Paradise,
spiritually understood, denotes intelligence; to eat of the tree of
life, in a spiritual sense, is to be intelligent and wise from the Lord;
and to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in a spiritual
sense, is to be intelligent and wise from self.
354. The angels having finished this conversation departed; and there
came two priests, together with a man who in the world had been an
ambassador of a kingdom, and to them I related what I had heard from the
angels. On hearing this they began to dispute with each other about
intelligence and wisdom, and the prudence thence derived, whether they
are from God or from man. The dispute grew warm. All three in heart
believed that they are from man because they are in man, and that the
perception and sensation of its being so confirm it; but the priests,
who on this occasion were influenced by theological zeal, said that
there is nothing of intelligence and wisdom, and thus nothing of
prudence from man; and when the ambassador retorted, that in such case
there is nothing of thought from man, they assented to it. But as it was
perceived in heaven, that all the three were in a similar belief, it was
said to the ambassador, "Put on the garments of a priest, and believe
that you are one, and then speak.
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