266. We may gather what angels' wisdom is like from the fact that they live in heaven's light, and in its essence heaven's light is divine truth or divine wisdom. This light illuminates at one and the same time both their inner sight, which is mental, and their outer sight, the sight of their eyes. (On heaven's light being divine truth or divine wisdom, see above, 126-133.) Angels also live in heaven's warmth, which in its essence is divine good or divine love, and from this comes their affection and longing for wisdom. (On heaven's warmth being divine good or divine love, see above, 133-140.)

Angels enjoy wisdom to the point that they might be called "wisdoms," as we may gather from the fact that all the elements of their thoughts and affections flow according to the heavenly form, which form is the form of divine wisdom, and further that their more inward levels, which are open to wisdom, are framed according to this form. (On angels' thoughts and affections, and therefore their intelligence and wisdom as well, flowing according to heaven's form, see above, 201-212).

[2] We may further infer the excellence of angels' wisdom from the fact that their speech is the speech of wisdom. It actually flows directly and freely from their thought, which in turn comes from their affection, so that their speech is their thought from affection in an external form. Consequently, nothing draws them away from the divine inflow: there is none of that external matter that for us keeps intruding into our speech from thoughts about other things. (On angels' speech being the speech of their thought and affection, see 234-245.)

It also contributes to this kind of angelic wisdom that everything they see with their eyes and perceive with their senses is in harmony with their wisdom. This is because all these things are correspondences and therefore the objects of their senses are forms that portray elements proper to their wisdom. (On the fact that everything visible in heaven is in correspondence with the deeper levels of the angels and is representative of their wisdom, see above, 170-182).

[3] Further, angels' thoughts are not bounded and constrained by concepts drawn from space and time the way ours are; for space and time are properties of nature, and properties of nature distract the mind from spiritual things and deprive our intellectual sight of breadth. (On angels' concepts being devoid of time and space and therefore unlimited, relative to ours, see above, 162-169, 191-199.)

Angels' thoughts are not diverted to earthly and material concerns or interrupted by the cares and needs of life, so they are not distracted by such things from the joys of wisdom the way our thoughts are in this world. They are given everything by the Lord gratis: they are clothed gratis, fed gratis, housed gratis (181-190); and beyond this, they are provided with joys and pleasures in proportion to their acceptance of wisdom from the Lord.

All this has been presented to show where angels derive this kind of wisdom. ¹

Imibhalo yaphansi:

19. That there are infinite elements in God is more clearly apparent to angels from the heavens in which they dwell. The whole of heaven, which consists of millions of angels, is in the entirety of its form as though a single person. So, too, every society in heaven, both greater and smaller. For that reason also every angel is a person, for an angel is a heaven in miniature form. (That this is the case may be seen in the book Heaven and Hell, nos. 51-87.)

Heaven in its entirety, in its component parts, and in its individual inhabitants exists in such a form because of the Divine character that angels receive; for in the measure of the Divine character he receives an angel is a person in perfect form. So it is that angels are said to be in God, and God in them, and that God is their all.

How many things exist in heaven cannot be described. And because the Divine is what forms heaven, and these inexpressibly many things are consequently from the Divine, it is clearly apparent that there are infinite elements in the supreme person who is God.