The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love
by
Emanuel Swedenborg
Part 3 out of 12
wisdom, because she was formed through his wisdom, (on which subject see
above, n. 88, 89,) may also appear from the female's affection,
application, manners, and form. From her AFFECTION, which is the
affection of loving knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom; nevertheless
not in herself but in the man; and thus of loving the man: for the man
(_vir_) cannot be loved merely on account of his form, in that he
appears as a man (_homo_), but on account of the talent with which he is
gifted, which causes him to be a man. From her APPLICATION; in that it
is to such manual works as knitting, needlework, and the like, serving
for ornament, both to decorate herself and to exalt her beauty: and
moreover from her application to various domestic duties, which connect
themselves with the duties of men, which, as was said, relate to public
offices. They are led to these duties from an inclination to marriage,
that they may become wives, and thereby one with their husbands. That
the same is also discoverable from their MANNERS and FORM, needs no
explanation.
92. V. FROM THE INFLUX OF THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH FROM THE LORD,
THE LOVE OF THE SEX AND CONJUGIAL LOVE ARE DERIVED. That good and truth
are the universals of creation, and thence are in all created subjects;
and that they are in created subjects according to the form of each; and
that good and truth proceed from the Lord not as two but as one, was
shewn above, n. 84-87: from these considerations it follows, that the
UNIVERSAL CONJUGIAL SPHERE proceeds from the Lord, and pervades the
universe from its primaries to its ultimates; thus from angels even to
worms. The reason why such a sphere of the marriage of good and truth
proceeds from the Lord, is, because it is also the sphere of
propagation, that is, of prolification and fructification; and this
sphere is the same with the divine providence relating to the
preservation of the universe by successive generations. Now since this
universal sphere, which is that of the marriage of good and truth, flows
into its subjects according to the form of each, see n. 86, it follows
that the male receives it according to his form, thus in the intellect,
because he is in an intellectual form; and that the female receives it
according to her form, thus in the will, because she is a form of the
will grounded in the intellect of the man; and since that sphere is also
the sphere of prolification, it follows that hence is the love of the
sex.
93. The reason why conjugial love also is from this same source, is,
because that sphere flows into the form of wisdom with men, and also
with angels; for a man may increase in wisdom to the end of his life in
the world, and afterwards to eternity in heaven; and in proportion as he
increases in wisdom, his form is perfected; and this form receives not
the love of the sex, but the love of one of the sex; for with one of the
sex it may be united to the inmost principles in which heaven with its
felicities consists, and this union is conjugial love.
94. VI. THE LOVE OF THE SEX BELONGS TO THE EXTERNAL OR NATURAL MAN, AND
HENCE IT IS COMMON TO EVERY ANIMAL. Every man is born corporeal, and
becomes more and more interiorly natural, and in proportion as he loves
intelligence he becomes rational, and afterwards, if he loves wisdom, he
becomes spiritual. What the wisdom is by which a man becomes spiritual,
will be shewn in the following pages, n. 130. Now as a man advances from
knowledge into intelligence, and from intelligence into wisdom, so also
his mind changes its form; for it is opened more and more, and conjoins
itself more nearly with heaven, and by heaven with the Lord; hence it
becomes more enamored of truth, and more desirous of the good of life.
If therefore he halts at the threshold in the progression to wisdom, the
form of his natural mind remains; and this receives the influx of the
universal sphere, which is that of the marriage of good and truth, in
the same manner as it is received by the inferior subjects of the animal
kingdom--beasts and birds; and as these are merely natural, the man in
such case becomes like them, and thereby loves the sex just as they do.
This is what is meant by the assertion,--the love of the sex belongs to
the external or natural man, and hence it is common to every animal.
95. VII. BUT CONJUGIAL LOVE BELONGS TO THE INTERNAL OR SPIRITUAL MAN;
AND HENCE THIS LOVE IS PECULIAR TO MAN. The reason why conjugial love
belongs to the internal or spiritual man is, because in proportion as a
man becomes more intelligent and wise, in the same proportion he becomes
more internal and spiritual, and in the same proportion the form of his
mind is more perfected; and this form receives conjugial love: for
therein it perceives and is sensible of a spiritual delight, which is
inwardly blessed, and a natural delight thence arising, which derives
its soul, life, and essence from the spiritual delight.
96. The reason why conjugial love is peculiar to man, is because he only
can become spiritual, he being capable of elevating his intellect above
his natural loves, and from that state of elevation of seeing them
beneath him, and of judging of their quality, and also of amending,
correcting, and removing them. No other animal can do this; for the
loves of other animals are altogether united with their inborn
knowledge; on which account this knowledge cannot be elevated into
intelligence, and still less into wisdom; in consequence of which every
other animal is led by the love implanted in his knowledge, as a blind
person is led through the streets by a dog. This is the reason which
conjugial love is peculiar to man; it may also be called native and near
akin to him; because man has the faculty of growing wise, with which
faculty this love is united.
97. VIII. WITH MAN CONJUGIAL LOVE IS IN THE LOVE OF THE SEX AS A GEM IN
ITS MATRIX. As this however is merely a comparison, we will explain it
in the article which immediately follows: this comparison also
illustrates what was shown just above, n. 94, 95,--that the love of the
sex belongs to the external or natural man, and conjugial love to the
internal or spiritual man.
98. IX. THE LOVE OF THE SEX WITH MAN IS NOT THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL
LOVE, BUT ITS FIRST RUDIMENT; THUS IT IS LIKE AN EXTERNAL NATURAL
PRINCIPLE, IN WHICH AN INTERNAL SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE IS IMPLANTED. The
subject here treated of is love truly conjugial, and not ordinary love,
which also is called conjugial, and which with some is merely the
limited love of the sex. Love truly conjugial exists only with those who
desire wisdom, and who consequently advance more and more into wisdom.
These the Lord foresees, and provides for them conjugial love; which
love indeed commences with them from the love of the sex, or rather by
it; but still it does not originate in it; for it originates in
proportion to the advancement in wisdom and the dawning of the light
thereof in man; for wisdom and that love are inseparable companions. The
reason why conjugial love commences by the love of the sex is, because
before a suitable consort is found, the sex in general is loved and
regarded with a fond eye, and is treated with civility from a moral
ground: for a young man has to make his choice; and while this is
determining, from an innate inclination to marriage with one, which lies
concealed in the interiors of his mind, his external receives a gentle
warmth. A further reason is, because determinations to marriage are
delayed from various causes even to riper years, and in the mean time
the beginning of that love is as lust; which with some actually goes
astray into the love of the sex; yet with them it is indulged no further
than may be conducive to health. This, however, is to be understood as
spoken of the male sex, because it has enticements which actually
inflame it; but not of the female sex. From these considerations it is
evident that the love of the sex is not the origin of love truly
conjugial; but that it is its first rudiment in respect to time, yet not
in respect to end; for what is first in respect to end, is first in the
mind and its intention, because it is regarded as primary; but to this
first there is no approaching unless successively through mediums, and
these are not first in themselves, but only conducive to what is first
in itself.
99. X. DURING THE IMPLANTATION OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, THE LOVE OF THE SEX
INVERTS ITSELF AND BECOMES THE CHASTE LOVE OF THE SEX. It is said that
in this case the love of the sex inverts itself; because while conjugial
love is coming to its origin, which is in the interiors of the mind, it
sees the love of the sex not before itself but behind, or not above
itself but beneath, and thus as somewhat which it passes by and leaves.
The case herein is similar to that of a person climbing from one office
to another through a great variety, till he reaches one which exceeds
the rest in dignity; when he looks back upon the offices through which
he had passed, as behind or beneath him; or as when a person intends a
journey to the palace of some king, after his arrival at his journey's
end, he inverts his view in regard to the objects which he had seen in
the way. That in this case the love of the sex remains and becomes
chaste, and yet, to those who are principled in love truly conjugial, is
sweeter than it was before, may be seen from the description given of it
by those in the spiritual world, in the two MEMORABLE RELATIONS, n. 44,
and 55.
100. XI. THE MALE AND THE FEMALE WERE CREATED TO BE THE ESSENTIAL FORM
OF THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. The reason for this is, because the
male was created to be the understanding of truth, thus truth in form;
and the female was created to be the will of good, thus good in form;
and there is implanted in each, from their inmost principles, an
inclination to conjunction into a one, as may be seen above, n. 88; thus
the two make one form, which emulates the conjugial form of good and
truth. It is said to emulate it, because it is not the same, but is like
it; for the good which joins itself with the truth belonging to the man,
is from the Lord immediately; whereas the good of the wife, which joins
itself with the truth belonging to the man, is from the Lord mediately
through the wife; therefore there are two goods, the one internal, the
other external, which join themselves with the truth belonging to the
husband, and cause him to be constantly in the understanding of truth,
and thence in wisdom, by love truly conjugial: but on this subject more
will be said in the following pages.
101. XII. MARRIED PARTNERS ARE THAT FORM IN THEIR INMOST PRINCIPLES, AND
THENCE IN WHAT IS DERIVED FROM THOSE PRINCIPLES, IN PROPORTION AS THE
INTERIORS OF THEIR MINDS ARE OPENED. There are three things of which
every man consists, and which follow in an orderly connection,--the
soul, the mind, and the body: his inmost is the soul, his middle is the
mind, and his ultimate is the body. Every thing which flows from the
Lord into a man, flows into his inmost principle, which is the soul, and
descends thence into his middle principle, which is the mind, and
through this into his ultimate principle, which is the body. Such is the
nature of the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord
with man: it flows immediately into his soul, and thence proceeds to the
principles next succeeding, and through these to the extreme or
outermost: and thus conjointly all the principles constitute conjugial
love. From an idea of this influx it is manifest, that two married
partners are the form of conjugial love in their inmost principles, and
thence in those derived from the inmost.
102. But the reason why married partners become that form in proportion
as the interiors of their minds are opened, is, because the mind is
successively opened from infancy even to extreme old age: for a man is
born corporeal: and in proportion as the mind is opened proximately
above the body, he becomes rational; and in proportion as his rational
principle is purified, and as it were drained of the fallacies which
flow in from the bodily senses, and of the concupiscences which flow in
from the allurements of the flesh, in the same proportion it is opened;
and this is affected solely by wisdom: and when the interiors of the
rational mind are open, the man becomes a form of wisdom; and this form
is the receptacle of love truly conjugial. "The wisdom which constitutes
this form, and receives this love, is rational, and at the same time
moral, wisdom: rational wisdom regards the truths and goods which appear
inwardly in man, not as its own, but as flowing in from the Lord; and
moral wisdom shuns evils and falses as leprosies, especially the evils
of lasciviousness, which contaminate its conjugial love."
* * * * *
103. To the above I shall add two MEMORABLE RELATIONS: the FIRST is
this. One morning before sun-rise I was looking towards the east in the
spiritual world, and I saw four horsemen as it were issuing from a cloud
refulgent with the flame of the dawning day. On their heads they had
crested helmets, on their arms as it were wings, and around their bodies
light orange-colored tunics; thus clad as for expedition, they rose in
their seats, and gave their horses the reins, which thus ran as if they
had had wings to their feet. I kept my eye fixed on their course or
flight, desiring to know where they were going; and lo! three of the
horsemen took their direction towards three different quarters, the
south, the west, and the north; and the fourth in a short space of time
halted in the east. Wondering at all this, I looked up into heaven, and
inquired where those horsemen were going? I received for answer, "To the
wise men in the kingdoms of Europe, who with clear reasoning and acute
discernment discuss the subjects of their investigation, and are
distinguished above the rest for their genius, that they may assemble
together and explain the secret RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE,
AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY."
It was then said from heaven, "Wait awhile, and you will see
twenty-seven chariots; three, in which are Spaniards; three, in which
are Frenchmen; three, in which are Italians; three, in which are
Germans; three, in which are Dutchmen or Hollanders; three, in which are
Englishmen; three, in which are Swedes; three, in which are Danes; and
three, in which are Poles." In about two hours I saw the chariots, drawn
by horses of a pale-red color, with remarkable trappings: they passed
rapidly along towards a spacious house in the confines of the east and
south, around which all alighted from their several chariots, and
entered in with much confidence. Then it was said to me, "Go, and do you
also enter, and you will hear." I went and entered: and on examining the
house within, I saw that it was square, the sides looking to the four
quarters: in each side there were three high windows of crystalline
glass, the frames of which were of olive-wood; on each side of the
frames were projections from the walls, like chambers vaulted above, in
which there were tables. The walls of these chambers were of cedar, the
roof of the noble almug wood, and the floor of poplar boards. Near the
eastern wall, where no windows were seen, there was set a table overlaid
with gold, on which was placed a TURBAN set with precious stones, which
was to be given as a prize or reward to him who should by investigation
discover the secret about to be proposed. While my attention was
directed to the chamber projections like closets near the windows, I saw
five men in each from every kingdom of Europe, who were prepared and
waiting to know the object for the exercise of their judgements. An
angel then presented himself in the middle of the palace, and said, "The
object for the exercise of your judgements shall be RESPECTING THE
ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY.
Investigate this and decide upon it; and write your decision on a piece
of paper, and put it into the silver urn which you see placed near the
golden table, and subscribe the initial letter of the kingdom from which
you come; as F for French, B for Batavians or Hollanders, I for
Italians, E for English, P for Poles, G for German, H for Spaniards
(_Hispani_), D for Danes, S for Swedes." As he said this, the angel
departed, saying, "I will return." Then the five men, natives of the
same country, in each closet near the windows, took into consideration
the proposed subject, examined it attentively, and came to a decision
according to their respective talents and powers of judgement, which
they wrote on a piece of paper, and placed it in the silver urn, having
first subscribed the initial letter of their kingdom. This business
being accomplished in about three hours, the angel returned and drew the
papers in order from the urn, and read them before the assembly.
104. From the FIRST PAPER which he happened to lay hold of, he read as
follows; "We five, natives of the same country, in one closet have
decreed that the origin of conjugial love is from the most ancient
people in the golden age, and that it was derived to them from the
creation of Adam and his wife; hence is the origin of marriages, and
with marriages the origin of conjugial love. The virtue or potency of
conjugial love we derive from no other source than climate or situation
in regard to the sun, and the consequent heat of the country; and we are
confirmed in this sentiment, not by vain conjectures of reason, but by
evident proofs of experience, as by the case of the people who live
under the line, or the equinoctial, where the heat of the day is
intense, and by the case of those who live nearer to the line, or more
distant from it; and also from the co-operation of the sun's heat with
the vital heat in the living creatures of the earth and the fowls of
heaven, in the time of spring during prolification. Moreover, what is
conjugial love but heat, which becomes virtue or potency, if the heat
supplied from the sun be added to it?" To this decision was subscribed
the letter H, the initial of the kingdom from which they were.
105. After this he put his hand into the urn a SECOND TIME, and took out
a paper from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country,
in our lodge have agreed that the origin of conjugial love is the same
with the origin of marriages, which were sanctioned by laws in order to
restrain man's innate concupiscences prompting him to adultery, which
ruins the soul, defiles the reason, pollutes the morals, and infects the
body with disease: for adultery is not human but bestial, not rational
but brutish, and thus not in any respect Christian but barbarous: with a
view to the condemnation of such adultery, marriages originated, and at
the same time conjugial love. The case is the same with the virtue or
potency of this love; for it depends on chastity, which consists in
abstaining from the rovings of whoredom: the reason is, because virtue
or potency, with him who loves his married partner alone, is confined to
one, and is thus collected and as it were concentrated; and then it
becomes refined like a quintessence from which all defilement is
separated, which would otherwise be dispersed and cast away in every
direction. One of us five, who is a priest, has also added
predestination as a cause of that virtue or potency, saying, 'Are not
marriages predestinated? and this being the case, are not the progeny
thence issuing and the means conducive thereto, predestinated also?' He
insisted on adding this cause because he had sworn to it." To this
decision was subscribed the letter B. On hearing it, a certain spirit
observed with a smile, "How fair an apology is predestination for
weakness or impotence!"
106. Presently he drew from the urn a THIRD PAPER, from which he read as
follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our department have
deliberated concerning the causes of the origin of conjugial love, and
have seen this to be the principal, that it is the same with the origin
of marriage, because conjugial love had no existence before marriage;
and the ground of its existence is, that when any one is desperately in
love with a virgin, he desires in heart and soul to possess her as being
lovely above all things; and as soon as she betroths herself to him he
regards her as another self. That this is the origin of conjugial love,
is clearly manifest from the fury of every man against his rivals, and
from the jealousy which takes place in case of violation. We afterwards
considered the origin of the virtue or potency of this love; and the
sentiments of three prevailed against the other two, viz., that virtue
or potency with a married partner arises from some degree of
licentiousness with the sex. They affirmed that they knew from
experience that the potency of the love of the sex is greater than the
potency of conjugial love." To this decision was subscribed the letter
I. On hearing it, there was a cry from the table, "Remove this paper and
take another out of the urn."
107. And instantly he drew out a FOURTH, from which he read as follows:
"We, natives of the same country, under our window have come to this
conclusion, that the origin of conjugial love and of the love of the sex
is the same, the former being derived from the latter; only that the
love of the sex is unlimited, indeterminate, loose, promiscuous, and
roving; whereas conjugial love is limited, determinate, fixed, regular,
and constant; and that this love therefore has been sanctioned and
established by the prudence of human wisdom as necessary to the
existence of every empire, kingdom, commonwealth, and even society; for
without it men would wander like droves of cattle in fields and forests,
with harlots and ravished females, and would fly from one habitation to
another to avoid the bloody murders, violations, and depredations,
whereby the whole human race would be in danger of being extirpated.
This is our opinion concerning the origin of conjugial love. But the
virtue or potency of conjugial love we deduce from an uninterrupted
state of bodily health continuing from infancy to old age; for the man
who always retains a sound constitution and enjoys a continual freedom
from sickness, feels his vigor unabated, while his fibres, nerves,
muscles, and sinews, are neither torpid, relaxed, nor feeble, but retain
the full strength of their powers: farewell." To this decision was
subscribed the letter E.
108. FIFTHLY, he drew a paper out of the urn, from which he read as
follows: "We, natives of the same country, at our table, from the
rationality of our minds, have examined into the origin of conjugial
love and of its virtue or potency; and from all the considerations which
have presented themselves, we have seen and concluded upon no other
origin of conjugial love than this: that every man, from incentives and
consequent incitements which are concealed in the interiors of his mind
and body, after indulging in various desires of his eyes, at length
fixes his mind and inclination on one of the female sex, until his
passion is determined entirely to her: from this moment his warmth is
enkindled more and more, until at length it becomes a flame; in this
state the inordinate love of the sex is banished, and conjugial love
takes its place. A youthful bridegroom under the influence of this
flame, knows no other than that the virtue or potency of this love will
never cease; for he wants experience and therefore knowledge respecting
a state of the failure of his powers, and of the coldness of love which
then succeeds to delights: conjugial love therefore has its origin in
this first ardor before the nuptial ceremony, and from the same source
it derives its virtue or potency; but this virtue or potency changes its
aspect after the nuptial ceremony, and decreases and increases; yet
still it continues with regular changes, or with decrease and increase,
even to old age, by means of prudent moderation, and by restraining the
libidinous desires which burst forth from the lurking places of the mind
not yet thoroughly purified: for libidinous desire precedes wisdom. This
is our judgement concerning the origin and continuance of conjugial
virtue or potency." To this decision was subscribed the letter P.
109. SIXTHLY, he drew out a paper, from which he read as follows: "We,
natives of the same country, from the fellowship subsisting among us,
have attentively considered the causes of the origin of conjugial love,
and have agreed in assigning two; one of which is the right education of
children, and the other the distinct possession of inheritances. We have
assigned these two, because they aim at and regard the same end, which
is the public good: and this end is obtained, because infants conceived
and born from conjugial love become proper and true children; and these
in consequence of the natural love of the parents, exalted by the
consideration of their offspring being legitimate, are educated to be
heirs of all their parents' possessions both spiritual and natural. That
the public good is founded on a right education of children and on a
distinct possession of inheritances, is obvious to reason. Of the love
of the sex and conjugial love, the latter appears as if it were one with
the former, but it is distinctly different; neither is the one love near
to the other, but within it; and what is within is more excellent than
what is without: and we have seen that conjugial love from creation is
within, and lies hid in the love of the sex, just as an almond does in
its shell; therefore when conjugial love comes out of its shell, which
is the love of the sex, it glitters before the angels like a gem, a
beryl, and astroites. The reason of this is, because on conjugial love
is inscribed the safety of the whole human race, which we conceive to be
understood by the public good. This is our judgement respecting the
origin of this love. With respect to the origin of its virtue or
potency, from a consideration of its causes, we have concluded it to be
the development and separation of conjugial love from the love of the
sex, which is effected by wisdom on the man's part, and by the love of
the man's wisdom on the part of the wife: for the love of the sex is
common to man and beast; whereas conjugial love is peculiar to men:
therefore so far as conjugial love is developed and separated from the
love of the sex, so far a man is a man and not a beast; and a man
acquires virtue or potency from his love, as a beast does from his." To
this decision was subscribed the letter G.
110. SEVENTHLY, he drew out a paper from which he read as follows: "We,
natives of the same country, in the chamber under the light of our
window, have found our thoughts and thence our judgements exhilarated by
meditating on conjugial love; for who is not exhilarated by this love,
which, while it prevails in the mind, prevails also through the whole
body? We judge of the origin of this love from its delights; for who in
any case knows or has known the trace of any love except from its
delight and pleasurableness? The delights of conjugial love in their
origins are felt as beatitudes, satisfactions, and happinesses, in their
derivations as pleasantnesses and pleasures, and in their ultimates as
superlative delights. The love of the sex therefore originates when the
interiors of the mind, and thence the interiors of the body, are opened
for the influx of those delights; but conjugial love originated at the
time when, from entering into marriage engagements, the primitive sphere
of that love ideally promoted those delights. The virtue or potency of
this love arises from its passing, with its inmost principles, from the
mind into the body; for the mind, by derivation from the head, is in the
body, while it feels and acts, especially when it is delighted from this
love: hence we judge of the degrees of its potency and the regularity of
its alterations. Moreover we also deduce the virtue of potency from the
stock whence a man is descended: if this be noble on the father's side,
it becomes also by transmission noble with his offspring. That such
nobility is generated, inherited and descends by transmission, is
agreeable to the dictates of reason supported by experience." To this
decision was subscribed the letter F.
111. From the paper which came forth the EIGHTH in order, he read as
follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our place of assembly have
not discovered the real origin of conjugial love, because it lies deeply
concealed in the sacred repositories of the mind. The most consummate
vision cannot, by any intellectual effort, reach that love in its
origin. We have made many conjectures; but after the vain exertion of
subtle inquiry, we have been in doubt whether our conjectures might not
be called rather trifling than judicious; therefore whoever is desirous
to extract the origin of that love from the sacred repositories of his
mind, and to exhibit it clearly before his eyes, let him go to
_Delphos_. We have contemplated that love beneath its origin, and have
seen that in the mind it is spiritual, and as a fountain from which a
sweet stream flows, whence it descends into the breast, where it becomes
delightful, and is called bosom love, which in itself is full of
friendship and confidence, from a full inclination to reciprocality; and
that when it has passed the breast, it becomes genial love. These and
similar considerations, which a young man revolves in his mind while he
is determining his choice to one of the sex, kindle in his heart the
fire of conjugial love; which fire, as it is the primitive of that love
is its origin. In respect to the origin of its virtue or potency, we
acknowledge no other than that love itself, they being inseparable
companions, yet still they are such that sometimes the one precedes and
sometimes the other. When the love precedes and the virtue or potency
follows it, each is noble because in this case potency is the virtue of
conjugial love; but if the potency precedes and the love follows, each
is then ignoble; because in this case the love is subordinate to carnal
potency; we therefore judge of the quality of each from the order in
which the love descends or ascends, and thus proceeds from its origin to
its proposed end." To this decision was subscribed the letter D.
112. Lastly, or NINTHLY, he took up a paper, from which he read as
follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our council-chamber have
exercised our judgement on the two points proposed, viz., the origin of
conjugial love, and the origin of its virtue or potency. In the
subtleties of inquiry respecting the origin of conjugial love, in order
to avoid obscurity in our reasonings, we have distinguished between the
love of the sex as being spiritual, natural, and carnal; and by the
spiritual love of the sex we have understood love truly conjugial,
because this is spiritual; and by the natural love of the sex we have
understood polygamical love, because this is natural; and by the merely
carnal love of the sex we have understood adulterous love because this
is merely carnal. In exercising our judgements to examine into love
truly conjugial, we have clearly seen that this love exists only between
one male and one female, and that from creation it is celestial and
inmost, the soul and father of all good loves, being inspired into the
first parents, and capable of being inspired into Christians; it is also
of such a conjunctive nature that by it two minds may become one mind,
and two men (_homines_) as it were one man (_homo_); which is meant by
becoming one flesh. That this love was inspired at creation, is plain
from these words in the book of creation, '_And a man shall leave father
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh_,'
Gen. ii. 24. That it can be inspired into Christians, is evident from
these words, '_Jesus said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from
the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall
a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they
two shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no longer two but one
flesh_,' Matt. xix. 4-6. So far in regard to the origin of conjugial
love: but as to the origin of the virtue or potency of love truly
conjugial, we conceive it to proceed from a similitude of minds and
unanimity; for when two minds are conjugially united, their thoughts
spiritually kiss each other, and these inspire into the body their
virtue or potency." To this decision was subscribed the letter S.
113. There were standing behind an oblong stage in the palace, erected
before the doors, some strangers from Africa, who cried out to the
natives of Europe, "Permit one of us to deliver his sentiments
respecting the origin of conjugial love, and respecting its virtue or
potency." And immediately all the tables gave signs of assent with their
hands. Then one of them entered and stood at the table on which the
turban was placed, and said, "You Christians deduce the origin of
conjugial love from love itself; but we Africans deduce it from the God
of heaven and earth. Is not conjugial love a chaste, pure, and holy
love? Are not the angels of heaven principled therein? Is not the whole
human race, and thence the whole angelic heaven, the seed of that love?
And can such super-eminent principle derive its existence from any other
source than from God himself, the Creator and Preserver of the universe?
You Christians deduce conjugial virtue or potency from various causes
rational and natural; but we Africans deduce it from the state of man's
conjunction with the God of the universe. This state we call a state of
religion; but you call it a state of the church: for when the love is
derived from that state, and is fixed and permanent, it must needs
produce its own virtue, which resembles it, and thus also is fixed and
permanent. Love truly conjugial is known only to those few who live near
to God; consequently the potency of that love is known to none else.
This potency is described by the angels in the heavens as the delight of
a perpetual spring."
114. As he said these word, the whole assembly arose, and lo! behind the
golden table on which lay the turban, there appeared a window that had
not before been seen; and through it was heard a voice, saying, "THE
AFRICAN IS TO HAVE THE TURBAN." The angel then gave it into his hand,
but did not place it upon his head; and he went home with it. The
inhabitants of the kingdoms of Europe then left the assembly and entered
their chariots, in which they returned to their respective societies.
115. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. Awaking from sleep at midnight, I
saw at some elevation towards the east an angel holding in his right
hand a paper, which appeared extremely bright, being illuminated by the
light flowing from the sun. In the middle of the paper there was written
in golden letters, THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. From the writing
there darted forth a splendor which formed a wide circle about the
paper. This circle or encompassing splendor appeared like the early dawn
in spring. After this I saw the angel descending with the paper in his
hand; and as he descended the paper became less and less lucid, and the
writing, which was THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH, changed from a golden
into a silver color, afterwards into a copper color, next into an iron
color, and at length into the color of iron and copper rust: finally, I
saw the angel enter an obscure mist, and through the mist descend upon
the ground; and here I did not see the paper, although he still held it
in his hand. This happened in the world of spirits, in which all men
first assemble after their decease. The angel then said to me, "Ask
those who come hither whether they see me, or anything in my hand."
There came a great number; one company from the east, another from the
south, another from the west, and another from the north; and I asked
those who came from the east and from the south, who in the world had
applied themselves to literary pursuits, "Do you see any one here with
me, and anything in his hand?" They all said, "No." I then put the same
question to those who came from the west and from the north, who in the
world had believed in the words of the learned; and these gave the same
answer: nevertheless the last of them, who in the world had been
principled in simple faith grounded in charity, or in some degree of
truth grounded in good, when the rest were gone away, said, that they
saw a man with a paper, the man in a graceful dress, and the paper with
letters written upon it: and when they applied their eyes nearer to it,
they said that they could read these words, _The marriage of good and
truth_; and they addressed the angel, intreating him to explain to them
the meaning of the writing. He said, "All things in the whole heaven and
in the whole world, are a marriage of good and truth; for all things
whatever, both those which live and communicate life and those which do
not live and do not communicate life, were created from and into the
marriage of good and truth. There does not exist anything which was
created into truth alone, or any thing which was created into good
alone: solitary good or solitary truth is not any thing; but by marriage
they exist and become something which derives its nature and quality
from that of the marriage. In the Lord the Creator are divine good and
divine truth in their very substance: the _esse_ of his substance is
divine good, and its _existere_ is divine truth: in him also they are in
their very essential union; for in him they infinitely make a one: and
since these two in the Creator himself are a one, therefore also they
are a one in all things created from him; hereby also the Creator is
conjoined in an eternal covenant as of marriage with all things created
from himself." The angel further said, that the Sacred Scripture, which
proceeded immediately from the Lord, is in general and in particular a
marriage of good and truth; and since the church, which is formed by the
truth of doctrine, and religion, which is formed by the good of life
agreeable to the truth of doctrine, are with Christians derived solely
from the Sacred Scripture, therefore it may manifestly appear, that the
church in general and in particular is a marriage of good and truth;
(that this is the case, may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 373,
483.) What has just been said concerning the marriage of good and truth,
is applicable also to the MARRIAGE OF CHARITY AND FAITH; for good
relates to charity, and truth to faith. Some of the spirits
above-mentioned who did not see the angel and the writing, being still
near, and hearing these things, said in an under tone, "_Yes, we also
comprehend what has been spoken_;" but the angel then said to them,
"Turn aside a little from me and speak in like manner." They turned
aside, and then said aloud, "_It is not so_." After this the angel spoke
concerning the MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH with married pairs, saying,
that if their minds were in that marriage, the husband being truth, and
the wife the good thereof, they would both be in the delights of the
blessedness and innocence, and thence in the happiness which the angels
of heaven enjoy; and in this state the prolific principle of the husband
would be in a continual spring, and thereby in the endeavour and vigor
of propagating its truth, and the wife would be in a continual reception
thereof from a principle of love. The wisdom which husbands derive from
the Lord, is sensible of no greater delight than to propagate its
truths; and the love of wisdom which wives have from the Lord is
sensible of no higher gratification than to receive those truths as it
were in the womb, and thus to conceive them, to carry them in the womb,
and to bring them forth. Spiritual prolifications with the angels of
heaven are of this sort; and if you are disposed to believe it, natural
prolifications are also from the same origin. The angel, after a
salutation of peace, raised himself from the ground, and passing through
the mist ascended into heaven; and then the paper shone as before
according to the degrees of ascent; and behold! the circle, which before
appeared as the dawn of day, descended and dispelled the mist which
caused darkness on the ground, and a bright sunshine succeeded.
ON THE MARRIAGE OF THE LORD AND THE CHURCH, AND ITS CORRESPONDENCE.
116. The reason why the marriage of the Lord and the church, together
with its correspondence, is here also treated of, is, because without
knowledge and intelligence on this subject, scarcely any one can know,
that conjugial love in its origin is holy, spiritual, and celestial, and
that it is from the Lord. It is said indeed by some in the church, that
marriages have relation to the marriage of the Lord with the church; but
the nature and quality of this relationship is unknown, in order
therefore that this relationship may be exhibited to the understanding
so as to be seen in some degree of light, it is necessary to treat
particularly of that holy marriage which has place with and in those who
are the Lord's church. These also, and no others, are principled in love
truly conjugial. But for the better elucidation of this arcanum, it may
be expedient to consider the subject distinctly, as arranged under the
following articles: I. _The Lord in the Word is called the Bridegroom
and Husband, and the church the bride and wife; and the conjunction of
the Lord with the church, and the reciprocal conjunction of the church
with the Lord, is called a marriage._ II. _The Lord is also called a
Father, and the church, a mother._ III. _The offspring derived from the
Lord as a husband and father, and from the church as a wife and mother,
are all spiritual; and in the spiritual sense of the Word are understood
by sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, sons-in-law and
daughters-in-law, and by other names of relations._ IV. _The spiritual
offspring, which are born from the Lord's marriage with the church are
truths and goods; truths, from which are derived understanding,
perception, and all thought; and goods, from which are derived love,
charity, and all affection._ V. _From the marriage of good and truth,
which proceeds from the Lord in the way of influx, man (homo) receives
truth, and the Lord conjoins good thereto; and thus the church is formed
by the Lord with man._ VI. _The husband does not represent the Lord and
the wife the church; because both together, the husband and the wife,
constitute the church._ VII. _Therefore there is not a correspondence of
the husband with the Lord and of the wife with the church, in the
marriages of the angels in the heavens and of men on earth._ VIII. _But
there is a correspondence with conjugial love, semination,
prolification, the love of infants, and similar things which exist in
marriages, and are derived from them._ IX. _The Word is the medium of
conjunction, because it is from the Lord, and therefore is the Lord._ X.
_The church is from the Lord, and exists with those who come to him, and
live according to his precepts._ XI. _Conjugial love is according to the
state of the church, because it is according to the state of wisdom with
man (homo)._ XII. _And as the church is from the Lord, conjugial love is
also from him._ We proceed to the explanation of each article.
117. I. THE LORD IN THE WORD IS CALLED THE BRIDEGROOM AND HUSBAND, AND
THE CHURCH THE BRIDE AND WIFE; AND THE CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD WITH THE
CHURCH, AND THE RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF THE CHURCH WITH THE LORD, IS
CALLED A MARRIAGE. That the Lord in the Word is called the Bridegroom
and Husband, and the church the bride and wife, may appear from the
following passages: "_He that hath the BRIDE is the BRIDEGROOM; but the
friend of the BRIDEGROOM, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with
joy because of the BRIDEGROOM'S voice_," John iii. 29: this was spoken
by John the Baptist concerning the Lord. "_Jesus said, so long as the
BRIDEGROOM is with them, the SONS OF THE NUPTIALS cannot fast: the days
will come when the BRIDEGROOM will be taken away from them, and then
will they fast_," Matt ix. 15; Mark ii. 19, 20; Luke v. 34, 35. "_I saw
the holy city, New Jerusalem, prepared as a BRIDE adorned for HER
HUSBAND_," Rev. xxi. 2. The New Jerusalem signifies the New Church of
the Lord, as may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 880, 881. "_The
angel said to John, Come, and I will shew thee the BRIDE, THE LAMB'S
WIFE: and he shewed him the holy city, New Jerusalem_," Rev. xxi. 9, 10.
"_The time of the MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB is come, and HIS WIFE hath made
herself ready. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the
MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB_," Rev. xix. 7, 9. The BRIDEGROOM, whom the five
prepared virgins went forth to meet, and with WHOM they entered in to
the MARRIAGE, Matt. xxv. 1-10, denotes the Lord; as is evident from
verse 13, where it is said, "Watch, therefore; because ye know neither
the day nor the hour in which the SON OF MAN will come:" not to mention
many passages in the prophets.
118. II. THE LORD IS ALSO CALLED A FATHER, AND THE CHURCH, A MOTHER. The
Lord is called a Father, as appears from the following passages: "_Unto
us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and his name shall be
called, Wonderful, Counsellor, GOD, THE FATHER OF ETERNITY, the Prince
of Peace_," Isaiah ix. 6. "_Thou, JEHOVAH, art OUR FATHER, our REDEEMER;
thy name is from an age_," Isaiah lxiii. 16. Again, "_Jesus said, He
that seeth ME, seeth the FATHER that sent ME_," John xii. 45. "_If ye
have known ME, ye have known my FATHER also; and henceforth ye have
known him, and have seen him_," John xiv. 7. "_Philip said, Shew us the
FATHER: Jesus said unto him, He that seeth me, seeth the FATHER; how
sayest them then, Shew us the FATHER_?" John xiv. 8, 9. "_Jesus said,
The FATHER and I are one_," John x. 30. "_All things that the FATHER
hath are MINE_," John xvi. 15; chap. xvii. 10. "_The FATHER is in ME,
and I IN THE FATHER_," John x. 38; chap, xiv 10, 11, 20. That the Lord
and his Father are one, as the soul and the body are one, and that God
the Father descended from heaven, and assumed the human (nature or
principle), to redeem and save men, and that his human nature is what is
called the Son, and is said to be sent into the world, has been fully
shewn in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED.
119. The church is called a mother, as appears from the following
passages: "_Jehovah said, Contend with YOUR MOTHER: she is not MY WIFE,
and I am not her HUSBAND_." Hosea ii. 2, 5. "_Thou art thy MOTHER'S
daughter, that loatheth her HUSBAND_," Ezek. xvi. 45. "_Where is the
hill of thy MOTHER'S divorcement, whom I have put away_?" Isaiah l. 1.
"_Thy MOTHER was like a vine planted by the waters, bearing fruit_,"
Ezek. xix. 10; speaking of the Jewish church. "_Jesus stretching out his
hand to the disciples, said, MY MOTHER and my brethren are those who
hear the Word of God, and do it_," Luke viii. 21; Matt. xii. 49, 50;
Mark iii. 33-35: the Lord's disciples means the church. "_There was
standing at the cross of Jesus his mother: and Jesus seeing his mother
and the disciple whom he loved, standing by, he saith unto his mother,
Woman, behold thy son; and he saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother:
wherefore from that hour the disciple took her unto his own_," John xix.
25-27. This implies, that the Lord did not acknowledge Mary as a mother,
but the church; therefore he calls her Woman, and the disciple's mother.
The reason why the Lord called her the mother of this disciple, or of
John, was, because John represented the church as to the goods of
charity, which are the church in real effect; therefore it is said, He
took her unto his own. Peter represented truth and faith, James charity,
and John the works of charity, as may be seen in the APOCALYPSE
REVEALED, n. 5, 6, 790, 798, 879; and the twelve disciples together
represented the church as to all its constituent principles, as may be
seen, Ibid, n. 233, 790, 903, 915.
120. III. THE OFFSPRING DERIVED FROM THE LORD AS A HUSBAND AND FATHER,
AND FROM THE CHURCH AS A WIFE AND MOTHER, ARE ALL SPIRITUAL; AND IN THE
SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD ARE UNDERSTOOD BY SONS AND DAUGHTERS,
BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SONS-IN-LAW, AND DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, AND BY OTHER
NAMES OF RELATIONS. That no other than spiritual offspring are born of
the Lord by the church, is a proposition which wants no demonstration,
because reason sees it to be self-evident; for it is the Lord from whom
every good and truth proceeds, and it is the church which receives them
and brings them into effect; and all the spiritual things of heaven and
the church relate to good and truth. Hence it is that sons and daughters
in the Word, in its spiritual sense, signify truths and goods: sons,
truths conceived in the spiritual man, and born in, the natural; and
daughters, goods in like manner: therefore those who are regenerated by
the Lord, are called in the Word sons of God, sons of the kingdom, born
of him; and the Lord called the disciples sons: the male child, that the
woman brought forth, and that was caught up to God, Rev. xii. 5, has a
similar signification; see APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 543. Since daughters
signify goods of the church, therefore in the Word mention is so
frequently made of the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem, the
daughter of Israel, and the daughter of Judah; by whom is signified not
any daughter, but the affection of good, which is an affection of the
church; see also APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 612. The Lord also calls those
who are of his church, brethren and sisters; see Matt. xii. 49, 50;
chap. xxv. 40; chap, xxviii. 10; Mark iii. 35; Luke viii. 21.
121. IV. THE SPIRITUAL OFFSPRING, WHICH ARE BORN FROM THE LORD'S
MARRIAGE WITH THE CHURCH, ARE TRUTHS AND GOODS; TRUTHS, FROM WHICH ARE
DERIVED UNDERSTANDING, PERCEPTION, AND ALL THOUGHT; AND GOODS, FROM
WHICH ARE DERIVED LOVE, CHARITY, AND ALL AFFECTION. The reason why
truths and goods are the spiritual offspring, which are born of the Lord
by the church, is, because the Lord is essential good and essential
truth, and these in him are not two but one; also, because nothing can
proceed from the Lord but what is in him, and what he is. That the
marriage of truth and good proceeds from the Lord, and flows in with
men, and is received according to the state of the mind and life of
those who are of the church, was shewn in the foregoing section on the
MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. The reason why by means of truths a man has
understanding, perception, and all thought, and by means of goods has
love, charity, and all affection, is, because all things of man relate
to truth and good; and there are two constituents of man--the will and
the understanding; the will being the receptacle of good, and the
understanding of truth. That love, charity and affection, belong to the
will, and that perception and thought belong to the understanding, may
appear without the aid of light arising from demonstration; for there is
a light derived from the understanding itself by which these
propositions are seen to be self-evident.
122. V. FROM THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH, WHICH PROCEEDS FROM THE
LORD IN THE WAY OF INFLUX, MAN (_homo_) RECEIVES TRUTH, AND THE LORD
CONJOINS GOOD THERETO; AND THUS THE CHURCH IS FORMED BY THE LORD WITH
MAN. The reason why a man receives truth by virtue of the good and truth
which proceed as a one from the Lord, is, because he receives this as
his own, and appropriates it to himself as his own; for he thinks what
is true as from himself, and in like manner speaks from what is true;
and this takes place because truth is in the light of the understanding,
and hence he sees it: and whatever he sees in himself, or in his mind,
he knows not whence it is; for he does not see the influx, as he sees
those objects which strike upon the bodily vision; hence he supposes
that it is himself. That it should appear thus, is granted by the Lord
to him, in order that he may be a man (_homo_), and that he may have a
reciprocal principle of conjunction: add to this, that every man is born
a faculty of knowing, understanding, and growing wise; and this faculty
receives truths, whereby it has knowledges, intelligence, and wisdom.
And since the female was created through the truth of the male, and is
formed into the love thereof more and more after marriage, it follows,
that she also receives the husband's truth in herself, and conjoins it
with her own good.
123. The Lord adjoins and conjoins good to the truths which a man
receives, because he cannot take good as of himself, it being no object
of his sight, as it does not relate to light, but to heat, which is felt
and not seen; therefore when a man sees truth in his thought, he seldom
reflects upon the good which flows into it from the love of the will,
and which gives it life: neither does a wife reflect upon the good
belonging to her, but upon the husband's inclination towards her, which
is according to the assent of his understanding to wisdom: the good
which belongs to her from the Lord, she applies, without the husband's
knowing any thing respecting such application. From these considerations
then it plainly appears, that a man receives truth from the Lord, and
that the Lord adjoins good to that truth, according to the application
of truth to use; consequently as the man is desirous to think, and
thence to live, wisely.
124. The church is thus formed with a man by the Lord, because in such
case he is in conjunction with the Lord, in good from Him, and in truth
as from himself; thus he is in the Lord, and the Lord in him, according
to the Lord's words in John xv. 4:, 5. The case is the same, if instead
of good we say charity, and instead of truth faith; because good is of
charity, and truth is of faith.
125. VI. THE HUSBAND DOES NOT REPRESENT THE LORD, AND THE WIFE THE
CHURCH; BECAUSE BOTH TOGETHER, THE HUSBAND AND THE WIFE, CONSTITUTE THE
CHURCH. It is a Common saying in the church, that as the Lord is the
Head of the church, so the husband is the head of the wife; whence it
should follow, that the husband represents the Lord, and the wife the
church: but the Lord is the Head of the church; and man (_homo_), the
man (_vir_) and the woman, are the church; and still more the husband
and wife together. With these the church is first implanted in the man,
and through him in the wife; because the man with his understanding
receives the truth of the church, and the wife from the man; but if it
be _vice versa_, it is not according to order: sometimes, however, this
is the case; but then it is with men, who either are not lovers of
wisdom, and consequently are not of the church, or who are in a servile
dependence on the will of their wives. Something on this subject may be
seen in the preliminary RELATIONS, n. 21.
126. VII. THEREFORE THERE IS NOT A CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HUSBAND WITH
THE LORD AND OF THE WIFE WITH THE CHURCH, IN THE MARRIAGES OF THE ANGELS
IN THE HEAVENS AND OF MEN ON EARTH. This follows as a consequence from
what has just been said; to which, nevertheless, it may be expedient to
add, that it appears as if truth was the primary constituent of the
church, because it is first in respect to time: from this appearance,
the prelates of the church have exalted faith, which is of truth, above
charity, which is of good; in like manner the learned have exalted
thought, which is of the understanding, above affection, which is of the
will; therefore the knowledge of what the good of charity and the
affection of the will are, lies deeply buried as in a tomb, while some
even cast earth upon them, as upon the dead, to prevent their rising
again. That the good of charity, notwithstanding, is the primary
constituent of the church, may be plainly seen by those who have not
closed the way from heaven to their understandings, by confirmations in
favor of faith, as the sole constituent of the church, and in favor of
thought, as the sole constituent of man. Now as the good of charity is
from the Lord, and the truth of faith is with a man as from himself, and
these two principles cause conjunction of the Lord with man, and of man
with the Lord, such as is understood by the Lord's words, that He is in
them, and they in Him, John xv. 4, 5, it is evident that this
conjunction constitutes the church.
127. VIII. BUT THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE WITH CONJUGIAL LOVE,
SEMINATION, PROLIFICATION, THE LOVE OF INFANTS, AND SIMILAR THINGS WHICH
EXIST IN MARRIAGES AND ARE DERIVED FROM THEM. These, however, are arcana
of too deep a nature to enter the understanding with any degree of
light, unless preceded by knowledge concerning correspondence; nor is it
possible, if this knowledge be wanting, so to explain them as to make
them comprehensible. But what correspondence is, and that it exists
between natural things and spiritual, is abundantly shown in the
APOCALYPSE REVEALED, also in the ARCANA COELESTIA, and specifically in
the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, and
particularly in a MEMORABLE RELATION respecting it in the following
pages. Before some knowledge on this subject is acquired, we will only
present to the intellectual view, as in a shade, these few particulars:
conjugial love corresponds to the affection of genuine truth, its
chastity, purity, and sanctity; semination corresponds to the potency of
truth; prolification corresponds to the propagation of truth; and the
love of infants corresponds to the defence of truth and good. Now as
truth with a man (_homo_) appears as his own, and good is adjoined
thereto from the Lord, it is evident that these correspondences are
those of the natural or external man with the spiritual or internal man:
but some degree of light will be reflected on this subject from the
MEMORABLE RELATIONS which follow.
128. IX. THE WORD IS THE MEDIUM OF CONJUNCTION, BECAUSE IT IS FROM THE
LORD, AND THEREFORE IS THE LORD. The Word is the medium of conjunction
of the Lord with man (_homo_), and of man with the Lord, because in its
essence it is divine truth united to divine good, and divine good united
to divine truth: that this union exists in every part of the Word in its
celestial and spiritual sense, may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED,
n. 373, 483, 689, 881; whence it follows, that the Word is the perfect
marriage of good and truth; and as it is from the Lord, and what is from
him is also himself, it follows, that while a man reads the Word, and
collects truths out of it, the Lord adjoins good. For a man does not see
the goods which affect him in reading; because he reads the Word from
the understanding, and the understanding acquires thence only such
things as are of its own nature, that is, truths. That good is adjoined
thereto from the Lord, is made sensible to the understanding from the
delight which flows in during a state of illustration; but this takes
place interiorly with those only who read the Word to the end that they
may become wise; and such persons are desirous of learning the genuine
truths contained in the Word, and thereby of forming the church in
themselves; whereas those who read the Word only with a view to gain the
reputation of learning, and those also who read it from an opinion that
the mere reading or hearing it inspires faith and conduces to salvation,
do not receive any good from the Lord; for the end proposed by the
latter is to save themselves by the mere expressions contained in the
Word, in which there is nothing of truth; and the end proposed by the
former is to be distinguished for their learning; which end has no
conjunction with any spiritual good, but only with the natural delight
arising from worldly glory. As the Word is the medium of conjunction, it
is therefore called the old and the new Covenant: a covenant signifies
conjunction.
129. X. THE CHURCH IS FROM THE LORD, AND EXISTS WITH THOSE WHO COME TO
HIM AND LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS PRECEPTS. It is not denied at this day
that the church is the Lord's, and consequently that it is from the
Lord. The reason why it exists with those who come to him, is, because
his church in that part of the globe which is called Christian, is
derived from the Word; and the Word is from him, and in such a manner
from him, that it is himself, the divine truth being therein united to
the divine good, and this also is the Lord. This is meant by the Word,
"_which was with God, and which was God, from which men have life and
light, and which was made flesh_," John i. 1-14. Moreover, the reason
why the church exists with those who come to him, is, because it exists
with those who believe in him; and to believe that he is God the Saviour
and Redeemer, that he is Jehovah our justice, that he is the door by
which we are to enter into the sheepfold, that is, into the church, that
he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the
Father but by him, that the Father and he are one, besides many other
particulars which he himself teaches; to believe these things, I say, is
impossible for any one, except by influence from him; and the reason why
this is impossible unless he be approached, is, because he is the God of
heaven and earth, as he also teaches. Who else is to be approached, and
who else can be? The reason why the church exists with those who live
according to his precepts, is, because there is conjunction with none
else; for he says, "_He that hath my precepts, and doeth them, he it is
that loveth me; and I will love him, and will make my abode with him:
but he that doth not love me, doth not keep my precepts_," John XIV.
21-24. Love is conjunction; and conjunction with the Lord is the church.
130. XI. CONJUGIAL LOVE IS ACCORDING TO THE STATE OF THE CHURCH, BECAUSE
IT IS ACCORDING TO THE STATE OF WISDOM WITH MAN (_homo_). That conjugial
love is according to the state of wisdom with man, has been often said
above, and will be often repeated in the following pages: at present
therefore we will show what wisdom is, and that it makes one with the
church. "There are belonging to man knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.
Knowledge relates to information; intelligence, to reason; and wisdom to
life. Wisdom considered in its fulness relates at the same time to
information, to reason, and to life: information precedes, reason is
formed by it, and wisdom by both; as is the case when a man lives
rationally according to the truths which he knows. Wisdom therefore
relates to both reason and life at once; and it becomes (or is making)
wisdom while it is a principle of reason and thence of life; but it is
wisdom when it is made a principle of life and thence of reason. The
most ancient people in this world acknowledged no other wisdom than the
wisdom of life; which was the wisdom of those who were formerly called
SOPHI: but the ancient people, who succeeded the most ancient,
acknowledged the wisdom of reason as wisdom; and these were called
PHILOSOPHERS. At this day, however, many call even knowledge, wisdom;
for the learned, the erudite, and the mere sciolists, are called wise;
thus wisdom has declined from its mountain-top to its valley. But it may
be expedient briefly to shew what wisdom is in its rise, in its
progress, and thence in its full state. The things relating to the
church, which are called spiritual, reside in the inmost principles with
man; those relating to the public weal, which are called things of a
civil nature, hold a place below these; and those relating to science,
to experience, and to art, which are called natural things, constitute
their seat or basis. The reason why the things relating to the church,
which are called spiritual, reside in the inmost principles with man,
is, because they conjoin themselves with heaven, and by heaven with the
Lord; for no other things enter from the Lord through heaven with man.
The reason why the things relating to the public weal, which are called
things of a civil nature, hold a place beneath spiritual things, is,
because they have relation to the world, and conjoin themselves with it;
for statutes, laws, and rules, are what bind men, so that a civil
society and state may be composed of them in a well-connected order. The
reason why the things relating to science, to experience, and to art,
which are called natural, constitute their seat or basis, is, because
they conjoin themselves closely with the five bodily senses; and these
senses are the ultimates on which the interior principles of the mind
and the inmost principles of the soul, as it were sit or rest. Now as
the things relating to the church, which are called spiritual, reside in
the inmost principles, and as the things residing in the inmost
principles constitute the head, and the succeeding things beneath them,
which are called things of a civil nature, constitute the body, and the
ultimate things, which are called natural, constitute the feet; it is
evident, that while these three kinds of things follow in their order, a
man is a perfect man; for in such case there is an influx like that of
the things of the head into those of the body, and through the body into
the feet; thus spiritual things flow into things of a civil nature, and
through them into natural things. Now as spiritual things are in the
light of heaven, it is evident that by their light they illustrate the
things which succeed in order, and by their heat, which is love, animate
them; and when this is the case the man has wisdom. As wisdom is a
principle of life, and thence of reason, as was said above, it may be
asked, What is wisdom as a principle of life? In a summary view, it is
to shun evils, because they are hurtful to the soul, to the public weal,
and to the body; and it is to do goods, because they are profitable to
the soul, to the public weal, and to the body. This is the wisdom which
is meant by the wisdom to which conjugial love binds itself; for it
binds itself thereto by shunning the evil of adultery as the pest of the
soul, of the public weal, and of the body: and as this wisdom originates
in spiritual things relating to the church, it follows, that conjugial
love is according to the state of the church; because it is according to
the state of wisdom with men. Hereby also is understood what has been
frequently said above, that so far as a man becomes spiritual, so far he
is principled in love truly conjugial; for a man becomes spiritual by
means of the spiritual things of the church." More observations
respecting the wisdom with which conjugial love conjoins itself, may be
seen below, n. 163-165.
131. XII. AND AS THE CHURCH IS FROM THE LORD, CONJUGIAL LOVE IS ALSO
FROM HIM. As this follows as a consequence from what has been said
above, it is needless to dwell upon the confirmation of it. Moreover,
that love truly conjugial is from the Lord, all the angels of heaven
testify; and also that this love is according to their state of wisdom,
and that their state of wisdom is according to the state of the church
with them. That the angels of heaven thus testify, is evident from the
MEMORABLE RELATIONS annexed to the chapters, containing an account of
what was seen and heard in the spiritual world.
* * * * *
132. To the above I shall add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. I was
conversing on a time with two angels, one from the eastern heaven and
the other from the southern; who perceiving me engaged in meditation on
the arcana of wisdom relating to conjugial love, said, "Are you at all
acquainted with the SCHOOLS OF WISDOM in our world?" I replied, "Not as
yet." And they said, "There are several; and those who love truths from
spiritual affection, or because they are truths, and because they are
the means of attaining wisdom, meet together on a given signal, and
investigate and decide upon such questions as require deeper
consideration than common." They then took me by the hand, saying,
"Follow us; and you shall see and hear: to-day the signal for meeting is
given." I was led across a plain to a hill; and lo! at the foot of the
hill was an avenue of palms continued even to its summit, which we
entered and ascended: on the summit or top of the hill was a grove, the
trees of which, on an elevated plot of ground, formed as it were a
theatre, within which was a court paved with various colored stones:
around it in a square form were placed seats, on which the lovers of
wisdom were seated; and in the middle of the theatre was a table, on
which was laid a sealed paper. Those who sat on the seats invited us to
sit down where there was room: and I replied, "I was led here by two
angels to see and hear, and not to sit down." Then those two angels went
into the middle of the court to the table, and broke the seal of the
paper, and read in the presence of those who were seated the arcana of
wisdom written on the paper, which were now to be investigated and
explained. They were written by angels of the third heaven, and let down
upon the table. There were three arcana, FIRST, What is the image of
God, and what the likeness of God, into which man (_homo_) was created?
SECOND, Why is not a man born into the knowledge of any love, when yet
beasts and birds, from the highest to the lowest, are born into the
knowledge of all their loves? THIRD, What is signified by the tree of
life, and what by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and what
by eating thereof? Underneath was written, Collect your opinions on
these three questions into one decision, and write it on a new piece of
paper, and lay it on this table, and we shall see it: if the decision,
on examination, appear just and reasonable, each of you shall receive a
prize of wisdom. Having read the contents of the paper, the two angels
withdrew, and were carried up into their respective heavens.
Then those who sat on the seats began to investigate and explain the
arcana proposed to them, and delivered their sentiments in order; first
those who sat on the north, next those on the west, afterwards those on
the south, and lastly those on the east. They began with the first
subject of inquiry, WHAT IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, AND WHAT THE LIKENESS OF
GOD, INTO WHICH MAN WAS CREATED? But before they proceeded, these words
were read in the presence of them all out of the book of creation, "_God
said, Let us make man into OUR IMAGE, according to OUR LIKENESS: and God
created man into HIS IMAGE; into the IMAGE OF GOD created he him_," Gen.
i. 26, 27. "_In the day that God created man, into the LIKENESS OF GOD
made he him_," Gen. v. 1. Those who sat on the north spoke first,
saying, "The image of God and the likeness of God are the two lives
breathed into man by God, which are the life of the understanding; for
it is written, '_Jehovah God breathed into Adam's nostril the soul of
LIVES; and man became a living soul_,' Gen. ii. 7; into the nostrils
denotes into the perception, that the will of good and the understanding
of truth, and thereby the soul of lives, was in him; and since life from
God was breathed into him, the image and likeness of God signify
integrity derived from wisdom and love, and from justice and judgment in
him." These sentiments were favored by those who sat to the west; only
they added, that the state of integrity then breathed in from God is
continually breathed into every man since; but that it is a man as in a
receptacle; and a man, as he is a receptacle, is an image and likeness
of God. After this, the third in order, who were those who were seated
on the south, delivered their sentiments as follows: "An image of God
and a likeness of God are two distinct things; but in man they are
united from creation; and we see, as from an interior light, that the
image of God maybe destroyed by man, but not the likeness of God. This
appears as clear as the day from this consideration, that Adam retained
the likeness of God after that he had lost the image of God; for it is
written after the curse, '_Behold the man is as one of us, knowing good
and evil_,' Gen. iii. 22; and afterwards he is called a likeness of God,
and not an image of God, Gen. v. 1. But we will leave to our associates
who sit on the east, and are thence in superior light, to say what is
properly meant by an image of God, and what by a likeness of God." And
then, after silence was obtained, those who sat on the east arose from
their seats, and looked up to the Lord, and afterwards sat down again,
and thus began: "An image of God is a receptacle of God; and since God
is love itself and wisdom itself, an image of God is a receptacle of
love and wisdom from God in it; but a likeness of God is a perfect
likeness and full appearance, as if love and wisdom are in a man, and
thence altogether as his; for a man has no other sensation than that he
loves and is wise from himself, or that he wills good and understands
truth from himself; when nevertheless nothing of all this is from
himself, but from God. God alone loves from himself and is wise from
himself; because God is love itself and wisdom itself. The likeness or
appearance that love and wisdom, or good and truth, are in a man as his,
causes a man to be a man, and makes him capable of being conjoined to
God, and thereby of living to eternity: from which consideration it
follows, that a man is a man from this circumstance, that he can will
good and understand truth altogether as from himself, and yet know and
believe that it is from God; for as he knows and believes this, God
places his image in him, which could not be if he believed it was from
himself and not from God." As they said this, being overpowered with
zeal derived from the love of truth, they thus continued: "How can a man
receive any thing of love and wisdom, and retain it, and reproduce it,
unless he feel it as his own? And how can there be conjunction with God
by love and wisdom, unless a man have some reciprocity of conjunction?
For without such a reciprocity conjunction is impossible; and the
reciprocity of conjunction is, that a man should love God, and enjoy the
things which are of God, as from himself, and yet believe that it is
from God. Also, how can a man live eternally, unless he be conjoined to
an eternal God? Consequently how can a man be a man without such a
likeness of God in him?" These words met with the approbation of the
whole assembly; and they said, Let this conclusive decision be made from
them, "A man is a recipient of God, and a recipient of God is an image
of God; and since God is love itself and wisdom itself, a man is a
recipient of those principles; and a recipient becomes an image of God
in proportion to reception; and a man is a likeness of God from this
circumstance, that he feels in himself that the things which are of God
are in him as his own; but still from that likeness he is only so far an
image of God, as he acknowledges that love and wisdom, or good and
truth, are not his own in him, and consequently are not from him, but
are only in God, and consequently from God."
133. After this, they entered upon the next subject of discussion, WHY
IS NOT A MAN BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF ANY LOVE, WHEN YET BEASTS AND
BIRDS, FROM THE HIGHEST TO THE LOWEST, ARE BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF
ALL THEIR LOVES? They first confirmed the truth of the proposition by
various considerations; as in regard to a man, that he is born into no
knowledge, not even into the knowledge of conjugial love; and they
inquired, and were informed by attentive examiners, that an infant from
connate knowledge cannot even move itself to the mother's breast, but
must be moved thereto by the mother or nurse; and that it knows only how
to suck, and this in consequence of habit acquired by continual suction
in the womb; and that afterwards it does not know how to walk, or to
articulate any human expression; no, nor even to express by its tone of
voice the affection of its love, as the beasts do: and further, that it
does not know what is salutary for it in the way of food, as all the
beasts do, but catches at whatever falls in its way, whether it be clean
or unclean, and puts it into its mouth. The examiners further declared,
that a man without instruction is an utter stranger to every thing
relating to the sexes and their connection; and that neither virgins nor
young men have any knowledge thereof without instruction from others,
notwithstanding their being educated in various sciences: in a word, a
man is born corporeal as a worm; and he remains such, unless he learns
to know, to understand, and to be wise, from others. After this, they
gave abundant proofs that beasts, from the highest to the lowest, as the
animals of the earth, the fowls of the air, reptiles, fishes, the small
creatures called insects, are born into all the knowledges of the loves
of their life, as into the knowledge of all things relating to
nourishment, to habitation, to the love of the sex and prolification,
and to the rearing of their young. This they continued by many wonderful
things which they recollected to have seen, heard, and read, in the
natural world, (so they called our world, in which they had formerly
lived), in which not representative but real beasts exist. When the
truth of the proposition was thus fully proved they applied all the
powers of their minds to search out and discover the ends and causes
which might serve to unfold and explain this arcanum; and they all said,
that the divine wisdom must needs have ordained these things, to the end
that a man, may be a man, and a beast a beast; and thus, that the
imperfection of a man at his birth becomes his perfection, and the
perfection of a beast at his birth is his imperfection.
134. Those on the NORTH then began to declare their sentiments, and
said, "A man is born without knowledges, to the end that he may receive
them all; whereas supposing him to be born into knowledges, he could not
receive any but those into which he was born, and in this case neither
could he appropriate any to himself; which they illustrated by this
comparison: a man at his first birth is like ground in which no seeds
are implanted, but which nevertheless is capable of receiving all seeds,
and of bringing them forth and fructifying them; whereas a beast is like
ground already sown, and tilled with grasses and herbs, which receives
no other seeds than what are sown in it, or if it received any it would
choke them. Hence it is, that a man requires many years to bring him to
maturity of growth; during which time he is capable of being cultivated
like ground, and of bringing forth as it were grain, flowers, and trees
of every kind; whereas a beast arrives at maturity in a few years,
during which no cultivation can produce any thing in him but what is
born with him." Afterwards, those on the WEST delivered their
sentiments, and said, "A man is not born knowledge, as a beast is; but
he is born faculty and inclination; faculty to know, and inclination to
love; and he is born faculty not only to know but also to understand and
be wise; he is likewise born the most perfect inclination to love not
only the things relating to self and the world, but also those relating
to God and heaven; consequently a man, by birth from his parents, is an
organ which lives merely by the external senses, and at first by no
internal senses, to the end that he may successively become a man, first
natural, afterwards rational, and lastly spiritual; which could not be
the case if he was born into knowledges and loves, as the beasts are:
for connate knowledges and affections set bounds to that progression;
whereas connate faculty and inclination set no such bounds; therefore a
man is capable of being perfected, in knowledge, intelligence, and
wisdom to eternity." Those on the SOUTH next took up the debate, and
expressed their sentiments as follows: "It is impossible for a man to
take any knowledge from himself, since he has no connate knowledge; but
he may take it from others; and as he cannot take any knowledge from
himself, so neither can he take any love; for where there is no
knowledge there is no love; knowledge and love being undivided
companions, and no more capable of separation than will and
understanding, or affection and thought; yea, no more than essence and
form: therefore in proportion as a man takes knowledge from others, so
love joins itself thereto as its companion. The universal love which
joins itself is the love of knowing, of understanding, and of growing
wise; this love is peculiar to man alone, and not to any beast, and
flows in from God. We agree with our companions from the west, that a
man is not born into any love, and consequently not into any knowledge;
but that he is only born into an inclination to love, and thence into a
faculty to receive knowledges, not from himself but from others, that
is, by others: we say, by others, because neither have these received
any thing of knowledge from themselves, but from God. We agree also with
our companions to the north, that a man is first born as ground, in
which no seeds are sown, but which is capable of receiving all seeds,
both useful and hurtful. To these considerations we add, that beasts are
born into natural loves, and thereby into knowledges corresponding to
them; and that still they do not know, think, understand, and enjoy any
knowledges, but are led through them by their loves, almost as blind
persons are led through the streets by dogs, for as to understanding
they are blind; or rather like people walking in their sleep, who act
from the impulse of blind knowledge, the understanding being asleep."
Lastly, those on the EAST declared their sentiments, and said, "We agree
with our brethren in the opinions they have delivered, that a man knows
nothing from himself, but from and by others, to the end that he may
know and acknowledge that all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, is
from God; and that a man cannot otherwise be conceived, born, and
generated of the Lord, and become an image and likeness of him; for he
becomes an image of the Lord by acknowledging and believing, that he has
received and does receive from the Lord all the good of love and
charity, and all the truth of wisdom and faith, and not the least
portion thereof from himself; and he becomes a likeness of the Lord by
his being sensible of those principles in himself, as if they were from
himself. This he is sensible of, because he is not born into knowledges,
but receives them; and what he receives, appears to him as if it was
from himself. This sensation is given him by the Lord, to the end that
he may be a man and not a beast; since by willing, thinking, loving,
knowing, understanding, and growing wise, as from himself, he receives
knowledges, and exalts them into intelligence, and by the use thereof
into wisdom; thus the Lord conjoins man to himself, and man conjoins
himself to the Lord. This could not have been the case, unless it had
been provided by the Lord, that man should be born in total ignorance."
When they had finished speaking, it was the desire of all present, that
a conclusion should be formed from the sentiments which had been
expressed; and they agreed upon the following: "That a man is born into
no knowledge, to the end that he may come into all knowledge, and may
advance into intelligence, and thereby into wisdom, and that he is born
into no love, to the intent that he may come into all love, by
application of the knowledges from intelligence, and into love to the
Lord by love towards his neighbour, and may thereby be conjoined to the
Lord, and by such conjunction be made a man, and live for ever."
135. After this they took the paper, and read the third subject of
investigation, which was, WHAT IS DIGNIFIED BY THE TREE OF LIFE, WHAT BY
THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, AND WHAT BY EATING THEREOF?
and all the others intreated as a favor, that those who were from the
east would unfold this arcanum, because it required a more than ordinary
depth of understanding, and because those who were from the east are in
flaming light, that is, in the wisdom of love, this wisdom being
understood by the garden of Eden, in which those two trees were placed.
They said, "We will declare our sentiments; but as man does not take any
thing from himself, but from the Lord, therefore we will speak from him;
but yet from ourselves as of ourselves:" and then they continued, "A
tree signifies a man, and the fruit thereof the good of life; hence the
tree of life signifies a man living from God, or God living in man; and
since love and wisdom, and charity and faith, or good and truth,
constitute the life of God in man, therefore these are signified by the
tree of life, and hence man has eternal life: the like is signified by
the tree of life, of which it will be given to eat, Rev. ii. 7; chap
xxii. 2, 14. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies a man
believing that he lives from himself and not from God; thus that in man
love and wisdom, charity and faith, that is, good and truth, are his and
not God's; believing this, because he thinks and wills, and speaks and
acts to all appearance, as from himself: and as a man from this faith
persuades himself, that God has implanted himself, or infused his divine
into him, therefore the serpent said, '_God doth know, in the day that
ye eat of the fruit of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and ye will
be as God, knowing good and evil_,' Gen. iii. 5. Eating of those trees
signifies reception and appropriation; eating of the tree of life, the
reception of life eternal, and eating of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, the reception of damnation; therefore also both Adam and
his wife, together with the serpent, were cursed: the serpent means the
devil as to self-love and the conceit of his own intelligence. This love
is the possessor of that tree; and the men who are in conceit, grounded
in that love, are those trees. Those persons, therefore, are grievously
mistaken who believe that Adam was wise and did good from himself, and
that this was his state of integrity; when yet Adam himself was cursed
by reason of that belief; for this is signified by eating of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil; therefore he then fell from the state of
integrity in which he had been, in consequence of believing that he was
wise and did good from God and not at all from himself; for this is
meant by eating of the tree of life. The Lord alone, when he was in the
world, was wise and did good from himself; because the essential divine
from birth was in him and was his; therefore also from his own ability
he was made the Redeemer and Saviour." From all these considerations
they came to this conclusion, "That by the tree of life, and the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, and eating thereof, is signified that
life for man is God in him, and that in this case he has heaven and
eternal life; but that death for man is the persuasion and belief, that
life for him is not God but self; whence he has hell and eternal death,
which is condemnation."
136. After this they looked into the paper left by the angels upon the
table, and saw written underneath, COLLECT YOUR OPINIONS ON THESE THREE
QUESTIONS INTO ONE DECISION. Then they collected them, and saw that they
cohered in one series, and that the series or decision was this, "That
man is created to receive love and wisdom from God, and yet to all
appearance as from himself; and this for the sake of reception and
conjunction: and that therefore a man is not born into any love, or into
any knowledge, and also not into any ability of loving and growing wise
from himself; therefore if he ascribes all the good of love and truth of
wisdom to God, he becomes a living man; but if he ascribes them to
himself, he becomes a dead man." These words they wrote on a new piece
of paper, and placed it on the table: and lo! on a sudden the angels
appeared in bright light, and carried the paper away into heaven; and
after it was read there, those who sat on the seats heard these words
from thence, "Well, well;" and instantly there appeared a single angel
as it were flying from heaven, with two wings about his feet, and two
about his temples, having in his hand prizes, consisting of robes, caps,
and wreaths of laurel; and he alighted on the ground, and gave those who
sat on the north robes of an opaline color; those who sat on the west
robes of scarlet color; those who sat on the south caps whose borders
were ornamented with bindings of gold and pearls, and which on the left
side upwards were set with diamonds cut in the form of flowers; but to
those who sat to the east he gave wreaths of laurel, intermixed with
rubies and sapphires. Then all of them, adorned with their respective
prizes, went home from the school of wisdom; and when they shewed
themselves to their wives, their wives came to meet them, being
distinguished also with ornaments presented to them from heaven; at
which the husbands wondered.
137. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. On a time when I was meditating on
conjugial love, lo! there appeared at a distance two naked infants with
baskets in their hands, and turtledoves flying around them; and on a
nearer view, they seemed as if they were naked, handsomely ornamented
with garlands; chaplets of flowers decorated their heads, and wreaths of
lilies and roses of a hyacinthine blue, hanging obliquely from the
shoulders to the loins, adorned their bosoms; and round about both of
them there was as it were a common band woven of small leaves
interspersed with olives. But when they came nearer, they did not appear
as infants, or naked, but as two persons in the prime of their age,
wearing cloaks and tunics of shining silk, embroidered with the most
beautiful flowers: and when they were near me, there breathed forth from
heaven through them a vernal warmth, attended with an odoriferous
fragrance, like what arises from gardens and fields in the time of
spring. They were two married partners from heaven, and they accosted
me; and because I was musing on what I had just seen, they inquired,
"What did you see?" And when I told them that at first they appeared to
me as naked infants, afterwards as infants decorated with garlands, and
lastly as grown up persons in embroidered garments, and that instantly I
experienced a vernal warmth with its delights, they smiled pleasantly,
and said, "In the way we did not seem to ourselves as infants, or naked,
or adorned with garlands, but constantly in the same appearance which we
now have: thus at a distance was represented our conjugial love; its
state of innocence by our seeming like naked infants, its delights by
garlands, and the same delights now by our cloaks and tunics being
embroidered with flowers; and as you said that, as we approached, a
vernal warmth breathed on you, attended with its pleasant fragrance as
from a garden, we will explain to you the reason of all this." They
said, "We have now been married partners for ages, and constantly in the
prime of our age in which you now see us: our first state was like the
first state of a virgin and a youth, when they enter into consociation
by marriage; and we then believed, that this state was the very
essential blessedness of our life; but we were informed by others in our
heaven, and have since perceived ourselves, that this was a state of
heat not tempered by light; and that it is successively tempered, in
proportion as the husband is perfected in wisdom, and the wife loves
that wisdom in the husband; and that this is effected by and according
to the uses which each, by mutual aid, affords to society; also that
delights succeed according to the temperature of heat and light; or of
wisdom and its love. The reason why on our approach there breathed on
you as it were a vernal warmth, is, because conjugial love and that
warmth in our heaven act in unity; for warmth with us is love; and the
light, wherewith warmth is united, is wisdom; and use is as it were the
atmosphere which contains each in its bosom. What are heat and light
without that which contains them? In like manner, what are love and
wisdom without their use? In such case there is nothing conjugial in
them, because the subject is wanting in which they should exist to
produce it. In heaven where there is vernal warmth, there is love truly
conjugial; because the vernal principle exists only where warmth is
equally united to light, or where warmth and light are in equal
proportions; and it is our opinion, that as warmth is delighted with
light, and _vice versa_, so love is delighted with wisdom, and wisdom in
its turn with love." He further added, "With us in heaven there is
perpetual light, and on no occasion do the shades of evening prevail,
still less is there darkness; because our sun does not set and rise like
yours, but remains constantly in a middle altitude between the zenith
and the horizon, which, as you express it, is at an elevation of 45
degrees. Hence, the heat and light proceeding from our sun cause
perpetual spring, and a perpetual vernal warmth inspires those with whom
love is united with wisdom in just proportion; and our Lord, by the
eternal union of heat and light, breathes nothing but uses: hence also
come the germinations of your earth, and the connubial associations of
your birds and animals in the spring; for the vernal warmth opens their
interiors even to the inmost, which are called their souls, and affects
them, and communicates to them its conjugial principle, and causes their
principle of prolification to come into its delights, in consequence of
a continual tendency to produce fruits of use, which use is the
propagation of their kind. But with men (_homines_) there is a perpetual
influx of vernal warmth from the Lord; wherefore they are capable of
enjoying marriage delights at all times, even in the midst of winter;
for the males of the human race were created to be recipients of light,
that is, of wisdom from the Lord, and the females to be recipients of
heat, that is, of the love of the wisdom of the male from the Lord.
Hence then it is, that, as we approached, there breathed on you a vernal
warmth attended with an odoriferous fragrance, like what arises from
gardens and fields in the spring." As he said this, he gave me his right
hand, and conducted me to houses inhabited by married partners in a like
prime of their age with himself and his partner; and said, "These wives,
who now seem like young virgins, were in the world infirm old women; and
their husbands, who now seem in the spring of youth, were in the world
decrepit old men; and all of them were restored by the Lord to this
prime of their age, because they mutually loved each other, and from
religious motives shunned adulteries as enormous sins:" and he added,
"No one knows the blessed delights of conjugial love, unless he rejects
the horrid delights of adultery; and no one can reject these delights,
unless he is under the influence of wisdom from the Lord; and no one is
under the influence of wisdom from the Lord, unless he performs uses
from the love of uses." I also saw on this occasion their house
utensils, which were all in celestial forms, and glittered with gold,
which had a flaming appearance from the rubies with which it was
studded.
* * * * *
ON THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE AND THE NON-CHASTE.
138. As we are yet only at the entrance of our subject respecting
conjugial love specifically considered, and as conjugial love cannot be
known specifically, except in a very indistinct and obscure manner,
unless its opposite, which is the unchaste principle, also in some
measure appear; and as this unchaste principle appears in some measure,
or in a shade, when the chaste principle is described together with the
non-chaste, non-chastity being only a removal of what is unchaste from
what is chaste; therefore we will now proceed to treat of the chaste
principle and the non-chaste. But the unchaste principle, which is
altogether opposite to the chaste, is treated of in the latter part of
this work, entitled ADULTEROUS LOVE AND ITS SINFUL PLEASURES, where it
is fully described with all its varieties. But what the unchaste
principle is, and what the non-chaste, and with what persons each of
them prevails, shall be illustrated in the following order: I. _The
chaste principle and the non-chaste are predicated only of marriages and
of such things as relate to marriages._ II. _The chaste principle is
predicated only of monogamical marriages, or of the marriage of one man
with one wife._ III. _The Christian conjugial principle alone is
chaste._ IV. _Love truly conjugial is essential chastity._ V. _All the
delights of love truly conjugial, even the ultimate, are chaste._ VI.
_With those who are made spiritual by the Lord, conjugial love is more
and more purified and rendered chaste._ VII. _The chastity of marriage
exists by a total renunciation of whoredoms from a principle of
religion._ VIII. _Chastity cannot he predicated of infants, or of boys
and girls, or of young men and virgins before they feel in themselves
the love of the sex._ IX. _Chastity cannot be predicated of eunuchs so
born, or of eunuchs so made._ X. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those
who do not believe adulteries to be evils in regard to religion; and
still less of those who do not believe them to be hurtful to society._
XI. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those who abstain from adulteries
only for various external reasons._ XII. _Chastity cannot be predicated
of those who believe marriages to be unchaste._ XIII. _Chastity cannot
be predicated of those who have renounced marriage by vows of perpetual
celibacy, unless there be and remain in them the love of a life truly
conjugial._ XIV. _A state of marriage is to be preferred to a state of
celibacy._ We will now proceed to an explanation of each article.
139. I. THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE AND THE NON-CHASTE ARE PREDICATED ONLY OF
MARRIAGES AND OF SUCH THINGS AS RELATE TO MARRIAGES. The reason of this
is, because, as will be shewn presently, love truly conjugial is
essential chastity; and the love opposite to it, which is called
adulterous, is essential unchastity; so far therefore as any one is
purified from the latter love, so far he is chaste; for so far the
opposite, which is destructive of chastity, is taken away; whence it is
evident that the purity of conjugial love is what is called chastity.
Nevertheless there is a conjugial love which is not chaste, and yet it
is not unchastity; as is the case with married partners, who, for
various external reasons, abstain from the effects of lasciviousness so
as not to think about them; howbeit, if that love is not purified in
their spirits, it is still not chaste; its form is chaste, but it has
not in it a chaste essence.
140. The reason why the chaste principle and the non-chaste are
predicated of such things as relate to marriages, is, because the
conjugial principle is inscribed on both sexes from inmost principles to
ultimates; and a man's quality as to his thoughts and affections, and
consequently as to his bodily actions and behaviour, is according
thereto. That this is the case, appears more evidently from such as are
unchaste. The unchaste principle abiding in their minds is heard from
the tone of their voice in conversation, and from their applying
whatever is said, even though it be chaste, to wanton and loose ends;
(the tone of the voice in conversation is grounded in the
will-affection, and the conversation itself is grounded in the thought
of the understanding;) which is a proof that the will and the
understanding, with everything belonging to them, consequently the whole
mind, and thence everything belonging to the body, from inmost
principles to ultimates, abound with what is unchaste. I have been
informed by the angels, that, with the greatest hypocrites, the unchaste
principle is perceivable from hearing their conversation, however
chastely they may talk, and also is made sensible from the sphere that
issues from them; which is a further proof that unchastity resides in
the inmost principles of their minds, and thence in the inmost
principles of their bodies, and that the latter principles are
exteriorly covered like a shell painted with figures of various colors.
That a sphere of lasciviousness issues forth from the unchaste, is
manifest from the statutes prescribed to the sons of Israel, ordaining
that everything should be unclean that was touched even by the hand of
those who were defiled by such unchaste persons. From these
considerations it may be concluded that the case is similar in regard to
the chaste, viz., that with them everything is chaste from inmost
principles to ultimates, and that this is an effect of the chastity of
conjugial love. Hence it is, that in the world it is said, "To the pure
all things are pure, and to the defiled all things are defiled."
141. II. THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE IS PREDICATED ONLY OF MONOGAMICAL
MARRIAGES, OR OF THE MARRIAGE OF ONE MAN WITH ONE WIFE. The reason of
this is, because with them conjugial love does not reside in the natural
man, but enters into the spiritual man, and successively opens to itself
a way to the essential spiritual marriage, or the marriage of good and
truth, which is its origin, and conjoins itself therewith; for that love
enters according to the increase of wisdom, which is according to the
implantation of the church from the Lord, as has been abundantly shewn
above. This cannot be effected with polygamists; for they divide
conjugial love; and this love when divided, is not unlike the love of
the sex, which in itself is natural; but on this subject something
worthy of attention may be seen in the section on POLYGAMY.
142. III. THE CHRISTIAN CONJUGIAL PRINCIPLE ALONE IS CHASTE. This is,
because love truly conjugial keeps pace with the state of the church in
man (_homo_), and because the state of the church is from the Lord, as
has been shewn in the foregoing section, n. 130, 131, and elsewhere;
also because the church in its genuine truths is in the Word, and the
Lord is there present in those truths. From these considerations it
follows, that the chaste conjugial principle exists nowhere but in the
Christian world, and still that there is a possibility of its existing
elsewhere. By the Christian conjugial principle we mean the marriage of
one man with one wife. That this conjugial principle is capable of being
ingrafted into Christians, and of being transplanted hereditarily into
the offspring from parents who are principled in love truly conjugial,
and that hence both the faculty and the inclination to grow wise in the
things of the church and of heaven may become connate, will be seen in
its proper place. Christians, if they marry more wives than one, commit
not only natural but also spiritual adultery: this will be shewn in the
section on POLYGAMY.
143. IV. LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL IS ESSENTIAL CHASTITY. The reasons for
this are, 1. Because it is from the Lord, and corresponds to the
marriage of the Lord and the church. 2. Because it descends from the
marriage of good and truth. 3. Because it is spiritual, in proportion as
the church exists with man (_homo_). 4. Because it is the foundation and
head of all celestial and spiritual loves. 5. Because it is the orderly
seminary of the human race, and thereby of the angelic heaven. 6.
Because on this account it also exists with the angels of heaven, and
gives birth with them to spiritual offspring, which are love and wisdom.
7. And because its uses are thus more excellent than the other uses of
creation. From these considerations it follows, that love truly
conjugial, viewed from its origin and in its essence, is pure and holy,
so that it may be called purity and holiness, consequently essential
chastity: but that nevertheless it is not altogether pure, either with
men or angels, may be seen below in article VI, n. 146.
144. V. ALL THE DELIGHTS OF LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, EVEN THE ULTIMATE, ARE
CHASTE. This follows from what has been above explained, that love truly
conjugial is essential chastity, and from the considerations that
delights constitute its life. That the delights of this love ascend and
enter heaven, and in the way pass through the delights of the heavenly
loves, in which the angels of heaven are principled; also, that they
conjoin themselves with the delights of the conjugial love of the
angels, has been mentioned above. Moreover, I have heard it declared by
the angels, that they perceive those delights with themselves to be
exalted and filled, while they ascend from chaste marriages on the
earths: and when some by-standers, who were unchaste, inquired
concerning the ultimate delights whether they were chaste, they assented
and said, "How should it be otherwise? Are not these the delights of
true conjugial love in their fulness?" The origin, nature, and quality
of the delights of this love, may be seen above, n. 69: and also in the
MEMORABLE RELATIONS, especially those which follow.
145. VI. WITH THOSE WHO ARE MADE SPIRITUAL BY THE LORD, CONJUGIAL LOVE
IS MORE AND MORE PURIFIED AND RENDERED CHASTE. The reasons for this are,
1. Because the first love, by which is meant the love previous to the
nuptials and immediately after them, partakes somewhat of the love of
the sex, and thus of the ardor belonging to the body not as yet
moderated by the love of the spirit. 2. Because a man (_homo_) from
natural is successively made spiritual; for he becomes spiritual in
proportion as his rational principle, which is the medium between heaven
and the world, begins to drive a soul from influx out of heaven, which
is the case so far as it is affected and delighted with wisdom;
concerning which wisdom see above, n. 130; and in proportion as this is
effected, in the same proportion his mind is elevated into a superior
_aura_, which is the continent of celestial light and heat, or, what is
the same, of the wisdom and love in which the angels are principled; for
heavenly light acts in unity with wisdom, and heavenly heat with love;
and in proportion as wisdom and the love thereof increase, with married
pairs, in the same proportion conjugial love is purified with them; and
as this is effected successively, it follows that conjugial love is
rendered more and more chaste. This spiritual purification may be
compared with the purification of natural spirits, which is effected by
the chemists, and is called defecation, rectification, castigation,
acution, decantation, and sublimation; and wisdom purified may be
compared with alcohol, which is a highly rectified spirit. 3. Now as
spiritual wisdom in itself is of such a nature that it becomes more and
more warmed with the love of growing wise, and by virtue of this love
increases to eternity; and as this is effected in proportion as it is
perfected by a kind of defecation, castigation, rectification, acution,
decantation, and sublimation, and this by elevating and abstracting the
intellect from the fallacies of the senses, and the will from the
allurements of the body; it is evident that conjugial love, whose parent
is wisdom, is in like manner rendered successively more and more pure,
and thereby chaste. That the first state of love between married
partners is a state of heat not yet tempered by light; but that it is
successively tempered in proportion as the husband is perfected in
wisdom, and the wife loves it in her husband, may be seen in the
MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 137.
146. It is however to be observed, that there is no conjugial love
altogether chaste or pure either with men (_homines_) or with angels;
there is still somewhat not chaste or not pure which adjoins or subjoins
itself thereto; but this has a different origin from that which gives
birth to what is unchaste: for with the angels the chaste principle is
above and the non-chaste beneath, and there is as it were a door with a
hinge interposed by the Lord, which is opened by determination, and is
carefully prevented from standing open, lest the one principle should
pass into the other, and they should mix together: for the natural
principle of man from his birth is defiled and fraught with evils;
whereas his spiritual principle is not so, because its birth is from the
Lord, for it is regeneration; and regeneration is a successive
separation from the evils to which a man is naturally inclined. That no
love with either men or angels is altogether pure, or can be pure; but
that the end, purpose, or intention of the will, is principally regarded
by the Lord: and that therefore so far as a man is principled in a good
end, purpose, or intention, and perseveres therein, so far he is
initiated into purity, and so far he advances and approaches towards
purity, may be seen above, n. 71.
147. VII. THE CHASTITY OF MARRIAGE EXISTS BY A TOTAL RENUNCIATION OF
WHOREDOMS FROM A PRINCIPLE OF RELIGION. The reason of this is, because
chastity is the removal of unchastity; it being a universal law, that so
far as any one removes evil, so far a capacity is given for good to
succeed in its place; and further, so far as evil is hated, so far good
is loved; and also _vice versa_; consequently, so far as whoredom is
renounced, so far the chastity of marriage enters. That conjugial love
is purified and rectified according to the renunciation of whoredoms,
every one sees from common perception as soon as it is mentioned and
heard; thus before confirmation; but as all have not common perception,
it is of importance that the subject should also be illustrated in the
way of proof by such considerations as may tend to confirm it. These
considerations are, that conjugial love grows cold as soon as it is
divided, and this coldness causes it to perish; for the heat of unchaste
love extinguishes it, as two opposite heats cannot exist together, but
one must needs reject the other and deprive it of its potency. Whenever
therefore the heat of conjugial love begins to acquire a pleasant
warmth, and from a sensation of its delights to bud and flourish, like
an orchard and garden in spring; the latter from the vernal temperament
of light and heat from the sun of the natural world, but the former from
the vernal temperament of light and heat from the sun of the spiritual
world.
148. There is implanted in every man (_homo_) from creation, and
consequently from his birth, an internal and an external conjugial
principle; the internal is spiritual, and the external natural: a man
comes first into the latter, and as he becomes spiritual, he comes into
the former. If therefore he remains in the external or natural conjugial
principle, the internal or spiritual conjugial principle is veiled or
covered, until he knows nothing respecting it; yea, until he calls it an
ideal shadow without a substance: but if a man becomes spiritual, he
then begins to know something respecting it, and afterwards to perceive
something of its quality, and successively to be made sensible of its
pleasantness, agreeableness, and delights; and in proportion as this is
the case, the veil or covering between the external and internal, spoken
of above, begins to be attenuated, and afterwards as it were to melt,
and lastly to be dissolved and dissipated. When this effect takes place,
the external conjugial principle remains indeed; but it is continually
purged and purified from its dregs by the internal; and this, until the
external becomes as it were the face of the internal, and derives its
delight from the blessedness which is in the internal, and at the same
time its life, and the delights of its potency. Such is the renunciation
of whoredoms, by which the chastity of marriage exists. It may be
imagined, that the external conjugial principle, which remains after the
internal has separated itself from it, or it from itself, resembles the
external principle not separated: but I have heard from the angels that
they are altogether unlike; for that the external principle in
conjunction with the internal, which they called the external of the
internal, was void of all lasciviousness, because the internal cannot be
lascivious, but only be delighted chastely; and that it imparts the same
disposition to its external, wherein it is made sensible of its own
delights: the case is altogether otherwise with the external separated
from the internal; this they said, was lascivious in the whole and in
every part. They compared the external conjugial principle derived from
the internal to excellent fruit, whose pleasant taste and flavor
insinuate themselves into its outward rind, and form this into
correspondence with themselves; they compared it also to a granary,
whose store is never diminished, but is continually recruited according
to its consumption; whereas they compared the external principle,
separate from the internal, to wheat in a winnowing machine, when it is
put in motion about its axis; in which case the chaff only remains,
which is dispersed by the wind; so it is with the conjugial principle,
unless the adulterous principle be renounced.
149. The reason why the chastity of marriage does not exist by the
renunciation of whoredoms, unless it be made from a principle of
religion, is, because a man (_homo_) without religion is not spiritual,
but remains natural; and if the natural man renounces whoredoms, still
his spirit does not renounce them; and thus, although it seems to
himself that he is chaste by such renunciation, yet nevertheless
unchastity lies inwardly concealed like corrupt matter in a wound only
outwardly healed. That conjugial love is according to the state of the
church with man, may be seen above n. 130. More on this subject may be
seen in the exposition of article XI.
150. VIII. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF INFANTS, OR OF BOYS AND
GIRLS, OR OF YOUNG MEN AND VIRGINS BEFORE THEY FEEL IN THEMSELVES THE
LOVE OF THE SEX. This is because the chaste principle and the unchaste
are predicated only of marriages, and of such things as relate to
marriages, as may be seen above, n. 139; and of those who know nothing
of the things relating to marriage, chastity is not predicable; for it
is as it were nothing relating to them; and nothing cannot be an object
either of affection or thought: but after this nothing there arises
something, when the first motion towards marriage is felt, which is the
love of the sex. That virgins and young men, before they feel in
themselves the love of the sex, are commonly called chaste, is owing to
ignorance of what chastity is.
151. XI. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF EUNUCHS SO BORN, OR OF EUNUCHS
SO MADE. Eunuchs so born are those more especially with whom the
ultimate of love is wanting from birth: and as in such case the first
and middle principles are without a foundation on which to stand, they
have therefore no existence; and if they exist, the persons in whom they
exist have no concern to distinguish between the chaste principle and
the unchaste, each being indifferent to them; but of these persons there
are several distinctions. The case is nearly the same with eunuchs so
made as with some eunuchs so born; but eunuchs so made, as they are both
men and women, cannot possibly regard conjugial love any otherwise than
as a phantasy, and the delights thereof as idle stories. If they have
any inclination, it is rendered mute, which is neither chaste nor
unchaste: and what is neither chaste nor unchaste, derives no quality
from either the one or the other.
152. X. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE
ADULTERIES TO BE EVILS IN REGARD TO RELIGION; AND STILL LESS OF THOSE
WHO DO NOT BELIEVE THEM TO BE HURTFUL TO SOCIETY. The reason why
chastity cannot be predicated of such is, because they neither know what
chastity is nor even that it exists; for chastity relates to marriage,
as was shewn in the first article of this section. Those who do not
believe adulteries be evil in regard to religion, regard even marriages
as unchaste; whereas religion with married pairs constitutes their
chastity; thus such persons have nothing chaste in them, and therefore
it is in vain to talk to them of chastity; these are confirmed
adulterers: but those who do not believe adulteries to be hurtful to
society, know still less than the others, either what chastity is or
even that it exists; for they are adulterers from a determined purpose:
if they say that marriages are less unchaste than adulteries, they say
so merely with the mouth, but not with the heart, because marriages with
them are cold, and those who speak from such cold concerning chaste
heat, cannot have an idea of chaste heat in regard to conjugial love.
The nature and quality of such persons, and of the ideas of their
thought, and hence of the interior principles of their conversation,
will be seen in the second part of this work,--ADULTEROUS LOVE AND ITS
SINFUL PLEASURES.
153. XI. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO ABSTAIN FROM
ADULTERIES ONLY FOR VARIOUS EXTERNAL REASONS. Many believe that the mere
abstaining from adulteries in the body is chastity; yet this is not
chastity, unless at the same time there is an abstaining in spirit. The
spirit of man (_homo_), by which is here meant his mind as to affections
and thoughts, constitutes the chaste principle and the unchaste, for
hence it flows into the body, the body being in all cases such as the
mind or spirit is. Hence it follows, that those who abstain from
adulteries in the body, without being influenced from the spirit are not
chaste; neither are those chaste who abstain from them in spirit as
influenced from the body. There are many assignable causes which make a
man desist from adulteries in the body, and also in the spirit as
influenced from the body; but still, he that does not desist from them
in the body as influenced from the spirit, is unchaste; for the Lord
says, "_That whosoever looketh upon another's woman, so as to lust after
her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart_," Matt. v.
28. It is impossible to enumerate all the causes of abstinence from
adulteries in the body only, they being various according to states of
marriage, and also according to states of the body; for there are some
persons who abstain from them from fear of the civil law and its
penalties; some from fear of the loss of reputation and thereby of
honor; some from fear of diseases which may be thereby contracted; some
from fear of domestic quarrels on the part of the wife, whereby the
quiet of their lives may be disturbed; some from fear of revenge on the
part of the husband or relations; some from fear of chastisement from
the servants of the family; some also abstain from motives of poverty,
avarice, or imbecility, arising either from disease, from abuse, from
age, or from impotence. Of these there are some also, who, because they
cannot or dare not commit adultery in the body, condemn adulteries in
the spirit; and thus they speak morally against adulteries, and in favor
of marriages; but such person, unless in spirit they call adulteries
accursed, and this from a religious principle in the spirit, are still
adulterers; for although they do not commit them in the body, yet they
do in the spirit; wherefore after death, when they become spirits, they
speak openly in favor of them. From these considerations it is manifest,
that even a wicked person may shun adulteries as hurtful; but that none
but a Christian can shun them as sins. Hence then the truth of the
proposition is evident, that chastity cannot be predicated of those who
abstain from adulteries merely for various external reasons.
154. XII. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE MARRIAGES
TO BE UNCHASTE. These, like the persons spoken of just above, n. 152, do
not know either what chastity is, or even that it exists; and in this
respect they are like those who make chastity to consist merely in
celibacy, of whom we shall speak presently.
155. XIII. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO HAVE RENOUNCED
MARRIAGE BY VOWS OF PERPETUAL CELIBACY, UNLESS THERE BE AND REMAIN IN
THEM THE LOVE OF A LIFE TRULY CONJUGIAL. The reason why chastity cannot
be predicated of these, is, because after a vow of perpetual celibacy,
conjugial love is renounced; and yet it is of this love alone that
chastity can be predicated: nevertheless there still remains an
inclination to the sex implanted from creation, and consequently innate
by birth; and when this inclination is restrained and subdued, it must
needs pass away into heat, and in some cases into a violent burning,
which, in rising from the body into the spirit, infests it, and with
some persons defiles it; and there may be instances where the spirit
thus defiled may defile also the principles of religion, casting them
down from their internal abode, where they are in holiness, into things
external, where they become mere matters of talk and gesture; therefore
it was provided by the Lord, that celibacy should have place only with
those who are in external worship, as is the case with all who do not
address themselves to the Lord, or read the Word. With such, eternal
life is not so much endangered by vows of celibacy attended with
engagements to chastity, as it is with those who are principled in
internal worship: moreover, in many instances that state of life is not
entered upon from any freedom of the will, many being engaged therein
before they attain to freedom grounded in reason, and some in
consequence of alluring worldly motives. Of those who adopt that state
with a view to have their minds disengaged from the world, that they may
be more at leisure to apply themselves to divine things, those only are
chaste with whom the love of a life truly conjugial either preceded that
state or followed it, and with whom it remains; for the love of a life
truly conjugial is that alone of which chastity is predicated. Wherefore
also, after death, all who have lived in monasteries are at length freed
from their vows and set at liberty, that, according to the interior vows
and desires of their love, they may be led to choose a life either
conjugial or extra-conjugial: if in such case they enter into conjugial
life, those who have loved also the spiritual things of divine worship
are given in marriage in heaven; but those who enter into
extra-conjugial life are sent to their like, who dwell on the confines
of heaven. I have inquired of the angels, whether those who have devoted
themselves to works of piety, and given themselves up entirely to divine
worship, and who thus have withdrawn themselves from the snares of the
world and the concupiscences of the flesh, and with this view have vowed
perpetual virginity, are received into heaven, and there admitted among
the blessed to enjoy an especial portion of happiness according to their
faith. To this the angels replied, that such are indeed received into
heaven; but when they are made sensible of the sphere of conjugial love
there, they become sad and fretful, and then, some of their own accord,
some by asking leave, and some from being commanded, depart and are
dismissed, and when they are out of that heaven, a way is opened for
them to their consociates, who had been in a similar state of life in
the world; and then from being fretful they become cheerful, and rejoice
together.
156. XIV. A STATE OF MARRIAGE IS TO BE PREFERRED TO A STATE OF CELIBACY.
This is evident from what has been said above respecting marriage and
celibacy. A state of marriage is to be preferred because it is a state
ordained from creation; because it originates in the marriage of good
and truth; because it corresponds with the marriage of the Lord and the
church; because the church and conjugial love are constant companions;
because its use is more excellent than all the other uses of the things
of creation, for thence according to order is derived the increase of
the human race, and also of the angelic heaven, which is formed from the
human race: moreover, marriage constitutes the completeness of a man
(_homo_); for by it he becomes a complete man, as will be shewn in the
following chapter. All these things are wanting in celibacy. But if the
proposition be taken for granted, that a state of celibacy is preferable
to a state of marriage, and if this proposition be left to the mind's
examination, to be assented to and established by confirming proofs,
then the conclusion must be, that marriages are not holy, neither can
they be chaste; yea, that chastity in the female sex belongs only to
those, who abstain from marriage and vow perpetual virginity: and
moreover, that those who have vowed perpetual celibacy are understood by
the eunuchs _who make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's
sake_, Matt. xix. 12; not to mention other conclusions of a like nature;
which, being grounded in a proposition that is not true, are also not
true. The eunuchs who make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of
heaven's sake, are spiritual eunuchs, who are such as in marriages
abstain from the evils of whoredoms: that Italian eunuchs are not meant,
is evident.
* * * * *
[Transcriber's Note: The out-of-order section numbers which follow are
in the original text, as are the asterisks which do not seem to indicate
footnotes.]
151.* To the above I shall add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. As I was
going home from the school of wisdom (concerning which, see above, n.
132), I saw in the way an angel dressed in blue. He joined me and walked
by my side, and said, "I see that you are come from the school of
wisdom, and are made glad by what you heard there; and as I perceive
that you are not a full inhabitant of this world, because you are at the
same time in the natural world, and therefore know nothing of our
Olympic gymnasia, where the ancient _sophi_ meet together, and by the
information they collect from every new comer, learn what changes and
successions wisdom has undergone and is still undergoing in your world;
if you are willing I will conduct you to the place where several of
those ancient _sophi_ and their sons, that is, their disciples, dwell."
So he led me to the confines between the north and east; and while I was
looking that way from a rising ground, lo! I saw a city, and on one side
of it two small hills; that which was nearer to the city being lower
than the other. "That city," said he, "is called Athens, the lower hill
Parnassus, and the higher Helicon. They are so called, because in the
city and around it dwell the wise men who formerly lived in Greece, as
Pythagoras, Socrates, Aristippus, Xenophon, with their disciples and
scholars." On my asking him concerning Plato and Aristotle, he said,
"They and their followers dwell in another region, because they taught
principles of rationality which relate to the understanding; whereas the
former taught morality which relates to the life." He further informed
me, that it was customary at times to depute from the city of Athens
some of the students to learn from the literati of the Christians, what
sentiments they entertain at this day respecting God, the creation of
the universe, the immortality of the soul, the relative state of men and
beasts, and other subjects of interior wisdom: and he added, that a
herald had that day announced an assembly, which was a token that the
emissaries had met with some strangers newly arrived from the earth, who
had communicated some curious information. We then saw several persons
going from the city and its suburbs, some having their heads decked with
wreaths of laurel, some holding palms in their hands, some with books
under their arms, and some with pens under the hair of the left temple.
We mixed with the company, and ascended the hill with them; and lo! on
the top was an octagonal palace, which they called the Palladium, into
which we entered; within there were eight hexangular recesses, in each
of which was a book-case and a table: at these recesses were seated the
laureled _sophi_, and in the Palladium itself there were seats cut out
of the rock, on which the rest were seated. A door on the left was then
opened, through which the two strangers newly arrived from the earth
were introduced; and after the compliments of salutation were paid, one
of the laureled _sophi_ asked them, "WHAT NEWS FROM THE EARTH?" They
replied, "This is news, that in forests there have been found men like
beasts, or beasts like men: from their face and body they were known to
have been born men, and to have been lost or left in the forests when
they were two or three years old; they were not able to give utterance
to any thought, nor could they learn to articulate the voice into any
distinct expression; neither did they know the food suitable for them as
the beasts do, but put greedily into their mouths whatever they found in
the forest, whether it was clean or unclean; besides many other
particulars of a like nature: from which some of the learned among us
have formed several conjectures and conclusions concerning the relative
state of men and beasts." On hearing this account, some of the ancient
_sophi_ asked, "What were the conjectures and conclusions formed from
the circumstances you have related?" The two strangers replied, "There
were several: but they may all be comprised under the following: 1. That
a man by nature, and also by birth, is more stupid and consequently
viler than any beast; and that he remains so, unless he is instructed.
2. That he is capable of being instructed, because he has learnt to
frame articulate sounds, and thence to speak, and thereby has begun to
express his thoughts, and this successively more and more perfectly
until he has been able to express the laws of civil society; several of
which are nevertheless impressed on beasts from their birth. 3. That
beasts have rationality like men. 4. Therefore, that if beasts could
speak, they would reason on any subject as acutely as men; a proof of
which is, that they think from reason and prudence just as men do. 5.
That the understanding is only a modification of light from the sun; the
heat co-operating by means of ether, so that it is only an activity of
interior nature; and that this activity may be so exalted as to appear
like wisdom. 6. That therefore it is ridiculous to believe that a man
lives after death any more than a beast; unless perchance, for some days
after his decease, in consequence of an exhalation of the life of the
body, he may appear as a mist under the form of a spectre, before he is
dissipated into nature; just as a shrub raised up from its ashes,
appears in the likeness of its own form. 7. Consequently that religion,
which teaches a life after death, is a mere device, in order to keep the
simple inwardly in bonds by its laws, as they are kept outwardly in
bonds by the laws of the state." To this they added, that "people of
mere ingenuity reason in this manner, but not so the intelligent:" and
they were asked, "How do the intelligent reason?" They said they had not
been informed; but they supposed that they must reason differently.
152.* On hearing this relation, all those who were sitting at the tables
exclaimed, "Alas! what times are come on the earth! What changes has
wisdom undergone? How is she transformed into a false and infatuated
ingenuity! The sun is set, and in his station beneath the earth is in
direct opposition to his meridian altitude. From the case here adduced
respecting such as have been left and found in forests, who cannot see
that an uninstructed man is such as here represented? For is not the
nature of his life determined by the nature of the instruction he
receives? Is he not born in a state of greater ignorance than the
beasts? Must he not learn to walk and to speak? Supposing he never
learnt to walk, would he ever stand upright? And if he never learnt to
speak, would he ever be able to express his thoughts? Is not every man
such as instruction makes him,--insane from false principles, or wise
from truths? and is not he that is insane from false principles,
entirely possessed with an imagination that he is wiser than he that is
wise from truths? Are there not instances of men who are so wild and
foolish, that they are no more like men than those who have been found
in forests? Is not this the case with such as have been deprived of
memory? From all these considerations we conclude, that a man without
instruction is neither a man nor a beast; but that he is a form, which
is capable of receiving in itself that which constitutes a man; and thus
that he is not born a man, but that he is made a man; and that a man is
born such a form as to be an organ receptive of life from God, to the
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