{"id":11136,"date":"2016-04-15T10:07:18","date_gmt":"2016-04-15T14:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=11136"},"modified":"2016-04-15T10:07:18","modified_gmt":"2016-04-15T14:07:18","slug":"natural","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/spiritual-glossary\/natural\/","title":{"rendered":"Natural"},"content":{"rendered":"

We all have a pretty clear idea of what \u201cnatural\u201d means \u2013 it<\/span><\/h4>\n

includes anything having to do with nature, the physical reality we live in, and extends to the impulses we have that arise from the natural world. So it\u2019s natural for the sun to shine, for water to flow and for plants to grow. It\u2019s natural for us to want food, water and shelter. And it\u2019s natural for us to want sex, wealth, children, respect, control over ourselves and even control over others \u2013 all things that serve the natural goals of surviving and passing on our genetics. In the modern world that extends to desires for success in our jobs, for physical attractiveness, for the ability to compete for a respected place in the world, and other basic urges.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you think about it, most of those urges are ones shared by animals, and those that aren\u2019t are extensions of desires animals do have. For instance, an animal would not desire a promotion at work, but some animals do instinctively seek enhanced social status and access to resources, which is a more general expression of the same thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s one way Swedenborg<\/a> uses the term \u201cnatural\u201d \u2013 it distinguishes the physical reality we\u2019re aware of from the spiritual<\/a> reality we\u2019re not aware of. It also\u00a0says that within that physical reality, we are pretty close to being animals, driven by basic urges and instinct.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the natural is just the starting point -- Swedenborg says that the human<\/a> mind is a spiritual organ, that within our minds we can rise above nature to see things in spiritual light. That\u2019s how we can perceive a better possibility for ourselves as spiritual beings, and can decide to act contrary to our urges<\/a> and instincts in pursuit of more exalted goals \u2013 things that animals can\u2019t do.<\/span><\/p>\n

The word \u201cnatural\u201d (somewhat confusingly) has a slightly different meaning in the context of that higher, spiritual reality: Swedenborg uses it to identify the lowest level of spiritual reality, and the lowest level of heaven<\/a>. Angels<\/a> of the natural heaven love to understand what the Lord<\/a> wants and to do it, and love each other equally to themselves. Their orientation is toward outward action, putting deeper ideas from other sources into play.<\/span><\/p>\n

The same could be said of the natural level we all have in our minds: That\u2019s where the deeper spiritual concepts get translated<\/a> into specific ideas<\/a> that can be put into action. It\u2019s also where we gather natural knowledge<\/a> \u2013 scientific knowledge and other ideas arising from the natural world \u2013 so that it can be used in our spiritual thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Passages from Swedenborg<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Divine Love and Wisdom (Rogers) n. 251<\/b><\/p>\n

(1) What the\u00a0<\/span>natural\u00a0<\/span>self is, and what the spiritual self is. A person is not human because of his appearance and anatomy but because of his intellect and will. Consequently by the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>self and spiritual self we mean a person's intellect and will as being either\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0or spiritual.<\/span>
<\/span>In respect to its intellect and will a person's\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0self resembles the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world, and can also be called a world or microcosm; and in respect to its intellect and will the spiritual self resembles the spiritual world, and can also be called such a world or heaven.<\/span>
<\/span>[2] It is apparent, therefore, that the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0self, being in a kind of image a\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world, loves things connected with the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world, and that the spiritual self, being in a kind of image a spiritual world, loves things connected with that world or heaven.<\/span>
<\/span>The spiritual self, indeed, loves the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world, too, but only as a master loves his servant, through whom he performs useful services. According to the useful services it performs, the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0self also becomes like the spiritual self, which comes to pass when the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>self feels a delight in useful service from a spiritual origin. Such a<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0self may be called spiritually\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>.<\/span>
<\/span>[3] The spiritual self loves spiritual truths. It not only loves to know and understand them, but also wills them. The\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0self, on the other hand, loves to speak about those truths and also to put them into practice. To put truths into practice is to perform useful services.<\/span>
<\/span>This subordination of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0to the spiritual originates from the conjunction of the spiritual world and\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world. For whatever appears or occurs in the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world takes its cause from the spiritual world.<\/span>
<\/span>It can be seen from this that the spiritual self is altogether distinct from the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0self, and that no other communication exists between them than such as exists between cause and effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

De Verbo (Rogers) n. 3<\/b><\/p>\n

The Difference in General between\u00a0<\/span>Natural<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>Spiritual\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>Celestial<\/span>Things<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>\u00a0There are three heavens: a lowest one, a middle one, and a highest. In the lowest heaven the people are\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, but their\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0quality stems either from the\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>\u00a0quality that belongs to the middle heaven or from the\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>\u00a0quality that belongs to the third heaven. In the second heaven the people are\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>, and in the third heaven<\/span>celestial<\/span>. There are also some in between, who are called\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>-<\/span>celestial<\/span>. Many of these are preachers in the highest heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0[2] The difference between the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, the spiritual, and the celestial is such, that there is no ratio between them, for which reason the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0can in no wise by any approximation approach towards the spiritual, nor the spiritual towards the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>; hence it is that the heavens are distinct. This it has been given me to know by much experience; I have often been sent among the spiritual angels, and I then spoke with them spiritually, and then, retaining in my memory what I had spoken, when I returned into my\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0state, in which every man is in this world, I then wished to bring it forth from the former memory and describe it, but I could not, it was impossible; there were no expressions, nor even ideas of thought, by which I could express it; they were spiritual ideas of thought and spiritual expressions so remote from\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0ideas of thought and <\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0expressions, that they did not approximate in the least. What is wonderful, when I was in that heaven and conversing with the angels, then I knew no otherwise than that I spoke in like manner as I speak with men; but afterwards I found that the thoughts and the discourses were so unlike that they could not be approximated, consequently that there is no ratio between them.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Jerusalem and Heavenly Doctrine (Whitehead) n. 48<\/b><\/p>\n

Of the\u00a0<\/span>natural\u00a0<\/span>and the spiritual.<\/span>
<\/span>How perverse it is that the world at this day attributes so much to nature, and so little to the Divine (n. 3483). Why it is so (n. 5116). When nevertheless each and every particular in nature not only exists, but likewise continually subsists from the Divine, and through the spiritual world (n. 775, 8211). Divine, celestial, and spiritual things terminate in nature (n. 4240, 4939). Nature is the ultimate plane whereon they stand (n. 4240, 5651, 6275, 6284, 6299, 9216). Celestial, spiritual, and\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>things follow and succeed each other in order; so do Divine things with them, because they are from the Divine (n. 880, 4938, 4939, 9992, 10005, 10017, 10068). Celestial things are the head, spiritual things the body, and\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0things the feet (n. 4938, 4939). They also inflow in an order similar to that wherein they follow and succeed each other (n. 4938, 4939).<\/span>
<\/span>The good of the inmost or third heaven is called celestial, the good of the middle or second heaven is called spiritual, and the good of the ultimate or first heaven is called spiritual\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, whence it may be known what is the celestial, spiritual, and\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0(n. 4279, 4286, 4938, 4939, 9992, 10005, 10017, 10068); and in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 20-28, 29-40).<\/span>
<\/span>All things of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world are from the Divine through the spiritual world (n. 5013). Consequently the spiritual is in every<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0thing, just as the efficient cause is in the effect (n. 3562, 5711); or as effort is in motion (n. 5173), and as the internal is in the external (n. 3562, 5326, 5711). And since the cause is the very essential in the effect, as effort is in motion, and the internal in the external; hence it follows, that the spiritual, and consequently the Divine, is the very essential in the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0(n. 2987-3002, 9701-9709). Spiritual things are presented to view in the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, and the things manifested are representatives and correspondences (n. 1632, 2987-3002). Hence all nature is a theater representative of the spiritual world, that is, of heaven (n. 2758, 2999, 3000, 4939, 8848, 9280). All things in nature are disposed in order and series according to ends (n. 4104). This is from the spiritual world, that is, from heaven, because ends, which are uses, reign there (n. 454, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038). Man is so created that Divine things descending according to order into nature, may be perceived in him (n. 3702).<\/span>
<\/span>With every man, who is in Divine order, there is an internal and an external, his internal is called the spiritual, or the spiritual man, and his external is called the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, or the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man (n. 978, 1015, 4459, 6309, 9701-9709). The spiritual man is in the light of heaven, and the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man in the light of the world (n. 5965). The\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>man can discern nothing from himself, but from the spiritual (n. 5286). The\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0is like a face in which the interiors see themselves, and thus man thinks (n. 5165). The spiritual man thinks in the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, consequently naturally, so far as it comes to the sensual perception of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0(n. 3679, 5165, 6284, 6299). The<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0is the plane, in which the spiritual terminates (n. 5651, 6275, 6284, 6299, 9216). The spiritual sees nothing, unless the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0be in correspondence (n. 3493, 3620, 3623). The spiritual or internal man can see what is being done in the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0or external, but not the contrary, because the spiritual flows into the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, and not the<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0into the spiritual (n. 3219, 4667, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9109, 9110). The\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man from his own light, which is called the light [lumen] of nature, knows nothing concerning God, nor concerning heaven, nor concerning the life after death; neither does he believe, if he hears of such things, unless spiritual light, which is light from heaven, flows into that\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0light [lumen] (n. 8944).<\/span>
<\/span>The\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man of himself, by birth, is opposite to the spiritual man (n. 3913, 3928). Therefore as long as they are opposite to each other, man feels it grievous to think of spiritual and celestial things, but delightful to think of\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0and corporeal things (n. 4096). He nauseates the things of heaven, and even the bare mention of anything spiritual, from experience (n. 5006, 9109). Merely\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>men regard spiritual good and truth as a servant (n. 5013, 5025). When nevertheless the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man ought to be subordinate to the spiritual man, and serve him (n. 3019, 5168). The spiritual man is said to serve the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, when the latter from the intellectual principle seeks confirmations of the objects of his concupiscence, particularly from the Word (n. 3019, 5013, 5025, 5168). How merely<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0men appear in another life, and what is the quality of their state and lot there (n. 4630, 4633, 4940-4952, 5032, 5571).<\/span>
<\/span>The truths, which are in the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man, are called scientifics and knowledges (n. 3293). The imagination of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man, when viewed in itself, is material, and his affections are like those of beasts (n. 3020). But there is a genuine thinking and imaginative principle from the internal or spiritual man when the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man sees, acts, and lives therefrom (n. 3493, 5422, 5423, 5427, 5428, 5477, 5510).<\/span>
<\/span>The things which are in the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man, respectively to those which are in the spiritual man, are general (n. 3513, 5707); and consequently obscure (n. 6686).<\/span>
<\/span>There is an interior and an exterior\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0with man (n. 3293, 3294, 3793, 5118, 5126, 5497, 5649). There is also a medium between them (n. 4570, 9216). The discharges of the spiritual man are made into the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, and by it (n. 9572).<\/span>
<\/span>They who do good merely from a\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0disposition, and not from religion, are not received in heaven (n. 8002, 8772).<\/span><\/p>\n

Doctrine of Life (Dick) n. 86<\/b><\/p>\n

Man has a\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>mind and a spiritual mind: the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>mind is beneath, and the spiritual mind is above. The\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind is his worldly mind, and the spiritual mind is his heavenly mind. The<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind may be called the animal mind, and the spiritual mind the human mind. Man is also distinguished from the animal by this circumstance, that he has a spiritual mind, by which he is capable of being in heaven while he is in the world. By virtue of this mind also man lives after death.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>\u00a0[2] As to his understanding a man may be in his spiritual mind, and thence in heaven; but as to his will he cannot be in his spiritual mind, and thence in heaven, unless he shuns evils as sins. Moreover, if he is not in heaven as to his will also, he is still not in heaven; for the will draws the understanding downwards, and causes it to be just as<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0and animal as itself.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>\u00a0[3] Man may be compared to a garden, the understanding to light, and the will to heat. During winter a garden is in light and not at the same time in heat; but during summer it is in light and heat together. The man therefore who is only in the light of the understanding is like a garden in wintertime; but he who is in the light of the understanding, and at the same time in the warmth of the will, is like a garden in summer-time. Moreover, the understanding enjoys wisdom from spiritual light, and the will loves from spiritual heat; for spiritual light is Divine Wisdom, and spiritual heat is Divine Love.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>\u00a0[4] So long as a man does not shun evils as sins, the lusts of evils close up the interiors of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind on the part of the will. They are as a thick veil there, and as a dark cloud beneath the spiritual mind, preventing it from being opened. But as soon as a man shuns evils as sins, then the Lord flows in from heaven, removes the veil, disperses the cloud and opens the spiritual mind, and thus introduces the man into heaven.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span>\u00a0[5] So long as the lusts of evils close up the interiors of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>mind, as was just said, so long a man is in hell; but as soon as these lusts are dispersed by the Lord, the man is in heaven. Moreover, so long as the lusts of evils close up the interiors of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind, so long is he a\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0man; but as soon as these lusts are dispersed by the Lord, he becomes a spiritual man. Further, so long as the lusts of evils close up the interiors of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind, so long a man is an animal, differing only in this respect that he can think and speak, even of such things as he does not see with his eyes, a power which he derives from the faculty of elevating the understanding into the light of heaven; but as soon as these lusts are dispersed by the Lord, the man is a man, because he then thinks what is true in the understanding, from what is good in the will. Again, so long as the lusts of evils close up the interiors of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind, so long man is like a garden in winter-time; but as soon as these lusts are dispersed by the Lord, he is like a garden in summer-time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Divine Love and Wisdom (Ager) n. 257<\/b><\/p>\n

The effects are these: (1) The\u00a0<\/span>natural\u00a0<\/span>mind may be raised up to the light of heaven in which angels are, and may perceive naturally, thus not so fully, what the angels perceive spiritually; nevertheless, man's\u00a0<\/span>natural\u00a0<\/span>mind cannot be raised into angelic light itself. (2) By means of his\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind, raised to the light of heaven, man can think, yea, speak with angels; but the thought and speech of the angels then flow into the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0thought and speech of the man, and not conversely; so that angels speak with man in a\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0language, which is the man's mother tongue. (3) This is effected by a spiritual influx into what is\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, and not by any\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0influx into what is spiritual. (4) Human wisdom, which so long as man lives in the<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world is\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, can by no means be raised into angelic wisdom, but only into some image of it. The reason is, that elevation of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind is effected by continuity, as from shade to light, or from grosser to purer. Still the man in whom the spiritual degree has been opened comes into that wisdom when he dies; and he may also come into it by a suspension of bodily sensations, and then by an influx from above into the spiritual parts of his mind. (5) Man's<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind consists of spiritual substances together with\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>substances; thought comes from its spiritual substances, not from its<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0substances; these recede when the man dies, while its spiritual substances do not. Consequently, after death, when man becomes a spirit or angel, the same mind remains in a form like that which it had in the world. (6) The\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0substances of that mind, which recede (as was said) by death, constitute the cutaneous covering of the spiritual body which spirits and angels have. By means of such covering, which is taken from the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0world, their spiritual bodies maintain existence; for the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0is the outmost containant: consequently there is no spirit or angel who was not born a man. These arcana of angelic wisdom are here adduced that the quality of the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0mind in man may be known, which subject is further treated of in what follows.<\/span><\/p>\n

Heaven and Hell (Ager) n. 31<\/b><\/p>\n

The Divine that flows in from the Lord and is received in the third or inmost heaven is called\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>, and in consequence the angels there are called\u00a0<\/span>celestial\u00a0<\/span>angels; the Divine that flows in from the Lord and is received in the second or middle heaven is called\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>, and in consequence the angels there are called\u00a0<\/span>spiritual\u00a0<\/span>angels; while the Divine that flows in from the Lord and is received in the outmost or first heaven is called\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>; but as the\u00a0<\/span>natural\u00a0<\/span>of that heaven is not like the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0of the world, but has the\u00a0<\/span>spiritual\u00a0<\/span>and the\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>\u00a0within it, that heaven is called the\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>-<\/span>natural\u00a0<\/span>and the\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>-<\/span>natural<\/span>, and in consequence the angels there are called\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>-<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>-<\/span>natural<\/span>.# Those who receive influx from the middle or second heaven, which is the\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>heaven, are called\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>-<\/span>natural<\/span>; and those who receive influx from the third or inmost heaven, which is the\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>\u00a0heaven, are called\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>-<\/span>natural<\/span>. The\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>-<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0angels and the<\/span>celestial<\/span>-<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0angels are distinct from each other; nevertheless they constitute one heaven, because they are in one degree.<\/span><\/p>\n

Divine Love and Wisdom (Rogers) n. 232<\/b><\/p>\n

We call these three degrees in the case of angels\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>,<\/span>spiritual<\/span>, and\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>, and to them the\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>degree is one of love, the\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>degree one of wisdom, and the\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0degree one of useful endeavors.<\/span>
<\/span>We so name these degrees for the reason that the heavens are distinguished into two kingdoms, one kingdom being called\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>and the other\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>, to which is attached a third kingdom in which people dwell in the world, which is a\u00a0<\/span>natural<\/span>\u00a0kingdom.<\/span>
<\/span>Moreover, the angels of which the\u00a0<\/span>celestial<\/span>\u00a0kingdom consists are governed by love, and the angels of which the\u00a0<\/span>spiritual<\/span>\u00a0kingdom consists are governed by wisdom, while people in the world are governed by useful endeavors. So it is, therefore, that these kingdoms are conjoined.<\/span>
<\/span>How the statement is to be interpreted that people are governed by useful endeavors will be told in Part Four that follows.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"\"<\/p><\/div>

Who (or What) is Swedenborg?<\/span><\/h4>\n

The ideas on this site are based on the works of Emanuel Swedenborg<\/a>, an 18th<\/sup>-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<\/a> himself, and constituted a revelation for a successor to the Christian<\/a> Church.<\/p>\n

In keeping with Swedenborg\u2019s own statements, modern believers downplay his role as author, attributing the ideas to the Lord instead. For this reason they generally refer to Swedenborg\u2019s theological works as \u201cthe Writings,\u201d and some resist the label \u201cSwedenborgian\u201d as placing emphasis on the man rather than the message.<\/p>\n

Since \u201cthe Writings\u201d would be an unfamiliar term to new readers, we have elected to use the name \u201cSwedenborg\u201d as a label for those theological works, much as we might use \u201cIsaiah\u201d or \u201cMatthew\u201d to refer to books of the Bible<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

So when you read \u201caccording to Swedenborg\u201d on this site, it\u2019s really shorthand for \u201caccording to the theological works from the Lord through Swedenborg.\u201d When you read \u201cSwedenborg says,\u201d it\u2019s really shorthand for \u201cthe theological works of Swedenborg say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all have a pretty clear idea of what \u201cnatural\u201d means \u2013 it includes anything having to do with nature, the physical reality we live in, and extends to the impulses we have that arise from the natural world. So it\u2019s natural for the sun to shine, for water to flow and for plants to […]<\/p>\n

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