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]

20. I was questioned once as to how I, a scientist, had become a theologian. My answer was, “The same way the Lord made disciples and apostles out of fishermen.” I said that I too had been a spiritual fisherman from my youth.

On hearing this, the person asked what a spiritual fisherman was, and I said that in the Word, a fisherman spiritually understood is someone who inquires into and teaches earthly truths and then does the same with spiritual truths, in a rational manner.

[2] When asked what evidence I could provide, I said, “These passages in the Word: ‘Then the waters will fail from the sea and the river will be dried up and parched; so the fishermen will mourn, and all those who cast a hook into the sea will be sad’ (Isaiah 19:5, 8). Again, ‘At the river whose waters have been healed, fishermen will stand from En-gedi; they will be there to spread their nets. Their fish will be of all kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many’ (Ezekiel 47:9, 10). And again, ‘“Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says Jehovah, “and they will fish the children of Israel”’ (Jeremiah 16:16). This shows why the Lord chose fishermen for his disciples and said, ‘Come with me, and I will make you fishers of people’ (Matthew 4:18, 19; Mark 1:16, 17), and why he said to Peter, after he had caught a great many fish, ‘From now on you will catch people’ (Luke 5:9, 10).”

[3] Then from Revelation Unveiled I showed why fishermen have this meaning: water means earthly truths (§§50, 932), as does a river (§§409, 932); fish mean people who are devoted to earthly truths (§405), and so fishermen mean people who inquire into such truths and teach them.

[4] When he heard this, my questioner exclaimed, “Now I can understand why the Lord called and chose fishermen to be his disciples, so I am not surprised that he has also chosen you. As you just said, in a spiritual sense you have been a fisherman from your earliest youth—that is, someone who inquired into truths on the earthly level. The reason you are now inquiring into spiritual truths is that earthly truths serve as their foundation.”

He went on to say (since he was a man of reason) that only the Lord would know who was well suited to grasping and presenting the teachings that are part of his new church, whether that would be one of the church leaders or one of their servants. Besides, who among Christian theologians did not first study science in college before they were introduced to theology? How else would they have developed their intelligence?

[5] Finally, he said, “Because you have become a theologian, explain what your theology is.” I answered, “Two things are its core principles: there is one God and charity and faith are joined together.” To this he replied, “Who denies this?” I answered, “The theology of today, if you examine it in depth.”

LONDON

1769.

409. And it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. This symbolically means that consequently all the Word's truths had been completely falsified.

Rivers symbolize truths in abundance, because waters symbolize truths (no. 50); and springs of water or fountains symbolize the Word (no. 384). The meaning is that the Word's truths had been completely falsified, because in the next verse we are told that a third of the waters became wormwood, and wormwood symbolizes hellish falsity (no. 410).

[2] That rivers symbolize truths in abundance can be seen from the following passages:

...I am doing a new thing... ...I will give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. (Isaiah 43:19-20)

...I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and rivers on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your offspring, and My blessing on your descendants. (Isaiah 44:3)

Then... the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert plain. (Isaiah 35:6)

I will open rivers in the heights, and put fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. (Isaiah 41:18)

(Jehovah) has founded (the world) upon the seas, ...established it upon the rivers. (Psalms 24:2)

I will set His hand over the sea, and His right hand on the rivers. (Psalms 89:25)

Was Jehovah angry with the rivers? Was Your anger against the rivers? Was Your wrath against the sea, that You rode on Your horses...? (Habakkuk 3:8)

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God... (Psalms 46:4)

He showed me a pure river of water of life..., proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. (Revelation 22:1)

He split the rocks in the wilderness, and made the great abysses drink... ...He struck the rock..., and rivers flowed out... (Psalms 78:15-16, 20, cf. 105:41)

The waters will fail in the sea, and the river will be... dried up. (Isaiah 19:5-7; cf. 42:15; 50:2, Nahum 1:4, Psalms 107:33, Job 14:11)

(Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me,) as the Scripture has said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water." (John 7:37-38)

And so, too, elsewhere, such as Isaiah 33:21, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Deuteronomy 8:7.

[3] In an opposite sense, however, rivers symbolize falsities in abundance, as can be seen from the following:

(It) will send ambassadors by sea... to a nation... downtrodden, whose land the rivers have despoiled. (Isaiah 18:2)

If not for Jehovah on our side..., ...the waters would have overwhelmed us, (and) the river would have gone over our soul. (Psalms 124:2, 4-5)

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. (Isaiah 43:2)

The cords of death surrounded me, and the rivers of Belial terrified me. (Psalms 18:5)

(The dragon) spewed water out of its mouth like a river after the woman, that it might cause her to be swallowed up by the stream. (Revelation 12:15)

...behold, Jehovah will cause to rise over them the waters of the river, strong and many..., and it will... overflow and pass through, and reach up to the neck. (Isaiah 8:7-8)

...the floods came, and... rushed upon that house; and (yet) it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (Matthew 7:25; cf. 7:27, Luke 6:48-49)

Rivers here, too, stand for falsities in abundance, because the rock symbolizes the Lord in relation to Divine truth.

Rivers also symbolize temptations or trials, because temptations or trials are inundations of falsities.