The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.

By Emanuel Swedenborg

(First published 1763)

A translation of Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae de Domino, by Emanuel Swedenborg, 1688-1772. Translated from the Original Latin by N. Bruce Rogers.

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Translator’s Table of Contents

PREFACE

The Holy Scripture Throughout Has the Lord As Its Subject, and the Lord Embodies the Word. 1

The Statement That the Lord Fulfilled All of the Law Means That He Fulfilled All of the Word. 8

The Lord Came into the World to Conquer the Hells and Glorify His Humanity; and the Suffering of the Cross Was the Final Battle by Which He Fully Overcame the Hells and Fully Glorified His Humanity. 12

By His Suffering of the Cross the Lord Did Not Take Away Sins, but Bore Them. 15

An Imputation of the Lord’s Merit Is Nothing Else Than the Forgiveness of Sins Following Repentance. 18

In Relation to His Divine Humanity the Lord Is Called the Son of God, and in Relation to the Word the Son of Man. 19

The Lord Made His Humanity Divine from the Divine in Him, and So Was United with the Father. 29

The Lord Is God Himself, the Origin of and Subject of the Word. 37

There Is One God, and the Lord Is That God. 45

The Holy Spirit Is the Divinity Emanating from the Lord, and It Is the Lord Himself. 46

The New Church Is Meant by the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation. 62

PREFACE

Several years ago we published the following five short works:

1. Heaven and Hell.

2. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem.

3. The Last Judgment.

4. The White Horse.

5. The Planets and Earths in the Universe.

In them we presented to view a number of things hitherto unknown.

Now, by command of the Lord, who has been revealed to me, I am to publish the following:

- The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord.

- The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture.

- A Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem Based on the Ten Commandments.

- The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith.

- A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment.

- Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Providence.

- Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Infinity and Eternity.

- Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.

- Angelic Wisdom Regarding Life.

We say The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, but we mean doctrine for the New Church, a church which is today being established by the Lord. For the former church has reached its end, as can be seen from what we said in the short work, The Last Judgment 33-39, and from what we are going to say later in the short works just named.

The fact that the New Jerusalem to come after the Judgment, as foretold in the twenty-first chapter of the book of Revelation, means the New Church may be seen in the final section here below.

12. The Lord Came into the World to Conquer the Hells and Glorify His Humanity; and the Suffering of the Cross Was the Final Battle by Which He Fully Overcame the Hells and Fully Glorified His Humanity

People in the church know that the Lord conquered death, which means hell, and that He afterward ascended with glory into heaven. But they still do not know that the Lord overcame death or hell by means of battles, which are temptations or trials; that by these means He at the same time glorified His humanity; and that the suffering of the cross was the final battle or trial by which He overcame hell or death and glorified His humanity.

Much is said about these trials in the Prophets and Psalms, but not so much in the Gospels. In the latter, the temptations or trials He endured in childhood are summarized and described by His trials in the wilderness and subsequent temptations by the devil, and the last ones by those He suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross.

[2] Regarding His trials in the wilderness and subsequent temptations by the devil, see Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13. However, all His temptations and trials are meant by these, even to the last of them. He revealed no more to His disciples concerning them, for we are told in Isaiah:

He was oppressed..., yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, He also opened not His mouth. (Isaiah 53:7)

Regarding His temptations or trials in Gethsemane, see Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, and Luke 22:39-46. And regarding His temptations or trials on the cross, see Matthew 27:33-56, Mark 15:22-38, Luke 23:33-49, and John 19:17-37.

Temptations or trials are nothing else than battles against the hells. Regarding the Lord’s temptations or battles, see the book The New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, published in London, nos. 201 and 302. And regarding temptations in general, see nos. 187-200 there.