Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3676church is with the man who, as just said, can be regenerated only asto the intellectual part. The most ancient church, which was beforethe flood, was celestial, because with those who belonged to it therewas some wholeness in the will part; but the ancient church, whichwas after the flood, was spiritual, because with those who belongedto it there was not anything whole in the will part, but only in theintellectual part. For this reason where the spiritual church istreated of in the Word, its intellectual part is chiefly treated of (onwhich subject see above, n. 640–641, 765, 863, 875, 895,927–928, 1023, 1043–1044, 1555, 2124, 2256, 2669, 4328,4493). That with those who are of the spiritual church it is theintellectual part that is regenerated, may be seen also from the factthat the man of this church has no perception of truth from good,as had they who were of the celestial church; but must first learnthe truth which is of faith, and become imbued with what isintellectual, and thus from truth learn what is good; and after hehas thus learned it, he is able to think it, and then to will it, and atlast to do it; and then a new will is formed in him by the Lord inthe intellectual part. By this new will the spiritual man is elevatedby the Lord into heaven, evil still remaining in the will that isproper to him; which will is then miraculously separated, and thisby a higher force, whereby he is withheld from evil and kept ingood.[3] But the man of the celestial church was regenerated as to thewill part, by being imbued from infancy with the good of charity;and when he had attained to a perception of this, he was led intothe perception of love to the Lord, whereby all the truths of faithappeared to him in the intellect as in a mirror. The understandingand the will made in him a mind wholly one; for by the things inthe understanding it was perceived what was in the will. In thisconsisted the wholeness of that first “man” by whom the celestialchurch is signified.[4] That a “vine” is the intellectual part of the spiritual church isevident from many other passages in the Word; as in Jeremiah:What hast thou to do with the way of Egypt, to drink the waters ofShihor? Or what hast thou to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the