Divine Love and Wisdom (Harleys) n. 427

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427. (xxii) It is the same with charity and faith, and their conjunction, as with will and understanding, and their conjunction. There are two loves in accordance with which the heavens are distinguished, celestial love and spiritual love. Celestial love is love to the Lord and spiritual love is love towards the neighbour. The distinction between these loves is that celestial love is the love of what is good, and spiritual love is the love of what is true; for those who live in celestial love perform uses from the love of what is good, and those who live in spiritual love from the love of what is true. The marriage of celestial love is with wisdom and the marriage of spiritual love is with intelligence; for doing what is good from good is the part of wisdom, and doing what is good from truth is the part of intelligence; wherefore celestial love does what is good, and spiritual love does what is true. The difference between these two loves can be defined only in this way, that those who live in celestial love have wisdom inscribed on their life and not on their memory, for which reason they do not talk about Divine truths, but do them; while those who live in spiritual love have wisdom inscribed on their memory, and therefore talk about Divine truths and do them from principles in the memory. Because those living in celestial love have wisdom inscribed on their life, they perceive instantly whether anything they hear is true or not; and when asked if it be true, answer only, "It is," or "It is not." These are they who are meant by the words of the Lord:

Let your communication be Yea, yea, Nay, nay Matt. V 37.

And since such is their character they are unwilling to hear anything about faith, saying, "What is faith? Is it not wisdom"? and "What is charity? Is it not doing?" and when told that faith is believing what is not understood, they turn away with the remark, "This man is out of his mind." These are they who dwell in the third heaven, and who are the wisest of all. People who applied to their life Divine truths directly they heard them, acquired such a disposition in the world by turning away from evils as infernal, and by worshipping the Lord alone. To others they appear like little children because they live in innocence, and they even seem simple because they have nothing to say about truths of wisdom, and because there is nothing of pride in their discourse. Yet all the while as they listen to anyone speaking, they perceive by the tone all things of his love, and by his speech all things of his intelligence. These are they who abide in the marriage of love and wisdom from the Lord; and who relate to the heart region of heaven, mentioned above.


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