On Line Study of the Word:
The Degrees through Which Influx Take Place
with Angels and Men
By Reverend Paul Booth
The Degrees through Which Influx Take Place
with Angels and Men
By Reverend Paul Booth
It is discovered by the investigation of causes from effects that there are two kinds of degrees; one in which things are prior and posterior, and another in which they are greater and less. The degrees which distinguish things prior and posterior are to be called DEGREES OF ALTITUDE, or DISCRETE DEGREES; but the degrees by whi8ch things greater or less are distinguished from each other are to be called DEGRESS OF LATITUDE, and also CONTINUOUS DEGREES. (Intercourse of the Soul and Body 16)
It is said that our soul lives after death. In truth the soul is nothing but the man himself who lives in the body. From this you see it is the interior man and who acts by the body in the world. The soul is the inmost and is the most subtle essence of man, and it has form. That form is of all things of love and of all things of wisdom. These are principally called affections and perceptions. Our perception comes from our affections and constitutes this one form. In that one form are innumerable things of man. Thus it is that the soul is the man himself and in truth is the inmost man. Though it is not life itself, but is the proximate receptacle of life from God and is thus the dwelling-place of God.
Many times it has been said in past sermons that there is an influx bringing us life that comes from the Divine into heaven, into the angels and the spirits there. It has also been shown that such life comes from the Sun of heaven and that that Sun is from the Divine, that is, the Lord who is the Divine Human. We, as believers in the Lord's New Church have come to learn and understand that the influx of life into the angels is received through the light and heat of the heaven's Sun. Here, we are speaking about the spiritual world - about the three degrees of heaven, about the world of spirits and hell - and we see that it is much like this natural world as far the sun and its light and heat is concerned. There is light and heat from the heaven's Sun flowing into the spiritual world, into the highest, into the middle, and into the lowest heavens bringing to them the life of the angels there in their three different states. That life is, as has been shown, from the Lord who is the one Only God, the Divine Human. The light in the spiritual world is in its essence wisdom and the heat in the spiritual world is in its essence love. One may understand that these are the DISCRETE DEGREES of heaven.
However, in the natural world the light and heat comes from the natural sun. Such light and heat is from its origin material and is dead, while the light of the spiritual world from its origin is spiritual from the Lord and has life. As we look to the things in this world - to the animal, the vegetable kingdom, and to the whole mineral kingdom, into both kinds of degrees - in the discrete and the continuous degrees - we remain only in the natural things of this world. In this natural world the light and heat of the natural sun descend through three degrees of atmospheres which are their containants (containers) and, as such, are the vehicles that convey natural light and heat to this world. In the lowest degree are the senses of the body; while in the middle degree is of the natural knowledge of the physical world which comes with natural light (lumen) sight. The highest degree of the natural world is from an influx of the spiritual light as it comes from the lowest heaven. This spiritual light is not detected by natural man.
From the Sun of the spiritual world flow three discrete atmospheres wherein is the substantial. The light in the spiritual world is in its essence wisdom, and the heat therein, in that light, is in its essence love. These are three degrees of wisdom and three degrees of love and consequently the three degrees of life. As a result the celestial heaven is the third or the supreme; then there is the middle or the second heaven; and following is the lowest heaven which is also called the first heaven. These three heavens are inhabited by angels according to discrete degrees and within each of these degrees there are continuous degrees.
However, the man of this world is not in heaven though he is made into an image of heaven, because his mind is as a little heaven in lest form in that it can receive the Lord's love and His wisdom, though in a lower discrete degree. As such the mind is made of two parts - the understanding and the will. It is the understanding that belongs to one's faith or truth and the will that belongs to one's love or good. These are the two essences that proceed from the Lord.
It may be understood how angels of heaven, either those in the third or middle or those in the first can receive both love and wisdom through the Sun of heaven from the Divine Human; and how these are carried down 'as it were' through the various degrees by way of spiritual atmospheres. The question that comes forth is: how does the mind of man receive wisdom and love and he become an angel either of the lowest heaven and thus knowing truths and good or an angel of the middle heaven where he receives the love of understanding them and, even perhaps becomes an angel of the supreme heaven receiving the love of being wise and thus living accordingly?
Does the degrees of the spiritual atmospheres inflow into the natural world into the mind of mankind? Or rather than this, should the question be asked: do the degrees of the natural atmospheres have effect on the mind of man? And of course we know they do not for their origin is merely material, not substantial. With material the universe is formed; with the substantial heaven is formed, so also is a man's mind, as it is a little heaven. It is formed from the heat or love and from the light or wisdom of the heaven's Sun bringing forth the three heavenly degrees and there life to man making him into an image and likeness of heaven and of God.
While the earth is formed into a vessel in which these particular and general spiritual degrees are clothed it was revealed that it is the mind (of man) in which heaven is in, in the least form. In the natural form a man from his natural understanding, which are in the lowest degree of his bodily senses and there from is his natural reasoning and his knowledge of love and wisdom remain in ignorance. In this case the man thinks from the influx of natural light that has not been enlightened by an influx of spiritual light. Thus the man believes, thinks from the light of nature and falls into the darkness of his understanding. While truth flows spiritually into man, though not as into those in heaven, which is through the Divine love and wisdom - through the atmosphere there - but into the natural understanding and will through the written Word.
The natural world exists or occurs and endures from the spiritual world like an effect from a cause and is a correspondent of the spiritual world. Into the natural world man was created and the whole of God's order was conferred from the first principle to the last - his inmost to his ultimate nature, from discrete heavenly degrees to natural discrete degrees. Thus, has been said, man's mind is an image of heaven and his ultimate or sensuous body is in an image of this world, each having come from their origin. From heaven comes influences of thoughts and affections and disposes them in keeping with the way a man's spirits receives them. While from the world comes influences that act upon man's senses and appetites and dispose them according to his bodily reception and is adapted to suit the body's reception.
Therefore it is that the Lord's Divine proceeds forth and flows through these degrees, first into the spiritual world through the three heavens and from the lowest heaven to earth where the mind of man is a heaven in the least form. In this are the soul and the body's intercourse and it is through this that the Lord saves man. In the man's natural mind are factual knowledge, rational awareness, and intellectual awareness. However, he focuses life solely on sensory experience and factual knowledge. His memory has within these degrees starting with the life of seeing and hearing. Here it is seen that we must learn everything and are not endowed with any prior knowledge - not even natural knowledge. Thus we see that it is true interaction of the soul and body. It is through the man's will, into his intellectual concepts, and then into rational concepts and, so, into factual concepts of the memory life and thus this brings life as one learns the spiritual truths written in the Word of the Lord.
Therefore, we see that from the spiritual things that flow into a man are clothed in the natural man enables him to live as a rational and moral man; thus as a spiritually natural man as was shown before - that is that the soul flows into the mind and from there into the body causing it to live. It is seen that what is spiritually united to what is material or a living force with a dead force causes a man to speak rationally and act morally. It is the thought that is spiritual and which speaks and wills and from this acts, however through its own organ which are material. We can prove this by the fact that if thought is removed from speech than the mouth is dumb and if we remove will from action doesn't the hands become still?
It is thus that the union of spiritual things with natural things causes an appearance of life as it becomes evident that man is rational from the analytical processes of his thought and likewise moral as is evident from his conduct. Of course he has these by the virtue of his faculty to receive influx from the Lord. So it becomes that a man lives as a spiritually natural man on earth. However, when the man comes into the spiritual world his life is not similar as it was on earth because his soul is then clothed with a substantial body and not a material body.
We've been taught man is an organ which is recipient of Life from God. And we know that God is Love itself and Wisdom itself and so Life itself. Therefore if man love's wisdom and that the wisdom is within Love he is then in an image of God. However, Love itself and Wisdom itself are not life, but are the (esse), the Being of life. Nonetheless, the delight of love and the pleasures of wisdom, being affections, constitute life and are the means of manifested life.
We need here to recall the two trees mentioned in the Garden of Eden - the one 'of life' and the other of 'the knowledge of good and evil.' The one 'of life' is the reception of love and wisdom from God and the other, 'the tree of knowledge of good and evil' is the reception of them - reception of love and wisdom - from self. One sees that one becomes truly wise, that God is only wise, while the other one becomes insane and believes he is wise like God. The one believes in God the other believes in him self. Here, it is seen the reception of the influx of life from God is according to the state of love and wisdom with a man.
Amen
Many times it has been said in past sermons that there is an influx bringing us life that comes from the Divine into heaven, into the angels and the spirits there. It has also been shown that such life comes from the Sun of heaven and that that Sun is from the Divine, that is, the Lord who is the Divine Human. We, as believers in the Lord's New Church have come to learn and understand that the influx of life into the angels is received through the light and heat of the heaven's Sun. Here, we are speaking about the spiritual world - about the three degrees of heaven, about the world of spirits and hell - and we see that it is much like this natural world as far the sun and its light and heat is concerned. There is light and heat from the heaven's Sun flowing into the spiritual world, into the highest, into the middle, and into the lowest heavens bringing to them the life of the angels there in their three different states. That life is, as has been shown, from the Lord who is the one Only God, the Divine Human. The light in the spiritual world is in its essence wisdom and the heat in the spiritual world is in its essence love. One may understand that these are the DISCRETE DEGREES of heaven.
However, in the natural world the light and heat comes from the natural sun. Such light and heat is from its origin material and is dead, while the light of the spiritual world from its origin is spiritual from the Lord and has life. As we look to the things in this world - to the animal, the vegetable kingdom, and to the whole mineral kingdom, into both kinds of degrees - in the discrete and the continuous degrees - we remain only in the natural things of this world. In this natural world the light and heat of the natural sun descend through three degrees of atmospheres which are their containants (containers) and, as such, are the vehicles that convey natural light and heat to this world. In the lowest degree are the senses of the body; while in the middle degree is of the natural knowledge of the physical world which comes with natural light (lumen) sight. The highest degree of the natural world is from an influx of the spiritual light as it comes from the lowest heaven. This spiritual light is not detected by natural man.
From the Sun of the spiritual world flow three discrete atmospheres wherein is the substantial. The light in the spiritual world is in its essence wisdom, and the heat therein, in that light, is in its essence love. These are three degrees of wisdom and three degrees of love and consequently the three degrees of life. As a result the celestial heaven is the third or the supreme; then there is the middle or the second heaven; and following is the lowest heaven which is also called the first heaven. These three heavens are inhabited by angels according to discrete degrees and within each of these degrees there are continuous degrees.
However, the man of this world is not in heaven though he is made into an image of heaven, because his mind is as a little heaven in lest form in that it can receive the Lord's love and His wisdom, though in a lower discrete degree. As such the mind is made of two parts - the understanding and the will. It is the understanding that belongs to one's faith or truth and the will that belongs to one's love or good. These are the two essences that proceed from the Lord.
It may be understood how angels of heaven, either those in the third or middle or those in the first can receive both love and wisdom through the Sun of heaven from the Divine Human; and how these are carried down 'as it were' through the various degrees by way of spiritual atmospheres. The question that comes forth is: how does the mind of man receive wisdom and love and he become an angel either of the lowest heaven and thus knowing truths and good or an angel of the middle heaven where he receives the love of understanding them and, even perhaps becomes an angel of the supreme heaven receiving the love of being wise and thus living accordingly?
Does the degrees of the spiritual atmospheres inflow into the natural world into the mind of mankind? Or rather than this, should the question be asked: do the degrees of the natural atmospheres have effect on the mind of man? And of course we know they do not for their origin is merely material, not substantial. With material the universe is formed; with the substantial heaven is formed, so also is a man's mind, as it is a little heaven. It is formed from the heat or love and from the light or wisdom of the heaven's Sun bringing forth the three heavenly degrees and there life to man making him into an image and likeness of heaven and of God.
While the earth is formed into a vessel in which these particular and general spiritual degrees are clothed it was revealed that it is the mind (of man) in which heaven is in, in the least form. In the natural form a man from his natural understanding, which are in the lowest degree of his bodily senses and there from is his natural reasoning and his knowledge of love and wisdom remain in ignorance. In this case the man thinks from the influx of natural light that has not been enlightened by an influx of spiritual light. Thus the man believes, thinks from the light of nature and falls into the darkness of his understanding. While truth flows spiritually into man, though not as into those in heaven, which is through the Divine love and wisdom - through the atmosphere there - but into the natural understanding and will through the written Word.
The natural world exists or occurs and endures from the spiritual world like an effect from a cause and is a correspondent of the spiritual world. Into the natural world man was created and the whole of God's order was conferred from the first principle to the last - his inmost to his ultimate nature, from discrete heavenly degrees to natural discrete degrees. Thus, has been said, man's mind is an image of heaven and his ultimate or sensuous body is in an image of this world, each having come from their origin. From heaven comes influences of thoughts and affections and disposes them in keeping with the way a man's spirits receives them. While from the world comes influences that act upon man's senses and appetites and dispose them according to his bodily reception and is adapted to suit the body's reception.
Therefore it is that the Lord's Divine proceeds forth and flows through these degrees, first into the spiritual world through the three heavens and from the lowest heaven to earth where the mind of man is a heaven in the least form. In this are the soul and the body's intercourse and it is through this that the Lord saves man. In the man's natural mind are factual knowledge, rational awareness, and intellectual awareness. However, he focuses life solely on sensory experience and factual knowledge. His memory has within these degrees starting with the life of seeing and hearing. Here it is seen that we must learn everything and are not endowed with any prior knowledge - not even natural knowledge. Thus we see that it is true interaction of the soul and body. It is through the man's will, into his intellectual concepts, and then into rational concepts and, so, into factual concepts of the memory life and thus this brings life as one learns the spiritual truths written in the Word of the Lord.
Therefore, we see that from the spiritual things that flow into a man are clothed in the natural man enables him to live as a rational and moral man; thus as a spiritually natural man as was shown before - that is that the soul flows into the mind and from there into the body causing it to live. It is seen that what is spiritually united to what is material or a living force with a dead force causes a man to speak rationally and act morally. It is the thought that is spiritual and which speaks and wills and from this acts, however through its own organ which are material. We can prove this by the fact that if thought is removed from speech than the mouth is dumb and if we remove will from action doesn't the hands become still?
It is thus that the union of spiritual things with natural things causes an appearance of life as it becomes evident that man is rational from the analytical processes of his thought and likewise moral as is evident from his conduct. Of course he has these by the virtue of his faculty to receive influx from the Lord. So it becomes that a man lives as a spiritually natural man on earth. However, when the man comes into the spiritual world his life is not similar as it was on earth because his soul is then clothed with a substantial body and not a material body.
We've been taught man is an organ which is recipient of Life from God. And we know that God is Love itself and Wisdom itself and so Life itself. Therefore if man love's wisdom and that the wisdom is within Love he is then in an image of God. However, Love itself and Wisdom itself are not life, but are the (esse), the Being of life. Nonetheless, the delight of love and the pleasures of wisdom, being affections, constitute life and are the means of manifested life.
We need here to recall the two trees mentioned in the Garden of Eden - the one 'of life' and the other of 'the knowledge of good and evil.' The one 'of life' is the reception of love and wisdom from God and the other, 'the tree of knowledge of good and evil' is the reception of them - reception of love and wisdom - from self. One sees that one becomes truly wise, that God is only wise, while the other one becomes insane and believes he is wise like God. The one believes in God the other believes in him self. Here, it is seen the reception of the influx of life from God is according to the state of love and wisdom with a man.
Amen
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