Invitation to the New Church

12. The desolation of the truth of the church may be compared with consummations on the earth; heat, namely, and all the above [times or seasons] are consummated by winter, and then spring [comes]; and light on earth is consummated by the night, when the morning comes. Wherefore, the Lord in Revelation said to those under the altar (Rev. 6:9-11). [See quotation.] A number of passages are to be quoted from Revelation, showing that the church has been laid waste, even to its ultimate.

13. That at the present day nothing is known concerning the union of soul and body, is proved by the hypotheses of the learned concerning the soul; especially by that of Descartes and others, [who maintain] that the soul is a substance separated from the body, in some place or other; when yet the soul is the inmost man; consequently, is the man from the head to the foot. Thence it is, according to the ancients, that the soul is in the whole, and in every part thereof; and that in whatever part the soul does not dwell inmostly, there man has no life. From this union it is, that all things of the soul belong to the body, and all things of the body belong to the soul; as the Lord said concerning His Father, that all His things are the Father's, and that all things of the Father are His (John 17:10). Thence it is that the Lord is God, even as to the flesh (Rom. 9:5; Col. 2:9); and that [He said], "the Father is in Me," and "I am in the Father" [John 14:10, 11]. Thus they are one.

14.  The human mind is of three degrees, which are the celestial, spiritual, and natural. In the first degree is the soul, in the second, is the spirit or the mind, and in the third, is the body. It is the same thing, whether we say that a man's mind is of three degrees, or whether we say that the man himself is. For that of the body which is in principles thus where its first is, is called mind. The remaining parts are derived thence, and are continuations. What is the mind, if it is only to the head, except something that is separated or divorced, in which the mind does not exist through continuation? Let autopsy settle this: The origins of the fibers are the glands of the so-called cortical substance; thence proceed the fibers; and after they are bundled together into nerves, they descend and pass through the whole body, weaving it together and constructing it. The celestial degree, in which is the soul, that is, the inmost man, is a semblance of love; the spiritual degree, in which is the mind, that is, the spirit, which is the mediate man, is a semblance of wisdom from love; and the third degree, in which is the body, which is the ultimate man, is the containant of both; without this third degree, the two higher degrees would not subsist. These things can be further demonstrated from the three heavens, the celestial, spiritual, and natural-where such men are. Wherefore the angels of the higher heavens are invisible to the angels of the lower heavens, if the latter approach the former from their own heavens.

15. Thence it may be seen in light that as a tree exists from its seed, so also the body exists through the soul. Hence also it is that the tree derives its quality from the seed. From this, however, it follows that inasmuch as the soul of Christ was from the Divine essence, His body also must be derived thence.

16. All theologians, when preaching, know nothing of the falsities of their religion. For they preach that God is one; that the Saviour ought to be adored; that man, therefore, ought to believe in the Word and in preachings; that he ought to exercise charity, and practise repentance, so as to desist from evils. While preaching thus, they remember nothing concerning three Gods, concerning their mystical faith, concerning impotence in spiritual matters, and concerning all the remaining dogmas. But let them know, that the falsities which they have imbibed in the schools, are clinging to them interiorly; and other things are merely in the mouth; and that after death they come into the interior things of the spirit; wherefore, these falsities ought by all means to be rooted out. Then also the things that are merely in the mouth, are as the beard on the chin, which afterwards, as is usually the case, is cut off, and he becomes beardless.

17. When orthodoxy enters and explains all those things which priests preach from the Word concerning faith that we ought to believe in God, concerning charity towards the neighbor, conversion, repentance, and the life of piety and spiritual life, they fall as it were into a bucket; then they are overthrown, as when one destroys a dwelling or a house, even so that nothing but ruins remain. The preachers say that these things are not true, unless you believe thus. What does charity, repentance, etc., effect? The very Word then falls, and so forth. It is as if someone undermines a wall, by digging ditches under it. All things are overthrown.

18. Bring an example, where someone preaches devoutly on the above subjects from the Word; and when orthodoxy is brought to bear upon his preaching, you will see that what I saw and declared, is true. (The example will illustrate this. . . .) Thus they affirm, and then deny, if orthodoxy is in the internal man, and the subjects that are preached are in the external man. In this case that which then remains in the external man is regarded as of no account and becomes like froth. It is swept away, like an earthquake, or like a ship broken below by water.

19. An example, also, may be brought from genuine orthodoxy on the subject of faith, charity, and free will. From this example will appear plainly the absurdity of [false orthodoxy].

20. That the spiritual things of heaven flow into the whole man, and that [natural things] flow in through the world, is confirmed in light thus: that spiritual and natural things flow in conjointly, but that the evil man inverts the two. That which is within he places outwardly in his mind; and that which is outmost he places within; so that the world is above heaven, that is, heaven below the world. But the devout and good man receives both in the order in which they flow in; the spiritual things which flow in through heaven, he places in the mind above, and the natural things which flow in through the world, he places below. This man stands on his feet erect; but the former is, as it were, inverted.