Heaven Revealed/Chapter 9
IX.
LIGHT AND HEAT IN HEAVEN.
AMONG the first questions which people are naturally inclined to ask about the heaven of angels, are such as the following: Have they light and heat there, as we have here? If so, what is their nature and origin? Do they come from a sun, like the light and heat of this world? If the answer be, Yes, then what is the nature of that sun, and how does it differ from our own? Swedenborg ought to be able to answer these questions, if his claim to have enjoyed long and open intercourse with the angels be well-founded. And he has answered them with all the fullness that we might expect. Let us see what his answers are, and then subject them to a careful examination. He says:
"But although the sun of the world does not appear in heaven, nor anything which exists from this sun, still there is a sun there, and light and heat and all things which are in the world and a great many more, but not from a similar origin; for the things which exist in heaven are spiritual, and those which exist in the world are natural. The sun of heaven is the Lord; the light there is divine truth, and the heat is divine good, both of which proceed from the Lord as a sun. From that origin are all things which exist and appear in heaven."
"The Lord appears in heaven as a sun, because He is the divine love from which all spiritual things exist, as all natural things exist by means of the sun of this world. It is that love which shines as a sun. . . He appears differently according to each individual's reception of Him; in one way, therefore, to those who receive Him in the good of love, and in another to those who receive Him in the good of faith. To those who receive Him in the good of love. He appears as a sun, fiery and flaming according to reception. These are in his celestial kingdom. But to those who receive Him in the good of faith, He appears as a moon, white and shining according to reception. These are in his spiritual kingdom."—H. H, n. 116-118.
"The light in heaven is so great as to exceed by many degrees the mid-day light of the world. I have often seen it, even in the evening and night. At first I wondered when I heard the angels say that the light of the world is little more than shade in comparison with the light of heaven. But since I have seen it. I can testify that it is so. Its whiteness and brilliancy surpass all description. The things seen by me in heaven, were seen in that light; thus more clearly and distinctly than things in the world.
"The light of heaven is not natural like that of the world, but spiritual; for it proceeds from the Lord as a sun, and that sun is divine love. That which proceeds from the Lord as a sun, is called in the heavens divine truth, although in its essence it is divine good united to divine truth. Hence the angels have light and heat; light from the divine truth, and heat from the divine good. From this consideration it is evident that the light and heat of heaven are not natural but spiritual from their origin."—Ibid. 126, '7.
"The degrees of spiritual heat may be understood from those of light, for heat and light exist in equal degrees. As to the spiritual light in which the angels dwell. I have been permitted to see it with my own eyes; and among the angels of the higher heavens it is so bright and yet so glowing as to surpass description even by the radiance of the natural sun. In a word, it exceeds a thousand-fold the noonday light of the world."—D. L. W, n. 182.
"The heat of heaven in its essence is love. It proceeds from the Lord as a sun, and is the divine love in Him and from Him. Hence it is evident that the heat of heaven is spiritual as well as its light; for it is from the same origin. The heat of heaven, like its light, is everywhere various. That in the celestial kingdom differs from that in the spiritual; and it differs also in every society. And not only does it differ in degree, but even in kind. It is more intense and pure in the Lord's celestial kingdom, because the angels there are more receptive of the divine good. It is less intense and pure in the Lord's spiritual kingdom, because the angels there are more receptive of divine truth. And it differs also in every society according to reception.
Scores of passages similar to the foregoing, might be quoted from Swedenborg's writings. And he nowhere teaches anything at variance with this, though enjoying open intercourse with the angels, and daily writing of what he heard and saw in heaven, for a period of nearly thirty years. What evidence can be adduced in confirmation of these statements? is the next question; for we should not accept the mere ipse dixit of any man on a subject of this nature.
First, it cannot be denied that there is an air of reasonableness and probability about the statements, which is utterly repugnant to the idea of delusion on the part of the author. There is also a directness and simplicity in the manner of the statements, which we all recognize as among the characteristics of a truthful revelation. And their reasonableness becomes more and more manifest, the closer they are examined,—another strong indication of their truth. For consider:—
Angels are human beings removed from the lower or primitive stage of existence, and advanced to a higher and more mature state. They are all in the human form. They possess the human faculties, but in a more perfected state than those of people on earth. They also have the human organs—eyes, ears, hands, feet, etc.,—the same as men. And wherever they are mentioned or referred to in the Bible, they are spoken of as in the human form; and in some places their faces, mouths, eyes, ears, and hands are particularly mentioned.
Now eyes imply the existence of some sort of light as the medium of their exercise or use, just as ears imply the existence of some sort of an atmosphere. If there were no such thing as light, eyes would be useless and we should not have them; for the Creator makes nothing without use as an end. He adds no useless appendage to any creature. And having eyes we could not see without some suitable medium—some kind of light. But our organs of sense are material, and therefore adapted to this material world. With our bodily eyes we see, and with our fleshly hands we handle, material things—and these alone. And the light and heat of this world, and the sun from which they emanate, being themselves natural, are adapted to our natural or fleshly organs.
But everything in the spiritual world is spiritual. The bodies of the angels are spiritual bodies; and we have Paul's testimony that "there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (1 Cor. xv. 4.) And the organs of sense which the angels possess, must be suited to the spiritual things of their world, as our bodily organs are adapted to the material things of this world. The light and heat of heaven must therefore be spiritual, else they would not be suited to the nature of the angels, nor be in harmony or homogeneous with the things of their world.
And we know what spiritual light is. It is that which illumines the understanding—the light of divine or spiritual truth. When this light dawns upon us, it brings day to our mental world. The light of divine truth shows us the path in which we ought to walk—the path that leads to heaven. And we know, too, what spiritual heat is. It is that which warms us internally and spiritually; that which sets the soul aglow; that which we feel when the heart throbs with emotions of gratitude and love. Love is spiritual heat; and its effects in the moral or spiritual realm are such as correspond to the effects of the sun's heat in the material realm. It warms and quickens and vivifies. Hence it is common to hear people who abound in love towards others, called warm-hearted.
And from what other source can spiritual light and heat proceed, than a spiritual sun? And a spiritual sun must be a living sun. And what can a living sun be, but the Lord Jehovah Himself? What but the very sun in whose bright beams of truth and love the angels continually rejoice—the sun of the spiritual world? And can there be any reasonable doubt that this sun is the incarnate Word—the Divine Man who, when on earth, declared: "I am the light of the world;" who is the Enlightener of all minds and the Quickener of all hearts; "in whom is life," and whose life "is the light of men"? (John i. 4, 9.) The spiritual sun must be to the universe of souls, what the natural sun is to the realm of matter.
Consider again, that angels are human beings in an advanced stage;—men and women raised from this primary and rudimental to a higher or more interior state of existence. And if advanced to a higher state, they should possess a keener insight and enjoy a wider range of vision than we do. They ought therefore to dwell in light of superior brilliancy. And so we might reasonably expect that the sun of heaven would be immensely brighter than the sun of this world. We should expect it to surpass our sun in splendor by as many degrees as heaven is higher than earth, or as angels are superior to men. Accordingly Swedenborg says:
It cannot be denied, then, that the seer's disclosure on this subject, is altogether reasonable. Indeed we cannot conceive of an answer essentially different, that would at all satisfy the demands of reason.
Then there have been in different ages and countries many pious and trustworthy persons, whose spiritual eyes have been occasionally opened, and whose recorded experiences on such occasions agree entirely with Swedenborg's statements, and may be said therefore to furnish corroborative evidence of their truth. Cases like that, for example, recorded of the grandfather of Heinrich Jung Stilling in the latter's Autobiography (p. 22. Harper's edition); and that of Rev. Wm. Tenant of Freehold. New Jersey, who was apparently dead for several days, and after his resuscitation described what he saw while in that state; among other things "an ineffable glory"—a "glory all unutterable." (See Memoir of Rev. Wm. Tenant.) Dr. Passavent says: "Persons recovering from deep swoons and trances, frequently describe themselves as having been in this region of light—this light of the spirit, if I may so call it—this palace of light in which it dwells, which will hereafter be its proper light; for the physical or solar light which serves us while in the flesh, will be no longer needed." (Quoted in Mrs. Crowe's Night Side of Nature, vol, ii., p. 163.) And Dr. H. Werner (Doctor of Philosophy. Stuttgard and Tübingen), in his Guardian Spirits, tells of a seeress with whom he was intimate, and who, in her state of trance, often spoke of seeing a bright Sun and of being in its light. On one occasion she says: "I see the Sun, and these beings quite different from men—much more pure and noble—are not in the Sun, . . but I see them in the neighborhood of the Sun. O, if it were so fair, so glorious on the earth below, as here where there are no human passions, it were then good to live there. This whole life above consists of love. Everything that is and is done here, proceeds from love. This principle makes all the happiness that reigns here above." (p. 30, '1. New York edition, 1847.)
Numerous facts like these are accessible, and from sources perfectly authentic. And while they harmonize with, and go to confirm the truth of, Swedenborg's statements, they at the same time find in his revealings their only rational and philosophical explanation.
And turning to the Bible we find still further confirmation of the truth of his statements. We find there a record of facts which it is impossible rationally to explain upon any other theory than that furnished by his pneumatology. Take, for example, the phenomenon recorded in Exodus (24th chapter), when Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu were called to "come up unto the Lord." It is there said that "the glory of the Lord abode upon mount Sinai; and the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel." And this, too, although the Lord's glory was veiled by a cloud to the multitude who stood gazing at the foot of the mount. What must have been the appearance of that glory to Moses who went up into the mount and the cloud! No wonder that when he came down, "the skin of his face shone" as the record says.
Then we read in the gospel by Matthew (17th chapter): "And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, James and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them; and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with Him. . . And as they came down from the mountain. Jesus charged them, saying. Tell the vision to no man until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead." This is the way Jesus appeared to the disciples when their spiritual eyes were opened: "his face did shine as the sun." That it was with their spiritual and not with their natural eyes that the disciples saw Jesus on that occasion, is evident; 1st, from the fact that they saw Moses and Elias at the same time, and these persons, being spirits and long time dwellers in the spiritual world, could not be seen by any eyes but those of the spirit; and 2d, from the Lord's own words, "Tell the vision to no man," etc. A vision is a supernatural appearance—something seen with the spiritual and not with the natural eyes.
Again, the seer of Patmos tells us that, "being in the spirit on the Lord's day," he heard behind him a great voice," saying: I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last." And turning to see whence the voice came, he says: "I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man . . . and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." (Rev. i. 10, 13, 16.) To be "in the spirit," is to be in an exalted spiritual state—in a state to see as those do who are in the spiritual world, or who have their spiritual eyes opened.
Then there is the testimony of Paul in his memorable speech before king Agrippa (and repeated elsewhere), which perfectly agrees with, and finds a rational explanation in, Swedenborg's disclosures. "Whereupon," says the apostle, "as I was going to Damascus, with authority and commission from the chief priests, at mid-day, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth. I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? . . . And I said, Who art thou. Lord? And He said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." (Acts xxvi. 12, 13.) Observe that the apostle beheld this dazzling brightness at mid-day, and says that it exceeded the brightness of the sun. The light was overpowering in its splendor. It was more than he and his fellow travellers could endure; and they fell prostrate on the earth.
Now what was the nature of that light? and to what realm did it belong, the natural or the spiritual? Certainly not to the natural; for what light in the realm of nature is so overpowering as that was? What natural light is above that of the sun at noonday? And why not seen by all the people in that region round about, if it were merely natural light? No: The light which Paul and his companions beheld on that occasion, was from the Sun of the spiritual world—their spiritual sight being suddenly and providentially opened to enable them to see it. And if the light of that Sun is, as Swedenborg says, "a thousand times greater than that of the sun of this world," no wonder that they all fell to the earth, and that Paul himself "could not see for the glory of that light" (Acts xxii. 11), and remained "three days without sight." (ix. 9.) Who could stand before such dazzling brightness, if it burst suddenly upon him? Observe further, that, within that overwhelming blaze was a person—the Lord Jesus Christ himself—from whom came the words in Hebrew, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" Observe, also, that this great light burst upon them suddenly, and as suddenly vanished; and the apostle himself called it "a light from heaven."
And thus we find that remarkable experience of Paul, producing what is commonly called his miraculous conversion, to be in perfect agreement with Swedenborg's disclosures; and while furnishing additional confirmation of their truth, receiving from them at the same time an easy and philosophical explanation. And can you find in any of the old theologies—can you find anywhere else but in Swedenborg's pneumatology, a rational explanation of that memorable occurrence?
And that it is the Lord Jesus Christ or Jehovah God, who is the Sun of the spiritual world, is plain from many passages of Scripture. Thus the inspired Psalmist says: "Jehovah God is a sun and shield." "Jehovah covereh Himself with light as with a garment." And Isaiah says: "Jehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light." And the apostle John: "God is light," and "God is love"—for love is spiritual heat whence comes spiritual light. And of that city which the seer of Patmos beheld in vision "coming down from God out of heaven," it is said "the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." And "there shall be no night there; . . . for the Lord God giveth them light." And the Lord when on earth proclaimed Himself "the light of the world." And John calls Him "the Word" which was "in the beginning with God, and is God—"the true light which lighteth every man." He is the enlightener of all souls, the Sun of the moral universe.
Thus do reason. Scripture, the recorded experiences of gifted seers and of devout men in all ages, unite in attestation of the truth of Swedenborg's revelation concerning the Sun of the spiritual world, and the nature of the light and heat thence proceeding. And there is no conflict in the testimony rendered, but perfect agreement among all these witnesses. And the witnesses, we observe, are quite independent of each other. The conclusion is, therefore, inevitable. For what the Bible declares, and reason approves, and the experience of prophets and seers in all ages confirms, must be true beyond question.
Nor is the evidence exhausted yet. As we prosecute our inquiry into the laws and phenomena of the spiritual world, we shall find additional proof accumulating at every step. We shall find this central fact of the existence of a spiritual Sun, connecting itself as intimately with the other facts and phenomena of the spiritual world, as the fact of the natural sun's existence connects itself with the other facts and phenomena of our terrestrial world, with the motion of the planets, the existence and color of the clouds, the verdure of the fields, the aspects of the landscape, the countless tints of the violet and the rose. These all presuppose and depend wholly upon the sun, and could not exist without it.