A Succession of Correspondences

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
To remember and to be mindful of the Lord is from no other source than faith

He who receives and has faith is continually mindful of the Lord, even when he is thinking or speaking of other things, and also when he is discharging his public, private, or domestic duties, although he is not aware that he is then mindful of the Lord; for the remembrance of the Lord by those who are in faith reigns universally with them, and what reigns universally is not perceived, except while the thought is directed to it.

This may be illustrated by various things with man.

He who is in any love, whatever it may be, is continually thinking about whatever belongs to that love; and this although he is engaged in thought, in speech, or in action relative to other things.

In the other life this is very evident from the spiritual spheres about everyone; for simply from these spheres it is known in what faith and in what love are all who are there, and this even though they are thinking and speaking of something entirely different; for that which reigns universally in anyone produces a sphere of the same, and displays his life before others. From this may be seen what is meant when it is said that we must be constantly thinking about the Lord, salvation, and the life after death.

All who are in faith from charity do this, and therefore they do not think ill of the neighbor, and they have justice and equity in everything of their thought, speech, and action; for that which reigns universally flows into particulars and guides and governs them, because the Lord keeps the mind in such things as are of charity and the derivative faith and thus disposes everything in conformity therewith.

The sphere of faith from charity is the sphere which reigns in heaven; for the Lord flows in with love, and through love with charity, consequently with the truths which are of faith; and from this they who are in heaven are said to be in the Lord.

The Rebirth of the Sensuous

The sensuous, like the rational, is born again by means of faith, but by the faith into which charity flows. Unless charity flows into faith and gives it life, faith cannot reign universally; for what a man loves reigns, and not what he merely knows and holds in his memory. (from no 5130)

Correspondence of Exterior Natural and Interior Natural

When it is well with thee. That this signifies when there is correspondence, is evident from the signification of its "being well with thee," when the rebirth or regeneration of the exterior natural or sensuous is treated of, as being correspondence; for it is not well with it until it corresponds.

What correspondence is

There is a correspondence of sensuous with natural things, a correspondence of natural with spiritual things, a correspondence of spiritual with celestial things, and finally a correspondence of celestial things with the Divine of the Lord; thus there is a succession of correspondences from the Divine down to the ultimate natural.

But as an idea of the nature of correspondences can with difficulty be formed by those who have never thought about them before, it may be well to say a few words on the subject.

End, Cause, Effect

It is known from philosophy that the end is the first of the cause, and that the cause is the first of the effect. That the end, the cause, and the effect may follow in order, and act as a one, it is needful that the effect should correspond to the cause, and the cause to the end. But still the end does not appear as the cause, nor the cause as the effect; for in order that the end may produce the cause, it must take to itself administrant means from the region where the cause is, by which means the end may produce the cause; and in order that the cause may produce the effect, it also must take to itself administrant means from the region where the effect is, by which means the cause may produce the effect. These administrant means are what correspond; and because they correspond, the end can be in the cause and can actuate the cause, and the cause can be in the effect and can actuate the effect; consequently the end through the cause can actuate the effect. It is otherwise when there is no correspondence; for then the end has no cause in which it may be, still less an effect in which it may be, but is changed and varied in the cause, and finally in the effect, according to the form made by the administrant means.

All things in general and in particular in man, nay, all things in general and in particular in nature, succeed one another as end, cause, and effect; and when they thus correspond to one another, they act as a one; for then the end is the all in all things of the cause, and through the cause is the all in all things of the effect. As for example, when heavenly love is the end, the will the cause, and action the effect, if there is correspondence, then heavenly love flows into the will, and the will into the action, and they so act as a one that by means of the correspondence the action is as it were the love; or as when the faith of charity is the end, thought the cause, and speech the effect, then if there is correspondence, faith from charity flows into the thought, and this into the speech, and they so act as a one, that by means of the correspondence the speech is as it were the end. In order however that the end, which is love and faith, may produce the cause, which is will and thought, it must take to itself administrant means in the rational mind that will correspond; for without administrant means that correspond, the end, which is love or faith, cannot be received, however much it may flow in from the Lord through heaven. From this it is plain that the interiors and the exteriors of man, that is, what is rational, natural, and sensuous in him must be brought into correspondence, in order that he may receive the Divine influx, and consequently that he may be born again; and that it is not well with him till then. This is the reason why here by "when it is well with thee" is signified correspondence. (from no. 5131)

The Reception of Charity

Faith and charity will make a one in the sensuous when this is being reborn. That "mercy" signifies charity is because all who are in charity are in mercy, or in other words all who love the neighbor are merciful to him; and therefore acts of charity are described in the Word by works of mercy; as in Matthew:

I was hungry and ye gave Me to eat; I was thirsty and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger and ye gathered Me; naked and ye clothed Me; I was sick and ye visited Me; I was in prison and ye came unto Me (Matt. 25:35-36)

and in other places by benefiting the poor, the afflicted, the widows, and the fatherless.

The Mercy of Charity — The Mercy of Friendship

In its essence charity is to will well to the neighbor, to be affected with good, and to acknowledge good as the neighbor, consequently those who are in good, with a difference according to the degree of their good; and hence charity, because it is affected with good, is affected with mercy toward those who are in miseries. The good of charity has this within it because it descends from the Lord's love toward the whole human race, which love is mercy because all the human race is settled in miseries.

Mercy sometimes shows itself in the evil, who are in no charity; but this is grief on account of what they themselves suffer, for it is shown toward their friends who make one with them, and when their friends suffer, they suffer. This mercy is not the mercy of charity, but is the mercy of friendship for the sake of self, which regarded in itself is unmercifulness; for it despises or hates all others besides itself, thus besides the friends who make one with it. (from no. 5132)

Communication with the Interior Natural

By "communication with the interior natural" is meant conjunction by correspondence. The interior natural is that which receives ideas of truth and good from the rational, and stores them up for use, consequently which communicates immediately with the rational; but the exterior natural is that which receives images and thence ideas of things from the world through the senses.

The Fallacies of the Senses

These ideas, unless enlightened by those which are in the interior natural, present fallacies, which are called the fallacies of the senses. When man is in these fallacies, he believes nothing but what agrees with them, and what they confirm, as is the case if there is no correspondence; and there is no correspondence unless the man is imbued with charity, for charity is the uniting means, because in the good of it there is life from the Lord, which disposes truth into order, so that the form of charity, or charity in an image, may come into existence. This form appears visibly in the other life, and is the angelic form itself. Hence all the angels are forms of charity, the beauty of which is from the truths which are of faith, and the life of this beauty is from the good which is of charity. (from no. 5133)

Deliverance of Good from evils

When faith is received in the exterior natural (which is here treated of above no. 5130), correspondence is effected (no. 5131), and charity is received (no. 5132), and thus communication is effected with the interior natural (no. 5133), which is then delivered from the evils whereby the celestial was alienated.

Moreover, when the natural is being regenerated by means of charity and faith, it is delivered from evils; for evils are then separated, and are cast out from the center where they were before, to the circumferences, whither the light of truth from good does not reach. In this way are evils separated in man, and yet are retained, for they cannot be entirely destroyed.

But with the Lord, who made the natural in Himself Divine, evils and falsities were utterly cast out and destroyed; for the Divine can have nothing in common with evils and falsities, nor be terminated in them, as is the case with man; for the Divine is the very being of good and of truth, which is infinitely removed from what is evil and false.

(Selections from Arcana Coelestia 5130 - 5134)

Except from Doctrine of Genuine Truth

Selection from Apocalypse Revealed ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. (Revelation 19:11-13)

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, signifies the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and the interior understanding of the Word disclosed thereby; which is the coming of the Lord. By "heaven was seen open" is signified a revelation from the Lord, and the manifestation, concerning which below. By "a horse" is signified the understanding of the Word, and by "a white horse" the interior understanding of the Word; and as this is signified by "a white horse," and as the spiritual sense is the interior understanding of the Word, therefore that sense is signified here by "the white horse." The reason that this is the coming of the Lord, is because it manifestly appears by that sense that the Lord is the Word, and that the Word treats of Him alone, and that He is the God of heaven and earth, and that from Him alone the New Church exists. The Lord said that:

They should see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matt. 17:5; 24:30; 26:64; Mark 14:61, 62; Luke 9:34-35; 21:27; Rev. 1:7; Acts 1:9, 11).

And the Lord said this also where He spoke with the disciples concerning the consummation of the age, which is the last time of the church, when the judgment takes place.

Everyone who does not think beyond the sense of the letter, believes that when the Last Judgment shall come, the Lord will appear in the clouds of heaven with the angels and sounds of trumpets. But that this is not meant, but that He will appear in the Word, may be evident from this explanation in number 24: —

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Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7)

Behold He cometh with the clouds of heaven, signifies that the Lord will reveal Himself in the literal sense of the Word, and will open its spiritual sense in the end of the church. He who does not know anything of the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, cannot know what was meant by the Lord that "He will come in the clouds of heaven"; for He said to the high priest, who adjured Him to say whether He was the Christ the Son of God:

Thou hast said I am; and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:63-64; Mark 14:61-62).

And where the Lord speaks to His disciples of the consummation of the age, He says:

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory (Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26).

By "the clouds of heaven" in which He is to come, nothing else is meant but the Word in its literal sense; and by "the glory" in which they will see Him, the Word in its spiritual sense. That this is the case, is difficult to be believed by those who do not think beyond the sense of the letter of the Word; with such, "a cloud" is a cloud, and thence is their belief that the Lord will appear in the clouds of heaven, when the Last Judgment is at hand. But this idea falls, when it is known what "a cloud" is, and that it is the Divine truth in ultimates, thus the Word in the sense of the letter.

In the spiritual world there appear clouds as well as in the natural world; but the clouds in the spiritual world appear beneath the heavens, with those who are in the sense of the letter of the Word, darker or brighter according to their understanding and reception of the Word — the reason is, that the light of heaven there is the Divine truth, and darkness there is falsities; consequently "bright clouds" are the Divine truth veiled in appearances of truth, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in truths; and "dark clouds" are the Divine truths covered with fallacies and confirmed appearances, such as the Word is in the letter with those who are in falsities. I have often seen those clouds, and it was evident whence and what they are. Now because the Lord, after the glorification of His Human, was made the Divine truth, or the Word, even in ultimates, He said unto the high priest, that, "Hereafter they should see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven."

But His saying to His disciples, that "in the consummation of the age the sign of the Son of man should appear, and that they should see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory," signifies that at the end of the church, when the Last Judgment shall take place, He will appear in the Word, and reveal the spiritual sense, which is also accomplished at this day, because now is the end of the church, and the Last Judgment has taken place, as may appear from the small works recently published. This, therefore, is what is meant in Revelation, by "behold He cometh with clouds"; also in the following passages:

I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man (Rev. 14:14).

As also in Daniel:

I saw in the night visions, and behold the Son of man coming with clouds (Dan. 7:13).

That by "the Son of man" is meant the Lord as to the Word, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord (n. 19-28).

That also by "clouds" in other parts of the Word, is meant the Divine truth in ultimates, and thence the Word in the letter, may be seen in other passages where clouds are mentioned; as in these:

There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven, and in magnificence upon the clouds (Deut. 33:26).

Sing unto God, praise His name, extol Him that rideth upon the clouds (Ps. 68:4).

Jehovah rideth upon a light cloud (Isa. 19:1).

"To ride upon the clouds," signifies to be in the wisdom of the Word, for "a horse" signifies the understanding of the Word; who cannot see that Jehovah does not ride upon the clouds?

God rode upon a cherub, and placed the clouds of the heavens His tent (Ps. 18:10-11).

Here there is a similar signification; "cherubs" also signify the Word; tent signifies a habitation.

Jehovah layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters, He maketh the cloud His chariot (Ps. 104:3).

"Waters" signify truths, "chambers" signify doctrinals, and "chariot" doctrine, all which, because they are from the sense of the letter of the Word, are called "clouds."

He bindeth up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud is not broken under them; He spreadeth His cloud over His throne (Job 26:8-9).

In like manner:

God caused the light of His cloud to shine (Job 37:15).

Give ye strength unto God, strength upon the clouds (Ps. 68:34).

"The light of a cloud" signifies the Divine truth of the Word, and "strength" signifies Divine power there.

Thou, O Lucifer, hast said in thine heart, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud; I will become like the Most High (Isa. 14:14).

Forsake ye, Babylon, for she hath lifted herself up even to the clouds (Jer. 51:9).

By "Lucifer," and "Babylon" are signified those who profane the goods and truths of the Word, therefore these truths are meant there by "clouds."

Jehovah spread a cloud for a covering (Ps. 105:39).

Jehovah createth upon every habitation of Zion a cloud by day, for upon all the glory shall be a covering (Isa. 4:5).

Here, also, by "cloud," is meant the Word in the sense of the letter, which sense, as it includes and covers the spiritual sense, is called "a covering upon the glory." That the literal sense of the Word is a covering, lest its spiritual sense should be injured, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 33); and that it is a guard (n. 97).

The Divine truth in ultimates, which is the same with the Word in the sense of the letter, is also represented by the "cloud," in which Jehovah descended upon Mount Sinai, and promulgated the law (Exod. 19:9; 34:5). Also by the "cloud" which covered Peter, James, and John, when Jesus was transfigured, concerning which it is written:

While Peter yet spake, behold a cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud saying, This is my beloved Son, hear ye Him (Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:34-35).

The Lord in this transfiguration, caused Himself to be seen as the Word; therefore a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice was heard out of the cloud, that He is the Son of God; "the voice out of the cloud" is out of the Word. That by "cloud," in the opposite sense, is meant the Word as to the sense of the letter falsified, will be seen elsewhere. (from Apocalypse Revealed 24)

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And the Lord appears manifestly in the spiritual sense of the Word.

It appears not only that He is the Word, that is, the Divine truth itself, and that He is the inmost of the Word, and thence the all of it; but also that He Himself is the one God, in whom is the Trinity, and thus the only God of heaven and earth; and moreover that He came into the world, that He might glorify His Human, that is, make it Divine. The Human which He glorified, that is, made Divine, was the natural human, which He could not glorify or make Divine but by taking on the human in a virgin in the natural world; to which He then united His Divine, which He had from eternity. That unition was effected by temptations admitted into the human that He had taken, the last of which was the passion of the cross, and at the same time by the fulfilling of all things of the Word; not only by the fulfilling of all things of the Word in its natural sense, but also by the fulfilling of all things of the Word in its spiritual sense and in its celestial sense; in which, as was said above, He alone is treated of.

But on these things, see what are manifested in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord, and in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture.

Now, because the Lord is the Word, and the Word became flesh (John 1:1-2, 14), and the Word became flesh that He might fulfill it, it is manifest that the Lord's coming in the Word is meant by His appearing "in the clouds of heaven."

It is manifest that the Lord's appearing in the Word is meant, because the interior understanding of the Word is signified by "the white horse," and it is said that the name of Him that sat upon the horse is "The Word of God," and that His name is "King of kings and Lord of lords" (verses 13, 16). It is now manifest from this, that by "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse," is signified the spiritual sense of the Word revealed by the Lord, and thereby the interior understanding of it disclosed; which also is the coming of the Lord. That the spiritual sense of the Word is at this day revealed, concerning which no one in the Christian world has before known anything, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, where the two books of Moses, Genesis and Exodus are explained according to that sense; also in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 5-26); in a little work Concerning the White Horse from beginning to end, and in the things collected there from the Arcana Coelestia concerning the Sacred Scripture; and besides in these explanations upon Revelation, where not a single verse can be understood without the spiritual sense.

(from Apocalypse Revealed 820)

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Selection from De Verbo ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— The Word of the Lord from Experience —
THE SPIRITUAL SENSE

No one can see the spiritual sense except from the doctrine of genuine truth; from this doctrine the spiritual sense can be seen, when there is some knowledge of correspondences. He who is in false doctrine cannot see anything of the spiritual sense. He draws out and applies the correspondences which he sees to the falsities of his doctrine; and thus he can still more falsify the Word. Wherefore the true spiritual sense of the Word is from the Lord alone. This is the reason why it is not permitted anyone in the natural world, nor in the spiritual world, to investigate the spiritual sense of the Word from the sense of its letter, unless he is wholly in the doctrine of Divine truth and in enlightenment from the Lord, wherefore from the doctrine of Divine truth confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word, the spiritual sense can be seen, but doctrine can never first be seen from the spiritual sense. He thinks falsely who says with himself, I know many correspondences, I can know the true doctrine of the Divine Word, the spiritual sense will teach it to me. This cannot be done. But, as has been said, let him say with himself, I know the doctrine of Divine truth, now I can see the spiritual sense, provided I know correspondences. But still this must be in enlightenment from the Lord, because the spiritual sense is Divine truth itself in its light, and is meant by glory, and the sense of the letter by a cloud in passages in the Word where these are mentioned.

(De Verbo 21)

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Selection from Doctrine of Sacred Scripture ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

It might be believed that the doctrine of genuine truth could be procured by means of the spiritual sense of the Word which is furnished through a knowledge of correspondences. But doctrine is not procured by means of that sense, but is only lighted up and corroborated. For as said before (n. 26), no one comes into the spiritual sense of the Word by means of correspondences unless he is first in genuine truths from doctrine. If a man is not first in genuine truths he may falsify the Word by means of some correspondences with which he is acquainted, by connecting them together and interpreting them so as to confirm that which cleaves to his mind from some principle previously received. Moreover the spiritual sense of the Word is not given anyone except by the Lord alone, and it is guarded by Him as heaven is guarded, for heaven is in it. It is better therefore for man to study the Word in the sense of the letter; from this alone is doctrine furnished.

(Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 56)

Heavenly Truths Now Revealed

Selection from De Verbo ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— The Word of the Lord from Experience —
Correspondences

Each and all things which are in nature, correspond to spiritual things; similarly each and all things which are in the human body. But it is not known at this day what correspondence is, but in the most ancient times the science of correspondences was the science of sciences, thus the universal science, so that the most ancient people wrote all their manuscripts and books by correspondences. The fables of the most ancient times and the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians are nothing else: the book of Job, which is a book of the Ancient Church, is full of correspondences.

All the ancient churches were churches representative of heavenly things; all their rites and also their statutes, according to which their worship was instituted, consisted of nothing but correspondences. Similarly the church with the sons of Jacob; the burnt offerings and sacrifices with all their particulars, were correspondences; likewise the tabernacle with the single things therein, as also their feasts, such as the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of tabernacles, and the feast of first fruits, and also all their statutes and judgments; and because correspondences are such things as exist in the ultimates of nature, and because all things of nature correspond, and the things which correspond also signify, therefore the sense of the letter of the Word consists of nothing but correspondences.

The Lord also, because He spoke from His Divine, and spoke the Word, spoke therefore also by correspondences. What is from the Divine, and in itself is Divine, in the ultimate falls into such things as correspond to Divine, celestial and spiritual things, thus such as in their bosom conceal and signify celestial and spiritual things. What, further, correspondences are, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia, in which the correspondences which are in Genesis and in Exodus are explained. And again a collection of citations from that work concerning correspondences, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem and in the treatise on Heaven and Hell.

The spiritual or internal sense of the Word is nothing else than the sense of the letter unfolded according to correspondences; for it teaches the spiritual which is perceived by angels in the heavens, while man in the world is thinking in a natural way of that which he reads in the Word.

I have heard and perceived from heaven that the men of the Most Ancient Church, who are those meant in the spiritual sense of the first chapters of Genesis by Adam and Eve, were so consociated with the angels of heaven, that they could speak with them by correspondences, and hence the state of their wisdom was such that whatever they saw on earth, they perceived at the same time spiritually, thus conjointly with the angels. It was told me that Enoch, of whom mention is made in Genesis, with his associates, collected correspondences from the mouth of those people, and transmitted the knowledge of them to posterity.

And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. (5:21-24)

From this it came to pass, that the science of correspondences not only was known, but was also cultivated, in many kingdoms of Asia, and especially in Egypt, Assyria and Babylon, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and also in Canaan. From thence it was carried over to Greece, but was there turned into fables, as may be sufficiently evident from what is told of Olympus, Helicon and Pindus near Athens, and also of the winged horse called Pegasus, as, that with the hoof he broke open a fountain, by which the nine virgins [the Muses], established their seats. For a mountain, and thus Helicon, from correspondence signifies the higher heaven; the hill under the mountain, which was Pindus, signifies the heaven below it; the winged horse, or Pegasus, signifies the understanding enlightened by the spiritual; the fountain signifies intelligence and learning, and the nine virgins signify the knowledges of truth and the sciences. Similar were the rest of the things which are called fabulous, which were written by the most ancient writers in Greece, and which were collected together and described by Ovid in his Metamorphoses.

When the representatives of the church in the course of time were turned into idolatries, then by the Divine Providence of the Lord that science was successively obliterated, and with the Israelitish and Jewish nation, it was altogether destroyed and extinguished. The worship of that nation was indeed altogether representative, but still they did not know what any representative thing signified. For they were altogether natural men, and hence they were neither able nor willing to know anything about the spiritual man and about his faith and love, consequently nothing about correspondences.

That the idolatries of the nations in ancient times derived their origin from the science of correspondences amongst them, was because all things that appear upon the earth have a correspondence, as not only trees, but also cattle and birds of every kind, as well as fishes, and the rest. The ancients, who were in the science of correspondences, made themselves images, which corresponded to spiritual things, and they were delighted with those things, because they signified such things as are of heaven and thence of the church, they therefore not only placed them in their temples, but also in their houses, not for the purpose of adoration, but for the recollection of the heavenly thing that was signified, thence in Egypt there were set up calves, oxen, serpents, boys, old men, virgins, and many other things. For a calf signified the innocence of the natural man, oxen affections of the natural man, serpents the prudence of the sensual man, a boy innocence, old men wisdom, virgins affections for truth, and so on. After the science of correspondences was there lost, their posterity, who were ignorant what the images and likenesses set up by the ancients signified, began to worship them as holy, and finally as deities, because they were placed in and near the temples.

The Egyptian hieroglyphics are from the same origin. So was it also with other nations, as with the Philistines in Ashdod, where was Dagon, formed like a man above and like a fish below, which image was so contrived because a man signifies rational intelligence, and a fish natural knowledge. From similar origin was the worship of the ancients in gardens and groves according to the kinds of trees, as also their sacred worship upon mountains; for gardens and groves signified spiritual intelligence, and each tree something thereof, as the olive its good of love, the vine its truth of the doctrine of faith, the cedar its rational, and so on. A mountain signified heaven, and therefore the worship of the most ancient people was upon mountains.

That the science of correspondences remained with many oriental nations until the coming of the Lord, may be evident from the wise men from the East, who came to the Lord when He was born.

... and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:9-11)

Therefore a star went before them, and they brought with them gold, frankincense, and myrrh. It was also said to the shepherds, in order that they might know that it was the Lord Himself, that it should be a sign unto them, that they should see Him in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, because there was no place in the inn. "The star" which went before the wise men signified knowledge from heaven, for stars in the Word signify knowledges. "The gold" signified celestial good, "frankincense" spiritual good, and "myrrh" natural good; all worship being from these three. "The manger" in which the infant Lord was found by the shepherds, signifies spiritual nourishment, because horses, which are fed from a manger, signify intellectual things. "The inn" where there was no place signified the Jewish Church, in which at that time there was no spiritual nourishment, because everything of the Word and thence everything of worship with them, had then been adulterated and perverted. Hence it is said that this would be for a sign to them that it was the Lord (Luke 2:12).

Nevertheless, the science of correspondences was altogether none with the Israelitish and Jewish nation, although all things of their worship, and all the statutes and judgments given to them, and all things of the Word, were pure correspondences. The reason was that that nation was idolatrous in heart, and such that it did not even wish to know that anything of their worship signified anything celestial and spiritual. For they wished that all these things should be holy from themselves and with them in externals. Wherefore if spiritual and celestial things had been disclosed to them, they would not only have rejected, but would also have profaned them. For this reason heaven was closed to them so that they scarcely knew that they were to live after death. That this is so, is manifestly evident. They do not acknowledge the Lord, although the whole Sacred Scripture prophesied concerning Him, and predicted Him they rejected Him for this sole reason, that He taught them of the heavenly kingdom, and not concerning an earthly kingdom, for they wanted a Messiah who would exalt them above all nations in the whole world, and they did not wish any Messiah who would provide for their eternal salvation. Moreover, they say the Word contains in itself many arcana, which are called mystical, but they do not wish to know that these treat of the Lord and His Kingdom; but they do wish to know when it is said that they are concerning gold and alchemy - (the medieval forerunner of chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or to find a universal elixir.)

That this science was not disclosed after those times, was because the Christians in the primitive church were very simple, that it could not be disclosed to them, for if disclosed, it would have been of no use to them, nor would it have been comprehended. After those times darkness arose over the entire Christian world, on account of the Papacy, which at length became Babylon, and they who are of Babel, and have confirmed themselves in its falsities, are for the most part natural, sensual men, and these are neither able nor willing to apprehend what is spiritual, thus what is the correspondence of natural things with spiritual. [MARGINAL NOTE.] For thus they would be convinced that by Peter is not meant Peter, also that the Word even to its inmosts is Divine; and that a papal decree is of no account in comparison.

But after the Reformation, because they began to make a distinction between faith and charity, and to worship one God under three Persons, the three Gods, whom they only named one, heavenly truths were then concealed from them, lest if revealed they should falsify them and bend them to faith alone, and none of them to charity and love. If therefore the spiritual sense of the Word had then been revealed, they would have shut heaven to themselves even by the falsification of its truths.

For everyone is allowed to understand the sense of the letter of the Word in simplicity, provided he does not confirm the appearances of truth which are there, so far as to destroy genuine truth; for to interpret the Word as to its spiritual sense from falsities of doctrine, closes heaven, and does not open it; but to interpret the spiritual sense from truths of doctrine, opens heaven, because that is the sense in which the angels are, and so man by means of it thinks together with angels, and thus conjoins them to himself in his intellectual mind.

But if a man is in falsities of doctrine and wishes to explore the spiritual sense from some knowledge of correspondences, he falsifies it. It is otherwise if man is already in genuine truths; that sense agrees with truths and appears from them, because that sense is in the light of heaven. Cloud on the other hand agrees with falsities, and if anything of this truth should appear, instead of the light of heaven thick darkness would arise, for angels turn themselves away from him, and so close heaven to him.

The spiritual sense of the Word is meant by the inner garment of the Lord, which was without seam, and which the soldiers were not permitted to divide; but the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, is meant by His outer garments, which the soldiers divided. Garments in the Word signify truths, and the Lord's garments Divine truth, wherefore also the garments of the Lord, when He was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, appeared shining white, like light.

At this day the spiritual sense of the Word has been revealed from the Lord, because the doctrine of genuine truth has now been revealed, which doctrine is partly contained in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, and now in the small works, which are being given to the public (The Four Doctrines; Doctrine of the Lord, Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture, Doctrine of Life, Doctrine of Faith); and because that doctrine, and no other, agrees with the spiritual sense of the Word, therefore that sense, together with the science of correspondences, has now for the first time been disclosed. That sense is also signified by the Lord's appearing in the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matt. 24:30, 31), in which chapter it treats of the consummation of the age, by which is meant the last time of the church.

By the cloud of heaven, there and elsewhere in the Word, is signified the Word in the letter, which there, in respect to the spiritual sense, is as a cloud. But by the glory there, as also elsewhere in the Word, is signified the Word in the spiritual sense, which also is the Divine truth in light; and by the power is signified its power in the Word. The revelation of the Word as to the spiritual sense was also promised in Revelation, where that sense is meant by the "White Horse" (Chapter 19:11 to 14), and by the great supper of God, to which all were invited and gathered together (Rev. 19:17). By many that sense will not be acknowledged for a long time. Those alone who are in the falsities of doctrine, especially in regard to the Lord, and who do not admit truths, will not acknowledge this is meant by the beast and by the kings of the earth, who make war with the one sitting upon the white horse (Rev. 19:19). By "the beast" are meant the Roman Catholics, as in Rev. 17:3, and by "the kings of the earth" are meant the Reformed who are in falsities of doctrine. The mystical things which some seek in the Word, are nothing else than the spiritual and celestial senses.

(De Verbo 7)

Science of Correspondence and of Representations

Selections from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
THERE IS SUCH A SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD IN ITS NATURAL SENSE
THIS ARCANUM IN ITSELF STANDS PRE-EMINENT OVER ALL ARCANA HITHERTO DISCLOSED

IN THE WORD THERE IS A SPIRITUAL SENSE HITHERTO UNKNOWN

The Word in its bosom is spiritual, because it descended from Jehovah the Lord, and passed through the angelic heavens; and in its descent the Divine itself, which in itself is ineffable and unperceivable, became adapted to the perception of angels, and finally to the perception of men. From this is the spiritual sense, which is inwardly in the natural, as the soul is in man, as the thought of the understanding is in speech, and as the will's affection is in action; and if it is permissible to compare it with such things as appear to the eye in the natural world, the spiritual sense is in the natural sense as the whole brain is within its meninges or matres, or as a tree's branches are within their barks and coats, or as all things needful for the production of a chick are within the shell of the egg, and so on.

What the spiritual sense is.

The spiritual sense is not the sense that shines forth from the sense of the letter of the Word when one is studying it and so construing it as to confirm some dogma of the church — that may be called the literal and ecclesiastical sense of the Word. The spiritual sense is not apparent in the sense of the letter — it is interiorly within it as the soul is in the body, as the thought of the understanding is in the eyes, or the love's affection in the face. It is that sense chiefly that makes the Word spiritual, not only for men but for angels also; and therefore by means of that sense the Word has communication with the heavens. As the Word is inwardly spiritual, it was written purely by correspondences; and because it was written by correspondences, in its outmost sense it was written in a style like that of the Prophets, the Gospels, and the Apocalypse, which, although commonplace in appearance, still conceals within it Divine wisdom and all angelic wisdom.*

From the Lord, the Divine Celestial, the Divine Spiritual, and the Divine Natural go forth one after the other.

• Whatever goes forth from the Lord's Divine love is called the Divine Celestial, everything of which is good
• Whatever goes forth from His Divine wisdom is called the Divine Spiritual, everything of which is truth
• The Divine Natural is from both of these and is their complex in the outmost.

The angels of the celestial kingdom, who constitute the third or highest heaven, are in that Divine going forth from the Lord which is called celestial, since they are in good of love from the Lord. The angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, who constitute the second or middle heaven, are in that Divine going forth from the Lord which is called spiritual, since they are in Divine wisdom from the Lord. The angels of the Lord's natural kingdom, who constitute the first or lowest heaven, are in that Divine going forth from the Lord which is called the Divine natural, and they are in the faith of charity from the Lord.

Men of the church are in some one of these kingdoms according to their love, their wisdom, and their faith; and whichever one they are in, that they enter into after death.

Such as heaven is, such also is the Lord's Word —

• In its outmost sense, it is natural
• In its interior sense spiritual
• In its inmost sense celestial

and in each of these senses it is Divine.

Thus is it adapted to the angels of the three heavens, and also to man.

~~~

The Lord when in the world spoke by correspondences, that is, when He spoke naturally, He also spoke spiritually, can be seen from His parables, in each word of which there is a spiritual meaning. Take for example the parable of the ten virgins. He said:

The kingdom of heaven is like ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise, but five were foolish. They that were foolish taking their lamps took no oil; but the wise took oil in their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. But the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil for our lamps are going out. But the wise answered saying Peradventure, there will not be enough for us and you; go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. But while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with Him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not (Matt. 25:1-12).

That in all these particulars there is a spiritual sense and therefore a Divine holiness, no one sees except he who knows that the Word has a spiritual sense and who knows what that sense is. In the spiritual sense —

• "the kingdom of the heavens" means heaven and the church
• "the bridegroom" means the Lord
• "the wedding" means the marriage of the Lord with heaven and the church, through good of love and truth of faith
• "the virgins" mean those who constitute the church
• "ten" means all
• "five" some portion
• "lamps" things pertaining to faith
• "oil" things pertaining to good of love
• "to sleep" and "to arise" means man's life in the world which is natural, and his life after death which is spiritual
• "to buy" means to procure for oneself
• "going to those who sell and buying oil" means to procure for oneself good of love from others after death and because good of love is then no longer to be procured, although they came to the door where the wedding feast was with their lamps and the oil they had bought, still the bridegroom said to them, "I know you not;" this is because man, after his life in the world, remains such as he had lived in the world.

From all this it is clear that the Lord spoke solely by correspondences, and this because He spoke from the Divine that was in Him and was His.  As "virgins" signify those who constitute the church, so the terms virgin and daughter of Zion, of Jerusalem, of Judah, and of Israel, are frequently used in the prophetic Word. And because "oil" signifies good of love, all the sacred things of the church were anointed with oil. It is the same with the other parables, and with all the words spoken by the Lord. This is why the Lord says that His words are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

It is because of its Spiritual Sense that the Word is Divinely inspired, and holy in every word.

In the church it is said that the Word is holy for the reason that Jehovah the Lord spoke it; but inasmuch as its holiness is not apparent in the mere sense of the letter, whoever is once led on that account to doubt its holiness confirms his doubts when he subsequently reads the Word by many things therein; for he says to himself, Can this be holy? Can this be Divine? Lest, therefore, such thoughts should enter the minds of many, and afterwards grow stronger, and in consequence the Word should be rejected as a worthless writing, and by this means the conjunction of the Lord with man be destroyed, it has pleased the Lord to reveal now its spiritual sense, that it may be known where in the Word the Divine holiness lies concealed. ...

Heretofore the spiritual sense of the Word has been unknown.

That each thing and all things in nature correspond to spiritual things, and in like manner each and all things in the human body, has been shown in the work on Heaven and Hell.*  But heretofore it has not been known what correspondence is; yet in most ancient times it was very well known; for to those who then lived, the knowledge of correspondences was the knowledge of knowledges, and was so universal that all their manuscripts and books were written by correspondences.

• The book of Job, which is a book of the Ancient Church, is full of correspondences.
• The hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, as well as the fables of most ancient times, were nothing, but correspondences.
• All the ancient churches were churches representative of spiritual things; their rites and the statutes according to which their worship was established, consisted of pure correspondences; as did all things of the church among the children of Israel.
• The burnt offerings, the sacrifices, the meat offerings, and the drink offerings, with all their particulars, were correspondences
• The tabernacle and all things in it; also their feast, as the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of tabernacles, and the feast of the first-fruits
• The priesthood of Aaron and the Levites, and their garments or holiness.

What the spiritual things are to which all these things corresponded has been shown in the Arcana Coelestia, published at London.

Furthermore all the statutes and judgments relating to their worship and life were correspondences. Since then, Divine things present themselves in the world in correspondences, the Word was written by pure correspondences; and because the Lord spoke from the Divine He spoke by means of correspondences for whatever is from the Divine falls into such things in nature as correspond to Divine things, and these then store up in their bosom Divine things, which are called celestial and spiritual.

I have been informed that the men of the Most Ancient Church which existed before the flood, were of a genius so celestial that they talked with the angels of heaven, and were able to talk with them by means of correspondences, and in consequence the state of their wisdom was such that whatever they saw on earth, they thought of not only naturally, but at the same time spiritually, thus conjointly with the angels of heaven. Furthermore, I have been informed that Enoch (who is mentioned in Gen. 5:21-24) and those associated with him collected correspondences from the lips of these men, and transmitted this knowledge to their posterity; and that from this it came to pass that in many of the kingdoms of Asia the knowledge of correspondences both existed and was cultivated, especially in the land of Canaan, in Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia, Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh, and that it was thence carried into Greece; but was there turned into myths, as can be seen from the writings of the ancient Greeks.

To show that a knowledge of correspondences was long preserved among the nations of Asia, although among those called diviners and sages, and by some Magi, I will present one example from 1 Samuel 5 and 6. It is there recorded that the ark containing the two tables on which the Decalogue was written was captured by the Philistines and placed in the temple of Dagon at Ashdod, and that Dagon fell to the ground before it, and afterwards his head and the palms of his hands, severed from his body, lay upon the threshold of the temple; also that on account of the ark the men of Ashdod and Ekron were smitten by thousands with tumors and their land laid waste by mice, and that therefore the Philistines called together their lords and diviners; and to stay this destruction they determined to make five tumors of gold and five golden mice and a new cart, and upon the cart to place the ark, and beside it the golden tumors and mice; and by two cows, which lowed on the way before the cart, to send it back to the children of Israel, by whom the cows and the cart were offered in sacrifice; and thus the God of Israel was propitiated. That all these things studied out by the diviners of the Philistines were correspondences is evident from their signification, which is as follows:

• "The Philistines" themselves signified those who are in faith separate from charity
• "Dagon" represented that religion
• "the tumors" with which they were smitten, signified natural loves, which when separated from spiritual love are unclean
• "the mice" signified the devastation of the church by falsifications of truth
• "the new cart" signified natural doctrine of the church (as doctrine from spiritual truths is signified in the Word by "a chariot")
• "the cows" signified good natural affections
• "the golden tumors" signified natural loves purified and made good
• "the golden mice" signified the vastation of the church removed by means of good ("gold" in the Word signifying good)
• "the lowing of the cows in the way" signified the difficult conversion of the natural man's lust of evil to good affections
• the offering of the cows together with the cart as a burnt offering, signified that thus the God of Israel was propitiated.

All these things which the Philistines did by the advice of their diviners were correspondences from which it is clear that that knowledge was long preserved among the nations.

Because the representative rites of the church, which were correspondences, in the course of time began to be turned into idolatries, and also into magic, that knowledge, by the Lord's Divine Providence, gradually perished, and with the Israelitish and Jewish nation was totally obliterated. The worship of that nation did indeed consist solely of correspondences, and was therefore representative of heavenly things, but not a single thing did they know the significance of, for they were wholly natural men, and consequently were neither willing nor able to know anything about things spiritual and celestial, nor therefore about correspondences; for correspondences are representations of things spiritual and celestial in things natural.

The idolatries of nations in ancient times originated in a knowledge of correspondences, since all things visible on earth correspond; thus not only trees, but all kind of beasts and birds, also fishes, and all other things. The ancients, who had a knowledge of correspondences, made for themselves images corresponding to heavenly things, and took delight in them because they signified such things as belong to heaven and the church; consequently they placed these images not only in their temples but also in their houses, not for worship but to call to mind the heavenly things they signified. So in Egypt and elsewhere there were images of calves, oxen, and serpents, also of boys, old men, and virgins; because —

• calves and oxen signified the affections and powers of the natural man
• serpents the prudence and the cunning of the sensual man
• boys innocence and charity
• old men wisdom
• virgins affections for truth
and so on.

When the knowledge of correspondences had perished, their posterity, because these images and figures had been placed by the ancients in and near their temples, began to worship these as holy, and finally as deities. For the same reason the ancients worshiped in gardens and groves, according to the different kinds of trees in them; also on mountains and hills, for —

• gardens and groves signified wisdom and intelligence, and each tree signified something pertaining thereto
• the olive signified the good of love
• the vine truth from that good
• the cedar rational good and truth
• a mountain the highest heaven
• a hill the heaven below it.

That the knowledge of correspondences remained with many of the people of the East even till the advent of the Lord can be seen also in the coming of the wise men of the East to the Lord when He was born:

Therefore a star went before them, and they brought with them gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. 2:1, 2, 9-11)

for —

•"the star" that went before signified knowledge from heaven
• "gold" signified celestial good
• "frankincense" spiritual good
• "myrrh" natural good
from which three all worship proceeds.

Nevertheless, with the Israelitish and Jewish nation there was no knowledge whatever of correspondences, although everything pertaining to their worship, and all the statutes and judgments given them by Moses, and all things in the Word, were pure correspondences. This was because in heart the Jews were idolaters, and therefore such that they were not even willing to know that anything in their worship signified what is heavenly and spiritual; for they believed that all things of their worship were holy in themselves; and therefore if things heavenly and spiritual had been disclosed to them they would not only have rejected them but also have profaned them. For this reason heaven was so closed to them that they scarcely knew that there was any eternal life. The truth of this is plainly evident from the fact that they did not acknowledge the Lord, although the whole Sacred Scripture prophesied of Him and foretold His coming. They rejected Him solely for the reason that He taught them of a heavenly instead of an earthly kingdom; for they wanted a Messiah who would exalt them above all the nations in the whole world, and not a Messiah who would have regard to their eternal salvation.

After these times, the knowledge of correspondences, whereby the spiritual sense of the Word is communicated, was not disclosed, for the reason that the Christians of the primitive church were too simple to have it disclosed to them, and if it had been, it would neither have been of any use to them nor would have been understood. After those times darkness settled upon the whole Christian world, first because of the spread of many heresies, and soon after by the deliberations and decrees of the Council of Nice respecting three Divine persons from eternity, and respecting the person of Christ as being the Son of Mary and not the Son of Jehovah God. From this springs the modern belief in justification, which teaches that three Gods are to be approached in their order, on which faith each and all things of the present church depend as the members of the body depend on the head.

And because all things of the Word have been applied to confirm that erroneous belief, the spiritual sense could not be disclosed, for if it had been, they would have applied that sense also to the same purpose, and thereby have profaned the very holiness of the Word, and thus have completely closed up heaven against themselves, and have separated the Lord from the church.

The knowledge of correspondences, whereby the spiritual sense of the Word is communicated, has been at this day revealed because the Divine truths of the church are now being brought to light, and these are the truths of which the spiritual sense of the Word consists; and when these truths are in man, the sense of the letter of the Word cannot be perverted. For the sense of the letter of the Word may be turned in any direction. If it is turned to what is false its internal holiness perishes, and with it its external holiness; but if turned to what is true its holiness remains. But of all this more shall be said in what follows. That the spiritual sense would be opened at this time is meant by John's seeing heaven opened, and then seeing a white horse; also by his seeing and hearing an angel standing in the sun calling all to the great supper (on which see Rev. 19:11-18). But that this sense would not for a long time be acknowledged is meant by the beast and the kings of the earth being about to make war with Him who sat upon the white horse (Rev. 19:19); also by the dragon's persecuting the woman who brought forth the man-child, even to the wilderness, where he cast out of his mouth water as a flood, that he might overwhelm her (Rev. 12:13-17).

Henceforth the spiritual sense of the Word will be given only to such as are in genuine truths from the Lord.

This is because the spiritual sense can be seen by no one except from the Lord alone, and unless he be in Divine truths from the Lord; for the spiritual sense of the Word treats of the Lord alone and His kingdom; and in that sense are His angels in heaven, for that sense is His Divine truth in heaven. That truth man can do violence to when he possesses a knowledge of correspondences, and by means of it seeks to explore the spiritual sense of the Word from his own intelligence; since by a few correspondences known to him, he is able to pervert that sense, and wrest it to confirm even what is false; thus he would do violence to Divine truth, and also to heaven in which that truth resides. Therefore if anyone seeks to open that sense, not from the Lord but from himself, heaven is closed; and when heaven is closed man either sees nothing of truth or is spiritually insane. A further reason is that the Lord teaches everyone by means of the Word, and teaches from those knowledges that a man has, and does not pour in new knowledges directly. Unless, therefore, a man is in Divine truths, or if he is in a few truths only and at the same time in falsities, he may by these falsities falsify the truths, as is done by every heretic in respect to the sense of the letter of the Word. So, in order that no one may enter into the spiritual sense and pervert the genuine truth which belongs to that sense, guards are set by the Lord, which are meant in the Word by "cherubim."

... It has thus been made clear to me that those who are in falsities of doctrine have no communication with heaven through the Word, but their reading of it is dissipated on the way and is lost, like gunpowder wrapped in paper when ignited and thrown into the air.

The opposite occurs with those who are in truths of doctrine from the Lord through the Word; their reading of the Word penetrates even into heaven and effects conjunction with the angels there. The angels themselves, when they descend from heaven to discharge any duty below, appear surrounded with little stars, especially about the head; which is a sign that Divine truths from the Word are in them.

Furthermore, in the spiritual world things exist similar to those on earth; but there each thing and all things are from a spiritual origin. Thus gold and silver exist there, and all kinds of precious stones, and the spiritual origin of these is the sense of the letter of the Word; and on this account in the Apocalypse the foundations of the wall of the New Jerusalem are described by twelve precious stones. The reason of this is that the foundations of its wall signify the doctrinals of the New Church, which are derived from the sense of the letter of the Word. For the same reason there were twelve precious stones called Urim and Thummim in Aaron's ephod, by means of which responses were given from heaven. There are many other wonderful things proceeding from the Word that have relation to the power of the truth within it. This power is so great that if described it would surpass all belief; for it is such that it overturns mountains and hills there, and removes them afar off, and hurls them into the sea; and many things besides. In short the power of the Lord proceeding from the Word is infinite.

(True Christian Religion 193 - 195; 199 - 209)

* What correspondence is can be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, (published in London, 1758), in the chapter on The Correspondence of all things of Heaven with all things in Man (n. 87-102); and on The Correspondence of all things of Heaven with all things on Earth (n. 103-115)

Blessed is the Man who is in Correspondence

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— CONCERNING REPRESENTATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCES —

Few know what representations and correspondences are, nor can anyone know this unless he knows that there is a spiritual world, and this distinct from the natural world; for there exists a correspondence between spiritual things and natural things, and the things that come forth from spiritual things in natural ones are representations. They are called correspondences because they correspond, and representations because they represent.

That some idea may be formed of representations and correspondences, it is only necessary to reflect on the things of the mind, that is, of the thought and will. These things so beam forth from the face that they are manifest in its expression; especially is this the case with the affections, the more interior of which are seen from and in the eyes. When the things of the face act as a one with those of the mind, they are said to correspond, and are correspondences; and the very expressions of the face represent, and are representations. The case is similar with all that is expressed by the gestures of the body, and with all the acts produced by the muscles; for it is well known that all these take place according to what the man is thinking and willing. The gestures and actions themselves, which are of the body, represent the things of the mind, and are representations; and in that they are in agreement, they are correspondences.

It may also be known that such forms do not exist in the mind as are exhibited in the expression, but that they are merely affections which are thus effigied; also that such acts do not exist in the mind as are exhibited by the acts of the body, but that it is thoughts which are thus figured. The things which are of the mind are spiritual, but those of the body are natural. From this it is evident that there exists a correspondence between spiritual things and natural things, and that there is a representation of spiritual things in natural things; or what is the same, when the things of the internal man are effigied in the external man, then the things that appear in the external man are representative of the internal man; and the things that agree are correspondences.

It is also known, or may be known, that there is a spiritual world, and also a natural world.

In the universal sense the spiritual world is where spirits and angels dwell; and the natural world is where men dwell. In particular, there is a spiritual world and a natural world with every man: his internal man being to him a spiritual world, and his external man being to him a natural world. The things that flow in from the spiritual world and are presented in the natural world, are in general representations; and insofar as they agree they are correspondences.

That natural things represent spiritual things, and that they correspond, may also be known from the fact that what is natural cannot possibly come forth except from a cause prior to itself. Its cause is from what is spiritual; and there is nothing natural which does not thence derive its cause. Natural forms are effects; nor can they appear as causes, still less as causes of causes, or beginnings; but they receive their forms according to the use in the place where they are; and yet the forms of the effects represent the things which are of the causes; and indeed these latter things represent those which are of the beginnings. Thus all natural things represent those which are of the spiritual things to which they correspond; and in fact the spiritual things also represent those which are of the celestial things from which they are.

It has been given me to know from much experience that in the natural world and its three kingdoms there is nothing whatever that does not represent something in the spiritual world, or that has not something there to which it corresponds. Besides many other experiences, this was made evident also from the following —

On several occasions when I was speaking of the viscera of the body, and was tracing their connection from those which are of the head to those which are of the chest, and so on to those which are of the abdomen, the angels that were above me led my thoughts through the spiritual things to which those viscera correspond, and this so that there was not the least error. They thought not at all of the viscera of the body of which I was thinking, but only of the spiritual things to which these correspond. Such is the intelligence of angels that from spiritual things they know all things in the body in general and particular, even the most secret things, such as can never come to man's knowledge; nay, they know everything there is in the universal world, without a mistake; and this because from spiritual things are the causes, and the beginnings of causes.

The case is similar with the things in the vegetable kingdom; for nothing whatever exists there that does not represent something in the spiritual world, and correspond thereto; as has been frequently given me to know by a like interaction with angels. The causes also have been told me, namely, that the causes of all natural things are from spiritual things, and the beginnings of these causes are from celestial things; or what is the same, all things in the natural world derive their cause from truth which is the spiritual, and their beginning from good which is the celestial; and natural things proceed thence according to all the differences of truth and of good in the Lord's kingdom; thus from the Lord Himself, from whom is all good and truth. These things must needs appear strange, especially to those who will not or cannot ascend in thought beyond nature, and who do not know what the spiritual is, and therefore do not acknowledge it.

So long as he lives in the body, man can feel and perceive but little of this; for the celestial and spiritual things with him fall into the natural things in his external man, and he there loses the sensation and perception of them. Moreover the representatives and correspondences in his external man are such that they do not appear like the things in the internal man to which they correspond, and which they represent; therefore neither can they come to his knowledge until he has put off those external things. When this happens, blessed is the man who is in correspondence, that is, whose external man corresponds to his internal man.

As the men of the Most Ancient Church in every thing of nature saw something spiritual and celestial, insomuch that natural things served them merely as objects for thought about spiritual and celestial things, they were for this reason able to speak with angels, and to be with them in the Lord's kingdom in the heavens at the same time that they were in His kingdom on earth, that is, in the church. Thus with them natural things were conjoined with spiritual things, and wholly corresponded. But it was otherwise after those times, when evil and falsity began to reign; that is, when after the golden age there commenced the iron age; for then as there was no longer any correspondence, heaven was closed; insomuch that men were scarcely willing to know that there was anything spiritual; and at last even that there is a heaven and a hell, and a life after death.

In this world it is a great secret, although in the other life nothing is better known to every spirit, that all things in the human body have a correspondence to those in heaven; insomuch that there is not the smallest particle in the body, to which something spiritual and celestial does not correspond; or what is the same, to which heavenly societies do not correspond, for these exist according to all the genera and species of spiritual and celestial things; and this in such an order that together they represent one man, even as to all his parts, in general and in particular — both the interior and the exterior. Hence it is that the universal heaven is also called the Grand Man; and hence it is that it has been so often said that one society belongs to one province of the body, another to another, and so on. The reason is that the Lord is the Only Man, and heaven represents Him; and the Divine good and truth that are from Him are what make heaven; and because the angels are therein, they are said to be in the Lord. But they who are in hell are outside this Grand Man, and correspond to things unclean, and also to bodily corruptions.

This may also in some degree be known from the fact that the spiritual or internal man (which is man's spirit and is called his soul) has in like manner a correspondence to his natural or external man; and that this correspondence is of such a nature that the things of the internal man are spiritual and celestial, while the things of the external man are natural and corporeal; as may appear from ... the expressions of the face and the acts of the body. Moreover as to his internal man, man is a little heaven, because created after the Lord's image.

That such correspondences exist has become so familiar to me in the course of years that hardly anything can be more so; though the fact itself is such that man does not know of its existence, nor believes that he has any connection with the spiritual world; when yet all his connection is from this correspondence; and without this connection neither himself nor any part of him could subsist a moment; for all his subsistence is from it. It has also been given me to know what angelic societies belong to each province of the body, and also of what quality they are; as for instance what societies and of what quality belong to the province of the heart; what and of what quality to the province of the lungs; what and of what quality to the province of the liver; and also what and of what quality belong to the different sensories, as to the eye, to the ears, to the tongue, and the rest; concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy we shall speak singly.

Moreover nothing is possible in the created world that has not a correspondence to the things in the spiritual world, and therefore that does not in its own manner represent something in the Lord's kingdom. From this comes the existence and subsistence of all things. If man knew how these things are circumstanced, he would never as is his wont attribute all things to nature.

Hence it is that all things in the universe both in general and in particular represent the Lord's kingdom; insomuch that the universe with all its constellations, atmospheres, and three kingdoms, is nothing else than a kind of theater representative of the Lord's glory which is in the heavens. In the animal kingdom not only man, but also each particular animal, even the least and lowest, is representative; as for instance the little creatures that creep on the ground and feed on plants; these, when their time for wedding is at hand, become chrysalises, and presently, being supplied with wings they soar from the ground into the atmosphere, their heaven, and there enjoy their delight and their freedom, sporting together and feeding on the spoils of the flowers, laying their eggs and thus providing for a posterity; and being then in their state of heaven, they are also in their beauty. Everyone can see that these things are representative of the Lord's kingdom.

That there is One Only Life, that of the Lord, which flows in and causes man to live, whether he be good or evil. To that Life correspond the recipient things which are vivified by that Divine influx, and this in such a manner that they appear to themselves to live from themselves. This correspondence is that of Life with the recipients of Life. Such as are the recipients, so they live; those men who are in love and charity are in correspondence, for they are in agreement, and the life is received by them adequately; but those who are in things contrary to love and charity are not in correspondence, because the life itself is not received adequately; hence they have an appearance of life in accordance with their quality.

This may be illustrated by many things; as by the organs of motion and of sense in the body, into which the life flows through the soul; according to the qualities of these, such are their actions and sensations. The same may be illustrated also by the objects into which light flows from the sun; the light producing colorings according to the quality of the recipient forms. But in the spiritual world all the modifications that come into existence from the influx of life are spiritual, whence come such differences of intelligence and wisdom.

From this also we can see how all natural forms, both animate and inanimate, are representative of spiritual and celestial things in the Lord's kingdom; that is, that in nature all things, in both general and particular, are representative in accordance with the measure and quality of their correspondence.

(Arcana Coelestia 2987-3002)

Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence pertain to the Divine wisdom from the Divine love.

That omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, pertain to the Divine wisdom from the Divine love, but not to the Divine love through the Divine wisdom, is an arcanum from heaven that has not yet dawned upon the understanding of anyone, because it has not yet been known what love is in its essence, and what wisdom therefrom is in its essence, and still less how one flows into the other; namely, that love, with each and all things of love, flows into wisdom and dwells in it, as a king in his kingdom, or as a master in his house, leaving all the administration of justice to the judgment of wisdom; and as justice pertains to love, and judgment to wisdom, love leaves all the administration of love to its own wisdom. But this arcanum will borrow light from what follows; meanwhile let it serve as a canon. That God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent through the wisdom of His love is meant by the words in John:

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 anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the world was made by Him. And the Word was made flesh (John 1:1, 3-4, 10, 14);

"the Word" here meaning the Divine truth, or, what amounts to the same thing, the Divine wisdom; and for this reason it is called "life" and "light," "life" and "light" being nothing else than wisdom.

Since in the Word justice [or righteousness] is predicated of love, and judgment of wisdom, I will cite some passages to show that it is by means of these two that God's government is carried on in the world:

Righteousness and judgment are the support of Thy Throne (Ps. 89:14).

Let him that glorieth glory in this, that Jehovah doeth judgment and righteousness in the earth (Jer. 9:24).

Let Jehovah be exalted, for He hath filled the land [Hebrew, Zion] with judgment and righteousness (Isa. 33:5).

Judgment shall flow as water, and righteousness as a mighty stream (Amos 5:24).

O Jehovah, Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God Thy judgments are a great deep (Ps. 36:6).

Jehovah shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday (Ps. 37:6).

Jehovah shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment (Ps. 72:2).

When I shall have learned the judgments of Thy righteousness seven times a day do I praise Thee because of the judgments of Thy righteousness (Ps. 119:7, 164).

I will betroth Me unto thee [Hebrew, thee unto Me] in righteousness and in judgment (Hos. 2:19).

Zion shall be redeemed in judgment and those that are brought back in righteousness (Isa. 1:27).

He shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it in judgment and in righteousness (Isa. 9:7).

I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King, and shall do judgment and righteousness in the land (Jer. 23:5).

Elsewhere it is said that judgment and righteousness ought to be done, as in Isa. 1:21; 5:16; 58:2; Jer. 4:2; 22:3, 13, 15; Ezek. 18:5; 33:14, 16, 19; Amos 6:12; Micah 7:9; Deut. 33:21; John 16:8, 10, 11).

The omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence of God can be clearly understood only when it is known what order is, and when it is known that God is order, and that He introduced order both into the universe and into each and all things of it at the time of their creation.

How many and how great absurdities have crept into the minds of men, and thus into the church, through the heads of reformers, from their not understanding the order in which God created the universe and each and all things in it, will be seen from the mere recital of them in the following pages. But we will now begin an explanation of order with a general definition of it, as follows:

Order is the quality of the arrangement, determination, and activity, of the parts, substances, or elements, which constitute a form; from which is its state; and its perfection is produced by wisdom from its love, or its imperfection is the outcome of unsoundness of reason from cupidity.

In this definition substance, form, and state are mentioned, and by substance form also is meant, because every substance is a form, and the quality of the form is the state of it, while perfection or imperfection of state is a result of the order. All this must needs be obscure because it is metaphysical; but the obscurity will be dispelled in what follows by the use of examples which will illustrate the subject.

God is order because He is substance itself and form itself.

• He is substance because all things that subsist have come forth and continue to come forth from Him. • He is form because every quality of substances has sprung and continues to spring from Him, quality having no other source than form.

As God, then, is the Very, the Only, and the First Substance and Form, and at the same time the Very and Only Love and the Very and Only Wisdom, and as wisdom from love is what constitutes form, and its state and quality are in accordance with the order that is in it, it follows that God is order itself; consequently that God from Himself introduced order both into the whole universe and into all things and each thing in it; also that He introduced a most perfect order, because everything that He created was good, as we read in the Book of Creation. In its proper place it will be shown that evil things sprang up together with hell, thus after creation. But now let us consider things that more readily enter the understanding, more clearly enlighten it, and more gently affect it.

It would require many pages to explain the nature of the order into which the universe was created. A sketch of it will be given in a following section on the Creation [TCR 75]. It must be borne in mind that each and all things in the universe, that they might subsist by themselves, were created each into its own order, and in the beginning were so created as to conjoin themselves with the order of the whole universe, to the end that each particular order might have subsistence in the universal, and thus all might make one. But to refer to some examples —

Man was created into his own order, and every part of him into its own order; as the head into its order, the body into its order; the heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, and stomach, each into its order; every organ of motion, called a muscle, into its order; and every organ of sense, as the eye, the ear, the tongue, into its order; nor does there exist any least artery or fiber there that has not its own order; and yet these innumerable parts join themselves with the common body, and so insert themselves in it that all together make one. The same is true of other things, the mere mention of which will suffice for illustration.

Every beast of the earth, every bird of heaven, every fish of the sea, every reptile, and every worm, even to the moth, has been created into its own order; equally so every forest tree and fruit tree, every shrub and plant; and still further every stone, every mineral, down to every grain of dust, into its order.

Who does not see that there cannot be found an empire, kingdom, dukedom, republic, state, or household, that is not established by laws which constitute its order and thus the form of its government?

In each one of them

• the laws of justice are in the highest place<
• political laws in the second
• economical laws in the third

or in comparison with a man,

• the laws of justice constitute the head
• political laws the body
• economic laws the garments

and thus these last, like garments, may be changed.

But in respect to the order in which the church has been established by God, it is this:

That God must be in each thing and all things of it, and the neighbor also towards whom order must be practiced. The laws of that order are as many as the truths in the Word,

• the laws relating to God constituting its head
• the laws relating to the neighbor constituting its body,
• ceremonies its garments

for unless there were these last to hold the former together in their order it would be as if the body were naked and exposed to the heat in summer and the cold in winter; or as if the walls and ceilings of a temple were taken away, and its sanctuary and altar and pulpit should thus stand unsheltered and exposed to many kinds of violence.

God's OMNIPOTENCE in the universe, with each and all things of it, proceeds and operates in accordance with the laws of His order.

God is omnipotent because He has from Himself all power; while all others have power only from Him. His power and His will are one; and as He wills only what is good, He can do nothing but what is good.

In the spiritual world no one is able to do anything contrary to his will; and this is derived from God, because His power and will are one. Moreover, God is good itself, therefore in His doing good He is in Himself, and to go out of Himself is impossible. Evidently, then, God's omnipotence must go forth and operate within the sphere of extension of the good; and this sphere is infinite. For this sphere, [going forth] from the inmost, fills the universe and each and all things in it; and from the inmost rules the things which are without so far as they conjoin themselves with it in accordance with the laws of their own order; and if they do not conjoin themselves with it, it still sustains them, and by every endeavor labors to restore them to an order that is harmonious with the universal order, in which God Himself is in His omnipotence, and in accordance with which He acts. And when this is not accomplished they are cast out from Him; but even then He none the less sustains them from the inmost. From this it is clear that the Divine omnipotence cannot by any means go forth from itself to a contact with anything evil, or from itself promote anything evil; for evil turns itself away, and in consequence evil is wholly separated from Him and is cast into hell, between which and heaven, where He is, there is a great gulf. From these few statements it can be seen how deluded those are who think, and still more those who believe, and still more those who teach, that God can damn anyone, curse anyone, send anyone to hell, predestine any soul to eternal death, avenge wrongs, be angry, or punish. He cannot even turn Himself away from man, nor look upon him with a stern countenance. These and like things are contrary to His essence; and what is contrary to His essence is contrary to His very Self.

It is a prevailing opinion at this day that God's omnipotence is like the absolute power of a king in the world, who can at his pleasure do whatever he will, pardon or condemn whom he will, make the guilty innocent, declare the unfaithful faithful, exalt the unworthy and undeserving above the worthy and deserving, and even take away the property of his subjects under any pretext whatsoever, and condemn them to death, and so on. From this absurd opinion, belief, and doctrine respecting the Divine omnipotence, as many falsities, fallacies, and chimeras have flooded the church as there are changes, distinctions, and generations of faith in it; and the number that may yet flow in may equal the number of urns that might be filled from a great lake, or the number of serpents that might creep from their holes and bask in the sunshine in the desert of Arabia. What need is there except to pronounce these two words, omnipotence and faith, and then circulate among the common people conjectures and fables and nonsense such as will appeal to the bodily senses? For these two words banish reason; and when reason has been banished, what better is man's thought than the reason of the birds that fly over his head? Or what then is the spirituality that man possesses over and above the beasts but like the stench in the dens of beasts, which to them indeed is agreeable, but not to a man unless he is like them? If the Divine omnipotence were so extended as to do evil as well as good, what difference would there be between God and the devil? Would there be any but such as that between two monarchs, one of whom is both a king and a tyrant, while the other is a tyrant whose power is so restrained that he cannot be called a king; or such as that between a shepherd who is allowed to lead the sheep and also to act the wolf, and one who is not? Who cannot see that good and evil are opposites, and that if God from His omnipotence had the power to will both, and from will to do both, He would be able to will and do nothing at all? Thus He would have no power, much less all power. It would be like two wheels acting against each other by turning in opposite directions, by which opposition both wheels would be stopped and be perfectly at rest; or like a vessel in a rushing stream driving it contrary to its course, so that if not held by the anchor it would be carried away and destroyed; or like a man with two opposing wills, one of which must needs be quiescent when the other is acting, for if both should act at the same time delirium or giddiness would invade his mind.

If, in accordance with existing belief, God's omnipotence were absolute both to do evil and to do good, would it not be possible and even easy for God to elevate all hell to heaven, and to convert the devils and satans into angels, and to cleanse in an instant every impious man on earth from sin; to renew, sanctify, and regenerate him, and from a child of wrath make him a child of grace, that is, to justify him, which would be done by simply ascribing and imputing to him the righteousness of His Son? but God's omnipotence does not enable Him to do this, for the reason that it would be contrary to the laws of His order in the universe, and at the same time contrary to the laws of order enjoined upon every man, these laws requiring that the conjunction between God and man shall be mutual. This will be made clear in the following pages of this work.

From this absurd opinion and belief concerning God's omnipotence it would follow that God could convert every goat nature among men into a sheep, and at His good pleasure could transfer men from His left hand to His right; that He could at His good pleasure transform the spirits of the dragon into angels of Michael; and that a man with an understanding like that of a mole could be endowed with the vision of an eagle; in a word, that out of a man like an owl He could make a man like a dove. These things God cannot do, for the reason that they are contrary to the laws of His order; and yet He unceasingly wills and endeavors to effect them. If He could have done such things He would not have permitted Adam to listen to the serpent, and to pluck fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and put it to his mouth. If He could have done this He would not have permitted Cain to kill his brother, or David to number the people, or Solomon to build temples for idols, or the kings of Judah and Israel to profane the temple, which they often did. In fact, if He could have done this He would have saved the entire human race, without exception, through the redemption wrought by His Son, and have extirpated all hell. The ancient heathen ascribed omnipotence to their gods and goddesses and this gave rise to their fables, as that Deucalion and Pyrrha threw stones behind them which became men; that Apollo changed Daphne into a laurel; that Diana changed a hunter into a stag; and that another of their gods changed the virgins of Parnassus into magpies. There is at this day a like belief respecting the Divine omnipotence, and it is the source of the many superstitions and consequent heresies that have been introduced into the world in every country where there is any religion.

God is OMNISCIENT, that is, He perceives, sees, and knows each thing and all things, even to the most minute, that take place according to order, and from these the things also that take place contrary to order.

God is omniscient, that is, perceives, sees, and knows all things, because He is wisdom itself and light itself; and wisdom itself perceives all things, and light itself sees all things. That God is wisdom itself has been shown above; He is light itself because He is the sun of the angelic heaven, which enlightens the understandings of all, both angels and men. For just as the eye is illuminated by the light of the natural sun, so is the understanding illuminated by the light of the spiritual sun nor is it illuminated merely, it is filled with intelligence in accordance with the love of receiving that light, for that light in its essence is wisdom. There fore it is said in David:

That God dwells in the light inaccessible (Ps. 104:2 comp. 1 Tim. 6:16);

and in the Apocalypse:

That in the New Jerusalem they need no candle, for the Lord God giveth them light (22:5);

and in John:

That the Word, which was with God and was God, is the light that enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world (1:1, 9)

the "Word" meaning the Divine wisdom. For this reason, so far as the angels are in wisdom they are in clearness of light, and for the same reason, whenever light is mentioned in the Word it means wisdom.

God perceives, sees, and knows all things, even to the most minute, that take place according to order, because order, from being in the smallest particulars, is universal, for these smallest particulars taken together are called the universal, as the particulars taken together are called the general. The universal, including its smallest particulars, is a work coherent as a unit, to the extent that no one part can be touched and affected without some sense of it overflowing to all the rest. Such being the nature of the order of the universe there is a likeness of it in all created things in the world. But this shall be illustrated by comparisons taken from things visible.

In man as a whole there are generals and particulars, the generals including the particulars, with all harmoniously arranged in such connection that each belongs to the other. This is effected by means of a common covering surrounding every member of the body, and insinuating itself into every particular therein, so that they act as one in every function and use. For example, the covering of each muscle enters into the particular motor fibers and clothes them from itself. So the coverings of the liver, the pancreas, and the spleen enter into the interior parts of these organs; and the covering of the lungs, which is called the pleura, enters into their interiors; in like manner the pericardium enters into each and all parts of the heart; and in general the peritoneum enters all parts by anastomoses with the coverings of all the viscera. So again, the meninges of the brain, by threads drawn from them, enter into all the underlying glands, and through these into all the fibers, and through these again into all parts of the body. And it is in this way that the head by means of the brain rules each and all things subject to it.

These facts are cited simply that by means of visible things some idea may be formed of how God perceives, sees, and knows all things, even to the most minute, which take place according to order.

That from the things that are according to order God perceives, knows, and sees each and all things even to the most minute that take place contrary to order, is because He does not keep man in evil, but withholds him from evil; thus He does not lead him on, but strives with him. From this perpetual striving, struggling, resistance, repugnance, and reaction of evil and falsity against His good and truth, thus against Himself, God perceives both their quantity and their quality. This follows from God's omnipresence in all things and in each thing of His order, and also from His perfect knowledge of each thing and all things of it, comparatively as one with an ear for harmony and consonance notices accurately what is inharmonious and dissonant, when it comes in, also the extent and character of the discord; or as one whose feelings are occupied with what is delightful detects the intrusion of what is undelightful; or as one whose eye is occupied with what is beautiful notices it with more precision when anything unshapely is beside it; for which reason it is customary for painters to place an ugly face beside a beautiful one. It is the same with good and truth when evil and falsity are striving against them; since from good and truth evil and falsity are distinctly perceived. For everyone who is in good can perceive evil; and he who is in truth can see falsity. And the reason is that good is in the heat of heaven, and truth is in its light; while evil is in the cold of hell, and falsity in its darkness. This may be illustrated by the fact that the angels of heaven can see whatever is done in hell, and what kind of monsters exist there; while, on the other hand, the spirits of hell can see nothing whatever that is going on in heaven; they can no more see the angels than if they were blind, or were gazing into the empty air or ether.

Those whose understandings are in light from wisdom are like men who at midday are standing upon a mountain and seeing clearly all that is below; while those who are in still superior light are comparatively like men who see, through telescopes, outlying and lower objects as if they were near at hand.

But those who are in the false light of hell, through the confirmation of falsities, are like men standing upon the same mountain at night with lanterns in their hands, who see only the objects nearest to them, and these with forms indistinct and colors confused. A man who is in some light of truth, although in evil of life, while he finds delight in his love of evil, sees truths at first much as a bat sees linen hanging in a garden, to which it flies as to a place of refuge. Afterwards he becomes like a bird of night, and at length like a screech-owl. Then he becomes like a chimney-sweep sticking fast in the gloom of a chimney, and seeing, when he looks upward, the sky through smoke, and when downward the hearth from which the smoke comes.

It must be remembered that the perception of opposites is different from the perception of relatives; for opposites are things without, and are opposed to things within. An opposite has its beginning where one thing wholly ceases to be anything, and another then arises with an effort to act against the former, as when a wheel acts against another wheel, or a current against another current. But relatives pertain to the arrangement of many and various parts in an order that is concordant and harmonious, like precious stones of various colors in the stomacher of a queen, or like flowers of different colors arranged in a garland to give pleasure to the sight. Therefore in both of these opposites there are relatives, that is, in what is good as well as in what is evil, in what is true as well as in what is false, thus both in heaven and in hell, all the relatives in hell being the opposites of the relatives in heaven. Since, then, from the order in which He is, God perceives and sees and is cognizant of all things relative in heaven, and thereby perceives, sees, and is cognizant of all the opposite relatives in hell (as follows from what has been said), it is clear that God is omniscient in hell as well as in heaven, and in like manner with men in the world; thus that He perceives, sees, and is cognizant of their evils and falsities from the good and truth in which He Himself is, and which in their essence are Himself; for we read:

If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold Thou art there (Ps. 139:8);

and again:

Though they dig into hell, thence shall My hand take them (Amos 9:2).

God is OMNIPRESENT from the firsts to the lasts of His order.

God is omnipresent from the firsts to the lasts of His order by means of the heat and light of the spiritual sun, in the midst of which He is. It was by means of that sun that order was produced; and from it He sends forth a heat and a light which pervade the universe from firsts to lasts, and produce the life that is in man and in every animal, and also the vegetative soul that is in every germ upon the earth; and these two flow into each thing and all things, and cause every subject to live and grow according to the order implanted in it by creation. And as God, though not extended, fills every extense in the universe, He is omnipresent. It has been shown elsewhere that God is in all space without space, and in all time without time, and consequently that the universe in its essence and order is the plenitude of God; and this being so,

• by His OMNIPRESENCE He perceives all things,
• by His OMNISCIENCE He provides all things,
• by His OMNIPOTENCE He effects all things.

From this it is clear that omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence make one, or that one implies the others; and thus that they cannot be separated.

The Divine omnipresence may be illustrated by the wonderful way in which angels and spirits become present to each other in the spiritual world. Because there is no space in that world, but only an appearance of space, an angel or spirit may instantly become present with another whenever he comes into a like affection and consequent thought; for it is these two that cause the appearance of space. That such is the nature of presence with all there, has been made evident to me by having seen Africans and Asiatics there near together, although on the earth they are so many miles apart; and that I could even become present with those on the planets of our solar system, and also with those on planets belonging to other systems. Owing to this presence, not in space but in appearance of space, I have spoken with apostles, with departed popes, with emperors and kings, with the modern reformers of the church-Luther, Calvin, Melancthon, and with others from widely separated countries. Such being the presence of angels and spirits, what limit is there to the Divine presence, which is infinite, in the universe? Angels and spirits are thus present, because every affection of love and every consequent thought of the understanding is in space without space, and in time without time. For anyone can think of a brother, relative, or friend who is in the Indies, and then have him as if present; in like manner he may, by remembrance, be moved by their love. From these facts, as they are known to man, the Divine omnipresence may in some measure be made clear; so, too, from human thought - as when anyone calls to mind what he has seen while traveling in various places, it is just as if he were present in those places again. Even bodily vision emulates this same kind of presence; it notices distance only by means of intermediate things, by which, as it were, the distance is measured. The sun itself would be near the eye, even as if in the eye, if intermediate objects did not reveal the fact of its being so distant. That this is so, optical writers have noted in their writings. This kind of presence pertains both to man's intellectual sight and to his bodily sight, because what sees is his spirit looking through his eyes; but such is not the case with any animal, because animals have no spiritual sight. All this enables us to see that God is omnipresent from the firsts to the lasts of His order. That He is also omnipresent in hell has been shown in a former section.

Man was created a form of Divine order.

Man was created a form of Divine order because he was created an image and likeness of God; and as God is order itself, he was created an image and likeness of order. There are two things which are the source of order and which give it permanence, namely, the Divine love and the Divine wisdom; and man was created a receptacle of these, and was therefore created also into the order in accordance with which these two act in the universe, and especially in accordance with which they act in the angelic heaven; consequently that the entire heaven is in its largest effigy a form of Divine order, and is in the sight of God like one man. Moreover, there is a plenary correspondence between that heaven and man; for there is not a society in heaven that does not correspond to some one of the members, viscera, or organs in man; and therefore it is there said that such a society is in the province of the liver, or of the pancreas, or of the spleen, or of the stomach, the eye, the ear, or the tongue, and so on. Furthermore, the angels themselves know in what region of any part of man they dwell. That this is so I have been permitted to learn by living experience. I have seen as a single man a society consisting of some thousands of angels; and thus it was made clear that heaven in its complex is an image of God; and an image of God is a form of Divine order.

It must be understood that all things that proceed from the sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is Jehovah God, have relation to man; and therefore whatever things come forth in that world conspire towards the human form, and exhibit that form in their inmosts; thus all objects there that are presented to the sight are representative of man. Animals of all kinds are seen there, and they are likenesses of the affections of love and consequent thoughts of the angels; and the same is true of the trees, flowers, and green fields there; and what affection this or that object represents the angels are permitted to know; and what is wonderful, when their inmost sight is opened, they recognize their own image in them; and this takes place because every man is his own love and his own thought therefrom. And because in every man affections and thoughts therefrom are various and manifold, some of them relating to the affection of one animal and some to that of another, the images of these affections become manifest in this way. But of this more will be seen in the section on Creation [TCR 75]. From all this the truth is seen that the end of creation was an angelic heaven from the human race, and consequently man, in whom God can dwell as in His receptacle; and this is the reason why man was created a form of Divine order.

Previous to creation God was love itself and wisdom itself and the union of these two in the effort to accomplish uses; for love and wisdom apart from use are only fleeting matters of reason, which fly away if not applied to use. The first two separated from the third are like birds flying above a great ocean, which are at length exhausted by flying, and fall down and are drowned. Evidently, therefore, the universe was created by God to give existence to uses; and for this reason the universe may be called a theater of uses. And as man is the chief end of creation, it follows that each and all things were created for the sake of man; and therefore each and all things belonging to order were brought together and concentrated in him, to the end that through him God might accomplish primary uses.

Love and wisdom apart from their third, which is use, may be likened to the sun's heat and light; which, if they did not operate upon men, animals, and vegetables, would be worthless things; but by influx into and operation upon these they become real. For there are three things that follow each other in order, namely, end, cause, and effect; and it is known in the learned world that the end is nothing unless it regards the effecting cause, and that the end and this cause are nothing unless an effect is produced. The end and cause may indeed be contemplated abstractly in the mind, but still only on account of some effect which the end purposes and the cause secures. It is the same with love, wisdom, and use -

use is the end which love purposes, and through the cause accomplishes; and when use is accomplished love and wisdom have a real existence; and in the use they make for themselves a habitation and foundation where they rest as in their home.

It is the same with the man who has in him the love and wisdom of God when he is performing uses; and to enable him to perform Divine uses he was created an image and likeness of God, that is, a form of Divine order.

From the Divine OMNIPOTENCE man has power over evil and falsity, and from the Divine OMNISCIENCE has wisdom respecting what is good and true, and from the Divine OMNIPRESENCE is in God, just to the extent that he lives in accordance with Divine order.

It is from the Divine omnipotence that man has power over evil and falsity just to the extent that he lives in accordance with Divine order, for the reason that no one but God can resist evils and their falsities. For all evils and their falsities are from hell; and in hell they cohere as a unit, the same as all goods and their truths do in heaven. For, as has been said above, before God all heaven is like a single man; and on the other hand, all hell is like a single gigantic monster; consequently, to act against a single evil and its falsity is to act against that gigantic monster or hell; and this no one is able to do except God, because He is omnipotent. From this it is clear that unless man approaches the omnipotent God he has from himself no more power against evil and its falsity than a fish has against the ocean, than a flea against a whale, or than a grain of dust against a falling mountain; and much less than a locust has against an elephant, or a fly against a camel. Moreover, man has all the less power against evil and its falsity because he is born into evil; and evil cannot act against itself. From all this it follows that unless man lives in accordance with order, that is, unless he acknowledges God and His omnipotence, and the resulting protection against hell, and also on his part fights with evil in himself (for order requires both of these), he cannot but be immersed and overwhelmed in hell, and there be driven about by evils, one after another, as a skiff at sea is driven by the storms.

From the Divine omniscience man has wisdom respecting what is good and true to the extent that he lives in accordance with the Divine order, because all love of good and all wisdom of truth, or all good of love and all truth of wisdom, are from God. That this is so is in accordance with the confession of all the churches in the Christian world. From this it follows that man cannot be interiorly in any truth of wisdom except from God, since God has omniscience, that is infinite wisdom. The human mind, like the angelic heaven, is divided into three degrees, and may therefore be lifted up into a higher and still higher degree or be let down into a lower and still lower degree; but so far as it is lifted up into the higher degrees it is lifted up into wisdom, because into the light of heaven; and this God only can do. Moreover, so far as the mind is thus lifted up it becomes a man; while so far as it is let down into the lower degrees it enters the delusive light of hell, and is not man but a beast. This is why man stands erect upon his feet and turns his face heavenward, and can raise it to the zenith, while a beast stands upon its feet in a position parallel with the earth, and turns its whole face in that direction; nor can it without difficulty raise its face heavenward.

The man who lifts his mind to God and acknowledges that all the truth of wisdom is from God, and at the same time lives in accordance with order, is like one who stands upon a lofty tower and sees beneath him a populous city and all that is being done in its streets. But the man who confirms in himself the belief that all truth of wisdom is from the natural light in himself, that is, is from himself, is like one who remains in a cavern beneath that tower and looks through holes at the same city, seeing nothing but the wall of a single house in that city, and how its bricks are joined. Again, the man who derives wisdom from God is like a bird flying aloft, which looks around upon all things in the gardens, woods, and fields, and flies to those things that are of use to it; while the man who derives such things as pertain to wisdom from himself, with no added belief that they are from God, is like a hornet flying near the ground, which, seeing a dunghill, settles upon it and finds enjoyment in its stench.

Every man, so long as he is living in the world, walks midway between heaven and hell, and is thereby in equilibrium, and thus in freedom of choice either to look upwards to God or downwards to hell. If he looks upwards to God he acknowledges that all wisdom is from God, and in spirit he is actually with the angels in heaven; while he who looks downward (as everyone does who is in falsities from evil) is in spirit actually with the devils in hell.

From the Divine omnipresence man is in God to the extent that he lives in accordance with order, for the reason that God is omnipresent; and where God is in His Divine order, there He is as in Himself, because He is order, as has been shown above. Since, then, man was created a form of Divine order, God is in him - fully in him - to the extent that he is living in accordance with Divine order. Nevertheless, God is in him if he is not living in accordance with Divine order, but only in the highest regions in him, thereby giving him the ability to understand what is true and to will what is good; that is, giving him the faculty of understanding and the inclination to love. But so far as man lives contrary to order he shuts up the lower regions of his mind or spirit, and thus prevents God's descending and filling these lower regions with His presence; consequently, while God is in him he is not in God. It is a general canon in heaven that God is in every man, the evil and the good alike; but that man is not in God unless he lives in accordance with order; for the Lord says:

That it is His will that man should be in Him and He in man (John 15:4).

Man is in God by means of a life in accordance with order, because God is omnipresent in the universe and in each and all things of it in their inmosts, for these inmosts are in order. But in those things that are contrary to order (which are solely those that are outside of the inmosts) God is omnipresent by a continual striving with them, and by a continual effort to bring them back to order. Thus it is that so far as man permits himself to be brought back to order, God is omnipresent in the whole of him, and consequently to the same extent God is in him and he is in God. The absence of God from man is no more possible than the absence of the sun from the earth through its heat and light. But earthly objects are affected by the sun's power only so far as they receive the heat and light that go forth from that sun, as in spring time and summer time.

This is applicable to the Divine omnipresence in this way, that so far as man is in order he is in spiritual heat and also in spiritual light; that is, in the good of love and the truth of wisdom. But spiritual heat and light are unlike natural heat and light, in that natural heat recedes from the earth and its objects in winter, and natural light at night; and this takes place because the earth by its diurnal and annual motions produces these periods. But with spiritual heat and light it is not so; since God through His sun is present with both heat and light, and does not undergo changes, as the sun of the world apparently does. Man turns himself away comparatively as the earth turns away from the sun; and when he turns away from the truths of wisdom he is like the earth when turned from its sun at night; and when he turns away from the goods of love he is like the earth when turned from its sun in winter. Such is the correspondence between the effects and uses from the sun of the spiritual world, and the effects and uses from the sun of the natural world.

(True Christian Religion 50-70)