THE REASONS WHY THE LORD WILLED TO BE BORN ON OUR EARTH, AND NOT ON ANY OTHER
113. There are several reasons, about which I have received information from heaven, why it pleased the Lord to be born, and to a.s.sume the Human, on our Earth, and not on any other. THE PRINc.i.p.aL REASON _was for the sake of the Word, that it might be written on our Earth; and when written might afterwards be published throughout the whole Earth; and that, once published, it might be preserved for all posterity; and that thus it might be made manifest, even to all in the other life, that G.o.d did become Man_.
114. _That the princ.i.p.al reason was for the sake of the Word_, is because the Word is the Divine Truth itself, which teaches man that there is a G.o.d, that there is a heaven and a h.e.l.l, that there is a life after death; and which teaches, besides, how man ought to live and believe in order that he may come into heaven, and thus may be happy to eternity. Without revelation, and thus, on this Earth, without the Word, all these things would have been entirely unknown; and yet man has been so created, that as to his interiors he cannot die[nn].
[Footnote nn: By natural light (_lumen_) alone, nothing can be known concerning the Lord, heaven and h.e.l.l, the life of man after death, and the Divine truths, by means of which man has spiritual and eternal life, nos. 8944, 10318-10320. This may appear from the consideration that many, and amongst them the learned, do not believe these things, although they are born where the Word is, and where there is instruction by means of the Word concerning them, no. 10319. Therefore it was necessary that there should be a revelation from heaven, because man was born for heaven, no. 1775.]
115. _That the Word might be written on our Earth_, is because the art of writing has existed here from the most ancient time, first on tablets, next on parchment, afterwards on paper, and lastly publication by printing. This was provided by the Lord for the sake of the Word.
116. _That the Word might afterwards be published throughout the whole of this Earth_, is because here there is an intercourse of all nations, not only by journeys on land, but also by navigation to all parts of the entire globe; hence the Word, after it had once been written, could be conveyed from one nation to another, and be taught everywhere.
117. _That the Word, after it had once been written, might be preserved for all posterity_, consequently for thousands and thousands of years, and that it has also been so preserved, is known.
118. _That thus it might he made manifest that G.o.d has become man_; for this is the first and most essential purpose for which the Word was given; since no one can believe in a G.o.d, and love a G.o.d, whom he cannot comprehend under some form; wherefore, they who acknowledge an invisible and thus incomprehensible [principle], sink in thought into nature, and consequently believe in no G.o.d. Wherefore, it pleased the Lord to be born on this Earth, and to make this manifest through the Word, so that it might not only be made known on this globe, but _might also by this means be made manifest to spirits and angels from other earths, and likewise to the gentiles from our own[oo]_.
[Footnote oo: The gentiles in the other life are instructed by angels, and they who have lived well according to their religionism receive the truths of faith and acknowledge the Lord, nos. 2049, 2595, 2598, 2600-2603, 2861, 2863, 3263.]
119. It should be known that the Word on our Earth, which was given by the Lord through heaven, effects the union of heaven and the world, for which end there is a correspondence of all things in the letter of the Word with the Divine things in heaven; and that the Word in its supreme and inmost sense treats of the Lord, of His kingdom in the heavens and on earth, and of love and faith from Him and towards Him, consequently of life from Him and in Him. Such things are exhibited to the angels in heaven when the Word of our Earth is read and preached[pp].
[Footnote pp: The Word is understood by the angels in the heavens in a different manner from what it is understood by men on Earth, and the internal or spiritual sense is for the angels, but the external or natural sense for men, nos. 1769-1772, 1887, 2143, 2333, 2395, 2540, 2541, 2545, 2551. The Word is what unites heaven and earth, nos. 2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 10375. The Word, therefore, was written by strict correspondences, nos. 1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615, 10687. In the inmost sense of the Word the Lord alone and His kingdom are treated of, nos. 1873, 2249, 2523, 7014, 9357.]
120. In every other earth, Divine Truth is manifested by word of mouth through spirits and angels, as was stated in the foregoing pages, in treating of the inhabitants of the earths in this solar system. But this takes place within families; for in most earths the human race dwell distinct according to families; wherefore, Divine Truth thus revealed through spirits and angels is not conveyed far beyond the families, and unless a new revelation constantly succeeds, it is either perverted, or perishes. It is otherwise on our Earth, where the Divine Truth, which is the Word, remains in its integrity for ever.
121. It should be known that the Lord acknowledges and receives all, from whatever earth they may be, who acknowledge and worship G.o.d under the Human Form, since G.o.d under the Human Form is the Lord: and as the Lord appears to the inhabitants in the earths in an angelic form, which is the Human Form, therefore, when the spirits and angels from these earths hear from the spirits and angels of our Earth that G.o.d is actually Man, they receive that Word, acknowledge it, and rejoice that it is so.
122. To the reasons that have been adduced above, may be added, that the inhabitants and spirits of our Earth, in the Grand Man, have relation to natural and external sense; and natural and external sense is the ultimate in which the interiors of life close, and on which they rest, as on their common [basis]. The case is the same with the Divine Truth in the letter, which is called the Word, and which for this reason also was given on this Earth, and not on any other[qq].
And as the Lord is the Word, and the First and Last of it, therefore, in order that all things might exist according to order. He also willed to be born on this Earth, and to become the Word, according to these words in John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with G.o.d, and G.o.d was the Word. The same was in the beginning with G.o.d. All things were made through It, and without It was not anything made that was made.... _And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw Its glory the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father_.... No one hath seen G.o.d at any time; the Only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, Himself hath manifested Him"
(i. 1-3, 14, 18). The Word denotes the Lord as to the Divine Truth, consequently the Divine Truth from the Lord[rr]. But this is an arcanum which enters into the understanding of only a few.
[Footnote qq: The Word in the sense of the letter is natural, no.
8783; by reason that what is natural is the ultimate, in which spiritual and celestial things close, and on which they subsist as on their foundation, and that otherwise the internal or spiritual sense of the Word without an external or natural sense would be as a house without a foundation, nos. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436.]
[Footnote rr: The Word is the Lord as to the Divine Truth, consequently the Divine Truth from the Lord, nos. 2859, 4692, 5075, 9987. Through the Divine Truth all things were created and made, nos.
2803, 2894, 5272, 7835.]
EARTHS IN THE STARRY HEAVEN.
123. Those who are in heaven are able to speak and converse not only with those angels and spirits who are from the earths in our solar system, but also with those who are from other earths in the universe beyond this system; and not only with the spirits and angels there, but also with the inhabitants themselves, only, however, with those whose interiors have been opened, so that they are able to hear those who speak from heaven. The same thing is possible for a man to whom it has been given by the Lord to speak with spirits and angels, during his life in the world; for a man as to his interiors is a spirit, the body which he carries about in the world being serviceable to him only for performing functions in this natural or terrestrial sphere, which is the ultimate or last sphere. But to no one is it given to speak as a spirit with angels and spirits, unless he be of such a character that he can be consociated with angels as to faith and love. Neither can he be consociated with them, unless his faith and love are directed to the Lord; for man is conjoined to the Lord by means of faith in Him and love to Him, that is, by means of truths of doctrine and goods of life from Him; and when he has been conjoined [with the Lord], he is secure from the a.s.saults of evil spirits from h.e.l.l. With others the interiors cannot be opened to such an extent, since they are not in the Lord. This is the reason why there are few at this day to whom it is given to speak and converse with angels; a manifest proof of which is, that at the present day it is scarcely believed that spirits and angels exist, and still less that they are present with every man, and that through them man has connection with heaven, and, through heaven, with the Lord; and that it is still less believed that a man, when he dies as to the body, lives a spirit, and in the human form as before.
124. Since, with many in the church at the present day, there is no faith in a life after death, and scarcely any faith concerning heaven, nor concerning the Lord as being the G.o.d of heaven and earth, therefore the interiors that are of my spirit have been opened by the Lord, so that, while I am in the body, I might at the same time be with angels in heaven, and not only speak with them, but see the stupendous things there, and describe the same, lest possibly it might hereafter be said, Who has come to us from heaven, and told us of its existence, and of the things that are there? But I know that those who hitherto have at heart denied heaven and h.e.l.l, and the life after death, will still persist in confirming themselves against them, and in denying them; for it is easier to make a raven white than to make those believe who have once at heart rejected faith; the reason is, that they always think about such matters from a negative, and not from an affirmative, standpoint. Nevertheless, let those facts that have already been stated, and that yet remain to be stated, concerning angels and spirits, be for those few who are in faith. In order that others also may be led to some degree of acknowledgment, it has been granted me to relate such things as delight and allure the man who is desirous of acquiring knowledge: of this character are the things that shall now be related concerning the earths in the starry heaven.
125. He who is not acquainted with the arcana of heaven, cannot believe that a man can see earths that are so far distant, and give any account of them from sensuous experience. But let him know that the s.p.a.ces and distances, and therefore the progressions, which exist in the natural world, in their origin and first cause are changes of the state of the interiors, and that with angels and spirits they appear according to these changes[ss]; and that through changes of state they may be apparently translated from one place to another, and from one earth to another, even to earths which are at the end of the universe: so likewise may man as to his spirit, his body still remaining in its own place. This has been the case with me, since, by the Lord"s Divine mercy, it has been given to me to speak with spirits as a spirit, and at the same time with men as a man. That a man, as to his spirit, can be translated in this manner, is inconceivable to the sensual man, since he is in s.p.a.ce and in time, and measures his progressions according to them.
[Footnote ss: Motions, progressions, and changes of place, in the other life, are changes of the state of the interiors of life, and nevertheless it really appears to spirits and angels as if they actually existed, nos. 1273-1277, 1377, 3356, 5606, 10734.]
126. That there are many systems, may appear to every one from the fact that so many stars appear in the universe; and it is known in the learned world that every star is like a sun in its own place, for it remains fixed as the sun of our Earth does in its place; and that it is the distance that makes it appear in so small a form as a star; consequently, that, like the sun of our system, each star has planets around it, which are earths; and that the reason why these do not appear before our eyes is on account of their immense distance, and because only the light from their own star reaches us, which light cannot be again reflected from the planets so far as to reach us. To what other purpose could so great a heaven with so many constellations be intended? For the end of the creation of the universe is man, that from man there may be an angelic heaven; but what would a human race, and from it an angelic heaven, from one single earth, be for an Infinite Creator, for whom a thousand, yea tens of thousands of earths, would not suffice? It has been calculated that, supposing there were in the universe a million earths, and on every earth three hundred million men, and two hundred generations within six thousand years, and that to every man or spirit there were to be allotted a s.p.a.ce of three cubic ells, the sum of that great number of men or spirits would not occupy a s.p.a.ce equal to a thousandth part of this Earth, consequently hardly the s.p.a.ce occupied by one of the satellites of the planet Jupiter or Saturn: which would be a s.p.a.ce in the universe so small as to be scarcely discernible; for a satellite [of Jupiter or Saturn] is scarcely visible to the naked eye. What would this be for the Creator of the universe, for whom the whole universe, even if it were completely filled, would not be enough, for He is Infinite. In conversing with the angels on this subject, they have told me that they have a similar idea of the fewness of the human race relatively to the infinity of the Creator; but that, nevertheless, they do not think from s.p.a.ces, but from states, and that according to their idea, earths numbering as many myriads as could ever be conceived in thought would still be as absolutely nothing to the Lord.
The earths in the starry heaven, however, shall now be treated of in what follows from real experience; from which it will likewise be made manifest how the translations to these earths were effected as to my spirit, whilst my body remained in its own place.
THE FIRST EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS: FROM THINGS HEARD AND SEEN.
127. I was led by the Lord by means of angels to a certain earth in the starry heaven, where it was given me to gaze upon the earth itself, yet not to speak with the inhabitants of it, but with spirits who had come from it. All the inhabitants or men of every earth, on the termination of their life in the world, become spirits, and remain near their own earth. From them, however, information is obtained concerning their earth and the state of its inhabitants; for men, when they quit the body, carry with them all their former life and all their memory[tt]. Being led to earths in the universe does not mean being led and translated thither as to the body, but as to the spirit; and the spirit is led through variations of the state of the inner life, which appear to it as progressions through s.p.a.ces[ss].
Approaches, also, are effected according to the agreements or likenesses of the states of life; for agreement or likeness of life conjoins, and disagreement and unlikeness disjoin. From this it may appear how translation as to the spirit is effected, and how it is made to approach distant regions, while the man, nevertheless, remains in his own place. But to lead a spirit outside of his own globe through variations of the state of his interiors, and to cause the variations to proceed successively until a state is reached which agrees or coincides with the state of those to whom he is being led, is in the power of the Lord alone; for there is needed a continual direction and foresight from first to last, both on the journey thither, and on the return journey, especially when this is to be effected with a man who is still as to the body in the world of nature, and thereby in s.p.a.ce. That this has actually been effected, those who are in corporeal sensual things, and who think from them, cannot be induced to believe. The reason is that the corporeal sensual [faculties] cannot conceive of progressions apart from s.p.a.ces. But, nevertheless, those who think from the Sensual of their spirit, that has in some degree been removed or withdrawn from the Sensual of the body, thus, who think interiorly in themselves, may be induced to believe and comprehend it, since in the idea of interior thought there is neither s.p.a.ce nor time, but instead of them there are those things from which s.p.a.ces and times proceed. Those things, therefore, that follow, concerning the earths in the starry heaven, are for the use of the latter, and not for the former, unless they are of such a character as to suffer themselves to be instructed.
[Footnote tt: Man after death has with him the memory of all his concerns in the world, nos. 2476-2486.]
128. In a state of wakefulness, I was led as to the spirit by the Lord through angels to a certain earth in the universe, accompanied by some spirits from this globe. The progression took place towards the right, and lasted for two hours. Near the boundary of our solar system, there appeared first a whitish but dense cloud, and after it a fiery smoke ascending from a great gulf: this was an immense chasm, separating our solar system on that side from certain systems of the starry heaven.
The fiery smoke appeared over a considerable distance. I was conveyed across the midst of it, and then there appeared beneath in that gulf or chasm very many men, who were spirits (for all spirits appear in the human form, and are actually men). I also heard them talking with each other; but whence they were, or of what character, it was not given me to know. One of them, however, told me that they were guards to prevent spirits pa.s.sing without permission from this into any other system in the universe. That this was the case, was also confirmed; for when some spirits who were in the company, and who had not received permission to pa.s.s, came to that great interstice, they began to cry out wildly that they were perishing, for they were like persons struggling in the agony of death; wherefore they stopped on this side of the chasm, and could not be conveyed any further; for the fiery smoke which exhaled from the chasm attacked them, and tortured them in this manner.
129. After I had been translated across that great chasm, I at length reached a place where I stopped; and then some spirits appeared to me above, and it was given me to speak with them. From their speech, and from their peculiar manner of apperceiving things and explaining them, I discerned clearly that they were from another earth; for they differed altogether from the spirits of our solar system. They also apperceived from my speech that I had come from a great distance.
130. After we had conversed for awhile on various subjects, I asked them what G.o.d they worshipped. They said they worshipped some angel, who appears to them as a Divine man, for he is resplendent with light; and that he instructs them and enables them to apperceive what they ought to do. They said further that they knew that the Most High G.o.d is in the sun of the angelic heaven, and that He appears to their angel and not to themselves; and that He is too great for them to dare to adore Him. The angel whom they worshipped was an angelic society, to which it has been given by the Lord to preside over them, and to teach them the way of what is just and right; therefore they have light from a certain flame, which appears like a little torch, somewhat fiery and yellow. The reason of this originates in their not adoring the Lord; therefore they do not receive light from the sun of the angelic heaven, but from the angelic society; for an angelic society, when permitted by the Lord, can exhibit such a light to spirits who are in a lower region. I also saw that angelic society, which was high above them; and I also saw the flame there whence they had light.
131. In other respects they were modest, rather simple, but still they thought well enough. The quality of their Intellectual could be inferred from the light which prevailed among them; for the intellect is according to the reception of the light which is in the heavens; since it is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord as a sun, that shines there, and enables the angels not only to see but also to understand[uu].
[Footnote uu: There is much light in the heavens, nos. 1117, 1521, 1522, 1533, 1619-1632, 4527, 5400, 8644. All light in the heavens is from the Lord as the Sun there, nos. 1053, 1521, 3195, 3341, 3636, 4415, 9548, 9684, 10809. The Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord appears in the heavens as light, nos. 3195, 3222, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684. That light illuminates both the sight and the understanding of angels and spirits, nos. 2776, 3138. The light of heaven also illuminates the understanding of man, nos. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408, 6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569.]
132. I was informed that the inhabitants and spirits of that earth, in the Grand Man, have relation to something in the SPLEEN: and in this I was confirmed by an influx into the spleen while they were speaking with me.
133. When asked about the sun of their system, which illuminates their earth, they said that it appeared flaming. When I represented the size of the sun of our Earth, they said that their sun was smaller; for before our eyes their sun appears as a star; and I was told by the angels that it was one of the lesser stars. They also said that the starry heaven is also seen from their earth; and that a star larger than the rest appears to them towards the west; it was said from heaven that this is our sun.
134. My sight was afterwards opened, so that I could in some measure gaze upon that earth itself; and there appeared many meadows and forests with trees covered with leaves; likewise fleecy sheep.
Afterwards I saw some of the inhabitants, who belonged to the lower cla.s.s, clothed nearly like the country folk in Europe. I also saw a man (_vir_) with his wife (_mulier_). She appeared of handsome stature and of graceful mien; so did the man; but, what surprised me, he walked about pompously, with as it were a haughty gait, while the woman"s gait, on the contrary, was humble. The angels told me that such is the custom on that earth, and that notwithstanding this peculiarity, the men are loved, because they are good. I was further told that they are not allowed to have more than one wife, because it is contrary to the laws. The woman I saw had an ample garment before her breast, behind which she could conceal herself, and which was so made that she could put her arms in it, and wrap herself in it, and in this wise go away: the lower portion of it could be gathered up, and, when gathered up and folded about the body, it looked like a stomacher, such as is worn by the women of our Earth. The same garment, however, also served the man for an article of clothing. He was seen to take it from the woman and throw it over his own back, and loosening the lower part, which thus flowed down to his feet like a robe, he walked about clad in this manner. What I saw on that earth was not seen with the eyes of my body, but with the eyes of my spirit, and a spirit can see the objects that are on an earth, when it is permitted by the Lord.
135. As I know that many will doubt the possibility of a man"s being able, with the eyes of his spirit, to see anything on an earth so distant, I may state how the matter is. Distances in the other life are not as distances on the Earth. In the other life distances are altogether according to the states of the interiors of each one. They who are in a similar state are together in one society and in one place. All presence there results from likeness of state, and all distance results from unlikeness of state. Hence it was that I was near to that earth when I was brought by the Lord into a state similar to that of its spirits and inhabitants, and that being then present I conversed with them. Hence it is evident that earths in the spiritual world are not distant as in the natural world, but only apparently so according to the states of life of their inhabitants and spirits. The state of life is the state of the affections as to love and faith.
In regard to a spirit, or, what is the same, a man as to his spirit, being able to see the things that are on an earth, I may also explain how the case therein is. Neither spirits nor angels are able, by their own sight, to see anything that is in the world; for to them the light of the world, that is, solar light, is as thick darkness: just as man by his bodily sight cannot see anything that is in the other life; for to him the light of heaven is as thick darkness. But nevertheless spirits and angels, when it pleases the Lord, can see the things in the natural world through the eyes of a man; but this is not granted by the Lord with any except those whom He permits to speak with spirits and angels, and to be together with them. It has been permitted them to see through my eyes the things in this world, and as plainly as I myself did; and even to hear men speaking with me. It has sometimes happened that through me some have seen their friends, with whom they had been intimate in the life of the body, altogether present as before, and they have been amazed thereat. Wives also have seen in this manner their husbands and children, and have wanted me to tell them that they were present and saw them, and to inform them of their state in the other life. But it was forbidden me to say and reveal to them that they had been seen in this way, for the further reason that they would have called me insane, or have thought my information ravings of the mind (_animus_), for I was well aware that, although they affirmed with their mouth, they yet did not at heart believe in the existence of spirits, the resurrection of the dead and their living among spirits, and these being able to see and hear by means of a man. When my interior sight was first opened, and when those who are in the other life saw through my eyes the world and the things therein, they were so amazed that they called it the miracle of miracles, and were affected with new joy that there was thus granted a communication of the Earth with heaven, and of heaven with the Earth.
This joy continued for months; but afterwards it became familiar, and now the wonder has ceased. I have been informed that the spirits and angels with other men do not in the least see the things in the world, but only perceive the thoughts and affections of those with whom they are. From all this it may appear, that man was so created that, while living amongst men in the world, he might at the same time live in heaven amongst angels, and contrariwise, so that heaven and the world might be together with man, and act as a one, and that men might know what pa.s.ses in heaven, and angels what pa.s.ses in the world; and that when men depart this life, they might pa.s.s thus from the Lord"s kingdom on earth into His kingdom in the heavens, not as into another, but as into the same kingdom, in which they had been during their life in the body. But as man has become so corporeal, he has closed heaven against himself.
136. Lastly, I conversed with spirits who were from that earth concerning various things on our Earth, especially concerning the fact that sciences are cultivated here, which are not cultivated elsewhere, such as astronomy, geometry, mechanics, physics, chemistry, medicine, optics, and natural philosophy; and likewise arts, which are unknown elsewhere, as the arts of ship-building, of smelting metals, of writing on paper, and likewise of publishing by printing, and thus of communicating with others on the Earth, and thus also of preserving what is communicated for the use of posterity for thousands of years; and that this has been done also with the Word which is from the Lord, and that on this account revelation is for ever permanent on our Earth.
137. At last I was shown the h.e.l.l of those who are from that earth.
Those who appeared from there inspired great terror. I dare not describe their monstrous faces. Sorceresses also appeared there, who practise nefarious arts. They appeared clad in green, and struck me with horror.
THE SECOND EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.