1093. Having great power.- That this signifies to whom belongs Omnipotence, both in the heavens and on earth, is evident from the signification of great power, when said of the Lord, as denoting Omnipotence. Omnipotence here signifies great power, because the term "great power," but not "Omnipotence," can be applied to an angel, which is according to the idea that man has of angels; but when by an angel is meant the Lord as to His proceeding Divine, then great power means Omnipotence. Omnipotence is also the Lord's because He is the God of heaven and of earth, and both heaven and earth were created by means of the Divine that proceeds from Him as a Sun, and by it also heaven and earth are maintained in existence and subsist. The proceeding Divine is what is called in John, "The Word, which was with God, and which was God," by which all things were made that were made, and by which also the world was made (chap. 1:1, 2, 10). The Omnipotence of the Lord both in the heavens and on earth is meant by the great power of the angel, because it is afterwards said that the earth was lightened with His glory; for when the Last Judgment was accomplished upon those who are meant by the harlot of Babylon, then the darkness was removed which had gathered between heaven and earth. But more will be said upon this subject below.

[2] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- It is evident from what has been said, that the thoughts of man are extensions into societies either heavenly or infernal, and that unless they were extensions they would have no existence. Man's thought is like the sight of his eyes, and, unless this had extension beyond itself, there would be either no sight, or blindness. But it is man's love that gives his thoughts their determination into societies, good love into heavenly societies, and evil love into infernal societies. For the whole heaven is arranged into societies, according to all the varieties of the affections that belong to love, generally, specifically, and in particular; while hell is arranged into societies according to the lusts (cupiditates) of the love of evil, opposite to the affections of the love of good.

[3] Man's love is comparatively like fire, and his thoughts are like the rays of light from it; if the love is good, then the thoughts, which are like rays, are truths; if the love is evil, the thoughts which go forth like rays are falsities. Thoughts from good love, which are truths, tend towards heaven; but thoughts from evil love which are falsities, tend towards hell, and are so completely conjoined with, and as it were ingrafted upon homogeneous societies, that is, such as are in similar love, that a man becomes entirely one with them.

[4] Man, by means of love to the Lord, is an image of Him. The Lord is Divine Love, and He appears as a Sun before the angels in heaven. Light and heat go forth from that Sun, light being the Divine Truth, and heat the Divine Good; the whole heaven, and all the societies of heaven, are from these. The Lord's love with a man who is an image of him, is as fire from that Sun, from which fire, light and heat similarly go forth; the light is the truth of faith, and the heat is the good of love, each of them being from the Lord, and each implanted in the societies with which such a man's love acts in unison. That man from creation is an image and likeness of God, is evident from Genesis (1:26); and He is an image and likeness of the Lord by means of love, because by means of love man is in the Lord and the Lord in him (John 14:20, 21). In a word, the very least thought that can exist is received in some society, not by the individuals or angels of the society, but by the affection of love from which and in which that society is; for this reason the angels are not conscious of the influx, neither does that influx disturb the society in any way.

[5] From these considerations the truth is evident that man is in conjunction with heaven while he lives in the world, and also in consociation with angels, although both men and angels are ignorant of it. They know nothing of this is because a man's thought is natural, and an angel's thought spiritual, and these make one only by correspondence. Since man by means of the thoughts of his love, is inaugurated into societies either of heaven or hell, therefore, on his entrance into the spiritual world, which takes place immediately after death, his character is known merely from the extension of his thoughts into societies, and in this way every one is explored. Man is also reformed by the admission of his thoughts into the societies of heaven, and he is condemned by the immersion of his thoughts in the societies of hell.

4760. 'And they led Joseph to Egypt' means a consultation with factual knowledge. This is clear from the meaning of 'Egypt' as facts, dealt with in 1164, 1165, 1186, 1462; and when Divine Truth is brought to these it is to consult them, for as shown above, 'Joseph' represents Divine Truth. What is implied by a consultation with factual evidence regarding Divine Truth must be stated briefly. Consulting facts regarding Divine Truth is seeing from them whether it is indeed such. But those with an affirmative attitude that the truth is the truth do so in one way, in that when they consult facts they use them to confirm the truth and so to strengthen their belief, whereas those with a negative attitude do so in another way. When these people consult facts they sink themselves all the more into falsities; for a negative attitude reigns in these people but an affirmative one in the former ones. And these differences are determined in addition in each individual by his capacity to understand. If those who do not have higher, that is, interior insight, consult facts, they fail to see any confirmation of what is true within these and therefore they are drawn aside into a negative attitude. But those who do have higher, that is, interior insight see confirmations, through correspondences if in no other way.

[2] Take for example the truth that a person lives after death. When those with a negative attitude towards this truth consult facts they confirm the contrary for themselves by means of countless ideas, such as that animals have life, sensory perception, and activity no less than man does, and in many respects to a more perfect degree; that thought which man possesses pre-eminently over animals is something he comes to have because he takes longer to reach maturity, and that man is an animal belonging to a genus of this kind; and a thousand other ideas besides these. From this it is evident that if those with a negative attitude consult facts they sink themselves all the more into falsities, so that at length they believe nothing whatever about eternal life.

[3] But when those with an affirmative attitude to the truth that man lives after death consult facts they confirm themselves in it by means of them, doing so by means of countless ones. They see that everything in nature is below man; that animals act from instinct-but man from reason; and that animals cannot do other than look downwards, whereas man can look upwards and by the use of thought can come to understand things belonging to the spiritual world and also to feel an affection for them - indeed that through love he can be joined to God, thereby making life from the Divine his own; and that it is to enable him to be led and raised up to Him that he takes longer to reach maturity. And in everything else in addition belonging to nature he sees confirmations, and at length within the whole natural order sees that which is representative of the heavenly kingdom.

[4] It is a common and well-known fact that the learned have less belief than the simple in a life after death, and that in general they see Divine Truths less clearly than the simple do. The reason is that they consult facts, of which they possess a greater abundance than others, with a negative attitude, and by this destroy in themselves any insight gained from a higher or more interior position. Once this has been destroyed they no longer see anything in the light of heaven but in the light of the world; for facts exist in the light of the world, and if they are not lit up by the light of heaven they bring darkness, however different it may seem to be to them. This was why the simple believed in the Lord but not the scribes and Pharisees, who were the learned in that nation, as is evident from the following in John,

Many from the crowd when they heard this utterance said, This is truly the Prophet. Others said, This is the Christ (Messiah). The Pharisees answered them, Has any of the leaders believed in Him, or any of the Pharisees? John 7:40-41, 47-48.

And in Luke,

Jesus said, I confess to You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden such things from the wise and intelligent but have revealed them to infants. Luke 10:21.

'Infants' stands for the simple. Also in Matthew,

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because those who see do not see, and those who hear do not hear, nor do they understand. Matthew 13:13.