They Who are in Falsity are Called the "Blind"

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

In the Word "blindness" is predicated of those who are in falsity, and also of those who are in ignorance of truth. Both are called the "blind;" but which are meant in any special instance can be seen from the series or connection, especially in the internal sense. That they who are in falsity are called the "blind," is evident from the following passages.

In Isaiah:

His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark  (Isa. 56:10).

"Blind watchmen," denotes those who from reasoning are in falsity.

Again:

We look for light, and behold darkness; for brightness, but we walk in thick darkness; we grope for the wall like the blind  (Isa. 59:9-10).

In Jeremiah:

They have wandered as the blind in the streets; they have polluted themselves with blood; what they cannot pollute, they touch with their garments  (Lam. 4:14);

meaning that all truths have been polluted; the "streets" denoting the truths wherein they have gone astray.

In Zechariah:

In that day I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; every horse of the peoples will I smite with blindness  (Zech. 12:4).

Here and elsewhere in the Word a "horse" denotes the understanding; hence it is said that the "horse should be smitten with astonishment," and that the "horse of the peoples should be smitten with blindness," that is, should be filled with falsities.

In John:

For judgment am I come into the world, that they that see not may see, and that they that see may become blind. They of the Pharisees heard these things, and said, Are we also blind? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye would not have sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth  (John 9:39-41).

Here the "blind" in both senses are spoken of, namely, those who are in falsity, and those who are in ignorance of truth. With those who are within the church and know what the truth is, "blindness" is falsity; but with those who do not know what the truth is (as is the case with those who are outside the church), "blindness" is ignorance of the truth, and these are blameless.

Again:

He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they may not see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and I should heal them  (John 12:40; Isa. 6:9-11)

meaning that it would be better for them to be in falsities than to be in truths, because they are in a life of evil, and if they were instructed in truths, they would not only still falsify them, but would also defile them with evils; for the like reason that the men of Sodom were smitten with blindness, that is, the doctrinal things were filled with falsities....

As what is blind signified what is false, therefore in the representative Jewish Church it was forbidden to sacrifice anything that was blind (Lev. 22:22; Deut. 15:21; Mal. 1:8).  It was also forbidden that any one of the priests who was blind should draw near to offer upon the altar (Lev. 21:18, 21).

That "blindness" is predicated of ignorance of truth, such as prevails with the Gentiles, is evident in Isaiah:

In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the Book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of thick darkness and out of darkness  (Isa. 29:18).

Here the "blind" denotes those who are in ignorance of truth, being chiefly those outside the church.

Again:

Bring forth the blind people and they shall have eyes; and the deaf and they shall have ears (Isa. 43:8)

where the church of the Gentiles is spoken of.

Again:

I will lead the blind in a way that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them  (Isa. 42:16).

And again:

I will give Thee for a light of the people, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the bound from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house  (Isa. 42:6-7)

where the Lord's advent is treated of, in that they who are in ignorance of truth should then be instructed; for those who are in falsity do not suffer themselves to be so instructed, because they are acquainted with the truth and have confirmed themselves against it, and have turned the light into darkness, which cannot be dispelled.

In Luke:

The master of the house said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the lame, and the blind  (Luke 14:21)

where the Lord's kingdom is treated of, and it is evident that the poor, maimed, lame, and blind are not meant, but those who are such in the spiritual sense.

Again:

Jesus said that they should tell John that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and to the poor the gospel is preached (Luke 7:22).

According to the sense of the letter, by the "blind," the "lame," the "lepers," the "deaf," the "dead," the "poor," only these are meant; because it was actually the case that the blind received sight, the deaf hearing, the lepers health, the dead life.

But yet in the internal sense the same are meant as in Isaiah:

Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, and the lame shall leap as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing  (Isa. 35:5-6)

where the Lord's advent is treated of, and the new church at that time, which is called that of the Gentiles; of whom it is declared that they were "blind," "deaf," "lame," and "dumb;" being so called in respect to doctrine and to life.

For be it known that all the miracles performed by the Lord always involved, and thence signified, such things as are meant in the internal sense by the healing of the blind, of the lame, of the lepers, the deaf, the dead, and the poor. For this reason the Lord's miracles were Divine, as also were those performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, as well as all the other miracles that are treated of in the Word. This is an arcanum.

(Arcana Cœlestia 2383)

The Conjunction of the Infinite with the Human Race

Selection from Arcana Cœlestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.  Genesis 17:9

The subject here treated of is the conjunction of the Lord with those who believe in Him, and therefore there is a repetition of the word "thou;" for it is said, Thou shalt keep My covenant, thou and thy seed; and from this repetition of the words in connection with "seed" it is evident that in the internal sense conjunction is signified, and in fact with those who are the seed, by which is signified the faith of charity...

Moreover when speaking of His union with the Father, the Lord speaks immediately and without a break of His conjunction with the human race; because this was the cause of the union, as is evident in John:

That they all may be one, as Thou Father art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and Thou in Me, for I have made known unto them Thy name, and will make it known, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them  (John 17:21, 22, 26)

from which it is evident that in the union of Himself with the Father the Lord had in view the conjunction of Himself with the human race, and that He had this at heart, because it was His love; for all conjunction is effected by means of love, love being conjunction itself.

Again in the same gospel:

Because I live, ye shall live also in that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in Me, and I in you; he that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me  (John 14:19-21);

from which in like manner it is evident that in the union of His Human Essence with His Divine Essence the Lord had in view the conjunction of Himself with the human race, and that this was His end, and this His love, which was such that the salvation of the human race, as held in the union of Himself with His Father, was to Him the inmost joy. There is also here described that which unites, namely, to have and to do His commandments, and thereby to love the Lord.

Again:

Father, glorify Thy name; there came therefore a voice from heaven, I have both glorified and will glorify it again. Jesus said, This voice hath not come for My sake, but for your sakes. But I, when I shall be lifted up from the earth, will draw all after Me (John 12:28, 30, 32)

by "glorification" is meant union, as before said; and that in the union of Himself with the Father He regarded the conjunction of Himself with the human race, is openly said in the words, when I shall be lifted up, I will draw all after Me.

That conjunction of the Infinite or Supreme Divine with the human race was effected through the Lord's Human made Divine, and that -

This conjunction was the cause of the Lord's coming into the world

is an arcanum into which many inquire in their own minds, and because they do not comprehend, they do not believe it; and as they do not believe for the reason that they do not comprehend, it becomes a scandal or stumbling-block to them. That this is so, I have learned from much experience from those who come into the other life. Very many of these - almost the greater part of those who had been men of talent in the world - when they merely think that the Lord became a man, and in external form was like other men, that He suffered, and that nevertheless He rules the universe, at once fill the sphere with scandals, because this had been a scandal or stumbling-block to them in the life of the body; although at that time they had divulged nothing about it, and had adored Him with outward sanctity. For in the other life the interiors are open, and are made manifest by the sphere diffused from them ....  In this way it is plainly perceived of what faith they had been, and what they had thought concerning the Lord.

Seeing that such is the case, it may be well to explain the matter a little further.

After all the celestial in man had perished, that is, all love to God, so that there was no longer any will of good, the human race had then been separated from the Divine; for nothing effects conjunction except love, and when this had been annihilated, there was disjunction; and when there is disjunction, then destruction and extirpation follow.

Therefore the promise was then made respecting the Lord's coming into the world, who should unite the Human to the Divine, and by this union should effect in Himself the conjunction of the human race by means of the faith of love and of charity.

From the time of the first promise (spoken of in Gen. 3:15) the faith of love in the Lord who was to come effected conjunction. But when there was no longer any faith of love remaining in the whole world, then the Lord came and united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, so that they were altogether one, as He Himself clearly says; and at the same time He taught the way of truth, that everyone who should believe in Him - that is, who should love Him and the things that are His, and who should be in His love which is love toward the universal human race, thus in love toward the neighbor - should be conjoined and saved.


When, in the Lord, the Human was made Divine, and the Divine Human, the result was an influx of the Infinite or Supreme Divine with man that otherwise could not possibly have existed; and an additional result was the dispersion of the direful persuasions of falsity and the direful cupidities of evil with which the world of spirits was brimful, and with which it was continually being filled full from the souls arriving from the world; and they who were in those persuasions and cupidities were cast into hell, and thereby were separated.

Unless this had been done, the human race would have perished, for the Lord rules the human race by means of spirits.

Nor could they have been dispersed in any other way, for no operation of the Divine was possible through man's rational things into those of internal sense, because these are far below the Supreme Divine when not so united; not to mention still deeper arcana that cannot be explained to the apprehension of any man.

(Arcana Cœlestia 2034)

The Divine Essence Itself is Love And Wisdom

Selection from Divine Love and Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Sum up all things you know and submit them to careful inspection, and in some elevation of spirit search for the universal of all things, and you cannot conclude otherwise than that it is Love and Wisdom. For these are the two essentials of all things of man's life; everything of that life, civil, moral, and spiritual, hinges upon these two, and apart from these two is nothing. It is the same with all things of the life of the composite Man - a society, larger or smaller, a kingdom, an empire, a church, and also the angelic heaven. Take away love and wisdom from these, and consider whether they be anything, and you will find that apart from love and wisdom as their origin they are nothing.

Love together with wisdom in its very essence is in God. This no one can deny;

For God loves every one from love in Himself, and leads every one from wisdom in Himself.

The created universe, too, viewed in relation to its order, is so full of wisdom coming forth from love that all things in the aggregate may be said to be wisdom itself. For things limitless are in such order, successively and simultaneously, that taken together they make a one. It is from this, and this alone, that they can be held together and continually preserved.

It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom that man has two capacities for life - from one of these he has understanding, from the other will. The capacity from which he has understanding derives everything it has from the influx of wisdom from God, and the capacity from which he has will derives everything it has from the influx of love from God.

Man's not being truly wise and not loving rightly does not take away these capacities, but merely closes them up; and so long as they are closed up - although the understanding is still called understanding and the will is called will - they are not such in essence.

If these two capacities, therefore, were to be taken away, all that is human would perish; for the human is to think and to speak from thought, and to will and to act from will. From this it is clear that the Divine has its seat in man in these two capacities, the capacity to be wise and the capacity to love (that is, that one may be wise and may love).

That in man there is a possibility of loving [and of being wise], even when he is not wise as he might be and does not love as he might...

It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom, that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth; for everything that proceeds from love is called good, and everything that proceeds from wisdom is called truth. ...

It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom, that the universe and all things in it - alive and not alive - have unceasing existence from heat and light; for heat corresponds to love, and light corresponds to wisdom; and therefore spiritual heat is love and spiritual light is wisdom. ...

From Divine Love and from Divine Wisdom, which make the very Essence that is God, all affections and thoughts with man have their rise - affections from Divine Love, and thoughts from Divine Wisdom - and each and all things of man are nothing but affection and thought; these two are like fountains of all things of man's life.

All the enjoyments and pleasantnesses of his life are from these - enjoyments from the affection of his love, and pleasantnesses from the thought therefrom. Now since man was created to be a recipient, and is a recipient in the degree in which he loves God and from love to God is wise, in other words, in the degree in which he is affected by those things which are from God and thinks from that affection, it follows that the Divine Essence, which is the Creator, is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom.

(Divine Love and Wisdom 28 - 33)