OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH.

original: NOVI CÆLI ET NOVÆ ECCLESIÆ. This title refers to Swedenborg’s belief that a new spiritual era was beginning, necessitating a fresh understanding of God.

...learned from the Word, and imbibed through a life according to its truths, compose that Mirror. From these things it is first established that the Sacred Scripture is the fullness of God. That it not only teaches that God is, but also that God is one, can be established from the Truths which, as has been said, form that Mirror; for they cohere in a single connection, and ensure that a man cannot think of God except as one. Hence it is that everyone whose reason has been imbued with some holiness from the Word knows, as if of himself, that God is one, and perceives it as a kind of madness to say that there are many. The angels cannot even open their mouths to speak of "gods," for the heavenly atmosphere in which they live resists it. That God is one, the Sacred Scripture teaches not only universally in the manner just described, but also specifically in many places, such as these:

Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God, Jehovah is one, Deut. 6:4; likewise Mark 12:29. Surely God is in thee, and there is no God besides Me, Isaiah 45:14, 15. Am I not Jehovah, and there is no God else beside Me?, Isaiah 45:21, 22. I am Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt acknowledge no God beside Me, Hosea 13:4. Thus said Jehovah the King of Israel, I am the First and the Last, and besides Me there is no God, Isaiah 44:6. In that day Jehovah shall be King over all the earth; in that day Jehovah shall be one, and His Name one, Zech. 14:9.

7. It is well known that the doctrines of the churches in the Christian world teach that God is one; they teach this because all their doctrines are derived from the Word, and they remain coherent so long as they acknowledge one God not only with the mouth, but also with the heart. Those who acknowledge one God only with the mouth, but three with the heart—as is the case with many in Christianity today—for them, God is nothing more than a mere spoken word. All TheologyLiterally "the study of God." Swedenborg argues that without a true idea of God’s unity, the study becomes hollow. is to them like an idol of gold locked in a cabinet, the key to which is held only by the priests. When they read the Word, they do not perceive any light there or from it; they do not even perceive that God is one. The Word to them is as if covered with ink-blots, hiding the unity of God. These are the ones described by the Lord in Matthew: "By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive... they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them," Chapter 13:14, 15. All such people are like those who flee the light and enter rooms without windows, where they grope along the walls seeking food and money; at last they acquire a sight like that of owls and see in the dark. They are like a woman who has many husbands, who is not a wife but a lustful prostitute; or like a virgin who accepts rings from many suitors, and after her wedding, spends her nights with one, and then also with the rest.

8. II. THAT THERE IS A UNIVERSAL INFLUX FROM GOD INTO THE SOULS OF MEN, THAT GOD IS, AND THAT HE IS ONE.
That there is an influxFrom the Latin influxus, meaning "a flowing in." Swedenborg uses this to describe how life and spirit flow from the Divine into the human mind, like light into an eye. from God into man is evident from the confession of all: that every good thing which is good in itself—which is in man and done by him—is from God. Similarly, everything of charity and everything of faith is from Him; for we read, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven, John 3:27; and Jesus said, Without Me you can do nothing, John 15:5; that is, nothing of charity or of faith. This influx is into the souls of men because the soul is the innermost and highest part of man, and the influx from God enters there, and from there descends into the things below, vivifying them according to how they are received. It is true that the truths of faith enter through hearing and are thus implanted in the mind—below the soul—but man is only prepared by these truths to receive the influx from God through the soul. As the preparation is, such is the reception, and such is the transformation of natural faith into spiritual faith. That there is an influx from God into the souls of men teaching that God is one, is because everything Divine, whether taken universally or individually, is God; and because everything Divine coheres as one, it cannot help but inspire in man the idea of one God. This idea is strengthened daily as man is raised by God into the light of heaven; for the angels, in their light, cannot even force themselves to ut-