GENESIS 1 - REGENERATION OF MAN IN SIX STAGES

INTRODUCTION

"From the mere letter of the Word of the Old Testament no one would ever discern the fact that this part of the Word contains deep secretes of heaven, and that everything in it both in general and in particular bears reference to the Lord, to His heaven, to the church, to religious belief, and to all things connected therewith..."
"... the truth is that everywhere in the Word there are internal (spiritual) things, which never appear at all in the external (natural) things except for very few which the Lord revealed and explained to apostles..."
"... that the Word is really of this character might be known from a single consideration that being the Lord's and from the Lord, it must of necessity contain within it such things as belong to heaven, to the church, to the religious belief, and that unless it did so, it could not be called the Lord's Word, nor could it be said to have any life in it."
- Author: Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)

What follows next is an attempt to present Genesis 1, verses 1 through 31, as if it would have been given in the general spiritual/internal sense, just as it was given and explained in general, and then in great details to Emanuel Swedenborg by the Lord Himself, although here, in summary. One will quickly see in this presentation that in the spiritual sense Genesis 1 tells the story of regeneration (recreation) of man in six stages, rather than the story of creation presented in the literal sense.

I've come to belief over the years that one person cannot give to another person the spiritual sense of the Lord's Word, but rather that it finds one by itself, so it seems, when you are ready. So, when you read what follows, and I hope it moves you internally, then of course you are ready to learn more in details. In order to do so, please contact the Swedenborg Foundation for the extensive and complete set of "Arcana Celestia" or "Heavenly Secrets", produced by E. Swedenborg, commissioned by the Lord, and presently published by this foundation.

May you be with the Lord as He is with you, always!
Noname, Ph.D.

REGENERATION OF MAN IN SIX STAGES

   ¹In the most ancient time God created the spiritual (internal) of man and the natural (external) of man.
   ²And the man had neither good nor truth, and was in the darkness of evil and falsity; but the Lord's mercy was looking over the knowledge of true and good stored up in man's spiritual by Him for future use.
   ³And God said, Let the man understand that man's "good" is not good, and that the Lord is good and truth itself, and thus come to light. ⁴And God saw the good that was from Him, and it was light; and God saw the evil that was from man, and it was darkness. ⁵God called the good "day", and He called the evil "night". Thus, man in the state of falsity, lacking faith, on one hand, and Lord's truth and knowledge of faith stored in the man's spiritual, on the other hand, were the man's first stage.
   ⁶And God said, Let there be a distinction between the spiritual of man and the natural; between the knowledge that is in the spiritual man, and the mere memory of knowledge, which belongs to the natural man. ⁷And God made this distinction between knowledge in the memory of natural man, which is below, and the knowledge of faith in the spiritual man, which is above; and it was so. ⁸Thus was man's state, the second stage.
   ⁹And God said, Let all memory knowledge of what is good and true in the natural man, received from the spiritual knowledge, as given by God, be collected together; yet the natural man was still without understanding of the truth of faith; and it was so. ¹⁰And God caused man to receive this collection of knowledge of good and truth. ¹¹And God said, Let this man, who was thus prepared, produce at first something good and true, then something more useful from this good, and at length, something of an even greater goodness, which is fruitful from the good it contains; and it was so. ¹²And this man has produced as God caused in him, and it was good. ¹³Thus was the state of man, the third stage, proceeding from a shade to light.
   ¹⁴And God said, Let there be love and faith in the spiritual man to distinguish between good and evil. Let these, good and evil alternate, so that the man perceives the difference. ¹⁵Let the love and faith in the spiritual project itself into the natural man; and it was so. ¹⁶And God made love and faith: love to rule good, and faith to rule truth. ¹⁷And God placed love and faith in the spiritual man to provide guidance to the natural man; ¹⁸To rule the good, and to rule the evil, and to distinguish between truth and falsity; and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹Thus was man's state, the fourth stage.
   ²⁰And God said, Let the love and faith, which were placed in the spiritual man and projected upon the natural, give life to man. For whatsoever is from the Lord (love and faith), is life giving. ²¹And God gave life to all memory knowledge stored up in man, and all of man's rational and intellectual came to life; and God saw that it was good. ²²And God conjoined these to Himself, saying to man, Be in love and in faith, and thus grow. ²³This was the state of man, the fifth stage.
   ²⁴And God said, Let the man live now according to the knowledge of faith he received from Me, and do all good things in accordance with this knowledge; and it was so. ²⁵And God caused this man to speak the truth from faith and understanding, and do the good from the love based in this faith, thus man brought forth the "living soul" of his understanding, and then the "beast" of his affections; and God saw that it was good.
   ²⁶And God said unto the heavenly angels, Let us transform man now into our understanding, resembling our goodness, and let them be in all things of knowledge and understanding of faith that now are within them, and then let them live in goodness of this faith. ²⁷And God caused man to be in such state of understanding of the truth of faith, and then, in the love of the good; thus, in the understanding of truth and the willingness of good He made them. ²⁸And God conjoined the understanding of truth with the willingness of good in man, and said unto them, Grow in goodness and thus be fruitful; Grow in understanding of faith and thus multiply; fill yourself with these and combat your natural into submission, thus into obedience to the spiritual. Thus, have the mastery over all things of knowledge through understanding.
   ²⁹And God said, Behold, I have given you every truth regarding the usefulness and the goodness of faith; it shall be the food for your spiritual; ³⁰And may the memory knowledge, for now, remain to be the food for thought to your natural.
   ³¹And God saw that the things of faith became one with the things of love in man, thus the union was effected between the spiritual things of faith and the celestial things of love; and it was very good. This was the state of man, the sixth stage (Image of God).

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