The Derivation and Function of Scientific Revelations Volume 4 Theistic Psychology: The Scientific Knowledge of God Extracted From the Correspondential Sense of Sacred Scripture by Dr. Leon James, Professor of Psychology, University of Hawaii

Dr. Leon James
Professor of Psychology
University of Hawaii
Published on the Web in 2004
Last Update: 2007

The Derivation and Function
of Scientific Revelations

Note: For a more detailed justification for extracting the correspondential sense of the Writings of Swedenborg, please consult my online book at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/v2ch1-nonduality.html

At age 57 Swedenborg suddenly found himself a dual citizen – conscious in both worlds simultaneously. This means that he was conscious in both the natural mind and the spiritual mind. Our consciousness in the natural mind allows us to see others here on earth who are also conscious in their natural mind. Similarly, Swedenborg’s new consciousness in his spiritual mind allowed him to see others in the spiritual world.

Theistic psychology resolves the issue of how Swedenborg was able to “travel” through the spiritual world by collecting many details about it that are mentioned in various places in the Writings Sacred Scripture and putting them together in an explanatory framework.

Spiritual travel or displacement is nothing else than a series of changes in mental states. In his spiritual mind, Swedenborg was able to “travel” to the spiritual sphere of planets located in distant galaxies by undergoing a series of mental changes that sometimes took several of his earth days (in the natural mind). The same procedure had to be experienced by the spirits who were “traveling” with him.

Swedenborg describes his visits to the three heavens and what he saw there. In order to see the people in each heaven, Swedenborg’s mental states in the spiritual mind, had to be changed to match the mental states of the societies he was visiting, who were in their spiritual mind. He described the location of the heavens relative to each other, their cities and lands, and the layout of the territory in the world of spirits and in the hells located beneath it. This kind of information about the spiritual world may be called spiritual geography.

But it was revealed to humanity two thousand years ago that the “Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 in the New Testament Sacred Scripture). This revelation may be one of the most astonishing facts in scientific history. For seventeen centuries the meaning of it remained clouded and not understood. Perhaps it was a figure of speech. Perhaps it was a mystery. In the Writings of Swedenborg the mystery was solved. The spiritual world is nothing else than the mental world.

Every human being is born with a physical body on some earth and a mental body, or mind, in the world of spirits. The physical body and the mind grow up together through experiences of life. The physical body is temporary and disintegrates at some point, leaving the mind in the world of spirits free from earthly input and conditions. The human mind is a spiritual organ constructed out of the eternal substances from the Spiritual Sun. Similarly, the physical body is a physical organ constructed out of the temporary materials from the natural sun that is around every earth.

The anatomy of the physical body was well known to Swedenborg from his studies of the sciences of his day in 18th century Europe. The anatomy of the mind was totally unknown to anyone because scientists had no access to observation of the mind. The conscious natural mind has some knowledge of itself because it is constructed of organic layers in discrete degrees, and the higher degree can observe and monitor the lower degree. The highest portion of the natural mind is called the natural-rational degree of thinking and willing, and this is exhibited by what we read in the Letter of the Writings Sacred Scripture.

But it is impossible for the natural mind to observe even a single thing about the operations a discrete degree higher than itself, namely, the spiritual mind. Whatever operations take place in this layer of our mind remain unconscious or inaccessible to the conscious – as long as our mind in the world of spirits is still connected to the physical body on earth. The operations in the spiritual mind originate from Divine Speech exteriorizing across the layers of the mental world. There is a continuous built in organic striving from the unconscious spiritual mind to coordinate by correspondence the operations in the conscious natural mind. The natural mind (“the servant”) is to reform itself and become aligned to the spiritual mind – which occurs progressively during our regeneration on earth.

The consciousness level or, mentality of people’s willing and thinking, is produced by Divine Speech through the progression of correspondences – celestial-rational, spiritual-rational, spiritual-natural or interior natural, natural-rational, natural-sensuous, and natural-corporeal. Divine Speech, or Divine Truth, issues from the Spiritual Sun in the form of spiritual heat and light. These distinct but united uncreate and infinite substances, propagate through the mental world of humanity, that is, through the mind of every human being. This propagation is in successive and simultaneous order so that it continuously permeates every human mind from birth to endless immortality.

Divine Speech enters our celestial mind in the first or highest of the successive degree, which is a above our spiritual mind. This portion of the human organic mind is called the “third heaven” and its mentality level of willing and thinking is produced by the celestial-rational correspondences in Sacred Scripture.

We actually possess in our mind four versions of the Writings Sacred Scripture. The first is in our external natural mind in the form of natural-rational correspondences called the “Letter of the Writings.” This is in the external natural mind which is operating in the world spirits. The second version of the Writings is in our interior-natural mind in the form of spiritual-natural correspondences of the Writings. This is in our first heaven. The third version is in our spiritual mind in the form of spiritual-rational correspondences. This is in our second heaven. The fourth is in our celestial mind in the form of celestial-rational correspondences This is in our third heaven.

There is therefore a perfect overlap between the geography of the spiritual world and the anatomy of the mind. In effect we can write this formula:

All the heavens and all the hells are in every human mind. No other place or plane of existence has been created for heaven and hell except the mental world. Every human being is born with the three heavens and the three hells, separated by the world of spirits. There is only one eternal and infinite Spiritual Sun, and it is located in the mind of every human being.

Everyone can see the Spiritual Sun, the heavens and the hells, the societies and lands and lakes and mountains – but only by elevating our consciousness from the natural mind to the spiritual mind. This cannot be done as long as we are connected to the physical body. Hence during our life on earth we cannot see the Spiritual Sun that is in the upper portions of our mind. Neither can we see the societies of heaven and hell that live in the spiritual world.

All this amounts to the astonishing equation that spiritual geography = mental anatomy. The human race is not spread out as it appears from the earths in the physical world. All human beings live their lives, doing their willing and thinking, in the same mental expanse created by the proceeding substances from the Spiritual Sun. There is only one spiritual world, only one mental world. Despite the experience of privacy in our mind, we are in fact continuously in the presence of the entire humanity through the vertical community of the mental world. The shape of humanity’s vertical community was seen many times by Swedenborg as the Grand Human (“Grand Man”).

The consequences of these facts are staggering to contemplate. It means that every human being at any time from birth to eternity, has access to every other human being in existence. This is a consequence of the fact that there is only one mental world, one spiritual world, and that a change of mental state brings us in the presence of others who are in a similar or compatible mental state. Swedenborg demonstrated this scientific reality by coming into the presence of people in the spiritual world whose names he knew from literature and talking with them – Aristotle, King David, Mary, Luther, Newton, and numerous others.

At this day it is not possible for anyone to become conscious in their spiritual mind and thus come into the conscious presence of people in the afterlife of immortality. The reason for this is explained below.

Theistic psychology from the Writings Sacred Scripture brings to the world a new perspective on what it means to be close to God or to seek closeness with God. The period prior to the publication of the Writings Sacred Scripture (1747-1771), is known in the General Church as the age of the First Coming, while the Writings Sacred Scripture constitute a new era known in the New Church as the Second Coming. These two periods are contrasted in theistic psychology regarding the meaning and process of closeness to God.

The era of the “First Coming,” which extends from the first century A.D. to the eighteenth, is known in theistic psychology as the sensuous consciousness approach to God. The Old Testament phase of sensuous consciousness was concrete while the New Testament phase of sensuous consciousness was abstract in the form of Christian theology, all of which is based on a sensuous consciousness of the visible “Son of God,” through whom the invisible “God the Father” can be known.

Then begins the new era of the rational consciousness of God as the Divine Human, made possible by the rational revelations of the Writings Sacred Scripture. This changeover regarding humanity’s relationship to God is a new evolutionary creation of the human mind. Today the sensuous consciousness approach to God is still the dominant mode of effort people exert in their longing for closer “union with God.” But it is vital that people begin to acquire the new mode of approaching God that has now been created in the era that began with the Writings Sacred Scripture.

God can always be approached by anyone regardless of knowledge, education, or formal religious association. God is already present in every individual’s mind, managing the endless details of every person’s biography from birth to eternity. Through this management role and presence, God leads and provides for every individual what is needed for heavenly consciousness and eternal life. And yet this relationship is incomplete and not fully effective until the individual consciously reciprocates God’s loving management care with feelings of gratitude and longing for ever higher understanding of God’s Truth and Love.

God’s longing and love for every individual is to have us achieve higher and higher rational consciousness of Him as the Divine Human in whom infinite things are distinguishably one. This is the way God presents Himself in the literal sentences of the Writings Sacred Scripture. We are given there the scientific details of how the Divine Human accomplished this last major evolutionary development of humankind. It included the remaking of the upper portion of the human mind called the “Old Heavens,” which were accessed by people through their sensuous consciousness of God.

The “New Heavens” that were now created in people’s minds (at the end of the 18th century), were no longer accessible by sensuous consciousness, hence the need for the Writings Sacred Scripture on earth to enlighten people to see their way to the new heavens in their mind. God uses the Writings Sacred Scripture as the method for bringing rational consciousness of Him to people’s conscious awareness. This is what God is longing for.

Today in the civilization of cross-cultural diversity, Western culture is permeated through and through with Eastern nonduality which is based on the idea of nonduality between the Divine and the human (see Note 4). The nonduality of new age philosophies was recently reviewed by Rev. Erik E. Sandstrom in a General Church publication (see Note 5). Every single idea, concept, principle, and image in nonduality promotes and preaches the sensuous consciousness of God as a process of union with the Divine called “oneness.” At this level of human consciousness we are being described as no longer human, but Divine, God Itself, of one substance, immensity, and timelessness, without emotion, love, or wisdom such as it is know to human beings. It is a portrayed as a great mystery impossible to convey in words because it is “above thinking with words.”

Sensuous consciousness of God opposes rational consciousness of God. They are in a mortal battle by which one must eliminate the other, like it was commanded to the children of Israel entering the Holy Land that they should exterminate and extirpate every single inhabitant, by which was represented mental states of nonduality. In the nonduality tradition, practitioners and students are given mental exercises to practice allowing them to withdraw from all sensory stimulation coming in from the outside through the physical body. They must also try to eliminate all thinking and consciousness of meaning. And if these exercises are done faithfully for some period of time, the student is promised a new higher type of consciousness which is not human but Divine.

And yet the actual truth and scientific fact is that there is no access to the spiritual mind which is the portion that receives the inner sensory consciousness of the Spiritual Sun. Swedenborg was a unique case because he was able to be conscious in his spiritual mind before he underwent resuscitation in the world of spirits. He therefore had a sensuous consciousness of the spiritual world as well as the natural world. He was able to confirm by years of daily experience in his spiritual mind, that the new heavens in the human mind are heavens produced by the rational consciousness of God.

Our rational consciousness of God begins with dualism and Sacred Scripture. The correspondences of Divine Speech in Sacred Scripture create the new rational genes of consciousness, out of which our heavens are constructed. The only access to our heavens in eternity is by means of a rational understanding of higher order correspondences in Sacred Scripture – corporeal, sensuous, natural-rational, spiritual-natural, spiritual-rational, celestial-rational. This is a gradual progression of rational consciousness up the ladder of correspondences of Divine Speech.

Theistic psychology provides the scientific reasoning process for proving that rational consciousness of God is the only road to a happy eternity.

Seeking sensuous consciousness of God today leads to a delusional relationship with oneself. It is not unusual for a Christian today to declare that God spoke to him or her in answer to some question or request. But we know from the Writings that God speaks to people only through Sacred Scripture, that is by enlightenment. Divine Speech with God in a dialog form in the natural mind is not possible (“He said to me...I said to Him...”). Today in the age of rational consciousness, God enlightens our conscious natural mind through the unconscious spiritual mind, the two acting in correspondence – never by direct speech or living voice, as He did in the days of the Old and New Testaments.

Every semester I ask my students to explain why God doesn’t appear at the United Nations, or some other world stage, and make a declaration of Himself in the media, and then return to heaven. Such a Divine intervention would constitute the sensuous consciousness of God, materialistic proof of His existence and direct communication with Him. Such physical demonstration of Himself would not turn the world to theism. Science would not be changed. Religion would remain the same mystery as before. Those who did not believe, and then believed because of the sensuous consciousness of God, would then eventually not believe.

The only consciousness of God that can remain in the mind and grow to eternity, is rational consciousness of God.

In our modern age, correspondences of Divine Speech in Sacred Scripture are the only mechanism that has been created for elevating rational consciousness of God and making it grow.

Divine Speech is the same as Divine Truth and this is the same as spiritual light streaming out of the Spiritual Sun and entering the mind of every human being throughout its discrete layers. Sacred Scripture (“the Word”) is the only source of genuine or Divine correspondences. God enlightens us through the doctrine of truth that we extract from the Writings Sacred Scripture. This enlightenment is rational speech or communication with God.

We experience communication with God not as a dialog but as new insight or understanding that we perceive as spiritual correspondence. The experience of comprehending spiritual correspondences gives us the rational feeling of God’s immediate co-Presence in our willing and thinking. In the new age for the modern mind this rational consciousness of God is the way to heaven, and nothing else can be.

When we read the Writings Sacred Scripture we are happy at first to contact the natural-rational meanings and explanations of the literal meaning. We are excited by the insights this provides on so many religious and theological issues that have puzzled people of every generation. We can do this only to the extent that we can identify ourselves with the Christian religion in a Western cultural context. Readers from other religions are put off by Swedenborg’s apparent anti-Semitism and seemingly dogmatic condemnation of sacred figures in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

From this pan-human perspective, the Letter of the Writings Sacred Scripture is written in a style similar to the Old and New Testament Sacred Scripture, namely, male dominant and antagonistic to outside cultures and religions. Yet there are critical differences conceptually because the Writings justify everything rationally, while the Old and New Testaments remain dogmatic and mystical. The Writings Sacred Scripture are therefore ultimately more accepting and universal as a “rational faith” in sharp contrast to the earlier “blind faith” or “mystical faith.”

Nevertheless the Letter of the Writings cannot be exported to other religions and cultures unless they are willing to amalgamate and exchange the old for the new. Yet we know that the Divine Psychologist never changes an individual’s childhood religious beliefs and concepts. Instead, He bends them appropriately so that they can conform to the truths of the Writings Sacred Scripture. These are the truths that form the person’s eternal heavens and must be acceptable and loved.

It is for this reason that the Writings Sacred Scripture had to be written in natural-rational correspondences that would allow people to extract pan-human knowledge that was beyond culture and religion.

When the method of correspondences with enlightenment is applied to the literal sentences of the Writings Sacred Scripture, the religious, historical, and cultural references “vanish” (AC 1405; 3776). In its stead, there appears the jewel of universal meanings conveyed by higher-order correspondences that are hidden within the Letter – first interior-natural (or spiritual-natural), then spiritual-rational, and at last celestial-rational (see Section xx).

Consider that the letter of the Writings Sacred Scripture had to be written in a style that makes the establishment of the New Church religion possible, this being its literal mission. Had the Writings been written in a style that deals with interior-natural extractions – like theistic psychology – it could not have served for establishing the New Church religion.

The Writings had to be written in correspondences for at least these three reasons:

(1) All Sacred Scripture is nothing but Divine Speech exteriorizing at discrete degrees of the human mind. Divine Speech falls into correspondences appropriate at each level. The literal meaning of Sacred Scripture is for establishing religion and worship.

(2) A universal pan-human theistic psychology had to be delivered to humanity for the regeneration of all people regardless of culture and religion. This could not be delivered in a literal meaning because it would have interfered with reason (1). To make this extraction possible, the method of correspondences with enlightenment was described and prescribed in the Writings.

(3) The Letter of the Writings is to endure for all time on earth, changeless, sacred, the basis and containant of Divine Truth that forms the human mind and ties earth to heaven. Therefore there had to be no limit to the amount and depth of knowledge extractable from the Letter, so that the numberless generations to come, would have a source of new spiritual knowledge for their regeneration. Only by correspondences could such an infinite source be delivered to humanity.

These are at least three reasons why the Writings Sacred Scripture had to be written in natural-rational correspondences of Divine Speech. The future will surely bring more insight on this question. For now, we can see that the Writings Sacred Scripture are the final component of the historical “Threefold Word,” and all Sacred Scripture is written in correspondences. In the following passages “the Word” refers to all Sacred Scripture. Quoting:

the Word was written wholly by correspondences, each thing and all things in it being correspondent. (HH 114)

the Word has been written wholly by correspondences, and consequently is of such a nature as to conjoin heaven with man. For heaven is in the internal sense of the Word (AC 10687)

that the Word is written throughout wholly by correspondences may be seen in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE (n. 5-26); that the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the sense of the Letter of the Word and confirmed by it (n. 50-61 of the same work); that heresies may be derived from the sense of the Letter of the Word, but that it is harmful to confirm them (n. 91-97); that the Church is from the Word, and its quality is according to its understanding of the Word (n. 76-79). (DP 256)

It has been said above that the spiritual world, which is heaven, is conjoined with the natural world by means of correspondences; therefore by means of correspondences communication with heaven is granted to man. For the angels of heaven do not think from natural things, as man does; but when man has acquired a knowledge of correspondences he is able, in respect to the thoughts of his mind, to be associated with the angels, and thus in respect to his spiritual or internal man to be conjoined with them. That there might be such a conjunction of heaven with man the Word was written wholly by correspondences, each thing and all things in it being correspondent. If man, therefore, had a knowledge of correspondences he would understand the correspondential sense of the Word, and from that it would be given him to know arcana of which he sees nothing in the sense of the letter. For there is a literal sense and there is a correspondential sense in the Word, the literal sense made up of such things as are in the world, and the correspondential sense of such things as are in heaven (HH 114)

These and other passages make it clear that all Sacred Scripture is written in correspondences, otherwise the text would not be Divine. In the following passage “the Word” refers to the Old Testament Sacred Scripture, the New testament Sacred Scripture, and the Writings Sacred Scripture – the three making one complete series of revelation, given for the elevation of consciousness of the human race.

the Word is Divine by virtue of the correspondential sense, and not so without it (AC 10227)

Each Sacred Scripture is written in natural correspondences at discrete levels to each other within the natural mind. The Old Testament Sacred Scripture is written in natural-corporeal correspondences. The New Testament Sacred Scripture is written in natural-sensual correspondences. The Writings Sacred Scripture is written in natural-rational correspondences. The progression – corporeal, sensuous, rational – represents three discrete levels of operation within the external natural mind. These three mentality levels of human consciousness indicate the growth of civilizations (“Churches”). The Writings Sacred Scripture are called “the crown of revelations” because the natural-rational level is the top of the natural mind. No further or new revelations can be given.

From now on all new knowledge and understanding in the human race will be sourced from the extraction process alone. This is an endless source because Sacred Scripture contains endless rational series enclosed within its literal by means of correspondences – spiritual-natural (first heaven), spiritual-rational (second heaven), and celestial-rational (third heaven). All three levels of correspondences are within the Letter of the Writings Sacred Scripture.

Correspondences of Divine Speech are the formative causes of human consciousness at each of its discrete levels – celestial, spiritual, natural. The natural mind of humanity had to be regenerated by progressive steps of psychobiological evolution. The regeneration of the natural mind is performed by means of correspondences at each discrete sub-level of the natural mind – corporeal, sensuous, rational. The steps of individual regeneration recapitulate the steps of historical civilizations (or “Churches”).

The lowest portion of the natural mind is called the natural-corporeal mentality of willing and thinking. This mentality level is regenerated through natural-corporeal correspondences of Sacred Scripture. The middle level of our natural mind’s functioning is regenerated by natural-sensuous correspondences. The upper level of our natural mind’s functioning is regenerated by natural-rational correspondences.

Correspondences “conjoin us to heaven.” This means that we are to extract the spiritual information from the correspondences, and it is this interior understanding that conjoins us to heaven, not the literal meaning itself. The literal meaning is necessary but not sufficient (“the Word without doctrine cannot be understood” SS 50 and “it is not the Word, but the understanding of it, which constitutes the Church” (SS 76). The phrase “understanding of

” refers to the activity of extracting spiritual meanings from its literal meaning by applying the method of correspondences with enlightenment. The spiritual understanding we have of the Writings Sacred Scripture is theistic psychology. This spiritual understanding is not available in any other way but through the method of correspondences with enlightenment (see Section xx).

One reason that the Writings Sacred Scripture had to be written and presented to the world in natural-rational correspondences is that spiritual-rational meanings cannot be comprehended by any level of the external natural mind. They can be comprehended only through the interior-natural mind, which becomes operational only after regeneration has begun in adult life.

This is why the Writings Sacred Scripture give us a prescribed method for extracting spiritual meanings – the method of correspondences with enlightenment. The phrase “with enlightenment” refers to the fact that spiritual meanings cannot be written down or comprehended by the external natural mind which is formed wholly by incoming information of the world through the physical body. This is true of all Sacred Scripture as well, which comes to our natural mind through the physical senses of reading and hearing in a natural language.

The natural-rational correspondences of the Writings Sacred Scripture, which are read by the external natural mind, must therefore include all the social, historical, and religious information that is of relevance and interest to the unregenerate mind. This covers everyone, even those raised in the New Church, at least until the age of young adulthood when reformation and regeneration can begin (AC 1661).

But once reformation and regeneration begin in adulthood, our reading of natural-rational correspondences in the Writings Sacred Scripture can be “enlightened” by the Divine Psychologist. Quoting:

If man, therefore, had a knowledge of correspondences he would understand the correspondential sense of the Word, and from that it would be given him to know arcana of which he sees nothing in the sense of the letter (HH 114).

We can understand the “correspondential sense” of the Writings Sacred Scripture with “a knowledge of correspondences.” The “arcana” that we are given to know through enlightenment (or “illustration”) consists of the extracted knowledge which are understood spiritually, but only to the extent of our enlightenment. And we know that this is proportional to progress in our regeneration.

All extracted information from the Letter of the Writings Sacred Scripture – whether doctrine of the Church or theistic psychology -- must be confirmed by the Letter. Quoting:

the doctrine of the Church is to be drawn from the sense of the Letter of the Word and confirmed by it (DP 256).

This phrase “and confirmed by the Letter” reappears in numerous places in the Writings (with variation in wording), no doubt as an indication of its utmost importance. This methodological necessity saves us from “harmful heresies,” which refers to stumbling blocks to our regeneration. Quoting:

Moreover it was confirmed that in the sense of the letter all things which teach the way to salvation, thus to life and faith, stand forth clearly, also that every doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed thereby, and not by the pure correspondential sense; for conjunction with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, is not given by this sense alone, but by the sense of the letter; and the Divine influx of the Lord through the Word is from firsts through ultimates. (DeVerbo 5)

From this passage we can know that “all things” needed for “the way to salvation,” that is, for our regeneration. “stand forth clearly” in the literal meaning of the Writings Sacred Scripture. Second, “every doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed thereby, and not by the pure correspondential sense.” We cannot rely for doctrine on theistic psychology nor on any other extracted information or knowledge. Doctrine is to be “drawn” only from the Letter of the Writings Sacred Scripture. Only the Letter is in correspondences of Divine Speech, and only it contains infinite spiritual knowledge to be extracted.

It is said that the literal sense of the Writings Sacred Scripture is not for doctrine, but for “drawing out” doctrine, which is the correspondential sense. It is this correspondential sense, along with the literal, that we must have for regeneration. The literal sense itself is not enough and neither is the correspondential sense. For regeneration we need to have a conscious understanding of both the literal sense and the correspondential sense. In other words, we need to understand the spiritual topics of the Letter spiritually, and not merely naturally.

But note well: once the spiritual doctrine has been drawn out from the literal meaning of the Writings Sacred Scripture, it must be confirmed by the literal meaning of the Writings Sacred Scripture. This clearly proves that the literal meaning of the Writings can be used to confirm spiritual truths even though they do not appear there, but are hidden within.

Summarizing the three steps of the method of correspondences with enlightenment:

Step (1) requires educational literacy and personal study. We are in this unregenerate state until adulthood with the onset of reformation and regeneration.

Step (2) requires the method of correspondences with enlightenment. Knowledge of the method is from Step (1). When we apply this knowledge to our daily willing and thinking, we are enlightened so that we can perceive spiritual meanings within the literal.

Step (3) requires that we look at new passages, not used in Step (2), and that we read them with enlightenment.

If we are enlightened in Step (2) and we extract the spiritual information, but then, we are not enlightened in Step (3), the confirmation process cannot be completed. Only if we read the new passages with enlightenment is it possible to see that the spiritual meaning in Step (2) is confirmed. It is not logical to expect Step (3) as a natural meaning, to be able to confirm Step (2) as a spiritual meaning since the natural cannot confirm the spiritual, but only the spiritual within the natural can do that. Only the spiritual can confirm the spiritual. And the spiritual requires enlightenment by definition.

When we evaluate a proposal in theistic psychology we do not rely on information about the author of the proposal. We know the general rule that the method of correspondences with enlightenment yields results proportional to the degree of our cooperation with the Divine Psychologist in our regeneration. Nevertheless we cannot know the state or degree of regeneration of any individual at any particular time, so the evaluation process of the proposal is not to be based on what we suppose is the author’s level of regeneration. Rather, each proposal should be examined on its own merit by a diversity of people who have a love and a knowledge of the Writings. Most importantly, independent others must be able to confirm the new proposal from the Letter. Until then the proposal does not have an objective community status. It is not yet alive.

At any particular time there may be a variety of proposals in theistic psychology that have been authored regarding extractive research, such as my proposals in this work (see selections below). The status of each proposal is to be verified and confirmed by others before one can legitimately consider it to be part of the body of knowledge of theistic psychology. The enterprise of theistic psychology is a cumulative long-term generational development. There is no theoretical limit to its growth because the amount of knowledge that can be extracted from the Writings Sacred Scripture is endless.

It is obvious that prior to being enlightened we only have a natural understanding of the extracted knowledge of theistic psychology. This is the case with my students studying theistic psychology for a required course credit. It is not expected that their grade be dependent on their character reformation, regeneration, and enlightenment. Their course work is based on a natural understanding of the spiritual topics of theistic psychology. Anyone studying theistic psychology will experience a progression of steps of enlightenment and will be able to perceive and comprehend the topics in progressively higher-order correspondences – interior-natural as an image of spiritual-natural, spiritual-rational, and celestial-rational.

Because the Writings Sacred Scripture had to be written in natural-rational correspondences, it was necessary for the Writings to prescribe the precise method by which spiritual-natural and spiritual-rational correspondences could be extracted from its Letter.

Once the extracted information – either doctrine of the Church or theistic psychology -- is written down and read by others, its spiritual meaning is understood only naturally until readers apply it to their willing and thinking in daily activities, by which and during which they may be enlightened by the Divine Psychologist. It is only in that state of enlightenment that any spiritual subjects can be comprehended spiritually.

This process of enlightenment applies only to appropriately extracted knowledge from the Writings Sacred Scripture. One cannot be enlightened by extracting knowledge from natural science books, theistic psychology books, doctrinal classes, or the writings and lectures of others. All these social occasions during which we are exposed to spiritual topics, will be understood naturally. None of these human-made sentences in a natural language are made up of correspondences. Only through the correspondences in Sacred Scripture can we be enlightened.

There are two stages in our understanding of enlightenment – personal and particular. At first we think that enlightenment is a personal characteristic one achieves, like obtaining a specialized degree or performing something in the top category. By this way of thinking, enlightenment is a sudden and permanent change in one’s status or ability. We then can discuss opinions we have about this or that person, to establish who is enlightened and who is not. Or else, who is enlightened to X degree, and who to XX degree.

This type of thinking does not allow the appropriate evaluation of extractive research in theistic psychology. It merely leads to disagreement about whether a cited passage does or does not confirm the extracted spiritual information.

The second phase of understanding the process of enlightenment is to see it in scientific, mechanistic, and particular mode. It is not the person who is enlightened but the understanding of the person in the particular area or issue that is being proposed as new spiritual information. Enlightenment is a local phenomenon – it applies narrowly to a focus issue in our mind at the time. We may go through Step (2) successfully under enlightenment for a few minutes or days. Then we want to confirm the new spiritual insight, but it no longer seems spiritual, only plainly natural. And when we look at the confirming passages we gathered under enlightenment, now we can no longer see the spiritual in it. The confirmation process fails.

The first idea of enlightenment, being personal, is also subjective. People can opine about “so-and-so’s spiritual insight,” perhaps pitting one against the other. But in the more mature idea of enlightenment, spiritual insight is not part of the person but part of truth, hence of good, hence part of the Divine Human alone. All spiritual insight is spiritual light which is from the Spiritual Sun, which is the Divine Human. Hence in no way is enlightenment part of the person, but is the Divine Psychologist with the person. Spiritual light enters the human mind and is received by the cognitive organ (“the understanding”), while the heat that is within that light, enters the affective organ (“the will”).

When these two are “married” in our willing and thinking in one or another daily activity, then we are in a state of enlightenment regarding that activity at that time. In that state we can extract spiritual meaning from Sacred Scripture. Note that this takes place through the Sacred Scripture in our memory-knowledge. We do not need to power up NewSearch or to reach for the Arcana Volume. Such physical activity takes us into another focus in our train of thinking, perhaps away from the spiritual understanding of the moment. But our memory-knowledge of the Letter of the Writings allows us to see the spiritual within the natural when we are in the state of enlightenment.

This process of gradual and progressive phases of enlightenment is described regarding the Divine Child in the Genesis stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, as analyzed and extracted in the Writings Sacred Scripture.

Enlightenment is a process that is continuous and progressive (DLW 256), though it appears to be in discrete layers as our virtual heavens in the interior-natural organ. We may be able to confirm spiritual-natural meanings (first heaven), but not yet spiritual-rational meanings (second heaven), and even less celestial-rational meanings (third heaven).

Given these methodological issues there needs to be an organized body of knowledge that collects new proposals for spiritual insights and allows them to be gradually incorporated into the body of knowledge by systematic confirmations achieved by various people in the collective effort. This organized and cumulative body of knowledge is theistic psychology, of which this work is an instance.

There is a third and final phase of understanding the organic mechanism of enlightenment. This begins when our enlightenment regarding an issue becomes permanent, or semi-permanent in our understanding. It becomes part of how we think about that issue. It is permanently part of our rational consciousness of Divine Speech. This experience gives a new perspective we could not comprehend before in a genuine way. We are at last becoming spiritual in our willing and thinking regarding that issue.

Now there are many issues to be dealt with in every person’s regeneration. We keep extending our permanent state of enlightenment to diverse areas of concern in our willing and thinking – marriage, parenting, professional work, hobbies, driving the car, personal development. To the extent that this is taking place in our daily life, to that extent we have become spiritual persons. We can read any part of Sacred Scripture and receive insight regarding its spiritual meaning.

Theistic psychology studies the issue of why spiritual meanings cannot be written down in natural expressions. Swedenborg conducted experiments with spirits who were alternately exposed to natural expressions and to spiritual meanings and it was very clear that they could not have any spiritual meanings while their mind was held in natural expressions (TCR 280).

In the following episode, the spirits who were with Swedenborg’s spiritual mind while he was writing down in his natural mind, sentences describing his spiritual experiences. Quoting:

They said because they now speak with me, that those things which I have written are so rude and gross that they suppose nothing which is internalizing can be understood from those words or the mere sense of the words. I also perceived by a spiritual idea that it was so, that my expressions were very rude, wherefore it was given me to reply that my words are only vessels in which purer, better, and internalizing things can be infused. (SD 2185)

The spirits were indignant because the natural expressions Swedenborg wrote in contained no spiritual ideas in their literal meaning. The spirits had no use for natural ideas. But Swedenborg explained to them that his natural sentences were “only vessels” that contained spiritual meanings (“internalizing things”) that do not appear in the natural expressions.

The internal sense of the Word contains arcana of heaven, which relate to the Lord and His kingdom in the heavens and on earth (n. 1-4, 937). Those arcana do not appear in the sense of the letter (n. 937, 1502, 2161). (WH 11)

Why do spiritual meanings (“arcana”) not appear in the sense of the letter of Sacred Scripture? Why are they hidden? Why aren’t they placed right there in the literal meaning?

The answer is that they are placed there – in the “naked truth” or “plain meaning” sentences -- but they are not seen. As soon as spiritual meanings are laid down into the natural sentence, what remains there is only a vessel of the spiritual meaning. The vessel becomes transparent only when we are enlightened by the Divine Psychologist in that moment regarding our focus of attention. It’s as if we had a peculiar language aphasia, alternating between days that we speak one language with days when we speak another language, thinking each time that we only know that one language. If we are then spoken to by someone in the other language, we do not understand its meaning.

The act of writing or speaking a spiritual meaning from enlightenment automatically covers it up or wraps it into a natural expression of the spiritual meaning. So it is in theistic psychology, where there are three distinct levels of understanding its concepts (see Volume 3).

But I discovered that the spiritual insight can be recovered from the literal expressions we gave it during enlightenment. But to do so, one must re-read in a state of enlightenment. Then we can reconstruct or recapture the original spiritual meaning. This is very useful for systematic progress in research and study. For the past twenty years I have followed this unwavering rule:

Writing this work could not have been done without my faithful and compulsive adherence to this cardinal rule of research in theistic psychology. It takes involvement with recording devices (pencil, pen, tape recorder, computer, etc.) and storing devices (book margins, post-it notes, index cards, note pads, word processing files, indexes, concordances, etc.). It also takes determination to get up while you fall asleep, because you must put to record (into a “vessel”) what you have just been given from heaven.

Enlightenment is not a mystical experience. Nor is it difficult to understand precisely what it is. From the perspective of theistic psychology enlightenment is a psychobiological process of the human mind corresponding to the biological process by which sunlight and its heat are received by plants and use it to fabricate their nutrition. Spiritual light in which there is spiritual heat proceeds from the Spiritual Sun into the mental world of humanity where it enters the mind of every existing human being simultaneously and proceeds outward and downward by successive degrees of correspondence. The cognitive (light) and affective (heat) organs of the mind are constructed and animated by this universal “influx,” and we use it for willing and thinking in daily activities.

The operation of enlightenment in the cognitive organ is also called “revelation”: Quoting: By "revelation" is meant enlightenment when the Word is read, and perception then” (AC 8694). When we read the Writings Sacred Scripture (“the Word”) we can comprehend the revelations in a spiritual way when we are enlightened while reading and reflecting. It is not necessary that we read the printed sentences on the page or screen. It is equally effective if we think the sentences or phrases and reflect upon their universal meaning.

In this reflection upon the universal meaning, we are to be motivated to apply the truth to self. To be motivated to apply the truth to one’s willing and thinking is to search for the universal meaning. This universal meaning applies to every individual regardless of background, culture, and religion. Hence we call this universal meaning theistic psychology. This process of extracting the scientific meaning from the Writings Sacred Scripture is the process of practicing the method of correspondences with enlightenment.

Enlightenment is the comprehension of scientific meaning within the literal meaning. It is to perceive how the sentence applies to self and to all other human beings. This is what makes it into a science – universal and objective applicability. Enlightenment, or the perception of spiritual meaning, is not received when our motivation for reading and reflecting upon the Writings is other than application to one’s own willing and thinking. Our interest must be no other than the desire to reform our inherited character by facing spiritual combat in temptations. The truths we extract that apply to our willing and thinking are to be formed into a doctrine of justification by which we can fend off doubts and relapses. This is the ultimate purpose of enlightenment.

Enlightenment is not something superfluous or special, reserved for certain types of scholarship and piety. Enlightenment is the psychobiological process by which every person’s affective and cognitive organs are regenerated and prepared for life in heaven. Without enlightenment no one can be prepared for heaven. Either we are enlightened in this world, or failing that, in the afterlife. No one enters heaven without being enlightened while reading the Writings Sacred Scripture. Everyone who is resuscitated in the world of spirits is given instruction in the Writings Sacred Scripture since they alone contain the rational heavens of our immortality. Those who have lived a life of conscience and use are happy and willing receivers of the truths of the Writings. Others are unwilling.

The extracted knowledge of theistic psychology may be studied by anyone for any purpose, but everything in it will be understood naturally, and nothing in it will be understood spiritually – unless one is enlightened by the Divine Psychologist while it is being read or applied. It is not possible to perceive spiritual meanings without being ‘online’ as it were, connected to “mediate influx” in a deliberate and conscious way. This ‘online’ feature applies to enlightenment since it is the organic operation of spiritual light in the cognitive organ of thinking and reasoning. As long as we are plugged in the correct way, enlightenment flows and operates in our conscious mind. The organic venue for the process is the interior-natural organ (see Section xx)..

When the Writings discuss some particular historical ethnic group or religion, we are to search for the scientific meaning behind the discussion, just as Swedenborg performed for us with the Old and New Testament portion of Sacred Scripture. The Writings teach that all Sacred Scripture is written in correspondences and that we are to extract spiritual doctrine from them. The Writings Sacred Scripture are written in natural-rational correspondences, which is a discrete degree above the New Testament Sacred Scripture. The angelic spirits in the first heaven of the mind read the Writings Sacred Scripture as we do, but it is clear that they know nothing about any of the historical names, nations, periods, and places mentioned in the Writings. Instead of these things, they see the interior-natural correspondences. Our interior-natural organ can give us enlightenment to see these spiritual-natural correspondences of the Letter of the Writings, not exactly as they do, but in an image that is so close that we can speak with them and think with them.

The scientific meaning of “Abraham” is a celestial mental state in every person’s mind regardless of religion or planet. Similarly with “Jerusalem,” which refers to the spiritual-rational correspondences out of which is constructed the second heaven of every human mind. By this method of correspondences the reader makes the historical names “vanish,” and likewise, with all references to natural things (AC 1405; 3776). When we read the Writings Sacred Scripture we think and reason in our external natural understanding by means of the natural-rational correspondences of the literal meaning. But the angels who are with us, only perceive the interior-natural, the spiritual-rational, and celestial-rational correspondences that are within the literal meaning we are reading.

When the Word is being read by man, angels neither know nor perceive what eighty-six is, nor are they concerned about what age Abram was when Hagar bore him Ishmael. Rather, when such a number is read, the real things embodied in that number instantly present themselves to them, as when all other expressions are read, these present themselves as the things which they have been shown to mean in the internal sense. (AC 1963)

when the Word is being read by man the angels may thereby be in their happiness of wisdom (AC 5398)

this sense is for the angels who are with man while the Word is being read, consequently that there is from this source an influx of holiness, and a perception of it, with those who are in the life of faith and charity (AC 8971)

They said that these persons are mentioned with honour in the Word for the reason that in the internal sense the Lord is meant by them-by "Abraham", "Isaac", and "Jacob", the Lord in respect of the Divine and the Divine Human; by "David" the Lord in respect of the Divine Royalty; and by the "Apostles" the Lord in respect of Divine Truths; also that when the Word is read by man the angels have no perception whatever of these men, for their names do not enter heaven (HH 526)

When we read passages in the Writings Sacred Scripture that discuss Abraham or King David or one of the Apostles, these names repeatedly appear within the literal meaning of the Writings. What is the scientific or universal meaning of these names? They each refer to human mental states and their dynamic activity in regeneration and spiritual growth. This applies to all people regardless of background, religion, or planet, though no doubt with realistic differences. When we read one of the many superb Memorable Relations throughout the Writings, what do the angels who are with us get out of it? Especially when our children read them in the innocence of ignorance? The angels have no idea of number or age. What then do they think of when numbers and ages are mentioned in the Memorable Relations? Neither do they know of directions like north or south. Neither do they know of the European nations and cities, as those which are mentioned in many places throughout the Writings, nor the names of the bishops of the Church, and so on.

It is clear that the Writings Sacred Scripture exists at discrete levels and that the Letter is different at each level. The method of correspondences starts at the natural-rational level of the literal meaning, collecting facts and organizing them into an orderly doctrine that we use as a tool in daily spiritual combat with our temptations brought to us by the Divine Psychologist for this very purpose. This doctrine may be called abstracted, to distinguish it from the later doctrine that is extracted.

Abstracted doctrine does not use the method of correspondences, and hence does not depend on enlightenment. We all start with principles of life and religious doctrines that are abstracted, paraphrased, contrasted, and reflected on. They are the foundation of our moral-rational life, and hence of civilization and society. Further on down the road of maturity we begin to go beyond abstraction. We leave the discrete degree of the literal and its rational abstractions in our mind, by making the literal meaning “vanish” from central focus, and as a result, we begin to think with angels (AC 1405; 3776).

But as he grows into a young adult, if he develops his power of reason, he employs what is in his interior natural to work out the reasons for things, which are truths of a yet higher nature. These are extracted so to speak from what is present in the interior natural. (...) This is the manner in which a person rises with his understanding from the world up to heaven. (AC 5497)

The phrase “to rise with the understanding from the world up to heaven” refers to enlightenment through Sacred Scripture. Our thoughts suddenly begin to operate by means of spiritual-natural correspondences of the Writings Sacred Scripture. We are with the angelic spirits that inhabit the first heaven in our mind. And by progressive enlightenment in our interior-natural organ we climb up Jacob’s ladder of discrete correspondences in our mind, “as though” we actually were in the presence of the angels who dwell in our spiritual mind.

We receive this light of heaven when we read the Writings as Divine Speech rendered in the correspondences of Sacred Scripture. To read the Writings as Divine Speech in correspondences is to read them with enlightenment. The abstract doctrine of the literal meaning is suddenly seen infused with heavenly light so that its interiors are perceived as truth from the Divine Human. This interior perception in enlightenment cannot possibly be at the same discrete level of meaning as the literal. The literal Sacred Scripture and the abstracted doctrine of the literal, now become spiritually empowered with a comprehension that is a discrete degree above them.

We learn and memorize and apply abstracted doctrine for decades before we begin reformation and regeneration. Abstracted doctrine is necessary for making us ready for reformation, and we could not become ready without it. But the Writings tell us that the time must come in adulthood when we choose to begin our reformation and regeneration. Now we must enter a discrete degree within the abstracted doctrines that we have collected in our mind until then. We do this under the supervision of the Divine Psychologist who provides the spiritual light or enlightenment.

The Divine Psychologist is commanding us, through the literal meaning of the Writing Sacred Scripture, that we must begin practicing the method of correspondences with enlightenment. This involves the deliberate intention and systematic application procedures called extractive research, that is, spiritual meaning that is “drawn out” by means of correspondences and illustration.

[3] But what is the nature of the revelation with those who are in good and from this in the affection of truth, cannot be described. It is not manifest, neither is it altogether hidden; but it is a certain consent and favoring from within that a thing is true, and a non-favoring if it is not true. When there is a favoring, the mind is at rest and is serene, and in this state there is the acknowledgment which is of faith. The cause of its being so is from the influx of heaven from the Lord; for through heaven from the Lord there is light, that surrounds and enlightens the intellect, which is the eye of the internal sight. The things which are then seen in that light are truths, for this very light is the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord. That this Divine truth is light in heaven, has been frequently shown. (AC 8694)

This passage describes in natural expression a spiritual phenomenon that we experience mentally when extracting theistic psychology knowledge for ourselves. The extracted information is called “revelation” because it cannot be perceived as true except by enlightenment. The spiritual meaning which is the content of revelation or enlightenment, “cannot be described” with natural expressions because “it is not manifest.” But “neither is it altogether hidden.”

What does this mean? Something that cannot be described in language that refers to natural objects and conditions, which are “not manifest” in natural perception? The closest specific description given for it is that “it is a certain consent and favoring from within that a thing is true, and a non-favoring if it is not true.” If we were to become conscious in our third heaven, we would be nearly omniscient, because whatever we were curious about would instantly be present in our thoughts as an answer in Divine Truth, which is omniscient.

The procedures for extracting scientific facts from the Writings Sacred Scripture are surely endless in number when we consider that the Writings Sacred Scripture mark themselves as the last portion of the overall Sacred Scripture that took thousands of years to deliver to humanity. It calls itself “the Crown of Revelations” because “it will endure forever.” Quoting:

LII. This New Church, truly Christian, which at this day is being established by the Lord, will endure to eternity, as is proved from the Word of both Testaments; also it was foreseen from the creation of the world; and it will be the crown of the four preceding churches, because it will have true faith and true charity. (CORO 0)

We need to extract the correspondential sense of the above passage to see how it applies to theistic psychology:

We now know that heaven and earth must stay connected in creation so that there will never be an end to earths in the natural world. An endless series of civilizations and generations will be using the Writings Sacred Scripture for extracting the information they will need to regenerate. Every generation must extract its own information because each generation is unique in relation to all the others, and their regeneration will depend on new truths that prior generations have not seen.

This is why it is rational to think that the number of methods by which spiritual information can be extracted from the Writings, is endless. But here are three methods of extraction that it was given me to discover. Perhaps others have also made these and similar discoveries in their study of the Writings. They are serviceable to our generation for extracting certain types of spiritual facts that are suitable to a civilization whose genes of consciousness is formed by natural-rational correspondences. I use the expression genes of consciousness to refer to the basic semantic units that define our mentality levels. See Section xx.

The substitution technique involves parallelisms in the Writings that are explicitly stated in the Letter. It may also be called the method of applying the Letter to the Letter. The Letter of the Writings must define the substitution for it to be permissible. Some substitutions are near to each other, as they are mentioned closely to each other in the text, while other substitutions are more distant from each other, so that several steps of parallelisms must be reconstructed and demonstrated.

I illustrate near substitutions in the following table which is based on a search for equivalence statements in the text, as for instance "it is the same whether you say that...", besides others like it that could also be searched.

“it is the same whether you say...”	Permissible substitutes
Divine worship consists of these truths and goods, or that man consists of them, (AC 10298)	Divine worship	man
truth or faith, since everything of faith is truth; also it is the same whether you say good or love, since everything of love is good (HH 232)	good	love
conjunction of understanding and will or conjunction of truth and good. (HH 370)	conjunction of understanding and will	conjunction of truth and good
ruling love or that which he loves above all things. (HH 486)	ruling love	that which he loves above all things
truth or faith (NJHD 35)	truth	faith
"begotten of God" or "proceeding from God;" (TCR 23)	begotten of God	proceeding from God
God is Good itself and Truth itself or He is Love itself and Wisdom itself (CAN 8)	God	Good itself and Truth itself
	God	Love itself and Wisdom itself
Lord's Divine Human, or the Divine Love (AE 146)	Lord's Divine Human	Divine Love
the understanding of truth is described, or those who are in it are described (AE 355)	the understanding of truth	those who are in the understanding of truth
the spiritual and natural mind or the spiritual and natural man. (AE 406)	spiritual and natural mind	spiritual and natural man
falsities from the hells, or the hells (AE 538)	falsities from the hells	the hells
faith or conscience (AC 2325)	faith	conscience
higher and lower ones, or more internal and more external (AC 10051)	higher and lower	more internal and more external

Let’s take a passage that allows several substitutions according to the table above. I have bolded the words in the original, and also in its duplicate paragraph below to indicate the substitutions: Quoting:

The natural mind, by its two capacities called rationality and freedom, is in this state that it is capable of ascending through three degrees, or of descending through three degrees. It ascends by reason of goods and truths, and descends by reason of evils and falsities. And when it ascends, the lower degrees which tend towards hell are closed, but when it descends, the higher degrees which tend towards heaven are closed. The cause for this is that they are in reaction. These three degrees, higher and lower, have neither been opened nor closed in man in earliest infancy, for he is then ignorant of good and truth, and of evil and falsity. (DLW 274)

The natural man, by its two capacities called rationality and freedom, is in this state that it is capable of ascending through three degrees, or of descending through three degrees. [The man] ascends by reason of love and faith, and descends by reason of evils and the hells. And when [the man] ascends, the external degrees which tend towards hell are closed, but when [the man] descends, the internal degrees which tend towards heaven are closed. The cause for this is that they are in reaction. These three degrees, internal and external, have neither been opened nor closed in man in earliest infancy, for he is then ignorant of love and faith, and of evil and the hells.

It this case, it turns out that the original and the substitutions are so close that the two paragraphs hardly seem different in meaning. Nevertheless, the second paragraph is not merely synonymous with the original but reveals new features that are more interior. To see this requires more detailed study and examination. (see Note 8).

Let us take another passage where the substitutions create a more dramatic difference:

The second sentence containing the substitution is a more interior meaning than the original. We knew that the life of faith is the Lord since faith is truth from the Lord, and what is from the Lord is the Lord. Hence, the very essence and life of faith is the Lord alone. But we did not know that the very essence and life of conscience is the Lord alone. This is a new spiritual revelation contained within the first revelation of the Letter. We must now confirm this new more interior perception by finding a passage in the Letter that states that the life of conscience is the Lord. As for example: Quoting:

[2] A person does not feel this struggle to be anywhere but in himself, and he feels it as the pangs of conscience. Yet it is the Lord and the devil (that is, hell) who struggle in man; their struggle is to gain control of the person, to see which is to possess him. The devil, or hell, attacks the person and calls forth the evil in him, while the Lord protects him and calls forth the good in him. (TCR 596)

Genuine conscience is given by the Lord through the knowledges of a true faith (SE 3615)

With angelical spirits there are bonds of conscience, which conscience is from the Lord. (SE 3850)

Judgments are based on what is the Lord's when they accord with truths and spring from conscience. (AC 9160)

When conscience dictates, it is in like manner said in the Word that "Jehovah speaks;" because conscience is formed from things revealed, and from knowledges, and from the Word; and when the Word speaks, or dictates, it is the Lord who speaks; hence nothing is more common, even at the present day, when referring to a matter of conscience, or of faith, than to say, "the Lord says." (AC 371)

You can see from these series of passages that a conscience that is genuine is from the Lord and is the Lord. Quoting: “nothing is more common, even at the present day, when referring to a matter of conscience, or of faith, than to say, "the Lord says."

In summary, we go through three steps in the method of substitution. First, we find parallelisms in the Letter that are explicitly identified in the plain meaning of the sentences. Second, we make the substitutions and reflect on the new formulation. This new meaning is more interior than what could be seen in the original text of the Letter. It has been spiritually enriched by the different series or contexts which are brought together by the substitution. Third, find new passages that explicitly confirm the new meaning.

Note that the new perception after substitution is more interior than the older perception before substitution. Despite this, the new perception is not yet a discrete degree higher than the old perception. It is in the same degree, which is natural-rational at a more interior continuum. Performing this three-step method builds natural-rational vessels that are needed later for influx and enlightenment. This occurs when we apply the new meaning to our hourly willing and thinking all day long. Then, at some point -- unexpected point -- we receive enlightenment. That’s when for the first time we can see the meaning of the new perception in a spiritual degree.

Without having practiced the substitution method regarding some topic, there are not any such cognitive “vessels” that can be enlightened. Of course, it is possible for people to practice the substation technique implicitly, not as a formal research technique, but spontaneously, since our thinking about Sacred Scripture is always in the company of angels who prompt the train of our thoughts in favorable directions for noticing parallelisms and discovering the substitutes.

The triconcentric diagram visually exhibits the three "discreet degrees of height" (A----> C ---> S) which are called "successive order", and the three "continuous degrees of breadth" which are called "simultaneous order." Picturing the triconcentric diagram while reading a sentence or paragraph in the Writings Sacred Scripture, greatly enhances our capacity to see the meaning distinctly. Quoting from the Writings:

The first sentence may be graphically analyzed using the triconcentric method, as shown on the left of the diagram below:

Note that the three degrees of existence are connected by "correspondences" which are functional relations as indicated by the arrows. Thus, "ends" (also called "essence" elsewhere) descend by correspondence into "causes" and these in turn descend into "effects," the three being in functional correspondence with each other, both successively and simultaneously. By adding the concepts in the third sentence of the quotation above, we can enlarge the graphic diagram to include them and obtain a slightly more complex form of Swedenborg's thought, as shown on the right of the diagram above. In theory, there is no limit to the size of the graphic diagram, but in practice we restrict each diagram to a particular topic or topic domain under study.

Swedenborg's Writings are replete with sentences that mention one element of each of the three degrees of existence, as in the two quotations above. The Table below illustrates this same pattern in collateral works by various others discussing Swedenborg's ideas. Try to picture the concepts in a triconcentric diagram, as above.

The next diagram shows the trigrammatic series applied to contemporary concepts and authors in social psychology.

The method of rational series for extracting scientific information from the Writings Sacred Scripture is illustrated in the section 15.3 Genes of Consciousness. It consists of arranging words or phrases from the Writings in sets that they belong to.

COLUMN 1	COLUMN 2	COLUMN 3
Love	Wisdom	Use
Celestial	Spiritual	Natural
Third heaven	Second heaven	First heaven
Abraham	Isaac	Jacob
Jerusalem	Assyria	Egypt
Affective	Cognitive	Scientific (sensorimotor)
Lamb	Mules	Horses

If you inspect each column up and down you are creating a new rational set in the organization or thesaurus that you carry in your memory-knowledge. Now, when you read about Abraham you can supply the rest of the series in your mind, thus giving it a new meaning which is more interior than what you had before. Now, this new semantic gene of a higher continuous level will serve as a vessel for enlightenment. This occurs the moment you apply this new semantic gene to your willing and thinking in daily activities.

This method is illustrated in section 15.3.5 titled Enneadic Gene Structures. It uses a chart or matrix created by putting together two series obtained from the method of rational series. This chart is made of intersections that have dynamic properties relating to mental states, as described in the Writings when explicating the correspondential sense of the Old Testament. In the example below, the first column lists the phrases in the Writings and in the second column, their mental state map location is given. A refers to the affective organ (“the will”), C refers to the cognitive organ (“the understanding”). Levels 3, 2, and 1 refer to the three degrees: celestial, spiritual, natural.

Divine good of the rational	A3
Good by an internal way	A2
truth by an external way.	C2
Good thus conjoins itself with truth in the rational	A2 + C2
the rational as to good	A2
memory-knowledges and knowledges from the natural man	C1

When you identify the map location of “Divine good of the rational” as A3, you are thinking in a more interior way about this concept. “A” means affective and level “3” means celestial. So to recognize in your mind that “Divine good of the rational” is celestial willing (A3), you are providing an enlarged context for it that can be hooked up to other mapped areas, as is illustrated in the section below. Now this enlarged more interior thesaurus becomes a vessel for enlightenment the moment that you apply this larger interior thesaurus to some part of your willing and thinking at some point during the day.

The method of extraction can only be applied to the Writings Sacred Scripture. Only Divine text is written in such a way that it may contain endless information to be extracted until eternity. It may appear at first that the extracted knowledge is of the same degree as the original, but deeper analysis shows that the extracted knowledge is at a higher degree, all the way to the celestial-rational.

The elevation of meaning during the extraction process is due to the operation of the interior-natural organ, as discussed section 8 titled Thinking With Angels -- Our Virtual Heavens.

The above is a passage from the Writings that discusses the scientific sense of the verse in Genesis 40:12. Note the expression "revelation from perception from the celestial in the natural ." You need to know what is being referred to before you can understand it. What does "the celestial in the natural" refer to? Here, "the celestial" refers to the celestial mind or the celestial portion of our mind. This is the organ that is able to receive direct influx from the Spiritual Sun so that spiritual heat (or love) and spiritual light (or truth) stream into it, a process called "Divine influx." This influx is called divine not because God can enter into us, but because the love and truth that enter into us are from the Spiritual Sun and this is the expanse around the Divine-Human, hence it is Divine.

Note this very important principle: Whatever is from God must be fully God since God cannot be divided into portions. This is because God is infinite and the infinite cannot be divided but remains the infinite wherever it enters the finite. So the infinite enters the finite, not the other way around. The finite contains the infinite fully, not just a part of the infinite, but all of it, since as already said, the infinite cannot be divided into lesser portions of itself.

You need to understand rationally the way the infinite enters the finite and "dwells" there in fullness of itself,

You can see that this is the same as saying: You need to understand rationally the way God enters the human mind and "dwells" there in fullness of itself,

God or the infinite "dwells" in the finite mind by adjoining love and truth to the mind as-if they belong to the person. We experience love as a feeling, like wanting to be useful to society, and we experience truth as an understanding, like seeing that selfishness is destructive. God dwells within the feeling of wanting to be useful, and the seeing that selfishness is destructive. God dwells in the loves and truths we acquire and feel as-if our own. How can that be? That's because the love and truth we experience as-if our own is not our own but came into our celestial mind from the Spiritual Sun. Now that they are in our organs, love in the affective organ and truth in the cognitive organ, they feel like our own, as-if they were own. Even if we know from revelation that all love and truth are God's, we still feel as-if they are own within us.

This is where God dwells, where God is in us. It's possible only because the love and truth in us is God's love and truth, and whatever is God's cannot be separated from God but forever remains God's. God is infinite and unchanging, and therefore the love and truth emanating from Himself as the Spiritual Sun, must remain God's. God cannot give them away to created things like the finite human mind. So if we now have the experience that the love and truth in us is our own, then it is equivalent to being adjoined or connected to God. But note carefully: It is never the case that we can be conjoined to God, or merging with God, or being one with God. If this were possible, we would become God, and each of us would be God, as some people believe.

Clearly, the possibility of being connected or adjoined to God depends on this sensation or feeling that the love and truth in us is as-if our own.

The moment we would actually sense the influx, or become aware of it, the as-if position is destroyed and we can never be conjoined to God, hence not receive love and truth from God, and thus instantaneously disappear from existence.

Consider again the phrase in the passage above: "revelation from perception from the celestial in the natural." The celestial mind is "within" the natural mind, which means that it is higher and superior to it. Whenever something is said to be "within" another portion of the mind, it is always superior to it in excellence, by far. So the celestial portion of the mind is superior to the natural portion of the mind in mode and level of operation in its affective organ (feelings, loves) and in its cognitive organ (thoughts, truths). The phrase "revelation from perception" refers to the influx of truth which is felt as-if it is our own. God prevents us from sensing influx so that we can maintain the as-if feeling. By maintaining the as-if feeling, we can be connected to God's love and truth, hence to God. The connection depends on our feeling that the love and truth is as-if our own.

Scientific revelations are Divine truths contained in Divine Speech. When we understand scientific revelations found in Sacred Scripture we are receiving revelation from perceiving the scientific sense of a word or phrase in Sacred Scripture. Perceiving the scientific sense is an intellectual effort that feels like our very own effort. This is the as-if feeling we have that those truths are our own from the effort of understanding them. Once we understand some scientific revelation, the truth of it becomes as-if our own. This is called rational consciousness. It does not work with sensuous consciousness. Feeling something we call "oneness with God" is an effort to connect with God through sensuous consciousness. This can only translate into mystical spirituality, which inhibits all forms of rational spirituality.

Rational spirituality is necessary for the appropriation of love and truth to self by means of the as-if feeling. The appropriation of love and truth to self is necessary in order to be connected to God. Hence all connection to God is based on rational understanding and not on sensuous experience. If we appropriate the sensuous consciousness of God, we become God, and this is impossible. It is therefore destructive of rational consciousness, our only means of connection to God. Our heaven is embedded in our rational consciousness, while our hell is embedded in sensuous consciousness or corporeal spirituality, this being a state of anti-rationality or irrationality.

This fascinating paragraph reveals and specifies many details about scientific revelations viewed from an evolutionary perspective. The highest portion of the mind called celestial receives revelation directly from perception of the scientific sense of Divine Speech. But we are not conscious of our celestial mind while we are attached to the physical body on earth, with the unique exception of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). Therefore in order for us to become conscious of the scientific sense of Sacred Scripture, our understanding must be enlightened by gradual acquisition of knowledge which we must consciously build up into a coherent framework called "doctrine." We can also call it theistic psychology, from the perspective of organized and institutional science.

The passage above reveals that anyone can have revelation from perception if they are willing to love the scientific revelations enough to guide their daily life according to it. This is expressed as "they who are in good and thence in truth." To be in good refers to our willingness to love the Divine-Human as the source of all that we have in our mind and in our future. When we love scientific revelations as God's Speech to us, we love good and thence truth. The truth we perceive is loved because it is from the Divine-Human. When we are in this state of mind, we experience perception from revelation. We can perceive how the truth applies specifically to us, and particularly to our feelings and thoughts. What we think must be according to truth or else we must reject what we think. And what we feel or enjoy must be according to the love or else we enjoy what is the opposite of love, namely love of self as god, which is not properly love, but cupidity.

When we are unwilling to love the Divine-Human as the source of all that we have, we can still be enlightened to see the scientific sense of Sacred Scripture. But not by perception, only by mediation, through the intermediary of others. Others who have perception can translate for us through correspondences that are lower and easier to understand within the natural perspective. It is said in the passage above that when we are in this state we can hear a "living voice" within our mind. This refers to the sensuous consciousness of a spiritual vision that the prophets had in the Old Testament. The spiritual vision could be heard rather than seen, and the words heard could be written down as Sacred Scripture. This is called an "external revelation" to contrast with the "internal revelation" by direct perception. Swedenborg was raised into his celestial mind and made conscious there so that he had revelation from perception like all the inhabitants of the higher heavens.

It is clear from these details that God is very much involved in the details of our thinking and feeling. You need to maintain rational thinking to understand this enough in order not to feel disappointed or angry at God. My grown up children have always expressed a distaste for this idea that God is so involved in their thinking. It seems to them from their natural perspective, that if this were so, there would be no point or desire to keep thinking and living. They lose all enthusiasm for living when thinking about how it is God who directs their attention, focus, and memory. They suddenly feel that they are not free in that case and all joy of life leaves them, and all desire to do anything. But as they continue to grow in rational consciousness of God they will start feeling less and less troubled by the idea, and eventually, they will start feeling more and more that it is their joy to know it is God within them that activates and guides these processes in the mind, thus insuring that we are well and that our future is well. If it were left to us to think on our own even for a few seconds, we would instantly hate God and precipitate ourselves into the lowest hell of our mind, where we stay forever, being unwilling to emerge from there by loving God.

Another quote from Swedenborg (NJHD 51). (Reference numbers refer to numbered paragraphs in Arcana Coelestia):

Note: For a more detailed justification for extracting the correspondential sense of the Writings of Swedenborg, please consult my online book at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/v2ch1-nonduality.html

Theistic psychology is the cumulative and integrated knowledge extracted from the Writings of Swedenborg by using methods of extraction specified in those Writings (see Preface). Other methods of extraction are possible but they do not produce theistic psychology knowledge. A number of scholars listed in the Readings, have contributed to theistic psychology for the past 200 years, by applying methods of extraction specified in the Writings. I should note that they did not describe their work as theistic psychology, and further, that only some of them explicitly applied the method of correspondences to the Writings (see Section xx). The extraction methods are explicitly reviewed and applied by several contributors to the publication known as De Hemelsche Leer (see Readings). For specific techniques, see also, volume 2 of my book A Man of the Field available at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/volume2-nonduality.html ).

In what follows I illustrate the functional parallelism between three levels of correspondences (see Section xx):

A portion of the books of the Writings called Arcana Coelestia (=Heavenly Secrets in Latin), AC 3011 to 3212, is an explication of a portion of the Hebrew Old Testament called Genesis (Chapter 24). In the literal sense of Genesis 24, it is the story of how Abraham’s chief “servant” or estate administrator, was sent to Abraham’s native land to look for a bride for Isaac, Abraham’s son. In the scientific sense, this Section of Sacred Scripture is discussing the phases of spiritual development that we go through when we are preparing our mind for heavenly life.

Here is the text of Genesis 24 as it appears in the Writings, where it is given a word by word and phrase by phrase analysis regarding their spiritual meaning or “internal sense.” The passage opens with the comment that Sacred Scripture (“the Word”) has a literal meaning which has “stored within it” a different meaning which is “heavenly secret” because no one can know what it is except through a knowledge of correspondences. The internal sense is revealed to anyone who knows the correspondences in which Sacred Scripture is written. This is the secret now revealed to humankind through the Writings of Swedenborg (see also the analysis of Genesis 22 in Section xx):

Arcana Coelestia 3011.
From what has been said it may be seen what hidden things the Word has stored within it; which can by no means come to anyone's knowledge except from the internal sense.

1. And Abraham being old was come into days; and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things.

2. And Abraham said unto his servant, the elder of his house, who administered all that he had, Put I pray thy hand under my thigh.

3. And I will make thee swear by Jehovah the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in the midst of whom I dwell;

4. But thou shalt go unto my land, and to my nativity; and take a woman for my son for Isaac.

5. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land; bringing shall I bring back thy son unto the land whence thou camest out?

7. Jehovah the God of heaven, that took me from my father's house, and from the land of my nativity, and that spoke unto me, and that swear unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land, He shall send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a woman for my son from thence.

8. And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this mine oath; only thou shalt not bring back my son thither.

9. And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his lord, and sware to him concerning this word.

10. And the servant took ten camels, of the camels of his lord, and departed, and every good of his lord was in his hand; and he arose and went to Aram-naharaim, unto the city of Nahor.

11. And he made the camels kneel down, without the city, by the well of waters, about the time of evening, about the time the drawers go out.

12. And he said, O Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, cause to meet I pray before me this day; and do mercy with my lord Abraham.

13. Behold, I stand by the fountain of waters; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw waters.

14. And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink, and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also, her hast Thou appointed for Thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast done mercy with my lord.

15. And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking, when behold Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

16. And the damsel was exceeding good to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

17. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher.

18. And she said, Drink, my lord; and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and made him drink.

19. And she finished making him drink, and she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

20. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels.

21. And the man marveling at her, withheld himself, to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not.

22. And it came to pass when the camels had done drinking, that the man took a jewel of gold, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten of gold their weight.

23. And he said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night?

24. And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor.

25. And she said unto him, We have both straw and much provender, also room to pass the night.

27. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham, who hath not forsaken His mercy and His truth from my lord. I being in the way, Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren.

29. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain.

30. And it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spoke the man unto me, that he came unto the man; and behold he stood by the camels at the fountain.

31. And he said, Come thou blessed of Jehovah, wherefore standest thou without? For I have swept the house, and there is room for the camels.

32. And the man came into the house, and loosed the camels, and gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were with him.

33. And there was set before him to eat; and he said, I will not eat until I have spoken my words. And he said, Speak.

35. And Jehovah hath blessed my lord exceedingly, and hath made him great, and hath given him flock and herd, and silver and gold, and menservants and maidservants, and camels and asses.

36. And Sarah, my lord's wife, bare a son to my lord after she was old; and he hath given unto him all that he hath.

37. And my lord made me swear, saying, Thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite, in whose land I dwell.

38. But thou shalt go unto my father's house, and to my family, and take a woman for my son.

40. And he said unto me, Jehovah, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with thee, and prosper thy way; and thou shalt take a woman for my son from my family, and from my father's house.

41. Then shalt thou be clear from my oath, when thou comest to my family; and if they give not to thee, thou shalt be clear from my oath.

42. And I came this day unto the fountain, and said, O Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, if now Thou do prosper my way wherein I do walk;

43. Behold I stand by the fountain of waters; and let it come to pass that the maiden which cometh forth to draw, and to whom I shall say, Let me drink I pray a little water from thy pitcher;

44. And she shall say to me, Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels, let her be the woman whom Jehovah hath appointed for my lord's son.

45. I scarcely had done speaking in mine heart, when behold Rebekah came forth; and her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the fountain and drew; and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray.

46. And she made haste, and let down her pitcher from upon her, and said, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also; and I drank, and she gave drink to the camels also.

47. And I asked her, and said, Whose daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of Bethuel, the son of Nahor, whom Milcah bare unto him. And I put the jewel upon her nose, and the bracelets upon her hands.

48. And I bent and bowed myself down to Jehovah, and blessed Jehovah God of my lord Abraham, who led me into the way of truth, to take the daughter of my lord's brother for his son.

49. And now if ye will do mercy and truth with my lord, tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will look to the right hand, or to the left.

50. And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The word hath gone forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak unto thee evil or good.

51. Behold Rebekah is before thee; take her, and go, and let her be the woman of thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken.

52. And it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he bowed himself down to the earth unto Jehovah.

53. And the servant brought forth vessels of silver and vessels of gold, and garments, and gave to Rebekah; he gave also precious things to her brother and to her mother.

54. And they did eat and drink, he and the men that were with him; and they passed the night; and they rose up in the morning, and he said, Send me away unto my lord.

55. And her brother and her mother said, Let the damsel abide with us days, at least ten; afterwards thou shalt go.

56. And he said unto them, Do not delay me, and Jehovah hath prospered my way; send me away, and I will go to my lord.

58. And they called Rebekah, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man? And she said, I will go.

59. And they sent away Rebekah their sister, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his men.

60. And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Our sister, be thou for thousands of ten thousands; and may thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee.

61. And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and followed the man; and the servant took Rebekah, and went away.

62. And Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi; and he dwelt in the land of the south.

63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the field toward evening; and he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold there were camels coming.

64. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and saw Isaac, and she alighted from off the camel.

65. And she said unto the servant, What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And the servant said, It is my lord. And she took a veil and covered herself.

67. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah, and she was to him for a woman, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother.

This charming and moving love story is written in the natural-corporeal correspondences of the Old Testament mentality and consciousness (see Section xx). Hidden within the corporeal correspondences are higher order rational correspondences that can be extracted through a deeper understanding of theistic psychology (see Section xx).

The Writings inform us that all historical events and descriptions in Sacred Scripture are accurate to the detail. There are two portions to this idea that we need to think about.

First, that the Divine Human brought these precise historical events into existence at the time they occurred.

This idea includes the surrounding natural and social setting of the events, which is always specified in Sacred Scripture. For instance, some of the cities in which the events took place were named hundreds of years before the events recorded took place. The Divine Human also brought about that these particular names be chosen for those places because each name had its correspondence from the Most Ancient version of Sacred Scripture on this earth, and this was from heaven itself (see Section xx).

Correspondences are from creation and they are eternal and unchangeable. The human mind is constructed on the pattern of correspondences, as are material objects and laws (see Section xx). Understanding correspondences will give you a deeper understanding of how we think and feel, and how things in nature are related to things in the mind or human spirit. The knowledge of correspondences is important for understanding both psychological phenomena and the physical environment around us. The revelation of correspondences and how to use them has the potential of raising the rational thinking potential of humankind and of every individual.

So the first portion of the idea is that the events described in Sacred Scripture are historically accurate, brought about by means of correspondences. The second portion of the idea is that the Divine Psychologist used correspondences to restrict the thoughts of each prophet and revelator who wrote down the books of Sacred Scripture. In this way the literal sentences of Sacred Scripture in their original -- Hebrew, Greek, and Latin – were written out in an exact sequence of words, phrases, and sentences, that would allow the extraction of their inner scientific meaning to which they corresponded.

These are then the two portions involved in the concept of Sacred Scripture: (1) the Divine production of actual historical events through the laws of correspondences, and (2), the Divine control by means of correspondences over what details are written down by the prophet and in what exact sequence, that would make them correspond with the inner rational series of scientific revelations to be extracted.

You might be wondering why all this is necessary. Why didn’t God dictate the sentences of Sacred Scripture to make a textbook for theistic psychology. Why should we have to go through this elaborate methodology of extracting this scientific knowledge from historical descriptions? As you study theistic psychology you will be able to give may answers to this question. You may be sure that if this had been possible, God would have done that! So we need to understand why that is not possible, and the more theistic psychology you know, the clearer this dynamic will become. The human mind has a built in or wired in thinking syntax based on rationality which is based on Divine Truth. There is a developmental pattern of elevating the conscious understanding across the discrete levels of correspondences (see Section xx). If Sacred Scripture were written out purely in spiritual correspondences, it would be incomprehensible.

The sentences of Sacred Scripture contain names of people and of places, details about the number of days or years that something took, time of the day or season, natural things like mountains, lakes, oceans, various objects like pitchers, swords, chariots, houses, food, and as well, various animals and plants. Each of these items are natural objects or qualities. The law of correspondences, by creation, dictates that spiritual events are the instrumental cause in the creation of natural events. In other words, spiritual events originate physical events.

The spiritual law of correspondences is a mental law because the objective spiritual world = the objective mental world. There is only one objective mental world and only one spiritual world. They overlap and everyone’s mind exists in that overlap.

The Writings say that it was the Ancients living throughout Asia, who chose the names of places which are named in the Old and New Testaments. They always gave names according to their knowledge of correspondences, which they inherited from the celestial race prior to the Fall (see Section xx). This is why we can reconstruct the spiritual correspondences hidden within the sentences of Sacred Scripture. Every sentence of Sacred Scripture was written by means of correspondences, but this was not known to the prophets and Gospel writers. This great “heavenly arcanum” or secret, was revealed in the Writings of Swedenborg (1745-1771).

Theistic psychology is the process of extracting the higher-order correspondences from the literal sentences of the Threefold Sacred Scripture – the Hebrew Old Testament, the Greek New Testament, and the Latin Final Testament (= the Writings of Swedenborg) (see Section xx).

Now that the third and final portion of the Threefold Sacred Scripture has been delivered to the human race, theistic psychology as a science has been made possible. Now anyone from any culture or religion can read through the historical and cultural details so that these vanish from view. Left in place are the concepts and principles of theistic psychology that God wants every human being to know and understand.

What follows is an illustration and exploration of Chapter 24 in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament. The discussion will proceed along three simultaneous columns or pathways. First, the details and dramatic sequence of the “story” in Genesis, as told in natural events that are correspondences. The content for this first column is taken from the Old Testament text. Second, we need to follow the spiritual correspondences of each natural detail that is mentioned. This is taken from the Writings, in particular the work known as Arcana Coelestia. Third, we need to state the scientific meaning of the spiritual correspondences. This is taken from theistic psychology.

We begin with Number 3012 from the 12-volume set of Arcana Coelestia, as translated into English.

In the internal sense there is described the whole process of the conjunction of truth with good in the Lord's Divine rational; in this chapter, the process of initiation which precedes conjunction. "Isaac" is the good of the rational; "Rebekah" here is truth to be initiated into good; "Laban" is the affection of good in the natural man.

The above paragraph is like a table of contents of Chapter 24 of Genesis, viewed in their spiritual correspondences or “internal sense.” It lists the topics of theistic psychology that are dealt with in this Chapter of Sacred Scripture. These are the things that the Divine Human wants to communicate to the human mind for the sake of its regeneration and preparation for eternal happiness in heaven (see Section xx). Overall, the Chapter deals with “the whole process of the conjunction of truth with good.”

When extracting celestial-rational correspondences, the topic discusses how the Divine Child in the Incarnation Event actually performed and achieved this conjunction in His Own Mind (see Section xx). But when extracting spiritual-rational correspondences, the topic discusses what every person must actually perform in order to achieve this conjunction in himself or herself (see Section xx).

This makes sense in view of the fact, explained elsewhere, that the Incarnation Event was the creation of a new psychobiological mind by means of which every human being could henceforth step through the same mental procedures that the Divine Child created in Himself (see Section xx).

The celestial-rational correspondences of Sacred Scripture discuss how the Divine Child created the conjunction process in His Mind. The spiritual-rational correspondences discuss theistic psychology. The literal sentences of the Writings are written in natural-rational correspondences. At this level of meaning the Writings give the external appearance of being a new Christian theology located within the Western cultural history and mind-frame. While this level is admirably suited for the Christian religion everywhere, it cannot form the content of a cross-cultural and pan-religious curriculum.

But this literal meaning “vanishes from view” when one translates it into its spiritual correspondences. This is why theistic psychology can be suitable as the content of a cross-cultural and pan-religious curriculum about

These are the topics of theistic psychology. They are spiritual correspondences extracted from the natural correspondences of the Writings Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). They are the topics of Divine Speech. This is what God wants to talk to us about. This is what God wants every human being to know. This is what every human being must know in order to manage one’s own future in immortality.

The scientific meaning of Genesis 24 gives the details about the process of regenerating our natural mind so that it is set into correspondence with our spiritual mind. This is the central issue in theistic psychology. The quality of life in our immortality is determined by how successful we are in regenerating the natural mind with which we are born. Anatomically, the natural mind has three organs layered into three discrete levels of operation. This can be rendered schematically as follows:

In the chart above, the conscious natural mind covers layers 1 to 4. Layers 5 to 7 constitute the unconscious spiritual mind. Layers 8 and 9 are uncreate, infinite, and Divine, referring to the Divine Human's Mind or Spirit. Upon the death of the body and subsequent resuscitation of the "spirit," the natural mind (layers 1, 2, 3, 4) is quickly rendered non-operational and our conscious awareness is thenceforth located forever in the spiritual mind (layers 5, 6, 7).

The seven human layers of consciousness (1 to 7 in the chart), are created by the correspondences of Divine Speech in Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). Here, individual development recapitulates history and evolution. Each level that succeeds is a discrete degree higher or more interior and rational. The Old Testament mentality or level of thinking (1) is our first concept of God, heaven, and hell (see Section xx). The New Testament mentality or level of thinking (2) is our next understanding of God, heaven, and hell (see Section xx). The Writings mentality or level of thinking (3) is our third concept of God, heaven, and hell (see Section xx). Our fourth concept of God, heaven, and hell is theistic psychology, which is a level 4 mentality or thinking, and is extracted from the Writings according to prescribed methods specified in the Writings (see Section xx).

Level 4 becomes operational when we undergo conscious character reformation in adult life and begin our regeneration by applying the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture to our daily willing and thinking (see Section xx). Level 4 thinking is called "enlightenment" because its information base is from the spiritual mind and its reasoning quality is genuinely rational. This genuinely rational thinking is only the first layer of understanding genuine truth. Layer 3 is natural-rational, which is a rationality whose concepts are bounded by materialism, time and place. On the other hand, layer 4 reasoning is interior-natural, which also means spiritual-natural reasoning. Layer 4 is a new organ created within the natural mind by the Incarnation Event (see Section xx).

The scientific analysis by correspondences of Genesis 24, 25, and 26 yields a complete anatomical and developmental description of level 4 thinking (see Section xx). The natural mind cannot be regenerated through layers 1, 2, and 3, which constitute the literal meaning of Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). The Incarnation Event was the process by which the Divine Human created the interior-natural organ within the natural mind of the human race (layer 4). This tool two steps. First, the Divine Child created this new layer of thinking in Himself by extracting theistic psychology from the literal meaning of the Hebrew Old Testament, which He studied in His earliest years of conscious awareness as an infant (see Section xx). This took several rational steps, as described in Genesis 24, 25, and 26. When the process was completed in Himself, the second step was to create this new mental organ within the mind of every human being who were already in the afterlife, then every human being who was alive in the natural universe, and finally, every human being that is being born since then, and to the endless future of new humanity.

The interior-natural organ that makes possible conscious level 4 meanings, may be called a virtual heaven with three discrete layers of correspondences. This is because layers 5, 6, and 7 of the unconscious spiritual mind are virtually represented in our conscious natural mind (see Section xx). This is accomplished by virtual higher-order correspondences that can be operational in the interior-natural organ, while they cannot be operational in the exterior-natural organ (layers 1, 2, 3). The thinking level of people in their First Heaven is at layer 5 by means of spiritual- natural correspondences. This meaning level is virtually represented in our conscious natural mind through our understanding of spiritual-natural correspondences of Sacred Scripture. We are similarly conscious of layers 6 and 7 by means of spiritual-rational and celestial-rational correspondences of Sacred Scripture in their virtual form (see Section xx).

Regeneration cannot occur at the natural level of thinking (1, 2, 3) about Sacred Scripture because the literal meaning is always bound up in materialistic thinking that includes historical names of places or people, time and number and, matter and motion. This is true of all Sacred Scripture because it is always expressed in a natural language -- Hebrew, Greek, Latin. Theistic psychology is a level of thinking that goes into the interior of the literal meaning of Sacred Scripture (level 4). At this level we learn to think and reason only from the universal concepts contained in Divine Speech. Sacred Scripture is only a window to Divine Speech, and the window is opened or made transparent when we apply correspondences as prescribed. Nevertheless, there are different discrete levels at which correspondences can be applied to one's thinking and willing. One's degree of enlightenment or consciousness of higher meanings in theistic psychology is proportional to one's degree of regeneration, a process that goes on throughout life and never ceases to eternity.

Genesis 24 describes the process by which the natural mind is set to order by means of the higher correspondences in the interior-natural organ. Setting in order the natural mind means to make it correspond with the spiritual mind. When we are born we inherit a natural mind in disorder, and in fact, in an order that is dead set against the spiritual order. The symptoms of this include a civilization of materialism, the negative bias in science, numerous societal problems, violent conflict between people, and individual inadequacies (depression, addiction, deception, cynicism, intolerance, hatred). The natural correspondences of Sacred Scripture in the human mind are powerless to overcome this inbred negativity. Despite what people can read in Sacred Scripture, and the religious doctrines that are justified through them, people seem incapable of reforming themselves through these ideas and concepts. They endlessly fall back to their inherited enjoyments and inclinations, unwilling to give them up. Their concept of heaven and hell (levels 1, 2, 3), isn't powerful enough in their mind to effect character change.

This is why "salvation" of the human race was necessary in order to rescue the human mind from hellish attachments people are unwilling to give up, consequently condemning themselves to an eternity of hellish life. New and more powerful mental tools had to be created, concepts and truths that could overcome the hellish attachments with which we were born. Only God could do that. But now consider the task of communicating these new mental reasoning tools to the human race. God could not implant the new concepts into the conscious natural mind of every individual. That would have felt like some unknown power taking over our mind. It i snot possible to acquire concepts without wanting to, without some motivation or love for them.

These nine steps collectively constitute the Incarnation Event (see Section xx). It created a way out for "fallen" humanity (see Section xx). A new interior-natural organ was created within the conscious natural mind.

We continue with the next portion in the Writings that analyzes the Genesis 24 story of Rebekah and Isaac. The following is about the preliminary stage of how Abraham instructs his servant to look for a wife for Abraham’s son Isaac. Remember that all names in Sacred Scripture signify mental states, either those of the Divine Child (conveyed by celestial-rational correspondences -- level 7), or that of every human being (conveyed by spiritual-rational correspondences -- level 6, and by spiritual-natural correspondences -- level 5). “Abraham” refers to the Divine Child’s celestial mind, while “Abraham’s servant” refers to the Divine Child’s natural mind, or else, our own natural mind. This is the mind in which we have our conscious awareness in every day life. “Angels” refers to our state of mind in the afterlife when our conscious awareness is centered in the celestial mind (not the natural mind) (see Section xx). The following paragraph discusses the difference in quality between these two types of awareness that we can have -- natural-rational (level 3) vs. interior-natural (level 4).

That this signifies when the state was at hand that the Lord's Human should be made Divine, is evident from the representation of Abraham, as being the Lord (see n. 1893, 1965, 1989, 2011, 2172, 2198, 2501, 2833, 2836, and many other places); and from the signification of "old," or of "old age," as being to put off what is human, and put on what is heavenly (see n. 1854, 2198); and when predicated of the Lord, as being to put on the Divine. The same is evident also from the signification of "day," as being state (see n. 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788); and hence from the signification of "coming into days," as being when the state was at hand. Such things are signified by "old" and "coming into days," for the reason that the angels have no idea of old age, or of the advancing age which is meant by "coming into days;" but an idea of state in regard to the life in which they are; and therefore when mention is made in the Word of advancement in age, and of old age, the angels who are with man can have no other idea than of the state of life in which the persons are, and in which men are while passing through their ages even to the last; namely, that they thus successively put off what is human and put on what is heavenly.

In other words, the concept of age does not exist in our awareness at the spiritual level of thinking, which involves levels 5, 6, and 7, vicariously experienced at level 4 (as discussed just above). When we are in our vicarious spiritual consciousness (level 4) and are reading Sacred Scripture, we are aware only of spiritual correspondences -- spiritual-natural correspondences (level 5), spiritual-rational correspondences (level 6), and celestial-rational correspondences (level 7). We are totally unaware of the natural correspondences (levels 1, 2, 3), because these materialistic and historical concepts vanish from awareness as we focus in on the extracted spiritual correspondences. When we read Sacred Scripture with our natural mind consciousness (levels 1, 2, 3), we see many references to age, hours, days, seasons, years, or decades. To understand the scientific references for these mental states we need to apply correspondences as revealed in the Writings.

For human life, from infancy to old age, is nothing else than a progression from the world to heaven; and the last age, which is death, is the transition itself. Therefore burial is resurrection, because it is a complete putting off (see n. 2916, 2917). As the angels are in such an idea, nothing else can be signified by "coming into days" and by "old age" in the internal sense which is principally for angels and for men who are angelic minds.

Those who read Sacred Scripture as theistic psychology are called “angelic minds” because such study enlightens the consciousness by raising it to the meaning of spiritual correspondences of Divine Speech. Spiritual enlightenment is the mechanism God uses to develop the rational consciousness of human beings (see Section xx). This prepares them for heavenly life (see Section xx).

That this signifies the arrangement in order and influx of the Lord in His natural, which is the "servant the elder of the house," is evident from the signification here of "saying" as being to command, because it is said to a servant; and as the subject here treated of is the disposition by the Divine of the things that are in the natural man; "to say" denotes to arrange in order and to flow in; for all that is done in the natural or external man is arranged in order by the rational or internal man, and is effected by influx. That the "servant the elder of the house" is the natural, or the natural man, is evident from the signification of "servant," as being that which is lower and which serves what is higher; or what is the same, that which is outer and serves what is inner (see n. 2541, 2567). All things that are of the natural man, such as memory-knowledges of whatever kind, are nothing but things of service; for they serve the rational by enabling it to think equitably and will justly. That the "elder of the house" is the natural man, may be seen from what follows.

The “natural man” refers to the natural mind, which is composed of memories, learned knowledges, inherited cultural tendencies, and other cognitive and affective operations that help people cope with the physical world and allows them to belong to a social-geographic community on earth. Our conscious natural mind is called a “servant” in relation to our unconscious spiritual-rational mind, because natural ideas and feelings are set up and established by the operations in the spiritual mind (see Section xx).

The natural mind by itself cannot “think equitably and will justly.” In other words, our moral principles do not originate in the natural mind. Neither are we capable of generating rational economic and legal systems, such as we have in civilized societies. It appears to the natural consciousness that we are responsible for creating these human and cultural institutions and systems. But Divine Speech is revealing to the human race that they are not responsible for or capable of rationality and morality.

Instead, the reality is that it is the unconscious spiritual-rational mind that regulates the mental sequences in the conscious natural mind that lead to moral willing and rational thinking in individual and society.

The spiritual mind itself is a servant to the celestial mind in the same sense. The celestial mind is itself a servant in the same sense to the Divine Human through the Spiritual Sun (see Section xx).

Ultimately therefore, all the morality of justice in our willing and all the rationality of equity in our thinking, comes from the Divine Human. Morality and rationality are Divine spiritual qualities, uncreate and infinite, and remain Divine while they are adapted to each unique human mind. We are thereby conjoined to the Divine Human in an eternal reciprocal duality. This reciprocal conjunction with the Divine Human is the source of our human life and of our immortality (see Section xx).

That this signifies the offices of the natural man is evident from the signification of "administering," and indeed of "administering all things," as being to discharge offices or duties. (That the natural man in respect to the rational, or what is the same, the external man in respect to the internal, is like the administrator in a house, may be seen above, n. 1795.) All things that are in man are as one household (that is, as one family) in this respect, that there is one who fills the office of master of the house, and others who fill that of servants. The rational mind itself is that which disposes all things as master of the house, and arranges them in order by influx into the natural mind; but it is the natural mind that ministers and is the administrator.

In other words, the human mind is arranged in a vertical order of higher to lower, which is also expressed as more interior to more external. That which is higher or more interior in the mind is also superior to a discrete degree. No matter how much a lower degree improves and becomes more excellent, it can never attain to the bottom of the next higher degree (see Section xx). Consciousness “ascends” this vertical dynamic through the operation of correspondences in Divine Speech (see Section xx). “The master of the house” refers to that part of the mind that is in control. In relation to the natural external lower conscious mind, the master of the house is the spiritual-rational mind, often referred to in brief as the “rational mind” or the “rational man” or the “internal man.”

It is the spiritual mind that causes our natural mind to think rationally (cognitive operation), and to feel obligated to a moral conscience (affective operation).

[2] As the natural mind is distinct from the rational mind and is in a degree below it, and as it also acts as if from what is its own, it is called relatively a "servant the elder of the house," and it is said to administer all the things in itself that belong to it. That the natural mind is distinct from the rational, and is in a lower degree, and is as if in what is its own, may be seen from the things within it, and from its offices. The things which are therein are all memory-knowledges, thus also all knowledges of every kind whatever; in a word, they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the outer or corporeal memory (concerning which see n. 2471, 2480). To this mind also belongs all the imaginative faculty, which is the interior sensuous with man, and which is in the greatest vigor with children; and in the first age of adolescence; to the same mind belong also all natural affections that man has in common with brute animals; all of which shows what its offices are.

The conscious natural mind “acts as if from what is its own.” In other words, we possess an “as-of self” which gives us the sense that we are acting rationally and morally from our very own self, not from some other unknown self, or from God. The Divine Human wills it that what is His Own in human beings be felt as-if their very own (see Section xx). Without this sense of as-of self we would feel like a robot being activated by unknown forces. For our spiritual development it is essential that we experience the struggle of character reformation and goal-setting and attainment as-if these were our very own life and being. Through this sense of individual freedom we are able to voluntarily give up our inherited enjoyments and inclinations. This voluntary self-reformation can only be done through love and motivation, without which it cannot stick to us or become a permanent part of our immortality (see Section xx).

Note the information we are given at the end of the paragraph above: “To this mind also belongs all the imaginative faculty, which is the interior sensuous with man, and which is in the greatest vigor with children; and in the first age of adolescence.” Our “imaginative faculty” belongs to the natural mind. It is called the “interior sensuous” which refers to the origin of imagination as sensorimotor input and output. Without being born on a physical earth, human beings would lack a natural mind, would lack an imagination, would not be capable of forming mental communities in eternity (see Section xx). This is the reason why human beings cannot be born directly in heaven, but must first develop a natural mind on an earth. It is also the reason why the Divine Psychologist cannot enlighten an individual directly into a celestial consciousness, and is limited in extent by the individual’s willingness within one’s freedom of choice.

Note also this: “to the same mind belong also all natural affections that man has in common with brute animals; all of which shows what its offices are.” This means that the natural mind is “natural” like that of the mind of animals, though we are capable of more complex mental operations than animals. Still, no matter how much human beings evolve in natural intelligence they can never cross into spiritual intelligence, yet this is the only true rational thinking. Natural thinking is not rational and is limited to materialism and monism (see Section xx). But when natural intelligence sets itself into correspondence with spiritual intelligence, our conscious mind is elevated and enlightened, so that we are able to understand spiritual correspondences.

Similarly, natural morality is not rational because it is based on natural affections in the natural mind. But when these affections are set into correspondence with spiritual affections, the natural morality becomes spiritual morality because now it is based on spiritual ideas and affections. Remember that affections are affective operations of attraction and conjunction. Affections in the natural mind associate themselves with cognitions in the form of natural correspondences. Affections in the spiritual-rational mind associate themselves with cognitions in the form of spiritual-rational correspondences.

In the letter of the Writings, and depending on the context, the expression “the rational mind” usually refers to our unconscious spiritual mind which operates with spiritual-rational correspondences. It is also called “the internal mind” in relation to the natural mind, which is called the external mind. The expression “man” in the Writings normally refers to the conscious natural mind while we are attached to the physical body.

[3] But the rational mind is more internal. The knowledges in it are not open before man, but while he lives in the body are imperceptible; for they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the interior memory (concerning which see n. 2470-2474, 2489, 2490). To this mind also belongs all the thinking faculty that is perceptive of what is equitable and just, and of what is true and good; also all spiritual affections, which are properly human, and by which man is distinguished from the brute animals. From these things this mind flows into the natural mind, and excites the things that are therein, and views them with a kind of sight, and in this manner judges and forms conclusions. That these two minds are distinct is clearly evident from the fact that with many persons the natural mind bears rule over the rational mind; or what is the same, the external man over the internal man; and that it does not bear rule but serves with those only who are in the good of charity, that is, who suffer themselves to be led by the Lord.

In other words, the operations of the spiritual mind “are not open before man, and are imperceptible” which means that they are unconscious while we still live on earth attached to a physical body. The unconscious operations of the spiritual mind include the “interior memory” which is to be distinguished from the “external memory” of the natural mind, to which we have conscious access. But once we become a spirit after death, we operate from this interior memory (see Section xx).

The passage above explains that it is the spiritual-rational level of thinking and willing that is actually the beginning of being human. With respect to our conscious natural mind, we are similar to animals, though more complex and abstract. We never reach the level of rationality itself in our natural mind left to itself. It is the spiritual mind that is rational, and thus the beginning of the true human. The systems of morality, equity, and justice in our civilized societies are indeed rational, but they were not produced by the natural mind.

Instead, rationality in the form of equity and justice, is produced by the spiritual mind acting by correspondence within the natural mind. This is described above when it says about the spiritual mind that it “flows into the natural mind, and excites the things that are therein, and views them with a kind of sight, and in this manner judges and forms conclusions.” It is the spiritual mind that operates rationally – judges and forms conclusions – but it does this in the concepts, ideas, and affections of the natural mind. When this joint activity occurs, we experience enlightenment in the conscious natural mind. This means that we are able to see, be conscious, and understand rationally what spiritual correspondences refer to.

The above passage also says that the natural mind is enlightened by the activity of the spiritual mind within it only when it “serves.” This refers to the action of the natural mind setting itself in correspondence with the spiritual mind. This is accomplished by being “in the good of charity, that is, who suffer themselves to be led by the Lord.” This means to obey one’s conscience and the doctrine of truth we acquire from Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). When we obey the doctrine of truth for the sake of the good in it, we are setting our natural mind in correspondence with our spiritual mind. The spiritual mind is formed by influx of Divine Speech in the form of spiritual-rational correspondences. When the natural mind is set into correspondence with the spiritual mind, the entire mind is healed and returns to its genuine created human order, ready for heavenly life.

That this signifies pledging it according to its power to the good of conjugial love, is evident from the signification of "hand," as being power (see n. 878); and from the signification of "thigh," as being the good of conjugial love, concerning which in what follows. That it is pledging to the extent of its power, is evident from the fact that they who were pledged to anything that related to conjugial love, by an ancient rite placed the hand under the thigh of him to whom they were being pledged, and in this manner they were put under oath by him; and this for the reason that the "thigh" signified conjugial love, and the "hand" power, or so far as was possible; for all the parts of the human body correspond to spiritual and celestial things in the Grand Man which is heaven, as was shown above (n. 2996, 2998); and as will be shown more fully, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. The thighs themselves together with the loins, correspond to conjugial love.

Abraham in the historical event being considered did indeed ask his servant to swear by using the ancient custom of putting the hand under the thigh. But the reason this historical detail is recorded in Sacred Scripture is that it contains correspondences that are being discussed in this chapter. In this case, Divine Speech is discussing conjugial love in the underlying scientific meaning of the episode.

These things were well known to the men of the most ancient times; and therefore they had a number of rites based on this correspondence, of which one was that they placed the hands under the thigh when they were pledged to any good of conjugial love. The knowledge of such things, which was in highest esteem among the ancients, and was one of the chief things of their knowledge and intelligence, is at this day wholly lost; so completely that it is not even known that there is any correspondence; and some may therefore wonder that such things are signified by the rite here described. The rite is mentioned in the present case because the betrothing of Isaac to some one of the family of Abraham is treated of, and the discharge of the duty was entrusted to the elder servant.

It is said above that the knowledge of correspondences was available to the ancients before and after the Fall, but was subsequently lost as human civilization took a more materialistic turn several thousand years ago. But today in modern times the knowledge has been revealed once more through the Writings of Swedenborg.

“That thou shalt not take a woman for my son of the daughters of the Canaanite.”

That this signifies that the Divine rational was not to be conjoined with any affection disagreeing with truth, is evident from the signification of "taking a woman," as being to be conjoined by a covenant of marriage; from the signification of "my son," namely Isaac, as being the Lord's Divine rational (see n. 1893, 2066, 2083, 2630); from the signification of "daughters," as being affections (see n. 489-491, 568, 2362); and from the signification of the "Canaanite," as being evil (see n. 1444, 1573, 1574); from which it is that the "daughters of the Canaanite" are affections that do not agree with truth.

The subject here treated of is the Divine truth that was to be adjoined to the Divine good of the Lord's rational, as may be seen from the Contents (n. 3013). By the "woman" who was to be associated by a covenant of marriage, is meant that truth itself, which was to be called forth from the natural man by the common way; by "my son" is meant the Lord's rational in respect to good, to which it was to be adjoined or associated; hence it may be known that by "not taking a woman from the daughters of the Canaanite," is signified that this rational was not to be conjoined with any affection that disagreed with truth. All conjunction of truth with good is effected by means of affection; for no truth can possibly enter into man's rational and be conjoined there, except by means of affection; for in affection is the good of love, which alone conjoins (n. 1895); as may also be known to anyone who reflects.

Rebekah is the woman who was going to be a bride for Isaac. “Woman” refers to truth from Sacred Scripture and “Isaac” refers to the spiritual-rational correspondences in our spiritual mind. These spiritual-rational correspondences are to be “conjoined with” or “married to” the genuine truth of doctrine in our natural mind, represented by Rebekah. Our natural mind can contain both genuine doctrine and false doctrine. When we are thinking with false doctrinal principles our spiritual mind cannot be conjoined to our natural mind, and we remain in disorder. False doctrine cannot be put into correspondence with spiritual-rational correspondences. This is the reason we are told in the details of the story that Abraham forbade his servant to bring back a bride for Isaac from any of the neighboring Canaanite people. Of course Abraham himself could not have been aware of the spiritual correspondences in his acts, which shows us how closely God manages the little details of every event that occurs and of every decision that someone makes. Without this close-management approach the created universe would quickly turn into chaos and meaninglessness.

That this signifies a doubt of the natural man concerning that affection, as to whether it was separable, is evident from the signification of "woman," as being truth, here from the natural, which was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational. And as all conjunction is effected by means of affection (as was said above, n. 3024), so by "woman" is signified the affection of that truth: and also from the signification of "going after" or "following me unto this land," as being to be separated from the natural and conjoined with the rational; for "land" here as above (n. 3026) is the good of love that is of the rational. That there is doubt is seen from its being said, "Peradventure she be not willing."

[2] From what has been said above, it is evident what is involved in these words, and in what follows to verse 8, and further; and in order that these things may be better understood, we may say a few words more. The genuine rational is from good, but comes forth [existit] from truth. Good flows in by an internal way; but truth by an external way. Good thus conjoins itself with truth in the rational, and they cause the rational to be. Unless the good therein is conjoined with truth, there is no rational; although there appears to be, because the man can reason (n. 1944). This is the common way in which the rational is formed with man.

The passage above reveals how our spiritual mind (called here “the rational”), is formed and constructed while we are still on earth (“formed with man”). At first we only give the appearance of being rational because we are able to rely on “inspiration” for developing systems to run society. We develop science and engineering, legal and financial institutions, history and literature. But in actual fact these rational systems are not from our natural mind but from the spiritual mind. The spiritual mind “descends” by correspondence into the natural mind, re-arranging its ideas and concepts, so that our consciousness experiences “having a new idea” of something. How did it get there? We don’t know and mostly don’t care. We call the new idea our own because we invented it. And even if it was inspired, it is still our own.

That is true. It is our own even though it was inspired into us by the influx through the spiritual mind. But we did not invent it. That is, we as the conscious natural mind, did not think of it by ourselves, but by correspondence from the unconscious spiritual mind. And what is operative in the spiritual mind is activated by influx, hence its origin is not the spiritual mind but the celestial mind (“heaven”). The latter receives the from the Spiritual Sun, which is the source of all good and truth in the Divine Human (see Section xx).

Conclusion: The source of all the rationality in our conscious natural mind is the Divine Human’s truth, which exits from the Spiritual Sun in the form of spiritual light, enters us by influx, and descends by correspondence.

In theistic psychology, “Divine truth” in our conscious natural mind is called the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture as Divine Speech. The phrase “as Divine Speech” means that Sacred Scripture is read by means of the correspondences revealed and explained in the Writings. The scientific details extracted from this Chapter of Genesis are arranged in an orderly series that unfolds through the dramatic sequence of the story. Let us review in an encapsulated form what this Chapter has told us. The following Table presents the threefold analysis that is typical for extractive research in theistic psychology (see Section xx).

The above Table summarizes the discussion so far and shows the parallelism between the meaning of natural-corporeal correspondences (Old Testament Sacred Scripture), natural-rational correspondences (the Writings Sacred Scripture), and spiritual-natural correspondences (theistic psychology). These are three discrete levels of correspondences (see Section xx).

Theistic psychology depends on thinking with spiritual-natural correspondences, which is also called the “first heaven” (see Section xx). From the Table above you can easily notice that there is a much greater similarity in content between the Writings (column 2) and theistic psychology (column 3), than there is between the Writings (column 2) and the Old Testament (column 1). This is because the Old Testament Sacred Scripture is written in corporeal correspondences, while the Writings are written in rational correspondences. Though both are natural correspondences, they are at different sub-levels of the natural mind. The corporeal level of thinking is the lowest operation of the natural mind (see Section xx). Next comes the sensuous level of thinking in which the New Testament Sacred Scripture is written. Finally, comes the rational level of thinking, and this is the consciousness level in which the Writings Sacred Scripture are written.

The spiritual-natural correspondences of theistic psychology (or first heaven), are spiritual, and therefore they are superior to any of the natural correspondences in which the threefold Sacred Scripture is written. Yet their meanings are closely related to the natural-rational correspondences of the letter of the Writings. In this Table these similarities are more noticeable but in other passages the extraction process can be more involved (see Volume 2 of A Man of the Field listed in the Readings).

Try to memorize the contents and patterns in Table 4.4.5 above. This will help you as you continue reading the analysis of Genesis 24, the passage in the Old Testament that discusses the theistic psychology of enlightenment. More specifically, it describes the mechanism by which our thinking and willing in daily life set themselves in agreement with the rational doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture that we have acquired for ourselves. In this way, the natural mind is regenerated and we enter the phase of the genuine human life. This process is called "salvation of the human race" because without it every individual born on earth would enter the hells of their mind when they become spirits in eternity. We must be willing to undergo this process of re-alignment of our external self, which involves setting it in agreement with our rational doctrine.

Our rational doctrine is spiritual in origin. It is not created by materialistic ideas of self-intelligence. It is extracted from Sacred Scripture using prescribed methods of extraction. This requires

This evolutionary mechanism of spiritual regeneration did not exist in the human race prior to the birth of the Divine Child on this earth two thousand years ago. The Incarnation Event was the mechanism which God used to set up the glorification process, that is, the process by which the Divine Human from eternity is conjoined as one to the Human born on earth in time and place. The human born on earth is called the Divine Child and it is this Person who underwent the mental changes that created the new pathway of regeneration for the human race. The glorification process was completed in the Divine Man, when He reached the age of 33, died, resurrected, and "ascended to Heaven." The expression "ascending to heaven" refers to the completion of the glorification process.

The instant this process was completed, the entire human race now possessed a new biological mechanism of unparalleled significance for the race. The natural mind now had a new spiritual organ within itself that did not exist before the glorification process. In the Incarnation Event, God the Divine Human, acquired a human from earth and united it with His Divine. This produced a new entity in existence -- the Divine Natural of God.

But note carefully that the Divine Natural Mind of God had to be a product of the same mechanism that produces the natural mind of every human being on some earth. The Divine Child made His external self limited and vulnerable, full of the inheritance of evil that every individual possesses. Think of the difficulty of the task involved in glorifying this natural mind full of evil! How can it be purified so that it could become one with the Divine?

That's what we are told in the Genesis Chapters 18 and onward as we read the story of the four Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. An excellent and stimulating study of these chapters was made by Geoffrey Childs (see The Path in the Readings).

The paragraph below describes how the cognitive operations of the external conscious natural mind are enlightened by the functional influence of the more interior unconscious spiritual mind. It describes how the Divine Child in the Incarnation Event (see Section xx), created the new mental pathways or states which, since that point onward, all human beings can follow and replicate in their own mind in order to achieve regeneration of their inherited natural mind. Successful regeneration of the character is the central topic of all Divine Speech. Nothing is more important for the human race and for every individual because it determines our endless immortal life in either heaven or hell (see Section xx).

AC 3030. [3] As the Lord was born like another man, and as it was His will to be instructed like another man, so did He will to make His rational Divine in a similar way, namely, as to good by influx from His Divine by the internal way, and as to truth by influx through the external way. When therefore the rational as to good had been so far formed as to be in a state for receiving truth (which is meant by the words in the beginning of this chapter, "Abraham being old was come into days, and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things," by which is signified when the state was at hand that the Lord's Human should be made Divine, and when all things should be disposed into Divine order, as may be seen above, n. 3016, 3017), there next follows that truth is to be conjoined with the good of the rational, and this, as before said, by the common way, that is, by means of memory-knowledges and knowledges from the natural man. (AC 3030)

It is said above that "the Lord was born like another man" which refers to the mental states of the Divine Child during the Incarnation Event. The lower or external mental states were "merely human" as inherited from the Israelitish woman known as the Virgin Mary. The higher or interior mental states were "Divine Human" and originating in the Invisible God known in Sacred Scripture as "Jehovah" (= "To be" or" I Am" in Hebrew) and "Father of Creation."

The Incarnation Event is a public, historical, and socio-legal presentation to all humanity by God of Himself as a Divine Man in a Natural Body.

Since there is only one God, it is obvious that the Incarnation Event cannot be claimed as the property of one religion and its faith. Rather, the Incarnation Event is a universal event for the entire human race past, present, and future. The One God of creation, infinite and omnipotent, invisible and incomprehensible, at last can reveal to humanity that He is a Divine Human Person, that His Image is our form, mentally and physically. Why God incarnated at that particular moment in human history about two thousand years ago in that particular nation on this earth has been revealed in the Writings Sacred Scripture through the correspondential sense of the Old and New Testament Sacred Scriptures (see Section xx).

Within the positive bias perspective you should be able to see that God's Incarnation as a male citizen of a small nation twenty centuries ago is an actual event that marks the entry point of God into science, history, and legal existence. God-Man was born a Child, had to be socialized and instructed, was taught the religion of the land, and had a socio-legal identity and biography. In the positive bias, assuming that this event took place, as described in Sacred Scripture, there is no logical reason by which one can exclude God from science. It would not be logical to exclude Aristotle from science, even though he lived centuries before God was Incarnated as a Divine Child. Historically real people cannot be excluded from science. Hence the Incarnated God as a human citizen cannot be excluded from science. The alternative is merely to deny that the Incarnation Event did occur, but without being able to prove the denial. This is called the negative bias in science.

Those scientists like myself, who are willing to let go of the negative bias, and instead put on the positive bias, it is still absolutely necessary to examine the empirical evidence and the scientific theory of God, that God is presenting to us in Sacred Scripture, not in its literal sense, but in the correspondential sense hidden within it, that must be extracted by an objective methodology (see Section xx). Once all this is examined and done, then and only then, can scientists take up a permanent position for the positive bias, and work with it, as they had earlier, with the negative bias.

The Incarnation Event will be seen to be a major evolutionary act of creation that God performed on this earth just two thousand years ago. The Incarnation Event reveals God as a Divine Human in the natural form.

This unique and all important historical and evolutionary event clarifies what Sacred Scripture means when it says that God created human beings "in His Own Image and Likeness." This applies at all levels of being human -- corporeal, sensuous, natural, rational, spiritual, and celestial.

God the Divine Human is knowable and familiar to us because He has human characteristics -- acting from love in the will (affective organ) through intelligence in the understanding (cognitive organ). As human beings we act from a motive in the affective organ through our intelligence in the cognitive organ that gives us a plan of execution through the sensorimotor organ and physical body (see Section xx). In other words, we have an affective motive or goal that we desire to achieve, which engages our cognitive reasoning process to enable us to act in a way that fulfills or satisfies the motivation. This is a human pattern, not shared by animals, who are not capable of acting from a rational motive, nor by means of rational thinking. Animals are not capable of forming a conscious and rational idea of God or immortality, and therefore they are not immortal. Human immortality is based on our capacity for a rational consciousness of Divine Speech through spiritual correspondences (see Section xx).

The passage above says that "the Lord was born like another man, and as it was His will to be instructed like another man, so did He will to make His rational Divine in a similar way, namely, as to good by influx from His Divine by the internal way, and as to truth by influx through the external way." In other words, the conscious external natural mind of the Divine Child was socialized and educated by external study and learning of the Old Testament Sacred Scripture that was used at the time in the land into which He made Himself be born. It is by reading the Old Testament in its correspondential sense, that He discovered who He was and what His mission was. How amazing! His thoughts and feelings at the time are recorded in great detail in the correspondential sense of the Old Testament Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). This is why it is said in Sacred Scripture that Sacred Scripture is God (e.g., "the Word was God and the Word was made flesh" in the New Testament Sacred Scripture). Just as you would say that the thoughts and feelings you had while growing up are you yourself. So if these were all recorded on a tape or written down in a book, you could truthfully say that this book or tape is you.

It was the Old Testament Sacred Scripture that informed the Divine Child that He was the Visible Incarnated God and that His unconscious spiritual mind was the Divine Father. No one else knew this but He Himself. He had this knowledge of who He was in two ways -- external and internal. Internally, God revealed to Himself as the Divine Child that He actually was God the Father, the infinite and invisible Creator of the universe. Externally, God revealed to Himself that the Old Testament Sacred Scripture were written in correspondences. God enlightened the mind of the Divine Child to be able to spontaneously recognize these correspondences as the Child was reading and studying the Hebrew Text. At a very early age, the Divine Child knew that He was the Incarnated God. He then realized that His mission required that He live His natural life on earth by alternating between two mental states called a state of humiliation and a state of glorification.

During His states of humiliation (or "exinanition" or "emptying"), the Divine Human appeared to Himself and to others as a mere human being like everyone else. He ate, and walked, and worked, and cried, and laughed, and preached. He was happy, sad, terrified, elated, humiliated. He longed for the day when He could bring happiness into the hearts of the people He was with, and into the hearts of all the people in the universe living in their natural mind on some earth. But when He was in the states of glorification, He was united with His infinite Divine called "the Father of eternity."

The reason that people on earth are generally unhappy, unproductive, irrational, violent, etc., is because they refuse to be in the positive bias mode of thinking regarding Sacred Scripture. We refuse because our own irrationality is more convenient to us, allowing us to act in a way that is not allowed by rational thinking. So in order to allow ourselves to continue enjoying irrational thinking and hurtful willing, we deliberately and consciously and willfully reject the rationality of Sacred Scripture and adopt instead the reasoning process called the negative bias in science (see Section xx). People remain in the negative bias mode of thinking so they wouldn't have to give up their hurtful enjoyments and false belief systems that support these enjoyments. In other words people inherit a corporeal mind that contains built in attachments to hellish traits and enjoyments. For example, ordinary people enjoy hurting others when they feel it is justified, as in self-defense, retaliation, or pay-back. This enjoyment is inherited and it is evil or contrary to and destructive of what is good.

The enjoyment of feeling sympathy for or love of others is also inherited, but at different levels of the natural mind. The higher the level of mentality from which we operate in daily willing, thinking, and doing, the higher is our rationality and goodness. When we operate from the lowest mentality, we are hardly human, and we are called "human beasts." Over the generations, "human beasts" multiplied on earth, so that a time was reached when every child born on earth was a "human beast." Today you can see the human beast in all normal children, as they alternate between mental states of cooperation and happiness or angelic innocence, during which we can love them with an expanding happiness, and mental states of rebellion and rage during which they hate their parents and siblings and would tear them to pieces, if they dared and if they had the power.

As we develop, grow, and mature, the Divine Psychologist constantly endeavors in every human being, to moderate the beastly ferocity which our race has evolved and passed on to the natural mind of every generation. Without the work of the Divine Psychologist in the mind of every individual, not a single person could avoid the life of hell in eternity. This is because we inherit the built in enjoyments of irrationality and egotism. We develop a character as an adult who is so attached to these hellish enjoyments that we are unwilling to give them after resuscitation. God could not prevent this as He had to honor each individual's spiritual freedom to reject the truth of Sacred Scripture and to refuse to part with hellish enjoyments. Hence it is that God has created both heavens and hells in the human mind (see Section xx). The heavens operate in our rational mind while the hells operate in our natural mind (see Section xx).

As long as we are connected mentally by correspondence to the physical body and the world of time, we are able to maintain both heavens and hells in our mental organs, as these are layered in our mind from low to high (see Section xx). But after resuscitation, it is no longer physiologically or psychobiologically or medically possible to maintain both heaven and hell operational in our mind. We are compelled to choose one or the other for our conscious life in eternity. This is called the second death and comes not too long after resuscitation (see Section xx).

There came a time about two thousand years ago when our race on earth attained a mentality that was completely contrary to and destructive of the rational truths revealed in Sacred Scripture. They developed a system of reasoning and thinking that was contrary to truth and rationality in Sacred Scripture. This could be done because the literal sense of Sacred Scripture is written historically by correspondence, which means that it has to agree with the cultural habits of the people who acknowledge that Sacred Scripture as religion. These cultural habits reflect the mentality level of that historical group or community. This is why Sacred Scripture can be bent and perverted to mean something contrary to what is good. But the correspondential sense cannot be bent or perverted since it is in a scientific language like theistic psychology. There are methodological requirements for how knowledge is to be extracted and cumulated (see Section xx). But historically in any community it is not rational science that determines cultural habits but community beliefs that are transmitted by tradition, not rational understanding, as in science.

God foresaw that He would Incarnate as a Divine Human at a time when the mentality level of the human race was such that people at their second death were insisting that they live their eternity in the hells of their mind. The Incarnation Event was the psychobiological method God used to create a new mental organ in the human race.

This new evolutionary development was accomplished by the Divine Child when He created this new mental organ in Himself called the interior-natural organ (see Section xx). It is called "interior" because it is located a discrete degree within the natural mind (see Section xx). This physiological organ in the natural mind did not exist in the human race on earth and could not be inherited or transmitted. But when the Divine Child, through the Divine powers within Himself as omnipotent God, was capable of creating this new organ in Himself, in His own natural mind. We are told that He accomplished this new creation in Himself by undergoing temptations during His states of humiliation, as discussed above. That He admitted temptatio0ns into His natural mind means that He

At these times He had Divine powers to create miracles and was omniscient. For thirty-three years the Incarnated God alternated between these two mental states in a progressive developmental pattern that is described in the correspondential sense of the Old Testament Sacred Scripture (see Section xx).

By the time He completed His mission He was in His full state of Glorification as God the Divine Human, never again to return in a lesser state. His mission was to save the human race by separating the lower and upper layers of the human mind that had come to be intermixed. The lower layers called the hells, had risen in influence to the upper layers called the heavens. This was a consequence of rejecting the positive bias and living in the negative bias. When people were resuscitated after death, their mental states or personality was filled with hellish traits they were unwilling to give up. The presence of Sacred Scripture with the human race on earth was no longer effective to keep our hellish traits separate and isolated in our mind. This was foreseen by God since the beginning of creation.

The ancient peoples had known from their Sacred Scripture that the day would come when God would be incarnated as a Man, and from then on, the hells in the mind would be once more confined to the lower regions of the mental world. God could not accomplish this new evolutionary step for the human race without making Himself be born as a mere human. In that state of humiliation, He would be able to confront the hells in his own mind, fight them with new truths, defeat them, shut them in the lower layers of our mental organs, where they could be contained in our mind through new truths revealed by the Incarnated Divine Human. This was the reason that He had to continuously alternate between the two states of humiliation and glorification. Once the Divine Human contained the inherited hells in His lower affective organ in his natural mind, the process could be replicated in every human being after that (see Section xx). This is why the Incarnated Divine Human is called by various Names in Sacred Scripture that refer to this feat -- "Lord," "Almighty," "Savior of Humankind," "Messiah," "Redeemer of the human race," "Deliverer," "Conqueror," "King of Kings," and many other Names that refer to the new capacity of every human being to separate the inherited hells from destroying our heavenly life in eternity.

This new power is exercised through new truths made available by the Incarnated Divine Human. But the power of truth is not the truth itself, but good that is within it (see Section xx). The new powerful truth that God revealed in the New Testament Sacred Scripture already existed in all previous Sacred Scripture, though it was hidden within the literal sense and could not be extracted from it except by means of the knowledge of correspondences appropriately used (see Section xx). But now, with God entering history and science through the Incarnation Event, a new powerful truth was revealed to all humankind, namely, that God is a Divine Human Person who exists from eternity to eternity, and that this Divine Human God was inside the rational layer of the mind of every human being.

This amazing new reality is so important to understand and remember that I will repeat it in slightly different terms. The result of the Incarnation Event is that God is now present in our natural mind. This presence is what we call the Divine Psychologist in theistic psychology (see Section xx).

Why is this such an important event? We need to be able to state it clearly and logically, or else it's not something we can accept.

Prior to the Incarnation Event God was present in the human mind of every individual as well, but only down to the level of the unconscious spiritual mind. Below this level, which is our conscious level as we know ourselves every day, the human rational and natural mind received nothing of the presence of God in our mind. The only way a human being was able to become conscious of God's presence in the mind was by religious symbols and by the words of Sacred Scripture. God Himself was not present in the conscious natural mind. In the course of time, religious symbols and Scriptures were appropriated by cultural forces, so that they were turned into political symbols to which followers were attracted by persuasive teachings (see Section xx). In consequence, God disappeared from the natural mind of people born on this earth. In due course, God was denied and the age of the negative bias in science began. It ruled the human mind on this earth until today, when the new era of theistic science has begun through the introduction of the positive bias in science (see Section xx).

The purpose of the Incarnation Event was to bring the human race closer to the Divine Human. To accomplish this task, God acquired for Himself a Divine Natural Body, born in time like the physical body of human beings. The natural mind of this Divine Natural Body grew and developed as the Divine Child, mentioned above. This natural mind had innate ties to all the hells that have accumulated in the mind of the human race. This was the situation God set up to bring a new order to these human hells by containing them to a lower physiological level that was absolutely unable to reach the rational layer of the mind. By battling these human hells within His inherited natural mind, God was able to face them and control them without hurting them or destroying them, which is what would have happened had the Divine Human Himself faced these hells. Of course God, being pure Divine Love and Wisdom, could not hurt or destroy immortal human beings, everyone of whom He loved with a Divine Love and Compassion (see Section xx).

Hence by containing the human hellish traits to the lowest level of the mental organs (called corporeal-natural), God saved the human race from corrupting itself in the rational layers. Now the rational layers are completely protected from the hells. Now we can see God's presence in our natural-rational mind, and more closely, in our interior-natural mind (see Section xx).

Nevertheless God still allowed people to maintain the negative bias in science throughout all these centuries since the Incarnation Event. Even though He had entered history and science by His Natural Birth in a country, still He has allowed people to remain in the negative bias mode of thinking about Him being in their natural mind as the Divine Psychologist. This allowance by God is necessary for the good of people and the human race. God gives intelligence and power to the, the murderer, the addict, the abuser, the rapist, the dictator, the corrupt politician. He has revealed in Sacred Scripture that He only allows that which He can turn into God, not allowing anything else, that is, nothing else can occur or exist but what He can turn into some good for the persons involved and the human race as a whole (see Section xx).

Amazingly, the Divine Child read the details of His Own Thoughts and Feelings in the portion of the Old Testament Sacred Scripture called Psalms of David, all of which are about his developmental steps as the Divine Child -- His emotional struggles against the false beliefs that people were attributing to Sacred Scripture. King David, who wrote the Psalms hundreds of years before the Incarnation Event, was consciously writing about his own feelings and thoughts while he struggled with emotions and fears connected with his own life as a fugitive king with many enemies. Unbeknownst to him, however, David only wrote down those thoughts and feelings which fit a predetermined sequence and content. When this sequence and content are read as correspondences, they describe precisely and objectively the series of developmental mental states of the Divine Child during the Incarnation Event.

How utterly amazing! This is one of the many ways that the Divine Child knew that the entire text of the Old Testament Sacred Scripture, verse by verse, was about His mental states. This can be seen today by anyone who is willing to learn correspondences from the Writings Sacred Scripture. The Divine Child revealed correspondences to His natural mind from His omniscience as God the Creator, so that the Divine Child could recognize His thoughts and mental phases He needed to have in order to glorify His inherited natural mind and body, and transform it into the Divine Human's Natural Mind. Until the Incarnation Event God possessed from eternity a Divine Human Celestial Mind, a Divine Human Spiritual Mind, and a Divine Human Rational Mind. But He did not possess a a Divine Human Natural Mind, nor a Divine Human Natural Body. God was able to be present in the people's natural mind only through "angels" who are people in their third heaven who appeared to people's natural mind. While they were in this mental state, the Divine Human spoke through their mind and their speech (see Section xx).

This communication arrangement worked well until people started the negative bias mode in their natural mind. They were able to contradict and ignore God's Divine Speech coming to them through other human beings ("angels"). That is when it was foreseen by God that it would necessary for Him to acquire a Divine Human Natural Mind and a Divine Human Natural Body. He did so through the Incarnation Event, as explained above. Through that event, and since then, God can be present as the Divine Psychologist ("Holy Spirit") in our conscious natural mind. Through this presence in the natural mind, we can break the persuasive hold of the negative bias thinking. Thus "we are saved." This means that now we have a real choice whether we want to stay in the negative bias mode or switch to the positive bias mode of thinking. This choice is now possible because we can perceive and confirm the presence of God in our conscious natural-rational mind.

We no longer have to depend on "blind" faith to remain in the positive bias mode of thinking. Now we can adopt the positive bias mode of thinking through rational ideas and proofs, as presented in theistic psychology.

Once He became consciously aware that He was the Incarnated God, He possessed the Divine Truth in His conscious natural mind. It was necessary that this Divine Truth enter His natural mind through the external senses by reading the Old Testament Sacred Scripture. The human natural mind can be built up only by receiving information from the physical senses. The Divine Child built up His natural mind in this way through socialization and education. Now His natural mind contained the knowledge of theistic psychology which He extracted from the Old Testament Sacred Scripture through the knowledge of correspondences that He revealed to His natural mind thorough His Divine omniscience within. This spiritual or correspondential knowledge is called the Doctrine of Truth from Sacred Scripture and it is Divine because its source if from Divine Speech (see Section xx). The Natural Mind of the Divine Child in time, was now prepared to receive the Divine Good descending from His Divine Rational Mind in eternity. This process is called the Divine Marriage between Good and Truth, and also, between the Divine and the Human within God (see Section xx).

It is called the marriage of Divine Good with Divine Truth because these two must be conjoined and become a unity before anything can be created to exist. The power of human marriage when it is from conjugial love, originates and exists from the Divine Marriage of Good and Truth in God. This marriage of conjugial love is the medium within which heaven exists. In other words, heaven exists in the conjugial marriage between a husband and wife. No heaven can exist apart or outside of this union (see Section xx). When the love of a husband for his wife, and of the wife for her husband, becomes conjugial, the two are called "one flesh." This means that their minds are united into one conjoint self (see Section xx). Heaven is inside this conjoint self. Break the unity, and they each wake up as separate individuals outside their heaven. Now the Divine Psychologist in our conscious natural-rational mind can be an actual therapist who reveals to us every step along the way as we are regenerated.

This means as we are willing to undergo temptations He brings to us (see Section xx). In these temptations the Divine Psychologist fights for our sanity and heavenly eternity, but only to the extent that we cooperate by fighting our evil enjoyments, as if by ourselves (see Section). Without this effort, the Divine Psychologist cannot effect regeneration on us, and we remain with the character we inherited, which is hellish for every human being (see Section xx).

If this conjunction between the Good and the Truth had not taken place in the Incarnation Event, the human race could not be "saved" from hell. Every human being would have ended up in the hells of their mind, and this to eternity. But now that this Divine Marriage was created in the mind of the Divine Child, every human being can successfully do likewise, and thus be regenerated for heavenly life. It is therefore of the utmost importance that this knowledge be taught to all people so that every individual, regardless of background and intelligence, can have this process available for character reformation and regeneration.

When the Divine Child possessed the Divine Truth from Sacred Scripture in His conscious Natural Mind, the Divine Good in His super conscious Spiritual mind, "descended" into the Divine Truth in His natural mind. This is the process described in the quoted passage above by "it was His will to be instructed like another man, so did He will to make His rational Divine in a similar way, namely, as to good by influx from His Divine by the internal way, and as to truth by influx through the external way." The Divine Good in His interior mind descended by "influx, by the internal way." The Divine Child's conscious natural mind was thereby vivified and made Divine also. It is Good that makes the essential Divine, and it is truth that makes the Human of the Divine. The Human of God is external relative to the Divine of God, which is internal. In the same way it is the good in the unconscious spiritual mind that is our inmost or highest potential, while it is the truth in our conscious natural mind that is our external activity. Truth is the external activity of good (see Section xx). The integration of good and truth is called the "heavenly and eternal marriage."

In the Divine Child's mind therefore, there had to take place a "marriage" or unition and integration, between "the mere human born in time" and "the Human Divine existing from eternity". This process of unition between the "mere human" and the Human Divine, is called "glorification" (see Section xx). The process of this glorification is being described here and in the subsequent chapters in Genesis as the story of the Four Patriarchs unfolds in the recorded dramatic events of actual history (see also Section xx).

The glorification process in the mind of the Divine Child, once completed, began a new era in the consciousness and welfare of the human race.

The Writings explain that the glorification process had to be accomplished by the "mere human born in time" rather than by the Human Divine from eternity. In other words, the Divine Child lived a schizoid or metanoid life by which He alternated between two mental states. One was the state of glorification, or oneness with the Human Divine in Himself. The other was the state of separation from the Human Divine in Himself during which He was conscious only of the Divine Truth and the knowledge of who He was. In this external state of relative weakness, or state of "exinanition," He knew who He was but didn't feel access to Divine Good or Power. In these states of weakness and separation from omnipotence, He was able to face the hells that were attached to Him through His "mere human," inherited like others, from His natural descent through the mother.

"Facing the hells" means that He admitted into His conscious natural mind the affective and cognitive content of the entire humanity. The hells and the heavens are totally integrated. When you are facing one hell, you are actually facing all of the hells because they are interconnected and act in unison. The Divine Child's weakened conscious natural mind separated from the Divine in Himself, was therefore able to experience the evil affections and their false justifications that the human mind had created since the Fall, which was the beginning of hell in the human race (see Section xx).

In this process, the Divine Child endured indescribable mental suffering. He experienced doubts about whether He could save the human race from falling into hell. He saw the entire human race threatened, including all those who were already in the heavens of their immortality. The purpose of creation was threatened. If things continued on the same pattern, all the people in their heavens could no longer be protected from false ideas and evil enjoyments. The heaven in the human mind would then shut down and nothing but the horror and beastliness of the human mind would be left. All future infants would likewise "perish" in the evil and insane enjoyments of hell with no hope of attaining to heaven. This prospect is what terrified the Divine Child. Using the Divine Truth He had acquired from the Old Testament Sacred Scripture, He fashioned new ideas of truth, a new reasoning process for the human mind by which hell could be kept down and away from one's character.

The process of full glorification involved the construction of new truths for human consciousness and the unition of these new truths with Divine Good or Power which enters by influx into our mind "from an internal way," that is, unconsciously through the spiritual mind. When the Divine truth in our conscious natural mind is united to the Divine good descending from our unconscious spiritual mind, there takes place a mental "rebirth" in our natural mind. It is called entering the spiritual marriage. Unless we bring about in ourselves this affective-cognitive integration, our natural mind cannot be regenerated even though it possesses the knowledge of theistic psychology and the genuine doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture. Cognitive knowledge must be conjoined with the will to think and act accordingly, or else it is knowledge that is useless to our own regeneration.

Our natural mind is "reborn from above." This means that our thoughts and feelings are now different in a most significant way. Our thinking and willing in daily life now has a new basis and a new direction. This new way of thinking and willing is called "the servant." In other words, our external conscious natural mind is enlightened and rearranged so that all its content and operations are consistent with the spiritual mind, represented to us as theistic psychology. This is the celestial state of true humanity -- when all operations in the conscious natural threefold self -- willing, thinking, and sensing -- correspond to the spiritual self whose content and arrangement is by influx from the Divine Human. The marriage of good and truth in the Divine Child makes possible the marriage of good and truth in every human mind. The integration of the affective and cognitive organs in the Divine Child makes it possible for every human being to integrate their willing with their thinking from the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture.

It would have been possible for God to descend as a full blown adult Man and to take command in an authoritative and definitive manner through a demonstration of Divine omnipotence. Historically and culturally speaking, this is what the followers of Jesus wanted and expected from the Jewish Messiah (see Section xx). But He disappointed their illusions and instead did what He came here to do, namely, to assume a mere human born in time and to glorify it, or make it one with the Human Divine in His spiritual mind. The above passage mentions that "it was His will to be instructed like another man" which means that the Divine Child made Himself go through the same socialization and education process that is normal for every ordinary human being.

Through this process, the Divine Child had to learn and acquire the doctrine of truth from the Hebrew Old Testament Sacred Scripture. This is called "influx through the external way" because the memory-knowledges He acquired were learned by means of His conscious natural mind while reading the Hebrew text. This is similar to ordinary people who are taught Sacred Scripture as children and onwards. Once these Divine truths existed as cognitive concepts or vessels in His conscious natural mind, Himself as God in His unconscious spiritual mind descended with good (= power) into those cognitive vessels or ideas of the Divine Child. When good from the interior mind descends into truth that is in the external mind, the two are united "as in a marriage." The result is that the natural mind is enlightened. This allows for further progress in regeneration.

There must be a rational reason why God chose to incarnate in a male natural body. The first level of thinking about this may be called the Old Testament mentality, which is that male is dominant and therefore God must be male. The second or New Testament level of thinking about this, is that God is a Father Creator Protector of all human beings, and this is a male role. The third view is expressed by the mentality level of the Writings. This involves the recognition that male and female must both be in the image and likeness of God.

When we operate within the Old Testament level of thinking, the cognitive operations are carried out with natural-corporeal correspondences of Divine Speech (see Section xx). Correspondences of Divine Speech at this degree of transformation keep our consciousness of meaning within corporeal or physicalistic constraints. We then create a "man's world" around us because male is stronger and dominant. Mothers raise their sons to be cognizant of living in a "man's world" and to expect male prerogatives throughout life (see Section xx). Daughters are raised to respect the male dominance society and ideology. In order to grow spiritually, we need to retrace in our own individual thinking and willing, the steps that society and civilization were led through by God. In other words, we need to move on from the Old Testament mentality to the New Testament mentality, and then beyond that to a truer and more interior understanding of it.

While we (both men and women) are within the New Testament level of thinking and willing, we de-emphasize male dominance for the sake of gender equity (see Section xx). This is at first only true in our ideal, while in daily practice we (both mend women) continually fall back on the earlier dominance model. Nevertheless, for men it makes a discrete degree of difference to feel guilty and repentant when they fall back into dominance modes of thinking and exploiting women. Repentance or regret makes all the difference because without it, there is no exit from the dominance model. Repentance, regret, guilt, or self-critique are diverse forms of willing against the dominance model of male supeirority. The idealized view comes first, but if it is honored with sincerity, it eventually conquers in practice.

But the equity model or pattern of thinking and willing also comes to a "consummation" of itself. It cannot provide further spiritual growth for the benefit of our immortality. The natural-sensuous correspondences of the New Testament mentality do not encompass a scientific level of reasoning and explaining things. Therefore a third and final paradigm shift must occur, taking our consciousness of meaning to a higher discrete degree that consists of mental states operating with natural-rational correspondences. This gives us the unity model of male-female reality (see Section xx).

The Writings of Swedenborg in the18th century introduced to the human mind the mentality level of natural-rational correspondences. These third-level concepts are vicariously rational through the influence of the unconscious spiritual mind (see Section xx). They are not rational in their own right or independently. They are natural, but a higher natural that has the built in capacity to represent by correspondence the consciousness levels and meanings of the spiritual mind (see Section xx). God wants us to extract theistic psychology knowledge from the natural-rational correspondences of the Writings Sacred Scripture, so that we can think with them and from them about God and the afterlife of immortality. When we do this, God can give us "illustration" and "enlightenment." These are new consciousness levels of rational consciousness of God. These new levels correspond progressively with our first, second, and third heavens (see Section xx).

The natural-rational correspondences of the Writings Sacred Scripture give us the explicit understanding that God is the Divine Human from eternity and that infinite things in Him make one. It is a logical necessity therefore that the Divine Human has both male and female characteristics. He creates female human beings with characteristics of Himself that are feminine, and He creates male human beings with characteristics of Himself that are masculine. The unity of conjugial couples represents the unity of male and female characteristics within the Divine Human. Both are called "marriage." The marriage between male and female characteristics in God is called the "Divine marriage." It is the marriage of good and truth in the Divine Human. This unity in the Divine Human creates the unity of couples in conjugial marriages. This is why these marriages are eternal and endless. Heaven in the human mind is called a "wedding" and a "conjunction" of what is good and true.

Good is spiritual heat in the Spiritual Sun and proceeds from it joined with spiritual light, which is truth. But when they enter the spiritual mind of the current split-brain race, good and truth become disjoined due to the disorder there (see Section xx). Good then operates separately on the affective organ of willing, while truth operates on the cognitive organ of thinking. Good in our affective organ activates motives, feelings, desires, inclinations, preferences. Truth in our cognitive organ activates thoughts, images, ideas, inventions, meanings, representations. We are not fully functioning human beings until we succeed in integrating the good in our will and the truth in our thinking. It is only then that we are truly rational, thus truly human. Prior to the Incarnation Event, people's willing had become evil from inheritance. Despite the presence of the knowledge of Sacred Scripture in their thinking, they were unable to change their willing by means of it. This was because their willing and their thinking were not integrated. As a result, the evil motives in their willing destroyed all the doctrine of truth in their thinking, making it false in order to justify the evil as being good. The path of regeneration was therefore blocked. In order to save the situation God incarnated as a mere human, and suffered Himself to face the hells of humanity and to undergo temptations in Himself. By overcoming these temptations in Himself, He ordered the hells in the human mind, preparing a new method of regeneration for every human being born on earth.

In both a man and a woman there are two organs that operate life -- the will or affective organ, and the understanding or cognitive organ. These mental organs correspond to the physical organs of the heart and the lungs, including the entire circulatory and respiratory systems. The affective organ of feelings corresponds to the heart and its circulatory system. The cognitive organ of understanding corresponds to the lungs and its extended structure into the throat and mouth. The lungs and heart must work together or else the body dies. The affective and cognitive organs must work together or else we cannot regenerate our natural mind. I can have a desire to do something but I can't proceed unless I can formulate some sort of plan. The motive and the plan must be united as in a marriage, to yield a product called action or performance.

God incarnated as male because the Incarnation Event was Divine Truth externalizing ("descending"), becoming natural in structure and form. It was not possible for God to come as Divine Good, thus in a feminine mode of love and creation power. It is impossible for God to do anything but from perfect rationality and perfect love or power. The goal that the Incarnation Event was to accomplish consisted of creating in Himself, and then releasing it to humanity, the new mental pathway of truth that human beings could take up into their natural mind. From there, these Divine truths could be infused from within with the unconscious good, and united to the conscious truth. Through this conjunction God can now recreate in the mind of every human being, the same Divine marriage that He created in Himself.

It would not have been possible to incarnate as a woman, thus with Divine Good because the Divine marriage in every human being could then not be effected afterward. First truth must enter our cognitive organ by means of an external conscious natural way, then good could be infused into it in an internal unconscious rational way. Hence it was necessary for the Divine Human to incarnate as a male human.

The rationale discussed above is expressed and elaborated in the Writings, especially in the work called Arcana Coelestia (=Heavenly Secrets). The Old and New Testament correspondences are shown to represent the progressive steps of the conjunction process between the will and the understanding in the outer life of the Divine Child is as a Boy, later as Man. This outer biography of a Divine male man is recorded in the literal meaning of the Four Gospels of the New Testament. His inner life of thinking and feeling is recorded in the scientific meaning of the Genesis stories in the Old Testament. The Writings reveal the correspondences of this inner cognitive and affective life of the Divine Man on earth. They are described in the literal meaning of the Writings through natural-rational correspondences. But to understand them spiritually, we need to extract the higher correspondences that are hidden within them.

The Incarnation Event was a different category of event than the creation of the universe. God created the universe outside of Himself using spiritual substances from the Spiritual Sun, which is the endless and infinite emanation from Himself into the universe. God continuously creates and recreates the atoms of matter, the cells of living beings, and the mental operations of human beings. At level 2 thinking we believe that God created the universe at some moment and from then on it runs itself with occasional interventions by God in the form of miracles. But at level 3 thinking, which reasons with the natural-rational correspondences of the Writings Sacred Scripture, we can see that a created thing disintegrates back into its spiritual substances instantly upon creation. Creation is only for a fraction of a nanosecond. After that, poof -- it goes back into its constituent spiritual heat and light.

The answer revealed in the letter of the Writings is that God re-creates the universe every moment continuously!

How astonishing, and marvelous. It brings out the immense scope of God's Mind and His relationship to human beings. God does not relate to the universe for its own sake for it is devoid of love, cannot receive love from God, and cannot return love to God. Yet this is what God wants and desires. God longs to give love and have His love returned so He can give more love, to infinity. Only the human mind has been so created as to be able to receive God's rational love and then to return it freely from love and worship of Him. We don't have any love of our own to give to God for all love is from God and His. Therefore God has made us receptacles of Divine love so that we can have His love in us as-if it were our very own (see Section xx). From this love we have in us from Him, we can love Him back. The more we love Him back, the more He can give us new forms of Divine love. The more Divine love we have in us as-if our own, the more we are truly human and the more potential and splendor of life we can experience and perform endlessly to immortality.

This is God's relationship to human beings, as revealed by God in Sacred Scripture.

To summarize: God re-creates the universe moment by moment and manages its endless details so that His love relationship with human beings can continue forever.

The Incarnation Event was new and unprecedented in creation because it began the final and closest relationship possible between God and the human race.

Until the Incarnation Event God's love relationship to the human race was immediate through His direct presence in the Divine good in our unconscious mind. But He was not present in a direct and immediate way in our conscious mind. He was present in people's conscious mind through the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture. This is why the ancients used to say that "God's Word is God." Today in our individual biography, we go through the same phases of evolution as the historical race and civilization went through (see Section xx). There is a phase in our spiritual growth during which God is not present in our conscious mind except as a concept we acquired from home or instruction. When God makes an appearance in our lives it is usually through the testimony of others, like someone who has experienced a miracle, or in the days of old, when someone was visited by an Angel of God. There are several such events recorded in the Old and New Testaments. In each case it was an Angel they saw or some other vision like that of Moses, or Abraham who saw three Angels whom he collectively called "my Lord."

God had not yet given human beings the capacity to see Him directly in their conscious mind. This is what the Incarnation Event changed.

You can see that this is the central event in the creation and evolution of the human race.

The Incarnation Event greatly intensified the love relationship God could now have with human beings.

When the Divine Child was born on this earth the task was not yet complete because he was not a fully integrated Divine Person. His metanoid mental state required that He alternate between being the Divine Himself in His super-conscious Mind, and being a mere human born on earth from a biological mother who, like people on earth, had inherited biological ties to the hells. The Divine Child's external natural mind contained not only the learned culture and instruction, but also the hereditary evil inclinations in which the entire human race had evolved over the generations.

The Divine Child's immense task was to face down those ties with the hells in His mind. No human being could, and the entire race was fallen into those hells in their mind. Now the Divine Child faced the same hells. Through His inner strength of character and love for the human race, He was able to create new doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture. The creation of this new mental weapon in Himself made it available to all human beings. Henceforth every human being born on earth would be able to use this mental weapon to effect their regeneration and thereby make heaven in eternity accessible to them. This is called "salvation of the human race."

What is this new awesome mental weapon that we can have in our mind to vanquish the hells in ourselves?

This new weapon is called "the Holy Spirit" in Sacred Scripture. In theistic psychology it is called the integration of the affective and cognitive organs in our mind (see Section xx).

The Divine Child integrated the affective and cognitive organs in Himself and this was the first time that this was done in the creation and evolution of the spiritual race since the Fall (see Section xx).

The details of how the Divine Child accomplished this act of creation in Himself are described in a rational series of presentations in the correspondences of the Genesis stories regarding the four Hebrew patriarchs in the Old Testament.

The integration of the affective and cognitive organs in ourselves is called a "heavenly marriage" because it is the mechanism that accomplishes our regeneration and entrance into heavenly eternity. The first step consists of acquiring into our conscious understanding the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture. The second step is to love this doctrine by having the motive to apply it to our willing and thinking in daily life. This step is accompanied by enlightenment, which is the conscious ability to understand higher-order correspondences of Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). The third step is to recycle this process endlessly. The more progress we make in our character reformation the higher the Divine truths that we can consciously understand. When we are enlightened, the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture is Divine truth in our understanding that appears to be as-if our own. This is the presence of the "Holy Spirit." Now we have a rational image of the Divine Human in our conscious awareness. This is the immediate direct presence of the Divine Child with us, or, the Divine Human, or the Divine Psychologist.

The following chart illustrates the Divine Presence in people's mind in relation to the "marriage" of good and truth in us. This "heavenly marriage" in human beings recreates the "Divine marriage" that the Divine Child created in His mind. Now you will see how the Divine Marriage relates to marriage on earth between a husband and wife.

We first undergo the Old Testament phase of natural marriage between a man and a woman. At this level of union God's Divine Essence or Love is represented by the woman and God's Human Essence is represented by the man. This is a marriage of the external socio-legal bodies of the couple. It is characterized by the male dominance model (see Section xx). At the next phase of marriage growth, the couple enters the equity model of interrelating to each other. This is called a spiritual marriage because the wife represents Divine Love and the husband represents Divine Truth. The third and final phase of marriage is called celestial because now the husband represents Divine Love and the wife represents Divine Truth. At this mentality level the couple interacts in accordance with the unity model (see Section xx).

Note that the various discrete phases of evolution of marriage are all based on the Divine Marriage, which refers to the integration of the affective and cognitive organs in the Divine Child during the Incarnation Event. Note also that God's Divine Essence is Love while His Human Essence is Divine Truth. The integration of Love and Truth in the Divine Child's Natural Mind is therefore the integration of God's Divine Essence with His Human Essence. Prior to the Incarnation Event this integration in God was called the "Human Divine." Since the Incarnation Event, the integration of Love and Truth in God is known in heaven as the "Divine-Human." The difference between Human-Divine and Divine-Human is the Incarnation Event, the event of greatest significance in the history of humankind.

God as the Human-Divine of the Old Testament was not able to be present immediately and directly in the mind of the human race. But God as the Divine-Human is able to be immediately and consciously present in our natural mind through enlightenment (or "Holy Spirit"). Swedenborg was able to visually see the Divine-Human amidst the Spiritual Sun of the heavens. Further, on certain occasions, the Divine-Human is able to appear amongst the people of the heavens, face to face with them. But remember that heaven is an internal mental state, so that when the people there see the Divine-Human face to face they do not see physically or sensuously, but rationally. God appears to them in their rational conception of Him, which they have from their Sacred Scripture.

Note also in the chart above that in the spiritual marriage phase, the husband represents the external doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture by means of spiritual-rational correspondences (see section xx). But in the next celestial phase of marriage, the wife represents doctrine, and a more interior form of doctrine based on celestial-rational correspondences. The Divine Child came as a male man because He came to represent External Spiritual Doctrine or Divine Truth in people's natural mind. As you can see from the chart on the New Testament row, external doctrine is represented by the husband. Had the Divine Child incarnated to represent the Divine Good, He could have come as the Inmost Doctrine, which is represented by the wife in the celestial marriage. Thus a female Divine Child could have made the appearance into the world. But this was not possible because the human mind had to be evolved from the external doctrine to the internal doctrine through gradual steps of development. This was on account of the Fall of humankind from a celestial race of good to a spiritual race of truth (see Section xx).

We now return and pick up again with the next passage in the Genesis 24 series that describes how the Divine Child united the Human and the Divine in Himself. By this means He created a new workable method for the regeneration of every individual born on earth. In the letter of Sacred Scripture this accomplishment is called His Work of Salvation of the human race.

This passage gives the details of the biological process by which the unconscious affective operation in the spiritual mind (=spiritual good or heat) descends into the cognitive operation in the conscious natural mind. When it is there in conscious awareness it is called the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture, which is Divine truth in our conscious understanding. Conscious Divine truth in our understanding is therefore empowered by the unconscious Divine good descending from our spiritual mind. When the two are united in the natural mind, it is called the "heavenly marriage" because this new integration of the layers of the self creates heaven in our mind. We are empowered in a new way to do what we couldn't feel, think, or do before. We gain full control over our natural self and change our lifestyle to be that of a celestial personality. We are capable of conjugial love, experiencing unity with our spouse. New ideas and feelings enter our experience and we continue to progress in this way to our celestial humanity, which is the highest human potential created by God (see Section xx).

[4] The good itself of the rational, which is formed by the internal way, is the very ground; but truth is the seed which is to be sown in this ground. The genuine rational is never born in any other way. In order that it might come forth with the Lord in the same way, and be made Divine by His own power, the Lord came into the world, and it was His will to be born as are other men. Otherwise He might have assumed a human without birth, as was frequently done in ancient times when He appeared to men.

The focus here is on the contrast between truth and good and how they are united in the mind to act as one. This integration is gradual and is called "regeneration" of the character of the mind. This initiates a new human state which is celestial in origin, hence Divine. Both truth and good are Divine, proceeding from the Spiritual Sun as spiritual heat and spiritual light (see Section xx). The issue here is how the Divine good and truth become united in our mind. Until this is done, the truth we know cannot make us truly human. To know and understand Divine truth from Sacred Scripture is a mental operation in the cognitive organ. By itself this is merely a "theoretical" knowledge that has no useful purpose to us. The usefulness of truth is not in itself but in the good that is within it.

Good is the essential in everything while truth is the outward appearance of good (see Section xx). The integration or "marriage" of truth and good in our character results in a new way of willing and thinking. Until this integration takes place, truth cannot regenerate us for heavenly life.

The passage above says that the affective operations called good function as "the ground" while the cognitive operations called truth function as "the seed which is to be sown in this ground." The physical act of sowing seed is a correspondence for the mental act of acquiring truth by loving it. We must have a motivation for acquiring truth just as we must be motivated to learn anything. The motivation to learn truth from Sacred Scripture is called "the ground." Your motivation for learning theistic psychology is the ground or affective organ, while the content that you memorize and understand is called the seed of the cognitive organ. The cognitive and the affective must be integrated. The cognitive "seed" or concept must be loved in order for it to stick to us and become our own (the "ground").

The "genuine rational" in the passage above refers to spiritual correspondences that we can experience in the interior-natural organ of the natural mind (see Section xx). This virtual heaven in our conscious natural mind was created by the Incarnation Event in every human being and is thus a new creation of the human self and consciousness. Through this new consciousness we are capable of understanding in a virtual way all the correspondences in the first, second, and third heavens of the human mind. We can thus anticipate in a virtual form here on earth, what it's like to be in the three heavens of our mind.

The above passages says that "The genuine rational is never born in any other way. In order that it might come forth with the Lord in the same way, and be made Divine by His own power, the Lord came into the world, and it was His will to be born as are other men." The Divine Child created the interior-natural organ in His own mind so that it can become present in the mind of every human being. Theistic psychology has become possible because this interior-natural organ within our conscious natural mind, now allows us to think virtually with spiritual-natural correspondences (first heaven), spiritual-rational correspondences (second heaven), and celestial-rational correspondences (third heaven) (see Section xx). All we have to do is to unite our will to this new understanding in order to be regenerated by the Divine Psychologist (see Section xx). This requires a life of self-witnessing and struggle against natural, spiritual, and celestial temptations (see Section xx).

[5] These are the things contained in this chapter, namely, how truth, called forth from the natural man, was to be conjoined with the good of the rational; and as the good there was Divine, how the truth there should also be made Divine. To man these things (especially to one who does not know that the rational is something distinct from the natural, and who therefore does not know that the rational is formed successively, and this by knowledges) are very obscure, so that they are not understood; but still they are among things easily understood by those who have any knowledge concerning the rational and the natural man, and who are in enlightenment. The angels see them all as in clear day.

Here "the rational" refers to the unconscious spiritual-rational mind and not to the conscious natural-rational mind. The truth in our conscious natural understanding is not Divine truth or genuine truth until it is united to the good that descends from the unconscious spiritual mind. The paragraph above also indicates how difficult or impossible it is for anyone to follow these explanations unless they are familiar with theistic psychology -- the anatomy of the mind (see Section xx), substantive dualism (see Section xx), correspondences (see Section xx), and the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). The facts to be familiar with are explicated in the passages of the Arcana Coelestia that are cited by Number in the following paragraph. You might want to study them -- see the online version of Arcana Coelestia here: www.theheavenlydoctrines.org

[6] Some idea of them may be obtained from what has been said and shown above, namely: That the rational as to truth is formed by influx into memory-knowledges and knowledges (n. 1495, 1563, 1900, 1964): That it is not born from these two kinds of knowledges, but from the affection of them (n. 1895, 1900): That these two kinds of knowledges are only vessels for good (n. 1469, 1496): That empty memory-knowledges must be destroyed (n. 1489, 1492, 1499, 1500): That in the rational, the affection of good is as a soul in the affection of truth (n. 2072): What is the affection of rational truth, and of the truth of mere memory (n. 2503): That by knowledges the external man is conjoined with the internal, that is, the rational man with the natural, when knowledges are being implanted in things celestial, which are those of love and charity (n. 1450, 1451, 1453, 1616).

The "affection of rational truth" refers to our motivation for studying theistic psychology. The "truth of mere memory" refers to knowledge of theistic psychology that we acquire for an extrinsic motivation such as taking a course, teaching a course, doing research, or making a reputation for oneself as a scholar and writer. These are extrinsic motives because they are not related to our regeneration. Intrinsic motives for studying theistic psychology consist of the love of knowing the truth, the motive to prepare the mind for heaven, the desire to benefit others by teaching the truth, and the love of truth for its own sake or for the sake of the good that is in it. Ultimately, the love of the Divine Human is our most intrinsic and highest motive in life.

It is said above that "That by knowledges the external man is conjoined with the internal, that is, the rational man with the natural, when knowledges are being implanted in things celestial, which are those of love and charity." In other words, by acquiring the knowledge of theistic psychology from an intrinsic motivation, our natural mind is set into agreement with our spiritual mind. That is, it is being regenerated.

Continuing with the next Number discussing Abraham's instructions to his servant:

That this signifies a question whether it could nevertheless be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational, is evident from what was said above concerning Abraham, and concerning the land whence he came forth (see n. 1353, 1356, 1992, 2559); from which it is evident that the land whence Abram came was Syria, where was the second Ancient Church, called the Hebrew Church from Eber by whom it was established (n. 1238, 1241, 1327, 1343). But about the time of Abraham this church also fell away from the truth, and some of its households to such an extent that they were wholly ignorant of Jehovah, and worshiped other gods. This is the "land" here meant, and concerning which the servant asked Abraham whether he should bring back his son to the land whence he came out; and it is from this that by the "land" is here signified an affection which does not agree with truth. And because this is its meaning, by bringing back the son, or what is the same, by his marrying a woman there, and remaining there with her, is signified to conjoin an affection that does not agree with truth, with the Divine good of the rational. But that this could not be done is declared by Abraham's answer, the consideration of which now follows.

The passage above gives us some historical facts about Sacred Scripture and how it was interpreted or understood at one point. These facts are important because individual development or biography recaps historical sequences specified in Sacred Scripture. The Jewish patriarch Abraham, at first known as Abram, came from Syria "where was the second Ancient Church, called the Hebrew Church." All historical religions or "churches" were born at some specific point to introduce new truths and a new mentality or consciousness in the human race. Every historical church underwent "consummation" at some later time and lost its purity and effectiveness. As individuals, we go through one phase of mental development, consummate or end it as we go on to the next phase. The series of historical Churches therefore represent the series of spiritual steps we undergo as individuals today.

The Church established by Eber, called the Hebrew Church, was consummated by the time Abram was born. His cultural environment in Syria was polytheistic and thus a falsified religion that is no longer based on Sacred Scripture. Hence it had no power to help people regenerate. Abram was instructed by God to leave his native land and to establish himself in the Land of Canaan, which in the ancient Churches represented the regenerated mind or heaven. Abraham made his servant promise not to take Isaac back to that land of falsified religion, but rather to go there himself and bring back a woman for a wife to Isaac. This woman turned out to be Rebekah, a name that represents the knowledge of theistic psychology or the Divine Rational Truth before it is married or conjoined to the Divine Rational Good ("Isaac"). The Divine Rational Good could not be conjoined to the affection of falsifications that was represented by the "Canaanite women." A "woman" refers to the affection or motivation for studying theistic psychology, while "Canaanite" in the negative sense, refers to the falsification of Sacred Scripture. "Isaac" or the Divine Rational Good descending into our natural mind, could only be conjoined with "Rebekah," the Divine Truth from Sacred Scripture that is in our natural mind.

[2] That there can be no conjunction of falsity with good, or of truth with evil, but only of falsity with evil, and of truth with good, it has been given me to perceive to the life; and I have perceived that the case is as follows: When a man has the affection of good, that is, when he wills good from the heart, then whenever anything is to be thought of that is to be willed and done, his good willing flows into his thinking, and there it applies itself to the knowledges which are there, and joins itself with them as its recipient vessels, and by this conjunction impels him so to think, to will, and to act.

It is as it were an ingrafting of good in truths or in the knowledges of truth. But when a man has not the affection of good, but the affection of evil, that is, then he wills evil (as when he believes all to be good that is for himself, so that he may become great and may be rich, thus possess honor and wealth, and this is his end), then when anything is to be thought of that is to be willed and done, his willing equally flows into his thinking, and there excites knowledges which appear in the semblance of truth; and so it impels the man to think, to will, and to do; and this by a wrong application of knowledges, and by looking upon certain general truths which he has drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word or from other knowledge as being applicable in every sense: it is in this way that evil is coupled with falsity, for in this case the truth which is therein is deprived of all the essence of truth.

The above two paragraphs explain why good -- which is spiritual heat in the affective organ, cannot be integrated with false doctrine -- which is spiritual darkness in the cognitive organ. Character reformation and regeneration are not possible in this mental state.

"Good willing" is identified as "the affection of good," which means the motive in the affective organ to act rightly according to one's doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture, which is in the cognitive organ. "The affection of good" refers to the love and desire that is in the mental state called "good will." When we intend well to others we have an "affection for good." When we intend evil to someone, we do not have the affection of good, but instead, the affection for evil. The text says that good willing is "good from the heart" and "flows into one's thinking." The truth we have in our thinking (cognitive organ) is infilled with the good we have in our willing (affective organ). There is then an "ingrafting of good in the knowledges of truth."

When we have evil motives and intentions it is evil that is ingrafted in false principles and explanations. Evil cannot be ingrafted or conjoined with truth, and good in the will cannot be conjoined with falsifications of truth in the understanding. When people approach the study of theistic psychology with a negative bias, they are unable to see any rational truths in it and all of it seems false and unworthy (see Section xx).

The paragraph quoted above says that "when a man has not the affection of good, but the affection of evil, that is, then he wills evil. " All day long we make hundreds of little decisions that affect others and ourselves. These decisions, choices, or intentions make up our lifestyle and our unique way of living it. Our choices are motivated at two levels -- local and distal. Consider what people when they are in a mental state that is driven or obsessed by some ambition or goal, like getting rich, or winning a medal at the Olympics, or breeding a show dog to win top recognition. They make this the central feature of their daily life. You can see that everything they do all day long has to serve this ambition. They don't get involved in anything that doesn't seem to them to promote this ambition. As the passage above says, they lose the rational ability to remain objective: "... when anything is to be thought of that is to be willed and done, his willing equally flows into his thinking, and there excites knowledges which appear in the semblance of truth."

The "semblance of truth" is not truth, any more than the semblance of plastic apples used on a theater stage. They have the semblance of apples, but they cannot be eaten. To buy pieces of cut glass that appear as diamonds and to pay diamond prices for them, is indeed a foolish thing to do. Suppose some people studied theistic psychology in order to try to create a new popular spiritual movement whose adherents they could exploit. This is called "having an affection for evil." As they read theistic psychology they see some things in there they skip over because they do not understand it or because it seems wrong to them. But they find other things they seize upon in a distorted way. This they call truth because it has to them the "semblance of truth." They will end up with a distorted knowledge of theistic psychology that can be of no benefit to them or to anyone who is duped by their clever presentations.

The consequence is that these imaginary truths "impel the man to think, to will, and to do." In such a mental state people can no longer cope adequately with the challenges of life. Hence develop social and individual problems and inadequacies. This is called a "wrong application of knowledges" and the result is that "evil is coupled with falsity." What happens to people who arrive in the spiritual world in such a mental state? Swedenborg presents empirical evidence.

[3] In the other life such persons (however much in this life they may have seemed to be more highly instructed than others) are more stupid than others and so far as they are in the persuasion that they are in truth, they induce thick darkness on others. Such have at times been with me; but they were not susceptible of any affection of good from truth, howsoever the truths were recalled to their mind which they had known in the life of the body; for evil was with them, with which truths could not be conjoined. Neither can such persons be in the company of the good; but if there is anything of natural good with them, they are vastated even till they know nothing of truth; and then there is insinuated into the remaining good something of truth, as much as the little remaining good can receive. But they who have been in the affection of good from the heart, are able to receive all truth in accordance with the amount and the quality of the good that has been with them.

The above paragraph is remarkable because it describes one of the many experiments Swedenborg was able to carry out in the spiritual world. This kind of research data is difficult to imagine or accept for people schooled in non-theistic psychology and who maintain the negative bias regarding substantive dualism (see Chapter 1). But from a theistic science perspective the experiment is most interesting. The research question to be answered is this: Can one conjoin truth to an evil affection or love? The results of this experiment have important implications for us still here on earth. How do we protect our knowledge of theistic psychology when we enter the world of spirits? How can people protect their knowledge of Sacred Scripture from evaporating into doubt and denial when they arrive in the world of their immortality?

In this experiment Swedenborg selected a sample of people ("such persons") who had arrived into the world of spirits ("in the other life"). In the world of spirits those who dwell in the heavens of their mind are able to perceive the aura of individuals they approach in the world of spirits. From its color and consistency they can perceive the person's affections, whether evil or good. A sample was selected from those who showed an evil affection in their aura. "Such have at times been with me; but they were not susceptible of any affection of good from truth, howsoever the truths were recalled to their mind which they had known in the life of the body; for evil was with them, with which truths could not be conjoined." They consistently rejected the truths that was proposed to them. Furthermore, "such persons could not be in the company of the good" because they would "induce thick darkness on others."

These people with such evil loves have to be isolated to protect others from having their truths falsified by their persuasive powers. An evil love is able to marshal intellectual justifications that can persuade others who do not think for themselves but accept uncritically what they are impressed by. One therapeutic remedy provided for people in this mental state is to have all their truths "vastated." This term appears frequently in the Writings Sacred Scripture and is obviously an important concept addressed by Divine Speech. Vastation is the process of losing the truth and good we possess. We may have learned certain true principles and ideas as we go through life, as well as certain good inclinations and habits we acquired along the way. When we are vastated, these good inclinations and true principles are taken away from us. Why would God do that?

Because they have been compromised and are no longer genuine. They may have been mediate good inclinations and mediate true principles, but they become evils and falsifications unless we leave them behind and move on. If we don't move on, we die in our vastation, which means that we sink into the hells of our mind at our second death. In spiritual development it is always forward or backward. We cannot stand still. Spiritually, if we don't progress, we retrogress. This retrogression follows the vastation, unless rebirth follows instead. This is the next phase of the development and is thus a progression forward or upward.

The vastation therapy consists of "insinuating something into the remaining good something of truth, as much as the little remaining good can receive." Once the semblance of truth is vastated in the conscious natural mind, new genuine truths are conjoined to the "little remaining good." In this way the person is vastated of all evil and falsification they possessed. The remaining good conjoined to the new truths can form a heavenly marriage, a new rational plane in which they can enjoy their immortality in mental states of a heavenly type rather than hellish. No matter how little good we have left in our affective organ, it is enough to create a plane of heaven when it is married to the new truths. This marriage can be enriched and developed endlessly because a single truth with its good can continue to deepen to infinity. This property of endless enrichment of each truth and good corresponds to the Divine Human's infinite Divine love and wisdom (the "Divine Marriage").

That this signifies the Lord's Divine Itself, is evident from what was said above (n. 3023), namely, that "Jehovah the God of heaven," is the Lord's Divine Itself; for by "Jehovah," so often named in the Word of the Old Testament, is meant the Lord alone; for all things therein in general and particular treat of Him in the internal sense; and all and each of the rites of the church represented Him (see n. 1736, 2921); and that the men of the most ancient times, who were of the celestial church, understood by Jehovah no other than the Lord (n. 1343). In the sense of the letter here and elsewhere the appearance is that another, who is higher, is meant by "Jehovah;" but the sense of the letter is such as to separate what the internal sense unites; and this for the reason that the man who is to be instructed from the sense of the letter cannot have an idea of a one, unless he first has an idea of more than one; for a one with man is formed from many; or what is the same, from successive things is formed that which is simultaneous. There are many things in the Lord, and all are Jehovah. This is the reason why the sense of the letter makes a distinction, while heaven by no means does so; but acknowledges one God in a simple idea, and no other than the Lord.

The paragraph above discusses the revealed nature of God and how human beings have related to Him in the course of history and civilizations. Here two expressions are used for God: "the Lord" and "Jehovah." The expression "the Lord" is from the literal text of the Greek New Testament Sacred Scripture, while "Jehovah" is from the Hebrew text of the Old Testament Sacred Scripture. In the Latin text of the Writings Sacred Scripture the expression "the Divine Human" occurs very many times. In theistic psychology the expression "the Divine Psychologist" often appears, which is the scientific sense of "the Divine Human" and of "the Lord." In the New Testament text there also appears the expression "Holy Spirit" whose scientific meaning in theistic psychology is "enlightenment through the creation of an interior natural organ at the start of regeneration" (see Section xx). Additional distinctions are discussed elsewhere, including the expressions "Father," "Son of God," "Son of Man," "Messiah or Christ," as well as related expressions like "Father of Eternity," "Divine Child," "Prince of Peace," "the Sheppard," "the Lamb of God," and many others. These expressions for God found in Sacred Scripture encapsulate many scientific revelations that have not yet come to the awareness of human consciousness.

The paragraph also reveals a fundamental property of Sacred Scripture, namely, that "the sense of the letter is such as to separate what the internal sense unites." In other words, religious concepts and ideas based on the literal sense, "separate" the unity that is contained in theistic psychology (the "internal sense"). This is why theistic psychology can be a universal science while religion based on the letter of the Writings, creates an exclusionary membership in a Church organization.

The paragraph above that we are discussing explains why it is necessary for all religions to be based on the literal meaning of Sacred Scripture. The Jewish religion is based on the literal meaning of the Hebrew Old Testament Sacred Scripture. The Christian religion is based on the literal meaning of the Greek New Testament Sacred Scripture. The New Church religion is based on the literal meaning of the Latin Writings of Swedenborg Sacred Scripture. Similarly for other religions such as Islam and Hinduism which have their own sacred writings given to them as Divine revelations.

The chart above depicts the successive steps of development that all people undergo in their spiritual growth. As soon as we reach young adulthood and begin to think for ourselves, we start with a world view of our own construction, which has a variety of themes -- materialism, cynicism, atheism, realism, selfism, nondualism, cultism, existentialism, humanism, nihilism, and so on. At some point in their adult development, many people move to a renewal of religion which they had as children, but now from a voluntary motive relating to the meaning of life and reality. This level 2 thinking is based on the literal sense of Sacred Scripture. The passage above says that "the man who is to be instructed from the sense of the letter cannot have an idea of a one, unless he first has an idea of more than one."

In other words, we can understand the idea of several gods before we can comprehend the idea of one God. Or, we can understand the idea of several religions before we can see that all religions are one. Religion is based on the literal sense of Sacred Scripture which has several names for God. Though we know that we are not supposed to think of several gods, but of only one God, we nevertheless form the image in our mind of several gods. This is because our image of God is based on the literal sense of Sacred Scripture, and this kind of mentality "divides." Eventually, after regeneration has begun, and our focus is on character reformation, we are enlightened and begin to think at level 3 with interior-natural correspondences of Sacred Scripture. This mentality now unites what has been separated and divided before.

The paragraph above says that "from successive things is formed that which is simultaneous." In other words, the progression depicted in the chart above from level 1 to level 2 to level 3, is called "successive," but once you have arrived at the top (or the end), your consciousness is in "simultaneous" degrees. Level 2 contains level 1, and level 3 contains level 2 which contains level 1. When the progression is completed the mental state is reached in which all the prior stages are present simultaneously. This is a more difficult concept to understand than religious ideas of rebirth and salvation, which are based on level 2 thinking (see Section xx).

That this signifies that the affection of truth was indeed thence, but from a new source, is evident from the signification of a "woman," as being the affection of truth (concerning which see above); for by Rebekah, of whom this chapter treats, is represented the Divine truth that was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational, which is "Isaac." That the affection of truth is thence, that is, from what is signified by the "house of the father" and the "land of nativity," but from a new source, cannot as yet be explained, but it is treated of in many things that follow. I may however briefly state that all the affection of truth in the natural man comes forth by an influx from the affection of good out of the rational, or through the rational from the Divine; the affection of truth which through this influx comes forth in the natural man is not in the beginning the affection of genuine truth; for genuine truth comes by successive steps, and is also by successive steps substituted in place of former things that were not in themselves truths, but only means leading to genuine truth. From these few words it may be seen what is meant by its being said that the affection of truth is indeed therefrom, but from a new source.

The passage above recalls once more that "Isaac" in the Old Testament Sacred Scripture is a correspondence for "the Divine good of the rational." This expression refers to the affective organ of the unconscious spiritual mind (see Section xx). "Good" refers to spiritual heat from the Spiritual Sun entering the affective organ of the spiritual mind. Once there, the operation seeks to integrate with the cognitive operation that is suitable to it -- as in a marriage proposal and union (see Section xx). "Rebekah" corresponds to "the Divine truth that was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational." In other words, the affective operation of the Divine Child's super-conscious spiritual mind ("Isaac"), was to be integrated with the affection He had for the cognitive operation of His natural mind that dealt with the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture ("the affection of truth in the natural man").

Note this in the above passage: "all the affection of truth in the natural man comes forth by an influx from the affection of good out of the rational." In other words, our motivation for studying theistic psychology ("affection of truth in the natural man") is a correspondential reaction to our love for good, which issues from the unconscious mind ("out of the rational"). The word "rational" spans several discrete levels (see Section xx), so it is important to keep track of the level by referring to the context. The "affection of good" refers to our motivation to acquire heavenly traits. This motive is higher in the hierarchy of motives than the motive to acquire heavenly truths. We must have an underlying unconscious motive to acquire heavenly traits before we can have a conscious motive to acquire the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture, which is called heavenly truths.

The passage above explains that when we acquire truths for ourselves from Sacred Scripture we tend to distort them in accordance with our self-intelligence to fit our hellish inclinations. Therefore in order to purify these Divine concepts from the distortions we add, we need to have in place a supporting operation in the affective organ of the spiritual mind. This supporting operation is the motive we have for acquiring heavenly traits ("affection for good in the rational"). This motive resides in the unconscious spiritual mind (called "rational" here), which operates by means of spiritual-rational correspondences of Divine Speech (second heaven). This unconscious motive for heavenly things is evidently different from a similar conscious motive in the natural mind. We may think or believe about ourselves that we love heavenly things and that we would love to be in heaven, but when we look at the details of our willing and thinking by self-witnessing (see Section xx), we find that we are attached to hellish traits. Our conscious love for heaven in the natural mind may therefore not be genuine, that is, may not have similar motivation or support in the unconscious spiritual mind.

[2] Concerning man's freedom, see what was said and shown above (n. 892, 905, 1937, 1947, 2744, 2870-2893) from which it is evident how the case is with freedom. Freedom is predicated of the natural man, but not in the same way of the rational; for good flows through the rational into the natural in heavenly freedom from the Lord. The natural man is that which is to receive this good; and in order that it may receive it, and may thus be conjoined with the heavenly freedom which flows in through the rational, the natural is left in freedom. For freedom is of love or affection; and unless the natural man receives the affection of truth from the inflowing affection of good, it cannot possibly be conjoined with the rational. Such is the case with man; and that he is reformed of the Lord through freedom may be seen (n. 1937, 1947, 2876-2878, 2881).

The above passage directs the reader to several Numbers in the Arcana Coelestia series, that deal with what is human freedom (see Section xx). The freedom we experience in our daily willing and choice making is an operation in the affective organ of the conscious natural mind. This operation cannot go on unless it has appropriate mental support from the affective organ of the unconscious mind. The latter freedom is called "heavenly freedom" which is received in the affective organ as spiritual heat from the Spiritual Sun ("inflows from the Lord"). The ability to make free choices in our willing all day long is called "good" that inflows from the Divine Human. There is an infinite variety of good things that we can receive from the Spiritual Sun. Each variety of good that flows in gives us some new heavenly capacity, inclination, aptitude, interest, love, affection, or motivation ("freedom is love or affection").

In order to be regenerated the "heavenly marriage" must take place in our mind (see Section xx). This refers to the integration between the affective and cognitive organs. More specifically, the working together between the motive in the unconscious spiritual-rational mind for acquiring heavenly traits, and the motive in the natural conscious mind for acquiring heavenly doctrines from Sacred Scripture. Unless we have this freedom to choose we cannot be regenerated but remain in our inherited hellish traits.

[3] In regard to the Lord, He likewise left the natural in freedom when He made His rational Divine as to truth; that is, when He adjoined Divine truth to the Divine good of the rational; for it was His will to make His Human Divine in the usual manner, that is, in the way in which man is reformed and regenerated. The reformation and regeneration of man is therefore itself a kind of image; by reformation and regeneration also a man is made new, and hence is said to be born anew and created new; and insofar as he is reformed, insofar he has as it were what is Divine in him. But there is this difference, that the Lord made Himself Divine from His own power, while man cannot do the least thing from his own power, but only from the Lord. It is said "as it were what is Divine," because man is but a recipient of life; whereas the Lord as to each essence is life itself (see n. 1954, 2021, 2658, 2706, 3001).

The paragraph above says that "the reformation and regeneration of man is therefore itself a kind of image" of the way the Divine Child regenerated His natural mind and made it Divine. Our steps of character reformation recapitulates all the steps of character reformation that the Divine Child made Himself undergo. It is also said that "by reformation and regeneration also a man is made new, and hence is said to be born anew and created new; and insofar as he is reformed, insofar he has as it were what is Divine in him." The expression "to be reborn" or "to be born anew" or "to be created anew" occurs in the New Testament Sacred Scripture. It refers to the character reformation which involves learning a new way of willing and thinking in daily life. We are a new person because our choices, thoughts, and intentions are heavenly instead of hellish. The Divine Child reformed His inherited character by His own power, which was that of the omnipotent God. Human beings are not able to reform themselves because they have no power of their own. Instead it is the Divine Psychologist who is doing the reforming and the regenerating. Nevertheless, He wills it that we have the experience that we are reforming ourselves through our own desire and motivation. He does this out of love for us so that we may stay motivated to change in freedom or voluntarily.

It is mistakenly thought by some people that because we have no power to change that therefore we are not required to change for the sake of our "salvation" or heavenly life in immortality. But everything you've read in theistic psychology shows why this is not an accurate view. Entering heaven is not by permission from God as a reward for having been faithful in our creed of religion. Entering heaven means to be willing to give up every single hellish trait that we were born with or that we acquired along the way. This can only be done if we consummate the "heavenly marriage" in our mind by integrating our desire for heavenly life with our motive to live in accordance with the the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture that we acquire for ourselves (see Section xx).

That this signifies general memory-knowledges in the natural man, is evident from the signification here of "servant," as being the natural man (see above, n. 3019, 3020) and from the signification of "ten," as being remains (that these are goods and truths with man stored up by the Lord, may be seen above, n. 468, 530, 560, 561, 660, 661, 1050, 1906, 2284; and that "ten," or remains, when predicated of the Lord, are the Divine things which the Lord acquired for Himself, n. 1738, 1906); and also from the signification of "camels," as being general memory-knowledges; and because these were Divine, or acquired by the Lord, it is said that they were "ten," and then it is said that they were "camels, of the camels of his lord." That he "departed," signifies the initiation thereby which is treated of in this chapter.

In the Old Testament Sacred Scripture the expression "camels" corresponds to "general memory-knowledges in the natural man" in the Writings Sacred Scripture, which in theistic psychology refers to our conscious memory functions in daily life. The number 10 in the Old Testament corresponds to "remains" in the Writings, which in theistic psychology refers to our heavenly character traits. Elsewhere in the Writings the concept of "remains" is discussed as a crucial mechanism which the Divine Psychologist uses to protect our heavenly traits from being corrupted and destroyed among the many hellish traits that we inherit. As we go through the normal developmental steps of physical and mental maturation, the Divine Psychologist activates heavenly potentials and inclinations in the unconscious spiritual mind (see Section xx). For example, children are visibly attracted to the things around them which they passionately explore through their sensorimotor apparatus. Sometimes adults call this "curiosity," "discovery procedure," and "learning." The feeling of curiosity is a strong motive in the will. It just seems to be there in children. But where did it come from?

The affection of curiosity is the correspondential reaction in the conscious natural mind of a parallel operation in the unconscious spiritual mind. This unconscious spiritual operation must occur first and be sustained there, before it can induce the correspondential motive in the natural mind. It is the Divine Psychologist who instantiates, supports, and maintains the numberless operations in the unconscious spiritual mind that control the reactions in the natural mind. Other such heavenly "implantations" of "good" by the Divine "influx" include the child's ability to learn a natural language, and the child's "innocence" which is defined as the affection or desire for following or obeying the adult caretaker. These and many other "remains" of heavenly "good" are "implanted" in the unconscious spiritual mind by the action there of the Divine Psychologist.

In the case of the Divine Child, it was Himself as God who was the Divine Psychologist ordering and supporting His unconscious spiritual-rational mind and His developing natural mind. The Divine Child lived this alternating divided metanoid consciousness ("states of exinanition") until the mere human born in time was united to the Human Divine from eternity. This process of unition is called the Divine Marriage (see Section xx). Since the Incarnation Event and its completion (at "Ascension"), every human being is capable of having this spiritual marriage be performed in the mind by the intervention of the Divine Psychologist. The unconscious "remains" or heavenly traits ("good") that He stores up in our mind as our very own ("Isaac"), are "married" or integrated with our conscious doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture. The unconscious remains in the affective organ of the spiritual mind activate the conscious truth in the cognitive organ of our natural mind.

The higher heavenly trait (or "good), which is an affection, desire, motive, or attraction, integrates itself with the concepts of truth we acquired for ourselves. For example, we understand and accept the truth that we should be honest and fair. That truth or doctrine is recorded in our cognitive organ and we can recall it, talk about it, learn more about it, as we wish. And yet, when we self-witness our willing and thinking all day long (see Section xx), we find numerous instances where we have motives to be dishonest or deceptive in our interactions with others and in the appearances we give to them of ourselves. This is a disorderly mental state in which our cognitive principles and ethics do not match our affective willing, intending, and enjoying things. If we do not undergo cognitive reformation and affective regeneration, we continue to deepen our disorderly state. Eventually we lead a lifestyle and behave in ways that are hellish. These hellish operations in our unconscious affective organ form a hurtful marriage alliance or "concubinage" with false justifications in the cognitive mind that are distortions of truth and the principles we once had.

It is possible to save ourselves from the fate of eternal hell, which is the negative and insane mental state created by our inherited and acquired hellish traits, inclinations, and enjoyments. The prospect of such a beastly, irrational, and sub-human life that never stops to eternity, is indeed something we all should sit up for and take notice!

The Incarnation Event has created a way out of this terrible situation for every human being. The Divine Child created new biological operations in the human understanding which anyone can follow because the Divine Psychologist is managing these operations in every person's mind (see Section xx). He implants and activates heavenly traits in the unconscious spiritual anatomy of every human being. These unconscious affective operations enter into a "marriage" or integrate themselves with the conscious cognitive operations of genuine truth from Sacred Scripture. These truths from Sacred Scripture can be distorted by hellish motives, in which case the heavenly "remains" or traits cannot be conjoined to them. False beliefs and ideas drawn from Sacred Scripture act as interference factors to producing the "heavenly marriage" in ourselves. Just because we are religious does not mean that we have undistorted truth from Sacred Scripture since, over the centuries, many religious beliefs and concepts have arisen in people's mind are taught as doctrine (see Section xx).

It comes as a surprise to most people that God takes such an immediate and direct role in our moment to moment thinking and willing all day long!

The human mind is such an amazingly complex system that it could not work "by itself" even if God implanted innate programs or capacities like rationality, intelligence, and motivation for discovering knowledge. It would have worked that way had we been mental robots, but instead, we have freedom of choice and power and intelligence to pursue goals we choose. We are not mental or spiritual robots. We have an as-of self experience and identity. This is necessary if we are going to love God in return, which is God's purpose in creating us (see Section xx). Though we have actual power of our own, God wills it that the capacities and intelligence He supervises in us, feel like our very own thinking, willing, and sensing. Without this reality of as-of self consciousness, we could not be free and rational, thus, could not voluntarily choose the rational love of God that binds us together into heavenly immortality. The as-of self is so real that we have it even in the hells of our mind, where we can create our own world of imagination and enjoyment. None of this hellish creation could exist for a moment were it not for the Divine Psychologist who keeps the illusory reality going in the mind of those who are there and refuse to come out.

This refusal is maintained by them forever, so intensely and stubbornly do they hold on to their own enjoyments and fantasies. They just won't let go of them, and the Divine Psychologist cooperates in their delusions. If He did not, what would happen? They would cease to be alive as human beings because every human being is alive from the affective operations in the mind. If these are inhibited or stopped, we feel nothing and have no motive left of any kind to think anything. We sense nothing. This is a state worse than hell, and the Divine Psychologist cooperates to keep them from this worst fate.

As you continue to study of how we can perform the self-modification acts of our regeneration, it will be helpful to you to memorize the mental anatomy of the threefold self in our natural, spiritual, and celestial organs of the mind. The following chart will help you create such a mental map. You can then localize what you are reading about on that map. In this way you can figure out the details and keep them connected in the right series.

This is a basic ennead chart which has many useful applications in theistic psychology (see Section xx). The word "ennead" means "nine" and the ennead charts are all based on a matrix of nine cells obtained by placing together two variables each of which has three sub-components, yielding a chart of nine cells or zones. Each zone is created by the dynamic interaction of the marginal components. The ennead chart above is defined by Levels and Organs of the mind. There are three discrete levels or layers in the mind -- natural, spiritual, and celestial. There are three mental organs -- affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor.

The vertical level of the basic ennead chart represents the vertical community to which we are attached, and consisting of the societies and individuals of the three heavens in the spiritual world. Hence it is a map representative of the spiritual geography Swedenborg was able to explore (see Section xx). The horizontal level represents the mental anatomy of every human being, consisting of an affective organ (A), a cognitive organ (C), and a sensorimotor organ (S). The chart shows that spiritual geography overlaps with mental anatomy (see Section xx). Each layer of the mind therefore consists of all three organs.

If you look up the first column you can see the progression of higher levels of affective operations -- A1, A2, and A3. Similarly with cognitive and sensorimotor operations. For illustrations of this progression in the area of marriage interactions between husband and wife, see Section xx. For illustrations in the area of our daily negative emotions, see Section xx. The chart will be used for further illustrations in what follows as we continue the analysis of Genesis Chapter 24.

Try to memorize this basic ennead chart so that you can have it as an image in your memory. You can then use it as a navigation chart to localize the dynamic movements that are going on in the mind. These dynamic operations are lawful, rational, universal, and biological. The Incarnation Event insured that the Divine Child is born into this human anatomical dynamics.

The methods that the Divine Child applied to His natural mind in order to regenerate it in Himself, are the very methods His actions created in the racial human mind, not merely in His own mind!

We must do what the Divine Child did for this is the only avenue available for the regeneration of the human mind in the spiritual race (see Section xx). We must replicate in our mind the "heavenly marriage" that is patterned after the Divine Marriage accomplished in the Divine Child by integrating His natural mind with His spiritual mind, thus making the two to be one mind called the Divine-Human. Henceforth the Divine-Human became visible in the spiritual world, that is, the objective mental world of the human race. The Divine-Human is right now in your mind because He is in every human mind since its creation merely two thousand years ago. You will be able to see the Divine-Human, or the Divine Psychologist as I like to call Him, when you deepen your rational consciousness of God. The more you are progressing with your character reformation, the more you can deepen your rational consciousness of God (see Section xx). Each deepening step comes from new enlightenment which you receive from the Divine Psychologist who is constantly working with your thoughts and feelings. His purpose, desire, and longing is for you to allow yourself to be taken there by Him. This is where the mental navigation chart can be helpful in acquiring the skills of cooperating with the Divine Psychologist in our necessary regeneration (see Section xx).

What is zone 5 made of ? Answer without looking at the diagram. If you can't figure out the answer, you need to go back to look at the chart again.

The answer is that zone 5 is C2 which means cognitive level 2 which is spiritual-rational thinking.

The answer is that zone 7 is A3 which means affective level 3 which is celestial-rational willing.

While we are on earth attached to the physical body our conscious awareness is limited to the natural level. However, the Incarnation Event has created for a new biological organ within the natural mind which may be called a virtual heaven because it gives us conscious awareness of higher order correspondences (see Section xx). In other words, we are able to be enlightened so that we can comprehend the correspondences that form the thinking of the three heavens -- interior-natural correspondences in our first heaven, spiritual-rational correspondences of our second heaven, and celestial-rational correspondences in our third heaven. In other words, this new biological organ called our virtual heaven is capable of giving us conscious awareness by correspondence, of the level of thinking in the three heavens. Our three heavens constitute our unconscious mind.

The basic ennead chart is therefore a map of the sequential mental states we must undergo in order to accomplish the heavenly marriage in our mind, that is, in order to integrate organically the functioning of our cognitive and affective mind.

We continue with the next Number from Arcana Coelestia regarding the integration of the levels and organs of the mind. This time we shall be using the ennead map to keep track of the dynamic interaction between mental states during the process of integration.

[2] The subject here is the process of the conjunction of truth with good in the Lord's Divine rational; first, the process of initiation (n. 3012-3013), the nature of which is described in a series; here, that the Lord separated in the natural man the things which were from Himself, that is, which were Divine, from those which were of the maternal. The things which were from Himself, or which were Divine, are the things by which the initiation was effected; and they are here the "ten camels, of the camels of his lord." And hence it is that in the following verses much mention is made of "camels" as that he made the camels fall on their knees without the city (verse 11); that Rebekah also gave drink to the camels (verses 14, 19-20); that they were brought into the house, and that straw and provender were given them (verses 31-32); and further, that Rebekah and her girls rode upon the camels (verse 61); and that Isaac saw the camels coming; and when Rebekah saw Isaac, that she alighted off her camel (verses 63-64). Camels are mentioned so often because of the internal sense, in which they signify the general memory-knowledges in the natural man, from which comes the affection of truth which is to be initiated into the affection of good in the rational, and this in the usual way, as shown above; for the rational as to truth cannot possibly be born and perfected without memory-knowledges and knowledges.

To get the answer we need to analyze the last sentence in the above paragraph where it says that "camels are mentioned so often because of the internal sense, in which they signify the general memory-knowledges in the natural man, from which comes the affection of truth which is to be initiated into the affection of good in the rational." "Camels" in the Old testament Sacred Scripture are correspondences for "general memory-knowledges in the natural man" in the Writings Sacred Scripture, which in theistic psychology refers to cognitive operations at level 1 -- which is C1 in the ennead chart (can you visualize that?). So the "camels" belong to zone 2 of the mental navigation chart.

It is said that from the cognitive operations at level 1 (C1) comes "the affection of truth which is to be initiated into the affection of good in the rational." The expression "the affection of truth in the rational" refers to mental operations in zone A2 because "affection" is in the affective organ, and "the rational" in context here refers to the spiritual-rational operations at level 2. Note the A2 has two content components -- the affection of "truth" and the affection of "good." The following sequence is described here:

In other words, memory-knowledges from Sacred Scripture (C1) lead to the affection of truth (A1) which is to be integrated or "married" with the "affection of good in the rational" (A2). "Rebekah" corresponds to the "affection of truth" (A1) and she is to be married to "Isaac" who corresponds to the "affection of good of the rational" (A2). Note that in the dramatic story Rebekah is to give water to the camels, which is an image of nourishing memory-knowledges from Sacred Scripture (C1) with the affection for truth (first A1, then A2).

That this signifies a state of instruction, is evident from the signification of "time," as being state (see just above, n. 3056); and from the signification of a "drawer," that is, one who draws water, as being to be instructed-to be explained in what follows. What has now been told (from n. 3054) is what is signified in the internal sense by the things related historically in this verse; but what these particulars involve in a series is not easily made plain to one who has not been instructed concerning the natural man, and concerning the memory-knowledges and doctrinal things therein, and also how truths are elevated therefrom into the rational, and become rational; and still less if he does not know what is the quality of the rational relatively to the natural, that is, the quality of the things in the rational relatively to those in the natural.

The paragraph above states that how "these particulars involve in a series is not easily made plain to one who has not been instructed" in the details of the natural vs. the rational levels, or the affective vs. the cognitive organ. But if you are using the ennead map and relating these details to it, you are "instructed" in the components and will be able to follow the discussion.

[2] The things in the rational are not apparent to man while he lives in the body; for those in the natural are what come to perception, and seldom those in the rational, except by a certain kind of light illuminating the things in the natural, or as an inflowing capacity by which the ideas of thought are disposed into order; and also as a faculty of perceiving that which the mind is considering. Unless these and other things be known, what is contained in this verse can with difficulty be explained to the apprehension, as that there is a holy disposing of the general memory-knowledges, and then a removal from doctrinal things for receiving the truths of faith; and that when this is taking place there is an obscure state, and that such is the state of instruction. Nevertheless we may briefly state as much as can be apprehended, and here, how the case is with a man when he is being reformed by the Lord; for the reformation of a man is a kind of image of what took place with the Lord then He was in the world (as was said above, n. 3043).

The passage above says that while we "live in the body" in this world we are not conscious of the spiritual mind (levels 2 and 3 in the ennead chart). The cognitive (C2, C3) and affective operations (A2, A3) "do not come to perception" or conscious awareness, "except by a certain kind of light illuminating the things in the natural." When we are enlightened in our conscious natural mind (C1) it is due to the the spiritual-rational "light illuminating the things in the natural." Our conscious understanding is illuminated by the spiritual-rational correspondences of which we become aware during reformation, which parallels the mental dynamics that the Divine Child went through ("a kind of image of what took place with the Lord then He was in the world") (see Section xx). It is said that the state of "instruction" is an "obscure state" -- a statement with which we can readily identify as we study theistic psychology! But this is only phase to be replaced by clarity as we progress in our study. In the meantime we are "camels that kneel down," as explained below.

[3] When a man is being reformed, the general things in his natural man are disposed by the Lord to correspondence with those which are in heaven. (What correspondence is, and that it is between spiritual things and natural things, may be seen above, n. 2987, 2989-2991, 3002.) General things are first disposed, in order that particulars may be successively insinuated into them by the Lord, and singulars into the particulars; for if the general things are not in order, there cannot come forth order in the particulars, because the particulars enter into the generals, and confirm them; still less can there be order in the singulars, because these enter into the particulars as into their generals, and illustrate them. These are the things that are meant by a holy disposing of general memory-knowledges; and this is meant in the internal sense by "making the camels kneel down;" for so they submit themselves for the reception of influx.

The order of progression in understanding the details of theistic psychology is specified in the above paragraph -- from general, to particular, to singular. First we acquire a general and abstract understanding, which is somewhat obscure and unclear. Second, we acquire an understanding of "particulars" which refers to the components of the general description. Third and finally, we acquire an understanding of the "singulars" which refers to the explanation of how the sub-components interact dynamically. You can view your understanding of the ennead chart in these terms. When you first learn it you are not clear about what it really stands for except in a general way you know that it has to do with "mental navigation" or "spiritual maps." You can see the three levels and the three organs, but its' not clear what is the affective organ and what is the cognitive.

But soon you can begin to understand the difference between the discrete levels and you can explain the difference between spiritual and celestial, or between spiritual thinking and natural thinking. Eventually you begin to understand the "singulars" which refers to how the particulars apply to your willing and thinking. Your day is made of a series of singulars as you wake up and begin to face the moment by moment events that come up fast to you. These singulars or details coalesce into sub-groupings of particulars -- what you do in your bedroom, in the kitchen, in the street, at work, eating lunch, coming home, etc. These particulars of your life coalesce into a larger meaningful whole which gives the generals of your life -- who you are, where you live, and what your main goals are. For additional illustrations on the details of one's "daily round" life, see Section xx.

The trigrammatic vertical series of knowledge steps for theistic psychology sometimes uses alternate words, but their meaning in relation to each other, remains constant:

Successive discrete degrees represented by this trigrammatic series are always together in simultaneous degrees (see Section xx), so that the series can usefully be pictured as follows:

This what I call a "graphic concept" (see Section xx) of which there are very many in the Writings. Some of the common ones include these:

[4] When the general memory-knowledges are being disposed in this way, doctrinal things are removed, as they are conclusions from these knowledges; for there flows in through the rational as it were a dictate that this is true, and this not true; but in this way-that it is true because it agrees with the orderly disposition of the general memory-knowledges; and that it is not true because it disagrees; there is no other influx as to truths. Doctrinal things are indeed there before, but they are not doctrinal things until they are believed, but are merely memory-knowledges; and therefore when the man thinks about them, no conclusion is drawn from them, but only concerning them, from other things. This is what is meant by removal from doctrinal things, and it is what is here signified in the internal sense by "without the city." But this is the state that is called an obscure state, and is signified by the "time of evening;" whereas when doctrinal things have been confirmed, so that they are believed, then comes the "morning," or a state of light. The other things contained in this verse are evident from what has been already stated.

The paragraph above explains that the initial comprehension we form for ourselves about what we read in Sacred Scripture are general or incompletely formulated "doctrinal things" that will have to be discarded or replaced with more genuine doctrinal understanding. The "doctrinal things" or principles of truth that we form from the "memory-knowledges" of Sacred Scripture are conclusions based on our natural-rational understanding and therefore their origin is natural, not spiritual. Further, these doctrinal principles we draw from the literal meaning of Sacred Scripture do not become part of our life until we "believe" them to be true and applying them to ourselves (represented by "time of morning"). Then only do they become doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture. But even then they are only preliminary formulations ("time of evening") until they are modified by the influx of the spiritual mind ("time of morning"), at which point, the doctrine of truth in our understanding becomes genuine or Divine. Genuine doctrine in our understanding is Divine because it is not modified by natural self-intelligence. This does not make us Divine, of course, since there is an absolute duality between human beings and God. But God wills it that this Divine appear to us as our own so that we may love it and live it.

That this signifies of the Divine Itself which is the Father, with the Divine Human which is the Son (that is, communication), is evident from what has been so often said and shown above, namely, that "Jehovah God" is the Divine Itself of the Lord, which is called the "Father;" and that by Abraham is represented His Divine Human (n. 2833, 2836). It may be seen above, that in the Word of the Old Testament "Jehovah" is the Lord Himself (n. 1736, 1815, 2921); and that the Most Ancient Church before the flood and the Ancient Church after the flood understood by "Jehovah" no other than the Lord (n. 1343, 1676, 1990, 2016, 3035). Also that in the Lord is the Trinity-the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the proceeding Divine Holy-and these are a one (n. 1999, 2149, 2156, 2288, 2329, 2447). That all the Trinity in the Lord is Jehovah (n. 2156, 2329); and that each and all things in the Lord are Jehovah (n. 1902, 1921). That the Lord is one with the Father, and that no other is understood in heaven by the Father (n. 14, 15, 1725, 1729, 1733, 1815, 2005, 2018, 2025, 2803, 3038). That the Lord is the universal heaven, for He is the all there; and that from Him is the all of innocence, of peace, of love, of charity, of mercy, of conjugial love; and all good and truth. That Moses and the Prophets, thus the Word in every particular, is concerning Him; and that all the rites of the church represented Him (n. 2751). That the Lord as to the Divine Human is called the "Son" (n. 2628). That the Divine Human of the Lord was not only conceived, but was also born of His Divine Essence, which is Jehovah (n. 2798); and that thereby the Lord as to the Human was made Jehovah, and Life of Himself (n. 1603, 1737).

The paragraph above explains the "Trinity" and gives references to further Numbers in Arcana Coelestia where you can find specific details and proofs. Here we are only reviewing the general features that are mentioned in this paragraph. In theistic psychology we use the word "God" as a general and universally recognized term, such as it is defined in most dictionaries: "God: capitalized : the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who is worshiped as creator and ruler of the universe." Notice the six features of God that are contained in this dictionary definition:

God is often described as omnipotent (perfect in power), omniscient (perfect in wisdom), and Pure Love (perfect in goodness). These definitions of God are all based on Sacred Scripture and have been incorporated into the cultural common knowledge that is transmitted across the generations.

In the passage of Sacred Scripture above that we are discussing (AC 3061), Divine Speech is revealing to the human mind additional details about the attributes God has. Nine Names for God are mentioned here, in the following order:

Each of these Names or Expressions refer to the one universal and infinite God. Logically only one infinite is possible, hence only one infinite God who is perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness (see dictionary definition above). Hence these nine Names that God uses for Himself in this passage (and the cited passages in it), are applicable to the mind of every human being regardless of culture, religion, or civilization. Of course, at the religious or theological level there is much disagreement about God, but this is not the case in theistic psychology as it by-passes the literal meaning of Sacred Scripture and transforms it into what is spiritual, universal, and scientific.

The passage above says that "the Trinity" (7) is a compound Name of God that includes three other Names of God

"Name" in Sacred Scripture always refers to a mental state. Each name refers to a particular mental state. Therefore these nine Names of God designate different specific mental states of God in relation to the human mind. For instance, the Name "the Divine Itself" (1) refers to God's mental states of Love, which are infinite, yet in Him they are "distinguishably one." This means that God is the infinite source of mental states of love that human beings can receive in their affective organ by means of the heat of the Spiritual Sun (see Section xx). Since we are each immortal, and since the human race is endlessly expanding, it is clear that there are, and will be, numberless people in existence for all time. To make each of them maximally happy, God must give people the experience of new loves continuously, from moment to moment of every day of their existence. This requires that God be an infinite source of love. That's the meaning of the Name "the Divine Itself."

The second Name in the Trinity Name is "the Divine Human" (3). The passage says that the Divine Human "is the Son" (4). In other words

The Trinity (7) in the New Testament Sacred Scripture is often rendered as "Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." In other words, Names 2, 4, and 8. In the passage above "Father" (2) is equated with "the Divine Essence" (9) and also with "Jehovah" (5). The distinctions about God that God reveals about Himself in Sacred Scripture as Divine Speech, are surely most important for human beings to study and understand. These Divine Names correspond to different mental states in our heaven. They are different types of relationships that God provides for the human mind and His Mind. Our mental states are conditioned by God's mental states in relationship with us.

The Trinity Name asserts that God's communicates and interacts with human beings from three simultaneous positions or roles. Each of the three roles interacts with a different part of our mental anatomy (see Section xx). God manages the step by step progression of mental states in every human being from birth to eternity, giving it a biographical coherence which our immortal "self identity" needs to remain human and maximally happy. We need to know what these management steps are in order that we may cooperate with the Divine Psychologist in everybody's mind.

The Trinity Name of God reveals to us that we need to focus on three distinct aspects of our relationship to God, as represented by the three Names of the Trinity in the passage above:

The "Divine Itself" is the perfect Being who creates and manages the universe from His infinite Love. In other words, infinite love in God is responsible for the world and the continuation of our existence hour by hour. Love is a Divine uncreate eternal motive that is passionately striving ceaselessly to fulfill itself. God's Love ceaselessly strives to fulfill Itself in others, not in Himself. It is impossible for love to fulfill itself in itself, but only in others outside of itself. To fulfill Itself, this uncreate infinite Divine Love has created the universe filled with human beings each of whom could rationally and voluntarily return that love by receiving God's endless forms of perfect goodness.

This then is the focus that we want to maintain when we are studying the meaning of God's Name "the Divine Itself" (1). Our relationship to the first Name of God's Trinity of Names is to acknowledge and understand God's purpose and desire in maintaining our existence hour by hour to immortality.

The second Name of the Divine Trinity of Names is "the Divine Human" (3) which is equated with the Name "the Son" (4). The Son is a historical reference to the Divine Child born in time on this earth. As discussed throughout this main Section, the task of the Divine Child was to integrate (or "glorify") His natural human mind that was socialized on earth, with His spiritual Divine Mind He had within Himself. This super-conscious mental state managed His mental development, mostly in an unconscious way, throughout much of the 33 years it took Him to achieve the total integration and merging of His human natural mind grown on earth and His Divine Rational Mind from eternity.

When this radically new biological phenomenon was completed (at "Ascension"), the Divine Human suddenly became present in the mental world of every human being.

Divine Love was able to take a great stride forward in its passionate striving for fulfilling itself. Now for the first time there was something totally new in the entire history of the human race since its beginning. Every human person could now have a rational understanding and love of God. This was the "salvation" of the human race in the sense that the hellish mental states in the race had acquired the ability to infiltrate the heavenly mental states. If this had gone on for another generation the human heavenly traits would have lost their integrity and become corrupted, thus no longer heavenly. The result would have been that every baby born on earth would be instantly invaded by fiends and demons from inherited hellish mental inclinations, loves, enjoyments, and lusts. We were in trouble as a race and going down quickly.

Of course God being the omnipotent Being is the one force managing the whole history and drama of these biological events. He gave "Permissions" for these events to occur, made them occur, and managed every detail of the invasion of the hellish traits in the human mind that he created and was managing ceaselessly and continuously. All along He foresaw and provided, like a wise manager, that He would make Himself be born into time and place and history as a Divine Child (or "Messiah"), who would redress everything and save humanity, as discussed throughout this Section.

And as if this were not enough in being astonishing, God proves Himself further to our rational mind by Sacred Scripture viewed as Divine Speech. Centuries before the event of the Incarnation, God created historical events on record that would be written down in a certain sequence which secretly contained the details of the future that He would make Himself experience as a Divine Child. King David in the Book of Psalms of the Old Testament wrote out his mental states in a poetic style used in the Hebrew language three thousand years ago. These were David's very thoughts, feelings, sentiments, fears, passions, longings, and, doubts, as he lived out a dangerous political life in a divided and violent nation. Only those sentences were recorded as Sacred Scripture that would correspond precisely with the sequence of mental states that the Divine Child would go through centuries later in His attempt to face down the human hells that were in David's mind, and in His own natural mind which He inherited through the natural birth, as was to be the Divine plan all along (see Section xx).

Since the completion of the Incarnation Event (at "Ascension") the Divine Human is present rationally in every mind.

You may not see the meaning of this sentence fully because we tend at first to think with natural-rational ideas about spiritual-rational correspondences (see Section xx).

The underlined sentence above expresses spiritual-rational meanings which can only be fully understood when we have acquired the skill to comprehend them (level 2 thinking, second heaven). But even with natural-rational correspondences you are able to focus on the assertion that the Divine Human is present in your rational mind right now. Swedenborg was allowed to become conscious in his spiritual-rational mind and He saw visually the Divine Human, as could everyone else see who was in that mental state. Remember that there is only one mental world (see Section xx). We all have the same mental world to exist in. Objectively, the mental world is called the spiritual world, and this is why in theistic psychology we have the basic equation

So if one person can see the Divine Human in the spiritual world then every human can, since there is only one mental or spiritual world.

Why then can't everyone see the Divine Human by closing the eyes and looking with the inner eye?

Actually, everyone can. So the real question is: Why doesn't everyone see the Divine Human?

The answer is something that theistic psychology can fully specify, which means that as you further your studies you yourself will be able to specify the answer by describing the mechanisms of how God manages our immortality. For now we can reflect upon and consider this general answer: It's not a sensuous "inner eye" that can see the Divine Human but a rational understanding. It is by understanding higher-order correspondences of Sacred Scripture that we are able to see the Divine Human. See also Section xx.

When we acknowledge and understand the First Name of the Trinity -- "the Divine Itself" or "Father," -- we open up communication and reception of God's Divine love in infinite variety of affective mental states we call "good" and "heavenly." When we acknowledge and understand the Second Name of the Trinity -- "the Divine Human" or "the Son" -- we open up communication and reception of God's truth in infinite variety of cognitive mental states we call "rational" and "wise."

We focus on this third category of relationship with God by self-witnessing ourselves in daily life to see what "proceeds" from our mind moment by moment as we face experiences hour by hour. From our affective organ proceeds motives and intentions, and the mental enjoyment we experience when we reach our goal and fulfill our love. To be fully human means to experience three phases in a sequence, repeatedly, hour by hour every day, from birth to eternity:

Note these three necessary properties of being fully human. They each stem from one of the three Names of the Trinity!

To be human means to relate to God through the Trinity of Names, that is, of mental functions.

You can see why the Incarnation Event was the most significant biological evolution in the race's history. God is the only source from which we can have the three things that makes us human, rational, and immortal. Prior to the Incarnation Event the mental world of the human mind did not contain the direct and immediate presence of God, the very source and ground of our heaven. We could only communicate with God from a distance as it were, through intermediaries (see Section xx). But since the completion of the Incarnation Event the human mental world contains the presence of God as the Divine Human. It is a rational presence contained within our understanding.

If we understand little, God's presence in our mind is distant, which means we can receive less of love and truth, consequently, less of passion and intelligence, and therefore less human life. But if we understand more of God, our consciousness is elevated and our willing and thinking hour by hour every day becomes more human, more heavenly. We can feel more and more of the Divine as-if our very own, and this endlessly to forever.

Theistic psychology can be introduced as part of science education in early education and help people develop their rational consciousness of God.

Based on the New Testament Sacred Scripture, the Trinity has occupied a central theme in Christian life for centuries. The literal meaning of he following selections from the Writings Sacred Scripture depicts the historical and theological aspects of the Trinity in Christianity:

Theologians and religious scholars base their doctrine on the literal of Sacred Scripture. The Writings say that the literal of Sacred Scripture is written in such a way that it can used, or misused, to support one's pet principle or doctrine, even if it's clearly contrary to the intent of Divine Speech. From this many false doctrines, dogmas, and heresies have arisen in the course of the centuries. The Writings review the intellectual history of this degradation of rational spirituality. Instead of a rational comprehension of God and Sacred Scripture there evolved the injurious idea that mystical spirituality is a closer vehicle to God consciousness than rational spirituality. As a result many illogical doctrines were fabricated.

People assumed the attitude that to know God rationally is impossible and that religion is full of mystical ideas that cannot be fully comprehended but must accepted "on faith" or "blind faith." In fact, the more faith is "blind," which means the less it makes sense, the more one received credit for one's faith. The idea got around that if you worship god because you rationally justify Him in your mind, your faith is not as strong as someone who worships God without understanding Him, thus in "blind faith."

To "baptize" in the Name of the Trinity means to be reformed through our relationship to the love of the Divine Itself or Father, the truth of the Divine Human or Son, and the influence we have on others or Holy Spirit. This is the threefold focus we must maintain in order to succeed in our regeneration. To be "baptized in the Trinity" therefore means to be willing to undergo the struggle of character reformation by means of Divine Love, Divine Truth, and Divine Goodness. There is no baptism in theistic psychology, but there is that which baptism corresponds in our mental states, namely, character reformation. Without character reformation ("baptism") there is no heavenly life in our immortality ("salvation").

The reason the Divine Child had to be male, or "the Son of God," is that the spiritual race could only be saved through Divine Truth, not through Divine Good, as was the celestial race prior to ours (see Section xx). Divine Truth is the second Name in the Trinity while Divine Divine Love is the first Name in the Trinity. Hence it was "the Son" that had to come into the natural world, that is, it was God as Divine Truth that forged the new mental pathways in the natural mind of the Divine Child (see Section xx). The spiritual race can only be regenerated by Divine Truth while the celestial race was regenerated by Divine Love. This also corresponds to the difference between the third heaven in our mind which is celestial, and the second heaven in our mind which is spiritual. When we are in spiritual mental states we are regenerated by means of Divine Truth, but when we are in celestial mental states, we are regenerated by Divine Love.

Swedenborg observed that those he met who are in their spiritual heaven have the love of truth in the center of their personality, while those he met who are in the celestial heaven of their mind, have the love of the Divine Human in the center of their personality. Though we are of the spiritual race, it is possible for us to ascend and dwell in our celestial heaven, if we are willing to pursue truth for the sake of love. In the spiritual state we pursue truth for its own sake, and love only as a by product of truth (see Section xx).

[3] But when mankind became such that the Divine Itself, clothed as the Divine Human, could no longer affect them (that is, when Jehovah could no longer come to man, because man had so far removed himself), then Jehovah, who is the Lord as to the Divine Essence, descended and took upon Himself a Human, by conception Divine, and by birth from a virgin such as is that of another man; but this He expelled, and by Divine means made Divine the Human that was born, from which proceeds all the Holy. Thus the Divine Human became an essence by itself which fills the universal heaven, and which also makes it possible for those to be saved who could not be saved before. This then is the Lord, who as to the Divine Human is alone Man, and from whom man has it that he is man (n. 49, 288, 477, 565, 1894).

The last sentence says that we are called "human" because we were created by a Divine Human to be like Himself, but in correspondence. God is the only true Man or Human Being. We are copies of the original in some basic respects. Our conscious awareness based on rational consciousness of God is Divine Truth in our understanding. Approaching God through sensuous consciousness is contrary to the orderly process of regeneration. Only Divine Truth has the biological power to regenerate the fallen spiritual mind. Rational consciousness is made of Divine Truth, which is also its content. God creates and rules the universe from love by means of truth. Truth is the external mechanism of power while love is that which animates truth from within and cannot be easily perceived. Hence it is "the Son" as Divine Truth that is now in the mental world of every human being. The source of Divine Truth is Divine Speech as Sacred Scripture (see Section xx).

That this signifies the affections of truth and instruction through them, is evident from the signification of "daughters," as being affections (see n. 489-491, 2362); and from the signification of "the men of the city," as being truths. (The inhabitants of a city are frequently called in the Word the "men of the city," and frequently the "inhabitants of the city;" when they are called the "men of the city," truths are signified, and when they are called the "inhabitants," goods are signified; what "men" signify, may be seen above, n. 265, 749, 915, 1007, 2517; and what "inhabitants," n. 2268, 2451, 2712; what a "city," n. 402, 2450, 2943.) The signification of the above words is evident also from the signification of "drawing water," as being to be instructed (see above, n. 3058). Hence it is evident that by the "daughters of the men of the city coming out to draw waters," are signified the affections of truth, and instruction through them. No one is ever instructed by means of truths, but by means of the affections of truth; for truths apart from affection do indeed come to the ear as sound, but do not enter into the memory; that which causes them to enter into the memory and to abide in it, is affection. For the good of affection is like soil, in which truths are sown as seeds; but such as the soil is (that is, such as the affection is), such is the produce of that which is sown. The end or use determines the quality of the soil, or of the affection, and thus the quality of the produce of what is sown; or, if you prefer to say so, the love itself determines it; for in all things the love is the end and the use, for nothing is regarded as the end and use except that which is loved.

Note the assertion "No one is ever instructed by means of truths, but by means of the affections of truth; for truths apart from affection do indeed come to the ear as sound, but do not enter into the memory; that which causes them to enter into the memory and to abide in it, is affection." In other words, in order to learn anything that is useful to us it is necessary that we have a desire to acquire it. We can pick up knowledge about theistic psychology in a course as part of required study, and not because we have an "affection" for its content. In that case we would not possess any knowledge that is useful to us since we don't care for it. We must first care about the new information that enters our mind before the information could be incorporated into our thinking. People who read theistic psychology with the negative bias (see Chapter 1) likewise do not care for its content as they read about it. Even if they write a careful an lengthy critique of theistic psychology they will be unable to benefit in any way from the content they learned from it.

The reason for this is that in the mental world where we live our conscious life, affection rules cognition. Affections are varieties of love, and all genuine love is from the spiritual heat of the Spiritual Sun that emanates from the Divine Human and shines forth into the mind of every human being. Love is a substance called spiritual heat and it is received by the affective organ where it sets operations in dynamic motion resulting in our having feelings, motives, desires, and goal-attainment satisfactions. Every affective organ is unique in constitution and experience and therefore the affective operations evoked by the influx of spiritual heat .are also unique in every individual.

Love corresponds to the first Name in the Trinity, as discussed above. It is God's Divine Essence, or the Divine Itself, who is the Creator and Father of Eternity. Divine Love possesses omnipotence or all power that exists. No power that exists is apart from this omnipotence. Hence no power exists except that which is this Divine Love. And yet, this infinite power could not create the universe! In order to create the universe God had to use a second characteristic in Himself called "the Son" -- the second Name in the Trinity. This Name corresponds to a the mental state of Divine Truth. This too is a substance streaming out of the Spiritual Sun and it is called spiritual light or truth.

Spiritual heat and spiritual light together stream out of the Spiritual Sun in infinite variety, creating all that there is and maintaining all its working details in management order. Now: Which does what? What does spiritual heat or love do, and what does spiritual light or truth do? They each have a different and necessary function or role to perform. Spiritual light, the substance of truth, is received by the cognitive organ where it induces cognitive operations. When we are doing some thinking and reasoning, our cognitive organ goes through ordered series of cyclic operations. What gives order to the sequence of cognitions so that they are coherent and meaningful?

It is spiritual light or Divine truth that is streaming into the cognitive organ. The syntactic rules of thinking rationally aren't just there by random occurrences! Nor can this be acquired for in order to acquire it one must already have rational syntax in place. Anything that we learn or acquire involves complex syntax of acquisition. It is similar with learning a natural language. How do infants acquire the language of their caretakers? It takes rational syntax to figure out words and sounds from the stream of speech they hear around them. This is well known to the science of linguistics where it is called "the innate language acquisition device."

Now consider the analogy with the physical sun. Physical light and heat stream out of it and animate life on earth. Move the sun away and life on earth disappears. You can see the light but you cannot see the heat. You can feel the heat but you cannot feel the light. Clearly light and heat enter different sensory organs and produce there various operations or reactions proper to each sensory organ. similarly with the mental world and the Spiritual Sun in it. The same Spiritual Sun is in every individual's mental world (see Section xx). Its heat is received by the internal sensory organ called the affective organ (see Section xx). Its light is received by the cognitive organ which is also an internal sensory organ.

Love in the affective organ activates operations in the cognitive organ in a selective way. The power dynamic that manages this interaction comes from the Divine Marriage in the Divine Child, as discussed above. Some specific affection, desire, inclination, urge, or motive is set into operation by the incoming spiritual heat. Each of these operations are love activities, and they have within themselves Divine power to seek out cognitions and to marry them, that is, to merge with them and to act as one in a unity of action. This united activity of love and truth is called in Sacred Scripture "the affections of truth, and instruction through them."

In order for God to create the universe and maintain it in rational and good order, a Divine Marriage had to take place in Him -- the marriage of love and truth. These are the correspondences for the first and second Names of the Trinity. To complete the creation that He started it was necessary for God to be born as a Divine male Child, to create the integration of Divine Love in His Inmost with the Divine Truth He acquired on earth from Sacred Scripture through His outmost natural mind grown on earth. This unition in His mental state created the Divine Human who is now visible rationally in every human mind. This visibility is achieved through higher-order correspondences extracted from Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). It gives us rational consciousness of the three Names of the Trinity, and access to their character and power.

Love alone cannot produce the universe and run it, but love within truth, animating it, can and does.

The process of biological regeneration or character reformation is accomplished by effecting the "heavenly marriage" in ourselves the way the Divine Child effected the Divine Marriage in Himself -- by integrating the love in His inmost with the truth in His outmost. In the case of all human beings love enters through the layers of the affective organs in the mind. We are not conscious of the spiritual heat operating in us but only of the corresponding operations it induces in our natural mind where we experience the love as a motive, desire, longing, or passion that has the power to fulfill itself -- but only to the extent that it can find cognitive operations that support and promote that love.

The higher the correspondence level in our conscious understanding, the higher the love that can be integrated with it. Higher-order cognitions cannot be acquired from Sacred Scripture except by having an affection of love for its content. Anyone has such a love available from the Divine influx of love into the unconscious spiritual mind. All we have to do is to remove the filters that we keep around our focus of attention, filters that impede and shut out the influx of love and turn the love into its opposite called "adulterated love" or "evil." This is the variety of loves that exist in the hells of our mental world, and more properly are called "lusts" and "hatreds."

We are born with these filters in place. They are responsible for mental belief systems called materialism and nonduality (see section xx). Character reformation begins with dualism, which is the recognition that Sacred Scripture is Divine and we must gather our doctrine of living from the higher correspondences that are hidden within for us to extract. Once we elevate dualism to a ruling position over nonduality in our mind, we begin to form the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture that gives us access to higher-order correspondences (see Section xx). These higher forms of truth in our cognitive organ are now selected by the inflowing Divine love in our affective organ, actualizing the heavenly marriage in us and releasing our spiritual and celestial human potential in our willing, thinking, and acting in daily life. We must cooperate with this built in mechanism of self-change that the Divine Human is making available to every human being.

If we do not cooperate, we just remain in the evil affections with which we are born and which we magnify and multiply by a life of hellish indulgences and enjoyments. Our immortality is then fixed in a mental quagmire of insanity, obsession, rage, and hatred. It is our choice. Swedenborg often observed that people arriving into the world of spirits at their resuscitation from death, feel an irresistible compulsion to express their inmost feelings and urges called their "ruling love" (see Section xx). They are unable to choose heavenly life for themselves if their ruling love is hellish, and vice versa. But we can change our ruling love while we are still attached to the physical body on earth (see Section xx). This is why regeneration or character reformation is the most important task a human being has on earth.

What is contained in these three verses in the internal sense, may in some measure be seen from the explication. But as these things are disconnected, that which they involve in their series cannot appear unless they are all collected together into a single idea, and the mental view is then withdrawn from the sense of the letter; for so long as the attention is there, not only is the idea confused, but the mind is also held in doubt; and so far as it is in doubt, it is obscured. A summary description is here given of the process in which truth appears by means of memory-knowledges, and is elevated from them out of the natural man into the rational, and becomes rational truth (in the Lord, Divine); namely, that this is effected by the influx of the Divine love into the Human, from which comes the affection of truth in which is innocence. By virtue of such an influx, the memory-knowledges in the natural man were enlightened, and the truths made their appearance that were to be elevated into the rational and there conjoined with the good of the Divine love. The same things are described more particularly in what follows. But he who does not know that all things in general and in particular are disposed, even in the natural man, by an influx of love, and from this of an affection in which there is innocence, can have but a very obscure idea, if any, of what was said above and of what has now been said.

The passage above gives a "summary description" of the argument so far. The presentation is about the biological mechanism by which the substance of spiritual light ("truth") orders the thinking elements of the cognitive organ in our mind.

Step 1 is to acquire literacy in one's socialization process, which includes some knowledge of Sacred Scripture or religious doctrines and ideas that are based on Sacred Scripture. This is done at the conscious level in the natural mind. This mental state is called "memory-knowledges of Sacred Scripture." Clearly there are individual differences in a population with respect to the amount and accuracy of one's memory-knowledges.

Step 2 is proportional to Step 1 and depends on it. All of a sudden "truth appears." This is the flash of enlightenment because truth is spiritual light in the understanding or consciousness. When truth appears, it does so seemingly out of no where. It just appears, popping conscious awareness. Truth is not something written down and memorized. It is something that is realized. Truth is recognized. How does this happen? How can you recognize truth when it you have a thought about it? How do you know your insight is the truth? Maybe you'll change your mind later.

The passage above explains that when truth appears, it is felt as an "elevation" of the memory-knowledges. This elevation is accomplished by means of insight into higher-order correspondences, higher than the current level of thinking about it. For instance, you may have read in theistic psychology that in heaven people live as conjugial couples with their soul mate. This is a Divine truth -- but it is only a memory-knowledge that does not affect you very much. You don't drop everything and jump up and down with joy telling everybody, as you would if you had gotten a letter announcing that you've been awarded a large sum of money with no strings attached. What makes the difference?

The difference is that the announcement "you've won money" is more meaningful to you than the announcement that you might be able to live a happy married life in heaven if you work very hard at it all your life and give up all your inherited enjoyments and inclinations. In other words, you know a Divine truth and can paraphrase it and answer exam questions about it, but you have no rational comprehension of its meaning. That is Step 1.

Step 2 is initiated when "truth appears." It is called the "Epiphany" -- a Greek word meaning appearance of the Son, the second Name of the Trinity (see Section xx). The knowledge that you live a conjugial life in the heaven of your immortality may lie there in your mental database for some time, quietly, like a pitcher on the shelf waiting for water to be put into it, or a wine glass at the dinner table before it is filled the fragrant juices of the fermented grapes. Your memory-knowledge of the existence of conjugial love is suddenly "elevated" into spiritual light as truth "descends" into it. Memory-knowledges are made of concepts arranged in a certain taxonomic order for coherence and recall. It is difficult at first to understand how truth descends into a concept you know. It is a biological process that can be understood if we recover the details from Sacred Scripture.

First the biological process of "descent" occurs. This is not a physical descent such as one walks down from the first floor to the ground floor. It is a mental operation that corresponds to the physical descent. There are levels of the mind (see Section xx) so that when a higher level induces an operation in a lower level, it may be said that the higher correspondence or meaning "descends" into the lower meaning. The higher is the spiritual-rational operation in the unconscious spiritual mind. The lower is the natural-rational operation in the conscious natural mind (see Section xx).

The objective biological process of inducement by correspondence, as just described, has an experiential or subjective component which may be called enlightenment. This new mental state may not last, so that one falls back into the lower meaning, which in fact often happens. but as one continues to study theistic psychology and progress in our character reformation, the state of enlightenment recurs, and eventually becomes permanent, or mostly permanent, while we are still consciously connected to earth.

At one point we suddenly recognize truth within our memory-knowledge of Sacred Scripture. We are surprised that all along we couldn't see it. Now we see it so clearly, in fact more clearly than we can describe it. If we try to describe the truth we see, others only get something obscure from it, until they too are enlightened. Truth is not something you can get from reading Sacred Scripture or theistic psychology. That will only get you memory-knowledges of them. When we recognize the truth within the memory-knowledges our new understanding is called "rational truth" and it depends on our comprehension of spiritual-rational correspondences extracted from Sacred Scripture.

Step 3 is the conjunction of the newly elevated rational truth with the Divine love or good that is in the affective organ of the unconscious spiritual mind. Let's use the ennead matrix you studied above, to follow these dynamic movements of the mental states involved:

We can state that the elevation process is from memory-knowledges -- C1 or zone 2 -- to rational truth -- C2 or zone 5. You can think of it as C2 "descending" within C1, or, as C1 being "elevated" to C2. Either way the result is that our thinking now proceeds by means of spiritual-rational correspondences, though not in a pure fashion, at first. Nevertheless a very significant new factor is introduced into our thinking, our mentality, our consciousness.

When our conscious awareness is at level C2 in zone 5 we become so attractive to A2 operating in our affective organ, that a marriage takes place! A2 and C2 are conjoined in joy and heavenly bliss. It is an image of a conjugial couple in their second or spiritual heaven, where the husband represents C2 and the wife represents A2. But in the celestial heaven, it is the wife that represents C3 -- inmost wisdom, while the husband represents A3 -- inmost love.

We are not yet discussing level 3 at this stage of the presentation of the Divine Child's mental development, but we will get to it as the dramatic story unfolds. It is the story of creation of a new biology in human evolution.

A1 or zone 1 is the "affection of truth" in the affective organ of the natural mind (level 1). This is the starting point for character reformation and regeneration in the spiritual race to which we all belong biologically by birth (see Section xx). Zone 1 includes a variety of affections that must be active in order for memory-knowledges (C1) to be acquired, like curiosity, desire to learn, joy of gaining mastery, motivation to persist, and others that are important to know for instruction and teaching (see Section xx).

C1 in zone 2 includes a variety of memory-knowledges like basic literacy skills and cognitive abilities involved in reasoning, planning, decision making, and communicating.

S1 in zone 3 includes many forms of execution patterns -- manufacturing and using tools, engaging in sports, creating art or fashion, dancing, singing, surfing.

The dynamic property of mental movements or change comes from the inherent built in property of love to conjoin with truth -- the Divine Marriage created in the Divine Child in which the Divine Love from His inmost (A3 in zone 7) united with His Human truth in His inmost (C3 in zone 8). The result in appearance is S3 in zone 9 which are the endless perfect sensory manifestations of life in the heavens, which Swedenborg was able to witness and describe.

“Initiation” is the orderly process of entering a new higher consciousness phase of understanding. This new order of perception is achieved through enlightenment given by the Divine Psychologist through the higher-order correspondences within Sacred Scripture. The following passages will give us details about this process.

“And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking, when behold Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder. And the damsel was exceeding good to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up.”

"And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking" signifies the effect of will; "when behold Rebekah came out," signifies the affection of truth from doctrinal things; "who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother," signifies all the origin of this affection; "with her pitcher upon her shoulder," signifies receptions of truth, and endeavor; "and the damsel was exceeding good to look upon," signifies the beauty of the affection of truth; "a virgin, neither had any man known her," signifies pure from all falsity; "and she went down to the fountain," signifies truth Divine; "and filled her pitcher," signifies the vessels of reception; "and came up," signifies elevation. (emphases added)

The elements in italics make it easier to focus in on the theistic psychology concepts that are to be extracted from the literal passage of the Writings Sacred Scripture. Here is a list of the topics that are specified after each “signifies” (underlined in the text). These topics refer to the spiritual correspondence in the natural events in the Genesis story.

Chart 4.4.7.5 (a)
Literal Text in the Old Testament Sacred Scripture Expressed in Natural-Corporeal Correspondences	Literal Text in the Writings Sacred Scripture Expressed in Natural-Rational Correspondences	Extracted Meaning in Theistic Psychology Expressed in Natural-Spiritual Correspondences
And it came to pass that scarcely had he done speaking	(a) the effect of will	the operations in our affective organ that are felt as loves, motives, desires, inclinations, talents, strivings for goal attainment and fulfillment
when behold Rebekah came out	(b) the affection of truth from doctrinal things	our motivation for the lifelong study of theistic psychology, which is prompted and supported by our attraction for its content, principles, and approach
who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother	(c) all the origin of this affection	what gives us the motivation to study theistic psychology for the rest of our days on earth, and to eternity after that
with her pitcher upon her shoulder	(d) receptions of truth, and endeavor	how we become enlightened through the study of theistic psychology, and how we are changed thereby, especially with regard to our inner character and outer personality or lifestyle
and the damsel was exceeding good to look upon	(e) the beauty of the affection of truth	when we become permanently attached to theistic psychology we are entering the heaven in our mind and perform our willing and thinking all day long as a spiritual or celestial person does (zones 4 through 9 on the ennead chart)
a virgin, neither had any man known her,	(f) pure from all falsity	genuine theistic psychology is Divine truth from Sacred Scripture as Divine Speech, and is accommodated uniquely to each individual’s understanding. We also call it doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture, which is Divine truth in our understanding that God wills to be as-if our own, when yet it always remains His in us, given that the infinite and perfect Divine can never be actually ours
and she went down to the fountain	(g) truth Divine	Divine Speech in the form of correspondences in Sacred Scripture, successively descending into the discrete layers of the organic human mind and inducing a rational order on them. This is the source of our rationality, of coherence or meaning, of our enlightenment, and of the immortality of all human consciousness
and filled her pitcher	(h) the vessels of reception	the threefold self or organic mind which has multiple discrete layers of biological operations, as mapped by the nine mental zones of the ennead chart (see Section xx)
and came up	(i) elevation	in a general sense, = enlightenment of one’s rational consciousness of God, or understanding of theistic psychology. It is a change in mental outlook from materialism to substantive dualism. And in a specific sense, = enlightenment during a self-witnessing experience by which we become consciously aware of the spiritual correspondences that are in control of our natural mind -- what we are thinking, feeling, and intending during some event or activity

The literal meaning of the Writings appears in some places to be discussing the religious perspective, and sometimes the scientific perspective of theistic psychology. When extracting scientific concepts from the Writings one can clearly see this difference since the religious discussions require more extensive extraction or transformation than the scientific discussions. In the passage we are now discussing, the literal meaning in the Writings is not far from the scientific meaning in theistic psychology, so that one can more easily transform the literal meaning of the Writings into theistic psychology concepts, as I have done in the chart above (see also Section xx for more illustrations). The following brief discussion recapitulates in slightly different words, what is given in column 3 of the chart. You may want to refer to the appropriate box in the chart as you follow the summary review given in the next two paragraphs.

The “effect of will” (a) refers to the operations in our affective organ that are felt as loves, motives, desires, inclinations, talents, strivings for goal attainment and fulfillment . “Doctrinal things” in (b) refers to the knowledge of genuine theistic psychology, which is the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture that we extract by rational understanding of correspondences during enlightened mental states (see Section xx). The “affection of truth” in (b), refers to the excitement and enthusiasm we experience when studying theistic psychology -- its approach, outlook, methodology, principles, and spiritual concepts. Where does this affection for studying theistic psychology come from? Without this motivation, we refuse to study it or stop studying it after some initial interest, when yet the study of theistic psychology must go on in our immortality and never stops expanding and deepening to eternity. Regarding the topic “all the origin of this affection” (c), we are told in a subsequent passage where this motivation comes from, and therefore what power sustains this vital motivation in us.

The passages that follow also describe how higher-order spiritual concepts or correspondences, come to be understood when we study theistic psychology as a life focus for character development (d). This new understanding is called enlightenment because we can now rationally think in a dualist mode (see Section xx). The “affection of truth” (e) is like (b), and it is also described as “pure from falsity” (f), which refers to being enlightened by the Divine Psychologist vs. being blinded by the reasoning of self-intelligence or the intelligence of another human being. All new truths we have through enlightenment is genuine because it is not modified by human bias, and therefore it is Divine truth (g) in our understanding as-if our very own (f). The organic mental states involved in enlightenment are discussed (h), and consequent “elevation” (i) of the consciousness to a new discrete level of awareness and affection.

Be sure to understand the difference between the nondualist and dualist perspective on the Divine. The dualist perspective of theistic psychology is that there is an absolute difference between God, or the Mind of the Divine Human, and the mind of human beings. The human mind is created as a receptor of the good and truth proceeding from the Spiritual Sun in the substantive form of spiritual heat and light (see Section xx). You can see how rationality and logic require that God be outside of creation in order to be able to create the universe (see Section xx). It’s also obvious that God cannot “merge” or become part of, or one with, what He has created. This absolute difference perspective is called substantive dualism (see section xx).

But the nondualist perspective is totally reversed on this. It starts with the notion that only God is real and only God exists. This is nonduality. It says that there are not two different substances, one God or God’s Mind, and the other, created human beings and their minds. Instead, the mind of human beings and its content, is a mere subjective illusory or delusional phenomenon created by earthly and temporary desires or love attachments to non-eternal things. The purpose of life for a subjective human being is to rid oneself of all such desires and attachments to temporary things. When this is detachment is fully achieved, after several lifetimes of endeavor, the individual human being is realized to itself as God, and the individual disappears from existence, as a former dream. What remains is God. All individuals are thus to disappear and God alone remaining as the fully Self-Realized Being. This is nonduality. For a critique of nonduality in relation to theistic psychology, see my book A Man of the Field: Forming the New Church Mind in Today's World available at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/nonduality.html especially Volume 1. xxxx

Sacred Scripture in its literal sense teaches only the duality perspective of an absolute and unchangeable distinction between the infinite God the Creator and the finite created universe and human beings. And in its scientific sense, it demonstrates that nonduality is a perspective on God that is constructed by the natural mind, while duality is a perspective taught throughout the Threefold Set of Sacred Scripture (see Section xx). In substantive dualism, the infinite is within the finite (duality), and not the finite within the infinite (nonduality) (see Section xx). Further, in substantive dualism the infinite is defined as having no beginning point in existence, and the finite is defined as having a beginning point in existence. But in nonduality, the infinite is defined as having no ending point in existence.

You can see from rational logic that the criterion of having no ending, or endlessness, is not a valid definition for the infinite. For instance, every human being is born immortal (see Section xx), and this means that once we are born, we continue living forever, endlessly, to eternity (see Section xx). So we are have no end, but we are not infinite because we have a beginning. God is infinite because He has no beginning point in existence. He always was, hence He calls Himself the “I AM” (see Section xx). By using the expression “I AM” in the present tense, God is telling us that He always was, is, and will be, unchangeable, for whom anything from the past, the present, and the future, are simultaneously present in His consciousness or awareness (= “Divine Omniscience”).

We now continue with the following passages which take up the details of the process from (a) to (i) listed in the chart above.

That this signifies the effect of will, is evident from what immediately follows, that is, that all things in general and particular came to pass according to his prayer, or were accomplished as he wished. That "speaking" signifies willing may be seen above (n. 2626, 3037).

The above paragraph discusses portion (a) the effect of will (= our affective operations or motives). In the Old Testament story Abraham's servant stops at a watering fountain outside a city and prays that God send a “damsel” suitable as a wife for his master’s son Isaac. Rebekah suddenly shows up at the well as an answer to his prayer. The scientific meaning is that our motives (or the effect of the will) are the source of events in our environment. The will is activated by spiritual influx which begins with the Spiritual Sun (see Section xx).

Here is the scientific meaning of Rebekah arriving at the well after Eliezer’s prayer:

That this signifies the affection of truth from doctrinal things, is evident from the representation of Rebekah, as being the truth Divine that was to be conjoined with the Divine good of the rational; but here, before she was betrothed, she puts on the representation of the affection of truth from doctrinal things; for from this comes truth, truth not being truth unless it has life, and its life is affection which is of love. (…)

All names that appear in Sacred Scripture contain a scientific reference to a mental state that involves regeneration. The name “Rebekah” stands for the motivation to study theistic psychology. “Truth from doctrinal things” refers to the principles of life we derive from Sacred Scripture. The value we attach to these living principles is referred to here as “the affection of truth from doctrinal things.” Additional names are now specified regarding Rebekah’s family of origin, which therefore must refer to the origin or source of the mental state she represents.

Notice the perfect correspondence in logic between how the historical events unfold and how the mind must go through a sequence of steps when it is being regenerated and prepared for heavenly life. What is most astonishing to me is that these are true events that actually happened, and the Writings reveal that every detail in these events is also accurately reported and described. This is by Divine Providence since it was an absolute necessity that Sacred Scripture contain the infinite rational series in Divine Speech (see Section xx).

In all of Sacred Scripture true events with accurate details are strung together into a dramatic history. Now we can translate the historical drama into its exact spiritual correspondences. These correspondences have been revealed in the Writings and they are discussed throughout theistic psychology. The example we are following here is the story of how Rebekah and Isaac met, fell in love at first sight, were immediately betrothed, and got married.

You can see the rational logic of how correspondences work and how familiar we actually are with them. This is because correspondences are in our mind and are nothing but the mental laws of thinking and feeling. These mental laws are spiritual laws, and all things in the dual universe are governed by spiritual laws (see Section xx). Rebekah marrying Isaac corresponds to the united operation of our affective and cognitive organs. This united operation is necessary if regeneration is going to progress and be effective

To marry is a natural event on earth that corresponds to a spiritual event in the mind. The woman represents the mental operations in our affective organ (affections, motives), while the man represents the mental operations in our cognitive organ (thoughts, images). Consider the cognitive operations involved in deriving for ourselves principles of life from Sacred Scripture. This is called the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture. Rebekah represents the affection or love we have for this learning and discovery process. Isaac, as will be seen below, represents the rational operation of drawing out the doctrine or principles of life.

At the beginning of this process of acquiring theistic psychology, we may be very interested in its topics and its knowledge structure, but this interest is not a love for applying theistic psychology principles to oneself. But in subsequent phases of growth we develop an affection or love for the new way of thinking we found. This mental state is represented by Rebekah prior to meeting Isaac and becoming betrothed to him. Our love for this new way of thinking must be conjoined or united to our determination and will to act in a new way which agrees with the new doctrine. Our regeneration only begins when we unite our doctrinal thinking to our willing. This is when Rebekah and Isaac are conjoined, first by betrothal, then by marriage. We will see in the details that unfold what these two mental states are.

The next passage deals with the dynamic development of the mental state whereby our doctrinal thinking is united to our willing, and by which we are regenerated.

“Who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother.”

That this signifies all the origin of this affection, is evident from the representation of Bethuel, and also of Milcah, and of Nahor, and of Abraham. What each represents specifically cannot be set forth and presented to the apprehension, for the reason that the first affection of truth did indeed derive its origin from the Divine things acquired by the Lord in the natural man (n. 3019), but still things from the mother were there, which could not be separated in a moment, and the affection was from them also. The quality of this affection in its origin is described in the internal sense by the words, "born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother."

The above passage makes reference to the mental work accomplished by the Divine Human during the Incarnation Event (see Section xx). The scientific meaning that unfolds from the literal history is arranged at discrete levels. At the inmost or celestial level of meaning in Sacred Scripture, Divine Speech is carried by celestial-rational correspondences (see Section xx). The topical content at this level of consciousness (third heaven), deals with the technical details of how the Divine Human created new mental pathways for human beings. The Divine Child created these new mental reasoning tools in His own mind, and once created, they became available to every human being. The developmental steps He went through form the psycho-biological details of this evolutionary event.

At a lower level of meaning in Sacred Scripture, the same Divine Speech is carried by spiritual-rational correspondences (see Section xx). The topical content at this level of consciousness (second heaven), deals with the technical details of how the Divine Psychologist assists every individual in learning how to engage in these new mental pathways (see Section xx). These new mental operations of thinking and willing are effective in regenerating our mind and thus freeing us from the hellish traits we inherited. We are not morally or spiritually responsible for the hellish traits we inherit, since we had no choice in the matter. But we do have a spiritual responsibility to alter those traits and to put up the effort it takes to reform our character (see Section xx).

The knowledge of theistic psychology changes the way we do our thinking and our feeling. This knowledge and its way of thinking is actually the new mental pathway that the Divine Child created for humanity. The Divine Child made Himself go through the phases of intellectual development that every ordinary human being must go through. He was educated and socialized into the culture that possessed the Old Testament as Sacred Scripture. This makes sense since the Old Testament sentences carry the scientific information concerning the Divine Child’s mental operations.

This is a most astonishing fact in my view. Hundreds of years before the Incarnation Event there was written a series of books telling about some actual historical events that took place with real people in known geographic locations – like the story of how Rebekah met Isaac and was married to him. No one had suspected or could have known that there were hidden correspondences in every story and its detail. And when these correspondences are applied, the details refer to the thought processes of the Divine Child to be born hundreds of years later! What could be more astonishing!

And to continue with the astonishment: These details of the Divine Child’s mental life have become the details of every human being while going through the process of regeneration. Without going through this process we remain attached to the hellish traits we inherited. Only regeneration can liberate us from this fate, and only doctrinal thinking from Sacred Scripture has the power to effect this change.

Note that doctrinal thinking from Sacred Scripture can be obtained either directly or indirectly. Those who study Sacred Scripture as Divine Speech in correspondences, obtain the doctrine of truth through their own intellectual effort. But there are many who do not study Sacred Scripture nor even know of its existence, or do not believe that they are Divine Speech in correspondences. For all these people the doctrinal thinking from Sacred Scripture will be acquired indirectly through hearing, reading, and studying what others have written about it. This indirect method can also be effective for regeneration as long as the derived instruction is genuine and undistorted.

In any event, the Writings reveal that every individual is instructed when resuscitated. Doctrinal knowledge and thinking from Sacred Scripture is taught to every person. However, people reject this instruction who are unwilling to let go of their hellish traits (see Section xx). You can see how helpful and beneficial it would be to make theistic psychology part of public education everywhere on the planet. This is feasible because theistic psychology is not opposed to any particular religion and does not advocate any religion (see Section xx). Every individual on this planet suffers from the negative effects of evil traits, both as an individual and as a member of a society. By teaching theistic psychology in early education and onward, people will grow up with an accurate understanding of the world and the necessity of regeneration by developing a heavenly character. This will improve the lives of all people here, and in their immortality.

The next passage discusses the dynamic properties of the process by which we integrate the cognitive operations of doctrine (= thinking), with the affective operations of using doctrine to evaluate our thinking in daily life (= willing). It is through an act of the will – the affective organ – that we judge a line of thought as good or evil, that is, from heaven or from hell. We can be thinking that some trait we witness in ourselves is from heaven or from hell, but this is not helpful to our regeneration until we judge it. We condemn the thought if it is from hell and we affirm it if it is from heaven. The act of condemning or affirming something is an affective act of the will. In the letter of the Writings it is called an “affection of the will,” which means, the motive power for pursuing a particular goal, plan, or action.

[2] Every affection, although it appears simple and as one thing, nevertheless contains within it things so innumerable that it cannot be comprehended by any idea, still less be described; for in every affection there is the man's whole life that has been acquired from his infancy even to the time of life when he is in the affection; nay, there are other things besides, namely, those which he has inherited from father and mother, grandparents and great-grandparents; for the affection is the whole man such as he is.

It is said here that “the affection is the whole man,” which means that motivation is the dominant feature of our mental life. Motivation is nothing but an affection for a certain goal. We are attached to the goal and desire it. The goal is nothing but a mental state which we strive to attain. And when we attain it, our love is fulfilled, that is, we feel fulfilled because “in every affection there is the man's whole life that has been acquired from his infancy.” This is a remarkable scientific revelation! It means that all our motives or “loves” are dynamically integrated. There is no motive, feeling, or goal that is independent of other motives, feelings, and goals.

In other passages we read about the “ruling love,” which is our chief motive. When we enter the world of spirits, an organic spiritual process begins in which all affections that are not compatible with the ruling love are “expelled” from one’s character or rendered functionally inoperative in the affective organ (see Section xx). This prepares the mind for its final destination in eternity – either one of the heavens or one of the hells, depending on the ruling love – whether it is a heavenly or a hellish love (see Section xx).

We tend to identify ourselves with our thoughts more than with our affections and motives. We can “see” our thoughts because we can look down upon one mental operation from a higher one. When we read something we can “see” the meaning and “follow” the “line” of reasoning, and judge whether it is logical or irrational. We are familiar with our cognitive operations of “understanding” because we can see them. But we are not so familiar with our affective operations because we cannot see them. It is like the sunlight, which we can see, but the heat within it is not visible, though we can feel it or sense it if we can touch it.

We cannot “see” our affective operations and therefore people act from motives they are not consciously aware of. They could become aware if they “touched it” which means to directly perceive the affection, love, or desired goal-state. Self-witnessing the threefold self is the process of seeing our thoughts, perceiving our feelings, and noticing our actions (see Section xx).

Note also in the above passage that from our parents we inherit very many affections, which include sub-categories of affections such as inclinations, aptitudes, feelings, motives, wishes, tendencies, preferences, attractions, aversions, weaknesses, etc. In addition, we add our own through our daily experiences. Yet, despite these multiplicities of affections from different sources, they completely integrated, so that in one affection or motive you will find all the person’s loves and motives. Swedenborg reports that a person’s affections show in the aura around their head so that spirits can tell from a distance whether an approaching person is hostile or friendly, and many other things that are visible in the individual’s aura.

In the other life, by a manifestation of the affection there is sometimes presented to view how much there is in anyone of the love of self, and how much of the love of the world; and how much of the love of principles, and for what end and use; also how much of the love of good and truth, and what is the quality of that good and truth, and also how the good and truth are disposed, that is, how far conjoined, approximating, or separate; thus how much they agree or disagree with heavenly order. As just stated, all these things are presented to view by a manifestation of the affection, because the affection is the whole man. That such is the case appears incredible to man, and yet it is true.

These “manifestations” of the aura cannot be seen with physical eyes because they are spiritual events which only spirits can witness. While we are on earth we are conscious only of the operations that go on in our natural mind. When we become “spirits” upon resuscitation, we become conscious of the operations in our spiritual mind, and that point we can see other spirits and their aura.

Continuing with the analysis of the Genesis story of Rebekah at the well, which in its scientific meaning discusses the process of how the cognitive and the affective organ become functionally integrated. Until then, we may have a theoretical knowledge of the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture, but we are unable to apply it to our mental life. We understand in a general way, but not the specific details. We adopt the doctrine as a life principle, but it is not effective in changing our character. We continue to give in to our old affections, helpless to stop them from controlling us, despite our new doctrine and new resolutions. We remain a slave to our inherited and acquired affections. We can gain freedom of choice only when the will and the understanding are functionally integrated and act together.

That this signifies receptions of truth, and endeavor, is evident from the signification of a "pitcher," as being memory-knowledge, and thus a receptacle of truth (see n. 3068); and from the signification of the "shoulder," as being all power, and thus endeavor (see n. 1085). That "pitchers" or "water-jars," also vessels in general, signify in the internal sense things which are in the position of being a receptacle (as are memory-knowledges and knowledges in relation to truths, and as are truths themselves in relation to good), may be seen from many passages in the Word. The "vessels" of the temple and of the altar have no other signification, and because they signified such things they were also holy, their holiness being from no other source.

We can coin the expression “cognitive vessel” or “cognitive container” to reflect an important property of thoughts and concepts. For example, the concept “house” is a cognitive container of higher rational functions. We learn the concept “house” early as a child, but at that time it doesn’t contain higher meanings. It is an empty cognitive vessel that is capable of holding higher ideas within it. As we get older and more advanced intellectually, we gain additional meaning to the concept “house,” as for example, that it is something you own and can sell it; that it could be jointly owned by several people; that buying a house is a good way of growing your investment for the future; that there are laws concerning what you cannot do in your own house; that “house” corresponds spiritually to “good,” and many more things that “enrich” the meaning of house with new meanings that are not always related to the concept of the physical house.

With this analogy you can see that concepts we learn from the literal sentences of Sacred Scripture can be called “holy vessels” because later, they can contain higher spiritual meanings or correspondences. Regarding the use of “vessels,” “cups,” “beakers,” “troughs,” “pitchers,” etc., many more examples from the Old and New Testaments are given, but I only quote portions of the passages.

That this signifies the beauty of the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of a "damsel," as being an affection in which is innocence (see n. 3067). That "exceeding good to look upon" signifies beauty (here the beauty of the affection of truth, because it is said of the damsel) comes from the fact that all beauty is from good in which there is innocence. Good itself when it flows in from the internal man into the external, makes beauty; and from this is all human beauty. This may likewise be seen from the fact that no one is affected by the face of another, but by the affection which beams forth from the face; and that they who are in good are affected by the affection of good which is there, and in the measure in which there is innocence in the good. Thus it is the spiritual in the natural which affects, but not the natural without the spiritual. In like manner they who are in good are affected by little children, who appear to them beautiful in proportion to the innocence of charity in their faces, gestures, and speech. (That goodness and charity are what form and cause beauty, may be seen above, n. 553.) Hence then it is that the "damsel exceeding good to look upon" signifies the beauty of the affection of truth in which there is good.

The above passage gives us the amazing revelation of where “human beauty” comes from! It is the substance of good which streams forth from the Spiritual Sun (see Section xx). Beauty is the outward appearance of good, in the same way that a plant is the outward appearance of the seed. Different seeds engender different plants just as different types of goodness engender different forms of beauty. In other passages, the outward form or appearance of good is said to be truth. Good is nothing but spiritual heat from the Spiritual Sun. The spiritual heat cannot be seen by the cognitive organ, which can only see or react to the spiritual light. But the affective organ reacts to the spiritual heat that is within the spiritual light.

Truth – or spiritual light, is therefore nothing but the outward form or appearance of good – or spiritual heat. When your understanding sees a truth, you are actually looking at the beauty of good. A “damsel good to look at” is the literal expression that contains a higher correspondence, which is “the beauty of truth in which there is good.”

The above passage says that “it is the spiritual in the natural which affects, but not the natural without the spiritual.” When we see an infant we are strongly moved by a feeling of its beauty and cuteness. The feeling of beauty we experience is not a reaction to the infant’s physical appearance, though we might at first think so. The physical appearance of the infant is natural, but the feeling of beauty is spiritual (or mental). We are perceiving the “innocence of charity” in the infant, and this perception is spiritual, not physical. The natural without the spiritual in it, would not affect us with the feeling of beauty and cuteness.

You can see therefore that the natural is a vessel or containant for the spiritual. The spiritual cannot be perceived by itself, without a natural vessel to contain it. This is the essence of understanding correspondences and how god manages the two worlds through them (see Section xx).

The following passage reveals the origin of marriage and heaven to be the conjunction of good and truth in the mind. In other words, to enter heaven we need to develop a mind in which truths contain goods and the two are integrated as one.

That this signifies pure from all falsity, is evident from the signification of a "virgin." A "virgin" is often mentioned in the Word, and there signifies the Lord's kingdom, and likewise the church, and consequently everyone who is a kingdom of the Lord or who is a church; and this from the conjugial love in chaste virgins. In the correspondential sense conjugial love is the affection of good in truth, and the affection of truth from good, from which affections, conjoined as it were in marriage, comes conjugial love (see n. 2508, 2618, 2727-2729). And because as before said this is seen in a virgin, the kingdom of the Lord, which is also compared to marriage and is called a marriage, is called a "virgin." That by "a man had not known her," is signified pure from all falsity, is because by a "man" in the Word is signified not only rational truth, but also in the opposite sense falsity (see n. 265, 749, 1007); thus to be "known by a man" is to be contaminated with falsity, and "not to be known by a man" is to be pure from falsity: by a "man" is not here meant a husband.

The scientific meaning of “virgin” in Sacred Scripture always refers to a mental state. Because virgins are thought of as chaste, they represent purity of thinking and willing, which means, feelings and thoughts that are heavenly. A virgin refers to heavenly thoughts and feelings in our mind. The institution of marriage is holy and eternal because it is the natural vessel for spiritual “conjugial love” (see Section xx). This marriage love is caused by the integration of good and truth in our character. The expression “a man had not known her” refers to her virginity, but in the scientific sense, it refers to truth we obtain from Sacred Scripture that has not been falsified by self-intelligence. Truth from Sacred Scripture not falsified by self-intelligence is called a virgin.

The next series of passages deals with the way Divine truth from Sacred Scripture (“fountain”) is received in our cognitive vessels (“pitcher”):

That this signifies Divine truth, is evident from the signification of the "fountain," as being Divine truth (see n. 2702, 3065).

That this signifies vessels of reception, is evident from the signification of a "pitcher," which, being a vessel for the reception of water, is in the internal sense a recipient of the knowledges of truth, and also of truth itself, which is signified by "water."

That this signifies elevation, is evident from the signification of "coming up," as being to be elevated. Being elevated is said of passing from what is lower to what is higher, and also therefore of passing from what is exterior to what is interior, which is the same thing; for what is lower or higher in a human idea is exterior or interior in the angelic idea; for instance, heaven, which appears to man higher, but to angels interior; and the natural with man-this is exterior relatively to his spiritual; and so again is the spiritual relatively to the celestial; or what is the same, memory-knowledge, which is of the natural man, is exterior relatively to truth, and truth is exterior relatively to good; and therefore memory-knowledge relatively to truth is called a veil and also clothing, and truth likewise is so called relatively to good (...)

The last paragraph above explains that spiritual enlightenment (“coming up”) is the process of “passing from what is lower to what is higher.” In the language of correspondences “higher” always means “more interior” because the universe was created from the interior outward, that is, from the Spiritual Sun, to the spiritual world, to the natural world (see Section xx). The levels of the spiritual world are the same as the levels of the mind, so that spiritual geography = mental anatomy (see Section xx). The higher the consciousness rises, the more interior it is in quality. The highest point of consciousness is called “celestial-rational correspondences” (third heaven). It is the inmost of the conscious human mind.

The passage above also says that “memory-knowledge” is a lower form of rationality than truth is. Truth is spiritual light that flows into the memory-knowledge of the lower natural mind, and enlightens it. As we study Sacred Scripture we accumulate memory-knowledge about it. We can memorize parts, recite them, paraphrase them, lecture on them, write about them. All this is from memory-knowledge. Once we have acquired this memory-knowledge, we must apply it to our thinking and willing in daily life. As we do this, truth from Sacred Scripture enters or descends into the memory-knowledge. When this occurs we experience enlightenment and we can “see” rationally what the truth is and that it is the truth.

Memory-knowledge is therefore a form of first level thinking (lowest, most external). When truth enters the memory-knowledge it is enlightened and we perform level two thinking (intermediate). Finally, when our enlightenment of truth is applied to our thinking and willing in daily choices, we are able to perceive the good that is invisible within the truth, like we are able to sense the heat of sunlight, and this is level 3 thinking (see Section xx).

The following passage makes it clear that the details we are analyzing here have to do with enlightenment of the natural consciousness (level 1 thinking) and its consequent elevation into spiritual-rational thinking (levels 2 and 3). Clearly this is an important subject for us to know since we are unable to prepare ourselves for a heavenly life in eternity without understanding the process of regeneration and what we must accomplish in that process in order to be successful. It is the Divine Psychologist who regenerates each person but only to the extent that the person cooperates or reciprocates. We can cooperate and reciprocate to the extent that we understand the process rationally. Hence the importance for Divine Speech in Sacred Scripture to discuss this process and to give us the scientific facts about its operation.

As in the passage before us in the internal sense there is described the first of the elevation of truth out of the natural man to the rational, it is therefore said first that the affection of truth represented by Rebekah "went down to the fountain," and then that she "came up;" for, as before said (n. 3074), the Divine love flows into the affection of good, and from this into the affection of truth, and vivifies and enlightens the things that are in the natural man, and then disposes them in order (this is signified by "going down"); and by virtue of this, truths are raised out of the natural man into the rational, and are conjoined with the good there (this is signified by "going up").

The passage above describes the down-up sequence of how Divine Truth from Sacred Scripture, or Divine Speech, descends to the natural mind, enlightens it, and elevates it to the spiritual-rational level of thinking and willing. This is the essence of regeneration. Here, the initial phase of enlightenment is called “the first of the elevation of truth out of the natural man to the rational.” The “natural man” refers to our thinking about God with natural-correspondences such as make up the letter of Sacred Scripture. The Old Testament Sacred Scripture is written in natural-corporeal correspondences. The New Testament Sacred Scripture is written in natural-sensuous correspondences. The Writings Sacred Scripture is written in natural-rational correspondences (see Section xx).

When reading about God through these natural correspondences one thinks in natural concepts based on materialistic and time-based ideas. Enlightenment occurs when the Divine Psychologist creates a virtual first heaven in the interior of our natural-rational mind, through which we are able to perceive rationally higher-order correspondences (see Section xx).

In the Genesis story, Rebekah “went down to the fountain” and later it is said that she “came up.” Rebekah going down and then coming up is a natural correspondence for the scientific meaning of how the consciousness of truth (Rebekah) goes down into the cognitive vessels of natural correspondences (“well” – se below), which causes the natural consciousness to be elevated, that is, to come up to the spiritual-rational level of meaning. The passage above says that Divine Good (or Love) descends into the affection of good, and from there into the affection of truth, and there it “vivifies and enlightens the things that are in the natural man, and then disposes them in order (this is signified by "going down"). In other words, the memory-knowledges we acquire from the letter of Sacred Scripture are dead until they become “vivified” by Divine Truth descending into them from within, that is, from a spiritual descent into spiritual things.

And, “by virtue of this, truths are raised out of the natural man into the rational, and are conjoined with the good there (this is signified by "going up"). The consequence of enlightenment is to be able to think with spiritual-natural and spiritual-rational correspondences (see Section xx). This is referred to as “truths being raised to the spiritual-rational level” (going up).

It is remarkable to reflect on the fact that the Genesis story of Rebekah is actual history describing real events. This is confirmed in the Writings. Whatever details of the event that have been recorded as Old Testament Sacred Scripture, serve to present the scientific series of what human consciousness does. Rebekah going up to the fountain describes our consciousness being elevated by Divine Truth from Sacred Scripture. And when Rebekah is going down, her action represents the Divine Truth descending into our natural consciousness and enlightening it. It is the same with all the details given in Sacred Scripture throughout (see Section xx).

In these two verses is described the affection of truth as to origin, as to quality, and as to the first of initiation; as to origin, by the words, "Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother," by which in the internal sense is set forth all the origin of this affection (as may be seen, n. 3077, 3078); as to quality, by the words, "her pitcher was upon her shoulder; and the damsel was exceeding good to look upon," by which is described the quality (see n. 3079-3081); as to the first of initiation, by the words, "she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up" (as may be seen, n. 3082-3084).

Literal meaning of the Old Testament Sacred Scripture	Literal meaning of the Writings Sacred Scripture	Extracted Scientific Meaning for Theistic Psychology
Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother	all the origin of the affection of truth	the origin of our motive to study theistic psychology
her pitcher was upon her shoulder; and the damsel was exceeding good to look upon	the quality of this affection	the quality of this motivation
she went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up	the first of initiation of this affection	The initial phases of this motivation

In other words, when we extract the scientific topic of the Rebekah story at the well, we discover that it is about the origin of our motivation for studying theistic psychology. The motivation for doing something is called “affection” in Sacred Scripture. The affection for something refers to why we are doing it. The motive defines the goal and the state of fulfillment of the affection, love, or desire. “Truth” in Sacred Scripture refers to Divine Truth that is revealed to the human race for the purpose of forming for ourselves doctrine of life. Divine Truth is revealed to our conscious natural mind when we read Sacred Scripture and consider it as Divine Speech written in correspondences.

Theistic psychology is defined as scientific knowledge extracted from Sacred Scripture according to the methods prescribed in the Writings (see Section xx). The name “Rebekah” in Sacred Scripture represents the “affection of truth” which is therefore the motivation to study theistic psychology.

The Rebekah story in its entirety lays out the precise sequence of development that our mind undergoes during the initial phases of regeneration and spiritual-rational enlightenment.

Here are a few paragraphs that I selected from our discussion of the Rebekah story thus far. It will help you focus more strongly on the actual subject God is discussing with humanity in the Rebekah passage of Sacred Scripture. The following is from the discussion you just went over in the past few pages:

The name “Rebekah” stands for the motivation to study theistic psychology. At the beginning of this process we may be very interested in its topics and its knowledge structure, but this interest is not a love for applying theistic psychology principles to oneself. But in subsequent phases of growth we develop an affection or love for the new way of thinking that we found. Our love for this new way of thinking must be conjoined or united to our determination and will to act in a new way which agrees with the new doctrine. Our regeneration only begins when we unite our doctrinal thinking to our willing (willing = motivation).

The knowledge of theistic psychology changes the way we do our thinking and our feeling. This new way of thinking is actually the new mental pathway that the Divine Child created for humanity during the Incarnation Event. The Divine Child made Himself go through the phases of intellectual development that every ordinary human being must go through. He was educated and socialized into the culture that possessed the Old Testament as Sacred Scripture.

These details of the Divine Child’s mental life have become the details of every human being while going through the process of regeneration. Without going through this process we remain attached to the hellish traits we inherited. Only regeneration can liberate us from this fate, and only doctrinal thinking from Sacred Scripture has the power to effect this change.

The passage discusses the dynamic properties of the process by which we integrate the cognitive operations of doctrine (= thinking), with the affective operations of using doctrine to evaluate our thinking in daily life (= willing). It is through an act of the will – the affective organ – that we judge a line of thought as good or evil, that is, from heaven or from hell.

Sub-categories of affections or motivations include inclinations, aptitudes, feelings, purposes, goals, wishes, tendencies, preferences, attractions, aversions, weaknesses, etc.

We need to understand the process of how the cognitive and the affective organ become functionally integrated. Until then, we may have a theoretical knowledge of the doctrine of truth from Sacred Scripture, but we are unable to apply it to our mental life. We understand in a general way, but not the specific details. We adopt the doctrine as a life principle, but it is not effective in changing our character. We continue to give in to our old affections, helpless to stop them from controlling us, despite our new doctrine and new resolutions. We remain a slave to our inherited and acquired affections. We can gain freedom of choice only when the will and the understanding are functionally integrated and act together.

Spiritual enlightenment (“coming up”) is the process of “passing from what is lower to what is higher” in our mode of thinking and willing “Memory-knowledge” is a lower form of rationality than truth is. Truth is spiritual light that flows into the memory-knowledge of the lower natural mind, and enlightens it. As we study Sacred Scripture we accumulate memory-knowledge about it. We can memorize parts, recite them, paraphrase them, lecture on them, write about them. All this is from memory-knowledge. Once we have acquired this memory-knowledge, we must apply it to our thinking and willing in daily life. As we do this, truth from Sacred Scripture enters or descends into the memory-knowledge. When this occurs we experience enlightenment and we can “see” rationally what the spiritual truth is in Sacred Scripture, and that it is the Divine Truth (= enlightenment).

There is a down-up sequence that describes how Divine Truth from Sacred Scripture, or Divine Speech, descends to the natural mind, enlightens it, and elevates it to the spiritual-rational level of thinking and willing. This is the essence of regeneration. Here, the initial phase of enlightenment is called “the first of the elevation of truth out of the natural man to the rational.” The “natural man” refers to our thinking about God with natural-correspondences such as those that make up the letter of Sacred Scripture. The Old Testament Sacred Scripture is written in natural-corporeal correspondences. The New Testament Sacred Scripture is written in natural-sensuous correspondences. The Writings Sacred Scripture is written in natural-rational correspondences.

Divine Good (or Love) descends into the affection of good, and from there into the affection of truth, and there it “vivifies and enlightens the things that are in the natural man, and then disposes them in order (this is signified by "going down"). In other words, the memory-knowledges we acquire from the letter of Sacred Scripture are dead until they become “vivified” by Divine Truth descending into them from within, that is, from a spiritual descent into spiritual things (= enlightenment).

And, “by virtue of this, truths are raised out of the natural man into the rational, and are conjoined with the good there (this is signified by "going up"). The consequence of enlightenment is to be able to think with spiritual-natural and spiritual-rational correspondences. [These higher meanings give us the conscious power to resist our temptations, gain victory over our evil enjoyments, and discard them for heavenly enjoyments. This prepares the mind for heavenly life in eternity.]

As we continue our analysis of the Rebekah story, we need to remember to focus on the details of how the motivation to study theistic psychology gets integrated with our daily battles in character reformation. This is the key to benefiting from the study of theistic psychology.

[2] But as before said, these things are not only beyond ordinary apprehension, but are also beyond that of more cultivated men-that is to say, such things as are contained in the internal sense in this chapter and in some that follow. The reason of this is that it scarcely enters the mind of anyone that there is a continual Divine influx through the internal man into the external; that is, an influx of celestial and spiritual things through the rational man into the natural, or what is the same, into the natural things of the external man; and that by this influx truths are continually called forth from the natural man, are elevated, and are implanted in the good which is in the rational. As it is not known that this takes place, how should all the process be known, and in what manner it is effected; a process of wisdom so great (because from the Divine) that it can never be explored as to a ten-thousandth part; the things that can be seen being only the most general?

In other words, the study of theistic psychology is “beyond ordinary and cultivated apprehension,” which means that it is not understandable or believable in the negative bias mode of both uneducated materialists or scientists who deny dualism and God. In the negative bias mode (see Chapter 1) we refuse to consider that Sacred Scripture is Divine Speech in correspondences, or that these correspondences have been revealed. Materialistic thinking prevents the individual from considering the logic and rationality of what is extracted from Sacred Scripture. Materialistic thinking is unable to comprehend the idea that God is omnipresent and omnipotent (see Section xx).

[3] And as such is the case, let no one wonder that the things here contained in the internal sense cannot be described to the apprehension, and that what are described transcend the apprehension; for they treat of this process and describe it. And besides, the internal sense is principally for the angels; and this in order that through the Word there may be communication between heaven and man; and by the angels such things as are referred to above are accounted as things most delightful, because heavenly food is nothing else than all that which is of intelligence and wisdom; and to them the blessedness of wisdom and intelligence is whatever treats of the Lord.

From the above passage we get a view of the amazing future that awaits us in the spiritual world. “Angels” refers to our mental state when we are elevated in thinking into the interior regions of our mind, even to the inmost called the “third heaven” (see Section xx). As explained in other passages, our mental food in a mental world keeps our consciousness in that mental state. In order for a mental state to endure we must “feed it” or keep it operational, by “ingesting” new ideas, concepts, and principles we derive from our study of theistic psychology. It is an endless process to eternity. Our “heavenly food” refers to spiritual correspondences at various discrete levels (see Section xx).

That some idea, although a most general one, may be formed of what is here contained in the internal sense, be it known that this whole chapter treats of the truth Divine that was to be conjoined with the Divine good; to wit that Divine good flowed into the natural man, that is, into the memory-knowledges, the knowledges, and the doctrinal things therein, for these are of the natural man insofar as they are in its memory; and that by this influx it enlightened, vivified, and disposed into order all things therein; for all light, life, and order in the natural man are from influx from the Divine, as may be known to everyone if he attends to it. By means of this influx there comes forth affection; first, the general affection of truth, treated of in these two verses in regard to its origin (n. 3077, 3078); its quality (n. 3079-3081); and the first of initiation (n. 3082-3084); but in the verses now immediately following, the process is further described in the internal sense, namely, the exploration of that truth, also the separation of the things from the mother, which at first were adjoined to it, and so on.

[2] But I know that these are arcana too deep to fall within apprehension; and this as before said for the reason that they are things unknown; but as the internal sense describes them, and this as to all their circumstances, they must needs be set forth, no matter how much they may appear to be above the apprehension. At the very least it may in this way be seen what great arcana there are in the internal sense of the Word; also that the arcana are such as scarcely to be seen in the light of the world, in which man is during his life in the body, but that they always appear more distinctly and clearly in proportion as man comes from the light of the world into the light of heaven, into which he comes after death; thus into the light in which blessed and happy souls are, that is, the angels.

Verses 17-20. And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher. And she said, Drink, my lord; and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and made him drink. And she finished making him drink, and she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw, and drew for all his camels. "The servant ran to meet her, and said," signifies exploration from Divine good; "let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher," signifies inquiry whether anything of truth from this source can be conjoined; "and she said, Drink, my lord," signifies reciprocation; "and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand," signifies submission of the recipients from power; "and made him drink," signifies initiation. "And she finished making him drink," signifies what is successive; "and she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking," signifies reciprocation as to the enlightenment of all the memory-knowledges in the natural man. "And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough," signifies the separation of the affection of truth which was being initiated into Divine good; "and ran again unto the well," signifies a lower affection of truth; "and drew for all his camels," signifies whereby the general memory-knowledges were enlightened.

The servant ran to meet her, and said. That this signifies exploration from Divine good, is evident from the signification of "running to meet her," as being an exploration as to whether the case was as he had spoken in his heart (the internal sense so dictates); also from the signification of "saying," as being to perceive (often shown before) and thus to explore. That this was from Divine good, is because the servant here acts in the stead of his lord, that is, of Abraham and also of Isaac; for he that is sent puts on the personality of him who sends. This is often the case in the Word, as when angels are spoken of who are first mentioned as angels, and are afterwards called "Jehovah" (as the angel who appeared to Moses in the bush, Exod. 3:2, 4; and the angel that appeared to Gideon, Judges 6:11-12, 14). For the same reason Rebekah addresses him as "my lord" in the next verse.

Let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher. That this signifies inquiry whether anything of truth from this source could be conjoined, is evident from the signification of "sipping," as being similar to that of "drinking;" but diminutively, because exploring is implied. (That "to drink", is to perceive may be seen above, n. 3069.) In the internal sense "to drink" also denotes to be communicated and to be conjoined, and is predicated of what is spiritual, as "to eat" is predicated of what is celestial (n. 2187, 2343). The same is further evident from the signification of "water," as being truth (see n. 680, 739, 2702). Here therefore the words "let me I pray sip a little water from thy pitcher," signify exploring whether anything of truth from this source could be conjoined. The "pitcher" is the recipient, in which and out of which is truth (n. 3068, 3079). That there was an exploration is because the first affection of truth was attended with something from the maternal, which was to be separated (n. 3040, 3078). With a man about to be regenerated the case is that his first affection of truth is very impure; for there is in it an affection of use and an end for the sake of himself, for the sake of the world, for the sake of glory in heaven, and the like, which ends regard himself, but not the community, the Lord's kingdom, and still less the Lord. Such an affection necessarily precedes; nevertheless it is successively purified by the Lord, till at last falsities and evils are removed and are cast as it were into the circumference; and yet they had been of service as means.

And she said, Drink, my lord. That this signifies reciprocation, is evident from the assent or consent. What the reciprocation of truth is when it is to be conjoined with good, is apparent from marriages; for marriage comes from the fact that there is consent on both sides. This has its origin from the marriage of good and truth; on the side of good there is will, and on that of truth there is consent, and from this comes the conjunction. Although this reciprocation is not apparent with man when he is being regenerated, that is, when he is entering into the heavenly marriage, it nevertheless takes place. The same is more manifest from the fact that when a man is being regenerated, there is effected a likeness of a marriage between the will and the understanding; good being of the will, and truth of the understanding. Therefore the ancients instituted a marriage between the will and the understanding, and between the several things of the will and those of the understanding (n. 54, 55).

And she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand. That this signifies submission of the recipients from power,* is evident from the signification of "letting down," as being submission; from the signification of a "pitcher" as being a recipient (see n. 3068, 3079); and from the signification of the "hand," as being power (see n. 878). The submission of the recipients, from power, consists in the doctrinal things, the knowledges, and the memory-knowledges (which are the recipients, n. 3068, 3079), applying themselves.

There is a chain of subordination, thus of application, and consequently of submission, from the First of life, or the Lord. As the things which are in a lower place ought to serve the higher, they must be in submission; for without their submission there is no conjunction. The "power" here spoken of is from truth; this causes the things which are below to submit. In the Word power is especially attributed to truth; and therefore the "hands," "arms," and "shoulders" (by which in the internal sense powers are signified) are predicated of truth (see n. 878, 1085); and the power which appears to be from truth is itself from good, through truth.

And made him drink. That this signifies initiation, is evident from the signification of "giving to drink" [potare], in that it is almost the same as that of "drinking" [bibere]; but "drinking" here involves more activity on the part of him who drinks. That "drinking" is receiving, and also being conjoined, may be seen above (n. 3069, 3089); thus "making him drink" [facere potare] denotes to give an opportunity to receive, which is the first of initiation.

And she finished making him drink. That this signifies what is successive of initiation, is evident from the fact that "finished," or "to finish," involves the end of the act that precedes and the beginning of the act that follows, and thus what is successive; and also from the signification of "making to drink," as being to be initiated (of which just above, n. 3092).

And she said, I will draw for thy camels also, until they have done drinking. That this signifies reciprocation as to the enlightenment of all the memory-knowledges in the natural man is evident from the signification of "camels" as being general memory-knowledges in the natural man (see n. 3048, 3071); and from the signification of "drawing," that is, "drawing water," as being to instruct and also to enlighten (see n. 3058, 3071). It is evident that this is reciprocation because she said that she would do this, and also did it; that is, drew water for the camels.

The enlightenment that is here treated of is on the part of truth, although it is from good through truth. As regards the enlightenment of memory-knowledges in the natural man the case is this: All enlightenment is from good; for the good which is of love is comparatively as the sun's flame, from which are heat and light; but truth is as the object through which the flame shines, by which there is enlightenment from light; and such as is the light therefrom, such is the enlightenment.

[2] There is nothing else that receives good but truth, and such as is the truth, such is the reception, and such is the consequent enlightenment. When therefore there is enlightenment by means of truth, the enlightenment appears to be from the truth, as if it were its own; although it is of good, which thus gives light through the truth. Moreover the enlightenment of good by means of truth penetrates still further, and affects more deeply, and produces a lower affection of truth, which will be spoken of presently. The light of heaven is from the Divine good of the Lord through His Divine truth; and because it is through the Divine truth in His Human, it penetrates not only to those who are celestial, but also to the spiritual, and enlightens with wisdom and intelligence all who are in heaven. And because this is the source of wisdom and intelligence, therefore the Divine good and the Divine truth in the Lord's Human are so much treated of in the internal sense of the Word; and in the present passage, this sense treats of the first enlightenment of truth from good, and of good through truth.

And she hasted and emptied her pitcher into the trough. That this signifies the separation of the affection of the truth which was being initiated into Divine good, is evident from the signification of "emptying the pitcher," as being to separate the truth; for by a "pitcher," as a containing vessel, is signified not merely the memory-knowledge in which is truth, but also the truth in which is good (see n. 3068, 3079); and here, because initiation is treated of, it signifies the truth which was being initiated into Divine good. And because truth itself cannot possibly be conjoined with good except through its affection (see n. 3024 at the beginning, 3066), for in affection is the life through which is conjunction, therefore here it is the affection of truth that is meant. The meaning of the passage is also evident from the signification of a "trough," or "watering place," as being the good of truth; for the water in the trough signifies truth (see n. 739, 2702), and the trough itself signifies the same as wood, namely, good (see n. 2784, 2812). The good of truth is that which is produced from good by means of truth, and is like an offspring born of truth as a mother, and of good as a father. All the genuine good in the natural man is from this, that is, from the marriage of good and truth in the rational. This good is that which is called the good of truth, and is signified in the Word by a "trough," or "watering place."

And she ran again unto the well to draw. That this signifies a lower affection of truth, is evident from the signification of a "well," as being truth (see n. 2702), but truth that is lower; and as the initiation of truth is here treated of, a lower affection of truth is signified, as just said (n. 3094). The difference of signification in the internal sense between a "fountain" and a "well" may be seen in the number already cited (n. 2702), namely, that the term "fountain" is used when a purer and a higher truth is treated of, but "well" when a truth not so pure and also lower; as is the case in this chapter likewise, in which it is sometimes said a "fountain" and sometimes a "well." Natural truth is lower truth; and the affection of natural truth is a lower affection of truth; from this affection, proximately, are the general memory-knowledges enlightened; and that this enlightenment penetrates further and affects more deeply, may be seen above (n. 3094).

And drew for all his camels. That this signifies that general memory-knowledges were enlightened thereby, is evident from the signification of "drawing," as being to instruct, and also to enlighten (see n. 3058, 3071); and from the signification of "camels," as being general memory-knowledges (n. 3048).

The things contained in the internal sense from n. 3088 to this point, are also such as can be apprehended by those only who have been instructed concerning the internals of man, and who are in truths; for through truths and according to truths, comes enlightenment. The subject here is the first initiation of truth into good; for as before said good itself flows into the natural through the rational, thus by an internal way, and enlightens the things which are therein; whereas truth itself inflows into the natural through the sensuous part, especially that of hearing and sight, and thus by an external way. Truth has its rise from this source, as may be known to everyone who reflects; but the conjunction of good and truth is not there, but is in the rational; therefore truth is called forth therefrom, thus out of the natural sphere into the spiritual; for the truth that is to be conjoined with good is spiritual. How the case is with the truth that is first called forth thence, is treated of in these verses (n. 3087-3097).

Verses 21, 22. And the man, marveling at her, withheld himself, to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not. And it came to pass when the camels had done drinking, that the man took a jewel of gold, of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands, ten of gold their weight. "And the man, marveling at her, withheld himself," signifies a state of perception as to those things; "to know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not," signifies concerning Divine truth, what it was; "and it came to pass when the camels had done drinking," signifies acknowledgment from enlightenment in general memory-knowledges; "that the man took a jewel of gold," signifies Divine good; "of half a shekel weight," signifies sufficient for initiation; "and two bracelets," signifies Divine truth; "for her hands," signifies the power of the affection of truth; "ten of gold their weight," signifies what is full for initiation.

The man marveling at her, withheld himself. That this signifies a state of perception as to those things, is evident from the signification of "marveling," and of "withholding himself" (when he saw that those things which he spoke in his heart had come to pass), as being somewhat of acknowledgment, and at the same time of waiting to see whether it was not so; for he marveled because he acknowledged that it had so come to pass, and he withheld himself because he waited to see whether it was not so; this is the state of perception which is signified.

To know whether Jehovah had prospered his way or not. That this signifies inquiry concerning Divine truth, what it was, is evident from the signification of a "way," as being truth (see n. 627, 2333); whether it was Divine is signified by its being said "whether Jehovah had prospered it," which is the same as inquiring whether it was from Jehovah, or from the Divine, and thus what truth it was; for truths which are called forth from the natural man into the rational are not all received; but only those which agree with the good there, and thus by insemination and insertion act as one with it; the rest, although they had appeared as truths before they were elevated, still are not received, because they are not acknowledged. It is good that acknowledges its own truth, and it is truth that acknowledges its own good. That the truth was acknowledged for what it was, and that thus it was received, is also clear from what now follows.

And it came to pass when the camels had done drinking. That this signifies acknowledgment from enlightenment in general memory-knowledges, is evident from the fact that the two expressions, "it came to pass," and "had done," signify what is successive, and involve the end of the act that precedes and the beginning of the act that follows (see above, n. 3093); here therefore they signify acknowledgment, as shown just above. The same is evident also from the signification of "camels," as being general memory-knowledges (see n. 3048, 3071); and from the signification of "drinking," as being here the same as "drawing waters" (see n. 3097), and also the same as "giving to drink" (see n. 3058, 3071), namely, being enlightened. Hence it is evident that by these words, "and it came to pass when the camels had done drinking," is signified the acknowledgment of truth Divine from enlightenment in general memory-knowledges.

[2] The case is really this: Every truth that is elevated out of the natural man, that is, out of memory-knowledges (or out of knowledges and doctrinal things, for these are of the natural man) into the rational, and there received, must first be acknowledged for what it is, and whether it is in agreement with the good that is in the rational or not; if it is in agreement, it is received; and if not, it is rejected. There are many apparent truths in a single company; but only those are conjoined which acknowledge the good there, and thus which mutually love each other. In order, however, that they may be acknowledged to be such, there must be enlightenment in the natural man, by which all things there both in general and in particular may be seen at one view, and that thus there may be choice. This enlightenment in the natural man is from good, but still is by means of truth (see n. 3094). It is this enlightenment that is signified by Rebekah's drawing for the camels, and making them drink, or giving them to drink.

And the man took a jewel of gold. That this signifies Divine good, is evident from the signification of a "jewel of gold," as being good; and here, because in the internal sense the Lord is treated of, it signifies the Divine good; and because this is from the rational, the term "man" [vir] is used (that a "man" denotes the rational, may be seen above, n. 265, 749, 1007). In ancient times, when the forms of worship in churches were representative, and it was known what they signified, when marriages were being entered upon it was customary to give the bride a jewel of gold and bracelets, because the church was represented by the bride, its good by the jewel, and its truth by the bracelets; and because it was known that the conjugial love with the bride and the wife descends from the marriage of the Lord's Divine good and Divine truth (n. 2508, 2618, 2727-2729). The jewel of gold was put upon the nose, as is evident also from what is said afterwards, that he "put the jewel upon her nose" (verse 47), for the reason that the nose signified the life of good, from the respiration there, which in the internal sense is life, and also from the fragrance, which is what is grateful to the love, the good of which it is (n. 96, 97).

[2] That the "jewel" was the badge of marriage as to good, is evident also from other passages of the Word as in Ezekiel:

I decked thee with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain upon thy throat; and I put a jewel upon thy nose (Ezek. 16:11-12);

concerning the Ancient Church, here called "Jerusalem," which is described as a bride, to whom were given bracelets, a chain, and a jewel. "Bracelets upon the hands" were a badge representative of truth; and a "jewel upon the nose" was a badge representative of good.

Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, the Lord will make bald the crown of their head, and will take away the rings, and the nose jewels, the changes of garments, and the mantles (Isa. 3:16-18, 21-22).

The "daughters of Zion who are haughty," denote the affections of evil within the church (n. 2362, 3024); the "rings and the nose jewels which will be removed," denote good and its badges; the "changes of garments and the mantles," truth and its badges.

I will visit upon her the days of the Baalim to which she burned incense; and she put on her nose jewel and her ornaments, and went after her lovers (Hos. 2:13);

treating of the perverted church, and the new church after it. The "nose jewel" here also denotes a badge of the good of the church. When these jewels were fitted to the ears, they also signified good, but good in act; and in the opposite sense evil in act (as in Gen. 35:4; Exod. 32:2, 3).

Of half a shekel weight. That this signifies sufficient for initiation, is evident from the signification of a "shekel," a "half shekel," and "weight." That a "shekel" is the price or estimation of good and truth, and that a "half shekel" is the determination of its quantity, may be seen above (n. 2959). That "weight" signifies the state of a thing as to good will be seen presently; and thus it is evident that "of half a shekel weight" signifies and involves the quantity in respect to the good meant by the jewel of gold. That it is for initiation, follows from what precedes and follows.

[2] That "weight" is the state of a thing as to good, is evident from the following passages of the Word. In Ezekiel:

The prophet was to eat food by weight, twenty shekels a day; and was to drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin; for behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and with astonishment, that they may want bread and water (Ezek. 4:10-11, 16-17).

Here the vastation of good and of truth is treated of, a representation of which was made by the prophet. The state of vastated good is signified by their "eating food and bread by weight;" and the state of vastated truth by their "drinking water by measure" (that "bread" is the celestial, and thus is good, may be seen above, n. 276, 680, 1165, 2177; also that "water" is the spiritual, and thus is truth, n. 739, 2702, 3058); hence it is evident that "weight" is predicated of good, and "measure" of truth.

There shall be balances of justice, and an ephah of justice, and a bath of justice (Ezek. 45:10, etc.).

This is said of the holy land, by which is signified the Lord's kingdom in the heavens, as may be known from the several particulars there mentioned by the prophet; where there will be no balances, ephah, and bath, but goods and truths which are signified by these weights and measures. In Isaiah:

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and hath made ready the heavens with the palm of his hand, and hath comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? (Isa. 40:12).

To "weigh the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance," denotes that from the Lord are the celestial things of love and charity, and that He alone disposes their states. (That "mountains and hills," concerning which such weights are predicated, are the celestial things of love, may be seen above, n. 795, 796, 1430, 2722.)

The writing upon the wall of the palace of Belshazzar was, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the interpretation: Mene, God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it; Tekel, thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; Peres, thy kingdom is divided and given to the Mede and the Persian (Dan. 5:25-28);

where mene or "hath numbered," is predicated of truth; while tekel or "weighed in the balances" is predicated of good; in the internal sense consummation is treated of.

3105. And two bracelets. That this signifies Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "bracelets," as being truth, here Divine truth, because the Lord is treated of in the internal sense; they are said to have been "two," to denote fullness. Bracelets were placed on the hands of a bride, because by a bride was signified the church, and by her hands were signified powers from truth (that "hands" are predicated of truth, may be seen above, n. 3091). (That "bracelets" have such a signification may be seen in Ezek. 16:11; see above, n. 3103; also Ezek. 23:42.) Bracelets were not only for a bride, but also for a king (but for a king they were on the arm, as appears in 2 Sam. 1:10), for the reason that royalty was representative and significative of Divine truth pertaining to the Lord (n. 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009); and the "arm" is significative of power (n. 878).

3106. For her hands. That this signifies the power of the affection of truth, is evident from the signification of a "hand," as being power (see n. 878, 3091); and from the representation of Rebekah-here meant by "her"-as being the affection of truth (see n. 2865, 3077).

3107. Ten of gold their weight. That this signifies what is full for initiation, is evident from the signification of "ten," as being a full state, like a "hundred" (see n. 1988, 2636); and from the signification of "gold," which is here a kind of coin from the weight of which the valuation was made; and from the signification of "weight," as being the state of a thing as to good (see above, n. 3104). Hence it is evident that "ten of gold their weight" signifies a full state of what is estimated, as to good. That it is for initiation, is evident from the several particulars in this chapter in which initiation is treated of, that is, betrothal.

3108. These two verses treat of the initiation of truth into good; but what is the nature of this initiation does not easily fall into the idea of thought with anyone who has been enlightened only by such things as are of the light of the world, and not at the same time by such things as are of the light of heaven, from which light the things which are of the light of the world may themselves be enlightened. They who are not in good, and thence in faith, have no other ideas of thought than those which have been formed from objects of the light of the world. These do not know that there is anything spiritual, nor indeed what the rational is in the genuine sense, but only the natural to which they attribute all things; and this is the reason why these things which are said in the internal sense concerning the initiation of truth into good, are to them too remote to appear to amount to anything; when yet to those who are in the light of heaven these are among their precious things. As regards the initiation of truth into good the case is this: Before truth has been initiated and rightly conjoined, it is indeed with man, but it has not been made as it were of him, or as his own; but as soon as it is being initiated into his good, it is appropriated to him; and it then vanishes from his external memory, and passes into the internal memory; or what is the same, it vanishes from the natural or external man, and passes into the rational or internal man, and puts on the very man, and makes his human, that is, his quality as to the human. Such is the case with all truth that is being conjoined with a man's good; such also is the case with the falsity that is being conjoined with evil which he calls good; but the difference is that the former opens the rational, and so makes the man rational; whereas the latter closes the rational and makes the man irrational; although he seems to himself, in the darkness in which he then is, to be pre-eminently rational.

3109. Verses 23-25. And he said, Whose daughter art thou? Tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night? And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor. And she said unto him, We have both straw and much provender, also room to pass the night. "He said, Whose daughter art thou?" signifies further exploration concerning innocence; "tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night;" signifies exploration concerning the good of charity; "and she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor," signifies here as above the whole of its origin; "and she said unto him," signifies perception; "we have both straw," signifies truths in the form of memory-knowledge; "and much provender," signifies their goods; "also room to pass the night," signifies the state.

3110. He said, Whose daughter art thou? That this signifies further exploration concerning innocence, is evident from the question, "Whose daughter art thou?" as being exploration; that here it is further exploration, is evident from what has been said above (n. 3088, 3101). That it was exploration concerning innocence, is evident from the signification of a damsel, as being an affection in which is innocence (see n. 3067). In this verse indeed the word "damsel" is not found; but seeing that above (in verses 14 and 16) Rebekah is called a and the question is here addressed to her, therefore "thou" here means nothing else than damsel.

[2] As regards the thing itself here treated of, namely, that truth was explored as to what innocence it had, and then also as to what charity, before it was initiated into good and conjoined with it, this cannot but appear wonderful to those who have no knowledge of the subject; but still let them know that in regard to the initiation and conjunction of truth with good in every man there is the most exquisite exploration, and such as surpasses all belief. To the veriest good there is never admitted anything but the veriest truth; for when anything not so true approaches, it does not conjoin itself with good itself, but with some good that in itself is not good, but appears as good; if falsity approaches, the good withdraws itself inward, and the falsity conjoins itself outwardly with some evil which it believes to be good.

[3] This Divine disposal is effected by the Lord, spirits and angels being the mediums; and in this world it is very secret, but it is perfectly well known in the other. Moreover everyone who is of sound reason is able to know it, or at least to have some apprehension of it; for evil and falsity together are hell, and flow in from hell; whereas good and truth together are heaven, and also flow in through heaven from the Lord; and since this is so, evil and truth can no more be joined together than can hell and heaven; wherefore there is a more exquisite balance applied in these things than it is possible for anyone to believe; and this is what is meant by exploration.

3111. Tell me I pray is there room in thy father's house for us to pass the night? That this signifies exploration concerning the good of charity, is evident from the signification of "tell me I pray is there," as being exploration; from the signification of a "house," as being good (see n. 2048, 2233, 2331); and from the signification of "father," in this case, Bethuel, as being the good of charity such as there is with the better Gentiles (see n. 2865)-the very origin of the affection of truth represented by Rebekah being from such good-and from the signification of "room to pass the night," as being a state of "abiding" (see below, n. 3115).

[2] That there is in the internal sense a description of the exploration concerning the origin of the affection of truth as to innocence and the good of charity, is for the reason that the truth which is to be initiated and conjoined with good derives its first origin from no other source, as may be seen from all those with whom truth is received and wedded to good. Within the church, they who have not some measure of innocence and of charity toward the neighbor, howsoever they may be acquainted with truth and profess it with the lips, yet in no wise do they acknowledge it at heart. Outside of the church, among the Gentiles who are called to the truth of faith, or are instructed concerning it in the other life, no others receive it than those who are in innocence, and who live together in mutual charity; for innocence and charity produce the ground in which the seeds of faith can take root and grow.

3112. And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bare unto Nahor. That this signifies the whole of its origin, that is, the whole of the origin of the affection of truth, is evident from the representation of Bethuel, and also of Milcah and of Nahor, as being the origin of the affection of truth, which is represented by Rebekah (see n. 3078).

3113. And she said unto him. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification in the historical parts of the Word of "saying," as being in the internal sense to perceive, as frequently shown above.

3114. We have both straw and much provender. That "straw" signifies truths in the form of memory-knowledge, and that "much provender" signifies their goods, is evident from the signification of "straw" and of "provender." That "straw" signifies these truths, is because it is spoken of as being the food of camels; for when by "camels" is signified the natural man as to the general memory-knowledges therein, then by their food, namely, by straw, nothing else than these can be signified; for the natural man has no other food which is the food of its life, seeing that its nourishment is from such truths; for if such food should fail it, that is, knowing, it would not continue to exist. That this is the case, is evident from the life after death; for then such things are to spirits in place of food (see n. 56-58, 680, 681, 1480, 1695, 1973, 1974). In the natural man, as in the rational, there are two classes of things in general which constitute its essence, namely, those of the understanding and those of the will. To the things of the understanding pertain truths; to those of the will pertain goods. The truths of the natural man are truths in the form of memory-knowledge, that is, whatever things are in his external memory; these are what are signified by "straw," when camels, and also when horses, mules, and asses are treated of. But the goods of the natural man are delights, chiefly those of the affection of such truths.

3115. Also room to pass the night. That this signifies the state, is evident from the signification of "room," as being state (see above, n. 2625, 2837); and from the signification of "passing the night," as being to abide or have an abode (see n. 2330); here therefore there is signified the state of the affection of truth, in regard to its origin. Its origin is described by the things represented by Bethuel, Milcah, and Nahor; and its relationships by "Laban" in the verses that follow. And because this origin was obscure, its state is signified by "room to pass the night," as also above.

3116. These three verses treat of the exploration of the truth which is to be initiated and thus conjoined with good; and this indeed especially in regard to its origin, for on the origin depend all things in general and in particular; from it the derived things have their form, as from their root, or their seed, as a plant or a tree has from its root or seed. These truths the Lord saw and explored in Himself from the Divine, and from His own wisdom and intelligence initiated; that is to say He initiated truths into the good of the rational. The exploration itself is here described in the internal sense; but the things contained therein can be explained only very briefly. Exploration takes place likewise with every man who is being reformed, and also with everyone who receives remains; but of this exploration the man knows nothing at all; it is so entirely in obscurity with him that he does not even believe that there is any; when yet it is taking place every moment, but from the Lord, who alone sees man's state-not only his present state, but also his future state to eternity. The exploration is a most exquisite balancing, to prevent even the least of falsity from being conjoined with good, and the least of truth from being conjoined with evil; for if there should be such conjunction, the man would perish eternally; because then in the other life he would hang between hell and heaven; and by reason of the good he would be spewed out from hell, and by reason of the evil from heaven.

3117. Verses 26, 27. And the man bent himself, and bowed himself down to Jehovah; and he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham, who hath not forsaken His mercy and His truth from my lord; I being in the way, Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren. "The man bent himself, and bowed himself down to Jehovah," signifies gladness and joy; "and he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham," signifies here as before, from the Divine Itself and the Divine Human; "who hath not forsaken His mercy," signifies a perception of the influx of love; "and His truth from my lord," signifies the influx of charity therefrom; "I being in the way," signifies in a state of the conjunction of truth with good in the rational; "Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren," signifies to the good of truth.

3118. The man bent himself, and bowed himself down to Jehovah. That this signifies gladness and joy, is evident from the signification of "bending himself," and of "bowing himself down," as denoting to be glad and to rejoice. Bending and bowing down are gestures of humiliation, that is, they are humiliation in act, whether in a state of grief or in a state of joy-in a state of grief when that which is wished for does not come to pass, but in a state of joy when it does come to pass; as in this case, that Rebekah, according to the vow of his heart, gave him to drink out of her pitcher, and made his camels drink also. (That "bowing down" is a gesture of joy also, may be seen above, n. 2927, 2950.) The term "gladness" is used, and also "joy," for the reason that in the Word "gladness" is predicated of truth, and "joy" of good. Moreover gladness is of the countenance, but joy of the heart; or what is the same, gladness is of spiritual affection or of truth, but joy is of celestial affection or of good; thus gladness is in a degree less than joy, as bending is likewise less than bowing down; which is also evident from the fact that the man of the spiritual church merely bends himself before the Lord, and invokes grace; whereas the man of the celestial church bows himself down before the Lord and implores mercy (see n. 598, 981, 2423). Both terms are used by reason of the marriage of truth and good in every single thing of the Word (n. 683, 793, 801, 2516, 2712).

3119. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah the God of my lord Abraham. That this signifies from the Divine Itself and the Divine Human, is evident from what was said above (n. 3061), where the same words occur, except that the word "blessed" is here added. "Blessed be Jehovah" was a form of thanksgiving, thus also of joy and gladness, when wished-for events took place. (What the ancients meant by "blessing Jehovah," may be seen above, n. 1096, 1422.)

3120. Who hath not forsaken His mercy. That this signifies a perception of the influx of love, is evident from the signification of "mercy," as being love (see n. 1735, 3063, 3073). That "who hath not forsaken His mercy" signifies a perception of the influx of love, is because these are words of acknowledgment and confession; and all acknowledgment and confession are from the perception of influx.

3121. And His truth from my lord. That this signifies an influx of charity therefrom, is evident from the signification of "truth," as being charity. "Truth" in its proper sense signifies the same as "faith," and in the Hebrew language faith is expressed by a like word; so that what is called "truth" in the Word of the Old Testament is in various places called "faith" in the Word of the New Testament; and for this reason also it has been so often said in the foregoing pages that truth is of faith and good is of love. And yet that in the internal sense faith is nothing else than charity, may be seen from what has been said and shown above in many places-as that there is no faith except by love (n. 30-38): That no faith is possible except where there is charity (n. 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2261): That faith is the faith of charity (n. 1608, 2049, 2116, 2343, 2349, 2419): That charity makes the church, not faith separate from charity (n. 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2190, 2228, 2442). From all this it is evident that in the internal sense truth or faith is the same as charity; for all faith is from charity; the faith which is not from charity not being faith; or what is the same, in the internal sense all truth is good; for all truth is from good, and the truth which is not from good is not truth, truth being nothing else than the form of good (n. 3049); its birth is from no other source, and its life is from no other.

3122. Moreover in regard to this truth by which is signified charity, the case is this: The most ancient people, who were celestial, by mercy and truth from the Lord understood nothing else than the reception of the influx of love to the Lord, and of the derivative charity toward the neighbor. But the ancients, who were spiritual, by the mercy and truth from the Lord with themselves, understood charity and faith; the reason of which is, that the celestial never thought concerning those things which are of faith or truth, but concerning those which are of love or good, as may be seen from what has been said above concerning the celestial man (n. 202, 337, 2669, 2715). Moreover celestial men when being reformed and regenerated were introduced into love to the Lord through charity toward the neighbor. It is evident therefore that by "mercy from the Lord" nothing else is signified than a perception of the influx of love to Him; and by "truth," a derivative influx of charity toward the neighbor.

[2] But it is otherwise with the spiritual; these think concerning the things of faith; and when being reformed and regenerated they are introduced by means of the things of faith into charity toward the neighbor. And therefore when the spiritual are treated of, by "mercy from the Lord" is meant an influx of charity toward the neighbor; and by "truth" is meant an influx of faith. But still this faith, when the spiritual man has been regenerated, becomes charity; for he then acts from charity; insomuch that one who does not act from charity is not regenerate, but he who acts from charity is regenerate; and in this case he is not solicitous about the things of faith or truth, for he lives from the good of faith, and no longer from its truth; for truth has so conjoined itself with good that it no longer appears, except merely as the form of charity.

[3] From what has been said we can see what the most ancient people, and what the ancients, understood by "mercy and truth," so frequently mentioned in the Word. As in David:

The king shall dwell before God forever; O prepare mercy and truth, that they may preserve him (Ps. 61:7).

Mercy and truth shall meet together, righteousness and peace shall kiss each other (Ps. 85:10).

Jehovah hath remembered His mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel (Ps. 98:3).

O Jehovah, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake (Ps. 115:1).

Jehovah God will give the truth to Jacob, the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old (Micah 7:20);

where "Jacob" denotes the Lord's external man, and "Abraham" the internal, as to the Human. In Hosea:

Jehovah hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, and no mercy, and no knowledge of God (Hos. 4:1).

"No truth" denotes no reception of the influx of charity; "no mercy," no reception of the influx of love; "no knowledge of God," no reception of the influx of the truth of faith.

3123. I being in the way. That this signifies in a state of the conjunction of truth with good in the rational, is evident from the signification of a "way," as being truth (see above, n. 627, 2333). That "in the way" here denotes the conjunction of truth with good in the rational, is because this is the subject treated of in this chapter (see n. 3012, 3013); for one is said to be "in the way" when he is making progress toward the place to which he intends to go.

3124. Jehovah hath led me to the house of my lord's brethren. That this signifies to the good of truth, is evident from the signification of the "house of the brethren," of which was Rebekah, as being the good from which is the truth. That the "house of the brethren" is good, here the good from which is the truth, is evident from the signification of a "house," as being good (see n. 2233, 2234, 2559); and of "brethren," as being the origin of that good from which is the truth represented by Rebekah.

3125. The foregoing verses treat of the exploration of the truth which was to be conjoined with good in the rational, in regard to innocence, to charity, and to origin. For inasmuch as the Lord, by His own proper power, made His rational Divine in respect to truth as well as in respect to good, He therefore explored the truth which He conjoined with good. But with men, truth is never conjoined with good by their own power, but by the power of the Lord; which may be seen from the fact that all good and truth flow in from the Lord, and that all reformation and regeneration are from the Lord, and that man does not know one whit of how he is regenerated.

At the present day he does not even know that he is regenerated by truth and good, still less that truth is initiated and conjoined with good, and that this is effected as by exploration, that is, most exactly. These two verses treat of perception in regard to the quality of truth, and whence it was; and at the same time of joy because of it. Therefore in what now follows the initiation is treated of.

3126. Verses 28-30. And the damsel ran, and told her mother's house according to these words. And Rebekah had a brother, and his name was Laban; and Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain; and it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands, and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spoke the man unto me; that he came unto the man; and behold he stood by the camels at the fountain. "And the damsel ran," signifies the desire [animus] of that affection; "and told her mother's house according to these words," signifies toward natural good of every kind whithersoever enlightenment could reach"; and "Rebekah had a brother" signifies the affection of good in the natural man; "and his name was Laban," signifies the quality of that affection; "and Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain," signifies its desire [animus] toward the truth which was to be initiated into truth Divine; "and it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands," signifies when it was observed that Divine good and Divine truth were in the power of the affection of truth which is the "sister;" "and when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister," signifies the inclination of that affection; "saying, Thus spoke the man unto me," signifies the propensity or inclination of truth in the natural man; "that he came unto the man," signifies that it adjoined itself; "and behold he stood by the camels," signifies presence in general memory-knowledges; "at the fountain," signifies their enlightenment from truth Divine.

3127. The damsel ran. That this signifies the desire [animus] of that affection, is evident from the signification of "running," as meaning that which is of the inclination or of the desire; and from the signification of a "damsel," as being an affection in which is innocence (see above, n. 3067, 3110).

3128. And told her mother's house according to these words. That this signifies toward natural good of every kind whithersoever enlightenment could reach, is evident from the signification of the "mother's house," as being the good of the external man, that is, natural good. (That a "house" denotes good may be seen above, n. 2233, 2234, 2559; also that man's external or natural is from the mother, but the internal from the father, n. 1815.) The good with man is compared in the Word to a "house," and on this account a man who is in good is called a "house of God;" but internal good is called the "father's house," and the good that is in the same degree is called the "house of the brethren;" but external good, which is the same as natural good, is called the "mother's house." Moreover all good and truth are born in this manner, namely, by the influx of internal good as of a father into external good as of a mother.

[2] As this verse treats of the origin of the truth which is to be conjoined with good in the rational, it is therefore said that Rebekah (by whom this truth is represented) ran to the house of her mother, for that was the origin of this truth. For as before said and shown, all good flows in by an internal way (that is, by the way of the soul) into man's rational, and through this into his faculty of knowing, even into that which is of the senses; and by enlightenment there it causes truths to be seen. Truths are called forth thence, and are divested of their natural form, and are conjoined with good in the midway, that is, in the rational, and at the same time they make the man rational, and at last spiritual. But how these things are accomplished is utterly unknown to man; because at this day it is scarcely known what good is, and that it is distinct from truth; still less that man is reformed by means of the influx of good into truth, and by the conjunction of the two; neither is it known that the rational is distinct from the natural. And when these things, which are most general, are not known, it cannot possibly be known how the initiation of truth into good, and the conjunction of the two, is effected-which are the subjects treated of in this chapter in its internal sense. But whereas these arcana have been revealed, and are manifest to those who are in good, that is, who are angelic minds, therefore however obscure they may appear to others, they nevertheless are to be set forth, because they are in the internal sense.

[3] Concerning the enlightenment from good through truth in the natural man, which is here called the "mother's house," the case is this: Divine good with man inflows into his rational, and through the rational into his natural, and indeed into its memory-knowledges, that is, into the knowledges and doctrinal things therein, as before said; and there by a fitting of itself in, it forms truths for itself, through which it then enlightens all things that are in the natural man. But if the life of the natural man is such that it does not receive the Divine good, but either repels it, or perverts it, or suffocates it, then the Divine good cannot be fitted in, thus it cannot form for itself truths; and consequently the natural can no longer be enlightened; for enlightenment in the natural man is effected from good through truths; and when there is no longer enlightenment, there can be no reformation. This is the reason why in the internal sense the natural man also is much treated of in regard to its quality; thus whence truth is, namely, that it is from good there.

3129. And Rebekah had a brother. That this signifies the affection of good in the natural man, is evident from the signification of a "brother" and a "sister" in the Word, namely, that a "brother" is the affection of good, and a "sister" is the affection of truth (see n. 367, 2360, 2508, 2524); for in the natural man, as in the rational, there are relationships by both blood and marriage of all the things therein (see n. 2556, 2739). And it also is from this that the mind, both the rational and the natural, is called a "house" (or family), where parents, brothers, sisters, kinsmen, and other relatives exist in order.

3130. And his name was Laban. That this signifies the quality of that affection, is evident from the signification of "name," as being the quality of anyone (see n. 144, 145, 1754, 1896, 2009, 2724). "Laban" therefore is the quality of that affection which is here treated of.

3131. And Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain. That this signifies its desire, that is, the desire of the affection of good, toward the truth which was to be initiated into truth Divine, is evident from the signification of running," as manifesting the inclination or desire (as above, n. 3127); from the representation of Laban, as being the affection of good (of which just above, n. 3129, 3130); from the signification of "the man," as being truth (of which, n. 265, 749, 1007); and from the signification of a "fountain," as also being truth, here truth Divine (see n. 2702, 3096; also below, n. 3137).

[2] From these and from the other things here treated of, we can see what is the quality of the internal sense, and what arcana there are in it. Who could know, except from an interior searching of the Word, and at the same time from revelation, that these words, "Laban ran out of doors unto the man, unto the fountain," signify the desire of the affection of good toward the truth that was to be initiated into truth Divine? And yet this is what the angels perceive when these words are read by man; for such are the correspondences between a man's ideas and an angel's that while the man takes these words according to the sense of the letter, and has the idea of Laban as running out of doors to the man unto the fountain, the angel perceives the desire of the affection of good toward the truth which was to be initiated into truth Divine. For the angels have no idea of Laban, nor of running, nor of a fountain, but they have spiritual ideas corresponding to these. That there is such a correspondence of actual things, and thence of ideas, natural and spiritual, may be seen from what was said above concerning correspondences (see n. 1563, 1568, 2763, 2987-3003, 3021).

[3] As regards the actual thing itself, namely, that truth was to be initiated into truth Divine, the case is this: The first truth in the natural man was not truth Divine, but was truth that appeared as if Divine; for in its first infancy no truth is truth, but is apparent truth; but in process of time it puts off the appearance, and puts on the essence of truth. In order that this may be comprehended, it may be illustrated by examples, but for the present merely by the following. It is a truth Divine that the Lord is never angry, never punishes anyone, still less does evil to anyone, and that from the Lord there never comes anything but good; nevertheless in its first infancy this truth takes the form that the Lord is angry when anyone sins, and that therefore the Lord punishes; nay, with some that evil is from the Lord; but as a man advances from childhood, and grows up and matures in judgment, he puts off that which was as truth to him from its appearing to be so, and gradually puts on the real truth, namely that the Lord is never angry, that He does not punish, that still less does He do what is evil; and thus by the former truth he is initiated into this. For that which first enters is the general truth, which in itself is obscure, and in which scarcely anything appears until it has been enlightened by particulars, and these by singulars; and when it has been enlightened the interior things are clear. Thus fallacies and appearances, which in time of ignorance are truths, are dissipated and shaken off.

3132. And it came to pass when he saw the jewel, and the bracelets upon his sister's hands. That this signifies when it was observed that Divine good and Divine truth were in the power of the affection of truth, which is the "sister," is evident from the signification of "seeing," as being to observe (n. 2150); from the signification of the "jewel," as being Divine good (see n. 3103, 3105); from the signification of "bracelets," as being Divine truth (see n. 3103, 3105) from the signification of "hands," as being power (see above, n. 878, 3091); and from the signification of "sister," as being the affection of truth (see n. 2508, 2524, 2556); from all which it is evident that to "see the jewel and the bracelets upon his sister's hands," is to observe that Divine good and Divine truth were in the power of the affection of truth.

[2] The case herein is this: The conjunction of Divine good and Divine truth in the Lord is the very Divine marriage from which is the heavenly marriage, which is likewise a marriage of good and truth; from this also comes conjugial love (see n. 2727-2759). Hence it is that where marriage is treated of in the Word, in the internal sense there is signified the heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth; and in the supreme sense the Divine marriage, which is in the Lord; wherefore nothing else is here meant by the marriage between Isaac and Rebekah. The conjunction of good and truth is the marriage itself, but the initiation is the betrothal, or the state preceding marriage. But the state that precedes betrothal is what is here described. As in this state it is within the power of the damsel to be betrothed, and afterwards as a wife to be conjoined with a husband, so it is within the power of the affection of truth to be initiated into Divine truth, and in this manner to be conjoined with Divine good. And further: in the first affection and afterwards in every affection of truth with the Lord, there was inmostly the Divine good itself and the Divine truth itself, because there was Jehovah Himself; from this came the power that is here treated of.

3133. And when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister. That this signifies the inclination of that affection, is evident from the affection in these words; and also from the affection in the words that precede; for they bear witness to the inclination on the part of the affection of truth which is here represented by Rebekah the sister.

3134. Saying, Thus spoke the man unto me. That this signifies the inclination of truth in the natural man, is in like manner evident from the affection in these words, and also from what the man, or Abraham's servant, spoke to Rebekah; from which it is evident that it is the inclination that is signified; and also from the signification of a "man" as being truth (see n. 265, 749, 1007), here truth in the natural man from the Divine-because the man is here Abraham's elder servant, by whom is signified the natural man (as may be seen above, n. 3019). In the Word, especially the prophetic, the word "man" [vir] often occurs; as "man and wife," "man and woman," "man and inhabitant," also "man [vir] and man [homo]"; and in such places by "man" [vir] in the internal sense is signified that which is of the understanding, which is truth; and by "wife," "woman," "inhabitant," and "man" [homo], that which is of the will, which is good. As in Isaiah:

I see, and there is no man; even among them, and there is no counselor (Isa. 41:28);

I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was none to answer (Isa. 50:2);

Truth hath stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot enter; and truth hath been taken away; and he that departeth from evil is mad. And Jehovah saw, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgment, and no man, and He was amazed (Isa. 59:14-16).

"No man" plainly means no one intelligent, and thus in the universal sense no truth. It here treats of the last time of the church, when there is no longer any truth; and it is therefore said, "truth hath stumbled in the street, uprightness cannot enter, truth hath been taken away." (That "street" also is predicated of truth, may be seen above, n. 2336; and "judgment" also, n. 2235.) In Jeremiah:

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth judgment, that seeketh truth (Jer. 5:1).

Here a "man" evidently denotes one who is intelligent; and also truth. In Zephaniah:

I will make their streets desolate, that none passeth by; their cities shall be devastated, so that there shall be no man; that there shall be no inhabitant (Zeph. 3:6).

"No man" denotes no truth; "no inhabitant," no good (see above, n. 2268, 2451, 2712, and many other places).

3135. He came unto the man. This signifies that it (that is, the affection of good that is represented by Laban, see n. 3129, 3130) adjoined itself to the truth signified by the "man" (n. 3134), both of them in the natural man.

3136. And behold he stood by the camels. That this signifies presence in general memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "standing by," as being to be present; and from the signification of "camels," as being general memory-knowledges (see n. 3048, 3071).

3137. At the fountain. That this signifies their enlightenment from Divine truth, is evident from the signification of a "fountain," as being truth (see n. 2702, 3096), here Divine truth (as above, n. 3131). As the Word is Divine truth, it is called a "fountain." That in the internal sense "to stand at the fountain" here involves the enlightenment of those things which are in the natural man, follows from the series; for where there is Divine truth, there is also enlightenment.

3138. These three verses treat of the preparation and enlightenment of the natural man in order that the truth might be called forth thence which was to be conjoined with good in the rational. But with preparation and enlightenment the case is as follows: There are two lights which form the intellectual things of man-the light of heaven, and the light of the world; the light of heaven is from the Lord, who to angels in the other life is a Sun and Moon (see n. 1053, 1521, 1529, 1530); the light of the world is from the sun and moon which appear before the bodily sight. The internal man has its sight and its understanding from the light of heaven; but the external man has its sight and its understanding from the light of the world. The influx of the light of heaven into the things which are of the world's light, effects enlightenment and at the same time observance; an observance of truth if there is correspondence, and an observance of falsity instead of truth if there is not correspondence. But enlightenment and observance are impossible unless there is affection or love, which is spiritual heat, and which gives life to the things that are enlightened by the light; comparatively as the sun's light does not give life to the things of the vegetable kingdom, but the heat that is in the light, as is evident from the seasons of the year.

[2] In the verses which next follow, the preparation is further described-namely, that the light of heaven which is the Lord's Divine light inflowed into the things that were of the light of the world in His natural man, in order that He might bring out thence the truth which was to be conjoined with good in the rational; thus by the ordinary way. And therefore in order that the Lord might make the human Divine by the ordinary way, He came into the world; that is, it was His will to be born as a man, and to be instructed as a man, and to be reborn as a man; but with the difference that man is reborn of the Lord, whereas the Lord not only regenerated Himself, but also glorified Himself, that is, made Himself Divine; and further, that a man is made new by an influx of charity and faith, but the Lord, by the Divine love which was in Him and which was His. Hence it may be seen that the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord; or what is the same, that in the process of the regeneration of man may be seen as in an image, although remotely, the process of the Lord's glorification.

3141. Why standest thou without? That this signifies somewhat therefrom, is evident without explication. The case herein is as follows: The Lord's Divine rational was born of the Divine truth itself conjoined with the Divine good. The Divine rational is Isaac, who was born to Abraham (who here is the Divine good) of Sarah who here is the Divine truth; as before shown. The rational of the Lord alone was thus born Divine, and indeed from Himself; for the veriest being of the Lord was Jehovah or the Divine good itself; and the veriest being of the Lord from this was of Jehovah or was the Divine truth itself. The Divine good in the rational, which is "Isaac," was thus born; and this was not good separate from truth, but was Divine good with Divine truth; and yet both together are called good in the rational, with which was to be conjoined truth from the natural man, which truth is "Rebekah." In order that the Lord might make His human Divine, both as to good and as to truth, and this by the ordinary way (as before said, n. 3138), it could not be done otherwise; for such is the Divine order, according to which is all regeneration, and thus according to which was the Lord's glorification (see n. 3138 at end).

[2] This Divine good through Divine truth in the rational, was that which was flowing into the natural man, and was enlightening all things there. The process itself is here described, namely, that at first it flowed in somewhat more remotely, which is meant here by there being "somewhat therefrom," and that it was not willing to flow in with fuller presence before instruction. For the ordinary way is that instruction must precede, and that influx takes place according to the degrees of instruction; and that truth continually comes into existence thence, which is initiated, and is afterwards conjoined with the good of the rational. From all this it may be seen what is the nature of the arcana that are contained in the internal sense of the Word; and that these arcana are such as to be scarcely apprehended by man even as to their most general things; and yet that they are evident to the angels, together with innumerable particulars which can never be uttered in words.

3145. And loosed the camels. That this signifies freedom for those things which were to serve, is evident from the signification of "loosing," as being to make free; and from the signification of "camels," as being general memory-knowledges, and thus the things which were to serve (as just above, n. 3143). The real case herein is this: Without freedom no production of truth in the natural man is possible, nor any calling forth therefrom into the rational, and conjunction with good there. All these things take place in a free state; for it is the affection of truth from good which produces freedom. Unless truth is learned from affection, thus in freedom, it is not implanted; still less is it exalted toward the interiors and there made faith. That all reformation is effected in freedom, and that all freedom is of affection, and that the Lord keeps man in freedom, so that he may from himself and from what is his own be affected with truth and good and thereby be regenerated, may be seen above (n. 2870-2893). This is what is signified by "loosing the camels;" for if they were not significative of such things, these particulars would be too trifling to be recorded.

3146. And he gave straw and provender for the camels. That this signifies instruction in truths and goods, is evident from the signification of "straw," as being the truths of the natural man, and from the signification of "provender" as being the goods therein (concerning which see above, n. 3114). Because these things are signified by "straw and provender," it follows that to "give straw and provender" is to instruct in truths and goods. That freedom is for the sake of these things, namely, that man may be instructed in the affection and from the affection of truth, and thus that truths may be insinuated even to the spiritual man, or even to the soul, and may there be conjoined with good, may be seen from what was shown above concerning freedom (n. 2870-2893). Such is the inrooting of faith, or of the truth which is of faith, that unless it is coupled with good in the rational, the truth of faith never receives any life, nor does any fruit come from it; for all that which is called the fruit of faith, is the fruit of the good of love and charity through the truth of faith. Unless spiritual heat, which is the good of love, operated by spiritual light, which is the truth of faith, the man would be as ground hard frozen as in winter time, when nothing grows, still less bears fruit. For as light without heat produces nothing, so faith produces nothing without love.

3147. And water to wash his feet. That this signifies purification there, is evident from the signification of "water for washing," or of washing with water, as being to purify (concerning which presently); and from the signification of "feet," as being natural things, or what is the same, the things in the natural man (see n. 2162). In the representative church it was customary to wash the feet with water, and thereby to signify that the unclean things of the natural man were washed away. The unclean things of the natural man are all those things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world; and when these unclean things have been washed away, then goods and truths flow in, for it is solely these unclean things that hinder the influx of good and truth from the Lord.

[2] For good is continually flowing in from the Lord, but when it comes through the internal or spiritual man to his external or natural man, it is there either perverted, turned back, or suffocated. But when the things which are of the love of self and of the love of the world are removed, then good is received there and is made fruitful; for then man practices the works of charity. This is evident from many considerations; as when in misfortune, distress, and sickness, the things that belong to the external or natural man are merely lulled, the man forthwith begins to think piously and to will what is good, and also to practice works of piety insofar as he is able; but when the state is changed, there is a change also in all this.

[3] These things were signified by the washings in the Ancient Church, and the same were represented in the Jewish Church, The reason why they were signified in the Ancient Church, but represented in the Jewish church, was that the man of the Ancient Church regarded the rite as a something external in worship, and did not believe that he was purified by that washing, but by the washing away of the impurities of the natural man, which as before said are the things which are of the love of self and of the world. But the man of the Jewish Church believed that he was purified by that washing; neither knowing nor desiring to know that the purification of the interiors was signified.

[4] That by "washing" is signified a cleansing from the impurities referred to, is evident in Isaiah:

Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil (Isa. 1:16);

where it is evident that to "wash themselves" means to make themselves pure and to put away evils. Again:

When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of expurgation (Isa. 4:4);

where "washing away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purging the blood of Jerusalem," denotes purifying from evils and falsities. In Jeremiah:

O Jerusalem, wash thy heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall the thoughts of thine iniquity lodge within thee? (Jer. 4:14).

I washed thee with water, and I washed away thy bloods from upon thee, and anointed thee with oil (Jer. 16:9);

concerning Jerusalem, by which is there meant the Ancient Church; "washing with waters" denotes purifying from falsities; "washing away bloods" denotes purging from evils; "anointing with oil" denotes filling then with good. In David:

Wash me from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Ps. 51:2, 7).

Here "being washed" plainly denotes being purified from evils and their falsities.

[6] These are the things that were signified by "washing" in the representative church; and it was commanded for the sake of the representation that when they had become unclean they should wash the skin, the hands, the feet, and also the garments, and should be cleansed; by all which things were signified those which are of the natural man. Lavers also, of brass, were placed outside the temple, namely, the brazen sea and the ten brazen lavers (1 Kings 7:23-39); and a laver of brass at which Aaron and his sons were to wash was placed between the tent of meeting and the altar; and thus outside the tent (Exod. 30:18, 19, 21); by which also was signified that only external or natural things were to be purified; for unless these have been purified, that is, unless the things that are of the love of self and of the world have been removed, the internal things which are of love to the Lord and toward the neighbor cannot possibly flow in, as before said.

[7] For the better understanding of how these things are circumstanced, namely, that external things are to be purified, take as an example and illustration good works, or what is the same, the goods of charity which at this day are called the fruits of faith; these are external things, because they are the exercises of charity. Good works are evil works unless those things are removed which are of the love of self and of the world; for when works are done before these have been removed, they indeed appear good outwardly, but are inwardly evil; for they are done either for the sake of reputation, or for gain, or for the sake of one's honor, or for recompense, thus they are either self-meritorious* or hypocritical; for that which is of the love of self and the world causes the works to be such. But when these evils are removed, the works then become good; and they are goods of charity; that is, in them there is not regard to self, to the world, to reputation, to recompense; thus they are neither self-meritorious nor hypocritical; for then celestial love and spiritual love flow in from the Lord into the works and cause them to be love and charity in act; and then the Lord through these loves also purifies the natural or external man, and disposes it into order, so as to receive correspondently the celestial and spiritual things that flow in.

[8] This is clearly evident from what the Lord taught when He washed the feet of the disciples, as we read in John:

Then cometh He to Simon Peter; and Peter saith unto Him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; ye are clean already, but not all (John 13:4-17).

"He that hath been washed, needeth not save to wash his feet" signifies that he who has been reformed, has need only to be cleansed as to natural things, that is, has need that evils and falsities should be removed from them; and then all things are disposed into order by the influx of spiritual things from the Lord. Moreover to wash the feet was an office of charity, as meaning not to reflect on the evils of another; and it was also an office of humility, as meaning to cleanse another from evils as from impurities; as also is evident from the Lord's words in the passage just quoted (verses 12-17; also Luke 7:37, 38, 44, 46; John 11:2; 1 Sam. 25:41).

[9] Everybody can see that washing himself does not purify anyone from evils and falsities, but only from the impurities that cling to him; nevertheless, as washing was among the rites commanded in the church, it follows that it involves something special, namely, spiritual washing, that is, purification from the uncleannesses which inwardly adhere to man. Therefore they who knew these things in that church, and thought about the purification of the heart, or the removal of the evils of the love of self and of the love of the world from the natural man, and who endeavored to effect this with all diligence, observed the rite of washing as external worship according to commandment; but those who did not know this and did not desire to know it, but thought that the mere rite of washing their garments, skin, hands, and feet, would purify them, and that provided they did these things they might be allowed to live in avarice, hatreds, revenge, unmercifulness, and cruelties, which are spiritual impurity, practiced this rite as an idolatrous one. Nevertheless they could represent by it, and by representation exhibit something of the church, whereby there might be some conjunction of heaven with man before the Lord's advent; yet such conjunction as affected the man of the church little or not at all.

[10] The Jews and Israelites were such that they had no thought about the internal man, nor willingness to know anything about it; thus none at all concerning celestial and spiritual things, relating to the life after death. But yet lest all communication with heaven and thus with the Lord should perish, they were bound to external rites, whereby internal things were signified. All their captivities and plagues were in general for the end that external rites might be strictly observed for the sake of the representation.

Hence then it was that Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water at the door of the tent, that they might be sanctified (Exod. 29:4; 40:12; Lev. 8:6); that Aaron and his sons were to wash their hands and feet before they entered into the tent of meeting and came near to the altar to minister, that they might not die; and that this was to be to them a statute forever (Exod. 30:18-21; 40:30-31); that Aaron was to wash his flesh before he put on the garments of ministry (Lev. 16:4, 24); that the Levites were to be purified by being sprinkled with the water of expiation; and that they were to cause a razor to pass over their flesh, and to wash their garments, and thus should be pure (Num. 8:6-7); that whoever should eat the carcass even of a clean beast, or one that was torn, should wash his garments, and bathe himself in water; and if he did not wash himself and bathe his flesh, he should bear his iniquity (Lev. 17:15-16); that whoever touched the bed of one affected with the flux, or who sat upon a vessel on which he had sat, and whoever touched his flesh, should wash his garments, and bathe himself with water, and should be unclean till the evening (Lev. 15:5-7, 10-12); that whoever let go the he-goat, as a scape-goat, should wash his flesh (Lev. 16:26); that when a leprous person was cleansed, he was to wash his garments, shave off all his hair, and wash himself with water, and he should be clean (Lev. 14:8, 9); nay, that the very vessels which were made unclean by the touch of things unclean, should be passed through water, and should be unclean until evening (Lev. 11:32). From these things it may be seen that no one was made clean or pure as to internal things by the rite of washing, but only represented one pure or spiritually clean, for the reason given above. That this is so, the Lord teaches plainly in Matthew (15:1-2, 20), and in Mark (7:1-23).

* The words "merit," "to merit," and "meritorious," are used by Swedenborg in a bad sense, meaning self-merit, etc., except when applied to the Lord. [Reviser.]

3153. What is contained in these three verses, in the internal sense, is indeed manifest from the explication, namely, that the things of the natural man were being prepared for receiving what is Divine, and that so the truths signified by "Rebekah," which were to be initiated and conjoined with the good of the rational, were being made Divine, and this by influx. But the things in the internal sense here are such that if they are not seen in one view of the thought, they appear too obscure for comprehension, and this the more because they are things not known-for example, how truths are called forth out of the natural man, and are initiated into good in the rational, when man is being regenerated.

To most persons at this day these things are so wholly unknown that they do not even know that this takes place; chiefly because at this day there are few who are being regenerated; and those who are do not know from doctrine that it is the good of charity into which the truth of faith is initiated and with which it is conjoined, and this in the rational; and that then the state is wholly changed, and this so that the man no longer thinks from the truth of faith to the good of charity, but from this good to truth. With the Lord however there was not regeneration, but glorification; that is, all things were made Divine by Him, both those in the rational and those in the natural. How this was done is described in the internal sense.

3157. Now if ye will do mercy and truth with my lord. That this signifies exploration of the consent from each of their faculties, that of the will, and that of the understanding, is evident from the signification of "mercy," as being what is of good or of love (see n. 3063, 3073, 3120); and from the signification of "truth," as being what is of truth, or of faith (n. 3121, 3122) and because the good which is of love is of the will, and the truth which is of faith is of the understanding, and these things are said to Laban and Bethuel, thus to men, that they should do mercy and truth, they signify what is from each of their faculties, namely, the will and the understanding. That it is exploration of consent, is evident both from its being said, "if ye will do," and from the words that follow, "tell me; and if not, tell me; and I will look to the right hand or to the left." In the regeneration of man, which is an image of the Lord's glorification (see n. 3138), the case is that the truth of faith is indeed learned, but is not acknowledged, still less received by good, unless there is consent from each faculty, namely, the will and the understanding. Consent is acknowledgment itself; by this is effected reception, and indeed from the will, for good is there; and when the truth of faith has been received by the will, or what is the same, by good, then the man is regenerate; for then truth is of good, or faith is of charity, or as to life is charity itself (n. 3121).

3158. Tell me; and if not, tell me. That this signifies their free state of deliberation, is evident from the sense of the words. From all that precedes it is evident that the words which in the sense of the letter in this chapter treat of the betrothal and marriage of Rebekah with Isaac, in the internal sense treat of the initiation and conjunction of good and truth; for the initiation and conjunction of good and truth are spiritual betrothal and spiritual marriage. In each there is required a free state of deliberation. That this is necessary in betrothal and marriage, is well known; but that it is required in the initiation and conjunction of good and truth, is not so well known, because it is not apparent to the natural man, and because such initiation and conjunction are among the things that are accomplished without man's reflecting upon them; nevertheless during every moment when man is being reformed and regenerated, it comes to pass that he is in a state of freedom when truth is being conjoined with good.

[2] Everyone may know, if he only considers, that nothing is ever man's, as his, unless it is of his will; what is only of the understanding does not become man's until it becomes of the will also; for what is of the will constitutes the being [esse] of a man's life; but what is of the understanding constitutes the coming forth [existere] of his life thence derived. Consent from the understanding alone is not consent, but all consent is from the will; wherefore unless the truth of faith which is of the understanding is received by the good of love which is of the will, it is not at all truth which is acknowledged, and thus it is not faith. But in order that truth may be received by the good which is of the will, it is necessary that there be a free state. All that is of the will appears free; the very state of willing is liberty; for that which I will, that I choose, that I long for, because I love it and acknowledge it as good. All this shows that truth, which is of faith, never becomes man's as his until it has been received by the will, that is, until it has been initiated and conjoined with the good there; and that this cannot be effected except in a free state.

3159. And I will look to the right hand, or to the left. That this signifies reciprocal freedom, is evident without explication. The case is this: Good from the Lord is continually flowing in through the internal man into the external, and in the earliest years it appears in the external man under the form of the affection of truth. So far as a man looks to celestial and spiritual good as the end, so far truth is initiated and conjoined with good; or what is the same, so far the affection of truth is initiated and conjoined with the affection of good. But so far as a man looks to good that is his own, and thus to himself and the world, as the end, so far does celestial and spiritual good recede. This is the reciprocal freedom which is signified by "looking to the right or to the left."

3160. And Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The word hath gone forth from Jehovah; we cannot speak unto thee evil or good. That this signifies acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, may be seen from the explication of the several words as to the internal sense; but that this is the conclusion from them, is evident without such explication. That "the word hath gone forth from Jehovah," signifies from the Lord, is evident; for by "Jehovah," so often named in the Old Testament, no other is ever meant than the Lord (see n. 1343, 1736, 1815, 2156, 2329, 3023, 3035). That these things involve arcana, is evident from the fact that here Laban made answer, who was a brother, and then Bethuel who was the father; but not the father and mother; and that the virgin did not answer till afterwards. The reason of this is that by Laban as a brother is represented the affection of good in the natural man (see n. 3129, 3130); and by Bethuel, the origin of the affection of good. The affection of good and the affection of truth in the natural man are as brother and sister; and the affection of truth called forth from the natural man into the rational and there conjoined with good, is as a married woman.

[2] The secret reason why Laban and Bethuel answered, that is, the brother first and then the father, is that while good from the rational man is flowing into the natural, it does not flow immediately into the truth there, but into the good there, and through the good into the truth; and unless there is this influx the affection of truth cannot come into actual being. The affection of good in the natural man is that which acknowledges, and thus is that which first consents; for there is an immediate communication between rational good and natural good, but not between rational good and natural truth (concerning the parallelism of these see above, n. 1831, 1832). Two ancient formulas of speech are found here, namely, "The word hath gone forth from Jehovah," meaning that it was done of Jehovah; and "We cannot speak unto thee evil or good," meaning that they neither dared to deny nor to affirm. Concerning the acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, see what now follows.

3161. Behold Rebekah is before thee; take her and go, and let her be the woman of thy lord's son, as Jehovah hath spoken. That this signifies consent inspired from the Lord, is also evident from the explication of the several words, of which in the internal sense this is a general conclusion. The case herein is this: When the Lord lived in the world He by His own power made the human in Himself Divine. The human begins in the inmost of the rational (n. 2106, 2194); and it is here described how He made this Divine; namely, that as this had been done before as to good, so now it is done as to truth; for the rational consists of good and truth. The good there, was from His veriest Divine, that is, from Jehovah the Father, of whom He was conceived; but the truth was to be procured in the ordinary way, as with other men.

[2] For it is well known that man is not born rational, but only into the capacity of becoming rational; and that he becomes so through memory-knowledges, namely through knowledges of many genera and species, the first of which are means leading to those which follow next, and this in order even to the last, which are knowledges of the spiritual things of the Lord's kingdom, and are called doctrinal things. That these are learned in part from the doctrine of faith, in part immediately from the Word, and so in part by the man's own study, is also well known. So long as these doctrinal things are only in the memory, they are only truths in the form of memory-knowledge; nor are they yet appropriated to the man as his; but they are for the first time appropriated to him when he begins to love them for the sake of life, and still more when he applies them to life. When this is done, then the truths are raised out of the natural memory into the rational, and are there conjoined with good; and when they have been conjoined, they are no longer of memory-knowledge merely, but of the life; for then the man no longer learns from truths how he should live, but lives from them, and thereby the truths are appropriated to him, and become of the will. Thus man enters into the heavenly marriage; for the heavenly marriage is the conjunction of good and truth in the rational. These things the Lord does with men.

[3] But in Himself the Lord did all these things from Himself; and from the Divine Itself He not only begat the rational as to good, but also through this the natural as to truth, which He conjoined with good; for it is good that chooses truth for itself, and also forms it, since good acknowledges nothing else as truth than that which is in agreement. In this way did the Divine good, which was the Lord's, make for itself truth; nor did it acknowledge as truth anything else than that which agreed with Divine good, that is, that was Divine from Him. Thus He did all things both in general and in particular from His own power. All this is what is signified by the acknowledgment that it was of the Lord alone, and by consent inspired from the Lord.

3166. He gave also precious things to her brother. That this signifies spiritual things thence for natural good, is evident from the signification of "precious things," as being spiritual things, whereof we shall speak presently; and from the signification of her "brother," as being natural good (see n. 3160); Laban also, who is here the brother, is the affection of good in the natural man (see n. 3129, 3130). That "precious things" signify spiritual things, is evident from other passages in the Word, as where Joseph is treated of, in Moses:

Blessed of Jehovah be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep lying beneath; and for the precious things of the produce of the sun, and for the precious things of the growth of the months, and for the precious things of the hills of eternity, and for the precious things of the earth, and of the fullness thereof (Deut. 33:13-16);

where by the "precious things of heaven, the precious things of the produce of the sun, the precious things of the growth of the months, the precious things of the hills of eternity, and the precious things of the earth," are signified various kinds of spiritual things. Moreover the things called precious were precious stones, pearls, balsams, spices, and the like, all which signify spiritual things.

[2] What spiritual things are, has been frequently stated above, namely, that in the Lord's kingdom there are celestial things and spiritual things, and that celestial things are of good, and spiritual things are of the derivative truth. There is nothing in the universe that does not refer to good and truth; whatever is of use, and of life, refers to good; but whatever is of doctrine and memory-knowledge, especially concerning use and life, refers to truth; or what is the same, whatever is of the will, is called good or evil; but whatever is of the understanding is called truth or falsity; and therefore good, which is solely of love and charity, and which flows in from the Lord, is celestial; whereas truth, which is therefrom, is spiritual. The reason why precious things were given to the brother, when vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and garments were given to the sister, on her becoming a bride, is that the "brother" signified good in the natural man, and this good is enlightened when truth is being initiated into good in the rational; for all the enlightenment of good and of truth in the natural man is thence.

3167. And to her mother. That this signifies for natural truth also (namely, that it thence has spiritual things, as is the case with natural good, concerning which see just above) is evident from the signification of "mother," as being the church, which is called "mother" from truth (see n. 289, 2717). In order that it may be known how it is that natural good and natural truth have spiritual things from the fact that truth is initiated into good in the rational, this may be briefly explained. Every man has an internal and an external; his internal is called the internal man, and his external the external man; but what the internal man is, and what the external, is known to few. The internal man is the same as the spiritual man, and the external is the same as the natural man; the spiritual man is that which understands and is wise from those things which are of the light of heaven, but the natural man from those things which are of the light of the world (concerning which two lights see above, n. 3138). For in heaven there are nothing but spiritual things, whereas in the world there are nothing but natural things. Man has been so created that in him spiritual things and natural things, that is, his spiritual and natural man, should agree or make a one; but in this case the spiritual man ought to dispose all things in the natural, and the natural ought to obey, as a servant his lord.

[2] But by the fall the natural man began to exalt itself above the spiritual man, and thus inverted Divine order itself; hence the natural man separated itself from the spiritual, and no longer possessed any spiritual things, except such as could enter as through chinks, and confer the capacity of thinking and speaking. But in order that spiritual things might again flow into the natural man, this had to be regenerated by the Lord; that is, truth out of the natural man must be initiated and conjoined with good in the rational; and when this is effected, spiritual things come to the natural man, for then the light of heaven flows in and enlightens the things in the natural man, and causes them to receive light; the goods therein the heat of light, that is, love and charity; and the truth the rays of light, that is, faith; and in this way natural good and natural truth receive spiritual things. In this case natural good is all the delight and pleasure that come from having as an end the being of service to what is spiritual, thus to the neighbor, still more to the public weal, and still more to the Lord's kingdom, and above all to the Lord; and natural truth is all the doctrine and memory-knowledge that has as an end to be wise, that is, the doing of these things.

3175. Let the damsel remain with us. That this signifies a detention by them, appears from the signification of "remaining," as here being to be detained, as is also evident from the series in the internal sense. For the case is this Man is never born into any truth, not even into any natural truth-as that he should not steal, should not kill, should not commit adultery, and the like; still less is he born into any spiritual truth-as that there is a God, and that he has an internal which will live after death. Thus of himself man knows nothing that relates to eternal life. Man learns both these kinds of truth; otherwise he would be much worse than a brute animal; for from his hereditary nature he loves himself above all and desires to possess all things in the world. Hence unless he were restrained by civil laws and by fears for the loss of honor, of gain, of reputation, and of life, he would steal, kill, and commit adultery, without any perception of conscience. That this is the case is very evident; for a man, even when instructed, commits such crimes without conscience, nay, defends them, and by many considerations confirms himself in the commission of them so far as he is allowed; what then would he not do if he had not been instructed? The case is the same in spiritual things; for of those who are born within the church, who have the Word, and are constantly instructed, there are still very many who ascribe little or nothing to God, but everything to nature; thus who do not at heart believe that there is any God, and therefore do not believe that they shall live after death; and who accordingly have no wish to learn anything relating to eternal life.

[2] From all this it is evident that man is born into no truth, but that he has all to learn, and this by an external way, namely, that of hearing and seeing. By this way truth has to be insinuated, and implanted in his memory; but so long as the truth is there only, it is merely memory-knowledge; and in order that truth may pervade the man it must be called forth thence, and be conveyed more toward the interiors; for his human is more internal, being in his rational; for unless man is rational, he is not man; and therefore according to the quality and the measure of a man's rational, such is the quality and the measure of the man. Man cannot possibly be rational unless he possesses good. The good whereby man surpasses the animals, is to love God, and to love the neighbor; all human good is from this. Into this good truth must be initiated and conjoined, and this in the rational. Truth is initiated into good and conjoined with it when man loves God and loves his neighbor, for then truth enters into good, inasmuch as good and truth mutually acknowledge each other, all truth being from good, and having respect to good as its end and as its soul, and thus as the source of its life.

[3] But truth cannot without difficulty be separated from the natural man, and be thence elevated into the rational; for in the natural man there are fallacies, and cupidities of evil, and also persuasions of falsity; and so long as these are there and adjoin themselves to the truth, so long the natural man detains truth with himself, and does not suffer it to be elevated from itself into the rational; and this is what is signified in the internal sense by the words, "Let the damsel remain with us days, at least ten, afterwards thou shalt go." The reason is that the natural man puts truth in doubt, and reasons about it as to whether it is so; but as soon as the cupidities of evil and persuasions of falsity, and the derivative fallacies, are separated by the Lord, and the man begins from good to be averse to reasonings against truth, and to be superior to doubts, then truth is in a state to depart from the natural and to be elevated into the rational, and to put on a state of good; for then truth becomes of good and has life.

[4] For the better comprehension of this, let us take examples. It is a spiritual truth that all good is from the Lord, and all evil from hell: this truth must in many ways be confirmed and illustrated before it can be elevated out of the natural man into the rational, nor can it ever be elevated until the man is in the love of God; for before this it is not acknowledged, consequently is not believed. The case is similar in regard to other truths, as in regard to the truth that the Divine Providence is in the veriest singulars; and that unless it is in these, it is not in what is universal. Again: in regard to the truth that man first begins to live when that perishes which in the world he believes to be the all of life; and that the life which he then receives is relatively ineffable and unlimited; and that he is altogether ignorant of this so long as he is in evil-these and similar truths can never be believed, unless the man is in good; for it is good which comprehends, because the Lord through good flows in with wisdom.

3179. And they said, Let us call the damsel and inquire at her mouth. That this signifies the consent solely of the affection of truth, appears from the signification of a "damsel," as being an affection wherein is innocence (see n. 3067, 3110); here the affection of truth, because she is Rebekah, who, before she consents, is called "damsel," but when she consents, as presently follows, is called "Rebekah" (that "Rebekah" is the affection of truth, may be seen above, n. 3077); and from the signification of "inquiring at her mouth," as being to perceive whether this consents; thus it is the consent solely of the affection of truth that is here signified.

[2] The case is this: Truth itself, which is to be initiated into good, acknowledges its own good; because good acknowledges its own truth; hence comes consent, but that it is a consent inspired into truth from good may be seen above (n. 3161). With man it never appears that there is any consent on the part of truth when it is being initiated and conjoined with good (that is, when man is being regenerated), nor on the part of good as knowing its own truth, and initiating and conjoining such truth with itself; and yet these things are effected precisely in this way; for the things that take place during man's regeneration are altogether unknown to him; and if he were to know only one out of ten thousand of them he would be astounded. There are innumerable, nay, illimitable secret things by which man is at that time led of the Lord, some only of which shine forth from the internal sense of the Word.

[3] The Ancient Church formed for itself an idea of these things from marriages; namely, from the state of a virgin before betrothal, from her state after betrothal, from her state when she was to be wedded, afterwards when she was married, and lastly when she bore offspring to her husband; the fruits of truth from good, or of faith from charity, they called children, and so on. Such was the wisdom of the Ancient Church; their books were also written in this way; and this manner of writing was transmitted from them to the Gentiles; for it was their desire by things which are in the world to express those which are in heaven, and indeed from natural things to see spiritual ones; but at the present day this wisdom is altogether lost.

3182. They sent away Rebekah their sister. That this signifies separation from the affection of Divine truth, is evident from the signification of "sending," as denoting to be separated; and from the representation of Rebekah the sister, as being the affection of Divine truth (see n. 3077, 3179; that "sister" is truth may be seen above, n. 1495, 2508, 2524, 2556, 3160). How the case herein is, may be seen from what has been said and shown above in this chapter; but to make the matter plainer, a few words more shall be said. When the truth which is to be initiated and conjoined with good is elevated out of the natural, it is separated from what is therein; and this separation is what is signified by their sending away Rebekah their sister. Truth is separated when the man no longer from truth regards good, but from good truth; or what is the same, when he no longer from doctrine regards life, but from life doctrine. For example: doctrine teaches the truth that no one is to be held in hatred; for whoever holds another in hatred, kills him every moment. In early life a man scarcely admits the truth of this, but as he advances in age and is being reformed, he accounts this as one of the doctrinal things according to which he ought to live. At last he lives according to it; and then he no longer thinks from the doctrine, but acts from the life. When this is the case, this truth of doctrine is elevated out of the natural, and indeed is separated from the natural and implanted in good in the rational; and this being effected he no longer suffers the natural man by any of its sophistry to call it in doubt; nay, he does not suffer the natural man to reason against it.

3183. And her nurse. That this signifies from the innocence appertaining thereto (that they also sent this away, that is, separated it from themselves), appears from the signification of a "nurse," or one that gives suck, as being innocence. Repeated mention is made in the Word of those that suck, and of those that give suck; and by the former is signified the first state of infants, which state it is evident must be a state of innocence; for when first born, man is introduced into a state of innocence, in order that this may be a plane for all the succeeding states, and be the inmost in them; which state is signified in the Word by a "suckling." Next he is introduced into a state of the affection of celestial good, that is, of love toward his parents, which with such infants is in the place of love to the Lord; and this state is signified by an "infant."

Afterwards he is introduced into a state of the affection of spiritual good, or of mutual love, that is, of charity toward his playmates, which state is signified by "boys." As he advances further in age, he is introduced into a state of the affection of truth; this is signified by "young men;" and the subsequent states are signified by "men," and finally by "old men." This last state, signified by "old men," is the state of wisdom, in which is the innocence of infancy; thus the first state and the last are united; and man when old, being again a little child, but wise, is introduced into the Lord's kingdom.

[2] From all this it is evident that innocence is the first state, which is that of the sucking child. Hence also she that gives suck signifies innocence; for of the giver and the receiver, as of the actor and the one acted upon, a similar state is perceived. It is here said that they sent away also the nurse (or her who gave suck), to the intent that the affection of truth might be described, namely, that it was from innocence; for the affection of truth is not the affection of truth unless innocence is in it (see n. 2526, 2780, 3111); for by innocence the Lord flows into this affection, and indeed with wisdom, since true innocence is wisdom itself (see n. 2305, 2306); and in the eyes of the angels they who are in innocence appear as infants (n. 154, 2306).

3186. Our sister, be thou for thousands of ten thousands. That this signifies the fructification of the affection of truth to infinitude, appears from the signification of "sister," who is Rebekah, as being the affection of truth (see n. 3077, 3179, 3182); and from the signification of "being for thousands of ten thousands," as being fructification to infinitude; "thousands of ten thousands" here denote what is infinite, because the subject treated of is the Lord, in whom all things both in general and in particular are infinite. With man the case is this: Goods are not fructified and truths are not multiplied with him, until the conjunction of truth and of good has been effected in his rational, that is, until he is regenerate; for then the fruits or offspring come forth from legitimate or heavenly marriage, which is that of good and truth. It is true that previously to this time the goods which he does appear as if they were goods and the truths appear as if they were truths; but they are not genuine, for the very soul, which is good wherein is innocence from the Lord, is not in them; thus neither do they affect the man and make him happy. The affection of love and of charity, together with the happiness thereof, which affection is the soul, is given of the Lord when man is being regenerated.

3187. And may thy seed inherit the gate of those that hate thee. That this signifies the Lord's spiritual kingdom derived from the marriage of good and truth in the Divine Human, to which kingdom pertain charity and faith where before were evil and falsity, may appear from what was said and explained above (n. 2851), where nearly the same words occur. That "seed" denotes those who are called the spiritual, thus in the universal sense all who constitute the Lord's spiritual kingdom, or what is the same, that kingdom itself, is evident from the signification of "seed," as being charity and faith (see n. 1025, 1447, 1610, 1940), and accordingly those who are in charity through faith (for that these are the spiritual, may be seen above, n. 2088, 2184, 2507, 2708, 2715, 2954; also that these have charity and faith from the marriage of good and truth in the Lord's Divine Human, thus that they have salvation therefrom, n. 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834).

[2] In the Ancient Church this was a customary devout wish to a betrothed virgin, when she was going to be married: "Be thou for thousands of ten thousands, and may thy seed inherit the gate of thine enemies," or of "them that hate thee;" but the wise ones of that church by these words understood spiritual things; namely, that when they entered into the marriage of good and truth, that is, when they were regenerate, then goods and truths would be fructified to thousands of ten thousands, that is, immeasurably; and that charity and faith would succeed in the place where evil and falsity were before; but when the wisdom of the Ancient Church expired, they then no longer received from this devout wish any correspondential sense, but a wholly worldly sense, namely, that the posterity might be innumerable, and that it might take possession of and inherit the land of the Gentiles. Pre-eminently did the descendants of Jacob so understand these words; and they confirmed themselves in so doing by the fact that they not only increased immensely, but also inherited the land, which was to them the gate of their enemies; not knowing that all these things were representative, that is, representative of the Lord's celestial and spiritual kingdom, and that on the expulsion thence of evils and falsities there would succeed in their place good and truth; which meaning will clearly appear when of the Lord's Divine mercy these representatives are opened.

[3] In particular, that is, with every man who becomes a kingdom of the Lord, the case also is this: Before he becomes this kingdom, that is, before he is being regenerated, he is inwardly nothing but evil and falsity; and infernal and diabolical spirits have possession of that which is called the "gate" (concerning which see n. 2851); but when he is becoming a kingdom of the Lord, that is, when he is being regenerated, then evils and falsities, or what is the same, infernal and diabolical spirits, are driven out, and good and truth enter and inherit that place; and then there is in him a conscience of good and truth. And as the case is in particular, so also is it in general. From all this it is evident what is meant in the internal sense by the above words.

3190. And they rode upon the camels. That this signifies the intellectual part elevated above natural memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of "riding," as being to be elevated as to the intellectual part (see n. 2761-2762) and from the signification of "camels," as being general memory-knowledges in the natural man (see n. 3048, 3071), thus natural memory-knowledges. The case herein is this: when truth is elevated out of the natural into the rational, it is taken out of the sphere of worldly light into the sphere of heavenly light, thus as it were from the obscurity of night into the clearness of day; for the things which are of the light of the world, in which are all natural things, are relatively as in night, but the things which are of the light of heaven, in which are spiritual things, are relatively as in day; and therefore when truth is elevated out of the natural toward the rational, the man is at the same time elevated into intelligence and into wisdom; moreover all intelligence and wisdom with man are from this source. This is what is signified by the intellectual part being elevated above natural memory-knowledges.

3192. And the servant took Rebekah and went away. That this signifies that Divine good natural effected the initiation, is evident from the signification of the "servant," as being Divine good natural (as above, n. 3184); and from the signification of "taking Rebekah and going away," as being to initiate, that is, to introduce to Isaac; that is, to Divine good in the rational; as may appear without further explication. The case herein is this: Truth out of the natural could not be elevated to good in the rational, except through Divine truth and Divine good, both natural; Divine truth natural, which is called the "man," must show the way and lead; Divine good natural, which is called the "servant," must introduce and initiate. To speak comparatively, these are as two wings which uplift. But these things cannot as yet be more fully unfolded to the apprehension; for it must first be known what Divine truth natural is, and what Divine good natural, which subjects are treated of in the internal sense in the following chapters concerning Joseph.

3195. And he dwelt in the land of the south. That this signifies consequently in Divine light, is evident from the signification of "dwelling," as being to live (see n. 1293), and as being predicated of good (n. 2268, 2451, 2712); and from the signification of the "land of the south," as being Divine light; for the "south" signifies light, and indeed the light of intelligence, which is wisdom (n. 1458); but the "land of the south" signifies the place and state where this light is; so here, that "Isaac came from coming from Beer-lahai-roi, and he dwelt in the land of the south," signifies that Divine good rational, because born from Divine truth, was in Divine light.

[2] In the Word frequent mention is made of "light," and by this in the internal sense is signified the truth which is from good but in the supreme internal sense there is signified the Lord Himself, because He is good and truth itself. Moreover there actually is light in heaven, but infinitely brighter than the light on earth (see n. 1053, 1117, 1521-1533, 1619-1632); and in this light spirits and angels see one another, and by means of it is displayed all the glory which is in heaven. In regard to its lucidity, this light does indeed appear like the light in the world; but still it is not like it, for it is not natural, but spiritual, having in it wisdom; so that it is nothing else than wisdom which so shines before the eyes of the angels; and therefore the wiser the angels are, the brighter is the light in which they are (n. 2776). Moreover this light illumines the understanding of man, especially that of a regenerate man; but it is not perceived by man so long as he is in the life of the body, because of the light of the world, which then is regnant.

Moreover the evil spirits in the other life see one another, and also see many representatives which exist in the world of spirits, and this indeed they do from the light of heaven; but their lumen is such as proceeds from a fire of coals, for the light of heaven is changed into such a lumen when it comes to them.

[3] As regards the very origin of light, this has been from eternity from the Lord alone; for Divine good itself and Divine truth, from which light comes, is the Lord. The Divine Human, which was from eternity (John 17:5), was this light itself. And whereas this light could no longer affect the human race, which had removed itself so far from good and truth, thus from light, and had cast itself into darkness, therefore the Lord willed to put on by birth the human itself; for thus He could illumine not only the rational but also the natural things of man; for He made both the rational and the natural in Himself Divine, in order that He might also be a light to those who were in such gross darkness.

[4] That the Lord is light, that is, good itself and truth itself, and that thus from Him is all intelligence and wisdom, consequently all salvation, is evident from many passages in the Word, as in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. John came to bear witness of the light; he was not that light, but came that he might bear witness of the light. That was the true light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world (John 1:1, 4, 7-9).

The "Word" was the Divine truth, thus the Lord Himself as to the Divine Human, concerning which it is said that "the Word was with God, and God was the Word."

3197. Toward evening. That this signifies in respect to those things which are beneath, is evident from the signification of "evening," as being what is obscure (see n. 3056); and whereas those things with man which are beneath, namely, those which are of the natural mind, relatively to those which are above, that is, in the rational mind, are obscure, therefore by "evening" is signified what is relatively in obscurity, as is evident from the series of things in the internal sense; for the subject here treated of is truth from the natural, which was to be conjoined with good in the rational; and whereas this conjunction is here treated of, and the enlightenment of the natural man thereby, therefore by "meditating in the field toward evening," is signified the state of the rational in good relatively to those things which are beneath; the state in good being described by "dwelling in the land of the south," that is, in Divine light, relatively to which the things beneath were in the "evening," that is, before the conjunction of truth and good was effected, and before the natural also was made Divine.

3200. In these two verses is described the state of rational good when it is in expectation of the truth that is to be conjoined with it as a bride to a husband. In the two verses which immediately follow, is described the state of truth when it is near, and perceives the good with which it is to be conjoined. But it is to be known that these states did not come forth once only, but continually during the Lord's whole life in the world, until He was glorified. The case is the same with the regenerate; for they are not regenerated at once, but continually during their whole life, and even in the other life; for man can never be perfected.

3203. And she alighted from off the camel. That this signifies the separation thereof from the memory-knowledges in the natural man at the perception of rational good, is evident from the signification of "alighting," as being to be separated; and from the signification of "camels," as being the memory-knowledges in the natural man (see n. 3048, 3071). That it was at the perception of the rational good which is represented by Isaac, is evident.

[2] What it is to be separated from the natural man, was stated and shown above (n. 3161, 3175, 3182, 3188, 3190), namely, that the affection of truth is separated therefrom when it is no longer a matter of memory-knowledge, but becomes of the life; for when it becomes of the life, by habit the man becomes imbued with it like his disposition or nature; and when he is thus imbued with it, it then flows forth into act as it were spontaneously, and this without his thinking about it from any memory-knowledge; nay, when it becomes of the life it can then exercise command over the memory-knowledges, and draw from them innumerable things which confirm. Such is the case with all truth; in the first age it is a matter of memory-knowledge, but as the man advances in age it becomes of the life. The case herein is like that of children when they are learning to walk, to speak, to think, also to see from the understanding, and to conclude from the judgment; which things, when by habit they have become voluntary, and thus spontaneous, vanish from among matters of memory-knowledge, and flow forth of their own accord.

[3] So also is it with those things which are of the knowledges of spiritual good and truth with men who from the Lord are being regenerated or born again; in the beginning such men are not unlike children, and at first spiritual truths are to them mere memory-knowledges; for doctrinal things, when being learned and inserted in the memory, are nothing else; but these are successively called forth thence by the Lord, and are implanted in the life, that is, in good; for good is life. When this has been effected there takes place as it were a turning round, namely, that the man begins to act from good, that is, from life, and no longer as before from memory-knowledge. Thus he who is being born anew is in this respect like a child (although the things imbibed are of the spiritual life); until he no longer acts from what is doctrinal, or truth; but from charity, or good; and when this is the case, he then for the first time is in a blessed state, and is in wisdom.

[4] All this shows what it is to be separated from the memory-knowledges in the natural man, which is signified by Rebekah's alighting from off the camel; and this before she knew that it was Isaac; in which circumstances, as everyone can see, some arcana are involved.

3207. And she took a veil and covered herself. That this signifies appearances of truth is evident from the signification of the veil with which brides covered the face when they first saw the bridegroom, as being appearances of truth; for among the ancients brides represented the affections of truth, and bridegrooms the affections of good; or what is the same, brides represented the church, which was called a "bride" from the affection of truth; the affection of good which is from the Lord being the bridegroom, and hence all through the Word the Lord Himself is called the "bridegroom." Brides veiled their faces on their first coming to the bridegroom, in order that they might represent appearances of truth. Appearances of truth are not truths in themselves, but they appear as truths; concerning which see below. The affection of truth cannot approach the affection of good except through appearances of truth; nor is it stripped of appearances until it is being conjoined; for then it becomes the truth of good, and becomes genuine insofar as the good is genuine.

[2] Good itself is holy, because it is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and flows in by the higher way or gate in man; but insofar as its origin is concerned, truth is not holy; because it flows in by a lower way or gate, and at first is of the natural man; but when it is elevated thence toward the rational man it is by degrees purified; and at the first sight of the affection of good it is separated from memory-knowledges, and puts on appearances of truth, and thus comes near to good; an indication that such is its origin, and that it could not endure the first sight of Divine good until it has entered into the bridegroom's chamber (that is, into the sanctuary of good), and the conjunction has been effected; for then truth no longer looks at good from appearances, or through appearances; but it is looked at from good apart from them.

[3] Be it known, however, that neither with man, nor indeed with an angel, are any truths ever pure, that is, devoid of appearances; for all both in general and in particular are appearances of truth; nevertheless they are accepted by the Lord as truths, provided good is in them. To the Lord alone belong pure truths, because Divine; for as the Lord is Good itself, so He is Truth itself. But see what has been said concerning truths and their appearances; namely, that the coverings and veils of the tent signified appearances of truth (n. 2576); that truths with man are appearances tainted with fallacies (n. 2053); that the rational things of man are appearances of truth (n. 2516); that truths are in appearances (n. 2196, 2203, 2209, 2242); that Divine good flows into appearances, even into fallacies (n. 2554); that appearances of truth are adapted by the Lord as if they were truths (n. 1832); that the Word is written according to appearances (n. 1838).

[4] But what appearances are may be clearly seen from those passages of the Word where it speaks according to appearances. There are however degrees of appearances of truth. Natural appearances of truth are mostly fallacies; but with those who are in good they are not to be called fallacies, but appearances, and even in some respects truths; for the good which is in them, and in which is the Divine, causes another essence to be in them. But rational appearances of truth are more and more interior; in them are the heavens, that is, the angels who are in the heavens (see n. 2576).

[5] In order that some idea may be formed of what appearances of truth are, let the following examples serve for illustration. I. Man believes that he is reformed and regenerated through the truth of faith; but this is an appearance; he is reformed and regenerated through the good of faith, that is, through charity toward the neighbor and love to the Lord. II. Man believes that truth enables us to perceive what good is, because it teaches; but this is an appearance; it is good that enables truth to perceive, for good is the soul or life of truth. III. Man believes that truth introduces to good when he lives according to the truth which he has learned; but it is good which flows into truth, and introduces it to itself. IV. It appears to man that truth perfects good, when yet good perfects truth. V. Goods of life appear to man to be the fruits of faith; but they are the fruits of charity. From these few examples it may in some measure be known what appearances of truth are. Such appearances are innumerable.

3209. The servant told Isaac all the words that he had done. That this signifies perception from the Divine natural as to how the case was, appears from the signification of "telling" as being to perceive; for perception is a kind of internal telling; wherefore perceiving, in the historicals of the Word, is expressed by "telling," and also by "saying" (n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862); and also from the signification here of the "servant," as being the Divine natural (concerning which presently); and from the signification of "words," as being actual things (see n. 1785); from which considerations it is plain that "the servant told all the words that he had done," signifies that Divine good rational perceived from the Divine natural how the case was. The case herein is this: The rational is in a degree above the natural, and rational good in the Lord was Divine; but the truth which was to be elevated out of the natural was not Divine until it was conjoined with the Divine good of the rational. In order therefore that the good of the rational might flow into the natural, there must be a medium; this medium could be nothing else than something natural which should partake of the Divine; and this is represented by the "elder servant in Abraham's house, administering all things which he had" (n. 3019, 3020); and that this "servant" signifies the Divine natural, may be seen above (n. 3191, 3192, 3204, 3206).

3210. And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent. That this signifies the sanctuary of truth in the Divine Human, is evident from the signification of "tent," as being what is holy (see n. 414, 1102, 2145, 2152, 2576), and thus a sanctuary; and from the signification of "Sarah the mother," as being Divine truth (see n. 1468, 1901, 2063, 2065, 2904), of which was born the Divine Human, whose rational is represented by the son Isaac; whence it is evident that "Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent," signifies that rational good brought with it the truth which is represented by Rebekah, into the sanctuary of truth. [2] What the sanctuary of truth is may be seen from what was said above (n. 3194) concerning the Lord's Divine Human; namely, that the veriest Divine has Good and Truth; and that the Lord, as to the Divine Human, came forth from the Divine good, and was born (namely, as to the Divine Human* of the Divine truth; or what is the same, that the very esse of the Lord was Divine good, but the very existere was Divine truth: from this was the Divine good rational, with which He conjoined Divine truth from the Human. Concerning this very deep arcanum more cannot be said. We will only add that it is the veriest Divine good and truth in the Lord's Divine Human with which truth from the Human was conjoined, that was signified by the Sanctuary, or Holy of holies, in the tabernacle, and in the temple; and its quality was represented by the things therein contained, as by the golden altar, by the table on which were the showbreads [panes propositionis], by the candlestick, and still more internally by the propitiatory, and by the ark, and inmostly by the testimony, which was the law promulgated from Sinai, and which was the very Holy of Holies, or the Sanctuary of truth.

* The Latin is Ipsum Divinum, but that this is a slip of the pen or misprint seems to be clearly indicated by what is said a few lines above as to the maternal parentage of the Divine Human, [Reviser.]

3211. And he took Rebekah, and she was to him for a woman, and he loved her. That this signifies the conjunction, namely, of good and truth, is evident without explication. The reason it is said that Rebekah was to him "for a woman," and not for a wife, is that between rational good and the truth called forth from the natural and made Divine, it is not marriage that takes place, but a covenant resembling a marriage covenant. The Divine marriage itself which is in the Lord is the union of the Divine Essence with the Human Essence, and of the Human Essence with the Divine Essence (see n. 2803). This is the reason why Rebekah is called "woman," not wife.

3212. And Isaac was comforted after his mother. That this signifies a new state, is evident from the signification of "receiving comfort," as being a new state; for a state of consolation is new; and that it succeeded to the foregoing is signified by "after his mother." This new state is the state of glorification of the rational; as before in respect to good, so now in respect to truth. The rational was glorified when it was made Divine in respect to both.

[2] That the Lord as to the human was made new, that is, glorified (or what is the same, was made Divine), no one can possibly conceive (thus neither believe) who is in worldly and corporeal loves; for he is altogether ignorant what the spiritual and celestial is, nor indeed is he willing to know. But he who is not in worldly and corporeal loves, is capable of perceiving this, for he believes that the Lord is one with the Father, and that from Him proceeds all that is holy; consequently that He is Divine even as to the Human; and whoever believes, perceives in his own way.

[3] The state of the Lord's glorification may in some manner be conceived from the state of the regeneration of man, for the regeneration of man is an image of the glorification of the Lord (n. 3043, 3138). When man is being regenerated, he is then becoming altogether another, and is being made new; therefore also when he has been regenerated, he is called "born again," and "created anew." Then, although he has a similar face and a similar speech, yet his mind is not similar; his mind, when he is regenerate, is open toward heaven, and there dwells therein love to the Lord and charity toward his neighbor, together with faith. It is the mind that makes a man another, and a new man. This change of state cannot be perceived in the body of man, but in his spirit, the body being merely the covering of his spirit; and when it is put off, then his spirit appears, and this (provided he has been regenerated) in altogether another form, for it then has the form of love and charity in beauty inexpressible (n. 553), instead of its pristine form, which was that of hatred and cruelty with a deformity also inexpressible. This shows what a regenerate person is, or one who is born again, or created anew; namely, that he is altogether another, and is a new man.

[4] From this image it may in some measure be conceived what the glorification of the Lord is. He was not regenerated as a man is; but became Divine, and this from the very Divine Love itself, for He was made the Divine Love itself. What his form then was, was made apparent to Peter, James, and John when it was given them to see Him, not with the eyes of the body but with the eyes of the spirit, namely-that His countenance shone like the sun (Matt. 17:2); and that this was His Divine Human is evident from the voice which then came out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son" (verse 5). That the "Son" is the Divine Human, may be seen above (n. 2628).

Note: For a more detailed justification for extracting the correspondential sense of the Writings of Swedenborg, please consult my online book at: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/v2ch1-nonduality.html

By focusing on the universal meaning of Sacred Scripture, the natural historical meaning recedes in the background. From a sectarian religion, Divine Speech is reconstructed into a science of the human mind and God. Note that the literal sense is also true and is unaffected by the scientific sense drawn from it. Hence it is not accurate to say that the scientific sense destroys religion or impairs it in any way. In fact, it's quite obvious that when both the literal and scientific senses are known, the literal and historical meaning is strengthened, not weakened. Theistic psychology supports all religions and is dependent on the literal sense as a foot is dependent on a shoe, or as the head is dependent on a hat for protection, or as the egg is dependent on the egg shell. The literal sense is the eggshell and the scientific sense is the egg, or, the hat is the literal sense while the head is the scientific sense. Take away the hat and your head has no protection, or, take away the egg shell and the egg is lost. In the passage below, "the internal or correspondential sense of the Word " refers to the scientific sense of Divine Speech.

In its scientific sense "the Church" refers to our mental state when we are regenerating or developing spiritually through progressive character reformation by temptations. "The Word" refers to Divine Speech and "the Divine-Human" refers to God. "Those who are outside the Church" refers to our mental states prior to entering the states of regeneration. Read again the passage above by focusing away from the literal sense and towards the scientific sense. Then do the same for the passage below. "The Church of the Divine-Human" refers to the fact that every individual regardless of religion is led into the states of regeneration by the same one and only God. The "universal Church on earth" refers to every individual who acknowledges God and God's commandments.

Theistic psychology is the scientific knowledge extracted from Sacred Scripture according to the laws of correspondences revealed in the Writings of Swedenborg (see Section xx). When the authors of the Old and New Testament wrote down their sentences they did not know that within those sentences are hidden scientific revelations from Divine Speech. Swedenborg's sentences are also of this Divine style called "the Word" though he himself, being a mere human, could not see the infinite depth of meanings contained in the sentences he wrote. His job was to write about what he saw in the spiritual world according to his own understanding and scientifically trained mind. This he did. Surely, when he reflected upon it, Swedenborg must have realized that his sentences had that property of Divine Speech. He does state that he only wrote what the Lord inspired him to write, and frequently he says that he can't go further into some subject because the Lord did not allow it.

Swedenborg says that no one can discover the inner layers of Sacred Scripture as Divine Speech, except those to whom it is revealed by the Divine Human. Swedenborg was commissioned by the Divine Human to be the revelator of the code of correspondences through which all Divine Speech enters the human mind. Divine Speech is nothing but Divine Truth, and Divine Truth is the syntax by which our rational thinking proceeds. Our ability to think rationally allows us to understand spiritual concepts contained in Divine Speech. This is the only source of spiritual concepts for human beings. Without spiritual concepts, the human race would fall into animal life, which is purely natural, and of this world only. Heaven and hell, and immortality, would not be possible without spiritual concepts forming human minds.

Divine Speech contains spiritual concepts that descend from the Divine Human into the minds of human beings, thus forming their rational mind, by which they have immortality. Divine Speech is therefore the source of immortality and the source of life. But we need to consider the fact that human beings are in different states of rationality at different times of their biography. Rational understanding of spiritual concepts varies from high to low. For instance, when children read Sacred Scripture their ability to understand is at first limited mainly to historical and natural events and stories. their concept of God is a natural one, and so is their idea of heaven and hell. They think hell is a place of physical punishment and torment, and heaven as a place of physical rewards and enjoyments. Many adults continue along this natural approach to spiritual ideas. For instance, many religious people believe that this world will physically end, and a new physical world will be created, upon which will live those who are resurrected from their graves.

The physicalistic understanding of God, heaven, hell, salvation, sin, etc. is expressed in a language called "natural correspondences." These are lower-order cognitions or thought patterns. It is the way we think when all our knowledge is based in materialistic input -- our physical senses, or facts based on observations with the physical senses. Thus, nothing of the spiritual world can enter this knowledge since these cannot be observed with the physical senses. The only source of spiritual knowledge is Sacred Scripture. This spiritual knowledge is in Sacred Scripture, but it is hidden from the surface meaning of the sentences, which is purely natural in content and thinking level or mentality.

Individuals progress spiritually to deeper levels of understanding and rationality when they learn the laws of correspondences in which Sacred Scripture is written. They can now read the sentences of Sacred Scripture with higher-order cognitions called "spiritual correspondences." The Writings of Swedenborg analyze major portions of the Old and New Testaments, applying the method of correspondences revealed to him through his direct observations in the spiritual world (see Section xx). The Writings do not analyze themselves in the same way for reasons I can understand. If Swedenborg had tried to include this self-exegesis, his books would have been incomprehensible to most people. Instead, the exegesis of the Writings is to be done by others in the ensuing centuries and millennia, in their scholarship and research of the scientific revelations hidden within its sentences. Theistic psychology is the organized research effort that has begun this task that will be so critical to the evolution of the human race.

Let us see how how Swedenborg applies the method of correspondences to two common words in the Old Testament: "foes" and "enemies." Quoting from the Writings:

The above analysis gives an indication of some of the content of Divine Speech. While the natural correspondences refer to foes and enemies in a natural sense, the spiritual correspondences of "foes" and "enemies" refer to the mental state of being opposed to what is good and true. Natural foes and enemies refer to the horizontal community of people in our geographic area. In the Psalms, David frequently refers to King Saul's soldiers who are chasing him. They are his foes and enemies from whom he asks God for protection. This is the literal, historical, religious meaning. But when we extract the spiritual correspondences, we get an entirely new meaning, this time not natural, but spiritual, which means mental, since spiritual=mental (see Section xx). The content of Divine Speech in its higher correspondences is about mental states and how we can change them to prepare them for heavenly life. This is obviously the most critical topic God can talk about to the human race since the purpose of the human race on earth is to become regenerated, to acquire a heavenly character, and thus to enter immortal life in heaven. It is for this single overarching purpose that God creates human beings, and therefore it is also the chief content of Divine Speech in Sacred Scripture.

In the passage above the scientific meaning of "enemies" is given as "cognition and acknowledgment with those who are interiorly opposed to the goods and truths of the Word and of the church." To understand this definition as theistic psychology we need to apply correspondences to it. What is designated here by "the goods and truths of the Word and of the church" to which we are opposed in certain mental states? "The Word" refers to Sacred Scripture and "the church" refers to our developing spiritual understanding based on it. We are called "enemies" by Divine Speech when we reject or contradict the spiritual concepts we derive from Sacred Scripture. Our concepts of good or love, on the one hand, and our concepts of truth on the other, are called "the two witnesses." These are the means by which we can be regenerated for heavenly life. The "goods of love" are for regenerating the affective organ of the will, while the "truths of doctrine" are for regenerating the cognitive organ of understanding.

God talks about our mental states, teaching us to differentiate them so that we can learn to control them. This is called regeneration (see Section xx), without which we enter our hells upon entering the spiritual world of immortality. Hence God is intent on giving us the rational consciousness of the spiritual world. Our heaven of immortality is located inside this rational consciousness. Without it, we have nothing but the sensuous consciousness of the corporeal mentality, which is the hell in everyone's mind. Rational thinking about spiritual ideas opens the heaven in everyone's mind, makes it functional and operational.

The passage above discusses the exterior and interior mental states relative to each other, a distinction that must be understood and taken into account. It is said that "by enemies are here meant those who are interiorly, but yet not outwardly, opposed to the goods of love and the truths of doctrine, for with the lips they act as friends, but in heart as enemies." In other words, we need to recognize a particular mental state within ourselves in which we are of a divided mind, one part of our mind being an enemy to the other part. In this state we are "outwardly" supportive of the spiritual ideas we extract from Sacred Scripture but "interiorly" we are "opposed" to them. The reason we are inwardly opposed to the ideas of good and truth we learn about is that our hellish loves are enemies to the heavenly truths. Why?

Because heavenly truths, or truths of doctrine from Sacred Scripture, point to what good we must love and do. We don't like to do these heavenly goods because we already love to do the hellish things. these are the things we call good -- what we enjoy and already love, and they are evil enjoyments that benefit self only and lead to the destruction of all heavenly good and truth we could have.

The passage says that "before the world they profess those things, but in their spirit, in which they are when engaged in meditating alone, they deny them. These, therefore, are the enemies who see" xxxx

The "first death" is our separation or disconnection from the physical body. This is called resuscitation (see Section xx) and takes about thirty hours, at the end of which we awaken in our spiritual mind and continue our life of immortality in the mental world of eternity. After some intense and guided experiences in this state called "the world of spirits," we are led to discovering and affirming our ruling love which lies deeply seated in the affective organ and is often little known or unknown to the individual. At that point the "second death" is experienced which is our final entry point into the spiritual society that is already connected to our ruling love. If this is heavenly, we shed all remaining hellish attachments and enjoyments, and in this purified state we enter either our heavenly society or our hellish companions. The second death thus marks our final, permanent, and eternal mentality and lifestyle, which is either heavenly or hellish.

Sigstedt, Cyriel (1952) The Swedenborg Epic. The Life and Works of Emanuel Swedenborg (New York: Bookman Associates, 1952) Available online: www.swedenborgdigitallibrary.org/ES/epicfor.htm

The Reading List identifies basic collateral works on the Writings by Swedenborg scholars.

Theistic Psychology: The Scientific Knowledge of God Extracted from the Correspondential Sense of Sacred Scripture

The Derivation and Function of Scientific Revelations

Theistic Psychology:
The Scientific Knowledge of God
Extracted from the Correspondential Sense
of Sacred Scripture

The Derivation and Function
of Scientific Revelations