The Dream of Solomon and the Sword of Judgment

Recently I had a dream of a female angelic being with a sword, which I described in A Clairvoyant Dream of an Angel and a Celtic Fairy Tale and later in An Angelic Visitation at Death and a Funeral. I was looking for any other possible symbolic meaning to the dream, and found in scripture the story of the dream of Solomon, which is followed by a judgment by sword upon two women. This is described in 1 Kings 3. Below is the hidden spiritual meaning behind the dream of Solomon, according to the spiritual sense of scripture as revealed to Swedenborg in the 18th century. I could not find an exact quote of the passage from the books of Swedenborg in my library, but luckily we have other similar passages where we can discover the hidden spiritual meaning.

THE MEANING OF SOLOMON'S MARRIAGE WITH PHAROAH'S DAUGHTER

The passage of 1 Kings 3 begin's with Solomon's marriage to the daughter of Pharoah, king of Egypt, and the building of Solomon's temple. Solomon built three main houses: the temple at Jerusalem, a house in Lebanon, and another house for Pharoah's daughter, his wife. Behind these historical events there is a hidden spiritual meaning:

"Because Solomon represented the Lord in relation to both the celestial and the spiritual kingdoms, and as all who are of both these kingdoms are in intelligence and wisdom through the knowledges (cognitiones) of truth and good and knowledges (scientifica) that confirm these, therefore,
Solomon took the daughter of Pharaoh to wife, and brought her into the city of David (1 Kings iii. 1);
And afterwards he built for the daughter of Pharaoh a house beside the porch (1 Kings vii. 8);
By this also was represented that knowledge (scientia), upon which all intelligence and wisdom is based, is signified by "Egypt" in a good sense. And as every man of the church has a spiritual, a rational, and a natural, therefore Solomon built three houses, the house of God or the temple to stand for the spiritual, the house of the forest of Lebanon for the rational (for a "cedar" and thence "Lebanon" signifies the rational), and the house of the daughter of Pharaoh for the natural. These arcana are not apparent in the historical sense of the Word, but still they lie concealed in its spiritual sense." (Apocalypse Explained, n. 654.33)

King David represents the Lord during the time he fought against the powers of hell, but King Solomon represents the Lord ruling in peace in heaven. The three houses built by Solomon represent three levels or three spiritual degrees in each person:

1. The lowest natural, which dwells in knowledges and external appearances of the senses. This is represented by Egypt, an ancient civilization that was the repository of ancient knowledge.
2. The rational, a higher level of thinking above knowledge alone. This also represents those who do good by the truth. The higher spiritual flows into the lower natural through the rational mind. This is represented by the house of Lebanon.
3. The higher spiritual self, which is primarily in love towards others and thence in wisdom. In other passages Swedenborg calls this the "celestial," which only comes forth in love.

The spiritual progression of each person is from the natural, to the rational, to the spiritual. Most never go beyond the natural, which are knowledges and pleasures of the senses.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THE SACRIFICES AT GIBEON

The pool of Gibeon, mentioned in 2 Sam. 2:13

Right after the marriage to the daughter of Pharoah, Solomon proceeds to Gibeon and offers animal sacrifices there. In the book of Joshua, the Israelites entered into a covenant with the Gibeonites, where they would be slaves to them and draw water and be hewers of wood. In the spiritual sense, "Gibeon" signifies those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge alone:

"To draw waters is to be instructed, to understand, and to be wise. Again: Bring ye waters to him who is thirsty, ye inhabitants of the land of Tema (xxi. 14). To bring waters to him who is thirsty means to instruct. Again: The afflicted and the needy seek waters, and there are none, and their tongue faileth for thirst (xli. 17). They that seek waters, are they who desire to be instructed in truths; that there are none, signifies that no one has truths. Moreover, by those drawing waters were represented in the Jewish Church those who continually desire to know truths, but for no other end than the knowing, caring nothing for the use from knowing them. Such were held among the lowest, and were represented by the Gibeonites (concerning whom see Joshua ix. 21, 23, 27)." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3058)

At Gibeon, Solomon offers a thousand animal sacrifices upon the altar (1 Kings 3:4).  In the spiritual sense, this signifies an advancement of one's spiritual state to seeking to use knowledge for the sake of good or usefulness, this is representing by the altar. All animal sacrifices, in the spiritual sense, means surrendering something of one's lower natural, and this is why the flesh of animals was burned upon the altar.

The marriage of Solomon with the daughter of Egypt represents the state in which one who is spiritual who gathers and makes use of knowledge that is in conjunction with one's spiritual life. Knowledges are first sought and gained to confirm one's inner reality of spirituality of love and truth, and then when they are looked upon to serving some use, this is signified by the sacrifice of animals at the high place of Gibeon.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF THE DREAM OF SOLOMON

Dream of Solomon, by Luca Giordano

After the sacrifices at Gibeon, Solomon next receives a dream from the Lord:

At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” (1 Kings 3:5-14)

Note here everything in particular follows in a series. First Solomon marries a daughter of Pharoah, which is conjunction with an affection for gaining knowledge. Then he sacrifices at Gibeon, which is a desire to make use of knowledge for good. Then he has a dream, where he describes himself as a child. A child signifies a state of learning knowledge. A dream, in the spiritual sense, signifies Divine revelation and influx, through obscure perception (Heavenly Arcana, n. 5219). As one learns knowledge, if one seeks to make use of it for good, the Divine flows in from the higher spiritual and elevates knowledge into understanding, and from thence into wisdom. Wisdom is making use of knowledge to apply it to one's life. However the perception of this is at first obscure, until one applies it to life:

THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON ON TWO PROSTITUTES

The Judgment of Solomon, by Peter Paul Rubens

Following the dream of Solomon, there is the famous story of the judgment of Solomon upon two harlots or prostitutes. Behind the literal story there is a spiritual meaning, but it is worth quoting the story in full as the literal sense is interesting in itself:

"Then two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. And we were alone. There was no one else with us in the house; only we two were in the house. And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on him. And she arose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, he was dead. But when I looked at him closely in the morning, behold, he was not the child that I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine.” Thus they spoke before the king. Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; and the other says, ‘No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” And the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So a sword was brought before the king. And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him.” Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.” And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice." (I Kings 3:16-28)

So that is the literal story. What is the internal spiritual meaning? Harlots, or prostitutes, in the spiritual sense signify falsification of truth, which is distinct from committing adultery. There are three main types of falsifications of the truth, which Swedenborg enumerates in the following passage:

"In the Word frequent mention is made of committing whoredom, and thereby is signified illegitimate conjunction with truth, and by committing adultery is signified illegitimate conjunction with good. Thus by committing whoredom is signified the falsification of truth, and by committing adultery the adulteration of good. The falsification of truth is effected in a threefold manner: — First, if man is in evil of life and acknowledges truths of doctrine; for in this case evil is inwardly in the truths, and evil falsifies truth, since evil dissipates what is heavenly and Divine out of truths and implants what is infernal; from which is falsification.
"Secondly, if man is at first in truths as to doctrine and afterward accedes to the falsity of other doctrine, which is effected only with those who are in evil of life, since evil seeks falsity and eagerly seizes upon it for truth. Thirdly, if man who is in evil as to life and in falsities as to doctrine seizes upon the truths of other doctrine, he also falsifies truths, inasmuch as he does not acknowledge truths for the sake of truths, but for the sake of something of gain, honor, or reputation." (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10648.2-3)

In the judgment of Solomon upon two prostitutes, a wise and discerning choice is made. It is the toughest and most important choice one makes in one's life: what is the most true religion?  What is the truth one should follow in life? It is a tough choice, because to find out one must identify the falsehood of evil and remove it. The following is the spiritual sense, but at this point I will just provide the answer without quoting the works of Swedenborg (the main ones are Heavenly Arcana and Apocalypse Revealed and Explained):

One woman represents one who has fallen into an evil way of life with its falsehood, but encounters a truth and nurtures it. She ceases to be a harlot and becomes a mother, that is, she rejects her past life and starts living according to the truth. Three days signifies a most holy state, where one is sanctified by the truth by withdrawing from evil.

The other woman represents one who is the evil of life and its corresponding falsehood. Those in this state suffocate and extinguish truth by their falsehoods; this is represented by her child being suffocated in bed. However this also represents those who seize upon other truths and make it their own to serve their own needs and purposes, thus falsifying the truth. The child, representing truth, is held captive, or in a state where the child's identity and thus the truth is unknown. The babies are exchanged: this represents those who declare a falsehood as the truth and make the truth appear as a falsehood. It represents those who want to take away the truth from others for their own selfish purposes. This happens at night, which represents a state of obscurity and unawareness. It represents a state of not knowing which religion is true.

The woman of the living child representing those who had departed from evil and falsehood towards an affection for truth, realizes upon waking up that the dead baby is not theirs. This is in the morning, which signifies a new state of enlightenment. This represents those who have discovered a new truth, and begin to love it, and to reject the falsehood that is presented as truth. But they also realize that those in an evil way of life with its falsehood wish to take it away. This can represent a state of those who belong to a false religion, who then see the truth and love it, but they begin to realize that those of that false religion wish to falsify the truth they have discovered and keep them captive in darkness.

This then leads to a conflict - the two women argue as to who is the mother, and this signifies a state of conflict and temptation as what truth or what religion one should follow. A "mother" in the spiritual sense signifies a church, and to argue as to who is the mother is to be in a state of trying to determine what religion is true.

To end the state of doubt and temptation they both go to the king, which in the spiritual sense signifies Divine spiritual truth. That this is so, is indicated by the fact that Solomon just had a dream in which the Lord promised to give him wisdom. On one's own one can determine nothing, and in this situation it is necessary to seek a higher level truth from the Divine. For Solomon to ask for a sword, signifies Divine truth that fights against falsehood.

What the spiritual truth reveals, if that if a competing affection for falsity from an evil life continues, the child - the innocence of truth - will be profaned, by acknowledging a false mother, a false religion. For the woman to give up the child to the other woman, signifies the desperate hope that truth would still continue to live in conjunction with a falsehood from evil. However any affection for falsity from an evil life will extinguish and kill any truth that does not agree with its affection for falsehood. Given this situation, the Divine truth represented by the king reveals it is necessary to reject the affection for falsehood from an evil life. When this rejection occurs, the child is united with the woman who is the true mother. The woman is no longer a harlot, but a mother. This signifies that once an affection for falsehood from an evil life is rejected, truth will become united with its affection in love, and it will becomes a spiritual affection for the truth from love, which is signified by mother.

Thus the story of Solomon, with a sword applied to divide the child between two mothers, represents the hard choice one needs to make in departing from a way of falsehood to the way of truth. It is a very hard choice to make, and one that cuts to the heart.

OTHER HIGHER SPIRITUAL APPLICATIONS

Dont judge a book by its cover

When one looks at the spiritual sense of this story, what is interesting is something else that was hidden: the woman who is the mother of the living child may in fact not have been a prostitute at all, but only appeared that way, or she could have been misled into that way of life. Genesis 38 contains the odd and funny story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. Judah refuses to give his sons to Tamar, and in the end Tamar pretends to be a prostitute and seduces Judah, not knowing her true identity. Nine months later, when Judah hears that Tamar is with child, he wants to burn her alive while pregnant. Tamar then reveals that Judah is the father of the child. In the spiritual sense there is something hidden here, and it has to do with the religion of Judaism: Judaism is but an external representation of a spiritual church. These external rituals the Jews profaned with their idolatry, and this is represented by Judah thinking Tamar is a prostitute. But this is a false appearance, for hidden within the Jewish rituals there are symbolic representations of the true spiritual church.

A similar thing happened with the virgin Mary. When Jesus was born, the Jewish pharisees declared him to be an illegitimate child, the child of a harlot. But this again is a false appearance, a false judgment from their own evil. For Jesus was not an illegitimate child, but rather the Son of the living God. And this is the other hidden meaning within the story of the judgment of Solomon: a false accusation was made by the Jews, and skeptics, against Christianity, that the child was illegitimate, and thus it is a dead religion. But those who are wise and discerning like Solomon, can see this is not true, but rather that Jesus is the Son of God.

So indeed, the judgment of Solomon is one that cuts to the heart and soul, and it is the most important discerning decision one can make. Never judge a book by its cover, for hidden within the book may be a story that will surprise you. 

Skeptical Rational Thought vs. Revelation

Out of curiosity, I joined an online chat room whose topic was supposedly "religion" to see how the conversation was going. The chat had nothing to do with religion. I presumed that people of different viewpoints had joined, so I posed the question: would everyone agree that love is what is common to all religions, or that it is highest principle of most religions? The response I got back was merely "no." As to what is common, no answer. The conversation then degraded into whether or not God existed or not. I moved on to the afterlife, and the Near Death Experience, the response was, there is no proof. I said there was plenty of proof, including evidence of conscious thought with no brain activity, as well as clairvoyant abilities soon after death. The response was simplistic: these people did not die. Whatever topic I brought up, the only response was a denial to the negative. So I opened the floor and asked what is your philosophy then? The answer was "My own philosophy." The question was in fact a test to see whether or not these skeptics could actually make any statement that was POSITIVE and not NEGATIVE. They were unable. All they could say was "that is not so" or "that is not true." And that is the case I find with rational skeptics: all they can do is make statements to the negative to bring doubt to any line of query.

This happens to be the line of thought in most discussions concerning philosophy: it typically degrades into rational skepticism, where the debate degrades into whether or not something is true or not, but the typical conclusion is to the negative. In another chat room concerning philosophy, they could not even agree that there was such a thing as intrinsic good or evil. When I asked, why do all societies have laws? Or, why do we have a legal system? Silence. No answer.



Since rational skeptics can provide no answers, I will explain what is probably the underlying philosophy, which is that of modern materialism:

1. The goal in life is to bring maximum pleasure to one's own self or ego. 

2. Good is what brings pleasure to the self, evil is what brings pain to the self. 

3. Logic and rationality is the ultimate means of knowing truth. 

4. Truth can only be confirmed by what we see, or, materialism is the ultimate reality.

The problem here is that when one is in the love of self, or in the pride of one's own intelligence, one will tend to confirm that which is in accordance to one's life. It is an internal bias we all have: we justify to ourselves that what we do is right. How do we get out of this cycle? The first step is to admit we may be wrong. When there is no love towards God and others, and when there is no acknowledgement of the one God, or there is no knowledge of higher realms above the material, then one's self becomes one's own god. For in fact, there are only two choices in life: one of love and service towards others, or one that serves the selfish ego. The latter fall into a philosophy of materialism, and the typical goal is to get more for one's self than others, and if one perceives someone else is in a better position, the result is competition and jealousy. Without love and humility, one will tend towards the opposite: jealousy and pride. No matter what your religion or philosophy, these are the only two choices in life.

IS THERE LOGICAL PROOF FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD?

Rational skeptics typically demand a logical proof for God. But there isn't any. Why? The underlying assumption in the search for a proof for God or the afterlife is that rational logic is the ultimate form of truth. It is not: it is a lower form or system of truth. Why so? Because any logical system must first make a set of assumptions which cannot be proven. And those assumptions are not subject to proof: by definition, an assumption must be accepted on faith. There is no logical proof which does not begin with a set of assumptions that cannot be proven, and this is why logic and rational thinking is a lower form of truth. So without guidance or revelation, everyone is free to form their own sets of logical proofs for their own assumptions.

And this is a key point: the existence of God cannot be proven, God can only reveal Himself. This can be from dreams, visions, prophecies, or what is most common, the written Word. Spiritual truth is a higher set of truth, truth derived from the outer world and the senses is lower. Once a higher spiritual truth is accepted, one can then find innumerable confirmations of the truth from scientific knowledge and rational thought. But without revelation, everyone can arrive at a different conclusion, thus there are multiple religions. Emanuel Swedenborg spoke at length on these matters:

As to the quality of the one God, nations and peoples have differed and still differ, from several causes. The first cause is, that knowledge concerning God, and thence acknowledgment of Him, is not attainable without revelation; and knowledge concerning the Lord and thence acknowledgment, that in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, is not attainable except from the Word, which is the crown of revelations. For by the revelation which is given man is able to approach God and to receive influx, and so from natural to become spiritual. (True Christian Religion, n. 11)

That nothing would be known of the spiritual realm without revelation, is from the fact that whereas animals are born with instincts, man is born into ignorance and must be taught:

Man without a revelation from the Divine cannot know anything about eternal life, nor indeed anything about God, and still less about love to Him and faith in Him. For man is born into mere ignorance, and has afterward all things to learn from what is of the world, and form thereof his understanding. He is also born hereditarily into all evil which is of self-love and the love of the world, the enjoyments therefrom reigning continually and suggesting such things as are diametrically opposed to the Divine. It follows from this that man of himself knows nothing about eternal life; and therefore there must necessarily be a revelation to communicate such knowledge. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10318)

Moreover, when one lapses into self love and materialism, there is a tendency towards denial of spiritual matters despite the revelation:

That the evils of the love of self and of the world induce such ignorance about what belongs to eternal life, is very manifest from those within the church who, though they know from revelation that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is eternal life, and that that life is to be acquired by the good of love and faith, still lapse into denial concerning these things, as well the learned as the unlearned. From this again it is plain what great ignorance would prevail if there should be no revelation. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10319)

The problem arose as knowledge of God was originally directly known through dreams and visions, when this contact became broken, it was necessary to have these revelations written in scripture:

The men of the Most Ancient Church had knowledge of true faith by revelations; for they spoke with the Lord and with angels. Also they were instructed by visions and dreams, of which they had the most delightful and paradisal. They had perception from the Lord continually, of such sort that when they thought from the things that were in the memory they at once perceived whether the thing was true and good; even so that when any thing false was presented they were struck not merely with aversion, but with horror. And such is the state of angels. But afterward in place of the perception of the Most Ancient Church, there followed a knowledge of truth and good from what had been revealed before; and after that, from what was revealed in the Word. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 125)

How would Emanuel Swedenborg know this? He experienced it firsthand for many years. See The Confirmed Clairvoyance of Emanuel Swedenborg.

THE AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE PRINCIPLE

So, if the existence of God is only to be known by revelation, then there are two types of people: those who accept it are in affirmative thought, those who have a tendency to deny it will be in negative thought. Those who accept it in the affirmative, can then confirm it (should they choose to do so) by examining external knowledge from the senses through logic and reason, for Divine truths will be in accordance in reason, down to the smallest of things in creation. Affirmative and negative thought are described by Swedenborg in detail:

...while the doctrine of faith is regarded from rational things, that is, while a man does not believe before he is persuaded from them that it is so, it then not only becomes nought, but whatever is therein is also denied; but when rational things are regarded from the doctrine of faith, that is, when one believes in the Word, and then the same things are confirmed by rational things, the doctrine is then living and whatever is therein is affirmed.
There are two principles, therefore; one which leads to all folly and insanity, and another which leads to all intelligence and wisdom. The former principle is to deny all things, or to say in one's heart that he cannot believe them before he is convinced by things which he can apprehend, or perceive by the senses: this is the principle that leads to all folly and insanity, and it is to be called the negative principle. The other principle is to affirm the things which are of doctrine from the Word, or to think and believe in one's self that they are true because the Lord has said them: this is the principle which leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and is to be called the affirmative principle.
They who think from the negative principle, the more they consult what is rational, of external knowledge, and of philosophy, the more do they cast and precipitate themselves into darkness, till at length they deny all things. The causes are, that no one can apprehend higher things from lower ones, that is, spiritual and celestial things, still less Divine, from lower ones, because they transcend all understanding, and moreover everything is then involved in negatives from the [negative] principle. But, on the contrary, they who think from an affirmative principle can confirm themselves by whatever things of reason, of outward knowledge, indeed of philosophy, they have at command; for all these are confirming things to them, and give them a fuller idea of the matter.
Moreover, some are in doubt before they deny, and some are in doubt before they affirm. Those who are in doubt before they deny, are they who incline to a life of evil; and when this life carries them away, then so far as they think of those things, they deny them. But those who are in doubt before they affirm, are they who incline to a life of good; and when they suffer themselves to be bended to this by the Lord, then so far as they think of those things at the time, so far they affirm. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2568)

Again Swedenborg says more on the affirmative and negative principle way of thinking:

...there are two principles from which they think, a negative and an affirmative; and that those think from the negative principle, who believe nothing unless they are convinced by what is of reason and outward knowledge, and indeed of sense; but those from the affirmative, who believe that things are true because the Lord has said them in the Word, and thus who have faith in the Lord. Those who are in the negative in regard to a thing being true because it is in the Word, say in heart that they will believe when they are persuaded by reason and outward knowledge. But the fact is that they never believe; and indeed they would not believe if they were to be convinced by their bodily senses, by sight, hearing, and touch; for they would always be forming new reasonings against the things, and thus end by altogether extinguishing all faith, and at the same time turning the light of the rational into darkness, because into falsities. But those who are in the affirmative, that is, who believe that things are true because the Lord has said so, are continually being confirmed, and their ideas enlightened and strengthened, by what is of reason and outward knowledge and even by what is of sense; for man has light from no other source than through reason and knowledge, and such is the way with every one. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2588)

Do those who react in the affirmative deny all rational thought? Persuasive religions, where the teachings are in obvious disagreement with fact or reason, will try to avoid questioning or rational thought. But higher Divine truths will always be in agreement with rational thought:

...Hence it is clear of how great concern it is, that truths should be known, and be believed; for man is enlightened by truths, but is made blind by falsities. By truths there is opened to the rational an immense and almost unbounded field; but by falsities almost none in comparison, though the appearance be otherwise. Hence the angels have so great wisdom, because they are in truths; for truth is the very light of heaven.
They who made themselves blind by not being willing to believe anything which they did not apprehend by the senses, until at length they believed nothing, were in old times called serpents of the tree of knowledge; for they reasoned much from sensual things and their fallacies, which easily fall into man's apprehension and belief, and seduced many (see n. 195, 196). In the other life they are readily distinguished from other spirits, by this, that in regard to all things of faith they reason whether it be so; and if it is shown to them a thousand and a thousand times that it is so, they still propose negative doubts against every confirming thing, and this they would do if it were for ever. They are therefore made blind to so great a degree that they have not common sense, that is, cannot comprehend what is good and true; and yet every one of them thinks himself wise above all in the universe; placing wisdom in being able to make void what is Divine, and deduce it from what is natural. Many who were esteemed as wise in the world are of this nature more than others; for the more one is endowed with talent and knowledge and is in the negative, the more insane he is, beyond others; but the more he is endowed with talent and knowledge and is in the affirmative, the wiser he can be. It is by no means denied man to cultivate the rational faculty by knowledge; but to make one's self obdurate against the truths of faith which are from the Word, is forbidden. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2588)

How rational thought is subservient to higher spiritual thought, or things of faith, is told in symbolic form in scripture:

That reasonings and knowledges do service to those who are in the affirmative, as means of being wise, was represented and signified by its being commanded the sons of Israel to borrow from the Egyptians vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and garments (Exod. iii. 22; xi. 2; xii. 35, 36). The like is meant by its being said in many passages in the Word, that they should possess the goods, houses, vineyards, and oliveyards, and other things, of the nations; as also that the very gold and silver taken from the nations should become holy (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2588)

Whether one reacts to the affirmative or negative to a higher revelation has little to do with objectivity: it has more to do whether one is leading a good life or a bad life. For people will tend to accept ideas in accordance with their life. For the good, there is a separation between good and evil, for the evil, there is a tendency to deny that there is a difference between good and evil. Children tend to be in affirmative thought more so than adults, as they have not reached the age of reason:

That it may also be known who they are who can be kept by the Lord in affection for good and truth, and thus be reformed and become spiritual, and who they are who cannot, this is also to be told in few words. In childhood, when one is first imbued with goods and truths, he is kept by the Lord in the affirmative, that what he is told and taught by his parents and masters is true. With those who can become spiritual men, this affirmative is confirmed by means of outward and inward knowledges; for whatever they afterward learn which has an affinity with it, insinuates itself into this affirmative, and corroborates it; and this more and more, even to affection. These are they who become spiritual men, according to the essence of the truth in which they have faith, and who conquer in temptations. But it is otherwise with those who cannot become spiritual men. Although these are in the affirmative in childhood, still in the age that follows they admit doubts, and so they trench upon the affirmative of good and truth; and when they come to adult age, they admit negatives, even to an affection for falsity. If these should be brought into temptations, they would wholly yield; and on this account they are also exempted from them. But the very cause of their admitting doubts, and afterward negatives, derives all its origin from the life of evil. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2689)

The importance of knowing the difference between affirmative and negative thought, is that an affirmative way of thinking towards a revelation is the first step to becoming more spiritual:

When this affirmative comes, man is then in the beginning of regeneration — good operates from the internal and causes affirmation. This good cannot flow into what is negative, nor even into what is doubtful, before this becomes affirmative. But afterward it manifests itself by affection, that is, by man's being affected by truth, or beginning to be delighted by it — first in knowing it, and then in acting according to it. Take for example the truth that the Lord is salvation to the human race. Unless this becomes affirmative on the part of man, all the things he has learned from the Word or in the church concerning the Lord, and stored among knowledges in the memory of his natural man, cannot be conjoined with his internal man, that is, with what may be there of faith. Thus neither can affection flow in, not even into the generals of that truth, which are conducive to man's salvation. But when it becomes affirmative, innumerable things are added, and filled with the good which flows in; for good continually flows in from the Lord, but where there is no affirmative, it is not received. An affirmative is therefore the first medium, and as it were the first abode of the good that flows in from the Lord. It is similar with all other truths that are called truths of faith. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 3913)

Knowledge and acceptance of spiritual truth is the first step. One can then begin to see one's own evil or false way of thinking. What happens next? A period of temptation. In temptation, one lingers between affirmative and negative thought, or between good and evil spirits:

Temptations carry with them, as was said, a doubting in regard to the Lord's presence and mercy, and also in regard to salvation. The evil spirits who are then with the man and induce the temptation, strongly inspire the negative; but the good spirits and angels from the Lord dispel this doubtfulness in every way, and hold him in continual hope, and at length confirm the affirmative. Hence the man who is in temptation hangs between the negative and the affirmative. He who succumbs remains in doubtfulness and falls into the negative; but he who overcomes is indeed in doubtfulness; but still, if he suffers himself to be raised up by hope, stands fast in the affirmative. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2338)

FURTHER INVESTIGATION FROM THE AFFIRMATIVE PRINCIPLE

Once an initial revelation is received as true, it is up to each person to further develop their spiritual thought and live by it. One is initially exposed to general doctrines from their religion, but it is up to each person to investigate them from scripture:

There are two ways of procuring the truths which are of faith — by doctrinals, and by the Word. When man procures them only by doctrinals, he then has faith in those who have drawn them from the Word, and he confirms them in himself to be true because others have said so; thus he does not believe them from his own faith, but from that of others. But when he procures them for himself from the Word, and thereby confirms them in himself to be true, he then believes them because they are from the Divine, and so believes them from faith given from the Divine. Every one who is within the church first procures the truths which are of faith from doctrinals, and also must so procure them, because he has not yet sufficient strength of judgment to enable him to see them himself from the Word; but then those truths to him are nothing but acquired knowledge. When however he is able to view them from his own judgment, if he then does not consult the Word in order to see from it whether they are true, they remain in him as mere knowledges; while if he does consult the Word from an affection and end of knowing truths, he then, when he has found them, procures for himself the things of faith from the genuine fountain, and they are appropriated to him from the Divine. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 5402)

Unfortunately, much of the foundational thinking of modern churches is false (there is no trinity of persons, nor vicarious atonement, nor is one saved by belief only, nor are sins forgiven unless one desists from them and changes one life, etc, etc) So, don't take anyone's word for it, take time to investigate. Any religion or philosophy must be practical in one's life. For in most religions, there is a measure of truth mixed in with falsity. It is hard to question the religion one grew up in, likewise, it takes practice to go against the capitalistic materialism where people needlessly strive for status. Once the truth is known, then one is more able to fight against what is false, for such is the power of truth in the thought, for it leads to affection for the truth, followed by a life according to one's affection.

On Skepticism and Speaking to Angels

I decided to randomly browse some blogs on Christianity to see what other topics people are talking about...and the first one was about debunking Christianity.  I read it, and it is quite apparent that there is a BIG disenchantment and dissatisfaction with the Christian Church as a whole.  The funny thing is I can understand their point of view, as I had left the church as it was not answering some very basic and fundamental questions. However I never rejected the faith that Jesus was Divine, or that He rose from the dead...the preponderance of evidence suggests something very unique happened. Otherwise we would have just another failed prophet killed off by the Jews, and Christianity would not even exist. And there were a host of prophecies that were fulfilled. But I could see at the time there are some very fundamental doctrinal problems with the churches...so began a long hunt for the truth.  The problem is, many give up when seeking the answers to their questions, and some go even further, down into an atheistic skepticism.

I realized that when it comes to religion, there are two kinds of people:

1. Those with simple faith, who follow the Lord and the commandments.
2. Those who have questions, who want to have a rational explanation for their religion.

When seeking a rational explanation for certain matters of religion...a bit of care is required. For not everything that is true is known through our knowledge of the senses, and our own rationality.  There is that inner voice, conscience, intuition, precognitive dreams, clairvoyance...this kind of knowledge comes from above, and it flows in.  Many revelations of religion are adapted to the understanding of those receiving them.  There are methods to open this up, but you have to shut down your senses, and learn how to shut down your rational mind and not analyze the information received (e.g., Remote Viewing used within some secret U.S. intelligence agencies.)  Then, there is knowledge we receive from our outer senses and our own rationality.  While this can provide a "sanity check" on the information you receive, the danger with extensive reasoning is some sink down into a perpetual skepticism, where they desire to disprove and tear apart anything constructive.  For you can use logical reasoning to tear down anything, and there are some plain limits to our human understanding. This lower kind of knowledge, the desire to confirm heavenly revelation with one's own knowledge, is known as the "serpent" - the lowest creature nearest the earth, representing sensual intelligence.

So for that reason, there are a set of "mysteries of faith" within Christianity.  But as the Christian Church degenerated into falsehoods, the church developed a habit of using the argument of "mystery of faith" to shut down any valid questioning. The Catholic Church, especially, became a political power, and used many methods to shutdown questioning. This is also called "blind faith" - where "faith" is taken to mean to accept something as true without questioning, instead of the true meaning of faith: living by the truth that you know.  And this is harmful, because as humans progress from knowledge to rationality, the rational mind is the medium between the natural self and the higher spiritual self.  And the spiritual mind must be conjoined to the rational.  And another side effect: Christians cannot even defend what they believe against rational skeptics.  As the church degenerated into further and further falsehoods, then it was time for a revelation to be given -- for if it has been given before, the Church would have shut it down or distorted it. After all the doctrines were laid down by Swedenborg, he saw a vision of a door which read above it Nunc Licet - Latin for "it is now permitted" -- meaning that it was now permitted to use reasoning to understand the inner mysteries of faith which were kept hidden in previous times.

Anyway, I was curious what arguments those who were pursuing means of "debunking Christianity."  Skeptics and atheists generally hold to the following points:

1.  There is no such thing as a trinity of three persons.  One can not logically maintain the trinity is One Being.
2.  The idea of vicarious or blood atonement makes no sense.
3.  It is a fallacy of the Protestant churches to believe that one is saved by faith alone.
4.  The literal sense of the Bible contains errors.

So I compared this with some of the general tenets that I hold to:

1.  There is no such thing as a trinity of three persons.  One can not logically maintain the trinity is One Being.
2.  The idea of vicarious or blood atonement makes no sense.
3.  It is a fallacy of the Protestant churches to believe that one is saved by faith alone.
4.  Errors and false theological doctrines can be drawn from the literal sense of the Bible, which hides an inner spiritual meaning.

Oh wait! My list is the same as many skeptical atheists. This was somewhat of a surprising realization on my part. The difference is, many cannot get out of the trap of the falsehoods they see in the churches, and become atheistic. The revelations given to Swedenborg counter every single point they bring up to debunk Christianity. The fact of the matter is, they do have a point: the modern churches have degenerated into many foundational falsehoods. I then realized: the revelations of Swedenborg were not written for those who hold to simple faith, they were written for people who have questions, or who want a rational explanation for their religion.

Swedenborg once wrote that it was now safe to reveal the inner mysteries of faith, of heaven and hell, the afterlife, the spiritual meaning of scripture - because the world had become so darkened in their blindness that no one would believe it.  Which I thought was a rather ironic statement. There is a danger in knowing inner matters of faith, believing it, and then turning against it - one has then profaned what is Most Holy, and there are no longer any means to turning a person back from blindness. Thus Jesus stated it was better to enter heaven with one eye, then to have two eyes and enter the outer darkness. Here we have 25 years of visions and revelations...and they are completely unknown to the majority of the world.

That one day a person would be revealed everything of heaven and hell, and would come back to tell the world about it, and would not be believed -- is foretold in an oblique manner in the gospels:

"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
"Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.'
But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.
And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.'
"Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house,
for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.'
Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.'
And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.'
But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' " (Luke 16:19-31)

And with that, I now have an excuse to share this song I just found called "Speak to Angels" by 009 Sound System: