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} In the Word "garments" signify truths, because
truths clothe good (n. 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9216,
9952, 10536). The Lord's garments when He was transfigured
signified Divine truth going forth from His Divine love (n.
9212, 9216).
130. That light in the heavens is spiritual and that this light is
Divine truth may be inferred also from the fact that men as well as
angels have spiritual light, and have enlightenment from that light
so far as they are in intelligence and wisdom from Divine truth.
Man's spiritual light is the light of his understanding, and the
objects of that light are truths, which he arranges analytically into
groups, forms into reason, and from them draws conclusions in
series.{1} The natural man does not know that the light from which
the understanding sees such things is a real light, for he neither
sees it with his eyes nor perceives it by thought. And yet there are
many who recognize this light, and distinguish it from the natural
light in which those are who think naturally and not spiritually.
Those think naturally who take account of the world only, and
attribute all things to nature; while those think spiritually who
take account of heaven and attribute all things to the Divine. It has
often been granted me to perceive and also to see that there is a
true light that enlightens the mind, wholly distinct from the light
that is called natural light [lumen]. I have been raised up
interiorly into that light by degrees; and as I was raised up my
understanding became so enlightened as to enable me to perceive what
I did not perceive before, and finally such things as I could not
even comprehend by thought from natural light. Sometimes I felt
indignant that I could not comprehend these things when they were so
clearly and plainly perceived in the light of heaven.{2} Because
there is a light that belongs to the understanding, the same things
are said of it as of the eye, as that it sees and is in light when it
perceives, and is in obscurity and shade when it does not perceive,
and so on.
{Footnote 1} Man is rational because his understanding is
illumined by the light of heaven (n. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408,
6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569). The understanding is
enlightened because it is a recipient of truth (n. 6222, 6608,
10659). The understanding is enlightened to the extent that man
receives truth in good from the lord (n. 3619). The
understanding is such as are the truths from good by which it
is formed (n. 10064). The understanding has light from heaven,
as the sight has light from the world (n. 1524, 5114, 6608,
9128). The light of heaven from the Lord is always present with
man, but it flows in only in the degree that man is in truth
from good (n. 4060, 4214).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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