Beyond the Range of Human Thought Part 1

Swedenborg's works offer us a vivid picture of what heaven is like, but all this information can give us as many questions as it does answers. Here Helen shares a compilation of passages about the various ingredients of the afterlife, resulting in a hearty meal's worth of food for thought. -Editor

Our lives are constant challenges to get past ourselves and the natural world, and move into a different mental landscape, one where learning more deeply about the life of the spirit enhances the Lord's ability to be with us. That learning may be unconscious, but it is a way of working with the Lord on the heavenly home we will be entering when our life here in the natural world ends. Truth be told, our heavenly home is based on the foundation we work on while in this world. Jesus did not waste his breath while here, so his teaching in the Gospel of John must be important,

"In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you." (John 14:2)

Would any believer doubt this? I don't know.

When I think of the life here and lessons we are learning, I wonder about some things. One is, "How does the Lord take into account the differences among us?" In my childhood I only heard of heaven as one homogenous place, or state, along with the implication that we're all going to be blended into the same generic happiness. Really? How is that going to work? I just can't imagine being happy alongside some people to eternity. Not that they're bad—they're just different. So in what way, or ways, is heaven going to be the comforting, satisfying place, or state, that fits each person's mental makeup precisely in a way that will make every one of us happy?

About deeper realities Swedenobrg says,

"Ideas about these things do not come within a person's grasp unless he knows that the natural [part of our mind] constitutes the external person, the rational [part] the internal person, and above all, unless he knows what the spiritual is, and what the celestial is." (Secrets of Heaven 4585)

Above all? He places a lot of importance on something most of us know nothing about. But he explains that those in the highest, or celestial heaven, focus on the love of what is good, and those in the middle, or spiritual, heaven, focus on the love of what is true. Even though that is reflected in the way we are here on earth, it's more complex in the sense that our will and understanding, or the good and truth in them, need to be in good balance.

In an effort to learn more I have compiled passages which show how the celestial and spiritual heavens are so very different, and how they work well together. I am interested in thoughts about any of the passages that may resonate with the reader. It will help to give more insight into this interesting reality.

On the Word:

The Word is inwardly alive. When the Word is read by a person who treats it as holy, then in the second heaven its natural sense becomes spiritual, and the third, celestial . . . When it becomes spiritual, then it lives from the light of truth in it, and when it becomes celestial, it lives from the flame of good in it. (De Verbo 2)

On the thoughts of angels:

The thoughts of angels are utterly different from those of people on earth. Their thinking takes place by means of light, either brilliant white or flame-like; these are beyond the range of a natural description. (De Verbo 2)

All on earth:

Everyone...is born earthly, with the ability or potential to become either celestial or spiritual. (Secrets of Heaven 4594:2)

Understanding how truths affect angels may help to understand their differences a little better:

Celestial angels do not first admit truths into the memory, but immediately into the will, and through acts into the life.

Spiritual angels admit truths first into the memory, and from that into the understanding, which is thus formed by these truths. (Apocalypse Explained 831:3)

Some further insight:

As soon as they [celestial angels] hear genuine divine truths, they immediately acknowledge and grasp them and from then on virtually see them within themselves. Because this is characteristic of angels of this heaven, they never try to figure out divine truths, much less argue whether some particular truth is true or not. (Heaven and Hell 270)

This comes from a difference in influx:

The celestial angels know at once by influx from the Lord whether the truth they hear is true, for the Lord flows directly into a human's willing, but mediately through his willing into his thinking. (Heaven and Hell 26)

Caused by a difference in their minds:

The celestial kingdom consists of those who are governed by love to the Lord, and the spiritual kingdom consists of those who are governed by charity towards the neighbor. These kingdoms are quite distinct and separate, and yet in the heavens they act as one. (Secrets of Heaven 4138)

The reason why they are separate:

The Lord's divine goodness cannot influence any but celestial people, because it acts on their volitional side...The Lord's divine truth, however, influences spiritual people because it acts only on their intellectual side, which has been detached from their volitional side. In other words, heavenly good affects heavenly people; spiritual good affects spiritual people. (Secrets of Heaven 2069:5)

Which comes from different starting points:

With the spiritual human, in whom reformation is taking place, the starting point is the earth or external person; but where the subject is the celestial human, the starting point is the internal...or heaven. (Secrets of Heaven 89)

Heavenly things can be understood by people on earth in a generalized way:

At times I have been given the ability to perceive and understand the things they said [in the middle and highest heavens.] Their talk was full of secrets about the Lord, redemption, regeneration, providence and other such matters. I was afterwards given to understand that these could...be described by the words of a natural language so as to allow them to be grasped rationally. I was told that there do not exist any Divine secrets which cannot be perceived and expressed naturally, too, although in a more generalized and imperfect form. (Divine Love and Wisdom 257)

On the limitless differences:

The limitless difference between the natural, the spiritual and the celestial can be established from the difference between the thought of people on earth and those of angels, and from the difference in their speech, the kinds of work they do, and the difference between their scripts. (De Verbo 3:5)

On angelic life:

The life of the angels of the third heaven consists in affections of good, and...in the second, in the affections of truth. The difference is such that they are easily known from one another by their faces, and also by their speech. (Apocalypse Explained 831)

On their light:

Light with the angels of the third heaven is derived from something flaming, and the light of the angels of the second heaven is from a shining white. (Apocalypse Explained 831)

The light in each heaven...is equivalent in degree to the wisdom with angels there. In the highest heavens the light is flame-colored, flashing as if from lustrous gold: this is because they are in wisdom. In the heavens below these the light is white, shining brightly as if from gleaming silver: this is because they are in intelligence. And in the lowest heavens the light is like the noonday light in the world: this is because they are in knowledge. (Divine Wisdom 1)

People have a hard time understanding these things:

Few people picture angels and spirits as anything but disembodied. Most suppose they consist of mere thought, hardly viewing them as substantial, let alone as human beings who enjoy the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Still less would they believe that such beings breathe and therefore have life as we do (though of a deeper kind, like the life of the spirit in comparison to that of the body). (Secrets of Heaven 3891:3)

On clothes:

The heavens are full of human beings, who are angels, and these are clothed with garments shining in varied degrees of brightness. (Secrets of Heaven 9814)

Those who have been regenerated by the Divine truth of faith walk in heaven in raiment of white linen and are called spiritual angels, but those who have been regenerated by the Divine good of love walk in purple raiment and are called celestial angels. (True Christian Religion 686)

The spiritual angels are clothed in garments of fine linen and silk, generally in shining garments. (Apocalypse Explained 831:6)

On food:

Celestial food is every benefit of love and charity received from the Lord. Spiritual food is every true tenet of faith. These two types of food are what angels live on. (Secrets of Heaven 1480)

On work:

The sort of work the spiritual angels do cannot be described to a natural person, nor what the celestial do to one who is spiritual. The difference is as great as between their thoughts, modes of speech, and writing. (De Verbo 3:8)

On the work that angels do:

I started to make some choices about what I wanted to do, but gave up in futility. Each use has its appeal, and I concluded that it takes the wisdom of the Divine to know the work each one of us is best suited for. Most likely we'll do several of these things, or maybe all of them. Eternity is for a long time:

There are some communities whose tasks are:

...to take care of babies.

...to teach and lead children while they are growing up.

...to look after young boys and girls who are well disposed because of the way they were raised in this world and have come [straight] to heaven, where they are taught and raised in much the same way.

...some teach simple people from the Christian world and lead them on the way to heaven.

...some do the same for various non-Christian peoples.

...some protect new spirits, just arrived from the world, from attacks of evil spirits.

...some attend to people in the lower earth.

...some attend to people in the hells and control them so that they do not torture each other beyond set limits.

...some tend to people who are being awakened from their death. (Heaven and Hell 391)

All these tasks are things the Lord does by means of angels, since angels do them not on their own but from the Lord.

On the terrain:

Those who are in love to the Lord dwell upon mountains in heaven, and those who are in charity towards the neighbor, upon hills. (Apocalypse Explained 304:2)

On abodes:

In the spiritual heaven are magnificent palaces, and in them all things shine with precious stones and decorations in such forms as cannot be equaled by any painting in the world, nor expressed in words. (Spiritual Experiences 831:6)

And as the spiritual heavens correspond to the eyes, there are paradisiacal scenes, as also in many places rainbow colored appearances, and these with ineffable beauty. (Apocalypse Explained 831:6)

On societies:

Angels of the second heaven, like the angels of the third heaven, dwell in distinct societies, but the societies of the third heaven are above those of the second because celestial love flows into spiritual love. Spiritual love derives its essence from celestial love by influx mediate and immediate from the Lord. (Apocalypse Explained 831)

On the qualities of the people:

In the spiritual heaven justice, integrity, verity, chastity and the other praiseworthy virtues of moral life reign. These heavens constitute the royalty of the Lord, while the higher heavens, where the celestial angels are, constitute the priesthood of the Lord, for His royalty is Divine truth, and His priesthood is Divine good. (Apocalypse Explained 831)

On conscience/perception:

No visible bonds restrict the celestial, for he is a free person. His or her bonds, which are not visible, are perceptions of good and truth.

The bonds which restrain the spiritual are internal, or the bonds of conscience. (Secrets of Heaven 81)

On qualities of perception:

Those who are led by the Lord perceive what they ought to do, and this in a manner not intelligible to others; so too are they persuaded what they ought to know, and this also in a spiritual manner unintelligible to others. (Spiritual Diary1405)

There is so much about people that is unintelligible to me. This confirms that people are a mystery.

On a difference toward conflict:

The spiritual human is involved in conflict, but he always conquers. The bonds which restrain him are internal, and are called the bonds of conscience.

The celestial human is not involved in conflict. If evils and falsities assail him, he treats them with contempt...His bonds, which are not visible, are perceptions of good and truth. (Secrets of Heaven 81)

The delight of life for celestial people:

To others [they] look like young children, for the state of peace and innocence gives them this appearance. Everything in the celestial heaven is living to their eyes, so to speak, for that which comes directly from the Lord is living. (Secrets of Heaven 3887)

The delight of life for spiritual people:

...is considered by them to lie in being able to do good to others without reward. To them being allowed to do good to others is itself a reward. And the more this is their will and desire, the greater the intelligence and happiness they experience. (Secrets of Heaven 3887)

Helen Kennedy

Helen writes essays, novels, and poetry. Her first published story, Grandmothers and Grandfathers was about a new mother who can perceive her baby's Irish ancestors bringing blessings to the newest member of the family line. Her unique novels are rooted in the human condition while exploring the reality of a world to come. Helen also is an avid genealogist, believing there is much to learn about our minds from the very people with whom we may share facial features, body size, personality traits, and other expressions of our humanity.