Religion

What credit is that to you?

The word, “Imputation” isn’t prominent in Swedenborg’s vocabulary (160 uses only, about half being in this chapter). However, this chapter is the climax of his book, True Christianity. Links with:

  • * chapter 2 – The Lord the Redeemer,
  • * chapter 8 – Freewill,
  • * chapter 9 – Repentance, and
  • * chapter 10 – Reformation and Regeneration

“Imputation” – means:

  • In FINANCE – the assignment of a value to something by inference from the value of the products or processes to which it contributes.
  • In THEOLOGY – the action or process of ascribing righteousness, guilt, etc. to someone by virtue of a similar quality in another.

Jonathan Rose translates Imputation as “The Assignment of Spiritual Credit or Blame”

Two different understandings of Imputation:

The Book of Concord:

“… poor sinful man is justified before God, that is, absolved and declared free and exempt from all his sins, and from the sentence of well-deserved condemnation, and adopted into sonship and heirship of eternal life, without any merit or worth of our own, also without any preceding, present, or any subsequent works, out of pure grace, because of the sole merit, complete obedience, bitter suffering, death, and resurrection of our Lord Christ alone, whose obedience is reckoned to us for righteousness.” (Source: https://bookofconcord.org/solid-declaration/righteousness-of-faith/#sd-iii-0009)

Swedenborg:

II. Imputation as part of present-day faith is a double concept. There is imputation of Christ’s merit and imputation of salvation as a result. (paragraph 628)

V. It is impossible for Christ’s merit and righteousness to be imputed. … The merit of our Lord the Saviour is redemption; … (refers to chapter 2, 114-133). It is there described as being the conquest of the hells and the ordering of the heavens, followed by the foundation of a church; and so it was shown that it was an entirely Divine deed. It was also shown there that by redemption the Lord gave Himself the power to regenerate and save people who believe in Him and keep His commandments; without this act of redemption no flesh could have been saved. Since then redemption was an entirely Divine deed, and was the Lord’s alone, this being His merit, it follows that this cannot be applied, attributed or imputed to any human being. (640)

VI. There is imputation but it is of good and evil, and at the same time of faith. (643)

Everything good flows in from the Lord and everything evil from hell: 904, 4151. Nowadays people believe that everything is in themselves and from themselves, when actually everything is flowing in, …: 4249, 6193, 6206. If our belief were in accord with doctrine, we would not claim evil as our own or make good our own: 6206, 6324-6325. (Heaven and Hell, paragraph 603.6)

​​… the Lord is not capable of doing anything evil to anyone. This means that he cannot ascribe evil to people, either. He is love itself, mercy itself, goodness itself. … Therefore for evil or anything like it to be an attribute of the Lord would go against his divine essence and would be inconsistent with himself. (True Christianity 651)

VII. The faith and concept of imputation in the new church cannot by any means be combined with the faith and concept of imputation current in the former church. If they are combined, there is such a clash and conflict that a person loses all trace of anything to do with the church. (647)

“Syncretism” – Means

  • the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.” (Google)
  • “reconciliation of different beliefs,” (https://www.etymonline.com/word/syncretism)

How are we to discern the truth?

  • “Open your ears, my friend the reader, and read the Word, and you will clearly grasp a different faith and a different kind of imputation from the one of which you have so far been persuaded.” (644)
  • “…the Word is from beginning to end full of evidences and proofs that everyone has his good or evil imputed to him …” (645)

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6:32-36)