PART FIRST.
PART SECOND.
PART THIRD.
PART FOURTH.
PART FIFTH.
PART FIRST.
LOVE
IS THE LIFE OF MAN.Man
knows that there is such a thing as love, but he does not know what
love is. He knows that there is such a thing as love from common
speech, as when it is said, he loves me, a king loves his subjects,
and subjects love their king, a husband loves his wife, a mother
her
children, and conversely; also, this or that one loves his country,
his fellow citizens, his neighbor; and likewise of things
abstracted
from person, as when it is said, one loves this or that thing. But
although the word love is so universally used, hardly anybody knows
what love is. And because one is unable, when he reflects upon it,
to
form to himself any idea of thought about it, he says either that
it
is not anything, or that it is merely something flowing in from
sight, hearing, touch, or interaction with others, and thus
affecting
him. He is wholly unaware that love is his very life; not only the
general life of his whole body, and the general life of all his
thoughts, but also the life of all their particulars. This a man of
discernment can perceive when it is said: If you remove the
affection
which is from love, can you think anything, or do anything? Do not
thought, speech, and action, grow cold in the measure in which the
affection which is from love grows cold? And do they not grow warm
in
the measure in which this affection grows warm? But this a man of
discernment perceives simply by observing that such is the case,
and
not from any knowledge that love is the life of man.2.
What the life of man is, no one knows unless he knows that it is
love. If this is not known, one person may believe that man's life
is
nothing but perceiving with the senses and acting, and another that
it is merely thinking; and yet thought is the first effect of life,
and sensation and action are the second effect of life. Thought is
here said to be the first effect of life, yet there is thought
which
is interior and more interior, also exterior and more exterior.
What
is actually the first effect of life is inmost thought, which is
the
perception of ends. But of all this hereafter, when the degrees of
life are considered.3.
Some idea of love, as being the life of man, may be had from the
sun's heat in the world. This heat is well known to be the common
life, as it were, of all the vegetations of the earth. For by
virtue
of heat, coming forth in springtime, plants of every kind rise from
the ground, deck themselves with leaves, then with blossoms, and
finally with fruits, and thus, in a sense, live. But when, in the
time of autumn and winter, heat withdraws, the plants are stripped
of
these signs of their life, and they wither. So it is with love in
man; for heat and love mutually correspond. Therefore love also is
warm.4.
GOD ALONE, CONSEQUENTLY THE LORD, IS LOVE ITSELF, BECAUSE HE IS
LIFE
ITSELF AND ANGELS AND MEN ARE RECIPIENTS OF LIFE.This
will be fully shown in treatises on Divine Providence and on Life;
it
is sufficient here to say that the Lord, who is the God of the
universe, is uncreate and infinite, whereas man and angel are
created
and finite. And because the Lord is uncreate and infinite, He is
Being [Esse] itself, which is called "Jehovah," and Life
itself, or Life in itself. From the uncreate, the infinite, Being
itself and Life itself, no one can be created immediately, because
the Divine is one and indivisible; but their creation must be out
of
things created and finited, and so formed that the Divine can be in
them. Because men and angels are such, they are recipients of life.
Consequently, if any man suffers himself to be so far misled as to
think that he is not a recipient of life but is Life, he cannot be
withheld from the thought that he is God. A man's feeling as if he
were life, and therefore believing himself to be so, arises from
fallacy; for the principal cause is not perceived in the
instrumental
cause otherwise than as one with it. That the Lord is Life in
Himself, He Himself teaches in John:As
the Father hath life in Himself, so also hath He given to the
Son to
have life in Himself (5:26) He
declares also that He is Life itself (John 11:25; 14:6).Now
since life and love are one (as is apparent from what has been said
above, n. 1, 2), it follows that the Lord, because He is Life
itself,
is Love itself.5.
But that this may reach the understanding, it must needs be known
positively that the Lord, because He is Love in its very essence,
that is, Divine Love, appears before the angels in heaven as a sun,
and that from that sun heat and light go forth; the heat which goes
forth therefrom being in its essence love, and the light which goes
forth therefrom being in its essence wisdom; and that so far as the
angels are recipients of that spiritual heat and of that spiritual
light, they are loves and wisdoms; not loves and wisdoms from
themselves, but from the Lord. That spiritual heat and that
spiritual
light not only flow into angels and affect them, but they also flow
into men and affect them just to the extent that they become
recipients; and they become recipients in the measure of their love
to the Lord and love towards the neighbor. That sun itself, that
is,
the Divine Love, by its heat and its light, cannot create any one
immediately from itself; for one so created would be Love in its
essence, which Love is the Lord Himself; but it can create from
substances and matters so formed as to be capable of receiving the
very heat and the very light; comparatively as the sun of the world
cannot by its heat and light produce germinations on the earth
immediately, but only out of earthy matters in which it can be
present by its heat and light, and cause vegetation. In the
spiritual
world the Divine Love of the Lord appears as a sun, and from it
proceed the spiritual heat and the spiritual light from which the
angels derive love and wisdom, as may be seen in the work on Heaven
and Hell (n. 116-140).6.
Since, then, man is not life, but is a recipient of life, it
follows
that the conception of a man from his father is not a conception of
life, but only a conception of the first and purest form capable of
receiving life; and to this, as to a nucleus or starting-point in
the
womb, are successively added substances and matters in forms
adapted
to the reception of life, in their order and degree.7.
THE DIVINE IS NOT IN SPACE.That
the Divine, that is, God, is not in space, although omnipresent and
with every man in the world, and with every angel in heaven, and
with
every spirit under heaven, cannot be comprehended by a merely
natural
idea, but it can by a spiritual idea. It cannot be comprehended by
a
natural idea, because in the natural idea there is space; since it
is
formed out of such things as are in the world, and in each and all
of
these, as seen by the eye, there is space. In the world, everything
great and small is of space; everything long, broad, and high is of
space; in short, every measure, figure and form is of space. This
is
why it has been said that it cannot be comprehended by a merely
natural idea that the Divine is not in space, when it is said that
the Divine is everywhere. Still, by natural thought, a man may
comprehend this, if only he admit into it something of spiritual
light. For this reason something shall first be said about
spiritual
idea, and thought therefrom. Spiritual idea derives nothing from
space, but it derives its all from state. State is predicated of
love, of life, of wisdom, of affections, of joys therefrom; in
general, of good and of truth. An idea of these things which is
truly
spiritual has nothing in common with space; it is higher and looks
down upon the ideas of space which are under it as heaven looks
down
upon the earth. But since angels and spirits see with eyes, just as
men in the world do, and since objects cannot be seen except in
space, therefore in the spiritual world where angels and spirits
are,
there appear to be spaces like the spaces on earth; yet they are
not
spaces, but appearances; since they are not fixed and constant, as
spaces are on earth; for they can be lengthened or shortened; they
can be changed or varied. Thus because they cannot be determined in
that world by measure, they cannot be comprehended there by any
natural idea, but only by a spiritual idea. The spiritual idea of
distances of space is the same as of distances of good or distances
of truth, which are affinities and likenesses according to states
of
goodness and truth.8.
From this it may be seen that man is unable, by a merely natural
idea, to comprehend that the Divine is everywhere, and yet not in
space; but that angels and spirits comprehend this clearly;
consequently that a man also may, provided he admits into his
thought
something of spiritual light; and this for the reason that it is
not
his body that thinks, but his spirit, thus not his natural, but his
spiritual.9.
But many fail to comprehend this because of their love of the
natural, which makes them unwilling to raise the thoughts of their
understanding above the natural into spiritual light; and those who
are unwilling to do this can think only from space, even concerning
God; and to think according to space concerning God is to think
concerning the expanse of nature. This has to be premised, because
without a knowledge and some perception that the Divine is not in
space, nothing can be understood about the Divine Life, which is
Love
and Wisdom, of which subjects this volume treats; and hence little,
if anything, about Divine Providence, Omnipresence, Omniscience,
Omnipotence, Infinity and Eternity, which will be treated of in
succession.10.
It has been said that in the spiritual world, just as in the
natural
world, there appear to be spaces, consequently also distances, but
that these are appearances according to spiritual affinities which
are of love and wisdom, or of good and truth. From this it is that
the Lord, although everywhere in the heavens with angels,
nevertheless appears high above them as a sun. Furthermore, since
reception of love and wisdom causes affinity with the Lord, those
heavens in which the angels are, from reception, in closer affinity
with Him, appear nearer to Him than those in which the affinity is
more remote. From this it is also that the heavens, of which there
are three, are distinct from each other, likewise the societies of
each heaven; and further, that the hells under them are remote
according to their rejection of love and wisdom. The same is true
of
men, in whom and with whom the Lord is present throughout the whole
earth; and this solely for the reason that the Lord is not in
space.11.
GOD IS VERY MAN.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 (n. 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 (C.L.J. n. 74).12.
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.13.
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.14.
IN GOD-MAN ESSE AND EXISTERE* ARE ONE DISTINCTLY**Where
there is Esse [being] there is Existere [taking form]; one is not
possible apart from the other. For Esse is by means of Existere,
and
not apart from it. This the rational mind comprehends when it
thinks
whether there can possibly be any Esse [being] which does not Exist
[take form], and whether there can possibly be Existere except from
Esse. And since one is possible with the other, and not apart from
the other, it follows that they are one, but one distinctly. They
are
one distinctly, like Love and Wisdom; in fact, love is Esse, and
wisdom is Existere; for there can be no love except in wisdom, nor
can there be any wisdom except from love; consequently when love is
in wisdom, then it EXISTS. These two are one in such a way that
they
may be distinguished in thought but not in operation, and because
they may be distinguished in thought though not in operation, it is
said that they are one distinctly.*** Esse and Existere in God-Man
are also one distinctly like soul and body. There can be no soul
apart from its body, nor body apart from its soul. The Divine soul
of
God-Man is what is meant by Divine Esse, and the Divine Body is
what
is meant by Divine Existere. That a soul can exist apart from a
body,
and can think and be wise, is an error springing from fallacies;
for
every man's soul is in a spiritual body after it has cast off the
material coverings which it carried about in the world. * To be and
to exist. Swedenborg seems to use this word "exist" nearly
in the classical sense of springing or standing forth, becoming
manifest, taking form. The distinction between esse and existere is
essentially the same as between substance and form. ** For the
meaning of this phrase. "distincte unum," see below in this
paragraph, also n. 17, 22, 34, 223, and DP 4. *** It should be
noticed that in Latin, distinctly is the adverb of the verb
distinguish. If translated distinguishably, this would
appear.15.
Esse is not Esse unless it Exists, because until then it is not in
a
form, and if not in a form it has no quality; and what has no
quality
is not anything. That which Exists from Esse, for the reason that
it
is from Esse, makes one with it. From this there is a uniting of
the
two into one; and from this each is the others mutually and
interchangeably, and each is all in all things of the other as in
itself.16.
From this it can be seen that God is a Man, and consequently He is
God-Existing; not existing from Himself but in Himself. He who has
existence in Himself is God from whom all things are.17.
IN GOD-MAN INFINITE THINGS ARE ONE DISTINCTLY.That
God is infinite is well known, for He is called the Infinite; and
He
is called the Infinite because He is infinite. He is infinite not
from this alone, that He is very Esse and Existere in itself, but
because in Him there are infinite things. An infinite without
infinite things in it, is infinite in name only. The infinite
things
in Him cannot be called infinitely many, nor infinitely all,
because
of the natural idea of many and of all; for the natural idea of
infinitely many is limited, and the natural idea of infinitely all,
though not limited, is derived from limited things in the universe.
Therefore man, because his ideas are natural, is unable by any
refinement or approximation, to come into a perception of the
infinite things in God; and an angel, while he is able, because he
is
in spiritual ideas, to rise by refinement and approximation above
the
degree of man, is still unable to attain to that perception.18.
That in God there are infinite things, any one may convince himself
who believes that God is a Man; for, being a Man, He has a body and
every thing pertaining to it, that is, a face, breast, abdomen,
loins
and feet; for without these He would not be a Man. And having
these,
He also has eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and tongue; also the parts
within man, as the heart and lungs, and their dependencies, all of
which, taken together, make man to be a man. In a created man these
parts are many, and regarded in their details of structure are
numberless; but in God-Man they are infinite, nothing whatever is
lacking, and from this He has infinite perfection. This comparison
holds between the uncreated Man who is God and created man, because
God is a Man; and He Himself says that the man of this world was
created after His image and into His likeness (Gen. 1:26,
27).19.
That in God there are infinite things, is still more evident to the
angels from the heavens in which they dwell. The whole heaven,
consisting of myriads of myriads of angels, in its universal form
is
like a man. So is each society of heaven, be it larger or smaller.
From this, too, an angel is a man, for an angel is a heaven in
least
form. (This is shown in the work Heaven and Hell, n. 51-86.) Heaven
as a whole, in part, and in the individual, is in that form by
virtue
of the Divine which angels receive; for in the measure in which an
angel receives from the Divine is he in complete form a man. From
this it is that angels are said to be in God, and God in them;
also,
that God is their all. How many things there are in heaven cannot
be
told; and because the Divine is what makes heaven, and consequently
these unspeakably many things are from the Divine, it is clearly
evident that there are infinite things in Very Man, who is
God.20.
From the created universe a like conclusion may be drawn when it is
regarded from uses and their correspondences. But before this can
be
understood some preliminary illustrations must be given.21.
Because in God-Man there are infinite things which appear in
heaven,
in angel, and in man, as in a mirror; and because God-Man is not in
space (as was shown above, n. 7-10), it can, to some extent, be
seen
and comprehended how God can be Omnipresent, Omniscient, and
All-providing; and how, as Man, He could create all things, and as
Man can hold the things created by Himself in their order to
eternity.22.
That in God-Man infinite things are one distinctly, can also be
seen,
as in a mirror, from man. In man there are many and numberless
things, as said above; but still man feels them all as one. From
sensation he knows nothing of his brains, of his heart and lungs,
of
his liver, spleen, and pancreas; or of the numberless things in his
eyes, ears, tongue, stomach, generative organs, and the remaining
parts; and because from sensation he has no knowledge of these
things, he is to himself as a one. The reason is that all these are
in such a form that not one can be lacking; for it is a form
recipient of life from God-Man (as was shown above, n. 4-6). From
the
order and connection of all things in such a form there comes the
feeling, and from that the idea, as if they were not many and
numberless, but were one. From this it may be concluded that the
many
and numberless things which make in man a seeming one, a Very Man
who
is God, are one distinctly, yea, most distinctly.23.
THERE IS ONE GOD-MAN, FROM WHOM ALL THINGS COME.All
things of human wisdom unite, and as it were center in this, that
there is one God, the Creator of the universe: consequently a man
who
has reason, from the general nature of his understanding, does not
and cannot think otherwise. Say to any man of sound reason that
there
are two Creators of the universe, and you will be sensible of his
repugnance, and this, perhaps, from the mere sound of the phrase in
his ear; from which it appears that all things of human reason
unite
and center in this, that God is one. There are two reasons for
this.
First, the very capacity to think rationally, viewed in itself, is
not man's, but is God's in man; upon this capacity human reason in
its general nature depends, and this general nature of reason
causes
man to see as from himself that God is one. Secondly, by means of
that capacity man either is in the light of heaven, or he derives
the
generals of his thought therefrom; and it is a universal of the
light
of heaven that God is one. It is otherwise when man by that
capacity
has perverted the lower parts of his understanding; such a man
indeed
is endowed with that capacity, but by the twist given to these
lower
parts, he turns it contrariwise, and thereby his reason becomes
unsound.24.
Every man, even if unconsciously, thinks of a body of men as of one
man; therefore he instantly perceives what is meant when it is said
that a king is the head, and the subjects are the body, also that
this or that person has such a place in the general body, that is,
in
the kingdom. As it is with the body politic, so is it with the body
spiritual. The body spiritual is the church; its head is God-Man;
and
from this it is plain how the church thus viewed as a man would
appear if instead of one God, the Creator and Sustainer of the
universe, several were thought of. The church thus viewed would
appear as one body with several heads; thus not as a man, but as a
monster. If it be said that these heads have one essence, and that
thus together they make one head, the only conception possible is
either that of one head with several faces or of several heads with
one face; thus making the church, viewed as a whole, appear
deformed.
But in truth, the one God is the head, and the church is the body,
which acts under the command of the head, and not from itself; as
is
also the case in man; and from this it is that there can be only
one
king in a kingdom, for several kings would rend it asunder, but one
is able to preserve its unity.25.
So would it be with the church scattered throughout the whole
globe,
which is called a communion, because it is as one body under one
head. It is known that the head rules the body under it at will;
for
understanding and will have their seat in the head; and in
conformity
to the understanding and will the body is directed, even to the
extent that the body is nothing but obedience. As the body can do
nothing except from the understanding and will in the head, so the
man of the church can do nothing except from God. The body seems to
act of itself, as if the hands and feet in acting are moved of
themselves; or the mouth and tongue in speaking vibrate of
themselves, when, in fact, they do not in the slightest degree act
of
themselves, but only from an affection of the will and the
consequent
thought of the understanding in the head. Suppose, now, one body to
have several heads and each head to be free to act from its own
understanding and its own will, could such a body continue to
exist?
For among several heads singleness of purpose, such as results from
one head would be impossible. As in the church, so in the heavens;
heaven consists of myriads of myriads of angels, and unless these
all
and each looked to one God, they would fall away from one another
and
heaven would be broken up. Consequently, if an angel of heaven but
thinks of a plurality of gods he is at once separated; for he is
cast
out into the outmost boundary of the heavens, and sinks
downward.26.
Because the whole heaven and all things of heaven have relation to
one God, angelic speech is such that by a certain unison flowing
from
the unison of heaven it closes in a single cadence - a proof that
it
is impossible for the angels to think otherwise than of one God;
for
speech is from thought.27.
Who that has sound reason can help seeing that the Divine is not
divisible? also that a plurality of Infinites, of Uncreates, of
Omnipotents, and of Gods, is impossible? Suppose one destitute of
reason were to declare that a plurality of Infinites, of Uncreates,
of Omnipotents, and of Gods is possible, if only they have one
identical essence, and this would make of them one Infinite,
Uncreate, Omnipotent, and God, would not the one identical essence
be
one identity? And one identity is not possible to several. If it
should be said that one is from the other, the one who is from the
other is not God in Himself; nevertheless, God in Himself is the
God
from whom all things are (see above, n. 16).28.
THE DIVINE ESSENCE ITSELF IS LOVE AND WISDOMSum
up all things you know and submit them to careful inspection, and
in
some elevation of spirit search for the universal of all things,
and
you cannot conclude otherwise than that it is Love and Wisdom. For
these are the two essentials of all things of man's life;
everything
of that life, civil, moral, and spiritual, hinges upon these two,
and
apart from these two is nothing. It is the same with all things of
the life of the composite Man, which is, as was said above, a
society, larger or smaller, a kingdom, an empire, a church, and
also
the angelic heaven. Take away love and wisdom from these, and
consider whether they be anything, and you will find that apart
from
love and wisdom as their origin they are nothing.29.
Love together with wisdom in its very essence is in God. This no
one
can deny; for God loves every one from love in Himself, and leads
every one from wisdom in Himself. The created universe, too, viewed
in relation to its order, is so full of wisdom coming forth from
love
that all things in the aggregate may be said to be wisdom itself.
For
things limitless are in such order, successively and
simultaneously,
that taken together they make a one. It is from this, and this
alone,
that they can be held together and continually preserved.30.
It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom that man
has two capacities for life; from one of these he has
understanding,
from the other will. The capacity from which he has understanding
derives everything it has from the influx of wisdom from God, and
the
capacity from which he has will derives everything it has from the
influx of love from God. Man's not being truly wise and not loving
rightly does not take away these capacities, but merely closes them
up; and so long as they are closed up, although the understanding
is
still called understanding and the will is called will, they are
not
such in essence. If these two capacities, therefore, were to be
taken
away, all that is human would perish; for the human is to think and
to speak from thought, and to will and to act from will. From this
it
is clear that the Divine has its seat in man in these two
capacities,
the capacity to be wise and the capacity to love (that is, that one
may be wise and may love). That in man there is a possibility of
loving [and of being wise], even when he is not wise as he might be
and does not love as he might, has been made known to me from much
experience, and will be abundantly shown elsewhere.31.
It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom, that
all
things in the universe have relation to good and truth; for
everything that proceeds from love is called good, and everything
that proceeds from wisdom is called truth. But of this more
hereafter.32.
It is because the Divine Essence itself is Love and Wisdom, that
the
universe and all things in it, alive and not alive, have unceasing
existence from heat and light; for heat corresponds to love, and
light corresponds to wisdom; and therefore spiritual heat is love
and
spiritual light is wisdom. But of this, also, more
hereafter.33.
From Divine Love and from Divine Wisdom, which make the very
Essence
that is God, all affections and thoughts with man have their
rise-affections from Divine Love, and thoughts from Divine Wisdom;
and each and all things of man are nothing but affection and
thought;
these two are like fountains of all things of man's life. All the
enjoyments and pleasantnesses of his life are from these-enjoyments
from the affection of his love, and pleasantnesses from the thought
therefrom. Now since man was created to be a recipient, and is a
recipient in the degree in which he loves God and from love to God
is
wise, in other words, in the degree in which he is affected by
those
things which are from God and thinks from that affection, it
follows
that the Divine Essence, which is the Creator, is Divine Love and
Divine Wisdom.34.
DIVINE LOVE IS OF DIVINE WISDOM, AND DIVINE WISDOM IS OF DIVINE
LOVE.In
God-Man Divine Esse [Being] and Divine Existere [Taking Form] are
one
distinctly (as may be seen above, n. 14-16). And because Divine
Esse
is Divine Love, and Divine Existere is Divine Wisdom, these are
likewise one distinctly. They are said to be one distinctly,
because
love and wisdom are two distinct things, yet so united that love is
of wisdom, and wisdom is of love, for in wisdom love is, and in
love
wisdom Exists; and since wisdom derives its Existere from love (as
was said above, n. 15), therefore Divine Wisdom also is Esse. From
this it follows that love and wisdom taken together are the Divine
Esse, but taken distinctly love is called Divine Esse, and wisdom
Divine Existere. Such is the angelic idea of Divine Love and of
Divine Wisdom.35.
Since there is such a union of love and wisdom and of wisdom and
love
in God-Man, there is one Divine Essence. For the Divine Essence is
Divine Love because it is of Divine Wisdom and is Divine Wisdom,
because it is of Divine Love. And since there is such a union of
these, the Divine Life also is one. Life is the Divine essence.
Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are a one because the union is
reciprocal, and reciprocal union causes oneness. Of reciprocal
union,
however, more will be said elsewhere.36.
There is also a union of love and wisdom in every Divine work; from
which it has perpetuity, yea, its everlasting duration. If there
were
more of Divine Love than of Divine Wisdom, or more of Divine Wisdom
than of Divine Love, in any created work, it could have continued
existence only in the measure in which the two were equally in it,
anything in excess passing off.37.
The Divine Providence in the reforming, regenerating and saving of
men, partakes equally of Divine Love and of Divine Wisdom. From
more
of Divine Love than of Divine Wisdom or from more of Divine Wisdom
than of Divine Love, man cannot be reformed, regenerated and saved.
Divine Love wills to save all, but it cam save only by means of
Divine Wisdom; to Divine Wisdom belong all the laws through which
salvation is effected; and these laws Love cannot transcend,
because
Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are one and act in unison.38.
In the Word, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are meant by
"righteousness" and "judgment," Divine Love by
"righteousness," and Divine Wisdom by "judgment;"
for this reason "righteousness" and "judgment"
are predicated in the Word of God; as in David:Righteousness
and judgment are the support of Thy Throne (Ps. 89:14). Jehovah
shall
bring forth righteousness as the light, and judgment as the noonday
(Ps. 37:6).In
Hosea:I
will betroth thee unto Me for ever, in righteousness, and in
judgment
(2:18).In
Jeremiah:I
will raise unto David a righteous Branch, who shall reign as King
and
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth
(23:5).In
Isaiah:He
shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to
establish it in judgment and in righteousness (9:7). Jehovah shall
be
exalted, because He hath filled the earth with judgment and
righteousness (33:5).In
David:When
I shall have learned the judgments of Thy righteousness. Seven
times
a day do I praise Thee, because of the judgments of Thy
righteousness
(Ps. 119:7, 164).The
same is meant by "life" and "light" in John:In
Him was life, and the life was the light of men (1:4).By
"life" in this passage is meant the Lord's Divine Love, and
by "light"His
Divine Wisdom. The same also is meant by "life" and
"spirit" in John:Jesus
said, The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit,
and they
are life (6:63).39.
In man love and wisdom appear as two separate things, yet in
themselves they are one distinctly, because with man wisdom is such
as the love is, and love is such as the wisdom is. The wisdom that
does not make one with its love appears to be wisdom, but it is
not;
and the love that does not make one with its wisdom appears to be
the
love of wisdom, but it is not; for the one must derive its essence
and its life reciprocally from the other. With man love and wisdom
appear as two separate things, because with him the capacity for
understanding may be elevated into the light of heaven, but not the
capacity for loving, except so far as he acts according to his
understanding. Any apparent wisdom, therefore, which does not make
one with the love of wisdom, sinks back into the love which does
make
one with it; and this may be a love of unwisdom, yea, of insanity.
Thus a man may know from wisdom that he ought to do this or that,
and
yet he does not do it, because he does not love it. But so far as a
man does from love what wisdom teaches, he is an image of
God.40.
DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM ARE SUBSTANCE AND ARE FORM.The
idea of men in general about love and about wisdom is that they are
like something hovering and floating in thin air or ether or like
what exhales from something of this kind. Scarcely any one believes
that they are really and actually substance and form. Even those
who
recognize that they are substance and form still think of the love
and the wisdom as outside the subject and as issuing from it. For
they call substance and form that which they think of as outside
the
subject and as issuing from it, even though it be something
hovering
and floating; not knowing that love and wisdom are the subject
itself, and that what is perceived outside of it and as hovering
and
floating is nothing but an appearance of the state of the subject
in
itself. There are several reasons why this has not hitherto been
seen, one of which is, that appearances are the first things out of
which the human mind forms its understanding, and these appearances
the mind can shake off only by the exploration of the cause; and if
the cause lies deeply hidden, the mind can explore it only by
keeping
the understanding for a long time in spiritual light; and this it
cannot do by reason of the natural light which continually
withdraws
it. The truth is, however, that love and wisdom are the real and
actual substance and form that constitute the subject
itself.41.
But as this is contrary to appearance, it may seem not to merit
belief unless it be proved; and since it can be proved only by such
things as man can apprehend by his bodily senses, by these it shall
be proved. Man has five external senses, called touch, taste,
smell,
hearing and sight. The subject of touch is the skin by which man is
enveloped, the very substance and form of the skin causing it to
feel
whatever is applied to it. The sense of touch is not in the things
applied, but in the substance and form of the skin, which are the
subject; the sense itself is nothing but an affecting of the
subject
by the things applied. It is the same with taste; this sense is
only
an affecting of the substance and form of the tongue; the tongue is
the subject. It is the same with smell; it is well known that odor
affects the nostrils, and that it is in the nostrils, and that the
nostrils are affected by the odoriferous particles touching them.
It
is the same with hearing, which seems to be in the place where the
sound originates; but the hearing is in the ear, and is an
affecting
of its substance and form; that the hearing is at a distance from
the
ear is an appearance. It is the same with sight. When a man sees
objects at a distance, the seeing appears to be there; yet the
seeing
is in the eye, which is the subject, and is likewise an affecting
of
the subject. Distance is solely from the judgment concluding about
space from things intermediate, or from the diminution and
consequent
indistinctness of the object, an image of which is produced
interiorly in the eye according to the angle of incidence. From
this
it is evident that sight does not go out from the eye to the
object,
but that the image of the object enters the eye and affects its
substance and form. Thus it is just the same with sight as with
hearing; hearing does not go out from the ear to catch the sound,
but
the sound enters the ear and affects it. From all this it can be
seen
that the affecting of the substance and form which causes sense is
not a something separate from the subject, but only causes a change
in it, the subject remaining the subject then as before and
afterwards. From this it follows that seeing, hearing, smell,
taste,
and touch, are not a something volatile flowing from their organs,
but are the organs themselves, considered in their substance and
form, and that when the organs are affected sense is
produced.42.
It is the same with love and wisdom, with this difference only,
that
the substances and forms which are love and wisdom are not obvious
to
the eyes as the organs of the external senses are. Nevertheless, no
one can deny that those things of wisdom and love, which are called
thoughts, perceptions, and affections, are substances and forms,
and
not entities flying and flowing out of nothing, or abstracted from
real and actual substance and form, which are subjects. For in the
brain are substances and forms innumerable, in which every interior
sense which pertains to the understanding and will has its seat.
The
affections, perceptions, and thoughts there are not exhalations
from
these substances, but are all actually and really subjects emitting
nothing from themselves, but merely undergoing changes according to
whatever flows against and affects them. This may be seen from what
has been said above about the external senses. Of what thus flows
against and affects more will be said below.43.
From all this it may now first be seen that Divine Love and Divine
Wisdom in themselves are substance and form; for they are very Esse
and Existere; and unless they were such Esse and Existere as they
are
substance and form, they would be a mere thing of reasoning, which
in
itself is nothing.44.
DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM ARE SUBSTANCE AND FORM IN ITSELF,
THUS
THE VERY AND THE ONLY.That
Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are substance and form has been
proved
just above; and that Divine Esse [Being] and Existere [Taking Form]
are Esse and Existere in itself, has also been said above. It
cannot
be said to be Esse and Existere from itself, because this involves
a
beginning, and a beginning from something within in which would be
Esse and Existere in itself. But Very Esse and Existere in itself
is
from eternity. Very Esse and Existere in itself is also uncreated,
and everything created must needs be from an Uncreate. What is
created is also finite, and the finite can exist only from the
Infinite.45.
He who by exercise of thought is able to grasp the idea of and to
comprehend, Esse and Existere in itself, can certainly perceive and
comprehend that it is the Very and the Only. That is called the
Very
which alone is; and that is called the Only from which every thing
else proceeds. Now because the Very and the Only is substance and
form, it follows that it is the very and only substance and form.
Because this very substance and form is Divine Love and Divine
Wisdom, it follows that it is the very and only Love, and the very
and only Wisdom; consequently, that it is the very and only
Essence,
as well as the very and only Life: for Life is Love and
Wisdom.46.
From all this it can be seen how sensually (that is, how much from
the bodily senses and their blindness in spiritual matters) do
those
think who maintain that nature is from herself. They think from the
eye, and are not able to think from the understanding. Thought from
the eye closes the understanding, but thought from the
understanding
opens the eye. Such persons cannot think at all of Esse and
Existere
in itself, and that it is Eternal, Uncreate, and Infinite; neither
can they think at all of life, except as a something fleeting and
vanishing into nothingness; nor can they think otherwise of Love
and
Wisdom, nor at all that from these are all things of nature.
Neither
can it be seen that from these are all things of nature, unless
nature is regarded, not from some of its forms, which are merely
objects of sight, but from uses in their succession and order. For
uses are from life alone, and their succession and order are from
wisdom and love alone; while forms are only containants of uses.
Consequently, if forms alone are regarded, nothing of life, still
less anything of love and wisdom, thus nothing of God, can be seen
in
nature.47.
DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM MUST NECESSARILY HAVE BEING [Esse]
AND
HAVE FORM [Existere] IN OTHERS CREATED BY ITSELF.It
is the essential of love not to love self, but to love others, and
to
be conjoined with others by love. It is the essential of love,
moreover, to be loved by others, for thus conjunction is effected.
The essence of all love consists in conjunction; this, in fact, is
its life, which is called enjoyment, pleasantness, delight,
sweetness, bliss, happiness, and felicity. Love consists in this,
that its own should be another's; to feel the joy of another as joy
in oneself, that is loving. But to feel one's own joy in another
and
not the other's joy in oneself is not loving; for this is loving
self, while the former is loving the neighbor. These two kinds of
love are diametrically opposed to each other. Either, it is true,
conjoins; and to love one's own, that is, oneself, in another does
not seem to divide; but it does so effectually divide that so far
as
any one has loved another in this manner, so far he afterwards
hates
him. For such conjunction is by its own action gradually loosened,
and then, in like measure, love is turned to hate.48.
Who that is capable of discerning the essential character of love
cannot see this? For what is it to love self alone, instead of
loving
some one outside of self by whom one may be loved in return? Is not
this separation rather than conjunction? Conjunction of love is by
reciprocation; and there can be no reciprocation in self alone. If
there is thought to be, it is from an imagined reciprocation in
others. From this it is clear that Divine Love must necessarily
have
being (esse) and have form (existere) in others whom it may love,
and
by whom it may be loved. For as there is such a need in all love,
it
must be to the fullest extent, that is, infinitely in Love
Itself.49.
With respect to God: it is impossible for Him to love others and to
be loved reciprocally by others in whom there is anything of
infinity, that is, anything of the essence and life of love in
itself, or anything of the Divine. For if there were beings having
in
them anything of infinity, that is, of the essence and life of love
in itself, that is, of the Divine, it would not be God loved by
others, but God loving Himself; since the Infinite, that is, the
Divine, is one only, and if this were in others, Itself would be in
them, and would be the love of self Itself; and of that love not
the
least trace can possibly be in God, since it is wholly opposed to
the
Divine Essence. Consequently, for this relation to be possible
there
must be others in whom there is nothing of the Divine in itself.
That
it is possible in beings created from the Divine will be seen
below.
But that it may be possible, there must be Infinite Wisdom making
one
with Infinite Love; that is, there must be the Divine Love of
Divine
Wisdom, and the Divine Wisdom of Divine Love (concerning which see
above, n. 35-39)50.
Upon a perception and knowledge of this mystery depend a perception
and knowledge of all things of existence, that is, creation; also
of
all things of continued existence, that is, preservation by God; in
other words, of all the works of God in the created universe; of
which the following pages treat.51.
But do not, I entreat you, confuse your ideas with time and with
space, for so far as time and space enter into your ideas when you
read what follows, you will not understand it; for the Divine is
not
in time and space. This will be seen clearly in the progress of
this
work, and in particular from what is said of eternity, infinity,
and
omnipresence.52.
ALL THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE WERE CREATED FROM THE DIVINE LOVE AND
THE
DIVINE WISDOM OF GOD-MAN.So
full of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom is the universe in greatest
and
least, and in first and last things, that it may be said to be
Divine
Love and Divine Wisdom in an image. That this is so is clearly
evident from the correspondence of all things of the universe with
all things of man. There is such correspondence of each and every
thing that takes form in the created universe with each and every
thing of man, that man may be said to be a sort of universe. There
is
a correspondence of his affections, and thence of his thoughts,
with
all things of the animal kingdom; of his will, and thence of his
understanding, with all things of the vegetable kingdom; and of his
outmost life with all things of the mineral kingdom. That there is
such a correspondence is not apparent to any one in the natural
world, but it is apparent to every one who gives heed to it in the
spiritual world. In that world there are all things that take form
in
the natural world in its three kingdoms, and they are
correspondences
of affections and thoughts, that is, of affections from the will
and
of thoughts from the understanding, also of the outmost things of
the
life, of those who are in that world, around whom all these things
are Visible, presenting an appearance like that of the created
universe, with the difference that it is in lesser form. From this
it
is very evident to angels, that the created universe is an image
representative of God-Man, and that it is His Love and Wisdom which
are presented, in an image, in the universe. Not that the created
universe is God-Man, but that it is from Him; for nothing whatever
in
the created universe is substance and form in itself, or life in
itself, or love and wisdom in itself, yea, neither is man a man in
himself, but all is from God, who is Man, Wisdom and Love, also
Form
and Substance, in itself. That which has Being-in-itself is
uncreate
and infinite; but whatever is from Very Being, since it contains in
it nothing of Being-in-itself, is created and finite, and this
exhibits an image of Him from whom it has being and has
form.53.
Of things created and finite Esse [Being] and Existere [Taking
Form]
can be predicated, likewise substance and form, also life, and even
love and wisdom; but these are all created and finite. This can be
said of things created and finite, not because they possess
anything
Divine, but because they are in the Divine, and the Divine is in
them. For everything that has been created is, in itself, inanimate
and dead, but all things are animated and made alive by this, that
the Divine is in them, and that they are in the Divine.54.
The Divine is not in one subject differently from what it is in
another, but one created subject differs from another; for no two
things can be precisely alike, consequently each thing is a
different
containant. On this account, the Divine as imaged forth presents a
variety of appearances. Its presence in opposites will be discussed
hereafter.55.
ALL THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE ARE RECIPIENTS OF THE DIVINE
LOVE
AND THE DIVINE WISDOM OF GOD-MAN.It
is well known that each and all things of the universe were created
by God; hence the universe, with each and every thing pertaining to
it, is called in the Word the work of the hands of Jehovah. There
are
those who maintain that the world, with everything it includes, was
created out of nothing, and of that nothing an idea of absolute
nothingness is entertained. From absolute nothingness, however,
nothing is or can be made. This is an established truth. The
universe, therefore, which is God's image, and consequently full of
God, could be created only in God from God; for God is Esse itself,
and from Esse must be whatever is. To create what is, from nothing
which is not, is an utter contradiction. But still, that which is
created in God from God is not continuous from Him; for God is Esse
in itself, and in created things there is not any Esse in itself.
If
there were in created things any Esse in itself, this would be
continuous from God, and that which is continuous from God is God.
The angelic idea of this is, that what is created in God from God,
is
like that in man which has been derived from his life, but from
which
the life has been withdrawn, which is of such a nature as to be in
accord with his life, and yet it is not his life. The angels
confirm
this by many things which have existence in their heaven, where
they
say they are in God, and God is in them, and still that they have,
in
their esse, nothing of God which is God. Many things whereby they
prove this will be presented hereafter; let this serve for present
information.56.
Every created thing, by virtue of this origin, is such in its
nature
as to be a recipient of God, not by continuity, but by contiguity.
By
the latter and not the former comes its capacity for conjunction.
For
having been created in God from God, it is adapted to conjunction;
and because it has been so created, it is an analogue, and through
such conjunction it is like an image of God in a mirror.