775. The situation with the people who make up the church en masse or taken collectively is much the same as with the person by himself or taken individually. People en masse or taken collectively are a church of many members; and the person by himself or taken individually is the church in each of those many members. It is in accordance with Divine order that there should be general and particular levels, co-existing in any thing you like to mention, and the particular levels could not otherwise come into or continue in existence. In this way there could not be any particular part within the human body unless there were general layers surrounding it. Particular parts in the human body are the viscera and each part of them; the general layers are the coverings which envelop not only the whole body, but also each of the viscera and each part of them. It is much the same in every animal, bird and worm, as well as in every tree, shrub and seed. Nor can strings or wind instruments produce any sound, unless there were a very general level, from which the individual notes derive the general sound which allows them to be produced. It is also similar with all the bodily senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch; and with all the inward senses which exist in the mind.
[2] These illustrations have been given to make it known that in the church too there are general and particular levels, as well as the very general ones. It is also intended to show that this is why the four churches have succeeded in order. This succession gave rise to the most general level of the churches as a whole, and one after another the general and particular level of each. In the human body too there are two very general levels which give rise to the existence of all the other general and particular levels. The two most general items in the body are the heart and the lungs, those in the spirit, the will and the understanding. On these two sets of items depend all the details of a person's life generally and particularly; without them these would fall apart and die off. It would be much the same with the whole heaven of angels and with the whole human race, in fact, with the whole created world, if everything in general, and the details in particular, were not dependent upon God, His love and His wisdom.
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