The Third Round: Faith Alone Understood from a Logopraxis Perspective

From the work, Charity 11

11. It is clear then, from these considerations, that the first of charity is to shun evils as sins; which is done by repentance. Who does not see that an impenitent man is evil? And who does not see that an evil man has not charity? And who does not see that he who has not charity cannot do charity? Charity must be from charity within a man.

From the work, Conjugial Love 82

What need is there to demonstrate that evils are to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil? that goods are to be done because they are of God and from God? and that these are to be done by man as of himself, yet that he must believe that they are done by the Lord with him and through him? That these three doctrinals are true, is confirmed by the whole Sacred Scripture from beginning to end; for in one sum, what else does the Scripture contain save the shunning of evils, the doing of goods, and the believing in the Lord God? Moreover, without these three, there is no religion. Is not religion a matter of life? and what is life but the shunning of evils and the doing of goods? and how can a man do the latter and shun* the former except as of himself? Therefore, if you remove these doctrinals from the Church, you remove the Sacred Scripture, and you also remove religion, and when these are removed from the Church, it is not a Church.” “What need is there to demonstrate that evils are to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil? that goods are to be done because they are of God and from God? and that these are to be done by man as of himself, yet that he must believe that they are done by the Lord with him and through him? That these three doctrinals are true, is confirmed by the whole Sacred Scripture from beginning to end; for in one sum, what else does the Scripture contain save the shunning of evils, the doing of goods, and the believing in the Lord God? Moreover, without these three, there is no religion. Is not religion a matter of life? and what is life but the shunning of evils and the doing of goods? and how can a man do the latter and shun the former except as of himself? Therefore, if you remove these doctrinals from the Church, you remove the Sacred Scripture, and you also remove religion, and when these are removed from the Church, it is not a Church.

From the work, Apocalypse Explained 1070 & 1074.2

1070 …there are two things that constitute the church, namely, the acknowledgment and belief that the Lord has the power to save, and that the Word is Divine; and that where these two are not acknowledged and believed there is no church; and for the reason that the Lord reforms man and gives him faith and love, and the Word teaches the way in which man must go to the Lord that he may receive faith and love from Him. Unless these two truths are recognized in a church it is not a church.

1074 [2] As the Divine truth, when passed from the Lord Himself through the three heavens down to men in the world, was written and became the Word in each heaven, therefore the Word is the union of the heavens with each other, and the union of the heavens with the church in the world. For the Word is the same everywhere, differing only in the perfection of glory and wisdom according to the degrees in which the heavens are; consequently the holy Divine from the Lord flows in through the heavens with the man in the world who acknowledges the Lord’s Divine and the holiness of the Word when he reads it; and so far as such a man loves wisdom, he can be instructed and can imbibe wisdom from the Word as from the Lord Himself, or from heaven itself, and can thus be nourished with the food with which the angels themselves are nourished, and in which there is life; according to these words of the Lord:
The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).
The water that I will give you shall become a fountain of water springing up unto eternal life (John 4:14).
Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).
Work for the food that abideth unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you (John 6:27).
Such is the Word.

From the work, Apocalypse Explained 211

They who are in faith alone and in no charity, know not that they are in falsities, because they believe themselves to be in truths, when yet, out of the false principle, which is that faith alone saves, falsities flow in a continual series; for a principle draws all things to its own side, since they must be connected with it; and this is the cause of their great ignorance in regard to the things of heaven and the church. That they who are in faith alone are so ignorant is clear from this, that they do not know what celestial love is, which is love to the Lord; what spiritual love is, which is charity towards the neighbor; what the neighbor is, what good is, what the conjunction of good and truth is, what spiritual life is, what spiritual affection is, what conscience is, what freedom of choice is, what regeneration is, what spiritual temptation is, what baptism and the holy supper are, and why they are commanded, what the spiritual sense of the Word is, what heaven and hell are, and that both of them are from the human race; and as to many other things. From this their ignorance falsities flow whenever these subjects are thought about, since they are unable to think, as was said above, from any illustration or to have any internal sight respecting anything spiritual.

From the work, True Christian Religion 535

…the first thing of charity is to shun evils. This is taught in the Word, the Decalogue, baptism, the holy supper and even by the reason; for how can anyone flee away from evils and banish them without some self-inspection? And how can good become good until it has been interiorly purified? I know that all pious men, and also all men of sound reason, will assent to this when they read it, and will see it as genuine truth; but still, that few will act accordingly.

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Ian Arnold
Ian Arnold
4 years ago

Hi David,
I have just been listening to what you say about “Faith Alone Understood from a Logopraxis Perspective”. What came to me is that if we are in fact into a regular practice of self shunning evils as sins then we don’t need to stress over our motives in every situation, If we are not careful, such stressing over every detail can make for a burden that we don;t need to carry.Many thanks, and very best wishes,Ian.

Sarah Walker
Sarah Walker
Reply to  Ian Arnold
4 years ago

Hi Ian Yes the thing that stands out for me too from your comment here is that there will always be the infernal proprium present in our motives. And the work is to not have that not present because we are told that will always be present but the work is to allow the truths from the Word to shine light on it and show us that so that we may acknowledge it and shun it . So in many ways the stressing over every little detail is counterproductive if we accept that the infernal proprium is always present in… Read more »