The Doctrine of Charity - Swedenborg Foundation

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CHARITY 276The reason why no one can have charity except from the Lord isthat by charity every good is meant that a man does to others, andthe good that a man does to others, though it be good to those towhom it is done, is not good in him by whom it is done, unless it isfrom God. For no good that itself is good and is called a good orcharity, and that in its essence is spiritual good, can flow out fromman, but it is from the Lord only; for in order that a good may beof charity or spiritual good, the Lord must be in the good, yea,must be the good. For it proceeds from him; and what proceedsfrom one derives from him its essence, for he himself is in it. If,therefore, the Lord were not in the good that a man does to theneighbor, or what is the same, unless the good that a man does tothe neighbor were from the Lord, it would not have the essence ofgood, but the essence of evil in it. For the man would be in it, anda man in himself, and in what is his own, is nothing but evil. Thisevil must first be removed, in order that the good which proceedsfrom a man may not be of the man, but of the Lord. Man is only arecipient of life, not life in himself. For if he were life in himself hewould be God.Man is therefore only a recipient of good; for good is of life,because love and wisdom are life, and good is of love and truth is ofwisdom. This life cannot be ascribed to man as his. For man isfinite and created, and the Lord cannot create and finite himself inanother; for thus he himself would no longer be, and the wholehuman race, and each one by himself, would be God, to thinkwhich is not only irrational but abominable. Such an idea of Godand of man, in the spiritual world, stinks like a carcass. It is evidentfrom all this that there can be no good which in itself is good, andis called the good of charity, from man, but from the Lord, whoalone is good itself, and so, good in himself.The Lord does indeed produce this from himself, but throughman. There is no other subject through which the Lord producesgood from himself than man. And yet the Lord has given to manthe capacity to feel it within himself—yea, just as if it were fromhimself, and therefore as if it were his own—in order that he maydo it. For if he should feel that it was not from himself, but from
CHARITY 277the Lord, he would not do it; because he would then believehimself not a man, yea not alive, and even scarcely different froman automaton. And I know from experience that a man wouldrather die, than live from another in himself even to the sense. Yea,if a man did not feel as if the good that he does was from himself,good would not remain in him, but would flow through as waterthrough a perforated bottle; and thus he could not be formed forheaven, that is, reformed and regenerated, and thus saved to live toeternity. But lest man, from this appearance, should attribute tohimself the good of charity that he does to the neighbor, and soappropriate to himself evil, instead of good—believing that he livesfrom himself, and therefore does good from himself—and shouldascribe to himself what is the Lord’s, it has pleased the Lord toreveal this in his Word, and teach it. For the Lord says:He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit;for without Me ye can do nothing (John 15:5, and other places).202. (2) No one can have charity from the Lord unless he shuns evilsas sins. By charity, here as above, is meant the good that a man doesto the neighbor. Anyone can do good to the neighbor, an evil aswell as a good man; but no one can do it from good in himselfunless from the Lord, nor unless he shuns evils as sins. That no onecan do good to the neighbor from good in himself, unless from theLord, has been shown just above. And that no one can do it unlesshe shuns evils as sins, is because the Lord can flow into no one withgood, so as to be received, unless the evils in him are removed; forevils do not receive good, but reject it. For it is the same with aman who is in evils as with the devils in hell. The Lord flows intothem with good, just as into the angels in heaven; but the devils donot receive it, but turn the good into evil, and the truth into falsity.For such is the form of their life, and everything that flows in isturned into a like form—just as the pure heat of the sun, when itflows into stagnant urine, excrements, and dead bodies, is turnedinto noisome and malignant odors; and as the pure light of the sun,flowing into objects where all things are disordered, is convertedinto ugly colors. It is the same with heavenly heat, which is Divinegood, and heavenly light, which is Divine truth, in a man the formof whose life is inverted, and opposite to the heavenly form. It is
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ContentsTranslator’s Note1. The f
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CHARITY 221Translator’s NoteThis
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CHARITY 223is to shun them as diabo
Page 9 and 10: CHARITY 225the man is within it, as
Page 11 and 12: CHARITY 22713. (1) Not to will to d
Page 13 and 14: CHARITY 229eternal life, and yet do
Page 15 and 16: CHARITY 23131. So in a thousand oth
Page 17 and 18: CHARITY 233(5) The good of the inte
Page 19 and 20: CHARITY 23554. Genuine charity itse
Page 21 and 22: CHARITY 237an essence. Therefore wh
Page 24: CHARITY 240laws, are enacted as for
Page 27 and 28: CHARITY 24392. It is known that suc
Page 29 and 30: CHARITY 245receptacle. So with the
Page 31 and 32: CHARITY 247114. (5) Whatever procee
Page 33 and 34: CHARITY 249123. But this is so with
Page 35 and 36: CHARITY 251130. The general good co
Page 37 and 38: CHARITY 253this, that everyone ther
Page 39 and 40: CHARITY 255151. When therefore a ma
Page 41 and 42: CHARITY 257the Lord as the “door
Page 43 and 44: CHARITY 259continually loves peace.
Page 45 and 46: CHARITY 261He loves the general goo
Page 47 and 48: CHARITY 263accepted by the Lord, an
Page 49 and 50: CHARITY 265177. That such things ar
Page 51 and 52: CHARITY 267within him; and everyone
Page 53 and 54: CHARITY 26911There are diversions o
Page 55 and 56: CHARITY 271diversions vary accordin
Page 57 and 58: CHARITY 273diversions are the only
Page 59: CHARITY 275(2) No one can have char
Page 63 and 64: CHARITY 279far he does good from Go
Page 65 and 66: CHARITY 281himself. And because the
Page 67 and 68: CHARITY 283206. (6) As far as anyon
Page 69 and 70: CHARITY 285neighbor does not love h
Page 71 and 72: CHARITY 287evils in oneself, and re
Page 73 and 74: CHARITY 289213. But that these thin
Page 75: CHARITY 2915. The signs of charity
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