883. Angels can improve to infinity, that is, to eternity, yet never become perfect
I spoke with the spirits around me about the fact that no one is perfect but the Lord Alone. The angels are not perfect, for Heaven is not holy before the Lord [cf. Job 15:15]; nevertheless, the angels can improve more and more, and even to eternity, yet never become holy in themselves, or as to what is their own.
Because this struck spirits as odd when it had been pictured in a spiritual manner, it was therefore illustrated by similar occurrences in nature, specifically, that there are things approaching infinity, as they call it, yet which never reach it, like the asymtotes of a hyperbola; 1but we may pass over these examples, since many do not understand them. Universal principles fall more readily under [the view of] the understanding.
It was shown, moreover, that angelic minds are only instruments for receiving the beliefs of religion, and must therefore be developed; hence, that they grasp only the most general principles; but the details, which are infinite, even in every least object, can be filled in, although never completely, but only as to the most general ones, since the angels are finite instruments. So those details, when they are as it were inscribed by the Lord on their general principles, are what more and more perfect the angel; and because they can be filled in even to infinity, and the angel thus developed and perfected to infinity, he can never arrive at perfection, and therefore not at [a state of] holiness, so that heaven can never be holy in the Lord's sight. 1748, 19 February.
Footnotes:
1. The manuscript has "parabola," but see Divine Providence 335.
883. THAT ANGELS CAN BECOME BETTER TO INFINITY, THAT IS, TO ETERNITY, BUT THEY CAN NEVER BECOME PERFECT
I said to the spirits around me that no one, save the Lord alone, is perfect. The angels are not perfect, for heaven is not holy before the Lord [Job xv 15; nevertheless, the angels can become better and better even to eternity, but they can never become holy in themselves or as to their proprium. Because this seemed strange to the spirits when represented in a spiritual manner, it was therefore elucidated by like things in nature, namely, that there are approximations to infinity, as they are called, which nevertheless do not reach infinity, as for example, between the asymptotes of the parabola. 1But these things must be passed over because they are not understood by many; universals fall more easily into the understanding. Moreover, it was shown that angelic minds are only powers for receiving those things which are of faith, and thus must be formed; consequently, that they comprehend only the most general things. The singular things which are infinite in every least object can indeed be inscribed upon human minds, but only as to the most general things, never to perfection, because their powers are finite. Thus those things which are inscribed, as it were, on their generals, when effected by the Lord, are the things which perfect the angel more and more; and because they can be inscribed, and thus the angel be formed and perfected, even to infinity, he can never arrive at perfection, consequently neither can he arrive at holiness. Therefore heaven can never be holy before the Lord. 1748, Feb. 19.
Footnotes:
1. This is evidently a slip for hyperbola. Compare DP 335.
883. Quod angeli in infinitum h.e. in aeternum queant meliores fieri, sed nusquam perfici
Cum spiritibus circum me loquutus sum, quod nemo perfectus sit, quam Solus Dominus, angeli non sunt perfecti, nam Coelum non sanctum est coram Domino [cf. Hiob XV: [15], sed usque angeli meliorescere possunt, magis magisque, et quidem in aeternum, sed nusquam in se, seu quoad illorum proprium 1
, sancti fieri queunt; quod quia id spiritibus peregrinum obvenit, cum spirituali modo repraesentatum est, elucidatum est per 2
ea quae similia dantur in natura, quod nempe approximationes dentur in infinitum, ut vocant, et nusquam tamen pertingant, sicut inter asymptotas hyperbolae 3
; sed haec praetereantur, quia non a multis intelliguntur, universalia melius cadunt sub intellectum; praeterea 4
ostensum est, quod mentes angelicae sint solum potentiae, ad recipienda ea quae sunt fidei, et sic formandae, proinde quod solum communissima comprehendant; singularia vero, quae infinita sunt in unoquovis singularissimo objecto 5
, inscribi possunt--sed 6
nusquam ad perfectionem--modo 7
ad communissima, quia potentiae finitae sunt, ita ea quae inscribuntur quasi communibus eorum, dum a Domino, sunt quae magis et magis perficiunt angelum, et quia usque ad infinitum inscribi queunt, et sic formari et perfici angelus, nusquam ad perfectionem, proinde non ad sanctitatem venire potest, ideo coelum coram Domino, nunquam sanctum potest esse. 1748, 19 Febr.
Footnotes:
1. in J.F.I. Tafel's edition propria
2. The Manuscript has per per
3. The Manuscript has parabolae (cf. D.P. 335)
4. The Manuscript has intellectum praeterea
5. imperfectum in the Manuscript
6. The Manuscript has possunt, sed
7. The Manuscript has perfectionem, modo