TRUE CHRISTIANITY 1: PORTABLE: THE PORTABLE NEW CENTURY EDITION

by EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, Jonathan S. Rose (Translator)

Overview

True Christianity presents a satisfying and sensible alternative to mainstream Christianity. The last book published by Swedish scientist-turned-seer Emanuel Swedenborg, it serves as both the keystone in the architecture of his theology and the summary of his far-reaching psychological insights. This volume, the first of two, provides unique answers to humankind’s perennial questions about the nature of God and about Jesus—not only what his purpose was and how he fulfilled it, but why his life and death are still relevant to us now.

The New Century Edition of the Works of Emanuel Swedenborg is a modern-language, scholarly translation of Swedenborg’s theological works. The series’ easy-to-read style retains the dignity, variety, clarity, and gender-inclusive language of Swedenborg’s original Latin, bringing his thought to life.

This portable edition contains the full text of the New Century Edition translation, but not the introduction, annotations, or other supplemental materials found in the deluxe edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780877856030
Publisher:	Swedenborg Foundation Publishers
Publication date:	01/14/2010
Series:	New Century Edition , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	293,852
File size:	674 KB

About the Author

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a Swedish scientist, nobleman, and theologian who spent his life investigating the mysteries of the soul. Born in Stockholm to a staunchly Lutheran family, he graduated from the University of Uppsala and then traveled to England, Holland, France, and Germany to study the leading scientists of the time. He gained favor with Sweden’s King Charles XII, who gave him the position of overseer of the Swedish mining industry. Later, he was given a seat on the Swedish House of Nobles by Charles XII’s successor, Queen Ulrika Eleonora. Between 1743 and 1745 he began to have visions of heaven, hell, and Jesus Christ which resulted in a stream of books about the nature of God, the afterlife, and the inner meaning of the Bible. He devoted the last decades of his life to studying Scripture and presenting his own unique theology to the world.

Read an Excerpt

On the Ten Commandments:

“It is generally recognized that the Ten Commandments in the Word are called the law in a supreme sense because they contain all the principles to be taught and lived. They contain not only all the principles related to God but also all the principles related to us. For this reason, the law was engraved on two tablets, one of which related to God and the other to us. . . .

“Because everything in the Word is about loving God and loving our neighbor, and the first tablet of the Ten Commandments contains a summary of everything about loving God while the second tablet contains a summary of everything about loving our neighbor, it follows that the Ten Commandments contain everything to be taught and lived.

“If you visualize the two tablets, it is clear how they are connected. God looks at us from his tablet and we look at God from ours. The two tablets therefore are turned toward each other. On God’s side it never fails that he is looking at us and doing what has to be done for our salvation. If we accept and do the things on our tablet, a reciprocal partnership [with God] develops. What happens to us then is indicated by the Lord’s words to the lawyer: ‘Do this and you will live.’”

Table of Contents

Contents Translator's Preface, by Jonathan S. Rose 000 Works Cited in the Translator's Preface 000 Selected List of Editions of True Christianity 000 True Christianity: An Introduction to Swedenborg's Most Comprehensive and Systematic Theological Writing from the Standpoint of the Religion of His Contemporaries, by R. Guy Erwin Works Cited in the Introduction 000 Short Titles and Other Conventions Used in This Work 000 True Christianity The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church 000 Chapter 1: God the Creator 000 The Oneness of God 000 The Underlying Divine Reality or Jehovah 000 The Infinity of God: His Immensity and Eternity 000 The Essence of God: Divine Love and Wisdom 000 God's Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence 000 The Creation of the Universe 000 Chapter 2: The Lord, The Redeemer 000 A Supplement 000 Redemption 000 Chapter 3: The Holy Spirit and the Divine Action 000 A Supplement 000 The Divine Trinity 000 Chapter 4: Sacred Scripture, the Word of the Lord 000 1. Sacred Scripture, the Word, Is Divine Truth Itself 000 2. The Word Has a Spiritual Meaning That Has Not Been Known until Now 000 3. The Word's Literal Meaning is the Foundation, the Container, and the Structural Support for Its Spiritual and Heavenly Meanings 000 4. In the Literal Meaning of the Word, Divine Truth Exists in Its Completeness, Holiness, and Power 000 5. The Church's Body of Teaching Has to Be Drawn from the Word's Literal Meaning and Supported by It 000 6. The Word's Literal Meaning Provides a Connection to the Lord and Association with Angels 000 7. The Word Exists throughout the Heavens; It Is the Source of Angelic Wisdom 000 8. The Church Is Based on the Word; The Nature of the Church in Individuals Depends on Their Understanding of the Word 000 9. There Is a Marriage between the Lord and the Church, and Therefore a Marriage between Goodness and Truth, in the Individual Details in the Word 000 10. People May Derive Heretical Ideas from the Word's Literal Meaning, but They Are Not Damned for Doing So unless They Become Adamant about Those Ideas 000 11. While in the World, the Lord Fulfilled Everything in the Word; By Doing So He Became the Word or Divine Truth Even on the Last or Outermost Level 000 12. Before the Word That Exists in the World Today, There Was a Word That Has Been Lost 000 13. Because of the Word, Even People Who Are outside the Church and Who Do Not Have the Word Have Light 000 14. If the Word Did Not Exist, No One Would Know about God, Heaven, Hell, or Life after Death, Still Less about the Lord 000 Chapter 5: The Catechism, or Ten Commandments, Explained in Both Its Outer and Its Inner Meanings 000 The Ten Commandments Were the Holiest Thing in the Israelite Church 000 In Their Literal Meaning the Ten Commandments Contain General Principles To Be Taught and Lived; in Their Spiritual and Heavenly Meaning They Contain Absolutely Everything 000 THE FIRST COMMANDMENT There Is To Be No Other God before My Face 000 THE SECOND COMMANDMENT You Are Not To Take the Name of Jehovah Your God in Vain, Because Jehovah Will Not Hold Guiltless Someone Who Takes His Name in Vain 000 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT Remember the Sabbath Day To Keep It Holy; For Six Days You Will Labor and Do All Your Work, But the Seventh Day Is the Sabbath for Jehovah Your God 000 THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT Honor Your Father and Your Mother So That Your Days Will Be Prolonged and It Will Be Well with You on Earth 000 THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT You Are Not To Kill 000 THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT You Are Not To Commit Adultery 000 THE SEVENTH COMMANDMENT You Are Not To Steal 000 THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT You Are Not to Respond as a False Witness against Your Neighbor 000 THE NINTH AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS You Are Not To Crave Your Neighbor's Household; You Are Not to Crave Your Neighbor's Wife or His Servant or His Maid or His Ox or His Donkey or Anything That Is Your Neighbor's 000 The Ten Commandments Contain Everything about How to Love God and How to Love Our Neighbor 000 Chapter 6: Faith 000 1. The Faith That Saves Us Is Faith in the Lord God Our Savior Jesus Christ 000 2. Briefly Put, Faith Is Believing That People Who Live Good Lives and Have Proper Beliefs Are Saved by the Lord 000 3. The Way We Receive Faith Is by Turning to the Lord, Learning Truths from the Word, and Living by Those Truths 000 4. The Greater the Quantity of Truths We Have Tied Together like a Bundle, the More Powerful and Complete Our Faith Becomes 000 5. Faith without Goodwill Isn't Faith; Goodwill without Faith Isn't Goodwill; Neither of Them Is Living Unless It Comes from the Lord 000 6. The Lord, Goodwill, and Faith Come Together the Way Our Life, Our Will, and Our Intellect Come Together in Us; If We Split Them Up, Each One Collapses like a Pearl That Is Smashed to Powder 000 7. The Lord Is Goodwill and Faith in Us; We Are Goodwill and Faith in the Lord 000 8. Goodwill and Faith Come Together in Good Works 000 9. There Is Faith That Is True, Faith That Is Illegitimate, and Faith That Is Hypocritical 000 10. Evil People Have No Faith 000 Chapter 7: Goodwill (or Loving Our Neighbor) and Good Actions 000 There Are Three Universal Categories of Love: Love for Heaven; Love for the World; and Love for Ourselves 000 When The Three Universal Categories of Love Are Prioritized in the Right Way They Advance Us; When They Are Not Prioritized in the Right Way They Damage Us and Turn Us Upside Down 000 All Humankind as Individuals Are the Neighbor We Are to Love, but [in Different Ways] depending on the Type of Goodness They Have 000 Humankind on a Wider Scale in the Form of Smaller and Larger Communities and Humankind in the Aggregate as a Country of Such Communities Are the Neighbor We Are to Love 000 On an Even Higher Level the Church, and on the Highest Level the Lord's Kingdom, Are the Neighbor We Are to Love 000 Loving the Neighbor Is Not in Fact Loving the Person but Loving the Goodness That Is inside the Person 000 Goodwill and Good Works Are Two Distinct Things, Just Like Having Good Will and Doing Good 000 Goodwill Itself Is Working Justly and Faithfully in the Position, Business, or Line of Work We Are in and with the People We Have Any Interaction with 000 Doing Favors Related to Goodwill Is Giving to the Poor and Helping the Needy, although with Prudence 000 There Are Obligations That Are Related to Goodwill. Some of Them Are Public; Some Relate to the Household; and Some Are Personal 000 The Recreations Related to Goodwill Are Lunches, Dinners, and Parties/Social Events 000 The First Step of Goodwill Is Removing Evils; the Second Step Is Doing Good Things That Are Useful to Our Neighbor 000 As Long As We Believe That Everything Good Comes from the Lord, We Do Not Take Credit for the Things We Do As We Practice Goodwill 000 As Long As We Believe That Everything Good Comes from the Lord, We Do Not Take Credit for the Things We Do As We Practice Goodwill 000 A Love-Bond That We Form with Others Regardless of Their Spiritual Nature Is Damaging after Death 000 There Are Such Things as Illegitimate Goodwill, Hypocritical Goodwill, and Dead Goodwill 000 The Bond of Love between Evil People Is Actually a Deep Hatred for Each Other 000 The Connection between Loving God and Loving Our Neighbor 000 Notes and Indexes 000 Works Cited in the Notes 000 Biographical Note 000