83. Die Lehre, ein von Ewigkeit geborener Sohn sei herabgekommen und habe Menschennatur angenommen, beruht ganz und gar auf einem Irrtum und wird durch alle jene Stellen im Wort Gottes widerlegt, in denen Jehovah selbst sagt, dass er der Heiland und Erlöser sei. Es sind folgende:

„Ich, ich bin Jehovah, und kein Heiland ist außer Mir.“ (Jesaja 43:11) „Ich, Jehovah dein Gott … und außer mir sollst du keinen Gott anerkennen, und kein Heiland ist außer mir.“ (Hosea 13:4) „Auf dass alles Fleisch wisse, dass ich Jehovah bin, dein Heiland und dein Erlöser.“ (Jesaja 49:26; 60:16) „Unser Erlöser, Jehovah der Heerscharen ist sein Name.“ (Jesaja 47:4) 3.

Aus diesen und sehr vielen anderen Stellen kann jeder Mensch mit offenen Augen und einem durch den Gebrauch seiner Augen geöffneten Geist sehen, dass kein anderer als der eine Gott herabstieg und Mensch wurde, um das Werk der Erlösung zu vollbringen. Wer wäre nicht imstande, dies wie im klaren Morgenlicht zu sehen, wenn er die angeführten göttlichen Aussprüche selbst aufmerksam bedenkt? Wer jedoch infolge seiner Fixierung auf den Glauben an die Geburt eines zweiten Gottes von Ewigkeit und dessen Herabkunft und Erlösungswerk im nächtlichen Schatten verharrt, der verschließt vor diesen göttlichen Aussprüchen die Augen und überlegt, während er sie hört, wie er sie verdrehen und seinen eigenen falschen Ansichten anpassen könnte.

6338. 'Assemble' means that they should arrange themselves into order. This is clear from the meaning of 'assembling' as becoming arranged into order. 'Assembling' has no other meaning in the spiritual sense, for truths and forms of good cannot assemble without also becoming arranged into order. For the universal influence which emanates from the Lord causes this to happen, because that influence covers all specific things, including the most specific. All these taken together compose the universal influence by which all things in heaven are arranged into order. When that universal influence is at work forms of good and truths appear to arrange themselves into order, as though they moved into such order of their own accord. This is true of heaven taken as a whole; it is in a state of order and is constantly preserved in that state by the universal influence emanating from the Lord. It is also true of the communities of heaven in general, and it is true in addition of the communities there in particular. For as soon as angels or spirits assemble they instantly become arranged, seemingly all by themselves, into a state of order, and in so doing constitute a heavenly community that is an image of heaven. This would never happen if the universal influence emanating from the Lord did not cover the most specific things of all, and if all these were not in an utterly perfect state of order. If, as most people think, only some universal influence unconcerned with things of a specific nature came from God, and man, spirit, or angel controlled those things for himself, then instead of order everything would be in a state of confusion, and there would not be any heaven, or hell, or human race, or indeed any natural world.

[2] This may be illustrated from many things existing with a person. Unless for example his thoughts were arranged into order as a general whole, and at the same time in each specific part by the affections belonging to his love, those thoughts could never flow in a rational and analytical manner. Nor likewise could his actions. Also, unless there were universal and specific influences from the soul into the internal organs of the body, no order or control could be established in the body. But when there are specific influences and thus a universal one, all things are arranged into order seemingly by themselves. These matters have been stated so that people may know how to understand the idea that truths and forms of good should arrange themselves into order.