134. He who does not know the arcana of the Word, believes that the Lord was made justice by fulfilling all things of the law, and that by that fulfilment He delivered the human race from the yoke of the law, thus from damnation; whereas this is not the sense of those words, but that He was made justice by the subjugation of the hells, the reduction of the heavens into order, and by the glorification of his Human; for by this latter He let Himself into the power, that from his Divine Human He might to eternity subjugate the hells, and keep the heavens in order, and thereby regenerate man, that is, deliver him from hell, and save him. A. C. 10239.

The Holy Spirit.

his Divine, which nevertheless is contrary to the doctrine which teaches that the Divinity and Humanity of the Lord are not two persons, but one person alone, and united as soul and body. Inasmuch as the Divine Proceeding, which is Divine Truth, flows into man, both immediately and mediately, by angels and spirits, it is therefore believed that the Holy Spirit is a third person, distinct from the two who are called Father and Son; but I can assert that no one in heaven knows any other Holy Divine Spirit, than the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord. —A. E. 183.

ceeding, or the Holy Spirit, as being one with the Lord, yet proceeding from Him, as heat and light from the sun. — D. L. W. 146.

137. That there is a trine in the Lord, may be illustrated by comparison with an angel; He has a soul and a body, and also a proceeding sphere; what proceeds from him is himself out of him. - L. 46.

136. Although the Holy Spirit is called the Divine Proceeding, yet no one knows why it is called proceeding; this is unknown, because it is also unknown that the Lord appears before the angels as a sun, and that heat, which in its essence is divine love, and light, which in its essence is divine wisdom, proceeds from that sun. These truths 135. That the Comforter, (Paracletos,) or Holy being unknown, it was impossible to know that the Spirit, is Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, Divine Proceeding was not divine by itself; and manifestly appears, for it is said the Lord Himself thus the Athanasian doctrine of the Trinity despake to them" the truth," and declared that, when clares, that there is one person of the Father, he should go away, he would send the Comforter, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit; "the Spirit of Truth," who should guide them "into but when it is known that the Lord appears as a all truth," and that he would not speak from him-sun, a just idea may be had of the Divine Proself, but from the Lord. And because Divine Truth proceeds from the human principle of the Lord glorified, and not immediately from his Divine itself, inasmuch as this was glorified in itself from eternity, it is therefore here said, "The Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." It is greatly wondered at in heaven that they who compose the church do not know that the Holy Spirit, which is Divine Truth, pro- 138. The divine operation is effected by the ceeds from the human principle of the Lord, and divine truth, which proceeds from the Lord; and not immediately from his Divine, when notwith-that which proceeds is of one and the same standing the doctrine received in the whole Chris-essence with Him from whom it proceeds, like tian world teaches that, "As is the Father, so these three, the soul, the body, and the proceedalso is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipo-ing virtue, which together make one essence; tent, God, Lord; neither of them is first or last, nor with man, merely human, but with the Lord, greatest or least. Christ is God and Man; God from the nature of the Father, and Man from the nature of the mother; but although he is God and Man, yet nevertheless they are not two, but one Christ; He is one, not by changing the divinity into the humanity, but by the divinity receiving to itself the humanity. He is altogether one, not by a commix- 139. Now, because the Divine Truth is meant ture of two natures, but one person alone, because by the Holy Spirit, and this was in the Lord, and as the body and soul are one man, so God and Man was the Lord Himself, (John xiv. 6,) and thus beis one Christ." This is from the Creed of Athana-cause it could not proceed from any other source, sius. Now, forasmuch as the divinity and humanity therefore he said, The Holy Spirit was not yet, of the Lord are not two, but one person alone, and because Jesus was not yet glorified," vii. 39; are united as the soul and body, it may be known and after the glorification, "He breathed into the that the Divine Proceeding, which is called the disciples, and said, Receive ye the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, goes forth and proceeds from his Di-xx. 22. The reason why the Lord breathed upon vine principle by the Human, thus from the Divine Human, for nothing whatsoever can proceed from the body, unless as from the soul by the body, inasmuch as all the life of the body is from its soul. And because, as is the Father so is the Son, uncreate, infinite, eternal, omnipotent, God and Lord, and neither of them is first or last, nor greatest or least, it follows that the Divine Proceeding, which is called the Holy Spirit, proceeds from the Divinity itself of the Lord by his Humanity, and not from another Divinity, which is called the Father, for the Lord teaches that He and the Father are one, and that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father. But the reason why most in the Christian world think otherwise in their hearts, and hence believe otherwise, the angels have said is grounded in this circumstance, that they think of the Human principle of the Lord as separate from

divine and human also; these being, after the glorification, united together, like the prior with its posterior, and like essence with its form. Thus the three essentials, which are called the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the Lord are one.

-

- T. C. R. 139.

the disciples, and said that, was, because aspiration [or breathing upon] was an external representative sign of divine inspíration; but inspiration is an insertion into angelic societies. — T. C. R. 140.

The Divine Trinity.

140. At this day human reason is bound, as to the Divine Trinity, like a man bound with manacles and fetters in prison; and it may be compared to the vestal virgin, buried in the earth, because she let the sacred fire go out; when yet the Divine Trinity ought to shine like a lamp in the minds of the men of the church, since God, in his Trinity, and in its unity, is all in all the sanctities of heaven and the church. - T. C. R. 169.

141. That Christians have acknowledged three divine persons, and thus as it were three Gods, was because there is a trine [or three constitu

144. When it is said, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are the three essentials of one God, like the soul, body, and operation in man, it appears to the human mind as if those three essentials were three persons, which is not possible; but when it is understood, that the Divine of the Father, which makes the soul, and the Divine of the Son, which makes the body, and the Divine of the Holy Spirit, or the proceeding Divine, which makes the operation, are the three essentials of one God, then it falls into the understanding. For the Father is his own Divine, the Son from the Father, and the Holy Spirit his from both; which, because they are of one essence, and unanimous, make one God. But if those three divine essentials are called persons, and to each one is attributed his own property, as, to the Father imputation, to the Son mediation, and to the Holy Spirit operation, then the divine essence becomes divided, which yet is one and indivisible; so not any one of the three is God in fulness, but each in subtriplicate power, which a sound understanding cannot but reject.-T. C. R. 166–168.

ents] in the Lord, and one is called the Father, an- the Most High God, the Only-begotten; therefore other the Son, and the third the Holy Spirit; the Divine of the Father, like the soul in man, is and this trine is distinctly named in the Word, his first essential. That the Son, whom Mary as the soul and body, and what proceeds from brought forth, is the body of that divine soul, folthein, are also distinctly named, which nevertheless lows from this, that no other than the body, conare one. The Word, in the sense of the letter ceived and derived from the soul, is prepared in also, is such, that it distinguishes things which are the womb of the mother; this, therefore, is another one, as if they were not one; thence it is, that essential. That operations make the third essenJehovah, who is the Lord from eternity, it some- tial, is because they proceed from the soul and body times calls Jehovah, sometimes Jehovah of hosts, together; and those things which proceed are of sometimes God, sometimes Lord, and at the same the same essence with those which produce them. time, Creator, Savior, Redeemer, and Former, yea, That the three essentials, which are the Father, Shaddai; and his Human, which he assumed in Son, and Holy Spirit, are one in the Lord, like the the world, Jesus, Christ, Messiah, Son of God, soul, body, and operation, in man, is very evident Son of Man, and in the Word of the Old Testa- from the words of the Lord, that the Father and ment, God, the Holy One of Israel, the Anointed He are one, and that the Father is in Him, and of Jehovah, King, Prince, Counsellor, Angel, He in the Father; in like manner, that He and David. Now, because the Word is such, in the the Holy Spirit are one, since the Holy Spirit is the sense of the letter, that it names several, which Divine, proceeding out of the Lord from the Father. nevertheless are one, therefore Christians, who in the beginning were simple, and understood every thing according to the sense of the letter, distinguished the Divinity into three persons, which also on account of their simplicity was permitted; but yet so, that they also believed concerning THE SON, that He was Infinite, Uncreated, Almighty, God, and Lord, altogether equal to the Father; and moreover, that they believed that they are not two or three, but one in essence, majesty, and glory, thus in divinity. Those who simply believe thus, according to the doctrine, and do not confirm themselves in three Gods, but of the three make one, after death are informed by the Lord through the angels, that He is that One and that Trine; which also is received by all who come into heaven; for no one can be admitted into heaven, who thinks of three Gods, howsoever with his mouth he says one. For the life of the whole heaven, and the wisdom of all the angels, is founded upon the acknowledgment and thence confession of one God, and upon the faith, that that one God is also a Man, and that He is the Lord, who is, at the same time, God and Man. Hence it is manifest, that it was of divine permission, that Christians in the beginning should receive the doctrine concerning three divine persons, provided that they also received, at the same time, that the Lord is God, Infinite, Almighty, and Jehovah; for unless they had also received that, it would have been all over with the church, since the church is a church from the Lord; and the eternal life of all is from the Lord, and not from any other. — L. 55. 142. There are general and also particular essentials of one thing, and both together make one essence. The general essentials of one man are his soul, body, and operation. That these make one essence, may be seen from this, that one is from another, and for the sake of another, in a continual series; for man begins from the soul, which is the very essence of the seed: this not only initiates, but also produces in their order those things which are of the body, and afterwards the things which proceed from those two, the soul and body together, which are called operations; wherefore, from the production of one from another, and thence the insertion and conjunction, it is manifest that these three are of one essence, which are called three essentials.

143. That those three essentials, viz., the soul, body, and operation, were and are in the Lord God the Savior, every one acknowledges. That his soul was from Jehovah the Father, can be denied only by Antichrist, for in the Word of both Testaments He is called the Son of Jehovah, the Son of

145. From the Lord's Divine Human itself proceeds the divine truth, which is called the Holy Spirit; and whereas the Lord, when He was in the world, was Himself the divine truth, He Himself taught the things which were of love and faith, and at that time not by the Holy Spirit, as Himself teaches in John: "The Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified,” vii. 39; but after the Lord even as to the human was made Jehovah, that is divine good, which was after the resurrection, then He was no longer divine truth, but this proceeded from his divine good. That the Holy Spirit is the divine truth which proceeds from the Lord's Divine Human, and not any spirit or any spirits from eternity, is very manifest from the Lord's words in the passage above cited, namely, that the Holy Spirit was not yet; also that a spirit himself cannot proceed, but the holy of a spirit, that is, the holy which proceeds from the Lord, and a spirit utters. From these things now it follows, that all the Trinity, namely, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is perfect in the Lord, and thus that there is one God, but not three, who being distinct as to persons, are said to constitute one Divine. That mention is made in the Word of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, was that men might acknowledge the Lord and also the Divine in Him. For man was in such thick darkness, as he also is at this day, that otherwise he would not have acknowledged any Divine in the Lord's Human; for this, as being altogether incomprehensible, would have been to him above all faith: and moreover it

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is a truth that there is a Trinity; but in one, name- 147. It is well to be observed, that the idea ly, in the Lord; and also in Christian churches it is acknowledged, that the Trinity dwells perfectly in Him; the Lord also taught openly, that Himself was one with the Father, John xiv. 9-12; and that the holy thing, which the Holy Spirit speaks, is not his, but the Lord's, in John: The Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, shall not speak from Himself, but whatsoever things He shall hear, He shall speak: He shall glorify Me, because He shall take of mine, and shall announce to you," xvi. 13, 14; that the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit, is said John xiv. 26.-A. C. 6993.

which any person entertains concerning any thing in another world is presented to the life, and thereby every one is examined as to the nature of his thought and perception respecting the things of faith; and that the idea of the thought concerning God is the chief of all others, inasmuch as by that idea, if it be genuine, conjunction is effected with the Divine Being, and consequently with heaven. They were afterwards questioned concerning the nature of their idea respecting God. They replied, that they did not conceive God as invisible, but as visible under a Human Form; and that they knew Him to be thus visible, not only from an interior perception, but also from this circumstance, that He has appeared to them as a man; they added, that if, according to the idea of some strangers, they should conceive God as invisible, consequently without form and quality, they should not be able in any wise to think about God, inasmuch as such an invisible principle falls not upon any idea of thought. On hearing this, it was given to tell them, that they do well to think of God under a Human Form, and that many on our earth think in like manner, especially when they think of the Lord; and that the ancients also thought according to this idea. I then told them concerning Abraham, Lot, Gideon, Manoah and his wife, and what is related of them in our Word, viz., that they saw God under a Human Form, and acknowledged Him thus seen to be the Creator of the Universe, and called Him Jehovah, and this also from an interior perception; but that at this day that interior perception was lost in the Christian world, and only remains with the simple who are principled in faith.

How the Thoughts of the Divine Trinity appear in the other Life, and with the Angels. 146. What the idea is, or what the thought, which the man of the church has concerning one God, appears manifestly in the other life, for every one carries with him the ideas of his thought: their idea or thought is, that there are three gods, but that they dare not say gods, but God; a few also make one of three by union, for they think in one way of the Father, in another way of the Son, and in another of the Holy Spirit. Hence it has been made evident what is the quality of the faith which the church has concerning the most essential of all things, which is the Divine Itself: and whereas the thoughts which are of faith, and the affections which are of love, conjoin and separate all in the other life, therefore they who have been born out of the church, and have believed in one God, flee away from those who are within the church, saying that they do not believe in one God, but in three gods, and that they who do not believe in one God under a human form, believe in no God, inasmuch as their thought pours itself 148. Previous to this discourse, they believed forth without determination into the universe, and that our company also consisted of those, who are thus sinks into nature, which they thus acknowl-desirous to confuse them in their thoughts of God edge in the place of God. When it is asked what they mean by proceeding, when they say that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit from the Father by the Son, they reply that proceeding is an expression of union, and that it involves that mystery; but the idea of thought on the subject, when it was explored, was no other than of a mere expression, and not of any thing. But the ideas of angels concerning the Divine, concerning the Trine, and concerning proceeding, differ altogether from the ideas of the men of the church, by reason, as was said above, that the ideas of the thought of angels are founded upon One, whereas the ideas of thought of the men of the church are founded upon three; the angels think, and what they think believe, that there is One God, and He the Lord, and that his Human is the Divine Itself in form, and that the holy proceeding from Him is the Holy Spirit; thus that there is a Trine, but still One. This is presented to the apprehension by the idea concerning the angels in heaven; an angel appears there in a human form, but still there are three things with him, which make one: there is his internal, which does not appear before the eyes; there is the external, which appears; and there is the sphere of the life of his affections and thoughts, which diffuses itself from him to a distance: these three make one angel. But angels are finite and created, whereas the Lord is infinite and increate; and inasmuch as no idea can be had concerning the infinite by any man, nor even by any angel, except from things finite, therefore it is allowed to present such an example, in order to illustrate that there is a Trine in One, and that there is one God, and that He is the Lord, and no other. A. C. 9303.

by an idea of three; wherefore on hearing what was said, they were affected with joy, and replied, that there were also sent from God (whom they then called the Lord) those who teach them concerning Him, and that they are not willing to admit strangers, who perplex them, especially by the idea of three persons in the Divinity, inasmuch as they know that God is One, consequently that the Divine Principle is One, and not consisting of three in unanimity, unless such threefold unanimity be conceived to exist in God as in an angel, in whom there is an inmost principle of life, which is invisible, and which is the ground of his thought and wisdom, and an external principle of life which is visible under a human form, whereby he sees and acts, and a proceeding principle of life, which is the sphere of love and of faith issuing from him (for from every spirit and angel there proceeds a sphere of life whereby he is known at a distance); which proceeding principle of life, when considered as issuing from the Lord, is the essential Divine principle which fills and constitutes the heavens, because it proceeds from the very Esse of the life of love and of faith; they said, that in this, and in no other manner, they can perceive and apprehend a threefold unity. When they had thus expressed themselves, it was given me to inform them, that such an idea concerning a threefold unity agrees with the idea of the angels concerning the Lord, and that it is grounded in the Lord's own doctrine respecting Himself; for He teaches that the Father and Himself are One; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father; that whoso seeth Him seeth the Father; and whoso believeth on Him believeth on the Father and knoweth the Father; also that the Comforter,

whom He calls the Spirit of Truth, and like-earthly kingdom, nor any other idea concerning wise the Holy Ghost, proceeds from Him, and the Father, than as concerning a king on earth, doth not speak from Himself, but from Him, by and concerning the Lord, than as concerning the which Comforter is meant the Divine Proceeding son of a king, who is heir of the kingdom. That Principle. It was given me further to tell them, the simple have such an idea, is very manifest from that their idea concerning a threefold unity agrees the idea of the Lord's apostles themselves conwith the Esse and Existere of the life of the Lord cerning his kingdom; for at first they believed, when in the world; the Esse of his life was the like the rest of the Jews, that the Lord, as being Essential Divine Principle, for He was conceived the Messiah, would be the greatest king upon of Jehovah, and the Esse of every one's life is earth, and would raise them to a height of glory that whereof he is conceived; the Existere of life above all nations and people on the universal derived from that Esse is the Human Principle in globe. But when they heard from the Lord Himform; the Esse of the life of every man, which he self, that his kingdom was not on earth, but in has from his father, is called soul, and the Existere heaven, then neither could they think any otherof life thence derived is called body; soul and wise than that his kingdom in heaven was to be body constitute one man; the likeness between altogether as a kingdom on earth; wherefore also each resembles that which subsists between a James and John asked, that in his kingdom one principle which is in effort [conatus], and a princi- might sit on the right hand and the other on the ple which is in act derived from effort, for act is in left; and the rest of the apostles, who were also effort acting, and thus two are one: effort in man willing to become great in that kingdom, had inis called will, and effort acting is called action; dignation, and disputed among themselves which the body is the instrumental part, whereby the of them should be greatest there; and whereas will, which is the principal, acts, and the instru- such an idea was inherent in them, and could not mental and principal in acting are one; such is the be extirpated, the Lord also said to them, that case in regard to soul and body, and such is the they should sit on twelve thrones to judge the idea which the angels in heaven have respecting twelve tribes of Israel; see Mark x. 37, 41; Luke soul and body; hence they know, that the Lord xxii. 24, 30; Matt. xix. 28; and on this occasion made his Human Principle Divine by virtue of the they did not know what was meant of the Lord Divine Principle in Himself, which was to Him a by twelve thrones, and by twelve tribes, and by Soul from the Father. This is agreeable also to judgment. From these considerations now it may the creed received throughout the Christian world, be manifest what the idea is, and whence it is, which teaches that "although Christ is God and concerning the Lord's mediation and intercession Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ; yea, He with the Father. But he who knows the interior is altogether One and a single Person; for as things of the Word, has altogether another notion body and soul are one man, so also God and man concerning the Lord's mediation, and concerning is one Christ."— E. U. 158, 159. his intercession, namely, that He does not intercede as a son with a father, a king on earth, but as the Lord of the universe with Himself, and as God from Himself, for the Father and He are not two, but are one, as Himself teaches, John xiv. 8-11. That He is called mediator and intercessor, is because by the Son is meant Divine truth, and by the Father Divine good, and mediation is effected by Divine truth, for by it is given access to Divine good; for Divine good cannot be acceded to, because it is as the fire of the sun, but Divine truth, because this is as light thence derived, which gives to man's sight, which is from faith, passage and access; hence it may be manifest what is to be understood by mediation and intercession. Further, it is to be told from what ground it is that the Lord Himself, who is the Divine good itself and the Sun itself of heaven, is called a mediator and intercessor with the Father: the Lord, when He was in the world, before He was fully glorified, was Divine truth, wherefore at that time there was mediation, and He interceded with the Father, that is, with the Divine good itself, John xiv. 16, 17, chap. xvii. 9. 15, 17; but after He was glorified as to the Human then He is called mediator and intercessor from this ground, because no one can think of the Divine Himself, unless He forms to Himself the idea of a Divine Man, still less can any one be conjoined by love to the Divine Himself except by such an idea. Hence it is that the Lord, as to the Divine Human, is called a mediator and intercessor, but mediates and intercedes with Himself. — A. C. 8705.

How the Lord is Mediator and Intercessor. 149. The Lord's intercession for the human race was during his abode in the world, and indeed during his state of humiliation, for in that state He spake with Jehovah as with another, but in the state of glorification, when the human essence became united to the Divine, and was also made Jehovah, He does not then intercede, but shows mercy, and from his Divine (principle) administers help and saves; it is mercy itself which is intercession, for such is its essence.-A. C. 2250.

150. Mediation and intercession is of Divine truth, because this proximately is with Divine good, which is the Lord Himself; that Divine truth is proximately with Divine good, which is the Lord, is because it immediately proceeds from Him. Inasmuch as occasion is given, it shall here be shown how the case is with the Lord's mediation and intercession. They who believe that there are three persons, who constitute the Divine, and are together called one God, from the sense of the letter of the Word, derive no other idea concerning mediation and intercession, than that the Lord sits at the right hand of his Father, and speaks with Him as man with man, and brings the supplications of men to the Father, and entreats that for his sake, because He endured the cross for the human race, He would pardon them and be merciful; such is the idea concerning intercession and mediation which the simple derive from the sense of the letter of the Word. But it is to be known, that the sense of the letter is according to the apprehension of simple men, that they may be introduced into interior truths themselves; for the simple cannot form any other idea concern- 151. "Thus saith Jehovah thy Creator, O Jacob, ing the heavenly kingdom, than as concerning an and thy Former, O Israel; for I have edeemed

Jehovah Himself, in his Divine Human, the

only Savior.

The Lord rules all Things from first Principles by Ultimates.

thee. 1 am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One] of Israel, thy Savior," Isaiah xliii. 1, 3. Surely God is in Thee, and there is no other God besides. Verily thou art a God that hidest Thy- 153. "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the self, O God of Israel the Savior," xlv. 14, 15. Beginning and the End." That hereby is sig"Thus saith Jehovah, the King of Israel, and nified that He rules all things from first princihis Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts, Beside Me ples by ultimates, and thus all things of heaven to there is no God," xliv. 6. "I am Jehovah, and eternity, appears from the signification of the Al beside Me there is no Savior," xliii. 11. "Am not pha and the Omega, as denoting the first and the I Jehovah, and there is no other beside Me; and a last, or in first principles and in ultimates; and Savior, there is none beside Me,” xlv. 21. “I am He who is in first principles and in ultimates also Jehovah thy God, thou shalt know no God but Me, rules intermediates; thus all things. These things for there is no Savior beside Me," Hosea xiii. 4. are said concerning the Divine Humanity of the "Look unto Me, that ye may be saved, all ye ends Lord, being said concerning Jesus Christ, by of the earth; because I am God, and there is none which names are understood his Divine Humanelse," Isaiah xlv. 22. "Jehovah of Hosts is his ity. By his Divine Humanity the Lord is present name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, in first principles and ultimates. But that He rules the God of the whole earth shall He be called," all things from first principles by ultimates, is an liv. 5. From these it may be seen, that the Divine arcanum which has not been hitherto perceived by of the Lord, which is called the Father, and here man; for man does not know any thing concernJehovah and God, and the Divine Human, which ing the successive degrees into which the heavens is called the Son, and here Redeemer and Savior, are distinguished, and into which also the interiors also Former, that is, Reformer and Regenerator, of man are distinguished, and but little concernare not two, but one; for not only is it said, Jeho-ing the fact, that man, as to his flesh and bones, is vah God and the Holy One of Israel, the Redeem- in ultimates. Neither does he perceive how interer and Savior, but also it is said, Jehovah the mediates are ruled from first principles by ultiRedeemer and Savior; yea, also it is said, "I mates; when yet the Lord came into the world am Jehovah, and beside Me there is no Savior." From which it manifestly appears, that the Divine and Human in the Lord are one person, and that the Human is also Divine; for the Redeemer and Savior of the world is no other than the Lord as to the Divine Human, which is called the Son; for redemption and salvation constitute the proper attribute of his Human, which is called merit and righteousness; for his Human endured temptations and the passion of the cross, and thus by the Human He redeemed and saved. L. 34.

All Power, in the Heavens and on the Earth, given to the Lord.

152. The Lord Himself says, " All power is given to me, in heaven and in earth," Matt. xxviii. 18. In respect to all power being given to the Son of Man, both in the heavens and on earth, it is to be observed, that the Lord had power over all things in the heavens and on earth before he came into the world; for he was God from eternity, and Jehovah; as he himself says plainly in John: "And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was," xvii. 5; and again: "Verily, verily I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am," viii. 58. For He was Jehovah, and the God of the most ancient church which was before the flood, and appeared to the men of that church: He was also Jehovah, and the God of the ancient church which was after the flood: and He it was whom all the rites of the Jewish church represented, and whom the members of that church worshipped. But the reason why He Himself says, that all power was given to Him in heaven and on earth, as if it was then first given, is, because by the Son of Man is meant his human essence, which, when united with the Divine, was also Jehovah, and had at the same time power; which could not be the case before He was glorified, that is, before his human essence, by union with the Divine, had also life in itself, and had thus, in like manner, become Divine, and Jehovah; as He Himself says in John: "As the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself," v 7. —A. C. 1607.

that He might assume the Human Principle and glorify it, that is, make it Divine, even to ultimates, that is, even to flesh and bones, that He might thus rule all things. That the Lord assumed such a Human Principle, and took it with Him into heaven, is known in the church from this circumstance, that He left nothing of his body in the sepulchre; and also from what He said to his disciples: "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me have," Luke xxiv. 39. By this Human Principle, therefore, the mates also Divine, He thus clothed Himself with Lord is in ultimates; and by making these ultithe divine power of ruling all things from first principles by ultimates. If the Lord had not done this, the human race on this earth would have perished in eternal death. — A. E. 41.

All Good and Truth are from the Lord's Divine
Humanity.

154. With respect to this circumstance, that all good, and truth derived from good, is from the the Lord, it is an established truth. The angels have a perception of it, insomuch that they perceive, in proportion as they are under the Lord's influence, that they are in goodness and truth, but in proportion as they are under self-influence, that they are in evil and falsity. They also avow this to novitiate spirits, and to such spirits as doubt of it; and even further, that they are kept from evil and falsity arising from their own proprium, and are preserved in goodness and truth, by the Lord. Their detention from evil and falsity, and the influx of goodness and truth, is also perceivable by them. As to man's supposing that he does good from himself, and thinks truth from himself, it is a mere appearance, because he is in a state destitute of perception, and in the greatest obscurity in regard to influx; wherefore he draws his conclusion from appearances, and even from fallacies, from which he never suffers himself to be removed so long as he believes only his senses, and so long as he reasons thence as whether it be so or not. But although this is the case, still man ought to do good, and to think what is true, as from himself, for otherwise he cannot be reformed and