3201. Vers 64, 65. En Rebekka hief haar ogen op en zij zag Izaäk en zij viel van de kameel af. En zij zei tot de knecht: Wie is die man, die daar in het veld ons tegemoet wandelt; en de knecht zei: Dat is mijn heer; en zij nam de sluier en bedekte zich. Rebekka hief haar ogen op en zij zag Izaäk, betekent de wederkerige aandacht van de aandoening van het ware; en zij viel van de kameel af, betekent haar scheiding van de wetenschappelijke dingen in de natuurlijke mens, tot de innerlijke gewaarwording van het redelijk goede; en zij zei tot de knecht, betekent het onderzoek door het Goddelijk Natuurlijke; wie is die man die daar in het veld ons tegemoet wandelt, betekent, ten aanzien van het redelijke, dat alleen in het goede was; en de knecht zei: Dat is mijn heer, betekent de erkenning; en zij nam de sluier en bedekte zich, betekent de schijnbaarheden van het ware.

24. [4]. Of those who are in truths from good, consequently of truths from good.

Of the difference between truth that leads to good, and truth which proceeds from good (n. 2063). Truth is not essentially truth, any further than as it proceeds from good (n. 4736, 10619); because truth has its esse from good (n. 3049, 3180, 4574, 5002, 9144); and its life (n. 2434, 3111, 6077); and because truth is the form or quality of good (n. 3049, 4574, 5951, 9154). Truth is altogether as good with man, in the same ratio and degree (n. 2429). In order that truth may be truth, it must derive its essence from the good of charity and innocence (n. 3111, 6013). The truths which are from good are spiritual truths (n. 5951).

Truth makes one with good when it proceeds from good, even so that both together are one good (n. 4301, 4337, 7835, 10252, 10266). The understanding and will make one mind and one life, when the understanding proceeds from the will, because the understanding is the recipient of truth, and the will, of good, but not when man thinks and speaks otherwise than he wills (n. 3623). Truth from good is truth in will and act (n. 4337, 4353, 4385, 4390). When truth proceeds from good, good has its image in truth (n. 3180).

In the whole heaven and world, and in the single things thereof, there is an image of marriage (n. 54, 718, 747, 917, 1432, 2173, 2516, 5194). Particularly between truth and good (n. 1904, 2173, 2508). Because all things in the universe have relation to truth and good, in order that they may be anything, and to their conjunction, in order that anything may be produced (n. 2452, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555). The ancients also instituted a marriage between truth and good (n. 1904). The law of marriage is, that two be one, according to the words of the Lord (n. 10130, 10168-10169). Love truly conjugial descends and exists from heaven, from the marriage of truth and good (n. 2728-2729).

Man is so far wise, as he is in good and thence in truths, but not so far as he knows truths and is not in good (n. 3182, 3190, 4884). The man who is in truths from good, is actually elevated from the light of the world into the light of heaven, consequently from what is obscure into what is clear; but on the other hand, he is in the light of the world, and what is obscure, so long as he knows truths and is not in good (n. 3190, 3192). Man does not know what good is, before he is in it, and knows from it (n. 3325, 3330, 3336). Truths increase immensely when they proceed from good (n. 2846-2847, 5345). Of which increase (n. 5355). This increase is as fructification from a tree, and multiplication from seeds from which whole gardens are produced (n. 1873, 2846-2847). Wisdom increases in a like degree, and this to eternity (n. 3200, 3314, 4220-4221, 5527, 5859, 10303). The man also who is in truths from good is in a like degree enlightened, and he is so far in enlightenment when he reads the Word (n. 9382, 10548-10550, 10691, 10694). The good of love is as fire, and truth thence as light from that fire (n. 3195, 3222, 5400, 8644, 9399,9548, 9684). In heaven truths from good shine (n. 5219). Truths from good, by which is wisdom, increase according to the quality and quantity of the love of good; and on the other hand, falsities from evil, according to the quality and quantity of the love of evil (n. 4099). The man who is in truths from good comes into angelic intelligence and wisdom, and they lie hid in his interiors so long as he lives in the world, but they are opened in the other life (n. 2494). The man, who is in truths from good, becomes an angel after death (n. 8747).

Truths from good are like generations (n. 9079). They are disposed in series (n. 5339, 5343, 5530, 7408, 10303, 10308). The arrangement of truths from good compared with the fibers and blood-vessels in the body; and thence with their textures and forms, according to the uses of life (n. 3470, 3570, 3579, 9154). Truths from good form as it were a city, and this from the influx of heaven (n. 3584). The truths which are of the principal love are in the midst; and the rest are more or less remote from thence according to their degrees of disagreement (n. 3993, 4551-4552, 5530, 6028). Conversely with the evil (n. 4551-4552).

Truths when they proceed from good are arranged in the form of heaven (n. 4302, 4904, 5339, 5343, 5704, 6028, 10303). And this according to the order in which are the angelic societies (n. 10303). All truths when they proceed from good are conjoined to one another by a certain affinity, and they are as derivations of families from one father (n. 2863). All truth has a sphere of extension into heaven, according to the quality and quantity of the good from which it is (n. 8063).

The marriage of good and truth is the church and heaven with man (n. 2731, 7752-7753, 9224, 9995, 10122). Of the delight and happiness of those with whom good is in truths (n. 1470). Truths from good, in conjunction, present an image of man (n. 8370). Man is nothing but his own good, and truth thence derived; or evil, and falsity thence derived (n. 10298).

A summary: Faith is by truths (n. 4353, 4997, 7178, 10367). Charity towards the neighbor is by truths (n. 4368, 7623-7624, 8034). Love to the Lord is by truths (n. 10143, 10153, , 1031010578, 10645). Conscience is by truths (n. 1077, 2053, 9113). Innocence is by truths (n. 3183, 3494, 6013). Purification from evils is by truths (n. 2799, 5954, 7044, 7918, 9088, 10229, 10237). Regeneration is by truths (n. 1555, 1904, 2046, 2189, 9088, 9959, 10028). Intelligence and wisdom are by truths (n. 3182, 3190, 3387, 10064). The beauty of angels, and also of men, as to the interiors which are their spirits, is by truths (n. 553, 3080, 4985, 5199). Power against evils and falsities is by truths (n. 3091, 4015, 10488). Order, such as it is in heaven, is by truths (n. 3316, 3417, 3570, 4104, 5339, 5343, 6028, 10303). The church is by truths (n. 1798-1799, 3963, 4468, 4672). Heaven is with man by truths (n. 3690, 9832, 9931, 10303). Man becomes man by truths (n. 3175, 3387, 8370, 10298). Nevertheless all these things are by truths from good, and not by truths without good; and good is from the Lord (n. 2434, 4070, 4736, 5147). All good is from the Lord (n. 1614, 2016, 2904, 4151, 9981).

3175. 'Let the girl stay with us' means being kept back by them. This is clear from the meaning of 'staying' as being kept back, as is also evident from the train of thought in the internal sense. For the fact of the matter is that nobody is ever born into any truth at all, not even into any natural truth, such as the commandments not to steal, nor to kill, nor to commit adultery, and so on. Still less is he born into any spiritual truth, such as the truth that there is a God, that he has an inner being which will live after death; and so of himself such a person does not know anything whatever of that which has to do with eternal life. Every commandment and truth has to be learned by him, and if he did not learn them he would be far worse than any animal; for because of his heredity he is inclined to love himself above everybody else and to crave possession of everything that exists in the world. Consequently unless the laws of society, and the fear of losing position, gain, reputation, and life restrained him he would without any sense of conscience steal, kill, or commit adultery. The truth of this is absolutely plain, for even a person who has been taught nevertheless acts in such ways without conscience. Indeed he defends his actions and finds many arguments to support the lawfulness of them. What would he be like if he were not given any teaching at all? It is similar in spiritual things, in that among those who have been born within the Church, who possess the Word, and who are constantly receiving teaching, there are nevertheless very many who ascribe little, or scarcely anything, to God but every single thing to natural causes. They are accordingly people who in their hearts do not believe in the existence of any God, nor thus that they will live after death. Consequently they are people who do not wish to know anything at all about things to do with eternal life.

[2] From these considerations it is evident that no one is born into any truth but that everything has to be learned - learned by an external way, namely that of hearing and sight. By this way truth has to be introduced into and implanted in a person's memory; but so long as truth is confined to the memory it is merely knowledge. So that truth may suffuse a person it has to be summoned from the memory and taken more towards the interior parts of his mind; for he is a human being by virtue of what is interiorly in him, which is the rational part of his mind. For without the faculty of reason no one is a human being. The character of a person's rationality, and the amount he has, therefore determine what kind of a human being and how much of a human being he is. No one can possibly be rational unless good exists in him. The good which sets the human being above other living beings consists in loving God and loving the neighbour. All human good comes from that source, to which good truth has to be introduced and joined, within the rational. Truth is introduced and joined to good when a person loves God and loves the neighbour, for in that case truth enters into good, since good and truth mutually acknowledge each other. Indeed good is the source of all truth, and truth regards good as its own end in view and as its own soul - thus the source of its life.

[3] But it is not easy for truth to be separated from the natural man and to be raised up from there into the rational, for present in the natural man there are delusions, there are evil desires, and there are false persuasions. During the time these are present there and are linking themselves to truth the natural man holds on to such truth and does not allow it to be raised up into the rational. This is what is meant in the internal sense by these words, 'Let the girl stay with us for a week or ten days; after that you will go'. The reason for this is that it doubts the truth and it reasons whether it really is the truth. But as soon as the evil desires and false persuasions, with their resulting delusions, are separated by the Lord, and that person - from good - begins to reject his reasonings against truth, and to treat his doubts with disdain, truth is in a condition to depart from the natural, to be raised up into the rational and to assume a state of good. For in this case truth comes to be truth rooted in good, and possesses life.

[4] To make these matters more intelligible let some examples be taken: It is a spiritual truth that all good comes from the Lord and all evil from hell. This truth has to be firmly established and elucidated in many ways before it can be raised up from the natural man into the rational. Nor can it possibly be raised up in that direction until the love of God abides in a person. For previously that truth is not acknowledged and so not believed. It is similar with other truths, such as with the truth that Divine providence exists in the most individual aspects of everything, and if it did not exist in these it would not exist in the whole. Or with the truth that a person first starts to live when that which in the world he believes to constitute the whole of life perishes and that the life which he now receives is in comparison with the life he had previously beyond words and boundless, and that no one has any knowledge at all of this life as long as he is under the influence of evil. These truths and others like them cannot be believed unless the person is governed by good. Good is what comprehends them, for the Lord flows in with wisdom by way of good.