CONTAINING THE

UNIVERSAL THEOLOGY

OF THE

NEW CHURCH,

WHICH WAS FORETOLD BY THE LORD,

IN DANIEL, Chap. vii. 13, 14; and in the APOCALYPSE,
Chap xxi. 1, 2.

By Emanuel Swedenborg,

SERVANT OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. III.

THE FOURTH EDITION.

CHESTER:

PRINTED AND SOLD BY C. W. LEADBEATER;

SOLD ALSO BY

M. SIBLY, No. 35, GOSWELL-STREET, AND B. CROSBY, STA-
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MAY BE HAD BY GIVING ORDERS TO ANY OF THE BOOKSEL-
LEBS IN TOWN OR COUNTRY.

DANIEL,

Chap. vii. Verfes 13. 14.

I faw in the Visions of the NIGHT, and behold, One like the SON of MAN came with the Clouds of Heaven; and their was given Him Dominion, and Glory, and a Kingdom, that all People, Nations, and Languages should ferve him; His Dominion is an everlasting Dominion, which shall not pass away, and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

And I John faw a new Heaven and a new Earth; and I Jaw the Holy City New Jerufalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband. And the Angel talked with me, faying, Come hither, I will Shew thee THE BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE. And he carried me away in the Spirit, to a great and high Mountain, and Shewed me that great City, the Holy Jerufalem, defcending out of Heaven from God.

And he that fat upon the Throne, faid, Behold, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW. And be faid unto me, Write, for thefe Words are faithful and true.

JUL 1004

TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION:

CONTAINING THE

UNIVERSAL THEOLOGY

OF THE

NEW HEAVEN AND NEW CHURCH.

A

CHA P. IX. (s)

Of Repentance.

509. FTER treating on Faith, Charity, and Free-Will,
Repentance followeth next in Order to be confi-
dered, inafmuch as true Faith and genuine Charity are not

(s) The Contents of this Chapter, like those of the former, demand
the ferious Attention of the pious Reader, who wifheth to obtain a Victory
over Sin, and to be established in the Strength and Power of a Divine
Life, as his Qualification to be admitted to the Blessedness and Glories
of the New Jerufalem. In the prefent Church, the Neceffity of Repent-
ance is acknowledged, and yet is not acknowledged; it is acknowledged
in Word, but it is not acknowledged in Practice. This is a fure Confe-
quence of the Doctrine of Juftification by Faith alone, which, afferting
Salvation to be an Effect of God's immediate Mercy, of Course fuppofeth
it poffible for the Soul to be faved, although it neither knoweth nor re-
nounceth it's Sins. In Oppofition to this fatal Doctrine, our enlightened
Author openeth, in the following Chapter, the true Ground, Nature, and
Neceffity of Gofpel-Repentance; he fheweth that every Soul is by Nature
born in innumerable Sins, which are a Confequence of that hereditary
Evil derived by long Succeffion from it's corrupt Parents; he afferteth the
utter Impoffibility of fuch Sins being removed, until the Soul knoweth
them in itfelf, acknowledgeth them, fighteth against them, and through
the Divine Grace and Power of the Redeemer, finally gaineth a Victory
over them, Herein, according to our enlightened Author, confifteth the
true Nature of profitable Repentance, and of Gofpel Salvation; for in

attainable without Repentance, and none can do the Work of Repentance without Free-Will. Another Reafon alfo for treating of Repentance in this Place is, because the Treatife on Regeneration immediately fucceeds it, and none can become regenerate before thofe greater Evils are removed, which render Man deteftable in the Sight of God, and the Removal of fuch Evils can only be effected by Repentance. What is an unregenerate Man, but an impenitent Man? and what is an impenitent Man, but like a Person in a Lethargy, who knoweth Nothing of the Nature of Sin, and therefore cherisheth it in his Bofom, and huggeth it to his Embraces, as an Adulterer doth the Partner of his Shame. But in Order to understand the Nature and Efficacy of Repentance, it may be expedient to arrange the Confideration of it under feparate Heads or Articles.

That Repentance is the Beginning and Foundation of the Church in Man.

510. That Fellowship, or Community, called the Church, confifteth of all fuch Perfons as have the Church abiding in them; and the Church gaineth Admiffion into every one when he is regenerate, and every one becometh regenerate in Proportion as he abftaineth from the Evils of Sin, and fhunneth them as he would fhun Troops of infernal Spirits, whom he faw ready to affault him with burning Torches, with Intent to caft him on a Pile of Fire. There are feveral Things, which in the first Stages of Life prepare Man for the Church, and introduce him into it, but Acts of Repentance alone are efficacious towards forming the Church in Man. Acts of Repentance are all fuch as make a Man difinclined to thofe Evilswhich are Sins against God, in Confequence whereof he Proportion as Sin, or Self, or Satan, (for all mean the fame Thing) are thus removed and fubdued, in the fame Proportion, and in no other, Goodness and Truth from the Lord are implanted in the Soul, and with them the Lord himself entereth, and establisheth the Kingdom of his eternal Life, Peace, and Bleffing. Every unprejudiced and candid Mind will readily acknowledge the Truth of this Doctrinc, but yet it is to be feared, that in Confequence of the commonly received Notions, concern ing immediate Mercy, and the Remiffion of Sins through Chrift's fatisfying Merit, very few comparatively will thoroughly practise it,

Geafeth to practife them; for before this is effected, Man ftandeth in an outer Place with Refpect to Regeneration, in which Cafe, fuppofing any Thought to enter his Mind about eternal Salvation, he turneth fuddenly towards it, and as fuddenly turneth away from it; for it penetrateth no further than the Ideas of the Thinking Principle, from whence it maketh it's Way into outward Expreffions of Speech, and poffibly alfo into fome bodily Geftures conformable to Speech; but in Cafe fuch Thought entereth into the Will, it then gaineth a Place in Man, for the Will is the real Man, because his Love dwelleth therein, whereas the Thinking Principle is without, or out of Man, unless it proceedeth from his Will; if this be the Cafe, then Will and Thought act in Unity, and together conftitute the Man. Hence it follows, that Repentanre, before it can be called Repentance, and become efficacious in Man, must needs affect the Will, and thereby the Thinking Principle, and not the Thinking Principle alone, confequently it must be actual, and not merely Lip-Repentance. That Repentance is the Beginning and Foundation of the Church, appears evidently from the Word of God; for John the Baptift, who was fent before to prepare Men for that Church the Lord was about to establish, whilft he baptized, preached at the fame Time Repentance, wherefore his Baptifm was called the Baptifm of Repentance, because by Baptism was fignified fpiritual Wathing, which is Cleanfing from Sins; this he did in Jordan, because Jordan fignified Introduction into the Church, being the first Boundary of the Land of Canaan, where the Church was established. The Lord himfelf alfo preached Repentance for the Remiffion of Sins, thereby teaching that Repentance is the Beginning and Foundation of the Church, and that in Proportion as Man performeth it, in the fame Proportion Sins are removed in him, and as they are removed, fo far they are forgiven or remitted. Moreover the Lord enjoined his twelve Apoftles, and the Seventy alfo, to preach Repentance, whence it is evident, that Repentance is the Beginning and Foundation of the Church.

511. That the Church cannot poffibly have Place in Man, until Sins are removed in him, must be plain to every confi.. derate Perfon, and may also be illuftrated by the following Comparisons. Who can introduce Sheep, Kids, or Lamps,