Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom Part 2

So full of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom is the universe in greatest and least, and in first and last things, that it may be said to be Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in an image. That this is so is clearly evident from the correspondence of all things of the universe with all things of man. There is such correspondence of each and every thing that takes form in the created universe with each and every thing of man, that man may be said to be a sort of universe. There is a correspondence of his affections, and thence of his thoughts, with all things of the animal kingdom; of his will, and thence of his understanding, with all things of the vegetable kingdom; and of his outmost life with all things of the mineral kingdom. That there is such a correspondence is not apparent to any one in the natural world, but it is apparent to every one who gives heed to it in the spiritual world. In that world there are all things that take form in the natural world in its three kingdoms, and they are correspondences of affections and thoughts, that is, of affections from the will and of thoughts from the understanding, also of the outmost things of the life, of those who are in that world, around whom all these things are Visible, presenting an appearance like that of the created universe, with the difference that it is in lesser form. From this it is very evident to angels, that the created universe is an image representative of G.o.d-Man, and that it is His Love and Wisdom which are presented, in an image, in the universe. Not that the created universe is G.o.d-Man, but that it is from Him; for nothing whatever in the created universe is substance and form in itself, or life in itself, or love and wisdom in itself, yea, neither is man a man in himself, but all is from G.o.d, who is Man, Wisdom and Love, also Form and Substance, in itself.

That which has Being-in-itself is uncreate and infinite; but whatever is from Very Being, since it contains in it nothing of Being-in-itself, is created and finite, and this exhibits an image of Him from whom it has being and has form.

53. Of things created and finite Esse [Being] and Existere [Taking Form]

can be predicated, likewise substance and form, also life, and even love and wisdom; but these are all created and finite. This can be said of things created and finite, not because they possess anything Divine, but because they are in the Divine, and the Divine is in them. For everything that has been created is, in itself, inanimate and dead, but all things are animated and made alive by this, that the Divine is in them, and that they are in the Divine.

54. The Divine is not in one subject differently from what it is in another, but one created subject differs from another; for no two things can be precisely alike, consequently each thing is a different containant.

On this account, the Divine as imaged forth presents a variety of appearances. Its presence in opposites will be discussed hereafter.

55. ALL THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE ARE RECIPIENTS OF THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM OF G.o.d-MAN.

It is well known that each and all things of the universe were created by G.o.d; hence the universe, with each and every thing pertaining to it, is called in the Word the work of the hands of Jehovah. There are those who maintain that the world, with everything it includes, was created out of nothing, and of that nothing an idea of absolute nothingness is entertained. From absolute nothingness, however, nothing is or can be made. This is an established truth. The universe, therefore, which is G.o.d's image, and consequently full of G.o.d, could be created only in G.o.d from G.o.d; for G.o.d is Esse itself, and from Esse must be whatever is. To create what is, from nothing which is not, is an utter contradiction. But still, that which is created in G.o.d from G.o.d is not continuous from Him; for G.o.d is Esse in itself, and in created things there is not any Esse in itself. If there were in created things any Esse in itself, this would be continuous from G.o.d, and that which is continuous from G.o.d is G.o.d. The angelic idea of this is, that what is created in G.o.d from G.o.d, is like that in man which has been derived from his life, but from which the life has been withdrawn, which is of such a nature as to be in accord with his life, and yet it is not his life. The angels confirm this by many things which have existence in their heaven, where they say they are in G.o.d, and G.o.d is in them, and still that they have, in their esse, nothing of G.o.d which is G.o.d. Many things whereby they prove this will be presented hereafter; let this serve for present information.

56. Every created thing, by virtue of this origin, is such in its nature as to be a recipient of G.o.d, not by continuity, but by contiguity. By the latter and not the former comes its capacity for conjunction. For having been created in G.o.d from G.o.d, it is adapted to conjunction; and because it has been so created, it is an a.n.a.logue, and through such conjunction it is like an image of G.o.d in a mirror.

57. From this it is that angels are angels, not from themselves, but by virtue of this conjunction with G.o.d-Man; and this conjunction is according to the reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth, which are G.o.d, and which seem to proceed from Him, though really they are in Him. This reception is according to their application to themselves of the laws of order, which are Divine truths, in the exercise of that freedom of thinking and willing according to reason, which they possess from the Lord as if it were their own. By this they have a reception, as if from themselves, of Divine Good and of Divine Truth, and by this there is a reciprocation of love; for, as was said above, love is impossible unless it is reciprocal.

The same is true of men on the earth. From what has been said it can now first be seen that all things of the created universe are recipients of the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom of G.o.d-Man.

58. It cannot yet be intelligibly explained how all other things of the universe which are unlike angels and men, that is, the things below man in the animal kingdom, and the things below these in the vegetable kingdom, and the things still below these in the mineral kingdom, are also recipients of the Divine Love and of the Divine Wisdom of G.o.d-Man; for many things need to be said first about degrees of life, and degrees of the recipients of life. Conjunction with these things is according to their uses; for no good use has any other origin than through a like conjunction with G.o.d, but yet different according to degrees. This conjunction in its descent becomes successively such that nothing of freedom is left therein, because nothing of reason, and therefore nothing of the appearance of life; but still they are recipients. Because they are recipients, they are also re-agents; and forasmuch as they are re-agents, they are containants. Conjunction with uses which are not good will be discussed when the origin of evil has been made known.

59. From the above it can be seen that the Divine is in each and every thing of the created universe, and consequently that the created universe is the work of the hands of Jehovah, as is said in the Word; that is, the work of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, for these are meant by the hands of Jehovah. But though the Divine is in each and all things of the created universe there is in their esse nothing of the Divine in itself; for the created universe is not G.o.d, but is from G.o.d; and since it is from G.o.d, there is in it an image of Him like the image of a man in a mirror, wherein indeed the man appears, but still there is nothing of the man in it.

60. I heard several about me in the spiritual world talking together, who said that they were quite willing to acknowledge that the Divine is in each and every thing of the universe, because they behold therein the wonderful works of G.o.d, and these are the more wonderful the more interiorly they are examined. And yet, when they were told that the Divine is actually in each and every thing of the universe, they were displeased; which is a proof that although they a.s.sert this they do not believe it.

They were therefore asked whether this cannot be seen simply from the marvelous power which is in every seed, of producing its own vegetable form in like order, even to new seeds; also because in every seed an idea of the infinite and eternal is presented; since there is in seeds an endeavor to multiply themselves and to fructify infinitely and eternally? Is not this evident also in every living creature, even the smallest? In that there are in it organs of sense, also brains, a heart, lungs, and other parts; with arteries, veins, fibers, muscles, and the activities proceeding therefrom; besides the surpa.s.sing marvels of animal nature, about which whole volumes have been written. All these wonderful things are from G.o.d; but the forms with which they are clothed are from earthy matters, out of which come plants, and in their order, men.

Therefore it is said of man,

That he was created out of the ground, and that he is dust of the earth, and that the breath of lives was breathed into him (Genesis 2:7).

From which it is plain that the Divine is not man's own, but is adjoined to him.

61. ALL CREATED THINGS HAVE RELATION IN A KIND OF IMAGE TO MAN.

This can be seen from each and all things of the animal kingdom, from each and all things of the vegetable kingdom, and from each and all things of the mineral kingdom.

A relation to man in each and all things of the animal kingdom is evident from the following. Animals of every kind have limbs by which they move, organs by which they feel, and viscera by which these are exercised; these they have in common with man. They have also appet.i.tes and affections similar to man's natural appet.i.tes and affections; and they have inborn knowledges corresponding to their affections, in some of which there appears a resemblance to what is spiritual, which is more or less evident in beasts of the earth, and birds of the air, and in bees, silk-worms, ants, etc. From this it is that merely natural men consider the living creatures of this kingdom to be like themselves, except in the matter of speech.

A relation to man arising out of each and all things of the vegetable kingdom is evident from this: they spring forth from seed, and thereafter proceed step by step through their periods of growth; they have something akin to marriage, followed by prolification; their vegetative soul is use, and they are forms thereof; besides many other particulars which have relation to man. These also have been described by various authors.

A relation to man deducible from each and every thing of the mineral kingdom is seen only in an endeavor to produce forms which exhibit such a relation (which forms, as said above, are each and all things of the vegetable kingdom), and in an endeavor to perform uses thereby. For when first a seed falls into the bosom of the earth, she cherishes it, and out of herself provides it with nourishment from every source, that it may shoot up and present itself in a form representative of man. That such an endeavor exists also in its solid parts is evident from corals at the bottom of the seas and from flowers in mines, where they originate from minerals, also from metals. This endeavor towards vegetating, and performing uses thereby, is the outmost derivation from the Divine in created things.

62. As there is an endeavor of the minerals of the earth towards vegetation, so there is an endeavor of the plants towards vivification: this accounts for insects of various kinds corresponding to the odors emanating from plants. This does not arise from the heat of this world's sun, but from life operating through that heat according to the state of its recipients (as will be seen in what follows).

63. That there is a relation of all things of the created universe to man may be known from the foregoing statements, yet it can be seen only obscurely; whereas in the spiritual world this is seen clearly. In that world, also, there are all things of the three kingdoms, and in the midst of them the angel; he sees them about him, and also knows that they are representations of himself; yea, when the inmost of his understanding is opened he recognizes himself in them, and sees his image in them, hardly otherwise than as in a mirror.

64. From these and from many other concurring facts which there is not time to adduce now, it may be known with certainty that G.o.d is a Man; and that the created universe is an image of Him; for there is a general relation of all things to Him, as well as a particular relation of all things to man.

65. THE USES OF ALL CREATED THINGS ASCEND BY DEGREES FROM LAST THINGS TO MAN, AND THROUGH MAN TO G.o.d THE CREATOR, FROM WHOM THEY ARE.

Last things, as was said above, are each and all things of the mineral kingdom, which are materials of various kinds, of a stony, saline, oily, mineral, or metallic nature, covered over with soil formed of vegetable and animal matters reduced to the finest dust. In these lie concealed both the end and the beginning of all uses which are from life. The end of all uses is the endeavor to produce uses, and the beginning is the acting force from that endeavor. These pertain to the mineral kingdom.

Middle things are each and all things of the vegetable kingdom, such as gra.s.ses and herbs of every kind, plants and shrubs of every kind, and trees of every kind. The uses of these are for the service of each and all things of the animal kingdom, both imperfect and perfect. These they nourish, delight, and vivify; nouris.h.i.+ng the bellies of animals with their vegetable substances, delighting the animal senses with taste, fragrance, and beauty, and vivifying their affections. The endeavor towards this is in these also from life. First things are each and all things of the animal kingdom. Those are lowest therein which are called worms and insects, the middle are birds and beasts, and the highest, men; for in each kingdom there are lowest, middle and highest things, the lowest for the use of the middle, and the middle for the use of the highest. Thus the uses of all created things ascend in order from outmost things to man, who is first in order.

66. In the natural world there are three degrees of ascent, and in the spiritual world there are three degrees of ascent. All animals are recipients of life. The more perfect are recipients of the life and the three degrees of the natural world, the less perfect of the life of two degrees of that world, and the imperfect of one of its degrees. But man alone is a recipient of the life both of the three degrees of the natural world and of the three degrees of the spiritual world. From this it is that man can be elevated above nature, while the animal cannot. Man can think a.n.a.lytically and rationally of the civil and moral things that are within nature, also of the spiritual and celestial things that are above nature, yea, he can be so elevated into wisdom as even to see G.o.d. But the six degrees by which the uses of all created things ascend in their order even to G.o.d the Creator, will be treated of in their proper place.

From this summary, however, it can be seen that there is an ascent of all created things to the first, who alone is Life, and that the uses of all things are the very recipients of life; and from this are the forms of uses.

67. It shall also be stated briefly how man ascends, that is, is elevated, from the lowest degree to the first. He is born into the lowest degree of the natural world; then, by means of knowledges, he is elevated into the second degree; and as he perfects his understanding by knowledges he is elevated into the third degree, and then becomes rational. The three degrees of ascent in the spiritual world are in man above the three natural degrees, and do not appear until he has put off the earthly body.

When this takes place the first spiritual degree is open to him, afterwards the second, and finally the third; but this only with those who become angels of the third heaven; these are they that see G.o.d. Those become angels of the second heaven and of the last heaven in whom the second degree and the last degree can be opened. Each spiritual degree in man is opened according to his reception of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom from the Lord. Those who receive something thereof come into the first or lowest spiritual degree those who receive more into the second or middle spiritual degree, those who receive much into the third or highest degree. But those who receive nothing thereof remain in the natural degrees, and derive from the spiritual degrees nothing more than an ability to think and thence to speak, and to will and thence to act, but not with intelligence.

68. Of the elevation of the interiors of man, which belong to his mind, this also should be known. In everything created by G.o.d there is reaction.

In Life alone there is action; reaction is caused by the action of Life.

Because reaction takes place when any created thing is acted upon, it appears as if it belonged to what is created. Thus in man it appears as if the reaction were his, because he has no other feeling than that life is his, when yet man is only a recipient of life. From this cause it is that man, by reason of his hereditary evil, reacts against G.o.d. But so far as man believes that all his life is from G.o.d, and that all good of life is from the action of G.o.d, and all evil of life from the reaction of man, so far his reaction comes to be from [G.o.d's] action, and man acts with G.o.d as if from himself. The equilibrium of all things is from action and simultaneous reaction, and in equilibrium everything must be.

These things have been said lest man should believe that he himself ascends toward G.o.d from himself, and not from the Lord.

69. THE DIVINE, APART FROM s.p.a.cE, FILLS ALL s.p.a.cES OF THE UNIVERSE.

There are two things proper to nature - s.p.a.ce and time. From these man in the natural world forms the ideas of his thought, and thereby his understanding. If he remains in these ideas, and does not raise his mind above them, he is in no wise able to perceive things spiritual and Divine, for these he involves in ideas drawn from s.p.a.ce and time; and so far as that is done the light [lumen] of his understanding becomes merely natural. To think from this lumen in reasoning about spiritual and Divine things, is like thinking from the thick darkness of night about those things that appear only in the light of day. From this comes naturalism. But he who knows how to raise his mind above ideas of thought drawn from s.p.a.ce and time, pa.s.ses from thick darkness into light, and has discernment in things spiritual and Divine, and finally sees the things which are in and from what is spiritual and Divine; and then from that light he dispels the thick darkness of the natural lumen, and banishes its fallacies from the middle to the sides. Every man who has understanding is able to transcend in thought these properties of nature, and actually does so; and he then affirms and sees that the Divine, because omnipresent, is not in s.p.a.ce. He is also able to affirm and to see the things that have been adduced above. But if he denies the Divine Omnipresence, and ascribes all things to nature, then he has no wish to be elevated, though he can be.

70. All who die and become angels put off the two above- mentioned properties of nature, namely, s.p.a.ce and time; for they then enter into spiritual light, in which objects of thought are truths, and objects of sight are like those in the natural world, but are correspondent to their thoughts. The objects of their thought which, as just said, are truths, derive nothing at all from s.p.a.ce and time; and though the objects of their sight appear as if in s.p.a.ce and in time, still the angels do not think from s.p.a.ce and time. The reason is, that s.p.a.ces and times there are not fixed, as in the natural world, but are changeable according to the states of their life. In the ideas of their thought, therefore, instead of s.p.a.ce and time there are states of life, instead of s.p.a.ces such things as have reference to states of love, and instead of times such things as have reference to states of wisdom. From this it is that spiritual thought, and spiritual speech therefrom, differ so much from natural thought and natural speech therefrom, as to have nothing in common except as regards the interiors of things, which are all spiritual.

Of this difference more will be said elsewhere. Now, because the thoughts of angels derive nothing from s.p.a.ce and time, but everything from states of life, when it is said that the Divine fills s.p.a.ces angels evidently cannot comprehend it, for they do not know what s.p.a.ces are; but when, apart from any idea of s.p.a.ce, it is said that the Divine fills all things, they clearly comprehend it.

71. To make it clear that the merely natural man thinks of spiritual and Divine things from s.p.a.ce, and the spiritual man apart from s.p.a.ce, let the following serve for ill.u.s.tration. The merely natural man thinks by means of ideas which he has acquired from objects of sight, in all of which there is figure partaking of length, breadth, and height, and of shape determined by these, either angular or circular. These [conceptions] are manifestly present in the ideas of his thought concerning things visible on earth; they are also in the ideas of his thought concerning those not visible, such as civil and moral affairs. This he is unconscious of; but they are nevertheless there, as continuations. With a spiritual man it is different, especially with an angel of heaven, whose thought has nothing in common with figure and form that derives anything from spiritual length, breadth, and height, but only with figure and form derived from the state of a thing resulting from the state of its life.

Consequently, instead of length of s.p.a.ce he thinks of the good of a thing from good of life; instead of breadth of s.p.a.ce, of the truth of a thing from truth of life; and instead of height, of the degrees of these. Thus he thinks from the correspondence there is between things spiritual and things natural. From this correspondence it is that in the Word "length"

signifies the good of a thing, "breadth" the truth of a thing, and "height" the degrees of these. From this it is evident that an angel of heaven, when he thinks of the Divine Omnipresence, can by no means think otherwise than that the Divine, apart from s.p.a.ce, fills all things. And that which an angel thinks is truth, because the light which enlightens his understanding is Divine Wisdom.

72. This is the basis of thought concerning G.o.d; for without it, what is to be said of the creation of the universe by G.o.d-Man, of His Providence, Omnipotence, Omnipresence and Omniscience, even if understood, cannot be kept in mind; since the merely natural man, even while he has these things in his understanding, sinks back into his life's love, which is that of his will; and that love dissipates these truths, and immerses his thought in s.p.a.ce, where his lumen, which he calls rational, abides, not knowing that so far as he denies these things, he is irrational.

That this is so, may be confirmed by the idea entertained of this truth, that G.o.d is a MAN. Read with attention, I pray you, what has been said above (n. 11-13) and what follows after, and your understanding will accept it. But when you let your thought down into the natural lumen which derives from s.p.a.ce, will not these things be seen as paradoxes? and if you let it down far, will you not reject them? This is why it is said that the Divine fills all s.p.a.ces of the universe, and why it is not said that G.o.d-Man fills them. For if this were said, the merely natural lumen would not a.s.sent. But to the proposition that the Divine fills all s.p.a.ce, it does a.s.sent, because this agrees with the mode of speech of the theologians, that G.o.d is omnipresent, and hears and knows all things.

(On this subject, more may be seen above, n. 7-10.).

73. THE DIVINE IS IN ALL TIME, APART FROM TIME.

As the Divine, apart from s.p.a.ce, is in all s.p.a.ce, so also, apart from time, is it in all time. For nothing which is proper to nature can be predicated of the Divine, and s.p.a.ce and time are proper to nature. s.p.a.ce in nature is measurable, and so is time. This is measured by days, weeks, months, years, and centuries; days are measured by hours; weeks and months by days; years by the four seasons; and centuries by years. Nature derives this measurement from the apparent revolution and annual motion of the sun of the world. But in the spiritual world it is different. The progressions of life in that world appear in like manner to be in time, for those there live with one another as men in the world live with one another; and this is not possible without the appearance of time. But time there is not divided into periods as in the world, for their sun is constantly in the east and is never moved away; for it is the Lord's Divine Love that appears to them as a sun. Wherefore they have no days, weeks, months, years, centuries, but in place of these there are states of life, by which a distinction is made which cannot be called, however, a distinction into periods, but into states. Consequently, the angels do not know what time is, and when it is mentioned they perceive in place of it state; and when state determines time, time is only an appearance. For joyfulness of state makes time seem short, and joylessness of state makes time seem long; from which it is evident that time in the spiritual world is nothing but quality of state. It is from this that in the Word, "hours," "days,"

"weeks," "months," and "years," signify states and progressions of state in series and in the aggregate; and when times are predicated of the church, by its "morning" is meant its first state, by "mid-day" its fullness by "evening" its decline, and by "night" its end. The four seasons of the year "spring," "summer," "autumn," and "winter," have a like meaning.

74. From the above it can be seen that time makes one with thought from affection; for from that is the quality of man's state. And with progressions of time, in the spiritual world, distances in progress through s.p.a.ce coincide; as may be shown from many things. For instance, in the spiritual world ways are actually shortened or are lengthened in accordance with the longings that are of thought from affection. From this, also, comes the expression, "s.p.a.ces of time." Moreover, in cases where thought does not join itself to its proper affection in man, as in sleep, the lapse of time is not noticed.

75. Now as times which are proper to nature in its world are in the spiritual world pure states, which appear progressive because angels and spirits are finite, it may be seen that in G.o.d they are not progressive because He is Infinite, and infinite things in Him are one (as has been shown above, n. 17-22). From this it follows that the Divine in all time is apart from time.

76. He who has no knowledge of G.o.d apart from time and is unable from any perception to think of Him, is thus utterly unable to conceive of eternity in any other way than as an eternity of time; in which case, in thinking of G.o.d from eternity he must needs become bewildered; for he thinks with regard to a beginning, and beginning has exclusive reference to time. His bewilderment arises from the idea that G.o.d had existence from Himself, from which he rushes headlong into an origin of nature from herself; and from this idea he can be extricated only by a spiritual or angelic idea of eternity, which is an idea apart from time; and when time is separated, the Eternal and the Divine are the same, and the Divine is the Divine in itself, not from itself. The angels declare that while they can conceive of G.o.d from eternity, they can in no way conceive of nature from eternity, still less of nature from herself and not at all of nature as nature in herself. For that which is in itself is the very Esse, from which all things are; Esse in itself is very life, which is the Divine Love of Divine Wisdom and the Divine Wisdom of Divine Love. For the angels this is the Eternal, an Eternal as removed from time as the uncreated is from the created, or the infinite from the finite, between which, in fact, there is no ratio.

77. THE DIVINE IN THINGS GREATEST AND LEAST IS THE SAME.

This follows from the two preceding articles, that the Divine apart from s.p.a.ce is in all s.p.a.ce, and apart from time is in all time. Moreover, there are s.p.a.ces greater and greatest, and lesser and least; and since s.p.a.ces and times, as said above, make one, it is the same with times. In these the Divine is the same, because the Divine is not varying and changeable, as everything is which belongs to nature, but is unvarying and unchangeable, consequently the same everywhere and always.

78. It seems as if the Divine were not the same in one person as in another; as if, for instance, it were different in the wise and in the simple, or in an old man and in a child. But this is a fallacy arising from appearance; the man is different, but the Divine in him is not different. Man is a recipient, and the recipient or receptacle is what varies. A wise man is a recipient of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom more adequately, and therefore more fully, than a simple man; and an old man who is also wise, more than a little child or boy; yet the Divine is the same in the one as in the other. It is in like manner a fallacy arising from appearance, that the Divine is different with angels of heaven from what it is with men on the earth, because the angels of heaven are in wisdom ineffable, while men are not; but the seeming difference is not in the Lord but in the subjects, according to the quality of their reception of the Divine.

79. That the Divine is the same in things greatest and least, may be shown by means of heaven and by means of an angel there. The Divine in the whole heaven and the Divine in an angel is the same; therefore even the whole heaven may appear as one angel. So is it with the church, and with a man of the church. The greatest form receptive of the Divine is the whole heaven together with the whole church; the least is an angel of heaven and a man of the church. Sometimes an entire society of heaven has appeared to me as one angel-man; and it was told that it may appear like a man as large as a giant, or like a man as small as an infant; and this, because the Divine in things greatest and least is the same.

80. The Divine is also the same in the greatest and in the least of all created things that are not alive; for it is in all the good of their use.

These, moreover, are not alive for the reason that they are not forms of life but forms of uses; and the form varies according to the excellence of the use. But how the Divine is in these things will be stated in what follows, where creation is treated of.

81. Put away s.p.a.ce, and deny the possibility of a vacuum, and then think of Divine Love and of Divine Wisdom as being Essence itself, s.p.a.ce having been put away and a vacuum denied. Then think according to s.p.a.ce; and you will perceive that the Divine, in the greatest and in the least things of s.p.a.ce, is the same; for in essence abstracted from s.p.a.ce there is neither great nor small, but only the same.