Soul-Body Interaction, Believed to Occur either by a Physical Inflow, or by a Spiritual Inflow, or by a Preestablished Harmony.

§§1–2 / [Author’s Introduction]

1. §3 / There are two worlds: a spiritual world where spirits and angels live, and an earthly world where we live.

2. §4 / The spiritual world came into being and is kept in existence from its sun, and the earthly world, from its sun.

3. §5 / The sun of the spiritual world is pure love from Jehovah God,

who is at its center.

4. §6 / Warmth and light emanates from that sun; the essence of that emanating warmth is love, and the essence of the emanating light is wisdom.

5. §7 / Both spiritual warmth and spiritual light fl ow into us. The warmth fl ows into our will and gives rise there to a love for doing what is good, and the light flows into our understanding and gives rise there to the truth that leads to wisdom.

6. §8 / These two—spiritual warmth and spiritual light, or love and wisdom—fl ow together from God into the human soul, flow through our soul into our mind and its feelings and thoughts, and flow from there into our physical senses, speech, and actions.

7. §9 / The sun of our earthly world is nothing but fire, and is the means by which this earthly world came into being and is kept in existence.

8. §10 / This means that everything that emanates from the physical sun is in and of itself dead.

9. §11 / What is spiritual wears what is physical the way we wear clothes.

10. §12 / It is spiritual elements clothed in this way that enable us to live as rational and moral beings—that is, to live spiritually on this earthly level.

11. §13 / How receptive we are to this infl ow depends on the state of love and wisdom within us.

12. §14 / Our understanding can be lifted into the light (that is, the wisdom) that angels enjoy to the extent that our rational ability has been cultivated; and our will can be elevated into the warmth, or love, of heaven, depending on how we live our lives. However, the love in our will becomes elevated only to the extent that we will and do what the wisdom in our understanding teaches us.

13. §15 / It is totally diff erent for animals.

14. §16 / Unknown until now, there are three levels in the spiritual world and three in this earthly world, and these shape the way all infl ow happens.

15. §17 / Purposes are on the fi rst level, means on the second, and results on the third.

16. §18 / This shows us the nature of spiritual infl ow, from its origin to its results.

§§19–20 / [Concluding Accounts]

2. Since spiritual inflow is based on the laws of the divine design, as just noted, it has been more widely acknowledged and accepted in the learned world than the other two theories. Every theory that is based on the divine design is true, and the truth, because of its inherent light, makes itself visible even in those shadowy realms of reason where hypotheses dwell.

There are three factors that cause the shadows around this particular hypothesis: ignorance of the nature of the soul, ignorance of the nature of what is spiritual, and ignorance of the nature of inflow. These three issues, then, need to be addressed before reason can see the actual truth. Hypothetical truth is not actual truth but a guess at the truth. It is like a painting on a wall seen by starlight at night—our minds can project one form or another onto it, depending on our imagination. The situation is different after dawn, though, when the sunlight shines on it and discloses to our sight not just its general outlines but its specific details. In the same way, truth emerges into the open from the shadows where hypotheses dwell when we recognize the reality and nature of what is spiritual relative to what is earthly; the reality and nature of the human soul; and the nature of what flows into the soul, then flows through it into the parts of the mind devoted to perception and thinking, and then through them into the body.

[2] However, no one can convey all this except someone whom the Lord has allowed to associate with angels in the spiritual world while still being with people in this earthly world. Since this privilege has been granted to me, I have been able to describe the reality and nature of these things. This was done in my treatise Marriage Love, where there is a discussion of what is spiritual in the account recorded in §§326–329, of the human soul in §315, and of inflow in §380 and at greater length in §§415–422.

Surely everyone knows, or is at least capable of knowing, that the goodness of love and the truth of faith flow into us from God, and that they flow into our souls and are sensed in our minds, and flow from our thoughts into our words and from our will into our actions.

[3] The following sequence of points, then, will show that inflow is spiritual, and reveal its origin and derivation.

1. There are two worlds: a spiritual world where spirits and angels live, and an earthly world where we live.

2. The spiritual world came into being and is kept in existence from its sun, and the earthly world, from its sun.

3. The sun of the spiritual world is pure love from Jehovah God, who is at its center.

4. Warmth and light emanates from that sun; the essence of that emanating warmth is love, and the essence of the emanating light is wisdom.

5. Both spiritual warmth and spiritual light flow into us. The warmth flows into our will and gives rise there to a love for doing what is good, and the light flows into our understanding and gives rise [there] to the truth that leads to wisdom.

6. These two—spiritual warmth and spiritual light, or love and wisdom—flow together from God into the human soul, flow through our soul into our mind and its feelings and thoughts, and flow from there into our physical senses, speech, and actions.

7. The sun of our earthly world is nothing but fire, and is the means by which this earthly world came into being and is kept in existence.

8. This means that everything that emanates from the physical sun is in and of itself dead.

9. What is spiritual wears what is physical the way we wear clothes.

10. It is spiritual elements clothed in this way that enable us to live as rational and moral beings—that is, to live spiritually on this earthly level.

11. How receptive we are to this inflow depends on the state of love and wisdom within us.

12. Our understanding can be lifted into the light (that is, the wisdom) that angels enjoy to the extent that our rational ability has been cultivated; and our will can be elevated into the warmth, or love, [of heaven,] depending on how we live our lives. However, the love in our will becomes elevated only to the extent that we will and do what the wisdom in our understanding teaches us.

13. It is totally different for animals.

14. [Unknown until now,] there are three levels in the spiritual world and three in this earthly world, and these shape the way all inflow happens.

15. Purposes are on the first level, means on the second, and results on the third.

16. This shows us the nature of spiritual inflow, from its origin to its results.

Now I need to present brief explanations of these items.

10. 8 This means that everything that emanates from the physical sun is in and of itself dead.

IF at this point we raise the reasoning of our minds a little above our physical senses, can we fail to see that love is intrinsically alive and that what appears to be its fire is actually its life, and that on the other hand ordinary fire is intrinsically dead by comparison? This means that the sun of the spiritual world, being pure love, is alive, and that the sun of this earthly world, being pure fire, is dead. The same holds true for everything that emanates and arises from each.

[2] There are two things that produce all the effects in the universe: life and nature. If life is within nature and activates it to produce these effects, this accords with the divine design. The other view is that nature is what lies within and causes life to become active. This is held by people who put nature above and within life, even though it is intrinsically dead. As a result, they indulge in nothing but sensual pleasures and lusts of the flesh, and attach no importance whatever to pursuing spirituality in their souls or true rationality in their minds. Because they have turned everything upside down like this, they are called “the dead.”

[3] Theirs is the view held by all the materialistic atheists in the world and all the satans in hell. In the Word as well they are called “the dead”: see in Psalms, for example, “They attached themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate the sacrifices of the dead” (Psalms 106:28); “The enemy is pursuing my soul; he makes me sit in darkness like the dead of the world” (Psalms 143:3); and “To hear the groaning of the prisoner and to open [a door] for the children of death” (Psalms 102:20); and in the Book of Revelation, “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain but are about to die” (Revelation 3:1, 2).

[4] They are called dead because damnation is spiritual death, and damnation is what awaits people who believe that life comes from nature and that nature’s light is therefore the light of life. By doing so they conceal, stifle, and snuff out any concept of God, heaven, and eternal life. This makes them like owls that see light in darkness and darkness in light—that is, see false things as true and evil things as good. Then too, since evil pleasures are their heart’s delight, they are not unlike birds and animals that devour carrion as delicacies and experience the stenches of tombs as perfumes.

In addition, these people do not recognize any inflow other than a physical or earthly one. If they argue in favor of a spiritual inflow, this is not their own idea but something repeated from the mouth of a teacher.