A Marriage of Man and Woman
The Development of the Will and Understanding - Part 3
By Rev. Paul Booth
The Development of the Will and Understanding - Part 3
By Rev. Paul Booth
Our soul in its origin is celestial. It is inmost in us. There is where God is present with us. There is where He makes His abode with us. Our mind, from its origin, is spiritual. It is our internal, and is where we can meet and communicate with the Lord. Thus, we can see that our natural body is where our natural senses are and is seen as the ultimate of God's creation. This is called a man's external. What does the celestial mean in spiritual terms? It means what is good, which is of love and charity. What is spiritual in man is meant truth and is of one's intelligence and wisdom. Thus, it is that good is within its truth, or that love or good is the essence, while truth is its existence, and these are manifested through our external or natural body.
Now, science has shown that the mind of the male and the female are different and, often, there seems to be a debate as which is the superior. We need to see that they compliment each other and make us complete. Let us examine the difference between male and female. The celestial of the male is from love and his spiritual is from wisdom. In this we see that his love is veiled or covered over and what shows is usually his intelligence and his wisdom. While, the celestial of the woman is the love of the wisdom and intelligence of the man and in particular of her husband. Both receive when they are in the state of reformation or regeneration, and have wisdom from the Lord. Its covering is her love of the male's wisdom. We see that both have love and wisdom. Yet, each one's love is different, but when they become married they are united and become as one will or one life. Each has love. Each has intelligence. The feminine love is the love for the wisdom of the male, and the masculine love is the love of growing wise and in particular from her love for his wife's love for his true wisdom from the Lord. Thus is the purpose for God creating man male and female that the two are to be joined together, or married one with the other. Thus, each can develop spiritually and celestially, that is, what is of God, His good and truth, can live within conjoining them each with Heaven and the Lord.
In creating us male and female, we see that there is an inclination of the one to be joined with the other. We all have the desire or love to be wise. However, if we make the love of being wise foremost, we become prideful, which is the love of self-intelligence and, more than anything, we wish to gain recognition and prominence. Thus, God created man and woman different, thus enabling each to replace their love of self with the love of another. We can see God creating both the male and the female in the story of Him taking from Adam (the man) that love of self and putting it in the woman. This is seen in God taking a rib from Adam, which covered his heart or will and making it into a woman, here, called Eve. Thus, conjugial love, or the love of good and truth enters through the love we have for another. Each of us can become intelligent, both naturally and spiritually. In that, we can learn what true intelligence is. Our intelligence is not true intelligence, unless it is of celestial love, which love is the love of another. Herein, we find why the first of one's faith is to love the Lord and the second, to love the neighbor as one's self. Such love is the origin of conjugial love within us.
With man wisdom is prominent, with woman love is prominent. God's purpose for this is that we both might receive the Heavenly marriage of good and truth in our spiritual and celestial entities. There is an inclination in us to be conjoined, that is, married - the male with the female and the female with the male. Thus, in the story of God giving the woman to the man, we can, in a spiritual sense, begin to understand that we received a 'proprium' or what is of one's own. What is meant, here, is our own will and life 'as it were', and that we 'as if' live from self. In this God gives us our freedom. I might point out that this story understood in its natural sense has caused many religions to teach the falsity that the husband is to lord it over his wife. However, a study of the story, even from its literal sense, shows that it is man or mankind, not just the male, but the female as well, who is meant to receive 'a help mate' as the story goes. Both the original Hebrew and Latin languages confirms this. Thus, to all, whether male or female, is given what is his or her own - a life 'as it were' of their own. And, in doing so, we are provided with the means whereby our love of self may be directed towards and shared with another, in this case, with our married partner. In this way, God's goodness can enter our mind and there be married 'as it were' to His truth making our will and understanding become one, thus, causing us to desire to act in love one to another.
The male or husband receives the truth from God's Wisdom and good of God's love is conjoined according to its reception in his understanding. In other words, the man is born as the intellectual or the understanding. The female is born as the will. She is to be the love of man's wisdom. Now, both the male and the female have an intellect and a voluntary, that is, an understanding and a will, but the male's understanding is prominent while the female's will is prominent in her. These are the faculties of truth and of good. These two - will and understanding - because we are no longer in the spiritual and celestial states are divided in us. But we can receive good and truth in them. Thus, we can understand why it is that God established marriage between man and women and that we, today, can have a helpmate that helps to unite good and truth in each of us so that we become regenerated.
Therefore, it is that from the marriage of man and women that conjugial love is opened in them and that they become united within mind and soul, unlike the body, which cannot. As was said, each of us has this inclination to be united in a marriage. In the woman this is a very special love that causes the union of good and truth in her man as well as herself. Her inclination to love is constant and perpetual. Since love or will in her is prominent, she continually is working to bring her husband together with her. In the man, his love is not constant and not perpetual. So, it is that he is the recipient of her love. He wants to be wise and that is his love. Because of his love to be wise, according to his understanding, he comes into various states of love and, these, we said, are inconsistent with him. So, when he loves the things that cause him to be prideful and love's his self-intelligence conjunction with his wife is thawed, but if his love is turned towards his wife, then there is a mutual inclination and conjunction ensues.
You could say that if not for the woman man would be not be conjoined with good. And, you could say that if not for the man woman would not be conjoined with truth. Marriage helps to develop in each partner the love of good from truth and the love of truth from good. Some of you might say, what if one does not marry, can they still develop the love of good from truth and the love of truth from good? The love of God and Heaven is in both men and women and each can come into marriage in Heaven. The desire of the other sex is still there in Heaven, for there is still the longing for good and truth to be united. There is marriage in Heaven.
But, let us look at marriage, here, on earth. Man is inspired by the wife's love to be joined with her. He receives that love according to his wisdom. From a study of E. Swedenborg's book conjugial Love we learn that the wife conceals this from her husband. Thus, the man thinks it is his love that conjoins them, yet we just learned that the man receives her love; she is the one who loves and he is the one who receives that love. A person's understanding is seen as the male within them and a person's will is seen as the female within them. The understanding receives truth and truth is the cover of good, thus it is that love may exist with us, just as our essence is of love and our existence is of truth. Because of the prominent natures of male and female the wife persuades her husband to believe it is he who loves her and causes the union. This often causes the woman to be seen in obedience, and that she should be obedient to her husband. However, this is just an appearance.
Now, science has shown that the mind of the male and the female are different and, often, there seems to be a debate as which is the superior. We need to see that they compliment each other and make us complete. Let us examine the difference between male and female. The celestial of the male is from love and his spiritual is from wisdom. In this we see that his love is veiled or covered over and what shows is usually his intelligence and his wisdom. While, the celestial of the woman is the love of the wisdom and intelligence of the man and in particular of her husband. Both receive when they are in the state of reformation or regeneration, and have wisdom from the Lord. Its covering is her love of the male's wisdom. We see that both have love and wisdom. Yet, each one's love is different, but when they become married they are united and become as one will or one life. Each has love. Each has intelligence. The feminine love is the love for the wisdom of the male, and the masculine love is the love of growing wise and in particular from her love for his wife's love for his true wisdom from the Lord. Thus is the purpose for God creating man male and female that the two are to be joined together, or married one with the other. Thus, each can develop spiritually and celestially, that is, what is of God, His good and truth, can live within conjoining them each with Heaven and the Lord.
In creating us male and female, we see that there is an inclination of the one to be joined with the other. We all have the desire or love to be wise. However, if we make the love of being wise foremost, we become prideful, which is the love of self-intelligence and, more than anything, we wish to gain recognition and prominence. Thus, God created man and woman different, thus enabling each to replace their love of self with the love of another. We can see God creating both the male and the female in the story of Him taking from Adam (the man) that love of self and putting it in the woman. This is seen in God taking a rib from Adam, which covered his heart or will and making it into a woman, here, called Eve. Thus, conjugial love, or the love of good and truth enters through the love we have for another. Each of us can become intelligent, both naturally and spiritually. In that, we can learn what true intelligence is. Our intelligence is not true intelligence, unless it is of celestial love, which love is the love of another. Herein, we find why the first of one's faith is to love the Lord and the second, to love the neighbor as one's self. Such love is the origin of conjugial love within us.
With man wisdom is prominent, with woman love is prominent. God's purpose for this is that we both might receive the Heavenly marriage of good and truth in our spiritual and celestial entities. There is an inclination in us to be conjoined, that is, married - the male with the female and the female with the male. Thus, in the story of God giving the woman to the man, we can, in a spiritual sense, begin to understand that we received a 'proprium' or what is of one's own. What is meant, here, is our own will and life 'as it were', and that we 'as if' live from self. In this God gives us our freedom. I might point out that this story understood in its natural sense has caused many religions to teach the falsity that the husband is to lord it over his wife. However, a study of the story, even from its literal sense, shows that it is man or mankind, not just the male, but the female as well, who is meant to receive 'a help mate' as the story goes. Both the original Hebrew and Latin languages confirms this. Thus, to all, whether male or female, is given what is his or her own - a life 'as it were' of their own. And, in doing so, we are provided with the means whereby our love of self may be directed towards and shared with another, in this case, with our married partner. In this way, God's goodness can enter our mind and there be married 'as it were' to His truth making our will and understanding become one, thus, causing us to desire to act in love one to another.
The male or husband receives the truth from God's Wisdom and good of God's love is conjoined according to its reception in his understanding. In other words, the man is born as the intellectual or the understanding. The female is born as the will. She is to be the love of man's wisdom. Now, both the male and the female have an intellect and a voluntary, that is, an understanding and a will, but the male's understanding is prominent while the female's will is prominent in her. These are the faculties of truth and of good. These two - will and understanding - because we are no longer in the spiritual and celestial states are divided in us. But we can receive good and truth in them. Thus, we can understand why it is that God established marriage between man and women and that we, today, can have a helpmate that helps to unite good and truth in each of us so that we become regenerated.
Therefore, it is that from the marriage of man and women that conjugial love is opened in them and that they become united within mind and soul, unlike the body, which cannot. As was said, each of us has this inclination to be united in a marriage. In the woman this is a very special love that causes the union of good and truth in her man as well as herself. Her inclination to love is constant and perpetual. Since love or will in her is prominent, she continually is working to bring her husband together with her. In the man, his love is not constant and not perpetual. So, it is that he is the recipient of her love. He wants to be wise and that is his love. Because of his love to be wise, according to his understanding, he comes into various states of love and, these, we said, are inconsistent with him. So, when he loves the things that cause him to be prideful and love's his self-intelligence conjunction with his wife is thawed, but if his love is turned towards his wife, then there is a mutual inclination and conjunction ensues.
You could say that if not for the woman man would be not be conjoined with good. And, you could say that if not for the man woman would not be conjoined with truth. Marriage helps to develop in each partner the love of good from truth and the love of truth from good. Some of you might say, what if one does not marry, can they still develop the love of good from truth and the love of truth from good? The love of God and Heaven is in both men and women and each can come into marriage in Heaven. The desire of the other sex is still there in Heaven, for there is still the longing for good and truth to be united. There is marriage in Heaven.
But, let us look at marriage, here, on earth. Man is inspired by the wife's love to be joined with her. He receives that love according to his wisdom. From a study of E. Swedenborg's book conjugial Love we learn that the wife conceals this from her husband. Thus, the man thinks it is his love that conjoins them, yet we just learned that the man receives her love; she is the one who loves and he is the one who receives that love. A person's understanding is seen as the male within them and a person's will is seen as the female within them. The understanding receives truth and truth is the cover of good, thus it is that love may exist with us, just as our essence is of love and our existence is of truth. Because of the prominent natures of male and female the wife persuades her husband to believe it is he who loves her and causes the union. This often causes the woman to be seen in obedience, and that she should be obedient to her husband. However, this is just an appearance.