2941. spoke through the apostles and the prophets, but I was inspired to reply [by asking,] when a spirit is speaking and does not know what he is saying, and it is not from himself, whence is his holiness? Can he claim himself holy on that account? From whom is the holiness he puts forth, is it from himself or from the Lord? He is saying that it is from the inward heaven, but since the angels confess that they are anything but holy, and that they are spirits who belong to the Lord, then from whom do those go forth who advertise themselves as holy, while those who do go forth from the Lord never call themselves holy? I was given to add that the spirits who spoke in the Word of the Old Testament here and there even called themselves Jehovah, and also that the Lord spoke of the holy spirit, as well as of many other things, according to the way things appear to people who know nothing of inward matters-if He had not, no one would ever have believed-just as people today do not at all know either what the inner person is. 1748, 26 Aug. They asked whether anyone of angels or spirits was from eternity. I was given to reply that no one was, but that the Lord [is] from eternity. So they said that they could not contradict the fact that all angels and spirits had been people on earth, so they are create.