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1092. I saw [another] angel coming down out of heaven.- That this signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord in heaven and in the world, is evident from the signification of an angel coming down out of heaven, as denoting the Lord in regard to the proceeding Divine; for by an angel, in the internal sense, is not meant an angel, but either the Lord, or something pertaining to the Lord (as may be seen above, n. 130, 302, 593, 910), in the present case the Lord, because it is said, that He had great power, and that the earth was lightened with His glory, which means the power and presence of Divine Truth now in heaven and in the world, it being now made manifest that Babylon is destroyed, and when this is destroyed, then the power and light of the Divine which proceeds from the Lord increase; the reasons for this will be explained hereafter.
Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- This is the doctrine concerning God which is accepted by the whole Christian world, because it has come down from a general council. But before the examination of it is entered upon, a fact not known concerning the state of man's faith and love in this world and afterwards in that other into which he comes after death, shall be revealed; for unless this were disclosed it might be supposed that every one, whatever his faith, can of the Divine mercy be admitted into heaven and saved. This is the source of the erroneous belief of the Roman Catholics (Gentis Babylonica) that man possesses heaven according to the good pleasure of the pope, and by the favour of his priests (vicariorum). The unknown fact is this, that all the thoughts of man extend into the spiritual world, in every direction, almost like rays of light from flame. Since the spiritual world consists of heaven and hell, and both heaven and hell are formed of countless societies, therefore man's thoughts must necessarily have extension into societies, spiritual thoughts - which are those relating to the Lord, to love and faith in Him, and to the truths and goods of heaven and the church - into heavenly societies; but thoughts merely natural, concerned with self, the world, and the love of these, and not at the same time with God, into infernal societies.
That all the thoughts of man have such an extension and direction (determinatio) has up to this time been unknown, because nothing is known of the nature of heaven and of hell, that is, that they are formed of societies, and that consequently there is an extension of man's thoughts into a world other than the natural world; into the latter also there is an extension of the sight of his eyes. But it is the spiritual world into which thought extends itself, and the natural world into which vision extends itself, since the thought of the mind is spiritual, and the vision of the eye natural.
It has been made so evident to me from an experience of many years that there is an extension of all the thoughts of man into the societies of the spiritual world, and that there can be no thought apart from such extension, that I can declare the fact with perfect confidence. In a word, man is in the spiritual world with his head, as he is in the natural world with his body.
By head we here mean his mind, consisting of understanding, thought, will, and love, while by body we mean his senses, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. And because man as to his head, that is, as to his mind, is in the spiritual world, therefore he is either in heaven or hell; and where the mind is, there is the entire man with head and body, when he becomes a spirit. And a man's quality is exactly in agreement with the nature of his conjunction with the societies of the spiritual world, he being an angel whose quality is like that of his conjunction with the societies of heaven, or a devil whose quality is like that of his conjunction with the societies of hell.
1092. I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, signifies the Divine proceeding from the Lord in heaven and in the world. This is evident from the signification of "an angel coming down out of heaven," as being the Lord as to the Divine proceeding, for in the internal sense an angel means not an angel, but either the Lord or something pertaining to the Lord (See n. 130, 302, 593, 910), here the Lord, because it is said that "he had great authority, and the earth was lightened by his glory," which means the power and presence of the Divine truth now in heaven and in the world; for it is now made clear that Babylon has been destroyed, and when she has been destroyed there is an accession of power and light to the Divine that proceeds from the Lord. The reason of this will be explained hereafter.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith)
[2] This is the doctrine respecting God that is accepted in the whole Christian world, because it is from a council. But before that doctrine is examined, a certain arcanum respecting the state of man's faith and love in this world, and afterwards in the other world into which he comes after death shall be disclosed; for until this has been disclosed man can have no other idea than that everyone, whatever his faith may have been, can by the Divine mercy be admitted into heaven and saved, which is the source of the erroneous belief of the Babylonish race, that man has heaven from the good pleasure of the Pope, and by the favor of his vicars.
[3] The arcanum is this, that all the thoughts of man pour themselves forth into the spiritual world in every direction, much the same as rays of light from a flame. As the spiritual world consists of heaven and hell, and as heaven as well as hell consists of innumerable societies, the thoughts of man must needs pour themselves forth 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 self and the world and the love of these, and not at the same time to God, into infernal societies.
[4] That there is such an extension and determination of all man's thoughts has not been known heretofore, because it has not been known what heaven is and what hell is, thus that they consist of societies, consequently that there is an extension of man's thoughts into another world than this natural world, into which the sight of his eyes extends. Thus it is the spiritual world into which thought extends, and the natural world into which sight extends, because the thought of the mind is spiritual while the sight of the eye is natural. That all thoughts of man extend into the societies of the spiritual world, and that without such extension no thought is possible, has been made so evident to me by the experience of many years that I can with all faith affirm it to be true.
[5] In a word, man is in the spiritual world with his head as he is in the natural world with his body, head meaning here his mind, which consists of understanding, thought, will, and love, and body here meaning his senses, which are seeing, hearing, smelling, taste, and touch. And as a man is in the spiritual world as to his head, that is, as to his mind, so he is either in heaven or in hell; and where the mind is there the whole man with the head and body is when he becomes a spirit. Moreover, man is wholly such as his conjunction is with the societies of the spiritual world, such an angel as his conjunction is with the societies of heaven, and such a devil as his conjunction is with the societies of hell.
1092. "Vidi [alium] angelum descendentem e caelo." - Quod significet Divinum procedens a Domino in caelo et in mundo, constat ex significatione "angeli descendentis e caelo", quod sit Dominus quoad Divinum procedens; per "angelum" enim iri sensu interno non intelligitur angelus, sed vel Dominus, vel aliquid Domini (videatur (supra] , n. 130 [d] , 302, 593, 910); hic Dominus, quia dicitur quod "haberet potestatem magnam", et quod "terra illustrata esset a gloria ejus", per quae intelligitur Divini Veri potentia ac praesentia nunc in caelo et in mundo, manifestatur enim nunc quod Babylon destructa sit, quae cum destructa est, accedit Divino quod a Domino procedit potentia et lux; cujus rei causa dicetur in sequentibus.
[2] (Continuatio de Fide Athanasiana.)
Haec est doctrina de Deo, in universo Christiano orbe recepta, quia ex concilio; sed antequam Doctrina illa sub ventilationem mittitur, arcanum quoddam de statu fidei et amoris hominis in hoc mundo, et postea in altero, in quem post mortem venit, detegetur; nam absque illo detecto homo non scit aliter quam quod unusquisque, qualiscunque ei fides fuerit, possit ex Divina misericordia in caelum intromitti et salvari; unde fides erronea gentis Babylonicae quod caelum homini sit ex beneplacito pontificis, et ex gratia vicariorum ejus.
[3] Arcanum hoc est: quod omnes cogitationes hominis in mundum spiritualem quaquaversum se effundant, vix aliter quam sicut radii lucis ex flamma. Quia mundus spiritualis est caelum et infernum, ac caelum ex innumeris societatibus consistit, similiter infernum, inde cogitationes hominis non possunt non quam in societates se effundere; cogitationes spirituales, quae de Domino sunt, de amore et fide in Ipsum, et de veris et bonis caeli et ecclesiae, in societates caelestes; at cogitationes mere naturales, quae de se sunt, et de mundo, deque amore illorum, et non simul de Deo, in societates infernales.
[4] Quod talis extensio et determinatio omnium cogitationum hominis sit, hactenus latuit, quia latuit quale caelum et quale infernum est, ita quod ex societatibus consistant; consequenter quod extensio cogitationum hominis sit in alium mundum quam in naturalem, in quem etiam est extensio visus oculorum ejus; sed est mundus spiritualis in quem se extendit cogitatio, et est mundus naturalis in quem se extendit visio, quoniam cogitatio mentis est spiritualis et visio oculi est naturalis. Quod extensio omnium cogitationum hominis sit in societates mundi spiritualis, et quod nulla cogitatio absque illa extensione dari queat, ex plurium annorum experientia ita mihi testatum factum est ut cum omni fide id possim asseverare.
[5] Verbo, est homo cum suo capite in mundo spirituali, sicut est cum suo corpore in mundo naturali; per caput hic intelligitur mens ejus quae sunt intellectus. cogitatio, voluntas et amor, et per corpus hic intelligitur sensus ejus, qui sunt visus, auditus, olfactus, gustus et tactus; et quia homo quoad caput suum, hoc est, quoad mentem est in mundo spirituali, ideo est vel in caelo vel in inferno; et ubi est mens, ibi est totus homo cum capite et corpore, dum fit spiritus; et homo prorsus talis est qualis ei conjunctio est cum societatibus mundi spiritualis; talis angelus qualis ei conjunctio est cum societatibus caeli, et talis diabolus qualis ei conjunctio est cum societatibus inferni.