Yeah, it's a real gift that has come through Swedenborg's books-a way to find the consistent love and wisdom in the Bible. We're so glad the interpretations are meaningful to you!
Thank you so very much Curtis, A "MASTERPIECE" Presentation, Swedenborg certainly explained Jesus' trials, tribulations, crucifixion in a manner which touched my heart and Yes, One's life is a "Work in Progress", Thank The Lord for His Sacrifice thus Our Salvation .... Many blessings to ALL
This was such a fresh take on this issue. I have never felt truly satisfied with the standard church reason for Jesus' life. Swedenborg as usual comes up with something that makes more sense! Thanks Curtis and OTLE!
We're so glad to hear this, Will! I agree that Swedenborg learned a view of Jesus and his life that makes so much sense, and is filled with love and care instead of intimidation. Thank you watching!
Oh my god，same here，god leads me to this program when I am going through the transformation from liking the hellish mindset to ready-to-battle mindset，haven't been long since I was learning to choose which side to follow，god frees me from sin，praise the lord
I am more than thankful to be enlightened with the deeper and profound meaning of Christ saving us and the atonement. The Word nowadays are pretty distorted by self insight explanations and elaborations rather than that of what truly God means. Its a blessing to have watched this video, really. I just passed by a post in facebook about Swedenborg and his life promoting entirely the deeper truths about God and decided to search it on google. Now I have started reading some of the books and it reallg bless me in a more wide range of my life that I could share to some of my fellow churchmates and disciples. Thank you so much for this. May God blesses you more.
I am so moved by your comment. It sounds like you've really been inspired by the deeper levels of meaning within The Word. You're correct in that Swedenborg, upon being called to serve the Lord as a theologian, dedicated his entirety to the cause. In your reading, have you come across the Arcana Coelestia (or Secrets of Heaven)? That is a multi-volume series on the inner meaning of scripture, which you might enjoy. At any rate, I'm giving you the link to a brief breakdown of Swedenborg and the major works of theology he wrote. I hope it serves you well! Blessings, my dear friend. ruclips.net/video/HEa0e8AcS78/видео.html
Thank you. As I am led and guided by the small voice within me, which is how I got here.. :) I will surely come to a place of peace and understanding about it all. I truly appreciate your teachings and the combined effort of you, your family, and crew in getting Swedenborgs writings out to us. Blessings to you all.
The way you described the purpose and meaning of the atonement and how it works is exactly our belief in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself our sins and every other horrible thing that we and the world goes through so that we don't have to pay the price of hell ourselves, if we are wiling to go him and repent of our sins and follow him and keep his commandments. He is everything to all of us. It was really nice to see that Swedenborg says the same thing. Thank you Curtis and your crew.
“It does not say anything about it being instantaneous and easy to understand “. I feel that we are so conditioned to find easy answers and to not have to work hard to find the real truth. As for me I find it extremely difficult to reprogram my mind to get to the real truth, even though I never believed that garbage foisted onto me by those who wanted power over me just to control me. Thank you so much! You making such an impact on the world, now and forevermore. God bless.
I hear you, Ken. It's quite a challenge to shift our understanding of things, especially if that earlier understanding was forged during our formative years. It's a gradual process to change perspective, and it happens a step at a time! We're really glad if these shows are helping you take gradual steps toward a perspective that makes more sense to you. Wishing God's blessings to you, too!
Curtis...Love your channel and the great way you present this incredibly important information! I am now a Swedenborg fan and will be exploring his work from now on. Thank you for all you do...Blessings to you. Cate
Hi Cate, thanks for reaching out! We are so happy to hear about your discovery of Swedenborg. Do let me know if I can be of assistance in your exploration. Blessings to you!
offTheLeftEye I love this channel:-) I think in a past life I died by falling out a helicopter but I take past life quizzes for e.g where did you live in your past life every quiz says the ocean, then I took the how did you die in your past life quiz and it said you drowned in the titanic or got hit by a moving vehicle! THIS TERRIFYS ME😣😣
lol---i wouldn't worry about it ---live in the now, love your neighbor (which is everyone you come into contact with),we are all on a spiritual path, enjoy Swedenborg.
I have been searching and thinking about what the Bible is all about for a very long time, couldn't get anywhere. I couldn't get beyond the physical word but still believed that something is behind it and kept searching....at last Swedenborg books and episodes like this gives me a lot of answers, now for me, the Bible has real " spirit and life". Swedenborg was able to receive more light than many of us...!!!! it is really amazing! Thanks Curtis for all this.
bunty, I can't tell you how much this means to us. We make the shows, hoping they will be helpful to people and reach people's hearts. We're very grateful to have you in the audience, and to be able to be a part of your spiritual journey. God bless!
So true when we look around and talk about the real meaning of our beliefs, people like us are hated by those who claim themselves as believers simply they were being taught or bring up with false believes.... very sad . Why we are here is to identify the truth from the false. Thank you for making these videos. So meaningful
Hi, Christine! Thank you for your comment, and I'm so glad what you are watching resonates with you! Yes, Swedenborg does urge us to examine the ideas we were taught and come to our own conclusions. Only then can the ideas become truly our own. This video comes to mind on that topic: "How to Test a Spiritual Idea." ruclips.net/video/GjHBsjG4etM/видео.html
These are exceptionally good vids. Curtis is a great host. These vids have made Me start to read Swedenborg for My own wisdom and comfort. I originally found these when My best friend left the earthly plane and I was looking for information on the Afterlife. His ideas and visions really resonate w Me
It's heartwarming to hear this, Devious Goblin. We want to share these ideas because we, too, think they provide wisdom and comfort! Thanks so much for reaching out to let us know you're here and watching. So happy to have you along on the journey!
This was enlightening! I always felt the idea of penal substitution to be abhorrent and contrary to the nature of God, and that Christus Victor was closer to the truth. In my mind, Jesus confirmed this when He said in Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also."
We agree that the concept of penal substitution paints a horrible picture of God! God is Mercy and Love itself! Happy to hear these ideas resonate in your heart, leftstanding. Blessings to you!
You are an excellent host Curtis! To the point and speak so we can all "get it"....*...I'll be 54 on May 18 and I know JESUS has saved my life more then 3x in those years! I tell people always...don't wait until something bad happens to you to BELIEVE! Thank The Lord before you get out of bed in the AM. ..and before you go to sleep in the PM!! Also don't "bug" him like a little kid does to a parent! Ask and then say thank you, I TRUST you Lord! I know JESUS saved me on 12/29/14 from that massive heart attack I had from a blood clot at age 51'( (I made it just in time for them to put in 2 stents)...also after these 2 and a half years later, I am here, healthy with the genuine love Our Lord brought to me on April 11, 2015....yet my $$ has not yet " re-coop'd" I was doing fantastic from 1985-2014, making a good living singing/entertaining and always had a good "day job"..the last one was with Whole Foods Market for 10 years! My life is starting all over at 54, but I know and tell everyone I meet and my dear friends...The Lord is NOT done with me here on earth! I am surviving, but going from 60k per year to 14k last year is a HUGE drop! Yes we need $$ in this life! However we need The Lord more then anything!! Blessings always my friend in spirit..* ( NICKYDEPAOLA.COM) ....***
Dear Curtis, Long delayed, but I only watched this through today. I hope this is helpful with the question David asked (which others have asked elsewhere) ... Matthew 27: 46 ... And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" This is the opening line of Psalm 22, and it blew me away when actually went and read Psalm 22 the context of the crucifixion. Verses 1 to 21 are a heartfelt cry of despair and helplessness. And then, in the latter half of verse 21, the stand alone, "You have answered me." As soon as the psalmist rests from speaking TO the Lord, and starts listening FOR the Lord, he has his answer. The remaining 10 verses are of praise to the Lord. Indeed, verses 29-31 strongly imply that the psalmist is NOT being released from his suffering, but the Lord HAS granted the Psalmist reassurance that his suffering serves a higher purpose ... and that is sufficient. So each time I hear "My Lord, My Lord, why have you forsaken me?" now, I hear it not as the crucified Jesus expressing doubt. I hear it as a call out from the start of a Psalm, by which the dying Jesus is implying to his followers the reassurance at the end of that same Psalm: "All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who are yet to be born that He has done THIS!" Wow. Hope this is helpful. CHeers, KenB
Good verses Evil, positive and negative, happiness verses sadness , love verses hate, light verses darkness. I learned that to enjoy living in this world is to to look for the good in every situation and avoid everything that feels negative , every human being was made by God and every human being is unique. Black , White, brown or any other color does not justify superiority other one another only what is bad or evil verses what is good and loving towards one another. “You reap what you sow”. To me love thy neighbor doesn’t mean only your next door neighbor but showing kindness and understanding to everyone who crosses your path. I love learning to navigate my journey through life and I have learned goodness will always prevail over evil. Thank you Jesus for letting Curtis and friends explain what the true meaning of your existence is meant to be .
These are beautiful reflections, James, and thanks for sharing them. Absolutely "the neighbor" means every other human being that walks the planet, and wishing them well -- whether we've ever met them or not -- is loving the neighbor. Also, yes -- *looking for the good* no matter what is happening, is a powerful tool. Blessings to you on your continued, beautiful path!
When Jesus was in the world He was fighting hell, hell within ourselves and the chaos we are in the midst of. Because of the ground work Jesus laid -- the steps He made continues to form a path for us to follow. With that and those things, we form a partnership with Truth and goodness -- Great discussion.
Whenever I see the name Jesus, I see the word Love. They are synonymous for me. It's even that I FEEL love when I see the name Jesus, and more, Yeshua. It's beautiful!
Phillip Wilcher 1 John 4:8 " Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." When we understand God as the actual essence of Love, we then understand the power of Love. Love creates and hate destroys (this is why two people coming together is called making love, and a creation comes from it), and "God the creator". Love is the most powerful force in all of creation. Only Love can defeat evil, and since Jesus is Love manifest, only the spirit of Love (Jesus) can conquer the evil within each of us (evil being anything outside of Love). The only battle going on in each of us is self-will vs. God's will. Love of self vs. Love for others. Love of self is no love at all, it's the "sin" referred to in the New testament. Only Jesus (Love) can battle self will, but self will is never killed, it's always there, it can only be outdone by Love, in the same manner darkness is always present, even when a light is turned on. It's just that light hides the darkness, and darkness can never make a light go out, it can only come out when the light goes away. The only way for our light to go away is to stop relying on God's gift of Love based on our own wisdom. This is the fall of Adam and Eve. I believe this is why the Bible says to pray without ceasing. A prayer is simply keeping the connection to God open, relying on God's gift of righteousness (because we have none of our own), righteousness being Love.
Prayer is an expression of gratitude. That Creation was the first act of Love means it is the only way by which we should live our lives. I agree with, that Love is the most powerful force of creation. If Love is everything, it has no opposites. Not even hatred or fear. Therefore, Love is the ultimate reality. All else is but an illusion. We must ask ourselves, are we of Love or just an illusion? Blessings, Michael.
I'm at 18:58... So many people, including myself, who were taught in school and church to fear God and that one day soon, He would be sending his son Jesus to the earth once more to judge the living and the dead and that we better prepare to be sent to hell...have been deceived by our own neighbor. Swedenborg says the truth is that Jesus the Prophet, the flesh and blood God, came to earth to live out His teachings through others, as well as giving sermons and talking while on the Temple steps in order to change our evil ways that were getting too prevalent. I wish people would understand what I now better understand that God could have destroyed all evil mankind and maybe created a new kind, but because of His (by far, inextinguishable) Unconditional Love for us, He put his physical body through hell to try and teach us the right way to live and Love. There are so many levels and types of Love that through His literal and spiritual messages, we can strive to experience a great life. How glorious is that???! But human beings seem to find that choosing evil instead of good is a faster or better way to get what they want? Don't we eventually have to"pay the piper"? We have deceived ourselves and that is evil's favorite food, don't you think? What we really need to do NOW, instead of later, is turn our heads the other way and set our sights upon learning and living Love...and not fear The Lord. I know we're only human, but why would anyone not see eventually that we are destroying ourselves in so many ways by using THE GIFT OF FREEWILL to do so, then blame God for our troubles. I truly am sorry for not realizing how I was, in fact, turning away from God's Love, by trying to get back Home to Jesus, when I tried several times to end my life. That is very sad. I, we, must all remember what Jesus went through during the crucifixion, for us, and live by His word only. God Bless... 🥲🧡✌️
"Evil's favorite food" -- great way to put it. "Set our sights upon learning and living Love... and not fear The Lord" -- very powerful nugget of truth, and a good life philosophy! Remember that your life has been guided all along, with the Lord bringing some kind of goodness from every experience -- You've learned as much as you have BECAUSE of what you've been through, perhaps? Blessings to you, Debra.
What a special message. We are so honored to see how the videos impact others. Thanks Clarice for supporting us! May you continue to learn and grow with us :)
Hi i never heard anything like this before it is wonderful! Did Jesus really rise physically from the dead? Until watching this i believed in the awakening, Christ consciousness and oneness. Now i want to know more about Jesus Christ.
Great question, Love never fails! Melissa here, a member of our community care team! My understanding is that yes, Jesus physically rose from the dead - because Jesus is the Divine Human. The rest of us will rise in spirit alone, but Jesus united his physical and spiritual bodies to become glorified, and so his resurrection was more powerful than the rest of us. Because of this process, Jesus was able to re-order the hells and the heavens, and dispel the state of evil that was making it near impossible for any human being to go to heaven. That's how I understand it, but there is much more detail in our episodes about the Lord's life, and here are some links if you want to watch and decide what resonates as true for you! We have many episodes, long and short, about Jesus's life and resurrection! Here are some to get started, from shortest to longest: (short clips) "Did God Change After Reuniting with Jesus?" ruclips.net/video/_HjbnXIQWug/видео.html "What Happened Immediately After Jesus Was Crucified?" ruclips.net/video/TkfKL_VKfVU/видео.html "Jesus and the Transformative Process of Death" ruclips.net/video/oM2NvrDc52M/видео.html (full episodes) "Why Did Jesus Come to Earth As A Baby?" ruclips.net/video/fHMNygYiXd4/видео.html "The Psychology of Jesus" ruclips.net/video/CQxCplkoPIg/видео.html "Why Jesus Was Born" ruclips.net/video/VsbuxkXYbRI/видео.html "The Spiritual Battles of Jesus Christ" ruclips.net/video/zVVOypnm9bU/видео.html Hope that is useful to you, please let us know what you think! God bless!
The best interpretation of believing in Jesus I heard almost 50 years ago while in my 20’s: You become fascinated by the fame of a group of aerial artists who are scheduled to perform in your town and you make sure to get your tickets and attend. On the day of the performance, you’re sitting in the audience waiting for the show to start and suddenly standing in front of you, you recognize the performer who has built his reputation upon his ability to push a circus performer in a wheelbarrow across a high wire suspended 100 feet above the arena. So he asks you if you’ve seen his performance, and if you believe that he can do it. You reply, “Of course I’ve seen you on TV do it, I know you can do it and that you’re going to do it today.“ “Oh,” he replies,“Then you do believe both that it is I who do it, and that I will do it. You reply, “Oh yes, I’m absolutely sure. “ He looks you straight in the eye with a broad , cheery smile on his face and says, “Then would you be willing to take a ride in the wheelbarrow for this afternoon‘s performance?” The first instance of belief is Aristotelian-inspired intellectual assent, what we Moderns often take for belief. The second instance is what the Gospel writers meant by belief: a whole hearted surrender to the person of Jesus and offering our life under his guidance and power… our will submitted to His.
Wonderful analogy, Tom! Makes you feel it right in the gut! Thanks so much for sharing this. Great food for thought -- and great impetus toward whole hearted surrender!
Curtis, this thought: we are here to live the Scripture that Jesus fulfilled. We are here to live as Love. He came to show us the way that we might become Him.
You articulate so well the nature of revelation. We are here to live a life of love and good works from a foundation of divine truth that informs us of the nature of love.
" ... from a foundation of divine truth that informs us of the nature of love." Yes. If there is but One Truth, it can't be anything other than divine; it can't be anything other than Love. Blessings, Curtis ... and to everyone there at the Swedenborg Foundation. You are a friend.
A further thought, if I may. If the humility of creation lies within the negation of self, then God is the most humble power of all. Therefore, Love is the most humble and divine power of all virtues. To surrender self through creation, dispels one's selfishness. Through creation, do we come to realise God's truth.
Hi Curtis, Thanks for a good show. I think you're being a little too modest early on when you say, "Everybody does" and "We're not" about interpreting what the Bible says about redemption and atonement. There's a reason why Christus Victor was the dominant theory of atonement for the first 1,000 years of Christianity: Because there are *lots* of statements all through the Bible about God, and Jesus Christ, battling and overcoming our enemies, evil, the Devil, hell, the world, and so on, and saving us from their power. It's right there in the plain words of the Bible. And there's a reason why it took 1,000 years before Anselm of Canterbury first came up with the Satisfaction theory that eventually (in Thomas Aquinas's later version of it) became the standard atonement theory of the Roman Catholic Church, and then another 500 years before the Protestant Reformers came up with the particular variation of Satisfaction theory called Penal Substitution: Because the Bible doesn't actually say anything about Christ making satisfaction with God for our sins. And it *certainly* doesn't say anything about Christ paying the price or penalty for our sins. You can look as hard as you want. The Bible *never* says that. For over 20 years I've been challenging Protestants to show me even one verse in the Bible where it says that Jesus paid the penalty or the price for our sins. None of them has ever been able to show me such a verse, because the Bible simply doesn't say that. It's purely a human invention. Although the Bible isn't a theological treatise, it is actually much clearer about what Jesus did for us than many people think. But because so many false, human-invented theories have taken over in the great bulk of Christianity, far too many people can no longer read and understand the plain words of the Bible about how Jesus Christ saved us 2,000 years ago, and continues to save us today. Thanks for bringing some of what the Bible *does* say back to light.
Lee: I started studying the history of Christianity and if you follow it backwards one can see how different views all popped up by different people and then some stuck, doesn't make it gospel, just makes it an add on to the original hebrew/arabic view......after being a Christian for 26 years and just following whatever I was taught I had a great spiritual awakening......NDE's and Swedenborg played a big part of that.......it gave a new meaning to : know the truth and the truth will set you free......FREE INDEED
Yes, we can trace the history of most of the major doctrines of today's "Christianity" back to when they started, and they don't go back to the Bible, but to particular human beings and groups of human beings whose newly invented ideas won out over competing newly invented ideas to become church dogma. Even the Trinity of Persons, which is one of the oldest of these "Christian" doctrines, goes back only to the third and fourth centuries, starting with Tertullian (c. 155 - c. 240 AD), and taking hold with the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD), the First Council of Constantinople (381 AD), and the Athanasian Creed, composed some time in the fifth or sixth century. Nowhere does the Bible ever say that God is a Trinity of Persons, nor does it ever call Father, Son, or Holy Spirit a "person." And yet, this has become the central doctrine of most of today's "Christianity." This is what Jesus was talking about when he quoted Isaiah 29.13: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines. (Matthew 15:8-9; Mark 7:6-7)
Hi Lee! Points well made, and I fully agree that the text of the Bible itself is much more friendly to Swedenborg's explanation. Thanks so much for taking the time to thoughtfully spell it out, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the show! Your friend, -Curtis
Lee: are you Jewish or do you study it from the Hebrew? I agree totally with you and am studying it from the Hebrew and am ordering a bible from the Jewish society with it in Hebrew and in English and comments approved by the jewish society so it doesn't have Christian slant to it .....I am totally amazed at finding out all this after 26 years as a Christian and I found a rabbi person to help me find the Jewish roots of the bible as the Christian sect threw alot of it out -----and Yes Swedenborg goes along with alot of the Hebrew so they are my main teachings........
Curtis, good show. Yet another aspect of Christianity is redeemed to me through Emmanuel Swedenborg. The wrath of God was one of the tenets that caused me to leave the church. That last verse in your scriptural meditation has always been one of my favorites, "These things i have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." But i have a question. You mentioned that swedenborg said that people overcoming evil in themselves wouldn't be possible but for the works of Jesus. What about the many righteous people before him? The patriarchs and matriarchs of Judaism. The Buddha, the Zoroastrians and so on? The writings of Hermes Trismegistus apparently predate the hebrew scriptures and were perhaps even a source and they speak of being transformed in our hearts by Atums light.
Great question! Swedenborg learned that there were ways that all good people throughout the ages, who had made some kind of connection with God's love and wisdom, were able to dwell in safe places in the spiritual realm until Jesus came to to facilitate the completion of their journey into the heavens. We go into that a bit in this show, "The Meaning of Easter": ruclips.net/video/bhD5R6oEmHU/видео.html
Agreed! Swedenborg actually has a lot to say about what he calls "perception" which is an inner knowing that is far superior to knowledge that has to be debated or intellectually figured out.
Very good show Kurtis you did a great job explaining why it is our Lord came and died for us all... I just want to ad a few things I also believe about the life and death of our Lord and that is I feel not only did he set the example of how to live a righteous life for all of us to fallow, but he also suffered many of the same unjust treatments many of us have to suffer in this life, like being betrayed, being accused falsely of things we did not do, being punished unfairly, being ridiculed by others and being put to death or murdered, These are thing that people suffer with, good people have and still do suffer from these things and I see it as Jesus came to go through all of that also so we can see that we are not alone in our suffering, our Lord has gone through it as well, he understands the pain we go through, If a woman is raped and murdered and she returns to the Lord in spirit feeling that her death was unjust, she can look at the nail marks in her own Lords feet and hands and realize he too was a victim of this world and he understands her pain 100% So I just wanted to share this point also. Thanks Gerry in WA.
Jade the point I was trying to make is, Jesus came to earth to experience much of the same kinds of evil an abuse as we do in this life here on planet earth so we would know or understand that he knows on a personal level our pain... Our Lord is not untouched by pain and suffering he went through it to so he understands us and we know he knows our pain. He is part of us and we are part of him because he and all of us have suffered evil hear on earth. Also I disagree with you, we are not illusions yes God is the source of all life and creation, but we are our own beings separate from God but created by God, People who want to return to God fallow his word and those that rather stay separate are removed from God and life to an existence in Hell. We are real and we are here to make a choice, Fallow the Lord or fallow our own free will and go to Hell.
It was not for him (Jesus) to experience evil on this earth, It was for us to have a Lord we can relate with, one who has walked in the same shoes as us. Imagine if you were falsely accused of a crime and were put to death for it (and this does happen to some people) How you would feel in spirit returning to the Lord. You would say Lord I was falsely accused of and executed for a crime I did not commit I want justice, But the Lord shows you his wounds on his hands feet and side he received on the cross and you realize you Lord understands your suffering because he had it happen to him as well and then you can let it go and be at peace, because Jesus lived and died the way he did, we have a Lord that we can relate with.
Excellent articulation of an idea of Jesus which does not trench upon the idea of a Just, Compassionate God; a God who, apart from being love, is love's wisdom - itself.
A great show! I especially appreciate Swedenborg's idea that "believing" in Christ means following His teachings and not just saying the right words. I think that this is the root of the false beliefs found in Christian churches, that literal understanding of scripture was the intended meaning even though Jesus pointed out that this was exactly what the Jewish leaders had done, and this was the basis for their rejecting their Lord. There seems to be a pattern here of Christian leaders following into the same kind of thinking that Jesus considered wrong. I'll share a quotation from Baha'u'llah concerning the affect of the sacrifice of Jesus which seems to be in harmony with ES's way of thinking: "Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit. We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified. Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him."
Harlan, what incredible insights here! We really appreciate your statements from Baha'u'llah in harmony with Swedenborg. It certainly is inspiring to understand the nature of following Christ being that of loving action, and not "saying the right things". Thanks for reaching out, as always!
Thanks so much for this Curtis and everyone at the Swedenborg foundation. The narrative of once saved always saved, or that one is saved simply by believing in His name never made much sense to me because if you believe in something won't you act it out with all your being? It just didn't make any logical sense nor does it really vibe with the rest of the Bible. Now I have a better understanding of why and it's something I already pretty much believed anyways. This video has given me new insight as well as confirmed some of my own beliefs.
We really love it when information that we share resonates with something a viewer already believes in his heart. Thank you so much for watching, Brandon!
If one is working to live according to God's desire for us, and it is a struggle and a work in progress, when can we deem ourselves as saved, or have made the bar to dwell in heaven so to speak, because we will never be perfect or live up to the word perfectly?
That's a great question. I would say that our eternal resting place is based on a lifetime of motivations and choices. There isn't simply a single decision on our part that cements our place in heaven or hell. That being said, humans certainly aren't perfect. The Lord can use even the smallest amount of good in us to bring us closer to him. I would be gentle and patient with yourself, acknowledge your sins, pray for the Lord's strength and wisdom to control them, and live with a little more love each day. As long as you're making an effort to align with God (i.e. living a life of faith and charity), He can work with that. I hope that helps!
Thanks Curtis. This is so good. I subscribe to what is called ‘The Suffering Servant’ view of Christ’s atonement. As you say the present view (possibly post reformation) has become PSA or penal substitution. I can understand that view but don’t subscribe to it and actually never have. I am now connected with a wonderful Church in the UK called ‘Magdalen Way Methodist Church’….We love the Lord Jesus and we want to love others as he loves us. In the end this is about LOVE
It is indeed all about love, Tony. It is wonderful that you have found a church home. Having community is a huge blessing. I have not heard of those views but I sure have heard about love! Merry Christmas.
I just had a thought, wondered what you would think? I'm learning about the impact of being driven by an internal archetype (which apparently we all are driven by one, all of us... at least "here"). We change our archetypes and we change our behaviors. It's said (from my studies at least) that 90% of all actions are due in some way because of our internal archetype we have within us. One that is. So, imagine years ago, man had their archetypes but they are being lost. Jesus, knowing this, came to earth and died, resurrecting completely not only Himself, but in creating a new archetype that others and their actions may be ruled by. Now, all of a sudden, there's a new pattern available in the innermost mind's possible paradigms, as Jesus is now an option. Is this kind of putting what Sweedenborg said, but matching it up in a modern, Jungian concept kind of way via the collective unconscious (where Jesus's archetype is now available)?
Those are great thoughts! It makes me think of "The Hero's Journey" concept, based on "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. That the same story or archetypes appear in different forms in all the world mythologies, including the Bible, and it is also the story of each one of us. Swedenborg learned that Jesus came to earth and lived the story that is the Word, a story that had been foretold in ancient scripture, and yes, lived and displayed the journey that we can all follow.
Cool Kurtis, you're the man, thanks :) It's all coming together, and your broadcasts have been a big part of that lightbulb going off in my head recently along with that "aaahaaaa" moment that often flies with it. Blessings, Kurtis! I look forward to Monday evenings with you and the whole crew :)
Just to clarify, if what Swedenborg says is that we must follow by the Christian doctrine to be free of sin, what about those who don’t follow this doctrine? Is Swedenborg defining doctrine as some commandments or all?
Did Swedenborg say we must follow Christian doctrine? He does say to read and study the Word of God, and follow God's instructions. This includes the 10 Commandments. But Swedenborg understood the 10 Commandments as being much deeper than they seem on first reading. For example, "Thou Shalt Not Kill," to Swedenborg, refers not just to murder but SPIRITUAL murder - killing another person's reputation, through gossip, cruelty, and malicious rumors or words. Each commandment has more to it than first meets the eye. So there are specific rules, but they can pretty much all be summed up this way: love God, love each other. If you do hurtful things to another person, or they to you, you know it's not love. Anything harmful, big or small, is not love and is therefore a sin. But the word sin implies so much guilt and shame, it's become quite loaded, and the truth is, God never judges us. It is we who create our own states, our own reality, with our loves and our choices and actions. And ultimately, what matters most is our intentions. We can act well for bad reasons, or act bad for good reasons, or simply do wrong by accident or from ignorance. But if what we want overall is to be loving, useful people, then we are on the right track - and that is avoiding sin. Does that make sense, TheLachstar? These might help, too. Here's a short clip, "What Does It Mean to Be A Slave of Sin?" ruclips.net/video/8Jdmxoa7S7k/видео.html or try one of our episodes about the 10 Commandments, like this one, "God's Name Explained," ruclips.net/video/y80APy3SXlM/видео.html
offTheLeftEye Thanks for the response! I’ll look into those videos. I was referring to Apocalypse Explained 295:13 - ‘To believe in the name of the Lord signifies to live according to the precepts of His doctrine.’
@@thelachstar4294 Ah, I see. The basic precepts, or principles, of Jesus's doctrine can be found in all world religions in some form. For instance, the golden rule appears in every world religion, just with different wording. The same goes for the 2 great commandments, the 10 commandments, and Jesus's other teachings about things like the need to practice forgiveness and repentance, to refrain from judging others, to do good to the neighbor, etc. So, this does not mean that people need to adhere to the particular Christian version of those principles, but to live according to the spirit of those principles in whatever form they have them in. Does that makes sense? Swedenborg wrote that God has provided that every religion has the basic principles that are necessary for salvation, i.e. the basic principles that will align a person with the mindset of heaven.
Christ Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to complete the age of Aries (sacrifices by fire) and was teaching a better way. "Forgive them for they know not what they do". He was ushering in the Age of Pisces (water and fish sign) and told his followers that an age is coming.....the Age of Aquarius (air sign: wireless age) and the dispensation of the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. Relationship with God became personal. No more mediator. Ask, Seek and Knock! We are all one in God. There is no death just casting off the body. The soul is eternal. He gave us an example of an abundant life. We are love. We are light. We are life. Now we have to be it in this physical world. The truth will set you free. Have the abundant life by living in the present moment continually. Love you all.
No need to apologize, ilmb -- just trying to give you some idea of what you'd encounter in each book, and you can let your heart lead the way! Did you watch the short video of Jonathan giving an overview of the various best-sellers? Jonathan and Curtis also did a series of shows that showcased the highlights of each of the big titles. Here's the one about "Divine Providence" -- ruclips.net/video/wFuGb3G2ZVw/видео.html Here's the one about "True Christianity" -- ruclips.net/video/P5hl_Wj-L80/видео.html Here's the one about "Lord," "Sacred Scripture," "Life," and "Faith." -- ruclips.net/video/Wwk3lbnkA-I/видео.html And HERE's the link for their discussion of the book "Heaven and Hell" -- ruclips.net/video/JJPVwCE4rOA/видео.html Hope you can find something that appeals to you!
This is a very important topic, thanks for doing a show on it and for doing it so well. Do we each have a role to play in our own salvation other than just believing? I think that the following statements by the Lord shed some light on this… Luke 9:23 (KJV) If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 13:3 (KJV) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Thanks for the kind words, Keith. Those 2 passages from Luke strongly illustrate the tenets of our salvation, which certainly requires an active participation on our end. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Hi curtis，this section is crucial for people to get to know the truth and follow the heavenly path jesus paved for us。one question here，having said all that in your program above，can you pls share your views with us regarding why does it have to be god himself to pave this path for us? could jesus be an angel incarnated person or a prophet with divine truth inside to go through all this? Or it is because god loves us so much that he is willing to do it for us in person? why jesus has to be god? Or did I miss out some information in your show?😂
Great question! My understanding is this: only God could have enough pure Love for the entire human race to face all of hell and put it back into order, to pave a new pathway for us all. Only pure Divine Love could have the motivation to endure that huge process, which is beyond what any of us could ever imagine in terms of hardship. Even the highest angels could not have endured, because though their love for humanity is amazing, it is not completely Pure. Does that make sense?
@@offTheLeftEye I will be trying to digest this and get the logic connection between these fact hahaha thanks team, another question is that swedenborg didn't believe the atonement theory，but as far as I understand，there are many scriptures in Bible telling people jesus,s blood will appease father s anger through his taking on our sin and being cruxified as the holy sacrifice，it is widely accepted with straight forward Biblical evidence, is it swedenborg s point of view that the these scriptures are also symbolic of what is happening in the spiritual world，people will get it wrong if trying to interpret literally？ Scriptures: So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. E.t.c. ......
@@wonsgnem4436 Yes, Swedenborg learned that these passages are also symbolic, and are not supposed to be taken literally. The "blood of Jesus" means Divine Truth. Through that Truth, and through a good life lived according to to that truth (which is the bread) we are saved. Blood and wine are both symbols of truth, which is why Jesus called the wine in the Last Supper his blood. To "bear our iniquities" means that God incarnated and took on all of the temptations that humanity was dealing with. He went through all the attacks that hell was attacking people with. Jesus bore those attacks, took on those battles, overcame the power of hell. And as we talk about in this video, Jesus also bore the abuse that had been happening to the Word, and so became a symbol for what had been done to the Word. "Taking away our sins" means that through through the spiritual battles that Jesus went through, he took away the power that hell had on humanity at that time. He restored equilibrium for the human race, giving us a chance to choose the path to heaven. If we do choose that, and go through the processes of repentance, reformation and regeneration (rebirth) then the Lord takes away our sins in an individual way. If we cooperate on our end, the Lord can take away the power of hell (sin) to control our lives, and set us free.
On the cross, Jesus cried out: "God why did you forsaken me" Jesus went thru this abandonment by God in order to restore the Abandonment of God by Adam who betrayed God and fell away.
I have quite a few comments on this topic. First, faith is revealed through action. If I really believe something I will act on it. Believe means to "Be and Live" according to an idea. We can have lots of opinions and ideas which we take no action on. We mentally agree with many ideas, but they don't affect our actions unless our heart (emotions) joins with an idea to make us act upon it. For example, how many people think they should eat a healthier diet or exercise, but don't. They have the mental idea but they don't have sufficient faith in the idea to act upon it. Jesus said, "why call me Lord and do not the things which I say?" If you think of Jesus as the Divine king, then if you're loyal to the king you will seek to obey Him. But Jesus is not a kiing as the world thinks of kings, which force you to obey or be punished. God doesn't punish you for disobeying Him because the very act of turning away from him brings us suffering. It's like a parent saying not to touch something hot and the kid does it anyway and gets burned. A wise parent doesn't need to "punish" the child for not obeying as the "punishment" was getting burned. In a cause-effect universe, God's commandments are simply his trying to show us how to utilize the principles of cause and effect (also known as the law of the harvest) to plant good seeds (actions) that will reap good crops (effects) instead of bad seeds (actions) that will bring bad crops (effects) in our lives. Since God's kingdom is completely voluntary, how does God convince us to follow Him? Through love. We will gladly obey someone who we trust loves us. I think of it this way. Atonement breaks down into at-one-ment. God becomes one with mankind in their lost and fallen state by joining them in their pains and sufferings. He "takes upon Himself our sins" because he suffers all that we suffer to show us that he is with us, that we are not alone, that we are loved, and in suffering all this and then conquering it by rising from the dead and ascending into heaven, he gives us hope that by following Him, trusting in Him, believing in Him, He can likewise help us overcome all the painful and difficult things we have to face in life. Love is revealed through sacrifice. When we love someone, we voluntarily give of our time, energy, and resources to help them. We do this without being cohersed. We may even risk or lose our own life trying to rescue someone who is in danger, such as a person jumping into a river to save someone who is drowning. We recognize love when we see the sacrifices others make for our benefit. Jesus reveals God willingly sacrificing himself for our benefit. Which awakens us to Divine love and Divine love takes away our sins because our sins are rooted in our selfishness and greed. Thus Christ shines the light of God's love into the darkness of our hearts and takes away our desire to harm others or to live selfish lives and that same love transforms us into creatures who seek the welfare of others and respond to God's love by trying to become conduits for it to others. The Course in Miracles says that "sin is the absence of love, like darkness is the absence of light." Christ brings the light of love into our hearts taking away the darkness (sin) within us. Thus, he "takes away the sin of the world." Being saved implies we were in a danger from which we could not rescue ourselves. No one needs a Savior until they realize they are unable to get themselves out of a danger by themselves. As long as we run around following our own "will" we're like little children unwilling to listen to parental advice and counsel. So, we do things that result in harm to ourselves and others. As long as we continue to rationaize away our problems and pain we see no need for God. But, it's when we realize (as I did 40 years ago at age 19) that I'm not doing so well, that we can turn to God and say, "I keep messing up, help me!" and "I'm ready to do it your way instead of my way," that God is able to plant his Spirit or influence into our hearts, filling us with his love, and tasting that love we begin to trust his ways instead of ours. As we seek to walk in his ways, he fills us more and more with his love, charity or Divine love, without which we are "nothing," and we begin to be transformed into his image as that love springs up in us like a well of water that leads to everlasting life. There's a lot more I could say about this, but I just wanted to share a little of my perspective.
Thank you so much for that very thoughtful comment. I appreciate the word play of believe being be and live, and atonement being at one ment. I also appreciate the comparison to good parenting. I learn so much from looking at how God parents us... as you say the punishment is the consequence of touching a hot stove. No need to pile on more. That is amazing that at 19 you realized that you needed God in your life. I bet it has served you well over the years. Take care and let's keep talking, Steven.
I saw your video in away iam more confused 😕 your a great host in my belief Jesus died on the cross for all mankind's sins and if we repent and ask Jesus to forgive us in our heart and belief that the father rose his son Jesus from the dead that we will be save 🙏 and our name will be written in the book of life this is my belief
Thank you scotty for your curiosity. Here is a video about Easter that might speak to your heart. God does ask us to repent, and to live the ten commandments. Does that resonate for you?
Jesus Christ was and is important to us all!!!because lots of people feel lost and see no reason for it all???but I must say that I have respected all religions...and all life around us! I've came to the conclusions, that I and everyone else if they become clear minded and people who have cleaned there Heart. can somewhat become more like Jesus!!!of course a total different person from the core spirit up!!!So I really believe we are all miracle being's and can so seem to be able to do cool stuff! Jesus is of course king of King's! I am just wondering and even seeing for my self what the Human mind and body is capable of! really looking forward to seeing more from you guys! please could you make a new video on, How to deal with evil spirits! with more information details and so on! that principle and ways to recognise the enemy! I think that is most likely the first and best knowledge to know! to understand the importance of the spirit world, and the HEAVEN and Hell things that you are looking to inform people of! but thers knowledge that can become dangerous in wrong hands ....So great video thanks again for the wisdom!!!777real Talk!!!
Thanks for sharing these thoughts! Yes, Jesus gives us a model of life to follow. I agree that it's useful to learn about evil spirits, so we can be on guard against their tactics. I'll list some more shows we have done in the past about evil spirits, in case you haven't seen them yet. You can search these titles on RUclips: How To Deal With Evil Spirits: Swedenborg and Life (I know you've seen this one.) How To Free Your Mind From Hell: Swedenborg and Life The Lies Evil Spirits Tell Us: Swedenborg and Life 3 Kinds of Evil Spirits: Swedenborg and Life Do Spirits Play a Role in Addiction: Swedenborg and Life How Spirits Are Connected to Your Health: Swedenborg and Life The Good Thing About Hell: Swedenborg and Life
Gabriel --i have been attacked by evil spirits from time to time and i say in Jesus name leave and they leave me alone .......and I can sleep good .....I also recite the Lords prayer before bed every night as I had childhood trauma and have bad anxiety and it really helps me .......
God switched us from self-contredness to love To believe in the name of the Lord signifies to live according to the precepts規則of his doctrines. ---apocalypse explained 295:13 not only study, but live the live of him. focus on good and loving action.
Watching this made me think'Why did Jesus often read the minds of those around Him,well we are so accustomed to wearing a false mask around[outer cup being clean but inside full of vile] if the church/parents/schools ect would teach Love for goodness sake or in scriptural jargon 'God is Love so Love for Gods sake' we would not be so quick to hate for evils sake,Swedenborg had it right Gods love flows down and through and around us constantly we just have a hard time grasping the concept,but we eagerly grasp hatefulness,vengeance,and superiority. God is 1000000000000X1000000000000 more loving than we can ever imagine,who else would leave 99 sheep to convince the lost one of HIS love.
Well said, Karl. It does seem as though many people wear masks that hide true thoughts and feelings within. Swedenborg wrote that this is a condition of the natural world, something we transition out of after death. In the spiritual world, what a person thinks and feels is showcased to others around them. In that sense, our true character is revealed.
Oh for sure, Kenneth. He talks about the various "churches" -- meaning ways by which humans on earth connected with God and heaven -- throughout the existence of humanity. He refers to them generally as the earliest (or most ancient) church, and the ancient church. And after that came the Israelitish church, as apparent in most of the Old Testament -- anticipating the arrival of Christ. Here's a show we did called "The Earliest Source of Ancient Wisdom and How It Was Lost" -- ruclips.net/video/zb5CRXLpfO0/видео.html And here's an episode called "Neanderthals and the Breathing of the Ancients," that takes you on an archaeological dig with a spiritual twist from Emanuel Swedenborg -- ruclips.net/video/D77fjAvncAw/видео.html I'm thinking most of that content comes from Swedenborg's multi-volume work called "Secrets of Heaven," but see what some of the references in those videos are. Come back with more questions if these suggestions don't help!
Great question. Swedenborg was clear that our salvation is a product of both faith and a life according to it. We may receive grace and mercy from God, but that doesn't invalidate the good work we must do to qualify our faith in the Lord. Here's a passage from Swedenborg: "For everyone throughout the whole world who has led a good life is in the Lord's mercy received and saved; for good itself is that which receives truth. Good in a person's life is the ground itself for the seed, that is, for the truth, but evil in his life cannot possibly receive it. Although those immersed in evil are taught in a thousand different ways, indeed even if they are fully taught, the truths of faith with them still do not advance beyond the memory and do not penetrate through to the affection, which is in the heart. Consequently in the next life truths present in their memory are dispersed and cease to have any real existence." What do you think?
30:32 if we think about it evil itself exist outside of human perception like it lives in another layer of dimension even though the effect appears in real world so this made sense to me and that is why I now understand we will always need protection from that side of the battle.
So are all other religions doomed? Depending on where in the world you’re born the constant teachings are drilled in from a very early age. Also all those who the bible says that God Killed in the wilderness, are they doomed. I really enjoyed this but have so many questions.
No, other religions are absolutely not doomed! God loves everyone, in all walks of life, and works with everyone through their own belief system. Here are 2 more videos that might be helpful: "John 3:16 Does Not Conflict With a God Who Loves Everyone" ruclips.net/video/XQ9SgTIhX4g/видео.html "How Different Religions Coexist in Heaven" ruclips.net/video/MNoAwJ1a9WQ/видео.html
According to Swedenborg, yes, the crucifixion of Jesus literally happened, and yet it is also universally symbolic. Jesus was actually aware that he was living out the symbolic story of how we can unite with God, and God with us.
So if i got this right: By believing in jesus thats crucial for salvation is just doing our best to live a good and loving life? (like when he says follow the 2 commandments and you will receive eternal life) So when chrisitans tell me it doesnt matter if someone was a good person- they didnt believe in jesus and therefore they dont get to go to heaven- it really means they do actually because they did what was told of them and did good? And so this applies to anyone of no faith or other faiths that dont revolve around jesus because they still lead good lives and did good to others and themselves, just as the everyday person is told to do anyway? So when people tell me i have to believe in jesus, i am already in a sense because i am doing good (which ties into whoever does love knows god)? And this applies to every person of every faith or non faith? So being a good/loving person is, in a sense, the same as believing in jesus? So when jesus says im the only way to god, that wasnt a literal statement that only christians get to go to heaven, but his way of living is the way to god? So in a sense i shoudlnt worry about any loved one who does good if they dont "believe in jesus" because thats technically one in the same? Yay or nay?
Yeah, Monkeys Mobilize, that about covers it! We believe Jesus was/is God, in a human form. (see this short clip: "What God/Jesus Is" ruclips.net/video/5Y0q0Lw30aE/видео.html) But God is also Infinite. If we are made in God's image, and God is Infinite, why would all humans be exactly the same, and be required to somehow miraculously find one single religion no matter where they are on this vast planet, no matter what their background and language? It makes no sense that simply declaring oneself a follower of Jesus would be the definition of a Godly life. There are religions all over the world, that speak to their adherents in a unique way, and lead them also to a relationship with their Creator and to heaven. A loving God would not abandon vast millions of humans who were unlucky enough not to get "saved" by the right religion! A loving God would want to unite with ALL people, EVERYWHERE, and would find a way to do that! That is why Jesus said, "Let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one who loves is born of God and knows God. God is love, and anyone who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:7-11) And as for the idea that we don't need to live a certain way, that faith alone will save us, the Bible actively and adamantly warns against this, stressing the importance of our WORKS. Here are just a few examples: Jesus said, "Not every one who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21) "He shall reward every one according to his works." (Matthew 16:27) "Those who have done good," He says, will go "to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." (John 5:29) "Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2) Here are some clips from our channel on the importance and legitimacy of other faiths, and the reasons for them, if you're interested! Short clips: "Why Are There So Many Religions?" ruclips.net/video/8rJSmf0684g/видео.html "All Religions Exist in Heaven," ruclips.net/video/yeq9W5H4ox4/видео.html “Many Religions, A Single Heart” ruclips.net/video/ARA6Pd01yHQ/видео.html Full length episodes: "The Spiritual Reality of All Faiths,' ruclips.net/video/Y-US1qib37g/видео.html and "How Different Religions Coexist in Heaven," ruclips.net/video/MNoAwJ1a9WQ/видео.html And finally, I'll leave you with three of my favorite quotes from Swedenborg - let me know what you think! “What could be more insane than to believe that these [Christians] and only these individuals are saved, and that the others are damned, that heaven is ours by right of birth and not by conduct of life? That is why the Lord says, ‘I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens, while the children of the kingdom will be thrown out’ (Matthew 8:11, 12)." - Emanuel Swedenborg, "Divine Providence," 330:7 and, “The Lord’s church is found among all the people in the whole world who live intent on what is good as their own religion defines it and who acknowledge a divine being; they are accepted by the Lord and enter heaven.” - Emanuel Swedenborg, "Heaven and Hell," 318 "The Lord shows mercy to everyone, loves everyone, and wants to make everyone happy forever." - Emanuel Swedenborg, "Arcana Coelestia" 904:2
This is related. But not exactly. In Sacred Scripture, 23 #4, towards the end, Swedenborg is talking about idolatry and rejecting spirituality. And Swedenborg says "The truth of this is obvious from the fact that they did not recognize the Lord even though the whole Sacred Scripture prophesized about him and predicted him. The sole reason they rejected him was that he taught people about a heavenly kingdom and not an earthly one. That is, they wanted a Messiah who is raise them to supremacy over all the nations in the whole world and not some Messiah would be concerned with their eternal salvation." Have you ever discuss this? I've never heard this before. Quite fasinating.
This particular passage has not yet been a topic of focus on one of our shows, but yes, quite fascinating! Which is why Jesus had to try to tell the people of that time "my kingdom is not of this world." I think this is also happening in modern times when Christians are expecting Christ to come back in a physical and worldly way and establish an externally Christian world. It's never going to be about an external kingdom or external organized religion, but always about an internal state of the heart and mind, that then infuses all the externals of life on earth with love of God and the neighbor, in many different ways! "Idolatry" can mean having and "worshipping" external goals instead of internal ones. We did do a show about the deeper meanings of the commandment to "not worship other gods": ruclips.net/video/MKcIUMpCNok/видео.html
@@offTheLeftEye Thank you for the reply. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Couldn't agree more! Always uplifted by Swedenborg and Life and News From Heaven. A gift for sure.
Justice is not vengeance. It is necessary in the reality (truth) of love. A lack of justice is a lack of love. Jesus’ sacrifice provided a mechanism that creates room for mercy without sacrificing truth, law, or justice.
Thanks for this words. My Englisch is not wel but here are some points from me. Belief is often not a good word. Instead use trust. Trust dat love is a greater force than fear. All people are (not yet man= spirituan awakend) connected. When our Father came down to the lowest of all worlds as Yeshua he became one of us. So we can now connect again to our origen our Heavenly Father Jezus. Thank him on your knees wat he did. Now take up your fight with evil(the cross) and go with him. This world is a skool/ and examination of the hardest kind. Go with Love and you will winn.
Thank you Jandegraaf for your heartfelt message. Yes We can connect with our Heavenly Father Jesus, and thank Him for his presence in our lives. Yes this world is like a school and we can learn what it means to trust God.
Jesus said so many times that he came to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. It was the purpose of His coming. He did not come just to die. Even before His crucifixion, he could forgiving sins. He did not need to die for that. All he needed was faith of the chosen people. During the first 2 years of his ministry, he proclaimed that the Kingdom was at hand, It is only after he was rejected and persecuted that he suddenly spoke of going the way of the cross. The disciples were shocked and confused by this drastic change
Pierre, the events around Easter give us a lot to think about, and pray about. At least it does for me. I agree He did not come just to die. He came to live, and show us that life is more enduring than the hatred that hunted Jesus. His power is more eternal than a crowd of Roman soldiers. Here is a short video called The Promise of Easter. ruclips.net/video/jnKStHlRVYI/видео.html Blessings to you as you try to follow God's example.
I love swedenborg and I agree with a lot of his Concepts and ideas but I do believe that Jesus Christ was a literal man the Son of God who walk this Earth and was condemned and put the death to save all of humanity from an eternal suffering in hell. I think that you need to believe in Jesus Christ and ask him to forgive you for the things that you do wrong and the things that you do wrong in your heart. also by the way my name is Shane I'm just using my wife's email hope you all have a great day love you Curtis keep up the good work
Jade That makes allot of since Thank you I don't believe I've watched the video about the Trinity but I will check it out. I've been watching Curtis and all you guys for about 8 months now and it's helped me allot in life and it makes a lot of since to me. Thank you, and God bless all of you. Love ya.
Thanks, Shane! Hope you enjoy the video about the trinity (thanks for recommending that, Jade) and that it gives you some interesting thoughts to consider. Swedenborg also believed that Jesus Christ was a literal person who walked on the earth, but he learned that Christ was a manifestation of God in physical form rather than a separate person from the Divine. We really appreciate having you out there in the audience!
Hi Brittany, see if this article about what the Bible says about Jesus, and what we should focus on. All the best webhome.idirect.com/~abraam/studies/Who_is_Jesus.pdf
I agree with you that we deal with our spiritual heritage god and bad, Our ancestors who are now in the spiritual world do not have their physical body that would allow them to do good actions which would able them to grow spiritually, Consequently they look down to us who are still on earth as their champions. When we overcome evil temptations that they could not win over, we help them to grow. Hereditary sins are real. We need to be aware of them
Fascinating thought, Pierre, that we can help angels overcome struggles left undone from their time on earth. Perhaps it is a bit like when I was a young mother of a pack of small children. I wanted to be kind, and patient, but I wasn't always. On occasion my child would speak in the harsh way I did, a mirror of what she had heard. In that moment I could see myself more clearly and realize I did not want to be that kind of mother. It helped me chose differently. -Lori
@@pierretardy7544 That was one of the major revelations that Swedenborg was shown, and Jesus Christ called him to learn and write about that. We have some Off The Left Eye episodes on that topic, if you are interested. And there are confirmations in the Bible. In the book of Revelation, angels are equated with humans, and put into the same category as humans: "Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel." -- Revelation 21:17 "Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, 'See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.'” -- Revelation 22:8-9 In Judges 13, the story of the birth of Samson, there is an angel that appears to Samson's mother, and she and her husband use the words "angel" and "man" interchangeably as they talk about and to the spiritual being who appears to them. Angels are also called "men" in Genesis 19, Luke 24, and Acts 1. In Genesis 18, the spiritual beings coming to Abraham to convey a message from Jehovah are always called "men" rather than angels. In Ezekiel 40, 43, and 47, the spiritual being is referred to as a man. In Mark 16, the angel in the tomb is called a young man. In the story of Jesus being transfigured on the mountain (in Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9), Moses and Elijah, who had been people on Earth, appear in angelic glory. Regarding Psalm 8:4-6, which says: "What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet." That passage is actually talking about Jesus, and that is made clear in Hebrews 2:5-9 "For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying: 'What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him? You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. You have put all things in subjection under his feet.' For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."
@@offTheLeftEye Wow, that is a lot of verses at once, I am working through them :) My understanding is that Angels are spiritual beings and do not have a physical body. When human die, they leave their physical body on earth and their spiritual body passes on the spiritual world. From that perspective, we could say that we are like the angels. The bible does not support the idea that Angels were created in the image of God. I understand angels as being servant of God's children. Hebrew 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" 1 Corinthians 6:3 says: " Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!" As the consequence of the fall, Adam and Eve put Lucifer who was a servant in the position to dominate mankind as a master. This is our sad condition. Anyway, this is my understanding.
@@pierretardy7544 aren't we all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Helping others on their spiritual path helps us too; we are all in this together! And with Corinthians 6:3, how could we judge the angels if we didn't know their experience, as our own? We were all physical beings first. We have a different take on Lucifer if you're interested! Here's the link to our full length episode on the subject: ruclips.net/video/V7JMUhYqgHs/видео.html It's interesting to hear your perspective. I find that there are many ways to interpret the Bible, many passages are vague and it strikes me that perhaps what's literally true is less important than how our understanding leads us to live in this life. In other words, whether it helps us open our hearts and be of service to others and kind to ourselves and our world! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
This is the main complaint I have against Christianity and the Bible, that everyone puts their own spin on it. If you read it as plain text, it is exactly about old-fashioned sacrifice to appease an angry God, that humans are so sinful that the only way to keep everyone from being utterly destroyed by that angry god was to sacrifice a human, but not just any human, one of Divine origins. That is why Jesus is referred to as "the blood of the lamb," which was the pure lamb of the Jewish sacrifice, with the blood alone being reserved as a holy offering for the god, splashed on the four corners of the altar, while the flesh of the lamb was given back to the people for their feast after it was burnt on that same altar. Having said that, I can understand why a man such as Swedenborg, a genius polymath and man of the Enlightenment (with a father who held a high position in the church) would have to reject that view as being far too barbaric and nonsensical for any thinking moral creature to endure. And who knows, maybe he was right to lay everything to rest on a bed of corespondences. It certainly makes more sense to do that kind of reading on it because any other way of reading it makes God out to be a really stupid vile monster with less moral sense than an imbecile. Still, I can't help but think if this was truly a holy scripture, why wasn't it written in plain talk that this means this and that means that, instead of taking more than a thousand and a half years for someone to come along who was smart and sensitive enough to translate it into correspondences for everyone. It is easier, in my opinion, to just reject Christianity all together as a bad idea and start from a fresh position of morality and ethics that far surpass it. Why not create a new story fresh from the get-go, one that makes sense?
Thank you Double Dragon, great comments for sure. One thing about Revelation is that it is adjusted, not changed. Humanity is developing through the ages along a process of spiritual growth. That process is identical to the process most individuals goes through as well. That's why Revelation is adjusted to that growth process. That's why there are now 3 Testaments. The first one is all about, do as I say!! or else!! The second is, do as I say because you know I love you. The third is, do as I say since you love me and because you now understand why I am asking you what I'm asking. At this stage we can apply the Creation Story parable as it makes sense in our life. The Adam and Eve parable can be applied now too, etc. At this moment humanity is still on its way from Egypt to Canaan. From science to spirituality.
Of course, you are right. Humanity is also an organism, and it is one that has continued to mature. I'm pretty sure even a well educated person of his or her time 2,000 years ago would have no idea what Swedenborg was talking about because that person would not have had the frame of reference to understand even the concept of correspondences. Jesus parables were a step in that direction, of course, using language of simple metaphors. Thank you for your kind response. I know my patience with religions in general is an area I have to work on!
As much as Curtis is a gifted communicator, this one seems so strange to me. Why should jeuss act out metaphorically the symbolic state of the world? It's so ritualistic and strangely OCD. I don't know.
Yes, we realize this is a very unfamiliar view on this story! It does require knowing that there is something called correspondences which is a very real element that connects the physical and spiritual worlds. Things in the physical world have to correspond to (physically embody) things in the spiritual world in order for the two worlds to stay connected. And if this physical world was not connected to the spiritual world it would cease to exist, because the spiritual level provides the life force for everything that exists on the physical level. (This isn't about Jesus, but here's a video about this spiritual/physical connection: ruclips.net/video/GrueIfzwcLQ/видео.html&t ) It's a hard thing to wrap our heads around, but when the human race was no longer embodying the energy of heaven, where the life-force flows through to us from God, God had to manifest as Jesus and walk through the entire story of the rejection of God by the human race as part of a way to fight all the forces of hell that had caused that separation. When that story had been physically walked through, the rift was healed between heaven and earth. Jesus Christ embodied the new connection. So, it is not actually a ritual but rather a form of spiritual science! Does that help at all?
Swedenborg learned that yes, Jesus really was born of a virgin! It was important that Jesus had a mortal mother, in order to take on the general fallen human state of mind that we are all dealing with here on earth, go through temptations and trials, and thus conquer hell and make it possible for us all to be led to heaven. But Jesus could not have accomplished that huge task unless he had a pure soul that was directly from the Divine, with no mortal fallen heredity, so Jesus had to be fathered by the Divine instead of a mortal father. Does that make sense?
Wanted to share a thought I had while watching. The parts of God represent Love (the father), Wisdom (the Holy Spirit, your teacher (mother)), action (Jesus, the offspring of Love and Wisdom, love and wisdom manifest). When one of these parts of the trinity does not align with Divine Love, the whole of the three gets distorted. The goal of everything we do should be Love thru Action from Wisdom. The thing that came to me was our government system. I believe our founding fathers understood this eternal truth by establishing our three part government (Legislative, Judicial, Executive). Legislative represents Love because they represent the people, the heart of the country. Judicial represents wisdom in which we count on the Supreme court to uphold laws in a fair manner. Executive represents the Action for obvious reasons, it puts the laws into action. If we look back in history, we can see when one or more branches of this trinity has acted outside of Love for others in an attempt to fulfill self will, the result being the heart of the country (the people) started to become dark hearted. Only when this countries trinity truly works for the love of the people (which can only be done with the love from God, perhaps this is why we are called to pray for our leaders) can we all feel the loving effects of the system. Jesus died so we could tap into the current of God's Love. There was no way for us to do this leading up to His death (the death of the old system of works), because no matter how hard we tried, we were not able to Work our way to Love, because we have none of our own. The ladder spoken of in the video allows us a way to enter the flow of Love (like Nemo's dad and Dory jumping into the East Australian Current (for you visual types)).
Great thoughts and details Micheal. I don't know if you have read this already but this is a book about God with all the 'details' as it was revealed to Swedenborg. We are His image and likeness, this also shows what that means. webhome.idirect.com/~abraam/documents/DLW.pdf
Adriaan - I have read Love and Wisdom, it was the first one I read of Swedenborg a few years back. I could stand to go back through it though. I just opened it and the following jumped out at me as what I was trying to say in my original post "God alone (the Lord)is love itself, because He is life itself. Both we on earth and angels are life-receivers." Perhaps some of this book still sticks with me :)
I think that Jesus died to lead us into death to ourselves. We are baptised into his death. That is the symbolism of baptism. We die with Jesus in baptism. When we die with Jesus we are raised with him in new life. You cannot get into heaven unless you die. Jesus said that pass from life to life when they die. I.e. they didn't die when they died because they had already died when they were born again. You cannot love other people unless your ego or yourself dies so that you have room for other people in your life. Otherwise it is all about your own agenda. Once we die we can start to love other people without selfish agendas. Otherwise we will ultimately always do things for selfish reasons. Even Swedenborg says that we need to die to oursleves. Two of Jesus' disciples wanted to sit at Jesus' right and left sides. Jesus asked them whether they would they be able to take the baptism that they would need to do that? High positions demand difficult baptisms. As I say we cannot love people purely unless we die. The deeper we die the greater the position that we can take. God does not want someone in a high position in heaven who is more wrapped up in himself or herself. The greatest in heaven is the servant of all. If we don't die then we are wrapped up in ourselves and we are only serving ourselves. As Jesus says the seed goes into the ground and dies. It loses itself in the soil and then becomes a plant instead. It then grows and produces fruit. Unless the seed goes into the ground and dies it produces nothing. I got born again nearly 50 years ago. People have said that I became less selfish since then. About 7 years ago I had another expeience when I suddenly realised that other people were just as important as me. It is hard to explain this experience. Since this time I have become much more interested in other people, to listen to them more intently and not have my own agendas with them so much. There is much more joy in my life from being freed from the tyranny of myself as much as I was before. I can lose myself more in other people and enjoy them more without being so concerned about myself the whole time. Best wishes.
So true, Bob! Letting parts of our "old will" die is key to gaining a new, heavenly will. Your testimony about being more interested in other people, and letting go of your agenda for them, is great evidence of that! Because the new will is a love for others, a love for helping them, a love for God and God's ways. 1 Corinthians 15:31 -- "I die daily." And the whole chapter discusses the benefits/need for death. Thanks for sharing your view of it -- very powerful!
this seems to be about 'works' no? 'by grace you are saved, not of works, lest any man should boast'... how come you emphasize what we doooo to such an extent? and how is a person that is disabled somehow supposed to 'serve humanity' or 'help people' when every bit of their energy is just taken up to make it thru the next minute of their lives? ... 'it is the free gift of God' we are saved by grace, it is not supposed to cost us anything, it's not supposed to be hard work... right?
Great question, Elaine. Here's how I understand that quote from Ephesians. It does not mean that what you do has no impact, or that works are pointless, or that salvation is a matter of luck. What it means is that without God, we can do nothing. We must "humbly walk with our God" by asking the Divine to save us, to help us fight our battles in life. Because without God's help, there is nothing we alone can overcome. But with God's help, we can triumph and live with God in a heavenly state, even before death. We ask for God's help in order to be better people for ourselves and to serve others. And because we live in a world where evil has power over us, it IS hard work. Not because God makes it hard, but because WE do. We have to learn over and over again how to be good, how to think kind thoughts, how to act from love. And we conquer one temptation only to face another. But each time we triumph, we go closer to God, we grow stronger, and we are more at peace as we are less tempted by evil, and more driven by love. It's hard work at first that gets easier (like all things worth doing!) - and the payoff is well worth the effort. Check out these short clips, "Are We Saved by Grace or Works?" ruclips.net/video/-Nuxn8sm_p0/видео.html and "How to Understand Personal Struggle," ruclips.net/video/IYsl9iwafeE/видео.html for more on that idea.
@@offTheLeftEye lol LUCK??? Jesus came and died to give us that salvation!! 'by grace, through faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God' none of that sounds like LUCK to me!! and yes, i do know that how we behave matters, i just don't think i'm saved by it... after all, the Bible does say 'anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved' i do know that without God/Jesus, I can do nothing... i have had this reality hit me in the face like a freight train lol... but that fact IS what makes me nervous about your 'saved by works' philosophy... tho i did have a revelation about it, when i asked God how the heck i was supposed to do all these impossible things, the answer was 'Just love God and TRY' i have since been told that my beautiful revelations were false, but i'm sort of starting to look at them again as a follower of the Pauline gospel, the idea that i'm saved by works was kind of horrifying to Paul, but that didn't stop him from telling us to behave in a loving way, of course not... i'm going to have to make a donation to you, coz you are being so kind and helpful... it won't be much, but i will donate a bit later. that saved by works or grace video wouldn't come up for me, it says it's private... did you know it's set to private? may i see it somewhere else, i would really really like to see it! thanks again, i'm moving on to your next comment :) xox
@@elaineremains Sorry, I made a mistake, that video is not ready to post yet. Please read the epistles of James! When Paul talks about that we are not saved by the "works of the law", he is referring to all the laws of Jewish ritual. That is different than good deeds of compassion and integrity. The Bible is FULL of quotes about the importance of doing good deeds: "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. . . . . But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. -- James 2:14-24 Those who have my commandments and do them are the people who love me. I will love them and will manifest myself to them. I will come to them and make my home with them. (John 14:15-21, 23) My Father is glorified by your bearing much fruit. (John 15:8) Hearers of the law are not justified by God, but doers of the law are. (Romans 2:13; James 1:22) In the day of anger and just judgment, God will repay all according to their works. (Romans 2:5, 6) It is right for us all to appear before Christ's judgment seat, so that each of us may carry away what we have done through our body in regard to those things, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10) The Son of Humankind is going to come in the glory of his Father. Then he will repay all according to their deeds. (Matthew 16:27) I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. The Spirit says that they will rest from their labors. Their works follow them." (Revelation 14:13) A book is opened, which is the book of life, and the dead are judged according to the things that are written in the book. All are judged according to their works. (Revelation 20:12, 13) Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to all according to their work. (Revelation 22:12) Jehovah, whose eyes are open to all the ways of human beings, to give to them all according to their ways and according to the fruit of their works. (Jeremiah 32:19) I will bring judgment upon them according to their ways and will reward their works. (Hosea 4:9) The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. (Matthew 21:43) Jehovah deals with us according to our ways and according to our works. (Zechariah 1:6) Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Luke 3:9) In Matthew 25:31-44, Jesus makes clear that those who did not make efforts to help their fellow human beings cannot come into heaven. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus makes clear that it is not enough to declare a faith in the Lord. What’s essential is to “do the will of my Father,” i.e., follow the commandments, especially the two great commandments. In Matthew 21:28-32, Jesus tells a parable of two sons. One son says that he will not follow his instructions, but then later does. The other son says that he will follow instructions, but then doesn’t do the work. Jesus teaches that the first son is the one who is doing the will of the Father. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7:19, 20, 21) "Those who are sown in good earth are people who hear the Word and pay attention, and bear and produce fruit." When Jesus had said this he cried out, saying, "Those who have ears to hear must hear." (Matthew 13:39, 43) Jesus said, "My mother and my brothers and sisters are those who hear the Word of God and do it." (Luke 8:21) We know that God does not hear sinners, but if people worship God and do his will, he hears them. (John 9:31)
@@offTheLeftEye oh my dog!!!! ok ok ok!!!! thank you, you are right, i know that Paul tells us to do right by people and love each other and all of that, but i have never ever gotten so many proof texts thrown at me so lovingly!! i have been thinking about it anyway... i repented of a life long ... sort of ill-temper that coloured my .. EVERYTHING, and i felt a spirit leave and then Jesus started answering my prayers!!! and i owe all of it to you guyz... and i have been thinking about works, i'm quite disabled and can't do much, but you have coloured what i can do.. coloured it with hope, that Jesus will make me good again... i run a couple of facebook pages, and i now consider it a 'good work' to cheer people up on them.. i owe that to you too... and i run a little business and i'm going to make masks for Covid19... and it makes me happy, my life has expanded to include care for others, not just regret at my current condition... and i want to thank you for that... i may not be able to do much anymore, and i may have grown lazy, but i will try, ok? thank you sooo much for this... do you really think i can find truth here? well, i mean, i guess you do, but do you ever... oh nevermind, i'm going to think about what you have said xoxoxoxoxox
@@elaineremains Oh, yes, Jesus loves you so much, and is working to give you a new heart, a heart of goodness, just like he wants to give to everyone. Every little bit of kindness is so pleasing to the Lord. It doesn't have to be anything big! And with every loving effort, Jesus is using that to strengthen and grow your heart. You are doing great, Elaine! 💖
To offTheLeftEye: Dear Curtis I will like to share a piece of a puzzle in order to cover melodymoments"s question. The question is correctly addressed and the answer it will be if melodymoments is willing to research. The truth is ONE, The CHURCH is ONE and is not hidden from us except if we allow ourselves to follow the corruption of it. As far as the TRUTH melodymoments is searching for ..is CHRIST and HIS CHURCH. Ahaaaa...now is now... which one is that. well search and rescue I will say....The Church is called ONE HOLY CATHOLIC (as Universal not Roman by the way)AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH or AKA as The ORTHODOX FAITH. Melodymoments and all those interested can start a reaserch of History of the CHURCH and find out that there is ONE where CHRIST is its Head. Now let's do not believe that people in this Church are Holy but if they want to ..the Church and its Sacraments are the tool of exiting the corrupt world. I am posting a link of the CHURCH I am talking about as a helping hand to those interested: ruclips.net/video/X_4LDDkcWCE/видео.html (there are 3 parts which can be found). The message of the Church is: "COME AND SEE the choice is yours to remain part of as the Bride of Christ. Christ is the Groom and the Church is HIS Bride . Much love in Christ to you Curtis and to all your viewers.
Thank you for sharing this perspective. We believe that the true church is something established within each individual heart, because it is a relationship with the Lord. We discuss that in our episode "What It Means to Be a Church" ruclips.net/video/FICukuFqVfc/видео.html
Whichever way you look at it the penal substitution view of salvation hasn't served the human race particularly well. On the one hand it can lead to a sense of worthlessness or helplessness, whilst on the other it can lead to a sense of apathy or even superiority; leading to an outpouring of cold so called "truths" say at funerals of non believers with observances that the loved one who was deceased would be going to hell because they weren't saved. At its very core it leads to a view of God that is mean, vengeful and totally unlovable. The problem is though that it is has gained so much traction in Christian thinking that automatically in some circles you are branded at best as not a "proper" Christian, or not properly saved, and at worst a "heretic". I've seen some of this in my own life, while I've also seen how Christian leaders who dare to speak up against it are often treated poorly by their peers. This is a great presentation though, I think I also need to buy Swedenborgs book "The Lord"....not just because of its cool cover !
I really appreciate your thoughts here, Jung at Heart. It's so painful to think about those funerals of "non-believers." Yes -- where is the merciful God, the God of Love? So glad you found this presentation useful, and thanks for joining the conversation!
I have heard of him, but haven't read his books. Are there any particulars in Kardec's writings that you feel especially connect with Swedenborg's writings?
@@offTheLeftEye Kardec was a 19th century scientist who decided to make a systematic study of spirit manifestations and visions such as those experiences by Swedenborg. He was mostly interested in figuring out the science behind how spirits interact with the physical world, but after interacting with many different spirits through many different mediums, started to find that the spirits all converged on a single doctrine, which seems to be the same doctrine as Swedenborg is describing. Kardec was just one of many researchers working on this, and they even had a scientific journal going for years. Kardec was just the one to put it all together into a neat package. The Gospel According To Spiritism is a good book to compare to Swedenborg, especially on this topic of Jesus and his mission on the Earth. It's basically a collection of the spirits' interpretations of the gospels.
@@offTheLeftEye thanks for the great work by the way, I love your channel! I was trying to reconcile the differences between the typical protestant view of salvation, the Bible, and the Swedenborg/Kardec interpretation. This video was very helpful.
@@ChrisShupe I'm so glad this video felt helpful, Chris! And thanks for the info about Kardec. Wow, yes, that sounds very aligned with things that Swedenborg learned! We love hearing about parallels like that.
Love, Love, Love, this one guys. Swedenborg is the only one who could make sense of the bible for me. He helped me fall in love with the word of God.
Yeah, it's a real gift that has come through Swedenborg's books-a way to find the consistent love and wisdom in the Bible. We're so glad the interpretations are meaningful to you!
Thank you Fountain of Light. I totally agree.
Thank you so very much Curtis, A "MASTERPIECE" Presentation, Swedenborg certainly explained Jesus' trials, tribulations, crucifixion in a manner which touched my heart and Yes, One's life is a "Work in Progress", Thank The Lord for His Sacrifice thus Our Salvation .... Many blessings to ALL
This was such a fresh take on this issue. I have never felt truly satisfied with the standard church reason for Jesus' life. Swedenborg as usual comes up with something that makes more sense! Thanks Curtis and OTLE!
We're so glad to hear this, Will! I agree that Swedenborg learned a view of Jesus and his life that makes so much sense, and is filled with love and care instead of intimidation. Thank you watching!
Why did God take his Earth body to heaven? Us humans don't take them to heaven, why would God need a body in heaven?
I asked Yeshua for more understanding...He led me to You
Thank you for sharing this with us! We're grateful to have you with us!
Me too. This is my church.
Wish everyone would call him by his real name
Oh my god，same here，god leads me to this program when I am going through the transformation from liking the hellish mindset to ready-to-battle mindset，haven't been long since I was learning to choose which side to follow，god frees me from sin，praise the lord
Same
I am more than thankful to be enlightened with the deeper and profound meaning of Christ saving us and the atonement. The Word nowadays are pretty distorted by self insight explanations and elaborations rather than that of what truly God means. Its a blessing to have watched this video, really. I just passed by a post in facebook about Swedenborg and his life promoting entirely the deeper truths about God and decided to search it on google. Now I have started reading some of the books and it reallg bless me in a more wide range of my life that I could share to some of my fellow churchmates and disciples. Thank you so much for this. May God blesses you more.
I am so moved by your comment. It sounds like you've really been inspired by the deeper levels of meaning within The Word. You're correct in that Swedenborg, upon being called to serve the Lord as a theologian, dedicated his entirety to the cause. In your reading, have you come across the Arcana Coelestia (or Secrets of Heaven)? That is a multi-volume series on the inner meaning of scripture, which you might enjoy. At any rate, I'm giving you the link to a brief breakdown of Swedenborg and the major works of theology he wrote. I hope it serves you well! Blessings, my dear friend. ruclips.net/video/HEa0e8AcS78/видео.html
Thank you. As I am led and guided by the small voice within me, which is how I got here.. :) I will surely come to a place of peace and understanding about it all. I truly appreciate your teachings and the combined effort of you, your family, and crew in getting Swedenborgs writings out to us. Blessings to you all.
Blessings to you, too, Carla. Keep on following that "still small voice" within! (1 Kings 19:11-13)
this was wonderful, I love information as it is given here, thanks for your kindness, thanks for being here.
You're very welcome, Linda. Thank YOU for being here.
The way you described the purpose and meaning of the atonement and how it works is exactly our belief in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Lord Jesus Christ took upon himself our sins and every other horrible thing that we and the world goes through so that we don't have to pay the price of hell ourselves, if we are wiling to go him and repent of our sins and follow him and keep his commandments. He is everything to all of us. It was really nice to see that Swedenborg says the same thing. Thank you Curtis and your crew.
You're very welcome, Sandy. I'm so glad you are finding parallels!
I love listening to these discussions. It feels so right and good to be part of this.
And we're so glad to have you taking part in our audience!
“It does not say anything about it being instantaneous and easy to understand “. I feel that we are so conditioned to find easy answers and to not have to work hard to find the real truth. As for me I find it extremely difficult to reprogram my mind to get to the real truth, even though I never believed that garbage foisted onto me by those who wanted power over me just to control me. Thank you so much! You making such an impact on the world, now and forevermore. God bless.
I hear you, Ken. It's quite a challenge to shift our understanding of things, especially if that earlier understanding was forged during our formative years. It's a gradual process to change perspective, and it happens a step at a time! We're really glad if these shows are helping you take gradual steps toward a perspective that makes more sense to you. Wishing God's blessings to you, too!
Curtis...Love your channel and the great way you present this incredibly important information! I am now a Swedenborg fan and will be exploring his work from now on. Thank you for all you do...Blessings to you. Cate
Hi Cate, thanks for reaching out! We are so happy to hear about your discovery of Swedenborg. Do let me know if I can be of assistance in your exploration. Blessings to you!
offTheLeftEye I love this channel:-) I think in a past life I died by falling out a helicopter but I take past life quizzes for e.g where did you live in your past life every quiz says the ocean, then I took the how did you die in your past life quiz and it said you drowned in the titanic or got hit by a moving vehicle! THIS TERRIFYS ME😣😣
lol---i wouldn't worry about it ---live in the now, love your neighbor (which is everyone you come into contact with),we are all on a spiritual path, enjoy Swedenborg.
Angel Shining Yes you are right:)
I have been searching and thinking about what the Bible is all about for a very long time, couldn't get anywhere. I couldn't get beyond the physical word but still believed that something is behind it and kept searching....at last Swedenborg books and episodes like this gives me a lot of answers, now for me, the Bible has real " spirit and life".
Swedenborg was able to receive more light than many of us...!!!! it is really amazing!
Thanks Curtis for all this.
bunty, I can't tell you how much this means to us. We make the shows, hoping they will be helpful to people and reach people's hearts. We're very grateful to have you in the audience, and to be able to be a part of your spiritual journey. God bless!
So true when we look around and talk about the real meaning of our beliefs, people like us are hated by those who claim themselves as believers simply they were being taught or bring up with false believes.... very sad . Why we are here is to identify the truth from the false. Thank you for making these videos. So meaningful
Hi, Christine! Thank you for your comment, and I'm so glad what you are watching resonates with you! Yes, Swedenborg does urge us to examine the ideas we were taught and come to our own conclusions. Only then can the ideas become truly our own. This video comes to mind on that topic: "How to Test a Spiritual Idea." ruclips.net/video/GjHBsjG4etM/видео.html
These are exceptionally good vids. Curtis is a great host. These vids have made Me start to read Swedenborg for My own wisdom and comfort. I originally found these when My best friend left the earthly plane and I was looking for information on the Afterlife. His ideas and visions really resonate w Me
It's heartwarming to hear this, Devious Goblin. We want to share these ideas because we, too, think they provide wisdom and comfort! Thanks so much for reaching out to let us know you're here and watching. So happy to have you along on the journey!
Explains a lot. I'm glad you made this video available. It sparks a light where many misconceptions are rampant. Thank you so much!
Hi there! Thanks for the kind message. We're glad to hear the video resonated with you :)
This was enlightening! I always felt the idea of penal substitution to be abhorrent and contrary to the nature of God, and that Christus Victor was closer to the truth. In my mind, Jesus confirmed this when He said in Matthew 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also."
We agree that the concept of penal substitution paints a horrible picture of God! God is Mercy and Love itself! Happy to hear these ideas resonate in your heart, leftstanding. Blessings to you!
Right on Curtis! Details and how you express all of them are wonderful...* Thank you brother!
Nicky D'
Nicky D! You're comments are always so supportive. Thanks a ton for reaching out...I'm glad to hear that you liked the ideas.
You are an excellent host Curtis! To the point and speak so we can all "get it"....*...I'll be 54 on May 18 and I know JESUS has saved my life more then 3x in those years! I tell people always...don't wait until something bad happens to you to BELIEVE! Thank The Lord before you get out of bed in the AM. ..and before you go to sleep in the PM!! Also don't "bug" him like a little kid does to a parent! Ask and then say thank you, I TRUST you Lord! I know JESUS saved me on 12/29/14 from that massive heart attack I had from a blood clot at age 51'( (I made it just in time for them to put in 2 stents)...also after these 2 and a half years later, I am here, healthy with the genuine love Our Lord brought to me on April 11, 2015....yet my $$ has not yet " re-coop'd" I was doing fantastic from 1985-2014, making a good living singing/entertaining and always had a good "day job"..the last one was with Whole Foods Market for 10 years! My life is starting all over at 54, but I know and tell everyone I meet and my dear friends...The Lord is NOT done with me here on earth! I am surviving, but going from 60k per year to 14k last year is a HUGE drop! Yes we need $$ in this life! However we need The Lord more then anything!! Blessings always my friend in spirit..* ( NICKYDEPAOLA.COM) ....***
Dear Curtis,
Long delayed, but I only watched this through today. I hope this is helpful with the question David asked (which others have asked elsewhere) ...
Matthew 27: 46 ...
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
This is the opening line of Psalm 22, and it blew me away when actually went and read Psalm 22 the context of the crucifixion. Verses 1 to 21 are a heartfelt cry of despair and helplessness.
And then, in the latter half of verse 21, the stand alone, "You have answered me." As soon as the psalmist rests from speaking TO the Lord, and starts listening FOR the Lord, he has his answer.
The remaining 10 verses are of praise to the Lord. Indeed, verses 29-31 strongly imply that the psalmist is NOT being released from his suffering, but the Lord HAS granted the Psalmist reassurance that his suffering serves a higher purpose ... and that is sufficient.
So each time I hear "My Lord, My Lord, why have you forsaken me?" now, I hear it not as the crucified Jesus expressing doubt. I hear it as a call out from the start of a Psalm, by which the dying Jesus is implying to his followers the reassurance at the end of that same Psalm:
"All those who go down to the dust shall bow before Him, even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who are yet to be born that He has done THIS!"
Wow.
Hope this is helpful.
CHeers,
KenB
Wow indeed! I'm so glad you decided to share this with us, Ken B! Seriously.
Good verses Evil, positive and negative, happiness verses sadness , love verses hate, light verses darkness. I learned that to enjoy living in this world is to to look for the good in every situation and avoid everything that feels negative , every human being was made by God and every human being is unique. Black , White, brown or any other color does not justify superiority other one another only what is bad or evil verses what is good and loving towards one another. “You reap what you sow”. To me love thy neighbor doesn’t mean only your next door neighbor but showing kindness and understanding to everyone who crosses your path. I love learning to navigate my journey through life and I have learned goodness will always prevail over evil. Thank you Jesus for letting Curtis and friends explain what the true meaning of your existence is meant to be .
These are beautiful reflections, James, and thanks for sharing them. Absolutely "the neighbor" means every other human being that walks the planet, and wishing them well -- whether we've ever met them or not -- is loving the neighbor. Also, yes -- *looking for the good* no matter what is happening, is a powerful tool. Blessings to you on your continued, beautiful path!
When Jesus was in the world He was fighting hell, hell within ourselves and the chaos we are in the midst of. Because of the ground work Jesus laid -- the steps He made continues to form a path for us to follow. With that and those things, we form a partnership with Truth and goodness -- Great discussion.
A very good summary! Thank you.
Whenever I see the name Jesus, I see the word Love. They are synonymous for me. It's even that I FEEL love when I see the name Jesus, and more, Yeshua. It's beautiful!
Yes! Now that is a powerful experience of Jesus and the nature of love.
Phillip Wilcher 1 John 4:8 " Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." When we understand God as the actual essence of Love, we then understand the power of Love. Love creates and hate destroys (this is why two people coming together is called making love, and a creation comes from it), and "God the creator". Love is the most powerful force in all of creation. Only Love can defeat evil, and since Jesus is Love manifest, only the spirit of Love (Jesus) can conquer the evil within each of us (evil being anything outside of Love).
The only battle going on in each of us is self-will vs. God's will. Love of self vs. Love for others. Love of self is no love at all, it's the "sin" referred to in the New testament. Only Jesus (Love) can battle self will, but self will is never killed, it's always there, it can only be outdone by Love, in the same manner darkness is always present, even when a light is turned on. It's just that light hides the darkness, and darkness can never make a light go out, it can only come out when the light goes away. The only way for our light to go away is to stop relying on God's gift of Love based on our own wisdom. This is the fall of Adam and Eve. I believe this is why the Bible says to pray without ceasing. A prayer is simply keeping the connection to God open, relying on God's gift of righteousness (because we have none of our own), righteousness being Love.
Prayer is an expression of gratitude. That Creation was the first act of Love means it is the only way by which we should live our lives. I agree with, that Love is the most powerful force of creation. If Love is everything, it has no opposites. Not even hatred or fear. Therefore, Love is the ultimate reality. All else is but an illusion. We must ask ourselves, are we of Love or just an illusion? Blessings, Michael.
Thank you for this presentation, and all that you do. Blessings!
I'm at 18:58...
So many people, including myself, who were taught in school and church to fear God and that one day soon, He would be sending his son Jesus to the earth once more to judge the living and the dead and that we better prepare to be sent to hell...have been deceived by our own neighbor.
Swedenborg says the truth is that Jesus the Prophet, the flesh and blood God, came to earth to live out His teachings through others, as well as giving sermons and talking while on the Temple steps in order to change our evil ways that were getting too prevalent.
I wish people would understand what I now better understand that God could have destroyed all evil mankind and maybe created a new kind, but because of His (by far, inextinguishable) Unconditional Love for us, He put his physical body through hell to try and teach us the right way to live and Love. There are so many levels and types of Love that through His literal and spiritual messages, we can strive to experience a great life.
How glorious is that???!
But human beings seem to find that choosing evil instead of good is a faster or better way to get what they want? Don't we eventually have to"pay the piper"? We have deceived ourselves and that is evil's favorite food, don't you think?
What we really need to do NOW, instead of later, is turn our heads the other way and set our sights upon learning and living Love...and not fear The Lord.
I know we're only human, but why would anyone not see eventually that we are destroying ourselves in so many ways by using THE GIFT OF FREEWILL to do so, then blame God for our troubles.
I truly am sorry for not realizing how I was, in fact, turning away from God's Love, by trying to get back Home to Jesus, when I tried several times to end my life. That is very sad.
I, we, must all remember what Jesus went through during the crucifixion, for us, and live by His word only. God Bless... 🥲🧡✌️
"Evil's favorite food" -- great way to put it. "Set our sights upon learning and living Love... and not fear The Lord" -- very powerful nugget of truth, and a good life philosophy!
Remember that your life has been guided all along, with the Lord bringing some kind of goodness from every experience -- You've learned as much as you have BECAUSE of what you've been through, perhaps? Blessings to you, Debra.
@@offTheLeftEye Yes, I will remember... even in the darkest emotions I suffer. Thank you! 🥲🧡✌️
I've received so much from these; thank you. 'Gonna give back and donate right now. :)
What a special message. We are so honored to see how the videos impact others. Thanks Clarice for supporting us! May you continue to learn and grow with us :)
Hi i never heard anything like this before it is wonderful! Did Jesus really rise physically from the dead? Until watching this i believed in the awakening, Christ consciousness and oneness. Now i want to know more about Jesus Christ.
Great question, Love never fails! Melissa here, a member of our community care team! My understanding is that yes, Jesus physically rose from the dead - because Jesus is the Divine Human. The rest of us will rise in spirit alone, but Jesus united his physical and spiritual bodies to become glorified, and so his resurrection was more powerful than the rest of us. Because of this process, Jesus was able to re-order the hells and the heavens, and dispel the state of evil that was making it near impossible for any human being to go to heaven. That's how I understand it, but there is much more detail in our episodes about the Lord's life, and here are some links if you want to watch and decide what resonates as true for you!
We have many episodes, long and short, about Jesus's life and resurrection! Here are some to get started, from shortest to longest:
(short clips)
"Did God Change After Reuniting with Jesus?" ruclips.net/video/_HjbnXIQWug/видео.html
"What Happened Immediately After Jesus Was Crucified?" ruclips.net/video/TkfKL_VKfVU/видео.html
"Jesus and the Transformative Process of Death" ruclips.net/video/oM2NvrDc52M/видео.html
(full episodes)
"Why Did Jesus Come to Earth As A Baby?" ruclips.net/video/fHMNygYiXd4/видео.html
"The Psychology of Jesus" ruclips.net/video/CQxCplkoPIg/видео.html
"Why Jesus Was Born" ruclips.net/video/VsbuxkXYbRI/видео.html
"The Spiritual Battles of Jesus Christ" ruclips.net/video/zVVOypnm9bU/видео.html
Hope that is useful to you, please let us know what you think! God bless!
@@offTheLeftEye God bless you and thank you so much for your help! I will look all these up, I’m very interested. ♥️
I love Jonathan and how smart he is- actually the whole staff is very intellectual.
Thanks for the love, Nicole! We're grateful for Jonathan's brilliant mind, too!
The best interpretation of believing in Jesus I heard almost 50 years ago while in my 20’s: You become fascinated by the fame of a group of aerial artists who are scheduled to perform in your town and you make sure to get your tickets and attend. On the day of the performance, you’re sitting in the audience waiting for the show to start and suddenly standing in front of you, you recognize the performer who has built his reputation upon his ability to push a circus performer in a wheelbarrow across a high wire suspended 100 feet above the arena. So he asks you if you’ve seen his performance, and if you believe that he can do it. You reply, “Of course I’ve seen you on TV do it, I know you can do it and that you’re going to do it today.“ “Oh,” he replies,“Then you do believe both that it is I who do it, and that I will do it. You reply, “Oh yes, I’m absolutely sure. “ He looks you straight in the eye with a broad , cheery smile on his face and says, “Then would you be willing to take a ride in the wheelbarrow for this afternoon‘s performance?” The first instance of belief is Aristotelian-inspired intellectual assent, what we Moderns often take for belief. The second instance is what the Gospel writers meant by belief: a whole hearted surrender to the person of Jesus and offering our life under his guidance and power… our will submitted to His.
Wonderful analogy, Tom! Makes you feel it right in the gut! Thanks so much for sharing this. Great food for thought -- and great impetus toward whole hearted surrender!
a most beautiful, helpful video. Thank you so much. So grateful for the ability to support!
You're so welcome, Nancy. Glad you find it to be truly helpful! And thanks so much for your support!
Thanks team and good job on a tough topic! Belief with with legs. Blessings
Love that phrase "belief with legs." :) Thanks for the encouragement, and I'm so glad the message resonated with you!
Curtis, this thought: we are here to live the Scripture that Jesus fulfilled. We are here to live as Love. He came to show us the way that we might become Him.
You articulate so well the nature of revelation. We are here to live a life of love and good works from a foundation of divine truth that informs us of the nature of love.
" ... from a foundation of divine truth that informs us of the nature of love." Yes. If there is but One Truth, it can't be anything other than divine; it can't be anything other than Love. Blessings, Curtis ... and to everyone there at the Swedenborg Foundation. You are a friend.
A further thought, if I may. If the humility of creation lies within the negation of self, then God is the most humble power of all. Therefore, Love is the most humble and divine power of all virtues. To surrender self through creation, dispels one's selfishness. Through creation, do we come to realise God's truth.
Beautifully expressed, Phillip. Thank you!
Blessings!
Hi Curtis,
Thanks for a good show. I think you're being a little too modest early on when you say, "Everybody does" and "We're not" about interpreting what the Bible says about redemption and atonement.
There's a reason why Christus Victor was the dominant theory of atonement for the first 1,000 years of Christianity: Because there are *lots* of statements all through the Bible about God, and Jesus Christ, battling and overcoming our enemies, evil, the Devil, hell, the world, and so on, and saving us from their power. It's right there in the plain words of the Bible.
And there's a reason why it took 1,000 years before Anselm of Canterbury first came up with the Satisfaction theory that eventually (in Thomas Aquinas's later version of it) became the standard atonement theory of the Roman Catholic Church, and then another 500 years before the Protestant Reformers came up with the particular variation of Satisfaction theory called Penal Substitution: Because the Bible doesn't actually say anything about Christ making satisfaction with God for our sins.
And it *certainly* doesn't say anything about Christ paying the price or penalty for our sins. You can look as hard as you want. The Bible *never* says that. For over 20 years I've been challenging Protestants to show me even one verse in the Bible where it says that Jesus paid the penalty or the price for our sins. None of them has ever been able to show me such a verse, because the Bible simply doesn't say that. It's purely a human invention.
Although the Bible isn't a theological treatise, it is actually much clearer about what Jesus did for us than many people think. But because so many false, human-invented theories have taken over in the great bulk of Christianity, far too many people can no longer read and understand the plain words of the Bible about how Jesus Christ saved us 2,000 years ago, and continues to save us today.
Thanks for bringing some of what the Bible *does* say back to light.
Lee: I started studying the history of Christianity and if you follow it backwards one can see how different views all popped up by different people and then some stuck, doesn't make it gospel, just makes it an add on to the original hebrew/arabic view......after being a Christian for 26 years and just following whatever I was taught I had a great spiritual awakening......NDE's and Swedenborg played a big part of that.......it gave a new meaning to : know the truth and the truth will set you free......FREE INDEED
Yes, we can trace the history of most of the major doctrines of today's "Christianity" back to when they started, and they don't go back to the Bible, but to particular human beings and groups of human beings whose newly invented ideas won out over competing newly invented ideas to become church dogma.
Even the Trinity of Persons, which is one of the oldest of these "Christian" doctrines, goes back only to the third and fourth centuries, starting with Tertullian (c. 155 - c. 240 AD), and taking hold with the First Council of Nicaea (325 AD), the First Council of Constantinople (381 AD), and the Athanasian Creed, composed some time in the fifth or sixth century. Nowhere does the Bible ever say that God is a Trinity of Persons, nor does it ever call Father, Son, or Holy Spirit a "person." And yet, this has become the central doctrine of most of today's "Christianity."
This is what Jesus was talking about when he quoted Isaiah 29.13:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines.
(Matthew 15:8-9; Mark 7:6-7)
Hi Lee! Points well made, and I fully agree that the text of the Bible itself is much more friendly to Swedenborg's explanation. Thanks so much for taking the time to thoughtfully spell it out, and I'm so glad you enjoyed the show!
Your friend,
-Curtis
Lee: are you Jewish or do you study it from the Hebrew? I agree totally with you and am studying it from the Hebrew and am ordering a bible from the Jewish society with it in Hebrew and in English and comments approved by the jewish society so it doesn't have Christian slant to it .....I am totally amazed at finding out all this after 26 years as a Christian and I found a rabbi person to help me find the Jewish roots of the bible as the Christian sect threw alot of it out -----and Yes Swedenborg goes along with alot of the Hebrew so they are my main teachings........
m.facebook.com/groups/608156419364509
Curtis, good show. Yet another aspect of Christianity is redeemed to me through Emmanuel Swedenborg. The wrath of God was one of the tenets that caused me to leave the church. That last verse in your scriptural meditation has always been one of my favorites, "These things i have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." But i have a question. You mentioned that swedenborg said that people overcoming evil in themselves wouldn't be possible but for the works of Jesus. What about the many righteous people before him? The patriarchs and matriarchs of Judaism. The Buddha, the Zoroastrians and so on? The writings of Hermes Trismegistus apparently predate the hebrew scriptures and were perhaps even a source and they speak of being transformed in our hearts by Atums light.
Great question! Swedenborg learned that there were ways that all good people throughout the ages, who had made some kind of connection with God's love and wisdom, were able to dwell in safe places in the spiritual realm until Jesus came to to facilitate the completion of their journey into the heavens. We go into that a bit in this show, "The Meaning of Easter": ruclips.net/video/bhD5R6oEmHU/видео.html
22:02 thanks to this I now understand why forgiveness works
This is a wonderful video on forgiveness. ruclips.net/video/2CJ_W9lE0co/видео.html
It is a lesson worth learning.
Curtis . To KNOW is beyond belief . To know is free from doubt .
Agreed! Swedenborg actually has a lot to say about what he calls "perception" which is an inner knowing that is far superior to knowledge that has to be debated or intellectually figured out.
offTheLeftEye Can you do a video on perception?
Very good show Kurtis you did a great job explaining why it is our Lord came and died for us all... I just want to ad a few things I also believe about the life and death of our Lord and that is I feel not only did he set the example of how to live a righteous life for all of us to fallow, but he also suffered many of the same unjust treatments many of us have to suffer in this life, like being betrayed, being accused falsely of things we did not do, being punished unfairly, being ridiculed by others and being put to death or murdered, These are thing that people suffer with, good people have and still do suffer from these things and I see it as Jesus came to go through all of that also so we can see that we are not alone in our suffering, our Lord has gone through it as well, he understands the pain we go through, If a woman is raped and murdered and she returns to the Lord in spirit feeling that her death was unjust, she can look at the nail marks in her own Lords feet and hands and realize he too was a victim of this world and he understands her pain 100% So I just wanted to share this point also. Thanks Gerry in WA.
Jade the point I was trying to make is, Jesus came to earth to experience much of the same kinds of evil an abuse as we do in this life here on planet earth so we would know or understand that he knows on a personal level our pain... Our Lord is not untouched by pain and suffering he went through it to so he understands us and we know he knows our pain. He is part of us and we are part of him because he and all of us have suffered evil hear on earth. Also I disagree with you, we are not illusions yes God is the source of all life and creation, but we are our own beings separate from God but created by God, People who want to return to God fallow his word and those that rather stay separate are removed from God and life to an existence in Hell. We are real and we are here to make a choice, Fallow the Lord or fallow our own free will and go to Hell.
It was not for him (Jesus) to experience evil on this earth, It was for us to have a Lord we can relate with, one who has walked in the same shoes as us. Imagine if you were falsely accused of a crime and were put to death for it (and this does happen to some people) How you would feel in spirit returning to the Lord. You would say Lord I was falsely accused of and executed for a crime I did not commit I want justice, But the Lord shows you his wounds on his hands feet and side he received on the cross and you realize you Lord understands your suffering because he had it happen to him as well and then you can let it go and be at peace, because Jesus lived and died the way he did, we have a Lord that we can relate with.
I like what both of you (Gerald & Jade) said. :)
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts, Gerald and Jade! From either perspective, we can rest assured that the Lord fully understands our pain.
Gerald: look up heaven and hell here on this channel so you can broaden your mind out of the typical religious mindset ......
Well done, as usual. Thank you!
You're so welcome, Anila!
Excellent articulation of an idea of Jesus which does not trench upon the idea of a Just, Compassionate God; a God who, apart from being love, is love's wisdom - itself.
So glad it resonated with your idea of Divine Love and Wisdom, EhsanBajwa!
A great show! I especially appreciate Swedenborg's idea that "believing" in Christ means following His teachings and not just saying the right words. I think that this is the root of the false beliefs found in Christian churches, that literal understanding of scripture was the intended meaning even though Jesus pointed out that this was exactly what the Jewish leaders had done, and this was the basis for their rejecting their Lord. There seems to be a pattern here of Christian leaders following into the same kind of thinking that Jesus considered wrong. I'll share a quotation from Baha'u'llah concerning the affect of the sacrifice of Jesus which seems to be in harmony with ES's way of thinking: "Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things. Its evidences, as witnessed in all the peoples of the earth, are now manifest before thee. The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced, the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.
We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.
Leprosy may be interpreted as any veil that interveneth between man and the recognition of the Lord, his God. Whoso alloweth himself to be shut out from Him is indeed a leper, who shall not be remembered in the Kingdom of God, the Mighty, the All-Praised. We bear witness that through the power of the Word of God every leper was cleansed, every sickness was healed, every human infirmity was banished. He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming with light, hath turned towards Him."
Harlan, what incredible insights here! We really appreciate your statements from Baha'u'llah in harmony with Swedenborg. It certainly is inspiring to understand the nature of following Christ being that of loving action, and not "saying the right things". Thanks for reaching out, as always!
Thanks so much for this Curtis and everyone at the Swedenborg foundation. The narrative of once saved always saved, or that one is saved simply by believing in His name never made much sense to me because if you believe in something won't you act it out with all your being? It just didn't make any logical sense nor does it really vibe with the rest of the Bible. Now I have a better understanding of why and it's something I already pretty much believed anyways. This video has given me new insight as well as confirmed some of my own beliefs.
We really love it when information that we share resonates with something a viewer already believes in his heart. Thank you so much for watching, Brandon!
Jesus was not nailed to the cross. Our cross was nailed to Him.
What very poetical thing to say...profound thought. I had never thought of it this way. Our sins became His cross, yes.
Your wrong on both counts
the illustrations always help me understand things better, like at the 27:45 section. i don't know why, i guess that is true of any subject to me.
Agreed! Visuals are powerful tools for learning. Thanks for reaching out!
Great show brother! Thank you God Bless!
Blessings to you, Lukus! Thanks for being with us!
If one is working to live according to God's desire for us, and it is a struggle and a work in progress, when can we deem ourselves as saved, or have made the bar to dwell in heaven so to speak, because we will never be perfect or live up to the word perfectly?
That's a great question. I would say that our eternal resting place is based on a lifetime of motivations and choices. There isn't simply a single decision on our part that cements our place in heaven or hell. That being said, humans certainly aren't perfect. The Lord can use even the smallest amount of good in us to bring us closer to him. I would be gentle and patient with yourself, acknowledge your sins, pray for the Lord's strength and wisdom to control them, and live with a little more love each day. As long as you're making an effort to align with God (i.e. living a life of faith and charity), He can work with that. I hope that helps!
Thanks Curtis. This is so good. I subscribe to what is called ‘The Suffering Servant’ view of Christ’s atonement. As you say the present view (possibly post reformation) has become PSA or penal substitution. I can understand that view but don’t subscribe to it and actually never have. I am now connected with a wonderful Church in the UK called ‘Magdalen Way Methodist Church’….We love the Lord Jesus and we want to love others as he loves us.
In the end this is about LOVE
It is indeed all about love, Tony. It is wonderful that you have found a church home. Having community is a huge blessing. I have not heard of those views but I sure have heard about love! Merry Christmas.
this is one I will watch several times I hope you do more on deep parts of the Bible.
Hi Cheri, we will certainly keep that in mind. Thanks for reaching out, as always :)
there is so much in this video that it will take more than once to get it all.
Yes, many people find value in watching the videos more than once. Just like I find value reading Swedenborg's books many times!
Really good, Kurtis!
Thanks, friend!
I just had a thought, wondered what you would think?
I'm learning about the impact of being driven by an internal archetype (which apparently we all are driven by one, all of us... at least "here"). We change our archetypes and we change our behaviors. It's said (from my studies at least) that 90% of all actions are due in some way because of our internal archetype we have within us. One that is.
So, imagine years ago, man had their archetypes but they are being lost.
Jesus, knowing this, came to earth and died, resurrecting completely not only Himself, but in creating a new archetype that others and their actions may be ruled by.
Now, all of a sudden, there's a new pattern available in the innermost mind's possible paradigms, as Jesus is now an option.
Is this kind of putting what Sweedenborg said, but matching it up in a modern, Jungian concept kind of way via the collective unconscious (where Jesus's archetype is now available)?
Those are great thoughts! It makes me think of "The Hero's Journey" concept, based on "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. That the same story or archetypes appear in different forms in all the world mythologies, including the Bible, and it is also the story of each one of us. Swedenborg learned that Jesus came to earth and lived the story that is the Word, a story that had been foretold in ancient scripture, and yes, lived and displayed the journey that we can all follow.
Cool Kurtis, you're the man, thanks :) It's all coming together, and your broadcasts have been a big part of that lightbulb going off in my head recently along with that "aaahaaaa" moment that often flies with it. Blessings, Kurtis! I look forward to Monday evenings with you and the whole crew :)
Blessings to you, too! We're so grateful to have you in the audience.
Man, it's nice to see curtis is being up and happy without sick XD.
It certainly feels great! ;)
Just to clarify, if what Swedenborg says is that we must follow by the Christian doctrine to be free of sin, what about those who don’t follow this doctrine? Is Swedenborg defining doctrine as some commandments or all?
Did Swedenborg say we must follow Christian doctrine? He does say to read and study the Word of God, and follow God's instructions. This includes the 10 Commandments. But Swedenborg understood the 10 Commandments as being much deeper than they seem on first reading. For example, "Thou Shalt Not Kill," to Swedenborg, refers not just to murder but SPIRITUAL murder - killing another person's reputation, through gossip, cruelty, and malicious rumors or words.
Each commandment has more to it than first meets the eye.
So there are specific rules, but they can pretty much all be summed up this way: love God, love each other. If you do hurtful things to another person, or they to you, you know it's not love. Anything harmful, big or small, is not love and is therefore a sin. But the word sin implies so much guilt and shame, it's become quite loaded, and the truth is, God never judges us. It is we who create our own states, our own reality, with our loves and our choices and actions. And ultimately, what matters most is our intentions.
We can act well for bad reasons, or act bad for good reasons, or simply do wrong by accident or from ignorance. But if what we want overall is to be loving, useful people, then we are on the right track - and that is avoiding sin. Does that make sense, TheLachstar?
These might help, too. Here's a short clip, "What Does It Mean to Be A Slave of Sin?" ruclips.net/video/8Jdmxoa7S7k/видео.html or try one of our episodes about the 10 Commandments, like this one, "God's Name Explained," ruclips.net/video/y80APy3SXlM/видео.html
offTheLeftEye Thanks for the response! I’ll look into those videos. I was referring to Apocalypse Explained 295:13 - ‘To believe in the name of the Lord signifies to live according to the precepts of His doctrine.’
@@thelachstar4294 Ah, I see. The basic precepts, or principles, of Jesus's doctrine can be found in all world religions in some form. For instance, the golden rule appears in every world religion, just with different wording. The same goes for the 2 great commandments, the 10 commandments, and Jesus's other teachings about things like the need to practice forgiveness and repentance, to refrain from judging others, to do good to the neighbor, etc. So, this does not mean that people need to adhere to the particular Christian version of those principles, but to live according to the spirit of those principles in whatever form they have them in. Does that makes sense? Swedenborg wrote that God has provided that every religion has the basic principles that are necessary for salvation, i.e. the basic principles that will align a person with the mindset of heaven.
offTheLeftEye Ohh okay thanks for that, makes much more sense now 👍
Christ Jesus was the perfect sacrifice to complete the age of Aries (sacrifices by fire) and was teaching a better way. "Forgive them for they know not what they do". He was ushering in the Age of Pisces (water and fish sign) and told his followers that an age is coming.....the Age of Aquarius (air sign: wireless age) and the dispensation of the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. Relationship with God became personal. No more mediator. Ask, Seek and Knock! We are all one in God. There is no death just casting off the body. The soul is eternal. He gave us an example of an abundant life. We are love. We are light. We are life. Now we have to be it in this physical world. The truth will set you free. Have the abundant life by living in the present moment continually. Love you all.
Thanks for sharing your viewpoint, evesperspective. No more mediator! Eternal soul! Live in the present!
Thank God for this video!
We are so glad it brings you comfort, profeh.
should this be book i buy instead of New Jerusalem?
That's a decision only you can make, ilmb! (
@@offTheLeftEye sorry just dont know were start only reason i asked this is all new to me
No need to apologize, ilmb -- just trying to give you some idea of what you'd encounter in each book, and you can let your heart lead the way! Did you watch the short video of Jonathan giving an overview of the various best-sellers?
Jonathan and Curtis also did a series of shows that showcased the highlights of each of the big titles. Here's the one about "Divine Providence" -- ruclips.net/video/wFuGb3G2ZVw/видео.html
Here's the one about "True Christianity" -- ruclips.net/video/P5hl_Wj-L80/видео.html
Here's the one about "Lord," "Sacred Scripture," "Life," and "Faith." -- ruclips.net/video/Wwk3lbnkA-I/видео.html
And HERE's the link for their discussion of the book "Heaven and Hell" -- ruclips.net/video/JJPVwCE4rOA/видео.html
Hope you can find something that appeals to you!
This is a very important topic, thanks for doing a show on it and for doing it so well.
Do we each have a role to play in our own salvation other than just believing? I think that the following statements by the Lord shed some light on this…
Luke 9:23 (KJV) If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 13:3 (KJV) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Thanks for the kind words, Keith. Those 2 passages from Luke strongly illustrate the tenets of our salvation, which certainly requires an active participation on our end. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Thanks for sharing
You're welcome, George. Hope you found something interesting in this video.
He died to pay the penalty for our sin, and enable our restored fellowship with the Father.
Thank you Stephanie for sharing your strong faith.
Hi curtis，this section is crucial for people to get to know the truth and follow the heavenly path jesus paved for us。one question here，having said all that in your program above，can you pls share your views with us regarding why does it have to be god himself to pave this path for us? could jesus be an angel incarnated person or a prophet with divine truth inside to go through all this? Or it is because god loves us so much that he is willing to do it for us in person? why jesus has to be god?
Or did I miss out some information in your show?😂
Great question! My understanding is this: only God could have enough pure Love for the entire human race to face all of hell and put it back into order, to pave a new pathway for us all. Only pure Divine Love could have the motivation to endure that huge process, which is beyond what any of us could ever imagine in terms of hardship. Even the highest angels could not have endured, because though their love for humanity is amazing, it is not completely Pure. Does that make sense?
@@offTheLeftEye I will be trying to digest this and get the logic connection between these fact hahaha thanks team, another question is that swedenborg didn't believe the atonement theory，but as far as I understand，there are many scriptures in Bible telling people jesus,s blood will appease father s anger through his taking on our sin and being cruxified as the holy sacrifice，it is widely accepted with straight forward Biblical evidence, is it swedenborg s point of view that the these scriptures are also symbolic of what is happening in the spiritual world，people will get it wrong if trying to interpret literally？
Scriptures:
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many;
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
E.t.c. ......
@@wonsgnem4436 Yes, Swedenborg learned that these passages are also symbolic, and are not supposed to be taken literally.
The "blood of Jesus" means Divine Truth. Through that Truth, and through a good life lived according to to that truth (which is the bread) we are saved. Blood and wine are both symbols of truth, which is why Jesus called the wine in the Last Supper his blood.
To "bear our iniquities" means that God incarnated and took on all of the temptations that humanity was dealing with. He went through all the attacks that hell was attacking people with. Jesus bore those attacks, took on those battles, overcame the power of hell. And as we talk about in this video, Jesus also bore the abuse that had been happening to the Word, and so became a symbol for what had been done to the Word.
"Taking away our sins" means that through through the spiritual battles that Jesus went through, he took away the power that hell had on humanity at that time. He restored equilibrium for the human race, giving us a chance to choose the path to heaven. If we do choose that, and go through the processes of repentance, reformation and regeneration (rebirth) then the Lord takes away our sins in an individual way. If we cooperate on our end, the Lord can take away the power of hell (sin) to control our lives, and set us free.
@@offTheLeftEye Thank u very much team for your every reply with patience and love. God bless :)
@@wonsgnem4436 You're very welcome, and we're wishing God's blessings to you, too!
On the cross, Jesus cried out: "God why did you forsaken me" Jesus went thru this abandonment by God in order to restore the Abandonment of God by Adam who betrayed God and fell away.
It sounds like you want to be a faithful follower of God.
I have quite a few comments on this topic. First, faith is revealed through action. If I really believe something I will act on it. Believe means to "Be and Live" according to an idea. We can have lots of opinions and ideas which we take no action on. We mentally agree with many ideas, but they don't affect our actions unless our heart (emotions) joins with an idea to make us act upon it. For example, how many people think they should eat a healthier diet or exercise, but don't. They have the mental idea but they don't have sufficient faith in the idea to act upon it.
Jesus said, "why call me Lord and do not the things which I say?" If you think of Jesus as the Divine king, then if you're loyal to the king you will seek to obey Him. But Jesus is not a kiing as the world thinks of kings, which force you to obey or be punished. God doesn't punish you for disobeying Him because the very act of turning away from him brings us suffering. It's like a parent saying not to touch something hot and the kid does it anyway and gets burned. A wise parent doesn't need to "punish" the child for not obeying as the "punishment" was getting burned. In a cause-effect universe, God's commandments are simply his trying to show us how to utilize the principles of cause and effect (also known as the law of the harvest) to plant good seeds (actions) that will reap good crops (effects) instead of bad seeds (actions) that will bring bad crops (effects) in our lives.
Since God's kingdom is completely voluntary, how does God convince us to follow Him? Through love. We will gladly obey someone who we trust loves us.
I think of it this way. Atonement breaks down into at-one-ment. God becomes one with mankind in their lost and fallen state by joining them in their pains and sufferings. He "takes upon Himself our sins" because he suffers all that we suffer to show us that he is with us, that we are not alone, that we are loved, and in suffering all this and then conquering it by rising from the dead and ascending into heaven, he gives us hope that by following Him, trusting in Him, believing in Him, He can likewise help us overcome all the painful and difficult things we have to face in life.
Love is revealed through sacrifice. When we love someone, we voluntarily give of our time, energy, and resources to help them. We do this without being cohersed. We may even risk or lose our own life trying to rescue someone who is in danger, such as a person jumping into a river to save someone who is drowning. We recognize love when we see the sacrifices others make for our benefit. Jesus reveals God willingly sacrificing himself for our benefit. Which awakens us to Divine love and Divine love takes away our sins because our sins are rooted in our selfishness and greed. Thus Christ shines the light of God's love into the darkness of our hearts and takes away our desire to harm others or to live selfish lives and that same love transforms us into creatures who seek the welfare of others and respond to God's love by trying to become conduits for it to others.
The Course in Miracles says that "sin is the absence of love, like darkness is the absence of light." Christ brings the light of love into our hearts taking away the darkness (sin) within us. Thus, he "takes away the sin of the world."
Being saved implies we were in a danger from which we could not rescue ourselves. No one needs a Savior until they realize they are unable to get themselves out of a danger by themselves. As long as we run around following our own "will" we're like little children unwilling to listen to parental advice and counsel. So, we do things that result in harm to ourselves and others. As long as we continue to rationaize away our problems and pain we see no need for God. But, it's when we realize (as I did 40 years ago at age 19) that I'm not doing so well, that we can turn to God and say, "I keep messing up, help me!" and "I'm ready to do it your way instead of my way," that God is able to plant his Spirit or influence into our hearts, filling us with his love, and tasting that love we begin to trust his ways instead of ours. As we seek to walk in his ways, he fills us more and more with his love, charity or Divine love, without which we are "nothing," and we begin to be transformed into his image as that love springs up in us like a well of water that leads to everlasting life.
There's a lot more I could say about this, but I just wanted to share a little of my perspective.
Thank you so much for that very thoughtful comment. I appreciate the word play of believe being be and live, and atonement being at one ment. I also appreciate the comparison to good parenting. I learn so much from looking at how God parents us... as you say the punishment is the consequence of touching a hot stove. No need to pile on more. That is amazing that at 19 you realized that you needed God in your life. I bet it has served you well over the years. Take care and let's keep talking, Steven.
@@offTheLeftEye It has served me well, and I really appreciate your videos. They are really encouraging messages for me.
We are delighted to be part of your cheering section, Steven.
Jesus Christ died for us so we could lives today without evil but evil still lurks beneath us
Hi Buzz Brew, did you get a chance to see this video? I'm curious what you thought...
I saw your video in away iam more confused 😕 your a great host in my belief Jesus died on the cross for all mankind's sins and if we repent and ask Jesus to forgive us in our heart and belief that the father rose his son Jesus from the dead that we will be save 🙏 and our name will be written in the book of life this is my belief
Thank you scotty for your curiosity. Here is a video about Easter that might speak to your heart. God does ask us to repent, and to live the ten commandments. Does that resonate for you?
Jesus Christ was and is important to us all!!!because lots of people feel lost and see no reason for it all???but I must say that I have respected all religions...and all life around us! I've came to the conclusions, that I and everyone else if they become clear minded and people who have cleaned there Heart. can somewhat become more like Jesus!!!of course a total different person from the core spirit up!!!So I really believe we are all miracle being's and can so seem to be able to do cool stuff! Jesus is of course king of King's! I am just wondering and even seeing for my self what the Human mind and body is capable of! really looking forward to seeing more from you guys! please could you make a new video on, How to deal with evil spirits! with more information details and so on! that principle and ways to recognise the enemy! I think that is most likely the first and best knowledge to know! to understand the importance of the spirit world, and the HEAVEN and Hell things that you are looking to inform people of! but thers knowledge that can become dangerous in wrong hands ....So great video thanks again for the wisdom!!!777real Talk!!!
Thanks for sharing these thoughts! Yes, Jesus gives us a model of life to follow. I agree that it's useful to learn about evil spirits, so we can be on guard against their tactics. I'll list some more shows we have done in the past about evil spirits, in case you haven't seen them yet. You can search these titles on RUclips:
How To Deal With Evil Spirits: Swedenborg and Life (I know you've seen this one.)
How To Free Your Mind From Hell: Swedenborg and Life
The Lies Evil Spirits Tell Us: Swedenborg and Life
3 Kinds of Evil Spirits: Swedenborg and Life
Do Spirits Play a Role in Addiction: Swedenborg and Life
How Spirits Are Connected to Your Health: Swedenborg and Life
The Good Thing About Hell: Swedenborg and Life
offTheLeftEye thank you for helping
Gabriel --i have been attacked by evil spirits from time to time and i say in Jesus name leave and they leave me alone .......and I can sleep good .....I also recite the Lords prayer before bed every night as I had childhood trauma and have bad anxiety and it really helps me .......
Absolutely! If we just even "think" JESUS HELP ME! " They" flee!! Amen! I've been there too!!
Angel Shining thank you very much!
God switched us from self-contredness to love
To believe in the name of the Lord signifies to live according to the precepts規則of his doctrines.
---apocalypse explained 295:13
not only study, but live the live of him.
focus on good and loving action.
Yes indeed!
haha I wanted to record down the summary of the video so nect time I can recall what I have learnt when I saw this:P
Good idea! Swedenborg has so much information to take in, it's good to have ways to summarize.
THANK YOU, THAT WAS GREAT. I BELIVE WHAT YOU SAY 100 PERCENT.
Wonderful! I'm so glad this information makes sense to you. Thank you for watching!
Really great show
Thanks so much, Monique!
Watching this made me think'Why did Jesus often read the minds of those around Him,well we are so accustomed to wearing a false mask around[outer cup being clean but inside full of vile] if the church/parents/schools ect would teach Love for goodness sake or in scriptural jargon 'God is Love so Love for Gods sake' we would not be so quick to hate for evils sake,Swedenborg had it right Gods love flows down and through and around us constantly we just have a hard time grasping the concept,but we eagerly grasp hatefulness,vengeance,and superiority. God is 1000000000000X1000000000000 more loving than we can ever imagine,who else would leave 99 sheep to convince the lost one of HIS love.
Well said, Karl. It does seem as though many people wear masks that hide true thoughts and feelings within. Swedenborg wrote that this is a condition of the natural world, something we transition out of after death. In the spiritual world, what a person thinks and feels is showcased to others around them. In that sense, our true character is revealed.
Are there any writings from Swedenborg that speaks about religious predating Christ?
Oh for sure, Kenneth. He talks about the various "churches" -- meaning ways by which humans on earth connected with God and heaven -- throughout the existence of humanity. He refers to them generally as the earliest (or most ancient) church, and the ancient church. And after that came the Israelitish church, as apparent in most of the Old Testament -- anticipating the arrival of Christ.
Here's a show we did called "The Earliest Source of Ancient Wisdom and How It Was Lost" -- ruclips.net/video/zb5CRXLpfO0/видео.html
And here's an episode called "Neanderthals and the Breathing of the Ancients," that takes you on an archaeological dig with a spiritual twist from Emanuel Swedenborg -- ruclips.net/video/D77fjAvncAw/видео.html
I'm thinking most of that content comes from Swedenborg's multi-volume work called "Secrets of Heaven," but see what some of the references in those videos are. Come back with more questions if these suggestions don't help!
It was psalm 22 the song of David. That is what Jesus was quoting on the cross
Paul says that we are saved by grace. It's a gift of God...not by works lest anyone should boast.
Can you expand on that?
Great question. Swedenborg was clear that our salvation is a product of both faith and a life according to it. We may receive grace and mercy from God, but that doesn't invalidate the good work we must do to qualify our faith in the Lord. Here's a passage from Swedenborg:
"For everyone throughout the whole world who has led a good life is in the Lord's mercy received and saved; for good itself is that which receives truth. Good in a person's life is the ground itself for the seed, that is, for the truth, but evil in his life cannot possibly receive it. Although those immersed in evil are taught in a thousand different ways, indeed even if they are fully taught, the truths of faith with them still do not advance beyond the memory and do not penetrate through to the affection, which is in the heart. Consequently in the next life truths present in their memory are dispersed and cease to have any real existence."
What do you think?
30:32 if we think about it evil itself exist outside of human perception like it lives in another layer of dimension even though the effect appears in real world so this made sense to me and that is why I now understand we will always need protection from that side of the battle.
Yes we do need God's protection, and we always will. Fortunately God's love never sleeps berbudy.
So are all other religions doomed? Depending on where in the world you’re born the constant teachings are drilled in from a very early age. Also all those who the bible says that God Killed in the wilderness, are they doomed. I really enjoyed this but have so many questions.
No, other religions are absolutely not doomed! God loves everyone, in all walks of life, and works with everyone through their own belief system. Here are 2 more videos that might be helpful:
"John 3:16 Does Not Conflict With a God Who Loves Everyone" ruclips.net/video/XQ9SgTIhX4g/видео.html
"How Different Religions Coexist in Heaven" ruclips.net/video/MNoAwJ1a9WQ/видео.html
It is symbolic and beautifully so but...did the crucifixion literally in fact happen?
According to Swedenborg, yes, the crucifixion of Jesus literally happened, and yet it is also universally symbolic. Jesus was actually aware that he was living out the symbolic story of how we can unite with God, and God with us.
Ponder on what is good Curtis
Yes, that is always a good idea!
So if i got this right: By believing in jesus thats crucial for salvation is just doing our best to live a good and loving life? (like when he says follow the 2 commandments and you will receive eternal life)
So when chrisitans tell me it doesnt matter if someone was a good person- they didnt believe in jesus and therefore they dont get to go to heaven- it really means they do actually because they did what was told of them and did good?
And so this applies to anyone of no faith or other faiths that dont revolve around jesus because they still lead good lives and did good to others and themselves, just as the everyday person is told to do anyway?
So when people tell me i have to believe in jesus, i am already in a sense because i am doing good (which ties into whoever does love knows god)? And this applies to every person of every faith or non faith?
So being a good/loving person is, in a sense, the same as believing in jesus?
So when jesus says im the only way to god, that wasnt a literal statement that only christians get to go to heaven, but his way of living is the way to god?
So in a sense i shoudlnt worry about any loved one who does good if they dont "believe in jesus" because thats technically one in the same?
Yay or nay?
Yeah, Monkeys Mobilize, that about covers it! We believe Jesus was/is God, in a human form. (see this short clip: "What God/Jesus Is" ruclips.net/video/5Y0q0Lw30aE/видео.html)
But God is also Infinite. If we are made in God's image, and God is Infinite, why would all humans be exactly the same, and be required to somehow miraculously find one single religion no matter where they are on this vast planet, no matter what their background and language? It makes no sense that simply declaring oneself a follower of Jesus would be the definition of a Godly life. There are religions all over the world, that speak to their adherents in a unique way, and lead them also to a relationship with their Creator and to heaven. A loving God would not abandon vast millions of humans who were unlucky enough not to get "saved" by the right religion! A loving God would want to unite with ALL people, EVERYWHERE, and would find a way to do that!
That is why Jesus said, "Let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one who loves is born of God and knows God. God is love, and anyone who abides in love abides in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:7-11)
And as for the idea that we don't need to live a certain way, that faith alone will save us, the Bible actively and adamantly warns against this, stressing the importance of our WORKS. Here are just a few examples:
Jesus said, "Not every one who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven." (Matthew 7:21)
"He shall reward every one according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)
"Those who have done good," He says, will go "to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." (John 5:29)
"Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2)
Here are some clips from our channel on the importance and legitimacy of other faiths, and the reasons for them, if you're interested!
Short clips: "Why Are There So Many Religions?" ruclips.net/video/8rJSmf0684g/видео.html
"All Religions Exist in Heaven," ruclips.net/video/yeq9W5H4ox4/видео.html
“Many Religions, A Single Heart” ruclips.net/video/ARA6Pd01yHQ/видео.html
Full length episodes: "The Spiritual Reality of All Faiths,' ruclips.net/video/Y-US1qib37g/видео.html and "How Different Religions Coexist in Heaven," ruclips.net/video/MNoAwJ1a9WQ/видео.html
And finally, I'll leave you with three of my favorite quotes from Swedenborg - let me know what you think!
“What could be more insane than to believe that these [Christians] and only these individuals are saved, and that the others are damned, that heaven is ours by right of birth and not by conduct of life? That is why the Lord says, ‘I tell you that many will come from the east and from the west and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens, while the children of the kingdom will be thrown out’ (Matthew 8:11, 12)."
- Emanuel Swedenborg, "Divine Providence," 330:7
and, “The Lord’s church is found among all the people in the whole world who live intent on what is good as their own religion defines it and who acknowledge a divine being; they are accepted by the Lord and enter heaven.”
- Emanuel Swedenborg, "Heaven and Hell," 318
"The Lord shows mercy to everyone, loves everyone, and wants to make everyone happy forever."
- Emanuel Swedenborg, "Arcana Coelestia" 904:2
This is related. But not exactly. In Sacred Scripture, 23 #4, towards the end, Swedenborg is talking about idolatry and rejecting spirituality. And Swedenborg says "The truth of this is obvious from the fact that they did not recognize the Lord even though the whole Sacred Scripture prophesized about him and predicted him. The sole reason they rejected him was that he taught people about a heavenly kingdom and not an earthly one. That is, they wanted a Messiah who is raise them to supremacy over all the nations in the whole world and not some Messiah would be concerned with their eternal salvation." Have you ever discuss this? I've never heard this before. Quite fasinating.
This particular passage has not yet been a topic of focus on one of our shows, but yes, quite fascinating! Which is why Jesus had to try to tell the people of that time "my kingdom is not of this world." I think this is also happening in modern times when Christians are expecting Christ to come back in a physical and worldly way and establish an externally Christian world. It's never going to be about an external kingdom or external organized religion, but always about an internal state of the heart and mind, that then infuses all the externals of life on earth with love of God and the neighbor, in many different ways! "Idolatry" can mean having and "worshipping" external goals instead of internal ones. We did do a show about the deeper meanings of the commandment to "not worship other gods":
ruclips.net/video/MKcIUMpCNok/видео.html
@@offTheLeftEye Thank you for the reply. I appreciate you taking the time to comment. Couldn't agree more! Always uplifted by Swedenborg and Life and News From Heaven. A gift for sure.
Thank you. Wow !!!
Glad you found it meaningful, 82sandyreynolds. New ideas for you?
Thank you so much. I have been battling with the idea of a vengeful God that needs blood to be shed
We agree that that is a very unfortunate view, Carina! Glad that the ideas in this video could give you a different perspective. Blessings to you!
Justice is not vengeance. It is necessary in the reality (truth) of love. A lack of justice is a lack of love. Jesus’ sacrifice provided a mechanism that creates room for mercy without sacrificing truth, law, or justice.
Thanks for this words. My Englisch is not wel but here are some points from me. Belief is often not a good word. Instead use trust. Trust dat love is a greater force than fear. All people are (not yet man= spirituan awakend) connected. When our Father came down to the lowest of all worlds as Yeshua he became one of us. So we can now connect again to our origen our Heavenly Father Jezus. Thank him on your knees wat he did. Now take up your fight with evil(the cross) and go with him. This world is a skool/ and examination of the hardest kind. Go with Love and you will winn.
Thank you Jandegraaf for your heartfelt message. Yes We can connect with our Heavenly Father Jesus, and thank Him for his presence in our lives. Yes this world is like a school and we can learn what it means to trust God.
Jesus said so many times that he came to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. It was the purpose of His coming. He did not come just to die. Even before His crucifixion, he could forgiving sins. He did not need to die for that. All he needed was faith of the chosen people. During the first 2 years of his ministry, he proclaimed that the Kingdom was at hand, It is only after he was rejected and persecuted that he suddenly spoke of going the way of the cross. The disciples were shocked and confused by this drastic change
Pierre, the events around Easter give us a lot to think about, and pray about. At least it does for me. I agree He did not come just to die. He came to live, and show us that life is more enduring than the hatred that hunted Jesus. His power is more eternal than a crowd of Roman soldiers.
Here is a short video called The Promise of Easter.
ruclips.net/video/jnKStHlRVYI/видео.html
Blessings to you as you try to follow God's example.
Swedenborg without doubt is our spiritual road map 🗺 guiding all who will listen 👂 filtering the murky waters of falsities
So glad to know you're finding light for your path here, Will!
I love swedenborg and I agree with a lot of his Concepts and ideas but I do believe that Jesus Christ was a literal man the Son of God who walk this Earth and was condemned and put the death to save all of humanity from an eternal suffering in hell. I think that you need to believe in Jesus Christ and ask him to forgive you for the things that you do wrong and the things that you do wrong in your heart. also by the way my name is Shane I'm just using my wife's email hope you all have a great day love you Curtis keep up the good work
Jade That makes allot of since Thank you I don't believe I've watched the video about the Trinity but I will check it out. I've been watching Curtis and all you guys for about 8 months now and it's helped me allot in life and it makes a lot of since to me. Thank you, and God bless all of you. Love ya.
Thanks, Shane! Hope you enjoy the video about the trinity (thanks for recommending that, Jade) and that it gives you some interesting thoughts to consider. Swedenborg also believed that Jesus Christ was a literal person who walked on the earth, but he learned that Christ was a manifestation of God in physical form rather than a separate person from the Divine. We really appreciate having you out there in the audience!
Hi Brittany, see if this article about what the Bible says about Jesus, and what we should focus on. All the best
webhome.idirect.com/~abraam/studies/Who_is_Jesus.pdf
I agree with you that we deal with our spiritual heritage god and bad, Our ancestors who are now in the spiritual world do not have their physical body that would allow them to do good actions which would able them to grow spiritually, Consequently they look down to us who are still on earth as their champions. When we overcome evil temptations that they could not win over, we help them to grow. Hereditary sins are real. We need to be aware of them
Fascinating thought, Pierre, that we can help angels overcome struggles left undone from their time on earth. Perhaps it is a bit like when I was a young mother of a pack of small children. I wanted to be kind, and patient, but I wasn't always. On occasion my child would speak in the harsh way I did, a mirror of what she had heard. In that moment I could see myself more clearly and realize I did not want to be that kind of mother. It helped me chose differently. -Lori
@@offTheLeftEye Lori, where do you get the belief that once they die, go the spirit world to be as angels?
@@pierretardy7544 That was one of the major revelations that Swedenborg was shown, and Jesus Christ called him to learn and write about that. We have some Off The Left Eye episodes on that topic, if you are interested. And there are confirmations in the Bible.
In the book of Revelation, angels are equated with humans, and put into the same category as humans:
"Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel."
-- Revelation 21:17
"Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, 'See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.'”
-- Revelation 22:8-9
In Judges 13, the story of the birth of Samson, there is an angel that appears to Samson's mother, and she and her husband use the words "angel" and "man" interchangeably as they talk about and to the spiritual being who appears to them. Angels are also called "men" in Genesis 19, Luke 24, and Acts 1.
In Genesis 18, the spiritual beings coming to Abraham to convey a message from Jehovah are always called "men" rather than angels. In Ezekiel 40, 43, and 47, the spiritual being is referred to as a man. In Mark 16, the angel in the tomb is called a young man.
In the story of Jesus being transfigured on the mountain (in Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9), Moses and Elijah, who had been people on Earth, appear in angelic glory.
Regarding Psalm 8:4-6, which says:
"What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet."
That passage is actually talking about Jesus, and that is made clear in Hebrews 2:5-9
"For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. But one testified in a certain place, saying:
'What is man that You are mindful of him,
Or the son of man that You take care of him?
You have made him a little lower than the angels;
You have crowned him with glory and honor,
And set him over the works of Your hands.
You have put all things in subjection under his feet.'
For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone."
@@offTheLeftEye Wow, that is a lot of verses at once, I am working through them :) My understanding is that Angels are spiritual beings and do not have a physical body. When human die, they leave their physical body on earth and their spiritual body passes on the spiritual world. From that perspective, we could say that we are like the angels. The bible does not support the idea that Angels were created in the image of God. I understand angels as being servant of God's children. Hebrew 1:14 "Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" 1 Corinthians 6:3 says: " Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!" As the consequence of the fall, Adam and Eve put Lucifer who was a servant in the position to dominate mankind as a master. This is our sad condition. Anyway, this is my understanding.
@@pierretardy7544 aren't we all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Helping others on their spiritual path helps us too; we are all in this together! And with Corinthians 6:3, how could we judge the angels if we didn't know their experience, as our own? We were all physical beings first.
We have a different take on Lucifer if you're interested! Here's the link to our full length episode on the subject: ruclips.net/video/V7JMUhYqgHs/видео.html
It's interesting to hear your perspective. I find that there are many ways to interpret the Bible, many passages are vague and it strikes me that perhaps what's literally true is less important than how our understanding leads us to live in this life. In other words, whether it helps us open our hearts and be of service to others and kind to ourselves and our world! Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts!
Has anything begun yet? I just came in
This is the main complaint I have against Christianity and the Bible, that everyone puts their own spin on it. If you read it as plain text, it is exactly about old-fashioned sacrifice to appease an angry God, that humans are so sinful that the only way to keep everyone from being utterly destroyed by that angry god was to sacrifice a human, but not just any human, one of Divine origins. That is why Jesus is referred to as "the blood of the lamb," which was the pure lamb of the Jewish sacrifice, with the blood alone being reserved as a holy offering for the god, splashed on the four corners of the altar, while the flesh of the lamb was given back to the people for their feast after it was burnt on that same altar. Having said that, I can understand why a man such as Swedenborg, a genius polymath and man of the Enlightenment (with a father who held a high position in the church) would have to reject that view as being far too barbaric and nonsensical for any thinking moral creature to endure. And who knows, maybe he was right to lay everything to rest on a bed of corespondences. It certainly makes more sense to do that kind of reading on it because any other way of reading it makes God out to be a really stupid vile monster with less moral sense than an imbecile. Still, I can't help but think if this was truly a holy scripture, why wasn't it written in plain talk that this means this and that means that, instead of taking more than a thousand and a half years for someone to come along who was smart and sensitive enough to translate it into correspondences for everyone. It is easier, in my opinion, to just reject Christianity all together as a bad idea and start from a fresh position of morality and ethics that far surpass it. Why not create a new story fresh from the get-go, one that makes sense?
Thank you Double Dragon, great comments for sure. One thing about Revelation is that it is adjusted, not changed. Humanity is developing through the ages along a process of spiritual growth. That process is identical to the process most individuals goes through as well. That's why Revelation is adjusted to that growth process. That's why there are now 3 Testaments.
The first one is all about, do as I say!! or else!!
The second is, do as I say because you know I love you.
The third is, do as I say since you love me and because you now understand why I am asking you what I'm asking.
At this stage we can apply the Creation Story parable as it makes sense in our life. The Adam and Eve parable can be applied now too, etc. At this moment humanity is still on its way from Egypt to Canaan. From science to spirituality.
Of course, you are right. Humanity is also an organism, and it is one that has continued to mature. I'm pretty sure even a well educated person of his or her time 2,000 years ago would have no idea what Swedenborg was talking about because that person would not have had the frame of reference to understand even the concept of correspondences. Jesus parables were a step in that direction, of course, using language of simple metaphors. Thank you for your kind response. I know my patience with religions in general is an area I have to work on!
What is the Purpose for the Countdown??????
FBC Carmel boooom that's the countdown for this Wisdom!!!
Flip over and do the other side ! Hahahaha ! Curtis, you crack me up ! Thanks !
Always good for a laugh, isn't he? And yet he conveys such deep and important ideas! Thanks for being here, merna loy!
54:16 this is a good life principle just don't want to make my next generations life harder spiritually.
I hope we can make life easier for the next generation.
As much as Curtis is a gifted communicator, this one seems so strange to me. Why should jeuss act out metaphorically the symbolic state of the world? It's so ritualistic and strangely OCD. I don't know.
Yes, we realize this is a very unfamiliar view on this story! It does require knowing that there is something called correspondences which is a very real element that connects the physical and spiritual worlds. Things in the physical world have to correspond to (physically embody) things in the spiritual world in order for the two worlds to stay connected. And if this physical world was not connected to the spiritual world it would cease to exist, because the spiritual level provides the life force for everything that exists on the physical level. (This isn't about Jesus, but here's a video about this spiritual/physical connection: ruclips.net/video/GrueIfzwcLQ/видео.html&t )
It's a hard thing to wrap our heads around, but when the human race was no longer embodying the energy of heaven, where the life-force flows through to us from God, God had to manifest as Jesus and walk through the entire story of the rejection of God by the human race as part of a way to fight all the forces of hell that had caused that separation. When that story had been physically walked through, the rift was healed between heaven and earth. Jesus Christ embodied the new connection. So, it is not actually a ritual but rather a form of spiritual science! Does that help at all?
Was JESUS really born of the virgin, and if so, why?
Swedenborg learned that yes, Jesus really was born of a virgin! It was important that Jesus had a mortal mother, in order to take on the general fallen human state of mind that we are all dealing with here on earth, go through temptations and trials, and thus conquer hell and make it possible for us all to be led to heaven. But Jesus could not have accomplished that huge task unless he had a pure soul that was directly from the Divine, with no mortal fallen heredity, so Jesus had to be fathered by the Divine instead of a mortal father. Does that make sense?
@@offTheLeftEye I
was HOPING you'd say that, YES!!! Thank you!
@@PresidentChristopher You're very welcome! I'm glad that was helpful.
Near amsterdam
Is that where you are, Ponky?
Wanted to share a thought I had while watching. The parts of God represent Love (the father), Wisdom (the Holy Spirit, your teacher (mother)), action (Jesus, the offspring of Love and Wisdom, love and wisdom manifest). When one of these parts of the trinity does not align with Divine Love, the whole of the three gets distorted. The goal of everything we do should be Love thru Action from Wisdom.
The thing that came to me was our government system. I believe our founding fathers understood this eternal truth by establishing our three part government (Legislative, Judicial, Executive). Legislative represents Love because they represent the people, the heart of the country. Judicial represents wisdom in which we count on the Supreme court to uphold laws in a fair manner. Executive represents the Action for obvious reasons, it puts the laws into action. If we look back in history, we can see when one or more branches of this trinity has acted outside of Love for others in an attempt to fulfill self will, the result being the heart of the country (the people) started to become dark hearted. Only when this countries trinity truly works for the love of the people (which can only be done with the love from God, perhaps this is why we are called to pray for our leaders) can we all feel the loving effects of the system.
Jesus died so we could tap into the current of God's Love. There was no way for us to do this leading up to His death (the death of the old system of works), because no matter how hard we tried, we were not able to Work our way to Love, because we have none of our own. The ladder spoken of in the video allows us a way to enter the flow of Love (like Nemo's dad and Dory jumping into the East Australian Current (for you visual types)).
Thanks so much for sharing these thoughts! It's great to know what ideas come up as you watch the videos.
Great thoughts and details Micheal. I don't know if you have read this already but this is a book about God with all the 'details' as it was revealed to Swedenborg. We are His image and likeness, this also shows what that means.
webhome.idirect.com/~abraam/documents/DLW.pdf
Thank you Adriaan, I'll check it out.
Adriaan - I have read Love and Wisdom, it was the first one I read of Swedenborg a few years back. I could stand to go back through it though. I just opened it and the following jumped out at me as what I was trying to say in my original post "God alone (the Lord)is love itself, because He is life itself.
Both we on earth and angels are life-receivers."
Perhaps some of this book still sticks with me :)
Im from holland
We love having such an international community!
I think that Jesus died to lead us into death to ourselves. We are baptised into his death. That is the symbolism of baptism. We die with Jesus in baptism. When we die with Jesus we are raised with him in new life. You cannot get into heaven unless you die. Jesus said that pass from life to life when they die. I.e. they didn't die when they died because they had already died when they were born again. You cannot love other people unless your ego or yourself dies so that you have room for other people in your life. Otherwise it is all about your own agenda. Once we die we can start to love other people without selfish agendas. Otherwise we will ultimately always do things for selfish reasons. Even Swedenborg says that we need to die to oursleves.
Two of Jesus' disciples wanted to sit at Jesus' right and left sides. Jesus asked them whether they would they be able to take the baptism that they would need to do that? High positions demand difficult baptisms. As I say we cannot love people purely unless we die. The deeper we die the greater the position that we can take. God does not want someone in a high position in heaven who is more wrapped up in himself or herself. The greatest in heaven is the servant of all. If we don't die then we are wrapped up in ourselves and we are only serving ourselves. As Jesus says the seed goes into the ground and dies. It loses itself in the soil and then becomes a plant instead. It then grows and produces fruit. Unless the seed goes into the ground and dies it produces nothing.
I got born again nearly 50 years ago. People have said that I became less selfish since then. About 7 years ago I had another expeience when I suddenly realised that other people were just as important as me. It is hard to explain this experience. Since this time I have become much more interested in other people, to listen to them more intently and not have my own agendas with them so much. There is much more joy in my life from being freed from the tyranny of myself as much as I was before. I can lose myself more in other people and enjoy them more without being so concerned about myself the whole time. Best wishes.
So true, Bob! Letting parts of our "old will" die is key to gaining a new, heavenly will. Your testimony about being more interested in other people, and letting go of your agenda for them, is great evidence of that! Because the new will is a love for others, a love for helping them, a love for God and God's ways.
1 Corinthians 15:31 -- "I die daily." And the whole chapter discusses the benefits/need for death. Thanks for sharing your view of it -- very powerful!
Does Swedenborg say anything about the mark of the beast?
Yes, indeed! Check out this short clip for more info: ruclips.net/video/u-llrbz5DE4/видео.html
this seems to be about 'works' no? 'by grace you are saved, not of works, lest any man should boast'... how come you emphasize what we doooo to such an extent? and how is a person that is disabled somehow supposed to 'serve humanity' or 'help people' when every bit of their energy is just taken up to make it thru the next minute of their lives? ... 'it is the free gift of God' we are saved by grace, it is not supposed to cost us anything, it's not supposed to be hard work... right?
Great question, Elaine. Here's how I understand that quote from Ephesians. It does not mean that what you do has no impact, or that works are pointless, or that salvation is a matter of luck. What it means is that without God, we can do nothing. We must "humbly walk with our God" by asking the Divine to save us, to help us fight our battles in life. Because without God's help, there is nothing we alone can overcome. But with God's help, we can triumph and live with God in a heavenly state, even before death.
We ask for God's help in order to be better people for ourselves and to serve others. And because we live in a world where evil has power over us, it IS hard work. Not because God makes it hard, but because WE do. We have to learn over and over again how to be good, how to think kind thoughts, how to act from love. And we conquer one temptation only to face another. But each time we triumph, we go closer to God, we grow stronger, and we are more at peace as we are less tempted by evil, and more driven by love. It's hard work at first that gets easier (like all things worth doing!) - and the payoff is well worth the effort.
Check out these short clips, "Are We Saved by Grace or Works?" ruclips.net/video/-Nuxn8sm_p0/видео.html and "How to Understand Personal Struggle," ruclips.net/video/IYsl9iwafeE/видео.html for more on that idea.
@@offTheLeftEye lol LUCK??? Jesus came and died to give us that salvation!! 'by grace, through faith, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God' none of that sounds like LUCK to me!! and yes, i do know that how we behave matters, i just don't think i'm saved by it... after all, the Bible does say 'anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved'
i do know that without God/Jesus, I can do nothing... i have had this reality hit me in the face like a freight train lol... but that fact IS what makes me nervous about your 'saved by works' philosophy...
tho i did have a revelation about it, when i asked God how the heck i was supposed to do all these impossible things, the answer was 'Just love God and TRY'
i have since been told that my beautiful revelations were false, but i'm sort of starting to look at them again
as a follower of the Pauline gospel, the idea that i'm saved by works was kind of horrifying to Paul, but that didn't stop him from telling us to behave in a loving way, of course not...
i'm going to have to make a donation to you, coz you are being so kind and helpful... it won't be much, but i will donate a bit later.
that saved by works or grace video wouldn't come up for me, it says it's private... did you know it's set to private? may i see it somewhere else, i would really really like to see it!
thanks again, i'm moving on to your next comment :) xox
@@elaineremains Sorry, I made a mistake, that video is not ready to post yet. Please read the epistles of James! When Paul talks about that we are not saved by the "works of the law", he is referring to all the laws of Jewish ritual. That is different than good deeds of compassion and integrity. The Bible is FULL of quotes about the importance of doing good deeds:
"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. . . . . But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was [j]accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
-- James 2:14-24
Those who have my commandments and do them are the people who love me. I will love them and will manifest myself to them. I will come to them and make my home with them. (John 14:15-21, 23)
My Father is glorified by your bearing much fruit. (John 15:8)
Hearers of the law are not justified by God, but doers of the law are. (Romans 2:13; James 1:22)
In the day of anger and just judgment, God will repay all according to their works. (Romans 2:5, 6)
It is right for us all to appear before Christ's judgment seat, so that each of us may carry away what we have done through our body in regard to those things, whether good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10)
The Son of Humankind is going to come in the glory of his Father. Then he will repay all according to their deeds. (Matthew 16:27)
I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. The Spirit says that they will rest from their labors. Their works follow them." (Revelation 14:13)
A book is opened, which is the book of life, and the dead are judged according to the things that are written in the book. All are judged according to their works. (Revelation 20:12, 13)
Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me to give to all according to their work. (Revelation 22:12)
Jehovah, whose eyes are open to all the ways of human beings, to give to them all according to their ways and according to the fruit of their works. (Jeremiah 32:19)
I will bring judgment upon them according to their ways and will reward their works. (Hosea 4:9)
The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. (Matthew 21:43)
Jehovah deals with us according to our ways and according to our works. (Zechariah 1:6)
Every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Luke 3:9)
In Matthew 25:31-44, Jesus makes clear that those who did not make efforts to help their fellow human beings cannot come into heaven.
In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus makes clear that it is not enough to declare a faith in the Lord. What’s essential is to “do the will of my Father,” i.e., follow the commandments, especially the two great commandments.
In Matthew 21:28-32, Jesus tells a parable of two sons. One son says that he will not follow his instructions, but then later does. The other son says that he will follow instructions, but then doesn’t do the work. Jesus teaches that the first son is the one who is doing the will of the Father.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 7:19, 20, 21)
"Those who are sown in good earth are people who hear the Word and pay attention, and bear and produce fruit." When Jesus had said this he cried out, saying, "Those who have ears to hear must hear." (Matthew 13:39, 43)
Jesus said, "My mother and my brothers and sisters are those who hear the Word of God and do it." (Luke 8:21)
We know that God does not hear sinners, but if people worship God and do his will, he hears them. (John 9:31)
@@offTheLeftEye oh my dog!!!! ok ok ok!!!! thank you, you are right, i know that Paul tells us to do right by people and love each other and all of that, but i have never ever gotten so many proof texts thrown at me so lovingly!! i have been thinking about it anyway... i repented of a life long ... sort of ill-temper that coloured my .. EVERYTHING, and i felt a spirit leave and then Jesus started answering my prayers!!! and i owe all of it to you guyz... and i have been thinking about works, i'm quite disabled and can't do much, but you have coloured what i can do.. coloured it with hope, that Jesus will make me good again... i run a couple of facebook pages, and i now consider it a 'good work' to cheer people up on them.. i owe that to you too... and i run a little business and i'm going to make masks for Covid19... and it makes me happy, my life has expanded to include care for others, not just regret at my current condition... and i want to thank you for that... i may not be able to do much anymore, and i may have grown lazy, but i will try, ok? thank you sooo much for this... do you really think i can find truth here? well, i mean, i guess you do, but do you ever... oh nevermind, i'm going to think about what you have said xoxoxoxoxox
@@elaineremains Oh, yes, Jesus loves you so much, and is working to give you a new heart, a heart of goodness, just like he wants to give to everyone. Every little bit of kindness is so pleasing to the Lord. It doesn't have to be anything big! And with every loving effort, Jesus is using that to strengthen and grow your heart. You are doing great, Elaine! 💖
❤
❤️
How about using his real name
The Lord?
To offTheLeftEye: Dear Curtis I will like to share a piece of a puzzle in order to cover melodymoments"s question. The question is correctly addressed and the answer it will be if melodymoments is willing to research. The truth is ONE, The CHURCH is ONE and is not hidden from us except if we allow ourselves to follow the corruption of it. As far as the TRUTH melodymoments is searching for ..is CHRIST and HIS CHURCH. Ahaaaa...now is now... which one is that. well search and rescue I will say....The Church is called ONE HOLY CATHOLIC (as Universal not Roman by the way)AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH or AKA as The ORTHODOX FAITH. Melodymoments and all those interested can start a reaserch of History of the CHURCH and find out that there is ONE where CHRIST is its Head. Now let's do not believe that people in this Church are Holy but if they want to ..the Church and its Sacraments are the tool of exiting the corrupt world. I am posting a link of the CHURCH I am talking about as a helping hand to those interested: ruclips.net/video/X_4LDDkcWCE/видео.html (there are 3 parts which can be found).
The message of the Church is: "COME AND SEE the choice is yours to remain part of as the Bride of Christ. Christ is the Groom and the Church is HIS Bride .
Much love in Christ to you Curtis and to all your viewers.
Thank you for sharing this perspective. We believe that the true church is something established within each individual heart, because it is a relationship with the Lord. We discuss that in our episode "What It Means to Be a Church" ruclips.net/video/FICukuFqVfc/видео.html
Your mamma is beautiful soul
Indeed she is!
Whichever way you look at it the penal substitution view of salvation hasn't served the human race particularly well. On the one hand it can lead to a sense of worthlessness or helplessness, whilst on the other it can lead to a sense of apathy or even superiority; leading to an outpouring of cold so called "truths" say at funerals of non believers with observances that the loved one who was deceased would be going to hell because they weren't saved. At its very core it leads to a view of God that is mean, vengeful and totally unlovable. The problem is though that it is has gained so much traction in Christian thinking that automatically in some circles you are branded at best as not a "proper" Christian, or not properly saved, and at worst a "heretic". I've seen some of this in my own life, while I've also seen how Christian leaders who dare to speak up against it are often treated poorly by their peers. This is a great presentation though, I think I also need to buy Swedenborgs book "The Lord"....not just because of its cool cover !
I really appreciate your thoughts here, Jung at Heart. It's so painful to think about those funerals of "non-believers." Yes -- where is the merciful God, the God of Love? So glad you found this presentation useful, and thanks for joining the conversation!
Didn't the Jews sacrifice animals for their sins.
CaptainMartin, yes that was a practice thousands of years ago.
🌋I know.
Hello, Yeha! Can you tell me more?
In my opinion Allan Kardec is the natural heir of Swedenborg.
I have heard of him, but haven't read his books. Are there any particulars in Kardec's writings that you feel especially connect with Swedenborg's writings?
@@offTheLeftEye Kardec was a 19th century scientist who decided to make a systematic study of spirit manifestations and visions such as those experiences by Swedenborg.
He was mostly interested in figuring out the science behind how spirits interact with the physical world, but after interacting with many different spirits through many different mediums, started to find that the spirits all converged on a single doctrine, which seems to be the same doctrine as Swedenborg is describing.
Kardec was just one of many researchers working on this, and they even had a scientific journal going for years. Kardec was just the one to put it all together into a neat package.
The Gospel According To Spiritism is a good book to compare to Swedenborg, especially on this topic of Jesus and his mission on the Earth. It's basically a collection of the spirits' interpretations of the gospels.
@@offTheLeftEye thanks for the great work by the way, I love your channel! I was trying to reconcile the differences between the typical protestant view of salvation, the Bible, and the Swedenborg/Kardec interpretation. This video was very helpful.
@@ChrisShupe I'm so glad this video felt helpful, Chris! And thanks for the info about Kardec. Wow, yes, that sounds very aligned with things that Swedenborg learned! We love hearing about parallels like that.