116. The reason why the marriage of the Lord and the church, together
with its correspondence, is here also treated of, is, because without
knowledge and intelligence on this subject, scarcely any one can know,
that conjugial love in its origin is holy, spiritual, and celestial, and
that it is from the Lord. It is said indeed by some in the church, that
marriages have relation to the marriage of the Lord with the church; but
the nature and quality of this relationship is unknown, in order
therefore that this relationship may be exhibited to the understanding
so as to be seen in some degree of light, it is necessary to treat
particularly of that holy marriage which has place with and in those who
are the Lord's church. These also, and no others, are principled in love
truly conjugial. But for the better elucidation of this arcanum, it may
be expedient to consider the subject distinctly, as arranged under the
following articles: I. _The Lord in the Word is called the Bridegroom
and Husband, and the church the bride and wife; and the conjunction of
the Lord with the church, and the reciprocal conjunction of the church
with the Lord, is called a marriage._ II. _The Lord is also called a
Father, and the church, a mother._ III. _The offspring derived from the
Lord as a husband and father, and from the church as a wife and mother,
are all spiritual; and in the spiritual sense of the Word are understood
by sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, sons-in-law and
daughters-in-law, and by other names of relations._ IV. _The spiritual
offspring, which are born from the Lord's marriage with the church are
truths and goods; truths, from which are derived understanding,
perception, and all thought; and goods, from which are derived love,
charity, and all affection._ V. _From the marriage of good and truth,
which proceeds from the Lord in the way of influx, man (homo) receives
truth, and the Lord conjoins good thereto; and thus the church is formed
by the Lord with man._ VI. _The husband does not represent the Lord and
the wife the church; because both together, the husband and the wife,
constitute the church._ VII. _Therefore there is not a correspondence of
the husband with the Lord and of the wife with the church, in the
marriages of the angels in the heavens and of men on earth._ VIII. _But
there is a correspondence with conjugial love, semination,
prolification, the love of infants, and similar things which exist in
marriages, and are derived from them._ IX. _The Word is the medium of
conjunction, because it is from the Lord, and therefore is the Lord._ X.
_The church is from the Lord, and exists with those who come to him, and
live according to his precepts._ XI. _Conjugial love is according to the
state of the church, because it is according to the state of wisdom with
man (homo)._ XII. _And as the church is from the Lord, conjugial love is
also from him._ We proceed to the explanation of each article.
117. I. THE LORD IN THE WORD IS CALLED THE BRIDEGROOM AND HUSBAND, AND
THE CHURCH THE BRIDE AND WIFE; AND THE CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD WITH THE
CHURCH, AND THE RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF THE CHURCH WITH THE LORD, IS
CALLED A MARRIAGE. That the Lord in the Word is called the Bridegroom
and Husband, and the church the bride and wife, may appear from the
following passages: "_He that hath the BRIDE is the BRIDEGROOM; but the
friend of the BRIDEGROOM, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with
joy because of the BRIDEGROOM'S voice_," John iii. 29: this was spoken
by John the Baptist concerning the Lord. "_Jesus said, so long as the
BRIDEGROOM is with them, the SONS OF THE NUPTIALS cannot fast: the days
will come when the BRIDEGROOM will be taken away from them, and then
will they fast_," Matt ix. 15; Mark ii. 19, 20; Luke v. 34, 35. "_I saw
the holy city, New Jerusalem, prepared as a BRIDE adorned for HER
HUSBAND_," Rev. xxi. 2. The New Jerusalem signifies the New Church of
the Lord, as may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 880, 881. "_The
angel said to John, Come, and I will shew thee the BRIDE, THE LAMB'S
WIFE: and he shewed him the holy city, New Jerusalem_," Rev. xxi. 9, 10.
"_The time of the MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB is come, and HIS WIFE hath made
herself ready. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the
MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB_," Rev. xix. 7, 9. The BRIDEGROOM, whom the five
prepared virgins went forth to meet, and with WHOM they entered in to
the MARRIAGE, Matt. xxv. 1-10, denotes the Lord; as is evident from
verse 13, where it is said, "Watch, therefore; because ye know neither
the day nor the hour in which the SON OF MAN will come:" not to mention
many passages in the prophets.
118. II. THE LORD IS ALSO CALLED A FATHER, AND THE CHURCH, A MOTHER. The
Lord is called a Father, as appears from the following passages: "_Unto
us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and his name shall be
called, Wonderful, Counsellor, GOD, THE FATHER OF ETERNITY, the Prince
of Peace_," Isaiah ix. 6. "_Thou, JEHOVAH, art OUR FATHER, our REDEEMER;
thy name is from an age_," Isaiah lxiii. 16. Again, "_Jesus said, He
that seeth ME, seeth the FATHER that sent ME_," John xii. 45. "_If ye
have known ME, ye have known my FATHER also; and henceforth ye have
known him, and have seen him_," John xiv. 7. "_Philip said, Shew us the
FATHER: Jesus said unto him, He that seeth me, seeth the FATHER; how
sayest them then, Shew us the FATHER_?" John xiv. 8, 9. "_Jesus said,
The FATHER and I are one_," John x. 30. "_All things that the FATHER
hath are MINE_," John xvi. 15; chap. xvii. 10. "_The FATHER is in ME,
and I IN THE FATHER_," John x. 38; chap, xiv 10, 11, 20. That the Lord
and his Father are one, as the soul and the body are one, and that God
the Father descended from heaven, and assumed the human (nature or
principle), to redeem and save men, and that his human nature is what is
called the Son, and is said to be sent into the world, has been fully
shewn in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED.
119. The church is called a mother, as appears from the following
passages: "_Jehovah said, Contend with YOUR MOTHER: she is not MY WIFE,
and I am not her HUSBAND_." Hosea ii. 2, 5. "_Thou art thy MOTHER'S
daughter, that loatheth her HUSBAND_," Ezek. xvi. 45. "_Where is the
hill of thy MOTHER'S divorcement, whom I have put away_?" Isaiah l. 1.
"_Thy MOTHER was like a vine planted by the waters, bearing fruit_,"
Ezek. xix. 10; speaking of the Jewish church. "_Jesus stretching out his
hand to the disciples, said, MY MOTHER and my brethren are those who
hear the Word of God, and do it_," Luke viii. 21; Matt. xii. 49, 50;
Mark iii. 33-35: the Lord's disciples means the church. "_There was
standing at the cross of Jesus his mother: and Jesus seeing his mother
and the disciple whom he loved, standing by, he saith unto his mother,
Woman, behold thy son; and he saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother:
wherefore from that hour the disciple took her unto his own_," John xix.
25-27. This implies, that the Lord did not acknowledge Mary as a mother,
but the church; therefore he calls her Woman, and the disciple's mother.
The reason why the Lord called her the mother of this disciple, or of
John, was, because John represented the church as to the goods of
charity, which are the church in real effect; therefore it is said, He
took her unto his own. Peter represented truth and faith, James charity,
and John the works of charity, as may be seen in the APOCALYPSE
REVEALED, n. 5, 6, 790, 798, 879; and the twelve disciples together
represented the church as to all its constituent principles, as may be
seen, Ibid, n. 233, 790, 903, 915.
120. III. THE OFFSPRING DERIVED FROM THE LORD AS A HUSBAND AND FATHER,
AND FROM THE CHURCH AS A WIFE AND MOTHER, ARE ALL SPIRITUAL; AND IN THE
SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD ARE UNDERSTOOD BY SONS AND DAUGHTERS,
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SONS-IN-LAW, AND DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, AND BY OTHER
NAMES OF RELATIONS. That no other than spiritual offspring are born of
the Lord by the church, is a proposition which wants no demonstration,
because reason sees it to be self-evident; for it is the Lord from whom
every good and truth proceeds, and it is the church which receives them
and brings them into effect; and all the spiritual things of heaven and
the church relate to good and truth. Hence it is that sons and daughters
in the Word, in its spiritual sense, signify truths and goods: sons,
truths conceived in the spiritual man, and born in, the natural; and
daughters, goods in like manner: therefore those who are regenerated by
the Lord, are called in the Word sons of God, sons of the kingdom, born
of him; and the Lord called the disciples sons: the male child, that the
woman brought forth, and that was caught up to God, Rev. xii. 5, has a
similar signification; see APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 543. Since daughters
signify goods of the church, therefore in the Word mention is so
frequently made of the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem, the
daughter of Israel, and the daughter of Judah; by whom is signified not
any daughter, but the affection of good, which is an affection of the
church; see also APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 612. The Lord also calls those
who are of his church, brethren and sisters; see Matt. xii. 49, 50;
chap. xxv. 40; chap, xxviii. 10; Mark iii. 35; Luke viii. 21.
121. IV. THE SPIRITUAL OFFSPRING, WHICH ARE BORN FROM THE LORD'S
MARRIAGE WITH THE CHURCH, ARE TRUTHS AND GOODS; TRUTHS, FROM WHICH ARE
DERIVED UNDERSTANDING, PERCEPTION, AND ALL THOUGHT; AND GOODS, FROM
WHICH ARE DERIVED LOVE, CHARITY, AND ALL AFFECTION. The reason why
truths and goods are the spiritual offspring, which are born of the Lord
by the church, is, because the Lord is essential good and essential
truth, and these in him are not two but one; also, because nothing can
proceed from the Lord but what is in him, and what he is. That the
marriage of truth and good proceeds from the Lord, and flows in with
men, and is received according to the state of the mind and life of
those who are of the church, was shewn in the foregoing section on the
MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. The reason why by means of truths a man has
understanding, perception, and all thought, and by means of goods has
love, charity, and all affection, is, because all things of man relate
to truth and good; and there are two constituents of man--the will and
the understanding; the will being the receptacle of good, and the
understanding of truth. That love, charity and affection, belong to the
will, and that perception and thought belong to the understanding, may
appear without the aid of light arising from demonstration; for there is
a light derived from the understanding itself by which these
propositions are seen to be self-evident.
122. V. FROM THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH, WHICH PROCEEDS FROM THE
LORD IN THE WAY OF INFLUX, MAN (_homo_) RECEIVES TRUTH, AND THE LORD
CONJOINS GOOD THERETO; AND THUS THE CHURCH IS FORMED BY THE LORD WITH
MAN. The reason why a man receives truth by virtue of the good and truth
which proceed as a one from the Lord, is, because he receives this as
his own, and appropriates it to himself as his own; for he thinks what
is true as from himself, and in like manner speaks from what is true;
and this takes place because truth is in the light of the understanding,
and hence he sees it: and whatever he sees in himself, or in his mind,
he knows not whence it is; for he does not see the influx, as he sees
those objects which strike upon the bodily vision; hence he supposes
that it is himself. That it should appear thus, is granted by the Lord
to him, in order that he may be a man (_homo_), and that he may have a
reciprocal principle of conjunction: add to this, that every man is born
a faculty of knowing, understanding, and growing wise; and this faculty
receives truths, whereby it has knowledges, intelligence, and wisdom.
And since the female was created through the truth of the male, and is
formed into the love thereof more and more after marriage, it follows,
that she also receives the husband's truth in herself, and conjoins it
with her own good.
123. The Lord adjoins and conjoins good to the truths which a man
receives, because he cannot take good as of himself, it being no object
of his sight, as it does not relate to light, but to heat, which is felt
and not seen; therefore when a man sees truth in his thought, he seldom
reflects upon the good which flows into it from the love of the will,
and which gives it life: neither does a wife reflect upon the good
belonging to her, but upon the husband's inclination towards her, which
is according to the assent of his understanding to wisdom: the good
which belongs to her from the Lord, she applies, without the husband's
knowing any thing respecting such application. From these considerations
then it plainly appears, that a man receives truth from the Lord, and
that the Lord adjoins good to that truth, according to the application
of truth to use; consequently as the man is desirous to think, and
thence to live, wisely.
124. The church is thus formed with a man by the Lord, because in such
case he is in conjunction with the Lord, in good from Him, and in truth
as from himself; thus he is in the Lord, and the Lord in him, according
to the Lord's words in John xv. 4:, 5. The case is the same, if instead
of good we say charity, and instead of truth faith; because good is of
charity, and truth is of faith.
125. VI. THE HUSBAND DOES NOT REPRESENT THE LORD, AND THE WIFE THE
CHURCH; BECAUSE BOTH TOGETHER, THE HUSBAND AND THE WIFE, CONSTITUTE THE
CHURCH. It is a Common saying in the church, that as the Lord is the
Head of the church, so the husband is the head of the wife; whence it
should follow, that the husband represents the Lord, and the wife the
church: but the Lord is the Head of the church; and man (_homo_), the
man (_vir_) and the woman, are the church; and still more the husband
and wife together. With these the church is first implanted in the man,
and through him in the wife; because the man with his understanding
receives the truth of the church, and the wife from the man; but if it
be _vice versa_, it is not according to order: sometimes, however, this
is the case; but then it is with men, who either are not lovers of
wisdom, and consequently are not of the church, or who are in a servile
dependence on the will of their wives. Something on this subject may be
seen in the preliminary RELATIONS, n. 21.
126. VII. THEREFORE THERE IS NOT A CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HUSBAND WITH
THE LORD AND OF THE WIFE WITH THE CHURCH, IN THE MARRIAGES OF THE ANGELS
IN THE HEAVENS AND OF MEN ON EARTH. This follows as a consequence from
what has just been said; to which, nevertheless, it may be expedient to
add, that it appears as if truth was the primary constituent of the
church, because it is first in respect to time: from this appearance,
the prelates of the church have exalted faith, which is of truth, above
charity, which is of good; in like manner the learned have exalted
thought, which is of the understanding, above affection, which is of the
will; therefore the knowledge of what the good of charity and the
affection of the will are, lies deeply buried as in a tomb, while some
even cast earth upon them, as upon the dead, to prevent their rising
again. That the good of charity, notwithstanding, is the primary
constituent of the church, may be plainly seen by those who have not
closed the way from heaven to their understandings, by confirmations in
favor of faith, as the sole constituent of the church, and in favor of
thought, as the sole constituent of man. Now as the good of charity is
from the Lord, and the truth of faith is with a man as from himself, and
these two principles cause conjunction of the Lord with man, and of man
with the Lord, such as is understood by the Lord's words, that He is in
them, and they in Him, John xv. 4, 5, it is evident that this
conjunction constitutes the church.
127. VIII. BUT THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE WITH CONJUGIAL LOVE,
SEMINATION, PROLIFICATION, THE LOVE OF INFANTS, AND SIMILAR THINGS WHICH
EXIST IN MARRIAGES AND ARE DERIVED FROM THEM. These, however, are arcana
of too deep a nature to enter the understanding with any degree of
light, unless preceded by knowledge concerning correspondence; nor is it
possible, if this knowledge be wanting, so to explain them as to make
them comprehensible. But what correspondence is, and that it exists
between natural things and spiritual, is abundantly shown in the
APOCALYPSE REVEALED, also in the ARCANA COELESTIA, and specifically in
the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, and
particularly in a MEMORABLE RELATION respecting it in the following
pages. Before some knowledge on this subject is acquired, we will only
present to the intellectual view, as in a shade, these few particulars:
conjugial love corresponds to the affection of genuine truth, its
chastity, purity, and sanctity; semination corresponds to the potency of
truth; prolification corresponds to the propagation of truth; and the
love of infants corresponds to the defence of truth and good. Now as
truth with a man (_homo_) appears as his own, and good is adjoined
thereto from the Lord, it is evident that these correspondences are
those of the natural or external man with the spiritual or internal man:
but some degree of light will be reflected on this subject from the
MEMORABLE RELATIONS which follow.
128. IX. THE WORD IS THE MEDIUM OF CONJUNCTION, BECAUSE IT IS FROM THE
LORD, AND THEREFORE IS THE LORD. The Word is the medium of conjunction
of the Lord with man (_homo_), and of man with the Lord, because in its
essence it is divine truth united to divine good, and divine good united
to divine truth: that this union exists in every part of the Word in its
celestial and spiritual sense, may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED,
n. 373, 483, 689, 881; whence it follows, that the Word is the perfect
marriage of good and truth; and as it is from the Lord, and what is from
him is also himself, it follows, that while a man reads the Word, and
collects truths out of it, the Lord adjoins good. For a man does not see
the goods which affect him in reading; because he reads the Word from
the understanding, and the understanding acquires thence only such
things as are of its own nature, that is, truths. That good is adjoined
thereto from the Lord, is made sensible to the understanding from the
delight which flows in during a state of illustration; but this takes
place interiorly with those only who read the Word to the end that they
may become wise; and such persons are desirous of learning the genuine
truths contained in the Word, and thereby of forming the church in
themselves; whereas those who read the Word only with a view to gain the
reputation of learning, and those also who read it from an opinion that
the mere reading or hearing it inspires faith and conduces to salvation,
do not receive any good from the Lord; for the end proposed by the
latter is to save themselves by the mere expressions contained in the
Word, in which there is nothing of truth; and the end proposed by the
former is to be distinguished for their learning; which end has no
conjunction with any spiritual good, but only with the natural delight
arising from worldly glory. As the Word is the medium of conjunction, it
is therefore called the old and the new Covenant: a covenant signifies
conjunction.
129. X. THE CHURCH IS FROM THE LORD, AND EXISTS WITH THOSE WHO COME TO
HIM AND LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS PRECEPTS. It is not denied at this day
that the church is the Lord's, and consequently that it is from the
Lord. The reason why it exists with those who come to him, is, because
his church in that part of the globe which is called Christian, is
derived from the Word; and the Word is from him, and in such a manner
from him, that it is himself, the divine truth being therein united to
the divine good, and this also is the Lord. This is meant by the Word,
"_which was with God, and which was God, from which men have life and
light, and which was made flesh_," John i. 1-14. Moreover, the reason
why the church exists with those who come to him, is, because it exists
with those who believe in him; and to believe that he is God the Saviour
and Redeemer, that he is Jehovah our justice, that he is the door by
which we are to enter into the sheepfold, that is, into the church, that
he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the
Father but by him, that the Father and he are one, besides many other
particulars which he himself teaches; to believe these things, I say, is
impossible for any one, except by influence from him; and the reason why
this is impossible unless he be approached, is, because he is the God of
heaven and earth, as he also teaches. Who else is to be approached, and
who else can be? The reason why the church exists with those who live
according to his precepts, is, because there is conjunction with none
else; for he says, "_He that hath my precepts, and doeth them, he it is
that loveth me; and I will love him, and will make my abode with him:
but he that doth not love me, doth not keep my precepts_," John XIV.
21-24. Love is conjunction; and conjunction with the Lord is the church.
130. XI. CONJUGIAL LOVE IS ACCORDING TO THE STATE OF THE CHURCH, BECAUSE
IT IS ACCORDING TO THE STATE OF WISDOM WITH MAN (_homo_). That conjugial
love is according to the state of wisdom with man, has been often said
above, and will be often repeated in the following pages: at present
therefore we will show what wisdom is, and that it makes one with the
church. "There are belonging to man knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.
Knowledge relates to information; intelligence, to reason; and wisdom to
life. Wisdom considered in its fulness relates at the same time to
information, to reason, and to life: information precedes, reason is
formed by it, and wisdom by both; as is the case when a man lives
rationally according to the truths which he knows. Wisdom therefore
relates to both reason and life at once; and it becomes (or is making)
wisdom while it is a principle of reason and thence of life; but it is
wisdom when it is made a principle of life and thence of reason. The
most ancient people in this world acknowledged no other wisdom than the
wisdom of life; which was the wisdom of those who were formerly called
SOPHI: but the ancient people, who succeeded the most ancient,
acknowledged the wisdom of reason as wisdom; and these were called
PHILOSOPHERS. At this day, however, many call even knowledge, wisdom;
for the learned, the erudite, and the mere sciolists, are called wise;
thus wisdom has declined from its mountain-top to its valley. But it may
be expedient briefly to shew what wisdom is in its rise, in its
progress, and thence in its full state. The things relating to the
church, which are called spiritual, reside in the inmost principles with
man; those relating to the public weal, which are called things of a
civil nature, hold a place below these; and those relating to science,
to experience, and to art, which are called natural things, constitute
their seat or basis. The reason why the things relating to the church,
which are called spiritual, reside in the inmost principles with man,
is, because they conjoin themselves with heaven, and by heaven with the
Lord; for no other things enter from the Lord through heaven with man.
The reason why the things relating to the public weal, which are called
things of a civil nature, hold a place beneath spiritual things, is,
because they have relation to the world, and conjoin themselves with it;
for statutes, laws, and rules, are what bind men, so that a civil
society and state may be composed of them in a well-connected order. The
reason why the things relating to science, to experience, and to art,
which are called natural, constitute their seat or basis, is, because
they conjoin themselves closely with the five bodily senses; and these
senses are the ultimates on which the interior principles of the mind
and the inmost principles of the soul, as it were sit or rest. Now as
the things relating to the church, which are called spiritual, reside in
the inmost principles, and as the things residing in the inmost
principles constitute the head, and the succeeding things beneath them,
which are called things of a civil nature, constitute the body, and the
ultimate things, which are called natural, constitute the feet; it is
evident, that while these three kinds of things follow in their order, a
man is a perfect man; for in such case there is an influx like that of
the things of the head into those of the body, and through the body into
the feet; thus spiritual things flow into things of a civil nature, and
through them into natural things. Now as spiritual things are in the
light of heaven, it is evident that by their light they illustrate the
things which succeed in order, and by their heat, which is love, animate
them; and when this is the case the man has wisdom. As wisdom is a
principle of life, and thence of reason, as was said above, it may be
asked, What is wisdom as a principle of life? In a summary view, it is
to shun evils, because they are hurtful to the soul, to the public weal,
and to the body; and it is to do goods, because they are profitable to
the soul, to the public weal, and to the body. This is the wisdom which
is meant by the wisdom to which conjugial love binds itself; for it
binds itself thereto by shunning the evil of adultery as the pest of the
soul, of the public weal, and of the body: and as this wisdom originates
in spiritual things relating to the church, it follows, that conjugial
love is according to the state of the church; because it is according to
the state of wisdom with men. Hereby also is understood what has been
frequently said above, that so far as a man becomes spiritual, so far he
is principled in love truly conjugial; for a man becomes spiritual by
means of the spiritual things of the church." More observations
respecting the wisdom with which conjugial love conjoins itself, may be
seen below, n. 163-165.
131. XII. AND AS THE CHURCH IS FROM THE LORD, CONJUGIAL LOVE IS ALSO
FROM HIM. As this follows as a consequence from what has been said
above, it is needless to dwell upon the confirmation of it. Moreover,
that love truly conjugial is from the Lord, all the angels of heaven
testify; and also that this love is according to their state of wisdom,
and that their state of wisdom is according to the state of the church
with them. That the angels of heaven thus testify, is evident from the
MEMORABLE RELATIONS annexed to the chapters, containing an account of
what was seen and heard in the spiritual world.
* * * * *
132. To the above I shall add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. I was
conversing on a time with two angels, one from the eastern heaven and
the other from the southern; who perceiving me engaged in meditation on
the arcana of wisdom relating to conjugial love, said, "Are you at all
acquainted with the SCHOOLS OF WISDOM in our world?" I replied, "Not as
yet." And they said, "There are several; and those who love truths from
spiritual affection, or because they are truths, and because they are
the means of attaining wisdom, meet together on a given signal, and
investigate and decide upon such questions as require deeper
consideration than common." They then took me by the hand, saying,
"Follow us; and you shall see and hear: to-day the signal for meeting is
given." I was led across a plain to a hill; and lo! at the foot of the
hill was an avenue of palms continued even to its summit, which we
entered and ascended: on the summit or top of the hill was a grove, the
trees of which, on an elevated plot of ground, formed as it were a
theatre, within which was a court paved with various colored stones:
around it in a square form were placed seats, on which the lovers of
wisdom were seated; and in the middle of the theatre was a table, on
which was laid a sealed paper. Those who sat on the seats invited us to
sit down where there was room: and I replied, "I was led here by two
angels to see and hear, and not to sit down." Then those two angels went
into the middle of the court to the table, and broke the seal of the
paper, and read in the presence of those who were seated the arcana of
wisdom written on the paper, which were now to be investigated and
explained. They were written by angels of the third heaven, and let down
upon the table. There were three arcana, FIRST, What is the image of
God, and what the likeness of God, into which man (_homo_) was created?
SECOND, Why is not a man born into the knowledge of any love, when yet
beasts and birds, from the highest to the lowest, are born into the
knowledge of all their loves? THIRD, What is signified by the tree of
life, and what by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and what
by eating thereof? Underneath was written, Collect your opinions on
these three questions into one decision, and write it on a new piece of
paper, and lay it on this table, and we shall see it: if the decision,
on examination, appear just and reasonable, each of you shall receive a
prize of wisdom. Having read the contents of the paper, the two angels
withdrew, and were carried up into their respective heavens.
Then those who sat on the seats began to investigate and explain the
arcana proposed to them, and delivered their sentiments in order; first
those who sat on the north, next those on the west, afterwards those on
the south, and lastly those on the east. They began with the first
subject of inquiry, WHAT IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, AND WHAT THE LIKENESS OF
GOD, INTO WHICH MAN WAS CREATED? But before they proceeded, these words
were read in the presence of them all out of the book of creation, "_God
said, Let us make man into OUR IMAGE, according to OUR LIKENESS: and God
created man into HIS IMAGE; into the IMAGE OF GOD created he him_," Gen.
i. 26, 27. "_In the day that God created man, into the LIKENESS OF GOD
made he him_," Gen. v. 1. Those who sat on the north spoke first,
saying, "The image of God and the likeness of God are the two lives
breathed into man by God, which are the life of the understanding; for
it is written, '_Jehovah God breathed into Adam's nostril the soul of
LIVES; and man became a living soul_,' Gen. ii. 7; into the nostrils
denotes into the perception, that the will of good and the understanding
of truth, and thereby the soul of lives, was in him; and since life from
God was breathed into him, the image and likeness of God signify
integrity derived from wisdom and love, and from justice and judgment in
him." These sentiments were favored by those who sat to the west; only
they added, that the state of integrity then breathed in from God is
continually breathed into every man since; but that it is a man as in a
receptacle; and a man, as he is a receptacle, is an image and likeness
of God. After this, the third in order, who were those who were seated
on the south, delivered their sentiments as follows: "An image of God
and a likeness of God are two distinct things; but in man they are
united from creation; and we see, as from an interior light, that the
image of God maybe destroyed by man, but not the likeness of God. This
appears as clear as the day from this consideration, that Adam retained
the likeness of God after that he had lost the image of God; for it is
written after the curse, '_Behold the man is as one of us, knowing good
and evil_,' Gen. iii. 22; and afterwards he is called a likeness of God,
and not an image of God, Gen. v. 1. But we will leave to our associates
who sit on the east, and are thence in superior light, to say what is
properly meant by an image of God, and what by a likeness of God." And
then, after silence was obtained, those who sat on the east arose from
their seats, and looked up to the Lord, and afterwards sat down again,
and thus began: "An image of God is a receptacle of God; and since God
is love itself and wisdom itself, an image of God is a receptacle of
love and wisdom from God in it; but a likeness of God is a perfect
likeness and full appearance, as if love and wisdom are in a man, and
thence altogether as his; for a man has no other sensation than that he
loves and is wise from himself, or that he wills good and understands
truth from himself; when nevertheless nothing of all this is from
himself, but from God. God alone loves from himself and is wise from
himself; because God is love itself and wisdom itself. The likeness or
appearance that love and wisdom, or good and truth, are in a man as his,
causes a man to be a man, and makes him capable of being conjoined to
God, and thereby of living to eternity: from which consideration it
follows, that a man is a man from this circumstance, that he can will
good and understand truth altogether as from himself, and yet know and
believe that it is from God; for as he knows and believes this, God
places his image in him, which could not be if he believed it was from
himself and not from God." As they said this, being overpowered with
zeal derived from the love of truth, they thus continued: "How can a man
receive any thing of love and wisdom, and retain it, and reproduce it,
unless he feel it as his own? And how can there be conjunction with God
by love and wisdom, unless a man have some reciprocity of conjunction?
For without such a reciprocity conjunction is impossible; and the
reciprocity of conjunction is, that a man should love God, and enjoy the
things which are of God, as from himself, and yet believe that it is
from God. Also, how can a man live eternally, unless he be conjoined to
an eternal God? Consequently how can a man be a man without such a
likeness of God in him?" These words met with the approbation of the
whole assembly; and they said, Let this conclusive decision be made from
them, "A man is a recipient of God, and a recipient of God is an image
of God; and since God is love itself and wisdom itself, a man is a
recipient of those principles; and a recipient becomes an image of God
in proportion to reception; and a man is a likeness of God from this
circumstance, that he feels in himself that the things which are of God
are in him as his own; but still from that likeness he is only so far an
image of God, as he acknowledges that love and wisdom, or good and
truth, are not his own in him, and consequently are not from him, but
are only in God, and consequently from God."
133. After this, they entered upon the next subject of discussion, WHY
IS NOT A MAN BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF ANY LOVE, WHEN YET BEASTS AND
BIRDS, FROM THE HIGHEST TO THE LOWEST, ARE BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF
ALL THEIR LOVES? They first confirmed the truth of the proposition by
various considerations; as in regard to a man, that he is born into no
knowledge, not even into the knowledge of conjugial love; and they
inquired, and were informed by attentive examiners, that an infant from
connate knowledge cannot even move itself to the mother's breast, but
must be moved thereto by the mother or nurse; and that it knows only how
to suck, and this in consequence of habit acquired by continual suction
in the womb; and that afterwards it does not know how to walk, or to
articulate any human expression; no, nor even to express by its tone of
voice the affection of its love, as the beasts do: and further, that it
does not know what is salutary for it in the way of food, as all the
beasts do, but catches at whatever falls in its way, whether it be clean
or unclean, and puts it into its mouth. The examiners further declared,
that a man without instruction is an utter stranger to every thing
relating to the sexes and their connection; and that neither virgins nor
young men have any knowledge thereof without instruction from others,
notwithstanding their being educated in various sciences: in a word, a
man is born corporeal as a worm; and he remains such, unless he learns
to know, to understand, and to be wise, from others. After this, they
gave abundant proofs that beasts, from the highest to the lowest, as the
animals of the earth, the fowls of the air, reptiles, fishes, the small
creatures called insects, are born into all the knowledges of the loves
of their life, as into the knowledge of all things relating to
nourishment, to habitation, to the love of the sex and prolification,
and to the rearing of their young. This they continued by many wonderful
things which they recollected to have seen, heard, and read, in the
natural world, (so they called our world, in which they had formerly
lived), in which not representative but real beasts exist. When the
truth of the proposition was thus fully proved they applied all the
powers of their minds to search out and discover the ends and causes
which might serve to unfold and explain this arcanum; and they all said,
that the divine wisdom must needs have ordained these things, to the end
that a man, may be a man, and a beast a beast; and thus, that the
imperfection of a man at his birth becomes his perfection, and the
perfection of a beast at his birth is his imperfection.
134. Those on the NORTH then began to declare their sentiments, and
said, "A man is born without knowledges, to the end that he may receive
them all; whereas supposing him to be born into knowledges, he could not
receive any but those into which he was born, and in this case neither
could he appropriate any to himself; which they illustrated by this
comparison: a man at his first birth is like ground in which no seeds
are implanted, but which nevertheless is capable of receiving all seeds,
and of bringing them forth and fructifying them; whereas a beast is like
ground already sown, and tilled with grasses and herbs, which receives
no other seeds than what are sown in it, or if it received any it would
choke them. Hence it is, that a man requires many years to bring him to
maturity of growth; during which time he is capable of being cultivated
like ground, and of bringing forth as it were grain, flowers, and trees
of every kind; whereas a beast arrives at maturity in a few years,
during which no cultivation can produce any thing in him but what is
born with him." Afterwards, those on the WEST delivered their
sentiments, and said, "A man is not born knowledge, as a beast is; but
he is born faculty and inclination; faculty to know, and inclination to
love; and he is born faculty not only to know but also to understand and
be wise; he is likewise born the most perfect inclination to love not
only the things relating to self and the world, but also those relating
to God and heaven; consequently a man, by birth from his parents, is an
organ which lives merely by the external senses, and at first by no
internal senses, to the end that he may successively become a man, first
natural, afterwards rational, and lastly spiritual; which could not be
the case if he was born into knowledges and loves, as the beasts are:
for connate knowledges and affections set bounds to that progression;
whereas connate faculty and inclination set no such bounds; therefore a
man is capable of being perfected, in knowledge, intelligence, and
wisdom to eternity." Those on the SOUTH next took up the debate, and
expressed their sentiments as follows: "It is impossible for a man to
take any knowledge from himself, since he has no connate knowledge; but
he may take it from others; and as he cannot take any knowledge from
himself, so neither can he take any love; for where there is no
knowledge there is no love; knowledge and love being undivided
companions, and no more capable of separation than will and
understanding, or affection and thought; yea, no more than essence and
form: therefore in proportion as a man takes knowledge from others, so
love joins itself thereto as its companion. The universal love which
joins itself is the love of knowing, of understanding, and of growing
wise; this love is peculiar to man alone, and not to any beast, and
flows in from God. We agree with our companions from the west, that a
man is not born into any love, and consequently not into any knowledge;
but that he is only born into an inclination to love, and thence into a
faculty to receive knowledges, not from himself but from others, that
is, by others: we say, by others, because neither have these received
any thing of knowledge from themselves, but from God. We agree also with
our companions to the north, that a man is first born as ground, in
which no seeds are sown, but which is capable of receiving all seeds,
both useful and hurtful. To these considerations we add, that beasts are
born into natural loves, and thereby into knowledges corresponding to
them; and that still they do not know, think, understand, and enjoy any
knowledges, but are led through them by their loves, almost as blind
persons are led through the streets by dogs, for as to understanding
they are blind; or rather like people walking in their sleep, who act
from the impulse of blind knowledge, the understanding being asleep."
Lastly, those on the EAST declared their sentiments, and said, "We agree
with our brethren in the opinions they have delivered, that a man knows
nothing from himself, but from and by others, to the end that he may
know and acknowledge that all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, is
from God; and that a man cannot otherwise be conceived, born, and
generated of the Lord, and become an image and likeness of him; for he
becomes an image of the Lord by acknowledging and believing, that he has
received and does receive from the Lord all the good of love and
charity, and all the truth of wisdom and faith, and not the least
portion thereof from himself; and he becomes a likeness of the Lord by
his being sensible of those principles in himself, as if they were from
himself. This he is sensible of, because he is not born into knowledges,
but receives them; and what he receives, appears to him as if it was
from himself. This sensation is given him by the Lord, to the end that
he may be a man and not a beast; since by willing, thinking, loving,
knowing, understanding, and growing wise, as from himself, he receives
knowledges, and exalts them into intelligence, and by the use thereof
into wisdom; thus the Lord conjoins man to himself, and man conjoins
himself to the Lord. This could not have been the case, unless it had
been provided by the Lord, that man should be born in total ignorance."
When they had finished speaking, it was the desire of all present, that
a conclusion should be formed from the sentiments which had been
expressed; and they agreed upon the following: "That a man is born into
no knowledge, to the end that he may come into all knowledge, and may
advance into intelligence, and thereby into wisdom, and that he is born
into no love, to the intent that he may come into all love, by
application of the knowledges from intelligence, and into love to the
Lord by love towards his neighbour, and may thereby be conjoined to the
Lord, and by such conjunction be made a man, and live for ever."
135. After this they took the paper, and read the third subject of
investigation, which was, WHAT IS DIGNIFIED BY THE TREE OF LIFE, WHAT BY
THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, AND WHAT BY EATING THEREOF?
and all the others intreated as a favor, that those who were from the
east would unfold this arcanum, because it required a more than ordinary
depth of understanding, and because those who were from the east are in
flaming light, that is, in the wisdom of love, this wisdom being
understood by the garden of Eden, in which those two trees were placed.
They said, "We will declare our sentiments; but as man does not take any
thing from himself, but from the Lord, therefore we will speak from him;
but yet from ourselves as of ourselves:" and then they continued, "A
tree signifies a man, and the fruit thereof the good of life; hence the
tree of life signifies a man living from God, or God living in man; and
since love and wisdom, and charity and faith, or good and truth,
constitute the life of God in man, therefore these are signified by the
tree of life, and hence man has eternal life: the like is signified by
the tree of life, of which it will be given to eat, Rev. ii. 7; chap
xxii. 2, 14. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies a man
believing that he lives from himself and not from God; thus that in man
love and wisdom, charity and faith, that is, good and truth, are his and
not God's; believing this, because he thinks and wills, and speaks and
acts to all appearance, as from himself: and as a man from this faith
persuades himself, that God has implanted himself, or infused his divine
into him, therefore the serpent said, '_God doth know, in the day that
ye eat of the fruit of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and ye will
be as God, knowing good and evil_,' Gen. iii. 5. Eating of those trees
signifies reception and appropriation; eating of the tree of life, the
reception of life eternal, and eating of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, the reception of damnation; therefore also both Adam and
his wife, together with the serpent, were cursed: the serpent means the
devil as to self-love and the conceit of his own intelligence. This love
is the possessor of that tree; and the men who are in conceit, grounded
in that love, are those trees. Those persons, therefore, are grievously
mistaken who believe that Adam was wise and did good from himself, and
that this was his state of integrity; when yet Adam himself was cursed
by reason of that belief; for this is signified by eating of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil; therefore he then fell from the state of
integrity in which he had been, in consequence of believing that he was
wise and did good from God and not at all from himself; for this is
meant by eating of the tree of life. The Lord alone, when he was in the
world, was wise and did good from himself; because the essential divine
from birth was in him and was his; therefore also from his own ability
he was made the Redeemer and Saviour." From all these considerations
they came to this conclusion, "That by the tree of life, and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, and eating thereof, is signified that
life for man is God in him, and that in this case he has heaven and
eternal life; but that death for man is the persuasion and belief, that
life for him is not God but self; whence he has hell and eternal death,
which is condemnation."
136. After this they looked into the paper left by the angels upon the
table, and saw written underneath, COLLECT YOUR OPINIONS ON THESE THREE
QUESTIONS INTO ONE DECISION. Then they collected them, and saw that they
cohered in one series, and that the series or decision was this, "That
man is created to receive love and wisdom from God, and yet to all
appearance as from himself; and this for the sake of reception and
conjunction: and that therefore a man is not born into any love, or into
any knowledge, and also not into any ability of loving and growing wise
from himself; therefore if he ascribes all the good of love and truth of
wisdom to God, he becomes a living man; but if he ascribes them to
himself, he becomes a dead man." These words they wrote on a new piece
of paper, and placed it on the table: and lo! on a sudden the angels
appeared in bright light, and carried the paper away into heaven; and
after it was read there, those who sat on the seats heard these words
from thence, "Well, well;" and instantly there appeared a single angel
as it were flying from heaven, with two wings about his feet, and two
about his temples, having in his hand prizes, consisting of robes, caps,
and wreaths of laurel; and he alighted on the ground, and gave those who
sat on the north robes of an opaline color; those who sat on the west
robes of scarlet color; those who sat on the south caps whose borders
were ornamented with bindings of gold and pearls, and which on the left
side upwards were set with diamonds cut in the form of flowers; but to
those who sat to the east he gave wreaths of laurel, intermixed with
rubies and sapphires. Then all of them, adorned with their respective
prizes, went home from the school of wisdom; and when they shewed
themselves to their wives, their wives came to meet them, being
distinguished also with ornaments presented to them from heaven; at
which the husbands wondered.
137. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. On a time when I was meditating on
conjugial love, lo! there appeared at a distance two naked infants with
baskets in their hands, and turtledoves flying around them; and on a
nearer view, they seemed as if they were naked, handsomely ornamented
with garlands; chaplets of flowers decorated their heads, and wreaths of
lilies and roses of a hyacinthine blue, hanging obliquely from the
shoulders to the loins, adorned their bosoms; and round about both of
them there was as it were a common band woven of small leaves
interspersed with olives. But when they came nearer, they did not appear
as infants, or naked, but as two persons in the prime of their age,
wearing cloaks and tunics of shining silk, embroidered with the most
beautiful flowers: and when they were near me, there breathed forth from
heaven through them a vernal warmth, attended with an odoriferous
fragrance, like what arises from gardens and fields in the time of
spring. They were two married partners from heaven, and they accosted
me; and because I was musing on what I had just seen, they inquired,
"What did you see?" And when I told them that at first they appeared to
me as naked infants, afterwards as infants decorated with garlands, and
lastly as grown up persons in embroidered garments, and that instantly I
experienced a vernal warmth with its delights, they smiled pleasantly,
and said, "In the way we did not seem to ourselves as infants, or naked,
or adorned with garlands, but constantly in the same appearance which we
now have: thus at a distance was represented our conjugial love; its
state of innocence by our seeming like naked infants, its delights by
garlands, and the same delights now by our cloaks and tunics being
embroidered with flowers; and as you said that, as we approached, a
vernal warmth breathed on you, attended with its pleasant fragrance as
from a garden, we will explain to you the reason of all this." They
said, "We have now been married partners for ages, and constantly in the
prime of our age in which you now see us: our first state was like the
first state of a virgin and a youth, when they enter into consociation
by marriage; and we then believed, that this state was the very
essential blessedness of our life; but we were informed by others in our
heaven, and have since perceived ourselves, that this was a state of
heat not tempered by light; and that it is successively tempered, in
proportion as the husband is perfected in wisdom, and the wife loves
that wisdom in the husband; and that this is effected by and according
to the uses which each, by mutual aid, affords to society; also that
delights succeed according to the temperature of heat and light; or of
wisdom and its love. The reason why on our approach there breathed on
you as it were a vernal warmth, is, because conjugial love and that
warmth in our heaven act in unity; for warmth with us is love; and the
light, wherewith warmth is united, is wisdom; and use is as it were the
atmosphere which contains each in its bosom. What are heat and light
without that which contains them? In like manner, what are love and
wisdom without their use? In such case there is nothing conjugial in
them, because the subject is wanting in which they should exist to
produce it. In heaven where there is vernal warmth, there is love truly
conjugial; because the vernal principle exists only where warmth is
equally united to light, or where warmth and light are in equal
proportions; and it is our opinion, that as warmth is delighted with
light, and _vice versa_, so love is delighted with wisdom, and wisdom in
its turn with love." He further added, "With us in heaven there is
perpetual light, and on no occasion do the shades of evening prevail,
still less is there darkness; because our sun does not set and rise like
yours, but remains constantly in a middle altitude between the zenith
and the horizon, which, as you express it, is at an elevation of 45
degrees. Hence, the heat and light proceeding from our sun cause
perpetual spring, and a perpetual vernal warmth inspires those with whom
love is united with wisdom in just proportion; and our Lord, by the
eternal union of heat and light, breathes nothing but uses: hence also
come the germinations of your earth, and the connubial associations of
your birds and animals in the spring; for the vernal warmth opens their
interiors even to the inmost, which are called their souls, and affects
them, and communicates to them its conjugial principle, and causes their
principle of prolification to come into its delights, in consequence of
a continual tendency to produce fruits of use, which use is the
propagation of their kind. But with men (_homines_) there is a perpetual
influx of vernal warmth from the Lord; wherefore they are capable of
enjoying marriage delights at all times, even in the midst of winter;
for the males of the human race were created to be recipients of light,
that is, of wisdom from the Lord, and the females to be recipients of
heat, that is, of the love of the wisdom of the male from the Lord.
Hence then it is, that, as we approached, there breathed on you a vernal
warmth attended with an odoriferous fragrance, like what arises from
gardens and fields in the spring." As he said this, he gave me his right
hand, and conducted me to houses inhabited by married partners in a like
prime of their age with himself and his partner; and said, "These wives,
who now seem like young virgins, were in the world infirm old women; and
their husbands, who now seem in the spring of youth, were in the world
decrepit old men; and all of them were restored by the Lord to this
prime of their age, because they mutually loved each other, and from
religious motives shunned adulteries as enormous sins:" and he added,
"No one knows the blessed delights of conjugial love, unless he rejects
the horrid delights of adultery; and no one can reject these delights,
unless he is under the influence of wisdom from the Lord; and no one is
under the influence of wisdom from the Lord, unless he performs uses
from the love of uses." I also saw on this occasion their house
utensils, which were all in celestial forms, and glittered with gold,
which had a flaming appearance from the rubies with which it was
studded.
* * * * *