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 "fire" signifies heavenly love and
infernal love (n. 934, 4906, 5215). "Holy and heavenly fire"
signifies Divine love, and every affection that belongs to that
love (n. 934, 6314, 6832). "Light" from fire signifies truth
going forth from good of love; and light in heaven signifies
Divine truth (n. 3195, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413,
4415, 9548, 9684).
14. The Divine in heaven which makes heaven is love, because love is
spiritual conjunction. It conjoins angels to the Lord and conjoins
them to one another, so conjoining them that in the Lord's sight they
are all as one. Moreover, love is the very being [esse] of everyone's
life; consequently from love both angels and men have life. Everyone
who reflects can know that the inmost vitality of man is from love,
since he grows warm from the presence of love and cold from its
absence, and when deprived of it he dies.{1} But it is to be
remembered that the quality of his love is what determines the
quality of each one's life.
{Footnote 1} Love is the fire of life, and life itself is
actually therefrom (n. 4906, 5071, 6032, 6314).
15. In heaven there are two distinct loves, love to the Lord and love
towards the neighbor, in the inmost or third heaven love to the Lord,
in the second or middle heaven love towards the neighbor. They both
go forth from the Lord, and they both make heaven. How these two
loves are distinct and how they are conjoined is seen in heaven in
clear light, but in the world only obscurely. In heaven loving the
Lord does not mean loving Him in respect to His person, but it means
loving the good that is from Him; and to love good is to will and do
good from love; and to love the neighbor does not mean loving a
companion in respect to his person, but loving the truth that is from
the Word; and to love truth is to will and do it. This makes clear
that these two loves are distinct as good and truth are distinct, and
that they are conjoined as good is conjoined with truth.{1} But this
can scarcely be comprehended by men unless it is known what love is,
what good is, and what the neighbor is.{2}
{Footnote 1} To love the Lord and the neighbor is to live
according to the Lord's commandments (n. 10143, 10153, 10310,
10578, 10648).
{Footnote 2} To love the neighbor is not to love the person,
but to love that in him from which he is what he is, that is,
his truth and good (n. 5028. 10336). Those who love the person,
and not that in him from which he is what he is, love evil and
good alike (n. 3820). Charity is willing truths and being
affected by truths for the sake of truths (n. 3876, 3877).
Charity towards the neighbor is doing what is good, just, and
right, in every work and in every function (n. 8120-8122).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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