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895. And the faith of Jesus. That this signifies the implantation of truth by the Lord, and the acknowledgment of Him is evident from the signification of the faith of Jesus, as denoting the implantation of truth by the Lord (concerning which see above, n. 813). The reason of its being the acknowledgment of the Lord is, that truths cannot be implanted unless the Lord is acknowledged, that is, that His Human is Divine, and that He is the God of heaven and earth.
It must be observed, that truth and faith are essentially one, because faith must be of truth, and truth must be of faith. Therefore the ancients used not to speak of faith, but instead of faith, truth, whereas the men of the present day, instead of truth, speak of faith. The reason is, that the former declared that nothing was to be believed but what they saw to be true, thus what they grasped with the understanding; whereas the latter say that a thing ought to be believed, even though they do not see it or grasp it with the understanding. It is evident, therefore, that the difference between the old faith and that of the present time is like that between what is seen and what is not seen; and, as a matter of fact, the truth seen, or apprehended by the understanding, is not to be called faith, but only that which is not seen or not understood. This is why the angels in the higher heavens do not wish even to mention faith; for they see truth from the love of good and from the light of truth, which is in them from the Lord; and they say that it is foolish to have faith in any one who says that this or that must be believed, although not apprehended by the understanding; for this would be to think a thing to be so, whether it is true or false; and to believe what is false is hurtful. Besides, what is believed and not seen enters the memory only, and, consequently, cannot be appropriated by him. It follows, therefore, that the term faith ought rather to be laid aside, and the word truth, used in place of it.
[2] But still what is believed and not seen may be named faith; still this faith is only knowledge. But as soon as a man becomes spiritual, as is the case when his internal which communicates with heaven is opened, then that scientific, which is called faith, becomes truth; for it is then seen by light from heaven.
It must be observed, that all angels and all good spirits see the truths of heaven, as the eye of the body sees the objects of the world; for the objects of heaven are truths to those who are spiritual. The reason is, that their understanding is their spiritual sight.
The reason why truth ought to be named instead of faith is, that by truths come all intelligence and wisdom; but by faith - especially by faith separated - comes all ignorance, that is to say, in spiritual things. Therefore the angels of the higher heavens turn themselves away, when they hear the word faith named. The reason is, that their mind is averse to what is thought by those who say that the understanding should be under obedience to faith. And not to see truths would be to extinguish the light of heaven, in which they are, and which is within them. They also wonder how it comes to be believed by some that intellectual faith is not spiritual, although that faith is truth, whereas faith not understood is historical faith, because it is from another; and consequently, considered strictly, is merely knowledge.
895. And the faith of Jesus, signifies the implantation of truth by the Lord, and acknowledgment of Him. This is evident from the signification of "the faith of Jesus," as being the implantation of truth by the Lord (See above, n. 813). It means also acknowledgment of the Lord because truths cannot be implanted unless the Lord is acknowledged, namely, that His Human is Divine, and that He is the God of heaven and earth. It is to be known that truth and faith in their essence are one, since faith must be of truth and truth must be of faith; consequently the men of old time did not speak of faith, but of truth instead of faith, while the men of the present day speak of faith instead of truth, and for the reason that the men of old time declared that nothing was to be believed except what they saw to be true, thus what they comprehended by the understanding. But the men of the present day declare that a thing must be believed even when they do not see it or comprehend it by the understanding. This makes clear how the old faith differed from the present faith, namely, as what is seen differs from what is not seen; but the very truth itself that is seen or comprehended by the understanding is not to be named faith, but only that which is not seen or not comprehended by the understanding. For this reason the angels in the higher heavens are unwilling even to mention faith, for they see truth from the love of good and the light of truth which are in them from the Lord; and they say that it is folly to have faith in anyone's saying that this or that must be believed when it is not comprehended by the understanding, for this would be to think a thing to be true whether it be true or false, and to believe what is false is hurtful. Moreover, what is believed and not seen enters into man no further than the memory, and this cannot be appropriated to him.
[2] From this it follows that it would be better to give up the use of the term "faith" and to use the expression "the truth" in its stead. And yet what is believed and is not seen may be called faith, although such a faith is mere knowledge [scientia]. But as soon as a man becomes spiritual, (and he becomes so when his internal which communicates with heaven is opened), then that which is known, which is called faith, becomes truth, for it is then seen from the light of heaven. It is to be known that all angels and all good spirits see the truths of heaven as the bodily eye sees the objects of the world, for the objects of heaven are truths to those who are spiritual, for the reason that their understanding is their spiritual sight. The term truth should be used in place of faith, because all intelligence and all wisdom exists by means of truths, while all ignorance, that is, in spiritual things, exists by means of faith, especially faith separated; consequently the angels of the higher heavens turn themselves away when they hear faith mentioned, because their mind is turned away from what is thought by them; which thought is that the understanding should be held captive in obedience to faith; also because not to see truths would be to extinguish the light of heaven, in which those angels are and which is in them. Moreover, they are surprised that some believe that the faith that understands is not spiritual faith, when in fact such faith is truth; while a faith that is destitute of understanding is historical faith, because it is from another, and this regarded in itself is mere knowledge [scientia].
895. "Et fidem Jesu." Quod significet implantationem veri a Domino et agnitionem Ipsius, constat ex significatione "fidei Jesu", quod sit implantatio veri a Domino (de qua supra, n. 813); quod etiam sit agnitio Domini, est quia implantari vera non possunt nisi agnoscatur Dominus, nempe quod Humanum Ipsius sit Divinum, et quod sit Deus caeli et terrae. Sciendum est quod verum et fides in sua essentia unum sint, quia fides erit veri, ac verum erit fidei; quare antiqui non dixerunt fidem, sed pro fide verum; hodierni autem pro vero dicunt fidem: causa est, quia antiqui non aliud dixerunt esse credendum quam quod videbant verum esse, ita quod intellectu ceperunt; hodierni autem quod credendum sit tametsi non vident seu non intellectu capiunt: inde patet quae differentia est inter antiquam fidem et hodiernam, nempe sicut inter id quod videtur et id quod non videtur; at re ipsa verum quod videtur seu intellectu capitur non nominanda est fides, sed quod non videtur aut non intellectu capitur; inde est quod angeli in superioribus caelis ne quidem nominare velint fidem, vident enim verum ex amore boni et ex luce veri, quae in illis est a Domino; et dicunt quod fatuum sit fidem habere alicui dicenti quod hoc aut illud credendum sit, et non intellectu capitur, nam hoc foret cogitare ita esse sive verum sit sive falsum; et credere falsum, damnosum est: praeterea quod creditur et non videtur, nec intrat hominem altius quam in memoriam, quod ei non potest appropriari.
[2] Inde sequitur quod potius omittenda sit vox fidei, et loco ejus dicenda veritas: sed usque quod creditur, et non videtur, hoc nominari potest fides, sed haec fides est modo scientia; ast ut primum homo fit spiritualis, quod fit dum internum ejus, quod communicat cum caelo, aperitur, tunc scientificum illud quod vocatur fides fit veritas, nam tunc ex luce e caelo videtur. Sciendum est quod omnes angeli et omnes spiritus boni videant vera caeli, sicut oculus corporis videt objecta mundi, nam objecta caeli sunt vera illis qui spirituales sunt; causa est quia intellectus illorum est visus spiritualis illorum. Quod veritas loco fidei nominanda sit, est quia per veritates est omnis intelligentia et sapientia; per fidem autem, imprimis per fidem separatam, est omnis ignorantia, nempe in spiritualibus; quapropter angeli superiorum caelorum avertunt se quando audiunt fidem; causa est, quia mens illorum aversatur quod ab illis cogitatur, nempe quod intellectus captivandus sit sub obedientia fidei; et non videre vera foret exstinguere lucem caeli in qua sunt, et quae apud illos: mirantur etiam quod credatur a quibusdam quod fides intellectualis non sit spiritualis, quando illa fides est veritas; cum fides absque intellectu ejus sit fides historica, quia ab alio, quae in se spectata est modo scientia.