137. It says in John,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word: all things were made by means of him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of humankind. He was in the world, and the world was made by means of him. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory. (John 1:1, 3-4, 10, 14)

It is clear that the Lord is the one who is meant by "the Word," since it says that the Word was made flesh. Precisely what is meant by "the Word," though, is not yet known and must therefore be stated. The Word in this passage is the divine truth that is in the Lord and from the Lord, ¹ so here it is also called the light, which is divine truth, as has been shown earlier in this chapter. Now we need to explain the statement that all things were made and created by means of divine truth.

[2] In heaven, it is divine truth that possesses all power, and apart from it there is no power whatever. ² All angels are called "powers" because of divine truth, and are powers to the extent that they are recipients or vessels of it. Through it they prevail over the hells and over all who oppose them. A thousand enemies there cannot bear one ray of heavenly light, which is divine truth. Since angels are angels because of their acceptance of divine truth, it follows that all heaven is from this source and no other, since heaven is made up of angels.

[3] People cannot believe that this kind of power is inherent in divine truth if the only concept of truth they have has to do with thought or speech, which have no power in them except to the extent that other people concede it by being obedient. There is an intrinsic power within divine truth, though, power of such nature that by means of it heaven, the world, and everything in them was created.

We can illustrate the fact that this kind of power is inherent in divine truth by two comparisons - by the power of what is true and good in us, and by the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world.

By the power of what is true and good in us: Everything we do, we do out of our discernment and intent. Out of our intent, we act by means of what is good, and out of our discernment by means of what is true. In fact, all the elements of our volition are related to what is good, and all the elements of our discernment are related to what is true. ³ On this basis, then, we set our whole body in motion and a thousand things there rush to do our bidding of their own accord. We can see from this that our whole body is formed for obedience to what is good and true and therefore from what is good and true.

[4] By the power of light and warmth from the sun in our world: Everything that grows in our world - things like trees, shrubs, flowers, grasses, fruits, and seeds - arises only by means of the warmth and light of the sun. So we can see what kind of productive power is inherent in that warmth and light. What about the divine light that is divine truth, then, and the divine warmth that is divine good, the source from which heaven comes into being and consequently the world as well, since as we have shown above, it is through heaven that the world comes into being?

This enables us to determine how to understand the statement that all things were made by means of the Word, and that without him nothing was made that was made, and further that the world was made by means of him, namely that this was accomplished by means of divine truth from the Lord. ⁴

This is also why in the book of creation it first mentions light and then the things that arise from light (Genesis 1:3-4). It is also why everything in all heaven and earth has to do with what is good and true and to their union if it is to be anything at all. ⁵

Footnotes:

1832. 'But the birds he did not cut apart' means that no such parallelism and correspondence existed in the case of spiritual things. This is clear from the meaning of 'birds' as that which is spiritual, dealt with just above in verse 9, and from the fact that he did not part the birds down the middle, which consequently means that no such parallelism and correspondence existed in their case. By spiritual things, as has often been stated already, are meant all those things that constitute faith, consequently all those things which are matters of doctrine, as these are called matters of faith even though in fact they are not so until they have been joined to charity. Between these and the Lord no parallelism and correspondence exists, for they are not such as flow in through an internal dictate and through conscience - as matters of love and charity do - but such as flow in through the reception of teaching and so through hearing, thus not from what is more internal, but from that which is more external; and in this way they form in man their vessels or recipients.

[2] The majority of these have the appearance of being truths but in fact they are not so - like those things which belong to the literal sense of the Word, being also representatives of truth, and meaningful signs of truth, and so not in themselves truths. Some are even falsities, which nevertheless are able to serve as vessels and recipients. With the Lord however only those exist which are wholly and essentially truths, and therefore no parallelism or correspondence exists involving those apparent truths. Yet they may be rendered suitable to serve celestial things - which are matters of love and charity - as vessels. These apparent truths are what constitute the cloud in the understanding part of the mind, dealt with already, into which the Lord infuses charity and so forms conscience.

[3] Take, for example, people who keep to the sense of the letter of the Word and imagine that it is the Lord who brings on temptation, that it is He who at such times tortures a person's conscience, and who imagine that because He permits evil He is the author of evil, that He thrusts the wicked down into hell, and similar ideas. These are not truths, but apparent truths. And because they are not in themselves truths there is no parallelism and correspondence. Nevertheless the Lord leaves these things in man as they are and in a remarkable fashion adapts them by means of charity so that they may serve as vessels for celestial things. The same applies as well to the worship, the teachings, the practices, even the idols, of honest gentiles. In the same way the Lord leaves these things as they are, yet adapts them by means of charity so that they too may serve as vessels. The same was true of so many of the forms of ritual in the Ancient Church, and subsequently in the Jewish Church. In themselves they were nothing more than religious observances that contained no truth in them and which were tolerated and permitted, even prescribed, because they had been held sacred by parents, and so had been implanted in and impressed upon their minds as truths since they were children.

[4] These and other such things are what are meant by the statement that the birds were not divided. For the things that are once implanted in a person's beliefs and are held sacred, provided they are not contrary to Divine order, are left by the Lord as they are; and although no parallelism or correspondence exists He nevertheless adapts them. The same things were also meant in the sacrifices of the Jewish Church by the birds not being divided, for to divide is to set one part opposite the other so that they exactly correspond. But because those things to which reference has been made are not exactly correspondent, they are in the next life blotted out in the case of those who allow themselves to be taught, and truths themselves are implanted in their affections for good. For the sake of this representation and meaning, birds in the Jewish Church were not divided, as is clear in Moses,

If his gift to Jehovah is a burnt offering of a bird, he is to bring a gift of turtle doves or of young pigeons; he will tear it with its wings, he is not to divide it. Leviticus 1:14, 17.

Likewise in sacrifices for sin, Leviticus 5:7-8.