190. De huizen, waarin de engelen wonen, worden niet als de huizen op aarde gebouwd, maar hen om niet door de Heer geschonken, een ieder naar de mate van zijn opneming van het goede en ware; ook veranderen zij enigszins naarmate de veranderingen van staat van het innerlijk van de engelen (zie nr. 154-160). lles wat de engelen ooit bezitten, erkennen zij van de Heer ontvangen te hebben en alles, wat zij ook behoeven, wordt hen geschonken.
True Christian Religion #240
240. VII. The Word is to be found in all the heavens and is the source of the angels' wisdom.
It has not previously been known that the Word is to be found in the heavens; nor could it be known so long as the church was unaware that angels and spirits are human beings, in face and body exactly like those in our world, and having surroundings in all respects exactly like those men have. The only difference is that they are spiritual and everything about them comes from a spiritual origin, while people in this world are natural and everything about them comes from a natural origin. So long as this fact remained hidden, no one could know that the Word is also to be found in the heavens and is read by the angels there, as well as by the spirits who are below the heavens. But to ensure that this should not remain a secret for ever, I have been allowed to enjoy the company of angels and spirits, talking with them, seeing their surroundings, and then reporting much of what I have seen and heard. I did this in the book entitled HEAVEN AND HELL (published in London in 1758). From this one can see that angels and spirits are human beings and that everything people in this world have is there in profusion for angels and spirits. It may be seen in that book that angels and spirits are human beings (73-77, 453-460); that they have similar surroundings to those people have in this world (170-190); also that they have Divine worship and sermons in their churches (221-227), also writings and books (258-264), and the Holy Scripture or the Word (259).
Heaven and Hell #73
73. THEREFORE EACH ANGEL IS IN A COMPLETE HUMAN FORM
In the two preceding sections it has been shown that heaven in its whole complex resembles one man, as does any one society in heaven. From the sequence of reasons there set forth, it follows that this is equally true of each angel. As heaven is man in the greatest form, and a society of heaven in a less form, so is an angel in the least form. For, in the most perfect form such as that of heaven is, there is a likeness of the whole in the part and of the part in the whole. This is the case for the reason that heaven is a communion, for it communicates all it has with each one, and each one receives all he has from that communion. An angel is a receptacle, and by virtue of this, a heaven in least form, as was also shown above in the appropriate section. A man, too, so far as he receives heaven, is also a receptacle, a heaven and an angel (see above 57). This is described in the Revelation as follows,
He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that is of an angel. Revelation 21:17.
"Jerusalem" 1 there is the Lord's Church, and, in a higher sense, heaven; the "wall" 2 is the truth that is a defence against the assault of falsities and evils; the "hundred and forty-four" are all truths and goods in the complex; 3 the "measure" 4 is the quality; a "man" is one in whom are all goods and truths in general and particular, that is, in whom is heaven, and as it is from these that an angel also is a man, it is said, the "measure of a man" which is that of an angel. This is the spiritual sense of the words. Without that sense, who could understand that the wall of the Holy Jerusalem is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel? 5
Voetnoten:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Jerusalem" is the Church (Arcana Coelestia 402, 3654, 9166).
2. [Swedenborg's footnote] A "wall" is truth defending against the assault of falsities and evils (Arcana Coelestia 6419).
3. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Twelve" stands for all truths and goods in the complex (Arcana Coelestia 577, 2089, 2129-2130, 3272, 3858, 3913).
Likewise "seventy-two", and "a hundred and forty-four", since 144 comes from 12 multiplied into itself (Arcana Coelestia 7973).
All numbers in the Word signify things (Arcana Coelestia 482, 487, 647-648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265).
Multiplied numbers have a like signification as the simple numbers from which they arise by multiplication (Arcana Coelestia 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).
4. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Measure" in the Word signifies the quality of a thing in respect of truth and good (Arcana Coelestia 3104, 9603).
5. [Swedenborg's footnote] In regard to the spiritual or internal sense of the Word see the explanation of THE WHITE HORSE in the Apocalypse, and the Appendix to THE HEAVENLY DOCTRINE.
