2362, 9055).
217. In the Lord's spiritual kingdom there are various forms of
government, differing in different societies, the variety being in
accord with the functions performed by the societies; and the
functions of these are in accord with the functions of all things in
man to which they correspond. That these are various is well known,
the heart having one function, the lungs another, the liver another,
the pancreas and spleen another, and each sensory organ another. As
in the body these organs perform various services, so there are
various services pertaining to the societies in the Greatest Man,
which is heaven for the societies there correspond to these organs.
That there is a correspondence of all things of heaven with all
things of man may be seen in its own chapter above (n. 87-102). But
all these forms of government agree in this, that they look to the
public good as their end, and in that good to the good of the
individual.{1} And this is so because everyone in the whole heaven is
under the auspices of the Lord, who loves all, and from Divine love
ordains that there shall be a common good, from which each individual
shall receive his own good.
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