41. Anything that is man's own has no life in it; and when depicted visually it looks like something hard as a bone and black. But anything that comes from the Lord does contain life. It has that which is spiritual and celestial within it, and when depicted visually it looks human and alive. It is perhaps incredible, but nevertheless absolutely true, that every expression, every idea, and every least thought of an angelic spirit is alive. In even the most detailed areas of his thought there is an affection that comes from the Lord, who is life itself. Consequently all that derives from the Lord has life within it, for it contains faith in Him, and is here meant by 'a living creature'. It then has the outward appearance of a body, meant here by that which is moving, or creeping. To man these matters remain arcana, but since the subject here is the living and moving creature, they ought at least to be mentioned here.

503. The perceptivity of the Most Ancient Church lay not merely in their perceiving what good and truth were but also in the joy and delight of doing what was good. Without this joy and delight of doing what is good perceptivity is without life. They are the source of its life. The life of love and faith deriving from it, such as the Most Ancient Church possessed, is a life that comes with performing use, that is, with the good and truth that accompany use. It is from use, by way of use, and according to use, that life is imparted by the Lord. And that which is without use can have no life in it, for that which is without use is cast aside. In this respect those people were likenesses of the Lord, and in their perceptivity therefore became images too. Perceptivity is knowing what good and truth are, and so knowing what is the substance of faith. Anyone who has love within him is not content just with knowing, but with doing what is good and true, that is, with engaging in a use.