124. Aan hetgeen gezegd is zal ik twee verborgenheden van de engelenwijsheid toevoegen, waaruit men de hoedanigheid van de Goddelijke Voorzienigheid kan zien: de ene verborgenheid is dat de Heer nooit werkt op enig bijzondere bij de mens afzonderlijk, tenzij op alle dingen tegelijk; de tweede is, dat de Heer handelt uit de binnenste dingen en uit de laatste dingen tegelijk. Dat de Heer nooit werkt op enig bijzondere bij de mens afzonderlijk, tenzij op alle dingen tegelijk, is omdat alle dingen van de mens in zo’n aaneengesloten volgorde zijn, en daardoor in zo’n bepaalde vorm, dat ze niet zoals meerdere maar zoals één handelen. Dat de mens in zo’n nexus en daardoor in zo’n vorm is ten aanzien van het lichaam is bekend. In een eendere vorm vanuit de samenschakeling van alle dingen is eveneens het menselijk gemoed, want het menselijk gemoed is de geestelijke mens en is eveneens in werkelijkheid de mens. Vandaar is het dat de geest van de mens, die het gemoed van hem in het lichaam is, in de gehele vorm mens is, en daarom is de mens na de dood evenzeer mens als in de wereld, slechts met het onderscheid dat hij de afgelegde dingen die het lichaam van hem maakten in de wereld heeft afgeworpen. Omdat nu de menselijke vorm zodanig is dat alle delen het gezamenlijke maken en zo als één handelt, volgt dat het ene niet van plaats verschoven en ten aanzien van de staat veranderd kan worden tenzij met instemming van de overige, want indien het ene van plaats verschoven en ten aanzien van de staat veranderd werd, zou de vorm die als één moet handelen, lijden. Hieruit blijkt dat de Heer nooit werkt op enig bijzondere, tenzij tegelijk op alle dingen. Zo dus werkt de Heer op de gehele engelenhemel, aangezien de gehele engelenhemel in de aanblik van de Heer als één Mens is; zo werkt de Heer eveneens op iedere engel, omdat iedere engel een hemel in kleinste vorm is. Zo werkt Hij dus ook op ieder mens, het naast op alle dingen van zijn gemoed en daardoor op alle dingen van zijn lichaam. Want het gemoed van de mens is zijn geest en volgens de verbinding met de Heer is hij een engel en het lichaam is gehoorzaamheid. Maar het moet terdege in aanmerking worden genomen dat de Heer afzonderlijk, ja zelfs op de afzonderlijkste wijze op elk bijzondere van de mens ook werkt, maar tegelijk door alle dingen van zijn vorm, maar toch niet de staat verandert van enig deel, of van enig ding in het bijzonder, tenzij overeenkomstig de gehele vorm. Maar hierover zullen meer dingen worden gezegd in wat volgt, waar zal worden aangetoond dat de Goddelijke Voorzienigheid van de Heer universeel is omdat ze in de afzonderlijke dingen is en dat zij afzonderlijk is omdat zij universeel is. Dat de Heer handelt uit de binnenste dingen en uit de laatste dingen tegelijk, is omdat zo en niet anders alle dingen en de afzonderlijke dingen in de verbonden samenhang worden gehouden, de tussenliggende dingen immers hangen achtereenvolgens van de binnenste tot aan de laatste dingen toe af en in de laatste dingen zijn die tegelijk. In de verhandeling over de ‘Goddelijke Liefde en de Goddelijk Wijsheid’, in het derde deel, is getoond dat in het laatste het gelijktijdige is van alle dingen uit het eerste. Daar vanuit is het ook dat de Heer uit het eeuwige, of Jehovah, in de wereld is gekomen en daar het Menselijke in laatsten heeft aangetrokken en opgenomen, opdat Hij uit eersten en tegelijk in laatsten zou kunnen zijn, en zo uit eersten door laatsten de gehele wereld regeren, en zo de mens, die Hij volgens de wetten van Zijn Goddelijk Voorzienigheid, die ook de wetten van Zijn Goddelijke Wijsheid zijn, kan zaligen. Dit dus is het wat in de Christelijke wereld bekend is, dat geen sterveling behouden had kunnen worden tenzij de Heer in de wereld was gekomen, waarover men zie ‘de Leer van Nova Hierosolyma over het Geloof’, n. 35. Vandaar is het dat de Heer wordt genoemd de Eerste en de Laatste.

129. It Is a Law of Divine Providence That We Should Not Be Compelled by Outside Forces to Think and Intend and So to Believe and Love in Matters of Our Religion, but That We Should Guide Ourselves and Sometimes Compel Ourselves

This law of divine providence follows from the two preceding ones, namely, that we should act in freedom and in accord with reason (71-99), and that we should do this for ourselves, even though it is being done by the Lord--that is, in apparent autonomy (100-128). Since it is not from freedom and according to reason and not in autonomy to be compelled but comes from the absence of freedom and from someone else, this law of divine providence follows directly from the two earlier ones. Everyone recognizes that none of us can be compelled to think what we do not want to think or to intend what we think we do not want to intend. So we cannot be compelled to believe what we do not believe and certainly not anything that we do not want to believe; or to love what we do not love and certainly not anything that we do not want to love. Our spirit or mind has complete freedom to think, intend, believe, and love. This freedom comes to us by an inflow from the spiritual world, which does not compel us. Our spirit or mind is actually in that world. The freedom does not flow in from the physical world, which accepts the inflow only when the two worlds are in unison.

[2] We can be compelled to say that we think and intend something or that we believe and love something, but unless this is or becomes a matter of our own desire and our consequent reasoning, it is not something that we really think, intend, believe, and love. We can also be compelled to speak in favor of religion and to act according to religion, but we cannot be compelled to think in its favor as a matter of our own faith and to intend it as a matter of our own love. In countries where justice and judgment are cherished, everyone is obliged not to speak against religion or to violate it in action, but still no one can be compelled to think and intend in its favor. This is because each of us has a freedom to think in sympathy with hell and to intend in its favor, or to think in sympathy with heaven and to intend in its favor. Still, our reason tells us what the quality is of the one and of the other and what lot awaits the one and what lot awaits the other. Our ability to intend on the basis of reason is our capacity to choose and to decide.

[3] This may serve to show that what is outside cannot compel what is inside. However, it does happen sometimes, and I need to show that it is harmful in the following sequence.

1. No one is reformed by miracles and signs, because they compel.

2. No one is reformed by visions or by conversations with the dead, because they compel.

3. No one is reformed by threats or by punishment, because they compel.

4. No one is reformed in states where freedom and rationality are absent.

5. Self-compulsion is not inconsistent with rationality and freedom.

6. Our outer self has to be reformed by means of our inner self, and not the reverse.

249. 1. Everyone who worships self and the material world instead of divine providence feels justified in this on seeing so many irreligious people acting out their irreverence in so many ways even as they boast about it, and still not seeing any kind of punishment from God because of this. All instances of irreverence and of boasting about it are instances of permission whose reasons are laws of divine providence. All of us are free, perfectly free, to think whatever we wish, whether against God or for God. People who oppose God in their thoughts are rarely punished in this world, because they are always susceptible to reformation. They are punished in the spiritual world, though. This happens after they die, when they can no longer be reformed.

[2] We can see that laws of divine providence cause these instances of permission if we recall the laws already presented and look at them closely, as follows. We should act in freedom and in accord with reason (71-97 [71-99]). We should not be compelled by outside forces to think and intend and so to believe and love in matters of our religion, but we should guide ourselves and sometimes compel ourselves (129-153). Our own prudence is nothing. It only seems to be something, as it should. Rather, divine providence is all-inclusive because it extends to the smallest details (191-213). Divine providence focuses on eternal matters, and focuses on temporal matters only as they coincide with eternal ones (214-220). We are not granted inner access to the truths that our faith discloses and the good effects of our caring except as we can be kept in them to the end of our life (221-233).

[3] It will also become clear that the reasons behind instances of permission are the laws of divine providence from the principles about to be presented as follows. Evils are allowed for the sake of the goal, which is salvation [275-284]. Divine providence is constantly just as much with the evil as with the good [285-307]. And lastly, the Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of his divine providence, because to do so would be to act contrary to his divine love and his divine wisdom and therefore contrary to himself [331-340].

If we put these laws together, they can show us the reasons why acts of irreverence are allowed by the Lord and not punished when they happen in our thoughts and are rarely punished even when they are intended and therefore in our volition but are not acted out.

However, every evil entails its own punishment. It is as though there were engraved on the evil the punishment that the unbeliever will suffer after death.

[4] What has just been presented will serve to explain the following other instances cited in 237 as well. People who worship themselves and the material world feel justified in their denial of divine providence when they see the success of manipulation, plots, and deceit even against people who are devout, fair-minded, and honest, and when they see injustice defeating justice in legal and business affairs.

All the laws of divine providence are needed. Since they are the reasons things like this are allowed, we can see that if we are to live human lives, to be reformed and saved, the only way the Lord can keep us from such actions is indirectly. For people who realize that all kinds of murder, adultery, theft, and perjury are sins, this is accomplished through the Word, specifically through the provisions of the Ten Commandments. For people who do not realize that they are sins, civil laws and a fear of their penalties serve as means. Other means are moral laws including our fear of losing reputation, rank, and profit. The Lord uses these means to lead evil people, but he prevents them only from actions, not from thinking about acting or wanting to act. The Lord uses the other means to lead good people not only away from the actions but also away from thinking about acting and wanting to act.