270. I need now to say something about the wisdom of the angels of the third or inmost heaven, and about how much it surpasses the wisdom of the first or outmost heaven.

The wisdom of angels of the third or inmost heaven is beyond comprehension, even for angels of the first or outmost heaven. This is because the inner natures of angels of the third heaven are opened at the third level, while those of angels of the first heaven are open only at the first level; and all wisdom increases as you move toward the deeper levels and is perfected as they are opened (208, 267).

[2] Since the inner levels of angels of the third heaven are opened at the third level, they have divine truths virtually engraved on them, for inner matters at the third level are more in heaven's form than those at the second and first level. Heaven's form arises from divine truth and therefore is in agreement with divine wisdom. This is why divine truths seem to these angels to be engraved, or to be instinctive and innate. Because of this, as soon as they hear genuine divine truths, they immediately acknowledge and grasp them and from then on virtually see them within themselves. Because this is characteristic of angels of this heaven, they never try to figure out divine truths, much less argue whether some particular truth is true or not. They do not know what it is to believe or have faith, but say, "What is faith? I perceive and see that this is so." They offer a comparison by way of illustration. It would be like someone seeing a house and various things in and around it and telling someone with him that he ought to believe that they existed and that they were what they seemed to be. Or it would be like someone seeing a garden with trees and fruit in it and telling someone that she should have faith that it was a garden and that those were trees and fruit when she could see them plainly with her own eyes. So these angels never call "faith" by name and in fact have no concept of it. This is why they do not try to figure out divine truths, much less argue whether any particular truth is true or not. ¹

[3] In contrast, angels of the first or outmost heaven do not have divine truths engraved on their inner natures in this way because for them only the first level of life has been opened. So they do try to figure things out, and people who are calculating in this way see little more than the subject they are puzzling over. They do not go beyond that subject except to find support for their conclusions, and once they have decided, they say that these should be matters of faith and are to be believed.

[4] I have talked about this with angels, who have told me that the difference between the wisdom of angels of the third heaven and the wisdom of angels of the first heaven is like the difference between something bright and something dark. Or again, they have compared the wisdom of angels of the third heaven to a palace full of everything useful, surrounded far and wide by parklands, with all sorts of splendid things beyond. Since these angels enjoy truths of wisdom, they can enter the palace and see everything there. They can stroll anywhere in the parks and enjoy whatever they see. It is different for people who are trying to figure things out, though, and even more so for people who argue about them. These individuals do not see truths in the light of truth, but adopt them either from other people or from the literal meaning of the Word, which they do not understand in depth. So they say that truths must be believed or that people must have faith in things - things that they then do not want anyone looking into very deeply. The angels kept saying that these people could not get to the first threshold of the palace, much less enter it and stroll around in its parks, because they are stuck at the first step. It is different for people who are engaged in actual truths. Nothing keeps them from moving ahead without limit; for once truths have been seen they lead on wherever they are headed, even into spacious meadows, because every truth has an infinite outreach and is united to many, many others.

[5] They also said that the wisdom of angels of the inmost heaven consists primarily of their seeing divine and heavenly things in individual objects and wonders in series of objects, for everything that appears to their eyes has a correspondence. When they see palaces and gardens, for instance, their insight does not dwell on the things in front of their eyes but sees the deeper things they stem from, the things, that is, to which they correspond. This goes on with constant variety in keeping with the appearance of the objects; so at any given time there are countless things in a pattern and a connectedness so delightful to their minds that they seem to be transported. (Everything that is visible in the heavens corresponds to something divine that is from the Lord in angels, .)

Poznámky pod čarou:

8780. 'And Jehovah said to Moses' means an influx of the Divine through the truth from God, regarding revelation. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying', when it refers to revelation coming from God, as influx. 'Saying' in other places besides this means influx, see 5743, 7291, 7381, 8221, 8262, 8660; 'Jehovah' is plainly the Divine, the source from which the revelation comes; and 'Moses' is the truth from God, the means through which it comes, 6771, 6827, 7014. The fact that it is an influx regarding revelation is clear from what follows, that is to say, from the declaration that Jehovah is going to come to them in the thickness of a cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak to you, and also will believe in you forever, words meaning revelation and the essential nature of it.

[2] Revelation here does not mean in the internal sense the kind of revelation made to the Israelite people from Mount Sinai, that is to say, when the Lord spoke with an audible voice and the people standing round heard it. Rather it means a revelation that is not made with an audible voice but is received by a person inwardly. This revelation is made through enlightenment of inner sight, which is the understanding, when a person with an affection for truth springing from good reads the Word. That enlightenment is brought about by the light of heaven, which flows from the Lord as the Sun there. That light enlightens the understanding in much the same way as outward sight, which is that of the eye, is enlightened by the light which flows from the sun in the world. When the understanding is enlightened by that Divine light it perceives that to be the truth which is the truth, inwardly acknowledges it, and so to speak sees it. This is what the revelation is like which is received by those with an affection for truth springing from good, when they read the Word.

[3] But those with an affection for truth springing from evil - that is, those who wish to know truths solely for the sake of important positions, monetary gain, reputation, and the like - do not see truths. All they see are corroborations of things taught by their Church, whether those things are true or false. The light which enlightens them then is not Divine light from heaven; instead it is the light belonging to the senses, such as those in hell also possess, a light which becomes complete and utter darkness at the presence of heavenly light. When these people read the Word they are altogether blind to truth if it does not make one with their religious teachings. When for example those who make salvation consist in faith alone read the Word they pay no attention whatever to the things said there about love and charity; they do not even see them since those things fall within the obscured parts of their field of vision, like objects well off to the side or behind one's back. It is much the same with the Jewish nation, which sets itself up above all others in the whole world. They do not see that the Lord is the One who is meant in the Prophets, no matter how plainly this may be stated.

[4] The reason why is that they see nothing except corroborations of their teachings about the Messiah, which are that He is going to come as a mighty hero, perform greater miracles than Moses, and lead them into the land of Canaan, at which time they are all going to proceed in grandeur, listening to the appeals made by gentiles taking hold of the hem of their garments to let them join their company. Since these are the ideas that compose what they teach they see nothing whatever regarding the Lord; anything regarding Him is to them as thick darkness. The situation is the same with all other errors. All this goes to show what the situation is so far as the revelation of truth from the Word is concerned.