Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine WisdomSwedenborg, Emanuel
Religion
Angelic Wisdom Concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom
Swedenborg, Emanuel
God (Christianity) -- Love; God (Christianity) -- Wisdom
273. (1) The natural mind that is in evils and in falsities therefrom is
a form and image of hell. The nature of the natural mind in man in its
substantial form cannot here be described, that is, its nature in its own
form woven out of the substances of both worlds, in the brains where that
mind in its first principles, has its seat. The universal idea of that
form will be given in what follows, where the correspondence of the mind
and body is to be treated of. Here somewhat only shall be said of its form
as regards the states and their changes, whereby perceptions, thoughts,
intentions, volitions, and their belongings are manifested; for, as
regards these states and changes, the natural mind that is in evils and
their falsities is a form and image of hell. Such a form supposes a
substantial form as a subject; for without a substantial form as a
subject, changes of state are impossible, just as sight is impossible
without an eye, or hearing without an ear. In regard, then, to the form
or image wherein the natural mind images hell, that form or image is such
that the reigning love with its lusts, which is the universal state of
that mind, is like what the devil is in hell; and the thoughts of the
false arising out of that reigning love are, as it were, the devil's
crew. By "the devil" and by "his crew" nothing else is meant in the Word.
Moreover, the case is similar, since in hell there is a love of ruling
from love of self, a reigning love, called there the "devil;" and the
affections of the false, with the thoughts arising out of that love, are
called "his crew." It is the same in every society of hell, with
differences resembling the differences of species in a genus. And the
natural mind that is in evils and in falsities therefrom is in a similar
form; consequently, a natural man who is of this character comes, after
death, into a society of hell similar to himself, and then, in each and
every particular, he acts in unison with it; for he thus enters into his
own form, that is, into the states of his own mind. There is also another
love, called "satan," subordinate to the former love that is called the
devil; it is the love of possessing the goods of others by every evil
device. Cunning villainies and subtleties are its crew. Those who are in
this hell are generally called satans; those in the former, devils; and
such of them as do not act in a clandestine way there do not disown their
name. From this it is that the hells, as a whole, are called the Devil
and Satan. The two hells are generically divided in accordance with these
two loves, because all the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, the
celestial and the spiritual, in accordance with two loves; and the devil
- hell corresponds, by opposites, to the celestial kingdom, and the satan -
hell corresponds, by opposites, to the spiritual kingdom. That the heavens
are divided into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual, may be
seen in the work Heaven and Hell (n. 20-28).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account