57. What has been said of heaven can be said of the Church, for the Church is the Lord's heaven on earth. There are also many Churches, and yet any one of them is called the Church and indeed is a Church, so far as the good of love and of faith rules there. There again, the Lord out of diversity makes a unity, thus, one Church out of many Churches. ¹ The same, too, can be said of the man of the Church in particular as is said of the Church in general, namely, that the Church is within a man and not outside him, and that every man in whom the Lord is present in the good of love and of faith is a Church. ² Again, the same can be said of a man in whom is the Church as of an angel in whom is heaven, namely, that he is a Church in least form as an angel is heaven in least form, and furthermore, that a man in whom is the Church, equally with an angel, is a heaven. For man has been created that he may come into heaven and become an angel. Consequently, he who has good from the Lord is an angel-man. ³ It may be mentioned what a man has in common with an angel and what he has in addition to what angels have. A man has this in common with an angel, that his interiors are equally conformed to the image of heaven and that he, too, in so far as he is in the good of love and faith, may become an image of heaven. In addition to what angels have, a man has these things, that his exteriors have been formed according to the image of the world, that so far as he is in good, the world with him is subordinated to heaven and serves heaven, ⁴ and that then the Lord is present with him in both worlds, just as if he were in his heaven. For the Lord is in His Divine order in both worlds, since God is order. ⁵

Footnotes:

3451. 'They said, We saw clearly that Jehovah was with you' means that they knew the Divine to be present within it. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing clearly' as discerning and so as knowing for certain, and from the meaning of 'Jehovah being with you' as the Divine being present within it. As stated above in 3447, the subject here is the agreement of the literal sense of the Word with the internal sense, consequently the agreement of matters of doctrine concerning faith - meant by Abimelech, Ahuzzath, and Phicol - with that same internal sense, insofar, that is, as those matters of doctrine are drawn from the literal sense of the Word. Accordingly the subject is the joining together of the Lord's kingdom on earth with the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and so with the Lord, by means of the Word. For the Word, as to the highest sense, is the Lord Himself; as to the internal sense, the Lord's kingdom itself in heaven; and as to the literal sense, the Lord's kingdom itself on earth, as has also been stated already.

[2] As regards the Lord's kingdom on earth, that is, His Church, because its matters of doctrine are drawn from the literal sense of the Word it is inevitably varying so far as these are concerned. That is to say, one group declares that this idea is the truth of faith because it is so stated in the Word, while another declares that that idea is the truth because that likewise is stated there, and so on. Consequently because its matters of doctrine are drawn from the literal sense of the Word the Lord's Church differs from one group to the next, and not only from group to group but sometimes from individual to individual within a group. But dissent in matters of doctrine concerning faith does not mean that the Church cannot be one Church, provided all are of one mind in willing what is good and doing it.

[3] Take for example someone who acknowledges as a matter of doctrine that charity is the product of faith but nevertheless leads a life of charity towards the neighbour. Even though the truth does not exist with him so far as doctrine is concerned, yet it does exist with him so far as life is concerned, and consequently he has the Lord's Church or kingdom within him. Or, to take another example, someone who says that good works ought to be done for the sake of reward in heaven, as accords with the literal sense of the Word in Matthew 10:41-42; 25:34-36, and elsewhere, and yet when performing good works he gives no thought at all to merit. He likewise is in the Lord's kingdom because the truth exists in him so far as life is concerned. This being what he is really like so far as life is concerned, he readily allows himself to be told that nobody is able to reach heaven on merit and that the works which a person regards as meritorious are not good. So it is with every other example that could be taken. For the literal sense is such that in many places it seems to contradict itself, the reason being that it contains appearances of truth that are suited to those who are engrossed in external things, and therefore who are also filled with a love of worldly things as well as bodily pleasures.

[4] Here therefore, through 'Abimelech', those people are dealt with who possess matters of doctrine concerning faith and who, as stated above, make faith the essential thing for salvation. Also dealt with is the agreement of their matters of doctrine with the internal sense. These people too, it is clear, are joined to heaven and the Lord by means of the literal sense, yet only those among them with whom good is present, that is, those who, though they make faith the essential thing so far as their doctrine is concerned, nevertheless make charity the essential so far as their life is concerned. For when they have confidence in, or put their trust in the Lord, which they call faith, affection that goes with love to the Lord is present, and therefore so far as life is concerned good is present in them. But see what has been stated and shown already in the following paragraphs:

Not doctrine but charity taught by it makes the Church, 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844.

Matters of doctrine have no value unless people live according to them, 1515.

The Church varies so far as truths are concerned, but is one through charity, 3267.

Parallelism exists between the Lord and man as regards celestial things that are matters of good, but not as regards spiritual things that are matters of truth, 1831, 1832.

Doctrine is invariably the same, that is to say, it is always concerned with love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour, 3445.

The Church would be one if charity were present with all, even though they differed from one another in forms of worship and in matters of doctrine, 809, 1285, 1316, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2982.

The Church would be like the Lord's kingdom in heaven if charity were present with all, 2385.

Countless variations of good and truth exist in heaven, but by acting in harmony with one another they nevertheless make one, like the organs and members of the body, 684, 690, 3241.

9276. 'And whatever is left by them let the wild animal of the field eat' means being joined through them to those immersed in the delights that go with external truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'whatever is left by them', that is to say, by 'the needy of the people', as that which is left and so remains after them, but at this point that which is received through them since the subject is the Church's being joined to those who possess few truths, and also here being joined to those immersed in the delights that go with external truth (the Church is joined to the latter through the former, as will be seen below); from the meaning of 'eating' as communicating and being joined together, dealt with immediately above in 9275; and from the meaning of 'the wild animal of the field' as those immersed in the delights that go with external truth. For in the Word affections for truth and good are meant by 'beasts', affections for internal truth and good being meant by 'beasts belonging to the flock', and affections for external truth and good being meant by 'beasts belonging to the herd'. But 'wild animals' are the kinds of affections that are drawn towards most external truth; for these affections compared with internal ones are 'wild animals', since they are the affections that belong to the level of the senses, and are called lowly pleasures and delights. They are delights that go with truth and not so much with good, the reason for this being that the senses, which are in direct contact with the world through the body, derive scarcely anything from spiritual good; for bodily and worldly kinds of love reside especially on the sensory level.

Affections for truth and good are meant in the Word by 'beasts', see 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 1823, 2180, 2781, 3218, 3519, 5198, 9090.

Affections for internal truth and good are meant by 'beasts belonging to the flock', and affections for external truth and good by 'beasts belonging to the herd', 5913, 8937, 9135.

The senses are in contact with the world, being the most external powers of the mind, 4009, 5077, 5089, 5094, 5125, 5128, 5767, 6183, 6201, 6310, 6311, 6313, 6315, 6318, 6564, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949, 7442, 7693, 9212, 9216.

From all that is shown in these places one can see what the sensory level of a person's mind compared with more internal levels is like, namely like a wild animal.

[2] The present verse deals in the internal sense with those who are governed by the good of charity, then with those who possess few truths and still have a desire to receive instruction, and after that with those who are immersed in the delights that go with external truth. These three groups of people constitute the Church. Those governed by the good of charity constitute the internal part of the Church, whereas those who possess few truths and still wish to receive instruction, thus who derive from good an affection for truth, constitute the external part of the Church. But those immersed in the delights that go with external truth are the most external; they so to speak form the perimeter and enclose the Church.

[3] Heaven is joined to the human race, that is, the Lord coming by way of heaven is joined to it, through those who are governed by the good of charity, thus through the good of charity since the Lord is present within that good. For essentially that good is the Lord, because it emanates from Him. Through that good the Lord joins Himself to those who have an affection for truth; for the affection for truth is derived from good, and good emanates from the Lord, as has been stated. Through these people in turn the Lord is present with those immersed in the delights that go with external truth; for their delights spring for the most part from self-love and love of the world and derive little at all from spiritual good. Such is the manner in which heaven makes contact with people, that is, such is the manner in which the Lord coming by way of heaven makes contact with them; such therefore is the manner in which He is joined to them.

[4] That such is the manner in which the Lord makes contact with and is joined to the human race is clear from the consideration that the manner in which influx takes place with every member of the Church is such. The expression 'member of the Church' is used to mean one who is governed by the good of charity and consequently by the truths of faith received from the Lord; for charity from which faith springs is the Church itself present with a person, since charity and faith come from the Lord. The Lord flows into that good, which is the internal level of a person, then through that good into the affection for truth, which is his external level, and on through that affection into the delights that go with external truth, which are present on the most external levels.

[5] What applies to the individual member of the Church also applies to the Church as a whole, that is, to all collectively who constitute the Lord's Church. The reason why this should be so is that in the Lord's eyes the entire Church is like a human being; for the Lord's heaven, with which the Church acts as one, is in His eyes seen as one total human being, as becomes clear from what has been shown regarding heaven as the Grand Man at the ends of a number of the chapters explaining Genesis. This being so with the Church, the same is so with the individual member of the Church; for the individual member of the Church is a miniature heaven, Church, and Lord's kingdom.

[6] The Church also resembles an actual human being in this respect, that a person has two fountains of life, namely The Heart and The Lungs. It is well known that when human life begins the first part to develop is the heart and that the second is the lungs, and that from these two as fountains of life every other part of the body receives life. The heart of the Grand Man, that is, of heaven and the Church, is composed of those who are governed by love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, and so, considered without reference to persons, consists in love of the Lord and love of the neighbour. But the lungs in the Grand Man, or heaven and the Church, are composed of those who are governed by charity towards the neighbour, which comes from the Lord, and from this by faith, and so, considered without reference to persons, consists in charity and faith coming from the Lord. The remaining organs and members in the Grand Man however are composed of those who are governed by external forms of good and external truths, and so, considered without reference to persons, consist in external forms of good and external truths, by means of which internal truths and forms of good can be brought in. Just as the heart, then, flows first into the lungs, and subsequently from itself through these into the organs and members of the body, so too the Lord flows through the good of love into internal truths, and through these into external truths and forms of good.

[7] From all this it may be seen that the existence of the Church on earth is absolutely vital, and that without the Church the human race would perish; for it would be like a person at the time of death, when the lungs and heart stop working. For this reason the Lord sees to it that there always exists on earth a Church in which the Lord has made Himself known through Divine Truth received from Him, such Divine Truth on our planet being the Word. Scarcely anyone at the present day believes that this is so, because no one believes that human life comes wholly from the Lord by way of heaven. For it is supposed that life exists innately in a person and can continue to do so without connection with heaven, that is, with the Lord through heaven. But that supposition is utterly false.

[8] All this now shows how to understand the idea of being joined through the good of charity to those who possess few truths and still have a desire to receive instruction, and being joined through them to those immersed in the delights that go with external truth, meant by the law about letting the land rest and letting it lie fallow in the seventh year, when the needy of their people would eat, and whatever was left by these the wild animal of the field would eat. But see what has been shown already regarding matters that are mentioned above:

In the Lord's eyes heaven is seen as one total human being and for this reason heaven is called the Grand Man, 1276, 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3751, 4218-4228.

[9] The same applies to the Lord's Church, for the Lord's kingdom on earth is the Church, which acts as one with the Lord's kingdom in heaven, 4060, 7396, 9216.

The individual member of the Church has heaven and the Church within him, 1900, 1902, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4292, 4523, 4524, 4625, 6013, 6057.

Those who are governed by love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour constitute the province of the heart in the Grand Man, and those who are governed by charity and from this by faith coming from the Lord constitute the province of the lungs, 3635, 3883-3896.

Human life flows in wholly from the Lord by way of heaven, 2536, 2706, 2886-2889, 2893, 3001, 3318, 3484, 3742, 3743, 4151, 5846, 5850, 5986, 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327, 6466-6495, 6598-6626, 6982, 6985, 6996, 7004, 7055, 7056, 7058, 7147, 7270, 7343, 8321, 8685, 8701, 8717, 8728, 9110, 9111, 9216.

Heaven exists in connection with mankind, 9216.

Without the Church on earth the human race would perish, 468, 637, 2853, 4545.