3. Letter to Mennander, September 16, 1766
Reverend Doctor and Bishop!* I am sending you, most reverend Sir, a study of my youth on finding the longitude of places on land and at sea by means of the moon, which is now published at Amsterdam and has been communicated to scientific and academic societies, earnestly desiring you to hand it on to the Professor of Astronomy at Abo, so that if he finds it worthy of his attention and study, he may put it into practice. In foreign countries Almanacks are nowadays calculated by various authors according to that method, using a pair of stars, which, since they are devised for several years ahead, are expected to give outstanding service.
The Apocalypse is now explained or rather revealed, but I have not yet had a chance of sending it to you, most reverend Sir, and at the same time to the Library; please tell me to whom I may give it here in Stockholm, and I will hand it over.
Certain people are discussing whether the present time is the Consummation of the Age, and also the Lord's coming and the New Church from Him. Some believe that the faith of today, which is to God the Father on account of the Son, is saving faith in itself. But in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED it is demonstrated that that faith has destroyed the Church, done away with religion, and thus laid waste and consummated everything belonging to worship, to such a point that there is no longer any truth or any good; and that the works which are called the fruits of that faith are none other than the eggs mentioned in Isaiah lix 5. Consequently those who have confirmed themselves in that faith together with its web, and who believe that the good actions which they do are the fruits of that faith, are under a delusion and are mad, nor can they be withdrawn from their madness, except by rejecting the confirmations of that faith, and by adopting faith in Jesus Christ, a faith which contains nothing of the kind; on this see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM ON FAITH n. 34-7 The falsities of the faith of today are these:
1 The Lord took away the damnation of the Law, when in fact He did not take away the smallest part of one letter of the Law; for each person will be judged according to his deeds, Romans ii 10, 13; 2 Corinthians v 10, etc., etc., etc. But the Lord did take away damnation, because but for His coming into the world no one could be saved. 2 It is the truth that the Lord fulfilled the Law, for by that action He alone was made righteousness. But He did not by it free man from the Law, for the Lord fulfils the Law with all those who shun evils as sins and approach Him. For those who shun some sins which they see in themselves are endeavouring to shun all, so far as they know them. 3 It is impossible for the Lord's merit to be imputed to man. His merits are two, subjugating the hells and glorifying His Human; these two cannot be imputed to anyone, but by their means He put Himself in the position of being able to save men who approach Him, and examine themselves, and shun their evils as sins. 4 To approach God the Father so that He may have mercy for the sake of the Son, and send the Holy Spirit, is to turn worship upside down, and also to impart a clear idea of three gods, implying that the Father is one, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit yet another; and if it is said that by the Son is meant His Human, there arises an idea of duality concerning the Lord. 5 It is false that man is justified by the profession of that faith, provided it is done with trust and confidence, Romans ii 10; James i 22. There is no truth in that faith, no good in it, and thus no Church or religion. For the truth of doctrine makes the Church, and the good of life makes religion. 6 It is said that good works or the goods of charity are the fruits of that faith; when in fact ecclesiastical society has not yet discovered the connection of that faith with good works; they actually teach that good works do not even preserve or retain faith, and that therefore no other fruits of that faith are possible than the works of the Holy Spirit inwardly in man, about which man knows nothing, and if he does any, they are merely moral and civil, contributing nothing whatever to salvation. 7 The saying of Paul, Romans iii 28, on which present-day theology regarding salvation is founded, has been wrongly understood. This has been clearly shown in APOCALYPSE REVEALED n. 417. In addition to these there are many more points which I forbear to mention here. From these it can be established that if anyone creates fruits from that faith, he is creating the eggs mentioned in Isaiah lix 5. For it is taught in the New Church that faith can never produce the goods of charity, as a tree does its fruit, but that what are called the truths of faith teach how one should think about God and act towards the neighbour, and that charity accepts those truths among its goods, as a fruit accepts juices and their flavours from the tree. Thus fruits or good works arising from the faith of today, as mentioned above, have no other juices and consequently flavours than its confirmations, which are falsities. These are contained in its goods, a fact unknown to man, but perceived by the angels.
* Swedenborg's association with Charles Frederic Mennander, Bishop of Abo 1757-75. Archbishop of Uppsala 1775-86 (see TD n p. 1134), began probably during meetings of the Swedish Diet held 1760-2. From that time on, thinking that the bishop was affirmative to the new teachings, Swedenborg sent him copies of his theological works as they came from the press. Mennander's interests were scientific as well as theological, and therefore in his letter of 16 September 1766 Swedenborg referred briefly to the new edition of Methodus Nova Inveiendi Longitudines Locorum Terra Marique per Lunam, previously published in 1721, before indicating at greater length the theological content of the newly published APOCALYPSIS REVELATA. See further TD i pp. 590-7, LM pp. 607-19.
The original of this letter is lost and therefore the Latin text printed here is based on (a) Nordenskjold's transcription (N) now in the possession of The Swedenborg Society, and (b) an incomplete copy (U) to be found in the University Library of Uppsala.