Love and Wisdom in the Cause and Effect

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Good of love is good only so far as it has become joined with truth of wisdom; and truth of wisdom is truth only so far as it has become joined with good of love.  Good and truth derive this from their origin. Good has its origin in the Lord, and likewise truth — for the Lord is good itself and truth itself, and in Him these two are one. For this reason in angels of heaven and in men on earth good is good in itself only so far as it has become joined with truth, and truth is truth in itself only so far as it has become joined with good. It is acknowledged that every good and every truth is from the Lord. Since, therefore, good makes one with truth, and truth with good, it follows that for good to be good in itself, and for truth to be truth in itself, they must make one in the recipient, that is, in an angel of heaven or a man on the earth.

It is acknowledged that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth — for by good is meant that which universally embraces and involves all things of love, and by truth that which universally embraces and involves all things of wisdom. But it is not yet acknowledged that good is not any thing until it has become joined with truth, and that truth is not any thing until it has become joined with good. There is an appearance, indeed, that good is something apart from truth, and that truth is something apart from good, and yet they are not, since love (all things of which are called goods) is the being (esse) of a thing, and wisdom (all things of which are called truths) is the coming forth (existere) of a thing from that esse; and just as esse is nothing apart from existere, and existere is nothing apart from esse, so good is nothing apart from truth, and truth is nothing apart from good. So again, what is good unless related to something? Can it be called good, since no affection or perception can be predicated of it?

The thing in connection with good that affects and causes itself to be perceived and felt has relation to truth, since it has relation to what is in the understanding. Say to any one, not that this or that is good, but simply "the good," is "the good" any thing? Good is something because of this or that which is perceived as one with good. This is united with good nowhere but in the understanding; and every thing of the understanding has relation to truth. It is the same with willing. To will, apart from knowing, perceiving, and thinking what one wills, is not any thing, but together with these it becomes something. All willing is of love, and has relation to good; and all knowing, perceiving, or thinking is of the understanding, and has relation to truth. From this it is clear that to will is nothing, but to will this or that is something.

It is the same with every use, because a use is a good. Unless a use is determined to something with which it may be a one, it is not a use, and thus it is not any thing. It is from the understanding that use derives its something to which it may be determined; and that from the understanding which is conjoined or adjoined to the use has relation to truth. It is from that that the use derives its quality.

From these few things it is clear that good apart from truth is not any thing; and that truth apart from good is not any thing. When it is said that good with truth and truth with good are something, it follows from this that evil with falsity and falsity with evil are not any thing; for the latter are opposite to the former, and opposition destroys, and in this case destroys that something. But more about this in what follows.

There may be a marriage, however, of good and truth in the cause, and there may be a marriage of good and truth from the cause in the effect. A marriage of good and truth in the cause is a marriage of will and understanding, that is, of love and wisdom. There is such a marriage in every thing that a man wills and thinks, and in all his conclusions and intentions therefrom. This marriage enters into and produces the effect. But in producing the effect the good and the truth appear distinct, because the simultaneous then produces what is successive. For instance, when a man is willing and thinking about his food and clothing and dwelling place, about his business or employment, or his relations with others, at first he wills and thinks, or forms his conclusions and purposes, about these at the same time, but when these have been determined into effects, one follows the other. Nevertheless, in will and thought they continue to make one. In these effects uses pertain to love or to good, while means to the uses pertain to the understanding or to truth. Any one can confirm these general truths by particulars, provided he clearly perceives -

what has relation to good of love and what has relation to truth of wisdom, and also how these are related in the cause and how in the effect.

It has often been said that love makes the life of man, but this does not mean love separate from wisdom or good separate from truth in the cause, since love separate, or good separate is not any thing. Therefore, the love that makes man's inmost life, the life that is from the Lord, is love and wisdom together, and the love that makes the life of man as being a recipient is also love, not separate in the cause, but only in the effect. For love can be understood only from its quality, and its quality is wisdom, and its quality or wisdom can exist only from its being (esse) which is love, and it is from this that they are one. It is the same with good and truth. Since, then, truth is from good, as wisdom is from love, the two taken together are called love or good — for love in its form is wisdom, and good in its form is truth, and form is the source and the only source of quality. From all this it is now evident that good is not in the least good except so far as it has become joined with its truth, and that truth is not in the least truth except so far as it has become one with its good.

(from Divine Providence 10-13)

Spiritual World Conjoined with the Natural World

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Before any statement can be made about influx and the operation of the soul into the body, it must be well understood that the internal man is formed according to the image of heaven, and the external man according to the image of the world — insomuch that the internal man is a heaven in the least form, and the external man is a world in the least form, thus is a microcosm.

That the external man is an image of the world, may be seen from the external or bodily senses; for the ear is formed according to the whole nature of the modification of the air; the lungs according to the whole nature of its pressure, as also is the general surface of the body, which is held in its form by the circumpressure of the air; the eye is formed according to the whole nature of ether and of light; the tongue to the sense of the solvent and fluent parts in liquids; and, together with the lungs, the trachea, the larynx, the glottis, the fauces, and the lips, according to the power of suitably modifying the air, whence come articulate sounds, or words, and harmonious sounds; the nostrils are formed according to the sense of particles fluent in the atmosphere; the sense of touch, which encompasses the whole body, is according to the sense of the changes of state in the air, namely, to the sense of its cold and heat, and also to the sense of liquids and to that of weights. The interior viscera to which the aerial atmosphere cannot enter are held in connection and form by a more subtle air, which is called ether; not to mention that all the secrets of interior nature are inscribed upon and applied to the external man, such as all the secret things of mechanics, of physics, of chemistry, and of optics. From all this it is evident that universal nature has contributed to the conformation of the external of man; and hence it is that the ancients called man a microcosm.

And just as the external man has been formed according to the image of all things of the world, so has the internal man been formed according to the image of all things of heaven, that is, according to the image of the celestial and spiritual things which proceed from the Lord and from which and in which is heaven. The celestial things there are all those which are of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; and the spiritual things there are all those of faith, which in themselves are so many and of such a nature that the tongue cannot possibly utter one millionth part of them. That the internal man has been formed according to the image of all these things, is strikingly shown in the angels, who when they appear before the internal sight (as they have appeared before mine), affect the inmosts by their mere presence; for love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor pour out of them and penetrate, and the derivative things of faith shine forth from them and affect. By this and other proofs it has been made plain to me that as the internal man has been created to be an angel, he is a heaven in the least form.

From all this it is now evident that in man the spiritual world is conjoined with the natural world, consequently that with him the spiritual world flows into the natural world in so vivid a manner that he can notice it, provided he pays attention. All this shows the nature of the interaction of the soul with the body, namely, that properly it is the communication of spiritual things which are of heaven, with natural things which are of the world, and that the communication is effected by means of influx, and is according to the conjunction. This communication which is effected by means of influx according to the conjunction is at this day unknown, for the reason that each and all things are attributed to nature, and nothing is known about what is spiritual, which at this day is so far set aside that when it is thought of it appears as nothing.

(Arcana Coelestia 6057)

The Connecting Nexus

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

He who is skilled in anatomy and also in physics may know by investigation that as regards their bodily and material forms, the organs both of sense and of motion, together with all the viscera, correspond to various things that exist in the nature of the world; and thus that the whole body is an organ composed of the most secret things in the nature of the world, and in accordance with their secret forces of acting and their wonderful modes of flowing. For this reason man was called by the ancients a little world or microcosm.

He who knows this may also know that whatever exists in the world and its nature does not come forth from itself, but from what is prior to itself; and that this prior cannot come forth from itself, but from something prior to itself; and so on even to the First, from whom the things that follow come forth in order. And as they come forth from this, they also subsist from it; for subsistence is a perpetual coming forth. Hence it follows that all things in nature both in general and in particular, down to its last things, have not only come forth from the First, but also subsist from the First; for unless they were perpetually coming forth, and unless there were a continuous nexus, from the First, and thus with the First, they would fall to pieces and perish in an instant.

Now as all and each of the things in the world and its nature come forth, and come forth perpetually, that is, subsist, from things prior to themselves, it follows that they come forth and subsist from a world above nature, which is called the spiritual world; and as in order that they may subsist or perpetually come forth there must be a continuous nexus with that world, it follows that the purer and more interior things which are in nature, and consequently which are in man, are from that world; and also that the purer and more interior things are such forms as can receive the influx. And as there is only one possible fountain of life, as in nature there is only one fountain of light and heat, it is evident that everything of life is from the Lord, who is the First of life. And because this is so, it follows that all and each of the things which are in the spiritual world correspond to Him, and consequently all and each of the things which are in man; for man is a little spiritual world in the least form. Hence also the spiritual man is an image of the Lord.

From all this it is evident that with man especially there is a correspondence of all things with the spiritual world, and that without this correspondence he cannot subsist even for a moment; for without correspondence there would be nothing continuous from the very being of life, that is, from the Lord; thus there would be what is unconnected; and what is unconnected is dissipated as a nothing. The reason why correspondence with man is more immediate and hence closer, is that he has been created to apply to himself the life from the Lord, and thence into the capacity of a possible elevation by the Lord above the natural world in regard to his thoughts and affections, and thereby to think of God and to be affected with the Divine, and thus to be conjoined with Him, quite differently from the lower animals. And when the bodily things of this world are put away, those die not who are thus capable of being conjoined with the Divine, because their interiors remain conjoined with Him.

(from Arcana Coelestia 4523-4525)