219. These points, however, shall be illustrated and established one by one. First: What temporal things are, and what eternal things are. Temporal things are all things which are proper to nature, and things which are derived from these proper to man. Things proper to nature are especially spaces and times, both having limit and termination; and things derived from them proper to man are those that belong to his own will and his own understanding, and consequently to his affection and thought, and especially to his prudence. It is well known that these are finite and limited. Eternal things, on the other hand, are all things which are proper to the Lord, and, while from Him, are as it were proper to man. Things proper to the Lord are all infinite and eternal, thus without time, and consequently without limit and without end. Things derived from these and as it were proper to man, are likewise infinite and eternal; yet nothing of these is man's, but they belong to the Lord alone in man. [2] Second: Man is in himself temporal and the Lord is in Himself eternal, and therefore nothing can proceed from man but what is temporal, and nothing from the Lord but what is eternal. It was stated above that man in himself is temporal, and the Lord in Himself eternal. Since nothing can proceed from anyone but that which is in him, it follows that nothing can proceed from man but what is temporal, and nothing from the Lord but what is eternal. For the infinite cannot proceed from the finite: it is a contradiction to say that it can. Still the infinite can proceed from the finite-not from the finite but from the infinite through the finite. On the other hand, the finite cannot proceed from the infinite; and to say that it can is also a contradiction. The finite, however, can be produced from the infinite, but this is a creating, not a proceeding. On this subject see THE ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM from beginning to end. Therefore, if the finite proceeds from the Lord, as happens in the case of many things in man, it does not proceed from the Lord but from man; and it can be said to proceed from the Lord through man, because it so appears. [3] This may be illustrated by these words of the Lord:
Let your communication be: Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Matt. v. 37. Such is the speech of all in the third heaven; for they never reason about Divine things, discussing whether a thing is so or not so, but they see in themselves from the Lord whether it is so or not. Thus it is that one reasons about Divine things whether they are so or not, because he does not see them from the Lord, but desires to see them from himself; and what man sees from himself is evil. Still the Lord desires that man should not only think and speak about Divine things, but that he should also reason about them to the end that he may see that a thing is or is not so; and this thought, speech and reasoning, provided the end is to see the truth, may be said to be from the Lord in man; although it is from the man until he sees the truth and acknowledges it. Meanwhile it is only from the Lord that he can think, speak and reason; for he has this power from the two faculties, liberty and rationality, and these faculties man has from the Lord alone. [4] Third: Temporal things separate eternal things from themselves, and eternal things conjoin temporal things to themselves. That temporal things separate eternal things from themselves means that man who is temporal does this by acting from the temporal things in himself; and that eternal things conjoin temporal things to themselves means that the Lord who is eternal does this by acting from the eternal things in Himself as was said above. In what has gone before it was shown that there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord; but that the reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord is not from man, but from the Lord; moreover, that man's will is in opposition to the Lord's will; or, what is the same thing, that man's own prudence is in opposition to the Divine Providence of the Lord. From these considerations it follows that man by acting from his temporal things separates from himself the eternal things of the Lord, but that the Lord conjoins His eternal things to the temporal things of man, that is, He conjoins Himself to man and man to Himself. As these matters have already been fully treated it is not necessary to add further confirmation. [5] Fourth: The Lord conjoins man to Himself by means of appearances. For it is an appearance that man from himself loves the neighbour, does good and speaks truth; and unless these things appeared to man as from himself he would not love the neighbour, do good and speak truth, and therefore would not be conjoined to the Lord. Since then love, good and truth are from the Lord, it is clear that the Lord by means of appearances conjoins man to Himself. But this appearance, and the conjunction of the Lord with man and man's reciprocal conjunction with the Lord by means of it, have been fully treated above. [6] Fifth: The Lord conjoins man to Himself by means of correspondences. This is done by means of the Word (medio Verbo), the sense of the Letter of which consists of pure correspondences. That by means of this sense there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and a reciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord has been shown in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, from beginning to end.
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