Divine love

Emanuel Swedenborg

• Publisher: Youcanprint
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9788827828588
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Religione

That this is little comprehended is evident from the common saying "What is love?" What it is, is not known for the reason that love is not manifest to the understanding, and the understanding is the receptacle of the light of heaven. What comes into that light is interiorly seen, for what a man thinks, that he has knowledge of? For this reason, a man says that this or that is in the light of his understanding, also that he sees this to be so; likewise, he prays that he may be enlightened and illumined by God. Moreover, there is spiritual light to which natural light corresponds, and it is from this that one says, with reference to his understanding, that he sees. and a wise man prays to be enlightened and to be illumined by God, that is, that he may understand. Man, therefore, can form no idea concerning love, for this reason, that although the understanding, by means of the thought, presents itself to be seen, love does not. And yet love is the very soul or life of thought, and if love be taken away thought grows cold and dies, like a flower deprived of heat; for love enkindles, vivifies, and animates thought. Set your mind at work and consider whether you can think apart from some affection that is of love; and you will find in your own case that it is impossible. From this it is plain that love is the life of the understanding and of thought therefrom; and what is the life of the understanding and of thought therefrom is also the life of the whole man; for it is the life of all the senses and of all motions, thus the life of the organs by means of which senses and motions exist. That it is also the life of the rest of the viscera, will be seen in what follows.

DIVINE LOVE

BY

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

First digital edition 2018 by Gianluca Ruffini

- 1. In The World It Is Little Comprehended What Love Is; And Yet It Is Man’s Very Life.

That this is little comprehended is evident from the common saying “What is love?” What it is, is not known for the reason that love is not manifest to the understanding, and the understanding is the receptacle of the light of heaven. What comes into that light is interiorly seen, for what a man thinks, that he has knowledge of? For this reason, a man says that this or that is in the light of his understanding, also that he sees this to be so; likewise, he prays that he may be enlightened and illumined by God. Moreover, there is spiritual light to which natural light corresponds, and it is from this that one says, with reference to his understanding, that he sees. and a wise man prays to be enlightened and to be illumined by God, that is, that he may understand. Man, therefore, can form no idea concerning love, for this reason, that although the understanding, by means of the thought, presents itself to be seen, love does not. And yet love is the very soul or life of thought, and if love be taken away thought grows cold and dies, like a flower deprived of heat; for love enkindles, vivifies, and animates thought. Set your mind at work and consider whether you can think apart from some affection that is of love; and you will find in your own case that it is impossible. From this it is plain that love is the life of the understanding and of thought therefrom; and what is the life of the understanding and of thought therefrom is also the life of the whole man; for it is the life of all the senses and of all motions, thus the life of the organs by means of which senses and motions exist. That it is also the life of the rest of the viscera, will be seen in what follows. It is not known what love is, for the further reason that man’s love is universal life. By universal life is meant life that is in most minute particulars; for of these the term universal is used, as the term general is of parts. What is thus universal is perceived simply is a one; and a one without a particular perception of the particulars is obscure, comparatively as it is with an intense light that blinds the eye. Such also is the universal Divine in the most minute particulars of the world; consequently, this Divine is so obscure to man as not to be manifest to the eye when opened, but only to the eye, when closed; for the whole of the world is a work of the Divine love and the Divine wisdom; and wisdom in its most minute particulars is, as was said before, an intense Divine light that blinds.

- 2. The Lord Alone Is Love Itself, Because Life Itself; While Men And Angels Are Only Recipients.

This has already been illustrated by many things, to which the following only are to be added. The Lord, because He is the God of the universe, is uncreate and infinite, but men and angels are created and finite. The uncreate and infinite is the Very Divine in itself. Out of this man cannot be formed, for in such case he would be the Divine in itself; but he can be formed out of things created and finite, in which the Divine can be, and to which it can communicate its own life, and this by heat and light from itself as a sun, thus from its own Divine love; comparatively as it is with germinations in the earth, which cannot be formed from the very essence of the sun of the world, but must needs be formed out of created things of which soil is composed, within which the sun can be by its heat and light, and to which it can communicate its life. From this it is plain that a man and an angel are not in themselves life, but are only recipients of life. From all this it also follows, that the conception of man from his father is not a conception of life, but only of a first and purest form capable of receiving life; to which, as a stamen or initiament, substances and matters, succeeding one another, add themselves in the womb, in forms adapted to the reception of life in their own order and their own degree, even to the last, which is suited to the modes of the nature of the world.

- 3. Life, Which Is The Divine Love, Is In A Form.

The Divine love, which is life itself, is not simply love, but it is the proceeding Divine; and the proceeding Divine is the Lord Himself. The Lord is indeed in the sun which appears to angels in the heavens, and from which proceed love as heat and wisdom as light; yet outside of that sun, love with wisdom is also the Lord. The distance is only in appearance; for the Divine is not in space, but is without distance, as was said above. There is an appearance of distance because the Divine love, such as it is in the Lord, cannot be received by any angel for it would consume them; for in itself it is hotter than the fire in the sun of the world; for this reason, it is lessened gradually by infinite circumvolutions, until, tempered and accommodated it reaches the angels, who moreover, are veiled with a thin cloud lest they should be injured by its intensity. This is the cause of the appearance as of distance between the Lord as a sun, and heaven where angels are; nevertheless, the Lord Himself is present in heaven, but in away suited to reception. The Lord’s presence is not like the presence of a man who occupies space, but it is a presence apart from space; that is, He is in things greatest and least, so that in things greatest He is Himself, and in things least is Himself. It is difficult, I know, for man to comprehend this, because it is difficult for him to remove space from the ideas of his thought; but it can be comprehended by angels, in whose ideas there are no spaces. In this respect spiritual thought differs from natural thought. Since, therefore, love proceeding from the Lord is a sun is the Lord Himself, and this love is life itself, it follows that the love itself which is life, is Man; thus, that it contains in infinite form the things that are in man, one and all. These are conclusions from what has been said about the life of all things from the Lord, and about His providence, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience.

- 4. That Form Is A Form Of Use In Its Whole Complex.

That form is a form of use in its whole complex, since a form of love is a form of use; for the subjects of love are uses, because love wills to do goods, and goods are nothing else than uses; and since the Divine love infinitely transcends, its form is a form of use in its whole complex. That it is actually the Lord Himself who is with angels in the heavens and with men on earth and in those with whom He is conjoined by love, and that He is in them although He is infinite and uncreate, while angel and man are created and finite,-this cannot be comprehended by the natural man until by enlightenment from the Lord he can be withdrawn from the natural idea respecting space, and be brought thereby into light respecting spiritual essence, which, viewed in itself, is the proceeding Divine itself adapted to every angel, as truly to the angel of the highest heaven as to the angel in the lowest, and to every man, both the wise and the simple. For the Divine that proceeds from the Lord is Divine from first things even to ultimates. Ultimates are what are called “flesh and bone.” That even these were made Divine by the Lord, He taught the disciples when He said that He hath flesh and bones which a spirit doth not have (Luke 24:39); moreover, He entered through doors that were shut, and became invisible; and this clearly proves that the ultimates of man in Him were made Divine, and that from this there is correspondence with the ultimates of man.

But how the Divine proceeding, which is the very and only life, can be in things created and finite, shall now be told. This life applies itself not to man, but only to uses in man. Uses themselves, viewed in themselves, are spiritual; while the forms of use, which are members, organs, and viscera, are natural. But yet these are series of uses; to such an extent that there cannot be a particle, or the least of any particle, in any member, organ, or viscus, that is not a use in form. The Divine life applies itself to the uses themselves in every series, and thereby gives life to every form; from this man has the life that is called his soul. With men, this truth seems beyond comprehension, but it is not so with angels; yet it does not so far transcend the human understanding but that it may be seen as through a lattice, by those who wish to see. It does not transcend my understanding, which is an enlightened rational understanding.

- 5. In Such A Form Is Man Individually.

That man is in such a form individually can be seen by those only who survey all things that are in man, not only with the eye of the anatomist but also with the eye of reason. He who surveys them with the eye of reason will see that every particular, and most particular thing therein, is formed from use, and for use; and that each part and particle has a function in general; and that the common use, which is the common good, looks to each minute particular as itself therein; and, on the other hand, the minute particular looks to itself in the general. By this means all things that are in the body, from the head to the soles of the feet, are a one; and this even so that man is wholly unconscious that he consists of so many myriads of parts with various and diverse functions. In illustration of this subject it will be sufficient to survey with the eye of reason the structure of the lungs and of the trachea, and to consider their uses.

In regard to the lungs. Their most general use is respiration, which is effected by admitting air through the larynx, the trachea, the bronchia and their ramifications, into the vesicles of the lobules, whereby the lungs alternately expand and contract. In doing this they induce reciprocal motions in the whole organic body and in all its members; for the heart and lungs are the two fountains of all the general motions throughout the body, whereby the parts of the body, one and all, are led into their own activities and vital functions. They also consociate the voluntary motor life, which is dependent upon the cerebrum, with the natural motor life, which is controlled by the cerebellum. It is also their use to give such disposition to all the viscera of the body, and especially to its motors called muscles, that the will may carry out its movements harmoniously, and without break in any part. Their use also is, both to act concurrently with all the tones of speech and of song, and also to produce them as from a womb. Another use is, to receive within themselves all the blood of the body from the right side of the heart, to purify it from all that is viscid and unclean, and to cast out these impurities; also to supply it from the inhaled air with new elements that serve as food, and to send it back as if made new into the left chamber of the heart; thus their use consists in converting venous blood into arterial. And so, the lungs are of service to the blood as a place for the offices of straining, cleansing, refreshing and preparing it; also as a place for purifying the air. In addition to these uses of the lungs, there are many others, both general and particular; and every pore and every little lobe therein is a partner in all the offices, that is, uses; some more closely and some more, remotely.

In regard to the trachea. Its uses are, (1) To afford a channel for the auras and breath of the lungs, to pass and re-pass; and to accommodate itself to each and every different mode of action of the lungs, both in inspiration and expiration. (2) To examine and cleanse the air about to pass into the lungs, that nothing hurtful may enter; and to impregnate with vapors the air as it passes out, thus attracting effete exhalations, and expelling them; also, in general to clear the lungs of viscid phlegm by expectoration. (3) To serve as a pillar and support to the larynx and the epiglottis; to adapt itself entirely to all their commands and tremulous vibrations; to dispose the walls of its canal so that the air may impinge upon them, and to make tense its membrane, so that when the air impinges, the membrane may tremble; and thus, in a rudimentary way, to excite sound which the larynx and the glottis may form, that is, may modulate, into singing or speech; also to moisten the larynx continually with a vapory dew. (4) To aid and assist its neighbor, the esophagus, in its office of swallowing. (5) To extend the alternate respiratory movements of the lungs to the neighboring parts, and by means of these to parts more and more remote; namely, to the esophagus, and by this, in connection with the diaphragm, to the stomach, and so to the abdominal viscera; also to the ascending carotid artery and the descending jugular vein, and to the great sympathetic nerves, the intercostal and the par vagum; thus, establishing the motor life of the body. (6) To insinuate into the neighboring parts, and through these into parts highest and lowest, its own sonorous vibrations and those of the larynx; and to excite the arterial blood mounting to the head and the brain, and the venous blood returning to the head and the brain, and to exhilarate and animate them by a general modification; thus, establishing the sensual life of the body. Moveover, from the bones that are in relation with the trachea, and at the same time from those belonging to the larynx and epiglottis, which are not here enumerated, a mind endowed with understanding, and cultivated by the sciences, with anatomy only as a teacher and the eye as a guide, may be taught and may know how Nature modulates sounds, and determines their relations in articulation. There is nothing in acoustics, music or harmony, however profound and recondite, nor anything in the vibrations and tremblings of a continuous body, nor in the modifications of a contiguous volume or atmosphere, however hidden and interior, which the spiritual has not here brought forth out of Nature, from her innermost, gathered into one, and conferred upon those two organs, and at the same time on the ear.

There is like arcana in all the other viscera, both of the head and of the body and still more in those that lie inwardly concealed and cannot be examined by any eye; for the more interior a thing is, the more perfect it is. In a word, the preeminent life, or excellency of life, in every member, organ, and viscus, consists in this, that whatever is proper to any is common to all; and thus, in every particular thing there is an idea of the whole man. It is this arcanum that will now be stated as a conclusion: Man is the complex of all uses; of all that are possible, both in the Spiritual world and in the natural world; and every use, from the idea of the universe in it, is like a man, but such a man as the use is, that is, such is its function is in general. This is true of man because he is a recipient of life from the Lord; for life, which is from the Lord is the complex of all things of uses to infinity; since the Lord alone is Man, in Himself having life, from whom is everything of life; and unless the form of use were infinite in the Lord, it could not possibly exist as finite in any man.

- 6. In Such A Form Is Man In General.

By man in the most general sense is meant the whole human race; by man in a general sense are meant the men of one kingdom taken together; in a sense, less general those of a single province in a kingdom; in a sense still less, general those of a city; in a particular sense those of a house; and in an individual sense every man. In the Lord’s view, the whole human race is as one man; all in a kingdom are also as one man; likewise, all in a province, all in a city, and all in a house. It is not the men themselves that are thus seen together, but the uses with them. They that are good uses, that is, that perform uses from the Lord, when viewed together, are seen as a man perfect in form and beautiful; these are such as perform uses for the sake of the uses; that is, that love uses because they are uses of the house, of the city, province, kingdom, or of the whole world. But they that perform uses, not for the sake of uses, but for the sake of themselves alone, or the world alone, likewise appear before the Lord as one man, but as an imperfect and deformed man. From what has now been said, it can be seen that the Lord has regard to men in the world, to each according to his use, and to men in the mass according to uses united in the form of a man. By uses are meant the uses of each one’s function, which are the uses of his office, pursuit, and occupation. In the Lord’s sight these uses are good works themselves. Whereas all in any kingdom appear before the Lord as one man according to their love of uses, it is plain that all the English appear before Him as one man; likewise, all the Dutch, all the Germans, all the Swedes and Danes, also the French, the Spaniards, the Poles, the Russians; but each nation according to its uses. Those in the several kingdoms that love the uses of their offices because they are uses, appear together as a man-angel; and those that love the uses of their offices for the sake of pleasures alone apart from uses appear together as a man-devil. Traders, in the man-angel, are those that love trading, and love wealth for the sake of trading, and at the same time look to God; but traders, in the man-devil, are those that love wealth, and love trading only for the sake of wealth. With the latter, there is avarice, which is the root of all evils, but not with the former. For to love wealth alone, and not any use that may come of it, that is, to regard wealth in the first place and trading as secondary, is to be avaricious. Such men are, useful to a kingdom, but chiefly when they die, for then their wealth passes into the public use of those engaged in trade; the benefit that then accrues from such wealth is benefit to the kingdom, but not to the souls of those who gathered it.(In a word, accumulation of wealth by trading for the sake of wealth alone, is Jewish trading; but accumulation of wealth by trading for the sake of trading, is Dutch trading. Opulence is not harmful to the latter, but it is to the former. [AUTHOR’S NOTE]) These indeed benefit the common wealth by accumulating wealth in it, and enriching it; but they do not benefit their own souls.

- 7. In Such A Form Is Heaven.

It has been shown in the Arcana Coelestia that the whole heaven is divided, as it were, into provinces, according to the uses of all the members, organs and viscera of the human body; also that it is known by angels in the heavens in what provinces the different societies are; for instance, what societies are in the province of the eyes, of the ears, of the nostrils, of the mouth, and of the tongue; also what are in the province of the liver, of the pancreas, of the spleen, of the kidneys, of the ureters, and what in the province of the generative organs. All societies that are in these provinces correspond perfectly to the uses of the above-mentioned members, organs, and viscera in man. It is from this correspondence that the whole heaven appears before the Lord as one man; in like manner, each province of heaven, and every society of a province. It is also from this correspondence that all angels and all spirits are men in every respect like men in the world; and for the reason that the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is life and form, is Man, both in what is greatest and in what is least, as has often been said before. This correspondence, in general and in particular, has been treated of in the Arcana Coelestia (in the following articles: n. 3021, 3624-3633, 3636-3643, 3741-3745, 3883-3896, 4039-4055, 4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4421, 4523-4533, 4622-4633, 4652-4660, 4791-4805, 4931-4953, 5050-5061, 5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727, 10030). In order that hell, too, may be in that form, everyone there is compelled to works; but because they that are in hell do their works not from the love of use, but from the need of food and clothing, they appear indeed as a man, but as a man-devil (concerning which see above).

- 8. All Things Of The World Also Tend To Such A Form.

By all things of the world are meant animate things including those that walk or crawl on the earth, those that fly in the heavens, and those that swim in the waters; also, the things of the vegetable kingdom, trees and shrubs, flowers, plants, and grains. But the atmosphere, waters, and matters of the earth are only means for the generation and production of these. From the creation of the universe, and finally of the earth, and of all things that are in them, it can be seen more fully than from anything else that the Divine Love, which is life itself and is the Lord, is in the form of forms of all uses, which form is Man. For from creation nothing is found on the earth that is not for use. The entire mineral kingdom is full of uses; there is not in it a grain of dust, nor a lump of such grains, that is not for use. The entire vegetable kingdom is full of uses; not a tree, plant, flower, or blade of grass can be found that is not for use; yea, neither anything in a tree, plant, flower, or blade of grass, that is not for uses; each thing is the form of its own use. The entire animal kingdom, too, is full of uses; not an animal, from the little worm to the lion, can be found, that is not for use, and that is not also the form of its own use. The same is true of all things that are above the earth, even to the sun. In a word, every point in creation and in things created, is a use; yea, it is in an ascending series from use in firsts to use in ultimates, thus from use to use continual...