A Marriage of Man and Woman
The Development of the Will and Understanding - Part 2
By Rev. Paul Booth
The Development of the Will and Understanding - Part 2
By Rev. Paul Booth
If life and its pleasures are caused by the love that we want to share, then that love in us must somehow come to form. In other words, how can such love be realized? The love we are speaking of, here, is love in God and comes from God. We have stated that then when love is united with Divine Wisdom; the two qualities in God are one. It is a marriage 'so to speak' when love and wisdom or good and truth become united in man. It is in man's mind, in his will and understanding, that they are to become married, 'as it were' and constitute our life of love and faith, faith being from our understanding, and love being from our will.
In our natural life we have a desire or a love for ourselves and we want to possess many worldly things, but one of the primary things we desire is knowledge; even the world bases man's intelligence on his knowledge and his success on his obtaining material things. However, we can see that man's natural mind will not and cannot rise above its present natural state as long as he chooses to remain there. We also see that our love remains merely a sensuous and physical love in this natural state, unless we come to the truth that leads us to understand spiritual things, which are things of God and Heaven. What we are speaking of, here, is really man's lust and his knowledge, and not his will and understanding, and thus, in such life, man has evil and falsity, and not good and truth. We have spoken of a higher love, a spiritual and a celestial love and, even of a Divine Love, and that these loves flow in man from God making in man his will and his understanding, but that they are divided in us in the natural degree of our life, because of our love of self.
The question becomes, how can good and truth become united in us? How can we obtain this marriage of good and truth, or the conjugial marriage? How can we have one mind where our will and understanding forms in us Heaven? We have spoken of thoughts and affections as being the properties of the mind and that in these we receive either good or truth or evil and false. Both these we understand as delights and joys according to our will and understanding or according to our lust and knowledge, that is, whether they are derived from God or from self. In our natural state, we accept these through our senses. Now, isn't it moral and civil laws that keep the world from destroying itself? Isn't moral and civil knowledge as any other scientific facts? So, then, thoughts and affections of good and truth can instruct and can lead us, and from them we can raise ourselves to a higher level of life - a spiritual level - and understand spiritual and even celestial things, and things about God, Heaven, and about how man is to live from God.
In time, we can come to understand these spiritual and celestial things even though we live in the natural state. What is meant, here, by such understanding, is that we can think in the abstract and, thus, come to understand spiritual truths naturally. For example: we can come to understand spiritual concepts through stories and parables and so can either accept or reject what is implicated by them. So, when good and truth are our thoughts our spiritual and celestial understanding is increased. Thus, man comes to see his relationship, and that he is only good and true so far as they are united or married 'as it were' in him. What we see happening, here, is a desire to obey the laws that promotes happiness and joy, and which brings about this conjugial marriage of good and truth. The result of this is that man receives intelligence, that is, spiritual understanding and even wisdom in time. In his obedience to his spiritual understanding he receives intelligence and wisdom, when from his love of good, he does well, that is, good. In this, the presence of God is seen and acknowledged. Now, from this, one sees how the Lord is as a Bridegroom and Husband and is married to the Church as He is to Heaven, which is seen as the Bride and Wife. The Church is, thus, seen within man, and becomes manifested and expressed in man's life on earth. Therefore, man lives and has true life and that life is seen in the marriage of good and truth or in conjugial love, dwelling 'as it were', in a new mind, that is, in a new will and understanding from God.
As a man has these true 'good' thoughts that are conjoined with genuine 'truth', the Lord teaches and leads him to understand new spiritual things that have been mysteries to him. His mind becomes opened to understand spiritual and celestial things. The result is that man naturally performs or acts from his spirit within. Thus, conjugial love dwells in each region - the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural - of a man's mind.
Marriage of Man and Women
From the marriage of good and truth in a man's will and understanding we have seen how God makes his presence within and thus, how we become the Church and are brought 'as it were' into Heaven. Let us, now, see how is this related to the marriage of a man and a woman?
One of many contributions that the writings of E. Swedenborg make to society and the world is the religious and spiritual knowledge concerning God's creation of man as male and female and their marriage. In it one finds a very beautiful explanation of God's love and wisdom and of how it is insinuated into the male and the female. The story of Adam and Eve and their relationship as told in the Old Testament is only, but little or slightly understood. However, in E. Swedenborg's writings it becomes possible to spiritually understand when one loves truth because it is the truth. For then, in the writings of E. Swedenborg, one finds the knowledge of correspondences and, thus, many of the hidden mysteries of the Bible are revealed, such as the one presented here today.
Let us, now, turn to learn about this very important truth of how the marriage of man and woman help in the quality of our personal and social life? First, what is conjugial love and second, let us examine God's purpose of establishing the marriage of one man with one woman. As we have shown, conjugial love is founded on the knowledge of the marriage of good and truth. We can understand that it is, then, spiritual and not natural love, though it is manifested in our life in the natural state. Conjugial love is a conjunction of minds and therefore, is a friendship between persons. It delights in wisdom. It is not the love of sexes, but is the love of one of the sexes, that is, of one man with one woman. It is a marriage of good and truth and comes from the Lord Himself. In a word, conjugial love looks at the complete person - at one's soul, mind, and body. So, in fact, a person, whether female or male is spiritual as well as natural. We see, then, that the purpose of conjugial love is for the purpose of producing is of love or of good and of truth or faith in mankind and that this unites God with man - call it our regeneration or salvation.
In our natural life we have a desire or a love for ourselves and we want to possess many worldly things, but one of the primary things we desire is knowledge; even the world bases man's intelligence on his knowledge and his success on his obtaining material things. However, we can see that man's natural mind will not and cannot rise above its present natural state as long as he chooses to remain there. We also see that our love remains merely a sensuous and physical love in this natural state, unless we come to the truth that leads us to understand spiritual things, which are things of God and Heaven. What we are speaking of, here, is really man's lust and his knowledge, and not his will and understanding, and thus, in such life, man has evil and falsity, and not good and truth. We have spoken of a higher love, a spiritual and a celestial love and, even of a Divine Love, and that these loves flow in man from God making in man his will and his understanding, but that they are divided in us in the natural degree of our life, because of our love of self.
The question becomes, how can good and truth become united in us? How can we obtain this marriage of good and truth, or the conjugial marriage? How can we have one mind where our will and understanding forms in us Heaven? We have spoken of thoughts and affections as being the properties of the mind and that in these we receive either good or truth or evil and false. Both these we understand as delights and joys according to our will and understanding or according to our lust and knowledge, that is, whether they are derived from God or from self. In our natural state, we accept these through our senses. Now, isn't it moral and civil laws that keep the world from destroying itself? Isn't moral and civil knowledge as any other scientific facts? So, then, thoughts and affections of good and truth can instruct and can lead us, and from them we can raise ourselves to a higher level of life - a spiritual level - and understand spiritual and even celestial things, and things about God, Heaven, and about how man is to live from God.
In time, we can come to understand these spiritual and celestial things even though we live in the natural state. What is meant, here, by such understanding, is that we can think in the abstract and, thus, come to understand spiritual truths naturally. For example: we can come to understand spiritual concepts through stories and parables and so can either accept or reject what is implicated by them. So, when good and truth are our thoughts our spiritual and celestial understanding is increased. Thus, man comes to see his relationship, and that he is only good and true so far as they are united or married 'as it were' in him. What we see happening, here, is a desire to obey the laws that promotes happiness and joy, and which brings about this conjugial marriage of good and truth. The result of this is that man receives intelligence, that is, spiritual understanding and even wisdom in time. In his obedience to his spiritual understanding he receives intelligence and wisdom, when from his love of good, he does well, that is, good. In this, the presence of God is seen and acknowledged. Now, from this, one sees how the Lord is as a Bridegroom and Husband and is married to the Church as He is to Heaven, which is seen as the Bride and Wife. The Church is, thus, seen within man, and becomes manifested and expressed in man's life on earth. Therefore, man lives and has true life and that life is seen in the marriage of good and truth or in conjugial love, dwelling 'as it were', in a new mind, that is, in a new will and understanding from God.
As a man has these true 'good' thoughts that are conjoined with genuine 'truth', the Lord teaches and leads him to understand new spiritual things that have been mysteries to him. His mind becomes opened to understand spiritual and celestial things. The result is that man naturally performs or acts from his spirit within. Thus, conjugial love dwells in each region - the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural - of a man's mind.
Marriage of Man and Women
From the marriage of good and truth in a man's will and understanding we have seen how God makes his presence within and thus, how we become the Church and are brought 'as it were' into Heaven. Let us, now, see how is this related to the marriage of a man and a woman?
One of many contributions that the writings of E. Swedenborg make to society and the world is the religious and spiritual knowledge concerning God's creation of man as male and female and their marriage. In it one finds a very beautiful explanation of God's love and wisdom and of how it is insinuated into the male and the female. The story of Adam and Eve and their relationship as told in the Old Testament is only, but little or slightly understood. However, in E. Swedenborg's writings it becomes possible to spiritually understand when one loves truth because it is the truth. For then, in the writings of E. Swedenborg, one finds the knowledge of correspondences and, thus, many of the hidden mysteries of the Bible are revealed, such as the one presented here today.
Let us, now, turn to learn about this very important truth of how the marriage of man and woman help in the quality of our personal and social life? First, what is conjugial love and second, let us examine God's purpose of establishing the marriage of one man with one woman. As we have shown, conjugial love is founded on the knowledge of the marriage of good and truth. We can understand that it is, then, spiritual and not natural love, though it is manifested in our life in the natural state. Conjugial love is a conjunction of minds and therefore, is a friendship between persons. It delights in wisdom. It is not the love of sexes, but is the love of one of the sexes, that is, of one man with one woman. It is a marriage of good and truth and comes from the Lord Himself. In a word, conjugial love looks at the complete person - at one's soul, mind, and body. So, in fact, a person, whether female or male is spiritual as well as natural. We see, then, that the purpose of conjugial love is for the purpose of producing is of love or of good and of truth or faith in mankind and that this unites God with man - call it our regeneration or salvation.