[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:
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 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 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.
