Heaven and its Wonders and Hell. Emanuel Swedenborg

with those beneath heaven, who do not will what is good, and for that reason fear greatly to be seen in the light of heaven. And wonderful to tell, while those in hell appear to one another as men, in the light of heaven they appear as monsters, with a horrid face and body, the exact form of their own evil.{1} In respect to his spirit man appears, when seen by angels, in a like way; if good as a man, beautiful in accord with his good; if evil as a monster, ugly in accord with his evil. From this it is clear that in the light of heaven all things are made manifest, and for the reason that the light of heaven is Divine truth.

      {Footnote 1} Those in the hells, in their own light, which is like the light from burning coals, appear to themselves as men but in the light of heaven they appear as monsters (n. 4531, 4533, 4674, 5057, 5058, 6605, 6626).

      132. As Divine truth is light in the heavens, so all truths wherever they are, whether within an angel or outside of him, or whether within the heavens or outside of them, emit light. Nevertheless, truths outside of the heavens do not shine as truths within the heavens do. Truths outside of the heavens shine coldly, like something snowy, without heat, because they do not draw their essence from good, as truths within the heavens do; therefore that cold light vanishes as soon as the light of heaven falls on it, and if there is evil underneath it it is turned into darkness. This I have occasionally seen, with many other noteworthy things about the shining of truth, which must be omitted here.

      133. Something shall now be said about the heat of heaven. That heat in its essence is love. It goes forth from the Lord as a sun, which is Divine love in the Lord and from the Lord, as has been shown in the preceding chapter. It is evident, therefore, that the heat of heaven, like the light of heaven, is spiritual, because from the same source.{1} There are two things that go forth from the Lord as a sun, Divine truth and Divine good; Divine truth is manifested in the heavens as light, and Divine good as heat; and yet Divine truth and Divine good are so united that they are not two, but one. Nevertheless, with angels they are separate, for there are angels that receive more of Divine good than of Divine truth, and there are those that receive more of Divine truth than of Divine good. Those who receive more of Divine good are in the Lord's celestial kingdom, and those who receive more of Divine truth are in His spiritual kingdom. Those that receive both in a like degree are the most perfect angels.

      {Footnote 1} There are two sources of heat and also two sources of light, the sun of the world and the sun of heaven (n. 3338, 5215, 7324). Heat from the Lord as a sun is affection of love (n. 3636, 3643). Therefore spiritual heat in its essence is love (n. 2146, 3338, 3339, 6314).

      134. The heat of heaven, like the light of heaven, is everywhere different. It is different in the celestial kingdom from what it is in the spiritual kingdom, and it is different in each society therein. It differs both in degree and in quality. It is more intense and more pure in the Lord's celestial kingdom, because the angels there receive more of Divine good; and it is less intense and pure in His spiritual kingdom, because the angels there receive more of Divine truth. Also in each society the heat differs in accordance with reception. There is heat in the hells, but it is unclean heat.{1} The heat in heaven is what is meant by holy and heavenly fire, and the heat of hell by profane and infernal fire. Both mean love—heavenly fire meaning love to the Lord and love to the neighbor and every affection of those loves, and infernal fire meaning love of self and love of the world and every lust of those loves. That love is heat from a spiritual source is shown from one's growing warm with love; for in accordance with the strength and nature of his love a man is inflamed and grows warm; and the heat of his love is made manifest when it is opposed. From this also it is customary to speak of being inflamed, growing hot, burning, boiling, being on fire, both in regard to the affections of the love of good and the lusts of the love of evil.

      {Footnote 1} There is heat in the hells, but it is unclean (n. 1773, 2757, 3340). The odor from it is like the odor from dung and excrement in the world and in the worst hells like the odor of dead bodies (n. 814, 815, 817, 819, 820, 943, 944, 5394).

      135. Love going forth from the Lord as a sun is felt in heaven as heat, because the interiors of the angels are in a state of love from the Divine good that is from the Lord; and in consequence their exteriors which grow warm therefrom are in a state of heat. For this reason heat and love so correspond to each other in heaven that everyone there is in heat such as his love is, according to what has been said just above. This world's heat does not enter heaven at all, because it is too gross, and is natural, and not spiritual; but with men it is otherwise, because they are in both the spiritual world and the natural world. As to their spirits they grow warm in exact accordance with their loves; but as to the body they grow warm both from the heat of their spirit and from the heat of the world. The former flows into the latter, because they correspond. The nature of the correspondence of the two kinds of heat can be seen from animal life, in that the love of animals-the chief of which is the love of propagating offspring of their kind-bursts forth and becomes active in accordance with the presence and influence of heat from the sun of the world, which is the heat of the spring and the summer seasons. Those who believe that the world's heat flows in and excites these loves are greatly mistaken, for there can be no influx from the natural into the spiritual, but only from the spiritual into the natural. This influx is of Divine order, but the other would be contrary to Divine order.{1}

      {Footnote 1} There is spiritual influx, but not physical, that is, there is influx from the spiritual world into the natural, but not from the natural world into the spiritual (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9109, 9110, 9111).

      136. Angels, like men, have understanding and will. The light of heaven constitutes the life of their understanding, because that light is Divine truth and Divine wisdom therefrom; and the heat of heaven constitutes the life of their will, because that heat is Divine good and Divine love therefrom. The veriest life of the angels is from heat, and from light only so far as heat is in it. That life is from heat is shown by the fact that when heat is taken away life perishes. The same is true of faith without love or of truth without good; since the truth that is called truth of faith is light, and the good that is called good of love is heat. {1} This is more clearly shown by the heat and light of the world, to which the heat and light of heaven correspond. By the world's heat when conjoined with light, as in spring and summer, all things on the earth are quickened and grow, but by light separate from heat nothing is quickened or grows, but everything lies torpid and dies. They are not conjoined in winter, when heat is absent though light remains. From this correspondence heaven is called paradise, since truth is there joined with good, or faith with love, as light is with heat in springtime on the earth. All this makes more clear the truth set forth in its own chapter (n. 13–19), that the Divine of the Lord in Heaven is love to Him and charity towards the neighbor.

      {Footnote 1} Truths apart from good are not in themselves truths because they have no life; for truths have all their life from good (n. 9603). Thus truths apart from good are like a body without a soul (n. 3180, 9154). Truths apart from good are not accepted by the Lord (n. 4368). What truth apart from good, that is, what faith apart from love is, and what truth from good or faith from love is (n. 1949–1951, 1964, 5830, 5951). It amounts to the same thing whether you say truth or faith, or whether you say good or love, since truth is of faith and good is of love (n. 2839, 4352, 4353, 4997, 7178, 7623, 7624, 10367).

      137. It is said in John:

      In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that hath been made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory (1:1–14).

      Evidently the Lord is here meant by "the Word," for it is said that "the Word became flesh." But what is specifically meant by "the Word" is not known and shall therefore be explained. Here "the Word" means the Divine truth which is in the Lord and from the Lord;{1} and this is why it is also called "the Light," which is the Divine truth, as has been already shown in this chapter. That it was by means of Divine truth that all things were created and made shall now be explained. [2] In heaven Divine truth has all power, and apart from it there is no power whatever.{2} From the Divine truth angels are called powers, and are powers to the extent that they are recipients or receptacles of it. By means of it they prevail over the hells