Purpose of Proverbs Translation

The writings of Swedenborg can be pithy and difficult to read in our age. They were originally written in Latin. What I have done here is reflect on sentences and attempt to boil their meaning down into easily understandable "proverbs".

Friday, February 4, 2011

8 Citations from Divine Providence book by Emanuel Swedenborg simplified into proverbs

Our inner and outer thought processes can act separately as well as together.  D.P. 145

Dishonest people talk and act on the basis of their outer thought in ways that differ from their deeper thought and intent.  D.P. 145

Honest people’s inner and outer thoughts act together as they say and do what they think and intend inwardly.  D.P. 145

When we think of evils as sins and therefore try to refrain from them the inner thoughts fight against the outer thoughts and forcibly make them consent.  D.P. 145.

The “pleasures in what is good” are the benefits that arise from our caring.  D.P. 145

We are slaves when we are in our sins and liberated by the Lord when we accept truth from him through the Word.  D.P. 145

The inner self is full of desire for honesty, while the outer self enjoys cheating.  D.P. 146

Once the battle is won, the outer self delights in honest that is true caring.  Gradually thereafter our pleasure in cheating becomes distasteful to us.  D.P. 146

Sins include adultery, promiscuity, vengefulness, hatred, blasphemy and deceit.  Love of being in control due to our sense of self-importance is the head of them all.  D.P.146

We are locked in our earthly mind when we are locked in our compulsions to evil and their pleasures.  D.P. 147

As soon as we realize that our evils are sins against God and divine laws, and try to refrain from them, the Lord opens our spiritual mind.  D.P. 147

Every young person who intends to have a job, go into business, or hold some office wants to be set free throughout their apprenticeship so they can make their own decisions.  This is compelling themselves.  D.P. 148

The Christian religion has closed the door on intelligence, and the theology of faith alone has sealed it shut.  D.P. 149

The dogma that theological matters are beyond our grasp and that we should therefore not use our rationality in our approach to them is the iron wall.  D.P. 149

Not many people look into themselves and see their sins.  D.P. 149

Our outer self has to be reformed by means of our inner self.  D.P. 150

Whatever the Lord teaches, he enables us to perceive rationally.  D.P. 150

The two ways to perceive the Lord’s teachings:  1. seeing its truth within ourselves as soon as we hear it, 2.  through rational analysis.  D.P. 150

Seeing the Lord’s teachings in ourselves happens in our inner self.  Seeing them rationally happens in our outer self.  D.P. 150

It is our intelligence that is seeing through our eyes and hearing through our ears, not the reverse.  Things seen do not enter into our eyes.  Things heard do not enter our ears.  D.P. 150 

The inner self is not reformed simply by gaining knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, not, that is, simply by thinking.  D.P. 151

We are reformed inwardly by intending to do what our knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom tell us.  D.P. 151

1st step of reformation:  Not intend evil because it is from hell.  And intend good instead because it is from heaven.  D.P. 151

2nd step of reformation:  Intend to stop doing wrong.  D.P. 151

Unless we do what we intend, there is a lack of real intention inside that eventually becomes unwillingness.  D.P. 151

The only way to look into our spirits is to see what we are thinking.  Especially see what we are striving for which is our intentions.  D.P. 152

Thinking on the basis of our intentions is both intending and doing.  (If anyone has looked at someone else’s wife so as to ust for her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  [Matthew 5:28])

Evils are to be avoided as sins, otherwise they are not forgiven.  And if sins are not forgiven there is no salvation.  D.P. 153

Most people only think about faith and about (false) salvation because of their faith alone.  D.P. 153

The idea of salvation by faith alone closes the eyes so completely  that people read the Word without seeing love, caring and doing.    D.P. 153

We should b e led and taught by the Lord, from heaven, by means of the Word, and teaching and preaching from it.  D.P. 154

To all appearances, we are leading and teaching ourselves, while actually its by the Lord alone.  D.P. 154

If we convince ourselves of the appearance and not of the truth along with it, we cannot get rid of our evils as sins.  D.P. 154

People who convince themselves of both the appearance and the truth worship the Lord because He is raising them above their illusory sense of self-importance.  D.P. 154

We are given a profound sense that we are being led and taught not by ourselves but by the Lord.  D.P. 154

The rational processes of individuals who entertain both the appearance and the truth are spiritual.  D.P. 154

The rational processes of people who entertain the appearance but not the truth are bound by the material world.  D.P. 154

We are led by the Lord and taught by being enlightened.  D.P. 154


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