1. THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

A statement of faith, set out in both universal and particular terms, is placed at the beginning to serve as a preface to the book which follows, to be like a doorway leading into a church, and a summary presenting in a short compass what follows at more length. It is called the faith of the new heaven and the new church, because heaven, where the angels are, and the church among men form a single unit, just as the internal and external sides of the personality make up a single individual. This is why a member of the church who possesses the good of love which arises from the truths of faith, and possesses the truths of faith which arise from the good of love, is, so far as the interiors of his mind are concerned, an angel of heaven. Therefore too after dying he comes into heaven, and there enjoys happiness depending upon how far the good and truth are linked. It should be known that in the new heaven, which is at the present time being established by the Lord, this statement of faith serves as its preface, doorway and summary.

329. The Ten Commandments contain everything to do with love for God and everything to do with love towards the neighbour.

Eight of the Ten Commandments, the first, second, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth contain no mention of love for God and love towards the neighbour. They do not tell us that God is to be loved, nor that God's name is to be kept holy, nor that the neighbour is to be loved, nor that he should be treated honestly and uprightly; they merely say 'There is not to be any other God before my face; you are not to take the name of God in vain; you are not to commit murder; you are not to commit adultery; you are not to steal; you are not to bear false witness; you are not to covet what is your neighbour's.' In general, they prescribe that evil is not to be willed, thought or done, either against God or against the neighbour. The reason why we are not commanded to do what is directly the work of love and charity, but only to avoid doing their opposites, is that in so far as a person shuns evils as sins, so far does he will the good actions of love and charity. It will be seen in the chapter on charity [Chapter 7] that the first point of love for God and love towards the neighbour is not to do evil, and their second point is to do good.

[2] There are two contradictory loves, the love of willing and doing good, and the love of willing and doing evil. The latter love is the love of hell, the former the love of heaven. The whole of hell possesses the love of doing evil, the whole of heaven possesses the love of doing good. Now since human beings are by birth prone to evils of every kind, and from birth on they tend towards the pursuits of hell, being unable to enter heaven unless they are born again, that is, regenerated, the evils which belong to hell must first be removed, before a person can will the good deeds which belong to heaven. For no one can be adopted by the Lord, until he has parted with the devil. The manner in which evils are removed and a person is brought to do good will be demonstrated in two chapters, those on Repentance [Chapter 9] and Reformation and Regeneration [Chapter 10].

[3] The Lord teaches in Isaiah that evils must first be removed before the good deeds performed by a person become good in the sight of God:

Wash yourselves, purify yourselves, remove the wickedness of your works from before my eyes; [cease to do evil;] learn to do good. Then if your sins were as scarlet, they will become white as snow; if they were red like purple, they will be like wool, Isaiah 1:16-18.

There is another passage like this in Jeremiah:

Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and there proclaim this word.

Thus spoke Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel: make your ways good, and your works also. Put not your trust in lying words, saying, This is Jehovah's temple, this is Jehovah's temple, this is Jehovah's temple (that is, His church). Will you, after stealing, murdering and committing adultery and swearing falsely, then come and stand in my presence in this house, upon which my name is written, and say, We were carried away, when you do all these abominations? Has this house become a robbers' cave? Behold, even I have seen it, this is the word of Jehovah, Jeremiah 7:2-4, 9-11.

[4] We are also taught in Isaiah that before washing or purification from evils, prayers addressed to God are not heard:

Jehovah says, Woe to the nation that sins, the people weighed down with iniquity. They have banished themselves back again; from which place when you spread out your hands, I hide my eyes from you. Even though you pray time and again, I do not hear, Isaiah 1:4, 15.

The person who keeps the Ten Commandments and shuns evils is attended by love and charity; this is proved by the Lord's words in John:

Jesus said, He who has my commandments and does them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I shall love him and show myself to him; and we shall make our dwelling with him, John 14:21, 23.

Commandments there mean especially the Ten Commandments, which state that evil actions are not to be done nor longed for, and that thus a person's love for God, and God's love for him, follow, just as good does when evil has been removed.

226. (i) THE WORD IS NOT TO BE UNDERSTOOD WITHOUT DOCTRINE.

This is because the Word in its literal sense is composed of nothing but correspondences, in order that it should simultaneously hold spiritual and celestial meanings; and every single word is a container and support for these. That is why in the literal sense the Divine truths are rarely uncovered, but are clothed. They are then called appearances of truth, and in many cases are made suitable to be understood by the simple, who do not lift their gaze above what is in front of their eyes. Some appear to be contradictions, when in fact there is no contradiction, if the Word is looked at by its own spiritual light. Moreover in some passages of the Prophets there are collections of place-names and personal names, from which no sort of sense can be extracted. Seeing that the Word is like this in its literal sense, it can easily be established that it could not be understood without doctrine.

The Word is not to be understood without doctrine. Doctrine is to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word. But Divine truth, on which doctrine is based, is not visible to any but those who are enlightened by the Lord.

[2] But let us take examples to illustrate this. It is said that Jehovah regrets (Exodus 32:12, 14; Jonah 3:9; 4:2); and also that Jehovah does not regret (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29). These statements cannot be reconciled without doctrine. It is said that Jehovah visits the wickedness of the fathers upon the sons, to the third or fourth generation (Numbers 14:18); and also that a father shall not die on account of his son, nor a son on account of his father, but each in his own sin (Deuteronomy 24:16). Doctrine can show that these statements do not conflict, but are in harmony.

[3] Jesus says:

Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find. To him that knocks, the door shall be opened, Matthew 7:7-8; 21:21-22.

Without doctrine one might believe that each will receive what he asks for; but we know from doctrine that whatever a person asks from the Lord, that is granted. For this too is what the Lord teaches:

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you will, and it will be done for you, John 15:7.

[4] The Lord says:

Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God, Luke 6:20.

Without doctrine one might think that heaven was for the poor and not the rich; but doctrine instructs us that the poor in spirit are meant, for the Lord says:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens, Matthew 5:3.

[5] The Lord says further:

Do not judge, so that you are not judged; with whatever judgment you judge, so will you be judged, Matthew 7:1-2; Luke 6:37.

Without doctrine anyone could be induced to assert that we must not judge wicked people to be wicked; but doctrine tells us we may judge, so long as we do so justly. For the Lord says:

Give just judgments, John 7:24.

[6] Jesus says:

Do not have yourselves called teacher, for you have one teacher, Christ. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for you have one father in the heavens. And do not have yourselves called master, for you have one master, Christ, Matthew 23:8-10.

Without doctrine this would mean that we are not to call anyone teacher, father or master; but doctrine tells us that we may do so in the natural sense, but not in the spiritual.

[7] Jesus said to the disciples:

When the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you too will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, Matthew 19:28.

One might infer from these words that the Lord's disciples too are to act as judges, though in fact they can judge no one. Doctrine therefore will reveal the mystery by the fact that the Lord alone, who is omniscient, and knows the hearts of all, can and will be judge. His twelve disciples mean the church in respect of all its truths and all its kinds of good, which are given to it by the Lord by means of the Word. Doctrine infers from this that it is the truths and kinds of good which will judge everyone, as the Lord said in John (John 3:17-18; 12:47-48). There are many more passages like this in the Word, which show plainly that the Word cannot be understood without doctrine.