Human Prudence

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.         (John 3:27)

By means of His Divine providence the Lord leads the affections of a man's life's love, and at the same time leads his thoughts, from which human prudence is derived.

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 also sees that in himself. If, then, his life's love is love of self, he comes into the pride of his own intelligence and ascribes prudence to himself, and collects arguments in its favor, and thus recedes from the acknowledgment of the Divine providence. It is the same when his life's love is love of the world; although in this case he does not recede in the same degree. This shows that these two loves ascribe every thing to man and his prudence, and, when interiorly examined, ascribe nothing to God and His providence. Consequently, when such men happen to hear that the truth is that human prudence is nothing, but that it is the Divine providence alone that governs all things, if they are complete atheists they laugh at it; but if they retain in their memory something of religion, and it is said to them that all wisdom is from God, at the first hearing they assent, although 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 honor and gain, and yet have preached that charity and faith, every good and truth, also all wisdom and even prudence, are from God, and nothing from man.

HUMAN PRUDENCE, WHETHER IT IS FROM GOD OR FROM MAN

In the spiritual world I once heard two priests disputing with a certain royal ambassador about human prudence, whether it is from God or from man. The dispute grew warm. 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, asserted that nothing of wisdom or prudence is from man; and when the ambassador retorted that then there is nothing of thought from man, they assented to this. And the angels perceiving that the three believed alike, the ambassador was told to put on priestly robes and to believe himself to be a priest, and then to speak. He put them on and believed, and then loudly declared that there could not possibly be anything of wisdom or prudence in man except from God; and with his accustomed eloquence, full of rational arguments, he defended this. Afterwards the two priests were told to lay aside their vestments and to put on the robes of officers of state, and to believe themselves to be such. This they did, and at once thought from their interior self, and spoke from arguments they had inwardly cherished before, in favor of human prudence and against Divine providence. After this the three, since they held the same belief, became cordial friends, and entered together upon the way of one's own prudence, which leads to hell.

NO THOUGHT IS POSSIBLE TO MAN EXCEPT FROM SOME AFFECTION OF HIS LIFE'S LOVE

Thought is nothing but the form of affection. Since, then, man sees his thought, but cannot see his affection, for that he feels, it follows that it is from sight, which is in the appearance, and not from affection, which comes into feeling and not into sight, that man concludes that his own prudence does all things. For affection is evident only through a certain delight in thought and satisfaction in reasoning about it; and this satisfaction and delight then make one with the thought in those who from self-love or love of the world believe in their own prudence; and thought floats on in its delight like a ship in the current of a stream, to which the master pays no attention, regarding only the sail he spreads.

Nevertheless, a man may reflect upon a delight of his external affection while that delight is acting as one with the delight of some bodily sensation. Nevertheless, he does not reflect upon the fact that this delight is from a delight of his affection in his thought. For example:

when a fornicator sees a lewd woman his eye glows with the fire of lasciviousness, and from that fire he feels a delight in the body. And yet in his thought he feels no delight of his affection or lust except a certain longing connected with the body. So a robber in a forest when he sees travelers; or a pirate on the sea when he sees vessels; and so on. Evidently it is these delights that rule the man's thoughts and the thoughts are nothing apart from them; yet they seem to him to be nothing but thoughts; when in fact, thoughts are nothing but affections so composed into forms by his life's love as to be presented in light; for all affection is in heat, and thought is in light.

Such are the external affections of thought, which manifest themselves in bodily sensation, but rarely in the thought of the mind.

But the internal affections of thought, from which the external affections have their existence, never manifest themselves before man. Of these man knows no more than one sleeping in a carriage knows of the road, or than one feels the revolution of the earth.

Considering, then, that man knows nothing of the things that are going on in the interiors of his mind, which are too limitless to be numbered, and yet those few externals that do come within the view of his thought are produced from the interiors, and the interiors are governed by the Lord alone by His Divine providence, and only those few externals by the Lord and man together, how can any one say that his own prudence does all things? If you were to see but one idea of thought laid open you would see wonderful things, more in number than tongue can express.

IN THE INTERIORS OF MAN'S MIND THERE ARE THINGS TOO LIMITLESS TO BE NUMBERED

That in the interiors of man's mind there are things too limitless to be numbered is clear from the infinite things in the body, from which nothing comes to sight or feeling except action only in much simplicity; and yet in this thousands of motor or muscular fibers concur, thousands of nerve fibers, thousands of blood-vessels, thousands of lung cells, all of which must co-operate in every action, thousands of cells in the brains and spinal cord, and many more yet in the spiritual man, which is the human mind, in which all things are forms of affections and of their perceptions and thoughts. Does not the soul, which directs the interiors, direct also the actions from them?

Man's soul is nothing else than the love of his will and the love therefrom of his understanding. The quality of that love is the quality of the whole man; and that is determined by the way in which the externals are disposed, in which man and the Lord co-operate.

Consequently, if man 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, while the other is infernal.

Since, then, the delights of man's affections, from inmosts through interiors to exteriors, and finally to the outermosts which are in the body, bear man along as a current or breeze bears a ship, and nothing of these is evident to man except what goes on in the outermosts of the mind and of the body, how can man claim as his own what is Divine merely because these few outermosts appear to him to be his? Still less ought he to claim what is Divine as his own, when he knows from the Word that a man can of himself "receive nothing except it have been given him from heaven;" and from reason, that this appearance has been granted him in order that —

• he may live as a man,
• may see what is good and what is evil,
• may choose one or the other,
• may appropriate to himself that which he chooses,
• may thus be conjoined reciprocally with the Lord, be reformed, regenerated, saved, and may live for ever.

That this appearance has been granted to man in order that he may act from freedom in accordance with reason, thus as if from himself, and may not let his hands hang down and wait for influx.

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.         (Hebrews 12:12-17)

(from Divine Providence 197-200)

The Very Nature of Love

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The souls who come into the other life are all ignorant of the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy. Very many suppose it to be a kind of joy into which any can be admitted no matter how they have lived, even those who have borne hatred against their neighbor and have passed their lives in adulteries, being quite unaware of the fact that HEAVEN IS MUTUAL AND CHASTE LOVE, AND THAT HEAVENLY JOY IS THE DERIVATIVE HAPPINESS.

I have sometimes spoken with spirits fresh from the world concerning the state of eternal life, telling them how important it was for them to know who is the Lord of that kingdom, and what is the nature and form of its government, just as those in this world who go into another kingdom are especially interested to know who and of what sort is the king, what is the nature of the government, and many other things that belong to the kingdom; and how much more should they be interested in this kingdom, where they are to live forever.

I told them that the Lord alone rules both heaven and the universe, for He who rules the one must rule the other; and that the kingdom in which they were now is the Lord's kingdom,

the laws of which are eternal truths, all of which are based on the one great law that men shall love the Lord above all things and their neighbor as themselves, and now even more than themselves,

for if they would be as the angels this is what they must do.

To all this they could make no reply, because in their bodily life they had heard something of the kind, but had not believed it. They marveled that there is such love in heaven, and that it is possible for anyone to love his neighbor more than himself, seeing that they had heard that they were to love their neighbor as themselves. But they were instructed that in the other life all goods are immeasurably increased, and that the life in the body is such that men can go no further than loving the neighbor as themselves because they are in the things of the body, but that when these are removed, the love becomes purer, and at last angelic, which consists in loving the neighbor more than themselves. The possibility of such love is evident from the conjugial love that exists with some persons, who would suffer death rather than let their married partner be injured; and also from the love of parents for their children, in that a mother will endure starvation rather than see her infant hunger, and this even among birds and animals; and likewise from sincere friendship, in that perils will be undergone for our friends; and even from polite and feigned friendship, that would emulate real friendship in offering the better things to those to whom we wish well, making great professions even when they do not come from the heart.

And finally its possibility is evident from the very nature of love, which finds its joy in being of service to others, not for the sake of self but for the love's own sake. But all this could not be comprehended by those who loved themselves more than others, and who in the bodily life had been greedy for gain, and least of all by the avaricious.

The angelic state is such that everyone communicates his own bliss and happiness to others.

For in the other life there is a most exquisite communication and perception of all the affections and thoughts, so that each person communicates his joy to all, and all to each, so that each one is as it were the center of all. This is the heavenly form. And therefore the more there are who constitute the Lord's kingdom, the greater is the happiness, for it increases in proportion to the numbers, and this is why heavenly happiness is unutterable. There is this communication of all with each and of each with all when everyone loves others more than himself.

But if anyone wishes better for himself than for others the love of self reigns, which communicates nothing to others from itself except the idea of self, which is very foul, and when this is perceived the person is at once banished and rejected.

(Arcana Coelestia 547-549)
(series to be continued)

We Must Become A Charity

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

— CHARITY IS THE IMAGE OF GOD —

What the image of God is, hardly anyone knows at the present day. They say that the image of God was lost in the first man, whom they call Adam, and that it was a certain perfection, [wholeness, entire], of the nature of which they are ignorant. And indeed there was perfection, for by "Adam" or "Man" is meant the Most Ancient Church" which was a celestial man, and had perception, such as had no Church after it; by reason of which it was also a likeness of the Lord — a likeness of the Lord signifies love to Him.

After this Church perished in the course of time, the Lord created a New Church, which was not a Celestial but a Spiritual Church. This was not a likeness, but an image of the Lord — an "image" signifies spiritual love, that is, love to the neighbor, or charity —

The Most Ancient Church understood by the "image of the Lord" more than can be expressed. Man is altogether ignorant that he is governed of the Lord through angels and spirits, and that with everyone there are at least two spirits, and two angels.

• By spirits man has communication with the world of spirits
• By angels with heaven.

Without communication by means of spirits with the world of spirits, and by means of angels with heaven, and thus through heaven with the Lord, man could not live at all; his life entirely depends on this conjunction, so that if the spirits and angels were to withdraw, he would instantly perish.

While man is unregenerate he is governed quite otherwise than when regenerated. While unregenerate there are evil spirits with him, who so domineer over him that the angels, though present, are scarcely able to do anything more than merely guide him so that he may not plunge into the lowest evil, and bend him to some good – in fact bend him to good by means of his own cupidities, and to truth by means of the fallacies of the senses. He then has communication with the world of spirits through the spirits who are with him, but not so much with heaven, because evil spirits rule, and the angels only avert their rule.

But when the man is regenerate, the angels rule, and inspire him with all goods and truths, and with fear and horror of evils and falsities. The angels indeed lead, but only as ministers, for it is the Lord alone who governs man through angels and spirits. And as this is done through the ministry of angels, it is here first said, in the plural number, "Let us make man in our image;" and yet because the Lord alone governs and disposes, it is said in the following verse, in the singular number, "God created him in His own image." This the Lord also plainly declares in Isaiah:

Thus saith Jehovah thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, I Jehovah make all things, stretching forth the heavens alone, spreading abroad the earth by Myself (Isa. 44:24).

The angels moreover themselves confess that there is no power in them, but that they act from the Lord alone.

As regards the "image" an image is not a likeness, but is according to the likeness; it is therefore said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."

• The spiritual man is an "image"
• The celestial man a "likeness" or similitude.

The spiritual man, who is an "image" is called by the Lord a "son of light" as in John:

He that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:35-36).

He is called also a "friend:"

Ye are My friends if ye do whatsoever I command you (John 15:14-15).

But the celestial man, who is a "likeness" is called a "son of God" in John:

As many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; who were born not of bloods, {1} nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13).

["Bloods" are mentioned in the plural, because all unjust and abominable things gush forth from hatred, as all good and holy ones do from love. Therefore he who feels hatred toward his neighbor would murder him if he could, and indeed does murder him in any way he can; and this is to do violence to him, which is here properly signified by the "voice of bloods."  AC 374:3]

(Arcana Coelestia 50-51)

That this church, [created after the Celestial Church perished, was not a celestial, but a Spiritual Church], was, from spiritual love, or charity, an image of the Lord... and that charity is itself an image of the Lord is evident from its being said, "for in the image of God made He man" that is to say, charity itself made him so. That charity is the "image of God" is most clearly evident from the very essence of love, or charity.

Nothing else than love and charity can make an image and likeness of anyone.

It is the essence of love and charity to make of two as it were one. When one person loves another as himself, and more than himself, he then sees the other in himself, and himself in the other. This may be known to everyone if he only directs his attention to love, or to those who love each other — the will of the one is the will of the other, they are interiorly as it were joined together, and only in body distinct the one from the other.

Love to the Lord makes man one with the Lord, that is, a likeness of Him. So does charity, or love toward the neighbor, make him one with the Lord, but as an image. An image is not a likeness, but is according to or after a likeness [est ad similitudinem]. This oneness arising from love the Lord describes in John:

I pray that they all may be one; even as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us; and the glory which Thou hast given unto Me I have given unto them; that they may be one, even as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me (John 17:21-23).

This "being one" is that mystical union which some think about, and which is by love alone.

Again:

I live, and ye shall live; in that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you; he that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me; if a man love Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him (John 14:19-23).

Hence it is evident that it is love which conjoins, and that the Lord has His abode with him who loves Him, and also with him who loves his neighbor, for this is love of the Lord.

This union, which makes a likeness and image, cannot be so well seen among men, but is seen in heaven, where from mutual love all the angels are as a one. Each society, which consists of many, constitutes as it were one man. And all the societies together-or the universal heaven – constitute one man, which is also called the Grand Man.

The universal heaven is a likeness of the Lord, for the Lord is the all in all who are therein. So also is each society a likeness, and so is each angel. The celestial angels are likenesses, the spiritual angels are images. Thus heaven consists of as many likenesses of the Lord as there are angels, and this solely through mutual love – one loving another more than himself. For in order that the general or universal heaven may be a likeness, the parts, or individual angels, must be likenesses, or images that are according to likenesses. Unless the general consists of parts like itself, it is not a general that makes a one.

From these things it may be seen, as from an archetype, or pattern, what makes a likeness and image of God, namely, love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; consequently, that every regenerate spiritual man, from love or charity, which is from the Lord alone, is His image. And he who is in charity from the Lord, is in "perfection;" of which perfection, by the Divine mercy of the Lord hereafter.

(Arcana Coelestia 1013)
(series to be continued)