A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion

Title, Preface & Contents

A

COMPENDIUM

OF THE

CHIEF DOCTRINES

OF THE

TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION:

AS REVEALED IN THE WRITINGS OF

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.

If any Man will do his Will, he shall know of the Doctrine, whether it be of God. John vii. 17.

BY ROBERT HINDMARSH,

Author of "Remarks on the Holy League, lately entered into by the Sovereigns of Austria, Prussia, and Russia," "A Seal upon the Lips of all those, who refuse to acknowledge the exclusive Divinity of Jesus Christ," &c. &c.

TO WHICH ARE ANNEXED,

A FEW EXTRACTS

FROM E. SWEDENBORG'S TREATISE

ON THE

UNIVERSAL THEOLOGY OF THE NEW CHURCH

PHILADELPHIA: PRINTED FOR WILLIAM SCHLATTER LYDIA R. BAILEY, PRINTER.

1817=61.

PREFACE.

THE doctrines of the New and True Christian Religion having been published in a great variety of voluminous writings, and many persons having expressed a desire to see them in an abridged form, not only for their own use, but for the benefit of others, who may be disposed to peruse a small Manual, when a larger work would fail to engage their attention; the Author of the following Compendium has endeavoured to meet this wish of the Public, by bringing into as compact a form and order, as the nature and number of the subjects treated of would permit, the principal doctrines of the New Jerusalem. And as the sentiments contained in it do not originate with him, but are those of Divine Revelation itself, laid down in a clear and intelligible manner, he feels himself at liberty to recommend it as a work proper to be put into the hands of strangers, or of such as are desirous of obtaining a general knowledge of the doctrines professed by the members of the New Church.

He is aware, that it may possibly be the opinion of some, that the end or purpose intended is already answered by a publication of the late Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg, entitled, A Treatise concerning the New Jerusalem, and it's Heavenly Doctrine, particularly the cheap edition without the Extracts from Arcana Cœlestia. But when it is considered, that the present Compendium embraces not only the substance of that most useful little volume, with it's many references to the larger work, but the substance also of the Treatises concerning the Lord, the Sacred Scripture, the Doctrine of Life, and the Doctrine concerning Faith; that it exhibits likewise a concentrated view of the chief doctrines so amply and so ably explained in the great work, entitled, True Christian Religion; and that many leading features of the works on Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, the Divine Providence, Heaven and Hell, the Intercourse between Soul and Body, the Apocalypse Revealed, and Apocalypse Explained, the Last Judgment, the Earths in the Universe, and even the Arcana Cœlestia itself, with other productions of the same distinguished pen as that already referred to, are to be traced in the following pages; we hope, that our humble efforts to convey to the reader, from the stores above mentioned, much useful information in a very small compass, will not prove to be labour entirely lost, but will be accepted by him as a testimony of our desire to contribute to the real welfare of society, by diffusing among them, according to our ability, the knowledge of the One True God Jesus Christ, and the most important doctrines of the New and True Christian Religion.

ROBERT HINDMARSH.

| Salford, Manchester,

| May 16, 1816=60.

CONTENTS.

I

A

COMPENDIUM, &c. &c.

I. The Being and Unity of God.

THERE is one God, the Creator of all worlds, visible and invisible, who in consideration of his divine Esse, which is the original source and incomprehensible fountain of all life and being, is called I Am that I Am, or Jehovah, who Is, who Was, and who Is To Be, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, the All and In All. The being and unity of Jehovah God are inculcated by the general tenor of divine revelation, as well as by many express declarations; and may be considered as the ground-work or foundation of all religion. It is therefore written, “Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is One Jehovah,” Deut. vi. 4. Mark xii. 29. “Thus saith Jehovah the King of Israel, I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God,” Isa. xliv. 6. “I am Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt know no God but me.” Hos. xiii. 4.

II

II. God himself the primary Substance and Form.

THIS one God is the real and primary substance and form, from whom and by whom all created substances and forms were produced; it being impossible that any substance whatever could have risen up out

of nothing. All things that exist must, therefore, have been produced by a divine power from an original substance, that is, from God himself, yet in a way, and according to an order, that preserves the most perfect and complete distinction between the Creator and the creature. And as we see, that all created substances and forms have, either directly or indirectly, some respect to the human form; and it being certain, that this respect must ultimately lead and point to him, from whom they proceeded; it necessarily follows, that God is in such original and primary substance and form a Divine Man, in whom nevertheless all things are infinite and eternal, without any relation either to space, or time, or matter, being prior to and far above them.

III

III. The Divine Essence, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom.

AS the divine Esse of Jehovah God is in itself infinitely above the comprehension of any finite mind, and cannot become the proper subject of either human or angelic contemplation, he has therefore in mercy been pleased so to accommodate himself to the capacity of his intelligent creatures, as to exhibit before them the most evident and striking marks of his divine love and divine wisdom, which constitute his essence. Some faint idea, therefore, may be formed of the divine essence, while we consider it as the complex of all the divine goods, and all the divine truths, which flow from the great fountain of life, and encircle him as a sun of righteousness. Thus God is not only an incomprehensible esse, but at the same time also an essence in some sort comprehensible, as divine love and divine wisdom, divine good and divine truth, in

each of which respects he is truly and properly life in himself, that is, life independent of every other source.

Love and wisdom in God are essentially one, though capable of being distinguished in idea the one from the other. And it being a property of the divine love, in union with the divine wisdom, to love others out of or distinct from itself, to desire conjunction with others, and to make others happy from itself, it seems highly reasonable to believe, that this threefold tendency of the divine love and the divine wisdom was the cause of the creation of the world, and also still is the cause of it's preservation.

IV

IV. Creation.

AS Jehovah God, by virtue of his divine love, had in view the happiness of others out of himself, yet contiguous to himself; so by virtue of his divine wisdom, operating according to the laws of his own order, he produced from himself, and not out of nothing, as many have supposed, substances and forms, both spiritual and natural, in indefinite variety, and at length human forms capable of receiving and perceiving in themselves his divine love and wisdom. These human forms were therefore created to be images and likenesses of him, from whom they were produced, and by whose power they were brought into existence. On which account it is written, "In the beginning was the Word, (the Divine Wisdom,) and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made," John. i. 1,3. And again, "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. So God created man

in his own image, in the image of God created he him," Gen. i. 26, 27.

From this general view of the nature and design of creation, may be inferred the following particulars, relative to the order of it's progression from first principles to ultimate effects, viz. 1. That from Jehovah God there emanated, and still emanates, a sphere of divine glory, which encircles him on every side, and constitutes the sun of the spiritual world. 2. That through the instrumentality of this sun, which in it's essence is pure love, and gives forth spiritual heat and spiritual light, in other words, love and wisdom, to minds capable of receiving them, three spiritual atmospheres, of different purity and activity, were produced, giving birth to all things in that world; and that the sun of the natural world, which is pure fire, was in like manner produced, together with three natural atmospheres, and all earths which exist by their means. 3. That thus all things were produced, not out of nothing, but from the divine love by means of the divine wisdom, which are indeed the substance of all substances. 4. That every created subject is, by the very condition of it's existence, finite and limited, and consequently distinct from the Infinite, from which or from whom it proceeded. 5. That nevertheless the Infinite is in created subjects, as in it's receptacles, according to their various degrees and states of being. 6. That all things, which thus came forth from the Divine Being, do in a certain way return to him through the medium of man, in whose body are collected all the uses of the natural world, and in whose mind all the uses of the spiritual world: and that such return is made by an acknowledgment in heart, understanding, and life, that all things are derived from, and continually supported by, the divine love and the divine wisdom of the great Author of all being.

These and similar considerations, arising from a view of the grand work of creation, demonstrate to the truly rational mind, when enlightened by revelation, that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent that by virtue of his divine perfections he is essential order; that this order was originally introduced into the universe, and all it's parts; and that man especially was created to be a living form of such order, and consequently an image and likeness of his bountiful Creator.

V

V. The State of Man before the Fall.

THEY who understand the Word only in it's literal sense, are led to believe, that the creation, which is described in the first and second chapters of Genesis, denotes the creation of the universe, and that God was employed six days in making the heaven, the earth, the sea, with all things which are in them, and at length man in his own image and likeness. But who cannot see, if he ponders deeply on the subject, that the creation of the visible universe is not there meant? For such things and circumstances are there described, as any person of sound judgment, or even of common understanding, may know were not brought into existence in the manner related. For example, it is said, that there were light and darkness, day and night, morning and evening, also grass, herbs, and trees, yielding seed and fruit, before the creation of the sun, moon, or stars; and yet it is not possible to conceive how these effects could be produced, without the existence and influence of the sun.

Again, it is written in the first chapter, that God made man male and female; but in the second chapter, even after the conclusion of the six days of cre

, that there was not a man to till the ground; whereupon one was formed of the dust of the ground, and the breath of life breathed into his nostrils. Being then placed in the garden of Eden, wherein were trees of every kind, pleasant to the sight, and good for food, particularly one in the midst of the garden, called the tree of life, and another called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he is severely prohibited from eating of this latter tree, yet allowed freely to eat of all the rest: which circumstance, if taken literally, is liable to be considered by some readers as a snare laid for him, under the most tempting appearances, either to entangle him in a direct act of disobedience, or to excite in him an appetite to forbidden fruit. But there being as yet no help meet for the man, the history proceeds to inform us, that Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him; and while he was in this state, it is added, that he took one of his ribs from him, (although it does not appear, that he had been previously furnished with more than were necessary for his own use,) and formed it into a woman. Then in the third chapter we are further informed, that a serpent, more subtle than any other beast, and withal miraculously endued with the faculty of speech, discoursed with the woman in her own language, and with artful reasonings persuaded her to eat of the tree of knowledge, and finally involved Adam in the same transgression; although it is reasonable to suppose, that, coming out of the hands of his Creator, he was the most perfect and the wisest of mankind. But the calamity, into which the first pair thus plunged themselves, according to the generally-received doctrine, was not confined to their own persons, but extended itself to the whole of their posterity, who are therefore supposed to have been sentenced to eternal damnation, not for their own fault, but for that of their first parents committed long before they had any offspring.

Such are the difficulties and paradoxes attending the mere literal interpretation of this part of the Word, which, it is to be feared, have had the effect, with too many, of inducing upon their minds first of all a doubt concerning it's sanctity, and at length a disposition flatly to deny it's divine inspiration, and to rate the whole volume of revelation as a downright imposition on the credulity of mankind. Yet how different will it's character be found, when it is understood and admitted, that there is in every part of the Sacred History an internal spiritual sense perfectly distinct from the letter; and that in that sense heavenly and divine things are exhibited to view under natural and external representations! For it is now well known, that the method of writing here alluded to was practised by the wisest among the ancients; and that they were held in the highest esteem, who shewed the most skill in describing spiritual and moral subjects in historical forms. Of a still higher character, because of divine origin both as to matter and as to expression, are the first chapters of Genesis, which are to be interpreted in the following manner.

By the creation of heaven and earth is spiritually understood the new creation or regeneration of man in general, particularly of the man of the Most Ancient Church, which was called Adam, or Man, because it was a truly celestial church, and a model of every human virtue. By heaven is meant it's internal, and by earth it's external. By the six days of labour, and the seventh day of rest, into which Jehovah entered, after he had finished his work, are understood the various stages of man's regeneration, and the heavenly peace which then succeeds. The most perfect state of this church is described in the se chapter, from the 7th to the 17th verse, where man, being formed into the image and likeness of his Creator, is pronounced to be a living soul, and placed in the garden of Eden, which was well watered, and enriched with the choicest fruits of the earth. The garden itself, called also paradise, denotes the wisdom and intelligence of the man or men thus created anew, and made celestial: the trees pleasant to the sight, and good for food, denote their interior perceptions of truth and good: the tree of lives in the midst of the garden, denotes their love and wisdom derived solely from the Lord their Creator: and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, denotes faith or science capable of being derived from themselves, or from their own sensual principle, in an external way, contrary to divine order; on which account they were prohibited from eating of the fruit of this latter tree, but allowed to eat freely of the other trees.

The state of man, prior to the fall, widely differed from his present state. Before that period his will and understanding were perfectly united, and formed only one mind; insomuch that, as soon as ever any love or affection was in motion, it instantly produced it's proper science or thought, the one being inseparable from the other. In that happy age, called by way of eminence the golden age, men needed no external instruction, but obtained all necessary knowledge by an internal influx, like a dictate from heaven. Hence they had no written revelation, because divine truths were inscribed on their hearts: neither did they exercise any external worship, like that of succeeding times, because they needed no stimulus, no formal excitation, to the performance of duties, which to them were the constant and sweetest employment of their lives. They were born also into the science of all things conducive to their well-being and happiness, whether natural or spiritual. The whole theatre of nature was to them only a picture of heaven. Every object that met their eye, from the sun in the firmament to the smallest particle of dust on the earth, furnished them with an opportunity of contemplating it's true and proper archetype in that eternal world, of which they were in a manner already inhabitants, even while dwelling in the body. They had no external respiration, no sonorous, articulate language, such as took place afterwards; but communicated their ideas one to another by numberless changes of the countenance, especially by the varied motions of the lips, and by the lively expressions of the eye. Moreover there was no deceit, no such thing as hypocrisy; but the countenance was the ready and faithful index of the mind: the consequence of which was, that, enjoying a mutual perception of each other's states, they both communicated and received more certain, distinct, and rapid successions of thought and affection, than any sonorous and articulate language can now possibly convey.

How long man remained in this his primeval state of integrity and perfection, into which he was successively introduced after his birth as a natural man; or how many generations of men continued to enjoy the heavenly life above-described; cannot at present be known. But it is probable, that symptoms of a tendency to decline might have appeared soon after this primitive church had arrived at it's fulness of maturity, and long before any gross corruptions had entered among them, so as to cause their entire expulsion from the garden of Eden, and at length their total destruction by a flood, or inundation of lusts and false persuasions.

VI

VI. The Origin of Evil, and the Fall of Man.

MAN, when formed into the image and likeness of his Creator, was in the just and full exercise of two original faculties, called rationality and liberty. By rationality is meant the faculty of understanding what is true and false, also what is good and evil: and by liberty is meant the faculty of thinking, willing, and acting, in a state of perfect freedom. These two faculties were implanted in man at his creation; they are still in him at his birth into the world; and they are never absolutely taken away from him. But they are not, properly speaking, his own; they are only lent or continually communicated to him, being of and from the Lord in him, insomuch that they may be said to be the dwelling-place or residence of God with every man, enabling him to think and speak, to will and act, in all appearance as of himself. These faculties, thus appealing in him as his own, constitute his capacity of entering into reciprocal conjunction with his Creator, and consequently of living for ever. By these also he is capable of being reformed and regenerated; and by these he is distinguished from the brute beasts.

Man then being thus created and formed into an image and likeness of his God, and feeling in himself the life imparted to him in all respects as if it were his own, his integrity consisted in perpetually acknowledging from his heart, that all he had was the Lord's in him. But it is plain, that, while this derived life appeared to be in him as his own, though in reality it was not so, he must necessarily have had the power either of ascribing it to the Lord, according to the real truth of the case, or to himself, according to the mere appearance. For without this possibility he could not have existed a single moment as a rational and free agent; in other words, he could not have been a man, but would have been a kind of automaton, an intellectual machine, or at best a dignified brute. While he thought, willed, and acted, in and according to the truth, notwithstanding the appearance, he remained in the order to which he was created: but as soon as ever he yielded to the appearance, and by reasonings from the senses confirmed himself therein, he then abused those faculties, with which he was endued, and by turning to himself departed from his Creator. Thus, instead of standing in the true order of his life, which consisted in the perpetual acknowledgment, that he was only a recipient of life from God, he erroneously confirmed himself in the appearance that such life was his own: and thus, by the abuse of his two faculties of rationality and liberty, he formed in himself the origin and beginning of evil.

All this is described in the Sacred Scripture in a way peculiar to the genius of the most ancient people. The language used for this purpose may be called parabolical, or, as the apostle Paul expresses it, allegorical: but in truth every word is significative of, and correspondent with, some specific matter of contemplation included in the general subject. In language of such a character the serpent, which deceived the woman, and through her the man, denotes the sensual principle, which by fallacious appearances, and plausible but false reasonings, flatters and seduces first of all the will or selfish propensity, represented by the woman, and afterwards the rational faculty itself, represented by the man. For the man, the woman, the serpent, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the garden of Eden itself, all represented and signified states of affection, thought, and life, in each individual member of the church, and at the same time in that collective body of men, of whom consisted the first or most ancient church on this earth. The way, in which that church fell, was the same as that in which every succeeding church has fallen: each church, when arrived at maturity, has had it's man and it's woman; each has been placed in a garden similar to that of Eden, though not so highly cultivated, nor so rich in product; each however has had it's tree of life in the midst, it's tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it's delicious fruits, and it's seducing serpent. And if we trace the progress of evil, we shall find, that all these successive churches, all the individuals composing them, and all who have descended from them, or in any way been related to them, in short, all the families of mankind, all, all have eaten of the forbidden fruit; they have all, more or less, suffered themselves to be deceived by the delusive pleasures of self-love and the love of the world.

From the preceding observations it evidently appears, that man, by the abuse of his faculties of liberty and rationality, with which he was originally endued, perverted the order in which he was created, confirmed himself in states of infidelity and moral depravity, and at length plunged himself into unspeakable miseries and calamities, from which there could have been no recovery, but by the interposition of the divine mercy, wisdom, and omnipotence. The Creator himself, therefore, compassionating his helpless, fallen offspring, immediately announces to them his purpose of effecting their restoration; and in the mean time makes a true faith in the future Messiah the condition of their present acceptance with him, and of their eternal salvation hereafter.

VII

VII. The State of Man after the Fall.

THE fall of man is generally understood to have taken place at the time when Eve first, and then Adam, ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; till which unhappy moment they are both supposed to have been in their highest state of integrity and perfection. It is likewise the common opinion, that by this one single act of indulgence, in eating of a tree, which not only appeared delightful to the eye, but was thought capable of imparting a degree of wisdom still superior to that which they then possessed, they both precipitated themselves into the lowest abyss of moral depravity, and at once brought upon themselves, and upon their yet unborn posterity, a complete and total ruin. But from an attentive perusal of the Sacred History it may be seen, that the declension of the Most Ancient Church, called Adam or Man, was gradual, commencing with an almost imperceptible propensity or inclination, in the members of that church, to be led by themselves, rather than by the Lord; then proceeding to a more evident state of self-love, until at length by sensual reasonings, by direct acts of disobedience, and by long-continued habits of vice, wickedness prevailed universally, and the whole earth was filled with violence.

The first direct notification of evil, in it's incipient state, is given in the 18th verse of the second chapter of Genesis, where Jehovah God says, "It is not good that man should be alone." All before had been either good, or very good. But from this period evil took it's rise, and gradually accumulated through a series of successive churches, with occasional intermissions of partial restoration, until it arrived at it's full consummation, which is thus described in the 5th and 13th verses of the sixth chapter: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them: and behold, I will destroy them with the earth." Yet, notwithstanding this general depravity and wickedness, there were still some left, who retained within themselves the capacity of being restored to a certain degree of integrity, by the reception of charity and faith from the Lord. These were represented by Noah and his family, who were preserved in the ark; and with them a new church was raised up, in the room of that which perished.

The state of man was now changed: his mind, and in some measure his body also, became the subjects of a new organization: for, whereas before the fall his will and understanding, or his two faculties of willing and thinking, were inseparably united, the latter constantly acting in subserviency to the former, after the fall, more especially after it's entire completion, the one acquired the power of being elevated above the other; that is to say, the understanding in it's separate capacity could contemplate truth, and acknowledge the justice of it's dictates, while the will still remained in the love and practice of evil. At the same time external respiration commenced, and together with it external language, sonorous and articulate; to which succeeded a written revelation, or divine rule of life, and external worship, each adapted to the state of man, now so essentially changed from what it had been previously to his fall.

This inversion of the order, in which man was originally created, being that also to which the whole human race are at this day subject, was miraculously effected for the sake of their regeneration, which was in future to be conducted through the external medium of instruction directed to the understanding, in conjunction with the interior operations of the divine mercy. In this way a new will, a new heart, together with new affections of love, and new perceptions of wisdom, were to be, and still may be, formed in man, and he himself restored, if not to the same high degree of perfection as before, yet to a near resemblance of it, and to an equal participation in the happiness of eternal life.

VIII

VIII. Redemption by the Assumption of Humanity.

NO sooner had man eaten of the forbidden fruit, than a merciful promise was made of his future redemption and salvation, which were to be effected by the exertion of a divine power in his behalf, bruising the head of the serpent, thereby delivering him from the dominion of evil and infidelity, and restoring him to that happiness, from which he had so wofully fallen. To effect this great end, the one God, Jehovah himself, in the fulness of time descended, and, according to the principles of his own divine order, assumed a human essence and form by incarnation; in and by which form, as a medium suited to the states and perceptions of his creatures, he might not only become visible to them, but might also gradually introduce among them, from the fountain of pure divinity within that medium, such a measure of his divine influence as would tend to remove the impending destruction from their heads, and at length raise them to a state of final happiness.