Monogamous Marriage, Christianity, and the Homosexual Dilemma

In the New Testament there are multiple passages where the spiritual relationship between the Lord and the Church is represented by the marriage of the bridegroom with the bride (Matt. 9:15, 22:1-14, 25:1-13, Rev. 19:7,9, 21:2,9-10) and that Jesus only sanctioned monogamous marriage (Matt. 19:3-11). This principle has brought Christianity in conflict with the recent cultural shift that supports homosexual marriages, and with a culture that is generally lax in sexual morality. This is because the majority in the modern world do not distinguish between the lower natural love of sex, and a higher spiritual love of sex. For the love of sex is something that man shares with animals, but a spiritual love of one of the other sex is spiritual that is unique to man. Moreover, the majority do not even know the spiritual reason why humans are born male and female, which is the justification Jesus gave for monogamous marriages. Answers to these questions have been laid out in detail in heavenly revelations in the work Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, which I think was due to Divine foresight on the present dilemma.

It is simply not enough for Christians to quote the Bible to outsiders on this matter, as there has to be a rational justification.  Even Swedenborg acknowledged this when discussing Matt. 19:

"But although the Lord dictated these words out of the Divine law inscribed on marriage, yet, if the understanding cannot support it with some reason of its own, it may even,—by turns to which it is wont, and by sinister interpretations,—get around the Divine law, and bring it into dim ambiguity" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 332)

This kind of twisting of what Jesus said I have seen even within some Christian churches, with one person stating that Jesus was "just discussing divorce."  Which completely ignores the rationale that Jesus gave, that humans are created male and female, and monogamous marriage fulfills the Divine will. But let us lay out the reasons why monogamous marriages between one man and one woman are spiritual, and other sexual unions are not.

GOD IS LOVE AND TRUTH ITSELF

The first principle is that the Divine is Love and Truth itself, and Love and Truth co-exist in a married pair, similar to a fire and the light that emanates from it.  God descended as Divine Truth, known as the Word, in human form, and love and truth manifest in every human being in the will and understanding.  I discussed this a bit earlier in the blog post The Divine Origin of Marriage Love and Sex, but as this is the foundation on any discussion regarding marriage and sex it bears repeating here, as this is the source of all created things:

"...in each and all things of the universe good is conjoined with truth and truth with good, for this too is a universal truth, closely coherent with the other. The reason why all things in the universe have a relation to good and truth, and that good is conjoined with truth, and truth with good, is that both proceed from the Lord, and proceed from Him as one. The two which proceed from the Lord are love and wisdom, for those are Himself and are therefore from Himself" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 60)

And this is the reason why marriage love is most holy, and it is the love of all loves, for marriage originates from the union of good and truth:

"The reason why marriage love considered as to its essence is the fundamental love of all the loves of heaven and the church is, that its origin is from the marriage of good and truth, and from that marriage all the loves which make heaven and the church with man proceed. The good of that marriage constitutes love, and the truth of it constitutes wisdom; and when love comes to wisdom or conjoins itself with it, it then becomes love indeed; and when in turn wisdom comes to love or conjoins itself with it, it becomes wisdom indeed. True marriage is nothing else than the conjunction of love and wisdom. A married pair between whom or in whom at the same time this love exists, are an image and form of it" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 65)

And this is the reason why marriage is a form that represents the union of the Lord with the Church.  The primary origin of marriage love originates from the spiritual influx of love and truth into each person, and not, as many presume, from the natural desire of the other sex. This was summarized in the following points:

"I. That good and truth are the universals of creation, and hence are in all created things; but that they are in created subjects according to the form of each.
II. That there is no solitary good, nor solitary truth, but that everywhere they are conjoined.
III. That there is truth of good, and the good of truth from that,—or truth from good, and the good from that truth; and that in these two there is implanted by creation an inclination to conjoin themselves into one.
IV. That in the subjects of the animal kingdom truth of good, or truth from good is masculine; and the good of truth from that, or good from that truth, is feminine.
V. That from the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord, there is the love of sex, and there is marriage love.
VI. That the love of sex is of the external or natural man; and hence is common to all animals.
VII. But that marriage love is of the internal or spiritual man, and is therefore peculiar to man.
VIII. That with man marriage love is within the love of sex, as a gem in its matrix.
IX. That the love of sex in man is not the origin of marriage love, but is its antecedent; that is to say, it is as the external natural in which the internal spiritual is implanted.
X. That while marriage love is being implanted the love of sex inverts itself and becomes a chaste love of sex.
XI. That the male and female were created to be the very form of the marriage of good and truth.
XII. That they are that form in their inmosts and thence in the things that follow therefrom, according as the interiors of their minds are opened." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 83)

Point 5 (V) spells out how marriage love originates from the spiritual influx of good and truth:

"V. That from the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the lord, there is the love of sex, and there is marriage love. ...good and truth are the universal of creation, and hence are in all created subjects; that they are in them according to the form of each; and that good and truth proceed from the Lord not as two, but as one. It follows from this that a Universal Marriage Sphere proceeds from the Lord, and pervades the universe from first things to last,—thus from angels even to worms." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 92)

THE MALE AND FEMALE WERE CREATED TO BE THE VERY FORM OF THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH

And this is the hidden reason why humans developed into male and female forms; there is no reason for singular cells that can divide by themselves to develop a more complicated method for propagation.  From Divine spiritual influx into the material world, the male was created to be a form of truth, and the female a form of good:

"...a perpetual union of love and wisdom or marriage of good and truth flows in from God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe; and that created subjects receive this, each according to its form. And that from this marriage or this union the male receives truth of wisdom, and to this the good of love is conjoined by the Lord according to reception; that the reception takes place in the understanding; and that from this fact the male is born to become intellectual... On the other hand, that the female is volitional, but volitional from the intellectual of the man, or what is the same that she is love of the man's wisdom,—because she was formed through his wisdom" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 90, 91).
"...as there is conjunction of good and truth and it is reciprocal, it follows that there is truth of good, or truth from good, and that there is good of truth, or good from truth. ...truth of good or truth from good is in the male, and is the very masculine, and that good of truth or good from truth is in the female, and is the very feminine; and that the marriage union is between these two." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 61).
"The male was so created that he might become wisdom, from the love of acquiring wisdom; and the female, so that she might become love of the male from his wisdom and so according to it. It is plain from this that a married pair are very forms and effigies of the marriage of love and wisdom, or of good and truth." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 66).

This marriage love, by the correspondence of the union of love and truth, is only possible within monogamous marriages between one man and one woman:

"But none come into this love, or can be in it, but those who go to the lord, and love the truths and do the goods of the church. The reason why no others but those who go to the Lord come into this love is that monogamic marriages or marriages of one man with one wife correspond to the marriage of the Lord and the church, and that their origin is the marriage of good and truth" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 70).

There is an internal conjunction with the Lord through spiritual influx, and mediate conjunction with the Lord through monogamous marriage of one man and one woman:

"That the male and female were created to be the very form of the marriage of good and truth.—The reason is that the male was created to be an understanding of truth, thus truth in form; and the female was created to be a will of good, thus good in form; and to both was imparted from the inmosts an inclination to conjunction into one... The two thus make one form, which emulates the marriage form of good and truth. It is said that it emulates this, because it is not the same but similar to it. For the good that conjoins itself with truth in the man is from the Lord immediately; but the—good of the wife which conjoins itself with truth in the man is from the Lord mediately through the wife. Therefore there are two goods, one internal the other external, which conjoin themselves with truth in the husband; and these effect that the husband is constantly in the understanding of truth and thence in wisdom through true marriage love." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 100).

MARRIAGE LOVE IS HOLY AS IT IS THE SEMINARY OF MEN AND ANGELS

The three principles of the New Church are love, wisdom, and use, or stated in a philosophical way, end, cause and effect.  One's end is one's intent or purpose from one's love, the cause is the mind on how to accomplish one's purpose, and the effect is the actual doing, which performs use.  All good things lead to what is useful, both spiritually and to society - these uses are the fruits of the spirit (see The Spiritual Meaning of Fruit in Scripture).  

And this is why marriage love between one man and one woman should be guarded against all other loves, for it is (obviously) the origin of the human race, and thence the angelic heaven:

"The reason why such a sphere of the marriage of good and truth goes forth from the Lord is that it is the sphere also of propagation, that is of prolification and fructification; and this is the same as the Divine providence for the conservation of the universe by successive generations." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 92)

And this is why all heavenly delights are contained in marriage love:

"[Marriage love] expands the inmost things of the mind, and at the same time the inmost things of the body, as the delicious current of its fountain flows through and opens them. It is because of the superior excellence of its use above all other uses that all delights from first to last are gathered into this love. Its use is the propagation of the human race, and of an angelic heaven therefrom; and as this use was the end of ends of the creation, it follows that all the states of blessedness satisfaction delight, gratification and pleasure that could ever be conferred on man by the Lord Creator are gathered into this love." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 68)

MARRIAGE LOVE AND ONE'S SPIRITUALITY GO HAND IN HAND

Since marriage love between one man and one woman originate from the spiritual influx of good and truth, the closer one follows marriage love the more that person will progress in their spiritual life. It is thus a requirement to those within the Christian church, which is based on the union of good with truth, or of the Lord with the Church. Swedenborg had the following dialogue with an angel:

""...all who regard adulteries as of no account, that is who believe from confirmation that they are not sins, and so do them of set purpose, are evil doers and impious in their heart. For the human conjugiale [marriage love] and religion go together at every step. Every advance, even every step from religion and in religion is also an advance and step from the conjugiale and in the conjugiale that is peculiar to the Christian man." To the question;—"What is this conjugiale?" he said:—"It is the desire of living with one only wife. And it is in the Christian man according to his religion."" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 80)

Marriage love is a result of growing spiritually in the Lord, away from base natural desires:

"But that marriage love is of the internal or spiritual man; and is therefore peculiar to man.—The reason why marriage love is of the internal or spiritual man is that the more intelligent and wise a man becomes the more he becomes internal or spiritual, and the more perfect becomes the form of his mind, and that form receives marriage love." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 95)
"Since wisdom is of life and thence of reason, as was said above, the question arises, What is wisdom of life? In a brief summary it is this:—To shun evils because they are hurtful to the soul, hurtful to the state, and hurtful to the body; and to do good deeds because they are of advantage to the soul, to the state, and to the body. This is the wisdom which is meant by wisdom wherewith marriage love allies itself. It allies itself therewith in truth by the fact that it shuns the evil of adultery as a bane to the soul, to the state, and to the body. And as this wisdom springs from spiritual things which are of the church, it follows that marriage love, because it is according to the state of wisdom is according to the state of the church in a man. It is also meant by this, that—as has been stated many times before—in the degree that a man becomes spiritual he is in true marriage love; for man is made spiritual by means of the spiritual things of the church." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 130)

Marriage love is a special gift given specifically to those who follow the Lord, for it is spiritual in nature:

"The reason why those who love the truths of the church and do its goods come into this love, and can abide in it is, that they and no others are received by the Lord; for they are in conjunction with Him, and thereby can be kept by Him in this love. There are two things which constitute the church and therefore heaven in man, truth of faith and good of life. Truth of faith constitutes the Lord's presence, and good of life according to truths of faith effects conjunction with Him, and thus makes the church and heaven. Truth of faith constitutes the Lord's presence because it is of the nature of light. Spiritual light is nothing else. Good of life effects conjunction because it is of the nature of heat. Spiritual heat is nothing else; for it is love, and good of life is of love. And it is known that all light even that of winter brings presence, and that heat united with light effects conjunction; for fruit and flower gardens appear in all light but do not blossom and bear fruit except when heat conjoins itself with light. From these considerations the conclusion is plain that they who only know the truths of the church cannot be gifted by the Lord with true marriage love, but they who both know its truths and do its goods." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 72)

LOVE OUTSIDE OF TRUE MARRIAGE LOVE SHOULD BE SHUNNED AS EVIL

Given that marriage love is holy, and originates from the Divine marriage of good and truth, and is the origin of the human race and the angelic heavens, and goes hand in hand with one's spiritual development, obviously all sexual relations outside of marriage love should be shunned:

"The reason why none can be in true marriage love but those who receive it from the Lord,—who are those who go directly to Him and from Him live the life of the church,—is that this love viewed from its origin and its correspondence is celestial, spiritual, holy, pure and clean, beyond every love that exists among the angels of heaven and among the men of the church... and these its attributes cannot be given except to those who are conjoined with the Lord and are consociated by Him with angels of heaven. For these shun loves outside of marriage, which are conjunctions with others than one's own consort, as they would flee from ruin of the soul and from the lakes of hell; and so far as consorts shun such conjunctions even as to the lusts of the will and intentions thence, in so far the love is purified in them, and gradually becomes spiritual,—first while they live on earth, and afterwards in heaven." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 71)

Swedenborg spoke with angels who said the ancients were given this advice for spiritual living:

"Sons, if you would love God and the neighbor, and if you would be wise, and be happy to eternity, we counsel you to live in single marriage. If you depart from this precept every heavenly joy will flee from you, and with it internal wisdom, and you will be destroyed." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 77)

Furthermore they said this:

"And we perceive the truth of it,—which is, that in so far as any man loves one only consort he becomes heavenly and internal; and that in so far as any man does not love one only consort he becomes natural and external—and does not love at all, except himself and the imaginations of his own mind, and is foolish and insane. It is on these considerations that we in this heaven are all in single marriage. And because we are so the boundaries of our heaven are all guarded against polygamists, adulterers, and whoremongers. If polygamists enter they are cast out—into the darkness of the north; if adulterers, they are cast out, into the fires of the west; and if whoremongers, they are cast out into the fatuous lights of the south." On hearing this I asked what he meant by the darkness of the north, the fires of the west, and the fatuous lights of the south. He answered:—"The darkness of the north is dullness of mind and ignorance of truth; the fires of the west are loves of evil; and the fatuous lights of the south are falsifications of truth. These are spiritual scortations." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 77)

From the above, there are three general degrees of sexual lusts that deviate from marriage love:

1. Polygamy
2. Fornication or harlotry
3. Adultery

These degrees progressively deviate from marriage love, from least offense to worst offense. Whereas marriage love leads to a life of heaven, adultery leads to the condemnation of hell.  So where does homosexuality fall in the above three categories?  Swedenborg discusses it briefly in two passages when discussing the sins of Sodom - in one case, he says it is the "evil of the worst adultery" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2220) and in another it is a "foulness which is contrary to the order of nature" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2322). Swedenborg does not dwell on the literal act of homosexuality itself, but what it represents in a spiritual sense. Whereas marriage love represents and corresponds to the union of love and truth, homosexuality corresponds to the love of self. It is thus diametrically opposed to the love of God. In multiple passages, Swedenborg describes how no adulterer is able to enter heaven, but are repelled by it due to their opposing and destructive love. To make matters worse, on multiple occasions Swedenborg mentions encountering "sodomite" hells (Spiritual Diary, n. 1977, 2675, 3768, 3796, 5939, 6096; Apocalypse Explained, n. 1006.2 - for further details, see the article What do the Writings say about homosexuality? by Jeremy Simons). Some passages may be just the hells are those who primarily are in the love of self, and not just those who engaged in homosexuality, but as said above, one's sexual life goes hand in hand with one's spirituality.

Thus it is sad to see that there are several Christian denominations and ministers who do not have a proper understanding of how important marriage love is in one's relationship with the Lord.  To make matters worse, one does not have to engage in adultery, one can commit spiritual adultery by consenting to it, and stating that there is no spiritual harm in such behavior (see also The Spiritual Consequences of Adultery and the Origin of Marriage Love):

"Adulteries of the third degree are adulteries of the reason, committed by those who by the understanding confirm that they are not evils of sin" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 490).
"Adulteries of the fourth degree are adulteries of the will, committed by those who regard them as allowable and pleasurable, and not of so much account as to make it worth the while to consult the understanding about them" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 492).

The reason for this is all actions are judged by the intent of the will, and consent in itself is an intention of the will.

SOME EXCEPTIONS FOR HOMOSEXUALITY AND PREMARITAL SEX

I give the worst warning first concerning homosexuality. Is there any exception? First, only God judges whether or not one goes to heaven or hell, which is why Jesus said to "judge not" (Matt. 7:1). Many homosexuals say they were "born this way."  There does happen to be a possible exception which is why in a previous post A Christian Revelation on Marriage and Sex I had said that homosexual relationships are at best "civil marriages," but definitely not spiritual ones.  The reason why I said this is twofold: for one, polygamy is permissible for societies that are not Christian who are in the mere natural love of sex (which I did not discuss here). Secondly, Swedenborg did acknowledge that some people happen to be born different, and do not have a capacity to understand or experience marriage love and tend to be asexual in nature. First, Swedenborg explains that "chastity" is not a state of virginity, but a chaste desire for marriage love:

"That chaste, is predicated only of monogamic marriages, or those of one man with one wife. The reason why chaste is predicated only of these marriages is that with them marriage love resides not in the natural man, but penetrates to the spiritual, and opens a way for itself successively to the very spiritual marriage—that of good and truth—which is its origin, and with which it conjoins itself" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 141).

But some people are born differently and are unable to receive marriage love, whom he calls "eunuchs":

"Chastity cannot be predicated of those born eunuchs; nor of those made eunuchs.—By those born eunuchs are meant especially those with whom from birth the ultimate of the love is wanting. And as in such case the first and mediate are without a foundation on which to subsist, these cannot come forth; or if they come forth such have no care to distinguish between the chaste and the unchaste,—for both are indifferent to them. But among these there are many differences. The case is nearly the same with those made eunuchs as with those born eunuchs. But those made eunuchs, because they are both men and women, cannot but regard marriage love as a fantasy, and its delights as fables. If there is anything of inclination in them it becomes neuter, that is neither chaste nor unchaste" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 151).

Thus for such people to act against marriage love is not so much of a sin as it is for others. To them, everything about marriage love is irrelevant. Interestingly, after the disciples said few would accept Jesus' command for marriage love, he said it is not for everyone, and that some were born as eunuchs (Matt. 19). However we would have to admit here that the term "eunuch" is typically used for those who do not engage in any sexual activity.

If we look at some science here, there is evidence of genetic abnormalities which can affect one's capacity to receive and accept marriage love (see Klinefelter Syndrome and Study of gay brothers may confirm X chromosome link to homosexuality).  Swedenborg does discuss evils that are inherited, and we are not judged for inherited evils, but for evils that are done by choice:

"No one ever suffers punishment in the other life on account of hereditary evil, because it is not his, and thus he is not to blame for being of this nature; but he suffers for actual evil, which is his own, and thus also for as much as he has appropriated to himself of hereditary evil by actual life" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2308)

However it has been called into doubt that homosexuality is genetic - it may be at best a tendency to account for some, but not all cases. We should not use genetics as an excuse for free choices we have made. Others have found links between homosexual behavior and how they grew up as a child:

"A number of studies have found that homosexuality is related to poor parental relationships, certain types of parents, a history of general frustration in interpersonal relationships with persons of the opposite sex, negative early heterosexual experiences, and poor identification with the same sexed parent (often based on covert expression of the parent's superego defects)...  Probably the most famous research which demolished the long-stranding belief that homosexuality was biological was published by Dr. Irving Bieber in 1962. Dr. Bieber and his researchers cited the case histories of 106 homosexuals who were treated by the Society of Medical Psychoanalysts. They found that a remarkable proportion of them had been reared by mothers who were over protective throughout their childhoods. The mothers of these homosexuals regarded their children as their "pride and joy"-to be protected from the hazards of growing up. According to this research, the mother jealously protected her boy from any girl who might show an interest in him. She often catered to his every whim and smothered him with affection, openly preferring him to her husband. Some of this attention had obvious sexual overtones, even to the extent of having him sleep in her bedroom until after he reached adolescence. In these cases, the son evidently unconsciously replaced the husband as a love object. Importantly, though, this type of mother and a father who is cold and aloof are both necessary. If a son of an overprotective mother has a warm, affectionate father who sets a good role example and the son can look up to him, homosexuality will not develop, according to Bieber." (from The Genetic Basis of Homosexuality)

Implied in the above study is lack of fatherly love, and early suppression of one's sexual desire.  On the latter point, Swedenborg does warn that suppression of sexual desire can be perverted into homosexual activity.  To guard against this, in such men where the sex drive is strong and there is a long delay before marriage, sexual activity before marriage may be a necessity:

"That with some men the love of sex cannot without harm be totally withheld from going forth in fornication.—There is no need to recount the injuries which excessive restraint of the love of sex may cause and effect with those who from superabundance suffer from intense venereal excitement. Hence are the earliest beginnings with them of certain diseases of the body and disorders of mind,—to say nothing of unknown evils, not to be named. It is different with those whose love of sex is so moderate that they are able to resist the urgings of its longing desire." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 450)

By "unknown evils, not to be named" Swedenborg is talking about homosexual activity, as it was commonly called by that euphemistic phrase in his day (see the article What do the Writings say about homosexuality? by Jeremy Simons, to show evidence for this). And then there is this passage:

"That with those who for various causes cannot yet enter into marriage, and on account of immoderate desire cannot control their lusts, it is possible that this desire for marriage may be preserved if the wandering love of sex be strictly confined to one mistress.—That immoderate and inordinate lust cannot be prevented by those who are salacious, reason sees and experience teaches. In order then that the immoderation and inordinacy may be curbed, and be brought to some moderation and rule, by those who are afflicted with raging heat and cannot for many reasons anticipate and hasten marriage—there seems no other refuge and as it were asylum than to take a paramour, called in French a maitresse. ...thereby inordinate promiscuous fornications are curbed, and limited, and a state of more restraint induced which is less alien to the life of marriage love... Likewise adulteries are thereby guarded against, which are whoredoms with wives; and ravishments, which are violations of virgins,—not to speak of criminal acts which are not to be named." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 459)

Again, suppressed sexual desire may find a perverted outlet in homosexual activity. The advice given in Swedenborg's work is a bit more broad and practical, and not so restricted as it may tend to be in other Christian literature. In this case, for some having a mistress before marriage is the lesser of evils. Swedenborg explains that total restraint on the sex drive is unnatural, and this has led to the crisis in the Catholic church where priests who have taken a vow of celibacy have sexually abused children. Such celibacy was never commanded, and Swedenborg was shown that those who prefer celibacy do not reach the highest state of happiness in heaven but dwell in a separate region at the sides of heaven:

"The reason why the unmarried are at the side of heaven is, that the sphere of perpetual celibacy greatly disturbs the sphere of marriage love, which is the very sphere of heaven. The sphere of marriage love is the very sphere of heaven because it descends from the heavenly marriage of the Lord and the church."  (Heaven and Hell, n. 54.5)

And in another passage, there is a warning of completely suppressing sexual desire in taking a vow of celibacy:

"Chastity cannot be predicated of those who have abjured marriages by a vow of perpetual celibacy, unless there is and abides in them a love of true marriage life.—Chastity cannot be predicated of these for the reason that after the vow of perpetual celibacy marriage love is driven out,—of which alone nevertheless chastity is predicable. And because an inclination to the sex is yet inherent, from creation and hence by birth; and when this is restrained and repressed it cannot be but that the inclination will break forth in heat, and with some in a ferment, which as it rises up from the body into the spirit infests, and with some befouls it; and it may be that the spirit thence befouled will befoul also the things of religion" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 155)

SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS

I have covered a lot of ground, and to every rule there is an exception, but generally one can tell how true a church is to Christianity and the Lord in how it values and protects monogamous marriage between one man and one woman. There are valid reasons for divorce, which I have not covered here. And to be fairly balanced, Swedenborg does talk about unhealthy "marriages of hell" where one partner tries to have dominion over the other. But homosexuality, at best, can only be permitted as a civil marriage, and is by no means a spiritual one. Contained within that activity is the threat of adultery against marriage love, the love between the Lord and the church, one's spiritual growth, and going against the Divine will of propagating the human race and thus the angelic heavens. And while there may be evidence of genetic tendencies, one should not discount one's free will to make a choice, and one should examine the possible psychological origins, especially the unnatural suppression of sexual desire.

There are many opinions on these matters, but Christians should prefer to follow the commandment of Jesus on this matter, and what has been revealed in heavenly revelations. I have provided here the spiritual rationale for what Jesus commanded. Is a cultural, experimental and unproven tradition more important? Jesus would ask us, "Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" (Matt. 15:3). And if so, He would then say, "for the sake of your tradition you have made void the Word of God" (Matt. 15:6). A servant cannot serve two masters. For those who have committed adultery, there is a way back, but only through repentance:

"I have been instructed by angels that when any one commits adultery on earth, heaven is then immediately closed to him, and he afterward lives only in worldly and corporeal things; and although he then hears of the things of love and faith, they still do not penetrate to his interiors; and what he says about them himself does not come from his interiors, but only from the memory and the mouth, being called forth by pride or the love of gain; for his interiors are closed up, and cannot be opened but by serious repentance." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2750)

A Christian Revelation on Marriage and Sex

One fundamental truth of Christianity is the sacredness of marriage between husband and wife. Jesus affirms that it is only lawful for a man to join in permanent union with his wife (Matt. 19:4-6), and that any union outside of marriage is against God's law. Christianity is based on the sacredness of marriage, and a new Divine revelation has been given that affirms this.

When it comes to marriage and sexual relations, they are to be distinguished according to spiritual degrees which in general correspond to one's intent or purpose in regards to love:

1. Spiritual marriages are between one man and one woman only which originate from a Divine influx between God and mankind.
2. Natural marriages are polygamous given by permission to those who are in ignorance of spiritual marriages.
3. Lustful relations are all other sexual relations which cause harm and profane what is spiritual.

Natural and lustful relations devolve into a love and self and pleasure. Spiritual marriage tends toward of love of another more than oneself and thus towards a love of God. Without understanding spiritual degrees, as most do not, one will devolve sexual relations into the lowest third category and not see any distinction between what is good and evil as the only criteria is self pleasure. Those who are in the highest spiritual degree will be seen by them as "intolerant" due to their lack of knowledge because they are in effect in opposite degrees to each other. All are born natural into a love of sex in general, but hidden within this love is a spiritual love of one of the sex. One is introduced to this spiritual love only through a love of the One God in Jesus Christ.

First let's discuss what is mentioned in the Bible in regards to marriage, how the Christian advent restored God's original law, and then finally discuss what has been revealed as to why marriage is a holy and sacred contract.

BIBLICAL COMMANDS AND LAWS OF PERMISSION

The Jewish laws were representative and symbolic, and were abrogated when they were fulfilled by the coming of Jesus Christ. Also many laws that were given by way of permission, adapted to those who were incapable of the higher good:

"It is to be known that very many things which were commanded by Jehovah or the Lord, in the internal sense do not signify that they were commanded, but that they were permitted." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 6914.5)

Not everyone will accept laws concerning marriage. Thus when Jesus spoke of marriage, he said it was not going to be received by everyone:

"Not everyone can accept this saying, but only those it has been given to." (Matt. 19:11)

Among the 10 commandments, the seventh forbids adultery. The 10 commandments tend to begin with what "not to do" as one must withdraw from evil before good can be implanted, and here the prohibition against adultery is to protect marriage. Adultery is one of the legitimate reasons for divorce as it breaks the marriage contract (Jer. 3:8).

Jesus says something else in regards to divorce: the law which permits divorce (Deut. 24:1-3) was given because of the evilness of the Israelites (Matt. 19:7-9). That this was given by way of permission is indicated by  God's original command as exemplified by the story of Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:24), by the law that a priest should not marry a divorced woman (Lev. 21:7,14), and that marriage should lead to godly offspring and divorce due to hate is a departure from God (Mal. 2:15-16). The implication here is that inasmuch one withdraws from God in doing evil one withdraws from the marriage contract, and the second implication is that due to evil, laws of permission are given to limit the evil and protect what is good in marriage.

Just as the Mosaic law permitted divorce it also permitted polygamy (Ex. 21:10). Polygamy is similar to divorce: it was allowed by means of permission because of evil tendencies and many would not accept monogamous marriage. That this was not the original command, but rather a law of permission, is indicated by these passages:

1. A king should not "acquire many wives" as his heart will turn away from God (Deut. 17:17).
2. In a polygamous relationship one wife will tend to be loved more than another. The Mosaic law guards against this by ensuring the inheritance rights of children (Deut. 21:15-17).
3. Jesus said it was Moses who permitted them to divorce their wives (Matt. 19:8), indicating polygamy like divorce was given by permission.

Laws of polygamy are for those who are natural and ignorant in spiritual matters. Animals are born with innate instinctual knowledge, but man is born into no knowledge and must be taught in spiritual matters. Thus one who is ignorant and regards marriage as no more than the love of sex and enters into a polygamous relationship cannot be judged to be evil (see Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 350). Thus it is allowed in Islam, for those who are ignorant in the identity of Jesus Christ. Muslims are generally kept in ignorance in regards to what the Bible teaches.

Beyond marriage after divorce, and polygamy, there is no other marriage contract given as permissible. Polygamy is not permitted to those who have entered a spiritual marriage contract, and as the Jews were a representative church and not a spiritual one it was permitted for them. The original command was for one man to marry one wife, to be one flesh (Gen. 2:24); other sexual unions that break this union are to be avoided and shunned as evil (examples of forbidden unions are given in Ex. 20:14, Lev. 18:8-23, 20:10-21, Deut. 27:20-23). Should one engage in sex before marriage, if consensual it should be confirmed in marriage (Ex. 22:16).

MARRIAGE CORRESPONDS TO ONE'S SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

That monogamous marriages are sacred is declared in the last book of the Old Testament:

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? (Mal. 2:15)

Earthly marriages between husband and wife correspond to one's spiritual relationship with God. A marriage of one husband and one wife corresponds to the worship of One God, and this is constantly emphasized in scripture as idolatry and worship of multiple gods is known as spiritual fornication and adultery.  A departure from One God is declared to be spiritual fornication and adultery in Isa. 1:21, Jer. 3:1-8, Eze. 16:32, 23:37, and in another case those who depart from One God will tend to engage in fornication and adultery (Hos. 4:13-14).

That spiritual adultery and marriage adultery correspond to each other can be seen in the the first and second tablets of the 10 commandments: the first 4 commands of the first tablet regard one's relationship with God and the second tablet of the latter 6 commands regard one's relationship with others. The first commandment declaring that there is One God corresponds to the fifth commandment of honoring one's father and mother, as in the spiritual sense a father and mother signifies God and the church. The second commandment which forbids idolatry or worship of multiple gods corresponds to the seventh commandment which forbids adultery.

In the Christian revelation, it is clearly stated that the marriage of one husband and one wife corresponds to the relationship between Jesus as the bridegroom and the church as the bride. Thus the disciples are called children of the bridechamber (Matt. 9:15), the kingdom of heaven is declared to be similar to a wedding banquet (Matt. 22:2-9) and of virgins meeting the bridegroom (Matt. 25:1-13) and when the Lord comes it is declared to the marriage of the Lamb of God (Rev. 19:7-9).

But why is this so? There is a rational reason behind it, but it would take a heavenly revelation to indicate why earthly marriages are sacred and correspond to the relationship between the Lord and His people.

A DIVINE REVELATION CONCERNING MARRIAGE

In the 18th century Emanuel Swedenborg received many revelations concerning Christianity, mainly concerning that Jesus Christ is the One God of the universe, that we should live by His commandments, that there is life after death, and indicating how and why books in the Bible are Divinely inspired. In all things, the Divine One is a union of Love and Truth, and this flows in as marriage love into the male and female forms of the human race. Anything that opposes this union of Love and Truth in marriage is opposed to God's will. Marriage love contains within it the highest heavenly love that can be experienced on earth, and this is a gift to those who desire and ask it from the Lord. Swedenborg's second to last published work was devoted to this one subject only, entitled Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, which contains accounts of his interactions with angels in the heavenly world on this one subject.

All things Divine are related to the marriage or union of Love and Truth. Love is one's purpose or intent, Truth or Wisdom is the thought in fulfilling one's purpose, and when joined together it manifests in Use or Usefulness, otherwise known in scripture as good works. Marriage love is from Divine influx, thus true marriage love is only possible in couples who live according to God's commandments and trust in the Lord.  Love and wisdom flow into the humans according to the following manner:

"the truth of good or truth from good is the masculine, and the good of truth or good from truth is the feminine" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 88).

Good must be in conjunction with truth and truth must be in conjunction with its good; separate from each other they cease to exist. This is the spiritual origin of marriage love in the male and female forms of the human race. Males are born into a form of intellect and intelligence:

"a perpetual union of love and wisdom or marriage of good and truth flows in from God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe; and that created subjects receive this, each according to its form. And that from this marriage or this union the male receives truth of wisdom, and to this the good of love is conjoined by the Lord according to reception; that the reception takes place in the understanding; and that from this fact the male is born to become intellectual." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 90).

Females, however, are born to be volitional and to be in affection for the intellect, and as love seeks its truth, and truth seeks its love, this leads to marriage love and union between a man and a woman:

"the male was created to be an understanding of truth, thus truth in form; and the female was created to be a will of good, thus good in form; and to both was imparted from the inmosts an inclination to conjunction into one" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 100)

Love and truth flow into living forms in the form of the will and understanding; when the will and understanding act as one that leads to useful activity.  In females there is a focus on the volition and in males there is a focus on the understanding. Divine influx causes the desire for each to seek their mate and be one, which is first a union of mind and afterwards a union of body. When this happens between a single pair in true marriage love, the love grows to eternity, and this is a spiritual union that is the sacred union within the Christian revelation, and among those who are wiser than others.

One rather interesting point - the Divine influx of marriage love flows into the female only and through the female into the male sex. This is one of the hidden abilities that women have over men, and it only became known to Swedenborg through heavenly revelation:

"That love and thence conjunction is inspired into the man by the wife, is at this day concealed from men, yea, is universally denied by them. The reason is that wives persuade that only the men love and they themselves receive; or that the men are loves and they obediences. And they rejoice in heart when men believe so...  The reason why the inspiration and insinuation of love is from the wives into men is that with men there is nothing of marriage love, nor even of love of the sex, but only with wives and women. That this is so has been shown me to the life in the spiritual world." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 161)

Swedenborg observed that there was a hidden sphere or aura that emanates from females, whereby the love of sex and marriage was insinuated into their husbands. He explains why this is so, albeit briefly since much of the knowledge would be misunderstood:

"That the masculine is an understanding form and the feminine a will form, and an understanding form cannot of itself grow warm with marriage heat, but from the conjunctive heat of one in whom it is implanted by creation. Just so it cannot receive that love except through the will form of a female adjoined to itself, because this also is a form of love." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 223)

As a corollary of this, since women are direct recipients of marriage love, as a general rule (with exceptions) it is more harmful to them than for males to engage in sexual promiscuity. Fornication and adultery are opposite to marriage love, and destroy it, albeit the latter more so than the former. On this subject see The Spiritual Consequences of Adultery and the Origin of Marriage Love. Other forms of sexual unions can be classified as purely natural, if the person is lacking in spiritual knowledge. But one should turn away from illicit sexual unions:

"[Marriage love] viewed from its origin and its correspondence is celestial, spiritual, holy, pure and clean, beyond every love that exists among the angels of heaven and among the men of the church... and these its attributes cannot be given except to those who are conjoined with the Lord and are consociated by Him with angels of heaven. For these shun loves outside of marriage, which are conjunctions with others than one's own consort, as they would flee from ruin of the soul and from the lakes of hell; and so far as consorts shun such conjunctions even as to the lusts of the will and intentions thence, in so far the love is purified in them, and gradually becomes spiritual,—first while they live on earth, and afterwards in heaven." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 71)

WHY TRUE CHRISTIANITY SHOULD DEFEND MARRIAGE

There is a general lack of understanding as to why true Christianity should defend traditional marriage, especially in this day and age. Swedenborg acknowledges that there is a lack in understanding of how marriage is related to the church, and thus those outside the church will take hold the opinion that such a view is intolerant:

"The marriage of the Lord and the Church and the correspondence of it are treated of here because without knowledge and understanding of this one can scarcely apprehend that marriage love in its origin is holy, spiritual, and heavenly, and that it is from the Lord. It is indeed said by some in the church that marriages have a relation to the marriage of the Lord with the church, but what the relation is is not known." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 223)

True Christianity and marriage go hand in hand, which is indicated by the fact that the Lord is called the bridegroom and the church is called the bride. Another similar correspondence is God is known as Father (Isa. 9:6, John 10:30, 12:44-45, 14:7-9), and the church is known as the Mother (Hos. 2:2,5, Ez. 16:45, 19:10, Isa. 50:1). From this correspondence, those who follow God's commandments and live by them are called His children throughout scripture. The reason for this is that goods and truths are spawned as children by conjunction of the Lord with the church:

"the spiritual offspring which are born of the marriage of the Lord with the Church are truths,—from which come understanding, perception, and all thought; and goods,—from which are love, charity, and all affection.—That goods and truths are the spiritual offspring born of the Lord by the Church, is because the Lord is good itself and truth itself, and these in Him are not two but one; and nothing can proceed from Him but what is in Him, and is Himself. That the marriage of good and truth proceeds from the Lord and flows into men, and is received according to the state of mind and life of those who are of the church" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 121)

The Word of scripture itself is a marriage of good and truth:

"the Word is the perfect marriage of good and truth; and because it is from the Lord, and what is from Him is in truth Himself, it results that when a man reads the Word and takes truth therefrom the Lord adjoins good." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 128)

As marriage originated from the union of good and truth, the more wise one is, the more one acknowledges and lives a life according to marriage love.  With man there are three degrees of truth:

1. Truth by knowledge, or what is known from the memory (experience, skill, from the five senses)
2. Truth by reason, what is learned by the understanding (civil level, what is applicable to use in the world)
3. Truth by wisdom, which is in regards to life in shunning evil and doing good (spiritual level)

Each of the the three degrees correspond to different levels of the mind. The highest is the spiritual, though which one has conjunction with the Divine. Wisdom, which is what is applicable to life, or one's spirituality, can also be measured in how one regards marriage love:

"Since wisdom is of life and thence of reason, as was said above, the question arises, What is wisdom of life? In a brief summary it is this:—To shun evils because they are hurtful to the soul, hurtful to the state, and hurtful to the body; and to do good deeds because they are of advantage to the soul, to the state, and to the body. This is the wisdom which is meant by wisdom wherewith marriage love allies itself. It allies itself therewith in truth by the fact that it shuns the evil of adultery as a bane to the soul, to the state, and to the body. And as this wisdom springs from spiritual things which are of the church, it follows that marriage love, because it is according to the state of wisdom is according to the state of the church in a man. It is also meant by this, that—as has been stated many times before—in the degree that a man becomes spiritual he is in true marriage love; for man is made spiritual by means of the spiritual things of the church." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 130)

And to those who have marriage love with their end in view, a soulmate is given by the Lord, whether in this life or in the next, for which see The Truth of Eternal Soul Mates and Twin Flames.

"marriage love is celestial spiritual and holy, because it corresponds to the celestial spiritual and holy marriage of the Lord and the church. This correspondence moreover follows from the origin of marriage love from the marriage of good and truth... because the marriage of good and truth is the church in man; for the marriage of good and truth is the same as the marriage of charity and faith, since good is of charity and truth is of faith. That this marriage constitutes the church cannot but be acknowledged, for it is a universal truth, and every universal truth is acknowledged as soon as it is heard—which comes of influx from the Lord and at the same time from the confirmation of heaven. Now, as the church is the Lord's, because from the Lord, and as marriage love corresponds to the marriage of the Lord and the church, it follows that this love is from the Lord." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 62)

"[Marriage love] is also the fundamental love of all loves, celestial, spiritual, and therefore natural. The reason why marriage love considered as to its essence is the fundamental love of all the loves of heaven and the church is, that its origin is from the marriage of good and truth, and from that marriage all the loves which make heaven and the church with man proceed." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 65)

The Shepherd of Hermas and Swedenborg: Fictional Parable or Vision?

Glory to God, by Tom DuBois

The Shepherd of Hermas is an early Christian work of the 1st and 2nd centuries, containing a series of visions and parables that a former Roman slave receives in dialogues with angels. It was quoted as scripture by the early church father Irenaeus, and it found its way into one of the earliest complete Bibles in existence, the Codex Sinaiticus.  The church father Eusebius stated it was still read in the churches in the fourth century.  The work has puzzled scholars: how could such a simplistic fictional parable find its way into the Bible and get quoted as scripture?

The work caught my attention because one of the visions describes a Christology that is unlike the typical trinitarian doctrine of the post-Nicene era, and is similar to the doctrine of the Divine Human of the New Church.  I covered this in detail in The Ancient Christology of the Shepherd of Hermas.  In parable it describes the Divine itself, the pre-existent Divine Human in heaven, and then Jesus as a man whose human form gets transformed to become one with the Divine.  The work was sent to Pope Clement of the Roman church, and from there it spread across to the Christian churches within the Roman Empire.  Would a work of fiction be treated in such a manner?

While modern readers would prefer to treat this work as a religious fiction, comparing it to Pilgrim's Progress, such a view is problematic.  This is summed up in an article by Henry Wace from A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography:

Are we to suppose that Hermas in relating his visions intended no more than to present edifying lessons in an allegorical form, and that it was merely as an instructive fiction that the book was regarded when it was introduced into public reading in the church? Donaldson says: "If the book be not inspired, then either the writer fancied he had seen these visions, or tried to make other people fancy this, or he clothed the work in a fictitious form designedly and undisguisedly. If he did the first, he must have been silly. If he did the second he must have been an impostor." But as he believes the author to have been "an honest upright, and thoughtful man," he concludes that he did the third, "as multitudes of others have done after him, with John Bunyan at their head." ...But we ourselves feel bound to reject this as altogether mistaken criticism, and as an application to the 2nd cent. of the standards of today. To us it seems plain that, whatever the author intended, the first readers of Hermas did not receive the book as mere allegorical fiction.

So let's take a deeper dive into this work.  For those who wish to read it, there is a critical text located here: Hermas Critical Text.  There are some older translations here: Early Christian Writings.

THE LATER FORGERY OF THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS

As I was reviewing the Shepherd of Hermas, to determine if its teachings were valid or not, I began to note several problems in the work.  The books is divided into 5 visions, 12 commandments, and 10 parables.  As I saw the problems I was about to toss out the work as one of fiction, but then I saw a pattern: all the internal problems with the Shepherd of Hermas are found only in the last 3 parables at the end of the work.

It then became apparent to me: the last 3 sections of the Shepherd of Hermas were added later by a clever forger.  So I decided to dig further - did any scholars on the Shepherd of Hermas reach the same conclusion?  The date and authorship is disputed among them, and the matter is by no means settled.  One scholar, Hilgenfeld, expressed the opinion that the last 3 parables were by a later author, who was the final editor of the work.  The original work was probably finished in the late 1st century A.D. under Pope Clement, and the last 3 parables were added by another author in the middle of the 2nd century A.D.  This is why there are conflicting opinions on the date of authorship.

The ninth parable is an obvious repeat of the original vision of the tower of the third vision.  In the ninth parable Hermas is strangely transported from Rome into Arcadia of Greece.  One scholar who analyzed it determined that the descriptions were probably borrowed from the Greek author Pausanius (see Hermas in Arcadia and Other Essays, 1896).  But there are deeper problems.  In the eighth parable, the archangel Michael is elevated so that it is this angel who inspires the "law into the hearts of them that believe" - and this is something that should be attributed to the Divine, not an angel.  From the visions of Swedenborg it is known one characteristic of angels is that they never claim anything as their own, but attribute everything to the Divine, and they themselves are but recipients.  The ninth describes twelve virgin angels, and then states that the Son of God "bears the name of the virgins."  This is false. It is the other way around: angels are recipients of the Divine, the Divine is not a recipient of properties of angels.  

In the original Shepherd of Hermas, Hermas is married with children, and in the very first vision is told to guard his thoughts against sexual immorality and adultery.  The warning is very strict.  And what happens in the ninth parable?  Hermas is now running around and frolicking with these 12 virgin angels, who kiss him on the cheek.  Moreover these 12 virgin angels are described as "holy spirits." 

So, what was the motive of the later forgery to the Shepherd of Hermas?  In the first four visions Hermas encounters a female angel, whom he mistakes for the oracle of the Sibyl.  It is explained that this female angel represents the church.  In the ninth parable, it is explained that the female angel really was not a woman, but rather the Son of God.  This is an obvious gloss.  Whoever added this forged section, had a problem with female teachers in the church.  This actually was an issue of the second century church, and it was suppressed by the male majority.

There was one other other motive of the forgery which is more subtle: it is to suppress the original Christology of the Shepherd of Hermas.  Whereas the original Hermas is not theologically minded, the forger has some theological ideas and wants to "correct" some of the things that Hermas wrote.  One thing that is obvious is that there is a preponderance of the phrase "Son of God" in this forged section which is absent in the earlier Hermas.  There is one statement that looks late, where it says that the Son of God was ""born before all His creation" which sounds like a post-Nicene statement (see The Nicene Creed: a distorted version of the Apostle's Creed and The False Belief of a Trinity of three beings: TRITHEISM).  The forger thus saw the original Christology of Hermas as problematic.  Hermas by this time had become popular in the Christian churches - they could not withdraw it, they could not change it, so the best option they thought of was to add this later section.

So those scholars who hold that Hermas was written as a fiction are partly correct.  More correctly, the latter portion was forged in order to suppress the early Christological teachings of Hermas.

THE NATURE OF THE VISIONS OF HERMAS

Unlike other apocryphal works, there is nothing "fantastic" that occurs in the visions of Hermas.  Instead, they are down to earth and give practical advice on how to live as a Christian, with an emphasis on reforming one's life and repentance.  The nature of the visions of Hermas, how they take place, vary.  In the first vision, as well as the second, Hermas is led to wander to a particular spot while under a trance:

"I fell into a trance as I walked. And an unseen-force seized me and carried me through a pathless region where no man could make his way, because it was very steep and eroded into ridges by the running waters."

This thus takes place while Hermas is fully awake.  Swedenborg experienced this mental state only once, and says it was often experienced by the ancient prophets:

"There are two kinds of visions that are not of the ordinary kind, into which I have been let only that I might know their nature, and what is meant by its being said in the Word that men were withdrawn from the body, and that they were carried by the spirit into another place.

"...As regards the other kind — being carried away by the spirit into another place — it has been shown me by living experience what it is, and how it is done, but this only two or three times. It may be well to present a single experience. Walking through the streets of a city and through the country, and being at the same time also in conversation with spirits, I did not know but that I was wide awake and saw as at other times; and so I walked on without mistake, and all the while I was in vision, seeing groves, rivers, palaces, houses, men, and many things besides. But after I had thus walked for hours, suddenly I was in the sight of the body, and became aware that I was in another place. Greatly amazed at this, I perceived that I had been in such a state as they were in, of whom it is said that they were led away by the spirit into another place; for while it lasts there is no reflection concerning the way, even if it be many miles; nor is there reflection on the time, even if it be many hours or days; nor is there perception of any fatigue. Then, too, one is led through ways of which he has no knowledge, even to the appointed place. This took place that I might know that a man can be led by the Lord without his knowing whence and whither." (Swedenborg, Heavenly Arcana, n. 1882, 1884)

In other cases, Hermas says the angel appeared to him in vision.  In others, he stated that it occurred while he slept through a dream.  Throughout he prays and fasts, and at one time is commanded to fast in order to receive further visions:

"Now in a night-vision, I beheld the old woman speaking to me, “Every question requires humility of spirit. Therefore, fast, and you will receive from the Lord what you ask.”"

This reminds me of the visions of Sarah Binayamo Boyanga, who was also commanded to fast in order to receive visions of heaven and hell (see A Divine Revelation from Africa, concerning Heaven and Hell).

In another instance Hermas hears a voice, or interior locution:

"As I was praising and giving thanks to him, an echo, as it were, of my voice answered me, “Do not be double-minded, Hermas.”"

This experience is well known among mystics of the Catholic Church.  Swedenborg states that in many cases the early prophets wrote down portions of the Bible from hearing a voice, called the "word of the Lord."

In the visions of Hermas, he has extended dialogues with angels, who present things to his vision in order to present a point.  To the modern mind which does not believe in visions, this in itself is "proof" enough that this is fictional and it is the safer view to take if one has a scholarly reputation to protect.  Although most would dismiss such an experience as impossible, there is a modern parallel in the waking visions of Emanuel Swedenborg in the 18th century.  Most of his works are purely theological, but his last work Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love.  It is part of a larger work containing the published works of Swedenborg, The Divine Revelation of the New Jerusalem.

In it is revealed that monogamous marriage is the ultimate expression of the highest spirituality here on earth.  The opposite, which is adultery, is the ultimate expression of hell on earth.   It is very similar to the Shepherd of Hermas - both warn of the spiritual consequences of sexual immorality.  Swedenborg introduces his work as follows:

"I foresee that many who read the following Relations and those after the chapters will believe they are fictions of the imagination; but I declare in truth that they are not fictions, but things actually done and seen. Nor were they seen in any somnolent state of mind, but in a state of full wakefulness. For it has pleased the Lord to manifest himself to me, and to send me to teach the things that will be for the New Church which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse. To this end He has opened the interiors of my mind and spirit, whereby He has given me to be in the spiritual world with angels and at the same time in the natural world with men—and this now for five and twenty years." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 1)

THE VISION OF THE SEVEN FEMALE ANGELS

The Shepherd of Hermas and Angelic Wisdom of Marriage Love are two similar works, so similar they will prompt a similar reaction to a modern audience.  Are they works of fiction or not?  Independent of that question, one should simply read them and examine if the statements are according to truth.  However I want to show here something rather strange, and this concerns the third vision of Hermas, which describes a tower being built which represents the church.  Around the tower, Hermas sees seven women:

When I ceased asking questions about all these matters, she said to me, “Do you wish to see something else?”
As I was eager to see more, I was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing visions.
She looked at me with a smile and said, “Do you see seven women around the tower?”
“Yes, lady,” I said.
“This tower is being supported by them in accordance with the Lord’s command. Now let me tell you their functions. The first of them, who is clasping her hands together, is called Faith. God’s elect are saved through her. The second, who has her garment tucked up and acts with vigor, is called Continence. She is the daughter of Faith. Whoever follows her will be happy in his life, because he will abstain from all evil deeds in the assurance that, by abstaining from all evil desire, he will inherit eternal life.”
“But, the others, who are they, lady?”
“They are the daughters one of the other. Their names are: Simplicity, Knowledge, Innocence, Reverence, and Love. When you perform all the acts of their mother then you are able to live.”
“Lady,” I said, “I would like to know what power each of them possesses.”
“You shall be told what kinds of powers they have,” she said. “Their powers are regulated by each other, and they follow one another in the order in which they are born. Continence is the daughter of Faith, Simplicity of Continence, Innocence of Simplicity, Reverence of Innocence, Knowledge of Reverence, Love of Knowledge. Their acts then, are pure, reverent and divine. Whoever serves them and embraces their acts will have a dwelling in the tower along with God’s holy ones.”

The names of these seven female angels, representing seven virtues, caught my attention.  However we have somewhat of a translation problem.  I checked the other translations and the original Greek, the names of the seven female angels should be as follows (Strong's number can be used to find instances of the word in the New Testament):

1. Faith (Greek Πίστεως, Strong's #4102)
2. Temperance/Self-control (Greek Ἐγκρατείας Strong's #1466)
3. Simplicity (Greek Ἁπλότης Strong's #572)
4. Guilelessness (Greek Ἀκακία - acacia)
5. Reverence / Respect (Greek Σεμνότης Strong's #4587)
6. Intelligence (Greek Ἐπιστήμη - episteme - means "justified true belief" in Plato) 
7. Love (Greek Ἀγάπη, Strong's #26)

The only question on translation is that of the Greek word episteme, from which we get epistemology.  The meaning of the word means different things to different Greek others, and for a convuluted analysis see Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - Episteme and Techne.  In Stoic philosophy, it means what is true and certain obtained through reason - see Stoicism - Epistemology.  In Hermas, it seems to be something different.  One might simply translate it as "knowledge." Roberts and Donaldson (1886) translated it as "intelligence" which I believe is correct from the context, as I will explain below.  Another mistranslation is corrected, "innocence" is more accurately rendered as "guilelessness" or "without guile."

THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL STAGES OF THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION

In Heavenly Arcana, Swedenborg from his waking visions describes how the seven days of creation are symbolic of seven stages of spiritual development.  It does not concern the creation of the world, as Creationists believe, but rather describes universal stages of spiritual development to create a new spiritual person (see Seven Stages of Spiritual Development for a brief overview).  In the Shepherd of Hermas - the seven virtues of the seven female angels closely correspond to the spiritual symbolism of the seven days of creation in the book of Genesis.  Not only do they correspond, but the sequence of virtues, where one virtues precedes the following, is very similar to the seven stages of spiritual development in which prior states must proceed the following.  How do they correspond?  One challenge we have here is the Shepherd of Hermas uses very simplistic terminology that Hermas could understand, as opposed to Swedenborg who was very exact in his language.  I will try to briefly summarize.

DAY 1: LET THERE BE LIGHT = FAITH FROM KNOWLEDGE

The first stage of spiritual development is knowledge of faith.  One cannot begin a spiritual process without first knowing about it.  Spiritual truth is symbolized by light, and as Jesus is the Divine truth incarnate He said "I am the light."  Spiritual truth first enters our mind through knowledge.  Knowledge is the first step.  In Shepherd of Hermas, this is described as the virtue of FAITH.  But I want to be clear here, there are two kinds of faith: a faith from knowledge in the memory, and a living faith where one lives by the truth.  What we are talking here is faith of knowledge of the memory:

"The progress of faith with those who are created anew is of this kind: at first they have no life, for there is no life in evil and falsity, but in good and truth; afterward they receive life from the Lord through faith — first through a faith of the memory, which is a faith of knowledge: then through faith in the understanding, which is an intellectual faith; after that through faith in the heart, which is a faith of love, or saving faith. Faith from knowledge and intellectual faith are represented, in verses 3 to 13, by things inanimate" (Heavenly Arcana, n. 30.2)

The first stage of development corresponds with the first virtue of Hermas, FAITH.  As knowledge is the first step, more specifically faith of knowledge, this is why I think the Greek word episteme used to describe the sixth state is a higher level concept.

DAY 2 - SEPARATION OF WATERS - TEMPTATION

In Heavenly Arcana, Swedenborg was shown how the second day of creation, as well as the flood of Noah, correspond with a state of temptation.  Once one receives and accepts faith from knowledge, one then should advance to the second stage, which is that of temptation.  What happens is that once one accepts the truth, there will be areas of one's life that do not correspond to the truth.  There will be sins and evils within us that need to be purged.  They can only be purged by going through a process of temptation.  The evils and falsities that flood the mind are literally compared to a flood of waters.

Compare this second state to the second virtue of Hermas: TEMPERANCE, SELF-CONTROL, CONTINENCE.  The parallel is unmistakable.  It is through temptation that one practices self control and restraint.

DAY 3 - DRY LAND, TREES - WORKS OF SELF EFFORT

In the third stage, one starts to practice the spiritual things one has learned.  But it is first done through self effort.  This closely corresponds, albeit with different language, to the third virtue of SIMPLICITY.  The virtue of simplicity I found hard to understand as to its original meaning, but it seems to have been well known among ancient Catholic theologians.  For this I consulted the article The Virtue of Simplicity in The Shepherd of Hermas by John Gibson, who states the following:

“In The Shepherd of Hermas the virtue of simplicity is emphasized as one of the most important virtues in the Christian life, and as we will see, simplicity for Hermas is the foundation of spirituality. Repeatedly, the book describes him something like this, “…Hermas the self-controlled, who abstains from every evil desire and is full of all simplicity and great innocence.” (Vision 1:2:4) No less than 17 times the Greek word ¡ploàj (haplous) for “simplicity” or some form of it appears in the book. The significant majority of the time it referred to simplicity in a moral sense. The few exceptions are when it refers to a way of giving to those in need and is usually translated “generously.””

Thus although the terminology is different, one can argue that the virtue of simplicity is indeed the same as works of charity through self effort.  Protestants, by the way, will have a hard time with this due to their false theology due to misunderstanding that Paul was talking about the "works" of the Jewish rituals (see A New Perspective on Paul and the New Church Perspective on Paul).

DAY 4 - SUN, MOON, STARS - SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT

In the fourth stage of spiritual development, one receives internal spiritual enlightenment.  Once one clears oneself of evil and falsity, one then makes room for the Divine influx of the Holy Spirit to flow in.  It first comes in as spiritual enlightenment.  One actually begins to enjoy living the Christian life, as one experiences an inner happiness and peace.

In the Shepherd of Hermas, instead of talking about an internal influx of spiritual enlightenment, the corresponding virtue is mentioned - GUILELESSNESS.  In other words, there are no lies or deceptions in one's words and deeds, one is completely honest.  Here we see a complex spiritual concept is described in simple terms for a former Roman slave to understand.

DAY 5 - FISH OF THE SEA, BIRDS OF THE AIR - LIVING FAITH

According to the revelations Swedenborg received on the spiritual sense of scripture, the fifth day of creation corresponds to a state where one lives by faith.  Faith is no longer merely knowledge, it is rather living by the truth.  And here we see there is a correspondence with the fifth virtue of Hermas, which is REVERENCE.  Reverence, respect or gravity has to do with fear of the Lord, where one reveres or fears the Lord in doing His will.  On the virtue of reverence, Hermas is later told the following:

"Clothe yourself with reverence in which there is no evil, which gives no stumbling-block, but in which is all smoothness and cheerfulness. Do good, and from the fruit of your labors which God gives you, give to all those in need"

In the Shepherd of Hermas it is a bit hard to distinguish between the virtue of simplicity and one of reverence, as this is the only passage where there is additional explanation given as to the meaning of the virtue.

DAY 6 - THE CREATION OF MAN AND WOMAN - LIVING LOVE FROM TRUTH

The sixth state is rarely reached, but represent the height of spiritual development, where one is wise and intelligence from the truth.  Here is Swedenborg's description of it:

"The sixth state is when man speaks truths and does good works from faith and thence from love. The things that he now produces are called the living soul, and the beast. And as he now begins to act at once both from faith and from love, he becomes a spiritual man, who is called an image. His spiritual life is delighted and sustained by the things that are of knowledges of faith, and that are of works of charity, which are called his food, and his natural life is delighted and sustained by those that belong to the body and the senses; from which a conflict arises, until love reigns and he becomes a celestial man." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 12)

Here I need to explain some terminology: a spiritual man is one who does good from truth, but a celestial man is one who does good from affection from love, and already knows truth from perception.  The spiritual man is in conflict with falsity and loves to debate about the truth, but a celestial person has no interest in this as they are in affections for love.  It is in the sixth stage that the spiritual person has reached the height of intellectual faith, described earlier.  In the spiritual person, the understanding is dominant:

"All things are called spiritual which are of the knowledges of faith; and all are called celestial which are of love to the Lord and the neighbor. The former pertain to man's understanding, the latter to his will." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 61) 

Thus the sixth virtue of Hermas corresponds to this state, which is here labelled as INTELLIGENCE.  We are not talking about mental intelligence here, but rather doing good according to one's spiritual understanding.  In another passage, Swedenborg in fact describes this state as the "good of intelligence":

"Good of a threefold kind is signified by remains, the good of infancy, the good of ignorance, and the good of intelligence. The good of infancy is that which is communicated to man from his very birth up to the age in which he is beginning to be instructed and to know something. The good of ignorance is what is communicated when he is being instructed and is beginning to know something. The good of intelligence is what is communicated when he can reflect upon what is good and what is true." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2282)

Thus we see there is an exact correspondence between the sixth virtue in the vision of Hermas, and the sixth state of spiritual development as described from the visions of Swedenborg.

DAY 7 - THE DAY OF REST - LOVE

In the first six stages of spiritual development, one is in constant combat against evils and falsities, at difference levels.  These six stages are of the understanding.  In the seventh state, love of the will becomes dominant over the truth of the understanding.  One cares more about love and its affections, about doing more so than understanding.  This Swedenborg calls the celestial state, which markedly differs from the former state, and is described in detail in the story of the Garden of Eden.  Here the parallel is obvious, for the seventh virtue of Hermas is LOVE.

PROOF OF A VISIONARY EXPERIENCE?

Is this a coincidence?  I do not think so.  Those who do not know the spiritual sense of scripture or the revelations received by Swedenborg would pass over the seven virtues described by the seven female angels in the Shepherd of Hermas as a mere "laundry list" of "nice things."  But there is an explicit pattern in them, according to a hidden spiritual law of order.  Compare it to the forged section of Hermas, where there are 12 virgin angels and the explanation of their virtues make no sense whatsoever.  Did Swedenborg simply borrow from the Shepherd of Hermas?  I do not think so.  He would have pointed it out.  In his day the work was all but forgotten.  According to Catholic Encyclopedia: Hermas the text of Hermas was made available to the public on the following dates:

"The "Shepherd" was first printed in Latin by Faber Stapulensis (Lefèvre d'Etaples) in "Liber trium virorum et trium spiritualium virginum" (Paris, 1513); better edition by Fell (Oxford, 1685), and especially by Hilgenfeld (Leipzig, 1873), and von Gebhardt (Leipzig, 1877)."

So, there is a possibility Swedenborg could have read the Shepherd of Hermas if he frequented the proper library.  But still it was an obscure work, and he was told in his waking visions to avoid theological works so that the spiritual information could come through uninfluenced.  Different terminology is used.  I consider this unlikely, as his work does contain evidence he was obtaining information from a spiritual source - such as he knew the contents of the book of Jasher, and he knew that Genesis chapters 1-11 was composed from earlier sources.  This he had from angels, which was later confirmed by archaeologists of the 19th century, long after Swedenborg had died.  Moreover, his clairvoyant experiences were well known and documented by his contemporaries.

Thus, we see we have an element of "proof" that both Swedenborg author of the Shepherd of Hermas received visions.  But again, it is important to examine and read the works themselves, and ask oneself do they describe the truth or not?  That is the ultimate test.

THE SEVEN FEMALE ANGELS OF THE FOUNTAIN

I want to point out one last parallel between the Shepherd of Hermas and Swedenborg's work Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love.  We covered in detail the seven virtues of the seven women of the tower in the third vision of Hermas.  Both warn against sexual immorality.  Here, I thought was something funny - Swedenborg, in one of his waking visions, encountered seven female angels by a fountain in heaven, to discuss the merits of marriage love.

"I was once looking through a window toward the east and saw seven wives sitting on a bank of roses by a certain fountain, drinking of the water. I looked intently to see what they were doing, and the intentness of my gaze affected them. Whereupon one of them by nod invited me, and I left the house and speedily went to them. When I arrived I asked politely from whence they came.
They said:—"We are wives, and are having a conversation here about the delights of marriage love; and from much confirmation we conclude that those delights are also delights of wisdom."" (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 293)

An interesting coincidence, we have seven female angels in the Shepherd of Hermas by a tower built on water, and in Swedenborg's vision seven female angels by a fountain.  And there they explain why the delights of marriage love between one man and one woman are the delights of wisdom.  In this discussion, the union between the male and female in heaven is at a higher level between love and truth, and is not one of the physical.  Similar to the admonition given to Hermas to keep his thought above lust, they likewise warn Swedenborg:

"Be careful that by the delights we have spoken of you do not understand the ultimate delights of the love. Of these we never speak, but of our bosom delights, the perpetual correspondence of which is with the state of wisdom of our husbands." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 293)

A little boy then comes and delivers a message to Swedenborg, which he commanded him to read to the seven "virgins of the fountain":

"And I read these words:—"Tell the inhabitants of the earth with whom you dwell that there is a true marriage love, the delights of which are myriads—scarcely any of which does the world yet know, but it will know when the church espouses herself to her Lord and marries."
And then I asked:—"Why did the boy call you Virgins of the Fountain?" They replied:—"We are called virgins when we are sitting at this fountain because we are affections for the truths of our husbands' wisdom, and an affection for truth is called a virgin. A fountain also signifies truth of wisdom, and the bank of roses whereon we are sitting signifies its delights."
Then one of the seven twined a wreath of roses and sprinkled it with water of the fountain, and placed it on the boy's cap around his little head, and said:—"Receive the delights of intelligence. Know that a cap signifies intelligence, and a wreath of roses, the delights of it." (Angelic Wisdom concerning Marriage Love, n. 293)

And we thus come full circle back to the seven female angels of the vision of Hermas, the sixth of which is intelligence, and the seventh of which represents love.  It is thus fitting that one of the last published works of Swedenborg neatly finishes off the vision of of Hermas at the beginning of the Christian era.  Perhaps not a coincidence at all.