Heaven and Hell - Swedenborg Foundation

HEAVEN AND HELL 334
human race on the earth. That every child, wherever born,
whether within the church or out of it, whether of pious or
impious parents, is received by the Lord when it dies, and is
brought up in heaven, and is taught and imbued with
affections for good, and through these with knowledges of
truth, in accordance with Divine order, and as he becomes
perfected in intelligence and wisdom is brought into heaven
and becomes an angel, can be seen above (n. 329–345). From
all this a conclusion may be formed of the multitude of angels
of heaven, derived from this source alone, from the first
creation to the present time.
417. Again, how immense the heaven of the Lord is can be
seen from this, that all the planets visible to the eye in our solar
system are earths, and moreover, that in the whole universe
there are innumerable earths, all of them full of inhabitants.
These have been treated of particularly in a small work on
those earths from which I will quote the following passage:
It is fully known in the other life that there are many earths
inhabited by men from which spirits and angels come; for everyone
there who desires from a love of truth and of use to do so is
permitted to talk with spirits of other earths, and thus be assured
that there is a plurality of worlds, and learn that the human race is
not from one earth alone, but from innumerable earths. I have
frequently talked about this with spirits of our earth, and was told
that any intelligent person ought to know from many things that
he does know that there are many earths inhabited by men; for it
may be reasonably inferred that immense bodies like the planets,
some of which exceed this earth in magnitude, are not empty
masses created merely to be borne through space and to be carried
around the sun, and to shine with their scanty light for the benefit
of a single earth, but must have a more important use. He that
believes, as everyone must believe, that the Divine created the
universe for no other end than that the human race might exist,
and heaven therefrom, for the human race is a seminary of heaven,
must needs believe that wherever there is an earth there are men.
That the planets visible to us because they are within the limits of
our solar system are earths is evident from their being bodies of
earthy matters, which is known from their reflecting the sun’s
light, and from their not appearing, when viewed through
telescopes, like stars, sparkling with flame, but like earths varied
with darker portions; also from their passing like our earth around