125、预先阐明这些天使奥秘，是为了能理解主的圣治在将人与主并主与人结合时的运作方式。这种运作不会发生在单独的任何细节中，除非它同时发生在人的一切事物中；它同时从中心和边界发生。人的中心就是他的生命之爱，他的边界是其外在思维中的事物，他的居间物是其内在思维中的事物；我已说明这些事物在恶人里面是何性质（参看104-109节）。由此再次清楚可知，主无法同时从中心和边界作工，除非祂与人一同作工，因为人实际上在其最外在的活动中与主同在。这意味着人在他所掌控的那些事上作工，因为这些事在他的自由范围之内，主则从人的中心，并按连续阶段直到人的边界作工。人完全不知道哪些事物在人的中心，哪些事物在从中心直到边界的连续阶段中；因此，人对主在那里作工的方式，或正在做的事一无所知。然而，所有这些事物都被如此紧密联系起来，以至于与边界构成一体，所以人没有必要知道更多，只需知道他必须避恶如罪，并转向主。这是主能抛弃人与生俱来的属地狱的生命之爱，转而植入一种天堂生命之爱以取代之的唯一方式。
125. These angelic secrets have been premised to make it possible for one to comprehend how the Lord's Divine providence operates to conjoin a person with Himself and Himself with the person. It does not act upon any one constituent in a person individually without acting at the same time on all his constituents, and it acts from a person's inmost element and from his outmost elements simultaneously.
A person's inmost element is his life's love. His outmost elements are the things that exist in the outward component of his thought. The intermediate elements are the things that exist in the inward component of his thought. And the character of these in an evil person we have already shown in the preceding discussions.
From this it is apparent again that the Lord cannot act from anyone's inmost elements and outmost elements simultaneously without doing so in concert with the person, for the person is present together with the Lord in his outmost elements. Consequently, as the person acts in his outmost elements, which are under his control, being within the scope of his freedom, so the Lord acts from the person's inmost elements and in his subsequent elements to the outmost ones.
The things that are in a person's inmost elements and in the subsequent ones extending from the inmost to the outmost are completely unknown to the person, and therefore he is not at all aware of how the Lord is operating there or what He is accomplishing there. But because those inner elements cohere as one with the outmost ones, therefore it is not necessary for the person to know anything more than to refrain from evils as sins and look to the Lord.
Only thus can a person's life's love, which from birth is hellish, be put away by the Lord, and a heavenly life's love be implanted in its stead.
125. These angelic secrets have been presented first to make possible an understanding of the way the Lord's divine providence works to unite us to him and him to us. This does not happen in any detail by itself unless it is happening in everything else at the same time; and it happens from our center and from our boundaries at the same time. Our center is our life's love, and our boundaries are the contents of our outward thinking. In between are the contents of our deeper thinking; and I have already explained [104-109] what these are like in evil people. Again, then, we can see that the Lord cannot work from our center and our boundaries at the same time unless he works with us (we are actually with the Lord in our most external activities).
This means that in those matters where we make choices because they are within the limits of our freedom, when we do something outwardly, the Lord is working from our center and in successive stages all the way to our boundaries.
We have no knowledge whatever of what is at our center or what is in those successive stages from the center to our boundaries, so we have no knowledge whatever of how the Lord is at work or what he is doing there. However, since all of these events constitute one coherent process all the way to the boundaries, all we need to know is that we should abstain from evils as sins and turn to the Lord. This is the only way the Lord can set aside our life's love, which is hellish from our birth, and transplant a love for heavenly life in its place.
125. These angelic truths are stated here in order that it may be understood how the Divine Providence of the Lord operates to unite man to Himself and Himself to man. This operation does not act upon any particular of man separately but upon all things at the same time, and is effected from the inmost of man and from his ultimates at the same time. The inmost of man is his life's love, his ultimates are what reside in the external of his thought, and intermediates are what reside in the internal of his thought. It has been shown in the foregoing numbers what the nature of these is in a wicked man; and from these considerations it is again made clear that the Lord cannot act from inmost things and ultimates at the same time except together with man, for in ultimates man and the Lord are together. Therefore as man acts in ultimates which are matters of his choice, because they are within the scope of his freedom, so the Lord acts from his inmost things and in the things ranging in series to his ultimates. What the inmost things of man contain and what is present in the series from the inmost things to the ultimates are totally unknown to man; and man is therefore quite unaware of how the Lord operates and what He accomplishes there; but as those things are linked together as one with the ultimates, man need not know more than that he should shun evils as sins and look to the Lord. In this and in no other way can his life's love, which by birth is infernal, be removed by the Lord and a heavenly life's love be implanted in its place.
125. These angelic arcana have been premised to make comprehensible the operation of the Lord's Divine providence in conjoining man with the Lord, and the Lord with man. This operation is not upon any particular of man by itself, except as it is simultaneously upon all things of man; and this is done from his inmost and from his outmosts simultaneously. The inmost of man is his life's love; his outmosts are the things that are in the external of his thought; and his intermediates are the things that are in the internal of his thought. The quality of these in the evil man has already been shown. From this again it is clear that the Lord cannot act from inmosts and outmosts simultaneously except in connection with man, for in outmosts man and the Lord are together, consequently as man acts in outmosts, which are under his control, being within the realm of his freedom, so the Lord acts from man's inmosts and upon the unbroken series to outmosts. The things that are in man's inmosts and in the series from inmosts to outmosts are wholly unknown to man; and therefore he knows nothing whatever of the way in which the Lord works there or what He does; but as these things are so closely connected as to be a one with outmosts it is unnecessary for man to know more than that he must shun evils as sins and look to the Lord. In this and in no other way can his life's love, which from birth is infernal, be put away by the Lord, and a heavenly life's love be implanted in its place.
125. Haec Arcana angelica praemissa sunt, ut comprehendi possit, quomodo Divina Providentia Domini operatur, ut conjungat hominem Sibi et Se homini; hoc non fit in aliquod particulare ejus singillatim, nisi in omnia ejus simul; et hoc fit ab intimo hominis et ab ultimis 1ejus simul: intimum hominis est amor vitae ejus; ultima sunt illa quae in externo cogitationis sunt; intermedia sunt quae in interno cogitationis ejus sunt; quae qualia sunt apud hominem malum, in antecedentibus ostensum est; ex quibus iterum patet, quod Dominus ab intimis et ultimis simul non possit agere, nisi una cum homine, homo enim una cum Domino in ultimis est; quare sicut homo in ultimis, quae ejus arbitrii sunt, quia in ejus libero, agit, ita Dominus ab intimis ejus, et in successivis ad ultima agit. Illa quae in intimis hominis, et in successivis ab intimis ad ultima sunt, homini prorsus ignota sunt, et ideo homo prorsus nescit, quomodo et quid Dominus ibi operatur; sed quia illa cohaerent ut unum cum ultimis, ideo non homini necessarium est scire plus quam ut fugiat mala ut peccata, et spectet ad Dominum. Sic non aliter potest amor vitae ejus, qui a nativitate est infernalis, a Domino removeri, et loco ejus implantari amor vitae coelestis.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: ulrimis