Coronis,
or Appendix,
to
True Christian Religion
Emanuel Swedenborg
PROPOSITION THE FIRST (2 - 4)
2. (1) There have been four churches on this earth from
the day of its creation: the First, which is to be called the Adamic; the
Second, the Noachian; the Third, the Israelitish; and the Fourth, the Christian.
That four churches have existed on this earth since the creation of the world,
manifestly appears in Daniel; first, from the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a
dream, and, afterwards, from the four beasts rising up out of the sea.
Concerning the statue of Nebuchadnezzar we read as follows:
Daniel said,
Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great statue. And the appearance thereof was
excellent, standing before thee, and the aspect thereof was terrible. The head
of this statue was of good gold; its breast and arms, of silver; its belly and
its thighs, of brass; its legs, of iron; its feet, partly of iron and partly of
clay. Thou sawest until a stone was cut out, which was not by hands, and smote
the statue upon its feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them in pieces.
Then were the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in
pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; so
that the wind carried them away, and no place was found for them: but the stone,
which smote the statue, became a great rock, and filled the whole earth. In
these days shall the God of the heavens raise up a kingdom, which shall not be
destroyed to the ages; and His kingdom shall not be entrusted to another people:
it shall break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms, but it shall stand to
the ages (Dan. 2:31-35, 44).
This dream did not signify four political
kingdoms on this earth, but four churches, which should follow one after
another, may be evident from the following considerations:
(1) That such
kingdoms, one after another, have not existed on this earth.
(2) That the Divine
Word, in its bosom, does not treat of the kingdoms of the world, but of
churches, which constitute the kingdom of God on the earth.
(3) Also, because it
is said that the God of the heavens shall raise up a kingdom which shall not be
destroyed to the ages, and that a stone, cut out, not by hands, became a great
rock, which filled the whole earth.
(4) And, because the Lord our Saviour Jesus
Christ, in the Word of both Testaments, is called the "Stone" and "Rock," it is
manifest that His kingdom is meant by the last words in this passage.
(5)
Moreover, the state of the church is described, in innumerable passages of the
Word, by "gold," "silver," "brass," and "iron;" its spiritual state as to the
good of love by "gold," its spiritual state as to the truth of wisdom by
"silver," its natural state as to the good of charity by "brass," and its
natural state as to the truth of faith by "iron," as may be seen confirmed from
the Word in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 913), and elsewhere.
[2] For this
reason, the wise in the first ages, who knew the significations of metals,
compared the ages, which were to follow one another from the first to the last,
to those four metals, and called the first age "golden," the second age
"silver," the third age "copper," and the fourth age "iron;" and they described
them thus according to goods and truths; and because genuine goods and truths
are from no other origin than from the God of heaven, they described them
according to the states of the church with those who lived in those ages; for
from these, and according to these, all the civil states of kingdoms as to
justice and judgment exist, flourish and live.
[3] That the Lord the
Saviour Jesus Christ is called the "Stone" and "Rock" in the Word of both
Testaments, is plain from the following passages. That He is called a "Stone"
from these:
Thus said the Lord Jehovih, Behold I will found in Zion a Stone
of probation, a precious corner of well-established foundation; he who hath
believed will not make haste; then I will set judgment for the rule, and justice
for the plummet (Isa. 28:16, 17).
Jehovah will visit His flock. From Him is
the cornerstone (Zech. 10:3, 4).
The stone which the architects rejected is
become the head of the corner (Ps. 118:22).
Have ye not read in the Scripture
that the Stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner?
(Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:10, 11; Luke 20:17, 18; Isa. 8:14, 15).
Ye have come to
the Lord, the living Stone, rejected indeed of men, but chosen of God; ye
yourselves also, as living stones, are built up into a spiritual
house;...therefore, it is said in the Scripture, I lay in Zion a corner-stone,
elect, precious, and he who believeth on Him shall not be ashamed (1 Peter
2:4-6).
Ye are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, whose
corner-stone is Jesus Christ, by whom the whole building, well cemented
together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; by whom ye are built together
into a habitation of God in the spirit (Eph. 2:20, 21, 22).
Jesus Christ is
the Stone, rejected by the builders, which is become the head of the corner; and
there is no salvation in any other (Acts 4:11, 12).
The Lord is called the
"Rock," is evident from these passages in the Word:
When Jeshurun became fat,
he kicked...and he forsook God who made him, and despised the Rock of his
salvation (Deut. 32:15, 18, 30).
The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel
spake to me (2 Sam. 23:3).
Let the words of my mouth be well-pleasing, O
Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer (Ps. 19:14).
And they remembered that God
was their Rock, and the High God their Redeemer (Ps. 78:35).
They all drank
spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual Rock; the Rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4; Exod. 17:6).
From these passages, it is now manifestly evident, that
by the "Stone" which smote the statue, and became a great rock and filled the
whole earth, and whose kingdom shall stand to ages of ages, is meant our Lord
Jesus Christ.
3. The same four churches on this earth are described by four "beasts" rising up
out of the sea, in Daniel, of which it is there written:
The first was seen
like a lion, but it had eagle's wings. I beheld until the wings thereof were
plucked out, and it was lifted up from the earth, and it was erect like a man
upon feet, and a man's heart was given to it. Afterwards, behold another beast,
a second, like a bear, and it raised up itself on one side; three ribs were in
its mouth between the teeth: moreover, they were saying thus unto it, Arise,
devour much flesh. After these things, I beheld, and, lo, another, like a
leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings, like birds' wings; the beast
had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. After this, I saw in the
night visions, and behold a fourth beast, terrible and dreadful, and strong
exceedingly, which had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and
trampled the residue with its feet; but it was diverse from all the beasts that
were before it, and it had ten horns. I beheld till the thrones were cast down
and the Ancient of days did sit; and the judgment was set, and the books were
opened; and behold, one like the Son of man was coming with the clouds of the
heavens. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all
peoples, nations and tongues should worship Him: His dominion is a dominion of
an age, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not perish
(Daniel chap. 7:3-7, 9, 10, 13, 14, seq.).
By these beasts, in like manner, are
meant and described those four churches, is manifest from all the particulars
there, which shall be unfolded shall their order in the following pages: more
especially from the last expressions there, that after those four beasts the Son
of man will come, to whom shall be given dominion, and a kingdom which shall not
pass away and perish; who, also, is meant by "the Stone made into a great Rock,
which shall fill the whole earth," as may be seen above.
[2] That the states of the
church are likewise described in the Word by beasts, as well as by metals, is
evident from numberless passages, some only of which I will adduce here; which
are as follows:
Thou causest the rain of benevolences to drop; thou wilt
confirm thy laboring inheritance; the beast of thy assembly shall dwell therein
(Ps. 68:9, 10).
Every wild beast of the forest is Mine, the beasts in the
mountains of thousands; I know every bird of the mountains, the beasts of My
fields are with Me (Ps. 50:10, 11).
Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon, his
height was exalted; all the birds of the heavens made their nests in his boughs,
and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth, and in his
shadow dwelt all great nations (Ezek. 31:3, 5, 6, 13; Dan. 4:7-13).
In that
day will I make a covenant for them with the beast of the field, and with the
bird of the heavens, and I will betroth Myself unto thee to eternity (Hos. 2:18,
19).
Rejoice and be glad, fear not, ye beasts of My fields, for the
habitations of the desert are become herbaceous (Joel 2:21, 22).
Thou, son of
man, say to the bird of every wing, and to every beast of the field, Gather
yourselves together to My sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel: thus I will
give My glory among the nations (Ezek. 39:17, 20, 21).
The enemy hath
reproached Jehovah; give not the soul of the turtledove unto the beast (Ps.
74:18, 19).
Jehovah gathereth the outcasts of Israel; every beast of My
fields, come ye (Isa. 56:8, 9).
The spirit driving Jesus, caused Him to go
forth into the wilderness; and He was with the beasts, and the angels ministered
unto Him (Mark 1:12, 13).
He was not with beasts, but with devils, with whom
He fought and whom He subdued; besides a thousand other passages, which are in
part adduced in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 567). Moreover, it is known that the
Lord Himself, in the Word, is called a "Lamb" and also a "Lion;" likewise, that
the Holy Spirit was represented as a "dove;" that the "cherubim," also, by which
the Word in the literal sense is signified, appeared like "four beasts," in
Ezekiel and in the Apocalypse; and that the man of the church who acknowledges
the Lord as his God and Shepherd, is called a "sheep;" and, on the other hand,
he who does not acknowledge Him, , is called a "he-goat" and also a "dragon;"
and that an assembly of the latter is described, in like manner as in Daniel,
by:
The beast out of the sea like a leopard, the feet of which were as it
were a bear's, and his mouth as it were a lion's (Apoc. 13:1, 2).
These
comparisons originate from the spiritual world, where all the affections and the
thoughts therefrom, of angels and spirits, are presented at a distance from them
as beasts which also appear in a form in all respects similar to that of the
beasts in the natural world; the affections of the love of good as gentle beasts
and good uses, but the affections of the love of evil as savage beasts and evil
uses. Hence it is that "beasts" are so often named in the Word; and by them in
the spiritual sense are signified affections, inclinations, perceptions and
thoughts. From these things it is manifest what is meant by "creatures" in the
following passages:
Jesus commanded the disciples to go into all the world,
and preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).
If anyone be in Christ,
he is a new creature; old things have passed away, and all things are become new
(2 Cor. 5:17).
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creature of God (Apoc. 3:14).
By "creatures," here, are
meant those who can be created anew, that is, regenerated, and thus become of
the Lord's church.
4. That there have been four churches on this earth, one before the flood, which is
to be called the Adamic; the second, after the flood, which is to be called the
Noachic; and the third, after this, which was the Israelitish; also the fourth,
which exists at this day, and is called the Christian, will be demonstrated in
the following pages, in the exposition of each of them separately.
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