Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share HHS04 68-86
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
HHS04 68-86
Click Here to Print Reading
68. EACH SOCIETY IN HEAVEN REFLECTS A SINGLE MAN.
I have frequently been permitted to see that each society of heaven reflects a single man, and is in the likeness of a man. There was a society into which several had insinuated themselves who knew how to counterfeit angels of light. These were hypocrites. When these were being separated from the angels I saw that the entire society appeared at first like a single indistinct body, then by degrees in a human form, but still indistinctly, and at last clearly as a man. Those that were in that man and made up the man were such as were in the good of that society; the others who were not in the man and did not make up the man were hypocrites; these were cast out and the former were retained; and thus a separation was effected. Hypocrites are such as talk well and also do well, but have regard to themselves in everything. They talk as angels do about the Lord, heaven, love, and heavenly life, and also act rightly, so that they may appear to be what they profess to be. But their thinking is different; they believe nothing; and they wish good to none but themselves. Their doing good is for the sake of self, or if for the sake of others it is only for the appearance, and thus still for the sake of self.
[read more]
69. I have also been permitted to see that an entire angelic society, where the Lord is visibly present, appears as a one in the human form. There appeared on high towards the east something like a cloud, from glowing white becoming red, and with little stars round about, which was descending; and as it gradually descended it became brighter, and at last appeared in a perfect human form. The little stars round about the cloud were angels, who so appeared by virtue of light from the Lord.
70. It must be understood that although all in a heavenly society when seen together as one appear in the likeness of a man; yet no one society is just such a man as another. Societies differ from one another like the faces of different individuals of the same family, for the reason given above (see number 47), that is, they differ in accordance with the varieties of good in which they are and which determines their form. The societies of the inmost or highest heaven, and in the center there, are those that appear in the most perfect and beautiful human form.
71. It is worthy of mention that the greater the number in any society in heaven and the more these make a one, the more perfect is its human form, for variety arranged in a heavenly form is what constitutes perfection, as has been shown above (see number 56), and number gives variety. Moreover, every society of heaven increases in number daily, and as it increases it becomes more perfect. Thus not only the society becomes more perfect, but also heaven in general, because it is made up of societies. As heaven gains in perfection by increase of numbers, it is evident how mistaken those are who believe that heaven may be closed by becoming full; for the opposite is true, that it will never be closed, but is perfected by greater and greater fullness. Therefore, the angels desire nothing so much as to have new angel guests come to them.
72. Each society, when it appears as one whole is in the form of a man, for the reason that heaven as a whole has that form (as has been shown in the preceding chapter); moreover, in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the parts to the whole, and of lesser forms to the greatest. The lesser forms and parts of heaven are the societies of which it consists, which are also heavens in lesser form (see 51-58). This likeness is perpetual because in the heavens the goods of all are from a single love, that is, from a single origin. The single love, which is the origin of the good of all in heaven, is love to the Lord from the Lord. It is from this that the entire heaven in general, each society less generally, and each angel in particular, is a likeness of the Lord, as has been shown above (see number 58).
73. THEREFORE EVERY ANGEL IS IN A COMPLETE HUMAN FORM.
In the two preceding chapters it has been shown that heaven in its whole complex, and likewise each society in heaven, reflects a single man. From the sequence of reasons there set forth it follows that this is equally true of each angel. As heaven is a man in largest form, and a society of heaven in a less form, so is an angel in least. For in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the whole in the part and of the part in the whole. This is so for the reason that heaven is a common sharing, for it shares all it has with each one, and each one receives all he has from that sharing. Because an angel is thus a recipient he is a heaven in least form, as shown above in its chapter; and a man also, so far as he receives heaven, is a recipient, a heaven, and an angel (see above, number 57). This is thus described in the Apocalypse:-
He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (21 verse 17).
“Jerusalem” means here the Lord’s church, and in a more eminent sense, heaven;[1] the “wall” means truth, which is a defence against the assault of falsities and evils;[2] “a hundred and forty and four” means all goods and truths in the complex;[3] “measure” means what a thing is,[4] a “man” means one in whom are goods and truths in general and in particular, thus in whom is heaven. And as it is from this that an angel is a man, it is said “the measure of a man, which is that of an angel.” This is the spiritual meaning of these words. Without that meaning how could it be seen that “the wall of the Holy Jerusalem” is “the measure of a man, which is that of an angel?”[5]
[1] “Jerusalem” means the church (see numbers 402, 3654, 9166)
[2] The “wall” means truth defending against the assault of falsities and evils (see number 6419).
[3] “Twelve” means all truths and goods in the complex (see numbers 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913).
Likewise “seventy-two,” and “a hundred and forty-four,” since this comes from twelve multiplied into itself (see number 7973).
All numbers in the Word signify things (see numbers 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265).
Multiplied numbers have a like signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication (see numbers 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).
[4] “Measure” in the Word signifies the quality of a thing in respect to truth and good (see numbers 3104, 9603).
[5] In regard to the spiritual or internal sense of the Word see the explanation of The White Horse in the Apocalypse, and the Appendix to The Heavenly Doctrine.
74. Let us now turn to experience. That angels are human forms, or men, has been seen by me a thousand times. I have talked with them as man with man, sometimes with one, sometimes with many together; and I have seen nothing whatever in their form different from the human form; and have occasionally been surprised to find them such. And that this might not be said to be a delusion or a vision of fancy, I have been permitted to see angels when fully awake or in possession of all my bodily senses, and in a state of clear perception. And I have often told them that men in the Christian world are in such blind ignorance in regard to angels and spirits as to believe them to be minds without form, even pure thoughts, of which they have no idea except as something ethereal in which there is some vitality. And as they thus ascribe to angels nothing human except a thinking faculty, they believe that having no eyes they do not see, having no ears they do not hear, and having no mouth or tongue they do not speak. [2] To this the angels replied that they are aware that such a belief is held by many in the world, and is prevalent among the learned, and to their surprise, even among the clergy. The reason, they said, is that the learned, who were the leaders and who first concocted such an idea of angels and spirits, conceived of them from the sense-conceptions of the external man; and those who think from these, and not from interior light and from the general idea implanted in everyone, must needs fabricate such notions, since the sense-conceptions of the external man take in only what belongs to nature, and nothing above nature, thus nothing whatever of the spiritual world.[1] From these leaders as guides this falsity of thought about angels extended to others who did not think from themselves but adopted the thoughts of their leaders; and those who first take their thoughts from others and make that thought their belief, and then view it with their own understanding, cannot easily recede from it, and are therefore in most cases satisfied with confirming it. [3] The angels said, furthermore, that the simple in faith and heart have no such idea about angels, but think of them as the men of heaven, and for the reason that they have not extinguished by learning what is implanted in them from heaven, and have no conception of anything apart from form. This is why angels in churches, whether sculptured or painted, are always depicted as men. In respect to this insight from heaven they said that it is the Divine flowing into such as are in the good of faith and life.
[1] Unless man is raised above the sense-conceptions of the external man he has vary little wisdom (see number 5089).
The wise man thinks above these sense-conceptions (see numbers 5089, 5094).
When man is raised above these, he comes into clearer light, and finally into heavenly light (see numbers 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922).
Elevation and withdrawal from these was known to the ancients (see number 6313).
75. From all my experience, which is now of many years, I am able to say and affirm that angels are wholly men in form, having faces, eyes, ears, bodies, arms, hands, and feet; that they see and hear one another, and talk together, and in a word lack nothing whatever that belongs to men except that they are not clothed in material bodies. I have seen them in their own light, which exceeds by many degrees the noonday light of the world, and in that light all their features could be seen more distinctly and clearly than the faces of men are seen on the earth. It has also been granted me to see an angel of the inmost heaven. He had a more radiant and resplendent face than the angels of the lower heavens. I observed him attentively, and he had a human form in all completeness.
76. But it must be remembered that a man cannot see angels with his bodily eyes, but only with the eyes of the spirit within him,[1] because his spirit is in the spiritual world, and all things of the body are in the natural world. Like sees like from being like. Moreover, as the bodily organ of sight, which is the eye, is too gross, as everyone knows, to see even the smaller things of nature except through magnifying glasses, still less can it see what is above the sphere of nature, as all things in the spiritual world are. Nevertheless these things can be seen by man when he has been withdrawn from the sight of the body, and the sight of his spirit has been opened; and this can be effected instantly whenever it is the pleasure of the Lord that man should see these things; and in that case man does not know but what he is seeing them with his bodily eyes. Thus were angels seen by Abraham, Lot, Manoah, and the prophets; and thus, too, the Lord was seen by the disciples after the resurrection; and in the same way angels have been seen by me. Because the prophets saw in this way they were called “seers,” and were said “to have their eyes opened” (1 Sam. 9 verse 8; Num. 24 verse 3); and enabling them to see thus was called “opening their eyes,” as with Elisha’s servant, of whom we read:
Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray Thee open his eyes that he may see; and Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6 verse 17).
[1] In respect to his interiors man is a spirit (see number 1594).
And that spirit is the man himself, and it is from that spirit that the body lived (see numbers 447, 4622, 6054).
77. Good spirits, with whom I have spoken about this matter, have been deeply grieved at such ignorance in the church about the condition of heaven and of spirits and angels; and in their displeasure they charged me to declare positively that they are not formless minds nor ethereal breaths, but are men in very form, and see, hear, and feel equally with those who are in this world.[1]
[1] Inasmuch as each angel is a recipient of Divine order from the Lord, he is in a human form, perfect and beautiful in the measure of his reception (see numbers 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 3804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879, 10177, 10594).
It is by means of Divine truth that order exists; and Divine good is the essential of order (see numbers 2451, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555).
78. IT IS FROM THE LORD’S DIVINE HUMAN THAT HEAVEN AS A WHOLE AND IN PART REFLECTS MAN.
That it is from the Lord’s Divine Human that heaven as a whole and in part reflects man, follows as a conclusion from all that has been stated and shown in the preceding chapters, namely: (i) That the God of heaven is the Lord. (ii) It is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven. (iii) Heaven consists of innumerable societies; and each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest form. (iv) All heaven in the aggregate reflects a single man. (v) Each society in the heavens reflects a single man. (vi) Therefore every angel is in a complete human form. All this leads to the conclusion that as it is the Divine that makes heaven, heaven must be human in form. That this Divine is the Lord’s Divine Human can be seen still more clearly, because in a compendium, in what has been collected, brought together and collated from the Arcana Coelestia and placed as a supplement at the end of this chapter. That the Lord’s Human is Divine, and that it is not true that His Human is not Divine, as those with in the church believe, may also be seen in the same extracts, also in the chapter on The Lord, in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, at the end.
79. That this is true has been proved to me by much experience, about which something shall now be said. No angel in the heavens ever perceives the Divine as being in any other than a human form; and what is remarkable, those in the higher heavens are unable to think of the Divine in any other way. The necessity of thinking in this way comes from the Divine itself that flows in, and also from the form of heaven in harmony with which their thoughts spread forth. For every thought of an angel spreads forth into heaven; and the angels have intelligence and wisdom in the measure of that extension. It is in consequence of this that all in heaven acknowledge the Lord, because only in Him does the Divine Human exist. Not only have I been told all this by angels, but when elevated into the inner sphere of heaven I have been able to perceive it. From this it is evident that the wiser the angels are the more clearly they perceive this truth; and it is from this that the Lord is seen by them; for the Lord is seen in a Divine angelic form, which is the human form, by those who acknowledge and believe in a visible Divine Being, but not by those who believe in an invisible Divine. For the former can see their Divine Being, but the latter cannot.
80. Because the angels have no perception of an invisible Divine, which they call a Divine devoid of form, but perceive only a visible Divine in human form, they are accustomed to say that the Lord alone is man, and that it is from Him that they are men, and that each one is a man in the measure of his reception of the Lord. By receiving the Lord they understand receiving good and truth which are from Him, since the Lord is in His good and in His truth, and this they call wisdom and intelligence. Everyone knows, they say, that intelligence and wisdom make man, and not a face without these. The truth of this is made evident from the appearance of the angels of the interior heavens, for these, being in good and truth from the Lord and in consequent wisdom and intelligence, are in a most beautiful and most perfect human form; while the angels of the lower heavens are in human form of less perfection and beauty. On the other hand, those who are in hell appear in the light of heaven hardly as men, but rather as monsters, since they are not in good and truth but in evil and falsity, and consequently in the opposites of wisdom and intelligence. For this reason their life is not called life, but spiritual death.
81. Because heaven as a whole and in part, from the Lord’s Divine Human, reflects a man, the angels say that they are in the Lord; and some say that they are in His body, meaning that they are in the good of His love. And this the Lord Himself teaches, saying,
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in Me. For apart from Me ye can do nothing. Abide in My love. If ye keep My commandments ye shall abide in My love (John 15 verses 4 to 10).
82. Because such a perception of the Divine exists in the heavens, to think of God as in a human form is implanted in every man who receives any influx from heaven. Thus did the ancients think of Him; and thus do the moderns think of Him both outside of the church and within it. The simple see Him in thought as the Ancient One in shining light. But this insight has been extinguished in all those that by self-intelligence and by a life of evil have rejected influx from heaven. Those that have extinguished it by self-intelligence prefer an invisible God; while those that have extinguished it by a life of evil prefer no God. Neither of these are aware that such an insight exists, because they do not have it; and yet it is the Divine heavenly itself that primarily flows into man out of heaven, because man is born for heaven, and no one without a conception of a Divine can enter heaven.
83. For this reason he that has no conception of heaven, that is, no conception of the Divine from which heaven is, cannot be raised up to the first threshold of heaven. As soon as such a one draws near to heaven a resistance and a strong repulsion are perceived; and for the reason that his interiors, which should be receptive of heaven, are closed up from their not being in the form of heaven, and the nearer he comes to heaven the more tightly are they closed up. Such is the lot of those within the church who deny the Lord, and of those who, like the Socinians, deny His Divinity. But the lot of those who are born out of the church, and who are ignorant of the Lord because they do not have the Word, will be described hereafter.
84. That the men of old time had an idea of the Divine as human is evident from the manifestation of the Divine to Abraham, Lot, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah and his wife, and others. These saw God as a man, but nevertheless adored Him as the God of the universe, calling Him the God of heaven and earth, and Jehovah. That it was the Lord who was seen by Abraham He Himself teaches in John (8 verse 56); and that it was He who was seen by the rest is evident from His words:
No one hath seen the Father, nor heard His voice, nor seen His form (John 1 verse 18; 5 verse 37).
85. But that God is man can scarcely be comprehended by those who judge all things from the sense-conceptions of the external man, for the sensual man must needs think of the Divine from the world and what is therein, and thus of a Divine and spiritual man in the same way as of a corporeal and natural man. From this he concludes that if God were a man He would be as large as the universe; and if He ruled heaven and earth it would be done through many others, after the manner of kings in the world. If told that in heaven there is no extension of space as in the world, he would not in the least comprehend it. For he that thinks only from nature and its light must needs think in accord with such extension as appears before his eyes. But it is the greatest mistake to think in this way about heaven. Extension there is not like extension in the world. In the world extension is determinate, and thus measurable; but in heaven it is not determinate, and thus not measurable. But extension in heaven will be further treated of hereafter in connection with space and time in the spiritual world. Furthermore, everyone knows how far the sight of the eye extends, namely, to the sun and to the stars, which are so remote; and whoever thinks deeply knows that the internal sight, which is of thought, has a still wider extension, and that a yet more interior sight must extend more widely still. What then must be said of Divine sight, which is the inmost and highest of all? Because thoughts have such extension, all things of heaven are shared with everyone there, so, too, are all things of the Divine which makes heaven and fills it, as has been shown in the preceding chapters.
86. Those in heaven wonder that men can believe themselves to be intelligent who, in thinking of God, think about something invisible, that is, inconceivable under any form; and that they can call those who think differently unintelligent and simple, when the reverse is the truth. They add, “Let those who thus believe themselves to be intelligent examine themselves, whether they do not look upon nature as God, some the nature that is before their eyes, others the invisible side of nature; and whether they are not so blind as not to know what God is, what an angel is, what a spirit is, what their soul is which is to live after death, what the life of heaven in man is, and many other things that constitute intelligence; when yet those whom they call simple know all these things in their way, having an idea of their God that He is the Divine in a human form, of an angel that he is a heavenly man, of their soul that is to live after death that it is like an angel, and of the life of heaven in man that it is living in accord with the Divine commandments.” Such the angels call intelligent and fitted for heaven; but the others, on the other hand, they call not intelligent.
EXTRACTS FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA RELATING TO THE LORD AND HIS DIVINE HUMAN.
[2] The Divine was in the Lord from very conception (see numbers 4641, 4963, 5041, 5157, 6716, 10125).
The Lord alone had a Divine seed (see number 1438).
His soul was Jehovah (see numbers 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025).
Thus the Lord’s inmost was the Divine Itself, while the clothing was from the mother (see number 5041).
The Divine Itself was the Being [Esse] of the Lord’s life, and from this the Human afterwards went forth and became the outgo [existere] from that Being [Esse] (see numbers 3194, 3210, 10269, 10738).
[3] Within the church where the Word is and by it the Lord is known, the Lord’s Divine ought not to be denied, nor the Holy that goes forth from Him (see number 2359).
Those within the church who do not acknowledge the Lord have no conjunction with the Divine; but it is otherwise with those outside of the church (see number 10205).
The essential of the church is to acknowledge the Lord’s Divine and His union with the Father (see numbers 10083, 10112, 10370, 10730, 10738, 10816-10820).
[4] The glorification of the Lord is treated of in the Word in many passages (see number 10828).
And in the internal sense of the Word everywhere (see numbers 2249, 2523, 3245).
The Lord glorified His Human, but not the Divine, since this was glorified in itself (see number 10057).
The Lord came into the world to glorify His Human (see numbers 3637, 4287, 9315).
The Lord glorified His Human by means of the Divine love that was in Him from conception (see number 4727).
The Lord’s life in the world was His love towards the whole human race (see number 2253).
The Lord’s love transcends all human understanding (see number 2077).
The Lord saved the human race by glorifying His Human (see numbers 4180, 10019; 10152, 10655, 10659 10828).
Otherwise the whole human race would have perished in eternal death (see number 1676).
The state of the Lord’s glorification and humiliation (see numbers 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866).
Glorification in respect to the Lord is the uniting of His Human with the Divine; and to glorify is to make Divine (see numbers 1603, 10053, 10828).
When the Lord glorified His Human He put off everything human that was from the mother, until at last He was not her son (see numbers 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10830).
[5] The Son of God from eternity was the Divine truth in heaven (see numbers 2628, 2798, 2803, 3195, 3704).
When the Lord was in the world He made His Human Divine truth from the Divine good that was in Him (see numbers 2803, 3194, 3195, 3210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199).
The Lord then arranged all things in Himself into a heavenly form, which is in accord with Divine truth (see numbers 1928, 3633).
For this reason the Lord was called the Word, which is Divine truth (see numbers 2533, 2813, 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712).
The Lord alone had perception and thought from Himself, and this was above all angelic perception and thought (see numbers 1904, 1914, 1919).
The Divine truth which was Himself, the Lord united with Divine good which was in Himself (see numbers 10047, 10052, 10076). The union was reciprocal (see numbers 2004, 10067).
[6] In passing out of the world the Lord also made His Human Divine good (see numbers 3194, 3210, 6864, 7499, 8724, 9199, 10076).
This is what is meant by His coming forth from the Father and returning to the Father (see numbers 3194, 3210).
Thus He became one with the Father (see numbers 2751, 3704, 4766).
Since that union Divine truth goes forth from the Lord (see numbers 3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 7499, 8127, 8241, 9199, 9398). How Divine truth goes forth, illustrated (see numbers 7270, 9407).
It was from His own power that the Lord united the Human with the Divine (see numbers 1616, 1749, 1752, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2523, 3141, 5005, 5045, 6716).
From this it is clear that the Lord’s Human was not like the human of any other man, in that it was conceived from the Divine Itself (see numbers 10125, 10825, 10826).
His union with the Father, from whom was His soul, was not as between two persons, but as between soul and body (see numbers 3737, 10824).
[7] The most ancient people could not worship the Divine being [esse], but could worship only the Divine Outgo [existere], which is the Divine Human; therefore the Lord came into the world in order to become the Divine Existere from the Divine Esse (see numbers 4687, 5321).
The ancients acknowledged the Divine because He appeared to them in a human form, and this was the Divine Human (see numbers 5110, 5663, 6845, 10737).
The Infinite Being [Esse] could flow into heaven with the angels and with men only by means of the Divine Human (see numbers 1676, 1990, 2016, 2034).
In heaven no other Divine than the Divine Human is perceived (see numbers 6475, 9303, 10067, 10267).
The Divine Human from eternity was the Divine truth in heaven and the Divine passing through heaven; thus it was the Divine Outgo [existere] which afterwards in the Lord became the Divine Being [Esse] per se, from which is the Divine Existere in heaven (see numbers 3061, 6280, 6880, 10579).
What the state of heaven was before the Lord’s coming (numbers 6371-6373).
The Divine was not perceptible except when it passed through heaven (see numbers 6982, 6996, 7004).
[8] The inhabitants of all the earth worship the Divine under a human form, that is, the Lord (see numbers 6700, 8541-8547, 10736-10738).
They rejoice when they hear that God actually became Man (see number 9361).
All who are in good and who worship the Divine under the human form, are received by the Lord (see number 9359).
God cannot be thought of except in human form; and what is incomprehensible does not fall into any idea, so neither into belief (see numbers 9359, 9972).
Man is able to worship that of which he has some idea, but not that of which he has no idea (see numbers 4733, 5110, 5663, 7211, 9356, 10067, 10267).
Therefore the Divine is worshiped under a human form by most of the inhabitants of the entire globe, and this is the effect of influx from heaven (see number 10159).
All who are in good in regard to their life, when they think of the Lord, think of the Divine Human, and not of the Human separate from the Divine; it is otherwise with those who are not in good in regard to their life (see numbers 2326, 4724, 4731, 4766, 8878, 9193, 9198).
In the church at this day those that are in evil in regard to their life, and those that are in faith separate from charity, think of the Human of the Lord apart from the Divine, and do not even comprehend what the Divine Human is,-why they do not (see numbers 3212, 3241,4689, 4692, 4724, 4731, 5321, 6872, 8878, 9193, 9198).
The Lord’s Human is Divine because it is from the Being [Esse] of the Father, and this was His soul,–illustrated by a father’s likeness in children (see numbers 10269, 10372, 10823).
Also because it was from the Divine love, which was the very Being [Esse] of His life from conception (see number 6872).
Every man is such as his love is, and is his love (see numbers 6872, 10177, 10284). The Lord made all His Human, both internal and external, Divine (see numbers 1603, 1815, 1902, 1926, 2083, 2093).
Therefore, differently from any man, He rose again as to His whole body (see numbers 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825).
[9] That the Lord’s Human is Divine is acknowledged from His omnipresence in the Holy Supper (see numbers 2343, 2359).
Also from His transfiguration before His three disciples (see number 3212).
Also from the Word of the Old Testament, in that He is called God (see number 10154); and is called Jehovah (see numbers 1603, 1736, 1815, 1902, 2921, 3035, 5110, 6281, 6303, 8864, 9194, 9315).
In the sense of the letter a distinction is made between the Father and the Son, that is, between Jehovah and the Lord, but not in the internal sense of the Word, in which the angels of heaven are (see number 3035).
In the Christian world the Lord’s Human has been declared not to be Divine; this was done in a council for the pope’s sake, that he might be acknowledged as the Lord’s vicar (see number 4738).
[10] Christians were examined in the other life in regard to their idea of one God, and it was found they held an idea of three gods (see numbers 2329, 5256, 10736-10738, 10821).
A Divine trinity or trine in one person, constituting one God, is conceivable, but not in three persons (see numbers 10738, 10821, 10824).
A Divine trine in the Lord is acknowledged in heaven (see numbers 14, 15, 1729, 2004, 5256, 9303).
The trine in the Lord is the Divine Itself, called the Father, the Divine Human, called the Son, and the Divine going forth, called the Holy Spirit and this Divine trine is a One (see numbers 2149, 2156, 2288, 2319, 2329, 2447, 3704, 6993, 7182, 10738, 10822, 10823).
The Lord Himself teaches that the Father and He are One (see numbers 1729, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2751, 3704, 3736, 4766); also that the Holy Divine goes forth from Him and is His (see numbers 3969, 4673, 6788, 6993, 7499, 8127, 8302, 9199, 9228, 9229, 9264, 9407, 9818, 9820, 10330).
[11] The Divine Human flows into heaven and makes heaven (see number 3038). The Lord is the all in heaven and is the life of heaven (see numbers 7211, 9128). In the angels the Lord dwells in what is His own (see numbers 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157).
Consequently those who are in heaven are in the Lord (see numbers 3637, 3638).
The Lord’s conjunction with angels is measured by their reception of the good of love and charity from Him (see numbers 904, 4198, 4205, 4211, 4220, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682, 9683, 10106, 10810).
The entire heaven has reference to the Lord (see numbers 551, 552). The Lord is the common center of heaven (see numbers 3633, 3641).
All in heaven turn themselves to the Lord, who is above the heavens (see numbers 9828, 10130, 10189).
Nevertheless angels do not turn themselves to the Lord, but the Lord turns them to Himself (see number 10189).
It is not a presence of angels with the Lord, but the Lord’s presence with angels (see number 9415).
In heaven there is no conjunction with the Divine Itself, but conjunction with the Divine Human (see numbers 4211, 4724, 5663).
[12] Heaven corresponds to the Divine Human of the Lord; consequently heaven in general is as a single man, and for this reason heaven is called the Greatest Man (see numbers 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745, 4625).
The Lord is the Only Man, and those only are men who receive the Divine from Him (see number 1894).
So far as they receive are they men and images of Him (see number 8547).
Therefore angels are forms of love and charity in human form, and this from the Lord (see numbers 3804, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177).
[13] The whole heaven is the Lord’s (see numbers 2751, 7086).
He has all power in the heavens and on earth (see numbers 1607, 10089, 10827).
As the Lord rules the whole heaven He also rules all things depending thereon, thus all things in the world (see numbers 2025, 2026, 4523, 4524).
The Lord alone has the power to remove the hells, to withhold from evils, and to hold in good, thus to save (see number 10019).
[/read]
View all episodes
By The Third Round
5
44 ratings
Click Here to Print Reading
68. EACH SOCIETY IN HEAVEN REFLECTS A SINGLE MAN.
I have frequently been permitted to see that each society of heaven reflects a single man, and is in the likeness of a man. There was a society into which several had insinuated themselves who knew how to counterfeit angels of light. These were hypocrites. When these were being separated from the angels I saw that the entire society appeared at first like a single indistinct body, then by degrees in a human form, but still indistinctly, and at last clearly as a man. Those that were in that man and made up the man were such as were in the good of that society; the others who were not in the man and did not make up the man were hypocrites; these were cast out and the former were retained; and thus a separation was effected. Hypocrites are such as talk well and also do well, but have regard to themselves in everything. They talk as angels do about the Lord, heaven, love, and heavenly life, and also act rightly, so that they may appear to be what they profess to be. But their thinking is different; they believe nothing; and they wish good to none but themselves. Their doing good is for the sake of self, or if for the sake of others it is only for the appearance, and thus still for the sake of self.
[read more]
69. I have also been permitted to see that an entire angelic society, where the Lord is visibly present, appears as a one in the human form. There appeared on high towards the east something like a cloud, from glowing white becoming red, and with little stars round about, which was descending; and as it gradually descended it became brighter, and at last appeared in a perfect human form. The little stars round about the cloud were angels, who so appeared by virtue of light from the Lord.
70. It must be understood that although all in a heavenly society when seen together as one appear in the likeness of a man; yet no one society is just such a man as another. Societies differ from one another like the faces of different individuals of the same family, for the reason given above (see number 47), that is, they differ in accordance with the varieties of good in which they are and which determines their form. The societies of the inmost or highest heaven, and in the center there, are those that appear in the most perfect and beautiful human form.
71. It is worthy of mention that the greater the number in any society in heaven and the more these make a one, the more perfect is its human form, for variety arranged in a heavenly form is what constitutes perfection, as has been shown above (see number 56), and number gives variety. Moreover, every society of heaven increases in number daily, and as it increases it becomes more perfect. Thus not only the society becomes more perfect, but also heaven in general, because it is made up of societies. As heaven gains in perfection by increase of numbers, it is evident how mistaken those are who believe that heaven may be closed by becoming full; for the opposite is true, that it will never be closed, but is perfected by greater and greater fullness. Therefore, the angels desire nothing so much as to have new angel guests come to them.
72. Each society, when it appears as one whole is in the form of a man, for the reason that heaven as a whole has that form (as has been shown in the preceding chapter); moreover, in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the parts to the whole, and of lesser forms to the greatest. The lesser forms and parts of heaven are the societies of which it consists, which are also heavens in lesser form (see 51-58). This likeness is perpetual because in the heavens the goods of all are from a single love, that is, from a single origin. The single love, which is the origin of the good of all in heaven, is love to the Lord from the Lord. It is from this that the entire heaven in general, each society less generally, and each angel in particular, is a likeness of the Lord, as has been shown above (see number 58).
73. THEREFORE EVERY ANGEL IS IN A COMPLETE HUMAN FORM.
In the two preceding chapters it has been shown that heaven in its whole complex, and likewise each society in heaven, reflects a single man. From the sequence of reasons there set forth it follows that this is equally true of each angel. As heaven is a man in largest form, and a society of heaven in a less form, so is an angel in least. For in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the whole in the part and of the part in the whole. This is so for the reason that heaven is a common sharing, for it shares all it has with each one, and each one receives all he has from that sharing. Because an angel is thus a recipient he is a heaven in least form, as shown above in its chapter; and a man also, so far as he receives heaven, is a recipient, a heaven, and an angel (see above, number 57). This is thus described in the Apocalypse:-
He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that of an angel (21 verse 17).
“Jerusalem” means here the Lord’s church, and in a more eminent sense, heaven;[1] the “wall” means truth, which is a defence against the assault of falsities and evils;[2] “a hundred and forty and four” means all goods and truths in the complex;[3] “measure” means what a thing is,[4] a “man” means one in whom are goods and truths in general and in particular, thus in whom is heaven. And as it is from this that an angel is a man, it is said “the measure of a man, which is that of an angel.” This is the spiritual meaning of these words. Without that meaning how could it be seen that “the wall of the Holy Jerusalem” is “the measure of a man, which is that of an angel?”[5]
[1] “Jerusalem” means the church (see numbers 402, 3654, 9166)
[2] The “wall” means truth defending against the assault of falsities and evils (see number 6419).
[3] “Twelve” means all truths and goods in the complex (see numbers 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913).
Likewise “seventy-two,” and “a hundred and forty-four,” since this comes from twelve multiplied into itself (see number 7973).
All numbers in the Word signify things (see numbers 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265).
Multiplied numbers have a like signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication (see numbers 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).
[4] “Measure” in the Word signifies the quality of a thing in respect to truth and good (see numbers 3104, 9603).
[5] In regard to the spiritual or internal sense of the Word see the explanation of The White Horse in the Apocalypse, and the Appendix to The Heavenly Doctrine.
74. Let us now turn to experience. That angels are human forms, or men, has been seen by me a thousand times. I have talked with them as man with man, sometimes with one, sometimes with many together; and I have seen nothing whatever in their form different from the human form; and have occasionally been surprised to find them such. And that this might not be said to be a delusion or a vision of fancy, I have been permitted to see angels when fully awake or in possession of all my bodily senses, and in a state of clear perception. And I have often told them that men in the Christian world are in such blind ignorance in regard to angels and spirits as to believe them to be minds without form, even pure thoughts, of which they have no idea except as something ethereal in which there is some vitality. And as they thus ascribe to angels nothing human except a thinking faculty, they believe that having no eyes they do not see, having no ears they do not hear, and having no mouth or tongue they do not speak. [2] To this the angels replied that they are aware that such a belief is held by many in the world, and is prevalent among the learned, and to their surprise, even among the clergy. The reason, they said, is that the learned, who were the leaders and who first concocted such an idea of angels and spirits, conceived of them from the sense-conceptions of the external man; and those who think from these, and not from interior light and from the general idea implanted in everyone, must needs fabricate such notions, since the sense-conceptions of the external man take in only what belongs to nature, and nothing above nature, thus nothing whatever of the spiritual world.[1] From these leaders as guides this falsity of thought about angels extended to others who did not think from themselves but adopted the thoughts of their leaders; and those who first take their thoughts from others and make that thought their belief, and then view it with their own understanding, cannot easily recede from it, and are therefore in most cases satisfied with confirming it. [3] The angels said, furthermore, that the simple in faith and heart have no such idea about angels, but think of them as the men of heaven, and for the reason that they have not extinguished by learning what is implanted in them from heaven, and have no conception of anything apart from form. This is why angels in churches, whether sculptured or painted, are always depicted as men. In respect to this insight from heaven they said that it is the Divine flowing into such as are in the good of faith and life.
[1] Unless man is raised above the sense-conceptions of the external man he has vary little wisdom (see number 5089).
The wise man thinks above these sense-conceptions (see numbers 5089, 5094).
When man is raised above these, he comes into clearer light, and finally into heavenly light (see numbers 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407, 9730, 9922).
Elevation and withdrawal from these was known to the ancients (see number 6313).
75. From all my experience, which is now of many years, I am able to say and affirm that angels are wholly men in form, having faces, eyes, ears, bodies, arms, hands, and feet; that they see and hear one another, and talk together, and in a word lack nothing whatever that belongs to men except that they are not clothed in material bodies. I have seen them in their own light, which exceeds by many degrees the noonday light of the world, and in that light all their features could be seen more distinctly and clearly than the faces of men are seen on the earth. It has also been granted me to see an angel of the inmost heaven. He had a more radiant and resplendent face than the angels of the lower heavens. I observed him attentively, and he had a human form in all completeness.
76. But it must be remembered that a man cannot see angels with his bodily eyes, but only with the eyes of the spirit within him,[1] because his spirit is in the spiritual world, and all things of the body are in the natural world. Like sees like from being like. Moreover, as the bodily organ of sight, which is the eye, is too gross, as everyone knows, to see even the smaller things of nature except through magnifying glasses, still less can it see what is above the sphere of nature, as all things in the spiritual world are. Nevertheless these things can be seen by man when he has been withdrawn from the sight of the body, and the sight of his spirit has been opened; and this can be effected instantly whenever it is the pleasure of the Lord that man should see these things; and in that case man does not know but what he is seeing them with his bodily eyes. Thus were angels seen by Abraham, Lot, Manoah, and the prophets; and thus, too, the Lord was seen by the disciples after the resurrection; and in the same way angels have been seen by me. Because the prophets saw in this way they were called “seers,” and were said “to have their eyes opened” (1 Sam. 9 verse 8; Num. 24 verse 3); and enabling them to see thus was called “opening their eyes,” as with Elisha’s servant, of whom we read:
Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray Thee open his eyes that he may see; and Jehovah opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6 verse 17).
[1] In respect to his interiors man is a spirit (see number 1594).
And that spirit is the man himself, and it is from that spirit that the body lived (see numbers 447, 4622, 6054).
77. Good spirits, with whom I have spoken about this matter, have been deeply grieved at such ignorance in the church about the condition of heaven and of spirits and angels; and in their displeasure they charged me to declare positively that they are not formless minds nor ethereal breaths, but are men in very form, and see, hear, and feel equally with those who are in this world.[1]
[1] Inasmuch as each angel is a recipient of Divine order from the Lord, he is in a human form, perfect and beautiful in the measure of his reception (see numbers 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 3804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879, 10177, 10594).
It is by means of Divine truth that order exists; and Divine good is the essential of order (see numbers 2451, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555).
78. IT IS FROM THE LORD’S DIVINE HUMAN THAT HEAVEN AS A WHOLE AND IN PART REFLECTS MAN.
That it is from the Lord’s Divine Human that heaven as a whole and in part reflects man, follows as a conclusion from all that has been stated and shown in the preceding chapters, namely: (i) That the God of heaven is the Lord. (ii) It is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven. (iii) Heaven consists of innumerable societies; and each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest form. (iv) All heaven in the aggregate reflects a single man. (v) Each society in the heavens reflects a single man. (vi) Therefore every angel is in a complete human form. All this leads to the conclusion that as it is the Divine that makes heaven, heaven must be human in form. That this Divine is the Lord’s Divine Human can be seen still more clearly, because in a compendium, in what has been collected, brought together and collated from the Arcana Coelestia and placed as a supplement at the end of this chapter. That the Lord’s Human is Divine, and that it is not true that His Human is not Divine, as those with in the church believe, may also be seen in the same extracts, also in the chapter on The Lord, in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, at the end.
79. That this is true has been proved to me by much experience, about which something shall now be said. No angel in the heavens ever perceives the Divine as being in any other than a human form; and what is remarkable, those in the higher heavens are unable to think of the Divine in any other way. The necessity of thinking in this way comes from the Divine itself that flows in, and also from the form of heaven in harmony with which their thoughts spread forth. For every thought of an angel spreads forth into heaven; and the angels have intelligence and wisdom in the measure of that extension. It is in consequence of this that all in heaven acknowledge the Lord, because only in Him does the Divine Human exist. Not only have I been told all this by angels, but when elevated into the inner sphere of heaven I have been able to perceive it. From this it is evident that the wiser the angels are the more clearly they perceive this truth; and it is from this that the Lord is seen by them; for the Lord is seen in a Divine angelic form, which is the human form, by those who acknowledge and believe in a visible Divine Being, but not by those who believe in an invisible Divine. For the former can see their Divine Being, but the latter cannot.
80. Because the angels have no perception of an invisible Divine, which they call a Divine devoid of form, but perceive only a visible Divine in human form, they are accustomed to say that the Lord alone is man, and that it is from Him that they are men, and that each one is a man in the measure of his reception of the Lord. By receiving the Lord they understand receiving good and truth which are from Him, since the Lord is in His good and in His truth, and this they call wisdom and intelligence. Everyone knows, they say, that intelligence and wisdom make man, and not a face without these. The truth of this is made evident from the appearance of the angels of the interior heavens, for these, being in good and truth from the Lord and in consequent wisdom and intelligence, are in a most beautiful and most perfect human form; while the angels of the lower heavens are in human form of less perfection and beauty. On the other hand, those who are in hell appear in the light of heaven hardly as men, but rather as monsters, since they are not in good and truth but in evil and falsity, and consequently in the opposites of wisdom and intelligence. For this reason their life is not called life, but spiritual death.
81. Because heaven as a whole and in part, from the Lord’s Divine Human, reflects a man, the angels say that they are in the Lord; and some say that they are in His body, meaning that they are in the good of His love. And this the Lord Himself teaches, saying,
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in Me. For apart from Me ye can do nothing. Abide in My love. If ye keep My commandments ye shall abide in My love (John 15 verses 4 to 10).
82. Because such a perception of the Divine exists in the heavens, to think of God as in a human form is implanted in every man who receives any influx from heaven. Thus did the ancients think of Him; and thus do the moderns think of Him both outside of the church and within it. The simple see Him in thought as the Ancient One in shining light. But this insight has been extinguished in all those that by self-intelligence and by a life of evil have rejected influx from heaven. Those that have extinguished it by self-intelligence prefer an invisible God; while those that have extinguished it by a life of evil prefer no God. Neither of these are aware that such an insight exists, because they do not have it; and yet it is the Divine heavenly itself that primarily flows into man out of heaven, because man is born for heaven, and no one without a conception of a Divine can enter heaven.
83. For this reason he that has no conception of heaven, that is, no conception of the Divine from which heaven is, cannot be raised up to the first threshold of heaven. As soon as such a one draws near to heaven a resistance and a strong repulsion are perceived; and for the reason that his interiors, which should be receptive of heaven, are closed up from their not being in the form of heaven, and the nearer he comes to heaven the more tightly are they closed up. Such is the lot of those within the church who deny the Lord, and of those who, like the Socinians, deny His Divinity. But the lot of those who are born out of the church, and who are ignorant of the Lord because they do not have the Word, will be described hereafter.
84. That the men of old time had an idea of the Divine as human is evident from the manifestation of the Divine to Abraham, Lot, Joshua, Gideon, Manoah and his wife, and others. These saw God as a man, but nevertheless adored Him as the God of the universe, calling Him the God of heaven and earth, and Jehovah. That it was the Lord who was seen by Abraham He Himself teaches in John (8 verse 56); and that it was He who was seen by the rest is evident from His words:
No one hath seen the Father, nor heard His voice, nor seen His form (John 1 verse 18; 5 verse 37).
85. But that God is man can scarcely be comprehended by those who judge all things from the sense-conceptions of the external man, for the sensual man must needs think of the Divine from the world and what is therein, and thus of a Divine and spiritual man in the same way as of a corporeal and natural man. From this he concludes that if God were a man He would be as large as the universe; and if He ruled heaven and earth it would be done through many others, after the manner of kings in the world. If told that in heaven there is no extension of space as in the world, he would not in the least comprehend it. For he that thinks only from nature and its light must needs think in accord with such extension as appears before his eyes. But it is the greatest mistake to think in this way about heaven. Extension there is not like extension in the world. In the world extension is determinate, and thus measurable; but in heaven it is not determinate, and thus not measurable. But extension in heaven will be further treated of hereafter in connection with space and time in the spiritual world. Furthermore, everyone knows how far the sight of the eye extends, namely, to the sun and to the stars, which are so remote; and whoever thinks deeply knows that the internal sight, which is of thought, has a still wider extension, and that a yet more interior sight must extend more widely still. What then must be said of Divine sight, which is the inmost and highest of all? Because thoughts have such extension, all things of heaven are shared with everyone there, so, too, are all things of the Divine which makes heaven and fills it, as has been shown in the preceding chapters.
86. Those in heaven wonder that men can believe themselves to be intelligent who, in thinking of God, think about something invisible, that is, inconceivable under any form; and that they can call those who think differently unintelligent and simple, when the reverse is the truth. They add, “Let those who thus believe themselves to be intelligent examine themselves, whether they do not look upon nature as God, some the nature that is before their eyes, others the invisible side of nature; and whether they are not so blind as not to know what God is, what an angel is, what a spirit is, what their soul is which is to live after death, what the life of heaven in man is, and many other things that constitute intelligence; when yet those whom they call simple know all these things in their way, having an idea of their God that He is the Divine in a human form, of an angel that he is a heavenly man, of their soul that is to live after death that it is like an angel, and of the life of heaven in man that it is living in accord with the Divine commandments.” Such the angels call intelligent and fitted for heaven; but the others, on the other hand, they call not intelligent.
EXTRACTS FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA RELATING TO THE LORD AND HIS DIVINE HUMAN.
[2] The Divine was in the Lord from very conception (see numbers 4641, 4963, 5041, 5157, 6716, 10125).
The Lord alone had a Divine seed (see number 1438).
His soul was Jehovah (see numbers 1999, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025).
Thus the Lord’s inmost was the Divine Itself, while the clothing was from the mother (see number 5041).
The Divine Itself was the Being [Esse] of the Lord’s life, and from this the Human afterwards went forth and became the outgo [existere] from that Being [Esse] (see numbers 3194, 3210, 10269, 10738).
[3] Within the church where the Word is and by it the Lord is known, the Lord’s Divine ought not to be denied, nor the Holy that goes forth from Him (see number 2359).
Those within the church who do not acknowledge the Lord have no conjunction with the Divine; but it is otherwise with those outside of the church (see number 10205).
The essential of the church is to acknowledge the Lord’s Divine and His union with the Father (see numbers 10083, 10112, 10370, 10730, 10738, 10816-10820).
[4] The glorification of the Lord is treated of in the Word in many passages (see number 10828).
And in the internal sense of the Word everywhere (see numbers 2249, 2523, 3245).
The Lord glorified His Human, but not the Divine, since this was glorified in itself (see number 10057).
The Lord came into the world to glorify His Human (see numbers 3637, 4287, 9315).
The Lord glorified His Human by means of the Divine love that was in Him from conception (see number 4727).
The Lord’s life in the world was His love towards the whole human race (see number 2253).
The Lord’s love transcends all human understanding (see number 2077).
The Lord saved the human race by glorifying His Human (see numbers 4180, 10019; 10152, 10655, 10659 10828).
Otherwise the whole human race would have perished in eternal death (see number 1676).
The state of the Lord’s glorification and humiliation (see numbers 1785, 1999, 2159, 6866).
Glorification in respect to the Lord is the uniting of His Human with the Divine; and to glorify is to make Divine (see numbers 1603, 10053, 10828).
When the Lord glorified His Human He put off everything human that was from the mother, until at last He was not her son (see numbers 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10830).
[5] The Son of God from eternity was the Divine truth in heaven (see numbers 2628, 2798, 2803, 3195, 3704).
When the Lord was in the world He made His Human Divine truth from the Divine good that was in Him (see numbers 2803, 3194, 3195, 3210, 6716, 6864, 7014, 7499, 8127, 8724, 9199).
The Lord then arranged all things in Himself into a heavenly form, which is in accord with Divine truth (see numbers 1928, 3633).
For this reason the Lord was called the Word, which is Divine truth (see numbers 2533, 2813, 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712).
The Lord alone had perception and thought from Himself, and this was above all angelic perception and thought (see numbers 1904, 1914, 1919).
The Divine truth which was Himself, the Lord united with Divine good which was in Himself (see numbers 10047, 10052, 10076). The union was reciprocal (see numbers 2004, 10067).
[6] In passing out of the world the Lord also made His Human Divine good (see numbers 3194, 3210, 6864, 7499, 8724, 9199, 10076).
This is what is meant by His coming forth from the Father and returning to the Father (see numbers 3194, 3210).
Thus He became one with the Father (see numbers 2751, 3704, 4766).
Since that union Divine truth goes forth from the Lord (see numbers 3704, 3712, 3969, 4577, 5704, 7499, 8127, 8241, 9199, 9398). How Divine truth goes forth, illustrated (see numbers 7270, 9407).
It was from His own power that the Lord united the Human with the Divine (see numbers 1616, 1749, 1752, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2523, 3141, 5005, 5045, 6716).
From this it is clear that the Lord’s Human was not like the human of any other man, in that it was conceived from the Divine Itself (see numbers 10125, 10825, 10826).
His union with the Father, from whom was His soul, was not as between two persons, but as between soul and body (see numbers 3737, 10824).
[7] The most ancient people could not worship the Divine being [esse], but could worship only the Divine Outgo [existere], which is the Divine Human; therefore the Lord came into the world in order to become the Divine Existere from the Divine Esse (see numbers 4687, 5321).
The ancients acknowledged the Divine because He appeared to them in a human form, and this was the Divine Human (see numbers 5110, 5663, 6845, 10737).
The Infinite Being [Esse] could flow into heaven with the angels and with men only by means of the Divine Human (see numbers 1676, 1990, 2016, 2034).
In heaven no other Divine than the Divine Human is perceived (see numbers 6475, 9303, 10067, 10267).
The Divine Human from eternity was the Divine truth in heaven and the Divine passing through heaven; thus it was the Divine Outgo [existere] which afterwards in the Lord became the Divine Being [Esse] per se, from which is the Divine Existere in heaven (see numbers 3061, 6280, 6880, 10579).
What the state of heaven was before the Lord’s coming (numbers 6371-6373).
The Divine was not perceptible except when it passed through heaven (see numbers 6982, 6996, 7004).
[8] The inhabitants of all the earth worship the Divine under a human form, that is, the Lord (see numbers 6700, 8541-8547, 10736-10738).
They rejoice when they hear that God actually became Man (see number 9361).
All who are in good and who worship the Divine under the human form, are received by the Lord (see number 9359).
God cannot be thought of except in human form; and what is incomprehensible does not fall into any idea, so neither into belief (see numbers 9359, 9972).
Man is able to worship that of which he has some idea, but not that of which he has no idea (see numbers 4733, 5110, 5663, 7211, 9356, 10067, 10267).
Therefore the Divine is worshiped under a human form by most of the inhabitants of the entire globe, and this is the effect of influx from heaven (see number 10159).
All who are in good in regard to their life, when they think of the Lord, think of the Divine Human, and not of the Human separate from the Divine; it is otherwise with those who are not in good in regard to their life (see numbers 2326, 4724, 4731, 4766, 8878, 9193, 9198).
In the church at this day those that are in evil in regard to their life, and those that are in faith separate from charity, think of the Human of the Lord apart from the Divine, and do not even comprehend what the Divine Human is,-why they do not (see numbers 3212, 3241,4689, 4692, 4724, 4731, 5321, 6872, 8878, 9193, 9198).
The Lord’s Human is Divine because it is from the Being [Esse] of the Father, and this was His soul,–illustrated by a father’s likeness in children (see numbers 10269, 10372, 10823).
Also because it was from the Divine love, which was the very Being [Esse] of His life from conception (see number 6872).
Every man is such as his love is, and is his love (see numbers 6872, 10177, 10284). The Lord made all His Human, both internal and external, Divine (see numbers 1603, 1815, 1902, 1926, 2083, 2093).
Therefore, differently from any man, He rose again as to His whole body (see numbers 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825).
[9] That the Lord’s Human is Divine is acknowledged from His omnipresence in the Holy Supper (see numbers 2343, 2359).
Also from His transfiguration before His three disciples (see number 3212).
Also from the Word of the Old Testament, in that He is called God (see number 10154); and is called Jehovah (see numbers 1603, 1736, 1815, 1902, 2921, 3035, 5110, 6281, 6303, 8864, 9194, 9315).
In the sense of the letter a distinction is made between the Father and the Son, that is, between Jehovah and the Lord, but not in the internal sense of the Word, in which the angels of heaven are (see number 3035).
In the Christian world the Lord’s Human has been declared not to be Divine; this was done in a council for the pope’s sake, that he might be acknowledged as the Lord’s vicar (see number 4738).
[10] Christians were examined in the other life in regard to their idea of one God, and it was found they held an idea of three gods (see numbers 2329, 5256, 10736-10738, 10821).
A Divine trinity or trine in one person, constituting one God, is conceivable, but not in three persons (see numbers 10738, 10821, 10824).
A Divine trine in the Lord is acknowledged in heaven (see numbers 14, 15, 1729, 2004, 5256, 9303).
The trine in the Lord is the Divine Itself, called the Father, the Divine Human, called the Son, and the Divine going forth, called the Holy Spirit and this Divine trine is a One (see numbers 2149, 2156, 2288, 2319, 2329, 2447, 3704, 6993, 7182, 10738, 10822, 10823).
The Lord Himself teaches that the Father and He are One (see numbers 1729, 2004, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2751, 3704, 3736, 4766); also that the Holy Divine goes forth from Him and is His (see numbers 3969, 4673, 6788, 6993, 7499, 8127, 8302, 9199, 9228, 9229, 9264, 9407, 9818, 9820, 10330).
[11] The Divine Human flows into heaven and makes heaven (see number 3038). The Lord is the all in heaven and is the life of heaven (see numbers 7211, 9128). In the angels the Lord dwells in what is His own (see numbers 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157).
Consequently those who are in heaven are in the Lord (see numbers 3637, 3638).
The Lord’s conjunction with angels is measured by their reception of the good of love and charity from Him (see numbers 904, 4198, 4205, 4211, 4220, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682, 9683, 10106, 10810).
The entire heaven has reference to the Lord (see numbers 551, 552). The Lord is the common center of heaven (see numbers 3633, 3641).
All in heaven turn themselves to the Lord, who is above the heavens (see numbers 9828, 10130, 10189).
Nevertheless angels do not turn themselves to the Lord, but the Lord turns them to Himself (see number 10189).
It is not a presence of angels with the Lord, but the Lord’s presence with angels (see number 9415).
In heaven there is no conjunction with the Divine Itself, but conjunction with the Divine Human (see numbers 4211, 4724, 5663).
[12] Heaven corresponds to the Divine Human of the Lord; consequently heaven in general is as a single man, and for this reason heaven is called the Greatest Man (see numbers 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745, 4625).
The Lord is the Only Man, and those only are men who receive the Divine from Him (see number 1894).
So far as they receive are they men and images of Him (see number 8547).
Therefore angels are forms of love and charity in human form, and this from the Lord (see numbers 3804, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 9879, 10177).
[13] The whole heaven is the Lord’s (see numbers 2751, 7086).
He has all power in the heavens and on earth (see numbers 1607, 10089, 10827).
As the Lord rules the whole heaven He also rules all things depending thereon, thus all things in the world (see numbers 2025, 2026, 4523, 4524).
The Lord alone has the power to remove the hells, to withhold from evils, and to hold in good, thus to save (see number 10019).
[/read]