angry, wrathful, or vengeful. The Word attributes these qualities to God
because this is the way it seems. Things like this are apparent truths.257 Many things in the Word’s literal meaning are apparent truths. Real
truths lie hidden inside them. It is not a damning thing to think and say
apparent truths in a simple way. It is damning, however, to become
adamant about apparent truths, since our becoming adamant destroys
the divine truth that lies hidden inside them.
An example from nature can illustrate this. I cite it because some-
thing from nature provides clearer illustration and teaching than
something spiritual.
To our eyes it seems that the sun goes around the earth once a day,
and also once a year. On this basis we say that the sun rises and sets, which
makes morning, midday, evening, and night, and also affects our time of
year—the spring, summer, fall, and winter; its “motion” shapes both days
and years. Yet in fact the sun remains motionless. It is an ocean of fire.
The earth spins every day, and orbits the sun every year. People who sim-
ply or ignorantly think that the sun is moving around the earth do not
destroy an idea that is physically true, which is that the earth rotates on its
axis and follows the ecliptic in its yearly orbit. If, however, people rigidly
believe the appearance that the sun is moving and use the reasoning of
their earthly self as reinforcement, and especially if they use the Word’s
statements that the sun rises and sets as reinforcement, they undermine
and destroy the truth. Afterward, they can scarcely see the true reality,
even if you visibly demonstrate to them that the whole starry heaven
seems to move daily and yearly in the same way as the sun and yet not a
single star changes its location relative to another.
The sun’s movement is an apparent truth. Its lack of movement is a
genuine truth. Yet we all speak according to the apparent truth when we
say that the sun rises and sets. This is acceptable. How else would we say
it? But adamant loyalty to the appearance in our thinking weakens and
darkens our rational understanding.
258 Becoming adamant about apparent truths in the Word leads us to
damnation because it takes those apparent truths in the wrong way and
destroys the divine truth they have inside. The reason for this is that each
and every thing in the Word’s literal meaning communicates with
heaven. As I have shown above [§§ 196 – 200 , 248 – 253 ], within each and
every detail of the literal meaning there is a spiritual meaning. The spiri-
tual meaning opens as the literal meaning passes from us to heaven.