12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. -Isaiah 14:12-15 Bible, King James Version (KJV)
Heaven and Hell, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1758], tr. by John C. Ager [1900] at sacred-texts.com
XXXV. HEAVEN AND HELL ARE FROM THE HUMAN RACE. In the Christian world it is wholly unknown that heaven and hell are from the human race, for it is believed that in the beginning angels were created and heaven was thus formed; also that the devil or Satan was an angel of light, but having rebelled he was cast down with his crew, and thus hell was formed. The angels never cease to wonder at such a belief in the Christian world, and still more that nothing is really known about heaven, when in fact that is the primary principle of all doctrine in the church. But since such ignorance prevails they rejoice in heart that it has pleased the Lord to reveal to mankind at this time many things about heaven and about hell, thereby dispelling as far as possible the darkness that has been daily increasing because the church has come to its end. [2] They wish for this reason that I should declare from their lips that in the entire heaven there is not a single angel who was created such from the beginning, nor in hell any devil who was created an angel of light and cast down; but that all, both in heaven and in hell, are from the human race; in heaven those who lived in the world in heavenly love and belief, in hell those who lived in infernal [hellish] love and belief, also that it is hell taken as a whole that is called the Devil and Satan-the name Devil being given to the hell that is behind, where those are that are called evil genii, and the name Satan being given to the hell that is in front, where those are that are called evil spirits. [311-1 The hells taken together, or the infernals taken together, are called the Devil and Satan (n. 694). Those that have been devils in the world become devils after death (n. 968)] The character of these hells will be described in the following pages. [3] The angels said that the Christian world had gathered such a belief about those in heaven and those in hell from some passages in the Word understood according to the mere sense of the letter not illustrated and explained by genuine doctrine from the Word; although the sense of the letter of the Word until illuminated by genuine doctrine, draws the mind in different directions, and this begets ignorance, heresies, and errors. [311-2 The doctrine of the church must be derived from the Word (n. 3464, 5402, 6822, 6832, 10763, 10765). Without doctrine the Word is not understood (n. 9025, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 10431, 10582). True doctrine is a lamp to those who read the Word (n. 10400). Genuine doctrine must be from those who are enlightened by the Lord (n. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105). Those who are in the sense of the letter without doctrine come into no understanding of Divine truths (n. 9409, 9410, 10582). And they are led away into many errors (n. 10431). The difference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine of the church derived from the Word and those who teach and learn from the sense of the letter alone (n. 9025).]
312.
The man of the church also derives this belief from his believing that no man comes into heaven or into hell until the time of the final judgment; and about that he has accepted the opinion that all visible things will perish at that time and new things will come into existence, and that the soul will then return into its body, and from that union man will again live as a man. This belief involves the other -that angels were created such from the beginning; for it is impossible to believe that heaven and hell are from the human race when it is believed that no man can go there until the end of the world. [2] But that men might be convinced that this is not true it has been granted me to be in company with angels, and also to talk with those who are in hell, and this now for some years, sometimes continuously from morning until evening, and thus be informed about heaven and hell. This has been permitted that the man of the church may no longer continue in his erroneous belief about the resurrection at the time of judgment, and about the state of the soul in the meanwhile, also about angels and the devil. As this belief is a belief in what is false it involves the mind in darkness, and with those who think about these things from their own intelligence it induces doubt and at length denial, for they say in heart, "How can so vast a heaven, with so many constellations and with the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated; and how can the stars which are larger than the earth fall from heaven to the earth; and can bodies eaten up by worms, consumed by corruption, and scattered to all the winds, be gathered together again to their souls; and where in the meantime is the soul, and what is it when deprived of the senses it had in the body?" [3] With many other like things, which being incomprehensible cannot be believed, and which destroy the belief of many in the life of the soul after death, and their belief in heaven and hell, and with these other matters pertaining to the faith of the church. That this belief has been destroyed is evident from its being said, "Who has ever come to us from heaven and told us that there is a heaven? What is hell? is there any? What is this about man's being tormented with fire to eternity? What is the day of judgment? has it not been expected in vain for ages?" with other things that involve a denial of everything. [4] Therefore lest those who think in this way -as many do who from their worldly wisdom are regarded as erudite and learned -should any longer confound and mislead the simple in faith and heart, and induce infernal darkness respecting God and heaven and eternal life, and all else that depends on these, the interiors of my spirit have been opened by the Lord, and I have thus been permitted to talk with all after their decease with whom I was ever acquainted in the life of the body -with some for days, with some for months, and with some for a year, and also with so many others that I should not exaggerate if I should say a hundred thousand; many of whom were in heaven, and many in hell. I have also talked with some two days after their decease, and have told them that their funeral services and obsequies were then being held in preparation for their interment; to which they replied that it was well to cast aside that which had served them as a body and for bodily functions in the world; and they wished me to say that they were not dead, but were living as men the same as before, and had merely migrated from one world into the other, and were not aware of having lost anything, since they had a body and its senses just as before, also understanding and will just as before, with thoughts and affections, sensations and desires, like those they had in the world. [5] Most of those who had recently died, when they saw themselves to be living men as before, and in a like state (for after death everyone's state of life is at first such as it was in the world, but there is a gradual change in it either into heaven or into hell), were moved by new joy at being alive, saying that they had not believed that it would be so. But they greatly wondered that they should have lived in such ignorance and blindness about the state of their life after death; and especially that the man of the church should be in such ignorance and blindness, when above all others in the whole world he might be clearly enlightened in regard to these things. Then they began to see the cause of that blindness and ignorance, which is, that external things which are things, relating to the world and the body, had so occupied and filled their minds that they could not be raised into the light of heaven and look into the things of the church beyond its doctrinals; for when matters relating to the body and the world are loved, as they are at the present day, nothing but darkness flows into the mind when men go beyond those doctrines.
313.
Very many of the learned from the Christian world are astonished when they find themselves after death in a body, in garments, and in houses, as in the world. And when they recall what they had thought about the life after death, the soul, spirits, and heaven and hell, they are ashamed and confess that they thought foolishly, and that the simple in faith thought much more wisely than they. When the minds of learned men who had confirmed themselves in such ideas and had ascribed all things to nature were examined, it was found that their interiors were wholly closed up and their exteriors were opened, that they looked towards the world and thus towards hell and not towards heaven. For to the extent that man's interiors are opened he looks towards heaven, but to the extent that his interiors are closed and his exteriors opened he looks towards hell, because the interiors of man are formed for the reception of all things of heaven, but the exteriors for the reception of all things of the world; and those who receive the world, and not heaven also, receive hell.
312.
The man of the church also derives this belief from his believing that no man comes into heaven or into hell until the time of the final judgment; and about that he has accepted the opinion that all visible things will perish at that time and new things will come into existence, and that the soul will then return into its body, and from that union man will again live as a man. This belief involves the other -that angels were created such from the beginning; for it is impossible to believe that heaven and hell are from the human race when it is believed that no man can go there until the end of the world. [2] But that men might be convinced that this is not true it has been granted me to be in company with angels, and also to talk with those who are in hell, and this now for some years, sometimes continuously from morning until evening, and thus be informed about heaven and hell. This has been permitted that the man of the church may no longer continue in his erroneous belief about the resurrection at the time of judgment, and about the state of the soul in the meanwhile, also about angels and the devil. As this belief is a belief in what is false it involves the mind in darkness, and with those who think about these things from their own intelligence it induces doubt and at length denial, for they say in heart, "How can so vast a heaven, with so many constellations and with the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated; and how can the stars which are larger than the earth fall from heaven to the earth; and can bodies eaten up by worms, consumed by corruption, and scattered to all the winds, be gathered together again to their souls; and where in the meantime is the soul, and what is it when deprived of the senses it had in the body?" [3] With many other like things, which being incomprehensible cannot be believed, and which destroy the belief of many in the life of the soul after death, and their belief in heaven and hell, and with these other matters pertaining to the faith of the church. That this belief has been destroyed is evident from its being said, "Who has ever come to us from heaven and told us that there is a heaven? What is hell? is there any? What is this about man's being tormented with fire to eternity? What is the day of judgment? has it not been expected in vain for ages?" with other things that involve a denial of everything. [4] Therefore lest those who think in this way -as many do who from their worldly wisdom are regarded as erudite and learned -should any longer confound and mislead the simple in faith and heart, and induce infernal darkness respecting God and heaven and eternal life, and all else that depends on these, the interiors of my spirit have been opened by the Lord, and I have thus been permitted to talk with all after their decease with whom I was ever acquainted in the life of the body -with some for days, with some for months, and with some for a year, and also with so many others that I should not exaggerate if I should say a hundred thousand; many of whom were in heaven, and many in hell. I have also talked with some two days after their decease, and have told them that their funeral services and obsequies were then being held in preparation for their interment; to which they replied that it was well to cast aside that which had served them as a body and for bodily functions in the world; and they wished me to say that they were not dead, but were living as men the same as before, and had merely migrated from one world into the other, and were not aware of having lost anything, since they had a body and its senses just as before, also understanding and will just as before, with thoughts and affections, sensations and desires, like those they had in the world. [5] Most of those who had recently died, when they saw themselves to be living men as before, and in a like state (for after death everyone's state of life is at first such as it was in the world, but there is a gradual change in it either into heaven or into hell), were moved by new joy at being alive, saying that they had not believed that it would be so. But they greatly wondered that they should have lived in such ignorance and blindness about the state of their life after death; and especially that the man of the church should be in such ignorance and blindness, when above all others in the whole world he might be clearly enlightened in regard to these things. Then they began to see the cause of that blindness and ignorance, which is, that external things which are things, relating to the world and the body, had so occupied and filled their minds that they could not be raised into the light of heaven and look into the things of the church beyond its doctrinals; for when matters relating to the body and the world are loved, as they are at the present day, nothing but darkness flows into the mind when men go beyond those doctrines.
313.
Very many of the learned from the Christian world are astonished when they find themselves after death in a body, in garments, and in houses, as in the world. And when they recall what they had thought about the life after death, the soul, spirits, and heaven and hell, they are ashamed and confess that they thought foolishly, and that the simple in faith thought much more wisely than they. When the minds of learned men who had confirmed themselves in such ideas and had ascribed all things to nature were examined, it was found that their interiors were wholly closed up and their exteriors were opened, that they looked towards the world and thus towards hell and not towards heaven. For to the extent that man's interiors are opened he looks towards heaven, but to the extent that his interiors are closed and his exteriors opened he looks towards hell, because the interiors of man are formed for the reception of all things of heaven, but the exteriors for the reception of all things of the world; and those who receive the world, and not heaven also, receive hell.
Last Judgment Posthumous, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1762], tr. by John Whitehead [1914], at sacred-texts.com
188.
[190] Moreover at the left was seen a hillside upon which ascended many of those who were in faith alone; and on the summit there, they have some bearded old man who had been bearded in the world, and sometimes of lowly condition. This man persuades them that he is God the Father. It is a rock and rocky places are around about it. And when they do not wish to be seen they betake themselves behind the mountain. These are they who have laid snares for all who do not believe like themselves, believing that this is allowable. The life of charity they make of no account. By their interiors they make one with the hells. They who appeared round about the bottom of the mountain were seen like an immense dragon stretching itself towards the places below; and its tail was seen elevated and extended from the mountain to the lowest parts thereof.
Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com
405
...[28] In Isaiah: O Lucifer, thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; and I will sit on the mount of the meeting, on the sides of the north (Isa. 14:13). "Lucifer" means Babylon [or the Roman Catholic Church,] as is evident from what precedes and follows in this chapter; its love of ruling over heaven and the church is described by "I will ascend into the heavens, and will exalt my throne above the stars of God;" which means a striving for dominion over those heavens that constitute the Lord's spiritual kingdom, for truths and the knowledges of truth appear to such as stars; "I will sit on the mount of meeting, on the sides of the north" signifies a striving for dominion over the heavens that constitute the Lord's celestial kingdom, "the mount of meeting" and "the sides of the north" meaning the goods and truths there (as above)...
EXPLANATION... what is meant by Babylon in general and in particular shall be told; also what it is in the beginning, and what it becomes afterwards by degrees. "Babylon" (or Babel) means the church consisting of those who by means of the holy things of the church strive to gain dominion over the whole world, and this by dominion over the souls of men, claiming to themselves authority to save whomsoever they will; and these finally seek dominion over heaven and hell and make it their own. And to this end they draw and transfer to themselves all the Lord's authority, as if it had been given them by Him. The church consisting of such is very different in the beginning from what it becomes in process of time. In the beginning they are as it were in zeal for the Lord, for the Word, for love and faith, and especially for the salvation of men. But in that zeal the fire of domineering lies hidden; and in process of time as dominion increases this breaks forth; and so far as it comes into act the holy things of the church become the means, and dominion itself the end; and when dominion becomes the end the holy things of the church are applied to that end, and thus to themselves; and then they not only ascribe the salvation of souls to their own authority, but they also appropriate to themselves all the Lord's Divine power. And when they do this they pervert every good and every truth of the church, and thus profane the holy things of the church. These things are "Babylon." [2] That this is so has been shown me... In the spiritual world there were those who strove to gain such dominion; and as they knew that the Lord alone has all power, they put on a seeming zeal for Him and for heaven and for the church, and they labored with all their might to worship the Lord alone, and to observe in a holy way all things of the Word; and they arranged to have sanctity and integrity prevail in all. But it was granted to know that in such zeal an ardent desire of domineering over all others lay hidden, believing that the things they arranged would be acceptable to the Lord. For just as soon as they began to gain dominion, their end was gradually disclosed, which was that they and not the Lord should rule, and thus that the Lord should serve them and not they the Lord; and they were indignant if they were not permitted, like gods, to dispose everything at their will; and it was perceived also that they thought lightly of the Lord, and even rejected Him if He did not grant them authority to do all things as they pleased, and unless He assented to every decision of theirs. It was also perceived that if they dared, they would, under some pretext, transfer His Divine authority to themselves; but they were afraid of being for this reason cast down into hell. By this it was shown how Babylon begins and how it ends. The conclusion to be drawn from this was that when dominion becomes the end, and the holy things of the church become the means, the worship of God is turned, under various pretexts, into the worship of men; so that they themselves are actually gods, and the Lord is not actually God, but is so called for the sake of form. [3] Now because dominion by means of the holy things of the church over the souls of men, over heaven, and over the Lord Himself, is inwardly profane, it follows that it is infernal; for the devils who are in hell desire nothing so much as to have dominion over heaven, and over the Lord Himself; and this they attempt to do under various pretexts, but as soon as they attempt it they are swallowed up by hell. And since those who in the world cast the Lord down from the seat of His kingdom and place themselves upon it, are in heart like devils, it is evident that a church made up of such must in process of time be devastated as to all its good and all its truth; and this is its end. That such are devils is evident from the same in the spiritual world. Those who have exercised the Lord's Divine authority in the world talk about the Lord after death in a most holy manner, and worship Him with all external devotion. But when their interiors are looked into (for in the spiritual world these can be uncovered and looked into) they are seen to be profane, because they are godless and full of diabolical craft; and from this it becomes clear that their holy externals had served them as means to an end, which was dominion. At one time the question arose among spirits whether any devil in hell could do the like; one of the worst was therefore summoned, and was told that he would receive dominion over many if he would worship the Lord with sanctity and acknowledge His Divine to be equal to the Divine of the Father, and at the same time would observe all things of worship. When he heard of dominion over many he immediately disposed his interiors to craft and his exteriors to holiness, and worshiped the Lord in a more holy manner than many angels, burning with anger against all who would not adore Him. But as soon as he observed that dominion was not given to him, he burned with anger against the Lord Himself, and denied both His Divine and the Divine of the Father, and even cast reproaches upon both; for he was an atheist. [4] That such is Babylon at this day is clearly evident from the fact that under the pretext of the keys having been given to Peter, they have transferred to themselves all the Divine authority of the Lord, that they have shut up Divine truth from the people by taking away the Word, and that they have ascribed to the decrees of the Pope a holiness equal and even superior to the holiness of the Word; also that they teach little, if at all, the fear and worship of God, but only a fear and worship of themselves, and also a worship of the saints for the sake of themselves. All this makes clear that Babylon in its end is a church empty and void of all the good of love to God, and of all the good of love towards the neighbor, and consequently of all truth. It is therefore no longer a church but an idolatry, and as such it differs but little from the heathenisms of the ancients, who worshiped Baal, Ashtaroth, Beelzebub, and others, and yet had temples, appointed feasts, altars, sacrifices, incense, libations and other things like those of the Jewish Church. These things have been said about Babylon in its beginning and at its end, to make known why in the Word Babylon is sometimes extolled even to heaven, and sometimes cast down even to hell... [11] "Babel" or "Babylon" is described also in Isaiah: ...How hast thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the dawn. Thou hast been cut down to the earth, thou hast been weakened below the nations. And thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, on the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will become like the Most High. Yet in truth thou hast been brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee consider thee. Is this the man that moveth the earth, that maketh kingdoms to tremble, that hath made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof? ...(Isa. 14:1-25). All this is said of Babylon, and not of any devil who was created an angel of light, and became a rebel and was cast into hell, and from his first state was called "Lucifer, son of the dawn." That Babylon is here described is evident from the fourth and twenty-second verses of this chapter, where the king of Babylon and Babylon are mentioned, for it is said, "Thou shalt declare this parable concerning the king of Babylon," and afterwards, "I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant." It is to be known that a king has a like signification in the Word as his kingdom. Babylon is called "Lucifer, son of the dawn," because, as has been said above, Babylon in the beginning is the church that is in zeal for the Lord, for the good of love, and for the truths of faith, although inwardly in the zeal of its pastors lies hidden the fire of dominating by means of the holy things of the church over all whom they can subdue to themselves. This is why Babylon is called "Lucifer, son of the dawn." ...Now as Babylon in its beginning signifies such a church, the king of Babylon is here called "Lucifer, son of the dawn," "Lucifer" because of the light of truth at that time, and "son of the dawn" because of the beginning of light or of day, for "dawn" means the church in its beginning. But this chapter [in the Book of Revelation] describes this church as to its state even to the end, when it has become "Babylon the harlot," which is its state when there is no longer any good of love nor any truth of faith left. This state of it is what is meant by its destruction and condemnation to hell. Their destruction in the world means nothing else than that after death hell is for those who have arrogated [take or claim (something) without justification] to themselves the Divine authority, and have exercised it, and to that end have held the peoples of the earth in dense thick darkness or blindness, and in idolatrous worship; especially those who have led men away from the worship of the Lord. [13] ...I will explain briefly the passages... "How hast thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning, thou hast been cut down to the earth, thou hast been weakened below the nations," signifies derision because of its having become such, although in the beginning it was in heaven, because in the good of love and in the truths of faith. This was said by those who are in hell, because to those in hell nothing is more delightful than to be able to draw one down from heaven and destroy him by falsities of evil. "And thou hast said in thine heart, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, on the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the cloud, I will become like the Most High," are also words of derision respecting their pride of dominion, that they spread out even to heaven, and arrogate to themselves the Divine authority, and thus subject all things of heaven and all things of the church to their will, to the end that they may be worshiped and adored as gods, "the mount of assembly on the sides of the north" being where there is ascent into the heavens, "over the stars and over the heights of the cloud" being over the Divine truth, "stars" being the knowledges of good and truth, and "heights of the cloud" the interior truths of the Word. "Yet in truth thou hast been brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit; they that see thee consider thee. Is this the man that moveth the earth, that maketh kingdoms to tremble, that hath made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof?" is a continuation of the derision of those who are in hell, and also of their glorying that the church has been cast down from heaven, "the sides of the pit" being places in hell where there are mere falsities of evil, "the earth, the kingdoms, and the world," signifying the church, and "cities" doctrinals... Furthermore, the things in this chapter may be seen more particularly explained in other parts of this work (as n. 208, 223, 304, 331, 386, 405, 539, 589, 594, 608, 659, 687, 697, 724, 727, 730, 741, 768, 811)... [18] It is to be known in general that every church in its beginning is like a virgin, but in process of time it becomes a harlot. For it enters gradually into a life of evil and thus embraces a doctrine of falsity, as gradually it begins to love self and the world; and then from being a church it becomes either Babylon or Philistia, Babylon with those who love self above all things, and Philistia with those who love the world above all things. For as these two loves increase, the men of the church adulterate and falsify the goods and truths of the Word, which is from being a virgin to become a harlot. [19] The first church after the flood would have become Babylon, if the Lord by the dispersion of their religion had not prevented the attempt, represented and signified by the tower that was to reach even to heaven, which the posterity of Noah began to build (see respecting this in Genesis 11:1-9, and an explanation of the particulars in Arcana Coelestia, n. 1283-1328)...
True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1771], tr. by John C. Ager [1906] at sacred-texts.com
- ...I once saw in the spiritual world an ignis fatuus [a flitting phosphorescent light seen at night, chiefly over marshy ground, and believed to be due to spontaneous combustion of gas from decomposed organic matter] in the air with a glow about it, falling toward the earth. It was a meteor, such as the common people call a dragon. I noted the place where it fell; but it disappeared in the twilight before sunrise, as every ignis fatuus does. After dawn I went to the place where I had seen it fall in the night, and behold, the ground there was a mixture of sulfur, iron chips, and clay; and suddenly there appeared two tents, one directly over the place, and the other at one side towards the south; and looking upwards I saw a spirit fall like lightning from heaven, and he struck within the tent that stood directly over the place where the meteor fell; I myself being in the other that was near it towards the south, and as I stood in the door I saw the spirit standing in the entrance of the other tent. Therefore I asked him why he had so fallen from heaven; and he answered that he had been cast down as an angel of the dragon by the angels of Michael, because he had said something about the faith in which he had confirmed himself while in the world; among other things, that God the Father and God the Son are not one but two; for at this day in the heavens all believe that these are one, like soul and body; and whatever contradicts this is like a pungent odor in their nostrils, or like an awl boring through their ears, which causes disturbance and pain; therefore anyone so contradicting is ordered to leave; and if he refuses is cast out. [2] Hearing this I said to him, "Why did you not believe as they do?" He replied that after leaving the world no one is able to believe anything different from what he had before impressed upon himself by confirmation; this remains fixed in him, and can not be removed, especially that which he has confirmed in himself respecting God, since in the heavens everyone has his place according to his idea of God. I asked him further, by what means he had confirmed the notion that the Father and Son are two. He said, "By the statements in the Word, that the Son prayed to the Father, both before and during the passion of the cross; also that He humiliated Himself before His Father: how then can they be one, as soul and body are one in man? Who prays as if to another and humiliates himself as if before another, when that other is in fact himself? No one does so, much less the Son of God. Moreover, in my time the entire Christian church divided the Godhead into persons; and each person is one by Himself, and is defined as being what is self-subsistent." [3] Hearing this I replied, "From what you say I perceive that you do not know at all how God the Father and the Son are one; and not knowing this you have confirmed yourself in the falsities respecting God which the church still holds to. Do you not know that when the Lord was in the world He had a soul like every other man? Whence had He that soul, unless from God the Father? ...The mother cannot conceive the soul... The framers of the Athanasian creed saw this remotely, and therefore, after dividing God into three persons, they still maintained that in Christ, God and Man, that is, the Divine and the Human, are not two, but are one, like soul and body in man. [4] The Lord's praying to the Father as to another when He was in the world, and His humiliating Himself before the Father as before another, was in accordance with the order established at creation. That order is immutable [unchangeable,] and in accordance therewith must be everyone's progress towards conjunction [being brought together or united] with God. That order is, that so far as man conjoins himself to God by a life in accordance with the laws of order, which are God's commandments, does God conjoin Himself to man, and change man from natural to spiritual. It was in this way that the Lord made Himself one with His Father, and God the Father made Himself one with Him. When the Lord was an infant was He not like any other infant, and when a boy like any other boy? Do we not read that He increased in wisdom and favor, and that afterwards He asked the Father to glorify His name, that is, His Human? To glorify is to make Divine by oneness with Himself. This makes clear why the Lord prayed to His Father whilst in His state of exinanition, [humiliation] which was the state of His progress towards union. [5] This same order is inscribed upon every man by his creation. In the precise degree in which man prepares his understanding by means of truths from the Word does he adapt his understanding to receive faith from God, and precisely as he prepares his will by means of works of charity does he fit his will for the reception of love from God, as when a workman cuts a diamond he fits it to receive and emit the glow of light; and so on. One prepares himself to receive God and to be conjoined with Him by living in accordance with the Divine order; and the laws of order are all the commandments of God. These the Lord fulfilled to every tittle, and so made Himself a receptacle of Divinity in all fullness. Therefore Paul says: That in Jesus Christ dwells all the fullness of Divinity bodily (Col. 2:9). And the Lord Himself says: That all things that the Father hath are His (John 16:15)... [7]..." All this having been said, that spirit was sent away into the abyss (spoken of in Rev. 9:2 and following verses), where the angels of the dragon discuss the mysteries of their faith. [8] The next day, when I looked towards the same place, I saw instead of the tents two statues in the likeness of human beings, made of the dust of the earth that was a mixture of sulfur, iron, and clay. One statue seemed to have a scepter in its left hand, a crown on its head, a book in its right hand, and a stomacher [a V-shaped piece of decorative cloth, worn over the chest and stomach by men and women in the 16th century, later only by women] with an oblique [slanting] band tied across, set with precious stones, and behind a robe that spread towards the other statue. But these decorations of the statue were induced upon it by fantasy. A voice from some draconic [of or relating to a dragon] spirit was then heard proceeding from it, saying, "This statue represents our faith as a queen, and the one behind it represents charity as her maidservant. This latter was made of a similar mixture of dust, and was placed at the extremity of the robe that spread out behind the queen, and it held in its hand a paper, on which was written, "Be careful not to come so near as to touch the robe." Then a sudden shower fell from heaven and penetrated both statues, which being made of a mixture of sulfur, iron, and clay, began to effervesce, as a mixture of those ingredients does when water is poured upon it; and so burning as it were with inward fire they melted into heaps, which afterwards stood out above the ground there like sepulchral mounds.
True Christian Religion #852 By Emanuel Swedenborg
852. INDEX TO THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS
LIV.
...there was seen a certain devil ascending from below, having a dusky face with a white circle around the head; and he said that he was Lucifer, although he was not; and that in his internals, he was a devil, but in his externals an angel of light; and he declared when in externals he was moral among the moral, rational among the rational, and even spiritual among the spiritual; and that when he was in the world he had preached; and that then he accursed evil doers of every kind, and this is why he was called "Son of the morning;" and, what he himself wondered at, when he was in the pulpit he had no other idea than that it was as he spoke; but otherwise when he was out of the temple. This he said because in the temple he was in his externals and then in the understanding only, but out of the temple in his internals and then in the will; and thus he was raised into heaven by his understanding while his will drew him down into hell; but that the will prevails over the understanding, because it disposes the understanding according to its beck and nod. After this the devil who pretended to be Lucifer fell down into hell (n. 507).
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