161. These descendants of the Most Ancient Church were not evil; they were still good people. And since they desired to live in the external man or proprium, the Lord did allow it; but He mercifully instilled something celestial-spiritual. How the internal and external act as one, or how they appear to be one, cannot be known unless it is known how one flows into the other. To gain some idea of this, take, for example, an action. Unless charity, or love and faith, lies within it, and the Lord within these, the action is not an action that can be called a work of charity or the fruit of faith.

It seems rather circular to say that “good” in the Bible represents good, but in a general sense it's true! The case is this: The Lord is love itself given form and expression as wisdom itself, and that Divine Love and Divine Wisdom flow down into us, into the world and into the Bible in an unending stream with endless variety. Divine Love gives rise to our loves, our affections, our desires for good and the joy we can feel; Divine Wisdom gives rise to facts, knowledge, intelligence, understanding and human wisdom. And the more we can bring those two aspects of our lives into harmony, the more elevated we can become -- which will in turn make us happier, more useful, and ultimately more angelic.