The Last Judgment
Emanuel Swedenborg

Procreations of the Human Race on Earth will never cease
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(6) They who have adopted as their belief concerning the Last Judgment, that all things in the heavens and on the earth are then to perish, and that a new heaven and a new earth will exist in their place, believe, because it follows of consequence, that the generations and procreations of the human race are therefore to cease.

For they think that all things will be then accomplished, and that men will be in a different state from before. But since the day of the Last Judgment does not mean the destruction of the world, as was shown in the preceding article, it also follows that the human race will endure, and that procreations will not cease.

(7) That the procreations of the human race will endure to eternity, is plain from many considerations, of which some are shown in the work on Heaven and Hell, especially from the following :

I. The human race is the basis on which heaven is founded.
II. The human race is the seminary of heaven.
III. The extension of heaven, which is for angels, is so immense that it cannot be filled to eternity.
IV. They are but few respectively, of whom heaven at present is formed.
V. The perfection of heaven increases according to its numbers.
VI. And every Divine work has respect to infinity and eternity.

(9) The human race is the basis on which heaven is founded, is because man was last created, and that which is last created is the basis of all that precedes. Creation commenced from the supreme or inmost, because from the Divine; and proceeded to ultimates or extremes... The ultimate of creation is the natural world, including the terraqueous globe, with all things on it.

When these were finished, then man was created, and into him were collated all things of Divine order from firsts to lasts; into his inmost were collated those things of that order which are primary; and into his ultimates those which are ultimate; so that man was made Divine order in form. Hence it is that all things in man and with man, are both from heaven and from the World, those of his mind from heaven, and those of his body from the world; for the things of heaven flow into his thoughts and affections, and dispose them according to reception by his spirit, and the things of the world flow into his sensations and pleasures, and dispose them according to reception in his body, but still in accommodation to their agreement with the thoughts and affections of his spirit.

That it is so, may be seen in several articles in the work on Heaven and Hell, especially in the following: That the Whole Heaven, in one complex, has reference to one man (HH n. 59-67); each society in the Heavens likewise (HH n. 68-72) ; that hence every Angel is in a perfect human form (HH n. 73-77); and that this is from the Divine Human of the Lord (HH n. 78-86). And moreover under the article on the Correspondence of all things of Heaven with all things of Man (HH n. 87-102). On the Correspondence of Heaven with all things on earth (HH n. 103-115). And on the Form of Heaven (HH n. 200-212).

From this order of creation it may appear, that such is the binding chain of connection from firsts to lasts that all things together make one, in which the prior cannot be separated from the posterior (just as a cause cannot be separated from its effect); and that thus the spiritual world cannot be separated from the natural, nor the natural world from the spiritual; thence neither the angelic heaven from the human race, nor the human race from the angelic heaven.

Wherefore it is so provided by the Lord, that each shall afford a mutual assistance to the other, that is, the angelic heaven to the human race, and the human race to the angelic heaven. Hence it is, that the angelic mansions are indeed in heaven, and to appearance separate from the mansions where men are; and yet they are with man in his affections of good and truth. Their presentation to sight, as separate, is from appearances; as may be seen in an article in the work on Heaven and Hell, where Space in Heaven is treated of (HH n. 191-199). That the mansions of angels are with men in their affections of good and truth, is meant by these words of the Lord:

By "the Father" and "the Lord" in the above passage is also meant heaven, for where the Lord is, there is heaven, since the Divine proceeding from the Lord makes heaven, as may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (HH n. 7-12); and (HH n. 116-125). And likewise by these words of the Lord:

"The Comforter" is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, for which reason He is also called "the Spirit of truth," and the Divine truth makes heaven, and also the angels, because they are recipients; that the Divine proceeding from the Lord is the Divine truth, and that the angelic heaven is from it, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (HH n. 126-140). The like is also understood by these words of the Lord:

"The kingdom of God" is the Divine good and truth, in which the angels are. That angels and spirits are with man, and in his affections, has been granted me to see a thousand times, from their presence and abode with me; but angels and spirits do not know with what men they are, neither do men know the angels and spirits they cohabit with, for the Lord alone knows and disposes this. In a word, there is an extension into heaven of all the affections of good and truth, and a communication and conjunction with those who are in the like affections there; and there is an extension into hell of all the affections of evil and falsity, and a communication and conjunction with these who are in the like affections there.

The extension of the affections into the spiritual world, is almost like that of sight into the natural world; communications in both are nearly similar; yet with this difference, that in the natural world there are objects, but in the spiritual world angelic societies. Hence it appears, that the connection of the angelic heaven with the human race is such that the one subsists from the other, and that the angelic heaven without the human race would be like a house without a foundation, for heaven closes into it and rests upon it.

The case herein is the same as with each particular man; his spiritual things, which pertain to his thought and will, inflow into his natural things, which pertain to his sensations and actions, and in these they terminate and subsist. If man were not in possession of them, that is, if he were without these boundings and ultimates, his spiritual things, which pertain to the thoughts and affections of his spirit, would flow away, like things unbounded, or like those which have no foundation. In like manner, when a man passes from the natural into the spiritual world, which takes place when he dies, then because he is a spirit, he no longer subsists on his own basis, but upon the common basis, which is the human race.

He who knows not the arcana of heaven, may believe that angels subsist without men, and men without angels; but I can affirm from all my experience of heaven, and from all my discourse with the angels, that no angel or spirit subsists without man, and no man without spirits and angels, but that there is a mutual and reciprocal conjunction. From this, it may now be seen that the human race and the angelic heaven make one, and mutually and reciprocally subsist from each other, and thus that the one cannot be taken away from the other.

(10) The human race is the seminary of heaven, will appear from a subsequent article, in which it will be shown, that Heaven and Hell are from the human race, and that therefore the human race is the seminary of heaven. It must, however, first be mentioned, that as heaven has been formed of the human race, from the first creation until now, so it will be formed and filled up from the same source hereafter...

It was said to me from heaven, that the human race on this earth would have perished, so that not one man would have existed on it at this day, if the Lord had not come into the world, and on this earth assumed the Human, and made it Divine; and also, unless the Lord had given here such a Word as might serve for a basis to the angelic heaven, and for its conjunction.

That the conjunction of heaven with man is by the Word, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (HH n. 303-310). But that such is the case can be comprehended only by those who think spiritually, that is, by those who through the acknowledgment of the Divine in the Lord are conjoined with heaven, for they alone are able to think spiritually.

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