1383. GENESIS – TWAALFDE HOOFDSTUK

De innerlijke gewaarwording van geesten en engelen, en de sferen in het andere leven. Onder de wonderen in het andere leven behoren de innerlijke gewaarwordingen; hiervan bestaan twee soorten: de ene, die de engelen eigen is, bestaat hierin, dat zij innerlijk gewaarworden, wat waar en goed is, en wat van de Heer komt, wat van henzelf, en verder, wanneer dat wat zij denken, spreken en doen, van henzelf komt, vanwaar het is en van welke aard. De andere soort, die allen met elkaar gemeen hebben, en welke de engelen in de hoogste volmaaktheid bezitten en de geesten overeenkomstig hun hoedanigheid, bestaat hierin, dat zij bij de eerste nadering van de ander weten, van welke aard hij is

5146. 'And in the highest basket' means the inmost degree of the will. This is clear from the meaning of 'a basket' as a degree of the will, dealt with above in 5144; and from the meaning of 'the highest' as the inmost part, dealt with in 2148, 3084, 4599. The reason 'the highest' means the inmost part is that while a person is an inhabitant of space, interior things are seen by him as higher and exterior ones as lower. But when spatial ideas are laid aside, as happens in heaven and also in a person's interior thought, the idea of height and depth is also laid aside; for height and depth belong to spatial ideas. Indeed in the inner heaven not even the idea of interior things and exterior ones exists because even that idea has a spatial element attached to it. Rather, the idea in that heaven is of a state of greater or lesser perfection; for interior things exist within a greater state of perfection than exterior ones because interior things are nearer to the Divine and exterior ones more remote from Him. This is the reason why that which is highest means that which is inmost.

[2] Nevertheless no one can have a mental grasp of the relationship of what is interior to what is exterior unless he knows about degrees, regarding which see 3691, 4154, 5114, 5145. Man has no other notion of what is interior and consequently more perfect than the ever increasing purity of something the more one breaks it down. But greater purity and greater grossness can exist simultaneously in one and the same degree, owing not only to the expanding and condensing of it but also to the limitation of it and to the introduction of similar or else dissimilar elements into it. With an idea such as that regarding his interiors man cannot possibly do other than think that exterior things are attached in a continuous manner to interior ones, and so act entirely as one with them. But if a proper idea regarding degrees is formed one may grasp how interior and exterior things are distinct and separate from one another, so distinct that interior things can come into being and remain in being without exterior ones, whereas exterior things can never do so without interior ones. One may also grasp the nature of the correspondence of interior things within exterior ones, as well as the way in which the exterior things can represent interior ones. This explains why, other than hypothetically, the learned are unable to examine the question regarding the interaction of the soul and the body. Indeed it also explains why many of them believe that life belongs intrinsically to the body, and thus that when their body dies their interiors will die too since these are closely attached to the body. But in actual fact only the exterior degree dies; the interior degree survives and goes on living.

4988. 'That his lord's wife lifted up her eyes towards Joseph' means unspiritual natural truth wedded to natural good, and its perception. This is clear from the meaning of 'wife' as truth wedded to good, dealt with in 1468, 2517, 3236, 4510, 4823, and in this case as unspiritual natural truth wedded to natural good since that kind of truth and this kind of good are described - the good to which that truth is joined being meant here by 'lord', 4973; and from the meaning of 'lifting up the eyes' as thought, attention, and also perception, dealt with in 2789, 2829, 3198, 3202, 4339.

[2] 'Wife' in this instance means natural truth, but not natural truth that is spiritual, while her husband, to whom 'lord' refers here, means natural good, but not natural good that is spiritual. But some explanation is needed to show what is meant by natural good and truth that are not spiritual and what is meant by natural good and truth that are spiritual. With the human being, good has two different origins - one being heredity and consequently that which is adventitious, the other being the doctrine of faith and charity or, in the case of gentiles, their religious belief. Good arising from the first origin is unspiritual natural good, whereas good arising from the second is spiritual natural good. Truth too comes from a like origin, for all good has its own truth wedded to it.

[3] Natural good arising from the first origin, which is hereditary and consequently adventitious, bears many similarities to natural good arising from the second origin, which is the doctrine of faith and charity or some other set of religious beliefs. But those similarities are confined to outward appearances; inwardly the two are completely different. Natural good arising from the first origin may be compared to the good that is also present among living creatures of a gentle nature, whereas natural good arising from the second is peculiar to the human being who uses his reason when he acts, and who consequently knows how to administer what is good in different ways, in keeping with useful purposes that need to be served. These different ways in which good has to be administered are what the doctrine regarding what is right and fair teaches, and in a higher degree what the doctrine regarding faith and charity teaches; and in the case of people who are truly rational, reason also serves in many instances to corroborate what doctrine teaches.

[4] Those whose performance of good arises from the first origin are moved as if by blind instinct in their exercise of charity, whereas those whose performance of good arises from the second origin are moved by an inner sense of duty and so with their eyes so to speak fully open to what they are doing. In short, those whose performance of good arises from the first origin are not led by any conscientious regard for what is right and fair, still less by any such regard for spiritual truth and good; but those whose performance of good arises from the second origin are led by conscience. See what has been stated already on these matters in 3040, 3470, 3471, 3518, and what is said below in 4992. But what is involved in all this cannot possibly be explained intelligibly; for anyone who is not spiritual, that is, not regenerate, sees good from the point of view of the outward form it takes. He does this because he does not know what is meant by charity or by the neighbour; and the reason why he does not know this is that no doctrinal teachings regarding charity exist. Such matters can be seen very clearly in the light of heaven, and they can consequently be seen clearly by spiritual or regenerate persons because they dwell in the light of heaven.