124、对此，我补充两个天使智慧的奥秘，由此可以看出何为圣治。第一，主决不单独作用于人里面的任何细节，除非祂同时作用于一切事物；第二，主同时从中心和边界起作用。主之所以决不单独作用于人里面的任何细节，除非祂同时作用于一切事物，是因为人里面的一切事物都被如此联系在一起，并通过这种联系而处于这样一种形式中，以致它们不是作为许多，而作为一个行动。众所周知，就身体而言，人就处于这样一种联系，并通过这种联系处于这样一种形式。人类心智也处于这种形式，并拥有这种包括一切的联系，因为人类心智是属灵人，实际上就是人。这就是为何人的灵，也就是他身体里面的心智，拥有一个完整的人形；因此，人死后和在世上一样是一个人；唯一区别在于，他脱去了在世上形成他身体的覆盖物。
既然人类形式具有这种性质，即：所有部分构成一个行如一体的总的整体，那么可推知，若不经其余部分的同意，一个部分无法离其本位，在状态上发生改变；因为如果一个部分离其本位，在状态上发生改变，那么行如一体的这个形式必受损。这清楚表明，若不同时作用于所有事物，主决不作用于任何细节。主以这种方式作用于整个天使天堂，因为整个天使天堂在主眼里如同一个人。祂也以这种方式作用于每位天使，因为每位天使都是一个最小形式的天堂。祂还以这种方式作用于每个人，主要作用于他心智的所有事物，并通过这些事物作用于他身体的所有事物。因为人的心智就是他的灵，并照着它与主结合的程度而为一位天使，而他的身体只是顺服它的一个工具。
然而，要清楚明白的是，主也单独且最精心，同时通过他形式的所有事物而作用于人的每个细节。然而，除非与整个形式和谐一致，否则祂不会改变任何部分或任何细节的状态。对此，下文有详述，那里将说明：主的圣治是普遍的，因为它涉及细节；它涉及细节，因为它是普遍的。
主之所以同时从中心和边界起作用，是因为这是整体及其一切细节能保持联系的唯一方式。居间事物相继依赖于中心，直到边界，它们都一起聚集于边界；如《圣爱与圣智》第三部分所解释的，在边界有一个来自最初的一切事物的同时聚集。这就是为何永恒之主，或耶和华来到世界，在那里披上并取得最外在形式上的人性，以便同时存在于最初和最末的事物中，因而从最初事物通过最末事物来掌管整个世界。这使祂能在其圣治的律法，也就是其神性智慧的律法之下拯救那些祂所能拯救的人。这涉及基督教界所承认的以下事实：如果主不降世，没有人能够得救（参看《新耶路撒冷教义之信仰篇》，35节）。这就是为何主被称为“首先的和末后的”。
124. To this I will add two secrets of angelic wisdom, from which one can see the nature of Divine providence. One, that the Lord never acts upon any one constituent in a person individually without acting at the same time on all his constituents. Two, that the Lord acts from inmost elements and from outmost elements simultaneously.
That the Lord never acts upon any one constituent in a person individually without acting at the same time on all his constituents: That is because all a person's constituents exist in such a connection, and through that connection in such a form, that they function not as separate entities but as one.
People know that a person exhibits such a connection and through that connection such a form as regards his body. In a like form, too, resulting from a connection of all its constituents, is the human mind, for the human mind is the spiritual person and also the person actually. It is because of this that a person's spirit, which in the body is his mind, is in every respect of its form human. Consequently a person after death is just as much a person as in the world, the only difference being that he has cast off the coverings which formed his body in the world.
[2] Now, because the human form is of such a nature that its constituents all form a common whole which functions as a unit, it follows that one constituent cannot be shifted from its position and its state changed except in harmony with the rest. For if one constituent were to be shifted from its position and its state changed, the form, which has to function as a unit, would suffer.
It is apparent from this that the Lord never acts upon any one constituent without acting at the same time on all. Thus does the Lord act upon the entire angelic heaven, since the entire angelic heaven is, in the Lord's sight, as a single person. Thus does the Lord act also upon each angel, because each angel is a heaven in miniature form. Thus does He also act upon every person, directly upon all the constituents of the person's mind, and through these on all the constituents of his body. For a person's mind is his spirit, and in the measure of its conjunction with the Lord, an angel, with the body its obedient servant.
[3] It should be rightly observed, however, that the Lord also acts upon every single constituent of a person individually, indeed most particularly so, while acting at the same time through all the constituents of his form. But still He does not alter the state of any part or of any single constituent in particular except in conformity with the whole form.
But on this subject we will say more in subsequent discussions, where we will demonstrate that the Lord's Divine providence is universal because it operates in specifics, and that is it specific because it is universal.
[4] That the Lord acts from inmost elements and from outmost elements simultaneously: That is because each and all things are thus and not otherwise held in connection; for intermediate elements descend in sequence from inmost ones to outmost ones, and they are present in the outmost ones concurrently. Indeed, we showed in Part Three of our treatise Divine Love and Wisdom that present in the outmost or last element is a concurrence of all its elements from the first.
It is because of this, too, that the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, came into the world and there put on or assumed a humanity in things last, in order to make it possible for Him to be present in first elements and at the same time in last ones, and thus to govern the entire world from first elements through last elements so as to save people, whom He is able to save in accordance with the laws of His Divine providence, which are also laws of His Divine wisdom.
This is also something that is known in the Christian world - that no mortal could have been saved if the Lord had not come into the world - on which subject see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding Faith 35.
That is why the Lord is called the First and the Last. 1
Footnotes:
1. See Isaiah 44:6, 48:12; Revelation 1:11, 17, 2:8, 22:13.
124. At this point, I may add two secrets of angelic wisdom that will enable us to see what divine providence is like. The first is that the Lord never acts in any detail of our being by itself unless he acts in all the details at once. The second is that the Lord acts from the center and the boundaries at the same time.
The reason the Lord never acts in any detail of our being by itself unless he acts in all the details at once is that everything in us is so knit together and therefore so united in a single form that it does not act as a plurality but as a single whole. We know that we are knit together and therefore formed in this way as far as our bodies are concerned. The human mind is also in the same kind of form and has the same kind of all-inclusive connectedness, because the human mind is a spiritual person and in fact acts as a single person. This is why our spirit, the mind that is in our body, has a complete human form, so that after death we are people just as much as we are in this world. The only difference is that we have cast off the skin that made up our body in this world.
[2] Since it is the nature of the human form that all its parts make an inclusive entity that acts as a single whole, it follows that one element cannot be shifted from its place and changed with respect to state except with the consent of the others; for if one element were moved out of place and changed in state, there would be a gap in the form that was intended to act as a single whole. We can see from this that the Lord never acts on any detail without acting on all of them at the same time.
This is how the Lord works in the whole angelic heaven, because the whole angelic heaven is like a single person in his sight. This is also how the Lord acts on every individual angel, because every angel is a miniature heaven. This is also how he acts on each of us, most directly on our minds, and through them on everything in our bodies. This is because our mind is our spirit--an angel to the extent that it is united to the Lord--and our body is obedience.
[3] However, we need to be acutely aware that the Lord acts precisely, most precisely in fact, on every detail of our being while working through everything in our form. He does not, though, change the state of any part or any element in specific unless all the elements of the form concur. There will be more on this later, when I explain that the Lord's divine providence is all-inclusive because it deals with details and that it deals with details because it is all-inclusive.
[4] The reason the Lord acts from the center and the boundaries at the same time is that this is the only way the whole and all its elements can be kept connected. The things in between depend in sequence on the central ones, all the way to the boundaries, and they are all gathered together at the boundaries; for as explained in part 3 of Divine Love and Wisdom, there is a gathering at the boundaries of everything that comes from the First. This is why the Lord from eternity or Jehovah came into the world and put on the clothing of a human nature there in outermost form in order to be present in first and last things at the same time, and therefore from the first things to govern the whole world through the last things. This enabled him to save those people whom he could save under the laws of his divine providence, which are also the laws of his divine wisdom. This involves the fact acknowledged in the Christian world that no one could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world (see Teachings for the New Jerusalem on Faith 35). This is why the Lord is called the First and the Last.
124. To what has been said I will add two interior truths (arcana) of angelic wisdom from which the nature of the Divine Providence may be seen. The first is, that the Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man separately, but upon all things at the same time; and the second is, that the Lord acts from inmost things and from ultimates at the same time.
1. The Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man separately but upon all things at the same time. The reason is that all things of man are linked together in such a connected series and through this connection in such a form that they act not as many but as one. It is well known that man in respect to his body is in such a connected series and through this connection is in such a form. Moreover, the human mind is also in a similar form from the connection of all things in it, for the human mind is the spiritual man and is actually the man. Consequently the spirit of man, which is his mind in his body, is in its entire form a man. Therefore a man after death is as much a man as when in the world, with this difference only, that he has cast off the outer covering which formed his body in the world.
[2] Now since the human form is such that all its parts form a general whole which acts as one, it follows that one part cannot be moved out of its place and changed in state except with the concurrence of the rest. For if one part were to be moved out of its place and changed in state the form which must act as one would suffer. From this it is clear that the Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing but upon all things at the same time. In this way the Lord acts upon the universal angelic heaven because it is in His sight as one man; in this way the Lord acts upon each angel because each angel is a heaven in the least form; and in this way He acts upon every man first, as being nearest to Him, upon all things of his mind, and through these upon all things of his body. For the mind of man is his spirit and is an angel according to his degree of conjunction with the Lord, and his body is its obedient instrument.
[3] It should, however, be clearly observed that the Lord also acts upon every particular thing in man separately, and most meticulously, but at the same time through all things of his form, yet without changing the state of any part, or of anything in particular, unless in accord with the form as a whole. But more will be said concerning this in following numbers, where it will be shown that the Divine Providence of the Lord is universal because it is in particulars, and that it is particular because it is universal.
[4] 2. The Lord acts from inmost things and from ultimates at the same time. The reason is that in this way and in no other all things in general and in particular are held together in a connected series, intermediates depending successively from inmost things to ultimates, and all are in ultimates at the same time; for in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, Part Three, it was shown that in the ultimate there is the simultaneous presence (simultaneum) of all the series from the first. For this reason also the Lord from eternity or Jehovah came into the world and there put on and assumed the Human in ultimates, in order that He might be from first things and in ultimates at the same time; and so that from first things by means of ultimates He might rule the whole world and thus save men, whom He is able to save according to the laws of His Divine Providence which are also the laws of His Divine Wisdom. Thus also is it true, as is acknowledged in the Christian world, that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world. On this subject see THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING FAITH (n. 35). Hence it is that the Lord is called the First and the Last.
124. To this I will add two arcana of angelic wisdom, from which it can be seen what the Divine providence is: first, that the Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man singly without acting simultaneously upon all things; secondly, that the Lord acts from inmosts and from outmosts simultaneously. The Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing in man singly without acting simultaneously upon all things of man, for the reason that all things of man are in such connection, and through this connection in such a form that they do not act as many but as a one. It is acknowledged that in respect to his body man is in such a connection, and through this connection in such a form. The human mind also is in a like form from a connection of all things in it; for the human mind is the spiritual man, and is actually the man. From this it is that man's spirit, which is his mind in his body, is in its entire form a man; consequently man after death is just as much a man as he was in the world, with this difference only, that he has cast off the coverings that formed his body in the world.
[2] Since, then, the human form is such that all the parts make a general whole, which acts as one, it follows that one part cannot be moved out of its place and changed in state except with the consent of the rest; for if one were removed from its place and changed in state, the form which acts as one would suffer. This makes clear that the Lord in no wise acts upon any particular thing without acting simultaneously upon all. Thus does the Lord act upon the entire angelic heaven, since the entire angelic heaven in the Lord's sight is as one man. Thus, too, does He act upon each angel, because each angel is a heaven in the least form. Thus also does He act upon each man, primarily upon all things of his mind, and through these upon all things of his body; for the mind of man is his spirit, and in the measure of its conjunction with the Lord is an angel, while the body is obedience.
[3] But it should be clearly understood that the Lord also acts upon every particular in man singly, and even most singly, but simultaneously through all things of his form; and yet He does not change the state of any part or of any particular thing except harmoniously with the whole form. But on this more will be said in what follows; where it will be shown that the Lord's Divine providence is universal because it is in particulars, and that it is particular because it is universal.
[4] The Lord acts from inmosts and from outmosts simultaneously. This is true for the reason that in this and in no other way can all things and each thing be held together in connection; for intermediates are connected in unbroken series from inmosts even to outmosts, and in outmosts they are together; for in the outmost there is a simultaneous presence of all things from the first, as has been shown in Part Third of the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom. It was for this reason also that the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, came into the world, and there put on and assumed Humanity in outmosts, that He might be from firsts and in outmosts together; and thus from firsts through outmosts might rule the whole world and thereby save the men whom He is able to save in accordance with the laws of His Divine providence, which are also the laws of His Divine wisdom. And thus it is, as acknowledged in the Christian world, that no mortal could have been saved unless the Lord had come into the world (see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning Faith 35). And this is why the Lord is called "The First and the Last."
124. His adjiciam duo Arcana Sapientiae 1Angelicae, ex quibus videri potest qualis est Divina Providentia; unum, quod Dominus nusquam agat in aliquod particulare apud hominem singillatim, nisi in omnia simul; alterum, quod Dominus agat ab intimis et ab ultimis simul. Quod Dominus nusquam agat in aliquod particulare apud hominem singillatim, nisi in omnia ejus simul, est quia omnia hominis in tali nexu sunt, et per nexum in tali forma, ut non sicut plura sed sicut unum agant: quod in tali nexu et per nexum in tali forma sit homo quoad corpus, notum est; in simili forma ex connexu omnium est quoque Mens humana, nam Mens humana est spiritualis homo, et quoque est actualiter homo: inde est quod spiritus hominis, qui est mens ejus in corpore, sit in omni forma homo, quare homo post mortem est aeque homo ut in mundo, modo cum discrimine, quod exuvias, quae fecerunt corpus ejus in mundo, rejecerit.
[2] Nunc quia forma humana talis est, ut omnes partes faciant commune, quod sicut unum agit, sequitur quod unum non possit emoveri loco, ac mutari quoad statum, nisi in consensu reliquorum, nam si unum emoveretur loco et mutaretur quoad statum, pateretur forma, quae ut unum aget. Ex his patet, quod Dominus nusquam agat in aliquod particulare, nisi simul in omnia: ita Dominus agit in universum Coelum angelicum, quoniam universum coelum angelicum est in aspectu Domini ut unus Homo; ita quoque agit Dominus in unumquemvis angelum, quia unusquisque angelus est in minima forma coelum; ita etiam agit in unumquemvis hominem, proxime in omnia mentis ejus, et per haec in omnia corporis ejus; nam mens hominis est ejus spiritus, et secundum conjunctionem cum Domino est angelus, ac corpus est obedientia.
[3] Sed probe observandum est, quod Dominus singillatim, imo singularissime, in omne particulare hominis etiam agat, sed simul per omnia formae ejus, at usque non mutat statum alicujus partis, seu alicujus rei in particulari, nisi toti formae convenienter: sed de his plura in sequentibus dicentur, ubi demonstrabitur quod Divina Domini Providentia sit universalis quia in singularibus, et quod sit singularis quia est universalis.
[4] Quod Dominus agat ab intimis et ab ultimis simul, est quia sic et non aliter omnia et singula continentur in nexu; pendent enim intermedia successive ab intimis usque ad ultima, et in ultimis sunt illa simul; nam in Transactione de DIVINO AMORE ET DIVINA SAPIENTIA, in Parte Tertia, ostensum est, quod in ultimo sit simultaneum omnium a primo. Ex eo etiam est, quod Dominus ab aeterno seu Jehovah in mundum venerit, ac ibi induerit et susceperit Humanum in ultimis, ut potuisset a primis et simul in ultimis esse, et sic a primis per ultima regere universum mundum, et sic salvare homines, quos secundum Leges Divinae suae Providentiae, quae etiam sunt Leges Divinae suae Sapientiae, salvare potest. Hoc itaque est, quod in Christiano Orbe notum est, quod nullus mortalium salvari potuerit, nisi Dominus in mundum venerit, de quo videatur DOCTRINA NOVAE HIEROSOLYMAE DE FIDE 35. Inde est quod Dominus dicatur Primus et Ultimus.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: Sapientiae