Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15:4-12
The Infinite and Eternal in itself must needs look to what is Infinite and Eternal from Itself in things finite. By the Infinite and Eternal in itself the Divine Itself is meant, — [the Infinite in itself and the Eternal in itself is the Divine is in accord with the angelic idea, the angels understanding by the Infinite nothing else than the Divine being (esse), and by the Eternal the Divine manifestation (existere)]; by things finite all things created by the Divine, especially men, spirits, and angels, are meant, and to look to what is Infinite and Eternal from Itself is to look to the Divine, that is, Itself, in these, as a man looks at his image in a mirror.
IN THE CREATED UNIVERSE THERE IS AN IMAGE OF MAN, AND THIS IS AN IMAGE OF WHAT IS INFINITE AND ETERNAL, THUS AN IMAGE OF GOD THE CREATOR, THAT IS, THE LORD FROM ETERNITY. BUT LET IT BE UNDERSTOOD THAT THE DIVINE IN ITSELF IS IN THE LORD, WHILE THE DIVINE FROM ITSELF IS THE DIVINE FROM THE LORD IN CREATED THINGS.
That all uses, from firsts to outmosts and from outmosts to firsts, have relation to all parts of man and have correspondence with them, consequently that man is, in a kind of image, a universe, and conversely that the universe viewed as to uses is in image a man.
The image of the Infinite in these forms is plain from their conatus and power to fill the spaces of the whole world, and even of many worlds, to infinity. For a single seed produces a tree, shrub, or plant, which fills its own space; and each tree, shrub, or plant produces seeds, in some cases thousands of them, which, when sown and grown up, fill their own spaces; and if from each seed of these there should proceed as many more, reproduced again and again, in the course of years the whole world would be filled; and if the production were still continued many worlds would be filled; and this to infinity. Estimate a thousand seeds from one, and multiply the thousand by a thousand ten times, twenty times, even to a hundred times, and you will see.
There is a like image of the Eternal in these forms; seeds are propagated from year to year, and the propagations never cease; they have not ceased from the creation of the world till now, and will not cease to eternity.
These two are standing proofs and attesting signs that all things of the universe have been created by an Infinite and Eternal God.
Beside these images of the Infinite and Eternal, there is another image of the Infinite and Eternal in varieties, in that there can never be a substance, state, or thing in the created universe the same as or identical with any other, neither in atmospheres, nor in lands, nor in the forms arising out of these. Thus not in any of the things which fill the universe can any thing the same be produced to eternity. This is plainly to be seen in the variety of the faces of human beings; no one face can be found throughout the world which is the same as another, nor can there be to all eternity, consequently not one mind, for the face is the type of the mind. (Divine Love and Wisdom 317, 318)
But that this may be more fully understood it shall be illustrated. The Divine can look only to the Divine; and it can look to this nowhere but in things created by Itself. That this is true is evident from this, that one can look to another only from what is his own in himself. He that loves another looks to him from his own love in himself; and he that is wise looks to another from his own wisdom in himself. He may see that the other loves him or does not love him, and is wise or not wise, but this he sees from the love and wisdom in himself; and therefore he conjoins himself with the other so far as the other loves him as he loves the other, or so far as the other is wise as he is wise; for thus they make one.
It is the same with the Divine in itself, for the Divine in itself is not able to look to itself from another, that is, from a man or a spirit or an angel; for there is nothing in them of the Divine in itself from which [all things are], and to look to the Divine from another in whom there is nothing of the Divine would be to look to the Divine from what is not Divine, which is not possible. For this reason the conjunction of the Lord with a man or a spirit or an angel is such that every thing that has relation to the Divine is not from them, but from the Lord. For it is known that all the good and all the truth that any one has is from the Lord and not from himself, and that no one can even mention the Lord, or His names, “Jesus,” and “Christ,” except from Him.
From this, then, it follows, that the Infinite and Eternal, which is the same as the Divine, looks to all things in the finite infinitely, and conjoins Itself with them in accordance with the degree of reception of wisdom and love in them. In a word, the Lord can have an abode in man or angel and dwell with them, only in His own, and not in what is their own (proprium), for that is evil; and if it were good it would still be finite, which in itself and from itself cannot contain the Infinite. All this makes clear that it is impossible for a finite being to look to the Infinite; but it is possible for the Infinite to look to what is Infinite from Himself, in finite beings.
There is an appearance that the Infinite cannot be conjoined with the finite, because there is no possible ratio between them, and because the finite cannot contain what is Infinite; nevertheless, such a conjunction is possible, both because the Infinite created all things from Himself —
THE LORD FROM ETERNITY, WHO IS JEHOVAH, CREATED THE UNIVERSE AND ALL THINGS THEREOF FROM HIMSELF, AND NOT FROM NOTHING.
It is known throughout the world, and acknowledged by every wise man from interior perception, that God, who is the Creator of the universe, is One; and it is known from the Word that God the Creator of the universe is called “Jehovah,” which is from the verb to be, because He alone is. That the Lord from eternity is that Jehovah is shown by many statements from the Word in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning the Lord. Jehovah is called the Lord from eternity, since Jehovah assumed a Human that He might save men from hell; He then commanded His disciples to call Him Lord. Therefore in the New Testament Jehovah is called “the Lord;” as can be seen from this:
Thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Deut. 5:5);
but in the New Testament:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul (Matt. 22:35).
It is the same in other passages in the Gospels, taken from the Old Testament.
Every one who thinks from clear reason sees that the universe was not created out of nothing, for he sees that not anything can be made out of nothing; since nothing is nothing, and to make anything out of nothing is a contradiction, and a contradiction is contrary to the light of truth, which is from Divine Wisdom; and whatever is not from Divine Wisdom is not from Divine Omnipotence.
Every one who thinks from clear reason sees also that all things have been created out of a Substance that is Substance in itself, for that is Esse itself, out of which every thing that is can take form; and since God alone is Substance in itself, and therefore Esse itself, it is evident that from this source alone is the formation of things.
Many have seen this, because reason causes them to see it; and yet they have not dared to confirm it, fearing lest they might thereby be led to think that the created universe is God, because from God, or that nature is from itself, and consequently that the inmost of nature is what is called God. For this reason, although many have seen that the formation of all things is from God alone and out of His Esse, yet they have not dared to go beyond their first thought on the subject, lest their understanding should become entangled in a so-called Gordian knot, beyond the possibility of release. Such release would be impossible, because their thought of God, and of the creation of the universe by God, has been in accordance with time and space, which are properties of nature; and from nature no one can have any perception of God and of the creation of the universe; but every one whose understanding is in any interior light can have a perception of nature and of its creation out of God, because God is not in time and space. …
Although God has created the universe and all things thereof out of Himself, yet there is nothing whatever in the created universe that is God; and other things besides, which will place this matter in its proper light. (Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom 282-283)
And because the Infinite in things finite can look only to what is Infinite from Himself, and with finite beings this Infinite from Himself can appear as if it were in them, whereby a ratio between the finite and the Infinite is provided, not from the finite, but from the Infinite in the finite; and by this also the finite being becomes capable of containing what is Infinite, not the finite being in himself, but as if in himself from what is Infinite from itself in him.
(from Divine Providence 52-54)
LASTCHURCH 