Religion

What’s the DEAL with rebirth?

Looking at Reformation and Regeneration, chapter 10 from True Christianity, by Emanuel Swedenborg

Reformation is:

  • the first state is one of thought on the part of the understanding
  • a person looks from his natural to his spiritual man and desires to be spiritual
  • … formed by means of the truths which must become part of faith, 
  • … and these enable him to look towards charity.

Regeneration is:

  • the second is one of love on the part of the will
  • becomes spiritual-natural
  • … formed by the kinds of good which make up charity, …
  • … and from them he enters into the truths of faith.

SPIRITUAL-NATURAL

607. section 2. When I say that we become “spiritual” as a result of being regenerated, I do not mean that we [who are still in the physical world] become as fully spiritual as angels; I mean that we become both spiritual and earthly, meaning that within our earthly self there is a spiritual self, which is present in much the same way thought is present in speech or the will is present in action – if one stops, the other stops. Similarly, our spirit is present in the individual things our body does. The spirit is what drives the earthly component to do what it does. Viewed on its own, the earthly part of us is something passive; it is a dead force. The spiritual part of us is something active; it is a living force. Something passive, a dead force, cannot take action on its own. It must be driven by something active, a living force.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUTH: BY MEANS OF TRUTH IN THE UNDERSTANDING

589. … the first step in our being generated anew is to receive truths in our intellect. The second step is to intend to put those truths into practice; eventually it takes the form of actually putting them into practice.

618. Regeneration Is Not Possible without the Truths That Shape Faith and Are Joined with Goodwill

IT BEGINS WITH TRUTHS … BUT … IT DOESN’T END THERE!

602. It is important to note, however, that our intellect can rise up almost into the light that the angels of heaven have, but if our will does not rise along with it, we are still the old self, not the new self.

THE REVERSAL

571. As the second state begins and progresses, a change takes place in our minds. There is a reversal, because then the love in our will flows into our intellect and leads and drives it to think in agreement and harmony with what we love. As good actions that come from love take on a primary role, and the truths related to faith are relegated to a secondary role, we become spiritual and are a new creation [2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15]. Then our actions come from goodwill and our words come from faith; we develop a sense of the goodness that comes from goodwill and a perception of the truth that is related to faith; and we are in the Lord and in a state of peace. In brief, we are reborn.

[2] If we begin the first state while we are in this world, we can be brought into the second state after we die. If we do not begin the first state while we are in this world, we cannot be brought into the second state or be reborn after we die.

LEARNING A NEW SKILL:

  • Move from conscious doing, to easy, effortless, unconscious doing
  • From practice to habit.
  • The move from the cerebrum to the cerebellum.
  • Applies to all forms of skills – playing the piano, driving, riding a bicycle
  • THIS IS NOT REFORMATION / REGENERATION – BUT AN IMAGE OF IT.

IT IS CARRIED OUT BY THE LORD – WITH MAN’S COOPERATION

576. The Lord Alone Generates or Creates Us Anew, Provided We Cooperate; He Uses Both Goodwill and Faith as Means

THE “AS IF OF SELF” PRINCIPLE:

“We have thoughts and we will things as if we did so on our own. This feeling that we think and will on our own is what allows for a reciprocal partnership [with the Lord]. No partnership can exist without reciprocation. For example, no partnership would exist between an active element and a responsive element if there were no adaptation or point of contact between them.

God alone is an active force. We allow ourselves to experience that active force and we cooperate with it to all appearances as if we were acting on our own, although inwardly we are actually acting from God.” (588)