278. The innocence of wisdom is genuine innocence, because it is internal, for it belongs to the mind (mens) itself, that is, to the will itself and thence to the understanding. And when there is innocence in these there is also wisdom, for wisdom belongs to the will and understanding. This is why it is said in heaven that innocence dwells in wisdom, and that an angel has as much wisdom as he has innocence. This is confirmed by the fact that those who are in a state of innocence attribute nothing of good to themselves, but regard all things as received and attribute them to the Lord. Also they wish to be led by Him and not by themselves. They love everything that is good and they delight in everything that is true, because they know and perceive that loving what is good, that is, willing and doing it, is loving the Lord, and that loving truth is loving the neighbour. They live contented with what they have, whether it be little or much, because they know that they receive just as much as is good for them-those receiving little for whom little is useful, and those receiving much for whom much is useful. They also recognize that they themselves do not know what is good for them, the Lord alone knowing this, for in all things that He provides He looks to eternal ends. [2] Neither are they anxious about the future. Anxiety about the future they call care for the morrow, which they define as grief on account of losing or not receiving things that are not necessary for the uses of life. With companions they never act from an evil end but from what is good, just, and sincere. Acting from an evil end they call cunning, which they shun as the poison of a serpent, since it is wholly antagonistic to innocence. As they love nothing more than to be led by the Lord, attributing to Him all things that they receive, they are removed from their own proprium; and to the extent that they are so removed from their own proprium the Lord inflows. In consequence of this, whatever they hear from Him, whether by the Word or by means of preaching, they do not store it up in the memory, but instantly obey it, that is, will it and do it, their will being itself their memory. For the most part these outwardly appear simple, but in internal things they are wise and prudent. These are meant by the Lord in the words,
Be ye prudent as serpents and simple as doves. Matt. x. 16.
Such is the innocence that is called the innocence of wisdom. [3] Because innocence attributes nothing of good to itself, but attributes all good to the Lord, and because it thus loves to be led by the Lord, and the reception of all good and truth, from which wisdom comes, is derived therefrom-therefore man has been so created that during his childhood he is in innocence, though external, and when he becomes old he is in internal innocence, to the end that he may come by the former into the latter, and from the latter return into the former. For the same reason, when a man becomes old he dwindles in body and becomes again like a little child, but like a wise child, that is, an angel, for an angel is a wise child in an eminent sense. This is why, in the Word, "a little child" signifies one who is innocent, and an old man" signifies one who is wise in whom is innocence.# # In the Word "little children" signify innocence (n. 5608); likewise "sucklings" (n. 3183). An "old man" signifies one who is wise, and in an abstract sense wisdom (n. 3183, 6524). Mass is so created that in proportion as he verges towards old age he may become like a little child, and that innocence may then be in his wisdom, and in that state he may pass into heaven and become an angel (n. 3183, 5608).
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church