Divine love cannot intend anything other than that people should
forever have the blessings of its divineness. Divine wisdom cannot pro-
duce anything other than useful things that are means of fulfilling that
purpose.
Upon examining the world with this universal idea in mind, every
wise person is capable of grasping that there is one Creator of the universe
and that his essence is love and wisdom. For this reason every single thing
in this world is of benefit to us; if it seems of no direct benefit, at least it is
of indirect benefit. The fruits of the earth and the animals benefit us with
food and also with clothing.
[ 3 ] Among the marvels of this world is that the lowly insects called
silkworms clothe with silk and magnificently adorn both women and
men from queens and kings down to maids and butlers. And the lowly
insects called bees supply wax for the lamps that give churches and royal
courts their splendor.
Some people examine certain aspects of the world in isolation rather
than looking at everything as a chain from purposes through intermedi-
ate means to results. Therefore those people cannot see that the universe
is the handiwork of one God. The same is true for people who do not see
creation as the product of divine love acting through divine wisdom.
Neither group is able to see that God dwells in individual useful things
because he dwells in the purpose behind them. Yet everyone who has
some purpose is also involved in the means of achieving it, because deep
within every one of the means lies the purpose as the force that drives
and guides it.
[ 4 ] Some do not view the universe as the handiwork of God and the
home of his love and wisdom, but view it instead as a product of nature
and as the home of the sun’s heat and light. They close the higher levels
of their mind toward God and open the lower levels of their mind
toward the Devil. In the process, they take off their humanity and put on
the nature of a wild animal. It is not just a belief of theirs that humans
are like animals; they themselves actually become like animals. They
become as crafty as foxes, as fierce as wolves, as deceptive as leopards, as
savage as tigers; or they take on the nature of crocodiles, snakes, horned
owls, or night birds. In the spiritual world they even look like these wild
animals from a distance. Their love for evil takes these shapes.
7. Those who do not acknowledge God are cut off from the church and 14
damned.People who do not acknowledge God are cut off from the church
because the whole point of the church is God, and because the things
related to God that are called theological teachings give the church its
§14 god the creator & creation 19