40. We also read in John:
As the Father has life in Himself, so did He grant the Son to have life in Himself, John 5:26.
This means that just as the Divine itself, which existed from eternity, has life in itself, so has the Human which it assumed in time. Life in itself is the very, sole life which enables angels and men to live. Human reason can grasp this by considering the light radiated by the sun of the natural world. This light is not capable of being created, but the forms which receive it are created; the eyes are designed to receive light, and it is the light radiated by the sun which enables them to see. It is the same with life, which, as said before, is light radiated by the sun of the spiritual world; this is not capable of being created, but by its continuous radiation as it were lights up and gives life to men's understanding. It follows that since light, life and wisdom are one, wisdom too cannot be created; and the same is true of faith, truth, love, charity and good. It is the forms which receive them which are created, namely, the minds of men and angels.
[2] Let everyone therefore beware of convincing himself that he owes his life to himself, or his intelligence, belief, love, perception of truth or his willing and doing good. In so far as he convinces himself of these ideas, so far does he cast down his mind earthwards from heaven, and from being spiritual becomes natural, influenced by the senses and the body. For he thus shuts off the higher regions of his mind, so that he becomes blinded to everything which relates to God, heaven and the church. Everything he may then think, reason and say is mere foolishness, because he is in darkness; yet at the same time he becomes confident that these are the products of wisdom. For when the higher regions of the mind, the abode of the true light of life, are shut off, the region of the mind below these, which is illuminated only by the faint glimmer of the world, is opened up. This glimmer, unsupported by the light of the higher regions, is a misleading illumination, in which falsities look like truths, and truths like falsities; reasoning from falsities looks like wisdom, and from truths like madness. Then a person believes himself to have the keenness of sight of an eagle, though he can see no more of wisdom than a bat in daytime.
