The Nature of the Internal Sense of the Word

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Few persons can bring themselves to believe that the Word has within it an internal sense that from the letter is not apparent, because it is so remote from the sense of the letter that it is as it were distant from it as heaven is from earth. But that the sense of the letter contains such things within itself, and that it is representative and significative of arcana that no one sees except the Lord, and angels from Him, is evident from what has been stated in various places. ...

The sense of the letter bears a relation to the internal sense like that of the human body to the soul.

While a man is in the body, and thinks from bodily things, he knows almost nothing about the soul; for the functions of the body are different from those of the soul, so different that if the functions of the soul were disclosed, they would not be acknowledged as such. The case is the same with the internals of the Word:

its soul, that is, its life, is in its internals, and these have regard solely to the Lord, His kingdom, the church, and to those things in man that belong to His kingdom and church; and when these are regarded, it is the Word of the Lord, for in this case there is life itself therein.

That this is really the case has been confirmed by many things ... has been given me to know as a certainty; for no ideas concerning bodily and worldly things can by any possibility pass to the angels, but they are put off and altogether removed at the first threshold, as they leave man ...

This may also be sufficiently evident from very many things in the Word that are not at all intelligible in the sense of the letter, and that would not be acknowledged as the Word of the Lord if there were not such a soul and life in them; nor would they appear as Divine to anyone who has not been imbued from infancy with the belief that the Word is inspired and thereby holy.

Who would know from the sense of the letter what those things signify which Jacob spoke to his sons just before his death (Genesis 49):

• that Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an adder upon the path, biting the horse's heels, and his rider shall fall backward (verse 17);
• that a troop shall ravage Gad, and he shall ravage the heel (verse 19);
• that Naphtali is a hind let loose, giving discourses of elegance (verse 21);
• that Judah shall bind his young ass to the vine, and the son of his she-ass to the noble vine; he shall wash his garment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes; his eyes are redder than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk (Gen. 49:11-12)

The case is the same with very many passages in the Prophets. But what these things signify cannot possibly appear except in the internal sense, in which all things both in general and in particular are coherent in the most beauty order.

The case is the same again with all that the Lord said concerning the last times:

In the consummation of the age, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail (Matt. 24:29-30).

These words by no means signify the darkening of the sun and moon, nor the falling of the stars from heaven, nor the wailing of the tribes; but they signify charity and faith, for in the internal sense these are "the sun and the moon," and these will be darkened; and they also signify the knowledges of good and truth, for these are "the stars," which are here called "the powers of the heavens," and which will thus fall down and vanish; and that so also will all things of faith, which are "the tribes of the earth."

From these few things the nature of the internal sense of the Word may be seen, and also that it is remote, and in some places very remote, from the sense of the letter. But still the sense of the letter represents truths; and sets forth appearances of truth, in which a man can be when not in the light of truth.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1984)

The Celestial Quality

Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The celestial is not to strive to be the greatest, but to be the least, by serving all; as the Lord Himself said in Matthew:

It shall not be so among you; but whosoever would be great among you shall be your minister; and whosoever would be first among you shall be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:26-28; Mark 10:44-45).

It is the celestial of love not to desire to be one's own, but to belong to all; so that we desire to give others all that is our own; in this consists the essence of celestial love.

The Lord, being love itself, or the essence and life of the love of all in the heavens, wills to give to the human race all things that are His; which is signified by His saying that the Son of man came to give His life a ransom for many. ... In heaven therefore all are rejected who desire to become great and the greatest; because this is contrary to the essence and life of heavenly love, which are from the Lord. Hence also it is that nothing is more contrary to heavenly love than the love of self.

~~~

A HEAVEN OF PHANTASY

Some who during their abode in this world had seemed to be preeminently enlightened in regard to the Word, had conceived so false an idea about heaven that they supposed themselves to be in heaven when they were high up, and imagined that from that position they could rule all things below, and thus be in self-glory and preeminence over others. On account of their being in such a phantasy, and in order to show them that they were in error, they were taken up on high, and from there were permitted in some measure to rule over things below; but they discovered with shame that this was a heaven of phantasy, and that heaven does not consist in being on high, but is wherever there is anyone who is in love and charity, or in whom is the Lord's kingdom; and that neither does it consist in desiring to be more eminent than others, for to desire to be greater than others is not heaven, but hell.

A certain spirit, who during his life in the body had possessed authority, retained in the other life the desire to exercise command. But he was told that he was now in another kingdom, which is eternal; that his rule on earth was dead; and that where he was now no one is held in estimation except in accordance with the good and truth, and the mercy of the Lord, in which he is; and further, that it is in that kingdom as it is on earth, where everyone is rated according to his wealth, and his favor with his sovereign; and that there good and truth are wealth, and favor with the sovereign is the Lord's mercy; and that if he desired to exercise command in any other way, he was a rebel, seeing that he was now in the kingdom of another. On hearing this he was ashamed.

I have conversed with spirits who supposed heaven and heavenly joy to consist in being the greatest. But they were told that in heaven he is greatest who is least, because he who would be the least has the greatest happiness, and consequently is the greatest, for what is it to be the greatest except to be the most happy? it is this that the powerful seek by power, and the rich by riches. They were told, further, that heaven does not consist in desiring to be the least in order to be the greatest, for in that case the person is really aspiring and wishing to be the greatest; but that heaven consists in this, that from the heart we wish better for others than for ourselves, and desire to be of service to others in order to promote their happiness, and this for no selfish end, but from love.

~~~

A certain spirit supposed that he had lived holily in the world because he was esteemed as holy by men and so merited heaven. He said that he had led a pious life, and had spent much time in prayer, supposing it to be sufficient for each person to look out for his own interests. He also said that he was a sinner, and was willing to suffer even to being trodden under foot by others, which he called Christian patience; and that he was willing to be the least, in order that he might become the greatest in heaven. When examined in order to see whether he had performed or had been willing to perform anything of good, that is, any works of charity, he said that he did not know what these were; but only that he had lived a holy life. But because he had as his end his own preeminence over others, whom he accounted vile in comparison with himself, at first, because he supposed himself to be holy, he appeared in a human form shining white down to the loins, but was turned first to a dull blue, and then to black; and as he desired to rule over others, and despised them in comparison with himself, he became blacker than others.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1419; 450-452; 952)

What They Willed, They Thought

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

— CONCERNING THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH, WHICH WAS CALLED MAN, OR ADAM —

• The most ancients, who constituted the Lord's Celestial Church, had a voluntary in which was good, and an intellectual, in which was the derivative truth, which two with them made a one.
• The ancients, who formed the Lord's Spiritual Church, had the voluntary altogether destroyed, but the intellectual entire, in which the Lord by regeneration formed a new voluntary, and through this also a new intellectual.

~~~

Angels and spirits, or men after death, when permitted by the Lord, can meet all whom they have known in this world, or whom they have heard of – whomsoever they desire – can see them as present, and can converse with them. Wonderful to say, they are at hand in a moment and are most intimately present; so that it is possible to converse not only with friends, who usually find one another, but also with others that have been respected and esteemed.

By the Divine mercy of the Lord it has been granted me to converse not only with those whom I had known when they lived in the body, but also with those of especial note in the Word; also with those who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was that called "Man," or "Adam," and with some who were of the subsequent churches, in order that I might know that by the names in the first chapters of Genesis churches are meant; and also that I might know what was the character of the men of the churches of that time. The accounts therefore that follow are what it has been given me to know about the Most Ancient Churches.

They who were of the Most Ancient Church, which was called Man, or Adam, and were Celestial men, are very high above the head, and dwell together there in the greatest happiness. They said that others rarely come to them, except some at times, as they expressed it, "from the universe;" and that they were on high above the head not because they were of a lofty spirit, but in order that they might govern those who are there.

DWELLINGS OF THE SECOND AND THIRD POSTERITIES OF THIS MOST ANCIENT CHURCH

Dwellings were shown me of those who were of the second and third posterities of this Most Ancient Church. They are magnificent, extending to a great length, and diversified with beautiful colors of bright crimson and azure blue. For the angels have most magnificent dwellings, such as cannot be described, as I have often seen. To their eyes so real is their appearance that nothing can be more real. But whence such real appearances come will be shown of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. They live in an aura, so to speak, of resplendent pearly and sometimes of diamond-like light. For there are wonderful auras in the other life, of inexpressible variety. They greatly err who do not believe that such things exist there, and indefinitely more than anyone ever could or can conceive. They are indeed representative, like the things sometimes seen by the prophets; but yet are so real that they who are in the other life hold them to be real, and the things which are in the world to be relatively unreal.

MOST INTENSE LIGHT

They live in the most intense light. The light of this world can scarcely be compared to that in which they live. That light was shown me by a light as of flame that as it were streamed down before my eyes; and they who were of the Most Ancient Church said that the light is such with them, but still more intense.

THE NATURE OF THEIR SPEECH

There was shown me by a certain influx which I cannot describe, what the nature of their speech was when they lived in this world – that it was not articulate, like the vocal speech of our time, but tacit; and was produced not by external but by internal respiration. It was also granted me to perceive the nature of their internal respiration – that it advanced from the navel toward the heart, and so through the lips, without sound; and that it did not enter into the ear of another and strike upon what is called the drum of the ear by an external way, but by a certain way within the mouth, in fact by a passage there which is now called the Eustachian tube. And it was shown me that by such speech they could much more fully express the sentiments of the mind and the ideas of thought than can possibly be done by articulate sounds, or vocal words, which likewise are directed by the respiration, but external. For there is nothing in any word that is not directed by applications of the respiration. But with them this was done much more perfectly, because by the internal respiration; which, from the fact that it is interior, is at once far more perfect, and more applicable and conformable to the very ideas of thought. Besides, they also conversed by slight movements of the lips, and correspondent changes of the face;

being Celestial men, whatever they thought shone forth from their faces and eyes, which were varied conformably. They could by no means put on an expression of countenance different from that which was in agreement with their thoughts. Simulation, and still more deceit, was to them a monstrous iniquity.

It has been shown me to the life how the internal respiration of the most ancient people silently flowed into a kind of external and thus tacit speech, perceived by another in his interior man. They said that this respiration varied with them, according to the state of their love and faith in the Lord. They gave also as a reason that —

it could not be otherwise, because they had communication with heaven, for they respired with the angels in whose company they were.

Angels have a respiration to which internal respiration corresponds; and it likewise varies with them. For when anything befalls them which is contrary to love and faith in the Lord, their respiration is restrained; but when they are in the happiness of love and faith, their respiration is free and full.

There is something like this also with every man, but in accordance with his corporeal and worldly loves and also with his principles. When anything opposes these, there is a restriction of the respiration; and when they are favored, the respiration is free and full. These, however, are variations of external respiration.

But concerning the respiration of the angels, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.

THE INTERNAL RESPIRATION OF THE MEN OF THE MOST ANCIENT CHURCH

It has also been shown that the internal respiration of the men of the Most Ancient Church, which was from the navel toward the interior region of the breast, in the course of time, or in their posterity, was changed, and receded more toward the back region, and toward the abdomen, thus more outward and downward; and that at length, in the last posterity of that church, which existed immediately before the flood, scarcely anything of internal respiration remained; and when at last there remained none of this in the breast, they were suffocated of their own accord; but that in some, external respiration then began, and with it articulate sound, or the language of spoken words. Thus with the men before the flood the respiration was in accordance with the state of their love and faith; and at last, when there was no love and no faith, but a persuasion of falsity, internal respiration ceased; and with this, the immediate communication with angels, and perception. I have been informed by sons of the Most Ancient Church concerning the state of their perception, that they had perception of all things that belong to faith, almost as have the angels with whom they had communication; for the reason that their interior man, or spirit, by means also of the internal respiration, was joined to heaven; and that love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor are attended with this, for —

man is thus conjoined with angels through their veriest life, which consists in such love. They said that they had the law written upon them, because they were in love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor; and such being the case, whatever the laws prescribe was in agreement with their perception, and whatever the laws forbid was contrary to it. Nor did they doubt that all laws, human as well as Divine, are founded in love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor, and regard these as their fundamental. Wherefore, as they had this fundamental in them, from the Lord, they could not but know all things that were from it.

They believe too that those who live in the world at this day, who love the Lord and the neighbor, have also the law written upon them, and are acceptable citizens everywhere on earth, as the same are in the other life.

DREAMS AND VISIONS

I have been further informed that the men of the Most Ancient Church had most delightful dreams, and also visions, and that it was insinuated into them at the same time what they signified. Hence their paradisal representations, and many other things. The objects of the external senses therefore, which are earthly and worldly, were nothing to them; nor had they any perception of delight in them, but only in what they signified and represented; and therefore when they looked at earthly objects they did not think about them at all, but only about the things which they signified and represented, which were most delightful to them; for they were such things as are in heaven, from which they see the Lord Himself.

I have conversed with the third generation of the Most Ancient Church, who said that in their time, when they lived in the world, they expected the Lord, who would save the whole human race; and that it was then a common saying among them that the seed of the woman would tread down the serpent's head. They said that from that time the greatest delight of their life was to procreate offspring; so that their sweetest deliciousnesses were to love their consort for the sake of offspring, which they called most delightful deliciousnesses and most delicious delights, adding that the perception of these delights and deliciousnesses was from influx out of heaven, because the Lord was to be born.

(Arcana Coelestia 1114 – 1123)