As In First Principles So Also In Ultimates

Selection from The Doctrine of the Lord ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

That in the Lord were the Divine and the human — the Divine from Jehovah the Father, and the human from the virgin Mary. Hence He was God and Man, having a Divine essence and a human nature — a Divine essence from the Father, and a human nature from the mother; and therefore was equal to the Father as to the Divine, and less than the Father as to the human. It is also known that this human nature from the mother was not transmuted into the Divine essence, nor commingled with it, for this is taught in the Doctrine of Faith which is called the Athanasian Creed. For a human nature cannot be transmuted into the Divine essence, nor can it be commingled therewith.

In accordance with the same creed is also our doctrine, that the Divine assumed the Human, that is, united itself to it, as a soul to its body, so that they were not two, but one Person. From this it follows that the Lord [put off] the human from the mother, which in itself was like that of another man, and thus material, and [put on] a Human from the Father, which in itself was like His Divine, and thus substantial, so that the Human too became Divine. This is why in the Word of the Prophets the Lord even as to the Human is called Jehovah, and God; and in the Word of the Evangelists, Lord, God, Messiah or Christ, and the Son of God in whom we must believe, and by whom we are to be saved.

As from His birth the Lord had a human from the mother, and as He by successive steps [put it off], it follows that while He was in the world He had two states, the one called the state of humiliation or emptying out [exinanitio], and the other the state of glorification or unition with the Divine called the Father. He was in the state of humiliation at the time and in the degree that He was in the human from the mother; and in that of glorification at the time and in the degree that He was in the Human from the Father. In the state of humiliation He prayed to the Father as to one who was other than Himself; but in the state of glorification He spoke with the Father as with Himself. In this latter state He said that the Father was in Him and He in the Father, and that the Father and He were one. But in the state of humiliation He underwent temptations, and suffered the cross, and prayed to the Father not to forsake Him. For the Divine could not be tempted, much less could it suffer the cross. From what has been said it is now evident that by means of temptations and continual victories in them, and by the passion of the cross which was the last of the temptations, the Lord completely conquered the hells, and fully glorified His Human, as has been shown above.

That the Lord [put off] the human taken from the mother, and [put on] a Human from the Divine in Himself called the Father, is evident also from the fact that whenever He addressed His mother directly, He did not call her Mother, but Woman. Only three times in the Evangelists do we read that He thus addressed or spoke of her, twice calling her Woman, and once not recognizing her as His mother. Of the two occasions when He called her Woman we read in John:

The mother of Jesus said unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what [belongs] to Me, and to thee? Mine hour is not yet come (2:3, 4).

When from the cross, Jesus sees His mother, and the disciple standing by whom He loved,

He saith to His mother, Woman, behold thy son; and then He saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother (19:26, 27).

And of the one occasion when He did not recognize her, in Luke:

It was told Jesus by certain who said, Thy mother and Thy brethren stand without, desiring to see Thee. Jesus answering said unto them, My mother and My brethren are these, who hear the Word of God, and do it (8:20, 21; Matt. 12: 46-49; Mark 3:31-35).

In other places Mary is called His "mother," but not from His own mouth.

The same inference is confirmed by the fact that the Lord did not admit that He was the son of David For we read in the Evangelists:

Jesus asked the Pharisees, saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool? If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son? And no one was able to answer Him a word (Matt. 12:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Ps. 110:1).

From what has been said it is evident that in respect to the glorified Human the Lord was the son neither of Mary nor of David.

Of what quality was His glorified Human, He showed to Peter, James, and John when transfigured before them:

That His face shone as the sun, and His raiment was like the light and then a voice out of the cloud said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him (Matt. 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36).

The Lord was also seen by John as the sun shining in his strength (Rev. 1:16).

That the Lord's Human was glorified, is evident from what is said about His glorification in the Evangelists:

The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Jesus said, Father, glorify Thy name: then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I both have glorified it and will glorify it again (John 12:23, 28).

As the Lord was glorified by successive steps, it is said "I both have glorified it, and will glorify it again."

Again in the same Evangelist:

After Judas had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in Him: God shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify Him (John 13:31, 32).

Jesus said, Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may also glorify Thee (John 17:1, 5).

And in Luke:

Behooved it not the Christ to suffer this, and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:26).

These things are said concerning His Human.

The reason the Lord said "God is glorified in Him," and "God shall glorify Him in Himself," and also "Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son may also glorify Thee," is that the unition was reciprocal, being that of the Divine with the Human and of the Human with the Divine. On this account He said also, "I am in the Father, and the Father in Me" (John 14:10, 11); and "All Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine" (John 17:10); so that the unition was plenary. It is the same with all unition - unless it is reciprocal, it is not full. Such therefore must also be the uniting of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord. As He teaches:

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

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).

As the Lord's Human was glorified, that is, made Divine, He rose again after death on the third day with His whole body, which does not take place with any man; for a man rises again solely as to the spirit, and not as to the body. In order that men may know, and no one doubt, that the Lord rose again with His whole body, He not only said so through the angels in the sepulcher, but also showed Himself to His disciples in His human body, saying to them when they believed that they saw a spirit:

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have; and when He had thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet (Luke 24:39, 40 John 20:20).

And He said to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side; and be not faithless but believing; then said Thomas, My Lord and my God (John 20:27, 28).

In order to evince still further that He was not a spirit but a Man, the Lord said to His disciples,

Have ye here any meat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb; and He took it and did eat before them (Luke 24:41-43).

As His body was no longer material, but Divine substantial, He came in to His disciples when the doors were shut (John 20:19, 26); and after He had been seen He became invisible (Luke 24:31). Being such, the Lord was then taken up, and sat at the right hand of God; as we read:

It came to pass that while Jesus blessed His disciples, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven (Luke 24:51).

After He had spoken unto them, He was carried up into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).

To "sit at the right hand of God," signifies Divine omnipotence.

As the Lord ascended into heaven, and sat at the right hand of God (by which is signified Divine omnipotence) with the Divine and the Human united into a one, it follows that His human substance or essence is just as is His Divine substance or essence. To think otherwise would be like thinking that His Divine was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God, but not His Human together with it, which is contrary to Scripture, and also to the Christian Doctrine, which is that in Christ God and Man are like soul and body, and to separate these is contrary to sound reason. This unition of the Father with the Son, or of the Divine with the Human, is meant also in the following:

I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the world, and go to the Father (John 16:28).

I go away, and come to Him that sent Me (John 7:33; 16:5, 16; 17:11, 13; 20:17).

If then ye shall see the Son of man ascending where He was before (John 6:62).

No one hath ascended into heaven but He that came down from heaven (John 3:13).

Every man who is saved ascends into heaven, but not of himself. He ascends by the Lord's aid. The Lord alone ascended of Himself.

Thus God became Man, as in first principles so also in ultimates. That God is a Man, and that every angel and every spirit is a man from God... From the beginning, however, God was a Man in first principles and not in ultimates; but after He had assumed the Human in the world, He became a Man in ultimates also. This follows from what has been already established — that the Lord united His Human to His Divine, and thus made His Human Divine. It is from this that the Lord is called the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev. 1:8, 11).

When John saw the Son of man in the midst of the seven lamp stands, he fell at His feet as dead; but He laid His right hand upon him, saying, I am the first and the last (Rev. 1:13, 17; 2:8; 21:6).

Behold, I come quickly, to give everyone according to his work: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Rev. 22:12-13).

Thus saith Jehovah the King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah of Armies, I am the first and the last (Isa. 44:6; 48:12).

(from The Doctrine of the Lord 35 - 36)

All Things Created Regard The Angelic Heaven

From Canons of the New Church ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THE END ITSELF OF CREATION

IT IS AN ANGELIC HEAVEN FROM THE HUMAN RACE

In the created world there are perpetual progressions of ends; from first ends, through mediate ends, to ultimate ends.

The first ends are of love, or relations to love; mediate ends are of wisdom, or relations to wisdom; ultimate ends are of use, or relations to use. These things are so, because all things which are infinite in God and from God are of love, wisdom, and use.

These progressions of ends proceed from firsts to ultimates, and return from ultimates to firsts, and they proceed and return by periods which are called the circles of things.

These progressions of ends are more or less universal, and they are the aggregate of particular ends.

The most universal end, which is the end of ends, is in God; and it proceeds from God, from the firsts of the spiritual world to the ultimates of the natural world; and from these ultimates it returns to those firsts, and thus to God.

This most universal end, or that end of ends from God, is an angelic heaven from the human race.

That most universal end is the complex of all ends, and of their progressions in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural.

That most universal end is the inmost, and, as it were, the life and soul, the force and endeavor, in all and each created thing.

Thence there is a continued connection of all things in the created universe — from firsts to ultimates, and from ultimates to firsts.

From this end implanted in created things, in general and in particular, is the preservation of the universe.

On the Other Hand. —

Love is spiritual conjunction.

True love cannot be quiescent in itself, and be restrained within its own limits, but it wills to go forth and embrace others with love.

True love wills to be conjoined to others, and to communicate with them, and to give of its own.

True love wills to dwell in others, and in itself from others.

The Divine Love, which is Love itself, and God Himself, wills that it may be in a subject which is His image and likeness; consequently He wills to be in man, and man to be in Him.

In order that this may be effected, it follows from the very essence of Love, which is in God, and hence from an urgent cause, that the universe must needs be created by God, in which are earths, and upon them men, and in the men minds and souls, with which the Divine Love can be conjoined.

Therefore all things which are created regard man as the end.

Since the angelic heaven is formed from men, from their spirits and souls, all things which are created regard the angelic heaven as the end.

The angelic heaven is the habitation itself of God with men, and of men with God.

Eternal beatitudes, felicities, and delights together, are the ends of creation, because they are of love.

This end is the inmost; thus as it were, the life and soul, and as force and endeavor in each and all created things.

That end is God in them.

This end implanted in created things, in general and in particular, causes the universe to be preserved in the created state, in so far as the ends of an opposite love do not obstruct and destroy.

God from His Divine Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and Omniscience, continually provides lest opposite ends from opposite loves should prevail, and the work of creation be ruined even to destruction.

Preservation is perpetual creation, as subsistence is perpetual existence.

~~~

THE OMNIPOTENCE, OMNISCIENCE, AND OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD

The Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God do not fall within the human understanding; because the Omnipotence of God is Infinite Power, the Omniscience of God is Infinite Wisdom, and the Omnipresence of God is Infinite Presence, in all things which have proceeded, and which do proceed, from Him; and the Divine Infinite does not fall within the finite understanding.
[All things proceed according to order. God is order.]

That God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, is acknowledged without a rational investigation; since this flows in from God into the higher region of the human mind and thence into an acknowledgment with all who have religion and sound reason. That it also flows in with those who have no religion; but with them there is no reception, and hence no acknowledgment.

That God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, man can confirm from innumerable things which are of reason, and at the same time of religion, as from the following: —

First.-God alone is and exists in Himself; and every other being and every other thing exists from Him.

Second.-God alone loves, is wise, and lives and acts from Himself; and every other being and every other thing does so from Him.

Third.-God alone has power from Himself; and every other being and every other thing has power from Him.

Consequently, God is the Soul of the whole; from whom all beings and all things are, live, and move.

Unless each and all things in the world and in heaven, relate to the One who is, lives, and has power from Himself, the universe would be dissipated in a moment.

Hence the universe created by God is the fullness of God; wherefore He Himself said that:

He Is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, who was, is, and will be, the Omnipotent (Revelation 1: 8, 11).

The preservation of the universe, which is perpetual creation, is a full testimony that God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent.

Opposites, which are evils, are not removed because God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent; since evils are outside of subjects, and outside created things, and do not penetrate to the Divine things which are within.

Evils, by the Divine Providence, which also is universal in the most particular things, are more and more removed from the interiors, and are cast out to the exteriors, and thus alienated and separated, lest they should inflict any injury on things internal, which are from the Divine.

[The Divine Omnipotence is [exercised] by means of His Human. This is "to sit at the right hand," and to be "The First and the Last" as is said of the Son of man in the Apocalypse, and there [it is said] that He is "Omnipotent." The reason is because God acts from firsts through ultimates and thus embraces all things.

The Lord acts from firsts through ultimates with men; not through anything belonging to the man but through His own in the man. With the Jews He acted through the Word, thus through His own; through the Word also He performed miracles through Elijah and Elisha; but because the Jews perverted the Word, God Himself came and made Himself the "Last." Then He performed miracles from Himself. Order was first created according to which God acts, wherefore God made Himself order.]

(from Canons of the New Church 10-12)

Divine Truth In Its Ultimates

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
THE SANCTUARY OF DIVINE TRUTH IN ITS HOLINESS

Divine truth is what is called holy. But it is not holy before it is in its ultimate; and its ultimate is the Word in the literal sense; therefore, the Divine truth there is holy, and may be called the sanctuary. The reason is, that that sense contains and includes all the sanctities of heaven and the church.

It appears as if the Divine truths in the heavens, which are called spiritual and celestial, are more holy than the Divine truths in the literal sense of the Word, which are natural. But the Divine truths in the heavens, which are called spiritual and celestial, are comparatively like the lungs and heart in man, which, unless they were encompassed by ribs, and contained by the pleura and diaphragm, would not form the breast; for without these integuments - in fact, unless they were connected with them by bonds - they could not perform their vital functions. The spiritual things of the Word are like the breath of the lungs; its celestial things like the systole and diastole of the heart, and its natural things like the pleura, the diaphragm, and the ribs, with the moving fibres annexed, by means of which the motions are reciprocated.

Moreover, the spiritual and celestial things of the Word are comparatively like the holy things of the tabernacle, these being the table, upon which was the shew bread; the golden altar, upon which was the incense; the perfumes and censer; also the lampstand with the lamps; and still more interiorly the cherubim, the mercy-seat, and the ark. All these were the holy things of the Jewish and Israelitish church; but still they could not be called holy and the sanctuary until they were covered over by curtains and veils. For without those coverings they would have stood under the naked sky, exposed to showers and storms, to the birds of heaven and the wild beasts of the earth, and also to robbers' by which they would be violated, plundered, and dispersed. So would it be with the Divine truths in the heavens, called spiritual and celestial, unless they were enclosed by natural truths, such as are the truths of the literal sense of the Word.

Natural truths, which are the truths of the literal sense of the Word, are not the real truths of heaven, but they are the appearances thereof; and appearances of truth encompass, enclose, and contain the truths of heaven, which are genuine truths; and cause them to be in connection and order, and to cohere, as do the cardiac and pulmonary organs with their integuments and ribs, as said above. And when they are in connection and in order, then first they are holy, and not before. The literal sense of our Word does this by the appearances of truth, of which its ultimate consists; this is why this sense is essentially holy and Divine, and a sanctuary.

But he who separates the appearances of truth from genuine truths, and calls the literal sense holy by and of itself, and not by these, and from these, and together with these, is much deceived. He who sees only the literal sense separates them, and does not examine its meaning, as is the case with those who do not read the Word from doctrine.

By the cherubim in the Word is meant guard and protection, lest the holy things of heaven should be violated, and lest the Lord should be approached except by love. And hence the literal sense of the Word is signified by them, for it guards and protects. It guards and protects in this way, in order that a man may think and speak according to the appearances of truth, while he is well-disposed, simple, and as it were a child; but he must beware lest he confirms the appearances to the destruction of genuine truth in the heavens.

Now because in the ultimate sense of the Word, which is called the literal sense, are all interior things, that is to say, the spiritual and celestial things that are in the Words of the three heavens together - for those things are there that are in the Word with the angels of the third heaven, in its inmost contents; and those that are in the Words of the angels of the lower heavens, in its mediate contents, and these are encompassed with and included in such things as exist in nature in our world - the literal sense of our Word is from the latter and the former. Hence it is evident that the Divine truth in the literal sense of our Word is in its fulness.

That is called full which contains in itself all prior things from the first, or all things higher from the highest, the ultimate being that which includes them. The fulness of the Word may be compared to a common marble vessel, wherein are innumerable smaller crystal vessels, and in these still more numerous made of precious stones, in which and around which are the most exquisite delicacies of heaven; these are for those who from the Word perform excellent uses. That the Word is of such a quality is not seen by a man while he is in the world, but it is seen when he becomes an angel.

Because the Word in ultimates is such, it follows that it is not fully the Word before it is in that ultimate, thus before it is in the literal sense. For if that were not the case the Word would be like a temple in the air and not on the earth; or like a man with flesh without bones. And whereas Divine truth in its ultimate is in its fulness, and also in its power, for while it is that it is also in all, therefore the Lord never operates except from primaries by means of ultimates, consequently in fulness. For He does not reform and regenerate a man except by means of truths in ultimates, which are natural. And it is from this that such as is a man's quality in the world, such he remains after his departure out of the world, to eternity. It is from this also that heaven and hell are from the human race, and that, angels were not immediately created; for a man in the world is in his fulness, therefore he can be conceived and born there, and afterwards be filled with knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, and become an angel. To create angels otherwise is not possible.

Because the Lord does all things from primaries by means of ultimates, and in ultimates He is in His power and in His fulness, therefore it pleased the Lord to take upon Him the Human, and to be made Divine truth, that is, the Word; and thus from Himself to bring into order all things in heaven, and all things in hell, that is, to execute a Last Judgment. This the Lord could accomplish from the Divine in Himself, which was in primaries, by His Human, which was in ultimates, and not from His presence or abode in the men of the church, as formerly; for these had entirely fallen away from the truths and goods of the Word, in which the Lord had His habitation with men previously. This was the primary cause of the Lord's Advent into the world; and also that He might make His Human Divine. For by this means He had the power of keeping all things in heaven and all things in hell in order for ever. This is meant by sitting at the right hand of God (Mark xvi. 19). The right hand of God is the Divine Omnipotence, and to sit at the right hand of God denotes the being in that by means of the Human.

That the Lord ascended into heaven with His Human glorified even to the ultimates, He Himself witnesses in Luke:

Jesus said unto his disciples, "See my hands and my feet, that I myself am, feel me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." (24: 39).

These things the Lord said just after His resurrection. Flesh and bones are the ultimates of the human body, on which the strength of it depends.

The absolute truth is, that no one can understand the Word without doctrine; for he may be led away into errors of every kind, to which he may incline from some love, or to which he may be drawn from some principle, by which his mind becomes vague and uncertain, so that at length it is, as it were, without truth. But he who reads the Word from doctrine sees all the things that confirm it, and also many things which are hidden from the eyes of others. Nor does he allow himself to be drawn into strange [doctrines]. Hence it is that his mind is made up so that he sees definitely.

The reason why the Word may be turned to confirm even heresies, unless it is read from doctrine, is, that its literal sense consists of pure correspondences, and these, for the most part, are appearances of truth, and in part, genuine truths, which can be neither seen nor distinguished unless doctrine be the lamp.

But doctrine cannot be procured except from the Word, and only by those who are enlightened by the Lord. Those who love truths because they are truths, and incorporate them in their life, are enlightened. Moreover, everything of doctrine must be confirmed by the literal sense of the Word, because therein Divine truth is in its fulness and in its power, and by this a man is in conjunction with the Lord, and associated with the angels.

In a word, he who loves truth because it is truth may, as it were, interrogate the Lord in doubtful matters of faith, and receive answers from Him, but nowhere else than in the Word, because the Lord is the Word.

(from Apocalypse Explained 1087 -1089)

By a Nexus of Correspondences

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Representations are nothing but images of spiritual things in natural ones, and when the former are rightly represented in the latter, the two correspond. Yet the man who knows not what the spiritual is, but only the natural, is capable of thinking that such representations and derivative correspondences are impossible, for he might say to himself, How can the spiritual act upon the material? But if he will reflect upon the things taking place in himself every moment, he may be able to gain some idea of these matters, namely, how the will can act upon the muscles of the body, and effect real actions; also how thought can act upon the organs of speech, moving the lungs, trachea, throat, tongue, and lips, and thus produce speech; and also how the affections can act on the face, and there present images of themselves, so that another often thereby knows what is being thought and felt. These examples may give some idea of what representations and correspondences are.

As such things are now presented in man, and as there is nothing that can subsist from itself, but only from some other, and this again from some other, and finally from the First, and this by a nexus of correspondences, they who enjoy some extension of judgment may draw the conclusion that there is a correspondence between man and heaven; and further, between heaven and the Lord who is the First.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4044)

Only by Means of an Assumed Human

Selections from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
GOD COULD REDEEM MEN, THAT IS, COULD DELIVER THEM
FROM DAMNATION AND HELL,
ONLY BY MEANS OF AN ASSUMED HUMAN

Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.(Isaiah 40:10)

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Isaiah 53:1)

Redemption consisted in subjugating the hells, restoring the heavens to order, and after this reestablishing the church.

This redemption God with His omnipotence could effect only by means of the Human; as it is only by means of an arm that one can work — in the Word this Human of the Lord is called "the arm of Jehovah" — or as one can attack a fortified town and destroy the temples of idols therein only by means of intervening agencies. That it was by means of His Human that God had omnipotence in this Divine work, is also evident from the Word. For in no other way would it be possible for God who is in the inmost and thus in the purest things, to pass over to outmost things, in which the hells are, and in which the men of that time were; just as the soul can do nothing without a body, or as no one can conquer an enemy without coming in sight of him, or approaching and getting near to him with proper equipments, such as spears, shields, or muskets. It was as impossible for God to effect redemption without the Human as it would be for men to conquer the Indies without transporting soldiers there by means of ships, or as it would be to make trees grow by heat and light if the air through which these pass, or the soil from which the trees spring, had never been created; as impossible, in fact, as to catch fish by spreading nets in the air instead of in the water. For it is impossible for Jehovah, such as He is in Himself, by His omnipotence to get in contact with any devil in hell or any devil upon the earth, and restrain him and his fury and tame his violence, unless He be in things last as He is in things first. Because He is in things last in His Human, He is called in the Word "the First and the Last," "the Alpha and the Omega," "the Beginning and the End."

Jehovah God descended as Divine Truth, which is the Word, although He did not separate from it the Divine Good.

There are two things that constitute the essence of God — the Divine love and the Divine wisdom, or what is the same, Divine good and Divine truth. These two are the essence of God. Moreover these two are what are meant in the Word by the name "Jehovah God," "Jehovah" meaning the Divine love or Divine good, and "God" the Divine wisdom or Divine truth; and for this reason these two names are distinguished in the Word in various ways; sometimes the name "Jehovah" alone is used, and sometimes the name "God" alone-the name "Jehovah" when the Divine good is treated of, and the name "God" when the Divine truth is treated of; and the name "Jehovah God" when both are treated of. That Jehovah God descended as the Divine truth, which is the Word, is shown in John as follows:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among, us (John 1:1, 3, 14).

By "the Word" here the Divine truth is meant; because the Word, which is in the church, is Divine truth itself, for it was dictated by Jehovah Himself; and what is dictated by Jehovah is nothing but Divine truth, and can be nothing else.

But inasmuch as the Divine truth passed down through the heavens even to the world, it became adapted to angels in heaven and also to men in the world. For this reason there is in the Word a spiritual sense in which the Divine truth is seen in clear light, and a natural sense in which it is seen obscurely. Thus it is the Divine truth in our Word that is here meant in John. This is made still clearer by the fact that the Lord came into the world to fulfill all things of the Word; and this is why it is so often said that this or that was done to Him "that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Nor is anything but the Divine truth meant by "the Messiah" or "the Christ," or "the Son of man," or "the Holy Spirit the Comforter," which the Lord sent after His departure. His transfiguration before the three disciples on the mount (Matt. 17; Mark 9; Luke 9), and also before John in the Apocalypse (1:12-16), the Lord represented Himself as that Word.

That the Lord in the world was the Divine truth is evident from His own words:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6);

also from these words:

We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding that we may know the True; and we are in the True, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20);

and still further by His being called "the Light," as in the following passages:

There was the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:4, 9).

Jesus said, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, that darkness overtake you not. While ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light (John 12:35, 36, 46).

I am the light of the world (John 9:5).

Simeon said, For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, a light for revelation to the Gentiles (Luke 2:30-32).

And this is the judgment, that light is come into the world; he that doeth the truth cometh to the light (John 3:19, 21);

besides other places. "Light" means the Divine truth.

Jehovah God came down into the world as Divine truth, in order that He might work redemption; and redemption consisted in subjugating the hells, restoring the heavens to order, and after this establishing a church. This, Divine good is inadequate to effect; it can be done only by the Divine truth from the Divine good. The Divine good, viewed in itself, is like the round hilt of a sword, or a blunt piece of wood, or a bow without arrows; while Divine truth from Divine good is like a sharp sword, or wood in the form of a spear, or a bow with its arrows, all which are effective against an enemy. (In the spiritual sense of the Word "swords," "spears," and "bows" mean truths combating) The falsities and evils in which all hell was and always is, could have been assaulted, conquered, and subjugated in no other way than by means of Divine truth from the Word; nor could the new heaven that was then constituted have been built up, formed, and arranged in order by any other means; nor could a new church on the earth have been established by any other means. Moreover all the strength, energy, and power of God belong to Divine truth from the Divine good. This explains why Jehovah God came down as Divine truth, which is the Word. Therefore it is said in David:

Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty One, and in Thy majesty mount up; ride upon the Word of truth; Thy right hand shall teach Thee wonderful things. Thine arrows are sharp, Thine enemies shall fall under Thee (Ps. 45:3-5).

This is said of the Lord, of His conflicts with the hells, and of His victories over them.

What good is, apart from truth, and what truth is, apart from good, can be seen clearly in man. All good in man has its seat in his will, and all truth in his understanding; and the will from its good can do nothing whatever except by means of the understanding; it cannot work, it cannot speak, it cannot feel; all of its virtue and power is by means of the understanding, consequently by means of truth; for the understanding is the receptacle and abode of truth. It is with these precisely as with the action of the heart and lungs in the body. Without the respiration of the lungs not a motion or a sensation is produced by the heart; but both motion and sensation are produced from the heart by the respiration of the lungs, as is evident in the swooning of persons who have been suffocated or have fallen into the water, whose respiration ceases, although the systolic activity of the heart still continues. That such persons have neither motion nor sensation is known. It is the same with the embryo in the mother's womb. This is because the heart corresponds to the will and its various kinds of good, and the lungs to the understanding and its truths.

In the spiritual world the power of truth is especially conspicuous. An angel who is in Divine truths from the Lord, although in body as weak as an infant, can nevertheless put to flight a troop of infernal spirits that look like Anakim and Nephilim, that is, like giants, and can pursue them to hell, and thrust them into their caverns there; and when they emerge therefrom they dare not come near the angel. Those who are in Divine truths from the Lord are in that world like lions, although in body they have no more strength than sheep. Men who are in Divine truths from the Lord have a like power against evils and falsities, and consequently against cohorts of devils, who, regarded in their essence, are nothing but evils and falsities. There is such strength in Divine truth because God is good itself and truth itself; and it was by means of Divine truth that He created the universe; and all the laws of order by means of which He preserves the universe are truths. Therefore it is said in John:

That all things were made by the Word, and without Him was nothing thing made that was made (1:3, 10)

And in David:

By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the breath of His mouth (Ps. 33:6).

That God, although He descended as Divine truth, did not separate therefrom the Divine good, is evident from the conception; of which it is said: the power of the Most High overshadowed Mary (Luke 1:35), "the power of the Most High" meaning the Divine good. This is evident also from the passages where He says that the Father is in Him and He in the Father, that all things that the Father hath are His, and that the Father and He are one; also from other passages. By "the Father" the Divine good is meant.

(from True Christian Religion 84 - 88)

The WORD in Each and Every Particular

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
WHAT CORRESPONDENCE IS • WHAT INFLUX IS

The Word in the sense of the letter appears very simple, and yet there is stored up in it the wisdom of the three heavens, for each least particular of it contains interior and more interior senses — an interior sense such as exists in the first heaven, a still more interior sense such as exists in the second heaven, and an inmost sense such as exists in the third heaven. These senses are in the sense of the letter, one within the other, and are evolved therefrom one after the other, each from its own heaven, when a man who is led by the Lord reads the Word. These interior senses differ in the degree of light and wisdom according to the heavens, and yet they make one by influx, and thus by correspondences. How they thus make one shall be told in what follows. All this makes clear how the Word was inspired by the Divine, and that it was written from such an inspiration to which nothing else in the world can in anywise be compared. The arcana of wisdom of the three heavens contained in it are the mystical things of which many have spoken.

It has been said that there is a Word in each heaven and that these Words are in our Word in their order, and that they thus make one by influx and consequent correspondences. Here, therefore, it shall be told what correspondence is and what influx is; otherwise it cannot be comprehended what the Word is inwardly in its bosom, thus as to its life from the Lord, which is its soul.

But what correspondence is and what influx is shall be illustrated by examples —

The changes of the face that are called the countenance correspond to the affections of the mind; consequently the face changes as to the countenance just as the affections of the mind change as to their states. These changes in the face are correspondences, as consequently the face itself is; and the action of the mind into it, that the correspondences may be exhibited, is called influx.

The sight of man's thought, which is called the understanding, corresponds to the sight of his eyes; and consequently the quality of the thought from the understanding is made evident from the light and flame of the eyes. The sight of the eye is a correspondence, as consequently the eye itself is; the action of the understanding into the eye, by which the correspondence is exhibited, is influx.

The active thought, which belongs to the understanding, corresponds to speech, which belongs to the mouth. The speech is a correspondence, likewise the mouth and everything belonging to it, and the action of thought into speech and into the organs of speech is influx.

The perception of the mind corresponds to the smell of the nostrils. The smell and the nostrils are correspondences, and the action is influx. For this reason a man who has interior perception is said to have a keen nose, and perceiving a thing is called scenting it out.

Hearkening, which is obedience, corresponds to the hearing of the ears; consequently both the hearing and the ears are correspondences, and the action of obedience into the hearing, that a man may raise his ears and attend, is influx; therefore hearkening and hearing are both significative, hearkening and giving ear to anyone being to obey, and hearkening and hearing anyone meaning to hear with the ears.

The action of the body corresponds to the will, the action of the heart corresponds to the life of the love, the action of the lungs, which is called respiration, corresponds to the life of the faith, and the whole body as to all its members, viscera, and organs, corresponds to the soul as to all the functions and powers of its life.

From these few examples it can be seen what correspondence is and what influx is.

When the spiritual, which belongs to the life of man's understanding and will, flows into the acts which belong to his body, it exhibits itself in a natural effigy, and there is correspondence; also that thus the spiritual and the natural act as one by correspondences, like interior and exterior, or like prior and posterior, or like the effecting cause and the effect, or like the principal cause which belongs to man's thought and will, and the instrumental cause which belongs to his speech and action. There is such a correspondence of natural things and spiritual not only in each and every thing of man, but also in each and every thing of the world. The correspondences are produced by an influx of the spiritual world and all things of it into the natural world and all things of it.

From all this it can be seen in some measure how our Word, as to the sense of the letter, which is natural, makes one by influx and correspondences with the Words in the heavens, the senses of which are spiritual.

What the Word is as to influx and correspondences can now be illustrated. It is said in John:

He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and should turn themselves and I should heal them (John 12:40).

The "eyes" that are blinded signify the understanding of truth and the belief in it; the "heart" that is hardened signifies the will and the love of good; and "to be healed" signifies to be reformed. They were not permitted "to turn themselves and be healed" lest they should commit profanation; for an evil man who is healed and who returns to his evil and falsity commits profanation; and so it would have been with the Jewish nation.

In Matthew:

Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear (Matt. 13:16).

Here, too, the "eyes" signify the understanding of truth and the belief in it; so "to see" signifies to understand and believe, and the "ears" signify obedience, thus a life according to the truths of faith, and "to hear" signifies to obey and live. For no one is blessed because he sees and hears, but because he understands, believes, obeys, and lives.

In the same:

The lamp of the body is the eye; if the eye be sound the whole body is lucid; if the eye be evil the whole body is darkened. If, therefore, the light [lumen] is darkness, how great is the darkness (Matt. 6:22-23).

Here, again, the "eye" signifies the understanding of truth and the belief in it, which is called a lamp from the light of truth that man has from understanding and belief. And because a man becomes wise from understanding and believing in truth, it is said "if the eye be sound the whole body is lucid." The "body" means the man, and "to be lucid" means to be wise.

But it is the reverse with the "evil eye," that is, understanding and believing in falsity. "Darkness" means falsities, "if the light [lumen] be darkness" signifies if the truth be false or falsified, and because truth falsified is worse than any other falsity, it is said, "If the light [lumen] be darkness, how great is the darkness."

These few examples make clear what correspondence is and what influx is, namely, that the eye is a correspondence of the understanding and faith, the heart a correspondence of the will and love, the ears a correspondence of obedience, the lamp and light [lumen] correspondences of truth, and darkness a correspondence of falsity, and so on; and as the one is spiritual and the other natural, and the spiritual acts into the natural and forms it to an image of itself that it may appear before the eyes or before the world, therefore that action is influx. Such is the Word in each and every particular.

(from Apocalypse Explained 1079 - 1081)

As if of Self

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
ESTABLISHING COVENANT

To man alone is it granted to think as if of himself about good and evil, that is, that good must be loved and done because it is Divine and remains to eternity, and that evil must be hated and not done because it is devilish and remains to eternity. To think thus is not granted to any beast. A beast can do good and shun evil, yet not of itself, but either from instinct or habit or fear, and never from the thought that such a thing is a good or an evil, thus not of itself. Consequently one who would have it believed that man shuns evils or does goods not as if of himself but from an imperceptible influx, or from the imputation of the Lord's merit, would also have it believed that man lives like a beast without thought of, or perception of, or the affection of truth and good. That this is so has been made clear to me from manifold experience in the spiritual world.

Every man after death is there prepared either for heaven or for hell. From the man who is prepared for heaven, evils are removed, and from the man who is prepared for hell, goods are removed – all such removals are effected as if by them. Likewise those who do evils are driven by punishments to reject them as if of themselves; but if they do not reject them as if of themselves the punishments are of no avail. By this it was made clear that those who hang down their hands, waiting for influx, or for the imputation of the Lord's merit, continue in the state of their evil, and hang down their hands forever.

To shun evils as sins is to shun the infernal societies that are in them, and man cannot shun these unless he repels them and turns away from them; and a man cannot turn away from them with repulsion unless he loves good and from that love does not will evil. For a man must either will evil or will good; and so far as he wills good he does not will evil; and it is granted him to will good when he makes the Commandments of the Decalogue to be of his religion, and lives according to them.

Since man must refrain from evils as sins as if of himself, these Ten Commandments were inscribed by the Lord on two tables, and these were called a covenant; and this covenant was entered into in the same way as it is usual to enter into covenants between two, that is, one proposes and the other accepts, and the one who accepts consents. If he does not consent the covenant is not established.

To consent to this covenant is to think, will, and do as if of oneself. Man's thinking to shun evil and to do good as if of himself is done not by man, but by the Lord. This is done by the Lord for the sake of reciprocation and consequent conjunction; for the Lord's Divine love is such that it wills that what is its own shall be man's, and as these things cannot be man's, because they are Divine, it makes them to be as if they were man's. In this way reciprocal conjunction is effected, that is, that man is in the Lord and the Lord in man, according to the words of the Lord Himself in John (14:20); for this would not be possible if there were not in the conjunction something belonging as it were to man. What man does as if of himself he does as if of his will, of his affection, of his freedom, consequently of his life. Unless these were present on man's part, as if they were his there could be no receptivity, because nothing reactive, thus no covenant and no conjunction — in fact, no ground whatever for the imputation that man had done evil or good or had believed truth or falsity, thus that there is from merit a hell for anyone because of evil works, or from grace a heaven for anyone because of good works.

(from Apocalypse Explained 971)

A Right Idea of Eternal and Infinite

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
NO RATIO BETWEEN THE INFINITE AND THE FINITE

As God is uncreate He is also eternal; for the life itself which is God is life in itself, not from itself, nor from nothing; thus it is without origin; and what is without origin is from eternity and is eternal. But an idea of anything without origin is impossible to the natural man; so, too, is the idea of God from eternity; but it is possible to the spiritual man.

The thought of the natural man cannot be separated and abstracted from the idea of time; this idea clings to him from nature, in which he is. Nor can his thought be separated and abstracted from the idea of origin, since origin means to him a beginning in time. The appearance in the sun's progression has impressed this idea on the natural man. But the thought of the spiritual man is abstracted from the idea of time, because it is raised above nature, and in place of that idea there is the idea of state of life, and in place of duration of time is an idea of the state of thought from affection, which constitutes life. For in the angelic heaven the sun does not rise or set or make years and days, as the sun in the world does; and for this reason the angels of heaven, because they are in spiritual ideas, think apart from time; consequently their idea of God from eternity does not take anything from origin, that is, from a beginning, but from state that it is eternal, and that everything therefore that is God and that proceeds from God is eternal, in other words, is Divine in itself. That this is so has been granted to perceive by an elevation above the natural idea into a spiritual idea.

From all this it is now clear that God, who is uncreate, is also eternal, also that it is impossible to think that nature is from eternity, or that it is from itself in time; but it is possible to think that God is from eternity, and that nature with time is from God.

~~~

As God is eternal He is also infinite, and as there is a natural idea and a spiritual idea of the eternal, so there is of the infinite. The natural idea of the eternal is from time, but the spiritual idea of it is not from time. And the natural idea of the infinite is from space, but the spiritual idea of it is not from space. For as life is not nature, so the two properties of nature, which are time and space, are not properties of life, for they were created with nature by the life which is God. The natural idea of the infinite God, which is from space, is that He fills the universe from end to end; but from this idea of the infinite there springs the thought that the inmost of nature is God, and thus that He is something extended, and yet everything extended belongs to matter.

As, therefore, the natural idea has nothing in common with the idea of life, of wisdom, and of love, which is God, so the infinite must be viewed from the spiritual idea, in which there is nothing of time and nothing of space, because there is in it nothing of nature. According to the spiritual idea, the Divine love is infinite and the Divine wisdom is infinite, and since the Divine love and the Divine wisdom are the life which is God the Divine life is also infinite; from which it follows that God is infinite. That the Divine wisdom is infinite can be seen from the wisdom of the angels of the third heaven. As these excel all others in wisdom, they perceive that there is no ratio between their wisdom and the Lord's Divine wisdom, because there is no ratio between the infinite and the finite. Moreover, they say that the first degree of wisdom is to see and acknowledge that this is so. The same is true of the Divine love. Furthermore, angels like men are recipient forms of life, thus they are recipients of wisdom and love from the Lord; and these forms are from substances that are without life, thus are in themselves dead, and between what is dead and what is living there is no ratio.

But how that finite receives the infinite can be illustrated by the light and heat of the sun of the world. The light itself and the heat itself from that sun are not material, and yet they affect material substances, the light by modifying them, and the heat by changing their states. The Lord's Divine wisdom is likewise light, and the Lord's Divine love is heat, but they are spiritual heat and light, because they proceed from the Lord as a sun, which is Divine love united to Divine wisdom; but the light and heat from the sun of the world are natural, because that sun is fire and not love.

(from Apocalypse Explained 1130 - 1131)

The Divine is NOT in Time and Space

Selection from Divine Love and Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... But do not, I entreat you, confuse your ideas with time and with space, for so far as time and space enter into your ideas when you read ... you will not understand it; for the Divine is not in time and space. (Divine Love and Wisdom 51)

~~~

THE DIVINE IS NOT IN SPACE

That the Divine, that is, God, is not in space, although omnipresent and with every man in the world, and with every angel in heaven, and with every spirit under heaven, cannot be comprehended by a merely natural idea, but it can by a spiritual idea. It cannot be comprehended by a natural idea, because in the natural idea there is space; since it is formed out of such things as are in the world, and in each and all of these, as seen by the eye, there is space. In the world, everything great and small is of space; everything long, broad, and high is of space; in short, every measure, figure and form is of space. This is why it has been said that it cannot be comprehended by a merely natural idea that the Divine is not in space, when it is said that the Divine is everywhere. Still, by natural thought, a man may comprehend this, if only he admit into it something of spiritual light. For this reason something shall first be said about spiritual idea, and thought therefrom.

Spiritual idea derives nothing from space, but it derives its all from state. State is predicated of love, of life, of wisdom, of affections, of joys therefrom; in general, of good and of truth.

An idea of these things which is truly spiritual has nothing in common with space; it is higher and looks down upon the ideas of space which are under it as heaven looks down upon the earth. But since angels and spirits see with eyes, just as men in the world do, and since objects cannot be seen except in space, therefore in the spiritual world where angels and spirits are, there appear to be spaces like the spaces on earth; yet they are not spaces, but appearances; since they are not fixed and constant, as spaces are on earth; for they can be lengthened or shortened; they can be changed or varied. Thus because they cannot be determined in that world by measure, they cannot be comprehended there by any natural idea, but only by a spiritual idea. The spiritual idea of distances of space is the same as of distances of good or distances of truth, which are affinities and likenesses according to states of goodness and truth.

From this it may be seen that man is unable, by a merely natural idea, to comprehend that the Divine is everywhere, and yet not in space; but that angels and spirits comprehend this clearly; consequently that a man also may, provided he admits into his thought something of spiritual light; and this for the reason that it is not his body that thinks, but his spirit, thus not his natural, but his spiritual.

But many fail to comprehend this because of their love of the natural, which makes them unwilling to raise the thoughts of their understanding above the natural into spiritual light; and those who are unwilling to do this can think only from space, even concerning God; and to think according to space concerning God is to think concerning the expanse of nature. This has to be premised, because without a knowledge and some perception that the Divine is not in space, nothing can be understood about the Divine Life, which is Love and Wisdom, of which subjects this volume treats; and hence little, if anything, about Divine Providence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Infinity and Eternity, which will be treated of in succession.

It has been said that in the spiritual world, just as in the natural world, there appear to be spaces, consequently also distances, but that these are appearances according to spiritual affinities which are of love and wisdom, or of good and truth. From this it is that the Lord, although everywhere in the heavens with angels, nevertheless appears high above them as a sun. Furthermore, since reception of love and wisdom causes affinity with the Lord, those heavens in which the angels are, from reception, in closer affinity with Him, appear nearer to Him than those in which the affinity is more remote. From this it is also that the heavens, of which there are three, are distinct from each other, likewise the societies of each heaven; and further, that the hells under them are remote according to their rejection of love and wisdom. The same is true of men, in whom and with whom the Lord is present throughout the whole earth; and this solely for the reason that the Lord is not in space.

(Divine Love and Wisdom 7-10)

~~~

THE DIVINE, APART FROM SPACE, FILLS ALL SPACES OF THE UNIVERSE

There are two things proper to nature - space 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 space 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 space and time, passes 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 space. 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.

All who die and become angels put off the two above mentioned properties of nature, namely, space 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 space and time; and though the objects of their sight appear as if in space and in time, still the angels do not think from space and time. The reason is, that spaces 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 space and time there are states of life

• instead of spaces such things as have reference to states of love

• 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.

Now, because the thoughts of angels derive nothing from space and time, but everything from states of life, when it is said that the Divine fills spaces angels evidently cannot comprehend it, for they do not know what spaces are; but when, apart from any idea of space, it is said that the Divine fills all things, they clearly comprehend it.

To make it clear that the merely natural man thinks of spiritual and Divine things from space, and the spiritual man apart from space, let the following serve for illustration.

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 space he thinks of the good of a thing from good of life

• instead of breadth of space, of the truth of a thing from truth of life

• 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 space, fills all things. And that which an angel thinks is truth, because the light which enlightens his understanding is Divine Wisdom.

This is the basis of thought concerning God; for without it, what is to be said of the creation of the universe by God-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 space, 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 GOD is a MAN. Read with attention, I pray you, [GOD IS VERY MAN] (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 space, 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 spaces of the universe, and why it is not said that God-Man fills them. For if this were said, the merely natural lumen would not assent. But to the proposition that the Divine fills all space, it does assent, because this agrees with the mode of speech of the theologians, that God is omnipresent, and hears and knows all things.

(from Divine Love and Wisdom 69-72)

~~~

GOD IS VERY MAN

In all the heavens there is no other idea of God than that He is a Man. This is because heaven as a whole and in part is in form like a man, and because it is the Divine which is with the angels that constitutes heaven and inasmuch as thought proceeds according to the form of heaven, it is impossible for the angels to think of God in any other way. From this it is that all those in the world who are conjoined with heaven think of God in the same way when they think interiorly in themselves, that is, in their spirit. From this fact that God is a Man, all angels and all spirits, in their complete form, are men. This results from the form of heaven, which is like itself in its greatest and in its least parts. ... It is known from Genesis (1:26, 27), that men were created after the image and likeness of God. God also appeared as a man to Abraham and to others. The ancients, from the wise even to the simple, thought of God no otherwise than as being a Man; and when at length they began to worship a plurality of gods, as at Athens and Rome, they worshiped them all as men. What is here said may be illustrated by the following extract from a small treatise already published: —

The Gentiles, especially the Africans, who acknowledge and worship one God, the Creator of the universe, have concerning God the idea that He is a Man, and declare that no one can have any other idea of God. When they learn that there are many who cherish an idea of God as something cloud-like in the midst of things, they ask where such persons are; and on being told that they are among Christians, they declare it to be impossible. They are informed, however, that this idea arises from the fact that God in the Word is called "a Spirit," and of a spirit they have no other idea than of a bit of cloud, not knowing that every spirit and every angel is a man. An examination, nevertheless, was made, whether the spiritual idea of such persons was like their natural idea, and it was found not to be so with those who acknowledge the Lord interiorly as God of heaven and earth. I heard a certain elder from the Christians say that no one can have an idea of a Human Divine; and I saw him taken about to various Gentile nations, and successively to such as were more and more interior, and from them to their heavens, and finally to the Christian heaven; and everywhere their interior perception concerning God was communicated to him, and he observed that they had no other idea of God than that He is a man, which is the same as the idea of a Human Divine (C.L.J. n. 74).

The common people in Christendom have an idea that God is a Man, because God in the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity is called a "Person." But those who are more learned than the common people pronounce God to be invisible; and this for the reason that they cannot comprehend how God, as a Man, could have created heaven and earth, and then fill the universe with His presence, and many things besides, which cannot enter the understanding so long as the truth that the Divine is not in space is ignored. Those, however, who go to the Lord alone think of a Human Divine, thus of God as a Man.

How important it is to have a correct idea of God can be known from the truth that the idea of God constitutes the inmost of thought with all who have religion, for all things of religion and all things of worship look to God. And since God, universally and in particular, is in all things of religion and of worship, without a proper idea of God no communication with the heavens is possible. From this it is that in the spiritual world every nation has its place allotted in accordance with its idea of God as a Man; for in this idea, and in no other, is the idea of the Lord. That man's state of life after death is according to the idea of God in which he has become confirmed, is manifest from the opposite of this, namely, that the denial of God, and, in the Christian world, the denial of the Divinity of the Lord, constitutes hell.

(from Divine Love and Wisdom 11-13)