1384. Wat de eerste soort betreft, die de engelen eigen is, en daarin bestaat, dat zij innerlijk gewaarworden, wat waar en goed is, en gewaarworden wat van de Heer komt, en wat van henzelf, en verder ook van waar en hoedanig datgene is wat zij denken, spreken en doen, wanneer het uit henzelf komt. Het werd mij gegeven met de zonen van de Oudste Kerk te spreken over hun innerlijke gewaarwording; zij zeiden dat zij niets uit zichzelf denken of denken kunnen, en niets uit zichzelf willen, maar dat zij bij alles, wat zij in het algemeen en in het bijzonder denken en willen en gewaarworden, wat van de Heer en wat van elders komt, en dat zij niet alleen gewaarworden, hoeveel van de Heer en hoeveel als van henzelf komt, maar ook, wanneer iets als van henzelf komt, waar het dan vandaan komt, van welke engelen, en verder van welke aard die engelen zijn, van welke aard hun gedachten, met alle verscheidenheid, en zo dus welke invloed het is, en ontelbare andere dingen meer. De innerlijke gewaarwording van deze soort zijn van een grote verscheidenheid; bij de hemelse engelen, die in de liefde tot de Heer zijn, bestaat een innerlijke gewaarwording van het goede en vandaar van al wat tot het ware behoort, en omdat zij uit het goede het ware gewaarworden, laten zij niet toe dat er gesproken, nog minder dat er geredeneerd wordt over het ware, maar zij zeggen: zo is het of zo is het niet. De geestelijke engelen echter, die ook innerlijke gewaarwording hebben, maar niet van dien aard als de hemelse engelen, spreken over het ware en het goede; niettemin worden zij het ware en het goede gewaar, maar met onderscheid, want de verscheidenheden van deze innerlijke gewaarwording zijn ontelbaar. De verscheidenheden rusten hierop, dat zij gewaarworden of iets komt van de wil van de Heer, of dat Hij het vergunt, of dat Hij het toelaat, waartussen een scherp onderscheid ligt.

1919. That 'Abram said to Sarai' means perception is clear from what has been stated above in 1898. The perception which the Lord had was represented and is here meant by 'Abram said to Sarai', but thought which sprang from that perception is meant by 'Sarai said to Abram' - perception being the source of thought. The thought possessed by those who have perception comes from no other source. Yet perception is not the same as thought. To see that it is not the same, let conscience serve to 'illustrate this consideration.

[2] Conscience is a kind of general and thus obscure dictate which presents those things that flow in from the Lord by way of the heavens. Those things that flow in manifest themselves in the interior rational man where they are enveloped so to speak in cloud. This cloud is the product of appearances and illusions concerning the goods and truths of faith. Thought is, in truth, distinct and separate from conscience; yet it flows from conscience, for people who have conscience think and speak according to it. Indeed thought is scarcely anything more than a loosening of the various strands that make up conscience, and a converting of these into separate ideas which pass into words. Hence it is that the Lord holds those who have conscience in good thoughts regarding the neighbour and withholds them from evil thoughts. For this reason conscience can never exist except with people who love the neighbour as themselves and have good thoughts regarding the truths of faith. These considerations brought forward here show how conscience differs from thought, and from this one may recognize how perception differs from thought.

[3] The Lord's perception came directly from Jehovah, and so from Divine Good, whereas His thought came from intellectual truth and the affection for it, as stated above in 1904, 1914. No idea, not even an angelic one, is adequate as a means to apprehend the Lord's Divine perception, and thus this lies beyond description. The perception which angels have - described in 1384 and following paragraphs, 1394, 1395 - adds up to scarcely anything at all when contrasted with the perception that was the Lord's. Because the Lord's perception was Divine, it was a perception of everything in heaven; and being a perception of everything in heaven it was also a perception of everything on earth. For such is the order, interconnection, and influx that anyone who has a perception of heavenly things has a perception of earthly as well.

[4] But after the Lord's Human Essence had become united to His Divine Essence, and had become at the same time Jehovah, the Lord was then above what is called perception, for He was above the order which exists in the heavens and from there upon earth. It is Jehovah who is the source of order, and therefore one may say that Jehovah is Order itself, for from Himself He governs order, not merely, as is supposed, in the universal but also in its most specific singulars, for it is these singulars that make up the universal. To speak of the universal and then separate such singulars from it would be no different from speaking of a whole that has no parts within it and so no different from speaking of something consisting of nothing. Thus it is sheer falsity - a figment of the imagination, as it is called - to speak of the Lord's Providence as belonging to the universal but not to its specific singulars; for to provide and govern universally but not specifically is to provide and govern absolutely nothing. This is true philosophically, yet, strange to say, philosophers themselves, including the more eminent, understand this matter in a different way and think in a different way.

5937. 'And Pharaoh said to Joseph' means a perception received by the natural from the internal celestial. This is clear from the meaning of 'saying' in the historical narratives of the Word as perception, dealt with often; from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the natural in general, dealt with in 5160, 5799; and from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877. Since the celestial, which 'Joseph' represents, is internal while the natural, which 'Pharaoh' represents, is external, the perception is therefore received by the natural from the internal celestial. For all perception comes from within; no perception ever exists within that comes from without; for wherever an influx comes from, perception is from the same source.

[2] Let a brief statement appear here about what perception, referred to so many times, is. Everyone possesses the ability to perceive whether something is true or not. The ability he has within himself, within his mind, to draw conclusions is what enables him to perceive it; yet this ability cannot possibly exist in him without influx from the spiritual world. It is a gift that one person possesses in greater measure than another. Those who possess it in smaller measure are people who draw few conclusions within themselves or their minds and so have little perception; and if they say a thing is true they do so because others in whom they put their trust have said it is. Those however who possess the gift in greater measure are people who do not rely on others but see for themselves that it is true. But this kind of perception that everyone has involves worldly matters; nobody at the present day has any perception in spiritual ones. The reason for this is that what flows in from the spiritual source to produce that perception is blotted out and virtually annihilated by the delights of worldly and selfish love. As a consequence people have no interest in spiritual things except where duty or custom require it. Take away the fear that duty engenders, and the delight that custom affords, and people would scorn, turn away from, and indeed deny the existence of spiritual things.

[3] To have perception in spiritual things a person must have an affection for truth stirred by good and must have an unceasing desire to know truths. This leads to an enlightenment of the understanding part of his mind; and once it has been enlightened he is able within himself to see a thing with perception. But if a person is not stirred by an affection for truth, then he knows what he knows to be true from the teaching of the Church on which he pins his faith, something he also knows because priest, presbyter, or monk has declared it to be. From all this one may see what perception is and that it exists in worldly matters but not in spiritual ones. This is further evident from the consideration that everyone adheres to the system of religious belief into which he was born; this includes those who were born Jews and those outside the Church, even though they live in places where the Church is situated. The same goes for the adherents to any heresy. If utter truths were stated and also proved to them they would still be totally incapable of perceiving that they were truths; they would be seen by them as falsities.