According to Swedenborgianism, the Catholic Church has perverted scripture to obtain primacy and dominion in spiritual matters. The Council of Chalcedon declared that Jesus has a divine and human nature so that the pope could claim to be the vicar of Christ and appropriate spiritual powers to the priesthood that belong to God alone. Authority is claimed by the pope and the priesthood over that of scripture. The desire to spiritually rule others or appear pious for honor and reputation originates from self-love, which is opposite the love of God and others.