bygrace's Tistory Blog

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(3) The Divine esse is at once esse [being] in itself and existere [manifestation] in itself.

Jehovah God is esse in itself, because he is the I am, the only, and the first, from eternity to eternity, the source of everything that is, without whom it could not be. In this way and not otherwise he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the alpha and omega. It cannot be said that his esse is from itself, because the expression from itself implies something prior, and therefore time; and time is not applicable to the infinite, which is called infinite from eternity; it also implies another God who is God in himself, thus it implies God from God, or that God formed himself; in which case he would neither be uncreate nor infinite, for he would thus have made himself finite, either from himself or from another. From the fact that God is esse in itself it follows that he is love in itself, wisdom in itself, and life in itself, and that he is the itself, the source of all things, to which each thing must have relation in order to be anything. That God is God because he is life in itself is evident from the Lord’s words in John (5:26) and in Isaiah:

네 구속자요 모태에서 너를 지은 나 여호와가 이같이 말하노라 나는 만물을 지은 여호와라 홀로 하늘을 폈으며 나와 함께 한 자 없이 땅을 펼쳤고 (사44:24) I am Jehovah that maketh all things; that spreadeth forth the heavens alone that stretcheth forth the earth by myself (Isa. 44:24)

and that he alone is God, and beside him there is no God (Isa. 45:14, 15, 21, 22; Hos. 13:4). God is not only esse [being] in itself, but also existere [manifestation] in itself, because esse without existere is nothing, equally so existere unless it is from esse; therefore where the one is the other must needs be. The same is true of substance and form. Unless a substance is also a form nothing can be predicated of it, and for the reason that having no quality it is in itself nothing. The terms esse and existere are here used, and not essence and existence, because a distinction must be made between esse and essence, and between existere and existence, like that between the prior and the posterior, the prior being more universal than the posterior. To the Divine esse infinity and eternity are applicable; while to the Divine essence and existence, Divine love and wisdom are applicable, and through these two omnipotence and omnipresence, which will be considered in their order.

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That God is the itself, the only, and the first, which is called esse and existere in itself, the source of all that has being and existence, the natural man is wholly unable to discover by his own reason; for by his own reason the natural man can apprehend only what belongs to nature, since that agrees with the essential nature of his reason, because from his infancy and childhood nothing else had entered into his reason. But because man was so created as to be spiritual as well as natural, since he is to continue to live after death, and then to live among those who are spiritual in their world, God has provided the Word— in which he has revealed not only himself but also that there is a heaven and a hell, and that in one or the other of these every man is to live to eternity, in accordance both with his life and his faith. Moreover, God has revealed in the Word that he is the I Am or esse and the itself and only, which in itself is, and thus the first or beginning, the source of all things.

[2] By this revelation the natural man is enabled to raise himself above nature, thus above himself, and to see such things as pertain to God, yet only as if at a distance, although God is nigh to every man, for in his essence he is in man; and being in man he is very nigh to those who love him; and those love him who live according to his commandments and believe in him; these as it were see him. What is faith but to see spiritually that God is? And what is a life according to his commandments but an acknowledgment in act that from him are salvation and eternal life? But those whose faith is not spiritual but natural, which is mere knowledge, and whose life is therefore natural, do indeed see God, but from afar off, and this only when they speak of him. The difference between these two classes is like the difference between those who stand in a clear light and see men near by and touch them, and those who stand in a thick mist in which they are unable to distinguish between men and trees or stones.

[3] Or it is like the difference between men on a high mountain on which there is a city, who are going about there having interaction with their fellow townsmen, and men looking down from the top of that mountain who are unable to tell whether the objects they see below are people, beasts, or statues. Or it is like the difference between men standing upon some planet and seeing those about them, and men on another planet looking at these through telescopes, and saying that they see people there, when in fact they see nothing but a most general outline of the land as lunar brightness, and the watery parts as spots. Such is the difference in seeing God and Divine things in the mind that go forth from him, between those who are both in faith and in a life of charity, and those who merely know about faith and charity; and such consequently is the difference between natural and spiritual men. But those who deny the Divine holiness of the Word, and yet carry their religion about as in a sack upon the back, do not see God at all, but only utter the word “God,” almost like parrots.

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(2) This one God is substance itself and form itself and angels and men are substances and forms from him, and so far as they are in him and he in them are images and likenesses of him.

As God is esse he is also substance; for unless esse is substance it is a figment of the reason; for substance has subsistent being. Moreover, one who is a substance is also a form; for unless a substance is a form it is a figment of the reason. Wherefore both substance and form may be predicated of God, but in the sense that he is the only, the very, and the primal substance and form. That this form is the verily human form, that is, that God is verily man, infinite in every respect, has been shown in Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, published at Amsterdam in 1763; where it is also shown that angels and men are substances and forms created and organized for receiving what is Divine flowing into them through heaven. For this reason they are called in the book of creation “images and likenesses of God” (Gen. 1:26, 27); and elsewhere “his sons,” and “born of him.” In the course of this work it will be fully shown that so far as man lives under Divine direction, that is, suffers himself to be led by God, so far he becomes an image of God more and more interiorly. Unless an idea is formed of God as the primal substance and form, and of his form as the verily human form, the human mind may easily involve itself in spectral fancies about God himself, the origin of man, and the creation of the world. It would then have no other conception of God than as the nature of the universe in its first principles, that is, as its expanse, or else as emptiness or nothingness; nor any other conception of man’s origin than as a flowing together of elements into that form by mere chance; nor of the creation of the world than that its substances and forms originated in points, and afterwards in geometrical lines, which are essentially nothing, because nothing can be predicated of them. In such minds everything belonging to the church is like the Styx or like Tartarean darkness.

‘오십이라 쓰라, 팔십이라 쓰라’의 속뜻

1또한 제자들에게 이르시되 어떤 부자에게 청지기가 있는데 그가 주인의 소유를 낭비한다는 말이 그 주인에게 들린지라 2주인이 그를 불러 이르되 내가 네게 대하여 들은 이 말이 어찌 됨이냐 네가 보던 일을 셈하라 청지기 직무를 계속하지 못하리라 하니 3청지기가 속으로 이르되 주인이 내 직분을 빼앗으니 내가 무엇을 할까 땅을 파자니 힘이 없고 빌어먹자니 부끄럽구나 4내가 할 일을 알았도다 이렇게 하면 직분을 빼앗긴 후에 사람들이 나를 자기 집으로 영접하리라 하고 5주인에게 빚진 자를 일일이 불러다가 먼저 온 자에게 이르되 네가 내 주인에게 얼마나 빚졌느냐 6말하되 기름 백 말이니이다 이르되 여기 네 증서를 가지고 빨리 앉아 오십이라 쓰라 하고 7또 다른 이에게 이르되 너는 얼마나 빚졌느냐 이르되 밀 백 석이니이다 이르되 여기 네 증서를 가지고 팔십이라 쓰라 하였는지라 8주인이 이 옳지 않은 청지기가 일을 지혜 있게 하였으므로 칭찬하였으니 이 세대의 아들들이 자기 시대에 있어서는 빛의 아들들보다 더 지혜로움이니라 (눅16:1-8)

신구약 말씀에서 ‘일’과 ‘행위’, 그리고 ‘행함’과 ‘사랑’이란 말이 그렇게나 자주 언급되고 있음을 발견하기 때문에, 그들은 사람은 선하게 살아야만 한다는 것을 인정하지 않을 수 없습니다만, 그러나 그들은 일이나 행위가 사람을 의롭게 하지도, 구원하지도 못한다고 하면서 그것들을 신앙으로부터 분리해 온 이래, 지금은 또 이 둘을 교묘하게 신앙과 연결하고 있습니다. (계시록 해설 763:2) But inasmuch as they find in the Word of both testaments “works” and “deeds,” as well as “doing” and “loving,” so frequently mentioned, they can do no otherwise than affirm that one ought to live well; but since they have separated works or deeds from faith as not justifying and saving, they craftily join these and faith together, (AE.763:2)

오늘 말씀은 주인의 재물을 관리하는 청지기에 대한 비유의 말씀입니다. 본문 1절에서는 이렇게 말합니다.

1또한 제자들에게 이르시되 어떤 부자에게 청지기가 있는데 그가 주인의 소유를 낭비한다는 말이 그 주인에게 들린지라

어떤 부자의 청지기가 주인의 소유를 낭비한다는 말이 그 주인의 귀에 들렸다고 합니다. 여기서 청지기는 외적인 교회를 뜻합니다. 그러니까 믿음만 있고, 인애(仁愛, 체어리티charity)의 삶은 없는 교회, 또는 그런 교회에 속한 사람들이 바로 청지기입니다.

※ 오늘 설교를 처음하신 서울 새 교회 이순철 목사님과 달리 개신교 장로교 통합 가정에서 태어나 침례교인이 된 후, 침례교회에서 목사 안수를 받은 제 경험에 의하면, 이렇게 순수하게(?) 신앙과 체어리티가 분리된 기독교인들은, 그리고 개신교인들은 사실 겉으로 봐서는 별로 없어 보입니다만, 그러나 제가 속했던 교회들이 대체로 괜찮은 교회였을 수도 있고, 또 지금은 스베덴보리가 살던 시대인 1700년대 중반 유럽 기독교회 때와는 또 좀 많이 달라졌기 때문일 수도 있습니다. 그러나 분명한 건, 주님 보시기에는 그나마 한국 기독교회가 좀 나을 뿐, 세상이, 곧 교회가 종말을 향해 점점, 더욱 아주 심하게 황폐해져 가고 있다는 사실을 염두에 두고 오늘 설교를 들으시기 바랍니다.

청지기가 외적인 교회를 뜻하는 이유는, 이 세상 청지기는 대개 주인이 시키는 일만 할뿐, 주인 입장에서 정성껏 일하는 사람은 드물기 때문입니다. 그렇다면 청지기가 주인의 소유를 낭비한다는 것은 무슨 뜻일까요? 주님이 주신 선과 진리를 쌓아 두기만 하고 사용하지는 않거나, 사용하기는 하는데 주님과 이웃을 위해 사용하지 않고 오로지 자신의 이익만을 위해서 사용하는 것입니다. 우리가 그런 신앙 가운데 있을 때 주님께서는 뭐라고 하실까요? 그것에 대해 2절에서는 이렇게 말합니다.

2주인이 그를 불러 이르되 내가 네게 대하여 들은 이 말이 어찌 됨이냐 네가 보던 일을 셈하라 청지기 직무를 계속하지 못하리라 하니

주인이 청지기에게 더 이상 청지기의 직무를 계속할 수 없다고 말합니다. 주님은 우리가 믿음에 따라 살지 않는다고 해서 교회에서 내쫓거나 직분을 빼앗으시지는 않으시는데요, 그러면 이 청지기 직무를 계속하지 못하리라 하신 건 무슨 뜻일까요? 외적인 신앙 안에 있는 사람이 내적인 신앙으로 나아가지 않으면 나중에는 그나마 있던 외적인 신앙마저 없어져 버린다는 뜻입니다. 누구나 처음 신앙을 가질 때는 외적인 신앙으로 시작합니다. 외적인 신앙이란 하나님을 믿기는 하지만 믿음에 따라 살지는 않는 것입니다. 주일날 교회도 나오고 교회 일도 열심히 하지만, 정작 삶에 있어서는 교리대로 살지는 않는 것이지요. 그것이 외적인 신앙입니다. 그러므로 신실한 신앙인이라면 외적인 신앙 안에 계속 머물러 있으면 안 되고, 점진적으로 내적인 신앙, 즉 삶의 신앙으로 나아가야 합니다. 그러지 않으면 입술로만 주님을 믿고, 실제 삶은 그 반대가 될 수 있으며, 그 정도가 심해지면 나중에는 신앙의 진리마저 부인하게 됩니다. 그것은 그동안 존재했던 많은 교회들의 타락상을 보면 알 수 있는데요, 외적인 신앙 안에 있는 사람들이 그렇게 나중에는 주님을 부인하고 진리도 부인하는 상태에 떨어지는 것, 이것이 바로 청지기가 직무에서 쫓겨나는 것입니다. 그러므로 그것은 주님이 그렇게 하시는 게 아니고, 자기 스스로 자초하는 것이지요. 3절에서는 주님에 대한 믿음마저 잃어버린 신앙인의 상태를 다음과 같이 묘사하고 있습니다.

3청지기가 속으로 이르되 주인이 내 직분을 빼앗으니 내가 무엇을 할까 땅을 파자니 힘이 없고 빌어먹자니 부끄럽구나

청지기가 주인으로부터 직분을 빼앗기는 것은 앞에서 말씀드린 것처럼 외적 신앙 안에 계속 머물러 있으면서 회개하지 않았던, 내적 신앙으로 나아가지 않았던 사람들이 종국에 가서는 그 신앙, 그 믿음마저 잃어버리는 상태를 의미합니다. 그때 그들은 무슨 생각을 할까요? 아마 처음 신앙을 가졌을 때의 순수함을 생각할지도 모릅니다. 그때는 내가 하나님도 잘 믿고, 이웃을 섬기려는 마음도 있었지 하는 감상에 빠지거나, 지금 모습을 생각하며 부끄러워할 수도 있습니다. 그러나 이미 지옥의 영들에게 사로잡혀 있어 순수했던 때로 돌아가려 해도 뜻대로 잘 되지를 않습니다. 그래서 땅을 파자니 힘이 없고 빌어먹자니 부끄럽구나 한탄하고 있는 것입니다. 말씀에서 땅을 파는 것은 샘(fountain)을 얻기 위한 노력을 뜻하고, 샘을 얻고자 한다는 것은 진리를 구하는 것을 의미합니다. 따라서 땅을 파자니 힘이 없다는 것은 말씀을 아무리 읽어도 진리를 깨달을 수 없다는 뜻입니다. 외적 신앙 안에 있으면서 계속해서 믿음에 반하는 삶을 살았다가는 어느 순간 주님과의 관계가 끊어지고 그때부터는 말씀을 읽어도 더 이상 진리를 볼 수 없게 되기 때문입니다. 또 빌어먹자니 부끄럽다 했습니다. 이 비는 것(begging)은 주님 앞에 회개하는 것을 의미합니다. 그렇기 때문에, 빌어먹자니 부끄럽다고 하는 것은 주님 앞에 겸손하지 않은 것이고, 그러므로 회개할 마음이 전혀 없다는 뜻입니다. 청지기가 마침내 무서운 결심을 합니다. 5절로 7절까지의 말씀입니다.

5주인에게 빚진 자를 일일이 불러다가 먼저 온 자에게 이르되 네가 내 주인에게 얼마나 빚졌느냐 6말하되 기름 백 말이니이다 이르되 여기 네 증서를 가지고 빨리 앉아 오십이라 쓰라 하고 7또 다른 이에게 이르되 너는 얼마나 빚졌느냐 이르되 밀 백 석이니이다 이르되 여기 네 증서를 가지고 팔십이라 쓰라 하였는지라

신앙인이라면 누구나 주님 앞에 빚진 자입니다. 왜냐하면 주님이 주신, 말씀의 선과 진리를 선한 일을 통해 다시 주님께 돌려드려야 할 의무가 있기 때문입니다. 그러므로 빚진 자가 주인에게 기름 백 말을 빚졌음을 인정하는 것은 그에게 있는 모든 선이 주님의 것이며, 그러므로 선한 일을 통해 다시 주님께 돌려드려야 한다는 것을 인정하는 것입니다. 여기서 기름은 사랑으로 행하는 선을 뜻하고, 백 말의 백(100)이란 수는 완전한 것을 뜻하기 때문입니다. 그런 그에게 청지기는 증서에 오십이라 쓰라고 했습니다. 말씀에서 오십(50)은 보통 작은 것을 뜻하지만, 여기서는 백과 마찬가지로 완전한 것을 뜻합니다. 그렇다면 증서에다 오십이라 쓰라는 것은 무슨 의미일까요? 채무가 모두 변제되었다는 뜻입니다. 다시 말하면, 그동안 믿음과 체어리티의 삶으로 구원을 받는다고 생각했던 사람들에게 이제는 믿기만 하면 구원을 받는다 가르치는 것입니다. 그것이 타락한 외적 교회들이 교인들을 가르치는 것입니다. 7절에 청지기가 밀 백 석 빚진 사람에게 증서에 팔십이라 쓰라 하는 것도 같은 의미입니다. 여기서 밀은 기름과 마찬가지로 사랑으로 행하는 선을 뜻하고, 팔십(80)은 완전히 거듭난 상태를 뜻합니다. 왜냐하면 영적 의미로 일곱째 날(7일), 즉 안식일은 거듭난 상태를 의미하고, 그다음 날인 여덟째 날(8일)은 천국에서 새로운 시작, 즉 구원을 뜻하기 때문입니다. 그러니까 밀 백 석을 빚진 사람에게 증서에 팔십이라 쓰라는 것은 주님으로부터 받은 사랑을 체어리티의 삶으로 갚으려 하는 사람들에게 믿음으로 이미 구원을 받았다 가르치는 것과 같습니다. 청지기가 일하는 모습을 보고, 주인이 다음과 같이 말했습니다.

8주인이 이 옳지 않은 청지기가 일을 지혜 있게 하였으므로 칭찬하였으니 이 세대의 아들들이 자기 시대에 있어서는 빛의 아들들보다 더 지혜로움이니라

주인이 옳지 않은 청지기를 오히려 칭찬했다고 합니다. 교회들이 교인들을 그렇게 잘못 가르칠 때 주님께서 과연 칭찬하실까요? 주님은 그런 교회나 사람들을 칭찬 하시지 않습니다. 그러면 칭찬했다는 것은 무슨 뜻일까요? 그들의 교활하고 영악함에 감탄하셨을 뿐이라는 것입니다. 그래서 이 세대의 아들들이 빛의 아들들보다 더 지혜롭다 하셨습니다. 주님이 말씀하시는 이 세대의 사람들은 감각적이고 교활한 뱀과 같은 사람들입니다. 그들은 자신의 이익을 위해서라면 교묘한 논리로 하나님의 말씀조차도 뒤집는 사람들입니다. 그에 비해 빛의 아들들은 하나님을 믿고 그분께 의지해 선을 행하고자 노력하는 사람들입니다. 어느 시대든 빛의 아들보다는 감각적이고 추론, 논리, 말재주에 능한 사람, 교활한 사람들이 권세도 얻고, 부도 얻습니다. 그래서 시편 73편에서는 이렇게 말합니다.

1하나님이 참으로 이스라엘 중 마음이 정결한 자에게 선을 행하시나 2나는 거의 넘어질 뻔하였고 나의 걸음이 미끄러질 뻔하였으니 3이는 내가 악인의 형통함을 보고 오만한 자를 질투하였음이로다 (시73:1-3)

사랑하는 성도 여러분,

오늘은 부정한 청지기에 대해 말씀드렸습니다. 말씀에 등장하는 부정한 청지기는 하나님을 믿는다 하면서도 그분의 말씀에 따라 살지는 않는 교회와 그런 교회에 속한 사람들을 뜻합니다. 하나님을 믿는다면 믿음이 매일 조금씩 앞으로 나아가야 합니다. 앞으로 나아간다는 것은 믿음에 따라 주님과 이웃을 위한 삶을 사는 것입니다. 만약 그렇게 하지 않고, 제자리에 머물러 있거나 롯의 아내처럼 자꾸 뒤를 돌아보게 되면 나중에는 이기적이고 감각적인 사람이 되고, 종래에는 겉으로만 하나님을 믿고 속으로는 전혀 믿지 않는 사람이 됩니다. 주님 당시 유대교회가 그랬고, 오늘날 주류교회들이 그렇습니다. 그들은 겉으로는 하나님을 믿는다 하면서도 속으로는 세상 재물을 믿고, 하나님의 지혜보다 인간의 지식을 더 믿습니다. 그 결과 그들의 예배는 외적으로만 경건하고, 내적으로는 공허한 예배가 되었습니다. 그들이 바로 오늘 말씀에 등장하는 청지기입니다. 주님께서 부정한 청지기 이야기를 오늘 우리에게 들려주시는 것은 그들을 거울삼아 우리 자신의 모습을 들여다보라는 것입니다. 부정한 청지기는 자신이 영적으로 잘못되어 가고 있는 줄 알면서도 주님 앞에 겸손하지도 않고 회개하지도 않았습니다. 그 결과 주님을 더 이상 믿지 않을 뿐 아니라 말씀을 왜곡, 다른 사람의 구원마저 가로막는 사람이 되었습니다. 그러므로 늘 자신의 내면을 들여다보면서 회개하는 것이 중요합니다. ‘참된 기독교’(True Christian Religion) 621번 글 6번 항에는

...만일 회개하지 않으면, 날 때부터 갖고 있던 유전 악 가운데 여전히 머물러 있게 됩니다. 회개는 사람이 악을 행하고자 마음먹는 걸 그만두는 것, 그건 하나님께 정면으로 위배되는 것이기 때문이지요, 그리고 일 년에 한두 번 자신을 살펴 자신의 죄를 보고 주님 앞에 고백, 도와주시기를 구하며, 악을 삼가고, 새로운 삶을 사는 것으로 이루어지는 것입니다. 그가 이렇게 할수록, 그리고 주님을 믿을수록 그의 죄는 용서되지요. (참된 기독교 621:6) [6] The angels said further, “Man must repent of his sins in order to be saved, and unless he repents he remains in the sins into which he was born; and repentance consists in man’s ceasing to will evils because they are contrary to God, searching himself once or twice a year, seeing his evils, confessing them before the Lord, praying for help, refraining from evils, and beginning a new life; and so far as he does this, and believes in the Lord, his sins are forgiven.” (TCR.621:6)

주님께 도움을 구해 악을 행하지 않는 것이 중요합니다. 왜냐하면 사람의 힘으로는 악을 이길 수 없기 때문입니다. 그렇기 때문에 요한복음에서는

요한이 대답하여 이르되 만일 하늘에서 주신 바 아니면 사람이 아무 것도 받을 수 없느니라 (요3:27)

했고, 또

나는 포도나무요 너희는 가지라 그가 내 안에, 내가 그 안에 거하면 사람이 열매를 많이 맺나니 나를 떠나서는 너희가 아무 것도 할 수 없음이라 (요15:5)

하신 것입니다. 자신을 매일 살피시고, 주님께 도움을 청해 모든 종류의 악에서 벗어나시기를, 물러나시기를 바랍니다. 주님의 그런 은혜가 오늘 이 말씀에 귀 기울이시는 모든 성도에게 함께하시기를 축원합니다.

29예수께서 이르시되 내가 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 나와 복음을 위하여 집이나 형제나 자매나 어머니나 아버지나 자식이나 전토를 버린 자는 30현세에 있어 집과 형제와 자매와 어머니와 자식과 전토를 백 배나 받되 박해를 겸하여 받고 내세에 영생을 받지 못할 자가 없느니라 (막10:29, 30)

아멘

원본

2021-05-30(D1)

서울 새 교회 이순철 목사

설교

2024-01-21(D1)

한결같은 교회 변일국 목사

19

(1) The one God is called Jehovah from esse, that is, because he alone is, was, and is to be, and because he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.

It is known that “Jehovah” signifies I am and to be [esse]; and that God has been so called from the most ancient times is clear from the book of creation, or Genesis, where in the first chapter he is called “God,” and in the second and subsequent chapters “Jehovah God,” and afterwards, when the children of Abraham through Jacob, during their long sojourn in Egypt, forgot the name of God, it was recalled to their remembrance; of which as follows:

13모세가 하나님께 아뢰되 내가 이스라엘 자손에게 가서 이르기를 너희의 조상의 하나님이 나를 너희에게 보내셨다 하면 그들이 내게 묻기를 그의 이름이 무엇이냐 하리니 내가 무엇이라고 그들에게 말하리이까 14하나님이 모세에게 이르시되 나는 스스로 있는 자이니라 또 이르시되 너는 이스라엘 자손에게 이같이 이르기를 스스로 있는 자가 나를 너희에게 보내셨다 하라 15하나님이 또 모세에게 이르시되 너는 이스라엘 자손에게 이같이 이르기를 너희 조상의 하나님 여호와 곧 아브라함의 하나님, 이삭의 하나님, 야곱의 하나님께서 나를 너희에게 보내셨다 하라 이는 나의 영원한 이름이요 대대로 기억할 나의 칭호니라 (출3:13-15) Moses said unto God, What is thy name? God said unto Moses, I am who I am, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you; and thou shalt say, Jehovah God of your fathers hath sent me unto you: this is my name to eternity, and this is my memorial from generation to generation (Exod. 3:13–15).

Since God alone is the I Am and esse, or Jehovah, nothing can exist in the created universe that does not derive its esse from him; but how will be seen below. The words:

이스라엘의 왕인 여호와, 이스라엘의 구원자인 만군의 여호와가 이같이 말하노라 나는 처음이요 나는 마지막이라나 외에 다른 신이 없느니라 (사44:6) I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega (Isa. 44:6: Rev. 1:8, 11; 22:13),

주 하나님이 이르시되 나는 알파와 오메가라 이제도 있고 전에도 있었고 장차 올 자요 전능한 자라 하시더라 (계1:8)

나는 알파와 오메가요 처음과 마지막이요 시작과 마침이라 (계22:13)

have the same meaning, signifying, who is the itself and the only from things first to things last, the source of all things.

[2] God is called “the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end,” because alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and omega the last; and therefore the two signify all things in the complex. This is because each letter in the alphabet in the spiritual world signifies a thing. And as the vowels furnish the tone, they signify something belonging to affection or love. This is the origin both of spiritual or angelic speech and of writing there. But it is an arcanum hitherto unknown; for there is a universal language which is the language of all angels and spirits, and which has nothing in common with any language of men in the world; into this language everyone comes after death, for it is inherent in every man from his creation; consequently in the spiritual world everyone can understand every other. I have frequently been permitted to hear that language; and I have compared it with languages in the world, and have found that in no respect whatever does it agree with any natural language on earth. It differs from them in its initial element, which is that each letter in each word has its special meaning. It is for this reason that God is called alpha and omega, which means that he is the itself and the only from things first to things last, the source of all things. But regarding this speech and form of writing, which flows from the spiritual thought of the angels, see Conjugial Love (n. 326–329), and also the following pages.

18

Let us first consider the Divine esse, and afterwards the Divine essence. In appearance the two are one and the same; but esse is more universal than essence; for essence implies esse, and is derived from esse. The esse of God (or the Divine esse) it is impossible to define, because it transcends every idea of human thought, since this can take in only what is created and finite, and not what is uncreate and infinite, and therefore not the Divine esse. The Divine esse is esse itself, from which all things are, and which must be in all things in order that they may have being. A fuller conception of the Divine esse may be gained by the following propositions:

(1) The one God is called Jehovah from esse, that is because he alone is, was, and is to be, and because he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega.

(2) The one God is substance itself and form itself, and angels and men are substances and forms from him, and so far as they are in him and he is in them are images and likenesses of him.

(3) The Divine esse is at once esse [being] in itself and existere [manifestation] in itself.

(4) It is impossible for the Divine esse and existere in itself to produce another Divine which is esse and existere in itself; therefore another God of the same essence is impossible.

(5) The doctrine of a plurality of gods, both in past ages and at the present day, sprang solely from a failure to understand the Divine esse.

But these propositions must be elucidated one by one.

15

(8) With men who acknowledge several Gods instead of one there is no coherence in the things relating to the church.

He who in his belief acknowledges and in his heart worships one God is both in the communion of the saints on earth and in the communion of the angels in heaven. These are called “communions,” and are communions, because such are in the one God and the one God is in them. Moreover, they are in conjunction with the entire angelic heaven, and, I might venture to say, with all and each of its inhabitants, for they are all like the children and descendants of one father, whose dispositions, manners, and features are similar, whereby they recognize each other. The angelic heaven is harmoniously arranged in societies in accordance with all the varieties of the love of good, and these varieties center in one universal love, which is love to God; from which love all are born who in belief acknowledge and in heart worship the one God, who is both the creator of the universe and the redeemer and regenerator.

[2] But it is a wholly different matter with those who approach and worship several gods instead of one, and with those who talk of one and think of three, as do those in the church at this day who divide God into three persons, and declare that each person by himself is God, and attribute to each one special qualities or properties that do not belong to the others. From this arises a disintegration not only of the unity of God but of theology itself, and still further of human thought, to which theology belongs. And what can follow from this but perplexity and incoherency in things of the church? That such is the state of the church at this day will be shown in the appendix to this work. The truth is that the division of God, or of the Divine essence, into three persons, each one of whom by himself or singly is God, induces a denial of God. It is as if a man should enter a temple to worship, and see painted on a tablet over the altar one God as the ancient of days, another as the great high priest, and the third as a flying Aeolus, with the inscription: “These three are one God”; or like seeing there the unity and trinity depicted as a man with three heads on one body, of three bodies under one head, which would be monstrosities. If anyone should enter heaven with such an idea he would certainly be cast out headlong, even if he should declare that the head or heads mean the essence, and the body or bodies its different properties.

16

To this I will add the following memorable relation: I saw some who had recently come from the natural world into the spiritual world talking together about three Divine persons from eternity. They were dignitaries of the church, and one of them was a bishop.

They came up to me; and after some talk about the spiritual world, respecting which they had before known nothing, I said, “I heard you speaking of three Divine persons from eternity; I beseech you to disclose to me this great mystery according to the conception you had formed of it in the natural world from which you have lately come.”

Then the bishop, looking at me, said, “I see that you are a layman, therefore I will set forth my ideas on this great mystery, and will instruct you. My conception of the matter was, and still is, that God the Father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit sit in the center of heaven upon magnificent and lofty seats or thrones—God the Father on a throne of pure gold, with a scepter in his hand; God the son at his right hand on a throne of the purest silver, with a crown on his head; and God the Holy Spirit near them, on a throne of dazzling crystal, holding a dove in his hand; and that round about them in triple order are hanging lamps glittering with precious stones; while at a distance from this circle stand innumerable angels, all worshiping and singing praises; and furthermore, that God the Father is continually talking with his son about those who are to be justified, and they together judge and determine who on earth are worthy to be received by them among the angels, and crowned with eternal life; while God the Holy Spirit, on hearing the names of such, hastens to them throughout the earth, carrying with him gifts of righteousness as so many tokens of salvation for the justified; and the instant he approaches and breathes upon them he disperses their sins, as a ventilator drives the smoke from a furnace and makes it white. He also takes away the stony hardness of their hearts, and imparts the tenderness of flesh, and at the same time renews their spirits or minds, and regenerates them, giving them infantile faces; and finally he seals them in the forehead with the sign of the cross, and calls them ‘the elect’ and ‘sons of God.’” Having finished this speech the bishop said, “Thus did I in the world elucidate this great mystery; and as most of our order there applauded my utterances, I am persuaded that you also, who are a layman, will assent to them.”

[2] When the bishop had ceased speaking I looked at him, and also at the dignitaries with him, and I noticed that they all gave full assent to what he had said. I therefore began to reply, and said, “I have given close attention to the statement of your belief, and from it I gather that you have conceived and cherish an idea of the triune God that is wholly natural, sensual, and even material, and that there inevitably follows from it the idea of three gods. Is it not thinking sensually of God the Father to conceive of him as seated on a throne with a scepter in his hand; and of the son on his throne with a crown on his head; and of the Holy Spirit on his with a dove in his hand, and as hastening over the world in accordance with what he hears? And as such an idea results from your statements, I cannot assent to them; for from my childhood I have not been able to admit into my mind any other idea than that of one God; and since I have accepted and hold no other idea, all that you have said has no weight with me. I also saw that ‘the throne’ on which Jehovah is said in Scripture to sit means his kingdom, the ‘scepter’ and ‘crown,’ government and dominion; the ‘sitting at the right hand,’ God’s omnipotence through his humanity; also that by what is attributed to the Holy Spirit the operations of Divine omnipresence are meant. Assume, sir, if you please, the idea of one God, and rightly dwell upon that in your reasonings, and you will at length clearly apprehend that this is so.

[3] “Furthermore, you admit that God is one, in that you make the essence of these three persons one and indivisible; while yet you do not allow anyone to say that this one God is one person, but he must say that there are three persons and this you do lest the idea of three gods, such as you entertain, should be lost; also you ascribe to each person a property different from those of the others. In all this do you not divide your Divine essence? And this being so, how can you say and also think that God is one? I could excuse you if you had said that the Divine is one. How can anyone on hearing that ‘The Father is God, the son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and singly each person is God, ‘ possibly think of God as one? Is it not a contradiction, to which assent is utterly impossible? That they cannot be said to be one God, but only to have a like Divinity, may be thus illustrated. A number of men forming one senate, assembly, or council, cannot be called one man; although when each and all have the same opinion they may be said to be one in thought. Neither can three diamonds of the same substance be called one diamond; although they may be called one in substance. Moreover, each diamond would differ from the others in value according to its weight, which would not be true if they were one instead of three.

[4] “But I perceive the reason why three persons, each one of whom is by himself singly God, are called by you one God, and why you enjoin upon everyone in the church so to speak, namely, because all sound and enlightened reason in the world acknowledges God to be one, and in consequence you would be covered with shame if you too did not speak in like manner. And yet when you utter the words ‘one God’ while in your thoughts there are three, that shame does not prevent your giving utterance to both of these ideas.”

After this conversation the bishop with his clerical companions withdrew, and as he departed he turned and tried to say, “There is one God”; but he could not say it, because this thought restrained his tongue, and with open mouth he gasped out, “Three gods!” At this strange sight the bystanders laughed derisively and departed.

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Afterwards I asked where I could find those of the learned with the keenest minds who stood for a Divine trinity divided into three persons. Three of these presented themselves; and I said to them, “How can you divide the Divine trinity into three persons, and assert that each person, by himself or singly, is God and Lord? Is not a confession of the mouth that God is one thus made as remote from the thought as the south from the north?” To this they replied, “It is not at all remote, since the three persons possess one essence, and the Divine essence is God. In the world we were guardians of a trinity of persons, and the ward under our charge was our faith; in that faith each Divine person had his office—God the Father to impute and bestow, God the son to intercede and mediate, and God the Holy Spirit to carry out the work of imputation and mediation.”

[2] But I asked, “What do you mean by the ‘Divine essence?’”

They said, “We mean omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immensity, eternity, and equality of majesty.”

I replied, “If that essence makes one God of several you might add more yet, for example: a fourth, mentioned by Moses, Ezekiel, and Job, under the name of ‘God Shaddai.’ Something of this kind was done in Greece and Italy by the ancients, who ascribed equal attributes and a like essence to their gods, for example, to Saturn, Jove, Neptune, Pluto, Apollo, Juno, Diana, Minerva, and even Mercury and Venus; although they could not say that all these were one God. Moreover, yourselves, who are three persons, and as I apprehend alike in learning and therefore in that respect of a similar essence, are not able to combine yourselves into one learned man.”

They laughed at this, and said, “You are joking. With the Divine essence it is different: it is not tripartite, but one; not divisible, but indivisible; partition and division do not apply to it.”

[3] Hearing this I said, “Let us come down to this ground and discuss the matter.” And I asked, “What do you mean by a ‘person,’ and what does the term signify?”

They said, “The term ‘person’ signifies that which has no part or quality in another, but subsists by itself. Thus do all the heads of the church define it, and we agree with them.”

I said, “Is this the definition of ‘person’?”

They replied, “It is.”

To this I answered, “There is then no part of the Father in the son, or of either in the Holy Spirit. From this it follows that each is at his own disposal, and possesses his own rights and powers, and therefore there is nothing that joins them together except the will, which is proper to each, and thus communicable at pleasure. Does not this make the three ‘persons’ three distinct gods? Listen again: You have also defined ‘person’ as that which subsists by itself; consequently there are three substances into which you divide the Divine essence; and yet you say that this is incapable of division, since it is one and indivisible. Furthermore, to each substance, that is, to each person, you attribute properties that do not exist in the others, and even cannot be communicated to the others, namely, imputation, mediation, and operation. What can follow from this except that the three ‘persons’ are three gods?”

At these remarks they withdrew, saying, “We will canvass these statements and then answer you.”

[4] There was present a wise man who, hearing the arguments, said, “I do not care to view this lofty subject through such fine network; but apart from these subtleties I see clearly that in your thought you have the idea of three gods; but as you would incur disrepute by publishing this idea openly to all the world (for if you did so you would be called madmen and fools), it is expedient for you, in order to avoid that ignominy, to confess with your lips one God.”

But the three, tenacious of their opinions, paid no attention to this; and as they went away they muttered some terms culled from metaphysical lore: from which I saw that metaphysics was their tripod from which they wished to give responses.

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(7) Whoever does not acknowledge a God is excommunicated from the church and condemned.

Whoever does not acknowledge a God is excommunicated from the church, because God is the all of the church; and Divine things which are called theological are what constitute the church; consequently a denial of God is a denial of all things pertaining to the church; and this denial is what excommunicates the man; thus he is excommunicated not by God, but by himself. And he stands condemned because he who is excommunicated from the church is also excommunicated from heaven; since the church on earth and the angelic heaven make one, like the internal and the external or the spiritual and the natural in man; and man was so created by God that in respect to his internal he might be in the spiritual world and in respect to his external in the natural world; consequently he was created a native of both worlds, in order that the spiritual which belongs to heaven might be implanted in the natural, which belongs to the world, just as seed is planted in the ground; and that man might thus become fixed and endure to eternity.

[2] The man who has excommunicated himself from the church and thus from heaven by a denial of God has closed up in himself his internal man in respect to his will and its genial love; for man’s will is the receptacle of his love, and becomes its dwelling place. But he cannot close up his internal man in respect to its understanding, for if he could and did he would be man no longer. Nevertheless, his will’s love infatuates with falsities the higher faculties of the understanding; and in consequence the understanding becomes closed to the truths pertaining to faith and the goods pertaining to charity; thus more and more against God, and also against the spiritual things of the church. Thus man is shut out from communion with the angels of heaven, and when so shut out he enters into communion with the satans of hell, and thinks as they think; and all satans deny God, and think foolishly about God and the spiritual things of the church; and in the same way does the man think who is conjoined with them.

[3] When such a man is in his spirit, as he is when left privately to himself, he suffers his thoughts to be led by the delights of evil and falsity which he has conceived and brought forth in himself; and he then thinks that God has no existence, but is merely a word uttered from the pulpit to hold the common people in obedience to the laws of justice, which are the laws of society. He also thinks the Word, from which ministers proclaim a God, to be a mass of visionary tales, which have been made holy by authority, and the Decalogue or catechism to be merely a little book to be thrown aside when it has been well worn by the hands of little boys, since it teaches that parents ought to be honored, forbids murder, adultery, theft, and false witness; and who does not learn the same things from civil law? He thinks of the church as an assembly of simple, credulous, and weak-minded people, who see what they see not. He thinks of man, and of himself as a man, as being like a beast, and of life after death as of the life of a beast after death.

[4] Thus does his internal man think, however differently his external man may speak. For, as just said, every man has an internal and an external; and it is the internal that makes the man, that is, the spirit, which is what lives after death; while the external, in which by a semblance of morality he plays the hypocrite, is laid in the grave; and on account of his denial of God the man then stands condemned. In respect to his spirit every man is associated in the spiritual world with his like, and becomes as one of them. It has frequently been granted me to see there in societies the spirits of men still living, some in angelic and some in infernal societies, and also to converse with them for days; and I have wondered how the man himself while still living in the body could be wholly ignorant of this. Thus was it made clear that he who denies God is even now among the damned, and that after death he is gathered to his own.

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(6) If God were not one, the universe could not have been created and preserved.

The unity of God may be inferred from the creation of the universe, because the universe is a work coherent as a unit from things first to things last, and dependent upon one God as a body upon its soul. The universe was so created that God might be omnipresent, and hold each and all of its parts under his direction, and keep its parts together as one body perpetually, which is to preserve it. Moreover, because of this Jehovah God declares:

이스라엘의 왕인 여호와, 이스라엘의 구원자인 만군의 여호와가 이같이 말하노라 나는 처음이요 나는 마지막이라 나 외에 다른 신이 없느니라 (사44:6); 주 하나님이 이르시되 나는 알파와 오메가라 이제도 있고 전에도 있었고 장차 올 자요 전능한 자라 하시더라 (계1:8); 내가 볼 때에 그의 발 앞에 엎드러져 죽은 자 같이 되매 그가 오른손을 내게 얹고 이르시되 두려워하지 말라 나는 처음이요 마지막이니 (계1:17) That he is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and omega (Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:8, 17).

네 구속자요 모태에서 너를 지은 나 여호와가 이같이 말하노라 나는 만물을 지은 여호와라 홀로 하늘을 폈으며 나와 함께 한 자 없이 땅을 펼쳤고 (사44:24) That he maketh all things, spreadeth forth the heavens above, and stretcheth forth the earth by himself (Isa. 44:24).

This vast system which is called the universe is a work coherent as a unit from things first to things last, because in creating it God had a single end in view, which was an angelic heaven from the human race; and all things of which the world consists are means to that end; since he who seeks an end seeks also the means.

[2] Consequently, whoever regards the world as a work containing means to that end is able to look upon the created universe as a work coherent as a unit, and to see that the world is a complex of uses, existing in a successive order, looking to the human race (from which is the angelic heaven) as its end. The Divine love can be intent upon no other end than the eternal blessedness of men, having its source in the Divine; and its Divine wisdom can bring forth nothing but uses that are means to that end. Surveying the world from this most general idea, every wise man can comprehend that the creator of the universe is a one, and that his essence is love and wisdom; consequently there can not be in it the smallest particular in which there does not lie hidden some use, more or less remote, for man—food from the fruits of the earth and from animals, and clothing from the same sources.

[3] How wonderful it is that the insignificant silkworm should clothe with silk and magnificently adorn both women and men, from queens and kings to maidservants and menservants; and that a petty insect like the bee should supply wax for the tapers which make temples and palaces brilliant. Those who study in minute detail a few things in the world, and not all things in their most general relations, including ends, mediate cases, and effects, and who, furthermore, do not deduce creation from Divine love through Divine wisdom, are unable to see that the universe is the workmanship of one God, and that he dwells in every particular use because he dwells in the end. For in every case one who is in an end must be in the means also, since the end is inmostly in all the means, actuating and directing them.

[4] Those who do not regard the universe as the workmanship of God and the dwelling place of his love and wisdom, but as the workmanship of nature and the dwelling place of the sun’s heat and light, close the higher regions of their mind against God, and open its lower regions for the devil, and consequently put off their human nature and put on a bestial nature, and not only think themselves to be like the beasts but actually become so. For they become foxes in cunning, wolves in fierceness, panthers in treachery, tigers in cruelty, and crocodiles, serpents, owls, and other birds of night, in the several characteristics of these. Moreover, in the spiritual world those who are such do at a distance actually appear like these wild beasts. Thus does their love of evil portray itself.

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(5) Human reason can, if it will, perceive and be convinced, from many things in the world, that there is a God, and that he is one.

This truth may be confirmed by innumerable things in the visible world; for the universe is like a stage, upon which evidences that there is a God and that he is one are continually exhibited. To illustrate this I will cite this memorable relation from the spiritual world:

Once while I was talking with angels, certain spirits that had recently arrived from the natural world were present. Seeing them, I bade them welcome, and told them many things they had not known before about the spiritual world.

After this I asked them what knowledge about God and about nature they had brought with them from the world.

“This,” they said, “that nature is the operative power in all things that are done in the created universe; and that God, after creation, endowed nature with and impressed upon it that capability and power; and that God merely sustains and preserves that power lest it perish; consequently, all things that spring forth or are produced and reproduced upon the earth are now ascribed to nature.”

But I replied that in nothing is nature of itself the operative power, but God through nature. And when they asked for proof I said, “Those who believe the Divine operation to be in every least thing of nature find in very many things they see in the world much more evidence in favor of a God than in favor of nature.

[2] “For those who find evidences in favor of the Divine operation in every least thing of nature observe attentively the wonderful things that are seen in the production of plants and of animals. In the production of plants, they observe that from a little seed sown in the ground there goes forth a root, and from the root a stem, and successively branches, buds, leaves, flowers, and fruits, even to new seeds, just as if the seed knew the order of succession or development by which to renew itself. What rational person can imagine that the sun, which is pure fire, knows this, or that it can impart to its heat and light the power to produce such effects and to have such uses in view? Any man whose reason looks upward, when he sees these things and properly considers them, must needs conclude that they are from one whose wisdom is infinite, that is, from God. In this conclusion those who recognize a Divine operation in all the particulars of nature confirm themselves when they observe these things. On the other hand, those who do not recognize such an operation in nature behold these things with the eyes of their reason in the back of the head, and not in the front. These are such as derive all the ideas of their thought from the bodily senses, and confirm the fallacies of the senses, saying, ‘Do you not see the sun accomplishing all these things by means of its heat and light? Is that which you do not see of any account?’

[3] “Those who confirm themselves in favor of the Divine carefully observe the wonderful things they see in the production of animals; as in regard to eggs (speaking first of these), the chick in its seminal state lies concealed in them with everything requisite for its formation, and also for its entire development after it is hatched until it becomes a bird in the form of the parent. Moreover, to any mind that thinks deeply, things which excite wonder are presented whenever winged creatures in general are observed; as that both the smallest and largest of them, both the invisible and the visible, that is, both minute insects and great birds and beasts, possess organs of sense, namely, sight, smell, taste, and touch; also organs of motion, which are muscles, for they fly and walk; also viscera connected with the heart and lungs which are moved by the brains. All these things are seen also by those who ascribe everything to nature; but such merely notice their existence, and claim that they are products of nature. This they claim because they have turned away their minds from all thoughts of the Divine; and those who have done this, when they behold the wonderful things in nature, are unable to think about them rationally, still less spiritually; but they think sensually and materially; thus they think in nature from nature, and not above nature; and such differ from beasts only in being endowed with rationality, that is, only in an ability to understand if they wish to.

[4] “Those who have turned themselves away from all thought of a Divine, and have thereby become corporeal-sensual, never consider that the sight of the eye is so gross and material that it sees many small insects as a single obscure object; and yet each one of these is organized for sensation and motion, and is consequently endowed with fibers and vessels, with a minute heart and pulmonic tubes, with minute viscera and with brains; and these are composed of nature’s purest elements, these textures corresponding to life in its lowest degree whereby their least parts are severally actuated. Considering the grossness of our bodily vision, to which many such insects, with the innumerable parts in each, appear as a single minute indistinct object, while yet it is from this vision that sensual men think and draw conclusions, it is evident how gross their minds must be, and in what darkness they must be respecting spiritual things.

[5] “Any man is able, if he will, to find evidences in favor of a Divine in the visible things of nature; and this he does whenever he thinks of God and of his omnipotence in the creation of the universe, and of his omnipresence in the preservation of it; as, for instance, when he sees that among the birds of heaven each species knows its own food and where to find it, recognizes its companions by sight and sound, and among other species knows which are friends and which enemies; that they know how to mate, to form marriages, construct their nests skillfully, place their eggs in them and hatch them, also the period of incubation; and when the young have been hatched they love them most tenderly, shelter them beneath their wings, feed and nourish them, and this until they are able to provide for themselves and to perform like offices. If anyone is willing to think about a Divine influx through the spiritual world into the natural he can see it in these creatures; and can also, if he will, say from his heart that the sun through its heat and light cannot be the source of such knowledge, for the sun from which nature has its rise and essence is pure fire, and consequently its effluent heat and light must be utterly dead; and thus he may reach the conclusion that these knowledges are from a Divine influx through the spiritual world into the outmosts of nature.

[6] “Any one can find evidences in favor of a Divine in the visible things of nature when he observes those worms which are moved by the joy of a peculiar love to aspire after a change of their earthly state into one somewhat analogous to a heavenly state. For this purpose they crawl into suitable places, enclose themselves in a covering, and thus place themselves in a womb from which to be born again; and there they become chrysalids, aureliae, nymphs, and finally butterflies; and having undergone this transformation and been decked with beautiful wings according to their species, they fly forth into the air as into their heaven, and there disport themselves merrily, marrying, laying eggs, and providing for themselves a posterity, meanwhile nourishing themselves with sweet and pleasant food from flowers. Who that sees evidences in favor of a Divine in the visible things of nature can help seeing in these as worms an image of man’s earthly state, and in these as butterflies an image of his heavenly state? Those who have confirmed themselves in favor of nature behold the same things, but having rejected man’s heavenly state from their thought they call them mere operations of nature.

[7] “Any one can find evidences in favor of a Divine in the visible things in nature when he gives thought to what is known of bees, their knowing how to collect wax from roses and blossoms, to suck out honey, to build cells like little houses, to arrange them like a city, with streets for going in and out; their smelling from a distance the flowers and herbs from which they collect wax for their houses and honey for food, being loaded with which they fly back straight to their hive. Thus they provide themselves with food for the coming winter as if they foresaw it. They also appoint a mistress over themselves as queen, and through her they propagate a posterity; and for her they build a sort of palace above themselves, and place guards around it. When the time for propagation arrives, accompanied by her guards, which are called drones, she goes from cell to cell, and lays her eggs, which her retinue seal up lest they be injured by the air. Thus a new generation is born; and when this generation has reached the proper age to be able to repeat the process it is expelled from the hive, and the new swarm, after gathering into a body to prevent separation, flies forth to find itself a home. About the time of autumn, as the drones have added nothing to the supply of wax or honey, they are led out and deprived of their wings to prevent their returning and consuming the food on which they had spent no labor. From this and other facts it can be seen that on account of the use they perform for the human race these insects receive by influx from the spiritual world a form of government similar to that which is formed among men on the earth, and even among the angels in the heavens.

[8] “What man of sound reason does not see that the natural world cannot be the source of all this? What has the sun, from which nature springs, in common with a government which so vies with and closely resembles heavenly government? From these and like facts exhibited among animals, one who acknowledges and worships nature confirms himself in favor of nature; while he who acknowledges and worships God confirms himself from the same facts in favor of God; for the spiritual man sees in them spiritual things, and the natural man sees in them natural things, thus each in accord with his character. For my own part, such things have been to me evidences that from God there is an influx of the spiritual world into the natural. Consider, moreover, whether you are able to think analytically of any form of government, of any civil law, or any moral virtue, or any spiritual truth, except on the supposition that there is an inflow of the Divine from its own wisdom through the spiritual world. As to myself, I am not able to do so, and never have been. I have now for twenty-six years continually observed that influx perceptibly and sensibly; I therefore speak from what I know.

[9] “Can nature pursue use as an end, and arrange uses in order and in forms? Only a wise being is able to do this; and God alone, whose wisdom is infinite, is able so to order and form the universe. Who else can foresee and provide food and clothing for man—food from the products of the field, from the fruits of the earth, and from animals; and clothing from the same sources? It is among these marvelous facts that those petty worms called silkworms clothe with silk and magnificently adorn both women and men, from queens and kings even to maidservants and menservants; and that a petty insect like the bee supplies the wax for the tapers that make temples and palaces brilliant. All these and more are conclusive proofs that God from himself through the spiritual world operates all things that take place in nature.

[10] “To all this let me add the fact that I have seen in the spiritual world those who from things visible in the natural world had confirmed themselves in favor of nature until they had become atheists; and that in spiritual light the understanding of such appeared to be open below, but closed above, for the reason that in their thought they had looked down toward the earth, and not up toward heaven. Above their sensual faculties, which form the lowest part of the understanding, a kind of covering flashing with infernal fire was seen, in some cases like soot, and in others livid like a corpse. Let everyone therefore beware of these confirmations in favor of nature; and let him confirm himself in favor of God; there is no lack of means.”

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(4) Respecting what the one God is, nations and peoples have differed and still differ, from many causes.

The first cause is that knowledge and consequent acknowledgment of God are not possible without revelation; nor are a knowledge of the Lord, and a consequent acknowledgment that “in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” possible except from the Word, which is the crown of revelations; for it is by the revelation given to man that he is able to approach God and to receive influx, and thereby from being natural to become spiritual. The primeval revelation extended throughout the world; but it was perverted by the natural man in many ways, which was the origin of religious disputes, dissensions, heresies, and schisms. The second cause is that the natural man is not capable of any perception of God, but only of the world and adapting this to himself. Consequently it is among the canons of the Christian church that the natural man is opposed to the spiritual, and that they contend against each other. This explains why those who have learned from the Word or other revelation that there is a God have differed and still differ respecting the nature and the unity of God.

[2] For this reason those whose mental sight depended on the bodily senses, but who nevertheless had a desire to see God, formed for themselves images of gold, silver, stone, and wood, under which as visible objects they might worship God; while others who discarded idols from their religion found for themselves representations of God in the sun and moon, in the stars, and in various objects on the earth. But those who thought themselves wiser than the common people, and yet remained natural, from the immensity and omnipresence of God in creating the world acknowledged nature as God, some of them nature in its inmosts, some in its outmosts; while others, that they might separate God from nature, conceived an idea of something most universal, which they called the being of the universe [ens universi]; and because such have no further knowledge of God this being becomes to them mere rational abstraction [ens rationis] which has no meaning.

[3] Everyone can see that a man’s knowledge of God is his mirror of God, and that those who know nothing about God do not see God in a mirror with its face toward them, but in a mirror with its back toward them; and as this is covered with quicksilver, or some dark paste, it does not reflect the image but extinguishes it. Faith in God enters into man through a prior way, which is from the soul into the higher parts of the understanding; while knowledges about God enter through a posterior way, because they are drawn from the revealed Word by the understanding, through the bodily senses; and these inflowings meet midway in the understanding; and there natural faith, which is merely persuasion, becomes spiritual, which is real acknowledgment. Thus the human understanding is like a refining vessel, in which this transmutation is effected.