From Swedenborg's Works

 

Heaven and Hell #41

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41. The Heavens Are Made Up of Countless Communities

The angels of any given heaven are not all together in one place, but are separated into larger and smaller communities depending on differences in the good effects of the love and faith they are engaged in. Angels engaged in similar activities form a single community. There is an infinite variety of good activities in heaven, and each individual angel is, so to speak, his or her own activity. 1

Footnotes:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] There is an infinite variety, and there is never anything the same as anything else: 7236, 9002. There is an infinite variety in the heavens: 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236. The infinite varieties that exist in the heavens are varieties of the good: 3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002. These varieties arise by means of truths, which are manifold, and which provide individuals with their good: 3470, 3804, 4149, 6917, 7236. As a result, all the communities in the heavens, and all the angels in the communities, are differentiated from each other: 690, 3241, 3519, 3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7833, 7836. Still, they all act in concert because of love from the Lord: 457, 3986.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3805

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3805. 'And so it was, when Laban heard the news about Jacob his sister's son' means an acknowledgement of the kindred good. This in a similar way is clear from what results from the meaning of these words in the internal sense. It is a reciprocal acknowledgement which is described in this fashion. The subject here, it is evident, is the choice made by good, which choice precedes the marriage of good and truth.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.