Logopraxis The Third Round

Arcana Coelestia 6834. And the bramble was in no wise consumed. That this signifies Divine truth united to Divine good in the natural, is evident from the signification of a “bramble,” as being the truth of memory-knowledge (of which above, n. 6832, 6833); here being said of the Lord, it denotes Divine truth in the natural, and the natural is signified because the truth of memory-knowledge is there; and from the signification of “not being consumed by fire,” as being not to be dissipated by the good of Divine love (that “fire” is the good of Divine love, see just above, n. 6832), thus that it is united, namely, Divine truth with Divine good in the natural. This is the signification of these words in the supreme sense, in which the Lord is treated of. The case herein is this. The Divine good of the Divine love is the very solar fire in the other life, which fire is so ardent that if it were to light on anyone without an intermediate tempering, even on an angel of the inmost heaven, he would be deprived of all sense, and would perish. Such is the ardor of the Lord’s Divine love. But when the Lord was in the world, and united the human essence to the Divine essence, He received the fire of this love in His Human, and united it to the truth there when He made Himself the law Divine. This then is what is meant by the Divine truth being united to the Divine good in the natural.





Doctrine of the Lord 35. vi. By successive steps the Lord put off the human taken from the mother, and put on a Human from the Divine within Him, which is the Divine Human, and is the Son of God. That in the Lord were the Divine and the human, the Divine from Jehovah the Father, and the human from the virgin Mary, is known. Hence He was God and Man, having a Divine essence and a human nature; a Divine essence from the Father, and a human nature from the mother; and therefore was equal to the Father as to the Divine, and less than the Father as to the human.It is also known that this human nature from the mother was not transmuted into the Divine essence, nor commingled with it, for this is taught in the Doctrine of Faith which is called the Athanasian Creed. For a human nature cannot be transmuted into the Divine essence, nor can it be commingled therewith.[2] In accordance with the same creed is also our doctrine, that the Divine assumed the Human, that is, united itself to it, as a soul to its body, so that they were not two, but one Person. From this it follows that the Lord put off the human from the mother, which in itself was like that of another man, and thus material, and put on a Human from the Father, which in itself was like His Divine, and thus substantial, so that the Human too became Divine.









Spirits of Mercury and real things





AC 6809. When therefore the spirits of Mercury searched out various things, and among others the cities and places where I had been, I observed that they did not wish to know about the churches, palaces, houses, and streets; but only what I knew to have been done in these places, and also matters relating to the government there, and to the genius and manners of the inhabitants, with other things like these; for such things cling to the places that are in man’s memory, and therefore when the places are excited, these other things also come up. I wondered at this character of the spirits of Mercury, and I therefore asked why they passed by the magnificent features of the places, and only searched out the facts and doings there? They said they have no delight in looking at material, bodily, and earthly things, but only at real ones. From this it at once appeared that the spirits of that earth relate in the Grand Man to the memory of real things when abstracted from things material and earthly.













Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Log...

Visit The Logopraxis Institute to read a deeper exploration of this section of The Lord's Prayer - Forgive Us Our Debts



 



Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

On the nature of temptations and doubt as being part of it



Arcana Coelestia 6829... When a man is in temptation, he is beset round by falsities and evils which impede the influx of light from the Divine, that is, the influx of truth and good, and then the man is as it were in darkness. Darkness in the other life is nothing else than this besetment by falsities, for these take away the light from the man who is in temptation, and thus the perception of consolation by truths. But when the man emerges from temptation, then the light appears with its spiritual heat, that is, truth with its good, and from this he has gladness after anxiety. This is the morning which in the other life follows the night. The reason why good is then perceived, and truth appears, is that after temptation truth and good penetrate toward the interiors, and there take root. For when a man is in temptation, he is as it were in hunger for good, and in thirst for truth; and therefore when he emerges he draws in good as a hungry man devours food, and receives truth as a thirsty man imbibes drink. Moreover, when light from the Divine appears, falsities and evils are removed, and when these are removed, the way is opened for truth and good to penetrate more interiorly. These are the reasons why after temptations the good of love appears with its light from the Lord. That after the obscurity and anxiety of temptations, brightness and gladness appear, is known to all in the other life, because it is there a common occurrence.

AC 1820. He who is in temptation is in doubt concerning the end in view. The end in view is the love, against which the evil spirits and evil genii fight, and thereby put the end in doubt; and the greater the love is, the more do they put it in doubt. If the end which is loved were not put in doubt, and indeed in despair, there would be no temptation. Assurance respecting the result precedes the victory, and belongs to the victory.

[2] As few know how the case is with temptations, it may here be briefly explained. Evil spirits never fight against other things than those which the man loves; the more ardently he loves them, the more fiercely do they wage the combat. It is evil genii who fight against the things that pertain to the affection of good, and evil spirits that fight against those which pertain to the affection of truth. As soon as they notice even the smallest thing which a man loves, or perceive as it were by scent what is delightful and dear to him, they forthwith assault it and endeavor to destroy it, and thereby the whole man, for man’s life consists in his loves. Nothing is more delightful to them than to destroy a man in this way, nor would they desist, even to eternity, unless they were driven away by the Lord. They who are malignant and crafty insinuate themselves into man’s very loves by flattering them, and thus bring the man among themselves; and presently, when they have brought him in, they attempt to destroy his loves, and thereby murder the man, and this in a thousand ways that cannot be comprehended.

[3] Nor do they wage the combat simply by reasoning against things good and true, because such combats are of no account, for if they were vanquished a thousand times they would still persist, since reasonings against goods and truths can never be wanting. But they pervert the goods and truths, and inflame with a certain fire of cupidity and of persuasion, so that the man does not know otherwise than that he is in the like cupidity and persuasion; and at the same time they enkindle these with delight that they snatch from the man’s delight in something else, and in this way they most deceitfully infect and infest him; and this they do with so much skill, by leading him on from one thing to another, that if the Lord did not aid him, the man would never know but that the case was really so.

[4] They act in a similar way against the affections of truth that make the conscience:...

The three degrees of progression



Arcana Coelestia 30...No one can have an adequate understanding of what 'the great lights' are unless he knows what the underlying essence of faith is and how it develops in people who are being created anew. The very essence and life of faith is the Lord alone. In fact it is impossible for anyone who does not believe in the Lord to have life, as He Himself has said in John,



He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God will rest upon him. John 3:36.

[2] With people who are being created anew faith develops as follows: First of all they have no life, for life does not exist in anything evil and false but in what is good and true. Then they start to receive life from the Lord by means of faith - first by faith existing in the memory, which is factual faith, then by faith existing in the understanding, which is conceptual faith, and after this by faith existing in the heart, which is loving or saving faith. Factual faith and conceptual faith are represented in verses Genesis 1:3-13 by the inanimate, but faith made alive by means of love is represented in verses 20-25 by the animate. Consequently this is the first point at which love and faith deriving from it, which are called 'lights', are dealt with. Love is 'the greater light which has dominion over the day', and faith deriving from love is 'the lesser light which has dominion over the night'. And because they ought to make one the verb in the phrase 'let there be lights 'is singular and not plural.

AC 6827...from the representation of Moses, as being the Lord as to the law Divine (see n. 6752); and in the beginning as to the truth which is of the law from the Divine (n. 6771); but here as to the law from the Divine. So may we name the degrees of progression in the Lord, before, as to the Human, He was made the very law Divine.



The liberation of those who are of the church



AC 6825.



1. And Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock behind the wilderness, and came unto the mountain of God, to Horeb.



2. And the angel of Jehovah was seen by him in a flame of fire out of the midst of the bramble; and he saw, and behold the bramble burned with fire, and the bramble was in no wise consumed.



3. And Moses said, I will therefore go aside, and see this great vision, why the bramble is not burnt.



The Contents. In the first chapter, in the internal sense, the subject treated of was the infestation by falsities and evils of those who are of the church; in the second chapter it was the beginnings and successive states of truth Divine with them; in this chapter in the internal sense the subject treated of is their liberation; and then for the first time they are instructed who the God is who has liberated them, that it is the Lord; and that He introduces them into heaven after they have been endowed with manifold truth and good.



Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

 

And now behold the cry of the sons of Israel is come unto Me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. And now go, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, and do thou bring forth My people the sons of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said unto God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the sons of Israel out of Egypt? And he said, Because I will be with thee; and this shall be the sign to thee that I have sent thee: when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall worship God near this mountain. And Moses said unto God, Behold I come unto the sons of Israel, and say to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they say to me, What is His name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM WHO I AM; and He said, Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said further unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel, Jehovah the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name forever, and this is My memorial unto generation and generation.



(Exodus 3: 9-15)



And now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me, and indeed, I have seen the oppression with which Egypt has been oppressing them. Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh. Bring forth My People, the sons of Israel, from Egypt. Yet Moses said to the One, Elohim: Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the sons of Israel from Egypt?  Then He said: I shall come to be with you. And this will be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you bring the people forth from Egypt you shall serve the One, Elohim, on this mountain. Now Moses said to the One, Elohim: Behold! When I am coming to the sons of Israel, and I say to them, The Elohim of your fathers sends me to you, then they will say to me, What about His name? What shall I say to them? Then Elohim spoke to Moses: I shall come to be just as I am coming to be. And He said: Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel, I-Shall-Come-to-Be has sent me to you. And Elohim said further to Moses: Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel, Yahweh, the Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac and the Elohim of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name for the eon, and this the remembrance of Me for generation after generation.



(Concordant Literal Version)



 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

The Lord appears according to the reception of influx



Arcana Coelestia 6832.[2] That the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, is evident from the fact that the Lord appears to those who are in the inmost or third heaven as a sun, from which proceeds ineffable light, because those who are there are in the good of love to the Lord; and that He appears to those who are in the middle or second heaven as a moon, because those who are there are more remotely and obscurely in love to the Lord, being in love toward the neighbor; but in the lowest or first heaven, the Lord does not appear as a sun nor yet as a moon, but only as a light which far surpasses the light of the world. And as the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, therefore also He cannot appear to those who are in hell except as a dusky cloud and thick darkness; for as soon as the light of heaven which is from the Lord sinks down into any hell, shades and darkness are produced there. From all this it can now be seen that the Lord appears to everyone according to his quality, because according to his reception; and as the descendants of Jacob were in externals only, therefore the Lord appeared unto Moses in the bramble, and also in a cloud, when he entered in unto the Lord upon Mount Sinai.



The mind as a mirror



Apocalypse Revealed 938(2)... Divine truths of the Word make the light which proceeds from the Lord as a sun, in which the angels are; and as they make the light, they are like mirrors in which the Lord's face is seen



True Christian Religion 6(2) Nevertheless, the Divine, which forms the inmost and is draped by things adapted to the perceptions of angels and men, beams forth like light through crystalline forms, although variously in accordance with the state of mind that man has formed for himself; either from God or from himself. Before everyone who has formed the state of his mind from God the Holy Scripture stands like a mirror wherein he sees God; but everyone in his own way. This mirror is made up of those truths that man learns from the Word, and that he appropriates by living in accordance with them.



The Lord appeared as an angel prior to incarnation



AC 6831 ... the reason why the Divine Human is called the “angel of Jehovah,” is that before the coming of the Lord, when Jehovah passed through heaven, He appeared in a human form as an angel. For the whole angelic heaven bears relation to a man, which is called the Grand Man, and which has been treated of at the end of many chapters. Therefore when the Divine Itself passed through the angelic heaven, it appeared in human form as an angel before those with whom He spoke: this was the Divine Human of Jehovah before the coming of the Lord. The Lord’s Human when made Divine is the same, for the Lord is Jehovah Himself in the Divine Human.



Heaven' perfection  increases as the collective does



6819. But not only is man in the singular the neighbor, but also man in the plural. For a society, smaller or greater, is the neighbor; our country is the neighbor; the church is the neighbor; the Lord’s kingdom is the neighbor; and so above all is the Lord.







6823. The Lord’s kingdom is the neighbor in a higher degree than the church in which one is born; for the Lord’s kingdom consists of all who are in good, both on earth and in the heavens; thus the Lord’s kingdom is good with every quality of it in the complex; and when this good is loved, everyone who is in good is loved. Thus the whole, which is all good in the complex, is the neighbor in the first degree, and is that Grand Man which has been treated of at the end of many chapters, which Man is a representative image of the Lord Himself. This Man, that is, the Lord’s kingdom, is loved, when from inmost affection those are benefited who are men through that Man from the Lord,