Heaven and its Wonders and HellSwedenborg, Emanuel
Religion
Heaven and its Wonders and Hell
Swedenborg, Emanuel
Future life -- Christianity -- Early work to 1800; Heaven -- Christianity; Hell -- Christianity
{Footnote 1} Knowledges belong to the natural memory that man
has while he is in the body (n. 5212, 9922). Man carries with
him after death his whole natural memory (n. 2475) from
experience (n. 2481-2486). But he is not able, as he was in the
world, to draw anything out of that memory, for several reasons
(n. 2476, 2477, 2479).
356. But in respect to those that have acquired intelligence and
wisdom through knowledge and science, who are such as have applied
all things to the use of life, and have also acknowledged the Divine,
loved the Word, and lived a spiritual moral life (of which above, n.
319), to such the sciences have served as a means of becoming wise,
and also of corroborating the things pertaining to faith. The
interiors of the mind of such have been perceived by me, and were
seen as transparent from light of a glistening white, flamy, or blue
color, like that of translucent diamonds, rubies, and sapphires; and
this in accordance with confirmations in favor of the Divine and
Divine truths drawn from science. Such is the appearance of true
intelligence and wisdom when they are presented to view in the
spiritual world. This appearance is derived from the light of heaven;
and that light is Divine truth going forth from the Lord, which is
the source of all intelligence and wisdom (see above, n. 126-133).
[2] The planes of that light, in which variegations like those of
colors exist, are the interiors of the mind; and these variegations
are produced by confirmations of Divine truths by means of such
things as are in nature, that is, in the sciences.{1} For the
interior mind of man looks into the things of the natural memory, and
the things there that will serve as proofs it sublimates as it were
by the fire of heavenly love, and withdraws and purifies them even
into spiritual ideas. This is unknown to man as long as he lives in
the body, because there he thinks both spiritually and naturally, and
he has no perception of the things he then thinks spiritually, but
only of those he thinks naturally. But when he has come into the
spiritual world he has no perception of what he thought naturally in
the world, but only of what he thought spiritually. Thus is his state
changed. [3] All this makes clear that it is by means of knowledges
and sciences that man is made spiritual, also that these are the
means of becoming wise, but only with those who have acknowledged the
Divine in faith and life. Such also before others are accepted in
heaven, and are among those there who are at the center (n. 43),
because they are in light more than others. These are the intelligent
and wise in heaven, who "shine as with the brightness of the
firmament" and "who shine as the stars," while the simple there are
those that have acknowledged the Divine, have loved the Word, and
have lived a spiritual and moral life, but the interiors of their
minds have not been so enriched by knowledges and sciences. The human
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