119. The second Memorable Experience from THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED. ¹ Awakened one time out of sleep I fell into a profound meditation concerning God; and when I looked upwards I saw in the heaven above me a most brilliant white light in an oval form. As I fixed my gaze upon that light it receded from the centre towards the circumference. And behold, heaven was then opened to me, and I saw magnificent things, and angels standing in a circle on the southern side of the opening in conversation with one another. And because I was consumed with desire to hear what they were talking about, I was allowed to hear first the sound which was full of celestial love, and afterwards their speech which was full of wisdom from that love. They spoke together concerning the One God, and concerning union with Him, and salvation thence. They mentioned ineffable things, many of which could not be expressed in the words of any natural language. But as I had often been among angels in their heaven, and had, then, a similar speech, because I was in a similar state, therefore I was now able to understand them, and to select from their conversation some particulars which may be intelligibly expressed in natural language.

[2] They said that the Divine Being (Esse) is One, the Same, the Very Self, and Indivisible; that so also is the Divine Essence, because the Divine Being (Esse) is the Divine Essence; that so, likewise, is God, because the Divine Essence, which is also the Divine Being (Esse), is God. They illustrated this by spiritual ideas, saying that the Divine Being (Esse) cannot possibly become several, in each of which is the Divine Being (Esse) and yet remain One, the Same, the Very Self, and Indivisible; for then each would think from His own Esse, out of and by Himself. If then each thought also from the Others and by the Others unanimously, and at the same time, they would then be several unanimous Gods, not one God. For unanimity, being the agreement of several and at the same time of each One from Himself and by Himself, does not agree with the unity of God, but implies plurality. They did not say a plurality of Gods because they could not; for the light of heaven from which they thought, and in which their words were spoken, prevented it. They also said that when they wished to pronounce the word "Gods" and to speak of each as a Person by Himself, the effort of utterance was immediately turned into the expression "One God," yea, "The Only God."

[3] To this they added that the Divine Being (Esse) is the Divine Being (Esse) in Itself, not from Itself, because "from Itself" postulates a Being (Esse) in Itself from another thus it supposes a God from a God, which is impossible. What is from God is not called God, but the Divine. For what is God from God, or what is God born of God from eternity, and what is God from God proceeding through a God born from eternity, but mere words in which there is not the least light from heaven? They said further that the Divine Being (Esse), which in Itself is God, is THE SAME; not the Same simply but infinitely; that is, the Same from eternity to eternity that it is the Same everywhere, and with everyone and in everyone, but that all variation and change are in the recipient, and are caused by the state of the recipient.

[4] That the Divine Being (Esse), which is God in Himself, is the Very Self, they illustrated in this way. God is the Very Self because He is Love itself and Wisdom itself; or, what is the same, because He is Good itself and Truth itself, thence Life itself. Unless these were the Very Self in God, they would not be anything in heaven or the world, since there would be nothing in them having relation to the Very Self. For every quality draws its nature from this, that there is the Very Self from which it is, and to which it has relation in order that it may be what it is. This Very Self, which is the Divine Being (Esse), is not in place, but is with those and in those who are in place according to reception. For neither place nor progression from one place to another can be asserted of Love and Wisdom, or of Good and Truth, or of Life thence, which are the Very Self in God, yea, God Himself; these are without place, hence their omnipresence. Wherefore the Lord says that He is in the midst of them, and that He is in them and they in Him.

[5] But, as He cannot be received by anyone such as He is in Himself, He appears as He is in Himself as a sun above the angelic heaven, and that which proceeds from it as light is Himself as to wisdom, and that which proceeds as heat is Himself as to love. He Himself is not that sun but the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom in their immediate emanation from Him appear round about Himself as a sun before the angels. He Himself, within the sun, is a Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, both as to the Originating Divine and as to the Divine Human; inasmuch as the Very Self, which is Love itself and Wisdom itself, was His soul from the Father; thus Divine Life which is Life in itself. It is otherwise with every man; for in man the soul is not life, but a recipient of life. This the Lord also teaches when He says, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life;John 14:6. And in another place, As the Father has life in Himself, so has He given to the Son to have life in Himself. John 5:26. Life in Himself is God. The angels added that those who are in any spiritual light may see plainly from these things that the Divine Esse, which is also the Divine Essence, because it is One, the Same, the Very Self, and thence indivisible, cannot possibly exist in more than one; and that, if it should be said that it does so, manifest contradictions would follow.

[6] After hearing these things, the angels perceived in my thought the usual ideas of the Christian Church respecting God as a trinity of Persons in unity, and their unity in trinity; also of the birth of a Son of God from eternity. Whereupon they said to me, "What are you thinking about? Are you thinking of those things from natural light, with which our spiritual light does not agree? Unless you remove those ideas from your thoughts we must close heaven against you and go away." Then I said to them, "Enter, I beseech you, more deeply into my thought, and perchance you will find agreement." And they did so, and saw that by three Persons I mean three proceeding Divine attributes, which are Creation, Redemption and Regeneration, and that those attributes belong to the One God; also that by the birth of a Son of God from eternity, I understand His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time. I then told them that my natural thought concerning a trinity and unity of persons, and of the birth of a Son of God from eternity, was derived from the doctrine of faith in the Church named after Athanasius, and that this doctrine is correct if, instead of a trinity of Persons, there is substituted a trinity of Person existing solely in the Lord Jesus Christ; and if, instead of the birth of a Son of God from eternity, His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time is understood; because, as to the Human which He assumed, He is expressly called the Son of God.

[7] Then the angels said, "That is good." And they asked me to say on their testimony that if anyone does not approach the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, he cannot come into heaven; because heaven is heaven from this One and Only God; and that this God is Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah Lord, the Creator from eternity, the Redeemer in time, and the Regenerator to eternity; thus, Who is at once Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and that this is the Gospel which is to be preached. After this the heavenly light which I had seen before returned, and by degrees descended and filled the interiors of my mind and enlightened my ideas concerning the unity and trinity of God. And then I saw that the ideas which I had first had on the trinity, and which were merely natural, were separated as chaff is separated from the wheat by winnowing, and were carried away as by a wind to the northern part of heaven, and there dispersed.

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961. To this I will append two narrative accounts. Here is the first:

Once, on awakening from sleep, I fell into a profound meditation regarding God. And when I looked up, I saw in the sky above me a bright, oval-shaped light. Then, as I fixed my gaze on the light, the light ebbed toward the circumference and entered the perimeter. And suddenly heaven opened to me and I saw some magnificent sights, with angels standing around in a circle on the southern side of the opening and conversing together. Because I burned with a desire to hear what they were saying, I was therefore first granted to hear the sound, which was full of heavenly love, and afterward the words, which were full of wisdom arising from that love. They were talking together about the oneness of God, conjunction with Him, and so salvation.

What they were saying is beyond description. Most of it cannot be put into the words of any natural language. But because I had been myself a number of times in the company of angels in heaven, and had then used the same language as they, being in the same state, I was consequently able to understand them now and to take from their conversation some thoughts that I could express in rational terms in the words of a natural language.

They were saying that the Divine being is one, unchanging, absolute, and indivisible, and so is also the Divine essence, inasmuch as the Divine being is the Divine essence, thus also God, because the Divine essence, which is at the same time the Divine being, is God.

[2] This the angels illustrated using spiritual ideas, saying that the Divine being cannot evolve into a number of Divines, each of which possesses the Divine being, and still be one, unchanging, absolute, and indivisible. Indeed, each would think, of Himself and by Himself, from His own being. If He should then think also at the same time unanimously with others and in harmony with others, the result would be a number of like-minded gods and not one God. For unanimity is the consensus of a number, and at the same time the consensus of each one, of himself and by himself, and this does not accord with the unity of God, but with a plurality of beings. They did not say, with a plurality of gods, because they could not, since the light of heaven resisted it, being the light in accord with which they formed their thinking and in which their discussion proceeded. They even said that when they tried to say "gods," with each one a person by himself, their effort to say it turned instantly and spontaneously into their saying one God, indeed into saying the one and only God.

[3] The angels said in addition that the Divine being is a Divine being in itself, not one derived from itself, because to say one derived from itself supposes a being in itself as its origin, thus a God derived from God, which is not possible. Something derived from God is not called God but rather Divine. For what is a God derived from God? What then is a God born from eternity from God? And what is a God emanating from God through a God born from eternity? They are but words that contain not a spark of light from heaven.

"Not so," they said, "in the case of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him is the Divine being itself from which all else springs, to which the soul corresponds in man. He has also a Divine humanity, to which the body corresponds in man. And from Him is also the emanating Divine, to which the activity of soul and body corresponds in man. This trine is a unit, because from the originating Divine springs the Divine humanity, and from the originating Divine through the Divine humanity springs as a consequence the emanating Divine.

"For this reason, too, every angel and every person, being an image of the Divine, has a soul, body and activity which constitute a unit, since from the soul springs the body, and from the soul through the body springs the consequent activity."

[4] The angels said further that the Divine being, which in itself is God, is unchanging - not unchanging statically, but infinitely, that is, unchanging from eternity to eternity. It is the same everywhere, and the same for every individual and in every individual, with all variation and capability of variation resting in the recipient. The state of the recipient is responsible for this.

That the Divine being, which in itself is God, is absolute, they illustrated as follows:

"God is absolute," they said, "because He is love itself, wisdom itself, good itself, truth itself, and life itself. If these were not absolute in God, they would have no reality in heaven or in the world, as they would have no relation to anything absolute. Every quality is accorded its quality from the fact that there is something absolute from which it springs and to which it has relation so as to be what it is.

"This absolute entity, which is the Divine being, does not exist space, but is present with people and in people who live in space, in accordance with their reception, since love and wisdom, and goodness and truth, which are absolute in God, indeed which are God Himself, cannot have location predicated of them, or a progression from place to place, but are independent of space, and so omnipresent. Therefore the Lord says that He is in the midst of His disciples, and that He is in them and they in Him. ¹

[5] "However, because no one can receive Him as He is in Himself, He appears, such as He is in Himself, as a sun above the angelic heavens, and the light emanating from that sun is the Lord in respect to wisdom, and its warmth the Lord in respect to love.

"The Lord is not a sun, but the Divine love and wisdom radiating immediately from Him and surrounding Him appear to angels as the sun. He himself in the sun is human. He is our Lord Jesus Christ, both in respect to the originating Divine and in respect to His Divine humanity, since the originating Divine, which is love itself and wisdom itself, was the soul He had from the Father, thus Divine life, which is life in itself. Not so in any other person. The soul in him is not life, but a recipient of life. This is also something the Lord taught, saying, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." ² And in another place, "As the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself." ³ He who has life in Himself is God."

To this the angels added that it is possible for someone who possesses some spiritual light to perceive from this that because the Divine being, which is also the Divine essence, is one, unchanging, absolute, and so indivisible, it cannot possibly exist in a plurality of persons. And that if someone were to say it could, there would be manifest contradictions in any added qualifications.

[6] Having said this, the angels perceived in my thought the usual notions in the Christian Church regarding a trinity of Persons in union and their union in the trinity, regarding God, and regarding as well the birth of the Son of God from eternity. And they said then, "What are you thinking? Are you not forming your thoughts from a natural sight, with which our spiritual sight does not accord? Therefore, if you do not rid yourself of those ideas in your thinking, we will close heaven to you and go away."

But to that I said to them, "Pray enter more deeply into my thinking, and perhaps you will see an agreement."

They then did so, and they saw that by three Persons I mean three succeeding Divine attributes, namely creation, salvation, and reformation, and that these are the attributes of a single God. They saw, too, that by the birth of the Son of God from eternity I mean His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time. And I told them then that I acquired my natural thought regarding a trinity of Persons and their union, and the birth of a Son of God from eternity, from the church's doctrinal creed, called the Athanasian Creed, and that the doctrine in it is right and correct, provided that for the trinity of Persons in it one substitutes the trinity of a Person, which exists only in the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the birth of the Son of God, His birth foreseen from eternity and provided in time. For it is in relation to the humanity He assumed in time that He is plainly called "the Son of God."

[7] At that the angels said, "Good!" And they asked me to say on their authority that if someone does not turn to the God Himself of heaven and earth, he cannot enter heaven, because heaven is heaven owing to this one and only God, and that this God is Jesus Christ, who is the Lord Jehovah, our Creator from eternity, our Savior in time, and our Reformer to eternity, thus who is at once the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

After that the heavenly light that I saw before came back over the opening in the sky, and it gradually descended from there and filled the interiors of my mind, enlightening my natural ideas regarding the union and trinity of God. And the ideas I had initially acquired about these, which were merely natural, I then saw separated, as the chaff is separated from the wheat when shaken in the wind, and these ideas were carried off as though by a wind into the northern zone of heaven and vanished.

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