3200. In deze beide verzen wordt de staat van het redelijk goede beschreven, wanneer het in de verwachting van het ware is, dat daarmee verbonden moet worden als een bruid met een echtgenoot. In de twee onmiddellijk erna volgende verzen, wordt de staat van het ware beschreven, wanneer het nabij is en het goede waarneemt, waarmee het verbonden moet worden. Maar men moet weten, dat deze staten niet in één keer ontstonden, maar voortdurend, het gehele leven van de Heer in de wereld door, totdat Hij verheerlijkt was.

Bij de wederverwekten is het evenzo gesteld, want zij worden niet opeens, in één keer wederverwekt, maar voortdurend, het gehele leven door, ook in het andere leven; want de mens kan nooit volmaakt worden.

25. All good and truth is from the Lord. The Lord is good itself and truth itself (n. 2011, 4151, 10336, 10619).

The Lord, as to both the Divine and the Human, is the Divine good of the Divine love; and from Him proceeds Divine truth (n. 3704, 3712, 4180, 4577). The Divine truth proceeds from the Divine good of the Lord, comparatively as light from the sun (n. 3704, 3712, 4180, 4577). The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord appears in the heavens as light, and forms all the light of heaven (n. 3195, 3223, 5400, 8694, 9399,9548, 9684). The light of heaven, which is the Divine truth united to the Divine good, enlightens both the sight and the understanding of angels and spirits (n. 2776, 3138). Heaven is in light and heat, because it is in truth and good, for the Divine truth is light there, and the Divine good is heat there (n. 3643, 9399-9400); and in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 126-140). The Divine truth proceeding from the Divine good of the Lord, forms the angelic heaven and arranges it in order (n. 3038, 9408, 9613, 10716-10717). The Divine good united to the Divine truth, which is in the heavens, is called the Divine truth (n. 10196).

The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the only reality (n. 6880, 7004, 8200). By Divine truth all things were made and created (n. 2803, 2894, 5272, 7678). All power belongs to the Divine truth (n. 8200[1-2]).

Man from himself can do nothing of good, and think nothing of truth (n. 874-876). The rational of man cannot perceive Divine truth from itself (n. 2196, 2203, 2209). Truths which are not from the Lord, are from the proprium of man, and they are not truths, but only appear as truths (n. 8868).

All good and truth is from the Lord, and nothing from man (n. 1614, 2016, 2904, 4151, 9981). Goods and truths are so far goods and truths, as they have the Lord in them (n. 2904, 3061, 8480). Of the Divine truth proceeding immediately from the Lord, and of the Divine truth proceeding mediately through the angels, and of their influx with man (n. 7055-7056, 7058). The Lord flows into good with man, and by good into truths (n. 10153). He flows in by good into truths of every kind, and particularly into genuine truths (n. 2531, 2554). The Lord does not flow into truths separate from good, and no parallelism exists between the Lord and man, with respect to them, but with respect to good (n. 1831-1832, 3514, 3564).

To do good and truth for the sake of good and truth is to love the Lord, and to love the neighbor (n. 10336). They who are in the internal of the Word, of the church, and of worship, love to do good and truth for the sake of good and truth; but they who are in the external of these, without the internal, love to do good and truth for the sake of themselves and the world (n. 10683). What it is to do good and truth for the sake of good and truth, illustrated by examples (n. 10683).

398. (ii) GOOD AND TRUTH.

1. Everything in the universe, which is arranged in accordance with God's order, has reference to good and truth. Nothing exists either in heaven or in the world which does not have reference to those two. The reason is that both, good as well as truth, come from God the source of all things.

[2] 2. This makes it plain that a person needs to know what good and truth are, and how each looks towards the other, and how one is linked to the other; and it is above all needful for a person who belongs to the church to know this. For just as everything in heaven has reference to good and truth, so does everything in the church, because the good and truth of heaven are also the good and truth of the church.

[3] 3. God's order demands that good and truth should be linked and not separated, so that they make one, not two. For linked they come forth from God, and linked they are in heaven, so linked they must be in the church. The linking of good and truth is called in heaven the heavenly marriage, for all there are in this marriage. This is why heaven in the Word is compared to a marriage, and the Lord is called bridegroom and husband, and heaven is called bride and wife; and the church is described in the same way. The reason why heaven and the church are so called is that those in them receive Divine good in truths.

[4] 4. All the intelligence and wisdom the angels have comes from that marriage, none of it from good separated from truth or truth from good. It is much the same with people who belong to the church.

[5] 5. Since the linking of good and truth resembles a marriage, it is plain that good loves truth and truth in turn loves good, so that each desires to be linked to the other. A person in the church who lacks such a love and desire is not in the heavenly marriage; so the church is not yet really present in him, since it is the linking of good and truth which makes the church.

[6] 6. There are many kinds of good; in general one may speak of spiritual good and natural good, and both of these are linked in true moral good. Such as the kinds of good are, so are those of truth, because truths belong to good and are forms of good.

[7] 7. Evil and falsity are like good and truth, but are their opposites. Thus just as everything in the universe which is in keeping with God's order has reference to good and truth, so everything which is contrary to God's order has reference to evil and falsity. Also, just as good loves to be linked with truth, so evil loves to be linked with falsity, and falsity with evil. Or again, just as all intelligence and wisdom is born from the linking of good and truth so all madness and folly is born from the linking of evil and falsity. The linking of evil and falsity viewed inwardly is not a marriage, but adultery.

[8] 8. It is plain from the fact that evil and falsity are the opposites of good and truth, that truth cannot be linked with evil, nor good with the falsity of evil. If, however, truth is linked with evil, it ceases to be truth, because it is falsified; and if good is linked with the falsity of evil, it ceases to be good, because it is adulterated. But the falsity which is not that of evil can be linked with good.

[9] 9. No one who from conviction or manner of living is in a state of evil and the falsity which comes from it can know what good and truth are, since he regards his own evil as good and he believes his falsity which comes from it to be truth. But anyone who is from conviction and manner of living in a state of good and the truth that comes from it, can know what evil and falsity are. The reason is that all good, and all the truth that belongs to it, is in essence heavenly, but all evil, and the falsity that comes from it, is in essence hellish; and everything heavenly is in light, and everything hellish in darkness.