Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

faculties, and the whole life of man is there in its principles, and is in the body thence by derivation. 2. As all things in the universe, which are according to order, bear relation to good and truth, so all things in man have relation to the will and the understanding; for good with man belongeth to his will, and truth with him to his understanding, these two faculties, or these two lives of man, being respectively the receptacles and subjects of good and truth, the will the receptacle and subject of the all of good, and the understanding the receptacle and subject of the all of truth: goods and truths with man have no other place of residence, consequently neither have love and faith any other place of residence, since love is of good, and good of love, faith is of truth, and truth of faith. 3. The will and the understanding constitute also the spirit of man, for his wisdom and intelligence, and likewise his love and charity, reside therein, and so his life in general: the body is a part entirely in subjection to them. 4. Nothing is of more concern, than to apprehend clearly how the will and the understanding form one mind: there is a marriage between them like that between good and truth: the nature of this marriage will appear from what will be presently adduced concerning good and truth, namely, that as good is the very esse of a thing, and truth its existere derived from that esse, so the will with man is the very esse of his life, and the understanding is the existere of life derived from the esse; for good, which belongs to the will, takes to itself a form in the understanding, and so renders itself visible.

398. 2. Of Good and Truth.

"1. All things in the universe, which are in divine order, have relation to good and truth: there is nothing in heaven, nor in the world, which doth not respect those two principles; the reason is, because both good and truth proceed from God, from whom are all things. 2. Hence it appears how necessary it is for man to know what good and

8

truth are, and how they have a mutual regard to each other, and are reciprocally conjoined. This knowledge is more especially necessary for every member of the church, because as all things of heaven have relation to good and truth, so also have all things of the church; for the good and truth of heaven are likewise the good and truth of the church. 3. Divine Order requireth that good and truth should be conjoined, and not be separated, that so they may be one, and not two; for they proceed in conjunction from God, and they are in conjunction in heaven, and therefore they ought to be in conjunction in the church. The conjunction of good and truth is in heaven called the heavenly marriage, for all there are the subjects of such marriage: this is the reason that heaven, in the Word, is compared to a marriage, and that the Lord is called a bridegroom and husband, whilst heaven, and also the church, are called the bride and wife: these names are given to heaven and the church, because all in both receive divine good in truths. 4. The angels in heaven derive all their intelligence and wisdom from this marriage of good and truth, but not from either of them separate from the other; and so it is with the members of the church. 5. Since then the conjunction of good and truth is as a marriage, it is evident that good loveth truth, and that truth in return loves good, and that they have a mutual desire to be conjoined: that member of the church therefore, who hath no such love and desire, is not a subject of the heavenly marriage; of consequence, the church is not as yet in him; since the conjunction of good and truth is what constitutes the church. 6. There are many kinds of good, all of which come under the general distinctions of spiritual and natural good; and these are both conjoined in genuine moral good. And as with goods, so it is with truths, for all truth is of good, and is its form. 7. What hath been said of good and truth, may be applied, in a reverse sense, to evil and the false; for as all things in

the universe, which are according to divine order, have relation to good and truth, so all things which are contrary to divine order, have relation to evil and the false. And again, as good loveth to be conjoined with truth, and truth with good, so evil loves to be conjoined with the false, and the false with evil. Lastly, as all intelligence and wisdom are born from the conjunction of good and truth, so all insanity and folly are born from the conjunction of evil and the false. The conjunction of evil and the false, interiorly considered, is not a marriage, but adultery. 8. Since evil and the false are opposite to good and truth, it is plain that truth cannot be conjoined with evil, nor good with the false that originates in evil; for if truth be adjoined to evil, it is no longer truth, but becometh false, for it is falsified; and if good be adjoined to the false of evil, it is no longer good, but becometh evil, for it is adulterated. Nevertheless the false, which hath not its ground in evil, is capable of being conjoined with good. 9. It is impossible for those who from confirmation and life are principled in evil and its false, to know what good and truth are, because they believe their evil to be good and their false to be truth; but those who from confirmation and life are principled in good and truth, have a capacity to know what evil and the false are; the reason is, because all good and its truth are, as to their essence, heavenly, but all evil and its false are, as to their essence, infernal; and every thing heavenly is in the light, but every thing infernal is in darkness.

399. 3. Of Love in general.

"1. The very life of man is his love, and such as the love is, such is the life, and even such is the whole man: this however is to be understood of the ruling or reigning love only, for it is this which determines the quality of the man. This love hath several other loves in subordination to it, which are its derivations. These subordinate loves shew themselves under different appearances, but still they all

have their root in the ruling love, and with it constitute one kingdom. The ruling love is, as it were, their king and head this directs them, and by them, as mediate ends, attentively regards and is determined to its own end, which is the first and last of all; and this it does both directly and indirectly. 2. The object of the ruling love is what a man loveth above all things. This object is continually present in his thoughts, because it is in his will, and constituteth the veriest essence of his life. As for example: if a man loveth riches above all other things, his mind (animus) is then continually employed about the ways and means of accumulating money and a great estate; success begets an inmost joy, disappointment an inmost misery; for his heart is in them. So again, if a man loveth himself above all things, he bears in mind himself in every thing, even in the minutest particulars: he thinks of himself, talks of himself, acts for the sake of self; for his life is the life of self. 3. That which a man loves above all things forms the end of all his purposes: he regards it in all things even to the minutest particulars: it lurks in his will like the silent current of a river, drawing and bearing him away in its direction, even whilst he seems intent on other concerns; for it is his animating principle. Such is this love; which one man seeks to discover in another, and when he hath found it, he by it either leads him, or regulates all his dealings with him. 4. Man is, in all respects, such as is the ruling principle of his life: it is this which distinguisheth him from others: according to this his heaven is formed, if he be a good man, and his hell, if he be a bad man: it is, in short, his very will, his self-hood (proprium), and his nature; for it is the very esse of his life. This cannot be changed after death, because it is the man himself. 5. All a man's enjoyments, satisfactions, and happiness, take their rise from his ruling love, and are of a quality agreeable to it; for what a man loves, that he calleth delightful, be

cause it touches him sensibly; but what he only thinks and does not love, he may also call delightful, but it is not the delight of his life. The delight of a man's love constitutes his good, but whatsoever is disagreeable to it, that constitutes his evil. 6. There are two kinds of love, from which, as from their proper fountains, all the varieties of good and truth derive their existence; and there are two kinds of love, from which all the varieties of evil and the false derive their existence. The two kinds of love, which give birth to all the varieties of good and truth, are love to the Lord and love towards our neighbour; and the two kinds of love which give birth to all the varieties of evil and the false, are the love of self and the love of the world. These two latterj kinds of love, when they have the ascendancy, are in direct opposition to the two former. 7. The two kinds of love which give birth to all the varieties of good and truth, and which, as was just said, are love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, constitute heaven in man, for they are the loves which reign in heaven; and as they constitute heaven in man, they also constitute the church in him: but the two kinds of love which give birth to all the varieties of evil and the false, and which, as was just said, are self-love and the love of the world, constitute hell in man, for they are the loves which reign in hell; and consequently they destroy the church in him. 8. The two kinds of love which give birth to all the varieties of good and truth, and which, as just observed, are the loves of heaven, open and form the internal spiritual man, for there they have their residence ; but the two kinds of love from which all the varieties of evil and the false are derived, and which, as just observed, are the loves of hell, when they have the ascendancy, shut up and destroy the internal spiritual man, and render a man natural and sensual, according to the extent and quality of their dominion.

« ПредишнаНапред »