Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/235

Rh must be spiritual in their nature; otherwise they would not be suited to the condition and wants of spiritual beings. And what can spiritual light and heat be, but the light of Divine truth which illumines the understanding, and the warmth of Divine love which sets the heart aglow? Accordingly Swedenborg says:

"That there is light in heaven cannot be comprehended by those who think only from nature; when yet the light there is so great as to exceed by many degrees the midday light of the world. I have often seen it in the evening and night. . . . Its whiteness and brilliancy surpass all description. The things seen by me in heaven, were seen in that light, and more clearly and distinctly than things in the world."

"The light of heaven is not natural like that of the world, but spiritual; for it proceeds from the Lord as a sun, and in its essence is divine truth. And the heat of heaven is spiritual, as well as its light, for it is from the same origin; and this heat in its essence is love."

"The heat of heaven, like its light, is everywhere various. That in the celestial kingdom differs from that in the spiritual; and it differs also in every society. And it differs not only in degree, but even in kind,—being more intense and pure in the celestial than in the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, because the angels there are more receptive of the divine good." (H. H. 126, '7, '34.)