To have dominion by religion, is to have dominion over men's souls, thus over their very spiritual life, and to use the Divine things, which are in their religion, as the means
Emanuel SwedenborgThe quality of the Lord's church on earth, cannot be seen by any man, so long as he lives in the world, still less how the church in process of time has turned aside from good to evil
Emanuel SwedenborgSeen in its own right, a loving person's inner spirit is an angel of heaven, and while we are living in the body we are also in the company of angels, even though we are not aware of it; and once we are released from the body we join them.
Emanuel SwedenborgCharity is like warmth in springtime or summer that causes grass, plants, and trees to grow. Without charity, or spiritual warmth, nothing grows.
Emanuel SwedenborgGod loves every one of us but cannot directly benefit us; he can benefit us only indirectly through each other. For this reason he inspires us with his love
Emanuel SwedenborgI am well aware that many will say that no one can possibly speak with spirits and angels so long as he lives in the body; and many will say that it is all fancy, others that I relate such things in order to gain credence, and others will make other objections.
Emanuel SwedenborgIn the spiritual body moreover, man appears such as he is with respect to love and faith, for everyone in the spiritual world is the effigy of his own love, not only as to the face and the body, but also as to the speech and the actions.
Emanuel SwedenborgA man after death, is not a natural but a spiritual man; nevertheless he still appears in all respects like himself.
Emanuel SwedenborgTimes of happiness, bliss, and sheer delight intensify as the higher levels of our minds are opened within us One our life on earth is over, these levels keep rising forever.
Emanuel SwedenborgMoreover, no one is judged from the natural man, thus not so long as he lives in the natural world, for man is then in a natural body; but everyone is judged in the spiritual man, and therefore when he comes into the spiritual world, for man is then in a spiritual body.
Emanuel SwedenborgI have seen a thousand times that Angels are human form, or men, for I have conversed with them as man to man, sometimes with one alone, sometimes with many in company.
Emanuel SwedenborgEvery man is received in heaven who receives heaven in himself while in the world, and he is excluded who does not.
Emanuel SwedenborgEverything good or true that the angels inspire in us is God's, so God is constantly talking to us. He talks very differently, though, to one person than to another.
Emanuel SwedenborgThe nature of heaven is to provide a place there for all who lead good lives, no matter what their religion may be.
Emanuel SwedenborgPeople who have intended and loved what is evil in the world intend and love what is evil in the other life, and then they no longer allow themselves to be led away from it. This is why people who are absorbed in evil are connected to hell and actually are there in spirit; and after death they crave above all to be where their evil is. So after death, it is we, not the Lord, who cast ourselves into hell.
Emanuel SwedenborgFor the spiritual sense of the Word treats everywhere of the spiritual world, that is, of the state of the church in the heavens, as well as in the earth; hence the Word is spiritual and Divine.
Emanuel SwedenborgJustice is following the divine design in all that one does, and bringing back into the divine design things that have fallen away from that design. Justice is the divine design itself.
Emanuel SwedenborgThe life of any one can by no means be changed after death; an evil life can in no wise be converted into a good life, or an infernal into an angelic life: because every spirit, from head to foot, is of the character of his love, and therefore, of his life; and to convert this life into its opposite, would be to destroy the spirit utterly.
Emanuel SwedenborgOur love is our life itself. What our love is like determines how we live and therefore everything about what we are as human beings.
Emanuel SwedenborgSacred scripture is like a mirror in which we see God, although each in a different way.
Emanuel SwedenborgAngels can recognize the nature of our unique essence on the basis of nothing more than a brief conversation with us. From hearing the tone of our voice angels sense what we love; and from hearing what we say, angels sense our level of understanding.
Emanuel SwedenborgPeople are unaware that spirits even exist, let alone that angels are present with them.
Emanuel SwedenborgWherefore the brain must be looked upon as the universal and general sensory and at the same time as the universal and general motory organ of the body and finally as the universal and general laboratory of the animal spirits and the blood or of the essential juices of life.
Emanuel SwedenborgMan was so created by the Lord as to be able while living in the body to speak with spirits and angels, as in fact was done in the most ancient times; for, being a spirit clothed with a body, he is one with them
Emanuel SwedenborgCharity alone, or love and compassion, is what joins [the Lord and a person] together.
Emanuel SwedenborgThe Divine of the Lord in heaven is love, for the reason that love is receptive of all things of heaven, such as peace, intelligence, wisdom and happiness
Emanuel SwedenborgThe angels taken collectively are called heaven, for they constitute heaven; and yet that which makes heaven in general and in particular is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord and flows into the angels and is received by them.
Emanuel SwedenborgWe are all spirits inwardly. This is what's alive in the body, not the body on its own.
Emanuel SwedenborgSo far as the Angels are recipients of that spiritual heat and light they are loves and wisdoms, not loves and wisdoms for themselves, but from the Lord.
Emanuel SwedenborgAll our longings for what is loving and true reach out into heaven. They put us in touch with angels who are feeling the same way and unite us with them.
Emanuel SwedenborgCharity means love towards the neighbor and compassion, for anyone who loves his neighbor as himself also has as much compassion for him in his suffering as he does for himself in his own.
Emanuel Swedenborg