Arcana Coelestia #34
34. Love and faith cannot possibly be separated for they constitute one and the same thing. This is why, when first the [great] lights are dealt with and they are taken to be one, it is said [using a singular verb with a plural noun], 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens'. Let some marvels relating to this be mentioned here. Since celestial angels possess from the Lord that kind of love, they possess by virtue of that love every cognition of faith, and by virtue of that love the kind of life and light of understanding that almost defies description altogether. On the other hand spirits who without love have a knowledge of the doctrinal matters concerning faith live such cold lives and are in such dull light that they cannot approach even the outer gateway to heaven before running off in the opposite direction. Some claim to have believed in the Lord, but they have not lived according to His teaching. The Lord refers to these people in Matthew as follows,
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does My will. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? and so on. Matthew 7:21-22-end.
[2] From this is clear that those who have love have faith as well, and so heavenly life, whereas those who claim to have faith and yet have none of the life inherent in love do not. The life of faith devoid of love is like sunlight devoid of warmth, as is the case in wintertime when nothing grows and every single thing is inactive and dies off. But faith deriving from love is like the sunlight in springtime when everything grows and blossoms, for it is the warmth of the sun that brings it out. It is similar with spiritual and celestial things, which are normally represented in the Word by the things found in the world and on earth. An absence of faith, and faith devoid of love, are also compared by the Lord to winter where He foretold the close of the age in Mark,
Pray that your flight may not happen in winter, for those will be days of affliction. Mark 13:18-19.
'Flight' means the final period, also the time when a person dies; 'winter' is life which is destitute of love, 'days of affliction' his wretched condition in the next life.
Job 38
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Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
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Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
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Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
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Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
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Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
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Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
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When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
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Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
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When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it,
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And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors,
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And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
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Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place;
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That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?
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It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment.
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And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken.
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Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?
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Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?
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Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all.
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Where is the way Where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, Where is the place thereof,
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That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?
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Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?
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Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,
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Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?
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By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?
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Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder;
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To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man;
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To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?
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Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
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Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?
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The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.
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Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?
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Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
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Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
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Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
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Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?
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Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?
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Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven,
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When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
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Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
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When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?
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Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
