The Lord Living in Us: TCR 68 - His Divine Omnipotence; TCR 69 - His Divine Omniscience; TCR 70 - His Divine Omnipresence

TCR 68 [1]

The reason a person has from Divine Omnipotence 
power against evils and falsities 
to the extent that he lives 
in accordance with the Divine order 
is that no one, except God alone, 
can resist evils and the falsities they produce. 
For all evils and their falsities come from hell, 
and there they hold together as a unit, 
exactly as all kinds of good and so truths 
do in heaven. 
As I said before, in the sight of God 
the whole of heaven is like one person, 
and in the opposite case 
hell is like one monstrous giant. 
Thus acting against one evil and its falsity 
is like taking on that monstrous giant or all hell. 
No one can do this except God, 
because He is omnipotent.

TCR 69 [1, 3]

The reason why the wisdom about good and truth 
a person has from Divine omniscience 
is in proportion to the extent 
to which he lives according to the Divine order, 
is that all love of good and all wisdom about truth, 
in other words, all the good of love 
and all the truth of wisdom, 
come from God. 

Every person, as long as he lives in the world, 
treads a path mid-way between heaven and hell; 
and he is in equilibrium, 
that is, he has free will 
to look up to God or down to hell. 
If he looks up to God, 
he acknowledges that all wisdom comes from God, 
and his spirit is really present 
among the angels in heaven. 
The person who looks down, 
as everyone does whose evil puts him 
under the power of falsities, 
is in his spirit really among the devils in hell. 

TCR 70 [1]

The reason why a person is 
by Divine omnipresence in God 
to the extent that he lives in accordance with order, 
is that God is omnipresent 
and where He is present in His Divine Order, 
He is so to speak in Himself, since, as shown before, 
He is order. 
Now since a person has been created 
to be a form for the Divine Order, 
God is present in him, 
but fully only to the extent 
that he lives in accordance with the Divine order. 
If he does not live 
in accordance with the Divine order, 
God is still present in him, 
but in his highest regions, 
giving him the ability 
to understand truth and will good, 
that is, giving him the faculty of understanding 
and the inclination to love. 
But in so far as he lives contrary to order, 
so far does he close up 
the lower regions of his mind or spirit, 
and thus prevent God from coming down 
and filling the lower regions with His presence. 
So God is present in him, 
but he is not in God. 
It is the general rule in heaven 
that God is present in every person, 
evil as well as good, 
but a person is not in God 
unless he lives in accordance with order. 
For the Lord says that He wills 
that a person should be in Him 
and He in the person:

Abide in Me, and I in you. 
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, 
unless it abides in the vine, 
neither can you, 
unless you abide in Me.
(John 15:4) 

 

TCR 65, 66 - An Image and Likeness of God

TCR 65

Human beings were created to 
be a form for Divine order, 
because he was created 
as an image and likeness of God; 
so since God is order itself, 
he was created as an image and likeness of order. 
The two factors which brought order into existence
and preserve it in existence 
are the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom; 
and people were created to be a receiver of these. 
Consequently he was by creation endowed 
with the order according to which 
the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom 
act in the universe, 
and principally that according to which they act 
in the heaven of angels, 
so that this whole heaven is a form of Divine order 
on the largest scale, 
and in the sight of God it appears like one person. 

TCR 66

. . . the end in view in creation 
was a heaven of angels drawn from the human race; 
consequently the end was human beings, 
in whom God could dwell 
as in something made to receive Him. 
This is the cause of a person being created 
to be a form for the Divine order. 

 

TCR 63 - The Fullness of God's Omnipresence

TCR 63

God Is Present Everywhere 
from First to Last in His Order.

It is the heat and light of the sun 
of the spiritual world, 
in the midst of which God is, 
which makes Him present everywhere 
from first to last in His order. 
By means of this sun order came into existence, 
and from it He sends forth heat and light, 
which penetrate the universe from first to last 
and produce the life possessed by 
every human being and animal, 
and also the vegetative soul 
which every plant on earth has. 
Its heat and light act upon every single thing 
and cause each to live and grow 
in accordance with the order imposed on them 
from creation. 
Since God has no extent, 
yet fills all the space in the universe, 
He is omnipresent. 
It has been shown elsewhere 
that God is non-spatially in all space 
and non-temporally in all time, 
as a result of which 
the universe is 
in respect of its essence and its order 
the fullness of God. 
This being so, 
God by His omnipresence perceives everything, 
by His omniscience provides everything, 
and by His omnipotence performs everything. 
This makes it plain that omnipresence, 
omniscience and omnipotence make one, 
in other words, 
one supposes the other 
and thus they cannot be divided.

 

TCR 59, 60, 61 - God's Perceives, Sees and Knows Everything

TCR 59

The reason God is omniscient, 
that is, perceives, sees and knows everything 
is because He is Wisdom itself and Light itself, 
and Wisdom itself perceives everything 
and Light itself sees everything.
. . . For as the eye 
sees by the light of the natural sun, 
so the understanding sees 
by the light of the spiritual sun. 
It not only sees by that light, 
but is also filled with intelligence 
the more it loves to receive that light, 
since this light is in its essence wisdom.
. . . By the Word is meant the Divine Wisdom. 
This is why the angels enjoy a brighter light, 
the greater their wisdom; 
and why in the Word, 
every time light is mentioned, wisdom is meant.

TCR 60

The reason God perceives, sees and knows 
down to the tiniest detail 
everything that happens according to order 
is that a universal order
is made up of the smallest details. 
The details taken together 
are called a universal principle, 
just as the particulars taken together 
are called a general principle. 
The universal principle 
together with its smallest details 
make up a single coherent unit, 
so that one part cannot be touched or acted upon 
without some sensation 
being transmitted to the whole. 
This characteristic of the order of the universe 
produces similar effects 
in all created things in the world . . ..

TCR 61

The reason why God 
from the things which are in accordance with order 
perceives, knows and sees everything,
down to the tiniest detail, 
which happens contrary to order, 
is that God does not keep a person in evil, 
but holds him back from evil. 
So He does not lead him, 
but struggles with him. 
From that perpetual struggle, striving, resistance, 
repugnance and reaction of evil and falsity 
against His own good and truth, 
and so against Himself, 
He is able to perceive their nature and extent. 
This follows from the fact 
that God is omnipresent 
in all the details of His order, 
and also omniscient concerning every one of them.

 

TCR 57, 58 - Beliefs About God's Omnipotence

TCR 57

The prevalent opinion today
is that God's omnipotence resembles 
the absolute power of a king in this world, 
who can act at his pleasure however he wishes: 
acquit or condemn whom he will, 
make the guilty innocent, 
pronounce the traitor loyal, 
promote the unworthy and undeserving 
over the heads of the worthy and deserving, 
even on any pretext snatch away his subjects' goods, 
condemn them to death, 
and do other similar things. 
As a result of this absurd opinion, belief and teaching 
about the Divine omnipotence, 
as many falsities, fallacies and chimeras 
have invaded the church, 
as there are nuances, systems and derivations 
of belief there.

TCR 58

If the current belief 
about God's omnipotence was correct, 
so that it extended to doing evil as well as good, 
surely it would be possible, or rather easy, 
for God to lift the whole of hell up into heaven, 
change devils and satans into angels, 
and in an instant cleanse 
any irreligious person on earth of his sins, 
make him new and sanctify him, regenerate him, 
turn him from a son of wrath into a son of grace, 
that is, justify him, 
by the simple attribution and imputation 
of His Son's righteousness. 
But God cannot do this by His omnipotence, 
because it is contrary to the laws of order 
He has imposed on the universe, 
and at the same time to the laws of order 
imposed upon every person; 
for these demand that both sets 
should be mutually linked together. 

TCR 50, 51, 53, 55 - God's Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence and Order

TCR 50

. . . God's omnipotence, omniscience 
and omnipresence arise through 
the wisdom of His love
is what is meant by the following passage from John:

In the beginning was the Word, 
and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. 
All things were made through Him, 
and without Him was nothing made which was made. 
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; 
and the world was made through Him; 
and the Word was made flesh.
John 1:1, 3-4, 10, 14

'Word' here means Divine Truth, 
or, what comes to the same thing, 
the Divine Wisdom. 
That is why it is also called life and light; 
for these are nothing but wisdom.

TCR 51

In the Word 
righteousness is used with reference to love 
and judgment to wisdom . . ..

TCR 53

God is order itself 
and therefore that He of Himself 
introduced order both into the universe 
and every one of its parts. 
It was a most perfect order that He introduced, 
because all that He created was good, 
as we read in the Book of Creation. 

TCR 55

Anyone can see 
that there is no empire, kingdom, duchy, 
republic, city or house 
which lacks the support of laws, 
to impose order 
and so control the form of its government. 
In each case
the laws of righteousness occupy the highest place, 
political laws the second place, 
and the laws governing the economy the third. 
If we make a comparison with a person, 
the laws of righteousness are the head, 
those of politics the body, 
those of the economy the clothes. 
That is why these last can be changed, 
like clothes. 
As for the order 
which God established for the church, 
this consists in having God in every single part of it, 
and having the neighbor as the object 
towards which order should be directed. 
The laws of this order are as many 
as the truths in the Word; 
the laws which relate to God make up the head, 
those which relate to the neighbor the body, 
and its ceremonies make the clothes. 
For if the ceremonies were not there to contain 
the other things in their proper order, 
it would be like stripping the body 
and exposing it to heat in summer 
and cold in winter; 
or like taking away the walls and roof of a church, 
so that the chancel, altar and pulpit 
were in the open air 
exposed to all the various extremes of the weather. 

TCR 48 - An Image and a Likeness

TCR 48 [5, 20]

. . . an image of God was a receiver of God, 
and since God is Love itself and Wisdom itself, 
the image of God is the receiving 
of love and wisdom from God in the person; 
but the likeness of God was 
the perfect likeness and complete appearance
of love and wisdom being present in a person 
and of belonging to him. 
'For a person does not know 
but that he loves and is wise of himself, 
or that he wills good and understands truth of himself. 
In fact not a whit is of himself, 
but from God. 
It is only God who loves of Himself 
and is wise of Himself, 
because God is Love itself and Wisdom itself. 
The likeness or appearance that love and wisdom, 
or good and truth, 
are present in a person as if they belonged to him 
is what makes a man human, 
and thus able to be conjoined to God 
and so to live for ever. 
The consequence of this is 
that person's humanity is the result of his ability 
to will good and understand truth 
exactly as if he did so of himself, 
while at the same time knowing and believing 
that he does so from God. 
For to the extent that he knows and believes this, 
God places His image in a person; 
it would be otherwise
if he believed it was of himself and not from God.

A person has been created so that he may receive 
love and wisdom from God, 
yet it appears exactly as if he did so from himself, 
which is to allow him to receive them 
and so be conjoined; 
therefore a person is born 
without any love or any knowledge, 
without even the ability 
to love and be wise of himself; 
therefore if he attributes all the good of love 
and all the truth of wisdom to God 
he becomes a living person, 
but if he attributes them to himself 
he becomes a dead man.

 

TCR 44 - The Nature of Divine Love

TCR 44

That this is the nature of the Divine Love 
is to be known from its sphere 
which pervades the universe, 
and affects every person 
according to his mental state. 
It particularly affects parents, 
since it is this 
which makes them dearly love their children, 
who are other than themselves, 
wish to be one with them, 
and devote themselves to their happiness. 
. . . That universal sphere especially affects those 
who receive that love of God's into themselves, 
and these are those 
who believe in God and love the neighbor. 
Charity in their case is an image of that love.

TCR 42 - Three Degrees of Love, Wisdom & Life

TCR 42

It should also be known that there are 
three degrees of love and wisdom, 
and so three degrees of life . . ..
These regions are opened up successively 
as a person grows up. 
The last region, 
where life is in its lowest degree, 
is opened up from infancy to childhood, 
as different kinds of knowledge are acquired. 
The second degree, 
where life is in a greater degree, 
is opened up, from childhood to adolescence, 
as the result of thinking based on knowledge. 
The highest degree, 
where life is in its highest degree,
is opened up from adolescence to early manhood 
and beyond; 
and this is brought about by grasping 
both moral and spiritual truths.
 

TCR 40 - Only the Lord Has Life In Himself Which He Shares With Us

TCR 40

As the Father has life in Himself, 
so did He grant the Son to have life in Himself
(John 5:26)

This means that just as the Divine itself, 
which existed from eternity, 
has life in itself, 
so has the Human which it assumed in time. 
Life in itself is the very, sole life 
which enables angels and people to live. 
Human reason can grasp this by considering 
the light radiated by the sun of the natural world. 
This light is not capable of being created, 
but the forms which receive it are created; 
the eyes are designed to receive light, 
and it is the light radiated by the sun 
which enables them to see. 
It is the same with life, which, as said before, 
is light radiated by the sun of the spiritual world; 
this is not capable of being created, 
but by its continuous radiation as it were 
lights up and gives life to a person's understanding. 
It follows that since light, life and wisdom are one, 
wisdom too cannot be created; 
and the same is true of
faith, truth, love, charity and good. 
It is the forms which receive them 
which are created, namely, 
the minds of men and angels.

Let everyone therefore beware 
of convincing himself 
that he owes his life to himself, 
or his intelligence, belief, love, perception of truth 
or his willing and doing good. 
In so far as he convinces himself of these ideas, 
so far does he cast down 
his mind earthwards from heaven, 
and from being spiritual becomes natural, 
influenced by the senses and the body. 
For he thus shuts off the higher regions of his mind, 
so that he becomes blinded to everything 
which relates to God, heaven and the church. 
Everything he may then think, reason and say 
is mere foolishness, because he is in darkness; 
yet at the same time he becomes confident 
that these are the products of wisdom. 
For when the higher regions of the mind, 
the abode of the true light of life, are shut off, 
the region of the mind below these, 
which is illuminated only by 
the faint glimmer of the world, 
is opened up. 
This glimmer, 
unsupported by the light of the higher regions, 
is a misleading illumination, 
in which falsities look like truths, 
and truths like falsities; 
reasoning from falsities looks like wisdom, 
and from truths like madness. 
Then a person believes himself to have 
the keenness of sight of an eagle, 
though he can see no more of wisdom 
than a bat in daytime.

 

TCR 31 - Time; TCR 32 - Beware the Storm

TCR 31 [3]

. . . the world was created by God in time,
but time was introduced by God
together with creation.

TCR 32 [9]

. . . beware of the storm 
which arises from the natural man,
a storm which can sink the ship,
mast, sails and all, 
stern first, where the natural man stands 
in all his self-confidence.

TCR 30 - Spiritual Thinking

TCR 30

. . . spiritual thinking . . . 
is in no way dependent upon space, 
but gains its whole quality from state. 
State is what can be attributed to 
love, life, wisdom, affections, joys, 
and in general to good and truth. 
Any really spiritual concept of these 
has nothing in common with space, 
it is on a higher plane 
and looks down on spatial ideas as beneath itself, 
just as heaven looks down on earth.

The fact that God is non-spatially present in space 
and non-temporally in time 
explains why God is ever the same 
from eternity to eternity, 
and so the same 
since the creation of the world as before it; 
and why before the creation of the world 
space and time did not exist in God 
or in His presence, 
but they did after this event. 

It is because God is non-temporally in all time 
that in His Word the present tense is used 
in speaking of the past and the future, as in Isaiah:

A Child is born for us, 
a Son is given, 
whose name is Hero, 
the Prince of peace. 
(Isaiah 9:6)

In the Psalms of David:

I will bring news of a decree, 
said Jehovah to me, 
you are my son, today have I begotten you.  
(Psalms 2:7)

This refers to the Lord who was to come; 
and therefore the same author says:

A thousand years in your eyes are as yesterday.
(Psalms 90:4)

 

TCR 28 - Seeing the 'Back Parts of God'

TCR 28

It has so far been shown that God is one 
and is the very and first Being of everything, 
and that all things which are, 
come into being and subsist in the universe, 
are from Him. 
It follows from this that He is infinite. 
In the following pages it will be proved 
that human reason can see the truth of that 
from very many things in the created universe. 
But although these things can lead 
the human mind to acknowledge 
that the prime Entity (Ens) 
or first Being (Esse) is infinite, 
it still cannot know its nature; 
and therefore cannot define it 
except as the total infinite, 
subsisting in itself 
and thus the very and sole substance; 
and since nothing 
can be predicated of substance without form, 
that it is the very and sole form. 
Yet where does this get us? 
This still does not show what the infinite is like. 
For the human mind, 
for all its loftiness and superb analytical power, 
is finite, 
and there is no way of rendering it 
anything but finite. 
Therefore it is incapable of seeing 
the infinity of God as it is in itself, 
and so seeing God; 
but it can see God in shadow from behind, 
as Moses was told when he begged to see God: 
he was placed in a cleft in the rock 
and saw His back parts (Exodus 33:20-23). 
The 'back parts of God' 
mean what is visible in the world, 
and in particular 
what can be perceived in the Word.

 

TCR 24 - God Holds the Understanding In His Hand; TCR 26 - Approaching God

TCR 24 [2] 

We say that a person climbs up, 
but it must be understood 
that it is God who lifts him up. 
A person has a free choice in acquiring knowledge; 
and he seems to get this for himself 
from the Word by means of the understanding, 
and thus smooths the path for God 
to come down and lift him up. 
The pieces of knowledge which enable 
the human understanding to climb, 
while God holds it in His hand and guides it, 
can be compared to 
the steps of the ladder seen by Jacob, 
which was set up on earth 
so that its top reached heaven 
and angels climbed up by means of it, 
and Jehovah stood above it.

Then he dreamed, and behold, 
a ladder was set up on the earth, 
and its top reached to heaven; 
and there the angels of God 
were ascending and descending on it.

And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: 
“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father 
and the God of Isaac; 
the land on which you lie 
I will give to you and your descendants.

(Genesis 28:12-13)

TCR 26 [2]

. . . if anyone does not approach 
the God of heaven and earth Himself, 
he cannot enter heaven, 
because it is that one God 
who makes heaven to be heaven, 
and that same God is Jesus Christ, 
who is Jehovah the Lord, 
the Creator from eternity, 
the Redeemer in time, 
and the Regenerator for eternity to come. 
Thus He is at once Father, Son and Holy Spirit; 
this is the Gospel to be preached.

 

 

TCR 21 - Jehovah God Is Always; TCR 22 - God Is Present and Near At Hand

TCR 21

Jehovah God is Being in itself, 
because He is I am, 
the very, sole and prime source, 
from eternity to eternity, 
of everything in existence, 
which allows it to exist. 
In this and no other sense 
He is the Beginning and the End, 
the First and the Last, 
Alpha and Omega. 

One cannot say that His Being is from itself, 
because 'out of itself' presupposes 
what is earlier and thus time; 
but time is inconsistent with the Infinite, 
which is said to be 'from eternity'. 
It also presupposes another God, 
who is God in Himself, 
and thus God originating from God; 
in other words, that God formed Himself . . ..

It follows from the fact that God is Being in itself 
that He is Love in itself, 
Wisdom in itself and Life in itself, 
and that it is He who is the source of everything, 
who is the point of reference of everything, 
if it is to exist. 
It is clear from the Lord's words in John:

For as the Father has life in Himself, 
so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
(John 5:26)

that God is Life in itself 
and thus God; and in Isaiah:

I, Jehovah, make all things, 
I alone spread out the heavens 
and stretch out the earth by Myself.
(Isaiah 44:24)

and that He is the only God 
and there is no God beside Him.
(Isaiah 45:14-15, 21-22;  Hosea 13:4)

TCR 22 [2]

This revelation has made it possible 
for the natural person to rise above nature, 
and thus above himself, 
and see the things which are God's. 
Yet he can only do this as it were from a distance, 
although God is present 
near at hand 
with every person, 
for God is in him with His essence. 
For this reason 
He is near at hand to those who love Him, 
and those who love Him 
are those who live according to His commandments 
and believe in Him; 
these people as it were see Him. 
What is faith but one's spirit seeing that it is so? 
And what is it 
to live according to His commandments 
but to acknowledge Him in practice 
as the source of salvation and everlasting life? 

 

TCR 20 - The One God

TCR 20

The God is substance itself and form itself,
and angels and men are substances and forms
derived from Him;
to the extent that they are in Him and He in them,
so far are they images and likenesses of Him.

Since God is Being, 
He is also substance, 
for unless being is substance, 
it is an imaginary entity, 
for substance is a subsisting entity. 
One who is substance must also be form, 
for substance without form is an imaginary entity. 
Both can therefore be predicated of God, 
but on condition that He is the sole, 
very and prime substance and form. 
. . . this form is the very form of man, that is, 
God is very man, 
and all of His attributes are infinite; 
and likewise that angels and men 
are substances and forms created and ordered 
so as to receive the Divine influences 
reaching them through heaven. 
In the Book of Creation 
they are therefore called 
images and likenesses of God (Genesis 1:26-27); 
elsewhere they are called His sons 
and begotten of Him. 
It will be proved at length 
in the course of this book 
that in so far as a person lives 
under Divine guidance, that is, 
allows himself to be led by God, 
so far does he become, more and more inwardly, 
an image of God.

If the minds of people did not form 
the idea that God is prime substance and form, 
and that His form is the very form of man, 
they would easily fall into fantastic, 
ghost-like, ideas about God Himself, 
the origin of man and the creation of the world. 
They could not avoid thinking of God 
as the primeval nature of the universe, 
and consequently as its expanse, 
or as it were a void or nothingness. 
They would think of the origin of man 
as if it were a fortuitous concourse of atoms 
to make such a form; 
of the creation of the world 
as owing its substances and forms 
to geometric points and lines, 
which since they lack attributes 
are in themselves non-existent. 
In the case of such people 
everything relating to the church is like 
the river Styx or the thick darkness of Tartarus.

 

TCR 18 - The Divine Being, Which is Jehovah; TCR 19 - The Language of Spirits and Angels

TCR 18

The Divine Being (Esse) will be discussed first, 
then the Divine Essence. 
It looks as if these two are one and the same, 
but in fact Being (Esse) is more universal 
than Essence, since Essence presupposes Being, 
and comes into existence from Being. 
The Being of God, or the Divine Being, 
is indescribable, 
since it transcends all ideas of human thought. 
. . . The Divine Being is Being Itself, 
the source of all things 
and which must be in all things for them to exist.

TCR 19 [2]

God is called Alpha and Omega, 
the Beginning and the End, 
because alpha is the first 
and omega the last letter in the Greek alphabet, 
and they thus mean everything taken together. 
The reason is that every letter of the alphabet 
in the spiritual world stands for some thing. 
Vowels, which allow words to be pronounced, 
stand for something to do with affection or love. 
This is the origin of the speech of spirits or angels, 
and also of their writing-systems. 
But this is a mystery not previously known: 
there is a universal language 
used by all angels and spirits, 
which has nothing in common 
with any human language in the world. 
Everyone comes into possession 
of this language after death,
for it is inborn in everyone from his creation. 
Therefore everyone throughout the spiritual world 
can understand everyone else. 
 . . . compared it with languages in the world, 
and found that it does not agree 
in the slightest detail 
with any natural language on earth. 
It differs from them in its basic principle, 
which is that each letter of every word 
stands for some thing. 
That can now be seen to be the reason why 
God is called Alpha and Omega, 
the one single source from beginning to end, 
from which everything comes.

 

TCR 12 - Who Else But God?; TCR 15 - The Heaven of Angels

TCR 12 [9]

Who else can foresee and provide 
what people need to eat and clothe themselves: 
the crops of the field, the fruits of the earth 
and animals for food, 
and clothing from the same sources? 
One of the astonishing things in this is 
that those insignificant insects called silk-worms 
dress both women and men in silk 
and adorn them magnificently, 
from queens and kings 
down to maids and servants; 
and that those insignificant insects called bees 
supply wax to illuminate splendidly 
churches and halls. 
These and many more 
are the outstanding proofs that God of Himself 
performs all the workings of nature 
by means of the spiritual world.

TCR 15

The heaven of angels is organized into communities 
in accordance with the varieties of the love for good, 
but all these varieties 
aim at a single most general love, 
that is, love to God. 
From this love are descended all 
who acknowledge in their belief, 
and worship in their heart, 
one God the Creator of the universe, 
and at the same time 
the Redeemer and the Regenerator.
 

TCR 5 - The Oneness of God; TCR 6 - The Adaptation of Holy Scripture; TCR 11 - The Front and Back Door

TCR 5 - THE ONENESS OF GOD

Since the acknowledgment of God 
which comes from knowing Him
is the very essence and soul 
of every dogma in all theology, 
I must begin by speaking of the oneness of God.

TCR 6 [1 - 2]

For Scripture was dictated by God, 
and nothing can proceed from God 
except what He Himself is, 
and this we call the Divine. 
This resides in the inmost meaning of Scripture. 
However, in its lower forms 
which are derived from the Divine, 
the Holy Scripture is adapted to 
the grasp of angels and people. 
In these forms it is likewise Divine, 
but in a different guise; 
in this case the Divine is called 
Celestial, Spiritual and Natural. 
These are merely the veils of God, 
since God Himself, 
as He exists in the inmost meaning of the Word, 
cannot be looked on by any created being. 
For when Moses begged to see 
the glory of Jehovah, 
God told him that no one can see God and live. 
It is the same with the inmost meaning of the Word, 
in which God is in His Being and Essence.

Still the Divine, 
which is inmostly contained in it 
and is protected by such veils 
as adapt it to the grasp of angels and people, 
shines out like light 
passing through crystalline structures, 
but the light appears to differ 
according to the state of mind 
which a person has acquired from God 
or from himself. 
For everyone who has acquired 
his state of mind from God, 
the Sacred Scripture is like a mirror, 
in which he sees God, 
everyone in his own fashion. 
This mirror is composed of 
the truths which he learns from the Word 
and absorbs by living his life 
in accordance with them. 
A first conclusion from this is 
that the Sacred Scripture is the fullness of God.

TCR 11 {3]

Belief in God comes into a person 
by the front door, 
that is, from the soul 
into the higher regions of the understanding. 
But knowledge about God 
comes in by the back door, 
because it is absorbed by the understanding 
from the revelation of the Word 
by means of the bodily senses. 
The two paths leading in 
meet in the midst of the understanding; 
there, natural belief, 
which is merely a strongly held opinion, 
becomes spiritual, that is to say, 
a real acknowledgment. 
So the human understanding is like an exchange 
where currencies are changed. 

 

TCR 1 - The Faith of the New Heaven and the New Church

TCR 1

A statement of faith, 
set out in both universal and particular terms, 
is placed at the beginning 
to serve as a preface to the book which follows, 
to be like a doorway leading into a church, 
and a summary presenting in a short compass 
what follows at more length. 
It is called the faith 
of the new heaven and the new church, 
because heaven, where the angels are, 
and the church among people form a single unit, 
just as the internal and external sides 
of the personality make up a single individual. 
This is why a member of the church 
who possesses the good of love 
which arises from the truths of faith, 
and possesses the truths of faith 
which arise from the good of love, is, 
so far as the interiors of his mind are concerned, 
an angel of heaven. 
Therefore too after dying he comes into heaven, 
and there enjoys happiness 
depending upon how far 
the good and truth are conjoined.

__________

TCR - True Christian Religion