passages teach that your intentions and motives play a major role in your
ability to understand. If you read the Word for the purpose of doing what is
right and understanding what is true you are likely to see things more clearly,
for example, than if you are trying to prove or disprove some particular idea
for the purpose of arguing about it.
The vital role of having a body of teaching
Another important key to finding the path, however, is what we read in
our lessons from True Christianity about the importance of having a body
of teaching to work from. That is, fundamental general ideas that organize
and clarify the particular teachings of the Word. We read in our lesson that
without this body of teaching, or doctrine, to serve as a lamp people will tend
to misunderstand the Word. They will tend to seize on one idea or another,
without seeing what is most consistent with the overall message.
For example, seeing that various characters in the Word are polygamous
they may conclude that polygamy is permissible, without understanding
the central importance of conjugial love between one man and one wife. Or
seeing the emphasis placed on believing the truth, and reading that “he who
does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16), a person might think that
non-believers are to be persecuted – unless they understand the more general
teaching that true belief is only possible in freedom, and that it is the life that
matters more than belief. The understanding that the Lord is a God of love
who loves all people equally is essential to combatting racism and bigotry.
With a body of teaching or doctrine that is drawn from the Word as a
whole people can find their way through the forest of particular teachings.
They can find the Lord in that forest, without being confused by the multitude
of paths leading in other directions. They will be able to see past apparent
contradictions to see the consistency
within every part of the Word.
Swedenborg once traveled through
a large forest in heaven as he journeyed
to visit the people of the Golden Age,
guided by an angel:
The forest was thickly filled with
trees of various kinds, so dense they
made it dark. But the forest was cut
by numerous narrow paths. The angel
told me that all of these were a maze
to lead people astray. Unless the Lord
opened his eyes to see the olive trees
wreathed in grape vines, and so to
follow the path from one olive to
the next, a traveler would stray into
567
Every person travels
spiritually through a
forest on their way to
heaven. The only way
to find the true path is
if your eyes are opened
to see the signs that
the Lord provides.