Saturday, August 16, 2008

AC 8760 - above the heavens and 'in heaven'

AC 8760 [2]
It is said, the Divine truth in heaven,
and afterward, the Divine good in heaven,
for the reason that the Divine Itself is far above the heavens,
not only the Divine good itself,
but also the Divine truth itself
which proceeds immediately from the Divine good.
That these are far above heaven,
is because in itself the Divine is infinite,
and the infinite cannot be conjoined with finite things,
thus not with the angels in the heavens,
except by the putting on of something finite,
and thus by accommodation to reception.
The Divine good itself is also in itself an infinite flame of ardor,
that is, of love, and this flame no angel in heaven can bear,
for he would be consumed like a man
if the flame of the sun were to touch him without intermediate tempering.
Moreover if the light from the flame of the Divine love,
which light is Divine truth,
were to flow in without abatement from its own fiery splendor,
it would blind all who are in heaven.
From all this it can be seen what the difference is
between the Divine good and Divine truth above the heavens,
and the Divine good and Divine truth in the heavens....

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