157. That man lives from the Lord alone, and not of himself is established by the following reasons: There is one sole essence, one sole substance, and one sole form, from which are all the essences, substances and forms that have been created. This one sole essence, substance and form, is the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, from which are all things relating to love and wisdom in man. It is also Good itself and Truth itself to which all things have relation; and these are life, which is the source of the life of all and of all things pertaining to life. Moreover, the One Only and the Self is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent; and this One Only and the Self is the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah.
[2] First: There is one sole essence, one sole substance, and one sole form, from which are all the essences, substances and forms that have been created. This is shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 44-46); and in the Second Part of the work it is shown that the Sun of the angelic heaven, which is from the Lord and in which the Lord is, is that one sole substance and form from which are all things that have been created, and that there is nothing and can be nothing which is not from that Sun; and it is shown there in the Third Part that all things are from that Sun by derivations according to degrees.
[3] Everyone perceives and acknowledges from reason that there is one sole essence from which is all essence, or one sole Being (Esse) from which is all being. What can exist without being? and what is the being from which is all being but Being itself? And that which is Being itself is also the one sole Being and Being in itself. As this is the case, and everyone perceives and acknowledges it from reason, or if not, he can perceive and acknowledge it, what else then follows but that this Being, which is the Divine itself, and is Jehovah, is the All of all things that have being and existence?
[4] The same is true if we say that there is one sole substance from which are all things; and as substance without form has no existence, it follows also that there is one sole form from which are all things. It has been shown in the treatise mentioned above that the Sun of the angelic heaven is this sole substance and form, and also how this essence, substance and form, is varied* in created things.
[5] Second: This one sole essence, substance and form is the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, from which are all things relating to love and wisdom in man. This also has been fully shown in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. In man the things which appear to live have relation to his will** and his understanding; and that these two constitute the life of man everyone perceives and acknowledges from his reason. What else is there in life except "I will this, and I understand this," or in other words, "I love this, and I think this?" As a man wills what he loves, and thinks what he understands, so all things of the will relate to love, and all things of the understanding to wisdom; and since love and wisdom cannot exist in anyone from himself, but only from Him who is Love itself and Wisdom itself it follows that they exist from the Lord who is from eternity, that is, Jehovah. If they did not exist from this source man would be love itself and wisdom itself, thus God from eternity; but from this human reason itself recoils. Nothing can exist except from what is prior to itself; and this prior thing can exist only from what is still prior to it, and thus finally only from the First which is in its Self.
[6] Third: In like manner it is Good itself and Truth itself to which all things have relation. It is received and acknowledged by every rational being that God is Good itself and Truth itself, and also that all good and truth are from Him; and therefore that all good and truth can come from no other source than Good itself and Truth itself. These things are acknowledged by every rational man as soon as they are heard. When it is afterwards stated that everything of the will and the understanding, or everything of love and wisdom, or everything of affection and thought in a man who is led by the Lord, has relation to good and truth, it follows that all that such a man wills and understands, or every activity of his love and wisdom, or of his affection and thought, is from the Lord. Hence it is that everyone in the Church knows that everything good and true from man is not good and true in itself, but only that which is from the Lord. As this is the truth it follows that everything that such a man wills and thinks is from the Lord. Moreover, it will be seen in what follows that every wicked man can will and think from no other source.
[7] Fourth: These are life, which is the source of the life of all and of all things pertaining to life. This has been shown in many places in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM. Human reason also accepts and acknowledges, as soon as it is heard, that the whole life of man belongs to his will and his understanding, for if these are taken away he ceases to live; or, what is the same, that the whole life of man belongs to his love and his thought, for if these are taken away he ceases to live. Now since everything of the will and the understanding, or of love and thought, in man is from the Lord, as has just been said, it follows that everything of his life is from the Lord.
[8] Fifth: This One Only and the Self is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. This also every Christian acknowledges from his doctrine, and every Gentile from his religion. Hence it is also that everyone, wherever he may be, thinks that God is where he is, and prays to God as present. As everyone so thinks and so prays, it follows that he cannot think otherwise than that God is everywhere, and thus omnipresent. In like manner he thinks that He is omniscient and omnipotent. Therefore, everyone who prays in his heart to God implores Him to lead him because He is able to do so. Thus at such a time everyone acknowledges the Divine Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence: this he does because he then turns his face to the Lord, and this truth then flows in from the Lord.
[9] Sixth: This One Only and the Self is the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah. It was shown in THE DOCTRINE OR THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE LORD that God is One in essence and in person, and that this God is the Lord; and that the Divine itself, which is called Jehovah the Father, is the Lord from eternity; that the Divine Human is the Son conceived from His Divine from eternity and born in the world, and that the Divine Proceeding is the Holy Spirit. The expressions the Self and the One Only are used because it was said above that the Lord from eternity, or Jehovah, is Life itself, since He is Love itself and Wisdom itself, or Good itself and Truth itself, from which are all things. That the Lord created all things from Himself and not from nothing, may be seen in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 282-284, 349-357). From these considerations this truth, that man is led and taught by the Lord alone, has been established on rational grounds.
* Original Edition has "variatur." Tafel Latin edition (1855) unnecessarily changed to "varietur." And indirect question in the indicative is usual in Swedenborg.
** Original Edition repeats "se" before "ad voluntatem" unnecessarily.