Heaven and Hell/2
II
It is the Divine of the Lord that Makes Heaven
7. The angels taken collectively are called heaven, for they constitute heaven; and yet that which makes heaven in general and in particular is the Divine that goes forth from the Lord and flows into the angels and is received by them. And as the Divine that goes forth from the Lord is the good of love and the truth of faith, the angels are angels and are heaven in the measure in which they receive good and truth from the Lord.
8. Everyone in the heavens knows and believes and even perceives that
he wills and does nothing of good from himself, and that he thinks
and believes nothing of truth from himself, but only from the Divine,
thus from the Lord; also that good from himself is not good, and
truth from himself is not truth, because these have in them no life
from the Divine. Moreover, the angels of the inmost heaven clearly
perceive and feel the influx, and the more of it they receive the
more they seem to themselves to be in heaven, because the more are
they in love and faith and in the light of intelligence and wisdom,
and in heavenly joy therefrom; and since all these go forth from the
Divine of the Lord, and in these the angels have their heaven, it is
clear that it is the Divine of the Lord, and not the angels from
anything properly their own that makes heaven.[1] This is why heaven
is called in the Word the "dwelling-place" of the Lord and "His
throne," and those who are there are said to be in the Lord.[2] But
in what manner the Divine goes forth from the Lord and fills heaven
will be told in what follows.
9. Angels from their wisdom go still further. They say that not only
everything good and true is from the Lord, but everything of life as
well. They confirm it by this, that nothing can spring from itself,
but only from something prior to itself; therefore all things spring
from a First, which they call the very Being [Esse] of the life of
all things. And in like manner all things continue to exist, for
continuous existence is a ceaseless springing forth, and whatever is
not continually held by means of intermediates in connection with the
First instantly disperses and is wholly dissipated. They say also
that there is but One Fountain of life, and that man's life is a
rivulet therefrom, which if it did not unceasingly continue from its
fountain would immediately flow away.
[2] Again, they say that from this One Fountain of life, which is the Lord, nothing goes forth except Divine good and Divine truth, and that each one is affected by these in accordance with his reception of them, those who receive them in faith and life find heaven in them while those who reject them or stifle them change them into hell; for they change good into evil and truth into falsity, thus life into death. Again, that everything of life is from the Lord they confirm by this: that all things in the universe have relation to good and truth,-the life of man's will, which is the life of his love, to good; and the life of his understanding, which is the life of his faith, to truth; and since everything good and true comes from above it follows that everything of life must come from above.
[3] This being the belief of the angels they refuse all thanks for the good they do, and are displeased and withdraw if any one attributes good to them. They wonder how any one can believe that he is wise from himself or does anything good from himself. Doing good for one's own sake they do not call good, because it is done from self. But doing good for the sake of good they call good from the Divine; and this they say is the good that makes heaven, because this good is the Lord.[3]
10. Such spirits as have confirmed themselves during their life in
the world in the belief that the good they do and the truth they
believe is from themselves, or is appropriated to them as their own
(which is the belief of all who place merit in good actions and claim
righteousness to themselves) are not received into heaven. Angels
avoid them. They look upon them as stupid and as thieves; as stupid
because they continually have themselves in view and not the Divine;
and as thieves because they steal from the Lord what is His. These
are averse to the belief of heaven, that it is the Divine of the Lord
in the angels that makes heaven.
11. The Lord teaches that those that are in heaven and in the church
are in the Lord and the Lord is in them, when He says:
Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for apart from Me ye can do nothing (John 15:4,5).
12. From all this it can now be seen that the Lord dwells in the angels of heaven in what is His own, and thus that the Lord is the all in all things of heaven; and this for the reason that good from the Lord is the Lord in angels, for what is from the Lord is the Lord; consequently heaven to the angels is good from the Lord, and not anything of their own.
- ↑ The angels of heaven acknowledge all good to be from the Lord, and nothing from themselves, and the Lord dwells in them in His own and not in their own (n. 9338, 10125, 10151, 10157). Therefore in the Word by "angels" something of the Lord is meant (n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 8192, 10528). Furthermore, angels are called "gods" from the reception of the Divine from the Lord (n. 4295, 4402, 7268, 7873, 8192, 8301). Again, all good that is good, and all truth that is truth, consequently all peace, love, charity, and faith, are from the Lord (n. 1614, 2016, 2751, 2882, 2883, 2891, 2892, 2904). Also all wisdom and intelligence (n. 109, 112, 121, 124).
- ↑ Those who are in heaven are said to be in the Lord (n. 3637, 3638).
- ↑ Good from the Lord has the Lord inwardly in it, but good from one's own has not (n. 1802, 3951, 8480).