Swedenborg's Maximus Homo/The New Church/Chapter 4

IV.

DEGREES IN THE NEW CHURCH.

It has already been clearly shown where and what the New Christian Church is, according to the plain teaching of the Writings which we acknowledge to be divinely authorized. It has been shown to be no organized or visible body of people, for it was said to be "increasing daily" nearly thirty years before any organization known as the New Church existed on earth. This ought to be sufficient to settle the question with every honest mind. But we have still further evidence to offer in proof of the non-visibility of this Church.

Man is a microcosm—a miniature world both natural and spiritual. His interiors are from creation an image of heaven potentially, and by regeneration he becomes such an image actually. And the divinely authorized Writings teach that, in the mind of every man there is a trinal distinction, or three distinct degrees of life in vital union from creation; and that there is a similar trinal distinction in the whole angelic heaven, in each separate heaven, and in every angel. And as the Church on earth is one with the Church in heaven, there must needs be the same trinal distinction in the Church and in each individual that there is in heaven.

It is, we think, from overlooking this plain teaching, which is many times repeated in the Writings, that much of the difference among brethren as to the nature and whereabout of the New Church has arisen. Some think and speak of a very small portion of this Church as if it were the whole, apparently forgetting or overlooking the clearly revealed truth, that there must exist in the New Church on earth the same degrees as in the New Heaven whence it comes down, and with which we are told it makes one. It is said that "a church is first established by the Lord in the heavens, and afterwards through the heavens on the earth" (A. R. 816); and that "the Church on earth is formed through heaven by the Lord, that they may act as one and be consociated." (Ibid. 879.) Now, if there is a trine in the New Heaven of angels, there must be a similar trine in the New Church which descends from it, else the two could not "act as one and be consociated." And we are left in no doubt on this point. For in Swedenborg's exposition of the chapter that treats of the New Heaven we find the following in the very first paragraph:—

"These ancient heavens are above the Christian heaven, for the heavens are like expanses, one above another. It is the same with each particular heaven; for each heaven by itself is distinguished into three heavens, an inmost or third, a middle or second, and a lowest or first. And so it is with this New Heaven. I have seen them and conversed with them." (A. R. 876.)

Now, this "middle" and "lowest," we must remember, are as certainly portions of the New Heaven, and as necessary to its integrity, as "the inmost or third." And that the New Church on earth is distinguished into three degrees, like the New Heaven of angels, is taught in the following unequivocal language:—

"The Lord's Church is, like heaven, distinguished into three degrees. In the lowest degree are they who are in its externals; in the second degree are they who are in its internals, and in the third degree are they who are in its inmost principles. . . .

"Such as the Lord overcomes, that is, convinces by the Word, are with Him in heaven; some in the lowest heaven, some in the second, and some in the third—every one according to reception." (A. R. 744.)

And what are we taught as to the states of those who constitute the three divisions respectively of the New Heaven and the New Church? If the Writings furnish a sufficiently explicit answer to this inquiry, the question as to the whereabout of the New Church, or of whom it is constituted, would seem to be conclusively settled. Let us see what answer they give.

Turn, then, to Swedenborg's exposition of the seventh chapter of the Apocalypse. The first part of this chapter gives the number that were sealed out of the twelve tribes; and these tribes, we are told, "signify those who are in genuine goods and truths." (A. E. 452.) They, therefore, belong to or constitute "the Lord's internal church." (A. R. 363.) Accordingly, "by the twelve thousand sealed out of each tribe are meant all of the New Christian Heaven and the New Church who will be in truths of doctrine derived from the good of love through the Word from the Lord." (Ibid. 348.)

But this "internal Church" must have an external also; and the external is as truly a part of the Church, and as indispensable to its completeness, as the skin is a part of the human body and necessary to its completeness. Accordingly the Writings teach:—

"There are some who are in the internal of the Church, and others who are in its external. The former are few, but the latter are numerous. Nevertheless, where the internal Church is there must be an external also, for the internal Church cannot be separated from its external." (A. C. 6587.)

And who are this "numerous" class that constitute the external of the New Church, and where are they? The Writings leave us in no doubt on this point. They are none of them persons who have received and lived the genuine truths revealed through Swedenborg, and whom some suppose to be the only persons belonging to the New Jerusalem. This is plain from the following:—

"The men of the internal Church are they who have qualified their good by interior truths, such as are those of the internal sense of the Word; but the men of the external Church are they who have qualified their good by exterior truths, such as are those of the literal sense of the Word." (A. C. 7840.)

And not less pertinent, and even more explicit and conclusive, is Swedenborg's explanation of the meaning of that "great multitude" whom the seer of Patmos beheld in vision after he had heard the number sealed from each of the tribes. That great multitude, he tells us—

"Signifies all the rest who were not among the above recited [i. e., the 144,000] and yet are in the Lord's New Heaven and New Church, being those who compose the lowest heaven and the external church, whose quality no one knows but the Lord alone. . . . They who are meant by the twelve tribes of Israel are such as constitute the Lord's internal Church; but they who are now mentioned are such as constitute the external Church, and cohere as one with the above recited, or as the body with the head." (A. R. 363.)

And we are told that in this class who constitute an essential as well as the largest part of the Lord's Church on earth, are included "all who are in the good of life, according to the doctrinal tenets of their religion," which "they believe to be truths and goods," although they are not such; also, "all who are in falsities from ignorance and from various religions," but who nevertheless "live well according to their religious dogmas." From which we learn that people may be in falsities from ignorance or from wrong instruction, and yet be "in the good of life," as is the case with multitudes in the various Christian denominations at the present day. And we are further taught that this class of persons are "in the Lord's New Church." and are "numerous"—far more numerous than those who constitute the internal of this Church; but precisely who they are is something that is not given us to know, since their character or inward quality is perceived and known "to no one but the Lord alone." From which it appears plain that the New Church of which Swedenborg writes, is not a visible body of people in the sense in which visibility is commonly understood.

What we have here said and shown ought, we think, to be sufficient to prove that it is a mistake which some make, who hold that none are of the New Church but those whose minds are open to the third or highest degree. But it may be useful to add something more from the Writings bearing directly on this point. Assuming this idea to be correct, it would place Swedenborg in palpable conflict with himself; for it would make the New Church a church of one degree only, which is contrary to the plain teaching of passages already quoted. (A. E. 744, 876.) In one of these passages it is said that the New Heaven from which the New Church on earth descends and with which it forms one, consists of three degrees; and in the other that "the Lord's Church is, like heaven, distinguished into three degrees." And we are told what class of persons those of the middle and lowest degrees consist of—certainly not of such as have their minds opened to the third or celestial degree. They are persons in quite an external state.

And as there are three discrete degrees in heaven and in the Church, so in the mind of every man there are three similar degrees "existing from his birth potentially, and actually when opened." And we are told how these degrees are opened:—

"The inmost degree of man's life is for the inmost heaven; the middle degree for the middle heaven; and the ultimate [or lowest] for the lowest heaven. . . . These degrees of life appertaining to man are opened successively. The first [or lowest] degree is opened by a life according to what is equitable and just; the second degree by a life according to the truths of faith derived from the Word, and according to the goods of charity toward the neighbor; and the third degree according to the good of love to the Lord and mutual love." (A. C. 9594; also D L. W. 237.)

We are further told that every man after death enters the heaven corresponding to the "degree of life that was opened within him in the world; he in whom the spiritual degree was opened enters into the spiritual [heaven], and he in whom the celestial degree was opened enters into the celestial." (D. L. W. 238.) And it appears from the Writings that there were some in the Old or former Christian Church whose minds were opened to the third or celestial degree. For the new Christian Heaven, it is said, was composed of "all those who, from the first formation of the Christian Church, worshiped the Lord and lived according to his Commandments in the Word; . . . likewise all the infants of Christians. (A. R. 876.) And in the same paragraph we are told that this heaven, with which the New Church on earth is in consociation, consists of three, an inmost, a middle, and a lowest; which shows that some of the former Church had their minds opened to the third or inmost degree; also that in the New Church which makes one with this New Heaven, are not few whose minds are opened only to the second or first degree. And that all who belong to the New Church will not have their minds opened to the third or celestial degree is plainly taught in A. R. 363, where it is said that "in the Lord's New Heaven and New Church there will be only such as are celestial and spiritual"—those in the natural degree being either celestial-natural or spiritual-natural.

"They who are in the lowest heaven are either spiritual-natural or celestial-natural. The spiritual-natural who are in that heaven belong to the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the celestial-natural belong to the celestial kingdom. Therefore the spiritual-natural communicate with the second heaven, where all are spiritual, but the celestial-natural communicate with the third heaven, where all are celestial." (A. E. 499.)

The reader will not fail to notice that the several extracts here made from the Writings are in perfect harmony with each other, and give one and the same testimony in regard to the nature, extent, and whereabout of the New Christian Church. While their teaching does not in the least conflict with the idea of the need and use of a new and separate church organization, it does we think, prove conclusively that the real New Jerusalem is much wider than any such organization, with which it is often confounded. A due consideration of the passages we have quoted, can hardly fail, we think, to produce complete unanimity among receivers of the heavenly doctrine on the subject here treated.