om of all angels, and the
angel constitute heaven, He is in the whole heaven.
114. The Lord not only is in heaven, but also is heaven itself; for love
and wisdom are what make the angel, and these two are the Lord's in the
angels; from which it follows that the Lord is heaven. For angels are not
angels from what is their own; what is their own is altogether like what
is man's own, which is evil. An angel's own is such because all angels
were once men, and this own clings to the angels from their birth. It is
only put aside, and so far as it is put aside the angels receive love and
wisdom, that is, the Lord, in themselves. Any one, if he will only elevate
his understanding a little, can see that the Lord can dwell in angels,
only in what is His, that is, in what is His very own, which is love and
wisdom, and not at all in the selfhood of angels, which is evil. From this
it is, that so far as evil is put away so far the Lord is in them, and so
far they are angels. The very angelic of heaven is Love Divine and Wisdom
Divine. This Divine is called the angelic when it is in angels. From this,
again, it is evident that angels are angels from the Lord, and not from
themselves; consequently, the same is true of heaven.
115. But how the Lord is in an angel and an angel in the Lord cannot be
comprehended, unless the nature of their conjunction is known. Conjunction
is of the Lord with the angel and of the angel with the Lord; conjunction,
therefore, is reciprocal. On the part of the angel it is as follows. The
angel, in like manner as man, has no other perception than that he is in
love and wisdom from himself, consequently that love and wisdom are, as
it were, his or his own. Unless he so perceived there would be no
conjunction, thus the Lord would not be in him, nor he in the Lord. Nor
can it be possible for the Lord to be in any angel or man, unless the one
in whom the Lord is, with love and wisdom, has a perception and sense as
if they were his. By this means the Lord is not only received, but also,
when received, is retained, and likewise loved in return. And by this,
also, the angel is made wise and continues wise. Who can wish to love
the Lord and his neighbor, and who can wish to be wise, without a sense
and perception that what he loves, learns, and imbibes is, as it were,
his own? Who otherwise can retain it in himself? If this were not so, the
inflowing love and wisdom would have no abiding-place, for it would flow
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