Word is there meant the divine truth, or what amounts to the same, the divine wisdom, wherefore also it is called life and light, and life and light are nothing else than wisdom. T. C. R. n. 50.

Scarce any one knows at this day that there is any power in truth, for it is supposed that it is only a word spoken by some one who is in power, which on that account must be done, consequently the truth is only as breathing from the mouth, and as sound in the ear; when yet truth and good are the principles of all things in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, by which principles the universe was created, and by which the universe is preserved; and likewise by which man was made; wherefore those two principles are all in all. That the universe was created by divine truth is plainly said in John," In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; all things were made by Him." And in David, "By the Word of Jehovah were the heavens made, Psalm xxxiii. 6; by the Word in both cases is meant the divine truth. Inasmuch as the universe was created by divine truth, therefore also the universe is preserved by it; for as subsistence is perpetual existence, so pre servation is perpetual creation: The reason why man was made by the divine truth is, because all things of man have reference to understanding and will, and the understanding is the recep tacle of divine truth, and the will of divine good; consequently the human mind, which consists of those two principles, is nothing else but a form of divine truth and divine good spiritually and naturally organized. From these considerations, it may now be manifest for what cause God as the Word came into the world, and was made man, viz. that this was for the sake of redemption; for on this occasion God by the human [principle], which was divine truth, put on all power, and cast down, subdued, and reduced under his obedience the hells, which had grown up even to the heavens where angels were, and this not by an oral word, but by the divine word, which is divine truth; and afterwards He fixed a great gulph between the hells and the heavens, which none from hell can pass over. From these

considerations, it may be manifest that the power of divine truth is ineffable; and since the Word, which is in the Christian church, is the continent of divine truth in its three degrees, it is evident that this is what is understood in John, chap. i. 3, 10. T. C. R. 224. See also the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 137.

That creation in the Word signifies the reformation and establishment of the church, which is effected by the divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is evident from the words in John, chap. i. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, 14: By the Word is there under

stood the Lord as to divine truth; that all things were created by it, is understood by all things being made by Him, and without Him was not any thing made which was made, and by the world being made by Him; inasmuch as by the Word is meant the Lord as to divine truth, therefore it is said, in Him was life, and the life was the light of men, that was the true light; light signifies divine truth, and life all intelligence and wisdom from the divine truth, for this constitutes the essential life of man, and also according to it is life eternal; the presence of the Lord with every one with his divine truth, from which is life and light, is understood by the light shining in darkness, and enlightening every man that cometh into the world; but that they, who are in the falses of evil, do not perceive, thus do not receive it, is meant by the darkness not comprehending, and by the world not knowing Him, darkness signifying the falses of evil; that it is the Lord as to the divine human [principle], who is here understood by the Word, is very evident; for it is said, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us, and we saw His glory; glory also signifies divine truth. Hence also it is evident that to make or to create, in the above passage, signifies to make man new or to reform; for in the above passage, in like manner as in the book of creation, mention is immediately made of light, by which is signified the divine truth proceeding, whereby all are reformed. Ap. Ex.

294.

"In Him was life," &c. The divine sphere which proceeds from the Lord, and which is called divine truth, is universal, and, as was said, fills the universal heaven, and constitutes the all of life therein; it appears there before the eyes as light, which not only illuminates the sight, but also the mind; it is the same sphere likewise which constitutes the understanding appertaining to man: This is meant by these words in John, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men; this was the true light, which illuminates every man that cometh into the world, and the world was made by Him; the subject treated of in this passage is concerning divine truth, which is called the Word, and that divine truth or the Word is the Lord himself. This light, which is divine truth proceeding from the Lord, was described amongst the ancients by radiant circles of a golden colour around the head and body of God represented as a man; for the ancients perceived God no otherwise than under a human form. When man is in good, and from good in truths, then he is elevated into that divine light, and more interiorly according to the quality and quantity of good. A. C. p. 9407.

By life in the above passage is meant the divine love of the

Lord, and by light His divine wisdom. See the Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 38. See also Ap. Ex. n. 151.

Verse 5. "And the light shined in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not." The light in this passage is divine truth; and whereas men, from being internal men, were become so external or natural, that they no longer acknowledged divine truth, thus neither the Lord, therefore it is said, that the darkness did not comprehend the light, and that the world did not acknowledge Him. Ap. Ex. n. 151.

Darkness in the above passage denotes falsities within the church Falsities out of the church are also called darkness, but such as may be illuminated, concerning which it is thus written in Matthew," The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light, and to them who have sat in the region and shadow of death, light hath arisen," iv. 16, where darkness denotes the falses of ignorance, such as is the darkness of the Gentiles: And in John, “This is the judgment, that light is come into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil," iii. 19, where light denotes truths, and darkness falses; and where light denotes the Lord, because from Him is all truth, and darkness denotes the hells, because thence cometh all that is false. A. C. n. 1839.

Verse 6. "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." In the Word there are several who represent the Lord as to truth divine, or as to the Word; but the principal amongst them are Moses, Elias, Elisha, and John the Baptist; that John the Baptist has this representation, is manifest from this consideration, that he is the Elias who was to come: He who doth not know that John the Baptist represented the Lord as to the Word, cannot know what all those things involve and signify, which are said concerning him in the New Testament. A. C. n. 9372, where may be seen explained at large all the particular circumstances related concerning John in the New Testament.

Verses 7, 8. "He came for a witness, that he might bear witness of the light," &c. Light signifies the divine truth; wherefore the Lord is called the true light which illuminates every man, and to bear witness concerning the light signifies the acknowledgment of His divine human [principle] from which di vine truth proceeds: This witness is in divine truth universally, as may be manifest from this consideration, that the angels of the interior heaven cannot think otherwise of the divine [Being] than under a human form, thus of the divine human [principle], by reason that the divine human [principle] of the Lord fills the universal heaven, and forms it, and the thoughts of the angels are directed and flow according to the form of heaven..

Hence it is that the testimony [or witness] of Jesus Christ signifies the acknowledgment of the divinity of the Lord in His humanity. Ap. Ex. 27.

Verse 9. "That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world." The divine truth, which is from the Lord, continually flows-in with man, and makes his intellectual principle; and if you are disposed to believe it, man, without the continual influx of truth divine proceeding from the Lord, cannot perceive and understand any thing at all: For the divine truth proceeding from the Lord is the light which illuminates the mind of man, and makes the internal sight, which is the understanding; and whereas that light continually flows-in, therefore it adapts every one to receive; but they who receive, are they who are in the good of life; and they who do not receive, are they who are in evil of life; nevertheless these latter, as well as the former, are in the faculty of perceiving and understanding, and likewise in the faculty of receiving, so far as they desist from evils. This is what is meant by these words in John, " That was the true light, which illuminates every man that cometh into the world: He was in the world, and the world was made by Him; but the world knew Him not." The subject treated of in this passage is concerning the Word, which is the divine truth proceeding from the Lord. That every man in the world, who is of sound reason, is in the faculty of understanding truth divine, and hence in the faculty of receiving, so far as he desists from evils, it hath been given me to know by much experience; for all both evil and good, as many as are in the other life, are capable of understanding what is true and what is false, also what is good and what is evil, but they who are evil, although they understand what is true and good, are still not willing to understand; for the will is repugnant, and in the will is evil; wherefore when they are left to themselves, they still relapse into the falses of their own evil, and hold in aversion what is true and good, which they understood: Hence it was made evident, that the divine truth proceeding from the Lord continually flows-in into human minds, and adapts them to receive, and that it is so far received as man desists from the evils which are of selflove and the love of the world. A. C. n. 9399; see also, n. 10196.

Verse 11. "He came unto His own," &c. By His own are meant those, who were at that time of the church, where the Word was. Doc. of the Lord, n. 18.

By His own who did not receive, are meant those who were of the church where the Word was, by which the Lord could

be known to them, wherefore they who were of the Jewish church are here meant by His own. Ap. Ex. n. 745.

Verses 12 to 14. "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power," &c. That faith, whether it be called confidence, or trust, hath no effect with the evil, the Lord himself teaches in these words in John, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, believing in His name; who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God," where the born of bloods denote those who do violence to charity, also who profane truth; the born of the will of the flesh, denote those who are in evils derived from the love of self and of the world; the born of the will of man, denote those who are in the persuasions of what is false, for man [vir] signifies truth, and in the opposite sense what is false; the born of God, denote those who are regenerated by the Lord, and are thence in good; these latter are they who receive the Lord, and these latter are they who be lieve in His name, and these are they to whom He gives power to become the sons of God, but not to the former; from which considerations it is evident how little faith alone contributes to salvation. A. C. n. 5826. See also Ap. Ex. n. 745, 802, and Doc. of Life, n. 17.

The will of the flesh denotes the voluntary proprium, the will of man denotes the intellectual proprium, the sons of God denote the regenerate, and they who are regenerated are all vivified from the Lord's proprium, which is the flesh and body of the Lord, and is divine good itself. A. C. n. 8409.

Inasmuch as the principle of what is false, which results from the intellectual proprium of man, in the internal sense is blood, and the principle of evil, which is from his voluntary proprium, is flesh, therefore the Lord thus speaks of the man about to be regenerated, "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, believing in His name, who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God;" hence it is that by flesh in general is meant every man. A. C. n. 3813. See also n. 9454, 10283 ; see also Doc. of the Lord, n. 18.

"To them that believe on His name." That the Lord gave to these the power to become the sons of God, signifies that He hath given heaven to those who have received from Him divine truths in soul and heart, or in faith and life by believing in His name is signified to receive the Lord in faith and life; for by the name of the Lord is signified all by which he is worshipped. Ap. Ex. n. 745. See also A. C. n. 6674, where it is further shewn what is meant by asking the Father in the name of the Lord, that it means to ask the Lord himself, inasmuch

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