The Faith of
the New Church
Selection from
A BRIEF EXPOSITION
of the
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH
signified by
THE NEW JERUSALEM IN THE APOCALYPSE
Translated from the Latin of
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
The faith of the New Church cannot by any
means be together with the faith of the former church, and if they are
together, such a collision and conflict will take place that everything of the
Church with man will perish.
BRIEF ANALYSIS.
The reason why the faith of the New Church cannot by any means be together with
the faith of the former or present church, is, because they do not agree
together in one third, no, nor even in one tenth part. The faith of the former
church is described in Revelation (chap. 12) by "the dragon," but the faith of
the New Church by "the woman encompassed with the sun, having upon her head a
crown of twelve stars, whom the dragon pursued, and at whom he cast water as a
flood, that he might swallow her up," see above (n. 87-90). These two cannot be
together in one city, much less in one house, consequently they cannot be
together in one mind; and if they should be together, the unavoidable
consequence must be, that the woman would be continually exposed to the anger
and insanity of the dragon, and in fear lest he should devour her son; for it is
said in Revelation, that:
The dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered, in order to devour her offspring, and the woman, after she had brought forth, fled into the wilderness (Rev. 12:1, 4, 6, 14-17).
The faith of the former church is a faith of the night, for human reason has no
perception of it; wherefore it is also said, that the understanding must be kept
in obedience thereto; yea, it is not known whether it be within man or without
him, because nothing of man's will and reason enters into it, no, nor charity,
good works, repentance, the Law of the Decalogue, with many other things which
really exist in the mind of man. That this is the case, may be seen above (n.
79, 80, 96-98). But the faith of the New Church enters into a conjugial covenant
with all these, and conjoins itself to them; and because it is thus in the heat
of heaven, it is also in the light thereof, and is a faith of light. Now a faith
of night and a faith of light cannot be together any more than an owl and a dove
in one nest. For in such case the owl would lay her eggs, and the dove hers, and
after sitting, the young of both would be hatched, and then the owl would tear
in pieces the young of the dove, and would give them to her own young for food;
for the owl is a bird of prey.
There is a further reason why the faith of the
former church and the faith of the New Church cannot possibly be together, and
that is, because they are heterogeneous; for the faith of the former church
springs from an idea of three gods, see n. 30-38, but the faith of the New
Church from the idea of one God; and as there hence arises a heterogeneity
between them, there must inevitably, if they are together, be such a collision
and conflict, that everything of the church would perish; that is, man would
either fall into a delirium or into a swoon, as to spiritual things, until at
length he would scarcely know what the church is, or whether there be any
church.
From what has been said, it follows, that they who have confirmed
themselves in the faith of the old church, cannot, without endangering their
spiritual life, embrace the faith of the New Church, until they first have
disproved its particulars, and thus have extirpated the former faith, together
with its offspring or eggs, that is, its dogmas; the nature of which has been
already shown in the foregoing pages, particularly at n. 64-69.
The like would happen
if anyone should embrace the faith of the New Church, and retain the faith of
the old church concerning the imputation of the justice or merit of the Lord;
for from this, as from their root, all its dogmas, like so many offshoots, have
sprung forth. If this should be the case, it would comparatively be like anyone
extricating himself from three heads of the dragon, and becoming entangled in
his four remaining ones; or like one who fled from a leopard, and met a lion; or
like one escaping out of a pit where there is no water, and falling into a pit
full of water, and being drowned. That this is the case, will be seen after the
exposition of the following proposition, where something will be advanced
concerning imputation.
(Brief Exposition 102 - 104)
If you are interested in studying the entirety of A Brief Exposition, it is available on line:
A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church |
