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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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #162

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162. The fourth experience 1 .

A dispute arose among some spirits, whether anyone can see any truth on a matter of theological dogma in the Word, unless he is led to it by the Lord. They all agreed that no one can do this except by Divine guidance, because

A man cannot take anything unless it is given him from heaven, John 3:27.

So the argument was about whether anyone can do this, if he does not directly approach the Lord.

One party asserted that the Lord should be directly approached, because He is the Word. The other party held that the truth of doctrine is also seen when God the Father is directly approached. So the dispute centred on this preliminary point, whether any Christian is allowed to approach God the Father directly, and thus go over the Lord's head; and whether this is not improper and rash boldness and insolence. For the Lord says that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). But they left this point aside and said that man can see the truth of doctrine from the Word by his own natural enlightenment; but this view was rejected. So they insisted that it can be seen by those who pray to God the Father. A passage from the Word was read to them, and then they went down on their knees and prayed God the Father to enlighten them. About the passage read to them from the Word they said that certain things were true, when in fact they were untrue. This happened so many times they became tired of it, and at last admitted that they were unable to tell. However, the other party who directly approached the Lord were able to see the truth, and they told the others.

[2] When this dispute had been decided, some people came up out of the abyss, who looked at first like locusts, but later on like tiny people. They were those who in the world had prayed to God the Father, and convinced themselves of the doctrine of justification by faith alone. They were the same people as are described in Revelation (Revelation 9:1-11). They said that they could see in a clear light the doctrine that man is justified by faith alone without the actions prescribed by the Law, and that they could prove this from the Word. They were asked what faith this was, and they answered: 'Faith in God the Father.' But when they had been examined, they were told from heaven that they did not know a single truth of teaching from the Word. They retorted that they could still see their truths bathed in light.

Then they were told that they saw them by a deceptive light. 'What,' they asked, 'is this deceptive light?' They were told that deceptive light is that which comes from proving what is not true; it corresponds to the light enjoyed by owls and bats, who look upon darkness as light and light as darkness. This was proved to them by the fact that when they looked up to heaven, the source of true light, they saw only darkness, and when they looked down to the abyss from which they had come they saw light.

[3] This proof made them angry, and they said it showed that light and darkness have no real existence, but it is merely the condition of the eye that causes us to call light light and darkness darkness. However, it was shown that their light was the deceptive light which comes from proving what is not true; and that their light was only an activity of their minds arising from the fire of longings, of the same sort as the light enjoyed by cats, whose burning appetite for mice makes their eyes shine by night in cellars like candles.

On hearing this they said angrily that they were not cats or like them, since they could see if they wished. But then they went away, because they were afraid of being asked why they did not wish to see, and plunged into their abyss. The people there and those like them are also called by the angels owls and bats, as well as locusts.

[4] When they met their companions in the abyss and related that the angels had told them that 'we do not know any truth of teaching, not a single one,' and called them owls, bats and locusts, there was a riot. 'Let us pray God,' they said, 'to allow us to go up and we will give a clear demonstration that we possess many truths of teaching, which the archangels themselves will acknowledge.' Since they prayed to God, permission was granted, and they went up, to the number of three hundred.

When they appeared above ground, they said: 'In the world we were well-known and famous, because we knew and taught the secrets of justification by faith alone; and our proofs of this not only allowed us to see the light, but also to see it as a glittering sunbeam, and now we see it in the same way in our cells. Yet we have heard from our companions who visited you that this light is not light, but darkness, because you allege we have no truth of teaching from the Word. We know that every truth in the Word shines, and we have believed that that was what produced the glittering effect when we meditated profoundly on these secrets of ours. We shall therefore demonstrate that we have a vast supply of truths from the Word.'

'Do we not,' they said, 'possess this truth, that there is a Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that we ought to believe in the Trinity? Do we not possess this truth, that Christ is our redeemer and saviour? Do we not possess this truth, that Christ alone is righteousness, and He alone has merit, and it is wrong and impious if anyone wishes to attribute to himself any of Christ's merit and righteousness? Do we not possess this truth, that no mortal can do of his own accord any spiritual good, and that all good which is good in itself is from God? Do we not possess this truth, that there exist meritorious good and hypocritical good, and that these forms of good are evil? Do we not possess this truth, that none the less good deeds should be done? Do we not possess this truth, that there exists faith, that one ought to believe in God, and that everyone has life in accordance with his belief? We have many truths besides from the Word. Can any of you deny a single one of them? Yet you said that we in our debates do not possess any truth, not a single one. Are you not unjustified in casting such reproaches at us?'

[5] But they received the reply: 'All the statements you quoted are in themselves true, but you have falsified them; by deriving them from a false principle you make them false. We shall give you a visual demonstration that this is so. Not far from here there is a place where the light pours down directly from heaven; in the middle there is a table, and when a piece of paper is placed on it which has a truth from the Word written on it, the paper is caused by the truth written on it to shine like a star. So write your truth on a piece of paper, put it on the table, and you will see.'

They did so and gave it to the custodian, who put it on the table and said to them: 'Go to a distance and watch the table.' They went away and watched, and suddenly the paper shone like a star. Then the custodian said: 'You see that what you wrote on the paper are truths; but come closer and fix your gaze on the paper.' They did so, and suddenly the light went out, and the paper became black as if it had been covered with soot from a chimney. 'Touch the paper with your hands,' the custodian went on, 'but be careful not to touch the writing.' On their doing so, the paper burst into flame and was burnt up. When they saw this, they were told: 'If you had touched the writing, you would have heard an explosion and would have burnt your fingers.'

Then they were told by those who were standing behind: 'You have seen now that the truths which you have misused to prove your secrets about justification are in themselves truths, but in your hands they have became falsified.' Then they looked up, and heaven appeared to them like blood, and later on like total darkness. In the eyes of the angelic spirits these people appeared some like bats, some like owls, some like horned owls. So they fled away to their regions of darkness, which in their eyes shone with a deceptive light.

[6] The angelic spirits present were surprised because previously they had known nothing of that place and the table it contained. Then a voice came to them from the southern quarter which said: 'Come this way and you will see something even more wonderful.' So they went and entered a room, the walls of which shone as if made of gold, and there too they saw a table on which was laid a copy of the Word, surrounded by precious stones in a heavenly pattern. The custodian angel said: 'When the Word is opened, a light shines out from it of indescribable brightness, and at the same time the precious stones give a rainbow effect above and around the Word. When an angel from the third heaven comes near, the rainbow appears above and around the Word on a red background; when an angel comes from the second heaven and looks at it, the rainbow appears on a blue background; when an angel from the lowest heaven comes and looks, the rainbow appears on a white background. When a good spirit comes and looks, there is a variegated effect of light like marble.' They were given a visual demonstration of these effects. The custodian went on to say: 'If anyone approaches who has falsified the Word, first of all the radiance disappears; and if he comes close and fixes his gaze on the Word, the surroundings change to the colour of blood. Then he is warned to go away, as it is dangerous.'

[7] However, a certain person who in the world had been a leading writer on the doctrine of justification by faith alone, came boldly up saying, 'When I was in the world, I did not falsify the Word. Together with faith I also upheld charity, and I taught that a person in a state of faith, in which he acts charitably and does what charity requires, is renewed, regenerated and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. I also taught that there is no such thing as solitary faith, that is, separated from good deeds, just as there is no good tree without fruit, no sun without light, and no fire without heat. I also criticised those who claimed that good deeds were not necessary. Moreover I paid great attention to the Ten Commandments and to repentance, and so made a remarkable application of everything in the Word to my tenets about faith, which still I showed and proved to be the means of salvation.'

Thus confident of his claim not to have falsified the Word he approached the table, and despite the angel's warning touched the Word. There was a sudden burst of fire and smoke from the Word, and a loud explosion was heard which threw him into a corner of the room, where he lay for some time as if dead. The angelic spirits were surprised at this, but they were told that this leader had gone farther than the rest in praising the good deeds of charity as the product of faith; but still he had not put into this category any but political deeds, what are also called moral and civic duties, which need to be performed for the world's sake and one's prosperity there, and have very little to do with salvation. He had also imagined the existence of invisible activity by the Holy Spirit, quite unknown to the person concerned, which is engendered in his faith when he is in that state.

[8] The angelic spirits held a discussion about the falsification of the Word, and agreed that falsifying the Word consists in taking truths from it and using them to prove untrue propositions; this is done by taking truths from the Word out of context and murdering them. For instance, this happens if one uses all the truths mentioned above by the people from the abyss to support the present-day faith, and if one explains them in the light of that faith. It will be shown later that that faith is impregnated with false ideas. Or again, if anyone takes from the Word this truth, that one should show charity, and do good to one's neighbour; if anyone then uses it to prove that these things should be done, but not in order to be saved, since all the good a person does is not really good, because it is a way of seeking merit, that man is dragging that truth from the Word out of context and butchering it. For the Lord in His Word lays the duty on everyone who wants to be saved of loving his neighbour and doing good to him from love. It is the same with the other truths.

Footnotes:

1. This section is repeated with minor changes from Apocalypse Revealed 566.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Interaction of the Soul and Body #19

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19. To these observations I will add this MEMORABLE RELATION. After these pages were written, I prayed to the Lord that I might be permitted to converse with some disciples of ARISTOTLE, and at the same time with some disciples of DESCARTES, and with some disciples of LEIBNITZ, in order that I might learn the opinions of their minds concerning the interaction of the soul and the body. After my prayer was ended there came nine men - three Aristotelians, three Cartesians, and three LEIBNITZians and stood around me; the admirers of ARISTOTLE being on the left side, the followers of DESCARTES on the right, and the favourers of LEIBNITZ behind. At a considerable distance, and also at a distance from one another, I saw three persons crowned, as it were, with laurel, whom I knew, by an inflowing perception, to be those three great leaders or masters themselves. Behind LEIBNITZ stood a person holding the skirt of his garment, who, I was told, was Wolff. Those nine men, when they beheld one another, at first saluted one another with courteous speech, and talked together.

[2] But presently there arose from below a spirit with a torch in his right hand, which he shook before their faces, whereupon they became enemies, three against three, and looked fiercely at one another, for they were seized with the lust of altercation and dispute. Then the Aristotelians, who were also Schoolmen, began to speak, saying, "Who does not see that objects flow through the senses into the soul, as a man enters through the doors into a chamber, and that the soul thinks according to such influx? When a lover sees a beautiful virgin, or his bride, does not his eye sparkle, and transmit the love of her into the soul? When a miser sees bags of money, does he not burn towards them with every sense, and thence cause this ardour to enter the soul, and excite the desire of possessing them? When a proud man hears himself praised by another, does he not prick up his ears, and do not these transmit those praises to the soul? Are not the senses of the body like outer courts, through which alone entrance is obtained to the soul? From these considerations and innumerable others of similar nature, who can conclude otherwise than that influx proceeds from nature, or is physical?"

[3] While they were speaking thus, the followers of DESCARTES held their fingers on their foreheads; and now withdrawing them they replied, saying, "Ah, you speak from appearances. Do you not know that the eye does not love a virgin or bride from itself, but from the soul; and likewise that the senses of the body do not covet the bags of money from themselves, but from the soul; and also that the ears do not devour the praises of flatterers in any other manner? Is it not perception that causes sensation? And perception is of the soul, and not of the bodily organ. Say, if you can, what causes the tongue and lips to speak, but the thought; and what causes the hands to work, but the will? And thought and will are of the soul, and not of the body. Thus, what causes the eye to see, and the ears to hear, and the other organs to feel, but the soul? From these considerations, and innumerable others of a similar kind, everyone, whose wisdom rises above the things of the bodily senses, concludes that there is no influx of the body into the soul, but of the soul into the body; which influx we call Occasional, and also Spiritual Influx."

[4] When these had been heard, the three men who stood behind the former groups of three, and who were the favourers of LEIBNITZ, began to speak, saying, "We have heard the arguments on both sides, and have compared them; and we have perceived that in many particulars the latter are stronger than the former, and that in many others the former are stronger than the latter; wherefore, if you please, we will adjust the dispute." On being asked, "How?" they replied, "There is not any influx of the soul into the body, nor of the body into the soul; but there is a unanimous and instantaneous operation of both together, to which a celebrated author has assigned an elegant name, by calling it Pre-established Harmony."

[5] After this the spirit with a torch appeared again. Now, however, the torch was in his left hand, and he shook it behind their heads; whence the ideas of them all became confused, and they cried out at once, "Neither our soul nor our body knows which side we should take: wherefore let us settle this dispute by lot, and we will abide by the lot which comes out first." So they took three pieces of paper, and wrote on one of them, PHYSICAL INFLUX, on another, SPIRITUAL INFLUX, and on the third, PRE-ESTABLISHED HARMONY; and they put them all into the crown of a hat. They then chose one of their number to draw, who, on putting in his hand, took out that on which was written SPIRITUAL INFLUX. Having seen and read it, they all said - some with a clear and flowing, some with a faint and indrawn voice - "Let us abide by this, because it came out first."

[6] But then an angel suddenly stood by and said, "Do not imagine that the paper in favour of Spiritual Influx came out first by chance, for it was of Providence. Because you are in confused ideas, you do not see its truth; but the very truth presented itself to the hand of him that drew the lots, that you might yield it your assent."

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.