Angelic Wisdom about Divine ProvidenceSwedenborg, Emanuel
Religion
Angelic Wisdom about Divine Providence
Swedenborg, Emanuel
Providence and government of God -- Christianity
[4] This is spiritual conjunction and it is the same in things large and
things small. It has its origin in the conjunction of the Lord with the
spiritual world and the natural world in general and in detail. It is
manifest from this that in the measure in which one knows the Lord and
thinks of Him from knowledge of Him, in that measure the Lord is present,
and in the measure in which one acknowledges Him from an affection of
love, in that measure the Lord is united with him. On the other hand, in
the measure of one's ignorance of the Lord, in that measure He is absent;
and so far as one denies Him, so far is He separated from one.
[5] The result of conjunction is that the Lord turns man's face towards
Himself and thereupon leads him; the disjunction results in hell's
turning man's face to it and it leads him. Therefore all the angels of
heaven turn their faces towards the Lord as the Sun, and all the spirits
of hell avert their faces from the Lord. It is plain from this what the
acknowledgment of God and the denial of God each accomplish. Those who
deny God in the world deny Him after death also; they have become
organized as described above (n. 319); the organization induced in the
world remains to eternity.
[6] Second: _Everyone acknowledges God and is conjoined with Him
according to the goodness of his life._ All who know something of
religion can know God; from information or from the memory they can also
speak about God, and some may also think about Him from the
understanding. But this only brings about presence if a man does not live
rightly, for despite it all he can turn away from God and towards hell,
and this takes place if he lives wickedly. Only those who live rightly
can acknowledge God with the heart, and these the Lord turns away from
hell and towards Himself according to the goodness of their life. For
these alone love God; for in doing what comes from Him they love what is
divine. The precepts of His law are divine things from Him. They are God
because He is His own proceeding divine. As this is to love God, the Lord
says:
He who keeps my commandments is he who loves me . . . But he who does not
keep my commandments does not love me (Jn 14: 21, 24).
[7] Here is the reason why there are two tables of the Decalog, one
having reference to God and the other to man. God works unceasingly that
man may receive what is in His table, but if man does not do what he is
bidden in his own table he does not receive with acknowledgment of heart
what is in God's table, and if he does not receive this he is not
conjoined. The two tables were joined, therefore, to be one and are
called the tables of the covenant; covenant means conjunction. One
acknowledges God and is conjoined to Him in accord with the goodness of
his life because this good is like the good in the Lord and consequently
comes from the Lord. So when man is in the good of life there is
conjunction. The contrary takes place with evil of life; it rejects the
Lord.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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