Heaven Revealed/Chapter 27
XXVII.
THE THREE HEAVENS, AND HOW RELATED.
THE great merit of Swedenborg's pneumatology, and that which entitles it to the serious consideration of all thoughtful people, is, that it is based on the essential nature of the human soul. It is a legitimate outgrowth, as we have shown in the previous chapters, from the known laws of our mental and moral constitution. And since these laws are all God's own, and as eternal and unchangeable as Himself, therefore any system of pneumatology founded upon them, is founded upon the Rock of Ages, and will endure forever. On the other hand, any system which is not so based, or is not the normal outgrowth from our human nature, however beautiful it may be as a fancy sketch, rests on a sandy foundation, and sooner or later is sure to be rejected.
We have seen all along how intimately the whole economy of the spiritual world as revealed through Swedenborg, links itself with all that is known of man's spiritual and immortal part. We have seen that his disclosures concerning the essential nature of heaven, its form or order, its social arrangements, its employments, the personal appearance of its denizens, etc., are in strict accord both with the revealed laws of the heavenly life and the implanted instincts and potencies of our human nature. We have seen that, through the operation of the heavenly life within, the reported order, beauty and perfection of the heaven without, unfold themselves as naturally and necessarily as the plant unfolds itself from the seed or the flower from the bud under the influence of a vernal sun. And this becomes more apparent and striking the farther we push our inquiries into the abodes of the blessed as unveiled by the Swedish sage.
We come now to consider that trinal distinction of the angelic heavens of which Swedenborg so often speaks, to inquire into the grounds and origin of that distinction, and endeavor to ascertain if it has any solid or scientific basis; in other words, to inquire whether his alleged disclosure on this point is true.
Since the Lord alone is Life, and the only source of life to angels and men, therefore He is the all-in-all of heaven. But in Him there exists a trinal distinction—a trinity of divine essentials. These are, Divine Love, Divine Wisdom, and Divine Operation; called by Swedenborg the Essential Divine, the Divine Human, and the Divine Proceeding; and referred to in the New Testament by the terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have a good illustration of this Divine Trinity in the natural sun, the three essentials of which are heat, light, and their proceeding operation. These three are united in the sun, and are its essentials; for neither of them can exist apart from the other two. This illustration is perfect; for the sun's heat corresponds to the Divine Love, its light to the Divine Wisdom, and their joint operation to the sphere of the Divine Activity, or the proceeding influence of the Lord's love and wisdom.
And as man was created in the Divine image and likeness, therefore there must be in him a trinal distinction imaging, in some degree at least, the trinity in God. There being a manifest trine of essentials in the Divine Being from whom is all our life, there must of necessity be three discrete degrees of life in the soul which is the real man. And as the kingdom of heaven is within, it follows that there must be in general three heavens separated by discrete degrees. These are, we are told—and this is precisely as it should be—related like end, cause, and effect, or like Love, Wisdom, and Operation (or Use) in the Lord. And every man after death enters that particular heaven which has been previously opened and formed in him; for every one then comes into the state of his interiors, or into the enjoyment of just that kind of life which agrees with the kind of truth he had received and religiously obeyed. If only the lowest form of truth has been received, and the lowest degree of his mind opened, he enters the first or lowest heaven. If the second degree of his mind has been opened, he enters the middle or second heaven. And if the third degree has been opened, he enters the third or highest heaven.
Thus the heaven which each one will enter after death, will depend upon the kind or degree of life to which he has attained, or upon the heaven which has been opened and formed within him during his sojourn on earth. He cannot then receive and appropriate a higher degree of life, and therefore cannot enter any higher heaven. And in any lower heaven his measure or degree of life would not be full.
We thus see that the existence of three angelic heavens in general (there are innumerable societies in each of these heavens), follows as a logical conclusion from the existence of three degrees of life in man. And these degrees exist from the trinity in God, in whose image and likeness, the Scripture tells us, man was originally created. Many passages might be cited from Swedenborg in confirmation of what we have here said; but the following are sufficient:
"There are three heavens quite distinct from each other; the inmost or third, the middle or second, and the ultimate or first. They follow in order and are mutually related like the highest part of man, which is called the head; his middle, which is the body; and the lowest, which is the feet. . . The Divine which proceeds and descends from the Lord is also in similar order. Therefore, from the necessity of order, heaven is threefold.
"The interiors of man are also in similar order. He has an inmost, a middle and an ultimate. For when man was created all things of divine order were collated into him, so that he was made divine order in form, and thence a heaven in miniature. For this reason also he communicates with the heavens as to his interiors, and comes among the angels after death; among those of the inmost, middle or lowest heaven, according to his reception of divine good and truth from the Lord during his life in the world.
"It is to be carefully noted that the interiors of the angels are what determine their situation in one or the other of these heavens; for the more their interiors are open to the Lord, the more interior is the heaven in which they dwell. There are three degrees of the interiors with every one, whether angel, spirit or man. They with whom the third degree is open, are in the inmost heaven; they with whom the second degree is open, are in the middle heaven; and they with whom only the first degree is open, are in the lowest heaven.
"The interiors are opened by the reception of divine good and divine truth. They who are affected with divine truths, and admit them immediately into the life, that is, into the will and thence into act, are in the inmost or third heaven, and are situated in that heaven according to their reception of good from the affection of truth. But they who do not admit them immediately into the will, but into the memory and thence into the understanding, and from that will and do them, are in the middle or second heaven. While they who live a moral life, and believe in a Divine being, and care but little about being instructed, are in the lowest or first heaven.
"Hence it may be manifest that the states of the interiors make heaven, and that heaven is within every one and not without him; as the Lord also teaches (Luke xvii. 20, 21).
"All perfection also increases toward the interiors and decreases toward the exteriors; because interior things are nearer the Divine, and in themselves purer; but exterior things are more remote from the Divine, and in themselves grosser. . . Since the interiors of the angels of the inmost heaven are open to the third degree, therefore their perfection immensely surpasses that of the angels of the middle heaven, whose interiors are open to the second degree. In like manner the perfection of the angels of the middle heaven surpasses that of the angels of the ultimate heaven.'"—H. H, n. 29-34.
"It is known that there are three heavens, the inmost, the middle and the ultimate, or the third, the second and the first: all those heavens were represented by the tabernacle. . . The reason why there are three heavens is, that there are three degrees of life in man (for man who becomes an angel after death, constitutes heaven, nor have the angels or the heavens any other origin); the inmost degree of his life is for the inmost heaven; the middle degree of life for the middle heaven; and the ultimate for the ultimate heaven. And since man is such, or so formed, and heaven is from the human race, therefore there are three heavens. Those degrees of life in man are opened successively; the first degree by a life according to what is equitable and just; the second degree by a life according to the truths of faith from the Word, and according to the goods of charity toward the neighbor thence; and the third degree according to the good of mutual love, and the good of love to the Lord: these are the means whereby are successively opened those three degrees of life in man, thus the three heavens in him.
"But it is to be known that so far as man recedes from good of life, and accedes to evil of life, so far these degrees are closed, that is, so far the heavens in him are closed; for as the good of life opens them, so evil of life closes them: hence it is, that all who are in evil are out of heaven, that is, in hell. And since the heavens in man are successively opened according to the good of his life, as was said above, it is to be known that, on this account, in some the first heaven is opened and not the second, and in some the second heaven is opened and not the third; and that the third heaven is opened in those only, who are in good of life from love to the Lord."—A. C. n. 9594. See also A. C. n. 1642, '7, 3691, 5145, 9825, 10,130. D. L. W. n. 202, 236-9. Influx n. 16.We have said that the three angelic heavens are related to each other like the head, trunk and extremities of the human body. The same is said in one of the above extracts; and in D. L.W. n. 202, that "the thoughts of the angels of the highest or third heaven are thoughts of ends, and the thoughts of those of the middle or second heaven are thoughts of causes, and the thoughts of those of the lowest or first heaven are thoughts of effects;" thus showing the three heavens to be related like end, cause and effect.
Now if the doctrine concerning the human form of heaven as developed in a previous chapter be true, it follows as a logical sequence that there must be in general three heavens related like head, trunk and extremities. Otherwise the whole heaven would not be in the human form, that is, not in true human order. The head is not only the highest part of the body, but is in every respect superior to the other parts. It is the part in which are located the organs of sense, whereby the bodily movements are determined and the physical life preserved. Thus, in relation to the other parts of the body, the head is the supreme, guiding and directing organ. Hence in every larger or collective man, it is usual to hear the supreme and directing power called the head. A military general is called the head of the army because he plans and directs its movements. So a king or president, with his constitutional advisers, is called the head of the government; and his cabinet officers are called the heads of the several departments of the government. The principal teacher in a school is the head of the school; the best scholar in a class is the head of his class; the chief owner and director of a factory or mercantile firm, is the head of the establishment.
Thus, in every association or corporate body the member which is invested with, or acknowledged as having, the right to direct, is called the head. And the fact of his being a governing or directing member, implies that he is in ends, or in the thought of ends. And Swedenborg tells us that the angels of the highest or third heaven, who constitute the head of the Grand Man, are in the thought of ends.
But what can the head of an individual do without the body and extremities? The body serves as the means, and the extremities are the servants or operatives. Thus the head, through the intermediate agency of the trunk, sets the extremities in motion, and thereby accomplishes the ends at which it aims. The body or trunk, therefore, viewed in relation to the head, is seen to be a means or secondary cause; and the act of the extremities, through this means, under the direction of the head, is the effect. Accordingly Swedenborg says that the angels of the second heaven, who form as it were the trunk of the Grand Man, are in causes, or in the thought of causes; and that the first or lowest heaven, who constitute the extremities of the Grand Man, are in effects, or in the thought of effects.
We thus see that the three heavens, connected like the head, trunk and extremities of the human body, and really constituting these parts of the Grand Man respectively, are also related like end, cause and effect,—the angels of the highest heaven being more especially in ends, those of the middle heaven in causes, and those of the lowest in effects. And every individual viewed spiritually, is a miniature of the Grand Man, and therefore embodies in himself the same trine of end, cause and effect. He aims to do something—the end. He thinks of how he shall do it—the cause. And the act when done, is the effect.
But let us pursue our inquiry a step further, and notice the beautiful and striking correspondence between these three parts of the body and the three angelic heavens.
Looking at the parts more interiorly, we find that the principal contents of the head are the brain, which is the most refined, delicate and sensitive of all the bodily tissues. It is the seat of sensation, motion and life. It is the great centre of the nervous system, under whose vital influence or direction as it were, digestion, nutrition, circulation, and all the functions of the animal economy are carricd on. Next in rank and office are the viscera of the thorax and abdomen, embracing the whole respiratory, circulatory, digestive and nutritive apparatus. These are less delicate in their structure than the brain, and endowed, so to speak, with a lower degree of life. They include, however, all the means whereby, under the direction of the brain and nervous system, the various tissues are supplied with their appropriate nourishment and sustained in healthy action. But the extremities are still lower in rank, farther removed from the centre of life, less refined and less delicate in their structure. They consist for the most part of coarser and harder materials, such as bones, muscles and cartilages—yet all admirably adapted to the uses they were intended to perform.
Now, corresponding precisely to these relative degrees of vitality, refinement, delicacy of structure, etc., in the principal constituents of these three parts of the body, are the relative degrees of life enjoyed by the angels of the three heavens, according to Swedenborg's disclosures. For he says that the angels of the third or highest heaven, who are also the most interior, are the most innocent and perfect, and in the highest degree of life, because spiritually nearest the Lord, the Fountain of life—that is, most like Him; that the angels of the middle heaven who are less interior, are in a lower degree of good and truth, less perfect, and farther removed from the Lord; and that those of the lowest heaven who are in the most external state, are still more remote from the Lord, thus in a lower degree of good and truth, and less perfect. All of which agrees with the universal law announced in these words, and often repeated by Swedenborg:
It will be noticed, too, that Swedenborg's disclosures on this subject are in perfect agreement with the apostle Paul's testimony. For in one of his letters to the Corinthian church he says: "I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ about fourteen years ago (whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell: God knoweth): such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man . . how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words which it is not possible (οὐκ ἐξόν—see Schleusner's Greek and Latin Lexicon) for a man to utter" (2 Cor. xii. 1-4).
All Christians, therefore, who regard the testimony of the great apostle as credible, must believe that there are at least three heavens. And we may remark in passing, that Swedenborg's pneumatology shows us how Paul was caught up to the third heaven. It was not by any elevation through natural space, for heaven is not to be approached in that way; but by the opening of the third or highest degree of his mind, together with the spiritual senses belonging to that degree. In this way he had a vision of things in the inmost or third heaven, not knowing whether he was in the body or out of it. And his testimony in regard to the unspeakable words he heard, "which it is not possible for a man to utter," is in perfect agreement with Swedenborg's revealings. Concerning the speech of spirits and angels, he says:
"The speech of angelic spirits is incomprehensible. . . But the speech of angels is ineffable, far above that of spirits because above that of angelic spirits, and not at all intelligible to man so long as he lives in the body.
"The speech of the celestial angels [those of the third heaven] is distinct from that of the spiritual angels, and is still more ineffable and inexpressible. . . It is much more full and abundant, for they are in the very fountains and origins of the life of thought and speech."—A. C. n. 143, '5, '7.But every angelic society, we are told, when viewed collectively, appears in the human form, which is the form of the whole heaven; "because, in the most perfect form which is the form of heaven, the parts bear a likeness to the whole, and the least reflects the greatest." Consistently with this, therefore, there should be a trine in each of the angelic heavens, and in each angelic society, simulating the three-fold division of the whole heaven. Accordingly Swedenborg says:
"That there are three heavens, is a known thing; consequently three degrees of goods and truths there. Every heaven also is distinguished into three degrees, for its inmost must communicate immediately with what is superior, its external with what is inferior; and the middle thus, by means of the inmost and the external, with both; hence is its perfection. The case is similar with the interiors of man, which in general are distinguished into three degrees, viz., celestial, spiritual and natural; in like manner each of these into its three degrees; for the man who is in the good of faith and love to the Lord, is a heaven in the least form corresponding to the greatest; so in all things of nature. . . Hence it is that three in the Word signifies what is complete from beginning to end,"—A. C. n. 9825. Also A. R. 876.
"All in heaven are collected into societies, and the societies exist in vast numbers, and each society in its own place forms three heavens."—L. J. n. 27.And this, again, may be seen beautifully illustrated in the human body, the visible image of the order of heaven. For every muscle in the body is a bundle of fibres, and each of these fibres is a collection of smaller threads or fibrilla. Every nerve is a collection of filaments, each of which is a collection of still smaller fibres. Every gland is a congregation of smaller glands, and each of these a conglobation of others still more minute. And the same three-foldness exists throughout all the kingdoms of nature. First, we have matter existing under three distinct forms, viz., solids, liquids, and gases—earth, water, and air—separated from each other by a discrete degree. Then there are the three natural kingdoms, mineral, vegetable, and animal. And each of these, again, is tri-partite. The animal kingdom is distinguished into beasts, birds, and fishes, corresponding to the three forms under which matter is known to exist, and respectively inhabiting the three elements, earth, air, and water. And in the vegetable kingdom we have grasses, shrubs, and trees, separated also by discrete deerees. And if we descend from generals to particulars, we shall everywhere find the same three-fold order; for the order as well as the things of heaven, are distinctly imaged in things of earth.
But if the three angelic heavens exist in accordance with the eternal laws of divine order, having their foundation, as we have said, in the constitution of the human soul, why, it will be asked, do we not see some illustration of this doctrine in the social or collective as well as in the individual man here on earth? There can be no law of human nature so deeply implanted as to determine the angelic heavens into one or another form, which does not manifest itself with greater or less distinctness in this natural sphere. The veil of flesh which is here thrown over the spirit, is not sufficient to hide any of its deep-seated laws or fixed determinations. The same law which draws angels of like character into the same heavenly society, determines people everywhere on earth to seek the companionship of those most like themselves. And so with all biological laws. They exist and are alike operative in both worlds, the natural and the spiritual. Not more certainly does the form of the eagle while yet unfledged and in its shell, point to the future destiny of the bird and the element in which it is to move, than do the laws and tendencies of our human nature as manifested in the flesh, point to the general order and arrangement of that world which is to be our final home.
What is there, then, in the larger or collective man, in the arrangements of human society here on earth, that foreshadows the trinal order of the angelic heavens? If we look at bodies of people, such as kingdoms, states, towns, or smaller companies organized for the performance of some special use, what do we see? In the most advanced civilization (for it is here that we are to look for the fullest development and best illustration of biological laws) we see in all these organized bodies, three distinct classes operating in as many distinct, spheres, and requiring, for the due performance of their respective duties, different kinds of knowledge, or different orders of natural truth, yet all working together simultaneously, the will and wisdom of each uniting with that of the others in the final result. These three classes are the principals, the agents, and the operatives. The principals are in the thought of ends. They have the direction, decide what shall be done, and set the others to doing it. Thus they represent the head, and afford an illustration of the third or highest heaven whose denizens are in ends, or in the thought of ends. The agents are in the thought of means or causes. They know how the intention of the principals is to be executed. They know what to do, and how to do it, in order that the end aimed at may be accomplished. Thus they represent the trunk, and afford an illustration of the middle heaven whose denizens are said to be in causes, or the thought of causes. And the operatives are in the thought of effects. Their knowledge is more limited than that of the others—limited to doing, or knowing how to do, what their superiors direct. They are mere obediences —instruments in the hands of others. Thus they represent the extremities, the hands and feet, which are moved by the body under the direction of the head; and they are as necessary to the completeness of this larger or collective man, as the hands and feet are to the completeness of the individual. We have in this class, therefore, an illustration of the first or lowest heaven, whose denizens are described by Swedenborg as mere "obediences," and are said to be in the thought of effects.
To see how naturally and necessarily people arrange themselves into this triple order in an advanced state of society, we will take a case by way of illustration. Let us look at a country as a single individual in larger form. A government is therein instituted for a definite purpose. And when duly organized and its machinery is in successful operation, what do we find? One class of men whose special function it is to conceive, plan and direct in the affairs of state, and who therefore constitute its head. And in well-organized governments this head must consist of a deliberative and an executive department—a law-making and a law-executing power—functions corresponding perfectly to those of the cerebrum and cerebellum in the head of every individual. This head of the government or state, too, is in the thought of ends. It conceives, plans, points out, directs. It decides what the country will do; when it will go to war and when make peace; when and where it will purchase or sell territory; what foreign nations it will hold intercourse with, and what it will not; when and where it will erect fortifications, improve harbors, construct lighthouses, negotiate treaties, make internal improvements, etc., etc. It is this organized head, therefore, which sets the country in motion, and decides what it shall do. Thus it is manifestly in ends.
Next to the head or supreme class in this organized body, the state, we have another class who act as agents. They do not consider the wisdom or expediency of what the head decides to do. This is no part of their business. Therefore they have no need of the knowledge requisite for settling such questions. But they know how to execute the intentions of those above them—how to accomplish the objects at which the head aims. They consist of all those officials who are appointed as agents in executing the designs of government, such as postmasters, collectors of customs, civil engineers, army and navy officers, superintendents of national works, etc. This class are obviously in the thought of causes or means, having the knowledge of how to accomplish the ends which their superiors (the head) conceive and desire.
But this class of officials do not perform the manual labor that is necessary before the intentions of the head are ultimated. They do not sort, stamp and distribute the letters; they do not weigh, gauge and measure the imports; they do not carry the chain, arrows, compass, or theodolite; they do not shoulder the musket nor wheel the artillery; they do not handle the brick or trowel. But another class come in here, whose knowledge is more limited than that of either of the other two, and who are, therefore, lower in the scale of natural intelligence. They have not that reach of mental vision which belongs to the first or highest class, nor that superintending and commanding talent, or that engineering knowledge and skill which belong to the second class. They do not know why a country needs a fortress here or there, nor have they the knowledge or skill in military fortifications, which would qualify them to superintend its construction. They are mere artisans, with less of mental (but possibly more of physical) ability than either of the other classes. Though unable to plan or engineer a fortification, they understand masonry and can lay brick and stone better than either of the classes above them.
And so with all the operatives who perform the work assigned them by the agents of government in each of its several departments. They are verily the hands of this organic body, which, set at work and directed by the intermediate class or trunk, execute the plans which the head conceives and desires to have executed. And the work when completed is the product of the joint labor of these three classes who sustain to each other the relation of principals, agents, and operatives—highest, middle, and lowest—head, trunk, and extremities—end, cause, and effect. And as the end flows through the cause into the effect (which is the everlasting law of influx), or as the head, by means of the body, puts the extremities in motion, so this first class, by means of the second, set the third or operatives at work; and the combined knowledge and labors of the three are exhibited in the final result, which is the ultimate.
And wherever, in an advanced stage of society, a work of any magnitude is to be done—as the construction of a railroad, the building of a ship, the erection of a temple or factory—the whole body of men engaged in it, will always be found distributed into three classes holding to each other the relation of end, cause, and eficct. Which shows that the trinal distinction of the angelic heavens as disclosed by Swedenborg, is no fanciful or arbitrary division, but one founded on the very constitution of the human soul, and growing legitimately out of it. As there is a trinal distinction in the Divine Being, and three degrees of life in every soul, related like end, cause, and effect, so we find in every larger or collective man on earth, three corresponding degrees similarly related. The conclusion, therefore, seems easy and natural—yea, irresistible—that there must be three discrete degrees of life in heaven, consequently three heavens; and three discrete degrees of good and truth in the Sacred Scripture, suited to the wants or states of these three heavens respectively. So solid and secure is the foundation on which this doctrine of the three angclic heavens rests.