35183#pid#1. THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM REGARDING FAITH

Faith is an Internal Acknowledgment of Truth

Faith today is taken to mean no more than the thought that a thing is so because it is something the church teaches, and because it is not evident to the intellect. For we are told, "Believe and do not doubt." If we reply, "I do not understand," we are told that that is why it should be believed.

Faith today is therefore a faith in the unknown and may be termed a blind faith. Moreover, because it is one person’s assertion received by another, it is an inherited faith. We will see in what follows that that is not a spiritual faith.

ppp9514#pid#2. Real faith is nothing else than an acknowledgment that a thing is so because it is true. For someone who possesses a real faith thinks and says, "This is true. Therefore I believe it." For faith is a faith in the truth, and truth is the object of faith.

By the same token, if the same person does not understand a thing to be true, he says, "I do not know whether it is true. Therefore I do not yet believe it. How am I to believe what I do not comprehend? Perhaps it is not true."

ppp9513#pid#3. It is, however, a common saying that no one can comprehend spiritual or theological matters because they transcend human understanding. Yet spiritual truths are as comprehensible as natural ones. And if they are not clearly understood, still, when they are heard, it falls within its scope of the intellect to perceive whether they are true or not. This is especially the case with people who have an affection for truths.

I have been given to know this from much personal experience. I have been given to speak with ignorant people, with obtuse people, with stupid people, and even with people caught up in falsities and people caught up in evils, all of whom were born into the church and learned something about the Lord, faith and charity; and it has been granted me to discuss with them secrets of wisdom. And they understood and acknowledged them all. However, they then possessed an intellectual light which is possible to everyone, and were at the same time prompted by the conceit of believing themselves intelligent. But this I learned in conversation with spirits.

Many others with me were convinced by these experiences that spiritual matters are as comprehensible as natural ones, but only when they are heard or read. Otherwise they are comprehended with difficulty by a person on his own when thinking independently.

The reason spiritual matters are comprehensible is that a person’s intellect can be raised into the light of heaven, the light in which only spiritual matters are seen, which are the truths of faith. For the light of heaven is a spiritual light.

ppp9512#pid#4. This, now, is why people who possess an internal acknowledgment of truth are those who have an affection for truth. Because angels have that affection, they completely reject the dogma that the intellect must be kept in obedience to faith. For they say, "What is it to believe something and not see whether it is true?"

And if someone says that it must nevertheless be believed, they reply, "Do you suppose yourself to be God whom I am to believe? Or that I am so irrational as to believe in an assertion in which I do not see any truth? Make me see it!"

Upon which the dogmatist goes away.

The wisdom of angels consists simply in this, that they see and comprehend what they entertain in thought.

ppp9511#pid#5. It is a spiritual idea — of which few know anything — that flows in with people who have an affection for truth, and which inwardly dictates whether something they have heard or read is true or not.

Those people experience this idea who read the Word in a state of enlightenment by the Lord. To be enlightened means nothing less than to have a perception and so an internal acknowledgment that something or other is true. Such people are said to be taught by Jehovah (`Isaiah 54bbb13`, `John 6bbb45`). And concerning them we read in Jeremiah:

"Behold, the days are coming…, when I will make a new covenant…. …this (shall be) the covenant…. I will put My law in their inner selves, and write it on their hearts…. And no more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know Jehovah,’ for they all shall know Me…. (`Jeremiah 31bbb31`, `Jeremiah 31bbbccc33-34`)

ppp9510#pid#6. It is apparent from this that faith and truth are bound up together. Because of this, ancient peoples, who out of an affection for truths thought more about them than people today, spoke of truth instead of faith.

That, too, is why truth and faith are the same word in Hebrew, being called emunah or amen.

ppp9509#pid#7. "Faith" is the term used by the Lord in the Gospels and in the book of Revelation because the Jews did not believe it to be true that the Lord was the Messiah foretold by the prophets; and when truth is not believed, the term "faith" is used instead.

Nevertheless, it is one thing to have faith in the Lord and believe Him, and another to have faith in and believe someone else. We will explain the difference below.

ppp9508#pid#8. Faith divorced from truth entered and pervaded the church with the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church, since the principal protection for that church was ignorance of the truth. Reading the Word was therefore also forbidden. Otherwise they could not have been worshiped as deities or have had their saints invoked, nor could they have introduced such idolatries as to have the people believe the saints’ bodies, bones and tombs to be holy and so be a source of material gain.

It is apparent from this what terrible falsities a blind faith can lead to.

ppp9507#pid#9. A blind faith continued also afterward among many of the Protestant Reformed, because they divorced faith from charity, and people who divorce these cannot help but be ignorant of the truth. They also cannot help but call faith whatever they think to be so, apart from any internal acknowledgment of its being so.

In their case ignorance is a protection for their dogmas. For as long as ignorance reigns, together with the belief that theological matters transcend comprehension, they can speak without being contradicted, and have the people believe that their dogmas are true and that they themselves understand them.

ppp9506#pid#10. The Lord said to Thomas,

"Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (`John 20bbb29`)

This does not imply a faith divorced from any internal acknowledgment of truth. Rather it means that those people are blessed who have not seen the Lord with their eyes, as Thomas had, and yet believe that He exists. For this is seen in the light of truth drawn from the Word.

ppp9505#pid#11. Because faith is an internal acknowledgment of truth, and because faith and truth are bound up together, as said in nos. `@@@2`, `@@@4-6` above, it follows that an outward acknowledgment without an internal one is not faith, and that being persuaded of some falsity is not faith. An outward acknowledgment without an internal one is a faith in the unknown, and a faith in the unknown is mere information, stored in the memory, which, if affirmed, becomes a persuasion. Moreover, people caught up in such persuasions think that something is true because someone else has said so, or think that it is true because they have been convinced of it. And yet one can be as convinced of falsity as he can be of truth, and sometimes more strongly so.

By thinking that something is true from having been convinced of it, we mean thinking that something someone else has said is true and not pondering it before then, but only affirming it.

ppp9504#pid#12. If someone thinks to himself or says to another, "Who is capable of an internal acknowledgment of truth so as to have faith in it? I am not," I say to him, "This is how: refrain from evils as being sins and turn to the Lord, and you will have as much as you desire."

To be shown that someone who refrains from evils as being sins is in the Lord, see `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem 18-31`. That he loves truth and sees it, `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem ccc32-41`. And that he has faith, see `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem 42-52`.

ppp9503#pid#13. An Internal Acknowledgment of Truth, Namely Faith, Is Possible Only in People Motivated by Charity

We said above what faith is. We will now say what charity is. In its first origin charity is an affection for goodness; and because goodness loves truth, it produces an affection for truth, and through that affection an acknowledgment of truth, which is faith. Through this progression the affection for goodness finds expression and becomes charity.

This is the progression of charity from its origin, that is, from an affection for goodness, through faith, which is an acknowledgment of truth, to its end, which is charity. The end being the act.

It is apparent from this how love, namely an affection for goodness, produces faith, which is the same as an acknowledgment of truth, and through that faith produces charity, which is the same as an act of love through faith.

ppp9502#pid#14. To put it more clearly: Goodness is nothing else but useful endeavor. Charity in its first origin is consequently an affection for useful endeavor; and because useful endeavor loves the means, the affection produces an affection for the means, which leads to a knowledge of those means. And through this progression an affection for useful endeavor finds expression and becomes charity.

ppp9501#pid#15. The progression of these elements is like the progression of all that the will intends, operating through the intellect, into physical actions.

The will produces nothing of itself apart from the intellect, nor does the intellect produce anything of itself apart from the will. They have to function in union to produce any result.

Or to put it another way: An affection, which is a property of the will, produces nothing of itself, but does so only through thought, which is a property of the intellect. And conversely. They have to function in union to produce any result.

Consider: If from thought you eliminate any affection which is the property of some love, can you entertain any thought? Or if from affection you eliminate any thought, can you be affected by anything? Or to say the equivalent, if from thought you eliminate affection, would you be able to speak? Or if from affection you eliminate thought or the intellect, would you be able to do anything?

It is the same with charity and faith.

ppp9500#pid#16. This can be illustrated by comparison with a tree. In its first origin a tree is a seed, which has in it an endeavor to produce fruit. This endeavor, when awakened by warmth, produces first a root, and from that a stalk or sapling with branches and leaves, and finally fruit; and so the endeavor to bear fruit finds expression.

It is apparent from this that the endeavor to produce fruit is constant throughout its progression to the time it finds expression; for if the endeavor were to cease, the tree’s ability to grow would immediately die.

The application is this: The tree is a person. The endeavor to produce the means proceeds in a person from his will into his intellect. The stalk or sapling with its branches and leaves are, in a person, the instrumental means and are called truths of faith. The fruits that are the ultimate effects of the endeavor to bear fruit in the case of a tree are, in a person, useful activities. It is in these that his will finds expression.

It may be seen from this that the will to produce useful applications by means of the intellect is constant throughout its progression to the time it finds expression.

Regarding the will and the intellect and their union, see `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem 43`.

ppp9499#pid#17. From what we have now said, it is apparent that, insofar as it is an affection for goodness or useful application, charity produces faith as the means by which to find expression; consequently, that charity and faith function in union in carrying out useful endeavors.

It is also apparent that faith does not produce goodness or useful application of itself, but is prompted to do so by charity; for faith is charity intermediated. It is a fallacy, therefore, to suppose that faith produces goodness as a tree does fruit. The tree is not faith. Rather the tree is the person.

ppp9498#pid#18. It should be known that charity and faith are united like the will and the intellect, since charity is a property of the will and faith a property of the intellect.

By the same token, charity and faith are united like affection and thought, since affection is a property of the will and thought a property of the intellect.

So, too, charity and faith are united like goodness and truth, because goodness is connected with affection, which is a property of the will, and truth is connected with thought, which is a property of the intellect.

ppp9497#pid#19. The relation of charity and faith in a person is like that of the motions of the heart called its systole and diastole, and of the motion of the lungs called respiration. There is also a complete correspondence of these organs with a person’s will and intellect, and so with charity and faith. Consequently the will and its affection are also meant in the Word by the heart, and the intellect and its thought by the soul, and also by the spirit. Therefore, to yield up the soul is to no longer live, and to yield up the spirit is to no longer breathe.

ttt[2] It follows from this that it is impossible for faith to exist divorced from charity, or for charity to exist divorced from faith; that faith divorced from charity would be like the lungs breathing apart from a heart, which is not possible in any living creature, but only in some mechanical device; and that charity divorced from faith would be like the heart apart from the lungs, which results in no conscious life; consequently, that charity carries out useful applications by means of faith, as the heart does actions by means of the lungs.

So great is the analogy between the heart and charity, and between the lungs and faith, that in the spiritual world the character of someone’s faith is discerned simply from his breathing, and the character of his charity from the beating of his heart. For just like people, angels and spirits depend for their life on a heart and respiration. That is why they feel, think, act and speak like people in the world.

ppp9496#pid#20. Because charity is love for the neighbor, we must say what the neighbor is.

In the natural sense, the neighbor is mankind collectively and individually. Mankind collectively is the church, the country, and society. And mankind individually is one’s fellow countryman, who in the Word is called brother and companion.

In the spiritual sense, however, the neighbor is goodness, and because useful endeavor is good, the neighbor in the spiritual sense is useful endeavor.

It must be acknowledged by everyone that useful endeavor is the spiritual neighbor. For who loves someone only for his person? Rather he loves him for what he has in him, which makes him the kind of person he is, thus for his character; for this is the real person.

This character that makes a person loveable is useful endeavor, and it is called good. This is accordingly the neighbor.

Because the Word at its heart is spiritual, therefore loving useful endeavor is what it is to love the neighbor in its spiritual sense.

ppp9495#pid#21. Yet it is one thing to love the neighbor for the good or use he may be to us, and another to love the neighbor for the good or use we may be to him. To love the neighbor for the good or use he may be to us is something an evil person can do; but to love the neighbor for the good or use we may be to him is something only a good person can do. For it is the goodness in him that prompts a good person to love good, or the affection for useful endeavor in him that prompts him to love useful endeavor.

The difference between these two is described by the Lord in `Matthew 5bbb43-44`ff.

Many say, "I love him because he loves me and is good to me." But to love someone on that account alone is not to love him inwardly, unless the person who loves him has goodness in himself and is prompted by it to love the other’s goodness. Such a person is governed by charity, while the prior is governed by a friendship that lacks charity.

Someone prompted by charity to love the neighbor associates himself with the other’s goodness, and not with his person, except insofar and for so long as the other continues his goodness. He is a spiritual person and loves the neighbor spiritually. But someone who loves another out of friendship alone associates himself with the other’s person and at the same time with his evil. After death he can only with difficulty be separated from the person in evil, whereas the spiritual person can be easily separated.

Charity accomplishes this through faith, because faith is truth, and a person in a state of charity uses truth to examine and see what there is to be loved, and he regards the nature of the use to be served in his loving another and doing him good.

ppp9494#pid#22. Properly speaking, love is love toward the Lord, and love for the neighbor is charity. It is impossible for a person to have love toward the Lord unless he possesses charity. It is in charity that the Lord conjoins himself with a person.

Because faith in its essence is charity, it follows that no one can have faith in the Lord unless he possesses charity. It is charity operating through faith that brings about conjunction — charity occasioning a conjunction of the Lord with a person, and faith a conjunction of the person with the Lord.

That the conjunction is a reciprocal one may be seen in `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem 102-107`.

ppp9493#pid#23. In sum, insofar as someone refrains from evils as being sins and turns to the Lord, so far he possesses charity, and so far he accordingly possesses faith.

To be shown that insofar as someone refrains from evils as being sins and turns to the Lord, so far he possesses charity, see `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem 67-73`; also `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem ccc74-91`; and that so far he has faith.

What charity is in a proper sense may be seen in `@@@The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem ccc114`.

ppp9492#pid#24. From everything we have said so far, it can be seen that saving faith, which is an internal acknowledgment of truth, is possible only in people who are in a state of charity.

ppp9491#pid#25. Concepts of Truth and Goodness Are Not Ones of Faith Before a Person Is Prompted by Charity, but Are a Storehouse from Which the Faith Accompanying Charity May Be Formed

From early childhood everyone has an affection for knowing. This affection leads him to learn many things that will be of service to him, and many things that will not be. When he grows up, by applying himself to some occupation he learns matters pertinent to that occupation. The occupation becomes for him then a useful endeavor, for which he develops an affection. Thus does an affection for useful service begin, and it produces an affection for the means by which he succeeds at his occupation, which is his useful service.

This process takes place with everyone in the world, because everyone has some occupation to which he progresses, from the endeavor which is the end, through the means, to the service itself which is the effect.

But because this endeavor, together with the means to it, is intended for life in the world, the affection for it is a natural one.

ppp9490#pid#26. However, because everyone has in mind not only endeavors of use for life in the world, but also endeavors of use for life in heaven — inasmuch as he will enter into that life after life in the world, and after life in the world will live in that life to eternity — therefore everyone from childhood acquires for himself concepts of truth and goodness from the Word, or from church doctrine, or from sermons, concepts which will serve him for that life, and he stores these in his natural memory, in a greater or lesser amount, depending on the affection for knowing inborn in him and increased by various inducements.

ppp9489#pid#27. Yet all of these concepts, of whatever number or value, are only a storehouse from which the faith accompanying charity may be formed. And this faith is not formed except insofar as the person refrains from evils as being sins.

If he refrains from evils as being sins, then these concepts become ones of faith, in which there is spiritual life. But if he does not refrain from evils as being sins, these concepts are only concepts and not ones of a faith that has any spiritual life in it.

ppp9488#pid#28. This storehouse is extremely necessary, since no faith can be formed without it. For concepts of truth and goodness enter into faith and constitute it. Without them there is no faith. A faith entirely vacant and empty is not possible. If the concepts are few, the faith is weak and impoverished. If they are many, the faith is rich and full, according to their number.

ppp9487#pid#29. It must be known, however, that concepts of genuine truth and goodness are what constitute faith, and not at all false concepts. For faith is truth, as we said in nos.  above, and falsity, being opposed to truth, destroys faith. Nor can charity exist in the presence of nothing but falsities; for as we said in no. `@@@18` above, charity and faith are united like goodness and truth.

It also follows from this that zero concepts of genuine truth and goodness form zero faith, that a few concepts form some faith, and that many concepts form an illustrious faith according to the fullness of them.

Whatever the character of a person’s faith formed from charity, such is the character of his intelligence.

ppp9486#pid#30. Many people have no internal acknowledgment of truth and yet have the faith that accompanies charity. They are people who have looked to the Lord in their life and have, in accord with religion, avoided evils, but who have been prevented from thinking about truths owing to worldly concerns and dealings, and also to a lack of truth in their teachers. Yet they still have an acknowledgment of truth inwardly or in their spirit, because they have an affection for it. Consequently, after death, when they become spirits and are instructed by angels, they acknowledge truths and receive them with joy.

But the case is otherwise with people who have not looked to the Lord in their life and have not, in accord with religion, avoided evils. They have no acknowledgment of truth inwardly or in their spirit and so are without any acknowledgment of it. Consequently, after death, when they become spirits and are instructed by angels, they refuse to acknowledge truths and so do not accept them. For a life of evil inwardly detests truths, whereas a life of goodness inwardly loves them.

ppp9485#pid#31. Concepts of truth and goodness that precede faith appear to some people as being ones of faith, and yet they are not. People’s supposing and saying they believe does not mean that they therefore believe or that their concepts are ones of faith. For the concepts are matters of simply the thought that this or that is so, but are not ones of any internal acknowledgment of their being truths. And believing that they are truths without really knowing that they are is a type of persuasion far removed from an internal acknowledgment. However, as soon as charity is implanted, the same concepts become then ones of faith, but no more so than the charity present in it.

In the first state, before any feeling of charity, faith appears to people to hold first place, and charity second. But in the second state, when charity is felt, faith holds second place and charity first.

The first state is called one of reformation, and the second state one of regeneration. When a person is in this second state, wisdom then grows in him daily, and goodness daily increases the number of truths and causes them to bear fruit. The person is then like a tree bearing fruit, with seeds in the fruit from which grow new trees, and finally a garden. He becomes then truly human, and after death an angel, whose life is formed by charity, and by a charity given expression through faith, beautiful in accordance with the character of that faith. But his faith then is no longer called faith, but intelligence.

It can be seen from this that faith in its entirety springs from charity, and nothing of it independently. Also, that charity produces faith, and not the reverse. The concepts of truth that come first are altogether like a store of grain in a granary, which do not feed a person unless he is hungry and to satisfy his hunger takes some of the grain from it.

ppp9484#pid#32. We must also say how faith is formed in response to charity. Everyone has a natural mind and a spiritual mind — a natural mind for life in the world, and a spiritual mind for life in heaven. A person is present in both worlds with his intellect, but not with his will until he refrains from evils as being sins and turns away from them. When he does this, his spiritual mind then becomes open also for the will. And when it opens, it occasions a spiritual warmth to flow in from heaven into his natural mind, a warmth that in its essence is charity, and it animates the concepts of truth and goodness that he has there and out of them forms faith.

The case here is also as that with a tree, which does not have any plant life until warmth flows in from the sun and unites with the light, as happens in springtime.

There is also a complete parallel between the animation of a person and the growth of a tree in this respect, that the warmth of heaven occasions the first and the warmth of the world occasions the latter. It is for this reason, too, that the Lord so often likens a person to a tree.

ppp9483#pid#33. From these few observations it can be seen that concepts of truth and goodness are not ones of faith before a person is prompted by charity, but are a storehouse from which the faith accompanying charity may be formed. Concepts of truth become truths in a regenerate person, and so, too, concepts of goodness. For a concept of goodness resides in the intellect, but an affection for goodness in the will. And truth is something that resides in the intellect, and goodness something that resides in the will.

ppp9482#pid#34. Christian Faith in a Universal Formula

Christian faith in a universal formula is as follows: That the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, came into the world to conquer the hells and glorify His humanity. That without this, no mortal could have been saved. And that those are saved who believe in Him.

ppp9481#pid#35. We say, "in a universal formula," because this is a universal expression of the faith, and a universal expression of the faith must be reflected in each and every one of its particulars.

It is a universal tenet of the faith that God is one in person and essence, in whom is the Trinity, and that the Lord is that God.

It is a universal tenet of the faith that no mortal could have been saved if the Lord had not come into the world.

It is a universal tenet of the faith that He came into the world to remove hell from mankind, and that He removed it by battles against it and victories over it. In doing so He conquered it and put it back into order in obedience to Him.

It is a universal tenet of the faith that the Lord came into the world to glorify the humanity that He assumed in the world, that is, to unite it to the Divine from which He originated. By this He keeps hell subject to Him to eternity, in order and in obedience to Him.

Since neither of these ends could have been achieved other than through temptations or trials even to the last of them, and since the last of them was the suffering of the cross, therefore He underwent even this.

These are the universal tenets of the Christian faith regarding the Lord.

ppp9480#pid#36. The universal obligation of the Christian faith on the part of mankind is to believe in the Lord. For to believe in Him brings about a conjunction with Him, which makes salvation possible. Moreover, to believe in Him is to be confident that He will save. And because to have this confidence is possible only to someone who lives right, therefore this, too, is meant by believing in Him.

ppp9479#pid#37. These two universal components of the Christian faith are subjects we have already dealt with in detail. We dealt with the first, as regards the Lord, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord. And we dealt with the second, as regards mankind, in The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem. Consequently there is no need to pursue them further here.

ppp9478#pid#38. Faith Today in a Universal Formula

Faith today in a universal formula is as follows: That God the Father sent His Son to make satisfaction for the human race, and that this merit of His Son moved Him to take pity and save those who believe this. Or, as others say, who believe this and at the same time do good works.

ppp9477#pid#39. But to provide a clearer view of the nature of this faith, I wish to cite in order various tenets that it postulates:

1. Faith today postulates that God the Father and God the Son are two persons, each existing from eternity.

2. It postulates that God the Son came into the world by the will of the Father to make satisfaction for the human race, which would otherwise have perished in eternal death in accord with Divine justice, which some also call a retributive justice.

3. It postulates that the Son made satisfaction by His fulfillment of the law and by His suffering of the cross.

4. It postulates that the Father was moved to mercy by those acts of the Son.

5. It postulates that the merit of the Son is imputed to those who believe this.

6. It postulates that this is instantaneous, and is also possible therefore, if not before, in the last hour of life.

7. It postulates that some measure of temptation or trial takes place, and that people are delivered then through this faith.

8. It postulates especially that its adherents experience a trust and confidence.

9. It postulates especially that they are justified and receive the plenary grace of the Father for the sake of the Son, with forgiveness of all sins and thus salvation.

10. The more learned postulate the presence in them of an impulse to do good, which operates secretly and does not noticeably move the will. Others suppose it to be a noticeable process. In either case attributable to the Holy Spirit.

11. Most of those omit this point who confirm themselves in the idea that no one can possibly do good that is good of himself without its being merit-seeking, and that people are not under the yoke of the law. They also do not think about good and evil in the way they live. For they say to themselves that no good work is saving, and no evil damning, because faith alone accomplishes everything.

12. They postulate in general that the intellect must be held in obedience to faith, calling what it does not understand an article of faith.

ppp9476#pid#40. We will not, however, proceed to examine and weigh these postulates one by one to see whether they are truths. For what they are is clearly apparent from what we have said here above, especially from what we demonstrated from the Word and at the same time rationally confirmed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, and in The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem.

ppp9475#pid#41. Still, to show the nature of faith divorced from charity, and the nature of faith not divorced from it, I wish to communicate something I heard from an angel in heaven. The angel said that he had spoken with many of the Protestant Reformed and heard the nature of their faith. And he reported his conversation with one whose faith was divorced from charity, and his conversation with another whose faith was not divorced from charity, and what he learned from them. The angel said that he asked them questions, which they answered. Because they may shed light on the subject, I wish to present these conversations here.

ppp9474#pid#42. The angel said that his conversation with the one whose faith was divorced from charity went as follows:

"Who are you, friend?" the angel asked.

He replied, "I am a Reformed Christian."

"What is your doctrine, and accordingly your religion?" asked the angel.

He said it was faith.

"What is your faith?" the angel inquired.

He replied, "My faith is that God the Father sent the Son to make satisfaction for the human race, and that those are saved who believe this."

At that the angel questioned him by asking, "What more do you know about salvation?"

He replied that salvation is achieved through that faith alone.

The angel questioned him further. "What do you know about redemption?"

He replied that it was accomplished by the suffering of the cross, and that the merit of the Son is imputed in consequence of that faith.

The angel then asked, "What do you know about regeneration?"

He replied that it results from that faith.

"What do you know about repentance and the forgiveness of sins?" asked the angel.

He replied that they come about as a result of that faith.

"Tell me, then," said the angel, "what you know about love and charity."

He replied that they are what that faith is.

"Tell me," said the angel, "what you know about good works."

He replied that they are what that faith is.

"Tell me," said the angel, "what you think of all the commandments in the Word."

He replied that they are encompassed by that faith.

At that the angel said, "Then you know nothing."

He replied, "What am I to do? I cannot do good that is good of myself."

The angel asked, "Can you have faith of yourself?"

He replied, "I cannot."

"How then," asked the angel, "can you have faith?"

He said, "I don’t inquire into this. I just must have faith."

Finally the angel said, "You know nothing at all about salvation beyond that."

He replied, "What more is there, seeing that salvation is achieved through faith alone?"

However, at that the angel said, "You answer like a piper who sounds only one note. You tell me nothing but ‘faith. ’ If that is what you know, and nothing more, then you know nothing. Go and see your fellows."

So he went and came across his fellows in a desert, where no grass grew. He asked why that was. They said it was because they had nothing of the church in them.

ppp9473#pid#43. The angel’s conversation with the one whose faith was not divorced from charity went as follows:

"Who are you, friend?" the angel asked.

He replied, "I am a Reformed Christian."

"What is your doctrine, and accordingly your religion?" asked the angel.

He replied, "Faith and charity."

"Those are two things," said the angel.

He replied, "They cannot be separated."

"What," the angel asked, "is faith?"

He replied, "It is to believe what the Word teaches."

"What," the angel asked, "is charity?"

He replied, "It is to do what the Word teaches."

"Do you only believe them," the angel asked, "or do you also do them?"

He replied, "I also do them."

The angel in heaven then looked at him and said, "Come with me, my friend, and dwell with us."

ppp9472#pid#44. The Nature of Faith Divorced from Charity

In order to show the nature of faith divorced from charity, I will present it in its basic elements, which are as follows:

God the Father, being angry with the human race, banished it from His presence, and moved by justice, decided to exact retribution by damning it to eternity.

Moreover, He said to the Son, "Go down, fulfill the Law, and take upon Yourself the damnation to which they are destined. Perhaps then I will take pity."

So the Son went down and fulfilled the Law, and He suffered Himself to be crucified and cruelly put to death. Having done that, He returned to the Father and said, "I have taken upon Myself the damnation of the human race. Now be merciful." And in so doing made intercession for them.

But He was told in reply, "I cannot be merciful to them. Yet because I beheld You on the cross and saw Your blood then, I have been moved to mercy. Nevertheless, I will not pardon them, but will impute to them Your merit. But only to those who acknowledge this. This must be their faith, which will make possible their salvation."

ppp9471#pid#45. This is that faith in its basic elements. Who with any enlightened reason does not see the absurdity in it, which is contrary to the very essence of Divinity? Consider, for example, the idea that God, who is love itself and mercy itself, could have been moved by anger and thus a desire for retribution to damn human beings and consign them to hell. Or that He is willing to be moved to mercy by the Son’s taking their damnation on Himself, and by His beholding the Son’s suffering upon the cross and seeing His blood.

Who with any enlightened reason does not see that God could not possibly have said to another God His equal, "I do not pardon them, but I will impute to them Your merit"? Or again, "Let them now live as they please. Only let them believe this and they will be saved." And much else.

ppp9470#pid#46. But the reason people have not seen this is that they have instilled in themselves a blind faith, and because of it have shut their eyes and blocked their ears.

Shut people’s eyes and block their ears, or in other words, prevent them from thinking with any understanding, and say whatever you will to those who have had some idea of eternal life impressed upon them, and they will believe it. Even if you were to say that God is capable of being angry and filled with a desire for retribution; that God is capable of inflicting eternal damnation on anyone; that God is willing to be moved to mercy by the blood of His Son, to impute and attribute it as merit to a person as the person’s own, and to save the person as a result only of what the person thinks.

Consider, too, the idea that one God would be able to make such agreements with another God of the same essence or impose them on Him. And so on in this vein.

But open your eyes and unblock your ears, which is to say, think about these things with some comprehension, and you will see how incongruent they are with the real truth.

ppp9469#pid#47. Close people’s eyes and block their ears, and prevent them from thinking with any comprehension — could you not instill in them a belief that God gave all His power to a man so as to make him a God on earth? Could you not instill in them a belief that dead people may be called upon for assistance? That one must bare the head and genuflect before images of them? And that their bodies, bones, and graves are holy and are to be venerated?

But if you open your eyes and unblock your ears, which is to say, if you think about these matters with some comprehension, will you not see enormous errors that are abhorrent to human reason?

ppp9468#pid#48. When these and other ideas like them are accepted by a person whose intellect has been closed by religion, may not the temple in which he worships be likened then to a cave or underground cavern in which he does not know what it is he is seeing? And may not his religion be likened to living in a house without any windows? And his worshipful utterances to mere sound and not real speech?

No angel can converse with anyone like that, because neither one understands what the other is saying.

ppp9467#pid#49. People Whose Faith Is Divorced from Charity Are Represented in the Word by the Philistines

Names of nations and peoples in the Word, and of persons and places, all symbolize matters having to do with the church. The church itself is symbolized by Israel and Judah, because the church was instituted among them, and the nations and peoples surrounding them symbolized various religions — harmless nations symbolizing compatible religions, and harmful nations incompatible religions.

There are two harmful forms of religion into which every church degenerates in the course of time: one that adulterates its goods, and one that falsifies its truths.

The form of religion that adulterates the church’s goods takes its origin from a love of ruling, and the other, the religion that falsifies the church’s truths, takes its origin from a conceit in its own intelligence.

The religion that takes its origin from a love of ruling is meant in the Word by Babylon. And the religion that takes its origin from a conceit in its own intelligence is meant in the Word by Philistia.

People know who the adherents of Babylon are today, but they do not know who the adherents of Philistia are. The adherents of Philistia are those who have faith and not charity.

ppp9466#pid#50. That adherents of Philistia are those who have faith and not charity can be seen from various things said about the Philistines in the Word when understood in its spiritual sense. It can be seen both from their quarrels with the servants of Abraham and Isaac, described in Genesis 21 and Genesis 26, and from their wars with the children of Israel, described in the book of Judges and in the books of Samuel and Kings. For wars in the spiritual sense of the Word all involve and symbolize spiritual wars. And because this religion, which is one of faith divorced from charity, continually endeavors to invade the church, therefore the Philistines remained in the land of Canaan and harassed the children of Israel again and again.

ppp9465#pid#51. Since the Philistines represented people whose faith is divorced from charity, they were for that reason called uncircumcised, meaning people lacking any spiritual love and so motivated only by some natural love. Charity is a spiritual love.

The Philistines were called uncircumcised because the circumcised mean people possessing a spiritual love. To be shown that the Philistines were called uncircumcised, `1 Samuel 17bbb26`, `1 Samuel 17bbbccc36`, `2 Samuel 1bbb20`, and elsewhere.

ppp9464#pid#52. That people whose faith is divorced from charity were represented by the Philistines can be seen not only from their wars with the children of Israel, but also from many other things related about them in the Word. For example, what is related about their idol Dagon, about the hemorrhoids and mice with which they were smitten and infested after they put the Ark in the shrine with their idol, and from everything that then eventuated from that, as described in `1 Samuel 5bbb0`, `1 Samuel ccc6bbb0`. Likewise what is related about Goliath, a Philistine whom David slew, as described in  For the upper half of their idol Dagon was like that of a man, while the lower half was like that of a fish. This represented their religion, which because of their faith was seemingly spiritual, but, lacking any charity, was merely natural.

The hemorrhoids with which they were smitten symbolized their filthy loves. The mice with which they were infested symbolized the devastation of their church by their falsifications of truth. And Goliath, smitten by David, represented their conceit in their own intelligence.

ppp9463#pid#53. That people whose faith is divorced from charity were represented by the Philistines is apparent also from places where they are mentioned in prophetic portions of the Word, as from the following:

In Jeremiah:

…against the Philistines…: Behold, waters rising out of the north, which shall become an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land and all that is in it, the city and those who dwell within, so that the men shall cry out, and every inhabitant of the land shall wail…. …Jehovah shall lay waste the Philistines…. (`Jeremiah 47bbb1-2`, `Jeremiah 47bbbccc4`)

Waters rising out of the north are falsities from hell. That they shall become an overflowing flood and shall overflow the land and all that is in it symbolizes their devastating everything having to do with the church. The city and those who dwell within symbolizes the devastation of everything connected with its doctrine. So that the men shall cry out and every inhabitant of the land shall wail symbolizes the loss of every truth and good in the church. Jehovah shall lay waste the Philistines symbolizes their destruction.

In Isaiah:

Do not rejoice, all Philistia, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root will come forth a basilisk,whose offspring will be a fiery flying serpent. (`Isaiah 14bbb29`ff.)

Do not rejoice, all Philistia, symbolically means that people whose faith is divorced from charity ought not to rejoice that they still endure. For out of the serpent’s root will come forth a basilisk symbolizes the destruction of all truth in them because of their conceit in their own intelligence. Whose offspring will be a fiery flying serpent symbolizes arguments founded on falsities springing from evil, against the truths and goods of the church.

ppp9462#pid#54. That circumcision represented purification from the evils that accompany a merely natural love is apparent from the following:

Circumcise (your heart) …and take away the foreskins of your heart…, lest My wrath go forth…, because of the evil of your doings. (`Jeremiah 4bbb4`)

Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. (`Deuteronomy 10bbb16`)

To circumcise the heart or the foreskin of the heart is to purify oneself of evils. Conversely, therefore, someone uncircumcised means someone not purified of the evils accompanying a merely natural love, thus someone lacking in charity. And because someone unclean of heart means someone uncircumcised, we are told,

(No one) uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in the flesh shall enter My sanctuary…. (`Ezekiel 44bbb9`)

No uncircumcised person shall eat (the Passover). (`Exodus 12bbb48`)

Also that such a one was damned (`Ezekiel 28bbb10`, `Ezekiel ccc31bbb18`, `Ezekiel ccc32bbb19`).

ppp9461#pid#55. People Whose Faith Is Divorced from Charity Are Meant by the Dragon in the Book of Revelation.

We said above that in the course of time every church goes off into two general, harmful forms of religion, into one out of a love of ruling, and into the other out of a conceit in its own intelligence. Moreover, we said that the first religion is meant and described in the Word by Babylon, and the second by Philistia.

Now because the book of Revelation has as its subject the state of the Christian church, especially the church’s final character, it deals in general and in particular with these two harmful religions.

The religion meant by Babylon is described in chapters 17–19, in its treatment of the harlot sitting upon the scarlet beast. And the religion meant by Philistia is described in chapters 12 and 13, in its treatment of the dragon, of the beast rising up out of the sea, and of the beast coming up out of the earth.

That the latter religion is meant by the dragon and its two beasts could not have been previously known. That is because the spiritual meaning of the Word was not disclosed before, so that the book of Revelation was not understood, and especially because the religion of faith divorced from charity was so widely accepted in the Christian world that no one could possibly see it. For every harmful religious belief blinds the eyes.

ppp9460#pid#56. That the religion of faith divorced from charity is meant and described in the book of Revelation by the dragon and its two beasts is something I have not only been told from heaven, but also something that was shown to me in the world of spirits below heaven.

A company of people whose faith was divorced from charity appeared to me as a great dragon, with its tail extended toward the sky. And some others of the same character appeared to me individually as dragons. For appearances of this kind are found in the spiritual world, owing to the correspondence of spiritual things and natural things. Therefore angels in heaven call these people dragonists.

These people are, however, of more than one kind. Some of them constitute the dragon’s head, some its body, and some its tail. Those who constitute its tail are people who have falsified all the Word’s truths. That is why we are told in the book of Revelation that the dragon’s tail drew down a third of the stars of heaven. The stars of heaven symbolize concepts of truth, and a third part all.

ppp9459#pid#57. Now because the dragon in the book of Revelation means people whose faith is divorced from charity, something previously unknown and also hidden, owing to people’s having no concept of the Word’s spiritual sense, therefore we will present here a general exposition of what is said in chapter twelve there regarding the dragon.

ppp9458#pid#58. Regarding the dragon, this is what is said in chapter twelve of the book of Revelation:

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven jewelson its heads. Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born. She bore a male child who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer….

When the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12)

ppp9457#pid#59. Here is the exposition of these verses:

"Now a great sign appeared in heaven" symbolizes a revelation from the Lord concerning His church to come, the reception of its doctrine, and those who will attack it.

"A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet" symbolizes the church, which will be governed by love and faith from the Lord.

"And on her head a crown of twelve stars" symbolizes its wisdom and intelligence because of the Divine truths it possesses.

"Then being with child" symbolizes its emerging doctrine.

"She cried out in labor and in pain to give birth" symbolizes resistance to it by people whose faith is divorced from charity.

"And another sign appeared in heaven" symbolizes another revelation.

"Behold, a great, fiery red dragon" symbolizes faith divorced from charity, called fiery red because of its merely natural love.

"Having seven heads" symbolizes a false understanding of the Word.

"And ten horns" symbolizes its power from being accepted by so many.

"And seven jewels on its heads" symbolizes the Word’s truths falsified.

"Its tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth" symbolizes the destruction of all concepts of truth.

"And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born" symbolizes a hatred of those concepts and an intention to destroy the church’s doctrine at its inception.

"She bore a male child" symbolizes the doctrine.

"Who would shepherd all nations with a rod of iron" symbolizes doctrine which will convince by the power of natural truth in the light of spiritual truth.

"And her child was caught up to God and His throne" symbolizes its protection by the Lord from heaven.

"Then the woman fled into the wilderness" symbolizes the church being among few.

"Where she has a place prepared by God" symbolizes the state of the church then, that in the meantime provision may be made for it to be among more people.

"That they may feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days" symbolically means, until it grows to its appointed state.

"And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and its angels fought" symbolizes the dissent and combat of people whose faith is divorced from charity against those who accept the doctrine of the church regarding the Lord and a life of charity.

"But they did not prevail" symbolically means that they were overcome.

"Nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer" symbolizes their being cast down.

"When the dragon saw that it had been cast to the earth, it pursued the woman who gave birth to the male child" symbolizes a harassment of the church by people whose faith is divorced from charity, because of the church’s doctrine.

"But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place" symbolizes vigilance while the church is as yet among few.

"Where she might be nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the face of the serpent" symbolically means, until the church grows to its appointed state.

"So the serpent spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swept away by the river" symbolizes those people’s multitude of reasonings flowing from falsities, in order to destroy the church.

"But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon had spewed out of its mouth" symbolically means that the reasonings, being based on falsities, collapsed of themselves.

"And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and it went off to make war with the rest of her offspring" symbolizes those people’s lasting hatred.

"Who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" symbolically means, against those who live a life of charity and believe in the Lord.

ppp9456#pid#60. In chapter thirteen, which follows next in the book of Revelation, the subject is the dragon’s two beasts, one of which was seen rising up out of the sea, and one that was seen coming up out of the earth. The first beast is described in `Revelation 13bbb1-10`, and the second in verses `Revelation 13bbb11-18`. That they are the dragon’s beasts is apparent from verses 2, 4, and 11 there.

The first beast symbolizes faith divorced from charity based on arguments for it springing from people’s natural self. And the second beast symbolizes faith divorced from charity based on arguments for it drawn from the Word, which are also falsifications of truth.

But I omit to provide an exposition of these, because they contain those people’s various arguments, which would be much too lengthy to present in any detail. I will explain only this verse:

Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and its number is 666. (`Revelation 13bbb18`)

"Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast" symbolically means, let people who have some enlightenment investigate the nature of the arguments for that faith in the light of the Word. "For it is the number of a man" symbolically means that the nature of these arguments is one of people’s own intelligence. "And its number is 666" symbolizes every truth in the Word falsified.

ppp9455#pid#61. People Whose Faith Is Divorced from Charity Are Meant by the Goats in Daniel and Matthew

The goat in Daniel 8 and the goats in Matthew 25 mean people whose faith is divorced from charity, and this can be seen from the fact that in Daniel the goat is contrasted with a ram, and the goats in Matthew with sheep — the ram and the sheep both meaning people possessing charity. For in the Word the Lord is called a shepherd and the church a sheepfold, and people in the church are collectively called a flock and individually sheep. And because sheep are people who possess charity, therefore goats are people without charity.

ppp9454#pid#62. We will show that people whose faith is divorced from charity are meant by goats, first by my experience in the spiritual world, secondly by the people on whom the Last Judgment was carried out, thirdly by the description of the combat between the ram and the goat in Daniel, and lastly by their lack of charity as told in Matthew.

ppp9453#pid#63. I. That people whose faith is divorced from charity are meant in the Word by goats is something shown by my experience in the spiritual world. Everything seen in the natural world is seen also in the spiritual world. There are houses and palaces, parks and gardens, and in the latter trees of every kind. There are fields and farms, meadows and pastures, and flocks and herds, all appearing just the same as in our world. The only difference is that in our world they have a natural origin, while in the spiritual world they have a spiritual origin. Consequently, because angels are spiritual beings, they see things that have a spiritual origin, just as people see things that have a natural origin.

ttt[2] Things seen in the spiritual world are all correspondent forms, for they correspond to the affections of angels and spirits. That is why people who have an affection for goodness and truth, and so for wisdom and understanding, live in magnificent palaces, surrounded by parks full of trees corresponding to their affections, which are surrounded in turn by fields and meadows, with flocks resting in them, all of which are manifestations of those affections.

In contrast to these, however, are the correspondent forms around people possessing evil affections. Either those people are shut up in workhouses in the hells, workhouses that are without windows, but which are nevertheless illuminated by a kind of phosphorescent light, or they dwell in deserts and live in huts, surrounded by completely barren stretches inhabited by snakes, dragons, owls, and more that correspond to their evils.

ttt[3] Between heaven and hell there is an intermediate place called the world of spirits. Everyone comes into this world immediately after death. People there also enjoy similar dealings, one with another, like those between people on earth. Everything seen in that world is a correspondent form, too. Seen there also are gardens, groves, and forests, with trees and bushes, as well as fields of flowers and grass, together with animals of various kinds, some gentle and some savage — all corresponding to the inhabitants’ affections.

ttt[4] I have quite often seen sheep and goats there, and sometimes combats between them, like the combat described in Daniel 8 I have seen goats with horns curved forward and horns curved backward, and I have seen them rushing in a rage upon sheep. I have seen goats with two horns, which they used to strike the sheep. And when I looked to see the meaning, I saw some people arguing with each other about charity and faith.

It was apparent from this that faith divorced from charity was what appeared as a goat, and that charity which gave birth to faith was what appeared as a sheep.

Because I have quite often seen these things, I have been given to know for certain that people whose faith is divorced from charity are meant in the Word by goats.

ppp9452#pid#64. II. That people whose faith is divorced from charity are meant in the Word by goats is something shown by the people on whom the Last Judgment was carried out. The Last Judgment was carried out only on people who were outwardly moral and inwardly not spiritual or hardly spiritual. But people who were evil both outwardly and inwardly were cast into hell long before the Last Judgment, and people who were outwardly spiritual and at the same time inwardly so were raised into heaven long before the Last Judgment. For the judgment was not carried out on people already in heaven, nor on people already in hell, but was carried out on people in between heaven and hell, who had formed for themselves seeming heavens there.

[2] That the Last Judgment was carried out on those people and not others is something that may be seen in the short work `@@@The Last Judgment 59`, `@@@The Last Judgment ccc70`, and something that will be further seen in the short work A Continuation Concerning the Last Judgment, where we take up the judgment on the Protestant Reformed. Those among them whose faith was divorced from charity, not only in doctrine but also in life, were cast into hell, while those who had the same faith in respect to doctrine only and despite that faith lived a life of charity were raised into heaven.

From this it was apparent that no others were meant by the Lord by the goats and sheep in `Matthew 25bbb0` where the Lord speaks of the Last Judgment.

ppp9451#pid#65. III. That people whose faith is divorced from charity are meant in the Word by goats is something shown by the description of the combat between the ram and the goat in Daniel. Everything in the book of Daniel describes in the spiritual sense matters having to do with heaven and the church, as is the case throughout the Sacred Scripture, as we showed in . Such is the case also in Daniel 8 where we are told about the combat of the ram and the goat, from which we quote the following:

I saw in the vision…a ram which had two (high) horns; but… the higher one came up last…, and with the horn it struck to the west, to the north, and to the south…, and became great.

And (then I saw) a male goat come from the west, across the surface of the whole earth…, (which) had a…horn between its eyes. Then it ran at the ram…with savage force…and broke its two horns…and cast it to the ground and trampled it…. But…the (goat’s) large horn was broken, and in place of it four horns came up…. And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful [land]. And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself to the Prince of the host; and from Him the continual [sacrifice] was taken away, and the habitation of His sanctuary was cast down; because…it cast truth to the ground….

Then I heard a holy one speaking…, "How long will this vision be, the continual sacrifice and the ruinous transgression, so that the sanctuary and the host are given to be trampled on?"

And he said…, "Until evening [and] morning…; then the sanctuary shall be made right." (`Daniel 8bbb2-14`)

ppp9450#pid#66. It is clearly apparent that this vision foretells future states of the church, for we are told that the continual sacrifice was taken away from the Prince of the host, that the habitation of His sanctuary was cast down, and that the goat cast truth to the ground. We are told as well that the holy one spoke, saying, "How long will this vision be, the continual sacrifice and the ruinous transgression, so that the sanctuary and the host are given to be trampled on?" And that this would be until evening [and] morning, when the sanctuary would be made right. For evening means the end of the church, when there would be a new one.

After that, in the same chapter, the kings of Media and Persia have the same meaning as the ram, and the king of Greece the same meaning as the goat. For in the Word, the names of kingdoms, nations and peoples, and of persons and places, symbolize matters having to do with heaven and the church.

ppp9449#pid#67. Following here is an explanation of the foregoing verses:

"A ram which had two high horns…, the higher (of which) came up last," symbolizes people whose faith springs from charity.

"With the horn it struck to the west, to the north, and to the south" symbolizes the dispersal of evil and falsity.

"And became great" symbolizes the people’s increase.

"A male goat come from the west, across the surface of the whole earth," symbolizes people whose faith is divorced from charity, and their invasion of the church. The west is the evil inherent in the natural self.

"(Which) had a…horn between its eyes" symbolizes their own inherent intelligence.

"It ran at the ram…with savage force" symbolically means that they forcefully attacked charity and its accompanying faith.

"And broke [the ram’s] two horns…and cast it to the ground and trampled it" symbolically means that they completely dispelled both charity and faith; for someone who dispels the one, also dispels the other, inasmuch as the two go together.

"The (goat’s) large horn was broken" symbolically means that their own intelligence was not apparent.

"In place of it four horns came up" symbolizes applications of the Word’s literal sense in confirmation.

"Out of one of them came a little horn" symbolizes the argument that no one can fulfill the Law and do good of himself.

"(A horn) which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful [land]," symbolizes a resulting insurrection against everything connected with the church.

"To the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars…and trampled them." This symbolically means that in doing so they destroyed all concepts of goodness and truth that had to do with charity and faith.

"He…exalted himself to the Prince of the host; and from Him the continual [sacrifice] was taken away, and the habitation of His sanctuary was cast down." This symbolically means that as a result they annihilated everything having to do with worship of the Lord and with His church.

"It cast truth to the ground" symbolically means that they falsified the Word’s truths.

"…the evening [and] morning, (when) the sanctuary shall be made right," symbolizes the end of their church and the beginning of a new one.

ppp9448#pid#68. IV. That people whose faith is divorced from charity are meant in the Word by goats is something shown by their lack of charity as told in Matthew. The goats and sheep in `Matthew 25bbb31-46` mean the very same people as those meant by the goat and ram in Daniel, and this is apparent from the fact that enumerated for the sheep are a list of charitable works, and we are told that they did them; and that enumerated for the goats is the same list of charitable works, and we are told that they did not do them, who are therefore condemned. For works are lacking in the case of people whose faith is divorced from charity, owing to their denial that works involve anything having to do with salvation or the church. And when charity, which consists in works, is thus set aside, faith also founders, since faith is an expression of charity. Then, when there is no longer any charity or faith, damnation results.

If all evil people were meant by the goats there, we would find listed not charitable works that they did not do, but the evils that they had done.

The same kind of people are also meant by goats in Zechariah:

My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit judgment on the goats. (`Zechariah 10bbb3`)

And in Ezekiel:

…I judge between one flock and another, between rams and goats. Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture…? …Because you have…struck all the weak sheep with your horns, until you scattered them abroad, therefore I will save My flock, so that it shall no longer be prey. (`Ezekiel 34bbb17-18`, `Ezekiel 34bbbccc21-22`)

ppp9447#pid#69. Faith Divorced from Charity Has Destroyed the Church and Everything Connected with It

Faith divorced from charity is not faith, since charity is the life of faith, being its soul and its essence. And where faith is absent because charity is absent, there the church does not exist. So the Lord says: "When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (`Luke 18bbb8`)

ppp9446#pid#70. I have several times heard goats and sheep talking together about whether those people possess any truth who have confirmed themselves in a faith divorced from charity. And because the people said that they possess a good deal of truth, the case was put to the test.

The people were asked whether they knew what love, charity and good are; and because these were things they had removed, they could not help but reply that they did not.

They were asked if they knew what sin, repentance, and forgiveness of sins were; and because they replied that sins are forgiven to people justified by faith so that the sins no longer appear, they were told, "That is not true."

On being asked if they knew what regeneration was, they replied that either it is baptism or it is the forgiving of sins through faith. They were told that it was not true.

On being asked what the spiritual person is, they replied that it is someone justified by the faith expressed in their creed. But they were told that this was not true.

They were asked about redemption, the union of the Father and the Lord, and the oneness of God, and they replied with answers that were not true.

And so it went.

Following these questions and answers, the case was ready for the verdict, namely that people who have confirmed themselves in a faith divorced from charity do not possess any truth.

ppp9445#pid#71. The reality of this is impossible for people in the world to believe, since people caught up in falsities have no other sight than that their falsities are true, and it is of no moment to them to know more than what their faith teaches. Their faith, moreover, does not involve the intellect, for it is a blind faith, and so they do not inquire further. Nor can this be inquired into other than from the Word by means of an enlightened intellect. Consequently they turn the truths that the Word contains into falsities, thinking "faith" whenever they see love, repentance, forgiveness of sins, and more mentioned as things they are to put into practice.

ppp9444#pid#72. Still, the fact is that people of this description are people who have confirmed themselves in faith alone in both doctrine and life. But not people who, even though they have been taught and have believed that faith alone is saving, still, despite this, have refrained from evils as being sins.