Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3589signified good natural, but not good spiritual natural. It musttherefore be explained what is meant by good and truth natural notspiritual, and good and truth spiritual natural. Good in man isfrom a twofold source—from what is hereditary and henceadditional, and also from the doctrine of faith and of charity, orwith the gentiles from their religiosity. Good 2 from the formerorigin is good natural not spiritual, while good from the latterorigin is good spiritual natural. From a like origin is truth, becauseall good has its own truth adjoined to it.[3] Good natural from the former origin, that is, from what ishereditary and hence adventitious, has much that is akin to goodnatural from the second origin, that is, from the doctrine of faithand charity, or from some religiosity, but only in the external form,being entirely different in the internal form. Good natural from theformer origin may be compared to the good that exists with gentleanimals; but good natural from the second origin is proper to theman who acts from reason, and consequently knows how todispense what is good in various ways in accordance with uses. Thisdispensing of what is good is taught by the doctrine of what is justand fair, and in a higher degree by the doctrine of faith and charity,and with those who are truly rational is also confirmed in manyways by reason.[4] They who do good from the former origin are borne blindlyalong as it were by instinct into the exercise of charity; but theywho perform what is good from the second origin are borne alongby an internal obligation, and as it were with their eyes open. In aword, they who do what is good from the former origin, do it fromno conscience of what is just and fair, still less from any conscienceof spiritual truth and good; whereas they who do what is good fromthe second origin, do it from conscience. (See what has been saidbefore on this subject, n. 3040, 3470, 3471, 3518, and whatfollows, n. 4992.) But how the case is with these things can by nomeans be explained to the apprehension; for everyone who is notspiritual, or who has not been regenerated, sees good from itsexternal form, and this for the reason that he does not know whatcharity is, or what the neighbor is; and the reason why he does not