Charity – Word Study

People who read Swedenborg will – in most translations, anyway

-- frequently encounter the word “charity.” In many cases, it is paired up with the word “faith.” This can cause a fair amount of confusion, because the way Swedenborg uses them is rather different from their common modern meanings.

At it’s simplest level, “faith” to most people means a belief in the existence of God. But the idea of “faith” rises from there to an intensely emotional state: a feeling of peace and euphoria arising from belief in God, trust in his salvation, and a transporting sense of personal relationship. “Charity,” meanwhile, is used to describe physical acts: contributing money or effort to service organizations or specific causes. It’s something that’s done, not a state of being.

In Swedenborg, however, “charity” is usually the English rendering of the Latin word caritas, which is also the root of the verb “to care.” If we think of “charity” as “a state of caring,” we can start seeing what Swedenborg was trying to convey.

“Caring” does not necessarily have to be emotional. You can take care of someone you don’t like, you can take care of business or errands or duties that really have no emotional content at all. Swedenborg would call these “acts of charity,” things done from a desire to be a good person. But the idea of “caring” can elevate, too: When you “care about” someone it involves real affection, and to “care about” an idea or mission implies a deep commitment – it is a feeling, an emotional state. The ultimate state of “caring,” of course, would be caring about all of humanity, wanting what’s best for everyone on the planet. This is what Swedenborg would call “true charity,” and it is marked by love – the love of others.

Swedenborg puts it this way in Arcana Coelestia number 8033: “Charity is an inward affection consisting in a desire which springs from a person's heart to do good to the neighbour, which is the delight of his life.”

At all these levels, though, charity cannot act on its own. It needs tools.

Imagine, for instance, a young mother falling and breaking her leg. Her four-year-old might love her desperately, but cannot take care of her. A paramedic, meanwhile, might see her as just a case number, but will get her stabilized and delivered to a hospital. The difference, obviously, is knowledge. The paramedic has a bunch of tested, true ideas in her head that give her the capacity to care for the mother; the four-year-old does not.

That knowledge is actually part of what Swedenborg would call “faith,” though he’s referring to spiritual things rather than medical ones. In general, “faith” in Swedenborg’s works refers to things we accept as true because they come to us from the Lord and the Lord’s teachings. If we take them and apply them to life, we can do works of charity – we can use knowledge to take care of people and things, to actually do something good.

And just like the idea of caring, these items of faith can elevate. “Thou shalt not murder” is a good low-level matter of faith, and should certainly be applied if we want to be charitable people. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is a bit higher, a bit more internal, and will help us be charitable on a deeper level. The idea that by loving others we are loving the Lord will take us to a deeper place yet.

And perhaps most beautiful of all is what happens when we reach a state of true charity. If we work to be good because we want to serve the Lord, the Lord will eventually change our hearts, transforming us so that we delight in being good and delight in loving and helping others. At that stage the ideas of faith change from being the masters over our evil desires to being the servants of our good desires. From a loving desire to be good and serve others we will seek and use knowledge that lets us fulfill that mission.

Passages from Swedenborg

Arcana Coelestia 809

Factual knowledge and rational conviction that are part of faith in no way constitute the Church or the member of the Church, but charity which belongs to the will. Every essential element comes from the will. Nor therefore does anything doctrinal make the Church unless generally and specifically it has regard to charity, in which case charity becomes the end in view. The end in view determines the true character of doctrine, and whether or not it belongs to the Church. As with the Lord's kingdom in the heavens love and charity alone constitute the Lord's Church.

AArcana Coelestia 916

[2] It is called a spiritual Church when its actions spring from charity, that is, from the good of charity, but never when it claims to have faith independently of charity. In that case it is not even a Church. For what does faith teach but that which charity teaches? And what other purpose does the teaching of faith have but that what it teaches may be practised? Merely knowing and thinking what it teaches is ineffectual. It is only the practice of what it teaches that is effectual. Consequently the spiritual Church starts to be a Church, or what amounts to the same, the member of the Church starts to be a Church, when its actions spring from charity, the substance of what faith teaches. What is the purpose of a commandment? Not merely that a person may know but that he may live according to what is commanded. And when he does so he has the Lord's kingdom within him, for the Lord's kingdom consists solely in mutual love and resulting happiness.

Arcana Coelestia 1798

[2] In a general sense faith embraces everything that is taught by the Church; but doctrinal teachings separated from love or charity do not in any way constitute the internal dimension of the Church, for such teachings are no more than knowledge which is present in the memory and which also exists with the worst of people, even with those in hell. But doctrinal teachings which originate in charity, that is, which are a product of charity, do constitute the internal dimension of the Church, for this dimension is essentially its life. The life itself constitutes the internal aspect of all worship, and so too do all doctrinal teachings that flow from the life that belongs to charity. It is these teachings when they comprise faith that are meant here, and it is faith such as this that constitutes the internal dimension of the Church, as may become clear from the single consideration that anyone who is leading a charitable life has an awareness of all things of faith.

[3] Just examine, if you care to do so, any doctrinal teachings, so that you may see what they are and what they are like. Do they not all have regard to charity, and so to faith that derives from charity? Take simply the Ten Commandments, the first of which is that you should worship the Lord God. Anyone who possesses the life of love or charity worships the Lord God, for it is in this that the life within him consists. Another commandment says that you should keep the Sabbath. Anyone in whom the life of love, that is, in whom charity, is present keeps the Sabbath holy since nothing delights him more than worshipping the Lord and declaring His glory day by day. The commandment that you should not kill has regard entirely to charity. Anyone who loves his neighbour as himself shudders at doing him any injury whatever, and even more at killing him. Likewise with the commandment that you should not steal, for the person who possesses the life of charity would rather give from what is his own to his neighbour than take away anything from him. Equally the commandment that you should not commit adultery. A man in whom the life of charity is present is minded rather to protect his neighbour's wife lest anyone should do such great harm to her, and regards adultery as a crime committed against conscience, such as destroys conjugial love and the responsibilities that go with it. Coveting things that belong to the neighbour is also contrary to the mind of those in whom the life of charity is present, for the essence of charity is to will good to others from oneself and what is one's own, thus they in no way covet what belongs to another.

[4] These Commandments, included among the Ten, are more external matters of doctrine concerning faith, which are not simply retained as knowledge in the memory of him in whom charity and the life of charity are present, but are in his heart. They are also inscribed upon him because they are grounded in his charity and so in his very life, in addition to other things of a dogmatic nature that are inscribed upon him which in a similar way he knows from charity alone. For he lives in accordance with a conscience for that which is right. Anything right or true which he is unable to understand and examine in this fashion he nevertheless believes in simplicity - that is, in simplicity of heart - to be right or true because the Lord has so said. Nor is anything wrong with such belief, even if that which is believed is not in itself true, only an appearance of truth.

[5] People may believe for example that the Lord can be angry, punish, tempt, and the like. Also, they may believe that in the Holy Supper the bread and wine have some spiritual meaning, or that flesh and blood are present in some way or other which they are able to explain. But whether they express the one or the other of these views about the Holy Supper, it makes no difference provided that two things are characteristic of these persons: Few people in fact give the matter any thought at all, and if any do give it any thought it makes no difference which view is held provided, a) It is done from a simple heart because it is what they have been taught, and b) They are leading charitable lives. When they hear that the bread and wine mean in the internal sense the Lord's love towards the whole human race, and the things that go with that love, and man's reciprocated love to the Lord and towards the neighbour, they believe it instantly and rejoice that it really is so. This is never the case with those who possess doctrine yet lack charity. They dispute everything and condemn anyone who does not speak- though they say it is to believe - as they do. From these considerations it may become clear to anyone that love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour constitute the internal dimension of the Church.

Arcana Coelestia 1799

[3] By itself doctrine does not constitute the external aspect of the Church, still less the internal, as stated above. Nor on the Lord's part is it its teachings that make one Church distinct and separate from another, but its life in accordance with those teachings, all of which, as long as they present what is true, regard charity as their basic principle. What else does doctrine do but teach men the kind of people they ought to be?

[4] In the Christian world it is their doctrines that cause Churches to be distinct and separate, and because of these they call themselves Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists or the Reformed, and Evangelicals, among other names. It is solely by reason of their doctrines that they are called by these names. This situation would never exist if they were to make love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour the chief thing of faith. In this case their doctrinal differences would be no more than shades of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith which truly Christian people would leave to individual conscience, and in their hearts would say that a person is truly a Christian when he lives as a Christian, that is, as the Lord teaches. If this were so all the different Churches would become one, and all the disagreements which stem from doctrine alone would disappear. Indeed the hatred one man holds against another would be dispelled in an instant, and the Lord's kingdom on earth would come.

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8120

TEACHINGS ABOUT CHARITY

Charity towards the neighbour is thought to consist in giving to the poor, helping a person in need, and doing good to everyone. But genuine charityinvolves acting circumspectly and with the end in view that good may result. Anybody who gives help to some poor or needy person who is a wrong-doer does ill to the neighbour through him, for through the help he gives that wrong-doer he strengthens him in evil and supplies him the wherewithal to do ill to others. It is different with one who supplies help to the good.

True Christian Religion (Chadwick) n. 450

Spurious charity, hypocritical charity and dead charity.

True charity which is alive is impossible except when it makes one with faith, and except when both jointly look to the Lord. For these three, the Lord, charity and faith, are the three essentials for salvation, and when they are one, charity is charity, faith is faith and the Lord is in them, and they are in the Lord (see above 363-367 and 368-372). However, where these three are not linked together, charity is either spurious or hypocritical or dead. From the time it was founded Christianity has been beset by various heresies, and these continue also at the present time; and in each one of these the three essentials - God, charity and faith - have been and are acknowledged, since in their absence there can be no religion, As regards charity specifically, it can be attached to any heretical belief, such as that of Socinians, Enthusiasts or Jews, even the belief of idolaters. And all these can believe that it is really charity, since it resembles that in outward form; but it actually changes its nature depending on the belief to which it is attached or linked. For a demonstration of this, see the chapter on faith.

True Christian Religion (Chadwick) n. 453

Dead charity is characteristic of those whose faith is dead, since the nature of charity is like the nature of faith.

Charity (Coulson) n. 199

CHARITY

The sections in their series.

THE "FIRST" OF CHARITY IS TO LOOK TO THE LORD AND SHUN EVILS AS SINS.

THE "SECOND" OF CHARITY IS TO DO GOOD TO THE NEIGHBOUR.

III. IN A NATURAL SENSE, THE NEIGHBOUR WHO IS TO BE LOVED IS A FELLOW CITIZEN, ALSO A SOCIETY, SMALL OR LARGE, ALSO ONE'S COUNTRY, ALSO THE HUMAN RACE.

THE NEIGHBOUR IS TO BE LOVED IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS SPIRITUAL GOOD, AND HIS MORAL, CIVIL, AND NATURAL GOOD THEREFROM; CONSEQUENTLY IT IS GOOD THAT, IN A SPIRITUAL SENSE, IS THE NEIGHBOUR TO BE LOVED.

EVERYONE LOVES THE NEIGHBOUR FROM THE GOOD OFCHARITY IN HIMSELF; CONSEQUENTLY THE QUALITY OF ANYONE'S CHARITY IS SUCH AS THE CHARITY HE HIMSELF IS.

A MAN IS BORN TO THE END THAT HE MAY BECOME ACHARITY; BUT HE CANNOT BECOME A CHARITY UNLESS HE CONSTANTLY WILLS AND DOES THE GOOD OF CHARITY FROM AFFECTION AND ITS DELIGHT.*

VII. EVERY MAN, WHO LOOKS TO THE LORD, AND SHUNS EVILS AS SINS, BECOMES A CHARITY, IF HE HONESTLY, JUSTLY, AND FAITHFULLY CARRIES OUT THE WORK OF HIS OCCUPATION OR EMPLOYMENT.

VIII. SIGNS OF CHARITY ARE ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE OF WORSHIP.

BENEFACTIONS OF CHARITY ARE ALL THE GOODS THAT A MAN WHO IS A CHARITY DOES, IN FREEDOM, OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF HIS OCCUPATION.

OBLIGATIONS OF CHARITY ARE ALL THOSE THINGS IT BEHOVES A MAN TO DO IN ADDITION TO THOSE SET FORTH ABOVE.

THERE ARE DIVERSIONS OF CHARITY, WHICH ARE VARIOUS ENJOYMENTS AND PLEASURES OF THE BODILY SENSES USEFUL FOR RECREATING THE MIND.

XII. WHERE THERE IS NO TRUTH OF FAITH, THE CHURCH DOES NOT EXIST, AND WHERE THERE IS NO GOOD OF CHARITY, RELIGION DOES NOT EXIST.**

D Wisdom (Mongredien) 11

LOVE AND CHARITY

(1) The love of uses is charity.

(2) The Lord is the source of charity, and the neighbour is the object of it.

(3) Love to the Lord has existence in charity, because in use.

(4) Use is fulfilling one's duty and doing one's work, rightly, faithfully, honestly and justly.

(5) There are general uses which also are uses of charity.

(6) Uses become uses of charity with those only who fight against evils that are from hell.

Charity (Coulson) n. 11

From these things it is now evident that the "first" of charity is to shun evils as sins, which is done by repentance. Who does not see that an impenitent man is wicked? And who does not see that a wicked man has not charity? And who does not see that he who has not charity cannot do charity? Charity must be fromcharity in the man.

Charity (Coulson) n. 90

MAN IS THE SUBJECT OF CHARITY, AND SUCH AS IS THE CHARITYWITH HIM SUCH A SUBJECT OF IT HE IS; AND SUCH IS THE CHARITYHE EXERCISES TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOUR.*

Let these things be explained in this order:

(1) Man was created to be a form of love and wisdom.

(2) At this day, for a man to be man, he ought to be a charity in form.

(3) A man ought to be a charity in form, not from himself but from the Lord; thus he is a receptacle of charity.

(4) A man is a form of charity of such a quality as, with him, good of the will is conjoined to truths of the understanding.

(5) Whatever proceeds from such a man derives from that form that it is a likeness of it; thus it is charity.

(6) The neighbour can be loved from what is not charity; and yet this, regarded in itself, is not loving the neighbour.

(7) He is loving the neighbour, who loves him from the charity in himself.

True Christian Religion (Ager) n. 367

(4) But the man who divides the Lord, charity, and faith, is not a form that receives but a form that destroys them. For he who separates the Lord fromcharity and faith, separates life from them, and when this is done, charity and faith either cease to exist or are abortions. That the Lord is life itself may be seen above (n. 358). He who acknowledges the Lord and sets charity aside, acknowledges Him with the lips only; his acknowledgment and confession is purely cold; within which there is no faith; for it lacks spiritual essence, since the essence of faith is charity. But he who practises charity and does not acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, one with the Father (as He Himself teaches), practises merely natural charity in which there is no eternal life. The man of the church knows that all good that is good in itself is from God, consequently from the Lord, who is "the true God and eternal life" (1 John 5:20); so also with charity, because good and charity are one.

[2] Faith separate from charity is not faith, because faith is the light of man's life andcharity is its heat; therefore the separation of charity from faith is like the separation of heat from light; man's state then becomes like that of the world in winter, when everything on the earth dies. For charity to be charity and faith to be faith they can no more be separated than the will and the understanding; if these are separated the understanding comes to nothing, and presently the will also. It is the same with charity and faith, because charity resides in the will, and faith in the understanding.

[3] Separating charity from faith is like separating essence from form. In the learned world it is known that essence without form, or form without essence, is nothing; for essence has no quality except from form, nor is form a subsistent entity except from essence; consequently nothing can be predicated of either separate from the other.Charity is the essence of faith, and faith is the form of charity just as good (as said above) is the essence of truth, and truth is the form of good.

[4] As there are these two, namely, good and truth, in each thing and in all things that have essential existence, so there are charity and faith, charity because it belongs to good, and faith because it belongs to truth. This may be illustrated by comparisons with many things in the human body, and with many things on the earth. They maybe fitly compared with the respiration of the lungs and the systolic motion of the heart; since charity can no more be separated from faith than the heart from the lungs; for when the pulsation of the heart ceases, immediately the respiration of the lungs ceases; and when the respiration of the lungs ceases, all senses faint, all the muscles are deprived of motion, and in a short time the heart stops also and the life is wholly gone. This is a proper comparison, because the heart corresponds to the will and thus to charity, and the respiration of the lungs to the understanding, and thus to faith; for (as said above) charity resides in the will, and faith in the understanding; and this is what "heart" and "breath" mean in the Word.

[5] Again there is a parallel between the separation of charity and faith and the separation of blood and flesh; for the blood separated from the flesh is gore, and becomes corruption, while the flesh separated from the blood gradually becomes putrid and breeds worms. So too, in the spiritual sense, "blood" signifies the truth of wisdom and faith, and "flesh" the good of love and charity. That this is the significance of "blood" may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 379), and of "flesh" (n. 382).

[6] For charity and faith to be anything, they can no more be separated than food and water or bread and wine with man; for food or bread taken without water or wine, merely distends the stomach, and like an undigested mass destroys it and becomes like putrid filth. So does water or wine without food or bread distend the stomach, and likewise the vessels and pores, which being thus deprived of nutrition, emaciate the body even to death. This is also a proper comparison, since "food" and "bread" in the spiritual sense signify the good of love and charity, and "water" and "wine" the truth of wisdom and faith, as may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 50, 316, 778, 932).

[7] Charityconjoined with faith, and faith in its turn with charity, may be likened to the face of a handsome virgin beautiful from the intermingling of red and white. This again is a proper comparison, since love and charity therefrom in the spiritual world are red from the fire of the sun there, while truth and faith therefrom are white from the light of that sun; and therefore charity separate from faith may be likened to a face inflamed with pimples, and faith separate from charity to the pallid face of a corpse. Faith separate from charity may also be likened to a paralysis of one side, which is called hemiplegia, from which, when it increases, the man dies. It may also be compared to St. Vitus' dance, or to the dance of St. Guy, which is caused by the bite of the tarantula. The rational faculty becomes like a man so bitten; like him it dances furiously and so deems itself alive, when yet it can no more collect various reasons into one, and think about spiritual truths, than one can when asleep in bed oppressed with a nightmare. This will suffice to demonstrate the two points of this chapter: first, That faith without charity is not faith, and that charity without faith is not charity, and that neither has life except from the Lord; secondly, That the Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding in man; and if they are divided each perishes, like a pearl reduced to powder.

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8033

TEACHINGS ABOUT CHARITY

What charity is and what faith is when they are present in a person must now be stated. Charity is an inward affection, consisting in a desire which springs from a person's heart to do good to the neighbour, which is the delight of his life. And that desire involves no thought of reward.

New Jerusalem and Heavenly Doctrine (Whitehead) n. 121

Faith separate from love or charity is like the light of winter, in which all things on earth are torpid, and no harvests, fruits, or flowers, are produced; but faith with love or charity is like the light of spring and summer, in which all things flourish and are produced (n. 2231, 3146, 3412, 3413). The wintry light of faith separate from charity is changed into dense darkness when light from heaven flows in; and they who are in that faith then come into blindness and stupidity (n. 3412, 3413).

They who separate faith from charity, in doctrine and life, are in darkness, thus in ignorance of truth, and in falsities, for these are darkness (n. 9186). They cast themselves into falsities, and into evils thence (n. 3325, 8094). The errors and falsities into which they cast themselves (n. 4721, 4730, 4776, 4783, 4925, 7779, 8313, 8765, 9224). The Word is shut to them (n. 3773, 4783, 8780). They do not see or attend to all those things which the Lord so often spoke concerning love and charity, and concerning their fruits, or goods in act, concerning which (n. 1017, 3416). Neither do they know what good is, nor thus what celestial love is, nor what charity is (n. 2517, 3603, 4136, 9995).

Faith separate from charity is no faith (n. 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2049, 2116, 2343, 2349, 2417, 3849, 3868, 6348, 7039, 7342, 9783). Such a faith perishes in the other life (n. 2228, 5820). When faith alone is assumed as a principle, truths are contaminated by the falsity of the principle (n. 2335). Such persons do not suffer themselves to be persuaded, because it is against their principle (n. 2385). Doctrinals concerning faith alone destroy charity (n. 6353, 8094). They who separate faith from charity were represented by Cain, by Ham, by Reuben, by the firstborn of the Egyptians, and by the Philistines (n. 3325, 7097, 7317, 8093).

They who make faith alone saving, excuse a life of evil, and they who are in a life of evil have no faith, because they have no charity (n. 3865, 7766, 7778, 7790, 7950, 8094). They are inwardly in the falsities of their own evil, although they do not know it (n. 7790, 7950). Therefore good cannot be conjoined with them (n. 8981, 8983). In the other life they are against good, and against those who are in good (n. 7097, 7127, 7317, 7502, 7545, 8096, 8313). Those who are simple in heart and yet wise, know what the good of life is, thus what charity is, but not what faith separate is (n. 4741, 4754).

All things of the church have relation to good and truth, consequently tocharity and faith (n. 7752-7754). The church is not with man before truths are implanted in his life, and thus become the good of charity (n. 3310). Charityconstitutes the church, and not faith separate from charity (n. 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844). The internal of the church is charity (n. 1799, 7755). Hence there is no church where there is no charity (n. 4766, 5826). The church would be one if all were regarded from charity, although men might differ as to the doctrinals of faith and the rituals of worship (n. 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2385, 2982, 3267, 3451). How much of good would be in the church ifcharity were regarded in the first place, and faith in the second (n. 6269, 6272). Every church begins from charity, but in process of time turns aside to faith, and at length to faith alone (n. 1834, 1835, 2231, 4683, 8094). There is no faith at the last time of the church, because there is no charity (n. 1843). The worship of the Lord consists in a life of charity (n. 8254, 8256) The quality of the worship is according to the quality of the charity (n. 2190). The men of the external church have an internal if they are in charity (n. 1100, 1102, 1151, 1153). The doctrine of the ancient churches was the doctrine of life, which is the doctrine of charity, and not the doctrine of faith separate (n. 2385, 2417, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628, 7259-7262).

The Lord inseminates and implants truth in the good of charity when he regenerates man (n. 2063, 2189, 3310). Otherwise the seed, which is the truth of faith, cannot take root (n. 880). Then goods and truths increase, according to the quality and quantity of the charity received (n. 1016). The light of a regenerate person is not from faith, but from charity by faith (n. 854). The truths of faith, when man is regenerated, enter with the delight of affection, because he loves to do them, and they are reproduced with the same affection, because they cohere (n. 2484, 2487, 3040, 3066, 3074, 3336, 4018, 5893).

They who live in love to the Lord, and in charity towards the neighbor, lose nothing to eternity, because they are conjoined to the Lord; but it is otherwise with those who are in separate faith (n. 7506, 7507). Man remains such as is his life of charity, not such as his faith separate (n. 8256). All the states of delight of those who have lived in charity, return in the other life, and are increased immensely (n. 823). Heavenly blessedness flows from the Lord into charity, because into the very life of man; but not into faith without charity (n. 2363). In heaven all are regarded from charity, and none from faith separate (n. 1258, 1394). All are associated in the heavens according to their loves (n. 7085). No one is admitted into heaven by thinking, but by willing good (n. 2401, 3459). Unless doing good is conjoined with willing good and with thinking good, there is no salvation, neither any conjunction of the internal man with the external (n. 3987). The Lord, and faith in Him, are received by no others in the other life, than those who are in charity (n. 2343).

Good is in the perpetual desire and consequent endeavor of conjoining itself with truths, and charity with faith (n. 9206, 9207, 9495). The good of charityacknowledges its own truth of faith, and the truth of faith its own good ofcharity (n. 2429, 3101, 3102, 3161, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5807, 5835, 9637). Hence there is a conjunction of the truth of faith and the good of charity, concerning which (n. 3834, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4353, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530, 9258, 10555). Their conjunction is like a marriage (n. 1904, 2173, 2508). The law of marriage is that two be one, according to the Word of the Lord (n. 10130, 10168, 10169). So also faith andcharity (n. 1094, 2173, 2503). Therefore faith which is faith, is, as to its essence, charity (n. 2228, 2839, 3180, 9783). As good is the esse of a thing, and truth the existere thence, so also is charity the esse of the church, and faith the existere thence (n. 3409, 3180, 4574, 5002, 9145). The truth of faith lives from the good of charity, thus a life according to the truths of faith is charity (n. 1589, 1947, 2571, 4070, 4096, 4097, 4736, 4757, 4884, 5147, 5928, 9154, 9667, 9841, 10729). Faith cannot be given but in charity, and if not in charity, there is not good in faith (n. 2261, 4368). Faith does not live with man when he only knows and thinks the things of faith, but when he wills them, and from will does them (n. 9224).

There is no salvation by faith, but by a life according to the truths of faith, which life is charity (n. 379, 389, 2228, 4663, 4721). They are saved who think from the doctrine of the church that faith alone saves, if they do what is just for the sake of justice, and good for the sake of good, for thus they are still incharity (n. 2442, 3242, 3459, 3463, 7506, 7507). If a mere cogitative faith could save, all would be saved (n. 2361, 10659). Charity constitutes heaven with man, and not faith without it (n. 3513, 3584, 3815, 9832, 10714, 10715, 10721, 10724). In heaven all are regarded from charity, and not from faith (n. 1258, 1394, 2361, 4802). The conjunction of the Lord with man is not by faith, but by a life according to the truths of faith (n. 9380, 10143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10645, 10648). The Lord is the tree of life, the goods of charity the fruits, and faith the leaves (n. 3427, 9337). Faith is the "lesser luminary," and good the "larger luminary" (n. 30-38).

The angels of the Lord's celestial kingdom do not know what faith is, so that they do not even name it, but the angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom speak of faith, because they reason concerning truths (n. 202, 203, 337, 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786). The angels of the Lord's celestial kingdom say only yea, yea or nay, nay, but the angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom reason whether it be so or not so, when there is discourse concerning spiritual truths, which are of faith (n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786), where the Lord's words are explained:

Let your discourse be yea, yea, nay, nay; what is beyond these is from evil (Matt. 5:37).

The reason why the celestial angels are such, is, because they admit the truths of faith immediately into their lives, and do not deposit them first in the memory, as the spiritual angels do; and hence the celestial angels are in the perception of all things of faith (n. 202, 585, 597, 607, 784, 1121, 1387, 1398, 1442, 1919, 5113, 5897, 6367, 7680, 7877, 8521, 8780, 9936, 9995, 10124).

Trust or confidence, which in an eminent sense is called saving faith, is given with those only who are in good as to life, consequently with those who are incharity (n. 2982, 4352, 4683, 4689, 7762, 8240, 9239-9245). Few know what that confidence is (n. 3868, 4352).

What difference there is between believing those things which are from God, and believing in God (n. 9239, 9243). It is one thing to know, another to acknowledge, and another to have faith (n. 896, 4319, 5664). There are scientifics of faith, rationals of faith and spirituals of faith (n. 2504, 8078). The first thing is the acknowledgment of the Lord (n. 10083). All that flows in with man from the Lord is good (n. 1614, 2016, 2751, 2882, 2883, 2891, 2892, 2904, 6193, 7643, 9128).

There is a persuasive faith, which nevertheless is not faith (n. 2343, 2682, 2689, 3427, 3865, 8148).

It appears from various reasonings as though faith were prior to charity, but this is a fallacy (n. 3324). It may be known from the light of reason, that good, consequently charity, is in the first place, and truth, consequently faith, in the second (n. 6273). Good, or charity, is actually in the first place, or is the first of the church, and truth, or faith, is in the second place, or is the second of the church, although it appears otherwise (n. 3324, 3325, 3330, 3336, 3494, 3539, 3548, 3556, 3570, 3576, 3603, 3701, 3995, 4337, 4601, 4925, 4926, 4928, 4930, 5351, 6256, 6269, 6272, 6273, 8042, 8080, 10110). The ancients disputed concerning the first or primogeniture of the church, whether it be faith or whether it be charity (n. 367, 2435, 3324).

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1994

'And be blameless' means the good of charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'blameless' as doing good coming from truth, that is, good springing from a conscience for what is true and so from charity; for charity constitutes conscience, concerning which meaning see 612. But because the Lord is the subject here in the internal sense, 'blameless' means the good of charity, charitybeing the source from which good goes forth, so much so that the actual truth deriving from it is good.

True Christian Religion (Dick) n. 392

CHAPTER VII

CHARITY, OR LOVE TOWARDS THE NEIGHBOR, AND GOOD WORKS

Having treated of faith, we now proceed to treat of charity, for faith andcharity are united like good and truth, and these two are like the light and heat in springtime. This comparison is used because spiritual light, which is the light proceeding from the Sun of the spiritual world, is in its essence truth; and truth in that world, wherever it appears, shines with a splendor according to its purity; and spiritual heat, which also proceeds from that Sun, is in its essence good. These things are stated because it is the same with charity and faith as with good and truth; for charity is the aggregate of all things pertaining to good which a man does to the neighbor, and faith is the aggregate of all things pertaining to truth which are the subject of his thought concerning God and Divine things. Since, then, the truth of faith is spiritual light, and the good ofcharity spiritual heat, the same may be said of them as of their counterparts in the natural world; and as from the union of their natural counterparts all things on the earth blossom and bear fruit, so from their conjunction all things in the human mind flourish. Just as natural heat and light cause the earth to blossom forth, so spiritual heat and light cause the human mind to blossom forth, and produce the spiritual fruits of wisdom and intelligence.

Moreover, there is a correspondence between those spiritual and natural things. Therefore, the human mind, in which charity is conjoined with faith and faith with charity, is compared in the Word to a garden; and this is what is meant by the Garden of Eden, as is fully shown in the Arcana Caelestia, published in London. It must be observed, however, that unless an exposition of the doctrine of charity follows that of faith, what faith is cannot be understood; for in the preceding chapter it has been stated and shown that faith without charity is not faith, and that charity without faith is not charity, and that neither of them lives but from the Lord, Nos. 355-361; also that the Lord,charity and faith make one, like life, will and understanding, and if they are divided each is destroyed like a pearl crushed to powder, Nos. 382-387; and further, that charity and faith are together in good works, No. 373 and following numbers.

True Christian Religion (Dick) n. 377

(3) Charity alone does not produce good works, still less does faith alone; but good works are produced by charity and faith together. This is becausecharity without faith is not charity, and faith without charity is not faith, as was shown above in Nos. 355-358; therefore charity cannot exist by itself, nor faith by itself. Thus it cannot be said that either charity or faith by itself produces any good works. The same is true of the will and the understanding. It is not possible for the will or for the understanding to exist by itself, and therefore neither by itself produces anything; but all production is the result of both acting together, and is effected by the understanding from the will. This similarity arises from the fact that the will is the seat of charity, and the understanding of faith. The proposition states that faith alone produces good works still less than charity alone, because faith is truth, and its function is to produce truths; and these illuminate charity and its exercise. This the Lord teaches in the words,

"He that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." John iii. 21.

So long, therefore, as a man does good works according to truths, he does them in the light, that is, intelligently and wisely.

The conjunction of charity and faith is like the marriage of a husband and wife. From the husband as a father, and from the wife as a mother, all natural offspring are born. Similarly, from charity as a father, and from faith as a mother, are born all spiritual offspring, which are the knowledges of good and truth. From this may be understood what is meant by the generation of spiritual families. In the Word also, in its spiritual sense, husband and father signify the good of charity, and wife and mother, the truth of faith. From this again it is evident that neither charity alone, nor faith alone, can produce good works, just as neither a husband alone, nor a wife alone, can produce children. The truths of faith not only illuminate charity, but they also determine its character, and moreover nourish it. A man therefore who has charity and not the truths of faith is like one walking in a garden at night, who plucks fruit from the trees without knowing whether it is good or bad. Since the truths of faith not only illuminate charity, but also determine its character, as was just stated, it follows that charity without the truths of faith is like fruit without juice, or like a parched fig, or like grapes from which the wine has been pressed. Further, since truths nourish faith, as has also been stated, it follows that if charity is without the truths of faith, it has no more nourishment in it than one would receive from eating burnt bread, and drinking with it polluted water from a stagnant pool.

True Christian Religion (Chadwick) n. 425

The kindnesses of charity are giving to the poor and helping the needy, but with prudence.

A distinction must be drawn between the duties of charity and its kindnesses. By the duties of charity is meant the exercise of charity arising directly fromcharity itself; as was shown just above, these chiefly have to do with one's work. But by kindnesses we mean the secondary actions which go beyond the first group. They are called kindnesses, because a person is free to do them as he chooses; and when they are done, they are regarded by the recipient as nothing but kindnesses. They are distributed in accordance with the reasons and intentions the person who does them has in mind. It is generally believed that charity consists only in giving to the poor, helping the needy, taking care of widows and orphans, making donations to the building of hospices and hospitals, hostels, orphanages, and above all churches, and to their decoration and their income. But the majority of these are not the proper work of charity, but are additional to it.

Charity (Coulson) n. 40

7. Hence it follows that the "first" of charity is to look to the Lord and shun evils because they are sins; and that the "second" of charity is to do goods. An evil man, as well as a good one, can do good. He can help someone in need, can do him many good offices, from goodwill, kindness, friendship, or compassion. But nevertheless these things are not of charity with the one who does them, but with the one to whom the charity is exercised. To outward appearance it ischarity.

Charity (Coulson) n. 56

The neighbour a man ought to love from charity is spiritual good. Apart from this good there is no charity; for the good of charity is spiritual good, since it is in accordance with that good that, in the case of each one in the heavens, conjunction is effected.

True Christian Religion (Chadwick) n. 576

A new birth or creation can only be brought about by the Lord through charityand faith as the two means with the person's co-operation.

It follows from the proofs offered in the chapters on charity and faith that regeneration is brought about by the Lord through charity and faith; in particular, from the statement there that the Lord, charity and faith make one, just as do life, will and understanding; and if they are divided each of them perishes like a pearl collapsing into dust. These two, charity and faith, are called means, because they link a person with the Lord and make charitycharity and faith faith. This is only possible if the person plays a part in his regeneration; this is why we say, with the person's co-operation.

Who (or What) is Swedenborg?

The ideas on this site are based on the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18^th-century Swedish scientist and theologian. Swedenborg claimed that his religious writings, the sole focus of the last three decades of his life, were done at the behest of the Lord himself, and constituted a revelation for a successor to the Christian Church.

In keeping with Swedenborg’s own statements, modern believers downplay his role as author, attributing the ideas to the Lord instead. For this reason they generally refer to Swedenborg’s theological works as “the Writings,” and some resist the label “Swedenborgian” as placing emphasis on the man rather than the message.

Since “the Writings” would be an unfamiliar term to new readers, we have elected to use the name “Swedenborg” as a label for those theological works, much as we might use “Isaiah” or “Matthew” to refer to books of the Bible. The intent, however, is not to attribute the ideas to Swedenborg, any more than we would attribute the divinity of the Bible to Isaiah the man or Matthew the man.

So when you read “according to Swedenborg” on this site, it’s really shorthand for “according to the theological works from the Lord through Swedenborg.” When you read “Swedenborg says,” it’s really shorthand for “the theological works of Swedenborg say.”