754. There are various ways in which a church comes to an end. It happens principally through circumstances which cause falsity to look like truth; and when this happens, the good which is inherently good, what is called spiritual good, can no longer exist. What is then believed to be good is only natural good, the product of a moral life. The reason for truth coming to an end, and good with it, is principally the two natural loves which are diametrically opposed to the two spiritual loves; these are called self-love and love of the world. When self-love is dominant, it is the opposite of love to God; and when the love of the world is dominant, it is the opposite of love towards the neighbour. Self-love is wishing well to no one but oneself, except for selfish reasons; and likewise the love of the world. Once those loves have got a grip, they spread like mortification through the body, and stage by stage destroy every part of it. It is clear that such a love attacked past churches from the description of Babylon (Genesis 11:1-9; Isaiah 13, 14, 47; Jeremiah 50; and in Daniel 2:31-47; 3:1-7ff; and Daniel 5; 6:8-end; Daniel 7:1-14; and in Revelation 17, 18, both from beginning to end). In the end, Babylon vaunted itself so much that it not only transferred to itself the Lord's Divine power, but also did its best to attract to itself all the riches of the world.

[2] Omens and far from misleading appearances allow us to conclude that outside Babylon similar loves would have broken out from many of the leaders of churches, had not their power been checked and so limited. What else might be expected but that such a person would look upon himself as God, the world as heaven, and pervert all the church's truth? For real truth, which is inherently true, cannot be known and acknowledged by a purely natural person; nor can God impart it to him, because it turns upside down and becomes falsity. As well as those two loves there are many more causes for truth and good coming to an end, and so causing the end of churches; but these are secondary causes, subordinate to the two mentioned.

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.