The Inhabited Universe

by Frederick L. Schnarr

8. THE USE AND DESTINY OF OUR EARTH

In our last article we noted something of the nature and quality of the peoples of our earth as evidenced in the statements and experiences of spirits and angels from other planets. We saw ourselves as the worst and most perverted and external people in the universe. Besides this terrible picture, however, we also saw something of the unique use and function which the peoples of this earth can perform better than others. We noted that if the scientific knowledge developed by the inhabitants of our earth was used by us as spiritual riches to confirm the truths of Divine revelation, an enlightenment and wisdom could be formed that would be used in teaching spirits from other planets throughout the universe. Even before the Last Judgment took place, spirits and angels from our earth had a certain ability and use in instructing spirits and angels from other earths, as we have seen.

But to see more clearly the uses which the Lord has given to the people of our earth as a responsibility and a source of delight we must examine the teachings which show the essential nature and purpose of those uses. We find these teachings of the Writings set forth in their considerations of the reasons for the Lord being born on our earth and not on any other earth.

Why the Lord was Born on Our Earth

Before the reasons for the Lord's being born on our earth and not on another are reviewed, we would make it clear that it is not our purpose here to consider all the things which the Lord accomplished by being born a man and becoming Divine Man on earth. What we are particularly concerned with at this time are the reasons that the Lord chose this earth out of all the millions of earths in the universe; and, from the import of these reasons, seeing something further of our essential uses and responsibilities.

The Writings make it clear that the primary reason the Lord chose our earth on which to be born was for the sake of the Word: 1) that it might be established and written; 2) that it might be published throughout the world; 3) that it might be preserved forever. We read:

"There are many reasons, concerning which I had information from heaven, why it pleased the Lord to be born and to assume the Human on our earth, and not on another. The principal reason was because of the Word, in that it might be written on our earth; and when written be afterwards published throughout the whole earth; and when once published be preserved to all posterity; and that thus it might be made manifest, even to all in the other life, that God became Man.

"That the principal reason was because of the Word is because the Word is the Divine truth itself, which teaches man that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is a life after death; and teaches moreover how man ought to live and believe, in order to come into heaven, and thus into eternal happiness. All these things would have been altogether unknown without a revelation, thus on this earth without the Word; and yet man is so created that, as to his interiors, he cannot die." (EU 113, 114)

All through the Writings we find it emphasized, over and over again, that the concept of God as Divine Man, or Divine Human, is fundamental to the salvation of all men, not only on this earth but throughout the universe. The quality and character of each man's love, on earth and in heaven, depend on his knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord in His Divine Human. We have noted in previous articles that the concept of the Lord as Divine Man is the cornerstone on which all man's thoughts and loves are based. Their quality depends on the quality of his belief in and love of the Lord as a Divine-Human God. We observed, indeed, that every single thing of life - even our most external customs and habits, our worldly pleasures and enjoyments, and the most minute details of living - reflects the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divine Human or the absence thereof. In learning of the states of people on other planets we saw this truth confirmed. Wherever we found an orderly and heavenly state of society, we found also the belief in God as a Divine Man; and wherever we found disorder and chaos, we found the concept of God as a Divine Man confused and perverted with falsities, or totally denied. We cannot be too impressed by the truth that God is a Divine Man, and with the comprehension of this truth as essential and fundamental to the formation of every heavenly quality. Indeed, without some true understanding of it, there can be no real understanding of the fall of man on this earth, the development of the Written Word, and the reasons for the Lord's first and second comings. (See EU 118, 121, 158; AC 10,377)

Now the Writings tell us that the written Word does not exist on any other earth in the universe. They tells us also that the Lord has not been born on any other earth in the universe.* Every teaching we have examined concerning the earths in the universe, and every teaching concerning the Lord and the Word on earth, makes it clear that a written Word will not be given on any other earth, and that the Lord will never again be born as man on any other earth. 

In our last article we noted how the peoples of our earth relate in the Grand Man to the ultimates of order, to what is external and sensual. We pointed out that in the fall of the Most Ancient Church, man began to think that he could be wise through the accumulation of natural knowledge and through the sciences. (SD 4663) Herein we find a perfect example of how the Lord, in permitting man the freedom to turn to natural things, in time used that permission to perform the most important heavenly uses. Once man had fallen into external things, we are taught, the Lord guided his search for and development of natural knowledge so that He, the Lord, could use both the search and the development in providing a written Word. That is, the Lord guided man in the development of writing from its first crude beginnings on stones and on the bark of trees to the final printed word. He guided man so that a written Word could be given on this earth in a material and ultimate form; one that could not only be preserved forever to serve the inhabitants of this earth but could also in time be used to serve the inhabitants of all earths, and the heavens from each earth. Since this Word is the means for man to learn of God, and since it was the only means by which the people of our earth could know of God and be saved, the Lord did everything in His power so to establish it that it would always and forever be such a means. As the natural-rational faculty of men on earth developed through the study of natural knowledge, the Lord added to the written Word, unfolding ever more interior truths to meet the state of man's ability to understand. That is why He came into the world the first time, and why He made a second coming. (See EU 115-118; AC 9353, 9356)

While the primary reason for the Lord's being born on our earth was the establishment and preservation of the written Word, it is also true that had the Lord not come, the people of our earth would have perished. Had the Lord not protected our spiritual freedom, we would have become slaves to the loves of hell; so blinded was the human understanding by the lust of mere externals that we were a prey to the influences of the hells. Not only did we need to be protected by having the Lord born on earth, and through His temptations overcome and subjugate the powers of the hells over us, but we had to be given truth that would appear obviously before our natural minds. Thus did the Lord unfold and reveal more and more of the letter of the written Word, until finally nothing could suffice but the clear and open dictate of rational truth. (See AC 1673: 2, 9400; AE 726: 7, 1084; HH 305, 309, 310; SD 4376)

We noted previously that the Lord is said to love our earth above all others because of the fact that only on this earth is there the fixed and ultimate form of a written revelation. (Revelation 21: 5) The Lord loves this earth because of the written Word, not only because it is the only means by which the people of our earth can be saved, but because of the effect it will have on all peoples in the natural and spiritual universe. The written Word and the revelation of the internal sense of the Word is the means for the Lord to give greater wisdom and happiness to all people in all earths and in all heavens. The Lord declared of His second coming that He will make "all things new." (See SD 1531) And it is said that at the time of His second coming the spiritual sun shone in heaven with greater splendor. Through the knowledge of the internal sense of the Word and the Heavenly Doctrine of the New Jerusalem the Lord gave to all people the means of new love and wisdom, and thereby new delights and happiness. A new life was given to the very heavens.

Angels and spirits from others earths, even though in a celestial order like that of the first church on our earth, cannot have the same wisdom as is possible to those who have knowledge of the written Word. Herein we see something of the great, extensive use the Lord makes of the Word. We read:

"On every other earth truth Divine is made manifest orally through spirits and angels . . . but this takes place within families; for on most earths mankind lives separate according to their families. Therefore Divine truth thus revealed through spirits and angels is not conveyed far beyond the families; and unless a new revelation is constantly following, what has been revealed is either perverted or perishes. It is otherwise on our earth, where truth Divine, which is the Word, remains in its integrity forever." (AC 9358)

We have seen from our review of the inhabitants of other planets that various falsities do exist even where there is a celestial order.

We have seen Swedenborg, and angels from our heaven, instructing both spirits and angels from other earths; and we have noted those teachings which refer to the uses which the good inhabitants of our earth will perform in helping to instruct people from all over the universe. All of this is being done because of the new light, the new wisdom, provided by the spiritual sense of the written Word on our earth. Indeed it would seem that the written Word has conjoined our earth in a special way with all the heavens and worlds of spirits in the entire spiritual universe, and that this conjunction is brought about whenever the Word is read or preached on our earth. How else are we to understand such passages as this one from the Arcana?

"The Word on our earth is the union of heaven and the world; to which end there is a correspondence of all things in the letter of the Word with Divine things in heaven; in its supreme and inmost sense the Word treats of the Lord, of His kingdom in the heavens and on earth, and of love and faith from Him and to Him, consequently of life from Him and in Him. Such things are presented to the angels in heaven, from whatever earth they come, when the Word of our earth is read and preached." (AC 9357)

In the Spiritual Diary we read:

"When the Word is being read on this earth it passes by correspondences into heaven. . . . Thus . . . can the truths of faith be communicated to the angels of other earths." (D 4663)

Will This Earth Perish?

When we gather together all that is said concerning the importance of the written Word to the entire universal heavens, worlds of spirits and earths, what are we to make of those passages in Divine revelation which seem to indicate that our earth may perish? First, it is to be noted that all such expressions in the Word as "the consummation of the age," "the end of days," or "the earth shall pass away," never refer to the physical earth, but to spiritual judgments upon the various churches which are treated of in the text. The Writings are perfectly clear about this (see AC 931), and in them we find only one definite and apparently unqualified reference to earth coming to an end. This passage, in explanation of the words, "during all the days of the earth," is quoted in part:

"That this signifies all time is evident from the signification of 'day' as being a time therefore the 'days of the earth' here mean all time as long as there is earth, or inhabitant upon the earth. An inhabitant first ceases to be on the earth when there is no longer any church. For when there is no church, there is no longer any communication of man with heaven, and when this communication ceases, every inhabitant perishes. As we have seen before, it is with the church as with the heart and lungs in man; as long as the heart and lungs are sound, so long the man lives; and such also is the case with the Grand Man, which is the universal heaven, as long as the church lives; and therefore it is here said; 'During all the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.' From this it may also appear that the earth will not endure to eternity, but that it, too will have its end; for it is said, 'during all the days of the earth,' that is, as long as the earth endures. But as to believing that the end of the earth will be the same thing as the last judgment foretold in the Word ... this is a mistake; for there is the last judgment of every church when it has been vastated, or when there is no longer in it any faith." (AC 931)

This passage seems to indicate that the earth will come to an end,* must be set beside other passages which speak of the possibility that this earth may come to an end, but always include a qualifying statement. Thus we read:

"These are the last times, and the human race will perish in this world, unless they revive to themselves and have faith in the Lord." (SD 2578. That is, unless "they return to reason." (SD 3412.)

"It is indeed possible that the human race on one earth may perish, which comes to pass when they separate themselves entirely from the Divine, for then man no longer has spiritual life, but only natural, like that of beasts; and when man is such no society can be formed and held bound by laws, since without the influx of heaven, and thus without the Divine government, man would become insane, and rush unchecked into every wickedness, one against another. But although the human race, by separation from the Divine, might perish on one earth, which, however, is provided against by the Lord, yet still they would continue on other earths. . . . 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." *LJ 10)

* The translation of the crucial phrase is unfortunate. Inde constare quoque potest, here rendered "from this it may also appear," is more correctly read in this context: "From this," i.e., the statement in Genesis, "it is possible also to establish" - that the earth will not endure to eternity. It can be so argued, that is, by those who have only the letter of the Word from which to reach a conclusion. [EDITOR.]

Final Conclusions

From what is said concerning the written Word, namely, that it is to endure forever; from what is said of its uses to mankind throughout the universe; from what is said about the spread and growth of the New Church on our earth; from what is said of its being the crown of all the churches and that it is to endure to eternity; and from what is said in the above numbers about the Lord providing against the destruction of our earth: from all of this we draw the conclusion that this earth will never be totally destroyed. Certainly the Lord will not permit it to destroy itself until the written Word exists elsewhere, and the indication is that it will not ever be formed elsewhere.

Some have suggested that since the written Word now exists in heaven in its fullness, it might, perhaps, serve the same uses to the other earths and their heavens that are now served by the written Word on our earth. However, this idea would not be in accord with the necessity for the Word to be fixed in material and ultimate forms. The Lord would not be present in firsts and lasts as He now is, and the power of the Word, especially its conjunctive power, would be lost.  The Writings make it amply clear that heaven must rest upon earth, particularly upon the truths of the Word on earth. Certainly the Word exists in heaven in a written form; but that form is not ultimate - and "in ultimates there is all power." (AE 726:5. Cf. AR 798; DLW 221; LJ 1; AC 3726)

If this earth is ever destroyed, the written Word will first have to be carried to another earth. Will this, in time, come about through the development of interplanetary travel by the people of our earth? Is the Lord indeed guiding the orderly development of our scientific research to bring this about someday? He may be doing this. Certainly the effort to develop the various fields of science is an orderly and proper endeavor where the intent is good; and even where it is not, the Lord may still use the results for His own purposes. But this we cannot know. It may be that this earth will always endure, and that the instruction of spirits and angels from other earths by spirits from our earth will spread the New Church sufficiently for them, in turn, to instruct the inhabitants of their own earths. Certainly much of this is being done already.

We know from the Writings that as far as the future state of our own earth is concerned, there will not be any immediate change in the affairs of men. There will still be wars, treaties, and the pressures which currently pervade the spheres of the world. (LJ 73) In reflecting upon the position of the New Church in the future states of the world, let us not expect that its influence will suddenly make a great change in the chaos of worldly affairs. Note how long it takes to change the nature of our own individual loves! In establishing the New Church the Lord has made tremendous changes, but they are not such as we can see with our eyes. They are such that we can see them only with the eyes of the understanding, and then only in the pages of Divine revelation. The Lord has restored spiritual freedom to us; He has given us the doctrine of the New Church; which calls for new learning, new understanding, and invites to new belief, new standards by which to live, as it promises new states of peace and love to he enjoyed to eternity. To enter into this church is our work and our privilege. It is a work with unlimited extension and uses throughout the universe, and a privilege which brings the spiritual peace and internal blessedness of heaven down to earth. (See LJ 74) And as this descent of heaven to earth gradually takes place in the hearts of those who learn of the Lord's second coming, the New Church will be established on earth with a deep and enduring firmness, and become a blessing to all peoples everywhere.  

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