De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #2572

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2572. 'Dwell in that which is good in your eyes' means His Being, present in everything where good exists, and in the proximate sense His Being, present in the good of doctrine. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'the eyes' as the understanding part of the mind, which is the recipient of doctrine, and from the meaning of 'dwelling' as living, 1293, here as Being (Esse) because what is said has reference to the Lord. This Being (Esse), present in everything where good exists, is the essential being within a complete knowledge of all Divine, celestial, spiritual, rational, and natural things. And the reason for this lies with Divine Love, for Divine Love holds within itself a complete knowledge of all those things, 2500.

[2] What is more, there is the good of doctrine and there is the truth of doctrine. The good of doctrine is love and charity, the truth of doctrine is faith. People with whom the good of doctrine resides, that is, love and charity, have with them the truth of doctrine, that is, faith. But it is one thing for good, that is, love and charity, to exist with a person, quite another for the good of doctrine to do so. Young children with whom love towards parents and charity towards other young children exist are moved by good but not by the good of doctrine, nor consequently by the truth of doctrine, or faith. The people with whom the good of doctrine exists are those who have been regenerated by means of the truths of faith. To the extent that good resides with them truths reside with them; that is, to the extent that love and charity reside with them so does faith, and therefore wisdom and intelligence.

[3] Because love to the Lord and mutual love resides with angels, so also does all truth and thus all wisdom and intelligence, not only in celestial and spiritual things but also in rational and natural. For by virtue of love, it being from the Lord, they are in touch with the very beginnings or sources of things, that is, with ends in view and causes. Seeing from beginnings, that is, from ends and causes, is seeing from heaven all things that are below, even those on earth. This is like - to use a comparison - someone in a watch-tower set on a high mountain. He is able to look around for many miles on the objects that are below, while those who are below, especially those down in a valley or in a forest, can hardly see the same number of paces away. So it is with those governed by the good of doctrine in comparison with those governed by the truth of doctrine separated from good. Although the latter imagine that they can see further than the former, they do not in fact see any good at all, nor any truth except very slightly and superficially, and even that is defiled by falsities.

[4] Even so, the wisdom and intelligence of angels is finite, and in comparison with the Lord's Divine Wisdom most finite, amounting to hardly anything. This may be recognized from the fact that the infinite and the finite cannot be measured one against the other, and yet communication from the Divine omnipotence is possible; also from the fact that the Lord is Good itself and Love itself, and is therefore the Essential Being (Esse) of good and the Essential Being (Esse) of love which resides with angels, and so the Essential Being (Esse) of their wisdom and intelligence. From this it may also be evident that the Lord is present in heaven and on earth in everything where good exists. People who imagine that the Lord is present in truth separated from good are very much mistaken, for He is present solely in good and from this in truth, that is, in love and charity, and from these in faith.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

De obras de Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia #2551

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2551. 'What did you see, that you have done this thing?' means a looking into the cause. This is evident without explanation, as well as from what follows where the cause is stated. The reason ideas of how the Lord perceived and thought regarding the doctrine of faith, and regarding the rational, whether it should be consulted, are presented in that particular order in the internal sense is that it is angel-like to think about them in such a sequence. The internal sense of the Word exists in particular for angels, and has accordingly been rendered suitable to their perceptions and thoughts. For them these are experiences of delight, indeed of bliss and of happiness, when they are thinking about the Lord, about His Divinity and His Humanity, and about how the latter was made Divine. For when thinking about these they are encompassed by a celestial and spiritual sphere which is filled with the Lord, so that it may be said of them that they are in the Lord. Consequently nothing is more blissful and happy for them than to think in accordance with those things which belong to that sphere and to the affection resulting from this. What is more, they are at the same time instructed and perfected, in particular in the matter of how as He grew up the Lord by degrees and from His own power made Divine the human into which He had been born, and thus how, by means of knowledge and cognitions which He revealed to Himself, He perfected His rational, gradually dispelled its shadows, and brought it into Divine light. When the Word is being read, these and countless other realities are presented to angels in a celestial and spiritual fashion, together with thousands and thousands of representatives in the light of life. But these matters which to angels are so precious are to men of little importance since they are above and beyond them and so are lost in the darkened parts of their understanding. Conversely those which are precious to men, such as hold worldly matters within them, are to angels of little importance since they are beneath their state of existence and so are lost in the darkened parts of their wisdom. Thus, wondrous to tell, the very things which enter the darkened parts of man's mind, and almost into his contempt, pass into the light angels enjoy and into their affection, as do many things which belong to the internal sense of the Word.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.