'The Word' Throughout the Ages

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

We read in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. 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 light appeareth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not.  And the Word was made flesh and dwelt within us; and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (1:1-5, 14).

Few know what is here meant by the "Word." That it is the Lord, is evident from the several particulars; but the internal sense teaches that it is the Lord as to His Divine Human that is meant by the "Word," for it is said: "the Word was made flesh and dwelt within us, and we beheld His glory." And because the Divine Human is meant by the "Word," all that Truth also is meant which relates to Him, and is from Him, in His kingdom in the heavens, and in His church on the earth. Hence it is said that "in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light appeareth in the darkness." And because Truth is meant by the "Word," all revelation is meant, and thus also the Word itself or Holy Scripture.

As regards the Word specifically, it had existed in all times, but not the Word which we have at this day.

There had been another Word in the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood, and another Word in the Ancient Church which was after the flood; then came the Word written by Moses and the prophets in the Jewish Church; and lastly the Word that was written by the Evangelists in the new church. The reason why there has been a Word at all times, is that by the Word there is communication of heaven with earth; and also because the Word treats of good and truth, from which man is to live happy forever; and on this account in the internal sense it treats of the Lord alone, because all good and truth are from Him.

The Word in the Most Ancient Church which was before the flood was not a written Word, but was revealed to everyone who was of that church. For they were celestial men, and therefore were in the perception of good and truth, as the angels are (with whom moreover they were in company), so that they had the Word written on their hearts. As they were celestial men, and had companionship with angels, all the things which they saw and apprehended by any of the senses were to them representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things which are in the Lord's kingdom; so that they indeed saw worldly and earthly things with their eyes, or apprehended them by some other sense, but from them and by means of them they thought of celestial and spiritual things. In this way, and in no other, were they able to speak with angels; for the things with the angels are celestial and spiritual things, and when they come down to man they fall into such things as are with him in the world. That each one of the things in the world represents and signifies something in the heavens, has been shown from the first chapter of Genesis up to this point. Thence came the representatives and significatives which, when communication with angels began to cease, were collected by those meant by "Enoch," as was signified by the words (Gen. 5:24) "Enoch walked by himself with God, and was no more, for God took him".

From this source was the Word in the Ancient Church which was after the flood. As the man of this church was spiritual and not celestial, he knew but did not perceive what the representatives and significatives involved; and as they involved Divine things, they came to be in use among those men, and were employed in their Divine worship; and this in order that they might have communication with heaven; for as before said, all things in the world represent and signify such things as are in heaven. They also had a written Word, which consisted of Histories and Prophecies, like the Word of the Old Testament; but in process of time that Word was lost. The Histories were called "Wars of Jehovah," and the Prophecies were called "Enunciations," as is evident in Moses (see Num. 21:14, 27), where they are quoted. Their histories were written in the prophetic style, and were, for the most part, made up histories, like those in the first eleven chapters of Genesis; as is plain from the quotations from them in Moses, where are these words:

Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of Jehovah, Vaheb in Suphah, and the rivers of Arnon, and the slope of the rivers that inclineth toward the dwelling of Ar, and leaneth upon the border of Moab (Num. 21:14-15)

Their prophecies were written like the prophecies of the Old Testament, as is likewise plain from the quotations made from them also in Moses, where are these words:

Wherefore the Enunciations (or the Prophetic Enunciators) say, Come ye to Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and established; for a fire is gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it hath devoured Ar of Moab, the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab; thou hast perished, O people of Chemosh; he hath given his sons as escapers, and his daughters into captivity, unto Sihon king of the Amorite. And we have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba (Num. 21:27-30).

That these prophecies involve heavenly arcana, as do the prophecies of the Old Testament, is clearly manifest not only from their having been transcribed by Moses and applied to the state of things of which he was then writing, but also from the fact that nearly the same words are found in Jeremiah, inserted in the prophecies of that book; in which it is evident, from what has been said about the internal sense of the Word, that there are as many heavenly arcana as there are words. The words in Jeremiah are:

A fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from among Sihon, and hath devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. Woe unto thee, O Moab, the people of Chemosh has perished, for thy sons are taken into captivity, and thy daughters into captivity (Jer. 48:45-46).

From this also it is plain that that Word also had an internal sense.

That with them there were prophecies which in the internal sense treated of the Lord and of His kingdom, may be seen not only from what has been shown, but also from the prophecies of Balaam, who was from Syria, spoken of in Moses (Num. 23:7-10, 18-25; 24:3-10, 15-25), which are expressed in a style similar to the other prophecies of the Word, and plainly foretell the Lord's coming, in these words:

I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not nigh; there shall come forth a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel and shall smite through the corners of Moab, and break down all the sons of Sheth (Num. 24:17).

These prophecies, like the former, are called "Parables" [Enuntiata], for the same word is used (Num. 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 20).

A Word afterwards followed in the Jewish Church that in like manner was written by representatives and significatives, so that it might have within it an internal sense understood in heaven, and that thus by the Word there might be communication, and the Lord's kingdom in the heavens be united to the Lord's kingdom on earth. Unless everything in the Word represents, and unless all the words by which everything therein is written, signify the Divine things pertaining to the Lord, thus the celestial and spiritual things belonging to His kingdom, the Word is not Divine; but being so it could not possibly be written in any other style; for by means of this style and not possibly by any other, human things and human words correspond to heavenly things and heavenly ideas, even to the least jot. From this it is that if the Word is read even by a little child, the Divine things therein are perceived by the angels.

In regard to the Word of the New Testament which is in the Evangelists, as the Lord spoke from the Divine itself, the several things spoken by Him were representative and significative of Divine things, thus of the heavenly things of His kingdom and church, as has been abundantly shown above.

(from Arcana Coelestia 2894 - 2900)

The Soul of "The Word"

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The historicals [of the Word] are representatives and all the words are significative. The case is the same with all the historicals of the Word, not only with those in the books of Moses, but also with those in the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. In all these, nothing is apparent but mere history; but although it is history in the sense of the letter, still in the internal sense there are arcana of heaven, which lie stored up and hidden there, and which can never be seen so long as the mind, together with the eye, is kept in the historicals; nor are they revealed until the mind is removed from the sense of the letter.

The Word of the Lord is like a body that contains within it a living soul; the things belonging to the soul do not appear while the mind is so fixed in corporeal things that it scarcely believes that there is a soul, still less that it will live after death; but as soon as the mind withdraws from corporeal things, those which are of the soul and life become manifest. And this also is the reason, not only why corporeal things must die before man can be born anew, or be regenerated, but also why the body itself must die so that he may come into heaven and see heavenly things.

Such also is the case with the Word of the Lord: its corporeal things are those which are of the sense of the letter; and when the mind is kept in these, the internal things are not seen at all; but when the former are as it were dead, then for the first time are the latter presented to view. But still the things of the sense of the letter are similar to those which are with man while in the body, to wit, to the knowledges of the memory that come from the things of sense, and which are general vessels that contain interior or internal things within them. It may be known from this that the vessels are one thing, and the essentials contained in the vessels another. The vessels are natural; the essentials contained in the vessels are spiritual and celestial. So likewise the historicals of the Word, and all the expressions in the Word, are general, natural, and indeed material vessels, in which are things spiritual and celestial; and these in no wise come into view except by the internal sense.

This will be evident to everyone from the mere fact that many things in the Word are said according to appearances, and indeed according to the fallacies of the senses, as that the Lord is angry, that He punishes, curses, kills, and many other such things; when yet in the internal sense they mean quite the contrary, namely, that the Lord is in no wise angry and punishes, still less does He curse and kill. And yet to those who from simplicity of heart believe the Word as they apprehend it in the letter, no harm is done while they live in charity. The reason is that the Word teaches nothing else than that everyone should live in charity with his neighbor, and love the Lord above all things. They who do this have in themselves the internal things; and therefore with them the fallacies taken from the sense of the letter are easily dispelled.

The Most Ancient Church, which was celestial, looked upon all earthly and worldly, and also bodily things, which were in any wise objects of the senses, as being dead things; but as each and all things in the world present some idea of the Lord's kingdom, consequently of things celestial and spiritual, when they saw them or apprehended them by any sense, they thought not of them, but of the celestial and spiritual things; indeed they thought not from the worldly things, but by means of them; and thus with them things that were dead became living.

The things thus signified were collected from their lips by their posterity and were formed by them into doctrinals, which were the Word of the Ancient Church, after the flood.

With the Ancient Church these were significative; for through them they learned internal things, and from them they thought of spiritual and celestial things. But when this knowledge began to perish, so that they did not know that such things were signified, and began to regard the terrestrial and worldly things as holy, and to worship them, with no thought of their signification, the same things were then made representative. Thus arose the Representative Church, which had its beginning in Abram and was afterwards instituted with the posterity of Jacob. From this it may be known that representatives had their rise from the significatives of the Ancient Church, and these from the celestial ideas of the Most Ancient Church.

The nature of representatives may be manifest from the historicals of the Word, in which all the acts of the fathers, Abram, Isaac, and Jacob, and afterwards those of Moses, and of the judges and kings of Judah and Israel, were nothing but representatives. Abram in the Word, as has been said, represents the Lord; and because he represents the Lord, he represents also the celestial man; Isaac likewise represents the Lord, and thence the spiritual man; Jacob in like manner represents the Lord, and thence the natural man corresponding to the spiritual.

But with representatives the character of the person is not considered at all, but the thing which he represents; for all the kings of Judah and of Israel, of whatever character, represented the Lord's kingly function; and all the priests, of whatever character, represented His priestly function. Thus the evil as well as the good could represent the Lord and the celestial and spiritual things of His kingdom; ... the representatives were altogether separated from the person. Hence then it is that all the historicals of the Word are representative; and because they are representative, it follows that all the words of the Word are significative, that is, that they have a different signification in the internal sense from that which they bear in the sense of the letter.

(from Arcana Coelestia 1408-1409)

A Medium of Conjunction of Heaven with Man

Selection from Heaven and Hell ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Those who think from interior reason can see that there is a connection of all things through intermediates with the First, and that whatever is not in connection is dissipated. For they know, when they think about it, that nothing can continue in existence from itself, but from what is prior to itself, thus all things from the First; also that the connection with what is prior is like the connection of an effect with its efficient cause; for when the efficient cause is taken away from its effect then the effect is dissolved and disappears. Because the learned thought thus they saw and said that continuing in existence is a perpetual coming into existence; thus that all things perpetually come into existence from the First, from which they came into existence, that is, they continue to exist. But what the connection of everything is with that which is prior to itself, thus with the First which is the source of all things, cannot be told in a few words, because it is various and diverse. It can only be said in general that there is a connection of the natural world with the spiritual world, and that in consequence there is a correspondence of all things in the natural with all things in the spiritual world; also that there is a connection and consequently a correspondence of all things of man with all things of heaven.

Man is so created as to have a conjunction and connection with the Lord, but with the angels of heaven only an association. Man has association with the angels, but not conjunction, because in respect of the interiors of his mind man is by creation like an angel, having a like will and a like understanding. Consequently, if a man has lived in accordance with the Divine order he becomes after death an angel, with the same wisdom as an angel. Therefore, when the conjunction of man with heaven is spoken of, his conjunction with the Lord and association with the angels is meant; for heaven is not heaven from the proprium of the angels but from the Divine of the Lord.  It is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven.

But man has, in addition, what angels do not have, that he is not only in respect of his interiors in the spiritual world, but also at the same time in respect of his exteriors in the natural world. His exteriors which are in the natural world are all things of his natural or external memory and of his thought and imagination therefrom; in general, cognitions and knowledges with their delights and pleasures so far as they savour of the world, also many pleasures pertaining to the sensual things of the body, together with his senses themselves, his speech, and his actions. And all these are the ultimates in which the Lord's Divine influx terminates; for that influx does not stop midway, but goes on to its ultimates. All this shows that the ultimate of Divine order is in man; and being the ultimate it is also the basis and foundation.

As the Lord's Divine influx does not stop midway but goes on to its ultimates, as has been said, and as this middle part through which it passes is the angelic heaven, while the ultimate is with man, and as nothing can exist unconnected, it follows that the connection and conjunction of heaven with the human race is such that one continues in existence from the other, and that the human race apart from heaven would be like a chain without a hook; and heaven without the human race would be like a house without a foundation.

But man has severed this connection with heaven by turning his interiors away from heaven, and turning them to the world and to self by means of his love of self and of the world, thereby so withdrawing himself that he no longer serves as a basis and foundation for heaven; therefore the Lord has provided a medium to serve in place of this basis and foundation for heaven, and also for the conjunction of heaven with man. This medium is the Word.

I have been told from heaven that the most ancient people, because their interiors were turned heavenwards, had immediate revelation, and by this means there was at that time a conjunction of the Lord with the human race. After their times, however, there was no such immediate revelation, but there was a mediate revelation by means of correspondences, inasmuch as all their Divine worship was maintained by correspondences, and for this reason the Churches of that time were called representative Churches. For it was then known what correspondence is and what representation is, and that all things on the earth correspond to spiritual things in heaven and in the Church, or what is the same, represent them. Therefore the natural things that constituted the externals of their worship served them as media for thinking spiritually, that is, thinking with the angels. When the knowledge of correspondences and representations had been blotted out of remembrance then the Word was written, in which all the words and their meanings are correspondences, and thus contain a spiritual or internal sense, in which are the angels. In consequence, when a man reads the Word and perceives it according to the sense of the letter or the external sense, the angels perceive it according to the internal or spiritual sense; for all the thought of angels is spiritual while the thought of man is natural. These two kinds of thought appear diverse; nevertheless they are one because they correspond. Thus it was that after man separated himself from heaven and severed the bond, the Lord provided a medium of conjunction of heaven with man by means of the Word.

---

There is also a conjunction of heaven by means of the Word with those who are outside the Church where there is no Word; for the Lord's Church is universal, and is with all who acknowledge the Divine and live in charity. Moreover, such are taught after death by angels and receive Divine truths.... The universal Church on the earth in the sight of the Lord resembles one man, just as heaven does; but the Church where the Word is and where the Lord is known by means of it is like the heart and lungs in that man. It is known that all the viscera and members of the entire body draw their life from the heart and lungs through various derivations; and it is thus that those of the human race live who are outside the Church where the Word is, and who constitute the members of that man.

Again, the conjunction of heaven by means of the Word with those who are at a distance may be compared to light radiating from a centre all around. The Divine light is in the Word, and there the Lord with heaven is present, and from that presence those at a distance are in light; but it would be otherwise if there were no Word. This may be more clearly seen from ... the form of heaven in accordance with which all who are in heaven have association and communication. But while this arcanum may be comprehended by those who are in spiritual light, it cannot be comprehended by those who are only in natural light; for those who are in spiritual light clearly see innumerable things, while those who are only in natural light do not see, or see as one obscure thing.

Unless such a Word had been given on this earth, the man of this earth would have been separated from heaven, and if separated from heaven he would have ceased to be rational, for the human rational comes into existence from an influx of the light of heaven.

Again, the man of this earth is such that he is not capable of receiving immediate revelation and of being taught about Divine truths by such revelation, as the inhabitants of other earths are, who have been described in a special little work (Earths in the Universe). For the man of this earth is more in worldly things, that is, in externals, than the men of other earths, and it is internal things that are receptive of revelation; if it were received in external things the truth would not be understood.

That such is the man of this earth is clearly evident from the state of those who are within the Church, which is such that, while they know from the Word about heaven, about hell, about the life after death, still in heart they deny these things, although among them there are some who have eagerly sought a pre-eminent reputation for learning, and who might for that reason be supposed to be wiser than others.

I have at times talked with angels about the Word, saying that it is despised by some on account of its simple style; and that nothing whatever is known about its internal sense, and for this reason it is not believed that so much wisdom lies hidden within it. The angels said that although the style of the Word seems simple in the sense of the letter, it is such that nothing can ever be compared with it in excellence, since Divine Wisdom lies concealed not only in the meaning as a whole but also in each word; and that in heaven this wisdom shines forth. They wished to declare that this wisdom is the light of heaven, because it is Divine Truth, for that which shines in heaven is the Divine Truth.

Again, they said that without such a Word there would be no light of heaven with the men of our earth, nor would there be any conjunction of heaven with them; for there is conjunction only so far as the light of heaven is present with man, and that light is present only so far as Divine Truth is revealed to man by means of the Word. This conjunction by means of the correspondence of the spiritual sense of the Word with its natural sense is unknown to man, because the man of this earth knows nothing about the spiritual thought and speech of angels, and how it differs from the natural thought and speech of men; and unless this is known it cannot in the least be known what the internal sense is, and that such conjunction is therefore possible by means of that sense. They said, furthermore, that if man knew that there is such a sense, and in reading the Word were to think in accordance with some knowledge of it, he would come into interior wisdom, and would be still more conjoined with heaven, since by this means he would enter into ideas like the ideas of the angels.

(from Heaven and Hell 303-306; 308-310)

Turning Away from the Lord

Selection from Charity ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
As far as anyone does not shun evils as sins
he remains in them

Man was created in the image and in the likeness of God, and so made that he may be a recipient of the Lord's love and wisdom.

But, because he was not willing to be a recipient, but desired to be love itself and wisdom itself, and thus as God, he inverted his form, and turned his affections and thoughts from the Lord to himself, and began to love himself more than the Lord, yea, to worship himself.

And so he alienated himself from the Lord, and looked back from Him; and in this way he perverted the image and likeness of God in himself, and made it the image and likeness of hell. This is signified by his eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

By the serpent which he obeyed is signified the sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural man, and its cupidities. This sensual of man, because it is still in existence in the world and receives its objects therefrom, loves the things of the world; and if dominion is given to it, it withdraws the mind from the objects of heaven, which are the goods of love and the truths of wisdom, in themselves Divine.

It is from this origin that, as to his proprium, man is nothing but evil, and is born into it from his parents.

But means are provided by the Lord that he may not therefore perish; which means are, that he shall look to the Lord and acknowledge that every good of love and every truth of wisdom is from Him, and nothing from himself.

He thus converts his form, by turning away from himself and turning to the Lord; and so returns to the state in which he was created, and which consisted, as has been said, in his being a recipient of good and truth from the Lord, and in no wise from himself.

And because the proprium of man, by the inversion of it, has become mere evil, the other means of recovering the image of God is to shun evils as sins.

For if a man does not shun evils as sins, but only because they are injurious, he does not look to the Lord, but only to himself, and so remains in his perverted state. But when he shuns evils as sins he fights against them because they are contrary to the Lord, and against His Divine laws; and then he prays to the Lord for help and for power to resist them, which power besought is never denied.

By these two means a man is purified from the evils that are in him from birth. If therefore he does not embrace these two means he can but remain as he was born.

He cannot be purified from evils if he only looks and prays to the Lord; for then after he has prayed, he believes that he is entirely without sins, or that they are remitted, by which he understands that they are taken away. And so he still remains in them; and to remain in them is to increase them. For they are like a disease which devours and mortifies all that is around it. Nor are evils removed by only shunning them; for in this way the man looks to himself, and thereby confirms the origin of evil, which was that he turned himself back, away from the Lord, and turned to himself.

(Posth. Charity 204)

An ONLY Substance

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Divine love and the Divine wisdom, which are a one in the Lord and go forth from Him as a one, are in every created thing in a certain image. The Divine is in every created thing, because God the Creator, who is the Lord from eternity, produced from Himself the sun of the spiritual world, and through that sun all things of the universe, consequently that that sun, which is from the Lord, and in which the Lord is, is not only the first substance but is also the only substance from which all things are; and since this is the only substance, it follows that it is in every created thing, but with infinite variety according to uses.

Now since Divine love and Divine wisdom are in the Lord, and since Divine fire and brightness are in that sun from Him, and spiritual heat and spiritual light are from that sun, and these two make a one, it follows that in a certain image this one is in every created thing. Because of this all things in the universe have relation to good and truth, and, in fact, to their conjunction, or what is the same, all things in the universe have relation to love and wisdom and to their conjunction, since good belongs to love and truth to wisdom; for love calls all that pertains to it good, and wisdom calls all that pertains to it truth. There is a conjunction of these in every created thing.

Many admit that there is an only substance which is the first substance and the source of all things, but what kind of a substance it is they do not know. They believe it to be so simple that nothing is simpler; that it may be compared to a point with no dimension; and that from an infinite number of such the forms of dimension came into existence. This, however, is a fallacy originating in the idea of space; for the idea of space makes the least to appear such. But the truth is that the simpler and purer any thing is, the more and the fuller it is. It is for this reason that the more deeply any object is examined, the more wonderful, perfect, and beautiful are the things seen in it; and thus that the most wonderful, perfect, and beautiful of all are in the first substance. This is true, because the first substance is from the spiritual sun, which, as has been said, is from the Lord, and in which the Lord is, therefore that sun is itself the only substance; and as this substance is not in space it is the all in all, and is in the greatest and the least things of the created universe.

Since that sun is the first and only substance, from which all things are, it follows that infinitely more things are in that substance than can appear in the substances that spring from it, which are called substantiate [or composite], and at length material. These things cannot appear in those substances, because they descend from that sun by degrees of a twofold kind — in accordance with which all perfections decrease. For this reason, as said above, the more deeply any thing is examined, the more wonderful, perfect, and beautiful are the things that are seen. This has been said to show that in a certain image the Divine is in every created thing, but becomes less and less apparent in its descent through the degrees, and still less apparent when a lower degree has become separated from a higher by the closing up of the higher, and by becoming itself choked up with earthy matters. ...

The end of the Divine providence is that every created thing, in general and in particular, shall be such a one; and if it is not, that it shall become such. That is, that in every created thing there shall be something both from the Divine love and from the Divine wisdom; or what is the same, that in every created thing there shall be good and truth, that is, a conjunction of good and truth. Since good is of love and truth is of wisdom, in the following, the terms good and truth will be used throughout instead of love and wisdom, and the marriage of good and truth, instead of the union of love and wisdom.

It is evident that the Divine love and the Divine wisdom, which in the Lord are one, and which go forth as one from the Lord, in a certain image are in every thing created by Him. And now something shall be said specifically about that oneness or union that is called the marriage of good and truth.

That marriage is —

(1) In the Lord Himself; for Divine love and Divine wisdom, as has been said, are a one in Him.

(2) It is from the Lord; for in every thing that goes forth from Him love and wisdom are fully united, these two going forth from the Lord as a sun, the Divine love as the heat, and the Divine wisdom as the light.

(3) These are, indeed, received by the angels as two, but are made one in them by the Lord; and the same is true of men of the church.

(4) Because of this influx of love and wisdom from the Lord as a one into angels of heaven and men of the church, and because of the reception of these by angels and men, the Lord is called in the Word the "Bridegroom" and the "Husband," and heaven and the church are called the "bride" and the "wife."

(5) Therefore, so far as heaven and the church in general or an angel of heaven and a man of the church individually are in that union, that is, in the marriage of good and truth, they are an image and likeness of the Lord, because good and truth are a one in the Lord, and, in fact, are the Lord.

(6) In heaven and in the church in general, or in an angel of heaven or a man of the church, love and wisdom are a one when the will and the understanding, and thus good and truth, make a one, or what is the same, when charity and faith make a one, or what is still the same, when doctrine from the Word and a life according to it make a one.

(7) How these two make a one in man and in all things belonging to him has been shown in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, in Part Five, where the creation of man and especially the correspondence of the will and understanding with the heart and lungs are treated of (n. 358-432).

(from Divine Providence 5-8)

Impossible Without Form

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Divine love and Divine wisdom go forth from the Lord as a one.

A one is impossible apart from a form, the form itself making the one

The form makes a one the more perfectly as the things entering into the form are distinctly different and yet united.

A one is impossible apart from a form, the form itself making the one: —

Anyone who thinks intently can see clearly that a one is impossible apart from a form, and if it exists it is a form; for whatever has existence derives from form that which is called quality, and that which is called predicate, also that which is called change of state, also that which is called relativity, and the like. Consequently, that which is not in a form has no power to affect; and what has no power to affect has no reality. It is the form that gives all these things; and as all the things that are in a form, when the form is perfect, have a mutual regard for each other, as link has to link in a chain, therefore it follows that it is the form that makes the one, and thus the subject, of which quality, state, power to affect, and anything that accords with the perfection of the form, can be predicated.

Every object seen by the eyes in the world is such a one; also every object not seen by the eyes, whether in interior nature or in the spiritual world. Man is such a one, human society is such a one, the church is such a one, also the whole angelic heaven before the Lord; in a word, the created universe, not only in general but also in every particular, is such a one. But in order that each thing and all things may be forms, it is necessary that He who created all things should be Form itself, and that all things that are created in forms should be from Form itself. This, therefore, is what has been shown in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, as follows: Divine love and Divine wisdom are substance and are form (n. 40-43). Divine love and Divine wisdom are form in itself, thus the Very and the Only (n. 44-46). In the Lord Divine love and Divine wisdom are one (n. 14-22). They go forth from the Lord as a one (n. 99-102, and elsewhere).

The form makes a one the more perfectly as the things entering into the form, are distinctly different and yet united: —

Unless the understanding is raised up it can scarcely comprehend this, since the appearance is that a form can make a one only through likenesses of uniformity in the things that make up the form. On this subject I have often talked with angels, who said that this is an arcanum their wiser ones perceive clearly, and the less wise obscurely; yet it is a truth that a form is the more perfect as the things that constitute it are distinctly different, and yet have become united each in its own way. This they showed by the societies in the heavens, which taken together constitute the form of heaven; also by the angels of each society, in that the form of the society is more perfect in proportion as each angel is more distinctly his own, and therefore free, and thus loves his companions as if from himself and from his own affection. They illustrated it also by the marriage of good and truth, in that the more distinctly these are two, the more perfectly they can make a one; and the same is true of love and wisdom; while what is not distinct is mixed up, giving rise to every imperfection of form.

Furthermore, how perfectly distinct things are united and thus make a one, they showed by many things, especially by the things that are in the human body, where innumerable parts are thus distinct and yet united, distinct by their coverings and united by their ligaments, showing that it is the same with love and all things of it, and with wisdom and all things of it, which are perceived only as a one. ... This has been adduced because it is of angelic wisdom.

(from Divine Providence 4)

God is VERY MAN

Selection from Divine Love and Wisdom ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Without a proper idea of God, no communication with the heavens is possible.

In all the heavens there is no other idea of God than that He is a Man. This is because heaven as a whole and in part is in form like a man, and because it is the Divine which is with the angels that constitutes heaven and inasmuch as thought proceeds according to the form of heaven, it is impossible for the angels to think of God in any other way.

From this it is that all those in the world who are conjoined with heaven think of God in the same way when they think interiorly in themselves, that is, in their spirit. From this fact that God is a Man, all angels and all spirits, in their complete form, are men. This results from the form of heaven, which is like itself in its greatest and in its least parts. That heaven as a whole and in part is in form like a man may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 59-87); and that

Thoughts proceed according to the form of heaven: —

Since the interior things of man, which are of his will and understanding, are like the heavens in respect to degrees (for man, as to the interiors of his mind, is a heaven in least form), their perfections also are like those of the heavens. But these perfections are not apparent to any one so long as he lives in the world, because he is then in the lowest degree; and from the lowest degree the higher degrees cannot be known; but they are known after death, because man then enters into that degree which corresponds to his love and wisdom, for he then becomes an angel, and thinks and speaks things ineffable to his natural man; for there is then an elevation of all things of his mind, not in a single, but in a threefold ratio. Degrees of height are in threefold ratio, but degrees of breadth are in single ratio. But into degrees of height none ascend and are elevated except those who in the world have been in truths, and have applied them to life.

It seems as if things prior must be less perfect than things subsequent, that is, things simple than things composite; but things prior out of which things subsequent are formed, that is, things simple out of which things composite are formed, are the more perfect. The reason is that the prior or the simpler are more naked and less covered over with substances and matters devoid of life, and are, as it were, more Divine, consequently nearer to the spiritual sun where the Lord is; for perfection itself is in the Lord, and from Him in that sun which is the first proceeding of His Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and from that in those things which come immediately after; and thus in order down to things lowest, which are less perfect as they are farther removed. Without such preeminent perfection in things prior and simple, neither man nor any kind of animal could have come into existence from seed, and afterwards continue to exist; nor could the seeds of trees and shrubs vegetate and bear fruit. For the more prior anything prior is, or the more simple anything simple is, the more exempt is it from injury, because it is more perfect. (DLW 203, 204)

It is known from Genesis (1:26, 27), that men were created after the image and likeness of God. God also appeared as a man to Abraham and to others. The ancients, from the wise even to the simple, thought of God no otherwise than as being a Man; and when at length they began to worship a plurality of gods, as at Athens and Rome, they worshiped them all as men. What is here said may be illustrated by the following extract from a small treatise already published: —

The Gentiles, especially the Africans, who acknowledge and worship one God, the Creator of the universe, have concerning God the idea that He is a Man, and declare that no one can have any other idea of God. When they learn that there are many who cherish an idea of God as something cloud-like in the midst of things, they ask where such persons are; and on being told that they are among Christians, they declare it to be impossible. They are informed, however, that this idea arises from the fact that God in the Word is called "a Spirit," and of a spirit they have no other idea than of a bit of cloud, not knowing that every spirit and every angel is a man.

An examination, nevertheless, was made, whether the spiritual idea of such persons was like their natural idea, and it was found not to be so with those who acknowledge the Lord interiorly as God of heaven and earth. I heard a certain elder from the Christians say that no one can have an idea of a Human Divine; and I saw him taken about to various Gentile nations, and successively to such as were more and more interior, and from them to their heavens, and finally to the Christian heaven; and everywhere their interior perception concerning God was communicated to him, and he observed that they had no other idea of God than that He is a man, which is the same as the idea of a Human Divine (Cont. L.J. n. 74)

The common people in Christendom have an idea that God is a Man, because God in the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity is called a "Person." But those who are more learned than the common people pronounce God to be invisible; and this for the reason that they cannot comprehend how God, as a Man, could have created heaven and earth, and then fill the universe with His presence, and many things besides, which cannot enter the understanding so long as the truth that the Divine is not in space is ignored. Those, however, who go to the Lord alone think of a Human Divine, thus of God as a Man.

How important it is to have a correct idea of God can be known from the truth that the idea of God constitutes the inmost of thought with all who have religion, for all things of religion and all things of worship look to God. And since God, universally and in particular, is in all things of religion and of worship, without a proper idea of God no communication with the heavens is possible. From this it is that in the spiritual world every nation has its place allotted in accordance with its idea of God as a Man; for in this idea, and in no other, is the idea of the Lord. That man's state of life after death is according to the idea of God in which he has become confirmed, is manifest from the opposite of this, namely, that the denial of God, and, in the Christian world, the denial of the Divinity of the Lord, constitutes hell.

(Divine Love and Wisdom 10-13)