Emanuel Swedenborg, a popular swedenborg series

1. D·IVINE LOVï~
AND 'WIS:DOM
BY
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
•• o Lord, how manifold are Thy works 1
~ WISDOM hast Thou made them ail. ft
Psa1m clv. 24.

2. /-.13 0 ,~- HI
"1. Gad is Order itself.
"II. He created man from arder, in
arder and into arder.
" III. He created his rational mind
according ta the arder of the
whole spiritual world, and his
body according ta the arder
of the whole natural world,
on which account man was
called by the Ancients a little
heaven, and a microcosm (or
little world).
"IV. Tt is a law of arder that man,
from his little heaven, or
little spiritual world, ought ta
mIe his microcosm, or little
natural world, just as Gad
from His great heaven, or
spiritual world, mIes the
macrocosm, or natural world,
in each and an things thereof."
SWEDENBORG.
(True Christian Religion.)

3. A new translation by Mr. H. Goyder
Smith, with the Rev. Charles Newalt,
B.A., as Consultant, Jrom the Latin,
edited Jrom the author' s origi1~al edition
published at Amsterdam, 1763

4. ANGELIC WISDOM
CONCERNING
THE DIVINE LOVE
AND
THE DIVINE WISDOM
FROM THE LATIN
OF
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
THE SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (INcoRPoRATEo)
SWEDENBORG HODSE
2.0 HART STREET, LONDON, W.C. 1
1937

5. ,

6. CONTENTS
PART l
Nos.
Love is the Life of Man l
God alone, thus the Lord, is Love itself, because He
is Life itself; and angels and men are recipients
~lifu 4
The Divine is not in space . 7
God is Very Man II
Being and Existence in God Man are distinctly one I4­
In God Man infinite things are distinctly one I7
There is one God-Man, from Whom aU things are 23
The Divine Essence itself is Love and Vvisdom . 28
Divine Love is of Divine Wisdom, and Divine Wisdom
is of Divine Love 34
The Divine Love and Wisdom is substance and is form 40
The Divine Love and vVisdom are Substance and Form
in itself, thus they are the Very and the Gnly . 44
The Divine Love and Wisdom must of necessity be and
exist in others created by itself 47
AU things in the universe have been created by the
Divine Love and Wisdom of God-Man . 52
AU things in the created universe are recipients of the
Divine Love and Wisdom of God-Man 55
AU things that have been created bear a certain likeness
to man 6I
The uses of aU created things ascend through degrees
from outermost things to man, and through man
to God the Creator, from Whom they are . 65
The Divine fiUs aU the spaces of the universe, apart from
space 69
The Divine, apart from time. is in aU time 73
In the greatest and the smallest things, the Divine is
the same 77
v

7. VI CONTENTS
PART II
Nos.
The Divine Love and Wisdom appear in the spiritual
worlel as the Sun 83
Heat and light issue from the Sun which exists from
the Divine Love and vVisdom 89
That Sun is not Gad, but is the manifestation of the
Divine Love and Wisdom of Gad-Man; it is the
same with the heat and light from that Sun. 93
Spiritual heat and light, in going forth from the Lord as
the Sun, make one, just as His Divine Love and
Wisdom make one. 99
The Sun of the spiritual world is seen at a middle
altitude, and afar off from the angels, just as is
the natural sun from men lO3
The distance between the Sun and angels in the spiritual
world is an appearance proportioned ta their
reception of the Divine Love and Visdom lO8
Angels are in the Lord, and the Lord in them; and because
.-1..
angels are recipients, the Lord alone is HeavËn. II3
In the spiritual world the east is where the Lord appears
as the Sun, and other quartcrs are determined there ­
from . II9
The quarters in the spiritual world are not from the
Lord as a Sun, but from the angels according to
reception 12 4
Angels turn their faces constantly towards the Lord as
a Sun, and thus the south is ta their right, the
north ta their left, and the west behind them . 12 9
Ali interior things of the angels, bath of mind and body,
are turned towards the Lord as a Sun 135
Every spirit, without exception, in like manner turns
towards his own ruling love 14 0
--,-, The Divine Love and Wisdom ema!lating from the
Lord as a Sun, and giving heat and light in heaven,
are the Divine proceeding, which is the Holy Spirit 14 6
The Lord created the universe and ail things thereof
by means of the Sun which is the first Proceeding of
the Divine Love and vVisdom 15 1
The sun of the natural world is pure fire, and therefore
dead; nature aisa is dead, because it originates
from that sun 157
III

8. CONTnas Vll
Nos.
Creation is not possible without two suns, the one living
and the other dead 163
The end of creation exists in outermosts, which end is,
that ail things may return to the Creator, and that
there may be co~n_c!ion. 167
PART III
There are atmospheres, waters and earths in the spiritual
world just as in the natural world; but the former
are spiritual, the latter natural 173
There are degrees of love and wisdom, and consequently
degrees of heat and light, also degrees of atmo­
spheres . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
r '
Degrees are o!/,twofold order, degrees of '~'I ane!
degrees of breadt~. . . . . . . . . . 184
Degrees of height ~ of the same nature, and one is
from the other in a series, like end, cause, and effect 1 89
The first degree is the ail in ail of the following degrees . 195
Ail perfections increase and ascend with and according
~ees . 199
In.succes~iye ,.9rderl the first degree. is_the highest, and
the "third iStli'e lowest; but iil simultaneous order
the first degree is the inmÜs(:auèf':fhethire!-TIle
outermost 20 5
The outermost degree surrounds, contains, and s..':lEP~ts
prior degrees . . . . . 20 9
Degrees of (15cigh1: are in fu ness and power in their
outermosfâégree 21 7
Degrees of bath kinds are in the greatest and least of
created things . 222
I~b&-l..QrdJre_threJLdegr.ees .()Lheight.j!11iI!j!~nd
,!!!cre<lte, and in man are three degrees, finite ana
created . 230
Every man has these:three degreeS)of heig.ht. from birth.IJ
)q They ,cano pe opened one after the oth~r, and as 1
they are opened man is in the Lord and the Lord in!
man . 236
Spiritual lig.!?t fiows in through the three degrees into
man, but not _spiE,itu,a,I-h~t, except so far as man
shuns evils as sins, and looks to the Lord 24 2

9. T~ Ci
viii CONTENTS
Nos.
Man becomes natural and sensual if the higher degree.
which is the spiritu~l, is not opened in him 248
(l.) What the natural man is and what the spiritual 251
(II.) The character of the na/urai man in whom the
spiritual degree is opened 252
(III.) The character of the natural man in whom the
spiritual degree is not opened, but yet not
closed 253
(IV.) The character of the natural man in whom the
spiritual degree has been absolutely closed. 254
(V.) Lastly, the na/ure of the difference between the
life of a merely na/ural man and the life of
a beast 255
The natura! degree of the human mind regarded in
itself is continuous, but, when raised, it has the
appearance of being discrete, through correspon ­
dence with the two higher degrees 256
Since the natural mind co vers and contains the higher
degrees of the human mind, it is reactive; and
,if the !!igp.~r degrees are no):_open~J .i~_ acts
lagainst them, but if they are opened, it acts with
them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
The origin of evil cornes from 'lP.l!.Se of the faculties
peculiar to man, termed ra~ity and fr~edom . 264
(l.) .Il bad man equally with a good man enjo)'s
these two faculties 266
(l l.) A bad man abuses these faculties in confirming
eV1'l and false things, but a good man lises
them in confirming good a1ld true things 267
(l II.) Evils and falsities confirmed in man remain
and become !lis love and thence his life . 268
(IV.) Those things wMch belong to Ms love and thence
to his liJe are passed on to lhë' children 269
(V.) Ali eviliand the falsities from t~. both
inh&ritçd and contracted, reside in Me
naturàl mind . _.- 270
(Evils and falsities exist in everything opposed tO(go9d'
" and tme-things, because evils apd falsities' are
diaboliê'àl and infernal, and good and truc things
are Divine and heavenly . 27 l

10. --
CONTENTS lX
Nos.
(I.) The naturai mÎ1zd, which is Î1z evils and
falsities from them, is a form and image
of heU . 273
(I Io) The flatural mind which is a form or image of
heU, descends through three degrees . 274
(I II.) The three degrees of the natural mind, which is
a form and image of heU, are opposite to the
three degrees of the spiritual mind, which is
a fornz and image of heavùï":----: . . . 275
(IV.) The natural mind which is a heU is opposed
in everything to the spiritual mÎ1zd which
~aheawn 2~
AU things of the three degrees of the natural mind are
included in works which are done through acts
of the body . 277
PART IV
The Lord from Eternity. who is Jehovah, created the
"ûniversèJ and aU things thereof from liimself, and
d6t from nothing 0 28l
The Lord from Eternity, or Jehovah, cou Id not have
created(thè Ulîiv~rsè and aU things thereof unless he
were man 285
The Lord from Eternity, or Jehovah, brought forth
from Himself the sun of the spiritual ",::orld, and
from that created( the universe, and all things
thereof . 290
In the Lord there are three (attributes), the Divine of
Love, the Divine of Wisdom, and the Divine of
Use, which are the Lord; and these three are
reErjjeI!!ed outside the Sun of the spiritual world,
the Ivine of Love by heat, the Divine of Wisdom
by light, and the Divine of Use by the atmo~here
containing them 0 0 • 0 • 0 • 7-' • 0 296
The atmospheres, which are three in number in bath
the spiritual and natural worlds, in their ultimates
finish in substances and matters of the nature of
those in tneir eartp.s 302
There is nothing of the Divine in ~f in the substances Il
and matters from which earths are formed, but
yet they come from the Divine in itself 0 ­ 305

11. x CONTENTS
Nos.
Ali uses, which are the ends of creation, have ferms
which they receive from substances and matters
such as are in the earths .
307
(1.) There is effort in carths to bring forth fOl'»!s,
or fOl'ms of uses . ~ 310
(II.) The~è [sacerta'in likmess to the creation of
the ul1iverse in aU forms of uses
313
(JI 1.) There is a certain likeness to man in aU jorms
of uses 317
(IV.) There is a certain lilleness to the Infinite and
Eternal in aU forms of uses. 318
Ali things in the created universe, viewed in regard ta
uses, bear a Iikeness ta man; and this proves that
Gad is Man. 319
Ali things created by the Lord are uses; and they are
uses in that arder, degree and respect in which
they relate ta man, and through man ta the Lord
frem Whom they are. 327
'Uses for sustaining the body . 331
Uses for perfecting the rational 332
Uses for receiving the spiritual from the Lord 333
Evil uses were not created by the Lord, but originated
together with hell . 336
(1.) IV hat is meant by evil uses on the earth. 338
(II.) A il things are in heU that are evû uses, and
~n heaven that are good uses -.- ­ . . 339
(II 1.) There is a continuous infl-;'-; fram the spiritual
world into the natural wof'ld 340
(1 V.) Influx fram heU works to produce things thqt
are evil uses wherever tllere are things corre­
sponding thereto . 341
(V.) The lowest spiritual separa/edfrom its higher
degree works to titis end . 345
(VI.) There are two forms in whic!! the work is
effected by influx, the vegetable and the
animal form .
346
(VII.) Each of these forms, while it exists, receives
the means of propagation
347
In the created universe things visible prove that nature
has produced nothing, and does produce nothing,
1[but that the divine produces ail things out..Qf
itself, and through the spiritual world. . . . 349
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ---ol

12. CONTENTS Xl
PART V
Nos.
Twa receptacles and dwellings of His Own, called Will
and Understanding, have been çreated and farmed
by the Lord in man; the WUD for His Divine
Love, and the Understanding for His Divine
Vhsdam . .;.. 358
The Will and the Understanding, which are the recep­
tacles of love and wisdam, are in the brains, in
the whale and every part of them, and fram them
in the body, in the whalc and evcry part of it . 362
(J.) Love and wisdom, and the will and the under­
standing therefrom, make the very life of man 363
(II.) The life of ma1l is in its beginnings in the
brains and in its derivatives in the body . 365
(II J.) Such as life is in its beginnings, such it is in
the whole and every part 366
(IV.) By means of Ihose beginnings life is in the
whole from every part, and in every part
from the whole 367
(V.) Such as the love is, such is Ihe wisdom, and
therefore such is the man 368
There is a carrespandence of the will with the heart,
and of the understanding Vith the lungs 371
(J.) A Il things of the mind have reference 10 Ihe
will and tenderstanding, and ail 1Mngs of the
body to the heart and lungs . 372
(II.) There is a correspondence of the will and
understanding with the heart and lungs,
and from this a correspondence of ail things
of the mind with ail things of Ihe body. 374
(II J.) The will corresp01lds to the heart . 378
(JV.) The understanding corresponds 10 the lungs 382
(V.) By means of Ihis correspondence many secrels
concerning the will and underslanding, and
therefore also concerning love alld wisdom,
may be disclosed 385
(V J.) Man's mind is his spirit, and the spirit is
the man. The body is the external through
which the mind or spirit feels and acts in
its world . 386

13. Xli CO:-fTENTS
Nos.
(VII.) The union of man's spiril with the body is
by the correspondence of his will and under­
standing wilh his heart anèf lûngs, and
separation cames through non-êorrespon­
dence . 390
The correspondence of the heart with the will and
the understanding with the lungs makes known ail
that is possible to be known of the will and under ­
standing. or of love and wisdom, and thus of
man's soul . 394
(1.) Love or the will 'is man's very life . 399
(II.) Love or the will strives continually
towards the human form and all things
thereof 400
(III.) Love or the will can do nothing through its
human form except by mar.r.iagB. wiJh
.wi~il01J'l gr Ut.e undefstanding. . 401
(IV.) Love or the will prepares a home or bed
chamber for ils future wife, which is
wisdom or the understanding . . . 402
(V.) Love or the will also prepares allthe things
in its own human form sa that it may
act together with wisdom or the undèY­
standing . 403
(VI.) After the nuptials, the jirst union cames
through the affection of knowing, from
which springs an affection for truth 404
(VII.) The second uniOlt cames through the
affection of u~~anding from' which
springs~perception of truth . . . . 404
{VIII.) The third union c'Q;;;;s through the
affection for seeing truth, from wh'ich
springs thought 404
(IX.) Love or the will cames into sensitive and
active life through these three unions . 406
(X.) Love or the will introduces wisdom or the
understa'nding into allthings of its hot'se 408
(XI.) Love or the will does nothing except in
tl1lion with wisdom or the understandùlg 409
{XII.) Love or the will ?A·nites itself ta wisdom or
the understanding, and makes the union
reciprocal . 4 ro

14. CONTENTS xiii
Nos.
(X II J.) Wisdom or the understanding, from .power
given it by love, can be raised, and can
receive such things as are of heavenly
light, and perceive them . 413
(XIV.) Love 01' the will cati be ra.ised likewise
and can receive such things as are of
heavenly heat, provided it loves wisdom,
its partner, in that degree 41 4
(XV.) Otherwise love 01' the will dmws wisdom 01'
the understanding back from its eleva­
tion, so that it ma)' act in 1(j~ison with
itsélf . 4 16
(XVI.) Love 01' the will is purifted by wisdom
in the understandin.g if the'Y are t-èiiSëd
together' . 419
(X V Il.) Love or the will is d~filed in and b)! the
understanding if they are not raiseâ
together 421
(X Il Ill.) Love p~!Jjf!:.ed by wisdom in the under­
standing becomes spirftual and celestial 422
(X 1X.) Love defiled in and by the understanding,
becomes natural, sensual and corporcal 42 4
(XX.) The facully of understanding, caUed
rationality, and the fa.culty of acting,
caUcd frecdom, stillremain . 42 5
(XXI.) Spiritual and celestiallove is love towards
the neighbml.r and to the Lord, and
natural an.d sensual love is love of. the
world and of self . 426
(XX Il.) jt is the same with charity and faith, and
thcir union, as with will and under­
standing, and their union 42 7
What man's initial forrn is at conception 43 2

15. ,

16. ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING
DIVINE LOVE
PART 1
LOVE IS THE LIFE OF MAN
I. Man knows that love exists, but not what it
is. He knows that there is such a thing from
everydaY,speech, as when it is said that:" }Ie.
loves me; the king loves his people and ûië
peoplëlove their king; iilwsband loves his wife
and the mother her children, and vice vërsa"; lhêD.
again that: this or that man loves his country,
his fellow-citizens, his neighbour; in a similar way
when removed from the idea of person, that he
loves this or that thing. But although love is so
universally talked about, hardly an.y: one .gl~s
what love is. When he thinks about it, then
because he· is unable to form any reasoned idea of
what it really is, he declares either that it is not
anything, or only something which fiows in from
sight, hearing, touch, and conversation, and so
affecting him. He is absolutely unaware 1h;J.L it
is his ~~J.iie; not merely the general life of his
( whole body, and of his every thought, but of every
particular of them. A wise man can perceive this,
when it is said : JLYQlLif!k~~ affection which
comes from love, can you think or do anything ?
' Or when that affection cools, do not thought,
)J SëèCIl,and· aêi:îÔ~y-ë;9!d to the like extent ?
1

17. 1-3] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
And when it glows, in the same degree do not
they hecomewarm ? Bu t the sensible man perceives
this not from the refiection that love is the life of
man, but from experience that it is so.
2. No one knows what the life of man is unless
he knows that it is ~e. If this be not known, one
may believe that the life of man is only feeling
and acting, another that it is thinking; when yet
thought is the first effect, and feeling and action
the second effect of life. It is said that thought
is the first effect of life, but there is thought
inner and more interior, as also thought which is
outer and more exterior. ~Vhat is ac.!;Jally~
fu§.t effect of life is inmost thougtlt, WhlCh is the
( erc n of ends. But 01 these later, when the
degrees Ole are considered.
3. ~me idea concern~g love--that it is the life
of man-may be gathered trom the heat 0!.Jliê
1iiill the world. This heat is welT"KnownJ:Q..1>e,
t 1 as it were.l... the comïi'fOiîlife OI:.arr the vegetation
of the earth. For, when the warmth of spring
cornes, plant life of every kind rises up from the
soil, decks itself with foliage, then with blossom,
and at length with fruit, and just as if it were
alive. But when, in autumn and winter, the heat
is withdrawn, these signs of its life are stripped
I~
from it, ctOO wither away. So it is with love in
man, for h~t and lo~ mutually correspond.
Vhèrefore aISO love is Wârm.
2

18. [4,5
GaD ALONE, l'HUS THE LORD, IS LOVE
ITSELF, BECAUSE HE IS LIFE ITSELF;
AND AN GELS AND MEN ARE RECIPIENTS
OF LIFE
4. This will be fully explained in the treatises
on Divine Providence and on Life. Here we
merely observe that the Lord, who is God of the
universe, is Uncreate and Infinite, but man and
angel are created and finite. And, because He is
Uncreate and Infinite, the Lord is Being Itself,
which is called J ehovah, and is Life l tself or Life
in Himself. Since the Divine is one and indivisible,
the creation of any one directly from the Uncreate,
the Infinite, Being Itself and Life ItselLis. impos-
sible, but must be from things created and finite,
so formed that the Divine can be in them. Since
men and angels are such, they are redpients of
life. Consequently if any man al10w himself to
be led away by his own reasoning into the idea
that he is not a recipient of life, but is Life, nothing )
can restrain him from the thought that he is God.
The man, who feels that he is Life, and thence
cornes to believe it, deceives himself; for, in the
instrumental cause, he fails to perceiv_e the original
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 HimselJ, so also hath He
ili
given to the Son to have li~ lfimself (v. 26) ;
and that He is Lire Itself ( 0 n Xf.25; xix. 6).
Now since life and love are one, as appears from
what was statedin Nos. I and 2, it fol1ows that
the Lord, because He is Life l tself, is Love l tself. .,
5. But in order that this may sink into the
B 3

19. 5, 6] DIVINE LovE AND WISDOM
mind, it must be known of a surety that the Lord,
because He i~.l-ove jn .it? very essence, that 1s
~ Love, a ears before the an efS-ii11leaVen
__a!>_ the Sup, and t at from that Sun proceed heat
and light; that the heat therefromJn..J.i..t~_!?~e
is love, and the ligllt therefrom in its essence
(
is ~; andtJ1aITIïë angels, jusfult1îëIi1ëasuE.e
thatiliëy receive that ïIl1lfltuaI1ïe31 and hglit,3[.e
themselves èXàmples -0 ove anawisdom, yet not
from themselves, but from the Lord. This spiritual
heat and light not only flow into angels and
affect them, but also flow into men and affect
)J them rccisel as the 6ecome red ients. Tllljj
J become recipients accor mg to thelr love oftliè
Lord and of the nelghbour. Hns Sün ltself, or tlïe
Divine Love, cannot create any one by its own
heat and light directly from itself, since one so
created would be Love in its essence, which Love
is the Lord Himself; but it can create from
substantial and material things so formed as to Q.e
caE~Je of receivLI~g--.that v~y heat and light; as,
DY -comparison, the sun of our worIa, by its heat
and light, is unable to produce germinations directly
in the earth, but only out of earthy substances, in
which it can be present through its heat and light,
and cause vegetation. In the work on HEAVEN
AND HELL (n. rr6-I40) it may be seen that the
Lord's Divine Love is manifest in the spiritual
world as the Sun, and from it streams spiritual
heat and light giving love and wisdom to the
angels.
6. Since, then, man is not Life, but a recipient
of life, it follows that the conception of man from
the father is not a conception of life, but only..ni
~L..<l-lld pllrest forIILCapable...!lf receiving life,
4

20. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [6,7
to which, as to a nucleus or starting-point in the
womb, are added successively substances and
matters adapt~çL.iIl_19_rm_tfL!h~_re~Etion of life
in its own order and degree.
THE DIVINE IS NOT IN SPACE
7. It is impossible to grasp by a merely natural
idea that the Divine, or God, is not in space,
although everywhere present and with every man
in the world, every angel in heaven, and every
spirit under heaven, but it is possible by a spiritual
idea. The reason is that in the natural idea there
is space; for it is fashioned of such things as are
in the world, in every one of which, as the eye
sees them, is space. Everything great and small
there, everything there which has length, breadth,
and height is of space. In short, every measure,
figure, and form there is spatial. That is why it
is said to be impossible to grasp, by a natural idea,
the fact that the Divine is JlQti.n.MJ~c..~L along~h
the deç!<lratiQn 1patjt is ~v~here present. But
the fact remains that a man can understand this
by the power of natural thought, if only he permit
~of spirituallight to enter in. On this account
something shill first De saw of the idea and
spiritual thought therefrom. The spiritual idea
draws nothing whatever from space, but derives
its aU fram state. State is predicated of love,
life, wisdom, the affections and joy therefrom;
in general terms, of good and of truth. The truly
spiritual idea of these things has nothing in common
with space. l t is higher and regards spatial ideas
beneath it as the sky surveys the earth. Yet since
angels and spirits see with their eyes in like manner
5

21. 7-9] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
as do men in the world, and abjects cannat be
seen except in space, therefore in the spiritual
world, where angels and spirits dwell, there appear
ta be spaces similar ta those on the earth. Yet the
spaces there are appearances only; for they are
not fixed and constant as on earth; they can be
lengthened and shortened, changed and varied;
and because they cannat be sa deterrnined by
measure, they cannat be comprehended there by
any natural idea, but by th~iritual idea alone ;
1 which is no other regardmg3atial distances tnan
J ~Cflli:taiïCës oIgoëi""d---ano. orfruth; -and tfiëie
l are'!l1inities and likenesses in accordance wlth
t1lelr states. --~
8. From this it is evident that man cannat
grasp by a merely natural idea the fact that the
Divine is everywhere, yet not in space, but that
angels and spirits perceive it clearly; with the
consequence that man also may do sa, if only he
admit sorne ray of spiritual light into his thought.
The reason why man can understand is because
it is not rus body which thinks, but his spirit;
thus not his natural, but his spiritual.
9. But there are many who do not understand
this, because they love the natural, and will not
raise the thoughts of their understanding upwards
into spirituallight; and they, who will not do this,
cannat think except in terrns of space, even of
Gad; and ta think sa of Gad is ta think from the
extension of nature. This must be said by way of
introduction, because without the knowledge and
without sorne perception that the Divine is not is
space, it is impossible ta understand anything
concerning the Divine Life, which is Love and
6

22. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [<)-II
Wisdom, the subjects here treated; and thereafter
little if anything about Divine Providence, Omni­
presence, Omniscience, Omnipotence, Infinity, and
Etemity, which are to be treated in succession.
10. It has been said that spaces appear in the
spiritual world exactly as in the natural world,
consequently also distances, but that these are
appearances according ta spiritual affinities of
love and wisdom, or, of good and truth. It is on
this account that the Lord, notwithstanding that
He is everywhere present in the heavens with the
angels, appears high above them, as the Sun; and
because reception of love and wisdom causes
affinity with Him, it is for that reason that those
heavens appear nearer ta Him where the angels
are, by virtue of their reception, in doser affmity,
than those with whom the affinity is more remote.
From this also it is that the heavens, which are
three in number, are distinguished one from
another; likewise the societies of which each
heaven is composed; furthermore, that the heUs
under them are distant according to their rejection
of love and wisdom. And so it is with men, in
whom and with whom the Lord is present through­
out the entire universe; and this solely for the
reason that the Lord is not in space.
GOD IS VERY MAN
II. In aU the heavens there exists no other idea
of Gad than that of MAN. The reason is, that
heaven as a whole and in part is in form like Man,
and the Divine, which is with the angels, makes
heaven, and thought runs agreeably to the form
7

23. II) DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
of heaven; wherefore it is impossible for the
angels to think otherwise concerning God. Hence
it is that aIl those in the world, associated with
heaven, think in like manner concerning God,
when thinking inwardly in themselves, or in spirit.
From this fact that God is Man, every angel and
spirit is a man in perfect form. This results from
the form of heaven, which is like to itself in greatest
and least things. (That heaven as a whole and
in part is in form like Man may be seen in the
work on HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 59-87: and that
thought runs agreeably to the form of heaven,
n. 203, 204.) Tt is known from Genesis (i. 26, 27),
that men were created in the image and likeness
of God; and again that God was seen as a Man
by Abraham, and by others. The ancients, wise
and simple alike, thought of God no otherwise
than as of a Man; and when at length they began
to worship many gods, as at Athens and at Rome,
they worshipped themall as men. What is here
said may be illustrated by the following, previously
published in a certain small treatise :
The Gentiles, especially the Africans, who
acknowledge and worship one Gad, the Creator
of the universe, entertain concerning Gad the
idea of Man; they say that no one can have any
other idea of Gad. When they learn that there
are many who cherish the idea of Gad as some­
thing cloud-like in mid-air, they inquire where
such people are; and on being told that they
are among Christians, say it is impossible. But
they are told in reply, that the idea arises from
the fact that in the Ward, Gad is called a Spirit,
and their idea of a spirit is of a particle of cloud;
not knowing that every spirit and angel is a man.
An examination, nevertheless, was made ta
8

24. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [II- 13
ascertain if the spiritual idea of such persons
was like their natural idea, and it was found to
be different with those who acknowledge the
Lord interiorly as God of heaven and earth. l
once heard an eIder from among the Christians
say that no one can have an idea of the Divine
Ruman; and l saw him taken to various
Gentile peoples, and successively to such as were
more and more interior, and from them to their
heavens, and at length to the Christian heaven.
Everywhere he was granted a communication of
their interior perception concerning God, and he
observed that they had no other idea of God
but the idea of a Man, which is the same as the
idea of the Divine Ruman (see c.L.]. n. 74).
12. The common idea of God in Christendom
is as of a Man, because the Athanasian Doctrine
of the Trinity describes Rim as a Person; but
those of higher degree, the wise, prodaim that
God is invisible, for they cannot understand how
God, as Man, could have created heaven and
earth, then filled the universe with Ris presence,
and many things, which cannot sink into the
understanding, so long as it is not known that
the Divine is not in space. Those, on the contrary,
who approach the Lord alone, think of the Divine
Ruman, thus of God as Man.
13. Row important it is to have a right con­
ception of God is evident from this, that the idea
of God forrns the inmost of thought with all who
have religion, for everything of religion and of
worship regards God; and it is quite impossible
for communication with the heavens to be granted,
unless there be a right idea of God, because,
9

25. 13, 14] DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM
universally and singly, He is in aU the things of
religion and of worship. Hence every people in
the world is assigned a place in the spiritual world
according ta its idea of Gad as Man; for in this
and no other is the idea of the Lord. That the
state of life after death with a man is according
ta the idea of Gad in which he has confirmed
himself, is evident from its converse, namely, that
the denial of Gad, and, in Christendom, the denial
of the Lord's Divinity, make tell.
*BEING AND *EXISTENCE IN GOD MAN
ARE DISTINCTLy ONE
14. Where Being is, there Existence is; the one
is not presented without the other; for Being I5
through Existence, and not apart from it. This
the rational mind comprehends when it thinks,
whether there can be granted any Being which
does not EXIsT, or, any Existence except from
Being; and since the one is presented with the
other and not without it, it follows that they are
one, but distinctly one. They are one distinctly
like love and wisdom: besides love is Being, and
wisdom is Existence, for love is not given unless
in wisdom, nor wisdom unless from love; wherefore
when love is in wisdom, then it EXIsTs. These
two are one of such a nature that they may indeed
be separated in thought, but not in operation, and
it is on this account that they are said ta be
distinctly one. Being and Existence in Gad Man
also are distinctly one like soul and body. The
soul is not presented without its body, nor the
• ct Esse" and "Existerc."
ro

26. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [14-17
body without its sou!. The Divine Soul of God
Man is what is understood by the Divine Being,
and the Divine Body what is understood by the
Divine Existence. That the soul can exist without .
the body, and think and be wise, is an error flowing
from delusions, for the soul of every man is in a
spiritual body, as soon as it has cast off the material
coverings which it carried about in the world.
15. Being is not Being unless it Exists, because
prior to this it is not in a form, and, if not in a
form, it has no quality, and that which has no
quality is not anything. That which exists from
Being makes one with it, because it is from Being.
Hence there is unition and each is the other's
mutually and reciprocally, besides being in every­
thing of the other as in itself.
16. From these things it is evident that God
is Man, and thereby God Existing; not Existing
from Himself, but in Himself. He who exists in
Himself, He is God from whom aIl things are.
IN GOD MAN INFINITE THINGS ARE
DISTINCTL y ONE
17. It is weIl known that God is infinite, for He
is called the Infinite; but He is called the Infinite
because He is infinite. He is not Infinite from this
fact alone, viz. that He is very Being and
Existence in Himself, but because there are
infinite things in Him. An Infinite without infinite
things in Himself is Infinite only in name. The
infinite things in Him cannot be said to be infinitely
n* II

27. 17-1 9] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
many, or infinitely aIl, on account of the natural
idea respecting many and ail; for the natural idea
of infinitely many is limited, and the idea of
infinitely ail, though not limited, is drawn from
limited things in the universe. Wherefore, on
account of his natural ideas, man is unable, by
any refinement and approximation, to come into a
perception of the infinite things in God; but an
angel, in the spiritual idea, by these means is able
to rise above the degree of man, yet never so far
as to that perception.
18. That there are infinite things in God, any
one may convince himself, who believes that God
is Man; and because He is Man, He has a Body,
and ail that pertains to it. Thus He has a face,
breast, abdomen, loins, and feet; for without
these He would not be Man; and, since He has
these, He has also eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and
tongue; then also the inward parts of man, the
heart and lungs, and their connections; all of
which, taken together, make man to be man. In
created man these are many, and, observed in their
combinations, innumerable; but in God Man they
are infinite; nothing whatever is wanting; hence
His infinite perfection. That a comparison is
drawn between Man Uncreated, that is God, and
created man, is because God is Man; and He
Himself says that the man of this world was
created after His image and likeness (Gen. i. 26, 27).
19. The fact that there are infinite things in
God is made more clearly evident to the angels
from the heavens in which they dwell. Heaven,
considered in its entirety, is composed of myriads
of myriads of angels, and collectively is in form
12

28. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [19- 22
like a Man; every society of heaven, whether
large or smaU, likewise; hence also an angel is
a man, for an angel is a heaven in least form.
That this is sa may be seen in the work on
HEAVEN AND HELL (n. 51-87). Heaven, as a
whole, in part, and in the individual, is of such
a form by virtue of the Divine which the angels
receive; for an angel is a man in perfect form
just sa far as he is a recipient from the Divine.
This is why the angels are said to be in God, and
God in them; also that God is their aU. How
many things there are in heaven cannat be written
down; and because the Divine is what makes
heaven, and those myriads of things, too numerous
to express in words, are from the Divine, it is
clearly evident that there are infinite things in
Very Man, who is Gad.
20. The like may be shown to be the case from
the created universe, provided that this is regarded
from uses and their correspondences, but before
this can be understood sorne preliminary explana­
tions must be given.
2r. Because there are infinite things in God Man
which are visible in heaven, in angel and in man
as in a mirror, and, because God-Man is not in
space (see above, n. 7-10), it can, to sorne extent,
be seen and understood, in what manner Gad can
be Omnipresent, Omniscient, and AU Provident,
and how, as Man, He could create aU things, and,
as Ma)], He is able to keep the things created by
Himself in their order to eternity.
22. The fact that infinite things are distinctly
one in Gad-Man may also be manifest, as in a
mirror, from man. In man there are many and
13

29. 22,23J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
innumerable things, as said above; but man feels
them as a one. From sensation he knows nothing
of his brain, heart, and lungs, of his liver, spleen,
and pancreas; nor of the countless things in his
eyes, ears, tongue, stomach, generative organs,
and in the remaining parts; and because he knows
nothing of them from sensation, he is, to himself,
as indeed one. The reason is, that aIl these things
are in such a form, as that not one can be lacking ;
for it is a form receptive of life from God-Man (as
shown above, n. 4-6). From the order and con­
nection of aIl things in such a form, the sensation
and thence the idea, is presented as if they were
not many and innumerable, but really one. From
this it may be inferred that the man and innumer­
able things, which in man seem to make a one, are
in Very Man who is God distinctly, nay rather
most distinctly, one.
THERE IS ONE GOD-MAN, FROM WHOM
ALL THINGS ARE
23. AlI things of human reason unite and, as
it were, concentrate in this, that there is one
God, the Creator of the universe; wherefore a
man endowed with reason, from ordinary intelli­
gence, neither does nor can think otherwise. Tell
any sane man that there are two Creators of the
universe, and you will find a repugnance on his
part toward you, possibly from the mere sound
of the phrase in his ear; from which it appears
that ail things of human reason unite and concen­
trate in this, that God is one. There are two
reasons for this. First, the very capability of
1
thinking rationally is not man's, but God's with
14
rul

30. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [23, 24
him; human reason in its general nature depends
upon this: and this general nature of reason
causes man ta see as from himself that Gad is one.
Secondly, by means of that power, man either is
in the light of heaven, or he draws thence the
general nature of his thought; and it is a universal
of the light of heaven that God is one. It is
different if man has perverted the lower parts of
his understanding by that capability. He does
indeed possess the capability, but. by the twist
given to those lower parts. he turns it another way.
and thereby his reason becomes unsound.
24. Every one, though he may be unaware of
it, thinks of a company of men as a man; sa he
sees at once what is meant by saying that the
king is the head and his subjects the body, and
that this or that man is such a part of the general
body, that is, the kingdom. The like holds good
with the spiritual body as with the body politic.
The spiritual body is the church. whose head is
Gad-Man. From this it is evident what kind of a
man the church would look like, if one should
think not of one God, Creator, and Sustainer of
the universe, but of severa!. Thus viewed, it
would appear as one body with many heads, not
as a Man, but a monster. If it be said that with
these heads there is one essence, and thus together
they make one head, the resu1tant idea cannat be
other than of one head with several faces, or of
one face with several heads. Thus the church
would be presented ta view mis-shapen; when yet
the one Gad is the head, and the church is the
body, which acts at the bidding of its Head, and
not from itself, as is also the case in man. Hence
also it is that there can only be one king to a
15

31. 24- 26J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
kingdom. Several would rend it asunder, but one
can hold it together.
25. So would it be with the church scattered
throughout the whole universe, which is called a
communion, because it is as one body under one
Head. It is known that the head controIs the
body under it at will; for understanding and will
have their home in the head, and by them the
body is put into motion, so long and so far as the
body is only obedient. 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. It appears as if the body acts
from itself, as if the hands and feet move themselves,
and as if the mouth and tongue in speaking vibrate
of themselves, when yet not a whit is from them­
selves, but from the affection of the will and
thence the thought of the understanding in the
head. Think then, if there were several heads to
one body, and each and any head were under the
jurisdiction of its own understanding and will,
whether it could continue to exist. Among several
heads, singleness of mind such as results from one
head would be impossible. As in the church, so
is it in the heavens. Heaven consists of myriads
of myriads of angels; unless these one and all
looked to the one God, they would fall away from
one another, and heaven would be dissolved.
Consequently if an angel of heaven merely thinks
concerning several gods, he is there and then
separated; for he is cast out to the utmost
boundary of the heavens, and sinks downward.
26. Because the whole heaven and everything
therein relate to one God, angelic speech is of such
r6

32. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [26-28
a nature that, through a certain harmony flowing
from the concord of heaven, it finishes in a single
cadence; a sign that it is impossible to think of
God otherwise than as one; for speech is from
thought.
27. Who will not perceive, whose reason is
sound, that the Divine is indivisible? and more­
over that severa! Infinites, Uncreates, Omnipotents,
and Gods are impossible? If another, not gifted
with reason, should argue that these may be
possible, provided they have one and the same
essence, and that by this means one Infinite,
Uncreate, Omnipotent, and God, results, is not
one and the same essence one identity? And one
identity is not given to severa!. If it should be
said that one is from the other, then he who is
from the other is not God in himself. And yet
God in Himself is the God from whom all things
are. (See above, n. I6.)
THE DIVINE ESSENCE ITSELF IS LOVE
AND WISDOM
28. If you gather up aIl the things that you
have come to know, and submit them to the insight
of your mind, and if, in sorne elevation of spirit,
you search out what is the universal of them aU,
you can come to no other conclusion 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, depends on
these two, and, without these is nothing. It is
the same with all things of the life of the collective
Man, who is, as was said above, a society larger
I7

33. 28-3 0 ] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
or smaller, a kingdom, an empire, a church, and
also the angelic heaven. Take away love and
wisdom from these, and consider if they be any­
thing, and you will perceive that, apart from these
as their origin, they are nothing.
1
1
1 29. Love together with Wisdom in its very
l essence is in God. This no one can deny; for
r God loves all men from Love in Himself, and He
leads aIl men from Wisdom in Himself. The created
universe, also, looked at from its arrangement or
order, is so full of wisdom and love that you may
say that an things in the aggregate are that very
wisdom. For things limitless are in such order,
successively and simultaneously, that taken
together they make a one. l t is from this cause
and no other, that they can be held together and
preserved for ever.
30. It is because the very Divine Essence is
Love and Wisdom that man has two faculties of
life, from one of which he has understanding, and
from the other, will. The faculty from which he
has understanding draws everything it has from
the influx of wisdom from God; and the faculty
from which he has will draws everything it has
from the influx of love from God. The fact that
a man is not truly wise and does not rightly love
does not take away the faculties, but merely closes
them up; and so long as they remain closed, they
may be called understanding and will, but essen­
tially are not. If, therefore, these two faculties
were taken away, all that is human would perish
-thinking and expressing one's thought, willing
and acting from one's will. From this it is clear
that the Divine dwells with man in these two
18

34. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [3 0 -33
faculties, the ability ta become wise and the power
ta love. That in man there is the possiblity of
loving (and of being wise), though he may not be
wise and love as he might, has been made known
ta me by much experience, which you will see
elsewhere in abundance.
31. It is because the very Divine Essence is
Love and Wisdom, that aU things in the universe
bear reference ta good and ta truth; for everything
which cornes from love is caUed good, and every­
thing which cornes from wisdom is caUed truth.
But of these things more later.
32. And again, because the very Divine Essence
is Love and Wisdom, the universe and everything
therein , alike animate and inanimate, continue
their existence from heat and light; for heat
corresponds ta love, and light ta wisdom. For
which reason also spiritual heat is love, and
spirituallight is wisdom. But of these, also, more
later.
33. From the Divine Love and the Divine
Wisdom, which make the very Essence that is Gad,
spring aU man' s affections and thoughts; the
affections from the Divine Love and the thoughts
from the Divine Wisdom. Each and ail the things
of man are nothing else than affection and thought.
These are like fountains of ail things of his life.
AH the joys and delights of his life are from them,
the joys from the affection of his love, and the
delights from thought thence. Now because man
is created ta be a recipient, and is a recipient ta
the extent that he loves Gad, and from love ta
Gad is wise; in other words, sa far as he is affected
by those things which are from Gad and thinks
19

35. 33-35] DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM
from that affection, it follows that the Divine
Essence, which is the Creator, is Divine Love and
Divine Wisdom.
DIVINE LOVE IS OF DIVINE WISDOM, AND
DIVINE WISDOM IS OF DIVINE LOVE
34. That the Divine Being and Divine Existence
are distinctly one may be seen ab'ove (n. I4-I6).
And because the Divine Being is Divine Love, and
the Divine Existence is Divine Wisdom, these are
likewise distinctly one. They are said to be
distinctly one, because love and wisdom are two
distinct things; for love 15 in wisdom, and wisdom
EXI5T5 in love; and because Wisdom derives its
Existence from love (see n. I4), therefore also
Divine Wisdom is Being. From this it follows, that
Love and Wisdom taken together are the Divine
Being, but when taken distinctly Love is called
Divine Being, and Wisdom, Divine Existence.
Such is the angelic idea of Divine Love and 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, therefore,
also the Divine Life is one. Life is the Divine
Essence. Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are one
because the union is reciprocal, and reciprocal
union causes oneness. But of reciprocal union
more will be said elsewhere.
20

36. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [3 6-3 8
36. There is also a union of love and wisdom in
every Divine work, from which it has perpetuity,
or rather, eternal duration. If there be more of
Divine Love than of Divine Wisdom. or more of
Divine Wisdom than of Divine Love, in any
created work, the excess passes off. It would
continue to exist only in the measure in which
the two are equally present.
37. The Divine Providence partakes equally of
Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in reforming,
regenerating, and saving men. Were there.more
of the one Divine attribute than the other, man
could not be reformed, regenerated and saved.
Divine Love wills to save aH, but it can do so only
through Divine Wisdom; and aIl the laws by which
salvation is effected are laws of Divine Wisdom.
Love cannot transcend those laws, because Divine
Love and Divine Wisdom are one. and ad in union.
38. In the Word, Divine Love and Divine
Wisdom are understood by " righteousness" and
" judgment," Divine Love by "righteousness,"
and Divine Wisdom by "judgment." For this
reason " righteousness" and " judgment" in the
Word are predicated of God. Thus, in David:
Righteousness and Judgment are the support of Thy
throne (Ps. lxxxix. 14).
Jehovah shall bring forth righteousness as the light,
and judgment as the noonday (Ps. xxxvii. 6).
In Hosea: l will betroth thee unto Me for ever ...
in righteousness and judgment (ii. 19).
In Jeremiah: l will raise unto David a righteous
branch, who shall reign as king, . . . and shall
execute judgment and righteousness in the earth
(xxiii. 5).
21

37. 38 ,39] DIVlNE J_OVE AND WISDOM
In Isaiah: He shall sit upon the throne of David,
and ttpon his kingdom, to establish it . . . in
judgment and in righteous1MsS (ix. 7).
Jehovah shall be exalted, ... because He hath fllled
the earth with judgment and righteousness (xxxiii.
5)·
In David: When l shall have learned the judgments
of thy righteousness (Ps. cxix. 7).
Seven times a day do l praise Thee because of the
judgments of thy righteousness (Ps. cxix. 164).
The same is understood by " Life" and" Light "
in John, In Him was Life, and the Life was the
Light of men (i. 4).
By " Life " here is meant the Lord's Divine Love,
and by " Light " His Divine Wisdom. The same
meaning applies to " life " and " spirit " in John :
Jesus said, The words whiclt l speak unto you are
spirit and are life (vi. 63).
39. In man love and wisdom appear as two
separate things, but yet in themselves are one
distinctly, because such as is the quality of man's
love, such is his wisdom, and such as is the quality
of wisdom such is his love. Wisdom which does
not make one with its love appears to be wisdom,
and yet is not. Love which does not make one
with its wisdom appears to be the love of wisdom,
though it is not. For indeed, the one derives its
essence and its life reciprocally from the other.
The reason why wisdom and love with man appear
as two separate things is that the faculty of under­
standing with him is capable of being elevated
into the light of heaven, but not so the ability to
love, except so far as he acts according to what
he perceives from his understanding. Anything of
seeming wisdom, therefore, which does not make
22

38. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [39.40
one with the love of wisdom. goes swiftly back to
the love which does ; and this may be a love not
of wisdom, but rather of insanity. For indeed, a
man may know from wisdom that he ought to do
this or that, but continually neglect to do it,
because he does not like it. But so far as he
willingly obeys wisdom's behests, so far he is an
image of God.
THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM IS
SUBSTANCE AND IS FORM
40. The idea, entertained by the great mass of
people concerning love and wisdom, is of something
as it were transitory and fioating in thin air or
ether; or like a breath from something of the
kind. Scarcely any one thinks that they are really
and actually substance and form. Those who
recognise that they are substance and form still
think of love and wisdom outside the subject and
as fiowing forth from it; and, notwithstanding
that it is transitory and fioating. still they caU
substance and form that which they think of
outside the subject and fiowing from it; not
knowing that love and wisdom are that very
subject, and that what is perceived outside it and
as transitory and fioating is only an appearance
in itself. There are several reasons why this has
not hitherto been seen. One is, that appearances
are the first things out of which the human mind
forms its understanding. They can only be dispersed
by an investigation of their cause. If the cause
be deeply hidden, that investigation is only possible
if the mind be kept a long time in spiritual light,
and this it cannot do for long, by reason of the
23

39. 40 , 4 1 ] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
natural light which is constantly drawing it back.
The truth is, however, that love and wisdom are
real and actual substance and form, which con­
stitute the subject itself.
41. As this is contrary to appearance, it will
seem unworthy of belief, unless it be proved.
This can only be achieved through such things as
man can take in through his bodily senses; by
these it shail be proved. Man possesses five bodily
senses, known as touch, taste, smell, hearing, and
sight. The subject of touch is the skin, with
which a man is encompassed. The very substance
and form of the skin cause 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
lies only in the disposition of the subject to the
things applied. It is the same with taste. This
sense lies only in the disposition of the substance
and forrn of the tongue; the tongue is the subject.
Similarly with smell: it is weil known that scent
affects the nostrils and is in the nostrils, and is a
disposition of them due to scented particles
touching them. So with hearing: it appears to
be in the place where the sound cornes from, but
is actually in the ear, and is a disposition of its
substance and form. That hearing is distant from
the ear is an appearance. In like manner sight :
when a man sees objects at a distance, it seems
to him as if vision were there; yet ail the while
it is in the eye, which is the subject, and is in the
same way a disposition of it. It is distant only
by the inference of a man's judgment concerning
space from the things which are in between, or
from the diminution and consequent indistinctness
24

40. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [4 1 ,4 2
of the object, an image of which is produced
interiorly in the eye according to the angle of
incidence. Rence it is evident that sight does not
go out from the eye to the object, but that an
image of the object enters the eye, and disposes
its substance and form. For it is exactly the same
with sight as with hearing; hearing does not go
out from the ear striving to catch sound, but
sound enters the ear, and affects it. From these
considerations it can be established, that the
disposition of substance and form which causes
sense is not a something separate from the subject,
but only causes a change in it, the subject remaining
subject then, as before and afterwards. Renee it
follows that the five senses are not any transitory
thing issuing from their organs, but that they are
the organs seen in their substance and form, and
that when they are affected sense is produced.
42. It is the same with love and wisdom, with
this one difference only, that substances and forms,
which are love and wisdom, are not visible directly
to the eyes, as are the organs of the external
senses. But yet no one can deny that substances
and forms are those things of love and of wisdom
which are caHed thoughts, perceptions, and
affections, and that they are not transitory and
floating things having existence out of nothing, or
withdrawn from real and actual substance and
form, which are subjects. For in the brain are
.substances and forms innumerable, in which every
interior sense pertaining to the understanding and
will has its seat. AH the affections, perceptions,
and thoughts there are not exhalations from these
substances, but are actually and really subjects,
which send forth nothing from themselves, but
25

41. .
-- - - - -
42 -45J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
only undergo changes in accordance with the
things which ftow against them and affect them.
This may be confirmed from things previously
stated about the external senses. Of the things
thus ftowing against and affecting them more will
be said later.
43. From these things it may, for the first time,
be seen that Divine Love and Divine Wisdom in
themselves are substance and form, for they are
very Being and Existence; and unless they were
Being and Existence of such a nature as are
substance and form, they would be only a figment
of the imagination, which in itself is nothing.
THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM ARE
SUBSTANCE AND FORM IN ITSELF, THUS
THEY ARE THE VERY AND THE ONLY
44. That Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are
substance and form has been proved just above ;
and that Divine Being and Existence is Being and
Existence in itself, has also been stated above.
One cannot say "from" itself, because this
1: involves a beginning, and also a beginning from
something within it which is Being and Existence
in itself. But Very Being and Existence in itself
is from eternity, and, moreover, is uncreate, and
i everything created must be from an Uncreate.,
1
What is created is also finite, and the finite cannot
exist except from the Infinite.
45 He, who with sorne degree of thought can
follow the argument and understand Being and
26

42. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [45, 46
Existence in itself, will certainly fol1ow on and
understand that it is the Very and the Only
That is named the Very which alone 15, and that
the Only from which al1 else is. Now because
the Very and the Only is substance and form, it
must be very and only substance and form. And
because that is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom,
it must be very and only Love, and very and only
Wisdom. Consequently it is very and only Essence,
as weIl as very and only Life, for Love and Wisdom
is Life.
46. From these things it may be evident how
sensually, that is, how from the senses of the body
and from their unenlightenment in spiritual
matters, do those think, who declare that Nature
is from herself. They think from sight. They
cannot think from their understanding. Thought
from sight closes the understanding, but thought
from the understanding opens the sight. They can
form no idea of Being and Existence in itself, and
that it is Eternal, Uncreate, and Infinite; nor can
they picture Life except as a transitory something
dissolving into nothingness; nor think in any other
way of Love and Wisdom, and certainly not that
aIl the things of Nature come from them. Neither
can it be seen that aIl things of nature come from
them, unless nature is regarded from Uses in their
succession and their order, and not from any of
its forms, which are merely objects of sight.
For there are no uses except from life, and their
succession and order from wisdom and love. On
the other hand forms are the containants of uses.
For which reason, if the fonus alone are regarded,
nothing of life can be seen in nature, still less of
. love and wisdom, and so nothing of God.
27

43. 47, 48J
THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM MUST
OF NECESSITY BE AND EXIST IN OTHERS
CREATED BY ITSELF
47. The essential of love is not to love itself,
but others, and through love to be united with
them. The essence of alliove is union, nay rather,
its life, and is called pleasantness, agreeableness,
delight, sweetness, bliss, happiness. and felicity.
Love consists in this, that its own should be
another's. To feel another's joy as one's own,
that is loving. But, feeling one's happiness in
another, and not his in oneself, is not loving. This
is self-love, whereas the other was love of the
neighbour. These two kinds of love are diametrically
opposed. Either conjoins the other, and it does
not seem that loving one's own, that is, oneself in
another, disjoins; when yet it separates so utterly,
that as much as any one may have loved another
in this way, just so much will he hate him. For
that union dissolves of itself gradually, and then,
step by step, love turns to hatred.
48. Who that is capable of discerning the
essential character of love cannot see this? For
what is loving oneself alone and not sorne one else
who will return love for love? Tt is surely separa­
tion rather than binding together. Love's union
is reciprocal. There can be no reciprocity in self
alone, and if there is thought to be, it cornes from
an imagined reciprocity in others. From these
things it is evident that Divine Love must be and
exist in others, whom it may love, and by whom it
may be loved; for with such a reciprocity in ail love,
it will be greatest, that is, infinite, in Love itself.
28

44. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [49-5 1
49. With respect ta Gad: Loving and being
loved reciprocaUy cannot be granted to others, in
whom is anything of infmity, or of the essence and
life of love in itself, or of the Divine; for if any of
these infinite qualities were in them, He wotùd not
be loved by others, but would love Himself. Indeed
the Infinite or Divine is one only, and if this were
in others, it would be Itself, and the very love of
self, of which not a whit can be attributed to Gad;
for this is the direct opposite of the Divine Essence.
And sa it must be imputed in others, in whom is
nothing of the Divine in itself. l t will be seen
later that it may be in beings created by the
Divine. But, ta this end, 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. (See
above, n. 34-39.)
50. Upon the perception and consideration of
this mystery depends the perception and knowledge
of aU things of existence or of creation, besides aU
things of subsistence or preservation by Gad; that
is ta say, of aU the works of Gad in the created
universe, of which the following pages treat.
SI. But let me beg you not ta obscure your
ideas with time and space; for as much as time
and space enter into your ideas when you read
the following, sa far will it be unintelligible; for
the Divine is not in time and space. This will be
seen clearly in the continuation of this work,
especially concerning Eternity, Infinity, and Omni­
presence.
29

45. 52]
ALL THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE HAVE
BEEN CREATED BY THE DIVINE LOVE
AND WISDOM OF GOD-MAN
52. So fuU 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 Wisdom in an image. That this is so,
is clearly established by the correspondence of aU
things of the universe with aU things of man.
Each and every thing in the created universe,
that has existence, corresponds accordingly with
each and every thing of man, so that it may
be said, he also is a kind of universe. The
correspondence of his affections, and thence of
his thoughts, is with aU things of the animal
kingdom; of his will, and thence of his under ­
standing, with all things of the vegetable kingdom ;
and of his outermost life, with aU things of the
mineraI kingdom. That such is the correspondence,
does not appear to any one in the natural world,
but to every one, who turns ms mind to it, in the
spiritual world. In that world are aU things
existing in the natural world in its three kingdoms,
and they are correspondences of affections and
thoughts, from the will and from the understanding
respectively, also of the outermost things of life,
of those who are there; and all these things around
them present just such an appearance as in the
created universe, except that they are in lesser
form. Thus the angels see clearly that the created
universe is an image representative of God-Man,
and that it is His Love and Wisdom which are
presented in the universe in image. Not that it is
God-Man, but from Him; for nothing whatever
3°

46. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (52-54
in the created universe is substance and forrn in
itself, or life in itself, or love and wisdom in itself ;
nor, indeed, is man a man in himself, but everything
is from Gad, who is Man, Wisdom and Love, and
Form and Substance, in Himself. That which is
in itselJ, is uncreate and infinite; but that which
is from Him is created and finite, because it.holds
nothing within it which is in itself; and this
exhibits an image of Him, from whom it is and
exists.
53. Being and Existence may be applied ta
things created and finite, ta substance and forrn,
also life, likewise love and wisdom, but aIl these
are created and finite. The reason why these
terms may be applied is not that they have anything
Divine of their own, but that they are in the
Divine and the Divine in them. For everything
created is, in itself, inanimate and dead, but is
quickened and made to live, when the Divine is
in it and it is in the Divine.
54. The Divine is the same in one subject as in
another, but one created subject differs from
another; for no two things can be alike and
therefore each thing is a varied receptacle. On which
account the Divine is made visible in its image in
diverse ways. lts presence in opposites will be
discussed later.
31

47. ...
55, 56]
ALL THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE
ARE RECIPIENTS OF THE DIVINE LOVE
AND WISDOM OF GOD-MAN
55. lt is known that each and ail things of the
universe are created by God; on this account the
universe with each and ail things of it is caIled
in the Word, the work of the hands of Jehovah.
The world in its entirety is said to be created out
of nothing, and concerning nothing the idea is
cherished of absolute void; when yet, from absolute
void, nothing is or can be made. This is an
established truth. The universe, therefore, which is
an image of God, and hence full of God, could not
be created except in God from God; for God is
Being itself, and whatever is must be from Being.
To create what is, from nothing which is not, is
utterly contradictory. But still that which is created
in God from God is not continuous from Him; for
God is Being in ltself, and in created things there
is not any Being in itself. If there were, it would
be continuous from God, and thus be God. The
angelic idea of this is something of this nature:
What is created in God from God is like that in a
man, which he had drawn out of his life, but from
which the life has been withdrawn; which is such
as accords with his life, but still is not his life.
The angels adduce in confirmation many things
which exist in their heaven, where they are in
God, they say, and God is in them, yet still they
have nothing of God which is God, in their own
being. More will be presented later in confirmation.
Let this suffice for present information.
56. Every created thing, by virtue of this origin,
32

48. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [56-58
is of such a nature, that it may be a recipient of
God, not by continuity, but by contiguity. By
the latter, and not the former, it is possible to be
conjoined, for it is accordant because it was created
by God in God; and because thus created, is an
analogue, and through that conjunction is like to
an image of God in a mirror.
57. This is why angels are not angels from
themselves, but by virtue of that conjunction with
God-Man ; and that conjunction is according to the
reception of Divine Good and Truth, which are God,
and appear to proceed from Him, though reaily they
are in Him. This reception is according to the
way in which they apply to themselves the laws
of order, which are Divine truths, in the exercise
of that freedom of thinking and willing according
to reason, which they have from the Lord as if it
were their own. By this they have reception of
Divine Good and Truth as if from themselves, and
by this there is reciprocation of love; for, as was
said above, there cannot be love unless it be
reciproca1. The like is true of men on the earth.
From the things now stated for the first time, it
may be seen that ail things of the created universe
are recipients of the Divine Love and Wisdom of
God-Man.
58. Before the attempt can be made to explain
to the comprehension, that aH those other things
of the universe, which are not classed with angels
and men, are also recipients of the Divine Love and
Wisdom of God-Man, as for instance those just
below men in the animal kingdom, lower still in
the vegetable kingdom, and lowest of aIl in the
mineraI kingdom, a great deal must be said about
33

49. 58-60] "DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
degrees-degrees of life and of the recipients of
life. Conjunction with the things of these kingdoms
is according to their use; for all good uses originate
nowhere else than through a like conjunction with
God, but different according to degree. This con­
junction, in its descent becomes successively of
such a nature that nothing of freedom is in them,
because there is nothing of reason, and, therefore,
nothing of the appearance of life, but all through
the descent they are recipients (of the Divine
Love and Wisdom). Because recipients. they are
also re-agents; and, for as much as they are
re-agents, are receptac1es. After the origin of evil
has been disc1osed, we shall speak of the conjunction
with uses which are not good.
59. From these things it may be evident
that the Divine is in each and aU things of the
created universe, and thence that the created
universe is the work of the hands of J ehovah, as
it is said in the Word; that is, the work of the
Divine Love and Wisdom, for these are understood
by" the hands of Jehovah." And notwithstanding
the presence of the Divine in each and aU
things of the universe. there is, in their being
nothing of the Divine in itself; for the createrl
universe is not God, but from God; and since it
is from God, an image of Him is in it, as it might be
the refiection of a man in a mirror, wherein the man
indeed appears, but yet nothing of the man is in it.
60. 1 have heard many talking round about me
in the spiritual world, saying they are perfectly
willing to acknowledge that the Divine is in each
and every thing of the universe, because they see
therein the wonderful works of God, and for which
34

50. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [60,61
reason the more interiorly they are examined, the
more wonderful they are. Yet, when they have
heard that the Divine actuaily enters into each
and every thing of the created universe, they were
displeased; a sure token that while asserting it,
they do not believe it. They were asked, therefore,
if they cannat see this merely from the marveilous
facu1ty, inherent in every seed, of producing its
own plant form, even to new seeds; also that in
every single seed the idea of the infinite and eternal
is present, since there is in them a striving to
multiply and fructify to infinity and eternity.
Then again, consider any animaIs, even the smailest.
They have organs of the senses, brains, heart,
lungs, and ail the rest, with arteries, veins, fibres,
muscles, and motions from them; not ta mention
their amazing instinct, concerning which whole
volumes of writings exist. AIl these marvels are
from God; but the forms, with which they are
clothed, are from material substances of the earth.
From these proceed plants, and, in their order, men.
That is why it is said of man,
That he was created out of the ground, and that
he is the dust of the earth, and that the soul of
lives was breathed into him (Gen. ii. 7),
from which it is clear that the Divine is not man's
own, but is adjoined to him.
ALL THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN CREATED
BEAR A CERTAIN LIKENESS TO MAN
61. This may be demonstrated from each and
ail things of the animal, vegetable, and mineraI
kingdoms respectively. A relation to man in each
C ~

51. 6rJ DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
and aU things of the animal kingdom is plain from
these considerations: AnimaIs of every kind have
limbs by which they move, organs by which they
feel, and viscera by which these are put in motion.
These they have in common with man. They have
also appetites and affections similar to those
natural to man. At birth they have knowledge
corresponding to their affections, in sorne of which
appears something like the spiritual. This is more
or less plain to the eye in the case of beasts, birds,
bees, silkworms, ants, etc. From these facts it is
that altogether natural men assert that living
creatures of this kingdom are like them, apart
from speech. A relation to man in each and aU
things of the vegetable kingdom is plain from these
considerations: They spring forth from seed, and
from that advance successively through their
various stages of growth; they have something
resembling marriage, and later on prolification.
Their vegetable soul is use, of which they are
forms. There are, besides, many other features,
which bear relation to man, and which have also
been described by certain authors. A relation ta
man in each and aU things of the mineral kingdom
appears only in the endeavour to produce such forms
as may bear that relation, which forms are, as we
have said, those of the vegetable kingdom, and in this
way to fulfil uses. For when first the seed faUs
into the bosom of the earth, she warms it, and out
of herself gives it power, drawn from every
direction, to shoot up, and present itself in a form
representative of man. There is an endeavour of
such a kind also in its solid parts, as witness corals
in the depths of the ocean, and ftowers in mines,
where they originate from mineraIs and also metals.
The endeavour towards vegetating, and fulfiUing
36

52. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [61-64
uses by this means, is the one most remote from
the Divine to be found in created things.
62. As there is an endeavour of the earth's
mineraIs towards vegetation, so there is an
endeavour of plants towards vivification; thence
come inseets of different kinds corresponding to
the odours emanating from plants. This is not
due to the heat of this world's sun, but to life
ftowing through it according to the recipients, as
will be seen in what foilows.
63. That this relation of aU things of the created
universe to man exists may be known indeed from
what has been adduced, but only visualised
vaguely. Yet in the spiritual world this is seen
clearly. AU the things of the three kingdoms are
there, and in the midst of them the angel. He sees
them aU around him, and he knows also that they
are symbols of himself; nay rather, when the
inmost of his understanding is opened, he recognises
himself, and sees his likeness in them, almost as
in a mirror.
64. From these and many other things in
agreement, which we have no space for here, it
may be known for a certainty, that God is Man
and the created universe His image; for the
general relation of ail things is to Him, just as
there is a particular relation to man.
37

53. 65J
THE USES OF ALL CREATED THINGS
ASCEND THROUGH DEGREES FROM OUTER­
MOST THINGS TO MAN, AND THROUGH
MAN TO GOD THE CREATOR, FROM WHOM
THEY ARE
65. Outermost things, as said above, are each
and all of the things of the mineral kingdom.
They include matter of different kinds, of stony,
saline, oily, mineraI, metallic substance, covered
over with soil composed of vegetable and animal
elements reduced to the finest mould. Hidden
within them lie the end as weil as the beginning
of ail uses which originate from life. The end of
ail uses is the endeavour to beget uses; the
beginning is energy in action from that endeavour.
These pertain to the mineraI kingdom. Middle
things are each and ail things of the vegetable
kingdom. They comprise grasses, herbs, plants,
shrubs, and trees, of every kind. Their uses are to
serve each and ail of the animal kingdom, as
much those not fuily formed as the perfecto They
nourish, delight, and vivify them; nourishing
their bodies with their own substances, delighting
their senses with their own savour, fragrance, and
beauty, and giving life to their affections. The
endeavour towards these uses enters into them
from life also. F irst things are each and all things
of the animal kingdom. The lowest of that order
are cailed worms and insects; the middle, birds
and beasts; and the highest, men; for in each
of the kingdoms are lowest, middle and highest ;
the lowest are for the use of the middle, and the
middle for the use of the highest. Thus the uses
38

54. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [65---67
of all created things ascend in order from outermost
things up to man, who is flrst in order.
66. There are three degrees of ascent in the
natural world, and three also in the spiritual
world. AlI animaIs are recipients of life; the more
perfect are recipients of life of three degrees of
the natural world, the less perfect of two degrees
of that world, and the imperfect of one of
its degrees. But man alone receives the life of
the three degrees, not only of the natural, but also
of the three degrees of the spiritual world, and,
indeed, because he can be elevated above nature, is
different from any other animal. He can think
analytically and rational1y of civil and moral
things, which are within nature, and also of
spiritual and celestial things above nature; in
fact he can be elevated into wisdom so far as to
see God. But we must treat of the six degrees,
through which the uses of all created things ascend
in their order to God the Creator, in their proper
place. From this summary it can be seen that
there is an ascent of all created things towards the
First, who alone is Life, and, that the uses of all
things are the very recipients of life and thence the
forms of the uses are so also.
67. It shall also be described briefiy how man
ascends, that is, is elevated from the outermost
degree to the first. He is born into the outermost
degree of the natural world; from that he is
raised by means of things learnt into the second
degree; and as he in this way perfects his under­
standing, he is raised to the third degree, and then
becomes rational. The three degrees of ascent in
the spiritual world are above the three natural
39

55. .........
67,68J DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
degrees in him, and are not visible until he has
put off the earthly body. When this is put off, the
first spiritual degree is opened to him, afterwards
the second, and finally the third, but only with
those who become angels of the third heaven;
these are they who see God. Those become angels
of the second and outermost heaven in whom the
corresponding degrees can be opened. Every
spiritual degree in man is opened according to his
reception of Divine Love and Wisdom from the
Lord. Those who receive sorne measure thereof
come into the first or outermost spiritual degree ;
those who receive more, into the second or middle
spiritual degree; and those who receive much,
. into the third or highest degree. But those who
receive nothing of the Divine Love and Wisdom
remain in the natural degrees, and draw no more
from the spiritual degrees than the ability to think
and thence speak, to will and thence act, but not
with perception.
68. Regarding the elevation of the interiors of
man, which belong to his minci, this also should
be known. There is reaction in everything created
by God. In Life alone is action, and reaction is
produced by the action of Life. This reaction
appears as if it were in the thing created from the
fact that it emerges when acted upon. Thus in
man it seems as if it were his, because he feels that
life is his own completely, when yet he is only
a recipient of life. That is why man, from his own
hereditary evil, reacts against God. On the other
hand, so far as he believes that ail his life is from
God, and every good of life is from the action of
God, and every evil of life from man's reaction,
just so does reaction partake of action, and
40

56. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [68,69
man acts with God as if from himself. The
equilibrium of aH things is from action together
with reaction, and everything must be in equi­
librium. These things have been pointed out lest
man should believe that he ascends to God from
himself, and not from the Lord.
THE DIVINE FILLS ALL THE SPACES OF
THE UNIVERSE, APART FROM SPACE
69. Nature has two properties, SPACE and TIME.
In the natural world man forms from these his
considered ideas, and from them his understanding.
Should he remain in them and not lift his mind
above, it is impossible for him to perceive anything
spiritual and Divine anywhere; for he surrounds
them with ideas which draw (their quality) from
space and time, and to the extent he does this, so
the illumination of his understanding becomes
altogether natura1. To think from this sort of
reasoning about spiritual and Divine things, is
just as if from the darkness of night one were to
think of those things which are visible only in
daylight. This is the source of Naturalism. But
he who has the wit to raise his mind above those
considered ideas, limited by space and time, passes
out of darkness into light, and discerns spiritual
and Divine things, and at length is sensible of
what is in them and from them. Then from that
light he dispels the darkness of his natural
illumination, and removes its errors from the
centre of his understanding to the sides. Every
man, possessed of understanding, can, and also
actuaHy does, think above these properties of
nature; and then affirrns and sees that the Divine,
4I

57. 69, 70] DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM
because omnipresent, is not in space. He is also
able to affirrn and see the things mentioned above ;
but, if he denies the Divine Omnipresence, and
ascribes ail things to nature, he has no desire to
be elevated, although he is able.
70. These two properties of nature mentioned
above, namely space and time, are laid aside by
ail who die and become angels ; for they then
enter into spiritual light, in which the abjects of
thought are truths, and the abjects of sight resemble
those in the natural world, but are correspondent
to their thoughts. These truths, of which they think,
draw absolutely nothing from space and time; but
what they see does indeed appear just as in space
and time, but the angels never think from these
(properties). The reason is, that spaces and times
there are not fixed as in the natural world, but are
changed according ta the states of their life. On
this account, instead of space and time entering
into the ideas of their thought, they think of
states of life, such things as relate ta states of
love instead of spaces, such as have reference ta
states of wisdom instead of times. From this it
is that spiritual thought and also speech therefrom
differ sa completely from natural thought and
speech, as ta have nothing in common except sa
far as the interiors of things are concerned, which
things are ail spiritual: of which difference more
will be said elsewhere. Now, since the angels have
no thoughts of space and time, but, instead, of
states of life, it is clear that they do not know
what is meant by saying that the Divine fills
spaces, for they have no idea of spaces; but they
understand perfectly clearly when, without any
such idea, it is said that the Divine fiUs aU things.
42

58. DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM [7 1 ,7 2
71. Ta show that the man of altogether natural
outlook has the idea of space in his contemplation
of spiritual and Divine things, and the man of
spiritual vision has no such idea, let this serve for
an example. The former's thoughts come through
ideas acquired from the abjects of his sight, ail of
which have form partaking of length, breadth,­
and height, and shape determined by them, either
angular or round. These are manifestly present in
the ideas of his thought about things visible on
earth, and, also, about invisible things, as, for
instance, civil and moral affairs. It is true he is
unconscious of these things, but they are con­
stantly there attendant on them. How different
the spiritual man, especiaIly an angel of heaven !
His thought has no trace of form and shape,
deriving anything from the length, breadth, and
height of space, but is wholly from the state of a
thing arising from the state of its life. So, he thinks
of the good of a thing from the good of its life instead
of the length of space, he thinks of the truth of a
thing from the truth of its life instead of breadth, and
of their degrees instead of height. Thus he thinks
from the correspondence, which the spiritual and the
natural bear ta each other. l t is from this correspon­
dence in the Ward that length indicates the good of
a thing, breadth the truth of a thing, and height the
degrees of them. From this it is evident that an
angel of heaven is absolutely unable ta think other­
wise, when it concerns Divine Omnipresence, than
that the Divinefllls all thingsapartfromspace. What
an angel thinks, that is truth, because Divine Wisdom
is the light "vhich illuminates his understanding.
72. This is the basic thought concerning God;
for without it, the things ta be related concerning
c* 43

59. 72 ,73] DIVINE LOVE AND WI5DOM
the creation of the universe by God-Man, His
Providence, Omnipotence, Omnipresence, and
Omniscience, can certainly be understood, but just
as surely cannot be retained in the mind; because
the altogether natural man, while he understands
those things, is continually slipping back into his
life's love, which is that of his will. This love
dissipates them and plunges his thought in space,
from which cornes the illumination, which he styles
rational, quite uriaware that his denials are the
measure of his irrationality. That such is the case,
may be confirmed by the idea entertained con­
cerning this truth, GOD 15 MAN. l beg you to read
carefuIly, n. II-13 above, and what has been
written after; then you will understand that it is
so. But if you allow your thought to fail back
into the natural illumination which draws its
quality from space, will not these truths appear
paradoxical? And if you let it fall far, you will
reject them. This is the reason for saying that the
Divine fills aIl the spaces of the universe, and for
avoiding saying that God-Man does so. For if this
were said, the merely natural iilumination would
not favour it, but it would support the principle
that the Divine fills them, because it agrees with
the teachings of the theologians, that God is
omnipresent, and hears and knows ail things.
(More on this matter may be seen above, n. 7-10.)
THE DIVINE, APART FROM TIME, 15 IN
ALL TIME
73. As the Divine, apart from space, is in aIl
space, so in the same way, apart from time, it is
in ail time; for not a thing peculiar to nature can be
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