136. Like people on earth, angels have discernment and volition. Heaven's light produces their cognitive life because heaven's light is divine truth and the divine wisdom that comes from it; while heaven's warmth produces their volitional life because heaven's warmth is the divine good and the divine love that comes from it. The quintessential life of angels is from the warmth, but not from the light except to the extent that there is warmth in it. We can see that life comes from the warmth because when the warmth is taken away life dies. It is the same for faith without love or for truth without goodness, since the truth that is attributed to faith is light and the goodness that is attributed to love is warmth. ¹

All this becomes even clearer from the warmth and light of our world, to which heaven's warmth and light correspond. From the warmth of our world, united to its light, all things on earth come to life and blossom. They are united in spring and summer. However, nothing comes to life or blooms from light separated from warmth - everything languishes and dies. They are disunited in winter, when the warmth is gone but the light remains. It is from this correspondence that heaven is called a paradise, because there the true is united to the good, or faith to love, as light is united to warmth in springtime on earth.

This gives even clearer support to the truth discussed above in 13-19, that the Lord's divine nature in heaven is love for him and thoughtfulness toward one's neighbor.

Poznámky pod čarou:

6423. 'And he will sit in the strength of his bow' means that he is protected by the militancy of the truth of doctrine. This is clear from the meaning of 'sitting' as being protected, for one who 'sits in the strength of his bow' is protected; and from the meaning of 'bow' as doctrine, dealt with in 2686, 2709. The strength that doctrine possesses resides in truth, for doctrine without truth in it has no strength. Regarding truth, that it possesses power and strength, see 878 (end), 3091, 4931, 4934, 4977, 6344. The reason why truth has 'strength' is that good acts by means of truth; for the nature of good is such that nothing at all evil or false can draw near it. Nor thus can any member of the hellish crew do so; that crew flees far away when good draws near, or when an angel governed by good does so. However, in order to fight that crew from hell present with a person and to protect him in every way, and in order also to protect spirits recently arrived from the world, as well as those on the lower earth, good acts by means of truth; for in that way it can draw near.

[2] How much power is contained in truth has been made clear to me from things I have been allowed to see in the next life. A certain person governed by natural truth, because he had been concerned for what was right when he had lived in the world, passed through many hells, from which he talked to me and described them. Such power and strength were present in him that hellish spirits were not at all able to molest him, so that he was protected as he passed from one hell to another, which is something people who are not guided by truth cannot possibly do. From all this one may see that 'he will sit in the strength of his bow' means that he is protected by the truth of doctrine. The fact that the militancy of truth provides such protection follows from what has gone before, where it says that the archers shoot at him and hate him.