A Trinity of 'PERSON'

Selection from Brief Exposition ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— A Memorable Relation —

Once on waking from sleep, I fell into a profound meditation concerning God; and when I looked up, I saw above me in heaven a very bright light in an oval form; and when I fixed my attention on that light, it receded to the sides, and entered into the circumference. And then behold, heaven was opened to me, and I saw some magnificent things, and angels standing in the form of a circle on the southern side of the opening, speaking with one another. And because I was enkindled with the desire of hearing what they were saying, it was therefore given me first to hear the sound, which was full of heavenly love, and afterwards their speech, which was full of wisdom from that love. They were talking with one another of the One God, of Conjunction with Him, and of Salvation thence. They spoke ineffable things, the most of which cannot be expressed by any natural language. But as I had many times been in consociation with angels in heaven itself, and then in similar speech with them, because in a similar state, I could therefore now understand them, and gather some things from their discourse, which can be expressed rationally in the words of natural language.

They said that the Divine Esse is One, the Same, the Itself, and Indivisible; thus also the Divine Essence, because the Divine Esse is the Divine Essence; and thus also God, because the Divine Essence, which is also the Divine Esse, is God. They illustrated this by spiritual ideas, saying that the Divine Esse cannot fall into many, every one of which has the Divine Esse, and yet be One, the Same, Itself, and Indivisible; for each would think from his Esse from himself and by himself; if he should at the same time also think from the others and by the others unanimously, there would be many unanimous gods, and not One God. For unanimity, as it is the consent of many, and at the same time of each one from himself, and by himself, does not agree with the unity of God, but with a plurality; they did not say of Gods, because they could not; for the light of heaven, from which was their thought, and in which their discourse proceeded, resisted.

They also said, that when they wished to pronounce the word Gods, and each as a Person by himself, the effort of utterance immediately fell of itself into One, yea, into the Only God. To this they added that the Divine Esse is the Divine Esse in Itself, not from Itself; because from Itself supposes an Esse in Itself from another, and thus supposes a God from God, which is not given. That which is from God is not called God, but is called the Divine; for what is a God from God; and thus what is a God from God born from eternity; and what is a God from God proceeding through a God born from eternity, but words in which there is not the least light from heaven?

They said further, that the Divine Esse, which in itself is God, is the Same: not the Same simply, but Infinite; that is, the Same from eternity to eternity: it is the Same everywhere, and the Same with every one and in everyone; but that all the variety and variableness is in the recipient; the state of the recipient does this. That the Divine Esse, which is God in Himself, is the Itself, they illustrated thus. God is the Itself, because He is Love Itself, Wisdom Itself, or what is the same, He is Good Itself, and Truth Itself, and thence Life Itself; which unless they were the Itself in God, would not be anything in heaven and in the world; because there would not be anything of them having relation to the Itself. Every quality derives its quality from this, that there is an Itself from which it is, and to which it has relation, that it may be such. This Itself, which is the Divine Esse, is not in place, but is with those and in those who are in place, according to reception; since of love and wisdom, and of good and truth, and thence of life, which are the Itself in God, yea, are God Himself, place cannot be predicated, or progression from place to place, but without place, whence is omnipresence. Wherefore the Lord says, that "He is in the midst of them"; also "He in them, and they in Him." But because He cannot be received by anyone as He is in Himself, He appears as He is in Himself as the sun above the angelic heavens, the proceeding from which as light is Himself as to wisdom, and as heat is Himself as to love. He Himself is not the sun; but the Divine love and Divine wisdom, going forth from Himself proximately, round about Himself, appear before the angels as the sun. He Himself in the sun is a Man, He is our Lord Jesus Christ both as to the Divine from which, and as to the Divine Human: since the Itself, which is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, was His soul from the Father, and thus the Divine Life, which is Life in itself. It is otherwise in every man: in him the soul is not life, but a recipient of life. The Lord also teaches this, saying:

I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

and again:

As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself.

Life in Himself is God. They added to this, that he who is in any spiritual light, can perceive that the Divine Esse, which is also the Divine Essence, because it is One, the Same, the Itself, and thence Indivisible, cannot be given in many; and that if it were said to be given, manifest contradictions would follow.

After hearing these things, the angels perceived in my thought the common ideas of the Christian Church concerning a Trinity of Persons in Unity and their Unity in Trinity, respecting God, as also concerning the birth of a Son of God from eternity: and they then said, "What are you thinking of? Are you not thinking those things from natural light, with which our spiritual light does not agree?Wherefore, unless you remove the ideas of that thought, we close heaven to you, and go away."

But I then said to them, "Enter, I pray, more deeply into my thought and perhaps you will see agreement." And they did so, and saw that by three Persons I understand three proceeding Divine Attributes, which are Creation, Salvation, and Reformation; and that these Attributes are of the One God: and that by the birth of a Son of God from eternity I understand His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time. And I then related that my natural thought concerning a Trinity and Unity of Persons, and concerning the birth of a Son of God from eternity, I received from the doctrine of faith of the church, which has its name from Athanasias; and that that doctrine is just and right, provided that instead of a Trinity of Persons there be there understood a Trinity of Person, which is given only in the Lord Jesus Christ; and instead of the birth of a Son of God there be understood His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time; because as to the Human, which He took to Himself in time, He is called openly the Son of God.

The angels then said, "Well, well," and they requested that I would say from their mouth, that if any one does not go to the God of heaven and earth Himself, he cannot come into heaven; because heaven is heaven from that Only God; and that this God is Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah the Lord, Creator from eternity, Redeemer in time, and to eternity Regenerator; thus who is at the same time the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that this is the Gospel which is to be preached. After this the heavenly light before seen above the opening returned and gradually descended, and filled the interiors of my mind, and enlightened my natural ideas of the Unity and Trinity of God: and then the ideas received about them in the beginning, which were merely natural, I saw separated, as the chaff is separated from the wheat by the motion of a fan, and carried away as by a wind into the north of heaven, and dispersed.

(Brief Exposition 119)

Metaphysics Their Tripod

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— A Memorable Relation —

I saw some who had recently come from the natural world into the spiritual world talking together about THREE DIVINE PERSONS from eternity. They were dignitaries of the church, and one of them was a bishop.

They came up to me; and after some talk about the spiritual world, respecting which they had before known nothing, I said,

"I heard you speaking of three Divine persons from eternity; I beseech you to disclose to me this great mystery according to the conception you had formed of it in the natural world from which you have lately come."

Then the bishop, looking at me, said,

"I see that you are a layman, therefore I will set forth my ideas on this great mystery, and will instruct you. My conception of the matter was, and still is, that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit sit in the center of heaven upon magnificent and lofty seats or thrones — God the Father on a throne of pure gold, with a scepter in His hand; God the Son at His right hand on a throne of the purest silver, with a crown on His head; and God the Holy Spirit near them, on a throne of dazzling crystal, holding a dove in His hand; and that round about them in triple order are hanging lamps glittering with precious stones; while at a distance from this circle stand innumerable angels, all worshiping and singing praises; and furthermore, that God the Father is continually talking with His Son about those who are to be justified, and they together judge and determine who on earth are worthy to be received by them among the angels, and crowned with eternal life; while God the Holy Spirit, on hearing the names of such, hastens to them throughout the earth, carrying with Him gifts of righteousness as so many tokens of salvation for the justified; and the instant He approaches and breathes upon them He disperses their sins, as a ventilator drives the smoke from a furnace and makes it white. He also takes away the stony hardness of their hearts, and imparts the tenderness of flesh, and at the same time renews their spirits or minds, and regenerates them, giving them infantile faces; and finally He seals them in the forehead with the sign of the cross, and calls them 'the elect' and 'sons of God.'"

Having finished this speech the bishop said,

"Thus did I in the world elucidate this great mystery; and as most of our order there applauded my utterances, I am persuaded that you also, who are a layman, will assent to them."

When the bishop had ceased speaking I looked at him, and also at the dignitaries with him, and I noticed that they all gave full assent to what he had said. I therefore began to reply, and said,

"I have given close attention to the statement of your belief, and from it I gather that you have conceived and cherish an idea of the triune God that is wholly natural, sensual, and even material, and that there inevitably follows from it the idea of three Gods. Is it not thinking sensually of God the Father to conceive of Him as seated on a throne with a scepter in His hand; and of the Son on His throne with a crown on His head; and of the Holy Spirit on His with a dove in His hand, and as hastening over the world in accordance with what He hears? And as such an idea results from your statements, I cannot assent to them; for from my childhood I have not been able to admit into my mind any other idea than that of one God; and since I have accepted and hold no other idea, all that you have said has no weight with me. I also saw that 'the throne' on which Jehovah is said in Scripture to sit means His kingdom, the 'scepter' and 'crown,' government and dominion; the 'sitting at the right hand,' God's omnipotence through His Humanity; also that by what is attributed to the Holy Spirit the operations of the Divine omnipresence are meant. Assume, sir, if you please, the idea of one God, and rightly dwell upon that in your reasonings, and you will at length clearly apprehend that this is so.

Furthermore, you admit that God is one, in that you make the essence of these three persons one and indivisible; while yet you do not allow anyone to say that this one God is one person, but he must say that there are three persons and this you do lest the idea of three Gods, such as you entertain, should be lost; also you ascribe to each person a property different from those of the others. In all this do you not divide your Divine essence? And this being so, how can you say and also think that God is one? I could excuse you if you had said that the Divine is one. How can anyone on hearing that 'The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and singly each person is God, ' possibly think of God as one? Is it not a contradiction, to which assent is utterly impossible? That they cannot be said to be one God, but only to have a like Divinity, may be thus illustrated. A number of men forming one senate, assembly, or council, cannot be called one man; although when each and all have the same opinion they may be said to be one in thought. Neither can three diamonds of the same substance be called one diamond; although they may be called one in substance. Moreover, each diamond would differ from the others in value according to its weight, which would not be true if they were one instead of three.
But I perceive the reason why three persons, each one of whom is by Himself singly God, are called by you one God, and why you enjoin upon everyone in the church so to speak, namely, because all sound and enlightened reason in the world acknowledges God to be one, and in consequence you would be covered with shame if you too did not speak in like manner. And yet when you utter the words 'one God' while in your thoughts there are three, that shame does not prevent your giving utterance to both of these ideas."

After this conversation the bishop with his clerical companions withdrew, and as he departed he turned and tried to say, "There is one God;" but he could not say it, because this thought restrained his tongue, and with open mouth he gasped out, "Three Gods!" At this strange sight the bystanders laughed derisively and departed.

Afterwards I asked where I could find those of the learned with the keenest minds who stood for a Divine trinity divided into three persons. Three of these presented themselves; and I said to them,

"How can you divide the Divine trinity into three persons, and assert that each person, by Himself or singly, is God and Lord? Is not a confession of the mouth that God is one thus made as remote from the thought as the south from the north?"

To this they replied,

"It is not at all remote, since the three persons possess one essence, and the Divine essence is God. In the world we were guardians of a trinity of persons, and the ward under our charge was our faith; in that faith each Divine person had his office — God the Father to impute and bestow, God the Son to intercede and mediate, and God the Holy Spirit to carry out the work of imputation and mediation."

But I asked,

"What do you mean by the 'Divine essence?'"

They said,

"We mean omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immensity, eternity, and equality of majesty."

I replied,

"If that essence makes one God of several you might add more yet, for example: a fourth, mentioned by Moses, Ezekiel, and Job, under the name of 'God Schaddai.' Something of this kind was done in Greece and Italy by the ancients, who ascribed equal attributes and a like essence to their gods, for example, to Saturn, Jove, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Juno, Diana, Minerva, and even Mercury and Venus; although they could not say that all these were one God. Moreover, yourselves, who are three persons, and as I apprehend alike in learning and therefore in that respect of a similar essence, are not able to combine yourselves into one learned man."

They laughed at this, and said,

"You are joking. With the Divine essence it is different: it is not tripartite, but one; not divisible, but indivisible; partition and division do not apply to it. "

Hearing this I said,

"Let us come down to this ground and discuss the matter."

And I asked,

"What do you mean by a 'person?' and what does the term signify?"

They said,

"The term 'person' signifies that which has no part or quality in another, but subsists by itself. Thus do all the heads of the church define it, and we agree with them."

I said,

"Is this the definition of 'person'?"

They replied,

"It is."

To this I answered,

"There is then no part of the Father in the Son, or of either in the Holy Spirit. From this it follows that each is at His own disposal, and possesses His own rights and powers, and therefore there is nothing that joins them together except the will, which is proper to each, and thus communicable at pleasure. Does not this make the three persons three distinct Gods?

Listen again: You have also defined 'person' as that which subsists by itself; consequently there are three substances into which you divide the Divine essence; and yet you say that this is incapable of division, since it is one and indivisible. Furthermore, to each substance, that is, to each person, you attribute properties that do not exist in the others, and even cannot be communicated to the others, namely, imputation, mediation, and operation. What can follow from this except that the three 'persons' are three Gods?"

At these remarks they withdrew, saying, "We will canvass these statements and then answer you."

There was present a wise man who, hearing the arguments, said,

"I do not care to view this lofty subject through such fine network; but apart from these subtleties I see clearly that in your thought you have the idea of three Gods; but as you would incur disrepute by publishing this idea openly to all the world (for if you did so you would be called madmen and fools), it is expedient for you, in order to avoid that ignominy, to confess with your lips one God."

But the three, tenacious of their opinions, paid no attention to this; and as they went away they muttered some terms culled from metaphysical lore: from which I saw that metaphysics was their tripod from which they wished to give responses.

(True Christian Religion 16-17)

General Knowledges Concerning Creation

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

No one can gain a right idea of the creation of the universe until his understanding is brought into a state of perception by some most general knowledges previously recognized, which are as follows.

(1) There are two worlds, a spiritual world where angels and spirits are, and a natural world where men are.

(2) In each world there is a sun. The sun of the spiritual world is nothing but love from Jehovah God who is in the midst of it. From that sun heat and light go forth; the heat that goes forth therefrom in its essence is love, and the light that goes forth in its essence is wisdom; and these two affect the will and understanding of man - the heat his will and the light his understanding. But the sun of the natural world is nothing but fire, and therefore its heat is dead, also its light; and these serve as a covering and auxiliary to spiritual heat and light, to enable them to pass over to man.

(3) Again, these two which go forth from the sun of the spiritual world, and in consequence all things that have existence in that world by means of them, are substantial, and are called spiritual; while the two like things that go forth from the sun of the natural world, and in consequence all things here that have existence by means of them, are material, and are called natural.

(4) In each world there are three degrees, called degrees of height, and in consequence three regions; and in accordance with these the three angelic heavens are arranged, and also in accordance with them human minds are arranged, which thus correspond to those three angelic heavens; and the same is true of every thing else in both worlds.

(5) There is a correspondence between those things that are in the spiritual world and those in the natural world.

(6) There is an order in which each thing and all things belonging to both worlds were created.

(7) It is necessary that an idea of these things should first be gained, for unless this is done the human mind from mere ignorance of these things easily falls into a notion of a creation of the universe by nature; while on mere ecclesiastical authority it asserts that nature was created by God; and yet, because it does not know how creation was effected, as soon as it begins to look interiorly into the matter, it plunges headlong into the naturalism that denies God.

(from True Christian Religion 75)

Repentance from Sins — The Pathway to Heaven

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The Lord cannot rid us of the evils in our outer nature without our help. In all Christian churches the accepted teaching is that before we come to take Holy Communion we should examine ourselves, see and admit our sins, and repent by refraining from them and rejecting them because they come from the devil. Otherwise our sins are not forgiven, and we are damned.

Even though the English accept a theology of faith alone, in the prayer before Holy Communion they explicitly enjoin self-examination, acknowledgment, confession of sins, repentance, and taking up a new life. They threaten people who do not do so by saying that the devil will enter into them as he entered into Judas and fill them with all iniquity, destroying both body and soul. The Germans, Swedes, and Danes, who also accept a theology of faith alone, teach much the same in their prayer before Holy Communion, adding the threat that otherwise we will render ourselves liable to the punishments of hell and eternal damnation because of this mixture of the sacred and the profane. The priest reads these words with a loud voice to the people who come to Holy Communion, and the people hear them with a full recognition of their truth.

However, when these same people hear a sermon about faith alone on the very same day, when they hear that the law does not condemn them because the Lord has fulfilled it for them, that on their own they cannot do anything good without claiming credit for it, and that therefore their deeds contribute nothing whatever to their salvation and only their faith does, then they go home totally oblivious to their earlier confession. In fact, they dismiss it to the extent that they are thinking about this sermon on faith alone.

So which is true, the first or the second? Two mutually contradictory statements cannot both be true. For example, • one option is that there is no forgiveness of sins and therefore no salvation, only eternal damnation, unless we examine and identify and recognize and confess and reject our sins--unless we repent. • The other option is that things like this contribute nothing to our salvation, because by suffering on the cross the Lord has made full satisfaction for people who have faith; and if we only have faith--a trust that this is true--and are sure that the Lord's merit has been credited to our accounts, then we are sinless and appear before God with faces washed gleaming-clean. We can see, then, that all Christian churches share the basic conviction that we need to examine ourselves, see and admit our sins, and then refrain from them; and that otherwise we face not salvation but damnation.

We can see that this is also divine truth itself in passages in the Word where we are commanded to repent, passages like these:

• John said, "Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Right now, the axe is lying at the root of the tree. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." (Luke 3:8-9)

• Jesus said, "Unless you repent, you will all be destroyed." (Luke 13:3, 5)

• Jesus proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God: "Repent, and believe the good news." (Mark 1:14-15)

• Jesus sent out his disciples who preached repentance as they went forth. (Mark 6:12)

• Jesus told the apostles that they were to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all nations. (Luke 24:47)

• John preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. (Mark 1:4; Luke 3:3)

Think about this, then, with some clarity of mind and if you are religious you will see that repentance from sins is the pathway to heaven. You will see that faith apart from repentance is not really faith and that people who are without faith because they are without repentance are on the road to hell.

There are people who accept a faith separate from charity and who justify themselves by what Paul says to the Romans:

"We are justified by faith apart from works of the Law" (Romans 3:28).

They worship this statement like people who worship the sun; and they become like people who stare so constantly at the sun that their eyesight becomes dull and incapable of seeing things in normal light. They do not see what "works of the Law" means here--not the Ten Commandments, but the rituals described by Moses in his books, everywhere referred to as "the Law."

To keep us from thinking that it means the Ten Commandments, Paul goes on to explain

"Then do we abolish the Law by faith? Far from it, we strengthen the Law" (Romans 3:31)

If we convince ourselves of faith alone on the basis of this statement, then by staring at this passage like the sun we blind ourselves to places where Paul lists the laws of faith and says that they are in fact deeds of charity. After all, what is faith apart from its laws? We blind ourselves to the places where he lists evil deeds, saying that people who do them cannot enter heaven.

We can see from this what blindness comes from a misunderstanding of this one passage.

The reason the evils in our outer self cannot be expelled without our cooperation is this — One of the principles of the Lord's divine providence is that whatever we hear, see, think, intend, say, and do seems to belong to us completely. If it did not seem like this, we would not be able to accept divine truth, decide to do good, or internalize love and wisdom. We would have no charity and faith and therefore no union with the Lord, no reformation and regeneration, and no salvation.

It is obvious that if it did not seem like this there would be no possibility of repentance from our sins and in fact no faith whatever, and that if it did not seem like this we would not be human but would be devoid of any rational life, like animals. Submit the matter to reason, if you will. Does it not seem exactly as though we ourselves think about what is good and true in spiritual, civic, and moral matters? Then accept the theological principle that everything good and true comes from the Lord and nothing from us. Can we not recognize the conclusion that we should do what is good and think what is true as though we were autonomous, but that we should still admit that these actions are being done by the Lord? Particularly, can you not see that we are to expel evils in apparent autonomy but still admit that the source of our doing this is the Lord?

There are a great many people who do not know that they are involved in evil because they do not do evil things outwardly. They are afraid of civil laws and of losing their reputations, so by habitual practice they have trained themselves to avoid evil deeds as harmful both to their reputations and to their purses. However, if they do not avoid evil deeds on religious grounds, because they are sins and are in conflict with God, then the cravings for evils and their pleasures are still there within them like foul water that is dammed up and stagnant. They might examine their thoughts and intentions and discover these compulsions if they only knew what sins were.

A great many people who have settled on faith divorced from charity are like this. Since they believe that the law does not condemn them, they pay no attention to sins. They even doubt whether there are such things as sins. If there are, they are not sins in God's sight, because they have been pardoned.

Natural moralists are like this as well — people who believe that everything depends on our civic and moral life and its vigilance and nothing on divine providence. People are like this too who take great care to cultivate a reputation and a name for decency and honesty for the sake of position or profit. After death, though, people like this who have had no use for religion become spirits that embody their compulsions. They look absolutely human to themselves, but from a distance they look like images of Priapus * to others. They see everything in darkness and nothing in light, like owls.

(from Divine Providence 114-117)

* priapus - In Greek mythology, Priapus is a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia.

Infernal Freedom vs Heavenly Freedom

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The more nearly a man is conjoined with the Lord the more distinctly does he seem to himself as if he were his own, and the more clearly does he recognize that he is the Lord's.

There is an appearance that the more nearly one is conjoined with the Lord the less he is his own. It so appears to all who are evil; and it so appears also to those who believe from their religion that they are not under the yoke of the law, and that no one can do good from himself. For all such are unable to see otherwise than that not to be one's own means not to be allowed to think and will evil, but only good; and as those who are conjoined with the Lord are neither willing nor able to think and will evil, all such conclude from the appearance to themselves, that this is not to be one's own. This, however, is the exact opposite of the truth.

There is infernal freedom and there is heavenly freedom. To think and will evil, and to speak and do it so far as civil and moral laws do not hinder, is from infernal freedom. But to think and will good, and to speak and do it so far as opportunity is granted, is from heavenly freedom. Whatever a man thinks, wills, speaks, and does from freedom seems to him to be his own; for every one's freedom is wholly from his love. For this reason, those who are in a love of evil have no other perception than that infernal freedom is freedom itself; while those who are in a love of good perceive that heavenly freedom is freedom itself, and consequently its opposite is slavery both to the good and to the evil. Yet every one must confess that either the one or the other of these is freedom — for there cannot be two kinds of freedom, in themselves opposite and each freedom in itself. Furthermore, every one must confess that to be led by good is freedom, and to be led by evil is slavery; because to be led by good is to be led by the Lord, and to be led by evil is to be led by the devil. Since, then, everything that a man does from freedom appears to him to be his own, for it is of his love, and to act from one's love is to act from freedom, as has been said above, so it follows that it is conjunction with the Lord that makes a man seem to himself to be free and therefore his own; and the nearer the conjunction with the Lord is the more free he seems, and thus the more his own. He appears to himself more distinctly as if he were his own, because the Divine love is such that it wills its own to be another's, thus to be the man's or the angel's. Such is all spiritual love, and pre-eminently the Divine love. Moreover, the Lord in no case compels any one; for anything to which one is compelled does not appear to be his own; and what does not appear to be one's own cannot come to be of his love, and thus be appropriated to him as his. Therefore man is led by the Lord continually in freedom and is also reformed and regenerated in freedom.

The more distinctly a man appears to himself to be as if he were his own the more clearly he recognizes that he is the Lord's, because the more nearly he is conjoined with the Lord the wiser he becomes; this truth wisdom teaches and recognizes; and the angels of the third heaven, because they are the wisest of the angels, also perceive it and call it freedom itself; but to be led by themselves they call slavery. And this, they say, is the reason: that the Lord does not flow immediately into what belongs to their perception and thought from wisdom, but into their affections of love for good, and through these into the former; that they have a perception of the influx in the affection from which they have wisdom; and that then all that they think from wisdom appears to be as if from themselves, and therefore as if it were their own; and that by this a reciprocal conjunction is established.

As the end of the Lord's Divine providence is a heaven from the human race, it follows that its end is the conjunction of the human race with Himself; also that its end is for man to be more and more nearly conjoined with Him , for thus man possesses heaven more interiorly; also that its end is for man by that conjunction to become wiser; also to become happier, because it is from wisdom and according to it that man has heaven, and by means of it also has happiness; and finally, that its end is for man to appear to himself more distinctly to be his own, and yet to recognize more clearly that he is the Lord's. All these things are of the Lord's Divine providence; for they all are heaven, which it has for its end.

(from Divine Providence 42-45)

The Happinesses of Heaven vs. Those of Hell

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The more nearly a man is conjoined with the Lord the happier he becomes.

About the degrees of happiness the same may be said as was seen in yesterday's article, about the degrees of life and of wisdom in the measure of conjunction with the Lord. For happiness, that is, beatitudes and pleasures, are exalted as the higher degrees of the mind, which are called spiritual and celestial, are opened in man; and after his life in the world these degrees are enlarged to eternity.

No one who is in the pleasures of the lusts of evil can know anything about the pleasures of affections for good in which the angelic heaven is; for these two kinds of pleasure are directly opposite to each other in internals, and therefore interiorly are opposite in externals; although they differ little on the mere surface. For every love has its own pleasures, even the love of evil in those who are in lusts, such as the love of committing adultery, taking revenge, defrauding, stealing, doing cruel deeds, and in the most wicked even the love of blaspheming the holy things of the church, and of chattering venomously against God.The love of ruling from love of self is the fountain head of these pleasures. They are from the lusts that beset the interiors of the mind; and from the interiors they flow down into the body, and there excite the unclean things that titillate the fibers; and thus bodily pleasure springs from the mind's pleasure in accord with the lusts.

What kinds of unclean things there are that titillate the bodily fibers of such persons it is granted to every one after death to know in the spiritual world. They are in general cadaverous, excrementitious, stercoraceous, reeking, and urinous things, for the hells of such abound in these unclean things. That these are correspondences can be seen in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (n. 422-424). But after they have entered hell these filthy pleasures are turned into direful things. All this has been said that it may be understood what the happiness of heaven is, and the nature of it, which will now be considered. For every thing is known from its opposite.

The joys, satisfactions, pleasures, and delights, in a word, the happinesses of heaven, cannot be described in words, although in heaven they are perceptible to the feeling; for what is perceptible to the feeling only cannot be described, because it does not fall into ideas of thought, and thus not into words; for it is the understanding alone that sees; and it sees the things that pertain to wisdom or truth, and not the things that pertain to love or good. For this reason these happinesses are inexpressible; nevertheless they are exalted in a like degree with wisdom. Their varieties are infinite, and each is ineffable. This I have heard and perceived.

And yet these happinesses enter as man puts away the lusts of love of evil and falsity as if of himself, although from the Lord; for these happinesses are the happinesses of the affections for good and truth, and are the opposites of the lusts of the love of evil and falsity. The happinesses of affections of the love of good and truth begin from the Lord, thus from the inmost; and they pour themselves forth therefrom into lower things even to the lowest, and thus fill the angel, making him to be as it were wholly a delight. Such happinesses in infinite variety are in every affection for good and truth, especially in an affection for wisdom.

The pleasures of the lusts for evil and the pleasures of affections for good cannot be compared; because the devil is inwardly in the pleasures of lusts for evil, and the Lord is inwardly in the pleasures of affections for good. If a comparison must be made, the pleasures of lusts for evil can only be compared to the lewd pleasures of frogs in ponds, or of snakes in putrid places; while the pleasures of affections for good may be compared to the delights of the mind in gardens and flower-beds. For the same things that affect frogs and snakes affect those in the hells who are in the lusts for evil; and the same things that affect the mind in gardens and flower-beds affect those in the heavens who are in affections for good; for, as has been said above, corresponding unclean things affect the evil, and corresponding clean things affect the good.

From all this it can be seen that the more nearly any one is conjoined with the Lord the happier he becomes. But this happiness is rarely manifest in the world; for man is then in a natural state, and the natural does not communicate with the spiritual by continuity but by correspondences; and this communication is felt only in a certain quiet and peace of mind, that especially follows combats against evils. But when man puts off the natural state and enters the spiritual state, which he does after his departure from the world, the happiness described above gradually manifests itself.

(Divine Providence 37-41)

More Nearly Conjoined with the Lord

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

From creation man has an ability to be more and more nearly conjoined with the Lord. This can be seen from what has been set forth respecting degrees in the third part of the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, and especially from the following:

There are three discrete degrees or degrees of height in man from creation. These three degrees are in every man from birth; and as they are opened, man is in the Lord and the Lord in man. All perfections increase and ascend along with degrees, and according to them. From all this it is clear that from creation man has an ability to be more and more nearly conjoined with the Lord through degrees.

But it is necessary to know fully what degrees are, and that there are two kinds, discrete degrees, that is, degrees of height; and continuous degrees, that is, degrees of breadth, also how they differ; and to know that every man by his creation and consequently by birth has three discrete degrees or degrees of height; also that man comes into the first degree, which is called the natural, when he is born, and may develop this degree in himself continuously until he becomes rational; also that he comes into the second degree, which is called the spiritual degree, if he lives according to the spiritual laws of order, which are Divine truths; and finally that he can come into the third degree, which is called the celestial, if he lives according to celestial laws of order, which are Divine goods.

These degrees the Lord opens in man according to his life, actually in this world, but not perceptibly and sensibly till after he leaves this world; and as they are opened and afterwards perfected man is more and more nearly conjoined with the Lord. This conjunction by continued approach may go on increasing to eternity, and with the angels it does increase to eternity. And yet no angel is able to attain to or to touch upon the first degree of the Lord's love and wisdom, because the Lord is infinite and an angel is finite, and there can be no relation between what is infinite and what is finite. As no one is able without a knowledge of these degrees to understand the state of man, and the state of his elevation and approach to the Lord, they have been treated of in detail in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (n. 173-281), which may be referred to.

It will now be told briefly how a man can be more nearly conjoined with the Lord, and then how the conjunction appears more and more near. How man is more and more nearly conjoined with the Lord:

This is effected not by knowledge alone, nor by intelligence alone, nor even by wisdom alone, but by a life conjoined with these.

Man's life is his love, and love is manifold. In general, there is a love of evil and a love of good. The love of evil is a love of committing adultery, taking revenge, defrauding, blaspheming, depriving others of their goods. In thinking about these things and in doing them the love of evil has a sense of pleasure and delight. The derivatives of this love, which are its affections, are as many as are the evils into which it has determined itself; and the perceptions and thoughts of this love are as many as are the falsities that favor these evils and confirm them. These falsities make one with the evils, as the understanding makes one with the will; they are not separated from each other, for one is of the other.

Since, then, the Lord flows into the life's love of every one, and through its affections into the perceptions and thoughts, and not the reverse, as has been said above, it follows that the Lord can conjoin Himself more nearly only so far as the love of evil with its affections, which are lusts, has been set aside. And as these have their seat in the natural man, and as whatever a man does from the natural man is felt as if done from himself, so man ought as if from himself to put away the evils of that love; and so far as this is done by man the Lord draws nearer and conjoins Himself with him. Anyone can see from reason that lusts with their enjoyments block the way and close the doors before the Lord, and that these can not be cast out by the Lord so long as man himself holds the doors closed, and by pressing and pushing from without prevents their being opened. That man himself ought to open them is clear from the Lord's words in the Apocalypse:-

Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any one hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with Me (3:20).

From this it is evident that so far as one shuns evils as diabolical and as obstacles to the Lord's entrance, he is more and more nearly conjoined with the Lord, and he the most nearly who abominates them as so many dusky and fiery devils; since evil and the devil are one, and the falsity of evil and Satan are one. For as the Lord's influx is into the love of good and into its affections, and through these affections into the perceptions and thoughts (and these are all truths by derivation from the good in which the man is), so the influx of the devil, that is, of hell, is into the love of evil and into its affections, which are lusts, and through these into the perceptions and thoughts (and these are all falsities by derivation from the evil in which the man is).

How that conjunction appears more and more near:

The more fully evils in the natural man are put aside by shunning them and turning away from them, the more nearly is man conjoined with the Lord. And as love and wisdom, which are the Lord Himself, are not in space (since affection, which belongs to love, and thought, which belongs to wisdom, have nothing in common with space), so the Lord appears to be nearer in the measure of the conjunction by love and wisdom; and on the other hand, more remote in the measure of the rejection of love and wisdom. In the spiritual world there is no space, but there distance and presence are appearances in accordance with similarities and dissimilarities of affections; for the reason, as has been said before, that affections, which belong to love, and thoughts, which belong to wisdom, and which in themselves are spiritual, are not in space.

On this subject see what has been set forth in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, (n. 7-10, 69-72, and elsewhere).

The Lord's conjunction with a man in whom evils have been put away, is meant by these words of the Lord:-

The pure in heart shall see God (Matt. 5:8);

and by these:-

He that hath My commandments and doeth them, I will make My abode with him (John 14:21, 23).

"To have the commandments" is to know, and "to do them" is to love; for it is also there said: "He that doeth My commandments, he it is that loveth Me."

The more nearly a man is conjoined with the Lord the wiser he becomes. As from creation and thus from birth there are three degrees of life in man, so there are preeminently three degrees of wisdom in him. These are the degrees that are opened in man in the measure of conjunction. They are opened in the measure of love, since love is conjunction itself. Yet the ascent of love according to degrees is perceived by man only in an obscure way while the ascent of wisdom is clearly perceived in such as know and see what wisdom is. The degrees of wisdom are perceived for the reason that love enters through the affections into the perceptions and thoughts, and these present themselves to the internal sight of the mind, which corresponds to the external sight of the body. It is owing to this that wisdom is manifest, but not so much the affection of love that produces it. It is with this as with all things that are actually done by man. It is noticed how the body does them; but not how the soul does them. So also it is seen how one meditates, perceives, and thinks; but how the soul of these activities, which is an affection for good and truth, produces the meditation, perception, and thought, is not seen.

There are three degrees of wisdom, the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial. While man lives in the world he is in the natural degree of wisdom. This degree may then be perfected in him to its highest point, but it cannot enter the spiritual degree, because that degree is not continued into the natural degree by continuity, but is conjoined with it by correspondences. After death man is in the spiritual degree of wisdom; and this degree is also such that it may be perfected to the highest point, but it cannot enter the celestial degree of wisdom, for that degree is not continued into the spiritual by continuity, but it is conjoined with it by correspondences. From all this it can be seen that wisdom can be elevated in a triplicate ratio, and in each degree in a simple ratio to its highest point.

One who comprehends the elevation and perfecting of these degrees can in some measure perceive the truth of what is said of angelic wisdom, that it is ineffable, and so ineffable that a thousand ideas in the thought of angels from their wisdom can present but a single idea in the thought of men from their wisdom, the other nine hundred and ninety-nine ideas of angelic thought not being able to gain entrance, because they are supernatural. That this is so it has often been granted me to know by living experience. But, as said above, no one can come into that ineffable wisdom of the angels except through conjunction with the Lord and in the measure of that conjunction, for the Lord alone opens the spiritual degree and the celestial degree, and opens them in those only who are wise from Him; and those are wise from the Lord who cast out the devil, that is, evil, from themselves.

But let no one believe that a man has wisdom because he knows many things, and perceives them in some light, and is able to talk about them intelligently, unless this is conjoined with love; for it is love through its affections that produces wisdom; and wisdom not conjoined with love is like a meteor vanishing in the air, and like a falling star. But when wisdom is conjoined with love it is like the abiding light of the sun, and like a fixed star. A man has a love of wisdom so far as he turns away from the diabolic crowd, which are the lusts of evil and falsity.

The wisdom that comes to perception is a perception of truth from an affection for it, especially a perception of spiritual truth. For there is civil truth, moral truth, and spiritual truth. Those who have a perception of spiritual truth from an affection for it have also a perception of moral and of civil truth; for of these perceptions the affection for spiritual truth is the soul. I have sometimes talked with angels about wisdom; and they said that wisdom is conjunction with the Lord, because the Lord is wisdom itself; and that he comes into that conjunction who casts out hell from himself, and comes into it to the extent that he casts out hell. They said that they represent wisdom to themselves as a palace, magnificent and highly adorned, the ascent to which is by twelve steps; and that only from the Lord through conjunction with Him can any one reach the first step; and he ascends in the measure of the conjunction; and as he ascends, he perceives that no one is wise from himself, but only from the Lord, and that the things in which a man is wise, compared with the things in which he is not wise, are as a few drops of water to a great lake. The twelve steps to the palace of wisdom signify goods conjoined with truths and truths conjoined with goods.

(from Divine Providence 32-36)