214. 4. In the Literal Meaning of the Word, Divine Truth Exists in Its Completeness, Holiness, and Power

In the literal meaning, the Word exists in its completeness, holiness, and power because, as I said above in 210, 212, the two prior or deeper meanings called the spiritual and the heavenly meanings are together in the earthly or literal meaning. I will say some more about how they come together.

Both in heaven and on earth there is a sequential arrangement and there is a simultaneous arrangement. In a sequential arrangement, one thing comes after another from the highest level down to the lowest. In a simultaneous arrangement, however, one thing is beside another from inmost to outermost. A sequential arrangement is like a column with levels that form steps from top to bottom. A simultaneous arrangement is like a collapsed object with larger and larger cylinders from the center to the outermost surface.

Now I will say how a sequential arrangement turns eventually into a simultaneous arrangement. It happens in the following way: the highest parts of a sequential arrangement become the innermost parts of a simultaneous arrangement, and the lowest parts of a sequential arrangement become the outermost parts of a simultaneous arrangement. It is like the column of steps collapsing to become a coherent flat surface. This is how something simultaneous is formed out of a succession.

This is how it is for everything in the physical world and everything in the spiritual world. Everywhere there is a primary component, a middle component, and an outermost component. The primary component extends and goes out through its middle component toward its outermost component. It is essential to understand, however, that there are different degrees of purity that affect how each arrangement comes about.

[2] Now for the Word. A heavenly influence, a spiritual influence, and an earthly influence emanate from the Lord in a sequential arrangement. On the outermost level, however, they are in a simultaneous arrangement, meaning that the Word's heavenly and spiritual meanings are together inside its earthly meaning. Once you comprehend this, you can see how the Word's earthly meaning is the foundation, container, and structural support for its spiritual and heavenly meanings. You can also see how divine goodness and divine truth have completeness, holiness, and power in the Word's literal meaning.

As all this makes clear, the Word in its literal meaning is truly the Word. Within it there is spirit and life. As the Lord says, "The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life" (John 6:63). The Lord spoke his words with an earthly meaning.

The heavenly and spiritual meanings are not the Word without the earthly meaning. They are like spirit and life without a body. As I said before (213), they are also like a palace without a foundation.

565. Allow me to briefly describe people whose rationality and morality are merely earthly. Such people are truly sense-oriented. If they continue in this direction, they become bodily or carnal. The description that follows will be presented as a list of points in outline form.

"Sensory" is a term for the lowest level of life within the human mind; it clings, and is closely joined, to the five senses of the human body.

"Sense-oriented people" are people who judge everything on the basis of their physical senses - people who will not believe anything unless they can see it with their eyes and touch it with their hands. What they can see and touch they call "something. " Everything else they reject.

The inner levels of their mind, levels that see in heaven's light, are closed to the point where they see nothing true related to heaven or the church. Their thinking occurs on an outermost level and not inside, where the light is spiritual. Since the light they have is dull and earthly, people like this are inwardly opposed to things related to heaven and the church, although they are outwardly able to speak in favor of them. If they have hope of gaining ruling power or wealth by so doing, they are even capable of speaking ardently in favor of them.

The educated and the scholarly who are deeply convinced of falsities - especially people who oppose the truths in the Word - are more sense-oriented than others.

[2] Sense-oriented people are able to reason sharply and skillfully, because their thinking is so close to their speech as to be practically in it - almost inside their lips; and also because they attribute all intelligence solely to the ability to speak from memory. They also have great skill at defending things that are false. After they have defended falsities convincingly, they themselves believe those falsities are true. They base their reasoning and defense on mistaken impressions from the senses that the public finds captivating and convincing.

Sense-oriented people are more deceptive and ill intentioned than others.

Misers, adulterers, and deceitful people are especially sense-oriented, although before the world they appear smart.

The inner areas of their mind are disgusting and filthy; they use them to communicate with the hells. In the Word they are called the dead.

The inhabitants of hell are sense-oriented. The more sense-oriented they are, the deeper in hell they are. The sphere of hellish spirits is connected to the sensory level of our mind through a kind of back door. In the light of heaven the backs of their heads look hollowed out.

The ancients had a term for people who debate on the basis of sense impressions alone: they called them serpents of the tree of the knowledge [of good and evil].

[3] Sense impressions ought to have the lowest priority, not the highest. For wise and intelligent people, sense impressions do have the lowest priority and are subservient to things that are deep inside. For unwise people, sense impressions have the highest priority and are in control.

If sense impressions have the lowest priority, they help open a pathway for the intellect. We then extrapolate truths by a method of extraction.

Sense impressions stand closest to the world and admit information that is coming in from it; they sift through that information.

We are in touch with the world by means of sense impressions and with heaven by means of impressions on our rationality.

Sense impressions supply things that serve the inner realms of the mind.

There are sense impressions that feed the intellect and sense impressions that feed the will.

Unless our thought is lifted above the level of our sense impressions, we have very little wisdom. When our thinking rises above sense impressions, it enters a clearer light and eventually comes into the light of heaven. From this light we become aware of things that are flowing down into us from heaven.

The outermost contents of our intellect are earthly information. The outermost contents of our will are sensory pleasures.