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
416. (15) Otherwise love or the will draws down wisdom, or the
understanding, from its elevation, that it may act as one with itself.
There is natural love and there is spiritual love. A man who is in natural
and in spiritual love both at once, is a rational man; but one who is in
natural love alone, although able to think rationally, precisely like a
spiritual man, is not a rational man; for although he elevates his
understanding even to heavenly light, thus to wisdom, yet the things of
wisdom, that is, of heavenly light, do not belong to his love. His love,
it is true, effects the elevation, but from desire for honor, glory and
gain. But when he perceives that he gains nothing of the kind from that
elevation (as is the case when he thinks with himself from his own natural
love), then he does not love the things of heavenly light or wisdom;
consequently he then draws down the understanding from its height, that
it may act as one with himself. For example: when the understanding by
its elevation is in wisdom, then the love sees what justice is, what
sincerity is, what chastity is, even what genuine love is. This the
natural love can see by its capacity to understand and contemplate things
in heavenly light; it can even talk and preach about these and explain
them as at once moral and spiritual virtues. But when the understanding
is not elevated, the love, if it is merely natural, does not see these
virtues, but instead of justice it sees injustice, instead of sincerity
deceit, instead of chastity lewdness, and so on. If it then thinks of the
things it spoke of when its understanding was in elevation, it can laugh
at them and speak of them merely as serviceable to it in captivating the
souls of men. From all this it can be seen how it is to be understood that
love, unless it loves wisdom, its consort, in that degree, draws wisdom
down from its elevation, that it may act as one with itself. That love is
capable of elevation if it loves wisdom in that degree, can be seen above
(n. 414).
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