abram was commanded to go to that land, and that his posterity descended from Jacob was led into it.

  
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Thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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Survey of Teachings of the New Church #113

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113. To these things I will add the following: There is a saying in the church that no one can fulfill the law, especially since someone who breaks one of the Ten Commandments breaks them all [James 2:10– 11; Matthew 5:19]. But this formulaic saying does not mean what it seems to. The proper way to understand it is that people who purposely or deliberately behave in a way that is contrary to one commandment in effect behave contrary to the rest, because doing something [against one commandment] purposely and deliberately is the same as completely denying that that behavior is sinful. And people who deny and reject the very idea of sin see nothing wrong with breaking the other commandments.

As everyone is surely aware, just because someone is a fornicator does not mean that he or she is, or wants to be, a murderer, thief, or false witness. People who commit adultery purposely and deliberately, though, see no value in any religious practice, and therefore see nothing wrong even with murders or acts of theft or false witness; they abstain from doing such things not because doing so would be sinful but because they are afraid of the law and any negative effect on their reputation.

Similarly, if people break another of the Ten Commandments purposely or deliberately, they break the rest as well, because they do not consider anything to be sinful.

[2] Much the same is true for people who are devoted to doing good things that come from the Lord. If such people abstain from one evil on the grounds that that evil is sinful, they abstain from all evils (provided that both their will and their intellect are engaged in the process, that is, they abstain from that evil purposely and deliberately). The effect is even greater if they intentionally abstain from more than one evil. As soon as we abstain purposely or deliberately from any sinful evil, we are held by the Lord in a resolution to abstain from the rest as well. Therefore if it happens that because we did not realize what was going on or because we were overwhelmed with physical desire, we do something evil, it is not held against us. It was not something we planned to do, and we do not support what we did.

We develop this resolve if we examine ourselves once or twice a year and recover from an evil we find in ourselves. If we never examine ourselves, we do not develop this resolve.

[3] I may reinforce this point as follows. In the spiritual world I have come across many people who had shared a similar lifestyle when they were in the physical world. They all dressed in fashionable clothing, enjoyed fine dining, took profit from their business, went to the theater, told jokes about lovers as if they themselves were lustful, and many other things of the kind. Yet for some of these people the angels labeled their behaviors as evil and sinful, whereas for others the angels did not. The angels declared the former guilty and the latter innocent. Upon being asked why this was, since the people had done the same things, the angels replied that they had evaluated all the people on the basis of their plans, intentions, and purposes and distinguished them accordingly. Those whose purpose excused them, the angels excused, and those whose purpose condemned them, the angels condemned, since the goal of all who are in heaven is to do good, and the goal of all who are in hell is to do evil. From this it becomes clear who is assigned blame for sin and who is not.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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