28. It is known in the Church that the Church is the Body of Christ; but how this is, has not been known hitherto. Hence it is, that the whole heaven is as one man before the Lord; and this one man is distinguished into societies, each of which has reference to some member or organ, and viscus, in man. In this man, or body, the Lord is the soul or life. For the Lord breathes into men; and, when He is present [with them], He is present through the heavens, as the soul through its body. The like is the case with the Church on earth; for this is the external man. Wherefore, every one, after death, is gathered to his own in that body, etc.