The idea of men in general about love and about wisdom is that they are
like something hovering and floating in thin air or ether or like what
exhales from something of this kind. Scarcely any one believes that they
are really and actually substance and form. Even those who recognize that
they are substance and form still think of the love and the wisdom as
outside the subject and as issuing from it. For they call substance and
form that which they think of as outside the subject and as issuing from
it, even though it be something hovering and floating; not knowing that
love and wisdom are the subject itself, and that what is perceived outside
of it and as hovering and floating is nothing but an appearance of the
state of the subject in itself. There are several reasons why this has
not hitherto been seen, one of which is, that appearances are the first
things out of which the human mind forms its understanding, and these
appearances the mind can shake off only by the exploration of the cause;
and if the cause lies deeply hidden, the mind can explore it only by
keeping the understanding for a long time in spiritual light; and this
it cannot do by reason of the natural light which continually withdraws
it. The truth is, however, that love and wisdom are the real and actual
substance and form that constitute the subject itself.
41. But as this is contrary to appearance, it may seem not to merit belief
unless it be proved; and since it can be proved only by such things as
man can apprehend by his bodily senses, by these it shall be proved. Man
has five external senses, called touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.
The subject of touch is the skin by which man is enveloped, the very
substance and form of the skin causing it to feel whatever is applied to
it. The sense of touch is not in the things applied, but in the substance
and form of the skin, which are the subject; the sense itself is nothing
but an affecting of the subject by the things applied. It is the same
with taste; this sense is only an affecting of the substance and form of
the tongue; the tongue is the subject. It is the same with smell; it is
well known that odor affects the nostrils, and that it is in the nostrils,
and that the nostrils are affected by the odoriferous particles touching
them. It is the same with hearing, which seems to be in the place where
the sound originates; but the hearing is in the ear, and is an affecting
of its substance and form; that the hearing is at a distance from the ear
is an appearance. It is the same with sight. When a man sees objects at a
distance, the seeing appears to be there; yet the seeing is in the eye,
which is the subject, and is likewise an affecting of the subject.
Distance is solely from the judgment concluding about space from things
intermediate, or from the diminution and consequent indistinctness of
the object, an image of which is produced interiorly in the eye according
to the angle of incidence. From this it is evident that sight does not
go out from the eye to the object, but that the image of the object enters
the eye and affects its substance and form. Thus it is just the same
with sight as with hearing; hearing does not go out from the ear to catch
the sound, but the sound enters the ear and affects it. From all this it
can be seen that the affecting of the substance and form which causes
sense is not a something separate from the subject, but only causes a
change in it, the subject remaining the subject then as before and
afterwards. From this it follows that seeing, hearing, smell, taste,
and touch, are not a something volatile flowing from their organs, but
are the organs themselves, considered in their substance and form, and
that when the organs are affected sense is produced.
42. It is the same with love and wisdom, with this difference only, that
the substances and forms which are love and wisdom are not obvious to the
eyes as the organs of the external senses are. Nevertheless, no one can
deny that those things of wisdom and love, which are called thoughts,
perceptions, and affections, are substances and forms, and not entities
flying and flowing out of nothing, or abstracted from real and actual
substance and form, which are subjects. For in the brain are substances
and forms innumerable, in which every interior sense which pertains to
the understanding and will has its seat. The affections, perceptions,
and thoughts there are not exhalations from these substances, but are
all actually and really subjects emitting nothing from themselves, but
merely undergoing changes according to whatever flows against and affects
them. This may be seen from what has been said above about the external
senses. Of what thus flows against and affects more will be said below.
43. From all this it may now first be seen that Divine Love and Divine
Wisdom in themselves are substance and form; for they are very Esse and
Existere; and unless they were such Esse and Existere as they are substance
and form, they would be a mere thing of reasoning, which in itself is nothing.
44. DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM ARE SUBSTANCE AND FORM IN ITSELF, THUS
THE VERY AND THE ONLY.
That Divine Love and Divine Wisdom are substance and form has been proved
just above; and that Divine Esse [Being] and Existere [Taking Form] are
Esse and Existere in itself, has also been said above. It cannot be said
to be Esse and Existere from itself, because this involves a beginning,
and a beginning from something within in which would be Esse and Existere
in itself. But Very Esse and Existere in itself is from eternity. Very
Esse and Existere in itself is also uncreated, and everything created
must needs be from an Uncreate. What is created is also finite, and the
finite can exist only from the Infinite.
45. He who by exercise of thought is able to grasp the idea of and to
comprehend, Esse and Existere in itself, can certainly perceive and
comprehend that it is the Very and the Only. That is called the Very
which alone is; and that is called the Only from which every thing else
proceeds. Now because the Very and the Only is substance and form, it
follows that it is the very and only substance and form. Because this
very substance and form is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, it follows
that it is the very and only Love, and the very and only Wisdom;
consequently, that it is the very and only Essence, as well as the
very and only Life: for Life is Love and Wisdom.
46. From all this it can be seen how sensually (that is, how much from
the bodily senses and their blindness in spiritual matters) do those
think who maintain that nature is from herself. They think from the
eye, and are not able to think from the understanding. Thought from the
eye closes the understanding, but thought from the understanding opens
the eye. Such persons cannot think at all of Esse and Existere in itself,
and that it is Eternal, Uncreate, and Infinite; neither can they think
at all of life, except as a something fleeting and vanishing into
nothingness; nor can they think otherwise of Love and Wisdom, nor at
all that from these are all things of nature. Neither can it be seen
that from these are all things of nature, unless nature is regarded,
not from some of its forms, which are merely objects of sight, but from
uses in their succession and order. For uses are from life alone, and
their succession and order are from wisdom and love alone; while forms
are only containants of uses. Consequently, if forms alone are regarded,
nothing of life, still less anything of love and wisdom, thus nothing
of God, can be seen in nature.
47. DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM MUST NECESSARILY HAVE BEING [Esse]
AND HAVE FORM [Existere] IN OTHERS CREATED BY ITSELF.
It is the essential of love not to love self, but to love others, and
to be conjoined with others by love. It is the essential of love,
moreover, to be loved by others, for thus conjunction is effected. The
essence of all love consists in conjunction; this, in fact, is its life,
which is called enjoyment, pleasantness, delight, sweetness, bliss,
happiness, and felicity. Love consists in this, that its own should be
another's; to feel the joy of another as joy in oneself, that is loving.
But to feel one's own joy in another and not the other's joy in oneself
is not loving; for this is loving self, while the former is loving the
neighbor. These two kinds of love are diametrically opposed to each
other. Either, it is true, conjoins; and to love one's own, that is,
oneself, in another does not seem to divide; but it does so effectually
divide that so far as any one has loved another in this manner, so far
he afterwards hates him. For such conjunction is by its own action
gradually loosened, and then, in like measure, love is turned to hate.
48. Who that is capable of discerning the essential character of love
cannot see this? For what is it to love self alone, instead of loving
some one outside of self by whom one may be loved in return? Is not this
separation rather than conjunction? Conjunction of love is by
reciprocation; and there can be no reciprocation in self alone. If there
is thought to be, it is from an imagined reciprocation in others. From
this it is clear that Divine Love must necessarily have being (esse) and
have form (existere) in others whom it may love, and by whom it may be
loved. For as there is such a need in all love, it must be to the fullest
extent, that is, infinitely in Love Itself.
49. With respect to God: it is impossible for Him to love others and to
be loved reciprocally by others in whom there is anything of infinity,
that is, anything of the essence and life of love in itself, or anything
of the Divine. For if there were beings having in them anything of
infinity, that is, of the essence and life of love in itself, that is,
of the Divine, it would not be God loved by others, but God loving
Himself; since the Infinite, that is, the Divine, is one only, and if
this were in others, Itself would be in them, and would be the love of
self Itself; and of that love not the least trace can possibly be in
God, since it is wholly opposed to the Divine Essence. Consequently, for
this relation to be possible there must be others in whom there is
nothing of the Divine in itself. That it is possible in beings created
from the Divine will be seen below. But that it may be possible, there
must be Infinite Wisdom making one with Infinite Love; that is, there
must be the Divine Love of Divine Wisdom, and the Divine Wisdom of Divine
Love (concerning which see above, n. 35-39)
50. Upon a perception and knowledge of this mystery depend a perception
and knowledge of all things of existence, that is, creation; also of all
things of continued existence, that is, preservation by God; in other
words, of all the works of God in the created universe; of which the
following pages treat.
51. But do not, I entreat you, confuse your ideas with time and with
space, for so far as time and space enter into your ideas when you read
what follows, you will not understand it; for the Divine is not in time
and space. This will be seen clearly in the progress of this work, and
in particular from what is said of eternity, infinity, and omnipresence.
52. ALL THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE WERE CREATED FROM THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE
DIVINE WISDOM OF GOD-MAN.
So full of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom is the universe in greatest and
least, and in first and last things, that it may be said to be Divine
Love and Divine Wisdom in an image. That this is so is clearly evident
from the correspondence of all things of the universe with all things of
man. There is such correspondence of each and every thing that takes
form in the created universe with each and every thing of man, that man
may be said to be a sort of universe. There is a correspondence of his
affections, and thence of his thoughts, with all things of the animal
kingdom; of his will, and thence of his understanding, with all things
of the vegetable kingdom; and of his outmost life with all things of
the mineral kingdom. That there is such a correspondence is not apparent
to any one in the natural world, but it is apparent to every one who
gives heed to it in the spiritual world. In that world there are all
things that take form in the natural world in its three kingdoms, and
they are correspondences of affections and thoughts, that is, of
affections from the will and of thoughts from the understanding, also
of the outmost things of the life, of those who are in that world, around
whom all these things are Visible, presenting an appearance like that of
the created universe, with the difference that it is in lesser form. From
this it is very evident to angels, that the created universe is an image
representative of God-Man, and that it is His Love and Wisdom which are
presented, in an image, in the universe. Not that the created universe
is God-Man, but that it is from Him; for nothing whatever in the created
universe is substance and form in itself, or life in itself, or love and
wisdom in itself, yea, neither is man a man in himself, but all is from
God, who is Man, Wisdom and Love, also Form and Substance, in itself.
That which has Being-in-itself is uncreate and infinite; but whatever
is from Very Being, since it contains in it nothing of Being-in-itself,
is created and finite, and this exhibits an image of Him from whom it
has being and has form.
53. Of things created and finite Esse [Being] and Existere [Taking Form]
can be predicated, likewise substance and form, also life, and even love
and wisdom; but these are all created and finite. This can be said of
things created and finite, not because they possess anything Divine, but
because they are in the Divine, and the Divine is in them. For everything
that has been created is, in itself, inanimate and dead, but all things
are animated and made alive by this, that the Divine is in them, and that
they are in the Divine.
54. The Divine is not in one subject differently from what it is in
another, but one created subject differs from another; for no two things
can be precisely alike, consequently each thing is a different containant.
On this account, the Divine as imaged forth presents a variety of
appearances. Its presence in opposites will be discussed hereafter.
55. ALL THINGS IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE ARE RECIPIENTS OF THE DIVINE LOVE
AND THE DIVINE WISDOM OF GOD-MAN.
It is well known that each and all things of the universe were created
by God; hence the universe, with each and every thing pertaining to it,
is called in the Word the work of the hands of Jehovah. There are those
who maintain that the world, with everything it includes, was created
out of nothing, and of that nothing an idea of absolute nothingness is
entertained. From absolute nothingness, however, nothing is or can be
made. This is an established truth. The universe, therefore, which is
God's image, and consequently full of God, could be created only in
God from God; for God is Esse itself, and from Esse must be whatever
is. To create what is, from nothing which is not, is an utter
contradiction. But still, that which is created in God from God is not
continuous from Him; for God is Esse in itself, and in created things
there is not any Esse in itself. If there were in created things any
Esse in itself, this would be continuous from God, and that which is
continuous from God is God. The angelic idea of this is, that what is
created in God from God, is like that in man which has been derived from
his life, but from which the life has been withdrawn, which is of such a
nature as to be in accord with his life, and yet it is not his life. The
angels confirm this by many things which have existence in their heaven,
where they say they are in God, and God is in them, and still that they
have, in their esse, nothing of God which is God. Many things whereby
they prove this will be presented hereafter; let this serve for present
information.
56. Every created thing, by virtue of this origin, is such in its nature
as to be a recipient of God, not by continuity, but by contiguity. By
the latter and not the former comes its capacity for conjunction. For
having been created in God from God, it is adapted to conjunction; and
because it has been so created, it is an analogue, and through such
conjunction it is like an image of God in a mirror.
57. From this it is that angels are angels, not from themselves, but by
virtue of this conjunction with God-Man; and this conjunction is according
to the reception of Divine Good and Divine Truth, which are God, and which
seem to proceed from Him, though really they are in Him. This reception
is according to their application to themselves of the laws of order,
which are Divine truths, in the exercise of that freedom of thinking and
willing according to reason, which they possess from the Lord as if it
were their own. By this they have a reception, as if from themselves, of
Divine Good and of Divine Truth, and by this there is a reciprocation of
love; for, as was said above, love is impossible unless it is reciprocal.
The same is true of men on the earth. From what has been said it can now
first be seen that all things of the created universe are recipients of
the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom of God-Man.
58. It cannot yet be intelligibly explained how all other things of the
universe which are unlike angels and men, that is, the things below man
in the animal kingdom, and the things below these in the vegetable
kingdom, and the things still below these in the mineral kingdom, are
also recipients of the Divine Love and of the Divine Wisdom of God-Man;
for many things need to be said first about degrees of life, and degrees
of the recipients of life. Conjunction with these things is according to
their uses; for no good use has any other origin than through a like
conjunction with God, but yet different according to degrees. This
conjunction in its descent becomes successively such that nothing of
freedom is left therein, because nothing of reason, and therefore nothing
of the appearance of life; but still they are recipients. Because they
are recipients, they are also re-agents; and forasmuch as they are
re-agents, they are containants. Conjunction with uses which are not good
will be discussed when the origin of evil has been made known.
59. From the above it can be seen that the Divine is in each and every
thing of the created universe, and consequently that the created universe
is the work of the hands of Jehovah, as is said in the Word; that is, the
work of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, for these are meant by the hands
of Jehovah. But though the Divine is in each and all things of the
created universe there is in their esse nothing of the Divine in itself;
for the created universe is not God, but is from God; and since it is
from God, there is in it an image of Him like the image of a man in a
mirror, wherein indeed the man appears, but still there is nothing of
the man in it.
60. I heard several about me in the spiritual world talking together,
who said that they were quite willing to acknowledge that the Divine is
in each and every thing of the universe, because they behold therein the
wonderful works of God, and these are the more wonderful the more
interiorly they are examined. And yet, when they were told that the Divine
is actually in each and every thing of the universe, they were displeased;
which is a proof that although they assert this they do not believe it.
They were therefore asked whether this cannot be seen simply from the
marvelous power which is in every seed, of producing its own vegetable
form in like order, even to new seeds; also because in every seed an
idea of the infinite and eternal is presented; since there is in seeds
an endeavor to multiply themselves and to fructify infinitely and
eternally? Is not this evident also in every living creature, even the
smallest? In that there are in it organs of sense, also brains, a heart,
lungs, and other parts; with arteries, veins, fibers, muscles, and the
activities proceeding therefrom; besides the surpassing marvels of animal
nature, about which whole volumes have been written. All these wonderful
things are from God; but the forms with which they are clothed are from
earthy matters, out of which come plants, and in their order, men.
Therefore it is said of man,
That he was created out of the ground, and that he is dust of the
earth, and that the breath of lives was breathed into him
(Genesis 2:7).
From which it is plain that the Divine is not man's own, but is adjoined
to him.