ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE
Table of Contents
I. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM OF THE LORD *
II. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD HAS FOR ITS END A HEAVEN FROM THE HUMAN RACE *
III. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD, IN EVERYTHING THAT IT DOES, REGARDS THE INFINITE AND THE ETERNAL *
IV. THERE ARE LAWS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, AND THESE ARE UNKNOWN TO MEN *
V. IT IS A LAW OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD ACT FROM FREEDOM ACCORDING TO REASON *
VI. IT IS A LAW OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD AS FROM HIMSELF REMOVE EVILS AS SINS IN THE EXTERNAL MAN; AND THUS AND NOT OTHERWISE CAN THE LORD REMOVE EVILS IN THE INTERNAL MAN, AND THEN AT THE SAME TIME IN THE EXTERNAL *
VII. IT IS A LAW OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD NOT BE COMPELLED BY EXTERNAL MEANS TO THINK AND WILL, AND THUS TO BELIEVE AND LOVE, THE THINGS OF RELIGION, BUT SHOULD PERSUADE AND AT TIMES COMPEL HIMSELF TO DO SO *
VIII. IT IS A LAW OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD BE LED AND TAUGHT BY THE LORD FROM HEAVEN BY MEANS OF THE WORD, AND DOCTRINE AND PREACHING FROM THE WORD, AND THIS TO ALL APPEARANCE AS OF HIMSELF *
IX. IT IS A LAW OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD NOT PERCEIVE AND FEEL ANYTHING OF THE OPERATION OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, BUT STILL THAT HE SHOULD KNOW AND ACKNOWLEDGE IT *
X. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MAN’S OWN PRUDENCE. IT ONLY APPEARS THAT THERE IS, AND THERE OUGHT TO BE THIS APPEARANCE; BUT THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS UNIVERSAL BECAUSE IT IS IN THINGS MOST INDIVIDUAL *
XI. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE REGARDS ETERNAL THINGS, AND NOT TEMPORAL THINGS EXCEPT SO FAR AS THEY ACCORD WITH ETERNAL THINGS *
XII. MAN IS ADMITTED INTERIORLY INTO THE TRUTHS OF FAITH AND INTO THE GOODS OF CHARITY ONLY SO FAR AS HE CAN BE KEPT IN THEM RIGHT ON TO THE END OF HIS LIFE *
XIII. THE LAWS OF PERMISSION ARE ALSO LAWS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE *
I. CONFIRMATIONS FROM THE WORD IN FAVOUR OF NATURE AGAINST GOD, AND IN FAVOUR OF HUMAN PRUDENCE AGAINST THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE (Summarised in 236)) *
II. CONFIRMATIONS FROM THE WORLDLY PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED AGAINST THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE (Summarised in 237)) *
III. CONFIRMATIONS FROM THE RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS OF VARIOUS PEOPLES AGAINST THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE (Summarised in 238)) *
IV. CONFIRMATIONS FROM PRESENT-DAY RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS IN FAVOUR OF NATURE AND HUMAN PRUDENCE (Summarised in 239)) *
XIV. EVILS ARE PERMITTED FOR THE SAKE OF AN END, WHICH IS SALVATION *
XV. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS EQUALLY WITH THE WICKED AND WITH THE GOOD *
XVI. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE APPROPRIATES NEITHER EVIL NOR GOOD TO ANYONE; BUT ONE’S OWN PRUDENCE APPROPRIATES BOTH *
XVII. EVERY MAN MAY BE REFORMED, AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PREDESTINATION *
XVIII. THE LORD CANNOT ACT CONTRARY TO THE LAWS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, BECAUSE TO ACT CONTRARY TO THEM WOULD BE TO ACT CONTRARY TO HIS DIVINE LOVE AND HIS DIVINE WISDOM, THUS CONTRARY TO HIMSELF *
Footnotes *
I. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM OF THE LORD
DP 1. In order that it may be understood what the Divine Providence is, and that it may be seen to be the government of the Divine Love and Wisdom of the Lord, it is of importance that the propositions which have been advanced and illustrated concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom in the treatise on these subjects should be known. They are as follows: In the Lord the Divine Love is of the Divine Wisdom, and the Divine Wisdom is of the Divine Love (DLW 34-39). The Divine Love and Wisdom cannot be and exist except in other things created by themselves (DLW 47-51). All things in the universe were created by the Divine Love and Wisdom (DLW 52, 53, 151-156). All things in the universe are recipients of the Divine Love and Wisdom (DLW 55-60). The Lord appears before the angels as a Sun, and the heat thence proceeding is Love and the light thence proceeding is Wisdom (DLW 83-88, 89-92, 93-98, 296-301). The Divine Love and Wisdom which proceed from the Lord form one (DLW 99-102). The Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, created the universe and all things therein from Himself, and not from nothing (DLW 282-284, 290-295). These propositions are set forth in the treatise entitled ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM.
DP 2. From these propositions, taken together with those set forth in the same work concerning Creation, it may indeed appear that what is called the Divine Providence is the government of the Divine Love and Wisdom of the Lord. However, as in that work Creation itself was treated of and not the preservation of the state of things after Creation, which is the government of the Lord, we shall now treat of this subject. We shall consider in this section the preservation of the union of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, or of the Divine Good and the Divine Truth, in the things which were created; and we shall speak of these in the following order:
I. -The universe, with all things in general and in particular therein, was created from the Divine Love by means of the Divine Wisdom.
II. -The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom proceed from the Lord as one.
III. -This one is in a certain manner imaged in every created thing.
IV. -It is of the Divine Providence that every created thing, both as a whole and in part, should be such a one; and if it is not, that it should be made so.
V. -The good of love is not good except so far as it is united to the truth of wisdom; and the truth of wisdom is not truth except so far as it is united to the good of love.
VI. -The good of love not united to the truth of wisdom is not good in itself, but only apparent good; and the truth of wisdom not united to the good of love is not truth in itself, but only apparent truth.
VII. -The Lord does not suffer that anything should be divided; therefore it must be either in good and at the same time in truth, or in evil and at the same time in falsity.
VIII. -That which is in good and at the same time in truth has reality; and that which is in evil and at the same time in falsity has no reality.
IX. -The Divine Providence of the Lord causes what is evil and at the same time false to serve for equilibrium, relation and purification, and so for the union of good and truth in others.
DP 3. I. THE UNIVERSE, WITH ALL THINGS IN GENERAL AND IN PARTICULAR THEREIN, WAS CREATED FROM THE DIVINE LOVE BY MEANS OF THE DIVINE WISDOM. It was shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM that the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, is as to His Essence Divine Love and Divine Wisdom; and that He from Himself created the universe and all things therein. It follows from this that the universe with all things in general and in particular therein was created from the Divine Love by means of the Divine Wisdom. In the same treatise it was also shown that love without wisdom cannot do anything, nor wisdom without love; for love without wisdom, or the will without the understanding, cannot form a single thought. Indeed, it cannot see, perceive, or say anything; therefore it cannot do anything. In like manner wisdom without love, or the understanding without the will, cannot form a single thought. It cannot see or perceive anything nor indeed can it say anything. Therefore it also cannot do anything; for if love is taken away from those operations there is no longer any will, and so there can be no action. As this is the case with man when he performs any action, much more was it the case with God, who is Love itself and Wisdom itself, when He created and made the universe and all things therein.
[2] That the universe, with all things in general and in particular therein, was created from the Divine Love by means of the Divine Wisdom can be confirmed from all things in the world that may be examined by the eye. Take any object in particular and examine it with some degree of intelligence, and you will be convinced. Take a tree, or its seed, its fruit, its flower or its leaf, and, summoning what wisdom you have, view it with a powerful microscope, and you will see wonderful things; yet there are more interior things, which you do not see, still more wonderful. Observe the order, step by step, in which the tree grows from the seed till it produces new seed; and consider whether there is not in every step a continuous endeavour to propagate itself further; for the goal to which it tends is seed, in which its prolific principle exists anew. Then if you will but reflect upon this spiritually also, and this you can do if you please, will you not see wisdom displayed? Moreover, if you will reflect deeply enough from the spiritual point of view, you will see that this prolific principle is not from the seed, nor from the sun of this world which is pure fire, but that it is in the seed from God the Creator, to whom belongs infinite Wisdom. You will see that it is present not only at creation but also continuously afterwards; for maintenance is perpetual creation, as subsistence is perpetual existence. The operation of the prolific principle in creation may be illustrated from these considerations: work ceases if you take away will from action; speech ceases if you deprive it of thought; motion ceases if effort is withdrawn; in a word, the effect perishes if you remove the cause; and so on.
[3] Everything indeed in the order of creation has been endowed with power; power, however, accomplishes nothing of itself, but only from Him who has bestowed it. Examine also any other object on the earth, as a silk-worm, a bee, or any other tiny creature, and view it first naturally, afterwards rationally, and finally spiritually. Then if you can raise your thoughts to a high level, you will be astonished at all you perceive; and if you permit wisdom to speak in you, you will say in astonishment, "Who does not see the Divine in these things? They are all the work of Divine Wisdom." Still more will this be the case if you observe the uses of all the things which have been created, noting how they proceed in their own order right up to man, and from man to the Creator from whom they are; and that from the conjunction of the Creator with man the connection of all things depends, and, if you will acknowledge it, the preservation of all things. It will be seen in what follows that the Divine Love created all things, but did nothing without the Divine Wisdom.
DP 4. II. THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM PROCEED FROM THE LORD AS ONE. This proposition also is evident from what was shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, especially from these matters treated there: Being (Esse) and Existing (Existere) in the Lord are distinctly one (DLW 14-17). In the Lord infinite things are distinctly one (DLW 17-22). The Divine Love is of the Divine Wisdom, and the Divine Wisdom is of the Divine Love (DLW 34-39). Love apart from union with wisdom cannot do anything (DLW 401-403). Love does nothing unless in conjunction with wisdom (DLW 409, 410). Spiritual heat and spiritual light, in proceeding from the Lord as a Sun, form one, as the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom in the Lord are one (DLW 99-102). The truth of this proposition is evident from what has been shown in these passages; but as it is not known how two things distinct from one another can act as one, I will here show:
1. that one without form does not exist, but that form itself makes one; and then
2. that form makes one more perfectly in proportion as those things which enter into it are distinct from one another and yet are united.
[2] 1. A one without form does not exist, but form itself makes one. Everyone who thinks intently may see clearly that one without form does not exist, and if one does exist that it is a form; for whatever exists derives from its form what is called quality, also what may be predicated, and change of state, relation in sequence, and the like. Therefore whatever is not in a form is not capable of any affinity (affectio), and what is not capable of affinity is capable of nothing, the form itself giving all these. As all things which are in form, if the form is perfect, mutually regard each other as one link in a chain regards another, therefore it follows that form itself makes one, and consequently a subject of which may be predicated quality, state and affection (affectio), thus something, according to the perfection of its form.
[3] Such a one is everything which is visible to the eye in the world; and such a one is everything which is not visible to the eye, whether it is in the interior parts of nature or in the spiritual world. Such a one is man, and such a one is a society of men. Such a one is the Church, and also the universal angelic heaven before the Lord; in a word, such a one is the created universe, not only in general but also in every particular. In order that all things in general and in particular should be subject to form, it is essential that He who created all things should be Form itself, and also that from Form itself all created things should be in forms. This also was shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM in the following propositions: The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom are substance and form (DLW 40-43). The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom are (Substance and) Form in themselves, and consequently the Self and the one only subsisting Essence (DLW 44-46). The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom in the Lord are one (DLW 14-17, 18-22); and they proceed as one from the Lord (DLW 99-102).
[4] 2. Form makes one more perfectly in proportion as those things which enter into it are distinct from one another and yet are united. This is difficult of comprehension unless the understanding is elevated, since there is an appearance that form can only make one through like things being equal in those factors which constitute form. On this subject I have very frequently conversed with angels. They said that this is an arcanum which the wise among them perceive clearly, but the less wise dimly. Nevertheless it is a truth, they declared, that the form is more perfect in proportion as those things which constitute it are distinct from one another but yet are united in a particular manner. They confirmed this by reference to societies in the heavens which, taken together, constitute a form of heaven; and also by reference to the angels of each society, for, they affirmed, the more every individual has a distinct character of his own, and so in freedom loves his associates as from himself and from his own affection, the more perfect is the form of the society. They also illustrated this proposition by the union of good and truth, because the more distinctly they are two, the more perfectly can they constitute one. It is similar with love and wisdom; and they explained that what is indistinct is confused, whence results all imperfection of form.
[5] Moreover, they confirmed by many examples how things perfectly distinct are united, and so constitute one. They especially took as illustrations innumerable things in man which are distinct yet united, such as things distinct by their outer coverings and united by their ligaments. They said it is the same with love and all things pertaining to it, and with wisdom and all things pertaining to it, for love and wisdom are not perceived, except as one. More may be seen on these matters in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 14-22); and in the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 56, 489). This is adduced because it pertains to angelic wisdom.
DP 5. III. THIS ONE IS IN A CERTAIN MANNER IMAGED IN EVERY CREATED THING. From what has been shown throughout the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, and especially in (DLW 47-51, 55-60, 282-284, 290-295, 313-318, 319-326, 349-357), it may appear that the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, which are one in the Lord, and which proceed from Him as one, are in a certain manner imaged in every created thing. In these numbers it is shown that the Divine is in every created thing, because God the Creator, who is the Lord from eternity, produced from Himself the Sun of the spiritual world, and through that Sun all things in the universe; consequently, that that Sun, which is from the Lord and in which the Lord is, is not only the first substance but is also the one Only substance from which all things are; and because it is the one only substance it follows that this substance is in every created thing, but with infinite variety according to the uses of each.
[2] Now since Divine Love and Divine Wisdom. are in the Lord, and since Divine fire and Divine brightness are in that Sun from Him, and since spiritual heat and spiritual light are from that Sun and these two make one, it follows that this one is in a certain manner imaged in every created thing. Hence it is that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth, and indeed to their union; or what is the same, that all things in the universe have relation to love and wisdom and to their union; for good is of love and truth is of wisdom; for love calls all that pertains to it good, and wisdom calls all that pertains to it truth. That there is a union of these in every created thing will be seen in what follows.
DP 6. It is acknowledged by many that there is an only substance and that this is also called the first substance, the source of all things; but the nature of this substance is not known. It is believed to be so simple that there is nothing simpler; that it may be compared to a point with no dimension; and that from an infinite number of such points the forms of dimension came into being. This, however, is a fallacy, originating from the idea of space; for in accordance with this idea, there would appear to exist such an object of this minimum size. Nevertheless, the truth is that the simpler and purer a thing is, the more complex it is and the more it contains. For this reason the more interiorly any object is examined the more wonderful, perfect and beautiful are the things seen in it; and thus in the first substance are the most wonderful, perfect and beautiful of all. This is because the first substance is from the spiritual Sun, which, as has been said, is from the Lord, and in which the Lord is. Therefore that Sun is itself the one only substance; and as this Sun is not in space it is the all in all, and is in the greatest as well as in the least things of the created universe.
[2] Since that Sun is the first and only substance from which all things are, it follows that there are in that substance infinitely more things than can appear in the substances originating from it, which are called substantiated, and finally material. Those things cannot appear in these substances because they descend from that Sun by degrees of a twofold nature according to which all perfections decrease. For this reason, as was stated above, the more interiorly anything is examined, the more wonderful, perfect and beautiful are the things that are seen. From what has just been said it may be confirmed that the Divine is in a certain manner imaged in every created thing; but that it becomes less and less apparent in its descent through the degrees, becoming still less apparent when a lower degree has become separated from a higher by the closing up of the higher, and is choked with earthy matter. All this, however, cannot but seem obscure unless one has read and understood what has been shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM concerning the spiritual Sun (DLW 83-172); concerning degrees (DLW 173-281); and concerning the creation of the universe (DLW 282-357).
DP 7. IV. IT IS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT EVERY CREATED THING, BOTH AS A WHOLE AND IN PART, SHOULD BE SUCH A ONE; AND IF IT IS NOT, THAT IT SHOULD BE MADE SO. This means that in every created thing there should be something from the Divine Love and at the same time from the Divine Wisdom; or, what is the same, that in every created thing there should be good and truth, that is, a union of good and truth. Since good is of love and truth is of wisdom, as was said above in (n. 5), in what follows the terms good and truth will be used throughout instead of love and wisdom, and the marriage of good and truth instead of the union of love and wisdom.
DP 8. From the preceding article it is evident that the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, which in the Lord are one, and which proceed from the Lord as one, are in a certain manner imaged in everything created by Him. Something will now be said specifically about that oneness or union which is called the marriage of good and truth. That marriage is (i) In the Lord Himself; for, as has been said, the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom are one in Him. (2) It is from the Lord; for in everything that proceeds from Him love and wisdom are perfectly united, these two proceeding from the Lord as the Sun, the Divine Love as heat, and the Divine Wisdom as light. (3) These are, indeed, received by the angels as two, but are united in them by the Lord; and the same takes place with men of the Church. (4) Because of the influx of love and wisdom from the Lord as one with the angels of heaven and men of the Church, and because of the reception of these by angels and men, the Lord is called in the Word Bridegroom and Husband, and heaven and the Church are called Bride and Wife. (5) So far, therefore, as heaven and the Church in general, and an angel of heaven and a man of the Church in particular, are in that union, that is, in the marriage of good and truth, they are an image and likeness of the Lord; because good and truth in the Lord are one, and, indeed, are the Lord. (6) Love and wisdom in heaven and in the Church in general, and in an angel of heaven and in a man of the Church, are one when the will and the understanding, and thus good and truth, make one; or, what is the same, when charity and faith make one; or, what is still the same, when doctrine from the Word and a life according to it make one. (7) Moreover, how these two make one in man and in all things pertaining to him has been shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, part V, where the creation of man and especially the correspondence of the will and the understanding with the heart and the lungs are treated of (DLW 358-432).
DP 9. How these make one in things below or external to man, both in those of the animal kingdom and in those of the vegetable kingdom, will be shown in many places in what follows. Before this is done these three things must be set forth: First. In the universe, and in all things in general and in particular therein which were created by the Lord, there was a marriage of good and truth. Second. After creation, this marriage was severed in man. Third. It is of the Divine Providence that what has been severed should be made one, and thus that the marriage of good and truth should be restored. As these three premises are fully confirmed in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, further proof is unnecessary. Moreover, everyone may see from reason that as there was from creation a marriage of good and truth in every created thing, and as this marriage was afterwards severed, the Lord is constantly working to restore it; and therefore that its restoration, and the consequent conjunction of the created universe with the Lord through man, is of the Divine Providence.
DP 10. V. THE GOOD OF LOVE IS NOT GOOD EXCEPT SO FAR AS IT IS UNITED TO THE TRUTH OF WISDOM; AND THE TRUTH OF WISDOM IS NOT TRUTH EXCEPT SO FAR AS IT IS UNITED TO THE GOOD OF LOVE. Good and truth derive this from their origin. Good has its origin in the Lord, and likewise truth; for the Lord is God itself and Truth itself and these two in Him are one. For this reason good in the angels of heaven and in men on earth is good in itself only so far as it has been united to truth; and truth is truth in itself only so far as it has been united to good. It is well known that every good and every truth is from the Lord. Hence, as good makes one with truth and truth with good, it follows that for good to be good in itself and for truth to be truth in itself, they must make one in the recipient; that is, in an angel of heaven and a man on earth.
DP 11. It is known, indeed, that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth; for by good is understood that which universally comprehends and involves all things of love, and by truth that which universally comprehends and involves all things of wisdom; but it is not yet known that good has no reality unless united to truth, and truth has no reality unless united to good. It appears, indeed, as if good has reality without truth, and as if truth has reality without good; but still they have not. For love, all things pertaining to which are called goods, is the being (esse) of a thing, and wisdom, all things pertaining to which are called truths, is the existing (existere) of a thing from that being, as is shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 14-16). Since being has no reality without existing, and existing has no reality without being, so good has no reality without truth and truth has no reality without good. So, too, what is good that is not related to anything? Can it be called good, since it is subject neither to affection nor to perception?
[2] The principle in intimate connection with good which affects, and which causes itself to be perceived and felt, has relation to truth, for it has relation to what is in the understanding. If you say to anyone simply "good", and not that this or that thing is good, has good any reality? It has reality when it is used of something which is perceived to be good. This union with good takes place nowhere but in the understanding, and every thing of the understanding relates to truth. It is the same with willing. To will, without knowing, perceiving, and thinking what one wills, has no reality; but together with these it takes on reality. All willing is of love, and has relation to good; and all knowing, perceiving, and thinking are of the understanding, and have relation to truth. From this it is clear that to will has no reality, but to will this or that has reality.
[3] It is the same with every use, because a use is a good. Unless a use is determined to something with which it may be one, it is not a use, and thus it has no reality. Use derives from the understanding that something as its own; and that which is united or adjoined to the use from the understanding has relation to truth; and from this the use derives its quality.
[4] From these few illustrations it may be evident that good without truth has no reality; and likewise truth without good. When it is said that good with truth and truth with good have reality, it follows from this that evil with falsity and falsity with evil have no reality; for the latter are opposite to the former. Now opposition destroys, and in this case it destroys that which has reality; but this will be treated in what follows.
DP 12. There is, however, a marriage of good and truth in the cause, and there is a marriage of good and truth from the cause in the effect. The marriage of good and truth in the cause is a marriage of the will and the understanding, that is, of love and wisdom. There is such a marriage in everything that a man wills and thinks, and in his consequent conclusions and purposes. This marriage enters into the effect and, indeed, produces it; but in the process good and truth appear to be distinct, because what is simultaneous then produces what is successive. For instance, when a man wills and thinks about being fed, clothed, having a dwelling place, conducting any business, performing any work, or engaging in social intercourse, he first wills and thinks about these things, or forms his conclusions and purposes, simultaneously; but when he has reduced into effects what he has willed and thought, the one follows after the other; nevertheless, they continue to make one in his will and thought. In these effects, uses pertain to love or good, while the means employed to furnish the uses pertain to the understanding or to truth. Anyone may confirm these general truths by particular illustrations, provided he clearly perceives what has relation to the good of love and what to the truth of wisdom, and also how these are related in the cause and also in the effect.
DP 13. It has sometimes been said that love makes the life of man; but this does not mean love separate from wisdom, or good separate from truth, in the cause; for love thus separate, or good thus separate, has no reality. Therefore the love which makes the inmost life of man, the life that is from the Lord, is love and wisdom together. Moreover, the love which makes the life of man regarded as a recipient, is not love separate in the cause, but in the effect. For love can be understood only from its quality, and its quality is wisdom; and its quality or wisdom can exist only from its being (esse), which is love; hence it is that love and wisdom are one. It is the same with good and truth. Now since truth is from good, as wisdom is from love, the two taken together are called love or good; for love in its form is wisdom, and good in its form is truth, and form is the source and the only source of quality. From these considerations it may be evident that good is not in the least good except in so far as it has been united to its truth, and that truth is not in the least truth except in so far as it has been united to its good.
DP 14. VI. THE GOOD OF LOVE NOT UNITED TO THE TRUTH OF WISDOM IS NOT GOOD IN ITSELF, BUT ONLY APPARENT GOOD AND THE TRUTH OF WISDOM NOT UNITED TO THE GOOD OF LOVE IS NOT TRUTH IN ITSELF, BUT ONLY APPARENT TRUTH. It is true that there does not exist any good which is good in itself unless it is united to its own truth, nor any truth which is truth in itself unless it is united to its own good. Nevertheless, there does exist good separated from truth, and truth separated from good. Such good and truth are to be found in hypocrites and flatterers, in evil persons of every kind, and in those who are only in natural good and not in spiritual good. All these can do good to the Church, to their country, to their society, to their fellow-citizens, to the needy, to the poor and to widows and orphans. They can also understand truths and from their understanding can think about them, and from thought can declare them and teach them. Nevertheless, such goods and truths in these persons are not interiorly, that is, not in themselves, goods and truths, but are so outwardly, and thus are only apparently goods and truths. They find expression only for the sake of self and the world, and not for the sake of good itself and truth itself; consequently their source is not good and truth: they are of the mouth only and superficial, and not of the heart.
[2] The good such men do may be likened to gold and silver overlaid on dross or rotten wood or mire; and the truths they utter may be likened to breath that is breathed out and dissipated, or to a delusive light that vanishes, though outwardly they appear as genuine truths. While these things appear to be so to the persons themselves, yet they may seem quite different to those who, not knowing the state of affairs, hear and accept them. For what is external affects everyone according to his own internal; and a truth, from whatever mouth it may be spoken, enters into another’s hearing and is received by the mind according to the state and quality of the mind. It is almost the same with those who are in natural good by inheritance and in no spiritual good. For the internal of every good and truth is spiritual, and this dispels falsities and evils, while the merely natural favours them; and favouring evils and falsities is not compatible with doing good.
DP 15. Good may be separated from truth and truth from good, and when separated may still appear to be good and truth; because man has the faculty to act that is called liberty, and the faculty to understand that is called rationality. It is by the abuse of these powers that a man can appear in externals to be different from what he is in internals; and consequently that a bad man can do what is good and speak what is true, that is, that a devil can feign himself an angel of light. On this subject see the following passages in the work THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM: The origin of evil is from the abuse of the faculties proper to man, called rationality and liberty (DLW 264-270). These two faculties are in the evil as well as in the good (DLW 425). Love without a marriage with wisdom, or good without a marriage with truth, cannot effect anything (DLW 401). Love does nothing except in conjunction with wisdom or the understanding (DLW 409). Love joins itself to wisdom or the understanding, and causes wisdom or the understanding to be reciprocally joined to it (DLW 410-412). Wisdom or the understanding, by means of the power given to it by love, can be raised up, and can perceive and receive such things as belong to light from heaven (DLW 413). Love can in like manner be raised up, and can receive such things as belong to heat from heaven, provided it loves its marriage partner wisdom in that degree (DLW 414, 415). Otherwise love draws down wisdom or the understanding from its elevation, that it may act as one with itself (DLW 416-418). Love is purified in the understanding if they are raised up together (DLW 419-421). When love has been purified by wisdom in the understanding it becomes spiritual and celestial; but when defiled in the understanding it becomes sensual and corporeal (DLW 422-424). It is the same with charity and faith and their conjunction as with love and wisdom and their conjunction (DLW 427-430). What charity is in the heavens (DLW 431).
DP 16. VII. THE LORD DOES NOT SUFFER THAT ANYTHING SHOULD BE DIVIDED; THEREFORE IT MUST BE EITHER IN GOOD AND AT THE SAME TIME IN TRUTH, OR IN EVIL AND AT THE SAME TIME IN FALSITY. The Divine Providence of the Lord has especially for its end that a man should be in good and at the same time in truth, and for this it works; for thus a man is his own good and his own love, and also his own truth and his own wisdom; for thereby a man is man, since then he is an image of the Lord. However, because a man, while he lives in the world, can be in good and at the same time in falsity, and also in evil and at the same time in truth, and even in evil and at the same time in good, and thus as it were a double man; and because this division destroys that image, and so destroys the man; therefore the Divine Providence of the Lord, in all its operations both in general and in particular, has in view that this division shall not be. Moreover, since it is better for a man to be in evil and at the same time in falsity than to be in good and at the same time in evil, the Lord. permits this, not as if He willed it, but as if He were unable to prevent it, on account of the end in view, which is man’s salvation.
[2] The reason why a man can be in evil and at the same time in truth, and why the Lord cannot prevent this on account of the end, which is salvation, is that man’s understanding can be raised up into the light of wisdom and see truths or acknowledge them when he hears them, while his love remains below. Thus he can be in heaven with his understanding but with his love in hell; and this cannot be denied to him, because the two faculties, rationality and liberty, cannot be taken from him; for by virtue of these he is a man, and is distinguished from the beasts; and only by means of these faculties can he be regenerated and consequently saved. By means of these a man is able to act according to wisdom, and is also able to act according to a love that is not of wisdom. He can from wisdom above view the love that is below, and in this way can view his thoughts, intentions, affections, and therefore the evils and falsities as well as the goods and truths of his life and doctrine; and without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these in himself he cannot be reformed. These two faculties which have just been spoken of will be treated at greater length in what follows. What has been said explains why man can be in good and at the same time in truth, and in evil and at the same time in falsity, and also in alternations of these.
DP 17. It is with difficulty that a man in this world can enter into either the one or the other conjunction or union, namely, of good and truth, or of evil and falsity; for as long as he is living in the world he continues in a state of reformation or regeneration. After death, however, every man comes into one union or the other, because he can no longer be reformed and regenerated; he then remains such as his life, that is, such as his ruling love, has been in this world. If, therefore, his life has been a life of the love of evil, every truth that he acquired in the world from a teacher, from preaching, or from the Word itself is taken away from him; and when the truth has been taken away, he acquires, as a sponge takes up water, such falsity as agrees with his evil. On the other hand, if his life has been a life of the love of good, all the falsity which he gathered in the world from hearing and from reading, but which he did not confirm in himself, is removed; and in its place there is given him truth agreeing with his good. This is meant by these words of the Lord: Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. (Matt. 25:28, 29, 13:12; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:24-26).
DP 18. After death everyone must be either in good and at the same time in truth, or in evil and at the same time in falsity, because good and evil cannot be united; nor can good and at the same time the falsity of evil be united, nor evil and at the same time the truth of good; for these are opposites, and opposites fight each other until one destroys the other. Those who are in evil and at the same time in good are meant by these words of the Lord to the Church of the Laodiceans in the Apocalypse:
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Rev. 3:15, 16);
and also by these words of the Lord:
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. (Matt. 6:24).
DP 19. VIII. THAT WHICH IS IN GOOD AND AT THE SAME TIME IN TRUTH HAS REALITY; AND THAT WHICH IS IN EVIL AND AT THE SAME TIME IN FALSITY HAS NO REALITY. It may be seen above (n. 11), that what is in good and at the same time in truth has reality; and from this it follows that what is evil and at the same time false has no reality. By having no reality is meant that it has no power and no spiritual life. Those who are in evil and at the same time in falsity-and all such are in hell-have indeed power among themselves; for one who is wicked can do evil, and does it in a thousand ways. Nevertheless, he can only do evil to the wicked from their evil, but cannot do the least evil to the good, except, as sometimes happens, by joining forces with their evil.
[2] This is the origin of temptations, which are infestations by the evil who are with men; and thence combats ensue, by means of which the good can be freed from their own evils. Since the wicked have no power, the entire hell before the Lord is not only as nothing but is absolutely nothing with respect to power, as I have seen proved by abundant experience. It is a remarkable thing, however, that the wicked all believe themselves to be powerful, and the good all believe themselves to be without power. This is because the wicked attribute all things to their own power, and thus to cunning and malice, and nothing to the Lord; while the good attribute nothing to their own prudence, but everything to the Lord who is Almighty. Moreover, evil and falsity together have no reality because there is no spiritual life in them, and this is why the life of the infernals is not called life, but death; therefore, since everything that is real belongs to life, nothing that is real can belong to death.
DP 20. Those who are in evil and at the same time in truths may be compared to eagles that soar on high, but drop down when deprived of their wings; for so do those men after death when they have become spirits, who have understood truths, have spoken about them and have taught them, and yet have had no regard to God in their life. By means of the things of their own understanding they raise themselves on high, and sometimes enter the heavens and feign themselves angels of light; but when they are deprived of their truths and cast out, they fall down to hell. Moreover, eagles signify men of a predatory nature who are endowed with intellectual sight, and wings signify spiritual truths. It was said that such were those men who had no regard to God in their life. By having regard to God in the life is meant considering that this or that evil is a sin against God and therefore not doing it.
DP 21. IX. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD CAUSES WHAT IS EVIL AND AT THE SAME TIME FALSE TO SERVE FOR EQUILIBRIUM, RELATION AND PURIFICATION, AND SO FOR THE UNION OF GOOD AND TRUTH IN OTHERS. From what has been said it may be evident that the Divine Providence of the Lord is continually operating to unite truth to good and good to truth in man, because this union is the Church, and is also heaven; for this union is in the Lord and in all things that proceed from Him. It is from this union that heaven is called a marriage, as also is the Church; and hence in the Word the kingdom of God is likened to a marriage. From this union the Sabbath in the Israelitish Church was the holiest thing in their worship, for it signified this union. Hence also in the Word, in the whole and in every part of it, there is a marriage of good and truth, as may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 80-90). The marriage of good and truth is from the marriage of the Lord with the Church, and this is from the marriage of Love and Wisdom in the Lord; for good pertains to love, and truth to wisdom. From these things it may be seen that it is the unceasing purpose of the Divine Providence to unite good to truth and truth to good in man, for thus is man united to the Lord.
DP 22. However, as many have broken and are breaking this marriage, especially by the separation of faith and charity, for faith is of truth and truth is of faith, and charity is of good and good is of charity, and as they thereby unite in themselves evil and falsity, and have thus become and continue to be opposed (to good and truth), nevertheless the Lord provides that they shall still be of service for the union of good and truth in others by means of equilibrium, related sequence and purification.
DP 23. The union of good and truth in others is provided for by the Lord by means of the equilibrium between heaven and hell; for there is a constant emanation from hell of evil and falsity together; but from heaven there is a constant emanation of good and truth together. In this equilibrium every man is kept as long as he lives in the world, and is thereby kept in that liberty of thinking, willing, speaking and doing, in which he can be reformed. For this spiritual equilibrium from which man has freedom see the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 589-596, 597-603).
DP 24. The union of good and truth is provided for by the Lord by means of related sequence; for the quality of a good is known only by its relation to what is less good, and by the opposition it meets from evil. From this relation comes the power to perceive and to feel, since from this comes the quality of these powers; for thus everything that is pleasant is perceived and felt from what is less pleasant and by means of what is unpleasant; everything beautiful from what is less beautiful, and by means of the ugly; and likewise every good, which is of love, from what is less good and by means of evil; and every truth, which is of wisdom, from what is less true and by means of falsity. There must be variation in everything, from its greatest to its least; and as there is also variation in its opposite from its least to its greatest, with equilibrium between them, then there is relation in sequence on both sides according to degrees; and the perception and sensation of the thing increase or diminish. It should be known, however, that an opposite destroys as well as exalts perceptions and sensations: it destroys when it mingles them with itself and exalts when it does not. For this reason the Lord most carefully separates good and evil in man lest they should be mingled, just as He separates heaven and hell.
DP 25. The union of good and truth in others is provided for by the Lord by means of purification; and this is effected in two ways, one by temptations, and the other by fermentations. Spiritual temptations are nothing else than combats against evils and falsities which emanate from hell and make their influence felt. By these combats man is purified from evils and falsities, and good is united to truth in him, and truth to good. Spiritual fermentations are effected in many ways, both in the heavens and on the earth; but in the world it is not known what they are and how they are effected. Now there are evils together with falsities which, when introduced into societies, act like ferments put into meal and juice of the grape. By means of these, discordant things are separated and concordant things are united, and purity and clearness are the result. They are what are meant by these words of the Lord:
The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. (Matt. 13:33; Luke 12:21).
DP 26. These uses are provided for by the Lord from the union of evil and falsity in those who are in hell; for the kingdom of the Lord, which is not only over heaven but also over hell, is a kingdom of uses; and the Providence of the Lord provides that there shall not be in it any person or thing that does not perform, or serve as, a use.
II. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD HAS FOR ITS END A HEAVEN FROM THE HUMAN RACE
DP 27. By long-continued intercourse with angels and spirits it has been made known to me and proved that heaven is not from any angels created such from the beginning, and that hell is not from any devil created an angel of light and cast down from heaven, but that both heaven and hell are from the human race-heaven from those who are in the love of good and thence in the understanding of truth, and hell from those who are in the love of evil and thence in the understanding of falsity. On this subject see also what has been shown in the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 311-316); and in the little work, THE LAST JUDGMENT (LJ 14-27); and in THE CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE LAST JUDGMENT AND THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, from beginning to end.
[2] Now since heaven is from the human race, and heaven is an abiding with the Lord to eternity, it follows that this was the Lord’s end in creation; and since this was the end in creation, it is also the end of His Divine Providence. The Lord did not create the universe for His own sake, but for the sake of those with whom He will be in heaven; for spiritual love is such that it wishes to give what is its own to another; and so far as it can do this, it is in its being (esse), in its peace, and in its blessedness. Spiritual love derives this property from the Divine Love of the Lord, which is such in an infinite degree. From this it follows that the Divine Love, and consequently the Divine Providence, has for its end a heaven which should consist of men who have become, and who are becoming angels, upon whom the Lord can bestow all the blessings and felicities that belong to love and wisdom, and bestow these from Himself in them. Nor can He do otherwise, for there is in them from creation the image and likeness of Himself; the image in them is wisdom, and the likeness in them is love; and the Lord in them is love united to wisdom and wisdom united to love; or what is the same, is good united to truth and truth united to good. This union was treated of in the preceding article.
[3] Since, however, it is not known what heaven is in general, that is, in a community of persons, and what it is in particular, that is, in the individual; and what heaven is in the spiritual world and what it is in the natural world; and yet it is important to know this, because heaven is the end of the Divine Providence, I will present this subject with some clearness in the following order:
I. -Heaven is conjunction with the Lord.
II. -Man by creation is such that he can be more and more nearly conjoined to the Lord.
III. -The more nearly a man is conjoined to the Lord the wiser he becomes.
IV. -The more nearly a man is conjoined to the Lord the happier he becomes.
V. -The more nearly a man is conjoined to the Lord the more distinctly does he appear to himself to be master of himself (suus), and yet the more evidently does he recognize that he is the Lord’s.
DP 28. I. HEAVEN IS CONJUNCTION WITH THE LORD. Heaven is not heaven from the angels but from the Lord; for the love and wisdom in which the angels are and which constitute heaven, are not from the angels but from the Lord, and are, in fact, the Lord in them. And since love and wisdom are the Lord’s and are the Lord in heaven, and since love and wisdom constitute the life of the angels, it is clear that their life is the Lord’s, and in fact is the Lord. The angels themselves confess that they live from the Lord; hence it may be evident that heaven is conjunction with the Lord. Since, however, conjunction with the Lord varies in degree, and heaven accordingly is not the same to one as to another, it also follows that heaven is according to the conjunction with the Lord. It will be seen in the following article that there is conjunction which is closer and closer, and also conjunction which is more and more remote.
[2] Something will here be said about this conjunction, how it is effected and what is its nature. It is a conjunction of the Lord with the angels, and of the angels with the Lord, and is therefore reciprocal. The Lord flows into the life’s love of the angels, and the angels receive Him in wisdom, and thereby they in turn conjoin themselves to the Lord. It should be clearly understood, however, that while to the angels the appearance is that they conjoin themselves to the Lord by means of wisdom, it is in fact the Lord who conjoins them to Himself by wisdom; for their wisdom is also from the Lord. It is the same if it is said that the Lord conjoins Himself to the angels by means of good, and that the angels in their turn conjoin themselves to the Lord by means of truth; for all good pertains to love, and all truth to wisdom.
[3] As this reciprocal conjunction, however, is an arcanum that few can understand without explanation, I will unfold it, as far as possible, by means of such things as are adapted to the comprehension. In the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 404, 405), it is shown how love conjoins itself to wisdom, namely, through an affection for knowing, from which comes an affection for truth, and through an affection for understanding, from which comes a perception of truth, and through an affection for seeing what is known and understood, from which comes thought. The Lord flows into all these affections, for they spring from the life’s love of everyone; and this influx is received by the angels in the perception of truth and in thought; for in these the influx becomes apparent to them, but not in the affections.
[4] Now since perceptions and thoughts appear to the angels as if they were their own, although they are from affections which are from the Lord, therefore there is this appearance that the angels conjoin themselves reciprocally to the Lord, although it is the Lord who conjoins them to Himself; for affection itself produces the perceptions and thoughts, as affection, which pertains to love, is their soul. For no one can perceive and think anything without affection, and everyone perceives and thinks according to affection. From this it is clear that the reciprocal conjunction of angels with the Lord is not from the angels, but only seems to be from them. Such also is the conjunction of the Lord with the Church and of the Church with the Lord, which is called the celestial and spiritual marriage.
DP 29. All conjunction in the spiritual world is effected by means of looking (inspectio). When anyone there is thinking of another from a desire to speak with him, the other immediately becomes present, and they see each other face to face. It is the same when anyone is thinking of another from an affection of love; but this affection brings about conjunction, while the other produces presence only. This is peculiar to the spiritual world, for the reason that all there are spiritual: it is otherwise in the natural world, where all are material. With men in the natural world the same takes place in the affections and thoughts of their spirit; but as there are spaces in the natural world, while in the spiritual world spaces are only appearances, that which is done in the thought of everyone’s spirit, in the spiritual world becomes an act in deed.
[2] This has been said in order to make known how the conjunction of the Lord with angels is effected, and how the apparent reciprocal conjunction of angels with the Lord is effected. For all angels turn the face towards the Lord, and the Lord looks upon their forehead, because the forehead corresponds to love and its affections; while angels direct their eyes towards the Lord, because the eyes correspond to wisdom and its perceptions. Nevertheless, the angels do not from themselves turn the face to the Lord, but the Lord turns them to Himself. He turns them by influx into their life’s love, and through that love enters into their perceptions and thoughts; and in this way He turns them.
[3] There is in all things of the human mind this circle of love to thoughts and from thoughts to love from love, a circle which may be called the circle of life. On this subject something may be seen in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, as for instance: The angels constantly turn the face to the Lord as a Sun (DLW 129-134). All the interiors of the angels, of mind as well as of body, are likewise turned to the Lord as a Sun (DLW 135-139). Every spirit, whatever his character may be, turns himself likewise to his ruling love (DLW 140-145). Love conjoins itself to wisdom, and causes wisdom to be reciprocally conjoined to itself (DLW 410-412). The angels are in the Lord, and the Lord is in them; and because angels are recipients the Lord alone is heaven (DLW 113-118).
DP 30. The Lord’s heaven in the natural world is called the Church; and an angel of this heaven is a man of the Church who is conjoined to the Lord; and after he leaves this world he becomes an angel of the spiritual heaven. From this it is clear that what has been said of the angelic heaven must also be understood of the human heaven that is called the Church. This reciprocal conjunction with the Lord, which constitutes heaven in man, is revealed by the Lord in these words in John:
Abide in me, and I in you. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (John 15:4, 5, 7).
DP 31. Hence it may be evident that the Lord is heaven not only in general with all there, but also in particular with every individual there. For every angel is a heaven in its least form, and from these heavens, which are as many as there are angels, heaven in general is constituted. That this is the case may be seen in the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 51-58). This being so, let no one cherish the erroneous idea that first enters the thought of many that the Lord is present in heaven among the angels, or that He is with them like a king in his kingdom. In respect to their sight He is above them in the Sun there, but in respect to their life of love and wisdom He is in them.
DP 32. II. MAN BY CREATION IS SUCH THAT HE CAN BE MORE AND MORE NEARLY CONJOINED TO THE LORD. This may be evident from what has been set forth concerning Degrees in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, especially from the following articles: There are three discrete degrees, or degrees of altitude, in man from creation (DLW 230-235). These three degrees are in every man from birth; and as they are opened, the man is in the Lord and the Lord in him (DLW 236-241). All perfections increase and ascend with the degrees, and according to them (DLW 199-204). From this it is clear that man from creation is such that he can be more and more nearly conjoined to the Lord by these degrees.
[2] It is necessary, however, to know expressly what degrees are, and that they are of two kinds, namely, discrete degrees, or degrees of altitude, and continuous degrees, or degrees of latitude, and also how they differ. Further, it is necessary to know that every man from creation, and hence from birth, has three discrete degrees, or degrees of altitude; and that he comes into the first degree, called the natural, when he is born, and may increase this degree in himself by continuous progress until he becomes rational; that he comes into the second degree, called the spiritual, if he lives according to the spiritual laws of order, which are principles of Divine Truth; and also that he can come into the third degree, called the celestial, if he lives according to the celestial laws of order, which are principles of Divine Good.
[3] These degrees are actually opened in man by the Lord according to his life in this world, but not perceptibly and manifestly till after he leaves this world; and as they are opened and afterwards perfected, man is more and more nearly conjoined to the Lord. This conjunction by continued approach may go on increasing to eternity; and with the angels it does so increase; yet no angel can reach or even come close to the highest degree of the Love and Wisdom of the Lord, because the Lord is Infinite and an angel is finite, and there is no ratio between the Infinite and the finite. As no one can understand the state of man, and the state of his elevation and approach to the Lord, unless he has a knowledge of these degrees, they have been treated of in detail in THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 173-281), which may be consulted.
DP 33. It will now be stated briefly how a man can be more nearly conjoined to the Lord, and then how the conjunction appears more and more near. A man is more and more nearly conjoined to the Lord, not by knowledge alone, nor by intelligence alone, nor even by wisdom alone, but by a life conjoined to these. Man’s life is his love, and love is manifold. In general, there is the love of evil and the love of good. The love of evil is the love of committing adultery, taking revenge, defrauding, blaspheming, and depriving others of their goods. The love of evil has a sense of pleasure and delight in thinking about these things and in doing them; and the desires, or the affections which spring from this love, are as numerous as the evils in which it has found expression; and the perceptions and thoughts of this love are as numerous as the falsities which favour these evils and confirm them. These falsities make one with the evils, as the understanding makes one with the will; they are not separated from each other, because one is of the other.
[2] Now because the Lord flows into the life’s love of everyone, and through its affections into his perceptions and thoughts, and not the reverse, as was said above, it follows that the Lord can conjoin Himself more nearly only so far as the love of evil with its affections, which are lusts, has been removed. As these reside in the natural man, and as whatever a man does from the natural man he feels as if he does from himself, therefore he ought, as if from himself, to remove the evils of that love; and as far as he does this the Lord draws nearer, and conjoins Himself to him. Anyone can see from reason that lusts with their delights obstruct and close the door before the Lord, and that these cannot be cast out by the Lord so long as man himself holds the door closed and, pressing from without, prevents it from being opened. That man himself ought to open the door is clear from the Lord’s words in Revelation:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Apoc. 3:20).
[3] Hence it is evident that, so far as one shuns evils as of the devil and as obstacles to the Lord’s entrance, he is more and more nearly conjoined to the Lord, and that he is the most nearly conjoined who abominates them as so many dusky and fiery devils; for evil and the devil are one, and the falsity of evil and satan are one. Since the influx of the Lord is into the love of good and into its affections, and through these into the perceptions and thoughts, which all derive the fact that they are truths from the good in which the man is, so the influx of the devil, that is, of hell, is into the love of evil and into its affections which are lusts, and through these into the perceptions and thoughts, which all derive the fact that they are falsities from the evil in which the man is.
[4] How this conjunction appears nearer and nearer. The more fully evils in the natural man are removed by shunning and turning away from them, the more nearly is the man conjoined to the Lord. Moreover, as love and wisdom, which are the Lord Himself, are not in space, since affection which belongs to love and thought which belongs to wisdom have nothing in common with space, so the Lord appears to be nearer according to the conjunction through His Love and Wisdom; and on the other hand, more remote according to the rejection of His Love and Wisdom. There is no space in the spiritual world; but there distance and presence are appearances in accordance with similarities and dissimilarities of affections; for as has been said before, affections which belong to love, and thoughts which belong to wisdom, being in themselves spiritual, are not in space. On this subject see what has been stated in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 7-10, 69-72), and elsewhere. The conjunction of the Lord with a man in whom evils have been put away, is meant by these words of the Lord:
The pure in heart shall see God. (Matt. 5:8);
and by these words:
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them. I will make my abode with him. (John 14:21, 23).
"To have the commandments" is to know, and "to keep the commandments" is to love; for it is also said in the same passage: "He that keepeth my commandments, he it is that loveth me".
DP 34. III. THE MORE NEARLY A MAN IS CONJOINED TO THE LORD THE WISER HE BECOMES. While there are three degrees of life in man from creation and thus from birth, which have just been treated of above in (n. 32), there are especially three degrees of wisdom in him. These are the degrees which are opened in man according to the measure of conjunction; that is, they are opened according to love, for love is conjunction itself. However, the ascent of love according to degrees is only perceived by man in an obscure way, while the ascent of wisdom is clearly perceived in those who know and see what wisdom is. The degrees of wisdom are so perceived because love enters through the affections into the perceptions and thoughts, and these present themselves to the internal sight of the mind, which corresponds to the external sight of the body. In this way wisdom is manifest, but not the affection of love which produces it. It is the same with all things that are actually done by man. How the body does them is perceived, but not the working of the soul. So also it is perceived how a man meditates, perceives and thinks; but it is not perceived how the soul of these activities, which is an affection for good and truth, produces the meditation, the perception and the thought.
[2] There are three degrees of wisdom, the natural, the spiritual and the celestial. Man is in the natural degree of wisdom while he lives in this world. This degree may then be perfected in him to its highest point, but yet it cannot enter upon the spiritual degree, because the spiritual degree is not an extension of the natural degree by continuity, but is conjoined to it by correspondences. After death man is in the spiritual degree of wisdom; and this degree is also such that it may be perfected to its highest point, but yet it cannot enter upon the celestial degree of wisdom, because the celestial degree is not an extension of the spiritual degree by continuity, but is conjoined to it by correspondences. From this it may be evident that wisdom can be elevated in a triplicate ratio, and in each degree can be perfected in a simple ratio to its highest point.
[3] One who comprehends the processes of elevation and the perfecting of these degrees can in some measure understand what is said of angelic wisdom, that it is ineffable; and so ineffable is it that a thousand ideas in the thought of angels from their wisdom can present but a single idea in the thought of men from their wisdom, the other nine hundred and ninety-nine ideas of angelic thought not being able to gain entrance, because they are supernatural. That this is so has often been granted me to know by actual experience. However, as was said before, no one can attain that ineffable wisdom of the angels unless through conjunction with the Lord and in the measure of that conjunction, for the Lord alone opens the spiritual degree and the celestial degree, and only in those who are wise from Him; and those are wise from the Lord who cast out from themselves the devil, that is, evil.
DP 35. But let no one believe that a person has wisdom because he knows many things, and perceives them in a certain light, and can talk about them intelligently, unless that wisdom is conjoined to love. For it is love through its affections that produces wisdom; and if it is not conjoined to love, it is like a meteor that vanishes in the air, and like a falling star. When wisdom, however, is conjoined to love, it is like the abiding light of the sun, and like a fixed star. A man has the love of wisdom so far as he turns away from the infernal crew, which are the lusts of evil and falsity.
DP 36. The wisdom that comes to perception is a perception of truth from an affection for it, especially a perception of spiritual truth; for there is civil truth, moral truth and spiritual truth. Those who are in the perception of spiritual truth from an affection for it are also in the perception of moral and civil truth, for of these perceptions the affection of spiritual truth is the soul. I have sometimes conversed with angels about wisdom; and they said that wisdom is conjunction with the Lord, because the Lord is Wisdom itself; and that a man attains that conjunction who casts hell out from himself, and that he attains it so far as he casts out hell. They said also that they picture to themselves wisdom as a palace, magnificent and highly adorned, the ascent to which is by twelve steps, and that no one reaches the first step unless from the Lord through conjunction with Him. Further, they said that everyone ascends according to the measure of the conjunction; and as he ascends he perceives that no one is wise from himself, but only from the Lord, and that the things in which he is wise, compared with those in which he is not wise, are as a few drops of water to a great lake. By the twelve steps leading to the palace of wisdom are signified principles of good conjoined to those of truth, and principles of truth conjoined to those of good.
DP 37. IV. THE MORE NEARLY A MAN IS CONJOINED TO THE LORD THE HAPPIER HE BECOMES. The same may be said of the degrees of happiness as was said above in (n. 32 and 34) of the degrees of life and wisdom according to conjunction with the Lord. For happiness, or states of blessedness and joy, become more exalted as the higher degrees of the mind, which are called the spiritual and the celestial, are opened in man; and after his life in the world these degrees continue to develop to eternity.
DP 38. No man who is in the delights of the lusts of evil can know anything of the delights of the affections of good in which the angelic heaven is; for these two Kinds of delight are absolutely opposite to each other in internals, and consequently are opposite interiorly in externals, although indeed they differ but little on the surface. For every love has its own delights; even the love of evil has these in men who are in lusts, as the love of committing adultery, of taking revenge, defrauding, stealing, acting cruelly, and in the most wicked, even the love of blaspheming the holy things of the Church and of pouring out their venom against God. The source of these delights is the love of ruling from self-love. They spring from the lusts that beset the interiors of the mind. From the interiors they flow down into the body, and there they excite the unclean things that titillate the sensory nerves (fibrae); and thus bodily pleasure arises from the mind’s delight according to its lusts.
[2] It is granted to everyone after death, in the spiritual world, to know what these unclean things are, and their nature, which titillate the sensory nerves of such men. They are, after their kind, filthy, foul-smelling, urinous, reeking of the charnel-house and of the dung-hill; for the hells in which these men dwell abound in such unclean things. These are correspondences, as may be seen in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 422-424). These filthy delights, however, are changed into dreadful experiences when such men have entered hell. This has been recorded that it may be understood what the happiness of heaven is, and the nature of it, about which something will now be said in what follows; for everything is known from its opposite.
DP 39. The blessings, the happiness, the delights and pleasures, in a word, the joys of heaven, cannot be described in words; but in heaven they are perceptible to the feelings; for what is perceptible to feeling alone cannot be described because it does not fall into ideas of thought, and thus not into words. For it is the understanding alone that sees; and it sees the things that pertain to wisdom or truth, but not the things that pertain to love or good. For this reason these joys are inexpressible, yet they ascend in like degree with wisdom: their varieties are infinite, and each is ineffable. I have heard this, and I have also perceived it.
[2] These joys, however, enter as man, as if from himself but still from the Lord, puts away the lusts of the love of evil and falsity; for these joys are those of the affections of good and truth, and are the opposites of the lusts of the love of evil and falsity. The joys of the affections of the love of good and truth begin from the Lord, thus from the inmost; and thence they pour themselves forth into lower things, even to the lowest, and thus fill the angel, making him become as it were wholly a delight. Such joys, with their infinite varieties, are in every affection of good and truth, especially in the affection of wisdom.
DP 40. The delights of the lusts of evil and the delights of the affections of good cannot be compared, because the devil is interiorly in the joys of the lusts of evil, and the Lord is interiorly in the joys of the affections of good. If comparison must be made, the joys of the lusts of evil can only be compared to the wanton joys of frogs in stagnant ponds, and of serpents amid foul smells; while the joys of the affections of good may be compared to the delights of the mind (animus) in gardens and flower-beds. For things like those which affect frogs and serpents affect those in the hells who are in the lusts of evil; and things like those which affect the mind (animus) in gardens and flower-beds affect those in the heavens who are in the affections of good; because, as was said above, corresponding unclean things affect the evil, and corresponding clean things affect the good.
DP 41. It may be evident from these things that the more nearly anyone is conjoined to the Lord the happier he becomes. This happiness, however, is rarely manifest in the world; for man is then in a natural state, and the natural does not communicate with the spiritual by continuity but by correspondences; and this communication is felt only by a certain quiet and peace of mind (animus) that especially follows combats against evils. But when man puts off the natural state and enters the spiritual state, which takes place after his departure from the world, then the happiness described above gradually manifests itself.
DP 42. V. THE MORE NEARLY A MAN IS CONJOINED TO THE LORD THE MORE DISTINCTLY DOES HE APPEAR TO HIMSELF TO BE MASTER OF HIMSELF (suus), AND YET THE MORE EVIDENTLY DOES HE RECOGNIZE THAT HE IS THE LORD’S. There is an appearance that the more nearly anyone is conjoined to the Lord the less he is master of himself. This is the appearance with all the wicked, and also with those who from their religion believe that they are not under the yoke of the law, and that no one can do good from himself. For all such are only able to see that not to be allowed to think and to will evil, but only good, is not to be master of oneself; and as those who are conjoined to the Lord are neither willing nor able to think and to will evil, they conclude from what is an appearance to them that this is not to be master of oneself; when nevertheless this is quite contrary to the truth.
DP 43. There is infernal freedom and there is heavenly freedom. It is from infernal freedom to think and to will evil, and so far as civil and moral laws do not hinder, to speak and to do it. On the other hand, it is from heavenly freedom to think and to will good, and so far as opportunity is granted, to speak and to do it. Whatever a man thinks, wills, speaks and does from freedom he perceives as his own; for all the freedom which everyone has is from his love. Therefore those who are in the love of evil perceive only that infernal freedom is freedom itself, while those who are in the love of good perceive that heavenly freedom is freedom itself and consequently the evil and the good perceive the opposite to be slavery. Still, it cannot be denied by anyone that one or other of these is freedom, for there cannot be two kinds of freedom in themselves opposite, and in themselves freedom. Moreover, it cannot be denied that to be led by good is freedom, and to be led by evil is slavery; for to be led by good is to be led by the Lord, and to be led by evil is to be led by the devil.
[2] Now since everything that a man does from freedom appears to him to be his own for it is of his love, and, as was said above, to act from one’s love is to act from freedom, it follows that conjunction with the Lord makes a man appear to himself to be free and consequently to be master of himself; and the nearer the conjunction with the Lord the more free he seems, and consequently the more he seems to be master of himself. He appears to himself more distinctly to be master of himself because the Divine Love is such that it wills that what is its own should belong to another, thus to a man or to an angel. Such, indeed, is all spiritual love, and pre-eminently the Divine Love. Besides, the Lord never forces anyone, for nothing to which anyone is forced appears as his own; and what does not appear to be his own cannot be his love’s, and so be appropriated to him as his own. Therefore man is led by the Lord continually in freedom, and is also reformed and regenerated in freedom. However, more will be said on this subject in what follows; something may also be seen above, in (n. 4).
DP 44. The more distinctly a man appears to himself to be master of himself the more clearly he perceives that he is the Lord’s, because the more nearly he is conjoined to the Lord the wiser he becomes, as was shown above (n. 34-36): this wisdom teaches and also perceives. The angels of the third heaven, because they are the wisest of the angels, also perceive this; and, moreover, they call it freedom itself; but to be led by themselves they call slavery. They give this as the reason, that the Lord does not flow immediately into what belongs to their perception and thought from wisdom, but into their affections of the love of good, and through these into the former; and that they perceive the influx in the affection from which they have wisdom; and that then all they think from wisdom appears to be from themselves, and thus as their own; and that in this way a reciprocal conjunction is effected.
DP 45. As the Divine Providence of the Lord has for its end a heaven from the human race, it follows that it has for its end the conjunction of the human race with Himself; concerning this see (n. 28-31). It has also for its end that man should be more and more nearly conjoined to Him (n. 32, 33), for thus man possesses heaven more interiorly. Further, it has for its end that man by this conjunction should become wiser (n. 34-36); and that he should become happier (n. 37-41), because it is from wisdom and according to it that man has heaven, and by means of wisdom has happiness also. Finally, it has for its end that man should appear more distinctly to himself to be master of himself, and yet to recognize more clearly that he is the Lord’s (n. 42-44). All these things are of the Divine Providence of the Lord, because all these things constitute heaven, which it has for its end.
III. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD, IN EVERYTHING THAT IT DOES, REGARDS THE INFINITE AND THE ETERNAL
DP 46. It is known in the Christian world that God is Infinite and Eternal; for in the doctrine of the Trinity which takes its name from Athanasius it is said that God the Father is Infinite, Eternal and Omnipotent; likewise God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; and yet there are not three that are Infinite, Eternal and Omnipotent, but One. From this it follows that, as God is Infinite and Eternal, nothing but what is Infinite and Eternal can be predicated of God. But what the Infinite and Eternal is cannot be comprehended by the finite, and yet it can be. It cannot be comprehended because the finite cannot contain the infinite; and it can be comprehended because there are abstract ideas by means of which it can be seen that things exist, though not what their nature is. There are such ideas respecting the Infinite as that God, because He is Infinite, or that the Divine, because it is Infinite, is Being (Esse) itself, is Essence itself and Substance itself, is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or is Good itself and Truth itself, and thus is the Self, yea is Man Himself. Such ideas also are present when it is said that the Infinite is the All, and that Infinite Wisdom is Omniscience, and that Infinite Power is Omnipotence.
[2] Yet these ideas are merged in obscurity of thought, and from being incomprehensible perchance meet with denial. This happens unless those things which thought derives from nature are withdrawn from the idea, especially what it derives from the two things proper to nature, space and time, for these cannot but mit ideas and cause abstract ideas to be as nothing. However, if those things can be withdrawn in man as they are in an angel, then the Infinite may be comprehended by means of the ideas just mentioned above. Hence also it may be comprehended that man has reality because he was created by the Infinite God who is the All; and that he is a finite substance because he was created by the Infinite God who is Substance itself; and further that he is wisdom because he was created by the Infinite God who is Wisdom itself; and so on. For unless the Infinite God were the All, Substance itself and Wisdom itself, man would not have reality; and thus would be nothing or merely an idea of being, according to those visionaries called idealists.
[3] From what has been shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, it is clear that the Divine Essence is Love and Wisdom (DLW 28-39); that the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom are Substance itself and Form itself, and consequently the Self-subsisting and the one only subsisting Essence (DLW 40-46); and that God created the universe and all things therein from Himself and not from nothing (DLW 282-284). From this it follows that every created thing, and especially man, and the love and wisdom in him, have reality and are not merely ideas of being. For unless God were Infinite there would be no finite; and unless the Infinite were the All there would be no reality; and unless God had created all things from Himself there would be nothing. In a word, We are because God is.
DP 47. The Divine Providence is the subject now being treated of, and it is to be shown here that in everything it does it regards the infinite and the eternal. As this cannot be clearly set forth except in an orderly way, the order will be as follows:
I. -The Infinite in itself and the Eternal in itself is the same as the Divine.
II. -The Infinite and Eternal in itself cannot but regard what is infinite (and eternal) from itself in finite things.
III. -The Divine Providence in everything it does regards what is infinite and eternal from itself, especially in saving the human race.
IV. -An image of the Infinite and Eternal is presented in an angelic heaven from a saved human race.
V. -The inmost of the Divine Providence is to regard what is infinite and eternal in forming the angelic heaven, in order that it may be before the Lord as one man, the image of Himself.
DP 48. I. THE INFINITE IN ITSELF AND THE ETERNAL IN ITSELF IS THE SAME AS THE DIVINE. This may be evident from what has been shown in many places in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. That the Infinite in itself and the Eternal in itself is the Divine is according to the angelic idea, the angels understanding by the Infinite nothing else than the Divine Being (Esse), and by the Eternal the Divine Existing (Existere). That the Infinite in itself and the Eternal in itself is the Divine can be seen by men, and yet cannot be seen. It can be seen by those who think of the Infinite not from space and of the Eternal not from time; but it cannot be seen by those who think of the Infinite and the Eternal from space and time. Thus it can be seen by those who think on a higher, that is, more interior plane in the rational (mind); but it cannot be seen by those who think on a lower, that is, more exterior plane.
[2] Those by whom it can be seen reflect that there cannot be an infinity of space, nor similarly can there be an infinity of time, that is, an eternity from which are all things (a quo), because infinity is without end, either first or last, that is, without limits. They also reflect that neither can there be an Infinity from itself; because from itself supposes an end and a beginning, or a prior source (a quo); and therefore it is meaningless to speak of the Infinite and Eternal from itself, for that would be like speaking of Being (Esse) from itself, which is a contradiction; for the Infinite from itself would be an Infinite from an Infinite, and Being from itself would be a Being from a Being; and this Infinite and Being either would be the same as the Infinite, or would be finite. From these and similar considerations which can be seen interiorly in the rational (mind), it is clear that there is an Infinite in itself and an Eternal in itself; and that this Infinite and Eternal is the Divine from which all things are.
DP 49. I know that many will say to themselves: How can anyone, interiorly in his rational (mind), comprehend anything apart from space and apart from time; and further comprehend not only that it is, but also that it is the All and the Self from which all things are? Think, however, interiorly whether love or any affection of love, or wisdom or any perception of wisdom, or indeed whether thought, is in space and in time, and you will find that they are not; and since the Divine is Love itself and Wisdom itself, it follows that the Divine cannot be conceived of in space and time; so neither can the Infinite. For a clearer perception of this, consider whether thought is in time and space. Suppose thought to go on for ten or twelve hours; may not this interval of time appear as one or two hours, or even as one or two days? The apparent duration is according to the state of the affection from which the thought has sprung. If the affection is one of joy in which one does not think of time, ten or twelve hours of thought seem no more than one or two; but the reverse is true if the affection is one of grief, when one thinks of time. From this it is clear that time is only an appearance according to the state of the affection from which thought springs. It is the same when one thinks of distance in space, either when taking a walk or when making a journey.
DP 50. Since angels and spirits are affections of love and thoughts thence derived, they are consequently not in space and time, but only in the appearance of them. To them there is an appearance of space and time according to the states of their affections and of the thoughts arising from these. When anyone therefore thinks of another from affection, intently desiring to see him or to speak with him, he instantly appears in his presence.
[2] Hence it is, that there are present with every man spirits who are in like affection with himself, evil spirits with one who is in the affection of similar evil, and good spirits with one who is in the affection of similar good; and they are as really present as if the man were included in their society. Space and time contribute nothing to presence, because affection and thought thence derived are not in space and time, and spirits and angels are affections and thoughts derived from these.
[3] That this is so has been granted me to know from actual experience of many years, and also from having conversed with many after their death, with some who have been in various kingdoms in Europe, as well as with some who have been in various kingdoms in Asia and in Africa; and they were all near me; whereas if there were space and time with them, a journey and time to make it must have intervened.
[4] Indeed, everyone knows this to be the case from an innate perception within him, or by thinking it out in his own mind. I have been convinced of this by the circumstance that no one thought of any distance in space when I said I had spoken with someone who died in Asia, Africa or Europe; as, for example, with Calvin, Luther, Melanchthon, or with some king, ruler or priest in a distant country; nor did the thought even occur to any, How could he converse with those who had lived in that place, and how could they come and be present with him when lands and seas lie between? From this it has also been made clear to me that no one thinks from space and time when thinking of those who are in the spiritual world. Nevertheless, that there is with them the appearance of space and time may be seen in the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 162-169, 191-199).
DP 51. From these considerations it may now be evident that the Infinite and Eternal, thus the Lord, is to be thought of apart from space and time, and that such thought is possible; moreover, that those have such thought who think interiorly in the rational (mind); and that the Infinite and Eternal is the same as the Divine. Thus do angels and spirits think; and from thought abstracted from time and space there is some comprehension of the Divine Omnipresence and the Divine Omnipotence, and also of the Divine from eternity, but no comprehension at all from thought in which an idea from space and time is present. From these things it is clear that there can be thought concerning God from eternity, but not concerning nature from eternity; and consequently that there can be thought concerning the creation of the universe by God, but none at all concerning creation from nature; for space and time are things proper to nature, but the Divine is apart from space and time. That the Divine is apart from space and time may be seen in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 7-10, 69-72, 73-76).
DP 52. II. THE INFINITE AND ETERNAL IN ITSELF CANNOT BUT REGARD WHAT IS INFINITE (AND ETERNAL) FROM ITSELF IN FINITE THINGS. By the Infinite and Eternal in itself is meant the Divine itself as has just been shown in the preceding article; by finite things are meant all things created by the Divine, especially men, spirits and angels; and to regard what is infinite and eternal from Himself is to regard the Divine, that is, Himself in these, as a man regards an image of himself in a mirror. That this is so has been shown in many places in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, especially where it is demonstrated that in the created universe there is an image of man, and that this is an image of what is infinite and eternal (DLW 317, 318), thus an image of God the Creator, that is, of the Lord from eternity. It should be known, however, that the Divine in itself is in the Lord, but that the Divine from itself is the Divine from the Lord in created things.
DP 53. In order that this may be more fully understood, however, it is necessary to illustrate it. The Divine cannot regard anything but what is Divine, and it cannot regard this anywhere but in things created by itself. That this is so is evident from this fact, that no one can regard another except from what is his own in himself. He who loves another regards him from his own love in himself; while he who is wise regards another from his own wisdom in himself. He may indeed see that the other either loves him or does not love him, and that he is wise or that he is not wise; but this he sees from the love and from the wisdom in himself. Therefore he conjoins himself to the other so far as the other loves him as he loves the other, or so far as the other is as wise as himself for thus they make one.
[2] It is similar with the Divine in itself for the Divine in itself cannot regard itself from another, as from a man, a spirit or an angel; because there is nothing in them of the originating Divine in itself (a quo), and to regard the Divine from another in whom there is nothing of the Divine would be to regard the Divine from what is not Divine, which is not possible. Hence it is that the Lord is so conjoined to man, spirit and angel that everything that has relation to the Divine is not from them, but from the Lord. For it is known that all the good and all the truth which anyone has is not from himself but from the Lord; indeed, that no one can even name the Lord, or utter His names Jesus and Christ, except from Him.
[3] From this it now follows that the Infinite and Eternal, which is the same as the Divine, regards all things in the finite from the infinite point of view, and that He conjoins Himself to them according to the degree of the reception of wisdom and love in them. In a word, the Lord cannot have an abode in a man and in an angel and dwell with them except in what is His own, and not in what is their proprium, for this is evil; and if it were good, still it is finite, and this in itself and from itself cannot contain the Infinite. From these things it is clear that it can nowhere be possible for a finite being to regard the Infinite, but that it is possible for the Infinite to regard the Infinite from itself in finite beings.
DP 54. There is an appearance that there can be no conjunction between the Infinite and the finite, because there can be no ratio between them, and because the finite cannot contain the Infinite. Nevertheless, conjunction is possible, both because the Infinite created all things from Himself as is shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 282-284), and because the Infinite in finite things cannot but regard what is infinite from Himself and this infinite can appear to finite beings as in themselves. Thus a ratio is possible between the finite and the Infinite, not from the finite but from the Infinite in the finite. Moreover, in this way the finite being is able to contain what is infinite, not indeed the finite being in himself, but as if in himself from the Infinite from itself in him. But more will be said concerning these things in what now follows.
DP 55. III. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IN EVERYTHING IT DOES REGARDS WHAT IS INFINITE AND ETERNAL FROM ITSELF, ESPECIALLY IN SAVING THE HUMAN RACE. The Infinite and Eternal in itself is the Divine itself or the Lord in Himself; but the Infinite and Eternal from itself is the Divine Proceeding, that is, the Lord in others created from Himself thus in men and in angels; and this Divine is the same as the Divine Providence. For by means of the Divine from Himself the Lord provides that all things may be held together in the order in which and into which they were created; and because this is the work of the Divine Proceeding it follows that all this is the Divine Providence.
DP 56. That the Divine Providence in everything it does regards what is infinite and eternal from itself, may be evident from this, that every created thing proceeds from the First, who is the Infinite and Eternal, to ultimates, and from ultimates to the First Source (a quo), as was shown in the treatise THE Divine LOVE AND WISDOM, where the creation of the universe is treated of. As the First Source is present most interiorly in all progression, it follows that the Divine Proceeding, that is, the Divine Providence, in everything it does regards an image of the Infinite and Eternal. This it regards in all things, in some things obviously to perception, but in others not. It presents this image obviously to perception in the variety of all things, in their fructification, and in their multiplication.
[2] An image of the Infinite and Eternal in the variety of all things is apparent in this, that there is not one thing the same as another, nor can there be to eternity. This is manifest to the eye in the faces of men from the beginning of creation; and equally so from their minds (animus) of which their faces are images; and also from their affections, perceptions and thoughts, for the mind consists of these. Hence it is that in the universal heaven there are not two angels or two spirits who are the same, nor indeed can there be to eternity; and so it is with every object of sight in the two worlds, the natural and the spiritual. From this it may be evident that variety is infinite and eternal.
[3] An image of the Infinite and Eternal in the fructification and multiplication of all things is evident in the vegetable kingdom from the power implanted in seeds, and in the animal kingdom from prolification, especially in the family of fishes; for if they were to fructify and multiply to the extent of their power, they would within a century fill the spaces of the whole world, and even of the universe. From this it is clear that in this power is latent the endeavour of self-propagation to infinity. As fructification and multiplication have not failed from the beginning of creation, nor will ever fail to eternity, it follows that in this power there is also the endeavour of self-propagation to eternity.
DP 57. It is the same with men with regard to their affections which belong to their love, and to their perceptions which belong to their wisdom. The variety of both of these is infinite and eternal; so also is their fructification and multiplication, which are spiritual. No man enjoys affection and perception so like another’s as to be the same; nor is it possible to eternity. Moreover, affections may be fructified and perceptions multiplied without end; and it is well known that knowledge is inexhaustible. This power of fructification and multiplication without end, or to infinity and to eternity, exists in natural things with men, in spiritual things with spiritual angels, and in celestial things with celestial angels. Not only are affections, perceptions and knowledges of this nature in general, but also every single thing in these, even the least, is such in particular. They are of this nature because they have their existence from the Infinite and Eternal in itself by means of what is infinite and eternal from itself. But since the finite has nothing of the Divine in itself, there is in man or angel nothing of this nature, not even the most minute, as his own; for a man or an angel is finite, and only a receptacle, in itself dead; and what is living in him is from the Divine Proceeding, conjoined to him by contiguity, and this appears to him to be his own. That this is so will be seen in what follows.
DP 58. The Divine Providence regards what is infinite and eternal from itself especially in saving the human race, because the Divine Providence has for its end a heaven from the human race, as was shown above (n. 27-45); and because this is the end it follows that the reformation and the regeneration of man, thus his salvation, is what the Divine Providence especially regards; for heaven exists from those who have been saved or regenerated. Since to regenerate man is to unite good and truth in him, or love and wisdom, as they are united in the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, therefore the Divine Providence especially regards this in saving the human race; and the image of the Infinite and Eternal exists in man Only in the marriage of good and truth. That the Divine Proceeding effects this marriage in the human race is well known from those who, being filled with the Divine Proceeding, which is called the Holy Spirit, have prophesied, of whom mention is made in the Word; and from those who, being enlightened, see Divine truths in the light of heaven. This is especially the case in angels, who sensibly perceive presence, influx and conjunction; but these angels also recognize that the conjunction is only what may be called adjunction.
DP 59. It has not been known hitherto that the Divine Providence in all its proceedings with man regards his eternal state. It can regard nothing else, because the Divine is Infinite and Eternal, and the Infinite and Eternal, that is, the Divine, is not in time, and hence all future things are present to Him; and because this is the nature of the Divine, it follows that the eternal is in all things that it does, in general and in particular. Those, however, who think from time and space have difficulty in perceiving this, not only because they love temporal things, but also because they think from what is present in the world and not from what is present in heaven, for this to them is as far away as the end of the earth. When, however, those who are in the Divine think from what is present, they think also from what is eternal, because they think from the Lord. They say to themselves, "What is that which is not eternal? Is not the temporal comparatively as nothing, and does it not also become nothing when it comes to an end? It is not so with what is eternal: that alone is, because its being (esse) has no end." To think thus while thinking from what is present is to think at the same time from what is eternal; and when a man so thinks, and at the same time so lives, then the Divine Proceeding with him, that is, the Divine Providence, regards in all its progress the state of his eternal life in heaven, and leads him to that state. It will be seen in what follows that the Divine regards what is eternal in all men, the wicked as well as the good.
DP 60. IV. AN IMAGE OF THE INFINITE AND ETERNAL IS PRESENTED IN AN ANGELIC HEAVEN. Among the things of which it is necessary to have some knowledge is also the angelic heaven; for everyone who has any religion thinks about heaven and wishes to go there. Heaven, however, is granted to none but those who know the way to it and who walk therein. This way can in some measure be known from a knowledge of the character of those who constitute heaven, and also by knowing that no one becomes an angel, that is, comes into heaven, unless he carries with him from the world something of the angelic character; and in this there is present a knowledge of the way from walking in it, and a walking in the way through a knowledge of it. Moreover, in the spiritual world there are actually ways which lead to every society of heaven and to every society of hell, and each one, as if from himself, sees his own way. He sees it because there are ways there, one for every love; and love opens the way, and leads him to his fellows; nor does anyone see other ways than the way of his own love. From this it is clear that angels are nothing but heavenly loves, for otherwise they would not have seen the ways leading to heaven. This, however, may be more evident from a description of heaven.
DP 61. Every man’s spirit is affection and thought thence derived; and as all affection is of love and thought is of the understanding, every spirit is his own love and his own understanding thence derived. For this reason when a man thinks solely from his own spirit, as happens when he meditates at home by himself he thinks from the affection which belongs to his love. Thus it may be evident that when a man becomes a spirit, which is the case after death, he is the affection of his own love and is only that thought which belongs to his affection. He is an evil affection or lust if his love has been a love of evil; and he is a good affection if his love has been a love of good; and everyone has a good affection so far as he has shunned evils as sins; and everyone has an evil affection so far as he has not so shunned them. Now, since all spirits and angels are affections, it is clear that the universal angelic heaven is nothing but the love of all the affections of good, and the wisdom thence derived of all the perceptions of truth; and since every good and truth is from the Lord, and the Lord is Love itself and Wisdom itself it follows that the angelic heaven is an image of Him. Moreover, since the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom in their form are Man, it also follows that the angelic heaven cannot be otherwise than in such a form. But more will be said concerning this in the following article.
DP 62. The angelic heaven is an image of the Infinite and Eternal because it is an image of the Lord, and the Lord is the Infinite and Eternal. An image of the Infinite and Eternal itself appears in this, that heaven is composed of myriads of myriads of angels, consisting of as many societies as there are general affections of heavenly love; that every angel in each society is distinctly his own affection; that the form of heaven, which is before the Lord as one, just as a man is one, is from so many affections in general and in particular; and that this form is perfected to eternity according to the increase in numbers, for the more numerous they are who enter into the form of the Divine Love, which is the Form of forms, the more perfect the union becomes. From these considerations it is clearly evident that an image of the Infinite and Eternal is presented in the angelic heaven.
DP 63. From the knowledge of heaven given by this brief description it is clear that it is affection from the love of good that makes heaven in man. But who at the present day knows this? Indeed, who knows what an affection of the love of good is, and that affections of the love of good are innumerable, in fact, infinite? For, as has been said, every angel is distinctly his own affection, and the form of heaven is the form of all the affections of the Divine Love there. No one can unite all affections in this form but He who is Love itself and also Wisdom itself, and who is at once Infinite and Eternal; for what is infinite and eternal is in everything of the form, what is infinite being in the conjunction, and what is eternal in the perpetuity; and if what is infinite and eternal were withdrawn, the form would dissolve in an instant. Who else can unite affections into a form? Who else, indeed, can incorporate into it a single part? For one (constituent part) can only be brought into a union from the universal idea of the whole, and the universal of all can only be formed into a union from a particular idea of each constituent. This form is composed of myriads of myriads, and myriads enter it each year, and will do so to eternity. All infants enter it, and as many adults as there are affections of the love of good. From all this again may be seen an image of the Infinite and Eternal in the angelic heaven.
DP 64. V. THE INMOST OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS TO REGARD WHAT IS INFINITE AND ETERNAL IN FORMING THE ANGELIC HEAVEN, IN ORDER THAT IT MAY BE BEFORE THE LORD AS ONE MAN, THE IMAGE OF HIMSELF. It may be seen in the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 59-86) that the universal heaven is as one man before the Lord, and likewise every society in heaven; and that consequently every angel is a man in perfect form, and this because God the Creator, who is the Lord from eternity, is Man; also that there is thus a correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man (HH 87-102). That the universal heaven is as one man has not been seen by me, because the universal heaven cannot be seen by anyone but the Lord alone; but that an entire society of heaven, greater or smaller, appeared as one man, has several times been seen by me; and it was then said that the greatest society, which is heaven in its entire aggregate, so appears, but only before the Lord, and that this is the reason why every angel is in complete form a man.
DP 65. Since the universal heaven is in the sight of the Lord as one man, therefore heaven is divided into as many general societies as there are organs, viscera and members in a man; and each general society is divided into as many less general or particular societies as there are larger divisions in each of the viscera and organs; and from this it is clear what the nature of heaven is. Now, because the Lord is Man Himself, and heaven is His image, therefore to be in heaven is called being in the Lord. That the Lord is Man Himself may be seen in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 11-13, 285-289).
DP 66. From these considerations this interior truth, which may be termed angelic, can in some measure be seen, namely, that every affection of good and at the same time of truth is in its form a man; for whatever proceeds from the Lord is, by its derivation from His Divine Love, an affection of good and, by its derivation from His Divine Wisdom, an affection of truth. The affection of truth which proceeds from the Lord appears in an angel and in man as a perception and consequent thought of truth, because attention is given to the perception and thought, and but little attention to the affection from which these spring, although they proceed from the Lord as one with the affection of truth.
DP 67. Now since man by creation is a heaven in the least form, and consequently an image of the Lord, and since heaven consists of as many affections as there are angels, and each affection in its form is a man, it follows that it is the continual design of the Divine Providence that man may become a heaven in form and consequently an image of the Lord, and, since this is effected by means of the affection of good and truth, that he may become such an affection. Although this is the continual design of the Divine Providence, its inmost design is that a man may be in this or that place in heaven, or in this or that place in the Divine Heavenly Man; for thus is he in the Lord. This happens, however, only with those whom the Lord can lead to heaven; and as the Lord foresees this, He also provides continually that man may become like this; for in this way everyone who suffers himself to be led to heaven is prepared for his own place in heaven.
DP 68. As was said above, heaven is divided into as many societies as there are organs, viscera and members in a man; and in these no part can be in any place but its own. Since, then, angels are such parts of the Divine Heavenly Man, and none can become angels but those who have been men in the world, it follows that the man who suffers himself to be led to heaven is continually prepared by the Lord for his own place; and this is done by means of such an affection of good and truth as corresponds with it. Moreover, to this place every angel man is assigned after his departure from the world. This is the inmost design of the Divine Providence in regard to heaven.
DP 69. The man, however, who does not suffer himself to be led to heaven and assigned there is prepared for his own place in hell. For man of himself continually tends to the lowest of the hells, but he is continually withheld by the Lord; and he who cannot be withheld is prepared for a certain place there, to which he also is assigned immediately after his departure from the world. This place is exactly opposite to one in heaven, for hell is the opposite of heaven. Therefore as the man who is now an angel has his place allotted to him in heaven according to his affection of good and truth, so the man who is a devil has his place allotted to him in hell according to his affection of evil and falsity. For two opposites, similarly arranged, are maintained in connected series over against one another. This is the inmost design of the Divine Providence in regard to hell.
IV. THERE ARE LAWS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, AND THESE ARE UNKNOWN TO MEN
DP 70. It is well known that there is a Divine Providence, but it is not known what its nature is. This is not known because the laws of the Divine Providence are interior truths, hitherto concealed within the wisdom of the angels; but they are now to be revealed in order that what belongs to the Lord may be ascribed to Him, and what does not belong to man may not be ascribed to any man. For very many in the world attribute all things to themselves and their own prudence; and what they cannot so ascribe they call accidental or happening by chance, not knowing that human prudence is nothing and that accidental and happening by chance are empty words.
[2] It is said that the laws of the Divine Providence are interior truths, hitherto concealed within the wisdom of the angels. This is because in the Christian world, as far as religion is concerned (ex religione), the understanding has been closed in respect to Divine things, and consequently has become in such things so dull and resisting that man has not been able because he has not been willing, or has not been willing because he has not been able, to understand anything about the Divine Providence except the fact that it exists, and to reason whether it exists or not, and also whether it is only universal or also particular. When, so far as religion is concerned, the understanding has been closed in respect to Divine things, it could advance no further.
[3] Since it has been acknowledged in the Church that man is unable from himself to do good that is in itself good, and is unable from himself to think truth that is in itself truth, and since these are one with the Divine Providence so that belief in one depends on belief in the other, therefore, lest one be affirmed and the other be denied and thus both perish, it must be explicitly revealed what the Divine Providence is. This, however, cannot be revealed unless the laws are disclosed by which the Lord provides and rules the things of man’s will and understanding; for these laws enable man to know the nature of the Divine Providence; and only he who knows its nature can acknowledge it, for in this case he sees it. For this reason the laws of the Divine Providence, hitherto concealed within the wisdom of the angels, are now revealed.
V. IT IS A LAW OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD ACT FROM FREEDOM ACCORDING TO REASON
DP 71. It is well known that man has the freedom of thinking and willing as he pleases, but not the freedom to say whatever he thinks and to do whatever he wills. Therefore the freedom that is here meant is spiritual freedom, and not natural freedom, except when the two make one; for thinking and willing are spiritual but speaking and doing are natural. Moreover, these are clearly distinguished in man; for a man can think what he does not speak, and can will what he does not do. From this it is clear that the spiritual and the natural in man are discriminated, so that he cannot pass from one to the other unless by an act of determination. This determination may be compared to a door, which must first be unfastened and then opened, a door which stands open as it were in those who think and will from reason in accordance with the civil laws of the state and the moral laws of society; for they say what they think and do what they will; but a door which stands closed as it were in those who think and will in opposition to those laws. He who pays attention to what he wills and to his consequent actions will observe that such determination takes place, sometimes frequently in a single conversation and in a single action. These things have been stated at this point to make it clear that by acting from freedom according to reason is meant to think and will and thence to speak and do freely what is in accordance with reason.
DP 72. But as few know that this can be a law of the Divine Providence, chiefly because man has thus freedom also to think evil and falsity, although the Divine Providence is continually leading man to think and to will what is good and true, therefore, that this may be clearly perceived it will be set forth distinctly step by step in the following order:
I. -Man has reason and freedom, or rationality and liberty; and these two faculties are from the Lord in man.
II. -Whatever a man does from freedom, whether it be of reason or not, provided it is according to his reason, appears to him to be his own.
III. -Whatever a man does from freedom according to his thought, is appropriated to him as his own, and remains with him.
IV. -It is by means of these two faculties (rationality and liberty) that man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord; and without them he cannot be reformed and regenerated.
V. -By means of these two faculties man can be so far reformed and regenerated as he can be led by means of them to acknowledge that everything true and good that he thinks and does is from the Lord, and not from himself.
VI. -The conjunction of the Lord with man, and the reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord, are effected by means of these two faculties.
VII. -The Lord preserves these two faculties in man unimpaired and as sacred in every step of His Divine Providence.
VIII. -Therefore it is of the Divine Providence that man should act from freedom according to reason.
DP 73. I. MAN HAS REASON AND FREEDOM, OR RATIONALITY AND LIBERTY; AND THESE TWO FACULTIES ARE FROM THE LORD IN MAN. That man has the faculty of understanding, which is rationality, and the faculty of thinking, willing, speaking and doing that which he understands, which is liberty; and that these two faculties are from the Lord, in man, have been treated of in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 264-270, 425); and also above (n. 43, 44). As many doubts, however, may arise concerning both these faculties when they are made subjects of thought, I will at the outset merely present some observations on freedom of acting according to reason in man.
[2] First, however, it should be known that all freedom is of love, insomuch that love and freedom are one; and as love is the life of man, freedom also is of his life. For every delight that a man has is from his love, nor can delight come from any other source; and to act from the delight of love is to act from freedom, for a man is led by delight as something that is borne along by the current of a river. Now, since there are many kinds of loves, some in harmony and others discordant, it follows that there are likewise many kinds of freedom; but in general there are three, natural, rational and spiritual.
[3] Natural freedom every man has from inheritance. From it man loves nothing but self and the world: his first love is nothing else. Since all evils exist from these two loves, and hence also become evils of love, it follows that to think and to will evils is man’s natural freedom; and that when he has confirmed evils in himself by reasonings he does evils from freedom in accordance with his reason. To act thus is from his faculty called liberty, and to confirm the evils is from his faculty called rationality.
[4] A man’s desire, for example, to commit adultery, to defraud, to blaspheme, to take revenge, is from the love into which he is born; and when he confirms these evils in himself and thereby makes them allowable, then from delight in the love of them he thinks and wills them freely as it were in accordance with his reason, and so far as civil laws do not restrain, he speaks and acts accordingly. It is from the Divine Providence of the Lord that man is permitted to do so, because he has freedom or liberty. Man is in this freedom by nature, because from inheritance, and in this freedom are those who by reasonings have confirmed it in themselves from the delight of self-love and the love of the world.
[5] Rational freedom is from the love of reputation for the sake of honour and gain. The delight of this love is to appear externally as a moral man; and because such a one loves this reputation, he does not defraud, commit adultery, take revenge, or blaspheme; and because he makes his conduct a matter of reason, he also from freedom according to his reason acts in sincere, chaste and friendly ways; indeed, he can from reason speak well of such conduct. But if his rational is merely natural, and not at the same time spiritual, this freedom is only external and not internal freedom; for he does not in the least interiorly love such good, but only outwardly for the sake of reputation, as has been said; and for this reason the good deeds that he does are not in themselves good. Still, he can say that such things ought to be done for the public welfare; but this he says not from any love of the public welfare, but from the love of his own honour or gain. His freedom, therefore, derives nothing from a love of the public welfare, nor does his reason derive anything, for it harmonises with his love. Consequently this rational freedom is merely a more interior natural freedom; and this freedom also by the Divine Providence of the Lord remains with every man.
[6] Spiritual freedom is from the love of eternal life. Into this love and its delight no one comes but the man who thinks that evils are sins, and consequently does not will them, and at the same time looks to the Lord. As soon as a man does so, he is in this freedom; for no one has the power not to will evils because they are sins and so to refrain from doing them, unless from a more interior or higher freedom which is from a more interior or higher love. At first this freedom does not appear to be freedom, and yet it is; and later it does so appear, when the man acts from freedom itself according to reason itself, in thinking, willing, speaking and doing what is good and true. This freedom increases as natural freedom decreases and becomes subservient; and it conjoins itself with rational freedom which it purifies.
[7] Everyone may come into this freedom provided he is willing to think that there is an eternal life, and that the temporary delight and bliss of a life in time are but as a fleeting shadow compared with the never-ending delight and bliss of a life in eternity. This a man can think if he wishes, because he has rationality and liberty, and because the Lord, from whom these two faculties are derived, continually gives him the ability to do so.
DP 74. II. WHATEVER A MAN DOES FROM FREEDOM, WHETHER IT BE OF REASON OR NOT, PROVIDED IT BE ACCORDING TO HIS REASON, APPEARS TO HIM TO BE HIS OWN. What rationality is and what liberty is, faculties which are proper to man, cannot be known more clearly than by a comparison of men with beasts. For beasts have no rationality or faculty of understanding, and no liberty or faculty of willing freely. Consequently they have no understanding and no will; but instead of understanding they have knowledge, and instead of will they have affection, and both of these are natural. As beasts do not possess these two faculties, they have no thought; but instead of thought they have an internal sight which makes one with their external sight by correspondence.
[2] Every affection has its own companion, a married partner as it were. An affection of natural love has knowledge, an affection of spiritual love, understanding, and an affection of celestial love, wisdom. For an affection without its companion as a married partner has no reality; it is as being (esse) without existing (existere), and as substance without form, of which nothing can be predicated. Hence it is, that in every created thing there is something that is referable to the marriage of good and truth, as has been shown above in many places. In beasts there is a marriage of affection and knowledge, the affection in them pertaining to natural good and the knowledge to natural truth.
[3] Now since affection and knowledge in beasts act completely as one, and their affection cannot be raised above their knowledge, and their knowledge not above their affection, but when raised they are both elevated together; and since they have no spiritual mind into which, or into the light and heat of which, they can be raised, therefore they have not the faculty of understanding or rationality, nor the faculty of willing freely or liberty; they have merely natural affection with its knowledge. The natural affection which they have is that of supplying themselves with food and shelter, of propagating their kind, of fleeing from and avoiding injury, together with all the knowledge which this affection requires. Such being the state of their life they cannot think, "I wish this or I do not; I know this or I do not"; and still less, "I understand this, and I love this"; but from their affection by means of their knowledge they are borne along without rationality and without liberty. That they are so borne along is not from the natural but from the spiritual world; because it is not possible for anything to exist in the natural world out of connection with the spiritual world, for every cause that produces an effect is from the spiritual world. Something on this subject may also be seen below (n. 96).
DP 75. It is otherwise with man: he has not only the affection of natural love but also the affection of spiritual love and the affection of celestial love. For the human mind is of three degrees, as was shown in Part Three of the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. Consequently, a man can be raised up from natural knowledge into spiritual understanding and thence into celestial wisdom; and from these two, understanding and wisdom, he can look to the Lord and so be conjoined to Him, and thus live forever. But this elevation in respect to affection would not be possible unless man had from rationality the power of raising the understanding, and from liberty the power of willing this.
[2] By means of these two faculties man can reflect within himself upon those things that he perceives outside of himself by means of his bodily senses; and he can also reflect on a higher level upon what he thinks on a lower. For everyone can say, I have thought this, and I think this"; also, "I have willed this, and I will this"; and again, "I understand this because it is so; I love this because it is of such a kind"; and so on. Hence it is clear that man thinks above thought, seeing it as if it were beneath him. This power he derives from rationality and liberty- from rationality that he can reflect on a higher level, and from liberty that from affection he wills so to think, for if he had not the liberty so to think he would not have the will, nor the thought which is thence derived.
[3] For this reason those who do not wish to understand anything except what pertains to the world and its nature, or to understand what moral and spiritual good and truth are, cannot be raised from knowledge into understanding, still less into wisdom. For they have closed up the two faculties, rationality and liberty, thereby making themselves to be men only in this respect that they have the capacity to understand if they will, and also to will, from the rationality and liberty implanted in them. From these two faculties man is able to think, and to speak from thought. For the rest, men are not men but beasts; and some from the abuse of these faculties are worse than beasts.
DP 76. Everyone whose rationality is not obscured may see or comprehend that man, without the appearance that it is his own, cannot be in any affection of knowing, or in any affection of understanding. For every delight and pleasure, and therefore everything that belongs to the will, is from affection which is of love. Who can wish to know anything and to understand anything unless he has some pleasure from the affection? And who can have this pleasure of affection unless that by which he is affected appears to be his own? If there were nothing of his own but everything another’s, that is to say, if anyone from his own affections should suggest something to the mind of another who had no affection for knowing and understanding as if from himself would that other receive it, or indeed could he receive it? Would he not be like what is called a dullard or a stock?
[2] From this it may be clearly evident that, although everything that a man perceives and thence thinks and knows, and wills and does in accordance with the perception, flows into him, still it is of the Divine Providence of the Lord that it should appear to be his own; for, as has been said, man would otherwise receive nothing, and therefore could not be gifted with any understanding and wisdom. It is well known that everything that is good and true is not man’s but the Lord’s, and yet that it appears to man to be his own; and because everything that is good and true so appears, even all things of the Church and of heaven, consequently all things of love and wisdom, and also of charity and faith, so appear, and yet nothing of these is man’s. No one can receive them from the Lord unless it appears to him that he perceives these things as if from himself. From these considerations the truth (veritas) on this matter may be evident, namely, that whatever a man does from freedom, whether it be of reason or not, provided it be according to his reason, appears to him to be his own.
DP 77. Everyone is able, from his faculty called rationality, to understand that this or that good is useful to society, and that this or that evil is harmful to it; for example, that justice, sincerity and the chastity of marriage are useful to society, and that injustice, insincerity and adulterous relations with the wives of others are harmful to it; consequently that these evils in themselves are injuries, and that these goods in themselves are benefits. Who, therefore, if he be so disposed, cannot make these things matters of his own reason? He has rationality and he has liberty; and so far as he, for the reasons mentioned, shuns these evils in himself his rationality and liberty are uncovered and become apparent; they assume control of his affairs and grant him perception and power; and so far as he acts thus, he regards these goods as a friend regards friends.
[2] In view of these considerations a man from his faculty called rationality is able to form conclusions regarding the goods which are useful to society in the spiritual world, and regarding the evils which are harmful there, if in place of evils he understands sins, and in place of goods, the works of charity. This also a man is able to make a matter of his reason, if he be so disposed, since he has rationality and liberty; and so far as he shuns these evils as sins, his rationality and liberty are uncovered and become apparent; they assume control of his affairs and grant him perception and power; and so far as he acts thus, he regards the good works of charity as a neighbour regards the neighbour, from mutual love.
[3] Now because the Lord, for the sake of reception and conjunction, wills that whatever a man does freely according to reason should appear to him to be his own, and as this is in accordance with reason itself, it follows that man can will to act thus from reason, because it constitutes his eternal happiness; and that he can do so from the Divine power of the Lord when this is invoked.
DP 78. III. WHATEVER A MAN DOES FROM FREEDOM ACCORDING TO HIS THOUGHT, IS APPROPRIATED TO HIM AS HIS OWN, AND REMAINS WITH HIM. The reason is that man’s proprium and his freedom make one. Man’s proprium is of his life; and what a man does from his life he does from freedom. Further, man’s proprium is what is of his love, for love is the life of everyone, and what a man does from his life’s love that also he does from freedom. Man acts from freedom according to thought, because whatever is of the life or love of anyone is also an object of thought and is confirmed by thought; and when it has been confirmed then he does it from freedom according to his thought. For whatever a man does, he does from the will by means of the understanding; and freedom is of the will, and thought is of the understanding.
[2] Moreover, man can act from freedom contrary to reason, and he can also act according to reason and not from freedom; but such acts are not appropriated to the man, being only the acts of his lips and of his body, and not of his spirit or heart; but the acts of his spirit and heart, when they also become the acts of his lips and of his body, are appropriated to him. That this is so could be shown by many illustrations; but this is not the place for them.
[3] By being appropriated to man is meant to enter his life and become part of it, consequently to become his own. However, it will be seen in what follows that there is nothing that is man’s own: it merely seems as if it were. Here it needs only to be said that all the good which a man does from freedom according to reason is appropriated to him as his own, because in thinking, willing, speaking and doing it appears to him to be his own; and yet, the good is not man’s but belongs to the Lord in him, as may be seen above (n. 76). But how evil is appropriated to man will be seen in the proper article.
DP 79. What a man does from freedom according to his thought is also said to remain with him, since nothing that a man has appropriated to himself can be eradicated; for it has come to be of his love and at the same time of his reason, that is, of his will and at the same time of his understanding, and consequently of his life. This can be removed indeed, but still it cannot be expelled; and when it is removed it is transferred as it were from the centre to the circumference, and there it stays. This is what is meant by its remaining.
[2] For instance, if a man in his boyhood and youth has appropriated to himself a certain evil by doing it from the delight of his love, such as fraud, blasphemy, revenge or adultery; and if he has committed those evils from freedom according to thought, he has indeed appropriated them to himself; but if he afterwards repents, shuns them and regards them as sins that are to be abhorred, and so from freedom according to reason desists from them, then there are appropriated to him the good principles to which those evils are opposed. These good principles then constitute the centre, and they remove the evils towards the circumference further and further as he abhors and turns away from them. Still, however, they cannot be so expelled that they can be said to be extirpated, although by their removal they may appear to be extirpated. This results from man being withheld from evil and being held in good by the Lord. All man’s hereditary evil as well as his actual evil may be treated in this way.
[3] Moreover, I have seen this proved by experience with some in heaven, who thought they were free from evil because they were held in good by the Lord; but lest they should believe that the good in which they were was their own, they were sent down from heaven and again let into their evils, until they acknowledged that they were in evils from themselves but in good from the Lord. After this acknowledgment they were led back to heaven.
[4] It should be known, therefore, that such good is appropriated to man only in the sense that it is always the Lord’s in man; and that so far as man acknowledges this the Lord grants that the good may appear to man to be his own; that is, that it may appear to man that he loves the neighbour or has charity as from himself, that he believes or has faith as from himself that he does good and understands truth, and thus is wise, as from himself. From these considerations one who is enlightened may see the nature and the strength of the appearance in which the Lord wills that man should be; and the Lord wills this for the sake of his salvation; for without this appearance no one can be saved. On this subject see also what has been shown above (n. 42-45).
DP 80. Nothing is appropriated to man that he merely thinks, or even that he thinks to will, unless at the same time he wills to such a degree as to do it when opportunity offers. This is because when a man does anything under these circumstances he does it from the will through the understanding, or from the affection of the will through the thought of the understanding; but so long as it is a matter of thought alone it cannot be appropriated, because the understanding does not conjoin itself with the will, or the thought of the understanding does not conjoin itself with the affection of the will; but the will together with its affection conjoins itself with the understanding and its thought, as has been shown in many places in Part Five of the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. This is meant by these words of the Lord:
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which goeth out of the heart through the mouth defileth the man. (Matt. 15:11, 17, 18, 19).
By "the mouth" in the spiritual sense is meant thought, because thought speaks by means of the mouth; and by "the heart" in that sense is meant affection which is of love. If a man thinks and speaks from this affection, he then defiles himself. Again, in (Luke 6:45), by "the heart" is meant affection which is of the love or will, and by "the mouth", thought which is of the understanding.
DP 81. The evils which a man believes to be allowable, even though he does not commit them, are also appropriated to him; since whatever is allowable in the thought comes from the will, for then there is consent. When, therefore, a man believes any evil to be allowable, he loosens an internal restraint upon it, and he is withheld from doing it only by external restraints, such as fears; and because his spirit favours that evil, when external restraints are removed he does it as allowable; and meanwhile, he continually does it in his spirit. But concerning this see (Life 108-113).
DP 82. IV. IT IS BY MEANS OF THESE TWO FACULTIES (RATIONALITY AND LIBERTY) THAT MAN IS REFORMED AND REGENERATED BY THE LORD; AND WITHOUT THEM HE CANNOT BE REFORMED AND REGENERATED. The Lord teaches that
Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3, 5, 7).
Very few, however, know what it is to be born again or regenerated, because it has not been known what love and charity are, nor consequently what faith is. For one who does not know what love and charity are cannot know what faith is, since charity and faith make one, like good and truth, and like affection which belongs to the will and thought which belongs to the understanding. Concerning this union see (DLW 427-431); also (HD13-24); and also above (n. 3-20).
DP 83. The reason why no one can come into the kingdom of God unless he has been born again is, that man by inheritance from his parents is born into evils of every kind, with the faculty of becoming spiritual by the removal of these evils; and unless he becomes spiritual he cannot come into heaven. From being natural to become spiritual is to be born again or regenerated. But in order that it may be known how man is regenerated these three things must be considered: the nature of his first state, which is a state of condemnation; the nature of his second state, which is a state of reformation; and the nature of his third state, which is a state of regeneration.
[2] Man’s first state, which is a state of condemnation, everyone has by inheritance from his parents; for man is thereby born into the love of self and the love of the world, and from these as wellsprings, into evils of every kind. He is led by the delights of these loves, and these delights prevent him from knowing that he is in evils, for every delight of love is felt as good. Therefore, unless a man is regenerated, he knows no other than that to love himself and the world above all things is goodness itself; and that to rule over all, and to possess the wealth of all others, is the highest good. Moreover, this is the source of all evil; for a man regards no one but himself from love; and if he regards another from love, it is as a devil regards a devil, and as a thief regards a thief, when they act in common.
[3] Those who confirm in themselves these loves and the evils which flow from them, from the delight they have in them, remain natural and become sensually corporeal, and in their own thought, which is the thought of their spirit, they are insane (spiritually); still they are able, while in the world, to speak and to act rationally and wisely, because they are men, and therefore have rationality and liberty; but even this they do from the love of self and the world. When these men after death become spirits, they cannot have any other delight than that which they had in spirit while in the world; and that is the delight of infernal love, which turns to what is unpleasant, painful and direful, meant in the Word by torment and hell-fire. Hence it is clear that man’s first state is a state of condemnation, and that they are in it who do not suffer themselves to be regenerated.
[4] Man’s second state, which is a state of reformation, is that in which he begins to think about heaven on account of the joy there; and thus concerning God from whom the joy of heaven comes to him. At first such thoughts spring from the delight of self-love; for to him this delight is heavenly joy. But as long as the delight of this love reigns, together with the delight of the evils flowing from it, he cannot but understand that to go to heaven is to pour out prayers, listen to preachings, take part in the Holy Supper, give to the poor, help the needy, spend money on churches, make contributions to hospitals, and so on. A man in this state has no other idea than that he is saved merely by thinking about those things which religion teaches, whether it be about what is called faith, or about what is called faith and charity. He has no other idea than that he is saved merely by having those thoughts, because he gives no heed to the evils in which he takes delight; and as long as their delight remains, the evils also remain. The delights of evil spring from their lust, which continually breathes them forth and also brings them into being when no fear restrains.
[5] As long as evils remain in the lusts and consequently in the delights of their love, there is no faith, charity, piety, or worship, except in externals only, which to the world seem real, and yet are not. They may be compared to water issuing from an impure fountain, which no one can drink. As long as man is such that he thinks about heaven and about God from a principle of religion and not at all about evils as sins, he is still in the first state; but he comes into the second state, the state of reformation, when he begins to think that there is such a thing as sin; and still more when he thinks that this or that is a sin, and spends some little time in examining it in himself, and does not will it.
[6] Man’s third state, which is a state of regeneration, follows upon and is a continuation of the former state. It begins when man desists from evils as sins, and it progresses as he shuns them, and it is perfected as he fights against them; and then, as he from the Lord conquers them, he is regenerated. With one who is regenerated the order of life is changed. From being natural he becomes spiritual; for when the natural is separated from the spiritual it is contrary to order, and the spiritual is according to order. Therefore the regenerate man acts from charity, and makes what belongs to his charity belong also to his faith. Yet he becomes spiritual only so far as he is in truths, for every man is regenerated by means of truths and a life according to them; because by means of truths he knows the life, and by means of the life he performs the truths. He thus unites good and truth, and this is the spiritual marriage in which is heaven.
DP 85. Man is reformed and regenerated by means of these two faculties, called rationality and liberty, and he cannot be reformed and regenerated without them; because it is by means of rationality that he can understand and know what is evil and what is good, and it is by means of liberty that he can will what he understands and knows. As long, however, as delight from the love of evil rules he cannot will freely what is good and what is true and make these principles of his reason and so appropriate them to himself. For, as was shown above, such things as a man does from freedom according to reason are appropriated to him as his own; and unless they are appropriated as his own, man is not reformed and regenerated. Again, man first acts from the delight of the love of goodness and truth when the delight of the love of evil and falsity has been removed, for two kinds of love’s delight which are opposite to each other cannot exist together at the same time. To act from the delight of love is to act from freedom; and because reason favours the love, it is also to act according to reason.
DP 86. Since the wicked man as well as the good has rationality and liberty, so the wicked man as well as the good is able to understand truth and to do good; but while the wicked man cannot do this from freedom according to reason, the good man can, because the wicked man is in the delight of the love of evil but the good man is in the delight of the love of good. Therefore the truth which the wicked man understands and the good which lie does are not appropriated to him, but such truth and good are appropriated to the good man; and unless they are appropriated as one’s own, reformation and regeneration are not possible. For with the wicked, evils with falsities are as it were at the centre while good principles with truths are at the circumference; whereas with the good, good principles with truths are at the centre while evils with falsities are at the circumference. In both cases the things which belong to the centre spread out even to the circumference as heat spreads from a central fire and cold from an icy centre. Thus with the wicked what is good at the circumference is defiled by evils from the centre, and with the good evils at the circumference are moderated by what is good from the centre. This is the reason why evils do not condemn a regenerate man and why good does not save an unregenerate man.
DP 87. V. BY MEANS OF THESE TWO FACULTIES MAN CAN BE SO FAR REFORMED AND REGENERATED AS HE CAN BE LED BY MEANS OF THEM TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT EVERYTHING TRUE AND GOOD THAT HE THINKS AND DOES IS FROM THE LORD, AND NOT FROM HIMSELF. It has just been stated above what reformation and regeneration are, and also that man is reformed and regenerated by means of the two faculties, rationality and liberty; and since this is done by means of these faculties something further will now be said concerning them. It is from rationality that man has the power to understand, and from liberty that he has the power to will, in both cases as if from himself. Nevertheless, a man cannot from freedom will what is good and consequently do it according to reason unless he is regenerate. A wicked man is only able to will evil from freedom and to do it according to thought which by confirmation he makes to appear rational. For evil can be confirmed as easily as good; but it is confirmed by means of fallacies and appearances, and these when confirmed become falsities; and when evil has been confirmed it appears to be rational.
DP 88. Everyone who has any thought from interior understanding can see that the power to will and to understand is not from man, bud is from Him who has Power itself, that is, Power in its essence. Only consider, what is the source of power? Is it not from Him who has it in its very potency, that is, who has it in Himself and thus from Himself? Power in itself, therefore, is Divine. Every power must have an opportunity which has to be given to it, and thus there must be an act of determination from an agency more internal or higher than itself. The eye has no power to see from itself, nor the ear to hear from itself, nor the mouth to speak from itself, nor the hand to act from itself. There must be an opportunity and a consequent determination from the mind. Nor has the mind from itself the power to think and to will this or that apart from something more internal or higher which directs the mind to it. It is the same with the power to understand and the power to will, which can be given only by Him who has in Himself the power to will and the power to understand.
[2] From these considerations it is clear that these two faculties called rationality and liberty are from the Lord and not from man; and because they are from the Lord, it follows that man wills and understands nothing whatever from himself, but only as if it were from himself. That this is so anyone may convince himself who knows and believes that the willing of every good and the understanding of every truth are from the Lord and not from man. The Word teaches in (John 3:27; 15:5), that A man cannot receive anything from himself, and cannot do anything from himself.
DP 89. Now because all willing is from love and all understanding is from wisdom, it follows that the power to will is from the Divine Love, and the power to understand is from the Divine Wisdom; and thus that both are from the Lord who is the Divine Love itself and the Divine Wisdom itself. Hence it follows that to act from freedom according to reason is from no other source. Everyone acts according to reason because freedom, like love, is inseparable from willing; but in man there is an interior and an exterior willing; and he can act according to the exterior and not at the same time according to the interior, as the hypocrite and the flatterer do; and yet such exterior willing is from freedom, because it is from the love of appearing to be other than what one really is, or it is from the love of some evil to which one is inclined from some love of his interior will. But as has been said above, a wicked man cannot from freedom according to his reason do anything except what is evil; moreover, he cannot from freedom according to reason do good. He can indeed do it, but not from that interior freedom which is his own, the freedom to which his exterior freedom owes the fact that it is not good.
DP 90. It is said that man can be so far reformed and regenerated as he can be led by means of these two faculties to acknowledge that everything good and true that he thinks and does is from the Lord, and not from himself. It is only by means of these two faculties that man can acknowledge this, because they are from the Lord and are the Lord’s in man, as is clear from what has been said above. It therefore follows that man cannot make this acknowledgment from himself, but from the Lord. Nevertheless he can do so as if it were from himself; for this the Lord grants to everyone. It may be that he believes this to be from himself; and yet in his wise moments he will acknowledge that it is not from himself. Otherwise, the truth that he thinks and the good that he does are not truth and good in themselves, for man is in them and not the Lord; and the good which has man in it, if it has salvation as its end, is meritorious good; but the good which has the Lord in it is not meritorious.
DP 91. However, very few can apprehend with the understanding that the acknowledgment of the Lord, and the acknowledgment that all that is good and true is from Him, are what cause a man to be reformed and regenerated. For it may be thought, What does that acknowledgment do, since the Lord is Omnipotent and wills the salvation of all, and consequently that He is able and willing to effect it, if only He is moved to mercy? But such thought is not from the Lord, nor is it from the interior sight of the understanding, that is, from any enlightenment; therefore it will be briefly stated here what is effected by acknowledgment.
[2] In the spiritual world where spaces are nothing but appearances, wisdom causes presence and love causes conjunction, each acting in turn. There is an acknowledgment of the Lord from wisdom, and there is an acknowledgment of the Lord from love. Acknowledgment of the Lord from wisdom, which regarded in itself is merely a matter of knowledge, results from doctrine; while acknowledgment of the Lord from love results from a life according to doctrine. This causes conjunction, but the other causes presence. The reason is that those who reject doctrine concerning the Lord remove themselves from Him; while those who reject life but not doctrine are present, yet separated. They are like friends who converse together, but who have no love for one another; and they are like two persons, one of whom speaks to the other as a friend but hates him as an enemy.
[3] That this is so is well known from the common idea that he who teaches well and lives well is saved, but not he who teaches well and lives wickedly; and also that he who does not acknowledge God cannot be saved. From these considerations it is clear what the nature of that religion is that merely thinks about the Lord from faith, as it is called, but does not do anything from charity. Therefore the Lord says:
Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, is like a man which built an house, and laid the foundation on a rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth. (Luke 6:46-49).
DP 92. VI. THE CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD WITH MAN, AND THE RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF MAN WITH THE LORD, ARE EFFECTED BY MEANS OF THESE TWO FACULTIES. Conjunction with the Lord and regeneration are one, for so far as anyone is conjoined to the Lord he is regenerated. Therefore all that has been said concerning regeneration may be said of conjunction, and all that has been said concerning conjunction may be said of regeneration. That there is a conjunction of the Lord with man, and a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord, the Lord Himself teaches in John:
Abide in me, and I in you.... He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. (John 15:4, 5).
At that day ye shall know that ye are in me, and I in you. (John 14:20).
[2] Anyone may see from reason alone that there is no conjunction of minds (animus) unless it is also reciprocal, and that what is reciprocal conjoins. If anyone loves another, and is not loved in return, then as he approaches the other withdraws; but if he is loved in return, then as he approaches the other also approaches, and conjunction takes place. Moreover, love wills to be loved: this is inherent in it; and so far as love is loved in return it is in itself and in its own delight. From this it is clear that if the Lord only loves man, and if He were not to be loved in turn by man, the Lord would approach and man would withdraw. Thus the Lord would continually will to draw near to man and to enter into him, while man would turn his back and depart. This is the case with those who are in hell; but with those who are in heaven there is mutual conjunction.
[3] As the Lord wills conjunction with man for the sake of his salvation, He also provides that there shall be in man a reciprocal principle, by which the good he wills and does from freedom, and the truth which, from that willing, he thinks and speaks according to reason, shall appear as if from himself; and that such good in his will and such truth in his understanding shall appear as his own. Indeed, they appear to man as if from himself and as his own just as if they were his own, with no difference whatever. Consider whether a man by any of his senses perceives otherwise. Concerning this appearance as if from oneself, see above (n. 74-77); and concerning appropriation as one’s own (n. 78-81). The only difference is, that man ought to acknowledge that he does good and thinks truth not from himself but from the Lord, and consequently that the good he does and the truth he thinks are not his own. To think in this way, because it is the truth, from some degree of love in the will, effects conjunction; for thus man looks to the Lord, and the Lord looks to man.
DP 93. It has been granted me to hear and to see in the spiritual world what the difference is between those who believe all good to be from the Lord and those who believe good to be from themselves. Those who believe good to be from the Lord turn the face to Him and receive the delight and the blessedness of good; but those who believe good to be from themselves look to themselves and think within themselves that the merit is theirs. Because they look to themselves they are able to perceive only the delight of their own good, which is not the delight of good but the delight of evil. For what is man’s own is evil, and the delight of evil when perceived as good is hell. Those who have done good and have believed it to be from themselves, if after death they do not receive the truth that all good is from the Lord, mix with infernal spirits (genii) and at length act in common with them; while those who receive that truth are reformed. However, only those receive it who have looked to God in their life; and looking to God in the life is nothing else than shunning evils as sins.
DP 94. Conjunction of the Lord with man and the reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord is effected by loving the neighbour as oneself and loving the Lord above all things. To love the neighbour as oneself is to refrain from acting insincerely and unjustly towards him, not to hate him and burn with revenge against him, not to revile and defame him, not to commit adultery with his wife, and not to do other like things against him. Who cannot see that those who do such things do not love the neighbour as themselves? Those, however, who refrain from doing such things because they are evils against the neighbour and at the same time sins against the Lord deal in a sincere, just, friendly and faithful manner with the neighbour; and as the Lord does likewise, a reciprocal conjunction is effected. When there is reciprocal conjunction, whatever a man does to the neighbour he does from the Lord, and whatever a man does from the Lord is good. Then it is not the person but the good in the person that is the neighbour to him. To love the Lord above all things is nothing else than to do no evil to the Word, because the Lord is in the Word, to do no evil to the holy things of the Church, because the Lord is in the holy things of the Church, and to do no evil to the soul of anyone, for the soul of everyone is in the hand of the Lord. Those who shun these evils as heinous sins love the Lord above all things. But this none can do except those who love the neighbour as themselves, for these two loves are joined together.
DP 95. Because there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and of man with the Lord, there are two tables of the Law, one for the Lord and the other for man. So far as a man keeps the laws of his table as if from himself, the Lord enables him to keep the laws of His table. But the man who does not keep the laws of his table, which all have reference to the love of the neighbour, cannot keep the laws of the Lord’s table, which all have reference to the love of the Lord. How can a murderer, a thief, an adulterer, or a false witness love the Lord? Does not reason declare that to be of such a character and to love the Lord involves a contradiction? Is not the devil such? Can the devil do other than hate God? When, however, a man abhors murder, adultery, theft and false witness as infernal, then he can love the Lord, for he then turns his face from the devil to the Lord; and when he turns his face to the Lord love and wisdom are given to him. These enter man by the face, and not by the back of the neck. Because conjunction with the Lord is effected in this and in no other way, these two tables are called a covenant: and a covenant is a bond between two.
DP 96. VII. THE LORD PRESERVES THESE TWO FACULTIES IN MAN UNIMPAIRED AND AS SACRED IN EVERY STEP OF HIS DIVINE PROVIDENCE. This is because without these two faculties man would not have understanding and will and thus he would not be man; and because without these two faculties man could not have been conjoined to the Lord, and thus could not have been reformed and regenerated; and also because without these two faculties man would not have immortality and eternal life. That this is so can indeed be seen from a knowledge of what liberty and rationality are, which are these two faculties, as given in the preceding pages; but it cannot be seen clearly, unless the propositions just stated as reasons are presented to view as conclusions; they must therefore be explained.
[2] Without these two faculties man would not have will and understanding, and thus he would not be man. For man has will from no other source than from being able to will freely as from himself; and to will freely as from himself is from the faculty continually given him by the Lord which is called liberty; and man has understanding from no other source than from being able to understand as from himself whether a thing is in harmony with reason or not; and to understand whether a thing is in harmony with reason or not is from the other faculty continually given him by the Lord which is called rationality.
[3] These faculties unite together in man, like the will and the understanding; and obviously because a man can will, he can also understand. For willing is not possible without understanding: understanding is its married partner or companion without which it cannot exist; and therefore together with the faculty called liberty the faculty called rationality is given. Moreover, if you take away willing from understanding you understand nothing; and as far as you will, so far you can understand, provided there are present, and at the same time opened, the aids called knowledges, for these are like tools to the workman. It is said, as far as you will, so far you can understand, that is, as far as you love to understand, for the will and the love act as one. This, indeed, appears as absurd; but it appears so to those who do not love and therefore do not wish to understand; and those who do not wish to understand say that they cannot. It will be shown, however, in a subsequent article who they are who cannot understand and who they are who can understand with difficulty.
[4] It needs no proof to show that unless man had will from the faculty called liberty, and understanding from the faculty called rationality, he would not be man. Beasts do not have these faculties. It appears as if beasts also were able to will and to understand; but they cannot. Natural affection, in itself desire, with its companion knowledge, alone leads and moves beasts to do what they do. There is indeed something of the civil and moral in their knowledge; but this is not on a higher plane than their knowledge, for they have not the spiritual which gives the capacity to perceive the moral and consequently to think analytically about it. They can indeed be taught to do something, but only something natural that adds itself to their knowledge and at the same time to their affection, and is reproduced either through the sight or the hearing; but in no wise does it become a matter of thought, still less of reason in them. But something concerning this may be seen above (n. 74).
[5] Without these two faculties man could not have been conjoined to the Lord, and thus could not have been reform and regenerated. This has been shown above. For the Lord abides with men, with the evil as well as with the good, in these two faculties, and by means of them He conjoins Himself to every man. It is from this that an evil man as well as a good man can understand, and consequently he has in potency the will of good and the understanding of truth; that he does not have them in actuality is owing to his abuse of these faculties. The Lord abides with every man in these faculties from the influx of His will, in that He wills to be received by man, to have His abode with him and to give him the felicities of eternal life. These things are of the Lord’s will, for they are of the Divine Love itself. It is this will of the Lord that causes the appearance in man that what he thinks, speaks, wills and does is his own.
[6] It may be confirmed by many illustrations from the spiritual world that the influx of the Lord’s will produces this result. For sometimes the Lord so fills an angel with His Divine that the angel does not know that he is not the Lord. The angels seen by Abraham, Hagar and Gideon were so filled, and therefore they called themselves Jehovah, as recorded in the Word. Again, one spirit can be so filled by another as not to know but that he is the other; and this I have often seen. Moreover, it is well known in heaven that the Lord does all things by willing, and that whatever He wills is done. Hence it is clear that these two faculties are the means by which the Lord conjoins Himself to man and causes man to be reciprocally conjoined to Him. But how man is reciprocally conjoined by means of these faculties and how he is consequently reformed and regenerated by means of them, has been stated above, and more will be said on this matter later.
[7] Without these two faculties man would not have immortality and eternal life. This follows from what has just been said, that by means of them there is conjunction with the Lord and also reformation and regeneration: by conjunction man has immortality and by reformation and regeneration he has eternal life. Since by means of these faculties there is conjunction of the Lord with every man, with the evil as well as with the good, as has been said, therefore every man has immortality. But eternal life, that is, the life of heaven, is given to that man in whom there is reciprocal conjunction ranging from inmost things to ultimates. From these considerations may be evident the reasons why the Lord preserves these two faculties in man unimpaired and as sacred in every step of His Divine Providence.
DP 97. VIII. THEREFORE IT IS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD ACT FROM FREEDOM ACCORDING TO REASON. To act from freedom according to reason, and to act from liberty and rationality are the same thing; and so also is to act from the will and the understanding; but it is one thing to act from freedom according to reason or from liberty and rationality, and another thing to act from freedom itself according to reason itself or from liberty itself and rationality itself. For a man who does evil from the love of evil and who confirms that evil in himself acts indeed from freedom according to reason; nevertheless, his freedom is not freedom in itself or freedom itself, but it is infernal freedom, which in itself is slavery; and his reason is not reason in itself, but it is either a spurious or a false reason, or what by confirmation appears to be reason. Still, however, they are both of the Divine Providence; for if freedom to will evil, and by confirmation to make it appear in harmony with reason, were taken away from the natural man, there would perish liberty and rationality, and with them will and understanding; and it would not be possible for him to be withdrawn from evils and reformed, and consequently to be conjoined to the Lord and live to eternity. Therefore the Lord guards freedom in man as man guards the pupil of his eye. Still, however, the Lord continually withdraws man from evils by means of his freedom; and as far as He can withdraw him by means of freedom He implants by means of freedom what is good. Thus in the place of infernal freedom the Lord successively endows man with heavenly freedom.
DP 98. It was said above that every man has the faculty of willing called liberty and the faculty of understanding called rationality. It should, however, be well known that these faculties are as it were implanted in man, for his humanity itself (humanum) resides in them; but, as has just been said, it is one thing to act from freedom according to reason, and another thing to act from freedom itself according to reason itself. Only those act from freedom itself according to reason itself who have suffered themselves to be regenerated by the Lord; all others act from freedom according to thought, to which they give the semblance of reason. Yet every man unless born foolish or excessively stupid is able to attain to reason itself, and by means of this to freedom itself; but there are many reasons why every man does not do so that will be made known in what follows. Here it will only be told who those are to whom there cannot be given freedom itself or liberty itself and at the same time reason itself or rationality itself, and who those are to whom they can be given with difficulty.
[2] Liberty itself and rationality itself cannot be given to those who are born foolish, or to those who have later become foolish, as long as they remain so. They cannot be given to those born stupid and dull, or to any who have become so from the torpor of idleness, or from disease that has perverted or completely closed the interiors of the mind, or from the love of a bestial life.
[3] Liberty itself and rationality itself cannot be given to those in the Christian world who totally deny the Divinity of the Lord and the sanctity of the Word, and who have confirmed this denial in themselves and maintained it to the end of their life. For this is meant by the sin against the Holy Spirit which is not forgiven either in this world or in the world to come, (Matt. 12:31, 32).
[4] Neither can liberty itself and rationality itself be given to those who attribute all things to nature and nothing to the Divine, and who have made this part of their faith by reasoning from visible things; for these are atheists.
[5] Liberty itself and rationality itself can with difficulty be given to those who have strongly confirmed themselves in falsities of religion, for a confirmer of falsity is a denier of truth; but they can be given to those who, whatever the form of their religion may be, have not so confirmed themselves. On this matter see what has been presented in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 91-97).
[6] Infants and children cannot attain to liberty itself and rationality itself before they reach the age of maturity; for in man the interiors of the mind are opened gradually; and in the meantime they are lid seeds in unripe fruit, that cannot sprout in the soil.
DP 99. It was stated that liberty itself and rationality itself cannot be given to those who have denied the Divinity of the Lord and the sanctity of the Word; or to those who have confirmed themselves in favour of nature against the Divine; and that it can with difficulty be given to those who have by much reasoning confirmed themselves in falsities of religion; but still they have not all lost these faculties themselves. I have heard that atheists who had become devils and satans understood interior truths (arcana) of wisdom as well as angels, but only while they heard them from others. When they returned into their own thoughts they did not understand them, because they had no desire to understand. They were shown that they could desire to understand these truths if the love and consequent delight of evil did not mislead them. This also they understood when they heard it, and they even asserted that they could have the power, but that they had no desire to have it, for they would in that case be unable to desire the present object of their desire, which was evil from the delight of its lust. Such strange things I have often heard in the spiritual world; and from them I was fully convinced that every man has liberty and rationality; and that everyone can attain to liberty itself and rationality itself if he shuns evils as sins. But a man who has reached maturity and who has not attained to liberty itself and rationality itself while in this world can in no wise enter into these faculties after death; for then the state of his life remains to eternity such as it had been in the world.
DP 100. Everyone can see from reason alone that the Lord, who is Good itself and Truth itself, cannot enter into man unless the evils and falsities in him are removed. For evil is the opposite of good, and falsity is the opposite of truth; and two opposites can in no wise mingle together, but when one approaches the other a combat takes place, which lasts till one gives way to the other; and the one that yields departs while the other takes its place. In such opposition are heaven and hell, or the Lord and the devil. Can anyone from reason think that the Lord can enter where the devil reigns, or that heaven can be where hell is? Who does not see, from the rationality granted to every sane man, that for the Lord to enter, the devil must be cast out, or that for heaven to enter, hell must be removed?
[2] This opposition is meant by Abraham’s words from heaven to the rich man in hell:
Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence (Luke 16:26).
Evil itself is hell and good itself is heaven; or what is the same, evil itself is the devil and good itself is the Lord; and the man in whom evil reigns is a hell in the least form, and the man in whom good reigns is a heaven in the least form. Since this is the case, how can heaven enter hell when between them there is such a great gulf fixed that there can be no crossing from one to the other? Hence it follows that hell must be completely removed that it may be possible for the Lord to enter with heaven.
DP 101. Many, however, especially those who have confirmed themselves in a faith separated from charity, do not know that they are in hell when they are in evils. They do not even know what evils are, because they give no thought to them. They say that they are not under the yoke of the law, and so the law does not condemn them. They say, moreover, that because they cannot contribute anything to their salvation, they cannot remove any evil from themselves; and, further, that they cannot do any good from themselves. These are they who neglect to give any thought to evil, and because they neglect this they are in evil continually. Such are meant by the goats referred to by the Lord in (Matthew 25:32, 33, 41-46), as may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH (Faith 61-68). Of them it is said in (Matthew 25:41), "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
[2] For those who give no thought to the evils in themselves, that is, who do not examine themselves and afterwards refrain from evils, cannot but be ignorant of what evil is and then love it from its delight. For he who does not know evil loves it, and he who neglects to think about it is continually in it. He is like a blind man who does not see, for it is thought that sees good and evil as the eye sees what is beautiful and what is ugly. He is in evil who thinks and wills it, as well as he who believes that evil does not appear before God, and that if it does appear it is forgiven; for thus he thinks that he is without evil. If such persons abstain from doing evils they do not abstain because these are sins against God, but because they are afraid of the laws and of their reputation. Nevertheless, they do evils in their spirit, for it Is man’s spirit that thinks and wills; and therefore what a man thinks in his spirit in the world, he does when he becomes a spirit after his departure from the world.
[3] In the spiritual world, into which every man comes after death, the question that is asked is not, What was your faith, or what was your doctrine? but, What was the nature of your life? Was it of this or that quality? Thus the inquiry is concerning the nature and quality of the life; for it is known that such as one’s life is, such is his faith and also his doctrine, because the life fashions doctrine and faith for itself.
DP 102. From what has just been said it may be evident that it is a law of the Divine Providence that evils should be removed by man, for unless they are removed the Lord cannot be conjoined to man, and cannot from Himself lead man into heaven. But as it has not been known that man ought as of himself to remove the evils in the external man, and that unless man does so as of himself the Lord cannot remove the evils that are in his internal man, therefore these propositions will be presented to reason in its own light in the following order:
I. -Every man has an external and an internal of thought.
II. -The external of man’s thought is in itself of the same nature as its internal.
III. -The internal cannot be purified from the lusts of evil as long as the evils in the external man are not removed, because they form an obstruction.
IV. -Evils in the external man cannot be removed by the Lord except through man’s instrumentality.
V. -Therefore man ought as of himself to remove evils from the external man.
VI. -The Lord then purifies man from the lusts of evil in the internal man, and from the evils themselves in the external.
VII. -It is the continual endeavour of the Divine Providence of the Lord to unite man to Himself and Himself to man in order that He may be able to bestow upon man the felicities of eternal life; and this can be done only so far as evils with their lusts are removed.
DP 103. I. EVERY MAN HAS AN EXTERNAL AND AN INTERNAL OF THOUGHT. By the external and the internal of thought are here meant the same as by the external and the internal man, and by these are meant the external and the internal of the will and of the understanding, for the will and the understanding constitute man; and as these both manifest themselves in the thoughts the terms the external and the internal of thought are used. Now, since it is not the body but the spirit of man that wills and understands and consequently thinks, it follows that this external and internal are the external and the internal of man’s spirit. The action of the body, whether in word or in deed, is only an effect from the internal and the external of man’s spirit; for the body is only an obedient instrument.
DP 104. Every man who has reached maturity has an external and an internal of thought, and therefore an external (and an internal) of the will and the understanding, or an external and an internal of the spirit, which is the same as the external and the internal man. This is clear to anyone who observes carefully the thoughts and intentions of another as exhibited in his speech and actions, and who observes also his own thoughts and intentions when he is in company and when he is alone. For anyone can talk with another in a friendly way from external thought, and yet be at enmity with him in internal thought. Anyone can talk about love towards the neighbour and love to God from external thought and at the same time from its affection, when nevertheless in his internal thought he cares nothing for the neighbour, and does not fear God. Anyone can talk about the justice of civil laws, about the virtues of moral life, and about matters of doctrine and the spiritual life from external thought and at the same time from external affection, and yet when alone by himself he may, from internal thought and its affection, speak against the civil laws, against moral virtues, and against matters of doctrine and the spiritual life. Those do so who are in the lusts of evil and who yet wish it to appear before the world that they are not in them.
[2] Moreover, many question within themselves, when they listen to others speaking, whether these interiorly within themselves are thinking the thoughts which they are expressing in speech, and whether they are to be believed or not, and also what their intentions are. It is well known that flatterers and hypocrites have a double thought; for they can restrain themselves and take care not to disclose their interior thought; and some can conceal it more and more interiorly and, as it were, block up the doors lest it should appear. That both exterior and interior thought are given to man is clearly evident from this fact, that from his interior thought he can view his exterior thought, reflect upon it and pass judgment on it, deciding whether it is evil or not evil. The mind of man owes this characteristic feature to the faculties which he has from the Lord, called liberty and rationality. Unless man had from these an external and an internal of thought he would not be able to perceive and view any evil in himself and be reformed; in fact, he would not be able to speak, but only to utter sounds like a beast.
DP 105. The internal of thought is from the life’s love and its affections and consequent perceptions; while the external of thought is from the contents of the memory which minister to the life’s love as confirmations and as means to further its end. From infancy to the age of youth man is in the external of thought from an affection for knowing, which then constitutes its internal. There also emerges from his life’s love, which is innate from his parents, something of its lust and consequent inclination. Later, however, his way of life determines his life’s love, and its affections and consequent perceptions constitute the internal of his thought. From his life’s love there is formed the love of means; and their delights with the knowledges thereby called forth from the memory constitute the external of his thought.
DP 106. II. THE EXTERNAL OF MAN’S THOUGHT IS IN ITSELF OF THE SAME NATURE AS ITS INTERNAL. It has been shown above that man from head to foot is of the same character as his life’s love. Here, therefore, something will be said about the life’s love of man; for until this has been done nothing can be said concerning the affections which together with their perceptions constitute the internal of man, and concerning the delights of the affections which together with their thoughts constitute his external. Loves are manifold; but two of them, heavenly love and infernal love, are like lords and kings. Heavenly love is love to the Lord and towards the neighbour, and infernal love is love of self and of the world. These two kinds of love are opposite to each other, as are heaven and hell, for he who is in the love of self and of the world has goodwill to none but himself, while he who is in love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour has goodwill to all men. These two loves are the life’s loves of man, but there is much variety in them. Heavenly love is the life’s love of those who are led by the Lord, and infernal love is the life’s love of those who are led by the devil.
[2] Now the life’s love of anyone Cannot exist without derivations, which are called affections. The derivations of infernal love are affections of evil and falsity, properly called lusts, and the derivations of heavenly love are affections of good and truth, properly called ardent desires. The affections of infernal love, properly called lusts, are as many as there are forms of evil; and the affections of heavenly love, properly called ardent desires, are as many as there are forms of good. Love dwells in its affections as a lord in his domain or as a king in his kingdom. The domain and sovereignty of these loves is over the things of the mind, that is, over the things of man’s will and understanding, and consequently over the things of the body. The life’s love of man, by means of its affections and their consequent perceptions, and by means of its delights and their consequent thoughts, rules the entire man--the internal of his mind by means of affections and their consequent perceptions, and the external of his mind by means of the delights of the affections and their consequent thoughts.
DP 107. The form of this rule may in some measure be seen by comparisons. Heavenly love and its affections of good and truth and their consequent perceptions, together with the delights of these affections and their consequent thoughts, may be compared to a tree distinguished for its branches, leaves and fruits. The life’s love is the tree, the branches with their leaves are the affections of good and truth with their perceptions, and the fruits are the delights of the affections with their thoughts. On the other hand, infernal love with its affections of evil and falsity which are lusts, together with the delights of these lusts and their consequent thoughts may be compared to a spider and its surrounding web. The love is the spider, the lusts of evil and falsity with their inner subtleties are the net-like threads nearest the den of the spider; and the delights of these lusts with their crafty devices are the remoter threads, where flies are caught on the wing, entangled and eaten.
DP 108. From these comparisons indeed may be evident the conjunction of all things of the will and of the understanding, or of the mind of man, with his life’s love, and yet not rationally evident. The conjunction may become rationally evident in this way. There are everywhere three things which together make one; these are called end, cause and effect. In man the life’s love is the end, the affections with their perceptions are the cause, and the delights of the affections with their thoughts are the effect. For just as the end through the cause enters into the effect, so love through its affections enters into its delights, and through its perceptions into its thoughts. The effects themselves are in the mind’s enjoyments and their thoughts when the delights are of the will and the thoughts are of the understanding therefrom, thus when there is complete agreement in the mind. The effects then belong to the spirit, and even if they do not enter into bodily act still they are as if in the act when there is agreement. Moreover, they are then at the same time in the body and dwell there with the life’s love of the man, kindling the desire for action which takes place when nothing hinders it. Such is the nature of the lusts of evil and such are the evils themselves in those who in spirit regard evils as allowable.
[2] Now as the end unites itself with the cause, and through the cause with the effect, so does the life’s love unite itself with the internal of thought, and through this with its external. Hence it is clear that the external of man’s thought is in itself of the same character as its internal; for the end imparts itself wholly to the cause, and through the cause to the effect. For there is nothing essential in the effect but what is in the cause, and through the cause in the end; and as the end is thus the essential principle itself which enters into the cause and the effect, therefore the cause and the effect are called respectively the mediate end and the ultimate end.
DP 109. It sometimes appears as if the external of man’s thought in itself were not of the same character as the internal. This happens, however, because the life’s love with its surrounding internals places beneath itself a deputy, called the love of means, and enjoins upon it to take heed and guard lest anything from its lusts should show itself. This deputy, therefore, from the cunning of its chief, the life’s love, talks and acts in accordance with the civil institutions of the state, the moral principles of reason and the spiritual things of the Church. In the case of some persons this is done with such craft and skill that no one sees that they are not such as their speech and actions seem to indicate, and at length from the habit of concealment, they scarcely know otherwise themselves. All hypocrites are such; and such are priests who in their heart care nothing for the neighbour and do not fear God, and yet preach about the love of the neighbour and the love of God. Such are judges whose judgments are influenced by bribery and personal friendship while they profess a zeal for justice and from reason talk of judgment. Such also are merchants who are insincere and fraudulent at heart, while they trade sincerely for the sake of gain; and such are adulterers when from the rationality which every man has they talk about the chastity of marriage; and so on.
[2] But if these same persons strip the love of means, the deputy of their life’s love, of the garments of purple and fine linen with which they have invested it and clothe it in its own domestic garb, they then think, and sometimes with their dearest friends whose life’s love is similar, they speak from their thought in a directly contrary manner. It may be supposed, when from their love of means they spoke so justly, sincerely and piously, that the character of the internal of their thought was not in the external of their thought; and yet it was. There is hypocrisy in them; there is the love of self and the world in them, with its cunning to secure even in outward appearance reputation for the sake of honour and gain. This character of the internal is in the external of their thought when they so speak and act.
DP 110. With those, however, who are in heavenly love the internal and the external of thought, or the internal and the external man, act as one when they speak, nor do they know any difference between them. Their life’s love with its affections of good and their perceptions of truth is like a soul in whatever they think, and consequently say and do. If they are priests they preach from love towards the neighbour and love to the Lord; if judges they judge from justice itself; if merchants they trade from sincerity itself; if married they love their wives from chastity itself; and so on. The life’s love of such also has the love of means as its deputy, which it teaches and leads to act from prudence, and which it clothes with the garments of zeal for the truths of doctrine and also for the goods of life.
DP 111. III. THE INTERNAL CANNOT BE PURIFIED FROM THE LUSTS OF EVIL AS LONG AS THE EVILS IN THE EXTERNAL MAN ARE NOT REMOVED, BECAUSE THEY FORM AN OBSTRUCTION. This follows from what has been said above, that the external of man’s thought in itself is of the same character as the internal of his thought; and that they cohere like two things, one not only being within the other but also existing from the other, so that it is not possible to remove one without at the same time removing the other. So it is with everything external which exists from an internal, and with everything posterior which exists from a prior, and with every effect which exists from a cause. Now because lusts together with their subtleties constitute the internal of thought with the wicked, and the delights of lusts together with their devices constitute their external of thought, and because lusts and their delights are joined together as one, it follows that the internal cannot be purified from lusts as long as evils in the external man have not been removed.
[2] It should be understood that it is man’s internal will that is in lusts and his internal understanding that is in subtleties, and that it is his external will that is in the delights of lusts and his external understanding that is in devices from the subtleties. Everyone may see that lusts and their delights make one, and also that subtleties and devices make one; and that these four are in one series and together form as it were one group. From this again it is clear that the internal which consists of lusts can be cast out only by the removal of the external which consists of evils. Lusts through their own delights produce evils; but when evils are believed to be allowable, which comes from consent of the will and the understanding, then the delights and the evils make one. It is well known that consent is deed; and this is what the Lord says:
Whosoever looketh on the wife of another (A.V. a woman) to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Matt. 5:28).
It is the same with all other evils.
DP 112. From these things it may now be evident that for man to be purified from the lusts of evil, evils must be completely removed from the external man; for until this is done the lusts have no outlet; and if there is no outlet the lusts remain within and breathe out delights from themselves, and so urge man on to the consent and thus to the deed itself. Lusts enter the body through the external of thought; and therefore when there is consent in the external of thought, the lusts are at once in the body, the delight which is felt being there. That the nature of the mind determines that of the body and thus of the whole man may be seen in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 362-370). This may be illustrated by comparisons and also by examples.
[2] By comparisons. Lusts with their delights may be compared to fire: the more fire is fed the more fiercely it burns, and the freer the course given to it the wider it spreads until, if in a city, it consumes the houses and, if in a wood, the trees. Lusts of evil are compared in the Word to fire, and their evils to the conflagration. The lusts of evil with their delights also appear in the spiritual world as fires, infernal fire being nothing else. They may also be compared to floods and inundations of water when dykes or dams give way. Moreover, lusts may be compared to gangrenous sores and ulcers which, if they run their course, or are not cured, bring death to the body.
[3] By examples. It is clearly evident that if evils in the external man are not removed lusts with their delights grow and multiply. The more a thief steals the more he lusts to steal till at length he cannot refrain. The same is true of a fraudulent person, in proportion as he defrauds. It is the same with hatred and revenge, with luxury and intemperance, with adultery and blasphemy. It is well known that the love of ruling grounded in the love of self increases in proportion as restraints are relaxed, and in like manner the love of possessing wealth grounded in the love of the world; it would appear as if these evils had no limit or end. From these considerations it is clear that so far as evils in the external man are not removed their lusts multiply, and also that lusts increase in the degree that restraints on evils are relaxed.
DP 113. A man is not able to perceive the lusts of his own evil. He does indeed perceive their delights, but he reflects little upon them; for delights captivate the thoughts and banish reflection. Therefore unless he knew from some other source that they are evil he would call them good, and from freedom according to the reason of his thought he would commit them; and when he does this he appropriates them to himself. So far as he confirms them as allowable he enlarges the court of his ruling love, which is his life’s love. Lusts form his court, for they are like its ministries and retinues through which it governs the exteriors that constitute its kingdom. Moreover, the character of the king determines that of the ministers and of the retinue, and also of the kingdom. If the king is a devil his ministers and his retinue are forms of insanity and the people of his kingdom are falsities of every kind. His ministers, who are called wise although they are insane (spiritually), by means of reasonings from fallacies and illusions cause these falsities to appear as truths, and to be acknowledged as truths. Such a state in man cannot be changed except by the removal of evils in the external man; and thereby the lusts that cling to the evils are removed. Otherwise no outlet for the lusts lies open; for they are shut in like a besieged city and like a closed ulcer.
DP 114. IV. EVILS IN THE EXTERNAL, MAN CANNOT BE REMOVED BY THE LORD EXCEPT THROUGH MAN’S INSTRUMENTALITY. In all Christian Churches this tenet of doctrine has been accepted, that before a man approaches the Holy Communion he shall examine himself, see and acknowledge his sins, and do the work of repentance by desisting from them and rejecting them because they are from the devil; and that otherwise his sins are not forgiven, and he is condemned. Although the members of the English Church hold the doctrine of faith alone, yet in the exhortation to the Holy Communion they openly teach self examination, the acknowledgment and confession of sins, repentance and newness of life, threatening those who do not comply in words which declare that "otherwise the devil will enter into them as he did into Judas, and fill them with all iniquity and destroy both body and soul". The Germans, the Swedes and the Danes, who also hold the doctrine of faith alone, teach the same in the exhortation to the Holy Communion, also threatening that otherwise they will render themselves subject to eternal condemnation for mingling the holy and the profane. This is read out by the priest in a loud voice before those who are about to observe the Holy Supper, and is listened to by them with full acknowledgment that it is so.
[2] Nevertheless, when these same persons the same day listen to preaching concerning faith alone to the effect that the Law does not condemn them because the Lord has fulfilled it for them, and that of themselves they cannot do any good except what is merit-seeking and thus that works have nothing of salvation in them, but faith only, they return home entirely forgetful of their former confession and rejecting it in proportion as they think from the preaching concerning faith alone. Now which doctrine is true, the first or the second?-for two things contrary to each other cannot both be true, the first stating that without self-examination, recognition, acknowledgment, confession and rejection of sins, thus without repentance, there is no forgiveness of them, thus no salvation, but eternal condemnation; the second stating that such things contribute nothing to salvation because the Lord made full satisfaction for all the sins of men by the passion of the cross, for those who have faith, and that those who have faith only, being fully confident that this is true, and trusting in the imputation of the Lord’s merit, are without sins, and appear before God like those with faces washed and shining brightly.
[3] It is clear from this that it is the common religious belief of all the Churches in the Christian world that man should examine himself, should see and acknowledge his sins and then desist from them; and that otherwise there is no salvation but condemnation. Moreover, that this is the Divine Truth (Veritas) itself is evident from passages in the Word where man is commanded to repent, as the following:
Jesus (A.V. John) said: Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance..... Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the tree; every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (Luke 3:8, 9).
Jesus said: Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5).
Jesus preached: The gospel of the kingdom of God repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:14, 15).
Jesus sent forth His disciples: And they went out and preached that men should repent. (Mark 6:12).
Jesus said to the apostles that repentance and remission of sins should be preached among all nations. (Luke 24:27).
John preached: The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3).
Consider this with some degree of understanding; and if you have any religious principles you will see that repentance from sins is the way to heaven, that faith separate from repentance is not faith, and that those who are not in faith because they are not repentant are on the way to hell.
DP 115. Those who are in faith separate from charity and who have confirmed themselves in it from the saying of Paul to the Romans, That a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law. (Rom. 3:28), revere this saying as those who adore the sun; and they become like those who steadily fix their eyes on the sun whereby the keenness of their sight is destroyed and they see nothing in full daylight. For they do not see that in that passage by "the deeds of the Law" are not meant the commandments of the Decalogue but the rituals described by Moses in his hooks, which are everywhere in them called the Law. Lest, therefore, it should be understood that the commandments of the Decalogue are meant, he explains it by saying,
Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the Law. (Rom. 3:3).
Those who, from this saying, have confirmed themselves in faith separate (from charity), by gazing at this passage as at the sun fail to see where Paul enumerates the laws of faith as being the very works of charity; and what is faith without its laws? Nor do they see where he enumerates evil works while he declares that those who do them cannot enter into heaven. From this it is evident what blindness has been induced by a wrong understanding of this single passage.
DP 116. Evils in the external man cannot be removed except through man’s instrumentality, because it is of the Divine Providence of the Lord that whatever a man hears, sees, thinks, wills, says and does should appear to be entirely as his own. It was shown above (n. 71-95, and following numbers), that without this appearance there would be with man no reception of Divine Truth, no determination towards doing good, no appropriation of love and wisdom and of charity and faith, and no conjunction thereby with the Lord, and consequently no reformation and regeneration and thus no salvation. It is clear that without this appearance there can he neither repentance from sins nor even faith. It is also clear that without this appearance a man is not a man, but a being devoid of rational life like a beast. Let anyone who will, consult his reason as to whether it does not appear that a man thinks from himself about good and truth, spiritual as well as moral and civil. Let him then accept this tenet of doctrine that everything that is good and true is from the Lord and nothing from man. He will then acknowledge this as a consequence, that a man ought to do good and think truth as of himself, but yet should acknowledge that he does these things from the Lord, and that a man should remove evils as of himself but yet should acknowledge that he does so from the Lord.
DP 117. Many are not aware that they are in evils, because they do not commit them outwardly; for they fear the civil laws and also the loss of reputation; and so from custom and the disposition thus acquired they learn to shun evils as detrimental to their honour and interest. But if men do not shun evils from a religious principle, because they are sins and against God, the lusts of evil with their delights still remain like polluted waters dammed up or stagnant. Let them examine their thoughts and intentions and they will find these lusts, provided they know what sin is.
[2] This is the state of many who have confirmed themselves in faith separate from charity who, believing that the Law does not condemn them, pay no regard to sins; and some doubt whether there are any sins, and if there are, they think they are not sins in the sight of God, because they have been remitted. Such also are natural moralists, who believe that civil and moral life, together with the prudence belonging to it, accomplishes all things and that nothing is effected by the Divine Providence. Such also are those who with great zeal strive after a reputation for honesty and sincerity for the sake of honour and gain. Those, however, who are of this character and who have also despised religion become after death lustful spirits, appearing to themselves as real men, but to others some distance off as lewd deities; and like birds of night they see in the dark and not in the light.
DP 118. V. THEREFORE MAN OUGHT AS OF HIMSELF TO REMOVE EVILS FROM THE EXTERNAL MAN. The proof of this article follows from what has just been said and from explanations which may be seen in three articles in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM; in the first, where it is explained that no one can shun evils as sins so as to have an interior aversion to them, except by combats against them (Life 92-100); in the second, that man ought to shun evils as sins and fight against them as of himself (Life 101-107); and in the third, that if anyone shuns evils for any reason whatever except that they are sins, he does not shun them but only prevents them from appearing before the world (Life 108-113).
DP 119. VI. THE LORD THEN PURIFIES MAN FROM THE LUSTS (OF EVIL) IN THE INTERNAL MAN, AND FROM THE EVILS THEMSELVES IN THE EXTERNAL. The Lord then purifies man from the lusts of evil when the man as of himself removes the evils, because the Lord cannot purify him before this is done. For the evils are in the external man and the lusts of evil are in the internal man, and these are united like the roots and trunk of a tree. Therefore, unless the evils are removed no outlet for the lusts is opened up, for the evils form an obstruction and close the door, which cannot be opened by the Lord except through man’s instrumentality, as was shown above. When, therefore, man as of himself opens the door, then the Lord roots out the lusts and the evils together.
[2] Another reason is that the Lord acts upon man’s inmost, and from the inmost upon all that follows even to the ultimates, while man is at the same time in the ultimates. As long, therefore, as the ultimates are kept closed by the man himself there can be no purification. There can only be such operation by the Lord in man’s interiors as He performs in hell; and the man who is in lusts and at the same time in evils is a form of hell. This operation is solely to dispose things so that there should be no destruction of one thing by another, and to prevent good and truth from being violated. The Lord continually urges and presses upon man to open the door for himself as is clear from His words in Revelation:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with aim, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20).
DP 120. Man knows nothing whatever about the interior state of his mind, that is, of his internal man; and yet there are infinite things there, not one of which comes to his knowledge. For the internal of man’s thought, or his internal man, is his spirit itself, and in it there are things as infinite or innumerable as there are in his body, and indeed more innumerable; for man’s spirit is in its form a man, and all things belonging to it correspond to all things of man in his body. Now just as man has no knowledge from any sensation how his mind or soul operates upon all things of his body jointly and singly, so neither does he know how the Lord operates upon all things of his mind or soul, that is, upon all things of his spirit. This operation is continual, and man has no part in it; but still the Lord cannot purify man from any lust of evil in his spirit or internal man so long as man keeps his external closed. Man keeps his external closed by means of evils, each of which seems to him as but one single evil, although there are infinite things in each; and when man removes one such evil the Lord removes the infinity of things in it. This is what is meant by the Lord then purifying man from the lusts of evil in the internal man, and from the evils themselves in the external.
DP 121. Many believe that man is purified from evils by merely believing what the Church teaches; some, that man is purified by doing good; others, that it is by knowing, speaking and teaching such things as pertain to the Church; others, by reading the Word and books of piety; others, by attending churches, listening to sermons, and especially by approaching the Holy Supper; others, by renouncing the world and devoting oneself to piety; and others, by confessing oneself guilty of sins of all kinds; and so on. Nevertheless, man is in no wise purified by all these works unless he examines himself, recognises his sins, acknowledges them, condemns himself for them and does the work of repentance by desisting from them; and unless he does all these things as of himself but still in acknowledgment from the heart that he does them from the Lord.
[2] Until he does these things, the actions just mentioned avail nothing, for they are merit-seeking or hypocritical; and those who do them appear in heaven in the sight of angels like beautiful courtesans giving forth the offensive odour of their defilement; or like ill-favoured women made to appear handsome by the application of paint; or like clowns and actors wearing masks on the stage; or like apes in human clothing. When, however, men have removed their evils then the actions mentioned above are acts of their love, and they appear as beautiful men in heaven in the sight of angels and as their associates and companions.
DP 122. But it should be fully understood that a man in doing the work of repentance ought to look to the Lord alone. If he looks to God the Father only, he cannot be purified; nor if he looks to the Father for the sake of the Son; nor if he looks to the Son as only a man. For there is one God, and the Lord is He, His Divine and His Human being one Person, as was shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEw JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD. In order that everyone in the work of repentance might look to the Lord alone He instituted the Holy Supper, which confirms the remission of sins with those who repent. It does so because in that Supper or Communion the attention of everyone is directed to the Lord alone.
DP 123. VII. IT IS THE CONTINUAL ENDEAVOUR OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD TO UNITE MAN TO HIMSELF AND HIMSELF TO MAN IN ORDER THAT HE MAY BE ABLE TO BESTOW UPON MAN THE FELICITIES OF ETERNAL LIFER AND THIS CAN BE DONE ONLY SO FAR AS EVILS WITH THEIR LUSTS ARE REMOVED. It has been shown above (n. 27-45), that it is the continual endeavour of the Divine Providence of the Lord to unite man to Himself and Himself to man, and that this union is what is called reformation and regeneration, and that man has salvation from it. Who does not see that conjunction with God is life eternal and salvation? Everyone sees it who believes that men are from creation images and likenesses of God (Gen. 1:26, 27), and who knows what an image and likeness of God is.
[2] Can anyone of sound reason, when he thinks from his own rationality, and is willing to think from his own liberty, believe that there are three Gods, equal in essence, and that the Divine Being (Esse) or Divine Essence can be divided? That there is a Trine in the one God can be thought and comprehended, just as one can comprehend that there is a soul, a body and an out-going life from these in an angel and in a man; and as this Trine in One is in the Lord alone, it follows that conjunction must be with Him. If you make use of your rationality and at the same time of your liberty of thought you will see this truth in its own light; but you must first grant that there is a God and a heaven and that there is eternal life.
[3] Now since God is One, and man from creation was made an image and likeness of Him, and since through infernal love and its lusts and their delights he has come into the love of all evils; and has thereby destroyed in himself the image and likeness of God, it follows that it is the continual endeavour of the Divine Providence of the Lord to unite man to Himself and Himself to man, and thus make man to be His image. It also follows that this is to the end that the Lord may be able to bestow upon man the felicities of eternal life, for such is the nature of Divine Love. However, the Lord cannot bestow these upon man, nor make him an image of Himself unless man as of himself removes sins in the external man; because the Lord is not only Divine Love but also Divine Wisdom, and Divine Love does nothing but from its own Divine Wisdom and according to it. Moreover, it is according to His Divine Wisdom that man cannot be united to the Lord and thus reformed, regenerated and saved unless he is permitted to act from freedom according to reason, for by this man is man; and whatever is according to the Divine Wisdom of the Lord pertains also to His Divine Providence.
DP 124. To what has been said I will add two interior truths (arcana) of angelic wisdom from which the nature of the Divine Providence may be seen. The first is, that the Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man separately, but upon all things at the same time; and the second is, that the Lord acts from inmost things and from ultimates at the same time.
1. The Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man separately but upon all things at the same time. The reason is that all things of man are linked together in such a connected series and through this connection in such a form that they act not as many but as one. It is well known that man in respect to his body is in such a connected series and through this connection is in such a form. Moreover, the human mind is also in a similar form from the connection of all things in it, for the human mind is the spiritual man and is actually the man. Consequently the spirit of man, which is his mind in his body, is in its entire form a man. Therefore a man after death is as much a man as when in the world, with this difference only, that he has cast off the outer covering which formed his body in the world.
[2] Now since the human form is such that all its parts form a general whole which acts as one, it follows that one part cannot be moved out of its place and changed in state except with the concurrence of the rest. For if one part were to be moved out of its place and changed in state the form which must act as one would suffer. From this it is clear that the Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing but upon all things at the same time. In this way the Lord acts upon the universal angelic heaven because it is in His sight as one man; in this way the Lord acts upon each angel because each angel is a heaven in the least form; and in this way He acts upon every man first, as being nearest to Him, upon all things of his mind, and through these upon all things of his body. For the mind of man is his spirit and is an angel according to his degree of conjunction with the Lord, and his body is its obedient instrument.
[3] It should, however, be clearly observed that the Lord also acts upon every particular thing in man separately, and most meticulously, but at the same time through all things of his form, yet without changing the state of any part, or of anything in particular, unless in accord with the form as a whole. But more will be said concerning this in following numbers, where it will be shown that the Divine Providence of the Lord is universal because it is in particulars, and that it is particular because it is universal.
[4] 2. The Lord acts from inmost things and from ultimates at the same time. The reason is that in this way and in no other all things in general and in particular are held together in a connected series, intermediates depending successively from inmost things to ultimates, and all are in ultimates at the same time; for in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, Part Three, it was shown that in the ultimate there is the simultaneous presence (simultaneum) of all the series from the first. For this reason also the Lord from eternity or Jehovah came into the world and there put on and assumed the Human in ultimates, in order that He might be from first things and in ultimates at the same time; and so that from first things by means of ultimates He might rule the whole world and thus save men, whom He is able to save according to the laws of His Divine Providence which are also the laws of His Divine Wisdom. Thus also is it true, as is acknowledged in the Christian world, that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. On this subject see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH (Faith 35). Hence it is that the Lord is called the First and the Last.
DP 125. These angelic truths are stated here in order that it may be understood how the Divine Providence of the Lord operates to unite man to Himself and Himself to man. This operation does not act upon any particular of man separately but upon all things at the same time, and is effected from the inmost of man and from his ultimates at the same time. The inmost of man is his life’s love, his ultimates are what reside in the external of his thought, and intermediates are what reside in the internal of his thought. It has been shown in the foregoing numbers what the nature of these is in a wicked man; and from these considerations it is again made clear that the Lord cannot act from inmost things and ultimates at the same time except together with man, for in ultimates man and the Lord are together. Therefore as man acts in ultimates which are matters of his choice, because they are within the scope of his freedom, so the Lord acts from his inmost things and in the things ranging in series to his ultimates. What the inmost things of man contain and what is present in the series from the inmost things to the ultimates are totally unknown to man; and man is therefore quite unaware of how the Lord operates and what He accomplishes there; but as those things are linked together as one with the ultimates, man need not know more than that he should shun evils as sins and look to the Lord. In this and in no other way can his life’s love, which by birth is infernal, be removed by the Lord and a heavenly life’s love be implanted in its place.
DP 126. When the Lord has implanted a heavenly life’s love in place of the infernal one then there are implanted affections of good and truth in place of the lusts of evil and falsity; and in place of the delights of the lusts of evil and falsity there are implanted the delights of the affections of good; and in place of the evils of infernal love there are implanted the goods of heavenly love. Then also instead of cunning there is implanted prudence, and instead of thoughts of malice there are implanted thoughts of wisdom. Thus man is born again and becomes a new man. The kinds of good that take the place of evils may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM (Life 67-73, 74-79, 80-86, 87-91); also, that so far as a man shuns and turns away from evils as sins he loves the truths of wisdom (Life 32-41); and so far he has faith and is spiritual (Life 42-52).
DP 127. It has been shown above from the exhortations read in all Christian Churches before the Holy Communion that the common religion in the whole Christian world teaches that man should examine himself, see his sins, acknowledge them, confess them before God and desist from them; and that this is repentance, remission of sins and consequently salvation. The same may also appear from the creed which takes its name from Athanasius, and this also has been accepted in the whole Christian world; and at the end of it are these words: The Lord will come to judge the quick and the dead; at whose coming those that have done good shall enter into life eternal, and those that have done evil into eternal fire.
DP 128. Everyone knows from the Word that the life allotted to each after death is according to his deeds. If you open the Word and read it you will see this clearly; but while doing so take the thoughts away from faith and justification by faith alone. The few passages that follow testify that the Lord teaches this everywhere in His Word:
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Matt. 7:19, 20).
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matt. 7:22, 23).
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the earth without a foundation. (Matt. 7:24, 26; Luke 6:46-49).
[2]
For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father, and then He shall reward every man according to his works. (Matt. 16:27).
The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (Matt. 21:43).
Jesus said: My mother and my brethren are those which hear the Word of God, and do it. (Luke 8:21).
Then shall ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are, depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. (Luke 13:25-27).
And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. (John 5:29).
[3]
We know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth. (John 9:31).
If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. (John 13:17).
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me and I will love him, and I will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:15, 21-24).
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you, I have chosen you, that ye should bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain. (John 15:14, 16).
[4] The Lord said to John:
Unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus write: I know thy works I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity, repent, and do the first works, else I will remove thy candlestick out of his place. (Apoc. 2:1, 2, 4, 5).
Unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write I know thy works. (Apoc. 2:8, 9).
To the angel of the Church in Pergamos write, I know thy works. Repent. (Apoc. 2:12, 13, 16).
Unto the angel of the Church in Thyatira write, I know thy works, and charity, and thy last works to be more than the first. (Apoc. 2:18, 19).
Unto the angel of the Church in Sardis write, I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. I have not found thy works perfect before God, repent. (Apoc. 3:1, 2, 3).
To the angel of the Church in Philadelphia write I know thy works. (Apoc. 3:7, 8).
Unto the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write, I know thy works repent. (Apoc. 3:14, 15, 19).
I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth their works do follow them. (Apoc. 14:13).
A book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged all according to their works. (Apoc. 20:12, 13).
Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according to his work. (Apoc. 22:12).
These are passages in the New Testament.
[5] There are still more in the Old Testament, from which I quote only this:
Stand in the gate of JEHOVAH and proclaim there this word... Thus saith JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings;... Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of JEHOVAH, the temple of JEHOVAH, the temple of JEHOVAH are these... Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered, while ye do these abominations? Is this house become a den of robbers? Behold, I, even I have seen it, saith JEHOVAH. (Jer. 7:2-4, 9-11).
DP 129. This law of the Divine Providence follows from the two preceding which are, that man should act from freedom according to reason (n. 71-99); and that he should do this of himself although from the Lord, thus as of himself (n. 100-128). Since being compelled is not acting from freedom according to reason, and is not from oneself but is from what is not freedom and is from another, therefore this law of the Divine Providence follows in order after the two former. Moreover, everyone knows that no one can be compelled to think what he is not willing to think, and to will what his thought forbids him to will, and thus to believe what he does not believe, and certainly what he is not willing to believe, and to love what he does not love, and certainly what he is not willing to love; for a man’s spirit or mind is in full liberty to think, will, believe and love. It is in this liberty by virtue of influx from the spiritual world which does not compel, for man’s spirit or mind is in that world, but not by virtue of influx from the natural world, which is not received unless the two act as one.
[2] A man may be compelled to say that he thinks and wills the things of religion, and that he believes and loves them; but if they are not, or do not become, matters of affection and consequently of his reason, he nevertheless does not think, will, believe and love them. A man may also be compelled to speak in favour of religion and to act according to it; but he cannot be compelled to think in favour of it from any faith in it, or to will the things of religion from any love of it. Moreover, in kingdoms where justice and judgment are guarded, everyone is restrained from speaking and acting against religion; but still no one can be compelled to think and will in favour of it. For it is within the liberty of everyone to think with hell and to will in its favour, and also to think and will in favour of heaven; but reason teaches what man’s nature is in the one case and in the other, and the nature of his abiding lot; and it is from reason that the will has liberty to choose and make its selection.
[3] From these considerations it can be seen that the external may not compel the internal; nevertheless, this is sometimes done, but that it is pernicious will be shown in the following order:
I. -No one is reformed by miracles and signs, because they compel.
II. -No one is reformed by visions and by conversations with the dead, because they compel.
III. -No one is reformed by threats and punishments, because they compel.
IV. -No one is reformed in states that are not of rationality and liberty.
V. -It is not contrary to rationality and liberty to compel oneself.
VI. -The external man must be reformed by means of the internal, and not the reverse.
DP 130. I. No ONE IS REFORMED BY MIRACLES AND SIGNS, BECAUSE THEY COMPEL. It was shown above that man has an internal and an external of thought, and that the Lord flows through the internal of thought with man into its external, and thus teaches and leads him; and also that it is of the Divine Providence of the Lord that man should act from freedom according to reason. All this would perish in man if miracles were wrought and man were driven by them to believe. That this is so may be rationally seen from the following considerations. It cannot be denied that miracles induce a belief and a strong persuasion that what is said and taught by him who performs the miracles is true, and that this at first so occupies the external of man’s thought as to hold it spell-bound. Man, however, is thereby deprived of his two faculties called rationality and liberty, and thus of his ability to act from freedom according to reason; and then the Lord cannot flow in through the internal into the external of his thought, except merely to leave the man to confirm from his rationality what has become an object of his faith because of the miracle.
[2] The state of man’s thought is such that from the internal of his thought he sees a thing in the external of his thought as in a kind of mirror; for, as was said above, a man is able to see his own thought, and this is only possible from a more interior thought. When he sees the thing as in a mirror, he can also turn it this way and that, and shape it until it appears to him to be a thing of beauty. If this is a truth it may be compared to a maiden or a youth, beautiful and living. If, however, the man cannot turn it this way and that and shape it, but can only believe it from the persuasion induced by a miracle, it may be compared, if it is then a truth, to a maiden or a youth carved from stone or wood, in which there is no life. It may also be compared to an object that is constantly before the sight and, being alone seen, hides from view everything that is on either side of it and behind it. Again, it may be compared to a continual sound in the ear that takes away the perception of harmony arising from many sounds. Such blindness and deafness are induced on the human mind by miracles. It is the same with everything that is confirmed which is not seen with some degree of rationality before being confirmed.
DP 131. From these considerations it may be evident that faith induced by miracles is not faith but persuasion; for there is nothing rational in it, still less anything spiritual, as it is only external without an internal. It is the same with all that a man does from this persuasive faith, whether he acknowledges God, or worships Him at home or at church, or performs good deeds. When a miracle alone leads a man to the acknowledgment of God, to worship, and to piety, he acts from the natural man and not from the spiritual. For a miracle infuses faith by an external and not by an internal way, thus from the world and not from heaven. Now the Lord does not enter by any other way with man than the internal way, which is by the Word, by doctrine and by preaching from it; and as miracles close up this way, at this day no miracles are wrought.
DP 132. That this is the nature of miracles may be clearly evident from those wrought before the people of Judah and Israel. Although these had seen so many miracles in the land of Egypt, and afterwards at the Red Sea, and others in the desert, and especially on Mount Sinai when the Law was promulgated, yet after the space of a month when Moses tarried upon that mountain, they made for themselves a golden calf and acknowledged it as Jehovah who had led them out of the land of Egypt (Exod. 32:4, 5, 6). Again, the nature of miracles may be evident from those wrought afterwards in the land of Canaan; and yet the people so many times departed from the worship enjoined upon them. It is equally manifest from the miracles that the Lord wrought before them when He was in the world; and yet they crucified Him.
[2] Miracles were wrought among the people of Judah and Israel because they were a wholly external people; and they were led into the land of Canaan solely in order that they might represent the Church and its internal things by means of the external things of worship, a wicked man equally with a good man being able to represent. For external things are the rituals, all of which with them signified spiritual and celestial things. Aaron indeed, although he made the golden calf and commanded the worship of it (Exod. 32:2, 3, 4, 5, 35), could nevertheless represent the Lord and His work of salvation. Since they could not be led by means of the internal things of worship to represent these things, therefore they were led, even driven and compelled by miracles to do so.
[3] They could not be led to such representation because they did not acknowledge the Lord, although the whole Word which was among them treats of Him alone; and he who does not acknowledge the Lord cannot receive any internal of worship; but after the Lord manifested Himself and was received and acknowledged in the Churches as the eternal God, miracles ceased.
DP 133. The effect, however, of miracles on the good and on the wicked is different. The good do not desire miracles, but they believe those recorded in the Word; and if they hear anything concerning a miracle they give it their attention only as an argument of no great weight that confirms their faith; for their thoughts are derived from the Word, consequently from the Lord, and not from the miracle. It is otherwise with the wicked. They may indeed he driven and compelled to a faith by miracle, and even to worship and to piety, but only for a short time. For their evils are shut in, and the lusts of their evils and the delights springing from these lusts continually act upon their external of worship and piety; and in order that their evils may emerge from their confinement and break forth, they reflect upon the miracle and at length call it an amusing artifice or a natural phenomenon, and so return to their evils. Now he who after worship returns to his evils profanes the truth and good of worship; and the lot after death of those who commit profanation is the worst of all. These are they who are meant by the Lord’s words in (Matt. 12:43, 44, 45), whose last state is worse than their first. Moreover, if miracles were to be wrought with those who do not believe from the miracles in the Word, they would be performed continually, and in view of all such persons. From these considerations it may be evident why miracles are not wrought at this day.
DP 134. II. NO ONE IS REFORMED BY VISIONS AND BY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD, BECAUSE THEY COMPEL. Visions are of two kinds, Divine and diabolical. Divine visions are produced by means of representatives in heaven, and diabolical visions by means of magic in hell. There are also fantastic visions, which are the delusions of a distracted mind. Divine visions, which as has been said, are produced by representatives in heaven, are such as the prophets had, who were not in the body but in the spirit when they were in them; for visions cannot appear to anyone in a state of bodily wakefulness. When, therefore, they appeared to the prophets it is said also that they were then in the spirit, as is evident from the following passages:
Ezekiel says:
The spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision (of God), in the Spirit of God, into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. (Ezek. 11:1, 24).
Again:
That the spirit lifted him up between the earth and the heaven, and brought him in the visions of God to Jerusalem, (Ezek. 8:3, 4).
In like manner he was in a vision of God or in the spirit when he saw four living creatures, which were cherubim, (Ezekiel 1:1; 10:1). As also when
he saw the new temple and the new earth, and the angel measuring them, (Ezekiel 40:40-48).
He says:
That he was then in the visions of God, (Ezek. 40:2, 26).
And,
That he was in the spirit, (Ezekiel 43:5).
[2] Zechariah was in a similar state,
When he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees. (Zech. 1:8).
When he saw the four horns (Zech. 1:18);
and a man in whose hand was a measuring line, (Zech. 2:1-3).
When he saw a candlestick and two olive trees, (Zech. 4:1).
When he saw a flying roll and an ephah, (Zech. 5:1-6).
When he saw four chariots coming out from between four (A.V. two) mountains and horses, (Zech. 6:1).
Daniel was in a similar state,
When he saw four beasts coming up from the sea. (Dan. 7:1).
And when he saw the combat between the ram and the he-goat, (Dan. 8:1).
That he saw these things in a vision of his spirit is stated, (Dan. 7:1, 2, 7, 13; 8:2; 10:1, 7, 8). And that the angel Gabriel was seen by him in a vision, (Dan. 9:21).
[3] John also was in a vision of
the spirit when he saw the things which he has described in the Revelation:
As when he saw seven candlesticks and in the midst of them the Son of Man. (Rev. 1:12-16).
When he saw a throne in heaven, and One sitting on the throne, and four animals which were cherubim round about it, (Rev. 4:1).
When he saw the book of life taken by the Lamb, (Rev. 5:1).
When he saw horses going out from the book, (Rev. 6:1).
When he saw seven angels with trumpets, (Rev. 8:1).
When he saw the bottomless pit opened, and locusts going out of it, (Rev. 9:1).
When he saw the dragon, and his combat with Michael, (Rev. 12:1).
When he saw two beasts, one rising up out of the sea, and the other out of the earth, (Rev. 13:1).
When he saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, (Rev. 17:1).
And Babylon destroyed, (Rev. 18:1).
When he saw a white horse and Him that sat upon it, (Rev. 19:1).
When he saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the Holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, (Rev. 21:1).
And when he saw the river of the water of life, (Rev. 22:1).
It is stated that he saw these things in a vision of the spirit, (Rev. 1:10; 4:2; 5:1; 6:1; 21:1, 2).
[4] Such were the visions that appeared from heaven, before the sight of their spirit and not before the sight of their body. Such visions do not appear at the present day; for if they did they would not be understood, because they are produced by means of representatives, the particulars of which signify internal things of the Church and spiritual truths of heaven. It is also foretold by Daniel (Daniel 9:24), that these visions would cease when the Lord came into the world. However, infernal visions have sometimes appeared, induced by fanatical and visionary spirits who, from the madness which possessed them, called themselves the Holy Spirit. But these spirits have now been gathered together by the Lord and cast into a hell separate from the hells of others. From these things it is clear that no one can be reformed by any other visions than those which are recorded in the Word. There are also fantastic visions, but these are mere illusions of a distracted mind.
DP 134a. That no one is reformed by conversations with the dead is evident from the words of the Lord concerning the rich man In hell and Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom; for the rich man said:
I pray thee father Abraham, that thou wouldest send Lazarus (A.V. him) to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him: They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. And he said: Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him: If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. (Luke 16:27-31).
Conversation with the dead would have the same effect as miracles, about which something has just been said above, namely, that a man might indeed be persuaded and driven to worship for a short time. But as this deprives him of rationality and at the same time shuts in his evils, as was said above, this spell or internal restraint is loosed, and the evils that have been shut in break out with blasphemy and profanation. This happens, however, only when spirits induce upon the mind some religious dogma; and this is never done by any good spirit, still less by any angel of heaven.
DP 135. Nevertheless, conversation with spirits, though rarely with angels of heaven, is allowed and has been granted to many for ages back. When it is granted the spirits speak with man in his native tongue, but only a few words. Those, however, who speak by permission of the Lord say nothing whatever that takes away the freedom of the reason, nor do they teach; for the Lord alone teaches man, though mediately by means of the Word when he is in a state of enlightenment; but about this something will be said in following numbers. It has been granted me by my own experience to know that this is the case. I have had conversation with spirits and angels for many years now; and no spirit has dared, nor has any angel wished, to tell me anything, still less to instruct me, about what is in the Word, or about any matter of doctrine from the Word. I have been taught by the Lord alone, who was revealed to me, and who has since constantly appeared before my eyes as the Sun in which He is; and He appears in the same way as He appears to the angels, and He has enlightened me.
DP 136. III. NO ONE IS REFORMED BY THREATS AND PUNISHMENTS, BECAUSE THEY COMPEL. It is well known that the external cannot compel the internal, but that the internal can compel the external. It is also well known that the internal is so averse to compulsion by the external that it turns itself away. Further, it is known that external delights allure the internal to consent and love; and it may also be known that there can be a forced internal and a free internal. However, although all these points are known they still require to be illustrated; for there are many things which on being heard are at once perceived to be as stated because they are true and therefore receive affirmation; but if they are not at the same time confirmed by reasons they may be weakened by fallacious" arguments, and at length denied. The points, therefore, which have just been stated as well known must be taken up again and rationally established.
[2] First: The external cannot compel the internal, but the internal can compel the external. Who can be compelled to believe and to love? One can no more be compelled to believe than to think that a thing is so when he thinks that it is not so; and one can no more be compelled to love than to will what he does not will, for belief belongs to the thought and love to the will. There is, however, an internal which may be restrained by the external from speaking ill against the laws of the kingdom, the moralities of life and the sanctities of the Church. To this extent the internal may be compelled by threats and punishments; and it, moreover, is compelled and ought to be. This internal, however, is not the human internal that is properly so-called: it is an internal that man has in common with beasts; and beasts can be compelled. The human internal has its seat above this animal internal; and it is the human internal that is here meant, and it cannot be compelled.
[3] Second: The internal is so averse to compulsion by the external that it turns itself away. This is because the internal wishes to be in freedom, and loves freedom, for freedom belongs to the love or life of man, as was shown above. Therefore, when freedom feels itself being compelled it withdraws as it were within itself and turns itself away, and regards compulsion as its enemy; for the love that constitutes the life of man is irritated and causes the man to think that in this matter he is not master of himself, and consequently that his life is not his own. Man’s internal is such from the law of the Divine Providence of the Lord that man should act from freedom according to reason.
[4] From this it is clear that it is harmful to compel men to Divine worship by threats and punishments. There are, however, some who suffer themselves to be forced to religion and some who do not. Many Roman Catholic people suffer themselves to be so compelled, but this takes place with those in whose worship there is nothing internal, but all is external. Many of the English nation do not suffer themselves to be compelled, and as a consequence of this there is an internal in their worship, and what there is in the external is from the internal. Their interiors with respect to religion appear in spiritual light like bright clouds; but the interiors of the foyer with respect to religion appear in the light of heaven like dark clouds. Both of these appearances are to be seen in the spiritual world, and anyone who wishes will see them when he comes into that world after death. Moreover, worship that is compelled shuts in evils, which then lie concealed like fire in wood under ashes, which continues to increase and spread till it breaks out into flames; while worship that is not compelled but spontaneous does not shut in evils, and these are then like fires that blaze up at once and are burnt out. From these things it is clear that the internal is so averse to compulsion that it turns itself away. The internal can compel the external because the internal is like a master and the external like a servant.
[5] Third: External delights allure the internal to consent and also to love. Delights are of two kinds, delights of the understanding and delights of the will; those of the understanding are also the delights of wisdom, and those of the will are also the delights of love; for wisdom is of the understanding and love is of the will. Now since the delights of the body and its senses, which are external delights, act as one with the internal delights which are of the understanding and the will, it follows that as the internal is so averse to compulsion by the external as to turn itself away from it, so the internal looks with such favour on what is delightful in the external as to turn itself to it. Thus arises consent on the part of the understanding and love on the part of the will.
[6] In the spiritual world all infants are led by the Lord into angelic wisdom, and by that into heavenly love by means of delights and pleasures; first, by means of beautiful things in their homes and pleasant things in gardens; then by means of representatives of spiritual things which affect the interiors of their minds with pleasure; and finally by means of truths of wisdom and so by goods of love. They are thus led continually by means of delights in due order; first by the delights of the love of the understanding and of its wisdom; and finally by the delights of the will’s love, which becomes their life’s love; and in subordination to this are held all other things that have entered their minds by means of delights.
[7] This takes place because everything of the understanding and of the will must be formed by means of the external before it is formed by means of the internal. For everything of the understanding and of the will is formed first by means of what enters through the senses of the body, especially through the sight and hearing. When, however, the first understanding and the first will have been formed, the internal of thought regards them as the external things of its thought, and either conjoins itself with them or separates itself from them, conjoining itself with them if they are delightful to it and separating itself from them if they are not.
[8] It should be clearly understood, however, that the internal of the understanding does not conjoin itself with the internal of the will, but that the internal of the will conjoins itself with the internal of the understanding, and causes the conjunction to be reciprocal. But this is brought about by the internal of the will, and not at all by the internal of the understanding. Hence it is that man cannot be reformed by faith alone, but by the love of the will which forms a faith for itself.
[9] Fourth: There can be a forced internal and a free internal. A forced internal is possible with those whose worship is only external and in no degree internal; for their internal consists in thinking and willing that to which their external is compelled. Such are those who worship men, living and dead, and hence who worship idols, and those who are in faith based on miracles. In those there is no internal but what is at the same time external. In those, however, whose worship is internal a forced internal is possible. This may be either an internal forced by fear or an internal compelled by love. Those have an internal forced by fear who worship from fear of the torment of hell and its fire. This internal, however, is not the internal of thought before treated of, but the external of thought, and is here called an internal because it is of thought. The internal of thought before treated of cannot be forced by any fear; but it can be compelled by love and by the fear of losing love. The fear of God in the true sense is none other than this. To be compelled by love and by the fear of losing it is to compel oneself; and it will be seen later that compelling oneself is not contrary to liberty and rationality.
DP 137. From this may be evident the nature of worship that is forced and of worship that is not forced. Worship that is forced is corporeal, lifeless, vague and gloomy: corporeal because it is of the body and not of the mind, lifeless because there is no life in it, vague because there is no understanding in it, and gloomy because there is no heavenly delight in it. On the other hand, worship that is not forced, when it is genuine, is spiritual, living, clear and joyful: spiritual because there is spirit from the Lord in it, living because there is life from the Lord in it, clear because there is wisdom from the Lord in it, and joyful because there is heaven from the Lord in it.
DP 138. IV. NO ONE IS REFORMED IN STATES THAT ARE NOT OF RATIONALITY AND LIBERTY. It was shown above that nothing is appropriated to man except what he does from freedom according to reason. This is because freedom belongs to the will and reason to the understanding; and when man acts from freedom according to reason he acts from the will by means of his understanding; and that which is done when these two are united is appropriated to him. Now since the Lord wills that man should be reformed and regenerated in order that he may have eternal life or the life of heaven; and since no one can be reformed and regenerated unless good is appropriated to his will so as to be as it were his own, and truth is appropriated to his understanding also to be as his own; and since nothing can be appropriated to anyone except what is done from freedom of the will according to reason, it follows that no one is reformed in states that are not of liberty and rationality. There are many such states, but in general they may be referred to the following: states of fear, misfortune, mental disorder (animus), bodily disease, ignorance and blindness of the understanding. Something shall be said of each state in particular.
DP 139. No one is reformed in a state of fear, because fear takes away freedom and reason, or liberty and rationality; for love opens the interiors of the mind but fear closes them; and when they are closed man has but few thoughts, and then only those which present themselves to his mind (animus) or to his senses. Such is the nature of all fears that invade the mind (animus).
[2] It was shown above that man has an internal and an external of thought. Fear can in no wise invade the internal of thought, this being always in freedom because it is his life’s love; but it can invade the external of thought, and when it does this the internal of thought is closed; and when this is closed man can no longer act from freedom according to his reason, and therefore cannot be reformed.
[3] The fear that invades the external of thought and closes the internal is chiefly a fear of the loss of honour or of gain; but the fear of civil punishments and of external ecclesiastical punishments does not close the internal of thought, because the laws relating to these only prescribe penalties for those who speak and act contrary to the civil interests of the state and the spiritual interests of the Church, but not for those who think in opposition to them.
[4] The fear of infernal punishments does indeed invade the external of thought, but only for some moments, hours or days: it is soon restored to the freedom it has from the internal of thought which properly belongs to its spirit and its life’s love, and which is called the thought of the heart.
[5] However, fear of the loss of honour and gain invades the external of man’s thought; and when it does this it closes the internal of thought from above against influx from heaven and makes it impossible for man to be reformed. This is because the life’s love of every man from his birth is the love of self and of the world; and the love of self makes one with the love of honour, and the love of the world makes one with the love of gain. Therefore, when a man is in possession of honour or wealth, from fear of losing them he strengthens in himself the means that serve to promote his honour and gain. These means are both civil and ecclesiastical, and in each case they pertain to rule. He who is not yet in possession of honour or wealth acts in similar fashion if he aspires to win them, but he does so from a fear of the loss of reputation on account of them.
[6] It is said that this fear invades the external of thought and closes the internal from above against influx from heaven; and this is said to be closed when it completely makes one with the external, for then it is not in its self, but in the external.
[7] Since, however, the loves of self and of the world are infernal loves and the source of all evils, it is clear what the nature of the internal of thought is in itself in those in whom these loves are their life’s loves, or in whom they reign, namely, that it is full of the lusts of evils of every kind.
[8] This is not known to those who, from fear of the loss of dignity and wealth, under strong persuasion hold to the religiosity which they profess, especially as it is a form of religion which involves the worship of themselves as deities and also as rulers (plutones) in hell. These can burn, as it were, with zeal for the salvation of souls, and yet they do so from infernal fire. Since this fear especially takes away rationality itself and liberty itself which are heavenly in their origin, it is clearly a hindrance to the possibility of man’s reformation.
DP 140. No one is reformed in a state of misfortune, if only then he thinks of God and implores His aid, because this is a state of compulsion; therefore as soon as he comes into a state of freedom he goes back into his former state in which he had thought little or nothing concerning God. It is otherwise with those who had, while in a free state, feared God before misfortune. By fearing God is meant fearing to offend Him, and to offend Him is to sin. This is not a matter of fear but of love; for anyone who loves another fears to do him wrong, and the more he loves the greater is his fear. Without this fear love is insipid and superficial, a matter of thought only and not of the will. By states of misfortune are meant states of despair arising from peril, as in battles, duels, shipwrecks, falls, fires, imminent or unexpected loss of wealth, also of office and consequently of honour, and other similar dangers. To think of God only when in these states is not from God but from self; for the mind is then as it were imprisoned in the body; thus not in liberty and therefore not in rationality; and without these no reformation is possible.
DP 141. No one is reformed in a state of mental disorder (animus), because disease of the mind takes away rationality, and consequently freedom of acting according to reason. For the mind (mens) is sick and unsound, and a sound mind is rational but not a sick one. Such disorders of the mind are melancholy, spurious and false remorse of conscience, hallucinations of various kinds, grief of mind (animus) arising from misfortunes, anxieties and mental anguish from a vitiated condition of the body. These are sometimes regarded as temptations, but they are not; for genuine temptations have as their objects spiritual things, and in them the mind is wise; but these states have as their objects natural things, and in them the mind is unsound.
DP 142. No one is reformed in a state bodily disease, because the reason is then not in a free state, for the state of the mind depends upon the state of the body. When the body is sick the mind also is sick, because of its separation from the world-if for no other reason. For a mind removed from the world thinks indeed concerning God, but not from God, for it does not have freedom of reason. Man has freedom of reason from this circumstance, that he is in the midst between heaven and the world and can think from heaven and the world, also from heaven about the world and from the world about heaven. When, therefore, a man is in sickness, and is thinking about death and the state of his soul after death, he is not then in the world but is withdrawn in spirit; and when in this state only, no one can be reformed; but he may be strengthened by this experience if he was reformed before he fell sick.
[2] It is the same with those who renounce the world and all business in it and give themselves up solely to thoughts about God, heaven and salvation; but on this subject more will be said elsewhere. If these persons, therefore, were not reformed before their sickness, they become after it such as they were before the sickness. Hence it is vain to think that any can repent or receive any faith during sickness, for there is no action in that repentance and no charity in that faith; thus it is all lip-service and nothing of the heart in both cases.
DP 143. No one is reformed in a state of ignorance, because all reformation is effected by means of truths and a life according to them. Therefore, those who have no knowledge of truths cannot be reformed; but if they desire truths from an affection for them they are reformed in the spiritual world after death.
DP 144. Neither can anyone be reformed in a state of blindness of the understanding. These also have no knowledge of truths, and consequently of life; for the understanding must teach truths and the will must do them; and when the will does what the understanding teaches its life is fashioned according to truths. But when the understanding is blinded the will is also closed up, and from freedom according to its reason it does only the evil that is confirmed in the understanding, which is falsity. Moreover, the understanding is blinded not only by ignorance but also by religion that teaches blind faith; and also by false doctrine. For as truths open the understanding so falsities close it; they close it from above but open it from below, and the understanding, open only below, cannot see truths but can merely confirm whatever it wills, especially falsity. The understanding is also blinded by the lusts of evil. As long as the will is in these it moves the understanding to confirm them; and so far as the lusts of evil are confirmed it is impossible for the will to be in the affections of good and to see truths from them, and thus to be reformed.
[2] For example, when one is in the lust of adultery his will, which is in the delight of his love, moves his understanding to confirm it, saying, "What is adultery? Is there anything wicked in it? Is there not the same thing between husband and wife? Cannot children be born from adultery just as from marriage? Cannot a woman admit more than one without harm? What has the spiritual to do with this?" So thinks the understanding which is then the courtesan of the will, and so stupid has it become from debauchery with the will that it cannot see that marriage love is spiritual, heavenly love itself, an image of the love of the Lord and of the Church from which it is derived; and thus that it is in itself holy, that it is chastity itself, purity and innocence; and that it makes men to be forms of love, since consorts can love each other mutually from inmost things and thus form themselves into loves; and that adultery destroys this form and with it the image of the Lord; and what is horrible, that the adulterer mingles his life with the husband’s life in his wife, for a man’s life is in the seed.
[3] As this is profane, therefore hell is called adultery, and heaven on the other hand is called marriage. Moreover, the love of adultery communicates with the lowest hell but true marriage love communicates with the inmost heaven; and the organs of generation in both sexes also correspond to societies of the inmost heaven. These things have been recorded that it may be known how blinded the understanding is when the will is in the lust of evil; and that no one can be reformed in a state of blindness of the understanding.
DP 145. V. IT IS NOT CONTRARY TO RATIONALITY AND LIBERTY TO COMPEL ONESELF. It was shown in what has gone before that man has an internal and an external of thought; that these are distinct like what is prior and what is posterior or like what is higher and what is lower; and that, because they are so distinct, they can act separately and also conjointly. They act separately when from the external of his thought a man speaks and acts otherwise than as he thinks and wills interiorly; and they act conjointly when he speaks and acts as he interiorly thinks and wills. The latter is, generally the case with the sincere, but the former with the Insincere.
[2] Now since the internal and the external of the mind are in this way distinct, the internal can even fight with the external and by combat force it to compliance. Combat takes place when a man thinks that evils are sins and therefore resolves to desist from them; for when he desists a door is opened, and when it is opened the lusts of evil which occupied the internal of his thought are cast out by the Lord and affections of good are implanted in their place. This is done in the internal of thought. But as the delights of the lusts of evil which invest the external of thought cannot be cast out at the same time, a combat takes place between the internal and the external of thought. The internal wishes to cast out these delights because they are delights of evil and not in accord with the affections of good in which the internal now is; and instead of the delights of evil it wishes to introduce delights of good that are in accord. The delights of good are what are called goods of charity. From this opposition arises a combat, and if it increases in severity it is called temptation.
[3] Now since a man is a man by virtue of the internal of his thought, this being the spirit of man itself, it is evident that a man compels himself when he forces the external of his thought to compliance, that is, to receive the delights of his affections, which are the goods of charity. It is evident that this is not contrary to rationality and liberty but is in accordance with them; for rationality causes the combat and liberty carries it on. Liberty itself with rationality also has its seat in the internal man and from that in the external.
[4] When, therefore, the internal conquers, as happens when the internal has reduced the external to obedient compliance, then liberty itself and rationality itself are given to man by the Lord; for man is then withdrawn by the Lord from infernal freedom, which in itself is slavery, and is brought into heavenly freedom, which in itself is freedom itself and he is granted association with angels. That those are slaves who are in sins, and that the Lord makes those free who receive truth from Him through the Word, He teaches in (John 8:31-36).
DP 146. This may be illustrated by the example of a man who has taken delight in fraud and secret theft, but who now sees and interiorly acknowledges that these are sins, and therefore desires to desist from them. When he desists there arises a combat of the internal man with the external. The internal man has an affection for sincerity, but the external man still has delight in fraud; and as this delight is the direct opposite of the delight of sincerity it does not give way unless it is compelled; and it cannot be compelled unless by combat. When victory has been won the external man is introduced into the delight of the love of what is sincere, which is charity; and afterwards delight in fraud gradually loses its pleasure for him. It is the same with all other sins, as with adultery and whoredom, revenge and hatred, blasphemy and lying. But the hardest of all combats is with the love of rule from the love of self. He who subdues this easily subdues all other evil loves, for this is their head.
DP 147. It will also be briefly stated how the Lord casts out lusts of evil, which beset the internal man from birth, and how He bestows in their place affections of good when a man as of himself removes evils as sins. It was shown before that man has a natural mind, a spiritual mind and a celestial mind; and that he is in the natural mind alone, as long as he is in the lusts of evil and their delight; and that during this time the spiritual mind is closed. But as soon as he, after self-examination, acknowledges evils to be sins against God because they are contrary to Divine laws, and therefore desires to desist from them, the Lord opens the spiritual mind, and enters into the natural mind through affections for truth and good; and He also enters into the rational, and from it disposes in order the things that are contrary to order below it in the natural. This appears to man as a combat and, with those who have indulged much in the delights of evil, as temptation; for there arises grief in the mind (animus) when the order of its thoughts is inverted. Now since the combat is against the things that are in the man himself and that he feels as his own, and no one can fight against himself unless from an interior self and from freedom there, it follows that the internal man then fights against the external, and fights from freedom and forces the external to obedience. This, then, is compelling oneself; and it is clear that this is not contrary to liberty and rationality, but is in accordance with them.
DP 148. Moreover, every man wishes to be free, and to remove not freedom but slavery from himself. Every boy who is under a master wishes to be his own master, and so to be free. It is the same with every man-servant under his master and with every maid under her mistress. Every maiden wishes to leave her father’s house and to marry, in order that she may act freely in a home of her own; and every youth who desires to engage in work, or take part in business, or perform the duties of any office, while he serves under others wishes to be released in order that he may be his own master. All those who serve of their own accord by reason of their liberty compel themselves; and when they compel themselves they act from freedom according to reason, but from an interior freedom, from which exterior freedom is looked upon as servitude. This has been stated in order to prove that it is not contrary to rationality and liberty to compel oneself
DP 149. One reason why man does not in like manner desire to come out of spiritual servitude into spiritual liberty is, that he does not know what spiritual slavery is and what spiritual freedom is; he does not possess the truths that teach this; and without truths spiritual slavery is believed to be freedom, and spiritual freedom to be slavery. Another reason is that the religion of the Christian world has closed up the understanding, and faith alone has sealed it; for both of these have placed around themselves like an iron curtain the dogma that theological matters are transcendent and cannot therefore be reached by any exercise of rationality, and that they are for the blind, not for those that see. In this way the truths have been hidden that teach what spiritual liberty is. A third reason is that few examine themselves and see their sins; and he who does not see his sins and desist from them is in the freedom of sin, which is infernal freedom, in itself slavery; and from this viewpoint to see heavenly freedom, which is freedom itself is like seeing day in a fog, or like seeing what comes from the sun above when under a black cloud. Hence it is that it is not known what heavenly freedom is, and that the difference between it and infernal freedom is like the difference between the living and the dead.
DP 150. VI. THE EXTERNAL MAN MUST BE REFORMED BY MEANS OF THE INTERNAL, AND NOT THE REVERSE. By the internal and the external man is meant the same as by the internal and the external of thought, which have frequently been treated of before. The reason why the external is reformed by means of the internal is that the internal flows into the external, and not the reverse. It is known in the learned world that there is influx of the spiritual into the natural, and not the reverse; and it is known in the Church that the internal man must first be purified and renewed, and thereby the external. This is known because the Lord teaches it and reason declares it. The Lord teaches it in these words:
Woe unto you, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is witin the cup and the platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matt. 23:25, 26).
[2] That reason declares it is shown in many passages in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. For what the Lord teaches He grants to men to perceive rationally, and this in two ways; in one, man sees in himself that a thing is so, as soon as he hears it; and in the other, he understands it by means of reasons. His seeing in himself is in his internal man, and his understanding by means of reasons is in the external man. Everyone sees it within himself when he hears that the internal man must first be purified and the external by means of it. But he who does not receive a general idea of this by influx from heaven may be led astray when he consults the external of his thought. From this alone no one sees otherwise than that the external works of charity and piety, apart from the internal, are saving: It is the same in other things; as that sight and hearing flow into thought, and smell and taste into perception; thus the external into the internal, when nevertheless the contrary is the case. The appearance that what is seen and heard flow into the thought is a fallacy; for it is the understanding that sees in the eye and hears in the ear, and not the reverse. So it is in everything else.
DP 151. At this point something will now be said on how the internal man is reformed and how the external man is reformed-by means of it. The internal man is not reformed merely by knowing, understanding and being wise, and consequently merely by thinking; but by willing what knowledge, understanding and wisdom teach. When a man knows, understands and has wisdom to see that there is a heaven and a hell, and that all evil is from hell and all good is from heaven; and if he then does not will evil because it is from hell, but wills good because it is from heaven, he is in the first stage of reformation, and is at the threshold out of hell into heaven. When he progresses further, and wills to desist from evils he is in the second stage of reformation, and is now outside hell but not yet in heaven, which he sees above him. A man must have such an internal in order that he may be reformed; but he is not reformed unless the external as well as the internal is reformed. The external is reformed by means of the internal when the external desists from the evils which the internal does not will because they are infernal, and still more when the external for this reason shuns them and fights against them. Thus willing is the part of the internal and doing of the external. For unless a man does that which he wills there is within him the failure to will which eventually becomes want of will.
[2] From these few considerations it can be seen how the external man is reformed by means of the internal. This also is what is meant by the Lord’s words to Peter:
Jesus said: If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. (Simon) Peter saith unto Him: Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him: He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. (John 13:8, 9, 10).
By washing is meant spiritual washing, which is purification from evils; by washing the head and hands is meant purifying the internal man; and by washing the feet is meant purifying the external man. That the external man must be purified when the internal has been purified is meant by this, "He that is washed, needeth not save to wash his feet." That all purification from evils is from the Lord is meant by this, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me." It has been shown in many places in the ARCANA CAELESTIA that washing among the Jews represented purification from evils, and that this is signified in the Word by washing; and that by washing the feet is signified the purification of the natural or external man.
DP 152. Since man has an internal and an external, and both must be reformed in order that the man may be reformed, and since no one can be reformed unless he examines himself sees and acknowledges his evils, and afterwards desists from them, it follows that not only the external but also the internal must be examined. If the external alone is examined, a man sees only what he has actually done, as that he has not committed murder, adultery, theft, and has not borne false witness; and so on. Thus he examines the evils of his body, and not the evils of his spirit; and yet the evils of the spirit must be examined in order that anyone may be reformed. For after death man lives a spirit, and all the evils that are in the spirit remain; and the spirit is examined only by man attending to his thoughts, especially to his intentions, for these are thoughts from the will. In the will evils are in their origin and in their root, that is, in their lusts and in their delights; and unless these are seen and acknowledged the man is still in evils, although in externals he has not committed them. That to think from intention is to will and to do is clear from the Lord’s words:
Whosoever looketh on the wife of another (A.V. a woman) to lust after her committeth (A.V. hath committed) adultery with her already in his heart. (Matt. 5:28).
Such is the examination of the internal man, from which the essential examination of the external man is effected.
DP 153. I have often wondered that although the whole Christian world acknowledges that evils must be shunned as sins, and that otherwise they are not remitted, and unless they are remitted there is no salvation, yet scarcely one in a thousand understands this. Inquiry was made about this in the spiritual world, and it was found to be so. Everyone in the Christian world acknowledges it, from the exhortations read before those who come to the Holy Supper, for it is openly declared in these; and yet when they are asked whether they understand this, they answer that they do not, and that they have never understood it. The reason is that they have not given it any thought, most of them thinking only about faith and about salvation by faith alone. I have also wondered that faith alone has so closed the eyes that when those who have confirmed themselves in it are reading the Word they see nothing that is said there about love, charity and works. It is as though they had smeared over all things in the Word with faith, as one smears over a piece of writing with red paint so that nothing underneath it appears; and if anything does appear, it is absorbed by faith and declared to be faith.
DP 154. The appearance is that man is led and taught of himself; but the truth is that he is led and taught by the Lord alone. Those who confirm in themselves the appearance and not at the same time the truth, are unable to remove from themselves evils as sins; but those who confirm in themselves the appearance and at the same time the truth, are able to do so, for in appearance it is man who puts away evils as sins, but in truth it is the Lord. Those who belong to the latter class can be reformed, but not those who belong to the former.
[2] Those who confirm in themselves the appearance and not at the same time the truth are all interior idolaters, for they are worshippers of self and the world. If they have no religion they become worshippers of nature, and thus atheists; but if they have a religion they become worshippers of men and also of images. Such are they at the present day who are meant in the first commandment of the Decalogue, who worship other gods. Those, however, who confirm in themselves the appearance and also the truth become worshippers of the Lord; for the Lord raises them up from their proprium which is in the appearance, and brings them into the light in which is truth and which is truth; and He enables them to perceive interiorly that they are not led and taught of themselves, but by Him.
[3] To many the rational of both classes may appear to be similar, but it is not similar. The rational of those who are in the appearance and at the same time in the truth is a spiritual rational, while the rational of those who are in the appearance and not at the same time in the truth is a natural rational. This natural rational may be compared to a garden as it is in the light of winter, while the spiritual rational may be compared to a garden as it is in the light of spring. But more will be said on these matters in what follows in this order:
I. -Man is led and taught by the Lord alone.
II. -Man is led and taught by the Lord alone through the angelic heaven and from it.
III. -Man is led by the Lord by means of influx, and taught by means of enlightenment.
IV. -Man is taught by the Lord by means of the Word, and by doctrine and preaching from the Word, thus immediately by Himself alone.
V. -Man is led and taught by the Lord in externals to all appearance as of himself.
DP 155. I. MAN IS LED AND TAUGHT BY THE LORD ALONE. This flows as a universal consequence from all that has been set forth in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM; from what is there shown concerning the Lord’s Divine Love and His Divine Wisdom in the First Part; concerning the Sun of the spiritual world and the sun of the natural world in the Second Part; concerning degrees in the Third Part; concerning the creation of the universe in the Fourth Part; and concerning the creation of man in the Fifth Part.
DP 156. That man is led and taught by the Lord alone means that he lives from the Lord alone; for his life’s will is led, and his life’s understanding is taught. This, however, is contrary to appearance; for it appears to man that he lives from himself, while the truth is that he lives from the Lord and not of himself. Now, because there cannot be given to man, so long as he is in the world, the perception by sensation that he lives from the Lord alone, since the appearance that he lives from himself is not taken away from him, for without it a man is not a man, therefore it must be established by reasons, which must afterwards be confirmed by experience, and finally by the Word.
DP 157. That man lives from the Lord alone, and not of himself is established by the following reasons: There is one sole essence, one sole substance, and one sole form, from which are all the essences, substances and forms that have been created. This one sole essence, substance and form, is the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, from which are all things relating to love and wisdom in man. It is also Good itself and Truth itself to which all things have relation; and these are life, which is the source of the life of all and of all things pertaining to life. Moreover, the One Only and the Self is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent; and this One Only and the Self is the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah.
[2] First: There is one sole essence, one sole substance, and one sole form, from which are all the essences, substances and forms that have been created. This is shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 44-46); and in the Second Part of the work it is shown that the Sun of the angelic heaven, which is from the Lord and in which the Lord is, is that one sole substance and form from which are all things that have been created, and that there is nothing and can be nothing which is not from that Sun; and it is shown there in the Third Part that all things are from that Sun by derivations according to degrees.
[3] Everyone perceives and acknowledges from reason that there is one sole essence from which is all essence, or one sole Being (Esse) from which is all being. What can exist without being? and what is the being from which is all being but Being itself? And that which is Being itself is also the one sole Being and Being in itself. As this is the case, and everyone perceives and acknowledges it from reason, or if not, he can perceive and acknowledge it, what else then follows but that this Being, which is the Divine itself, and is Jehovah, is the All of all things that have being and existence?
[4] The same is true if we say that there is one sole substance from which are all things; and as substance without form has no existence, it follows also that there is one sole form from which are all things. It has been shown in the treatise mentioned above that the Sun of the angelic heaven is this sole substance and form, and also how this essence, substance and form, is varied in created things.
[5] Second: This one sole essence, substance and form is the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, from which are all things relating to love and wisdom in man. This also has been fully shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. In man the things which appear to live have relation to his will and his understanding; and that these two constitute the life of man everyone perceives and acknowledges from his reason. What else is there in life except "I will this, and I understand this," or in other words, "I love this, and I think this?" As a man wills what he loves, and thinks what he understands, so all things of the will relate to love, and all things of the understanding to wisdom; and since love and wisdom cannot exist in anyone from himself, but only from Him who is Love itself and Wisdom itself it follows that they exist from the Lord who is from eternity, that is, Jehovah. If they did not exist from this source man would be love itself and wisdom itself, thus God from eternity; but from this human reason itself recoils. Nothing can exist except from what is prior to itself; and this prior thing can exist only from what is still prior to it, and thus finally only from the First which is in its Self.
[6] Third: In like manner it is Good itself and Truth itself to which all things have relation. It is received and acknowledged by every rational being that God is Good itself and Truth itself, and also that all good and truth are from Him; and therefore that all good and truth can come from no other source than Good itself and Truth itself. These things are acknowledged by every rational man as soon as they are heard. When it is afterwards stated that everything of the will and the understanding, or everything of love and wisdom, or everything of affection and thought in a man who is led by the Lord, has relation to good and truth, it follows that all that such a man wills and understands, or every activity of his love and wisdom, or of his affection and thought, is from the Lord. Hence it is that everyone in the Church knows that everything good and true from man is not good and true in itself, but only that which is from the Lord. As this is the truth it follows that everything that such a man wills and thinks is from the Lord. Moreover, it will be seen in what follows that every wicked man can will and think from no other source.
[7] Fourth: These are life, which is the source of the life of all and of all things pertaining to life. This has been shown in many places in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. Human reason also accepts and acknowledges, as soon as it is heard, that the whole life of man belongs to his will and his understanding, for if these are taken away he ceases to live; or, what is the same, that the whole life of man belongs to his love and his thought, for if these are taken away he ceases to live. Now since everything of the will and the understanding, or of love and thought, in man is from the Lord, as has just been said, it follows that everything of his life is from the Lord.
[8] Fifth: This One Only and the Self is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. This also every Christian acknowledges from his doctrine, and every Gentile from his religion. Hence it is also that everyone, wherever he may be, thinks that God is where he is, and prays to God as present. As everyone so thinks and so prays, it follows that he cannot think otherwise than that God is everywhere, and thus omnipresent. In like manner he thinks that He is omniscient and omnipotent. Therefore, everyone who prays in his heart to God implores Him to lead him because He is able to do so. Thus at such a time everyone acknowledges the Divine Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence: this he does because he then turns his face to the Lord, and this truth then flows in from the Lord.
[9] Sixth: This One Only and the Self is the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah. It was shown in THE DOCTRINE OR THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD that God is One in essence and in person, and that this God is the Lord; and that the Divine itself, which is called Jehovah the Father, is the Lord from eternity; that the Divine Human is the Son conceived from His Divine from eternity and born in the world, and that the Divine Proceeding is the Holy Spirit. The expressions the Self and the One Only are used because it was said above that the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, is Life itself, since He is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or Good itself and Truth itself, from which are all things. That the Lord created all things from Himself and not from nothing, may be seen in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 282-284, 349-357). From these considerations this truth, that man is led and taught by the Lord alone, has been established on rational grounds.
DP 158. With the angels, especially the angels of the third heaven, the same truth is established not only on rational grounds but also by actual perceptions. These angels perceive the influx of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom from the Lord; and because they perceive it, and from their wisdom know that Love and Wisdom are life, they say that they live from the Lord and not from themselves; and they not only say this but they also love it and desire it to be so. Nevertheless, they are still to all appearance as if they lived from themselves; indeed, this appearance is stronger with them than with other angels; for as was shown above (n. 42-45), The more nearly anyone is conjoined to the Lord the more distinctly does he appear to himself to be master of himself, and yet the more evidently does he recognise that he is the Lord’s. It has also been granted to me for several years now to be conscious of a like perception and appearance at the same time, and consequently I have been fully convinced that nothing I will and think is from myself but that it only appears as from myself; and it has also been granted to me to will and to love this. This truth may be confirmed by many other examples from the spiritual world; but these two must suffice for the present.
DP 159. That the Lord alone has life is clear from the following passages in the Word:
I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (John 11:25).
I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
The Word was God. In Him was Me; and the life was the light of men (John 1:1, 4).
The Word in this passage means the Lord.
As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26).
That man is led and taught by the Lord alone is clear from the following passages:
Without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).
A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).
A man cannot make one hair white or black (Matt. 5:36).
By a hair in the Word is signified the least of all things.
DP 160. That the life of the wicked is also from the same source will be shown in what follows in its proper article. Here it will merely be illustrated by a comparison. From the sun of the world heat and light flow in, alike into trees bearing evil fruit and into trees bearing good fruit; and they are alike quickened and grow. It is not the heat in itself, but the forms into which the heat flows that cause this diversity. It is the same with light, which is turned into various colours according to the forms into which it flows. Some colours are beautiful and gay, and some are ugly and sombre; and yet the light is the same. So it is with the influx of spiritual heat, which in itself is love, and of spiritual light, which in itself is wisdom, from the Sun of the spiritual world. It is the forms into which these flow that cause the diversity, and not that heat which is love, and that light which is wisdom, in themselves. The forms into which they flow are human minds. From these considerations it is now clear that man is led and taught by the Lord alone.
DP 161. On the other hand, what the life of animals is was shown above (n. 74-96), namely, that it is a life of merely natural affection with its appropriate knowledge; and that it is a mediated life, corresponding to the life of those who are in the spiritual world.
DP 162. II. MAN IS LED AND TAUGHT BY THE LORD ALONE THROUGH THE ANGELIC HEAVEN AND FROM IT. It is said that man is led by the Lord through (i.e., by means of, per) the angelic heaven and from it; but it is only an appearance that he is led through the angelic heaven while it is the truth that he is led from that heaven. The appearance that he is led through the angelic heaven arises from the fact that the Lord appears over that heaven as the Sun; but the truth that man is led from that heaven arises from the fact that the Lord is in that heaven as the soul is in man. For the Lord is omnipresent, and is not in space, as was shown above; and therefore distance is an appearance according to conjunction with the Lord, conjunction being according to the reception of love and wisdom from Him; and since no one can be conjoined to the Lord as He is in Himself, He appears to the angels at a distance as a Sun; nevertheless, He is in the whole angelic heaven, as the soul is in man. In like manner He is in every society of heaven and also in every angel there; for a man’s soul is not only the soul of the whole man but also the soul of every part.
[2] But since it is according to the appearance that the Lord rules the universal heaven and through it the world from the Sun which is from Him and in which He is (concerning which Sun see the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, Second Part), and since everyone is permitted to speak from the appearance, nor can he do otherwise, therefore everyone who is not in wisdom itself is permitted to think that the Lord rules all things in general and in particular from His Sun; and also that He rules the world through the angelic heaven. From this appearance also the angels of the lower heavens think; but the angels of the higher heavens speak indeed from the appearance but they think from the truth, which is, that the Lord rules the universe from the angelic heaven, that is, from Himself.
[3] That the simple and the wise speak alike but do not think alike, may be illustrated from the sun of the world. All speak about it according to the appearance, saying that it rises and sets; but the wise, although they speak in the same way, nevertheless think of it as standing still, which also is the truth while the other is the appearance. The same may also be illustrated from appearances in the spiritual world; for there spaces and distances appear as in the natural world; but yet they are appearances according to the dissimilarity of affections and of thoughts therefrom. It is the same with the appearance of the Lord in His Sun.
DP 163. How the Lord from the angelic heaven leads and teaches every man will be stated in a few words. In the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, and above in this treatise THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, and also in the work HEAVEN AND HELL published in London in the year 1758, it has been made known from things seen and heard that the universal angelic heaven appears before the Lord as one man, and likewise every society of heaven; and that it is from this that every angel and spirit is a man in perfect form. It has also been shown in the works just mentioned that heaven is not heaven from anything belonging to the angels, but from the reception by the angels of the Divine Love and Wisdom from the Lord. Hence it may be evident that the Lord rules the universal angelic heaven as one man; and since that heaven is in itself a man, it is the very image and likeness of the Lord, and the Lord Himself rules that heaven as the soul rules the body; and since the whole human race is ruled by the Lord, it is ruled not through heaven but from heaven by the Lord, and consequently from Himself, because He is heaven, as has been stated.
DP 164. However, as this is a truth (arcanum) of angelic wisdom it cannot be comprehended by man unless his spiritual mind has been opened; for such a man, by virtue of his conjunction with the Lord, is an angel. Such a man may comprehend the following from what has already been stated:
1. All, men and angels alike, are in the Lord and the Lord is in them according to their conjunction with Him, or, what is the same, according to their reception of love and wisdom from Him.
2. Each of these has a place appointed in the Lord, thus in heaven, according to the nature of this conjunction or reception of Him.
3. Each one in his own place has his state distinct from the state of others; and draws his portion from the common stock according to his position, his function and his need, precisely as each part does in the human body.
4. Everyone is initiated into his place by the Lord according to his life.
5. Everyone from infancy is introduced into that Divine Man whose soul and life is the Lord; and in the Lord, not outside Him, he is led and taught from His Divine Love according to His Divine Wisdom. But as freedom is not taken away from man, he can be led and taught only in the measure that he receives love and wisdom as of himself.
6. Those who receive are conducted to their places through an infinite maze of winding paths, much as the chyle is carried through the mesentery and the lacteal vessels to its cistern, and from this through the thoracic duct into the blood, and so to its own place.
7. Those who do not receive are separated from those who are within the Divine Man, as excrement and urine are separated from man. These are interior truths of heavenly wisdom which man can in some measure comprehend; but there are many more which he cannot.
DP 165. III. MAN IS LED BY THE LORD BY MEANS OF INFLUX, AND TAUGHT BY MEANS OF ENLIGHTENMENT. Man is led by the Lord by means of influx because being led and inflowing are predicated of love and the will; and he is taught by the Lord by means of enlightenment because being taught and enlightened are properly predicated of wisdom and the understanding. It is well known that every man is led by himself from his own love, and by others according to his love, and not by his understanding. He is led by his understanding and according to it, only when his love or his will forms his understanding; and when this is done, it can also be said of his understanding that it is led; but even then it is not the understanding that is being led, but the will from which it is formed. The term influx is used because it is customary to say that the soul flows into the body; and it has been shown above that influx is spiritual and not physical; and a man’s soul or life is his love or will. The term is used also because influx is comparatively like the flow of the blood into the heart, and from the heart into the lungs. It has been shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 371-432), that there is a correspondence of the heart with the will, and of the lungs with the understanding, and that the conjunction of the will with the understanding is like the inflow of the blood from the heart into the lungs.
DP 166. Man, however, is taught by enlightenment, because being taught and enlightened are predicated of the understanding; for the understanding, which is man’s internal sight, is enlightened by spiritual light just as the eye or man’s external sight is enlightened by natural light. Moreover, both are similarly taught; but the internal sight, which is that of the understanding, is taught by spiritual objects; and the external sight, which is that of the eye, is taught by natural objects. There is spiritual light and there is natural light; and both are alike in external but unlike in internal appearance; for natural light is from the sun of the natural world, and consequently in itself is dead, while spiritual light is from the Sun of the spiritual world, and consequently in itself is living. It is this spiritual light and not natural light that enlightens the human understanding. Natural and rational light (lumen) is not from natural light but from spiritual light; and it is called natural and rational light (lumen) because it is spiritual natural.
[2] In the spiritual world there are three degrees of light, celestial light, spiritual light, and spiritual natural light. Celestial light is a flaming light with a reddish glow, and is the light of those who are in the third heaven. Spiritual light is a gleaming white light, and is the light of those who are in the middle heaven, while spiritual natural light is like the light of day in our world. This is the light of those who are in the lowest heaven, and also of those who are in the world of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell; but in the world of spirits this light with the good is like that of summer on earth, and with the wicked like that of winter.
[3] It should be known, however, that all the light of the spiritual world has nothing in common with the light of the natural world; they differ as what is living and what is dead. From these circumstances it is clear that it is not natural light, such as that before our eyes, that enlightens the understanding, but spiritual light. Man does not know this, because hitherto he has known nothing about spiritual light. It has been shown in the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 126-140), that spiritual light is in its origin Divine Wisdom or Divine Truth.
DP 167. its the light of heaven has now been spoken of, something must also be said about the light of hell. This also is of three degrees: light in the lowest hell is like that of burning coals; light in the middle hell is like that from the flame of a fire on a hearth; and light in the highest hell is like the light from candles, and to some like the light of the moon by night. These lights are not natural but spiritual, for all natural light is dead, and extinguishes the understanding; and those who are in hell have the faculty of understanding, called rationality, as has been shown before; and rationality itself is from spiritual light, and not at all from natural light; and the spiritual light which these have from rationality is changed into infernal light, as the light of day to the darkness of night.
[2] Nevertheless, all in the spiritual world, both those who are in the heavens and those who are in the hells, see in their own light as clearly as man by day sees in his. The reason for this is that everyone’s eyesight is formed for the reception of the light in which it functions. Thus the eyesight of the angels of heaven is formed for the reception of the light in which it functions, and the eyesight of the spirits of hell for the reception of their light; and this, to use a comparison, is as sight with night birds and bats, which see objects at night and in the evening as clearly as other birds see them by day, for their eyes are formed to receive such light.
[3] The difference, however, between these lights appears very clearly to those who look from one light into the other; as when an angel of heaven looks into hell he sees nothing there but merely thick darkness; and when a spirit of hell looks into heaven he sees nothing there but thick darkness. The reason of this is that heavenly wisdom is like thick darkness to those who are in hell; and, on the other hand, infernal insanity is like thick darkness to those who are in heaven. From these circumstances it may be evident that the light a man has is such as his understanding is; and that after death everyone comes into his own light, for he does not see in any other. Moreover, in the spiritual world, where all are spiritual even as to their bodies, the eyes of all are formed to see from their own light. The life’s love of everyone makes an understanding for itself, and so also a light; for love is like the fire of life, from which is the light of life.
DP 168. As few know anything about the enlightenment which affects the understanding of a man who is taught by the Lord, something will now be said about it. There is an interior and an exterior enlightenment from the Lord; and there is an interior and an exterior enlightenment from man. Interior enlightenment from the Lord consists in a man’s perceiving at first hearing whether what is said is true or not true; and exterior enlightenment is derived from this in the thought. Interior enlightenment from man is from confirmation alone; and exterior enlightenment from man is from knowledge alone. Something will now be said about each of these.
[2] A rational man by interior enlightenment from the Lord at once perceives, when he hears them, whether many things are true or not; as, for example, that love is the life of faith, that is, that faith lives from love. By interior enlightenment a man also perceives that what a man loves he wills, and what he wills he does, and consequently that to love is to do; and again, that whatever a man believes from love, this he also wills and does, and consequently that to have faith is also to do; and also that an irreligious man cannot have love to God, and so cannot have faith in God. By interior enlightenment also a rational man perceives the following truths as soon as he hears them: that God is One; that He is omnipresent; that all good is from Him; also that all things have relation to good and truth; and that all good is from Good itself and all truth from Truth itself. These and other similar truths a man perceives interiorly within himself when he hears them; and he has this perception because he has rationality, and this in the light of heaven is what enlightens.
[3] Exterior enlightenment is enlightenment of thought derived from this interior enlightenment; and thought is in this enlightenment so far as it remains in the perception that it has from interior enlightenment and also so far as it has knowledges of truth and good, for from these it draws reasons for confirmation. Thought from this exterior enlightenment sees a matter on both sides; on the one it sees reasons which confirm it, and on the other appearances which invalidate it; the latter it dispels and the former it stores up.
[4] Interior enlightenment from man, however, is wholly different. By it a man sees a matter on one side and not on the other; and when he has confirmed it he sees it in a light similar in appearance to the light treated of above, but it is the light of winter. For example, a judge who judges unjustly because of bribes and for the sake of gain, when he has confirmed his decision by the laws and by reasons, sees in his judgment nothing but what is just. Some, indeed, see the injustice, but as they do not wish to see it, they darken the issue and blind themselves, and so do not see it. It is the same in the case of a judge whose decisions are influenced by friendship, by the desire to gain favour, and by the ties of relationship.
[5] In similar fashion such persons treat everything that they receive from the mouth of a man in authority or a man of celebrity, or that they have hatched out from their own intelligence. They are blind reasoners; for their sight is from falsities, which they confirm; and falsity closes the sight, while truth opens it. Such persons do not see any truth from the light of ruth, or any justice from a love of what is just, but only from the light of confirmation, which is a delusive light. In the spiritual world these appear like faces with no head, or like faces that resemble human faces with heads of wood behind them; and they are called rational animals, because their rationality is merely potential. Exterior enlightenment from man is possessed by those who think and speak from mere knowledge impressed upon the memory; and these have but little ability to confirm anything from themselves.
DP 169. Such are the differences of enlightenment, and consequently of perception and thought. There is an actual enlightenment from spiritual light; but the enlightenment itself from that light does not appear to anyone in the natural world, because natural light has nothing in common with spiritual light. This enlightenment, however, has sometimes appeared to me in the spiritual world, being visible in the case of those who are in enlightenment from the Lord as a luminous appearance around the head, glowing with the colour of the human face. But in the case of those who were in enlightenment from themselves, this luminous appearance was not about the head, but about the mouth and over the chin.
DP 170. In addition to these kinds of enlightenment there is another, by which it is revealed to man in what faith, and in what intelligence and wisdom he is; and the revelation is such that he himself perceives it in his own case. He is admitted into a society where there is genuine faith and where there are true intelligence and wisdom; and there his interior rationality is opened, and from this he sees the nature of his own faith, his intelligence and his wisdom, even to an acknowledgment of them. I have seen some returning from such a visit, and have heard them confessing that they have no faith, although while in the world they had believed that they had faith in large measure and outstanding above that of others; and in like terms they spoke of their intelligence and wisdom. Some of these were in faith alone and in no charity, and some were principled in their own intelligence.
DP 171. IV. MAN IS TAUGHT BY THE LORD BY MEANS OF THE WORD, AND BY DOCTRINE AND PREACHING FROM THE WORD, AND THUS IMMEDIATELY FROM HIMSELF ALONE. It has been said and shown above that man is led and taught by the Lord alone from heaven and not through heaven or through any angel there; and as he is led by the Lord alone, it follows that he is led immediately and not mediately. How this is done will now be described.
DP 172. IN THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE it was shown that the Lord is the Word, and that all doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the Word. Now since the Lord is the Word, it follows that the man who is taught from the Word is taught by the Lord alone. As this, however, is not easily comprehended it will be illustrated in the following order:
1. The Lord is the Word because the Word is from Him and treats of Him.
2. Also because it is the Divine Truth of the Divine Good.
3. Therefore to be taught from the Word is to be taught from Him.
4. The fact that this is done mediately through preaching does not destroy its immediate nature.
[2] First: The Lord is the Word because it is from Him and treats of Him. That the Word is from the Lord is not denied by anyone in the Church; but that the Word treats of the Lord alone is not indeed denied, neither is it known. This has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (L 1-7, 37-44); and in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 62-69, 80-90, 98-100). Now since the Word is from the Lord alone and treats of the Lord alone, it follows that when a man is taught from the Word he is taught from the Lord, for the Word is Divine. Who can communicate the Divine and implant it in the heart except the Divine Himself from whom it is derived and of whom it treats? When, therefore, the Lord speaks of this conjunction of Himself with the disciples He says:
That they should abide in Him, and His words in them. (John 15:7).
That His words were spirit and life. (John 6:63).
And that He makes His abode with those who keep His words. (John 14:20-24).
Therefore to think from the Lord is to think from the Word and, as it were, through the Word. It has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE from beginning to end, that all things of the Word have communication with heaven; and as the Lord is heaven, this means that all things of the Word have communication with the Lord Himself. The angels of heaven do indeed have communication; but this also is from the Lord.
[3] Second: The Lord is the Word because it is the Divine Truth of the Divine Good. That the Lord is the Word He teaches in John in these words:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. (John 1:1, 14).
As this passage has hitherto been understood to mean only that God taught men through the Word, therefore it has been explained as a hyperbolical expression, implying that the Lord is not the Word itself. The reason is that men did not know that by the Word is meant the Divine Truth of the Divine Good, or, what is the same, the Divine Wisdom of the Divine Love. That these are the Lord Himself is shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, First Part; and that these are the Word is shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 1-86).
[4] How the Lord is the Divine Truth of the Divine Good will also be briefly stated here. Every man is a man not from his face and body but from the good of his love and the truths of his wisdom; and because a man is a man from these, every man is also his own truth and his own good, or his own love and his own wisdom; and without these he is not a man. But the Lord is Good itself and Truth itself, or, what is the same, Love itself and Wisdom itself; and these are the Word which in the beginning was with God and which was God, and which was made flesh.
[5] Third: Therefore to be taught from the Word is to be taught by the Lord Himself, because it is to be taught from Good itself and from Truth itself, or from Love itself and from Wisdom itself, which are the Word, as has been said; but everyone is taught according to the understanding appropriate to his own love; what is taught beyond this does not remain. All those who are taught by the Lord in the Word are instructed in a few truths while in the world, but in many when they become angels. For the interiors of the Word, which are Divine spiritual and Divine celestial things, are implanted at the same time but are not opened in a man until after his death, when he is in heaven where he is in angelic wisdom; and this in comparison with human wisdom, that is, his former wisdom, is ineffable. It may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 5-26) that Divine spiritual and Divine celestial things, which constitute angelic wisdom, are present in all things of the Word in general and in particular.
[6] Fourth: The fact that this is done mediately by preaching does not destroy its immediate nature. The Word can only be taught mediately through parents, teachers, preachers, books, and especially through the reading of it. Nevertheless, it is not taught by these, but by the Lord through them. This, moreover, is in keeping with what preachers know, for they say that they do not speak from themselves but from the spirit of God, and that all truth, as also all good, is from God. They are indeed able to declare the Word and bring it to the understanding of many, but not to the heart of anyone; and what is not in the heart perishes in the understanding; and by the heart is meant man’s love. From these considerations it may be seen that man is led and taught by the Lord alone; and that he is taught immediately by Him when this is done from the Word. This is the central truth (arcanum) of angelic wisdom.
DP 173. It is shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 104-113), that by means of the Word they also have light who are outside the Church and who do not have the Word. Since man has light by means of the Word and from this light has understanding, and as both the wicked and the good have understanding, it follows that from light in its origin there is light in its derivatives, which are perceptions and thoughts respecting all subjects. The Lord says:
That without Him men can do nothing. (John 15:5).
That a man can receive nothing except it has been given him from heaven. (John 3:27).
And that the father in the heavens makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matt. 5:45).
By the sun here as elsewhere in the Word in its spiritual sense is meant the Divine Good of the Divine Love; and by rain the Divine Truth of the Divine Wisdom. These are given to the evil and to the good, to the just and to the unjust, for unless they were given no one would have perception and thought. It has been shown above that there is only one life from which all have life. Now perception and thought belong to life; therefore perception and thought are from the same fountain from which life springs. That all the light forming the understanding is from the Sun of the spiritual world, which is the Lord, has already been abundantly shown.
DP 174. V. MAN IS LED AND TAUGHT BY THE LORD IN EXTERNALS TO ALL APPEARANCE AS OF HIMSELF. This takes place in man’s externals but not in his internals. No one knows how the Lord leads and teaches man in his internals just as no one knows how the soul operates to cause the eye to see, the ear to hear, the tongue and mouth to speak, the heart to keep the blood in motion, the lungs to breathe, the stomach to digest, the liver and the pancreas to distribute, the kidneys to secrete, and countless other things. These things do not come within man’s perception and sensation. The same is true of what is done by the Lord in the interior substances and forms of the mind, which are infinitely more numerous. The Lord’s operations in these are not apparent to man; but many of their effects are apparent, as well as some of the causes producing the effects. These are the externals in which man and the Lord are together; and as externals make one with internals, for they cohere in one series, therefore no disposition in the internals can be made by the Lord except in accordance with the disposition in the externals that is made through the agency of man.
[2] Everyone knows that man thinks, wills, speaks and acts to all appearance as of himself, and everyone can see that without this appearance man would have no will and understanding, and thus no affection and thought, and also no reception of any good and truth from the Lord. This being so, it follows that without this appearance there would be no rational conception of God, no charity and no faith, consequently no reformation and regeneration, and therefore no salvation. From these considerations it is clear that this appearance is given to man by the Lord for the sake of all these uses; and especially that he might have the power to receive and to reciprocate, whereby the Lord may be conjoined to man and man to the Lord; and that man through this conjunction may live forever. This is the meaning of appearance to be understood here.
IX. IT IS A LAW OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHOULD NOT PERCEIVE AND FEEL ANYTHING OF THE OPERATION OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, BUT STILL THAT HE SHOULD KNOW AND ACKNOWLEDGE IT
DP 175. The natural man who does not believe in Divine Providence thinks within himself, "What is Divine Providence when the wicked are advanced to honours and acquire wealth more than the good, and when many such things fall to those who do not believe in a Divine Providence beyond the lot of those who do? Indeed, the unbelieving and the impious can inflict injuries, loss, misfortunes, and sometimes death, upon the believing and the pious, and this by cunning and malice." Therefore he thinks, Do I not see from actual experience as in clear daylight that crafty devices, if only a man by skilful cunning can make them appear to be trustworthy and just, prevail over fidelity and justice? What, then, is left but necessities, consequences and things of chance, in which nothing of Divine Providence appears? Do not necessities belong to nature? Are not consequences causes flowing out from natural or civil order? And do not things of chance come from causes which are not known, or from no cause at all?" Such are the thoughts of the natural man who ascribes nothing to God but all things to nature; for he that attributes nothing to God attributes nothing to the Divine Providence, since God and the Divine Providence make one.
[2] The spiritual man, on the other hand, speaks and thinks within himself quite differently. Although he has no perception in his thought, and is not sensible by his eyesight, of the Divine Providence in its course, still he knows and acknowledges it. Now since the appearances and consequent fallacies mentioned above have blinded the understanding, and this can receive no sight unless the fallacies which induced the blindness and the falsities which induced the darkness are dispelled, and since this cannot be done except by truths which have in them the power of dispelling falsities, therefore these truths shall be disclosed; and for the sake of distinctness this shall be done in the following order:
I. -If a man perceived and felt the operation of the Divine Providence he would not act from freedom according to reason; nor would anything appear to him to be as from himself. It would be the same if he foreknew events.
II. -If a man saw clearly the Divine Providence he would interpose in the order and tenor of its course, and would pervert and destroy that order.
III. -If a man saw clearly the Divine Providence he would either deny God or make himself God.
IV. -It is granted to man to see the Divine Providence in the back and not in the face; and this in a spiritual state and not in a natural state.
DP 176. I. IF A MAN PERCEIVED AND FELT THE OPERATION OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE HE WOULD NOT ACT FROM FREEDOM ACCORDING TO REASON; NOR WOULD ANYTHING APPEAR TO HIM TO BE AS FROM HIMSELF. IT WOULD BE THE SAME IF HE FOREKNEW EVENTS. It has been duly made clear to the understanding in the above articles that it is a law of the Divine Providence that man should act from freedom according to reason; also that everything a man wills, thinks, speaks and does should appear to him as of himself; and that without this appearance no man would have anything of his own, nor would he be a man in his own right. Therefore he would have no proprium; and so there would be no imputation to him, without which it would be a matter of indifference whether he did evil or good, and whether he had the faith of God or the persuasion of hell; in a word, he would not be a man.
[2] It will now be shown that a man would have no liberty to act according to reason, and that nothing would appear to him to be as from himself if he perceived and felt the operation of the Divine Providence; since, if he perceived and felt it, he would also be led by it. For the Lord leads all by means of His Divine Providence, and it is only an appearance that a man leads himself, as was also shown above. Therefore, if a man had a lively perception and feeling of being led he would not be conscious of life: and he would then be moved to utter sounds and to act much like a graven image. If he were still conscious of life he would be led like one bound hand and foot, or like a beast of burden yoked to a cart. Who does not see that a man would then have no freedom? If he had no freedom he would have no reason, for everyone thinks from freedom and in freedom; and whatever he does not think from freedom and in freedom appears to him to be not from himself but from another. Indeed, if you consider this interiorly you will perceive that he would have no thought, still less any reason; and consequently he would not be a man.
DP 177. It is the continual operation of the Divine Providence of the Lord to withdraw man from evils. If anyone were to perceive and feel this continual operation, and yet were not led as one bound, would he not continually struggle against it, and thus either dispute with God or mingle self with the Divine Providence? If he did the latter he would make himself also God; if the former he would release himself from restraint and deny God. It is very evident that there would then be two powers continually acting against each other, the power of evil from man and the power of good from the Lord; and when two opposites act against each other then either one conquers or both perish. In this case if one conquers they both perish; for the evil that belongs to man does not receive good from the Lord in a moment, nor does good from the Lord cast out the evil from man in a moment; for if either were done in a moment no life would be left to man. These and many other harmful results would follow if man were manifestly to perceive or feel the operation of the Divine Providence. But this will be clearly demonstrated by examples in what follows.
DP 178. Man is not granted a knowledge of future events, also for the reason that he may be able to act from freedom according to reason; for it is well known that a man desires to have in effect whatever he loves, and he leads himself to this end by his reason. It is also known that everything a man meditates in his reason arises from the love of bringing it into effect by means of his thought. Therefore, if he knew the effect or result from Divine prediction his reason would come to rest, and with it his love; for love with reason comes to an end in the effect, and from that point it begins anew. It is the very delight of reason to see from love the effect in thought not the effect in its attainment, but before it, that is, not in the present but in the future. Hence man has what is called Hope, which increases and decreases in the reason as he sees or looks forward to the event. This delight is completed in the event, but it thereafter fades away with the thought concerning the event. It would be similar in the case of an event that was foreknown.
[2] The mind of man is continually in these three things, called end, cause, and effect. If one of these is wanting the human mind is not in its life. The affection of the will is the originating end (a quo); the thought of the understanding is the operative cause (per quam); and the action of the body, as the speech of the mouth, or external sensation, is the effect of the end by means of the thought. It is clear to anyone that the human mind is not in its life when it is in nothing beyond the affection of the will, and similarly when it is only in the effect. Therefore, the mind has no life from one of these separately, but only from the three conjointly. This activity of the mind would diminish and pass away if the event were foretold.
DP 179. As a foreknowledge of future events destroys the human itself, which is to act from freedom according to reason, therefore it is not granted to anyone to know the future; but everyone is permitted to form conclusions concerning future events from the reason; hence reason with all that pertains to it enters into man’s life. It is on this account that a man does not know his lot after death, or know of any event before he is involved in it. For if he knew this, he would no longer think from his interior self how he should act or how he should live in order to meet the event; but he would only think from his exterior self that he was meeting it. Now this state closes the interiors of his mind in which the two faculties of his life, liberty and rationality, especially reside. A longing to know the future is innate with most people; but this longing derives its origin from the love of evil. It is therefore taken away from those who believe in the Divine Providence; and there is given them a trust that the Lord is disposing their lot. Consequently they do not desire to know it beforehand lest they should in any way set themselves against the Divine Providence. This the Lord teaches by many passages in (Luke 12:14-48).
[2] That this is a law of the Divine Providence may be confirmed by many things from the spiritual world. Most persons when they enter that world after death desire to know their lot. They are told that if they have lived well their lot is in heaven, and if they have lived wickedly it is in hell. But as all, even the wicked, fear hell, they ask what they should do and what they should believe to enter heaven. They are told that they may do and believe as they will; but that they should know that in hell good is not done and truth is not believed, but only in heaven. To each one the answer is: "Seek out what is good and what is true; then think the truth and do the good, if you are able." So in the spiritual world as in the natural world all are left to act from freedom according to reason; but as they have acted in this world so do they act in the spiritual world. His own life awaits everyone and consequently his own lot, for the lot pertains to the life.
DP 180. II. IF A MAN SAW CLEARLY THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE HE WOULD INTERPOSE IN THE ORDER AND TENOR OF ITS COURSE, AND WOULD PERVERT AND DESTROY THAT ORDER. In order that this may come within the clear perception of the rational man and also of the natural man it may be illustrated by examples and in this order:
1. There is such a connection between external and internal things that they make one in every operation.
2. Man is associated with the Lord only in certain externals; and if he were at the same time in internals he would pervert and destroy the whole order and tenor of the course of the Divine Providence; but as has just been said, it will be illustrated by examples.
[2] First: There is such a connection between external and internal things that they make one in every operation. This will be illustrated here by examples taken from several parts of the human body. In the whole body and in every part there are both externals and internals; its externals are called skins, membranes, and sheaths (or coverings); while the internals are forms variously composed and interwoven of nerve fibres and blood vessels. The surrounding sheath by offshoots from itself enters into all the interiors even to the inmost parts; and thus the external, which is a sheath, unites itself with all the internals, which are organic forms composed from fibres and vessels. From this it follows that as the external acts or is acted upon so the internals act or are acted upon; for there is a continuous binding together of them all.
[3] Take some common sheath in the body, the pleura for example which is the common sheath of the chest, or of the heart and lungs, and examine it with an anatomical eye; or if you have not made a study of anatomy, consult anatomists. You will learn that this common sheath, by various circumvolutions, and then by continuations from itself becoming finer and finer, enters into the innermost parts of the lungs, even into the tiniest bronchial branches and into the very minute sacs which are the beginnings of the lungs; not to mention its subsequent progress through the trachea to the larynx towards the tongue. From these things it is clear that there is a continuous connection between the outermost things and the inmost. Therefore, just as the outermost acts or is acted upon so also the interiors from the inmost things act or are acted upon. This is the reason that, when this outermost sheath, the pleura, becomes congested or inflamed or ulcerated, the lungs labour from their inmost parts; and if the disease grows worse, all action of the lungs ceases and the man dies.
[4] It is the same everywhere else in the whole body; as with the peritoneum, the common sheath covering all the abdominal viscera, and also with the sheaths surrounding the several organs as the stomach, the liver, the pancreas, the spleen, the intestines, the mesentery, the kidneys, and the organs of generation in both sexes. Take anyone of these viscera, and either examine it yourself and you will see, or consult those skilled in this science and you will learn. Take for instance the liver, and you will find that there is a connection between the peritoneum and the sheath of that organ and through the sheath with its inmost parts; for there are continual extensions from the sheath, and insertions towards the interior parts, and in this way continuations to the inmost parts. Hence there is a binding together of the whole so that when the sheath acts or is acted upon the whole form acts or is acted upon in like manner. It is the same with the rest of the organs, because in every form the general and the particular, or the universal and the singular, by wonderful conjunction act as one.
[5] It will be seen below that in spiritual forms and in the changes and variations of their state, which have relation to the operations of the will and the understanding, the same course is followed as in natural forms and in their operations, which have relation to motion and action. Now since man is associated with the Lord in certain external operations, and since no one is deprived of the liberty of acting according to reason, it follows that the Lord can only act in internals as He acts together with man in externals. Therefore, if man does not shun and turn away from evils as sins, the external of his thought and will and at the same time the internal become vitiated and are destroyed, comparatively as the pleura is affected by its disease called pleurisy, which causes the death of the body.
[6] Second: If man were at the same time in internals he would pervert and destroy the whole order and tenor of the Divine Providence. This also may be illustrated by examples from the human body. If man knew all the workings of both brains into the fibres, of the fibres into the muscles, and of the muscles into actions, and from his knowledge of these things were to dispose all things as he disposes his actions, would he not pervert and destroy them all?
[7] If man knew how the stomach digests, how the surrounding viscera absorb their own portion, work upon the blood, and distribute it for all the needs of life, and if he had the disposing of these as he has of external things, such as eating and drinking, would he not pervert and destroy them all? When he is unable to dispose the external, which appears to be a single thing, without destroying it by luxury and intemperance, what would he do if he had the disposition of the internals, which are infinite in number? Therefore man’s internals, lest he should enter into them by the exercise of his will and gain control of them, are entirely removed from the scope of the will, with the exception of the muscles which constitute the covering; and, moreover, it is not known how these act; it is only known that they do act.
[8] It is the same with the other organs; as, for example, if man had the disposing of the interiors of the eye for seeing, the interiors of the ear for hearing, the interiors of the tongue for tasting, the interiors of the skin for feeling, the interiors of the heart for systolic action, the interiors of the lungs for breathing, the interiors of the mesentery for distributing the chyle, the interiors of the kidneys for secretion, the interiors of the organs of generation for propagating, the interiors of the womb for perfecting the embryo, and so on, would he not in innumerable ways pervert and destroy in them the order of the course of the Divine Providence? It is known that man is in externals, as, for example, that he sees with the eye, hears with the ear, tastes with the tongue, feels with the skin, breathes with the lungs, contributes to propagation, and so on. Is it not enough for him to know about the externals and to dispose them for the health of body and mind? When he is unable to do this, what would happen if he also had the disposing of the internals? Hence it may now be evident that if man saw clearly the Divine Providence he would interpose in the order and tenor of its course, and pervert and destroy that order.
DP 181. It is the same in the spiritual things of the mind as it is in the natural things of the body, because all things of the mind correspond to all things of the body. For this reason also the mind actuates the body in externals, and generally in response to its every suggestion. It moves the eye to see, the ears to hear, the mouth and tongue to eat and drink, and also to speak, the hands to act, the feet to walk, the generative organs to propagate. The mind moves not only the externals to these actions but also the internals throughout the whole series, the last from the inmost and the inmost from the last. Thus while it is moving the mouth to speak, it at the same time moves the lungs, the larynx, the glottis, the tongue, the lips, each separately to its own function, and even the face to present a suitable expression.
[2] Hence it is clear that what was said of the natural forms of the body may also be said of the spiritual forms of the mind, and that what was said of the natural operations of the body may also be said of the spiritual operations of the mind. Consequently, as man disposes the externals so the Lord disposes the internals; and this He does in one way if man, of himself, disposes the externals, and in another way if he disposes the externals from the Lord and at the same time as of himself. Moreover, the mind of man in its entire form is a man; for it is man’s spirit, and this after death appears a man precisely as in the world; and consequently there are similar things in both body and mind. So what has been said of the conjunction of externals with internals in the body is to be understood of the conjunction of externals with internals in the mind; with this difference only, that the one is natural and the other is spiritual.
DP 182. III. IF A MAN SAW CLEARLY THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE HE WOULD EITHER DENY GOD OR MAKE HIMSELF GOD. The merely natural man says to himself, "What is Divine Providence? Is it anything else or more than a phrase that the common people have picked up from the clergy? Who sees anything of it? Are there not prudence, wisdom, cunning and malice, and are not all things in the world done from these? Are not the other things that result from these necessities and consequences, and are there not many more things that happen by chance? Does the Divine Providence lie concealed in these? How can it be in deeds of treachery and cunning? Yet it is maintained that the Divine Providence does all things. Well, then, make it visible to me and I will believe in it. Can anyone believe in it before he sees it?"
[2] So says the merely natural man; but the spiritual man speaks differently. Because he acknowledges God, he also acknowledges the Divine Providence, and moreover he sees it. However, he cannot make it manifest to anyone whose thoughts are only in nature and from nature; for such a one cannot raise his mind above nature and see in its phenomena anything of the Divine Providence, or draw conclusions concerning it from the laws of nature, which are also laws of Divine Wisdom. If, therefore, he saw clearly the Divine Providence he would mingle it with nature, and so would not only enshroud it with fallacies but would also profane it; and instead of acknowledging it he would deny it; and he who in his heart denies the Divine Providence also denies God.
[3] It must be thought that either. God or nature governs all things. He who thinks that God governs all things thinks that they are governed by Love itself and Wisdom itself, thus by Life itself. But he who thinks that nature governs all things thinks that they are governed by natural heat and natural light; and yet these in themselves are dead, because they are derived from a dead sun. Does not what is itself living govern what is dead? Can what is dead govern anything? If you think that what is dead can impart life to itself you are spiritually insane, for life must come from Life.
DP 183. It does not appear to be likely that if man saw clearly the Divine Providence and its operation he would deny God; for it would appear that if anyone saw it clearly he could not but acknowledge it and thus acknowledge God; yet the contrary is the case. The Divine Providence in no circumstance acts together with the will’s love in man, but constantly acts against it. For man from his hereditary evil is always panting for the lowest hell; but the Lord by His Providence is continually leading him away and withdrawing him from it, first to a milder hell, then away from hell, and finally to Himself in heaven. This operation of the Divine Providence is perpetual. Therefore, if man saw clearly or felt this withdrawal or leading away, he would become angry and, regarding God as his enemy, from the evil of his proprium he would deny God. Therefore, in order that man may not know this he is kept in a state of freedom, and consequently he knows no otherwise than that he leads himself.
[2] But examples may serve to illustrate this. Man by his hereditary nature desires to become great and also to become rich; and in proportion as these desires are unrestrained he longs to become greater and richer, and at length to be greatest and richest; nor would he rest here, but would desire to be greater than God Himself and to possess heaven itself. This inordinate desire lies most deeply concealed in hereditary evil, and consequently in man’s life and in his life’s nature. The Divine Providence does not remove this evil in a moment; for if it were removed in a moment man would cease to live; but the Divine Providence removes it quietly and gradually without man’s knowing anything about it. This it does by permitting man to act according to thought which he rationally adopts. Then by various means, rational, civil and moral, it leads him away; and he is thus withdrawn as far as he can be led in freedom. Nor can evil be removed from anyone unless it becomes evident, and is seen and acknowledged. It is like a wound which does not heal unless it is opened.
[3] If, therefore, man were to know and see that the Lord, through His Divine Providence, operates in this manner against his life’s love which is the source of his highest delight, he could not but go in the opposite direction and, becoming enraged, take action against it, revile it, and finally from his evil set aside the operation of the Divine Providence by denying it and thus denying God. This especially would he do if he saw it as an obstacle to his success, and if he saw himself cast down from his position of honour and stripped of his wealth.
[4] It should be known, however, that the Lord in no wise leads man away from seeking honours and acquiring wealth, but that He leads him away from the inordinate desire of seeking honours for the sake of eminence alone, that is, for the sake of himself and also from acquiring wealth for the sake of opulence alone, that is, for the sake of riches. However, when the Lord leads man away from these He introduces him into the love of uses, in order that he may regard high position not for his own sake but for the sake of uses; and thus as belonging to the uses and hence to himself, and not as belonging to himself and hence to the uses. The same is true of wealth. That the Lord continually humbles the proud and exalts the humble He Himself teaches in many places in the Word; and what He there teaches is also of His Divine Providence.
DP 184. The same course is followed with other evils in which man is from heredity, such as adulteries, frauds, revenge, blasphemy, and others of a like nature; and none of these could be removed unless the liberty to think and will them were left to man and he from this liberty removed them as of himself. Yet this he cannot do unless he acknowledges the Divine Providence and implores that the work may be done by it. Without this liberty and at the same time the Divine Providence those evils would be like poison kept in and not expelled, which would quickly spread and bring death to the whole system; or they would be like a disease of the heart itself from which the whole body soon dies.
DP 185. That this is so cannot be better known than from the case of men after death, in the spiritual world. Most of those there who became great and wealthy in the natural world, and who in their honours and wealth regarded themselves alone, at first speak of God and of the Divine Providence as if they had acknowledged them in their hearts. But as they now see clearly the Divine Providence, and from it their final lot, which is that they are to come into hell, they join the devils there, and then not only deny but also blaspheme God; finally reaching such a state of madness that they acknowledge the more powerful of the devils as their gods, and desire nothing more ardently than that they also should themselves become gods.
DP 186. If man saw clearly the operations of the Divine Providence he would go contrary to God and also deny Him, because man is in the delight of self-love, and this delight constitutes his very life. Therefore, when he is kept in the delight of his life he is in his freedom, for freedom and that delight make one. If, therefore, he perceived that he is constantly being led away from his delight he would be enraged as against one who desired to destroy his life, and would regard him as an enemy. In order to prevent this the Lord does not manifestly appear in His Divine Providence, but by it He leads man as silently as an imperceptible stream or favouring current bears a vessel along. Consequently, man does not know but that he is constantly in his own proprium, for man’s freedom and his proprium make one. Hence it is clear that freedom appropriates to man what the Divine Providence introduces; but this would not take place if the Divine Providence made itself evident. To be appropriated is to become part of the life.
DP 187. IV. IT IS GRANTED TO MAN TO SEE THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IN THE BACK AND NOT IN THE FACE; AND THIS IN A SPIRITUAL STATE AND NOT IN A NATURAL STATE. To see the Divine Providence in the back and not in the face is to see it after it operates and not before; and to see it from a spiritual state and not from a natural state is to see it from heaven and not from the world. All who receive influx from heaven and acknowledge the Divine Providence, and especially those who by reformation have become spiritual, when they see events in some wonderful series, see the Divine Providence, as it were, from an interior acknowledgment and confess it. They do not desire to see it in the face, that is, before it comes into operation, fearing lest their will should enter into anything of its order and tenor.
[2] It is otherwise with those who do not admit any influx from heaven but only from the world, especially with those who have become natural from confirming appearances in themselves. They do not see anything of the Divine Providence in the back, that is, after it operates, but they desire to see it in the face, that is, before it comes into operation; and as the Divine Providence operates by means, and means are produced through man or the world, therefore, whether they see it in the face or in the back, they attribute it either to man or to nature, and thus they confirm themselves in the denial of it. They attribute it in this way because their understanding is closed from above and is open only from below, that is, closed towards heaven and open towards the world; and it is not granted to see the Divine Providence from the world, but only from Heaven. I sometimes wondered whether they would acknowledge the Divine Providence if their understanding were opened from above, and they saw as in clear daylight that nature in itself is dead, and that human intelligence in itself is nothing, but that it is only from influx that both these appear to exist. I perceived, however, that those who have confirmed themselves in favour of nature and of human prudence would not acknowledge it, because the natural light flowing in from below would immediately extinguish the spiritual light flowing in from above.
DP 189. The man who has become spiritual by the acknowledgment of God and wise by the rejection of his proprium sees the Divine Providence in the whole world and in all things therein in general and in particular. If he looks at natural things he sees it; if he looks at civil matters he sees it; if he looks at spiritual things he sees it; and this in things both in their simultaneous and in their successive relationships. He sees it in ends, in causes, in effects, in uses, in forms, in things great and small. Especially does he see it in matters concerning the salvation of men, as that Jehovah gave the Word, taught men by it concerning God, heaven and hell and eternal life, and that He Himself came into the world that He might redeem and save men. These things and many others, and the Divine Providence in them, man sees from spiritual light in natural light.
[2] The merely natural man, however, sees none of these things. He is like one who sees a magnificent temple and hears a preacher enlightened in Divine things, but who declares, when he returns home, that he saw nothing but a rock-built house, and heard nothing but a succession of sounds. Or he is like a near-sighted person who goes into a garden with a remarkable variety of fruits, and who on returning home declares he saw only a wood and trees. When such persons after death have become spirits, and when they are raised into the angelic heaven where all things are in forms representative of love and wisdom they see none of these things, and do not even see that they exist. This I have seen happen with many who denied the Divine Providence of the Lord.
DP 190. There are many constant things created in order that there may exist things that are not constant. Such constants are the appointed changes in the rising and setting of the sun, moon, and stars; their obscurations by interpositions called eclipses; the heat and light from them; the seasons of the year called spring, summer, autumn and winter; the times of the day, which are morning, noon, evening and night; also atmospheres, waters and lands, viewed in themselves; the vegetative faculty in the vegetable kingdom, and not only this but also the reproductive faculty in the animal kingdom, and further the things which constantly result from these when they are moved to action according to the laws of order. These things and many more have been provided from creation in order that things may exist in infinite variety, for variety can only exist in what is constant, fixed and certain.
[2] Examples, however, will illustrate this. Variety in vegetation is not possible unless the rising and setting of the sun, and the consequent heat and light, were constant. Harmonious sounds are of infinite variety, but they would not exist unless the atmospheres were constant in their laws and the ear in its form. The varieties of sight, which also are infinite, would not exist unless the ether in its laws and the eye in its form were constant; nor would colours exist unless the light were constant. It is the same with thoughts, words and actions, which also are in infinite variety, but which would not exist unless the organic forms of the body were constant. Must not a house be constant in order that a variety of things may be done in it by man? In like manner a temple must be constant in order that the various acts of worship, sermons, instruction and pious meditations may be possible in it. So it is in other things.
[3] As for the varieties themselves which are produced from what is constant, fixed and certain, they go on to infinity, and have no end; and yet there is not one thing precisely the same as another in all the things of the universe in general and in particular, nor can there be in the succession of things to eternity. Who so disposes these varieties, which go on to infinity and to eternity, that they may be in order but He who created the constant things to the end that the varieties might exist in them? And who can dispose the infinite varieties of life in men but He who is Life itself, that is, Love itself and Wisdom itself? Without His Divine Providence, which is, as it were, a continual creation, could the infinite affections of men and their consequent thoughts, and thus the men themselves, be so disposed as to make one- evil affections and their consequent thoughts to make one devil, which is hell, and good affections and their consequent thoughts to make one Lord in heaven? It has been frequently stated and shown above that the universal angelic heaven is in the sight of the Lord as one man who is His image and likeness, and that the universal hell is in opposition to it as one monstrous man. These things have been stated because some natural men, even from the constant and the fixed things which are necessary to the end that varieties may exist in them, eagerly seize upon arguments in support of their own spiritual insanity in favour of nature and their own prudence.
DP 191. That there is no such thing as man’s own prudence is quite contrary to the appearance, and therefore contrary to the belief of many. Because this is so, no one who from the appearance holds the belief that human prudence does all things can be convinced unless by reasons resulting from deeper consideration, and these must be drawn from causes. This appearance is an effect, and causes disclose its source. In this preliminary statement something shall be said about the common belief on this subject. In opposition to this appearance the Church teaches that love and faith are not from man but from God, as well as wisdom and intelligence and thus prudence, and in general everything that is good and true. When this teaching is accepted it must also be accepted that there is no such thing as man’s own prudence, but that it only appears that there is. Prudence is from no other source than intelligence and wisdom, and these two are from no other source than the understanding and thought derived from it concerning what is good and true. What has just been said is received and believed by those who acknowledge the Divine Providence, but not by those who acknowledge human prudence alone.
[2] Now either what the Church teaches must be true, that all wisdom and prudence are from God, or what the world teaches, that all wisdom and prudence are from man. Can these be reconciled in any other way than by admitting that what the Church teaches is true, and what the world teaches is the appearance? For the Church confirms its teaching from the Word, while the world confirms its teaching from the proprium, and the Word is from God while the proprium is from man. Since prudence is from God and not from man, therefore the Christian in his devotions prays that God may lead his thoughts, his intentions and his actions; adding also, because he from himself cannot do this. Moreover, when he sees anyone doing good he says that he has been led to it by God; and many similar examples may be given. Can anyone so speak unless he at the same time interiorly believes it? And to believe it interiorly is from heaven. On the other hand, when one thinks within himself and collects arguments in favour of human prudence, he can believe the contrary, and this is from the world. Internal belief however, prevails with those who acknowledge God in their heart, while external belief prevails with those who do not acknowledge God in their heart whatever their oral profession may be.
DP 192. It has been said that no one who from the appearance holds the belief that human prudence does all things can be convinced unless by reasons based on deeper consideration, and these must be drawn from causes. In order, therefore, that reasons drawn from causes may be evident to the understanding they may be presented in their order as follows:
I. -All man’s thoughts are from the affections of his life’s love; and there are no thoughts whatever, nor can there be, except from them.
II. -The affections of a man’s life’s love are known to the Lord alone.
III. -The Lord leads the affections of a man’s life’s love by means of His Divine Providence, and at the same time also the thoughts from which human prudence is derived.
IV. -The Lord by means of His Divine Providence arranges the affections of the whole human race into one form, which is the human form.
V. -In consequence of this heaven and hell, which are from the human race, are in such a form.
VI. -Those who have acknowledged nature alone and human prudence alone constitute hell; while those who have acknowledged God and His Divine Providence constitute heaven.
VII. -None of these things can be effected unless it appears to man that he thinks from himself and disposes from himself.
DP 193. I. ALL MAN’S THOUGHTS ARE FROM THE AFFECTIONS OF HIS LIFE’S LOVE AND THERE ARE NO THOUGHTS WHATEVER, NOR CAN THERE BE, EXCEPT FROM THEM. It has been shown above in this treatise, and also in the work entitled ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, particularly in the First and Fifth Parts, what in their essence are the life’s love and the affections and thoughts thence derived, and what the sensations and actions from these are which arise in the body. Now since the causes from which human prudence flows forth as an effect are derived from these, it is necessary that something concerning these should also be stated here. For things written elsewhere cannot be so closely connected with those written later as they can if they are repeated and presented to view together.
[2] Earlier in this treatise, and in the one mentioned above on THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, it was shown that in the Lord are Divine Love and Divine Wisdom; that these two are Life itself; that from these two man has will and understanding, will from the Divine Love and understanding from the Divine Wisdom; that to these two the heart and the lungs in the body correspond; and that consequently it may be evident that as the pulsation of the heart together with the respiration of the lungs governs the whole man as to his body, so the will together with the understanding governs the whole man as to his mind. Thus, it has been shown, there are two principles of life in every man, the one natural and the other spiritual, the natural principle of life being the pulsation of the heart and the spiritual principle the will of the mind. Each of these joins to itself a consort with which it cohabits and with which it performs the functions of life, the heart joining to itself the lungs, and the will joining to itself the understanding.
[3] Now since the soul of the will is love and the soul of the understanding is wisdom, both being from the Lord, it follows that love is the life of everyone, and is life of such a quality as is joined to wisdom; or what is the same, that the will is the life of everyone, and is life of such a quality as is joined to the understanding. However, more on this subject may be seen above in this treatise, and especially in THE ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM in the First and Fifth Parts.
DP 194. In the treatises just mentioned it was shown that the life’s love produces from itself subordinate loves called affections, and that these are exterior and interior; and that these when taken together form as it were one dominion or kingdom, in which the life’s love is lord or king. It was also shown that these subordinate loves or affections join to themselves consorts, each its own; the interior affections consorts called perceptions, and the exterior affections consorts called thoughts; and that each cohabits with its own consort and performs the functions of its own life. The conjunction in each case, it was also shown, is like that of the being (esse) of life with the existing (existere) of life, which is such that the one is nothing without the other; for what is the being of life unless it exists, and what is the existing of life unless it is from the being of life? Moreover, this conjunction in the life is like that between sound and harmony, and between sound and speech, and in general like that between the pulsation of the heart and the respiration of the lungs; and this conjunction is such that one without the other is nothing, and that one becomes something by conjunction with the other. There must either be conjunctions in them, or conjunctions must take place by means of them.
[2] Take, for example, sound. He is greatly mistaken who thinks that sound has existence unless there is in it that which makes it distinctive. Moreover, sound corresponds to affection in man; and because there is always in it that which makes it distinctive, the affection of one’s love is known from the sound of his voice when speaking; and from the variation of sound, which is speech, his thought is known. Hence it is that the wiser angels, merely from the sound of the voice of one speaking, perceive his life’s loves, together with certain affections which are derivations from them. These things have been stated that it may be known that no affection is possible without its thought, and no thought without its affection. More on this subject may be seen above in this treatise and in THE ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM.
DP 195. Now since the life’s love has its own delight, and the wisdom proper to it its own pleasure, and likewise every affection, which in its essence is a subordinate love derived from the life’s love, as a stream from its fountain or a branch from its tree or an artery from its heart, therefore every affection has its own delight and every consequent perception and thought has its own pleasure. Hence it follows that those delights and pleasures constitute man’s life. What is life without delight and pleasure? It is not something living but lifeless. If you reduce delight and pleasure you will grow cold and torpid; and if you take them away you will certainly die. Vital heat is derived from the delights of the affections and from the pleasures of the perceptions and thoughts.
[2] Since every affection has its own delight and every thought thence derived has its own pleasure, it may be evident what is the source of good and truth, and also what good and truth are in their essence. Everyone’s good is that which is the delight of his affection, and his truth that which is pleasant to the thought derived from the affection. For everyone calls that good which from the love of his will, he feels to be delightful, and he calls that truth which from the wisdom of his understanding thence derived he perceives to be pleasant. Both of these flow forth from the life’s love as water flows from a fountain, or as blood from the heart; and both taken together are like an ocean or an atmosphere in which dwells the whole human mind.
[3] These two, delight and pleasure, are spiritual in the mind but natural in the body, and in both planes they constitute man’s life. From this it is clear what it is in man that is called good, and what it is that is called truth; also what it is in man that is called evil and what it is that is called falsity; namely, that that is evil to him which destroys the delight of his affection and that false which destroys the pleasure of his thought derived from it. Moreover, it is clear, that evil from its own delight and falsity from its own pleasure may be called good and truth and may be believed to be good and truth. Indeed, goods and truths are changes and variations of state in the forms of the mind; but these are perceived and have existence solely through their delights and pleasures. These things have been set forth that it may be known what affection and thought are in their life.
DP 196. Now since it is man’s mind and not his body that thinks, and thinks from the delight of his affection, and since man’s mind is his spirit, which lives after death, it follows that man’s spirit is nothing but affection and thought derived from it. That there can be no thought without affection is plainly evident from spirits and angels in the spiritual world, because all there think from the affections of their life’s love, and the delight of these affections presses close around each one as his atmosphere; and because all are united in accordance with these spheres which emanate from their affections through their thoughts. Moreover, the character of each one is known from the sphere of his life. Hence it may be evident that every thought is from affection and is the form of its affection. It is the same with the will and the understanding; also with good and truth; and also with charity and faith.
DP 197. II. THE AFFECTIONS OF A MAN’S LIFE’S LOVE ARE KNOWN TO THE LORD ALONE. Man knows his thoughts and consequent intentions because he sees them in himself; and as all prudence is from these, he sees that also in himself. Il, then, his life’s love is the love of sell, he comes into the pride of his own intelligence and ascribes prudence to himself, collecting arguments in favour of it and so receding from the acknowledgment of the Divine Providence. A similar result follows if the love of the world is his life’s love; but in this case he does not recede in the same degree. From these considerations it is clear that these two loves ascribe all things to man and his prudence, and when interiorly examined, nothing to God and His Providence. Therefore, when persons of this description happen to hear that the truth is that there is no such thing as human prudence but that the Divine Providence alone governs all things, they laugh at it if they are complete atheists; but if they retain something of religion in the memory, and they are told that all wisdom is from God, they indeed assent at first hearing, yet inwardly in their spirit they deny it. Such especially are those priests who love themselves more than God and the world more than heaven; or what is the same, who worship God for the sake of honours and riches, and yet have preached that charity and faith, every good and truth, likewise all wisdom and even prudence are from God, and nothing of these things from men.
[2] In the spiritual world I once heard two priests discussing with a certain royal ambassador about human prudence, whether it is from God or from man, and the discussion was heated. In heart the three believed alike, namely, that human prudence does all things and the Divine Providence nothing; but the priests, who were then in theological zeal, were maintaining that there is nothing of wisdom and prudence from man; and when the ambassador retorted that in this case there was nothing of thought either, they declared that this was so. As angels, however, perceived that the three believed alike, the ambassador was told to put on the robes of a priest and to believe himself to be a priest and then to speak. He put them on and believed; and then in lofty tones he declared that in no wise was it possible for any wisdom and prudence to be in man unless from God; and he defended this with his customary eloquent speech full of rational arguments. The two priests were then told to put off their robes and put on those of officers of state and to believe themselves to be officers. They did so, and then, thinking at the same time now from their interior self they spoke from the arguments they had inwardly entertained previously in favour of human prudence and against Divine Providence. Thereupon the three, as they believed alike, became cordial friends and entered together upon the way of one’s own prudence, which leads to hell.
DP 198. It was shown above that man has no thought except from some affection of his life’s love, and that thought is nothing but the form of affection. Since, then, man sees his thought, but cannot see his affection, for this he feels, it follows that it is from sight, which is in the appearance, that he concludes that one’s own prudence does all things; and not from affection, which does not come into sight but into feeling. For affection only makes itself manifest through a certain delight of thought and pleasure of reasoning concerning it; and then this pleasure and delight make one with the thought in those who believe in ones own prudence from the love of self or from the love of the world; and thought flows on in its own delight like a ship in the current of a river, a current to which the captain pays no heed, attending only to the sails which he unfurls.
DP 199. A man can reflect, indeed, upon the delight of his external affection while this delight is in harmony with the delight of some bodily sense; but yet he does not reflect upon the fact that this delight is from the delight of his affection in his thought. For example: when a fornicator sees a courtesan his eye glows with the fire of lasciviousness, and from that fire he feels delight in the body; but still he does not feel the delight of his affection or lust in his thought but only something of a strong desire associated with the body. It is the same with a robber in the forest when he sees travellers, a pirate on the sea when he sees vessels, and with others in like circumstances. It is clear that these delights govern a man’s thoughts, and that thoughts without them do not exist; but he regards them only as thoughts, when nevertheless thoughts are nothing but affections composed into forms by his life’s love to make themselves manifest in light; for all affection is in heat and thought in light.
[2] These are external affections of thought, and they manifest themselves indeed in bodily sensation, but rarely in the thought of the mind. But the internal affections of thought, from which the external affections exist, never make themselves manifest to man. Of these man knows no more than one sleeping in a carriage knows of the road or than one feels of the earth’s rotation. Now, since man knows nothing of the things going on in the interiors of his mind, which are so many that they cannot be numbered, and yet those few external things which come within the view of his thought are produced from the interiors, and since the interiors are governed by the Lord alone, by means of His Divine Providence, and those few external things by the Lord in conjunction with man, how then can anyone say that his own prudence accomplishes all things? If you were to see but one single idea of thought opened up you would see wonderful things more in number than tongue can tell.
[3] That there are in the interiors of man’s mind so many things that they cannot be numbered is clear from the infinitude of things in the body; and from these nothing comes to sight and sense but action alone in a very simplified form. Yet to this there contribute thousands of motor or muscular fibres, thousands of nerve fibres, thousands of blood-vessels, thousands of cells in the lungs which must co-operate in every action, thousands in the brains and in the spinal cord; and many more things still in the spiritual man, which is the human mind, in which all things are forms of affections and of their derived perceptions and thoughts. Does not the soul, which disposes the interiors, dispose also actions which spring from these? Man’s soul is nothing else than the love of his will and the consequent love of his understanding; and the whole man is such as this love is, and he becomes such according to the manner in which he disposes his externals in which he and the Lord are together. Therefore, if he attributes all things to himself and to nature, the love of self becomes the soul; but if he attributes all things to the Lord, love to the Lord becomes the soul; and this love is heavenly, but the other is infernal.
DP 200. Now, since the delights of man’s affections, springing from inmost things through interiors to exteriors and finally to outermost things in the body, bear him along as the waves and winds bear a ship; and since none of these things is apparent to man except what goes on in the outermost things of the mind and of the body, how can man claim what is Divine for himself from the single circumstance that those few outermost things appear to him to be his own? Still less ought man to claim what is Divine for himself when he knows from the Word that a man can receive nothing of himself unless it be given him from heaven; and from reason that this appearance has been granted him that he may live as a man, see what is good and evil, choose one or the other and appropriate to himself that which he chooses, that he may be reciprocally conjoined to the Lord, be reformed, regenerated and saved, and that he may live forever. It has been stated and shown above that this appearance has been granted to man in order that he may act from freedom according to reason, thus as of himself and not let his hands hang down and wait for influx. Hence it follows that the proposition has been confirmed which was set out to be proved under the third heading, III: The Lord leads the affections of a man’s life’s love by means of His Divine Providence, and at the same time also the thoughts from which human prudence is derived (n. 192).
DP 201. IV. THE LORD BY MEANS OF HIS DIVINE PROVIDENCE ARRANGES THE AFFECTIONS (OF THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE) INTO ONE FORM, WHICH IS THE HUMAN FORM. It will be seen in the following number that this is the universal end of the Divine Providence. Those who ascribe all things to nature also ascribe all things to human prudence; for those who ascribe all things to nature deny God in their heart, and those who ascribe all things to human prudence deny the Divine Providence in their heart; the two are inseparable. Yet both classes, for the sake of their good name and from fear of losing it, profess in words that the Divine Providence is universal, and that its individual things rest with man, and that these universal things in their complex are understood by human prudence.
[2] But reflect within yourself what universal providence is when the individual things are taken away. Is it anything more than a mere word? For that is said to be universal which is constituted of individual things taken together just as that is said to be general which exists from particulars. If therefore, you take away the individual things what then is the universal but like something empty within, thus like a surface with nothing beneath, or like a complex that includes nothing? If it should be said that the Divine Providence is a universal government, while nothing is governed, but things are merely maintained in connection, and matters pertaining to government are disposed by others, can this be called a universal government? No king has such a government as this; for if any king were to grant to his subjects to govern everything in his kingdom, he would no longer be a king, but would only be called king; and thus he would have only a nominal and not a real dignity. With such a king there cannot be predicated government, still less universal government.
[3] Providence with God is called prudence with men. As there cannot be said to be universal prudence with a king who has reserved to himself no more than the name in order that his kingdom may be called a kingdom and thus held together, so there cannot be said to be a universal providence if men from their own prudence were to provide all things. It is the same with the terms universal providence and universal government when used of nature, when it is understood that God created the universe and endowed nature with the power of producing all things from herself. What then is universal providence but a metaphysical term, a term and nothing more? Of those who attribute to nature everything that is produced and to human prudence everything that is done, and who nevertheless declare with the lips that God created nature, there are many who think of the Divine Providence only as an empty term. But the case really is that the Divine Providence is in the most individual things of nature and in the most individual things of human prudence, and from these it is universal.
DP 202. The Divine Providence of the Lord is universal from the most individual things because He created the universe in order that there might exist in it an infinite and eternal creation from Himself; and this creation exists that the Lord might form from men a heaven which should appear before Him as one man who should be the image and likeness of Himself. It was shown above (n. 27-45), that heaven formed from men is such in the sight of the Lord, and that this was the end of creation; and that the Divine, in everything that it does, regards what is infinite and eternal (n. 56-69). The infinite and eternal that the Lord regards in forming His heaven from men is that it may be extended to infinity and to eternity; and thus that He may constantly dwell in the end of His creation. This creation which the Lord provided by the creation of the universe is infinite and eternal; and in this creation He is constantly present by means of His Divine Providence.
[2] No one who knows from the doctrine of the Church and believes that God is infinite and eternal (for it is in the doctrine of all the Churches in the Christian world that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, is infinite, eternal, uncreated and omnipotent, as may be seen in the Athanasian Creed), can be so devoid of reason as not to admit as soon as he hears it that God cannot do otherwise than regard what is infinite and eternal in the great work of His creation. What else can He regard when He looks from Himself? Moreover, it must be admitted that God also regards this in the human race from which He forms His heaven. Now what else can the Divine Providence have for its end than the reformation of the human race and its salvation? And no one can be reformed by himself by means of his own prudence, but only by the Lord by means of His Divine Providence. Hence it follows that unless man were led by the Lord every moment, yea, every minutest fraction of a moment, he would depart from the way of reformation and perish.
[3] Every change and variation of state of the human mind makes some change and variation in the series of things present and consequently of things that follow; what, then, must it not do in the progression to eternity? It is like an arrow shot from a bow which, if it made the slightest deviation from the target at the moment of being aimed would deviate immensely at a distance of a thousand feet or more. So it would be if the Lord did not lead the states of human minds every fraction of a moment. This the Lord does in accordance with the laws of His Divine Providence; and it is in accordance with these laws that it should appear to man that he leads himself; but the Lord foresees how he leads himself and continually makes suitable adaptation. It will be seen in what follows that the laws of permission are also laws of the Divine Providence, and that every man can be reformed and regenerated, and that no other predestination is possible.
DP 203. Since, therefore, every man after death lives forever, and according to his life here has a place assigned to him either in heaven or in hell, and since both heaven and hell must exist in such a form as will act as one, as was said before; and since no one can be assigned in that form any place but his own, it follows that the human race throughout the whole world is under the guidance of the Lord, and that everyone from infancy even to the end of his life is led by Him in the most individual things and his place foreseen and also provided.
[2] From these things it is clear that the Divine Providence of the Lord is universal because it is in the most individual things; and that this is the infinite and eternal creation which the Lord provided for Himself by means of the creation of the universe. Man does not see anything of this universal providence; and if he did, it could not appear to him otherwise than as passers-by see the scattered heaps and collections of materials from which a house is to be built; while the Lord sees it as a magnificent palace with its work of construction and enlargement continually going on.
DP 204. V. HEAVEN AND HELL ARE IN SUCH A FORM. It was made known that heaven is in the human form in the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published in London in 1758 (HH 59-102) also in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM; and also in several parts of this treatise. I therefore refrain from giving further proof. It is stated that hell also is in the human form; but it is in a monstrous human form, like that of the devil by whom is meant hell in the whole complex. Hell is in the human form because those who are there were also born men, and they also have the two human faculties called liberty and rationality, although they have abused their liberty in willing and doing evil, and their rationality in thinking and confirming it.
DP 205. VI. THOSE WHO HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED NATURE ALONE AND HUMAN PRUDENCE ALONE CONSTITUTE HELL; WHILE THOSE WHO HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED GOD AND HIS DIVINE PROVIDENCE CONSTITUTE HEAVEN. All who lead an evil life interiorly acknowledge nature and human prudence alone; for this acknowledgment lies inwardly hidden in all evil however covered over it may be with good and truth. These are only borrowed garments, or like wreaths of flowerets that perish, thrown around the evil lest it should appear in its nakedness. It is not known that all who lead an evil life interiorly acknowledge nature and human prudence alone, because of this general covering by which it is hidden from view. However, that they do acknowledge them may be clear from the source and cause of their acknowledgment. In order that this may be made evident it shall be stated whence man’s own prudence is and what it is; then whence the Divine Providence is and what it is; next who they are and what their nature is who acknowledge the Divine Providence, and who acknowledge man’s own prudence; and lastly, that those who acknowledge the Divine Providence are in heaven, and those who acknowledge man’s own prudence are in hell.
DP 206. Whence man’s own prudence is and what it is. It is from man’s proprium which is his nature, and is called his soul from his parent. This proprium is the love of self and the consequent love of the world, or it is the love of the world and the consequent love of self. It is the nature of the love of self to regard self only, and to regard others as insignificant or of no account. If it respects some it is only so long as they honour and pay court to it. Like the effort in the seed to fructify and produce offspring there lies concealed in the inmost of sell-love the desire to become great, and if possible to become a king, and then if still possible, to become a god. A devil is such a one, for he is self-love itself; he is such that he adores himself and favours no one who does not also adore him; and another devil like himself he hates because he wishes himself alone to be adored. As no love can exist without its consort, and as the consort of love or of the will in man is called the understanding, therefore when the love of self breathes its own love into its consort the understanding, it there becomes pride, that is the pride of man’s own intelligence from which springs man’s own prudence.
[2] Now since the love of self desires to be sole lord of the world, and thus a god, therefore the lusts of evil, which are derived from that love, have their life from it; as have in like manner the perceptions belonging to the lusts, perceptions which are cunning devices; as have also the delights pertaining to the lusts, delights which are evils, and as also have the thoughts pertaining to the delights, thoughts which are falsities. All these are like slaves and servants of their lord, responding to his every nod, unaware, however, that they do not act but are only acted upon, being acted upon by the love of self through the pride of their own intelligence. Hence it is that man’s own prudence, by virtue of its origin, lies concealed in every evil.
[3] The acknowledgment of nature alone also lies concealed in it because self-love has closed the window on its roof by which heaven lies open and also its side windows, lest it should see and hear that the Lord alone governs all things, that nature in herself is dead, and that man’s proprium is hell, and consequently that the love of the proprium is the devil. Then, with its windows closed, it is in darkness and there makes a fire on the hearth for itself at which it sits with its consort; and they reason together in a friendly way in favour of nature as against God, and in favour of man’s own prudence as against the Divine Providence.
DP 207. Whence the Divine Providence is and what it is. It is the Divine operation in the man who has removed the love of self; for, as has been said, the love of self is the devil; and lusts with their delights are the evils of his kingdom, which is hell. When this love has been removed the Lord enters with the affections of neighbourly love, and opens the window on the roof and then the side windows, and causes man to see that there is a heaven, a life after death and eternal happiness; and by means of the spiritual light and at the same time the spiritual love which then flow in He causes him to acknowledge that God by His Divine Providence governs all things.
DP 208. Who they are and what their nature is who acknowledge the Divine Providence, and who acknowledge man’s own prudence. Those who acknowledge God and His Divine Providence are like the angels of heaven, who regard with aversion being led of themselves, and who love to be led by the Lord; and a sign that they are led by the Lord is that they love the neighbour. On the other hand, those who acknowledge nature and man’s own prudence are like spirits of hell, who regard with aversion being led by the Lord and who love to be led of themselves. If they have been great men in a kingdom they wish to rule in all things; so also if they have been leaders in the Church. If they have been judges they pervert judgment and exercise arbitrary power over the laws. If they have been learned they apply scientific knowledge to confirm man’s proprium and the rule of nature. If they have been merchants they act as robbers; and if they have been husbandmen they act as thieves. They are all enemies of God and scoffers at the Divine Providence.
DP 209. It is a remarkable thing that when heaven is opened to spirits of this nature, and they are told that they are spiritually insane, and when this is also made evident to their perception by influx and enlightenment, they still, out of indignation, shut heaven against themselves and look to the earth, under which is hell. This happens with such spirits in the spiritual world who are still outside of hell. From this it is clear how mistaken they are who think, "When I have seen heaven and heard angels talking with me, then I shall acknowledge." Their understanding acknowledges; but if the will does not at the same time do so, they themselves do not acknowledge; for the will’s love inspires whatever it desires into the understanding, and not the reverse; it even destroys in the understanding everything that is not from itself.
DP 210. VII. NONE OF THESE THINGS CAN BE EFFECTED UNLESS IT APPEARS TO MAN THAT HE THINKS FROM HIMSELF AND DISPOSES FROM HIMSELF. It has been fully demonstrated in the preceding pages that unless it appeared to man that he lived as from himself and thus that he thought and willed, spoke and acted as of himself he would not be man. From this it follows that if man as from his own prudence did not dispose all things pertaining to his function and life he could not be led and disposed from the Divine Providence; for he would be like one standing with his hands hanging down, his mouth open, his eyes closed and holding his breath, awaiting influx. He would thus divest himself of the human, which he has from the perception and sensation that he lives, thinks, wills, speaks and acts as from himself; and at the same time he would divest himself of his two faculties, liberty and rationality, by which he is distinguished from the beasts. It has been shown above in this treatise, and in THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, that without this appearance a man would not have the power to receive and to reciprocate, and thus would not have immortality.
[2] If therefore, you wish to be led by the Divine Providence use prudence as a servant and steward does who faithfully dispenses the goods of his master. This prudence is the talent which was given to the servants to trade with, of which they must render an account (Luke 19:13-25; Matt. 25:14-31). Prudence itself appears to man as his own; and it is believed to be his own so long as he keeps shut up within him the deadliest enemy of God and the Divine Providence, the love of self. This dwells in the interiors of every man from birth; if you do not recognise it, for it does not wish to be recognised, it dwells securely, and guards the door lest man should open it, and it should thus be cast out by the Lord. Man opens this door by shunning, as of himself evils as sins, with the acknowledgment that he does so from the Lord. This is the prudence with which the Divine Providence acts as one.
DP 211. The reason why the Divine Providence operates so secretly that scarcely anyone knows of its existence is that man may not perish. For man’s proprium, that is his will, in no wise acts as one with the Divine Providence, against which man’s proprium has an inborn enmity; for it is the serpent that seduced our first parents of which it is said,
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head. (Gen. 3:15).
The serpent is evil of every kind, its head is self-love; the seed of the woman is the Lord; the enmity that is put, is between the love of man’s proprium and the Lord, and thus between man’s own prudence and the Divine Providence of the Lord. For man’s own prudence is continually raising that head, and the Divine Providence is continually putting it down.
[2] If man felt this he would be enraged and exasperated against God, and would perish; but while he does not feel this he may be enraged and exasperated against men, and against himself and also against fortune, without perishing. Hence it is that the Lord by His Divine Providence continually leads man in freedom, and the freedom appears to him to be none other than his own; and to lead man in freedom in opposition to himself is like lifting up a heavy and resisting weight from the ground by means of screws, through the power of which the weight and the resistance are not felt; or it is like what happens to a man in the company of an enemy who intends to kill him, an intention he is not aware of; and a friend leads him away by unknown paths and afterwards discloses to him his enemy’s intention.
DP 212. Who does not speak of fortune? Who does not acknowledge it, since he talks of it and knows something about it from experience? But who knows what it is? That it is something, because it exists and presents itself to view, cannot be denied; and a thing cannot exist and present itself without a cause; but the cause of this something, that is, of fortune, is unknown. Lest fortune, however, should be denied merely from ignorance of that cause, take dice or playing cards and play, or consult players. Does anyone of these deny fortune? For they play with it and it with them in a wonderful way. Who can do anything against fortune if it opposes him? Does it not then laugh at prudence and wisdom? When you shake the dice and shuffle the cards does it not seem to know and dispose the turns and twists of the hand and wrist to favour one player more than another, from some definite cause? Can the cause have any other source than the Divine Providence in ultimates, where by means of things constant and changing it works in a wonderful way along with human prudence, and at the same time conceals itself?
[2] It is well known that the Gentiles in days gone by acknowledged Fortune and built a temple to her, as did the people of Italy at Rome. Concerning this fortune, which is, as has been said, the Divine Providence in ultimates, it has been granted me to know many things that I am not permitted to make public. From these it was made clear to me that fortune is not an illusion of the mind, nor a sport of nature, nor something without a cause, for this has no reality; but that it is ocular evidence that the Divine Providence is in the most individual things of man’s thought and action. As the Divine Providence presents itself in the most individual things, so insignificant and trifling, why should it not do so in the most individual things, not insignificant and trifling, such as matters of peace and war on earth, and matters of salvation and life in heaven?
DP 213. However, I know that human prudence exercises more influence over the rational faculty than the Divine Providence does, because the Divine Providence does not make itself manifest, while human prudence does. Moreover, the reasoning in favour of the Divine Providence can be more easily accepted, namely, that there is only one Life, which is God, and that all men are recipients of life from Him, as has been shown in many places before; and yet it amounts to the same as the reasoning in favour of nature and human prudence, for prudence pertains to the life. Who in his reasoning, when speaking from the natural or external man, does not speak in favour of man’s own prudence and in favour of nature? On the other hand, who in his reasoning, when speaking from the spiritual or internal man, does not speak in favour of the Divine Providence and in favour of God? But, I say to the natural man, Pray write two books, one in favour of man’s own prudence, the other in favour of nature, and pack them with arguments plausible, probable, likely and in your judgment valid; and then put them into the hand of any angel; and I know that the angel will write under them these few words: They are all appearances and fallacies.
DP 214. That the Divine Providence regards eternal things, and not temporal things except so far as they make one with eternal things, will be shown in the following order:
I. -Temporal things relate to dignities and riches, thus to honours and gain in the world.
II. -Eternal things relate to spiritual honours and wealth, which pertain to love and wisdom in heaven.
III. -Temporal and eternal things are separated by man, but are conjoined by the Lord.
IV. -The conjunction of temporal and eternal things is the Divine Providence of the Lord.
DP 215. I. TEMPORAL THINGS RELATE TO DIGNITIES AND RICHES, THUS TO HONOURS AND GAIN IN THE WORLD. There are many temporal things, yet they all relate to dignities and riches. By temporal things are meant such as either perish with time, or come to an end with man’s life in this world only; but by eternal things are meant those which do not perish and come to an end with time, and therefore do not end with life in this world. Since, as has been stated, all temporal things relate to dignities and riches it is important to know the following, namely, what dignities and riches are and whence they are; what is the nature of the love of them for their own sake, and what is the nature of the love of them for the sake of uses; that these two loves are distinct from each other as heaven and hell are; and that man hardly knows the difference between these two loves. But these propositions will be treated separately.
[2] First: What dignities and riches are and whence they are. In the most ancient times dignities and riches were totally different from what they by successive stages have become in later times. In the most ancient times dignities were such as exist in the relationship between parents and children. They were dignities of love, full of respect and veneration, not because children received birth from their parents but because they received instruction and wisdom from them. This is a second birth, in itself spiritual, because it was the birth of their spirit. This was the only dignity in the most ancient times; for then tribes, families and households dwelt separately, and not under governments as at the present day. It was the head of the family in whom this dignity was vested. Those times were called by the men of old the Golden Age.
[3] After those times, however, there gradually crept in the love of ruling from the mere delight of that love; and because there arose at the same time enmity and hostility against those who would not submit to be ruled, tribes, families and households from necessity banded themselves together into communities, and set over themselves one whom they at first called judge, afterwards prince, and finally king and emperor. Then also they began to protect themselves by towers, earthworks and walls. From the judge, prince, king and emperor, as from the head into the body, the lust of dominion spread like a contagion among many. From this arose degrees of dignities, and also honours according to them; and with these the love of self and pride in one’s own prudence.
[4] The same thing happened in the case of the love of riches. In the most ancient times when tribes and families had dwelling places apart from one another there was no other love of riches than the desire to possess the necessaries of life, which they procured for themselves by means of their flocks and herds, and their lands, fields and gardens from which they derived their living. Among their necessaries of life were also beautiful houses, furnished with useful articles of every kind, and also clothing. Parents, children, men-servants and maid-servants, who formed the household, were engaged in the care and labour connected with all these things.
[5] After the love of dominion had entered and destroyed this state of society there crept in also the love of possessing wealth beyond their necessities; and it grew to such a pitch that it desired to possess the wealth of all others. These two loves are like blood-relations; for he who wishes to rule over all things wishes also to possess all things; thus all others become servants, and they alone masters. This is clearly evident from those within the papal world who have exalted their dominion even into heaven to the throne of the Lord, upon which they have placed themselves. They also seek to acquire the wealth of the whole earth, and to increase their treasures without end.
[6] Second: What the nature of the love of dignities and riches for their own sake is, and what the love of them for the sake of uses. The love of dignities and honours for their own sake is the love of self and this in its essence is the love of ruling from the love of self; and the love of riches and wealth for their own sake is the love of the world, and this in its essence is the love of possessing the goods of others by any device whatever. But the love of dignities and riches for the sake of uses is the love of uses, which is the same as the love of the neighbour; since that for the sake of which a man acts is the end from which he acts, and ranks as first or primary in importance while all other things are means and are secondary.
[7] Moreover, the love of dignities and honours for their own sake, which is the same as the love of self, and in its essence the same as the love of ruling from the love of self, is the love of the proprium; and man’s proprium is altogether evil. Therefore it is said that man is born into all evil, and that what he has by heredity is nothing but evil. What man has by heredity is his proprium in which he is and into which he comes through the love of self, and especially through the love of ruling from the love of self; for the man who is in that love regards himself only, and thus immerses his thoughts and affections in his proprium. Hence it is that in the love of self dwells a love of doing evil. The reason for this is that the man does not love his neighbour but himself only; and he who loves himself only sees others as outside himself or as insignificant or of no account, and he despises them in comparison with himself and thinks nothing of inflicting injury upon them.
[8] It is from this cause that he who is in the love of ruling from the love of self thinks nothing of defrauding his neighbour, committing adultery with his wife, slandering him, breathing revenge against him even to death, treating him cruelly, and similar evil doings. Such a man derives his character from the fact that the devil himself with whom he has become conjoined and by whom he is led, is nothing else than the love of ruling from the love of self; and he who is led by the devil, that is, by hell, is led into all these evils; and he is led continually by the delights of these evils. For this reason all who are in hell have the desire to inflict injury upon all; whereas those who are in heaven have the desire to do good to everyone. In consequence of this opposition there exists that intermediate state in which man is placed; and thus he is, as it were, in equilibrium, so that he can turn either to hell or to heaven; and so far as he favours the evils of self-love he turns towards hell, but so far as he removes these evils from himself he turns towards heaven.
[9] It has been granted me to feel the quality of the delight of ruling from the love of self and also how great it is. I was let into it that I might know this. It was such as to surpass all the delights that are in the world. It was a delight possessing the whole mind from its inmost things to its outermost; but in the body it was felt as something pleasant and agreeable with a feeling of elation in the breast. It was also granted me to perceive that from this delight as from their fountain-head there issued the delights of evils of all kinds, as adultery, revenge, fraud, slander, and evil-doing in general. There is a similar delight also in the love of possessing the wealth of others by any device whatever, and from that love, in the lusts which are derived from it; yet not in the same degree unless that love is joined to the love of self. In the case, however, of dignities and riches that are loved not for their own sake but for the sake of uses, this is not a love of dignities and riches, but a love of uses, to which dignities and riches are subservient as means: this is a heavenly love; but more will be said of this in following numbers.
[10] Third: These two loves are distinct from each other, as heaven and hell are. This is clear from what has just been stated; and to it I will add, that all who are in the love of ruling from a love of self whoever they are, whether great or small, are as to their spirit in hell; and that all who are in that love are in the love of evils of all kinds; and if they do not commit them, still in their spirit they believe them to be allowable, and therefore they commit them in the body when dignity and honour and fear of the law do not stand in the way. Further, the love of ruling from the love of self has deeply lodged within it hatred against God, and consequently against the Divine things that pertain to the Church, and especially against the Lord. If they acknowledge God they do so with the lips only; and if they acknowledge the Divine things that pertain to the Church they do so from a fear of losing honour. This love has deeply lodged within it hatred against the Lord, because lying deep within this love is the desire to be God, for it worships and adores itself alone. Therefore, if anyone honours it so far as to say that it has Divine wisdom and is the ruling deity of the world, it whole-heartedly loves him.
[11] It is otherwise with the love of dignities and riches for the sake of uses; for this is a heavenly love, because, as has been said, it is the same as the love of the neighbour. By uses are meant goods; and therefore by doing uses is meant doing goods, and by doing uses or goods is meant serving others and ministering to them. Although those who do so are in the possession of dignity and wealth, still they regard them only as means for performing uses, thus for serving and ministering. Such are meant by these words of the Lord:--
Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief, let him be your servant. (Matt. 20:26, 27).
Such also are they to whom dominion in heaven is entrusted by the Lord; for to them dominion is the means for performing uses or goods, thus for serving; and when uses or goods are their ends or loves it is not they who rule but the Lord, for all good is from Him.
[12] Fourth: Man hardy knows the difference between these two loves. This is because the majority of those who possess dignity and wealth also perform uses; but they do not know whether they perform them for the sake of themselves or for the sake of the uses; and they know this the less because the love of self and the world has in it more of the ardent zeal of performing uses than is the case with those who are not in the love of self and the world. The former, however, perform uses for the sake of fame or gain, thus for the sake of themselves; while those who perform uses for the sake of uses, or goods for the sake of goods, do so not from themselves, but from the Lord.
[13] The difference between these loves can hardly be recognised by man, because man does not know whether he is led by the devil or by the Lord. The man who is led by the devil performs uses for the sake of self and the world; but he that is led by the Lord performs uses for the sake of the Lord and heaven. All those who shun evils as sins perform uses from the Lord, while all who do not shun evils as sins perform uses from the devil; for evil is the devil, and use or good is the Lord. In this way and in no other is the difference recognised. In outer form they both appear alike, but in internal form they are totally unlike. One is like gold within which is dross, but the other is like gold with pure gold within. One is like artificial fruit, which in outer form appears like fruit from the tree, although it is only coloured wax while within is dust or pitch; but the other is like excellent fruit, pleasant to the taste and smell, and containing seeds within.
DP 216. II. ETERNAL THINGS RELATE TO SPIRITUAL HONOURS AND WEALTH, WHICH PERTAIN TO LOVE AND WISDOM IN HEAVEN. As the delights of self-love, which are also the delights of the lusts of evil, are called goods by the natural man, and as he also confirms himself in the opinion that they are goods, he therefore calls honours and wealth Divine blessings. But when the natural man sees that the wicked as well as the good are raised to honours and advanced to wealth, and still more when he sees the good despised and in poverty and the wicked in glory and opulence, he thinks within himself, "Why is this? It cannot be of the Divine Providence. For if that governed all things it would heap honours and wealth upon the good and afflict the wicked with poverty and contempt, and would thus compel the wicked to acknowledge that there is a God and Divine Providence."
[2] The natural man, however, unless enlightened by the spiritual man, that is, unless he is at the same time spiritual, does not see that honours and wealth may be blessings and may also be curses, and that when they are blessings they are from God, and when they are curses they are from the devil. Moreover, it is well known that honours and wealth are bestowed by the devil, for from this he is called the prince of the world. Since then it is not known when honours and wealth are blessings and when they are curses, it shall be set forth in the following order:
1. Honours and wealth are blessings and they are curses.
2. When honours and wealth are blessings they are spiritual and eternal, but when they are curses they are temporal and fleeting.
3. Honours and wealth that are curses, in comparison with those that are blessings, are as nothing compared with everything, or as that which in itself has no existence compared with that which has existence in itself.
DP 217. These three points shall now be illustrated separately. First: Honours and wealth are blessings and they are curses. Common experience testifies that both the pious and the impious, or both the just and the unjust, that is, both the good and the wicked, possess dignities and wealth; and yet no one can deny that the impious and the unjust, that is, the wicked, go to hell, while the pious and the just, that is, the good, go to heaven. This being true, it follows that dignities and riches, or honours and wealth, are either blessings or curses; and that with the good they are blessings, and with the wicked curses. In the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published in London in the year 1758 (HH 357-365), it has been shown that in heaven and also in hell there are both rich and poor, and both great and small. From this it is clear that dignities and riches were blessings in the world with those now in heaven, while they were curses with those now in hell.
[2] Moreover, anyone may know why they are blessings and why they are curses if only he will give a little rational consideration to the matter; that is, he may know that they are blessings with those who do not set their heart on them, and curses with those who do set their heart on them. To set the heart on them is to love oneself in them; and not to set the heart on them is to love uses and not self in them. It has been stated above (n. 215), what the difference is between those two loves, and what the nature of that difference is. To this it must be added that some are led astray by dignities and wealth but some are not. They lead astray when they excite the loves of a man’s proprium, which is the love of self; and it has also been stated that this is an infernal love, which is called the devil; but they do not lead astray when they do not excite this love.
[3] Both the wicked and the good are raised to honours and advanced to wealth because the wicked as well as the good perform uses; the wicked do so for the sake of their own personal honours and gain, but the good for the sake of the honour and profit of the office (for which they work). The good regard the honour and profit of the office as principal causes or motives, and personal honours and gain as instrumental causes; but the wicked regard personal honours and gain as principal causes, and the honour and profit of the office as instrumental causes. Yet who does not see that the person, whatever his function and his honour, is for the sake of the office which he administers, and not the reverse? Who does not see that the judge is for the sake of justice, the magistrate for the sake of the common welfare, the king for the sake of the kingdom, and not the reverse? Therefore everyone is invested with dignity and honour, according to the laws of the kingdom, in keeping with the high office which he administers; and who does not see that the difference between the two loves is like that between what is principal and what is instrumental? The man who attributes to himself, that is, to his own person, the honour belonging to his office appears in the spiritual world, when visual representation of it is made, like a man with his body inverted, feet up and head down.
[4] Second: When dignities and wealth are blessings they are spiritual and eternal, but when they are curses they are temporal and fleeting. There are dignities and wealth in heaven as in the world, for there are governments there, and consequently administrations and functions. There is also trade there, and consequently wealth, since there are societies and communities there. The universal heaven is divided into two kingdoms, one of which is called the celestial kingdom, the other the spiritual kingdom. Each kingdom is divided into innumerable societies, greater and smaller, all which, and likewise all within which, are arranged according to differences of love and of wisdom thence derived; the societies of the celestial kingdom according to the differences of celestial love, or love to the Lord, and the societies of the spiritual kingdom according to the differences of spiritual love, or love towards the neighbour. Because there are such societies, and because all who are in them have been men in the world and therefore retain the loves they had in the world, with this difference that they are now spiritual, and that the dignities and wealth are spiritual in the spiritual kingdom and celestial in the celestial kingdom, therefore those who have love and wisdom more than others have dignities and wealth more than others; and these are they to whom dignities and wealth were blessings in the world.
[5] From these considerations may be evident the nature of spiritual dignities and wealth, namely, that they pertain to the office, or use, and not to the person. A person who is in high office in the spiritual world is in magnificence and glory, like that of kings on earth; yet such do not regard the dignity itself as anything, but the uses in the administration and discharge of which they are engaged. They receive everyone indeed the honours of his high office, but they do not attribute these to themselves, but to the uses; and as all uses are from the Lord, they attribute the honours to the Lord, from whom they are derived (a quo). Such, therefore, are spiritual dignities and wealth which are eternal.
[6] It is otherwise, however, with those to whom dignities and wealth in the world were curses. Because they attributed these to themselves and not to the uses, and because they did not desire that uses should control them but that they should control uses, which they regarded as uses only so far as they ministered to their own honour and glory, they are accordingly in hell, where they are vile slaves, despised and miserable. Therefore, because these dignities and wealth perish they are called temporal and fleeting. Concerning these two classes the Lord teaches as follows:
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matt. 6:19-21).
[7] Third: Honours and wealth that are curses, in comparison with those that are blessings, are as nothing compared with everything, or as that which in itself has no existence compared with that which has existence in itself. Everything that perishes and comes to nothing is inwardly in itself nothing. Outwardly, indeed, it is something, and even appears to be much, and to some everything, as long as it lasts; but inwardly in itself it is not. It is like a surface with nothing beneath; and like a character on the stage in royal robes until the play is ended; but that which remains to eternity is in itself something perpetually, thus everything; and it also Is, for it does not cease to be.
DP 218. III. TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL THINGS ARE SEPARATED BY MAN, BUT ARE CONJOINED BY THE LORD. This is so because all things pertaining to man are temporal, and from these man may be called temporal; while all things pertaining to the Lord are eternal, and from these the Lord is called Eternal. Moreover, temporal things are those which have an end and perish, but eternal things are those which have no end and do not perish. Everyone may see that these two cannot be joined together unless by the infinite wisdom of the Lord, and therefore that they can be joined together by the Lord, but not by man. However, in order that it may be made known that these two are separated by man and are conjoined by the Lord it shall be shown in the following order:
1. What temporal things are, and what eternal things are.
2. Man is in himself temporal and the Lord is in Himself eternal; and therefore nothing can proceed from man but what is temporal, and nothing from the Lord but what is eternal.
3. Temporal things separate eternal things from themselves, and eternal things conjoin temporal things to themselves.
4. The Lord conjoins man to Himself by means of appearances;
5. And also by means of correspondences.
DP 219. These points, however, shall be illustrated and established one by one. First: What temporal things are, and what eternal things are. Temporal things are all things which are proper to nature, and things which are derived from these proper to man. Things proper to nature are especially spaces and times, both having limit and termination; and things derived from them proper to man are those that belong to his own will and his own understanding, and consequently to his affection and thought, and especially to his prudence. It is well known that these are finite and limited. Eternal things, on the other hand, are all things which are proper to the Lord, and, while from Him, are as it were proper to man. Things proper to the Lord are all infinite and eternal, thus without time, and consequently without limit and without end. Things derived from these and as it were proper to man, are likewise infinite and eternal; yet nothing of these is man’s, but they belong to the Lord alone in man.
[2] Second: Man is in himself temporal and the Lord is in Himself eternal, and therefore nothing can proceed from man but what is temporal, and nothing from the Lord but what is eternal. It was stated above that man in himself is temporal, and the Lord in Himself eternal. Since nothing can proceed from anyone but that which is in him, it follows that nothing can proceed from man but what is temporal, and nothing from the Lord but what is eternal. For the infinite cannot proceed from the finite: it is a contradiction to say that it can. Still the infinite can proceed from the finite-not from the finite but from the infinite through the finite. On the other hand, the finite cannot proceed from the infinite; and to say that it can is also a contradiction. The finite, however, can be produced from the infinite, but this is a creating, not a proceeding. On this subject see THE ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM from beginning to end. Therefore, if the finite proceeds from the Lord, as happens in the case of many things in man, it does not proceed from the Lord but from man; and it can be said to proceed from the Lord through man, because it so appears.
[3] This may be illustrated by these words of the Lord:
Let your communication be: Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. (Matt. 5:37).
Such is the speech of all in the third heaven; for they never reason about Divine things, discussing whether a thing is so or not so, but they see in themselves from the Lord whether it is so or not. Thus it is that one reasons about Divine things whether they are so or not, because he does not see them from the Lord, but desires to see them from himself; and what man sees from himself is evil. Still the Lord desires that man should not only think and speak about Divine things, but that he should also reason about them to the end that he may see that a thing is or is not so; and this thought, speech and reasoning, provided the end is to see the truth, may be said to be from the Lord in man; although it is from the man until he sees the truth and acknowledges it. Meanwhile it is only from the Lord that he can think, speak and reason; for he has this power from the two faculties, liberty and rationality, and these faculties man has from the Lord alone.
[4] Third: Temporal things separate eternal things from themselves, and eternal things conjoin temporal things to themselves. That temporal things separate eternal things from themselves means that man who is temporal does this by acting from the temporal things in himself; and that eternal things conjoin temporal things to themselves means that the Lord who is eternal does this by acting from the eternal things in Himself as was said above. In what has gone before it was shown that there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord; but that the reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord is not from man, but from the Lord; moreover, that man’s will is in opposition to the Lord’s will; or, what is the same thing, that man’s own prudence is in opposition to the Divine Providence of the Lord. From these considerations it follows that man by acting from his temporal things separates from himself the eternal things of the Lord, but that the Lord conjoins His eternal things to the temporal things of man, that is, He conjoins Himself to man and man to Himself. As these matters have already been fully treated it is not necessary to add further confirmation.
[5] Fourth: The Lord conjoins man to Himself by means of appearances. For it is an appearance that man from himself loves the neighbour, does good and speaks truth; and unless these things appeared to man as from himself he would not love the neighbour, do good and speak truth, and therefore would not be conjoined to the Lord. Since then love, good and truth are from the Lord, it is clear that the Lord by means of appearances conjoins man to Himself. But this appearance, and the conjunction of the Lord with man and man’s reciprocal conjunction with the Lord by means of it, have been fully treated above.
[6] Fifth: The Lord conjoins man to Himself by means of correspondences. This is done by means of the Word (medio Verbo), the sense of the Letter of which consists of pure correspondences. That by means of this sense there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, from beginning to end.
DP 220. IV. THE CONJUNCTION OF TEMPORAL AND ETERNAL THINGS IN MAN IS THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE OF THE LORD. As, however, these things cannot fall within the first perception of the understanding unless they have been previously arranged in order and then unfolded and explained according to that order, the following will be the order of their exposition:
1. It is from the Divine Providence that man by death puts off what is natural and temporal, and puts on what is spiritual and eternal.
2. The Lord by His Divine Providence conjoins Himself to natural things by means of spiritual things, and to temporal things by means of eternal things, according to uses.
3. The Lord conjoins Himself to uses by means of correspondences, and thus by means of appearances in accordance with the confirmations of these by man.
4. This conjunction of temporal and eternal things is the Divine Providence. But these things will be set in clearer light by explanation.
[2] First: It is from the Divine Providence that man by death puts off what is natural and temporal, and puts on what is spiritual and eternal. Natural and temporal things are the outermost and ultimate things into which man first enters; and this he does at birth, to the end that he may afterwards be introduced into interior and higher things; for the outermost and ultimate things are containants; and these are in the natural world. This is the reason why no angel or spirit was created such immediately, but all were born first as men and so introduced into higher things. Hence they have outermost and ultimate things which in themselves are fixed and stabilised, and within and by them interior things can be held in their series.
[3] Man first puts on the grosser substances of nature, of which his body is constituted; but these he puts off by death, retaining the purer substances of nature which are nearest to spiritual things, and these then become his containants. Moreover, in outermost or ultimate things are simultaneously all interior or higher things, as was duly shown before. Therefore, every operation of the Lord is from first things and last things simultaneously, and thus in fullness. Since, however, the outermost and ultimate things of nature cannot receive the spiritual and eternal things for which the human mind was formed, as they are in themselves, and yet man was born to become spiritual and live forever, therefore man puts them off and retains only the interior natural things which are suitable and in harmony with spiritual and celestial things, and which serve them as containants. This is effected by the rejection of temporal and natural ultimates, which is the death of the body.
[4] Second: The Lord by His Divine Providence conjoins Himself to natural things by means of spiritual things, and to temporal things by means of eternal things, according to uses. Natural and temporal things are not only those which are proper to nature, but also those which are proper to men in the natural world. Both of these man puts off by death, and puts on the spiritual and eternal things which correspond to them. That he puts on these according to uses has been shown in many places in what has gone before. The natural things that are proper to nature relate in general to times and spaces, and in particular to the things that are seen on the earth. These man leaves behind by death and receives in their stead spiritual things that are similar in their external aspect or appearance but not in their internal aspect and essential nature. This has also been treated above.
[5] The temporal things that are proper to men in the natural world relate in general to dignities and wealth, and in particular to everyone’s necessities, which are food, clothing and habitation. These also are put off by death and left behind; and such things are assumed and received as are similar to them in external aspect or appearance, but not in their internal aspect and essential nature. All these derive their internal aspect and essential nature from the uses to which temporal things have been put in the world. Uses are the goods that are called the goods of charity. Hence it may be evident that the Lord by His Divine Providence conjoins to natural and temporal things spiritual and eternal things according to uses.
[6] Third: The Lord conjoins Himself to uses by means of correspondences, and thus by means of appearances in accordance with the confirmation of these by man. As this cannot but seem obscure to those who have not yet acquired a clear idea of what is meant by correspondence and appearance, it must be illustrated by example and so explained. All things in the Word are pure correspondences of spiritual and celestial things, and because they are correspondences they are also appearances; that is, all things of the Word are the Divine Goods of the Divine Love and the Divine Truths of the Divine Wisdom. These in themselves are unveiled, but they are clothed in the sense of the Letter of the Word. They therefore appear like a man in clothing which corresponds to the state of his love and wisdom. From this it is clear that if a man confirms in himself appearances it is as if he were to believe that clothes are the men; thus appearances become fallacies. It is otherwise if a man seeks for truths and sees them in the appearances.
[7] Now since all the uses, that is, the truths and goods of charity, that a man does to the neighbour may be done either according to appearances or according to the truths themselves in the Word: if he does them according to appearances confirmed in himself he is in fallacies; but if he does them according to truths he does them as he ought. From these considerations it may be evident what is meant when it is said that the Lord conjoins Himself to uses by means of correspondences, and thus by means of appearances according to the confirmation of these by man.
[8] Fourth: This conjunction of temporal and eternal things is the Divine Providence. In order that this may be set before the understanding in some degree of light, it may be illustrated by two examples, one of which concerns dignities and honours, and the other riches and wealth. Both of these in their external form are natural and temporal, but in their internal form are spiritual and eternal. Dignities with their honours are natural and temporal when man regards himself personally in them and not the commonwealth and uses. For in that case man cannot but think interiorly within himself that the state exists for the sake of him, and not he for the state. He is like a king who thinks that the kingdom and all the people in it exist for the sake of him and not he for the sake of the kingdom and its people.
[9] These same dignities, however, with their honours are spiritual and eternal when man regards himself personally as existing for the sake of the state and uses, and does not regard them as existing for the sake of himself. If a man does this he is then in the truth and essence of his dignity and honour. If, however, he does the former he is in the correspondence and appearance; and if he confirms these in himself he is in fallacies. He is thus in conjunction with the Lord only as those are who are in falsities and evils derived from these; for fallacies are falsities with which evils unite themselves. Such persons have indeed performed uses and good works, but from themselves and not from the Lord; and, therefore, they have put themselves in the place of the Lord.
[10] It is the same with regard to riches and wealth; for these also are natural and temporal as well as spiritual and eternal. Riches and wealth are natural and temporal with those who have regard to these only and to themselves in them, finding in them their whole pleasure and delight. These same things, however, are spiritual and eternal with those who have regard to good uses in them, finding in uses interior pleasure and delight. Moreover, with such persons the outward pleasure and delight become spiritual, and the temporal becomes eternal. Therefore, after death they are in heaven; and there they live in palaces, the useful furnishings of which are resplendent with gold and precious stones. These things, however, they regard only as externals resplendent and translucent from their internals which are uses; and from these uses they derive real pleasure and delight, which in themselves are the blessedness and joy of heaven. The opposite is the lot of those who have regarded riches and wealth for the sake of such things alone as they affected themselves, and thus for the sake of what is external and not at the same time for the sake of what is internal, thus according to appearances and not according to essential realities. When such men put off these appearances, as happens when they die, they put on the internals that pertain to them; and as these are not spiritual they must of necessity be infernal; for either one or other of these principles is in them, since the two cannot exist together. Consequently, in place of riches they have poverty and in place of wealth wretchedness.
[11] By uses are meant not only the necessaries of life which have relation to food, clothing and habitation for oneself and one’s dependents, but also the good of one’s country, of society, and of one’s fellow-citizens. Business is such a good when business is the supreme love and money is a mediate and subservient love, provided the business man shuns and turns his back on fraud and evil practices as sins. It is otherwise when money is the supreme love and business is a mediate and subservient love; for this is avarice, which is a source of evils. Concerning this see (Luke 12:15), and the parable relating to it, (Luke 12:16-21).
DP 221. It is well known in the Christian world that the Lord wills the salvation of all, and also that He is Almighty. Therefore many conclude from this that He is able to save everyone, and that He saves those who implore His mercy; especially those who implore it using the formula of the received faith, that God the Father may be merciful for the sake of the Son; and especially if at the same time they pray that they may receive that faith. That it is altogether otherwise, however, will be seen in the last chapter of this treatise, where it will be explained that the Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of His Divine Providence, because to act against these would be to act contrary to His Divine Love and His Divine Wisdom, thus against Himself. It will also be seen there that such immediate mercy is not possible, because the salvation of man is effected by means; and man can be led in accordance with these means only by Him who wills the salvation of all and is at the same time Almighty, thus by the Lord. The means by which man is led by the Lord are what are called the laws of the Divine Providence; and among these is this, that man is admitted interiorly into the truths of wisdom and into the goods of love only so far as he can be kept in them right on to the end of his life. To make this clear to the reason, however, it must be explained in the following order:
I. -A man may be admitted into the wisdom of spiritual things, and also into the love of them, and yet not be reformed.
II. -If a man afterwards departs from these, and turns aside into what is contrary, he profanes holy things.
III. -There are many kinds of profanation, but this kind is the worst of all.
IV. -Therefore the Lord admits man interiorly into the truths of wisdom and at the same time into the goods of love only so far as he can be kept in them right on to the end of his life.
DP 222. I. A MAN MAY BE ADMITTED INTO THE WISDOM OF SPIRITUAL THINGS, AND ALSO INTO THE LOVE OF THEM, AND YET NOT BE REFORMED. This is because man has rationality and liberty; and by rationality he may be raised up into wisdom almost angelic, and by liberty into love not unlike angelic love; and yet the wisdom is of the same quality as the love. If the love is celestial and spiritual the wisdom also becomes celestial and spiritual; but if the love is diabolical and infernal the wisdom is also diabolical and infernal. This, indeed, may then appear in outward form, and thus to others, as celestial and spiritual, but in its internal form, which is its very essence, it is diabolical and infernal; not as it is outside of the man but as it is within him. That such is its nature does not appear to men because men are natural and they see and hear naturally, and the external form is natural. That such is its nature, however, does appear to angels, because angels are spiritual and they see and hear spiritually, and the internal form is spiritual.
[2] Hence it is evident that a man may be admitted into the wisdom of spiritual things, and also into the love of them, and yet not be reformed; but in this case he is admitted only into the natural and not into the spiritual love of them. This is because a man may introduce himself into the natural love, but the Lord alone can introduce him into the spiritual love; and those who are introduced into this love are reformed, but those who are only introduced into the natural love are not reformed. Such are for the most part hypocrites, and many of them are of the Order of Jesuits, who interiorly do not believe in the Divine at all, but outwardly play with Divine things like conjurers.
DP 223. By much experience in the spiritual world it has been granted me to know that man possesses in himself the faculty of understanding the inner truths (arcana) of wisdom like the angels themselves. For I have seen fiery devils who, while they were listening to inner truths of wisdom, not only understood them but also spoke of them from their own rationality. But as soon as they returned to their own diabolical love they ceased to understand them, and in place of them they uttered things contrary to them. These things were examples of spiritual insanity, and this they called wisdom. It has been granted me to hear them laughing at their own insanity when in a state of wisdom, and at wisdom when in a state of insanity.
[2] A man who has been of this character in the world, when after death he becomes a spirit, is usually admitted into alternate states of wisdom and insanity that he may distinguish the one from the other. But although such men from wisdom see that they are insane, yet when the choice is given them, as is done in the case of everyone, they introduce themselves into the state of insanity and love it; and then they regard with hatred the state of wisdom. This is because their internal has been diabolical and their external as if it were Divine. Such are meant by devils who pretend to be angels of light; and also by him who at the wedding was not clothed in a wedding garment and was cast into outer darkness (Matt. 22:11-13).
DP 224. Who cannot see that the external derives its existence from the internal and consequently has its essence from the internal? And everyone knows from experience that the external can appear otherwise than in accordance with the essence it has from the internal. For there is manifestly such an appearance with hypocrites, flatterers and dissemblers; and that a man can outwardly personate characters not his own is manifest from actors and mimics; for they know how to represent kings, emperors and even angels, in tone of voice, speech, face and gesture, as though they were really such, when yet they are but players. Moreover, this has been stated because man can in similar manner act the deceiver both in civil and moral affairs and in spiritual matters; and it is well known that many do so.
[2] When the internal in its essence is infernal, and the external in its form appears spiritual, and yet, as has been said, the external derives its essence from the internal, it may be asked where in the external that essence lies concealed. It does not appear in the gesture, in the tone of voice, in the speech, or in the face, and yet it is interiorly hidden in all four of these. That it is interiorly hidden in these is clearly manifest from these same things in the spiritual world. For when a man comes from the natural world into the spiritual world, as he does at death, he leaves behind his externals with the body, and retains his internals which he had stored up in his spirit. Then if his internal was infernal he appears as a devil, even such as he was as to his spirit while he lived in the world. Who does not acknowledge that every man leaves behind external things with the body, and enters into internal things when he becomes a spirit?
[3] To this I will add that in the spiritual world there is a communication of affections and of thoughts derived from these; and consequently no one can speak otherwise than as he thinks; and, moreover, everyone there changes his countenance and resembles his own affection so that his character is apparent from his countenance. Hypocrites are sometimes permitted to speak otherwise than as they think; but the tone of their voice is quite out of harmony with their interior thoughts; and by this discordance they are recognised. Hence it may be evident that the internal lies concealed interiorly in the tone of the voice, the speech, the face and the gesture of the external; but it is not perceived by men in the natural world although it is clearly perceived by angels in the spiritual world.
DP 225. From these considerations it is now clear that while man lives in the natural world he can be admitted into the wisdom of spiritual things and also into the love of them; and that this happens and can happen both with those who are wholly natural and with those who are spiritual; but with this difference, that the spiritual are thereby reformed but the natural by the same means are not reformed. It may even appear as if the natural loved wisdom; but they only love it as an adulterer loves an honourable woman, that is, as if she were a courtesan, speaking to her fair words, and giving her beautiful garments, yet saying of her privately to himself She is only a vile harlot whom I will make believe that I love her because she gratifies my lust; but if she did not, I would cast her off. The internal man of such a one is this adulterer, and his external man is this woman.
DP 226. II. IF A MAN AFTERWARDS DEPARTS FROM THESE AND TURNS ASIDE INTO WHAT IS CONTRARY, HE PROFANES HOLY THINGS. There are many kinds of profanation of what is holy, and these will be treated in the following section; but this kind is the most grievous of all; for profaners of this kind after death come to be no longer men. They indeed live, but are continually subject to fantastic hallucinations, appearing to themselves to be flying on high; and while they remain there they sport with fantasies which they see as real things; and as they are no longer men they are not called "he and she" but it". Indeed, when they are presented to view in the light of heaven they appear like skeletons, some like skeletons of the colour of bone, some as fiery skeletons and some as scorched. It is not known in the world that profaners of this kind become like this after death; and it is not known for the reason that the cause is not known. The real cause is that when a man at first acknowledges Divine things and believes in them and afterwards departs from them and denies them, he mingles what is holy with what is profane; and when these have been mingled together they cannot be separated without destroying the whole. However, in order that these things may be more clearly perceived they shall be explained in the following order:
1. Whatever a man thinks, speaks and does from his will, whether good or evil, is appropriated to him, and remains.
2. But the Lord by His Divine Providence continually foresees and disposes, that evil may be by itself and good by itself and thus that they may be separated.
3. This cannot be done if man first acknowledges the truths of faith and lives according to them, and afterwards departs from them and denies them.
4. He then mingles good and evil to such a degree that they cannot be separated.
5. And since the good and the evil in every man must be separated, and in such a person they cannot be separated, therefore he is destroyed as to everything that is truly human.
DP 227. These are the causes which give rise to such an enormity; but as they are in obscurity because of ignorance respecting them they must be so explained as to make them clear to the understanding. First: Whatever a man thinks, speaks and does from his will, whether good or evil, is appropriated to him, and remains. This was shown above (n. 78-81). For man has an external or natural memory, and an internal or spiritual memory. Upon this internal memory is inscribed everything in general and in particular that he has thought, spoken and done in the world from his will, and that so completely and particularly that no detail is lacking. This memory is man’s book of life, which is opened after death and according to which he is judged. Regarding this memory much more has been recorded from actual experience in the work HEAVEN AND HELL (HH 461-465).
[2] Second: The Lord by His Divine Providence continually, foresees and disposes, that evil may be by itself and good by itself, and thus that they may be separated. Every man is both in evil and in good, in evil from himself, and in good from the Lord; and he cannot live unless he is in both. For if he were in himself alone, and thus in evil alone, he would not have any life; nor if he were in the Lord alone and thus in good alone, would he have any life; for a man in the latter state of life would be as if he were being suffocated, continually gasping for breath, or like one dying in agony; while in the former state of life he would become devoid of life; for evil without any good is in itself dead. Therefore every man is in both, the difference being that in the one case man is interiorly in the Lord and exteriorly as if in himself and in the other case he is interiorly in himself but exteriorly as if in the Lord. In the latter case the man is in evil and in the former in good; and yet in each case the man is both in good and in evil. The wicked man is in both because he is in the good of civil and moral life, and also outwardly in some measure of the good of spiritual life, besides being kept by the Lord in rationality and liberty, in order that it may be possible for him to be in good. This is the good by means of which every man, even a wicked man, is led by the Lord. From these considerations it may be seen that the Lord separates evil and good, so that one may be interior and the other exterior, and thus provides that they may not be mingled together.
[3] Third: This cannot be done if man first acknowledges the truths of faith and lives according to them, and afterwards departs from them and denies them. This is clear from what has just been stated; first, that everything a man thinks, speaks and does from his will is appropriated to him and remains; and second, that the Lord by His Divine Providence continually foresees and disposes that good may be by itself and evil by itself and that these may be separated. Moreover, they are separated by the Lord after death. With those who are interiorly wicked and outwardly good, the good is taken away and they are thus left to their own evil. The reverse happens with those who are interiorly good and who outwardly like other men have acquired wealth, have sought positions of dignity, have taken delight in various worldly activities and have favoured certain lusts. With these the good and the evil have not been mingled, but have been kept separate, like the internal and the external. Thus in their outward form they have in many respects resembled the wicked, but not in their internal form. On the other hand there are the wicked who have appeared in their outward form like the good in piety, worship, speech and deeds, and yet inwardly were wicked; with these also the evil is separated from the good. With those, however, who have first acknowledged the truths of faith and have lived according to them, and have afterwards gone contrary to them and have rejected them, and especially if they have denied them, good and evil are no longer separated but are mingled together. For such a man has appropriated to himself good and also evil, and has thus joined them and mingled them together.
[4] Fourth: He then mingles good and evil to such a degree that they cannot be separated. This follows from what has just been said, and if the evil cannot be separated from the good and the good from the evil the man can be neither in heaven nor in hell. Every man must be either in the one or in the other; he cannot be in both, for in that case he would be now in heaven and now in hell; and while in heaven he might be acting in favour of hell, and while in hell he might be acting in favour of heaven. Thus he would destroy the life of all around him, heavenly life with angels and infernal life with devils, whereby the life of everyone would perish. For the life of everyone must be his own; no one lives a life foreign to his own, still less one opposed to it. Hence it is that with every man after death, when he becomes a spirit or a spiritual man, the Lord separates the good from the evil and the evil from the good; the good from the evil with those who interiorly are in evil, and the evil from the good with those who interiorly are in good. This is in accordance with His own words:--
Whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath (A.V. not), from him shall be taken away even that he hath. (Matt. 13:12; 25:29; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18; 19:26).
[5] Fifth: Since the good and the evil in every man must be separated, and in such a person they cannot be separated, therefore he is destroyed as to everything that is truly human. Everyone has what is truly human from rationality, in that he can see and know, if he will, what is true and what is good, and also that he can from liberty will, think, speak and do it; as was shown before. This liberty, however, with its rationality has been destroyed with those who have mingled in themselves good and evil; for they cannot discern evil from good nor can they recognise good from evil since the two make one. Consequently they no longer have rationality in faculty or in power, nor therefore any liberty. For this reason, as was said above, they are like mere fantastic hallucinations; and they no longer appear like men but like bones covered with skin; and therefore when they are referred to they are not called "he" or "she", but "it". Such is the lot of those who in this manner mingle together what is holy with what is profane. However, there are several kinds of profanation which are not quite of this nature, and these will be treated in the following section.
DP 228. No man thus profanes holy things who does not know them; for he who is ignorant of them cannot acknowledge them and afterwards deny them. Therefore those who are outside the Christian world, and who do not know anything about the Lord, and about redemption and salvation by Him, do not profane this holy thing when they do not receive it, or even when they speak against it. Nor do the Jews themselves profane it, because from infancy they are unwilling to receive and acknowledge it. It would be otherwise if they were to receive and acknowledge it, and afterwards deny it; but this rarely happens; for many of them acknowledge it outwardly and inwardly deny it, being like hypocrites. Those, however, who profane holy things by mingling them with what is profane are those who first receive and acknowledge them, and afterwards depart from them and deny them.
[2] It matters nothing that these are received and acknowledged infancy and childhood, which is done by every Christian; for the things that pertain to faith and charity are not then received and acknowledged from any rationality and liberty, that is, in the understanding from the will, but only from what is in the memory and from trust in the teacher; and if the life is in accordance with these it is from blind obedience. When man, however, comes into the exercise of his rationality and liberty, which he does gradually as he grows up into youth and manhood, if he then acknowledges truths and lives in accordance with them and afterwards denies them, he mingles what is holy with what is profane, and from being a man he becomes a monster; as was said above. If however, a man is in evil from the time he attains rationality and liberty, that is, becomes his own master, and even in early manhood, and afterwards acknowledges the truths of faith and lives in accordance with them, provided he then remains in them to the end of his life, he does not mingle the two; for the Lord then separates the evils of his former life from the good of his later life. This is done in the case of all who repent. But more will be said on this subject in what follows.
DP 229. III. THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF PROFANATION OF WHAT IS HOLY, BUT THIS IS THE WORST KIND OF ALL. In the most general sense by profanation is meant all impiety; and therefore by profaners are meant all the impious who in their heart deny God, the holiness of the Word, and consequently the spiritual things of the Church which are essentially holy things, and who also speak impiously of these. Of such profaners we are not here treating, but of those who profess a belief in God, who maintain the holiness of the Word, and who acknowledge the spiritual things of the Church, most of them, however, with the lips only. These commit profanation because what is holy from the Word is in them and with them, and this which is in them, constituting part of their understanding and will, they profane; but in the impious, who deny the Divine and Divine things, there is nothing holy which they can profane. These are indeed profaners, and yet they are not profane at heart.
DP 230. The profanation of what is holy is meant in the second commandment of the Decalogue, Thou shalt not profane the name of thy God"; and that it ought not to be profaned is meant by these words in the Lord’s Prayer, Hallowed be thy name." Scarcely anyone in the Christian world knows what is meant by the name of God. The reason why this is not known is that in the spiritual world names are not as in the natural world, but everyone has a name according to the quality of his love and wisdom; for as soon as anyone enters a society or into association with others he is named there according to his character. This naming is effected by spiritual language, which is such that it can give a name to everything, because there each letter signifies one thing and the letters combined into one word, forming a person’s name, include the entire state of what is named. This is one of the wonderful things of the spiritual world.
[2] Hence it is clear that by the name of God in the Word is signified God with all the Divine that is in Him and that proceeds from Him; and as the Word is the Divine proceeding, it is the name of God; and as all the Divine things which are called the spiritual things of the Church are from the Word, they, too, are the name of God. From these considerations it may be seen what is meant in the second commandment of the Decalogue by
Thou shalt not profane (A.V. take in vain) the name of God (A.V. the name of the Lord thy God) (Exod 20:7);
and in the Lord’s Prayer by
Hallowed be thy name (Matt. 6:9).
The name of God and of the Lord has a like signification in many places in the Word of both Testaments, as in (Matt. 7:22; 10:22; 18:5, 20; 19:29; 21:9; 24:9, 10; John 1:12; 2:23; 3:17, 18; 12:13, 28; 14:14, 15, 16; 16:23, 24, 26, 27; 17:6; 20:31); besides in other places, and in very many places in the Old Testament.
[3] He who knows this signification of name may understand what is signified by these words of the Lord:
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose his reward (Matt. 10:41, 42).
He who by the name of a prophet, of a righteous man, and of a disciple here understands only a prophet, a righteous man and a disciple does not know in that passage any other sense than only the sense of the Letter. He does not know what is signified by the reward of a prophet, or by the reward of a just man, or by the reward for a cup of cold water given to a disciple; when yet by the name and the reward of a prophet is meant the state and the happiness of those who are in Divine truths; by the name and the reward of a righteous man is meant the state and the happiness of those who are in Divine goods; by a disciple is meant the state of those who are in some of the spiritual things of the Church; and by a cup of cold water is meant something of truth.
[4] That the nature of the state of love and wisdom, or of good and truth, is signified by name is also made evident by these words of the Lord:
He that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. (John 10:2, 3).
To call his sheep by name is to teach and lead everyone who is in the good of charity according to the state of his love and wisdom. By the door is meant the Lord, as is evident from the ninth verse,
I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved (John 10:9).
From this it is clear that the Lord Himself must be approached in order that anyone may be saved; and that he who approaches Him is a shepherd of the sheep; and that he who does not approach Him is a thief and a robber, as is said in the first verse of this chapter.
DP 231. Since by profanation of what is holy is meant profanation by those who have a knowledge of the truths of faith and the goods of charity from the Word, and who, moreover, in some measure acknowledge them, and not by those who are ignorant of them, nor by those who impiously reject them utterly, therefore what follows is not said of the latter but of the former. There are many kinds of profanation by the former class of profaners, some lighter and some more grievous; but they may be referred to the following seven. First, the kind of profanation committed by those who make jests from the Word and about the Word, or from the Divine things of the Church and about them. This is done by some from a bad habit, by taking names or forms of expression from the Word and mingling them with remarks that are unseemly and sometimes filthy. It is inevitable that this should be accompanied by some measure of contempt for the Word; for the Word in all things, in general and in particular, is Divine and holy, every expression there having stored within it something Divine, by means of which it has communication with heaven. This kind of profanation, however, is lighter or more grievous according to the acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word and the unbecoming character of the talk into which it is introduced by those who jest about it.
[2] Second, the kind of profanation committed by those who understand and acknowledge Divine truths, and yet live contrary to them. Those who only understand profane more lightly, while those who also acknowledge profane more grievously. For the understanding only teaches, much in the same manner as a preacher, and does not from itself conjoin itself with the will; but acknowledgment does make conjunction; for nothing can be acknowledged without the consent of the will. Still this conjunction varies, and the profanation is according to the measure of the conjunction, when the life is lived contrary to the truths that are acknowledged. Thus if one acknowledges that revenge and hatred, adultery and fornication, fraud and deceit, blasphemy and lying, are sins against God, and yet commits them, he is in the more grievous form of this kind of profanation; for the Lord says,
The servant which knew his lord’s will, and did not according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:47);
and elsewhere,
If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We sec; therefore your sin remaineth (John 9:41).
But it is one thing to acknowledge appearances of truth, and another to acknowledge genuine truths. Those who acknowledge genuine truths and yet do not live according to them appear in the spiritual world without the light and heat of vitality in the tone of their voice and speech, as if they were mere inert beings.
[3] Third, the kind of profanation committed by those who apply the sense of the Letter of the Word to confirm evil loves and false principles. This is because the confirmation of falsity is a denial of truth, and the confirmation of evil is a rejection of good. The Word in its inmost is nothing but Divine Truth and Divine Good; and this in the ultimate sense which is the sense of the Letter is not expressed in genuine truths, except where it teaches concerning the Lord and the essential way of salvation, but in truths veiled, which are called appearances of truth. Therefore this sense may be wrested to confirm heresies of many kinds; and he who confirms evil loves does violence to Divine Good, while he who confirms false principles does violence to Divine Truth. This latter violence is called the falsification of truth, the former the adulteration of good. Both are meant by bloods in the Word; for a spiritual holiness, which is also the spirit of truth proceeding from the Lord, is interiorly within every particular of the sense of the Letter. This holiness is violated when the Word is falsified and adulterated; and it is clear that this is profanation.
[4] Fourth, the kind of profanation committed by those who speak with the lips pious and holy things, and who also by their tone of voice and gesture counterfeit the affections of the love of such things, and yet in their heart do not believe and love them. Most of these are hypocrites and Pharisees from whom after death are taken away all truth and good; and they are then sent into outer darkness. Those who from profanation of this kind have confirmed themselves against the Divine and against the Word, and consequently against the spiritual things of the Word, sit in that darkness dumb, unable to speak, desiring to babble pious and holy things as they did in the world, but unable to do so. For in the spiritual world everyone is compelled to speak as he thinks; but a hypocrite desires to speak otherwise than as he thinks, and consequently there arises an opposition in the mouth owing to which he can only mumble. Hypocrisy, however, is lighter or more grievous according to the degree of the confirmation against God and the outward reasoning in favour of God.
[5] Fifth, the kind of profanation committed by those who attribute to themselves what is Divine. Such are meant by Lucifer in (Isaiah 14:12). Lucifer there means Babylon, as may be evident from the fourth and twenty-second verses of that chapter (Isa. 14:4, 22), where, too, the lot of such is described. The same are meant and described also in Revelation xvii by the harlot sitting on the scarlet beast (Rev. 17:3). Babylon and Chaldea are mentioned in many places in the Word, where by Babylon is meant the profanation of good, and by Chaldea the profanation of truth. In both cases the profanation is committed by those who attribute to themselves what is Divine.
[6] Sixth, the kind of profanation committed by those who acknowledge the Lord and yet deny the Divinity of the Lord. In the world these are called Socinians, and some Arians. The condition of all such is that they call upon the Father, and not upon the Lord, and continually pray to the Father, some indeed for the sake of the Son, to be admitted into heaven, but in vain, even till they become without hope of salvation. They are then sent down to hell among those who deny God. Such are meant by those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, who will not be forgiven either in this world or in the world to come. (Matt. 12:32). This is because God is one in Person and in Essence, in whom is the Trinity, and this God is the Lord; and since the Lord is heaven, and consequently those who are in heaven are in the Lord, therefore those who deny the Divinity of the Lord cannot be admitted into heaven and be in the Lord. It has been shown above that the Lord is heaven, and consequently that those who are in heaven are in the Lord.
[7] Seventh, the kind of profanation committed by those who first acknowledge Divine truths and live according to them, but afterwards depart from them and deny them. This is the worst kind of profanation because such persons mingle things holy and profane to such a degree that they cannot be separated; and yet these things must be separated in order that men may find their place either in heaven or in hell. As this cannot be effected, however, in the case of such persons, all that is human, both intellectual and voluntary, is rooted out and, as was said before, they come to be no longer men. Almost the same thing happens with those who in their heart acknowledge the Divine things of the Word and of the Church, but who immerse them completely in their proprium, which is the love of ruling over all things, and about this much has already been said. For after death when they become spirits, they are wholly unwilling to be led by the Lord, but desire to be led by themselves. When loose rein is given to their love they desire to rule not only over heaven but also over the Lord; and as they cannot do this, they deny the Lord and become devils. It should be understood that the life’s love, which is also the ruling love, remains with everyone after death, and cannot be taken away.
[8] The profane of this kind are meant by the lukewarm, of whom it is thus written in the Revelation:
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot; So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth (Rev. 3:14, 15).
This kind of profanation is thus described by the Lord in Matthew:
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. (Matt. 12:43-45).
The conversion of a man is here described by the unclean spirit’s going out of him; and his turning back to his former evils, after things good and true have been cast out, is described by the return of the unclean spirit with seven others worse than himself into the house garnished for him; and the profanation of what is holy by what is profane is described by the last state of that man being worse than the first. The same is meant by this passage in John:
Jesus said to the man who had been healed at the pool of Bethesda: Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. (John 5:14).
[9] The Lord provides that a man should not interiorly acknowledge truths and afterwards depart from them and become profane. This is meant by these words:
He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. (John 12:41).
Lest they should be converted and I should heal them, signifies lest they should acknowledge truths and then depart from them, and thus become profane. For the same reason the Lord spoke in parables, as He Himself says, (Matt. 13:13). That the Jews were forbidden to eat fat and blood, (Lev. 3:17, 7:23, 25), signified that they were not to profane holy things, for fat signified Divine Good and blood Divine Truth. That a man who is once converted ought to continue in good and truth to the end of his life, the Lord teaches in Matthew:
Jesus said: He that endureth to the end, shall be saved. (Matt. 10:22; Mark 13:13).
DP 232. IV. THEREFORE THE LORD ADMITS MAN INTERIORLY INTO THE TRUTHS OF WISDOM AND AT THE SAME TIME INTO THE GOODS OF LOVE ONLY SO FAR AS HE CAN BE KEPT IN THEM RIGHT ON TO THE END OF HIS LIFE. To demonstrate this it is necessary to proceed by distinct steps for two reasons; one, because it is of Importance to human salvation; and the other, because upon a knowledge of this law depends a knowledge of the laws of permission, to be treated of in the next chapter. It is of importance to human salvation, for, as has just been said, he who first acknowledges the Divine things of the Word, and consequently of the Church, and afterwards departs from them, profanes holy things most grievously. Therefore, in order that this interior truth of the Divine Providence may be so revealed that the rational man may see it in his own light, it shall be unfolded in the following order:
1. Evil and good cannot exist together in man’s interiors; and consequently neither can the falsity of evil and the truth of good.
2. Good and the truth of good can be introduced by the Lord into man’s interiors only so far as the evil and the falsity of evil there have been removed.
3. If good with its truth were introduced there before or in a greater measure than evil with its falsity is removed, man would depart from good and return to his evil.
4. When man is in evil many truths may be introduced into his understanding, and these may be stored up in his memory, and yet not be profaned.
5. The Lord, however, by His Divine Providence takes the greatest care that the will may not receive these from the understanding sooner or in a greater measure than man as of himself removes evil in the external man.
6. If the will should receive them sooner or in greater measure it would then adulterate the good and the understanding would falsify the truth by mingling them with evils and falsities.
7. Therefore the Lord admits man interiorly into the truths of wisdom and into the goods of love only so far as he can be kept in them right on to the end of his life.
DP 233. In order, therefore, that this interior truth (arcanum) of the Divine Providence may be so revealed that the rational man may see it in his own light, the points that have just been presented shall be explained one by one. First: Evil and good cannot exist together in man’s interiors, and consequently neither can the falsity of evil and the truth of good. By man’s interiors is meant the internal of his thought; but of this he knows nothing before he comes into the spiritual world and its light, which happens after death. In the natural world this can be known only from the delight of his love in the external of his thought and from evils themselves when he examines them in himself; for, as was shown above, the internal of thought in man is so closely connected with the external of thought that they cannot be separated; but concerning this more may be seen above. The terms good and the truth of good, also evil and the falsity of evil, are used because good cannot exist apart from its truth, nor evil apart from its falsity; as they are bedfellows or consorts, for the life of good is from its truth, and the life of truth is from its good; and the same is true of evil and its falsity.
[2] It may be seen by the rational man without explanation that evil with its falsity cannot exist in man’s interiors and at the same time good with its truth; for evil is the opposite of good, and good is the opposite of evil, and two opposites cannot exist together. Moreover, there is in all evil an inherent hatred of good, and there is in all good an inherent love of protecting itself against evil and removing it from itself. Therefore it follows that one cannot be together with the other. If they were together there would arise first conflict and combat, and then destruction, as the Lord also teaches in these words:
Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself standeth not (A.V. shall not stand). He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad (Matt. 12:25, 30);
and in another place,
No one can at the same time serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other (Matt. 6:24).
Two opposites cannot exist together in one substance or form without its being torn asunder and destroyed. If one should advance and draw near to the other they would certainly keep themselves apart like two enemies, one of whom would retire within his camp or fortifications, and the other would remain outside. This happens with the evil and the good in a hypocrite. He harbours both, but the evil is within and the good is without, and thus the two are separate and are not mingled. From this it is now clear that evil with its falsity and good with its truth cannot exist together.
[3] Second: Good and the truth of good can be introduced by the Lord into man’s interiors only so far as the evil and the falsity of evil there have been removed. This is a necessary consequence of what has gone before; for as evil and good cannot exist together good cannot be introduced before evil has been removed. The term man’s interiors is used, and by these is meant the internal of thought; and in these, which are now being considered, either the Lord or the devil must be present. The Lord is there after reformation, but the devil is there before it; therefore, so far as man suffers himself to be reformed the devil is cast out; but so far as he does not suffer himself to be reformed the devil remains. Everyone may see that the Lord cannot enter so long as the devil is there; and he is there so long as man keeps the door closed, where man acts together with the Lord. That the Lord enters when that door is opened by man himself (medio homine) He teaches in Revelation:
I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Rev. 3:20).
The door is opened by man’s removing evil, which he does by shunning and turning away from it as infernal and diabolical. For whether you say evil or the devil it is the same; and, on the other hand, whether you say good or the Lord it is the same, for the Lord is within all good, and the devil is within all evil. From these considerations the truth of the matter is evident.
[4] Third: If good with its truth were introduced there before or in a greater measure than evil with its falsity is removed, man would depart from good and return to his evil. This is because evil would prove the stronger, and what is the stronger conquers, if not at the time yet afterwards. So long as evil continues to prevail good cannot be introduced into the innermost chambers of the mind, but only Into the outer courts, because, as has been said, evil and good cannot exist together; and what is only in the outer courts is removed by its enemy in the inner apartments. Consequently there is a departure from good and a return to evil; and this is the worst kind of profanation.
[5] Moreover, the very delight of a man’s life is to love himself and the world above all things. This delight cannot be removed in a moment, but only gradually, and so far as any of this delight remains evil prevails in him; and this evil can only be removed as the love of self becomes the love of uses, or as the love of ruling has for its end not self but uses. Thus uses constitute the head, the love of self or of ruling constituting first the body under the head and afterwards the feet upon which it walks. Everyone sees that good must constitute the head; and that when it does, the Lord is there; for good and use are one. Who does not see that if evil constitutes the head the devil is there? And as civil and moral good, and spiritual good also in its external form, must still be accepted, who does not see that these now constitute the feet and the soles of the feet upon which the man treads?
[6] The state of the man’s life must be inverted so that what is above may be below; and this reversal cannot be effected in a moment, for what is the greatest delight of life, arising from the love of self and the consequent love of rule, can only be reduced gradually and converted into the love of uses. Therefore, good cannot be introduced by the Lord before or in a greater measure than the civil is removed. If it were so introduced man would depart from the good and return to his evil.
[7] Fourth: When man is in evil many truths may be introduced into his understanding, and these may be stored up in his memory, and yet not be profaned. This is because the understanding does not flow into the will, but the will into the understanding; and as it does not flow into the will many truths may be received by the understanding and stored up in the memory, and yet not be mingled with the evil of the will; and thus what is holy may not be profaned. Moreover, it is incumbent upon everyone to learn truths from the Word or from preaching, to lay them up in the memory and to ponder over them. For from the truths that are in the memory and that enter the thought from the memory the understanding must teach the will, that is, must teach the man what to do. This, therefore, is the principal means of reformation. When truths are only in the understanding and from it in the memory, they are not in the man, but outside of him.
[8] Man’s memory may be compared to the ruminatory stomach of certain animals in which they deposit their food; and so long as it is there it is not in but outside of their body; but as they bring it up from this stomach and consume it, it becomes part of their life and the body is nourished. Now in man’s memory the food is not material but spiritual, namely, truths, which in them selves are knowledges; and in the degree that man draws these from the memory by thinking, a process akin to ruminating, his spiritual mind is nourished. The will’s love has a longing, an appetite as it were, for these truths and causes them to be drawn out and serve as nourishment. If that love is evil it has this longing or appetite for unclean things; but if the love is good it has this longing or appetite for clean things, and what is not suitable it separates, removes and casts out; and this is done in various ways.
[9] Fifth: The Lord, however, by His Divine Providence takes the greatest care that the will may not receive these from the understanding sooner or in a greater measure than man as of himself removes evil in the external man. For what is received by the will enters into the man and is appropriated by him and becomes part of his life; and in the life itself which man has from the will, evil and good cannot exist together, for in this case he would perish. The two, however, may be in the understanding and are there called falsities of evil and truths of good, yet they are not mingled; otherwise man would not be able to distinguish evil from good and to recognise good from evil; but they are distinguished there and separated like the inner and outer apartments of a house. When a wicked man thinks and says what is good he thinks and speaks exteriorly, but interiorly when he thinks and says what is evil; therefore, when he says what is good his speech comes, as it were, from an inner all of a house. It may be likened to fruit that is fair on the outside, but worm-eaten and rotten within, and to a dragon’s egg, regarded from the shell only.
[10] Sixth: If the will should receive them sooner or in greater measure it would then adulterate the good and the understanding would falsify the truth by mingling them with evils and falsities. When the will is in evil it adulterates good in the understanding; and good adulterated in the understanding is evil in the will, for it proves that evil is good and that good is evil. Evil acts thus with all good, which is opposite to itself. Evil also falsifies truth, for the truth of good is opposite to the falsity of evil; and this is done in the understanding by the will but not by the understanding from itself. In the Word adulterations of good are described by adulteries and falsifications of truth by whoredoms. These adulterations and falsifications are effected by reasonings from the natural man, which is in evil, and also by confirmations from the appearances of the sense of the Letter of the Word.
[11] The love of self, which is the head of all evils, surpasses other loves in its ability to adulterate goods and falsify truths; and it does this by the misuse of the rationality which every man, wicked as well as good, has from the Lord. It can indeed by confirmations make evil to appear exactly like good and falsity like truth. There is nothing it cannot do when it can prove by a thousand arguments that nature first created itself and then created men, beasts and plants of every kind; and also that by influx from its inner self nature causes men to live, to think analytically and to understand wisely. Self-love excels in its ability to prove whatever it desires because outwardly it presents the appearance of a certain splendour, flashing beams of variously coloured light. This splendour is the glory of being wise which pertains to that love, and thus also of being eminent and dominant.
[12] However, when self-love has proved such things it then becomes so blind as only to see that man is a beast and that man and beast think by a similar process; indeed, that if a beast could also speak it would be a man in another form. If it were induced by some sort of persuasion to believe that something of man lives after death, it is then so blind as to believe that the beast also lives after death; and that this something that lives after death is only a subtle exhalation of life, like a vapour, which constantly sinks back to its own corpse; or that it is something vital without sight, hearing and speech, and thus is blind, deaf and dumb, hovering about and thinking; entertaining besides many other insane ideas with which nature, although in itself dead, inspires this phantasm created by self-love. Such is the effect of self-love, which viewed in itself is the love of the proprium; and man’s proprium in respect of its affections, which are all natural, is not unlike the life of a beast; while in respect to its perceptions, because they spring from these affections, it is not unlike a bird of night. Therefore, he who continually immerses his thoughts in his proprium cannot be raised out of natural into spiritual light and see anything of God, of heaven and of eternal life. Since this love is of such a nature, and yet excels in its ability to confirm what it pleases, it has a like ability to adulterate the goods of the Word and to falsify its truths, even while it is constrained by a form of necessity to confess them.
[13] Seventh: Therefore the Lord admits man interiorly into the truths of wisdom and into the goods of love only so far as he can be kept in them right on to the end of his life. The Lord does this in order that man may not fall into that most grievous kind of profanation of what is holy which has been treated of in this chapter. On account of this danger also the Lord permits evils of life and many heresies in worship; and concerning the permission of these things something will be seen in the sections that follow.
XIII. THE LAWS OF PERMISSION ARE ALSO LAWS OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE
DP 234. There are no laws of permission by themselves or separate from the laws of the Divine Providence: they are indeed the same. When, therefore, it is said that God permits, this does not mean that He wills, but that He cannot avert on account of the end, which is salvation. Whatever is done for the sake of the end, namely, salvation, is according to the laws of the Divine Providence. For, as was said before, the Divine Providence, keeping this end continually in view, is constantly moving in ways different from and contrary to man’s will. Therefore, at every moment of its operation or at every step of its progress, when it perceives man to deviate from this end, it directs, bends and disposes him in accordance with its laws by withdrawing him from evil and leading him to good. It will be seen in what follows that this cannot be done without permitting evil. Moreover, nothing can be permitted without a cause, and such a cause is only to be found in some law of the Divine Providence which explains why it is permitted.
DP 235. He who does not acknowledge the Divine Providence at all does not in his heart acknowledge God, but instead of God he acknowledges nature, and instead of the Divine Providence he acknowledges human prudence. It is not apparent that this is the case, for man can think in two different ways and speak in two different ways. From his inner self he can think and speak in one way and from his exterior self in another. He is like a hinge on which a door can turn either way, one way when a person enters and the other when he goes out; and like a sail by which a ship can be turned either way as the captain sets it. Those who have confirmed themselves in favour of human prudence to such a degree as to deny the Divine Providence observe nothing else when they are in this way of thinking, whatever they see, hear and read; nor indeed can they, because they receive nothing from heaven but only from themselves; and as they form conclusions from appearances and fallacies only, and see nothing else, they can swear that it is so. Moreover, if they acknowledge nature alone they may be angry with defenders of the Divine Providence, provided these are not priests, for in their case they regard their defense as part of their teaching or function as priests.
DP 236. Some of the things will now be enumerated which belong to permission and yet are in accordance with the laws of the Divine Providence, by which the merely natural man confirms himself in favour of nature against God, and in favour of human prudence against the Divine Providence. For example, he reads in the Word that:
1. The wisest of men, Adam, and his wife suffered themselves to be led astray by a serpent, and God did not avert this by His Divine Providence.
2. Their first son Cain killed his brother Abel, and God did not withhold him at the time by speaking to him, but only after the deed cursed him.
3. The Israelitish nation worshipped a golden calf in the desert, and acknowledged it as the god which led them out of the land of Egypt. Yet Jehovah saw this from Mount Sinai nearby and did not seek to prevent it.
4. David numbered the people, and in consequence a pestilence was sent upon them, by which so many thousands of men perished; and God, not before but after the deed, sent the prophet Gad to him and announced punishment.
5. Solomon was permitted to establish idolatrous worship.
6. Many kings after him were permitted to profane the temple and the holy things of the Church.
7. And lastly, that nation was permitted to crucify the Lord.
In these and many other passages in the Word he who acknowledges nature and human prudence sees nothing but what is contrary to the Divine Providence. Therefore, he can use these as arguments to deny it, if not in his exterior thought which is nearest to speech, still in his interior thought which is remote from it.
DP 237. Every worshipper of himself and of nature confirms himself against the Divine Providence:
1. When he sees in the world so many wicked people, and so many of their impieties in which some of them even glory, and yet no punishment of such by God. He confirms himself still more against the Divine Providence when he sees that wicked designs, cunning devices and deceit are successful even against the pious, the righteous and the sincere; and that injustice triumphs over justice in the courts and in business.
2. Especially does he confirm himself when he sees the impious advanced to honours and become great in the state and leaders in the Church, and that they abound in riches and live in luxury and magnificence; while, on the other hand, he sees the worshippers of God living in contempt and poverty.
3. He also confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he reflects that wars are permitted, and in them the slaughter of so many men and the plundering of so many cities, nations and families.
4. Moreover, that victories are on the side of prudence and sometimes not on the side of justice, and that it makes no difference whether the general is an upright man or not. He sees besides other things like these; and yet they are all permissions according to the laws of the Divine Providence.
DP 238. The same natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he regards the religious conditions of the various peoples. He sees, for example,
1. That there are some who are totally ignorant of God; that some worship the sun and moon; also that some worship idols and even monstrous graven images; and also that some worship the dead.
2. He sees especially that the Mohammedan religion is accepted by so many empires and kingdoms.
3. He sees that the Christian religion is accepted only in the very small part of the habitable globe called Europe, and is in a state of division there.
4. That some there claim for themselves Divine power, and desire to be worshipped as gods, and that they invoke the dead.
5. That there are some who place salvation in certain phrases which they must think and say, and not at all in good works which they must do; and that few live their religion.
6. Moreover, he sees the heresies, of which there have been many, some of which exist at this day, as those of the Quakers, the Moravians, the Anabaptists, and others.
7. Also that Judaism still continues. From these things he who denies the Divine Providence concludes that religion in itself is nothing, but still that it is necessary because it serves as a restraining influence.
DP 239. To these arguments more may be added at this day by which those can still further confirm themselves who think interiorly in favour of nature and human prudence alone. For example:
1. The whole Christian world has acknowledged three Gods, not knowing that God is one in Person and in Essence, and that He is the Lord.
2. Hitherto it has not been known that in every particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense from which it derives its holiness.
3. Further, it has not been known that to shun evils as sins is the Christian religion itself.
4. Also it has not been known that a man lives a man after death. For men can say to themselves and to one another, Why does the Divine Providence, if there is any, now reveal such things for the first time?
DP 240. All the things enumerated in numbers (n. 236-239), have been presented to the end that it may be seen that all things in general and in particular that take place in the world, both with the wicked and with the good, are of the Divine Providence; consequently that the Divine Providence is in the most individual things of man’s thoughts and actions, and therefore that it is universal. But as this cannot be seen from the things presented unless each is explained separately, therefore a brief explanation of them will be given in the order in which they were presented, beginning with 236.
DP 241. 1. The wisest of men, Adam, and his wife suffered themselves to be led astray by a serpent, and God did not avert this by His Divine Providence. This is because by Adam and his wife are not meant the first of all mankind that were created in this world, but the men of the Most Ancient Church; and their new creation or regeneration is thus described. Their new creation itself that is, their regeneration, is described in the first chapter (of Genesis) by the creation of heaven and earth; their wisdom and intelligence by the Garden of Eden; and the end of that Church by their eating of the tree of knowledge. For the Word in its inner content is spiritual, containing interior truths (arcana) of Divine Wisdom; and in order that it may contain these it is written wholly by correspondences and representatives. From this it is manifest that the men of that Church, who were in the beginning the wisest of men, and who in the end, from the pride of their own intelligence, became the worst, were not led astray by any serpent but by the love of self there denoted by the serpent’s head, which the Seed of the woman, that is, the Lord should bruise.
[2] Who cannot see from reason that other things are meant than those that are there related in the form of history in the Letter? For who can comprehend that the creation of the world could have taken place as is there described? Therefore, the learned expend much labour in the explanation of that first chapter, and confess after all that they do not understand it. The same is true of what follows. It is recorded that in their garden or paradise were placed two trees, a tree of life and a tree of knowledge, the latter as a stumbling block. Also, that from the mere eating of this tree they so far transgressed that not only they but the whole human race, their posterity, became subject to condemnation. Further, that a serpent was able to lead them astray; besides other things there related, as that the wife was created from a rib of the husband; that after the fall they acknowledged their nakedness and covered it with fig-leaves, and that coats of skin were given them to cover their bodies; and that cherubim with a flaming sword were placed to guard the way to the tree of life.
[3] All these things are representatives, describing the Establishment of the Most Ancient Church, its state, its change, and finally its destruction. The interior truths involved in all these things which are contained in the spiritual sense that is in every detail of the story, may be seen explained in the ARCANA CAELESTIA, on Genesis and Exodus, published in London, from which it may be evident that by the tree of life is there meant the Lord in respect to His Divine Providence, and by the tree of knowledge is meant man in respect to his own prudence.
DP 242. 2. Their first son, Cain killed his brother Abel, and God did not withhold him at the time by speaking to him, but only after the deed cursed him. Since by Adam and his wife is meant the Most Ancient Church, as has just been said above, so by Cain and Abel their first sons, are meant the two essentials of the Church, which are love and wisdom, or charity and faith. By Abel is meant love and charity and by Cain wisdom or faith, in particular, wisdom separated from love, or faith separated from charity; and wisdom as well as faith when separated is such that it not only rejects love and charity, but even destroys them and thus kills its own brother. That faith separate from charity does this is well known in the Christian world, as may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH.
[2] The curse of Cain involves the spiritual state into which those come after death who separate faith from charity or wisdom from love. Yet in order that wisdom or faith might not therefore perish, a mark was set upon Cain lest he should be slain, for love cannot exist without wisdom, nor can charity without faith. As almost the same thing is represented by these things as by the eating of the tree of knowledge, therefore this story comes next in order after the description of Adam and his wife. Moreover, those who are in faith separated from charity are in their own intelligence; while those who are in charity and consequently in faith are in intelligence from the Lord, and thus in the Divine Providence.
DP 243. 3. The Israelitish nation worshipped a golden calf in the desert, and acknowledged it as the god which led them out of the land of Egypt. Yet Jehovah saw this from Mount Sinai nearby and did not seek to prevent it. This took place in the wilderness of Sinai near the mountain. That Jehovah did not withhold them from that wicked act of idolatry is in accordance with all the laws of the Divine Providence hitherto set forth, and also in accordance with those which follow. This evil was permitted them that they might not all perish. For the Children of Israel were led out of Egypt that they might represent the Lord’s Church; and this they could not have done unless Egyptian idolatry had first been rooted out of their hearts. This could not have been done unless it had been left to them to act according to what was in their hearts and so remove it as the result of severe punishment. What further is signified by that worship, and by the threat that they should be wholly rejected and that a new nation should be raised up out of Moses, may be seen in the ARCANA CAELESTIA on Exodus 22 (A.V. 32), where these things are treated of.
DP 244. 4. David numbered the people, and in consequence a pestilence was sent upon them, by which so many thousands of men perished, and God, not before but after the deed, sent the prophet Gad to him and announced punishment upon him. He who confirms himself against the Divine Providence may have various thoughts and reflections about this also, asking particularly why David was not first warned and why the people were so severely punished for the king’s transgression. That he was not first warned is in accordance with the laws of the Divine Providence already set forth, especially in accordance with the two explained above in numbers (n. 129-153), and numbers (n. 154-174). That the people were so severely punished for the king’s transgression, and seventy thousand cut off by the pestilence, was not owing to the king but to the people; for it is written,
Again the anger of JEHOVAH was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them saying (A.V. to say), Go, number Israel and Judah (2 Sam. 24:1).
DP 245. 5. Solomon was permitted to establish idolatrous worship. This was done that he might represent the Lord’s kingdom or the Church with all forms of religion in the whole world. For the Church established with the nation of Israel and Judah was a representative Church, and therefore all the judgments and statutes of that Church represented the spiritual things of the Church, which are its internals. The people themselves represented the Church, the king represented the Lord, David representing the Lord who was to come into the world and Solomon the Lord after His Coming. Because the Lord after the glorification of His Human had power over heaven and earth, as He Himself says in (Matt. 28:18), therefore Solomon who represented Him appeared in glory and magnificence, and possessed wisdom above all the kings of the earth, and also built the temple. Moreover, he permitted and established the forms of worship of many nations, by which were represented the various religions in the world. His wives, who numbered seven hundred and his concubines who numbered three hundred (1 Kings 11:3), had a similar signification, for a "wife" in the Word signifies the Church and a "concubine" a form of religion. Hence it may be evident why it was granted to Solomon to build the temple which signified both the Lord’s Divine Human (John 2:19, 21) and the Church; and why he was permitted to set up idolatrous forms of worship, and to marry so many wives. That by David in many places in the Word is meant the Lord, who was to come into the world, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (L 43, 44).
DP 246. 6. Many kings after Solomon were permitted to profane the temple and the holy things of the Church. This was because the people represented the Church and the king was their head. Because the nation of Israel and Judah was such that they could not represent the Church for long as they were idolaters at heart, therefore they gradually departed from representative worship by perverting all things of the Church till at length it was devastated. This was represented by the profanations of the temple by the kings and by their idolatries. The actual devastation of the Church was represented by the destruction of the temple itself and by the carrying away of the people of Israel and by the captivity of the people of Judah in Babylon. Such was the cause of this permission; and whatever is done from any cause is done from the Divine Providence according to one of its laws.
DP 247. 7. That nation was permitted to crucify the Lord. This was because the Church with that nation was wholly vastated and became such that not only did they not know and acknowledge the Lord, but they even hated Him; and yet all that they did to Him was according to the laws of His Divine Providence. The passion of the cross was the last temptation or the final combat by which the Lord fully conquered the hells and fully glorified His Human. This may be seen in (L 12-14); and in (Faith 34, 35).
DP 248. An explanation has now been given of the points enumerated above in (n. 236). These are some of the instances from the Word by which the natural man who exercises his reason may confirm himself against the Divine Providence. For, as was said above, whatever such a man sees, hears and reads, he can employ as an argument against the Divine Providence. Few, however, confirm themselves against the Divine Providence from such things as are in the Word; but many do so from things that appear before their eyes, as those mentioned in (n. 237); and these will now in like manner be explained.
DP 249. 1. Every worshipper of himself and of nature confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he sees in the world so many wicked people, and so many of their impieties in which some of them even glory, and yet no punishment of such by God. All impieties and also the glorying in them are permissions, the causes of which are laws of the Divine Providence. Every man may freely, indeed very freely, think what he will, both against God and in favour of God. He who thinks against God is rarely punished in the natural world, because there he is always in a state subject to reformation; but he is punished in the spiritual world after death, for then he can no longer be reformed.
[2] That the laws of the Divine Providence are the cause of permissions is clear from its laws as set forth above, if they are recalled and examined. These are: Man should act from freedom according to reason, a law treated of above (n. 71-99); Man should not be compelled by external means to think and will, and thus to believe and love, the things of religion, but should persuade and at times compel himself to do so (n. 129-153); There is no such thing as man’s prudence: it only appears that there is, and there ought to be this appearance; but the Divine Providence is universal because it is in things most individual (n. 191-213); The Divine Providence regards eternal things, and not temporal things except so far as they accord with eternal things (n. 214-220); Man is admitted interiorly into the truths of faith and into the goods of charity only so far as he can be kept in them right on to the end of life, a law treated of (n. 221-233).
[3] That the laws of the Divine Providence are causes of permissions will also be clear from the following; as from this: Evils are permitted for the sake of the end, which is salvation; also from this: The Divine Providence is continual both with the wicked and with the good; and lastly from this: The Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of His Divine Providence, because to act contrary to them would be to act contrary to His Divine Love and Wisdom, and thus contrary to Himself. If these laws are considered together they may make manifest the reasons why impieties are permitted by the Lord, and are not punished when they exist in thought only, and seldom also when they exist in intention and thus also in the will and not in act. Yet its own punishment follows every evil; it is as if its punishment were inscribed upon the evil, and this punishment the wicked man suffers after death.
[4] What has just been set forth also explains the following proposition stated in 237: The worshipper of himself and of nature confirms himself against the Divine Providence still more when he sees that wicked designs, cunning devices and deceit are successful even against the pious, the righteous and the sincere, and that injustice triumphs over justice in the courts and in business. All the laws of the Divine Providence are necessities; and as they are the causes why such things are permitted it is clear that for man to be able to live as man, to be reformed and saved, these things can be removed from him by the Lord only by means. They are removed by means of the Word, and especially by the commandments of the Decalogue in the case of those who acknowledge all kinds of murder, adultery, theft and false witness as sins. In the case of those who do not acknowledge such things as sins, they are removed by means of the civil laws and fear of their penalties, and also by means of moral laws, and the fear of the loss of reputation and consequent loss of honour and wealth; and it is by these means that the Lord leads the wicked, but only away from doing such things and not from thinking and willing them. However, by the former means the Lord leads the good, not only away from doing these things but also from thinking and willing them.
DP 250. 2. The worshipper of himself and of nature confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he sees the impious advanced to honours and become great in the state and leaders in the Church, and that they abound in riches and live in luxury and magnificence, while he sees the worshippers of God living in contempt and poverty. The worshipper of self and of nature believes that dignities and wealth are the supreme and the only happiness that can be granted, thus happiness itself. If in consequence of worship begun in infancy he has any thought of God, he calls them Divine blessings, and as long as he is not too puffed up by them, he thinks that there is a God, and even worships Him. But there lies hidden in the worship a desire, of which he is unaware at the time, that he may be raised by God to still higher dignities and to still greater wealth. If he attains these his worship tends more and more to outward things until it so falls away that at length he thinks God of little account and denies Him; and the result is the same should he be cast down from the dignity and opulence on which he had set his heart. What then are dignities and wealth to the wicked but stumbling blocks?
[2] To the good, however, they are not so, for these do not set their heart on them but on the uses or goods in the performance of which dignities and wealth serve as means. Therefore, from the circumstance that the wicked are promoted to honours and wealth and become great in the state and in the Church no one but a worshipper of self and of nature can confirm himself against the Divine Providence. Moreover, what is greater and lesser dignity, and what is greater and lesser wealth? In itself is it anything but something imaginary? Is one person more blessed and happy than another? In the case of a great man in the state, even a king or an emperor, after a single year, is the dignity regarded as anything more than something common which no longer exalts his heart with joy but may become worthless in his sight? All men by virtue of their high position any happier than those in a lower position, even the lowest of all, as farm-workers and their servants? It is possible that these may even enjoy a greater measure of happiness when things go well with them and they are content with their lot. Who is more restless at heart, more frequently provoked and more violently enraged than the lover of self and this as often as he is not honoured according to the pride of his heart, and when anything does not succeed according to his wish and pleasure? What then is dignity, if it does not pertain to some office or use, but an idea? And this idea can only exist in thought concerning self and the world, and in itself it is the idea that the world is everything and eternity nothing.
[3] Something will now be said concerning the reason why the Divine Providence permits the wicked at heart to be advanced to dignities and to acquire wealth. The impious or wicked can perform uses equally with the pious or the good; and, indeed, with greater zeal, for they have regard to themselves in the uses, and they regard the honours as uses. Therefore, whatever the height to which the love of self mounts up there burns within it the consuming desire of performing uses for the sake of its own glory. With the pious or good there is no such fire unless it is kindled from below by some feeling of honour. Therefore, the Lord governs the wicked at heart who are in positions of dignity by the reputation of their name, and moves them to perform uses to the community or country, society or city in which they dwell, and also to the fellow-citizen or neighbour with whom they associate. This is the Lord’s government, which is called the Divine Providence, with such; for the Lord’s kingdom is a kingdom of uses; and where there are but few who perform uses for the sake of uses He causes worshippers of self to be raised to the higher offices, in which everyone is moved to do good by means of his own love.
[4] Suppose there were an infernal kingdom in the world, although there is none, where only self-love prevailed, and self-love itself is the devil, would not everyone perform uses from the zeal of self-love and the splendour of his own glory to a greater extent than in any other kingdom? Now with all such the public good is on the lips but their own good in the heart. As each one looks to his own prince for his own advancement, for he aspires to be greatest, can he see that there is a God? A smoke like that of a conflagration surrounds him, through which no spiritual truth in its own light can pass. I have seen that smoke about the hells of such. Light your lantern and seek out how many there are in the kingdoms of the present day who aspire to dignities who are not lovers of self and the world. You will not find fifty in a thousand who are lovers of God, and among these only a few who aspire to dignities. Since then there are so few who are lovers of God and so many who are lovers of self and the world, and since the lovers of self and the world from their zeal perform more uses than do the lovers of God from theirs, how can anyone confirm himself against the Divine Providence from the fact that the wicked are in greater eminence and opulence than the good?
[5] This is established also by these words of the Lord:
The lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this age (A.V. world) are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations (Luke 16:8, 9).
It is clear what is meant by these words in the natural sense; but In the spiritual sense by the mammon of unrighteousness are meant the rational conceptions of truth and good possessed by the wicked, which they employ solely to acquire for themselves dignities and wealth. It is these knowledges of which the good or the children of light are to make themselves friends, and which shall receive them into everlasting habitations. That many are lovers of self and the world, and that few are lovers of God, the Lord teaches in these words:
Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: but narrow and strait is the way (A.V. because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way) which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt. 7:13, 14).
It may be seen above (n. 217) that dignities and wealth are either curses or blessings, and with whom they are the one or the other.
DP 251. 3. The worshipper of himself and of nature confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he reflects that wars are permitted and in them the slaughter of so many men, and the plundering of their wealth. It is not from the Divine Providence that wars occur, because they involve murders, plunderings, violence, cruelties and other terrible evils which are diametrically opposed to Christian charity. Still they cannot but be permitted because, since the time of the most ancient people, meant by Adam and his wife, treated of above (n. 241), men’s life’s love has become such that it wills to rule over others, and finally over all; and also to possess the wealth of the world, and finally all wealth. These two loves cannot be kept in fetters, for it is according to the Divine Providence that everyone is allowed to act from freedom in accordance with reason, as may be seen above (n. 71-97); and without permissions man cannot be led from evil by the Lord, and consequently cannot be reformed and saved. For unless evils were allowed to break out, man would not see them and therefore would not acknowledge them, and thus could not be induced to resist them. Hence it is that evils cannot be repressed by any act of Providence; for if they were they would remain shut in, and like a disease, such as cancer and gangrene, they would spread and consume everything vital in man.
[2] For man from birth is like a little hell, between which and heaven there is perpetual discord. No man can be withdrawn from his hell by the Lord unless he sees that he is in hell and wishes to be led out; and this cannot be done without permissions, the causes of which are laws of the Divine Providence. This is why there are lesser and greater wars, the lesser between owners of estates and their neighbours, and the greater between the sovereigns of kingdoms and their neighbours. The lesser and the greater differ only in this, that the lesser are kept within certain bounds by national law, and the greater by international law; and that, while both the lesser and the greater are willing to transgress their own laws, the lesser cannot, and the greater can, yet still within the limits of possibility.
[3] There are many other reasons stored up in the treasury of Divine Wisdom why the greater wars with kings and rulers, involving as they do murders, plunderings, violence and cruelties, are not prevented by the Lord, either in their beginning or in their progress, until in the end the power of one or the other has been so reduced that he is in danger of destruction. Some of these reasons have been revealed to me, and among them is this: that all wars, although they may be civil in character, represent in heaven states of the Church and are correspondences. Such were all the wars described in the Word, and such also are all wars at this day. The wars described in the Word are those which the Children of Israel waged with various nations, as with the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Philistines, the Syrians, the Egyptians, the Chaldeans and the Assyrians. Moreover, when the Children of Israel, who represented the Church, departed from their precepts and statutes and fell into the evils which were represented by those nations, for each nation with which the Children of Israel waged war signified some particular kind of evil, then they were punished by that nation. For example, when they profaned the holy things of the Church by foul idolatries they were punished by the Assyrians and the Chaldeans, because Assyria and Chaldea signify the profanation of what is holy. What was signified by the wars with the Philistines may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH (Faith 50-54).
[4] Similar things are represented by the wars of the present day, wherever they occur; for all things which take place in the natural world correspond to spiritual things in the spiritual world, and all spiritual things have relation to the Church. It is not known in this world which kingdoms in Christendom represent the Moabites and the Ammonites, which the Syrians and the Philistines, and which the Chaldeans and the Assyrians, and the others with whom the Children of Israel waged war; and yet there are peoples who represent them. Moreover, the quality of the Church on earth and what the evils are into which it falls, and for which it is punished by wars, cannot be seen at all in the natural world; because in this world externals only are manifest, and these do not constitute the Church. However, this is seen in the spiritual world where internal things appear, and in these is the Church itself; and there all are conjoined according to their various states. The conflicts of these in the spiritual world correspond to wars which on both sides are governed according to correspondence by the Lord in accordance with His Divine Providence.
[5] That wars in this world are governed by the Divine Providence of the Lord is acknowledged by the spiritual man but not by the natural man, except that, when a festival is appointed on account of a victory, he may then return thanks on his knees to God that He has given the victory; and except also by a few words before going into battle. But when he returns to himself he ascribes the victory either to the prudence of the general or to some measure or incident in the course of the battle which had not been thought of, by which nevertheless the victory was decided.
[6] It may be seen above (n. 212), that the Divine Providence, which is called fortune, operates in the most individual of even trivial affairs, and if you acknowledge the Divine Providence in these you will certainly acknowledge it in the affairs of war. Moreover, successes and incidents in warfare brought to a favourable conclusion are in common language called the fortune of war; and this is the Divine Providence, especially in the counsels and designs of the general, even although he at the time and also afterwards may ascribe it all to his own prudence. This he may do if he will, for he is at full liberty to think in favour of the Divine Providence or against it, and indeed in favour of God or against Him; but he should know that no part whatever of the counsel and design is from himself: it all flows in from heaven or from hell, from hell by permission, from heaven by Providence.
DP 252. 4. The worshipper of himself and of nature confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he reflects according to his perception that victories are on the side of prudence and sometimes not on the side of justice, and that it makes no difference whether the general is an upright man or not. Victories seem to be on the side of prudence, and sometimes not on the side of justice, because man judges from the appearance; and he favours one side more than the other, and that which he favours he can confirm by reasonings; nor does he know that the justice of a cause is spiritual in heaven and natural in this world, as has just been stated in what has gone before, and that these are joined together by means of a connection between things past and at the same time things to come that are known to the Lord alone.
[2] It makes no difference whether the general is an upright man or not because, as was established above (n. 250) the wicked perform uses as well as the good, and the wicked from their own zeal with more ardour than the good. Especially is this the case in wars because the wicked man is more crafty and cunning in contriving devices; and from a love of glory he takes more delight than a good man in killing and plundering those whom he knows and declares to be his enemies. The good man is prudent and zealous only in defense, and rarely does he exercise his prudence and zeal in attacking others. It is the same with spirits of hell and angels of heaven; the spirits of hell attack while the angels of heaven defend themselves. Hence is deduced this conclusion, that it is allowable for anyone to defend his country and his fellow-citizens against invading enemies, even by means of wicked generals, but that it is not allowable to make oneself an enemy without cause. When the cause is to seek glory alone it is in itself diabolical, for it springs from the love of self.
DP 253. Thus far have been explained the grounds set forth above (n. 237), on which the merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence. The propositions which follow (n. 238) will now be explained, relating to the forms of religion in many nations which may also serve the merely natural man as arguments against the Divine Providence. For he says in his heart, How is it that there can exist so many discordant religions, instead of one true religion throughout the whole world when, as was shown above (n. 27-45) the Divine Providence has for its end a heaven from the human race? But I pray you, listen. All human beings that are born, however many and of whatever religion, can be saved, provided only that they acknowledge God and live according to the commandments in the Decalogue, which forbid committing murder, adultery, and theft, and bearing false witness, because to do such things is contrary to religion and thus contrary to God. With such persons there is the fear of God and the love of the neighbour: the fear of God because they think that to do these things is to act against God; and the love of the neighbour, because to murder, to commit adultery, to steal, to bear false witness and to covet the neighbour’s house and his wife is to act against the neighbour. Because these persons have regard to God in their life and do no evil to the neighbour, they are led by the Lord; and those who are so led are also taught in accordance with their religion concerning God and the neighbour; for those who so live love to be taught, but those who live otherwise have no such desire. As they love to be taught, after death when they become spirits they are also instructed by angels and willingly receive such truths as are in the Word. Something about them may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 91-97, 104-113).
DP 254. 1. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he regards the religious conditions of the various peoples, observing that there are some who are totally ignorant of God, and some who worship the sun and moon, and some who worship idols and graven images. Those who draw arguments from these circumstances against the Divine Providence are ignorant of the interior truths (arcana) of heaven. These are innumerable, but man is acquainted with scarcely any of them. Among these is this, that man is not taught immediately from heaven but mediately, as may be seen treated above (n. 154-174). Because man is taught mediately, and the Gospel by means of missionaries could not reach all who dwell in the whole world, and yet religion could be passed on in various ways even to the nations who occupy the remote corners of the earth, therefore this has been effected by the Divine Providence. For a knowledge of religion does not come to a man from himself, but through another who has either learned it himself from the Word or by tradition from others who have learned it, as that there is a God, that there are a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death, and that God must be worshipped in order that man may be made happy.
[2] That religion was spread throughout the whole world from the Ancient Word and afterwards from the Israelitish Word may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 101-103); and that unless there had been a Word no one could have had any knowledge of God, of heaven and of hell, of the life after death, still less of the Lord (Sacred 114-118). When once a religion is established in a nation the Lord leads that nation according to the precepts and dogmas of its own religion; and He has provided that in every religion there should be precepts similar to those in the Decalogue; as, that God is to be worshipped, His name is not to be profaned, a holy day is to be observed, parents are to be honoured, murder, adultery, and theft are not to be committed, and false witness is not to be spoken. The nation which regards these precepts as Divine and lives according to them as a matter of religion is saved, as has just been stated above (n. 253). Moreover, most nations remote from the Christian world regard those laws not as civil but as Divine and hold them sacred. That man is saved by a life according to those precepts may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM (CONCERNING LIFE) FROM THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE DECALOGUE, from beginning to end.
[3] Among the interior truths of heaven there is this also: The angelic heaven before the Lord is as one Man, whose soul and life is the Lord. This Divine Man is in every particular of His form a Man, not only as to the external members and organs but also as to the internal members and organs which are more in number; and also as to the skins, membranes, cartilages and bones; but in that Man all these, both external and internal, are not material but spiritual. Further, it has been provided by the Lord that those who could not be reached by the Gospel, but only by a form of religion, should also have a place in that Divine Man, that is, in heaven, by constituting those parts that are called skins, membranes, cartilages and bones, and that they like others should be in heavenly joy. For it makes no difference whether they are in such joy as that experienced by the angels of the highest heaven or by the angels of the lowest heaven, since everyone who enters heaven comes into the highest joy of his own heart; anything greater he does not assume, for he would be suffocated by it.
[4] For illustration of this compare a peasant and a king. A peasant may be in a state of the highest joy when he goes about in a new suit of rough home-spun, and sits down at a table on which is pork, a piece of beef cheese, beer and fiery wine; and he would be distressed at heart if he were to be clothed like a king in purple, silk, gold and silver, and if a table were to be set for him with delicacies and costly food of many kinds with noble wine. From this it is clear that there is heavenly happiness for the last as well as for the first, for each in his degree; and consequently for those also who are outside the Christian world, provided they shun evils as sins against God because they are contrary to religion.
[5] There are a few who are totally ignorant of God. If these have lived a moral life they are instructed by angels after death and receive in their moral life something spiritual. This may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 116). It is the same with those who worship the sun and the moon, believing God to be in them. They do not know otherwise, and therefore this is not imputed to them as a sin, for the Lord says:
If ye were blind (that is, if ye did not know), ye should have no sin. (John 9:41).
But there are many who worship idols and graven images, even in the Christian world. This is indeed idolatrous, and yet not with all; as there are some to whom graven images serve as a means of arousing thought concerning God; for it is by virtue of influx from heaven that those who acknowledge God desire to see Him; and as they are not able to raise their minds above sensual things, like the interiorly spiritual worshippers, their thought of God is aroused by the graven object or image. Those are saved who do this, and who do not worship the image itself as God, if they also live according to the precepts of the Decalogue from a principle of religion.
[6] Hence it is clear that as the Lord desires the salvation of all He has also provided that everyone, if he lives well, may have some place in heaven. Before the Lord heaven is as one Man; thus heaven corresponds to all things in general and in particular that are in man; and there are also those who represent skins, membranes, cartilages and bones. This may be seen in the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published in London, 1758 (HH 59-102); and in the ARCANA COELESTIA (AC 5552-5569); and also above (n. 201-204).
DP 255. 2. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he sees that the Mohammedan religion is accepted by so many empires and kingdoms. That this form of religion is accepted by more kingdoms than the Christian religion may be a stumbling block to those who think about the Divine Providence, and who at the same time believe that no one can be saved unless he has been born a Christian, thus where the Word is by which the Lord is known. But the Mohammedan form of religion is not a stumbling block to those who believe that all things are of the Divine Providence. They inquire how such a thing can be, and they find the answer in this, that the Mohammedan religion acknowledges the Lord as the Son of God, the wisest of men and a very great prophet who came into the world to teach men; and most Mohammedans consider the Lord to be greater than Mohammed.
[2] To make it fully understood that this form of religion was raised up by the Divine Providence of the Lord to destroy the idolatries of many nations, it will be set forth in an orderly account beginning with some observations on the origin of idolatries. Previous to the religion of Mohammed the worship of idols was common throughout the whole world. This was because the Churches before the Coming of the Lord were all representative Churches. Such was the Israelitish Church. In it the tabernacle, the garments of Aaron, the sacrifices, all things belonging to the temple at Jerusalem, and also the statutes, were representative. Moreover, among the Ancients there was the science of correspondences, which is also the science of representatives, the science of the wise. This was especially cultivated in Egypt, and is the source of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. From this science they knew the signification of animals of every kind, also the signification of trees of every kind, and of mountains, hills, rivers and fountains, and also of the sun, moon and stars; and as all their worship was representative, consisting wholly of correspondences, they celebrated it on mountains and hills, and also in groves and gardens. For the same reason they also regarded fountains as holy, and in their adoration of God they turned their faces to the rising sun. Moreover, they made graven images of horses, oxen, calves, lambs and also of birds, fishes and serpents, and set them up in their houses and other places in an order according to the spiritual things of the Church to which they corresponded or which they represented. They also placed similar objects in their temples that they might bring to remembrance the holy things which they signified.
[3] In the course of time, when the science of correspondences had been lost, their posterity began to worship the graven images themselves, as being holy in themselves, not knowing that their forefathers had seen no holiness in those things, but only that they represented and consequently signified holy things according to correspondences. Hence arose the idolatries which filled the whole world, Asia with its neighbouring islands, as well as Africa and Europe. In order that all these idolatries might be rooted out it was brought about by the Divine Providence of the Lord that a new religion should arise, adapted to the genius of Orientals, in which there should be something from both Testaments of the Word and which should teach that the Lord came into the world, and that He was a very great prophet, the wisest of all men, and the Son of God. This was effected by means of Mohammed, from whom that religion is called the Mohammedan religion.
[4] By the Divine Providence of the Lord this religion was raised up and adapted to the genius of Orientals, as was just stated, to the end that it might destroy the idolatries practised by so many nations and give the people some knowledge concerning the Lord before they entered the spiritual world. This religion would not have been received by so many kingdoms with power to extirpate idolatries if it had not been suited and adapted to the ideas of thought and life of them all. It did not acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth because Oriental peoples acknowledged God as the Creator of the universe, but they could not comprehend that He came into the world and assumed the Human, even as Christians do not comprehend this, who consequently in their thought separate His Divine from His Human, and place the Divine near the Father in heaven and His Human they know not where.
[5] Hence it may be seen that the Mohammedan religion also arose from the Divine Providence of the Lord; and that all persons of that religion who acknowledge the Lord as the Son of God and at the same time live according to the precepts of the Decalogue, which they also have, by shunning evils as sins, come into a heaven called the Mohammedan heaven. This heaven is also divided into three, the highest, middle and lowest. In the highest heaven are those who acknowledge the Lord to be one with the Father, and thus to be Himself the only God; in the second heaven are those who renounce a plurality of wives and live with one; and in the lowest are those who are being initiated. More about this religion, see (CLJ 68-72), where the Mohammedans and Mohammed are treated of.
DP 256. 3. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence when he sees that the Christian religion is accepted only in a smaller part of the habitable globe, called Europe, and is in a state of division there. The Christian religion is accepted only in a smaller part of the habitable globe called Europe because it was not adapted to the genius of Orientals, like the Mohammedan religion, which is a mixed religion, as has just been shown above; and a religion that is not adapted is not received. For example, a religion which ordains that it is not lawful to marry more than one wife is not received, but is rejected by those who for ages past have been polygamists. The same is true of other things ordained by the Christian religion.
[2] Nor does it matter whether a smaller or a greater part of the world has received that religion provided there are people with whom the Word is; for those still have light from it who are outside the Church and have not the Word. This is shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 104-113); and it is a wonderful thing that where the Word is read with reverence and the Lord is worshipped from the Word the Lord is present together with heaven. This is because the Lord is the Word, and the Word is Divine Truth which constitutes heaven; therefore the Lord says:--
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matt. 18:20).
This may be effected with the Word by Europeans in many parts of the habitable globe because their commerce extends over the whole world; and everywhere the Word is read by them or there is teaching from it. This appears like fiction, but still it is true.
[3] The Christian religion is in a state of division because it is derived from the Word, which is written throughout wholly by correspondences; and correspondences are in great part appearances of truth enclosed within which, nevertheless, genuine truths lie concealed. As the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the sense of the Letter of the Word, and the nature of that sense has just been stated, there could not but arise in the Church disputes, controversies and dissensions, especially in regard to the understanding of the Word, but not in regard to the Word itself and the Divine itself of the Lord. For it is everywhere acknowledged that the Word is holy and that Divinity belongs to the Lord; and these two tenets are the essentials of the Church. Therefore also those who deny the Divinity of the Lord, who are called Socinians, have been excommunicated from the Church; and those who deny the holiness of the Word are not regarded as Christians.
[4] To this I will add a noteworthy circumstance concerning the Word, from which it may be concluded that the Word interiorly is the Divine Truth itself, and inmostly is the Lord. When any spirit opens the Word and rubs his face or his clothing with it, his face or his clothing shines, from the mere rubbing, as brightly as the moon or a star, and this in the sight of all whom he meets. This is a proof that there is nothing in the world more holy than the Word. That the Word is written throughout wholly by correspondences may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 5-26); that the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the sense of the Letter of the Word and confirmed by it (Sacred 50-61); that heresies may be derived from the sense of the Letter of the Word, but that it is harmful to confirm them (Sacred 91-97); that the Church is from the Word, and its quality is according to its understanding of the Word (Sacred 76-79).
DP 257. 4. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence because in many kingdoms where the Christian religion is received there are some who claim for themselves Divine power, and desire to be worshipped as gods, and because they invoke the dead. They say, indeed, that they have not arrogated to themselves Divine power, and do not wish to be worshipped as gods. Yet they say that they can open and close heaven, remit and retain sins, and therefore can save and condemn men: and this is Divinity itself (Ipsum Divinum); for the Divine Providence has for its end nothing else than reformation and consequently salvation. This is its unceasing operation with everyone; and salvation can only be effected by the acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Lord, and by confidence that it is effected by Him when man lives according to His commandments.
[2] Everyone may see that this is the Babylon described in the Revelation, and that it is the Babel spoken of in various places in the Prophets. It is also the Lucifer referred to in Isaiah, as is clear from the verses of that chapter in which are these words:--
Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, (Isaiah 14:4);
Then:
I will cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, (Isaiah 14:22).
From this it is evident that Babel there is Lucifer of whom it is said:
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. (Isa. 14:12, 13, 14).
It is well known that they invoke the dead and pray to them for help. It is affirmed that they invoke the dead because such invocation was established by a papal bull confirming the decree of the Council of Trent, in which it is openly said that the dead should be invoked. Yet everyone knows that God alone should be invoked and not any dead person.
[3] It will now be stated why the Lord has permitted such things. It cannot be denied that He has permitted them for the sake of the end, which is salvation. For it is known that without the Lord there is no salvation; and since this is so it was necessary that the Lord should be preached from the Word and that the Christian Church by that means should be established. This, however, could only be done by leaders who would act with zeal; nor were others found but those who from the fire of self-love burned with a zealous ardour. At first this fire roused them to preach the Lord and to teach the Word; and it is from this their first state that Lucifer is called the son of the morning, (Isaiah 14:12). But as they saw that they could obtain dominion by means of the holy things of the Word and of the Church, the love of self, by which they were first roused to preach the Lord, burst forth from within and finally exalted itself to such a height that they transferred to themselves all the Divine power of the Lord, not leaving Him any.
[4] This could not be prevented by the Divine Providence of the Lord; for if it were prevented they would have declared that the Lord is not God, and that the Word is not holy, and would have made themselves Socinians and Arians, and thus would have totally destroyed the Church; but it, whatever may be the character of its rulers, still continues among the people who are submissive to them. For all those of this religion who approach the Lord and shun evils as sins are saved; and therefore there are many heavenly societies formed from them in the spiritual world. Moreover, it has also been provided that there should be among them a nation which has not submitted to the yoke of such domination and which regards the Word as sacred. This is the great French nation.
[5] But what has happened? When the love of self exalted its dominion even to the Lord’s throne, removed Him and set itself upon it, that love, which is Lucifer, could not but profane all things of the Word and of the Church. To prevent this the Lord by His Divine Providence so ordered it that they should depart from His worship and should invoke the dead, pray to graven images of the dead, kiss their bones and bow down at their tombs, should forbid the reading of the Word, appoint holy worship in masses not understood by the common people, and sell salvation for money; because if they had not done these things they would have profaned the holy things of the Word and of the Church. For as was shown in the preceding section only those profane holy things who have a knowledge of them.
[6] Therefore, lest they should profane the most Holy Supper it is of the Divine Providence of the Lord that they should divide it, giving the bread to the people and drinking the wine themselves; for the wine in the Holy Supper signifies holy truth and the bread holy good; but when they are divided the wine signifies profaned truth and the bread adulterated good; and further that they should make the Holy Supper corporeal and material, and adopt this as the primary principle of religion. Anyone who turns his attention to these particulars and considers them with a some what enlightened mind may observe the wonderful operations of the Divine Providence for guarding the holy things of the Church, and for saving all who can be saved, and who are willing to be saved, but who must be snatched as it were from the fire.
DP 258. 5. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence from the fact that among those who profess the Christian religion there are some who place salvation in certain phrases which they must think and say and not at all in good works which they must do. That such persons make faith alone saving and not the life of charity, thereby separating faith from charity, is shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH, where it is also shown that such are meant in the Word by Philistines, by the dragon, and by goats.
[2] It is of the Divine Providence also that such a doctrine has been permitted lest the Divinity (Divinum) of the Lord and the holiness of the Word should be profaned. The Divinity of the Lord is not profaned when salvation is placed in these words: That God the Father may be merciful for the sake of His Son, who endured the cross and made satisfaction for us; for in this form of words such persons do not approach the Divinity of the Lord but the Human which they do not acknowledge as Divine. Nor is the Word profaned, for they pay no attention to those passages where love, charity, doing and works are mentioned. All these, they say, are included in the faith expressed in the words quoted; and those who confirm this say to themselves, "The law does not condemn me, thus neither does evil; and good does not save me, because the good done by me is not good." They are therefore like those who have no knowledge of any truth from the Word, and on that account cannot profane it. But only those confirm the faith expressed in those words who from the love of self are in the pride of their own intelligence. They are not Christians at heart, but only desire to seem so.
[3] It will now be shown that the Divine Providence of the Lord is nevertheless continually operating for the salvation of those with whom faith separate from charity has become a matter of religion. It is of the Divine Providence of the Lord that, although that faith has become a matter of their religion, still everyone knows it is not that faith that saves but a life of charity with which faith acts as one. For in all Churches where that religion is received it is taught that there is no salvation unless a man examines himself sees his sins, acknowledges them, repents, desists from them, and enters on a new life. This is read with much zeal in the presence of all those who approach the Holy Supper; and it is added that unless they do this they mingle what is holy with what is profane, and cast themselves into eternal condemnation. In England, indeed, it is taught that unless they do this the devil will enter into them as he did into Judas and will destroy them soul and body. From this it is clear that in Churches where faith alone is received everyone is nevertheless taught that evils are to be shunned as sins.
[4] Moreover, everyone who is born a Christian also knows that evils are to be shunned as sins, because the Decalogue is placed in the hands of every boy and girl, and is taught by parents and teachers. Moreover, all citizens of the kingdom, especially the common people, are examined by a priest on the Decalogue alone, repeated from memory, as to what they know of the Christian religion and they are also admonished to do the things that are commanded there. At such times they are not told by the priest that they are not under the yoke of that law, or that they cannot do the things commanded because they cannot do anything good from themselves. Further, the Athanasian Creed has been received throughout the whole Christian world, and what is said at the end is also acknowledged, namely, that the Lord will come to judge the quick and the dead, when those who "have done good" will enter into life eternal, and those who "have done evil" into everlasting fire.
[5] In Sweden where the religion of faith alone has been received, it is also plainly taught that faith separate from charity or without good works is impossible. This is indicated in a certain Appendix of things to be remembered, inserted in all their Psalm books, entitled IMPEDIMENTS OR STUMBLING-BLOCKS TO THE IMPENITENT (OBOTFERDIGAS FOERHINDER). In it there are these words: Those who are rich in good works thereby show that they are rich in faith, because when faith is saving it operates through charity. For justifying faith never exists alone and separate from good works, as there is no good tree without fruit, no sun without light and heat, and no water without moisture.
[6] These few things have been set forth to make known that although a religious system of faith alone has been received, nevertheless the goods of charity, which are good works, are everywhere taught; and that this is of the Divine Providence of the Lord lest the common people should be led astray by it. I have heard Luther, with whom I have sometimes spoken in the spiritual world, execrating faith alone and saying that when he established it he was warned by an angel of the Lord not to do it; but that he thought to himself that if he did not reject good works, separation from the Catholic form of religion would not be effected. Therefore, contrary to the warning, he established that faith.
DP 259. 6. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence by the fact that there have been and still are so many heresies in the Christian world, such as Quakerism, Moravianism, Anabaptism, and others. For he may think to himself, If the Divine Providence were universal in the most individual things, and had as its end the salvation of all, it would have brought it about that there should be one true religion throughout the whole world, and that one not divided, still less torn into heresies. However, reason the matter out and, if you can, give it closer consideration. Can a man be saved unless he be first reformed? For he is born into the love of self and of the world; and as these loves do not bear within themselves any love to God and towards the neighbour, except for the sake of self, he is born also into evils of every kind. Is there any love or mercy in these loves? Does he regard it of any moment to defraud another, to defame him, to hate him even to death, to commit adultery with his wife, to act cruelly to him when moved by revenge, while he cherishes in his mind (animus) the desire to be supreme over all, thus regarding others compared with himself as insignificant and worthless? In order that such a man may be saved must he not first be led away from these evils, and so be reformed? It has been shown above in many places that this can only be effected in accordance with several laws, which are laws of the Divine Providence. These laws are for the most part unknown; and yet they are laws of the Divine Wisdom and at the same time of the Divine Love; and the Lord cannot act contrary to them, for to do so would be to destroy man, not to save him.
[2] You will see this if you read through and compare the laws that have been set forth. Since, then, it is in accordance with these laws that there is no immediate influx from heaven, but only mediate influx through the Word, doctrine and preaching; and since the Word to be Divine could only have been written throughout wholly by correspondences, it follows that dissensions and heresies are inevitable, and that the permission of these is also in accordance with the laws of the Divine Providence. Moreover, when the Church itself has assumed as its essentials things which belong to the understanding only, that is, to doctrine, and not things which belong to the will, that is, to the life; and when those things which belong to the life are not made essentials of the Church, then man from his understanding is in complete darkness and wanders about like a blind man, everywhere running up against things and falling into pits. For the will must see in the understanding, and not the understanding in the will; or what is the same, the life and its love must lead the understanding to think, speak and act, and not the reverse. If the reverse were the case the understanding, from an evil, indeed a diabolical love, might seize upon whatever presents itself through the senses and insist upon the will doing it. From these considerations it may be seen how dissensions and heresies arise.
[3] Yet it has been provided that everyone, no matter in what heresy he may be with respect to his understanding, may still be reformed and saved, if only he shuns evils as sins and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself. For by shunning evils as sins the will is reformed, and through the will the understanding, which then first emerges out of darkness into light. There are three essentials of the Church: an acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Lord, an acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity. According to the life which is charity is every man’s faith; from the Word he has a rational perception of what the life should be; and from the Lord he has reformation and salvation. Had these three been held as essentials of the Church intellectual dissensions would not have divided but would have merely varied it, as light varies colours in beautiful objects, and as the various emblems of royalty constitute the beauty of a kingly crown.
DP 260. 7. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence by the fact that Judaism still continues. That is, that the Jews have not been converted after so many centuries, although they live among Christians, and do not, in accordance with the prophecies in the Word, confess the Lord and acknowledge Him to be the Messiah who, as they think, was to lead them back to the land of Canaan; but they constantly persist in denying Him; and yet it is well with them. Those who think thus, however, and so call in question the Divine Providence, do not know that by the Jews in the Word are meant all who are of the Church and acknowledge the Lord, and that by the land of Canaan, into which it is said they are to be led, is meant the Lord’s Church.
[2] The Jews, however, persist in their denial of the Lord because their character is such that if they were to receive and acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord and the holy things of His Church they would profane them. Therefore the Lord says of them:
He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. (John 12:40; Matt. 13:14; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; Isa. 6:9, 10).
It is said, lest they should be converted, and I should heal them, because if they had been converted and healed they would have committed profanation; and it is according to the law of the Divine Providence treated above (n. 221-233), that no one is admitted by the Lord interiorly into the truths of faith and the goods of charity except so far as he can be kept in them right on to the end of life; and if he were admitted he would profane what is holy.
[3] This nation has been preserved and dispersed over a great part of the world for the sake of the Word in its original language, which they more than Christians hold sacred; and in every particular of the Word is the Divinity of the Lord, for it is Divine Truth united to Divine Good proceeding from the Lord and by means of this the Word becomes the conjunction of the Lord with the Church and the presence of heaven with man, as has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 62-69); and there is the presence of the Lord and of heaven wherever the Word is read with reverence. This is the end which the Divine Providence has in view, in preserving and dispersing them over a great part of the world. The nature of their lot after death may be seen in (CLJ 79-82).
DP 261. These, then, are the grounds, as set forth above (n. 238), by which the natural man confirms or may confirm himself against the Divine Providence. There are still others mentioned above (n. 239) that also may serve the natural man as arguments against the Divine Providence, and may likewise occur to the minds (animus) of others and excite some doubts. These are:
DP 262. 1. A doubt may be raised against the Divine Providence from the fact that the whole Christian world worships one God under three Persons, that is, three Gods, and that hitherto it has not known that God one in Person and in Essence, in whom is a Trinity, and that this God is the Lord. One who reasons about the Divine Providence may say, Are not three Persons three Gods when each Person by Himself is God? Who can think otherwise? Who, indeed, does think otherwise? Athanasius himself could not; and therefore in the Creed which has its name from him it says: Although from Christian verity we ought to acknowledge each Person to be God and Lord, yet from the Christian faith it is not allowable to affirm or to name three Gods or three Lords. This means nothing else than that we ought to acknowledge three Gods and Lords, but that it is not allowable to affirm or name three Gods and three Lords.
[2] Who can possibly have a perception of one God unless He is also one in Person? If it is declared that it is possible to have such a perception provided one thinks of the three as having one essence, does one have any other perception, indeed, can he have, than that they are thus of one mind and purpose, and yet are three Gods? If one thinks more deeply he says to himself, How can the Divine Essence, which is infinite, be divided? Further, how can the Divine Essence from eternity beget some other, and produce still another, who proceeds from them both? It may be affirmed that this must be believed and not thought about; but who does not think about that which it is declared must be believed? How otherwise can there be any acknowledgment which in its essence is faith? Was it not from the conception of God as three Persons that Socinianism and Arianism arose, which prevail in the hearts of more persons than you suppose? Belief in one God, and that this God is the Lord, constitutes the Church; for in Him is the Divine Trinity. That this is true may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, from beginning to end.
[3] But what is thought of the Lord at this day? Is it not thought that He is God and Man, God from Jehovah the Father of whom He was conceived, and Man from the Virgin Mary from whom He was born? Who thinks that God and Man in Him, or His Divine and His Human, are one Person, and that they are one as soul and body are one? Does anyone know this? Ask the Doctors of the Church, and they will say that they did not know it; and yet it is so stated in the doctrine of the Church received throughout the whole Christian world, which is as follows: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; and although He is God and Man yet there are not two, but there is one Christ. He is one because the Divine took to itself the Human; indeed He is altogether one, for He is one Person, since as soul and body make one man so God and Man is one Christ. This is from the Faith or Creed of Athanasius. The Doctors did not know, because when they read this they did not think of the Lord as God but only as a man.
[4] If the same are asked whether they know from whom He was conceived, whether from God the Father or from His own Divine, they will answer that He was conceived from God the Father, for this is according to Scripture. Are not then the Father and He one, as the soul and body are one? Who can think that He was conceived from two Divines (Divinis), and if from His own that this was His Father? If you ask them further, what their idea is of the Lord’s Divine and what of His Human, they will say that His Divine is from the Essence of the Father and His Human from the essence of His mother, and that His Divine is with the Father. If they are then asked where His Human is, they will make no reply; for in their thought they separate His Divine and His Human, and make His Divine equal to the Divine of the Father and His Human like the human of another man; not knowing that in so doing they also separate soul and body; nor do they see the absurdity involved, that thus there would have been born a rational man from a mother alone.
[5] In consequence of the idea impressed upon him concerning the Human of the Lord, that it was like the human of another man, it has come to pass that it is with difficulty that a Christian can be led to think of a "Divine Human", even although it should be affirmed that the Lord’s soul or life from conception was and is Jehovah Himself. Now gather up the reasons and consider whether there is any other God of the universe than the Lord alone, in whom is the originating (a quo) Divine itself which is called the Father, the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the Divine proceeding which is called the Holy Spirit; thus that God is one in Person and in Essence, and that this God is the Lord.
[6] If you persist and affirm that the Lord Himself mentioned three in Matthew:
Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations (A.V. and teach all nations), baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19);
yet it is clear from the preceding and following verses that He said this to make known that in Himself now glorified there was the Divine Trinity. In the verse immediately preceding He says that to Him is given all power in heaven and on earth; and in the verse immediately following He says that He would be with them until the end (consummatio) of the age; thus He speaks of Himself alone, and not of three.
[7] Consider now why the Divine Providence has permitted Christians to worship one God under three Persons, that is, to worship three Gods, and why they have hitherto not known that God is one in Person and in Essence, in whom is a Trinity, and that this God is the Lord. The reason does not lie with the Lord, but with man himself. The Lord has clearly taught this in His Word, as may be evident from all the passages in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD, which have been quoted. He has also taught it in the doctrine of all the Churches, in which it is stated that His Divine and His Human are not two but one Person, united like soul and body.
[8] The first reason why they divided the Divine and the Human, and made the Divine equal to the Divine of Jehovah the Father and the Human equal to the human of another man, was that the Church after its rise fell away into the state of Babylon, which transferred to itself the Lord’s Divine power; but that it might not be called Divine power but human power, they made the Lord’s Human similar to that of another man. Afterwards when the Church was reformed, and faith alone was received as the sole means of salvation-the faith that God the Father has mercy for the sake of the Son-the Lord’s Human could be viewed in no other way. The reason why this is so is that no one can approach the Lord and in heart acknowledge Him as the God of heaven and earth if he does not live according to His precepts. In the spiritual world, where everyone is obliged to speak as he thinks, no one can even mention the name Jesus if he has not lived in the world as a Christian. This is of His Divine Providence, lest His name should be profaned.
DP 263. In order that those things that have just been stated may appear more clearly, I will add what has been set forth towards the end of THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (L 60-61). This is as follows: "That God and Man in the Lord, according to the doctrine of the Creed, are not two but one Person, and altogether one as the soul and body are one, appears clearly from many things which He said, as: that the Father and He are one; that all thing of the Father are His, and all His are the Father’s; that He is in the Father, and the Father in Him; that all things are given into His Hand; that He has all power; that He is the God of heaven and earth; that He who believes on Him has eternal life; and that the wrath of God abides upon him who does not believe on Him; and further, that both the Divine and the Human were taken up into heaven, and that as to both He sits at the right hand of God, that is, that He is Almighty; besides many passages from the Word concerning His Divine Human which were copiously quoted above. All these testify that God is one both in Person and in Essence, in whom is a Trinity, and that this God is the Lord.
[2] "These things concerning the Lord are now published for the first time because it is foretold in the Revelation, chapters 21 and 22, that at the end of the former Church a new Church is to be established in which this will be the cardinal doctrine. It is this Church that is there meant by the New Jerusalem, into which no one can enter but he who acknowledges the Lord alone as the God of heaven and earth; and therefore this Church is there called the Lamb’s wife?. I am also enabled to declare that the universal heaven acknowledges the Lord alone, and that he who does not acknowledge Him is not admitted into heaven, for heaven is heaven from the Lord. This acknowledgment itself from love and faith causes men to be in the Lord, and the Lord in them, as He teaches in John:
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you (John 14:20);
and again in the same Book:
Abide in me, and I in you. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth. (John 15:4-6; 17:22, 23).
[3] "This has not been understood from the Word before, because if it had been, it would not have been received. For the Last Judgment had not yet been accomplished; and prior to that event the power of hell prevailed over the power of heaven. Man is in the midst between heaven and hell; and therefore if this had been seen before, the devil, that is, hell, would have plucked it out of the hearts of men and would, moreover, have profaned it. This state of predominance on the part of hell was completely broken by the Last Judgment, which has now been accomplished. Since that Judgment, and thus to-day, everyone who desires it may obtain enlightenment and wisdom."
DP 264. 2. A doubt may be raised against the Divine Providence from the fact that hitherto it has not been known that in every particular of the Word there is a spiritual sense from which it derives its holiness. It may be asked, as raising a doubt against the Divine Providence, why this is revealed now for the first time, and why it has been revealed through this or that person and not through some leader in the Church. But it is of the Lord’s good pleasure whether a leader or a leader’s servant is chosen; He knows the one as well as the other. However, that sense of the Word has not been revealed before because, (1) If it had been, the Church would have profaned it, and thereby would have profaned the very holiness itself of the Word; (2) The genuine truths, in which the spiritual sense of the Word resides, were not revealed by the Lord until the Last Judgment had been accomplished, and the new Church which is meant by the Holy Jerusalem was about to be established by the Lord. But let these reasons be examined separately.
[2] First: The spiritual sense of the Word was not revealed before because if it had been, the Church would have profaned it, and thereby would have profaned the very holiness itself of the Word. Not long after the establishment of the Church it was turned into the state of Babylon, and later into that of Philistia. Babylon, indeed, acknowledges the Word but still esteems it lightly, declaring that the Holy Spirit inspires them in their supreme judgment just as much as it inspired the prophets. They acknowledge the Word for the sake of the vicarship founded on the Lord’s words to Peter; but they esteem the Word lightly because it does not accord with their views. For this reason, too, it is taken from the people and hidden away in monasteries, where few read it. Therefore, if the spiritual sense of the Word had been revealed, in which the Lord together with all angelic wisdom is present, the Word would be profaned not only, as is now the case, in its ultimates, which are contained in the sense of the Letter, but in its inmosts also.
[3] Philistia, by which is meant faith separate from charity, would also have profaned the spiritual sense of the Word because, as has been shown before, it places salvation in certain phrases which are to be thought and said, and not in good works which are to be done. It thus makes that saving which is not saving, and also removes the understanding from things that are to be believed. What have such persons to do with the light in which is the spiritual sense of the Word? Would it not be turned into darkness? When the natural sense is so turned what would not be done with the spiritual sense? Does anyone of them, who has confirmed himself in faith separate from charity and in justification by that faith alone, desire to know what is the good of life, what is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, what is charity and what are the goods of charity, and what are good works and what is meant by doing them, or indeed what is faith in its essence and what is any genuine truth that constitutes it? They write volumes and confirm only what they call faith, and say that all the things just mentioned are included in that faith. Hence it is clear that if the spiritual sense of the Word had been revealed before, it would have come to pass according to the words of the Lord in Matthew:
If thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness (Matt. 6:23).
By the eye in the spiritual sense of the Word is meant the understanding.
[4] Second: The genuine truths, in which the spiritual sense of the Word resides, were not revealed by the Lord until the Last Judgment had been accomplished, and the new Church which is meant by the Holy Jerusalem was about to be established by the Lord. It was foretold by the Lord in the Revelation that after the Last Judgment had been accomplished genuine truths were to be revealed, a new Church was to be established, and the spiritual sense of the Word was to be disclosed. It was shown in the small work, THE LAST JUDGMENT, and later in the CONTINUATION of that work, that the Last Judgment has been accomplished; and that this is meant by the heaven and the earth which would pass away in (Revelation 21:1). That genuine truths are then to be revealed is foretold in these words in the Revelation:
And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. (Rev. 21:5; 19:17, 18; 21:18-21; 22:1, 2).
That the spiritual sense of the Word is then to be revealed is foretold in (Revelation 19:11-16); and this is meant by the white horse, upon which He who sat was called the Word of God, who was Lord of lords and King of kings. On this subject the small work, THE WHITE HORSE, may be consulted. That by the Holy Jerusalem is meant the New Church which was then to be established by the Lord may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD (L 62-65), where this is shown.
[5] It is now clear from these things that the spiritual sense of the Word was to be revealed for a new Church which will acknowledge and worship the Lord alone, and hold His Word sacred, and love Divine Truths and reject faith separated from charity. Concerning this sense of the Word more may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 5-26); as, in this section, what the spiritual sense of the Word is (Sacred 5-26); that there is a spiritual sense in all things of the Word in general and in particular (Sacred 9-17); that it is by virtue of the spiritual sense that the Word is Divinely inspired, and holy in every expression (Sacred 18-19); that hitherto the spiritual sense has been unknown, and why it was not revealed before (Sacred 20-25); and that henceforth the spiritual sense will be possible only to one who is in genuine truths from the Lord (Sacred 26).
[6] From these considerations it may be evident that it is of the Lord’s Divine Providence that the spiritual sense has been concealed from the world until the present age, and has meanwhile been preserved in heaven with the angels, who derive their wisdom from it. This sense was known and also carefully studied among the ancients who lived before Moses; but as their posterity converted the correspondences, of which their Word and consequently their religion solely consisted, into idolatries of various forms, and the Egyptians converted them into magic, this (sense) was of the Divine Providence of the Lord, closed up, first with the Children of Israel and afterwards with Christians, for the reasons mentioned above; and it is now for the first time opened for the Lord’s New Church.
DP 265. 3. A doubt may be raised against the Divine Providence from the fact that hitherto it has not been known that to shun evils as sins is the Christian religion itself. That this is the Christian religion itself is shown in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, from beginning to end; and because faith separated from charity is the only obstacle to its being received, that also is treated of. It is stated that it has not been known that to shun evils as sins is the Christian religion itself; for it is unknown to almost everyone, and yet everyone does know it, as may be seen above (n. 258). Nevertheless, it is unknown to almost everyone, because faith so separated has obliterated it; for this faith affirms that faith alone saves and not any good work, that is, good of charity; also that they are no longer under the yoke of the law but are free. Those who have frequently heard such teaching no longer give any thought to any evil of life or to any good of life. Moreover, everyone by nature is inclined to embrace this idea; and once he has embraced it he gives no further thought to the state of his life. This is why it is not known (that to shun evils as sins is the Christian religion itself).
[2] That this is unknown was disclosed to me in the spiritual world. I have asked more than a thousand newcomers from this world whether they knew that to shun evils as sins is religion itself. Their answer was that they did not know it; and that this was a new idea they had not heard before, but that they had heard that they cannot do good of themselves, and that they are not under the yoke of the law. When I asked whether they knew that a man must examine himself see his sins, repent, and then enter upon a new life, and that otherwise sins are not remitted, and that if sins are not remitted men are not saved; and when I reminded them that this was read aloud to them each time they approached the Holy Supper, they replied that they paid no attention to these things, but only to this, that they have remission of sins by means of the Sacrament of the Supper, and that faith, without their knowledge, does the rest.
[3] Again I asked, Why did you teach your children the Decalogue? Was it not that they might know what evils are sins to be shunned? Or was it only that they might know these things and believe, and not act accordingly? Why then is it asserted that this is new? To this they could only reply that they know and yet do not know, declaring that they never think about the sixth commandment when committing adultery, or about the seventh commandment when committing theft or fraud by stealth, and so on; still less do they think that such things are contrary to Divine law, and thus offences against God.
[4] When I mentioned many things from the doctrines of the Churches and from the Word confirming the teaching that to shun and to turn away from evils as sins is the Christian religion itself and that everyone has faith only in proportion as he does so, they were silent. They were convinced, however, that this is true when they saw that all were examined as to their life, and were judged according to their deeds, and that no one was judged according to faith separated from life, because the faith of everyone is commensurate with his life.
[5] The circumstance that the Christian world for the most part did not know this is from the law of the Divine Providence that everyone is left to act from freedom according to reason, treated of above in (n. 71-91); and (n. 101-128); also from the law that no one is taught immediately from heaven, but mediately through the Word, and doctrine and preaching from the Word, treated of in (n. 154-174); and also from all the laws of permission, which are also laws of the Divine Providence. Concerning these more may be seen in (n. 258).
DP 274. 4. A doubt may be raised against the Divine Providence from the fact that hitherto it has not been known that a man lives as a man after death, and that this has not been disclosed before. This has not been known before because in those who do not shun evils as sins there lies interiorly concealed a belief that man does not live after death; and therefore it is a matter of no moment to them whether it is said that man lives after death or whether it is said that he will rise again at the day of the Last Judgment. If there happens to occur to anyone a belief in the resurrection he says to himself, The case is no worse for me than for others; if I go to hell I shall have many to accompany me, and also if I go to heaven. Yet all who have any religion have a rational conception implanted in them that after death they live as men. The idea that they live as souls and not as men is held only by those who have been obsessed with their own intelligence, and by no others. It may be evident from the following considerations that in anyone who has any religion there is implanted a rational conception that he lives after death as a man:
1. Does anyone think otherwise when he is dying?
2. What panegyrist when lamenting the dead does not exalt them to heaven, and place them among the angels as conversing with them and partaking of their joy? Consider also the deification of some men.
3. Who among the common people does not believe that when he dies, if he has lived well, he will go to a heavenly paradise, be clothed in white raiment, and enjoy life everlasting?
4. What priest is there who does not say these or similar things to one about to die? And when he says so he believes it, provided he is not thinking at the same time of the Last Judgment.
5. Who does not believe that his little children are in heaven, and that after death he will see his wife, whom he has loved? Who thinks that they are ghosts, still less that they are souls or minds hovering about in the universe?
6. Who objects when anything is said about the lot or state of those who have passed from time into the life eternal? I have said to many that such and such is the state or lot of various persons, and I have never heard anyone affirm that the lot of these has not yet been decided but will be at the time of the Judgment.
7. When one sees angels in paintings or in sculpture does he not recognise them to be such? Who then thinks that they are spirits without a body, or air, or clouds, as certain of the learned do?
8. Roman Catholics believe that their saints are men in heaven, and that the rest are somewhere else; Mohammedans believe the same of their dead; Africans especially, and many other races, have a similar belief. Why then do not the Reformed Christians believe this, when they know it from the Word?
9. Moreover, it is from this conception implanted in everyone that some aspire to immortal fame; for it is directed by some to this aspiration and rouses in them heroism and bravery in war.
10. Inquiry was made in the spiritual world whether this conception is implanted in all; and it was learned that it is so implanted-in the spiritual idea, however, belonging to their internal thought, but not in the natural idea belonging to their external thought.
Hence it may be evident that doubt ought not to be raised against the Divine Providence because it is thought that now for the first time it has been revealed that man lives as a man after death. It is only the sensual mind of man that desires to see and touch what he is to believe; and he whose thought is not elevated above this is in the darkness of night regarding the state of his life.
XIV. EVILS ARE PERMITTED FOR THE SAKE OF AN END, WHICH IS SALVATION
DP 275. If man were born into the love into which he was created he would not be in any evil, nor indeed would he know what evil is; for one who has not been in evil, and consequently is not in evil, cannot know what evil is. If he were told that a particular thing is evil he would not believe it possible. This is the state of innocence in which were Adam and Eve his wife; and the nakedness of which they were not ashamed signified that state. A rational conception of evil after the Fall is meant by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The love into which man was created is the love of the neighbour, so that he desires his neighbour’s welfare as much as his own, even more than his own, and enjoys the delight which springs from that love while he acts kindly to him, much the same as a parent feels in acting kindly to his children. This love is truly human, for there is in it something spiritual that distinguishes it from the natural love which belongs to brute animals. If man were born into this love of the neighbour he would not be born into the darkness of ignorance, as every man now is, but into some faint light of knowledge and consequently of intelligence; and in these he would rapidly advance. He would indeed at first creep like a quadruped but with an inherent endeavour within him to raise himself up upon his feet; for, however much like a quadruped, still he would not turn his face downward to the earth, but forward towards heaven, and would stand upright so that he might also be able to look upwards.
DP 276. When, however, the love of the neighbour was turned into the love of self, and this love increased, then human love was turned into animal love; and man from being man became a beast, with this difference that what he perceived with the bodily senses he could make an object of thought, and could rationally distinguish one thing from another, and could be instructed, and could become a civil and a moral man, and finally a spiritual man. For as has been said, man has what is spiritual, and by this he is distinguished from a brute beast, because by this he is able to know what civil evil and civil good are, also what moral evil and moral good are, and also, if he will, what spiritual evil and spiritual good are.
When the love of the neighbour was turned into the love of self man could no longer be born into the light of knowledge and intelligence but only into the darkness of ignorance, because he was now born into the very ultimate plane of life which is called the corporeal sensual; and from this he could by means of instruction be introduced into the interiors of the natural mind, always accompanied by the spiritual. It will be seen in what follows why man is born into the ultimate plane of life, called the corporeal sensual, and consequently into the darkness of ignorance.
[2] Anyone may see that the love of the neighbour and the love of self are opposite loves; for the love of the neighbour wishes well to everyone from itself, while the love of self wishes well to itself alone from everyone. The love of the neighbour desires to serve everyone, while the love of self desires everyone to serve it. The love of the neighbour regards everyone as its brother and friend, while the love of self regards everyone as its servant and, if he does not serve it, as its enemy: in a word, it considers itself alone, and others scarcely as men, whom in heart it values less than its horses and dogs. Moreover, as it regards them as of so little value, it thinks nothing of doing evil to them; and this is the source of hatred and revenge, adultery and whoredom, theft and fraud, lying and defamation, rage, cruelty and other evils of a like nature. Such are the evils in which man is by birth; and that they are permitted for the sake of the end, which is salvation, will be shown in the following order:
I. -Every man is in evil, and must be led away from evil that he may be reformed.
II. -Evils cannot be removed unless they appear.
III. -So far as evils are removed they are remitted.
IV. -Thus the permission of evil is for the sake of the end, namely, salvation.
DP 277. I. EVERY MAN IS IN EVIL, AND MUST BE LED AWAY FROM EVIL THAT HE MAY BE REFORMED. It is well known in the Church that every man has hereditary evil, and that from this he is in the lust of many evils. The consequence is that man cannot do good of himself; for evil does not do good except such good as has evil within it. The evil that is within is, that he does good for the sake of self, and thus only in order that it may appear good. It is well known that this evil is inherited from parents. It is declared to be from Adam and his wife, but this is an error; for everyone is born into it from his own parent, and this parent from his parent, and he also from his. Thus it is successively transferred from one to another, and in this way it is increased and grows as it were to a great accumulation, and is transmitted to offspring. Hence it is that there is nothing sound in man, but he is altogether evil. Does anyone have a feeling that it is wrong to love oneself more than others? Who, then, knows that it is evil? and yet it is the head of all evils.
[2] That this evil is inherited from parents, grandparents and great-grandparents is clear from many circumstances that are well known in the world, as that households, families, and even nations are distinguished from each other merely by the face; and faces are types of minds (animus), and minds are in accord with the affections which belong to love. Moreover, sometimes the features of a forefather reappear in a grandchild or a great grandchild. From the features alone I know whether a person is a Jew or not; also, from what race others are derived; and I have no doubt there are others who have similar knowledge. If affections which belong to love are thus derived and handed down from parents, it follows that evils are also, for they pertain to the affections.
[3] The origin of this resemblance will now be explained. The soul of everyone is from the father, and it is only clothed with a body from the mother. That the soul is from the father follows not only from what has been mentioned above but also from many other indications; as from this circumstance, that a child born of a black father, for example an African, by a white mother, for example a European, is black, and vice versa; and especially from this, that the soul is in the seed, for impregnation is from the seed, and the seed is what is clothed with a body from the mother; the seed being the primal form of the love in which the father is, the form of his ruling love with its nearest derivations, which are the inmost affections of that love.
[4] In everyone these affections are clothed with the virtues that pertain to the moral life and with the goods that belong partly to the civil and partly to the spiritual life; and these constitute the external of life even with the wicked. Into this external of life every infant is born, and this is why it is lovable; but as the child reaches boyhood and youth he passes from that external to what is interior, and at length to the ruling love of his father. If this love has been evil, and has not by various means been modified and changed by his teachers, it becomes his love as it was his father’s. Still (even if modified and changed) the evil is not eradicated, but only removed, as will be shown in what follows. Hence it may be evident that every man is in evil.
DP 277a. That a man must be withdrawn from evil in order that he may be reformed is evident without explanation; for he that is in evil in the world is in evil after his departure from the world; and therefore if evil is not removed in the world it cannot be removed afterwards. Where the tree falls, there it lies. So also does a man’s life when he dies remain such as it has been. Moreover, everyone is judged according to his deeds; not that these are mentioned in detail, but because he returns to them and acts as before; for death is a continuation of life, with this difference, that the man cannot then be reformed. All reformation is effected in fullness, that is, in first things and at the same time in last things; and in the world last things are reformed in harmony with first things, and cannot be reformed afterwards, because the last things of life that man carries with him after death become quiescent and act in harmony, that is, as one, with his interiors.
DP 278. II. EVILS CANNOT BE REMOVED UNLESS THEY APPEAR This does not mean that man is to do evils in order that they may appear, but that he is to examine himself, not his actions only, but also his thoughts, and what he would do if he were not afraid of the laws and disgrace; especially what evils he holds in his spirit to be allowable and does not regard as sins; for these he still commits. In order that man may examine himself an understanding has been given him, and this separate from the will, that he may know, understand and acknowledge what is good and what is evil; and also that he may see the quality of his will, or what it is he loves and desires. In order that he may see this his understanding has been furnished with higher and lower thought, or interior and exterior thought, to enable him to see from higher or interior thought what his will is doing in the lower or exterior thought. This he sees as a man sees his face in a mirror; and when he sees it and knows what sin is, he is able, if he implores the help of the Lord, not to will it, but to shun it and afterwards to act against it; if not wholeheartedly, still he can exercise constraint upon it by combat, and at length turn away from it and hate it. Now, and not before, he first perceives and also feels that evil is evil and that good is good. This then is what is involved in examining oneself, seeing one’s evils and recognising them, confessing them and afterwards desisting from them.
[2] As however, there are few who know that this is the Christian religion itself, for only they have charity and faith, and they alone are led by the Lord and do good from Him, therefore something will be said of those who do not do so and yet think they have religion in them. They are:
1. Those who confess themselves guilty of sins of all kinds, and do not search out anyone sin in themselves;
2. Those who from religious principles omit such inquiry;
3. Those who on account of worldly matters give no thought to sins, and consequently do not know them;
4. Those who favour sins and therefore cannot know them.
5. In all these persons sins do not appear, and therefore cannot be removed.
6. Lastly, the reason hitherto unknown will be made manifest why evils cannot be removed without this search, appearance, acknowledgment, confession and resistance.
DP 278a. These points, however, must be examined one by one because they are fundamentals of the Christian religion on man’s part. First: Concerning those who confess themselves guilty of sins of all kind and do not search out anyone sin in themselves. Such a one says, "I am a sinner; I was born in sin; there is nothing sound in me from head to foot; I am nothing but evil. Good God, be gracious to me, pardon me, cleanse me, save me, make me to walk in purity and in the way of righteousness"; and so on. Yet he does not examine himself, and consequently is ignorant of any evil; and no one can shun that of which he is ignorant, much less fight against it. After his confession he also believes himself clean and washed, when nevertheless he is unclean and unwashed from the head to the sole of the foot; for the confession of all sins is the lulling to sleep of all, and at length blindness. It is like a universal lacking every individual, and this has no existence.
[2] Second: Concerning those who from religious principles omit such inquiry. They are especially those who separate charity from faith; for such a one says to himself, "Why should I search out whether there is evil or good? Why should I search out whether there is evil when evil does not condemn me; and whether there is good, when good does not save me? It is faith alone, thought of and declared with assurance and confidence, that justifies and purifies from all sin; and when once I am justified I am whole in the sight of God. I am indeed in evil; but God wipes it away as soon as it is committed, and so it appears no more"; besides other things of a like nature. Who does not see, if he but opens his eyes, that such are empty words in which there is no reality, because there is no good in them? Who cannot so think and speak, even with assurance and confidence, when at the same time he is thinking of hell and eternal condemnation? Does such a one desire to know anything further, either what is true or what is good? Of truth he says, "What is truth but that which confirms this faith?" and of good he says, "What is good but that which is in me from this faith? But that it may be in me I will not do it as from myself, because that is meritorious, and meritorious good is not good." Thus he dismisses the whole matter until he does not know what evil is. What then will he search out and see in himself? Does not his state then become such that the pent-up fire of the lusts of evil consumes the interiors of his mind and lays them waste even to the very entrance? This gate only does he guard lest the fire should become manifest; but it is opened after death and then the fire appears to the sight of all.
[3] Third: Concerning those who on account of worldly matters give no thought to sins, and consequently do not know them. These are they who love the world above all things, and admit no truth that would lead them away from any falsity of their religion. They say to themselves, "What have I to do with this? It does not enter into my thought." Thus they reject the truth as soon as they hear it, and if they listen to it they stifle it. They do much the same when they hear preaching: they retain nothing of it save some few phrases, but not any of the substance. As they deal thus with truths they do not know what good is, for truth and good act as one; and from that good which does not spring from truth there is no knowledge of evil unless it is also called good; and this is effected by reasoning from falsities. These are they who are meant by the seed which fell among thorns, of whom the Lord says:
Other seeds fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up and choked them. These are they who hear the Word, but the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, so that it becomes unfruitful. (Matt. 13:7, 22; Mark 4:7, 18, 19; Luke 8:7, 14).
[4] Fourth: Concerning those who favour sins and therefore cannot know them. These are they who acknowledge God and orship Him according to the customary ceremonials, and who convince themselves that any evil which is a sin is not a sin; for they disguise it by fallacies and appearances, and so hide its normity. When they have done this they favour it, making it their familiar friend. It is said that those who acknowledge God do this, because others do not regard any evil as a sin, whereas every sin is an offence against God. But examples may illustrate this. A man does not regard evil as a sin who in his desire for wealth makes certain forms of fraud allowable, by reasons which he devises. The same is true of the man who justifies in himself the spirit of revenge against his private enemies, or who in time of war justifies plundering those who are not his country’s enemies.
[5] Fifth: In these persons sins do not appear, and herefore cannot be removed. Every evil that does not become manifest nourishes itself being like fire in wood under the ashes, and like matter in a wound that is not opened; for every evil that is denied an outlet increases and does not abate until the whole has been destroyed. Therefore, lest any evil should be shut in, everyone is permitted to think in favour of God or against God, and in favour of the holy things of the Church or against them, and is not punished for it in the world. Concerning this the Lord says in Isaiah:
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no oundness in it; the wound, the bruise, and the fresh stripe: they have not been pressed out, nor bound up, nor mollified with oil (A.V. but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment). Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to do evil; Learn to do well. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword (Isa. 1:6, 16, 17, 18, 20).
To be devoured with the sword signifies to perish by the falsity of evil.
[6] Sixth: The reason, hitherto unknown, why evils cannot be removed without this search, appearance, acknowledgment, confession and resistance. In the preceding pages it has been mentioned that the universal heaven is arranged in societies according to (the affections of good and the entire hell according to) the lusts of evil opposite to the affections of good. Every man as to his spirit is in some society-in a heavenly society if he is in the affection of good, but in an infernal society if he is in the lust of evil. Man does not know this while he is living in the world, but nevertheless as to his spirit he is in some society; otherwise he cannot live, and because of it he is governed by the Lord. If he is in an infernal society he can only be led out of it by the Lord according to the laws of His Divine Providence, one of which is that he must see that he is there, must desire to go out and must himself endeavour to do this of himself. This he can do while he is in the world, but not after death; for then he remains to eternity in the society in which he has placed himself while in the world. This is the reason why man is to examine himself, see and acknowledge his sins and repent, and afterwards persevere right on to the end of his life. That this is the case I could establish from much experience even to complete belief; but this is not the place to set forth proofs of my experience.
DP 279. III. SO FAR AS EVILS ARE REMOVED THEY ARE REMITTED. It is an error of the present age to believe:
1. That evils are separated from man and indeed cast out when they are remitted; and
2. That the state of man’s life can be changed in a moment, even to its opposite, so that from being wicked he can become good, and consequently can be brought out of hell and straightway transferred to heaven, and this by the immediate mercy of the Lord.
3. Those, however, who entertain this belief and opinion do not in the least know what evil is and what good is; and they know nothing whatever of the state of man’s life.
4. Moreover, they are totally unaware that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes and variations in state of the purely organic substances of the mind; and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances; and that memory is a permanent state of these changes. From a knowledge of these things it may be clearly seen that no evil can be removed except by successive stages, and that the remission of evil is not its removal. These things are stated here in a summarised form; and unless they are demonstrated they may indeed by recognised but they cannot be comprehended; and what is not comprehended is vaguely defined like a wheel which is kept spinning round by the hand. Therefore, the propositions just stated must now be demonstrated one by one in the order in which they are set forth.
[2] First: It is an error of the present age to believe that evils are separated and indeed cast out when they are remitted. It has been granted me to know from heaven that no evil into which man is born and to which he has actually habituated himself is separated from him, but is only so far removed that it does not appear. Before that, I held the belief entertained by most people in the world, that when evils are remitted they are cast out, and are washed and wiped away as dirt from the face by water. This, however, is not the case with evils or sins. They all remain, and when after repentance they are remitted, they are moved from the centre to the outskirts; and then what is in the centre, because it is directly under view, appears as in the light of day, and what is at the outskirts is in the shade, and sometimes as it were in the darkness of night. As evils are not separated but only removed, that is, relegated to the outskirts, and as a man may pass from the centre to the parts round about, it may also happen that he can return to his evils which he supposed had been cast out. For man is of such a nature that he can pass from one affection into another, and sometimes into an opposite one, and thus from one centre to another, that affection in which he is for the time being constituting the centre, for he is then in its joy and in its light.
[3] There are some who after death are raised up by the Lord into heaven because they have lived well, but who yet have carried with them the belief that they are clean and pure from sins and therefore are not in a state of guilt. These are at first clothed in white garments in accordance with their belief; for white garments signify a state purified from evils. Later, however, they begin to think as they did in the world that they are as it were washed from all evil, and so to boast that they are no longer sinners like other men. Now this can hardly be separated from a certain elation of mind (animus) and a measure of contempt for others compared with themselves. Therefore, in order that they may be removed from their ill-founded belief they are sent down from heaven and permitted to enter upon the evils which they practised in the world; and at the same time they are shown that they are in hereditary evils, of which they were ignorant before. When they have thus been induced to recognise that their evils have not been separated from them but only removed, and consequently that of themselves they are impure, and indeed that they are nothing but evil, and that they are withheld from evil and kept in good by the Lord, and that this only appears to them as of themselves, they are again raised up by the Lord into heaven.
[4] Second: It is an error of the present age to believe that the state of man’s life can be changed in a moment, so that from being wicked he can become good, and consequently can be brought out of hell and straightway transferred to heaven, and this by the immediate mercy of the Lord. Those are in this error who separate charity and faith, and place salvation in faith alone; for they suppose that merely thinking and uttering the words which state their faith, if it is done with assurance and confidence, is what justifies and saves. Moreover, many suppose that this is effected instantaneously, and, if not before, about the last hour of a man’s life. These cannot but believe that the state of a man’s life can be changed in a moment, and that he can be saved by the exercise of immediate or direct mercy. That the mercy of the Lord, however, is not immediate, and that a man cannot from being wicked become good in a moment, and can only be brought out of hell and transferred to heaven by the continual operation of the Divine Providence from infancy right on to the end of his life, will be seen in the last chapter of this treatise. At this point this only need be observed, that all the laws of the Divine Providence have for their end the reformation and thus the salvation of man; and consequently the reversal of his state, which by birth is infernal, to the opposite state, which is heavenly. This can only be effected step by step as man, withdrawing from evil and its delight, enters into good and its delight.
[5] Third: Those who entertain this belief do not in the least know what evil is and what good is. They do not know that evil is the delight of the lust of acting and thinking contrary to Divine order, while good is the delight of the affection of acting and thinking according to Divine order; nor do they know that there are myriads of lusts entering into and composing every individual evil, and myriads of affections entering into and composing every individual good, and that these myriads are in such connected order in man’s interiors that it is not possible to change one without at the same time changing all. Those who do not know this may believe or suppose that evil, which to them appears to be one single entity, can easily be removed; and that good, which also appears to be one single entity, can be introduced into its place. As these do not know what evil is and what good is they cannot but suppose that there is such a thing as instantaneous salvation and also immediate mercy; but it will be seen in the last chapter of this treatise that these are not possible.
[6] Fourth: Those who believe in instantaneous salvation and immediate mercy do not know that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes of state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances, and that memory is a permanent state of these changes and variations. Everyone acknowledges, when it is stated, that affections and thoughts exist only in substances and their forms, which are subjects; and as these exist in the brain, which is full of substances and forms, they are said to be purely organic forms. No one who thinks rationally can help laughing at the fanciful notions of some that affections and thoughts do not exist in forms that are substantiated, but that they are exhalations formed into shapes by heat and light like images appearing in the atmosphere. For thought can no more exist apart from a substantial form than sight apart from its form which is the eye, hearing apart from its form which is the ear, and taste apart from its form which is the tongue. If you examine the brain you will see innumerable substances, and likewise fibres; you will also see that everything in it is organised. What need is there of any other than this ocular proof?
[7] The question arises, What is affection and what is thought in the mind? This may be inferred from all the things in general and in particular in the body where there are many viscera, each fixed in its own place and all performing their own functions by changes and variations of state and form. It is well known that they are engaged in their own operations-the stomach, the intestines, the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas, and the spleen, the heart and the lungs, each organ in its respective operation. All these operations are kept in motion from within, and to be moved from within is to be moved by means of changes and variations of state and form. Hence it may be evident that the operations of the purely organic substances of the mind are of a similar nature, with this difference, that the operations of the organic substances of the body are natural, while those of the mind are spiritual, and that both act together as one by correspondences.
[8] The nature of the changes and variations of state and form in the organic substances of the mind, which are affections and thoughts, cannot be shown to the eye; but still they may be seen as in a mirror from the changes and variations in the state of the lungs in speaking and in singing. There is, moreover, a correspondence; for the sound of the voice in speaking and singing, and also the articulations of sound, which are the words of speech, and the modulations of singing, are caused by means of the lungs, and sound corresponds to affection and speech to thought. Further, sound and speech are produced by affection and thought; and this is effected by changes and variations in the state and form of the organic substances in the lungs, and from the lungs through the trachea or windpipe, in the larynx and glottis, then in the tongue and finally in the lips. The first changes and variations of the state and form of sound take place in the lungs, the second in the trachea and larynx, the third in the glottis by the various openings of its orifice, the fourth in the tongue by its various adaptations to the palate and teeth, and the fifth in the lips by their various modifications of form. Hence it may be evident that the mere changes and variations, successively continued, in the state of organic forms produce sounds and their articulations, which are speech and singing. Now, since sound and speech are produced from no other source than the affections and thoughts of the mind, for they exist from these and are never apart from them, it is clear that the affections of the will are changes and variations in the state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that the thoughts of the understanding are changes and variations in the form of those substances, as is the case in the pulmonary substances.
[9] As affections and thoughts are simply changes in the state of the forms of the mind, it follows that memory is nothing else than a permanent state of these changes. For all changes and variations of state in organic substances are such that once they have become habitual they are permanent. Thus the lungs are habituated to produce various sounds in the trachea, to vary them in the glottis, to articulate them in the tongue, and to modify them in the mouth; and when once these organic activities have become habitual such sounds are in the organs and can be reproduced. That these changes and variations are infinitely more perfect in the organs of the mind than in those of the body is evident from what has been said in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 199-204), where it is shown that all perfections increase and ascend with degrees and according to them. On this subject more may be seen below (n. 319).
DP 280. It is also an error of this age to suppose that when sins are remitted they are also removed. Those are in this error who believe that their sins are remitted by the Sacrament of the Supper, although they have not removed them from themselves by repentance. Those also are in this error who believe that they are saved by faith alone, as well as those who believe that they are saved by papal dispensations. All these believe in immediate mercy and in instantaneous salvation. On the other hand, when this is reversed it becomes a truth, namely, that when sins are removed they are also remitted; for repentance precedes remission, and without repentance there is no remission. Therefore the Lord commanded His disciples
That they should preach repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 24:27, 47);
and John preached
The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3).
The Lord remits the sins of all: He does not accuse and impute. Yet He can take them away only in accordance with the laws of His Divine Providence; for He said to Peter, when he asked how often he should forgive a brother sinning against him, whether seven times,
That he should forgive not only seven times but until seventy times seven (Matt. 18:21, 22).
What then will not the Lord do, who is Mercy itself?
DP 281. IV. THUS THE PERMISSION OF EVIL IS FOR THE SAKE OF THE END, NAMELY, SALVATION. It is well known that man is in full liberty to think and to will, but not in full liberty to say and to do whatever he thinks and wills. For he may think as an atheist, deny God and blaspheme the holy things of the Word and of the Church. He may indeed desire by word and deed to destroy them even to their extermination; but this is prevented by civil, moral and ecclesiastical laws; and he therefore inwardly cherishes these impious and wicked things, by thinking and willing and also purposing to do them, but not committing them. One who is not an atheist is also in full liberty to think many things that are of evil, such as things fraudulent, lascivious, revengeful and otherwise insane (spiritually); and at times he also commits them. Who can believe that unless man had full liberty not only could he not be saved but would even utterly perish?
[2] Hear now the reason for this. Every man from his birth is in evils of many kinds. These evils are in his will, and whatever is in the will is loved; for that which a man wills from his interior he loves, and that which he loves he wills, and the will’s love flows into the understanding and there causes its delight to be felt; and from that it enters into the thoughts and also into the intentions. If, therefore, man were not permitted to think in accordance with the love of his will, which is implanted in him by inheritance, that love would remain shut in and would never be seen by him; and a love of evil which does not make itself apparent is like an enemy in ambush, like matter in an ulcer, like poison in the blood and like corruption in the breast which, if they are kept shut in, cause death. But when a man is permitted to think the evils of his life’s love, so far even as to intend them, they are cured by spiritual means, as diseases are by natural means.
[3] It will now be shown what man would be like if he were not permitted to think in accordance with the delights of his life’s love. He would no longer be a man, for he would lose his two faculties called liberty and rationality, in which humanity itself consists. The delights of these evils would occupy the interiors of his mind to such a degree that they would open up the door. Then he would not be able to do otherwise than speak and commit such evils, and thus his insanity would be manifest not only to himself but also to the world, and he at length would not know how to cover his shame. In order that a man may not come into this state he is permitted indeed to think and to will the evils of his hereditary nature, but not to say and commit them; and in the meantime he learns civil, moral, and spiritual things. These enter into his thoughts and remove such insanities, and by means of this knowledge he is healed by the Lord; but yet no further than to know how to guard the door, unless he also acknowledges God and implores His help that he may be able to resist the insanities. Then so far as he resists them he does not admit them into his intentions, and eventually not even into his thoughts.
[4] Since, then, man is at liberty to think as he pleases, to the end that his life’s love may come forth from its lurking places into the light of his understanding, and since otherwise he would not know anything of his own evil, and consequently would not know how to shun it, it follows that the evil would so increase in him that there would be no possibility of amendment in him, and scarcely any in his children, should he have children; for the evil of the parent is transmitted to his offspring. The Lord, however, provides that this may not take place.
DP 282. It would have been possible for the Lord to heal the understanding in every man, and so cause him to think not evil but good, and this by means of fears of various kinds, by miracles, by conversations with the dead, and by visions and dreams. But to heal the understanding alone is to heal man outwardly only; for the understanding with its thought is the external of man’s life, while the will with its affection is the internal of his life. Therefore, the healing of the understanding alone would be like palliative healing, by which the interior malignity, shut in and prevented from coming out, would destroy first the near and then the remote parts till the whole would become mortified. It is the will itself that must be healed, not by means of an influx into it of the understanding, for that is not possible, but by means of instruction and exhortation by the understanding. If the understanding alone were healed man would become like a dead body embalmed, or covered over with fragrant spices and roses, which would soon draw from the body such a foul odour that they could not be brought near anyone’s nostrils. So would it be with heavenly truths in the understanding if the evil love of the will were denied outlet.
DP 283. Man is permitted to think evils, as has been said, even so far as the intention to commit them, in order that they may be removed by means of civil, moral, and spiritual things; and this is done when he thinks that an evil is contrary to what is just and equitable, to what is honourable and becoming, and to what is good and true; and therefore contrary to the peace, the joy, and the blessedness of life. By means of these three graces the Lord heals the love of man’s will; though at first indeed by fear, yet afterwards by love. Still, however, the evils are not separated and cast out from man, but are only removed and relegated to the outskirts, and when they are there, and good is at the centre, the evils do not appear; for whatever is at the centre is directly under view, and is seen and perceived. It should be known, however, that although good is at the centre man is not therefore good unless the evils that are at the outskirts tend downwards or outwards; if they look upwards or inwards they are not removed, for they are still endeavouring to return to the centre. They tend and look downwards and outwards when man shuns his evils as sins, and still more when he turns in aversion from them; for then he condemns them and sends them with execration to hell, making them face in that direction.
DP 284. Man’s understanding is a recipient of both good and evil, and of both truth and falsity, but not his will, for this must be either in evil or in good; it cannot be in both, for the will is the man himself, and in it is his life’s love. In the understanding, however, good and evil are separated, like what is internal and what is external. Hence man may be interiorly in evil and exteriorly in good; and yet while a man is being reformed good and evil are brought together, and then arise conflict and combat. This, if severe, is called temptation; but if not severe, what takes place is like the fermentation of wine or strong drink. If good then conquers, evil with its falsity is removed to the outskirts as, to use a comparison, the lees fall to the bottom of a vessel; and the good is like wine that becomes generous after fermentation and like strong drink that becomes clear. If, however, evil conquers then good with its truth is removed to the outskirts, and becomes turbid and noisome like unfermented wine and unfermented strong drink. This comparison is made with fermentation because leaven in the Word signifies the falsity of evil (Hosea 7:4; Luke 12:1).
XV. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS EQUALLY WITH THE WICKED AND WITH THE GOOD
DP 285. In every man, whether good or evil, there are two faculties, one of which constitutes the understanding, and the other the will. The faculty which constitutes the understanding is the ability to understand and to think, and is therefore called rationality. The faculty which constitutes the will is the ability to do these things freely, namely, to think and consequently to speak and to act, provided only it is not contrary to reason or rationality; for to act freely is to act as often as one wills and according as one wills. Since these two faculties are unceasing, and are continual from first things to last things in all things, in general and in particular, which man thinks and does, and since they are not in man from himself but are present with him from the Lord, it follows that the Lord’s presence in these faculties is also in the individual, indeed in the most individual, things of man’s understanding and thought and also of his will and affection, and consequently in the most individual things of his speech and action. If you remove these faculties from even the most individual thing, you will not be able to think or say it as a man.
[2] It has been abundantly shown above that man is man by virtue of these two faculties, that he is able to think and speak, to perceive what is good and understand truths, not only those that are civil and moral but also those that are spiritual, and also to be reformed and regenerated; in a word, that he can be conjoined to the Lord and thereby live forever; and it was also shown that not only good men but also the wicked possess these two faculties. Now since these faculties are in man from the Lord, and are not appropriated to man as his own, for what is Divine cannot be appropriated to man as his own but can only be adjoined to him and thus appear as his; and as this Divine with man is in the most individual things pertaining to him, it follows that the Lord governs the most individual things in a wicked man as well as in a good man; and the government of the Lord is what is called the Divine Providence.
DP 286. Now as it is a law of the Divine Providence that man should act from freedom according to reason, that is, from the two faculties liberty and rationality; and as it is also a law of the Divine Providence that what he does should appear to him as from himself and consequently as his own; and further as it is a law that evils must be permitted in order that man may be led out of them; it follows that man can abuse these faculties and from freedom according to reason confirm whatever he pleases. For he can make whatever he will to be reasonable whether it is reasonable in itself or not. Therefore some say, What is truth? Can I not make true whatever I will? Does not also the world do so? Whoever does this does it by reasoning. Take the greatest falsity and tell a clever dialectician to prove it, and he will do so. For example, tell him to prove that man is a beast; or that the soul is like a small spider in its web, governing the body as the spider governs by means of its threads; or tell him that religion is nothing but a restraining bond, and he will prove anyone of these propositions until it appears to be true. What is easier? For he does not know what an appearance is, or what a falsity is which from blind faith is assumed as a truth.
[2] Hence it is that a man cannot see this truth, namely, that the Divine Providence is in the most individual things of the understanding and of the will, or what is the same, in the most individual things of the thoughts and of the affections in every man, whether wicked or good. He becomes confused principally by supposing that in this case evils also would be from the Lord; but, nevertheless, it will be seen in what now follows that there is not a particle of evil from the Lord, but that evil is from man, through his confirming in himself the appearance that he thinks, wills, speaks and acts from himself. In order that these things may be clearly seen they will be demonstrated in the following order:
I. -The Divine Providence, not only with the good but also with the wicked, is universal in things most individual; and yet it is not in men’s evils.
II. -The wicked are continually leading themselves into evils, but the Lord is continually leading them away from evils.
III. -The wicked cannot be wholly withdrawn by the Lord from evil and led in good so long as they believe their own intelligence to be everything and the Divine Providence nothing.
IV. -The Lord governs hell by means of opposites; and the wicked who are in the world he governs in hell as to their interiors, but not as to their exteriors.
DP 287. I. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE, NOT ONLY WITH THE GOOD BUT ALSO WITH THE WICKED, IS UNIVERSAL IN THINGS MOST INDIVIDUAL; AND YET IT IS NOT IN MEN’S EVILS. It was shown above that the Divine Providence is in the most individual things of man’s thoughts and affections; and by this is meant that man can think and will nothing from himself, but that everything he thinks and wills, and consequently says and does, is from influx. If it is good it is from influx out of heaven, and if evil from influx out of hell; or what is the same, that good is from influx from the Lord, and evil from man’s proprium. I know that this is difficult to be comprehended, because a distinction is made between that which flows in from heaven or from the Lord and that which flows in from hell or from man’s proprium; and yet it is said that the Divine Providence is in the most individual things of man’s thoughts and affections, even so far that man can think and will nothing from himself. But because it is said that he can also think and will from hell, and also from his proprium, this appears like a contradiction; and yet it is not. That there is no contradiction will be seen in what follows, after some things have been set forth that will illustrate the matter.
DP 288. All the angels of heaven confess that no one can think from himself but only from the Lord; while all the spirits of hell assert that no one can think from any other than himself. Yet it has sometimes been shown to these spirits that not one of them thinks or can think from himself, but that thought flows in. In vain, however, was this shown, for they would not accept it. Now experience will teach first, that all thought and affection, even with the spirits of hell, flow in from heaven; but that the good which flows in is, in hell, turned into evil and the truth into falsity, thus everything into its opposite. This was shown in the following manner. A certain truth from the Word was sent down from heaven, and was received by those who were in the upper region of hell, and by these was sent down to the lower hells, and so on to the lowest. On the successive stages of its way the truth was turned into falsity and finally into that falsity which was its direct opposite. Those with whom this change was made thought that the falsity was from themselves, nor did they know otherwise, although it was truth flowing down from heaven on its way to the lowest hell, which had become thus falsified and perverted. I have heard several times that this happened. The same thing takes place with good, which as it flows down from heaven is changed in its progress into the evil opposite to it. Hence it was evident that truth and good proceeding from the Lord as they are received by those who are in falsity and by those who are in evil are completely changed and pass into another form so different that the first form is not apparent. Thus it is with every wicked man, for such a one as to his spirit is in hell.
DP 289. It has frequently been made manifest to me that in hell no one thinks from himself but he thinks from others around him, nor do these think from themselves, but they also think from others; and thoughts and affections pass in order from one society to another and no one is aware that they do not originate from himself. Some who believed that they thought and willed from themselves were sent into a society and there detained, and communication with the neighbouring societies to which their thoughts were usually extended was cut off. They were then told to think differently from the spirits of this society, and to compel themselves to think contrary to it; but they confessed that they found this impossible.
[2] This was done with many, including Leibnitz, who was also convinced that no one thinks from himself but from others; nor do these from themselves think, but that all think from influx out of heaven and heaven from influx originating from the Lord. When some had given careful consideration to this, they declared it to be amazing, saying that scarcely anyone could be induced to believe it, because it is quite contrary to appearance; but still that they could not deny it because it was fully proved. Nevertheless, while they were astonished they declared,
1. That in this case they are not in fault for thinking evil;
2. also that it thus seems as if evil were from the Lord;
3. and also that they do not understand how the Lord can cause all to think so differently. But these three points must be explained in what follows.
DP 290. To the experience already set forth this also is to be added: When it was granted me by the Lord to speak with spirits and angels this interior truth (arcanum) was immediately disclosed to me. For I was told from heaven that, like others, I believed that I thought and willed from myself when in fact there was nothing from myself but if there was good it originated from the Lord, and if evil it originated from hell. That this was so was demonstrated to me in a realistic manner by various thoughts and affections induced upon me, and I was enabled gradually to perceive it and to feel it. Therefore, as soon as any evil afterwards entered into my will or any falsity into my thought, I inquired into its source. This was disclosed to me, and I was also permitted to speak with those from whom it came, to refute them, and to compel them to withdraw and thus to retract their evil and their falsity and to keep them to themselves, and no longer to infuse any such thing into my thought. This has happened a thousand times; and in this state I have remained now for many years, and I continue in it still; and yet I seem to myself to think and to will from myself like others, with no difference, for it is of the Lord’s Providence that it should so appear to everyone, as was shown above in its own place. Spirits who have newly arrived wonder at this state of mine, only seeing that I do not think and will anything from myself, and therefore that I am like some inane creature. But J revealed the truth to them; adding that I also think even more interiorly and perceive whether what flows into my exterior thought is from heaven or from hell; and that I reject what is from hell and accept what is from heaven; assuring them that still I seem to myself, just as they do, to think and to will from myself.
DP 291. That all good is from heaven and all evil from hell is not unknown in the world: it is known to everyone in the Church. Who in the Church, who has been inaugurated into the priesthood, does not teach that all good originates from God, and that man cannot receive anything from himself which has not been given him from heaven; also that the devil infuses evils into men’s thoughts and leads men astray and incites them to commit evils? Therefore, the priest who believes that he preaches from a holy zeal, prays that the Holy Spirit may teach him and direct his thoughts and his words. There are some who say that they have sensibly perceived that they have been so moved; and when their preaching is commended they piously reply that they have spoken not from themselves but from God. Therefore also when they see anyone speaking and acting well they say that he was led to it by God; and on the other hand, when they see anyone speaking and acting wickedly they say that he was led to it by the devil. It is well known that language of this kind is prevalent in the Church; but who believes that it is true?
DP 292. Everything that a man thinks and wills, and consequently speaks and does, flows in from one sole Fountain of life, and yet that one Fountain of life, which is the Lord, is not the cause of a man’s thinking what is evil and false. This can be illustrated by the following circumstances in the natural world. From the sun of this world proceed heat and light; and these two flow into all subjects and objects that appear before the eyes, not only into subjects that are good and objects that are beautiful, but also into subjects that are evil and objects that are ugly, producing in them various effects. For they flow not only into trees that bear good fruit but also into trees that bear bad fruit, and even into the fruits themselves, imparting to them quickening power. They likewise flow into good seed and also into tares; also into shrubs that have a good use or are wholesome, and also into shrubs that have an evil use or are poisonous. Yet it is the same heat and the same light, and in these there is no cause of evil; but the cause is in the recipient subjects and objects.
[2] The heat which hatches eggs in which lie the bird of night, the screech-owl and the viper acts in the same way as when it hatches eggs in which lie the dove, the bird of paradise and the swan. Set eggs of both kinds under a hen and they will be hatched by her heat, which in itself is free from harm. What then has the heat in common with those evil and noxious things? The heat that flows into the marsh and the dung-hill, and into dead and putrefying matter acts in the same way as when it flows into the vine sapling and the fragrant herb, and into luxuriant vegetation and bodies pulsing with life. Who does not see that the cause is not in the heat but in the recipient subject? On the other hand, the same light brings out in one object colours that are pleasing, and in another colours that are not pleasing; it even brightens itself up and sends out brilliant rays in white objects, but in objects that verge towards black it dims and darkens itself.
[3] It is the same in the spiritual world; for there also are heat and light from its Sun, which is the Lord, and these flow from that Sun into their subjects and objects. The subjects and objects there are angels and spirits, in particular, what pertains to their will and understanding, the heat there being the Divine Love going forth, and the light there the Divine Wisdom going forth. These are not the cause of their being received differently by one and by another; for the Lord says,
He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. 5:45).
By the Sun in the highest spiritual sense is meant the Divine Love, and by the rain the Divine Wisdom.
DP 293. To this I will add the opinion of angels regarding will and intelligence in man. It is this: There cannot be in any man a grain of will and prudence that is his own. They say that if there were such a grain in any man neither heaven nor hell would continue to exist, and the whole human race would perish. The reason, they say, is that myriads of myriads of men, as many as have been born since the creation of the world, constitute heaven and hell, which are arranged in such an order, the one under the other, that on either side they make a one, heaven forming one beautiful man, and hell one monstrous man. If any individual had a grain of will and intelligence of his own that "one" could not possibly exist, but would be rent asunder; and with it would perish that Divine Form which can only manifest itself and continue in being when the Lord is the All in all men and they are absolutely nothing. Another reason, they say, is that to think and to will from self is the essential Divine principle, while to think and to will from God is the essential human principle; and what is essentially Divine cannot be appropriated to any man, for in that case man would be God. Keep this in mind; and if you wish, you will have it confirmed by angels when after death you enter into the spiritual world.
DP 294. It was stated above (n. 289) that when some were convinced that no one thinks from himself but only from others, and that all those others think not from themselves but from influx through heaven from the Lord, they said in their astonishment that in this case they are not in fault for doing evil; also that it thus seems that evil originates from the Lord; and also that they do not understand that the Lord alone can cause all to think so differently. Now since these three ideas cannot but flow into the thoughts of those who think only of effects from effects, and not of effects from causes, it is necessary that they be taken up and explained from causes.
[2] First: In this case they are not in fault for doing evil. For if every thing that a man thinks flows into him from others the fault seems to rest with those from whom it comes. Nevertheless, the fault is in him who receives, because he receives it as his own; and he neither knows nor desires to know otherwise. For everyone desires to be his own, and to be led by himself, and especially to think and to will from himself; this is freedom itself and it appears as his proprium in which every man is. Therefore, if he knew that what he thinks and wills flows in from another he would seem to himself to be bound and captive and no longer master of himself; and thus all the delight of his life, and at length his human itself, would perish.
[3] That this is so I have often seen proved. It was granted to some spirits to perceive and to feel that they were being led by others. Thereupon they were so enraged that they became as it were demented; and they said they would rather be kept bound in hell than not be allowed to think in accordance with their will and to will in accordance with their thought. Not to be allowed to do so they called being bound as to life itself, which was harder and more intolerable than being bound as to their body. Not to be allowed to speak and act in accordance with their thought and will they did not call being bound; because the delight of civil and moral life, which consists in speaking and doing, acts as the restraining influence and, at the same time, mitigates the restraint.
[4] Now since man is not willing to know that he is led to think by others, but desires to think from himself and also believes that he does so, it follows that he himself is at fault, nor can he free himself of blame so long as he loves to think what he is thinking; But if he does not love it he breaks his connection with those from whom his thought flows. This happens when he knows that it is evil, and therefore desires to shun it and to desist from it. Then also he is taken away by the Lord from the society which is in that evil and is transferred to a society where it does not exist. If, however, he knows the evil and does not shun it the fault is imputed to him, and he becomes answerable for that evil. Therefore, whatever a man believes that he does from himself is said to be done from the man and not from the Lord.
[5] Second: It thus seems that evil originates from the Lord. This may be thought to be the conclusion from what was shown above (n. 288), namely, that good flowing in from the Lord is turned in hell into evil and truth into falsity. Anyone can see that evil and falsity do not originate from good and truth, and consequently not from the Lord, but from the recipient subject and object which is in evil and falsity and which perverts and inverts that which flows in, as was fully shown above (n. 292). However, the source of evil and falsity in man has been frequently shown in the preceding pages. Moreover, an experiment was made in the spiritual world with those who believed that the Lord could remove evils in the wicked and introduce good in their place, and in this way could transfer all hell into heaven and save all. But that this is impossible will be seen towards the end of this treatise, where instantaneous salvation and immediate mercy are to be considered.
[6] Third: They do not understand that the Lord alone can cause all to think so differently. The Lord’s Divine Love is infinite and infinite also is His Divine Wisdom; and infinite things of love and wisdom proceed from the Lord, and these flow into all in heaven, and thence into all in hell, and from both of these into all in the world; therefore, thinking and willing cannot fail in anyone, for infinite things are all things without limit. Those infinite things which proceed from the Lord flow in not only universally but also most individually; for the Divine is universal from the most individual things, and these Divine individual things constitute what is called the Universal, as was shown above; and the most individual Divine thing is also infinite. Hence it may be evident that the Lord alone causes everyone to think and to will in accordance with his own peculiar quality and in accordance with the laws of His Providence. That all things which are in the Lord and which proceed from Him are infinite has been shown above (n. 46-69); and also in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (DLW 17-22).
DP 295. II. THE WICKED ARE CONTINUALLY LEADING THEMSELVES INTO EVILS, BUT THE LORD IS CONTINUALLY LEADING THEM AWAY FROM EVILS. The nature of the Divine Providence with the good is more easily comprehended than its nature with the wicked, and as the latter is now under consideration it will be set forth in the following order:
1. There are innumerable things in every evil.
2. A wicked man from himself continually leads himself more and more deeply into his evils.
3. The Divine Providence with the wicked is a continual permission of evil, to the end that there may be a continual withdrawal from it.
4. The withdrawal from evil is effected by the Lord in a thousand ways that are most secret.
DP 296. In order, therefore, that the Divine Providence with the wicked may be clearly seen and thus understood, the propositions stated above now fall to be explained in the order in which they were presented. First: There are innumerable things in every evil. In man’s sight every evil appears as one single thing. This is the case with hatred and revenge, theft and fraud, adultery and whoredom, arrogance and high-mindedness, and with every other evil; and it is not known that in every evil there are innumerable things, exceeding in number the fibres and vessels in a man’s body. For a wicked man is a hell in its least form; and hell consists of myriads of myriads of spirits, and everyone there is in form like a man, although a monstrous one, in which all the fibres and vessels are inverted. The spirit himself is an evil which appears to himself as a "one"; but there are innumerable things in it as many as the lusts of that evil, for every man is his own evil, or his own good, from the head to the sole of his foot. Since then a wicked man is such, it is evident that he is one evil composed of innumerable different evils each of which is a distinct evil, and they are called lusts of evil. Hence it follows that all these in their order must be restored and changed by the Lord in order that the man may be reformed; and this cannot be effected unless by the Divine Providence of the Lord, step by step from the earliest period of man’s life to the last.
[2] In hell every lust of evil when visually represented appears like a noxious creature, as a dragon, or a cockatrice, or a viper, or a bird of night, or an owl, and so on; and similarly do the lusts of evil appear in a wicked man when he is viewed by angels. All these forms of lusts must be changed one by one; and the man himself, who with respect to his spirit appears as a human monster or devil, must be changed to become like a beautiful angel; and every lust of evil must be changed to appear like a lamb, or a sheep, or a pigeon, or a turtle dove, as the affections of good in the angels appear in heaven when visually represented; and to change a dragon into a lamb, a cockatrice into a sheep, and an owl into a dove can only be effected step by step, by rooting out evil from its very seed and implanting good seed in its stead. This, however, can only be done as is done, for example, in the grafting of trees. When their roots with some of the trunk remain, the engrafted branch draws sap through the old root and turns it into sap that makes good fruit. The branch that is to be engrafted can only be taken from the Lord, who is the Tree of Life. This, moreover, is in accordance with the words of the Lord (John 15:1-7).
[3] Second: A wicked man from himself continually leads himself more and more deeply into his evils. It is said, from himself, because all evil is from man, for man turns good that originates from the Lord into evil, as was said above. The real reason why the wicked man immerses himself more deeply in evil is that as he wills and commits evil he advances into infernal societies more and more interiorly and also more and more deeply. Hence also the delight of evil increases, and so occupies his thoughts that at last he feels nothing more pleasant. He who has advanced more interiorly and deeply into infernal societies becomes as if he were bound with chains. So long as he lives in the world, however, he does not feel his chains, for they are as if made from soft wool or from fine threads of silk, and he loves them as they give him pleasure; but after death, instead of being soft they become hard, and instead of being pleasant they become galling.
[4] That the delight of evil mounts up from strength to strength is well known from thefts, robberies, plunderings, acts of revenge, tyranny, unlawful acquisition of wealth and other evils. Who does not feel the exaltation of delight as he succeeds in them and as he practises them without restraint? It is well known that a thief feels such delight in thefts that he cannot desist from them, and what is wonderful, that he finds more pleasure in one stolen coin than in ten that are given him as a gift. It would be the same with adultery if it had not been provided that the power of committing this evil decreases with its indulgence; but yet with many there remains the delight of thinking and talking about it; and if nothing more, there is still the lust of touch.
[5] It is not known, however, that this increase of delight comes from a man’s penetrating into infernal societies more and more interiorly and more and more deeply as he commits the evils from will and at the same time from thought. If the evils are only in thought and not in the will, the man is not yet in an infernal society with the evil, but he enters it when the evils are also in the will. If he then also thinks that the evil is contrary to the precepts of the Decalogue, and considers these precepts as Divine, he commits the evil of set purpose, and thereby plunges to a depth from which he can be led out only by actual repentance.
[6] It should be known that every man as to his spirit is in the spiritual world in some society there, a wicked man in an infernal society and a good man in a heavenly society; and sometimes he also appears there when in deep meditation. Moreover, as the sound of the voice with the spoken words diffuses itself in the air in the natural world, so affection with its thought diffuses itself among societies in the spiritual world; and there is a correspondence between them, for affection corresponds to sound and thought to speech.
[7] Third: The Divine Providence with the wicked is a continual permission of evil, to the end that there may be a continual withdrawal from it. The Divine Providence with wicked men is a continual permission because nothing but evil can proceed from their life; for man, whether he is in good or in evil, cannot be in both at the same time, nor in each alternately unless he is lukewarm; and evil of life is not introduced into the will and through it into the thought by the Lord but by man; and this is called permission.
[8] Now since everything that a wicked man wills and thinks is of permission the question arises, What then is the Divine Providence here, which is said to be in the most individual things with every man, both wicked and good? It consists in this, that it continually grants permission for the sake of the end, and permits such things as pertain to the end and no others; and the evils that proceed by permission it continually keeps under view, separates and purifies, sending away and removing by unknown ways whatever is not consistent with the end. These things are effected principally in man’s interior will, and from this in his interior thought. The Divine Providence is also unceasing in providing that what must be sent away and removed is not received again by the will, since all things that are received by the will are appropriated to the man; but those which are received by the thought and not by the will are separated and removed. This is the Lord’s continual Providence with the wicked and is, as has been stated, a continual permission of evil to the end that there may be an unceasing withdrawal from it.
[9] Man knows scarcely anything of these operations because he does not perceive them. The chief reason why he does not perceive them is that the evils pertain to the lusts of his life’s love, and these evils are not felt as evils but as delights to which no one pays attention. Who pays any attention to the delights of his love? His thought floats on in them like a boat which is borne along on the current of a river, and there is perceived as it were a fragrant-smelling atmosphere, which is inhaled with a full breath. Only in his external thought can he feel something of them, but even there he pays no attention to them unless he knows well that they are evils. But more will be said concerning this in what follows.
[10] Fourth: The withdrawal from evil is effected by the Lord in a thousand ways that are most secret. Of these only some have been disclosed to me, and none but the most general, as, that the delights of lusts of which man knows nothing are admitted by companies and groups into the interior thoughts of man’s spirit and from these into his exterior thoughts in which they make their appearance under a certain sense of satisfaction, pleasure, or longing; and there they mingle with his natural and sensual delights. Here are the means of separation and purification, and also the ways of withdrawal and removal. The means are chiefly the delights of meditation, thought and reflection for the attainment of certain ends which are uses; and ends that are uses are as many in number as the particular and individual matters of one’s business and office. They are also as many as the delights of reflection for the attainment of certain ends, as that he may appear to be a civil and a moral man and also a spiritual man, besides the undelightful things which interpose. These delights, because they belong to his love in the external man, are the means of separation, purification, rejection and withdrawal of the delights pertaining to the lusts of evil that belong to the internal man.
[11] Take, for example, an unjust judge who regards gains or friendship as the ends or uses of his office. Inwardly he is continually engrossed in these, but outwardly his object is to act as a skilled lawyer and a just man. He continually delights in meditating, thinking, reflecting and framing intentions that he may bend, turn, adapt and adjust the right so that it may still appear to conform to the laws and bear a semblance to justice. He does not know that his internal delight consists of cunning, fraud, deceit, clandestine theft and many other evils; and that this delight, composed of so many delights of the lusts of evil, rules in every detail of his external thought, where he harbours the delights of appearing to be a just and sincere man. Internal delights are let down into these external delights and they are mingled like food in the stomach; and there they are separated, purified and drawn away. This, however, is done only with the more grievous delights of the lusts of evil.
[12] With a wicked man no separation, purification and removal is possible other than of the more grievous from the less grievous evils. With a good man, however, there can be the separation, purification and removal not only of the more grievous but also of the less grievous evils. This is effected by the delights of the affections of the good and the true, of the just and of the sincere, into which he comes so far as he regards evils as sins, and so shuns and turns away from them, and still more if he fights against them. These are the means by which the Lord cleanses all who are saved. He cleanses them also by external means which pertain to fame and honour, and sometimes to wealth; yet into these the Lord introduces the delights of the affections of good and truth, by which they are so directed and adapted as to become delights of the love of the neighbour.
[13] If anyone were to see the delights of the lusts of evil together in some form, or were to perceive them distinctly by any sense, he would see and perceive them to be so numerous that they could not be defined; for the whole of hell is only a form of all the lusts of evil, and there no lust of evil is exactly like another or the same as another, nor can there be such likeness to eternity. Of these innumerable lusts man knows scarcely anything, much less how they are linked together. Yet the Lord by His Divine Providence continually permits them to come forth, to the end that they may be withdrawn; and this is effected in their every order and series; for a wicked man is a hell in its least form, as a good man is a heaven in its least form.
[14] That the withdrawal from evils is effected by the Lord in numerable and hidden ways cannot be better seen and thus acknowledged than from the hidden operations of the soul in the body. Those of which man has some knowledge are the following: The food which he is about to eat he looks at, learns its nature from its odour, has an appetite for it, tastes it, chews it with his teeth, rolls it with his tongue down to the gullet, and thus to the stomach. But the hidden operations of the soul, of which man knows nothing because he does not perceive them, are the following: The stomach rolls about the food it receives, opens and separates it by means of solvents, that is, digests it, and distributes appropriate portions to the little mouths opening there of the veins which drink them in. It also sends some to the blood, some to the lymphatic vessels, some to the lacteal vessels of the mesentery and some down to the intestines. Then the chyle, conveyed through the thoracic duct from its cistern in the mesentery, is carried into the vena cava, and so into the heart. From this it is carried into the lungs, from them through the left ventricle of the heart into the aorta, and from this by its branches into the viscera of the whole body and also to the kidneys. In each of these organs is effected a separation of the blood, a purification, and a removal of heterogeneous substances, not to mention how the heart sends up its blood to the brain, after it has been purified in the lungs, which is done by the arteries called carotids, and how the brain returns the blood, now vivified, to the vena cava mentioned above, where the thoracic duct brings in the chyle, and so back again to the heart.
[15] These and innumerable others are the secret operations of the soul in the body. They are not felt by man, and he who is not versed in the science of anatomy knows nothing of them. Yet similar operations take place in the interiors of man’s mind; for nothing can take place in the body except from the mind, since a man’s mind is his spirit, and his spirit is equally a man, with this difference only that whatever is done in the body is done naturally, and whatever is done in the mind is done spiritually: there is a perfect similitude. Hence it is evident that the Divine Providence operates with every man in a thousand hidden ways; and that its unceasing care is to cleanse him because its end is to save him; and that nothing more is incumbent on man than to remove evils in the external man. The rest the Lord provides, if His aid is earnestly implored.
DP 297. III. THE WICKED CANNOT BE WHOLLY WITHDRAWN BY THE LORD FROM EVIL AND LED IN GOOD SO LONG AS THEY BELIEVE THEIR OWN INTELLIGENCE TO BE EVERYTHING, AND THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE NOTHING. It would appear to be the case that man can withdraw himself from evil, provided he thinks that this or that is contrary to the common good, contrary to what is useful and contrary to national and international law. This a wicked man can do as well as a good man, provided that, by birth or by practice, he is able analytically and rationally to exercise thought in a clear manner inwardly within himself. However, man is not able to withdraw himself from evil; because the faculty of understanding and perceiving things, even abstractly, is given by the Lord to everyone, the wicked as well as the good, as has been shown above in many places, and yet man cannot by means of this faculty deliver himself from evil; for evil pertains to the will, and the understanding flows into the will with light only, enlightening and teaching. If then the heat of the will, that is, man’s love, is glowing from the lust of evil it is cold as to the affection of good, and therefore does not receive the light, but either reflects it or extinguishes it, or by some falsity devised for the purpose turns it into evil. In this it resembles the light of winter, which is as clear as the light of summer and continues so even when flowing into the frozen trees. However, this can be seen more fully in the following order:
1. One’s own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees falsity only, and has neither the desire nor the ability to see anything else.
2. If one’s own intelligence then sees the truth, it either turns itself away or falsifies it.
3. The Divine Providence continually causes man to see truth, and also gives him the affection of perceiving it and of receiving it.
4. By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not of himself but by the Lord.
DP 298. In order that these things may be made apparent to the rational man, whether he be a wicked man or a good man, thus whether he be in the light of winter or in the light of summer, for colours appear alike in both, they must be explained in their order. First: One’s own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees nothing but falsity, and has neither the desire nor the ability to see anything else. This has often been shown in the spiritual world. Every man when he becomes a spirit, which takes place after death, for he then puts off the material body and puts on the spiritual, is introduced alternately into the two states of his life, the external and the internal. While he is in the external state he speaks and acts rationally, just as a rational and wise man does in the world; and he can also teach others many things that pertain to moral and civil life; and if he has been a preacher he can also teach things pertaining to spiritual life. But when from this external state he is introduced into his internal state, and the external is put to sleep and the internal awakes, if he is wicked the scene is changed. From being rational he becomes sensual, and from being wise he becomes spiritually insane; for he then thinks from the evil of his will and its delights, thus from his own intelligence, and he sees falsity only and does nothing but evil, believing that wickedness is wisdom and that cunning is prudence; and from his own intelligence he believes himself to be a deity and with his whole mind revels in wicked practices.
[2] I have frequently seen instances of such insanity; and I have also seen spirits introduced into these alternate states two or three times within an hour, and then it was granted them to see their insanities and also to acknowledge them. Nevertheless, they were unwilling to remain in a rational and moral state, but of their own accord they returned to their internal sensual and insane state; for they loved this more than the other because in it was the delight of their life’s love. Who can believe that a wicked man is such beneath his outward appearance and that he undergoes such a transformation when he comes into his internal state? From this one experience may be evident what the nature of one’s own intelligence is when he thinks and acts from the evil of his will. It is otherwise with the good; for when these are admitted into their internal state from their external they become still more wise and moral.
[3] Second: If one’s own intelligence then sees the truth, it either turns itself away or falsifies it. Man has a voluntary proprium and an intellectual proprium; the voluntary proprium is evil and the intellectual proprium is falsity derived from it; the latter is meant by the will of man (vir) and the former by the will of the flesh (John 1:13). The voluntary proprium is in its essence the love of self, and the intellectual proprium is pride from that love. These are like two married partners, and their union is called the marriage of evil and falsity. Into this union every wicked spirit is admitted before he enters into hell; and when he is there he does not know what good is, for he calls his evil good because he feels it as a delight. He then also turns away from the truth and has no desire to see it, because he sees the falsity that accords with his evil as the eye sees what is beautiful, and he hears it as the ear hears what is harmonious.
[4] Third: The Divine Providence continually causes man to see truth and also gives him the affection of perceiving it and of receiving it. This is done because the Divine Providence acts from the interior, and through this it flows into the exteriors, that is, from the spiritual into the things that are in the natural man; and by the light of heaven enlightens his understanding and by the heat of heaven vivifies his will. The light of heaven in its essence is Divine Wisdom, and the heat of heaven in its essence is Divine Love; and from the Divine Wisdom nothing can flow in but truth, and from the Divine Love nothing can flow in but good, from which the Lord bestows in the understanding an affection for seeing truth and also for perceiving and receiving it. Thus a man becomes a man not only in external but also in internal aspect. Everyone wishes to appear a rational and a spiritual man, and everyone knows that he desires to appear so, in order that others may believe him to be a true man. If, therefore, he is rational and spiritual in his external form only, and not at the same time in his internal, is he a man? Is he other than as a player upon the stage or as an ape with a face almost human? May it not be known from this that he only is a man who is interiorly such as he desires others to suppose him to be? He who acknowledges the one must acknowledge the other. One’s own intelligence can induce the human form on the externals only, but the Divine Providence induces that form on the internals and through these on the externals; and when it has been so induced a man does not only appear as a man but he is one.
[5] Fourth: By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not of himself but by the Lord. When the Divine Providence grants the perception of truth and at the same time the affection of it, man can be withdrawn from evil because truth points out and dictates; and when the will performs what truth dictates it unites itself with the truth and within itself it converts the truth into good; and the truth becomes the truth of its love, and what belongs to the love is good. All reformation is effected by means of truth, and not without it; for without truth the will is continually in its evil, and if it consults the understanding it is not instructed, but the evil is confirmed by falsities. With regard to intelligence, it appears both to the good man and
[6] to the wicked man to be his own and peculiar to him. Moreover, a good man just as much as a wicked man is bound to act from intelligence as if it were his own; but he who believes in the Divine Providence is withdrawn from evil, while he who does not believe is not withdrawn: and he believes who acknowledges evil to be sin and desires to be withdrawn from it, while he does not believe who does not acknowledge and desire this. The difference between these two kinds of intelligence is like the difference between that which is believed to exist in itself and that which is believed not to exist in itself but yet as in itself. It is also like the difference between an external without an internal which is similar in every respect and an external with a similar internal. Thus it is like the difference between mimics and actors who by speech and gesture personate kings, princes and generals, and the kings, princes and generals themselves. The latter are such interiorly and at the same time exteriorly, but the former are such only exteriorly; and when this exterior is put off they are only comedians, actors and players.
DP 299. IV. THE LORD GOVERNS HELL BY MEANS OF OPPOSITES AND THE WICKED WHILE IN THE WORLD HE GOVERNS IN HELL AS TO THEIR INTERIORS BUT NOT AS TO THEIR EXTERIORS. He who does not know the nature of heaven and hell cannot at all know the nature of man’s mind. His mind is his spirit which lives after death. The reason of this is that the mind or spirit of man is in, every detail in the same form as heaven or hell. There is no difference except that one is very great and the other very small, or that one is the type and the other an effigy; therefore, man with respect to his mind or spirit is either a heaven or a hell in its least form. He that is led by the Lord is a heaven, and he that is led by his proprium is a hell. Now as it has been granted me to know the nature of heaven and of hell, and as it is important to know the nature of man with respect to his mind or spirit, I will briefly describe both.
DP 300. All who are in heaven are nothing but affections of good and thoughts of truth arising from these, and all who are in hell are nothing but lusts of evil and imaginations of falsity thence derived. In both cases these are so arranged that the lusts of evil and their imaginations of falsity in hell are directly opposite to the affections of good and their thoughts of truth in heaven. Therefore, hell is under heaven and diametrically opposite to it; diametrically, that is, opposite like two men lying in opposite ways or standing like those living on opposite sides of the globe, thus inverted to each other, with the soles of the feet meeting and the heels touching. Sometimes, also, hell appears to be so situated or turned in this way with respect to heaven; because those who are in hell make lusts of evil the head and affections of good the feet, while those who are in heaven make affections of good the head and lusts of evil the soles of the feet; hence the mutual opposition. When it is said that in heaven there are affections of good and thoughts of truth arising from these, and that in hell there are lusts of evil and imaginations of falsity thence derived, it is meant that there are spirits and angels who are such; for everyone is his own affection or his own lust, the angel of heaven being his own affection and the spirit of hell his own lust.
DP 301. The angels of heaven are affections of good and thoughts of truth arising from these because they are recipients of the Divine Love and Divine Wisdom from the Lord; for all affections of good are from the Divine Love, and all thoughts of truth are from the Divine Wisdom. On the other hand, the spirits of hell are lusts of evil and imaginations of falsity thence derived because they are in the love of self and in their own intelligence, and all lusts of evil are from the love of self, and the imaginations of falsity are from one’s own intelligence.
DP 302. The arrangement of affections in heaven and of lusts in hell is wonderful, and is known to the Lord alone. In each case they are distinguished into genera and species, and are so conjoined as to act as one. Because they are distinguished into genera and species they are distinguished into greater and lesser societies; and because they are so conjoined as to act as one they are conjoined like all the things that are in man. Hence heaven in its form is like a beautiful man, whose soul is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, thus the Lord; and hell in its form is like a monstrous man, whose soul is self-love and his own intelligence, thus the devil; for there is no devil who is sole lord there, but the love of self is called the devil.
DP 303. In order, however, that the nature of heaven and hell may be more clearly understood, let the delights of good be substituted for the affections of good, and the delights of evil for the lusts of evil; for there are no affections and no lusts without their delights, because delights constitute the life of everyone. These delights are what are distinguished and conjoined in the manner described above respecting the affections of good and the lusts of evil. The delight of his affections fills and surrounds every angel of heaven, and a common delight fills and surrounds every society in heaven, whilst a delight shared by all, that is, a most commonly shared delight, fills and surrounds the universal heaven. In like manner the delight of his lust fills and surrounds every spirit of hell, and a common delight every society in hell, whilst a delight shared by all, that is, a most commonly shared delight, fills and surrounds the whole of hell. Since the affections of heaven and the lusts of hell are, as was stated above, diametrically opposite to each other, it is clear that a delight of heaven is so unpleasant in hell that it is intolerable; and on the other hand, that a delight of hell is so unpleasant in heaven that it also is intolerable. Hence arise antipathy, aversion, and separation.
DP 304. As these delights constitute the life of everyone in particular and of all in general, they are not felt by those in them, but their opposites are felt when they approach, especially when these are turned into odours; for every delight corresponds to an odour, and in the spiritual world may be converted into it. Then the common delight in heaven is perceived as the odour of a garden varied according to the fragrance there from flowers and fruits; while the common delight in hell is perceived as the odour of stagnant water, into which filth of various kinds has been thrown, varied according to the foul odour there from reeking, putrid matter. Moreover, it has been granted me to know how the delight of any particular affection of good is felt in heaven, and how the delight of any lust of evil in hell, but it would be tedious to explain it here.
DP 305. I have heard many newcomers from this world complain that they had not known that their life’s destiny would be according to the affections of their love. They said that while in the world they had not given any thought to them, much less to their delights, because they had loved whatever was delightful to them, and had merely believed that everyone’s lot would be according to his thoughts from his intelligence, especially according to thoughts arising from piety and also from faith. However, the answer given them was, that they could have known, had they wished, that evil of life is disagreeable to heaven and displeasing to God, but agreeable to hell and pleasing to the devil; and on the other hand, that good of life is agreeable to heaven and pleasing to God, but disagreeable to hell and displeasing to the devil; consequently that evil in itself is offensive and good in itself is fragrant. As they might have known this if they would, why did they not shun evils as infernal and diabolical, and why did they indulge in evils merely because they were delightful? As they now were aware that the delights of evil smell so offensively they might also know that those who are so full of them cannot enter heaven. After this answer they betook themselves to those who were in like delights, for there and nowhere else were they able to breathe.
DP 306. From the idea of heaven now given it may be evident what is the nature of the mind of man; for, as has been said, man’s mind or spirit is either a heaven or a hell in its least form, that is, his interiors are nothing but affections and thoughts arising from these, distinguished into genera and species as into greater and lesser societies, and so connected as to act as one; and that the Lord governs them as He governs heaven or hell. That a man is either a heaven or a hell in its least form may be seen in the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published in London in the year 1758 (HH 51-87).
DP 307. We return now to the subject set forth, namely, that the Lord governs hell by means of opposites; and the wicked, while still in the world, He governs in hell as to their interiors but not as to their exteriors. As regards the First part, The Lord governs hell by means of opposites, it was shown above (n. 288, 289) that the angels of heaven are not in love and wisdom, or in the affection of good and in the thought of truth thence derived, from themselves but from the Lord; also that good and truth flow out of heaven into hell, where good is turned into evil, and truth into falsity, because the interiors of the minds of those in heaven and in hell are turned in opposite directions. Since then all things in hell are opposite to all things in heaven, it follows that the Lord governs hell by means of opposites.
[2] Second: The wicked, while still in the world, the Lord governs in hell. This is because man as to his spirit is in the spiritual world and in some society there, in an infernal society if he is wicked, and in a heavenly society if he is good; for man’s mind, which in itself is spiritual, cannot be anywhere but among the spiritual, into whose company he also comes after death. That this is so has also been said and shown above. But a man is not there in the same way as a spirit who has been assigned to the society, for man is continually in a state of being reformed; and therefore according to his life and its changes he is transferred by the Lord from one society in hell to another, if he is wicked. But if he suffers himself to undergo reformation he is led out of hell and raised up into heaven; and there also he is transferred from one society to another. This is continued till his death, after which he is no longer transferred from society to society there, because he is then no longer in a state of being reformed, but he remains in that state in which he is in accordance with his life. Therefore, when a man dies he is assigned to his own place.
[3] Third: In this way the Lord governs the wicked, while still in the world, as to their interiors but by other means as to their exteriors. The Lord governs the interiors of man’s mind in the manner just stated; but the exteriors He governs in the world of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell. The reason is that man is for the most part different in externals from what he is in internals; for in externals he can feign to be an angel of light and yet in internals he may be a spirit of darkness. Therefore, his external is governed in one way and his internal in another; for so long as he is in the world his external is governed in the world of spirits but his internal either in heaven or in hell. Therefore also when he dies he first enters the world of spirits, where he comes into his external, and this is there put off; and when he is freed from this he is conducted to his own place to which he has been assigned. What the world of spirits is and its nature may be seen in the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published in London in the year 1758 (HH 421-535).
DP 308. NEARLY everyone believes that man thinks and wills from himself and consequently speaks and acts from himself. Who from himself can suppose otherwise, since the appearance of it is so strong that it does not differ at all from actually thinking, willing, speaking and acting from himself? And yet this is not possible. In ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, it was shown that there is only one life, and that men are recipients of life; also that man’s will is the receptacle of love, and his understanding the receptacle of wisdom, and that these two constitute this sole life. It was also shown that it is ordained from creation, and therefore unceasingly from the Divine Providence, that this life should appear in man exactly as if it belonged to him, and consequently as if it were his own, the purpose of this appearance being that man may serve as a receptacle for it. It was also shown above (n. 288-294) that no man thinks from himself but from others, and that these others do not think from themselves but all from the Lord, the wicked as well as the good. It was shown further that this is well known in the Christian world, especially among those who not only say but also believe that all good and truth originate from the Lord, also all wisdom and thus all faith and charity; and, moreover, that all evil and falsity originate from the devil, that is, from hell.
[2] From all this no other conclusion can follow than that everything a man thinks and wills flows into him; and since all speech flows from thought, as an effect from its cause, and since all action flows in like manner from the will, it follows that everything a man says and does also flows in, although derivatively, that is, mediately. It cannot be denied that everything a man sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels flows in; why not then what he thinks and wills? Can there be any other difference than that such things as are in the natural world flow into the organs of the external senses or those of the body, while such things as are in the spiritual world flow into the organic substances of the internal senses or those of the mind? Therefore, as the organs of the external senses or those of the body are receptacles of natural objects so the organic substances of the internal senses or those of the mind are receptacles of spiritual objects. Since this is the state of man, what then is his proprium? His proprium does not consist in being a receptacle of this or that kind, because such a proprium is merely what he is with regard to reception and is not a living proprium; for by proprium no one understands anything else than that he lives from himself, and consequently thinks and wills from himself; but that such a proprium does not exist in man, indeed cannot exist in anyone, follows from what has been said above.
DP 309. I will here relate what I heard from some in the spiritual world. They were among those who believe their own prudence to be everything and the Divine Providence nothing. I said that man has not any proprium of his own, unless you choose to call that his proprium which consists in being this or that kind of subject, or this or that kind of organ, or this or that kind of form. This, however, is not the proprium that is meant, but is merely a description of its quality. No man in fact has any proprium in the sense in which this is commonly understood. Those who ascribed all things to their own prudence, and who may be called examples of self-ownership (proprietarii in imagine sua), so flared up at this that flames appeared to issue from their nostrils as they declared, "You are uttering absurd and insane words. Would not a man in such a case be an empty nonentity? Would he not be a mere phantasmal figment of the mind, or a graven image or a statue?"
[2] To this I could only answer that it is absurd and insane to believe that man is life from himself, and that wisdom and prudence do not flow in from God but are in man, consequently also the good that belongs to charity and the truth that belongs to faith. To attribute these to oneself is called insanity by every wise man, and thus it is absurd. Moreover, persons doing so are like those who occupy the house and property of another, and being in possession persuade themselves that these are their own; or they are like stewards and estate managers who believe all their master’s property to be their own; or like serving men to whom their master gave large and small sums to trade with, but who rendered no account of them and kept them as their own, and so acted as thieves.
[3] Of such it may be said that they are spiritually insane, indeed that they are empty nonentities and also idealists, since they have not in themselves from the Lord any good which is the being (esse) itself of life, nor consequently any truth. Therefore, such are even called dead, and also nothing and vanity (Isaiah 40:17-23); and elsewhere, image-makers, graven images and statues. However, more will be said concerning these in what follows, and will be considered in this order:
I. -What one’s own prudence is, and what prudence not one’s own is.
II. -Man from his own prudence persuades himself and confirms in himself that all good and truth originate from himself and are in himself; and in like manner all evil and falsity.
III. -Everything of which man has persuaded himself and which he has confirmed in himself remains with him as his own.
IV. -If man believed, as is the truth, that all good and truth originate from the Lord, and all evil and falsity from hell, he would not appropriate good to himself and account it meritorious, nor would he appropriate evil to himself and account himself responsible for it.
DP 310. I. WHAT ONE’S OWN PRUDENCE IS, AND WHAT PRUDENCE NOT ONE’S OWN IS. They are in their own prudence who confirm appearances in themselves and make them truths, especially the appearance that one’s own prudence is everything and the Divine Providence nothing, unless it is something universal; and yet this is impossible without the individual things of which it must consist, as was shown above. They are, moreover, in fallacies, for every appearance confirmed as a truth becomes a fallacy; and so far as they confirm themselves by fallacies they become materialists; and to that extent they believe nothing but what they can at the same time perceive by one of the bodily senses, principally by the sense of sight, for this especially acts as one with thought. Such persons finally become sensual; and if they confirm themselves in favour of nature against God, they close the interiors of their mind and interpose as it were a veil, and make the object of their thought what is under the veil but not what is above it. The ancients called such men serpents of the tree of knowledge; and of them in the spiritual world it is said that as they confirm themselves they close the interiors of their minds, at length even to the nose; for the nose signifies perception of truth, and this means that they have no such perception.
[2] What their character is will now be described. They are more cunning and crafty than others, and are more ingenious reasoners; and cunning and craftiness they call intelligence and wisdom, nor do they know otherwise. Those who are not of this nature they regard as simple and stupid, especially those who worship God and acknowledge the Divine Providence. With respect to the interior principles of their minds, of which they themselves know very little, they resemble those called Machiavellians, who regard murder, adultery, theft and false witness, viewed in themselves, as of no account; and if they reason against these, it is only from prudence that they may not appear to be of this nature.
[3] Concerning man’s life in this world they think it is like the life of a beast; and concerning his life after death, that it is like a vital vapour which, rising from the body or from the grave, sinks back again and so dies. From this arises the foolish idea that spirits and angels are formed of air, and in the case of those who have been enjoined to believe in life everlasting, that the souls of men are the same, and therefore that they do not see, hear or speak, and thus are blind, deaf and dumb, and that they merely think in their own small portion of air. They say, How can the soul be anything else? Did not the external senses die together with the body? These cannot be resumed until the soul is reunited with the body; and because they could have only a sensual and not a spiritual idea of the state of the soul after death they confirmed this state; otherwise belief in eternal life would have perished. Especially do they confirm themselves in the love of self, calling it the fire of life and the incentive to various uses in the state. As this is their nature they are the idols of themselves, and since their thoughts are fallacies formed from fallacies, these are images of falsity. Moreover, as they indulge the delights of lusts they are satans and devils, those being called satans who confirm in themselves the lusts of evil, and those devils who live according to them.
[4] It has also been granted me to know the nature of the most crafty sensual men. Their hell is deep down, and behind, and they do not desire to be conspicuous. Therefore, they appear hovering about there like spectres, which are their fantasies; and they are called genii. Some of them were once sent out from that hell that I might know their character. They at once directed their influence to my neck beneath the occiput and from there they entered my affections, not wishing to enter my thoughts, which they dexterously avoided. They then kept changing my affections one after another with the design of bending them imperceptibly into their opposites, which are lusts of evil; and as they did not in the least touch my thoughts they would have bent and inverted my affections without my knowledge had not the Lord prevented this.
[5] Such do those become who in the world do not believe there is a Divine Providence, and who search out in others nothing but their cupidities and desires, and so lead them on till they acquire an ascendency over them. As they do this so secretly and craftily that others do not know it, and as these after death become like themselves, therefore immediately after their arrival in the spiritual world they are sent down into that hell. When seen in the light of heaven they appear without any nose; and what is wonderful, although they are so crafty yet they are more sensual than the rest.
[6] As the ancients called a sensual man a serpent, and as such a man is more cunning and crafty and is a more ingenious reasoner than others, therefore it is said,
The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field (Gen. 3:1);
and the Lord says:
Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matt. 10:16);
and also the dragon, which is likewise called the old serpent, the devil and satan, is described as
Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads (Rev. 12:3, 9).
By the seven heads is signified craftiness, by the ten horns the power of persuading by means of fallacies, and by the seven crowns the holy things of the Word and of the Church when these are profaned.
DP 311. From this description of one’s own prudence, and of those who are in it, may be seen what is the nature of prudence that is not one’s own, and what is the nature of those who are in it; namely, that prudence not one’s own is the prudence with those who do not confirm in themselves the idea that intelligence and wisdom are from man, but who say, How can one be wise from himself, and how can one do good from himself? When they say this they see in themselves that it is so, for they think interiorly; and they also believe that others think in the same way, especially the learned, because they do not know that it is possible for anyone to think only exteriorly.
[2] They are not in fallacies resulting from any confirmation of appearances, and therefore they know and perceive that murder, adultery, theft and false witness are sins, and they shun them accordingly. They also know that wickedness is not wisdom, and that craftiness is not intelligence; and when they hear ingenious reasoning from fallacies they wonder and smile to themselves. This is because with them there is no veil between interiors and exteriors, or between the spiritual and the natural things of the mind, as there is with the sensual; and therefore they receive influx from heaven by which they see these things.
[3] They speak with more simplicity and sincerity than others, and place wisdom in the life and not in mere talk. They are, to use the language of comparison, like lambs and sheep, while those who are in their own prudence are like wolves and foxes; and they are like those who live in a house and view the sky through the windows, while those who are in their own prudence are like those who live in the basement of a house and through their windows see nothing but what is below the ground level; and they are like those who stand upon a mountain and see those who are in their own prudence like persons wandering in the valleys and forests.
[4] Hence it may be evident that prudence which is not one’s own is prudence from the Lord, having in externals an appearance similar to one’s own prudence but in internals an appearance totally different. In internals prudence which is not one’s own appears in the spiritual world as a man, while prudence which is one’s own appears as an effigy, appearing to be alive from this circumstance only, that those who are in it still have rationality and liberty, or the faculty of understanding and willing, and consequently of speaking and acting, and that by means of these faculties they can assume the appearance of being men. They are such effigies because evils and falsities have no life, goods and truths only having life; and because they know this from their rationality, for if they did not know it they would not counterfeit them; therefore in their semblances they still possess the human life principle.
[5] Everyone may know that the character of a man is determined by what he is interiorly; and consequently that he is a man who is interiorly what he wishes to appear to be exteriorly, while he is an effigy who is a man only exteriorly and not interiorly. If you think, as you speak, in favour of God and of religion, of righteousness and of sincerity, you will be a man, and the Divine Providence will then be your prudence, and you will see in others that one’s own prudence is insanity.
DP 312. II. MAN FROM HIS OWN PRUDENCE PERSUADES HIMSELF AND CONFIRMS THAT ALL GOOD AND TRUTH ORIGINATE FROM HIMSELF AND ARE IN HIMSELF AND IN LIKE MANNER ALL EVIL AND FALSITY. Suppose an argument instituted from the analogy between natural good and truth and spiritual good and truth. The question is asked: What are truth and good in the sight of the eye? Is not the truth there what is called beautiful and the good there what is called delightful?-for delight is felt in seeing beautiful things. Again, what are truth and good in the sense of hearing? Is not the truth there what is called harmonious, and the good there what is called pleasing?-for pleasure is felt in hearing harmonious sounds. It is the same with the other senses. Hence it is evident what natural truth and good are. Consider now what spiritual truth and good are. Is spiritual truth anything but the beauty and harmony of spiritual things and objects? Is spiritual good anything but the delight and pleasure derived from the perception of their beauty or their harmony?
[2] See now whether anything can be said of the one different from what may be said of the other, that is, of the spiritual different from what may be said of the natural. Of the natural it is said that the beauty and delight in the eye flow in from objects and that harmony and pleasure in the ear flow in from musical instruments. What is there different in the organic substances of the mind? It is said of the organic substances of the mind that beauty and delight are in them, but of the organs of the body that they flow into them; and if it is asked why it is said that they flow in, no other answer can be given than that there appears to be a distance between them, i.e., between the organs and what flows in. In the other case, if it is asked why it is said that they are in them, no other answer can be given than that there does not appear to be any distance between them. Consequently it is the appearance of distance that causes one kind of belief about what man thinks and perceives and another about what he sees and hears. This falls to the ground, however, when it is known that distance does not exist in the spiritual as it does in the natural. Think of the sun and moon, or of Rome and Constantinople: are they not in thought without distance between them, provided the thought is not united with experience acquired by sight or by hearing? Why then do you persuade yourself because distance does not appear in thought that good and truth, likewise evil and falsity, are there and do not flow in?
[3] To this I will add an experience common in the spiritual world. One spirit can infuse his thoughts and affections into another who is not aware that this is not an activity of his own thought and affection. This is called in that world thinking from and in another. I have seen it a thousand times and have also practised it a hundred times myself, and yet there was an appearance of considerable distance. As soon, however, as they learned that it was another who introduced those thoughts and affections they were angry and turned themselves away, thus confirming nevertheless that there is no appearance of distance in the internal thought or sight unless it is made manifest as it is to the external sight or the eye; and consequently it is believed that there is influx.
[4] To this I will add my own daily experience. Evil spirits have often introduced into my thoughts evils and falsities which seemed to me as if they were in myself and originating from myself, or as if I myself thought them. But knowing them to be evils and falsities I endeavoured to find out who had introduced them, and when these spirits were detected they were driven away; and they were at a considerable distance from me. Hence it may be evident that all evil with its falsity flows in from hell and that all good with its truth flows in from the Lord, and that they both appear as if they were in man.
DP 313. The character of those who are in their own prudence, and of those who are in prudence not their own and who are thus in the Divine Providence, is described in the Word by Adam and his wife Eve in the Garden of Eden, where there were two trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and by their eating of the latter tree. It may be seen above (n. 241), that by Adam and his wife Eve, in the internal or spiritual sense, is meant and described the Most Ancient Church of the Lord upon this earth, which was more noble and heavenly than the succeeding Churches.
[2] The signification of the other particulars in the narrative is as follows. By the Garden of Eden is signified the wisdom of the men of that Church; by the tree of life, the Lord as to the Divine Providence; and by the tree of knowledge, man as to his own prudence. By the serpent is signified the sensual of man and his proprium, which in itself is the love of self and the pride of his own intelligence, thus the devil and satan; and by eating of the tree of knowledge, the appropriation of good and truth, on the assumption that these do not originate from the Lord and consequently are the Lord’s, but that they originate from man and consequently are man’s. Moreover, since good and truth are the Divine things themselves with man, for by good is meant everything of love and by truth everything of wisdom, therefore if man claims these for himself as his own he cannot but believe that he is as God. Thus the serpent said,
In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God (A.V. as gods), knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5).
So also do those in hell who are in the love of self and thence in the pride of their own intelligence.
[3] By the condemnation of the serpent is signified the condemnation of one’s own love and one’s own intelligence; by the condemnation of Eve is signified the condemnation of the voluntary proprium, and by Adam’s condemnation that of the intellectual proprium; by the thorn and the thistle that the earth would bring forth to him are signified mere falsity and evil; by the expulsion from the Garden is signified the deprivation of wisdom; by the guarding of the way to the tree of life, the Lord’s protecting care lest the holy things of the Word and of the Church should be violated; by the fig leaves with which they covered their nakedness are signified moral truths by which were veiled the things that pertained to their love and pride; and by the coats of skin by which they were afterwards clothed are signified the appearances of truth in which alone they were principled. This is the spiritual meaning of those things. He who wishes may remain in the sense of the Letter; only he should know that it is so understood in heaven.
DP 314. The character of those who are infatuated by their own intelligence may be evident from their fancies in matters of interior judgment, as, for example, concerning influx, thought and life. Concerning Influx, their thought is inverted; as that the sight of the eye flows into the internal sight of the mind, which is the understanding, and that the hearing of the ear flows into the internal hearing, which also is the understanding. They do not perceive that the understanding from the will flows into the eye and into the ear, and not only constitutes those senses but also uses them as its instruments in the natural world. Because this is not according to the appearance they do not perceive it, if it is only said that the natural does not flow into the spiritual but that the spiritual flows into the natural. They still think, What is the spiritual but a purer form of the natural? Also, Is it not apparent that if the eye sees anything beautiful, and the ear hears anything harmonious, the mind, that is, the understanding and the will, is delighted? They do not know that the eye does not see from itself, nor the tongue taste from itself, nor the nostrils smell from themselves, nor the skin feel from itself; but that it is man’s mind or spirit that there perceives such things by the sense and is affected by the sense in accordance with its nature. Nevertheless, man’s mind or spirit does not perceive them of itself but from the Lord; and to think otherwise is to think from appearances, and if these are confirmed, from fallacies.
[2] Concerning Thought, they say it is something modified in the air, varied according to its objects and increased in proportion as it is cultivated; thus that ideas of thought are images, like meteors, that appear in the air; and that the memory is a tablet upon which they are recorded. They do not know that thoughts are as much in substances purely organic as sight and hearing are in theirs. Let them only examine the brain and they will see that it is full of such substances; if you injure them you will become delirious: if you destroy them you will die. But what thought is, and also what memory is, may be seen above (n. 279), towards the end.
[3] Concerning Life they know nothing else than that it is a certain activity of nature that causes itself to be felt in various ways as a living body moves by the action of its organs. If it is asserted that in this case nature lives, they deny this, but they maintain that nature bestows life. If it is asked, Then is not life dissipated when the body dies? they answer that life remains in that small particle of air that is called the soul. If they are asked, What then is God? is He not Life itself? they are silent and are unwilling to declare what they think. If it is asked, Would you admit that the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom are life itself? they answer, What is love and what is wisdom? For immersed in their fallacies they do not see what these are, or what God is. These things are set forth that it may be seen how man is infatuated by his own prudence, as he forms all his conclusions from appearances and from fallacies based on them.
DP 316. One’s own prudence persuades and confirms the idea that all good and truth originate from and are in man, because man’s own prudence is his intellectual proprium flowing in from the love of self, which is his voluntary proprium; and the proprium cannot do otherwise than make all things its own, for it cannot be elevated above that idea. All who are led by the Divine Providence of the Lord are elevated above their proprium and then they see that all good and truth are from the Lord; indeed, they even see that what is in man originating from the Lord is always the Lord’s and never man’s. He who believes otherwise is like one who, having his master’s goods deposited with him, claims them for himself or appropriates them as his own. Such a man is not a steward but a thief; and as man’s proprium is only evil he immerses those goods in his evil, whereby they are destroyed like pearls cast upon a dung heap or into an acid solution.
DP 317. III. EVERYTHING OF WHICH MAN HAS PERSUADED HIMSELF AND WHICH HE HAS CONFIRMED IN HIMSELF REMAINS WITH HIM AS HIS OWN. It is believed by many that no truth can be seen by man except from proof; but this is false. In the civil and economic affairs of a kingdom or of a republic what is useful and good cannot be seen unless several statutes and ordinances in force there are known, and in judicial matters unless the laws are known; and in the things of nature, as physics, chemistry, anatomy, mechanics and other subjects, unless one has been instructed in the sciences. But in matters purely rational, moral and spiritual, truths are apparent in their own light, provided man has from a right education become in some degree rational, moral and spiritual. This is because every man as to his spirit, or that which thinks, is in the spiritual world as one among those who are there; and consequently he is in spiritual light which enlightens the interiors of his understanding, and as it were dictates. For spiritual light in its essence is the Divine Truth of the Lord’s Divine Wisdom. Hence it is that man can think analytically, form conclusions about what is just and right in judicial matters, can see what is honourable in moral life and what is good in spiritual life, and also can see many truths which do not become obscured unless by the confirmation of falsities. What is good and true in the spiritual life man sees almost in the same way as he sees the mind (animus) of another in his face, and perceives his affections from the tone of his voice, with no other knowledge than what is inherent in everyone. Why should not a man see in some measure from influx the interior things of his life, which are spiritual and moral, when there is no animal which does not know by influx the things necessary for it, which are natural? A bird knows how to build nests, lay its eggs, hatch its young and knows its own food; besides other wonderful things which are called instinct.
DP 318. But how man’s state is changed by the confirmations of falsities and persuasions derived from them will now be explained in the following order:
1. There is nothing that cannot be confirmed, and falsity more readily than truth.
2. Truth does not appear when falsity is confirmed, but falsity appears from confirmed truth.
3. To be able to confirm whatever one pleases is not intelligence but only ingenuity, which may exist even with the worst of men.
4. There is confirmation that is intellectual and not at the same time voluntary; but all voluntary confirmation is also intellectual.
5. The confirmation of evil that is both voluntary and intellectual causes man to believe that his own prudence is everything and the Divine Providence nothing, but not the confirmation that is only intellectual.
6. Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remains to eternity; but not what has been confirmed only by the understanding.
[2] With respect to the First: There is nothing that cannot be confirmed, and falsity more readily than truth. What may not be confirmed, when it is confirmed by atheists that God is not the Creator of the universe, but that nature is the creator of herself; that religion is only a restraining bond, and for the simple and the common people; that man is as a beast, and dies like one; and when it is confirmed that adulteries are allowable, likewise secret theft, fraud and treacherous devices; that cunning is intelligence and wickedness is wisdom? Everyone confirms his own heresy. Are there not volumes filled with confirmations of the two heresies prevailing in the Christian world? Formulate ten heresies even of an abstruse nature, and tell an ingenious person to confirm them, and he will confirm them all. If you then regard them only from their confirmations will you not see falsities as truths? As every falsity shines clearly in the natural man from appearances and fallacies, and truth shines only in the spiritual man, it is evident that falsity can be confirmed more readily than truth.
[3] In order that it may be known that every falsity and every evil can be confirmed even to the point that falsity appears as truth and evil as good, take this as an example: let it be confirmed that light is darkness and darkness light. May it not be urged, What is light itself? Is it not only something that appears in the eye according to its state? What is light when the eye is closed? Have not bats and owls such eyes that they see light as darkness and darkness as light? I have heard it said of some persons that they see in this way; and that infernal spirits, although they are in darkness, still see one another. Has not man light in his dreams in the middle of the night? Is not darkness therefore light, and light darkness? But it may be answered, What of this? Light is light as truth is truth; and darkness is darkness as falsity is falsity.
[4] Take another example: let it be confirmed that a crow is white. May it not be said that its blackness is only a shade which is not the reality? Its feathers are white within, and so is its body; and these are the substances of which the bird is formed. As its blackness is only a shade, therefore, the crow becomes white when it grows old, and some such have been seen. What is black in itself but white? Grind down black glass and you will see that the powder is white. Therefore, when you call a crow black you speak from the shadow and not from the reality. But it may be answered, What of this? At this rate it might be said that all birds are white. These examples, although they are contrary to sound reason, are set forth to show that it is possible to confirm falsity that is directly opposite to the truth, and to confirm evil that is directly opposite to good.
[5] Second: Truth does not appear when falsity is confirmed, but falsity appears from confirmed truth. All falsity is in darkness and all truth in light; and in darkness nothing is seen, nor indeed is it known what anything is unless by touching it; but it is not so in the light. For this reason in the Word falsities are called darkness; and consequently those who are in falsities are said to walk in darkness and in the shadow of death. On the other hand, truths are there called light, and consequently those who are in truths are said to walk in the light, and are called the children of light.
[6] From many things it is evident that when falsity is confirmed, truth does not appear, and that from confirmed truth falsity appears. For example, who would see any spiritual truth if the Word did not teach it? Would there not be merely darkness which could not be dispelled, unless by means of the light in which the Word is, and only with him who desires to be enlightened? What heretic can see his falsities unless he accepts the genuine truth of the Church? He does not see them before. I have conversed with some who have confirmed themselves in faith separated from charity, and who were asked whether they saw the many things in the Word concerning love and charity, about works and deeds, and about keeping the Commandments, and that he is blessed and wise who keeps them but foolish who does not. They replied that when they read those things they only saw them as matters of faith and so passed them by as it were with their eyes shut.
[7] Those who have confirmed themselves in falsities are like those who see streaks on an inner wall in a house; and in the shades of evening they see in their fancy the marked part like a man on horse-back or simply as a man, a visionary image which is dispelled by the light of day when it pours in. Who can perceive the spiritual defilement of adultery but one who is in the spiritual purity of chastity? Who can feel the cruelty of revenge but one who is in good arising from love of the neighbour? Who that is an adulterer, or who is revengeful, does not sneer at those who call the delights of such things infernal, and who, on the other hand, call the delights of marriage love and the love of the neighbour heavenly? and so on.
[8] Third: To be able to confirm whatever one pleases is not intelligence but only ingenuity, which may exist even with the worst of men. There are some very skilful in confirming who know no truth and yet can confirm both truth and falsity. Some of them say, What is truth? Does it exist? Is not that true which I make true? Yet these are considered intelligent in the world, although they are only plasterers of the wall. None are intelligent but those who perceive truth to be truth, and confirm truth by individual truths continually perceived. These two classes of men are not easily distinguished, because it is not possible to distinguish between the light of confirmation and the light of the perception of truth. There is the appearance that those who are in the light of confirmation are also in the light of the perception of truth, when nevertheless the difference between them is like that between illusive light and genuine light; and in the spiritual world illusive light is such that it is turned into darkness when genuine light flows in. There is such illusive light with many in hell; and when these are brought into genuine light they see nothing at all. Hence it is evident that to be able to confirm whatever one pleases is only, ingenuity which may exist even with the worst of men.
[9] Fourth: There is confirmation that is intellectual and not at the same time voluntary, but all voluntary confirmation is also intellectual. Take these examples by way of illustration. Those who confirm faith separate from charity and yet live the life of charity, who in general confirm falsity of doctrine and yet do not live according to it, are those that are in intellectual confirmation and not at the same time in voluntary confirmation. On the other hand, those who confirm falsity of doctrine and who live according to it are those that are in voluntary confirmation and at the same time in intellectual confirmation. This is because the understanding does not flow into the will, but the will flows into the understanding. Hence it is also evident what the falsity of evil is, and what the falsity which is not of evil. Falsity which is not of evil can be conjoined with good, but falsity of evil cannot; because falsity which is not of evil is falsity in the understanding and not in the will, while falsity of evil is falsity in the understanding arising from evil in the will.
[10] Fifth: The confirmation of evil that is both voluntary and intellectual causes man to believe that his own prudence is everything and the Divine Providence nothing, but not the confirmation that is only intellectual. There are many who confirm in themselves their own prudence from appearances in the world but yet do not deny the Divine Providence; and theirs is only intellectual confirmation. With others, however, who at the same time deny the Divine Providence there also exists voluntary confirmation; but this, together with persuasion, is chiefly to be found with those who are worshippers of nature and also worshippers of self.
[11] Sixth: Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remains to eternity, but not what has been confirmed only by the understanding. For that which pertains to the understanding alone is not within the man but outside him: it is only in the thought. Moreover, nothing enters into man and is appropriated to him but what is received by the will, for it then comes to be of his life’s love. It will now be shown in the following number that this remains to eternity.
DP 319. Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remains to eternity because everyone is his own love, and love belongs to the will; also because every man is his own good or his own evil, for everything is called good, and likewise evil, that belongs to the love. Since a man is his own love he is also the form of his love, and may be called the organ of his life’s love. It was stated above (n. 279) that the affections of a man’s love and his consequent thoughts are changes and variations of the state and form of the organic substances of his mind, and what these changes and variations are and their nature will now be explained. Some idea of these may be obtained from the heart and lungs, where there are alternate expansions and compressions, or dilations and contractions, called in the heart systole and diastole, and in the lungs respirations; these are reciprocal extensions and retractions, or expansions and contractions of their lobes; such are the changes and variations of the state of the heart and lungs. There are similar changes and variations in the other viscera of the body and also in their parts, by which the blood and the animal juices are received and passed on.
[2] There are also similar changes and variations in the organic forms of the mind, which are the subjects of man’s affections and thoughts, as was shown above; with this difference, that their expansions and compressions, or reciprocal actions, are respectively in such greater perfection that they cannot be expressed in words of natural language, but only in words of spiritual language which indicate by their sound that these changes and variations are vortex-like inward and outward gyrations, after the manner of perpetually circling spirals wonderfully combined into forms receptive of life.
[3] The nature of those purely organic substances and forms in the wicked and in the good will now be stated. In the good those spiral forms are moved forward but in the wicked backward, and those that are moved forward are turned towards the Lord and receive influx from Him; while those that are moved backward are turned towards hell and receive influx from hell. It should be known that in the degree that they are turned backward, they are open behind and closed in front; and, on the other hand, in the degree that they are turned forward, they are open in front and closed behind.
[4] Hence it may be evident what kind of a form or organ a wicked man is, and what kind of a form or organ a good man is, and that they are turned in opposite directions; and as the turning once established cannot be reversed it is clear that such as a man is when he dies such he remains to eternity. It is the love of man’s will that makes this turning, or which converts and inverts; for, as was said above, every man is his own love. Hence it is that after death everyone goes the way of his love: he who is in a good love goes to heaven, and he who is in an evil love goes to hell; nor does man rest but in that society where his ruling love is; and what is wonderful, everyone knows the way, as though he scented it with his nostrils.
DP 320. IV. IF MAN BELIEVED, AS IS THE TRUTH, THAT ALL GOOD AND TRUTH ORIGINATE FROM THE LORD, AND ALL EVIL AND FALSITY FROM HELL, HE WOULD NOT APPROPRIATE GOOD TO HIMSELF AND ACCOUNT IT MERITORIOUS, NOR WOULD HE APPROPRIATE EVIL TO HIMSELF AND ACCOUNT HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. As this, however, is contrary to the belief of those who have confirmed in themselves the appearance that wisdom and prudence originate from man, and do not flow in according to the state of the organisation of men’s minds, treated of above (n. 319), it must now be demonstrated; and in order that this may be done clearly, the following order will be observed:
1. He who confirms in himself the appearance that wisdom and prudence originate from man and consequently are in him as his own, must needs see that if this were not so he would not be a man, but either a beast or a statue; when yet the contrary is true.
2. To believe and think, as is the truth, that all good and truth originate from the Lord and all evil and falsity from hell, appears as if it were impossible, when yet it is truly human and consequently angelic.
3. To believe and think thus is impossible to those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord, and who do not acknowledge evils to be sins; but it is possible to those who acknowledge these two things.
4. Those who are in the acknowledgment of these two things reflect only upon the evils in themselves and, so far as they shun them as sins and turn away from them, they cast them out from themselves to the hell from which they come.
5. In this way the Divine Providence does not appropriate either evil or good to anyone, but one’s own prudence appropriates both.
DP 321. These things will now be explained in the order proposed. First: He who confirms in himself the appearance that wisdom and prudence originate from man and are in man as his own must needs see that if this were not so he would not be a man, but either a beast or a statue, when yet the contrary is true. It is in accordance with a law of the Divine Providence that man should think as of himself and should act prudently as of himself, but yet should acknowledge that he does so from the Lord. Hence it follows that he who thinks and acts prudently as of himself and at the same time acknowledges that he does so from the Lord is a man. On the other hand, he is not a man who confirms in himself the idea that all he thinks and does is from himself; neither is he a man who, because he knows that wisdom and prudence originate from God, still waits for influx; for the latter becomes like a statue, and the former like a beast. It is clear that he who waits for influx is like a statue; for he must stand or sit motionless, with hands hanging down and eyes either shut or open without winking, neither thinking nor breathing. What life then has he?
[2] It is also clear that he who believes that everything he thinks and does is from himself is not unlike a beast, for he thinks only from the natural mind which man has in common with the beasts, and not from the spiritual rational mind which is the truly human mind; for this mind acknowledges that God alone thinks from Himself, and that man thinks from God. Therefore, one who thinks only from the natural mind knows no difference between a man and a beast except that a man speaks and a beast makes sounds, and he believes that they both die in a similar manner.
[3] Of those who wait for influx this further may be said. They receive none, except the few who from their heart desire it; and they occasionally receive some response by a vivid perception, or by tacit speech in the response, in their thought but rarely by any manifest speech. It is then to this effect that they should think and act as they wish and as they can, and that he who acts wisely is wise and he who acts foolishly is foolish. They are never instructed what to believe and what to do, and this in order that the human rational principle and human freedom may not perish; that is, that everyone may act from freedom according to reason, to all appearance as from himself. Those who are instructed by influx what to believe or what to do are not instructed by the Lord or by any angel of heaven but by some Enthusiast, Quaker, or Moravian spirit and are led astray. All influx from the Lord is effected by enlightenment of the understanding, and by the affection for truth, and through the latter passing into the former.
[4] Second: To believe and think, as is the truth, that all good and truth originate from the Lord and all evil and falsity from hell, appears as if it were impossible, when yet it is truly human and consequently angelic. To believe and think that all good and truth are from God appears possible, provided nothing further is said, because it is according to theological faith, and it is not allowable to think contrary to this. On the other hand, to believe and think that all evil and falsity are from hell appears to be impossible, because one would then believe that man could not think at all. Yet man does think as from himself even though from hell, because the Lord grants to everyone that thought, whatever its origin, should appear in him as his own. Otherwise a man would not live as a man, nor could he be led out of hell and introduced into heaven, that is, be reformed, as has been frequently shown above.
[5] Therefore also the Lord grants to man to know and consequently to think that he is in hell when he is in evil, and that he thinks from hell if he thinks from evil. He also grants to him to think of the means by which he may escape out of hell and not think from it, but may enter heaven and there think from the Lord; and He further grants to man freedom of choice. From these considerations it may be seen that man is able to think evil and falsity as if from himself, and also to think that this or that is evil or false; consequently that it is only an appearance that he does so of himself, for without this appearance he would not be a man. To think from truth is the human and consequently the angelic principle itself; and it is a truth that man does not think from himself, but that it is granted him by the Lord to think, to all appearance as from himself.
[6] Third: To believe and think thus is impossible to those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord, and who do not acknowledge evils to be sins, but it is possible to those who acknowledge these two things. It is impossible to those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord because it is the Lord alone who grants to man to think and to will; and those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord, being separated from Him, believe that they think from themselves. It is impossible also to those who do not acknowledge evils to be sins, because they think from hell; and in hell everyone imagines that he thinks from himself. However, that it is possible to those who acknowledge these two things may be evident from what has been fully set forth above (n. 288-294).
[7] Fourth: Those who are in the acknowledgment of these two things reflect only upon the evils in themselves; and, so far as they shun them as sins and turn away from them, they cast them out from themselves to the hell from which they come. Everyone knows, or may know, that evil originates from hell and that good is from heaven. Consequently, everyone may know that so far as man shuns evil and turns away from it so far he shuns and turns away from hell. So, too, he may know that so far as anyone shuns evil and turns away from it so far he wills and loves good; and consequently so far is he brought out of hell by the Lord and led to heaven. These things every rational man may see, provided he knows that there is a heaven and a hell and that evil and good are from their own respective sources. Now if a man reflects upon the evils in himself, which is the same thing as examining himself, and shuns them, he then frees himself from hell and casts it behind him, and introduces himself into heaven where he sees the Lord face to face. It is stated that man does this, but he does it as of himself, and then from the Lord. When a man from a good heart and a pious faith acknowledges this truth, it lies inwardly concealed in everything that he afterwards thinks and does as from himself. It is like the prolific principle in a seed which inwardly remains with it even until the production of new seed; and like the pleasure in the appetite for food which a man has once recognised to be wholesome for him; in a word, it is like the heart and soul in everything that he thinks and does.
[8] Fifth: In this way the Divine Providence does not appropriate either evil or good to anyone, but one’s own prudence appropriates both. This follows from all that has now been said. The end in view of the Divine Providence is good; accordingly it purposes good in every operation. Therefore it does not appropriate good to anyone, for such good would thereby become meritorious; nor does it appropriate evil to anyone, for it would thereby make him answerable for the evil. Yet man does both from his proprium because this is nothing but evil. The proprium of his will is the love of self, and the proprium of his understanding is the pride of his own intelligence, and from this arises man’s own prudence.
XVII. EVERY MAN MAY BE REFORMED, AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS PREDESTINATION
DP 322. It is a dictate of sound reason that all are predestined to heaven, and no one to hell; for all are born men, and consequently the image of God is in them. The image of God in them consists in this, that they are able to understand truth and to do good. To be able to understand truth is from the Divine Wisdom, and to be able to do good is from the Divine Love. This power constitutes the image of God, which remains with the man of sound mind, and is not eradicated. In consequence of this he can become a civil and a moral man; and he that becomes this can also become spiritual; for what is civil and moral is the receptacle of what is spiritual. He who knows the laws of the state of which he is a citizen and lives according to them is said to be a civil man; and he is said to be a moral man who makes those laws the standard of his morals and of his virtues, and from reason lives according to them.
[2] I will now state how the civil and the moral life is the receptacle of the spiritual life: Live these laws not only as civil and moral laws but also as Divine laws, and you will be a spiritual man. There scarcely exists a nation so barbarous that it has not by its laws prohibited murder, adultery with the wife of another, theft, false witness and the violation of another’s property. The civil and the moral man observes these laws in order that he may be, or seem to be, a good citizen; but if he does not at the same time regard these laws as Divine he is only a civil and a moral natural man; and if he also regards them as Divine he becomes a civil and a moral spiritual man. The difference is, that the latter is a good citizen not only of an earthly kingdom but also of the heavenly kingdom, while the former is a good citizen of an earthly kingdom but not of the heavenly kingdom. They are distinguished by the good they do. The good which civil and moral natural men do is not good in itself, for man and the world are in it; while the good which civil and moral spiritual men do is good in itself because the Lord and heaven are in it.
[3] Hence it may be evident that every man because he is born such that he can become a civil and a moral natural man is also born such that he can become a civil and a moral spiritual man. The only condition is that he should acknowledge God and not do evil because it is against God but should do good because it is in harmony with God. When this condition is observed a spirit enters into his civil and moral actions, and they live; but when it is not observed there is no spirit in them, and consequently they do not live. Therefore the natural man, however civil and moral his actions may he, is called dead, while the spiritual man is called alive.
[4] It is of the Lord’s Divine Providence that every nation has some form of religion; and the primary essential of every religion is the acknowledgment that there is a God, otherwise it is not called a religion; and every nation that lives according to its religion, that is, which refrains from doing evil because it is contrary to its God, receives something spiritual in its natural. When one hears some Gentile say that he will not commit this or that evil because it is contrary to his God, does he not say to himself, Is not this man saved? It appears as if it could not be otherwise: sound reason declares this to him. On the other hand, when one hears a Christian say, I regard this or that evil as of no moment; what does it signify that it is said to be contrary to God? does he not say to himself, Surely this man cannot be saved? it seems to be impossible that he should. This also sound reason declares.
[5] Should such a one say, I was born a Christian, I have been baptised, I have known the Lord, I have read the Word, I have attended the sacrament of the Supper, do these things avail when he does not regard as sins murder, or the revenge which inspires it, adultery, secret theft, false testimony or lying, and various ford of violence? Does such a man think of God or of any eternal life? Does he think that these exist? Does not sound reason declare that such a one cannot be saved? These things have been said of the Christian because the Gentile thinks more about God from religion related to life than the Christian does. More, however, will be said on this subject in what follows in this order:
I. -The end of creation is a heaven from the human race.
II. -Therefore it is from the Divine Providence that every man can be saved; and that those are saved who acknowledge God and live well.
III. -The man himself is in fault if he is not saved.
IV. -Thus all are predestined to heaven, and no one to hell.
DP 323. I. THE END OF CREATION IS A HEAVEN FROM THE HUMAN RACE. That heaven consists solely of those who have been born men is shown in the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published in London in the year 1758, and also above; and as heaven consists of no others it follows that the end of creation is a heaven from the human race. That this was the end of creation was indeed shown above (n. 27-45); but it will be seen still more clearly from an explanation of the following points:
1. Every man is created that he may live forever.
2. Every man is created that he may live forever in a state of happiness.
3. Thus every man is created that he may enter heaven.
4. The Divine Love cannot do otherwise than desire this, and the Divine Wisdom cannot do otherwise than provide for it.
DP 324. Since from these considerations it may also be seen that the Divine Providence is none other than predestination to heaven and cannot be changed into any other, it falls to be shown here in the order set forth that the end of creation is a heaven from the human race. First: Every man is created that he may live forever. In the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, Parts Third and Fifth, it is shown that in man there are three degrees of life, called the natural, the spiritual and the celestial, and that these degrees are actually in every man; while in beasts there is only one degree of life, which is similar to the lowest degree in man called the natural. From this it follows that man by the elevation of his life to the Lord is in such a state above the beasts that he is able to understand what pertains to the Divine Wisdom and to will what pertains to the Divine Love, and in this way to receive the Divine; and he who can receive the Divine so as to see and perceive it in himself cannot be otherwise than conjoined to the Lord, and through this conjunction cannot but live forever.
[2] Having surrounded Himself with the whole of the created universe, what would the Lord be, had He not also created images and likenesses of Himself to whom He could impart His Divine? Otherwise what would He be but a Creator causing something to be and not to be, or to exist and not to exist, and this for no other purpose than that He might contemplate from afar a mere shifting of scenes and continual changes as in some theatre? Why should the Divine be in these images and likenesses were it not that they might be of service to subjects that would receive the Divine more intimately, and see and feel it? Further, as the Divine is a Being of inexhaustible glory, would He retain it to Himself alone, or indeed could He? For love desires to communicate its own to another, and even to give from its own as much as it can. What then would the Divine Love which is infinite not give? Can that give and take away again? Would not this be giving what is about to perish? Inwardly in itself this is nothing, as when anything perishes it comes to naught, that which IS not being in it. But the Divine Love gives what IS, that is, which does not cease to be, and this is eternal.
[3] In order that every man may live forever, what is mortal with him is taken away. His mortal part is the material body which is taken away by his death. His immortal part, which is his mind, is thus unveiled and he then becomes a spirit in human form, his mind being that spirit. The sages or wise men of old perceived that the mind of man cannot die; for they said, How can spirit (animus) or mind die when it can exercise wisdom? Few men at the present day know what they interiorly understood by this: but there was an idea which descended from heaven into their general perception that God is Wisdom itself which man shares; and God is immortal or eternal.
[4] As it has been granted me to speak with angels I will also say something from my own experience. I have talked with some who lived many ages ago, with some who lived before the Flood and with some who lived after it, with some who lived in the time of the Lord, with one of His Apostles, and with many who lived in later times. They all appeared like men of middle age, and they said they did not know what death is, but only that there is condemnation. Moreover, all who have lived well, when they enter heaven, come into the state of early manhood they reached in the world and continue in it to eternity, even those who had been old and decrepit men in the world. Women, too, although they had been shrunken and aged, return to the flowering period of their age and beauty.
[5] That man after death lives forever is manifest from the Word where life in heaven is called eternal life, as in (Matt. 19:29; 25:46; Mark 10:17; Luke 10:25; 18:30; John 3:15, 16, 36; 5:24, 25, 39; 6:27, 40, 68; 12:50; also simply life, Matt. 18:8, 9; John 5:40; 20:31). The Lord also said to the disciples:
Because I live, ye shall live also. (John 14:19);
and concerning the resurrection,
That God is a God of the living, and not a God of the dead, And that they cannot die any more (Luke 20:38, 36).
[6] Second: Every man is created that he may live forever in a state of happiness. This follows as a consequence; for He who wills that man should live forever also wills that he should live in a state of happiness. What would eternal life be without that? All love desires the good of another. The love of parents desires the good of their children; the love of the bridegroom and of the husband desires the good of the bride and of the wife; and friendship’s love desires the good of friends. What then does the Divine Love not desire? What is good but delight? And what is Divine Good but eternal happiness? All good is called good from its delight or happiness. That which is given and possessed is indeed called good, but unless it is also delightful it is a barren good, not good in itself. Hence it is clear that eternal life is also eternal happiness. This state of man is the end of creation; and it is not the Lord’s fault but man’s that only those who enter heaven are in that state. That man is in fault will be seen in what follows.
[7] Third: Thus every man is created that he may enter heaven. This is the end of creation; but all do not enter heaven because they become imbued with the delights of hell which are opposite to the happiness of heaven; and those who are not in the happiness of heaven cannot enter heaven, for they cannot endure it. To no one who enters the spiritual world is it denied to ascend to heaven; but when one who is in the delight of hell enters heaven his heart palpitates, his breathing is laboured, his life begins to fail, he is in anguish, distress and torment, and he writhes like a serpent placed close to a fire. This is so because opposites act against each other.
[8] Nevertheless, they cannot die, as they were born men and thereby with the faculty of thinking and willing, and consequently of speaking and acting. However, as they can live only with those who are in a similar delight of life they are sent to them; thus those who are in the delights of evil and those who are in the delights of good are sent to their own appropriate companions. It is indeed granted everyone to experience the delight of his own evil provided he does not molest any who are in the delight of good; but as evil cannot do otherwise than molest good, for there is inherent in evil hatred against good, therefore lest the wicked should inflict injury they are removed and cast down to their own place in hell, where their delight is turned to what is the reverse of delightful.
[9] But this does not alter the fact that man by creation is such, and consequently is born such, that he may enter heaven; for everyone who dies in infancy goes to heaven, and is there brought up and instructed as a person is in the world; and through his affection for good and truth he is imbued with wisdom and becomes an angel. Such also might the man become who is brought up and instructed in the world, for there is inherent in him the same as is in the infant. Concerning infants in the spiritual world see the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published in London in the year 1758 (HH 329-345).
[10] With many in the world this does not take place, because they love the first degree of their life, called the natural, and have no desire to withdraw from it and become spiritual. The natural degree of life regarded in itself loves only self and the world, for it clings to the bodily senses and these occupy a prominent place in the world; but the spiritual degree of life regarded in itself loves the Lord and heaven, and also itself and the world, but God and heaven as higher, principal and ruling, and itself and the world as lower, instrumental and serving.
[11] Fourth: The Divine Love cannot do otherwise than desire this, and the Divine Wisdom cannot do otherwise than provide for it. It is shown at length in the treatise, THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, that the Divine Essence is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom; and it is also demonstrated there (DLW 358-370) that in every human embryo the Lord forms two receptacles, one for the Divine Love and the other for the Divine Wisdom, a receptacle of the Divine Love for the future will of the man, and a receptacle of the Divine Wisdom for his future understanding; and that in this way He has endowed every man with the faculty of willing good and the faculty of understanding truth.
[12] Now since man from his birth is endowed with these two faculties by the Lord, and consequently the Lord is in them as in His own with man, it is clear that His Divine Love cannot but will that man should go to heaven and there enjoy eternal happiness; and also that the Divine Wisdom cannot but provide for this. But since it is from the Lord’s Divine Love that man should feel heavenly blessedness in himself as his own, and this is impossible unless he is kept completely in the appearance that he thinks, wills, speaks and acts of himself, therefore the Lord can lead man only according to the laws of His Divine Providence.
DP 325. II. THEREFORE IT IS FROM THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT EVERY MAN CAN BE SAVED AND THAT THOSE ARE SAVED WHO ACKNOWLEDGE GOD AND LIVE WELL. It is clear from what has been shown above that every man can be saved. Some are of the opinion that the Church of the Lord is only in the Christian world, because there alone the Lord is known and there alone is the Word. Still, however, many believe that the Church of the Lord is general, that is, spread and dispersed throughout the whole world, thus existing also with some who are ignorant of the Lord and who do not have the Word. They maintain that it is not the fault of those men that they cannot overcome their ignorance, and that it is contrary to the love and mercy of God that some should be born for hell when yet they also are equally men.
[2] Now since many if not all Christians believe that the Church is general, being called indeed a communion, it follows that there are fundamental general principles of the Church which enter into all religions and constitute that communion. That these fundamental general principles are the acknowledgment of God and the good of life will be seen in the following order:
1. The acknowledgment of God brings about the conjunction of God with man and of man with God, and the denial of God causes their separation.
2. Everyone acknowledges God and is conjoined to Him according to the good of his life.
3. The good of life, that is, living well, is shunning evils because they are contrary to religion, thus contrary to God.
4. These are the general principles of all religions by which everyone can be saved.
DP 326. These propositions must now be examined and demonstrated one by one. First: The acknowledgment of God brings about the conjunction of God with man and of man with God, and the denial of God causes their separation. Some may think that those who do not acknowledge God can be saved just as well as those who do, provided they lead a moral life. They say, What does acknowledgment accomplish? Is it not mere thought? Can I not easily acknowledge God when I know for certain that there is a God? I have heard of Him but I have not seen Him. Make me see Him and I will believe. Such is the language of many who deny God when they have an opportunity to reason freely with one who acknowledges God. However, that the acknowledgment of God conjoins and the denial of Him separates will be illustrated by some things made known to me in the spiritual world. In that world when anyone thinks about another and desires to converse with him, the other is immediately present. This is general there and never fails. The reason is that in the spiritual world there is no distance as in the natural world, but only an appearance of distance.
[2] Another fact is that as thought from some knowledge of another causes his presence so love from any affection for another causes conjunction with him. Thus it comes to pass that people go about and converse in a friendly way, live together in one house or in one society, frequently meet and render mutual services. The opposite also happens; thus he who does not love another, and still more, he who hates another, does not see or meet him; and the distance they are apart is according to the degree that love is wanting or hate is present. Indeed, should he come into the other’s presence and remember his hatred he becomes invisible to him.
[3] From these few particulars it may be evident how presence and conjunction are brought about in the spiritual world; namely, that presence arises from recalling another with a desire to see him and that conjunction arises from an affection which springs from love. It is the same with all the things that are in the human mind. In it there are innumerable things and the several particulars are there associated and conjoined according to affections, or as one thing is attracted to another.
[4] This is spiritual conjunction, which is the same in general things and in particular things. This spiritual conjunction has its origin from the conjunction of the Lord with the spiritual world and with the natural world, in general and in particular. From this it is clear that so far as one knows the Lord and from this knowledge thinks about Him, so far the Lord is present; and so far as anyone acknowledges Him from an affection of love, so far the Lord is conjoined to him: but on the other hand, so far as anyone does not know the Lord so far the Lord is absent; and so far as anyone denies Him, so far is He separated from him.
[5] The result of conjunction is that the Lord turns a man’s face to Himself and then leads him; while the result of separation is that hell turns a man’s face to itself and leads him. Therefore all the angels of heaven turn their faces to the Lord as the Sun, and all the spirits of hell turn their faces away from the Lord. Hence it is evident what results from the acknowledgment of God, and what from the denial of Him. Those who deny God in the world deny Him after death, and they become organisms according to the description given above (n. 319); and the organisation induced in the world remains forever.
[6] Second: Everyone acknowledges God and is conjoined to Him according to the good of his life. All can have a knowledge of God who know anything from religion. They can also speak of God from knowledge (scientia), that is, from what is in the memory, and some may also think about Him from the understanding. However, if one does not live well, this only brings about presence; for he can nevertheless turn himself away from God towards hell; and this happens if he lives wickedly. But only those can acknowledge God in their heart who live well; and these according to the good of their life the Lord turns away from hell and towards Himself. The reason is that these alone love God, for they love Divine things, which are from Him, in doing them. The Divine things which are from God are the precepts of His Law. These are God because He is His own Divine going forth: this is to love God, and therefore the Lord says:
He that keepeth my commandment, he it is that loveth me.... But he that keepeth not my commandments loveth me not. (John 14:21, 24).
[7] This is the reason why there are two tables of the Decalogue, one relating to God and the other relating to man. God works unceasingly that man may receive what is in his own table; but if man does not do the things that are in his table he does not receive with acknowledgment of heart the things that are in God’s table; and if he does not receive them he is not conjoined. Therefore those two tables were so joined together as to be one, and were called the tables of the covenant, for covenant signifies conjunction. Everyone acknowledges God and is conjoined to Him according to the good of his life because the good of life is like the good that is in the Lord, and consequently that originates from the Lord. Therefore when man is in the good of life conjunction is effected. The contrary is the case with evil of life; for this rejects the Lord.
[8] Third: The good of life, that is, living well, is shunning evils because they are contrary to religion, thus contrary to God. That this is the good of life, or living well, is fully shown in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, from beginning to end. To this I will merely add that if you do good to the fullest extent, for example, if you build churches, adorn them and fill them with votive offerings; if you expend money lavishly on hospitals and guest-houses for strangers, give aims daily, succour widows and orphans; if you diligently observe the holy things of worship, indeed, if you think about them, speak and preach about them as from the heart, and yet do not shun evils as sins against God, all those goods are not good. They are either hypocritical or meritorious, for there is still evil interiorly within them, since the life of everyone is in all things that he does, in general and in particular. Goods only become good by the removal of evil from them. Hence it is clear that shunning evils because they are contrary to religion, thus contrary to God, is living well.
[9] Fourth: These are the general principles of all religions by which everyone can be saved. To acknowledge God and to refrain from doing evil because it is against God are the two things which make religion to be religion. If one of them is wanting it cannot be called religion, since to acknowledge God and to do evil is a contradiction; so also is to do good and yet not acknowledge God, for one is not possible without the other. It has been provided by the Lord that almost everywhere there should be some form of religion, and that in every religion there should be these two principles; and it has also been provided by the Lord that everyone who acknowledges God and refrains from doing evil because it is against God should have a place in heaven. For heaven in the complex resembles one Man whose life or soul is the Lord. In that heavenly Man there are all things which are in a natural man with that difference which exists between things heavenly and things natural.
[10] It is well known that in man there are not only forms, organised from blood vessels and nerve fibres, called viscera, but also skins, membranes, tendons, cartilages, bones, nails and teeth, which have life in a less degree than the organised forms themselves which they serve as ligaments, coverings and supports. The heavenly Man, which is heaven, in order that all these things may be in it, cannot be composed of men all of one religion but of men of many religions. Therefore, all who make these two universal principles of the Church part of their life have a place in that heavenly Man, that is, heaven, and there enjoy happiness in their own degree. More on this subject may be seen above (n. 254).
[11] That these two are the primary principles in every religion may be evident from the fact that they are the two which the Decalogue teaches. The Decalogue was the principal constituent of the Word, and, promulgated by Jehovah by a living voice from Mount Sinai, was written upon two tables of stone by the finger of God. It was then placed in the ark and was called Jehovah, and constituted the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, and formed the shrine in the temple at Jerusalem, and all the things there derived their sanctity from it alone. There are many more details from the Word concerning the Decalogue in the ark set forth in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM (Life 53-61), and to these I will add the following: It is well known from the Word that the ark containing the two tables on which the Decalogue was written was taken by the Philistines and placed in the temple of Dagon in Ashdod; and that Dagon fell to the earth before it, and afterwards his head with the palms of his hands torn from his body lay upon the threshold of the temple; and that the people of Ashdod and Ekron, to the number of many thousands, were smitten with emerods on account of the ark, and their land was ravaged by mice; also that the Philistines, on the advice of the chiefs of their nation, made five golden emerods and five golden mice, and a new cart on which they placed the ark with the golden emerods and mice beside it; and, drawn by two cows that lowed on the way before the cart, they sent the ark back to the Children of Israel; and by them the cows and the cart were offered up in sacrifice (1 Sam. 5:1-12; 6:1-19).
[12] It will now be stated what all these things signified. The Philistines signified those who are in faith separated from charity. Dagon represented that form of religion. The emerods with which they were smitten signified natural loves which, when separated from spiritual love, are unclean, and the mice signified the devastation of the Church by the falsification of truth. The new cart on which they sent back the ark signified new but natural doctrine, for chariot in the Word signifies doctrine from spiritual truths, and the cows signified good natural affections. The golden emerods signified natural loves purified and made good, and the golden mice signified the vastation of the church ended by means of good, for gold in the Word signifies good. The lowing of the cows on the way signified the difficult conversion of the lusts of evil of the natural man into good affections, and the offering of the cows with the cart as a burnt-offering signified that in this way the Lord was propitiated.
[13] This is what is spiritually meant by these things in This historical narrative. Connect them together in one sense and make the application. That the Philistines represented those who are in faith separated from charity may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH (Faith 49-54); and that the ark, because the Decalogue was contained within it, was the most holy thing of the Church, may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM (Life 53-61).
DP 327. III. THE MAN HIMSELF IS IN FAULT IF HE IS NOT SAVED. Every rational man, as soon as he hears it, acknowledges the truth that evil cannot flow from good nor good from evil, because they are opposites; consequently, that from good there flows nothing but good, and from evil nothing but evil. When this truth is acknowledged it is also acknowledged that good can be turned into evil not by a good but by an evil recipient; for every form converts into its own quality what flows into it, as may be seen above (n. 292). Now since the Lord is Good in its very essence, or Good itself, it is evident that evil cannot flow from Him or be produced by Him; but that good can be turned into evil by the recipient subject whose form is a form of evil. Such a subject is man as to his proprium, which continually receives good from the Lord and continually turns it into the nature of its own form, which is a form of evil. Hence it follows that man is in fault if he is not saved. Evil is indeed from hell; but as man receives it from hell as his own, and thereby appropriates it to himself, therefore it is the same whether it is said that evil is from man or from hell. But how there comes to be such an appropriation of evil that at length religion perishes will be explained in the following order:
1. Every religion in process of time declines and is consummated.
2. Every religion declines and is consummated by the inversion of the image of God in man.
3. This takes place from the continual increase of hereditary evil in successive generations.
4. Nevertheless it is provided by the Lord that everyone may be saved.
5. It is also provided that a new Church should succeed in place of the former devastated Church.
DP 328. These propositions are now to be demonstrated in their order: First: Every religion in process of time declines and is consummated.On this earth there have been several Churches, one after another; as wherever the human race exists there a Church exists; for, as was shown above, heaven which is the end of creation is from the human race; and no one can enter heaven unless he is in the two universals of the Church which, as was shown above (n. 326), are the acknowledgment of God and the leading of a good life. Hence it follows that there have been Churches on this earth from the most ancient times down to the present. These Churches are described in the Word, but not historically with the exception of the Israelitish and Jewish Church. Before that, however, there were Several that are only described in the Word under the names of nations and of persons, and by certain particulars concerning them.
[2] The Most Ancient Church, which was the first, is described under the name of Adam and his wife Eve. The Church that followed, called the Ancient Church, is described under the name of Noah, his three sons and their posterity. This was a wide spread Church, extending over many of the kingdoms of Asia, namely, the land of Canaan on both sides of the Jordan, Syria, Assyria and Chaldea, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Arabia, Tyre and Sidon. These had the ancient Word referred to in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 101-103). That such a Church existed in those kingdoms is evident from various particulars recorded concerning them in the prophetical parts of the Word. This Church, however, was notably changed by Eber, from whom arose the Hebrew Church, in which worship by sacrifices was first instituted. From the Hebrew Church sprang the Israelitish and Jewish Church, established with due solemnity for the sake of the Word which was there to be written.
[3] These four Churches are meant by the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar in a dream, the head of which was of pure gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the legs and feet of iron and clay (Dan. 2:32, 33). The same is meant by the golden, the silver, the copper and the iron ages, mentioned by ancient writers. It is well known that the Christian Church succeeded the Jewish Church; and it may be seen from the Word that all these Churches in process of time declined until they reached their end, which is called their consummation.
[4] The consummation of the Most Ancient Church, brought about by the eating of the tree of knowledge, by which is signified the pride of one’s own intelligence, is described by the Flood. The consummation of the Ancient Church is described by various devastations of nations treated of both in the historical and in the prophetical parts of the Word, especially by the driving out of the nations from the land of Canaan by the Children of Israel. The consummation of the Church of Israel and Judah is under stood by the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, and by the carrying away of the people of Israel into perpetual captivity, and of the Jewish nation to Babylon, and finally by the second destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem at the same time and the dispersion of that nation. This consummation is foretold in many places in the Prophets and in (Daniel 9:24-27); while the gradual devastation of the Christian Church until its end is described by the Lord in Matthew xxiv, in Mark xiii, and in Luke xxi, but the consummation itself in the Apocalypse. From these considerations it may be evident that a Church in process of time declines and is consummated; and so also does a religion.
[5] Second: Every religion declines and is consummated by the inversion of the image of God in man. It is well known that man was created In the image of God, according to the likeness of God (Gen. 1:26). It will now be explained what the image and what the likeness of God is. God alone is Love and Wisdom; and man was created to be a receptacle of both, that his will might be a receptacle of the Divine Love and his understanding a receptacle of the Divine Wisdom. It was shown above that these two receptacles are in man from creation, that they constitute man and that they are formed in everyone in the womb. Thus man’s being an image of God means that he is a recipient of the Divine Wisdom, and his being a likeness of God means that he is a recipient of the Divine Love. Therefore the receptacle called the understanding is an image of God, and the receptacle called the will is a likeness of God. Since man then was created and formed to be a receptacle, it follows that he was created and formed that his will might receive love from God and that his understanding might receive wisdom from God. These man receives when he acknowledges God and lives according to His commandments, but in a lesser or greater degree as he has from religion a knowledge of God and of His commandments; and consequently as he has a knowledge of truths; for truths teach what God is and how He is to be acknowledged, also what His commandments are and how man is to live according to them.
[6] The image and likeness of God are not destroyed in man though they may be seemingly destroyed; for they remain inherent in his two faculties called liberty and rationality, which have been treated of above In many places. They have become seemingly destroyed when man has made the receptacle of Divine Love, that is, his will, a receptacle of self-love, and the receptacle of Divine Wisdom, that is, his understanding, a receptacle of his own intelligence. By doing this he has inverted the image and likeness of God, for he has turned these receptacles away from God and has turned them towards himself. Consequently they have become closed above and opened below, or closed in front and opened behind, although by creation they were opened in front and closed behind. When they have thus been inversely opened and closed, the receptacle of love, that is, the will, receives influx from hell or from one’s own proprium; and so also does the receptacle of wisdom, that is, the understanding. Hence arose in the Churches the worship of men in place of the worship of God, and worship based on doctrines of falsity in place of worship based on doctrines of truth, the latter from one’s own intelligence and the former from love of self. From this it is clear that religion in process of time declines and is consummated by the inversion of the image of God in man.
[7] Third: This takes place from the continual increase of hereditary evil in successive generations. It was stated and explained above that hereditary evil is not what has come down from Adam and his wife Eve by their eating of the tree of knowledge, but that it is successively derived and transmitted from parents to their offspring, and thus by continual increase grows from generation to generation. When evil thus increases among many, it spreads evil amongst many more; for in all evil there is the lust of leading astray, and in some this burns with anger against what is good, giving rise to the contagion of evil. When this has permeated the leaders, and the rulers, and those prominent in the Church, religion becomes perverted, and the means of restoring it to health, which are truths, become corrupted by falsification. Hence there now proceeds a gradual vastation of good and desolation of truth in the Church until its consummation is reached.
[8] Fourth: Nevertheless it is provided by the Lord that everyone may be saved. It is provided by the Lord that there should be a religion everywhere; and that in every religion there should be the two essentials of salvation, namely, to acknowledge God and to refrain from evil because it is against God. All other things pertaining to the understanding and thence to thought, which are called matters of faith, are provided for everyone according to his life, for they are accessories of the life; and if these are given precedence (over the essentials) still they do not receive life. It is also provided that all who have lived well and have acknowledged God are instructed after death by angels; and then those who had observed these two essentials of religion while in the world accept the truths of the Church as they are in the Word, and acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and of the Church. This teaching they receive more readily than Christians who have brought with them from the world an idea of the Lord’s Human separated from His Divine. It is moreover provided by the Lord that all are saved who die in infancy, no matter where they have been born.
[9] Further, there is granted to everyone after death the opportunity of amending his life, if that is at all possible. All are instructed and led by the Lord by means of angels; and as they now know that they live after death, and that there is a heaven and a hell, they at first receive truths. Those, however, who have not acknowledged God and who have not shunned evils as sins when in the world soon show a distaste for truths and withdraw; while those who acknowledged truths with the lips but not with he heart are like the foolish virgins who had lamps but no oil, and who begged oil of others and also went away and bought it, and yet were not admitted to the wedding. Lamps signify truths of faith and oil signifies the good of charity. Hence it may be evident that the Divine Providence designs that everyone can be saved, and that man himself is in fault if he is not saved.
[10] Fifth: It is also provided that a new Church should succeed in place of the former devastated Church. This has been the case from the most ancient times, namely, that when a former Church was devastated a new Church has taken its place. The Ancient Church succeeded the Most Ancient; after the Ancient Church the Israelitish or Jewish Church followed; and after this, the Christian Church. Moreover, it is foretold in the Apocalypse that this will be followed by a new Church which is there meant by the New Jerusalem descending from heaven. The reason why a new Church is being provided by the Lord to succeed in place of the former devastated Church may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (Sacred 104-113).
DP 329. IV. THUS ALL ARE PREDESTINED TO HEAVEN, AND NO ONE TO HELL. That the Lord casts no one down to hell, but that the spirit casts himself, is shown in the work HEAVEN AND HELL, published at London in the year 1758 (HH 545-550). This happens with every wicked and impious person after death; and it is the same with the wicked and impious person in the world, with this difference that while in the world he is capable of being reformed, and may acquire and use to his advantage the means of salvation, but not after his departure from the world. The means of salvation relate to these two essentials, that evils must be shunned because they are contrary to the Divine laws in the Decalogue, and there must be the acknowledgment that there is a God. This everyone can do provided he does not love evils; for the Lord is continually flowing into his will with power that he may be able to shun evils, and into his understanding with power that he may be able to think that there is a God. Nevertheless, no one can do the one without at the same time doing the other, for these two things are joined together like the two tables of the Decalogue, ne of which relates to God and the other to man. The Lord in accordance with what is in His table enlightens everyone and gives him power; but man receives power and enlightenment only so far as he carries out what is laid down in his table: before this, the two appear as if lying one upon the other and fastened with a seal; but as man carries out what is in his table they are unsealed and opened.
[2] What is the Decalogue at the present day but like a little closed book or religious primer, opened only in the hands of infants and children? Say to anyone of mature age, Do not do this because it is contrary to the Decalogue, and who pays any attention? But if you say, Do not do this because it is contrary to the Divine laws, he may give this his attention; and yet the commandments of the Decalogue are the Divine laws themselves. An experiment was made with several spirits in the spiritual world, and when the Decalogue or Catechism was mentioned they rejected it with contempt. The reason for this is that the Decalogue in its second table, which is man’s table, teaches that evils are to be shunned; and he who does not shun them, whether from impiety or from the religious belief that works avail nothing, but only faith, hears with some contempt the Decalogue or Catechism being mentioned as though he heard mention made of a book for children, which is no longer of any use to him.
[3] These things have been stated in order that it may be known that a knowledge of the means by which he may be saved, or the power, is not wanting to anyone if he desires to be saved. From this it follows that all are predestined to heaven, and no one to hell. As, however, there has prevailed among some a belief in predestination to the opposite of salvation, that is, to condemnation, and as this belief is harmful and cannot be dispelled unless the reason sees the folly and the cruelty of it, it must therefore be considered in the following order:
1. Any predestination except to heaven is contrary to the Divine Love and its infinity.
2. Any predestination except to heaven is contrary to the Divine Wisdom and its infinity.
3. It is a foolish heresy that only those are saved who are born within the Church.
4. It is a cruel heresy that any of the human race are condemned by predestination.
DP 330. In order that it may be apparent how harmful is the belief in predestination as generally understood, these four propositions must be taken up and established. First: Any predestination except to heaven is contrary to the Divine Love, which is infinite. It has been shown in the treatise, THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, that Jehovah or the Lord is Divine Love, and that the Divine Love is infinite and the Being (Esse) of all life, and also that man was created in the image according to the likeness of God. Since also everyone is formed in the womb in that image according to that likeness by the Lord, as has also been shown, it follows that the Lord is the heavenly Father of all men, and that men are His spiritual children. So is Jehovah or the Lord called in the Word, and so also are men; and therefore He says:--
Call no father (A.V. man) your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, who is in the heavens (A.V. heaven). (Matt. 23:9).
By this is meant that He alone is the Father as to life, and that the earthly father is father only as to the covering of life, which is the body. Therefore in heaven no other than the Lord is called Father. That men who do not pervert that life are said to be His sons and to be born of Him is also clear from many passages in the Word.
[2] Hence it may be evident that the Divine Love is in every man, both the wicked and the good; consequently that the Lord who is Divine Love cannot act otherwise than as a father on earth acts towards his children, and infinitely more so, because the Divine Love is infinite; and also that He cannot withdraw from anyone because the life of everyone is derived from Him. He appears to withdraw from the wicked; but it is the wicked who withdraw, while He from love still leads them. Therefore the Lord says:
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. What man is there of you, who if his son ask bread will give him a stone? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give good things to them that ask Him? (Matt. 7:7-11);
and elsewhere,
He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. (Matt. 5:45).
Moreover, it is well known in the Church that the Lord desires the salvation of all, and the death of no one. Hence it may be seen that any predestination except to heaven is contrary to the Divine Love.
[3] Second: Any predestination except to heaven is contrary to the Divine Wisdom, which is infinite. The Divine Love through its Divine Wisdom provides the means by which every man may be saved; and therefore to say that there is any predestination except to heaven is to say that the Divine Love cannot provide the means by which salvation may be effected. Nevertheless, as has been shown above, all have the means, and these are from the Divine Providence, which is infinite. However, there are some who are not saved, because the Divine Love desires that man should feel in himself the happiness and the blessedness of heaven, for otherwise it would not be heaven to him, and this cannot take place unless it appears to man that he thinks and wills from himself. For without this appearance nothing would be appropriated to him nor would he be a man. For this reason there is the Divine Providence, which is of the Divine Wisdom from the Divine Love.
[4] This, however, does not deny the truth that all are predestined to heaven and no one to hell; but it would deny it if the means of salvation were wanting. But it has been shown above that the means of salvation have been provided for everyone, and that heaven is such that all who live well, of whatever religion they may be, have a place there. Man is like the earth which produces fruits of every kind, and it is by virtue of this power that the earth is the earth. The fact that it produces evil fruits does not deny its power to produce good fruits also, but it would if it only had the power to produce evil fruits. Again, man is like an object which variegates in itself the rays of light. If the object only presents colours that are not pleasing, the light is not the cause of this, for its rays may be variegated to produce pleasing colours.
[5] Third: It is a foolish heresy that only those are saved who are born within the Church. Those who are born outside the Church are men as well as those born within it, being of the same heavenly origin, and are equally living and immortal souls. They also have a form of religion from which they acknowledge that there is a God, and that they ought to live well; and he who acknowledges God and lives well becomes spiritual in his own degree and is saved, as was shown above. It is urged that these have not been baptised; but baptism does not save any except those who are spiritually washed, that is, regenerated, for baptism is a sign and a memorial of this.
[6] It is also urged that the Lord is not known to them, and that without the Lord there is no salvation. Salvation, however, does not come to anyone because the Lord is known to him, but because he lives according to the Lord’s commandments; and the Lord is known to everyone who acknowledges God, for the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself teaches (Matt. 28:18). Moreover, those who are outside the Church have a clearer idea of God as a Man than Christians have; and those who have the idea of God as a Man and live well are accepted by the Lord. They also acknowledge God as one in Person and in Essence, which Christians do not. They also think of God in their life; for they regard evils as sins against God, and those who do this think of God in their life. Christians derive their precepts of religion from the Word, but few of them draw any precepts of life from it.
[7] Roman Catholics do not read the Word; and Protestants who are in faith separated from charity pay no attention to those things in the Word which relate to life, but only to those which relate to faith: and yet the whole Word is nothing else than the doctrine of life. Christianity prevails only in Europe; Mohammedanism and Gentilism prevail in Asia, the Indies, Africa and America, and the population in these parts of the globe is ten times more numerous than in the Christian part; and in the Christian part there are but few who place religion in the life. What then is more foolish than to believe that only these latter are saved and the former are condemned, and that a man gains heaven by his birth and not by his life? Therefore the Lord says:
I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. (Matt. 8:11, 12).
[8] Fourth: It is a cruel heresy that any of the human race are condemned by predestination. For it is cruel to believe that the Lord, who is Love itself and Mercy itself, suffers so great a multitude of men to be born for hell, or so many myriads of myriads to be born condemned and doomed, that is, to be born devils and satans; and that He does not from His Divine Wisdom provide that those who live well and acknowledge God should not be cast into everlasting fire and torment. The Lord is ever the Creator and Saviour of all; and He alone leads all and desires the death of no one. It is therefore cruel to believe and think that so great a multitude of nations and peoples under His auspices and oversight should be handed over as prey to the devil by predestination.
DP 331. It has been shown in THE ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM that the Lord is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and that these two are Being (Esse) itself and Life itself, from which everything is and lives. It is shown also that there is a like proceeding from Him, and that the Divine proceeding is Himself. bong the things which proceed the Divine Providence is primary, for this is continually in the end for which the universe was created. The operation and the progression of the end through means is what is called the Divine Providence.
[2] Now since the Divine proceeding is Himself and the Divine Providence is the primary thing that proceeds, it follows that to act contrary to the laws of His Divine Providence is to act contrary to Himself. It may also be said that the Lord is Providence, as it is said that God is Order, for the Divine Providence is the Divine Order primarily with regard to the salvation of men; and as there is no order without laws, for laws constitute order and every law derives from order that it also is order, it follows that as God is Order He is also the law of His own Order. Similarly, it may be said of the Divine Providence that as the Lord is His own Providence He is also the law of His own Providence. Hence it is clear that the Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of His Divine Providence, because to act contrary to them would be to act contrary to Himself.
[3] Further, there can be no operation except upon a subject and upon it through means; for operation is impossible except upon a subject and upon it through means. The subject of the Divine Providence is man; the means are Divine truths by which man acquires wisdom, and Divine goods by which he acquires love. The Divine Providence through these means works out its end, which is man’s salvation; for he who wills an end wills also the means; and therefore when he, who thus wills, works out an end he works it out through means. These things, however, will become more evident when they are examined in the following order:
I. -The operation of the Divine Providence for the salvation of man begins at his birth and continues right on to the end of his life, and afterwards to eternity.
II. -The operation of the Divine Providence is effected unceasingly through means out of pure mercy.
III. -Instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy is impossible.
IV. -Instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy is the fiery flying serpent in the Church.
DP 332. I. THE OPERATION OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE FOR THE SALVATION OF MAN BEGINS AT HIS BIRTH AND CONTINUES RIGHT ON TO THE END OF HIS LIFE, AND AFTERWARDS TO ETERNITY. It was shown above that a heaven from the human race is the essential end of the creation of the universe, and that this end in its operation and progress is the Divine Providence for the salvation of men; and also that all things which are external to man and which are serviceable for his use are secondary ends of creation; and these in short have relation to all things that exist in the three kingdoms, the animal, the vegetable and the mineral. When the things in these kingdoms constantly proceed according to the laws of Divine order established at their first creation, how can the primary end, which is the salvation of the human race, fail to proceed constantly according to the laws of its order, which are the laws of the Divine Providence?
[2] Just observe a fruit tree. It first springs from a tiny seed as a slender shoot, and afterwards gradually grows to a stem and spreads forth branches which are then covered with leaves. It later puts forth flowers and bears fruit, depositing therein new seeds by which it provides for its perpetuity; and it is the same with every shrub and herb of the field. Do not all things therein, in general and in particular, proceed constantly and wonderfully from one end in view to another according to the laws of their own order? Why then should not the primary end, which is a heaven from the human race, proceed in a similar manner? Can there be anything in the course of its progress which does not proceed with unfailing constancy according to the laws of the Divine Providence?
[3] As there is a correspondence between the life of man and the growth of a tree, draw a parallel or comparison between them. In the language of comparison man’s infancy is like the tender shoot of a tree springing out of the earth from the seed; and his childhood and youth are like the shoot growing up to a stem with its little branches. Natural truths which everyone first acquires are like the leaves with which the branches are covered, for leaves in the Word signify these truths. Man’s first steps in the marriage of good and truth, that is, the spiritual marriage, are like the flowers which the tree puts forth in the spring-time, and spiritual truths are the petals of these flowers. The earliest results of the spiritual marriage are like the beginnings of the fruit, while spiritual goods, which are the goods of charity, are like the fruit; and these are signified by fruit in the Word. Wisdom’s offspring from love resembles the seed, and by such offspring man becomes as a garden and a paradise. Moreover, man is described in the Word by a tree, and his wisdom from love by a garden. This is what is signified by the Garden of Eden.
[4] Man, indeed, is a corrupt tree from the seed; but, nevertheless, there is possible a grafting or budding with shoots taken from the Tree of Life, by which the sap drawn up from the old root is turned into sap forming good fruit. This comparison is made in order that it may be known that when there is so constant a progression of the Divine Providence in the development and regeneration of trees there must be a constant progression in the reformation and regeneration of men, who are of much more value than trees, as we read in these words of the Lord:
Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? and not one of them is forgotten before God: But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Consider the lilies how they grow. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will He clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Luke 12:6, 7, 25-28).
DP 333. The operation of the Divine Providence for the salvation of man is said to begin at his birth and to continue right on to the end of his life. In order to understand this it should be known that the Lord sees what the nature of a man is, and foresees what he desires to be, and thus what he will be; and in order that he may be a man and therefore immortal, the freedom of his will cannot be taken away, as has been shown above in many places. Therefore the Lord foresees man’s state after death and provides for it from his birth right on to the end of his life. With the wicked the Lord provides by permitting and continually withdrawing them from evils; while with the good He provides by leading them to good. Thus the Divine Providence is unceasing in the work of saving man. However, no more can be saved than desire to be saved, and only those desire to be saved who acknowledge God and are led by Him; but those do not desire to be saved who do not acknowledge God and who lead themselves; for these give no thought to eternal life and salvation, while the others do. This the Lord sees and still He leads them, leading them according to the laws of His Divine Providence, contrary to which He cannot act, since so to act would be to act contrary to His Divine Love and contrary to His Divine Wisdom, that is, contrary to Himself.
[2] Now since the Lord foresees the state of all after death and also foresees the places in hell of those who do not desire to be saved, and the places in heaven of those who desire to be saved, it follows, as has been said, that He provides their places for the wicked by permitting and withdrawing, and their places for the good by leading; and unless this were done continually from the birth of everyone to the end of his life neither heaven nor hell would continue to exist, for without this foresight and Providence at the same time neither heaven nor hell would be anything but confusion. It may be seen above (n. 202, 203) that everyone has his place provided for him by the Lord from this foresight.
[3] This may be illustrated by the following comparison. If a javelin thrower or a musketeer were to aim at a target and a straight line were drawn from the target a thousand feet beyond it; and if he should err in his aim by only a nail’s breadth, his weapon or bullet, at a distance of a thousand feet, would diverge very far from the line drawn beyond the mark. So would it be if the Lord did not every moment, even every least fraction of a moment, regard eternity in foreseeing and providing everyone’s place after death. This, however, is done by the Lord because all the future is present to Him and all the present is to Him eternal. It may be seen above (n. 46-69, 214, and following numbers) that the Divine Providence in everything it does has regard to the infinite and the eternal.
DP 334. The operation of the Divine Providence is also said to continue to eternity because every angel is being perfected in wisdom to eternity, but each according to that degree of affection for good and truth in which he was when he departed from the world. It is this degree which is being perfected to eternity. What is beyond this degree is external to the angel and not within him; and what is external to the angel cannot be perfected within him. This is meant by the
Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, which shall be given into the bosom of those who forgive and give to others (Luke 6:37, 38);
that is, who are in the good of charity.
DP 335. II. THE OPERATION OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS EFFECTED UNCEASINGLY THROUGH MEANS OUT OF PURE MERCY. There are means and methods of the Divine Providence. Its means are the things from the exercise of which a man becomes a man and is perfected as to his understanding and his will; and its methods are the measures through which such things are effected. The means from the exercise of which a man becomes a man and is perfected as to his understanding are commonly termed truths. These become ideas in the thought, and in the memory they are said to be matters of memory; but in themselves they are rational conceptions from which the sciences are derived. All these means regarded in themselves are spiritual, but as they exist in natural things, from their covering or clothing they appear to be natural, and some of them to be material. These means are infinite in number and variety, and are more or less simple and compound, and also more or less imperfect and perfect. There are means for forming and perfecting natural civil life, also for forming and perfecting rational moral life, and also for forming and perfecting heaven!y spiritual life.
[2] These means follow in succession, one after another, from infancy to the last age of man, and after that to eternity; and as they follow in their growth, so the former become the means of the later, since they enter into everything that is formed as mediate causes; for from such causes every effect or every conclusion becomes effective, and thus becomes a cause. Thus in succession the later become means; and as this process goes on to eternity, there is no last or ultimate which closes it. For as the eternal is without end so wisdom which increases to eternity is without end. If there were any end to wisdom in a wise man the delight of his wisdom, which consists in its perpetual multiplication and fructification, would perish; and so also would the delight of his life, and in its place would succeed the delight of glory, in which by itself there is no heavenly life. Then the wise man no longer becomes like a youth but like a man, old and at length decrepit.
[3] Although the wisdom of a wise man in heaven increases to eternity, yet there is no such approximation of angelic wisdom to the Divine Wisdom that it can reach it. It may be illustrated by what is said of a straight line drawn about a hyperbola, continually approaching but never touching it and by what is said about squaring the circle. Hence it may be evident what is meant by the means whereby the Divine Providence operates in order that a man may be a man and be perfected as to his understanding, these means being commonly termed truths. There is also an equal number of means by which man is formed and perfected as to his will, and these are commonly termed goods. From these man derives love, while from the former he derives wisdom. Their conjunction makes the man, for the nature of the man is according to the nature of their conjunction. This conjunction is what is called the marriage of good and truth.
DP 336. Moreover, the methods by which the Divine Providence operates upon the means and through these to form man and to perfect him are also infinite in number and variety. They are as numerous as the operations of the Divine Wisdom from the Divine Love to save man, and thus as numerous as the operations of the Divine Providence in accordance with its laws which have been previously treated of. That these methods are of a very hidden nature was illustrated above by the operations of the soul upon the body, about which man knows so little that it scarcely amounts to anything; as how the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue and the skin function; how the stomach digests, the mesentery prepares the chyle and the liver the blood; how the pancreas and the spleen purify the blood, the kidneys separate it from impure humours, the heart collects and distributes it and the lungs purify it and pass it on; and how the brain refines the blood and vivifies it anew; besides innumerable other things which are all hidden into which scarcely any knowledge can enter. From this it is clear that still less can the hidden operations of the Divine Providence be entered into; it is enough that its laws are known.
DP 337. The Divine Providence does all things out of pure Mercy, because the Divine Essence itself is pure Love; and it is this which operates through the Divine Wisdom, and this operation is called the Divine Providence. This pure Love is pure Mercy because:
1. It operates with all men throughout the whole world, who are such that they can do nothing from themselves.
2. It operates equally with the wicked and unjust, and with the good and just.
3. It leads the former in hell and rescues them from it.
4. It perpetually strives with them there and fights for them against the devil, that is, against the evils of hell.
5. For that cause it came into the world, and endured temptations even to the last of them, which was the passion of the cross.
6. It acts continually with the unclean to make them clean and with the unsound in mind to restore them to sanity; thus it labours continually out of pure Mercy.
DP 338. III. INSTANTANEOUS SALVATION FROM IMMEDIATE MERCY IS IMPOSSIBLE. In what has gone before it was shown that the operation of the Divine Providence for the salvation of man begins at his birth and continues right on to the end of his life, and afterwards to eternity; also that this operation is continually effected through means out of pure mercy. Hence it follows that neither instantaneous salvation nor immediate mercy is possible. However, as many who give no thought from the understanding to matters pertaining to the Church or to religion believe that they are saved from immediate mercy and consequently that salvation is instantaneous, and yet this is contrary to the truth and is moreover a pernicious belief, it is important that it should be considered in its proper order:
1. The belief in instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy has been assumed from the natural state of man.
2. This belief comes from ignorance of the spiritual state, which is totally different from the natural state.
3. The doctrines of all the Churches in the Christian world, regarded interiorly, are against instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy, but still it is maintained by external men in the Church.
[2] First: The belief in instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy has been assumed from the natural state of man. The natural man from his own state does not know otherwise than that heavenly joy is like worldly joy, and that it flows in and is received in the same way; that it is, for example, like the joy of a poor man who becomes rich and who thus from a sad state of poverty comes into a happy state of opulence; or like that of a lowly person who becomes honoured and so passes from a state of contempt to glory; or like that of one who goes from a house of mourning to the joy of a wedding. As these states may be changed in a day, and a similar idea is entertained of the state of man after death, it is clear how the belief has arisen that salvation is instantaneous from immediate mercy.
[3] Moreover, in the world many may be gathered in one company or in one civil community and may be merry together, and yet all may differ in their mind (animis). This happens in man’s natural state, and the reason is that the external of one may be accommodated to the external of another, however unlike their internals may be. From this natural state it is also concluded that salvation is merely admission into the company of angels in heaven, and that this admission is from immediate mercy. It is, therefore, also believed that heaven can be granted to the wicked as well as to the good, and that their association is then similar to that in the world, with this difference only that it is full of joy.
[4] Second: This belief comes from ignorance of the spiritual state, which is totally different from the natural state. The spiritual state, which is the state of man after death, has been treated of above in many places, where it is shown that everyone is his own love, and that no one can live with any except with those who are in a like love; and that if he enters the company of others he cannot breathe his own life. It is for this reason that everyone after death comes into a society of his own people, that is, of those who are in a similar love, and that he recognises them as relatives and friends, and what is wonderful, when he meets them and sees them it is as if he had known them from infancy. This is the result of spiritual relationship and friendship; and what is more, no one in a society can live in any other house than his own, each one in a society having his own house which he finds ready for him as soon as he enters the society. He may take part with others in meetings outside his own house, but still he cannot dwell anywhere but in it. Moreover, in another’s apartment no one can sit anywhere but in his own place. If he sits anywhere else he becomes mentally inert and dumb; and what is wonderful, everyone when he enters a room knows his own place. It is the same in places of worship and in assemblies, when people meet together.
[5] From these circumstances it is clear that the spiritual state is totally different from the natural state, and is such that no one can be anywhere but where his ruling love prevails; for there is the delight of his life, and everyone desires to be in the delight of his life. A man’s spirit cannot be anywhere else because that delight constitutes his life, even his very breathing and the beating of his heart. It is different in the natural world, where the external of man is taught from infancy to simulate in countenance, speech and gesture other delights than those of his internal. Therefore, from the state of a man in the natural world no conclusion can be formed regarding his state after death; for the state of everyone after death is spiritual, and is such that he cannot be anywhere but in the delight of his love; and this delight he acquires for himself by his life in the natural world.
[6] Hence it may be plainly evident that no one who is in the delight of hell can be admitted into the delight of heaven, which is commonly called heavenly joy; or what is the same thing, that no one who is in the delight of evil can be admitted into the delight of good. This conclusion may be still more evident from the circumstance that after death no one is denied entrance into heaven. The way is pointed out to him, opportunity is afforded him and he is even introduced; but as soon as he enters and inhales with his breath its delight, he begins to feel pain in his breast, to suffer torture in his heart, and he falls into a swoon in which he writhes like a serpent brought close to a fire. Then with his face turned away from heaven and turned towards hell he flees headlong down nor does he rest till he is in a society of his own love. Hence it may be evident that it is not possible for anyone to go to heaven from immediate mercy. Consequently, mere admission is not the only thing needful, as many in the world suppose; nor is there such a thing as instantaneous salvation, for this implies immediate mercy.
[7] There were some who while in the world believed in instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy; and when they became spirits they desired that their infernal delight, or their delight in evil, should be changed by the Divine Omnipotence and at the same time by the Divine Mercy into heavenly delight, or the delight in good. As they ardently desired this, permission was given for it to be done by angels, who then removed their infernal delight. Thereupon, as that was the delight of their life’s love and consequently their life, they lay as if dead, deprived of all feeling and motion; nor was it possible to breathe into them any other life than their own, because all the things both of mind and body which had been reversed could not be turned back again. They were therefore revived by sending into them the delight of their own life’s love; and they afterwards said that while in that state they had experienced something dreadful and horrible which they did not care to make known. For this reason it is said in heaven that it is easier to change an owl into a turtle dove or a serpent into a lamb than an infernal spirit into an angel of heaven.
[8] Third: The doctrines of the Churches in the Christian world, regarded interiorly, are against instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy, but still it is maintained by external men in the Church. The doctrines of all Churches, regarded interiorly, teach life. What Church is there whose doctrine does not teach that a man ought to examine himself, see and acknowledge his sins, confess them, repent and then live a new life? Without this warning instruction is anyone admitted to the Holy Communion? Make inquiry and you will be convinced. What Church is there whose doctrine is not founded on the commandments of the Decalogue? and the commandments of the Decalogue are commandments of life. What man of the Church is there in whom there is anything of the Church, who does not acknowledge when he hears it that he who lives well is saved and he who lives wickedly is condemned? Therefore in the Athanasian Creed, which is also the doctrine received in the whole Christian world, it is said That the Lord will come to judge the quick and the dead; and then those that have done good will enter into life eternal, and those that have done evil into eternal fire.
[9] From this it is clear that the doctrines of all Churches when regarded interiorly teach life; and because they teach life they teach that salvation is according to the life. Now a man’s life is not breathed into him in a moment, but is formed gradually, and is reformed as the man shuns evils as sins; consequently, as he knows what sin is, and recognising it acknowledges it, and as he does not will it and therefore desists from it, and as he learns also the means which relate to the knowledge of God. By all these the life of man is formed and reformed, and these cannot be imparted in a moment; for hereditary evil which in itself is infernal must be removed, and in its place good which in itself is heavenly must be implanted. From his hereditary evil man may be compared to an owl as to the understanding and to a serpent as to the will; but when he has been reformed he may be compared to a dove as to the understanding and to a sheep as to the will. Therefore, instantaneous reformation and consequent salvation would be like the instantaneous change of an owl into a dove and of a serpent into a sheep. Who that knows anything about the life of man does not see that this is not possible unless the owl and serpent nature is removed and there is implanted the nature of the dove and the sheep?
[10] Moreover, it is well known that every intelligent man may become more intelligent and every wise man more wise; and that intelligence and wisdom may increase in a man, and that they do increase in some men from infancy to the end of life, and that man is thus continually perfected. Why should spiritual intelligence and wisdom not show greater development? This ascends by two degrees above natural intelligence and wisdom, and as this ascends it becomes angelic wisdom which is ineffable. It has been stated above that this increases with the angels to eternity. Who may not comprehend if he will that it is impossible for that which is being perfected to eternity to be made perfect in an instant?
DP 339. Hence it is now evident that all who from the point of view of life think of salvation do not think at all of instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy; but they think of the means of salvation on which and through which the Lord operates in accordance with the laws of His Divine Providence, and by which therefore man is led by the Lord from pure mercy. Those, however, who do not think of salvation from the point of view of life suppose an instantaneousness in salvation and an immediateness in mercy; as also do those who, separating faith from charity, when yet charity is life, suppose an instantaneousness in faith, and at the last hour, the hour of death, if not before. Those also do the same who believe remission of sins without repentance to be absolution from sins and thus salvation, and who attend the Holy Supper; likewise those who have faith in the indulgences of monks, in their prayers for the dead and in the dispensations they grant from the power they claim over the souls of men.
DP 340. IV. INSTANTANEOUS SALVATION FROM IMMEDIATE MERCY IS THE FIERY FLYING SERPENT IN THE CHURCH. By this fiery flying serpent is meant evil glowing from infernal fire, the same as is meant by the fiery flying serpent in Isaiah:
Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia (A.V. Palestina) because the rod (A.V. of him) that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. (Isa. 14:29).
Such evil is flying in the Church when there is belief in instantaneous salvation from immediate mercy; for by it
1. Religion is abolished;
2. Security is induced;
3. And condemnation is ascribed to the Lord.
[2] Concerning the First: By it religion is abolished. There are two things that are the essentials and at the same time the universals of religion, namely, the acknowledgment of God and repentance. These two are void of meaning to those who believe they are saved from mercy alone, no matter how they live; for what need is there of anything more than to exclaim, Have mercy on me, O God? With regard to everything else pertaining to religion they are in darkness, and they even love the darkness. With regard to the first essential of the Church, namely, the acknowledgment of God, they only think, What is God? Who ever saw Him? If it is said that there is a God, and that He is one, they say that He is one; if it is said that there are three, they also say that there are three, but that the three must be called one. This is their acknowledgment of God.
[3] With regard to the other essential of the Church, namely, repentance, they give it no thought; and consequently they give no thought to any sin, and at length they do not know that there is such a thing as sin. Then they hear, and drink it in with pleasure, that the law does not condemn, because the Christian is not under its yoke. If only you say, Have mercy on me, O God, for the sake of the Son, you will be saved. This with them is the repentance of life. If, however, you take away repentance, or what is the same thing, separate life from religion, what remains but the words, Have mercy on me? Hence it is that they could not do otherwise than maintain that salvation is instantaneous, effected by uttering these words, even at the hour of death, if not before. What, then, is the Word to them but a voice obscure and enigmatic, issuing from a tripod in a cave, or like an unintelligible response from the oracle of an idol? In a word, if you take away repentance, that is, if you separate life from religion, what then is man but evil glowing from infernal fire, or a fiery flying serpent in the Church? For without repentance man is in evil, and evil is hell.
[4] Second: By a belief in instantaneous salvation from pure mercy alone security of life is induced. Security of life arises either from the belief of the impious man that there is no life after death, or from the belief of the man who separates life from salvation. Although the latter might believe in eternal life he still thinks, Whether I live well or wickedly I can be saved, because salvation is pure mercy, and the mercy of God is universal for He does not desire the death of anyone. If perchance the thought occurs to him that mercy must be implored in the words of the accepted faith, he may think that this can be done, if not done before, still just at the point of death. Everyone in such a state of security makes light of adultery, fraud, injustice, deeds of violence, blasphemy and revenge, and gives a free rein to his body and spirit for the commission of all these evils; nor does he know what spiritual evil is, and its lust. Should anything from the Word reach his ears concerning this, it is like something that falls on ebony and rebounds, or like something that falls into a ditch and is swallowed up.
[5] Third: By that belief condemnation is ascribed to the Lord.Who can help concluding that if he is not saved it is not the man but the Lord who is in fault, when the Lord is able to save everyone from pure mercy? If it is said that faith is the medium of salvation, It will be urged, But what man is there to whom this faith cannot be given? For it is only thought, and this may be imparted with all confidence in every state of the spirit when it is withdrawn from worldly things. The man may also say, I cannot acquire that faith of myself. Accordingly, if it is not bestowed on him and he is condemned, what else can the condemned one think but that the Lord is in fault who could have given him faith but would not? Would this not be to call the Lord unmerciful? Moreover, in the glowing ardour of his faith he may say, How can He see so many condemned in hell when He is able to save them all in a moment from pure mercy? And much more in a similar strain, which can only be termed wicked impeachment of the Divine. From these things it may now be evident that belief in instantaneous salvation from pure mercy is the fiery flying serpent in the Church.
SUPPLEMENT
[6] Excuse the addition of what follows to fill up the paper that is left. Certain spirits by permission ascended from hell and said to me, You have written many things from the Lord; write something from us, too. I replied, What shall I write? They said, Write that every spirit, whether good or wicked, is in his own delight; the good spirit is in the delight of his good and the wicked spirit is in the delight of his evil. I then asked, What is your delight? And they replied that it was the delight of committing adultery, stealing, defrauding and telling lies. Again I asked, What are these delights like? They replied, They are perceived by others as offensive odours from excrement, and as the putrid smell from dead bodies, and as the reeking stench from stagnant urine pools. I then said, Are they delightful to you? And they replied, They are most delightful. I said, Then you are like unclean beasts that live in such filth. To this they replied, If we are, we are; nevertheless, such things are a delight to our nostrils.
[7] I asked, What more shall I write from you? They said, Write this, that everyone is permitted to gratify his own delight, even that which is most unclean, as it is called, provided he does not. molest good spirits and angels; but as we could not do otherwise than molest them we were driven away and cast into hell, where we suffer dreadfully. I asked, Why did you molest the good? And they replied that they could not do otherwise. It was as if a certain fury seized hold of them when they caught sight of any angel and felt the Divine sphere around him. Thereupon I said, You are indeed like wild beasts. When they heard this a fury came over them which appeared like the fire of hate; and to prevent them doing any harm they were withdrawn to hell. Concerning delights perceived as odours and offensive smells in the spiritual world see above (n. 303-305, 324).
1 By arcanum is meant a truth hitherto unknown, from arceo, to shut up or conceal.
1 Both Divinum Verum and Verum Divinum are used and the difference is indicated by translating Divinum Verum by Divine Truth, and Verum Divinum by Divine truth. Similarly Divinum Bonum and Bonum Divinum.
1 Mind is the general translation of mens. When mens and animus are used in contrast, mens is the higher plane of the mind in which will and understanding are rationally active, while animus is the lower plane of the mind in which desires and ideas in connection with the body are active. When animus is used in this connection the word mind is followed by (animus)
1 The Latin word proprium when used as a substantive mans "what is one’s own". Swedenborg uses it in a special sense involving "what is of the self.
1 See THE NEW JERUSALEM AND ITS HEAVENLY DOCTRINE.
1 This number follows 83, as in O.E.
1 Where Jehovah is in small capitals in the text, the A.V. has LORD; where Zebaoth is in small capita in the text, the A.V. has "of hosts".
1 Cisterna or receptaculum chyli, occasionally called the abdominal cistern.
1 The Latin word (lumen), thus in brackets, is used to refer to the natural light of man’s own intelligence, as distinct from spiritual light, and the physical light of the material world, for both of which the Latin word is lux.
1 This number follows 187, as in O.E.
1 Plural, as in (Isa. 1:15). See (AE 329).
1 This Appendix was omitted in the revision of the Psalm Book made in 1819.B.
1 In Swedenborg’s Writings the numbering of the Commandments is that adopted by Roman Catholics and Lutherans, combining into the First Commandment "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, etc." The numbering adopted by Anglicans and other Protestants follows that of the Westminster Catechism, and divides the First Commandment on the acknowledgment and worship of God into two, and combines the Ninth and Tenth on coveting into one. See TRUE CHRISTIAN RELIGION (TCR 325).
1 This numbering follows the O.E.
1 from himself (a se), from others (ex aliis). The prepositions a and ex, both here translated from, are used in contrast, a indicating the responsible agent or originating source, and ex an instrumental agent, contributing to the performance of an action. This distinction may be noted by translating a of an ex from, as: no one of himself thinks, but he thinks from others.
1 Clearly this word is not used in its modern sense, but describes those who trust only their own ideas.
1 This numbering follows the O.E.
1 plasterers of the wall. See above (n. 318); Ezekiel 13:10; AC 739; AE 237, 644.