Page:Swedenborgs Maximus Homo.pdf/40

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neighbor the principal point of faith. Doctrinals would then have been only varieties of opinion concerning the mysteries of faith, which they who are true Christians would leave to every one to receive according to his conscience; while the language of their hearts would be, that he is a true Christian who lives like a Christian; that is, as the Lord teaches. Thus one church would be formed out of all these diverse ones, and all disagreements arising from mere doctrinals would vanish; yea, all the animosities of one against another would be speedily dissipated, and the kingdom of the Lord would be established on earth." (A. C., n. 1799.)


"As the case is with the man of the church in particular, so it is with the church in general; that is, with all who constitute the Lord's church. The reason is, that the universal church before the Lord is as one man; for the heaven of the Lord with which the church acts in unity is before him as one man, as may be manifest from what has been shown concerning heaven as the Grand Man. Consequently the case is similar with the man of the church in particular; for the man of the church in particular is a heaven, a church, and a kingdom of the Lord in the least effigy.

"Moreover, the case with the church is as with man himself, in that there are two fountains of life with him, namely, the HEART and the LUNGS. It is known that the first [fountain] of his life is the heart, and that the second is the lungs; and from these two fountains all and single things in man live. The heart of the Grand Man, that is, of heaven and the church, is constituted of those