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808. (Verse 9) If any man have an ear, let him hear. That this signifies reception by those who are in the understanding of truth, and thence in the perception of good, is evident from the signification of, if any one hath an ear, let him hear, as denoting him who understands and hearkens to what the Lord teaches in the Word (concerning which see above, n. 108, 180, 255). Consequently, also by these words is signified the reception of Divine truth by those who understand it. The reason why those who are in the perception of good are also denoted is, that by having an ear and hearing is signified both to understand truth and perceive goodness; to understand truth refers to thought, and to perceive good refers to affection; and both pertain to the ear or hearing. For what enters the ear passes into the sight of the understanding and also into the affection of the will, therefore by the ear and hearing are signified hearkening and obedience. Therefore by hearing any one is signified to understand, and by giving ear to any one is signified to obey, and both are meant by hearkening.
[2] As was shown above, the faith held by the general body in the church is an empty one, because it contains nothing of life from truth; it shall be briefly said here what saving faith is. Saving faith is to believe that the Lord is the Saviour of the world, and that He is the God of heaven and the God of earth, and that by His coming into the world He put Himself into the power of saving all those who receive truths from Him through the Word, and live according to them. But who those are who are able to receive truths from Him, and live according to them, was explained above (n. 803), that is, that they are those who shun evils as sins against the Word, and therefore against God. For by these means man's internal is purified, and this being purified, he is led of the Lord, and not of himself; and so far as man is led of the Lord, so far he loves truths and receives them, and also wills and does them. This faith is saving faith.
[3] By these words, "If any one hath an ear, let him hear," is meant particularly, that they should receive and believe that the Divine of the Lord is in His Human, that is, that His Human is Divine. Who can help wondering that the idea of the Divine Human of the Lord has been altogether destroyed in the Christian churches, especially among the learned there; and that no trace of it remains except among the simple? For the simple think of God as a man, and not, like the learned, as a spirit without a human form. The most ancient people, who were wiser than those of our days, had no other conception of God than as a man surrounded by radiant circles, as is clear from the writings of ancient times, and from their paintings and statues. Also all those who belonged to the church, from the time of Adam unto Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, thought of God as a man. They also saw Him under a human form, and called Him Jehovah, as is evident from the Word. And God under the human form is the Lord, as is clear from the Lord's words in John:
"Before Abraham was, I am" (8:58).
[4] That the inhabitants of this earth from early times had an idea of God-man, or of the Divine Human, is evident from their idols, also from the ideas of the Gentiles who thought and perceived interiorly, like the Africans. The same is evident from the inhabitants of almost all the earths, as may be seen in a small work concerning them. Man has such an idea of the Divine because it results from the influx of heaven. For in heaven no one can think of God except as being in a human form. If he thinks otherwise, his thought of God perishes, and he himself falls from heaven. This is because the form of heaven is the human form, and all the thought of the angels proceeds according to the form of heaven. And yet this idea of God, which is the chief of all ideas, is as it were extirpated among the learned of the world at this day; for when it is merely said that God is a man, they are unable to think it.
Hence it is that even from the first establishment of the church, they separated the Lord's Divine from His Human, from which it has come to pass that few persons when they think of the Lord, think of His Divine, but as of a man like themselves. No one, whoever he may be, who holds this idea of the Divine, can enter heaven, but is driven back as soon as he enters on the way that leads thither. This therefore is what is principally understood by "If any one hath an ear, let him hear."
808. Verse 9. If anyone hath an ear let him hear, signifies the reception by those who are in the understanding of truth, and the consequent perception of good. This is evident from the signification of, "If anyone hath an ear let him hear," as being one who understands and hearkens to what the Lord teaches in the Word (See above, n. 108, 180, 255); thence these words signify also the reception of Divine truth by those who are in the understanding of it. Those who are in the perception of good are also meant, because "to have an ear and to hear" signifies both to understand truth and to perceive good; to understand truth pertains to thought, and to perceive good pertains to affection; and both pertain to the ear or to hearing, since what enters the ear passes into the sight of the understanding and also into the affection of the will; and for this reason the "ear" and "hearing" signify hearkening and obedience. So "to hear" anyone signifies to understand, and "to give ear to" anyone signifies to obey, and both are meant by "hearkening."
[2] As it has been shown above that in the faith received by the general body in the church there is mere emptiness, since there is nothing of life in it from any truth, I will here tell briefly what faith is saving faith. Saving faith is to believe that the Lord is the Savior of the world, and that He is the God of heaven and the God of the earth, and that by His coming into the world He entered into the power to save all who receive truths from Him through the Word, and who live according to them. Who those are that are able to receive truths from Him and to live according to them has been explained above n. 803, namely, those who shun sins because they are sins against the Word and thus against God, since by so doing man's internal is purified, and when this is purified man is led by the Lord and not by self; and so far as man is led by the Lord he loves truths, and receives them and wills them and does them. This faith is saving faith.
[3] These words, "If anyone hath an ear let him hear" mean especially that it must be received and believed that the Divine of the Lord is in His Human, that is, that His Human is Divine. Is it not surprising that the idea of the Lord's Divine Human has been altogether destroyed in the Christian churches, especially among the learned there, and that only with the simple does anything of it remain? For the simple think of God as a Man, and not as a Spirit without a human form as the learned do. The most ancient people, who were wiser than those of our days, had no other idea of God than as a Man encompassed about the head with radiant circles, as is shown by the writings of ancient men, and by their paintings and sculptures. Moreover, all who were of the church from the time of Adam down to Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, thought of God as a Man. They also saw Him in a human form, and called Him Jehovah, as is evident from the Word; and God under a human form is the Lord, as is clear from the Lord's words in John:
Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58).
[4] That the inhabitants of this earth from the primeval age had an idea of God-Man, or of the Divine Human, is evident from their idols, also from the ideas of such Gentiles as had interior thought and perception, like some of the Africans; likewise from the inhabitants of almost all the earths (as may be seen in a separate small work). Man has such an idea of the Divine because it flows in from heaven, for in heaven no one can think of God except in the human form. If he thinks otherwise his thought of God perishes, and he himself falls from heaven. This is because the human form is the form of heaven, and all the thought of angels proceeds according to the form of heaven. Yet this idea of God, which is the chief of all ideas, is with the learned of the world at this day rooted out, as it were to such an extent that when it is merely said that God is a Man they are unable to think of it.
[5] This is why, even from the first establishment of the church, they have separated the Divine of the Lord from His Human; and from this it has come to pass that few in thinking of the Lord think of His Divine, but they think of Him as a man like themselves. And yet with this idea of the Divine no one, whoever he may be, can enter heaven, but is repelled as soon as he touches the first threshold of the way that leads thither. This therefore, is what is especially meant by "If anyone hath an ear let him hear."
808. [Vers. 9.] "Si quis habet aurem, audiat." Quod significet receptionem ab illis qui in intellectu veri et inde in perceptione boni sunt, constat ex significatione "Si quis habet aurem, audiat", quod sit qui intelligit et auscultat quod Dominus in Verbo docet (de qua supra, n. 108, 180, 255); inde etiam per illa verba significatur receptio Divini Veri ab illis qui in intellectu ejus sunt: quod etiam sint qui in perceptione boni, est quia per "aurem habere" et "audire" significatur tam intelligere verum quam percipere bonum; intelligere verum est cogitationis, ac percipere bonum est affectionis, ac utrumque est auris seu auditionis; transit enim quod intrat aurem in visum intellectus, et quoque in affectionem voluntatis; quare per "aurem" et per "audire" significatur auscultatio et obedientia; inde per "audire aliquem" significatur intelligere, ac per "audire alicui" significatur obedire, et utrumque per "auscultare."
[2] Quoniam supra ostensum est quod in fide a communi coetu in ecclesia recepta, sit mera inanitas, quia in illa nihil vitae ex aliquo vero est, velim hic paucis dicere quae fides est fides salvans. Fides salvans est credere quod Dominus sit Salvator mundi, et quod sit Deus caeli et Deus terrae, et quod per adventum suum in mundum Se miserit in potentiam salvandi omnes qui recipiunt vera ab Ipso per Verbum, ac vivunt secundum illa: at quinam recipere vera ab Ipso possunt, et vivere secundum illa, supra (n. 803) expositum est; quod nempe illi qui peccata fugiunt quia peccata sunt, contra Verbum, et sic contra Deum; per id enim purificatur internum hominis; quo purificato, homo ducitur a Domino, et non a semet; et quantum homo ducitur a Domino, tantum amat vera ac recipit illa, ac vult illa et facit illa. Haec fides est fides salvans.
[3] Per haec verba, "Si quis habet aurem, audiat", intelligitur imprimis, quod recepturi et credituri sint quod Divinum Domini in Humano Ipsius sit, hoc est, ut Humanum Ipsius sit Divinum. Quis non mirari potest quod idea Divini Humani Domini in ecclesiis Christianis prorsus deperdita sit, imprimis apud eruditos ibi, et quod aliquid ejus solum remaneat apud simplices? Simplices enim cogitant de Deo ut de Homine, et non sicut eruditi sicut de Spiritu absque forma humana. Antiquissimi, qui nostratibus sapientiores fuerunt, non habuerunt aliam ideam de Deo quam sicut de Homine radiosis circulis circum caput cincto, ut constat ex veterum scriptis, ac imaginibus pictis aut sculptis: omnes etiam qui ab ecclesia, a tempore Adami usque ad Abrahamum, Mosen et prophetas, cogitaverunt de Deo ut de Homine; illi etiam viderunt Ipsum sub forma Humana, et vocaverunt Jehovam, ut patet ex Verbo; ac Deus sub Humana forma est Dominus, ut patet a Domini verbis apud Johannem,
"Priusquam Abraham fuit, Ego sum" (8:58).
[4] Quod idea Dei Hominis seu Divini Humani fuerit incolis hujus telluris a primaevo tempore, patet ab idolis eorum, tum ab ideis gentilium interioris cogitationis et perceptionis, ut ex Africanis; pariter ab incolis tellurum paene omnium (de quibus in singulari opusculo). Quod talis idea Divini sit homini, est quia est ex influxu caeli; in caelo enim nemo potest cogitare de Deo nisi in forma Humana; sin aliter, perit ei cogitatio de Deo, et ipse cadit e caelo; causa est, quia forma caeli est forma humana, et omnis cogitatio angelorum vadit secundum formam caeli: et tamen haec idea de Deo, quae est principalis omnium, est apud eruditos mundi hodie quasi exstirpata, adeo ut dum modo dicitur quod Deus sit Homo, non possint id cogitare.
[5] Inde est quod usque a prima instauratione ecclesiae separaverint Divinum Domini ab Humano Ipsius; ex quo factum est quod pauci, cum de Domino, de Divino Ipsius cogitent, sed sicut de homine sibi simili: cum qua tamen idea Divini, nemo, quicunque sit, intrare caelum potest, sed repellitur ut primum limen viae illuc ducentis tangit. Haec itaque est quod praecipue intelligitur per "Si quis habet aurem, audiat."