The Judgment Day/Part 1/Section 6

by Sabin Hough

SECTION SIXTH.

That the world of Spirits must be the scene of the last judgment, shown to be necessary, in order that the end of the divine love may be attained.

Common opinions in regard to nature—Such opinions lead to dangerous conclusions—The natural world an effect from spiritual causes—Quotation from E. S.—Cause and effect—The existence of the natural world a consequence of the divine love—Exists that heaven may be formed—Quotations from E. S.—Natural world must continue to exist in order that heaven may be continually increased.

The natural world with every thing that appertains to it is an effect from causes existing in the spiritual world, while those causes themselves owe all their power and energy to him who is the source of all power and all life.

That the natural world at first derived its existence from a Creator possessed of infinite power and wisdom, is a truth so generally acknowledged as to render it unnecessary to

say any thing in confirmation of it. In general terms this truth is acknowledged, by all those who profess a belief in a divine Being. That the natural world had a cause and that that cause was either the mediate or the immediate exercise of the divine energy, is therefore a question on which there is no controversy.

But the proposition which I wish to bring before the mind of the reader, is; that the natural world has now a cause;—not only a primary cause, which, in other words, is the final end for which it exists, and which originates in the divine love, but that it has also an efficient or instrumental cause, and that this cause exists from the divine wisdom.

A common opinion has been that the Almighty Creator, at some remote period, by a direct and immediate effort of almighty power, caused the natural world suddenly to spring into existence out of nothing. It has been supposed that he then gave to nature certain laws, and to those laws a sort of inherent power; and that not only in accordance with these laws, but in obedience to them, the various changes and operations of the natural world have continued to move forward, the planets have rolled on in their orbits, the earth has revolved on its axis, and an unlimited number and variety of changes have taken place in the mineral and vegetable kingdoms. The common impression appears to be that there is a sort of inherent and as it were hereditary power in nature and its laws. The existence of such a general impression is clearly evident from the ordinary manner of speaking on this subject. We find men constantly writing and speaking of what nature does, of her laws, and her various operations in the visible world, as if nature were really a living active agent, and possessed some inherent power to direct her own movements and execute her own laws. It is true there are very few who would deny that this power was first given to nature by the Creator himself, but then the impression seems to be that she holds and uses it as a permanent gift. For example, how often do we hear the astronomer talking of the centripetal and tangential forces, which carry the earth forward in her orbit. He will demonstrate to you with mathematical certainty that the resultant of those forces must be the ellipse, in which we find the earth moving. When he arrives at the result does it occur to him that he has done nothing more than to show the final and ultimate, yet necessary and invariable effect of certain causes existing in the spiritual world,—causes originating in divine love and existing according to divine wisdom. There is reason to fear, that as a general fact, there is no recognition of any such principle. It is seen that the various changes and operations that are going on in the natural world are taking place according to certain general laws. These laws are called laws of nature, and the impression seems to be that nature has received, from the hand of her Creator, some power by which she executes these laws. But she is supposed to have held her power for so many ages and to have displayed so much skill in the use of it, that the supposition of her having once received it from the Creator is regarded rather as a speculative theory, than as a question of any practical importance.. But the admission that nature has for many ages held and wielded the power which we see manifested in the natural world, is sufficient to constitute her the real if not the acknowledged object of worship. Being regarded as the repository of all manifested power, she becomes the object of adoration and worship. And though the existence of the Divine Being or Great First Cause may not be theoretically denied, yet there ceases to be any clear and distinct recognition of him as a personal Deity. He is lost sight of in the darkness of nature and is no longer an object of love and worship.

The tendency thus to go from theoretical error to practical atheism is by no means an imaginary danger, but is an alarming evil already most extensively realized. If any special proof of this assertion is demanded it may be found in the great popularity of certain doctrines called "the science of spirituality," "the divine revelations of nature," and other similar names. The design of these doctrines, as the reader undoubtedly knows, is, to refer all spiritual phenomena to the operation of natural laws, of laws originating in nature and executed by her power. And yet this spirit killing atheism—or, if the term sounds harshly, it may be called naturalism—will easily be seen to have been the inevitable consequence, the necessary ultimation of the theory already referred to, a theory which supposes that the Creator has given to the laws of nature a self propelling power, and that by virtue of the power thus conferred, are effected the various changes and operations that we behold in the natural world. The admission that nature possesses as an inherent principle, the power to produce even the lowest natural phenomenon, necessarily prepares the mind for referring all phenomena to the same cause. For though the impression may be at first entertained, that there is a class of spiritual phenomena which lie in a more elevated region and over which nature has no control, yet it is found impossible to discover precisely at what point the spiritual are separated from the natural, and as it is impossible to find the limit of nature's power, the mind soon takes up the idea that it is better and more rational to give her universal power and to refer all phenomena whether spiritual or natural to the operation of her laws.

I have referred to this false theory that by contrast I might be enabled to place in a bolder and more distinct view that doctrine, which shows that Jehovah our God, from the infinite resources of his own divine nature, every moment supplies that power which moves the mighty machinery of the universe. There is a system of philosophy within our reach, a philosophy fair and beautiful in all its features and clear as the light of the rising sun,—a philosophy which wrests from nature every atom of her pretended power and gives it back to God. In this system it is demonstrated that nature has no power either original or inherited to produce even the slightest movement, or to create the simplest form; that all her laws and operations are nothing more than the effects of causes existing in the spiritual world; and that within these causes Jehovah himself resides, a Divine Man, in his manifested form the Lord Jesus Christ. In this system it is fully shown that all natural things have not only originated from the divine love and wisdom, but that their continued existence is at every moment the effect of the same divine and ever present cause; that their preservation from one moment to another is, in fact, equivalent to a perpetual creation; that the mind ought not therefore to look downwards towards nature, but upwards towards the Lord, who is goodness and truth and the source of all power. The reader undoubtedly knows where this system of philosophy may be found; and if he truly loves and worships the Lord Jesus Christ as Jehovah his God, he cannot fail of feeling deeply interested and delighted at finding it clearly and fully shown that not the very smallest particle of power, life or strength, ought to be ascribed to nature as her own, but that all honor, glory and power, should be given unto him by whom, as divine truth, all things are created and sustained. He may there find it fully demonstrated, that "every thing that exists in the natural world derives its birth and cause from those things that exist in the spiritual world," that "universal nature is nothing else than a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom," that "the things which are in nature are nothing but effects. Their causes are in the spiritual world and the causes of those causes which are ends, are in the interior heavens."

Here may be found a system of spiritual philosophy, which unfolds and demonstrates the most beautiful order and harmony between spiritual and natural things; which shows how and by what laws the natural world, with every thing that appertains to it, has derived its existence, and continues to derive its support from spiritual causes. It is true this system of spiritual philosophy cannot be seen or appreciated, by the mere sensualist, by him who has no love for spiritual things and no perception of them; who has thrown off all apparent respect for the forms of religion, and does not seek to conceal the fact, that the end for which he lives is the gratification of his selfish and sensual desires. And their reception will be equally difficult for those who are in the love of such forms of doctrines as rest entirely upon the sensual plane of the mind,—are formed wholly from ideas of natural and worldly things, and have therefore nothing spiritual in them. Such a doctrine is the Tripersonality, or the doctrine of Three Divine Persons; the Vicarious Atonement, which teaches that one of those divine persons suffered as a substitute for the sins of men; the doctrine of Justification by faith alone, a doctrine which seeks to show that faith and not charity is the essential and fundamental principle of religion; and in fact that whole system of doctrines, of which the points named are the essential principles. These doctrines having been formed by substituting natural and worldly ideas for spiritual, there can be no reasonable hope that the mind, so long as it remains in the love of them, will feel even the least disposition to understand and embrace that system of spiritual philosophy to which I have referred. The mind must at least have been brought to acknowledge that there are spiritual things, and that those things are essentially different from natural and sensual things, before it will seek to understand the relation between spiritual and natural things; before it will be prepared to embrace that beautiful truth that all natural phenomena are external effects from the constant operation of internal and spiritual causes. "A man," says Swedenborg, "receives only so much from others as he either hath of his own, or acquires to himself, by the examination of a thing in himself: the surplus passes away."

But the man who, by the divine mercy, has succeeded in obtaining some measure of deliverance from the debasing love of sensual things, will be gratified and delighted to find in the works to which I have referred, a full and beautiful unfolding of that most intensely interesting subject, the relation of natural to spiritual things.

And there also, he will find it fully demonstrated, that not only does the natural world exist from spiritual causes, but that there is within those causes an inmost cause, a final cause, or end, and that this end is the divine love. The reader who would obtain a correct understanding of this principle, must become a student of Swedenborg's theological works. From all other sources he will seek in vain for a clear and satisfactory explanation of a subject so deep and spiritual, and so far removed from sensual things. It will not, however, be difficult to see the truth of the general principle, that there must be a constant and inseparable connection between ends, causes, and effects, in the works of the Lord, as well as in the works of man. We know that every man constantly acts with reference to a final end, and that that end is the same with his ruling love. To this ruling love, whether it be celestial or infernal, the love of self, or the love of the Lord, all other affections, thoughts and actions are secondary and subordinate. Around this one central principle all other things that belong to the affections and thoughts are arranged, and on it they are made to depend.

But man, in his best and most regenerate state, is an image and likeness of the Lord. The Lord, therefore, is a divine man; and hence, the principle just stated, must be equally true in regard to him. All that he does throughout the boundless universe, all the arrangements of his providence, the laws by which the spiritual world is upheld, as well as the more external form of the same laws sustaining the vast machinery of nature, all proceed from that one divine principle, the love of the Lord. But what is that final end towards which the divine love is directed, and for which all the arrangements of the divine providence exist? Why plainly, the giving of eternal happiness, the forming of intelligent creatures, and eternally perfecting them in goodness and consequent happiness, to the utmost extent that the unrestrained exercise of their own freedom will permit. And as truth teaches us that there is no real happiness except from goodness, and no goodness except from freedom, we may therefore safely say that the end of the divine love, as well as the design of the divine providence, is, to give the utmost amount and degree of happiness that can be given. Such is the love of the Lord. It is this love which gives to the spiritual world its power to produce the natural world as an ultimate effect. It will be seen, therefore, that the natural world exists because the divine love demands its existence, or, which means the same thing, because its existence is necessary in order that the end of the divine love, the giving of eternal happiness, may be attained. And for the same reason it must continue to exist, just so long as the same final end or cause shall demand its existence. But, as was remarked before, the end towards which the divine love is directed, is the formation of heaven, and the natural world is a seminary for heaven. This is the use for which it appears to have been formed, and for which it now exists. It affords the material for the formation and support of the human body, which is the external natural covering of the spirit. Such forms appear to be necessary to the beginning of the spirit's existence; and as they are natural and material, they can be supplied nowhere but in the natural world. All angels must therefore have been born men, and must have begun their existence either on this earth, or on some of the other earths in the universe.

As this proposition may be new to some persons, and may seem to demand some further confirmation, I will introduce a few passages from the writings of Swedenborg, for the purpose of illustrating it. To the reader who is unacquainted with the writings of that author, some of the passages which I am about to transcribe, may not appear perfectly intelligible. The easiest and most certain way to remove any such obscurity, will be to read the works from which the extracts are taken. You will then have entered upon a course of reading which will not only enable you to understand these passages, and to see the truth of them, but which will also clearly and beautifully unfold, all that you can have any reasonable desire to know, in regard to spiritual things.

In his work entitled Heaven and Hell, Swedenborg says:

"That heaven is from the human race, may be evident also from this, that angelic minds and human minds are similar: both enjoy the faculty of understanding, perceiving, and willing, and both are formed to receive heaven; for the human mind is capable of wisdom as well as an angelic mind, but that it does not attain so much wisdom in the world, is because it is an earthly body, and in that body its spiritual mind thinks naturally. But it is otherwise when it is loosed from its connexion with that body; then it no longer thinks naturally, but spiritually; and when it thinks spiritually, then it thinks things incomprehensible and ineffable to the natural man; thus it becomes wise as an angel; from which it may be evident that the internal of man, which is called his spirit, is in its essence an angel, (see above, n. 57;) which, when it is loosed from the earthly body is equally in the human form as an angel. That an angel is in a perfect human form, may be seen above, n. 73–77.—But when the internal of man is not open above, but only beneath, then after it is loosed from the body, it is still in a human form, but direful and diabolical; for it cannot look upwards to heaven, but only downwards to hell. He who is instructed concerning divine order, can also understand, that man was created that he might become an angel, because in him is the ultimate of order, n. 304, in which that can be formed which is of heavenly and angelic wisdom, and which can be renewed and multiplied. Divine order never stops in the middle, and forms any thing there without an ultimate, for it is not in its fullness and perfection, till it goes to the ultimate; and when it is in its ultimate, then it forms something, and also by mediums there collected, renews and produces itself further, which is done by procreations; wherefore there is the seminary of heaven.

I will also request a careful perusal of the following paragraphs, taken from an article on the Divine Wisdom, found at the end of the author's large work entitled the Apocalypse Explained. It is a very fair example of his manner of reasoning in regard to the subject in question.

"That angels have not been immediately created, but that all who are in heaven, and have been there, were first born men, and after life passed in the world are angels, may be seen proved in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 312–318. That also no angel could exist, except from a man born in the world, and that this is according to divine order, will be seen from the following considerations: 1. That in man there is an angelic mind. 2. That such a mind cannot be formed except in man. 3. Neither can it be procreated, and by procreations, be multiplied. 4. That spirits and angels hence derive the capacity of subsisting and living to eternity. 5. And of being adjoined and conjoined to the human race. 6. Whereby heaven can exist, which was the end of creation. That in man there is an angelic mind. It is a thing known in the Christian world, that man is born for heaven, and that also, if he lives well, he will come into heaven, and be there consociated with the angels, as one of them; likewise that a soul or mind of such a quality has been given to him, and which is to live for ever, and that that mind, viewed in itself, is wisdom from the Lord grounded in love to him, and that the angels have also a like mind; hence it is evident, that in man there is an angelic mind: add to this, that that mind is the man himself, for every man is a man by virtue of that mind, and such a man as that mind is; the body with which that mind is clothed and encompassed in the world, in itself is not a man, for the body cannot enjoy wisdom from the Lord and love him from itself, but from its mind, for also it is separated and rejected when the mind is about to depart and become an angel. The reason why then also man comes into angelic wisdom, is, because the superior degrees of the life of his mind are opened; for every man has three degrees of life; the lowest degree is natural, and man is in it during his abode in the world; the second degree is spiritual, and in that degree is every angél in the inferior heavens; the third degree is celestial, in which is every angel in the superior heavens, and man is an angel in proportion as the two superior degrees are opened in him in the world by wisdom from the Lord, and by love to him; nevertheless he does not know in the world that those degrees are opened, until he is separated from the first degree which is natural, and the separation is effected by the death of the body. That he is then wise as an angel, although not in the world, it has been given me both to see and hear; there were seen in the heavens several of each sex, who were known to me in the world, and who, whilst they lived in the world, simply believed those things which are from the Lord in the Word, and fully lived according to them; and they were heard in heaven speaking things ineffable, as it is said of the angels. That such a mind cannot be formed except in man. The reason is, because all divine influx is from first principles into last, and by connection with the last into middle principles, and thus the Lord connects all things of creation, on which account also He is called the First and the Last; this too was the reason why He came into the world, and put on a human body, and like wise glorified himself therein, that from first principles and at the same time from last He may govern the universe, both heaven and the world. The case is similar with all divine operations, the reason of which is, because in ultimates all things co-exist, for all things which are in successive order are in ultimates in simultaneous order, wherefore all things which are in this latter order are in continual connection with all things in the former order; from which consideration it is evident, that the Divine (principle) in what is last or ultimate is in its fulness: what and of what quality successive order is, also what and of what quality simultaneous order is, may be seen above: hence it is evident, that all creation is effected in ultimates, and that all divine operation pervades to ultimates, and there creates and operates. That an angelic mind is formed in man, is evident from his formation in the womb, also from his formation after birth, and because it is agreeable to the law of divine order, that all things from ultimates should return to the first principle from which they are derived, and man to the Creator from whom he receives being. From the formation of man in the womb, is evident from what was said above, where it was shown, that man is there formed fully for birth, by virtue of life which is from the Lord, for the reception of life from him, for the reception of love by a future will, and for the reception of wisdom by a future understanding, which together make the mind capable of becoming angelic. From his formation after birth, it is evident that all means are provided that man may become such a mind; for every nation has religion, and the presence of the Lord is everywhere, and there is conjunction according to love and the wisdom thence derived: thus there is in every man a capacity of being formed (formabilitas,) and wheresoever there is an inclination, a continual formation takes place, from infancy to old age, for heaven, that he may become an angel. That it is agreeable to the law of divine order, that all things from ultimates should return to the first principle from which they are derived; this may be seen from every thing created in the world; for seed is the first principle of a tree; this latter rising out of the earth from the former, growing into branch es, blossoming, producing fruits, and storing up seed in them, returns thus to the principle from which it was derived; the case is the same with every shrub, plant and flower. The seed also is the first principle of an animal; this is formed for the birth either in the matrix or in the egg, afterwards it grows and becomes a like animal, and also, when it comes to maturity, it has seed in itself; thus every thing in the animal kingdom, as well as every thing in the vegetable, rises from its first principle to the last, and from the last rises again to the first from which it was derived.—The case is similar in man, but with the difference, that the first principle of an animal and a vegetable is natural, and that therefore, when it returns to its first principle, it relapses into nature; whereas the first principle of man is spiritual, like to his soul, receptible of the divine love and the divine wisdom; this, separated from the body, lapsing into nature, must needs return to the Lord, from whom it has life. Other types of this fact exist also in both kingdom's, the vegetable and the animal; in the vegetable from their resuscitation out of ashes, and in the animal from the metamorphosis of worms into chrysalises and butterflies. That an angelic mind cannot be procreated, and by procreations, multiplied, except in man. He who is acquainted with the quality of substances in the spiritual world, and with the respective quality of matters in the natural world, may easily see that there is not given any procreation of angelic minds, except in those and from those who inhabit the earth, the ultimate work of creation; but whereas it is unknown what the quality of substances in the spiritual world is in respect to matters in the natural world, it shall now be declared; substances in the spiritual world appear as if they were material, but still they are not so, and inasmach as they are not material, therefore they are not constant, being correspondences of the affections of the angels, and being permanent with the affections of the angels, and disappearing with them; similar would have been the case with the angels if they had been created there; but moreover with the angels there is not given, neither can be given, procreation and thence multiplication, except what is spiritual, which is that of wisdom and love, such also as is that of the souls of men who are generated anew or regenerated; but in the natural world there are matters, by which and from which procreations and afterwards formations can be effected, thus multiplications of men and thence of angels. That spirits and angels hence derive a capacity of subsisting and living for ever. The reason is, because an angel and a spirit, in consequence of being first born a man in the world, derives subsistence; for he derives from the inmost principles of nature a medium with himself between what is spiritual and what is natural, by which he is bounded to subsistence and permanence, having relation by the latter to those things which are in nature, and having also a principle corresponding to those things; hereby also spirits and angels can be adjoined and conjoined to the human race; for there is conjunction, and where conjunction is there must be also a medium; that there is such a medium, the angels know, but whereas it is from the inmost principles of nature, and the expressions of all languages are from its ultimates, it can only be described by things abstracted. From these considerations it now follows, that the angelic heaven, which was the end of creation, no otherwise existed, thus that the human race is its seminary and supply."

In order therefore, that spiritual beings may continue to come into existence, and thus that heaven may be perpetually increased, it is manifest that the natural world must continue to exist. The question, therefore, in regard to the continual existence of the natural world, may be most certainly answered, if we can determine whether the number of the inhabitants of heaven is to be perpetually increased. Is it the purpose of the Lord to give eternal happiness to a certain definite number, and then to close the doors of heaven, and, at the same time, destroy the natural world, as being no longer necessary? Such a supposition would be entirely incompatible with the very nature of infinite love. For, that love can demand nothing less than that not only those who dwell in heaven should be eternally progressing in happiness, but also that the number of those spiritual beings who can be eternally happy, should be perpetually increased. The full demands of divine love must of course be infinitely more than any finite mind can conceive of; but, so much as this, even we may clearly see, must be demanded by that love. We infer, therefore, that the natural world will perpetually exist. It is the effect of spiritual causes. Those causes exist from the divine love; that love demands that the number of the inhabitants of heaven should be perpetually increased; and such continued increase cannot take place without the perpetual existence of the natural world.

I have thus presented the reader with a brief outline of an argument, designed to show that the permanent continuance of the natural world must be a necessary consequence of the divine love. In a former part of this little work, I remarked that in a subsequent section I would endeavor to show that though the word of the Lord teaches nothing directly, in regard either to the destruction or the preservation of the natural world, yet that the doctrine of its permanent existence is a just and rational inference from certain truths contained in that word. The reader has seen the way in which I have endeavored to redeem this promise. I have assumed that the essential nature of the Lord is love, and from this I have reasoned that the divine love, first clothing itself with spiritual causes, and operating through those causes as means, produces and sustains the natural world as an ultimate effect; and that it is thus inseparably and permanently connected with the final end for which it exists.

If the correctness of the view here presented is seen and admitted, we may be permitted again to remind you of the absurdity of supposing that a general judgment will soon, or at any time, take place in the natural world. This world will remain for the use which it now subserves, while successive generations of men, having here begun their existence, will pass to that spiritual world where they will receive their last judgment, and find their eternal home.

The remainder of this little book will contain a brief explanation of the nature and laws of the spiritual world; and this will direct our attention to the true nature of the Judgment Day, as well as those eternal states of goodness and happiness on the one hand, and of evil and misery on the other—called heaven and hell.

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