TCR 48 - only the Lord

TCR 48 [18]
Only the Lord, during His life on earth,
had wisdom from Himself
and did good of Himself,
because the Divine itself was in Him
and was His from birth.
Therefore by His own power
He became the Redeemer and Saviour.

TCR 50 - Divine Wisdom

TCR 50
. . . omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence are qualities
of the Divine Wisdom as the result of the Divine Love,
and not of the Divine Love by means of the Divine Wisdom. . ..

Since righteousness is an attribute of love
and judgment an attribute of wisdom,
love leaves all control to its wisdom.

TCR 39, 41, 44 - Divine Love & Wisdom and people

TCR 39
Since God is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself,
He is Life Itself, or Life in Itself.

We read in John:

The Word was with God, and the Word was God;
in Him was Life, and the Life was the light of men.
(John 1:14)

'God' there means the Divine Love,
and 'the Word' means the Divine Wisdom;
and the Divine Wisdom is truly life,
and life is truly the light radiated by the sun of the spiritual world,
in the midst of which is Jehovah God.

TCR 41 [2]
. . . because a person needs to be reformed and regenerated,
which is impossible unless the light of life, which is intelligence,
shows what ought to be willed and loved.
It should, however, be known
that God is constantly working to conjoin love with wisdom in a person,
though he, unless he looks to God and believes in Him,
is constantly working to separate them.
Therefore in so far as these two,
the good of love or charity and the truth of wisdom or faith,
are conjoined in a person, so far does he become an image of God,
and is raised towards and into the heaven where angels live.

TCR 44
There are two things
which make up the essence of God - love and wisdom;
but there are three
which make up the essence of His love -
loving others than oneself,
wishing to be one with them,
and devoting oneself to their happiness.
The same three make up the essence of His wisdom,
because . . . love and wisdom are one in God.
It is love which wills these things,
wisdom that puts them into effect.

[2] The first essential, loving others than oneself,
is to be recognized in God's love towards the whole human race.
On this account God loves everything He has created . . ..
God's love goes out and extends not only to good people and things,
but also to evil people and things;
consequently, not only to people and things in heaven,
but also to people and things in hell . . ..
For God is everywhere and from eternity to eternity the same.
. . . But it is the fault of evil people and things that they are evil,
because they do not receive God's love as it is . . . but as they are.

[3] The second essential of God's love,
wishing to be one with others,
is to be recognized also in His conjoining Himself to the heaven of angels,
the church on earth, to everyone in it,
and to every good and truth
which compose and make up men and the church.
Love regarded in itself is nothing but a striving to be conjoined.
Therefore to realize this essential of love
God created man in His image and likeness,
so that he could be conjoined with this.

[4] The third essential of God's love,
to devote Himself to the happiness of others,
is to be recognized in everlasting life,
which is blessedness, bliss and happiness without end,
which He gives to those who receive His love into themselves.
For God, just as He is Love itself, is also blessedness itself.
For every love breathes out an aura of joy from itself,
and the Divine Love breathes out
the very height of blessedness, bliss and happiness for ever;
so God makes the angels and men after death happy from Himself,
which He does by being conjoined with them.

TCR 35 - love & wisdom constitute life

TCR 35 [6]
. . . love and wisdom could have no existence
without having somewhere an origin,
and that that origin is love itself and wisdom itself,
and therefore life itself,
and these are God,
from whom nature is.

TCR 31- infinity and eternity

TCR 31
In relation to spaces God's infinity is called immensity,
because "immense" is a term applied to what is great and large,
and to extension and its spaciousness.
But in relation to times God's infinity is called eternity,
because "to eternity" is an expression applied to what is progressive,
which is measured by time without limit.

But in God, as has just been shown,
there is nothing of space and time;
nevertheless, the beginnings of these are from God;
and from this it follows
that by immensity His infinity in relation to space is meant,
and by eternity His infinity in relation to times.
[2] But to the angels in heaven
the immensity of God means His Divinity in respect to His Esse,
and His eternity His Divinity in respect to His Existere.
Also immensity means His Divinity in respect to love,
and eternity His Divinity in respect to wisdom.

. . . times were introduced by God with creation.

TCR 22 - Jehovah means 'I am' and 'Being'

TCR 22 [2]
By this revelation
the natural person is enabled to raise himself above nature,
thus above himself,
and to see such things as pertain to God,
yet only as if at a distance,
although God is near to every person,
for in His essence He is in a person;
and being in a person
He is very near to those who love Him;
and those love Him
who live according to His commandments
and believe in Him;
these as it were see Him.
What is faith but to see spiritually that God is?
And what is a life according to His commandments
but an acknowledgment in act
that from Him are salvation and eternal life?

TCR 13 - He who seeks an end seeks also the means

TCR 13
. . . the universe is a work coherent as a unit
from things first to things last,
because in creating it
God had a single end in view,
which was an angelic heaven from the human race;
and all things of which the world consists are means to that end;
since he who seeks an end seeks also the means.

The Divine love can be intent upon no other end
than the eternal blessedness of humankind,
having its source in the Divine;
and its Divine wisdom can bring forth nothing
but uses that are means to that end.

. . the universe is the workmanship of one God,
and that He dwells in every particular use
because He dwells in the end.
For in every case
one who is in an end
must be in the means also,
since the end is inmostly in all the means,
actuating and directing them.

TCR 6 - there is a God, and He is One

TCR 6
The entire Holy Scripture,
and all the doctrines therefrom of the churches in the Christian world,
teach that there is a God and that He is one.
The entire Holy Scripture teaches that there is a God,
because in its inmosts it is nothing but God,
that is, it is nothing but the Divine that goes forth from God;
for it was dictated by God;
and from God nothing can go forth
except what is God and is called Divine.

. . . every person whose reason is imbued
with any sanctity from the Word knows,
as if from himself, that God is one,
and feels it to be a sort of insanity to say that there are more.
The angels are unable to open their lips to utter the word "gods,"
for the heavenly aura in which they live resists it.
That God is one the Holy Scripture teaches, not only thus universally,
as has been said, but also in many particular passages,
as in the following:

Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; also Mark 12:29)

I am Jehovah thy God
and thou shalt acknowledge no god beside Me.
(Hosea 13:4)

Thus saith Jehovah, the king of Israel,
I am the First and the Last,
and beside Me there is no god.
(Isaiah 44:6)

TCR 2, 4[3] - there is a Divine Trinity,and that this is in the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ

TCR 2, 4[3]
The Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah,
came into the world to subdue the hells and to glorify His Human.
Without this no mortal could have been saved,
and those are saved who believe in Him.

It is a universal point of faith
that God is one in essence and in person,
in whom is the Divine Trinity,
and that He is the Lord God the Saviour Jesus Christ.
It is a universal point of faith
that no mortal could have been saved,
if the Lord had not come into the world.
It is a universal point of faith
that He came into the world to take hell away from men,
and He did this by fighting against hell and winning victories over it.
In this way He subdued it and reduced it to order,
and made it subject to His command.
It is a universal point of faith
that He came into the world to glorify the Human
which He assumed in the world,
that is, to unite it with the originating Divinity.
By this means He keeps hell for ever in order and subject to His command.
Since this could only be achieved
by means of temptations experienced in His Human,
even to the most extreme, His passion on the cross,
He underwent this.
These are the universal matters of faith concerning the Lord.

Since the idea of God and all knowledge of Him has been so fragmented,
I propose to discuss in turn
God the Creator,
the Lord the Redeemer,
the Holy Spirit the Active Force,
and finally the Divine Trinity,
so that what has been broken into fragments may be put together again. . .

This article in the Athanasian creed is therefore valid:

In Christ, God and Man, or the Divine and the Human,
are not two, but in one person;
as the rational soul and the flesh are one man,
so too God and Man are one Christ.

CL 532-533 - What news from earth? The Lord has revealed secrets!

CL 532-533
. . . the Lord has revealed secrets
which surpass in excellence
all the secrets previously revealed . . .:

(1) That in the Word
and in each and every particular of it,
there is a spiritual meaning corresponding to the natural meaning;
that through that spiritual meaning
people of the church are conjoined with the Lord and affiliated with angels;
and that in it lies the holiness of the Word.

(2) That the corresponding elements
of which the spiritual meaning of the Word consists
have been disclosed.

(3) that the Lord has now revealed
the circumstances of people's life after death.

(4) that the Lord has now disclosed
the nature of the world in which angels and spirits live,
thus the nature of heaven and the nature of hell;
as also that angels and spirits live in affiliation with men;
in addition to many other wonders connected with them.

(5) The Lord has now revealed
that there is in your world a different sun from the one in our world;
that the sun of your world is pure love,
while the sun of our world is nothing but fire;
that because your sun is pure love,
everything that emanates from it brings with it something of life,
while because our sun is nothing but fire,
everything that emanates from it brings with it nothing of life;
also that this is the origin of the difference
between what is spiritual and what is natural,
a difference hitherto unknown which has also been disclosed."
It has been made known in consequence of this . . .
from what source the light comes
which enlightens the human intellect with wisdom,
and from what source the warmth comes
which kindles the human will with love.

(6) that there are three degrees of life,
and consequently three heavens;
that the human mind is divided into these degrees,
and that the human being thus corresponds to the three heavens.

(7) concerning the Last Judgment;
concerning the Lord,
that He is God of heaven and earth,
that God is one both in person and in essence,
in whom is the Divine trinity,
and that He is the Lord;
also concerning the New Church about to be established by Him,
and the doctrine of that church;
concerning the sacredness of the Holy Scripture;
as also that the Apocalypse has been revealed,
nothing of which could have been revealed,
not even in one little verse,
except by the Lord.

The angels rejoiced greatly at hearing these reports; but when they perceived in me a sadness and began to inquire what reason I had to be sad, I said that although these secrets revealed at the present time by the Lord surpass in excellence and importance any concepts hitherto imparted, still on earth they are regarded as worthless.
The angels were surprised at this, and they petitioned the Lord to permit them to look down into the world; and on looking down, behold, they saw only darkness there.
They were then told to write these secrets on a piece of paper, and to let the paper descend to the earth, at which time they would see a portent. So they did so. And lo, the piece of paper with these secrets written upon it was let go from heaven, and as it descended, while still in the spiritual world, it shone like a star. But as it floated down into the natural world, the light disappeared, and the further it fell, the darker it became.
Then, when the angels directed it into gatherings of people containing certain educated and learned representatives from the clergy and laity, a murmur arose from many of them, in which were heard the following words: "What is this? Is it of any consequence? What does it matter if we know these things or not? Are they not creations of the brain?"
Moreover, some of them appeared as though to take the piece of paper and to fold it, roll it up, and unroll it with their fingers, in order to obliterate the writing; while others appeared as though to tear it up, and some to try to trample it with their feet. But they were kept by the Lord from such a wickedness, and the angels were commanded to withdraw the paper and protect it.
After that, because the angels were saddened and thought to themselves how long this would be the case, they were told, "For a time and times and half a time." (Revelation 12:14)

CL 515 & 516 - the spiritual marriage

CL 515 & 516
. . . the Word has a natural meaning and a spiritual meaning,
and that there is a correspondence between them . . .

By the spiritual marriage
we mean the marriage of the Lord and the church . . .
and so also the marriage between goodness and truth . . .
. . . this marriage of the Lord and the church
and consequently a marriage of good and truth
exists in each and every particular of the Word. . ..
For the church is founded on the Word,
and the Word is the Lord.
The Word is the Lord
because He is the Divine good and Divine truth in it.

CL 490, 491,493 - the will and the intellect, character, purpose and intention

CL 490 [3]
1. The will by itself accomplishes nothing on its own,
but whatever it does it does through the intellect.

2. Conversely, too, the intellect by itself accomplishes nothing on its own,
but whatever it does it does from the will.

3. The will flows into the intellect, and not the intellect into the will;
but the intellect makes known what is good and what is evil
and advises the will, in order that it may choose
between the two and do that which it prefers.

4. After that a twofold conjunction of the two takes place,
one in which the will operates inwardly and the intellect outwardly,
the other in which the intellect operates inwardly and the will outwardly.

CL 491
Now, because evils and falsities can be defended
just as easily as goods and truths,
and because the intellect in defending them
draws the will over to its side,
and the will together with the intellect forms the mind,
it follows that the form of the human mind
has its character in accordance with its persuasions . . ..

Whatever character the form of a person's mind has,
moreover, such also is the character of his spirit;
consequently, such is the character of the person.

CL 493
That which springs from the very essence of a person's life,
thus which springs from his will or love,
is in the main called purpose;
while that which springs from the outward expression of his life,
thus from the intellect and its thought,
is called intention.

CL 478 - breadth and height

CL 478
. . . all evils, like all goods,
are allotted a breadth and a height,
and because according to that breadth
they have their kinds
and according to that height
their degrees . . .

CL 477 - character of the mind

CL 477 [3]
Every person has an inner mind and an outer mind,
thus an internal sight and an external sight.
In evil people the inner mind is insane and the outer one wise,
while in good people the inner mind is wise
and in consequence of it the outer one too;
and the character of the mind
determines how a person in the spiritual world sees objects.

CL 452 - character and intention

CL 452
. . . a person is a person of such a character
as he is in his purpose, intention or end,
and so he also appears to the Lord and to angels;
indeed, so he is also regarded by wise men in the world.
For the intention is the soul in all actions . . .

CL 436, 437, 444 - equilibrium

CL 436
. . . human rationality can turn itself in either direction and receive an influx.
If it turns in the direction of good, it receives an influx from above,
and then the person's rationality is formed more and more
for the reception of heaven.
But if it turns in the direction of evil, it receives an influx from below,
and then his rationality is formed more and more
for the reception of hell.

CL 437
The equilibrium between them is a spiritual equilibrium,
because it exists between good and evil.
Because of this equilibrium a person has free will.
In it and through it a person thinks and wills
and so speaks and acts as though of himself. . .
If he turns himself to the Lord,
his rationality and freedom are led by the Lord;
but if he turns away from the Lord,
his rationality and freedom are led by hell.

CL 444 [6]
"But let me explain this matter a little more clearly.
The Lord views every person by looking at his forehead,
and this sight passes to the back of his head.
Behind the forehead is the cerebrum,
and in the back of the head the cerebellum.
The cerebrum is devoted to wisdom and its truths,
while the cerebellum is devoted to love and its goods.
Therefore a person who looks with his face to the Lord
receives wisdom from Him,
and through that wisdom, love.
But a person who looks away from the Lord
receives love and not wisdom;
and love without wisdom
is love that originates with man
and not from the Lord.
Moreover, because this love allies itself with falsities,
it does not acknowledge God,
but embraces itself as a god . . . .

CL 425, 426, 461 - opposites

CL 425
No one knows good from the experience of evil,
but evil from the experience of good.
For evil dwells in darkness,
while good abides in light.

CL 426
The natural self is the character into which everyone is first led as he matures,
which is accomplished through various kinds of knowledge and concepts,
and by rational matters having to do with the intellect.
But the spiritual self is the character into which he led by a love of being useful,
a love which is also called charity.
Accordingly, in the measure that anyone is in a state of charity,
in the same measure he is spiritual;
but in the measure that he is not in that state,
in the same measure he is natural,
even if he should be discerning in acumen and wise in his judgment.

CL 431
. . . uncleanness in the church springs from licentious love,
and that cleanness in it springs from married love.

CL 413-414 - innocence of wisdom

CL 413
. . . it is intelligence and wisdom that make an angel.

CL 414
. . . innocence is the essence of all good,
and that good is good
to the extent that it has innocence in it.
Moreover, because wisdom has to do with life,
and thus with good,
wisdom is wisdom in the measure
of the character it derives from innocence.
The same is true of love, charity, and faith . . .
and for that reason no one can enter heaven
unless he possesses innocence.

CL 394 - innocence and peace

CL 394
Innocence and peace are the two innermost elements of heaven.
We call them innermost, because they emanate directly from the Lord.
For the Lord is the essence of innocence and the essence of peace.
Because of His innocence the Lord is called a Lamb,
and because of His peace He says,
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you" (John 14:27).

Innocence and peace are the innermost elements of heaven
for the further reason
that innocence is the very essence of every good,
and peace is the serenity of every delight that is connected with good.

CL 386 - What is an atmosphere?

CL 386
We call the Divinity emanating from the Lord an atmosphere,
because it goes out from Him, surrounds Him,
fills both worlds - the spiritual and the natural -
and brings about the effects of the ends
which the Lord ordained at creation
and which He subsequently provides.

Everything that flows out from an object,
surrounds it and envelops it, is called an atmosphere.
As, for example, the atmosphere of light and heat from the sun around it;
the atmosphere of life from a person around him;
the atmosphere of aroma from a shrub around it;
the atmosphere of attraction from a magnet around it; and so on.

But the universal atmospheres which we are discussing here
are from the Lord around Him;
and they emanate from the sun of the spiritual world,
at whose center He is.
From the Lord through that sun
emanates an atmosphere of warmth and light,
or to say the same thing,
an atmosphere of love and wisdom,
to bring about ends which are of use.