287. We can also tell that love and wisdom are human by looking at heaven's angels, who are people in full beauty to the extent that they are caught up in love, and therefore in wisdom, from the Lord. The same conclusion follows from what it says in the Word about Adam's being created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26), because he was created in the form of love and wisdom.

All earthly individuals are born in the human form as to their physical bodies. This is because our spirit, which is also called our soul, is a person; and it is a person because it is receptive of love and wisdom from the Lord. To the extent that our spirit or soul actually accepts love and wisdom, we become human after the death of these material bodies that we are carrying around. To the extent that we do not accept love and wisdom we become grotesque creatures, retaining some trace of humanity because of our ability to accept them.

287. That love and wisdom are human can also be seen from the appearance of angels in heaven, who are the more beautifully human the more love and wisdom they possess from the Lord.

The same can be seen from what we are told in the Word about Adam, that he was created into the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:26), because he was created into the form of love and wisdom.

Every person on earth is born into the human form anatomically. That is because his spirit - which we also call the soul - is human; and it is human because it is capable of receiving love and wisdom from the Lord. Furthermore, the more a person's spirit or soul does receive these, the more human he becomes after the death of the material body with which he was clothed; and the more it does not receive them, the more of a monster he becomes, though retaining some human quality from his capability of receiving them.