Doctrine by 'The Power of Natural Truth from Spiritual'

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: ... (Revelation 12:5)

"A son, a male" signifies the doctrine of truth for the church which is called "the New Jerusalem," because "son" signifies truth, and "a son, a male" signifies the truth of doctrine from the Word, consequently the doctrine of genuine truth which is for the church. It means the doctrine for the church which is called the New Jerusalem, because "the woman that brought forth a son, a male" means that church. The doctrine of truth which is for the church is also signified by "male" in the following passages. In Moses:

God created man into His image, into the image of God created He him. Male and female created He them (Gen. 1:27).

Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Man, in the day when they were created (Gen. 5:2).

What is involved in the things that are related in the first chapters of Genesis respecting the creation of heaven and earth, paradise, and eating from the tree of knowledge, no one can know except from the spiritual sense, for these historical things are made-up historicals, and yet they are holy, because every least particular is inwardly or in its bosom spiritual.

It describes the establishment of the Most Ancient Church, which surpassed all the churches on this earth;

• its establishment is meant by the creation of heaven and earth

• its intelligence and wisdom by the garden in Eden

• its decline and fall by eating from the tree of knowledge.

From this it is clear that "Man," who is called "Adam and Eve," means that church, for it is said "male and female created He them, and called their name Man;" and as that church is meant by the two, it follows that "the male" means its truth, and "the female" its good, so too, "male" means doctrine, and "female," the life, since the doctrine of truth is also the doctrine of love and charity, thus the doctrine of life; and the life of good is also the life of love and charity, thus the life of doctrine, that is, life according to doctrine. These two are meant by "male [and female]," and these taken together and conjoined in marriage are called "Man" [Homo], and also constitute the church, which is meant by "Man," as has been said above. So, again, Adam is from a word that means ground, and ground from its reception of seeds signifies the church in respect to the truths of doctrine, for in the Word seeds signify truths; while Eve is from a word that means life, as it is said:

Because she was to be the mother of all living (Gen. 3:20).

These two, doctrine and life, when taken together and joined as it were in marriage, are called "Man," and also constitute the church, because man is man from the understanding of truth and from the will of good, consequently from the doctrine of life, since this is of the understanding, and from the life of doctrine, because this is of the will. It is similar with the church, for the church is in man, and is the man himself.

That these two, which are signified by "male and female," are not to be two but one, the Lord teaches in the Gospels:

Jesus said, Have ye not read that He who made them from the beginning of creation made them male and female, and they twain shall be one flesh? Therefore they are no more twain, but one flesh (Matt. 19:4-6; Mark 10:6, 8).

This, like every particular of the Word, must be understood not only naturally, but also spiritually, and unless it is also understood spiritually no one can know what is signified by "male and female [or husband and wife] shall be no more twain but one flesh" (as it is also said in Gen. 2:24). Here, as above, "male and female" signify in the spiritual sense truth and good, consequently the doctrine of truth, which is the doctrine of life, and the life of truth, which is the life of doctrine; these must be not two but one, since truth does not become truth with man without the good of life, nor does good become good with anyone without the truth of doctrine, for good becomes spiritual good only by means of truths, and spiritual good is good, but natural good without it is not good. When these are one, then truth is of good and good is of truth, and this one is meant by "one flesh." It is similar with doctrine and life; these also constitute one man of the church when the doctrine of life and the life of doctrine are conjoined with him, for doctrine teaches how one must live and do, and life lives the doctrine and does it. From this it can also be seen that "a son, a male" signifies the doctrine of love and charity, consequently the doctrine of life.

~~~

Who is to tend all the nations with an iron rod, signifies that this doctrine by the power of natural truth from spiritual will convince and refute those who are in falsities and evils and yet are in the church where the Word is. This is evident from the signification of "to tend," as being to teach, but here to convince and refute, because it is said that "he is to tend with an iron rod;" also from the signification of "all the nations," as being those who are in falsities and evils; also from the signification of an "iron rod," as being the power of a natural truth from spiritual, for "rod" or "staff" signifies power, and it is predicated of spiritual Divine truth, and "iron" signifies truth in the natural man. It is the power of the truth of the natural man from the spiritual that is signified by the "iron rod," because all the power that truths in the natural man have is from the influx of truth and good from the spiritual man, that is, from the influx of Divine truth from the Lord through the spiritual man into the natural; for the Lord alone has power, and He exercises it through Divine truth that proceeds from Him. But that this may be more clearly perceived it shall be shown:

(1) That the Lord has infinite power can be seen from this, that He is the God of heaven and the God of earth; that He created the universe filled with numberless stars, which are suns; and in the universe so many systems and earths in these systems; these systems and the earths in them exceeding in number many hundred thousands; also that He alone preserves and continually sustains these because He created them. Moreover, as He created the natural worlds, so He created the spiritual worlds above them, and these He perpetually fills with angels and spirits to the number of myriads and myriads. Under these, again, He has hid away the hells, as many in number as the heavens. And to each and every thing in the worlds of nature and in the worlds above nature, He alone gives life; and because He alone gives life, no angel, spirit, or man is able to move a hand or foot except from Him. What infinite power the Lord has is especially evident from this, that all who come from so many earths into the spiritual worlds, numbering some myriads every week from our earth alone, consequently so many myriads from so many thousand earths in the universe, the Lord alone receives, and by a thousand secret ways of Divine wisdom leads everyone to the place of his life; the faithful to their places in the heavens, and the unfaithful to their places in the hells; and the thoughts, intentions, and wills of all, everywhere He rules in most particular and in most universal things; and He causes each and every one in the heavens to enjoy their happiness, and each and every one in the hells to be held in their bonds, even so that not one of them ventures to lift a hand, much less to rise up to do harm to any angel; and all are thus held in order and in bonds, howsoever the heavens and the hells may be multiplied to eternity. These and many other things too numerous to be mentioned, could not possibly be if the Lord did not have infinite power. That the Lord alone rules all things He Himself teaches in Matthew:


All authority is given to Me in heaven and in earth (Matt. 28:18).

And that He is the Life (John 5:26; 11:25, 26; 14:6).

(2) The Lord has infinite power from Himself through His Divine truth, because Divine truth is the Divine proceeding, and from the Divine that proceeds from the Lord all those things that have been said above in respect to His infinite power are effected. Divine truth regarded in itself is Divine wisdom, which extends itself in every direction, like the light and heat from the sun in our world; for in the spiritual world, where angels and spirits are, the Lord is seen as a sun, from Divine love; all that proceeds from that sun is called Divine truth; and that which proceeds brings forth; also that which proceeds is Himself, because it is from Him; consequently the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth. But that it may be known that the Lord has infinite power through Divine truth, something must be said of its essence and existence. This cannot be comprehended from the natural man and its light but by means of such things as proceed from the sun of the world, from which and by which that sun has all power in its world and in the earths that are under its heat and light. From the sun, of our world auras and atmospheres proceed as from their fountain; these are called ethers and airs. From this source nearest about it is pure ether, at a greater distance from it are less pure ethers, and at length airs; but these ethers and airs are around the earths. These ethers and airs when made active in mass produce heat, but when modified in their least parts give light. Through these the sun exercises all its power and produces all its effect outside of itself, thus through ethers and airs by heat as a means and at the same time by light as a means.


From this some idea can be formed of the Lord's infinite power through Divine truth.

Likewise from Him as a sun similar auras and atmospheres emanated, but such as are spiritual, because they are from Divine love, which constitutes that sun. That there are such atmospheres in the spiritual world is clear from the respiration of angels and spirits. Those spiritual auras and atmospheres that are nearest to the Lord as a sun are the most pure; but according to the degrees in which they are removed from Him they are less and less pure. Therefore there are three heavens, the inmost heaven in a purer aura, the middle heaven in an aura less pure, and the lowest heaven in an aura still less pure. These auras or atmospheres, which are spiritual, because they have sprung from the Lord as a sun, when made active in common exhibit heat, but when modified in their least parts exhibit light. That heat, which in its essence is love, and that light, which in its essence is wisdom, are called specifically Divine truth; but together with the auras, which are also spiritual, they are called the Divine proceeding. Now from these the heavens were created, and also the worlds; for all things that exist in the natural world are produced from the spiritual world, as effects from their effecting causes. From this the creation of heaven and earth by means of Divine truth proceed from the Lord as a sun, which is above the angelic heavens, can be seen as in a natural mirror. It can also in some degree be comprehended that the Lord has infinite power by means of the Divine proceeding, which in general is called Divine truth. This also is meant by these 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. And the world was made by Him (John 1:1, 3, 10).

And in David:


By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made (Ps. 33:6).

"The Word" signifies Divine truth.

(3) All power is together in ultimates, and therefore the Lord has infinite power from first things through ultimates. What is meant by ultimates shall first be explained. First things are the things that are in the Lord, and those that most nearly proceed from Him; ultimates are those that are most remote from Him, that is, the things in nature, and the ultimate things in it. These are called ultimates because spiritual things, which are prior, close into them and rest and repose upon them as upon their foundation; therefore they are immovable, and are called the ultimates of Divine order. All power is in ultimates because prior things are together in them, coexisting therein in an order that is called simultaneous. For there is a connection of all things from the Lord Himself through the things which are of heaven and the things of the world even to these ultimates; and because prior things that proceed successively are together in ultimates, as has been said, it follows that power itself is in ultimates from things first. But Divine power is power by the Divine proceeding, which is called Divine truth, as has been shown in the preceding article.

For this reason the human race is to the heavens as a base to a column, or as a foundation to a palace; consequently the heavens subsist in order upon the things of the church that are with men in the world, thus upon Divine truths in ultimates which are such Divine truths as are in the sense of the letter of the Word. What power there is in these truths cannot be told in a few words; into these ultimates with man the Lord flows in from Himself, thus from things first, and rules and keeps together in order and connection all things in the spiritual world.

Now because Divine power itself resides in these ultimates, the Lord Himself came into the world and became Man that He might be in ultimates at the same time as in things first, to the end that through ultimates from things first, He might reduce all things to order that had become disordered, namely, all things in the hells and also all things in the heavens. This was the reason of the Lord's coming, for at the time just before His coming there was no Divine truth in ultimates with men in the world, and none whatever in the church which was then with the Jewish nation, that had not been falsified and perverted, and consequently there was no foundation for the heavens; unless, therefore, the Lord had come into the world and had thus Himself assumed the ultimate, the heavens that were made up of the inhabitants of this earth would have been transferred elsewhere, and the whole human race on this earth would have perished in eternal death. But now the Lord, on the earth as in the heavens, is in His fullness, and thus in His omnipotence, because He is in ultimates and in things first. Thus the Lord is able to save all who are in Divine truths from the Word, and in a life according to them, for He can be present and dwell with such in ultimate truths from the Word, because ultimate truths are also His, and are Himself, because they are from Him, according to His words in John:


He that hath My commandments and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me; and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with Him (John 14:21, 23).

(4) So far as angels and men are recipients of Divine truth from the Lord they are powers. This can be seen from what has been said above, namely, that the Lord has infinite power, and that He alone through His Divine truth has power; also from this, that angels, and men also, are nothing but forms recipient of Divine truth; for this reason angels signify in the Word Divine truths, and are called "gods." It therefore follows that according to the measure and quality of their reception of Divine truth from the Lord they are powers.

(5) Power resides in the truths of the natural man so far as it receives influx from the Lord through the spiritual man. This follows from what precedes, namely, that Divine truths in ultimates from things first have all power, and the natural man is a receptacle of ultimates. But to the natural mind of man there are two ways, one from heaven, the other from the world; the way from heaven leads through the spiritual mind into the rational and through this into the natural, and the way from the world is through the sensual which stands forth nearest to the world and clings to the body. From this it can be seen that the Lord flows in with Divine truth into the natural man only through the spiritual, and so far as the natural man receives influx therefrom is there power in it. By the power in it is meant power against the hells, which is the power to resist evils and falsities, and to put them away; and so far as these are resisted and put away man comes into angelic power and also into intelligence, and becomes "a son of the kingdom."

(6) The truths of the natural man without that influx have nothing of power. This follows as a consequence from what has just been said. The truths of the natural man without influx through the spiritual man have in themselves nothing of the Lord, thus also nothing of life; and truths without life are not truths, and in fact when regarded interiorly are falsities, and falsities have nothing whatever of power, since they are opposites of truths, which have all power. These things have been here set forth to make known what is meant by the power of natural truth from spiritual, which is signified by the "iron rod with which the son a male born of the woman is to tend all nations.

"Rod and staff" signify power, and indeed, the power of Divine truth, chiefly for the reason that they were branches or boughs of trees, and these signify the knowledges of truth and good, which are the truths of the natural man; and as they also supported the body, they signified power. This is still more true of an "iron rod," because iron likewise signifies the truth of the natural man, and because of its hardness it signifies power that cannot be resisted. That "rods and staffs" thence signify the power of Divine truth is derived from correspondence. Therefore in the spiritual world, where all things that appear are correspondences, the use of staffs is a representative of the power of those that use them. It was similar in the Jewish Church, which, like the ancient churches, was a representative church. This is why Moses wrought miracles and signs in Egypt, and afterwards in the desert, by stretching forth his staff, as that:

• The waters smitten with the staff were turned into blood (Exod. 7:1-21)

• Frogs came up from the rivers and pools, over which the staff was stretched forth (Exod. 8:1 et seq.)

• From the dust smitten with the staff there came lice (Exod. 8:12 et seq.)

• When the staff was stretched toward heaven there came thunders and hail (Exod. 9:23 et seq.)

• Locusts came forth (Exod. 10:12 et seq.)

• The Sea Suph when the staff was stretched forth over it was divided, and afterwards returned (Exod. 14:16, 21, 26)

• From the rock in Horeb, smitten with the staff, waters came forth (Exod. 17:5 et seq.; Num. 20:7-13)

• Joshua prevailed over Amelek when Moses held up his hand with the staff, and Amelek prevailed when Moses let it down (Exod. 17:9-12)

• Also fire went up out of the rock and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes which Gideon offered, when the angel of Jehovah touched it with the end of his staff (Judg. 6:21)

These miracles were wrought by the stretching forth of a staff, because a "staff" from correspondence signifies the power of the Lord through Divine truth.

(from Apocalypse Explained 724 - 727)

The Reception of Life from God

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Every created thing is finite; and the Infinite is in finite things as in its receptacles, and is in men as in its images.

Every created thing is finite because all things are from Jehovah God through the sun of the spiritual world, which most nearly encompasses Him; and that sun is composed of the substance that has gone forth from Him, the essence of which is love.

From the sun, by means of its heat and light, the universe has been created from its firsts to its lasts.

THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

A MEMORABLE RELATION

One day I was meditating upon the creation of the universe; and this being perceived by the angels above me on the right side, where were some who from time to time meditated and reasoned on this subject, one of them descended and invited me to join them; and coming into the spirit I went with him; and having joined them I was taken to the prince, in whose palace I saw some hundreds assembled, with the prince in the midst.

Then one of them said, "We perceived here that you were meditating upon the creation of the universe; and we too have sometimes indulged in like meditation; but we have never been able to reach a conclusion, because there clung to our thoughts the idea of a chaos, as having been the great egg, as it were, out of which each thing and all things in the universe in their order were hatched; whereas we now perceive that so great a universe could not have been so brought forth. Then there also clung to our minds another idea, namely, that all things were created by God out of nothing; but we are now able to see that out of nothing nothing comes. From these two ideas we have never yet been able to extricate our minds, and to see with any degree of clearness how creation was accomplished. Therefore we have called you from the place where you were, that you might set forth your mediation on this subject."

Having heard this I replied, "I will do so." And I said, "I have meditated on this subject for a long time, but to no purpose. But since I have been introduced by the Lord into your world I have perceived how idle it would be to try to form a conclusion about the creation of the universe without first knowing that there are two worlds, one in which angels are, and the other in which men are; and that men through death pass from their world to the other.  I then also saw that there are two suns, one from which all spiritual things flow, and the other from which all natural things flow; and that the sun from which all spiritual things flow is nothing but love from Jehovah God, who is in its midst, and that the sun from which all natural things flow is nothing but fire. Having learned these facts, at one time when in a state of enlightenment I was permitted to perceive that the universe was created by Jehovah God by means of the sun in the midst of which He is; and as there can be no love apart from wisdom, that the universe was created by Jehovah God from His love by means of His wisdom. The truth of this is evinced by all things and each thing I have seen in the world where you are, and in the world where I am in the body. 

It would take too much space to explain how creation progressed from its primordial state; but when I have been in a state of enlightenment I have perceived that by means of the heat and light from the sun of your world spiritual atmospheres, which are in themselves substantial, were created one from another. As there were three of these atmospheres, and consequently three degrees of them, three heavens were made; one for the angels who are in the highest degree of love and wisdom, a second for those who are in the second degree, and a third for those who are in the lowest degree. But as this spiritual universe cannot exist without a natural universe wherein it can work out its effects and uses, so at the same time a sun was created from which all natural things proceed, and through which in like manner, by means of heat and light, three atmospheres were created, encompassing the three former as a shell its kernel, or as bark its wood; and finally by means of these atmospheres the terraqueous globe was created where men, beasts, fishes, trees, shrubs, and herbs were formed of earthly substances, composed of soil, stones, and minerals.

This is a very general outline of creation and its progress. It would require many volumes to explain the particular and most particular things of it; yet all things point to the conclusion that God did not create the universe out of nothing, for as you have said, out of nothing nothing comes, but that He created it by means of the sun of the angelic heaven, which is from His very Esse, and is therefore nothing but love joined with wisdom. That the universe, by which is meant both the spiritual world and the natural world, was created from the Divine love by means of the Divine wisdom is attested and proved by each thing and all things in it; and this, if you will consider these things in their order and connection, you will be able to see clearly in the light that illuminates the perceptions of your understanding. But it must be kept in mind that the love and wisdom which make one in God are not love and wisdom in an abstract sense, but are in Him as substance; for God is the Very, the Only, and thus the primal Substance and Essence, which has Being and Subsistence in itself.

That it was from the Divine love and the Divine wisdom that each and all things were created is meant by these words in John:

The Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him, and the world was made by Him (John 1:1, 3, 10),

'God' signifying here the Divine love, and the 'Word' the truth or Divine wisdom; therefore in the same passage the Word is called 'Light', and in relation to God 'Light' means the Divine wisdom."

When I had finished and was bidding them adieu, some rays of light from the sun there descended through the angelic heavens into their eyes, and through these into the abodes of their minds; and when thus enlightened they assented to what I had said, and afterwards followed me into the hall; and my former companion took me to the house where he had found me, and from there he reascended to his own society. (TCR 76)

All that is important now is to know that one thing was formed from another, and thus degrees were constituted, three in the spiritual world and three corresponding to them in the natural world, and the same number in the passive materials of which the terraqueous globe is composed. The origin and nature of these degrees has been fully explained in the Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (published at Amsterdam in 1763), and a small work on The Interaction of the Soul and the Body (published at London in 1769). Through these degrees all things posterior are made receptacles of things prior, and these again of things still prior, and so in succession receptacles of the primitive elements which constitute the sun of the angelic heaven; and thus have things finite been made receptacles of the infinite. This is in agreement with the wisdom of the ancients, according to which each thing and all things are divisible to infinity. It is a common idea that, because the finite cannot grasp the infinite, things finite cannot be receptacles of the infinite; but in what has been set forth in my works respecting creation it has been shown that God first rendered His infinity finite by means of substances emitted from Himself, from which His nearest surrounding sphere, which constitutes the sun of the spiritual world, came into existence; and that then through that sun He perfected the other surrounding spheres, even to the outmost, which consists of passive materials; and in this manner, by means of degrees, He rendered the world more and more finite. This much has been said to satisfy human reason, which never rests until it perceives a cause.

That the infinite Divine is in men as in its images is evident from the Word, where we read:

And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. So God created man into His own image, into the image of God created He him (Gen. 1:26, 27).

From this it follows that man is an organic form recipient of God, and is an organic form that is in accordance with the kind of reception. The human mind, which makes man to be man, and in accordance with which man is man, is formed into three regions in accordance with the three degrees; in the first degree, in which also are the angels of the highest heaven, the mind is celestial; in the second degree, in which are the angels of the middle heaven, it is spiritual; and in the third degree, in which are the angels of the lowest heaven, it is natural.

The human mind, organized in accordance with these three degrees, is a receptacle of Divine influx; nevertheless, the Divine flows into it no further than man prepares the way or opens the door. If man does this as far as to the highest or celestial degree he becomes truly an image of God, and after death an angel of the highest heaven; but if he prepares the way or opens the door only to the middle or spiritual degree, he becomes an image of God, but not in the same perfection; and after death he becomes an angel of the middle heaven. But if man prepares the way or opens the door only to the lowest or natural degree, in case he acknowledges God and worships Him with actual piety he becomes an image of God in the lowest degree, and after death an angel of the lowest heaven. But if man does not acknowledge God and does not worship Him with actual piety he puts off the image of God and becomes like some animal, except that he enjoys the faculty of understanding, and consequently of speech; and if he then closes up the highest natural degree, which corresponds to the highest celestial, he becomes as to his loves like a beast of the earth; and if he closes up the middle natural degree, which corresponds to the middle spiritual degree, he becomes in his love like a fox, and in his Intellectual vision like a bird of night; while if he also closes up the lowest natural degree in its relation to his spiritual he becomes in his love like a wild beast, and in his understanding of truth like a fish.

The Divine life that actuates man by means of the influx from the sun of the angelic heaven may be compared to light from the world's sun and its influx into a transparent object — the reception of life in the highest degree to the influx of light into a diamond; the reception of life in the second degree to the influx of light into a crystal; and the reception of life in the lowest degree to the influx of light into glass or a transparent membrane; but when this degree in relation to his spiritual is wholly closed up, which is the case when God is denied and Satan is worshiped, the reception of life from God may be compared to the influx of light into the opaque things of the earth, as rotten wood, or marshy ground, or dung, and so on, for the man then becomes a spiritual corpse.

(True Christian Religion 33 - 34)

When Knowledges are Lacking

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. (Hosea 4:6)

The doctrine of a plurality of gods, both in past ages and at the present day, has sprung solely from a failure to understand the Divine Esse.

The unity of God is inmostly inscribed on the mind of every man, since it lies at the center of all that flows from God into the soul of man; and yet it has not descended therefrom into the human understanding, for the reason that the knowledges by which man must ascend to meet God have been lacking. For everyone must prepare the way for God, that is, must prepare himself for reception; and this is done by means of knowledges. The knowledges that have been lacking, and that enable the understanding to penetrate far enough to see that God is one, and that not more than one Divine Esse is possible, and that from Him is every thing in nature, are as follows:

(1) Heretofore no one has known anything about the spiritual world, the abode of spirits and angels, which every man enters after death.

(2) It is equally unknown that there is in that world a sun, which is pure love from Jehovah God, who is in the midst of it.

(3) That from this sun a heat goes forth, which in its essence is love, and a light which in its essence is wisdom.

(4) That in consequence all things in that world are spiritual, and affect the internal man, and constitute his will and understanding.

(5) That Jehovah God from His sun has produced not only the spiritual world and all the spiritual things in it, which are innumerable and substantial, but also the natural world and all the natural things in it, which also are innumerable but are material.

(6) Hitherto no one has known what the distinction is between the spiritual and the natural, nor even what the spiritual is in its essence.

(7) Nor has anyone known that there are three degrees of love and wisdom, in accordance with which the angelic heavens are arranged.

(8) Nor that the human mind is divided into that number of degrees, to the end that it may be raised after death into one of the three heavens, which takes place in accordance both with its life and its faith.

(9) Finally, that not the least particle of any of these things could have had existence except from a Divine Esse which in itself is the Itself, and thus the First and the Beginning, the source of all things.

Hitherto these knowledges have been lacking; and yet these are the means through which a man may rise to a knowledge of the Divine Esse.

It is said that the man rises; but the meaning is that he is raised up by God. For in acquiring knowledges for himself man exercises his freedom of choice; but as he acquires for himself knowledges from the Word by means of his understanding he prepares the way by which God comes down and raises him up. The knowledges by means of which the human understanding rises, God holding it in His hand and leading it, may be likened to the steps of the ladder seen by Jacob, which was set upon the earth with the top of it reaching to heaven, by which the angels ascended while Jehovah stood above it.

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed (Gen. 28:12, 13).

It is wholly different when these knowledges are lacking, or when man despises them. In that case the elevation of the understanding might be likened to a ladder reaching from the ground to the windows in the first story of a magnificent palace which is a dwelling-place of men, and not to the windows of the second story which is a dwelling-place of spirits, and still less to the windows of the third story which is a dwelling-place of angels. The result of this is that man remains in the atmospheres and material things of nature only, and confines his eyes and ears and nostrils to these, and from these he derives no other ideas of heaven and of the Esse and Essence of God than such as pertain to the atmospheres and to matter. Thinking from such ideas man can form no conclusions about God, as to whether He is or is not, or whether He is one or many; still less what He is in respect to His Esse and Essence. This is the origin of the belief in the plurality of gods, both in past ages and at the present day.

(True Christian Religion 24)

THIS IS THE GOSPEL TO BE PREACHED

Only those who approach the very God of heaven and earth can enter heaven, because heaven is heaven from that only God, and that this God is Jesus Christ, who is the Lord Jehovah, from eternity the Creator, in time the Redeemer, and to eternity the Regenerator, thus who is at once Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (from TCR 26)