SPIRITUAL LIFE AND THE WORD OF GOD { PT 27 }

 { PT.  27 } - ( That the whole heaven in the complex answers to a single man may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 51--86; and that the angels think according to the form of heaven, n. 200--212 ). This idea of God flows in from heaven into all in the world, and has its seat in their spirit; but it seems to be rooted out in those in the church who are in intelligence from what is their own ( proprium ), indeed so rooted out as to be no longer a possible idea; and this for the reason that they think of God from space. But when these become spirits they think otherwise, as has been made evident to me by much experience. For in the spiritual world an indeterminate idea of God is no idea of God is no idea of Him; consequently the idea there is determined to someone who has his seat either on high or elsewhere, and who gives answers. From a general influx which is from the spiritual world men have received ideas of God as a Man veriously according to the state of perception; and for this reason the triune God is with us called Persons; and in paintings in churches God the Father is represented as a man, the Ancient of Days. It is also from a general influx that men, both living and dead, who are called saints, are adored as gods by the common people in Christian Gentilism, and their sculptured images are esteemed. The same is true of many nations elsewhere, of the ancient peoples in Greece, in Rome, and in Asia, who had many gods, all of whom were regarded by them as men. This has been said to make known that there is an intuition, namely, in man's spirit, to see God as a man.