AC 6880 - "I AM WHO I AM."

AC 6880

"I AM WHO I AM."
(Exodus 3:14)

That this means the Being and Coming-forth
of all things in the universe,
is evident from the fact that "I AM" is Being,
and because He alone is Being,
it is said in the nominative case.
That it is twice said "I AM," that is, "I AM WHO I AM,"
is because the one means Being
and the other Coming-forth;
thus the one signifies the Divine Itself,
which is called the "Father,"
and the other the Divine Human,
which is called the "Son;"
for the Divine Human comes-forth from the Divine Itself.

But when the Lord as to the Human
also was made the Divine Being [Esse] or Jehovah,
then the Divine truth,
which proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human,
is the Divine Coming-forth from the Divine Being.
From this it can be seen
that the Divine Being cannot communicate Itself to anyone
except through the Divine Coming-forth;
that is, the Divine Itself cannot communicate Itself
except through the Divine Human,
and the Divine Human can not communicate itself
except through the Divine truth,
which is the Holy of the Spirit:
this is meant by its being said
that all things were made by the Word (John 1:3).

It appears to a person as if the Divine truth were not such
that anything can come forth by means of it;
for it is believed that it is like a voice,
which being uttered with the lips, is dissipated.
But it is altogether otherwise;
the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord
is the veriest (most complete) reality,
and such a reality that all things have come forth from it,
and all things subsist from it;
for whatever proceeds from the Lord
is the veriest (most complete) reality in the universe;
and such is the Divine truth, which is called the "Word,"
through which all things were made.

AC 6879 - The First of the Church

AC 6879

. . . the first of the church
is the knowledge that there is a God,
and that He is to be worshiped.
His first quality to be known
is that He created the universe,
and that the created universe subsists from Him.

 

AC 6873 - 3 Instructions From the Burning Bush; AC 6876 - "The God of Your Fathers"

AC 6873 - 3 Instructions From the Burning Bush

And Moses said unto God,
Behold I come unto the sons of Israel,
and say to them,
The God of your fathers has sent me unto you;
and they say to me, What is His name?
What shall I say unto them?
And God said unto Moses,
I AM WHO I AM;
and He said, Thus shall you say to the sons of Israel,
I AM has sent me unto you.
And God said further unto Moses,
Thus shall you say unto the sons of Israel,
Jehovah the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob,
has sent me unto you;
this is My name forever,
and this is My memorial unto generation and generation.
(Exodus 3:13-15)

"And Moses said unto God,"
means perception from the Divine;
"Behold I come unto the sons of Israel,"
means about those who are of the spiritual church;
"and say unto them,
The God of your fathers has sent me unto you,"
means that the Divine of the Ancient Church
will be with those who are of the spiritual church;
"and they say to me, What is His name?"
means His quality;
"what shall I say unto them?"
means what answer;
"and God said unto Moses,"
means the first instruction;
"I AM WHO I AM,"
means the Being and Coming-forth
of all things in the universe;
"and He said, Thus shall you say unto the sons of Israel,"
means the second instruction;
"I AM has sent me unto you,"
means that the Divine Coming-forth shall be in that church;
"and God said further unto Moses,
Thus shalt thou say unto the sons of Israel,"
means the third instruction;
"Jehovah the God of your fathers,"
means the Divine of the Ancient Church;
"the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob,"
means the Divine Itself,
and the Divine Human, thus the Lord;
"has sent me unto you,"
means that He will be in their church;
"this is My name forever,"
means that the Divine Human
is the quality of the Divine Itself;
"and this is My memorial unto generation and generation,"
means that He must be worshiped perpetually.

AC 6876 - "The God of Your Fathers"

And say unto them,
The God of your fathers has sent me unto you.
(Exodus 3:13)

That this means that the Divine of the Ancient Church
will be with those of the spiritual church
is evident from the meaning of the "God of their fathers"
as being the Divine of the Ancient Church;
from the representation of the sons of Israel,
here meant by "you" as being those of the spiritual church;
and from the meaning of "being sent" as being to proceed;
here that he will be with them,
for it is said of the Divine of the Ancient Church
that this shall be in the spiritual church,
which is represented by the sons of Israel.

The Divine which was of the Ancient Church
was the Lord as to the Divine Human;
the Ancient Church had this from the Most Ancient,
and also from the fact
that Jehovah was seen by them in a human form.
When therefore they thought of Jehovah,
they did not think of a universal entity,
of which they could have had no idea,
but of the Human Divine,
into which they could determine their thought;
for in this way they could both think of Jehovah
and be conjoined with Him by love.
Those who were of the Ancient Church,
and especially those of the Most Ancient,
were much wiser than the people of our times,
and yet they could not think otherwise of Jehovah
than as of a Man, whose Human was Divine;
nor did there then flow into their thought
any unbecoming idea taken from the natural man,
and his infirmity and evil,
but that which flowed in concerning Him was all holy.
The angels themselves,
who so far excel men in wisdom,
cannot think otherwise of the Divine,
for they see the Lord in the Divine Human;
they know that an angel,
with whom all things are finite,
can have no idea whatever of the Infinite,
except by what is like the finite.

That in ancient times
they adored Jehovah under a human Divine
is very evident from the angels seen by
Abraham in human form, also afterward by Lot,
and likewise by Joshua, by Gideon, and by Manoah,
which angels were called "Jehovah,"
and were adored as the God of the universe.
At this day if Jehovah were to appear in the church as a man,
people would take offense,
and would think that He could not possibly be
the Creator and Lord of the universe,
because He was seen as a man;
and moreover they would not have any other idea of Him
than as of a common man.
In this they believe themselves wiser than the ancients,
not knowing that in this
they are altogether removed from wisdom;
for when the idea of the thought is directed
to a universal entity altogether incomprehensible,
the idea falls into nothing, and is totally dissipated;
and then in its place comes the idea of nature,
to which each and all things are attributed.
Consequently, at this day
the worship of nature is so common,
especially in the Christian world.

AC 6866, 6872 - The State of the Lord's Humiliation When he Was in the World

AC 6866

So far as the Lord was in the human not yet made Divine,
so far He was in humiliation;
but so far as He was in the Human made Divine,
so far He could not be in humiliation,
for so far He was God and Jehovah.
The reason why He was in humiliation
when in the human not yet made Divine,
was that the human which He took from the mother
was evil by heredity,
and this could not come near to the Divine
without humiliation;
for in genuine humiliation
a person divests himself of all ability
to think and do anything from himself,
and wholly leaves himself to the Divine,
and thus draws near to the Divine.
The Divine was indeed in the Lord,
because He was conceived of Jehovah,
but this appeared remote
insofar as His human
was in the heredity from the mother;
for in spiritual and heavenly things
it is unlikeness of state
that causes removal and absence,
and it is likeness of state
that causes approach and presence;
and it is love that makes likeness and unlikeness.
All this shows from where came the state of humiliation
with the Lord when He was in the world;
but afterward, when He put off all the human
which He took from the mother,
insomuch that He was no longer her son,
and put on the Divine,
then the state of humiliation ceased,
for then He was one with Jehovah.

AC 6872 [2, 4]

Every person's quality is known from his love;
for love is the being of the life of everyone,
from it springing the veriest life itself;
such therefore as the love is with a person,
such is the person.
. . . if there is with a person
the love of God and the love of the neighbor,
and consequently the love of good and truth,
also of what is just and honorable,
then however he may appear in the outward form,
he is an angel as to his spirit
which lives after death.
But He with whom there is Divine love,
which was with the Lord alone, is God;
thus His Human was made Divine
when He received in the Human
the love of His Father, which was the being of His life.
From all this it can be seen what is meant by
the perception and acknowledgment
of the Divine from love.

From all this it can be seen
that a person is made altogether new
when he is being regenerated,
for then each and all things with him
are so disposed as to receive heavenly loves.
Nevertheless with a person
the prior forms are not destroyed,
but only removed;
but with the Lord the prior forms,
which were from the maternal,
were completely destroyed and extirpated,
and Divine forms were received in their place.
For the Divine love does not agree
with any but a Divine form;
all other forms it absolutely casts out;
so it is that the Lord when glorified
was no longer the son of Mary.

AC 6853 - For I have Known Their Sorrows; AC 6860 - The Hivite and the Jebusite

AC 6853 - For I have Known Their Sorrows

For I have known their sorrows.
(Exodus 3:7)

That this means foresight in regard to
how much they would be immersed in falsities,
is evident from the meaning of "knowing,"
when said of the Lord, as being foresight
(that "to know" denotes foresight is
because the Lord knows each and all things from eternity);
and from the signification of "sorrows,"
as being immersion in falsities;
for when those who are in good
are immersed in falsities,
they come into anguish and anxieties,
and are tormented;
for they love truths and abhor falsities,
and constantly think about salvation,
and about their unhappiness
if falsities should rule with them.
But those who are not in good,
care not whether they are in falsities or in truths,
for they do not think at all about salvation,
or about unhappiness,
because they do not believe in these things.
The delights of the loves of self and of the world
take away all belief about the life after death.
These persons are perpetually immersed in falsities.
Immersion in falsities appears in the other life
like one who is immersed in waves,
which according to the abundance of falsities
rise higher and higher,
until at last they rise over his head;
the waves appearing thinner or denser
according to the quality of the falsities.
With the wicked
the immersion appears as a mistiness
and as a cloudiness more or less dusky,
which compasses them about,
and quite separates them
from the serenity of the light of heaven.

AC 6860 - The Hivite and the Jebusite

And the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
(Exodus 3:8)

That this means occupied by idolatry
in which there is something of good and truth,
is evident from the representation of the Hivite,
as being idolatry in which there is something of good;
and from the representation of the Jebusite,
as being idolatry in which there is something of truth.
That such things are meant by these nations,
can be seen from the fact
that it was permitted that a covenant should be made
with the Gibeonites
by Joshua and the elders (Josh. 9:3 seq.);
and that they were made hewers of wood
and drawers of water for the house of God (verses 23, 27);
that these were Hivites see verse 7, and 11:19.
That by the Jebusites are represented
those who were in idolatry,
but in which there was something of truth,
can be seen from the fact
that the Jebusites were long tolerated in Jerusalem,
and were not driven out of it
(Josh. 15:63; 18:28; 2 Sam. 5:6-10).

AC 6489 - The Lord's Protection of Us

AC 6489 [1-2]

. . . the Lord is presented before a person
in no other way than by an internal looking,
which is effected through the faith that is from charity.
If the Lord appears to anyone in an outward form,
still it is the interiors which are affected,
for the Divine penetrates to the inmosts.
In regard to the interiors not being injured
by the presence of the Divine Itself,
and that on this account they were protected,
the case is this.
The Divine Itself is pure love,
and pure love is like a fire which is more ardent
than the fire of the sun of this world;
and therefore if the Divine love in its purity
were to flow into any angel, spirit, or person,
they would utterly perish.
So it is that Jehovah or the Lord
is in the Word so often called a "consuming fire."
Lest therefore the angels in heaven should be injured
by the influx of heat from the Lord as a sun,
they are each of them veiled over
by a certain thin and suitable cloud,
whereby the heat flowing in from that sun is tempered.

That without this preservation
everyone would perish at the presence of the Divine
was known to the ancients;
and therefore they were afraid to see God,
as is evident in the book of Judges:

Gideon saw that he was an angel of Jehovah;
and therefore Gideon said,
Ah Lord Jehovih,
forasmuch as I have seen an angel of Jehovah face to face.
And Jehovah said to him,
Peace be to thee;
fear not, for thou shalt not die.
(Judges 6:22-23)

Manoah said unto his wife,

Dying we shall die, because we have seen God.
(Judges 13:22).

And in the book of Exodus:

Jehovah said unto Moses,
Thou canst not see My faces,
for no man shall see Me and live.
(Exodus 33:20)

When therefore it was given Moses to see God,
he was put into a hole of the rock (verse 22);
by which was represented the obscurity of faith,
and also the cloudiness which covered him over,
and by which he was protected.

AC 6844, 6845 - "Take off your shoes from upon your feet"

AC 6844

Take off your shoes from upon your feet'
(Exodus 3:5)

means that the powers of the senses,
which form the external levels of the natural,
should be removed.
This is clear from the meaning of 'shoes'
as the powers of the senses
forming the external levels of the natural;
and from the meaning of 'feet' as the natural.
'Taking off' plainly means removing
since one is talking about the powers of the senses.
Particular expressions have to be used
in application to the actual matter to which they refer;
thus 'being taken off' is applied to shoes,
and 'being removed' to the powers of the senses.
The implications of all this need to be stated.
Everyone can see that shoes here represent
something that was not in agreement with the holy Divine,
and thus that to pull off the shoes
was representative of the removal of such things
Without this representation
what would it matter to the Divine
whether a person drew near in shoes or in bare feet,
provided that inwardly he is the kind of person
who can draw near the Divine in faith and love?
Therefore the powers of the senses
are meant by 'shoes',
and those powers,
which form the external levels of the natural,
are by nature such that they cannot remain
when one thinks with reverence about the Divine.
Consequently because it was a time
when representatives had to be observed,
Moses was not allowed to draw near with his shoes on.

The reason why the powers of the senses
that form the external levels of the natural
are by nature such that they cannot receive the Divine
is that they are steeped in ideas
of worldly, bodily, and also earthly things
because they are the first to receive them.
Therefore sensory impressions
contained in the memory as a result of
the activity of the senses
draw their nature from the light and heat of the world,
and hardly at all from the light and heat of heaven.
As a consequence they are the last things
that can be regenerated, that is,
receive something of the light of heaven.
This explains why,
when a person is ruled by his senses
and sensory impressions control his thinking,
he inevitably thinks of the Divine
as he does of earthly things.
If also he is ruled by evil
those impressions make him think in ways
altogether contrary to the Divine.
When therefore a person thinks
about the kinds of things that have to do with
faith and love to God he is raised,
if he is governed by good,
from the powers of the senses
which form the external levels of the natural
to more internal levels,
consequently from earthly and worldly things
nearer to celestial and spiritual ones.

This is something people do not know about,
the reason being that they do not know
that internal levels distinct and separate from external ones
are present within them,
or that thought exists on increasingly internal levels
as well as on more external ones.
And unaware of these things
a person cannot reflect on them.
But see what has been stated already
about thought ruled by sensory impressions:

-- People whose thought is ruled by sensory impressions
have little wisdom.

-- A person may be raised above the level of the senses,
and when he is raised he comes into a quite gentle light;
and this happens especially to those
who are being regenerated.

AC 6845

Consequently when a person is about to receive the Divine,
that is, matters of faith and love,
he is raised from the powers of the senses;
and once he has been raised from them,
the Divine no longer flows in there,
into the external level of the senses,
but into the more internal level
to which the person has been raised.
 

AC 6843 - The Lord Warns Moses, "Do not draw near here."

AC 6843

'And He said, Do not draw near here'
means that in thinking about the Divine
he should not do so as yet
with the powers of the senses.
This is clear from the meaning of 'drawing near Jehovah'
as thinking about the Divine.
The reason why the expression 'drawing near'
when used of a person's approach to the Lord
means thought about the Divine
is that a person cannot draw near the Divine physically
in the way one person draws near another,
 only mentally, that is, in thought and will.
No other kind of approach can be made to the Divine,
for the Divine is above the things
that belong to space and time
and is present in those things with a person
which are called states,
that is to say, states of love and states of faith,
thus states of both powers of the mind - will and thought.
It is by means of these
that a person can draw near the Divine.
This explains why here 'Do not draw near here'
means that in thinking about the Divine
he should not do so with his outward sensory powers,
meant by his shoes which he had first to take off.
The expression 'as yet' is used
because the outward sensory powers of the natural
are regenerated last
and so are the last to receive influx from the Divine.
And the state which is the subject here
was not yet such
that the sensory powers could receive
the things that flowed in.

AC 6834 - He Made Himself the Law Divine

AC 6834

The Divine good of the Divine love
is the very solar fire in the other life,
which fire is so ardent
that if it were to light on anyone
without an intermediate tempering,
even on an angel of the inmost heaven,
he would be deprived of all sense, and would perish.
Such is the ardor of the Lord's Divine love.
But when the Lord was in the world,
and united the human essence to the Divine essence,
He received the fire of this love in His Human,
and united it to the truth there
when He made Himself the law Divine.
This then is what is meant by the Divine truth
being united to the Divine good in the natural.

AC 6825 - The First Three Chapters of Exodus; AC 6828 - The Wilderness; AC 6829 - During and After Temptation

AC 6825 - The First Three Chapters of Exodus

In the first chapter, in the internal sense,
the subject treated of
was the infestation by falsities and evils of those
who are of the church;
in the second chapter
it was the beginnings and successive states
of truth Divine with them;
in this chapter in the internal sense
the subject treated of is their liberation;
and then for the first time they are instructed
who the God is who has liberated them,
that it is the Lord;
and that He introduces them into heaven
after they have been endowed
with a large amount of truth and good.

AC 6828 - The Wilderness

. . . he who is in temptation
is in vastation and in desolation,
because the falsity and evil in him
come out and darken and almost take away
the influx of truth and good from the Lord;
and the truth which flows in
does not appear to him to have sufficient life
to disperse the falsities and evils.
Moreover, evil spirits are then present,
who inject grief, and despair of salvation.
That a "wilderness" means such a state,
is evident from very many passages in the Word;
and as a "wilderness" meant a state of temptation,
and the number "forty" its duration,
however long or short,
therefore the sons of Israel
were in the wilderness forty years;
and therefore the Lord was in the wilderness
forty days when He was tempted (Matt. 4:2; Mark 1:13).

AC 6829 - During and After Temptation

When a person is in temptation,
he is beset round by falsities and evils
which impede the influx of light from the Divine,
that is, the influx of truth and good,
and then the person is as it were in darkness.
Darkness in the other life
is nothing else than being besieged by falsities,
for these take away the light
from the person who is in temptation,
and thus the perception of consolation by truths.
But when the person emerges from temptation,
then the light appears with its spiritual heat,
that is, truth with its good,
and from this he has gladness after anxiety.
This is the morning
which in the other life follows the night.
The reason why good is then perceived,
and truth appears,
is that after temptation
truth and good penetrate toward the interiors,
and there take root.
For when a person is in temptation,
he is as it were in hunger for good,
and in thirst for truth;
and therefore when he emerges
he draws in good as a hungry man devours food,
and receives truth as a thirsty man imbibes drink.
Moreover, when light from the Divine appears,
falsities and evils are removed,
and when these are removed,
the way is opened for truth and good
to penetrate more interiorly.
These are the reasons why after temptations
the good of love appears with its light from the Lord.
That after the obscurity and anxiety of temptations,
brightness and gladness appear,
is known to all in the other life,
because it is there a common occurrence.

AC 6818 - Loving Good

AC 6818

. . . each individual person is the neighbor,
yet no one person in the same way as another,
and that one governed by good
is pre-eminently the neighbor,
which means that the good present with a person
is what one should love.
For when one loves good
one loves the Lord
since the Lord is the One from whom Good comes,
who is present within Good,
and who is Good itself.

AC 6804 - "Covenant"

AC 6804 [5]

That a "covenant" denotes conjunction (joining together)
can be seen from the covenants made between kingdoms,
and that by these they are joined together;
and that there are stipulations on each side,
which are to be kept,
in order that the conjunction may be inviolate.
These stipulations or compacts are also called a "covenant."
The stipulations or compacts
which in the Word are called a "covenant"
are on the part of man,
in a close sense,
the ten commandments, or Decalogue;
in a wider sense
they are all the statutes, commandments,
laws, testimonies, precepts,
which the Lord decreed from Mount Sinai through Moses;
and in a sense still more wide
they are the books of Moses,
the contents of which were to be observed
on the part of the sons of Israel.
On the part of the Lord
the "covenant" is mercy and election.

** Heal Me, O Lord **

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed;
save me and I will be saved,
for You are the One I praise.

(Jeremiah 17:14)

AC 6789 - The Truth Which Is of the Law from the Divine

AC 6789 [2]

True memory-knowledge,
which is here represented by Moses,
is the truth of the external church;
this truth arises from the truth
which is of the law from the Divine,
which truth also is "Moses",
and the truth which is of the law from the Divine
is the truth of the internal church.
Unless external truth is from internal truth,
it cannot be conjoined with good.
Take the Word as an illustration.
Unless the internal of the Word flows in
with those who read the Word
and abide in the literal sense,
no conjunction is effected
of truth from the Word with good;
and the internal of the Word flows in
and is conjoined with good
when the person esteems the Word holy;
and he esteems it holy when he is in good.

AC 6779 - Being in Evils

AC 6779

. . . those who are in evils never acknowledge
that charity and its works contribute to salvation,
because they cannot acknowledge
what is contrary to their life,
as this would be contrary to themselves.
And because they are in evils,
they do not even know what charity is,
nor therefore what the works of charity are.

AC 6757 - The Word Was Written; AC 6769 - "Moses Feared"

AC 6757 - The Word Was Written

. . . the Word has been written
not for people only,
but also for the spirits and angels.

AC 6769 - "Moses Feared"

And Moses feared, and said,
Surely the word is known.
(Exodus 1:14)

That this means that he was among
alienated memory-knowledges,
and not yet in truths so as to be safe,
is evident from the meaning of "fearing,"
as being not to be in safety,
for then there is fear.
That he is not in safety is because he is not in truths;
for those who are in truths
are in safety wherever they go,
even in the midst of the hells.
That those who are not yet in truths are not in safety
is because things not true communicate with evil spirits.

 

AC 6751 - The Planes of Regeneration

AC 6751

When he is being regenerated,
a person advances in the things of faith
almost as he advances in the truths not of faith
when he is growing to maturity;
in this growth, sensuous things are the first plane;
then memory-knowledges;
and upon these planes judgment afterward grows,
with one person more, with another less.
During a person's regeneration,
the generals of faith,
or the rudiments of the doctrine of the church,
are the first plane;
then the particulars of doctrine and of faith;
afterward successively things more interior.
These planes are what are enlightened
by the light of heaven;
from there comes the intellectual,
and the power of perceiving faith and the good of charity.

AC 6737 - Compassion Is From the Lord; AC 6745 - Zion and Jerusalem

AC 6737 - Compassion Is From the Lord

And she had compassion on him.
(Exodus 1:6)

. . . the meaning of "having compassion,"
as being an influx of charity from the Lord;
for when anyone from charity sees another in misery
(as Pharaoh's daughter does here
when she saw the child in the ark of rush and weeping),
compassion arises;
and as this is from the Lord, it is an admonition.
Moreover, when those who are in perception feel compassion,
they know that they are admonished by the Lord to give aid.

AC 6745 [4] - Zion and Jerusalem

When Zion and Jerusalem are mentioned together,
they mean the celestial Church,
'Zion' the internal part of it
and 'Jerusalem' the external . . ..
But when Jerusalem is mentioned without Zion
in most cases it means the spiritual Church.

 

AC 6723 - Baby Moses in His Humble Ark

AC 6723 [3-4]

As it was provided that Moses should
represent the Lord as to the law Divine,
or the Word, specifically the historic Word,
it was therefore brought about
that when he was an infant he was placed in a little ark,
but in one of low value,
because he was in his first rising,
and because his being there was only a representative;
but that afterward
when the law Divine itself had shone forth from Mount Sinai,
it was placed in an ark
which was called the "ark of the testimony."

So it was that the ark was most holy,
because it represented
the Lord's Divine Human as to the Divine law;
for from the Lord's Divine Human
proceeds the Divine law, or the Divine truth,
which is the same as the "Word" mentioned in John:

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and God was the Word;
and the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us;
and we saw His glory,
the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father.
(John 1:1, 14).

And since the ark represented something so very holy,
the mercy seat with the cherubim
was placed over the ark,
and next to the veil concealing
it there was the lampstand with lamps
and the table of gold with loaves,
both of which were signs of the Divine Love.
This then is the reason why Moses, when an infant,
because he represented the law Divine,
was placed in a little ark.

AC 6706 - The Neighbor and the Lord

AC 6706

The distinguishing differences of the neighbor,
which a person of the church ought to wholly know,
in order that he may know the quality of charity,
vary in accordance with the good which is with everyone;
and as all good proceeds from the Lord,
the Lord is the neighbor in the highest sense,
and in a surpassing degree;
and from Him the neighbor originates.
From this it follows
that in proportion as anyone has of the Lord in him,
in the same proportion he is the neighbor;
and as no two persons receive the Lord
(that is, receive the good which proceeds from Him)
in the same way, therefore
no two persons are the neighbor in the same way;
for without exception
all persons in the heavens and on earth differ in good.
Precisely one and the same good
never exists in two persons;
it must vary
in order for each person to subsist by himself.
But all these varieties,
thus all the distinguishing differences of the neighbor,
which are according to the reception of the Lord,
that is, of the good proceeding from Him,
can never be known to any person,
nor even to any angel,
except in general,
thus as to their genera and some species of these.
Nor does the Lord require more
of the person of the church
than to live according to what he knows.