A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion — Title, Preface & Contents
PREFACE.
THE doctrines of the New and True Christian Religion having been published in a great variety of voluminous writings, and many persons having expressed a desire to see them in an abridged form, not only for their own use, but for the benefit of others, who may be disposed to peruse a small Manual, when a larger work would fail to engage their attention; the Author of the following Compendium has endeavoured to meet this wish of the Public, by bringing into as compact a form and order, as the nature and number of the subjects treated of would permit, the principal doctrines of the New Jerusalem. And as the sentiments contained in it do not originate with him, but are those of Divine Revelation itself, laid down in a clear and intelligible manner, he feels himself at liberty to recommend it as a work proper to be put into the hands of strangers, or of such as are desirous of obtaining a general knowledge of the doctrines professed by the members of the New Church.
He is aware, that it may possibly be the opinion of some, that the end or purpose intended is already answered by a publication of the late Hon. Emanuel Swedenborg, entitled, A Treatise concerning the New Jerusalem, and it's Heavenly Doctrine, particularly the cheap edition without the Extracts from Arcana Cœlestia. But when it is considered, that the present Compendium embraces not only the substance of that most useful little volume, with it's many references to the larger work, but the substance also of the Treatises concerning the Lord, the Sacred Scripture, the Doctrine of Life, and the Doctrine concerning Faith; that it exhibits likewise a concentrated view of the chief doctrines so amply and so ably explained in the great work, entitled, True Christian Religion; and that many leading features of the works on Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, the Divine Providence, Heaven and Hell, the Intercourse between Soul and Body, the Apocalypse Revealed, and Apocalypse Explained, the Last Judgment, the Earths in the Universe, and even the Arcana Cœlestia itself, with other productions of the same distinguished pen as that already referred to, are to be traced in the following pages; we hope, that our humble efforts to convey to the reader, from the stores above mentioned, much useful information in a very small compass, will not prove to be labour entirely lost, but will be accepted by him as a testimony of our desire to contribute to the real welfare of society, by diffusing among them, according to our ability, the knowledge of the One True God Jesus Christ, and the most important doctrines of the New and True Christian Religion.
ROBERT HINDMARSH.
| Salford, Manchester, |
| May 16, 1816=60. |
The Being and Unity of God,
A
COMPENDIUM,
&c. &c.
I. The Being and Unity of God.
THERE is one God, the Creator of all worlds, visible and invisible, who in consideration of his divine Esse, which is the original source and incomprehensible fountain of all life and being, is called I Am that I Am, or Jehovah, who Is, who Was, and who Is To Be, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, the All and In All. The being and unity of Jehovah God are inculcated by the general tenor of divine revelation, as well as by many express declarations; and may be considered as the ground-work or foundation of all religion. It is therefore written, “Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is One Jehovah,” Deut. vi. 4. Mark xii. 29. “Thus saith Jehovah the King of Israel, I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God,” Isa. xliv. 6. “I am Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt know no God but me.” Hos. xiii. 4.
God himself the primary Substance and Form,
II. God himself the primary Substance and Form.
THIS one God is the real and primary substance and form, from whom and by whom all created substances and forms were produced; it being impossible that any substance whatever could have risen up out of nothing. All things that exist must, therefore, have been produced by a divine power from an original substance, that is, from God himself, yet in a way, and according to an order, that preserves the most perfect and complete distinction between the Creator and the creature. And as we see, that all created substances and forms have, either directly or indirectly, some respect to the human form; and it being certain, that this respect must ultimately lead and point to him, from whom they proceeded; it necessarily follows, that God is in such original and primary substance and form a Divine Man, in whom nevertheless all things are infinite and eternal, without any relation either to space, or time, or matter, being prior to and far above them.
The Divine Essence, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom,
III. The Divine Essence, which is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom.
AS the divine Esse of Jehovah God is in itself infinitely above the comprehension of any finite mind, and cannot become the proper subject of either human or angelic contemplation, he has therefore in mercy been pleased so to accommodate himself to the capacity of his intelligent creatures, as to exhibit before them the most evident and striking marks of his divine love and divine wisdom, which constitute his essence. Some faint idea, therefore, may be formed of the divine essence, while we consider it as the complex of all the divine goods, and all the divine truths, which flow from the great fountain of life, and encircle him as a sun of righteousness. Thus God is not only an incomprehensible esse, but at the same time also an essence in some sort comprehensible, as divine love and divine wisdom, divine good and divine truth, in each of which respects he is truly and properly life in himself, that is, life independent of every other source.
Love and wisdom in God are essentially one, though capable of being distinguished in idea the one from the other. And it being a property of the divine love, in union with the divine wisdom, to love others out of or distinct from itself, to desire conjunction with others, and to make others happy from itself, it seems highly reasonable to believe, that this threefold tendency of the divine love and the divine wisdom was the cause of the creation of the world, and also still is the cause of it's preservation.
Creation,