—­Arcana Coelestia, n. 9405

ITS DISSEMINATION OF LIGHT

There cannot be any conjunction with heaven unless somewhere upon the earth there is a Church where the Word is and by it the Lord is known.  It is sufficient that there be a Church where the Word is, even though it should consist of few relatively.  The Lord is present by it, nevertheless, in the whole world.  The light is greatest where those are who have the Word.  Thence it extends itself as from a centre out to the last periphery.  Thence comes the enlightenment of nations and peoples outside the Church, too, by the Word.

—­Doctrine concerning the Sacred Scripture, nn. 104, 106

A CANON ON A NEW PRINCIPLE

The books of the Word are all those which have an internal sense.  In the Old Testament they are the five books of Moses, the book of Joshua, the book of Judges, the two books of Samuel, the two books of Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zecharaiah, Malachi; and in the New Testament the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Apocalypse.

—­Arcana Coelestia, n. 10,325

THE LIFE OF CHARITY AND FAITH

“He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God.”

—­Micah, VI, 8

THE LAW OF CHARITY

Not to do evil to the neighbor is the first thing of charity, and to do good to him fills the second place....  That a man cannot do good which in itself is good before evil has been removed, the Lord teaches in many places:  “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit”—­Matt. XVI, 18.

So in Isaiah:  “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well” (I, 16,17).

—­True Christian Religion, n. 445

GOOD IN ITS WHOLENESS

Before repentance good is not done from the Lord, but from the man.  It has not, therefore, the essence of good within it, however it appears like good outwardly.  Good after repentance is another thing altogether.  It is a whole good, unobstructed from the Lord Himself.  It is lovely; it is innocent; it is agreeable, and heavenly.  The Lord is in it, and heaven.  Good itself is in it.  It is alive, fashioned of truths.  Whatever is thus from good, in good, and toward good, is nothing less than a use to the neighbor, and hence it is a serving.  It puts away self and what is one’s own, and thus evil, with every breath.  Its form is like the form of a charming and beautifully colored flower, shining in the rays of the sun.