BX 
 < 8712 
 .18 
 
 183 9 
 
± /3 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 or THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 C<t BX 8712 .B8 1839 
 
 ' S7 ' S ^^2 nb ° rg ' Emanuel > 1688 
 
 A brief exposition of thp 
 
\ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2014 
 
 https://archive.org/details/briefexpositionoOOswed 
 
BRIEF EXPOSITION 
 
 DOCTRINE 
 
 THE NEW CHURCH, 
 
 WHICH IS MEANT BY THE 
 
 NEW JERUSALEM IN THE APOCALYPSE. 
 
 TRANSLATED FJK5M THE LATIN OF 
 
 EMANUEL "SWEDENBORG, 
 
 ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AT AMSTERDAM IN THE YEAf 
 
 I John saw the holy city, Now Jerusalem, coming down from Go<] out of heaven, pro- 
 pared aa a Bride adorned lor lier lliediuud. And He that 6at upon the throne said 
 Behold 1 make all things new: and He said unto me, Write, lor these words are true 
 and faithful ApocALvrss, chap. xxi. verso 2, 5. 
 
 liojston : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY OTIS CLAPP, 
 
 121 Washington Street. 
 
 1839. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 INTRODUCTION 1 
 
 The Doctrmak of the R an Catholics confer s J ust i lioat i.in, from the Council of 
 
 Trent . 1 
 
 The Doctrinals <.l* tho Protestants concerning Justification, from the Formula Con- 
 cordite 5 
 
 A Sketch of the Doctrinals of the New Church 14 
 
 1 lie Disagreements between the Tenets of the Old and New Church, considered un- 
 der XXV Articles from page 14 to C3 
 
 I. That the Churches, which by the Reformation separated themselves from 
 the Roman Catholic Church, dissent in various Points of Doctrine ; but that 
 they all agree in the Articles concerning a Trinity of Persons in the God- 
 head, Original Si.i from Adam, Imputation of the Merit of Christ, and Jus- 
 
 II. Thai' the Roman i aili.,1 irs, 'before. 'tlx' ReVonna't io'n','h'e'ld anil taught exact- 
 ly the same Things as the Reformed did alter it, in Respect to the four Arti- 
 cles above mentioned, namely, a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original 
 Sin, Imputation ot'the Merit of Christ, and Justification by Faith therein ; 
 only with this diflerence, that they conjoined that Faith with Charity or 
 Good Works 16 
 
 III. That the leading Reformers, Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin, retained all 
 the Tenets concerning a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original Sin, 
 Imputation of I lie Abuts of Christ, and Justification by Faith, just as they 
 were and had been among the Roman Catholics ; but that they separated 
 Charity or Good Works from that Faith, and declared that they were not at 
 the same Time of a saving Efficacy, with a View to ho totally severed from 
 the Roman Catholics as to the vcry'L'ssciitlals of the Church, which are Faith 
 and Charity 17 
 
 IV. That nevertheless the leading Reformers adjoined Good Works, and even 
 con joined them, to their Faith, but in Man as a passive Subject; whereas 
 the Roman Catholics conjoin them in Man as an active Subject ; and that 
 notwithstanding there is actually a Conformity between the one and the 
 other as to Faith, Works, and Merits 18 
 
 V. That the w hole System of Theology i" the Christian World, at this Day, is 
 founded on an Idea of Three Gods', arising from the Doctrine of a Trinity 
 
 of Persons 20 
 
 VI. That tho Tenetsof the aforesaid Theology appear to be erroneous, after the 
 Idea of a Trinity of Persons, and the consentient Idea of Three Gods, has been 
 rejected, and the Idea of One God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, received in 
 its stead 24 
 
 VII. That then true saving Faith, which is a Faith in One God, united with Good 
 Works, is acknowledged and received 25 
 
 VIII. And that this Faith is in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, which in its simple 
 Form is as follows : I. That tbero is One God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, 
 and that He is the Lord Jesus Christ. II. That saving Faith is to believe in 
 Him. III. That evils ought to be shunned, because they are of the Devil and 
 from the Devil. IV. That Good Works ought to be done, because they are of 
 God and from God. V. And that they ought to be done by Alan as of himself, 
 but with a belief, that they arc from the Lord, operating in Him and bv Him 26 
 
 IX. That the Faith of the present Day has separated Religion from the Chu- h, 
 since Religion consists in the Acknowledgment of One God, and i.i the 
 Worship of Him, from Faith grounded in Charily 28 
 
 X. That the Faith of the presen'. Church cannot bo conjoined with Charity, 
 and produce any Fruits, which arc Good Works 30 
 
 XI. That from the Faith of the present Church, there results a Worsbin of the 
 Mouth and not of the Life, whereas the Worship of the Mouth is accepted 
 by the Lord, in Proportion as it proceeds from the Worship of tho Idle ... 31 
 XII. That the Doctrine of the present Church is interwoven with many Para- 
 doxes, which are to be embraced by Faith ; and Hint therefore its Tenets 
 gain Admission into the Memory only, and not into any Part of the Un- 
 derstanding abovo the Memory, but merely into Confirmations below it . . . 39 
 XIII. That the Tenets of the present Church cannot he learnt and retained with- 
 out great Difficulty, nor can they be preached or taught without using great 
 Care and Caution to concoal their Nakedness, because sound Reason neither 
 discerns uor perceives them 3> 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XIV. That the nomine of the Faith of tin 
 man Properties; as that lie hehelcl M 
 reconciled, that He is reconciled thruu; 
 and hy Mis Intercession ; and that Hi 
 of His Son's Sulfeno^s, and thus to 
 He imputes the Righteousness of His 
 plicatcsitfrouiFaiih a lone ; and tlia. 
 
 l'rcdes.ination ; the 
 Men, lint unto Fail 
 and Faith; that Ma 
 sies ol'lhesainc Kin 
 the Holy Supper, as 
 ■when considered ar< 
 as also with Kegai 
 the first Agos to tl 
 
 than from t 
 XVI. That the la 
 hy the Con: 
 nod, .Matt. 
 XVII. That the li 
 Truth, or 
 
 XVIII. That'll,!!' 
 
 
 
 Tag* 
 
 scribes to God hu- 
 it He required to be 
 
 c rcy ; and that 
 Man who sup- 
 He makes Him 
 
 of Mercy : 
 Aclhons of 
 en Charity 
 more Hcre- 
 
 •er Source, 
 
 present justin 
 his two Beast* 
 
 rusnlcin, Heated ol in II 
 called the Bride and the 
 XXIV. That the Faith of the ; 
 
 the Faith of the forme 
 Collision and Conflict \ 
 
 Church in Man 
 
 XXV. That the Roman C ulm 
 the Merit of Christ, MM 
 Church was first initial 
 temal Forms of Woisl 
 fore, if they recede hut 
 immediately approach 
 holy Eucharist in both I 
 or the New Church of I 
 
 I n IT ti ol Hi.' 1 . j ----- r 1 1. 
 nets of the Faith of 
 wcalypse: "He that 
 gs new ; and He said 
 
 ," chap. xxi. 5 
 
 Lord, is the New Je- 
 
 x.vii., which is there 
 
 11ns he together with 
 
 Remarks 011 Imputation 67 
 
 Two Memorable Relations taken from ihe Aporalvjise Revealed 73 
 
 ArrcMii v, containing the Faith of the .New Heaven and New Church in its univer- 
 sal Form, and three Memorable Relations from the Apocalypse Revealed. . 79 
 
BRIEF EXPOSITION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH, 
 
 WHICH IS MEANT BY THE NEW JERUSALEM, 
 IN" THE APOCALYPSE. 
 
 1. Several works and tracts having been published by 
 me, during some years past, concerning the New Jerusalem, 
 whereby is meant a New Church about to be established by 
 the Lord, and the Apocalypse having been revealed, I am 
 come to a determination to lay before the world a complete- 
 view of the doctrine of that church in its full extent ; but, as 
 this is a work of some years, I have thought it advisable to 
 draw up some sort of sketch thereof, in order that a general 
 idea may first be formed of that church and its doctrine ; 
 because when general principles precede, then the several 
 particulars will appear at full in a clear light, for these enter 
 into general principles, as things homogeneous into their 
 proper receptacles. This compendium, however, is not 
 designed for critical examination, but is barely offered to the 
 world by way of information, as its contents will be proved 
 at large in the work itself. But it is necessary first to state 
 the doctrinals at present maintained concerning justification, 
 that the following contrast between the doctrines of the 
 present church, and those of the New Church, may be clearly 
 understood. 
 
 The Doctrinals of the Roman Catholics concerning 
 Justification, from the Council of Trent. 
 
 2. In the bull of pope Pius IV., dated 13th November, 
 1564, are the following words : " I embrace and receive every 
 thing, both generally and particularly, which the most holy 
 
2 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 Council of Trent hath determined and declared concerning 
 Original Sin and Justification." 
 
 3. From the Council of Trent, concerning Original Sin. 
 
 ( a ) That Adam, by his transgression, experienced an entire 
 change and depravation of nature, both in body and soul ; 
 and that the ill effects of Adam's transgression were not 
 confined to himself, but also extended to his posterity ; and 
 that it not only transmitted death and corporal sufferings 
 upon all mankind, but likewise sin, which is the death of the 
 soul, Sess. v. 1, 2. ( b ) That this sin of Adam, which origi- 
 nally was a single transgression, and has been transmitted by 
 propagation, and not by imitation, is so implanted in the na- 
 ture of every man, as to be his own, and cannot be done away 
 by any other means than by the merits of the only Saviour 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath reconciled us to God by His 
 blood, being made unto us righteousness, sanctification, and 
 redemption, Sess. v. 3. ( c ) That, by the transgression of 
 Adam, all men lost their innocence, and became unclean, and 
 by nature the children of wrath, Sess. vi. chap. 1. 
 
 4. Concerning Justification. ( a ) That our heavenly Father, 
 the Father of Mercies, sent Christ Jesus his Son into the 
 world, in the blessed fullness of time, as well to the Jews who 
 were under the law, as to the Gentiles who followed not after 
 righteousness, that they might all by hold of righteousness, 
 and receive the adoption of sons. Him God offered to be a 
 propitiation through faith in His blood, not only for our sins, 
 but likewise for the sins of the whole world, Sess. vi. chap. 2. 
 
 ( b ) Nevertheless, all do not receive the benefit of His death, 
 but only they to whom the merit of His passion is communi- 
 cated; so that, unless they are born again in Christ, they cam 
 never be justified, Sess. vi. chap. 3. ( 6 j That the beginning 
 of justification is to be derived from the preventing grace of 
 God through Christ Jesus, that is, from His call, Sess. vi. 
 chap. 5. ( c ) That men are disposed to righteousness, when, 
 being stirred up by divine grace, and conceiving faith by 
 hearing, they are freely moved towards God, believing those 
 tilings to be true which are divinely revealed and promised : 
 and especially this, that the ungodly are justified by God 
 through His grace, through redemption, which is by Christ 
 Jesus ; and when, being convinced of sin from the fear of 
 divine justice, by which they arc profitably disquieted, they 
 are encouraged to hope, and to trust that God, for Chrisl 
 sake, will be propitious to them, Sess. vi. chap. <>. ( ') Thi 
 the consequence of this disposition and preparation i acti 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 3 
 
 justification, which is not only a remission of sins, but like- 
 wise a sanctification and renovation of the interior man, by 
 the reception of divine grace and gifts, whereby man from 
 being unrighteous becomes righteous, and from being an ene- 
 my a friend, so as to be an heir according to the hope of eter- 
 nal life, Sess. vi. chap. 7. ( p ) The final cause of justification 
 is the glory o r God and of Christ, and life eternal. The effi- 
 cient cause is God, who freely cleanses and sanctifies. The 
 meritorious cause is the dearly-beloved and only-begotten Son 
 of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when we were enemies, 
 through the great love wherewith He loved us, by His most 
 holy passion upon the cross, merited for us justification, and 
 made satisfaction for us to God the Father. The instrumental 
 cause is the sacrament of baptism, which is a sacrament of 
 faith, without which none can ever be justified. The formal 
 cruise is the sole righteousness of God ; not that whereby He 
 is righteous Himself, but that whereby He makes us righteous, 
 with which being gifted by Him, we are renewed in the spirit 
 of our mind ; and are not only reputed righteous, but arc 
 truly called righteous, and are so in reality, each according to 
 that measure which the Holy Spirit imparts to every one as it 
 pleaseth Ilim, Sess. vi. chap. 7, § "2. (' ) That justification 
 is a translation from that state, wherein man is born a child 
 of the first Adam, into a state of grace and adoption among 
 the sons of God by the second Adam, our Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 Sess. vi. chap. 4. 
 
 5. Concerning Faith, Charity, Good Works, and Merits. 
 ( a ) When the apostle declares, that man is justified by faith, 
 and freely, these words are to be understood in the sense 
 wherein the Catholic church has uniformly held and express- 
 ed them, to wit, that we are said to be justified by faith, be- 
 cause faith is the commencement of man's salvation, the foun- 
 dation and root of all justification, without which it is impos- 
 sible to please God, and attain to the fellowship of His chil- 
 dren : but we are said to be justified freely, because none of 
 those things which precede justification, whether faith or 
 works, merit the actual grace of justification ; for if it be 
 grace, it is not of works, otherwise grace would not be grace, 
 Sess. vi. chap. 8. ('•) Although none can be righteous, but 
 they to whom the merits of the passion of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ are communicated, nevertheless that is effected in jus- 
 tification, when, by the merit of the same most holy passion, 
 the love of God is infused by the Holy Ghost into the hearts 
 of those who are justified, and abideth in them : hence, in 
 
4 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 the act of justification, man receives, together with the re- 
 mission of his sins, all these things infused into him at once 
 by Jesus Christ, in whom he is ingrafted by faith, hope, and 
 charity : for faith, unless charity be added to it, neither unites 
 perfectly to Christ, nor constitutes a living member of His 
 body, Sess. vi. chap. 7, § 3. ( c ) That Christ is not only a 
 Redeemer, in whom we are to have faith, but also a Lawgiver, 
 whom we must obey, Sess. vi. chap. 10, can. 21. ('') That 
 faith without works is dead and vain, because in Christ Je- 
 sus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircum- 
 cision, but faith which worketh by love : for faith without hope 
 ;.nd charity cannot avail unto eternal life ; wherefore also they 
 hearken to the word of Christ, " If thou wilt enter into life, 
 keep the commandments :" thus they who are born again, 
 receiving true Christian righteousness, are commanded to keep 
 it white and unspotted, as their first robe, given them by Je- 
 sus Christ, instead of that which Adam lost both for himself 
 and us by his disobedience, that they may present it before 
 the tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ, and obtain eternal life, 
 Sess. vi. chap. 7, § 4. ( e ) That there is a continual influx 
 of power from Jesus Christ Himself into those who are justi- 
 fied, as from a head into the members, and from a vine into 
 the branches ; which power always precedes, accompanies and 
 ibllows their good works, and without which they could hot 
 by any means be acceptable and meritorious in the sight of 
 God ; wherefore we are to believe, that nothing more is want- 
 ing to those who arc justified ; but they may be fully assured, 
 that by those works which have been wrought in God, they 
 have merited eternal life, which will be bestowed upon tlieni 
 in due time, Sess. vi. chap. 10. (') When we speak of our 
 own righteousness, we do not mean as though it were our own 
 from ourselves ; for that which is termed our righteousness, is 
 the righteousness of God, being infused into us by God through 
 the merit of Christ : far be it, therefore, from any Christian 
 man to trust or glory in himself, and not in the Lord, whose 
 goodness towards us men is so great, that he vouchsafes to 
 regard those things as our merits, which are His own gifts, 
 Sess. vi. chap. 10. (s) For of ourselves, as of ourselves, we 
 can do nothing ; but by His co-operation, who strengthens 
 us, we can do all things : thus man hath not whereof to glory, 
 but all our glory is in Christ, in whom we live, in whom we 
 merit, in whom we make satisfaction, bringing forth fruits 
 worthy of repentance, which have their efheacy from Him, 
 arc offered unto the Father by Him, and are accepted by the 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 5 
 
 Father through Him, Sess. xiv. chap. 8. ('') Whosoever shall 
 say that man may be justified in the sight of God by his own 
 Works, which are done either through the powers of human 
 nature, or through the teaching of the law, without divine 
 grace through Christ Jesus, let him be accursed, Sess. vi. can. 
 1. (') Whosoever shall say, that man may believe, hope, and 
 love, (that is, have faith, hope, and charity,) as is necessary 
 in order that the grace of justification may be conferred upon 
 him, without the preventing inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 
 and His assistance, let him be accursed, Sess. vi. can. 2. 
 ( k ) Whosoever shall say, that man is justified without the 
 righteousness of Christ, whereby he hath merited for us, let 
 him be accursed, Sess. vi. can. 10. Not to mention many 
 more passages, principally relating to the conjunction of faith 
 with charity or good works, and condemning their separa- 
 tion. 
 
 6. Concerning Free-will. ( a ) That free-will is by no means 
 destroyed by Adam's sin, although it is debilitated and warped 
 thereby, Sess. vi. chap. 1. ('■) Whosoever shall say, that the 
 free-will of man, when moved and stirred up by God, cannot 
 at all co-operate by concurring with God, who stirrcth it up 
 and calleth it, whereby man may dispose and prepare him- 
 self to receive the grace of justification ; or that he cannot 
 dissent if he would, but that, like a thing inanimate, he is 
 merely passive, and has not the least power of action, let him 
 be accursed, Sess. vi. can. 4. 
 
 7. The Doctrinals of the Roman Catholics concerning Jus- 
 tification, as collected from the Decrees of the Council of 
 Trent, men/ be summed up and arranged in a scries thus. 
 That the sin of Adam is transfused into the whole human 
 race, whereby his state, and likewise the state of all men, be- 
 came perverted, and alienated from God, and thus they were 
 made enemies and children of wrath; that therefore God the 
 Father graciously sent His Son to reconcile, expiate, atone, 
 satisfy, and thus to redeem, by being made righteousness. 
 That Christ accomplished and fulfilled all this, by offering up 
 Himself a sacrifice to God the Father upon the cross, and 
 thus by his passion and blood. That Christ alone hath merit- 
 ed, and that this His merit is graciously imputed, attributed, 
 applied, and transferred, to the man who is recipient thereof, 
 by God the Father through the Holy Spirit; and that thus 
 the sin of Adam is removed from man ; concupiscence, how- 
 ever, still remaining in him as an incentive to sin. That jus- 
 tification is the remission of sins, and that from thence a 
 
 1 * 
 
6 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 renovation of the interior man takes place, whereby man from 
 an enemy becomes a friend, and from being a child of wrath, 
 a child of grace ; and that thus union with Christ is effected, 
 and the regenerate person becomes a living member of His 
 body. 
 
 8. That faith comes by hearing, when a man believes those 
 things to be true which arc revealed from heaven, and trusts 
 in the promises of God. That faitli is the beginning of man's 
 salvation, the foundation and root of all justification, without 
 which it is impossible to please God, and enter into the fel- 
 lowship of His children ; that justification is brought about by 
 faith, hope, and charity : and that, unless faith be accompa- 
 nied by hope and charity, it is not living but dead, and inca- 
 pable of effecting union with Christ. That it is man's duty 
 to co-operate ; that he has the power to approach and recede, 
 otherwise nothing could be given unto him, for he would be 
 like an inanimate corpse. That, inasmuch as the reception of 
 justification renevveth man, and as this is effected by the ap- 
 plication of the merit of Christ, during man's co-operation, it 
 follows that works arc meritorious ; but inasmuch as they are 
 done from grace, and by the Holy Spirit, and as Christ alone 
 hath merited, therefore God considers His own gifts in man 
 as meritorious ; whence it follows, that no one ought to at- 
 tribute any thing of merit to himself. 
 
 The Doctrinals of the Protestants concerning Justi- 
 fication, from the Formula Concordia. 
 
 The book from whence the following extracts are collected, 
 js called Formula Concordia, or Form of Concord, and was 
 composed by persons attached to the Augsburg confession ; 
 and as the pages will be cited where the quotations are to be 
 met with, it is proper to observe, that I have made use of the 
 edition printed at Leipsic in the year 1756. 
 
 10. From the. Formula Concordia , concerning Original Sin. 
 That since the fall of Adam, all men naturally descended 
 from him arc born in sin, which brings damnation and eter- 
 nal death upon those who are not regenerated, and that the 
 merit of Christ is the only means whereby they are regenerat- 
 ed, consequently the only remedy whereby they are restored, 
 page 9, 10, 52, 53, 55, 317, 041, 644, and Appendix, p. 138, 
 139. ('») That original sin is such a total corruption of nature, 
 that there is no spiritual soundness in the powers of man either 
 US to his soul or body, p. 574. ( c ) That it is the source of all 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 7 
 
 actual sins, p. 317, 577, 639, C40, 942, Appendix, p. 139. 
 ( d ) That it is a total absence or privation of the image of God, 
 p. 040. ( e ) That we ought to distinguish between our nature, 
 such as God created it, and original sin, which dwelleth in 
 our nature, p. 04-5. (') Moreover original sin is there styled 
 the work of the devil, spiritual poison, the root of all evils, an 
 accident and a quality ; whereas our nature is there styled 
 the work and creature of God, the personality of man, a sub-, 
 stance and an essence ; and that the difference between them 
 is the same as the difference between a man infected with a 
 disease and the disease itself. 
 
 11. Of Justification by Faith. The general principles 
 are these : ( n ) That by the Word and sacraments the Holy 
 Ghost is given, who effects faith when and where he pleases, 
 in those who hear the gospel. ( b ) That contrition, justifica- 
 tion by faith, renovation, and good works, follow in due order ; 
 that they are to be properly distinguished one from the other ; 
 and that contrition and good works do not avail any thing 
 unto salvation, but faith alone. ( c ) That justification by faith 
 alone is remission of sins, deliverance from damnation, recon- 
 ciliation with the Father, adoption as sons, and is effected 
 by the imputation of the merit or righteousness of Christ. 
 ( d ) That hence Faith is that essential righteousness, whereby 
 we are accounted righteous before God, and that it is a trust 
 and confidence in grace. ( e ) That renovation, which follows, 
 is vivification, regeneration, and sanctification. ( l ) That good 
 works, which are the fruits of faith, being in themselves works 
 of the spirit, follow that renovation. (") That this faith may 
 be lost by grievous sins. The general principli s concerning 
 the Law and the Gospel are these : ( fl ) That we must careful- 
 ly distinguish between the law and the gospel, and between 
 the works of the law and the works of the spirit, which are 
 the fruits of faith. (') That the law is a doctrine which teaches 
 that man is in sin, and therefore under condemnation and the 
 wrath of God, thus exciting terror ; but that the gospel is a 
 doctrine which teaches atonement for sin, and deliverance 
 from damnation by Christ, and thus a doctrine of consolation. 
 ( k ) That there are three uses of the law, viz. to keep the 
 wicked within bounds, to bring men to an acknowledgment 
 of their sins, and to hold up to the regenerate a rule of life. 
 (') That the regenerate are in the law, but not under the law, 
 for they are under grace. (»») That it is the duty of the re- 
 generate to exercise themselves in the law, because, during 
 their life in the world, they arc prompted to sin by the lusts 
 
s 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 of the flesh ; but that they become pure and perfect after 
 death. (") That the regenerate are also chastised by the 
 Holy Ghost, and endure various afflictions, but that neverthe- 
 less they keep the law willingly, and thus, being the children 
 of God, live in obedience to the law. (°) That with those 
 who are not regenerated the veil of Moses still remaineth be- 
 fore their eyes, and the old Adam beareth rule ; but that with 
 the regenerate, the veil of Moses is taken away, and the old 
 Adam brought into subjection, or crucified. 
 
 12. Particulars from the Formula Concordia;, concerning 
 Justification by Faith without the Works of the Law. 
 ( a ) That faith is imputed for righteousness without works, on 
 account of the merit of Christ which is laid hold of by faith, 
 p. 78, 79, 80, 584, 689. ( b ) That charity follows justifying 
 faith, but that faith does not justify as being formed by chari- 
 ty, as the Papists say, p. 81, 89, 94, 117, 688, 691, Appen- 
 dix, p. 169. ( c ) That neither the contrition which precedes 
 faith, nor the renovation and sanctification which follow 
 after it, nor the good works then performed, have any thing to 
 do with justification by faith, p. 688, 689. ( d ) That it is a 
 folly to imagine, that the works of the second table of the 
 decalogue justify in the sight of God, for that table has rela- 
 tion to our transactions with men, and not properly with God ; 
 and the business of justification is between God and us, and 
 to appease His wrath, p. 102. ( e ) If anyone therefore believes 
 he can obtain the remission of his sins, because he is possessed 
 of charity, he brings a reproach on Christ, by an impious and 
 vain confidence in his own righteousness, p. 87, 89. (') That 
 good works are utterly to be excluded, in treating of justifica- 
 tion and eternal life, p. 589. (") That good works are not 
 necessary as a meritorious cause of salvation, and that they 
 do not enter into the act of justification, p. 589, 590, 702, 
 704, Appendix, p. 173. ('■) That the position, that good 
 works are necessary to salvation, is to be rejected, because il 
 takes away the comfort of the gospel, gives occasion to doubt 
 of the grace of God, instils a conceit of sclf-righteousness, and 
 because they are admitted by the Papists to support a bad 
 cause, p. 704. (') The expression, that good works are neces- 
 sary to salvation, is rejected and condemned, p. 591. ( k ) Th;it. 
 expressions, implying that good works are necessary unto sal- 
 vation, ought not to be taught and defended, but rather ex- 
 ploded and rejected by the churches as false, p. 705. (') That 
 works, which do not proceed from a true faith, are, in fact, 
 sins in the sight of God, that is to say, they are defiled with 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 9 
 
 sin, because a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, p. 
 700. ('") That faith and salvation are neither preserved nor 
 retained by good works, because these are only evidences that 
 the Holy Spirit is present, and dwelleth in us, p. 590, 705, 
 Appendix, p. 174. (") That the Decree of the Council of 
 Trent is deservedly to be rejected, which affirms, that good 
 works preserve salvation, or that justification by faith, or even 
 faith itself, is maintained and preserved, either in the whole, 
 or in the least part, by our works, p. 707. 
 
 13. Particulars from the Formula Concordia', concerning 
 the Fruits of Faith. ( a ) That a difference is to be observed 
 between the works of the law and the works of the spirit ; 
 and that the works which a regenerate person performs with 
 a free and willing mind, are not works of the law, but works 
 of the spirit, which are the fruits of faith ; because they who 
 are born again are not under the law, bat under grace, p. 5S9, 
 593, 721, 722. ( b ) That good works are the fruits of repent- 
 ance, p. 12. ( c ) That the regenerate receive by faith a new 
 life, new affections, and new works, and that these are from 
 faith in repentance, p. 134. That man after conversion 
 and justification begins to be renewed in his mind, and at 
 length in his understanding, and that then his will is not in- 
 active or backward in performing daily exercises of repentance, 
 p. 582, 073, 700. ( e ) That we ought to repent as well on 
 account of original sin, as on account of actual sins, p. 321, 
 Appendix, p. 159. (') That repentance with Christians con- 
 tinues until death, because they have to wrestle with the re- 
 mains of sin in the flesh as long as they live, p. 327. (=) That we 
 must enter upon, and advance more and more in, the practice of 
 the law of the decalogue, p. 85, 80. ('') That the regenerate, 
 although delivered from the curse of the law, ought neverthe- 
 less still to exercise themselves in the divine law, p. 718. 
 (') That the regenerate are not without the law, though not 
 under the law, for they live according to the law of the Lord, 
 p. 722. ( k ) That the law ought to be considered by the re- 
 generate as a rule of religious life, p. 596, 717, Appendix, p. 
 150. (') That the regenerate do good works, not by constraint, 
 but of their own accord and freely, as though they had re- 
 ceived no command, had heard of no threatenings, and expect- 
 ed no reward, p. 590, 701. ( m ) That with them faith is always 
 occupied in some good work, and he who does not thus per- 
 form good works, is destitute of true faith, for where there is 
 faith, there will be also good works, p. 701. (") That charity 
 and good fruits follow faith and regeneration, p. 121 , 122, 
 
10 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 171, 183, 092. (°) Faith and works agree well together, and 
 are inseparably connected ; but faith alone lays hold of the 
 blessing without works, and yet it is not alone ; hence it is 
 that faith without works is dead, p. 692, (393. (p) That after 
 man is justified by faith, his faith, being then true and alive, is 
 operative by charity, for good works always follow justifying 
 faith, and are most certainly discovered with it ; thus faith is 
 never alone, but always accompanied by hope and charity, 
 p. 530. (i) We allow, that where good works do not follow 
 faith, in such case it is a false and not a true faith, p. 330. 
 ( r ) That it is as impossible to separate good works from faith, 
 as heat and light from fire, p. 701. ( s ) That as the old Adam 
 is always inherent in our very nature, the regenerate have 
 continual need of admonition, doctrine, threatcnings, and 
 even the chastisements of the law, for they are reproved and 
 corrected by the Holy Spirit through the law, p. 719, 720, 
 721. ( l ) That the regenerate must wrestle with the old 
 Adam, and that the flesh must be kept under by exhortations, 
 threatenings, and stripes, because renovation of life by faith 
 is only begun in the present life, p. 595, 590, 724. (") That 
 there remains a perpetual wrestling between the flesh and the 
 spirit, in the elect and truly regenerate, p. 675, 07 9. (*) That 
 the reason why Christ promises remission of sins to good 
 works, is, because they follow reconciliation, and also because 
 good fruits must necessarily follow, and because they are the 
 signs of the promise, p. 110, 117. (>') That saving faith is 
 not in those who have not charity, for charity is the fruit which 
 infallibly and necessarily follows true faith, p. 088. ( z ) That 
 good works are necessary on many accounts, but not as a 
 meritorious cause, p. 11, 17, 04, 95, 133, 589,590,702, 
 Appendix, p. 172. ( aa ) That a regenerate person ought to 
 co-operate with the Holy Spirit, by the new gifts and powers 
 which he hath received, but in a certain way, p. 582, 583, 
 074,075, Appendix, p. 144. ( Uh ) In the Confession of the 
 Churches in the Low Countries, which u'as received in the 
 Synod of Dart, we rend as follows : " Holy faith cannot be 
 inactive in man, for it is a faith working by charity ; and 
 works, which proceed from a good root of faith, are good and 
 acceptable in the sight of God, as being fruits of a good tree; 
 for we are debtors unto God to do good works, but God is no 
 debtor unto us, inasmuch as it is God that doeth them in 
 us." 
 
 14. Concerning Merits, from the Formula Concordia;. 
 (•') That it is false, that our works merit remission of sins ; 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 11 
 
 false, that men are accounted righteous by the righteousness 
 of reason ; and false, that reason, of its ow n strength, is capa- 
 ble of loving God above all things, and of keeping His law, 
 p. 64. ( b ) That faith does not justify because it is in itself 
 so good a work, and so excellent a virtue, but because it lays 
 hold of the merit of Christ in the promise of the gospel, p. 
 70, 634. ( c ) That the promise of remission of sins, and justi- 
 fication for Christ's sake, docs not involve any condition of 
 merit, because it is freely offered, p. 67. That a sinner is 
 justified in the sight of God, or absolved from his sins, and 
 from the most just sentence of damnation, and adopted into 
 the number of the children of God, without any merit of his 
 own, and without any works of his own, whether past, present, 
 or future, of mere grace, and only on account of the sole 
 merit of Christ, which is imputed to him for righteousness, 
 p. 6S4. ( e ) That good works follow faith, remission of sins, 
 and regeneration ; and whatever of pollution or imperfection 
 is in them is not accounted sinful or defective, and that for 
 Christ's sake ; and thus that the whole man, both as to his 
 person and his works, is rendered and pronounced righteous 
 and holy, out of mere grace and mercy in Christ, shed abroad, 
 displayed, and magnified towards us ; wherefore we cannot 
 glory on account of merit, p. 74, 9~, 93, 336. (') He who 
 trusts in works, thinking he can merit any thing thereby, 
 despises the merit and grace of Christ, and seeks a way to 
 heaven without Christ, by his own strength, p. 16, 17, 18, 19. 
 (") Whosoever desires to ascribe something to good works in 
 the article of justification, and to merit the grace of God there- 
 by, to such a man works are not only unprofitable, but even 
 pernicious, p. 70S. ( h ) The works of the decalogue arc enu- 
 merated, and other necessary works, which God vouchsafes 
 to reward, p. 170, 198. (') We teach, that good works are 
 meritorious, not indeed of remission of sins, grace, and justifi- 
 cation, but of other temporal rewards, and even spiritual re- 
 wards in this Life, and after this life, because Paul says, 
 " Every one shall receive a reward according to his labour;" 
 and Christ says, "Great will be your reward in heaven;" and 
 it is frequently said, that " it shall be rendered unto every one 
 according to his works ;" wherefore we acknowledge eternal 
 life to be a reward, because it is our due according to promise, 
 2i\.\ because God crowns His own gifts, but not on account 
 of our merits, p. 96, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138. ( k ) That 
 the good work:; of believers, when they are performed upon 
 right principles, and directed to right ends, such as God re- 
 
12 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 quires from the regenerate, are signs of eternal salvation ; and 
 that God the Father accounts them acceptable and pleasing 
 for Christ's sake, and promises to them excellent rewards 
 of the present life, and of that which is to come, p. 708. 
 (') That although good works merit rewards, yet neither from 
 their worthiness nor fitness do they merit the remission of 
 sins, or the glory of eternal life, p. 90, 135, 139, &c. Appen- 
 dix, p. 174. ("') That Christ at the last judgment will pass 
 sentence on good and evil works, as the genuine effects and 
 evidences of men's faith, p. 134, Appendix, p. 187. (") That 
 God rewards good works, but that it is of grace that He 
 crowns His own gifts, is asserted in the Confession of the 
 Churches in the Low Countries. 
 
 15. Concerning Free-will, from the Formula Concordia: 
 ( a ) That man hath not the smallest degree of ability in spiritu- 
 al things, p. 15, 18,219, 318, 579, G5G,&c. Appendix, p. 141. 
 ('*) That man, by the fall of his first parents, is become so 
 totally corrupt, that he is by nature blind with respect to 
 spiritual things, which relate to conversion and salvation, and 
 accounts the Word of God as a foolish thing ; and that he is, 
 and continues to be, an enemy to God, until, by the power of 
 the Holy Spirit, through preaching and hearing of tiie Word, 
 he is, of mere grace, without any the least co-operation on his 
 part, converted, gifted with faith, regenerated, and renewed, 
 p. 050, G57. ( c ) That man is altogether corrupt and dead to 
 what is good, so that in the nature of man, since the fall, 
 and before regeneration, there is not so much as a spark 
 of spiritual strength subsisting or remaining, whereby he can 
 prepare himself for the grace of God, or apprehend it when 
 offered, or, of and by himself, be capable of receiving it, or 
 understand, believe, embrace, think, will, begin, perfect, act, 
 operate, co-opernte in spiritual things, or apply or accommodate 
 himself to grace, or contribute any thing towards his conver- 
 sion, either in ti c whole; the half, or the least part, p. 650, 
 G58. That man, in spiritual and divine things, which re- 
 gard salvation, is like the pillar of salt into which Lot's wife 
 was turned, and like a stock or a stone without life, which 
 have neither the use of eyes, mouth, nor any of the senses, p. 
 661, 002. ( e ) That still man hath a loco-motive power, by 
 virtue whereof he can govern his outward members, attend 
 public worship, and hear the Word and the gospel ; but that 
 in his private thoughts he despises it as a foolish thing ; and 
 in this respect is worse than a stock, unless the Holy Spirit is 
 efficacious in him, p. GG2, G71, G72, G73. ( f ) That still it is 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 13 
 
 not with man in his conversion, as in the forming of a stone 
 into a statue, or the stamping an impression upon wax, which 
 have neither know ledge, sense, nor will, p. 662, 681. ( g ) That 
 man in his conversion is a merely passive subject, and not an 
 active one, p. 662, GS1. ('•) That man in his conversion does 
 not at all co-operate with the Holy Spirit, p. 219, 5/9, 583, 
 672, 6T6, Appendix, p. 143, 144. ( h ) That man since the 
 full retains and possesses the faculty of knowing natural things, 
 as also free-will in some measure to choose natural and civil 
 good, p. 14, 218, 641, 064, Appendix 142. (') That the as- 
 sertions of certain fathers, and modern doctors, that God 
 draws man, but draws him in a manner consistent with his 
 will, are not consonant with Holy Scripture, p. 5S2, 583. 
 ( k ) That man, when he is born again by the power of the 
 Holy Spirit, co-operates, though in much weakness, from the 
 new powers and gifts, which the Holy Spirit has begun to 
 operate in him at his conversion, not indeed forcibly, but 
 spontaneously, p. 582, &c. 673, 674, 675, Appendix, p. 144. 
 (') That in the regenerate, not only the gifts of God, but 
 likewise Christ Himself dwclleth by faith, as in His temples, 
 p. 695, 697, 698, Appendix, p. 130. ( m ) There is a wide dif- 
 ference between baptized persons and persons not baptized ; 
 for it is the doctrine of Paul, that all who have been baptized, 
 have put on Christ, and are truly regenerate, having thereby 
 acquired a freedom of will, that is to say, being again made 
 free, as Christ testifies, whence they not only hear the Word 
 of God, but are likewise enabled, though in much weakness, 
 to assent to, and embrace it by faith, p. 675. 
 
 It is proper to observe, that the foregoing extracts are taken 
 from a book called Formula Concordia, which was composed 
 by persons attached to the Augsburg confession ; but that 
 nevertheless the like doctrines concerning justification by faith 
 alone are maintained and taught by the Reformed in England 
 and Holland ; wherefore the following treatise is intended 
 for all ; see below, n. 17, 18. 
 
A 
 
 SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 DOCTRINALS OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 16. We now proceed to give a brief Exposition of the Doctrine 
 of the New Church, which is signified by the New Jerusalem 
 in the Revelation, chap. xxi. and xxii. This doctrine, which 
 is not only a doctrine of faith, but also of life, will be divided 
 in the larger work into three parts.* 
 
 The FmsT Part will treat, I. Of the Lord God the Saviour, 
 and of the Divine Trinity in Him. II. Of the Sacred Scrip- 
 ture, and its Two Senses, the Natural and the Spiritual, and 
 of its sanctity thence derived. III. Of Love to God and Love 
 toicards our Neighbour, and of the Agreement of those Loves 
 with each other. IV. Of Faith, and its Conjunction with 
 those two Loves. V. The Doctrine of Life from the Command- 
 ments of the Decalogue. VI. Of Reformation and Regenera- 
 tion. VII. Of Free-will, and Man's Co-operation with the 
 Lord thereby. VIII. Of Baptism. IX. Of the Holy Sup- 
 per, X. Of Heaven and Hell. XI. Of Man's Conjunction 
 therewith, and of the State of Man's Life after Death accord- 
 ing to that Conjunction. XII. Of Eternal Life. 
 
 The Second Part will treat, I. Of the Consummation of 
 the Age, or End of the present Church. II. Of the Coming 
 of the Lord. III. Of the Last Judgment. IV. Of the New 
 Church, which is the New Jerusalem. 
 
 #The work here alluded to is the True Christian Religion, which was pub- 
 lished about three years after the appearance of this Sietcli. In composing this 
 great work, the author has adhered to the plan here laid down as to substance, 
 but not exactly as to form : thus he has not divided it into three parts, but into 
 fourteen chapters, in which he treats expressly of most of the subjects here men- 
 tioned as designed to form the contents of two parts of the work, and incidentally 
 of the others ; but the disagreements betweent he tenets of the Old Church and of 
 the New, which are here mentioned as the subject of a separate third part, are 
 not treated of by themselves, but are pointed out throughout the whole course of 
 the work, as occasion requires. 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 15 
 
 The Third Part will point out the Disagreements bcticeen 
 the Tenets of the present Church, find those of the New 
 Church. But we will dwell a little upon these now, because 
 it is believed both by the clergy and laity, that the present 
 church is in the genuine light of the gospel and in the truths 
 thereof, which cannot possibly be disproved, overturned, or 
 controverted, not even by an angel from heaven ; neither does 
 the present church see any otherwise, because it has with- 
 drawn the understanding from faith, and yet has confirmed 
 its tenets by a kind of sight beneath the understanding, for 
 falses may there be confirmed to such a degree, as to put on 
 the appearance of truths: and when this is the case, they ac- 
 quire a fallacious light, before which the light of truth appears 
 as darkness. For this reason we shall here dwell a little upon 
 this subject, mentioning the disagreements, and illustrating 
 them by brief remarks, that such as have not their under- 
 standings closed by a blind faith may see them at first as in 
 a kind of twilight, and afterwards as in morning light, and at 
 length, in the large work, as in the light of day. The disa- 
 greements in general are as follows : 
 
 L 
 
 17. That the Churches, which by the Reformation sepa- 
 rated themselves from the Roman Catholic Church, dissent in 
 various points of doctrine ; but that they all agree in the 
 articles concerning a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, 
 Original Sin from Adam, Imputation of the Merit of Christ, 
 and Justif cation by Faith alone. 
 
 brief analysis of the above proposition. 
 
 18. The churches, which by the reformation separated 
 themselves from the Romish church, are composed of such as 
 call themselves Gospellers and Reformed, likewise Protestants, 
 or, from the names of their leaders, Lutherans and Calvinists, 
 among which the church of England holds the middle place : 
 we shall say nothing here of the Greek church, which long 
 ago separated from the church of Rome. That the Protestant 
 churches dissent in various things, particularly concerning 
 the holy supper, baptism, election, and the person of Christ, 
 is well known to many : but that they all agree in the articles 
 of a trinity of persons in the Godhead, original sin, imputation 
 of the merit of Christ, and justification by faith alone, is not 
 
16 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 universally known ; the reason of which is, because ft w per- 
 sons apply themselves to inquire into the differences of senti- 
 ment maintained by different churches, and consequently few 
 understand wherein they agree : it is oidy the clergy that 
 study the tenets of their church, while the laity rarely enter 
 deeply into them, and consequently are unacquainted with 
 differences in opinion. That nevertheless they agree in the 
 four articles above-mentioned, both in their general principles, 
 and in many of the particulars, will appear evident to any 
 one who will be at the pains to consult their books, or attend 
 to their sermons. This, however, it is necessary to make the 
 reader acquainted with, on account of what follows. 
 
 II. 
 
 19. That the Roman Catholics, before the Reformation, 
 held and taught exactly the same things as the Reformed 
 did after it, in respect to the four articles above-mentioned, 
 namely, a Trinity of Persons in the Godhead, Original Sin, 
 the Imputation of the Merit of Christ, and Justification by 
 Faith therein, only with this difference, that they conjoined 
 that Faith with Charity or Good Works. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSTS. 
 
 20. That there is such a conformity between the Roman 
 Catholics and the Protestants in these four articles, as hardly 
 to be any material difference, except that the former conjoin 
 faith and charity, while the latter divide between them, is 
 scarcely known to any one, and indeed is so generally un- 
 known, that the learned themselves will be ready to wonder 
 at the assertion : the reason of this ignorance is, because the 
 Roman Catholics rarely approach God our Saviour, but instead 
 of Him the pope as His vicar, and likewise the saints; hence 
 they have deeply buried in oblivion their tenets concerning 
 the imputation of the merit of Christ, and justification by 
 faith ; that nevertheless such tenets are received and acknowl- 
 edged by them, evidently appears from the Decrees of the 
 Council of Trent, quoted above, n. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and con- 
 firmed by pope Pius IV. n. 2 : which if compared with the 
 tenets extracted from the Augsburg Confession, and from the 
 Formula Concordia? thence derived, n. 9, 10, 11, 12, the dif- 
 ference between them will be found to consist more in words 
 than in substance. The doctors of the church, by reading 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 17 
 
 and comparing the above passages together, may indeed see 
 some conformity between them, but still rather obscurely; 
 that these therefore, as well as those who are less learned, and 
 also the laity, may be fully satisfied in this matter, the subject 
 shall be more clearly illustrated in what follows. 
 
 III. 
 
 21. That the leading Reformers, Luther, Melanethon, and 
 Calvin, retained all the tenets concerning a Trinity of Per- 
 sons in the Godhead, Original Sin, Imputation of the Merits 
 of Christ, and Justification by Faith, just as tlicy were and 
 had been among the Roman Catholics ; but that they separat- 
 ed Charity or Good Works from that faith, and declared that 
 they mere not at the same time of a saving efficacy, ivith a 
 view to be totally severed from the Roman Catholics as to the 
 very Essentials of the Church, which arc Faith and Charity. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 22. That the four articles above mentioned, as at present 
 taught in the reformed churches, were not new, and first 
 broached by those three leaders, but were handed down from 
 the time of the council of Nice, and taught by the writers 
 after that period, and thus preserved in the Romish church, 
 is very plain from ecclesiastical history. The reason why 
 the Roman Catholics and the Reformed agree in the article 
 of a trinity of persons in the Godhead, is, because they both 
 acknowledge the three creeds, the Apostles', the Nicene, and 
 the Athanasian, in which a trinity is taught. That they 
 agree in the article of the imputation of the merit of Christ, 
 is plain from the extracts from the council of Trent, n. 3 to 8, 
 compared with those from the Formula Concordia;, n. 10 to 
 15. Their agreement in the article of justification, shall now 
 be the subject of discussion. 
 
 23. The doctrine maintained by the council of Trent, con- 
 cerning justifying faith, is as follows : " It has always been 
 the uniform opinion of the Catholic church, that faith is the 
 beginning of man's salvation, the foundation and root of all 
 justification, without which it is impossible to please God, and 
 attain to the fellowship of His children," see above, n. 5 ( a ). 
 Also, " that faith comes by hearing the word of God," n. 4 ( c ). 
 Moreover, that that Romish council conjoined faith and chari- 
 ty, or faith and good works, may clearly be seen from the 
 
18 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 quotations above, n. 4, 5, 7, 8. But that the reformed 
 churches, from their leaders, have separated them, declaring 
 salvation to consist in faith, and not at the same time in 
 charity or works, to the intent that they might be totally 
 severed from the Roman Catholics, as to the very essentials 
 of the church, which are faith and charity, I have frequently 
 heard from the above-mentioned leaders themselves ; as also, 
 that they established such separation by the following con- 
 siderations, viz. : that no one can do any good thing available 
 to salvation, of himself, nor can fulfill the law ; and moreover, 
 [that good works should be excluded] lest thereby any merit 
 of man should enter into faith. That from these principles, 
 and with this view, they excluded the good works of charity 
 from faith, and thereby also from salvation, is plain from the 
 quotations from the Formula Concordia? above, n. 12 ; among 
 which are these : " That faith docs not justify, as being formed 
 by charity, as the Papists alledgc, n. 12 ( b ) : that the position, 
 that good works are necessary to salvation, ought to be re- 
 jected upon many accounts, and among others, because they 
 are accepted by the Papists to support a bad cause, n. 12 ( h ) : 
 that the decree of the council of Trent, that good works pre- 
 serve and retain salvation and faith, is deservedly to be re- 
 jected," n. 12 (") : not to mention other passages to the same 
 purport. That still, however, the Reformed conjoin faith and 
 charity into one essential of salvation, and only differ from 
 the Roman Catholics respecting the quality of works, will 
 be shown in the following article. 
 
 IV. 
 
 24. That nevertheless the hading Reformers adjoined good 
 works, and even conjoined them to their faith, but in man as a 
 passive subject; whereas the Roman Catholics conjoin them in 
 man as an active subject ; and that notwithstanding there is 
 actually a conformity between the one and the other as to faith, 
 works, and merits. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 25. That the leading Reformers, although they separated 
 faith and charity, did still adjoin and even conjoin them, but 
 would not admit of their being united into one, so as to be 
 both together necessary to salvation, is evident from their 
 books, sermons, and declarations ; for after they have separat- 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 19 
 
 ed them, they conjoin them, and even express this conjunc- 
 tion in clear terms, and not in such as admit of two senses ; 
 as for instance in the following : That faith after justification 
 is never alone, but is always accompanied by charity or good 
 works, and if not, that such faith is not a living but a dead 
 faith, see above, n. 13, (°) (p) (<i) (') (>') ( b ") : nay, that good 
 works necessarily follow faith, n. 13, ( x ) (>') ( z ) : and that the 
 regenerate person, by new powers and gifts, co-operates with 
 the Holy Spirit, n. 13 ( aa ). That the Roman Catholics teach 
 exactly the same doctrines, is plain from the passages col- 
 lected from the council of Trent, n. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 
 
 26. That the Reformers profess nearly the same things 
 with the Roman Catholics concerning the merit of works, 
 is evident from the following quotations from the Formula 
 Concordia; : That good works are rewarded by virtue of the 
 promise and by grace, and that from thence they merit rewards 
 botli temporal and spiritual, n. 14, (') ( k ) (') (") : and that 
 God crowns His own gifts with a reward, n. 14, ( k ) ("). The 
 like is asserted in the council of Trent, namely, That God 
 of His grace makes His own gifts to be merits, n. 5, ( f ) : and 
 moreover, that salvation is not of works, but of promise and 
 grace, because it is God who operates them by His Holy 
 Spirit, n. 5, («) (<) (6) (») C) («). 
 
 27. From comparing the one and the other, it appears, at 
 the first view, as though there was an entire conformity be- 
 tween them ; but lest this should be the case, the Reformers 
 distinguished between the works of the law proceeding from 
 man's purpose and will, and works of the spirit proceeding 
 from faith as from a free and spontaneous source, which latter 
 they denominated the fruits of faith, as may be seen above, 
 n. 11, (>') ('), and n. 13, ( ■) (') ('), and n. 15, ( k ). Hence, on 
 an accurate examination and comparison, there does not ap- 
 pear to be any difference in the works themselves, but only 
 in the quality of them, viz. that the latter sort proceed from 
 man as from a passive subject, but the former as from an ac- 
 tive subject; consequently they are spontaneous when they 
 proceed from man's understanding, and not at the same time 
 from his will ; this is said, because man, while he does good 
 works^ cannot but be conscious that he is doing them, and 
 consciousness is from the understanding. Nevertheless, as 
 the Reformed likewise preach up the exercises of repentance, 
 and wrestlings with the flesh, n. 13, ( e ) (<) (s) ( h ) ( k ), and 
 these cannot be done by man but from his purpose and will, 
 
20 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 and thus by him as from himself, it follows, that there is still 
 an actual conformity. 
 
 28. As to what concerns free-will in conversion, or in the 
 act of justification, it appears as if their sentiments were en- 
 tirely opposite to each other ; but that they still accord to- 
 gether, may be seen, if we duly consider and compare the 
 passages transcribed from the council of Trent, n. 6, ( a ) ( b ), 
 with those from the Formula Concordia, n. 15, ("') : for in 
 Christian countries all are baptized, and from thence are in 
 a state of free-will, so as to be enabled not only to hear the 
 Word of God, but likewise to assent to the same, and em- 
 brace it by faith ; consequently no one in the Christian world 
 is like a stock. 
 
 29. Hence, then, appears the truth of what is asserted in 
 n. 19 and n. 21, viz. that the Reformers derived their opin- 
 ions, concerning a trinity of persons in the Godhead, origin- 
 al sin, the imputation of the merit of Christ, and justifica- 
 tion by faith, from the Roman Catholics. These things 
 have been advanced in order to point out the origin of their 
 tenets, especially the origin of the separation of faith from 
 good works, or the doctrine of faith alone, and to show that 
 it was with no other view than to be severed from the Roman 
 Catholics, and that, after all, their disagreement is more in 
 words than in reality. From the passages above adduced, 
 it very evidently appears upon what foundation the faith of 
 the reformed churches has been erected, and from what in- 
 spiration it took its rise. 
 
 V. 
 
 30. That the whole system of Theology in the Christian 
 World, at this day, is founded on an idea of Three Gods, 
 arising from the Doctrine of a Trinity of Persons. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 31. We will first say something concerning the origin, or 
 source, from whence the idea of a trinity of persons in the 
 Godhead, and thereby of three Gods, proceeded. There are 
 three creeds, entitled, the Apostles', the Nicene, and the 
 Athanasian, which specifically assert a trinity : the Apostles' 
 and the Nicene assert simply a trinity, but the Athanasian a 
 trinity of persons. These three Creeds are to be met with in 
 many of our Psalters, the Apostles' Creed next the Psalm 
 
DOCTIUNE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 21 
 
 which is sung, the Niccne after the Decalogue, and the Atha- 
 nasian apart by itself.* The Apostles' Creed was written 
 after the times of the Apostles ; the Nicene Creed at the 
 Council of Nice, a city ofBithynia, whereunto all the bishops 
 in Asia, Africa, and Europe, were summoned by the Empe- 
 ror Constantine, in the year 318 ; but the Athanasian Creed 
 was composed since that council by one or more persons, with 
 an intent utterly to overthrow the Arians, and was afterwards 
 received by the churches as oecumenical. In the two former 
 creeds the confession of a trinity was evident, but, from the 
 third, or Athanasian Creed, the profession of a trinity of per- 
 sons was spread abroad : that hence arose an idea of three 
 Gods, shall now be shown. 
 
 32. That there is a divine trinity, is manifest from the 
 Lord's words in Matthew : " Jesus said, go, make disciples of 
 all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, of the 
 Son, and o f the Holy Sj)irit," chap, xxviii. 19, and from these 
 Words, in the same Evangelist : " When Jesus was baptized, 
 lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Holy 
 Spirit descending like a dove, and coming upon Him, and lo, 
 a voice from heaven, this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well 
 pleased," chap. iii. 16, 17. The reason why the Lord sent 
 His disciples to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and 
 Holy Spirit, was, because in Him then glorified there was a 
 divine trinity ; for, in the preceding verse, 18, He saith, "All 
 jwwer is given unto Me in heaven and in earth ;" and, in the 
 20th verse following, " Lo, I am with you all the days, even 
 unto the consummation of the age ;" thus He spoke of Himself 
 alone, and not of three ; and, in John : " The Holy Spirit 
 was not yet, because Jesus was not yit glorified,''' chap. vii. 39 : 
 the former words He uttered after His glorification, and His 
 glorification was His complete unition with His Father, who 
 was the Essential Divine [Principle] in Him from conception; 
 and the Holy Spirit was the Divine [Principle] proceeding 
 from Him after His glorification, John, xx. 22. 
 
 33. The reason why the idea of three Gods has principally 
 arisen from the Athanasian Creed, where a trinity of persons 
 is taught, is because the word person begets such an idea, 
 which is further implanted in the mind by the following words 
 
 "This relates to the Protestant churches on the continent j the three creeds are 
 also given in the Liturgy or Hook of Common Prayer of the church of England, 
 the Apostles' next after the Psalm that is said or sung after the second lesson, the 
 Nicene in the communion service, and the Athanasian by itself, after the evening 
 prayer, 
 
23 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 in the same Creed : " There is one person of the Father, anoth- 
 er of tlic Son, and another of the Holy Ghost ;" and, after- 
 wards : " The Father is God and Lord, the Son is God mid 
 Lord, and the Holy Ghost is God and Lord;" but more es- 
 pecially by these ; "For like as we are compelled by the Chris- 
 tian verity to acknowledge every person by Himself to be God 
 and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic religion to sat/ 
 tin re be three Gods or three Lords ;" the result of which words 
 is this, that by the Christian verity we are bound to confess 
 and acknowledge three Gods and three Lords, but, by the 
 Catholic religion, we are not allowed to say or to make mention 
 of three Gods and Lords ; consequently we njay have an 
 idea of three Gods and Lords, but are not to make confession 
 thereof with our mouth. Nevertheless, that the doctrine of 
 the trinity in the Athanasian Creed is agreeable to truth, if 
 only instead of a trinity of persons be there substituted a trin- 
 ity of person, which trinity is in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 may be seen in the Doctrine of the Nao Jerusalem concerning 
 the Lord, published at Amsterdam, in the year 1763, n. 55 
 to 61. 
 
 34. It is to be observed, that in the Apostles' Creed it is 
 said, "I believe in God the Father, in Jesi/s Christ, and in the 
 Holy Ghost ;" in the Nicene Creed, " / believe in one God, 
 the Father, in one Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost," 
 thus only in one God ; but in the Athanasian Creed it is, 
 "In God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost," 
 thus in three Gods. But whereas the authors and favourers 
 of this creed clearly saw that an idea of three Gods would 
 unavoidably result from the expressions therein used, there- 
 fore, in order to remedy this, they asserted that one substance 
 or essence belongs to the three ; but still there arises from 
 thence no other idea than that there are three Gods unani- 
 mous and agreeing together : for when it is said of the three 
 that their substance or essence is one and indivisible, it does 
 not remove the idea of three, but confounds it, because the 
 expression is a metaphysical one, and the science of meta- 
 physics, with all its ingenuity, cannot of three persons, each 
 whereof is God, make one ; it may indeed make of them one 
 in the confession of the mouth, but never in the idea of the 
 mind. 
 
 35. That the whole system of Christian theology at this 
 day is founded on an idea of three Gods, is evident from the 
 doctrine of justification, which is the head of the doctrinals 
 of the Christian church, both among Roman Catholics and 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 23 
 
 Protestants. That doctrine sets forth, that God the Father 
 sent His Son to redeem and save mankind, and gives the 
 Holy Spirit to operate the same : every man who hears, reads, 
 or repeats this, cannot hut in his thought, that is, in his idea, 
 divide God into three, and suppose that one God sent another, 
 and operates by a third. That the same thought of a divine 
 trinity distinguished into three persons, each whereof is God, 
 is continued throughout the rest of the doctrinals of the pres- 
 ent church, as from a head into its body, will be demonstrated 
 in its proper place. In the mean time consult what has been 
 premised concerning justification, consult the system of the- 
 ology in general and in particular, and at the same time con- 
 sult yourself, while listening to sermons at church, or while 
 praying at home, whether you have any other perception and 
 thought thence resulting, than of three Gods ; and especially 
 while you are praying or singing first to one, and then to the 
 other two separately, as is the common practice. Hence is 
 confirmed the truth of the proposition, that the whole system 
 of theology in the Christian world, at this day, is founded upon 
 an idea of three Gods. 
 
 36. That a trinity of Gods is contrary to Holy Scripture, is 
 well known, for it is written, " Am not I Jehovah ? and there 
 is no God else In side Me, a just God and a Saviour, there is 
 Horn- beside Me," Isa. xlv. "21, 22. " / Jehovah am thy God, 
 and thou shult acknowledge no God beside Me, and there is no 
 Saviour beside Me," Hos. xiii. 4. " Thus said Jehovah the 
 King of Israel and the Redeemer thereof, Jehovah Zebaoth, 
 I am t!ii i First and the Last, and beside Me there is no God," 
 Isa. xliv. G. " Jehovah Zebaoth is His name, and thy Re- 
 deemer the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth 
 shall He be called," Isa. liv. 5. " ///. that day Jehovah shall 
 be King over the whole earth, in that day there shall be One 
 Jehovah, and His name One," Zech. xiv. 9. Beside many 
 more passages elsewhere. 
 
 37. That a trinity of Gods is contrary to enlightened 
 reason, may appear from many considerations. What man 
 of sound reason can bear to hear, that three Gods created 
 the world ; or that creation and preservation, redemption and 
 salvation, together with reformation and regeneration, are 
 the work of three Gods, and not of one God ? And, on the 
 other hand, what man of sound reason is not willing to hear, 
 (hat the same God, who is our Creator, is also our Redeemer, 
 Regenerator, and Saviour ? As the latter sentiment, and 
 not the former, accords with reason, there is therefore no na- 
 
24 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 tion upon the face of the whole earth, possessed of religion 
 and sound reason, but what acknowledges one God. That 
 the Mahometans, and certain nations in Asia and Africa, 
 abhor Christianity, because they believe it inculcates the 
 worship of three Gods, is well known ; and the only answer 
 of the Christians to the charge is, that the three possess one 
 essence, and thus arc one God. I can affirm, that from the 
 reason which has been given me, I can clearly see, that 
 neither the world, nor the angelic heaven, nor the church, 
 nor any thing therein, could have existed, or can still subsist, 
 but from one God. 
 
 38. Here I will add a quotation from the Confession of the 
 Dutch Churches received at the Synod of Dort, which is this : 
 "I believe in one God, who is one essence, in which are 
 three Persons, truly and really distinct, in communicable 
 properties from eternity, namely, the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Spirit ; the Father is of all things, both visible and 
 invisible, the cause, origin, and beginning ; the Son is the 
 Word, wisdom, and image of the Father ; the Holy Spirit is 
 the eternal virtue and power proceeding from the Father and 
 the Son. However, it must be allowed, that this doctrine 
 far exceeds the comprehension of the human mind ; we must 
 therefore be content to wait till we come to heaven for a 
 perfect knowledge thereof." 
 
 VI. 
 
 39. That the Tenets of the aforesaid Theology appear to be 
 erroneous, after the idea of a Trinity of Persons, and the con- 
 sequent idea of Three Gods, has been rejected, and the idea of 
 One God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, received in its stead. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 40. The reason why the tenets of the present church, which 
 are founded upon the idea of three Gods, derived from the 
 doctrine of a trinity of persons literally understood, appear 
 erroneous, after the idea of one God, in whom is a divine 
 trinity, has been received in its stead, is, because, till this 
 truth is received, we cannot see what is erroneous : the case 
 herein is like a person, who in the night time, by the light 
 of some stars only, sees various objects, especially images, 
 and believes them to be living men ; or like one, who in 
 the twilight before sunrise, as he lies in his bed, fancies he 
 sees goblins in the air, and believes them to be angels : or 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NT.1V CHURCH. 25 
 
 like a person, who sees many things in the delusive light of 
 phantasy, and believes them to be real : such things, it is 
 well known, do not appear according to their true qualities, 
 until the person comes to enjoy the light of the day, or, in 
 other words, until his understanding is broad awake. The 
 case is the same with the spiritual things of the church, 
 which have been erroneously and falsely perceived, and 
 even confirmed, when genuine truths present themselves 
 in their own light, which is the light of heaven. Who 
 is there that cannot understand, that all tenets found- 
 ed on the idea of three Gods must be interiorly erroneous 
 and false ? I say interiorly, because the idea of God enters 
 into every thing belonging to the church, religion, and 
 worship; and theological matters have their residence 
 above all others in the human mind, and among these the 
 idea of God is the principal or supreme ; wherefore if this 
 be false, all beneath it, in consequence of the principle 
 from whence they flow, must likewise be false or falsified ; 
 for that which is supreme, being also the inmost, constitutes 
 the very essence of all that is derived from it ; and the 
 essence, like a soul, forms them into a body, after its own 
 image ; and when in its descent it lights upon truths, it 
 even infects them with its own blemish and error. The idea 
 of three Gods in theology may be compared to a disorder 
 seated in the heart or lungs, in which the patient fancies 
 himself to be in health, because his physician, not know- 
 ing his disease, persuades him that he is so ; but if the phy- 
 sician knows it, and still persuades the patient that he is in 
 health, he deserves the charge of deep malignity. 
 
 VII. 
 
 41. That then true saring Faith, which is a Faith in 
 One God, united with Good Works, is achnoiclcdgcd and 
 received, 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 . 42. The reason why this faith, which is a faith in one 
 God, is acknowledged and received as truly savinc, when 
 the former faith, which is a faith in three Gods, is rejected, 
 is, because till this is the case it cannot be seen in its proper 
 form : for the faith of the present day is set forth as the only 
 saving faith, because it is a faith in one God, and a faith in 
 a Saviour ; but it must be observed, that this faith hath two 
 faces, the one internal, and the other external ; its internal 
 3 
 
26 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 face is formed from the perception of three Gods, (for who 
 perceives or thinks any otherwise ? Let every one examine 
 himself) ; whereas its external face is formed from the con- 
 fession of one God, (for who confesses or speaks otherwise? 
 let every one examine himself) ; these two faces are alto- 
 gether discordant with each other, so that the external is not 
 acknowledged by the internal, nor is the internal known by 
 the external. From this disagreement, and the vanishing 
 of the one out of sight of the other, a confused idea of 
 tilings pertaining to salvation has been conceived and brought 
 forth in the church. It is otherwise, when the internal and 
 external faces accord together, and mutually regard and ac- 
 knowledge each other as one ; that this is the case, when 
 one God, in whom is a divine trinity, is not only perceived 
 by the mind, but likewise acknowledged by the mouth, is 
 self-evident. That the tenet of the Father's being alienated 
 from mankind, is then abolished, together with that of His 
 reconciliation ; and that quite another doctrine takes place 
 concerning imputation, remission of sins, regeneration, and 
 salvation thence derived : will clearly be seen in the work 
 itself, in the light of reason illustrated by divine truths from 
 the Sacred Scripture. This faith is called a faith united 
 with good works, because without this union it is impossi- 
 ble to have faith in one God. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 43. And that this Faith is in God the Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 which in its simple Form is as follows : I. That there is One 
 God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and that lie is the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. II. That saving Faith is to believe in Him. 
 III. That Evils ought to be shunned, because they arc of the 
 Devil and from the Devil. IV. That Good Works ought to 
 be done, because they arc of God and from God. V. And 
 that they ought to be done by Man as of himself, but with a 
 Belief that they arc from the Lord, operating in him and by him. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 44. This is the faith of the New Church in its simple form, 
 which will appear more fully in the Appendix, and still more 
 at large in the first part of the work itself, where we shall 
 treat of the Lord God the Saviour, and of the trinity in Him ; 
 of love to God, and love towards our neighbour ; of faith and 
 its conjunction with those two loves ; also in the other parts, 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 ■27 
 
 which will follow in their proper order. But it is necessary 
 that this preliminary concerning the above-mentioned faith 
 should here be briefly illustrated. The Jirst position, viz. 
 That there is one God, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and that 
 He is the Lord Jesus Christ, is summarily illustrated in the 
 following manner. It is a certain and established truth, that 
 God is one, that His essence is indivisible, and that there is a 
 trinity ; since, therefore, God is one, and His essence is indi- 
 visible, it follows, that God is one person, and that a trinity is 
 in that person. That this is the Lord Jesus Christ appears 
 from hence, that He was conceived of God the Father, Luke 
 i. 34, 35 ; and that thus as to His soul and essential life he is 
 God ; and, therefore, as He Himself said, that the Father and 
 He are one, John x. 39 ; that He is in the Father, and the 
 Father in Him, John xiv. 11), 11; that he who seeth Him 
 and knowcth Him, seeth and knoweth the Father, John xiv. 
 7, 9 ; that no one seeth and knoweth the Father, but He who 
 is in the bosom of the Father, John i. 18 ; that all things be- 
 longing to the Father are His, John iii. 35. chap. xvi. 15 ; 
 that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no one 
 cometh unto the Father but by Him, John xiv. G ; conse- 
 quently, from Him, because He is in Him, and thus is He 
 Himself; and, according to Paul, that in Him dwells all the 
 fullness of the Godhead bodily, Coloss. ii. 9 ; and, according 
 to Isaiah, " Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, 
 whose name is God, Father of Eternity" ix. 5 ; and again, 
 that He hath power over all flesh, John xvii. 2 ; and that He 
 hath all power in heaven and earth, Matt, xxviii. 18 : whence 
 it follows, that He is the God of heaven and earth. The 
 second position, viz. That saving faith is to believe in Him, is 
 illustrated thus : " Jesus said, He that believeth in Me, shall 
 not die eternally, but shall live," John xi. 25, 2G ; " This is 
 the will of the Father, that every one who believeth in the 
 Son may have eternal life," John vi. 49 ; " God so loved the 
 world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso- 
 ever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting 
 life," John iii. 15, 1G ; " He that believeth in the Son, hath 
 everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son, shall not 
 see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him," John iii. 3G. 
 The three remaining propositions, viz. That evils ought to be 
 shunned, because they are of the devil and from the devil ; 
 and that good works ought to be done, because they are of 
 God and from God ; but that man ought to believe, that they 
 are from the Lord, operating in him and by him, have no 
 
28 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 need of illustration and proof, for the whole Sacred Scripture, 
 from beginning to cud, confirms them, and, in short, teaches 
 nothing else but to shun evils, and do good, and to believe in 
 the Lord : besides, without these three there cannot be any 
 religion, for all religion relates to life ; and life consists in 
 shunning evils, and in doing good, which cannot be done by 
 man, except as of himself; wherefore if these three are re- 
 moved from the church, the Sacred Scripture, together with 
 religion, is likewise removed at the same time ; in which 
 case the church is no longer a church. For a further ac- 
 count of the faith of the New Church, in its universal and 
 particular form, see below, n. 116,117; all which will be 
 demonstrated in the work itself. 
 
 IX. 
 
 45. That the Faith of the present day has separated Reli- 
 gion from the Church, since Religion consists in the Ac- 
 knowledgment of One God, and in the Worship of Him, from 
 Faith grounded in Charity. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 40. What nation is there upon the face of the earth, pos- 
 sessed of religion and sound reason, that does not know and 
 believe, that there is one God, and that to do evils is contrary 
 to Him, and that to do good is well-pleasing to Him, and that 
 man must do this from his soul, from his heart, and from his 
 strength, although it is by influx from God ; and that herein 
 consists religion ? Who, therefore, does not see, that to con- 
 fess three persons in the Godhead, and to -assert that in good 
 works there is nothing of salvation, is to separate religion 
 from the church ? Yet so it is asserted in these words : " That 
 faith justifies without good works," n. 12, ( a ) ('') ; "that 
 works are not necessary to salvation, nor to faith, because sal- 
 vation and faith are neither preserved nor retained by good 
 works," n. 12, («) ( h ) (">) (") ; consequently, that there is no 
 bond of conjunction between faith and good works : it is in- 
 deed said afterwards, " that good works nevertheless follow 
 faith, as fruit is produced from a tree," n. 13, (') ( n ), but 
 then let us ask, who does them, nay, who thinks of them, or 
 who is spontaneously led to perform them, while a person 
 knows or believes that they do not at all contribute to salva- 
 tion, and also, that no one can do any good thing towards 
 salvation of himself, and so on 1 If it be alleged that the 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 29 
 
 leaders of the church have still conjoined faith w ith good 
 works, it may be said in reply, that this conjunction, when 
 closely inspected, is not conjunction, but mere adjunction, 
 and this only like a superfluous appendage, that neither co- 
 heres nor adheres in any other manner than as a dark back- 
 ground to a portrait, which serves to set off the figure repre- 
 sented, and give it more the appearance of life : it may be 
 said further, that inasmuch as religion has relation to life, and 
 this consists in good works according to the truths of faith, it 
 is evident that real religion is the portrait or figure represented 
 of itself, and not the mere shady appendage ; yea, that when 
 good works are regarded as such an appendage, they must be 
 reputed by many as of no more account than the tail of a 
 horse, which, as contributing nothing to the horse's strength, 
 may be cut off at pleasure. Who can rationally conclude 
 otherwise, while he understands such expressions as these 
 according to their^ obvious meaning : " That it is a folly to 
 imagine that the works of the second table of the Decalogue 
 justify in the sight of God," n. 12, ('') ; and these : "That 
 if any one believes he shall therefore obtain salvation, because 
 he hath charity, he brings a rcproacli upon Christ," n. 12, 
 
 ( e ) ; as also these : " That good works are utterly to be ex- 
 cluded, in treating of justification and eternal life," n. 12, 
 
 ( f ) ; with more to the same purpose f Who, therefore, when 
 he reads afterwards, that good works necessarily follow faith, 
 and that if they do not follow, the faith is a false and not a true 
 faith, n. 13, ( p ) ( y ), with more to the same purpose, attends 
 to it ? or if he attends to it, understands whether such good works 
 are attended with any perception or consciousness ? yet good 
 which proceeds from man without his having a perception or 
 consciousness of it, has no more life in it than if it came from 
 a statue. But if we inquire more deeply into the rise of this 
 doctrine, it will appear as though the leading Reformers first 
 laid down faith alone as their rule, in order that they might 
 be severed from the Roman Catholics, as mentioned above, 
 n. 21, 22, 23 ; and that afterwards they adjoined thereto the 
 works of charity, that their system might not appear to con- 
 tradict the Sacred Scriptures, but have the semblance of 
 religion, and thus be salved over. 
 
30 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 X. 
 
 47. That the Faith of the present Church cannot be con- 
 joined with Charity, and produce any Fruits, which are Good 
 Works. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 48. Before we proceed to the proof of this proposition, we 
 shall first explain the origin and nature of charity, and the 
 origin and nature of faith, and thus the origin and nature of 
 good works, which are called fruits. Faith is truth, where- 
 fore the doctrine of faith is the doctrine of truth ; and the 
 doctrine of truth has its sent in the understanding, and thence 
 in the thought, and from the thought descends into the 
 speech ; wherefore it teaches what we are to will, and what 
 we are to do, thus that evils, and what evils, are to be shunned, 
 and that good works, and what good works, are to be done. 
 When man from such a principle does good, then good con- 
 joins itself with truth, because the will is conjoined with the 
 understanding, for good appertains to the will, and truth to 
 the understanding ; from this conjunction arises the affection 
 of good, which in its essence is charity, and the affection of 
 truth, which in its essence is faith, and these two united to- 
 gether constitute a marriage ; from which marriage good 
 works are produced, as fruits from a tree ; and hence they 
 become the fruits of good, and the fruits of truth ; the lat- 
 ter are signified in the Word by grapes, but the former by 
 olives. 
 
 49. From this generation of good works, it is evident, that 
 faith alone cannot possibly produce or beget any works, that 
 deserve the name of fruits, any more than a woman can of 
 herself produce any offspring without the concurrence of a 
 man ; wherefore the fruits of faith is a vain expression, and a 
 word without meaning. Besides, throughout the whole world, 
 nothing ever was or can be produced, but from a marriage of 
 two, one whereof has relation to good, and the other to truth, 
 or, in the opposite sense, one to evil, and the other to what is 
 false ; consequently, no works can be conceived, much less 
 brought into existence, but from such marriage, good works 
 from the marriage of good and truth, and evil works from the 
 marriage of evil and what is false. 
 
 50. The reason why charity cannot be conjoined with the 
 faith of the present church, and, consequently, why good 
 works cannot spring from some sort of marriage union be- 
 tween them, is, because imputation supplies every thing, re- 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 31 
 
 mits guilt, justifies, regenerates, sanctifies, imparts the life 
 of heaven and thus salvation, and all this freely, without any 
 works of man : in this case, what is charity, which ought to 
 be united with faith, but something vain and superfluous, and 
 a mere addition and supplement to imputation and justifica- 
 tion, to which nevertheless it adds no weight or value 1 Be- 
 sides, a faith founded on the idea of three Gods is erroneous, 
 as has been shown above, n. 39, 49 ; and with an erroneous 
 faith, charity, that in itself is charity, cannot be conjoined. 
 There are two reasons given for believing that there is no 
 bond of union between that faith and charity ; the one is, be- 
 cause they make their faith to be of a spiritual quality, but 
 charity merely natural and moral, imagining that there can 
 be no conjunction between what is spiritual and what is nat- 
 ural : the other reason is, lest any thing of man, and so any 
 thing of merit, should gain admission into their faith, which 
 they suppose to be alone of a saving nature. Furthermore, 
 between charity and that faith there is no conjunction, but 
 with the new faith there is, which may be seen below, n. 
 116,117. 
 
 XI. 
 
 51. That from the Faith of the present Church there results 
 a Worship of the Mouth and hot of the Life, whereas the 
 Worship of the Mouth is accepted by the Lord, in proportion 
 as it proceeds f rum the Worship of the Life. 
 
 JiRlEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 52. This is testified by experience : how few are there at 
 this day, who form their lives after the precepts of the Deca- 
 logue, and other precepts of the Lord, from a religious prin- 
 ciple ? And how few are there at this day, who desire to 
 look their own evils in the face, and to perform actual repen- 
 tance, and thus enter upon the worship of the life ? or who, 
 among those that make pretensions to piety, perforin any 
 other repentance than that of the mouth, which consists in 
 words only, confessing themselves to be sinners, and praying, 
 according to the doctrine of the church, that God the Father, 
 for the sake of His Son, who suffered upon the cross for their 
 sins, took away their damnation, and atoned for them with 
 His blood, would mercifully forgive their transgressions, that 
 so they might be presented without spot or blemish before 
 His judgment-seat ? Who does not see, that this worship is 
 that of the lungs only, and not of the heart, consequently that 
 
32 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 it is external worship, and not internal ? for it is a prayer for 
 the remission of sins, when yet man is not conscious of a 
 single sin that he has ; and, if he did know of any, he 
 would cover it over with favour and indulgence, or with a 
 faith that is to purify and absolve him, without any works of 
 his. But this conduct may be compared to that of a servant, 
 who should go to his master with his face and clothes be- 
 daubed with soot and filth, and say, Sir, wash me ; would 
 not his master in such case naturally say to him, Thou fool- 
 ish servant, what is it thou sayest 1 lo ! there is water, soap, 
 and a towel, hast thou not hands of thy own, and strength to 
 use them ? wash thyself: thus also the Lord God will say, 
 The means of purification are provided by Me, and from Me 
 also thou hast will and power, wherefore use these My gifts 
 and talents, as thy own, and thou shalt be purified. Take 
 another example by way of illustration : suppose you should 
 pray a thousand times at home and at church, that God the 
 Father, for the sake of His Son, would preserve you from the 
 devil, and should not at the same time, from that freedom of 
 will, in which you are perpetually kept by the Lord, keep 
 yourself from evil, and so from the devil ; you could not in 
 this case be preserv ed even by legions of angels sent from the 
 Lord ; for the Lord cannot act contrary to His own divine 
 order, which is, that man should examine himself, discover 
 his evils, resist them, and this as of himself, yet from the 
 Lord. This does not indeed at this day appear to be the 
 gospel, nevertheless it is the gospel, for the gospel is salva- 
 tion by the Lord. The reason why the worship of the mouth 
 is accepted by the Lord according to the worship of the life, 
 is, because the speech of man before God, and before the 
 angels, has its sound from the affection of his love and faith, 
 and these two are in man according to his life ; wherefore, 
 reader, if the love of God and faith in Him are in thy life, 
 the sound of thy voice will be like that of a dove ; but if 
 self-love and self-confidence are in thy life, the sound of thy 
 voice will be like that of an owl, howsoever you may en- 
 deavour to imitate the dove : the spiritual [principle], which 
 is within the sound, is the cause of this. 
 
 XII. 
 
 53. That the Doctrine of the present Church is interwoven 
 with many Paradoxes, which are to be embraced by Faith ; 
 and that therefore its Tenets gain admission into the Memory 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 33 
 
 only, and not into any part of the Understanding above the 
 Memory, but merely into confirmations below it. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 54. The rulers of the church insist, that the understand- 
 ing is to be kept under obedience to faith, nay, that faith, 
 properly speaking, is a faith in what is unknown, which is 
 blind, and only a faith of the night : this is their first para- 
 dox ; for faith is of truth, and truth is of faith ; and truth, 
 before it can become an object of faith, must be seen in its 
 own light and understood ; otherwise what is false may be 
 believed as true. The paradoxes flowing from such a faith 
 are many ; as, that God the Father begat a Son from eternity, 
 and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both, and that each of 
 these three is a person by Himself and a God : that the Lord, 
 both as to His soul and body, was from the mother : that the 
 above three persons, consequently three Gods, created the 
 universe ; and that one of them descended, and assumed hu- 
 man nature, to reconcile the Father, and thus to save man- 
 kind ; and that they who by grace obtain faith, and believe 
 these paradoxes, are saved by the imputation, application, and 
 translation, of His righteousness to themselves ; and that man, 
 at his first reception of that faith, is like a statue, a stock, or 
 a stone, and that faith comes by the mere hearing of the 
 Word ; that faith alone without the works of the law, or en- 
 tirely independent of charity, is saving ; and that it produces 
 the remission of sins without any previous repentance ; and 
 that, merely by virtue of such remission of sins, the impeni- 
 tent are justified, regenerated, and sanctified ; and that after- 
 wards charity, good works, and repentance, spontaneously 
 follow : besides many other paradoxes of a like nature, all 
 which, like offspring from an illegitimate bed, have issued 
 from the doctrine founded on the idea of three Gods. 
 
 55. What wise man does not see, that such paradoxes en- 
 ter only into the memory, and not into the understanding 
 above the memory, although they may be confirmed by rea- 
 sonings from appearances and fallacies below it 1 for the hu- 
 man understanding is capable of seeing by two kinds of 
 light, one of which is from heaven, and the other from the 
 world ; the light from heaven, which is spiritual, flows into 
 the human mind above the memory, but the light from the 
 world, which is natural, Lelow it. That man, from this 
 latter light, can confirm whatever he pleases, and falses 
 
34 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 equally as well as truths, and that after confirmation he sees 
 falses altogether as truths, has been shown in a memorable 
 relation inserted in a work lately published concerning Con- 
 jugial Love, n. 233. 
 
 5G. To what has been said shall be added the following 
 arcanum from heaven : all those paradoxes, according to their 
 confirmations, abide in the minds of men, bound together as 
 into one bundle, or wound up together as into one ball, and 
 enter at the same time into every individual proposition that 
 is stated from the doctrine of the church ; so that when either 
 faith, charity, or repentance, and still more when imputation 
 or justification is mentioned, they all enter and are included 
 in each particular. Man himself indeed does not perceive 
 any such accumulation, or bundling together of such paradoxes 
 in every individual proposition from the doctrine of the church, 
 or on every mention of the above expressions ; but the angels 
 that are with man perceive it, and call it mahta, that is, con- 
 fusion and darkness. 
 
 57. I am well aware, that very many at this day, tinctured 
 with the paradoxes of this faith, will be ready to say, how can 
 theological truths be perceived by the understanding? are 
 they not spiritual, and above its comprehension ? explain 
 therefore, if thou canst, the mystery of redemption and justifi- 
 cation, that reason may view it, and acquiesce therein. This 
 mystery, then, shall be opened in the following manner. Who 
 does not know that God is one, and that besides Him there is 
 no other, and that God is essential love and essential wisdom, 
 or, that He is essential good and essential truth ; and that the 
 self-same God, as to divine truth, which is the Word, descend- 
 ed and assumed humanity to remove the hells, and conse- 
 quently damnation, from man, which he effected by combats 
 with, and victories over the devil, that is, over all the hells, 
 which at that time infested and spiritually slew every man 
 coming into the world ; and that afterwards He glorified His 
 humanity, by uniting in it divine truth with divine good, and 
 thus returned to the Father, from whom He came forth ? When 
 these things are perceived, then the following passage in John 
 may be understood : " The Word Das with God, and God 
 was the Word, and the Word became Jlesh," chap. i. 1, 14: 
 and also the following in the same Evangelist; " I went forth 
 from the Father, and came into the world ; again I leave the 
 world, and go to the Father," chap. xvi. 28. Hence also it is 
 evident, that unless the Lord had come into the world, no 
 person could have been saved, and that they are saved who 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 35 
 
 believe in Him, and lead a good life. This view of faith 
 presents itself as clear as the day to those who are enlightened 
 by the Word, and is the frontispiece of the faith of the New 
 Church. See the Faith of the New Church in its universal 
 and in its particular form, below, at n. 116, 117. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 53. That the Touts of the present Church cannot be learned 
 and retained without great difficult y, nor can they be preached 
 or taught without using great care and caution to concccd their 
 nakedness, because sound reason neither discerns nor receives 
 them. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 59. That the understanding is to be kept under obedience 
 to faith, is set as a motto before the tenets of the present 
 church, to denote that their interiors are mysteries, or arcana, 
 of too transcendent a nature to enter into the upper region 
 of the understanding, and be there perceived, see above, 
 n. 54. Those ministers of the church, who affect to excel 
 in wisdom, and wish to be looked upon as oracles in spiritual 
 things, imbibe and swallow down in the schools, such things 
 especially as surpass the comprehension of others, which 
 they do with avidity, but nevertheless with difficulty : and 
 because they are thence accounted wise, and they who have 
 distinguished and enriched themselves from such hidden stores 
 are honoured with doctor's hats and episcopal robes, they re- 
 volve in their thoughts, and teach from their pulpits, scarce 
 any thing else but mysteries concerning justification by faith 
 alone, and goods works as her humble attendants : and from 
 their great erudition concerning both faith and good works, 
 they in a wonderful manner sometimes separate and sometimes 
 conjoin them; comparatively as if they held faith by itself in 
 one hand, and the works of charity in the other, and at one 
 time extend their arms and so separate them, and at another time 
 bring their hands together, and so conjoin them. But this shall 
 be illustrated by examples. They teach, that good works are 
 not necessary to salvation, because if done by man they are 
 meritorious ; at the same time they also teach, that good works 
 necessarily follow faith, and that both together make one in 
 the article of salvation. They teach, that faith without good 
 works, as being alive, justifies ; and at the same time, that 
 faith without goods works, as being dead, does not justify. 
 They teach, that faith is neither preserved nor retained by 
 
36 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 good works ; and at the same time, that good works proceed 
 from faith, as fruit from a tree, light from the sun, and heat 
 from fire. They teach, that good works being adjoined to 
 faith make it perfect ; and at the same time, that being con- 
 joined as in a marriage, or in one form, they deprive faith of 
 its saving essence. They teach, that a Christian is not under 
 the law ; and at the same time, that he must be in the daily 
 practice of the law. They teach, that if good works are in- 
 termixed in the business of salvation by faith, as in the remis- 
 sion of sins, justification, regeneration, vivification, and salva- 
 tion, they are hurtful ; but if not intermixed, that they are profit- 
 able. They teach, that God crowns His own gifts, which 
 are good works, with rewards even of a spiritual nature, but 
 not with salvation and eternal life, because faith without works, 
 they say, is entitled to the crown of eternal life. They teach, 
 that faith alone is like a queen, who walks in a stately manner, 
 with good works as her train of attendants behind her ; but if 
 these join themselves to her in front, and embrace her, she is 
 cast from her throne, and called an adulteress. But particular- 
 ly, when they treat of faith and good works at the same time, 
 they view merit on the one hand, and no merit on the other, mak* 
 ing choice of expressions which they use in two different senses, 
 one for the laity, and the other for the clergy, for the laity 
 that its nakedness may not appear, and for the clergy that it 
 may. Consider now, whether a person hearing such things 
 can draw from them any doctrine leading to salvation, or 
 whether he will not rather, from the apparent contradictions 
 therein, become blind, and afterwards grope for the objects of 
 salvation, like a person walking in the dark : who in this case 
 can tell from the evidence of works, whether he hath any faith 
 or not ; and whether it is better to omit good works on account 
 of the danger of merit, or to do them for fear of the loss of 
 faith? But do you, my friend, separate and snatch yourself 
 away from such contradictions, and shun evils as sins, and do 
 good, and believe in the Lord, and saving justification will be 
 given you. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 60. That the doctrine of the Faith of the present Church as- 
 cribes to God human properties ; as, that He viewed man from 
 anger, that He required to be reconciled, that He is reconciled 
 through the love He bore the Son, and by His intercession; and 
 that He require il to be appeased by the sight of His Son's suf- 
 ferings, and thus to be brought back to mercy; and that He 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 37 
 
 imputes the righteousness of His Son to an unrighteous man 
 who supplicates it from Faith alone; and that thus from an 
 enemy He makes him a friend, and from a child of wrath a 
 child of grace. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 61. Who does not know, that God is essential mercy and 
 clemency, inasmuch as He is essential love and essential good- 
 ness, and that these properties are His esse or essence ? And 
 who does not hereby see, that it is a contradiction to assert, 
 that mercy itself, or goodness itself, can view man from anger, 
 become his enemy, turn Himself away from him, and deter- 
 mine on his damnation, and still continue to be the same 
 Divine Esse or God ? Such things can scarcely be attributed 
 to a good man, but only to a wicked man, thus not to an angel 
 of heaven, but only to an angel of hell ; wherefore it is 
 abominable to ascribe them to God. That they have been 
 ascribed to Him, appears evident from the declarations of many 
 fathers, councils, and churches, from the first ages to the present 
 day ; and also from the inferences which have necessarily fol- 
 lowed from first principles into their derivatives, or from causes 
 into their effects, as from a head into the members ; such as, 
 that He required to be reconciled ; that He is reconciled 
 through the love He bears towards the Son, and by His inter- 
 cession and mediation ; that He required to be appeased by the 
 view of the extreme sufferings of His Son, and so to be brought 
 back to mercy, and constrained as it were to show it, and thus 
 from an enemy to be made a friend, and to adopt those who 
 were the children of wrath as the children of grace. That 
 the notion that God can impute the righteousness and merits 
 of His Son to an unrighteous man, who supplicates it from 
 faith alone, is also a mere human invention, will be seen in 
 the last analysis of this little work. 
 
 62. They who have perceived that meje human properties 
 are unworthy of God, and yet are attributed to Him, have said, 
 in order to defend the system of justification once conceived, 
 and to varnish over its outside, that anger, revenge, damnation, 
 and the like, are predicated of His justice, and are therefore 
 mentioned in many parts of the Word, and as it were appro- 
 priated to God. But by the anger of God, in the Word, is 
 signified evil in man, which, being contrary to God, is called 
 the anger of God ; not that God is ever angry with man, but 
 that man, from the evil that is in him, is angry with God ; and 
 because evil carries with it its own punishment, as good does 
 
38 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 its own reward, therefore while evil punishes the evil-doer, it 
 appears to him as though he was punished by God : the case 
 in this respect is the same as with a criminal, who attributes 
 his punishment to the law, or like a person who blames the 
 fire for burning him when he puts his hand into it, or a drawn 
 sword for wounding him when he rushes upon the point of it, 
 while his adversary is standing upon his own defence : such 
 is the nature of the justice of God. But of this more may be 
 seen in the Apocalypse Revealed, where it treats of justice and 
 judgment in God and from God, n. GG8. That anger is as- 
 cribed to Him, may be seen, n. 635 ; as likewise revenge, n. 
 658; but this is only in the literal sense, which is written by 
 appearances and correspondences, and not in the spiritual 
 sense, wherein truth is in its own light. This I can affirm, 
 that whenever the angels hear any one say, that God determin- 
 ed in anger, on the damnation of the human race, and as an 
 enemy was reconciled by His Son, as by another God begotten 
 from Himself, they are affected in a manner similar to those, 
 who, from an uneasiness in their bowels and stomach, are ex- 
 cited to vomiting ; on which occasions they say, what can be 
 more insane than to affirm such things of God? 
 
 63. The reason why they have ascribed human properties 
 to God, is, because all spiritual perception and illustration is 
 from the Lord alone ; for the Lord is the Word or Divine 
 Truth, and "is the true light which enlighteneth every man" 
 John i. 1, 9 : he also says, "I am come a light into the world, 
 that whosoever belicvcth in Me may not abide in darkness," 
 John xii. 46 ; and this light, and perception thence derived, 
 enter by influx into such only as acknowledge Him for the 
 God of heaven and earth, and approach Him alone, and not 
 into such as entertain an idea of three Gods, which has been 
 the case from the time the Christian church began to be estab- 
 lished : this idea of three Gods, being a merely natural idea, 
 is receptive of no other light than natural light, and cannot 
 be opened to admit and receive spiritual light ; hence it is, 
 that they have seen no other properties in God, than such as 
 are natural. Furthermore, had they seen how incongruous 
 these human properties are to the divine essence, and had they 
 removed them from the article of justification, they must then 
 have entirely departed from their religion, which from the be- 
 ginning was founded on the worship of three Gods, thus before 
 the time appointed for the New Church, when the fullness and 
 restoration [of the Christian religion] is to take place. 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 39 
 
 XV. 
 
 64. That from the Faith of the present Church have been 
 produced, and still may be produced, monstrous Births; such 
 as, instantaneous Salvation by an immediate act of Mercy ; 
 Predestination ; the notions that God has no respect unto the 
 actions of Men, but unto Faith alone ; that there is no con- 
 nection between Charity and Faith ; that Man in Conversion 
 is like a Stock; with many more Heresies of the same kind; 
 /ikcwisc concerning the Sacraments o f Baptism and the Holy 
 S apper, as to the advantages reasonably to be expected from 
 them, whin considered according to the Doctrine of Justifca- 
 iion by Faith alone ; as also with regard to the Person of Christ; 
 and that the Heresies from the frst ages to the present day, 
 have sprung up from no other source, than from the idea of 
 Three Gods. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 63. That no other salvation is believed at this day, than 
 such as is instantaneous, from an immediate act of mercy, is 
 evident from hence, that a mere faith of the mouth, accompani- 
 ed with a confidence proceeding from the lungs, and not with 
 charity, (whereby, nevertheless, the faith of the mouth becomes 
 real, and the confidence of the lungs becomes that of the heart,) 
 is supposed to complete all the work of salvation ; for if the 
 co-operation is taken away, which is effected through the ex- 
 ercises of charity by man as of himself, the spontaneous co- 
 operation which is said to follow faith of itself, becomes passive 
 action, which is nonsense and a contradiction in terms; for 
 supposing this to be the case, what need would there be of any 
 thing more than some such momentary and immediate prayer 
 as this : "Save me, O God, for the sake of the sufferings of 
 Thy Son, who hath washed me from my sins in His own blood, 
 and presents me pure, righteous, and holy before Thy throne;" 
 and this ejaculation of the mouth might avail even at the hour 
 of death, if not sooner, as a seed of justification. That never- 
 theless instantaneous salvation, by an immediate act of mercy, 
 is at this day a fiery flying serpent in the church, and that 
 thereby religion is abolished, security introduced, and dam- 
 nation imputed to the Lord, may be seen in n. 340 of the work 
 concerning Divine Providence, published at Amsterdam in 
 the year 1764. 
 
 66. Predestination is also a birth conceived and brought forth 
 from the faith of the present church, because it originates in 
 
40 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 a belief of instantaneous salvation by an immediate act of 
 mercy, and in a belief that man has not the smallest degree 
 of ability or free-will in spiritual tilings, concerning which see 
 below, n. GS ; that this follows from the forementioned tenets, 
 as one fiery serpent from another, or one spider from another, 
 may be seen above : predestination also follows from the sup- 
 position, that man is as it were inanimate in the act of conversion, 
 that he is like a stock, and that afterwards he is unconscious 
 whether he is a stock made alive by grace, or not; for it is 
 said, that God, by the hearing of the Word, gives faith, when 
 and where He willeth, n. 10 ( a ), consequently of His good 
 pleasure ; and likewise that election is of the mere grace of 
 God, independently of any action on man's part, whether such 
 activity proceed from the powers of nature or of grace : Formula 
 Concordia:, p. 821. App. p. 182. The works which follow 
 faith as evidences thereof, appear to the mind while it reflects 
 on them like the works of the flesh, while the spirit which op- 
 erates thrm does not make known from what origin they pro- 
 ceed, but supposes them, like faith, to be the effects of grace 
 and the good pleasure of God. Hence it is plain, that the 
 tenet of predestination hath sprung from the faith of the present 
 church, as a sucker from its root ; and I can venture to assert, 
 that it has followed as the almost unavoidable consequence of 
 such faith. This tenet was first broached by the Predestinari- 
 ans, and afterwards adopted by Godoschalcus, then by Calvin 
 and his followers, and lastly established and confirmed by the 
 Synod of Dort, whence it was conveyed into the church, by the 
 Supra and Infra Lapsarians, as the palladium of religion, or 
 rather as the head of Gorgon or Medusa engraved on the shield 
 of Pallas. But what more detestable, or more cruel notion 
 could have been devised and entertained of God, than that any 
 part of the human race are predestinated to damnation? For 
 it would be a horrible idea, that the Lord, who is essential 
 love and essential mercy, designed that the bulk of mankind 
 should be born for hell, or that myriads of myriads should be 
 born devoted to destruction, or, in other words, born to be 
 devils and satans ; and that, out of His divine wisdom, winch 
 is infinite, He should make no provision for those who lead 
 good lives, and acknowledge God, whereby they might escape 
 everlasting fire and punishment : whereas the Lord is the 
 Creator and Saviour of all, and He alone leadeth all, and will- 
 eth not the death of any ; what then can be asserted or con- 
 ceived more horrible, than that multitudes of nations and peo- 
 ple should, under His auspices, and in His sight, from a pre- 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 41 
 
 destinatcd decree, be delivered up to the devil as his prey, to 
 glut his insatiate appetite ? Yet this is a birth of the faith of 
 the present church ; but the faith of the New Church abhors 
 it as a monster. 
 
 67. That God has no respect unto the actions of men, but 
 unto (kith alone, is a new heresy, the offspring of the two for- 
 mer, concerning which we have already spoken above, n. 64, 
 65 ; and what is wonderful, it is derived from faith alone deeply 
 examined and attentively considered, which has been done by 
 the most sagacious divines of this age, and is a third offspring, 
 begotten by that faith, and brought forth by predestination, 
 that she-wolf, as a mother ; but whereas it is insane, impious, 
 and machiavclian, it has hitherto been kept included as it were 
 in the uterine coats, or secundines, that came from the mother ; 
 lest its hideous form should appear : but the madness and im- 
 piety of it may be seen described and exploded in the Ajjoc- 
 ali/p.<c Revealed, n. 463. 
 
 68. That there is not any connection between charity and 
 faith, follows from these passages in their doctrine of justification, 
 viz. That faith is imputed for righteousness without works, 
 n. 12, : that faith does not justify as being formed from 
 charity, n. 12, ( b ) : that good works are utterly to be excluded, 
 in treating of justification and eternal life, n. 12, (*) : that good 
 works are not necessary unto salvation, and that the assertion 
 of their necessity ought to he totally rejected by the church, n. 
 12, (s) ( h ) (') ( k ) : that salvation and faith arc neither preserv- 
 ed nor retained by charity and the works thereof, n. 12, ( m ) 
 (") : that good works, when blended in the matter of justifica- 
 tion, are pernicious, n. 14, (s) : that the works of the spirit, 
 or of grace, which follow faith as its fruits, contribute nothing 
 to man's salvation, n. 14, and elsewhere: from all which 
 it inevitably follows, that this faith of theirs has no connection 
 with charity, and if it had, that the connection, according to 
 their notion, would become injurious to salvation, because in- 
 jurious to faith, which thus would no longer be the only means 
 of salvation. That no connection between charity and that 
 faith can actually exist, has been shown above, n. 47, 48, 49, 
 50 ; wherefore it may be said, that it was providentially 
 ordered, that the Reformers should be so zealous to reject 
 charity and good works from their faith ; for had they con- 
 joined them, it would have been like conjoining a leopard with 
 a sheep, a wolf with a lamb, or a hawk with a dove; that this 
 faith is also described in the Apocalypse by a leopard, may be 
 seen in chap. xiii. 2, and also in the explanation thereof, in the 
 
42 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 Apocalypse Revealed, n. 572. But what is a church without 
 faith, and what is faith without charity, consequently what is 
 a church without the marriage of faith and charity 1 see n. 48 : 
 this marriage constitutes the real church, and is the New 
 Church which is now establishing by the Lord. 
 
 69. That man in his conversion is like a stock, the faith of 
 the present church acknowledges as its natural offspring in 
 these express words : That man has not the smallest degree of 
 ability in spiritual things, n. 15, ( a ) ( h ) ( c ) ; that in conver- 
 sion he is like a stock, a stone, and a statue, and that he cannot 
 so much as accommodate and apply himself to receive grace, 
 but is like something that has not the use of any of the senses, 
 n. 15, (') ; that man has only a locomotive power, where- 
 by he is capable of going to church to hear the Word and the 
 Gospel, n. 15, ( e ) ; but that a person who is regenerate by virtue 
 of the Holy Ghost, from the new powers and gifts which he 
 has received, does in a certain manner co-operate, n. 15, ( k ) ; 
 besides many other things to the same purpose. This descrip- 
 tion of man in his conversion, and during his repentance from 
 evil works, is also an offspring produced from the said egg or 
 womb, that is, from justification by faith alone, to the intent 
 that man's works may be totally abolished, and not suffered to 
 have the least conjunction with faith, not even to touch it. 
 But seeing that such ideas are repugnant to the common per- 
 ception of all men concerning man's conversion and repen- 
 tance, they have added the following words : " There is a icidc 
 difference between persons baptized and jjcrsons icnbaptizcd, 
 for it is the doctrine of Paul, that all baptized persons have 
 put on Christ, and are truly regenerated ; they arc then endow- 
 ed with a freedom of will, whereby they not only can hear the 
 Word of God, but can also assent to the same, and embrace it 
 by faith," n. 15, ("'), and in the Formula Concordia, p. 675. 
 I appeal to men of understanding, and beg them to weigh and 
 consider, whether this latter quotation be any way consistent 
 with the preceding ones, and whether it be not a contradic- 
 tion to say that a Christian in a state of conversion is like a 
 stock or a stone, so that he is not able so much as to accom- 
 modate himself to the receiving of grace, when yet every Chris- 
 tian is a baptized person, and by baptism became possessed, 
 not only of a power to hear the Word of God, but also to assent 
 to it, and embrace it by faith ; wherefore the comparing a Chris- 
 tian to a stock or a stone is a simile that ought to be banished 
 from all Christian churches, and to be done away, like a meteor 
 that vanishes from before the eyes of a man waking out of 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 43 
 
 sleep ; for what can be more repugnant to reason ? But in order 
 to elucidate the doctrine of the New Church concerning man's 
 conversion, I will transcribe the following passage from one of 
 the memorable relations in the Apocalypse Rt vealed. "How plain 
 is it to see, that every man has liberty to think about God, or 
 not to think about Him ; consequently that every man has the 
 same liberty in spiritual things, as he has in civil and moral 
 things : the Lord gives this liberty continually to all ; where- 
 fore man becomes guilty or not guilty accordingly : man is man 
 by virtue of this power, whereas a beast is a beast in conse- 
 quence of its not possessing such a power ; so that man is capable 
 of reforming and regenerating himself as of himself, provided 
 he only acknowledge in his heart that his ability is from the 
 Lord : every one who does the work of repentance, is reform- 
 ed and regenerated: both must be done by man as of himself, 
 but this as of himself is also from the Lord, because the Lord 
 gives both the power to will and perform, and never takes it 
 away from any one. It is true that man cannot contribute 
 any tiling thereunto, nevertheless he is not created a statue, 
 but a man, to do the work of repentance from the Lord as 
 from himself: in this alone consists the reciprocality of love 
 and faith, and of conjunction thereby, which the Lord earnest- 
 ly wills to be done on the part of man : in a word, act of 
 yourselves, and believe that you act from the Lord, for thus 
 you will act as of yourselves. But the power so to act is not 
 implanted in man by creation, because to act of himself is the 
 prerogative of the Lord alone, but it is given continually; and 
 in this case in proportion as man does good and acquires 
 truth as of himself, he is an angel of heaven ; but in proportion 
 as he does evil, and in consequence thereof confirms himself 
 in what is false, Which also is done as of himself, in the same 
 proportion he is a spirit of hell : that in this latter case also man 
 acts as of himself, is evident from his prayers, as when he prays 
 that he may be preserved from the devil, lest he should seduce 
 him, and bring his own evils upon him. Every one however 
 contracts guilt, who believes that he does of himself either 
 good or evil ; but not he who believes that he acts as of him- 
 self: for whatsoever a man believes he does of himself, that 
 he appropriates to himself ; if he believes that he does good 
 of himself, he appropriates to himself that good, and makes it 
 his own, when nevertheless it is of God and from God ; and if 
 he believes that he does evil of himself, he also appropriates 
 that evil to himself, and makes it his own, when yet it is of 
 the devil and from the devil." 
 
44 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 That many other false tenets, even concerning the sacra- 
 ments of baptism and the holy supper, as to the benefits reason- 
 ably to be expected from them, when considered according to 
 the doctrine of justification by faith alone ; as likewise concern- 
 ing the person of Christ ; together with all the heresies from 
 the first ages down to the present day ; have flowed from no 
 other source, than from a doctrine founded on the idea of three 
 Gods ; we have not room to demonstrate within the limits of 
 this epitome, but it shall be shown and proved at large in the 
 work itself. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 70. That the last state of the present Chureh, when it is at 
 an end, is meant by the Consummation of the Age, and the 
 Coming of the Lore! at that period, Matt. xxiv. 3. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 71. We read in Matthew, " The eliseiples eame to Jesus, 
 and showed Him the buildings of the temple ; and Jesus said 
 unto them, Verily I say unto you, there shedl not be left here 
 one stone upon another, whieh shall not be thrown down. And 
 the diseiples said unto Him, tell us when these things shedl be, 
 anel espeeiedly what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of 
 the consummeition of the age," chap. xxiv. 1, 2, 3. At this 
 day, the learned clergy and laity understand, by the destruction 
 of the temple, its destruction by Vespasian; and by the coming 
 of the Lord, and the consummation of the age, they understand 
 the end and destruction of the world : but by the destruction 
 of the temple is not only meant the destruction thereof by the 
 Romans, but likewise the destruction of the present church ; 
 and by the consummation of the age, and the coming of the Lord 
 at that period, is meant the end of the present church and the 
 establishment of a New Church by the Lord : that these things 
 are there meant, is evident from the whole of that chapter from 
 beginning to end, which treats solely of the successive declen- 
 sions and corruptions of the Christian church, even to its de- 
 struction, when it is at an end. That by the temple in a limit- 
 ed sense is meant the temple at Jerusalem, in an extensive 
 sense the church of the Lord, in a more extensive sense the 
 angelic heaven, and in the most extensive sense the Lord as 
 to His Humanity, may be seen in the Apoealypsc Revealed, n. 
 529. That by the consummation of the age is meant the end 
 of the church, which comes to pass when there remains no 
 truth of doctrine from the Word but what has been falsified, 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 45 
 
 and thus consummated, is shown in n. 658, 676, 750, of the 
 same work. That by the coining of the Lord is meant His 
 coming in the Word, and at the same time the establishment of 
 a New Church instead of the former, which is then brought 
 to its consummation or end, evidently appears from His own 
 words in the same chapter, from verse 30 to 134 ; as likewise 
 from the two last chapters xxi. and xxii. of the Apocalypse, 
 where are these words : " IJcsits am the Root and the Offspring 
 of David, the Bright and Morning Star; and the spirit and 
 the bride say, Come; and lit him that heareth say., Come; and 
 him that is, athirst, let him eomc: Yea, I come quickly: Amen, 
 wen so, come, Lord Jesus," chap. xxii. 17, 20. 
 
 72. That the church is then at an end, when there are no 
 longer any truths of faith, and hence no goods of charity there- 
 in, is self-evident : that falses of faith extinguish the truths of 
 doctrine, and evils of life consume the goods of charity ; and 
 that wherever falses of faith are, there likewise are evils of life, 
 and that wherever evils of life are, there likewise are falses of 
 faith ; will be demonstrated in their proper places, when we come 
 to treat of these matters. The reason why it has been hitherto 
 unknown, that by the consummation of the age is meant the end 
 of the church, is, because when falses are taught, and when the 
 doctrine resulting from them is believed and honoured r.s ortho- 
 dox, then it cannot possibly be known that the church is to be 
 brought to a consummation ; for falses are regarded as truths, and 
 truths as falses, and then the false explodes the truth, and black- 
 ens it, like ink poured into clear water, or soot thrown upon white 
 paper. For it is the general opinion, and the most learned of 
 the present age proclaim it, that they enjoy the purest light of 
 the Gospel, notwithstanding they are enveloped in thick dark- 
 ness ; to such a degree of blindness are they reduced by the 
 white speck that has covered over the pupils of their eyes. 
 
 73. That in the 24th chapter of Matthew, the 13th of Mark, 
 and the 21st of Luke, where similar passages occur, is not 
 described the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, but 
 that the successive changes of the state of the Christian church 
 are foretold, in regular order, even to its last state, when it 
 comes to an end, will be shown in the large work ; and in the 
 mean time, it may appear from these words in the abovemen- 
 tioned evangelists : " Then shall appear the sign of the Son of 
 Man, and thin sliall a!/ the tribes of the earth wail; and they 
 shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
 power and glory : and He shall send His angels with a great 
 sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect 
 
46 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 from one end of the heavens to the other end thereof," Matt, 
 xxiv. 30, 31 ; Mark xiii. 26, 27 ; Luke xxi. 27 : it is well known, 
 that these things were neither seen nor heard at the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, and that it is the prevailing opinion at this day, 
 that they will come to pass at the time of the last judgment. 
 We likewise read of similar things in the Apocalypse, which 
 from beginning to end treats solely of the last state of the 
 church, where are these words : " Behold, Jesus Christ < onu th 
 in the clouds, and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because 
 of Him," chap. i. 5,7 : the particular explication of these words 
 may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed, n. 24 to 28 ; also 
 what is signified by the tribes of the earth, and their wailing, 
 n. 27, 348, 349. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 74. That the Infestation from Falses, and thence the Con- 
 stimulation of every Truth, or the Desolation, which at this 
 Day j)revails in the Christian Churches, is meant by the great 
 Affliction, such as 7ims not from the Beginning of the World, 
 nor ever shall be, Matt. xxiv. 21. 
 
 . L BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 75. That the successive declensions and corruptions of the 
 Christian church are foretold and described by the Lord in 
 the 24th chapter of Matthew, may be seen above, n. 73 : 
 after having spoken of false prophets that should arise, and of 
 the abomination of desolation wrought by them, verses 11, 15, 
 he adds, " Then shall be great affliction, si/eh as teas nut from 
 the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be," verse 
 21 ; whence it is evident, that by great affliction, in this as 
 well as in other places throughout the Word, is meant the in- 
 festation of truth by falses, until there remain no genuine truth 
 derived from the Word, which is not falsified and by that means 
 consummated. This has come to pass, by reason that the 
 churches have not acknowledged the unity of God in the trinity, 
 and His trinity in unity, in one person, but in three, and hence 
 have founded a church in the mind upon the idea of three Gods, 
 and in the mouth upon the confession of one God ; for by this 
 means they have separated themselves from the Lord, and at 
 length to such a degree, that they have no idea left of there 
 being any Divinity in His Human Nature, (see the Apocalypse 
 Revealed, n. 294,) when nevertheless the Lord as to His Hu- 
 manity is Divine Truth Itself, and Divine Light Itself, as He 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NSW CIU'RCII. 
 
 A' 
 
 abundantly teaches in His Word ; hence is the great affliction 
 so prevalent at the present day : that this has been principally 
 brought on by the doctrine of justification and imputation 
 through the medium of faith alone, will be shown in the follow- 
 ing pages. 
 
 70. This affliction, or infestation of truth by falses, is treat- 
 ed of in seven chapters of the Apocalypse ; and is what is meant 
 by the black horse and the pale horse going forth from the 
 book, the seals whereof the Lamb had opened, chap. vi. 5 to 
 8 ; and by the beast ascending out of the abyss, which made 
 war against the two witnesses, and slew them, chap. xi. 7, and 
 following verses ; as also by the dragon which stood before the 
 woman who was ready to be delivered, in order to devour her 
 child, and pursued her into the desert, and there cast out of 
 his mouth water as a flood, that he might cause her to be car- 
 ried away of the flood, chap. xii. ; and likewise by the beast 
 out of the sea, whose body was like that of a leopard, his feet 
 like those of a bear, and his mouth like that of a lion, chap, 
 xiii. 2 ; also by the three unclean spirits like frogs, which came 
 out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, 
 and out of the mouth of the false prophet, chap. xvi. 13 ; and 
 moreover by these particulars, that after the seven angels had 
 poured out the phials of the wrath of God, wherein were the 
 seven last plagues, upon the earth, upon the sea, upon the rivers 
 and fountains, upon the sun, upon the throne of the beast, 
 upon Euphrates, and last of all upon the air, there was a great 
 earthquake, such as had never been seen since men were 
 created upon the earth, chap. xvi. : the earthquake here sig- 
 nifies an inversion of the church, which is occasioned by 
 falses and falsifications of truth. The like things are under- 
 stood by these words : " Tlic angel put forth his sickle, and 
 gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great 
 wine-press of the wrath of God ; and the wine-press was trod- 
 den, and blood came out. of the wine-press, even unto the horses' 
 bridles, for the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs," 
 chap. xiv. 10, 20 ; where blood signifies truth falsified : besides 
 many other passages to the same purpose, in those seven chap- 
 ters : but if you desire further information in this matter, turn 
 to the explication thereof, and the memorable relations at the 
 end of the chapters. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 77. That there ironld be neither Love, nor Faith, nor the 
 Knowledges of Good and Truth, in the last time of the Chris- 
 
48 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 tian Church, when it draws to an end, is understood by these 
 words in the same 24th chapter of Matthew : " After the afflic- 
 tion of those days, the Sun shall be darkened, and the Moon 
 shall not give her light, and the Stars shall fall from Heaven, 
 and the Powers of the Heavens shall be shaken," verse 29. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 78. In the prophetic parts of the Word, the like things are 
 said of the sun, moon, and stars, as here in Matthew, chap, 
 xxiv. 29. Thus it is written in Isaiah : " Behold the cruel day 
 of Jehovah comcth, the stars of heaven and the constellations 
 thereof shall not give their light, the sun, shall be darkened at 
 his rising, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine," 
 Isaiah xiii. 9, 10: soinEzekiel: " When I shall put thee out, 
 I iv ill cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof dark; 1 
 7oill cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her 
 light, and I will set darkness upon thy land," xxxii. 7, 8 : in 
 Joel : " The day of Jehovah comcth, a day of darkness ; the sun 
 and moon shall not give their light, and the stars shall with- 
 draw their shining," ii. 10 : again in the same prophet: " The 
 sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, be- 
 fore the great day of Jehovah shall come" iii. 4 : " The day of 
 Jehovah is near in the valley of decision ; the sun and moon are. 
 darkened," iv. 15 : in the Apocalypse : " The fourth angel 
 sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third 
 part of the stars, and the day shone not for a third part of it" 
 vii. 12: and in another place, " The sun became black as sack- 
 cloth of hair, and the moon became as blood," vi. 12. All the 
 former passages treat of the last time of the Jewish church, 
 which was when the Lord came into the world ; the same thing 
 is meant here in Matthew and in the Apocalypse, only in ref- 
 erence to the last time of the Christian church, when the Lord 
 is to come again, but in the Word, which is Himself, and in 
 which He is; wherefore immediately after those words in 
 Matthew xxiv. 29, it follows, " And then shall appear the sign 
 of the Son o f Man coming in the clouds o f the heavens," verse 
 30. By the sun, in the above passages, is meant love, by the 
 moon, faith, and by the stars, the knowledges of good and truth, 
 and by the powers of the heavens, those three as the supports 
 and firmaments of the heavens where angels are, and of the 
 churches where men are : by the above, therefore, collected into 
 one sense, is meant, that there would be no love, nor faith, nor 
 knowledges of good and truth, remaining in the Christian 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 49 
 
 church, in the last time thereof, when it draws to its end. 
 That the sun signifies love, has been shown in the Apocalypse 
 Revealed, n. 53, 54, 41:3, 79(>, 831, 9(31 ; that the moon signi- 
 fies faith, n. 53, 332, 413, 423, 533; that the stars signify 
 knowledges of good and truth, n. 51, 74, 333, 408, 419, 954, 
 of the same work. 
 
 79. That, according to the above prediction, there is at this 
 day so great darkness throughout the Christian churches, that 
 the sun gives no light by day, nor the moon and stars any light 
 by night, is occasioned solely by the doctrine of justification 
 by faith alone; for it inculcates faith as the only means of 
 salvation ; of the influx, progress, indwelling, operation, and 
 efficacy of which no one has hitherto seen any sign ; and into 
 which neither the law of the decalogue, nor charity, nor good 
 works, nor repentance, nor desires after newness of life, have 
 any entrance,. or are in the smallest degree connected with it; 
 for it is asserted, that they spontaneously follow, without being 
 of any use either to preserve faith or to procure salvation. The 
 above doctrine likewise teaches, that faith alone imparts to the 
 regenerate, or those who are possessed of it, full liberty, so as 
 to be no longer under the law ; moreover that Christ covers 
 over their sins before God the Father, who forgives them as 
 though they were not seen, and crowns them with renovation, 
 holiness, and eternal life. These and many other things of a 
 like nature are the interiors of that doctrine ; the exteriors, 
 which do not gain admission, are valuable sayings concerning 
 charity, good works, acts of repentance, and exercises of the 
 law ; yet these are accounted by them merely as slaves and 
 drudges, which follow their mistress, faith, without being per- 
 mitted to join in her company : but forasmuch as they know 
 that the laity account these things as equally necessary to salva- 
 tion with faith, they carefully subjoin them in their sermons and 
 discourses, and pretend to conjoin them with and insert them 
 into justification ; this, however, they do merely to tickle the 
 ears of the vulgar, and to defend their oracles, that they may 
 not appear mere riddles, or like the vain responses of sooth- 
 sayers. 
 
 80. In order to confirm the above assertions, I will adduce 
 the following passages from the Formula Concordia, (concern- 
 ing which see n. 9,) lest any one should think that these things 
 have been unjustly laid to their charge : That the works of 
 the second table of the decalogue are civil duties, and belong 
 to external worship, which man is able to do of himself : and 
 that it is a folly to dream that such works can justify, page 84, 
 
 5 
 
go 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 85, 102 : that good works are to be utterly excluded from the 
 business of justification by faith, p. 589, 590, 591, 704 to 708 : 
 that good works do not in any wise enter into justification, p. 
 589, 702. App. 62, 173 : that good works do not preserve sal- 
 vation nor faith, p. 590, 705. App. p. 174 : that neither does 
 repentance enter into justification by faith, p. 165, 320. App. 
 p. 158 : that repentance is nothing more than praying to God, 
 acknowledging the truth of the gospel, giving of thanks, being 
 obedient to the magistracy, and following one's calling, p. 12, 
 198. App. p. 158, 159, 172, 266: that renovation of life has 
 likewise nothing to do with justification, p. 585, 685, 688, 
 689. App. p. 170 : that attention to obedience for the time to 
 come, in like manner, neither enters into faith, nor justifies, p. 
 90, 91, 690. App. p. 167: that the regenerate are not under 
 the law, but are delivered from the bondage thereof, and are 
 only in the law, and under grace, p. 722, and elsewhere : that 
 the sins of the regenerate are covered over by the merit of Christ, 
 p. 641, 686, 687, 719, 720: besides many other passages to 
 the same purport. It is to be observed, that all Protestants, 
 as well those who call themselves Gospellers, as those who call 
 themselves the Reformed, teach in like manner justification 
 by faith alone, see above, n. 17, 18. 
 
 81. It is a wonderful circumstance, that the doctrine of 
 justification of faith alone prevails at this day over every other 
 doctrine throughout all reformed Christendom, and is esteem- 
 ed almost as the only important point of theology in the sacred 
 order : this is what all young students among the clergy greed- 
 ily learn and imbibe at the universities, and what they after- 
 wards teach in the churches, and publish in print, as if they were 
 inspired with heavenly wisdom, and whereby they endeavour 
 to acquire to themselves a name, and the reputation of superior 
 learning, as well as diplomas, licenses, and other honorary 
 rewards : and these things are done, notwithstanding it is owing 
 to this doctrine alone, that the sun is at this day darkened, the 
 moon deprived of her light, and the stars are fallen from heaven, 
 that is, have perished. It has been certified unto me, that 
 the doctrine of faith in imputed righteousness has blinded the 
 minds of men at this day to such a degree, that they will not, 
 and therefore as it were cannot, see any divine truth by the 
 light of the sun, nor by the light of the moon, but only by the 
 light of a fire by night ; on which account I will venture to 
 assert, that supposing divine truths concerning the conjunc- 
 tion of charity and faith, concerning heaven, the Lord, and 
 eternal happiness, to be sent down from heaven engraved in 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 51 
 
 silver characters, they would not be thought worthy to be read 
 by the sticklers for justification ; but the case would be quite 
 otherwise supposing a paper concerning justification by faith 
 alone to be brought them from hell. It is also said in the 
 Formula Concord'ur, that the article of justification by faith 
 alone, or the righteousness of faith, is the chief article in the 
 whole Christian doctrine ; and that the works of the law are 
 utterly to be excluded from this article, p. 17, Gl, 02, 72, 89, 
 683. App. p. 104. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 82. That they icho arc in the present justifying Faith, are 
 meant by the he-goats in Daniel and in Mattlitw. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 83. It is written in Daniel, " I saw in a vision a ram, which 
 had two horns that irerc high, but the higher came up last ; and 
 that the horn pushed westward, and northward, and southward, 
 and made itself great. Then I saw a he-goat coming from the 
 west, over the face o f the icholc earth, which had a horn between 
 its eyes; and that he ran to the ram in the fury of his strength, 
 and broke his two horns, and cast him down to the earth, and 
 stamped upon him : but that the great horn of the he-goat was 
 broken, and instead of it there came up four horns : and out 
 of one of then came forth a little horn which waied acceding 
 great towards the south, toicards the cast, and totcards the 
 comeliness, and even to the host of heaven ; and it cast dmcn of 
 the host and of the stars to the earth, and stamped upon them: 
 yea, he magnified himself to the Prince of the host, and took from 
 him the daily sacrifice, and cast away the place of his sanctuary, 
 for he cast down truth to the earth. And I heard one saint 
 saying, how long shall this vision be, the daily sacrifce, and 
 the wasting transgression, that both the holy thing and the host 
 should be given to be trodden under foot ? And he said, even 
 to the evening the morning, then shedl the holy thing be justified," 
 chap. viii. 2 to 14. That this vision is a prediction of the 
 future states of the church, is very evident, for it declares, 
 that the daily sacrifice was taken away from the Prince of the 
 host, the habitation of his sanctuary cast down, and that the he- 
 goat cast down truth to the earth : moreover, that a saint said, 
 how long shall this vision be, that both the holy thing and the 
 host should be given to be trodden under foot ; and that this 
 should be even to the evening the morning, when the holy thing 
 
52 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 shall be justified : by the evening the morning is meant the 
 end of the old church, when a New Church commences. 
 
 84. In Matthew we read these words : " Then shall the 
 Son of Man say to the he-goats on his left hand, depart from 
 Me, for I was hungry, and ye gave Me no meat ; I was thirsty, 
 and ye gave Me no drink ; I was a stranger, and ye took Me 
 not in ; I was naked, and ye clothed Me not ; I was sick and 
 in prison, and ye visited Me not ; and these shall go away into 
 eternal punishment.'''' That the same persons are here meant 
 by he-goats and sheep, as by the he-goat and ram in Daniel, 
 is very evident : that by he-goats are meant those who are in 
 the present justifying faith, appears from this circumstance, 
 that unto the sheep are enumerated works of charity, and it is 
 said that they did them ; and that unto the he-goats the same 
 works of charity are enumerated, but it is said that they did 
 them not, and that they are therefore sentenced to condem- 
 nation : for they who are in the present justifying faith, neglect 
 works, because they deny them to have any thing of salvation 
 or of the church in them. When charity is thus removed, 
 good works, which appertain to charity, become so totally for- 
 gotten and obliterated, that they are never more remembered, 
 nor is the least effort made to recall them to mind when the 
 law of the decalogue is read. It is a general rule in religion, 
 that in proportion as any one does not will good, and hence 
 does not do it, in the same proportion he wills evils, and 
 hence does them; and on the contrary, that in proportion as 
 any one does not will evils, and hence does not commit them, 
 in the same proportion he wills good, and hence does good; 
 these latter are the sheep, but the former are the he-goats. 
 If all evil persons had been there meant by the he-goats, in- 
 stead of the works of charity which they had not done, the 
 evils which they had done would have been enumerated. 
 
 85. That no other than the persons above described are 
 meant by the he-goats, has been manifested to me by expe- 
 rience in the spiritual world ; in which world there appear all 
 things that are in the natural world, such as houses and pal- 
 aces, paradises and gardens, with trees of every kind; likewise 
 fields and tillage lands, as also plains and green pastures, to- 
 gether with flocks and herds ; and all resembling those upon 
 our earth; nor is there any other difference, than that in the 
 natural world they are from a natural origin, but in the spirit- 
 ual world from a spiritual origin. There I have often seen 
 sheep and he-goats, also combats between them, like that de- 
 scribed in Daniel, chap. viii. I have seen he-goats with horns 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 53 
 
 bent forwards and backwards, and rushing with fury upon the 
 sheep ; I have seen some he-goats with two, and others with 
 four horns, with which they vehemently struck at the sheep ; 
 and when I looked to discover what this meant, I saw some 
 persons disputing together about faith conjoined with charity, 
 and faith separated from charity; from whence it plainly ap- 
 peared, that the present justifying faith, which, considered in 
 itself, is a faith disjoined from charity, is the he-goat, and that 
 faith conjoined with charity is the sheep. 
 
 86. The like persons are meant by he-goats in Zechariah: 
 "Mine angir was kindled against the sh<pherds, and I will 
 visit t/tc he-goats," x. 3 : and in Ezekiel : " Behold I judge 
 between eattle and eat tie, bt tween the rams and the he-goats ; 
 seenuth it a small thing unto you, to have eaten up the good 
 pasture, but ye must tread down icith your feet also the residue 
 of the pastures 1 Ye thrust edl the infirm sheep with your horns, 
 until ye hare dispersed tht m ; tin refore will I save My flock, 
 that it be no more a prey" xxxiv. IT, 18, 22, and following 
 verses. 
 
 XX. 
 
 87. That they who have confirmed themselves in the present 
 justifying Faith, are meant in the Apoealypse by the Dragon, 
 and his two Beasts, and by the Locusts; and that this same 
 Faith, whin confirmed, is there meant by the great City which 
 is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, iclicrc the two Witnesses 
 tverc slain, as also by the Pit of the Abyss, whence the Locusts 
 came forth. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 88. That seven chapters of the Apocalypse treat of the per- 
 verted state of the church among the Reformed, and two chap- 
 ters of the perverted state of the church among the Roman 
 Catholics, and that the states of both churches, as existing at 
 the present day, are sentenced to damnation,* has been shown 
 i:i the explication thereof, in a work entitled, The Apocalypse 
 Revealed, and that not by uncertain conjectures, but by full 
 proofs. That by the dragon, treated of in the 12th chapter, 
 are meant those in the Reformed churches, who make God 
 three, and the Lord two, and who separate charity from faith, 
 
 * ll is not to be supposed from hence, that all the individual members of those 
 churches have incurred this dreadful sentence ; the constant testimony of our 
 author is, that all with whom f'alses of doctrine are not confirmed by evil of life, 
 are eventually saved. 
 
 5* 
 
54 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 by making their faith spiritual and saving, and not charity, 
 see n. 5:32 to 505, and the Memorable Relation adjoined, n. 
 566. That they are further described by the two beasts, one 
 rising out of the sea, and the other out of the earth, as related 
 in chap. xiii. see n. 567 to 610, and the Memorable Relation, 
 n. 611. That they are also described by the locusts, which 
 came forth out of the pit of the abyss, as mentioned in chap, 
 ix. see n. 419 to 442. That this same faith, when confirmed, 
 is meant by the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom 
 and Egypt, where the two faithful witnesses were slain, as re- 
 lated in chap. xi. see n. 485 to 5:30, particularly n. 500 to 503, 
 and the Memorable Relation, n. 531. That they are also 
 meant by the pit of the abyss, out of which issued smoke as 
 out of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened, 
 and then locusts came forth, as described in chap. ix. see n. 
 421 to 424. 
 
 89. That I might be assured and fully convinced, that by 
 the pit of the abyss nothing else is meant than the faith of the 
 dragon, which is a faith conceived from an idea of three Gods, 
 and from having no idea of the Divinity of the Human Nature 
 of Christ, and which is called faith alone justifying, regenera- 
 ting, quickening, sanctifying and saving ; it was given me to 
 look into that abyss, to converse with those who are therein, 
 and likewise to see the locusts which came out thence; from 
 which ocular demonstration, that pit, together with the abyss, 
 is described by me in the Apocalypse Revealed; and because 
 a description from ocular demonstration may be relied on, it 
 shall be transcribed from that work, where it is described as 
 follows. 
 
 "That pit, which is like the mouth of a furnace, appears 
 in the southern quarter; and the abyss beneath it is of great 
 extent towards the east; they have light even there, but if 
 light from heaven be let in, there is immediate darkness; 
 wherefore the pit is closed up at the top. There appear in 
 the abyss huts constructed of brick, which are divided into 
 distinct cells, in each of which is a table, whereon lie papers, 
 with some books : every one there sits at his own table, who 
 in this world had confirmed justification and salvation by faith 
 alone, making charity a merely natural and moral act, and the 
 works thereof only works of civil life, whereby men may reap 
 advantage in the world, but if done for the sake of salvation, 
 they condemn them, and some even rigorously, because human 
 reason and will is in them. All who are in this abyss have 
 been scholars and learned men in the world ; and among them 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 5.5 
 
 are some metaphysicians and scholastic divines, who are there 
 esteemed above the rest. But their lot is as follows : when 
 first they come thither, they take tlieir seats in the first cells, 
 but as they confirm faith by excluding the works of charity, 
 they leave the first seats, and enter into cells nearer the east, 
 and thus successively till they come towards the end, where 
 they are who confirm those tenets from the Word ; and because 
 they then cannot but falsify the Word, their huts vanish, and 
 they find themselves in a desert. There is also an abyss be- 
 neath that abyss, where those are who in like manner have 
 confirmed justification and salvation by faith alone, but who 
 in their spirit have denied the existence of a God, and in their 
 heart have made a jest of the holy things of the church ; there 
 they do nothing but quarrel, tear their garments, get upon the 
 tables, stamp with their feet, and assail eacli other with re- 
 proaches; and because it is not permitted them to hurt any 
 one, they use threatening words, and shake their fists at each 
 other." 
 
 90. That I might also be assured and convinced, that they 
 who have confirmed themselves in the present justifying faith, 
 are meant by the dragon, it was given me to see many thou- 
 sands of them assembled together, and they then appeared at a 
 distance like a dragon with a long tail, which seemed full of 
 spikes like thorns, which signified falsities. Once also there 
 appeared a still greater dragon, which, raising up his back, 
 lifted up his tail towards heaven, and endeavoured to draw down 
 the stars from thence : stars there signify truths. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 91. That unless a New Church be established by the Lord, 
 no one can be saved; and that this is meant by these words, 
 " Unless those Days should be shortened, there should no Flesh 
 be saved." Matt. xxiv. 22. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 92. By shortening those days, is meant the putting an end 
 to the present church, and establishing a new one ; for, as has 
 been already observed, the 24th chapter of Matthew treats of 
 the successive declensions and perversions of the Christian 
 church, even to the consummation and end thereof, and of 
 the coming of the Lord at that period. The reason why no 
 flesh could be saved, unless those days should be shortened, 
 is, because the faith of the present church is founded on the 
 
56 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 idea of three Gods, and with this idea no one can enter heaven; 
 consequently no one can enter heaven with the faith of the 
 present church, because the idea of three Gods is in all and 
 every part thereof ; and besides, in that faith there exists no 
 life from the works of charity : that the faith of the present 
 church cannot be conjoined with charity, and produce any 
 fruits which are good works, was shown above, n. 47 to 50. 
 There are two things which form heaven in man, viz. the truths 
 of faith and the goods of charity ; the truths of faith occasion 
 the presence of the Lord, and point out the way to heaven, and 
 the goods of charity effect conjunction with the Lord, and 
 introduce into heaven; and everyone is there introduced into 
 light according to his affection of truth, and into heat accord- 
 ing to his affection of good : that the affection of truth is faith 
 in its essence, and the affection of good charity in its essence, 
 and that the marriage of them both constitutes the church, 
 may be seen above, n. 48 ; the church and heaven make one. 
 That these three are not in the churches of the present day, 
 which are built upon faith alone, has been fully shown in the 
 preceding pages. 
 
 93. I have sometimes, in the spiritual world, conversed with 
 the maintainers of justification by faith alone, and have told 
 them that their doctrine is erroneous, and likewise absurd, 
 that it brings on security, blindness, sleep, and night, in spirit- 
 ual things, and thereby death to the soul, thus exhorting them 
 to desist from it. But I have received for answer, Why should 
 we desist? Does not the pre-eminence of the clergy above the 
 laity, in point of erudition, depend upon this doctrine? To 
 which I replied, that it should seem from hence, that they re- 
 garded not so much the salvation of souls, as their own pre- 
 eminence ; and that because they had applied the truths of 
 the Word to confirm their own false principles, and thereby 
 had adulterated them, they were become angels of the abyss, 
 called Abaddons and Apollyons, Apoc. ix. 11 ; by whom are 
 signified the destroyers of the church by a total falsification of 
 the Word : see the explication thereof, n. 440, and the Memor- 
 able Relation, n. 566, in the Apocalypse Revealed. But they 
 answered, How can this be ? Are we not, by our knowledge of 
 the mysteries of that doctrine, oracles ? And do we not from 
 that doctrine give answers as from our sanctuary ? wherefore 
 we are not Apollyons, but Apollos. On hearing this, I replied 
 with indignation, If ye are Apollos, ye are also Leviathans, 
 the first class of you are crooked Leviathans, and the second 
 class of you are oblong Leviathans, whom God will visit with his 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 sharp and great sword, Isaiah xxvii. 1 : but they laughed at 
 these words. What is meant by being visited and perishing 
 by the sword, may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed, n, 52. 
 
 94. The great arcanum, why, unless a New Church be es- 
 tablished by the Lord, no flesh can be saved, is this; that as 
 long as the dragon with his crew remains in the world of spirits, 
 into w hich he was cast from heaven, so long no divine truth, 
 united with divine good, can pass from the Lord to men on 
 earth, but it is either annihilated or perverted, so that salvation 
 is thereby rendered impossible to be attained : this is what is 
 meant in the Apocalypse by the following passage : " And the 
 dragon was cast out into the earth, and his angels ire re cast 
 out with him : woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, 
 for the devil is conic down unto them, having great wrath; and 
 he persecuted the woman, who brought forth a Son," chap. xii. 
 
 9, 12, 13 : but after the dragon was cast into hell, chap. xx. 
 
 10, then it was that John saw the New Heaven and the New 
 Earth, and saw the New Holy Jerusalem coming down from 
 God out of heaven, Apoc. xxi. 1, 2, &c. "What is meant by 
 the dragon, and who the dragons are, may be seen above, 
 n. 47. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 95. That the Opening and Rejection of the Tenets of the 
 Faith of the present Church, and the Rt relation and Recep- 
 tion of the Tenets of tin Faith of the New Church, is meant 
 by these words in the Apocalypse: "He that sat upon the 
 throne said, Behold I will make all things New ; and He 
 said unto me, Write, for these Words arc true and faithful," 
 chap. xxi. 5. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 96. He that sat upon the throne, that is, the Lord, said 
 these things unto John, when he saw the New Jerusalem 
 coming down from God out of heaven : that by the New 
 Jerusalem is meant a New Church, will be shown in the fol- 
 lowing chapter. The reason why the falsities of the tenets 
 of the faith of the present church must first be opened and 
 rejected, before the truths of the tenets of the New Church 
 can be revealed and received, is, because they do not agree 
 together, no, not in one single point or particular ; for the ten- 
 ets of the present church are founded upon a faith, in which, 
 whether there be any essential of the church, or not, is un- 
 known : now the essentials of the church, which conjoin them- 
 
58 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 selves with a faith directed to one God, are charity, good works, 
 repentance, and a life according to the divine laws; and for- 
 asmuch as these together with faith affect and move the human 
 will and thought, they conjoin man to the Lord, and the Lord 
 to man : since therefore none of these essentials enter into the 
 faith of the present church at the time it takes place, which is 
 called the act of justification, it cannot possihly be known 
 whether this faith be in man, or not, consequently whether 
 it be any thing, or only an idea of something ; for they say, 
 that man in the act of justification is like a stock or a stone, 
 and that he can neither will, think, co-operate, no, nor even 
 apply or accommodate himself to the reception thereof in the 
 smallest degree, see above, n. 15, (<) ( d ) : since therefore the 
 case is such, that no one can guess, much less know, whether 
 that faith be in him, and thus whether it be in him like a 
 painted flower, or like a flower growing in a field ; or whether 
 it be like a bird flying by him, or like a bird that hath built her 
 nest in him ; I ask by what tokens or signs is this to be known? 
 If it be answered, that it is to be known by charity, good works, 
 repentance, and exercises of the law, which follow after this 
 faith, and yet have no connection with it ; I leave it to men 
 of sense to determine, whether things, that have no connec- 
 tion with faith, can possibly be proper signs and evidences 
 thereof; for this faith of theirs, they say, is neither preserv- 
 ed nor retained by the above-mentioned works of charity, 
 see above, n. 12, ("') ("). From what has been said we may 
 draw the following conclusion, viz. that in the faith of the 
 present day there exists nothing of the church, and conse- 
 quently that it is not any thing, but only an idea of some- 
 thing : since then this faith is of such a nature, it is deserv- 
 edly to be rejected, yea, it rejects itself, as a thing that bears 
 no relation to a church. 
 
 97. But widely different is the case with the tenets or doc- 
 trinals of the New Church; these are all essentials, in each 
 whereof there is heaven and the church ; and they regard this 
 as their end, viz. that man may be in the Lord, and the Lord 
 in man, according to His own words in John, chap. xiv. 20 ; 
 and chap. xv. 4, 5, 6 : it is this conjunction alone which con- 
 stitutes the Christian Church. From these iew observations 
 it may clearly appear, what is meant by these words of the 
 Lord : " He that sat upon the throne said, Behold I will make 
 all things New; and He said, Write, for these Words are true 
 and faith fid ." 
 
 98. The sole reason why the Christian world has fallen 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 59 
 
 into a faith, which has put away from itself all the truths and 
 goods of heaven and the church, even to the separation there- 
 of, is, because they have divided God into three persons, and 
 have not believed the Lord God the Saviour to he one with 
 God the Father, and thus have not approached Him immedi- 
 ately ; when nevertheless He alone as to His Humanity is 
 essential Divine Truth, "which is the Word, which was God 
 with God, and is the true Light which cn/ighfencfh every man; 
 and became flesh," John i. I, '2, 9, 14. That He is essential 
 truth, and thus essential light, is also testified in other places ; 
 for He saith, "I am the Light of the world" John viii. 22. 
 chap. ix. 5 : and in another place : " While ye have the Light, 
 believe in the Light, that ye may be the children of Light: I 
 am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth 
 in Me, may not abide in darkness," John xii. 36, 40: in the 
 Apocalypse : " J am Alpha and Omega, the Jit ginning and the 
 End, the First and the Last, the Bright and Morning Star," 
 chap. xxii. 13, 16: and in Matthew: " When Jesus urns trans- 
 formed, His face shone as the sun, and His raiment became as 
 the light," chap. xvii. 12. Hence it appears why and whence 
 this imaginary faith came into the world, namely, because 
 they have not approached the Lord ; and I can, from all my 
 experience, as well as from positive assurance from heaven, 
 with the utmost certainty declare, that it is impossible to de- 
 rive a single genuine theological truth from any other source 
 than from the Lord alone ; nay, that to derive it from any other 
 source is as impossible, as it is to sail from England or Hol- 
 land to the Pleiades, or to ride on horseback from Germany to 
 Orion in the sky. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 99. That the New Church about to be established by the 
 Lord, is the New Jerusalem, treated of in the Apocalypse, 
 chap. xxi. and xxii. which is there called the Bride and the 
 Wife of the Lamb. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 100. The reason why the New Church is meant by the 
 New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, Apoc. 
 xxi. is, because Jerusalem was the metropolis of the land of 
 Canaan, and therein was the temple and the altar, and there 
 also the sacrifices were offered, consequently divine worship 
 was there performed, which every male throughout the land 
 was required to attend three times a year. A further reason 
 
no 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 is, because the Lord was in Jerusalem, and taught in its temple, 
 and afterwards glorified His Humanity there ; hence it is, that 
 by Jerusalem is signified the church. That by Jerusalem is 
 meant the church, is very clear from the prophecies in the 
 Old Testament concerning a New Church to be established 
 by the Lord, wherein it is called Jerusalem. I shall only ad- 
 duce the following passages, from which any one of interior 
 reason may see, that by Jerusalem is meant the church. 
 "Behold I create a new heaven and a new earth, and tin "for- 
 mer shall not be remembered ; beheld I will create Jirusalem an 
 exultation, and her people a gladness, that I may exult over 
 Jerusalem, and be glad over My people. Then the wolf and 
 the lamb shall feed together : they shall not do evil in all the 
 mountain of My holiness" Isaiah lxv. 17, 18, 19, 25. " For 
 Zion's sake I will not be silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I 
 will not rest, until her righteousness goeth forth as splendour, 
 and her salvation as a lamp that burnetii. Then the Gentiles 
 shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou 
 shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of Jehovah 
 shall utter; and thou skalt be a crown of beauty, and a diadem of 
 a kingdom, in the hand of thy God: Jehovah shall be well plcefsed 
 in thee, and thy land shall be married. Behold thy salvation 
 shall come, behold His reward is with Him : and they shall 
 call them, the people of holiness, the redeemed of Jehovah ; and 
 thou shalt be called, a city sought out, not deserted," Isaiah 
 lxii. 1 to 4, 11, 12. "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O 
 Zion, put on the garments of thy beauty, O Jerusalem, the city 
 of holiness ; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee 
 the uncircumciscd and the unclean. ; shake thyself from the dust, 
 arise, sit down, O Jerusalem. The people shall know My name 
 in that day ; for I am He that doth speak, behold it is I: Je- 
 hovah hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusa- 
 lem," Isaiah Hi, 1, 2, 0, 9. " Shout with joy, O daughter of 
 Zion, be glad with all thy heart, O daughter of Jerusalem ; 
 the king of Israel is in the midst of thee ; fear not evil any 
 more ; he will be glad over thee with joy, he will rest in thy love, 
 lie will rejoice over thee with shouting ; I will make you a name 
 and a praise among all the people of the earth," Zeph. iii. 14 
 to 17, 20. " Thus saith Jchovcdi thy Redeemer, saying to 
 Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited," Isaiah xliv. 24, 26. 
 " Thus saith Jehovah, I will return to Zion, and dwell in 
 the midst of Jerusalem, whence Jerusalem shall be called the 
 city of truth, and the mountedn of Jehovah Zebaoth the moun- 
 tain of holiness," Zech. viii. 3, 20, to 23. " Then shall ye 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 01 
 
 know, that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion, the 
 mountain of holiness, and Jerusalem shall be holiness ; audit 
 shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop 
 down with new wine, and the kills shall flow with milk, and 
 Jerusalem shall sit fast from generation to generation," Joel iv. 
 17 to 21. "In that day shall the branch of Jehovah be beauty 
 and glory ; audit shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, 
 and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every 
 one that is written for life in Jerusalem," Isaiah iv. 2, 3. "In 
 the last days the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be estab- 
 lished as the head of the mountains, for out of Zion shall go forth 
 doctrine, and the word o f Jehovah from Jerusalem," Micah iv. 
 1, 2, 8. "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne oj 
 Jehovah, and all nations shall be gathered to Jerusalem for the 
 name of Jehovah, neither shall they go any more after the con- 
 firmation of their own evil heart," Jer. iii. 17. " Look upon 
 Zion, the city of our stated feasts, let thine eyes see Jerusalem 
 a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; 
 the nails thereof shall never be removed, and the cords thereof 
 shall not be broken," Isaiah xxxiii. 20 ; not to mention other 
 passages, as Isaiah xxiv. 3. chap xxxvii. 32. chap. lxvi. 10 to 
 14. Zech. xii. 3, 6 to 10. chap. xiv. 8, 11, 12, 21. Malachi 
 iii. 2, 4. Psalm exxii. 1 to 7. Psalm exxx. 4, 5, 6. That 
 by Jerusalem in the above passages is meant a church to bo 
 established by the Lord, and not the Jerusalem inhabited by 
 the Jews, is plain from every particular of its description there- 
 in ; as that Jehovah God was about to create a new heaven 
 and a new earth, and also a Jerusalem at the same time ; and 
 that this Jerusalem would be a crown of beauty, and a diadem 
 of a kingdom ; that it is to be called holiness, and the city of 
 truth, the throne of Jehovah, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle 
 that shall not be taken down ; that the wolf and the lamb shall 
 fee ! together therein, and that the mountains shall drop down 
 with new wine, and the hills flow with milk, and that it should 
 remain from generation to generation ; besides other circum- 
 stances, as respecting the people therein, that they should be 
 holy, all written for life, and should be called the redeemed 
 of Jehovah. Moreover all those passages treat of the coming 
 of the Lord, and particularly of His second coming, when 
 Jerusalem shall be such as is there described ; for heretofore 
 she has not been married, that is, has not been the bride and 
 the wife of the Lamb, as the New Jerusalem is said to be in 
 the Apocalypse. The former or present church is meant by 
 Jerusalem in Daniel, and its commencement is there describ- 
 G 
 
02 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 ed in these words : " Know therefore and understand, that 
 from the going forth of the word, unto the restoring arid build- 
 ing of Jerusalem, even unto Messiah the Prince, shall be seven 
 weeks ; afterwards in sixty and two weeks it shall be restored, 
 and the street and the ditch shall be built, but in distress of 
 times," chap. ix. 25 : but its end is described by these words : 
 " At length upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation, 
 and even to the consummation and decision it shall drop upon 
 the devastation," verse 27 : this last passage is alluded to in 
 the following words of the Lord in Matthew : " When ye shall 
 see the abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel the prophet, 
 standing in the holy place, let him. that rcadeth note it well," 
 chap. xxiv. 15. That by Jerusalem, in the places above ad- 
 duced, is not meant the Jerusalem inhabited by the Jews, 
 may appear from those places in the Word, where it is said 
 of that city, that it was entirely destroyed, and that it was to 
 be destroyed, as in Jer. v. 1. chap. vi. 7. chap. vii. 17, 18, 
 &c. chap. viii. 6, 7, 8, &.c. chap. ix. 10, 11, 13, &lc. chap, 
 xiii. 9, 10, 14. chap. xiv. 16. Lament, i. 8, 9, 17. Ezech. iv. 
 1 to the end. chap. v. 9 to the end. chap. xii. 18, 19. chap, 
 xv. 6, 7, 8. chap. xvi. 1 to 63. chap, xxiii. 1 to 40. Matt, xxiii. 
 37, 38. Luke xix. 41 to 44. chap. xxi. 20,21, 22. chap, xxiii. 
 28, 29, 30 ; besides many other passages ; and also where it 
 is called Sodom, as in Isa. iii. 9. Jer. xxiii. 14. Ezech. xvi. 
 46, 48 ; and in other places. 
 
 101. That the church is the Lord's, and that by virtue of 
 a spiritual marriage, which is that of good and truth, the 
 Lord is called the Bridegroom and the Husband, and the 
 church the bride and the wife, is known among Christians 
 from the Word, particularly from the following passages : 
 John said of the Lord, "He that hath the bride is the Bride- 
 groom, but the friend of the Bridegroom is he who standcth and 
 heareth Him, and rcjoiccth because of the Bridegroom's voice," 
 John iii. 29: "Jesus said, while the Bridegroom is ivith them, 
 the children of the marriage cannot fast," Matt. ix. 15. Mark 
 ii. 19, 20. Luke v. 34, 35 : " I saio the holy city New Jeru- 
 salem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a 
 bride adorned for her husband," Apoc. xxi. 2. " The angel 
 said unto John, come and I will show thee the bride, the Jamb's 
 wife, and from a mountain he showed him the holy city Jeru- 
 salem," Apoc. xxi. 9 : " The time of the marriage, of the Lamb 
 is come, and His wife hath made herself ready ; blessed are. 
 they who are called unto the marriage supper of the Jamb," 
 Apoc. xix. 7,9:1 am the Root and Offspring of David, the 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHUnCH. 
 
 63 
 
 Bright and Morning Star : the spirit and the bride say, Come; 
 and let him who hcareth say, Come ; and him that is athirst, 
 Let him come ; and whosoever tcill, let him take the water of life 
 freely ," Apoc xxii. 16, 17. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 102. That the Faith of the New Church cannot by any 
 means be together with the Faith of the former Church, and 
 that in case they be together, such a collision and conflict will 
 ensue, as to destroy every thing relating to the Church in man. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 103. 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 uor even in one tenth part. The faith of the former 
 church is described in the Apocalypse, chap. xii. by the dragon, 
 but the faith of the New Church by the woman surrounded 
 with the sun, having upon her head a crown of twelve stars, 
 whom the dragon persecuted, and at whom he cast water as a 
 flood, that he might swallow her up, see above, n. 87 to 90 ; 
 these two cannot be together in one city, much less in one 
 house, consequently they cannot be together in one mind; or 
 should they be together, the unavoidable consequence must 
 be, that the woman would be continually exposed to the rage 
 and insanity of the dragon, and in fear lest he should devour 
 her son ; for it is said in the Apocalypse, chap. xii. that the 
 dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered, 
 in order to devour her child, and that the woman, after she 
 had brought forth the man-child, fled into the desert, verses 
 1, 4, 6, 14 to 17. The faith of the former church is a faith of 
 the night, for human reason has no perception of it, where- 
 fore it is also said, that the understanding must be kept in 
 obedience thereunto : nay, it is not even 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, 90, 97, 93 : but the faith of the New Church 
 enters into a conjugial covenant with all these, and conjoins 
 itself to them; and being 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 can no more be together, than an owl and 
 
A BRIEF EXFOSITIO?: OF THE 
 
 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 an 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 heterogeneouo [or diametrically opposite to each other in 
 their nature and quality] ; for the faith of the former church 
 springs from an idea of three Gods, see n. 30 to 38, but the 
 faith of the New Church from the idea of one God ; and as 
 there hence arises a heterogeneity or repugnance to each other, 
 there must inevitably, supposing them to be together, be such 
 a collision and conflict, as would prove fatal to every thing 
 relating to the church ; or, in other words, man would either 
 fall into a delirium, or into a state of insensibility as to spirit- 
 ual things, until at length he would scarcely know what the 
 church is, or whether there be any church at all. From what 
 has been said it follows, that they who have confirmed them- 
 selves in the faith of the old church, cannot, without endanger- 
 ing their spiritual life, embrace the faith of the New Church, 
 until they first have narrowly examined, rejected, and thus 
 extirpated the former faith, together with its young or eggs, 
 that is to say, its tenets ; the true nature or quality of which 
 has been already shown in the foregoing pages, particularly 
 at n. 64 to G9. 
 
 104. The like would happen if a person should embrace 
 the faith of the New Church, and retain the faith of the old 
 church concerning the imputation of the righteousness or 
 merit of the Lord ; for from this, as from their root, all the 
 tenets of the former church, like so many young shoots, have 
 sprung forth. Supposing this to be the case, it would com- 
 paratively be like a person extricating himself from three heads 
 of the dragon, and becoming entangled in his four remain- 
 ing ones ; or like a person dying from a leopard, and meeting 
 with a lion ; or like a person 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 lemma, where something will be 
 advanced concerning imputation. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 105. That the Roman Catholics at this day know nothing 
 the Imputation of the Merit of Christ, and of Justification 
 
DOCTRINE OF Tlin NEW Clll'RCir. 
 
 63 
 
 by Faith therein, into which their Church icas formerly ini- 
 tiated, because it is entirely concealed under their external 
 Forms of Worship, which are numerous ; for which reason, 
 therefore, if they recede but in part from their external Forms 
 of Worship, and immediately approach God tho Saviour Jesus 
 Christ, and administer the Holy Eucharist in both kinds, 
 hey may be brought Into the New Jerusalem, or the New 
 Church of the Lord more easily than the Reformed. 
 
 BRIEF ANALYSIS. 
 
 10G. That the primates and rulers of the Romish Church, 
 at their consecration to the ministry, swear to observe the de- 
 crees of the council of Trent, appears from the bull of Pope 
 Pius IV. where, in the form of the oath of their profession 
 of faith, dated the 13th of November, 15G4, we find these 
 words : " I firmly believe and profess all and every thing con- 
 tained in the creed used by the holy Church of Home ; and I 
 receive without any doubt all such things as are maintained and 
 eh eli/red in her holy canons, and general councils, and espe- 
 cially by the most holy council of Trent ; so help me God.'" 
 That they also bind themselves by an oath to believe and 
 profess what the council of Trent has established, concern- 
 ing the imputation of the merit of Christ, and justification 
 by faith therein, is evident from these words in the same bull : 
 " / embrace and receive all and every thing, which has been 
 determined and declared in the most holy council of Trent, 
 concerning original sin and justification what these are, 
 may be seen from the extracts taken from that council, as 
 above, n. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. From these principles established 
 in that council, the following consequences have been drawn, 
 namely, " That the Roman Catholics, previous to the refor- 
 mation, held precisely the same doctrines as the Reformed 
 have done subsequent thereto, with respect to the imputation 
 of the merit of Christ, and justification by faith therein, only 
 with this difference, that they conjoined the same faitli with 
 charity and good works," see above, n. 19, 20 : also, " That 
 the leading Reformers, Luther, Melancthon, and Calvin, re- 
 tained all the tenets concerning imputation of the merit of 
 Christ, and justification by faith, just as they then were and 
 had been held by the Roman Catholics ; but that they separa- 
 ted charity and good works from that faith, and declared them 
 to have no saving efficacy, to the intent that they might be 
 severed from the Roman Catholics, as to the very essentials 
 
A ERIEF EXPOriTlON OF THE 
 
 of the church, fMch are fuuh and charity," see above n. 21, 
 22, 23 : moreover, " That, neve-theless, the aforesaid leading 
 Reformers adjoined good works, and even conjoined them, 
 to their faith, but at the same time considered man as a passive 
 subject ; whereas the Roman Catholic- regarded him as an 
 active subject ; and that after all there actually is a conform- 
 ity of sen iment between both the one and the other, as to 
 faith, works, and merits," see above, n. 24 to 29. From 
 what has been shown, then, it is evident, that this faith is a 
 faith which the Roman Catholics swear to observe, equally 
 as well as the Reformed. 
 
 107. Nevertheless this faith is so far obliterated among the 
 Roman Catholics at this day, that they scarcely know a sylla- 
 ble about it ; not that it has been reprobated by any papal 
 decree, but because it has been concealed by the externals 
 of worship, such as the adoration of Christ's vicar, the invo- 
 cation of saints, the veneration of images, and moreover by 
 such tilings as. from being accounted holy, affect the senses, 
 as masses in ai unknown tongue, garments, lights, incense, 
 pompous processions ; also mysteries respecting the eucharist ; 
 by these things and others of a like nature, faith justifying by 
 the imputation of the merit of Christ, although a primitive 
 tenet of the Romish Church, has been so removed out of 
 sight, and withdrawn from the memory, that it is like something 
 buried in the earth, and covered over with a stone, which the 
 monks have set a watch over, to prevent its being dug up and 
 revived ; for were it revived, the belief of their possessing 
 a supernatural power of forgiving sins, and thus of justifying, 
 sanctifying, and bestowing salvation, would cease, and there- 
 with all their sanctity, pre-eminence, and prodigious gains. 
 
 108. The first reason why the Roman Catholics may be 
 brought into the New Jerusalem, or New Church, more 
 easily than the Reformed, is, because the faith of justifica- 
 tion by the imputation of the merit of Christ, which is an 
 erroneous faith, and cannot be together with the faith of 
 the New Chun h, (see a. 102 to 104,) is with them obliterated, 
 and is like to De still more fully so ; whereas it is as it were 
 engraven upon the Reformed, inasmuch as it is the principal 
 tenet of their church. A second reason is, because the Ro- 
 man Catholics entertain an idea of divine majesty belonging 
 to the Humanity of the Lord, more than the Reformed do, 
 as is evident from their most devout veneration of the host. 
 A th % rd reason is, because they hold charity, good works, 
 repojtance, and attrition to amendment of life, to be essen- 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 CI 
 
 uals of salvation, and these are also essentials of the New 
 Church ; but the case is otherwise with the Reformed, who 
 are confirmed in faith alone ; with these the above are 
 neither regarded as essentials nor formalities belonging to 
 faith, and consequently as not at all contributing to salvation. 
 These are three reasons, why the Roman Catholics, if they 
 approach God the Saviour Himself, not mediately but im- 
 mediately, and likewise administer the holy eucharist in 
 both kinds, may more easily than the Reformed receive a 
 living faith in the room of a dead faith, and be conducted 
 by angels from the Lord to the gates of the New Jerusalem 
 or New Church, and be introduced therein with joy and 
 shouting. 
 
 109. The imputation of the righteousness or merits of 
 Christ, enters at this day like a soul into the whole system of 
 theology throughout the Reformed Christian world : it is from 
 imputation that faith, which is therein accounted the only- 
 medium of salvation, is affirmed to be righteousness before 
 God, see above, n. 11, ( d ) ; and it is from imputation that man, 
 by means of that faith, is said to be clothed with the gifts of 
 righteousness, as a king when elected is invested with the in- 
 signia of royalty. But, nevertheless, imputation, from the mere 
 assertion that a man is righteous, effects nothing, for it passes 
 only into the ears, and does not operate in man, unless the 
 imputation of righteousness be also the application of righteous- 
 ness by its being communicated and so induced ; this follows 
 from its effects, which are said to be the remission of sins, re- 
 generation, renovation, sanctification, and accordingly salva- 
 tion : it is asserted further, that by means of that faith Christ 
 dwells in man, the Holy Spirit operates in him, and that hence 
 the regenerate are not only called righteous, but arc in reality 
 such : that not only the gifts of God, but likewise Christ Him- 
 self, yea, all the Holy Trinity, dwells by faith in the regenerate, 
 as in their temples, sec above, n. 15, (') ; and that man, both in 
 regard to person and works, is righteous, and pronounced to be 
 so, see above, n. 14, ( u ) : from which it clearly follows, that by 
 the imputation of Christ's righteousness is meant its applica- 
 tion, and thereby its being induced, by virtue of which man is 
 made partaker thereof. Now as imputation is the root, the 
 beginning, and the foundation of faith, and all its operations 
 towards salvation, and hence is as it were the sanctuary or 
 sacred recess in the Christian temples at this day, it is necessary 
 to subjoin here something relative to Imputation by way of 
 
OS 
 
 A BUIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 corollary : but this shall be distinctly arranged under proper 
 articles in the following order : I. That to every one after 
 death is imputed the evil in which he is, and in like manner 
 the good. II. That the induction or translation of the good 
 of one person into another, is a thing impossible. III. That 
 a faith of the imputation or application of the righteousness 
 or merits of Christ, is, inasmuch as such imputation or ap- 
 plication is impossible, an imaginary faith. 
 
 1 10. I. That to every one after (hath is imputed the Evil in 
 which he is, and in like manner the Good. In order to illus- 
 trate this with some degree of evidence, it shall be considered 
 under the following distinctions, I. That every one has a 
 proper life of his own. 2. That the life of every one remains 
 with him after death. 3. That to the evil person is then im- 
 puted the evil of his life, and that to the good person is im- 
 puted the good of his life. First, That every one ha* a proper 
 life of his own, consequently a life distinct from that of an- 
 other, is well known : for there is a perpetual variety, and no 
 two things are alike ; hence it is that every one has a property 
 that is peculiarly his own : this manifestly appears from the 
 faces of men, there not being one face exactly like another, 
 nor ever can be to eternity, because there do not exist two minds 
 alike, and the face is from the mind, for it is, as usually de- 
 nominated, the type or index of the mind, and the mind de- 
 rives its origin and form from the life. Unless a man had a 
 proper life of his own, as he has a mind and face of his own, 
 he could not enjoy any life after death distinct from that of 
 another ; nay, heaven could not exist, for this consists of a per- 
 petual variety arising from the distinct life of each individual; 
 its form solely proceeds from the variety of souls and minds 
 disposed into such an order, as to constitute one whole ; and 
 they constitute one from that One, whose life is in the whole 
 and in every particular there, as the soul is in man : unless 
 this were the case, heaven would be dispersed, because its 
 form would be dissolved. The One from whom the life of ail 
 and every one proceeds, and from whom that form coheres 
 together, is the Lord. Secondly, That the life of (very 
 one remaineth with him after (hath, is known in the church 
 from the Word, and particularly from the following passages : 
 " The Son of man shall come, and then he shall render unto 
 everyone according to his deeds," Matt. xvi. 27. "I saw 
 the books opened, and all were judged according to their 
 works," Apoc. xxi. 12, 13. " In the day of judgment God will 
 render unto every one according to his works," Rom. ii. G. 
 2 Corinth, v. 10. The works, according to which it shall be 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 60 
 
 rendered unto every one, are the life, for the life effects them, 
 and they are according to llic life. Forasmuch as it has been 
 granted nie for many years past to be in consort with angels, 
 and to converse with those who have departed from the world, 
 I can testify as a matter of certainty, that every one is there 
 examined as to the quality of his past life, and that the 
 life which lie had contracted in the world, abides with him to 
 eternity : I have spoken with those, who lived many ages ago, 
 whose life I was acquainted with from history, and I found 
 them to be similar in quality to the description given of them: 
 I have also heard from the angels, that no one's life can be 
 changed after death, because it is organized accord ir.g to his love 
 and faith, and hence according to his works ; and that if the life 
 were changed, the organization would be destroyed, which 
 never can be done : they further added, that a change of 
 organization can only take place in the material body, and by 
 no means in the spiritual body, after the former is rejected. 
 Thirdly, That to the evil person is then imputed the evil of his 
 life, and that to the good person is imputed the good thereof. 
 The imputation of evil, after death, does not consist in accusa- 
 tion, blame, censure, or in passing judgment, as in the world; 
 but the evil itself effects this: for the wicked, of their own 
 accord, separate themselves from the good, because they can- 
 not be together ; the delights of the love of evil are in aversion 
 to the delights of the love of good, and delights exhale from 
 every one, as odours from every vegetable on earth ; for they 
 are no longer absorbed and concealed by the material body, as 
 before, but have a free efflux into the spiritual atmosphere 
 from their loves ; and inasmuch as evil is there perceived as it 
 were in its odour, it is this which accuses, blames, finds guilty, 
 and judges ; not before any particular judge, but before every 
 one who is in good ; and this is what is meant by imputation. 
 The imputation of good is effected in the same manner, and 
 takes place with those, who in the world had acknowledged, 
 that every good in them was and is from the Lord, and nothing 
 thereof from themselves : these, after preparation, are let into 
 the interior delights of their own good, and then a way is open- 
 ed for them towards a society in heaven, whose delights are 
 homogeneous : this is done by the Lord. 
 
 111. II. That the Induetion or Translation of the Good 
 of one Person to another, is a thing impossible. The proof 
 hereof may also appear from the following observations in 
 their order: 1. That every man is born in evil. 2. That 
 man is led into good through regeneration by the Lord. 3. 
 
70 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 That this is effected by faith in the Lord, and by a life accord- 
 ing to His commandments. 4. Wherefore the good of one 
 person cannot by application he transferred to another, and so 
 imputed. First, That every man is born in evil, is known in 
 the church. This evil is said to be hereditary from Adam ; 
 but it is from parents, from whom every one derives his natural 
 disposition, or inclination ; which is a fact proved both by 
 reason and experience ; for the likenesses of parents may be 
 traced in the faces, characters, and manners of their children, 
 and their children's children ; hence families are distinguish- 
 ed by many, and their propensities are also judged of ; where- 
 fore the evils, which parents have contracted, are transmitted 
 by propagation to their posterity, and manifest themselves by 
 a certain inclination towards them ; hence are derived the evils 
 into which men are bom. Secondly, That man is led into 
 good through regeneration by the Lord. That there is such 
 a thing as regeneration, and that unless a person is regenerat- 
 ed, he cannot enter into heaven, is very evident from the Lord's 
 words in John iii. 3, 5. That regeneration is purification from 
 evils, and thus renovation of life, the Christian world cannot 
 be ignorant of, for it is even discerned by reason, whilst it 
 acknowledges that every one is born in evil, and that evil can- 
 not be washed and wiped away, like filth, by soap and water, 
 but by repentance. Thirdly, That this is effected by faith in 
 the Lord, and by a life according to His commandments. The 
 precepts of regeneration are five, as may be seen above, n. 43, 
 44 ; among which are these : That evils ought to be shunned, 
 because they are of the devil and from the devil ; that good 
 actions ought to be done, because they are of God and from 
 God ; and that the Lord is to be approached, that He may lead 
 us so to do. Let every one consider and weigh with himself, 
 whether good can be derived to man from any other source ; and 
 if he is not possessed of good he cannot be saved. Fourthly, 
 Wherefore, the good of one person cannot by application be 
 transferred to another, and so imputed. From what has been 
 said above, it follows, that man by regeneration is renewed as 
 to his spirit, and that this is effected by faith in the Lord, 
 accompanied by a life according to His commandments : who 
 does not see, that this renewal can only be effected pro- 
 gressively ; nearly in like manner as a tree takes root, and 
 grows successively from a seed, and comes to perfection? 
 They who have a different notion of regeneration and reno- 
 vation, know nothing of the state of man, nor any thing about 
 evil and good, as that they are diametrically opposite to each 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 71 
 
 other, and that good cannot be implanted but in proportion as 
 evil is removed ; neither do they know, that so long as any one 
 is in evil, he is averse to what is really good ; wherefore, it* the 
 good of one person were to be applied and so transferred to 
 another who is in evil, it would be like casting a lamb to a 
 wolf, or fastening a pearl to a hog's snout. From what has 
 been said, it is evident, that the induction or translation of 
 the good of one person into another is a thing impossible. 
 
 11'2. III. TJiat the Faith of Imputation or Application of 
 the Righteousness or Merits of Christ, is, inasmuch as such 
 Imputation or Application is impossible, an imaginary Faith. 
 That to every one is imputed the evil in which he is, and in 
 like manner the good, was demonstrated above, n. 110: hence 
 it is evident, that if by imputation is meant the application, 
 and thereby the translation, of the good of one person to an- 
 other, it is a mere creature of the imagination. In the world, 
 merits may be as it were transcribed by men, that is, benefits 
 may be conferred on children for the sake of their parents, or 
 on the friends of any favourite ; yet the good of merit cannot 
 be inscribed on their souls, but only externally adjoined : the 
 like cannot take place with men in respect to their spiritual 
 life : this, as was shown above, must be implanted, and if not 
 implanted by a life according to the fore-mentioned precepts 
 of the Lord, man remains in the evil in which he was born ; 
 until this is brought to pass, no good can approach him, or, if 
 it does, it is instantly repelled, and rebounds like an elastic ball 
 falling on a stone, or is absorbed like a diamond thrown into 
 a bog. An unreformed man is, as to his spirit, like a panther, 
 or an owl, and may be compared to a thorn or a nettle ; but a 
 regenerate man is like a sheep or a dove, and may be com- 
 pared to an olive-tree or a vine ; consider, then, I pray, if thou 
 art disposed, how can a man-panther be converted into a man- 
 sheep, or an owl into a dove, or a thorn into an olive-tree, or 
 a nettle into a vine, by any imputation, if thereby is meant 
 transcription ? In order that conversion may take place, 
 must not the ferocious nature of the panther and the owl, and 
 the noxious properties of the thorn and the nettle, be first re- 
 moved, and thus the truly human and inoffensive properties be 
 implanted ? By what means this is effected, the Lord also 
 teaches in John, chap. xv. 1 to 7. 
 
 113. To the above shall be added the following observa- 
 tions. It is said in the church, that none can fulfill the law, 
 especially since whosoever offends against one command- 
 ment of the decalogue, offends against all. This form of 
 
A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 speaking, however, is to be taken in a different sense from 
 what it seems to convey ; for it is to be understood in this 
 manner, that whosoever, from purpose [of the will] or from 
 confirmation [of the understanding], acts in opposition to one 
 commandment, acts in opposition to the rest, inasmuch as to 
 act thus from purpose or from confirmation is to deny that 
 any thing is a sin, and he who is guilty of such denial of sin, 
 makes light of acting against all the rest of the commandments. 
 Who does not know, that he who is a fornicator, is not there- 
 fore a murderer, a thief, or a false witness, nor even willing to 
 he such? But he who is an adulterer from purpose and con- 
 firmation, makes light of every thing relating to religion, and 
 consequently pays no regard to murders, thefts, and false wit- 
 ness, not abstaining from them on account of their being sins, 
 but for fear of the law or loss of character. The case is similar, 
 if a person from set purpose or confirmation offends against 
 any other commandment of the decalogue; he then also offends 
 against the rest, because he does not account any thing a sin. 
 Just so it is, also, with those who are in good from the Lord. 
 Such persons, if from their will and understanding, or from 
 set purpose and confirmation, they abstain from one evil be- 
 cause it is a sin, abstain from all, and still more if they abstain 
 from several ; for whenever a person abstains, from purpose and 
 confirmation, from any evil, because it is a sin, he is kept by 
 the Lord in the purpose of abstaining from the rest ; where- 
 fore if, through ignorance, or any predominant concupiscence 
 of the body, he commits an evil, it nevertheless is not im- 
 puted to him, inasmuch as he did not purpose it to himself, 
 neither does he afterwards confirm it in himself. A man 
 comes into this kind of purpose, if he examines himself once 
 or twice a year, and repents of the evil he discovers in him- 
 self: it is otherwise with him who never examines himself. 
 It is permitted to confirm what has been advanced by the fol- 
 lowing experience : I have met with several in the spiritual 
 w>r'.d, who had lived like other people in the natural world, 
 with respect to ornaments of dress, delicacies of food, making 
 inte.estof money by trade and merchandise, frequenting play- 
 houses, indulging in jocose conversation on love-affairs, with 
 other things of a similar nature ; and yet the angels charged 
 such things as evils of sin in some, and not as evils in others, 
 declaring the latter innocent, and the former guilty : on being 
 asked the reason of such distinction, when both had indulged 
 in like practices, they replied, that they consider all according 
 to their purpose, intention, and end, and distinguish them 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 73 
 
 accordingly ; and therefore that they excuse and condemn 
 those Whom the end excuses or condemns, inasmuch as good 
 is the end that influences all who are in heaven, and evil is 
 the end that influences all who are in hell. From what has 
 been said it now plainly appears, to whom sin is imputed, and 
 to whom it is not imputed. 
 
 114. To the above shall be added the two following 
 Memorable Relations, taken from the Apoealypse Revealed. 
 First. I was once seized suddenly with a disease that seem- 
 ed to threaten my life ; my whole head was oppressed with 
 pain ; a pestilential smoke was let in from the great city called 
 Sodom and Egypt, Apoc. xi. 8; half dead with severe anguish, 
 I expected every moment to be my last : thus I lay in bed for 
 the space of three days and a half : my spirit was reduced to 
 this state, and in consequence thereof my body. Then I 
 heard about me the voices of persons saying, " Lo! he lies 
 dead in the street of our city, who preached repentance for 
 the remission of sins, and preached Christ alone [who is] a 
 man ;" and they asked several of the clergy, whether he was 
 worthy of burial, as it is said concerning the two witnesses 
 slain in that city, chap. xi. 8, 9, 10 ; and they answered, " No, 
 let him lie to be made a spectacle of and they passed to and 
 fro, and mocked. All this befell me of a truth, whilst I was 
 writing the explication of the eleventh chapter of the Apoc- 
 alypse. Then were heard shocking speeches from them, such 
 as the following : "How can repentance be performed without 
 faith ? And how can Christ, a man, be adored as God ? Whilst 
 we are saved freely without any merit of our own, what need 
 IS there of any thing but only the faith, that God the Father 
 sent the Son to take away the curse of the law, to impute His 
 merit to us, and so to justify us in His sight, and absolve us 
 from our sins, and then to give the Holy Spirit to operate all 
 good in us? Arc not these doctrines agreeable to Scripture, 
 and to reason also?" The crowd who stood by received these 
 speeches with great applause. I heard all this without any 
 power to reply, being almost dead : but after three days and 
 a half my spirit recovered, and I went forth from the street 
 into the city, (being in the spirit,) and again said, "Repent, 
 and believe on Christ, and your sins shall bo remitted, and ye 
 shall be saved, but otherwise ye shall perish : did not the Lord 
 Himself preach repentance for the remission of sins, and 
 tint men should believe on Him ? Did Ho not enjoin His 
 7 
 
74 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 disciples to preach the same ? Is not a full and fatal security 
 of life the sure consequence of your faith?" But they replied, 
 " What idle talk ! Has not the Son made satisfaction? And 
 does not the Father impute it to us, and justify us who have 
 believed in it ? Thus we are led by the spirit of grace, and 
 how then can sin have place in us, and what power has death 
 to hurt us? Dost thou comprehend this gospel, thou preacher 
 of sin and repentance?" At that instant a voice was heard 
 from heaven, saying, "What is the faith of an impenitent 
 man, but a dead faith? The end is come, the end is come, 
 upon you that are secure, unblamable in your own eyes, 
 justified in your own faith, yet devils;" — and suddenly a deep 
 gulf was opened in the midst of the city, which spread itself 
 far and wide, and the houses fell one upon another, and were 
 swallowed up ; and presently water began to bubble up from 
 the large whirlpool, and overflowed the waste. 
 
 When they were thus overwhelmed, and to appearance 
 drowned, I was desirous to know their condition in the deep: 
 and a voice from heaven said to me, " Thou shalt see and 
 hear :" and immediately the waters wherein they seemed to be 
 drowned disappeared, (for waters in the spiritual world are cor- 
 respondences, and consequently appear to surround those who 
 are under the influence of falses;) and then they appeared to 
 me in a sandy bottom, where were large heaps of stones, 
 among which they ran, and lamented that they were cast out 
 of their great city : and they lifted up their voices and cried, 
 "Why has all this befallen us? Are we not, through our 
 faith, clean, pure, just, and holy?" Others exclaimed, "Are 
 we not, through our faith, cleansed, purified, justified, and 
 sanctified V And others cried, " Are we not, through our 
 faith, rendered worthy to be reputed and esteemed clean, pure, 
 just, and holy, before God the Father, and before the whole 
 Trinity, and to be pronounced such before the angels? Are 
 not we reconciled, atoned, expiated, and thereby absolved, 
 washed, and cleansed from sins ? And is not the curse of the 
 law taken away by Christ? Why then are we cast down 
 hither like condemned criminals? We have been told by a 
 bold preacher of sin in our great city, Believe on Ckri<t, and 
 do the work of repentance : have we not believed on Christ, 
 whilst we believed on His merit ? And have we not done the 
 work of repentance, whilst we confessed ourselves sinners '. 
 Why then has all this befallen us ?" But immediately a 
 voice from one side said to them, "Do ye know any one sin 
 that ye are guilty of ? Have ye ever examined yourselves? 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 7-3 
 
 Have ye in consequence thereof shunned any evil as sin 
 against God? And whosoever does not shun sin, remains in 
 it. Is not sin the devil ? Wherefore ye are they, of whom 
 the Lord saith, ' Thai shall yc begin to say, We have eaten and 
 drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets; 
 but He shall answer, I say unto you, I know you not, ichrnce yc 
 are; depart from Me, all yc workers of iniquity,' Luke xiii. 
 26, 27 ; Matt. vii. 22, 23. Depart therefore every one to his 
 place; ye see the openings into those caverns; enter therein, 
 and work shall be given each of you to do, and afterwards 
 food in proportion to your work ; but if ye refuse at present 
 to enter, ye will presently be compelled by the calls of hunger." 
 
 Afterwards there came a voice from heaven to some on 
 earth there,* who were without that great city, and who are 
 also described in the Apocalypse, chap. xi. 13, crying aloud, 
 " Take heed to yourselves, take heed how ye associate your- 
 selves with such persons; cannot ye understand, that evils, 
 which are called sins and iniquities, render man unclean and 
 impure ? How can man be cleansed and purified from them, 
 but by actual repentance, and faith in the Lord God the Sa- 
 viour ? Actual repentance consists in a man's examining 
 himself, in knowing and acknowledging his sins, in making 
 himself guilty, in confessing them before the Lord, in implor- 
 ing help and power to resist them, and thus in desisting from 
 them, and leading a new life, and doing all these things as of 
 himself : practise this once or twice in a year, when ye ap- 
 proach the holy communion; and afterwards when the sins, 
 whereof ye made yourselves guilty, recur, then say to your- 
 selves, We will not consent to them because they are sins 
 against God : this is actual repentance. Who cannot see, 
 that where a man does not examine himself and see his sins, he 
 remains in them? For all evil is pleasant to a man from his 
 birth ; it is pleasant to take revenge, to commit whoredom, to 
 defraud, to blaspheme : does not the pleasure you find in them 
 prevent their being seen ? And, if you are told that they are 
 sins, do you not, on account of that pleasure, excuse them ? 
 Nay, do you not, by false reasonings, confirm them, and per- 
 suade yourselves that they are not sins ? And so you continue in 
 them, and practise them afterwards more than before; even 
 till you do not know what sin is, or whether there be any such 
 
 * By earth here is lo be understood the carlh in the spiritual worlil, -which is 
 of a spiritual origin, ihe existence w hereof, together with its correspondence with 
 the earth in the natural world, is constantly declared by our author in all his 
 spiritual experience. 
 
A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 thing as sin or not. But the case is otherwise with every one 
 who performs actual repentance ; he calls his evils, which he 
 has thus learnt to know and acknowledge, sins, and therefore 
 begins to shun and detest them, and to feel their delights as 
 undelightful ; and in proportion as this is the case, he sees and 
 loves what is good, and at length tastes the delights of goodness, 
 which are the delights of heaven : in a word, so far as any one 
 renounces the devil, so far he is adopted by the Lord, and by 
 Him is taught, guided, withheld from evils, and preserved in 
 what is good : this is the way, and there is no other, which leads 
 from hell to heaven." It is something extraordinary, that there 
 is in the Reformed a certain deep-rooted opposition and aversion 
 to actual repentance, which is so violent, that they cannot force 
 themselves to self-examination, and to see their sins, and to con- 
 fess them before God ; they are seized as it were with horror at 
 the very intention of such a thing : I have inquired of many in 
 the spiritual world concerning this circumstance, who have 
 all told me, that it is above their power ; and when they have 
 been informed that the Roman Catholics practise such duties, 
 namely, that they examine themselves, and confess their sins 
 openly before a monk, they have been greatly astonished, and 
 likewise wondered that the Reformed cannot do the same in 
 private before God, although it is alike enjoined them previous 
 to their approaching the holy supper : some have examined 
 into the cause of this, and found, that the doctrine of faith 
 alone is what occasions such an impenitent state, and such a 
 heart; and then it was given them to see, that such of the 
 Romish Church as approach and adore Christ, and do not 
 adore, but only honour, the leaders and heads of their church, 
 are saved. 
 
 After the above admonition, was heard as it were a noise 
 of thunder, and a voice speaking from heaven, saying, "We 
 are amazed : say unto the body of the Reformed, Believe on 
 Christ, and do the work of repentance, and ye shall be saved." 
 And I spake these words to them ; and added further, " Is not 
 baptism a sacrament of repentance, and thereby an introduc- 
 tion into the church 1 What else do the sponsors promise lor 
 the person to be baptized, but that he will renounce the devil 
 and his works ? Is not the sacred supper a sacrament of re- 
 pentance, and thereby an introduction into heaven ? Is it not 
 declared to the communicants, that they must do the work of 
 repentance before they approach 1 Is not the Decalogue the 
 doctrine of the whole Christian Church, which inculcates re* 
 pentancc ? Is it not there said, in the six commandments of the 
 
DOCTRINE OF Tlir. NEW CHURCH. 
 
 77 
 
 second tabic, Thou shalt not do this and that evil, and not said, 
 Thou shalt do this and that good? Hence ye may understand, 
 that in proportion as any one shuns evil, in the same pro- 
 portion he loves good, and that before this he docs not know 
 either what good is, or what evil is." 
 
 115. The Second Memorable lirlntlon is as follows. An 
 angel once said to me, " If thou desirest to see clearly the 
 nature of faith and charity, and thereby what faith is when 
 separate from charity, and what it is when conjoined with 
 charity, I will give thee ocular demonstration of it." I re- 
 plied, " Show it me :" and he said, " Instead of faith and char- 
 ity, substitute light and heat, and thou wilt see clearly what 
 I mean ; for faith in its essence is the truth of wisdom, and 
 charity in its essence is the affection of love, and the truth 
 of wisdom in heaven is light, and the affection of love in 
 heaven is heat : the light and heat which the angels feel and 
 enjoy, are nothing else : hence thou mayest see clearly what 
 faith is when separate from charity, and what it is when con- 
 joined with charity. Faith separate from charity is like the 
 liirht in winter, and faith conjoined with charity is like the 
 light in spring ; the light of winter, which is light separate 
 from heat, and, in consequence thereof, conjoined with cold 
 strips the trees of all their leaves, kills every green herb, makes 
 the ground hard, and freezes the water; but the light in 
 spring, which is light conjoined with heat, causes the trees to 
 vegetate, first into leaves, then into blossoms, and lastly into 
 fruits: it opens and softens the ground, whereby it yields 
 grass, herbs, flowers, and fruits ; and it also dissolves the ice, 
 so that the waters flow from their fountains. Exactly similar 
 is the case with faith and charity; faith separate from charity 
 deadens all things, and faith conjoined with charity enlivens 
 all things. The nature of such deadening and enlivening 
 may be seen visibly in our spiritual world, because here faith 
 is light, and charity heat; for where faith is conjoined with 
 charity, there are paradisiacal gardens, flowery walks, and 
 verdant groves, gay and delightful in proportion to such con- 
 junction ; but where faith is separate from charity, there does 
 not grow so much as a blade of grass, nor any green thing, 
 except it be on thorns and briers." There were standing at 
 a little distance from us some of the clergy, whom the angel 
 called justifiers and sanctifiers of men by faith alone, and also 
 arcanists, that is, dealers in mysteries : we related to them the 
 same things concerning charity and faith, and likewise gave 
 them ocular demonstration of the truth of our assertions; but 
 1* 
 
78 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 when we asked them whether they believed it to be so, they 
 turned their backs upon us, and said, " We do not hear you ;" 
 whereupon we raised our voices, and cried, " Hear us now 
 then ;" but immediately they stopped their ears with both 
 hands, and exclaimed, " We will not to hear." 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 From Jeremiah, chap. vii. 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11. 
 
 Stand in the gate of the house of Jehovah, and proclaim 
 there this word: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: 
 Amend your ways, and your works ; trust ye not in lying words, 
 saying, The temple of Jehovcdi, the temple of Jehovah, the temple 
 of Jehovah is here (that is, the church) : will ye steal, murder, 
 commit adultery, and sivcar falsely, and after that come and 
 stand before Me in this house, whereon My name is called, and 
 say, We arc delivered, whilst ye do all these abominations ? L 
 not this house become a den of robbers ? Even I, behold, J have 
 seen, saith Jehovah. 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 79 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 116. The Faith of the New Heaven and New Church, 
 tn its universal form, is this: — That the Lord from eternity, 
 who is Jehovah, came into the world, that He might sub- 
 due the hells, and glorify His Humanity ; that without this 
 coming no mortal could have been saved ; and that all will 
 be saved who believe in Him. 
 
 It is called faith in its universal form, because this is the 
 universal of faith, and the universal of faith is what must 
 enter into all and every particular part thereof. It is a 
 universal of faith, that God is one m essence and person, 
 in whom is a trinity, and that the Lord God the Saviour 
 Jesus Christ is He. It is a universal of faith, that no 
 mortal could have been saved, unless the Lord had come 
 into the world. It is a universal of faith, that He came 
 into the world to remove hell from man, which He effect- 
 ed by combats against it, and victories over it ; whereby 
 He subdued it, and reduced it to order, and under obedi- 
 ence to Himself. It is a universal of faith, that He came 
 into the world to glorify the Humanity which He assumed 
 in the world, that is, to unite it with the Divinity of which 
 it was begotten ; thus having subdued hell, He keeps it 
 eternally in order and under obedience to Himself. Inas- 
 much as both these works [the subjugation of hell, and the 
 glorification of His Humanity] could only be effected by 
 means of temptations admitted into His Humanity, even to 
 the last, which was the passion of the cross ; therefore He 
 endured that also. These are the universals of faith con- 
 cerning the Lord. 
 
 The universal of Christian faidi on man's part is, that 
 he should believe on die Lord, for by believing on Him 
 he has conjunction with Him, and by conjunction salvation. 
 To believe on Him, is to have confidence that He will 
 save ; and because none can have such confidence but he 
 who leads a good life, dierefore this also is meant by be- 
 lieving on Him. 
 
 117. The Faith of the New Heaven and New Church, 
 
80 
 
 A BKIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 in its particular form, is this : — That Jehovah God is es- 
 sential love and essential wisdom, or that He is essential 
 good and essential truth ; and that as to His divine truth, 
 which is the Word, and which was God with God, He 
 came down and assumed Humanity, for the purpose of 
 restoring to order all things which were in heaven, and 
 which were in hell, and which were in the church ; inas- 
 much as at that time tlie power of the devil, that is, of hell, 
 prevailed over the power of heaven, and on earth the power 
 of evil prevailed over the power of good ; in consequence 
 whereof, a total destruction and damnation were at hand, 
 and threatened every creature : this impending destruc- 
 tion and damnation Jehovah God removed by His Hu- 
 manity, which was divine truth, and thus He redeemed 
 both angels and men ; and afterwards He united in His 
 Humanity divine truth with divine good, and thus return- 
 ed into His Divinity, in which He was from eternity, to- 
 gether with His glorified Humanity. This is signified by 
 these words in John: " The Word was with God, and 
 God ivas the Word; and the Word became flesh," chap, 
 i. 1, 14; and in another place, " / went forth from the 
 Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the 
 world, and go to the Father," chap. xvi. 28. Hence it ap- 
 pears, that unless the Lord had come into the world, no one 
 could have been saved. The case is similar at this day ; 
 wherefore, unless the Lord come again into the world in 
 Divine Truth, which is the Word, no person can be saved. 
 
 The particulars of faith on the part of man are these : 
 — I. That God is one, in whom is a divine trinity, and that 
 the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ is that God. II. 
 That a saving faith is to believe on Him. III. That evils 
 ought to be shunned, because they are of the devil and 
 from the devil. IV. That good actions ought to be done, 
 because they are of God and from God. V. And that 
 they should be done by man as of himself, nevertheless 
 under this belief, that they are from the Lord operating in 
 him and by him. The two first particulars have relation 
 to faith ; the two next to charity ; and the last respects 
 the conjunction of charity and faith, and thereby of the 
 Lord and man. — Refer also to what has been said above, 
 n. 44, on this subject. 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 81 
 
 The Three following Memorable Relations are taken 
 from the Apocalypse Revealed. 
 
 118. First Memorable Relation. While I was writing the 
 explication of the 20th chapter of the Apocalypse, and medi- 
 tating about the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, a 
 certain angelic spirit appeared before me, and asked what 
 was the subject of my meditation. I answered, "Concerning 
 the false prophet." Then he said, "I will lead thee to the 
 place of the abode of those who are signified by the false 
 prophet, and who are the same that are understood, in the 
 13th chapter of the Apocalypse, by the beast rising from the 
 earth, which had two horns like a lamb, and spake like a 
 dragon." I followed him, and, lo ! I saw a great multitude of 
 people, and in the midst of them several persons of note and 
 distinction in the church, who had taught, that man is saved 
 only by faith in the merits of Christ, and that works are good 
 and profitable, but not in regard to salvation, but that never- 
 theless they are to be recommended as agreeable to the Word, 
 and as a means of keeping the laity, particularly the simple 
 amongst them, in stricter obedience to the civil magistrate, 
 and instigating them to the exercise of moral charity, as if 
 from interior obligations arising from religion. Then one of 
 them, observing me, said, "Do you wish to see our place of 
 warship, wherein is an image representative of our faith?" 
 On which he conducted me to a building which was very 
 magnificent, and, lo ! in the midst of it there was an image of 
 a woman, clothed in a scarlet vest, and holding in her right 
 hand a piece of gold coin, and in her left a chain of pearls : 
 but both the image and the place of worship were the effect 
 of phantasy ; for thereby infernal spirits have the power to 
 represent very magnificent objects, by closing the interiors of 
 the mind, and opening only its exteriors. When I perceived, 
 however, that all this was a mere trick and delusion, I prayed 
 to the Lord, and suddenly the interiors of my mind were 
 opened, and then I beheld, instead of the magnificent dome, 
 a poor house, full of clefts and chinks from top to bottom, 
 without any order or regularity about it ; and I saw within 
 the house, instead of the woman, a pendent image, with a 
 head like a dragon, a body like a leopard, feet like a bear, 
 and a mouth like a lion, in every respect as the beast rising 
 out of the sea is described, Apoc. xiii. '2 : moreover, instead 
 of firm ground, there was nothing but a bog containing a 
 
S3 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 multitude of frogs ; and I was informed, that beneath the bog 
 was a large hewn stone, under which the Word lay entirely 
 concealed. On seeing these things, I said to the conjurer^ 
 "Is this your place of worship?" And he replied, "It is; v 
 but suddenly, at that very instant, his interior sight was open- 
 ed, whereby he saw the same appearances that I did ; where- 
 upon he cried out with a loud voice, " What and whence in 
 all this?" And I said, "This is in consequence of light from 
 heaven, which discovers the quality of every form, and thus 
 has discovered the quality of your faith separate from the 
 spiritual principle of charity." Then immediately an east- 
 wind blew, and carried away the place of worship, together 
 with the image, and likewise dried up the bog, and thereby 
 exposed the stone, under which lay the Word. After this a 
 vernal warmth breathed from heaven, and, lo! then in the 
 same place there appeared a tabernacle, as to its outward form 
 plain and simple ; and the angels who were with me said, 
 "Behold the tabernacle of Abraham, such as it was when the 
 three angels came to him, and announced the future birth of 
 Isaac . it appears indeed plain and simple to the eye, but 
 nevertheless, in proportion to the influx of light from heaven, 
 it becomes more and more magnificent." They were then 
 permitted to open the heaven, which is the abode of thft 
 spiritual angels, who excel in wisdom; whereupon, by virtue 
 of the influx of light from thence, the tabernacle appeared as 
 a temple, resembling that at Jerusalem; and on looking into 
 it, I saw the stone in the floor, under which the Word was 
 deposited, beset with precious stones, from which there issued 
 forth bright rays, as of lightning, that shone upon the walls, 
 and caused beautiful variegations of colours on certain cheru 
 bic forms that were sculptured thereon. As I was wondering 
 at these prodigies, the angels said, " Thou shalt yet see some- 
 thing more surprising." Then they were permitted to open 
 the third heaven, which is the abode of the celestial angels, 
 who excel in love ; and suddenly, by virtue of the influx of 
 light from thence, the whole temple disappeared, and instead 
 thereof was seen the Lord alone, standing on the stone below, 
 which was the Word, in the same form and figure that 
 He appeared in before John, Apoc. chap. i. But whereas a 
 divine sanctity instantly filled the interiors of the angels' 
 minds, whereby they felt a strong propensity to fall prostrate 
 on their faces, suddenly the passage of light from the third 
 heaven was closed by the Lord, and that from the second 
 heaven opened again, in consequence whereof the former ap- 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 S3 
 
 pearance of the temple returned, and also of the tabernacle, 
 but this was in the temple. Hereby was illustrated the mean- 
 ing of these words in the Apocalypse, chap. xxi. "Behold, 
 the tabernacle, of God is with men, and He will dwell with 
 them," verse 3; and also of these : " I saw no temple, in the 
 JYew Jerusalem, for the. Lord God Omnipotent and the Lamb 
 are the temple of it," verse 22. 
 
 119. The Second Memorable Relation from the Apocalypse 
 Revealed. Awaking on a time out of sleep, I fell into a pro- 
 found meditation about God; and when I looked upwards, 
 I saw in the heaven above me a most clear shining light in 
 an oval form ; and as I fixed my eyes attentively upon the 
 light, it moved gradually from the centre towards the circum- 
 ference; and lo! then heaven was opened unto me, and I be- 
 held magnificent scenes, and saw angels standing in the form 
 of a circle, on the southern side of the opening, in conversa- 
 tion with each other ; and because I earnestly desired to know 
 what they were conversing about, it was permitted me first to 
 near the sound of their voices, which was full of celestial love, 
 and afterwards to distinguish their speech, which was full of 
 wisdom flowing from that love. They conversed together 
 concerning the One God, of conjunction with Him, and salva- 
 tion thereby. The matter of their discourse was for the most 
 part ineffable, there being no words in any natural language 
 adapted to convey its meaning ; but as I had oftentimes been 
 in consort with angels in their heaven, and, being at such 
 times in a similar state with them, was also in the use and 
 understanding of their language, therefore I was now able to 
 comprehend what they said, and to collect some particulars 
 from their conversation, which may be intelligibly expressed 
 in the words of natural language. They said that the Divine 
 Esse is One, the Same, the Real, (Ipsttm,) and Indivisible : that 
 so also is the Divine Essence, inasmuch as the Divine Esse is 
 the Divine Essence; and that so, likewise, is God, for the 
 Divine Essence, which is also the Divine Esse, is God. This 
 they illustrated by spiritual ideas, saying, that the Divine Esse 
 cannot possibly belong to several, so as to be a Divine Esse 
 in each of them, and yet remain One, the Same, the Real, 
 and Indivisible ; for on such a supposition, each would think 
 from his own esse of and by himself ; or should the thoughts 
 of each be influenced at the same time from and by the rest, 
 to agreement and unanimity, they would then be several 
 unanimous Gods, and not one God ; for unanimity, being the 
 consent of several, and at the same time of each from and by 
 
84 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 himself, does not comport with the unity of God, hut implies 
 plurality; they did not say, of Gods, because they could not, 
 inasmuch as the light of heaven, which gave birth to their 
 thought, and which conveyed their words, was in opposition 
 to that expression. They added further, that when they meant 
 to pronounce the word Gods, and each as a distinct person by 
 Himself, the power of pronunciation was diverted immediately 
 to utter one God, yea, the only God. Again, they proved 
 that the Divine Esse is the Divine Esse in itself, not from it- 
 self, because to be from itself supposes an Esse in itself from 
 another; thus it supposes a God from a God, which is not 
 possible: what is from God is not called God, but is called 
 divine ; for what is God from God ; consequently what is 
 God from God born from eternity ; and what is God from God 
 proceeding through a God born from eternity ; but obscure 
 words, that have no light in them from heaven ? They said 
 further, that the Divine Esse, which in itself is God, is the 
 Same : not simply the Same, but infinitely the Same, that 
 is, the Same from eternity to eternity; it is the Same in every 
 place, and the Same with every one, and in every one ; but that 
 all variableness and changeableness is in the recipient, 
 occasioned by the peculiar state and circumstances thereof. 
 That the Divine Esse, which is God in himself, is the Real* 
 they thus explained : God is the Real, because He is love it- 
 self, and wisdom itself, or, what is the same, because He is good 
 itself, and truth itself, and of consequence life itself; which, 
 unless they were real in God, could have no existence in heav- 
 en or in the world, inasmuch as there would be nothing in 
 them that had relation to what is real; for all quality has its 
 quality from this condition of its existence, that there be a 
 something real, from whence it is derived, and to which it 
 has relation as the cause of its peculiar quality : thiS Reality, 
 which is the Divine Esse, is not in place, but with those 
 and in those who are in place, according to its reception ; 
 inasmuch as neither place, nor progression from one place 
 to another, is predicable of love and wisdom, or of good- 
 ness and truth, or of life derived thence, which are Reality in 
 God, nay, Real God [or God Himself] ; but sucli things exist 
 in God without place, and this is the foundation of the divine 
 
 * The lerm Ipsum, here and elsewhere in this Memorable Relation translated. 
 
 below, when "used aiijecti vcU in connection with the terms lo\e J»j>d wisdom, 
 good and truth ; but as we cannot, consistently with the idiom of the English Ian- 
 gunge, use the term Itself or Hie Itself, absolutely, the wold litai is subsUtuted, 
 as coming nearest to it in signification. 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 8.3 
 
 omnipresence ; wherefore the Lord says, " That He is in the 
 midst of them, and that He is in them, and they in Him." But 
 since He cannot be received by any creature such as He is in 
 Himself, He appears such as He is in Himself as a sun above 
 the angelic heavens, that which proceeds thence as light 
 being Himself as to wisdom, and that which proceeds thence 
 as heat being Himself as to love : yet He Himself is not that 
 sun, but divine love and divine wisdom in their proximate 
 emanation from Him, and round about Him, appear as a sun 
 before the angels : Himself in the sun is a Man, owe Lord 
 Jesus Christ, both with respect to the All-begetting Divinity 
 (l)irinum a Quo), and with respect to the Divine Human ; 
 inasmuch as the Real Esse, which is love itself, and wisdom 
 itself, was His soul from the Father, and thus divine life, 
 which is life in itself; the case is otherwise with man, for in 
 him the soul is not life, but a recipient of life : this the Lord 
 also teaches when He says, " / am the Way, the Truth, and 
 the Life;" and in another place, " As the Father hath life in 
 Hi hi si (t, so hath Hi given to the Son to have life in Himself," 
 John v. ■2C> : life in Himself is God. They further added, that 
 whosoever is under the influence of any spiritual light, may 
 see plainly from what has been said, that the Divine Esse, 
 which is also the Divine Essence, being One, the Same, the 
 Real, and of consequence Indivisible, cannot possibly exist in 
 more than one ; and that if it should be supposed to exist in 
 more, manifest contradictions would follow upon such a sup- 
 position. 
 
 As I listened to this discourse, the angels perceived in my 
 thought the common ideas respecting God entertained in the 
 Christian church, of a trinity of persons in unity, and their 
 unity in trinity ; as also of the birth of the Son of God from 
 eternity ; whereupon they said to me, " What notions are 
 these which thou entertainest ? Are they not the offspring of 
 natural light, wherewith our spiritual light hath no agree- 
 ment ? Unless, therefore, thou removest these ideas from thy 
 mind, we must shut heaven against thee and begone." But 
 I replied, " Enter, I beseech you, more deeply into my 
 thought, and possibly you will find it in agreement with your 
 own." And they did so, and perceived, that by three per- 
 sons I understood three proceeding divine attributes, which 
 are creation, redemption, and regeneration, and that those 
 attributes belong to one God ; and that by the birth of the 
 Son of God from eternity, I understood His birth foreseen 
 from eternity, and provided in time. I then acquainted them, 
 
80 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 that I had received this my natural idea of a trinity and unity 
 of persons, and of the birth of the Son of God from eternity, 
 from the doctrine of faitli in the church, that has its name 
 from Athanasius ; and that that doctrine is right, if only in- 
 stead of a trinity of persons is substituted therein a trinity of 
 person, which solely exists in the Lord Jesus Christ; and if, 
 instead of the birth of the Son of God from eternity, is under- 
 stood His birth foreseen from eternity, and provided in time, 
 because as to the Humanity which He assumed, He is ex- 
 pressly called the Son of God. Then the angels said, 
 Well, well ; and they desired me to declare upon their testi- 
 mony, that whosoever does not approach the real God of 
 heaven and earth, cannot have entrance into heaven, inas- 
 much as heaven is heaven from that God only ; and that that 
 God is Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah Lord, from eternity 
 Creator, in time Redeemer, and to eternity Regenerator ; of 
 consequence, who is at once Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; 
 and that this is the gospel, which is to be preached. After 
 this, the heavenly light, which I had before seen over the 
 aperture, returned, and by degrees descended thence, and 
 filled the interiors of my mind, and illuminated my ideas con- 
 cerning the unity and trinity of God ; and then I perceived, 
 that the ideas which I had originally entertained about them, 
 and which were merely natural, were separated, as chaff is 
 separated from the wheat by winnowing, and that they were 
 carried away, as by a wind, to the northern part of heaven, 
 and there disappeared. 
 
 120. The Third Memorable. Relation, from the Apocalypse 
 Revealed. Inasmuch as the Lord has favoured me with a 
 sight of the wonderful things that are in the heavens, and 
 under the heavens, it is therefore my duty, in the discharge 
 of my commission, to relate what I have seen. There was 
 shown me a magnificent palace, with a temple in its inmost 
 part, and in the midst of the temple was a table of gold, on 
 which lay the Word, and two angels stood beside it. Ahout 
 the table were three rows of seals; the seats of the first row 
 were covered with silk damask of a purple colour; the seats 
 of the second row with silk damask of a blue colour ; and the 
 seats of the third row with white cloth. Below the roof, high 
 above the table, there was seen a spreading curtain, which 
 shone with precious stones, from whose lustre there issued 
 forth a bright appearance as of a rainbow, when the firma- 
 ment is clear and serene after a shower. Then suddenly 
 there appeared a number of clergy sitting on the scats, all 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 87 
 
 clothed in the garments of their sacerdotal office. On one 
 side was a wardrobe, where stood an angel who had the care 
 of it, and within lay splendid vestments in beautiful order. It 
 was a Council convened by the Lord ; and I heard a voice 
 from heaven saying, Deliberate; but they said, on what? It 
 was said, Concerning the Lord the Saviour, and concerning 
 the Holy Spirit. But when they began to think on these 
 subjects, they were without illustration ; wherefore they made 
 supplication, and immediately light issued down out of heaven, 
 which first illuminated the hinder part of their heads, and 
 afterwards their temples, and last of all their faces ; and then 
 they began their deliberation, and, as they were commanded, 
 First., concerning the Lord the Saviour. The first proposition 
 and matter of inquiry was, who assumed the Humanity in the 
 Virgin Mary ? And the angel standing at the table, on which 
 the Word lay, read before them these words in Luke : " The 
 angel said unto Mary, Behold, thou shall conceive in thy ivomb, 
 and bring forth a Son, and shalt rail His name Jesus ; He 
 shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. 
 And Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know 
 not a man ? And the angel answering said, the Holy Spirit 
 shall come ripon thee, and the power o f the Highest shall over- 
 shadow thee, wherefore also that Holy Thing which shall be bom 
 of thee shall be called the Son of God," chap. i. 31, 32, 34, 35. 
 Then he also read from the 20th to the 25th verse of the first 
 chapter of Matthew, and when he came to the 25th verse, he 
 uttered it witli a loud voice. Besides these passages he read 
 many more out of the Evangelists, as Matt. iii. 17, chap, 
 xvii. 5. John xx. 31 ; and several other places, where the 
 Lord as to His Humanity is called the Son of God, and where 
 He, from His Humanity, calls Jehovah Bis Father; and also 
 out of the Prophets, where it is foretold that Jehovah Himself 
 should come into the world ; particularly these two passages 
 in Isaiah : " It shall be said in that day, lo ! this is our God, 
 whom wi have <r petted to deliver us; this is Jehovah, whom 
 we have expected; ht us exult and be glad in His salvation," 
 chap. xxv. {) : " The voire of him that crieth in the desert, 
 prepare ye the way of Jehovah, medec straight in the wilderness 
 a highway for our God : for the glory of Jehovah shall be re- 
 vealed; and all flesh shall see it together ; behold, the Lord 
 Jehovah cometh in strength; He shall f ed His fock like a 
 shepherd," chap. xl. 3,5, 10, 11. And the angel said, inas- 
 much as Jehovah Himself came into the world, and assumed 
 the Humanity, whereby He has redeemed and saved men, 
 
83 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 therefore He is called by the prophets the Saviour and the 
 Redeemer; and then lie read before them the following pas- 
 sages : " Surely God is in Thee, and there is no God beside ; 
 verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O God of Israel 
 the Saviour," Isaiah xlv. 14, 15 : "Am not I Jehovah ? and 
 there is no God else beside Me; a just God, and there is no 
 Saviour beside Me," chap. xlv. 21 : " lam Jehovah, and beside 
 Me there is no Saviour," chap, xliii. 11- "I am Jehovah 
 thy God, and thou s/tedt acknowledge no God beside Me, and 
 there is no Saviour beside Me," Hosea xiii. 4 : " That all 
 flesh may know, that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Re- 
 deemer," Isaiah xlix. 20. chap. lx. 16 : " As for our Re- 
 deemer, Jehovah of Hosts is His name," chap, xlvii. 4. 
 " Their Redeemer, the strong Jehovah of Ilosts is His name," 
 Jeremiah 1. 34: "Jehovah is my Roek and my Redeemer" 
 Psalm xix. 14: "Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, the 
 Holy One of Israel, I Jehovah am thy God," Isaiah xlviii. 
 17. chap, xliii. 14, chap. xlix. 7, chap. liv. 8 : " Thou 
 Jehovah etrt our Father ; our Redeemer from the age is Thy 
 name," chap, lxiii. 10 : " Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, 
 I am Jehovah that maketh edl things, and (done by Myself" 
 Isaiah xliv. 24 : " Thus saith Jehovah the King of Israel, 
 and His Redeemer Jehovah of Ilosts, I am the First and the 
 Last, and beside Me there is no God," chap. xliv. (i : Jehovah 
 of Hosts is His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of 
 Israel, the God of the whole earth shall He be called," chap, 
 liv. 5: "Behold, the days shall come, when I will reuse unto 
 David a righteous branch, who shall reign a King, and this 
 is His name, Jehovah our Righteousness," Jerem. xxiii. 5, 
 6: chap, xxxiii. 15, 10: "In that day Jehovah shall be 
 King over all the earth ; in that day there shedl be one Je- 
 hovah, and His name one," Zech. xiv. 9. From all these 
 passages collected, they that sat on the seats were unanimously 
 confirmed in this opinion, viz. that Jehovah Himself assumed 
 the Humanity, for the purpose of redeeming and saving man- 
 kind. But instantly a voice was heard from some Roman 
 Catholics, who had hid themselves behind the altar, saying, 
 How can Jehovah the Father become a man ? Is He not the 
 Creator of the universe? And one of those who sat on the 
 second row of seats turned himself towards the voice, and 
 said, Who was it then ? And he who had been concealed behind 
 the altar, standing then near the altar, replied, The Son from 
 eternity : but answer was returned, Is not the Son from eternity, 
 according to your own confession, also the Creator of the 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 89 
 
 universe? And what is a Son, or a God, born from eternity? 
 And how is it possible for the Divine Essence, which is one 
 and indivisible, to be separated, so that one part can descend, 
 without the whole ? The. second matter of inquiry concerning 
 the Lord was, whether or no, according to this reasoning, 
 the Father and He are one, as the soul and the body are one ? 
 And they said, that this must follow of consequence, inas- 
 much as the soul is from the Father. Then one of those, 
 who sat on the third row of seats, read out of the Confession 
 of Faith, called the Athanasian Creed, the following passage: 
 "Although our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God 
 and Man, yet He is not two, bid one Chris ; yea, lie is in 
 every respect one, bring one person r for as the soul and body 
 make one man, so God and man are one Christ." lie added, 
 that this faith is received throughout the whole Christian 
 world, even by the Roman Catholics. Then they said, what 
 need have we of further proof? God the Father and lie are 
 one, as the soul and body arc one ; and since this is the case, 
 we perceive that the Humanity of the Lord is Divine, be- 
 cause it is the Humanity of Jehovah ; likewise that the Lord 
 ought to be approached as to His Divine Humanity ; and that 
 thus and in no other possible way can access be had to the 
 Divinity which is called the Father. This conclusion of 
 theirs the angel confirmed by several passages out of the 
 Word ; amongst which were these : in Isaiah : " Unto us a 
 Child is born, unto us a S071 is given, whose name shall be, 
 Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, Father of Eternity, 
 Prinri of Peace,'' chap. ix. 5: again: "Abraham knowcth 
 us not, and Israel doth not acknowledge us ; Thou Jehovah art 
 our Father, our Redeemer, from the age is Thy name," chap, 
 lxiii. 16 : and in John: "Jesus said, he that believeth on Me, 
 believcth on Him that sent Mr, and he that srrth Me, seeth 
 Him that sent Me," John xii. 44, 45 ; " Philip said unto 
 Jesus, show us the Father; Jesus saith unto him, he that seeth 
 Mr, seith the Father; how then sayest thou, show us the Fa- 
 (her; beUevest thou not that I am in the Fed her, and the 
 Father in Me, believe Me that 1 am in the Father, and the 
 Father in Me," John xiv. 8,9: "Jesus said, I and the. 
 Father arc one," chap. x. 30 : and again : " All things that 
 the Father hath are Mine, and all Mine arc the Father's," 
 chap. xvi. 15, chap. xvii. 10 : lastly : " Jesus said, I am 
 t/ii way, the truth, and the life; no one comcth to the Father 
 but by Me," chap. xvi. 6. When the angel had ended, they 
 all declared with one mouth and one heart, that the Humanity 
 8* 
 
on 
 
 A I1RIEF EXPOSITION OF THE 
 
 of the Lord is Divine, and that this ought to be approached in 
 order to come at the Father ; inasmuch as Jehovah God, who 
 is the Lord from eternity, by the Humanity sent Himself into 
 the world, and made Himself visible to mankind, and thereby 
 gave them access unto Him. In like manner He made Him- 
 self visible to men of old time, in a human form, and so gave 
 them access unto Him ; but then it was by means of an angel. 
 
 After this they proceeded to deliberate about the Holy 
 Spirit ; and previous thereto, they laid open the idea gener- 
 ally received concerning God the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Spirit, which is, that God the Father is seated on high, 
 with the Son at His right hand, and that by them is sent forth 
 the Holy Spirit, to enlighten and instruct mankind. But in- 
 stantly a voice was heard from heaven, saying, we cannot en- 
 dure an idea formed on such a conception ; who does not 
 know, that Jehovah God is omnipresent ? And whosoever 
 knows and acknowledges this truth, must also acknowledge, 
 that it is He who enlightens and instructs ; and that there is 
 not a mediating God distinct from Him ; much less is there a 
 third God distinct from two others, as one person is distinct 
 from another person ; wherefore let the former idea, which is 
 vain and frivolous, be removed, and let this, which is just and 
 right, be received, and then you will see clearly. But im- 
 mediately a voice was heard again from the Iloman Catholics, 
 who had concealed themselves behind the altar of the temple, 
 saying, what then is the Holy Spirit, mentioned in the writings 
 of the Evangelists, and Paul, by whom so many learned men 
 among the clergy, and particularly of our church, profess 
 themselves to be guided ? What person in Christendom at this 
 day denies the Holy Spirit, and His operations ? Upon this one 
 who sat on the second row of seats, turned towards the altar, 
 and said, ye insist that the Holy Spirit is a distinct person of 
 Himself, and a distinct God of Himself; but what is a person 
 coming forth and proceeding from a person, except the opera- 
 tion which comes forth and proceeds? One person cannot 
 come forth and proceed from another, by another, but opera- 
 tion can ; or what is a God coming forth and proceeding from 
 a God, but the Divine Principle which comes forth and pro- 
 ceeds ? One God cannot come forth and proceed from an- 
 other, by another, but what is Divine may come forth and pro- 
 ceed from one God. Is not the Divine Essence one and in- 
 divisible? and inasmuch as the Divine Essence or the Divine 
 Esse is God, is not God therefore one and indivisible? On 
 hearing these words, they that sat on the seats unanimously 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 
 91 
 
 agreed in this conclusion, that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct 
 person of Himself, consequently not a distinct God of Himself; 
 but that by the Holy Spirit is meant the Divine Sanctity com- 
 ing forth and proceeding from the one only omnipresent God, 
 who is the Lord. To this the angels, w ho stood at the golden 
 table, whereon the Word was placed, said, Well; it is not 
 written in any part of the Old Testament, that the prophets 
 spake the Word from the Holy Spirit, but from Jehovah the 
 Lord ; and wherever the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the New 
 Testament, it signifies the Divine Proceeding, which is the 
 Divine Principle that enlightens, instructs, vivifies, reforms and 
 regenerates. After this came on another subject of inquiry, 
 respecting the Holy Spirit, viz. From whom proceeds the 
 Divine Principle which is called the Holy Spirit ; whether 
 from the Divine which is called the Father, or from the 
 Divine Human which is called the Son ? And whilst they 
 were engaged in this inquiry, there shone a light from heav- 
 en, whereby they saw, that the Divine Sanctity, which is 
 signified by the Holy Spirit, proceeds from the Divine in the 
 Lord by His glorified Humanity, which is the Divine Hu- 
 manity, comparatively as all activity proceeds from the soul by 
 the body with man. This the angel who stood at the table con- 
 firmed by the following passages : " He, whom the Father hath 
 sent, speaketh the words of God ; He hath not given the Spirit 
 by measure unto Mini ; the Father loveth the Son, and hath 
 given all things into His hand," John iii. 34, 35 : " There 
 shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, the Spirit of 
 Jehmak shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of Wisdom and Un- 
 derstanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Might," Isaiah xi. 1, 
 2 : " That the Spirit of Jehovah was put upon Him, and was 
 in Him," chap. xlii. 1, chap. lix. 19, 21, chap. lxi. 1. Luke 
 iv. 18 : " When the Holy Spirit shall come, whom I will send 
 unto you from the Father," John xv. 26 : "He shall glorify Me, 
 for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you ; all 
 things that the Father hath are Mine, wherefore I said, that 
 He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you," John 
 xvi. 14, 15 : " If I go away, I will send the Comforter unto 
 you," John xvi. 7 : " The Comforter is the Holy Spirit," John 
 
 xiv. 2(5 : " The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not 
 yet glorified," John vii. 39 : but after His glorification, "Jesus 
 breathed on His disciples, and said, Reci ive ye the Holy Spir- 
 it," John xx. 22 : and in the Apocalypse : " Who shall not glo- 
 rify Tin/ name, OLord, because Thou Alone art Holy," chap. 
 
 xv. 4. Inasmuch as the Divine Operation of the Lord, by virtue 
 
A BRIEF EXPOSITION, &C. 
 
 of His divine omnipresence, is signified by the Holy Spirit, 
 therefore when the Lord spake to His disciples concerning 
 the Holy Spirit, whom He would send from God the Father, 
 He also said, " I will not leave you comfortless ; I go away and 
 conic again unto you ; and in that day ye shall know, that I 
 am in My Father, and ye in Me, and tin you," John xiv. 
 IS, 20. 28 : and just before His departure out of world, He 
 said, " Lo ! I am with you all the days, even to the consttm- 
 mation of the age," Matt, xxviii. 20. Having read these 
 words in their presence, the angels said, From these, and 
 many other passages in the Word, it is evident, that the 
 Divine Principle which is called the Holy Spirit, proceeds 
 from the Divine in the Lord by His Divine Human. Where- 
 upon they that sat on the seats all exclaimed, This is Divine 
 Truth. 
 
 Lastly, this decree was passed : That from what has been 
 deliberated in this council, we clearly see, and of consequence 
 acknowledge as holy truth, that in the Lord God the Saviour 
 Jesus Christ there is a Divine Trinity, consisting of the All- 
 begetting Divinity which is called Father, the Divine Hu- 
 manity which is the Son, and the Divine Proceeding which 
 is the Holy Spirit: then they lifted up their voices together, 
 saying, " In Jesus Christ din Hit h all the fullness of the Di- 
 vinity bodily" Col. ii. 9. Thus there is One God in the 
 church. 
 
 When these conclusions were determined in that magnifi- 
 cent council, they rose up to depart ; and the angel, the 
 Iceeper of the wardrobe, presented to each of them who sat 
 on the seats, splendid garments, interwoven here and there 
 with threads of gold, and said, Receive ye these wedding 
 garments. And they were conducted in a glorious manner to 
 the New Christian Heaven, w ith which the church of the 
 Lord on earth, which is the New Jerusalem, will be in con- 
 junction. 
 
 ZECHARIAH, chap. xiv. ver. 7, 9, 9. 
 
 It shall be one day which is known to Jehovah, not day nor 
 night, for about evening-time it shall be light. It shall come 
 to pass in that day, living waters shall go out from Jerusalem : 
 and Jehovah shall be King overall the earth: in that day 
 there shall be One Jehovah, and His name One. 
 
 END 
 
NEW CHURCH BOOKS, 
 
 PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE BY OTIS CLAPP. 
 
 SWEDENBORG'S WRITINGS. 
 
 HEAVENLY ARCANA ; or Heavenly Mysteries contained in the Sacred Scripture 
 or Word of the Lord, manifested and laid open ; beginning with the Book of Genesis. 
 
 Interspersed with Relati i of Wonderful Thincs fen in the World of Spirits and the 
 
 Heaven of Angels : and INDEX. 13 vols. 8vo. «33.00. Without the Index, $30.00. 
 
 THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED ; wherein are disclosed the Arcana therein 
 foretold, which have hitherto remained concealed. With an INDEX. 3 vols. «2.00. 
 
 THE APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED according to the Spiritual Sense; wherein 
 are revealed (more at large and more folly illustrated than in the preceding Work) the 
 Arcana which are predicted therein, and which have hitherto been concealed. To 
 which is added, a SUMMARY EXPOSITION of the Internal Sense of the Prophetical 
 Books of the Old Testament, and of the Psalms of David, with a twofold Index. 6 
 vols, and INDEX. $17.87. Without the Index, $16.00. 
 
 THE FOUR LEADING DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH, Signified in 
 the Revelation, chap. xxi. by the New Jerusalem; being those respecting The Lord, 
 his Divine and Human Natures, and the Divine Trinity; The Sacred Scripture, to 
 which is added The White Horse; Faith ; and Life. Neat cambric, 75 cents. 
 Each of the above Doctrines may be had separately, namely, 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM RESPECTING THE LORD. 
 12mo. Price $2.00 per dozen, 20 cents single. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM RESPECTING THE SACRED 
 SCRIPTURE. To which is added, The Treatise on the White Horse. $2.00 
 per dozen, 20 cents single without the White Horse, and 25 cents with do. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM RESPECTING FAITH. 18mo. 
 Half morocco, 25 cents. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, from the Com- 
 mandments of the Decalogue. 12mo. $1.25 per dozen, 12.J cents single. 
 
 ON THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE. To which 
 are prefixed some Observations concerning the New Heaven and the New Earth. 
 12mo. $1.37 per dozen, 12J cents single. 
 
 A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINES OF THE NEW CHURCH. 
 I2mo. $1.60 per doeen, 15 cents single. 
 
 TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION; or the Universal Theology op the New 
 Church which was foretold by the Lord, Daniel vii. 13, 14, and in the Apocalypse, 
 xxi. t, 2. 1 vol. 8vo. Boards, $2.50. With the Coronis, cambric, $3.00. Coronis, 
 or Appendix to do. , separate, 37 J cents. 
 
 ON THE A THAN ASIAN CREED. Extracted from the Apocalypse Explained. 
 18mo. Half morocco, 50 cents. 
 
 The Wisdom of Angels concerning THE DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WIS- 
 DOM, Illustrative of the Divine Attributes, of Creation and Redemption, of the Nature 
 cf the Eternal World, and of the Human Mind. 8vo. $1.00. 
 
 The Wisdom of Angels concerning THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, in which the 
 Laws of Order are unfolded by which the Divine Government is regulated, especially 
 in regard to Man's Salvation. 8vo. $1 50. 
 
 THE TREATISE ON THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, extracted from the 
 Apocalypse Explained. 12mo. Half morocco, 50 cents. 
 
 The Delights of Wisdom concerning CONJUGIAL LOVE. 8vo. Cambric, $2.00. 
 
 THE NATURE OF THE INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE SOUL AND THE 
 BODY, which is supposed to take place either by Physical Influx, or by Spiritual 
 Influx, or by Pre-established Harmony. 12mo. $1.00 per dozen, 10 cents single. 
 
 A TREATISE CONCERNING HEAVEN AND ITS WONDERS, AND ALSO 
 CONCERNING HELL, being a Relation of Things seen and heard. 12mo. 75 cts. 
 
 A TREATISE CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE DESTRUC- 
 TION OF BABYLON ; showing that all the Predictions contained in the Apoca- 
 lypse are at this present day fulfilled. (Elucidatory of the present state of the World). 
 Being a Testimony of Things heard and seen. To which is added, a Continuation 
 
 CONCERNINO THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE SPIRITUAL WOULD. ISmO. Half mO- 
 
 rocco, 50 cents. 
 
NEW CHURCH BOOKS. 
 
 ON THE EARTHS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM, which are called Planets; and 
 concerning the Earths in the Starry Heaven ; together with an Account of their 
 Inhabitants, and also of the Spirits and Angels there ; from what has been seen and 
 heard. 18mo. Half morocco, 50 cents. 
 
 ON THE WORSHIP AND LOVE OF GOD ; treating of the Birth of the Earth, 
 of Paradise, and of living Creatures; also of the Nativity, the Infancy, and the Love 
 of the first-begotten, or Adam. 12mo. Half morocco, 75 cents. 
 
 A SUMMARY EXPOSITION OF THE INTERNAL SENSE OF THE PRO- 
 PHETICAL BOOKS OF THE WoRII OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, and also of 
 the PSALMS OF DAVID. With a twofold Index. 12mo. 37* cents. 
 
 ON THE WHITE HORSE mentioned in the Revelation, chap. xix. 6 cts. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 BOOK OF PUBLIC WORSHIP, for the use of the New Church. Prepared by 
 order of the General Convention. Cambric, $1.00. 
 
 GROWTH OF THE MIND, with Remarks on some other Subjects. By Sampson 
 Reed. 12mo. Cambric, 62J cents. 
 
 SERMONS ON THE LORD'S PRAYER. To which are added Three Sermons 
 on other Subjects. By Henry A. Worcester. 12mo. Cambric, 62J cents. 
 
 APHORISMS OF WISDOM; or a Collection of Nine Hundred Maxims and Obser- 
 vations on Divine Subjects. 18mo. Boards, 50 cents. 
 
 THE GOLDEN WEDDING RING ; or Observations on the Institution of Mar- 
 riage. By Rev. J. Clowes. ISmo. Cambric, 20 cents. 
 
 REMARKS ON SEVERAL ERRORS CONCERNING THE WRITINGS OF 
 SWEDENBORG. By Samuel Worcester. 12mo. 20 cents. 
 
 THE GOSPELS OF MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE AND JOHN, Illustrated by 
 Extracts from Swedenborg, and with Notes. By Rev. J. Clowes. 4 vols. 8vo. 
 Boards, $3.35. 
 
 Also seven volumes Clowes's SERMONS on the Beatitudes, Ten Virgins, 
 Marriage of the King's Son, Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments, De- 
 liverance of the Israelites from Egypt; Miscellaneous Sermons; and do. 
 preached at St. Johns. 
 
 Clowes's work on Mediums, Twelve Hours of the Day, Two Heavenly Me- 
 morialists; on Science; Miscellaneous Thoughts; Jcc 
 
 Also for sale the Works of Rev. Robert Hindmarsh, Rev. M. Sibley, Rev. S. 
 Noble, Rev. D. G. Goyder, ice. &c. 
 
 TRACTS. 
 
 THE TRUE OBJECT OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP DEMONSTRATED, and the 
 Doctrine of the Trinity elucidated, and cleared of the Difficulties in which it is com- 
 monly involved. By Samuel Noble. 
 
 A DIALOGUE ON THE APOSTOLIC DOCTRINE OF THE ATONEMENT, 
 in which that Doctrine is clearly explained. 
 
 THE DOCTRINE of the SCRIPTURES respecting Regeneration and Good Works. 
 
 A FEW PLAIN ANSWERS TO THE QUESTION, " WHY DO YOU RECEIVE 
 THE TESTIMONY OF SWEDENBORG ? " 
 
 BRIEF REMARKS on the ATONEMENT and MEDIATION of JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 AN AFFECTIONATE ADDRESS to the Clergy on the Writings of Swedenborg. 
 
 CHILDREN'S BOOKS. 
 
 SUNDAY LESSONS, for the Instruction of Children of the New Church, In Schools 
 or at Home. By a Member of the Boston Society of the N. J. 12mo. Camb. 50 cts. 
 
 LESSONS FOR CHILDREN OF THE NEW CHURCH. 16mo. Cambric, 25 cts. 
 
 A CATECHISM FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW CHURCH. By Sam- 
 uel Worcester. $1.00 per dozen, 10 cents single. 
 
 THE RAINBOW EXPLAINED ACCORDING TO ITS INTERNAL OR SPI- 
 RITUAL MEANING, in the way of Question and Answer. By Rev. J. Clowes. 
 81.00 per dozen, 10 cents single. 
 
 THE GOOSEBERRY-BUSH AND CATERPILLARS ; or a True Figure of the 
 Bad Passions and their Mischievous Effects. By Rev. J. Clowes. 62* cents per 
 dozen, 6i cents single. 
 
 EDWARD AND ELLEN, a Tale. "Beware of ever exceeding the boundaries of 
 truth in any mode or form." $1.00 per dozen, 10 cents single. 
 
 MARY AND SUSAN. By the same Author. 62* cents per dozen, 6 cts. «inrie. 
 
 STORIES FOR SMALL CHILDREN. 62i cents per dozen, 6 cent- single 
 
Date Due