The Formations of the Celestial Man

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Genesis chapter two treats of the celestial man, as the preceding chapter did of the spiritual, who was formed out of a dead man.

When the spiritual man, who has become the "sixth day" is beginning to be celestial, which state is here first treated of, it is the "eve of the Sabbath" represented in the Jewish Church by the keeping holy of the Sabbath from the evening. The celestial man is the "morning" to be spoken of presently.

THE CELESTIAL MAN IS THE "SEVENTH DAY"

The celestial man is the "seventh day" which, as the Lord has worked during the six days, is called "His work;" and as all combat then ceases, the Lord is said to "rest from all His work." On this account the seventh day was sanctified, and called the Sabbath, from a Hebrew word meaning "rest." And thus was man created, formed, and made.

• Why the celestial man is the "Sabbath" or "rest" is that combat ceases when he becomes celestial. The evil spirits retire, and good ones approach, as well as celestial angels; and when these are present, evil spirits cannot possibly remain, but flee far away. And since it was not the man himself who carried on the combat, but the Lord alone for the man, it is said that the Lord "rested."
• The new creation, or regeneration, is the work of the Lord alone. The expressions to "create" to "form" and to "make" are employed quite distinctively.

"CREATING THE HEAVENS, FORMING THE EARTH, AND MAKING IT"

Everyone that is called by My name, I have created him for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him (Isa. 43:7)

and also in both the preceding and this chapter of Genesis; as in the passage before us: "He rested from all His work which God in making created." In the internal sense this usage always conveys a distinct idea; and the case is the same where the Lord is called "Creator" "Former" or "Maker."

THE FORMATIONS OF THE CELESTIAL MAN

These are the nativities of the heavens and of the earth, when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah God made the earth and the heavens. (Genesis 2:4)

The "nativities of the heavens and of the earth" are the formations of the celestial man.

That his formation is here treated of is very evident from all the particulars which follow —

• No herb was as yet growing
• There was no man to till the ground
• Jehovah God formed man,
 and afterwards
• He made every beast and bird of the heavens

Notwithstanding that the formation of these had been treated of in the foregoing chapter, from all which it is manifest that another man is here treated of.

This however is still more evident from the fact, that —

• Now for the first time the Lord is called "Jehovah God" whereas in the preceding passages, which treat of the spiritual man, He is called simply "God;"
• Now "ground" and "field" are mentioned, while in the preceding passages only "earth" is mentioned.

In this verse also "heaven" is first mentioned before "earth" and afterwards "earth" before "heaven;" the reason of which is that "earth" signifies the external man, and "heaven" the internal

• In the spiritual man reformation begins from "earth" that is, from the external man
• In the celestial man, who is here treated of, it begins from the internal man, or from "heaven."

And there was no shrub of the field as yet in the earth, and there was no herb of the field as yet growing, because Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth; and there was no man to till the ground. And He made a mist to ascend from the earth, and watered all the faces of the ground. (Genesis 2:5, 6)

By the "shrub of the field" and the "herb of the field" are meant in general all that his external man produces. The external man is called "earth" while he remains spiritual, but "ground" and also "field" when he becomes celestial. "Rain" which is soon after called "mist" is the tranquility of peace when combat ceases.

MAN'S STATE IS WHILE FROM BEING SPIRITUAL HE IS BECOMING CELESTIAL

But what these things involve cannot possibly be perceived unless it is known what man's state is while from being spiritual he is becoming celestial, for they are deeply hidden.

• While he is spiritual, the external man is not yet willing to yield obedience to and serve the internal, and therefore there is a combat
• When he becomes celestial, then the external man begins to obey and serve the internal, and therefore the combat ceases, and tranquility ensues.

This tranquility is signified by "rain" and "mist" for it is like a vapor with which the external man is watered and bedewed from the internal; and it is this tranquility, the offspring of peace, which produces what are called the "shrub of the field" and the "herb of the field" which, specifically, are things of the rational mind and of the memory [rationalia et scientifica] from a celestial spiritual origin.

The nature of the tranquility of peace of the external man, on the cessation of combat, or of the unrest caused by cupidities and falsities, can be known only to those who are acquainted with a state of peace. This state is so delightful that it surpasses every idea of delight:

It is not only a cessation of combat, but is life proceeding from interior peace, and affecting the external man in such a manner as cannot be described;

The truths of faith, and the goods of love, which derive their life from the delight of peace, are then born.

The state of the celestial man, thus gifted with the tranquility of peace — refreshed by the rain — and delivered from the slavery of what is evil and false, is thus described by the Lord in Ezekiel:

I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil wild beast to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell confidently in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods; and I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the rain to come down in his season; rains of blessing shall they be. And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be upon their ground in confidence, and shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the reins of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that make them to serve them; and ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, ye are a man, and I am your God (Ezek. 34:25-27, 31).

And that this is effected on the "third day" which in the Word signifies the same as the "seventh" is thus declared in Hosea:

After two days will He vivify us; in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live before Him and we shall know, and shall follow on to know Jehovah: His going forth is prepared as the dawn, and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the late rain watering the earth (Hos. 6:2-3).

And that this state is compared to the "growth of the field" is declared by Ezekiel, when speaking of the Ancient Church:

I have caused thee to multiply as the growth of the field, and thou hast increased and hast grown up, and hast come to excellent ornaments (Ezek. 16:7).

And it is also compared to:

A shoot of the Lord's planting, and a work of the hands of Jehovah God (Isa. 60:21)

(Extracts from Arcana Coelestia 81 - 93)

Like Following a Scent with The Nose

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Every thing confirmed by the will and also by the understanding remains to eternity, but not what has been confirmed by the understanding only. For that which pertains to the understanding alone is not within the man but is outside of him; it is merely in the thought; and nothing enters into man and is appropriated to him except what is accepted by the will, for it then comes to be of his life's love. This remains to eternity.

(from Divine Providence 318)

Every thing confirmed by the will and also by the understanding remains to eternity, because every one is his own love, and his love belongs to his will; also because every man is his own good or his own evil, for every thing that is called good, and likewise evil, belongs to the love.

As man is his own love he is also a form of his love, and may be called the organ of his life's love.

The affections of the love and consequent thoughts of man are changes and variations of the state and form of the organic substances of his mind.

What these changes and variations are and their nature shall now be explained.

Some idea of them may be gathered from the heart and lungs, where there are alternate expansions and compressions or dilations and contractions, which in the heart are called systole and diastole and in the lungs respirations; these are a reciprocal distension and retraction or reciprocal stretching apart and closing together of their lobes. Such are the changes and variations of the state of the heart and lungs.

There are like changes in the other viscera of the body, and changes more similar in their parts, by which the blood and the animal juice are received and carried onward.

FOUND IN THE ORGANIC FORMS OF THE MIND

Like things are to be found in the organic forms of the mind, which are the subjects of man's affections and thoughts; with the difference that their expansions and compressions, or reciprocations, are relatively in such higher perfection as cannot be expressed in the words of natural language, but only in those of spiritual language, and these can be defined in no other way than that they are vortex-like circlings inward and outward, after the manner of perpetual and incurving spirals wonderfully bundled together into forms receptive of life.

THE LOVE OF MAN'S WILL

The nature of these purely organic substances and forms in the evil and in the good shall now be stated.

> In the good these spiral forms are turned forward, but in the evil backward.
> The spiral forms turning forward are turned towards the Lord and receive influx from Him.
> Those turning backward are turned towards hell and receive influx therefrom.

It is to be known that so far as they are turned backward they are open behind and closed in front; and on the other hand, so far as they are turned forward they are opened in front and closed behind.

From all this, it is evident what kind of a form or organ an evil man is, and what kind of a form or organ a good man is, namely, that they are turned in contrary directions; and as the turning when once fixed cannot be reversed it is clear that such as man is when he dies such he remains to eternity.

It is the love of man's will that makes the turning, that is, that converts and inverts, for, as has been said above, every man is his own love. It is from this that every man after death goes the way of his own love — he that is in a good love to heaven, and he that is in an evil love to hell, and he finds rest only in that society where his reigning love is; and what is wonderful, every one knows the way; it is like following a scent with the nose.

(from Divine Providence 319)

Man's Part in His Salvation

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

CONJUNCTION IS RECIPROCAL

Conjunction with the Lord is a reciprocal conjunction, that is, that the Lord is in man and man in the Lord. That conjunction is reciprocal, Scripture teaches and reason also sees.

As to His conjunction with His Father, the Lord teaches that it is reciprocal, for He says to Philip:

Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John 14:10, 11)

That ye may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father (John 10:38).

Jesus said, Father, the hour is come glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee (John 17:1).

Father, all things that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine (John 17:10).

The same is said by the Lord respecting His conjunction with man, namely, that it is reciprocal; for He says:

Abide in Me and I in you; he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit (John 15:4, 6).

He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me and I in him (John 6:66).

In that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you (John 14:20).

He that keepeth the commandments of Christ abideth in Him, and He in him (1 John 3:24; 4:13).

Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God (1 John 4:15)

If anyone 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).

From these plain statements it is clear that the conjunction of the Lord and man is reciprocal; and because it is reciprocal it necessarily follows, that man ought to conjoin himself to the Lord, in order that the Lord may conjoin himself to man; and that otherwise conjunction is not effected, but withdrawal and a consequent separation, yet not on the Lord's part, but on man's part.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE

In order that such reciprocal conjunction may exist, there is granted to man freedom of choice, giving him the ability to walk in the way to heaven or in the way to hell. From this freedom that is given to man flows his ability to reciprocate, which enables him to conjoin himself with the Lord, and also with the devil. 

HYPOTHESES RESPECTING FAITH AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE

It is to be lamented that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, although it stands out so clearly in the Word, is unknown in the Christian church. It is unknown because of certain hypotheses respecting faith and freedom of choice. The hypothesis respecting faith is that it is bestowed upon man without his contributing anything toward the acquisition of it, or adapting and applying himself, any more than a stock, to the reception of it. The hypothesis respecting freedom of choice is that man does not possess a single grain of freedom of choice in spiritual things. But that the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man, on which depends the salvation of the human race, may not remain longer unknown, necessity itself enjoins its disclosure, which may be best effected by examples, because they illustrate.

EXAMPLES

There are two kinds of reciprocation by which conjunction is effected:

• One is alternate
• The other mutual.

The alternate reciprocation by which conjunction is effected, may be illustrated by the action of the lungs in breathing. Man draws in the air and thereby expands the chest; then he expels the inhaled air and thereby contracts the chest. This inhalation and the consequent expansion is effected by means of the pressure of the air proportionate to its column; while the expulsion and the consequent contraction are effected by means of the ribs by the power of the muscles. Such is the reciprocal conjunction of the air and the lungs, and on it depends the life of all bodily sense and motion, for these swoon when respiration ceases.

Reciprocal conjunction, which is effected by alteration, may also be illustrated by the conjunction of the heart with the lungs and of the lungs with the heart. The heart from its right chamber pours the blood into the lungs, and the lungs pour it back again into the left chamber of the heart; thus is that reciprocal conjunction effected on which the life of the whole body is altogether dependent. There is a like conjunction of the blood with the heart, and vice versa. The blood of the whole body flows through the veins into the heart, and from the heart it flows out through the arteries into the whole body; action and reaction effect this conjunction. There is a like action and reaction (by which there is a constant conjunction) between the embryo and the mother's womb.

NO SUCH RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD AND MAN

But there is no such reciprocal conjunction of the Lord and man. That is a mutual conjunction, which is effected not by action and reaction, but by cooperation. For the Lord acts, and from Him man receives action, and operates as if of himself, even by the Lord from himself. This operation of man from the Lord is imputed to him as his own, because he is held constantly by the Lord in freedom of choice. The freedom of choice resulting from this is the ability to will and to think from the Lord, that is, from the Word, and also the ability to will and to think from the devil, that is, contrary to the Lord and the Word. This freedom the Lord gives to man to enable him to conjoin himself reciprocally with the Lord, and by conjunction be gifted with eternal life and blessedness, since this, without reciprocal conjunction, would not be possible.

This reciprocal conjunction, which is mutual, may also be illustrated by various things in man and in the world. Such is the conjunction of soul and body in every man; such is the conjunction of will and action, also of thought and speech; such is the mutual conjunction of the two eyes, the two ears, and the two nostrils. That the mutual conjunction of the two eyes is in a manner reciprocal, is evident from the optic nerve, in which fibers from both hemispheres of the cerebrum are folded together, and thus folded together they extend to both eyes. It is the same with the ears and nostrils.

There exists a like reciprocal and mutual conjunction between light and the eye, between sound and the ear, odor and the nose, taste and the tongue, touch and the body; for the eye is in the light and the light in the eye, sound is in the ear and the ear in the sound, odor is in the nose and the nose in odor, taste is in the tongue and the tongue in taste, and touch is in the body and the body in touch. This reciprocal conjunction may also be compared to the conjunction of a horse and a carriage, an ox and a plough, a wheel and machinery, a sail and the wind, a musical pipe and the air; in short, such is the reciprocal conjunction of the end and the cause, and such also is that of the cause and the effect.

(True Christian Religion 371)