113. A rectangular screen had been set up in the palace in front of the doors, and behind it stood foreigners from Africa, who called to the natives of Europe, "Permit one of us to present an opinion, too, regarding the origin of conjugial love and its vigor or potency."

All the tables then signaled with their hands permission for him to do so.

Then one of them entered and stood beside the table on which the miter had been placed. He said:

"You Christians trace the origin of conjugial love from the love itself. We Africans, on the other hand, trace it from the God of heaven and earth.

"Is conjugial love not a chaste, pure and holy love? Are the angels of heaven not in an enjoyment of it? The whole human race, and therefore the entire angelic heaven - are they not the offspring of this love? Could anything so wonderful spring from any other source than God Himself, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe?

"You Christians trace the origin of conjugial vigor or potency from various rational and natural causes. We Africans, however, trace it from a person's state of conjunction with the God of the universe. (We call this state a state of religion, but you call it a state of the church.) We trace it from this origin, for when love comes from this source and is constant and lasting, it cannot help but maintain its vigor, a vigor that is like the love, thus also constant and lasting.

"Truly conjugial love is not known except to the few who are near to God. Neither, therefore, is the potency of this love known to others. Angels in heaven describe the potency accompanying this love as the delight of endless spring."

When the Bible speaks of "Jehovah," it is representing love itself, the inmost love that is the essence of the Lord. That divine love is one, whole and complete in itself, and Jehovah also is one, a name applied only to the Lord. The divine love expresses itself in the form of wisdom. Love, then, is the essence of God -- His inmost. Wisdom -- the loving understanding of how to put love into action -- is slightly more external, giving love a way to express itself. Wisdom, however, is expressed in a great variety of thoughts and ideas, what the Writings collectively call divine truth. There are also many imaginary gods, and sometimes angels and people can be called gods (the Lord said Moses would be as a god to Aaron). So when the Bible calls the Lord "God," it is in most cases referring to divine truth. In other cases, "God" has reference to what is called the divine human. The case there is this: As human beings, we cannot engage the Lord directly as divine love. It is too powerful and too pure. Instead, we have to approach Him by understanding Him through divine truth. Divine truth, then, is the Lord in human form, a form we can approach and understand. Thus "God" is also used in reference to this human aspect, because it is an expression of truth.