Arcana Coelestia volume 1 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 28of which desires to exalt itself into heaven, while the other tendstoward hell; and since the will is the doer in every act, the wholeman would plunge headlong into hell if it were not that the Lordhas mercy on him.36. They who have separated faith from love do not even knowwhat faith is. When thinking of faith, some imagine it to be merethought, some that it is thought directed toward the Lord, few thatit is the doctrine of faith. But faith is not only a knowledge andacknowledgment of all things that the doctrine of faith comprises,but especially is it an obedience to all things that the doctrine offaith teaches. The primary point that it teaches, and that whichmen should obey, is love to the Lord, and love toward theneighbor, for if a man is not in this, he is not in faith. This theLord teaches so plainly as to leave no doubt concerning it, in Mark:The foremost of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, theLord our God is one Lord; therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy Godwith all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and withall thy strength: this is the foremost commandment; and the second islike, namely this, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; there is noneother commandment greater than these (Mark 12:29–31).In Matthew, the Lord calls the former of these the “first and greatcommandment,” and says that “on these commandments hang allthe law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37–41). The “law and theprophets” are the universal doctrine of faith, and the whole Word.37. It is said that the luminaries shall be “for signs, and forseasons, and for days, and for years.” In these words are containedmore arcana than can at present be unfolded, although in the literalsense nothing of the kind appears. Suffice it here to observe thatthere are alternations of things spiritual and celestial, both ingeneral and in particular, which are compared to the changes ofdays and of years. The changes of days are from morning tomidday, thence to evening, and through night to morning; and thechanges of years are similar, being from spring to summer, thenceto autumn, and through winter to spring. Hence come thealternations of heat and light, and also of the productions of the