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43

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

ALBERT H CHILDS
YALE '61
MEMORIAL COLLECTION

THE DIVINE TRINITY

AND

DIVINE PROVIDENCE

WITH RELATED SUBJECTS

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
111 ;
Extracted from the closing sections of the Apocalypse Explained, and there entitled,
"Dh Fide Athanasiana,",*' De Domino," etc.

NEW YORK
AMERICAN SWEDENBORG PRINTING AND PUBLISHING
SOCIETY
go COOPER UNION
1885

***

This volume has heretofore been published under the title, "Ath^
anasian Creed," which will account for the running titles, which hav^
not been changed. The former title has been discarded, (i.) because it is
a title otherwise appropriated by Swedenborg himself, who wrote a dis-
tindi treatise to which he gave that title; and (ii.), because it does not
describe the contents of these extradls. As different headings were given
to these extradls by Swedenborg, it has been thought best to choose a title
which would define, as fully as possible in a few words, the contents of
the volume.

***

THE ATHAKASIAK CREED.

1. " WROSOEYER will le saved it is altogether
necessary for him to Jee&p the catlwlio faith ; which
faith unless every one shall keep whole and entire with
out doubt, he shall perish everlastingly. The catholic
faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and
Trinity i/n Unity / neither commioaing the persons, nor
separating the svhstance (essence). Since there is one
person of the Father, another of the Son, and another
of the Holy Spirit : iut the Divinity of the Father, of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is one and the same,
the glory equal, and the majesty co-eternal. Such as the
Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit.
The Faiher is unoreate, the Son is unoreate, and the
Holy Spirit is imoreate. The Father is infinite, the
Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite. The Father
eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eterrial :
And yet there are not three eternals, hut one eternal;
and there are not three infinites, nor three vMcreate, hut
one uncreate and one infi/nite. In lihe ma/nner as the
Father is omnipotent, so the Son is omnipotent, and the
Holy Spirit is omnipotent : and yet there are not three
ommApotents, hut one orwnipotent. As the Father is

4: THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
God, SO the Son is God, wnd the Holy Spirit is God,
and yet there a/re not three Gods, hut one God. Although
the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit
is Lord, still there are not three Lords, hut one Lord :
For as we are obliged hy the Christian verity, to ac-
Tcnowledge every person by himself to he God and Lord,
yet are we forbidden hy the catholic religion io say there
are three Gods or three Lords (according to others, we
cannot, from the Christian faith, naake mention of three
Gods or three Lords). The Father was made of none,
neither created nor horn. The Son is of tha Father
alone, not made nor created, but bom : TheHdI/y Spirit
is of the Father and of the Son, neither m,ade, nor
created, nor bom, hut proceeding. Thus there is one
Father, nat three Fathers ; one Son, not three Sons;
one Holy Spirit, not three Hdty Spirits. And in this
Trinity none is "prior or posterior to the other, neither
is he greater oi' less than the other / but all the three
persons are together eternal, and are altogether eguaZ.
So that in all things, as was hefore said, the Unity in
Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is to he worshipped
(according to others, three Persons in one Godhead, and
one God in three Persons is to be worshipped). Wliere-
fore, whoever would be saved, must thus think of the
Trinity. It is also fwrther necessary for salvation,
that he believe rigMity the incarnMion of owr Lord Jesus
Christ; (according to others, that he constantly believe
that onr Lord Jesus Christ is true man.) Since the
true faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man, God
of the substance (or essence ; according to others, na
ture) of the Father, horn hefore the world, and man of
the substance (according to others, nature) of the mother,

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 5
horn in the world : perfect God and perfect man, con
sisting of a rational soul and a human body : equal to
the Father as to the Divine (principle), and inferior to
(according to others, less than) the Father as to the
Human (principle). Who, although God and man, yet
they are not two, but one Christ : one, not hy conversion
of the Divine Essence imto the human (of the Divinity
into body), hut hy assumption of the Human essence
into the Di/oine (into God) : one altogether, not hy com-
mixt/wre of essence (of substance), hut hy unity of person
(according to others, because they are one person):
Since as tTie rational soul and body are one man, so God
and man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation,
descended into hell, and reasoended on the third day
from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on
the right hand of the Father God Almighty ; from
whence he shall come to judge the living and the dead.
At whose coming all men shall rise again with their
bodies ; and they who have done good things shall enter
into Ufe eternal, and they who have done evil things, into
eternal fire. This is the catholic faith, which unless a
man believe faithfully, he cannot he saved. Glory to
Qod the Father and Son and Holy /^irit. As it was
in the beginning, is now, and shall he for ever, world
without end. Amen."
2. This is the doctrine concerning God received
throughout the whole Christian world, because it was
derived from a general council. But before we take this
doctrine into consideration, an arcanum shall be made
known concerning the state of man's faith and love in
this world, and afterwards in that, into which he comes
after death. For until this is made known, man has no
other knowledge than that every one, whatever may have

6 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
been the quality of his faith, may of the divine mercy
be admitted into heaven and saved; in which idea ia
grounded the erroneous belief of the Eoman Catholics,
that heaven is open to man at the good pleasure of the
pope, and by the favor of his vicars. The arcanum ia
this, that all the thoughts of man diffuse themselves into
the spiritual world in every direction, much in the same
way as the rays of light are diffused from flam^ Since
the spiritual world is heaven and hell, and each consists
of innumerable societies, hence the thoughts of man must
necessarily diffuse themselves into societies; spiritual
thoughts, which relate to the Lord, to love and faith in
Him, and to the truths and goods of heaven and the
church, into" heavenly societies; but merely natural
thoughts, which relate to the love of self and of the
world, and not at the same time to God, into infernal
societies. That there are such extension and determina
tion of all the thoughts of man, has been hitherto un
known, because nothing was known of the nature either
of heaven or of hell, thus that they consist of societies,
that there is consequently an extension of the thoughts
of man into another world besides that into which his
natural sight extends. It is however the spiritual world
into which thought extends, but it ia the natural world
into which vision extends, since the thought of the mind
is spiritual, and the vision of the eye is natural. That
there is an extension of all the thoughts of man into the
societies of the spiritual world, and that no thought can
be given without such extension, has been made so plain
to myself from the experience of several years, that I
can in all good faith assert it to be true. In a word, man
with his head is in the spiritual world, as with his body
he is in the natural world. By head ia here meant hia

THB ATHANASIAN CREED. 7
mind, consisting of understanding, thought, will, and
love ; and by body is here meant his senses, which are
seeing, hearing, smelling, taste, and touch. And because
man as to his head, that is, as to his mind, is in the
spiritual world, he is therefore either in heaven or in
hell ; and where the mind is, there the whole man is,
head and body, when he becomes a spirit. Man is more
over of|a quality altogether similar to his conjunction
with the societies of the spiritual world, being an angel
of a quality similar to his conjunction with the societies
of heaven, or a devil of a quality similar to his con
junction with the societies of hell.
3. From what has been said, it is evident that the
thoughts of man are extensions into societies either
heavenly or infernal, and that unless there were exten
sions, there would be no thoughts ; for the thought of
man is like the sight of his eyes, which, unless it had
extension out of itself, would be either no faculty of
sight at all, or blindness. But it is man's love that de
termines his thoughts into the societies ; good love de
termining them into heavenly societies, and evil love
into infernal societies. For the universal heaven is ar
ranged generally, specially, and particularly, into societies,
according to all the varieties of affections derived from
love ; on the other hand, hell is arranged into societies
according to the lusts of the love of evil opposed to the
affections of the love of good. Man's love is compara
tively as fire, and his thoughts are as the rays of light
derived from it; if the love is good, then the thoughts,
which are as rays, are truths ; if the love is evil, then
the thoughts, which are as rays, are falsities. The
thoughts derived from good love, which are truths, tend
towards heaven, but the thoughts derived from evil love,

8 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
which are falsities, tend towards hell ; they also conjoin,
adjust, and as it were inosculate themselves into homo
geneous societies, that is, such societies as are of similar
love, so entirely, that the man is altogether one with
those societies. Man is an image of the Lord, by means
of love to Him. The Lord is divine love, and in heaven
before the angels He appears as a sun, from which pro
ceed light and heat ; the light is the divine truth,iand the
heat is the divine good ; the universal heaven is from
these two principles, so also are all the societies of heaven.
The Lord's love with man, who is an image of Him, is
as fire from that sun, and from this fire in like manner
proceed light and heat ; the light is the truth of faith,
and the heat is the good of love, each from the Lord, and
each engrafted into the societies with which man's love
acts in unity. That man from creation is an image and
likeness of God, is evident from Gen. i. 26, and the rea
son that he is an image and likeness of the Lord by
means of love is, that by means, of love he is in the
Lord and the Lord in him. (John xiv. 20, 21.) In a
word, there cannot exist the smallest portion of thought,
but what has reception given it in some society, not with
the individuals or angels of the society, but with the
affection of love, from which and in which the society
is. Hence it is that the angels do not discover anything
of the influx, nor does the influx in any way disturb the
society. Prom these considerations the above truth is
evident, that man whilst he lives in the world, is in con
junction with heaven, and also in consociation with the
angels, although both men and angels are ignorant of it.
The cause of their ignorance is, that the thought of man
is natural, and the thought of an angel spiritual, and
these make one only by correspondences. Since man.

TflE ATHANASIAN CBEED. &
by the thoughts of his love, is inaugurated into the so
cieties either of heaven or of hell, therefore, when he
comes into the spiritual world, as is the case immediately
after death, his quality is known by the mere extension
of his thoughts into the societies, and thus every one is
explored ; he is also reformed by admissions of his
thoughts into the societies of heaven, and he is con
demned by immersions of his thoughts into the societies
of hell.
4. Since man at his birth is not in any society either
heavenly or infernal, because he is without thought, al
though he is born for eternal life, it follows that, in the
course of time, he opens to himself either heaven or hell,
and enters into the societies, and becomes an inhabitant
of the one or of the other, even during his abode in the
world. The reason that man becomes an inhabitant
there is, that his real habitation and his native country,
as it is called, are in the spiritual world ; for he is to live
there to eternity, after he has lived a few years in the
natural world. From these considerations it may be
concluded how necessary it is for man to know what it
is in him that opens heaven ; and what also opens hell,
and introduces him into their respective societies ; this
will be shown in the following articles. It will be sufii-
cient here to observe, that man gains admission into
societies of heaven successively more numerous, accord
ing to the successive increase of his wisdom, and into
societies successively more interior, according to the suc
cessive increase of his love of good ; and that in pro
portion as heaven is opened to him, hell is closed. He
opens indeed hell for himself, but heaven is opened to
him by the Lord.
5. The first and primary thought, which opens heaven
1*

10 THE ATHANASIAN CREiED.
to man, is thought concerning God ; the reason is, that
God is the All of heaven, so much so that whether we
speak of heaven or of God it is the same thing. The
divine principles which cause the angels, of whom heaven
consists, to be angels, taken together are God ; and hence
it is that thought concerning God is the first and primary
of all thoughts that opens heaven to man, for it is the
head and sum of all truths and loves celestial and spirit
ual. But the thought is given from light, and it is given
from love; the thought from light alone being the
knowledge that God is, which appears as an acknowledg
ment of his existence, but still it is not so. By the
thought from light, man has presence in heaven, but not
conjunction with it; for the mere light of thought does
not conjoin, but places man in the presence of the Lord
and of the angels. For that light is like the light of
winter, in which man sees with as much clearness as in
the light of summer, but which nevertheless does not
conjoin itself with the earth, nor with any tree or shrub,
flower, or blade of grass. Every man also has implanted
in him the faculty of thinking about God, and of under
standing by virtue of the light of heaven the thinga
which relate to God ; but the thought alone from that
light, which is intellectual thought, merely causes his
presence before the Lord and before the angels, as was
said above. When man is in intellectual thought alone
concerning God and the things which relate to God, he
then appears to the angels from a distance as an image
of ivory or of marble, which can walk and utter sounds,
but in the face and sounds of which there is still no life.
He appears also to the angels comparatively like a tree
in time of winter, with naked branches without leaves,
but of which there ia some hope that it will be covered

TflE ATflANASIAN CREED. 11
with leaves, and then with fruits, when the heat is united
with the light, as is the case in time of spring. As
thought concerning God primarily opens heaven, so
thought against God primarily closes it.
6. Thought concerning one God opens heaven to man,
because there is but one God ; on the other hand, thought
concerning several Gods closes heaven, because the idea
of several Gods destroys the idea of one God. Thought
concerning the true God opens heaven, for heaven with
all that belongs to it is derived from the true God ; on
the other band, thought concerning a false god closes
heaven, for no other god but the true God is acknow
ledged there. Thought concerning God, the Creator, the
Redeemer, and the Enlightener opens heaven, for this
trinity is of the one true God ; thought also concerning
God as infinite, eternal, uncreate, omnipotent, omnipresent,
and omniscient, opens heaven, for these are attributes
of the essence of the one true God. On the other hand,
thought concerning a living man as God, of a dead man as
God, or of an idol as God, closes heaven, because they are
not omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, uncreate, eternal,
or infinite, neither from them was creation or redemption
derived, nor is there from them any enlightenment.
Thought concerning God as Man, in whom is the divine
trinity, namely, what is called Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, opens heaven ; on the other hand, thought con
cerning God as not Man, which is presented apparently
as a little cloud, or as nature in her smallest principles,
closes heaven ; for God is Man, as the universal angelic
heaven in its complex is a man, and every angel and
spirit is thence a man. Therefore it is that thought
alone concerning the Lord, as being the God of the uni
verse, opens heaven ; for the Lord says, " The Father

12 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
hath given all things into the hand of the Son." (John
iii. 35.) " The Father hath given to the Son power over
all flesh." (John xvii. 2.) " All things are delivered to
Me by the Father." (Matt. xi. 27.) "All power is
given to Me in heaven and in earth." (Matt, xxviii. 18.)
• From these considerations it is evident, that man without
¦ such an idea of God, as exists in heaven, cannot be saved.
The idea of God in heaven is the Lord ; for the angels
of heaven are in the Lord, and the Lord in them, and
therefore, to think of any other God than the Lord, is to
them impossible. (See John xiv. 20, 21.) Allow me
to add, that the idea of God as Man, is engrafted from
heaven in every nation throughout the whole terrestrial
globe, but, what I lament, it is destroyed in Christendom :
the causes will be shown below.
7. The thought alone that God exists, and that the
Lord is the God of heaven, opens heaven indeed and
renders man present there, yet so slightly, that he ia
almost unseen, appearing far off as in the shade ; but in
proportion as his thought becomes more full, more true,
and more just, concerning God, in the same proportion
he appears in the light. The thought becomes more full
by the knowledges of truth which are of faith, and of
good which are of love, derived from the Word ; for all
.things which are from the Word are divine, and divine
things taken together are God. The man who thinks
only that God exists, without thinking of His nature or
quality, is like one who thinks that the Word exists, and
that it is holy, but knows nothing of its contents ; or
that the law exists, but knows nothing of what is con
tained in the law ; when yet the thought of what God is,
is so extensive that it fills heaven, and constitutes all the
wisdom in which the angels dwell, which is ineffable, for

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 13
in itself it is infinite, because God is infinite. The
thought that God exists, derived from His quality, is
what is meant in the Word by the name of God.
8. It was said that man has thought from light, and
that he has thought from love, and that thought from
light causes his presence in heaven, but that thought from
love causes his conjunction with heaven ; the reason is,
that love is spiritual conjunction. Hence it is, that when
the thought from man's light becomes the thought from
his love, he is introduced into heaven, as into a mar
riage ; and so far as love in the thought from light is the
primary agent, or leads the thought, so far man enters
heaven, as a bride enters the bride-chamber, and is mar
ried. For in the Word the Lord is called the bride
groom and husband, and heaven and the church are
called the bride and wife. By being married is meant
being conjoined with some society in heaven, and man is
so far conjoined with it, as he has procured to himself in
the world intelligence and wisdom from the Lord, by the
Word, thus so far as by divine truths he has learned to
think that God exists, and that the Lord is that God.
But he who thinks from few truths, thus from little intel
ligence, whilst he thinks from love, is conjoined indeed
with heaven, but in its more ultimate principles. By
love is meant love to the Lord, and by loving the Lord
is not meant loving him as a person ; it is not by this
love alone that man is conjoined with heaven, but by the
love of divine good and divine truth, which are the Lord
in heaven and in the church. And these two principles
are not loved by knowing and thinking of them, or by
understanding and speaking of them, but by willing and
doing them, for this reason that they are commanded by
the Lord, and hence because they are uses. Nothing ia

14 TflE ATHANASIAN CREED.
full or complete until it becomes a deed ; the deed ia the
end in view, and the end for the sake of which the deed
is done, is love; and therefore, it is from the love of
willing and doing something, that the love of knowing
it, of thinking of it, and of understanding it, exists. Tell
me why you are desirous of knowing and understanding
a thing, unless it is for the sake of an end which you
love ; the end which is loved is a deed. If you say it is
for the sake of belief, it is belief alone, or a belief merely
of the thought, without actual belief which is deed ; it ia
thus a nonentity. You are very much deceived if you
think that you believe in God, unless you do the things
which are of God ; for the Lord teaches in John : " He
that hath my precepts and doeth them, he it ia who
loveth Me, and I will make my abode with him ; but he
who loveth Me not, keepeth not my words." (xiv. 21,
24.) In a word, to love and to do are one, and therefore
in the Word where mention is made of loving, doing is
understood, and where mention is made of doing, loving
is also understood ; for that which I love, I do.
9. There is thought given from light concerning God,
and concerning divine subjects, which in heaven are
called celestial and spiritual, and in the world ecclesiasti
cal and theological ; and there is thought given which is
not from light concerning them. The thought which is
not from light belongs to those who know these things
and do not understand them. Such are all those at this
day, who desire that the understanding should be kept
under the obedience of faith ; insisting even that men
must believe and not understand, and that intellectual
faith is not true faith. But such men are not in the
genuine affection of truth, from an interior principle, and
consequently are net in any enlightenment. Many of

The atSaNasian creed. 15
them are in the conceit of their own intelligence, and in
the love of domineering, by means of the sanctities of the
church, over the souls of men ; not aware, that truth
desires to be in the light, because the light of heaven is
divine truth, and that the understanding truly human is
affected by that light, and sees from it. For if the under
standing did not thus see, it would be the memory, and not
the man, that has faith, and such faith is blind, because
without an idea from the light of truth, for the under
standing is the man, the memory is merely introductory
to it. If that which is not intelligible is to be believed,
man might have been taught, like a parrot, to say and to
remember, that there is even sanctity in the bones and
sepulchres of the dead ; that dead bodies perform mira
cles; that man will be tormented in purgatory, if he
does not consecrate his wealth to idols or monasteries ;
that men are gods, because heaven and hell are in their
power; besides other similar things, which man is to
believe from a blind faith and a closed understanding,
and thus from the light of both extinguished. But be it
known that all the truths of the Word, which are the
truths of heaven and of the church, may be seen by the
understanding, in heaven spiritually, and in the world
rationally ; for the understanding truly human is the
very faculty of seeing them, for it is separated from what
is material, and sees truths as clearly as the eye sees
objects; it sees truths as it loves them, for as it loves
them it is enlightened. The angels have wisdom in con
sequence of seeing truths ; wherefore, when any angel is
told that this or that is to be believed, although it is not
understood, the angel replies : " Do you suppose that I am
insane, or that you are a god whom I am to believe ?
If T do not see, it may be something false from hell."

16 TflE ATHANASIAN CREED.
10. We now proceed to the doctrine of the Trinity,
which was drawn up by Athanasius, and confirmed by
the council of Kice. This doctrine is such that, when it
has been read, it leaves a clear idea that there are three
persons, and hence that there are three unanimous Gods,
but it leaves an obscure idea that God is one ; when yet,
as was said above, an idea from the thought of one God
primarily opens heaven to man ; and oh the other hand
an idea of three Gods closes it. With regard to the
assertion that the Athanasian doctrine, when it has been
read, leaves a clear idea that there are three persons, and
hence that there are three unanimous Gods, and that this
unanimous Trinity produces the thought that there is one
God, let every one consult himself whether he thinks
anything else. For it is said, in the Athanasian Creed,
in express words : " There is one person of Ihe Father,
another of tlie Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. The
Father is uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, Qod, Lord ;
so likewise is ihe Son, and so likewise is the Holy Spirit.
Also, the Father was made and created of none, the Son was
bom of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceedeth from
both. Tims there is one Father, one Son, and one Holy
Spirit. And in this Trinity all the three persons are
together etemal, and are altogether equal." From these
words it is impossible for any one to think otherwise
than that there are three Gods ; neither could Athana
sius himself, nor even the Nicene council, think other
wise, as is evident from these words inserted in the doc
trine : " As we are obliged by ihe Christian verity io
acknowledge every person by himself io be Qod and Lord,
yet are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say there are
three Gods or three Lords." This cannot be understood
in any other sense than that we may acknowledge three

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 17
Gods and Lords, but not name them ; or that we may
think of three Gods and Lords, but not speak of them.
11. That the doctrine of the Trinity, which is called
the Athanasian Creed, leaves an obscure idea that God is
one, so obscure even as not to remove the idea of three
Gods, may be manifest from this consideration, that the
doctrine makes one God of three, by unity of essence,
saying : " This is ihe catholic faith, that we worship one
Qod in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither commixing
the persons, nor separating ihe essence ; " and afterwards :
" Thus the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity is io
be worshipped" This is said in order to remove the idea
of three Gods, but it does not affect the understanding in
any other way than by suggesting that there are three
persons, and that all have one divine essence. So that
by divine essence is here meant God, though essence, as
well as divinity, majesty, and glory, which are also men
tioned, is a predicate, and God, as being a person, is the
subject. Wherefore to say that essence is God would be
like saying that a predicate is the subject, when yet
essence ia not God, but belongs to God. So likewise
majesty and glory are not God, but belong to God, as
a predicate is not the subject, but belongs to the subject.
Hence it is evident that the idea of three Gods as three
persons is not removed. This may be illustrated by
means of a comparison. Suppose there are in one king
dom three rulers of equal power, and that each is called
king. In this case, if power and majesty are meant by
king, they may, in compliance with a mandate to that
effect, be called and styled king, though not easily one
king. But since it is person that is meant by king, it is
impossible, in compliance with any mandate, that three
kings can be conceived to be one king. If therefore

18 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
they should say to you, " Address us with the same free
dom that you think," you would undoubtedly say: " Ye
kings ; " in fact you would not even say : " Your
Majesty," but, "Your Majesties." If you should reply:
"I think as I speak, and in obedience to the mandate,"
you are deceived, because you either pretend what is not
true, or you force yourself; and if you force yourself,
your thought is not left to itself free, but is riveted to
your words. That this is the case was seen also by
Athanasius, and therefore he explains the preceding
words by the following : "J.s we are obliged by the Chris
tian verity to acknowledge every person by himself io be Qod
and Lord, yet are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say
that there are three Gods or three Lords." These words
cannot be understood as conveying any other meaning,
than that we may acknowledge three Gods and Lords,
but not name them ; or that we may think of three Gods
and Lords, but not speak of them, because it is contrary
to the Christian faith ; that we may in like manner
acknowledge and think of three as infinite, eternal,
uncreate, and omnipotent, because there are three persons,
though we may not speak of more than one. The rea
sons that Athanasius added the words just quoted is,
that no one, not even himself, could think otherwise.
Every one can, however, speak otherwise; and the
reason that every one ought to speak so is, that it is
taught from the Christian religion, that is, from the Word,
that there are not three Gods, but that there is one God.
Moreover, the property which is assigned to each person
as his special attribute, as creation to the Father, redemp
tion to the Son, and enlightenment to the Holy Spirit, is
not thus one and the same with the three persona, and
yet each property enters the divine essence, for creation,

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 19
redemption, and enlightenment, are divine. Besides,
what man who is desirous to convert the idea of three
Gods into that of one God, thinks that the Trinity in
Unity and the Unity in Trinity is io be worshipped, neither
commixing the persons, wyr separating ihe essence'? Who
can do this by any metaphysical subtlety which surpasses
the apprehension ? The simple are utterly unable ; and
the learned hurry the subject over, saying to themselves,
" This is my doctrine and faith concerning God ; " with
out retaining either in their memory from the obscure
idea, or in their idea from the memory, anything more
than this, that there are three persons, and one God.
Every man also makes the one out of the three in his
own way, but this only when he speaks and writes ; for
when he thinks, he cannot think otherwise than of three,
and of one from the unanimity of the three; and many
do not think of one, even from this unanimity. But
listen, Eeader I Do not say to yourself, that these re
marks are too harshly or too boldly made against the
faith universally received concerning the triune God;
for in the following pages you will see, that all the col
lective and single things which are written in the Atha
nasian creed, are in agreement with the truth, if only,
instead of three persons, one person is acknowledged, in
whom the Trinity centres.
12. Another point which the Athanasian doctrine
teaches is, that in the Lord there are two essences, the
Divine and the Human. Here again the idea is clear
that the Lord has a Divine principle and a Human, that
is, that the Lord is God and man ; but the idea is ob
scure, that the Divine principle of the Lord is in the
Human, as the soul is in the body. The clear idea that
the Lord has a Divine principle and a Human, is drawn

20 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
from these words : " The true faith is, ihat we believe and
confess thai our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Qod, is Qod
and man ; Qod of the substance of the Father bom before the
world; and man of the substance of ihe mother bom in the
world; perfect Qod and perfect man, consisting of a rational
soul. Fqual'io the Father as to the Divine principle, and
inferior io the Father as to the Human principle." Here the
clear idea terminates, because from the notions which
follow an obscure idea is produced. Notions of this
kind, which belong to an obscure idea, not entering the
memory from any enlightened thought, gain no place in
it but amongst such notions as do not belong to intel
lectual light. And since no such notions there appear
before the understanding, they hide themselves, and can
not be called forth out of the memory with the notions
which originate in intellectual light. The point in the
doctrine involved in the obscure idea is, that the Divine
principle of the Lord is in his human principle, as the
soul is in the body ; for on this subject it is thus said :
" Who, although he be Qod and man, yet they are not two,
but one Ohrist; one altogether by unity of person ; since as
ihe reasonable soul and ihe body are one man, so Ood and
man is one Christ." The idea contained in these words
is in itself indeed clear, but it becomes obscure by the
following words: "Ojie, not by conversion of ihe Divine
essence into ihe Human, but by ihe assumption of ihe Human
essence into ihe Divine ; one altogether, not by commixture of
essence, but by unity of person." Since the clear idea pre
vails over the obscure, therefore most people, both sim
ple and learned, think of the Lord as of an ordinary man
like themselves, and in this case they do not think at the
same time of His Divine principle. If they do think of
the Divine principle, in that case they separate it in their

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 21
idea from the Human, and by that means also destroy
the unity of person. If they are asked, where His Divine
principle is, they reply according to their idea, that it
is in heaven with the Father. The reason that they
reply in this way, and have this perception is, that it is
repugnant to them to think that the Human principle
is Divine, and thus together with its Divine principle
in Heaven. They are not aware that, when in thought
they separate the Divine principle of the Lord from his
Human, they not only think contrary to their own
doctrine, which teaches that the Divine principle of the
Lord is in his Human, as the soul is in the body, that
there is also unity of person, that is, that the Divine
principle and the Human are one person, but they also
charge that doctrine undeservedly with the contradiction
or fallacy, that the Human principle of the Lord was,
together with the rational soul, from the mother alone,
though every man is rational by virtue of the soul which
is derived from the father. But that there is such a
thought in their minds, and such a separation made, fol
lows also from the idea of three Gods ; for from this idea
it is supposed that the Divine principle of the Lord in the
Human is from the Divine principle of the Father, who
is the first person, though it is His own Divine principle,
which descended from heaven and assumed the Human.
If man does not rightly perceive this, he may possibly
suppose, that the Father from whom are all things was
not one Divine principle, but threefold, though this can
not be received with any belief. In a word, they who
separate the Divine principle of the Lord from the Hu
man, and do not think that the Divine is in the Human,
as the soul is in the body, and that they are one person,
may fall into gross ideas concerning the Lord, even into

22 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
the idea as of a man separate from a soul. Beware there
fore that you do not think of the Lord as of a man" like
yourself, but rather think of Him as of Man who is God.
Listen, Reader 1 When you are perusing these pages,
you may think that you have in no instance, even in
thought, separated the Divine principle of the Lord from
his Human, or the Human from the Divine. But pray
consult your own thought, when you have directed it to
the Lord, whether you have in any instance considered,
that the Divine principle of the Lord is in his Human aa
the soul is in the body ; whether you have not thought
^-or, if you please, even now, whether you do not think
—of his Human principle and of his Divine principle
separately ; when again you think of his Human prin
ciple, whether you do not think that it is like the human
principle of another man ; and when of his Divine prin
ciple, whether it is not, in your idea, with the Father.
I have questioned great numbers on this subject, even
the primates of the church, and they have all replied
that the case is so. And when I have said that still it ia
in agreement with the doctrine of the Athanasian Creed,
which is the very doctrine of their church concerning
God and the Lord, that the Divine principle of the Lord
is in his Human, as the soul in the body, they have
replied, that they were not aware of it. And when I
have read to them these words of the doctrine, " Our
Lord Jesus Christ ihe Son of Ood, although he be Qod and
man, yet ihey are not two but one Ohrist: one altogether by
unity of person: since as the reasonable soul and body are
one man, so Qod and man is one Christ;" they have been
silent, and confessed afterwards that they had not ob
served them, being indignant at themaelves for having
so superficially examined their own doctrine. Some

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 23
have on these occasions abandoned their mystic union
of tbe Divine principle of the Father with the Human
of the Lord. That the Divine principle is in the Human
of the Lord, as the soul is in the body, the Word teaches
and testifies in Matthew and in Luke ; in Matthew thus :
"Mary being betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit :
and an angel said to Joseph in a dream. Fear not to take
Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her i.s from
the Holy Spirit. And Joseph knew her not until she
brought forth her first-born Son, and he called his name
Jesus." (i. 18, 20, 25,) And in Luke: "The angel said
to Mary, Behold, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and
shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
Mary said to the angel, How shall this be, since I know
not a man ? the angel answering, said. The Holy Spirit
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee, wherefore also the Holy Thing which
is born of thee shall be called the Son of God." (i. 31,
34, 35.) From these words it is evident, that the Divine
principle was in the Lord from conception, and that it
was His life from the Father, which life is His soul. We
shall now proceed to show, that even the things con
tained in the Athanasian doctrine, which produce an
obscure idea of the Lord, are in agreement with the truth>
when the trinity, namely. Father, Son, and Holy -Spirit,
is thought and believed to be in the Lord as in one per
son. Without this thought and belief, it may be said, as
indeed it is said, that Christians differing from all people
and nations in the whole world, who have the gift of rea
son, worship three Gods; though the Christian world may
and ought to surpass all men in the clearness of their doc
trine and belief, that God is one both in essence and person.

24 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
13. It haa been shown, that the doctrine of the Atha
nasian Creed, when it has been read, leaves a clear idea,
that there are three persons, and hence that there are
three unanimous Gods ; and an obscure idea that God ia
one, so obscure even, that it does not remove the idea of
three Gods. And further, that the same doctrine leaves
a clear idea that the Lord has a Divine principle and a
Human, that is, that the Lord is God and Man ; but an
obscure idea that the Divine and Human principles of the
Lord are one person, and that hia divine principle ia in
hia Human, as the soul is in the body. It has been alao
said that all things contained in that doctrine, from begin
ning to end, both such as are clear and such as are ob
scure, nevertheless agree and coincide with the truth,
provided that, instead of saying that God is one in essence
and three in person, it is believed, as the truth really is,
that God is one both in essence and in person. There is
a trinity in God, and there is also unity ; that there is a
trinity may be manifest from the passages in the Word
where mention is made of the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit ; and that there is unity, from the passages in the
Word where it is said that God is one. The unity in
which is the trinity, or the one God in whom is the three
fold principle {trinum), is not given in the Divine princi
ple which is called the Father, nor in the Divine principle
which- is called the Holy Spirit, but in the Lord alone.
For in the Lord there is a threefold principle, namely, the
Divine principle which is called the Father, the Divine
Human which is called the Son, and the Divine Proceed
ing which is the Holy Spirit ; and this threefold principle
is one, because it belongs to one person, and may hence
be called triune. In what now follows will be seen the
agreement of all the points of the Athanasian doctrine

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 25
with what is here asserted ; First, of the trinity : Secondly,
of the unity of person in the Lord : Thirdly, that it is
owing to the divine providence, that this doctrine was so
written, that although it is at variance with the truth, it
still agrees with it. It will afterwards be proved gener
ally that the threefold principle is in the Lord ; and then
specially that He is the Divine principle which is called
the Father, that He is that which is called the Son, and
that He is that also which is called the Holy Spirit.
14. We shall now proceed to the agreement of all the
points of the Athanasian doctrine with this truth, that
God, in whom is the threefold principle, is one both in
essence and person ; and that this agreement may be es
tablished and made clear, we shall proceed in due order.
The Athanasian doctrine first teaches thus : " The catholic
faith is this, that we worship one Ood in Trinity, and Trin
ity in Unity, neither commixing ihe persons nor separating
the essence." If instead of three persons one person is
understood, in whom is the threefold principle or trinity,
these words are in themselves truth, and are perceived
with a clear idea thus : '¦ The Christian faith is this, that
we worship one God, in whom is the trinity, and the
trinity in one God, and that God, in whom is the trinity,
is one person, and that the trinity in God is one essence :
thus there is one God in trinity, and trinity in unity,
neither are the persons commixed, nor is the essence
separated." That the persons are not commixed, nor the
essence separated, will appear more clearly from what now
follows. The Athanasian doctrine further teaches, " Sirux
there is o'lie person of the Father, another of ihe Son, and
another of ihe Holy Spirit, but the Divinity of the Father, of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is one and the same, the glory
equal," In this case again, if instead of three persons one
2

26 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
person is understood, in whom is the threefold principle
or trinity, the words are in themselves truth, and with a
clear idea are perceived thus : " The trinity in the Lord,
as in one person, is the Divine principle which is called
the Father, the Divine Human which is called the Son,
and the Di-vine Proceeding which is called the Holy
Spirit; but the Divinity or divine essence of the three is
one, the glory equal." Again : " Such as the Father is,
such is ihe Son, and such is the Holy Spirit: " These words,
are in this case perceived thus : " Such as is the Divine
principle which is called the Father, such is the Divine
principle which is called the Son, and such is the Divine
principle which is called the Holy Spirit." And further :
" The Father is uncreate, the Son is uncreate, and ihe Holy
Spirit is uncreate : ihe Father is infinite, the Son is infinite,
and the Holy Spirit is infinite: the Father is eternal, the Son
is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal : nevertheless, there
arenot three eternals, but one eternal : and there are not three
infi/nites, but one infinite ; neither are there three uncreate,
but one uncreate : as ihe Father is almighty, so the Son is al
mighty, and ihe Holy Spirit almighty, and yet there are not
three ahnighlies, but one almighty" If, instead of three
persons, one person is understood, in whom is the three
fold principle or trinity, in this case also these words are
in themselves truth, and with a clear idea are perceived
thus: "As the Divine principle in the Lord, which is
called the Father, is uncreate, infinite, omnipotent, so the
Divine Human principle which is called the Son, is
uncreate, infinite, omnipotent, and so the Divine prin
ciple which is called the Holy Spirit, is uncreate, infinite,
and omnipotent ; but these three are one, because the
Lord is one God, both in essence and person, in whom is
the trinity." In the Athanasian doctrine are also the

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 27
following words : ^As ihe Father is Qod, ihe Son also is
Ood, and ihe Holy Spirit is Ood, nevertheless there are not
three Qods, but one Ood. So the Father is Lord, ihe Son is
Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord, yet there are not three
Lords, but one Lord." In this case again, if instead of
three persons one person is understood, in whom is the
threefold principle or trinity, the words are perceived
with a clear idea, thus : " That the Lord, from his Divine
principle which is called the Father, from his Divine Hu
man which is called the Son, and from his Divine Pro
ceeding which is called the Holy Spirit, is one God and
one Lord, since the three Divine principles called by the
names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are in the Lord
one in essence and in person." Further : " Forasmuch
as vje are obliged by ihe Christian verity to acknowledge every
person hy himself to he Ood and Lord, yet are we forbidden
hy the catholic religion to say. there are three Oods or three
Lords." (In other copies thus : " As we are bound by
the Christian verity to acknowledge every person to be
God or Lord, so we cannot in the Christian faith make
mention of three Gods or three Lords;") These words
cannot be understood in any other way than that accord
ing to Christian truth we must acknowledge and think
that there are three Gods and three Lords : but that still
we may not, according to the Christian faith and religion,
speak of them or name them. This is, however, done,
for most men think of three Gods who are unanimous,
and hence call them a unanimous trinity, though they are
still bound to say one God. But as there are not three
persons, but one person, instead therefore of the above
words, which ought to be taken away from the Athana
sian doctrine, may be substituted the following: " When
we acknowledge the threefold principle or trinity in tho

28 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
Lord, it is then in agreement with truth, and thus with
the Christian faith and religion, that we acknowledge
both with the lips and from the heart one God and one
Lord." For, if we were allowed to acknowledge and
think of three, we should be allowed also to believe in
three, for belief or faith belongs to thought and acknowl
edgment, and hence to speech, and not to speech separate
from thought and acknowledgment. Afterwards follow
these words : " The Father was made of none, neither created
nor born: the Son is of the Father ahne, not made, nor cre
ated, but born: the Holy Spirit is of ihe Father and of the Son,
not made, nx/r created, nor born, hut proceeding : Thus
tliere is one Father, not three Fathers ; one Son, not three
Sons ; one Hdty Spirit, not three Hdty Spirits." These
words are quite in agreement with the truth, if onlj' for
the Father we understand the Divine principle of the
Lord which is called the Father; for the Son, his Divine
Human principle ; and for the Holy Spirit, his Divine
Proceeding. For from the Divine principle, which is
called the Father, was born the Divine Human principle,
which is called the Son, and from both proceeds the Di
vine principle, which is called the Holy Spirit : but of
the Divine Human principle, born of the Father, we shall
speak more specially in what follows. Frojn these con
siderations it is now evident, that the Athanasian doctrine
agrees with the above truth, that God is one both in es
sence and in person, provided that instead of three per
sons there is understood one person, in whom is the
threefold principle or trinity, which is called Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. In the following article, a similar
agreement will be established concerning the unity of
person in the Lord.
15. We shall now proceed to the agreement of the

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 29_
Athanasian doctrine with this truth, that the Human
principle of the Lord is divine by virtue of the Divine
principle which was in Him from conception. That the
Human principle of the Lord is divine, appears, indeed,
as if it were not grounded in the Athanasian doctrine,
but still it is so, as is evident from the following words in
the doctrine : " Our Lord Jesus Christ, tlie Son of Ood, is
Ood and Man. Who although Ood and Man, yet Oiey are
not two but one Christ ; one altogether hy unity of person (or
as others express it, because ihey are one person) ; since as the
rational soul and the body are one man, so Ood and Man is
one Christ." Now, since the soul and body are one man,
and hence one person, and the body is of a corresponding
quality with the soul, it follows, that since his soul from
the Father was divine, the body which is his Human
principle, is divine also. He had, indeed, assumed a body
or human principle from the mother, but he put off this
in the world, and put on a Human principle from the
Father, and this is the Divine Human. It is said in the
doctrine, " Equal to the Father as to ihe Divine {principle),
inferior io tlie Father as to the Human." This also agrees
with the truth, if the human principle from the mother
is understood, as is the case in this instance in the creed.
In the doctrine again it is said : " Ood and man is one
Christ ; one, not by conversion of the divine substance into ihe
human, but by taking ihe human substance into the divine :
one altogether, not by commixture of substance, hut by unity of
person." These words again agree with the truth, since
the soul does not convert itself into body, nor commix
with body that it may become body, but it takes a body
to itself Thus soul and body, although they are two
distinct things, are still one man ; and with respect to
the Lord, they are one Christ, that is, one Man, who ia

30 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
God. More will be said on the Divine Human principia
of the Lord in what follows.
16. It is to be attributed to the divine providence of
the Lord that all the collective and several parts of the
Athanasian doctrine concerning the trinity and the Lord,
are truth and agree with each other, if only instead of
three persons there is understood one person, in whom
the trinity centres, and it is believed that that person is
the Lord. For unless men had accepted a trinity of
persons, they would at that time have become either
Arians or Socinians, and hence the Lord would have
been acknowledged as a mere man, and not as God, by
which means the Christian church would have perished,
and heaven, so far as the man of the church is concerned,
would have been closed. For no one is conjoined with
heaven and admitted there after death, unless in the idea
of his thought he sees God as Man, and at the same time
believes that God is one both in essence and in person —
by this the heathen are saved — and unless he acknow
ledges the Lord, His Divine principleand His Human — by
this the member of the Christian church is saved, when
he lives at the same time a Christian life. It was of
divine permission that the doctrine concerning God and
the Lord, which is the primary doctrine of all, was so
conceived by Athanasius ; for it was foreseen by the
Lord, that the Roman Catholics would not otherwise have
acknowledged the Divine principle of the Lord, because
even to this day they separate it from his Human ;
neither would the members of the Reformed Church have
seen it in the Human principle of the Lord, for they who
are in faith separate from charity, do not see it ; but still
both of them acknowledge the Divine principle of the
Lord in a trinity of persons. Nevertheless, the doctrine

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 31
which is called the Athanasian Creed, was by the divine
providence of the Lord so composed, that all things
therein are truths, if only instead of three persons one
person is admitted, in whom is the trinity, and it is
believed that that person is the Lord. It is also by the
permission of providence that persons are spoken of, for
a person is a man, and a divine person is God who is
Man. This is revealed at this day for the sake of the
New Church, which is called the Holy Jerusalem.
17. That there is in the Lord the trinity, or threefold
principle, the Divine Itself which is called the Father,
the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the
Divine Proceeding which is called the Holy Spirit, may
be manifest from the Word, from the divine essence, and
from heaven. From the Word : In those passages
where the Lord Himself teaches, that the Father and He
are one, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from Him
and from the Father ; where again He teaches, that the
Father is in Him and He in the Father, and that the
Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit, does not speak
from Himself but from the Lord. In like manner, from
passages in the Old Testament, where the Lord is called
Jehovah, the Son of God, and the Holy One of Israel.
From the divine essence : From this it appears, that
one Divine principle by itself is not given, but there will
be a threefold principle, which consists of esse, existere,
and procedere. For the esse must necessarily exist, and
when it exists, it must proceed that it may produce ; and
this threefold principle is one in essence and in person,
and is God. This may be illustrated by comparison :
An angel of heaven is threefold and thus one ; the esse
of an angel is that which is called his soul, the existere is
that which is called his body, and the procedere from

32 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
both is that which is called the sphere of his life, without
which an angel has neither existence nor being. By
means of this threefold principle an angel is an image of
God, and is called a son of God, and also an heir, and
even a god ; nevertheless, an angel is not life from
himself, but a recipient of life, God alone being life from
Himself From heaven : Because the threefold Divine
principle, which is one in essence and in person, is such
in heaven ; for the Divine principle which is called the
Father, and the Divine Human which is called the Son,
appear there before the angels as a sun, and the Divine
Proceeding from them appears as light united to heat,
the light being divine truth, and the heat divine good.
Thus the Divine principle which is called the Father, is
the Divine esse, the Divine Human which is called the
Son, is the Divine existere from that esse, and the Divine
principle which is called the Holy Spirit, is the Divine
Proceeding from the divine existere and the divine esse.
This threefold principle is the Lord in heaven ; it is His
divine love that appears there as a sun.
18. It has been said, that one Divine principle by itself
is not given, but that it must be threefold, and that this
threefold principle is one God in essence and in person.
The question then arises, what sort of a threefold princi
ple had God, before the Lord assumed the Human prin
ciple and made it divine in the world ? God was then
in like manner Man, and had a Divine principle, a Divine
Human, and a Divine Proceeding; or a divine esse,
a divine existere, and a divine procedere ; for, as was
said, God without a threefold principle is not given. But
the Divine Human was not then divine even to ultimates,
the ultimates being what are called flesh and bones ; but
these also were made divine by the Lord, when he was

TflE ATflANASlAN CREED. 33
in the world. Tt is this that was accessory or additional,
and this is the Divine Human that God now has. The
subject again may be illustrated by a comparison : Every
angel is a man, having a soul, a body, and a proceeding
principle; but still he is not thus a perfect man, for he
has not flesh and bones, as a man in the world has. That
the Lord made his Human principle divine even to its
ultimates, which are called flesh and bones. He Himself
shows to the disciples, who when they saw Him believed
that they saw a spirit, saying, " See My hands and My
feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have " (Luke
xxiv. 39) ; from which it follows, that God now is Man
in a way surpassing the angels. Comparison has been
made with an angel or man ; it must, .however, be under
stood, that God is life in Himself, but that an angel or
man is not life in himself, for he is a recipient of life.
That the Lord as to each principle, the Divine and the
Divine Human, is life in Himself, He teaches in John :
" As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given
to the Son to have life in Himself" (v. 26) : by Father in
this passage the Lord means the Divine principle in
Himself; for in other passages He says, that "the
Father is in Him, and that the Father and He are one."
19. Some persons in the Christian world have formed
to theraselves an idea of God as of the universe ; .some, as
of nature in her inmost principles ; others, as of a cloud in
some space of ether; some, as of a bright ray of light ;
while others have formed no idea of Him whatever ; and
but few the idea of God as Man, although God is Man.
That Christians have formed to themselves such ideas of
God is attributable to several causes : the first is, that from
their doctrine they believe in three divine persons distinct
2*

34 the athanasian creed.
from each other, in the Father as the invisible God, and in
the Lord, but as to his Human principle not God. The
second is, that they believe that God is a spirit, and they
think of a spirit as of wind, or air, or ether, though every
spirit is a man. The third is, that Christians, in conse
quence of their faith alone without life, have become
worldly, and from their self love, corporeal; and the
worldly and corporeal man does not see God except from
space, he thus regards God as the whole inmost principle
in the universe, consequently as something extended. But
God is not to be seen from space ; for there is no space in
the spiritual world, space there being only an appearance
derived from that which resembles it. Every sensual
man sees God in a similar manner, because he thinks but
little above his speech, and the thought of his speech
inwardly whispers, "What the eye sees and the hand
touches, this, I know, exists," and banishes all other
considerations, as if they were mere words. These are
the causes that in the Christian world there is no idea of
God as Man. That there is no such idea, that there is
even a repugnance to it, will be seen, if a man only
examines himself, and thinks of the Divine Human
principle, though still the Human principle of the Lord
is divine. The above ideas of God, however, do not
belong so much to the simple, as to the intelligent, for
many of the latter are blinded by the conceit of their own
intelligence, and are hence infatuated by their knowledge,
according to the Lord's words (Matthew xi. 25 ; xiii. 13,
14, 15). But they should know, that all who see God as
Man see Him from the Lord, all others from themselves;
and they who see from themselves, have no true vision.
20. But I will relate what cannot but appear wonder
ful : Every man in the idea of his spirit sees God as Man,

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 35
even he who in the idea of his body sees him as a cloud
or mist, as air or ether, and who has denied that God is
Man ; for man is in the idea of his spirit when he thinks
abstractedly, and in the idea of his body when he does
not think abstractedly. That every man in the idea of
his spirit sees God as Man, has been made evident to me
fi"om men after death, who are then in the ideas of the
spirit. For men after death become spirits, in which case
it is impossible for them to think of God otherwise than
as of Man. The experiment was made whether they
could think otherwise, and for this purpose they were put
into the state in which they were in the world, and then
they thought of God, some as of the universe, others as of
nature in her inmost principles, some as of a cloud in the
midst of ether, others as of a bright ray of light, and some
again differently. But when they came out of that state
into the state of the spirit, they instantly thought of God
as Man ; at which even they themselves wondered, and
said that it was implanted in every spirit. But evil
spirits, who in the world denied God, deny Him also
after death, nevertheless instead of God they worship
some spirit, who, by means of diabolical arts, gains
ascendency over the rest. It was said, that to think of
God as Man is implanted in every spirit, and that it is
effected by an influx of the Lord into the interior of the
spirit's thoughts, is evident from the following: The
angels of all the heavens acknowledge the Lord alone ;
they acknowledge his Divine principle which is called
the Father, they see his Divine Human principle, and
they are in the Divine Proceeding, for the universal
angelic heaven is the Divine Proceeding of the Lord.
An angel is not an angel from anything of his own, but
from the Divine principle which he receives from the

36 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
Lord ; hence the angels are in the Lord, and therefore,
when the}'^ think of God, they cannot think of any other
than of the Lord, in whom they are, and from whom they
think, Besides this, the- universal angelic heaven is in
its complex before the Lord as one Man, who may be
called the Grand Man ; wherefore the angels in heaven
are in the Man, who is, as was said, the Divine Proceed
ing of the Lord. And since their thoughts have a
direction according to the form of heaven, therefore when
they think of God, they cannot think otherwise than of
the Lord. In a word, all the angels of the three heavens
think of God as of Man, nor can they think otherwise, for
if they were disposed to do so, thought would cease, and
they would fall from heaven. Hence then it is, that it is
implanted in every spirit, and also in every man, when he
is in the idea of his spirit, to think of God as Man.
21. It was in consequence of this implanted principle,
that the most ancient people, to a greater degree than
their posterity, worshipped God as visible under a human
form. That they also saw God as Man, the Word tes
tifies, as of Adam, that he heard the voice of Jehovah
walking in the garden ; of Moses, that he spake with
Jehovah face to face ; of Abraham, that he saw Jehovah
in the midst of three angels ; and that Lot spoke with
two of them. Jehovah was also seen as Man by Hagar,
by Gideon, by Joshua, by Daniel as the Ancient of Days,
and as the Son of Man. In like manner. He was seen
by John, as the Son of Man in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, and also by the other prophets. That it
was the Lord who was seen by them. He himself teaches
where He says, " That Abraham rejoiced to see His day,
and that he saw it and was glad" (John viii. 56): also,
" That He was before Abraham was " (ver. 58} : " and

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 37.
that He was before the world was " (John xvii. 5, 24).
The reason that it was not the Father but the Son, who
was seen, is, because the Divine Esse, which is the
Father, cannot be seen except through the Divine Exis
tere, which is the Divine Human principle. That the
Divine Esse, which is called the Father, was not seen,
the Lord also teaches in John : " The Father Himself
who hath sent Me, He hath borne witness of Me ; ye
have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His
shape " (ver. 37) : again : " Not that any one hath seen
the Father, save He who is of God, He hath seen the
Father " (vi. 46) : and again : " No one hath seen God
at any time, the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom
of the Father, He hath brought Him forth to view"
(i. 18). From these passages it is evident that the Divine
Esse, which is the Father, was not seen by the ancients,
nor could be seen, and yet that it was seen by means of
the Divine Existere, which is the Son. Because the esse
is in its existere, as the soul is in its body, therefore he
who sees the Divine Existere or Son, sees also the Divine
Esse or Father, which the Lord confirms in these words :
" Philip said. Lord, show us the Father : Jesus said unto
him, Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou
not known Me, Philip ? he who hath seen Me, hath seen
the Father ; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? "
(John xiv. 8, 9). From these words it is plain, that the
Lord is the Divine Existere, in which is the Divine Esse ;
thus that" He is the God-Man, who was seen by the
ancients. ..From what has been adduced it follows that
the Word is also to be understood according to the sense
of the letter, when it says that God has a face, that He
has eyes and ears, and that He has hands and feet.
22. Since the idea of God as Man is implanted in every

38 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
one, therefore several peoples and nations have worshipped
as gods those who were either men or appeared to them
as men ; as Greece, Italy, and some kingdoms under
their power, worshipped Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto,
Apollo, Mercury, Juno, Minerva, Diana, Yenus and
her son, and others, ascribing to them the government
of the universe. The reason that they distributed the
Divinity into so many persons was, that it was from a
principle implanted in them that they saw God as Man,
and therefore saw all the attributes, properties, and
qualities of God, thence also the virtues, affections,
inclinations, and sciences, as persons. It was from this
implanted principle that the inhabitants of the lands
round about Canaan, and likewise of the regions within
it, worshipped Baalim, Astoroth, Beelzebub, Chemosh,
Milcolm, Molech, and others, several of whom had lived
as men. It is again from this implanted principle that
at .this day, in the heathenism of the Christian world,
saints are worshipped as gods, men kneeling before their
statues and embracing them, baring their heads before
them in the roads where they are set up, and offering
them adoration at their toitibs, doing this even in the
case of the Pope, whose very shoes tbey press with their
lips, some of them even kissing his footsteps, and he would
too have been saluted as a god, if religion had allowed
it. These and several other practices arise from, this
implanted principle, that men naturally wish to worship
a God whom they see, and not an airy something, which
they regard as mere vapor. But the idea of G.od as Man,
which flows into the mind from heaven, is with many
so far perverted that either an ordinary man or an idol
is worshipped instead of God ; just' as the bright light of
the sun is turned into unseemly colors, and his summer

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 39
/
heat into offensive odors, acc(jrding to the objects upon
which they fall. But it is from the causes above ad
duced, that the idea of God becomes the idea of a little
cloud, of a mist, or of the inmost principle of nature ;
it exists amongst Christians, but rarely amongst other
nations who enjoy any light of reason, as amongst the
Africans and some others.
23. That God is Man and that the Lord is that Man,
is manifest from all things which are in the heavens, and
which are beneath the heavens. In the heavens, all
things which proceed from the Lord, in their greatest
and in their smallest parts, are either in a human form,
or have reference to it. The universal heaven is in a
human form, so also is every society of heaven, every
angel is so, and every spirit beneath the heavens. It
has also been revealed to me that all things both least
and greatest, which proceed immediately from the Lord,
are in that form; for what proceeds from God is a
resemblance of Him. Hence it is, that it is said of Adam
and Eve, that they were " created into the image aud
likeness of God." (Gen. i. 26, 27.) Hence also it is,
that the angels in the heavens, because they are recipients
of the Divine principle which proceeds from the Lord,
are men of astonishing beauty ; whereas the spirits in
the hells, because they do not receive the Divine prin
ciple which proceeds from the Lord, are devils, who in
the light of heaven, do not appear as men, but as mon
sters. It is owing to this circumstance that every one in
the spiritual world is known from his human form, which
is in proportion to his derivation from the Lord. Hence
then it may be manifest, that the Lord is the only Man,
and that every one is a ihan according to the reception
of divine good and divine truth from Him. In fine, he

40 THE athanasian creed.
who sees God as Man, sees God, because he sees the
Lord. The Lord also says, " He who seeth the Son, and
believeth in Him, hath eternal life " (John vi. 40) ; to
see the Son is to see Him with the spirit, because it is
said also with regard to those who have not seen Him in
the world.
24. It was said that the Lord is the only Man, and
that all are men according to the reception of the divine
good and the divine truth from Him. The reason that
the Lord is the only Man is, that He is the life itself;
but all other men, because they are men from Him, are
recipients of life. The distinction between the Man who
is life, and the man who is a recipient of life, is like that
which subsists between the Uncreate and that which is
created, and between the Infinite and the finite, which
distinction is such that it admits of no ratio. For there
is no ratio given between the Infinite and the finite,
thus there is no ratio between God as Man, and another
being as a man, whether he is an angel or a spirit, or a
man in the world. That the Lord is life. He himself
teaches in John : " The Word was with God, and God
was the Word, in Him was life, and the life was the
light of men, and the Word was made flesh " (i. 1, 4, 14) ;
again : " As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath
He given to the Son to have life in Himself" (v. 26);
again : " As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live
by the Father " (vi. 57) ; again : " I am the resurrection
and the life " (xi. 25) ; again : " I am the way, the truth,
and the life" (xiv. 6). Inasmuch as the Lord is life,
therefore, in other passages of the Word, He is called
the Bread of Life, the Light of Life, and ihe Tree of Life ;
also, ihe Alive and lAving Ood. Since He is life, and
every man is a recipient of Ufe from Him, therefore He

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 41
also teaches that He gives life and quickens; as in John :
" As the Father quickeneth, so also the Son quickeneth ''
(v. 21) ; again : " I am the bread of God which cometh
down from heaven, and giveth life to the world " (vi. 33) ;
again: "Because I live, ye shall live also" (xiv. 19);
and in many passages, that He giveth life to those who
believe in Him: hence also God is called "a Fountain
of Life " (Psalm xxxvi. 9) ; and in other places. Creator,
Maker, Former, and Potter, and we the clay, and the work
of His hands. Because God is life, it follows that in
Him we live, move, and have our being.
25. Life viewed in itself, which is God, cannot create
another being that shall be life itself; for the life which
is God is uncreate, continuous, and inseparable; hence
it is that God is one. But the life which is God can
create, out of substances which are not life, forms in
which it can exist, giving them the appearance as if they
lived. Men are such forms, which, as being receptacles
of life, could not in the first creation be anything but
images and likenesses of God ; images from the reception
of truth, and likenesses from the reception of good. "For
life and its recipient adapt themselves to each other, like
active and passive, but do not mix together. Hence it is
that human forms which are recipient of life, do not live
from themselves, but from God who alone is life ; where
fore, as is well known, all the good of love and all the
truth of faith are from God, and nothing from man. For
if man had the smallest portion of life as his own, he
would have been able to will and to do good from him
self, to understand also and to believe truth from
himself, and thus to claim merit; when yet, if he be
lieves this, the form recipient of life then closes- itself
above, is perverted, and intelligence perishes. Good and

42 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
its love together with truth and its faith are the life
which is God, for God is good itself and truth itself;
wherefore God dwells in those principles with man.
From these considerations it also follows that man of
himself is nothing, and that he is just so much as he
receives from the Lord, and at the same time acknow
ledges that what he receives is not bis own but the
Lord's; the Lord then causes him to be something,
although not from himself but from the Lord.
26. It appears to man as if he lived from himself, but
it is a fallacy ; for if it were not a fallacy, man would
have been able to love God from himself, and to be wise
from himself. The reason that it appears as if life were
in man is, that it enters by influx from the Lord into his
inmost principles, which are remote from the sight of his
thought, and thus from perception ; and further that the
principal cause which is life, and the instrumental cause
which is recipient of life, act together as one cause, and
this action is felt in the instrumental cause, and thus in
man as if it were in himself. The case in this respect is
precisely similar to the sensation that light is in the eye,
and gives birth to sight ; that sound is in the ear, and
gives birth to hearing ; that the volatile parts in the air
are in the nostril, and give birth to smell ; and that the
particles of food turning over upon the tongue give birth
to taste ; when yet the eyes, the ears, the nostrils, and the
tongue are recipient organized substances, thus instru
mental causes; whilst light, sound, the volatile parti
cles in the air, and the particles turning over upon tbe
tongue, are the principal causes ; • and these causes —
the instrumental and the principal — act together as one
cause. That is called principal which acts, and that
instrumental which suffers itself to be acted upon. He

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 43
who examines the subject more deeply, may know thai
man, as to all the collective and single things that belong
to him, is an organ of life, and that that which produces
sensation and perception enters by influx from an extra
neous source, and that it is the life itself which causes
man to feel and perceive as if from himself Another
reason that it appears as if life were in man is, that the
divine love is such, that it desires to communicate to man
that which belongs to itself, but still it teaches that it is
not man's own. The Lord also wills that man should
think and will, and thence should speak and act, as if
from himself, but that still he should acknowledge that
it is not from himself, otherwise he cannot be reformed.
27. If it is said and thought that life itself is God, or
that God is life itself, and there is at the same time no
idea of what life is, there is in that case, no intelligence
of what God is, beyond those expressions. In the
thought of man there are two ideas, one abstract, which
is spiritual, and one not abstract, which is natural. The
abstract idea, which is spiritual, concerning the life
which is God is, that it is love itself, and that it is wis
dom itself, and that the love is from wisdom, and the
wisdom from love. But the idea not abstract, which is
natural, concerning the life which is God is, that His
love is as fire, and His wisdom as light, and that the
two together are as a bright radiance. This natural idea
is derived from correspondence, for fire corresponds to
love, and light corresponds to wisdom; and therefore in
the Word fire signifies love, and light signifies wisdom.
When again a sermon is preached from the Word, there
is also prayer offered up that heavenly fire may warm
the heart, in which case is meant the divine love; and
that heavenly light may enlighten the mind, in which

44 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
case is meant the divine wisdom. The divine love
which in the divine wisdom is life itself, which is God,
cannot be conceived of in its essence, for it is infinite,
and thus transcends human apprehension ; but it may
be conceived of in its appearance. The Lord appears
before the eyes of the angels as a sun, from which pro
ceed heat and light; the sun is the divine love, the heat
is the divine love proceeding, which is called the divine
good, and the light is the divine wisdom proceeding,
which is called the divine truth. But still we are not
permitted to have an idea of the life which is God, as of
fire, or heat, or light, unless there is in it at the same
time an idea of love and wisdom, thus that the divine
love is as fire, and that the divine wisdom is as light, and
that the divine love together with the divine wisdom is
as a bright radiance. For God is perfect Man, in face
and in body like Man, there being no difference as to
form, but as to essence. His essence is, that He is love
itself and wisdom itself, thus life itself.
28. We can have no idea of the life which is God,
unless we also obtain an idea of the degrees through
which life descends from its inmost principles to ita
ultimatea. There is an inmost degree of life, and there
is an ultimate degree of life, and there are intermediate
degrees of it. The distinction between them is like that
between things prior and posterior, for a posterior degree
exists from a prior, and so forth ; and the difference
between them is like that between things less and more
common, for what is of a prior degree, is less common,
and what is of a posterior degree, is more so. Such de
grees of life are in every man from creation, and they
are opened according to his reception of life from the
Lord ; in some men the degree next to the ultimate is

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 45
opened, in some the middle degree, and in some the
inmost. The men in whom the inmost degree is opened,
become after death angels of the inmost or third heaven ;
those in whom the middle degree is opened, become after
death angels of the middle or second heaven ; but those
in whom the degree next to the ultimate is opened, be
come after death angels of the ultimate heaven. These
degrees are called the degrees of the life of man, but
they are the degrees of his wisdom and love, because
they are opened according to his reception of wisdom
and love, thus of life from the Lord. Such degrees of
life are also in every organ, in each of the viscera and
members of the body, and they act in unity with the
degrees of life in the brains by means of influx; the
skins, the cartilages, and the bones, constituting their
ultimate degree. The reason that there are such degrees
in man is, that such are the degrees of the life which
¦proceeds from the Lord ; but in the Lord they are life,
whereas in man they are recipients of life. It should
however be known that in the Lord there are degrees
still higher, and that all of them both the highest and
the ultimate are life, for the Lord teaches that He is the
life, and likewise that He has flesh and bones. But con
cerning these degrees, and concerning continuous degrees,
see the work on Heaven and Hell, n. S3, 34, 38, 39, 208,
209, 211, 425, where they are more fully described; a
knowledge of them should be drawn from this source,
on account of its use in what follows.
29. Because God is life, it follows that he is uncreated ;
the reason that he is uncreated is, that life cannot be
created, although it can create. For to be created is to
exjst from another, and if life existed from another, there
would be another being that would be life, and this life

46 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
would be life in itself. And if this first being were not
life in itself, it would be either from another being or
from itself, and life from itself cannot be predicated,
because from itself involves origin, and this origin would
be from nothing, and from nothing nothing originates.
This first Being, who is underived being in Himself, and
the source from whom all things were created, is God,
who, from underived being in Himself, is called Jehovah.
Reason, especially if it is enlightened by means of created
objects, is able to see that the case is so. Now since
underived being is not underived being unless it is also
self-existent, hence esse and existere in God are one ; for
while He is underived being. He is self- existent, and while
He is self-existent, He is underived being. This there
fore — the union of the esse with the existere — is the life it
self, or the essential life, which is God, and which is Man.
30. That all things derive their being from the life it
self which is God, and which is Man, may be illustrated
from man who was created ; he being a man as to his
ultimate, his middle, and his inmost principles. For the
man, who in the world was merely corporeal as to his
life, thus, of dull perceptions, appears still in the spiritual
world, after the rejection of the material body, as a man.
The man, who in the world was merely sensual or natural
as to his life, thus who knew little about heaven, although
much about the world, still appears after death as a man.
The man who in the world was rational as to his life, thus
who though^t well from natural light, appears after death,
when he becomes a spirit, as a man. The man who in
the world was spiritual as to his life, appears after death,
when he becomes an angel, as a man, perfect according
to his reception of life from the Lord. The man, with
whom the third degree was opened, thus who in the

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 47
world was celestial as to his life, appears after death,
when he becomes an angel, as a man in all perfection.
The very life belonging to him is a man, both the sensual
and the natural, as well as the rational, the spiritual, and
the celestial, for so the degrees of life are called ; but the
man, in whom they exist, is only a recipient. And as it
is in the smallest types, so it is in the greatest. The
universal angelic heaven is in every complex a man ;
each heaven by itself, the first, the second, and third, is a
man ; every society in the heavens, greater or less, is a
man ; even the church in the world in general is a man ;
all congregations also which are called churches, are, by
themselves, men. By the church are meant all men with
whom the church is, in the complex : so the church in
the world appears to the angels of heaven, and the ground
of this appearance is, that the life which is from the Lord
is a man. Life from the Lord is love and wisdom ; hence
such as is the reception of love and wisdom from the
Lord, such is the man. These things first testify, that all
things were created from the life which is God, and which
is Man, 31. That all things are from the life itself, which is
God, and which is wisdom and love, may also be illus
trated by means of created objects, when they are viewed
from order. For it is from order that the angelic
heavens, consisting of thousands and thousands of
societies, act in unity, by means of love to the Lord and
towards the neighbor, and that they are kept in order by
means of divine truths, which are the laws of order. It
is again from order that the hells beneath them, which
are also distinguished into thousands and thousands of
congregations, are kept in order by means of judgments
and punishments ; so that although they are hatreds and

48 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
insanities, still they cannot occasion the least mischief to
the heavens. It is also from order, that there is between
the heavens and the hells the equilibrium, in which man
is in the world, and in which he is led, if by the Lord, to
heaven, if by himself, to hell ; for it is a law of order,
that man shall act, in all that he does, from freedom
according to reason. Since so many myriads of myriads
of men, from the creation of the world, have been pouring
in both to heaven and hell, and are perpetually pouring in
streams, each individual too being of a dissimilar genius
and love, it would have been utterly impossible for them
to be consociated together into one, unless God were one,
who is life itself, which life is wisdom itself and love
itself, and thence order itself. These observations have
been made respecting heaven. But in the natural world
the divine order is apparent from the sun, the moon, the
stars, and the planets. The sun, to appearance, causes
years, days, and hours, the seasons of the year also, which
are spring, summer, autumn, and winter ; the divisions
again of the day, which are morning, noon, evening, and
night. He animates all things of the earth, according to
the reception of his heat in conjunction with his light, and
of his bght in conjunction with his heat. According to
his reception he also opens, disposes, and prepares the
living bodies and the material substances, which are in
and upon the earth, to receive influx from the spiritual
world. Hence, in the time of spring, through the union
of heat and light, the fowls of heaven and the beasts of
the earth return to the love of propagating their species,
and to the knowledge of all things belonging to it. The
vegetables too return to their efforts and activities in
producing leaves, flowers, and fruits, and in them the
seeds for perpetuating their kind for ever and multiplying

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 49
it to infinity. It is from order again that the earth
produces vegetables, and that these supply the animals
with sustenance, while both the one and the other yield
for the use of man, food, clothing, and pleasure; and
since man is the creature in whom God dwells, they in
this way return to God, from whom all things thus
proceed. From these considerations it is evident, that
created things succeed each other in such order, that one
exists for the sake of another ; that they are perpetual
ends which are uses, and that ends which are uses are in
constant circulation, that they may return to God from
whom they derive their being. These things then testify
that all things were created from the life itself, which is
God, and which is wisdom itself; and they further testify
that the universe of creation is full of God.
32. Because God is uncreated. He is also eternal ; for
the life itself, which is God, is life in itself, not from
itself, or from nothing ; thus it is without origin ; and
that which is without origin, is from eternity, and is eter
nal. But an idea of anything without origin cannot exist
with the natural man, thus neither can the idea of God
from eternity ; but it exists with the spiritual man. The
thought of the natural man cannot be separated and with
drawn from the idea of time, for this idea is inherent in
it from nature, in which it is ; so neither can it be
separated and withdrawn from the idea of origin, because
origin is to it a beginning in time ; the appearance of the
sun's progress has impressed on the natural man this idea.
But the thought of the spiritual man, because it is elevated
above nature, is withdrawn from the idea of time, and
instead of this idea there is the idea of a state of life, and
instead of duration of time, there is a state of thought
derived from affection which constitutes life. For the
3

50 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
sun in the angelic heaven neither rises nor sets, nor does
it cause years and days, like the sun in the world ; hence
it is that the angels of heaven, because they are in spiri
tual ideas, think abstractedly from time. Wherefore
their idea of God from eternity does not derive anything
from origin, or from beginning, but from the state of his
being eternal, thus that everything which is God, and
which proceeds from God, is eternal, that is, divine in
itself. That this is the case I have been permitted to
perceive by an elevation above the natural idea into the
spiritual. From these considerations it is now evident,
that God. who is uncreated, is also eternal ; that it is also
impossible to think that nature is from eternity, or in
time from itself) but that it is possible to think that God
is from eternity, and that nature together with time is
from God.
33. Since God is eternal. He is also infinite; but as
there is a natural idea as well as a spiritual idea of what
is eternal, so is there likewise of what is infinite. The
natural idea of what is eternal is taken from time, but
the spiritual idea of it is not so ; the natural idea also of
what is infinite is taken from space, but the spiritual idea
of it is not so. For as life is not nature, so the two
properties of nature, which are times and spaces, are not
properties of life, for they were created with nature from
the life which is God. The natural idea of the infinite
God, which is from space, is that He fills the universe
from end to end ; but from this idea concerning the
infinite the thought arises, that the inmost principle of
nature is God, and thus that it is extended, whereas
everything extended belongs to matter. Thus because
the natural idea does not at all agree with the idea of
life, consisting of wisdom and love, which is God, there-

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 51
fore the infinite must be viewed from the spiritual idea,
in which, as there is nothing of time, so there is nothing
of space, because there is nothing of nature. It is from
a spiritual idea, that the divine love is infinite, and that
the divine wisdom is infinite ; and since the divine love
and the divine wisdom are the life which is God, there
fore the divine life is also infinite ; and hence God is
infinite. That the divine wisdom is infinite may be
evident from the wisdom of the angels of the third
heaven ; for since they excel the others in wisdom, they
perceive that there is no ratio given between their wisdom
and the divine wisdom of the Lord, because there is no
ratio given between infinite and finite. They say also
that the first degree of wisdom is to see and acknowledge
that this is the case ; it is similar with the divine love.
Moreover the angels are, like men, forms recipient of
life, thus recipient of wisdom and love from the Lord,
and these forms are from substances which are without
life, thus in themselves dead; and between what is dead
and what is alive there is no ratio given. But how what
is finite receives what is infinite may be illustrated from
the light and heat of the sun of the world ; the light and
the heat from the sun are not themselves material, but
still they affect material substances, the light by modify
ing them, and the heat by changing their states. The
divine wisdom of the Lord is light, and the divine love
of the Lord is also heat, but the heat and light are
spiritual, because they proceed from the Lord as a sun,
which is divine love, and at the same time divine wisdom.
But the light and heat from the sun of the world are
natural, because that sun is fire and not love.
34. Because God is infinite. He is also omnipotent;
for omnipotence is infinite power. The omnipotence of

52 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
God shines forth from the universe, which is the visible
heaven and the habitable globe, and these, together with
all things in heaven and on the earth, are the great works
of the Omnipotent Creator. Their creation and preser
vation testify that they proceed from divine omnipotence,
whilst their order and mutual respect to ends, from first
to last, testify that they proceed from divine wisdom.
The omnipotence of God shines forth also from the
heaven which is above qr within our visible heaven, and
from the globe there, which is inhabited by angels, as
ours is by men. There are there stupendous testimonies
to the divine omnipotence, which, because they have
been seen by me and revealed to me, I am permitted to
mention. There are there all the men who have died
since the first creation of the world, and who after death
also are men as to form, but spirits as to essence. Spirits
are affections originating in love, and thus also thoughts ;
the spirits of heaven are affections of the love of good,
and the spirits of hell affections of the love of evil. The
good affections, which are angels, dwell upon a globe
which is called heaven, and the evil affections, which are
spirits of hell, dwell at a great depth beneath them. The
globe is one, but divided as it were into expanses, one
below the other. There are six expanses ; in the highest
dwell the angels of the third heaven, beneath them the
angels of the second, and beneath these the angels of the
first. Below these again dwell the spirits of the first
hell, beneath them the spirits of the second, and beneath
these the spirits of the third. All things are arranged in
such regular order, that the evil affections, which are
spirits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections,
which are angela of heaven ; the spirits of the lowest
hell by the angels of the highest heaven, the spirits of

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 53
the middle hell by the angels of the middle heaven, and
the spirits of the first hell by the angels of the first
heaven. From such opposition the affections are kept
in equilibrium, as in the scales of a balance. Such
heavens and hells are innumerable; they are divided
into assemblies and societies, according to the genera and
species of all the affections there, and the affections of
one are arranged in order and connexion, according to
the nearer or more remote affinities to those of another.
The case is the same in the hells as in the heavens. This
order and connexion of the affections are known to the
Lord alone, and the arranging of the various affections —
as numerous as the men who have been in existence from
the first creation, and will be hereafter — is the work of
infinite wisdom, and at the same time of infinite power.
That the divine power is infinite, or that it is omnipo
tence, is clearly evident from this circumstance in the
other world, that neither the angels of heaven nor the
devils of hell have any power whatever from themselves ;
if they had the least portion, heaven would fall to pieces,
hell would become a chaos, and with them every man
would perish.
35. The reason that all power belongs to God, and
none whatever to man or angel is, that God alone is life,
men and angels being only recipients of life, and that it
is the life which acts, the recipient of life being acted upon.
Every one may see that a recipient of life cannot act at
all from itself, but that its action is from the life which is
God ; nevertheless, it can act as if from itself; for this
power can be given to it ; that it also has been given,
was said above. If man does not live from himself it
follows that he does not think and will from himself, nor
speak and act from himself, but from God, who alone is

54 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
\
life. That this is the case appears as a paradox, because
man has no other sensation than that these powers are in
himself, and thus are used by himself; but still he
acknowledges, when he speaks from a principle of faith,
that everything good and true is from God, and every
thing evil and false from the devil ; and yet, whatever a
man thinks, wills, speaks, and does, has reference either
to what is good and true, or to what is evil and false.
Hence it is, that a man says to himself, or the priest of
the church saj's with reference to him, when he does
good, that he is led of God, and when he does evil, that
he is led of the devil. The preacher also prays that his
thought, his discourse, and his tongue, may be led by
the spirit of God, sometimes also he affirms after preach
ing, that he spoke from the spirit. Other men also have
within them the same perception. I can also myself
testify before the world, that all things connected with
my thought and will have entered by influx, goods and
truths through heaven from the Lord, and evils and
falses from hell ; for I have for a long time been per
mitted to perceive it. The angels of the superior heavens
distinctly perceive the influx, the wisest of them not
being willing to think and will even as if from them
selves. But, on the other hand, infernal genii and spirits
altogether deny it, and are angry when it is spoken of.
It has nevertheless been pointed out to numbers of them,
to a living demonstration, that the case is so ; they were
however only indignant afterwards. Because, however,
this subject appears as a paradox to many, it is of im
portance that it should be seen, from some idea of the
understanding, how the influx is effected, in order that its
existence maj'^ be acknowledged. The nature of the case
is as follows : from the divine love of the Lord, which

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 55
appears in the angelic heaven as a sun, proceed light and
heat; the light is the life of His divine wisdom, and the
heat is the life of His divine love. This spiritual heat
which is love, and this spiritual light which is wisdom,
enter by influx into subjects which are recipient of life,
just as natural heat and light from the sun of the world
enter by influx into subjects which are not recipient of
life. And because light only modifies the substances into
which it so enters, and heat only changes their state, it
follows, that if these subjects were animated, they would
feel the changes in themselves, and suppose that they
were from themselves, when nevertheless they both retire
and return with the sun. Now, since the life of the
divine wisdom of the Lord is light, therefore the Lord in
many passages of the Word is called light, and it is said
in John : " The Word was with God, and God was the
Word ; in Him was life, and the life was the light of
men." (i. 1, 2, 3.) From these considerations it is now
evident, that God has infinite power, because He is the
all with all men {omnis apud omnes). Bilt how an evil
man can think, will, speak, and do evil, when God alone
is life, will be shown in what follows.
36, Since such is the divine omnipotence, that man
cannot of himself think and will, and thence speak and
act, but from the life which is God, the question arises
why every man is not saved. But he who concludes
from this that every one is saved, or if not, that he is not
in fault, is ignorant of the laws of divine order respecting
man's reformation, regeneration, and consequent salva
tion. The laws of this order are called the laws of the
divine providence, and of these the natural mind can have
no knowledge, unless it is enlightened. And because
man has no knowledge of them, and thus forms his con-

56 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
elusions concerning the divine providence from contin
gencies in the world, and by these means falls into
fallacies and thence into errors, from which he afterwards
with difficulty extricates himself, they must therefore be
brought to light. But before they are brcftight to light,
it is of importance that it should be known, that the
divine providence operates in all the several things which
belong to man, even in the most minute of them all, for
his eternal salvation ; his salvation having been the end
of the creation both of heaven and earth. For the end
was, that out of the human race might be formed heaven,
in which God might dwell, as in his own special abode,
and therefore the salvation of man is the all in all of the
Divine Providence. But the Divine Providence proceeds
so secretly, that man scarcely sees a vestige of it, and yet
it is active in the most minute particulars relating to him,
from infancy to old age in the world, and afterwards to
eternity ; and in every one of them it is eternity which it
regards. Because the divine wisdom in itself is nothing
but an end, providence therefore acts from an end, in an
end, and with reference to an end ; the end being that
man may become wisdom and love, and thus the dweU-
ing-place and the image of the divine life. But because
the natural mind, unless it is enlightened, does not com
prehend why the Divine Providence, when it is the only
agent in the work of salvation, and in the most minute
particulars relating to the progress of man's life, does not
lead all men to heaven — though from love it is willing so
to lead them, and is omnipotence — therefore, in what
now follows, the laws of order, which are the laws of the
Di"vine Providence, shall be opened, and by their means
I hope the mind previously unenlightened will be with
drawn from its fallacies, if it is wiUing to be so.

TflE ATflANASlAN CREED. 67
37. The laws of order, which are called the laws of the
Divine Providence, are the following :
I. That man should have no other feeling or percep
tion, or knowledge derived from his senses, than that he
is endowed with life in such a way that he thinks and
wills, and thence speaks and acts, from himself; but
should nevertheless acknowledge and believe that the
truths which he thinks and speaks, and the goods which
he wills and does, are from the Lord, and are thus as if
from himself
II. That man should act, in whatever he does, from
freedom according to reason, but should still acknowledge
and believe that he derives the freedom itself from the
Lord ; in like manner his reason regarded in itself, which
is called rationality.
III. That to think and speak truth, and to will and do
good from freedom according to reason, are not from man
himself, but from the Lord ; and that to think and speak
falsity, and to will and do evil from freedom, are not from
man himself, but from hell ; in such a way, however,
that the falsity and the evil are from that source, but the'
freedom regarded in itself, and the faculty of thinking, of ¦
willing, of speaking, and of acting, regarded in itself, are
from the Lord.
rV". That the understanding and the will of man should
not be in the least degree compelled by another, since all
compulsion by another takes away freedom; but that
man should compel himself, for to compel himself is to
act from freedom.
V. That man should not know, from any sense or per
ception within himself, how good and truth enter by in
flux from the Lord, or how evil and falsity enter by influx
from hell ; nor see how the Divine Providence operates
3*

58 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
in favor of good against evil ; for in this case he would
not act from freedom according to reason, as if from him
self; it is sufficient that he knows and acknowledges
these things from the Word and from the doctrine of the
church. VI. That man should not be reformed by external
means, but by internal. By external means are meant
miracles and visions, fears and punishments; by internal
means, truths and goods derived from the Word and
from the doctrine of the church, and also looking to the
Lord ; for these means enter by an internal way, and re
move the evils and falsities which reside within ; but
external means enter by an external way, and do not
remove the evils and falsities, but shut them in. Man is
however further reformed by external means, when he
has been first reformed by internal ; but a man who is
not reformed is only withheld by external means, which
are fears and punishments, from speaking and doing the
evils and falsities which he thinks and wills.
VII. That man is admitted into the truths of faith and
the goods of love which are derived from the Lord, only
so far as he can be kept in them to the end of his life ; for
it is better that he should be constantly evil, than that
he should be good and afterwards evil, since he thus
becomes profane. The permission of evil is principally
from this ground.
VIII. That the Lord is continually withdrawing man
from evils, so far as man from freedom is willing to be
withdrawn. That so far as man can be withdrawn from
evils, he is so far led by the Lord to good, and thus to
heaven ; but so far as he cannot be withdrawn from them,
he cannot so far be led by the Lord to good, and thus to
heaven ; for so far as he is withdrawn from evils, he so

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 59
far does good from the Lord, which in itself is good ; but
so far as he is not withdrawn from them, he so far does
good from himself, which has in it evil.
IX. That the Lord does not, without the use of means,
teach man truths, either from Himself or through the
angels, but that He teaches by means derived from |he
Word, from preaching and reading, from conversation
and intercourse with others, and thus from private reflec
tions arising out of them ; and that man is then enlightened
according to his affection for truth grounded in use;
otherwise he would not act as if from himself
X. That man from his own prudence has led himself
to eminence and opulence, when they lead astray ; for he
is led of the Divine Providence to such things as do not
lead astray, but are serviceable with regard to eternal life :
fbr all the dealings of the Divine Providence in relation
to him regard what is eternal, because the life which is
God and from which man is man, is eternal.
38. From the above it is evident that the Lord can
lead man to heaven only by these laws, although He has
divine love from which He wills, and divine wisdom
from which He knows, all things, and divine power,
which is omnipotence, from which He can effect what He
wills. For these laws are the laws of order respecting
reformation and regeneration, thus respecting the salva
tion of man; and against them the Lord cannot act,
because to act against them would be to act against His
own wisdom and love, thus against Himself The first
law, that man from sense and perception shall have no
other knowledge than that he is endowed with life, but
shall still acknowledge that the goods and truths originat
ing in love and faith, which he thinks, wills, speaks, and
does, are not from himself but from the Lord, presupposes

60 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
the second, that man has freedom, and that it is alao to
appear as his own ; that he is however to acknowledge
that it is not so, but that it belongs to the Lord in con
nexion with him. This law follows from the former,
because freedom makes one with life ; for without free
dom man could not feel or perceive that he has life as it
were inherent in himself, this being felt and perceived
from freedom. For from freedom it appears to man, that
every action of his life as it were belongs to him, and is
his own ; freedom being the power of thinking, of willing,
of speaking, and of doing, from himself, but in this case,
it is as if from himself. And chiefly it is the power of
willing; for a man says: "I have power for what I
have will, and I have will for what I have power ; "
that is, "I am in freedom." Who again cannot think
from freedom that one thing is good and another evil ;
or, that one thing is true and another false ? freedom
therefore was given to man together with his life, nor is
it in any case taken from him. For so far as it is taken
away or diminished, man so far feels and perceives that
he does not really live, but that another lives in him ;
and so .far the delight of all things belonging to his life
is taken away or diminished, for he becomes a slave.
That man has no other knowledge from aense and per
ception, than that he is endowed with life, and that it is
thus as it were his own, has no need -of any further con
firmation than experience itself. For who has any other
feeling or perception than that when he thinks, he thinks
from himselJ^ that when he wills, he wills from himself,
and that when he speaks and acts, he speaks and acts
from himself? But it is from a law of the Divine Provi
dence, that man is to have no other knowledge; since
without this sense and peroeptiion, he could not receive

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 61
or appropriate anything to himself, or produce anything
from himself, thus he would not be a recipient of life, or
an agent of life, from the Lord ; he would be like an
automaton, or an image standing without understanding
or will, his hands hanging down, in expectation of an
influx, which would not be given. For life, in conse
quence of non-reception and non-appropriation aa it were,
on the part of man, would not be retained, but would be
transfluent ; whence man, from being alive, would become
as it were dead, and from being a rational soul, he would
become irrational, thus either a brute or a stock. For he
would be without the delight of life, the delight which
every one has from reception, appropriation, and produc
tion, as if from himself; and yet the delight and the life
act in unity, for take away all the delight of life, and you
will become cold and die. If it were not from a law of
the Divine Providence, that man should feel and per
ceive as if life and everything belonging to it were inhe
rent in him, and he were merely to acknowledge that
good and truth are not derived from himself, but from
the Lord, nothing would then be imputed to him, neither
good nor truth, thus neither love nor faith. And if
nothing were imputed to him, the Lord would not
have commanded in the Word, that he should do good
and shun evil, and that if he did good, heaven would be
his inheritance, but if evil, hell would be his portion ;
there would not even be either a heaven or a hell, because
without that perception, man would not be 'man, and thus
would not be the habitation of the Lord. For the Lord
desires to be loved by man as if it were by man's own
power ; thus the Lord dwells with him in that which is
His own, that which He gave him for the sake of this
end, that He may be reciprocally loved. For the divine

62 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
love consists in this, that it desires that what belongs to
itself should belong to man, which would not be the
case, unless man felt and perceived that what is from the
Lord is as if his own. If it were not from a divine law,
that man from sense and perception should have no other
knowledge than that life is inherent in him, there would
exist in him no end for the sake of which to act. This
end is given with him, because the end from which he
acts appears as if it were inherent in him ; the end from
which he acts is his love, which is his life ; and the end
for the sake of which he acts is the delight of his love or
of his life, and the effect in which the end presents itself
is use. The end for the sake of which he acts, which is
the delight of his love or of his life, is felt and perceived
in him, because the end from which he acts gives him
tbe feeling and perception of it, which end is, as was said,
his love, which is his life. But when a man acknow
ledges that all things belonging to his life proceed from
the Lord, the Lord imparts delight and blessedness to hia
love, so far as he makes this acknowledgment, and per
forms uses. Thus whilst man, by acknowledgment and
faith grounded in love as if from himself, ascribes to the
Lord all things belonging to his life, the Lord, on the
other hand, ascribes to man the good of his life, which is
associated with every happiness and blessing. The Lord
also permits him, from an interior principle, to have
within him an exquisite feeling and perception of this
good as his own, and the more exquisite in proportion as
he wills from the heart that which he acknowledges in
belief. The perception in this case is reciprocal ; for it
is agreeable to the Lord from the consideration that He
ia in man, and man in him ; and it is pregnant with
blessing to man from the consideration that he is in the

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 63
Lord, and the Lord in him. Such is the union of the
Lord with man, and of man with the Lord, by means of
love. 39. The reason that man feels and perceives as if life
were inherent in him is, that the life of the Lord in him
is as the light and heat of the sun in a subject. This
light and heat do not belong to the subject, but to the
sun in it, for they retire with the sun ; and _when they
are in the subject, they belong in appearance entirely to
it, for from the light the color of the subject is as if
inherent in it, and from the heat its life of vegetation is
so also. But this is much more the case with the light
and heat from the sun of the spiritual world, which is the
Lord, whose light and heat are the light and heat of
life ; for the sun from which they proceed is the divine
love of the Lord, and man is the recipient subject. This
light and heat in no case recede from the recipient, and
when they are present with him, they are to all appear
ance wholly his own ; from the light he has the faculty
of understanding, and from the heat the faculty of will
ing. From the circumstances that the light and heat,
although they are not his own, are as if wholly inthe
recipient, that they in no case recede from him, and that
they affect his inmost principles, which are remote from
the sight of his understanding and the perception of his
will, it necessarily appears that they are implanted in
him, that in this way they are as if inherent in him, and
thus that their produce is from him. Hence then it is,
that man has no other knowledge than that he thinks and
wills from himself, though he does not do so in the small
est degree ; for thought and will cannot be so united to
the recipient as to be his own, precisely as the light and
heat of the sun cannot be united to a subject of the earth,

64 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
and become, like it, material. But the light and heat of
life affect and fill the recipient, precisely according to the
quality of. the acknowledgment that they are not his
own, but the Lord's, and the quality of the acknowledg
ment is precisely according to the quality of the lo.ve in
acting according to the commandments, which are uses.
40. The third law of the Divine Providence is. That to
think and speak truth, and to will and do good, from
freedom according to reason, a/re notfrorh man hut from
the Lord ; and that to think and speak falsity, and to
will and do evil from freedom, a/re not from man but
from hell ; in such a manner however that the evil and
the falsity are from that source, hut the freedom re
garded in itself, and the faculty of thinking, of willing,
of speaking, and of acting, rega/rded in itself, are from
the Lord. That all good that in itself is good, and all
truth that in itself is truth, are not from man, but from
the Lord, may be comprehended by the understanding
from this consideration, that the light which proceeds
from the Lord as a sun, is the divine truth of His divine
wisdom, and that the heat which also proceeds from the
Lord as a sun, is the divine good of His divine love ; and
since man is the recipient of these, it follows, that all
good which originates in love, and all truth which origi
nates in wisdom, are not from man but from the Lord.
But that all evil and all falsity are not from man, but
from hell, is a proposition which, not having before been
generally recognized, has not been made an article of
faith, like the proposition that good and truth are not
from man. But that it is an appearance that evil and
falsity are from man, and that, if it is believed, it is a fal
lacy, cannot be comprehended, until the nature of hell is
known, and how it can enter by influx with evil and

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 65
falsity on the one hand, as the Lord enters by influx
with good and truth on the other. We shall therefore
first show of whom hell consists, and what is its nature
and origin ; in what manner also it enters by influx and
-acts against good, and thus in what manner man, who is
intermediate between heaven and hell, is acted upon on
either side as a mere recipient.
41. First, then, it shall be shown of whom hell con
sists. Hell consists of spirits, who, when they were men
in the world, denied a God, acknowledged nature, lived
contrary to divine order, and loved evils and falsities,
although, for the sake of appearance, such was not their
conduct before the world. Hence they were either
insane with regard to truths, or they despised and denied
them, if not with the lips, still at heart : — of spirits who
have been of this description since the creation of the
world, hell consists. All such are there called either
devils or satans ; devils, if the love of self predominated
with them ; satans, if the love of the world. The hell
inhabited by the devils is in the Word meant by the
term Devil, and the hell inhabited by the satans is there
meant by the term Satan. The Lord also so conjoins
the devils, that they are as it were one ; in like manner
also the satans ; hence it is, that the hells are called in
the singular the Devil and Satan. Hell does not consist
of spirits created such at once, nor does heaven consist
of angels so created ; the former consists of men born in
the world, who were made devils or satans by them
selves, and the latter in like manner consists of men
born in the world, who were there made angels by "the
Lord. All men, as to the interiors which belong to their
minds, are spirits, clothed in the world with a material
body, which is, in each case, subject to the control of the

66 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
spirit's thought, and to the decision of its affection ; foi
the mind, which is spirit, acts, and the body, which is
matter, is acted upon. Every spirit also, after the rejec
tion of the material body, is a man, in form similar to
that which he had when he was a man in the world. *It
is hence evident of whom hell consists.
42. The hell in which those are who are devils, is the
love of self; and the hell in which those are who are
called satans, is the love of the world. The reason that
the diabolical hell is the love of self is, that this love is
opposed to heavenly love, which is love to the Lord ;
and the reason that the satanical hell is the love of the
world is, that this love is opposed to spiritual love,
which is love towards the neighbor. Now the two
loves of hell are opposed to the two loves of heaven,
therefore- hell and heaven are in opposition to each other ;
for all who are in the heavens have regard to the Lord
and their neighbor, but all who are in the hells have
regard to themselves and the world, and hence bear
hatred to the Lord and their neighbor. All who are in
the heavens think what is true and will what is good,
because they think and will from the Lord ; but all who
are in the hells think what is false and will what is evil,
because they think and will from themselves. From this
cause it is, that all who are in the hells appear averted,
their face being turned away from the Lord ; and also
inverted, their feet being upwards and their head down
wards ; this appearance is from their loves being op
posed to the love of heaven. Because hell is self-love, it
is also fire ; for all love corresponds to fire, and in the
spiritual world it is so presented as to seem like fire at a
distance, though still it is not fire but love. Hence it is
that the hells within appear as if they were on fire, and

TflE ATHANASIAN CREED. 67
without, like ejections of fire in the midst of smoke rising
from furnaces or conflagrations ; sometimes the devils
also themselves appear like fires of coals. The heat
which they have from that fire is like an effervescence
from impurities, which is concupiscence, and the light
from it is merely an appearance derived from their
phantasies and confirmations of evil by means of falsities ;
for whenever the heat of heaven enters by influx, it be
comes to them cold ; and when the light of heaven so
enters, it becomes to them a thick mist. They see how
ever from their own light, and live from their own heat ;
but their sight is like that of owls, birds of night, or
bats, whose eyes are dim to the light of heaven. The
living principle belonging to them consists merely in
their ability to think and to will, to speak and to act,
and hence to see and to hear, to taste, to smell, and to
feel. It is merely a faculty derived from the life, which
is God, acting upon them from without, according to
order, and continually impelling them to order. It is
from this faculty that they live for ever. The dead
principle belonging to them is the offspring of the evils
and falsities derived from their loves; hence it is that
their life, viewed from their loves, is not life but death ;
and therefore hell is in the Word called death, and its
inhabitants are called dead.
43. It has been said that self-love and the love of the
world constitute hell ; the origin of these affections shall
now be explained. Man was created to love himself and
the world, his neighbor and heaven, and also the Lord.
Hence it is that when he is born, he first loves himself
and the world, then his neighbor and heaven, and after
wards, in proportion as he grows in wisdom, the Lord ;
when this is the case, he is in reality led by the Lord,

68 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
though he is apparently guided by himself In propor
tion, however, as he is unwise, he stops short in the first
degree, which is that of loving himself and the world ;
and if he loves his neighbor, it is for the sake of himself
in the eyes of the world. But if he is altogether void of
wisdom, he then loves himself alone, or the world and
his neighbor for the sake of himself; and with respect to
heaven and the Lord, he thinks slightingly of them, or
denies them, or even hates them in his heart, if he does
not do so openly in words. These are the sources of self-
love and the love of the world, and because these loves
are hell, the origin of hell is evident. When man has
become a hell, he is then like a tree severed from the
soil, or a tree whose fruits are hurtful. He resembles,
too, a sandy soil, in which not a seed will strike root, — a
soil from which nothing springs but the prickly thorn or
the pungent nettle. The interior or higher principles
of his mind are closed, but the exterior and lower are
open ; and because self-love directs everything of thought
and will to itself, immersing them in the body, it there
fore inverts and forces back the exteriors of his mind,
which, as was observed, are open, and the consequence
is that th^y have an inclination and tendency down
wards, and are borne away to hell. But because he
retains notwithstanding the faculty of thinking, of will
ing, of speaking, and of acting — a faculty which is in no
case taken from him, because he is born a man — and is,
at the same time, in this inverted state, receiving no
longer any good or truth whatever from heaven, but
rather what is evil and false from hell, he therefore pro
cures for himself a kind of light, by confirmations of evil
based in falsity, and of falsity based in evil, in order that
he may still be eminent above others. He imagines that

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 69
this is a rational light, though it is from hell, and in
reality full of foolish delusion, producing a vision like
that of a dream in the night, or a craziness of imagina
tion, from which things that are appear as if they were
not, and things that are not, as if they were. This will
be seen more clearly from the comparison between a
man -angel and a man-devil.
44. There are in the world men-angels, and there are
men-devils ; heaven consists of the former, and hell of
the latter. With a man-angel all the degrees of his life,
extending to the Lord, are open ; but with a man-devil
the ultimate degree only is open, and the superior degrees
are closed. A man-angel is led by the Lord, according
to order, inwardly from order, and outwardly to it ; but
a man-devil is led by the Lord outwardly to order, but
by himself inwardly against it. A man-angel, again, is
continually withdrawn from evil by the Lord, and led to
good ; a man-devil also is withdrawn by the Lord from
evil, but it is from evil more grievous to that which
is less so, for he cannot be led to good. A man-angel is
continually withdrawn from hell by the Lord, and led
more inwardly into heaven. A man-devil is also con
tinually withdrawn from hell, but it is from a more
grievous to a milder hell ; for he cannot be led into hea
ven. A man-angel, because he is led by the Lord, is led
by civil, moral, and spiritual laws, for the sake of the
Divine principle which is in them ; a man-devil is led by
the same laws, but it is for the sake of something belong
ing to self in them, A man -angel loves from the Lord
the goods and truths of the Church, which are also the
goods and truths of heaven, because they are goods and
truths ; but he loves from himself the goods which relate
to the body and the world, and the truths which belong

70 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED,
to the various kinds of knowledge, because they are for
use and gratification. He loves both the one and the
other apparently from himself, but in reality from the
Lord. A man-devil loves also from himself the goods
which relate to the body and the world, and the truths
which belong to the various kinds of knowledge, because
they are for use and gratification ; but he loves both the
one and the other apparently from himself, but in reality
from hell, A man-angel is in freedom and in the delight
of his heart, when he is doing good from a principle of
good, and when he is not doing evil ; but a man-devil is in
freedom and in the delight of his heart when he is doing
apparent good from a principle of evil, and when he is
doing evil. A man-angel and a man-devil resemble each
other as to externals, but they are altogether unlike as to
internals, and therefore when externals are laid aside by
death, the difference is apparent ; the one is carried away
into heaven, the other is conveyed down into hell.
45. That man is only a recipient of good and truth
from the Lord, and of evil and falsity from hell, is a
proposition that may be illustrated by comparisons,
confirmed by the laws of order and influx, and, lastly,
established by experience. It is illustrated by the follow
ing comparisons : The sensories of the body are only
recipient and percipient as if from themselves ; the
sensory of sight, which is the eye, sees objects out of
itself, as if it were in close contact with them, though it
is the rays of light that convey, with the wings of ether,
the forms and colors of them into the eye ; these forms,
being perceived by the internal sight, which is called the
understanding, and examined in the eye, are thus distin
guished and known according to their quality. The
sensory of hearing in like manner perceives sounds —

V THE ATHANASIAN CREED, 71
whether they are words or tones of music — from the
place whence they proceed, as if it were there, though the
sounds enter in from without, and are perceived in the
ear by the understanding within. The sensory of smell,
again, perceives from within what enters in from without,
sometimes at a great distance. The sensory of taste also
is excited by means of the food, which moves upon the
tongue from without. The sensory of touch has no sen
sation unless it is touched. These five sensories of the
body, by virtue of an influx from within, are sensible of
the impressions which enter by influx from without;
the influx from within is from the spiritual world, but
the influx from without is from the natural. With these
facts the laws inscribed on the nature of all things are
in concert, and these laws are : 1. That nothing exists,
subsists, is acted upon or moved, by itself, but by some
other being or agent ; whence it follows that everything
exists, subsists, is acted upon and moved by the First
Being, who has no origin from another, but is in Himself
the living force which is life. 2. That nothing can be
acted upon or moved, unless it is intermediate between
two forces, of which the one acts and the other re-acts ;
thus, unless one acts on one part, and one on the other ;
and further, unless one acts from within, and the other
from without. 3. And since these two forces, whilst
they are at rest, produce an equilibrium, it follows, that
nothing can be acted upon or moved, unless it is in
equilibrium, and that when it is acted upon, it is out of
the equilibrium ; and further, that everything acted upon
or moved seeks to return to an equilibrium. 4. That all
activities are changes of state, and variations of form,
and that the latter are derived from the former. By state
in man we mean his love ; and by changes of state the

72 THE ATHANASIAN CREED
affections of love ; by form in him we mean his intelli
gence, and by variations of form, his thoughts ; the latter
also are from the former.
46. But on this subject we must also speak from
experience. The angels of the higher heavens feel and
perceive clearly that they have goods and truths from
the Lord, and that they have nothing whatever of the
one or the other from themselves. When they are let
back into the state of their proprium, which is occasion
ally done, they also feel and perceive clearly that they
derive from hell the evil and falsity which belong to
their proprium. Some angels of the lowest heaven, not
comprehending that evil and falsity are from hell,
because they had acknowledged in the world that they
were in evils from their birth and from actual life, were
conducted from one infernal society to another, in each
of which, as long as they continued in it, they thought
precisely like the devils there, and differently in each,
thinking at the time in opposition to goods and truths.
They were told to think from themselves, thus in a differ
ent way, but they replied, that they were quite unable
to do so ; from this they began to comprehend that evils
and falsities enter by influx from hell. The case is simi
lar with many who believe and insist that life in them is
their-own. It sometimes also happens that the angels
are separated from the societies with which they are
connected, they are then unable to think or to will, or to
speak or to act, lying as helpless as new-born infants.
But as soon as they are restored to their own societies,
they revive ; for every one, whether man, spirit, or
angel, is, as to his affections and the thoughts originating
in them, connected with societies, and acts in unison with
them. Hence it is that all are known, as to their quality.

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 73
from the societies to which they belong. From this it ia
evident that the quality of their life enters into them by
influx from without. With regard to myself, I can
testify that for fifteen years I have clearly perceived that
I had no thought or will of myself, and that all evil and
falsity entered by influx from the societies of hell, but all
good and truth from the Lord. Some spirits accordingly
observing this, said that I was not alive ; I was permitted
to reply that I was more alive than they were, because I
was sensible of the influx of good and truth from the
Lord, and saw and perceived the enlightenment. I can
also further affirm, that from the Lord I perceive the
evils and falsities that are derived from hell, not only
that they originate there, but also from what spirits they
proceed. I was again permitted to speak with these
spirits, to rebuke them, and to reject them with their
evils and falsities, and was thus liberated from them, I
have been further permitted to say that now I know that
I live, and that before I had not this knowledge. From
these circumstances I was fully convinced that all evil
and falsity are from hell, and all good and truth, together
with the perception of them, from the Lord ; and, more
over, that I have freedom and thence perception as if
from myself That all evil and falsity are from hell, I
have also been permitted to see with my own eyes.
There appear above the hells as it were fires and clouds
of smoke ; the fires are evils and the clouds of smoke
falsities ; they continually exhale and ascend from that
direction, and the spirits who dwell in the intermediate
space between heaven and hell are affected by them accord
ing to their love. It shall also in a few words be describ
ed how evil and falsities have the power to issue out of
hell, though there is in existence but one acting force, and
4

74 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
that is the life which is God ; for this has also been dis
closed to me. There was uttered with a loud voice from
heaven, a truth from the Word, which flowed down to
hell, passing through it to the lowest hell. It was further
heard that this truth was in its descent successively and
gradually turned into falsity, and at length into a falsity
of such a nature, that it was altogether opposite to the
truth, and it was then in the lowest hell. The reason
that it was turned in this way was that everything is
received according to the state and form of the recipient;
hence it was that this truth entering byinflux into inverted
forms, such as exist in hell, became successivelv inverted
and changed into a falsity the opposite of truth. From
this also the quality of hell was evident, from the highest
hell to the lowest ; and further, that there is but one acting
force, and that is the life which is the Lord.
47. That man is nevertheless a subject of guilt, follows
as a consequence from what was said above, and also
from what was before established concerning the life
which is God, and which exists in man from God, and
further from the laws above cited, which are truths. The
reason that evil is imputed to man is, that power has
been given him, and is continually given him, to feel
and perceive as if there were life in himself; and because
he is in this state, he is also in freedom, and has the
faculty of acting as if from himself. This freedom and
faculty, regarded in themselves, are not taken from him,
because he is born a man, who is to live for ever. It is
from these that he has power, as if from himself, to
receive both good and evil. And because he is kept in
an intermediate state between heaven and hell, the Lord
also gives him power to know that all good is from Him,
and all evil from the devil ; and further, by means of the

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 75
truths in the church, to discern what good and evil are.
When he knows them, and is enabled by the Lord to think
and will them, as well as to speak and do them, as if from
himself, and this continually by means of influx, in this
case, if he is not a recipient, he becomes a subject of guilt.
But the fallacy which deceives him arises chiefly from.
this cause, that he does not know that his freedom and
the faculty of acting as if from himself, are derived from
an influx of life from the Lord into his inmost principle,
and that this influx, because he is born a man and en
dowed with this principle, "is not taken from him, but
entering into recipient form beneath his inmost principle
— the forms and principle in which his understanding
and will reside — is varied according to the reception of
good and truth, and even diminished and taken away
according to the reception of evil and falsity. In a word,
the life which causes man to be man, and to be distin
guished from the brutes ; the life which is in his inmost
principle, and therefore acts universally in his inferior
principles ; the life from which he has freedom and the
faculty of thinking and willing, of speaking and acting,
is perpetually derived from the Lord's presence with
man; but man's understanding and will arising from
that life are changed and varied according to reception.
Man lives in an intermediate state between heaven and
hell ; the delight arising from the love of evil and of the
falsity grounded in it enters into him by influx from hell,
whilst the delight arising from the love of good and of
the truth grounded in it, enters into him by influx from
the Lord. He is, moreover, constantly kept in the sen
sation and perception of life aa if it were from himself,
and by that means he is also constantly kept in the free
dom of choosing the one or the other, as well as in the

76 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
faculty of receiving the one or the other. So far there
fore as he chooses and receives evil and falsity, so far is
he taken from that intermediate state down to hell ; and,
on the other hand, so far as he chooses and receives good
and truth, so far is he removed from it to heaven. The
state of man from creation is, that he may know that evil
is from hell, and good from the Lord, and that he may per
ceive them in him as if from himself; and when he per
ceives them, that he may reject the evil to hell, and receive
the good with the acknowledgment that it is from the
Lord. When he thus rejects the one and receives the
other, he does not then appropriate to himself the evil,
or make the good a ground of merit. I know however
that there are many who do not comprehend this, and
who have not the will to comprehend it; but let them,
notwithstanding, pray to the Lord, that He may be con
tinually with them, that He may lift up and turn His
countenance to them, that He may teach, enlighten, and
lead them, because of themselves they can do nothing
that is good, and grant that they may live ; that the devil
may not seduce them, and pour evil into their hearts,
inasmuch as they know that, if they are not led by the
Lord, he leads them and instils into them evils of every
kind, such as hatred and revenge, cunning and deceit, as
a serpent instils poisons ; for he is at hand exciting and
constantly accusing, and when he finds a heart turned
away from God, he enters in and dwells there, and draws
down the soul to hell. O Lord, deliver us. These words
coincide with what was said above, for hell is the devil ;
and it is thus still acknowledged that man is led either
by the Lord or by hell, that he is in this way in an inter
mediate state. (See also what was said on this subject,
n. 35.)

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 77
48. The fourth law of the Divine Providence is. Thai
the understanding and the will should not be in the least
degree compelled hy another, since all compulsion hy ano
ther takes away freedom ; but that man should compel
himself, for to compel himself is to act from freedom.
Man's freedom belongs to his will ; from the will it exists
in the thought of the understanding ; and by means of
the thought it shows itself in the speech and in the action
of the body ; for man says, when he wills anything from
freedom, "I will to think this," "I will to speak ihis," and
"I will to do this." From freedom of will he has also the
faculty of thinking, of speaking, and of acting, fbr the
will gives this faculty, because it is freedom. Since free
dom belongs to man's will, it belongs also to his love,
since nothing else in man constitutes freedom, but the
love which belongs to his will. The reason is, that love
is the life of man, for man is of the same quality as his
love ; consequently, that which proceeds from the love
of his will, proceeds from his life. Hence it is evident,
that freedom belongs to man's will, to his love, and to his
life, consequently, that it makes one with his proprium,
and with his nature and disposition. Now because the
Lord desires that everything which proceeds from Him
self to man, should be appropriated to man as if it were
man's own, for otherwise there would be in man no means
of reciprocity by which conjunction is effected, it is there- ,
fore a law of the Divine Providence, that the understand
ing and the will of man should not be at all compelled by
another. For who has not the power to think and will
both evil and good ? against the laws and in conformity
with them? against the king and in agreement with
him? even against God and in obedience to God.? But
he is not allowed to speak and do all the things that he

78 THE ATHANASLiVN CREED.
thinks and wills, for there are fears which compel the
externals, but not the internals. The reason is, that the
externals must be reformed by the internals, but not the
internals by the externals; for the iiiternal enters by
influx into the external, but not the external into the
internal. The internals also belong to man's spirit, the
externals to his body; and because the spirit is to be
reformed, therefore it is not compelled. There are how
ever some fears which compel the internals or spirit of
man, but they are those only which enter by influx from
the spiritual world, and refer on the one hand to the
punishments of hell, and on the other to the loss of favor
with God. But the fear of the punishment of hell is an
outward fear belonging to the thought and will, whereas
the fear arising from the loss of favor with God is an
inward fear belonging to them ; it is that holy fear which
attaches and conjoins itself to love, and with it at length
forms one essence. It shows itself in the case of the man
who loves his friend, and in consequence of his love is
afraid to injure him.
49. There is an infernal freedom, and there is a hea
venly freedom ; the infernal, freedom is that into which
man is born from his parents, and the heavenly freedom
is that into which he is reformed by the Lord. From
infernal freedom man derives the will of evil, the love of
evil, and the life of evil ; but from heavenly freedom he
derives the will of good, the love of good, and the life of
good ; for as was before said, the will,' the love, and the
life of man make one with his freedom. These two
kinds of freedom are opposite to each other, but the
opposite does not appear, except so far as man is in the.
one and not in the other. But man cannot come out of
the one into the other, unless he compels himself. To

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 79
compel himself, is to resist evil, and to fight against it as
if from himself^ but still to implore the Lord for aid to do
so ; it is thus that man fights from the freedom which is
from the Lord inwardly in himself, against the freedom
which is from hell outwardly in himself. It appears to
him, whilst he is in the combat, that it is not freedom
from which he fights, but a kind of compulsion, because
it is against that freedom which is born with him ; never
theless, it is freedom, since otherwise he would not fight
as if from himself. But the inward freedom, from which
he fights, though appearing like compulsion, is afterwards
felt as freedom, for it becomes as if involuntary, sponta
neous, and" in a manner innate. The case is compara
tively like that of a man who compels his hand to write,
to work, to play upon a musical instrument, or to fence,
the hands and arms afterwards performing these opera
tions as if from themselves, and of their own accord ; for
man is in such a case in good, because removed from evil,
and led by the Lord. When man has compelled him
self against infernal freedom, he then sees and perceives
that such freedom is servitude, and that heavenly freedom
is real freedom, because from the Lord. The case in
itself is this, that so far as man compels himself by resist
ing evils, so far are the infernal societies, with which he
acts in unity, removed from him, and he is introduced by
the Lord into heavenly societies, that he may act in unity
with them. On the other hand, if man does not compel
himself to resist evils, he continues in them. That the case
is so, has been fnade known to me by much experience in
the spiritual world ; and further, that evil does not recede
in consequence of any compulsion effected by punish
ment, nor afterwards by any fear which punishment may
produce.

80 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
50. It was said above, that it is a law of the Divine
Providence, that man should compel himself; by this is
meant that he should compel himself from evil, but not
that he should compel himself to good; for he is per
mitted to compel himself from evil, but not to compel
himself to good which in itself is good. For if he com
pels himself to good and has not compelled himself from
evil, he does not do good from the Lord, but from him
self ; for he compels himself to it either for the sake of
himself, or for the sake of the world, or for the sake of
recompense, or from a principle of fear. Such good in
itself is not good, because the man himself, or the world,
or recompense, is in it as its end, but good itself is not
in it, thus neither the Lord ; it is, moreover, not fear,
but love, which causes good to be good. As for exam
ple : were a man to compel himself to do good to his
neighbor, to give to the poor, to endow churches, to do
justice, and hence perform deeds of charity and truth,
before he had compelled himself to abstain from evils,
and by that means removed them, it would be like a
palliative mode of treatment, by which a disease or an
ulcer is healed externally. Or it would be like an adul
terer compelling himself to chastity, a proud man to
humility, and a dishonest man to sincerity, by mere
external acts. But when man compels himself to abstain
from evils, he then purifies his internal, and when this is
done he does good from freedom, without compelling
himself to do it. For so far as man compels himself to
abstain from evil, so far he comes into heavenly freedom,
from which is derived everything good which in itself
is good ; he does not therefore compel himself to it. It
appears indeed as if there were a close connexion be
tween compelling himself from evil, and compelling him-

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 81
self to good, but there is no such connexion. From
undeniable experience I know that several men have
compelled themselves to do good, but not to abstain from
evil; but when they were explored, it was discovered
that the evils from within were inherent in the good
which they did; and hence their good was compared
with idols and images constructed of clay or mire, I
was 3,lso told, that such persons believe that God is
gained over by the ascription of glory and the offering
of gifts, even though they proceed from an impure
heart. Nevertheless a man may, before the eyes of the
world, compel himself to good, although he does not
compel himself from evil, because in the world he is
recompensed for it ; for in the world that which is exter
nal is regarded, seldom that which is internal ; but before
God it is otherwise.
51. The fifth law of the Divine Providence is. That
man should not hnow, from any sense or perception
within himself, how good and truth enter by infiux from
the Lord, or how evil and falsity enter by infiux from
hell ; nor see how the Divine Providence operates in
favor of good against evil ; for in this case he would
not act from freedom according to reason as if from
himself. It is sufficient that he knows and acknowledges
these things from the Word, and from the doctrine of
the church. This is meant by the Lord's words in John :
" The spirit breatheth where it willeth, and thou hearest
the sound thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth ; so is every one who is born of
the Spirit " (iii. 8) ; and also by these words in Mark :
" The kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed
upon the earth, and should sleep, and rise night and day,
and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not
4*

82 THE ATflANASlAN CREED.
how ; for the spontaneous earth bringeth forth fruit, first
the blade, then the ear, at length the full corn in the ear ;
and when the fruit is brought forth, immediately 'he
putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come," (iv,
26-29,) The reason that man does not perceive the ope
ration of the Divine Providence within him is, that such
perception would take away his freedom, and hence the
faculty of thinking as if from himself, and with it also
all the enjoyment of life, so that he would be like an
automaton, in whicb there is no principle of reciprocity
for conjunction to be effected; he would aLso be a slave,
not a free raan. The principal cause that the Divine
Providence moves so secretly that there is scarcely any
vestige of it apparent, although it operates upon the
most minute things of man's thought and will, which
regard his eternal state, is, that the Lord continually
desires to impress His love upon him, and through it
His wisdom, and thus to create him into His image.
Therefore it is that the operation of the Lord is upon
man's love, and from it upon his understanding, and not
from his understanding upon his love. The love with
its affections, which are manifold and innumerable, is not
perceived by man except from a most general feeling, and
from that in so small a degree that it is scarcely percep
tible at all ; and yet man is to be led from one affection
of loves into another, according, to the connexion in
which they are arranged, in order that he may be
reformed and saved. This is incomprehensible, not only
to man but also to the angels. If man discovered any
thing of these arcana, he could not be withdrawn from
leading himself, even though it were continually from
heaven into hell, notwithstanding he is constantly led by
the Lord from hell into heaven ; for from himself he

TflE ATHANASIAN CREED, 83
constantly acts in opposition to order, but the Lord con
stantly according to it. For, in consequence of the
nature derived from his parents, he is in the love of him
self and the world, and hence he perceives, from a feel
ing of delight, the whole of those loves as a good ; and
still those loves must as ends be removed. This is
effected by the Lord by an infinity of ways which
appear intricate as a labyrinth, even before the angels of
the third heaven. From these considerations it is evi
dent, that it would not be at all advantageous to man to
know anything of the subject from sense and perception,
but on the contrary hurtful to him, and destroy him for
ever. It is enough that he is acquainted with truths,
and through them with the nature of good and evil, afid
that in every event and circumstance, he acknowledges
the Lord, and His divine guidance and protection. In
this case, so far as he is acquainted with truths, and
through them discerns good and evil, and moreover does
truths as if from himself, so far the Lord by means of
love introduces him into wisdom and into the love of
wisdom, conjoining wisdom with love, and making them
one because they are one in Himself. The ways by
which the Lord leads him, may be compared with the
vessels through which his blood flows and circulates ;
and also with the fibres and their foldings within and
without the viscera, of the body, especially in the brain,
through which the vital spirit flows, imparting animation,
Man is ignorant how all these things enter by influx and
flow through hira, and yet he lives if he only knows and
does what is really conducive to his own well-being..
But the ways by which the Lord leads him are much
more complicated and inextricable, both those by which
He leads him through the societies of heaven, and

84 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
inwardly into them This, therefore, is what is meant
by "the spirit breatheth where it willeth, and thou
knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth"
(John, iii.); also, by the seed springing up and growing,
the man knowing not how. (Mark iv.) What advan
tage beside is it, that man should know how the seed
grows, provided he knows how to plough the earth, to
harrow it, to sow the seed, and when he reaps the har
vest, to bless and praise God ?
52. The operation of the Divine Providence, which
proceeds, though man is ignorant of it, shall be illustrated
by two comparisons. It resembles a gardener who col
lects the seed of trees, shrubs, and flowers of every kind,
and provides himself with spades, rakes, and other
implements for working the ground. He afterwards
brings his garden into cultivation, digging it, dividing it
into beds, putting in the seeds, and smoothing the surface.
This is the work of man as if from himself; but it is the
Lord who causes the seeds to strike root, to appear above
the earth, to shoot forth into leaves, and then into flowers,
and lastly to yield new seeds for the gardener's benefit.
It resembles again a man who is about to build a house.
He provides himself with the requisite materials, such as
beams, rafters, stones, lime, and other things. But the
Lord, whilst the man is ignorant of it, afterwards builds the
house from the foundation to the roof, entirely suited to
the man's convenience. From these comparisons it fol
lows that, unless man provides himself with the requisites
for his garden or his house, he will have neither the
former with the advantage of its fruits, nor the latter to
afford him a dwelling. So is it in the case of reforma
tion. The requisites with which man is to provide him
self are, the knowledges of truth and good derived from

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 85
the Word, from the teaching of the church, from the
world and from his own labor, the Lord effecting the
rest without man's knowledge. It must, however, be
borne in mind that all these requisites for planting the
garden, or building the house, which, as was observed,
are the knowledges of truth and good, are merely the
necessary stores, which have no life, until man uses them,
that is, lives according to them, as if from himself. When
this is done, the Lord then enters, and imparts life, and
builds, that is, reforms. The garden or the house is
man's understanding ; for in it dwells his wisdom, which
derives every property it has from love.
53. The sixth law of the Divine Providence is : That
man should not he reformed hy external means, hut by in
ternal ; hy external means are meant rrdradles and visions,
fears and punishments ; hy intemal, the t/ruths and
goods derived from the Ward and the teachi/ng of the
church, and looking to the Lord. For these means enter
by an internal way, and cast out the evils and falsities
which reside within; hut external means enter hy an
external way, and do not cast out the evils and falsities,
but shut them in. Man is, how&oer, further reformed
by external means, when he has been first reformed by
internal. This follows from the laws above stated, viz., that man
is reformed by means of freedom, but not otherwise; and
further, that to compel himself is to act from freedom,
but to be compelled is not so. Man is compelled by
miracles and visions, and also by fears and punishments ;
by the former the external of his spirit, which consists
in thinking and willing, is compelled ; and by the latter,
the external of his body, which consists in speaking and
doing. This may be compelled, because man neverthe-

86 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
less thinks and wills freely ; but the external of his spirit
must not be so, for in that case his internal freedom, by
means of which he is to be reformed, perishes. If he
could have been reformed by miracles and visions, then all
men throughout the whole world would be so. It is, there
fore, a holy law of the Divine Providence that internal
freedom should not in the least degree be violated ; for
by it the Lord enters with regard to raan, even into the
hell where he is, and by it He leads him there; and if
man is willing to follow. He brings him out, and intro
duces him into heaven, there bringing him nearer and
nearer to himself It is in this way only that man is
brought out of infernal freedom, which, regarded in
itself, is slavery, because derived from bell, and brought
into heavenly freedom, which is essential freedom, be
coming by degrees of a higher quality, until at length it
attains its highest state, because it proceeds from the
Lord, whose will is that man should not in any degree
be forced. This is the path along which man's reforma
tion proceeds ; but it is a path which miracles and visions
would close. The freedom of man's spirit is not in any
case violated, even for such an end as this, viz., that the
evils belonging to him, both hereditary and actual, may
be removed. This is done, as was said above, when he
compels himself These evils are removed by the Lord's
inspiring him with the affection of truth from which
he derives intelligence, and with the affection of good
through which he acquires love ; for so far as he is in
these affections, he so far compels himself to resist evils
and falsities. This again is a path of reformation which
miracles and visions would close, for they persuade and
compel belief, and thus bind and imprison the thoughts;
hence, when his freedom is taken away, man has no

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 87
means, from any interior principle, of removing his evils,
for no evil is removed but from such a principle. The
evils thus remain shut in, and from their own internal
freedom, in which they delight, they continually act in
opposition to the truths and goods which miracles and
visions had impressed upon the mind, and at length
disperse them. They then term miracles the interior
operations of nature, visions the insane delusions of a
disordered imagination, and goods and truths mere fal
lacies and absurdities. Such is the effect which evils
shut in produce upon the externals which shut them in.
But man, when he thinks but superficially, may possibly
believe that miracles and visions, although they per
suade, still do not take away freedom of thought. They
do so, however, with the unreformed, but not with the
reformed ; for with the former they shut in their evils,
but not so with the latter.
54. All men who wish for miracles and visions resem
ble the children of Israel who, after they had seen so
many prodigies in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and on Mount
Sinai, forsook within a month the worship of Jehovah,
and worshipped the golden calf. (Exodus xxxii.) They
also resemble the rich man in hell, who said to Abraham,
that his brethren would repent, if one were sent to them
from the dead, but to whom Abraham replied: "They
have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them; " "if
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they
be persuaded though one rose from the dead." (Luke
xvi. 29, 30, 31.) They also resemble Thomas, who said
that he would not believe unless he saw, and to whom the
Lord said : " Blessed are they that have not seen, and
yet have believed." (John xx. 29.) Those who believe
and do not see, are those who do not desire signs but

88 THE ATfl .ANASIAN CREED.
truths, that is, Moses and the prophets, and believe them.
The latter, being internal men, become spiritual. The
former, however, being external, remain sensual, and
when they see miracles, and believe only by their means,
they are not unlike a graceful woraan, who is inwardly
affected with a fatal disorder of which she soon dies. They
also resemble fruits which are beautiful in the rind, but
decayed at the core ; or nuts in which a worm lies con
cealed. It is moreover well known, that no man can be
compelled to love and believe, but that love and belief
must be rooted inwardly in man ; consequently no man
can be brought to love God, and to believe in Him, by
miracles and visions, because they compel. For how will
he who does not believe in consequence of the miracles
recorded in the Word, believe in consequence of miracles
which have no place in the Word ?
55. The seventh law of the Divine Providence is :
That man should be admitted by the Jjord into the truths of
faith, and ihe goods of love only so far as he can be kept in
them to ihe end of his life ; for it is better that he sliould be
constantly evil, than that he should be good and afterwards
evil, for in ihis case he becomes profane. The permission of
evil is also from this source. The Lord can impart the
affection of good, and the faith originating in it. to every
man of sound reason, by withholding him from the evil
loves of his proprium ; for so far as man is withheld from
them, he is so far in the underatanding of truth and in the
will of good. I have seen even devils brought back again
to such a state that, whilst they remained in it, they spoke
truths from their understanding and belief, and performed
goods from their will and love. They were brought into
this state, because they denied their ability to understand
truths and to perform goods; but as soon as the detention

THE ATHA.NASIAN CREED. 89
from their own loves was relaxed, and they had returned
into the lusts originating in them, they had instead of a
belief grounded in truth, a belief grounded in falsity ;
and instead of the love of good, the love of evil. This
has been frequently witnessed, and in the presence of
many. Hence it was plain that every man is capable of
being reformed, and that being reformed is the sarae
thing as being reraoved from evil loves. But how man
is removed from them has been described above. The
reason that this removal is not effected by the Lord is,
that those who come into the affections of truth and good,
and into the faith and love originating in them, and do not
constantly remain in these affections to the end of their
life, but relapse into the loves from which they had
abstained, are guilty of profaning holy things. There are
several kinds of profanation, but this is the most grievous
of all ; for after death the lot of those who are guilty of
it is terrible. They are not in hell, but beneath it, where
they neither think nor will, but merely see and act.
They see objects which are not in existence, and do not
see those which are. They act as if they were doing
everything, and yet they do nothing. They are alto
gether the insane delusions of a disordered imagination.
And because they neither think nor will, they .are no
longer men ; for it is the characteristic of man to think
and will. Hence it is that they are not addressed as male
or female beings, but as if they were objects devoid of all
distinctions of sex. When they are seen in any degree
of light from heaven, they have the a.ppearance of skele
tons covered with a blackish skin. Such is the condition
of those who were once reformed, and do not remain so.
The reason that their lot is so dreadful shall also be stated.
By reformation there is effected, between them and

90 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
heaven, a communication, from which there is an influx
of goods and truths ; by these the interiors of their minds
are opened and their evils set aside. If they remain in
this state till death they are happy ; but if they do not
remain so, they are unhappy ; for the evils, which had
been removed, then return, and mingle with the truths
and goods ; thus heaven in their case mingles with hell,
and that to such a degree, that they cannot be separated.
For whatever has been once impressed upon the mind of
man; by means of love, is never extirpated ; and there
fore after death, because the goods cannot be separated
from the evils, nor the truths from the falsities, the whole
mind is torn frdm its seat. Hence it is that these spirits
have no longer either thought or will ; what remains of
these faculties being like a shell when the kernel is gone,
or like mere skin and bone when the flesh is removed ;
for this is all that they have remaining of the man. Be
it therefore known that there is no danger in departing
from evil to good, but that the danger is in departing from
good to evil.
56. Such, however, is not the lot of those who are
constantly evil ; for they are in hell according to the
loves of their life. There they think, and from their
thought they speak, although theiy speak falsities; they
will also, and from their will they act, although their
actions are evil. They appear moreover to each other
as men, although in the light of heaven they are of a
monstrous form. Hence it may be seen why it is in
accordance with a law of order relating to reformation,
and called a law of the Divine Providence, that man is
admitted into the truths of faith and the goods of love,
only so far as he can be withheld from evils and kept in
goods to the end of his life ; and that it is better that he

TflE ATflANASlAN CREED. 91
should be constantly evU, than that he should be good,
and afterwards evil ; for in this case he becoraes profane.
The Lord, who both provides and foresees all things, con
ceals for this reason, the operations of His Providence,
so much so that raan scarcely knows whether there is a
Providence in any case whatever. He also suffers him to
attribute ordinary events to foresight, and prosperous
occurrences to fortune, and even to ascribe many things
to nature, rather than that he should, through any strik
ing and manifest signs of the Divine Providence and Pre
sence, plunge unseasonably into the midst of sanctities,
in which he would not continue. The Lord perraits
similar things also to exist in accordance with the Laws
of his Providence, viz., that man should enjoy freedora,
and act, in all that he does, according to reason, thus
entirely as if from himself. For it is better that he should
ascribe the operations of the Divine Providence to pru
dence and fortune, than that he should acknowledge
them, and still live as a devil. From these circumstances
it is plain, that the laws of permission, which are nume
rous, proceed frora the laws of Providence.
57. The kind of profanation described above is meant
by the following words in Matthew : " When the unclean
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry
places, seeking rest, but findeth none ; then he saith, I
will return into my house, from whence I came out, and
when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept and gar
nished ; then goeth he and taketh with himself seven
other spirits more wicked than hiraself, .and entering in
they dwell there ; aud the last things of that man become
worse than the first." (xii. 43, 44, 45.) In this passage
the conversion of man is described by the departure of
the unclean spirit from him ; and his return to evils, and

92 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
the profe,nation arising from it, by the unclean spirit
returning with seven spirits worse than himself. In a
similar manner by these words in John, which Jesus
spake to the man who was healed at the pool of Be
thesda: "Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more,
lest a worse thing come unto thee." (v. 14.) And by
these words in the same Evangelist: "He hath blinded
their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should not
see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and
be converted, and I should heal them." (xii. 40.) Lest
they should be converted and be healed signifies, lest they
should become profane. This would have been the case
with the Jews (Matt. xii. 45), and therefore they were
prohibited to eat fat and blood (Levit, iii, 17 ; vii, 23,
25) ; for by this was meant their profanation of what is
holy, in consequence of their being of such a character.
The Lord also, by means of His Divine Providence,
takes the greatest care that this kind of profanation should
not occur. For this purpose He separates the holy things
from those that are not so in the case of raan, storing
them up in the interiors of his mind, and elevating them
to himself: but those that are not holy, he stores up in
the exteriors, turning them to the world. Hence the
holy things can be separated from the unholy, and man
can thus be saved. Salvation however cannot be effected,
when goods and evils are mingled together. The Lord
teaches in the Apocalypse that they who remain in faith
and love until death, will have a crown of life (chap, ii.
10; iii. 26).
58. The eighth law of the Divine Providence is : That
the Lord is conUrvualty withdrawing man from evils,
so far as man from freedom is wiHi/ng to he withdrawn
from them. That sofa/r as he can he withdra/wnfrom

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 93
evils, he is so far led by the Lord to good, thus to hea
ven ; but that so far as he cannot be withdrawn from
them, he cannot so far he led by the Lord to good, thus
to heaven. For so far as he is withdrawn from evils,
he so far does good from the Lord, which is good in it-
. self; hut so far as he is not withdra/wnfrom them, he so
far does good from himself, which has in it evil. Man,
with regard to the language of his lips and the actions of
his body, is in the natural world ; but with regard to the
thoughts of his understanding and the affections of his
will, he is in the spiritual world. By the spiritual world
are meant both heaven and hell, each being divided in the
most orderly manner into innumerable societies, accord
ing to all the varieties of affections and the thoughts
originating in them. In the midst' of these societies
is man, so allied to them, that he has not the smallest
power either of thought or will, but in connexion with
them; a connexion so close, that if he and they were
severed from each other by force, he would fall dead ;
his life remaining only in that inmost principle, by which
he is a man as distinguished frora a beast, and by which
he lives for ever. He is not aware that he is, with regard
to his life, in such unbroken intercourse ; and the reason
of his ignorance is, that he does not converse with spirits.
So long has he been in utter ignorance of this state ; but
that it may not be for ever concealed from him, behold,
it is now revealed. It is necessary to premise this, before
this law of the Divine Providence can be understood.
59. Man is from his birth in the midst of infernal soci
eties, and expands into them precisely as he develops the
evil affections of his will. These affections are all de
rived from the love of self and the love of the world ; the
reason is, that these loves turn all the powers of the mind

94 TflE ATHANASIAN CREED.
downwards and outwards, thus to hell, which is beneath
them and extraneous to them. Hell again in this way
turns them from the Lord, and thus from heaven. The
interiors also of all the powers that belong to the mind
of man, and with them the interiors of all the powers that
belong to his spirit, are capable of being turned either
downwards or upwards; they are turned downwards
when he loves himself above all things, and upwards,
when he so loves the Lord. It is an actual turning ;
man of himself turning them downwards, but the Lord
of Himself turning them upwards. It is the ruling love
which effects the turning; for it is only so far as the
thoughts are derived from the will, that they act in this
way upon the interiors of the mind. Man, again, is not
aware that such is the case, and yet he ought to be so,
in order that he may understand how he is led by the
Lord out of hell, and conducted into heaven.
60. But that man may be brought out of hell and con
ducted into heaven by the Lord, he must himself resist
hell, that is evil, as if from himself. If he does not resist
it as if from himself, he remains in hell, and hell remains
in him, nor are they separated, even to eternity. This
also follows from the laws of the Divine Providence
which have been explained above. Experience also will
teach us that this is the case. For evils are removed
from man either by punishraents, by temptations, and
the aversions arising from them, or by the affections of
truth and good. They are removed by punishments in
the case of those who are not reformed ; by temptations
and the aversions arising from them in the case of those
who will be reformed ; and by the affections of truth and
good, in the case of the regenerate. Experience on this
subject is as follows : When an unreformed or evil man

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 95
undergoes punishments, as is the case in hell, he is kept
in them until it is perceived that of himself he does not
will evils ; he is thus compelled of himself to remove
them. If the punishment does not extend to the inten
tion and will, he continues in his evil. But still the evil
is not even then extirpated, because he had not compelled
himself; it remains within, and returns when the fear
ceases. In the case of those who will be reformed, evils
are removed by temptations, which are not punishments
but combats. Men of this description are not compelled
to resist evils, but they compel themselves, and implore
the assistance of the Lord ; they are thus liberated from
the evils which they have resisted. They afterwards
desist from them, not from any fear of punishment, but
from an aversion to evil, the very aversion becoming at
length with them resistance. But with the regenerate
there are no temptations or combats, the affections of
truth and good keeping evils at a distance from them ;
for they ane entirely separated frora hell, and conjoined
to the Lord. To be separated and removed from evils,
is the same thing as to be separated and removed from
the societies of hell. The Lord is able to separate and
remove all, as many as He wills, from the societies of
hell, that is from evils, and to transfer them to the soci
eties of heaven, that is to goods ; but this state continues
but for a few hours, after which the evils return. Some
times also I have seen this take place, but have observed
that the wicked man continued wicked as before. There
is not, in the whole spiritual world, an instance of any
man having been removed from evils but by means of
combat or resistance as if from himself, or of any man
having been so removed but by the Lord alone.
61. Experience may bear further testimony on this

96 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
subject. All who come from the earth into the spiritual
world, are known as to their quality, from their ability or
inability to resist evils as if from themselves. Those who
can do so are saved, but not so those who cannot. The
reason is, that man cannot of himself resist evils, he can
only do so from the Lord ; for it is the Lord who resists
evils with man, causing him at the same time to feel and
perceive as if he did it from himself Those therefore
resist evils as if from themselves, who in the world ac
knowledged the Lord, confessing that all good and truth
proceed from Him, and nothing from man, and that
thus it is from Him aiid not from themselves that they
have power against evils. Those, on the other hand,
who made no such acknowledgment in the world, cannot
resist evils as if from themselves, for they are in evils,
and from their love are in the delight of them ; and to
resist the delight of their love is to resist themselves,
their own nature and their own life. Whilst the punish
ments of hell were recounted to them, whilst they were
even seen and felt by them, the trial has been made
whether they could resist the evils, but still it was all in
vain. They made up their minds and said : " Be it so,
let it happen so, let me only be in the delights and joys
of my own heart, as long as I am here. I know what
the present is, and I have no thought about the future.
No more harm befals me than befals many, many, others."
But after the time is expired, they are cast into hell,
where they are compelled,' by means of punishments, to
abstain from the perpetration of evils. Punishments
however do not remove the will, the intention, and the
consequent thought, of evil ; they merely prevent the
act. Hence it is evident that resistance to evils does
not originate with man, but with the Lord, in the case

THE ATflANASlAN CBEED. 97
of those who acknowledge Him; and that He causes
such resistance to appear as if it proceeded from
themselves. 62. The reason that the Lord alone resists evils in the
case of man, and not by means of any angels of heaven
is, that it is the work of the Divine Omnipotence, the
Divine Omniscience, and the Divine Providence. It is
the work of the Divine Omnipotence, because to resist
one evil is to resist many, and also to resist the hells.
For every evil is conjoined with evils innumerable,
cohering, like the hells with each other ; for as the hells
make one, so also do evils, and no one but the Lord alone
can resist the hells conjoined in this way. It is the work
of the Divine Omniscience, because the Lord alone knows
the quality of man, what his evils are, and their connexion
with all other evils ; thus, in what order they must be
removed, so that man may be inwardly or radically
cured. It is also the work of the Divine Providence, so
that nothing may be done in opposition to the laws of
order, and further, that what is done may conduce to
man's well-being for ever; for the Divine Providence,
the Divine Omniscience, and the Divine Omnipotence, in
all individual things regard what is eternal. From these
considerations it may be evident, that no angel can resist
evils in the case of man, but the Lord alone. The Lord
effects this with man both immediately frora Himself,
and also mediately through heaven; but still it is in
such a way, that no angel knows anything of the opera
tion. For heaven in its whole complex is His Divine
Proceeding, and, therefore, when He operates through
Heaven, He operates from Hiraself; it is said mediately,
because the Divine Operation flows through the heavens,
but still it does not take anything from the proprium of
5

98 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
any of the angels there, but from that which in them
belongs to itself. The appearance is similar to that of a
man performing an action ; in order to produce the action,
he moves innumerable motive fibres scattered over his
whole body, but of the action not a single fibre has any
knowledge. Such also is the nature of the angels in the
divine body, which is called heaven.
63. The law of the Divine Providence, that man, so
far as he can be withdrawn from evils, does good so far
from the Lord, which in itself is good ; but that, so far as
he cannot be withdrawn from evils, he does good so far
from himself, which has evil in it, jnay be illustrated from
the commandments of the decalogue. The command
ment against stealing may serve as an example. Those
who, as if from themselves, resist the passion for stealing,
and thus that for getting gain insincerely and unjustly,
the language of their hearts being, that such a passion
must not be gratified, because it is contrary to the divine
law, and thus contrary to God, in itself infernal, and
thus in itself evil, are, after a few brief combats, with
drawn from this evil, and led by the Lord into the goods
which are called sincerity and justice. They then begin
to think of these goods, and, from a perception of their
qualities, to distinguish them, they thus distinguish
justice and sincerity from a perception of what is sincere
and just; and afterwards, as they shun and hold in aver
sion the evil of this passion, they love these goods, and
from loving them bring them into act, without exercising
any compulsion upon themselves. These goods are
derived from the Lord, because they are in themselves
goods. But it is otherwise, if the passion for getting gain
insincerely and unjustly remains with man; for in this
case he cannot do what is sincere from a principle of

THE ATflANASlAN CBEED. 99
sincerity, nor what is just from a principle of justice, that
is, from the Lord, but what he does is from himself. For
he does it that he may acquire the credit of being sincere
and just, for the sake of the ends which he has in view,
viz., that he may get greater gain or acquire honor ; these
are the ends in his goods, and it is from the end that all
the quality of the good is derived. This good has in it
evil, because its quality is derived from the proposed end
of getting gain insincerely and unjustly. Every one may
see that good of this kind cannot become good in itself,
until the evil is removed. The case is similar with
regard to all the other commandments of the decalogue,
64. Man is removed from evils in proportion as he is
removed from hell, for evils and hell are one ; in the
same proportion he also enters into goods, and is con
joined into heaven, for goods and heaven are one. He
then becomes another man; his freedom, his good, his
mind, as well as his understanding and will, are inverted ;
for he becomes an angel of heaven. His freedom, which
before had been the freedom of thinking and willing evil,
becomes the freedom of thinking and willing good, which
in itself is essential freedom. It is in this freedom that he
first knows what freedom is, because from the freedom of
evil he had felt the freedom of go®d as slavery ; but he
now feels from the freedom of good, that the freedom of
evil is slavery ; for this is its true character. The .good
which he had done before, because it was derived from
the freedom of evil, could not be good in reality, there
having been in it the love of self or of the world ; because
good does not exist from any other origin than love.
Hence it is that the good is of the same quality as the
love, for even when the love is evil, its delight is still felt
as a good, although it is really an evil. But the good

100 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
which he does afterwards, is good in reality, because it
proceeds from the Lord, who, as was said above, is essen
tial good. His mind, before it was conjoined to heaven,
was turned backwards, because it had not yet been led
out of hell. When also it is in a state of reformation, it
looks from truth to good, thus from the left to the right,
which is contrary to order ; but after it is conjoined with
heaven, it looks from the right to the left, that is, from
good to truth, which is in agreement with order. Such
is the way in which the inversion is effected. The case
is similar with his understanding and will ; because the
former is the recipient of truth, and the latter the recipient
of good. Before he is led out of hell, these faculties do
not act as one ; for he then sees and acknowledges, from
his understanding many things which have no place in
his will, because they are not objects of his love. But
when he is conjoined to heaven, his understanding and
will then act as one, the former becoming the agent of
the latter. For when the inversion is effected, the object
of his will is also the object of his love, and thus the
object of his will, deriving its origin from his love, is the
object of his thoughts. In this way, after he is removed
from evils by meanS of resistance and combat against
them as if from himself, he comes into the love of truth
and good, and then his thoughts are, in all respects, in
agreement with his will, and the words which. clothe the
former are in agreement with the actions which proceed
from the latter.
65. There are in man two faculties of life ; the one is
called the understanding, the other the will. They are
altogether distinct from each other, but are created to
form one; and when they do so, they are called one
mind ; they are however at first divided, but are after-

THE ATflANASlAN CBEED. 101
wards united. They are distinct, precisely like light and
heat ; for the understanding is derived from the light of
heaven, which in its essence is Divine Truth or Divine
Wisdom, and, whilst man is in the world, it sees from
this light, thinking, reasoning, and forming its conclu
sions, from it. Man is however ignorant of this fact,
because he knows nothing of this light or of its origin.
The will again is derived from the heat of heaven, which
in its essence is the Divine Good, or the Divine Love,
and whilst raan is in the world, it loves from this heat,
deriving all its gratification and delight from it. Man is
again ignorant of this fact, because he knows nothing of
this light or of its origin. Now because the understand
ing sees from the light of heaven, it is evident that it is
the subject and the receptacle of this light, thus also the
subject and the receptacle of truth and of the wisdom
originating in it. And because the will loves from the
heat of heaven, it is evident that it is the subject and the
receptacle of this heat, thus also the subject and recep
tacle of good, and thus of love. Hence it may be clearly
seen that these two faculties of man's life are distinct,
like light and heat, truth and good, or wisdom and love.
That they are also at first divided, is plainly perceptible
from the fact, that man is able to understand truth, and,
from truth, good, as well as to express his approval of
the latter, without either admitting it into his will, or
from his will acting in accordance with it. For he under
stands the nature of truth, and from it the nature of good,
when he hears the former spoken, or reads it, so much
so, that he can afterwards, as a preacher or an 'author,
impart it to others. But when he is alone and thinks
from his own spirit, he can then observe that this truth
has no place in his will, that his will is even to do con-

102 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
trary to it, and that he actually does so, when his fears
do not restrain him. Such is the character of those who
can speak intelligently on such subjects, and yet live
otherwise; this is seeing one law in their spirit, and
another in their flesh, the spirit being the understanding,
and the flesh the will. This disagreement between the
understanding and the will is perceived chiefly by those
who desire to be reformed, and but little by others ; the
cause of its existence is, that the understanding in man
is not destroyed, though the will is so. For the under
standing is comparatively like the light of the world, by
which man may see with equal clearness in the time of
winter as in that of summer ; while the will again is
comparatively like the heat of the world, which may be
either absent from the light or present with it, for in the
time of winter it is absent, but present in that of summer.
The true state of the case is this, that nothing but the
will destroys the understanding, as nothing but the
absence of heat destroys the germinations of the earth.
The understanding is destroyed by the will in the case
of those who are in evils, when the understanding and
will act in unity, but not otherwise. They act in unity
when man thinks by himself from his own love, but they
do not so act when he is in company with others ; for in
the latter case he conceals and thus removes his will's
real love, and when this is removed, his understanding
is elevated to a higher light. Experience may also serve
as a confirmation on this point. I have occasionally
heard spirits converse with each other, as well as with
myself,' so wisely that an angel could scarcely have con
versed more so, and from this, I have been led to think
that they would soon be elevated to heaven ; but after a
time I have seen them with the wicked in hell. I was

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 103
surprised at this, but was then permitted to hear them
converse in a totally different manner, not in favor of
truths, as formerly, but in opposition to them ; the reason
being that they were now in the love belonging to their
real will and understanding, but on the former occasion
they were not. I have also been permitted to see how
man's proprium is distinguished from that which is not
so, for this may be seen in the light of heaven. The
proprium resides in the interiors, but that which is not
so, in the exteriors ; the former being veiled and con
cealed by the latter, so that it does not appear until the
veil is removed, which is done in the case of all after
death. I have observed also that many were astonished
at what they saw and heard, but they were those who
judge of the state of a man's soul, from his conversation
and writings, without taking into account the actions
which proceed from his real will. From these circum
stances it is plain, that these two faculties in man are at
first divided. We shall now speak of their union. They
are united in the case of those who are reformed, the
union being effected by means of combat against the
evils of the will. For when these are removed, the will
for good acts in unity with the understanding of truth.
Hence it follows that the quality of the understanding is
the same as that of the will ; or, what is the same thing,
that the quality of the wisdom is the sarae as that of the
love. The reason that the former is of the same quality
as the latter is, that the love belonging to the will is the
esse of man's life, and the wisdom belonging to the
understanding is its existere. The love therefore which
belongs to the will forms itself in the understanding, the
form which it there receives being that which is called
wisdom ; for since both have one essence, it is plain that

104 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
wisdom is the form of love, or love existing in form.
After these faculties are thus united by reformation, the
love of the will then increases daily by means of spiritual
nourishment in the understanding, for it is there that it
has its affection for truth and good, an affection resem
bling an appetite that longs for sustenance. From the
above it is plain that the will is the faculty which must
be reformed, and that so far as it is reformed, the under
standing discerns, that is, becomes wise ; for, as was said
above, the will — but not the understanding — is destroyed.
The will and the understanding also make one in the
case of the unreformed or evil, if not in this world, at
all events after death ; for after death man is permitted
to think from his understanding only in accordance with
the love of his will, every one being at last brought to
this condition. The evil love of the will then has its
own form in the understanding, and this form, because
it originates in the falsities of evil, is insanity.
66. To the preceding observations we must add the
following :
I, That before reformation, the light of the under
standing is as the light of the moon, clear according to
the knowledges of truth and good ; but after reformation
it is as the light of the sun, clear according to the applica
tion of those knowledges to the uses of life,
II, The reason that the understanding has not been
destroyed is, that man may be able to become acquainted
with truths, and from them to see the evils of his will ;
and, when he sees them, to resist them as if from him
self, and thus be reformed,
III, But still man is not reformed in virtue of his un
derstanding, but by means of his understanding acknow
ledging truths, and, in consequence of them, discerning

THE ATflANASlAN CBEED, 105
evils ; for the operation of the Lord's Divine Providence
is upon the love of man's will, and, from that love, upon
his understanding — not from his understanding upon the
love of his will,
IV, That the will's love, according to its quality,
imparts intelligence ; natural love derived from spiritual
imparting intelligence in things civil and moral ; but
spiritual love in natural imparting intelligence in things
spiritual. But love merely natural with the conceit aris
ing from it, imparts no intelligence in thinga spiritual,
but rather the faculty of confirming whatever it pleases ;
and after such confirmation, the understanding is so in
fatuated by it, that it sees falsity as truth, and evil as
good. This love does not however entirely take away
the faculty of understanding truths in their own light ;
when it is present, it takes it away, but not when it is
absent, V, When the will is reformed, and the wisdom, which
belongs to the understanding, becomes that of the love,
which belongs to the will ; or when wisdom becomes the
love of truth and of good in its own form, man is then
like a garden in the season of spring, when heat is united
to light, imparting soul to the germinations of the natural
world. For the germinations of the spiritual world are
the productions of wisdom originating in love, there
being in this case in every production a soul derived
from such love, its clothing originating in wisdom. The
will is thus as it were the father, and the understanding
as the mother,
VI, Such then ia the life of man, not only the life of
his mind (animus), but also that of his body ; because the
life of the former acts in unity with the life of the latter
by correspondences. For the life of his will or love cor-
5*

106 TflE ATHANASIAN CBEED,
responds to the life of his heart, while the life of his
understanding or wisdom corresponds to that of his
lungs ; and these are the two sources of his bodily life,
Man is not aware that such is the case ; it is notwith
standing from this view of the subject that an evil man
cannot live in heaven, nor a good man in hell. For the
one as well as the other becomes as it were dead, if he is
not amongst those with whom the life of his will, and
that of his understanding originating in it, do not act in
unity ; amongst such — and amongst such only — does his
heart freely reciprocate, and his lungs, which derive their
action from it, freely respire,
67, The ninth law of the Divine Providence is : That
the Lord does not without the use of ineans teach man
truths either from Himself, or through the angds ; hut
that He teaches him by means deri/ued from' the Word,
from, preaching and reading, from conversation and
intercourse with others, and from private refiections
arising out of them, and that man is then enlightened
accordi/ng to his affection for t/ruth grounded in use ;
otherwise he would not act as if from himself
These propositions follow as consequences from the
laws of the Divine Providence which have been before
explained, viz,, that man should be in a state of freedom,
and act in all that he does from reason ; that from his
understanding he should think as if from himself, and
thence from his will act as if from hiraself ; and further
that he should not be driven by raeans of miracles or
visions to believe or act, in any case whatever. These
laws are immutable, because they are laws of the Divine
Wisdom, and at the same time of the Divine Love ; they
would however be disturbed, if man were taught without
the use of means, either by influx or by oral instruction.

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED, 107
The Lord moreover enters by influx into the interiors of
man's mind, and through them into its exteriors, into the
affection also of 'his will, and through it into the thought
of his understanding ; but not through the thought of
his understanding into the affection of his will. To en
ter by influx into the interiors of the mind, and through
them into its exteriors, is to take root, and from the root
to produce, the root being in the interiors, and the pro
duce in the exteriors. To enter again by influx into the
affection of the will, and through it into the thought of
the understanding, is first to inspire the soul and through
it to give form to everything else ; for the affection of
the will is as it were a soul through which the thoughts
of the understanding are formed. This again is influx
from the internal into the external, which is the kind of
influx that exists. Man knows nothing whatever of the
influx which enters into the interiors of his mind, nor of
that which enters into the affection of his will,* [but if he
were aware of its existence, and judged of it from his
natural impressions, he would say] that it entered into
the exteriors of his mind, and into the thought of his
understanding, [without passing through the interiors of
his mind and the affection of his will], and this would be
to produce without a root, and to form without a soul.
Every man may see that this would be contrary to divine

* There is here some little confusion in the Latin text, arising either
from an error in the printing, or frora a defect in the original MS. The
words occasioning difficulty are : "sed de eo sciiv/rus est," and the proba
ble omission of a clause after them. If we might be allowed a conjec
ture, perhaps the foUowing slight change would make the Latin dear:
"secZ deeosi dligmd sciret, diceret quod," &c. By the help of the words
inserted above between [ ], we hope the Author's meaning is clear, —
Trcmslaior.

108 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
order, consequently that it would be to destroy, and not
to build up. From these considerations the truth of this
law of the Divine Providence is evident,
68. It cannot however be known how the Lord enters
by influx, and how man is accordingly led, from any
other source than the spiritual world. There man is
with regard to his spirit, thus with regard to his affec
tions and the thoughts derived from them ; for thoughts
and affections constitute his spirit. It is this that
thinks from its own affection, and not the body. The
affections of man, from which his thoughts proceed,
extend into the societies there in every direction, into
more or fewer of them, according to the extent and the
quality of his affection. Within these societies is man as
to his spirit, attached to them as it were with extended
cords circumscribing the space in which he walks. As
he proceeds from one affection to another, so he proceeds
from one society to another, and the part of the society
in which he is, is the centre from which issue his affec
tion and the thought originating in it to all the other
societies as circumferences. These societies are thus in
unbroken connexion with the affections of the centre,
from which he at the time thinks and speaks. He
acquires for himself this sphere — which is the sphere of
his affections and their thoughts — whilst he is in the
world ; if he is evil, in hell ; but if he is good, in heaven.
He is not aware that such is' the case, because he is not
aware that such things exist. Through these societies
the man, that is, his mind, walks free, although bound,
led by the Lord, nor does he take a step into which and
from which he is not so led. It is, moreover, continually
provided that he should have no other knowledge than
that he proceeds of himself in perfect liberty ; he is per-

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 109
mitted to persuade himself of this, because it is from a
law of the Divine Providence, that he should be taken
whither his affection desires. If his affection is evil, he
is taken round through the societies of hell, and if he
does not. look to the Lord, he is brought into them more
inwardly and more deeply ; but still the Lord leads him
as it were by the hand, permitting and withdrawing him,
so far as he is willing from freedom to follow. On the
other hand, if he looks to the Lord, he is conducted from
these societies successively, according to the order and
connexion in which they are arranged, and this order
and connexion are known to no one but the Lord alone.
It is thus that he is brought by continuous degrees out
of hell, upwards towards heaven, and into heaven. The
Lord effects this without man's knowledge, because, if
man were aware of it, he would disturb the continuity of
that progress by leading himself,. It is sufficient that
man learns truths from the Word, and, by means of
them, the nature of goods, and then, from truths and
goods, the nature of evils and falsities ; in order that he
may be capable of being affected by the former, and unin
fluenced by the latter. Before he is acquainted with
goods and truths, he has indeed the power of knowing
evils and falsities, but not of seeing and perceiving them.
It is in this way and in no other that raan can be led
from affection to affection in freedom, and as if from him
self If he acknowledges the Divine .Providence of the
Lord in every single particular, he is then led in agree
ment with his affection for truth and good, by the Lord's
guidance ; but if he does not acknowledge it, he is then
led, in agreement "with his affection for evil and falsity,
by the Lord's permission. He can moreover be led in no
other way, so as to be able to receive intelligence corre-

110 TflE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
spending to his affection ; for he receives it so far as from
truths he fights against evils as if from himself It is
necessary that this should be disclosed, because it is not
known that the Divine Providence is continual, and
operative in the most minute particulars of man's life,
the reason of this ignorance being that the mode of its
operation is unknown.
69. This being premised, we shall now explain what
affection is, in the next place we shall show why man is
led by the Lord by means of his affections rather than
his thoughts, and lastly, that he cannot in any other way
be saved. First. What is ihe nature and meaning of affec
tion. The meaning of the term affection, is similar to
that of love. But love is as it were the fountain, and
affections are as it were the streams flowing from it;
they are thus also continuations of it. Love is as a foun
tain in man's will ; his affections, which are its streams,
flow by continuity into his understanding, and there, by
means of light from truths, they produce thoughts, pre
cisely as the influences of heat in a garden produce the
germinations of plants, by raeans of the rays of light.
Love also is in its origin the heat of heaven, truths in
like raanner are the rays of the light of heaven, and
thoughts are the germinations arising from their conjugal
union. From such a union spring all the societies of
heaven, which are innumerable, and which in their
essence are affections; for they are derived from love
which is the heat, and from wisdom which is the light,
proceeding from the Lord as a sun. Hence these socie
ties, in proportion as the heat in them is united to the
light, and the light to the heat, are affections of good and
truth ; iu this source originate the thoughts of all who
form these societies. From this it is evident that the

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED, 111
societies of heaven are not thoughts, but affections ; ttiat
consequently to be led by these societies is to be led by
affections, or to be led by affections is to be led by socie
ties, and therefore in what now follows, instead of societies
the term affections shall be employed.
Secondly. We shall now show why man is led by the
Lord by means of his affections railier than his thoughts.
When man is led by the Lord by means of his affections,
he is capable of being led according to all the laws of the
Lord's Divine Providence; but not so if he is led by
means of his thoughts ; for the affections do not show
themselves before the raan, but the thoughts do so. The
affections again produce thoughts, but the thoughts do
not produce affections ; it appears indeed as if the
thoughts had this power, but it is a fallacy. And since
the affections produce thoughts, they also produce every
thing belonging to man, because they constitute his life.
This is also well known in the world. For if you keep
a man in his own affection, you have him in bonds, and
lead bim where you please, and in this case one reason is
of as much avail as a thousand ; but if you do not keep
him in his own affection, reasons are of no avail ; for his
affection, not being in harmony with - them, perverts
them, rejects them, or destroys them. The case would
be sirailar if the Lord were to lead man by means of his
thoughts rather than his affections, without the interven
tion of other means. Since also man is led by the Lord
by means of his affections, it appears to him as if he
thought freely from himself, as if he spoke also and acted
in the same way. Hence then it is that the Lord does not
teach man without the use of raeans, but by the employ
ment of them, such, for instance, are those derived from
the Word, from doctrines and preaching founded on, the

112 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
Word, and from conversation and intercourse with others ;
for from these man thinks freely as if from himself.
Thirdly. That man cannot in any other way be saved.
This follows both from what has been said respecting the
laws of the Divine Providence, and also from the obser
vation just made, that thoughts do not produce affections
in man. For if man knew the whole contents of the
Word, and the whole extent of the doctrines founded
upon it, even to the arcana of wisdom which the angels
possess, and moreover thought and spoke them, while his
thoughts were still the concupiscences of evil, it would
notwithstanding be impossible for him to be led out of
hell by the Lord. Hence it is evident that if man were
taught by influx from heaven into his thoughts, it would
be like a man casting seed upon the highway, into water
or snow, or even into fire.
70, Since the Divine Providence acts upon the affec
tions, which belong to man's love and thence to his will,
leading him in and from his own affection into another
that has a near affinity with it, by means of freedom,
but so imperceptibly that he is not at all aware of the
mode in which it acts, and even scarcely knows that such
a thing as a Divine Providence exists, the consequence
is, that many men deny it, and confirm themselves in
opposition to it. This arises from various causes which
occur and are apparent in the world ; such, for instance,
as that the devices and artifices of the wicked are success
ful; that impiety prevails; that there is a hell; that
there ia a blindness of understanding in spiritual things,
and" so many heresies arising from it, each of which,
deriving its origin from one head, spreads into congrega
tions and nations, and thus becomes permanent. Such
are Popery, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Melancthonism,

TflE ATHANASIAN CREED. 113
Moravianism, Arianism, Socinianism, Quakerism, Enthu
siasm, and even Judaism ; and amongst these are Natu
ralism and Atheism, Beyond the confines of Europe
again, throughout several kingdoms, Mahometanism pre
vails as well as heathenism ; the latter embracing various
kinds of worship, and in some instances indicating a
total absence of all worship. All men who do not reflect
upon these subjects in accordance with divine truth,
deny in their hearts that any Divine Providence exists ;
those who hesitate to assert this affirm indeed that a Pro
vidence-exists, but that it is merely of a general charac
ter. Both the one and the other, when they are told
that there is a Divine Providence operative in the most
minute affairs of man's life, either withhold their atten
tion altogether, or regard the subject with little interest.
Those who pay no attention to it, cast it behind them,
and go their way. Those again who bestow upon it
some attention are also like men going their way, and
yet turning round their faces merely to see whether there
is really anything in what they are told ; and when they
see it, saying in their own minds, that such is the com
mon report. Some even of these make this affirmation
with their lips and not from the heart. Since then it is
of importance that the blindness arising from ignorance,
or the darkness occasioned by the absence of light, should
be dispersed, we shall be permitted to see : I. That the
Lord teaches no man without the use of means, but by
such means as are within man's reach, derived from his
hearing and sight, n. That the Lord nevertheless pro
vides that man should be capable of being reformed and
saved by means of the religion which he adopts from
that source, iii. That the Lord provides for every nation
a universal medium of salvation.

il4 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED,
71. I, Ihat ihe Lord teaches no man without the use of
means, but by such means as are within marHs reach, de
rived from his hearing and sight.
This follows from what was said above, to which we
must add, that no immediate revelation is given but that
which has been given in the Word ; of this kind is that
contained in the Prophets and Evangelists, and in the
historical books. Such is its nature, that every man may
be taught from it, according to the affections of his love,
and the thoughts of his understanding derived from them.
Very little, it is true, can they be taught who are not,
with regard to their life, principled in good ; but those
who are so, can be taught much, for they are taught by
enlightenment from the Lord. The nature of the en
lightenment is as follows : — Light conjoined to heat
enters by influx through heaven from the Lord. This
heat, which is the divine love, affects the will, from
which man derives his affection for good. This light
again, which is the divine wisdom, affects the under
standing, from which man derives the thought of truth.
From these two sources — the will and the understand
ing — all things which belong to man's love and know
ledge are affected, but those only which refer to the sub
ject are called forth into exercise, and required to be
present. Enlightenment is effected in this way by the
Lord through the Word, everything in whicb, from the
spiritual principle which it contains, is in communication
with heaven, and the Lord enters, by influx through
heaven, into that which is at the time the subject of man's
contemplation. The influx is also continual and univer
sal, extending in the case of every one to the most
minute particulars. It resembles the heat and light pro
ceeding from the sun of the world, which operate upon

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 115
all the collective and several objects that grow upon the
earth, so that they vegetate according to the quality of
their seed, and their reception of the sun's influence.
What then must be the operation of that heat and light
which proceed from the Divine Sun, and from which all
things live ! To be enlightened through heaven by the
Lord, is to be enlightened through the Holy Spirit ; for
the Holy Spirit is the Divine Proceeding from the Lord
as a sun, from whom heaven has its being. Hence it is
evident that the Lord teaches the man who belongs to
His church mediately through the Word, according to
that love of his will which he acquires by means of his
life; according also to that light of his understanding
which he derives from his love, by means of his know
ledge ; and it is further evident that the teaching cannot
be communicated in any other way, because this is the
divine order of influx. This then is the reason that the
Christian religion is divided into churches, and into here
sies within them, generally and particularly. Those, on
the other hand, who are not within the boundaries of the
Christian world, nor in possession of the Word, are also
taught in the same way ; for they are taught by means
of the religion which they have in place of the Word,
and partly derived from it. The religion of the Maho
metans is in some respects taken from the Word, of both
the Old and New Testaments. In the case of others,
their religion is derived from an ancient Word which
was afterwards lost. With some, again, their religious
belief has descended from the ancient church which was
in possession of this ancient Word, and was, like the
church in our day, divided into a number of sects. From
these sources the religious tenets of several nations were
derived ; but in many instances they became, in process of

116 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
time, more or less idolatrous. They whose forms of wor
ship are from this origin, are taught by the Lord medi
ately through their own religion, in the same way as
Christians are taught through the Word. It is effected,
as we have said, by the Lord through heaven, and thence
by calling their will and understanding into exercise.
But the enlightenment, by means of the forms of religion
of which we have been speaking, is not like that derived
from the Word, In the former case it resembles the
evening when the moon shines with more or less bright
ness ; but in the latter, it resembles the day when the sun
shines with more or less brightness from the morning till
mid-day. Hence the Lord's church extending through
out the whole world resembles, with regard to its light,
which is the divine wisdom, the day from mid-day to
evening, and till night; and, with regard to its heat,
which is the divine love, the year from spring to au
tumn, and till winter.
72. II. That ihe Lord nevertheless provides ihat man
should be capable of being reformed and saved by means of ihe
religion which he adopts from thai source. Throughout the
whole world, where there is any religion, there are two
parties to constitute it. These are God and man, for there
must be conjunction between them. There are also two
things which constitute this conjunction : the good of
love, and the truth of faith ; the former being derived
immediately, but tbe latter mediately from God, It is
again the former by which God leads man, and the latter
by which man is led. This is the sarae thing as was said
above. The truth of faith appears to man as if it were
his own, because it is derived from the things which he
acquires for himaelf as if from himself, God therefore
conjoins Himself to man by means of the good of love,

THE ATHANASIAN CREED, 117
and man conjoins hiraself to God by raeans of the truth
of faith. Because such is the nature of this conjunction,
the Lord accordingly compares hiraself to a bridegroom
and a husband, and the church to a bride and a wife.
The Lord continually enters by influx with the full good
of love, though He cannot be conjoined to man in the
full truth of faith, but only in that degree of it which
man possesses, and this varies. The fulness may exist
in a greater degree with those who live in countries pos
sessed of the Word, and less fully with those who live
where the Word is unknown ; but still it varies both
with the one and the other, according to their knowledge,
and their life in agreement with it. Hence it is, that it
may be greater in the case of those who have not the
Word, than in the case of those who have it. The con
junction of God with man, and of man with God, is
taught in the two Tables which were written with the
finger of God, and are called the Tables of the Covenant,
the Testimony and the Law, In the one is God, in the
other man. These Tables are found with all nations with
whom there is any religion. All nations know from the
first Table, that God is to be acknowledged ; that He is
to be hallowed and worshipped. They know from the
other Table, that stealing is not to be committed, either
openly, or covertly by means of wicked devices ; nor
adultery, nor murder, either by the open violence of the
hand, or by the secret hatred of the heart; nor false
witness borne, either in the presence of a judge, or before
the world ; and further, that these crimes ought not to
exist even in the will. Man knows from his Table the
evils which are to be shunned, and in proportion as he
knows them and shuns them, God conjoins him to Him-
ael:^ and enables him from His Table to acknowledge

118 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
Him, to hallow Him, and to worship Him. He enables
him further to put away evils from his will, and so far as
he does so, to become acquainted with truths in their
fulness. The two Tables are thus conjoined in man, the
Table of God being set above the Table of man, and
they are put as one into the Ark, and above it is the
mercy-seat, which is the Lord; above the mercy-seat
again are the two Cherubim, which are the Word and
that which proceeds from it, and in the Word the Lord
talks with man, as He did with Moses and Aaron between
the Cherubim, Since then the conjunction of the Lord
with man, and of man with the Lord, is produced by
these means, it is evident that every one who is acquainted
with them, and lives according to them, in agreement
not only with the civil and moral law, but also with the
Divine law, is saved ; thus every one in his own religion
whether he is a Christian, a Mahometan, or a heathen.
And what is more, the man who embodies these princi
ples in his life, from a religious motive, although in the
world he knows nothing either of the Lord or of the
Word, is in that state with regard to his spirit, that from
his will he desires to be wise. He is therefore after death
trained by the angels, and acknowledges the Lord ; he
also receives truths according to his affection, and becomes
an angel. Every one of this description resembles a man
who dies an infant; for he is led by the Lord, and
brought up by the angels. Those who have no religious
worship, in consequence of ignorance arising from their
being born in this or that country, are also trained after
death like infants, and according to their civil and moral
life they receive the means of salvation. I have seen
such persons, and at first they had not the appearance of
men ; but afterwards I saw them as men and heard them

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 119
speak sensibly in accordance with the commandments of
the decalogue. To train such persons is the angels' inmost
joy. From these observations it is now evident that the
Lord provides that every man should be capable of being
saved. 73.. III. That the Lord provides for every nation a uni
versal medium of salvation.
It is evident frora what was said above, that man, in
whatever religion he lives, is capable of being saved.
For he is acquainted with the evils and the falsities
arising from them, which are to be shunned, and when
he shuns them, he becomes acquainted with the goods
which are to be done, and the truths which are to be
believed. The goods which he does and the truths which
he believes, before he has shunned evils, are not goods
and truths in themselves, because they are from man,
and not from the Lord. The reason that before this
they are not goods and truths in themselves is, that they
have no life in man. The man who knows all the goods
and truths that are possible to be known, and does not
shun evils, knows nothing ; for his evils absorb them and
cast them out, and he becomes feeble in his understanding,
not indeed in the world, but after his departure from it.
When therefore any man, in any religion whatever, is
acquainted both with the evils and the falsities arising
from them, which he is to shun, and as he shuns them
becomes acquainted with the goods which he is to do,
and the truths which he is to believe, it is evident that
a universal medium of salvation has been provided
by the Lord, in the case of every nation possessing
a religion. This medium exists in all its fulness with
Christians; it exists also, though not in fulness, with
Mahometans and heathens. All other points which form

120 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
the distinction between them, are either matters of
ceremony, in themselves indifferent, or they are goods
and truths which may be either done and believed or
not, and man vet be saved. In each case man sees the
quality of goods and truths, after evils are removed;
the Christian seeing it from the Word, the Mahometan
from the Koran, and the heathen from his religion. The
Christian sees from the Word that God is one ; that the
Lord is the Saviour of the world ; that all good and
truth, in reality such, are from God, and nothing from
man ; that Baptism and the Holy Supper are of divine
appointment ; that there is a heaven and a hell ; that
there is a life after death ; that the man who does good
is admitted into heaven, but that the man who does evil
is removed to hell. The Christian believes these things
from a principle of truth, and does them from a princi
ple of love, if he is not living in evil. All other points
which are not in agreement with these and the decalogue,
he is at liberty to omit. The Mahometan sees from the
Koran, that God is one ; that the Lord is the Son of
God ; that all good is from God ; that there is a heaven
and a hell ; that there is a life after death, and that
the evils forbidden in the decalogue are to be shunned ;
if he acts according to the latter, and believes the former,
he is also saved. The heathen sees from his religion,
that there is a God, that he is to be hallowed and
worshipped, that good proceeds from Him ; that there is
a heaven and a hell ; that there is a life after death ; that
the evils forbidden in the decalogue are to be shunned ;
if he acts according to the latter, and believes the former,
he is saved. And because most c^ the heathen perceive
God as a man, and the God-man is the Lord, therefore
after death, when they are trained by tbe angels, they

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 121
acknowledge the Lord, and afterwards receive truths
from him, of which they were before ignorant. That
they have not the ordinances of Baptism and the Holy
Supper, is no ground of condemnation ; these ordinances
being intended for those alone who are in possession of
the Word froni which the Lord is known ; for they are
the symbols of His Church, and the attestation and
assurance that those who believe and live according to
His commandments in the Word are saved,
74. Some observations shall now be made on the sub
ject of spirits speaking with man. Many persons are
under the belief that man may be taught by God by
means of spirits speaking with him. But those who
believe this, and foster the belief in their will, are not
aware that it is connected with danger to their souls.
Man is, as to his spirit, as long as he lives in the worid,
in the midst of spirits ; but the spirits are not aware that
they are near man, nor is man aware that he is in
connexion with spirits. The reason is, that they are
conjoined immediately as to the affections of the will,
and mediately as to the thoughts of the understanding ;
for man thinks naturally, but spirits think spiritually ;
and further, natural thought and spiritual make one only
by correspondences. It is this that prevents men and
spirits from knowing anything of each other. But as
soon as spirits begin to speak with man, they leave their
own spiritual state and enter into man's natural state ;
and being then aware that they are with man, they con
join themselves with the thoughts of his affection, and
from them converse with him. They cannot enter into
anything but man's natural state, for similar affection
with the thought derived from it effects conjunction in
all cases, but dissimilar affection causes separation. It ia
6

122 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
from this circumstance that when a spirit speaks, he is
in the same principles as the man with whom he speaks,
whether those principles are true or false ; and further,
that he calls them into activity, and by means of his own
affection conjoined to that of the man strongly confirms
them. Hence it is evident that only similar spirits speak
with man, or operate manifestly upon hini ; for manifest
operation coincides with apeech. For thia reason none
but enthusiastic spirits speak with enthusiasts; none but
Quaker spirits operate upon Quakers ; or Moravian
spirits upon Moravians. The case would be similar with
Arians, Socjnians, and other sectarians. All spirits that
speak with man were once men in the world, and were
then of the same character. I have been enabled by
repeated experience to know that such is the case. And
what moreover is ridiculous is, that when a man imagines
that the spirit speaking with him, or operating upon
him, is the Holy Spirit, the spirit also himself believes
that he is so. This is common in the case of enthusiastic
spirits. The danger is thus evident to which a man is
exposed who speaks with spirits, or manifestly perceives
their operation. For he is ignorant of the quality of his
own affection, whether it is good or evil, or with what
other affections it is conjoined ; and if he has a conceit
of his own intelligence, the spirit humors every thought
which proceeds from his affection. So also if any one
has a partiality for certain principles fanned into a flame
by any fire existing amongst those who are not in truths
from any genuine affection, the consequences are similar.
For, when a spirit from a similar affection humors a
man's thoughts or principles, the one then leads the
other, like the blind leading the blind, until they both
fall into the ditch. The Pythonic diviners — that is, those

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 123
who were believed to be inspired by Apollo, the Pythian
god — were formerly of this description ; the Magi also in
Egypt and Babel ; and on account of their conversing
with spirits, and the operation of the spirits upon them
being openly felt, were both called wise. But it was by
this means that the worship of God was converted into
the worship of demons, and the church perished. Such
means of intercourse were accordingly forbidden to the
children of Israel on pain of death.
75. The case is otherwise with those whom the Lord
leads. He leads those who love and will truths from
Hiraself They are enlightened when they read the
Word, for the Lord is present in it, and speaks with
every one according to his capacity. If persons of this
description hear the speech which proceeds frora spirits,
as is also sometimes the case, they are not taught by it,
but are led with such precaution, that in each case the
man is still left to himself For, as was before observed,
every man is led by the Lord through his affections, and
thinks from them, as if from himself, in freedom. If the
case were otherwise, he would be incapable of reforma
tion, and could not possibly be enlightened. Men are,
however, enlightened in various degrees, each according
to the quality of his affection, and his intelligence derived
from it. They who are in the spiritual affection of truth
are elevated into the light of heaven to such a degree
that they perceive the enlightenment. I have been per
mitted to see this enlightenment, and from it to perceive
distinctly that which proceeds from the Lord, and that
which proceeds from the angels ; that which proceeds from
the Lord is written, but not so that which proceeds from
the angels. I have, besides, been permitted to converse
with the angels, as man converses with man, and also to

124 TflE ATHANASIAN CREED.
see the objects which are in heaven, and those which are
in hell. The reason of this was, that the end of the
present church is approaching, and the beginning of the
New Church is at hand, which will be the New Jeru
salem. It is necessary that it should be revealed to this
church that the Lord governs the universe, both heaven
and the world ; that there is a heaven and a hell, and
what is the quality oi^ f-ih ; that men live also as men
after death ; in heaven, those who are led by the Lord,
but in hell, those who are guided by themselves ; that
the Word is the Divine Principle itself of the Lord on
the earth ; and further, that the last judgment is accom
plished, lest man should be for ever expecting it to take
place in his own world ; besides many other things
relating to the light which is now arising after the
darkness. 76. The tenth law of the Divine Providence is : That
man from his own prudence has led himself to eminence
and opulence, when ihey lead astray, for he is led of ihe
Divine Providence to such things as do not lead astray, but
are serviceable with regard to eternal life; for all ihe dealings
of ihe Divine Providence in relation to him regard what is
etemal, because ihe life which is Ood, and from which man
is man, is eternal. There are two things which principally
affect the minds {animos) of men, viz., eminence and
opulence. The former originates in the love of glory
and honors, the latter in the love of money and pos
sessions. They principally affect the mind, because they
specially belong to the natural man, and hence merely
natural inen have no other notion regarding them than
that they are real blessings, which proceed from God,
though they may possibly be curses, as may be clearly
inferred from the fact, that they are found in the posses-

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 125
sion of the evil as well as of the good. The eminent
and the opulent have been seen by me in the heavens,
and also in the hells, and therefore, as has been observed,
when eminence and opulence do not lead astray, they
proceed from God ; but when they do so, they are
derived from hell. The reason that man does not in the
world distinguish whether they are the gifts of heaven,
or whether they are derived fi i hell, is, that they can
not be distinguished by the natural man separate from
the spiritual ; they may however be distinguished by the
spiritual man in the natural, but even this with difficulty,
because the natural man is so thoroughly taught from
infancy to counterfeit the spiritual man. Hence it is,
that he not only affirms, but can also persuade himself to
believe, that the uses which he performs to the church,
to his country, lo society and his fellow-citizens, and thus
to his neighbor, are really performed for their sakes,
although probably the ends which he had in view in the
performance of them were hiraself and the world. He
is in this state of blindness because he has not put away
evils from himself by means of any combat with them ;
for as long as they remain, he cannot from his spiritual
principle see anything in his natural principle. He is
like a man in a dream, who imagines himself awake, or
like a bird of night, that regards the darkness as light.
Such is the natural man, when the gate of heavenly
light is closed ; this light being the spiritual principle
which enlightens him. Since then it is of the greatest
moment that he should know whether eminence and
opulence, the love of glory and honor, the love of
money and possessions, are ends or means — because if
they are the former, they are curses, but if the latter,
they are blessings — we shall first treat of ends and means.

126 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
77. The end, the means or causes, and the effect, are
also called the principal end, the intermediate ends, and
the ultimate end. The latter are called ends, because
the principal end, which is everything in them — both
their esse and soul — produces them. The principal end
is man's will's love, the intermediate ends are subordinate
loves, and the ultimate end is the will's love existing as
it were in its own effigy. Since the principal end is the
will's love, it follows that the intermediate ends, because
they are subordinate loves, are foreseen, provided, and
produced, through the understanding; and that the
ultimate end is the use foreseen, provided, and produced
by the will's love, through the understanding ; for every
thing that love produces is use. It is necessary to pre
mise this, that the assertion just made may be under
stood, viz., that eminence and opulence may be blessings,
and that they may also be curses.
78. Now since the end, which is man's will's love,
provides or procures for itself, through the understanding,
the means through which it ma.y exist, the ultimate end,
to which it progresses through the means, is the existing
end ; and since Ibis end is use, it follows that the end
loves the means, when they perform this use, and that,
if they do not perform it, it does not love them, but
rejects them, and through the understanding provides or
procures for itself others. Hence the quality of the man
is evident, whose principal end is the love of eminence,
that is, the love of glory and honors ; or the love of
opulence, that is, the love of money and possessions;
that he regards, for instance, all raeans as subservient to
him for the attainment of the ultimate end, which is the
existing love [i. e., the love in possession of its object],
and this is use to himself. Take as an example the priest

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 127
whose principal end is the love of money or possessions.
His means are the ministry, the Word, his doctrine, hia
erudition, and his preaching founded upon them, and
hence the instruction of the members of the churoh, their
reformation and salvation. These means are estimated
by him according to the end and for the sake of it, but
still they are not loved — although in some cases they
appear as if they were so — for opulence is the object of
his love, because it is the first and the ultimate end, and
this end is, as was observed, everything in the means.
He alleges indeed that his will is that the members of the
church should be instructed, reformed, and saved; but
because he speaks of these objects, while he is at the
same time influenced by opulence as an end, they form
no part of his love; they are only the means of acquiring
reputation and gain on their account. The case of the
priest is similar, whose principal end is the love of pre
eminence over others ; and if gain or honor is removed
from the means, it will become apparent. The case is
quite altered if the instruction, the reformation, and the
salvation of souls, are the principal end, while opulence
and eminence are the means ; for the priest is then an
entirely different character. In this case he is spiritual,
while in the former case he was natural. In the former
instance opulence and eminence are blessings, but in the
latter they are curses. It may be shown by much expe
rience derived from the spiritual world that the case is
so. Many have been there seen and heard who affirmed
that they had taught and written, and produced reforma
tion, but when the end or their will's love was made
apparent, it was then plain that they did all for the sake
of themselves and the world, and nothing for the sake
of God and their neighbor ; that they even cursed the

128 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
one and injured the other. Such are those who are
meant in Matthew vii. 22, 23; and in Luke xiii.
26, 27.
79. Let us take another example, in the case of a king,
a prince, a consul, a governor, or an official, whose prin
cipal end is the love of rule, and the raeans all things
connected with their own sway, and with the manage
ment and discharge of their office. The uses which per
sons of this kind perform, are not performed from any
regard to the good of the kingdom, the commonwealth,
the country, society, or their fellow-citizens, but for the
sake of the delight of ruling, thus for the sake of them
selves. Real uses are not in their estimation uses ; their
uses minister to their pride, and they perform them for
the sake of appearance and distinction, without any real
loye for them ; they extol them, and still treat them with
contempt, just as a master does his slaves. I have seen
such characters after death, and have regarded them with
astonishment. They were devils amongst fiery devils ; for
the love of rule, when it is the principal end, is the very
fire of hell. I have seen others also whose principal end
was not the love of rule, but the love of God and their
neighbor, which is the love of uses ; and these were
angels to whom was given dominion in the heavens.
From these cases, again, it is evident that eminence may
be either a blessing or a curse ; that when it is a bless
ing, it is from the Lord, but when it is a curse, it is from
the devil. The nature and quality of the love of rule,
when it is the principal end, may be seen by every wise
man, from that kingdom which is meant in the Word by
Babel, in that it has set its throne in the heavens above
the Lord, arrogating to itself all His power. Hence it
has abolished the divine means of worship, which are

THE ATHANASIAN CREED, 129
derived from the Lord through the Word, and in their
stead has established such as are demoniacal, consisting
in the adorations offered to men living and dead, to
sepulchres also, to dead bodies, and to bones. This
kingdom is described as Lucifer in Isaiah xiv, 4-24 ;
those however who have exercised this dominion from
the love of it, are designated by this name, but not so
the rest,
80, Since the love of rule and the love of wealth uni
versally prevail in the Christian world, and these loves
are at the present day so deeply inrooted, that mankind
are not aware that they in any case lead astray, it is
therefore of importance that their true qualities should
be described. They lead astray every man who does not
shun evils on the ground that they are sins ; for he who
does not shun evils on this ground does not fear God, and
therefore remains a natural man. And because the loves
which belong to the natural man are the love of rule
and the love of wealth, he therefore does not see, with
any interior acknowledgment, the nature or quality of
these loves in his own case. He does not see it unless
he is reformed, and he is reformed only by means of
combat against evils. It is believed that reformation is
effected by means of faith ; but the faith of God does not
precede such combat. When man is reformed in this
way, light then enters by influx from the Lord through
heaven, importing to him both the inclination and the
power to see the quality of these loves, whether they rule
or serve in his case, thus whether they are regarded in
the first place, and thus form as it were the head ; or
whether they are regarded in the second place, and thus
form as it were thefeet. In the one case they lead astray
and become curses; in the other, so far from leading
6*

130 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
astray, they become blessings, I can solemnly affirm
that all those with whom the love of rule occupies the
first place are inwardly devils. This love is known from
the gratification which it affords, for this gratification
exceeds every other in the life of men. It is continually
exhaled from hell, and the exhalation appears like the
fire of a large furnace, kindling the hearts of men whom
the Lord does not protect ; for the Lord protects all who
are reformed. The Lord notwithstanding leads even the
former, but it is in hell ; in the world however He leads
them, though it is only by means of outward restraints,
such as the fears produced by tbe penalties of the law,
by the loss of reputation, of honor, of gain, and of the
pleasures arising from them ; and also by means of
remuneration. But still He cannot lead them out of
hell, because the love of rule does not admit of internal
restraints, such as the fears which relate to God, and
the affections which belong to goodness and truth — these
being the means by which the Lord leads all who follow,
both to heaven and in heaven.
81, We shall now make a few remarks on the subject
that man is led of the Divine Providence to such things
as do not lead astray, but are serviceable to him with
reference to eternal life, for these things also refer to emi
nence and opulence. It may be shown that this is the
case from what has been witnessed by me in the heavens.
The heavens are divided into societies, in each of which
there are the eminent and the opulent ; the eminent being
in such glory, and the opulent in such abundance, that
the glory and the abundance of this world are, with
respect to them, almost as nothing. All the eminent
however are possessed of wisdom, and all the opulent of
knowledge, because their eminence originates in their

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 131
wisdom, and their opulence in their knowledge. This
eminence and opulence may be acquired in the world,
both by those who are eminent and opulent in it, and
also by those who are not so ; for they are acquired by
all who love wisdom and knowledge. To love wisdom
is to love real uses, and to love knowledge is to love
acquaintance with goodness and truth for the sake of
these uses. When uses are loved in preference to self
and the world, and acquaintance with goodness and truth
is loved for the sake of these uses, they then occupy the
first place, eminence and opulence the second. This is
the case with all who are eminent and opulent in the
heavens; from wisdom they regard the eminence, and
from knowledge the opulence, in which they live, pre
cisely as a man regards his garments,
82, The eminence and opulence of the angels of heaven
shall be also described. There are in the societies of
heaven superior and inferior governors, all arranged by
the Lord, and placed in subordination to each other,
according to their wisdom and intelligence. Their chief,
who excels the rest in wisdom, dwells in the midst of
them, in a palace so magnificent, that nothing in the
world can be compared to it. Its a,rchitectural features
are so astonishing that I can with truth assert that they
cannot, even to a hundredth part, be described in natural
language ; for it is Art herself there realizing her own
skill. In the interior of the palace are apartments and
chambers, all the furniture and ornaments of which are
bright with gold and various precious stones, and in such
forms as can be imitated by no artist in the world, either
in painting or sculpture. What again is marvellous is,
that every individual thing, even to objects the most
minute, is adapted for use. Every one who enters sees

132 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
the use for which they are designed, and perceives it too
as if in each case it transpired through its own form.
But no wise man remains long with his eye fixed upon
the forms ; he rather in mind contemplates the uses,
because these gratify his wisdom. Around the palace
are porticos, paradisiacal gardens, and smaller palaces,
each in itself a heavenly spot clad in forms of beauty
peculiar to itself Besides these and many other magnifi
cent objects, there are troops of attendant guards, every
member of them clad in splendid garments. The subor
dinate governors enjoy similar magnificence and splen
dor, according to the degrees of their wisdom, and their
wisdom again is according to the degrees of their love of
uses. Such objects belong not only to those in authority,
but also to the inhabitants, all of whom love uses, and
perform them by raeans of various occupations. There
are however but few things which it is possible to describe,
while those which surpass description are innumerable.
The latter, being in their origin spiritual, do not fall
within the ideas of the natural man, and therefore not
within any expressions of his language beyond these,
that wisdom builds herself a habitation, making it suit
able for herself, and that then everything which lies most
deeply concealed in any science, or in any art, hastens to
her assistance and does her bidding. This is now written,
in order that it may be known that all things in the
heavens also refer to eminence and opulence, but that
there eminence is the eminence of wisdom, and opulence
the opulence of knowledge ; and that such are the objects
to which man, by means of the Divine Providence, is led
by the Lord.
83. We shall now make some observations concerning
the uses by means of which men and angels attain wis-

THB ATHANASIAN CREED. 133
dom. To love uses is the sarae thing as tc love our
neighbor, use in the spiritual sense being our neighbor.
This may be seen from the fact, that every man loves
another, not for his face and person, but for his will
and understanding ; for he loves the man who is sound
in both these faculties, rather than the man who is faulty
either in the one or the other. And because man is loved
or not loved for these faculties, it follows that the neigh
bor is that property from which every one is a man,
that is, his spiritual nature. If you were to place ten
men before you, that you might select one from amongst
them as your colleague in any office or matter of business,
should you not examine them carefully, and select the
one who came nearest* to your wishes with regard to
the use which you required? This man then would
be your neighbor in preference to the rest, and the ob
ject of your love. Or again, suppose you were to ap
proach ten maidens for the purpose of making choice
of one of them as your wife, should you not carefully
examine the qualifications of each, and betroth, if she
consented, the one who became the object of your affec
tion ? She would then be your neighbor in preference
to the rest. Were you to say in your own mind, that
every man alike is your neighbor, and therefore to be
loved without distinction ; in this case, a devil incarnate
might be loved with as much affection as an angel in
human form, or an abandoned woman equally with a
chaste virgin. The reason that use is a man's neighbor
* The Latin term for neighbor is proximus, signifying nearest; for
whatever is nearest to man is properly his neighbor. Since therefore
the principle of good or use is nearer to him than anything else, it is
pre-eminently his neighbor. This idea of proximity Is not so fuUy sug
gested by the English term. — Translator.

134 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
is, that every raan is valued and loved not for his under
standing and will alone, but for the uses which he per
forms, or is able to perform, from them. Hence a man of
use is a man according to his use ; and a man of no use
is a man who is in reality not a man ; for of him it is said
that he is useful for nothing. For, although such a man
is tolerated in a civil coraraunity in the world, whilst he
lives in accordance with his own principle, still, after
death, when he becomes a spirit, he is cast out into a
desert. Man is therefore of the sarae quality or character
as his use. There are however manifold uses, which may
be divided generally into heavenly and infernal. Heav
enly uses are those which promote more or less the wel
fare of the church, of our country, of society, and of our
fellow-citizen, and which do this more nearly or more
remotely for the sake of such objects as ends. Infernal
uses, on the contrary, are those which minister to self, and
to such persons or objects as are connected with self;
and when they do promote the welfare of the church, of
country, of society, or of a fellow-citizen, it is not for the
sake of them as ends, but for the sake of self as an end.
It is nevertheless the duty of every one, from a principle
of love, though not from self-love, to provide for himself
and those dependent on him, the necessaries and requi
sites of life. When a man loves uses in the first place
by doing them, and in the second place loves the world
and himself, the former is then his spiritual principle, and
the latter his natural ; and in this case the spiritual bears
rule, and the natural serves. Hence it is evident what
the spiritual principle is, and what the natural. This is
what is implied by the Lord's words in Matthew, " Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things shall be added unto you " (vi. 33). The

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 135
kingdom of God is the Lord and His church ; and His
righteousness is spiritual, moral, and civil good; and
every good which is done from the love of them is use.
The reason that all things will then be added is, that,
when use occupies the first place, the Lord, from whom
all good is derived, occupies the first place, and bears
rule, and bestows everything that conduces to eternal life
and happiness. For, as has been observed, all things
which relate to the Divine Providence of the Lord with
man, regard what is eternal. The all things which will
be added are here spoken of with reference to food and
clothing ; because by food is meant everything internal
which nourishes the soul, and by clothing, everything
external which, like the body, clothes it. Everything
internal refers to love and wisdom, and everything exter
nal to opulence and eminence. From these observations
it is now evident what is implied by loving uses for the
sake of uses, and what the uses are from which man
derives wisdom — that wisdom, from which, and according
to which, every man possesses eminence and opulence in
heaven. 84. Since man was created to perform uses, and that
is, to love his neighbor, therefore all men, however
numerous they are, who enter heaven, have to perform
uses. According to uses and the love of them, the inha
bitants of heaven enjoy all their delight and blessedness,
and heavenly joy is derived from no other source. He
who'believes that this joy is conferred in a state of idle
ness is much deceived; for no idle person is tolerated
even in hell, its inhabitants being in work-houses, and
under a judge, who sets his prisoners the different kinds
of work which they are every day io perform. iTo those
who do not perform their work, neither food nor clothing

136 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
is given, but they stand hungry and naked, and in this way
they are driven to it. The difference is, that in hell uses
are performed from fear, but in heaven from love, and it is
not fear but love that imparts joy. The angels are how
ever permitted to vary their occupations in different ways,
in company with others, and this produces recreations
which are also uses, I have been permitted to see
several things in heaven, as well as in the world, and in
the human body, and at the same time to ponder over
their uses, when it has been revealed to me, that every
thing in them, great as well as small, was created from
use, in use, and for use ; and that the part in which the
ultimate conducing to use ceases, is separated as noxious,
and as it were condemned and cast out.
85. Some observations shall now be made respecting
the life of animals, and afterwards respecting the soul of
vegetables. The whole world and all the collective and
several objects which it contains, derived their existence,
and still subsist from the Lord, the Creator of the uni
verse. There are two Suns, the sun of the spiritual
world, and the sun of the natural ; the former is the
di"vine love of the Lord ; the latter is pure fire. From
the sun which is divine love the whole work of creation
began, and through the sun which is fire it was brought
to completion. Everything again which proceeds from
the former of these suns is called spiritual, but everything
which proceeds from the latter, natural. That which is
spiritual from its origin has life in itself, but that which
is natural from its origin has no life in itself; and because
from these two sources of the universe all things which
are contained in both worlds derived their existence, and
still subsist, it follows that the spiritual and the natural
exist in every created object in this world ; the spiritual

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 137
being as the soul, and the natural as the bod/ ; or
the spiritual as the internal, and the body as the ex
ternal ; or the spiritual as the cause, and the natural as
the effect. Every wise man is aware that these two
things cannot in any case whatever be separated ; for if
you separate the cause from the effect, the effect perishes ;
or if you separate the internal from the external, the
latter perishes, just as if you were to separate the soul
from the body. It has not been hitherto known that
there is this conjunction in all the several objects of
nature, even in the most minute of them ; and the reason
that it is not known arises from the ignorance which
prevails regarding the spiritual world, the sun, the light
and heat there, and also from the insanity of sensual
men, in ascribing all things to nature, and seldom any
thing but creation in general to God, although there
neither is nor can be, in nature, anything whatever in
which there is not a spiritual principle. In what follows
will be shown the existence of this principle, and the
mode of its existence, in all the collective and several
objects which are contained in the three kingdoms of
nature. 86. From the subjects and objects of the three king
doms of nature, which erabrace all things in the world,
the following point may be illustrated and confirmed : —
that the spiritual principle is united with the natural, in
all the collective and several parts of the world, in the
same way as the soul is united with the body, in all its
collective and several parts ; or as the efficient cause is
with the effect, in all its collective and several parts ; or
as the internal producing principle is with its own pro
duce, in all its collective and several parts. That there
is such a union of spiritual and natural things in all the

138 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
collective and several subjects and objects of the animal
kingdom, is evident from the wonderful facts which have
been observed by learned men and societies, and submit
ted to the examination of those who love to investigate
causes. It is a generally known fact that animals of
every kind, great and small, both those which walk or
creep upon the earth, and those which fly in the air or
swim in the waters, know from an innate and implanted
principle called instinct or nature, how their species must
be propagated, and their young after birth be brought
up and fed, as well as the kinds of food suitable for them.
They know again, in each case, their proper food from
its mere appearance, smell, or taste, and where it must be
sought for and collected. They know further their own
dwellings and places of resort, where also their compa
nions and mates are to be found from hearing the sound
of their voice, and according to any variation in its tone
they are acquainted with their wants. The knowledge
of such things regarded in itself is spiritual, as well as
the affection from which it proceeds ; the clothing of
them both being derived from nature, and their produc
tion also through her ' means. An animal is moreover
precisely like man as to the organs, the members, and
the viscera of the body : like man it has eyes, and thence
sight; ears, and thence the sense of hearing; nostrils,
and thence the sense of smell ; a mouth and tongue, and
thence the sense of taste ; the cuticular sense also with
all its variety throughout every part of the body. With
regard again to the interiors of its body, it has similar
viscera ; two brains, a heart and lungs, a stomach, liver,
pancreas, spleen, mesentery and intestines, with all the
other organs necessary for producing chyle and blood,
and re-purifying the system, besides the organs of sepa-

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 139
ration and generation. It resembles man further with
regard to its nerves, blood-vessels, skins, cartilages, and
bones ; and such is the resemblance, that man with
regard to these points is an animal. That all these
things in man have a correspondence with the societies
of heaven, has been shown in many particulars in the
Arcana Cekstia ; consequently they are also similar in
the case of animals. From this correspondence it is
evident that the spiritual acts upon the natural, and by
means of it produces its own effects, as the principal
cause acting by means of its instrumental cause. These
are however merely general signs bearing witness to the
conjunction which exists in this kingdom.
87. The particular signs bearing similar testimony are
still more numerous and striking, and with sorae species
of animals they are such that the sensual man, whose
thoughts originate in matter alone, places the powers
which belong to the inferior animals upon a footing of
equality with those which belong to man. From his
infatuated intelligence he concludes, that their states of
life are similar even after death, alleging that if he lives,
they live ; or if they die, he dies also. The signs which
bear this testimony, and still infatuate the sensual man
are, that in the case of some animals there appear similar
prudence and cunning, similar connubial love, similar
friendship and as it were charity, similar probity and
benevolence ; in a word, a moral nature similar to that
which exists iu man. Dogs, for example, from a genius
innate in them, as if from a sort of mental power, know
how to keep faithful watch ; from a hint of their master's
affection they are as it were acquainted with , his will ;
from perceiving the scent of his footsteps or his clothes,
they can trace him out ; they know the bearings of the

140 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
country in which they live, and speedily find their way
home, even though it lies through pathless tracts, or in
the midst of dense forests. From these and other traits
of a similar kind the sensual man concludes, that the dog
is endowed with knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.
Nor is this to be wondered at, when he ascribes these
powers in the case of the dog as well as in his own case
to nature. It is otherwise with the spiritual man ; he
sees clearly that there is some spiritual principle which
leads in all these instances, and that it is in union with
the natural. Particular signs again are observable in
birds : they know how to build their nests, to lay in them
their eggs, to sit upon them, to hatch their young, and
afterwards, from that affection which exists between
parents and offspring, to provide them with warmth
under their wings, and food from their bills, until they
are fledged and provided with wings, when they too,
without any instruction, are found to be possessed of all
their parents' knowledge, deriving it from that spiritual
principle which forms their soul — the soul from which
they provide for theraselves. Particular signs again are
the contents of the egg, in which lie concealed the rudi-
raents of the new bird, encompassed with every element
ministering to the formation of the fetus, from its begin
nings in the head to the full contexture of all the parts
of the body. Can such a provision be made by nature ?
For this process involves not only being produced, but
also being created ; and nature does not create. What
has nature to do with life, but that life may be clothed
from it and come forth, presenting itself to view in form
as an aniraated being? Amongst the particular signs
bearing the same testimony are caterpillars. When they
are about to undergo a change of form, they enclose

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. l4l
themselves as it were in a womb, that they may have a
second birth. In this state they are changed into nymphs
and chrysalises, and after the necessary labor and time
they emerge into beautiful butterflies, and soar into the
air as their heaven, where male and female sport together,
as married partners with each other. They now feed
upon odoriferous flowers, and lay their eggs, thus making
provision that their species may live after them. The
spiritual man sees that this rivals his own re-birth, and
is a representative type of his own resurrection, and thus
is spiritual. Signs still more striking are observable
amongst bees. They have a form of government analo
gous to those amongst men. They construct themselves
cells of wax, according to the rules of art, in a regular
series, and provided with convenient passages through
which to come and go ; they then fill them with honey
collected from the flowers. They appoint over them
selves a queen, from whom, as from a common parent,
their offspring is to proceed. She dwells above her peo
ple in the midst of her attendant bees, which, when she is
about to become a mother, follow her with a promiscuous
crowd in their train, as she goes from cell to cell, laying
in each her little egg. She does this without intermis
sion until the matrix is exhausted, when she returns
home, and repeats ¦ again and again the same process.
Her attendants, wliich are called drones, performing no
other use than waiting, as so many domestics upon one
mistress, and possibly inspiring her with something of
amatory desire, but a.ssisting in no labor, are then con
sidered useless, and therefore that they may not invade
and consume the substance and labors of others, they are
dragged out and stripped of their wings. In this way
the bees clear their communities of their indolent mem-

142 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
bers. Afterwards again, the new offspring, when they
have attained their growth, are commanded by the gene
ral voice, which is heard as a loud humming, to take their
departure and to seek shelter and food for themselves.
They therefore depart, and, collecting into a swarm,
establish a similar order of things in a hive of their own.
These and many other particulars, which have been
observed and published by persons devoted to investi
gations of this kind, are not unlike the forms of gov
ernment, which have been established and arranged in
kingdoms and republics by the intelligence and wisdom
of man, according to the laws of justice and judgment.
Like men again, the bees, as if they were aware of the
approach of winter, lay up a store of provisions for it,
that they may not at that season die of want. Who can
deny that such indications of intelligence as these are
spiritual in their origin ? Or can similar indications of
it be possibly derived from any other origin ? They are
all of them to me arguments and proofs of a spiritual
influx into natural objects, and I am thoroughly asto
nished how facts of this kind can be regarded as argu
ments and proofs of the operation of nature alone, as
they are by some men who are infatuated by their own
self-derived inteUigence.
88. No one can understand the nature and quality of
the life which the beasts of the earth, the birds of heaven,
and the fishes of the sea enjoy, unless he is also ac
quainted with the nature and quality of their soul. It is
a fact well known that every animal has a soul, for all
animals live, and life is the soul, for this reason they are
also called in the Word living souls. It cannot be bet
ter known from any other source than the spiritual
world, that the soul in its ultimate form, which is cor-

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 143
poreal, such as it appears before the natural sight, is an
animal. For in the spiritual world, just as in the natural,
there are seen beasts, and birds, and fishes of every kind,
and in form so similar, that they cannot be distinguished
from those in the natural world. But the difference is,
that in the spiritual world they have an apparent exist
ence from the affections of the angels and spirits, so that
they are appearances of affections. For this reason they
also disappear as soon as the angel or spirit departs, or
his affection ceases. Hence it is evident, that their soul
consists of nothing else ; and consequently that there are
as many genera and species of animals in existence, as
there are genera and species of affections. It will be
seen in what follows that the affections, which are repre
sented by animals in the spiritual world, are not interior
spiritual affections, but exterior, which are called natu
ral ; and further, that there is not a hair or a thread of
wool on any beast, not the filament of a quill or feather
upon any bird, not the apex of a scale or fin upon any
fish, that is not formed from the life of their soul, and
thus that is not derived from the spiritual clothed with
the natural. But some remarks shall first be made with
respect to the animals which appear in heaven, in hell,
and in the world of spirits, which is intermediate in rela
tion to them.
89. Because the whole heaven, the whole hell, and the
whole world of spirits are each divided into societies, and
the societies are arranged according to the genera and
species of affections, as was just observed, therefore one
genus of animals with its species appears in one society,
and another in another, and- thus all the genera with their
species included. In the societies of heaven appear the
gentle and clean animals ; in the societies of hell, the

144 THE ATflANASlAN CBEED.
savage and unclean beasts ; and in the world of spirits
beasts of an intermediate kind. They have been fre
quently seen by me, and from their appearance I have
been enabled to learn the quality of the angels or spirits
thaA were there ; for all these are known from the appear
ances which are near them and around them, their
affections also from various objects, as well as from the
animals. There have been seen by me in the heavens
lambs, sheep, and goats so similar to those in the world
that there is no difference whatever between them ;
turtle-doves also and pigeons, birds of paradise, and
many others beautiful in form and color ; fishes too in
the waters, but these were in the lowest parts of heaven.
In the hells, on the other hand, there are seen dogs,
foxes, wolves, tigers, swine, and* mice, and many other
kinds of savage and unclean beasts, besides poisonous
serpents of many species, crows also, owls and birds of
night. E*ut in the world of spirits are seen camels, ele
phants, horses, asses, oxen, stags, lions, leopards, and
bears ; eagles also and kites, magpies, peacocks, and
quails. There are also seen compound animals, such as
were seen by the prophets and are described in the
Word, as in the Rev. xiii. 2, and elsewhere. Since there
is such a resemblance between the animals that appear in
that world and those in this, that they cannot be at all
distinguished, and since they derive their existence from
the affections of the angels of heaven, or from the lusts
of the spirits of hell, it follows that natural affections and
lusts are their souls, and that these being clothed with a
body are animals in a corresponding form. But what
affection or lust forms the soul of this or that animal, be
it a beast or a wild beast of the earth, a bird of the day
or of the night, a fish of limpid water or foul, it does not

. THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 145
belong to this place to explain. Animals are frequently
mentioned in the Word, and they have there a significa
tion according to their souls. The signification of lambs,
sheep, she-goats, rams, kids, he-goats, steers, oxen, camels,
horses, asses, stags, and also of some birds, may be seen
explained in the Arcana Celesiia.
90. Having premised these observations, we shall now
explain what the soul of beasts is. The soul of beasts
regarded in itself is spiritual; for affection, of whatever
kind it is, whether good or evil, is spiritual ; for it is a
derivation from some love, and derives its "origin from
the light and heat which proceed from the Lord as a
sun, and whatever proceeds from that source is spiritual.
It is evident from what was before said on the subject
of e"vil loves and the insane lusts originating in them,
belonging to infernal genii and spirits, that evil affections
which are called concupiscences are also from that
source. Beasts and wild beasts, the souls of which are
similar evil affections, such as mice, poisonous serpents,
crocodiles, basilisks, vipers, and the like, with the various
noxious insects, w6re not created from the beginning,
but originated with hell in ponds, marshes, rank and
fetid waters, and where there are cadaverous and filthy
effluvia, with which the malignant loves of the infernal
societies communicate. I have been permitted to know
by experience, that a communication between such
objects exists. There is again inherent in all that is
spiritual a plastic force, where there are homogeneous
exhalations in nature present, and there is also a propa-
gative force, for it forms not only the organs of sense
and motion, but also those of prolification, by means of
wombs or eggs, ^ut at the beginning, useful and clean
beasts alone were created, the souls of which are good
7

146 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
affections. It must, however, be borne in mind that the
souls of beasts are not spiritual in the degree in which
the souls of men are so, but they are spiritual in an
inferior degree ; for degrees of spiritual things exist.
The affections also of the inferior degree, although re
garded according to their origin they are spiritual, must
still be spoken of as natural, and that because they
resemble the affections of the natural man. There are
in man three degrees of the natural affections, and in
like manner there are three degrees of the lower animals.
In the lowest degree are the insects of various kinds ; in
the higher degree are the fowls of heaven ; and in the
degree still higher are the beasts of the earth, which were
created from the beginning.
91. The difference between men and beasts is like that
between waking and dreaming, or between light and
shade. Man is spiritual, and at the same time natural ;
a beast, on the other hand, is not spiritual, but natural.
Man possesses a will and an understanding, his will
being the receptacle of the heat of heaven, which is love ;
and his understanding being the receptacle of the light
of heaven, which is wisdom. A beast, on the other
hand, has neither will nor understanding; but instead
of the former it has affection, and instead of the latter,
knowledge. The will and the understanding in man
can act as one, and they can also act not as one; for
man can from his understanding think that which has
nothing to do with his will, and that even to which his
will is opposed ; he can, on the other hand, will that
which he does not think. With a beast, again, affection
and knowledge make one, and cannot be separated ; for
its knowledge is limited to its affection, and its affection
is according to its knowledge. And since the two facul-

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 147
ties, which are called knowledge and affection, cannot in
the case of a beast be separated, therefore it is that a
beast has been unable to destroy the order of its life, and
is born into all the knowledge which" belongs to its
affection. The case is otherwise with man. His two
faculties of life, which are called understanding and will,
can, as we have. observed, be separated; therefore it is
that he had power to destroy the order of his life, by
thinking in opposition to his will, and by willing in
opposition to his understanding, and that by this means
he also destroyed it. Hence it is that he is born into
mere ignorance — that out of it he ,may be introduced
into order through the various grades of knowledge, by
means of the understanding. The order into which he
was created is to love God above all things, and his
neighbor as himself, and the state into which he came,
after he had destroyed this order, is that of loving him
self above all things, and the world as himself. And
since he has a spiritual mind, which, being above his
natural mind, has the power of contemplating such sub
jects as belong to heaven, to the church, and also to civil
society so far as regards its morals and laws ; and since
these subjects refer on the one hand to the goods and
truths which are called spiritual, moral, and civil —
besides the natural goods and truths belonging to the
various grades of knowledge — and on the other hand, to
their opposites, which are falsities and evils, therefore it
is that man has the power not only of thinking analy
tically, and thence drawing his conclusions, but also of
receiving influx through heaven from the Lord, and of
becoming intelligent and wise. No beast is capable of
this ; because its knowledge, not being derived from any
understanding, is the knowledge which originates in

148 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
affection — that affection which constitutes its soul. This
knowledge originating in affection exists in everything
apiritual, because the spiritual principle, proceeding from
the Lord as a sun, is light united to heat, or wisdom
united to love ; the knowledge also originates in wisdom,
and the affection in love, in the degree which is called
natural. And since man has both a spiritual mind iind
a natural raind, the former being above the latter, and
of such a nature that it has the capacity of contemplat
ing and loving truths and goods in every degree, either
in conjunction with the natural mind, or separately from
it, it follows that his interiors, which belong to both
minds, are capable of being elevated by the Lord to a
conjunction with Himself; hence it is that every man
lives for ever. This is not the case with the beast ; it
does not rejoice in the possession of any spiritual mind,
though it has a natural one ; therefore it is that its inte
riors, which originate merely in knowledge and affection,
cannot be elevated by the Lord or conjoined with Him ;
and . therefore it does not live after death. A beast ia
indeed led by a kind of spiritual influx falling into its
soul, but its spiritual principle being incapable of eleva
tion can only be determined downwards. This prin
ciple, therefore, is capable of regarding only such things
as belong to its affection, referring merely to nourish
ment, habitation, and propagation — and of becoming
acquainted with them by means of sight, smell, and
taste, Man again, by virtue of his spiritual mind, has
the capacity of thinking rationally ; he therefore has the
faculty of speech ; for speech belongs to thought derived
from understanding, which is capable of seeing truths in
a spiritual light. A beast, on the other hand, which has
no thoughts derived from understanding, but merely

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 149
knowledge derived from affection, can only utter sounds,
varying this expression of its affection according to its
appetites. 92, We shall now make some observations respecting
the vegetable kingdom, and the soul connected with it,
which is called the vegetative soul; since it is not known
in the world that this soul also is spiritual. By the
vegetative soul is meant the conatus or effort to produce
a vegetable from seed, through all the progressive stages,
to new seeds, and by this means to raultiply itself to
infinity, and propagate itself for ever. For there is in
every vegetable an idea as it were of the Infinite and
Eternal ; since one seed might be multiplied for a num
ber of years so as to fill the whole earth, and propagated
also from seed to seeds in endless succession. This
power, associated as it is with the wonderful process of
growing from a root into a shoot, then into a stalk, next
into branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits, until the plant
arrives at new seeds, is not a natural, but a spiritual
power. In a similar manner again is this spiritual
power evinced by the resemblance which vegetables
bear in many respects to the objects belonging to the
animal kingdom. That they exist, for instance, from
seed ; that there is in them as it were a prolific prin
ciple ; that they produce a plant as their infant, with
the stalk as its body, the branches as its arms, the
summit as its head, the barks as its skins, and the leaves
as its lungs; that they reach a state of adolescence ia
the course of years; that they then bloom like maidens
before their nuptials, and afterwards, causing as it were
their wombs or eggs to expand, they bring forth fruits
as their offspring; that there are in these again new
seeds, from whicb, as in the animal kingdom, new pro-

160 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
pagations of the same species or family are produced.
These and many other particulars observed by botanists,
who have traced a parallel between these two kingdoms,
indicate that the conatus or effort to produce such results
does not originate in the natural world, but in the spiri
tual. From the sequel it will be seen, that the living
force, as the principal cause, is spiritual ; while the dead
force, as the instrumental cause, is natural.
93, The mode in which the spiritual principle enters
by influx into vegetables and acts upon them, producing
the conatus, effort, or act, of which we have been speak
ing, cannot be comprehended by any understanding
unless the following propositions are first explained : —
I, That nothing in nature exists or subsists but from
a spiritual origin, and by means of it,
II, That nature in itself is dead, having been created
in order that that which is spiritual may be clothed from
it with forms to serve for use, and thus may terminate,
III, That there are two general forms, the spiritual
and the natural ; the spiritual, such as that which belongs
to animals ; and the natural, such as that which belongs
to vegetables,
IV. That there are three forces inherent in everything
spiritual ; the active, the creative, and the formative,
V, That vegetables and animals also — both those which
appear in heaven, and those which appear in the world
—exist from a spiritual origin, by means of these
forces, VI. That both — animals and vegetables — have the
same origin, and thence the same soul; the only dif
ference being in the forms into which the influx ia
received, VIL That this origin is from use.

TflE ATflANASlAN CBEED. 151
94, I. That nothing in nature exists or subsists, bui from
a,spiriiual origin, and by means of it.
The reason of this is that nothing can exist except
from something else, and this lastly from Him, who is
and who exists in Himself, and He is God ; therefore also
God is called esse and existere — Jab from esse, and
Jehovah from esse and existere, in Himself. The reason
that nothing in nature exists but from a spiritual origin
is, that there cannot be anything in existence unless it
has a soul, all that which is essence being called soul ;
for that which has not in itself an essence, does not exist
— it is a nonentity ; because there is no esse from which
it can derive existence. Such is the case with nature;
its essence, from which it exists, being the spiritual origin
or principle, because this possesses in itself the divine
esse, and also the divine force — active, creative, and
formative — as will be evident from what follows. This
essence may also be called soul, because all that is spiri
tual lives ; and when that which is alive acts upon that
which is not so, upon that, for instance, which is natural,
it causes it either to live as if from itself, or to derive
from it something of the appearance of life ; the former
is the case with animals, the latter with vegetables. The
reason that nothing in nature exists but from a spiritual
origin or principle is, that no effect is produced without
a cause; whatever exists in the form of an effect pro
ceeds from a cause, that which does not proceed from a
cause being separated. Such is the case with nature ; all
the several and most minute objects belonging to it are
effects produced from a cause, which is prior, interior,
and suj)erior to it, and proceeding imraediately from
God. For since there exists a spiritual world, which is
prior, interior, and superior, to the natural world, there-

162 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
fore all that belongs to the former is cause, and all that
belongs to the latter is effect. The existence indeed
of one thing from another is also progressive in the
natural world, but this is by means of causes proceeding
from the spiritual world ; for where the cause of an effect
is, there also is to be found the cause of an efficient effect.
For every effect becomes an efficient cause in successive
order, until it reaches the ultimate, where the effective
force stops. But this is continually accomplished from
the spiritual principle in which alone this force exists ;
this therefore is the reason that nothing in nature exists
but from a spiritual origin or principle, and by means of
it. There are in nature two mediate causes, through
whicb every effect, whether production or formation, is
derived. These mediate causes are light and heat ; the
former modifying substances, tbe latter stimulating them
to action, the power in each case proceeding from the
presence of the sun in them. The presence of the sun
which is apparent as light, produces an activity of all
the forces or substances of every individual thing, ac
cording to the form in which it exists from creation —
this is modification. The presence of the sun again,
which is perceptible as heat, expands all individual
things, producing an active and efficient force, according
to their form, by calling forth into action the conatus or
effort of which they are possessed from creation. This
conatus, which by means of heat becomes a force acting
even iu the smallest forms of nature, is from a spiritual
origin or principle acting within them and upon them.
96. II. Thai nature in itself is dead, having been created
in order ihat thai which is spiritual may be clothed from it
vnth forms to serve for use, and thus may terminate.
Nature and life are two distinct things ; nature deriv

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 153
ing its beginning from the sun of the world, and life
deriving its beginning from the sun of heaven. The sun
of the world is pure fire, and the sun of heaven pure
love; that which proceeds from the former is called
nature, but that which proceeds from the latter is called
life. That which proceeds from pure fire is dead, but
that which proceeds from pure love is alive ; hence it is
evident that nature in itself is dead. That nature serves
as a covering for that which is spiritual, is evident from
the souls of beasts, which are spiritual affections, being
clothed from materials in the world, it being well known
that their bodies are material ; so also the bodies of men.
The reason that the spiritual can be clothed from the
material is, that all the objects which exist in nature,
whether they belong to atmosphere, to water, or to earth,
are, as to every individual of them, effects produced
from the spiritual as a cause. The effects again act as
one with the cause, and are in complete agreement with
it, according to the axiom, that nothing exists in the
effect that is not in the cause. But the difference is, that
the cause is a living force, becau.se it is spiritual, while
the effect derived from it is a dead force, because it is
natural. From this it is, that there are in the natural
world such objects as are in complete agreement with
those which exist in the spiritual world, and that the
former can be suitably conjoined with the latter. Hence
then it is, that it is said that nature was created that the
spiritual may be clothed from it with forms to serve for
use. That nature was created that the spiritual may be
terminated in it, follows from what has been already
said, that the objects in the spiritual world are causes,
while those in the natural world are effects, and effects
are limits. Where there is a first principle there will in
7*

154 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
all cases be an ultimate ; and since all that is interme
diate from the first principle co-exists in the ultimate, the
work of creation is perfected in ultimates. It was for the
sake of this end that the sun of the world was created,
and by its means nathre, and lastly the terraqueous
globe, that in it there might be ultimate material sub
stances, in which all that is spiritual might terminate,
and creation rest. Other ends were, that the work of
creation might there be fixed and lasting — a, result which
is produced by the successive generations of men and
animals, and the continual germinations of vegetables;
and that all things should from them return to their First
Source — a result which is produced by means of man.
That intermediates co-exist in ultimates is evident from
the axiom, that there is nothing in the effect that is not
in the cause, this being the case — from the continuity of
causes and ' effects — ^from the First Source to the ulti
mate. 96. III. That there are two general forms, the spiritual
and the natural ; the spiritual, such as that which belongs io
animals; and the natural, such as that which belongs to
vegetables. It is in accordance with this proposition that all things
belonging to nature, except the sun, the moon, and the
atmospheres, form the three kingdoms, the animal, the
vegetable, and the mineral ; and that the mineral king
dom is merely the store-house-in which are contained,
and from which are taken, the substances which com
pose the forms of the animal and vegetable kingdoms.
The forms of the animal kingdom, which are in one word
called animals, are all in accordance with the flux of
spiritual substances and forces. And this flux, from the
conatus or effort which is inherent in the forms, has a

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 155
tendency to the human form, and all its collective and
several parts, from the head to the foot; it thus has a
tendency to produce the organs of sense and motion, and
also those of nutrition and propagation. Hence it is
that the whole heaven is in the human form, that all the
angels and spirits there, and all the men on earth are so
also ; and further, that all beasts, birds, and fishes, have
a tendency to it, for they all have similar organs. This
animal form derives the conatus or effort to produce such
results from the First Being, from whom all things exist,
and who is God in that He is Man. This conatus or
effort and the consequent tendency of all the spiritual
forces cannot exist from any other source ; for it exists
in the greatest things and in the least, in first principles
and in last, in the spiritual world and thence in the
natural ; but with a difference of perfection according to
degrees. The other form, again, which is the natural
form, and to which all vegetables belong, derives its
origin from the conatus, and the flux originating in it,
of the natural forces, which consist of atmospheres, and
are called ethers. For in these the conatus is according
to the tendency in the spiritual forces to the human form,
and according to their continual operation upon the
natural forces, and through these upon the material sub
stances of the earth, of which the vegetables are com
posed. That such is the origin of the natural form is
plain from what was said above, that there is in vegeta
bles an evident resemblance to the animal form.. That
all things in nature join in the effort to realize this form,
and that the ethers have the tendency to produce it im
pressed upon them, and thus engrafted in them, from a
spiritual source, is evident from many circumstances ; for
instance,, from the universal vegetation found on the sur-

156 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
face of the whole earth ; from the vegetation again of
minerals into forms of this kind in mines, wherever an
aperture is found, as well as from the vegetation of chalk
like substances into corals at the bottom of seas, and
even from the forms of the snow-flakes, which seem to
emulate those of vegetable life.
97. IV. That there are three forces inherent in everything
^ritual; ihe active, the creative, and ihe formative.
1. The existence of the active force is plain, because
that which is spiritual proceeds from the first source of
all forces, which is the sun of heaven, and this is the
divine love of the Lord ; and since love is the essen
tial agent, the living force, which is life, proceeds from
it. 2. The creative force is that which produces causes and
effects from the beginning to the end, extending from
the First Principle, through intermediates, to the last.
The First Principle is the essential sun of heaven, which
is the Lord ; intermediates are things spiritual, in the
next place things natural, and then things terrestrial,
from which lastly the productions are derived. And
since this force in the creation of the universe extended
from the First Principle to the last, therefore it still ex
tends in the same way, in order that the productions may
be continual ; for otherwise they would cease. For that
which is first continually regards as an end that which
is last ; and unless the First Principle provided for the
last continually from itself, through intermediates, accord
ing to the order of creation, all things would perish.
Wherefore the productions, which are chiefly animals and
vegetables, are the continuations of creation. It matters
not that these continuations are effected by meana of
seeds ; it is still the same creative force which produces.

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 157
It is stated on the experience of some persons that there
are even certain seeds of new species still coming forth
into existence.
3. The formative force is the ultimate force from ulti
mates ; for it is the force which produces animals and
vegetables from the ultimate substances of nature col
lected in the earth. The forces inherent in nature from
its origin, which is the sun of the world, are not living
but dead forces. They are not unlike the forces of heat
in man and animal, which keep the body in such a state,
that the will by means of its affection, and the under
standing by means of its thought, which are spiritual,
may enter by influx, and perform in it their own opera
tions. They are again not unlike the forces of light in
the eye, which merely cause the mind, which is spiritual,
to see by means of its own organ ; since it is not the
light of the world that sees, but the mind by means of
the light of heaven. It is the same with vegetables.
The man is much deceived who believes that the heat
and light of the sun in the world operate further than to
open and dispose the properties of nature to receive the
influx from the spiritual world.
98. V. Thai vegetables and animals also — both ffiose
which appear in heaven, and those which appear in the
world — eayisi from a spiritual wrigin, hy means of these
forces. The reason that these also exist in heaven is, that these
forces are inherent in that which is spiritual, in the
greatest things and in the least, in first principles and in
ultimates ; thus in that which is spiritual both in heaven
and in the world, its first beginnings being in the former,
its ultimate developments in the latter. For there are
degrees of spiritual things, and every degree is distinct

158 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
from another, a prior or higher degree being more per
fect than that which is posterior or lower. Thia may be
ahown from the light and heat in the heavens, and from
the wisdom of the angels derived from them. The light
in the highest or third heaven, from being of-a flaming
quality, is so bright that it surpasses a thousand times
the mid-day light of the world. In the middle or second
heaven there is a light less clear, but still it surpasses a
hundred times the mid-day light of the world. In the
ultimate or first heaven there is a light similar to the
mid-day light of the world. There are also degrees of
heat, which in heaven is love, and according to them the
angels possess their wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge.
All that is spiritual belongs to the light and heat which
proceed from the Lord as a sun, and from them wisdom
and intelligence are derived. There are also as many
degrees of spiritual things existing beneath the heavens,
or in nature, which are lower degrees. This may be
apparent from the natural mind of man, from his ration
ality also, and his sensuality. Rational men are in the
first degree, sensual men in the last, and some are in the
internaediate ; all the thought, moreover, and affection
of the natural mind are spiritual. These three forces,
the active, the creative, and the formative, are inherent
in that which is spiritual, in every degree of it, but with
a difference of perfection. But since there is nothing but
has its own ultimate, in which it terminates and stops, so
also has the spiritual ; its ultimate being on the earth, in
its lands and in its waters. From this ultimate again
the spiritual produces vegetables of every kind — ^from
the tree to the blade of grass — and in these it remains,
manifesting itself merely in that kind of resemblance to
living beinga, of which we have treated above.

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 159
99. We shall now make a few observations respecting
the vegetables in heaven ; the animals there having been
treated of above. There are in the heavens, as on the
earth, vegetables of every kind and species. There are
there even those which are not found on the earth ; for
there are compounds of genera and species, with infinite
variation also. This property they derive from their
origin, of which we shall speak below. The genera and
species of vegetables again differ in the heavens, like the
genera and species of the animals there, of which we have
treated above. There appear there, according to the
degrees of light and heat, paradisiacal gardens, groves,
fields, and plains, and in them shrubberies, lawns, and
beds of flowers. In the inmost or third heaven especially,
there are groves of trees, the fruits of which distil with
oils ; there are beds of flowers, from which fragrant
odors are diffused around, and in the seeds of which
there are delicious flavors arising from their fragrance,
and the oil which they contain ; grass-plots too which
abound with similar perfumes. In the middle or second
heaven there are also groves of trees, the fruits of which
distil with wines ; and beds of flowers from which
exhale delightful odors, and the seeds of which possess
a variety of delicate flavors ; grass-plots likewise of a
similar kind. In the lowest or first heaven there are
similar objects to those in the inmost and middle heavens,
but with a difference in the delights and charms which
they possess, according to their degrees of light and heat.
There are also in the inmost heaven fruits and seeds of
pure gold ; in the middle heaven the same objects are of
silver ; and in the lowest, of copper ; there are also fiow
ers formed of precious stones and crystals. All these
are productions springing forth from the earth there, for

160 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
there is earth there as in the world of nature, though ita
productions are not from seed that is sown, but from
created seed. Creation again is there instantaneous, its
duration being sometimes continued, and at others but
for a moment. These objects all exist by means of the
forces which proceed from the light and heat of the sun
in heaven, without any supplementary or auxiliary forces
arising from the light and heat of the sun in the world.
Hence the material substances on the earth of our world
are fixed, and the germinations from it constant ; but the
substances on the 'earth in heaven are not fixed, and
therefore the germinations from it are not constant. All
things there are spiritual under a natural appearance ;
but it is otherwise on the earth, which is subject to the
sun of the natural world. These particulars are adduced
in confirmation of this point, that there are in everything
spiritual, not only in ita first principles, but also in its
last, whether it is in heaven or in the world, these three
forces, the active, the creative, and the formative, and
that they continually advance to their own respective
ultimate, in which they terminate and close. Hence it
is that earth equally exists in the heavens ; for the earth
there is these forces in their ultimates. The difference
is that the earth there is spiritual in its origin, while the
earth here is natural ; the productions again from our
earth are derived from that which is spiritual, through
nature as a medium, while those on the earth there are
formed without nature's assistance.
100, VI, Thai both animals and vegetables have the same
origin, and thence ihe same soul; the only difference being
in ihe forms into which the infiux is received.
It has been shown above that the origin of animals,
which also is their soul, is a spiritual affection, such as

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 161
man possesses in his natural principle. That the same
affection is also the origin of vegetables, is evident
especially from the vegetables in the heavens; in their
appearing there, for instance, according to the affections
of the angels, and representing them, so much so, that
the angels behold and learn in them, as in their own
types, the quality of their affections ; and further, in
their changing according to their affections. This, how
ever, occurs out of the societies. The only difference is,
that it is from the spiritual principle in its intermediates,
"that the affections appear under the form of animals,
and from the spiritual principle in its ultimates which
are the earth there, that they appear under the form of
vegetables. For the spiritual principle in its interme
diates is alive, but in its ultimates it is not so, retaining
in the latter case no more life than is sufficient to produce
a resemblance of life. The case is almost the same as in
the human body, the ultimates in which, produced from
the spiritual principle, are the cartilages, the bones, the
teeth, and the nails; the life, which is from the soul,
terminating in them. It does not at the first view
appear that the vegetative soul is from the same origin as
that of the beasts of the earth, the birds of heaven, and
the fishes of the sea, in consequence of the difference that
the one lives and the other does not. That it is so, is
nevertheless manifestly evident from the animals, as well
as the vegetables which are seen in the heavens and in
the hells. In the heavens there appear beautiful ani
mals, and vegetables of a similar quality ; in the hells,
on the other hand, appear noxious animals, and vegeta
bles of a similar quality. From the appearances also
of the animals, and similarly from those of the vegeta
bles, the angels and spirits are known ; for there is a

162 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
complete agreement between their affections and these
appearances. The agreement is even of such a nature,
that an animal may be changed into a vegetable in
agreement with it, and a vegetable into an animal in
the same condition. The angels of heaven know the
degree of affection represented both in the one and in the
other. I have also heard and perceived that it is in each
case similar. I have been permitted to understand
clearly the correspondence, not only between animals,
but vegetables also, and the societies both of heaven and
hell, and thus between them and the affections of these
societies ; for societies and affections in the spiritual world
make one. Hence it is that in so many passages in the
Word mention is made of gardens, groves, forests, and
trees, as well as of plants of various kinds ; and that
they there signify spiritual objects according to their
respective origins, which all refer to affections. The
difference, therefore, between the vegetables in the spirit
ual world, and those in the natural world is, that in the
former world they exist, both the seeds and the germi
nations from them, in a moment, according to the affec
tions of the angels and spirits there ; while in the latter
their origin is implanted in the seeds, from which they
spring every year. There are moreover two properties
belonging to nature, viz., time with its succession, and
space with its extension, which do not exist in the
spiritual world as properties belonging to it ; they are
there the appearances of states of life in those who dwell
there. Hence also it is, that from the earth there, which
exists from a spiritual origin, the vegetables are produced
in a moment, and are also in a moment removed. This
however occurs only when the angels retire, for when
they remain, the vegetables continue. Such is the differ-

THE ATflANASlAN CBEED. 163
ence between the vegetables in the spiritual world and
those in the natural,
101. "VTI. That ihis origin is from use.
The reason of this is, that affections have reference to
uses ; use being the subject of all affection. For man
cannot be affected, unless it is for the sake of some
thing, and this something is use. Now since all affection
supposes use, and the vegetative soul, from its spiritual
origin, is affection, therefore it is also use. From this
cause it is that there is use inherent in every vegetable,
spiritual use in the spiritual world, and both spiritual
and natural use in the natural world ; the spiritual
use being for the various states of the mind, and the
natural for the various states of the body. It is well
known that the spirits {animi) are revived, refreshed,
and excited, and again brought into a state of slumber,
sadness, and fainting, by the odors and flavors of different
vegetables, whilst the body also is on the one hand
restored to health by the vegetables themselves, and
by the various preparations, remedies, and medicines,
that are made from them, and is on the other hand
deprived of life by the poisons that are extracted from
them. The external spiritual use derived from them in
the heavens is, the refreshing of the spirits ; the internal
is the representation of divine things in them, and thus
also the elevation of the spirits. For the wiser angels
see in them the quality of their affections in a series ;
the varieties of the flowers in their order, the variegations
in their colors, the perfumes also, rendering manifest
their affections and everything that lies more remotely
concealed within them. For every ultimate affection
which is called natural, although it is really spiritual,
derives its quality from an interior affection which

164 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
proceeds from intelligence and love, while these again
derive theirs from use and the love of it. In a word, no
other plant but use blossoms from the soil in the heavens,
because use is the vegetative soul. And since use is the
vegetative soul, therefore it is that in those places in the
spiritual world which are called deserts and are inhabited
by such as in the present world rejected the works of
charity, which are essential uses, there is not the appear
ance of a blade of grass or a single herb, but all is mere
gravel and sand. By the uses which alone blossom in the
heavens, is meant all good in active operation ; and this
proceeds from the Lord, by means of love to Him, and
towards the neighbor. Every vegetable there represents
a form of use ; and all that appears in it — from its origin
to its ultimate, and from its ultimate to its origin, or
from the seed to the flower, and from the flower to
the seed — represents the progress and extension of affec
tion and its use from one end or purpose to another.
Those who are skilled in botany, chemistry, medicine,
or pharmacy, come after death into the knowledge of
the spiritual uses derived from the vegetables in the
spiritual world; they also cultivate it, and derive from
it the highest gratification. I have conversed with them
and heard from them astonishing things.
102. From the observations that have been thus &r
made respecting the life which proceeds from the Lord,
respecting also the existence of all things in the universe
derived from it, every man who is wise in heart may see
that nature does not produce anything from itself, but
that, for the purpose of producing, it merely ministers to
the spiritual principle proceeding from the sun of heaven,
which is the Lord ; as the instrumental cause ministers to
its principal cause, or a dead force to its living force.

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 165
From this it is evident how much men are in error, who
ascribe to nature the generations of animals and produc
tions of vegetables ; for they are like those who ascribe
magnificent and splendid works to the tool rather than to
the artist, or who worship a sculptured image in prefer
ence to God. The fallacies, which are innumerable in all
reasoning on spiritual, moral, and civil subjects, originate
in this source ; for a fallacy is the inversion of order ; it
is the judgment of the eye, rather than of the mind, the
conclusion drawn from the appearance of a thing, rather
than from its essence. To reason therefore from fallacies
about the world and the existence of the things contained
in it is, to confirm as it were by argument that darkness
is light, that that which is dead is alive, and that the
body enters by influx into the soul, rather than the con
trary. It is, however, an eternal truth that influx is spir
itual, and not physical ; that is, it is from the soul, which
is spiritual, into the body which is natural, and from the
spiritual world into the natural ; and further that it is
the Divine Being proceeding from Himself, and as He
created all things by that which proceeds from Himself,
so also he sustains all things by it ; and lastly, that sus
tentation is perpetual creation, as subsistence is perpetual
existence. 103. We have treated of infinity and eternity, and also
of providence and omnipotence, which belong to the
Lord ; we must now treat of omnipresence and omni
science, which also belong to Him. It is acknowledged
in every form of religion that God is omnipresent and
omniscient. Hence it is that men pray to Him to hear
them, to look upon them, and to have mercy upon them.
This they would not do, unless they believed in his omni
presence and omniscience. Their belief is derived from

166 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
an influx from the spiritual world in the case of those who
are possessed of religion; for from religion itself there
arises no question, whether the belief exists or how it ex
ists. But because at the present day, and especially in the
Christian world, the number of natural men is increased,
who neither see anything of God, nor believe anything
of Him which they do not see — for if they profess to
believe, it is either from some notion of duty, from a blind
knowledge, or from hypocrisy — and yet they have the
power to see; in order therefore that such men may
exercise this power, permission is granted to treat of the
subjects which relate to God, from spiritual light, and
from a rational sight derived from it. For every man,
even the merely natural and sensual, is endowed with an
understanding capable of elevation into the light of
heaven, and able both to discern and comprehend spirit
ual and even divine subjects. His understanding is
however capable of this elevation only when he hears
them or reads of them, or afterwards from memory speaks
of them ; for he cannot think of them inwardly from him
self. The reason of this is, that whilst he hears or reads,
the understanding is separated from its own affection,
and when it is so separated, it is in the light of heaven ;
but when he thinks inwardly from himself, the under
standing is then conjoined to the affection of its own will,
and this affection fills and detains it, preventing its
escape. But still the true state of the case is, that the
understanding can be separated from the affection of the
will, and thus be elevated into the light of heaven, in the
case of those natural men who are in the affection of
truth, and have not confirmed themselves into falsities.
It is however with difficulty that thia ia done in the case
of those who are not in the affection of truth, in conse

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 167
quence of having rejected divine things, or confirmed
themselves in falsities. With these there is as it were a
shady covering between spiritual light and natural ; stQl
with many this covering is transparent. Since then
every man whatever, even the corporeal-sensual, is, when
he has reached maturity, endowed with such a faculty of
understanding, that when he hears or reads of the sub
jects which relate to God, he can comprehend them, and
afterwards retain them in his memory, and from that
speak of them, teach them, and write about them, it is
of importance that the work on the divine attributes
should be continued as it was begun. We shall therefore
now treat of the divine omnipresence, and the divine
omniscience, lest the merely natural man, through the
want of will — which he calls the want of power — to
understand any divine or spiritual subject, should involve
them in doubt, so far even as to deny their existence.
104. But the way in which the Lord can be present
with all who are in heaven and in the whole earth, and
also know all things, even the most minute, present and
future, connected with them, is a subject which cannot
be understood, but by means of the following proposi
tions : —
L That there are in the natural world spaces and .times,
but that they are in the spiritual world appearances.
II. That spaces and times must be removed from the
ideas, in order that the omnipresence of the Lord ^ith
all men, collective and several, as well as His omniscience
of thinga present and future connected with them, may
be understood.
III. That all the angels of heaven, and all the men on
earth, who form the church, are aa one man, and that the
Lord is the life of this man.

168 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
Iv. That consequently as there is life — in all the seve
ral and most minute parts of man, and it is cognizant
of their whole state, so the Lord is in all the several and
most minute things belonging to the angels of heaven
and to the men of the church.
V. That the Lord, from the intellectual faculty which
every man possesses, and from its opposite, is also pres
ent with those who are out of the church — who are in
hell, or will come into hell — and knows their whole
state. "vr. That from the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience
thus perceived, the understanding is enabled to see how
He is the All and the In-all of heaven and the churohi
and that we are in Him, and He in us.
VII. That the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience
may be understood also from the creation of the uni
verse ; for it was so created by Him that He is in first
principles and in ultimates; in the centre and at the
same time in the circumferences ; and that all thinga in
which he is are uses.
VIII. That because divine love and divine wiadom
belong to the Lord, therefore divine omnipresence and
divine omniscience, proceeding from them both, belong
to Him ; the former proceeding principally from divine
love, the latter principally from divine wisdom.
105. I. That there are in ihe natural world spaces and
times, but ihat they are in ihe spiritual world appearances.
The reason of this is, that all things which appear in
the spiritual world exist immediately from the sun of
heaven, which is the divine love of the Lord; whereas
all things which appear in the natural world exist from
the same source, but by means of the sun of this world,
which is pure fire. Pure love, from which all things

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 109
exist immediately from the Lord, is immaterial ; but
pure fire, through which all things exist mediately in
the natural world, is material. Hence it is that all tbings
which exist in the spiritual world are, from their origin,
spiritual ; and that all things which exist in the natural
world, are, from their secondary origin, material. Mate
rial things are also in themselves fixed, stated, and
measurable. They are fixed, because, however the states
of men change, they continue permanent, as tbe earth,
mountains, and seas. They are stated, because they con
stantly recur in their turns, as seasons, generations, and
germinations. They are measurable, because all things
may be defined ; as spaces, by means of miles and fur
longs, and these by means of paces and yards ; times
again, by means of days, weeks, months, and years.
But in the spiritual world all things are as if they were
fixed, stated, and measurable, but still they are not so in
reality; for they exist and continue according to the
states of the angels, so that with these very states they
make one ; they therefore vary also, as these states vary.
This however occurs chiefly in the world of spirits, into
which every man first comes after death ; it is not the
case in heaven or in hell. The reason that it occurs
there is, that every man there undergoes changes of state,
and is prepared for heaven or for hell. The spirits do
not however reflect upon these changes and variations,
because they are spiritual, and for this reason have
spiritual ideas, with which all the collective and several
objects perceived by their senses make one ; because also
they are separated from nature, but still see in the world
of spirits objects altogether similar to those which they
sawin the natural world, as lands, mountains, and valleys,
waters, gardens, and forests, vegetables, palaces, and
8

170 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
houses, garments too with which they are clothed, and
food by which they are nourished, and besides these,
animals also, and themselves as men. They see all these
objects in a clearer light than they saw similar objects
in the world, and they perceive them also by a more
exquisite sense of touch. Hence it is that man after
death is not at all aware that he has put off his material
covering, and migrated from the world of his body into
that of his spirit. I have heard many men say that
they were not dead, and that they could not conceive
how any portion of their body could have been cast into
the grave ; and for this reason, that all objects in the
spiritual world are similar to those in the natural. They
were not aware that the objects which are seen and felt
there are not material, but substantial from a spiritual
origin, and that they are notwithstanding still real,
because they exist from the same origin as all the objects
in the natural world. The only difference is that an
additional covering, an over-garment, so to speak, from
the sun, has been given to the objects which exist in the
natural world, and from this they became material, fixed,
stated, and measurable. I can positively affirm that the
objects which exist in the spiritual world are even more
real than those in the natural ; for that which is in nature
added to the spiritual- principle is dead, and does not
produce reality, but diminishes it. That there is this
diminution arising from this cause, is plainly evident
from the state of the angels of heaven compared with
that of men on earth, and from all the objects existing
"in heaven compared with all those existing in the world.
106. Since there are in heaven objects sirailar to those
which exist in our world, there are therefore spaces and
times there also; but the spaces, like the earth itself

TflE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 171
there and the objects upon it, are appearances. For
they appear according to the states of the angels ; and
the extensions of spaces, or the distances, are according
to the similarities and dissimilarities of these states. By
states are meant states of love and wisdom, or of affections
and thoughts derived from them, and these states are
manifold and various ; according to them is the distance
of the angelic societies in the heavens from each other,
that of the heavens also from the hells, and that of the
societies in them from each other. I have been permitted
to see how similarity of state, contracting the extension of
space or distance, produces conjunction ; and how dissimi
larity, increasing such extension, causes separation. There
those who to appearance are a mile distant from each
other, can in a moment be together, when the love of the
one towards the other is excited ; and, on the other
hand, those who are conversing together can in a raoraent
be a mile asunder, when any feeling of hatred is roused.
That spaces in the spiritual world are merely appearances,
has also been evident to me from this, that there have
become present with me several persons from distant
countriea, from the various kingdoras of Europe, for in
stance ; from Africa and India ; the inhabitants also of
other planets, and of remote eart;hs. Spaces however still
appear in the heavens extended in a similar manner to
those of our earth ; but existing there frora a spiritual
origin, and not' at the same time from a natural origin,
and deriving their appearance from it, according to the
states of the angels, therefore it is that the angels can have
no idea of spaces, but have instead of it an idea of their
own states. For when the spaces are changeable, an idea
of states is produced from an origin which is spiritual, that
is, according to the similarity or dissimilarity of affections

172 THE ATHANASIAN CBEED.
and of the thoughts derived from them. The case is
similar with regard to periods of time, which resemble
spaces ; for progressions through spaces are also progres
sions through periods of time. The reason that these also
are appearances of states is, that the sun of heaven, which
is the Lord, does not there, by means of circumvolutions
and progressions, produce days and years, as the sun of
the world appears to do ; and therefore it is that there is
in the heavens perpetual light, as well as perpetual
sirring; and hence times there are not fixed, stated, or
measurable. Since then periods of time also are varied
according to the states of affections and of the thoughts
derived from them, for they are short and contracted
when the affections are gratified, but long and protracted
in the opposite case, therefore it is that the angels have no
idea of tirae derived from appearance, but an idea of
states derived from the origin of the appearance. From
these circumstances it is plain that the angels in heaven
have no idea of space and time ; their idea of them, which
is spiritual, being an idea of state. But an idea of state,
and the consequent idea of an appearance of space .and
time, exist only in and frora the ultimates of creation
there, which are the earth upon which the angels dwell.
It is there that there are the appearances of spaces and
times, and not in the spiritual things themselves from
which the ultimates were created, nor even in the affec
tions of the angels, unless the thought derived from the
affections extends to the ultimates. But it is otherwise
in the natural world, where spaces and times are fixed,
stated, and measurable, and therefore enter into the
thoughts of men, and limit them, separating them from
the spiritual thoughts of the angels. It is chiefly from
this circumstance that man can with difficulty compre-

THE ATHANASIAN CBEED. 173
hend the divine omnipresence and omniscience ; for even
if he has the will to understand them, he may possibly fall
into the error that God is the inmost principle of nature,
and in this way omnipresent and omniscient.
107. II. That spaces and times must he removed from
the ideas, in order that the omnipresence of the Lord
with all men, collective and several, as well as His omni
science of things present andfui/ure connected with tliem,
may he understood.
Since however spaces and times can with difficulty be
removed from the ideas of thought in the natural man, it
is better that the simple-minded should not think of the
divine omnipresence and omniscience from any reasoning
of the understanding, but simply believe them from a
principle of religion. If a man of this kind thinks of
them from reason, let him acknowledge in his own mind
that they exist, because they are attributes of God, God
being everywhere and infinite ; and because the Word
also teaches this. If again he thinks of them from nature,
and from space and time which belong to it, let him
acknowledge again in his own mind that they have a
miraculous origin. But because at the present day natu
ralism has almost deluged the church, and can only be
dispersed by means of rational arguments which will
enable man to see that this is the case, these divine attri
butes shall therefore be placed in their true light, and
cleared of the darkness with which nature overspreads
them. This can moreover be dotie, because, as was before
said, the understanding conferred upon man is capable of
elevation into the interior light of heaven, provided only
he desires, from a principle of love, to be acquainted with
truths. All naturalism arises from thinking of divine
subjects from the properties of nature, which are matter.

174 THE ATflANASlAN CREED.
space, and time. The mind which is riveted to these
properties, and unwilling to believe anything that it does
not understand, cannot do otherwise than blind its under
standing, and from the darkness into which it has plunged
it, deny that any Divine Providence exists, and thence
affirm that there is neither Omnipotence, Omnipresence,
nor Omniscience. These attributes nevertheless are, pre
cisely as religion teaches, both within nature and above
it, but they cannot be comprehended by the understand
ing unless space and time are removed from its ideas in
thinking on the subject ; for these properties of matter
are, in some way or other, inherent in every idea of
thought. If therefore they are not removed, no other
thought can be formed than that nature is everything,
that it is self-existent, that life is derived from it, that its
inmost principle is that which is called God, and that all
besides it is imaginary. I know that men will also be
astonished to hear that there is any existence where there
is neither time nor space ; that the Divine principle itself
exists without them ; and that . spiritual beings do not
exist in them, but merely in the appearances of them —
though divine spiritual things are at the same time the
very essences of all things that have ever existed or that
still exist — and that natural things -without spiritual things
are like bodies without souls, which become mere carcases.
Every man who has become a naturalist, by means of
thought derived from nature, remains such also after
death, calling all the objects that he sees in the spiritual
world natural, because they are similar to those in the
natural world. Men of this kind are however enlightened
and taught by the angels that these objects are not natural,
but that they are the appearances of natural things, and
they are convinced so far as to affirm that this is the case.

THE ATHANASIAN CREED, 175
Still they relapse and worship nature, as they had done
in the world, until at length, separating themselves from
the angels, they fall into hell, and cannot be rescued from
it to eternity. The reason of this is that their soul is not
spiritual but natural, like that of the beasts, with the
faculty still of thinking and speaking, because they were
born men. Now because the hells are at this day, more
than at any former period, filled with men of this class,
it is of importance that darkness so dense arising from
nature closing and barring up the thresholds of men's
understandings, should be removed by means of rational
light derived from spiritual.
108. III. That all ihe angels of heaven and all ihe men
an earth, who form ihe church, are as one man, and that the
Lord is the life of ihis man.
This point may be seen established in the work on
Heaven and Hell, under the following articles: — 1st,
That the whole heaven in the complex has reference to
one man, n. 59-67. 2nd, That each society in the
heavens has reference to one man, n. 68-72. 3rd, That
hence every angel is in a perfect human form, n, 73-77 ;
and 4th, That heaven in the whole and in part has refer
ence to man, being derived from the Divine Human of
the Lord, n, 78-87 ; that there is also a correspondence
between all the things of heaven and all the things of
man, n, 87-102 ; that the same may be said of the Lord's
church on earth, n, 67, Experience has taught me, and
reason still teaches, that heaven is as if one man. Expe
rience has taught me this in the following manner: I
have been permitted to see a society, consisting of thou
sands of angels, as one man of moderate stature ; soci
eties also consisting of fewer angels in a similar manner.
This however is not apparent to the angels in any soci-

176 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
ety, but to those who are out of it and at a distance from
it, and at such times as a society is to be cleared of
strangers. For when this takes place, all those who
form the society's life, are within the man and remain,
but those who do not form it are not so, and are re
moved. The case is similar with the whole heaven in
presence of the Lord. It is from this cause and from
this cause alone, that every angel and spirit is a man,
in form similar to that in which he is a man on earth,
I have not indeed seen, but I have heard, that the
church also on earth is before the Lord as one man,
that it is also divided into societies, and that each society
is a man ; and further, that all who are comprehended
within this raan are within heaven, but those who are
not so, are in hell. The reason again of this has been
stated, that every man belonging to the church is also
an angel of heaven, for he becomes an angel after death.
The church moreover on earth, together with the angels,
forms not only the interiors of this man, but also the
exteriors, which are called cartilaginous and bony. The
church forms this, because men on earth are endued
with a body, in which the ultimate spiritual principle is
clothed with the natural, and it is this that constitutes
the conjunction of heaven with the church, and of the
church with heaven. The same lesson is taught from
reason : The sole cause that heaven and the church are
a man in the greatest, the less, and the least concrete or
complex is, that God is Man, and hence the divine pro
ceeding, which is the divine principle from Him, is simi
lar in everything, least and greatest, that is man. For,
as was said above, the divine principle is not in space
and extended, but it causes spaces and extensions to
exist in the ultimates of His creation, in the heavens

TflE ATHANASIAN CREED, 177
apparently, but in the world actually. But still spaces
and extensions are not such before God, for He in His
divine principle is everywhere. This is clearly evident
from the circumstance that the whole angelic heaven,
together with the church, is in the presence of the Lord
as one man ; in like manner a society consisting of thou
sands of angels is so, although their habitations appear
extended through much space. It is also evident from
this that the whole heaven or an entire society in heaven,
can, at the good pleasure of the Lord, appear as a man,
great or small, as a giant or as an infant. And yet it is
not the angels that appear so, but the divine principle in
them; for the angels are only recipients of the divine
principle from the Lord, and the divine principle in them
forms the angelic principle, and thence heaven. Because
the angels are only recipients, and the divine principle
in them forma the angelic principle and heaven, it is
evident that the Lord is the life of this man, that is, of
heaven and the church.
109. IV, That consequently as there is life in all the seve
ral and most minute parts of mari, and it is cognizant of
their whole state, so the Lord is in all ihe several and most
minute things belonging to the angels of heaven, and to the
men of the church.
The reason that there is life in all the several and most
minute parts of man is, that the various and diverse
things existing in him, which are called members, or
gans, and viscera, numerous as they are, so make one
that he has no other knowledge than that he is a simple,
rather than a compound being. That there is life in his
most minute parts is evident from the following facts : —
that from his own life he sees, hears, smells, and tastes,
which would not be the case, unless the organs of those
8*

178 TflE ATHANASIAN CREED.
senses also lived from the life of his soul; — that the
whole surface of his body is endued with the sense of
touch, since it is the life, and not the skin without it,
which produces this sense ; — that all the muscles beneath
the skin are under the control of the life of his will and
understanding, and are moved at their pleasure; thus
not only are the hands and feet moved, and the entire
body, but the tongue also, the lips, the face, and the
whole head. Neither the one nor the other can be
moved by the body alone, but by the life derived from
the will and the understanding, together with the life in
the members themselves. The case is similar with every
one of the viscera in the body, each performing there
its own office, and acting with willing obedience, accord
ing to the laws of order inscribed upon them. It is,
however, the life which produces this activity, while
man is unconscious of it, by means of motion in all the
several parts, derived from the heart and the lungs ; and
by means also of sensation in all the several parts, de
rived from the cerebellum. The reason that there is life
in all the several and most minute parts of man is, that
the animal form, of which we have treated above, is the
essential form of life. For life from its first source, which
is the sun of heaven or the Lord, is perpetually in the
effort of forming a likeness and image of itself, that is,
man, and out of man an angel ; and therefore from the
ultimates, which it created, it attaches to itself substances
suitable in form, that by their means man may exist, in
whom it may live. Hence it is plain, that there is life
in all the several and most minute parts of man ; and
that the part or even the particle in which there is no
life, becomes dead and is dissevered. Since then men
and angels are not life, but only recipients of life from

TflE ATflANASlAN CREED. 179
the Lord, and since the whole heaven, with the church,
is in the presence of the Lord as one man, it is evident
that the Lord is the life of this man, that is, of heaven
and the church, and further that He is omnipresent and
omniscient in all the several and most minute things
belonging to the angels of heaven, and to the men of the
church. Because the whole heaven together with the
church is in the presence of the Lord as one man, accord
ing to His will great or small, as a giant or as an infant,
it is evident, that the life or spiritual principle, which
proceeds from the Lord, is not in space, or extended
with the angels of heaven, or with the men of the church,
consequently that spaces and times must be removed
from the ideas, in order that the Lord's omnipresence and
omniscience with all men, collective and several, may be
understood. 110. V. Thai the Lord, from ihe intellectual faculty which
every man possesses, and from its opposite, is also present
with those who are out of the church — who are in hell, or
will come into hell — and knows their whole state.
Every man has three degrees of life; the lowest is
common to him with the beasts ; but the two higher are
not so. It is by means of these two higher degrees that
man is man ; they are closed with the wicked, but are
open with the good. They are not however closed with
reference to the light of heaven, which is wisdom, and
proceeds from the Lord as a sun ; but they are so with
reference to the heat, which is love, and proceeds at the
same time from the same source. Hence it is that every
man, even the wicked, has the faculty of understanding,
though not that of willing, from heavenly love. For the
will is the receptacle of heat, that is of love ; and the
understanding is the receptacle of light, that is of wisdom.

180 TflE ATHANASIAN CREED.
from this sun. The reason that every man is not intelli
gent and wise is, that he who is not so had by means of
his life closed, in his case, the receptacle of this love ;
and this being closed, he has no will to understand any
thing else than that which he loves ; for it is this that he
wills and loves to be the object of his thoughts, and
hence also of his understanding. Since then every man,
even the wicked, has the faculty of understanding,
derived from the influx of light from the sun which is
the Lord, it is plain that the Lord is present with those
who are out of heaven and the church, and who are either
in hell, or will go thither. It is from this faculty also
that man has the power of thinking and reasoning on a
variety of subjects of which beasts are incapable ; and
from this faculty again it is that man lives for ever.
Another proof of the Lord's omnipresence in hell is, that
the whole of hell, equally with the whole of heaven, is
before the Lord as one man ; but in this case it is a man
in the form of a devil, that is, a monster. With him all
things are in opposition to those which are in the divine
man-angel, and therefore from the latter is known every
thing that exists in the former ; that is, from heaven is
known everything that exists in hell. For from good
evil is known, and from truth falsity ; thus all the quality
of the latter from that of the former. There are three
heavens and three hells ; and as the former are divided
into societies, so also are the latter ; every society in hell
corresponding, by contrast, to a society in heaven, the
correspondence being like that between good and evil
affections ; for all the societies are affections. Thus as
each society in heaven is, as has been said, in the sight
of the Lord like one man, an angel in the similarity of
its affections ; so also each society in hell is in the sight

THE ATHANASIAN CREED. 181
of the Lord like one man, a devil in the similarity of its
evil affection. I have been permitted to see this. The
societies of this latter kind appear indeed as men, but of
a monstrous form ; I have seen three kinds of them,
the fiery, the black, and the pallid ; all of them have
however deformed features, a husky tone of voice, exter
nal speech, and a corresponding demeanor. They all
without exception show an utter absence of chastity, the
delights of their will aye evils, and those of their thought
falsities. 111. VI. That from ihe Lords omnipresence and omni
science thus perceived, ihe understanding is enabled to see
how He is the AU and the In-all of heaven and ihe church,
and ihat we are in Him, and He in us.
By all things of heaven and the church are meant the
divine truth and the divine good ; the former being
derived from the light of the sun of heaven, which is
wisdom; the latter from its heat, which is love. The
angels, in proportion as they are recipients of these
principles, are heaven generally, as well as heavens
individually ; and men, iu proportion as they are reci
pients of. them, are the church generally, as well as
churches individually. There is not belonging to any
angel anything which forms heaven in him, nor anything
belonging to any man which forms the church in him,
except the Divine proceeding from the Lord ; for it is
well known that all the truth of faith and all the good
of love are from the Lord, and no portion of them from
man. From this it is evident that the Lord is the All
and the In-all of heaven and the church. The Lord
teaches in John that we are in Him and He in us:
" Jesus said. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My
blood, dwelleth in Me and I in him " (vi. 56). And

182 THE ATHANASIAN CREED.
again : " In that day ye shall know that ye are in Me,
and I in you " (xiv. 20, 21) ; and elsewhere, " In Him
we live, and move, and have our being." All the angels
of heaven and all the men of the church are in the Lord,
and the Lord is in them, when they are in the heavenly
man spoken of above. Angels and men are then in the
Lord, because they are recipients of life from Him, thus
are in His divine principle ; and the Lord is in them, be
cause He is the life in the recipients. Hence it is evi
dent, that all who are in a natural idea of the Lord, are
unable to understand his omnipresence in any other way
than as intuitive, although it is actual, like the omni
presence of the Holy Spirit, which is the Divine pro
ceeding. 112. VII. That the Lord^s ommpresence and omm-
science may be understood also from the creation of the
universe ; for it was so created hy Him, that He is in
fi/rst principles and in ultimates, in the centre and at
the same time in the ci/rcumferences, and that all things
in which He is are uses.
The truth of this proposition is evident from the crea
tion of the universe, from the life of man, and from the
essence of uses.
I. From the creation of the wnmerse. This cannot be
elsewhere better seen than from the types of it in the
heavens, creation being there perpetual and instantaneous.
For in the spiritual world lands exist in a moment, and
upon them paradisiacal gardens, in which there are trees
laden with fruits, shrubs also, with flowers and plants of
every kind. When these are contemplated by the wise
man, they are found to be correspondences of the uses in
which the angels are principled, to whom they are given
as a reward. For the angels are, according to their uses.

TflE ATflANASlAN CrEeD. 183
presented with houses abounding in furniture and orna
ment, with clothing also, and food which is delightful to
the taste. They enjoy besides delightful intercourse with
each other, which is also productive of uses, because it
serves as the means of recreation. All these things are
bestowed upon them "without money or price, but still it
is on account of the uses which they perform. In a
word, the whole heaven is full of uses, so that it ought
to be called the very kingdom of uses. But on the other
hand, those who perform no use are banished to the
hells, where they are compelled by a judge to do various
kinds of work. If they refuse, there is no food given
them, or clothing, or any other bed than the ground, and
they are mocked and insulted by their companions, as
slaves by their masters; the judge even allows them to
be made their slaves, and if they entice others from their
work, they are severely punished. The one kind of
treatment as well as the other is adopted towards them,
until they are compelled to yield. But those who can
not be made to yield are cast out into deserts, where they
have a morsel of bread given them daily, with water to
drink, and pass a solitary existence in huts or in caverns.
Because they perform no uses, the earth around them is
so barren that a sod with a blade of grass upon it is but
seldom seen, I have seen in these deserts and hells many
men of noble descent, who in the world gave themselves
up to idleness, or sought for office, the duties of which
they discharged, not for the sake of uses, but for the sake
of honor or gain, the only uses they had in view. The
uses which the angels perform in the heavens, and the
different kinds of work which the spirits do in the hells,
are in some measure similar to those which exist in the
world. Most of the uses are however spiritual, and can-

184 TflE ATHANASIAN CREED.
not be described in natural language ; they do not even
fall within the ideas of natural thought — a circumstanoa
at which I have often wondered ; but such is the nature
of that which is spiritual in very many cases. From the
perpetual and instantaneous creation of all things in the
heavens may be seen as in a figure, the creation of the
whole world with its earths, there being nothing created
in the latter but for use. As a general principle, one
kingdom of nature was created for the sake of another ;
the mineral kingdom for the sake of the vegetable, the
vegetable for the sake of the animal, and both the latter
kingdoms for the sake of the human race, that its mem
bers may serve the Lord by performing uses to the
neighbor. II. From ihe life of man. For if the life of man is re
garded from the creation of all things existing in him,
there will be found no part which is not adapted for use,
not a fibre or a vessel in the brains, in the organs of the
senses, in the muscles, or in any one of the viscera of the
thorax or abdomen, or in any of the others, which does
not exist for the sake of use generally and individually,
thus not for its own sake, but for the sake of the whole
and the consociation of the parts. Even the greater
forms which are called members, sensories, muscles, and
viscera, woven together and organized, from fibres and
vessels, are all* from use, in use, and for the purpose of
use, so much so, that they may be simply called the uses
out of which the whole man is woven together and
formed, it being clearly evident that they have no other
origin or end but use. That every man is in a similar
manner created and born for use, is plain from the use
of all things in his physical frame, and from his state
after death being such, that, if he does not perform any

THE ATHANASIAN CREED, 185
use, he is considered so worthless that he is cast into
infernal prisons, or into desert places. His life also indi-
tates plainly that he was born to be use ; for the man
whose life consists in the love of use, is entirely different
from one whose life consists in the love of idleness, by
which is also meant a life devoted to company, festivity,
and public amusements. A life originating in the love
of use is a life of love both of the public good, and of our
neighbor ; it is moreover a life of love to the Lord, for
the Lord performs uses to man by the agency of man.
Hence a life originating in the love of use is a divine
spiritual life, and therefore every man who loves good
use, and from the love of it performs it, is loved by the
Lord and received with joy by the angels in heaven. But
a life originating in a love of idleness, is a life of self-love
and of the love of the world ; and hence it is a merely
natural life, which does not keep the thoughts of man
together, but scatters them upon every vanity, by this
means turning them away from the delights of wisdom,
and plunging him into those of the mere body and the
world, with which evils are in close connexion. Hence
it is that a man of such a life is after death let down into
the infernal society to which he had attached himself in
the world, and is there, by the force of hunger and the
want of food, compelled to work. By uses in the hea
vens and on earth are meant the services, callings, and
pursuits of life, the various kinds of work, servitude, and
labor, and thence all that is opposite to idleness and
sloth. IIL From ihe essence of uses. For the essence of uses is
the public good, by which is meant with the angels in
the most general sense, the good of the whole heaven, in
a less general sense the good of society, and in a particu-

186 THE ATflANASlAN CREED.
lar sense the good of a fellow-citizen. With men again
the essence of uses is, in the most general sense, the good
both spiritual and civil of the whole human race ; in a
less general sense, the good of their country ; in a parti
cular sense, the good of society ; and in an individual
sense, the good of a fellow-citizen ; because these goods
form their essence, love is their life, since all good ori
ginates in love, and in love there is life. Every one is in
this love who is delighted with the use in which he is
principled for the sake of such use, whether he is a king,
a magistrate, a priest, a minister, a general, a merchant,
or a laborer. Every one who is delighted with the use
of his calling for the sake of such use, loves his country
and his fellow-citizens ; but he who is not delighted with
uses for the sake of uses, but performs them only for the
sake of self or of mere honor and wealth, does not at
heart love his country or his fellow-citizens, but merely
himself and the world. The reason of that is, that no
one can be kept by the Lord in the love of his neighbor,
unless he is in some degree of love for the public good ;
and no one is in such love unless he is in the love of use
for the sake of use, or in the love of use from use, thus
from the Lord. Now since all things, collective and
several, were at the beginning created in the world for
use, and all things also in man were formed for use, and
the Lord from creation regarded as one man the whole
human race, each member of which is in a similar manner
designed for use or is use, and since the Lord Himself is,
as was said above, the life of this man, it is plain that the
universe was so created that the Lord is in first princi
ples and in ultimates, in the centre also and in the cir
cumferences, that is, in the midst of all things ; and that
all things in which He is are uaea. Prom these circum-

THE ATflANASlAN CREED. 187
Stances also the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience
may be understood.
113. VIII. Thai because divine love and divine unsdom
belong io the Lord, therefore divine omnipresence and divine
omniscience, proceeding from them both, belong io Him ; ihe
former proceeding principally from divine love, the latter
principally from divine wisdom.
Love and wisdom in the Lord are not two but one ;
and this one is the divine love, which before the angels
in heaven appears as a sun. But the love and wisdom
proceeding from the Lord as a sun appear as two distinct
things, the love as heat, and the wisdom as light; but
both, in virtue of their origin from the sun, act as one.
They are however separated with the angels of heaven,
and with the men of the church ; some, who receive the love
which is heat more than the wisdom which is light, are
called celestial angels and men ; and others, who receive
the wisdom which is light more than the love which is
heat, are called spiritual angels and men. These points
may be illustrated by the sun of the world, in which fire
and the origin of light are entirely one — this one being
the fiery property of the sun. From this sun proceed
heat and light, which appear as two distinct things, but
still, in virtue of their origin, they act as one ; this one
ness of action being apparent on the earth in the seasons
of spring and summer. They become however two dis
tinct things, according to the turning of the earth with
regard to the sun, and thus also according as the recep
tion of the sun's influence is direct or oblique. This cor
respondence may serve as an illustration. The case is
similar with the Lord's omnipresence and omniscience ;
they are in Him one, but still they proceed from Him as
two distinct attributes ; the former having reference to

188 THE ATflANASlAN CREED.
love, and the latter to wisdom ; or, what is the same
thing, the former referring to good, and the latter to
truth, because all good originates in love, and all truth in
wisdom. The reason that the'Lord's omnipresence refers
to love and good is, that the Lord ia present with man in
the good which originates in his love; and the reason
that His omniscience refers to wisdom and truth is, that
by virtue of man's good which originates in his love. He
is omnipresent in the truths of his uiiderstanding; and
this omnipresence is called omniscience. The case is the
same with all men generally, as it is with one man indi
vidually.

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX.

The yfifmbers refer to the Ftxrtigrtiphss ****** "of to the Pages.

Acknowledgment (The quality of) Is
precisely according to the quality of the
love. 89.
Ou8. — The word acknowledgment, in the
writings of the Author, is almost always
taken in the acceptation of knowledge,
resulting from a profound examina
tion.
Aot as from himself (To), or by man^s
own power, 49, 61, 72, and elsewhere,
Aotititibs (That all) are changes of
state, and variations of forms, 45.
Auokations (The) offered to men living
and dead, to sepulchres also, to dead
bodies, aud to bones, is a demoniacal
means of worship, originating in the love
of self, 79.
Affeotionb. The meaning of the term
affection is similar to that of love. But
love is as it were the fountain, and affec
tions are as it were the streams flowing
from it ; they are thus also continuations
of it, 69. Affectiona flow by continuity
into the understanding, and produce
thoughts, 69. Man is led by the Lord by
means of his affections rather than h&
thoughts, 69. The affections do not show
themselves before man, but the thoughts
do, 69. Affections produce thoaghis, but
thoughts do not produce affections, 69.
Evil affections of the wMl are all derived
from the love of self and the love of the
world, 59. Affections have reference to
uses, 101.
Anoibnt People (The most) worshipped
God as v^ible under a human form, 21.
Oba, — ^The most ancient people ^ere the
men of the Church which existed be
fore the epoch described in the Word
by the Deluge, and the ancient people
were the men of the Church which,
after the Deluge, succeeded the most
ancient church, called by the Author,
The Ancienb Church. This ancient
church, which existed before the Is
raelitish Church, was spread over a
great part of the globe.
An(3£L (Every) is a man, having a soul,
a body, and an operating principle, IS.

This trine is one ; the esse of an angel is that
which is called his soul, the existere is that
which ia called his body, and the procedere
from both is that which is called bis sphere
of life, without which an angel has neither
existence nor being, 17. By means of this
threefold principle an angel is an Image
of Ctod, 17. An angel is not life in him
self, he is a recipient of life, 18. An angel
is not an angel from anything of his own,
but from the Divine principle which' he
receives from the Lord, 20. All the angels
of the three heavens think of God as of
man, 20. Wisdom of the angels of the
third heaven ; its first degree, 88. No
angel can resist evils iu the case of man,
but the Lord alone, 62.
Anoel. Every man belonging to the
Church is also an angel of heaven, for he
becomes an angel after death, 108.
ANiikiALB (Concerning the life of), 85-91.
See BeaMa. Instinct of Animals, 86, 87.
Concerning the animals which appear in
the spiritual world, SS. They are the ap
pearances of affections, S9. There are as
many genera and species of animals in ex
istence, as there are genera and species of
affections, 88. In the societies of heaven
appear the gentle and clean animals, in the
societies of hell, the savage and unclean
beasts, and in the world of spirits, beasts
of an intermediate kind, 89. Compound
animals seen in the world of spirits, 89.
Animus, 61, 66, 76, 101.
Obs, — ^The Aimrvus is a sort of external
nund formed from the external affec
tions and inclinatioi^, which are chiefly
the result of education, society, and
custom. See O. Z., 246. tSee also
Mind^ obs.
Apollo, 22.
Appeabajtces in the spiritual world, 88,
and following.
01)8. — Those things which, in the spiritual
world, present themselves to the sight
of spirits and angels, are called ap
pearances, because, corresponding to
the interiors of spirits and angels,
and representing them, they vary ao-

190

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

cording to the states of these interiors.
There are real and unreal appear
ances ; the latter are those which do
not correspond to the interiors. H.
and El, 175.
Aboanum concerning man's faith and
love in this world, and afterwards in that,
into which he comes after death, 2.
Architeotubal Abt (The) in heaven Is
Art herself, there realising her own skill, 82.
Abians. Unless men had accepted a
trinity of persons, tbey would at that
time have become Arians or Socinians,
and the Christian Church would have
perished, 16. None but Arian spirits speak
with Arians, 74. See Spirits.
Abranobmbnt of the affections In the
heavens and in the hells, 84
Arses (The) which appear in the world
of spirits, are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits there.
Obs.— Id. the Word, asses signify the
s(^entificprinciple in particular, ul. O.,
2781.
Abtoboth, 82.
Athanabius. The doctrine of the Trinity,
which was confirmed by the Council of
Kice, was drawn up by Athanasius, 10.
When read, it leaves a clear idea that
there are three unanimous Gods, but an
obscure idea that God is one, 10.
Baal, 22.
Babel, In the Word, represents those
who have set their throne in the heavens
above the Lord, by arrogating to them
selves all His power, 79.
Baptism is a symbol of the Church of
the Lord, and the attestation that those
who believe and live according to His com
mandments In the Word are saved, 78.
Ba&iliskb were not created from the
beginning, but orig^ated with helL See 90.
O&s.— basilisks represent those who are
in falses from evil, A. E.., 601.
Bears (The) wUch appear in the world
of spirits are representations of the affec
tions of spirits, 89.
<?68.— Bears, in the Word, represent
those who only read the Word, and
derive thence nothing of doctrine, O.
X., 78.
Beasts. No one can understand the
nature of the life of beasts, unless he is also
acquainted with the nature of their souls,
88. The aoul of beasts consists of nothing
but affection, 88. Thesoul of beasts regard
ed in itself is spiritual, not however in the
degree in which the souls of men are so,
but in an inferior degree, 00. There is not
a hair or thread of wool on any beast, that
is not formed from the life of their soul.
and thus that is not derived from the spi
ritual clothed with the natural, 88. Beasts
and wild beasts, the souls of which are evil
affectiona, were not created firom the beg^-
DJngj but originated with hell, 90. The

difference between men and besets, 9t.
Why a beast can only utter soimdfi, vary
ing the expression of Its affections accord
ing to its appetites, 91. Wliy a beast
does not live after death, 91. Concerning
beasts in the spiritual world, they differ
from beasts in the natural world in this,
that they are only appearances of the af
fections of angels and spirits, 88. See An-

Beelzebub, 22. -
Bees. Wonderful things relating to
bees, 87.
Being (The First), who is underived be
ing in himself, and the source from whom
all things were created, ia God, who from
underived being in Himself, ia called Je
hovah, 29.
Belief (Erroneous) of the Roman Catho
lics, S. Belief alone, or a belief merely of
the thought, without actual belief, which is
deed, is a nonentity, 8.
Bblibvb (To). If that which Is not in
telligible ia to be believed, man might have
been taught like a parrot to say and to
remember the most absurd things, 9. Be
lief or faith belongs to thought and ac
knowledgment, and hence to apeech, and
not to speech aeparate from thought and
acknowledgment, 14.
Bikus. Their instincts, 87. No one can
understand the nature and quality of the
life of birds, unless he is also acquainted
with the nature and quaUty of their soul,
88, There is not the filament of a quill or
feather upon any bird, that is not formed
from the life of their soul, 88.
Ohs. — Birds, in the Word, represent in
telligence, and also the thoughts, .il. {7.,
5149.
Bibos of Fabadise (The) which appear
in heaven, are mantfestations of the per
ceptions of angels, 89. See 0. X., 270.
Blessednesb (All) In heaven is derived
from uses and the love of them, 84. See Usm,
Blindness (The) of those who confirm
themselves against divine providence, or
who deny It, arises from ignorance, 70.
Bones (The), with the skins and cartila
ges, constitute the ultimate degree of life,
28. Bones are in the number of the ulti
mates which are produced from the spirit
ual principle, the life which is from the soul
terminating in them, 100.
Botant, Ohemistby, &c. Those who aro
skilled in botany, chemistry, medicine, or
pharmacy, come after death into the know
ledge of the spiritual uses derived from the
vegetables in the sph^tual world, 101.
Bride and Wife. In the Word the Lord
is called the bridegroom and husband, and
heaven and the Church are called the bride
and wife, 8.
Beideoroom. In the Word the Lord is
called the bridegroom, and heaven and the
Church are called the bride, 8.
Bulls. The bulls which appear in the

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX. 191

spiritual world are manifestations of the
affections of spirits there, 89,
O&A— A bull in the Word signifies the
external good of Innocence, A. O.,
10,182. '
Camels (The) which appear in the apMt-
nal world are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits there, 89,
Obs. — ^The camel, in the Word, signifies
the scientific principle in general, A.
a. 2781,
Cartilages j^Tbe), with the bones and
the skins, constitute the ultunate degree of
life, 28. The cartilages are amon^ the ul
timatea which the spiritual principle pro
duces in the human body, and in them Is
terminated the life which is from the soul,
100. Catbefillars. The change which takes
place in caterpillars is a representative type
of man's re-birth, and of his resuirection, 87.
Oatholio Faith (The), what it is, 1.
Catholics (Roman), Their ei-roneous be
Uef, 2.
(JAUSE is a living force which is spiri-
tuf^ while the effect derived from it is a
dead force because it is natural, 95. The
efficient cause is with the effect in aU its
collective and several parts, 86. The
means or causes are also caUed the inter
mediate ends, because the principal end,
which is everything iu them, produces
them, 77. These causes or intermediate
ends are subordinate loves, and the princi
pal end is man's will's love, 77. In man,
the principal cause, which is life, and the
Instrumental canse, which is the recipient
of life, act together as one cause, 26. See

Chalk-liee Substances. Their vegeta
tion, 96.
Chaitges of State. By state In man is
meant his love ; and by changes of state
the affectiona of love, 45.
Ghbhosh, 22.
Ghbbttbim (!>¦•*) above the mercy-seat,
are tiie Word and that which proceeds from
it, and in the Word the Lord talks with
man as he did with Moses and Aaron be
tween the cherubim, 72.
Odbistians. Whence have arisen cer
tain false ideas which Christians have en
tertained concerning God, 19.
Chuboh (The) of the Lord extends
throughout the whole world, 71. The an
cient Church was, like the Church In our
day, divided Into a number of sects, 71.
Men, in proportion as they are recipients
of the divine truth and the divine good, are
the Church generaUy, as weU aa the Church
individually. 111. There Is not belonging
to any man anything wbich forms the
church In him, except the divine j)roceed-
ing from the Lord, 111. See Ajicz&nt, obs.
(?&«.— The church of the Lord is univer
sal, and is with all who acknowledge

a divine being, and live in charity,
whatever may be their doctrinU ten
ets ; but the Church is more especially
where the Word is, and where, by
means of the Word, the Lord is known.
In those countries where the Word
does not exist, or where the Word is
withheld from tiie people, and replaced
by human decisions, as among the Ro
man CathoUcs, there is a religion ; but,
to speak correctly, there is no Church.
Among Protestants there is a Church,
but the church with them is at its end,
because they have perverted the Word.
Clothing signifies everything external
which clothes the soul, 88.
Compel (To\ No man can be compel
led to love and believe, 64. For man to
compel himself is to act from freedom, 87,
48. All compulsion by another takes away
freedom, 87, 48. To compel himself is to
resist evil and to fight against it as if from
himself, but still lo implore the Lord for
aid to do so, 49. For a man to compel him
self ia to compel himself from evil, but not
to compel himself to good ; the reason
why, 50. Man is compeUed by miracles
and visions, and also by feai'S and punish
ments, 68. No man can be compeUed to
love and beUeve, 54,
Comprehend. Why man can witii diffi
culty comprehend the divine omnipresence
and omniscience, 106.
Conjunction (The) of God with man and
of man with God, is taught in the two ta
bles of the decalogue, 72 ; it is effected by
a life in accordance with tbe precepts of
the decalogue, 72. God conjoins himself
to man by means of the good of love, and
man conjoins himself to God by means of
the truth of faith, 72. Man ia in conjunc
tion with heaven whUst he Uves in the
world, although he ia ignorant of it, 8.
Man is of a quaUty altogether similar to
his conjunction with the societies of the
spiritual world, 2.
CoNsoGiATiON^ (Man is in) with angels
whilst he lives in the world, although both
men and angels are ignorant of it, 8.
CONVBBSING WITH SPIRITS. By Convers
ing witli spii'its, and the operation of the
spirits upon man being openly felt, the
worship of God was anciently converted
into the worship of demons, and the Church
perished, 74.
Correspondence. AU things of the
body have a correspondence with the so
cieties of heaven, 86. There is a corre
spondence not only of animals, but also of
vegetables, with tiie societies of heaven,
and also of hell, 100. The thought of man
and the thought of an angel make one
only by correspondences, 8. The union
of the thought of man with the thought of
an angel or spirit by correapondences
preventa men and spiiits from knowing
anything of each other, 74.

192

l-HE ATHANASJAN CREED.

Council of Nice, 10.
GoUNTBT (The native) of man is in the
spiritual world, for he is to live there to
eternity after he has Uved a few years in
the natural world, 4.
Created (To be) is to exist from an
other, 29,
Greatiok. The end of creation was,
that out of the human race might be
formed heaven, 86. The work of creation
is perfected in ultimates, 95. The Lord's
omnipresence and omniscience may be un
derstood also from the creation of the
universe, for it was so created by Him that
He is in first principles and In ultimates,
in the centre and at the same time in the
circumferences, and that all things in
which He is are uses, 104.
Creation (The first), 25, 84.
Obs. — By the first creation the Author
does not mean that there was a first
and second creation, but as preserva
tion is perpetual creation, and as in
preserving God continually creates,
this expression points out more parti
cularly the creation of the universe.
Creed (Athanasian), 1. Its doctrine
examined, 10-16.
Crocodiles were not created from the
beginning, but originated with heU, 90-
Obs. -Crocodiles represent those who
are in falses from evil, A. R., 601.
Crows (The) which appear in hell are
manifestations of the cupidities and falses
of infernal spirits, 89,
(?&«.— Crowa in the Word signify gross
falsities, A. 0., 866.
Danger (There is no) in departing from
evil to good, but the danger is in depart
ing from good to evU, 65. The danger to
wmch a man is exposed who speaks with
spirits, 74.
Death. What proceeds from the sun of
the natural world is dead, 95.
DEfiBEES of Life. We can have no idea
of the life which is God, unless we obtain
an idea of the degrees through which life
descends, 28. There is an inmost degree
of life, and there is an ultimate degree of
life, and there are intermediate degrees of
it, 28. The distinction between them Is
like that between things prior and posteri
or, for a posterior degree exists from a
prior, and so forth, 28, 90, 98. Everyman
has three de^ees of Ufe — the lowest is
common to him with the beasts, but the
two higher are not so, 110.
Devil (By the term) is meant in the
Word the heU Inhabited by devils, 41.
The devils are those in whom the love of
self has predomiaated, 41. See Satan.
Diana, 22.
Diffebbnoe between men-angela and
men-devils, 44.
Differenoe (The) between men and
beasts, 91; between nature and Ufe, 95;

between vegetables in tbe spiritual and In
the natural world, 99, 100: between the
earth in the spiritual and in the natural
world, 99 ; between the productions of our
earth, and those of the earth in the hea
vens, 99.
Disaobeement between the understand
ing and the wiU, in what it consists and
w^ it exists, 65.
Divine E^e (The) cannot be seen ex
cept through the divine existere, which is
the divine human principle, 21.
Divine Human (The)js a human prin
ciple from the Father which the Lord put
on when he put off the human principle
which He had from the mother whilst ih
the world, 15. Difiference between the di
vine human befot'e the Lord came Into the
world, and after He had left the world, 18,
Divine Principle (The). One divhie
principle by itself is not given, but there
wUl be a threefold principle, 17. The di
vine principle is caUed the Father, the
divine human is called the Son, and the
divine proceeding is called the Holy Spirit,
13. The divine principle, which is called
the Father, is the divine esse; the divine hu
man, which is caUed the Son, ia the divine
exiatere from that esse ; and the dl^e
principle, which is caUed the Holy Spirit,
ia the divine proceeding from the divine
existere and the divine esse, 17. Divine
things taken together are God, 7,
DrviNE trutha are laws of order, 81.
Doctrine of the Tbinitt (Exejninar
tion of the) which was drawn up by Atha
nasius, confirmed by the CouncU of Nice,
and received throughout Chiistendom, 2,
10,16. Doos (Instinct of), 87. The dogaVhich
appear in hell, are manifestations of the
lusts of Infemal spirits, 89.
Oba, — Dogs signify- in general those who
are In concupiscences of all kinds,
and who give themselves up thereto,
and espckciaUy those "^ho are In cor
poreal pleasures, more particularly
those who are addicted to the pleor-
sures of the table, A. B., 952.
Doves (The) which appear ui heaven are
manifestations of the thoughts and affec
tions of the angels, 89.
Obs. — Doves, in the Word, signify the
goods and truths of faith, A. {7., 1826.
Eagles ^The) which are aeen in the
world of apirita are manifeatations of the
affectiona of apirits, 89.
(96s.— In the Word, eagles aignify man's
rational principle. A, Ol, 89()1.
Ear (The), Sound is tiie principal
cause of hearing, and the ear is the in
strumental cause of it, 26. The ear pev-
ceives sounds, whether they are words or
tones of music, from the place whence
they proceed, as If It were there, though
the sounds enter la from without, and are

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX 193

perceived in the ear by the imderstanding
within, 45.
Earth. There !s earth In the heavens,
as in the world of nature, though its pro
ductions are not from seed sown, bat from
created seed, 99.
Effect. AU the several and most
minute objects belonging to nature are
effects produced from a cause, which is
prior, interior, and superior to it, and pro
ceeding immediately from God, 94. The
effect IS called the ultimate end, because
the principal end produces It by interme
diate ends, and is everything in them, 77.
(See Mids.) The effect, or ultimate end,
is the use foreseen, provided, and produced
by the wUl'a love, through the understand
ing, 77. If the cause is separated from
the effect, the effect perishes, 85. Nothing
exists from the effect that is not in the
cause, 95, Where the cause of an effect
is, there also is to be foimd the cause of an
efficient effect; for every effect becomes
an efficient cause In successive order,
until it reaches the ultimate, where the
effective force stops, 94. See Cause.
Effort ia derived from a spiritual
principle, 94. This conatus or effort is in
first principlea and in last, in the spiritual
world, and thence in the natural, 96.
Eggs. Particul^ agna observable in
eggs, 87.
Elephants (The) which appear In the
world of spirits are manifestations of the
affections of apirita there, 89.
Eminence and opulence specially belong
to the natural man, 76. When eminence
and opulence do not lead astray, they pro
ceed from God ; but when they do so, they
are derived from heU, 76. Eminence and
opulence may be blessings, and they may
also be curses, 77. If eminence and opu
lence are ends, they are curses ; but if
they are means, they are blessings, 76.
In heaven eminence originates in wisdom,'
81. The eminence and opulence of the
angels of heaven described, 82.
Ends (The), the means, or causes, and
the effect, are also called the principal
end, the intermediate ends, and the ulti
mate end, 77. The principal end is man's
will's love, the Intermediate ends are sub
ordinate loves, and the ultimate end is the
will's love, existing, as it were, in its own
effigy, 77. The ultimate end, to which the
principal end progresses through the
means, is the existing end, and tMs end
Is nse, 78. The end loves the means,
when it performs this use; and if they
do not perform it, It does not love them,
7& Oba. — The Mid Is the object proposed,
and the Means are the things which
.are used to obtain this object.
Enlioutekbd (To be). Those who love
and wiU truths from the Lord, are en
Ughtened when they read the Word, for

the Lord Is present In it, and speaks Trith
every one according to his capacity, 75,
Men are enlightened in various degrees,
each according to the quaUty of his affec
tion, and bis intelUgence derived from it,
75, The Ught of heaven is the apkitual
principle which enUghtens the natural
man, 76. To be enUghtened through
heaven by the Lord, Is to be enUghtened
through the Holy Spirit, 71.
Enlightenment. The nature of en
Ughtenment, 71. It is effected by the
Lord through the Word, 71. Those who
are in the spiritual affection of truth are
elevated into the Ught of heaven to such a
degree, that they perceive the enUghten
ment, 76. EnUghtenment by means of the
forms of reUgion is not like that derived
from the Word, 71.
Enthusiasts. None but enthusiastic
spirits speak vrith enthusiasts, 74. See

Equilibrium. Two forces, whilst they
are at rest, produce an equilibrium, 45.
Nothing can be acted upon or moved,
unless it is in equiUbrium ; and when^it is
acted upon, it is out of the equiUbrium,
45. Everything acted upon or moved
seeks to return to an equiUbrium, 45.
Esse (The) must necessarily exist, and
when it exists, it must proceed that it may
produce, 17. The esse of an angel is that
which is caUed bis soul, the existere Is
that which is caUed his body, and the
procedere from both is that which is caUed
the sphere of his Ufe, 17. Esse and exist
ere in God are one, 29. The esse is in its
existence as the soul is in its body, 21.
Essence (The) of uses is the pubUc good,
112. Essence (The Divine) is not God, but
yet belongs to God, 11. The essence of
God is, that He is love itself, and wisdom
itself— thus life itself, 27.
Ethebs are natural forces, 96.
Evil. Evil is imputed to man because
he is in freedom, and has the faculty oif
acting as if from hin^elf, 47. It is better
that a man should be constantly evil, than
that he should be good and afterwards
evil, 56. If man does not compel himself
to resist evils, he continues in them, 49.
The lot of those in the other Ufe who are
constantly evil, 56.
Evil (Every; is conjoined with innume
rable evils, 62. Evils and hell are one, 64.
Exist (To). All things which appear in
the spiritual world exist immediately from
the sun of heaven ; whereas all things
which appear in the natural world exist
from the same source, but by means of
the sun of this world, 105. ¦
Exploration, How the exploration of
each is effected when he comes into the
spiritual world, 3.
Extended (To be). Everything ex
tended belongs to matter, 88.

194

THE ATHANASIAN GREED.

ExTEBNAL (The) of the spirit, which
consista in thinking and wiU, must not be
compelled, 68. The external of the body
may be compelled, because man, never
theless, speaks and wUls freely, SB. The
externals must be reformed by the inter
nals, but not the internals by the exter
nals, 48.
Ete (The^ is the instrumental cause of
sight, and hght is the principal cause of
It, 26. The eye sees objects out of itsetf,
as if it were in close contact with them,
though it is the rays of light that convey,
with the wings of ether, the forms and
colors of them to the eye ; these forms,
being perceived by the internal sight,
which is called the understanding, and
examined in tbe eye, are thus distinguish
ed and known according to their quality,45.
Faculties. There are in man two fa
culties of Ufe, 66. The one ia called the
understanding, the other the will, 65.
They are altogether distinct from each
other, but are created to form one ; and
when they' do so, they are called one
mind, 65.
Fallaot (A) Is the inversion of order ;
it is the judgment of the eye, rather than
of the mind ; the conclusion drawn from
the appearance of a thing, rather than
from its essence, 102. It fs a fallacy to
beUeve that man lives from himself, 26.
Falsities, 46, 68, 78, 91.
Feab, It is love, and not fear, which
causes good to be good, 50. There are
fears which compel the externals, but not
the internals ; the reaaon why, 48. There
are, however, some fears which compel
the internals, or spirit of man, but they
are those only which enter by influx from
the sphitual world, 48.
FiRLDB. Fields and plains appear in
heaven, 99.
FiBE corresponds to love, and in the
Word it signifies love, 27.
Fishes. No one can understand the
nature and quality of the Ufe which the
fishes of the sea enjoy, unless he is also
acquainted with t^e nature and quality of
their aoul, 88. There ia not the apex of a
scale or fin upon any fish that is not
formed from the life of their soul, and
thus that is not derived from the spiritual,
clothed with the natural, 88'.
Flowers. Lawns and beds of flowers
appear in heaven, 99.
Food (By), in the Word, is meant every
thing which nourishes the soul, 83.
Furcb. There is to existence but one
acting force, and that Is tbe life, which Is
God, 46. There is inherent in aU that is
spiritual a plastic force, and also a propa-
gative force, 90. There are three forces
Inherent In everything spiritual — the
active, the creative, and the formative,
97. The first source of aU forces, which is

the sun of heaven, is the diviue love of the
Lord ; the living force, which is life, pro
ceeds from it, 97. The forces inherent In
nature from its origin, which is the sun of
the world, are not Uving, but dead forces,
97. Form (Human). Why everything in the
heavens is either in the human form, or
has reference to it, 28. Human forma, re
cipient of Ufe, do not live from themaelves,
but from God, who alone is life, 25.
Forms. There are two general forms,
the spiritual and the natural; the spiritual,
such as that which belongs to animals;
and the natural such as that which be
longs to vegetables, 96. See State and
.Form. Fortune. It is better that man should
ascribe the operations of the divine pro
vidence to prudence and fortune, than
that he should acknowledge them, and
stUl Uve as a devil, 56.
Foxes, The foxes which appear In hell
are manifestations of the cupidities of in
fernal spirits, 89.
Obs. — Foxes, in the Word, represent
those who trust In their own prudence,
J>. P., 811.
Freedom makes one with life, 88. Free
dom is the power of thinking, of wUling, of
speaking, and of doing ; chiefiy it is the
power of doing, 88. Freedom was given
to man together with his life ; nor la it in
any case taken from him, 38, 47. Man^s
freedom belongs to hia wUl ; from the will
it exists in the thought of the understand
ing ; and by means of the thought it
abowa itself in the speech and In the action
of the body, 48. The freedom of man
makes one with his proprium, and with his
nature and disposition, 48. There is an
infernal freedom, and there is a heavenly
freedom, 49. The infernal freedom la that
Into which man is born from his parents,
and the heavenly freedom is that into
which he is reformed by the Lord, 49.
These two kinds of freedom are opposite
to each otber, but the opposite does not
appear, except so far as man is In the one,
and not In the other, 49. Infemal free
dom is servitude ; heavenly freedora is
real freedom, because from the Lord, 49,
58. The freedom of thinking and wiUing
good in itself is essential freedom, 64.
Gardens. There appear in heaven pa.
radisiacal gardens, 99. Why it is that in
so many passages in the Word mention Is
made of gardens, groves, forests, and
trees, 100.
Genii, 85.
Obs.— The most cunning sensual spirits
are culled g&nM; they have a deep
heU behind, and wish to be invisible,
D. P., 810.
Germinations (Why) hi the spiritual
world are not constant, as in our world

ALPHABETICAL AND AKALYTIOAL INDEX.

195

99. The germinations of the spiritual
world are the productions of wisdom,
originating in love, 66, 69.
Globe (The Terraqueous) was created,
that in it there might be ultimate material
aubatances, in which all that Is spiritual
might terminate, and creation rest, 95.
Goats (The) which appear in the spirit
ual world are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits there, 89.
Oba. — Goats, in the Word, signify those
who are la faith separated from char-
iky, ^. (7., 2880.
God is love itself, and wiadom itself, 27.
God is good itself, and truth itself, 25.
God is man, 6, 19, 96. God is perfect
man, in face and in body like man, there
being no difference as to form, but as to
essence, 27. The idea of God as man is
engrafted from heaven in every nation
throughout the whole terrestrial globe,
but is destroyed in Christendom, 6, 20.
The iilea of God in heaven is the Lord, 6.
Without such an idea of God as exists in
heaven, man cannot be saved, 6. Every
man in the Idea of his spirit sees God as
man, even if he denies that God is man,
20. (See Idea.) God alone is Ufe from
EUmself, 17. There is a Trinity in God,
and there is also a Unity, 13. God is one
both in essence aud in person, and in Him
is a Trinity, 14. God, in whom Is a
Trinity, ia One person, 14. God la the All
of heaven ; so much so. that whether we
speak of heaven or of (rod, it is the -same
thing, 5.
Good does not exist from any other
origin than love, 64. Good is of the same
quaUty as the love, 64. When the love is
evil, its dcliglit is still felt as a good, al
though it is really an evil, 64. From good
evU is known, and from truth falsity, 110.
06s.— In the writings of the Author,
when the term good alone is mention
ed, spiritual good is always signified ;
if any other good is spoken of, it is
described as natural, civil, or moral
good.
Good of Love and Truth of Kaith (The).
The good of love is derived from God im
mediately ; but the truth of faith mediate
ly, 72. The good of love is that by which
'the Lord leads man; and the truth of
faith is that by wbich man is led, 72. God
conjoins himself to man by means of the
truth of love; and man conjoins himself to
God by means of the truth of faith, 72.
Governors. In the societies of heaven
there are superior and inferior governors,
82. Gband Man (The). The universal an
gelic heaven is, in its complex, before the
Lord, as one man, and may be called the
Grand Man, 20.
Greece. The gods of Greece, 22.
Gboves. There appear groves, fields,
and plains in heaven, 99.

Habitation'. Man's real habitation ia
In the spiritual worid; for he is to Uve
there to eternity, after he has Uved a few
years in the natural world, 4.
Hearing has for its principal cause
sound, and for its instrumental, the ear,
26. See Ear.
Heart and Lttngs (The) are the two
sources of man's bodily life, 66.
Heat (The) of the spiritual sun is the
divine love proceeding, which is called the
divine good, 27. This heat is the good of
love, 8. The heat proceeding from the
sun of the world is not material ; it is na
tural, 33. The heat only changes the
state of the substances into which it flows,
85, 33. The Ught and heat in the heavens,
98. Heathen. Most of the heathen per
ceive God as a man, 73, 16. The heathen
sees from his religion the truths which he
is to believe, 73. The heathen is saved
in his religion, as the Christian is In his,
72. Heathenism of the Christian world, 22.
Oba. — ^The Jieathmism of the Christia/n
world exists In that part of Christen
dom where the Word la taken away
fi'om the people and replaced by
human decisions. See Church., obs.
Heaven (The universal angeUc) is the
divine proceeding of the Lord, 2(). This
heaven Is In Ita complex before the Lord
as one man, and may be caUed the Grand
Man, 20. The universal heaven is arranged
generaUy, specially, and particularly, into
societies, according to aU the varieties of
affection derived from love, 8. Heaven
does not consist of angels, created such at
once, but of men born in the world, who
were there made angels by the Lord, 41.
See 42. There are three heavens and three
hells, 110. The whole heaven is full of
uses, 112.
Heaven. Angels, in proportion as they
are recipients of divine truth and divine
good, are heavens generaUy, as weU as
heavens Individually, 111. There is not
belonging to any angel anything which
forms heaven in him, except the divine
proceeding from the Lord, 111.
Hell. Of whom hell consists, 41. Hell
does not consist of spirits, created such at
ODce, but of men born in the world, who
were made devUs or satans by themselves,
41. (See 42.) The dIaboUcal heU is the
love of self, and the satanical hell is the
love of the world, 42. Hell is arranged
into societies, according to the lusts of the
love of evil opposed to the affectiona of the
love of good, 8. Why, in the Word, hell
is called death, and its inhabitants are
called dead, 43. By what means man la
brought out of hell, and conducted into
heaven by the Lord, 60. The hells are
at thia day, more than at any former
period, filled with men who worship

196

THE ATHANASIAN CREED,

nature, 107. Thoae who perform no use
¦are banished to the hells, 112,
Heretics. None but heretical spirits
speak with heretics, 74. See Spirits.
Horses (The) which appear in the apirit
ual world are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits there, 89.
Obs. — In the Word, the horse signifies
the intellectual principle, A. (7., 2781.
Human Principle (The) of the Lord is
divine, by virtue of the divine principle
which was In Him from conception, 16.
Idea. In the thought of man there are
two Ideas— one abstract, which ia spiritual,
and one not abstract, which is natural, 27.
What the spiritual and what the natural
idea concerning the Ufe which is God is,
27. Man is in the idea of his spirit when
he thinlM abstractedly, and in the idea of
his body when he doea not think abstract
edly, 20. The idea of God as man is
engrafted from heaven in every nation
throughout the whole terrestrial globe ; but
it is destroyed in Christendom, 6. Why
this idea is lost In Christendom, 19. From
the idea of God as man, implanted in every
one, several peoples and nations have
worshipped as gods either men or those
who appeared to them as men, 22. From
thia implanted principle saints are at this
day worshipped as gods in Christendom,
22. An idea from the thought of one God
primarily opens heaven to man; and, on
the other hand, an idea of three Gods
closes it, 10.
Idleness. A life originating in the love
of Idleness is a Ufe of self-love, and of the
love of the world ; and hence it ia a merely
natural Itfe, which doea not keep the
thoughts of man together, but scatters
them upon every vanity, by this means
turning hira away from tbe deUghts of
wisdom, and plunging him into those of the
mere body and the world, with which evils
are in close connection, 112.
Idleness. Heavenly joy does not con
sist in Idleness ; he who beUeves so is much
deceived, 84.
Idle Person (No) la tolerated even In
bell, every one is obliged to work, 84.
Ignorance. The reason why man ia
born Into mere ignorance, 91.
Image. Men are images of God from the
reception of truth, 25. See lAhenesaes.
Implanted, 21. The idea of God as man
la implanted in every one, 22,
Oba, — That is said to be Implanted
which proceeds from a general influx,
A, K, 955. General Influx Is the con
tinual tendency {conaPue') from the
Lord through the universal heaven,
into every single thing of man's life,
A. a, 6211.
Impute (To). The reason that evU Is
Impnted to man, 47.
UTTAar. The man who dies an Infant

la led by the Lord and brought up by the
angels, 72.
Infinite (The), No ratio Is f^ven be
tween the infinite and the finite, 24. There
Is a natural as well as a spiritual Idea of
what ia infinite, 88. What the natural
Idea of the inflnite God is, 83.
Influx. The Lord enters by infiux into
the interiors of man^s n^d, and through
them into his exteriors, and not mo0'oers&,
67 ; into the affection also of his wiU, and
through it into the thought of his under
standing, and not mce verad, 67. Man
knows nothing whatever of the Influx
which enters into the interiors of his mind,
nor of that which enters Into the affection
of his will, 67. How the Lord enters by
influx into man, aud leads him, 68.
Divine order of Influx, 71. Influx of life
into man, 47. The Ave sensories of the
body, by virtue of an Influx from witldn,
are sensible of the impressions which enter
by influx from without; tbe influx from
within is from the spiritual world, but the
influx from without ia from the natural,
45. Influx la spiritual, and not physical ;
that ia, it is from the soul, which is spiri
tual, into the body, which is natural, and
from the spiritual world into the natural,
102. Inmost. The life which Is man''a Inmoat
principle Is perpetually derived from the
Lord's presence with man, 47.
Insects ^Noxious) were not created from
the beginnmg, but had their ori^ with
hell, 90.
Instinct of ai^mals, 86. It Is some
spiritual principle which leads them, and
is in union with the natural, 87.
Instrumental (That is caUed) which
anffera itself to be acted upon, and that ts
called principal which acts, 26.
Intellectual Faculty. The Lord, from
the Intellectual faculty which every man
possesses, and from its opposite. Is preaent
in those who are out of the Church, who are
in hell, or wiU come into hell, and knows
their whole state, 104.
Intebcourse with Spirits (Why) was
forbidden to tbe chUdren of Israel on pain
of death, 74.
Intermediate. All that is intermediate
from the first principle co-exists in the
ultimate, 95.
Intebhediate State. Man lives In an
intermediate state between heaven and
hell, 47.
Internal (The) enters by influx Into the
external, but not the external into the
internal, 48. The intemal producing prin
ciple ia with Its own produce In aU its
collective and several parts, 86. The
intemals belong to man's spirit, the ex
ternals to his body, 48.
Italt (Goda of), 22.
JAH. God Is eaUed Jah flrom eaae, M*

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALfttOAL INDEX.

197

Jehovah. God Is called Jehovah from
esse and existere in himself, 94.
Jot (Heavenly) is according to uses and
the love of them, and is derived from no
other source, 84. He who beUeves that
heavenly joy is conferred in a state of
idleness is much deceived, 84.
Judgment (The last) is accomplished,
lest man should be for ever expecting It to
take place in his own world, 75.
Juno, 22.
Jupiter, 22.
Kids (The) which are seen in the spiri
tual world are mamfestations of the affec
tions of spu-its there, 89.
Obs. — A kid, in the Word, signifies the
Innocence of the external man, A. (7.,
8519.
Kingdom (Animal), 86—91. Vegetable
kingdom, 92-— 101. Mineral kingdom, 96.
Kingdom of God ( The) in the Word
signifies the Lord ^and hia Church, 88.
Kingdom (The 'Mineral) is merely the
storehouse In which are contained, and
from which are taken, the substances which
compose the forma of the animal and
vegetable kingdoms, 96. Aa a general
principle, one kingdom of nature was
created for the sake of another ; the mine
ral for the sake of the vegetable, &c,, 112.
Kites (The) which appear in the world
of spirits are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits there, 89.
Knowledge. To love knowledge ia to
love acquaintance with goodness and truth
for the sake of real uses, 81, See Uses.
Known (To be). From heaven is known
everything that exists in hell ; from good
evil is known, and from truth falsity, 110-
Koran (The). The Mahometan, after
evUs are removed, sees truths from the
Koran, 73,
Lambs (The) which are seen in heaven
are manifestations of the affections of
angels, 89.
Obs.— In the Word, the lamb signifies
the inmost good of innocence, A. C.,
10132.
Laws (The) inscribed on the nature of
all things, 45. The laws of order which
are called the laws of the divine pro
vidence, 37. The Lord can lead man to
heaven only by these laws. 38.
Laws of Permission (The), which are
numerous, proceed from the laws of provi
dence, 56.
Led (To be). How man ia led from one
affection to another by the Loi-d, 68. Why
the Lord leads man by the affections and
not by the thoughts, 69. The Lord leads
those who love and wiU truths from Him
self, 75,
Lbopaeds (The) which appear in the
world of spirits are manifestations of the
affections of spirits there, 89. '

Oba. — Leopards, in the Word, represent
those who confirm falses from the
Word, 0. X., 78.
Life. That which proceeds from the
sun of the spiritual world is called Ufe, 95.
God alone is life from himself; an angel
is not life from himself, but a recipient of
life, 17. The reason why it appears as if
Ufe were in man, 26, Without an idea of
what life Is, there is no inteUigence of what
God is, 27. Life cannot be created, al
though it can create, 29. All things derive
tbeir being from the life itself, which is
God, and which Is man, 30. Man feels and
perceives as if Ufe were inherent in him,
because the life of the Lord in him ia
as the Ught and heat of the sun In a
subject, 39. The life of the wUl or love
corresponds to the Ufe of the heart, and
the life of the understanding or wisdom
corresponds to that of his lungs, 66, Life
from its first source, which is the sun of
heaven, or the Lord, Is perpetually in the
effort of forming a likeness and image of
ifself, that is man, and out of man an
angel, 109. The animal form is the essen
tial form of life, 109. There is Ufe in aU
the several and most minute parts of man ;
the part, or even the particle. In which
there is no Ufe becomes dead, and Is dis
persed, 109. Every man has three degrees
of life — the lowest is common to him with
the beasts, hut the two higher are not so,
110. It is by means of these two higher
degrees that man is man; they are closed
with the wicked, but are open with the
good, 110. The reason that every man is
not intelUgent and wise is, that he who
is not so, had by means of his Ufe closed
in his case the receptacle of heavenly love,
110. Light (The) of the spiritual suu is the
divine wisdom proceeding which is called
the divine truth, 27. This light ia the
truth of faith, 8. The light proceeding
from the sun In the world Is not material,
33. Light only modifies the substances
Into which it enters, 35, S3.
Light and heat. The Ught of the spiri
tual sun is divine truth, and the heat is the
divine good, 3, 17, 27. The light and heat
of the spiritual sun are the Ught and heat
of life, 37. The Ught is the truth of faith,
and the heat is the good of love, 8. Light
and heat in the heavens, 93.
Likenesses. Men are likenesses of God
from the reception of good, 25. See
Image. Lions (The) Uona which appear In the
world of spirits are manifestations of the
affections of spirits there, 89.
Oba. — ^Lions, In the Word, signify those
who have power by means of truth
from good, A. a, 6869.
Lord (The) is divine love, and In heaven
before. the angels He appeara as a sun, 3,
27. The Lord's love with man ia as fire

198

TSU ATHANASIAi^ CRElEt).

from that sun, S. In Him Is the threefold
principle of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
18. The three divine principles called by
the names of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
are in the Lord one In essence and in
person, 14. He ia the Ufe itself, 24. He
is tbe only man, 24. He wills that man
should speak and wUl. and thence act, as
If from himself, 26. He dwells with man
in that which is his own, that which he
gave him for the sake of this end, that he
may be reciprocally loved, 88. The Lord
Is omnipresent and omniscient in all the
several and most minute things belonging
to the angels of heaven aud to the men of
the Ohurch, 109. The Lord is also present
with those who are out of the Church, —
who are in hell, or wUl come into heU,T-
and knows their whole state, 110.
Oba. — By the Lord, in the wrltmgs of the
Author, is meant only the Saviour of
the world, Jesus Christ, A. C, 14, He
is the one and only God of heaven and
earth. In him ia the divine triolty,
namely, the very divine, which Is called
the Father ; the divine human, which is
called the Son ; and the divine proceed
ing, which is called the Holy Spirit, A.
a, 10S22.
Lot (The) of those who are guilty of pro
fanation in the other life, 55. The lot of
those who are constantly evU, 56. Differ
ence between them, 55, 56.
Love Is spiritual conjunction, 8. Love is
the life of man, for man is of the same quaU
ty as his love, 48. Man's love is compara
tively as fire, and his thoughts are as the
rays of Ught derived from it, 8. AU love
corresponds to fire, and in the spiritual
world it is so presented as to seem like fire
at a distance, 42 The divine love cannot
be conceived of in its essence, but may be in
its appearance, 27. The divine love consists
in this, that it desires that what belongs to
itself should belong to man, 38. H eaveuly
love is love to the Lord, 42. Spiritual love
is love towards the neighbor, 42. Self-love
is opposed to heavenly love, which is love
to the Lord, 42. By loving the Lord Is not
meant loving Him as a person, but the love
of divine good and divine truth, which are
the Lord, 8. The love of the world is op
posed to spiritual love', which is love to
wards the neighbor, 42.
Love aud Wisdom in the Lord are not
two, hut one ; the love and wisdom proceed
ing from the Lord as a sun appear as two
distinct things, but both, in virtue of their
origin from the sun of heaven, act as one,
113. Those angela who receive the love,
which is heat, more than the wisdom, which
is Ught, are called celestial angels; and
others who receive the wisdom, which is
Ught, more than the love, which Is heat, are
called spiritual angels, 113. Comparison
of the light and heat^ or love and wisdom
of tbe spiritual sun, with the Ught and heat

proceeding from the natural sun, lit. AU
good originates In love, and all truth in
wisdom, 118. The reaaon that the Lord's
omnipresence refere to love and good is,
that the Lord is present with man iu the
good which originates in his love ; and the
reason that his omniscience refers to wis
dom and truth ia, that by virtue of man^s
good, which originates in hia love, he ia
omnipresent in the truths of his under
standing ; and this omnipresence is called
omniscience, 118. The case is the same
with all men generally, as it is with one
man individually, 113.
Love and to do (To) are one in the Word ;
where mention is made of loving, doing ia
understood, and where mention is made ol
doing, loving is also understood, 8. By
love to the Lord Is not meant lo ving Him as
a person, hut willing and doing what He has
commanded, S.
LociFER. Those who have exercised do
minion from the love of It are designated
by tJiis name, 79.
Magi (Who the) formerly were who in
Egypt and fiabel, on account of their con
versing with spirits, and the operation of
spirits upon them being openly felt, were
called wise, 74.
Magpies (The)which appearln the world
of spirits are manifestations of tbe affec
tions of apirits, 89.
Oba. — Magpies represent those who be
Ueve that a thing is true because they
have been told it by some one in au
thority, T. 0. Ii., 42.
Mahometan (The) sees from the Koran
the truths which he ought to beUeve, 78.
The Mahometan is saved In his religion as
the Christian is in his, 72.
Man is an organ of life, 26. He is an
image of the Lord by means of love to him,
8. He is a recipient of Ufe from the Lord, 24.
His real habitation and his native country-
are In the spiritual world, 4. The Lord is
the only man , and all are men according
to the reception of the divine good and
truth from Him, 24. The Lord is tbe only
man because He is the Ufe itself, hut all
other men, because they aro men from
Him, are recipients of Ufe, 24. The dis
tinction between the man who is life, and
the man who is a recipient of life, is like
that which subsists between tlie uncreate
and that which Is crr^ated, 24, All men, as
to the interiors which belong to their minds,
are s]nrits, clothed in the world with a ma
terial body, 41 Man, as to his mind, is iu
the spiritual world, while with his body he
is in the natural worli, 2. His thoughts
diffuse tbemselves into societies of the
spiritunl world, 2. He is of a quality simi
lar to that of the societies with which he ia
conjoined, 2. Why man is led by the
Lord by his affectiona rather than his
tho ights, 69. Man la, as to hia sphrit, as

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX.

199

long as he Uves in the worid, in the midst
of apirits, but the spirits are not aware that
they are near man, nor is man aware that
he ja in connexion with spirits, 74 Man is
kept in an intermediate etate between
heu.ven and heU, 47. Every man haa im
planted iu him the faculty of thinking
about God, and of understanding the things
which relate to God, 6. The worldly and
corporeal man does not see God except
from space, 19. Every man, iu the idea of
hia spirit, sees God as m;in, 20. Man is led
either by the Lord ur by hell, 47. Men Uve
also as men after death ; in heaven, those
who are led by the Lord, but in hell those
who are guided by themselves, 75. Men-
angels and men-dev)ls compared, 4-4. All
tlie angela uf heaven and all the men un
earth who form the Church are as one man,
and the Lord ia the Ufe uf this man, 104.
As there is Ufe in all the several aD<l most
minute parts of man, and It is cognizant of
their whole at ite, so the Lord is in all the
several and most minute things belonging
to the angi-ls of heaven and to the men of
the Church. 104. The sole cause that
heaven and the Church are a man in the
gi'eat6st, tlie less, and the least concrete or
complex. Is that God is man, and hence the
divine proceeding, which U the divine prin
ciple from him, is similar in everything least
and greatest, that is man, 108. Because the
angela are only recipients, and the divine
prmciple iu them forma the angeUc prin
ciple and heaven, It is evident that the
Lord is tbe life of this man, that is, uf
heaven and the Church, 108. As each so
ciety in heaven is, in the sight of the Lord,
like one man, an angel In the simUarity of
Its affection, so each society in heU is, in
the sight of the Lord, Uke one man, a devil
in the simUarity of its evil affection, UO.
Man (The Grand). The universal an
gelic heaven is in its complex before the
Lord as one man, who may be called the
Grand Man, 20.
Marriage. By marriage, in the Word, is
meant conjunction with some society in
heaven, 8.
Material things are in themselves fixed,
atated, and measurable, 105. Pure fire,
through which all things exist mediately
in the natural world, is material, 105. Af
ter death, man is not at all aware that he
has put off his material covering, and mi
grated from the world of hia body into
that of his spirit, 105. He is not aware
that the objects which are seen and felt
there are not material, but substantial,
from a spiritual ori^n, 105.
Matter. Everything extended belongs
to matter, 33.
Means. See Mnd. . The Lord teaches
man truths by means derived from the
Word, from preaching, and reading, &c.,
67. The Lord teaches no man without the
use of means, 70.

Men-angels and Men-devils, 44.
Mercury, 22.
Mercy Seat (The) above the ark Is the
Lord, 72.
Mice were not created in the beginning,
they originated with hell, 90. The mice
which appear in hell are manifestations of
the cupidities of infernal spirits, 89, 90.
Milcolm, 22.
Mind. In man the two facultiea of Ufe,
understanding and wUl, when they form
onCj are caUed one mind, 65. Man has a
spiritual mind, and at the same time a
natural mind ; his spiritual mind is above
his natural mind, 91. Man, as to Ills mind,
is in the spiritual world, 2. The mind,
which is spirit, acts, and the body, which
is matter, is acted upon, 41. Whatever
has been once Impressed upon the mind of
man by means of love cannot be extir
pated, 55
Oba. — In the writings of the Author we
meet with four expressions apparently
synonymous, but which are, however,
perfectly distinct from each other, i. e.,
spirituH., armna, Tnens., and ammua.
Spirii/its (the sph-it, properly so call
ed), organized in a perfectly human
form, and spiritually visible aud tangi
ble, contains withm It the anirna^
mena., and anifnus. The anim,a (the
soul) is the very inmoat of the spirit ; it
is from it that the spirit is and Uves, for
it is the very essence of Its Ufe. The
^/le/ns (mind) is the internal man, with
in which is the soul, or inmost man ;
and it is also the external man within
which is the internal man, for there are
two minds, the one Internal and the
other external, because there is in man
an internal will and an external will,
an internal understanding and an ex
ternal understanding ; the Internal
will and undei*standmg constitute the
internal man or internal mind, and the
external wUl and understanding con
stitute the external man or external
mind. I'he a/M/mus is a still more ex
ternal or exterior mind, formed by the
affections and dispositions, which re
sult chiefly from education, society,
and custom (see Ani/mus^ obs.) ; it
contains within it these two minds and
the aoul. In this world the spirit, or
man-spirit, ia clothed with a terrestrial
body which renders it invisible, but
when freed from this body by natural
death, the man-spirit enters the world
of apirits with his spiritual body, and
is then called a spirit.
Minerals. Their vegetation, 96.
Minerva, 22.
Mines. Yegetation of minerals in mines
wherever an aperture ia fouud, 96.
Miracles (By) the externals of man's
spirit, which consists in thinking and will
ing, is compelled, 58. If man could have

200

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

been reformed by miracles and visions,,
then aU men throughout the whole world
would be ao, 58. Miracles close the path
to man'a reformation, for they persuade
and compel belief, and thus bind and Im
prison the thoughts, 53. Whom those who
wish for miracles resemble, 54
Modification. In what the modification
of created things consists, 94,
Moloch, 22.
Moravians, None but Moravian spirits
operate upon Moravians, 74.
Moved (To be). Everything acted upon,
or moved, seel^ to return to an equiUbrium,
45. Nails (The) are of the number of ulti
matea, which the spiritual principle pro
duces in the human body, the life, which is
from the soul, terminating in them, 100.
Obs. — NaUa, in the Word, signify the ul
timate of the natural or aenaual, A. C.
Natural, Everything which proceeds
from the sun, which Is pure fire, is called
natural, 85. (See Sim.) That which is
natural from Its origin has no Ufe In itself,
85. Nature, 95. That which proceeds from
the sun of the world, which Is >pure flre, is
caUed nature, 95. Nature derives Its be
ginning from the sun of the world, 95. Na
ture in itself is dead, having been created
in order that that which Is spiritual may
be clothed from it with forms to serve for
use, 95. Notliing in nature exists but from
a spiritual origin, and by means of it, 94.
There neither is nor can he In nature any
thing whatever in which there is not a
spiritual principle, 85. There is a union of
spiritual and natural things in all the col
lective and several subjects and objects of
the three kingdoms of nature, 86. Nature
does not produce anything from itself, but
merely ministers to the spiritual principle
proceeding from the sun of heaven, which
is the Lord, 102. Those who ascribe' to na
ture the generations of animals, and the
productions of vegetables, are like thoae
who ascribe magniticent and splendid
works to the tool, rather than to the artist,
102. Nature has nothing to do with life,
but that life may he clothed from it, and
come forth presenting itself to view in form
as an animated being, 87. If space and
time are not removed from the ideas, when
thinking of the divine attributes, no other
thought can be formed than that nature Is
everything— that it is self-existent, that life
ia derived from it, that Its inmost principle
is that wbich is called God, and that all
besides it la imaginary, 107, The beUs are
at this day, more than at any former pe
riod, fiUed with men who worship nature,
107. Naturalism arises froih thinking of di
vine subjects from the properties of na

ture, which are matter, space , and time,
107. At the present day naturalism has al
most deluged the Church, 107.
Naturalists. Their fate in the other
world, 107.
Neighbor (The) is that property from
which every one Is man, that Is his spirit
ual nature, 83. Use, in the spiritual sense,
is our neighbor, 83. ' (See Uaea.) To per
form uses is to love our neighbor, 84.
No one can be kept by the Lord in the
love of his neighbor, unless he Is In some
degree of love for the pubUc good, 112,
Neptune, 22.
Nostrils. The volatUe particles in the
air are the principal cautes of smell, and
the nostrils are the instrumental causes,
26. The nostrils perceive from within
what enters in from without, sometimes at
a great distance, 45.
Nothing. From nothing, nothing ori£^-
nates, 29.
Omnipotence (The divine), In aU Indi
vidual thinga, regarda what ^ eternal, 62.
Stupendous teatlmonies to the divine omni
potence, 84.
Omnipresence of God, 108—118. It is
acknowledged in every form of reUgion,
103. BeUef in the omnipresence of God
Is derived from an influx from the spiritu
al world, with those who are possessed of
reU^on, 103. The Lord's omnipresence
proceeds principaUy from the divine love,
104. It ia better that the simple-minded
should not think of the divine omnipre
sence and omniscience from any reaaonlng
of the understanding, but simply beUeve
them from a principle of reUgion, 107.
The reaaon why the Lord's omnipresence
refers to good and love, 113.
Omniscience (The) of God, 108—118.
It is acknowledged In every form of reU
gion, 108. Belief In the omniscience of
God is derived from an influx from the
apiritual world, with those who are pos
sessed of reUgion, 103. Spaces and times
must be removed from the Ide^, in order
that the divine omniscience of thmga pre
aent and future may be understood, 104.
The Lord's omniscience proceeds princi
pally from the divine wisdom, 104. The
reason why the Lord's omniscience refers
to wisdom and truth, 113.
Omniscience (The divine), In aU indi
vidual things, regards what la etemal,
62. Operation (The) of the Lord is upon
man'a love, and from it upon hia under
standing, and not 'Hce verad, 51, 66. The
reason why, 51.
Opulence affects pilncipaUy the minds
(aniani) of men, 76. Opulence and emi
nence speciaUy belong to the natural man,
76. In heaven opulence ori^ates in
knowledge, 81. See Mhninence.
Obdeb (Divine). Its manifestations in

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX.

201

the spiritual world, and In the natural
world, 81. The laws of order, 87.
Oboak. Man is an organ of Ufe, 26.
Production of the diverse organs of sense
and motiou ; also of nutrition and propa
gation, 96.
Origin of animals and of vegetables, loo.
Origin of the love of self and of the world,
48. The life Itself, which is God, is with
out origin, 32.
Owls (The) which appear in beU are
manifestations of the cupidities and falses
of infernal spirits, 89.
Oba. — Owls, in the Word, signify gross
falsities, A. O.y 866.
Oxen ^The) which appear in the spiritu
al worid are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits, 89.
Oba. — Oxen, in the Word, signify the
food of the natural principle, A. C,
198.
Palaces In heaven, their description,
82. Parallel between the animal and vege
table kingdoms, 92.
Parbot. If that which is not IntelUgi-
ble Is to be beUeved, man might have been
taught Uke a parrot, 9,
Particulars. The divine providence
Is in the most minute particulars of man's
life, 68, 70. It operates upon the most
minute particulars of man's thought and
wUl, 51, 7L See 36.
Peacocks (The) which appear In the
world of spirits are manifeatations of the
affections of spirits there, 89.
Perception, 83, and elsewhere.
Obs. — ^Perception Is an intemal sensa
tion, relative to the good and the tinie,
coming only from the Lord, A. (7,,
104. Perception consista hi seeing
that the true ia true, that the good is
good; and In seeing that the evil is
evil, and the false is false, A. C, 7680.
pBBTODS of time resemble apacea ; for
progressions through spaces are also pro
gressions through periods of time, 106.
Periods of tune are varied according to
the states of affections, and of tbe thoughts
derived from them, 106.
Permission. It was of divine permis
sion that the doctrine concerning God and
the Lord was ao conceived by Athana
sius, 16. Permission of evU, Its source,
87, 56.
Permission (Why) is granted to treat of
the subjects which relate to God from spi
ritual light, and from a rational sight de
rived from it, 108.
Person. Why it was permitted of di
vine providence that Athanasius should
make use of the word person In his creed,
10. Phantasy, 42, 4$, 65.
^&«.— Phantasy is an appearance of
perception ; it consists in seeing what

is true as false, and what Is good aa
evU ; and in seeing evU as good, and
the false as tme, A, 6'., 76@0.
Pleasure aud Ufe are one, 88.
Pluto, 22.
Pope (Adoration of the), 22.
Power. Man has no power of himself,
nor yet any angel, 35. Man has power, aa
if from himaelft'to receive both good and
evU, 47. The Lord also gives him power
to know that all good ia from Him, and
all evU from the devil, 47.
Prat (To). Why men pray to the Lord
to hear them, to look upon them, and to
have mercy upon them, 103.
Principal. That is caUed principal
which acta, and that instrumental which
suffers itself to be acted upon, 26.
Proceeding (The Divine). There is not
belong^g to any angel any thing which
forms heaven in him, nor any thing be
longing to any man which foi'ms the
Church in him, except the Divine proceed
ing from the Lord, 111.
Productions are continuations of crea
tion, 97. Productions from our earth are
derived from that which is spiritual,
through nature as a medium, whUe those
on the earth in the heavens are formed
without nature's assistance, 99.
Peofanation. The fate in another life
of those who are guUty of profanation, 55.
Why it is so dreadful, 56. There are aeve
ral kinds of profanation, 55.
Profane (To) holy things. What It Is,
55. Proprium (The) of man Is distinguished
from that wlUch is not so In the spiritual
world, 65. The proprium resides in the
Interiors ; but that which is not so in the
exteriors, the former being veUed and con
cealed by tbe latter, 65,
Oba. —The proprium of man is to love
himself rather than God, and to love
the world rather than heaven, and to
regard the neighbor as nothing in com
parison with himself, ff. ff.., 288.
Providence (The Divine) is continual-
and operative in the most minute parti
culars in man's Ufe, 68. It moves so
secretly that there ia scarcely any vestige
of it apparent, although It operates upon
the most minute things of man'a thought
and will, which regard his etemal state, 51.
The divine providence, in all Individual
things, regards what is eternal, 62.
Pkudbnce. It ia better that man should
ascribe the operations of the diviue pro
vidence to prudence and fortune, than
that he should acknowledge them, and
still Uve as a devU, 86. Man from his own
prudence has led bimself to eminence and
opulence, when they lead astray, 76.
Punishments do not remove the wiU,
the intention, and the consequent thought
of evU; thfty merely prevent the act, 61.
PUBGATOBT. If that whIch la not Intel-

202

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

Ugible Is to be believed, man might have
been taught Uke a parrot, to say and to
remember that man will be tormented in
purgatory, 9.
Pythonic Divihees (The), who they
were formerly, 74.
Quails (The) which appear in the world
of spirits are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits there, 89.
Oba. Quails, Id the Word, signify natu
ral pleasures, A. (7., 8462.
Quakers. None but Quaker spirits
operate upon Quakers, 74.
Quality (The) of life enters by influx
from without, 46. From the end all the
quaUty ia derived, 63. The quaUty of ac
knowledgment Is preciaely according to
the quaUty of the love, 39.
Bams (The) which appear in the spirit
ual world are manifestations of the affec
tions of spirits there, 89.
Obs. — In the Word, a ram signifies the
interior good of inuocence, A. C.
10182.
Ratio. There is no ratio between that
which is infinite and that which is finite,
24, 38; nor between that which is dead
and that which is Uving, 88.
Rational Principle (The), 12 and
elsewhere. Oba.~-The rational principle partakes of
the spiritual, and of tbe natural, or it
is a medium between the intemal and
the external, A. C, 268; between
heaven and the world.
Rationality, Reason, regarded in it
aelf, is caUed rationality, 37.
Real. The objects which exist in the
spiritual world, though not material, are
StUl real, because they exist from the same
origin, as all the objects In tho natural
world, 105. They are even more real
than those in the natural world ; for that
which is in nature added to the spiritual
principle is dead, and does not produce
reaUty, but diminishes it, 105.
Recipient. Man is only a recipient of
good and truth from the Lord, and of evU
and falsity from hell, 4^. A recipient of
life cannot act from itself, but it can act
as if from itseli; 35. Every thing is re
ceived according to the state and form of
the recipient, 46.
Reciprocity. It is by means of reci
procity that conjunction Is effected. 48, 51,
Recreations in heaven are also uses,
84. See Uaea.
Refobhatioh. Operation of the Lord
in reformation, 52, Law of order relating
to reformation, 66. Miracle and visions
close the path oi refonnation, ^,
Reformed (The). Without the Athana
sian doctrine, the Reformed Church would
not have seen tiie divine in l^e Imman
principle of the Lord, 16.

Reformed (To he). Being reformed ia
the same thing as being removed from
evU loves, 65. Man is reformed by means
of freedom, but not otherwise, 63. Man is
reformed only by means of combat against
evils, 80.
Reugion ^Christian), Why the Chris
tian religion is divided Into Churches, and
into heresies within them, generaUy and
particularly, 71. In whatever reUg^on
man Uves he may be saved, 72. 73. Keli
gion, with the nations who are not within
the boundaries of the Christian world,
takes the place of the Word, and Is partly
derived from it, 71. These nations are
taught by the Lord, mediately through
their own reUgion, 71. It ia acknowledged
in every form of reUgion that God is omni-
pr^ent aud omniscient, 103
Resist (To) Wlio thoae are who are
able to resist evils as If from themselves,
61. Man cannot of himself resist evils ; he
can only do so from the Lord. • 6L For
man to resist the deUght of his love Is to
j resist himself, his own nature, and his
own Ufe, 61.
REBPONsmLE. Why man is responsible,
47. Revela tion*. No Immediate revelation is
given, but t^at which has been given in the
Word, 71. Such ia the nature of this reve
lation, that every man may be taught from
it, according to the affections of his love
and the thoughts of hia understanding
derived from them, 71.
RicuES (Love of). 80.
Righteousness, in Matt, vi. 38, slgi^es
spiritual, moral, and civil good, 88.
Rohan Catholics (The) separate the
divine principle of the Lord from his
human, 16. Without the Athanasian Creed
they would not otherwise have acknow
ledged the divine principle of the Lord, 16,
Rule (The love of), when it ia the prin
cipal end, is the very fire of hell, 79, The
gratiflcation of the love of rule exceeds
every other in the Ufe of man ; it is con
tinually exhaled from heU, SO. The love
of ruio and the love of wealth universaUy
prevail in the Christian world ; thebr trae
quaUties d^cribed, 80.
Salvation (The) of man was the end of
the creation both of heaven and eartti, 86,
The salvation of man is tbe all in all of the
divine providence, 8^ The Lord provides
a universal mediom at salvation, 78,
Satan (By), in t^je Word, is meant the
heU infaabited by satans, 41. Satans are
thoae in whom the iove of the world has
predominated, 41. See D&oil.
Obs. — In hell, those who are in evil by
derivation from the understanding
dwell iu front, and are called satans ;
and those who are in evU from the wiU
dweU to the back, and are called
devils, a L.J 492. In the Word, the

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX.

203

devil meana the heU which ia at the
back, and is inhabited by the very worst
apirits, caUed evil genu; and satan
denotes the hell which is In front, the
inhabitants of which are not ao malig
nant, and are caUed evU spirits, H. R..
544.
Saturn, 22.
Self-Love. Self-love and the love of
the world conatitute hell, 48.
Sensation. That which produces sen
sation and perception in man enters by
mflux, 26.
Sensories (The)_ of the body are only
recipient and percipient, as if from them
selves, 45. The five sensories of the body,
by virtue of an Influx from within, are sen
sible of the impressions which enter by
influx from without, 45. For each sensory,
see 45.
Serpents (Poisonous) were not created
from the beginning, but originated with
heU, 90. The serpents which appear in
hell are manifestations of the cupidities of
infernal spirits, 89.
Obs. — Serpents, in the Word, signify the
sensual principle of man, or men who
reason from the sensual principle, A.
C.y 6949. Poisonous serpents represent
those who deceitfully pervert truths to
evil purposes, A. C., 9018.
Sheep. (The^ which appear in heaven
are manifestations of the affections of
angels there, 89.
&6s.— Sheep, in' the Word, signify the
good of the wiU-principle, or those who
are in that good, A. (7., 10132.
She Goats, 89.
Oba.— The she goat, in the Word, signi
fies tbe good of truth, or the man who
is In that good, A. G, 4169.
Sight has for its principal cause light,
and for its instrumental cause the eye, 26.
See Eye.
Similarities. Extensions of spaces or
distances, with tbe angels, are according
to the similarities and dissimilarities of
then* state, 106. SimUarity of state, con
tracting the extension of space or distance,
produces conjunction; dissimUarity, in
creasing such extension, causes separation,
106. Simple-Minded (The). It is better that
the simple-minded should not think of the
divine omnipresence and omniscience from
any reasoning of the understanding, but
simply believe them from a principle of
religion, 107.
Skin (The), with the cartUages and
bones, constitutes the ultimate degree of
life, 28.
Slavery, The freedom of evU is slavery,
64. Smell, 26. See Woai/rils.
Snow. Why tbe forms of the snow-
flakes seem to emulate those of vegetable
life, 96.

"Societies. Heaven consista of Innume
rable societies ; and hell also, 2. Heavenly
societies are arranged in order, according
to aU the varieties ,of affections derived
from love ; on the other hand, hell is
arranged Into societies, according to the
lusts of the love of evil, opposed to the
affections of the love of good, 3, 34, 46. 68,
69. In heaven all are known, as to their
quality, from the societies to which they
belong, 46. Every society of heaven is in
a human form, 23. Every society in hell
corresponds by contrast to every society in
heaven, 110.
Socinians. Unless men had accepted a
Trinity of persons, they would at that time
have become Arians or Socinians, and
the Christian Church would have perished,
16. None but Socinian spirits operate
upon Socinians, 74. See Spirit.
Son (To see the), John vi. 40, is to see
the Lord with the Spirit, 23.
Soul (The) is united with the body In aU
its collective and general parts, 86. All
that which is essence is caUed soul, 94 The
soul of beasts, regarded in Itself, ia
spiritual, but not iu the degree in which
the souls of men are so, but in an inferior
degree, 90. What the vegetable soul is,
92, IdO.
Space. There is no space in the spiri
tual world, apace there being only an
appearance, derived from that which re
sembles it, 19. Space and time are the two
properties of nature, 33. In the natural
world there are spaces and times, but in
the spiritual world they are appearances,
106. In the natural world spaces and
times are flxed, stated, and measurable,
106. They must he removed from the
ideas, in order that the omnipresence of
the Lord with all men, and his omniscience
of things present and future, may be un
derstood, 104, 106, 107. Spaces and ex
tensions are not such before God, 108.
Speech. Man has the faculty of speak
ing because he can thmk rationaUy, 91.
The Lord, in the Word, speaks with every
one, according to his capacity, 75.
Speech of spirits with man, 74. Many
persons are under the belief that man may
be taught by God by means of spirits
speaking with him ; but those who beUeve
this,' and foster the beUef in their will, are
not aware that it is connected with danger
to their souls, 74. Only similar spirits
speak with man, or operate manifestly
upon him, for manifest operation coincides
with speech, 74.
Sphere. That Is called the sphere of the
life of an angel, which proceeds from his
soul aud from his body, 17. Sphere of
tbe affections and thoughts of man, 68.
Spirit. Every spirit is a man, 19.
Spuits are affections originating in love,
and thus also thoughts, 34. The spirits of
heaven are affections of the love of good,

204

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

and the apirits of heU affections of Ihe
love of evU, 34 The spirits which are
with man are conjoined immediately as to
the affections of the will, and mediately
as to the thoughts of the understanduig,
74 ; they do not know that they are with
man, 74; but as soon as apirits be^ to
speak with man, tbey leave their own
spiritual state and enter into man's natural
state ; and being then aware that they
are with mun, they coDJoIn themselves with
the thoughts of his affection, and from them
converse with him, 74. It is from this cir
cumstance that when a spirit speaks, he is
in the same principles as the man with
whom he speaks : and further, that he calls
them into activity, and by means of his
affection coQjoIned to that of the man,
strongly confiims them, 74. When a man
Imagines that the spirit speaking with him
or operating upon him is the Holy Spirit,
the spirit also himself beUeves that he Is
so, 74. All spirits that apeak with men
were once men in the world, 74. The
danger to which a man is exposed who
speaks with spbrlts, or manifestly perceives
tlieir operation, 74,
Spirit (The Holy) is the di^e proceed
ing from the Lord as a sun, from whom
heaven has its being, 71.
Spirit (Vital), 51.
Spiritual. That is called spiritual
which proceeds from the sun, which is
divine love, 85, (See Sun.) That which
is spiritual from its origin haa Ufe in itself,
85. The spiritual and natural exist in
every created object in this world, the
spiritual aa the internal, and tbe natural
as the external, or the spiritual as the
cauae and the natural as the effect, 85,
There neither is nor can be in nature any
thing whatever in which there Is not a
spiritual principle, 85. The apiritual acts
upon the natural, and by means of it
produces its own effects, as the principal
cause acting hy means of its instrumental
cause, 86, There is inherent in all that is
spiritual a plastic force where there are ho
mogeneous exhalations in nature present,
and there is also a propagatlve force, 90.
Stags, 89.
Obs. — ^The stag, in the Word, signifies
natural affection, A. C, 6413.
State and Form. Everything is received
accordmg to the state and form of the re
cipient, 46. By state in man is meant his
love, and by changes of state the affections
of love; by form in him is meant his in
teUigence, and by variations of form his
thoughts, 45. What tbe atate of man from
creation is, 47. Man Uves in an interme
diate state, 47.
Suit. Ttiere are two suns, the sun of the
spiritual world and the sun of the natural
world, 85. The sun of the spiritual world
ia the divine love of the Lord, and the aun
of the natural world Is pure fire, 85. From

the sun, which is divine love, the whole
work of creation began, and through the
aun, which ia fire, it was brought to com
pletion, 85.
Supper (The Holy) is a symbol of the
Lord's Church, ancl an assurance that thoae
who believe and Uve according to Hia com
mandments in the Word are saved, 78.
Sustehtatton is perpetual creation, as
subsistence is perpetual existence, 102.
Swedenborg. He testifies before tbe
world that all thinga connected with hia
thought and wiU entered by Influx, goods
and truths through heaven from the Lord,
and evils and falses from heU, and that for
a long time he was permitted to perceive
it, 86. He testifies that for fifteen years
he clearly perceived that he had no thought
or wUI of himseli^ £c., 46. He declares
that it was given him to see this enlighten
ment, and from It to perceive distinctly
that which proceeds from the Lord, and
that which proceeds from the angels, and
that, besides, he was permitted to con
verse with the angels as man converses
with man, 76.
Swine, 89.
Obs.— Swine, In the Word, aignify those
who give themselves up to avarice,
A. a, 1742, Swine, Matt. vU, 6, aig
nify those who love only worldly
riches, A. R., 726.
Tables of the Law. In one of theae
tablea ia God, iu the other man, 72. How
these two tables are conjoined in man, 72.
These tablea are found with all nations
with whom there is any reUglon, 72,
Taste. The particles turning over upon
the tongue are the principal cause of
taste, and the tongue is the instrumental,
26. The sensory of taste is excited by
means of the food which moves upon the
tongue from without, 4S.
Teaching. The Lord teaches no man
without the use of means, 70,
Teeth are among the ultimatea which
are produced from the spiritual principle ;
the life which is from the soul terminatUig
in them, 100.
Oba.— Teeth, in the Word, slgnliy the
sensual principle, which is the ulti
mate of the life of man, ff. and ff..
575.
Temptations are not punishments, they
are combats, 60.
Thoughts. (See AffecUons.) Affections
produce tboughtfl precisely as the In
fluences of heat In a garden produce the
germmations of plants, by means of the
rays of Ught, 69 ; thua thoughts are tho
germinations arising from the conjugal
union of apiritual heat, or love, with the
rays of spiritual Ught, or trutha, 69. There
is both an intemal thought and an exter
nal thought, 48. There Is with man
thought from Ught and thought from love,

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX.

205

8. There Is thought ^ven from light con
cerning God, and there is thought ^ven
which is no», from light, 9. The thought of
tbe natural man cannot be separated and
withdrawn from the idea of time, 32. The
thought of the spiritual man, because It is
elevated above nature, is withdrawn from
time, 82. All the thoughts of man diffuse
themselves into the spiritual world in
every direction, as the rays of light are
diffused from flame, 2. It is the spiritual
world into which thought extends, but it
is the natural world into which vision ex
tends, 2. The thoughts of man are exten-
aions Into societies either heavenly or in
fernal ; unless there were extensions there
would be no thoughts, 3. The thought of
man is Uke the sight of his eyes, which,
unless it had extension out of Itself, would
be either no faculty of sight at all, or
blindness, 8. Thoughts derived from good
love are trutha, but thoughta derived from
evil love are falaities, S. The first and
primary thought whicb opens heaven to
man Is thought concerning God, 5, 6.
Thought against God primarUy closes
heaven to man, 5, 6.
TiGBBs ^The) which appear in hell are
manifestations of the cupidities of Infernal
spirits, 89.
Obs. — Tigers, in the Word, represent the
infemal cupidities of self-love, T. O.
i2.,45.
Time Is a property of nature, not of life,
S3. To the spiritual man, instead of the
idea of time there is the idea of the state of
life, and instead of duration of time there is
a state of thought, 82. Time, with its suc
cession, and space, with Its extension, do not
exist in the spiritual world as properties be
longing to it; but are there the appear
ances of states of life in those who dweU
there, 100.
Tongue (The), 26.
Trinity. The trinity is in the Lord, 18.
God, in whom is the trinity, ia one person,
14. The trinity in the Lord, as in one per
son, ia the divine principle which ia called
the Father; the divine human, which is
caUed tbe Son; and the divine proceed
ing, which is caUed the Holy Spirit, 14
The divine trinity is the esse, the existere,
aud the procedere, 17. What sort of a
threefold principle God had before the
Lord assumed the human principle, and
made it divine m the Word, IS. Why the
Trinity of persons was inserted in the
Athanaaian Creed by divine permission,
16. Tbuth de^res to be in the Ught, because
tbe Ught of heaven ia divine truthj 9.
Truths in their origin are rays of the hght
of heaven, 69. The truths of heaven and
the Church may be seen by the understand
ing ; in heaven spIrltuaUy, and in the world
rationally, 9.
Tubtlj-Doveb (The) which appear in

heaven are manlfestatlona of the affections
of angela, 89.
Obs. — Turtle-dovea, In the Word, aigmfy
the goods and truths of faith, A. O.,
1826.
Ultimate (The). There Is nothing but
haa Its own ultimate, in wbich It terminates
and stopa, 98. Intermediates co-exiat in
the ultimatea from the firat source to the
ultimate, 95. The work of creation is per
fected in ultimates, 95. The ultimates of a
man are what are called flesh and bones,
18. Ultimates. An idea of state, and the
consequent Idea of an appearance of space
and time, exist only in aud from the ulti
mates of creation in heaven, which are the
earth upon which angels dwell, 106.
Understanding (The) is the internal
sight, 46. The understanding truly hu
man Is the very faculty of seemg troths, 9.
It sees truths aa clearly as the eye sees ob
jects, 9. It sees truths as it loves them, for
as it loves them it is enUghtened, 9. AU
the truths of the Word, which are truths of
heaven aud the Church, may he seen by
the understanduig, in heaven, spIrltuaUy,
and in the world, rationally, 9. After
death, man is permitted to think from his
understanding only in accordance with the
love of his will, 65. Man is not reformed
in virtue of his understanding, 66. Every
man is endowed with an understanding
capable of elevation into the Ught of
heaven : what the true state of the case is,
103. Understanding and Will (The). It Is
a law of the Divine Providence, that the
understanding and the wiU of man should
not be compeUed by another, 48. The
understanding is the recipient of truth, and
the wUl the recipient of good, 64. The un
derstanding is derived from the Ught of
heaven, which, in its essence, ia divine
truth or wisdom ; and the wiU Is derived
from tbe heat of heaven, which, in its ea-
aence, is the divine good or love, 65. The
underatanding is the subject or receptacle
of truth, and of the wisdom originating In
it ; and the will b the subject or receptacle
of good, and thus of love, 65. See Faeul^
Ues ; see also, 65, 66.
Union (The) of the Lord with man, and
of man with the Lord, by means of love, 33.
There is a union of spiritual and natural
things in aU the coUective and several parts
of the world, 86.
Unity (The), in which is the Trinity, or
the one G^d, in whom ia the threefold
principle (iriwtom), is not given In the di
vine principle which is called the Father,
nor in the divine principle which ia called
the Holy Spirit, but in the Lord alone, 18.
Universe (The), 84.
Use is the aubject of all affection. Man
cannot be affected unless it is for the sake

206

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

of something, and this something is use,
lOl. Eveiything, great as weU as amaU,
was created from use, in use, and for use,
84. There are manifold uaea, which may
be divided generally into heavenly and In
fernal, 83. In hell, uses are performed
from fear ; but in heaven, from love, 84.
A man of use is a man according to his use,
88. Use, in the spiritual sense, ia our
neighbor, 88. The reason that use is a
man's neighbor is, that every man is valued
and loved, not for his understanding and
wiU alone, but for the uses which he per
forms, or is able to perform from tiiem, 83.
To love uses is the same thing as to love
our neighbor, S3. When uses are loved in
preference to aelf and the world, and
acquaintance with goodness and truth is
loved for the sake of these uses, they then
occupy the first place, 81. The love of
God and of tbe neighbor la the love of
uaes, 79. Everything that love produces
Is use, 77. (See Ends.) What is implied
by loving uaes for the sake of uaes, 83.
The whole heaven ia full of uaes, 112. The
uses which the angels perform in the
heavens, and the different kinds of work
which the apirita do in the hells, are in
some measure similar to thoae which eidat
in the world ; most of the uses are, how
ever, apiritual, and cannot be described in
natural language, 112. A Ufe originating
in the love of use is a divine spiritual Ufe ;
and, therefore, every man who lovea good
uae, and from tbe love of it performs It, is
loved by the Lord, and received with joy
by the angela in heaven, 112, Those who
perform no use, are banished to tbe hells,
112. Since all things, coUective and seve
ral, were, at the beginning, created in the
world for use, and aU things also in man
were formed for use, and the Lord from
creation regarded as one man the whole
human race, each member of which ia in a
simUar manner designed for use, or Is use ;
and since the Lord himself is the Ufe of this
man, — it is pl^n that the universe was so
created that the Lord is in first principles
and in ultimates— in the centre also and
in the circumferences — that Is, in the midst
y of aU things, and that aU things in which
He ia are uaea. From these circumstances
also, the Lord's omnipresence and omni
science may be underatood, 112. The uses
which angela perform in the heavens, and
the different kinds of work which the
spirits do in the hells, are in some measure
simUar to those which exist In the world,
112. Variations (By) of form In man are
meant his thoughta, 45.
Vegetable. In every vegetable there is
an idea, as it were, of the infinite and eter
nal, 92, Vegetables, and ammals also, ex
ist from a spiritual origin, by means of
Inherent, active, creative, and formative

forces, 98. There is use inherent In every
vegetable— spiritual use in the spiritual
world, and both spiritual and natural use
in the natural world, 101. Spiritual use is
for tbe various statea of tbe mind (animu8\
and natural use for the various states oi
the body, 101, The aoul of vegetables, 86,
92-100. Concerning vegetables In heaven,
99. Difference between the vegetables in
the spiritual world and those In the natu
ral, IdO. Wonders in the vegetable king
dom, 92,
Vegetation of minerals and of corals, 96.
Venus, 22.
Vipers, 90.
Oba. — Vlpera, in the Word, repreaent
malice, cunning, and Imposture, A. C.,
6398. '
Visions compel the external of man's
spirit, which consists in thinking and will
ing, and this external must not be con
strained, 63. If man could be reformed by
visions, then all men throughout the whole
world would be so, 58. Visions close the
path of man's reformation, for they per
suade and compel beUef, and thus bind
and Imprison the thoughts, 58. Whom
those resemble who wish for visions, 54.
Will. There is an internal and an ex
ternal wiU, 48. See Underatanding and
WiU. Wisdom la the form of love, or love ex
isting in form, 65. With the angels, the
first degree of wisdom ia to aee and ac
knowledge that no ratio ia given between
inflnite and finite, 83. The divine wiadom
of the Lord is apiritual Ught, 83. To love
wiadom ia to love real uaes, 81. See Uae.
Wolves, 89.
Obs.— Wolves, In the Word, represent
thoae who are opposed to innocence,
A. a, 3994.
WoBD (The) is the divine principle It
self of the Lord on the earth, 75, The
Lord teaches man by means derived from
the Word, 67, 71. Those whom the Lord
leads are enlightened when they read tbe
Word, 75. There was an ancient Word in
the ancient Church, which was afterwards
lost, 71. From this ancient Word the re-
li^ous tenets of several nations were de
rived, 71.
World (The whole), and all the collec
tive and several objects which it contains,
derived their existence and stUl subsist
from the Lord, the creator of the universe,
30, 76, 85, 96, and elsewhere.
WoBLD OF Spirits (The) is intermediate
between heaven and hell, 88.
Oba. — The world of spirits is part of the
spiritual world.
World (By the Spiiitual) are meant
both heaven and hell, each being divided
in the most orderly manner into innume
rable societies, according to all the varie
ties of affections, and the thoughts origi-

ALPHABETICAL AND ANALYTICAL INDEX.

207

nating in them, 58. The apiritual world ia
prior, interior, and superior to the natural
world, 94. All that belongs to the spirit-
nal world ia cause^ and aU that belongs to
the natural world is effect, 04.
Worship. The divine means of worahip
are derived from tbe Lord through tbe

Word, 79. The demoniacal means of
worsMp consist in the adorations offered
to men, living and dead ; to sepulchres,
also, to dead bodies, and to bones, 79.
Worship of Saints. Whence it baa
arisen, 22. Why Jupiter, Saturn, etc., were
worshipped as goda in Greece and Italy, 22

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in the Universe. 6. The Last Jutlgment ; with continuatiott.
The first of these contaijis a summaiy statement of the Doctrines of the
New Church, with copious references to the Arcana, where the same doc
trines are more fully unfolded. The second exhibits some of the more
important of these doctrines in contrast with those of the former Christian
Church. The third treats of Influx, showing how the spiritual flows into
the material, and the manner in which the soul operates upon the body.
The fourth unfolds the spiritual meaning of the White Horse mentioned
ill the Apocalypse, with references lo the Arcana, where the subject is
further elucidated. The fifth describes the appearance, character, and
mode of life of the inhabitiints of other earths, with which the author be
came acquainted through his intercourse with spirits from those earths.
The sixth explains the nature and manner of the Last General Judgment,
which occurred in the World of Spirits in 1757, when also the New Dis
pensation, known as the New Jerusalem, commenced.

SWEDENBORG'S THEOLOGICAL WORKS.

CHEAP EDITIONS OF THE MINOR WORKS.
The following minor works, printed from the odlavo plates, and
bound with a heavy paper cover, are offered at prices which bring them
within the reach of all.
The Nature of the intercourse between the Soul and the
Rody. Explaining the relation between spirit and
¦matter, and between the natural and spiritual
worlds, pp. 32.
Single copy, including postage, 5 cts. ; fifty copies or more, not including
postage, at the rate of ^3.50 per hundred.
The Doctrine of Life. pp. 48.
Single copy, including postage, 6 cts. ; fifty copies or more, not includ
ing postage, at the rate of ;ji4.oo per hundred.
A Rrief Exposition of ihe Doctrine of the New Church.
Contrasting the Old and the New Theology, pp. 96.
The Last Judgment, and the Destruction of Rabylon. Ex
plaining the predi£lions in the Book of Kevelation ;
with a Continuation, describing the effeSls of the
Judgment in the Spiritual World, pp. q6.
Each of these two, single copy, including postage, 10 cts.; fifty or
more, not including postage, at the rate of $7.00 per hundred.
Other minor works will be issued in a similar form.

POCKET EDITION.
The Four Doctrines {same as "Four Leading DoSlrines"
abovz). 32010 ; pp. 266.
Flexible cloth binding, 20 dis., seven copies for $i.oo, fifteen copies
for II2.00, postage included; fifty copies for $S°°> postage extra.
Same, on fine paper, vellum cloth, gilt edges, 30 dis. ; four copies for
Iji.oo. Address, 20 Cooper Union,
New York City.
A REPRINT OF THE ORIGINAL EDITIONS.
No careful student of Swedenborg can be satisfied with translations.
But the original works are constantly becoming more costly and more
difficult to obtain; while some of the reprints are scarce, and others too
imperfedl to be of any permanent value. There is, therefore, a pressing

SWEDENBORG'S THEOLOGICAL WORKS.
need for an accurate reproduaion of these works, in the language in
which they were written. But it is/foo expensive an enterprise to be
carried forward, except with the hearty co-operation of the whole Church.
The American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing Society has taken
up the work with the hope and expedlation that if it were seen to be
well done, the co-operation of the Church might be secured. The
Apocalypsis Revelata
has been published in two handsome odlavo volumes. Two volumes of
the *
Apocalypsis Explicata
have also been published; to be completed in four more volumes, soon to
be issued. Some of the minor works have also been published.
But thus far the sales have amounted to almost nothing, and unless
some interest in the work can be awakened, the publication cannot be
continued. With the exceptional facilities of the Society for doing the
work well and with exceptional economy, a suspension of it would seem
to be a great misfortune for the Church. At the price which has been
adopted (J82.00 per volume, stitched, with paper covers ; ^2.50 in half
leather binding) the amount expended would not be realized on a sale
of less than one thousand copies. Probably there are not one thousand
persons to be found who will purchase copies for their own use. But it
would be following Swedenborg's own example to place these works in
the leading public and college libraries ; and if subscriptions coujd be
had for five hundred copies, for this purpose, to be taken as the volumes
appear, the Society might depend upon the ordinary sales for the remain
der of its expenditures. The subscriber could designate the library to
which his copies should be sent, and the gift could go in his name.
WiU you not subscribe for one or more copies for this purpose?
All correspondence relating to subscriptions should be addressed to
the Secretary, Rev. J. C. Ager, 20 Cooper Union.
The works are for sale at 20 Cooper Union, New York City.

WI/O WILL HELP?
The Society is constantly finding more to do than its resources per
mit. Its income from invested funds now amounts to about j!3,5oo a
year. "Our field is the world." Something, at least, of Swedenborg
should be translated into the language of every civilized people, and
placed where it will be accessible to those who are ready for it. Every
dollar contributed helps forward this work to the utmost that a dollar can.
Every sum given for investment will be a permanent missionary, preach
ing the truths of "the True Christian Church" to generation after gene
ration. Can you do better with what the Lord has given you to use than
devote some of it, at least, to this work ?

Dire6lions for the guidance of persons desirous of mak
ing provision by Will for the 74ses of this Society.
It is the safer course for such persons to consult a competent lawyer of the State where
the property may be situated. Especially is this important if the property to be given cpn-
sists o^ real estate.. The laws of more than one State provide that a devise of land situated
within that State cannot be made directly to a foreign corporation organized or situated in
some other State or country than the State in which the land is situated. In such ^ases,
Form 4 (below) should be used. In several States, moreover, no such devise or bequest is
good, unless a certain time after the will is made shall relapse before the death of the
testator. It is impracticable to give directions which will be in conformity with the varying statutes
of all the States. But e.\cept for those States whose law requires a certain time to elapse
between the making of the will and the death of the testator, the following forms are be- \
tieved to be respectively sufficient. i 1
FoR» I.— BEQUEST OF MONEY; '
" I give and bequeath to the American Swedenborg Printing and
Publishing Society, located in the City of New York, the sum of
dollars." Form 11.— BEQUEST OF NOTES, BONDS, etc.
"I give and bequeath to the American Swedenborg Printing and
Publishing Society, located in the City of New York,
{Here describe the notes, bauds, stock or other property in/ended to be given, not consistin£ of
land or houses).
Form III.— DEVISE OF REAL ESTATE
Located in the State of New York, whose laws permit a devise to be made di
rectly to this Society ; and also adapted to a devise of land in. any State
whose laws may permit that land situated in such State may be devised
to charitable or benevolent corporations located in another State than
the State in which the land is situated.
" I give and devise to the American Swedenborg Printing and Pub
lishing Society, located in the City of New York, and to its successors
and assigns for ever; all that certain
{.Here describe the real estate intended to be gi-vev ,foUo7oing, i/possible, the description given in
the title deed, in order to avoid uncertainty.)
Form IV.— DEVISE OF REAL ESTATE
Located not within the State of New Yofk, but in any other State whose laws
de not permit a devise of land to be made direCtly to a corporation for
charitable uses organized or situated outside of such State.
"I give and devise to (Here insert names of trustees)
all that certain piece or parcel of land and premises with the appurte
nances, bounded and described as follows :
(Here insert the description, which, iffraSticable, should foltoTV that given in the title deed, in
order to avoid uncertainty .-)
In Trust, however, for the following uses and purposes: — The said
trustees are hereby empowered and diredled to sell the same as soon as
pradlicable after my decease ; and to pay over the net proceeds thereof
to the Treasurer of the American Swedenborg Printing and Publishing
Society, located in the City of New York, for the use'of said Society in
printing, publishing, and circulating the works and writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg according to the provisions of their certificates of incorpor
ation, and of the laws of the State of New York affedling the powers
and uses of said Society."

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