DLW 179 - Degrees

DLW 179

There are degrees of love and wisdom,
and therefore degrees of heat and light,
and so, too, degrees of atmospheres.
Unless one is aware of the existence of degrees,
and of what they are and their nature,
the following observations cannot be comprehended,
since there are degrees in every created thing,
thus in every form.
Therefore in this third part of Divine Love and Wisdom
we must take up degrees.

That there are degrees of love and wisdom
can be plainly seen from the love and wisdom
of the angels of the three heavens.
Angels of the third heaven excel
angels of the second heaven in their love and wisdom,
and these in turn excel angels of the lowest heaven,
and this to such an extent
that they cannot dwell together.
The degrees of their love and wisdom
distinguish them and separate them.

So it is that angels of the lower heavens
cannot ascend to angels of the higher heavens,
and if it is granted them to ascend,
they do not then see those higher angels,
nor anything of their surroundings.
The reason they do not see them
is that the love and wisdom of those higher angels
is in a higher degree,
which transcends their perception.
For every angel is an embodiment
of his love and wisdom,
and love together with wisdom
is in its form the human being,
because God,
who is love itself and wisdom itself,
is a human God.

I have been granted several times to see
angels of the lowest heaven ascend
to angels of the third heaven,
and when they had worked their way up there,
I heard them complain that they did not see anyone,
even though they were surrounded
by those higher angels.
They were afterward then informed
that the higher angels were invisible to them
because they were incapable of perceiving
those angels' love and wisdom,
and that it is an angel's love and wisdom
that cause him to be seen as a person.

 

DLW 176 - Spiritual Atmospheres

DLW 176

The existence of atmospheres in the spiritual world
just as in the natural world
can be seen from the fact that angels and spirits
likewise breathe, and likewise speak and also hear,
as people do in the natural world,
and breathing requires as a means the presence
of a lowest atmosphere which is called air,
and so, too, do speech and hearing.

The same can also be seen from the fact
that angels and spirits likewise see
as people do in the natural world,
and sight is not possible except by means of
an atmosphere purer than air.

It can also be seen from the fact
that angels and spirits likewise
think and have affections
as people do in the natural world,
and thought and affection are not possible
except by means of still purer atmospheres.

And finally it can be seen from the fact
that all the constituents of angels' and spirits' bodies,
both the external ones and the internal ones,
are held in connection by atmospheres,
the outward constituents by the atmosphere of air,
and the internal ones by the atmospheres of the ether.
It is plain that without
the surrounding pressure and action
of these atmospheres,
the inner and outer forms of the body
would fly apart and be dispersed.

Since angels are spiritual,
and each and all of the constituents of their bodies
are held in their connection, form and arrangement
by atmospheres,
it follows that those atmospheres are spiritual;
and they are spiritual
because they arise from the spiritual sun,
which is the first emanation
of the Lord's Divine love and wisdom.

DLW 167, 170, 172 - End, Cause, and Effect

DLW 167

The end in creation finds expression in the lasts of it,
which is for everything to return to the Creator
and conjunction take place.
We must first say something about ends.
There are in everything
three ingredients which follow in order,
called the first end,
the intermediate end,
and the last end,
and called also end, cause, and effect.

These three ingredients must
exist concurrently in everything for it to be anything . . .

The fact of this can be comprehended
if one considers that an end without an effect
or cut off from the effect
is not anything having expression,
so that it is nothing but a word.
For to be an end in actuality,
an end must end in something,
and it ends in the effect,
in which for the first time it is called an end
because it is the end.

It appears as though
an instrumental or efficient cause occurs by itself,
but this is an appearance
arising from the fact that it exists in the effect.
But if it is cut off from the effect,
it instantly disappears.

It is apparent from this
that these three ingredients -
end, cause and effect -
must exist in everything for it to be anything.

DLW 170

. . . the Lord is present in every work created by Him.
For everything was created ultimately
for the sake of mankind.
Consequently the uses of all that He created
ascend by degrees
from the lowest created forms to mankind,
and through mankind to God the Creator
from whom they originate . . ..

DLW 172

The existence of these three
- end, cause and effect -
in each and all things that have been created
can also be seen from the fact
that all effects, which are called last ends,
become anew first ends in unbroken succession
extending from their origin,
which is the Lord the Creator,
to their last,
which is the conjunction of mankind with Him.

 

DLW 163-164 - Two Distinct Worlds, Two Distinct Suns

DLW 163-164

The universe is divided in general into two worlds,
one spiritual and one natural.
Inhabiting the spiritual world are angels and spirits.
Inhabiting the natural world are people.

These two worlds
are totally alike in their outward aspect -
so alike that they cannot be distinguished -
but in their inward aspect they are entirely unalike.
The people who inhabit the spiritual world -
who, as we said, are called angels and spirits -
are themselves spiritual,
and because they are spiritual,
they think spiritually and speak spiritually.
In contrast,
people who inhabit the natural world are natural,
and therefore they think naturally and speak naturally;
and spiritual thought and speech
have nothing in common
with natural thought and speech.

It is apparent from this that these two worlds,
one spiritual and one natural,
are entirely distinct from each other,
so distinct that they cannot in any way blend together.

Now because these two worlds are so distinct,
it is necessary that there be two suns,
one from which everything spiritual originates,
and the other from which everything natural originates.
And because everything spiritual from its origin is alive,
and everything natural from its origin is lifeless,
and their origins are the suns,
it follows that the one sun is alive
and that the other sun is lifeless,
and that the lifeless sun was itself
created by the Lord by means of the alive sun.

 

DLW 162 - Thinking On the Side of Nature

DLW 162

People who have confirmed themselves
on the side of nature
have induced in themselves a state of mind so set
that they are no longer willing
to raise their minds above nature.
Consequently their minds are closed upwardly
and opened downwardly,
so that they become sensually natural people
who are spiritually lifeless.
Moreover, because they then think only in accord
with ideas they have gained from their bodily senses,
or by means of them from the world,
they also at heart deny God.

Because any conjunction with heaven is then broken,
a conjunction with hell is formed,
leaving them only the faculties of thinking and willing -
the faculty of thinking in accord with rationality,
and the faculty of willing in freedom -
two faculties which every person has from the Lord
and which are not taken away.

These two faculties exist in devils and angels alike,
but devils devote them to
thinking insanely and doing evil,
whereas angels devote them to
thinking wisely and doing good.

 

DLW 154 - The Sun in the Spiritual World Is the Means of Creation

DLW 154

The Lord created the universe and everything in it
by means of the sun in the spiritual world
because that sun is the first emanation
of His Divine love and wisdom,
and everything originates
from Divine love and wisdom . . ..

We find in everything created,
in the grandest and in the most infinitesimal,
three elements - end, cause and effect.
There is nothing created
that does not have in it these three elements.

In the grand scheme or in the universe
these three occur in sequence as follows.
In the sun which is the first emanation
of Divine love and wisdom
is found the end or purpose in all things.
In the spiritual world are found the causes of all things.
And in the natural world are found
the effects of all things.

. . . Now because there is nothing created
that does not have in it these three elements,
it follows that the Lord created
the universe and everything in it
by the sun which has in it
the end or purpose in all things.

 

DLW 146 - The Holy Spirit Is the Emanating Divine

DLW 146

People call the Holy Spirit the emanating Divine,
and yet no one knows why it is called emanating.
People do not know
because they have not known before
that the Lord appears to angels as the sun,
and that from that sun emanates
warmth which in its essence is Divine love,
and light which in its essence is Divine wisdom.
As long as this remained unknown,
people could not but suppose
that the emanating Divine was a distinct Divine entity,
which is also the reason we find it said
in the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity
that there is one person of the Father,
another of the Son,
and still another of the Holy Spirit.

Now, however, when it is known
that the Lord appears as a sun,
a proper idea may be had of the emanating Divine
which is called the Holy Spirit -
namely, that it is inseparable from the Lord,
but emanates from Him
like heat and light from the sun.
This, too, is the reason
that the more love and wisdom angels possess,
the more Divine warmth and light they have.

 

DLW 145 - Our Loves and Our Spiritual Road

Enter by the narrow gate;
for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction,
and there are many who go in by it.
Because narrow is the gate
and confined is the way that leads to life.
and there are few who find it.
(Matthew 7:13,14)

DLW 145

The spiritual world has roads appearing in it,
paved like roads in the natural world.
Some lead to heaven, and some to hell.
The roads which lead to hell are not visible,
however, to spirits who are going to heaven,
nor are the roads which lead to heaven
visible to spirits who are going to hell.
There are roads like this beyond number,
for they go to every society in heaven
and to every society in hell.
Every spirit enters upon the way
which leads to the society where his love is,
nor does he see any paths leading elsewhere.

It is for this reason
that as every spirit turns to his dominant love,
he also proceeds toward it.

 

DLW 142 - Two Opposing Loves

DLW 142

Since these two loves - love toward the Lord
and a love of ruling stemming from a love of self -
are altogether opposed to each other,
and because people
who are prompted by love toward the Lord
all turn to the Lord as the sun . . .,
it can be seen
that people who are prompted by a love of ruling
stemming from a love of self
all turn their back to the Lord.

They turn thus in opposite directions
for the reason that people
who are prompted by love toward the Lord
love nothing more than to be led by the Lord,
and they want the Lord alone to rule,
whereas people who are prompted by a love of ruling
stemming from a love of self
love nothing more than to lead themselves,
and they want only themselves to rule.

We say a love of ruling stemming from a love of self,
because a love of ruling is possible
that stems from a love of performing useful services,
a love which,
because it goes hand in hand with love for the neighbor,
is a spiritual love.
But this love cannot be called a love of ruling,
but a love of performing useful services.

DLW 130, 137 - Facing the Lord; DLW 134 - Natural Effects, Spiritual Causes

DLW 130

Angels turn their faces continually
to the Lord as the sun
for the reason that angels are in the Lord
and have the Lord in them,
and the Lord inwardly guides
their affections and thoughts
and turns them continually to Him.
Therefore they cannot but look to the east
where the Lord as the sun appears.
From this it is apparent
that it is not the angels
who turn themselves to the Lord,
but that it is the Lord who turns them to Him.

Actually, when angels think
more interiorly of the Lord,
they do not think of Him then
as being other than in them.
Interior thought does not itself
produce an appearance of distance,
but exterior thought does,
thought which is bound up with the vision of the eyes.
That is because exterior thought is caught up in space,
unlike interior thought;
and even when it is not caught up in space,
as in the spiritual world,
still it is caught up in the appearance of space.

But this can be little understood by anyone
who thinks of God in terms of space.
For God is present everywhere,
and yet does not exist in space.
Thus He is both within and around an angel,
and therefore an angel can see God,
that is to say, the Lord,
both within and around him -
within him when he thinks
in accord with love and wisdom,
and around him
when he thinks about love and wisdom.

DLW 134

. . . all phenomena that occur in the natural world
are effects,
and all phenomena that occur in the spiritual world
are the causes of those effects.
One does not find anything natural
that does not have its cause from something spiritual.

DLW 137

. . . because an angel turns his face and body
to the Lord as the sun,
all the interior elements of his mind and body
are turned in that direction too.

The case is the same with a person
if he continually has the Lord before his eyes,
which he does if he is in a state of love and wisdom.
He then beholds the Lord
not only with his eyes and face,
but with his whole mind and heart as well;
that is, he regards Him
with all the constituents of his will and intellect,
and at the same time
with all the constituents of his body.

 

DLW 124 - Zones in the Spiritual World

DLW 124

The zones in the spiritual world
are not created by the Lord as the sun,
but they are created by the angels
in accordance with their reception.
We have said that angels live apart from each other,
some in the eastern zone,
some in the western zone,
some in the southern zone,
and some in the northern zone.
We also said that those who live in the eastern zone
possess a higher degree of love,
those in the western zone a lower degree of love,
those in the southern zone wisdom in a state of light,
and those in the northern zone
wisdom in a state of comparative darkness.

This diversity in the regions of their abodes
appears to be caused by the Lord as the sun,
when in fact it is caused by the angels.
The Lord is not present
with a greater or lesser degree of love and wisdom
in one angel than in another,
or as the sun
He is not present with a greater or lesser degree
of warmth and light in one than in another,
for He is everywhere the same.
But He is not received
by this or that angel in the same degree,
and the difference in reception
causes the angels to appear to themselves
to be more or less distant from each other,
and also to be situated variously
in relation to the points of the compass.

It follows from this
that the zones in the spiritual world
are simply reflections
of the angels' differing degrees of reception
of love and wisdom and so of warmth and light
from the Lord as the sun.

 

DLW 119, 120, 122 - Zones in the Natural and Spiritual World

DMC 119

In the spiritual world,
the east is where the Lord appears as the sun,
and the other points of the compass
are determined in relation to it.

The reason for our dealing
with that sun and the spiritual world
is that our subject is God and His love and wisdom,
and to consider these from a standpoint
other than that of their origin
would be to consider them from their effects
and not from causes.
Yet effects teach us nothing but effects,
and if these alone are examined,
they do not bring to light any cause,
whereas causes shed light on effects.
Moreover, to know effects from causes is to be wise,
but to inquire into causes from effects
is not to be wise,
for fallacious appearances then present themselves,
which the inquirer calls causes,
and this is to make wisdom foolish.
For causes are prior elements,
and effects subsequent ones;
and prior elements cannot be seen
from the standpoint of subsequent ones,
but subsequent elements can be seen
from the standpoint of prior ones.
The latter is the proper procedure.

This is the reason we are dealing here
first with the spiritual world,
for that is where all causes reside.
Then after that we will deal with the natural world,
where all the phenomena
that appear there are effects.

DLW 120

We must now say something here
about zones in the spiritual world.
There are zones in the spiritual world
just as in the natural world,
but the zones in the spiritual world are -
like that world itself - spiritual,
while the zones in the natural world are -
like that world - natural.
Consequently the zones are so different
as to have nothing in common.

DLW 122

Since all the zones in the spiritual world
are determined in relation to the east,
and by the east in its highest sense is meant the Lord,
and also Divine love,
it is apparent that all things stand there
in relation to the Lord and love toward Him.
And further, that to the extent anyone
does not possess that love,
to that extent he is removed from the Lord
and dwells either in the west, or in the south,
or in the north, at this or that distance there
in accordance with his reception of love.

 

DLW 113 - The Lord and the Angels

DLW 113

Angels are in the Lord and have the Lord in them;
and because angels are recipient vessels,
the Lord alone is heaven.

DLW 114

The Lord not only is present in heaven,
but He also is heaven itself.
That is because
love and wisdom are what make an angel,
and these two properties are the Lord's in angels.
It follows therefore that the Lord is heaven.

The fact is that angels are not angels
in consequence of their native character.
Their native character
is altogether like that of any person, which is evil.
This is the native character of angels
because all angels were once people,
and this native character remains in them from birth.
It is only set aside, and to the extent it is set aside,
to that extent they receive into them love and wisdom,
which is to say, the Lord.

DLW 116

. . . an angel is not an angel
because of anything his own,
but because of those qualities
which are in him from the Lord.

The fact of the matter is essentially this.
Every angel possesses in him freedom and rationality.
He has these two faculties in him
in order that he may be capable of receiving
love and wisdom from the Lord.
Still, neither faculty, freedom or rationality, is his,
but both are the Lord's in him.
Yet because these two faculties
are intimately bound up with his life,
so intimately that they may be called integral to his life,
therefore they appear as powers belonging to him.
Because of them he can think and will,
and speak and act,
and what he thinks, wills, speaks and does
by virtue of them
appears as something emanating from him.
This makes possible the reciprocity
necessary for conjunction.
__________

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers
Further Thoughts on DLW 113-118

Angels believe with every fiber of their being
that their freedom and rationality
belong to the Lord and not to themselves.
They believe that all good and every truth
they have appropriated from the Lord
during their regeneration
belong to the Lord.
And so they attribute their life to the Lord
and act and speak in His name.
They acknowledge that it is the Lord
who gave them life
and who saved them with their own cooperation.
People of the church on earth believe the same.

DLW 108 - Appearances

DLW 108

The distance between the sun
and angels in the spiritual world
is an appearance in accordance with
their reception of Divine love and wisdom.
All misconceptions that prevail
in evil people and in the simple
originate from affirming appearances.

As long as appearances remain appearances,
they are apparent truths,
and everyone may think and speak in terms of them.
But when they are accepted as actual truths,
which happens when people affirm them,
then apparent truths
become falsities and misconceptions.

DLW 105 - Why the Sun in the Spiritual World Appears at Middle Height

DLW 105

The sun in the spiritual world
appears at a middle height
chiefly for the following reasons:

First,
the heat and light which emanate from that sun
are then in their intermediate degree,
and so are in balance
and thus in their proper proportion.
For if the sun were to appear above a middle height,
the inhabitants would experience
more heat than light;
if it were to appear below it,
the inhabitants would experience
more light than heat -
as is the case on earth
when the sun stands above or below
mid-height in the sky.
When the sun stands above that point,
heat increases over light,
and when it stands below it,
light increases over heat.
In fact light remains the same
in summertime and wintertime,
but heat intensifies or lessens
in accordance with the sun's degrees of altitude.

The second reason
the sun in the spiritual world appears
at a middle height over the angelic heaven
is that it results in a climate of perpetual spring
throughout the angelic heavens,
so that the angels are in a state of peace;
for this state corresponds to springtime on earth.

The third reason
is that angels are thus able
to turn their faces constantly to the Lord
and behold Him with their eyes.
For in whatever direction they turn their bodies
angels have the east, thus the Lord,
before their faces.
This is a phenomenon peculiar to that world.
It would not be possible if the sun in that world
were to appear above or below mid-height,
and not at all if it were to appear
at the highest point above their head.

DLW 99, 101 - Spiritual Heat and Light

DLW 99

Spiritual heat and light
as they emanate from the Lord as the sun are united,
as His Divine love and wisdom are united.

DLW 100

The heat and light
that emanate from the Lord as the sun
are by virtue of their preeminence
what we call the spiritual essence,
and we call them the spiritual essence in the singular
because they are one.
Consequently in subsequent discussions
where we mention the spiritual essence,
we mean the two together.

DLW 101

That the heat and light or spiritual essence
emanating from the Lord as the sun are united
may be illustrated by the heat and light
which emanate from the sun in the natural world.
These two are also united
as they radiate from that sun.
That they are not united on earth
is owing not to the sun but to the earth.
For the earth turns daily on its axis
and travels annually along the ecliptic
in its orbit about the sun.
This produces the appearance
that heat and light are not united;
for in the middle of summer
we have more heat than light,
and in the middle of winter more light than heat.

It is the same in the spiritual world,
only the earth there does not rotate or orbit the sun,
but angels turn themselves
more or less directly toward the Lord.
Those who turn themselves more directly to Him
receive more warmth and less light,
while those who turn themselves less directly to Him
receive more light and less warmth.

DLW 102

. . . the reception of love and wisdom 
in equal measure
is the essence of what it is to be an angel,
and an angel is an angel
according to the union of love and wisdom in him.
It is the same with a  person in he church,
if the love and wisdom in him,
or charity and faith,
are united.

DLW 93, 94, 95 , 97-98 - What Is the Spiritual Sun?

DLW 93

That sun is not God,
but it is an emanation
from the Divine love and wisdom of the human God.
So, too, the heat and light from that sun.
In referring to that sun, visible to angels,
from which they have their heat and light,
we do not mean the Lord,
but we mean the first emanation from Him,
which is spiritual heat in its highest degree.
Spiritual heat in its highest degree is spiritual fire,
which is Divine love and wisdom
in their first correspondent form.

DLW 94

Ancient peoples represented this emanation
by placing halos glowing with fire
and glistening with light
around the head of God,
a representation which is also
commonly employed today
when God is depicted as a person in paintings.

DLW 95

That love produces heat, and wisdom light,
is evident from simply the experience of it.
When a person loves, he grows warm,
and when he thinks wisely,
he sees things as though in light.
It is apparent from this
that the first emanation of love is heat,
and the first emanation of wisdom is light.

It is apparent that they are also correspondent forms,
for warmth does not exist in the love itself,
but arises from it in the will and so in the body,
and light does not exist in wisdom,
but in the thought of the intellect and so in the speech.

Consequently love and wisdom are
the essence and life in heat and light.
Heat and light are what emanate from them,
and because they are emanations,
they are also correspondent forms.

DLW 97-98

Let everyone take care not to think
that the sun in the spiritual world is God Himself.
God Himself is human.
The first emanation from His love and wisdom
is a spiritually fiery one,
which appears to angels as the sun.
Consequently when the Lord
manifests Himself to angels in person,
He manifests Himself as a person,
and this sometimes in the sun,
sometimes outside of it.

It is because of this correspondence
that the Lord is called in the Word not only the sun,
but also fire and light.
And the sun then means the Lord
in respect to His Divine love and wisdom together;
fire, the Lord in respect to His Divine love;
and light, the Lord in respect to His Divine wisdom.

 

DLW 77 & 78 - The Divine Is Consistent; Thinking About God Before Creation

DLW 77

The Divine in the greatest and least of things
is the same.
. . .  the Divine is present through all space
independently of space
and through all time independently of time;
for intervals of space
may be relatively great and immense,
and they may be relatively small and minute.
. . . the case is the same with intervals of time.

The Divine is the same throughout these
for the reason that the Divine
is not variable and mutable
as everything connected with space and time is,
or as everything connected with nature is,
but is invariable and immutable.
Consequently it is everywhere and always the same.

DLW 78

It appears as though the Divine were not the same
in one individual as in another,
being seemingly of a different character
in a wise person than in a simple one, for example,
or of a different character
in an elderly person than in a young child.
But this is, owing to the appearance, a fallacy.
The person may be of a different character,
but the Divine is not of a different character in him.
The person is a recipient,
and a recipient or receiving vessel is variable.
The wise person is a recipient
of the Divine love and wisdom
more amply, thus more fully,
than the simple person,
and the elderly person who is at the same time wise
more than the young child or juvenile.
But still the Divine is the same in the one and the other.

It is likewise, owing to the appearance, a fallacy
that the Divine is not the same
in angels in heaven as in people on earth,
because angels in heaven possess
an inexpressible wisdom that people do not.
But the apparent difference lies
not in the Lord,
but in the recipients
in accordance with
the quality of their reception of the Divine.
__________

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers
Summary of the Teachings about God in Part One
God Before Creation

The Heavenly Doctrines warn us
about dwelling too much on the matter
of what the Lord did before creation. 
A person could go insane dwelling on this topic
because it is beyond human capacity to understand,
being a matter of Divine Transcendence
and not a matter of Divine immanence.
But perhaps some speculation on the matter is permitted.

God's uses are to create and to save.
As love itself,
the needs to love something and someone
outside of Himself.
It is understandable, therefore, for a person to believe
that God always had something to love.
On the other hand,
if creation is co-eternal with God,
it has the divine attribute of eternity.
This cannot be the case.

Perhaps the teaching about
potentiality and actuality offers a solution.
Potential comes from the Latin word that means power.
As such, it is real,
but a different reality from actuality.
Before something can exist in creation actually,
it must first exist potentially.
For example, if an unmarried man and woman
love the idea of conjugial love
(the eternal and spiritual marriage
between a wife and husband)
and they strive to achieve that relationship,
it exists with them potentially.
It influences their choices and their behavior.
It is real before it becomes a more powerful reality
in the actualization of the potential
to have conjugial love.
Also, as is taught later in Divine Love and  Wisdom 233,
before the Divine natural existed actually,
it existed potentially.
The glorification was the process
by which the Divine natural was actualized,
and so the Divine Human was actualized --
that is, made actual.
Before the actuality of creation,
it existed with God as a potential.
And so from eternity
there was the potential of creation as a reality,
and this must have satisfied the Lord
until the actuality of creation came to be.

 

DLW 73, 76 - The Divine is present through all time independently of time.

DLW 73

As the Divine is present
through all space independently of space,
so it is present
through all time independently of time.
For no property of nature
can be predicated of the Divine,
and space and time are properties of nature.

DLW 76

Anyone who does not know this,
and who cannot from any perception
think of God independently of time,
is utterly incapable of conceiving of eternity
other than as an eternity of time.
In that case he also cannot help but think irrationally
of God's being from eternity,
for he thinks in terms of a beginning,
and a beginning is characteristic solely of time.
His irrational thinking continues
to the point of judging
that God originated from Himself,
and from that it slips headlong into supposing
the origin of nature to be from itself.
From this idea he can be extricated
only by a spiritual or angelic concept of eternity,
which is one independent of time;
and when thought of independently of time,
eternity and Divinity are one and the same,
the Divine being Divine in itself,
and not from itself.

Angels say that they can indeed conceive
of God's being from eternity,
but not in any way of nature's being from eternity,
still less of nature's originating from itself,
and not at all of nature's being nature in itself.
For what exists in itself
is being itself,
the origin of all else,
and being in itself is life itself,
which is the Divine love belonging to Divine wisdom
and the Divine wisdom belonging to Divine love.

This to angels is eternity,
being thus independent of time,
as the uncreated is independent of the created,
or the infinite independent of the finite,
which do not have even a mathematical relation.

DLW 69, 71 - Space and Time

DLW 69

The Divine fills
every space and interval of space in the universe
independently of space.

Nature has two properties, space and time.
A person in the natural world
forms his mental concepts and thus his understanding
in accordance with them.
If he remains immersed in these concepts
and does not raise his mind above them,
he is incapable of ever perceiving
anything spiritual or Divine,
for he wraps his notions of them
in ideas drawn from space and time,
and to the extent that he does this,
to the same extent
the sight of his intellect becomes merely natural.
To think from this sight
in reasoning about spiritual and Divine matters
is like thinking from the darkness of night
about things which appear only in the light of day.
That is the origin of naturalism.

DLW 71

The merely natural person thinks in terms of ideas
that he has acquired from objects visible to his sight,
all of which exhibit in them a configuration
possessing length, breadth and height
and having a shape delimited by these,
whether angular or curvilinear.
These dimensions are clearly present in his
mental conceptions of visible objects in the world,
and they are also present in his
mental conceptions of things not visible,
as in his conceptions of civil and moral matters.
He does not, indeed, see them,
but still they are present as extended concepts.

It is otherwise in the case of a spiritual person,
especially in the case of an angel in heaven.
His thinking is unrelated to configuration and form
having anything do to with
spatial length, breadth or height,
but having to do with the state of a thing
arising from the state of a person's life.
Consequently, instead of spatial length
he pictures the goodness of a thing
arising from the goodness of a person's life,
instead of spatial breadth the truth of a thing
arising from the truth of a person's life,
and instead of height degrees of these.
Thus he thinks in terms of correspondence,
which is the relation
of spiritual and natural things to each other.
And it is because of this correspondence
that length in the Word
symbolizes the goodness of a thing,
breadth the truth of a thing,
and height degrees of these.
__________

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers
Comment on 69-72:

. . . consider human beings.
Their bodies are spatial,
but their minds or spirits are not.
The mind exists in every part of the body,
causing it to exist,
but it does not belong to the body.

Further Thoughts - DLW 69-72

. . . Natural thinking is about and from
space and time (also person and object).
Spiritual thinking is about and from
states of love and wisdom.

The appearance of space in the spiritual world
corresponds to, and so is the product of,
the state of love with the angels.
In the natural world
space also corresponds to states of love.
Space here has a general correspondence
with states of love.
In heaven it has a specific correspondence.
This means space in the natural world
corresponds to the state of love
apart from the spiritual states
of the people who see things in space.
In the spiritual world the states of with with an angel
determine the appearance of space.
For example,
when one angel thinks of another with love,
the second angel becomes aware
of the first (angel) and of that love.
Since he or she loves the first angel in return,
the two are together instantly.
The "space" between them seems to disappear
since the space between the two angels
is specifically and immediately determined by
the state of love in each one.

 

DLW 65, 67 - The Degrees of Natural and Spiritual Creation

DLW 65

The uses of all things that have been created
ascend by degrees
from the lowest created forms to mankind,
and through mankind to God the Creator
from whom they originate.

The lowest created forms are . . .
each and every constituent of the mineral kingdom . . ..

Intermediate created forms are
each and every constituent of the plant kingdom.

The highest created forms are
each and every constituent of the animal kingdom. 
. . . every kingdom has in it
its lowest, intermediate, and highest constituents,
the lowest existing to serve the intermediate,
and the intermediate existing to serve the highest.

Thus do the uses of all things that have been created
ascend in turn from the lowest created forms
to mankind, which is the highest in order.

DLW 67

A person is born into
the lowest degree of the natural world.
He is afterward elevated by various forms of learning
into the second degree.
And as by his studies he perfects his intellect,
he is elevated into the third degree,
and he then becomes rational.

The three ascending degrees in the spiritual world
exist in a person above the three natural degrees,
but these do not appear
until he has put off his earthly body.
When he has put this off,
he has opened to him the first spiritual degree,
after that the second spiritual degree,
and finally the third -
although the last is opened only in the case of people
who become angels of the third heaven.
These are the people who see God. 
(Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:8)
Those in whom the second degree can be opened
become angels of the second heaven,
and those in whom the lowest degree can be opened
become angels of the lowest heaven.

Each spiritual degree in a person
is opened in accordance with his reception
of Divine love and wisdom from the Lord.
Those who receive some measure of these
come into the first or lowest spiritual degree.
Those who receive more
come into the second or intermediate spiritual degree.
And those who receive much
come into the third or highest degree.
On the other hand,
those who receive nothing of these
remain in the natural degrees
and gain from the spiritual degrees
no more than their ability to think and thus speak,
and to will and thus act, though not intelligently.

 

DLW 59 - The Created Universe Is the Work of the Hands of Jehovah

DLW 59

. . . the Divine is present in each and every
constituent of the created universe,
and consequently that the created universe
is the work of the hands of Jehovah,
as we are told in the Word, 
meaning that it is
the work of Divine love and Divine wisdom,
for these are what are meant by
the hands of Jehovah.

Moreover, even though the Divine is present
in each and every constituent of the created universe,
still there is nothing of the Divine in their being.
For the created universe is not God,
but from God.
And because it is from God,
it has in it His image,
like the image of a person in a mirror,
in which the person indeed appears,
but which nevertheless
has nothing of the person in it.

 

DLW 52 - Everything In the Universe

DLW 52 [1, 3]

Everything in the universe
has been created by
the Divine love and wisdom
of the human God.

It is clearly apparent to angels . . . 
that the created universe is
a representative image of the human God,
and that it is His love and wisdom
which are displayed in an image in the universe.
Not that the created universe is the human God,
but that it exists 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,
indeed neither is the human being human in himself,
but all is from God,
who is human in Himself,
wisdom and love in itself,
and form and substance in itself.
Whatever exists in itself is uncreated and infinite.
Whatever exists from that, however -
this, because it retains nothing in it
that exists in itself,
is created and finite,
and it reflects an image of Him
from whom it exists and takes form.

 

DLW 47 - What Love Is

DLW 47

Divine love and wisdom cannot but be
and have expression in
others it creates.
The essence of love is not to love self,
but to love others
and through love
to be conjoined with them.
It is also the essence of love to be loved by others,
for thus is conjunction achieved.
The essential ingredient in all love
consists in conjunction;
indeed in it consists its life,
which we call pleasure, gratification, delight,
sweetness, bliss, happiness and felicity.

Love consists in willing what one has to be another's,
and in feeling the other's delight
as delight within oneself.
That is what it is to love.
In contrast, to feel one's own delight in another,
and not the other's delight within oneself,
is not to love;
for this is loving self,
whereas the first is loving the neighbor.
__________

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers
Further Thoughts - DLW 47-51

*  The greatest demonstration of love
is in the provision of what the loved ones need,
and so the Lord's Divine providence
(that is His provision of all that we need)
is over all His creation all the time,
especially in regard to human salvation,
the purpose of creation.

DLW 45, 46 - Being and Expression

DLW 45

Anyone who can
with some thought
conceive of and comprehend
being and expression in itself
must altogether conceive of and comprehend
that it is the one and only absolute.
The term absolute is used of that which alone is,
and the term one and only
of that which is the origin of everything else.

. . . because that absolute substance and form
is Divine love and wisdom,
it follows that it is the one and only absolute love,
and the one and only absolute wisdom;
consequently, that it is
the one and only absolute essence,
and the one and only absolute life.
For love and wisdom together are life.

DLW 46

That love and wisdom are the origin
of all things of nature
cannot be seen unless nature is regarded
in terms of the uses it serves
in their series and succession,
and not in terms of some of its forms,
which are objects only of the eye.
For useful endeavors spring only from life,
and their series and succession
from wisdom and love,
while forms are the vessels serving those uses.
Consequently if one regards only the forms,
it is impossible to see anything of life in nature,
still less anything of love and wisdom,
and so neither anything of God.

 

DLW 40, 43 - Divine love and wisdom are both substance and form.

DLW 40, 43

Divine love and wisdom are both substance and form.
People commonly have an idea of love and wisdom
as abstract entities flying about
or floating in the subtler air or ether,
or as exhalations emanating from
something of that nature.
Scarcely anyone thinks
that they are really and actually substance and form.

. . . Divine love and wisdom in themselves
are substance and form,
for they are being and expression itself;
and that if they were not such a being and expression
as to be substance and form,
they would be only a figment of the imagination,
which in itself is not anything.
__________

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers
DLW 40-43

Divine love and wisdom must have substance and form
because nothing exists unless it has substance and form.
They have Divine substance and Divine form.

. . . Thought from causes to effects is spiritual thinking
while thought from effects about causes is natural thinking.
The Writings call the spiritual world the world of causes
and the natural world the world of effects.
A person realizing
that the spiritual world is the cause of the natural world
can then see
the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world
and can therefore understand both better.

DLW 34, 35, 37 - Love and Wisdom in the Divine; DLW 39 - Love and Wisdom in People

DLW 34

. . . because the Divine Being is Divine love,
and the Divine expression is Divine wisdom,
therefore these . . . are in a distinct combination one.

We say that they are in a distinct combination one
because love and wisdom are two distinct attributes,
but so united that love is a property of wisdom
and wisdom a property of love.
For love has its being in wisdom,
and wisdom has its expression in love.

DLW 35

Divine love and wisdom are one
for the reason that their union is reciprocal,
and a reciprocal union produces oneness.

DLW 37

The Divine providence in reforming, regenerating
and saving people
partakes equally of Divine love and Divine wisdom.
More Divine love than Divine wisdom,
or more Divine wisdom than Divine love,
cannot reform, regenerate or save a person.
Divine love wishes to save all people,
but it can do so only through Divine wisdom,
and Divine wisdom encompasses all the laws
by which salvation is made possible.
Love cannot transcend those laws,
since Divine love and Divine wisdom are one
and operate in union.

DLW 39

Love and wisdom in a person
appear as two separate attributes
for the reason that the faculty of understanding in him
can be raised into the light of heaven,
but not the faculty of loving
except to the extent
that the person does as he understands.
Consequently, any measure of apparent wisdom
that is not united with the love proper to wisdom
sinks back to the love with which it is united,
which may be a love of something other than wisdom,
even a love of insanity.
For a person may know from wisdom
that he ought to do this or that,
and still not do it,
because he does not love it.
However, to the extent that he does do from love
what wisdom teaches,
to the same extent he is an image of God.

DLW 29 - God's Essence; DLW 33 - The Creative Essence

DLW 29

. . . God possesses in Him
love and wisdom together in their very essence.
For He loves all people out of the love in Him,
and He guides all out of the wisdom in Him.

DLW 33

Now because a person was created
to be a recipient vessel,
and is a recipient vessel in the measure
that he loves God
and out of love for God becomes wise,
which is to say,
in the measure that he is affected by those things
which are from God
and so thinks from that affection,
it follows that the Divine essence,
as the creative cause,
is Divine love and wisdom.

 

DLW 23 - There Is One Human God From Whom Springs All Else; DLW end of 25-26 - The Angels

DLW 23

All powers of human reason
join together and center, so to speak,
on the existence of one God,
the creator of the universe.
Consequently any person possessed of reason,
owing to the common sense of his intellect,
does not and cannot think otherwise.
Tell anyone possessed of sound reason
that there are two creators of the universe,
and you will encounter an antipathy to you because of it,
even perhaps from just the sound of the words in his ear.
It is apparent from this
that all powers of human reason join together
and center on the existence of one God.

For this there are two reasons.
The first is that the very ability to think rationally
regarded in itself
is not a person's own,
but is God's gift in him.
On it depends human reason in general,
and that dependence in general causes it to see,
as though of itself,
the existence of one God.

The second reason is that through that faculty
a person either is in the light of heaven
or draws the general tendency of his thought from it,
and the universal precept of the light of heaven
is the existence of one God.

DLW end of 25-26
If each and every angel
did not look to the same one God,
they would fall away from one another
and heaven would disintegrate.
Consequently, if an angel in heaven
merely thinks of more than one God,
he immediately vanishes;
for he is banished
to the outmost perimeter of the heavens
and falls downward.

Since the whole of heaven
and all the constituents of heaven
are connected to the one God,
therefore the nature of angelic speech is such
that through a harmony
flowing from the harmony of heaven
it ends in unison -
evidence that it is impossible
for angels to think of any but one God,
for speech is an expression of thought.

 

DLW 14, 17, 19 - God Is One

DLW 14

Being and expression in the human God are,
in a distinct combination, one.

. . . They are one in a distinct combination
like love and wisdom.
Love, too, is being, and wisdom its expression,
for love does not exist except in a state of wisdom,
and wisdom does not exist except as a result of love.
Consequently, when love is in a state of wisdom,
then it has expression.
These two are one in a relationship so formed
that they can indeed be distinguished in thought,
but not in fact.
And because they can be distinguished
in thought and not in fact,
therefore we say
that they are in a distinct combination one.

DLW 17

The infinite elements in the human God are,
in a distinct combination, one.
People know that God is infinite,
because He is called infinite;
but He is called infinite because He is infinite.
He is infinite not only for the reason
that He is being and expression itself in itself,
but because He has infinite elements in Him.
An infinite entity without infinite elements in it
is not infinite except in name only.

DLW 19

That there are infinite elements in God
is more clearly apparent to angels from the heavens
in which they dwell.
The whole of heaven,
which consists of millions of angels,
is in the entirety of its form as though a single person.
So, too, every society in heaven,
both greater and smaller.
For that reason also every angel is a person,
for an angel is a heaven in miniature form.

Heaven in its entirety,
in its component parts,
and in its individual inhabitants
exists in such a form
because of the Divine character that angels receive;
for in the measure
of the Divine character he receives
an angel is a person in perfect form.
So it is that angels are said to be in God,
and God in them,
and that God is their all.
__________

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers
Further Thoughts - DLW 14-16

. . . in the Heavenly Doctrines
attention is drawn sometimes to a unity,
sometimes to a distinct unity of two things,
and at other times to a triunity
(a unity consisting of three things).
Throughout the Heavenly Doctrines (when)
Swedenborg describes and explains an important topic,
such a God or heaven or life,
in one or more of these three ways.
Sometimes he emphasizes the unity of that topic.
At other times he emphasizes its distinct unity,
and at other times he emphasizes its triuity
When he focuses on the unity,
he discusses only the essence
of the thing being discussed.
When he focuses on the distinct unity,
he focuses on the essence and the form as one.
And when he discusses triunity,
He discusses the thing's
essence, form, and activity as one.

 

DLW 7, 9 - The Divine Does Not Exist In Space; DLW 11, 13 - God Is Supremely Human

DLW 7 [1, 2] - The Divine Does Not Exist in Space

The Divine, or God, does not exist in space,
even though He is omnipresent,
and is with every person in the world,
with every angel in heaven,
and with every spirit beneath heaven.
This cannot be comprehended
if a merely natural idea is formed of it,
but it can be if a spiritual idea is formed.

A spiritual idea
derives none of its character from space,
but draws all of its character from state.
State is predicated of love, life, wisdom,
affections, their resulting joys -
of good and truth in general.
A truly spiritual idea of these
has no characteristic in common with space.
It is a higher idea,
and it regards ideas of space as beneath it
in the way that heaven regards the earth.

DLW 9

That more people do not comprehend this,
however, is because they love the natural world
and are therefore unwilling to raise
the thoughts of their intellect
above it into spiritual light.
And if they are unwilling to do this,
they cannot help but think in terms of space,
even concerning God,
and to think of God in terms of space
is to think of an expanse of nature.

This much must be stated in advance,
because without the knowledge
and some perception
that the Divine does not exist in space,
it is impossible to understand
anything of the Divine life,
which is love and wisdom,
the subject of this work.
Consequently, neither would it be possible
to understand more than a little if anything
of Divine providence, omnipresence, omniscience,
omnipotence, infinity and eternity,
subjects we are going to take up in succession later.

DLW 11 - God Is Supremely Human

Throughout the heavens
one finds no other idea of God
than the idea of a person.
The reason is
that heaven in its totality and in every part
is in its form as though a single person,
and it is the Divine existing in angels
which forms heaven.
Thought, moreover, proceeds in accordance
with the form of heaven.
Consequently it is impossible
for angels to think of God in any other way.
For the same reason,
all people in the world who are conjoined with heaven
think similarly of God
when they think inwardly in themselves or in their spirit.

DLW 13

How important it is to have a right idea of God
can be seen from the fact that the idea of God
forms the inmost element of thought
in all who have any religion,
for all constituents of religion
and all constituents of worship
relate to God.
And because God
is universally and specifically involved
in all constituents of religion and worship,
therefore without a right idea of God
no communication with the heavens is possible.
So it is that every nation in the spiritual world
is allotted its location in accordance with
its idea of God as a person;
for in this idea and in no other lies an idea of the Lord.

The observation that a person's state of life after death
accords with the idea of God he has affirmed in himself
is clearly apparent from its antithesis,
namely, that a denial of God forms hell -
and in Christianity, a denial of the Lord's Divinity.

__________

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers
Further Thoughts - DLW 7-10

Part One revealed that people on earth
are capable of spiritual thinking
if they love the things of heaven more than those of earth. 
If they do this,
they think from the actualities of love and wisdom
about the things they see in this world.

Such thinking is necessary
if they are to properly conceive of the Lord
as Divine love and wisdom and of the Divine attributes: 
providence
(the Lord always takes care of the needs of everyone);
omnipresence (the Lord is everywhere;
omniscience (the Lord knows everything);
omnipotence (the Lord is all-powerful);
infinity (the Lord has no bounds ore restraints);
and eternity (the Lord always was and always will be).

 

DLW Part One - Numbers 4-6

From A Companion to Divine Love and Wisdom,
by Rev. Prescott A. Rogers

God alone, thus the Lord,
is love itself,
because He is life itself;
and angels and people are recipients of life.
(DLW 4)

Since love is the essence of life,
it really is life. 
The primary difference
between the Lord and human beings
is that He is the source of life,
and they receive that life. 
The more people receive the Lord's love as life,
the more alive they are spiritually.

. . . As love itself
the Lord appears in the spiritual sun
seen everywhere in heaven. 
The heat from that sun
actually is the Lord's love that is felt as heat,
and the light of that sun is actually
the Lord's wisdom that appears as light. 
But the actualities (i.e. actual things)
and the appearances are received by angels,
as they are received in the minds or spirits
of people on earth
who love the Lord and the neighbor above all else.

. . . In every one of the three realms off existence--
the Divine realm, the spiritual realm
and the natural realm,
there are substance and form as well as essence. 
With God
the substance and form are Divine.
In the spiritual world
the substance and forms are spiritual.
In the natural world they are natural.

. . . The term "essence"
is the most important of the three terms:
"Essence," "Form," and "Substance."
Whatever is essential is more important
than what is formal
(that is, what is formed from and by its essence).
And together essence and form
are more important than substance,
for substance is merely the material
from which form takes the shape
in which the essence resides.

In every series of three degrees,
the first degree is the essence
of the other two degrees,
the second degree is the form
of the first degree,
and the third degree is the proceeding
of the essence and form into action.
This necessitates that attention be paid
to the series under discussion.

ESSENCE		FORM		EXPRESSION
Love	and	Wisdom	expressed in	Use
Good	and	Truth	expressed in	Action
Charity	and	Faith	expressed in	Good Works
Affections	and	Thoughts	expressed in	Activities
Delights	and	Satisfaction	expressed in	Happiness

The first column has to do with essence,
as love is the essence of wisdom
and good is the essence of truth.
The items in this column
all have to do with the human will.

The second column has to do with form,
as wisdom is the form of love
and truth is the form of good.
The items in this column have to do with the intellect.
The third column has to do with
the expression of good and truth together.
All the items in this column
have to do with the body
by which a person's will and intellect
express themselves. (Happiness is an exception.)

The relation of the terms of the first line
of the chart (love, wisdom and use)
with those in the second line
(good, truth and action)
is a matter of a whole consisting of its constituent parts.
Love is the whole
made of the quantity and quality of its goods.
The greater the number of goods and, more importantly,
the greater the quality of goods, the greater is the Love.
Likewise, the greater the number and quality
of truths with a person,
the greater is his or her wisdom.
A person's use consists of
the many and useful actions done in his or her life
with regard to responsibilities at home,
at work and in the community.

The third line contains terms
that are particular forms of the first line.
Charity is love to the neighbor
and faith is wisdom with regard to the Lord,
and together they are expressed in
the good works a person does
in the name of the Lord
and for the sake of both the Lord and the neighbor.
The terms in the fourth line
show how the items in the first line
make themselves known to people
who reflect on their lives daily
and occasionally deep self-examination. 
They are also how the items in the first line
motivate people. 
Love motivates them by means of affections
and reveals itself in those affections.
Wisdom motives affections
and reveals itself in those affections.
Wisdom motivates them in thoughts
and reveals itself in those thoughts.
Use motivates the activities in which it reveals itself.

The terms in the last line--
delights, satisfaction, and happiness
are the results of the affections of one's love
and the thoughts of one's wisdom
being successfully expressed and received
by those one loves.
The overall result
of all these actualities mentioned in the chart
is a deep and lasting happiness.
People can also get an idea of this love
in what is delightful,
and idea of this wisdom in what is intellectually satisfying,
and an idea of this use in their overall happiness with life.

. . . Correspondence is a vital relationship
in which what is essential gives life to what is formal
and what is formal gives a necessary support
so that what is essential can exist.
Essence and form need each other.
For example,
the spiritual world is the essence of the natural world
and the natural world is the form of the spiritual world.
The spiritual world is more important
since it is the "essential" world
while the natural world is the "formal" world.
Since loves and wisdom together
are the essence of all creation,
everything in creation corresponds to love and wisdom.
Everything in creation is an appearance
of love and wisdom as actualities.