Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4644

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4644. The present chapter deals with the following matters - the Good which was Divine and which the Lord had from when He was born; the joining of that Good to the truth and good which, as one who was born a human being, He acquired to Himself; also the derivatives from this. But because these matters, as has been stated, are of a kind which does not come within the range of anyone's understanding, not even that of any angel, it is not therefore possible for them to be explained in detail. What is more, mere names are used to describe that Divine [Natural Good] together with its derivatives, and to explain mere names devoid of any historical context which sheds light confirming the explanation given would leave the whole thing in doubt. For few are able to believe that spiritual things are meant by the names used in the Word, no matter how clearly this is shown to them. For all these reasons the actual words used in this chapter are being copied out, with the addition of no more than a general explanation of them involving the kinds of things which people are able to grasp, yet which are merely vague outlines. For no one can possibly see the things that exist within the Divine; but people can gain a general picture of things emanating from the Divine What is then seen depends on the kind of understanding within whose range those things can come, though even then they are but vague outlines.

[2] In addition it should be recognized that no human being at all is born into any good. Rather, each person is born into evil - into more internal evil from his father and into more external from his mother - for everyone's heredity is an evil one. The Lord alone was born into good, actually into Divine Good itself, in that He received this from His Father. This Divine Good into which the Lord was born is the subject now Its derivatives are those things which came to exist in the Lord's Human when He made this Divine and by means of which He glorified it. All this explains why it is possible for just a general explanation to be added here.


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