Non-fiction: Divine Love and Wisdom

Overview

Emanuel Swedenborg articulates a theological philosophy that identifies the essence of the Divine as love and wisdom, and traces how those attributes generate, sustain, and guide everything that exists. The writing moves from metaphysical first principles to practical consequences for human life, portraying the universe as an ordered outflow of Divine life. Angels and humans are seen as participants in a single spiritual economy governed by correspondences between the inner and outer worlds.
The account is systemic and experiential, claiming inner revelation as its source while engaging with Scripture and reason. Central claims are that God is not an abstract force but a living Person whose love and wisdom continually create and order the natural world for spiritual ends, and that human freedom and moral responsibility are integral to Divine providence.

God as Love and Wisdom

Love and wisdom are presented not as separate qualities but as coequal, coactive aspects of Divine being: love is willing and life-giving, wisdom is understanding and formative. Love provides the end or purpose, while wisdom supplies the means and order; together they form a dynamic unity that is the fountain of all existence. The Divine is described in anthropomorphic yet metaphysical terms so that relational concepts like charity, intention, and knowledge can be meaningfully applied to God.
This conception denies any cold dualism between feeling and intellect, arguing instead that true wisdom always serves love and true love is enlightened by wisdom. The Divine operates through correspondences so that visible forms and natural laws mirror inward spiritual realities, making the created world a meaningful theater of Divine purpose.

Creation, Correspondence, and Order

Creation is explained as an emanation from love through wisdom, producing degrees of reality that range from pure spiritual to dense natural. Each level reflects Divine qualities in a manner suited to its degree, so natural causation and spiritual causation are continuous rather than disconnected. The doctrine of correspondence holds that physical things correspond to spiritual truths and affections, enabling human souls to perceive and receive spiritual realities through natural senses and symbols.
Because the universe is ordered by correspondence, morality, beauty, and rationality are not incidental but intrinsic to cosmic structure. The hierarchy of forms, from simplest to most complex, makes possible the progressive unfolding of life toward higher states of reception of Divine love and wisdom.

Human Nature and Regeneration

Human beings are framed as recipients of Divine influx who must freely align their will with Divine love to be truly alive. Regeneration is described as an inner rebirth in which natural desires are transformed into uses that serve others, and intellectual light is subordinated to the life of charity. Freedom and responsibility are emphasized: the Divine does not coerce but provides means of regeneration through conscience, life events, and spiritual instruction.
Ethical life is thus not mere obedience to law but the cultivation of genuine affection for good through daily choices. Spiritual progress is measured by the quality of love manifested in relationships, the subordination of selfishness, and the clarity of understanding about moral ends.

Providence, Judgment, and Afterlife

Providence is portrayed as constant Divine governance that balances universal order with individual freedom. God's care is particular as well as general, directing events so that opportunities for moral growth are preserved while respecting human autonomy. Judgment is not arbitrary punishment but the consequence of inward states: people experience a corresponding spiritual environment after death that reflects the affections they cultivated.
The afterlife is populated by communities of spirits and angels whose states exemplify the outcomes of earthly choices. Heaven is described as a social, living realm of mutual love and wisdom, where knowledge serves life and love manifests in creative uses.

Practical and Spiritual Implications

Ethics and worship are united under the primacy of charity: true religion is love active in usefulness, informed by wisdom. Prayer, study, and communal life acquire meaning as channels for receiving and expressing Divine influx. Moral teaching emphasizes humility, repentance, and persistent efforts to put others before self, so that inner intentions match outward conduct.
Religious life is thus transformed from rule-following into a lifelong apprenticeship in love and understanding, where spiritual awareness reshapes ordinary activities into means of participating in Divine ends.