The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained/Chapter24

by Benjamin Fiske Barrett

 

XXIV.—Freedom.

There are several kinds of freedom which it is important to distinguish. There is natural freedom and spiritual freedom—freedom of the body and freedom of the soul; civil freedom and religious freedom; intellectual freedom and moral freedom; the freedom of heaven and the freedom of hell. But there is only one kind of true spiritual freedom; and this is freedom from the controlling influence of the selfish and evil proclivities of the unregenerate heart; freedom from the dominion of passion, appetite, avarice, hatred, love of self, and lust of power for selfish ends; a complete mastery over all the lower and selfish propensities of our nature, and a positive delight in the free and healthy exercise of our higher and nobler faculties. In other words, the true freedom is to yield ourselves willingly and joyfully to the prompting influences of heaven; to be led and governed in all our feelings, purposes and conduct, by the Lord and his angels, and not by self or the spirits that are imbued and swayed by the love of self. The true freedom, therefore, differs from the spurious, as hatred differs from love, good from evil, heaven from hell.

Such is the declared doctrine of heaven, and such the teaching of the New Church on this subject. Accordingly Swedcnborg says—and the same teaching is many times repeated in his writings:

"All that is called freedom, which pertains to the will or love Hence it is that freedom manifests itself by the delight of willing and thinking, and thence of doing and speaking; for all delight is of love, and all love is of the will. To do evil from the delight of love appears like freedom, but it is slavery because it is from hell. To do good from the delight of love appears like freedom, and also is freedom because it is from the Lord. Slavery, therefore, consists in being led of hell, and freedom in being led of the Lord." (A. C. n. 9586.)

"The freedom of self-love and the love of the world and of the lusts thereof, is quite another thing than freedom, being altogether slavery; but still it is called freedom, just as love, affection and delight are called by these names, whether used in a good or bad sense. Nevertheless self-love and the love of the world are totally different from love, being in reality hatred." (A. C. n. 2884.)

"There is heavenly freedom and infernal freedom. Heavenly freedom consists in being led of the Lord; and this freedom is the love of what is good and true. But infernal freedom consists in being led of the devil; and this freedom is the love of evil and falsity. They who are in infernal freedom think there is slavery and compulsion in not being allowed to do evil and think falsity at pleasure; but they who are in heavenly freedom dread to do evil and to think what is false, and are tormented if they are compelled to." (A. C. n. 9589, '90.)